#lila rossi deserves better

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

What do you think of a Lila character arc in which she learns that actually doing good and making her own visible achievements is more likely to get her better results than lying about her accomplishments and trying to sabotage others to make herself look better in comparison? That is, she figures out that if she really wants to *securely* get ahead in the world in the way that the show portrays her as wanting to rather than getting the 15-minutes-of-fame intervals created by her lies that she has to then keep feeding into, then she has to work WITH people instead of AGAINST them. Note that this is NOT a redemption arc that I’m describing; Lila would still not care at all about others or how they feel outside of direct usefulness to her in this scenario, but she would figure out how to employ her skills in a way that boosts HER up instead of tears OTHERS down (ex. lying and manipulating the reputations of individual people > acting and being an influencer on social media for sponsor brands) as well as how to network better and with WHOM it’s actually worth it to network with in the long run (could’ve seen that drop-of-a-dime betrayal from Gabriel Agreste in “Revelation” from a mile away, just sayin’). Lila would still be vain, vengeful and attention-focused the entire way through, with these being core qualities that don’t change about her, but while learning when to stop putting energy into her spite for someone due to either the actual “slight” against her being small in the grand scheme of things or the untouchability of her target in any way that really matters, as are the cases with Ladybug. In fact, this idea came from those posts that people have made since Season 3 and beyond pointing out two major character plot points of “Volpina” that conflict with common sense in hindsight concerning Lila. 1) After being deakumatized and calming down about the whole situation, Lila should have, while still not liking Ladybug, NOT continued to go after her from this point forward after realizing that Adrien was the only one who saw that whole outing of her lies and wasn’t angry at her for it as well as let her Ladyblog comments fade into obscurity as a safety net once considering how big of a public figure who does tangible good for the public Ladybug is and the reputation risk for little reward it would pose for her to keep talking about the hero at all. 2) If Lila really had done her research on the whole class and was as socially smart as the show wants her to come off as, she should’ve seen Marinette as someone to be “besties” with before her first day at school even started given her public accomplishments and connections up to that point (the sunglasses and album cover for Jagged in the music industry, her parents and great uncle in the food industry, her own merit as an up-and-coming fashion designer whose bowler hat design genuinely impressed Gabriel Agreste, who is known to not be impressed with or humor things he views as a waste of time as with Simon Says, etc.) the same way she did with Alya and the Ladyblog. Whether she still clings to Adrien given he’s still open to being friends with her as long as she stops lying (which she’s already resolved to do about Ladybug at minimum at this point) or she still gets annoyed with him trying to “lecture” her and decides he’s not worth the annoyance of putting up with over her two intended “besties” (Marinette and Lila wouldn’t be clashing since Lila would be trying to come up with a new game plan for school instead of lying now that Adrien’s aware of her and Marinette would still feel apologetic from the ending of “Volpina”) is up to preference, but I would LOVE to hear your thoughts on all of this regardless.

There's a lot here, so I'm going to start this post by stating what I think you're saying so that you know where I'm coming from in my answer in case I'm totally off base. The argument appears to be that a social climber (?) like Lila should have an arc where she learns that lies can only get her so far and that she's better off trying to make as many real connections as she can. The lies won't totally stop, but lying should become a last resort for her. I fully agree with that analysis. It's one of the many issues with Lila's writing. In the majority of the show, she is written like a compulsive liar and not like a clever manipulator.

A lot of the problem comes down to Lila's total lack of motivation. We don't know what her goals are and it feels like the writers don't either. It's why I put a question mark next to "social climber" in the last paragraph. I don't know if that's actually why she is! That makes her incredibly hard to write well.

When Lila's introduced, it comes across like she just wants to be seen as cool by her classmates. As the show goes on, that continues, but we also get this sense that she wants greater power of some kind and has some sort of master plan going on. Those are clashing behaviors. The kind of lies she tells at school are far too risky for someone with a grand plan. They put her at far too much risk of being outed.

