#chloe lila alliance

[internetgiraffekid1673]

I Had Miraculous Ladybug Thoughts, Specifically the Chloe Lila Alliance Situation, and I'm Making It Your Problem! I am So Sorry!

Just. Read the title of this post. I am the most biased person you could have on this topic. You've been warned.

Okay, so. Chloe. If you are in the ML fandom, first off, my condolences, we shall suffer together. Second off, you know that Chloe is incredibly divisive. On the one hand, she's an absolute a**hole to everyone around her at any point in the series that is not season 2 and parts of season 3. On the other hand, it is clear that she has no adults teaching her how to not be an a**hole or regulating her behavior because the only people who have the necessary authority should not have ever been parents.

And then you have that whole thing in season 2 where they started to explain her awfulness and gave her the bee miraculous and she started getting better and developing a support structure, and then she stopped being allowed to have the bee miraculous and dove headfirst off the deep end. This frustrates pretty much the entire fandom. On the Chloe hate side, you wonder why they were wasting time with this. On the Chloe love side, you just got baited, and you're annoyed as heck, and you also are wondering why they wasted your time with this.

But fine, okay, it's dumb, but whatever, the fanfiction can work with this. What the fanfiction has a MUCH harder time working with is Chloe and Lila forming an unholy alliance over their mutual hatred of Marinette and Ladybug. Because the problem here is, it's redundant, it doesn't make sense, and makes Lila even more of a Mary Sue.

Tangent warning: YEAH I SAID IT! I think Lila is a Mary Sue. You don't have to think that. My definition of a Mary Sue is "a character that warps the fabric of the story around them without it making any sense because the author likes/hates/pities/has other strong emotion about this character/ too much to care about a coherent narrative." Not everybody defines a Mary Sue this way, but by this definition, Lila is a Mary Sue. Everyone immediately loses their brain cells around her despite being compassionate and sometimes intelligent individuals who will kill for Marinette in most other scenarios. Nonsensical story warping just because the author said so. Tangent aside:

What this alliance does is it gives you two manipulative lying b*tches who willingly get akumatized to further their petty schemes and are out to destroy Marinette and Ladybug and are weirdly possessive of but don't actually seem to care for Adrien. There's really no point in having two. They occupy the same narrative niche and it is awkward and stupid and I DO NOT LIKE IT. Neither does most of the fandom it seems, because this alliance rarely appears in fanfiction.

There are a couple default solutions in fanfiction:

1. Redeem Chloe. I like this solution. I like Chloe, I think she's entertaining, and I think her interactions with other characters as a good guy are especially entertaining, I think she brings a lot of valuable skills and perspective to the cast as a good guy, I think she has a lot of reasons for being an a**hole that should be properly addressed, and I think the reasons her redemptipn arc got aborted were stupid. Most fanfiction goes the route of having redeemed Chloe viscerally hate Lila too, because Chloe goes after enemies with passion and her whole heart. This is a clean solution, but not great if you don't like Chloe all that much or are trying to make it canon compliant (best of luck to you, canon is all over the place).

2. Only focus on one as a villain and yeet the other out of the story. If Chloe is the villain, set the story during the time that Lila was off being Cerise or wandering around Paris or whatever, or before she showed up. If Lila is the villain, give Chloe an unrelated reason to decide she's not dealing with that today, thank you very much. Usually used in salt fics to dunk on whichever character grinds your gears more without unwanted interruptions. I like salt fics, and this is also a good clean solution. Having both of them is redundant, so just remove one. For Lila, it makes sense because she's a Mary Sue and writing her is annoying, so pretending she never existed is a great fix to that. For Chloe, it makes sense because "lying manipulative ladybug hating b*tch" only really starts being her archetype after the writers screwed up her character with a million inconsistincies. Before that, she was more of a "comically loud, bossy, really obssessive fangirl b*tch," so Lila just works better for certain plots. Downside is that you can't focus on Chloe-Lila interactions, and you sometimes have to do a bit of finagling to figure out how to remove them from a situation they would ordinarily be VERY invested in.

3. Make them hate each other. This is one of my favorite solutions because I have a weakness for villain rivalries that are equal parts comedic and dramatic, but bias aside, this absolutely works. They both want Adrien's sole, undivided attention, and, prior to aforementioned screwing over of Chloe's character, Chloe is the world's biggest Ladybug stan, and Lila is her number 1 hater. They also both have a weird power over the adults in the story that two 14 year old girls really shouldn't have. All these factors make it very easy to guess they would clash. Watch as they try to destroy each other! This plays into the "they both suck, but it's different flavors of suck," and makes those flavors mix BADLY together. The one downside is that it is hard to not make this the central focus of the story, because both of them are so over the top that they're absolutely going to drown out most other going ons, and this is technically supposed to be about Marinette and Adrien. It also erases some of the storylines you can get from an actually thought out alliance.

4. Redeem Lila. I have only seen this in one place, but it is a prominent place and that's more places than my suggestion on this whole ordeal. The prominent place being the Scarlet Lady AU by the very talented and lovely ZoeOneesame. Her take on it was basically:

"Chloe in this AU has the ladybug miraculous, and Chloe sucks at her job, so Lila's ladybug hatred is justified. Marinette is in love with Chat and isn't involved in the ladybug drama, so Lila has no reason to hate her. Adrien is both much smarter and much more active in this AU, so he wouldn't deal with Lila in the same hands-off way. Everybody else is also smarter in this AU and would probably know Lila was lying and also not care because they are forgiving and compassionate. So Lila's lies would most likely get called out, she would have the freedom and desire to figure out who she is beneath the lies, and she would have a justified hatred of Scarlet Lady matched by other characters in the AU, and would probably band together with them."

And thus, no filter, vindictive good guy Lila was born! Again, I have only seen this in Scarlet Lady, but it is amazing over there, so I had to talk about it. Redeeming Lila is an unconventional choice for sure, but I think if you arrange for circumstances where Lila would rather ally with the heroes than the villains, then you can get a lot of mileage out of her people-reading/manipulation skills helping out the heroes while possibly scaring the crap out of them at the same time. This has basically all the same downsides as the Chloe redemption though. It's not fun to do if you're here for Lila salt, and it's ABSOLUTELY not canon compliant.

Now. You may have noticed that nobody who writes fanfiction for this show does the canon Chloe-Lila alliance. This is for a myriad of aforementioned reasons: it's redundant, it continues the confusion of Chloe's character arc, and Lila is a Mary Sue, so anything that involves her tends to be frustrating. But, I think there is a way to make it work, so I'm writing about it.

First of all, don't do what canon did where 6 just have Lila teach Chloe how to lie. Take full advantage of the fact that they are two very different types of a**hole. They can ally for the same reasons: they both are super possesive of Adrien and are raging about him getting together with Marinette. And while I don't like the arc of Marinette being a trash and controlling guardian who shows inordinate favoritism to Alya and Zoe and literally nobody else because she's gay for them, you can still do that and have them both hate Ladybug too. I don't like that plot beat, mostly because it's never really addressed that Marinette is in fact a bad guardian outside of some light sulking from Chat, but it can work. She's a 14 year old girl in way over her head with no adults left to help (except the kwamis, but they don't really count because they are very unhelpful). It makes sense that she wouldn't do a good job at first. But whatever their reasons for teaming up, lean into the fact that Lila is a two-faced secretively awful person while Chloe is an in-your-face publicly awful person. From there, it depends on the tone you're going for.

Chloe is a great villain for humor because she's so loud and dramatic. She can get away with saying and doing really insane and rude stuff on the grounds that she's insane and rude (and also rich and powerful). People don't have any expectations for Chloe to be nice or rational, so she can do stuff like try and write a Queen Banana character into the class film and be met with annoyance and frustration rather than outrage and shock. So if you're going a lighthearted route, let Chloe be the one who does all the public legwork for their schemes, and let her be absolutely over the top about it.

On the other hand, Chloe can also be threatening in a far more tangible way than Lila. Lila can make people think you're a bit of a jerk, but it takes a lot of work for her to come close to getting Marinette expelled, even with all her Mary Sueness to help. Chloe can just look at the principal and say "My dad will fire you and remove all school funding if you don't expel her." Chloe won't make people dislike Marinette because nobody likes her, but she can physically hurt Marinette in ways that Lila can't. So if you're going for drama, you can lean into that. Chloe is in a completely different social class than everyone else and has actual power.

Either way, let Chloe be a complete drama queen who is publicly out to get Marinette, because there isn't anything anyone can do about it.

Meanwhile, let Lila work in the background. Lila has never been a comedic villain, only getting introduced after the show had taken a turn for the more dramatic, so don't bother. Leave that to Chloe's antics. Let Lila be the actual threat who is driving their plans. A lot of the reason Chloe was manageable while Lila never was is because Chloe's rage tends to be directionless and impulsive. She has a short temper that can easily be triggered, but also easily soothed, and she doesn't have any thought out plans or long form schemes. She just does whatever she thinks will make her happy in the moment. Have Lila be the one who convinces her to think in the long-term, and who comes up with an overarching plot to get rid of Marinette, adding a sense of real tension to the situation. Sure, before Chloe could have you expelled on a whim, but she also would have stopped bothering the second Adrien paid attention to her. Lila will help Chloe drop that boundary.

Lila also has the advantage of people actually liking her and being willing to do things for her without threatening or bribing them. Lila can do things like make it so Marinette doesn't have any of her friends around to help in an emergency. She can make it so people believe Chloe might actually be justified in her crusade against Marinette this time. She can plant seeds of doubt and distrust and she can socially isolate Marinette in ways Chloe can't. Make people love and believe in her instead, slowly destroy Marinette's support system, and so on. It not only is really dramatic and upsetting, it basically leaves Mari with just Adrien and Chat to rely on, which is FANTASTIC ship fuel if that's your jam. This can also let you have some other prominent characters come to the fore. Have some Kagami focus. Have some Luka focus. Bring in Socqueline and Felix and see how that changes things.

Point is, between these two, you could have a genuine, non-redundant threat that you can get emotional mileage out of. Lila is on one side turning all of Mari's friends against her and scheming to destroy her in the long term. Chloe is on the other side threatening Marinette's lifestyle---her bakery, her school, her fashion career, her public image, her existence in Paris---anything that can be damaged by the Mayor and the Style Queen is under attack. And then you have Hawkmoth on the other end, throwing akumas in her face and forcing her to make impossible choices. I would imagine Lila also gets akumatized on purpose whenever she needs a little extra help, while Chloe just gets egged on and pushed off the deep end by Lila whenever Lila thinks it'd be advantageous. So that trifecta is super genuinely threatening. But you can also have Chloe being a really stupid drama queen whose fits of rage can still be silly and poorly thought out, even with Lila helping her. And you can have some really heartwarming stuff as the people left in Marinette's support system band together and become even closer to get rid of these two once and for all. I just think this plot beat has a lot of untapped potential if the writers didn't make then fulfill the same narrative role, and I haven't really seen it explored yet.

Feel free to use this idea in fanfic, tell me that it sucks and would be bad, or ignore me, I mostly just needed to write this down!

If the mood strikes me or multiple people express interest (yeah right), I will make a (probably much shorter) post explaining how you can redeem both of them effectively and also why I think that would be bad in most circumstances.

Congratulations if you read this whole rant, now please go to sleep. Please. So much please.

[drtwit]

Miraculous Ladybug: No More Heroes - Chapter 22

Fellowship - Summary:

In the past, Adrien forms a team of dear friends that he can trust. In the present, Marinette and Gabriel bicker about who'll be the first to get killed.

