#Chloe was done so dirty

[dreamwreaver]

The reason why Chloe's "corruption" arc being allegedly fully planned out never sat well with me is that in order for any arc to happen there has to be focus on the character. And by miraculous's very nature, that doesn't happen. The focus at all times is either on Marinette, or to a much lesser extent adrien. Usually the only time we get focus on a seperste character is if they're the akuma of the day.

And that's the problem. By all means, as disappointed as I could be with Chloe's redemption arc being unfulfilled, I could at least be satisfied with it narratively if it had been well done. But we didn't get that, unlike in season two, where it's arguable that Chloe had a collective five episodes building her character as someone flawed but ultimately good deep down, we got maybe three. And that's a very BIG maybe.

So, let me take you on a journey of Chloe's redemption versus her "corruption". Ready? Buzz on!

In season two, we had Despair Bear, where Chloe helps and then apologizes to her butler (I refuse to believe his name is Armand because people besides Chloe called him Jean and the joke is objectively funnier thinking she can't remember his second name)

We had Zombizou, where Chloe takes a hit knowing that ladybug will be able to save the day, and apologizes to miss bustier, and give her a gift without wanting recognition!

And then we have the queen's battle:

In style queen, Chloe betrays her own mother, the woman we saw her spend a good chunk of the episode trying to impress and stay on the good side of, to help ladybug. She tries to free adrien herself but fails, and then tells ladybug where the akuma is.

In queen wasp, we see that Chloe becomes a superhero for the love of her mother, and fails. We see her pay the consequences for her actions and the remorse she feels at seeing pollen "destroyed" as she gathers the pieces to her chest. You can argue that she's actually lamenting the loss of a way to become exceptional, but I feel like that's not it. Point being, the focus is on Chloe and how she wants to do good.

Malediktator is the quintessential Chloe episode of that season, it shows ladybug, and therefore Marinette, how vulnerable Chloe is. Chloe knows she doesn't have any friends, how she feels useless, and though inadvertently, she takes out that insecurity on others. Ladybug entrusts her with the bee miraculous and they defeat malediktator together.

Thats five episodes out of the 26. And then there's the season 2 finale, where while he's, Chloe does get reakumatized into queen wasp, she is the last to fall, keeping vigilant and it taking being restrained to nab her.

Whether or not you believe Chloe deserves the miraculous she ended up with, there was a lot of effort given to her as a character story wise before she ended up as a part of the miraculous team. Now let's look at season 3 the season of Chloe's "corruption" arc. How many episodes before the season finale do we get focusing on Chloe? Two and a moment in the episode felix, really only one because stormy weather 2 is really the clip show episode of miraculous rather than focusing on Chloe not learning anything.

Miraculer is the big episode focusing on Chloe through her proxy Sabrina. It's there that Chloe is shown to be constantly wanting to help out ladybug and chat noir, and how she feels overlooked with the more frequent use of Rena rouge and carapace. Whether or not that's canonically true, fine, we'll go with it, it's an emotionally driven perception. Chloe is yet again feeling useless and unexceptional, and it's not helped by Lila's own jealousy and vendetta against the spotted heroine. She's upset when the "dance" to summon ladybug doesn't work, which is exactly hawkmoth's plan. What he doesn't expect, is that Chloe rejects it entirely. Chloe, the person famous for giving in to her temper tantrums and doing anything for power, rejects being akumatized entirely. Something which not even the kindest hearted person in the show, Miss Bustier, was able to do. Something we wouldn't see resembled until a full season later with Alya in gang of secrets. This is supposed to be a big moment for Chloe, showing her alleged growth right? But then miraculer happens and Chloe is tempted with the offer of being a heroine whenever she so desires. Again, a promise of power that season one Chloe absolutely would have taken. But she rejects it, she puts her trust in ladybug that even though her identity is exposed ladybug will call on her when she's needed, something she had told hawkmoth when she broke free of his hold.

This is supposed to be the beginning of the end. The poison being planted on Chloe's brain about ladybug's distrust and disdain for Chloe being why she doesnt allow Chloe to help more. Cool right? This should lead to a bunch more episodes where Chloe is seen waiting, even perhaps distracting ladybug while she calls out that she can help. But it doesnt. We don't see hide nor hair of this alleged corruption plot until the season 3 finale. Episodes 25 and 26, when miraculer was episode 11.

And even then, part of the problem with miraculous' writing is the insistence that Marinette has to learn a lesson every episode. Because the lesson from heart hunter is framed by the narrative that ladybug shouldn't have let her desire to keep Kagami and adrien apart cloud her judgement. They focus on that hand hover over the bee comb. The narrative is saying the right choice was Chloe, was queen bee, and Marinette made the wrong choice. It's not that Chloe felt entitled to the miraculous and hurt her own parents to try and get it and failed. It's that Marinette made the wrong choices because she couldn't stand the idea of Kagami ending up with adrien.

How am I supposed to feel that Chloe making the choice she made to save her parents was a bad one? Was it self serving? Oh god yes, but Chloe is selfish, and she demanded that hawkmoth release her parents before she agreed to help him. He held up his end of the bargain, this wasn't Chloe simply calling out to hawkmoth and offering her services to him. This was an offer made to her while she was at her lowest narrative point. Her bee lamp was sabatoged so that she couldn't use it to signal ladybug. She felt useless and abandoned and hurt that ladybug wouldn't let her help her save her own parents. I just fail to see the corruption here.

And then, oh boy, miracle queen. Chloe is akumatized and reveals the identities of all temporary heroes up to that point. She has the entire city minus the main heroes and main villains under her control. And then... what? She just watches ladybug and chat noir fight her minions? Not even from a lofty vantage point like she narratively should if she's looking down on everyone? She's beaten and while she's still hurt, she tries to get her powers back.

Okay, fine, bad look for Chloe, I will fully admit that. But again, Chloe by her very nature runs on her emotions and her background that you ally yourself with people who can offer you power. That's not being corrupted, that's falling back on learned behaviors. And remember, now we know that everything from season 1 to season 5 takes place in less than a YEAR. This wasn't Chloe changing slowly over the course of several months or even a year and then slipping up. This is maybe two months in which everything happened. Maybe more, I don't know. And then after that, she's abandoned by the villain she allegedly allied with. He leaves her behind and calls her a disappointment. As vindictive as Chloe is, you'd think she wouldn't want anything to do with either hawkmoth or ladybug anymore. But that's not what happens. When ladybug confronts her after her declaration of being queen bee in New York, ahe doesn't run. She doesn't flee and hide pollen somewhere so ladybug cannot get the bee miraculous back until later in season 4. She just lets ladybug take it and then runs away crying about not being a fan of ladybug anymore. But not being a fan doesn't necessarily mean being an enemy.

A good corruption arc is a slow burn. You need to spend time watching the idea of betrayal slowly seep. The notion that the villain cares more deeply for a character than a hero. A character isolated from all avenues of protection. Which Chloe almost has, her parents are clearly too busy for her, but you never see her stewing in that loneliness. She's got everything she could ever want but not what she needs, but that's on her I guess for not reaching out and realizing she needs help?

Look, as spotty as her appearances are, LILA has a better corruption arc. She starts out to the audience as presumably, someone who lies for attention because she doesn't get it at home. She's in a new school, a new country we assumed, and she wanted friends. There's a superhero who everyone likes? Of course she lies about being friends with her. The boy she wants to get closer to seems to have a crush on ladybug (and of course Lila doesn't know adrien is cn she she probably thinks of it as a celebrity crush) well then she's actually descended from a long line of superheroes. When ladybug utterly embarrassed her in front of her crush, of course she's devastated. And since there's nothing keeping ladybug from exposing her to everyone else, naturally Lila doesn't trust her, nor does she want to forgive her. And with chameleon it's shown just how far she'll go, even making the guy she supposedly likes look bad because he dared to speak against her, even in private. She knowingly teams up with hawkmoth, she waits for akumas to come to her and projects her emotions to attract him. That's a corruption arc, Lila started out bad but sympathetic and slowly gets worse, doing things on her own to make life worse so she can get what she wants. She never really loses, she just doesn't win. Lila's corruption arc is better done regardless of how outrageous her lies are, because her character being bad is solid. This is the way she's always been and she has no inclination to change, what first appeared as sympathy was just her tricking the audience as well. Chloe was not made for that role, which is why her tonal shift and all the retconning and salt episodes of her being cartoonishly evil even by the standards of miraculous don't hold up. If Chloe was meant to be evil, she wouldn't always lose, and wouldn't always be the unfunny comic relief. But unfortunately, the writing team just doesn't seem to see her that way.