For example, if she is actively manipulating a bunch of women into thinking that they're her mother, then why tell her classmates that she was out of town working for a charity with a well-known public figure like she did in Catalyst? That puts her at risk for a call home or even just having someone meet one of the mothers and mentioning the trip, which would make said mother start asking questions. Lila should be doing everything in her power to keep that from happening. She should want to blend in, not stand out. Canon even shows us how easily her lies would be outed if anyone other than Marinette cared to do basic fact checking:

Lila: (Waves) Hello, everyone! Miss Bustier's class: Hi Lila! Miss Bustier: We can't wait to hear what you've been doing since our last video chat. Tell us about your week in the Kingdom of Achu. Lila: It's absolutely amazing! Prince Ali invited me and my parents to his gorgeous palace. Marinette: Excuse me, Lila, but Prince Ali couldn't possibly have invited you because he is in the United States. Lila: (Laughs) I never said he was actually there, Marinette. I just said he invited us, that's all. His parents organized the visit- Marinette: She's lying, and I'll expose her for the fake that she is. Alya: Oh no, Marinette, not that again. She's not a liar. You're just jealous of Lila because she tried to hit on Adrien.

There is no point to this lie and it actively undermines Lila's character. This lie makes it look like she has no master plan and just lies compulsively for the thrill of it. The kind of character who tells lies like this one would not be capable of setting up multiple fake identities.

If you want to make Lila a master manipulator, then she needs to be written like she was in Oni-chan, which is one of the rare episodes where canon wrote her well:

Lila: What's the worst grade you've ever gotten? Adrien: An A- in math. Listen, Lila, you should forget about this. My father can be harsh with anyone he thinks is an intruder. Lila: (laughs) We're not doing anything wrong. Leave this to me. [Scene change to front the the mansion] Nathalie: I'm sorry, Adrien, but you know your father- Lila: Excuse me, ma'am. But is there any way I could ask him directly? Just in case. Nathalie: Mr. Agreste is busy designing and must not be disturbed for any reason. Adrien: I told you so. Lila: Oh, Adrien. I so wanted to help you make up all the schoolwork you missed due to all the modeling you've been doing lately. What will your father think if he finds out about your lower grades, Adrien? Who will he believe? Nathalie: Adrien, have your grades gone down? Lila: He’d never tell you himself up when I saw Adrien crying the other day because he only got an A-, I just felt like I had to offer him my help. I would’ve taken half an hour. (Nathalie raises her eyebrow at her) I understand. You’re only doing what you think is best. I did what I could, Adrien. Good luck. Nathalie: If it's only half an hour...

Lila is still a little too much here, but this is a kids show, so it makes sense to play up the lies a bit. With that context in mind, this is close enough to quality manipulation that I would feel like I was being a total nitpick if I complained about everyone being too gullible and Lila being a bad liar. Instead, I'm going to praise this writing. This is how she should have always been written. Minor lies used to get her connections or to manipulate her connections, but as much truth as she can manage to keep herself from being outed. Every lie should have a purpose and be carefully thought out. That's how manipulators work.

The Ladybug thing you brought up is another problem. If Lila's goal is manipulation, then she absolutely should have "forgiven" Ladybug and pretended to change. The lines she gives are those of a petty brat, not an evil mastermind:

Ladybug: I... totally overreacted and... never should've spoken to you like that. I'm sorry. Lila: Forget it, Ladybug; you were right. We'll never be friends. 

While I hate the writing in Volpina, making Marinette feel guilty for confronting Lila could have been an excellent setup for Lila gaining power. If Lila went on to make the appearance of changing her behavior and Marinette believed that Lila was sorry, then you could have used Volpina as a semi-clumsy, but ultimately functional setup for Lila being a liar in the audience's eyes, but not in the eyes of the cast. Instead, Lila is enemies with both Ladybug and Marinette, which is the least interesting way to play this on every level.

As you rightly pointed out, Marinette has connections. Lila should want to be Marinette's friend! It would be far more interesting if Marinette trusted Lila and Lila was cool with Marinette while hating Ladybug. That's how identity shenanigan setups are supposed to function! It's not supposed to be just about the romance unless it's short form content. Imagine if the show had let Lila and Marinette have a cool dynamic too. It could lead to all sorts of interesting situations like Marinette picking Lila as a temp hero!

But, as always, that style of writing does not work in an episodic show and it definitely doesn't work in a formula show. Lila is simply a terrible pick for Miraculous at a fundamental, structural level and I have no idea how anyone is excited about her being the new main villain.

[kittysuicoffee]

To the person who made the Lila is Manon theory just to let you know if this theory ends up canon I would like to wish that your socks are always wet good day.