"Gabriel, be honest. It wasn't Emilie's death that made you a villain, it wasn't the world, and it wasn't the miraculous. It was always you - You were a villain long before you created Hawkmoth." Three years after his death, Gabriel Agreste awakens to a Paris ruled by akumas. He has no idea how he's alive, he has no idea what happened to Paris, all he knows it that he was the one who allowed this to happen. Hunted by the ghosts of his past, with no miraculous to protect him, and his greatest enemy now his only ally, Gabriel must brave this nightmare with Marinette Dupain-Cheng and make a choice: To become the villain he knows he is, or to find a way to become the father he failed to be.

Fandom:

Miraculous Ladybug

Relationships:

Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug

Gabriel Agreste/Nathalie Sancoeur

Characters:

Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug

Gabriel Agreste

Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir

Nathalie Sancoeur

Colt Fathom

Lila Rossi

Nino Lahiffe

Chloé Bourgeois

Félix Fathom

Luka Couffaine

Alya Césaire

Max Kanté

Additional Tags:

Gabriel Agreste Redemption

Has a long way to go

Chloé Bourgeois Redemption

Retcons

Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Needs a Hug

Identity Reveal

Ladybug/Hawkmoth team-up

Gabriel Backstory

Gabriel being an asshole

Protective Nathalie Sancoeur

Félix Fathom Is Bad at Feelings

Lila Rossi Being Lila Rossi

Hurt Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir

Story switches between two major points in time

Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug Needs a Break

[ijustliketoreadstuff]

The life Lila wants

It's interesting when Lila drops her persona and shows true emotion. Her desire to be admired isn't just a need for attention, she is desperate to be seen as a treasure among society. Lila lies about having everything, but in reality, she has nothing. 

Lila has always been good at getting what she wants through lying and maintaining those lies, but all her adventurous travels and life of fame was still just that, a lie. However, by working for Gabriel, she was able to make a big part of her lie a reality by becoming a model for the Agreste brand, then later an avatar for the alliance rings, allowing her to be recognized by the world and finally obtain the fame she always spoke of, all in exchange for acting as Gabriel's spy into Adrien's life and committing to separating him from those Gabriel considered "bad influences", specifically Marinette.

Naturally, in "Emotion", the moment she discovered from Kagami that Gabriel saw her as a common stone, rather than a diamond worthy enough to go to the diamonds dance, an event where Gabriel invited the rich and powerful along with their heirs and heiresses, Lila felt wronged. Despite not being related to Gabriel, Lila had deemed herself someone who was entitled to be viewed on equal grounds as the prestige's people Gabriel invited, and since her agreement with Gabriel involved being brought into a world of high society, Lila had assumed she was now officially part of that world by becoming an image of the Agreste brand and had to be upheld in the same regard as Adrien, Kagami and Chloe.

The realization that Gabriel never viewed her as a treasure within his company, but rather someone who was no different than a common perfume bottle his company advertised, struck a big nerve with Lila. She detested being treated like someone who could be easily forgotten and discarded. However, it was her ongoing attempts to repeatedly contact Gabriel about going to the Diamonds dance that made her whole mysterious background even more questionable, as we have never seen her show such concern for not being included in something.

Lila's background continues to elude everyone, but her determination to ensure she is recognized as someone who is far more valuable than a perfume bottle or any normal person for that matter, feels like she is actively seeking out a means to escape her true life, whatever it may really be, and permanently become the girl she spoke of in her lies. We may not know much about Lila's true life, but the fact that she always refers to herself as someone who has accomplished so much and is recognized by so many, does leave the impression that Lila has a dislike for her true identity and what little her real life has provided for her.

Added note: No, Lila does not hate Marinette because she is jealous of her life. Lila hates Marinette because she is a threat. Marinette wants to expose Lila and refused to adhere to Lila’s demands to stay quiet and not get in her way, so now Lila aims to ruin her life.

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

Just realized something dumb about how the show deciding miraculous holders can just bullshit their way into getting power-ups or negating the whole time out sequence. They could basically make miraculous like the fox overpowered/broken by just going "fuck you that's no longer a weakness"

Like

Alya just removing the whole Illusions get dispelled by physical contact thing

Max being able to open multiple portals simultaneously instead of two connected ones

Lila be able to create multiple Akuma at once without them originally sharing an item, Catalyst/Puppeteer/Gamer2.0 being used to modify/help her or whatever Gabriel & Tomoe did with the Alliance rings

ect

I can't even tell what even happened that caused Marinette and Adrien to "grow up". They were at Chloe's mercy, they decided they didn't want to detransform, and boom! No more timer.

It's hard to tell what's dumber: The fact that simply "growing up" is enough for you to unlock the full power of your Miraculous, or the fact that every Miraculous has a different transformation phrase specifically designed for evil uses that also slowly kills you for some reason.

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

Something I found really neat about Season 3 is that they have the mini arc where Adrien initially trusts Lila to eventually come around, but little by little she starts taking more and more advantage of how lenient he is - and when he notices how detrimental this is to Marinette, he calls Lila out himself. Despite the… writing blunders of Lila’s character, I found it kind of compelling.

Which makes me question why he’s more than happy to tolerate Chloé for almost two whole seasons more than Lila? I always found it odd, even if Chloé’s been his only friend for who knows how long, surely he would’ve noticed a pattern after Miracle Queen went down? I think Season 3 would’ve benefited from fleshing out only one of those stories and leaving the other for later, or cutting one of them entirely - it’s basically the same Adrien arc, with two different bully characters.

Me, I would fix it by having the Queen Bee matter stay in the air for most of Season 3, and Chat Noir specifically lending the bee - so the conflict doesn’t come from “Marinette NEEDS to break up the Adrigami date”, it’s an actual tough decision for him to make, and have him explain the situation to Chloé right in the season finale. Perhaps it’s too much of a shock, or Chat Noir’s too harsh, or Chloé feels lost without Pollen, or everyone else already drifted away from Chloé and she’s clinging to her Queen Bee identity only to have it snatched from her (which also goes with the theme of loss Miracle Queen wants to convey), literally anything that counts as a valid akumatization reason because “waaah Ladybug didn’t pick me” doesn’t do it for me.

Then the Lila thing, I’m still not fully sure, maybe I’d have Marinette be the lenient one that eventually realizes how much Lila’s affecting Adrien, and somehow puts a stop to it - maybe Lila’s being sympathetic to Marinette, and only really wants to use Adrien to her advantage, so Marinette lets Gabriel know after uncovering some particularly nasty stuff, and he cuts her out. Now Lila has a better (IMO) reason to start a rivalry with Marinette, Marinette can grow closer to the Agrestes even if just a little, Adrien has a good point of reference to realize Chloé’s being out of line (without writing the same arc for the same character twice), and you don’t have an explicit Lila & Gabriel alliance (which is great, because I always disliked that part of the plot - unnecessary extra complexity that only really takes away from every character involved IMO).

How would you model the two arcs?

My stance has pretty much always been that Chloe should have been Adrien's problem. Why make Marinette try to fix her bully when Adrien is right there with none of that baggage? I'm still baffled that they made Adrien and Chloe friends because that plot point went nowhere so why make it a thing? You don't introduce a juicy tidbit like "the female lead's bully is the male lead's only childhood friend" unless you're going to do something big with it!

There's a lot of ways you could take Adrien and Chloe, but no matter which path you pick, it should be used to set Adrien up to be more mentally ready to accept all the messed up elements of his home life when he finally grasps that he's a victim on multiple levels. It's much easier for him to learn those lessons of when to forgive and when to give second chances from a peer and not his parent who still has full power over him. I like this leading to a "redeemed" Chloe because I think you need an example of when to give a second chance to make the example of when to not give a second chance really pop, but that's just my preference. Chloe teaching Adrien how to set boundaries and cut someone off so that he can do that again on a much larger scale is also perfectly valid.

I think the Lila thing should have been used to develop Alya and Nino, not Marinette and Adrien. The show writes all the teen characters as pretty terrible at navigating or even identifying things like abuse. We see that in their constant love of confronting Gabriel, never once stopping to think, "Huh, will this actually be a good thing for Adrien or are we putting him in danger?"

You could include Marinette in this arc, too, but I think that she should take a backseat and let Alya and Nino take the lead since they're the ones who see Lila as a good person. Learning to be a little less trusting and a little more thoughtful is a good lesson for the way both of them have been characterized. Alya needs to learn to be a little less willing to trust sources and season-four-and-five Nino needs to learn to be a little more focused on the feelings of those around him over his own goals. Plus Marinette already has so much going on! The writers really need to let others have the spotlight for a bit so the poor girl can rest and stop looking terrible as the plot twists itself into a pretzel to always make her the one who needs to learn a lesson.

[ladyofthenoodle]

i keep thinking about kagami and lila’s friendship in season 5. because it was so fascinating the way lila manipulated her and played into her insecurities but also the way that kagami never really admired lila or pined for her friendship the way she did with marinette. and that lila had to be okay with not receiving that admiration for her to get what she wanted out of this friendship, that she had to fawn and fawn over kagami to earn the status of friend while kagami tells her to her face she’s not a precious gem. meanwhile kagami is absolutely starving for adrien and marinette’s attention and lila just has to live with that which she must have HATED, and THEN kagami just shuts down the whole manipulation scheme and insists marinette and lila are both her friends. and lila hugs her and SMIRKS like she’s not done plotting and then…

then that’s the last we get of the two of them. lila gets exposed to the whole class and yet we don’t see even a hint of whether kagami is told any of this or what her reaction is. the storyline is just dropped. sure, lila’s mad about kagami replacing her as the face of alliance, but they don’t interact again, and we can only guess whether kagami tried to reach out to lila or thought about lila at all.

but in a way, this makes sense: kagami and lila both meet someone new. lila gets closer to chloe, who she doesn’t need to convince to hate marinette. and kagami, of course, meets felix. and plenty has been said on the ways that felix lives up to the expectations kagami had for adrien, but not enough on how felix filled the need that lila had previously been exploiting in kagami. lila’s manipulation of kagami was twofold: it played on her own sense of isolation from her peers and on the pressure she felt to be perfect all the time. and then felix comes in and says, hey, actually, there’s a reason you have felt isolated and it’s because you’re different, but so am i, and i admire you but i’m not scared of you, and you were created to be perfect but i’m going to set you free from that.

so by the time confrontation comes around, maybe it doesn’t matter what kagami’s reaction to lila’s exposure would have been, because all those cracks in kagami’s armor that lila was trying to slip through are gone now, either sealed or blown wide open, and there’s no place for lila anymore. kagami had already moved on.

at the same time, i’d LOVE to see it. i’d love to see lila barely hiding her resentment of kagami taking her place on alliance while assuring kagami that of course they’re still friends! to see lila coming to kagami after collusion and insisting that marinette framed her and kagami turning to felix like “would you believe what she’s saying about marinette?” and he’s like god no i spent 10 seconds with her while i was pretending to be adrien and that was 9 seconds too many. and maybe at that point lila finally drops the act and admits she was only pretending to be kagami’s friend. that she was only trying to turn her against marinette. and kagami, matter of fact as ever, would apologize that lila wasted so much time on something that would never happen.

[kawaii-queen-kaiju]

Teenagers

Gotham City. What the hell was Mme. Bustier thinking?! Here she was thinking her PowerPoint had proved her- well, point,- but apparently not. So here she was staring at the plane that was gonna take her and her hellish class to their doom. Okay, maybe she was exaggerating, but with trigger-happy mental patients (literally!), no Miraculous Cure, and Lila of all people, this was bound to be a dumpster fire! 

