#my brain: say no more *gives him a redemption arc in a dream*

[badolmen]

Sometimes you dream about the shitty white supremacist on campus getting the shit kicked out of him by an objectively worse (?) person which a friend neutralizes while you make sure the subjectively worst person in your life doesn’t die before the EMTs show up. And in the dream the dickhead has a crisis over having his life saved by a dyke and a Black guy which is apparently resolved by you three ending up in the most unrealistic but oddly satisfying qpr your dreaming brain has ever attempted.

[bibibbon]

WARNING!!! INCOMING YAPPING SESSION!!! PROCEEDED WITH CAUTION!!!

i could’ve written bakugo so much better just by drawing from personal experience istfg.

it’s sorta implied that inko and mitsuki were friends and thats why bakugo and deku were friends, and i had the same thing with one of my old childhood friends.

out of the two of us she was the ‘izuku’ and i was the ‘bakugo’. she was nice, sweet, and over all just a perfect kid with no obvious flaws. but i was rude, loud, and overall just a very difficult child. and i resented her for being so perfect. when i was maybe 8 or 9 our family’s had a big falling out and i haven’t spoken to her in like 10 years.

now, if we took that and expanded upon it, their story would look something like this.

bakugo always being compared to izuku. ‘izuku is so sweet! why can’t you be like that katsuki?’ and one day deciding ‘well, if i can’t be nice like him, i’m just going to be better than him'

and bakugo didn't even have to become his bully! they could’ve just drifted apart after a big fight and then UA having them come back together!

like c’mon hori please use your brain for two seconds

There are so many ways to write bakugos character differently than what horikoshi did.

I remember coming across an interview where horikoshi says he regrets making bakugo do and say what he did in the beginning of the manga to izuku and bakugo did gain a lot of popularity so after that horikoshi had to change bakugos character and give him a "redemption" arc that wasn't done well because he refused to give izuku agency and actually have Izuku go through complex emotions against bakugo so he just focused on bakugo and how he changed.

However, by doing that horikoshi also forgets to develop bakugos character outside of izuku and so he feels like he is just there attached to almost every arc and izuku instead of being a complex individual character that the fans are supposed to have mixed opinions about.

Your rewrite is a lot more realistic and gives us a proper reason as to why bakugo maybe distant with Izuku that canon doesn't. Realistically, in canon bakugo has everything a good quirk, people admiring him, a healthy body, good family and he is well of however izuku doesn't have that. Izuku is quirkless, with an "impossible" dream (or what others thought was an impossible dream), an absent father, a neglectful mother and he is being bullied.

I do remember talking about some of the wasted potential within bakugos character especially the prototype version of him.

[tenebrius-excellium]

So...Return of the Thief was easily the best book I have read in a long, long time.

~ MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD ~

The red-metallic cover. The mystery of the cover illustration. The title alone.

Gen is the main character. He is a king as silly, as vain and as colorful as a parrot, yet he can become so dangerous at times and I love it.

Pheris is annoying as heck but so crucial in giving the book's observant perspective. My respect for him grows towards the end.

Glad to know there was mutual respect between the king and his attendants at last. So much easier to live as a ruler when you actually get along with your closest advisors, isn't it, Gen??? you idiot (fondly)

THE CHASE AROUND THE PALACE IS PRICELESS AND WAS SO MUCH NEEDED TO BREAK UP THE TENSION...GEN DANGLING FROM THE CHANDELIER; IT WAS LIKE AN ACTION MOVIE AND SO MUCH FUN AND SO EPIC AND SO THREATENINGLY FOREBODING TOWARDS THE END. SOOOOOO WELL DONE

The fight. The fight. The fight. The fight. The ritual, gosh. Gen thoroughly gets his ass kicked and it's beautiful and WHY DOES NO ONE IN THE FANDOM TALK ABOUT THIS MORE

The admiration I have for his father, the minister of war -

LOVE that the kings and queens are all close best friends at this point. They need it and they deserve some rest and trust with each other

OF COURSE Gen wants an elephant. Where's the scene where he steals one and rides it to the parley???

HIS WALKING ON THE VERY BRINK OF OVERSTEPPING AND THE HOUSE OF ERONDITES ACTUALLY BEING THE ONES SAVING HIM HNNNNGHHHHH WHAT AN REDEMPTIVE ARC AND HE PROBABLY NEVER COMES TO KNOW OF IT I LOVE IT...

I love how his overdoing it brings him so close to his own downfall, his undoing,,...but he is LOVED and that's what brings him back to his senses. What's that line Eddis said? "I think they have to show their worst selves sometimes in order to be sure that even at their worst they are loved." And it's that love that brings him back to sanity and to the trust that he does not need to know everything. He gives up control for a good relationship with his barons. Incomparable.

Umm I have to admit that I don't get the part where Eugenides lays down his throne and is able to pick it up again a day later. Everyone would have had to lose all respect for him. I don't get it, how did he get away with that and what did it achieve for him? Someone explain pls

Same with the offense that the Pents felt upon Gen almost killing their ambassador. Diplomatic immunity and so forth, yes, but what about the fact that the ambassador basically assaulted the queen??? He at least gravely insulted her. So why didn't they use that as a sustainable argument for the king not apologizing? It's the queen of Attolia, guys. She killed the last man who tried to do that to her. Right?

My lady Whalen Turner managed to describe something visually after all, even though it was the depiction of the dead in the light, sunny mist... my heart wept

I'm pissed that we do not get to know who killed Nahuseresh. That was so personal tbh.

I'm also pissed that we don't know if Aulus and Boagus died. And I feel bad for the attendants. I liked Hilarion and Philologos. Although they got to do what they always dreamed of and what they were there to do in the first place: To defend their king, a king worthy of being died for...

Costis, Kamet and Relius made it...my heart...

Look, the author cannot paint visual images for shit. My brain had to make up three quarters of the movie that played before my inner eye. But it got easier with each new book in the series, since I was already used to the world. Improvise, adapt, overcome, right, and I am very proud of that. But I gotta say, to make up for that lack of imagery, Megan is PHENOMENAL at action sequences. And at writing peace. You know, katharsis. Reconciliation. Reader's satisfaction. Comfort.

Thank you.

The Queen's Thief series will remain a favorite and will surely stay with me for years to come.

HIGHLY RECOMMEND.

[precuredaily]

Precure Day 227

Episode: Yes! Precure 5 Go Go! 29 - “Tennis with a Hot Guy in the Highlands!?” Date watched: 25 October 2022 Original air date: 31 August 2008 Screenshots Precure Metamorphose Gallery | Sky Rose Translate Gallery Project info and master list of posts

Hello. I’m the villain.

Note: I am still experimenting with the automatic screenshots. I wasn’t satisfied with taking them every 10 seconds so I changed it to every 5 seconds and added a few custom shots. The gallery is larger than normal as a result of this, but I think it gives a better overview of the episode without as many major gaps as the 10 second rule.

Summer vacation continues with the long-awaited getaway to Karen’s mountain villa! There the girls engage in a variety of activities such as tennis, and tennis, with some tennis for good measure. But not all is as it seems when a mysterious man shows up...

The Plot

The girls travel to Karen’s villa, which is every bit as sprawling and fancy as her private island resort.

Jiiya promises to make a big meal for everyone that night, so Nozomi declares they should get hungry by playing sports.

A new villain named Mucardia shows up at Eternal. Anacondy is much friendlier to him than to Bunbee, and she dispatches him to get the Rose Pact.

Nozomi wants to play on the villa’s tennis courts. Rin points out Nozomi doesn't even play tennis, but she’s gung ho for it anyway, as are the others.

Mucardia appears in the sky and decides to spy on the girls for a while.

The girls aren't very good at tennis but seem to have fun anyway. Then Rin and Karen play a match and it's much more intense.

The fairies watch from a balcony. Kurumi turns to Milk and begins feverishly writing a postcard to Palmier. Nuts sees her working hard nonstop and wants to find a way to help her that doesn't inconvenience her. He begins drafting a new toy.

Mucardia shows up to the tennis court under the name Momoi Kyousuke, claiming to have gotten lost. He takes on Rin and Karen in a doubles tennis match. Meanwhile, Nozomi Urara, and Komachi go after a Palmin.

Kyousuke smooth talks R&K with a magic trick and some flowers before leaving. He secretly turns the whole forest into a Hoshiina. His plan is to take out Rin and Karen (the brains and brawn of the team) and the rest will fall in short order.

When everyone gathers, they complain that the Hoshiina is too big and strong. Dream applies what she learned in tennis and tells them to watch its movements and strike back.

The fight consists mostly of the girls deflecting blows from the monster and landing a few hits on it until Coco helps them perform Rainbow Rose Explosion.

Mucardia remarks that the other cures aren’t so bad, but his real victory is getting close to the team.

After the battle, Nozomi, Urara, and Komachi compliment the flowers that Rin and Karen received before they all go to eat Jiiya’s dinner. The episode closes with a shot of the two flowers in vases against a backdrop of the mountain at sunset.

The Analysis

What I Liked

The girls relaxing (kind of) and having fun playing tennis, in a very slife-of-life moe setting, was so fun. I don’t always like this (my thoughts on Smile will come eventually) but here it works.

Related, the contrast between how Rin and Karen play tennis compared to the others is great. Obviously R&K are experienced players while the rest are amateurs, but everyone has fun with it in their way.

Urara has good form (not technique) despite never actually playing. She says she portrayed a tennis player for a show once, and that might be my favorite joke in the episode.

Compared to the last episode, Princess Crepe is barely in this and has maybe 3 lines of dialog. That’s a win in my book.

Mucardia deciding to scout out the girls and get friendly with them rather than revealing his identity is a good strategy we’ve seen used before by Kiriya, Michiru, and Kaoru. It won’t play out in a redemption arc, but I enjoy it for now.

What I Didn’t Like

When Milk begins writing her letter to Palmier, Syrup complains that he needs a rest. The response to this is odd, with Milk saying she has to keep the citizens of Palmier informed of what’s going on as she’s a caregiver. This is fine as it’s her prerogative but it does nothing to address Syrup’s complaint that he’s being overworked. A practical solution would be for him to just wait and make the delivery the next day or something but this is not discussed.

Once the Hoshiina shows up, the episode drops in quality drastically. Mucardia’s plan was supposedly to take out Rin and Karen individually but he doesn’t even come close.

Normally, in a divide and conquer plot, one of two things will happen: either the singled out group will individually overcome the villain, or they will be pushed to their limit and rescued at the last minute by the rest of the team. In this instance, though, neither happens. Rouge and Aqua aren’t faring well against the monster but the other girls join the fray quickly with a half-hearted “strategy” from Dream

The above issue makes the monster, and Mucardia himself, seem like less of a threat. Anacondy holds him in high regard, and everything about him reads “formidable opponent” and then he underperforms in his debut fight. If it’s intentional, it’s not showcased well.

If a stranger showed up on a huge private resort claiming he got lost while sweet talking some teenagers, I’d be asking a lot more questions than Karen does, and he’d get an escort to the exit rather than just a point in the right direction.

Miscellaneous

Milk appears in her fairy form for the third episode in a row.

The Cures use Rainbow Rose Explosion as their finisher for the second episode in a row.

In the preview of this episode from the last one, Rin is implied by her mannerisms to be infatuated with Momoi Kyousuke. That does not carry over to the actual episode, where both she and Karen agree he was nice and appreciate the flowers he gave them, but nothing more than that.

The girls get some cute athletic clothes during the tennis scene.

Nuts is shown drawing artwork of what will become the Milky Note.

This is the final episode to use “Holding Hands Also Links our Hearts!!” as the ending theme. Next episode it will change to Ganbalance de Dance for the third and final time.

Conclusion

The fight scenes are a staple of this franchise, but I don’t remember feeling this disconnected between the plot and battle scene in a while. It feels obligatory, the monster design is underwhelming and unintimidating, and you could remove the fight entirely and not lose anything from the episode. It peaked at the girls just having fun at the resort, and Mucardia infiltrating to see how they act was a good idea. It might have been better left as a routine monster fight rather than Mucardia trying to divide and conquer right out of the gate. The episode also starts Nuts’s story arc as he struggles with his sense of worth, leading to a new toy. The plot calls back to episode 26 of the previous series, when they went on a summer vacation to Karen’s island resort. It’s a very middle of the road episode compared to the last two which were very good and very bad respectively. I just wanted a litle more substance, even if that substance was pure fluff.

Next time, on Precure Daily, Kurumi and Nozomi have a fight. Look forward to it!

Pink Precure Catchphrase Count: 1 kettei!

[ddarker-dreams]

FINALLY SOMEONE SAID THE TRUTH.

I admit that i enjoyed act 3 but it feels like really rushed i have so much complain with that.

The build up until act 2 was so good it give us so much premise but the final blow si meh. Sorry that i want to share thing long rant with you

1. Why the final talk is with yae, no offense to her but we need ei to explain not to mention she witness khaenriah downfall so she can give us more information, i feel like they do it for the plot armor so they can just keep dragging this

2. So many things that quite inconsistant, the shogun is show no mercy to anyone that even did a little thing outside what she think its right, how come she can still have a talk with signora, when sara is falling like that, and also there is no clarification about sara right now.

The traveler was so done at first they refuse to help thoma and ayaka at the beginning. But they seem so happy and forget everything how come they are not RAGE ( okay maybe this is to bias and personal) when this nation provide nothing about our siblings information and also why they are not mention anything about their problem in ei stroy quest. Its nonsense! She is right in front of youu, ask about your siblings, ask about khaenriah, ask about ukmown god!!. How come they can just forget like that. Also mihoyo really waste the potential about twin things i thing ei will give us so much help bcs of the sympathy that we both rn lost our twin but noooo.

3. Kokomi seem lost some brain cell, she make a very succesfull grand intro but she become meh in act 3, how come a great strategist like her let the sus sponsorship slip just bcs they are desperate, not to mention her screen time is really small and her role seem so unsignificant and it feels lile she is a plain npc.