[a-flaming-idiot]

They're good kids, I SWEAR!!!

[dax-enfinity]

I am a sucker for reunion fics so I got an idea: mari meeting her class and parents once again under circumstances after she just disappears to gotham city, cue them meeting the bats

[richter10]

An idea for Lila's Lament-like stories...

In stories inspired by @nobodyfamousposts Chloe's Lament, where Lila is the one to make the Wish, she Wishes to have Adrien's life and the Lament is that now she have Gabriel as her father - with all that it implies...

But to add on it... wouldn't it means that this new reality's Lila is now a Sentimonster, created by Lila's mother?

(And depending of how much the Reality changed... Would it mean that Felix's mother, Amelie, is actually related to Lila's mother? And since it means that Colt created a Sentimonster at the image of the Agreste's child... food for thought)

An interesting idea by @imthepunchlord is about a Tri-Life Swap AU, where Lila have Adrien's Life, Adrien have Marinette's, and Marinette have Lila's.

In a Lila's Lament's scenario, it would mean that Marinette is the daughter of a diplomat - and since she is not Lila and is actually a kind, compassionate, creative, hard-worker person, there is the possibility that Marinette really have the connections that Original Reality's Lila lied about.

It would mean that not only Lila have to live under Gabriel's control (in double if she is a sentimonster), she gave Marinette the chance to have an even higher profile life and a chance at Adrien without the pressures of being Ladybug...

[mochinek0]

Daminette December 2022: 23-Swim

There was a heatwave in Paris. It was so hot that they felt like they were in a giant frying pan. The class thought the best thing to do would be to go to the pool. They already figured it would be packed with kids and parents. They didn't expect to see a paper on the aquatic center that said it was closed due to a reservation.

"They can't be closed!" Whined Alix.

"It's so hot." Nino sighed.

"I'm sure we can still get in." Lila declared, "It's probably a kid's birthday party or something. I'm sure we can convince them to let us hover in the deep end."

'Kim mentioned he was a lifeguard in training. All I have to mention is he's a lifeguard to the parents and they'll let us in. Free babysitting for Kim and we can swim.'

Lila had convinced the rest of the class that they could help with swimming lessons or even keep them an eye on the children. It would be simple and boring, but they would be cool and wet.

As they forced their way inside and walked into the pool area, they saw there was no party. The only person they saw was Marinette climbing out of the pool in a pink bikini with her hair down. None of them had known that the clumsy girl they knew was athletically built.

Before they could utter a word, a voice cried out, "Why are you here? Can you not read?"

A muscular guy with olive skin stepped into view. The girl stared in awe, while even Kim felt unworthy standing next to him.

'Who is this hottie and why is he with her?'

"Explain." he stated again.

"We-We just wanted to use the pool." Kim declared.

"You can return in two hours." he stated.

"Marinette knows us!" Lila smiled, "It's fine."

"Leave or I will contact the authorities." he demanded.

'What?'

"Dude, you can't hog the pool!" Nino complained.

"I can when I reserved it and bought out the hours." he commented.

'This guy reserved the whole pool?'

"Dami, how was my time?" Marinette questioned, walking up to him.

When Marinette noticed some of the class, she quickly covered herself up.

"Dami, is everything okay?" she asked, half way hiding behind the guy.

"Get my phone, Angel." he demanded, "I'll be pulling my services from this establishment."

"There's no need to do that." Rose spoke up.

"Yeah, Marinette, tell him you know us." Alya smiled.

"I do." Mari declared.

"See!" Alix shouted.

"And?" Marinette answered.

The class fell silent by Marinette's decleration and sudden change in attitude. Even Lila was shocked by her new hostility.

"I can't believe your acting like this with your friends!" the journalist snarled

Marinette scoffed, "All of you have told me several times that we are not friends. I don't see you as friends. The only reason we came here, instead of the hotel pool was because it's being cleaned."

"We can share the time." Nino tried to offer.

"Leave." Damian demanded.

"What?" Rose questioned.

"You're kicking us out?" Kim asked, surprised.

Marinette handed Damian his phone in plain view. The class looked from Marinette to the guy with her.

Mari smiled, "Damian is very honest so I'd listen to him. He means everything he says."

The class quickly gathered up thei belongings, they had thrown on the floor, and glared at her.