Edit: I wanted to add gifs to illustrate my point further but tumblr only allows ten, but there's plenty of visible evidence. And as for Zoe, I like her fine, but only because there isn't enough substance to her to hate. And I like her in the same way I like popular music that sounds enough like nothing that no one objects to it. I'd like her more if we didn't all already know why she was there

[sliceofhotsoda]

miraculous has wormed into my brain again and I just wanna say WHY did alix not have marinette's back when lila was targeting her??? PLEASE alix is the biggest hater who isn't a bully and youre telling me that she didn't even give lila a side-eye or think of her as annoying and attention-seeking (like she so clearly is)? im so sick of this, WHY does everyone even like that girl!! ur telling me there's NO haters in paris who don't like her out of jealousy or spite? come on. come on. this is exactly why chloe would've been so good as an anti-lila weapon.

[perenlop]

im bored rn, here's what i'd have liked ash's gen 8 team to look like

[theodoravery]

litg mcs — s4 to s8: olive, rina, margo, bina & gabi

[adropinalimitlessocean]

i don't care what anyone says, even if they air 5 seasons and the show ends and she never shows up once, I will die on the hill that Chloe Bennet is in Secret Invasion

[mr-walkingrainbow]

DESCENDANTS: The Rise of Red! (or the REAL hidden story in the movie + what’s gonna happen in the sequel THEORY!)

So we ALL watched the movie right? We ALL thought the plot sucked and the movie ended abruptly with a underwhelming climax?

WELL HERES WHY WERE WRONG!

So I did some really deep thinking, and I figured, these writers can’t be THAT stupid? The director can’t be THAT idiotic, lame, and boring? That would just embarrass Disney, not to mention all the well respected actors that are in this!

So I thought hard. I thought hard and I thought long. Like hella long. And I tallied up all the plot inconsistencies, all the weird explanations, all the very specific lines in songs, and I did it. I fixed descendants rise of red! I FIGURED IT OUT!

So!! Here it is! What TRULY happened that crowncoming night! And what going back in time actually did!

(I intentionally put a keep reading so if anyone wanted to avoid spoilers they can)

So! Now that we’re under the keep reading. Anything spoilerly can be said!

So first things first. The biggest theory everyone is saying.

ELLA DID IN FACT POISON BRIDGET!

Yes! I said it! We all thought the movie was leading to this! So it was underwhelming when it was revealed it was Uliana and her crew were the origins behind the prank.

OR WERE THEY?

We all saw that once they opened the book; they were frozen. Because they were ‘bad’ and Merlin’s security system was set into place.

And many of you came up with the giant plot hole that this would have happened REGARDLESS of whether Red and Chloe interfered.

AND YOUR RIGHT!

This sole reason, is why the group COULDNT have done it! Not only were they frozen, but they couldn’t read the recipe, and were properly sent to detention, ergo exonerating them from being at the dance! Meaning their was literally no way they could have been behind the prank!

So with them being withheld from the dance, who could it be? Who was the one person who was originally at the dance, but now no longer could be? What was the one actual change that Red and Chloe set off?

ELLA. AND THE VASE!

We all see that when the two go into Ella’s house, Chloe knocks over a Vase. Breaking it. Lady Tremaine GROUNDS Ella! Meaning that she COULD NOT go to the dance!

This DIDNT happen originally! Meaning Ella DID go to the dance in the original timeline! Which is proven when Cinderella (I’m calling Adult Ella, Cinderella) talks to The Red Queen (I’m calling Adult Bridget The Red Queen) about how the prank being pulled was wrong. She had first handed knowledge of the prank. AND she told Chloe she fell in love with Charming at the dance.

But! Since Ella is the only difference in the two timelines in regarding to the dance, this is PROOF that she was the one who actually pranked Bridget, NOT Uliana and her crew!

So here’s what I think happened!

Ella, who saw Bridget being bullied about the cupcakes, and saw Uliana take all the cupcakes. And promptly being threatened by Uliana. Decided to bake Bridget something to cheer her up. However Bridget literally has all of the cookbooks in auradon. As shown. So she snoops around and finds Merlin’s cookbook! (Because it’s also shown she’s okay with breaking the rules if it’s for a good cause. From her get our hands dirty song!) and double and, the book WOULD open for her because she is a good person. AND she was doing it for a good reason!

she flips through the book and finds some simple blase recipe that cheers Bridget up. Maybe gives her cool hair (Red hair??). Something simple but sweet.

However. While doing this, she happens to see the Monster food recipe. She doesn’t look at it for long of course. Just enough to remember it’s a thing.

BACK TO BRIDGET!

Now! I swear to whatever’s out there that the person who played Chloe said there was a queer character in Dedcendants 4. I can’t find it now but it was some tumblr or insta post. I know cause I immediately told my friend afterwards.

Anywho. I think Bridget is the queer character! We see in the movie her only friend was Ella. Not only that but she YEARNS for someone to care about enough to ask her out (in a romantic way like charming just tried to do for Ella) Ella, who again. Is Bridget’s only friend. And ergo, shows her love no one else does, IMMEDIATELY asks her to go to the dance with her! (Might have said as friends in the other timeline too. Who knows)

But! This only makes Bridget’s crush on Ella even BIGGER. And she falls in love with her! She probably thinks they might have a chance!

This is also somewhat proven by The Red Queens song ‘Love Ain’t It’

Title ; Love Ain’t It

Red : “With all the Grief you’ve experienced”

Red (Speaking of Cinderella) : So you Knew her?

The Red Queen : I saw through her. Cinderella and I were classmates in a way.

(Notice how she uses Ella’s mocking name after she has time to recover from the interaction. She said ELLA originally when she caught her off guard. Also. The line. I SAW THROUGH HER. It’s a double edged sword. Saw through her fronts. Saw the hurting girl inside. Saw through her LIES saw the mean girl behind)

Proven by the next lines

The red Queen : I spent way to much time in this place

So I had to escape

the people might smile

but their two faced, too fake.

Girl was relentlessly bullied and betrayed by someone she loved

And Ella Knows it.

Cinderella : Some people act mean at first, because their too afraid to feel

[the reverse is also true]

Cinderella : Look hon. Back in high school, a mean prank was played

And ever since that fateful day

She was never the same, it’s quite a shame.

So the Red Queen sings a whole song about how Love isn’t it. And we ALL KNOW that her only connection to love as a kid was through ELLA. meaning Bridget HAD A CRUSH on Ella. Was IN LOVE. With Ella.

So. How did Crowncoming originally happen you ask?

Here’s my theory

Ella and Bridget go to the dance. They are happy! They have fun. Bridget falls further in love with Ella. Meanwhile. Ella falls in love with Charming!

Her and Charming hit it off. And Ella starts to feel loved and appreciated for the first time in her life.

Then, Bridget performs her ‘Shuffle of Love’ dance. All the attention is on her! Even Charmings.

Ella feels robbed. She feels jealous. She feels angry that her friend is stealing the one good moment she is finally having to herself.

And so she briefly remembers the spell. And in a moment of error, she either A. Remembers the recipe already and makes the recipe. Or B. Re-Sneaks back into the office to see it. However I’m going with A because the book wouldn’t have opened again for Ella because of her bad intentions.

Whichever way. Bridget eats the baked treat. (I think it was a cupcake. Ella could have lied and said it was from the earlier batch)

And then. IT HAPPENS! Bridget is turned into an ugly terrifying monster. Everyone LAUGHS at her. Everyone makes fun of her

And Bridget, who is confused, understands only ONE person could have done this to her. She looks at someone she was in love with. And just sees Ella and Charming laughing. Laughing at her. Bonding over laughing at HER.

Bridget runs off. In tears. Broken inside. With an equally broken heart.

Maybe if Ella had immediately realized her error and run after her she would have turned out differently. But no. It is proven that Ella stayed at the dance and stayed with Charming. They wouldn’t have had the chance to fall in love if she left.

So Bridget. Spends the rest of the night terrified. Looking like a monster. And being laughed and screamed and made fun of everywhere she goes. And not only that. But her ONLY FRIEND. Her CRUSH. Someone she TRUSTED did this to her

Now THIS! THIS is something can break a person. This is something that can change their views on the world. On humanity itself. She was a kind girl. Was kind to everyone no matter how meanly they treated her. But through it all, Ella was her rock. Her friend. Her secret love. Someone who was good and kind through it all.