"Ugh, come on, Dupain-Cheng. Are you gonna stand there all day or are you coming?"

Chloe. Her unlikely ally against Lila, the only person she hated more than Marinette herself. After the rest of the sheeple had migrated to Lila's side, Marinette found that the only people she had left standing beside her were Kagami, Luka, and- surprisingly- Chloe. Adrien was disappointingly neutral, but she didn't hold it against him. His upbringing had left him horribly socially stunted, and she was 90% sure Lila had some kind of unholy alliance with Gabriel, keeping Adrien in check.

"Yeah, I'm coming, don't get your panties in a twist."

"Dupain-Cheng!"

-

The hotel was fancy. Like, Grand Paris Hotel fancy. Stupid billionaires.

The rest of the class got paired up, two to a room, but Chloe managed to get hers changed to the penthouse suite, oh so graciously deigning to let Marinette stay with her.

"What am I supposed to do with two beds, Dupain-Cheng? Hmm? Besides, if I left you alone with the rest of the heathens, they'd tear you to shreds!"

Marinette thinks she enjoys the company after Sabrina flocked to Lila.

The itinerary has them set for resting the jet lag off that night, then touring the Gotham Wayne Enterprises office. Unfortunately, while Chloe is snoring away in the next room over, Marinette is lying awake worrying. Sure, she knew that no one was going to find the Miracle Box in her sewing box, magically locked, in her suitcase, with a padlock on it, stashed in the hotel provided safe, but she still felt paranoid having it out of her bedroom.

As a result, her night with little to no fitful sleep compounded on the jet lag, leaving her feeling like a literal zombie.

Wait, she's died before, so is she a zombie?!

Coffee. Her eyes zero in on the drink of the gods in Chloe's manicured hand.

"You are a goddess, Chloe, and I love you." She says, chugging the coffee down like a man in the middle of the desert. She completely missed the astonished look on Chloe's face.

"Alright class, I'm gonna do a quick headcount, then we'll head out." Mme. Mendeleiv said.

Despite the fact that Mm. Bustier wanted to go on the trip, she found out that she's pregnant and decided that the other teacher should go in her stead. Honestly, it was the only thing that salvaged the trip for Marinette. If Mme. Bustier were here, she'd have probably left her behind!

They quickly boarded the bus (dodging a foot stuck out by Alya. God, to think she almost confessed she was Ladybug to her!) and got on their way.

The W.E. office was, quite frankly, huge. Really! The only building that Marinette had seen that could hold a candle to the building, was the TVi studio back home. The lobby was equally as impressive. It was huge with marble floors and columns that probably cost more than her parents would make in their whole lives.

"Hi! Are you the French class?"

They were greeted by a woman who... honestly, looked out of place in the large pristine lobby. Her brown hair was long and curly, up in a ponytail, revealing shaved sides, and heavily pierced ears. Her rock t-shirt, cargo pants, and leather jacket clashing with the business casual the rest of the people bustling about were sporting.

Oh, wait. Was she saying something?

"-guest I.Ds, they'll let you access the elevators up to the fifth floor. Any questions?"

"Yes, one." Mme. Mendeleiv said. "I thought our tour guide was a young man, Richard Grayson?"

The woman's eye twitched (she tuned out her name, damn.).

"Yes, he was scheduled to lead the tour, but something... came up." She seemed awfully annoyed with this Richard. Hmm.

"Excuse me? Riley?" Lila piped up from the back. Ew. The woman's- Riley's- smile sharpened. "That's Mrs. Miller-Todd to you. Yes?" Lila flinched back, like her words physically hurt. That little- "W-Well, I was wondering why our passes only took us up to the fifth floor?"

"W-" Mrs. Miller-Todd (damn, that was a mouthful, is this how people feel about her name?), opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by Alya. "Yeah! For your information, Lila's dating Damian Wayne!" 

Well, shoot. She might not have to deal with Lila for much longer. At Alya's exclamation, all the movement in the lobby stopped, every single person staring at Lila and Alya like they grew another head. Their tour guide raised an eyebrow looking amused, baffling Lila and the rest of her flock. "Really? I wasn't aware that he had even been to France, let alone gotten a girlfriend five years older than himself." Did... did that just happen? Did Lila just get called out in front of a bunch of people who seemed to not believe her?! "Pinch me." Marinette whispered. Unfortunately for her, Chloe heard her. She whipped around and pouted at her.

"Lila's not from France! She lived in Italy before; that's where she met him, and the Wayne's are very secretive, that's why you didn't hear about it! And five years isn't that much!" Alya stoutly defended Lila, reminding Marinette vaguely of a pomeranian.

The poor young woman covered her mouth with her hand, looking like she was contemplating running out the door and not looking back. "You know what?" She muttered, "Bruce is gonna have to actually pay me to get me to deal with this shit." Out loud though, she said; "O-kay, well, supposed girlfriends aside, the first five floors are the only ones open to visitors, the rest are various labs and offices for employees, nothing very interesting."

Marinette wanted to argue that the labs sounded very interesting, but like a good visiting student, said nothing.

They went up the elevators in two groups, up to the third floor. "The second floor is a food court, and you'll be stopping there for lunch and getting turned over to your teacher. Now this floor..."

The tour was actually pretty interesting. They got to see a few finished projects going up for sale, and an in-depth explanation of which department does what. They managed to get to the R&D department before Lila's Possi(trademark pending) caused more trouble. "So, is it true that you make Batman's gear? How about nuclear weapons?" Alya asked, whipping her phone out. Mrs. Miller-Todd sighed. "Mlle. Cesaire, I believe that in the form you signed allowing you on this trip, it said 'no recording devices of any kind'?"

Alya frowned, but put her phone away. "Good. That was your first warning, Mlle. Cesaire. If it happens again, I will have to confiscate it. As for your question, I'm afraid I can't answer it." Alya grinned, her hand twitched, obviously wanting to grab her phone, but refraining. "So you do!"

Mrs. Miller-Todd narrowed her eyes. "I did not say that. I mean, that I don't know. I'm not an employee at Wayne Enterprises."

Everyone's eyes blew wide. Not an employee? "But, if you're not an employee, then why are you giving the tour?" Mme Mendeleiv asked. Mrs. Miller-Todd sighed in annoyance. "I lost a bet." 

"Yeah, but who let you do this?" Alya demanded, placing herself in front of Lila, like the loyal guard dog she was. Mrs. Miller-Todd raised her eyebrow (it was starting to seem like her signature move at this point. Or maybe... someone else found her class as annoying as she and Chloe do?). "Bruce Wayne." 

Marinette could feel the panic in Lila from the back of the group, and watched the reporter in Alya sit up and beg. She whipped her phone out and started rattling off questions, asking about her relationships with Bruce Wayne. In a second though, her phone was taken from her hand, cutting her off. "I warned you, Mlle. Cesaire. You'll get it back at the end. Now, last time I checked, this was a tour of the building, not my personal life." She proceeded to turn on her heel and stalk off down the hallway, expecting the class to follow.

"I like her." Chloe said next to her ear. "Mmhmm." Marinette hummed back, agreeing whole heartedly.

Maybe Gotham wouldn't be a disaster after all.

~

Cross-posting from Ao3, attempting to lure followers here all because of a bit :)

[mcheang]

Reality

As Nino lays out his plan for targeting Gabriel, Alya points out one thing. “Sure I know Ladybug can fix the mess an akuma causes. But Gabriel will still be mad. He already doesn’t like you, Nino. Don’t push it. For all we know, Gabriel might threaten to transfer Adrien to a different school. Remember, he totally lost it when Adrien lost his book?”

Nino: oh…right. I didn’t think of that. Then, who do we target?

Marinette grins sneakily. “I know someone who can get upset very easily.”

Adrien: really, who?

Marinette: i don’t want to spoil the surprise.

Later, as the parent-teacher meeting commenced, Marinette bursts in, “Oh, I’m so sorry to barge in like this. But I forgot I needed Mrs Rossi’s signature for Lila’s trip to Achu.”

Caline: Marinette, can’t this wait?

Mrs Rossi: what trip to Achu?

Caline and Marinette look at her. “You know, the trip she’s taking to join Prince Ali in teaching children for free. It’s such a shame that she won’t be able to attend the school’s weeklong camping trip but it’s for a good cause.

Mrs Rossi stands up. “My daughter is doing what?”

Caline: why are you so surprised, Mrs Rossi? Lila went to Achu for months less than a week after she joined Dupont.

Mrs Rossi: she told me the school was shut down from akuma attacks!

Marinette pretended to look faint. “Oh no, was it because of her special lying disease?”

Mr Cesaire looked skeptical. “A lying disease…? Do you mean compulsive lying?”

Gabriel almost regretted not being able to akumatize Mrs Rossi, if only to make up for losing Lila Rossi as a spy since clearly Alliance can no longer use her. Oh well, there’s always the fallout when her sheep find out.

Alya and Nino were recording this with open mouths. Adrien wasn’t so bothered by this after seeing more of Lila’s hateful personality.

Needless to say, the parent-teacher conference was delayed as Sabine then angrily wanted justice for her daughter if she was indeed framed by a liar. Gabriel had to admit the teaching faculty here was lousy to fall for Lila’s reception, but that’s what makes this place so prime for his akumas! Why did he send Adrien here again? Oh right, it’s the most prestigious school and he’ll never hear the end of it from Andre because Chloe would never accept his perfect son being in another school away from her.

Later, after Marinette received an apology from Mrs Rossi, she agreed to bring Lila up. Alya and Nino looked apologetic. “We’re so sorry we didn’t believe you.”

Marinette looked behind her. “It’s ok. Keep recording. If Mrs Rossi isn’t angry enough to attract an akuma, her daughter will be. Nothing akumatizes Lila like being caught.”

Lila was immediately suspicious when Marinette of all people came to get her, however it was subdued by Marinette’s poorly hidden dislike and the fact that it was Gabriel who asked her to come.

Certain that Mr Agreste wanted her help against a stupid boy’s resistance team, she agreed.

Boy was Lila surprised to see Sabine and her mother standing in front of the classroom instead of Mr Agreste, who looked disappointed in her.

Uh oh. Now Lila could see Marinette’s triumphant face and could see what had happened. Her one consolation was that the team’s plan to anger a parent into akumatization had failed. Though she was also irked she couldn’t get akumatized and make that loser suffer for exposing her like this. This is worse than Ladybug’s exposing her in front of Adrien!

As Lila was dragged by her mother to the principal’s office, Caline tried to resume the parent-teacher conference though it was clear all now felt disheartened by her incompetence.

The resistance was confused. Angry Rossis and disappointed parents were around. Where was the akuma?

Eventually they had to give up. What a waste of free period.

Not entirely a waste though since Lila was now exposed. Alya sent the recording to the whole class as the parents left.

Outraged gasps were heard everywhere.

Nino: why didn’t you wait till class was about to start? Then we could prepare to record the akumatization.

Adrien: if Monarch didn’t come out for Mrs Rossi and Lila, I doubt he’ll come for-

Reverser promptly swooped by, ready to turn Lila nice and honest.

Adrien: never mind.

Marc was deakumatized and the class apologized to Marinette for not believing her.

Lila returned to class, sulky in her forced apology, not really bothered by their angry reactions now that she was expelled. Only Marinette’s smug attitude infuriated her. Having been forced honest by Reverser, she had confessed to having duped two other women into being her mothers and had initially planned on running away to join one of them. Her mother now has their numbers. It was a nightmare.