4. The awesome world quest that we have done doesnt get any mention at all! Inazuma owe us so much with cleansing sakura, thunder sakura, tatarigami, obarashi quest. It has so much potential that yae or ei or anyone else aknowledge what traveler has been done but nooo.

cracks knuckles... i suppose it's time for my promised dissertation. interestingly enough, you touched on a lot of the main issues i had with chapter III.

i think that if i had to pin the main issue, it's a lack of overall cohesiveness? we were jumping all over the place without the chance to ever flesh things out. inazuma is a smaller cast, but i feel like we didn't get to see any of them shine. since i'm most interested in the genshin characters, i'll break down my problems by going over everyone and their (lack) of impact on the story.

was ayaka not questioned or placed under suspicion for being close to thoma before his escape? i wanted to see her broken up over her duties as they relate to the yashiro commission, paired with having someone she genuinely cares about in danger. it would've been an interesting struggle if she was forced to choose one or the other. instead she just kinda took a back seat.

speaking of thoma, i don't even have anything to say, because he just... was there? for .0001 seconds. said "lol this sucks ig" and that's about it. i know we're going to get a story for him in the future since he's a 5* but i'm not getting my hopes up 😭 then in the raiden shogun's character story, man is peachy keen! be upset with the raiden shogun! have some inner conflict! even if it's just using loaded language because he's under surveillance for going against the raiden shogun, that'd be so cool. saying something like,

"Traveler, what's with that expression? Oh please, there's nothing to worry about. We're under the Statue of the Omnipresent God's protection. Nothing bad has ever happened here." *wink*

i also don't know what to say about gorou. he was... there....... i think. what is he fighting for? what are the stakes for him? what makes him place so much trust into kokomi? i'm out of things to say about him because i don't remember anything he did or said.

kokomi... oh kokomi... i was so hyped. so excited. i thought that maybe we could see a foil to the raiden shogun. that she'd have a moment where she's forced to realize, just like her opponent, sacrifices must be made that will hurt people who will never understand why she made them. or maybe something to show her military prowess. but instead she just accepts a mysterious patron's help (?), sees her people aging like the grateful dead from JJBA, and goes oh well. that sucks. what can ya do. oh bye traveler i guess, good luck with that. ????????????? HUH... similar case to thoma where she's gonna get a character story but like. she won't be the leader of the resistance anymore. that was her whole shtick. they took her shtick away. also she forced me to interact with more NPCs whose names i've already forgotten so i'm tilted about that still.

KUJOU SARA... AN INJUSTICE. A DISGRACE. a slap to my woman loving face. the build up was there. yae miko's comments about sara probably knowing the tenryou commission is involved in shady dealings, but is choosing not to think about it. sara being forced to confront reality and challenge her adopted father with the truth. being able to blaze a new path for herself in the process. when she started running to the raiden shogun i was ultra hyped up. sara, a devotee to the shogun for so long, was about to see her god interacting with the same people who led inazuma to this awful state. how would she react? would she stay ignorant, like yae miko so coyly said, choosing to look away in favor of following her god's footsteps? or would she be forced to recognize the raiden shogun isn't as divine as she once thought, and challenge her belief system?

we open the door to see the raiden shogun. the loading screen ensues. the camera pans to the ominous room, clouded in darkness, hinting at the ominous confrontation that is to come. the music takes a serious timbre. and then...

well fuck that potential character arc i guess. (we still don't know what sara made of any of this since she poofed out of existence from the story at this point)

kazuha also was handed a similar treatment. we've been with him for a while longer now. he is our introduction into inazuma, the one who first gets us emotionally involved by regaling us with the bittersweet tale of friendship that led him to becoming a wanted criminal. a kind soul who loves nature yet was dealt a cruel hand by fate, forced to watch his home nation turn into a hostile place, where his dear friend ultimately perished as a result. we get the scene with his friend's vision lighting back up. he parries a block from the raiden shogun, in the same area where his friend was killed by her. the parallels. the drama. except this time, he wasn't too late. he protected the traveler where he "failed" to protect his friend in the past. did he feel redemption at this? or was it a bittersweet reminder of what could've been?

WELL i guess we'll never know because we didn't get to talk to him again 😭 idk who got a bait and switch worse, him or sara. jesus christ mihoyo.

then we have signora. why is the raiden shogun talking to her? does she know about the gnosis being taken, and if she doesn't, what was her plan to get it from the archon? what does she think about scaramouche? and oh, okay, we're fighting here now. good fight + god tier music. pog pog. okay, now we've beaten her up, and raiden shogun wyd— wait no not signora her lore is still on CUPS not YET raiden shogun and— ah she's dead. okay. non nerds who didn't read artifact lore are going to know nothing about her. signora has such an interesting story, and yet... well. ok.

then we get raiden shogun redemption (?) arc. i was hype for this as well, though at that point, idk why i bothered being hype. i knew they were gonna do a cute power of friendship something or another, and i'm good with that, so long as it's executed well. what i was envisioning was like seven different buffs to correspond with the seven different visions, the dreams of those whose ambitions were stolen serving as the spear to penetrate the raiden shogun's heart of stone. maybe a hydro vision giving us extra healing for a time, with the voice acting over it being like,

"Even if the rest of the world forgets us, let our will carry you through this one final time. Succeed where we couldn't, Traveler."

so on and so forth.

but instead we got— you get the idea at this point. why bother spelling it out anymore.

at that point i was surprised the raiden shogun didn't go "oopsie woopsie!! we made a fucky wucky!!!" because that was the vibe i was getting. i love ei, don't get me wrong, but i wanted to see her challenged with what she had done to inazuma in the past year. maybe meeting NPC #2345259 who lost her sister to the vision decree or something, reminding ei of the love she held for her sister... being forced to come to terms with the extent of what she's done in pursuit of eternity.

anyway. please for the love of god mihoyo hire better writers for the main story. that is all i ask. thank you.

[belmottetower]

002 Jamie please!

How I feel about this character:  I have been reading fanfic for about 18 years now. Jamie Tartt and my desperation for more content about him is the thing that finally got me to write my own fic. It is worth nothing that despite my real life day to day meaning I am forever encountering and having to clean up after the decisions made by shitty men, so many of my favourite fictional characters are douchebag men who go on redemption arcs. Maybe because it rarely happen in real life. Anywho. With Jamie I was entertained and intrigued by him right from the start, and then Two Aces happened, and you start to learn more about him underneath the surface, and what led to him to be the person he is. And then in series 2 from very early on you can see him trying to grow and learn and change. I love seeing him becoming the best version of himself, and his relationships with the people around him growing stronger and deeper. I cannot wait to see who season three Jamie is. All the people I ship romantically with this character:  Roy and Keeley Roy My non-romantic OTP for this character:  Dani Sam My unpopular opinion about this character:  I do not see him and Ted as having a father/son relationship. I do not think they are that close, and I do not think they really understand each other all that well. I think Jamie wants to please Ted as his manager because it means he's doing well as a player. I believe Ted is triggered by Jamie because of Ted's guilt and daddy issues. I don't think it goes deeper than that for either of them. One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: Outside of him coming out and dating Roy or Roy and Keeley (very unlikely) I would LOVE for series three to have a little World Cup arc and for Jamie to be called up to the England team. If they could get a cameo with my fave Gareth Southgate that would be the dream. my OTP: Jamie/Keeley/Roy my cross over ship: I am really struggling with this. Sometimes Jamie/Roy gives me slight Brian Kinney/Justin Taylor vibes just with younger energetic brat and older pretends to be grumpy and unfeeling partner so. Brian Kinney and Jamie Tartt can have a little bit of sex as a little treat. a headcanon fact: I mean the fandom wide headcanon is of course that not only did Jamie have Roy's poster on his wall, but he used to jerk off it, so that one is a given to me too. The other one is very specific to me, but I have basically spite written myself into it. In the show Jamie uses the wrong word a couple of times when quoting a saying or idiom. Because of that there is a real trend for fic to at best have Jamie do so many malapropisms, a ton of which don't even make sense, and at worse write him as basically a brain dead two year old. I really hate it and it is definitely something that tends to lead to me noping out of a fic. However in the show he also correctly references books on three occasions that I remember off top of my head: Jekyll and Hide, A Christmas Carol, and of course Harry Potter. Because of that I wove an entire thematic thread about Jamie becoming a book worm in one of my fic, and it's not just stuck that Jamie does like to read actually, and a pretty fucking varied list of books. And it's now sort of become an actual headcanon for me.

[melo-efcarist]

you can just enjoy villains you know that right. no need to jump hoops to justify and try to make them better than they are. morally black characters are not a bad thing, theyre not flat or uninteresting. in fact i could argue morally black characters are even more interesting than morally gray.

i like c! dream because hes a villain, an unapologetic one at that. i want to see him to do more and i also want him to suffer bc hes a horrible person who in no way deserves forgiveness from any of the countless people hes hurt. the only ‘redemption’ he should get is him leaving the server and as far away from everyone as humanly possible.

as for the torture. its a shitty plot line from an objective standpoint simply cause its been going on to long and has had no effect on the narrative other than causing undeserving sympathy for him. im not condeming the prison as a whole bc it gives us amazing sam lore and also tommy losing his last life was an amazing scene, probably one of my favorite dream scenes tbh

i mean what im trying to say is. dream is a villain. and you can enjoy that. morals of your favorite character do not reflect your own

Anon, I'm not denying the fact that he's a villain or that he did shitty actions if that's where you're getting at. Also, have you ever considered that you might be wrong about me and how I view C!Dream? Like, I was a c!dream anti as well, until I actually saw his character in a better light.

The prison arc is a setup for something much more, I reckon, but that's just a small little theory I have inside my head. Like, you're allowed to enjoy his character like that if you want to, but I do find my view on C!Dream more enjoyable now than back in February when I was an anti.

Your little side comment about the prison and torture is something that I (obviously) do not and would not agree with for very much obvious reasons. We do not share the same take on his character. However, you could ask about my view on that another time because it's pretty long, I think, I don't know, brain organization is difficult I just have lots of thoughts about him and the prison.

Morals of my favorite character do in fact not reflect my own, and I understand that. I'm not an idiot; this isn't my first fandom. I don't go out of my way to justify or excuse any actions any character does, and only provide reasoning to it.

The terms "unapologetic" and "irredeemable" when applied to a person - whether fictional or real - is just laughable to me. Call it futile optimism, but people can change. They always can. There are irredeemable actions but that's different from people. I made a post talking about this I'm pretty sure but I'm too lazy to link it.

If you're left here asking "But why? Why would they ever think he's a morally grey character?" Because that's just how I view people in general, everyone's fucked up but you can always make a grey lighter with some white (basic color theory, really). If there's a person that is actually genuinely morally black, then that person can still change, no matter what. It would be hard and incredibly difficult but that person is a person, and people can still change. I'm a pretty hopeful person, you could say.

Like take C!Wilbur for example, or even C!Sam, C!Wilbur's hurt a lot of people, and according to C!Fundy, a shitty father. C!Sam literally gave C!Quackity enchanted netherite tools to hurt C!Dream and said to "Make sure you(Quackity) do it right." The pain that they've caused can't be made up for, but they can still improve as a person because that's just how people are. They make mistakes. They make choices that they think they have to. They make decisions that they think are the best but in reality, aren't.

The last 2 sentences are very much seen in C!Dream as CC!Dream confirmed that C!Dream has that "ends justify the means" mindset which is definitely not okay. Redemption (in writing) is the process of becoming better as a person. It's the process of realizing that you've made a mistake, or a lot of mistakes, and that it's time to change for the better.

C!Dream doesn't want to become better, not now at least. Well, obviously, he doesn't, how the hell would putting him in a prison do that?

A side note, wanting a character to be redeemed is not a bad thing. Like that's literally just a person wanting a character to be less bad. I genuinely don't get why people are so against it when redemption is literally nothing but good. Genuinely, what are the cons here?

A side side note, to say that a person being literally tortured is undeserving of sympathy is uh, is kinda dehumanizing not gonna lie. He's not a monster or an animal that has no weaknesses or emotions. He can still be hurt. "Unnecessary sympathy" sounds a tad bit better, but even then it still sounds kinda iffy. People give sympathy not because it's deserved or earned, but because it's a natural emotion that some people get for some other people. I get that you don't feel sorry for him and all (which is valid), but let other people feel sorry for him at least. Man, I was planning for this to be one of my shorter posts but it ended up just not being that short. I think I worded it all pretty well, I kinda just said the stuff on my mind unfiltered. Anyway,

TL;DR - I still feel sympathy for C!Dream, people can change, and that's what gives me hope in him (hope for everyone really). If you don't like that, then I suggest blocking me instead because well, yeah.

[the-fandomwriter]

ok but logically, it cannot be

quackity, as he is too obviously opposed to schlatt, and turning back to him would be a shitty plot line lmao

wilbur, because no matter what he’s blowing the place to the ground and he honestly doesn’t give a shit about either side, but he wants to stay with tommy

niki, she is too much of a wild card, she’s so adamant about regaining and rebuilding l’manberg, that her joining schlatt would be completely out of character

techno blade, while still plausible, it’s just too goddamn obvious. dream said it’ll be more surprising than eret’s betrayal, which leads me to think it has to be someone from the original cast, perhaps a l’manburgian

george, because he’s just all over the fucking place and too absent to make an actual impact on pogtopia

eret is an impossible traitor, he’s been working too damn hard on his redemption arc (which if he doesn’t get it i will never forgive them)

then we’ve got the ones that it’s (begrudgingly) plausible for them to be the traitor:

tommy, despite being the protagonist of this whole thing, i don’t see it completely impossible for him to be the traitor. what if he’s had enough of being on the rebelling side? but i also don’t think he’d be able to fight against his friends, against tubbo and niki

tubbo. fuck. i hate to say that i find this to be one of the more fitting but terrifying choices. it would make sense, after all that time serving under schlatt, being manipulated and used by schlatt, it would make perfect sense for tubbo to have it in his head that schlatt=good everyone else=bad. but there’s also the pact between him tommy and niki that sorta doesn’t fit into this, unless it’s all a hoax and their friendship is a lie :(

badboyhalo wouldn’t be too unpredictable, i can see why he would strike some as somebody who would betray pogtopia, but i don’t think he’s been directly involved enough to actually betray them and heavily impact them

karl, i don’t really know where he fits in in this whole mess, he doesn’t seem for pogtopia, and he doesn’t seem for manberg, so he’s just an in betweener. i think his betrayal would mostly effect quackity, but again, he hasn’t been involved enough to severely hurt pogtopia. but he’s also just too fucking nice to betray them, he would feel so bad ok yeah maybe he’s more of an “i don’t know” kinda character

so, basically, i think it’s gonna have to be tommy or tubbo:( which i’m not happy wth either but i think they make the most sense

wilbur is also kinda an “i don’t know” character who has the ability to join schlatt, but i don’t think would stoop that low, ya know? idk thinking about this is hurting my heart and my brain :((

[technospotatoes]

C!SAM - Redeemable Qualities Analysis (Dream SMP)

Hallo! I’m back with another brain rot post for ya’ll instead of doing my schoolwork :] 

Recently, I’ve been doing some thinking and theorizing with some friends on discord following Quackity’s huge lore stream (if you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend you watch it). I woke up this morning with a head full of many thoughts about C!Awesamdude and where his story could take us. Seeing as how there is going to be lots of change in the future with the server, there must be changes in these characters as well-- evil to good, good to evil, and the like. With these changes comes my thought: “can these characters be redeemed?” Here are my thoughts on how this applies to C!Sam.