But she betrayed her. Tbe one nice person betrayed her. Showing that being nice doesn’t do it. Being nice does not mean good things happen. Being nice doesn’t is worthless if this is what it gets you. Everyone is two faced. And the only thing that’s real. The only thing she CAN feel. Is hurt. And pain. And fear. And so that’s what she swears to become. That’s what she swears to do. Be mean and cruel and heartless so she never has to feel all this pain ever again. So her eventual DAUGHTER never has to feel this again. It’s better to be alone and feared. Then alone and broken.

Ella probably realized the error of her ways the next day. But as she said. It was too late. Bridget was never the same.

This Explains why they had so many odd interactions. The raw feral burning chemistry between them. All the odd phrase. Why The Red Queen would be okay sending her BEST FRIEND to death. Why she would be okay killing her. And taking over auradon. To Her? Cinderella is the one who made her this way.

but also part of her still remembers. Still cares. It’s why she gave her once chance to kneel to her. (And as we’ve noted in the books and movies. She doesn’t give ANYONE else a second chance. She punishes I’m immediately and harshly)

And so! With all of this happening. Theirs gonna be some catylist in recent times. The Red Queen might be nice now. But something will have changed. Ella never went to the dance. (She clearly fell in love with charming somewhere else cause otherwise Chloe would have disappeared) but something happened when she wasn’t at the dance. Something that caused another problem. And THATS gonna be the sequel to this movie. Descendants : Rise of Red part two.

(as we’ve seen the official script for the movie is literally called Descendants : Rise of Red part one. MEANING they wrote it with the purpose of being part one to either a sequel or a threequal)

And THAT! Ladies and Gentleman, is what I think the REAL plot behind Descendants : Rise of Red is! A movie that is not idiotically not thought out at all, but really something so secretly genuis is blows your mind!

Hope you enjoyed!

[a34trgv2]

Top 10 Cartoons I Hate But Many Others Like

#10. The Amazing Digital Circus: Yes, I'm aware only 2 episodes have been made of this cartoon. I'm also aware that both episodes have been praised by viewers and critics alike. As much as I would love to join in on the fun, I cannot ignore how badly structured it is. From the unlikable characters, the poor world building, the unfocused narrative to the lackluster jokes, poor handling of themes and lack of stakes, this it the kind of unmitigated mess that more infamously bad cartoons are ripped to shreds over. I will say that the animation and voice acting is well done so it's not all bad.

#9. The Owl House: Many people were disappointed by my disappointment with this disappointing cartoon. But no one was more disappointed that I was left cold by the show than me. I love fantasy, magic, mystical creatures and enchanting worlds. The Owl House should've been up my ally, yet in practice I wouldn't even spit in it's direction. With an irritating cast of characters, bad world building, formulaic plots, the writing was already on the wall. Then Amity showed up and it made the show unbearable to sit through. I'm all for LGBTQ rep, but I draw the line at a bully and their victim becoming and item. I'm sure Amity has some sappy sob story about how her parents pressured her into being an entitled brat, but she's still and entitled brat that shouldn't even have friends, nevermind a girlfriend, because her attitude STINKS!

#8. The Loud House: I've made it no secret that despite the warm reception and continued popularity of The Loud House, I was never a fan. I never found it funny, well written, or relatable. All I got from The Loud House was this is one of the most annoying dysfunctional families I've ever seen. I do think it's well animated and I commend the crew for moving forward with the show despite the disgraced creator's termination.

#7. Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur: I consider myself a big Marvel fan thanks to the MCU and Spider-Man franchises. I never heard of Moon Girl or Devil Dinosaur before this show was announced, so I was genuinely curious to see how this would play out. Needless to say, I was not impressed. Despite having dazzling visuals and really good voice acting, the show is just badly made with terrible writing, unfunny jokes, dull characters, and repetitive action scenes. This show clearly has its fans, but unfortunately I'm not one of them.

#6. Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous: Those who know me know I love dinosaurs and am a huge Jurassic Park fan. You'd think a cartoon based on the series would be as exciting and interesting as the movies. Well like so many of the dinosaurs victims, you'd be DEAD WRONG! This show shoots itself in the foot by having 6 unlikable and annoying characters, and not one gets eaten by a dinosaur. Not to mention it's sluggishly paced, the animation is stiff, and the score only reminds me of the movies I'd rather be watching. Clearly I'm in the minority here as I had a blast watching ALL the Jurassic Park movies, even the ones critics didn't like at all, over this.

#5. We Bare Bears: I like bears as much as the next guy, with my favorite cartoon bear of all time being Winnie The Pooh. Despite my fascination with this big, furry creatures, We Bare Bears never made me like the main trio, much less love them. They're all varying degrees of unlikable and the show isn't funny or well written to keep me engaged. They also did San Francisco dirty by making the people so unlikable. The one element that I think would've made for a much more interesting show is Chloe Park. Her character was utterly wasted on this stupid show as she's a kid with a high IQ and is in college but still wants to be a kid. She deserves better.

#4. The Mitchells vs The Machines: As much as I like Sony pushing for more expiremental animated films lately, this expirement didn't succeed in my book. Sure, the animation is amazing and the voice acting's mostly good, but tells such a generic story, has such incompetent and unlikable characters, and I will never get over the fact that Aaron Mitchell sounds like a middle-aged man and not, you know, A CHILD! The worst part about this film is despite it's best efforts, it is just NOT funny. It relies so much on cringy, outdated memes, weak slapstick, and dull visual gags and I never once found it funny.

#3. El Deafo: I was confused as to what this show was supposed to be based on the trailer. Watching it for myself, I found that it was more frustrating than anything. Don't get me wrong, I commend author Cece Bell for turning her personal struggles with impaired hearing into a comic turned cartoon and I fully understand wanting to tell a story from a deaf person's perspective. That said, though, I just despised the execution from the awful writing, the unlikable characters to the terrible sound mixing. As pure as the intentions were, they were sorely lost in the execution in my opinion.

#2. Frog and Toad: When I was a kid, I loved reading the Frog and Toad books. They were simple, yes, but the characters were so interesting and the illustrations were well crafted. This show should've been exactly what I was looking for in an adaptation of the books. What I got instead was a prime example of how NOT to adapt a beloved children's series. Despite having spot on voice acting, the abysmal writing, the incompetent characters, and the lackluster animation really soured the experience. I know the author's children were involved in this, but I don't think they did the books justice. The show didn't take full advantage of the medium and played more like mediocre live reading of the books.

#1. Summer Camp Island: I clearly struck a nerve with fans of the show when I said I hated it. Well, y'all will be please to know that your efforts to change my mind were all in vain. I just couldn't get passed how badly written it was, how hatable the characters were, how grossly unfunny it was. The worst part is that this is a world where anthropomorphic animals and mystical creatures exist, yet they can't tell anyone about the magic on the island. To this very day, I CALL BOLONGA!

Conclusion: I'm not saying y'all are wrong for liking these show and you definitely won't see me call them "overrated." I just wanna offer a different perspective on these popular and well liked cartoons. Some honorable mentions include Miraculous Ladybug (many people love it, I can't stand it), The Ghost and Molly McGee (you all know how I feel about that chatterbox), and the "adult" cartoons that received critical acclaim such as Rick & Morty, Smiling Friends, Bob's Burgers and The Simpsons. Agree? Disagree? Let me know in the comments and I'll see you next time.

[specialagentlokitty]

Maze x teen!reader - I’ll look after you

Could I request a platonic maze (Lucifer) x teen!reader where r is a homeless orphan, and maze grows attached them and becomes like a maternal figure to them and r isn't afraid of her demon side? - Anon💜

Since Lucifer had been spending more and more of his time with Chloe Maze had to find different things to pass her time, bounty hunting was fun, but she was often done pretty quickly so she sometimes just wondered around.

It was how she first encountered you, you were running out a store with a handful of food in your arms, occasionally dropping a few.

Maze was fast.

But a teenager trying to get away with theft?

She didn’t expect you to be as fast as you were but when she followed you around a corner you were just done. Not a single trace of you.

She was determined to find you so she searched high and low over the city, she spent weeks trying to find you until she eventually found you again doing the same thing.

Running from a different store with food.

It took a few more attempts before she actually found out where you were going.

You were leaving a manhole cover open nearby and jumping into it before closing it, so she followed you.

She quietly followed you, it wasn’t pleasant walking through the sewers but you didn’t seem to care, or you just didn’t notice the smell anymore.