Alya: who else can we akumatize for the greater good? Mayor Bourgeois?

Marinette: I don’t think our plan works if we our expected target isn’t even akumatized. We’ll have to think of something else.

Monarch is disappointed he won’t get to akumatize the akuma class again for a while. Ah well, it can be a favor to Adrien.

[princess-of-the-corner]

Probably not my place to comment but I think if MLB were to redeem Chloe it could go one of a few ways that try to fix the damage to her reputation & maybe avoid some other potentially problematic elements:

1 Farcical. IE, Chloe's redemption is almost comedically easy & serves as a meta commentary on the redemptions of Adrien, Felix, Gabriel & Nathalie. Where Andre just sort of awkwardly leaves the room when a question about "Where Chloe learned that?" came from & he's not seen again, Felix is like "Can we trust her?" only to get a flat look from Kagami, Marinette & Adrien, "Ah, touché" & so on. She's folded into the cast with zero drama, she & Marinette are like, fashion buds now, and her main role is snarking about Akuma.

2: Hyper serious, long gam stuff Basically, Chloe's seeming degrading in head space and behavior was being actively engineered & influenced by Gabriel, Akuma, Lila, ETC. Not just in the manipulation sense but in the magical sense, which is used to hand-wave some of the more problematic elements. If Derision need be brought up, it can be framed as either no longer canon (The shows not new to soft reboots) or having been faked somehow, or laid on Andre or Audrey's feet.

3: Forced alliances Basically there's a third faction out there causing trouble and so Chloe (serving as Lila's Champion) ended up on the heroes side by proxy and its through working together that it pans out.

4: The wish and or soft reboots IE, a bunch of stuff is just kind of ignored or forgotten to return things to a more familiar status quo and no one comments on it. Very much "Nothing bad, ever happened. EVER" Jury's out on how well this one would work but it felt worth mentioning.

Honestly the thing about it for me is that there's not even like.

Her /worst/ actions can be handwaved decently with 'manipulated by the Bigger Bads' and other than things like taking over as Mayor is just. Petty teenager shit.

Like even Derision is petty teenager shit. Doesn't mean it's not 'bad' or didn't have a lasting impact. But it's not like. Genocide. It's pulling a mean-spirited 'prank'.

But like. She's a teenager she can learn. She can come back from that and apologize and become a better person. It's really simple to do.

But anyway:

The retcons can also work beause like. Speaking of Derision, this wouldn't be the first time ML had a 'oh that bit you were supposed to be laughing at how over the top and cartoony it was the last several seasons? That was actually a super serious trauma response!' so just.

Yeah point out how Chloé acted the way she did because of the various traumas and roll with letting her get better.

[marinetteplztakeabreak]

Miraculous ladybug season 5 episodes (released so far) guide:

For my lovely friends who cannot recall which episode is which (sidenote, if you havent seen season 5 please remember that a very brief memory-jogging summary is not gonna give you full context and please just watch the show if you wanna know what’s going on)

Evolution: time portals, gabi chooses violence against teenagers over saving his loved ones, alix is put into witness protection

Multiplication: Alliance is announced, Adrien quits his job, no one can find Félix

Destruction: Gabi attempts to doxx Ladybug but is foiled by the power of scavenger hunts. Then he cataclysms himself

Jubilation: gabi uses spyware to doxx ladybug real? psyche! It’s just marinette’s old friend in a costume! Also Ladynoir gets married and has four kids and then gets divorced and never speaks of it again

Illusion: “i’ll make you pancakes any day, son.” Gabi is so divorced and in a custody battle. Nino creates the Resistance and akumatizes Gabi on purpose for intel

Determination: adrientte goes back to the wax museum with luka and kagami as wingmen. Marinette fails the date successfully by finally deciding that chat noir is so hot

Passion: Natalie gives Adrien romance advice and gets akumatized on purpose to fight her ex-husband. Ladynoir kwami swap happens.

Reunion: old-fashioned stuffy ladybug calls chat noir a silly little clown boytoy but ladybug will not be stopped from loving him even more

Elation: glaciator 3.0

Transmission: crying sobbing in bed, love confession, rejection, the kwamis decide the depression has gone too far

Deflagration: kittybella, gay rights, five seconds of ladrien, that adrinette hand-raising thing, my entire life

Perfection: “i love moo,” dolphin love song, kagami turns into a cloud for a minute

Migration: luka goes into witness protection

Derision: marinette traumatic backstory reveal. Adrien tries to maim a man

Intuition: gabi is dying. This is his own fault. They are in outer space

Protection: adrinette cute picnic date, look how polyamorous-coded they can make kagami

Adoration: power of lesbians so strong it convinces marinette to say i love you to her boyfriend

Emotion: diamond dance, argos reveal, red moon, laying on the floor bathed in moonlight and wailing rights

Pretension: kagami is slightly kidnapped but then takes over her own kidnapping and gets to trauma dump. Marinette insults Gabi’s pancakes

Revelation: someone Finally gets doxxed! It is Gabi. Lila becomes a conspiracy influencer and a class rep

Confrontation: lila tries to ruin everyone’s lives by messing with their class schedules. marinette is 12,000 steps ahead of her. Lila’s wig is snatched

Collusion: evil police robots are a thing. Bustier is a confirmed lesbian who craves the proletariat uprising. Ladynoir says guillotine the elites. chloe is mayor. Superheroes are illegal.

That’s all that’s been released as of today (may 28, 2023)! Please dont mention leaks on this, this is just a reference for keeping track of released episodes, okay thanks!

[flightfoot]

ML Fanfic recs for 2023: Under 2K Words

So I’ve been going through and adding particularly good fics I’ve read throughout the year. Only Complete fics, of course. Enjoy!

Markov wishes to get to know the Alliance AI better, and discovers an unusual chatroom as a result, one filled with some very surprised creatures who wish for him to convey messages to the class...

After Hawkmoth and his accomplice Chat Noir’s defeat, Marinette wants nothing to do with Adrien Agreste - until she watches him at school.

After Pollen’s capture, Chloe’s feeling some inexplicable sensations - hunger, pain, and fear without cause. For some reason her sister is as well.

Financial advisors have seen it all. Which includes planning for a billionaire supervillain.

The universe is homophobic. It is very bad at it.

All this and more below the break!

Trust by @bisexually-finger-guns

They thought that because they believed Lila’s lies, they would not be trustworthy to Ladybug anymore.

They thought wrong.

I just love how sweet and kind this is to Alya and Nino, and how understanding Marinette is here. Neither Marinette nor Adrien are going to blame their friends for falling victim to Lila’s lies. They just want to help their friends heal.

---

The Markov Alliance by CrochetJellybean

Slight spoilers for season 5!

Markov was excited to use Max's class time to learn more about the AI system within the Alliance rings. In his exploration, he accidentally discovers a chat room of 14 non-humans connected to the Alliance network, so he decides to join it.

This was hilarious and fun and heartwarming. Markov accidentally stumbling across the kwamis and them hinting as best they could about what to do and who to tell about them (as best they could without spewing out bubbles) was great, along with the Miracuclass’s reaction to finding out about them. 

Also their groupchat name is “plagg is oblivious” due to Plagg not figuring out that Nooroo was in the same house as him all this time, which is just perfect XD. I’ve reread this fic several times, it’s so good and bite-sized!

---

oh, look now, there you go with hope again by @ladyofthenoodle

After the defeat of Hawkmoth and his accomplice, Chat Noir, Marinette is ready to return to her normal life, but she can't escape Adrien Agreste, who was sentenced to a fate many consider worse than prison: public school. Specifically, her public school.

Still, that doesn't mean she has to interact with him, does it?

Except, if she doesn't... who will?

I love a good enemies au, and seeing the aftermath of an enemies au... that’s rare. She’s wary of Adrien, but with how he’s being bullied, and how he’s just taking it in the hopes of being accepted, she can’t help but reach out to him.

---

SCP-136: The Cheese Gremlin by Distraught_by_your_Love

The SCP Foundation was transporting a shipment of assorted cheeses for reasons relating to the study of an SCP.

Upon arrival at the European Facility, it was discovered that all of the cheese had disappeared somewhere along the journey.

A replacement shipment was requisitioned, this time with added security measures including closed-circuit security feeds.

This was when the Foundation became aware of SCP-136: The Cheese Gremlin.

Plagg has fun threatening the Foundation for cheese, and Ladybug is exasperated. And I have fun reading about it!

---

It Started With by imjustabirb

When a kwami and their holder become close enough, the holder starts to get the instincts of the animal their miraculous represents.

I adore fics where the holders get animal instincts! I especially liked the Alya and Zoe chapters, with Alya being comforted by still having animal instincts after Trixx was kidnapped, and Zoe getting Black Cat instincts because she bonded with Plagg even in just the few hours she was his Holder.

---

She’s Cheating On You! by MsSkywalkerWeasleyParkerStark

Lila thinks she finally has it. The thing that's going to break up Adrienette once and for all and allow her to finally get Adrien for herself.

She just didn't count on the love square.

It’s the classic “people catch Adrien and Marinette making out as Marichat or Ladrien while they’re dating as Adrienette and/or Ladynoir”, and it’s as funny as ever XD. They actually decide to play it up a little before revealing that they’re fine with it.

---

Can’t Sleep Either, Huh? by EmeraldButterfly

Chloe gets up late at night. Turns out she’s not the only one who’s worried about Pollen.

(AU where former Miraculous holders have an empathetic link with their kwamis)

This is a very interesting AU. Chloe and Zoe are both able to feel Pollen’s emotions and even things like her hunger, and end up taking solace in each other to try and cope. It’s just really sweet.

---

Alya Cesaire Should Be Allowed To Swear by @stripesandblossoms

Akuma attacks don't stop just because Alya is no longer a Hero, but that's fine, because she can still help clear civilians from the danger zone. Even celebrity-friends like Adrien Agreste.

Hey guys this is an amazing one-shot, even with as short as it is. I love how it goes into Alya's thoughts and feelings about why she doesn't swear (because you can't do that on-air as a journalist and she has little sisters that she can't swear around anyway) and her coming up with ways to suppress her swears when she's tempted.

Then of course, she finds out a secret that makes all of that go out the window...

Seriously this is really funny, please read it!

---

Gabriel Seeks Financial Planning Advice by @uptoolateart

As Gabriel accepts his imminent demise, he decides to make plans to protect Adrien's inheritance and livelihood. This is the letter his trusted financial adviser writes to him, summarising the key points of that meeting.

This is hilarious. The financial advisor just takes all of Gabriel’s statements and aspirations at face value and writes up a letter to help work out what to do, no matter how ludicrous it all sounds.

---

Tapestry by @hamsteriffic

Luka’s tattoos mark each milestone in his life, but none is more important than the one prepared for him by Grandmaster Su Han for completing his training.

I love the description of the various tattoos Luka has, it helps to develop him as a character, show what matters to him, and the fic even includes artwork of Luka and all his tattoos!

---

Back to Life (Back to Reality) by @2manyfandoms2count

Toxinelle and Griffe Noire return to their world after their night in the canon timeline.

I loved seeing these two talking a bit more amiably, especially with Toxinelle commenting on how silent Adrien is as a civilian. That doesn’t appear to be something he really wants to dwell on.

---

Here’s Hopes For Moving Forward... by allthingsasian

Gabriel finds out his son is Claw Noir.

Set just after the Paris Special...