Please let me know your thoughts and theories, I’d love to discuss with you! As always, strap in, it’s gonna be a long one :]

I hope you enjoy!

Author’s note: I want to start this off by saying that all of the contents being discussed are fictional, and are from the Dream SMP universe. I do not support the actions of these characters, but merely have interest in analyzing them through a lens of psychology and for entertainment purposes. Content of this post will contain spoilers up to 3/25/21 of the DSMP lore. I will also talk about ATLA a little bit ;)

Content warning: mentions of torture, manipulation, death, possible psychological trauma

(pls be safe ily)

What makes a redeemable character? 

  Redeemable characters are some of the most pleasing and favored characters in modern media. Their stories are rich with emotion, and they can even evoke some form of catharsis within the most skeptic consumers. Redeemable characters are memorable and inspiring, and without one, a story can feel empty. Before we apply this character trope to the Dream SMP and C!Sam, we need to answer a basic question in order to fully understand the complexity of redeemable characters and how they are so universally significant. 

What is a redeemable character?

  Simply put, a redeeming character or characteristic counteracts or corrects something negative. From a storytelling standpoint, a redeemable character is someone who has roots in good qualities, turns bad, and has the ability to revert their wrong choices to become a better person. 

Examples of redeemed characters in popular media include: 

Zuko - Avatar the Last Airbender

Boromir - Lord of the Rings

Kylo Ren - Star Wars

Severus Snape - Harry Potter 

  Zuko, for example, starts his story off as the villain. He tirelessly hunts down the protagonist, and will stop at nothing to achieve his goal to please his father. However, as the show progresses, we learn that Zuko wasn’t always bad. He was only driven to his path of villainy because of his fear of failure, of his father (the firelord and true antagonist of the show), and of a greater punishment than what he had already received. With the help of his uncle, Zuko learned to push through and accept his past, while also making amends with his wrongs and coming to the realization of who the true enemy was; ultimately choosing peace and unity over destruction and fear.    Zuko’s story is so appealing because it was drawn out. It was raw, it was real, and it was a genuine telling of how damaged people can heal, change, and come to accept themselves. Because he went through the process of redemption, he was not only able to be loved by those around him, but also by his audience-- And I believe that this can be the same case with any redeemable character. 

So how does this relate to C!Sam? How could he possibly be redeemable if he is not evil?

  C!Sam has become increasingly interesting to me in the DSMP lore, and he has shown how complex his character is-- in contrast to many first impressions that people have of him. Based upon his actions from the past, and his willingness to remain neutral in times of conflict, we can conclude that he sustains both “neutral good” and “lawful neutral/good” qualities. This means that Sam is a reliable character, driven by his own personal values, and is devoted to helping others (when he sees fit). Evidence of these qualities emerge…

When he sided with Pogtopia during the Manberg War to maintain good relations with Tommy and Tubbo. 

When he saved Hannah from the Egg

Created Sam Nook to assist Tommy in building his hotel

Built Pandora’s Vault for Dream

Showed concern for Ranboo after one of his denied prison visits

  Sam’s moral code is deeply rooted with good intentions; he keeps an eye out for his friends, maintains his relationships, assists in builds/projects, and also serves as a “stable adult figure” for some of the younger members of the server. In contrast to his logical outward appearance, C!Sam lets his emotions drive his decision making-- which can lead to many severe consequences depending on how he acts. However, recently Sam’s actions indicate that he is experiencing a flip in morals. 

Below are incidents that have led to C!Sam’s recent change in moral code. 

Incident 1: Trapped with the Egg

  Many weeks ago, during the height of character involvement with the Egg lore, C!Sam was lured into a trap by BBH and Antfrost. He spent about a day trapped in close contact with the Egg, and after he was saved by Puffy and Tommy, he was clearly changed. It is likely that the Egg is behind these sudden changes in character motivation for Sam… similarly to how it corrupted BBH, Ant, and Punz. Whether this is the case with Sam is unclear. 

Incident 2: Tommy’s death

  C!Sam and C!Tommy’s relationship within the DSMP lore is one of my favorite things to talk about. After his victory over the disk war and finally landing his nemesis in prison, Tommy was left empty, without much to do. He decided to take upon a new project to incite a new era of peace, and was able to enlist the help of Sam with building his hotel. Throughout this process (and under the watchful eye of Sam Nook), Tommy and Sam were able to develop a bond with each other through their work, along with their interactions at the Prison. 

  Sam has made it clear that he intends to defend Tommy no matter what-- but after his untimely death at the hands of C!Dream, Sam was deeply wounded. He felt as if he failed his promise to keep Tommy safe, and he made it clear that the blame for the “security issue” and C!Tommy’s death should be placed fully on him. No matter how selfless and responsible this makes his character appear, this event will only serve as the basis for severe consequences in moral change in the future. 

Incident 3: Confrontation with Quackity

  Following the large emotional impact of Tommy’s death, C!Sam is very vulnerable, because he is still within the stages of grief. C!Quackity came to Sam for a partnership, to take advantage of Sam while he was low to gain the upper hand. It’s no question that Q’s character is a talented manipulator, we can see that clearly in his interaction with Sam. Q restates again and again that Sam failed, further cementing Sam’s existing guilt and desire for revenge for his failure. Sam gives in to the manipulation, and somewhat reluctantly allows Quackity to torture Dream to get information and to get payback for what he did to Tommy... which completely goes against what his responsibility of Warden entails. 

  As Warden, C!Sam is supposed to uphold the law and rules of visitation, but because of his leniency with Quackity (in breaking the rules) and because he is still emotionally raw, he no longer defends good from evil, but is now biased against it. C!Sam probably wants Dream dead, but as Warden, his opinion shouldn’t matter. Because Sam fully blames himself for failing Tommy, he's lost the "lawful good" in his character, meaning Warden Sam (as a set of morals) truly doesn't exist anymore.

Incident 4: Ponk’s mistake

  To recap a stream briefly, Ponk did a prank on Sam a couple days ago, and stole a few of the expired keycards to Pandora’s Vault. Rightfully, Sam was very angry, and not only took back the keycards, but also imprisoned Ponk. However, where this interaction should have ended, C!Sam only took it to the extreme. (TW!!!!) Out of anger and frustration, C!Sam tortured Ponk for his wrongdoing by setting him on fire, and amputating his arm (END TW!!!). 

  This only proves my point from Incident 3. Warden Sam is fading, only bits and pieces of his morally neutral character remain within him for basic tasks. His encounter with Quackity had a huge impact on his psyche, not only is he allowing the torture of the prison occupants, but he is doing it himself as well. C!Sam is now starting to believe that pain and torture are the only solutions for punishment, which is the complete opposite of what he believed before Dream was imprisoned. 

In short...

  C!Sam is losing his grip on moral and mental stability because of his emotional insecurity due to his psychological trauma. Because of this, I believe that it is entirely possible for Sam’s character to explore the route of evil and unlawful values-- which furthers the possibility for a redemption arc. Even currently, Sam is eligible for redemption as well.

  If C!Sam is willing to acknowledge his wrongs from today and improve himself upon them, he will likely become a more memorable, lovable, and even more human character than we’ve seen in the SMP before. 

SIDENOTE!

IRL Sam recently posted in his discord talking about his character. Here are a few key things to keep in mind as the story goes forward: 

“There is a LOT of things in the plan for me as a character and a very big change is coming about for me as the story moves along.”

I believe this change could be a villain arc, or a turn towards evil that incites the possibility for redemption. 

“My character is playing a role that I think is VITAL for the server and a role that I like to think was a good one for me to pick up and accept.”

You can read the reddit post I referenced for this here (ty to my friend on discord for providing me with the link <3)

TYSM FOR READING!! <3 <3 <3

[producingtrashycontent]

who are your favorite top ten black clover characters & ships? talk about them! ~tat

Ooh this will be fun. I'm not sure I'll have as much to say as some other people who have been asked this question, but I hope it's ok!

Top 10 Black Clover Characters

1. Mereoleona Vermillion

I could rant for hours about how much I love this woman. She's very strong and doesn't give a damn about status, which I love about her. Like almost all the females in Black Clover, she isn't overly sexualized or dependent on a man in some way. I love her character design, her magic, and everything. I think I'm a little obsessed with this woman honestly.

2. Noelle Silva

A typical female shonen character that's part of the main guy's harem. What I love about Noelle is her development. She goes from a royal who hates commoners to a strong female lead that accepts anyone for who they are. I haven't watched all the anime in the world, but from what I've seen, she's gotten the best development of any shonen female. If there's another one out there, please let me know. I love that Noelle's character development isn't over. I can't wait to see where she ends up by the end of the series.

3. Asta

Our gray-clad hero. A typical shonen protagonist with a never give up mentality. I really love that about Asta. Asta's mental strength is off the charts. He was able to dealing with people bullying him his entire life over something he had no control over. And yet, he continues pushing onward to change the dynamics of the Clover Kingdom. What a brave boy. Of course, with mental strength like that, it makes sense his brain can't keep up in other areas. I love how much of a simpleton Asta can be. It makes him more endearing. Asta's character even inspires me to push past my own limits and never give up on my dreams.

4. William Vangeance

A sweet, quiet man with a deadly secret. I love his origin story and how it has affected his life to this day. The main thing I love is how complex his character becomes. From a top captain to a man struggling living with another soul in his body that defies the ideals and people he believes in, William is complex. I couldn't imagine living with another soul in my body for about 15ish years. Dealing with this all alone without going insane marks William as another mentally strong character. Choosing between the mentor that saved you and gave you a new life and the best friend who's shared your body for longer than you've know your mentor must be a very difficult decision to make. I'm not surprised William wasn't able to choose between them. I hope both William and Patry get a good redemption arc.

5. Finral Roulacase

A typical playboy character. He's cute, funny, and relatable. I tend not to like playboy characters, but Finral is different. He believes all women should be worshipped and treated like princesses, and he actually has a backstory. Having a sibling who is better than you in all ways reminds me of Zuko and Azula from Avatar. Despite dealing with his parents disappointment and his sibling's sneering his whole life, Finral never turned evil or tried to get revenge. At first, he ran from his problems, but with the help of the Black Bulls, he conquered his fears and grows stronger each day. I really love this boy.

6. Nozel Silva

LOOKS AT HIM HE'S SO FUCKING CUTE DJJSJDJAJJS! Ok rant over. As a royal, I never expected Nozel to have a reason for treating Noelle the way he did. Granted, I don't approve of it at all, but I love that he's working to change. He's also very stoic and strong. Nozel has a cold exterior that can be broken over time. That's what Asta did to this Silver Eagle. Now, Nozel is rivals with 2 commoners. I love that he's changing to be better with Noelle. I can't surroort how he treated Noelle before, but I love that he's working to change his relationship with her. Also, his braid is so majestic. I had a dream and the whole dream was me staring at Nozel's majestic braid flowing in the breeze. I love this handsome man.

7. Yami Sukehiro

This man. Thiiiiis man. He is glorious. He's funny, smart, grumpy, and strong. I love him for all the reasons everyone else does. The main thing I love about Yami is the vibe he gives off. When I see Yami, I see a shonen protagonist who has completed their journey and gives advice to the newest generation of protagonists. He's such a well-rounded character. I would live a spin-off series of Yami's adventures when he was young. That would really sell.

8. Fuegoleon/Leopold Vermillion

THEY'RE BOTH SO PRECIOUS

Fuegoleon: I love this man. Such an inspiration. Just like his other siblings, he doesn't care about status. My favourite line if his is: "There isn't any shame is being weak. The shame is in staying weak." This line can really apply to anything in life. He also inspires me to do better.

Leopold: BABY. Ahem. I love his spunky personality. He's makes me think of Asta had he been born into a royal family. I love that, even though he's a royal, he has his own issues to deal with: making his own way in life and not having to live in his siblings' shadow. He's just a precious bean that requires protection.

9. Klaus Lunettes/Julius Novachrono

I RAN OUT OF PIC SPACE

Anyway, I love these boys. So good.

Klaus: Mom friends are the best kind of friends. I love that he changed because he witnessed Asta and Yuno's abilities and decided these boys were strong. They weren't cheating in any way. He was the first noble to change his ways and believe is Asta and Yuno, and I really love him for that.

Julius: A man working to change his country. We love that. I love that Julius is working towards a country where everyone tears each other as equals. That's a hard task to take on, yet Julius didn't hesitate and took the challenge head-on. Also he's hot...

10. Dorothy Unsworth/Yuno

I love these babies so much.

Dorothy: Hot, short, and powerful. My spirit animal. She's hella strong and shows us that you don't need to be a big strong man to be a powerful leader. Also, she sleeps a lot, which is something I desire more of in life.

Yuno: UwU baby. Hot, strong, and stoic. What more do you need? I love his HEALTHY rivalry with Asta. It's such a joy to watch him grow side-by-side with Asta. I love him so much that I'm not even sure who I want to become the Wizard King in the end. Can we have them both be Wizard Kings?

I don't have a top 10 list of ships, but I do have ships. I'll just talk about them in no particular order.

Mereoleona x William

I love this ship because opposites attract. But if someone tells me they ship William and Patry, I'm not going to argue. Overall, this ship would make both these characters even better than they are now.