"You've changed." Alya declared.

"I know." she answered, "I prefer myself this way. You can thank Lila for being such a bitch and a liar to me. You showed me these assholes aren't my friends."

Damian pulled Marinette close to his side and smirked, "We'll do another ten laps. Then, have your last break before another ten. Once we're done, we'll head back to the hotel and get ready for our dinner date."

Marinette placed a kiss on his cheek and walked back towards the other end of the pool.

"I'd leave now." Damian snarled, "You are unwanted here."

The class quickly rushed out of the aquatic center.

"Was that really Marinette's boyfriend?" Nino wondered.

"He seems super scary." Rose declared, "Luka was much sweeter."

"Who cares?" Alya shouted.

"I can't believe she said we weren't friends!" Lila sniffled, "She said so many mean things about me, too."

"But she was right, too." Rose admitted, shocking Lila, "We said we weren't her friends, first."

"We didn't mean it, though." Kim cried out.

"I think, she thinks, we actually meant it." Alix answered.

Everyone looked around at each other and frowned.

"We just wanted her to be nice to Lila!" Alya insisted, "We never meant for her to take it to heart!"

'They were still friends with her?'

"She still could have shared the pool." Lila whined, "It's so hot."

"I looked it up." Nino sighed, "The hotel pool is closed all week."

"I'm still shocked she was doing laps." Kim commented, "She isn't on the swim team, but she definitely has the body of a swimmer."

Alix scoffed, "Who cares about her body; did you see those muscles? I wanna know how much she lifts! She might be a bigger muscle head than you, Monkey Brains."

"Well, did you see who she was with?" Nino shouted, "He was ripped! He had like ten pack! Kim is a jock and Adrien is a model. He looked better than both of them combined!"

Rose giggled, "She moved on from a model and rock star to a God."

"A scary 'God'." Lila frowned, "I can't believe he was going to call the cops on us."

Everyone frowned and looekd around.

"Ice cream?" Kim questioned.

"Sure." Alix responded, dropping the subject entirely.

Everyone followed Kim, dropping the fact that Marinette was no longer their friend, she had a boyfriend and that the pool was no longer an option. Lila followed slowly behind them, wondering how everything came to a halt.

TAG LIST: @maribat-calendar-events @animeweebgirl @a-star-with-a-human-name @meme991001 @vixen-uchiha @abrx2002 @alysrose-starchild @fandom-trapped-03 @dood-space @moonlightstar64 @saltymiraculer @marveldcedits20 @09shell-sea09 @icerosecrystal @animegirlweeb @insane-fangirl-of-everything @blueblossombliss @nickristus-dreamer @megawhitleycalderonpaganus

[nothingtherefornow]

A Reddit fan put an end to the "Marinette nerver faces consequences" Bullcrap

If there's anything Marinette has been facing since the end of season 3, its consequence.

Not only is Marinette now even more traumatized and emotionally damaged than she already was since Chat Blanc by the end of season 5, but she also put herself in a situation where deep down she'll know she'll face consequences for her lies in the Special London one day.

And InkStyx carefully pointed out everytme Marinette had to face consequences for her mistakes, and how she sometimes even suffer "consequences" that she does not deserves to face

The comment section is also a pleasure to read, especially with the post's author answering to a fan who that the biggest consequence Marinette has yet to face for her actions is having Lila as her new nemesis. InkStyx's answer was to mention the revelation in the episode of Ladybug during a flashback that Lila likelly had it out for Mari as early as Befana because she could tell that Adrien was fond of her after observing them from afar during Marinette's birthday party. It was hard to miss Lila's glare wich was full of hatred and hostility during that flashback at the sight of Marinette and Adrien interracting with each other

And the thing that caused Lila to declare war on Marinette at the end of Chameleon before Marinette even gave her an answer to her threat was the further confirmation that Adrian would rather seat with Mari in class than with Lila.

[dragonbugsuperior]

MLB Ship Tier

[marcmarcmomarc]

Miraculous

Chapter 22: Ladybug vs. Lila

(Ladybug and Lila tumble through the portal and fight on the school courtyard.)

LILA: Why couldn’t you just stay away? I thought you hated the people here! I thought they were traitors!

LADYBUG: But tyranny is not the answer! They don’t deserve that!

(Ladybug spins her yo-yo.)