I loved seeing Gabriel’s perspective here, finding Claw Noir broken down, crying on his son’s bedroom floor, and realizing what that means. How badly Adrien must have been hurting, how he’d been lashing out and hurting everyone he could reach, including himself, with the self-cataclysm. 

But now, Adrien and Gabriel are ready to talk, with Adrien getting the hug he’s sorely needed for a long time.

---

Where We Go Now by @trishacollins

After going to the other world, after his life-changing meeting with his other self - Adrien comes back to his silent room, in his silent house.

Just because he changed doesn't mean the world has changed to keep up.

Where do you even start?

I love the “What Now?” energy of this work, and Adrien and Marinette talking through things after getting back to their world. They’ve changed, but the world hasn’t. I especially liked the attention paid to how silent Adrien was as a civilian, compared to how chatty he was as Claw Noir. That seemed purposeful.

---

oh, no, not again by @bittersweetresilience

Félix doesn't want to broach the subject, but he won't be able to after they leave.

So this is a glimpse into a time-travel fix-it story, with various wielders being sent back into their younger selves. But Felix doesn’t think he’ll be helpful, because well... his backstory. He would be unable to step out of line. It’s pretty angsty and I love Chat’s reaction to learning about how bad Felix had it.

[nobodyfamousposts]

Can we ask about the otome au? It’s one of my favorite au’s and I’ve been so curious about it but it’s been a while since anything was mentioned about it.

If we can, has anything changed and/or any new details kinda sprung up in the lull interval?

Certainly!

It's a little odd since Lila is pretty much the Lila as we know her from canon while Felix and Luka are not. I originally just thought of the transmigrated into an otome game setup as an explanation as to why Lila would say Ladybug "betrayed" her. Since originally, Ladybug never does anything with Lila except protect her from akumas and support her as a hero and eventual replacement for the Ladybug Hero.

A couple additions are in regards to Gabriel and Chloe.

With Chloe being the "villainess" of the otome game, she's got a pretty poor fate set up for her. Unless SHE ends up isekaied as well, the only way for her to really avoid this fate would be if someone else helped her change. In this case, it would either have to be a result of some machinations of Lila that end up making Chloe act against her in a way that would be a benefit to everyone else (aka: reveal she's a liar and manipulator) OR it would take Felix or Luka to have some influence on her. Alternatively, they could push Adrien to be a better influence on Chloe by holding her accountable. If Chloe would change for anyone, it would be for Adrien.

Lila never really bothered with any route of the game other than Adrien's. Both the Hero side and the Civilian side. But neither side actually revealed Gabriel was Hawk Moth. The DLC alluded to it, but again, Lila never bothered with it, so she's as lost on Hawk Moth's identity as she is on Ladybug's new "role" in the game. Of course, that's not going to stop her from trying to find out who he is and make an alliance if it means taking out Ladybug for "interfering".

Felix and Luka have a strange duality.

Luka knows only the bare basics about the game—monsters attack, heroes help, and people who are now his friends and family get targeted. The problem is that he doesn't know just HOW these incidents occur or turn out, just that it's all ultimately supposed to be up to this one girl to resolve the problems. So he is understandably concerned that the girl in question doesn't seem particularly inclined to help and thus takes it upon himself to try and fix things or protect his new friends and family.

Felix, on the other hand, HAS the information about the game. He just doesn't care.

They end up forming a partnership that eventually turns into friendship. Albeit mostly because Luka forces the matter and Felix is just dragged along for the ride.

Felix: Why not? It can't be worse than what the game would originally have had me do.

Luka has always wanted a little sister. And now he has one in the form of a little goth cutie. The especially hilarious thing is that there is really no difference between Luka pre or post isekai. Both versions of Luka adore Juleka.

Luka (First Morning He Wakes Up): (Hugs Juleka) OMG I have the cutest sister in the world!

Juleka: (Nonplussed) Do you have to do this every morning?

Luka is...less than pleased when he realizes he is one of the potential capture targets. Especially when he realizes the type of girl Lila is.

...although......

Hear me out: since Luka knows only the basics about the game, what if he doesn't know who the Heroine is?

What if he thinks it's Marinette?

Luka: Okay, to help protect my new family and resolve any potential issues, I just need to find the Heroine. But where do I even start looking for her?

Marinette: I'm Ma-Ma-Marinette.

Luka: ...there she is!

Of course, he's not happy when Felix corrects him.

Luka: But she's cute and huggable and so darn lovable! Who else could be the Heroine if she isn't?

Felix: Well...

...he's even LESS happy when he finds out who the Heroine IS.

Luka: I'm sorry, you're saying WHAT?

Felix: (Sigh) The Heroine of this game is Lila Rossi.

Luka: ...the sausage-haired girl?!

And it only snowballs from there.

[butterpony100]

Been a minute since I posted here, but the miraculous ladybug brain worm has returned with a vengeance

A while ago I made this post about a potential rewrite of Chloe Bourgeois and actually doing something with the missed character development from seasons 1-3.

The character assassination for her was REAL and saddened me and a lot of other fans of the show, since Chloe was shown to be someone capable of redemption, so now we’re fixing that!

Sticking to the term “Sour to Sweet” au for this Chloe rewrite!

This post will mostly be discussing details of Chloe’s personality that will be changing and how she interacts with character instead of specific events (cause it’s been a hot minute since I watched the eps and that’s a dumpster fire I’m not 100 into spending my Friday rooting through)

SO ��� TO START

-appearance whise, Chloe stars making changes piece by piece. She opts for stylish yet more comfortable clothing in public, taking a page from Zoe’s book about being more approachable in apperance (tho she still wants to rock the best fit)

- considers getting a haircut but opts to begin wearing her hair down, maybe with a few braids, to help feel a bit more relaxed (and to shy a bit more away from the ladybug idolization with her hair always up) maybe even getting a streak of black and white in her hair in reminiscent of her time as queen bee

-first person she properly begins changing her relationship with is Sabrina. Chloe and Zoe are still on uneven standing with not being too sure about how they feel about eachother, so Chloe starts trying to make small changes with her friendship with Sabrina, one of the few people Chloe considers to be her friend. Things like being a little generous to her by paying for snacks, studying together, or just having idle conversations with her over coffee. Again, baby steps, but something Sabrina appreciates nonetheless.

-her attitude at school changes drastically from what she’s used to. Instead of being loud and boisterous or vying for attention, Chloe tends to keep to herself a lot more, of course throwing in the witty remark every now and again, but not so aggressive. When in class projects, some parts of her old demeanor still leak out, but she holds her tongue more often than not and somewhat works with the group??? Which is far more than what her classmates have come to expect from her.

- she almost completely ignores Marinette in most situations. Not in a rude or condescending way, but moreso just has no idea how to interact with her and opts for silence. Only time she acknowledges her presence is when she’s hanging out with adrien, and while Chloe is still jealous, she’ll at least acknowledge marinettes presence and continue about her day.

-Lila is when things get messy. Chloe keeps out of Lila’s way for the most part before her reform, but as Chloe grows and changes, she slowly starts calling Lila out on her bs. Just simple things like “didn’t you tell me you were doing this instead of that last week?” And mostly poking holes in her ‘airtight alibies’. As someone who was in the bully role, Chloe can easily see Lila trying to fill that position now that Chloe has taken a massive chill pill. Chloe’s opinion of Marinette is still iffy, so she doesn’t care whatever beef Lila has with her, but when Lila starts dragging people like Adrien. Zoe, and Sabrina into her lies? That’s when Chloe starts getting ticked off. This all eventually leads to an alliance with Marinette and Alya after Lila practically tears through the entire class and their relationships just to get Marinette expelled. And I will say that the Chloe Mari Alya matchup is quite a team to be put up against.

That’s all I got for now!!!

[m3nt4llyr4v3d]

Gabriel vs Chloe/Lila

I used to frequent the Miraculous subreddit (biggest mistake of my life) to see others opinions on Seasons 4 and 5. One question I would see pop up usually is as follows:

Why do people think Chloe/Lila is worse than Gabriel?

The common answer I’ve seen is that bullying and isolation are issues that the audience can relate to, something that’s more down to earth and closer to a viewer’s potential issues. Gabriel, meanwhile, is a supervillain who makes other ridiculously costumed supervillains when they feel bad, his situation was farther out, less relatable, so hammed up at times (cartoon and all) that people would take it less seriously.

And honestly? I completely understood this answer: many viewers’ overwhelming hatred of Chloe and Lila, from what I’ve seen, stemmed from personal relation to their victims, and their own experiences with bullies. It’s completely understandable why people would feel this way.

But then I thought about it for a second, and while I still understand that reasoning, I don’t understand it in any other context.

I mean, I’ve seen people on there genuinely say that Gabriel had more redeeming qualities than them, which confuses me. Lila I kind of understand, I mean we know literally nothing about this character, and the fandom reason of “she lies for attention because her mother is barely home”, which would give her sympathy, was a little… muddled, when it’s revealed she has 3 moms that she’s somehow lying to about being their daughter (what on earth) and has multiple identities. But Chloe? Season 2-3 was showing that she did have redeeming qualities, that she cared about people (few but regardless), she was even able to suck up her own pride when being a hero! Gabriel… He’s an odd case in which the story goes back and forth on whether he’s an awful irredeemable monster, or flawed but sympathetic dad trying his best, while also flip flopping on when exactly they want you to believe as much. Right now? He’s horrible, but the narrative want you to believe he’s just “trying his best” and thinks that he somehow has the room to ask Marinette to “tell Adrien to remember all the times I was a good father” (Marinette should’ve spat on his statue ngl)

Also, Gabriel is a neglectful, dare I say abusive father! Literally mind controls his son and is trying to control him to have the “destiny” that HE wants, not caring about his son at all. He literally pretends to bond with him at one point in Season 5 just so he could give him an alliance ring and walk off smirking, planning on akumatizing him (never brought up again btw). Like, I get that Hawkmoth is more of a hammy cartoon villain, and a lot of those aspect spill into Gabriel (I mean he had a silly stupid number near the beginning of season 5 that I hate to love). But the Gabriel half is genuinely horrible, and those aspects spill into Hawkmoth. Akumatizing, physically abusing your son, and ruining his relationship to akumatize his girlfriend in Chat Blanc, emotionally manipulating him with his dead mother in both Chat Blanc and Ephemeral, literally any time he causes an akuma on purpose by ruining the life of someone he used to be close with or personally knows (the comedian, Andre, anyone working under him), emotionally manipulating his son AGAIN just so he could plan to akumatize him later, locking him up in a white room and emotionally depriving him of everything, literally everything he does in season 5 actually. I understand that some of his more atrocious actions are supervillain things, and that could be more difficult to relate to real life problems. But come on, “neglectful, abusive, controlling parent” is absolutely a real life issue that people have, and it’s a bit strange I haven’t seen that brought up more often

I’m not saying that Chloe and Lila are saints by any means at all! But I am just saying that’s it’s kind of funny that people will say, with their whole chest, that vindictive bullying is actually worse than terrorism and abusing your child, and the idea that the narrative could agree with this scares me

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

IOTA Reviews: Collusion and Revolution

Well, the final confrontation with Lila was a bust, but maybe Chloe's swan song will be bett----HAHAHAHAHAHA! Sorry, I couldn't even finish that sentence without laughing.

Let's get into the twenty-second and twenty-third episodes of Miraculous Ladybug's fifth season: Collusion and Revolution

“Collusion” starts off with... oh, for God's sake... Gabriel monologuing to Emilie's body for the umpteenth time, only now, we see just how bad his Cataclysm wound has gotten, now making his entire hand black.