She carried on taking mental notes on you.

You were covered in dirt, clothes slightly torn, you looked like you hadn’t had a good meal in months, you only appeared once a week or so, you never struck the store twice and you always kept your face hidden.

She kept following you until you eventually sat down on a pile of dirty blankets with your food.

Maze didn’t show herself right away, she stayed hidden and she watched you stuff everything under one of the blankets.

“You know this place stinks.” She calls out.

You jump, eyes flicking to everywhere you could see but you couldn’t see anybody.

“Who are you? Why did you follow me?”

“You’ve been stealing from different stores.”

You scowl a little.

“So what? It’s the stuff that’s nearly out of date, they’d just toss it anyways.”

“It’s still theft.” She replies.

“They have more money to replace it.”

Maze hummed a little, nodding in agreement because you were right, they did.

She leant against one of the walls, still keeping herself hidden from you.

“Why do you steal it?”

“The food banks are always empty when I get there, I always get shoved out the way or ignored, so it’s easier.”

“You don’t steal clothes?”

“No, nothing over a certain amount.”

It went quiet for a moment and the next thing you knew a jacket was thrown in your direction of whoever it was disappeared.

It wasn’t the first time you spoke to Maze like that, she started coming more often but never showed herself.

You knew her name, she knew yours, you knew about her jobs, and she knew a bit about your life but not much.

As the summer ended and things became colder that’s when Maze started visiting more, trying to coax you out of your hiding spot.

Was it concern?

Was this the same thing Lucifer felt for Chloe?

It couldn’t be, this was different, it was a strong desire to just take you home, get your cleaned up and well fed and never let you out of her sight, to keep you safe.

Maze made her way back down, and instead of staying around the corner she walked around and stood in front of you with her arms crossed.

“Stop being stupid let’s go.”

You glance up from where you were laid.

After waiting a minute Maze huff send picks you up, throwing you over her shoulder as if your weighed nothing, grabbed your bag with her other hand and left.

“I’m fine where I am!”

“You’re being stupid and you’ll freeze your ass off, and then I’ll have to take you to hospital and then tell you I told you so while you freeze your ass off.”

It was quiet for a few minutes as Maze brings you back up to the streets.

“Where are you even taking me?”

“Somewhere safe, shut up.”

She puts you on the back of her bike, pushes a helmet on your head and sits behind you.

When she got back to her shared apartment with Chloe she pushes your towards one of the bedrooms and gives you a warning look as she leaves again.

The next thing you knew you were pushed into the bathroom which had clean clothes for you.

You were more than happy to wash and change clothes, when you were done Maze studied you for a moment.

“You’re staying here.”

It was clear she wasn’t going to let you refuse, so you nod your head.

Maze wasn’t the best of cooks, but she did try, and though her food wasn’t great you still ate it which made her grin a little bit.

She wasn’t sure how she was going to explain this to Chloe yet but she didn’t care, you were staying with her, she was going to make sure you never had to be out there alone again because she knew how that felt.

You needed a parent, and maybe she wasn’t the best choice, but she felt a strong drive to care for you and protect you, and that’s what she was going to do

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

“Also because I want [Nino] to be more narratively important but that is a rant for another day.” And will that day be someday soon? Wink wink nudge nudge :3c

I am happy to give Nino some love, but before we do, we need to talk about how badly canon has failed him. The reason we need to have that talk is that the love I'm going to give is far more headcanon-y than I usually go in these analysis posts. For most characters, I can give a strong canon-based argument for a core characterization. For Nino? Well, I am pulling this stuff from canon, but I wouldn't exactly label it a "strong" argument. There are even elements of my take on Nino that you could label "grasping at straws".

And I'm happy to own that! I delight in giving Nino all the love he deserves even if it doesn't perfectly match canon, but that means that my Nino is less me leaning into the best parts of canon and more me shifting through canon, grabbing a few shinny bits, and weaving them into something that you may not agree with because my vision for Nino is to elevate him to match Alya in terms of narrative importance because I want the team show season two promised me even if I have to make it myself!

And if you don't want that? Then that's fine! I'm not arguing that everyone should adopt this take. My version of Nino is about as close to an OC as I get when writing fanfic. So let's get into it and talk about why I had to do that. (Also note that I have nothing against OCs. It's just that, when it comes to my own writing, I try to reserve them for original fiction or for very minor roles that no canon character could fill. Totally a matter of personal preference and not some sort of judgement.)

The Many Ways that Canon has Done Nino Dirty

If we look at what is arguably the main group of friends - Alya, Marinette, Adrien, and Nino - then we can see a clear base concept for the first three. Alya is the plucky reporter. Marinette is the headstrong leader. Adrien is the sweet goofball. Nino is... Alya's boyfriend? Adrien's best friend? Chris' older brother?

This is the problem that I was referring to above. Alya, Adrien, and Marinette have clear roles that you could pick out by just watching Origins. Nino doesn't. He doesn't even speak in part one and part two gives him all of six lines. These lines establish him as a nice guy since they're all about him being kind to Adrien, but that's about it. Here's one of them as an example:

Miss Bustier: Agreste, Adrien? Nino: (quietly to Adrien) You say "present". Adrien: (jumps up with his hand raised) Uh, present!

This is a cute moment for sure, but when I look at it, I can't tell you who Nino is supposed to be other than a nice guy, which isn't much to go on. Nice guys can fit a lot of roles.

This isn't necessarily a flaw. Some characters have roles that are immediately obvious and some characters don't. This second class of character usually just has a more complex role that will be discovered and defined based on their actions as the story goes on. However, because Miraculous' writing is all over the place, Nino gets screwed. Instead of his actions defining his nebulous role, his actions make his role impossible to pin down! Here are a few examples:

Nino the Protector:

Season two was big on the idea that miraculous had to be suited to their holders. That's why Chloe kept getting the bee as we saw in Malediktator:

Marinette: I must choose someone who's not impressed by people in power. Who can help me trap Malediktator. Huh?! Of course! That's it. (reaches for the Miraculous of the Bee)

And why did Nino get the turtle in Anansi?

Marinette: I need a protective Miraculous. (gasps, and points at the Turtle Miraculous Master Fu is wearing) That's the one I need, Master! (Master Fu gasps) Uh, if it's okay with you. Master Fu: (smiles at Wayzz, who nods to him) Do you have someone in mind, Marinette?  Marinette: Actually, I think I found just the right person.

Okay, cool, we finally have a strong defining trait for Nino! He's a protector! Or, at least, he was here. Other episodes go directly against this role such as this nonsense from Illusion:

Nino: What's up is Ladybug and Cat Noir don't have us to help them anymore. Alya: (nervously) Um, um— uh— what do you mean, "us"? Nino: Well, us, you Rena Rouge, me Carapace! (Alya kicks his leg underneath the table) Ouch! What's the big deal? We can tell Marinette and Adrien we used to be superheroes.

This first issue with this episode is that we see Nino out his and Alya's secret identities without her permission even though the resistance did NOT require an identity reveal to be a thing. In other words, our supposed protector is taking a big risk for no reason. Then he goes and does this:

Nino: Hence my plan. We're gonna film an akumatization. Alya: And how are you, Comrade Ketchup, gonna be in the know when and where this akumatization takes place? Nino: Easy, Comrade Beurre Maître d'Hôtel. I'm gonna make it happen.

Which leads to the four friends antagonizing Gabriel even though Nino knows how complex Adrien and Gabriel's relationship is. A move that makes no sense for a supposed protector because Gabriel was far from their only option. Nino could have picked anyone, but he went with the riskiest candidate possible, exposing his best friend to a potentially massive backlash.

Nino also doesn't even try to contact Ladybug and Chat Noir prior to this insane plan, thereby putting the whole city at unnecessary risk! What kind of protector purposely causes an akuma without also coming up with mitigation strategies to minimize the resulting damage?

Everything Nino does in this episode should disqualify him from ever holding the turtle again or, at the very least, he should have to redeem himself before holding the turtle again. This is especially true since he never apologizes for anything he did in Illusion and this is just one example of the issue. It's actually kind of hard to find moments where Nino acts as a protector even though he holds the miraculous of Protection. So is he supposed to be a protector? Who knows!