LADYBUG: Lucky Charm!

(What does she summon this time?)

LADYBUG: A tennis ball launcher?

(As Lila tackles her, she then locates the net of tennis balls nearby. She tosses Lila off of her, takes the net, drops the balls in, and turns on the launcher. With terrible survival instincts, Lila blocks them with nothing more than her hands.)

LILA: Ah! Hey! Turn that off!

(Outside, Cat Noir and the other Miraculous holders hear the commotion.)

CAT NOIR: Cataclysm!

(He summons his power, then punches the wall, which falls apart. He sees Lila being pelted by the balls.)

CAT NOIR: Ladybug!

LADYBUG: Cat Noir?

CAT NOIR: I thought you might have needed my help!

(The school walls start to crumble.)

CARAPACE: Shellter!

(Carapace uses his shield to protect everyone from the falling rubble. The sun starts to rise behind the cityscape. As the dust settles, the heroes and Lila look around.)

QUEEN BEE: Okay. That’s it.

(They hear beeping.)

QUEEN BEE: What’s that?

LILA: What?! I said not to blow anything up!

LADYBUG: I can still stop it!

LADYBUG: You guys get everyone out!

(Ladybug takes off.)

CAT NOIR (O.S.): Ladybug!

LILA (O.S.): Stop!

(Ladybug speeds toward the source of the beeping, Le Grand Paris. Speeding through the front doors, she listens for the source of the sound as it speeds up. Outside, Cat Noir and the others evacuate everyone through Voyd’s portal. Le Grand Paris explodes behind them.)

CAT NOIR: Faster!

(Cat Noir follows the last civilian through just as the explosion almost reaches them. In the city, the flames knock over establishments. Cat Noir and all of Paris reach an overlook.)

CAT NOIR: (PANTING HEAVILY) That was nuts.

(Hawk Moth speaks to the akuma heroes.)

HAWK MOTH: You guys have served Paris well. I relinquish your akumas.

(All of the akuma heroes turn back to normal.)

HAWK MOTH: Light wings, fall.

(Hawk Moth de-transforms.)

NOOROO: Well done, Master.

GABRIEL: That actually felt good. And please, call me Gabriel.

MASTER FU: Do you wish to keep using the Butterfly Miraculous for good purposes?

GABRIEL: Indeed, I do.

NATHALIE: Me, too, with the Peacock Miraculous.

(She then falls over coughing.)

NATHALIE: It’s damaged.

MASTER FU: It is a bad idea to use a broken Miraculous.

(Now, the Miraculous holders de-transform.)

QUEEN BEE: Buzz off.

CARAPACE: Shell off.

RENA ROUGE: Let’s rest.

CAT NOIR: Claws in.

(Lila approaches.)

LILA: Why did you guys save me?

ADRIEN: Well, you aren’t any more worthy of death than anyone else here.

(Lila tears up.)

LILA: I’m- I’m sorry.

ADRIEN: Hey. Marinette would have said the same- (GASPS) Oh, no!

(They turn around.)

NINO: Where is she?

ALYA: Marinette.

(The crowd joins them.)

CROWD: (WALLA, MURMURING) Oh, no…It can’t be…Where is she?

(Their eyes search the smoldering ruins of the city, but Marinette is nowhere to be seen.)

CHLOÉ: I think she might be dead.

(Her hands over her mouth, Sabine tears up.)

SABINE: (SOBBING) Oh.

LILA: (BREATHLESS) No. What have I done?

(Alya sniffles. Everyone hangs their heads.)

(In the rubble, fallen pieces of wood quake. Her face covered in soot, the now de-transformed Marinette pushes her way out of the remains of Le Grand Paris, coughing. On the hill, Lily notices her.)

LILY: There she is! There she is!

(The people look up and beam happily.)

ALYA: She’s alive!

(They rush back to the edge of the hill. Marinette finishes getting out of the rubble as the crowd approaches. Her right arm is missing. Her friends take turns embracing her.)

ALYA: Marinette! You’re back!

MARINETTE: Yeah.

NINO: You’re here.

(Chloé moves them aside, then leaps on her.)

CHLOÉ: Don’t ever leave us again!

MARINETTE: Nice to see you, too, Chloé.

(The girls embrace her, too.)

ALIX: Marinette!

ROSE: You’re back!