Marinette and Adrien wake up and we get a pretty cute scene of them talking on the phone while getting ready for their respective days. Afterwards, Gabriel talks with Adrien about being sent to London, and is somehow aware that Adrien hasn't told Marinette yet. Even when Gabriel tries to use his ring to keep Adrien under his control, Adrien still shows signs of resistance.

Later at school, Chloe walks up to insult Marinette and Adrien as usual, but Marinette has a little rebuttal of her own.

Marinette: Be mean while you still can, Chloe. I'm gonna let you in on a secret. Remember your friend Lila who used to hurt everyone with her lies? See her anywhere in this classroom? No, because I put a stop to her nastiness and I'll do the same with you!

Yeah, and you were only able to do so because one of Lila's minions decided they didn't like being evil, and had no plan of your own prior to that.

It's revealed that not only is Lila (I'm not calling her Cerise to make things easier for myself) still in contact with Chloe through their Alliance rings, she also somehow got her own supervillain lair. How did she set up here, much less find the resources to do so? You guessed it, never explained!

And yeah, let's just get this out of the way. I hate what they're doing with Lila here. For reasons I'll get to in a later review, it's clear that there had to be some changes made so Lila remains a key player, even after the events of “Confrontation”, so they decided to make Lila manipulate Chloe as part of her plans. For a pair of episodes that are meant to show Chloe at her absolute worst, it devalues her status as a villain if she's just going to be used as a glorified attack dog for bigger threats like Lila. Remember, we've seen Chloe come up with her own plans before (Mr. Pigeon, Dark Cupid, Darkblade, Kung Food, Antibug, Despair Bear, Zombizou, Frightningale, Queen Wasp, Queen Banana, Gabriel Agreste, Penalteam, Determination, Derision), and we know she's not a complete idiot. She doesn't need Lila to hold her hand and tell her what to do to get what she wants. I get that it's supposed to be ironic that Chloe, for all her bluster, is ultimately a pawn in a larger scheme, but it just doesn't gel with the whole “irredeemable monster” stuff the show has been going with whenever Chloe has been on screen for the past two seasons. You could easily take Lila out of these episodes and not much would really change.

During class, Chloe makes a scene by blasting some music and dancing on her desk, and we get what has to be the most unrealistic thing this entire show has done for the past five seasons: Assuming kids still care about school when the year is almost over.

Rose: Chloe, quit it! We wanna hear the lesson, we care!

When Ms. Bustier tries to send Chloe to the principal's office, Chloe calls Ms. Mendeleiev (who is the new principal after Mr. Damocles resigned), and essentially forces her to change the rules to music is allowed. After Chloe taunts Ivan, just as Marinette tries to stop Ivan from hurting her, she uses the opportunity to frame Marinette for hitting her. Oh, sorry. I mean Lila uses the opportunity to tell Chloe to frame Marinette for hitting her.

In the principal's office, Ms. Bustier tries to reason with Chloe by showing her the present she got her all the way back in Season 2's “Zombizou”.

Ms. Bustier: Chloe, do you remember this gift you gave me on my birthday? To me, that is proof that you're a fragile teenager who doesn't know love and is simply looking for attention. And... we all tried to help you. So, please, whatever it is you want, ask yourself if it's worth all the suffering you're causing.

Chloe: Did you hear that? A homeroom teacher using a student's feelings to blackmail her. This is inappropriate, utterly inappropriate! My father, the mayor, would never tolerate this in a school.

Remember kids, FUCK showing compassion to your enemies! Everyone knows Gandhi was a loser anyway.

The negative emotions attract an Akuma to Ms. Bustier, but she manages to resist Monarch's influence for now. Monarch transforms back into Gabriel, who has a meeting with Tomoe and Andre to discuss the state of Paris' law enforcement.

Tomoe: Your policemen mostly get paid for doing nothing. It seems that Ladybug and Cat Noir are the ones who have been enforcing the law in Paris the last few months, wouldn't you agree?

Because I guess Ladybug and Cat Noir have also been stopping drug rings off-screen or something.

Chloe storms into the office, and even though Lila has no idea what's going on, she tells Chloe to record the conversation. Once again, Lila has to tell Chloe just how to be mean and selfish while she chews out Andre, and that if she was the mayor, she'd ban superheroes, right before Chloe learns Adrien is going to London next year.

After a scene that's only there to remind the audience that Adrien hasn't told Marinette about London yet, we see Gabriel talking with Andre about replacing Paris' police force with robots... even though this should really be more a discussion for the commissioner. I guess the writers didn't have enough money for a commissioner model because they had to allocate resources for Ms. Bustier's baby bump.

Andre: Seriously, Gabriel, what's this whole police robot idea all about?

Gabriel: Have I ever offered a single bad idea to you, Andre? We've always helped each other, haven't we?

Andre: Remember when we were young and penniless? When Emilie, you and I would make the world right from our little attic room? You made me my very first suit so I'd feel confident and Audrey, whom I'd fallen in love with, would finally notice me? Don't you think we were much happier back then? That our lives were more beautiful, more fair?

Gabriel: Come on, you have everything to be happy, Andre. Your wife, your daughter, Paris City Hall...

Andre: A woman who barely respects me, a selfish, heartless daughter, and a City Hall that I never wanted. I only got into politics like dad to impress Audrey, you know that.

Gabriel: I have no idea what you're talking about.

Andre: Look at me, Gabe. All my life I've lied, I've cheated and I've abused my power. I used to be a dreamer, an artist, I wanted to make movies! Now I've become a tyrant in servitude to my family and friends...

Aw, poor baby. Did someone condition their daughter to develop an entitlement complex while refusing to divorce your abusive wife?

I'm sorry, but I don't feel bad for Andre at all here. While I'm happy to see that the show is trying to teach kids that male mental health is important too, it doesn't really earn him a lot of sympathy considering a lot of this is his own fault. Sure, we don't know what Audrey was like when they were younger, and she could have gotten worse as time went on, but considering how rich he is coupled with the fact that Audrey spends most of her time in New York, he doesn't really have much of an excuse to not divorce her. As for Chloe, he has even less of an excuse, since he was responsible for her upbringing. He spoiled her rotten, he refused to properly discipline her, and he failed to teach her the slightest bit of humility. I'm willing to accept that Chloe is a lost cause by the show's standards, but I can't accept the fact that Andre had nothing to do with how she turned out. He's as much of a failure as a parent as Gabriel is.

As Lila somehow finds where the two are talking so she can overhear their conversation, Gabriel secretly records Andre, altering what he says to make him look bad. While I can't exactly describe it through text, this clip from The Simpsons should summarize it.

Ms. Bustier sees the video of Andre, and this time, she fails to resist an Akuma, turning into Wonder Woman—I mean, Miss Sans-Culotte.

Miss Sans-Culotte has a okay design. I like how it's meant to have a more patriotic theme with the color scheme, and the fact that it's based off some of the people in the French Revolution, aptly named the Sans-Culotte, is a nice way to teach kids about history. The problems I have are the golden armor, which goes against the fact that was previously mentioned in this very episode that the Sans-Culotte wore more simple clothing. That, and the guillotine blade for a weapon, which gives off some uncomfortable implications. The Miraculous power this time involves the Pig Miraculous' Gift, which somehow allows her to transform anyone her blade touches into balloons... even though the Pig never had that ability, and we saw what it really did just earlier this season (Jubilation).

Right when it seems like Adrien is about to tell Marinette about London, the two learn about Miss Sans-Culotte, and split up to transform into Cat Noir and Ladybug respectively. Meanwhile, Chloe hears the news about Andre before getting a call from Gabriel, who offers to “give her Andre's power”. Even though Chloe always uses her dad's power to get what she wants, she literally has to be told to accept the offer from Lila because she didn't think of the political ramifications. You see what I mean about Lila adding nothing to this episode? It'd be like if Thanos kept in contact with someone who had to tell him how to get the Infinity Stones at every step. As for Gabriel, I'll talk about his plan next episode.

Ladybug and Cat Noir confront Miss Sans-Culotte, demanding to know what she's doing.

Ladybug: Terror isn't a solution!

Cat Noir: There are elections to make your voice heard.

Miss Sans-Culotte: Or a revolution when everyone is corrupt. Nothing can stop freedom!

Because it's not like the video of Andre confessing to abusing his power, tampered or not, is an open and shut impeachment case, right?

Ladybug summons her Lucky Charm and gets a crown. After focusing on Miss Sans-Culotte and City Hall, she gets an idea.

Ladybug: Mayor Bourgeois is acting like the king of Paris, and maybe he should be removed from office after all.

Cat Noir: Are you saying we should give this villain free reign?

Ladybug: I don't know... I feel like that's what the Lucky Charm means. You're right, it's not up to us to decide who gets to be the mayor and who doesn't. An akumatized villain just needs to be deakumatized.

Yeah, remember how Ladybug said it was too risky to forge a temporary alliance with Matagi Gozen in order to stop the person who stole almost every Miraculous she had last season? Well now, she's saying they should essentially let this Akuma force the sitting Mayor of Paris out of power, which is all kinds of illegal. Now this might just be because I'm not French, and don't understand how politics work over there, but here in America, the last time some people stormed a major government establishment to protest a fair election, they were seen as fucking lunatics.

Zoe tries to reason with Miss Sans-Culotte, but she's still in favor of using that guillotine blade in ways that don't involve balloons. They try to reason with her and convince her to reason with Andre... right as Andre is about to resign himself, so this whole conflict was pointless. Still glad to know Ladybug and Cat Noir are now willing to let Akumas use their powers to get what they want when that was almost always seen as taboo.

Miss Sans-Culotte once again rejects the Akuma with ease, Ladybug uses Miraculous Ladybug to fix the damage... only to be cornered by several police robots, and ones that look really stupid at that.

Remember, Gabriel and Tomoe wanted taxpayers to pay for these.

Yeah, somehow, the Lucky Charm was actually meant for Chloe, because, well...

Cat Noir: A crown for the queen of brats, of course!

What, did calling her the literal Antichrist not do well with test audiences?

Yeah, this makes no goddamn sense. Why was the Lucky Charm prioritizing Chloe of all people instead of the Akuma as usual? What was Ladybug even supposed to do here? Yeah, she really should have stopped Miss Sans-Culotte, but was she expected to know about the police robots or something?

Chloe tells the press that Ladybug and Cat Noir helped an Akuma force the current mayor out of office. This is all part of Gabriel and Tomoe's plan, but once again, she's not wrong. The two still helped a dangerous supervillain force a major political shift, and the resulting power vacuum that allowed Chloe to rise to power is really their fault. After Cat Noir uses his Cataclysm to free himself and Ladybug from the nets the robots used to trap them with, we get the start of a running gag where Chloe struggles to say the word “democratic”, because remember, she's blonde, and therefore stupid. This happens several times across both episodes, and none of them are actually funny.

The episode ends with Chloe unlawfully taking control of Paris as the new mayor, which is totally different from Miss Sans-Culotte unlawfully forcing Andre to resign. The last time I saw double standards this blatant, I was watching RWBY.

THE BIGGEST IDIOT OF THE EPISODE IS... CHLOE

If there's one thing I love about my irredeemable villains, it's that they're so stupid, it's impossible to take them seriously. Not only did Chloe need Lila to hold her hand through every major decision she made throughout this episode (and by extension, the next), she failed to understand her dad's political career falling apart and needed to be told to take an opportunity to own an army of advanced robots, and couldn't even say the word “democratic”, which isn't that hard of a word to say even if you're borderline illiterate.