Nino, The Empath:

That first example was long, so we'll pick two quicker ones to flesh this out. The first one is how Nino and Adrien's relationship is defined. In Origins and the New York Special Nino is written as a kind and sensitive guy who is acting as Adrien's guide to dating and other elements of the real world:

Nino: Yup. I love Adrien, but he's like a baby chick that's just started cracking out of his egg. He has a hard time understanding the signals people send him. Alya: What signals? Marinette isn't exactly sending them clearly. I mean, look! What is she doing with her arms? Telling him what to do in case of an emergency landing or something? Nino:(sighs) If only this trip could help Adrien finally come out of his shell.

But then you have episodes like Animan where Adrien is Nino's guide to dating:

Nino: Shhh! You know I'm no good with the ladies, especially this one all of a sudden. I mean, dude, do I go up to her and crack her a joke? Shoot her a compliment? Invite her to the zoo? Play it serious? Adrien: Nino, you're way over-thinking this. "Invite her to the zoo", you serious? Nino: Well, they have this really cool new exhibit there. Adrien: Listen, just be yourself, man.

And episodes like Illusion (discussed above) and Psycomedian (see below) where Adrien is deeply uncomfortable and Nino doesn't notice:

Nino: See, dude? I told you! Hilarious, right? Adrien: Uh... (laughs nervously) Right! Really funny, Nino. Nino: I gotta show you his other sketches. It's insane that you don't know Harry Clown! (laughs)

Which might work if these episodes were about Nino learning a lesson, but they're not. Nino learns nothing, so is he generally in tune with others or is he kind of oblivious to other peoples' feelings? And why did Nino ever think that Adrien was a good source of romantic advice if he also thinks that Adrien is "a baby chick"? Pick a lane people!

Nino's Hobbies

Our final source of confusion is trying to define what Nino even enjoys doing. Horrificator and Queen Banana have him playing around as an amature film maker, but we also see him acting as an amature DJ with the wiki even claiming that he's the head of the school's radio station. So which of these things is his passion? Movies or music?

To be clear, I think it's fine to have multiple passions, but this is a story. You want to keep your characters' non-story-relevant hobbies kind of simple, especially when the character in question is a relatively minor side character who rarely gets much screen time. It's why Alix is only really into roller skating and why Nathaniel is only really into art. You don't want them to be more complex than that.

Even the main characters get this "keep it simple" treatment with Marinette only really being into fashion and Alya only really being into her blog. The girls don't need two demanding passions that would eat up all of their free time, but that's what Nino gets! Film and music are both incredibly demanding passions and it's hard to balance a character who is into both who is also an active superhero. That's a lot for one dude to do well!

I've actually seen fics that cast Nino as wanting to be a director and fics that make him want to be a professional DJ because canon really isn't clear about this pretty basic aspect of his character, but you do need to pick a lane when writing anything that gives Nino a career and so people seem to pick a passion at random.

My Version of Nino

By now, we're hopefully in agreement that canon has made a mess of Nino's character to the point where it's near impossible to say "this is who Nino is supposed to be." However, if you want to write Nino, then you do kind of have to pick a characterization to go with, so here's what I've come up with. Feel free to embrace it or reject it, but know that you will pry my version of Nino out of my cold dead hands because I utterly adore him.

Since Nino is Carapace, I base everything about him around the concept of "protect and defend" because he needs to feel like he deserves his heroic alter ego. I do not want to make canon's mistake of giving him a miraculous that massively contradicts his writing. Especially when that writing makes him feel interchangeable with other characters. At this point, no one from canon screams "turtle miraculous" unless you want to give it to Adrien since he's Ladybug's defender.

I also designed Nino around Alya and Adrien as those will arguably be his most important relationships. He should feel like a perfect fit for boyfriend and best friend respectively. I also took Marinette into consideration because he's going to be part of her team/friend group, so he should work with her, too.

What all that means is that I basically said "okay, this is where Nino is supposed to fit in the story and this is the dumpster fire that canon gave us, how do I pull pieces from the fire and paste them together to make a character that fits who Nino should have been?"

To really get into my version of Nino, I'd almost have to give you a fic to read, but that's way too much for a Tumblr post, so let's keep this high-level and just look at some of my notes on Nino from my lore Bible:

Nino is a major audiophile. He loves listening to music and watching movies/TV shows to study how they play with sound. He wants to be an audio engineer when he's older, but he also has a general passion for all things music and film. He’ll listen to any genre and watch almost any movie or show. He loves to take charge of the music at events so that the music really fits the crowd (and so it sounds good). It isn’t unheard of for him to go see an unknown band or an odd indie film on his own. This will become a major bonding point for Nino and Adrien because of the influence of Adrien's mother. Nino has seen all of Emilie's films and loves them. It will also bond him and Alya as his knowledge of film making will allow him to help her learn the art of filming now that she's doing complex things like actions shots and editing together multiple recordings.

Nino is generally pretty laid back and likes to hear people out. His reaction to confrontation is to try to calm everyone down so that they can get to the heart of the issue. He wants everyone to get along, but he's also not going to let someone take the blame when they shouldn't. Nino protects the innocent.

Nino is incredibly protective of the people he loves. If someone he cares about is in danger, his peaceful nature goes straight out the window. He’s the kind of person who would happily take a bullet for his friends and family. This will lead to him following Alya around once the hero stuff starts because he wants to keep her safe. Never let Alya go out alone if Nino is around or even just aware that a fight is happening. Alya thinks "scoop" and Nino thinks "my Alya sense is tingling." He's NOT there to stop her from doing what she loves, he's just there to be her spotter who lets her focus on filming while he watches for danger, though that will initially be a struggle for him. Treat this as his audition/training for Carapace where he learns to balance protective instincts with getting the job done so that he's ready to perfectly take on his miraculous.

When Nino’s folks split up, his mother insisted that the kids should go to therapy to help process things. They had individual and family counseling. Nino was actually pretty cool with the divorce as he’d seen it coming, but his brother was really affected by it, so Nino spent his time working on ways to help Chris (and being told that he was a brother, not a parent, but he still wanted to help). He learned a lot from going through it and it’s why he’s so good at dealing with emotional issues. He’s also good at not taking those burdens on himself. He wants to help, but knows that it's your battle. Marinette often looks to Nino for guidance on emotional issues because she knows that she's terrible at navigating them. She has given him full permission to stop her when she's too focused on solutions over support. All of the friends will help Adrien figure out social situations, but Nino will be the main guide as he's the one with the strongest skills in that area. Plus Adrien makes Nino's protective big brother instincts go crazy.

Nino’s a bit of a loner by choice. He has "weird" hobbies that easily lend themselves to being done alone and he doesn't have any interest in "forcing" his hobbies on someone who doesn't actually enjoy them, so he spends a lot of time by himself and rarely invites others to share in his interests. He only does that when he thinks that they'll actually enjoy what he's sharing. He doesn’t mind this, but he’s also a very welcoming individual who doesn’t like to see people left out, so he’ll come out of his shell when he sees someone who needs a friend. This usually leads to him making friends who soon become closer with others, but still view him as a casual friend. He’s cool with that. He's just happy that they found their people. Adrien will be the first friend who really stays Nino’s due to an understanding of Nino’s “weird” hobbies. After all, Adrien’s the son of an actress. He’s used to weird indie films and discussions of cinematography. I'd even say that he revels in it and realizes that he has missed it desperately since his mom got too sick to do that kind of thing. Basically, Nino will fill a spot in Adrien's heart that Adrien didn't even know was empty. Adrien can listen to Nino talk about cinematography for hours and never get bored. Before Adrien, no one knew that Nino was this talkative!

If anyone wants more insights into this topic, feel free to send an ask, but I think we'll call this post done now because it's SUPER long.

[at4zxx]

“Sisterly love.”

Descendants rise of red❤️⚡️

genre: silly fluff 💖

glassheart used! (red x chloe)

bigsister!red + fem!reader

NOT A SHIP ⬆️⬆️(weirdos get lost)

warnings: NOT PROOF READ. but other then that NOPE! such a silly fic, I HOPE THIS HELPS?? :3 also I don’t count my words so have fun!

Growing up in the Wonderland palace was so boring, considering not socialising with anyone but your big sister and some of the guards.

You’re mom, Queen Bridget; also the queen of hearts did feel bad for you since you were a kid with no social life, so she bought two dogs. One Rottweiler and one german Shepard by the names of Atlas and Apollo, you and red loved them. They were basically guard dogs.

But now here you are, playing with the flour on the kitchen floor, throwing the whole entire bag onto the floor and scooping it into a bowl with the biggest smile known to any four in a half year old girl.

Your sister Red came downstairs with her girlfriend, Chloe.

Her face completely dropped when she saw the mess you made, chloe found it amusing since you managed to pour some on the dogs.