Dorothy x Nozel

I get Hinata/Kageyama vibes from this ship. A small, eager baby with a tall, stoic and distant partner. The main reason I ship this is because of the fact that Dorothy knows about what happened to Acier. Nozel wouldn't tell just anyone about that. He must trust Dorothy a huge amount for her to know that information. A royal wouldn't share his darkest family secret with a lavender-haired witch from another country. Also, after the time skip, they both changed a part of their outfits for feathers of the bird corresponding their squad. They got feathers together!

Finral x Vanessa

After the seabed temple arc, I shipped these two. They have such a wholesome relationship that makes them better people. They're so cute together! What else can I say?

Asta x Noelle

I love how much they help each other become better. Asta is doesn't realize it yet, but he cares about Noelle more than he realizes. Noelle fell for Asta because he was the first person to ever say anything good about her magic. I just love these two. They're so cute!

Yami x Charlotte

I get the same vibes from this as I get from Asta x Noelle. A tsundere and an oblivious protagonist. I love this ship for the same reasons as Asta x Noelle. I won't repeat what I said before, so read the reasoning for Asta x Noelle. I love these two as well!

Grey x Gauche

I love the reasoning for Grey loving Gauche. I totally see Gauche being as protective of Grey as he is with Marie. Grey might help Gauche loosen up a bit with Marie. These two are just really cute, ok.

I can't think of any more ships, but yeah. Those are my favourite black clover characters and my favourite ships.

[sukirichi]

🗣🗣TEAM NAOYA TEAM NAOYA (for earned it)

did satoru really expect y/n to be safe and sound when he transferred THAT huge amount of money to her account?? he said he left to protect her but he didn’t give her any type of closure, not even a text message saying they were done...he straight up ghosted her. the least he could do besides giving a closure would have been keeping an eye (maybe not him directly, but one of his most loyal men) on her, in order to prevent shit like the assault the day she went to the bank.

People were already speculating that his weakness was a girl and if that man from not a so powerful clan from ch.2 managed to get all those pictures of y/n then what make him think people from different clans or even just people who were involved in his world wouldn’t try to find his the rumour of the existence of y/n was true...like he might be the most powerful men but the bitch is kinda dumb

As for Naoya, mc said she’ll still be alive until she’s useful to Naoya but I do think maybe it’s just me that he cares for mc because he’s showing a softer side to mc only. Yes, he wants the power and to control people but if he really wanted y/n just for his brain and bc of the toji situation, then wouldn’t it be easier to keep her as a prisoner and not as a trophy wife (my dream😋)

Cant wait for the next chapters

ps. when you said the story would be angsty, do you mean for satoru right? i want for reader x naoya a happy ending (as much as it could be happy in the type of world they live in)

THIS ASK OMG WAIT IM GONNA GO ON A ROLL AND *RANT* MIGHT NEED THE KEEP READING TAB LMFAO okay let’s talk about Earned It Satoru’s character because HAHAAHAHA he’s got to be one of the most difficult people I’ve had to characterize for this (this is mostly a character analysis, slight spoilerssss, I guess??)

did satoru really expect y/n to be safe and sound when he transferred THAT huge amount of money to her account?? he said he left to protect her but he didn’t give her any type of closure, not even a text message saying they were done...he straight up ghosted her. the least he could do besides giving a closure would have been keeping an eye (maybe not him directly, but one of his most loyal men) on her, in order to prevent shit like the assault the day she went to the bank.

this one is just a huge YESSS and shows a lot about Satoru. So it’s not really a HUGE spoiler but we can all tell Satoru was REALLY overconfident and he’s gotten so reliant on his status, power, influence that he doesn’t really think much about his actions. He’s impulsive and thinks he’s always doing the right thing (he’s not LMAO) and yes exactly! Dude didn’t even give her closure because he really thought he was being a hero, but it’ll show in future chapters how he’d developed in the past seven years and maybe we’ll even get a little sneak peeks of why he’s like this. Yeah, Satoru did NOT think about what could happen at all after he left! In his mind he was focused on “protecting” reader, but as mentioned in chapter one, he’s a super insecure person too that one of the reasons he left is because he didn’t want reader to view him as “unloveable” and he wanted to preserve that. I guess you could say he’s a man child. And LMFAO yes, he could’ve had someone keep an eye on reader, it won’t be a bother to him tbh, but it’ll be explained in future chapters on how he’s realizing the graveness of everything he’s done and how he reacts to it.

People were already speculating that his weakness was a girl and if that man from not a so powerful clan from ch.2 managed to get all those pictures of y/n then what make him think people from different clans or even just people who were involved in his world wouldn’t try to find his the rumour of the existence of y/n was true...like he might be the most powerful men but the bitch is kinda dumb

OKAY SO ABOUT THIS, IT SHOWED THE WEAK CHAIN IN SATORU’S THOUGHT PROCESSES. I really wanted to create a character who is strong and capable of a lot of things, but they’re very...hollow, you could say on the inside, undeveloped. Out of all the characters in this series, Satoru has to be the one who is falling behind in terms of maturity, he’s got a lot to learn. Meanwhile, I’d say the most developed is Naoya, and reader is mostly in the middle. also omg yes! actually the thing is, before the appearance of Naoya, the Gojo clan was considered the biggest and strongest mafia family out there. Their enemies who’d wound up hearing about Satoru’s “weakness” wasn’t going for the offense, they were trying to fish out information because considering Satoru’s defenses, they would do a lot better in learning more than full on using his weakness against him. This was where he failed because he was so confident of everything that he’d forgotten he wasn’t omnipotent - there will be eyes and ears everywhere. Honestly, Reader lasted a long relationship with him and she most definitely could’ve been hurt a long time ago, but it was Satoru’s presence next to her that kept her safe all this time. I mean, DUH, but ofc he doesn’t get that. YES HE’S DUMB THAT’S A FACT HAHAHAHAHA but don’t worry, maybe I’ll write a redemption arc for him HAHAHAHHA. the dude he killed in chapter one, the one who got pictures of reader and satoru, he wasn’t there to hurt reader or satoru at all, he knew he was going to lose, but he symbolized as one of the eventual cracks in Satoru’s plans that soon escalated into a full on downfall and he’s done his job well in taunting Gojo, pushing his weakness without direct contact, and hitting him right where it hurts. Clue: Gojo’s real weakness isn’t Reader! It may look like she is but he’s got a lot more issues than that lmfao 

As for Naoya, mc said she’ll still be alive until she’s useful to Naoya but I do think maybe it’s just me that he cares for mc because he’s showing a softer side to mc only. Yes, he wants the power and to control people but if he really wanted y/n just for his brain and bc of the toji situation, then wouldn’t it be easier to keep her as a prisoner and not as a trophy wife (my dream😋)

I AM CONFLICTED. PART OF ME WANTS TO RESPOND AS THE AUTHOR OF EARNED IT, BUT THE BIGGER PART OF ME WANTS TO SCREAM AS A CERTIFIED NAOYA SIMP BECAUSE PLEASE I’D NEVER SHUT UP ABOUT HIM. Also this isn’t a spoiler so it’s cool if I say this, but Naoya does care for Reader! The only question is why and to what extent. YES OMG I’VE ACTUALLY CONSIDERED THAT WHAT IF READER WAS JUST IMPRISONED BY NAOYA (and he totally could!) but nooo he actually gave reader so many opportunities to get back on her feet and he was there THE. WHOLE. TIME. Honestly though, I still wouldn’t 100% vouch for Naoya, I know he is toxic in his own way and we’re still just getting to his true nature. AS A TROPHY WIFE YES, WELCOME TO THE CLUB, WE’RE GONNA BE THE “NAOYA’S TROPHY WIVES” AND HE’S GONNA MAKE US OUR HAREM LMFAO SIGN ME UP 

ps. when you said the story would be angsty, do you mean for satoru right? i want for reader x naoya a happy ending (as much as it could be happy in the type of world they live in)

I meant EVERYTHING would be angsty, no parties are safe here! I want everyone to crumble and be hurt as much as possible because the only way to ever push someone into evolution is to make sure they’re cornered into a point of extinction or a really threatening situation first. Damn, I sound like a sci-fi movie villain but anyways, as for that happy ending HMMMM we’ll see about it! Looking at the ending I’ve planned out, I don’t know what to feel about it SPSPSPSP but aww I’m so very glad you guys like Naoya! it’s not my intention to make him the better one out of Satoru though (ALTHOUGH HE IS) because the spotlight will still be between Gojo and Reader, Naoya is more like a supporting character but he does have his own beauty! 

THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THIS ASK IM SO HAPPY TO HEAR YOUR THOUGHTS AND THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR TAKING THE TIME TO SEND ME THIS I’M SO FLATTERED THAT YOU LIKED THE STORIES AND I’M JUST...IM ON CLOUD NINE UWU, THANK YOU SO MUCH NONNIE, I HOPE YOU HAVE A NICE DAY!!! LOVE YOU BUBSS 💕💕💕

[sammysdewysensitiveeyes]

Things Duggan could do/could have done with Pyro in Marauders:

This list is partially me being bitter, but it’s also just kind of a creative exercise, thinking about the development potential that Pyro has.

1. Redemption arc - This seems obvious.  Pyro is already hanging with the good guys, but is he actually undergoing a redemption arc?  Is he actually changing his views or becoming a better person?  We don’t really know because we barely see anything from his perspective, and it’s usually shallow comic relief when we do.  The groundwork is there to give Pyro a redemption arc.  He was already regretting his actions and questioning the Brotherhood’s methods when he had the Legacy Virus, leading up to him saving Senator Kelly.  Why not follow up on that?  Does he still feel the same way, or is he disillusioned because Kelly was killed right after he saved him?  Are the Marauders (all of whom are better people than Pyro) rubbing off on him a bit?  Maybe he’s starting to enjoy helping others or learning to trust humans?  (Or not?)  In today’s issue, Iceman was confronted by a Reaver that he had previously maimed, which was interesting, but that’s another storyline that I think would also fit Pyro.  Pyro has surely been maiming some people - maybe being confronted with the results of that would help him reconsider his actions.

2. Legacy Virus stuff - Pyro hasn’t said a damn thing about the way he died, and I understand him not wanting to talk about it.  But again, that sparked a semi-redemption arc for Pyro back before he died.  And now he’s on a ship that is taking medicine to humans that need it, and just built a hospital in Madripoor.  Maybe his experience being sick has given him a greater sense of empathy, and a desire to help sick people.  If Masque can find meaning using his powers to help humans, you’d think there would be space for Pyro to say something serious about his Legacy experiences while they are dedicating a new hospital.  Even just a throwaway line.  Hell, Storm was dying of some kind of nano-virus for part of Marauders (although it was never mentioned in the book at all), maybe he could have sympathized with her over that?  Maybe having Yellowjacket inside him - another case in which his body has been invaded by something microscopic that can kill him - triggered some Legacy feelings?  We could have explored that, instead we got a “funny” scene of Magneto pulling Yellowjacket out of Pyro, and Pyro wanting to kill him. 

3. Team bonding - Pyro has been accepted on the team surprisingly quickly.  Faster than I would expect, really.  And of course, he’s small-potatoes evil compared to even some people on the Council, but I’d still expect a little bit of friction between him and his team-mates, given that he used to try to kill them.  Even without that history, he’s still the odd man out on a team that already knows each other, and are friends, or at least former team-mates.  We had that kind of friction with Emma and Storm, why would we not get that friction between Pyro (the former terrorist criminal) and the others?  I would have expected at least a little bit of distrust, followed eventually by some kind of bonding issue where Pyro is more accepted by the team, and in turn accepts his place with them.  Who does he even consider a friend when he refers to them as “his friends”?  He seems to like hanging out with Bishop and Iceman, but we’ve mostly gotten that through wordless background panels and a couple of “funny” scenes.  Do any of them even like him or consider him a “friend,” or do they just tolerate his presence?   

4. Writer - One of the things I find most interesting about Pyro is that he had a whole-ass career before joining the Brotherhood.  He traveled around Southeast Asia, he was a journalist in Indonesia and Vietnam, he wrote romance novels.  And most writers don’t explore that at all, but you’d think it would come up when the Marauder is traveling around the ocean.  Maybe he speaks another language that would be helpful.  Maybe his investigative skills as a journalist come in handy.  Maybe he takes them to an old haunt or meets up with an old contact he knew in Vietnam.  Maybe he spends his spare time writing smutty historical pirate-themed romance.  I would have enjoyed that much more than the goofy “dream sequence” that Emma planted in his head, at least that would have felt like authentic character development rather than something being pushed upon him from the outside.  Most comics writers don’t really get into Pyro’s civilian career, but as a regular on a book, I’d expect it to come up at least once, even as a thowaway line.

5. Brotherhood and past history - Pyro has had absolutely no contact (that we know of) with his old Brotherhood pals.  He doesn’t even mention them.  Why is that?  Why isn’t he hanging around the bar with Blob when the Marauder’s at Krakoa?  Why isn’t he texting Avalanche?  Has he become estranged from them after saving Kelly (which would be an interesting plot point if Duggan developed it), or is he just hanging out with them off panel?  You’d think there would be some mention of his past history at some point.  Even in today’s issue, when he, Iceman and Bishop got attacked by Reavers.  Pyro has a history with Reavers!  He fought them on Muir Island as part of Freedom Force, and the team lost both Stonewall (which happened right in front of Pyro, and he seemed broken up about it) and Destiny (which completely destroyed Mystique).  The Reavers in this issue were not the same ones, they were a new breed, but you’d think Pyro might have something to say about encountering Reavers again. 

6. The gay thing - This is more my own personal preference, but Pyro WAS deliberately queer-coded in his earliest appearances, and John Byrne intended for him to be gay.  They couldn’t openly write him that way back in the day, but nowadays I think no one would bat an eye if Pyro, a fairly minor villain, was somewhere on the LGBT scale.  He wasn’t always queer-coded, but he had an ambiguous relationship with Avalanche, his sexuality was never firmly established (he was never in an open romantic relationship anyone), and he died a lingering, painful death from the virus that was intended to be an AIDS metaphor.  It would be quite interesting to see Pyro as a closeted gay (or bisexual) man resurrected in a world where different sexual orientations are far more accepted, and slowly opening up about it to Bobby and Christian (or even Shinobi).  Not to mention, it would give Bobby and Christian more to do, and Christian could talk about his own traumatic experiences without it being all swept under the rug.

