#nothing was forced!! because i know for a fact more than half of the writers were women

[princessgiggles333]

so rarely are comedy movies targeted towards teenage girls. so rarely are the ones “for” teenage girls actually funny. so rarely do comedy movies for teenage girls incorporate lgbt characters as part of the main theme without directly mocking the gay community with bigoted “jokes”.

and yet here we have: Bottoms 2023.

[cherrysurf]

Hello! I was maybe thinking to help with the writers block, that maybe you could do Katsuki helping the reader in the gym! (They don't actually know each other, but they were basically the only people in the gym and the reader, or Katsuki, needed a spotter) :]

Early morning gym session !

professional trainer!bakugou x f!reader

little ooc, yn is athletic but not super (kinda half proofread)

It was 4am when you decided to hit the gym before work, you liked waking up early to be prepared for the day and another thing about it was that there was hardly anyone at the gym during those hours, a few people here and there but that was it. The only downside to this was the fact that when you needed a spotter you couldn’t ask because of lack of people or the fact that everyone was in the zone doing their own thing. So here you are again at the gym it was 4:30am it was only you and maybe two other people as you were setting up the weights on the rack to do squats, you were trying to reach a new rep but you were hesitant just in case you couldn’t lift it backup and didn’t want to cause a severe injury on your back right before work, so you look around to see if anyone was taking a break between their sets so they could help you real quick, that’s when you see a tall spiky blonde man sitting on a bench wiping sweat off his face and drinking water, although he did look intimidating you had no other choice it was that or the group of grandmas on the tendmills you decided to suck it up and go ask him if he says no you’ll just stick to the same rep you can do by yourself. You slowly walked up to him. He was down looking at his phone with his headphones in black sleek beats just like yours but yours were blue. Then he saw a pair of shoes on the floor and looked up to see you awkwardly waved hi and pointed at your ears to signify that you wanted to say something, he took off his headphones and then said “what do you want?” in a monotone voice, “uhm i’m trying to reach a new rep but i need a spotter and i saw you were talking a break so i wanted to ask, but if you can’t that’s totally okay! i understand so you don’t need to worry about it or feel forced or anything” you said rambling “6 reps of 14 or i’m not doing it.” he said “what?” you say confused “6 reps of 14 or i'm not doing it. How do you expect to grow your glutes without a proper amount of reps?” he said almost in a snarky manner “mmh can i at least get a break in between?” you say “if you do them right. If not, you start over” he said. “Why did you ask him you” wondered annoyingly. “So why should I take your advice?” you questioned the man “because i’m a personal trainer and i know a lot more than you.” he added while taking a sip of his water “oh?” you say stunned “mhm so let’s get started before i don’t want to do this anymore.” he standing up you simply just turned around and walked to where you were while he followed behind—

the time he spent as your spotter was hell, filled with yelling about not squatting properly, how weak you were, how he squats twice as much, you were sweating so much you looked like how he looked when you approached him after it was done you laid down on the floor trying to catch your breath “that was nothing i don’t know why you are so dramatic clearly you’ve never trained properly.” he said laughing in a mocking way all you could do was roll your eyes from the lack of energy to fight him back. “So what's your name?” he says looking down at you “yn. you?” you responded heavily breathing “bakugou.” he said “i could train you if you want to get better” he continued on “no thanks i don’t want to pay for someone to yell at me” you say “free of charge for now. We go to the gym at the same time and I'll have you follow my daily routine just for a girl” he says, offering his hand to get you up, which you are shocked by how quickly he was able to get you off the ground with one hand. “free for now?” you asked confused, “think of it like a free trial if you’re not annoying and do the workouts right we can keep it free.” he shrugs “gimme your phone so i can put my number in” he said you comply handing him your phone and he returns it back before walking off “enjoy the rest of your measly work out see you tomorrow for a real workout.” he said going back to the area he was in leaving you shocked and outta breath ready to go home and shower thinking about how sore your going to be “maybe i should call out of work. I’m gonna have jelly legs.” you say groaning in annoyance.