Apollo was rolling around in the white dust spread all over the kitchen floor meanwhile Atlas just sat down patiently just looking at the two older girls as if he was asking them to get him out of this mess. He was a clean dog, didn’t like getting dirty. Meanwhile Apollo threw himself into anything that had dust.

“omg, Y/N!” She exclaims, picking up the small girl covered in flour head to toe.

“Moms going to kill me! What were you even thinking!”

Y/N doesn’t seem to understand, just smiling and laughing.

“I wanted to make a cake for mama and Chloe!” You responded, the amount of happiness evident on your face made Reds frustration sooner replace.

She sighs after a while, pulling you into a hug, knowing she’ll probably have dust or flour on her clothes and face.

“Of course you did. Cmon, let’s just get this whole chaos cleaned.”

Chloe placed her hand on Reds shoulder, seeing the small smile on her lips.

“What?”

“You’re such a good sister to her.”

Just that there made Reds face flush. Her smile reappearing.

“Yeah yeah- shut up. Let’s just clean up before the maids see this and quit..”

“Yeah!” Y/N cheered, raising her arms happily.

“You’re not getting out of this so easily missy, no more sweets.”

Y/N’s smile turns into a frown, she drops her arms and looks down at the floor with slight sadness.

“aww :C”

——————

what seemed like FOREVER to you but felt like only 15 minutes for the other two girls you were all done cleaning the kitchen. And the dogs were no longer covered in flour.

Chloe sighs, wiping the bit of sweat from her forehead.

“Nothing like a bit of hard work does the trick.” She sighs.

Red laughs, looking at her girlfriend as she approaches her.

“Oh please princess, you only cleaned the flour off the dogs.”

Chloe smiles, bringing her hand up to wipe a bit of flour from Reds cheek with her thumb.

“You had something on your cheek, love.”

She chuckles pulling the blue haired girl closer.

“You have something on your lips.”

Then, their lips meet for a few seconds, butterflies flutter in Chloe’s stomach, Red felt like she was melting. Until it was cut off by the sound of a little girl.

“eww! don’t kiss! germs!!” Y/N fake gags, looking away.

The two girls laugh, pulling away.

“Alright, how about we bake a cake for your mom?” Chloe speaks, kneeling to Y/N’s height. Earning a scoff from Red for the two to ignore what she just said for Y/N’s punishment.

Y/N’s sparkle in her eyes return as she jumps into Chloe’s arms.

“Yes please!!”

Red sighs, crossing her arms.

“Oh my god you guys are so annoying.”

“Oh you love us.”

creator note: I kinda wished that Red had a younger sibling or atleast a pet because I think that would’ve been a cute thing to add :3

I love these two so much! (another reminder I’m not shipping the actors, and also this isn’t a ship edit towards Malia and Kylie) BUT OMG I LOVED WRITING THIS IT WAS SO CUTE- kinda short BUT SO CUTEE

[most-datable-datable-bracket]

ROUND 2 MATCH 63

Chloe propaganda:

“main love interest for the playable character (there's another option but he's generally not liked) she's badass, she's supposed to die but the player changes her fate, they were childhood friends but had a fallout but eventually met again, she lost her dad and previous friend/girlfriend (she appears in the prequel and the relationship is dependant on how the player wants it to be) she has blue hair she says the word hella a lot and (spoiler) by the end you either have to sacrifice her or the town it's one of those really depressing games”

“My Gay Awakening <3”

Mammon propaganda:

“He was done dirty in the first round, I hope he wins this time because he deserves it 

First of all, he hates you at the start but then he starts to like you but he exclaimed his hate too much at the start so he can't admit it 

Everyone knows that he likes MC, even his little D (who are demons familiars) thinks that they should date 

He is a classic tsundere but doesn't actually hurt you like other tsunderes but he is so bad at hiding his feelings that everyone is just ignores it 

He is the avatar of greed, meaning he is clingy which may be a turn away for some people but he cares for you so so much 

He has never turned into his demon form to hurt you (Asmo hasn't but he has tried to seduce you with his power)

Don't get me started on his story cards, he literally is so cute

He wants to be a mentor to Luke, like Lucifer was to him, he is only mean to Luke because he wants Luke to learn about how life isn't all sunshine and rainbows

He is also so hot, he is a bisexual panic 

He is bullied by his brothers but he cares for them so so much despite their bullying

I am so in love with him and have written so many fics about him 

Anyway, I'm going to stop here because otherwise I'll be here all day”

[agentoffangirling]

And on the topic of redesigns, here's how I would redesign the D4 characters. If a character isn't mentioned here, it's because I like their outfits in the movie and wouldn't redesign it much:

Chloe: Brown hair, often styled in braid(s) so they're away from her face from sword fighting. Looks as though she came from the lap of luxury itself with high-end fabrics and materials. A deeper blue for the majority of her clothes, with lighter blues and whites as accents. More feminine, again going into that luxury angle with bits of gold jewelry and sparkly boots. Maybe a slight skirt train when she's not fighting, or a sparkly shirt with ruffles at the end, resembling a skirt

Red: Keeping the red hair, but more muted; I think brown roots would look really nice on her, as though she dyed her hair out of rebellion, which adds to her arc. Natural brown hair could also play into her being less of a VK. Also keeping the leathers, but a ton more black into her outfits to help with the bright red. White is also an accent color, but she has less of it compared to Chloe. More harsh angles and shapes to set them apart, tank top girly instead of the standard t-shirt

Bridget: Red hair, but muted like Red's. Definitely a lot more curls to her, though, and I think she'd also look really cute with a bow. Very extra and ultra-feminine, is obviously rich but doesn't necessarily flaunt it. While her fabrics are high end, she has minimal jewelry and prefers to stick to a more modest style of dressing. Lighter pink for the majority of the outfits to match her hair better but some hot pinks here or there to help her stand out. Puffed up sleeves, short skirts that are similarly puffy (and sparkly) with some type of bottom. Flats instead of boots, nails painted with card designs

Ella: Exact opposite of Bridget. Braids are done in a similar fashion to Chloe's, but a more utility-esque purpose. Denim for the majority of her clothes, keeping that "scrapped together" feel, and very very minimal makeup. Oversized clothing occasionally due to hand-me-downs from Anastasia and Drizzella. Nailbeds are cracked from working so much, and her boots are muddy, form and function over style. Her outfit from "Get Your Hands Dirty" is really what I'm going for

Maleficent: Out with the hair-wrapped horns. Out with them. They're also going to be shorter, not as grown in, and more standing up to resemble the ones from D1 and "Sleeping Beauty". Dark purple hair, darker than Mal's, kept up in a ponytail braid. Victorian clothing with lace, a lot more drapey, almost trailing on the ground. Long nails, purple with green decals. Her outfit is primarily black with dark purple and neon green accents, and her boots are leather with a sharp heel. Black lipstick and a smokey eye to finish

Morgie: I really don't like that scarf. I know it's supposed to resemble a snake, but it just looks tacky. Tighter clothing made of fine materials, a vest with an almost scale-like design to it. Leather pants with that similar scale style running down the sides. Drapey sleeves are alright, but I feel like he could also do without them. Painted nails for sure, though, he would rock a green. More gold decals and a mild green for his color palette Also I think the eye thing should be permanent

[epickiya722]

You know what, I expected that they would have Chloe not mention Chad at all. We already know they do not care about continuity.

But I'm going to tell you my problem with not having Chloe mentioning Chad.

Just throwing it out there, it's not that the fandom really cares about Chad like that. I don't really care about Chad like that. (They could have done better with his writing. As for a lot of other characters.)

It's not that the fandom is like "oh, how dare they take away our favorite white boy". It's not that. No, scratch that. It's part of this following reason.

It's that the OG VKs and AKs were done dirty before and it continues. Oh, but it's not just that. See, them leaving most of them out is an "excuse" for something else that I'll talk about later.

Just follow with me here.

Not too long ago they released the Red version of Uma's song, What's My Name. In the song there is this part...

This is Red's part, just so we're clear. They had her make remarks that the VKs are "middle-aged". Mind you while on a song belonging to UMA. The VKs would just be reaching their 20s at this time. Just their 20s!! If you're including Celia, Dizzy and the Smee Twins as VKs (because technically they are) they would probably still be in school.

What's makes this part worse is the "cradle to the grave" lyrics. The songwriters obviously were not thinking when they put that in. They didn't register what fans might they think when hearing those lyrics. Do I have to say it? Like, really think about it.