7. Doubts about Krakoa - When the team first met Pyro, he was trying to steal a boat and run off, because he’d realized that his resurrection was mostly just a lab experiment to test the process.  Now he seems to be all-in, and dedicated to the Marauders’ mission.  What changed?  Does he harbor any doubts about the Quiet Council, or is he a true believer now?  Does he EVER talk to Mystique, to whom he used to be extremely loyal?  Pyro can be written as dumb at times, but more frequently he comes across as one of the more intelligent and thoughtful Brotherhood members.  Maybe he’s decided that everything on Krakoa is so new and confusing, he’s just gonna turn his brain off and enjoy his new life?  That would also be fine, if it was actually treated as character development.  

8. Divided loyalties - If I’d expect anyone to betray the team, it would be Pyro.  And that doesn’t necessarily mean I want him to do that, but I’m surprised it hasn’t come up.  You’d think Shinobi or Sebastian Shaw would approach him to act as a mole in exchange for lots and lots of money.  Hell, I half-expected him to be spying for Mystique when he first showed up.  And again, it could still happen, but there’s been no lead up or suggestion of that at all.  I would honestly find it disappointing if Pyro suddenly turned on the team or was revealed to be a spy, because he hasn’t bonded with them well enough for it to be meaningful at all. 

The thing is, any of these ideas could be explored, and still keep Pyro as the comic-relief party animal that Duggan is currently writing.  He wouldn’t even have to have significantly more focus (although some focus would be nice).  This could be accomplished through small scenes, little asides, throwaway lines.  Duggan wastes so much page time setting up “moments” and atmosphere (Kitty and Emma riding horses up to Sebastian’s castle comes to mind).  He spent a whole issue beating up Sebastian Shaw without any other significant plot advancement (then crams all his plot into the issues that feature other characters).  He spent a few pages on a goofy fantasy dream sequence that told us nothing new about Pyro, and again, turned out to a falsely manufactured dream that Emma planted in his mind.  We could have used those pages to show Pyro writing something, or show a different side of him through Yellowjacket’s spying, and it STILL could have been comic-relief.  If Duggan actually wanted to explore Pyro in a more serious way, there’s both the space and potential for it.  He just.....doesn’t. 

Anyway, this is all wishful thinking of what could be.  I’ll just have to write fanfic or something. 

[a-flickering-soul]

do kylux for the ask meme 😳 you + me = mental illness

i love you so much for sending this in this truly is the mortifying ordeal of being known

putting this under a readmore because it is LITCHERALLY 1.2k words because i am literally clawing at the walls of my enclosure about these two

ANYWAYS go ahead and send me a character and i’ll give you some headcanons bc im having fun doing these!!!

Kylo Ren

Sexuality Headcanon: ambiguously queer. Don’t make me think about him having sex he makes me so angry

Gender Headcanon: he Must be a cis man. He has so much mommy issues. He is such an incel. He is so full of toxic masculinity. He must be a cis man.

A ship I have with said character: Kylux. Every single angle you take this ship from it’s funny and good. Canon—they hate each other and want each other dead. AU—they still hate each other but they’re (probably) less fascist and genocidal. It’s just so funny. They are so obsessed with each other. They gaslight each other into love confessions. It’s unreal. I’ve been thinking about Kylux for the past month and I feel like an entire geological age has passed. You can tell I’m a Kylux shipper and a R*ylo anti because I almost exclusively refer to him as Ren instead of Kylo. The gay angel went to superhell for Kylux to go canon in Lego Star Wars (twice) and a kids’ comic book. God mocks me to my face.

A BROTP I have with said character: This got literally shot to shit but post-TFA when a bunch of people headcanoned Rey as Luke’s kid and she and Ren were cousins and he reluctantly babysat her because he was literally ten years older than her (hhhhh.) and they had this weird mildly-contentious relationship as adults where they grudgingly acknowledge they are both the most powerful Force users in the galaxy and are the only ones who mutually understand the legacy they bear and care about each other but also cannot be in the same room together and hold a civil conversation for more than five minutes before resorting to uncomfortable silence. Like when you’re at a family reunion and you’re automatically shunted with the only other kid around your age so you have to make conversation but you are just so fundamentally different there’s nothing to talk about. Unreal.

A NOTP I have with said character: Hhh. R*ylo. I’m one of those evil lesbians who hate that ship viciously and one of my dreams is to be one of the mean antis that that bully a shipper in a story that’s clearly exaggerated or made up and then get cancelled for having good taste.

A random headcanon:  I think he and Phasma used to spar a lot. I keep thinking about the five years he spent on the Finalizer pre-canon and I can’t reasonably justify the Knights of Ren hanging out with him for the entire time on a literal military ship and I like the idea of them being the only people that are reasonably on par physically (I also like how Phasma is an inch taller than him because....whew).

General Opinion over said character: God. He drives me wild. I have a lot of thoughts about him and how good he was in TFA and the pre-canon comics/novels as a really fucking good example of a morally-conflicted villain (especially the comics where it made it really clear that he was very much manipulated and gaslit since like…ten years old). Like! The way he could flip at will from drawing strength from both the light AND dark side of the Force is just!! So cool! The way his strength literally derives from moral conflict is just really interesting to me but….idk the way post-TFA he was thrown into a redemption (Rendemption) arc that hinged on Rey being a literal genuine fascist sympathizer made me just really disappointed. He had a lot of amazing potential to be either a really interesting semi-redeemed Byronic antihero OR a full on unhinged animalistic power-mad villain that Rey has to mercy-kill like a rabid dog. And then. Well. Yeah. I like him a lot in very specific contexts and flat out hate him in most others.

 Armitage Hux

Sexuality Headcanon: gay! He is gay! I have an entire list of reasons why he’s gay and it grows daily! Without a doubt a homosexual! Gay and repressed!

Gender Headcanon: Also a cis guy even though I still do have a lot of half-formed thoughts about gender in the First Order/post-collapse of the Empire society.

A ship I have with said character: Kylux! Again! I’m obsessed with how obsessed Hux is with Ren. He hates him so much it’s unreal. I keep reading the novelizations and thinking so fucking hard about how consumed Hux is with hatred for this one man. He’s so repressed. He’s so damaged. It’s unreal. The brainworms in my head have metamorphosed into moths and they’re flapping their wings so hard they’re disintegrating my grey matter. I think near-daily about how he personally went down to retrieve Ren from the collapse of Starkiller Base and yet would not touch him to drag him to shelter in the Hux graphic novel. Would you take off your glove to check his pulse or would you attempt to feel it through the leather and touch something’s dead skin rather than his living warmth. I’m so deeply unwell.

A BROTP I have with said character: Him and Phasma!!! The way they are on first-name terms with each other….the way one of the few times in the graphic novels you see him smile is when Phasma comes back onto the base…..the way they plotted to kill Brendol together….truly evil mlm/wlw solidarity you simply love to see it

A NOTP I have with said character: Oof I see a lil bit of shipping him with Resistance members (I think I’ve seen him with Rose and also Poe??) and I know TROS made the decision to have him defect from the First Order (out of. again. his obsessive hatred with another man. writing choices.) but it makes me INSANELY uncomfortable seeing people of color being shipped with a literal fascist parody of British colonialism and imperialism lmao like….just ship Kylux bro they’re mutually bad people AND a power couple

A random headcanon: Frankly at this point I joke so much about how much like a sick Victorian orphan he looks like that I could write an entire fake medical file for him but I’ll spare you all and simply say that I am incredibly partial to the headcanon that Hux is a freak that bites string cheese instead of peeling it like a normal person. Also…the implications that he Personally placed the tracker in Ren’s belt rather than someone else, so that he alone could keep tabs on him…..I’m unwell. Enough.

General Opinion over said character: If Ren is a character I love to hate, Hux is a character I hate that I love. I just. I can’t stop thinking about this gay little war criminal. It truly, genuinely baffles the mind how much information there is about him. It triggers that same little part of my brain that goes wild over like. ARGs and stuff. There’s just so much lore. With every new piece of canon or semi-canon information I learn about him I can feel my grip on sanity slipping. He owns a black robe. He has a personal hitman in the First Order ranks to poison people he doesn’t like. He drinks tea. He’s a bastard son. He’s great with kids. He was in charge of a squad of feral orphan child soldiers at five years old. I just. I just don’t get it. I’m enamored with him. His compulsive attention to grooming. His hubris. His ambition. How literally unhinged he is (the “rabid cur” line genuinely lives in my head rent free). The way he systemically killed every single person who saw him weak and abused as a child. There’s just so much to talk about with him. He’s so evil. He’s so fucked up. I love him so deeply. He is such a horrible person and he is so fun to make fun of and he is so fun to think about. God wants there to be a bullet in my head so badly.

[luckycheesefoodie321]

Y’all. YALL. KIPO SEASON 2 is FIREEEEEEEE

Heroes on Fire...

Anyway!

Binge watched Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts Season 2 today and y’all it was sooooo good!!

MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD

I was gonna do a cut off but... I can’t be bothered getting my laptop sooo...

LONG POST TOO!!! Plus I have enough spoiler tags I think...

———

First of all... Scarlemagne = Mojo-jojo but with actual redemption arc potential???

They really set homie up as the biggest bad and then the twist mystery that Lio and Scarlemagne are connected at the end of S1... but then every much like The Storm from ATLA, we just DEEP-DIVED into Scarlemagne aka HUGO’s backstory and you’re like “well shit, no fucking wonder he got so damn twisted and hating on humans”

And yknow what even with his convoluted thinking and the terrible things he’s done, I’m really really glad they didn’t go down the whole “I blame Kipo bc I’m jealous she took Lio and Song’s attention away from me and that’s why they left me behind” story line... it’s absolutely fascinating that at no point does Scarlemagne blame Kipo, and even looks at her as a sister... like his line “you’re not the one who rejected me” was so powerful, bc he recognises she was just an innocent baby and sees the same confused child in her that he was when he was left alone on the surface... and twisted though his attempts of making her happy were, he was really reaching out for someone who genuinely cares about him again, and it helps that she’s also the daughter of the two people he once viewed as parental figures... and also Kipo’s just naturally empathetic and sees the good in people...

Then she was willing to sacrifice her humanity for a stadium full of mutes and Lio pulled him out of danger... so I’m reaaaallly hoping they keep this potential redemption going... bc really Hugo and Kipo are perfect mirrors of each other... very Zuko/Aang reminiscent... Hugo the animal experiment that was given human hopes and dreams and abilities, only to be thrust into a confusing and scary place with strange powers, and seemingly betrayed by the people he loves most... Kipo, the human experiment, with typical hopes and dreams but is forced into a confusing and scary place with strange powers, and finds out her whole birth and life has been a lie...

One of them just came out of it better...

Secondly... Kipo’s inner Mega-Jaguar scene = Naruto and the Nine-Tails Fox???

Like slowly learning to control the little bits of power that sneak through... being able to change between forms at will provided there is something anchoring her human half... that whole water/mirror/internal Jaguar sequence?!?!... USING THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP TO GET A GRIP ON HER HUMANITY?!?!

ACCESSING AN EVOLVED FORM OF HERSELF WHISLT THINKING OF THE PEOPLE SHE WANTED TO SAVE?!?!

Yo if that ain’t Naruto idk what is...

Next we have Mom the Monkey...

Wasn’t too hard of a leap to figure out... I probably clocked into it maybe mid ep 1?? Idk what triggered it but yeah don’t think that was meant to be a difficult leap to make... that aside, I like that they didn’t have Song immediately change back or have her wits about her when Mulholland helped free her from the pheromones... she’s been a monkey for 13 years, under the control of Dr Emilia, she hasn’t spoken and she didn’t have little moments to control her powers like Kipo... so figuring out how to change her back is a good ongoing mission to have I think... it also makes the fact that Kipo was the one to get through to her in the first place even more powerful and that’s SO dope...

Lio... yknow what when grown ups in these types of stories have regrets and the children are dealing with their consequences it can be very frustrating... but I like that Lio is more than willing to reflect on his past mistakes (valid tho it was that he had no choice but to grab Kipo and run before Emilia could get to her) and is also willing to ACT ON IT...he gives Kipo’s ideas a chance and its even shown for real when Scarlemagne forced him to tell the truth... Hugo was a child he raised and he doesn’t want to leave him behind anymore... even if he’s done so much bad... I’m also glad they showed Kipo expressing disappointment in her fathers actions, empathy for Hugo’s pain, but that didn’t mean she was suddenly disillusioned to her father and what kind of person he is... that can also be a very frustrating aspect of these types of plot lines...

Benson and his darling potentially mutual crush, Troy? What else can i say but beautiful first awkward teen crush PERFECTION! Both of them blushing when Benson ended up on top of Troy after tackling Troy out of the way of a rampaging Pierre? Troy kissing him on the cheek? Troy helping Benson out of the pit and the same falling in love music playing while Benson gazed up at Troy?? TROY AND BENSON HOLDING HANDS WHILE SCARED AND CLINGING TO EACH OTHER?!?!?

TROY BEING AT LEAST PARTIALLY (Latino? Hispanic?) MEANING EVEN MORE POC CHARACTERS AS MAINS LIKE HECK YEAH!!!

Sidenote: a good chunk of the music is like... “rap” music and they always hit during fight scenes and it’s great...

Also: the Kipo title sequence? A bop we must never forget...

SPEAKING OF BOPS WE MUST NEVER FORGET: Heroes on Fire... a karaoke classic I must learn... used with the Power of Friendship can turn a mega mute back to human...

Also also my love and life Jamack??? Continuing to help Kipo out even if he’s a total tsundere about it?!?! LITERALLY CANNOT STOP HIMSELF FROM HELPING HER?!?! I love him... and I want him to join the gang... so bad...

ALSO. The whole second episode was basically about cheese.

Feta. Gouda. Chevre. Fromage.

Idk about that whole... Soothsayer meets the Grey Sisters (Greek mythology? Three sisters, one eye, one tooth? Is that what they’re called?) business with the cheese but whatever it was fun... they were just straight up tossing knives at Kipo to get her latent powers to activate and that was hilarious... also Mr Miyagi moment I guess XD but it means Kipo’s created a whole brain pathway between Herbs in/Herbs out and how she controls her powers and she even mentions that...