MARINETTE: Hey, guys.

(Then Adrien approaches.)

ADRIEN: Hey.

MARINETTE: Adrien. Mom. Dad.

(Sabine sees Marinette’s armless sleeve.)

SABINE: (GASPS) Your arm!

(Marinette looks at it.)

MARINETTE: Oh, yeah. It got stuck under a piece of rubble, so I cut it off.

TOM: Marinette, next time you feel betrayed, you can talk.

SABINE: Tom, she did. We just didn’t listen and didn’t realize until it was too late.

LILA (O.S.): Which is my fault.

(Lila approaches.)

LILA: I’ll gladly take whatever court sentence I get to make it up to you.

LANA: Too bad you don’t have much of a city to live in.

(They look at the ruins again.)

[drtwit]

Miraculous Ladybug - Miraculous Menaces AU: Feelin' Good

Miraculous Menaces AU

Chapter Summary:

Volpina and Ladybug are dangerously close to being friends. This can only end well.

A collection of vignettes covering an AU where Chat becomes Hawkmoth's partner in crime. At first, Adrien thought that the day he found out that his father was the supervillain terrorizing the people of Paris was the worst day of his life, but in retrospect, it might have been the one change needed to save his family. Because it was also the day that both of them realized that, when they don't need to be Adrien and Gabriel Agreste, they're both fucking goobers. Follow the adventures of Hawkmoth, Chat Noir, and their reluctant assistant who doesn't get paid enough, Nathalie, as they try to navigate life as a supervillain family. And pray for Ladybug's sanity as she suffers their antics.

[xwonderlandresidentx]

So now that the season 5 finale has aired, and Adrien still didn't get to find out anything about his father, I've been seeing people theorize that Adrien will learn everything next season, but that he'll be learning it from Lila.

While I do think that that outcome would be better than him never learning anything, I don't think it would be satisfying either, and for a few reasons.

A) If Adrien isn't going to learn about Gabriel's true nature on his own, he should at least learn it from his Marinette, Emilie (or is she Amilie now?), or Natalie.

He should be told with kindness, and I believe that the people who claim to love him have a responsibility to be honest with him. Hearing it from anyone else, Lila especially, will hurt him more. Could be good for the drama of it all, I guess, but I don't want drama for drama's sake, I want character growth.

B) Lila being the one to tell him anything could be, intentionally or unintentionally, the show continuing to frame his learning the truth as a bad thing, as it would be portrayed as an act of cruelty and manipulation from an enemy, while his family and girlfriend, the people "with his best interest at heart", would be framed as in the right for having kept secrets, because "See, see?? Look how much the truth hurt him!"

C) Adrien learning anything after his father is dead and gone denies him the chance to confront him, or stand up for himself in any meaningful capacity, which gives him, and us the audience, no real closure.

What is Adrien supposed to do once he knows? Cataclysm a statue, while he has to mull over everything he would have said to him, knowing that there's no one to say it to? Or just ignore it, pretend it doesn't matter? Just say "all's well that ends well" even though everything around him is based on a lie?

Or maybe he just never finds out.

No matter where they go from here, I honestly just won't be satisfied. To me, i think the window for Adrien's true Good End is closed.

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

The Many Failures of Lila's Writing

There are three main issues with Lila Rossi (or whatever her name is): she was introduced too early, she doesn't fill a unique role in the story, and her lies are too over the top for her to feel like a good villain. Let's go through that list in order because the issues build to create the show's most annoying character even though her setup could have led to a legitimately great character who we would have all loved to hate.

Issue 1: Lila Shows Up Three Seasons Too Early

Lila is introduced in the final episode of season one and then essentially disappears from the show for a full season. The only time we see her in season two is her brief appearance in season two's finale where she takes on the role of Volpina again in order to help Gabriel fake Ladybug's death. That's also the episode where we learn that Lila has been "in Achu" for some unknown amount of time.

[image: a list of Lila's season two appearances (source)]

Season three sees Lila show up with reasonable regularity (8 episodes, none of which are two-parters) and we get a real conflict with her, truly establishing her as a villain who lies like crazy and who wants to destroy Marinette.

Then season four comes and Lila is once again forgotten about. She shows up more than she did in season two, but only as a background character and most episodes don't see her at all. She doesn't have a single line until the final three episodes of the season and her role in these episodes is exceedingly minor. She does a few petty things to remind you that she's awful, but she's not the focus of the plot. She's just there to remind you that she exists and to establish her and Chloe as coconspirators of some sort.