With this part of the song and no mention of Chad in Chloe's video, it's them saying "well, it's not like the AKs and rest of the VKs are important anyways!"

That's the problem right there. And that's a problem that leads into a bigger problem.

Let's think about the Sea Three. It's like they're already trying to replace them with Uliana, Hook and Morgie.

"But Uma is there!" They knew damn well that Uma would bring in more fans to watch that movie. Uma is a beloved character, why wouldn't they include her? It's the same reason Brandy and Paolo are back playing as Cinderella and Charming.

See, Disney will market off Black and other people of color. They'll be like "oh, we can give this character this, but not this". They can have some good traits, but they still have to get some bad. (Example, Tiana could be a princess!! But she had to spend most of her movie as a damn frog!)

Let me start with Uliana.

What sucks about Uliana and her crew to me is that it seems this time they really want fans to hate on a Black girl... again.

See, I bet in 2017 they didn't anticipate on fans adoring Uma and actually sympathizing with her. And it helps that China is a damn good actress and singer.

They made Uma the "big bad" in the second movie, continuing the "let's make the Black girls and women antagonistic" (Audrey, being played by Sarah Jeffery who is half Black, being mean to Mal and Cruella being played by a Black woman, Wendy Raquel Robinson).

Again, though, that shit didn't work so they're trying it again.

Don't believe me?

Here's the thing. If they wanted Bridget to have this sad backstory who was bullied... why did they make it a Black girl? And why is this character just so happen to be Uma's aunt and Ursula's sister? They couldn't have made another villain character be her bully? To be the reason as to why Bridget aka Queen of Hearts hates Cinderella? In fact, how about Maleficent? She's right there!!

From the looks of the trailer, it may be Uliana did something that made Bridget hate Cinderella. So they couldn't have Maleficent be manipulative and do that then? Why come up with a whole original character related to one of the most other notorious Disney villains (who is Black in the Descendants universe, by the way, Whoopi Goldberg) for just that? Hm?

No, Disney said "let's make trick the fans, make them think that Dara will be playing a sweet, innocent princess and then reveal she'll be playing this bully who we made up".

See, they couldn't use Morgana from the second Little Mermaid movie because one, there's her name. We have Morgie in the movie and his mother's name is Morgana. Two, when the first Descendants movie came out, Disney made it a point to make it seem that the first films of the animated films were canon. Meaning that, yeah, sequels were ignored.

In the case of Chloe and Chad!

As I mentioned before, it comes off that the AKs and VKs are being brushed aside. And yes, it's a problem.

The problem isn't having a new generation. I personally am not upset seeing these new characters, let alone new actors. I hate how they (not the actors, not them) went about this.

They could have easily announced Malia Baker playing Chloe from the start. But no, they didn't do that. On top of that, no mention of Chad??

Disney didn't have Chloe mention Chad because they want to play off him being an OG AK and white and have the fandom feel some kind of way towards Chloe who is of color. They want people to be antagonistic towards and annoyed at Chloe. See, they let this Black girl be a princess... but they'll probably have her be annoying in the movie, some perfectionist, oh and no mention of her supposed brother.

When you think about it... while Uilanna is the Uma here, Chloe is the Audrey.

Hm, a girly princess who wears blue, who is the daughter of a beloved Disney princess whose race was changed for the Descendants, played by an actress who looks racially ambiguous but happens to be Black, who has some connection to Chad (or lack of), who also comes off as some perfectionist, an often annoying character trait.

Now, don't that seem like Chloe is the Audrey here? Just this time, our princess is nicer.

Like with Uma, Audrey was meant to be disliked, but come the third movie fans grew to like and sympathize her.

This time around with Chloe, it's like Disney is trying to be sneakier about getting the fans to hate her.

Again, it's the "they can have this but they can't have this" with their Black and other characters of color.

"It's not about race." Disney made it about race. If it wasn't, they wouldn't have done previous antics with the other characters. If wasn't, Disney would have easily kept Cinderella and her family white from the animated films, if they still wanted fans to dislike her, just as they could have with Aurora and her family, but they didn't. They made fans believe Dara was going to play a princess and just knew fans would be like "Brandy could be Cinderella" because of that, and once they had Brandy be Cinderella? Well, you see what happened.

Simply, just my opinion, Disney has the intentions to make Chloe hated or at least less popular. They're just not trying make it not racist, but still still are racist about.

Now, I'm not saying the movie is going to be oh so terrible. The thing is, a fourth movie could have been a more excitable thing for fans if Disney stopped doing most of these characters dirty with their racism and favoritism.

[jadeyarts]

Ngl, I think Chloe was done dirty in the show

She should've had her own fairy godparent then share with Timmy. Plus she was introduced when the show was dying and was used as an attempt to revive it.

I want a Chloe redemption, give her what she deserves.

agree! like, her introduction was awful and actually truly failed to introduce her character sincerely or accurately it was so baffling. i watched season 10 twice, first in reverse order then in proper order and it was actually absolutely wild how absolutely nothing in her introduction episode was really that indicative of her character??? it doesn't truly capture any of chloe's quirks and complexities, or even really why she would need godparents, and barely anything in the episode actually carries into any episode beyond that besides, like, the turners being rich for the rest of the season? which is not a decision i liked, and it really only served as a half-hearted reason for the carmichaels to hate the turners inexplicably, but they really didn't need to be rich for that. the turners being rich could have been interesting if they actually brought back remy, though, since the turners literally bought the country club that remy's parents owned. whatever.

i mean, i think i understand what they were trying to do - setting timmy up as being jealous and frustrated with her and then forcing him to have to try being cordial, to force them to have to work in tandem, makes sense as a narrative and stakes. and revealing that she isn't actually as perfect as he initially believes her to be also narratively makes sense! but sadly the execution of these ideas is very disjointed and shallow. not to mention the way they tried to explicitly spell out its themes was extremely forced. it's kind of a retread of both imaginary gary (the episode) and the boy who would be queen in those aspects, but lacking cohesion. it feels like maybe a first draft that wasn't revised nearly enough, or something. maybe it was! maybe they hadn't truly figured out what they really wanted to do and by the time they did it was too late. i dunno, but whatever it was, the end result is the same: a lot of people barely make an effort to understand chloe as a character and instead parrot whatever reviewers said about her intro a decade ago. and i get it, i'm not innocent of that either, i did the same thing years ago. but then i decided i wanted to come to my own conclusions. and i ended up loving chloe's character, she would have been a great addition to the series if she just came in at a better time. she was a great foil for timmy! and their chemistry as friends was actually great!

and... to that second point... i guess i think you're objectively right, a lot of viewers would likely have an easier time accepting chloe if she had been introduced with her OWN fairies, separate from cosmo and wanda, while just coincidentally becoming friends with timmy... or even being the protagonist of a sequel would have been less controversial... but i also kind of disagree. the fact they were forced to share cosmo and wanda was actually one of the more interesting aspects of the season to me, even if the actual reasoning behind it was dog water. but i really liked the dynamic that formed as a result. this sort of allegorical stepsibling, blended family dynamic. i like the way that cosmo and wanda specifically both represented different attributes and values they needed in their lives! i like what this specific set-up added, even if i find the execution of most of its episode ideas to be um. well. season 10. i honestly think a better way to introduce chloe and incorporate these dynamics i found so interesting would have probably been to make them actual, literal stepsiblings and not just allegorical fairy god-stepsiblings. not sure who would have been into that besides me, though.

sighs loudly. maybe someday ill rewrite season 10 or something. i have a lot of story ideas for chloe.

[sweetcloverheart]

Clover Rants Miraculously: Painting With The Same Brush

You know, I think the most saddest (and kind of funny in an ironic way) things about “Derision” and other episodes/scenes like it is that in the writers attempts to get Chloe to seem “irredeemably evil” to the audience, all they’ve done is make the rest of the cast look bad. Like those scenes don’t effect my view of her because the show already told us Chloe was a brat and bully from the get-go, so learning about the date prank and her forcing Marinette to stay home and the entire plot of “Collusion” and “Confrontation” just come off as learning nothing new. Complete net-zero information. Meanwhile...