Also mega bummed about Ratland burning down...

I also wanna know what was up with the sentient Fun Gus and why it had the mind of a child...

FINALLY: our new big bad - Dr Emilia...

WHAT COMPLETELY TOOK ME BY SURPRISE WAS IT WASNT SCARLEMAGNE WHO PUT HER UNDER HIS CONTROL BUT FRIGGEN THESE CLOAKED HUMANS...Monkey Mom wasn’t a surprise but THAT sure was

We’re really leaning into the one race supremacy theme here huh? But also the reckless and callous treatment of animals and the earth by humans... without regard for how they feel... and after mutating and having and being able to communicate their thoughts and feelings and dreams, Emilia still thinks it would be better to remove that and return them to just animals...

Fascinated to see where they go from here...anyway... go watch Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts so we can get a season 3 babeyyyyy

[flightfoot]

The Redemption of Chloe Bourgeois

Note: I’m specifically talking about in @angelofthequeers fanfic “Hold Me By Both Hands”, which I highly recommend reading. There will be spoilers.

AO3

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chloe’s an interesting character. She straddles the fence between good and bad a lot, with generally being pretty awful to most of the people around her, but with enough glimmers of compassion and a desire to prove herself that she can feasibly be taken down either the hero or villain route and still remain in-character, just depending on how the exact situation plays out.

Unsurprisingly, redemptions for Chloe are common, especially since the show itself started her down that route in Malediktator and Heroes Day, though it pulled back on it in season 3. Whether she’ll end up finishing a redemption arc in-show, I do not know, but in the meantime fans have taken over.

While personally I like a good Chloe redemption so long as no one else is torn down in the process (which sadly is VERY common in Chameleon salt), it’s not something I usually seek out in and of itself. It can be a nice bonus but it’s not a selling point of a fic for me, so my exposure to it has mostly been with fics that include Chloe’s redemption but don’t center around it.

The redemption Angel wrote for her in Hold Me By Both Hands is my favorite one I’ve read so far. It focuses heavily on giving Chloe a reason to change and her actively trying, needing to be taught how to be better, be nicer, and really working with her from where she was at in the show. And there’s not really one big redemptive ‘thing’ she does to get herself into everyone’s good graces; it’s really focused on her slowly taking steps to change her attitude.

Chloe’s redemption arc kicks off with Despair Bear; fitting, since that was one of the earliest glimpses of her starting on a possible redemption arc in canon. Things go similarly to canon at first, with her pulling the fire alarm and trying to pin it on Marinette. Adrien’s mindset is the point of divergence here; his friends have gradually been boosting him up, getting him more used to and able to speak up against injustice, or just things he doesn’t like in general, instead of just taking it all like his father trained him to. Losing Chloe as a “friend” also doesn’t mean that he’d be totally without peers to talk to or any – well, FRIENDS. He HAS other friends, people who actually ACT like friends. He doesn’t need to fear being alone anymore if he stands up to Chloe.

His and Chloe’s actions are initially the same as canon, with him telling her he can’t be friends with someone who treats others like she does, that she has to be nice, and her throwing a party for everyone in order to get back into his good graces, and… well, it goes more-or-less like canon, as far as the actions and arc surrounding Chloe go.

It really diverges AFTER the party, with Adrien putting his foot down on not being friends with Chloe until she can be nice (or at least not mean) to other people consistently, including people she doesn’t like much, such as Marinette.

“I can’t,” Chloé says pleadingly, stomping her foot. “I’ll be nice to anyone else, Adrikins, please, but I can’t be nice to her, especially when she’s so mean to me!”

Adrien sighs and shakes his head. “Then we can’t be friends anymore. You can’t just be nice to people selectively, and Marinette didn’t even say anything to you there. I’ve never seen her be mean to you if you weren’t mean first. And I can’t be friends with someone who lets me take the blame for something I didn’t do. Twice. I was going to forgive you for that, but I can’t if you can’t be nice to everyone.” (Chapter 15)

This really affects Chloe. She may not care about being nice to other people, about other people’s feelings, but… she does care about being friends with Adrien, even if she’s crappy to him sometimes.

Chloe thinks about what happened for a week and a half – I’m guessing seeing whether he was really serious. Finally she cracks and asks Marinette for help.

“Teach me how to be nice.”

Marinette blinks. For a moment, her mouth can’t find the appropriate words in her brain for this situation, and she wonders if she’s stuck in some dream. Her shock must be plastered clean across her face, because Chloé huffs and crosses her arms.

“Trust me, the last thing I want is to be asking you for help,” Chloé snaps. “But Adrien won’t even say one word to me anymore unless it’s asking if I’ve learned how to be nice. And since it’s your fault that I lost my best friend, you can help me get him back.” (Chapter 16)

 Chloe isn’t exactly enthusiastic about the idea, but she DOES want Adrien back, so she’s even willing to go to Marinette for help. She’s still acting like it’s MARINETTE’S fault Adrien isn’t talking to her though, rather than her own for being mean, and acts like she’s entitled to Marinette’s help. But Marinette’s not gonna take her crap on this.

“My fault?” Marinette says incredulously. “What did I do? You’re the one who’s been picking on me and everyone else for years! I didn’t make Adrien do that to you! And if you really want him to be your friend again, you need to stop blaming everyone else for your rotten attitude!”

“That’s exactly what I’m talking about!” Chloé jabs a finger at Marinette. “You have this – this stupid moral compass where you know how to be good and nice and whatever!” (Chapter 16)

This bit’s interesting. What Chloe says here about Marinette having a moral compass indicates that she has some awareness of how Marinette’s, well, good and nice, and also that she has the awareness that she herself isn’t, and doesn’t know how to be. She talked about Marinette being mean to her earlier, but her line here seems to say that while she may have SAID that Marinette was mean, she didn’t really believe it even then. And she also seems to be figuring out that what she thought was being “nice” with how she threw that party didn’t really qualify, so she’s sort of flailing trying to figure out what these terms even mean.

Which is shown in Chloe’s and Marinette’s next exchange:

“Well, do you want to be nice for Adrien? Or for yourself?” Marinette says. “If you want to be nice just to get Adrien to be your friend again, you’re not going to stay nice. You’re not going to want to stay nice. And I’m not going to put the effort into helping you unless I know that you’ll be nice even after you get what you want. Not after you spent years bullying all of us, Chloé.”

“I never had a reason to be nice before,” Chloé says. “Being nice lets people walk all over you.” (Chapter 20)

Chloe’s view of what being “nice” means is skewed, likely from seeing people take advantage of “niceness”. And with this definition and general view on niceness, it’s no wonder she hasn’t wanted to be ‘nice’ before. No one likes to be trampled, least of all someone as proud as Chloe.

“Nice doesn’t mean being a pushover,” Marinette counters. “You can be nice and still stand up for yourself. That’s something I’m learning.”

“Whatever. Look, are you going to help me or not? I want my best friend back.”

Marinette sighs. Is she really doing this? Yeah, she is. Doing this might help Chloé become a better person and stop bullying everyone.

“On one condition,” she says. “You actually try. I don’t want anything from you except a promise that you’re going to try and be a better person and not just pretend to be to get what you want. And I’m not going to hold your hand and tell you what to do every step of the way.”

“Yes, yes, whatever.” Chloé waves a hand. “You can come to the hotel after school and start teaching me. I’m not going to waste my precious lunch time.” She turns and struts out of the bathroom, leaving Marinette to try and process what had just happened and wonder if someone had tried to divide by zero and shattered the universe as they know it. (Chapter 16)

Chloe still doesn’t seem to really understand what Marinette’s getting at as far as being a better person and being able to be nice and still stand up for herself, but she’s at least sort of willing to listen, maybe, and this is part of what she needs to be shown, needs to be taught. So while Marinette’s not exactly thrilled at the idea and doesn’t have much reason to help Chloe for Chloe’s sake (she doesn’t owe Chloe anything), she DOES at least have reason to help Chloe for her own sake, and the sake of everyone else who interacts with her.

Marinette starts on the lesson later that day, and right away it’s off to a rocky start.

“This? Big?” Chloé says. “Oh, right. I forgot that you’re just a baker’s daughter.”

“You know, I can just walk right back out if you’re not serious about learning to be nicer,” Marinette says. “And I can’t think of anyone else who’d agree to help you.”

“Right, like you’re not just doing this to suck up to Adrikins.” (Chapter 16)

Chloe can’t seem to comprehend that anyone would want to do something like this, to do something ‘nice’ that requires time and effort and investment unless it’s to curry favor with someone. It has to be transactional. Considering that her father’s a major political figure and her mother’s a highly influential (and really mean and awful) fashionista, whom people would probably frequently either try to endear themselves to in order to extract favors, or who would themselves try to network with others in order to grow their own influence, I’m not surprised she has this view of the world.

Marinette does actually have selfish reasons for being willing to do this, which she’s pretty up front about. They’re not connected to Adrien though.

“Funnily enough, some people do things because it feels good to be nice and helpful. And if you think the only thing I’m getting out of this is impressing Adrien, you’ve clearly forgotten the past few years before he even came along.” Marinette crosses her arms. “I’m actually being pretty selfish in doing this, you know. My life will be a whole lot better without you being mean all the time. And so will everyone else’s.”

“So, Dupain-Cheng’s got bite.” Chloé smirks and leads Marinette through the right door and into her sitting room, where a tray of snacks such as cut fruit and sushi rests on the glass table. Chloé settles herself on one of the chairs and waits until Marinette hesitantly sits down in an adjoining seat before speaking again. “Alright, chop, chop. How do I be nice?” (Chapter 16)

Chloe seems to respect being stood up to, having people not cave to her. I’m guessing part of that has to do with associations. She thinks being nice means being a doormat after all, and I’m guessing also that people who’re doormats deserve to be trampled on, kind of a “they know their place” thing. So Marinette asserting herself and showing she won’t be submissive earns some respect.

Marinette really needs to start from the ground up with teaching Chloe. None of this will do much good, will be more than performance art if Chloe can’t find some internal reason to change.

“First, you figure out why you want to be nice,” Marinette says. “Because if it’s just to make Adrien happy, I’m walking straight out of here. You have to have a reason for yourself or you’ll never stay nice.”

“Then why are you nice?”

“Because it makes me feel good. I like seeing people happy because of something nice that I’ve said or done.”

“Boring,” Chloé sings. Marinette resists the urge to roll her eyes. (Chapter 16)

This isn’t much of an incentive for Chloe, not at this point. She has to actually care what others think and feel in order for this to matter to her, and well – while she DOES actually care about that, it’s only with a select few people, at least as far as she’s willing to recognize.

The more selfish, materialistic incentives to be nice interest Chloe a lot more.

“Well, if you’re nice then people will like you,” she says through gritted teeth, wondering why she even agreed to do this. “And if people like you then they’ll treat you better. Which means they’ll want to do more things for you.”

“Wait, so I can actually get something out of being nice?” Chloé says. Marinette considers rushing out to Chloé’s balcony and throwing herself over the railing.

“Not that you should want to be nice for selfish reasons, but yes,” she says. “And then once it becomes habit, you’ll find that you like being nice –”

“Don’t worry about that part,” Chloé says. “Let’s focus on the part where being nice gets me stuff.” (Chapter 16)

This is more what she’s used to, and something she’s no doubt seen in action before; being nice on a transactional basis in order to get stuff. It fits neatly into her worldview.

But that’s not good enough.

“It’s not as simple as saying a few nice things,” Marinette says. “You have to keep showing that you mean it, or people will see that you’re being fake. I suggest you start treating Sabrina nicer.”

“What do you mean? Sabrina loves me!”

“You treat her like a servant!” Marinette strongly considers throwing the piece of pineapple in her hand at Chloé – it’ll blend in nicely with the other girl’s hair and jacket – but she forces herself to not lose her cool. “You make her do your homework, steal for you, whatever else you say!”

“I give her gifts all the time! I gave her an old dress of mine just the other day!”

Breathe, Marinette. Breathe. Don’t beat up the annoying blonde. “Just because you give Sabrina your old things doesn’t mean that you’re being nice to her,” she says. “Try thanking her for doing your homework. Ask her opinion on things and don’t think that she agrees just because she rushes to back you up. Treat her like an actual person.” (Chapter 16)

Chloe’s mindset is pretty apparent here. She knows Sabrina follows her, that she does what she says and seems to like her, therefore that must mean she’s being “nice” to her. She gives Sabrina gifts, which she thinks makes everything else about how she treats her okay. Probably because that’s what she’s experienced herself, with her parents not really having much time for actual bonding (or just treating her like crap in Audrey’s case), and substituting gifts instead. Also seen this with other rich parents, since it’s a favorite tactic of Gabriel’s.

Marinette at least tries to get her into the habit of thinking up nice things about other people, about treating people nicely, even if Chloe hasn’t yet really gotten what niceness really is or why she should be nice aside from on a transactional basis.

“Your homework is to think of a nice thing to say about every single person in our class.” Marinette ignores Chloé’s complaining, for her own sanity. “Then you’re going to go up to each person and say it tomorrow. I really don’t care if you can’t bring yourself to do it for me, but I want you to do it for everyone else. And no, it can’t be a backhanded compliment,” she says before Chloé can even open her mouth. “It has to be something genuinely nice.”

“But what if there’s nothing nice to say?” Chloé says. “What if their outfit and their hair and everything is ugly?”

“Think of something!” Marinette throws her hands up. “Offer them advice if you absolutely have to, just in a helpful way! If you want to be nice then you need to practice, and you need to make others believe that you’re trying.” (Chapter 16)

And Chloe does genuinely make an effort, to the point that Alya thinks there’s an akuma. It’s nowhere near being natural, but just the fact that she’s willing to listen to what Marinette says and put it into practice, to make that effort, is extremely encouraging, even if she doesn’t really understand how or why to be nice.

“Thank…you…for doing my homework, Sabrina,” Chloé says loudly. Her voice carries across the classroom, although this is probably just because everyone’s gone dead silent to stare at her. Sabrina looks like she’s questioning reality.

“Um…it’s no problem, Chloé?” the redhead says slowly. “You know you don’t have to thank me for it.”