[image: a list of Lila's season four appearances (source)]

Then season five comes and Lila is back to being an active antagonist. She shows up in almost every episode and we even get her very lackluster defeat.

This is some of the worst pacing that I have ever seen. It's honestly impressively bad. I hope the issue speaks for itself, but in case it doesn't, you don't chop a story up like this without a good reason and, frankly, there isn't one. Lila's introduction, villain setup, and defeat should have all take place over the course of a season or two, forming a mini arc.

Just in case you don't know what that is, most stories have a main conflict that drives the whole narrative (ex: getting the butterfly miraculous back) but within that story you have lots of mini stories. Things that get resolved so that it feels like things are moving forward and so that the audience stays engaged. If you don't get any satisfying resolutions until five seasons in (or more), then the audience will start to get annoyed or just stop watching. It's also a good way to keep expectations from getting built up too high. If every season or every other season has a satisfying conclusion to some big conflict, then you don't leave everything riding on the big finale.

By chopping Lila's story up, you made the audience spend four seasons dreaming of her defeat. Expectations were sky high. She's more hated than Gabe! If she's been introduced mid season 4 and had the exact same story arc, then her lackluster take down would be a mild disappointment and not a major issue for most of the fandom.

Issue 2: Lila and Chloe Should Never have Coexisted

When it comes to story telling, characters fill roles. Ladybug is the lead. Alya is the plucky best friend. Gabriel is the big bad. Etc. Etc.

Generally speaking, you only want one character in a given role. Having two or more characters in the same role leads to character bloat where characters are fighting for screen time because they don't have a clear place in the story. This is especially true for key antagonistic roles. It's a lot easier to balance two best friends than it is to balance two big bads.

Enter Chloe and Lila.

I've mentioned before that I thought that Chloe was going to be redeemed. The reason I thought this was not because of anything to do with Chloe. It was because the show introduced Lila and, narratively speaking, Lila and Chloe are the same character. They're both petty school bullies whose main job is to cause trouble for Marinette while she's at school and to give setups for akumas.

However, in terms of perceived threat, Lila is the bigger badder Chloe. No one but Sabrina likes Chloe. Everyone but Marinette likes Lila. Chloe doesn't make plans. Lila lives to manipulate and plot. If you're going to get rid of Chloe, Lila is who you'd replace her with. That's just how this works.

One of the most well known examples of this type of setup is Zuko and Azula from Avatar the Last Airbender. Zuko is the main antagonist of season one, but season two sees him step out of that role as he starts his journey of self-discovery and redemption. And who is introduced at the end of seasons one? Azula, Zuko's evil, more powerful sister. In season two, Azula fills Zuko's former role, but also makes things feel more serious because she's a bigger badder Zuko.

This brings us back to a big part of issue one. Namely, Lila's ongoing disappearing act. She only does that because of Chloe.

Chloe is a much easier villain to write. She doesn't have to hide anything. She is openly petty and evil. So if you're going to pick a character for a petty conflict, you're going to pick Chloe. The only time Lila gets pulled in is when the drama revolves around lies because Chloe is actually a strikingly honest character. She rarely lied prior to her "friendship" with Lila because, for the most part, Chloe doesn't care if everyone hates her. She only cares about the opinions of a chosen few. (Or, at least, she acts like she does.)

For Lila to work, Chloe needed to be redeemed or written off the show. The best proof of this is season five, where Chloe straight up becomes Lila's minion because the writers had to force that relationship if they wanted to have both characters involved in the plot. It's also why season four saw Chloe suddenly obsessed with Marinette when, prior to that, Chloe bullied everyone. The only way to team Chloe and Lila up was to give them a common goal and that didn't exist in the first three seasons.

So, building off of point one, Lila should have been introduced much later and she should have stepped into Chloe's shoes after Chloe either switched roles or completely left the show.

Issue 3: The Lies

I think that we can all agree that Lila is a terrible liar. Even a toddler could see through the BS that spews from her mouth. There are multiple satisfying Lila takedown fics that don't involve clever plots to beat her. They involve Alya or someone else doing a google search because - even with the declining quality of that tool - that's still all that it would take to prove what Lila is.