Bustier (and by extension Damocles and Mendeleiev) looks like an even worse teacher for ignoring her misbehavior and constantly putting the onus on Marinette to solve the issue if things were this bad already, especially when “Revelation” shows she’s so oblivious to the things going on in class that she's actually genuinely shocked Chloe hasn’t been doing her own homework for the entirety of her middle school career and then some. Like I know the fandom likes to joke that she’s a kindergarten teacher at the wrong school and “haha public education sucks because teachers bad” but DAMN woman, are you telling me you never side-eyed how similar Sabrina and “Chloe” homework tended to be even once (or maybe Sabrina’s just that good at forging handwriting like I often headcanon)? Just how little is FD’s overall funding that no one ever tried double checking this stuff?! No wonder Chloe treats y’all like a joke!

The class comes off as pretty fairweather/uncaring as Marinette was being bullied by Chloe for years (especially since it was stated in canon that Marinette had no friends until “Origins”) but only are only now seem to care about it. Even with the potential excuse of “Well Marinette grew a backbone/they’re less scared of Chloe now”, “Derision” showed the kids cared less about Chloe’s opinion than they do now and were willing to comfort Marinette after the prank, so what was stopping them from openly helping her out up until “Origins”?

The school faculty, despite Chloe having a reputation for exaggerating things and being purposely petty when demanding “punishments” when she feels slighted, constantly not only immediately believing her when she’s clearly making stuff up, but also still refusing to put their foots down (waiting until the grand coincidence of an Akumatized!Bustier forcing Andre to step down as opposed to, IDK, showing solidarity and care for their students by choosing to refuse Chloe’s demands and meeting her threats head on?). Again, what is the school paying you for?

Kim looks like a complete jerk now seeing as how he doesn’t seem to see anything wrong with that he did to Marinette in “Derision” and gives a rather poor apology afterwards - one he had to be shamed into rather than realizing and giving it on his own. Heck the only reason he even gets Akumatized over it is because everyone else was riding him on how messed up it was and he got fed up with it. It also kind of puts into question why Marinette is so friendly with him/still gave him a Miraculous if he participated in what was such a traumatic event for her. And that’s not even getting into poor Ondine having to hear her own boyfriend call another girl (whom is established as a huge jerk) “The prettiest girl in the world” Kim bby I’m so sorry the writers are doing you so dirty

Sabrina’s upgrade to Miraculous holder/her redemption feels even more unearned now because like above, she shows no remorse for her actions in “Derision” or the bullying she’s been (willingly in some parts) participating in for the last four seasons and before then, and only ends up leaving Chloe because Lila takes her spot as Chloe’s bestie and she hated having to share (and because their latest scheme in “Collusion” potentially involved jail time for her if they got caught) instead of genuine disgust at Chloe’s growing nastiness or her own mistreatment because of it. All those years of waiting and fics about Sabrina finally breaking free and realizing she could be better - rewarded with her instead abandoning Chloe to save her own skin and hopping onto the SS.Marinette because it benefited her more (and again, doesn’t involve jail time) rather than genuine regret of her actions. So inspiring

Andre basically allowed Chloe to get away with using his position as mayor to mistreat her classmates+the citizens and flaunt her status as his daughter for years, and only starts caring/putting his foot down when she starts doing it to Zoe and only for Zoe (the “good” non-blood daughter that the original script had him state he “liked better”) before he immediately abandons her to Audrey the first chance he gets, despite understanding what a terrible and abusive person his wife is - And let’s not forget him calling his 14 year old daughter that he raised “heartless” and terrible (to the man who frequently overrides his own child’s freewill with magic mind you). What’s worse is that the show plays this off like it’s his reward for having “suffered” under Chloe’s demands and that it’s all her fault he’s a terrible mayor (like he hadn’t often willingly broken laws or abused his position on his own with no prompting from her for his personal benefit). I’m sure all the neglectful dads who replace affection towards their children with gifts and indulgences watching feel totally respected and represented now.

Poor Sabine and Tom already get a bad enough rep as it is thanks to some of the story decisions made *COUGH*A//doration*COUGH*Ladybug*COUGHCOUGH*, but now we’ve been basically informed that they knew Marinette was being bullied to the point of actually pretending to be sick and...did nothing. And not even in a “We want to help but we’re limited thanks to school bureaucracy and/or our own financial situation” way but at “Yeah we know you’re terrified of your classmate tormenting you again and that this constant slew of harassment from all sides is slowly destroying your mental health but we’re just gonna tell you to buck up”. Yeah, they gave her Socqueline keeping an eye out but that ultimately ended up doing nothing to really protect her in the end

Zoe, for all her goodness and being portrayed as a “better redeemed!Chloe” as her claim to fame, does nothing to make good on her promise to love Chloe no matter what in “Queen Banana” and watches her half-sister being abandoned by her entire immediate family while reaping all the benefits from it (Not to say that’s her fault or she’s required to, just that it’s...well, not a good look for her tbh). While Zoe isn’t obligated to put up with Chloe’s mistreatment (and she isn’t), it def makes her look super hypocritical to claim to love Chloe “even if the whole world hates [her]” and then do/say nothing as her stepdad basically leaves her half sister to suffer from the same fate she escaped from in New York.

Adrien, despite having a front row seat to how awful and nasty Chloe can be to people who aren’t him and watching her torment his classmates for the past 9 months in canon, only now ends their friendship - and over an event that happened a year ago when he wasn’t there that she isn’t sorry for, when she’s been doing worse since he arrived with no remorse then either, with his only response back then being to chuckle and go “Chloe will never change” like a wistful friend. After 5 whole seasons of handwaving his handwaving of Chloe’s bullying, they only now have him care, with the catalyst being that Marinette won’t give him happy-smoochy-times because of whatever happened - and then make it worst by having him try to kill Kim for it, after having him have a near mental breakdown over accidentally giving the terrorist responsible for every one of his current life issues a death sentence with the same method (and also trying to do it to another akuma victim). My sincerest condolences Adrien please join Kim in the “You got screwed badly by the episode narrative” corner

Like, I genuinely have to wonder how they wrote out those episodes and thought anyone involved looked good afterwards. Peoples opinions on Chloe can’t sink any lower than they already are (and if they can, that’s mostly because they already disliked her), but you aren’t making her look worse by slinging mud on everyone else, even unintentionally.

[orchidsandtulips]

Rewriting Descendants 4

*Contains spoilers for Descendants: Rise of Red*

*Also this is rather long-ish*

Mostly, I’m just tweaking plot details because the movie felt bland, and the plot points that my sister and I came up with while trying to predict the movie feel like a much more exciting story.

Exposition can stay more or less the same. The only problems with the exposition were the dialogue execution and a heavy reliance on telling backstory rather than showing.

The main change is that, rather than the young villains being the ones to prank Bridgette, it’s Ella. As in Cinderella. Why would Cinderella dismiss the Queen of Hearts’ backstory as a “stupid prank” if she wasn’t a part of it? Why would she be cryptic about the prank to her daughter if she didn’t do it? This was the logic going through my mind during the exposition, it would give Chloe more character-developing trauma to work through, and it gives Cinderella a reason to be the second main character’s parent.

Why does Cinderella prank Bridgette? Well, Castlecoming is coming up. Despite what she may say about princesses and princes, Cinderella has a crush on Prince Charming. However, Charming is more charmed by Bridgette and her peppy, cupcake-baking, outgoing personality (because there’s no way Ella is Bridgette’s only friend when Bridgette is the living embodiment of kindness, generosity, and sunshine). In “Get Your Hands Dirty,” Ella says she would do anything for someone she loves. That is SO easy to turn into a twist villain song. Ella wants to find some way to prevent Bridgette from wooing the prince, and figures a little magic can’t hurt too badly. She didn’t intend for the prank to go that far, but the damage was done anyway. Betrayal from her best friend affects Bridgette much more than the bullies doing bully things. Red and Chloe don’t stick around to see this after stealing the cookbook (which they do much earlier in the movie for climax purposes), and only find out about this event when nothing changes upon first returning to the beginning-of-movie ceremony.

Chloe is heartbroken upon hearing that her mother did such a horrible thing. Red consoles her, and the girls bond over not wanting to follow in their mothers’ footsteps. Then they actually fix the timeline, exposing Ella’s deception and preserving Bridgette’s faith in humanity.

When they return at the end of the movie, one of the girls is erased from existence due to their meddling with the past. I personally think that girl would be Chloe, given Cinderella’s villainy, meaning she doesn’t have to face her mother again after learning stuff. My sister thinks that girl would be Red, since Bridgette would have a totally different life after the event. All I know is one of them needs the whole time-travel-erased-my-best-friend’s-existence-but-I-still-remember-them trope for a bittersweet ending.

Basically, nothing bad can come from actively breaking characters’ and audiences’ hearts to drive the story and make it engaging.