“Well, I thought it would be…nice. To show that I…appreciate you. You’re…a good friend.” (Chapter 16)

Soon afterwards Chloe shows just how much Adrien means to her, that he’s not just a possession to her, that she genuinely cares about him as a person, cares about his wellbeing, even if she didn’t realize how much before this.

“Cute,” Chloé drawls. “You’ve worried yourself sick over your friend. At least it’s not something super serious like I thought.”

“Nothing super serious? How can you say that?”

“Because his father’s like this all the time. It’s not like I’m happy, but at least I know it’s not something like having a broken leg or me needing to destroy whoever hurt him or something.”

Marinette totally doesn’t buy that. “Rubbish! After you let Adrien take the fall for what you did twice, pretending like you care is a total new low for you, Chloé. You don’t care about him at all, do you, you just see him as some trophy –”

Chloé’s hand shoots out to grab Marinette’s wrist and yank her down the next corridor and into the girl’s bathroom. “Don’t you even dare go there, Dupain-Cheng,” Chloé hisses, squeezing Marinette’s wrist as the door slams shut behind them. “I’m trying to be nice so that my best friend will talk to me again, so don’t you even think of implying that he’s just a shiny thing to me. I just…didn’t realise how special he was until he stopped talking to me for good. I didn’t realise that I was treating him like shit as well as all you peasants since, you know, that’s my default.” (Chapter 17)

 This is an important step for Chloe. She may not know exactly why she should be nice to most other people yet, but she at least DOES realize how awfully she was treating the few people she does care about and wants to be better to them, and to ensure that others don’t treat them badly either. And it means she gets the general concept of why to be nice to people beyond a transactional basis, that she DOES actually care about others feelings, it’s just that the group of people who she cares about is very small at the moment. But it’s something to build on, a foundation that can be expanded.

“You hate me, Dupain-Cheng,” Chloé snaps. “I hate you. Forgive me if I don’t believe that.”

“I don’t hate you,” Marinette says. “Not since you asked me for help. I’ve actually been…impressed at how you’re really trying to be nice. I don’t like you, but I don’t hate you. And even if I did hate you, I wouldn’t go spreading around anything that you tell me in private.”

Chloé stares at her for a long moment, then sighs. “You’re, like, the one person I can actually believe wouldn’t do that to me,” she mutters. “Stupid, goodie-two-shoes Marinette Dupain-Cheng. No, I’m not in love with Adrien, okay? He’s like my brother. But I don’t want anyone else to get near him.” (Chapter 17)

Chloe’s actually putting a lot of trust, showing a lot of vulnerability to Marinette here. And even believing that Marinette hates her, she still has a very high opinion of her, knowing that Marinette wouldn’t betray her trust even though they don’t like each other. She HAS this awareness of who Marinette is as a person, she just wasn’t really using it before.

“Why? If you’re really that close, you can’t possibly believe that he’d abandon you for someone else, right?”

“He did!” Chloé clenches her fists and stomps her foot. “He left me for – for you! And that Ladyblogger and weird DJ!”

“Only because you were being mean and he knew that he had the power to push you to become a nicer person,” Marinette counters.

“Exactly! Now I’m stuck turning myself into some fake, nice, smiley person that I’m not just to get my friend back!” (Chapter 17)

Chloe still doesn’t totally get it. She thinks that she basically has to put on a customer service persona in order for Adrien to be willing to talk to her again, and that’s not it. Her abandonment issues also play into it, with how her mom left her. I’m not surprised she’s willing to try to change herself this much with one of the few people who she actually really cares about staying away from her until she does. I feel some sympathy for her though. If Adrien wasn’t the kind of person that he is, if he was malicious, then Chloe would be in a REALLY bad situation with how far she’ll go to get him to be willing to be friends with her again. Someone could use her desperation to make her do things that she wouldn’t normally be willing to do. “Do this thing or I won’t be your friend anymore” is unfortunately a common tactic that kids sometimes use to get their ‘friends’ (though they’re not being very good friends generally if they’re using that) to do what they want. I’ve been on the receiving end of it before when I was younger. In this case it’s a useful tool and the best one Adrien has at his disposal to encourage Chloe to change her ways, but it’s very much a situational one that should be applied with great caution in the real world.

Come to think of it, that’s another reason why it’s really good that Marinette’s encouraging Chloe to find her own reason to want to be nicer, besides wanting to give her a reason that’s likely to last longer than “I want my friend to talk to me again”. Because even in situations like this where using the whole “I won’t be your friend anymore” thing is warranted like this one, it’s still not a great thing to use, to force someone to change or else you’ll withhold affection/friendship/love until they change themselves, especially fundamentally. Good to get that person onto a better, less potentially dangerous reason as soon as possible.

 Marinette’s face softens as she regards Chloé, who snarls and looks away, crossing her arms. “Then don’t do it for Adrien,” Marinette says. “That’s what I’ve been telling you. Find a reason why you want to be nice.”

“I don’t have a reason! Don’t you get it? Why should I want to be nice when I can get everything I want anyway?”

“You didn’t end up being class president. You’re always getting kidnapped by akumas with a vendetta. No one apart from Sabrina and Adrien likes you, and Sabrina’s more of a servant than a friend. Those are three good reasons.”

“Whatever, miss perfect know-it-all. Come on, we’re supposed to be at the nurse’s office.” (Chapter 17)

Chloe doesn’t try to deny the truth of any of this, which is especially interesting with Sabrina, that she’s getting to accept that she’s treated her that way. Chloe calling Marinette a “know-it-all” for this is basically her backhanded way of saying “yeah, you’re right”.

And then Marinette hits on it. A reason for Chloe to be nice that doesn’t require holding a relationship hostage to do so, that also isn’t super transactional.

As Chloé storms for the door, Marinette scrambles for one last line of reasoning as to why Chloé should keep being nice. Finally, as Chloé’s pushing the door open, Marinette blurts out, “What about Ladybug?”

Chloé freezes. “What about her?”

“You’re her number one fan, right? Well…why not do it so you can be the kind of person Ladybug would love to have as her number one fan?”

“Are you implying that she doesn’t see me or want me as her number one fan?” Chloé arches an eyebrow as she turns, letting the door slam shut again. Marinette gulps. Now she has to be careful with how she navigates this, or she’ll end up either outing herself or offending Chloé into hating Ladybug again.

“I never said that,” Marinette says slowly. “Look, if you truly can’t do it for yourself, do it to become a person that Ladybug would be proud of. I know I try every day to strive to be the kind of person that Ladybug would approve of. And once you’re in the habit of being nice, who knows? Maybe you’ll find that you really do enjoy having people like you and want to do nice things for you because they like you and not because they fear you.” (Chapter 17)

Marinette hit upon the key here: leverage one of the few people’s opinions Chloe DOES care about, does respect, but without needing to say that Ladybug would drop Chloe as a fan or wouldn’t be willing to spend time with her at all. Wanting to change partly for Ladybug’s approval. It’s not the best possible reason to be nice, but it’s a better one than she has currently, and can get her further on the path to being nice because she cares about other people’s thoughts and feelings as a whole. And it’s one that Chloe seems to take under serious consideration.

Chloe continues trying to be nice, even giving Marinette a birthday gift even though she wasn’t invited to her party. Things heat up a bit once Befana shows up and calls Marinette a ‘spoilt brat’, something Chloe objects to.

“You’re really calling Dupain-Cheng a spoilt brat?” Chloé’s scoff reaches Chat Noir’s ears. “Lavillant might be an airy-fairy princess, but she was actually right for once. Dupain-Cheng’s so disgustingly nice that she makes me want to hurl.” (Chapter 20)

This is a decent preview of the sort of “niceness” that Chloe’s good at naturally; not the nicest terminology, and she still insults Rose, but she’s clearly sticking up for Marinette. She’s good at brutal honesty, which can be very useful, but she needs to train herself out of throwing snide asides at other people.

Marinette actually ends up inviting Chloe to stay afterwards.

“Of course you’d be hiding,” Chloé scoffs. “It’s not like you were in the action like moi. Ladybug would be so proud that I stood up to that tacky akuma.”

“She sure would!” Marinette says. “Chloé…do you and Sabrina want to stay for the party? None of us would mind.”

Her classmates immediately school their faces into totally neutral expressions.

“Oh, no, of course we don’t mind,” Alya says with what looks like a painful smile.

“Yeah, you’re totally welcome,” Alix says through gritted teeth. Chloé smirks around at them, no doubt able to tell that it’s causing them great pain to pretend that they don’t mind her being there.

“Well, I suppose I can cancel my hair appointment this time,” Chloé says. “I’ll stay, Dupain-Cheng. It’ll be…nice.” Her face twists. (Chapter 20)

Chloe’s preening a lot, but at least she’s preening for decent reasons. No one wants to be around Chloe still and she seems happy with their discomfort, but she’s being civil (if a bit haughty) so they are as well. Civility is definitely an improvement.

Chloe’s also sticking up for Adrien even though he’s not talking to her much right now, like when Lila falsely accuses Adrien of assaulting her.

“You what?” Chloé says shrilly. “How dare you? My Adrikins would never treat anyone like that! He’s so sickly sweet that he probably felt worse than you when he rejected you.”

“Thanks, Chlo,” Adrien says quietly. Chloé shoots him a small smile, with none of her usual smugness or nastiness, and tosses her ponytail. The message in her eyes is crystal clear: even if they’re not technically friends right now, she’s always got his back. (Chapter 23)

This is just her protecting her friend for his own sake. It’s been shown before, but… yeah, this is the kind of thing where it’s really good to see it interwoven throughout the narrative, showing that it’s not a one-time thing or something she just states, but is actively demonstrated as well.

Zombizou still happens, which in this case means Chloe backslid a little. Which is pretty realistic, that happens. Which gets Ladybug, Rena, and Chat talking about what do about it.

“Yeah,” Rena Rouge says. “A kissing zombie? And here I thought Chloé was trying to be better rather than ruining birthday gifts and getting our teacher akumatised. She went to Marinette’s party, for god’s sake, and she hates Marinette.”

“Maybe she just relapsed?” Chat Noir says. “I know it can be hard to move past stuff that’s so…well, force of habit. And she’s had a bit of a rough family life.”

“That’s still no excuse,” Ladybug says. “A friend of mine has also had a rough family life and he’s one of the sweetest people I know. But…maybe Chloé does need support. Not coddling, but just enough support to keep her on the right track.” (Chapter 26)

I’m really glad Ladybug was thinking about this. Because Adrien withdrawing support may have been what prompted Chloe to change, but just leaving her without sufficient support is unlikely to be helpful. Ties into my analysis of how Ladybug interacts with Alya, actually; she’s not really focused here on any sort of punishment for Chloe, though she’s definitely not fond of her, but is instead thinking in terms of “Ok, now how can I help Chloe grow to reach her potential?” I think she might subconsciously thinking about her in a similar way to how she thinks of her teammates, which is fitting considering that Chloe joins the team later.

Ladybug goes to talk to Chloe later that night, questioning her about what happened.

At first Chloe puts up her usual haughty, arrogant façade.

“Chloé, you can drop the bravado,” Ladybug says. “I know you’ve been trying to be nicer. Why did you ruin Marinette’s gift?”

Chloé snorts loudly. “Perfect princess Dupain-Cheng? She thinks she’s just oh so good. And how dare Sabrina just tell the class about my mother like that! Dupain-Cheng had it coming.”

Ladybug bites down on her tongue so hard that she’s left with a faint metallic taste. “I hardly think that Marinette’s intention was to make you look bad,” she says dryly. “Especially since she’s been helping you become nicer.” (Chapter 27)

It crumples quickly however. Even in the show she opens up to Ladybug in a way she doesn’t with most other people, and in this scenario where she’s already opening up to Marinette, allowing herself to be slightly more vulnerable than she’s used to being? It doesn’t take long to break.

“Forget it.” Chloé slouches back in her seat and crosses her arms, blinking rapidly. Is she…about to cry? Chloé Bourgeois, crying? “I’ll never be nice. Why even bother trying?”

“Because you can’t keep lashing out, Chloé,” Ladybug says. “I know there’s probably history with your mum, and I’m not going to insist that you talk to me about it, but…other people have hard lives as well and they don’t turn it on everyone else.”

“Yeah? Well, none of them are me,” Chloé snaps. “I’ve got everything I want. Daddy gives me everything. I’ve got a devoted best friend. And it’s never enough. It’s never enough.” She hunches over and covers her face with her hands. “I don’t even know what more I want. How the fuck am I supposed to give others what they want? Why should I even care?” (Chapter 27)

 This breakdown is different from the other times she’s questioned why she should care. Those times, she was questioning Marinette. This time, she’s questioning HERSELF.

And as much bad blood as Marinette has with Chloe, she still has an idea of what Chloe might actually want here, even though she herself doesn’t seem to know.

“I think you just want someone to understand you,” Ladybug says softly. (Chapter 27)

Sabrina might be there for Chloe, might serve her, but… well, Chloe doesn’t really engage her as an equal. Her father’s technically there, but he doesn’t really engage with her as a person either – he either rolls over for her and does what she wants and occasionally puts his foot down on her behavior when pressured. He ends up playing a role kinda similar to what Sabrina does, relationship-wise.

But Chloe doesn’t need just another sycophant. She needs someone who really talks WITH her and tries to understand her as a person.

And then there’s Chloe’s mother, who makes up a large part of Chloe’s issues.

“I’m sorry.” Ladybug reaches over and rests a hand on Chloé’s. Chloé gasps but she doesn’t pull away or give any other indication of discomfort. “I can’t imagine what it must be like to have a parent like that. But that’s not an excuse, Chloé.”

“I just want her to love me!” Chloé stomps her foot. “I tell myself I don’t care and then I see her and it’s like there’s a switch that just flips. She’s my mother, but she treats me like – like I’m a nobody! Like I mean nothing to her even though she’s the one who gave birth to me, so you’d think there’d be some affection!”

“I get that.” How long has Chloé been bottling this up? “But how do you think everyone else feels when you take those feelings and push them on the people around you?”