This is a really bad way to write a character who is supposed to be a master manipulator. Especially when she's going to be the next big bad. They desperately needed to tone her down.

For example, DON'T have her claim to be Ladybug's best friend. Have her claim that Ladybug saved her. That would still go up on the Ladyblog and, more importantly, it would be a lot harder to disprove. I doubt that Ladybug remembers everyone she saves so no one would fault Alya for just taking that at face-value, but Marinette could still instantly peg Lila as a liar.

Tinnitus from saving Jagged Stone's cat? How about tinnitus from being too close to the speakers at Jagged Stone's latest concert? The concert where Lila even got to meet him because she had back stage passes. Once again, hard to disprove. Jagged meets a lot of fans. I doubt he'd be able to tell you that she was lying.

And definitely don't have her openly state that she's a liar. The fact that she did that and was STILL able to manipulate the adult characters is abysmal writing. Especially because it comes right before Lila disappears for a season, giving the impression that her confession essentially defeated her, only for the show to go PSYCH! No one cares about her confession, it meant nothing for the Lila conflict.

I've had someone tell me that they think that Lila's lies were suppose to be a joke and, to be fair, that's plausible. The show relies on a lot of ridiculous humor. If Lila had shown up later, then this might have worked. But because Lila has been around for so long, we've all had time to think about her lies and build up the expectation of how they'd be handled.

I don't just mean Lila being exposed. I mean the fallout of all of her "fans" having to deal with the truth of who Lila really is, an issue that I won't go into here because this is already super long and I think that the issue of how her lies effect characters like Nino and Alya is pretty well understood.

There's also the Chloe thing. Chloe is very over the top, so replacing her with a character who is over the top in a different, more terrifying way would have made some sense. But Chloe's still here and she's more ridiculous than ever, so Lila matching that ridiculous just makes them an annoying duo that we all have to suffer through. Their team up was one of the most forced elements of seasons five. I just do not buy that Chloe would ever subject herself to being someone's minion. When it comes to that team up, the hand of the author is glaring.

Conclusion/Final Thoughts

Manipulative characters are fun. They make for fantastic villains and Lila could have been one of these fantastic villain, especially if Gabriel was played as more sympathetic. If there were lines that Gabriel wouldn't cross, then Lila getting the butterfly would be terrifying. As-is, I don't see how she's any worse than the dude who created Chat Blanc. Plus I'm not even sure why she needs the butterfly. She could already get anything she wanted with minimal effort because her lying powers are so OP. Like, why should I care about that twist? What has changed with the passing of the butterfly? The stakes have not been raised. If anything, they've been lowered.

Lila is just your generic evil villain who is evil for evil's sake. The heroes already hate her. Finding out that she's the big bad is not emotionally devastating. If anything, Marinette should be thrilled that she finally has an excuse to punch Lila.

It's possible that the writers will give Lila an interesting back story, but because she's been around for five seasons, I don't have any faith that they will. I mean, what was the point of introducing her all the way back in season one if you weren't going to use that to set her up in a satisfying way? I've seen people say to just wait and see and wait for what? They couldn't manage to pull off Gabriel's defeat or Chloe's defeat/redemption or Lila's first takedown in a way that was narratively satisfying. Why should I give them a chance to disappoint me with Lila's next take down? Three strikes and you're out!

@tallwriter as requested, there are my thoughts on Lila. As with every character in this show, I think she deserved better. She could have been great. She's one of the worst examples of squandered potential because everything about her was done wrong.

[kittysuicoffee]

I feel like there should be more Lila rossi center fics. No Lila bashing no two or three other identifies just Lila being herself. Doing whatever make her feel happy or her being a top tier menace to people around her. I really don't care I am tired of the Lila salt and Lila bashing let my girl have some fun and mess with people.

[a-flaming-idiot]

I think it'd be really funny if someone did a rewrite of Miraculous Ladybug and they kept the thing of Lila have multiple moms. But instead of the weird "A fourteen-year-old has been able to manipulate multiple families into raising her" way it's a normal lesbian/polyamory way. Like she just has two or more moms and there's nothing strange about it. That'd be funny.

[stellarlex]

At this point Lila has more plot armor than Marinette salters ever accused Marinette of having. She literally gets away with everything with zero explanation and zero accountability.