“Revolution” starts off with Chloe essentially declaring martial law in Paris for the time being. Once again, Cat Noir says the sane thing for once and suggests they go and beat up Chloe themselves. Well, I say that, but somehow, Cat Noir contradicts himself in his very next line.

Cat Noir: We can't let Chloe make up the rules.

Ladybug: If she were akumatized, it'd be easy. Find the object, break it, de-evilize her.

Cat Noir: But there is no object, and we can't attack someone who isn't akumatized, or we'd look like the supervillains.

I think you forgot something, guys...

THE ENTIRE FUCKING REASON SHE'S MAKING THE RULES IN THE FIRST PLACE IS BECAUSE YOU HELPED A SUPERVILLAIN IN THE LAST EPISODE! HOW DID YOU FORGET THIS VITAL INFORMATION?!

What the hell is with the sudden change of pace? They were willing to let Miss Sans-Culotte have her way by making Andre resign, so why can't they stop Chloe when she's already taken over Paris by force? I don't think you'd really look like supervillains if you stopped a tyrant instead of a democratically elected mayor. All you need to do is stop Chloe from controlling the robots, and you're golden.

In fact, where the hell is the rest of the Parisian government during all this, much less the French government? Why aren't they doing anything about this? We don't even get a throwaway line that explains it like Chloe bribed some politicians to keep quiet about the whole thing. Instead, despite an obvious violation of democratic rights, nobody outside of Paris is even bothering to stop this.

After a brief scene where some citizens are interviewed about Chloe, we see Adrien once again angsting about going to London. Like what Lila did with Chloe last episode, Plagg has to outright tell Adrien to talk to Marinette about this, because I guess this show has a really low opinion on the intelligence of people with blond hair. Also, good to know that even though Chloe is currently ruling over the city with an iron fist, she's still allowing air traffic to flow normally. Good thing too, as it's almost tourist season. Adrien tries to tell Marinette through a call, but she talks to him about Chloe, and how they can protest her regime.

Meanwhile, at City Hall, Chloe has already gone mad with power, as she orders her new box robots around, while Gabriel calls her to praise her for how she's been doing. Afterwards, Gabriel transforms into Monarch and absorbs the powers from a few Kwamis before Voyaging to City Hall. Chloe orders her robots to arrest Monarch, unaware than Tomoe is the one actually controlling them, only for Monarch to offer a deal... which Lila once again has to tell Chloe to listen to even though Chloe has worked with him in the past. Monarch offers to akumatize Chloe in a way that makes it look like she's not working for him. She accepts, and becomes Queen Mayor.

Queen Mayor's design is pretty simple, but I guess it works for the plan. It's just Chloe in an admittedly nice-looking jacket. Not sure if she can actually take it off like her other clothes or not, though. As for the Miraculous powers, Monarch transfers five of them to her robots, the Turtle Miraculous' Shelter, the Horse Miraculous' Voyage, the Ox Miraculous' Resistance, the Bee Miraculous' Venom, and the Rooster Miraculous' Sublimation, which gives her an unclear power. Given what she subjects her victims to later on, I guess it's the torture chamber she creates? I also don't get how the robots are capable of using the Miraculous powers when earlier episodes established you needed to have multiple Alliance rings to use them (Transmission, Pretension).

But now's as good a time as any to discuss Gabriel and Tomoe's plan, and why is makes absolutely no sense. In case you got confused, here's a quick summary: Tomoe created an army of robots designed to replace the police, and when Andre refused to use them, Gabriel recorded a private conversation so he could edit it, then transform into Monarch to akumatize someone and hope Ladybug and Cat Noir would let her force Andre to resign, then talk to Chloe about taking over as mayor, hope she says yes while Ladybug and Cat Noir do nothing to stop her, then pretend to give her control over Tomoe's robots before akumatizing Chloe so she can actually control the robots, all while praying that Chloe doesn't find out the truth, much the government doesn't get involved with this.

Gabriel and Tomoe did all of this instead of just, you know, akumatizing Chloe like usual. If the plan was to akumatize her all along while making it look like she's not akumatized, why didn't Gabriel just do that from the start as soon as Andre resigned and Miss Sans-Culotte rejected her Akuma? Also, why the hell is Chloe so crucial to the plan anyway? Yeah, they plan to throw her under the bus once they win, but wouldn't it make more sense if Tomoe, the one whose company made the robots, was the one who took over as Mayor?

It feels like the show is trying to recreate the plan from “Miracle Queen” where Chloe teams up with Monarch, but that plan at least made sense, as Chloe was crucial because of her connection to Ladybug. Here, it just feels like the writers needed an excuse to actually make Chloe a threat, but just like when Felix gave Gabriel all of the other Miraculous last season, it's forced. I'm not really seeing Chloe as a threat when she needed Gabriel to hand her the keys to an army of robots, and I don't care if that's the point. If the show wants us to take Chloe seriously as a villain, it needs her actions to speak for themselves instead of turning her into a glorified attack dog for Gabriel, Tomoe, and even Lila to an extent.

But here's my biggest problem with this plan. Consider the fact that Gabriel put Chloe in a major political position, presumably in order to bank on the fact that Ladybug and Cat Noir wouldn't use their powers to beat up a civilian. Gabriel then transformed into Monarch and akumatized Chloe into a form that would make it look like nobody would even tell she was akumatized in the first place. So let me ask this: If Gabriel's plan involves making it look like Chloe isn't akumatized, how is this going to actually attract Ladybug and Cat Noir so you can get their Miraculous?!

Yeah, Ladybug and Cat Noir eventually decide to fight Chloe anyway, but they don't learn she's akumatized until she blurts it out, and that's well into their fight. The plan is to turn the local government against Ladybug and Cat Noir and discredit in a way that prevents them from taking action against an obvious threat, but that just doesn't gel with Monarch's goal of getting their Miraculous. Did Gabriel and Tomoe assume that Ladybug and Cat Noir would just have no qualms with presumably beating up a civilian? If so, why even bother hiding the fact that Chloe was akumatized? This is a problem the plan faces no matter who the mayor is. Hell, if anything, it would be better if Chloe was akumatized from the start, as no matter how long she hides it for, she still has control over an army of robots armed with Miraculous powers, which wouldn't decrease the threat she poses in the slightest. This isn't even the first time an Akuma has hijacked the position of mayor (Rogercop), so it's even less excusable!

The next day, the students stage a protest at their school to get Ms. Bustier her job back, where Chloe (I'm calling her that instead because nobody else calls her Queen Mayor) questions why they're using their right to protest. She also plans to tell Marinette that Adrien is moving to London (something Gabriel told her earlier), but once again, Lila tells her not to. Also, you want to know how stupid the whole “Chloe can't say the word 'democracy' right” gag is? In the same scene where she struggles to say the D-word, Chloe uses the words “Libertarian”, “negative”, and “influence” correctly. It's hard to really buy Chloe as this illiterate moron while you still have her use words like this.

We get what can barely be considered a montage of Chloe abusing her power, but it's only like, three scenes before the plot kicks back in. We get a scene of Chloe screwing around in a private one-on-one class, an admittedly funny bit where she had a golden statue of herself commissioned to rest on the Arc de Triomphe, and then a scene where she shows Andre the ice cream man just how unfair her rule is.

Chloe: Did you pay the permit fee to sell your ice cream?!

Ice Cream Man Andre: I don't need a permit to sell love in Paris!

Chloe: Well, now you do! Otherwise, you'll end up in detention!

I mean, she reasonably calls out Andre for not having a permit to sell ice cream. How... evil of her?

Marinette goes back to her place, only to learn Chloe abducted her parents and placed them in “detention”, before doing the same to her thanks to one of her robots using a combination of Venom and Voyage. We do get an admittedly decent scene of Chloe threatening to tell Marinette about Adrien moving if Adrien doesn't become her deputy mayor, only for Adrien to vow to tell Marinette himself... even though he kept trying to tell her earlier in the episode, so this moment feels a little hollow. But hey, it's not like the finale will make this scene seem even worse in retrospect, right?

Adrien is sent to detention, a torture chamber where footage of Chloe mentally conditions the prisoners into believing that they're ridiculous or that they can always count on her, all while the prisoners are told to find a chair in an endless maze. Again, another decent visual I'll give the episode credit for. After Adrien, Marinette, and Alya escape detention, the former two transform into Cat Noir and Ladybug respectively and get ready to finally do something about Chloe.

Ladybug summons her Lucky Charm, a bikini bottom, and gets ready to stop Chloe alongside Cat Noir. Okay, Chloe has an army of robots on her side alongside the public's favor, so they'll need to come up with a really clever plan in order to—they're just going in guns blazing even though that's a terrible plan in a situation like this. Unsurprisingly, the two heroes immediately get trapped by a combination of Shelter and Resistance, nullifying the Lucky Charm and Cataclysm. Only now do they figure out Monarch is behind this, even though both of them saw the robots use Venom and Voyage to send them to detention, yet when Chloe actually says it, Ladybug is still shocked by this.

As Ladybug and Cat Noir start to detransform, they encourage the public to take action once they lose their Miraculous, even though Monarch will have won by then. As they do this, somehow, they stop detransforming until they manage to recharge their Miraculous by the power of because the plot says so. How did they do this?

Gabriel: I am an adult! Not transforming back is a power belonging to grown-ups!

Nooroo: I guess they must have grown up, Master.

Yes. Seriously. Even though there's been nothing else to signify that Ladybug and Cat Noir have matured this season, they now have the full power of their Miraculous at their disposal because now, they're adults. If you have to tell the audience that your characters have developed, then you've done a poor job at writing character development. Ms. Bustier takes the sash containing Chloe's Akuma while Cat Noir uses multiple Cataclysms to destroy the rest of her robots.

Ladybug de-evilizes the Akuma, oddly enough, doesn't use Miraculous Ladybug to fix the damage, doesn't give Chloe a useless Magical Charm because Andre says he's going to “correct his own errors”, and after being convinced by her students, Ms. Bustier decides to run for mayor.

We then cut to a private jet where Audrey is chewing her daughter out for failing, even though she supported her earlier when she was mayor. Yeah, you know how it seemed like Andre was finally going to properly discipline his daughter. Dream on! Instead, he just decided to send her away with Audrey, someone who he knows is a terrible person, and lets her deal with Chloe in a way that heavily implies she's going to put Chloe through hell when she isn't at school.

Audrey: Because of you, we've lost face! You've ruined our name and our reputation! You had all the powers in your hands and you foolishly lost them! Bourgeois do not raise losers. You think you're going to London on vacation? Dream on! I'm going to take control of your life again, starting with your education.

This is seriously meant to be an appropriate punishment for Chloe while Andre gets absolutely no consequences for being responsible for his daughter turning out the way she did. I have only one thing to ask.

WHAT THE FUCK, ASTRUC?!

How the fuck did anyone involved with this show think any of this was okay?! How did Andre think this was okay when in the previous episode, he pointed out how awful Audrey was?! Why the fuckare both Andre and Audrey, the two people who helped make Chloe the person she is, getting away scot-free while Chloe gets condemned for everything?! Why the fuck are we supposed to be happy Audrey is diciplining Chloe when we know she's worse than she is?! WHO THE FUCK THOUGHT THIS WOULD BE OKAY TO GREENLIGHT?!

I can either interpret this scene in two ways.

The first way is that, like he's said for a few years now, Astruc still doesn't see this as child abuse, and that Chloe is being punished like any other misbehaving child is.

THIS IS WHAT THOMAS ASTRUC ACTUALLY BELIEVES.