“You think I don’t know that?” Chloé says. “It makes me feel…good. Like they can have half a goddamn clue how I feel.” (Chapter 27)

 Taking out anger and pain on others can feel good in the moment, and that’s what Chloe’s been operating on all this time. At her core, I think Chloe’s jealous of everyone else for having people who care about them, for having parents who care about them as people in particular, for not having been treated like a piece of garbage by one of the people who should be the most compassionate and understanding towards you. Which might also factor into why Chloe connected with Adrien in a way she hasn’t with anyone else, even though she hasn’t been isolated the way he was – he DOES have a crappy parent who doesn’t give him affection and treats him badly, though he DID at least have a halfway decent parent as well in this universe (whether Emilie was a good, or even just an okay parent in canon is still very much unknown).

It doesn’t help that Chloe’s view of niceness is very skewed and limited, that she thinks it only means being very sugary sweet and uplifting. Ladybug expands on what she means, and shows her how she can be nice in her own way. Well… maybe not exactly NICE, but constructive and not actively harmful.

Hmm.” Ladybug chews her lip, struggling to find the words that Chloé needs to hear. “You don’t have to be sugary sweet. There’s nothing wrong with being blunt and snarky. But you don’t have to be hurtful as well. You could just as easily turn that bluntness into helpful honesty and that snark into banter. And people will see that you’re trying. I’m sure of it.”

“Wait, so I can be a raging bitch and still be a good person?” Chloé says. “Because that’s probably at least achievable within my lifetime.”

“Well, probably not a raging bitch,” Ladybug says. “But you don’t have to be sugary sweet. Just…work on being less nasty. It’s as simple as not being mean. Don’t say the mean thing you were going to say. Instead, turn it into a snarky half-compliment if you can. Baby steps. But you have to consistently try.” (Chapter 27)

 This is a really good path to set her on. One that doesn’t involve completely changing her entire persona and ways of interacting with people, but more modifying it, along with exercising some self-restraint. It seems to really click for Chloe what Ladybug means here in a way that it didn’t back when Marinette was trying to explain being nice before.

“Okay, fine,” Chloé says. “I’ll turn myself into the jerk with a heart of gold trope.” (Chapter 27)

Fiction’s great for this kind of thing, and I’m glad she’s found something to latch onto to help her understand the trajectory she’s on, to kind of use for mental scaffolding. She displays the same sort of self-awareness later that chapter.

“I’m going to pretend that you didn’t just imply that Chat Noir can compare to Ladybug, for the sake of my redemption arc,” Chloé says loudly. (Chapter 27)

It’s encouraging to see her thinking of this as a redemption arc, as her being in the wrong originally and needing to change, and for her trying to get to a destination of being a better person. It’s not transactional anymore, there’s been a fundamental shift in her method of thought about this whole thing. It’s not just a means to an end, but an end in and of itself, something that she seems to see value in achieving. It helps that she seems to actually UNDERSTAND what Marinette meant, what Adrien meant before about being nice. Which to be fair, the way they phrased it as, well, being “nice”, wasn’t best impression of how they wanted her to change. Now that she understands though, now that it’s clicked, she’s on board. She can see how she can be herself AND have support, have friends, and be decent friends to them in turn. She’s got a pretty good handle on it in her banter with her classmates.

“Yeah, which means all you bitches have to get in line behind me,” Chloé says.

“How about you go fuck yourself, Bourgeois?” Alix calls back down at her.

“Eat my entire arse, Kubdel.”

“Yeah, I’m sure this is exactly what we meant by being a good person,” Marinette jokes, seizing the change in subject with both hands like a lifeline so that she doesn’t have to keep hearing about how her classmates would do her alter ego.

“I’m becoming a better person, not turning into a saint, Dupain-Cheng.” (Chapter 27)

She’s altering her tone enough so it’s not outright mean, even if it’s still pretty… colorful, and so that she’s not punching down.

Now that she’s got the basic idea of how she can be her own brand of “good” and “nice”, and sees a reason to aim for it? Now that she’s acknowledging why she’s often nasty in the first place? Now, she’s ready for the climax of her character development.

Her mother comes to visit like in canon, and Marinette tries to get them bond over their nastiness (which seriously, that was weird even in canon), something she recognizes as a mistake. Then Malediktator happens, causing her to go talk to Chloe, like what happened in the actual episode – but with more depth this time.

“I – I –” Chloé swallows and takes a shaky breath. Ladybug smiles and nods in encouragement, and that’s all Chloé needs to let the floodgates slam open. “It – It was me. I hurt my daddy's feelings. Because I want to leave Paris forever!”

“Because of what happened in school with the video?” Ladybug says, and Chloé blanches. “I’m sure your classmates didn’t mean to be so harsh –”

“Oh, it’s not them,” Chloé sniffles. “Actually, I don’t even care about any of them, except Sabrina. It’s because I have no reason to be here – nobody likes me, my only friend is Sabrina and I know I treat her like shit, Adrien’s still not my friend, I can’t do anything – I’m…the only thing I am good at is screwing everything up. And I caused this mess, and I’m sorry, Ladybug, I’m sorry.” (Chapter 33)

 Chloe cares. She just… doesn’t feel like she’s capable of being a better person, of not screwing things up, of ACHIEVING something. Her mom appearing and making her feel like crap certainly doesn’t help. Plus, these sorts of feelings happen even when people DO and ARE in a supportive environment; Marinette has wonderful parents and… ok she was bullied by Chloe, but that was about it. And she gets these feelings too, to the extent that she didn’t think she could be Ladybug at first, and that after she messed up, she tried to give her Miraculous to Alya. And while Ladybug can’t tell Chloe THAT, obviously, she does let her know she’s not alone in feeling that way.

“You think I’ve always been Ladybug?” Ladybug says. “You think all of my achievements have been behind this mask? I happened to be in the right place at the right time. The costumes don’t make us anything; all they do is give us powers and enhance what’s already there. We don’t need our powers to be heroes. I’ve seen how hard you’re trying and how far you’ve come.”

“It’s still not enough.” A sob wracks Chloé’s body, and she hunches over as though trying to contain it. “My classmates have given up on me. Even Marinette Dupain-Cheng told my mother how nasty I am. Was she just trying to sabotage me? Ugh, I bet she was –” (Chapter 33)

There’s this recurring line of thought Chloe has. That whatever she tries, whatever her reasons, whatever she tries to do or get, it’s not enough. She honestly has a pretty low opinion of herself, but tries to hide it beneath bravado and arrogance. Actually kinda similar to Chat’s swagger and show-offiness, except that his antics and attitude don’t have a mean bite to them.

I think… at her core, she always wanted to be enough for her mother. That she thought that maybe, just maybe, if she was better, or different, then perhaps her mother would love her. Wouldn’t have left her. Wouldn’t treat her the way she does. That no matter what she tries, how hard she tries, even if others appear to give her a chance, in the end she’ll always fail and be abandoned. That she will always be a failure.

“Ladybug brought me here,” illusion Marinette says. “I heard everything. And I’m sorry for what I said to your mother.”

“Why would you say that?” Chloé stomps her foot. “You say I have to be a good person, then you turn around and tell her what a bitch I am!”

Illusion Marinette’s mouth droops. “I saw how much it meant to you, getting your mother’s approval. I just…I guess I wanted to help, but I went about it entirely wrong. I’m sorry, Chloé, I shouldn’t have done that.”

“You don’t need the approval of someone like that,” Ladybug says. “Remember our talk months ago? You’ve got support if you want it, Chloé, but you have to make the effort to not slip back into those behaviours.” (Chapter 33)

Ladybug makes things clear. That she won’t stand, that Marinette won’t stand, for Chloe going back to how she was, that she has to try… but also making it clear that so long as she DOES try, she won’t abandon her, that she’ll give her support. That it’s not a matter of achieving it or not, so long as she’s at least making an honest attempt. That that’s enough. That she hasn’t failed.

Ladybug goes into a bit more detail on how Chloe can be “good” without being sweet, exactly. Chloe sort of got the idea before, but she needs more reinforcement.

“I know it’s a tough lesson to learn, but you have to learn it,” Ladybug says. “The people you’ve bullied aren’t obligated to forgive you. You should continue to grow whether they forgive you or not; to become a better person because it’s the right thing to do.”

“But I can’t be nice. And I know you told me I just have to be good, but no one’ll believe that I’m trying if I’m not sickly sweet! They’ll just shake their heads and be like, “well, there she goes again”.”

 “And like I said before, you don’t have to be nice,” Ladybug says. “There are ways that you can make yourself a better person without sacrificing who you are. You can speak your mind without being mean, you know. Tell others what you think but also tell them what you’d do. Give them another perspective. Not everyone will appreciate or ask for it, but it’s at least better than just outright saying mean things. You can turn a negative comment into a snarky comment. You can direct your negativity towards evil and doing the right thing while you figure out how to become genuinely good. You can use your attitude for good rather than evil.” (Chapter 33)

 It’s not really all that new information, but… well, often people DO need things like this to be reaffirmed, to be restated, to be expanded on. It’s the final reiteration of this advice, to really drive it home.

And Ladybug asks Chloe to make her a promise.

“I mean…” Chloé takes a deep breath. “I guess if I can’t be nice, I can at least be…good. But how? I don’t exactly have a moral compass like Dupain-bloody-Cheng.”

“Maybe you should see someone?” Ladybug says. “A professional? I know Marinette’s been helping you, but she and I can’t be solely responsible for guiding you. Look, do you promise to keep trying your best? To work each day to become a better person and to reach out for help if you need it, rather than pushing people away?” (Chapter 33)

I’m glad Ladybug advised Chloe to see a professional; getting help from her peers is a good first step, but… if at all possible, it really SHOULD be a professional that helps someone handle this sort of thing, especially when the other peers are kids themselves.

But back to the promise. This promise is the culmination of Chloe’s character arc, the thing she needs to keep striving for, and something that’s been explained and that Marinette has worked on her with to the point that it’s achievable. This is what she needs to internalize for the redemption arc to succeed.

She agrees, and Ladybug gives her the Bee Miraculous once again, with Chloe promising not to screw up this time.

And she doesn’t; she performs admirably and willingly tries to give back the Miraculous even before Ladybug asks, showing that she’s trustworthy enough to keep it.

That’s pretty much the end of her redemption arc there. She’s around and present quite a bit with her being on Team Miraculous, but it’s mostly just a continuing of the same mindset as she’d been trying, as Marinette had been trying to foster in her, since her redemption arc began. I appreciate that she’s still around post-redemption and has a significant role – I’ve seen bully characters disappear before once their redemption arc is over, since they apparently had no other role or reason to be in the show aside from that, and I find that annoying. But there’s not really as much for me to analyze concerning it.

Overall I really loved Chloe’s redemption arc. In the other cases I’ve seen her redeemed it’s often through her either having a personality transplant so she’s just suddenly a different sort of character without having it explained how she got from Point A to Point B. She also tends to be redeemed through becoming a ‘savior’ of some sort, through doing some particular redemptive act. Which can still be good in its own right, don’t get me wrong, but I’m glad to see a version where she really has to put in the work to change her mindset and work on her redemption FIRST, and the sorts of more spectacular acts to put herself in people’s good graces, like her superhero work, come AFTER she’s done more mundane self-improvement. It feels more realistic to me, and like a good approach considering that her level of wrongdoing was on a more mundane, regular school bully level anyway.

[iristial]

Finished episode 38! No double rewatches for this one because I've done enough hysterical craughing (simultaneous crying and laughing) for one night

Since I avoided watching the episode because of the...redemption, so to say, I went with the mindset of "don't bother analyzing the Gai scenes" and it worked. Kinda. It helped that it only took up 1/4 of the episode, but see aforementioned craughing - and the rolling on the bed - and the obligatory phone throw. It's a parody of the worst villain redemption arc/episode, complete with dramatic thunder as eleven year old Gai *gasps* vowed he shall walk alone, Aruto joking that Gai actually loves Hiden Intelligence, and when sparkle sparkle intersection of the present Gai and past Gai happened. It's so bad it's funny. Still not worth losing my brain cells over, but at least I know it's not to be taken seriously (in a way)

On a more serious note, Gai's upbringing would garner sympathy from me...if it wasn't used to hand wave everything he did. Not to mention the lack of duality. Also, even if he's deranged at this point, I fail to see the connection between "actually loving Hiden Intelligence" and orchestrating events that caused the deaths of hundreds, if not thousands, and stripped Humagears of their freedom. Why are we sliding the one responsible under the table? There is a limit to responsibility (i.e. blaming the company who manufactured a knife a murderer used), though that doesn't apply here - and I know they were trying to make way for other developments, which is why arc three is hastily done and this exists...but I need to ask just. Why.

Aruto was peak tsukkomi here. The "you actually love Hiden Intelligence" joke was untimely, but it did make me snort, and he overall had the tone of someone who was Done with Gai's antics

I also liked that Aruto would choose the company he built over the multimillion company his grandfather made (and it existed 34 years ago, holy shoot). It's real unfortunate that it faced destruction in episode 40, and he never got a chance to revive the business...I would've liked to see him continue on this road. Maybe give the directionless Yua a chance to join, to find the place she belongs, because I feel like A.I.M.S isn't quite that + Fuwa saying she's got nowhere to go...hm, I don't think he's in a position to say that. Even if it was another way of stating Yua has to find her dream, Fuwa just doesn't mince his words like that

I've taken to calling the A.I.M.S. officers who first appeared in episode 30 as Yua's fan boys so when they popped up again in this episode, I was going "oh look, it's her fan club" xD

I'm wondering how she "guided them" when Yua was with the ZAIA version of A.I.M.S for three and a half episodes, and they just tried to destroy Humagears, but considering Yua does care for her subordinates (unlike Gai), I guess that's what they're counting on

Raiden's memories of Subaru resurfacing, even though the Ark took his data away...the heart overcomes technology indeed. And I hope they insert something resembling this for Izu 2.0

Ark!Jin holding up the SlashRiser reminded me of the times Horobi would use his katana for dramatic appeal. Those days were great

Aruto...driving his motorcycle...for the first time in like...I'm going to have to flick through my notes, it's been so long. I miss motorcycles. And I wish the others got one too...even if it's for a limited time

Every arc after the first one seems to end with a liberation. Arc two had Fuwa resisting the chip; arc three was a microscopic case, but Horobi did develop some awareness of himself (before episode 35.5 wiped that away); and arc four ends with Aruto and Horobi freeing themselves of their grief