The second way, and I consider this to be the worse option, is that Astruc's team is fully aware that this now qualifies as child abuse, and that Chloe deserves this treatment. Put aside the fact that a common mentality of abusive parents is that they believe they're helping their children by “toughing them up”, this is still a demented way to punish any character, no matter how bad they are.

“But IOTA! Chloe needs to be punished for what she did!” Yeah, she does, but not like this. Hell, you don't need to do a lot to change the ending and avoid the harmful implications. Just have Andre be the one to move out of Paris with Chloe with the intent to send her to boarding school. Also, rather than say he's “going to take control of Chloe's life again”, have him explain that while he still loves Chloe, he isn't mayor anymore, so she can't use his name to get out of trouble, meaning that like it or not, Chloe will have to grow out of her bratty attitude or else she'll get in even more trouble. That way, we see Andre actually taking responsibility for how bad of a parent he was, Chloe realizes her old tricks won't work anymore while the door is open for a redemption should you choose to bring her back next season, and most importantly, there's no implications of child abuse here.

But believe it or not, things were even worse for these episodes initially. As detailed in the Season 5 scripts, there was originally a scene in “Collusion” where Andre used his powers as mayor to divorce Audrey and steal custody of Zoe while leaving her to deal with Chloe herself, officially joining Jagged Stone in the Rich Deadbeat Dads Club.

And Astruc wasn't even aware it was taken out, not being told this until he found out on Twitter.

Because somehow, he considered Andre walking out on his family and leaving his biological daughter in the hands of an abusive bitch crucial to the story.

And do you want to know the worst part? No matter how you view this scene, either way, it's portrayed as Chloe getting punished, but the next scene plays Gabriel abusing Adrien straight, ordering him to pack his things as he'll be heading to London that night. The show literally can't make up its mind on whether child abuse is bad or not. Why is it okay for Chloe to be mistreated by her parents while we're supposed to sympathize with Adrien? No matter who the victim is, CHILD ABUSE IS STILL CHILD ABUSE.

I don't care how bad Chloe is, child abuse is NEVER justifiable, and it's disgusting that the show seems to take that stance, whether they intended to or not.

Let's just get the last few minutes out of the way so I can end this. Adrien is forced to pack for London, Nathalie does nothing to stop Gabriel from doing this, Lila steals one of Tomoe's computers, Gabriel tells Tomoe about keeping Adrien and Kagami safe in London while they execute “Operation: Perfect Alliance”, Marinette and Adrien have their first kiss for the third time in five seasons, Chloe calls Marinette to tell her about Adrien, but Marinette tells her to piss off, and Chloe ends the episode crying because Astruc thinks she deserves to suffer. THERE. I'M DONE.

THE BIGGEST IDIOT OF THE EPISODE IS... GABRIEL

Gabriel joins Marinette in earning the Biggest Idiot Award for the third time this season. He had no reason to include Chloe in his stupid plan, he was essentially banking on Ladybug and Cat Noir choosing to do nothing, and tried to create a scenario were Ladybug and Cat Noir wouldn't be able to lose their Miraculous. At least you could argue that Ladybug and Cat Noir needed to stay on the down low at first. Gabriel doesn't get that excuse.

These episodes sucked, but I honestly thought they were slightly better than the last two.

Yeah, all joking aside, I thought these episodes had more positives to them than “Revelation” and “Confrontation”. Where those two episodes were insulting and confusing respectively, these two episodes were the kind of bad I've come to expect from the show. There's plotholes, bad morals, and characters acting like idiots, but it's par for the course. I was far from a fan of these two episodes, but other than the ending of “Revolution”, I was nowhere near as angry I was with “Revelation” and “Confrontation”.

Surprisingly, I was more upset rewatching “Collusion” than I did “Revolution”. Yeah, “Revolution” was bad, but at least Chloe was supposed to be a bad example of how lead a city, unlike what Andre and Ms. Bustier were doing. Those characters both taught bad morals, intentional or not, and just like Ladybug and Cat Noir, were never called out for unintentionally leading to Chloe's rise to power. With Andre, we were supposed to just be expected to be okay with all the times he abused his power as mayor while cheering when he quit with no negative repercussions, and with Ms. Bustier, we were supposed to be okay with her attempting to stage a violent coup against Andre, the character the episode is already trying to make us sympathize with.

Between these two characters, along with Sabrina and Felix, the show really loves operating on the “There's Always a Bigger Fish” rule. It doesn't matter how many bad things you do, if someone else is pulling the strings, you won't get in trouble at all... unless you're Chloe, so, in that case, BURN IN HELL. Like I mentioned earlier, you can acknowledge someone only did bad things because they were pressured to while saying they should at least be held accountable for their actions in some way that doesn't involve kicking them out of the country.

The moral of when it's okay to use violence was pretty confusing, and not just because this is a superhero show where almost every problem is solved by fighting it. Ladybug tries to convince Miss Sans-Culotte that political conflicts shouldn't be solved with violence, but even if she didn't convince her to change her mind, Andre was already ready to resign as mayor, and Miss Sans-Culotte still angrily demanded he resign in a way that sounded like a violent threat. There's also the fact that despite saying that violence isn't always the answer, the conflict that was sort of resolved with no violence ended up making things worse as Chloe was able to seize power once Andre resigned.

Also, it's pretty funny how absolutely nobody ever tried to reason with Chloe after she became mayor, not even Ms. Bustier. In that case, violence was obviously the answer, but the show never really tells us what makes Miss Sans-Culotte better than Chloe. You can't teach an anti-violence moral in one episode and then lead into an episode where violence solves the problem instead of diplomacy. And I'm not one of those saints who believes that every conflict should be handled nonviolently. Sometimes, people won't listen to words, but will at least hear you out if you use your fists. I'd personally argue the conflict of “Revolution” would have worked if had this kind of lesson. Just have Ladybug and Cat Noir tried to solve things with Chloe diplomatically during the first act, only to realize that Chloe won't budge, so they have no choice but to take her out of power themselves. It'd make a hell of a lot more sense than having Marinette and Adrien do nothing while Chloe makes everyone's life miserable because the writers need to pad the runtime.

I already mentioned this, but for an episode that tries to show how awful Chloe is, she barely does anything on her own. She needs Lila to tell her to go along with Gabriel's plan, she needs Gabriel and Tomoe to pretend to give her an army of robots, and she needs Monarch to akumatize her to make the robots even more dangerous. If you need another character to do something to make Chloe a threat, why should we only see Chloe as the threat? These two episodes keep going back and forth on whether Chloe is the worst or not. When they're not showing her taking control of Paris on her own like should be doing, the writers take the time to remind the audience that Lila and Gabriel are pulling Chloe around by telling her what to do, all while they each muse about how this is all going according to keikaku. If you want to make Chloe a threat and have her live up to her reputation as a terrible human being, she should actually have agency and should be cunning enough to be a dangerous villain in her own right.

Unlike with “Confrontation”, which gave more focus to side characters for some reason, “Revolution” actually focused on the main characters and their conflict with Chloe, like we should have gotten with Lila. Yeah, Ladybug and Cat Noir wait far too long to stop her, but unlike with Lila last episode, they at least had a semblance of a reason for hesitating to beat up a civilian. Either way, it felt like an obstacle that Ladybug and Cat Noir actually overcame together instead of someone else helping them out at the last second. Yeah, the Miraculous boost was a glorified deus ex machina, but it was at least a thing established in the show since Season 3.

Even the stuff with Chloe actually felt like stuff she would do, unlike in Season 4, which tried to give her an interest in bananas and soccer for the sake of giving her screentime as a villain (Queen Banana, Penalteam). When Chloe had free reign of the city, she actually did stuff on her own that was clever, like the detention setup. We really needed more of this Chloe for the past two seasons if the writers wanted to make her work as a villain, yet they waited until the end of the fifth season to actually do something interesting, and that was after she was told what to do for most of the episode.

And then there's how the conflict was resolved. It's really hard to buy Ladybug and Cat Noir “growing up” and unlocking the full power of their Miraculous, because just like when it was first established in Season 3, it's such a vague term, and only leaves you asking more questions. Neither Marinette or Adrien really had a big moment of personal growth this episode. Yeah, Adrien wanted to tell Marinette about London, but he had been trying to do that since Chloe first took over as mayor. While it's a decent piece of character development after keeping it secret for the past few episodes, it doesn't really do a lot to justify Adrien “growing up”.

Then again, at least Adrien actually got a moment to show his growth compared to Marinette. All she did before she “grew up” was tell the citizens of Paris to keep fighting, but it was such a vague speech and doesn't really scream becoming an adult. If she was going to sacrifice her identity or do something dangerous in order to stop Chloe, that could have worked. Instead, what I can assume was her big moment came after she defeated Chloe, the call at the end, and even then, it was just her telling Chloe how much she sucks, something she's never been afraid to say since the show started. Once again, if you need to tell the audience your show has character development, you're not good at writing character development.

Overall, while these episodes were both really bad, I still think they're at least more tolerable than the previous two.

And with that, I am officially done with the poorly written Chloe episodes. Sure, I still have three more episodes until I finish Season 5, but least this means Astruc will hopefully stop using her in the show, or at least ranting about her on Twitter. Maybe I'll make a character analysis post about her or talk about her during the overview post, but for now...

[baenyth]

Bethany's Bizarre Miraculous Reviews Episode 4-24: Penalteam

Alright. It's time for soccer and four heroes being unceremoniously shoved into the end of the season! Not to mention three of four said heroes being the most underutilized Miracukids and the other one only ever really being used in season one!

Big brain moves from Kim here

This show's really trying to gas up soccer for me. Unfortunately, I have literally the perfect gif for that:

At this point the reason why I believe Marc is super into soccer is because he reads a lot of Soccer yaoi. I have friends that got into baseball and football by anthropomorphizing football mascots and creating a baseball player for their story.

Oh right. We're trying to make Sabrina look innocent as if she didn't break into Marinette's room or lock Juleka in the bathroom.

Are they really trying to make Adrien this dumb? He's a bimbo but he's not that much of a bimbo. Actually maybe he is.

Frankly, Chloe could just be a cheerleader or something. There's a reason why I made her a cheerleader in my Baseball episode.

So does Lila just do jack shit every other season?

Okay, Chloe's definitely not that dumb.

Roasted

Oh, finally. Soon enough. And wasn't Chloe all about calling her dad all the time just earlier this season?

The Chloarmada

Imagine if Poopmoth didn't even respond, though. Like he reacted like the gif above. He's too desperate to, but still.

Pfffft even Chat Noir is for calling in the team this time

She still cares for Chloe! Cuute!

I'm posting the gif again.

Honestly I love the sports announcer part of the combat. I just wish it was for a genuine battle and not just a sport.

And of course he scores into the wrong goal. Of course.

This feels too cheesy.

Quite literally moving the goalposts lmao

And here comes the alliance. Honestly in a normal setting I can't see Chloe and Lila teaming up. They would hate eachother too much. But this show is abormal.

This was bad in a whole new way. With Party Crasher it could be fixed by one scene at the ending. This just feels OOC. And apparently it's going to get worse from here. Like, even Ivan feels OOC and we barely get any content of him. I'm posting the gif a third time.

I feel like I don't even have anything to say on the four new heroes. They were all rushed in despite barely having any development in the first place, Marc is unfitting with a mohawk, it's weird to give the Jewish kid horns, especially goat horns, Minotaurox is okay, I guess.

Also I'll be taking a break here to do a big rundown of all the characters and how I feel about them. Because this show has some characters.