the next couple of days of this new found routine helped you out a lot despite you coming home sore the first few days, you looked and felt better and noticed results faster than normal so one day after you and bakugou had finished the gym session you wanted to thank him, so as you both were walking out to leave and go your separate ways you stopped him “hey uhm i actually have something for you as a thank you gift but it’s in my car, would you mind if i go get it really quick.” you say nervously “we can just walk to your car so you don’t have to walk all the way back here” he said, “okay” you say as you both walked to your car it was awkward but that’s how it was if you and him were working out, you make it to your car to unlock it and pull out the gift basket with pre-workouts and a thank you car and some other gym essentials, his face was shocked at the sight of it all he rolled his eyes “you know you didn’t have to do this.” he said looking at you holding the gift basket “i know but you don’t charge me for lessons and they’ve been helping so it’s the least i can do.” you say looking at him. “Whatever, thank you I guess.” he said, taking the basket. “See you tomorrow don’t be late” he said walking off with his gift in hand, which made you smile to see that hint of amusement on his face from the gift. just as you were about to drive off you get a text from him saying “let’s go out to eat this weekend so i can tell you what you can eat for the the best results” he said which made you squeal like a little girl “okay sounds cool” you text back trying to be nonchalant but we’re really freaking out in real life excited for your little “date” with the cute boy from the gym.

a/n- thank you meeya for looking over it 😞🤞🏼, also ty darhina for requesting this? i rlly enjoyed writing it!!

[laswells-ashtray]

Your writings are so good that I’m entrusting you with this simple prompt: Dragon Hybrid Price and (Any Hybrid) Nikolai.

Do what you will dear wizard writer.

For the sheer sake of you never implied how silly I could get with this, I'm sillying it up:

Bear hybrid Nikolai [because it's too fucking good] and dragon hybrid Price standing about one day, the two sergeants and the lieutenant are training together while the older two men watch. They're on someone else's base, a hybrid-less base but they're making do with what the have.

John's leaning back against the wall, wings pressed up against the brick in a way that has to be uncomfortable or at least that's what everyone assumes. He's rubbing at the base of one of his horns as if trying to soothe a headache and he looks quite frankly exhausted when another Captain appraoches.

John decides that in comparison to this man, he looks like Marilyn fucking Monroe.

"Captain Givens, you look about as good as I feel." John is at least trying to keep a good relationship with the other team even if they have a habit of pissing off each of them.

"Too fuckin' right. Just got off the phone with the Missus and had to help her convince my little boy not to shove his Batman figure up his nose. It's exhausting." The man complains, running a hand over his face tiredly.

John makes a sympathetic noise but doesn't hide his amused look. "Oh, I'm all too familiar with that feeling." The other day he'd had to convince a group of rookies that Soap is indeed a liar and that oil paint is in fact not edible just because it has oil in the name.

"You have kids?"

"Yes." John should've been smarter than to think that Nikolai's silence was a good thing, he doesn't get a chance to correct the bear hybrid before the other Captain asks:

"How many?"

"Three." Nikolai tells him while watching the boys train in the distance.

For a brief moment, John wants to tug on one of his fluffy ears and tell him to quit it. On the other hand, fuck it, why not?

"Yeah, three over there are mine. Different mums but I was a bit of a tart back in the day." He's reliant on the fact the human knows nothing about hybrids, specifically dragon hybrids for it to work. It's no secret that dragon hybrids can live a lot longer than the average human if they're careful about it but to those types of hybrids, John is still a toddler, horns still in one piece with wings that are still vibrant and healthy.

He can see the amusement in Nik's big brown eyes, he likes it when John sinks down to his level of teasing humans. The only one exempt was Kate, they respected her too much and she wasn't an idiot, she'd never believe half of the stupid shit they've all told people throughout the years. Besides, Kate is family. She has five hybrids protecting her back and the average CIA agent is still more scared of her.

"Riley, MacTavish and Garrick? They're yours?" The human asks in disbelief. Simon was going to kill him for this later, Kyle and Johnny would inevitably laugh themselves hoarse.

"Aye. Didn't find out about Riley until he was a teenager and his Mum got in contact. Looks fuck all like me but he's certainly mine. Lad certainly wasn't a chipper wee thing but I managed to win him over, SAS was his choice, I just put him on the task force because I owed it to his Mum to keep an eye out." He's talking out of his arse now and he knows it but the captain seems to be hanging on his every word. Nikolai is making the conscious decision to look away from him but he can see the faint shaking of the bastard's shoulders, he's laughing.

"MacTavish was from an eventful night up in Glasgow one evening, we didn't know if he was mine or Nik's until we saw the little blighter's eyes."

Good on Nik for how quickly he sorts himself, turning around and nodding approvingly. "Ah, but young MacTavish has always favoured me. Would've been a good bear cub, very grizzly."

The captain looks over to the three men training with wide eyes, tilting his head as he stares at them all, surveying them before he looks back to John.

"And Garrick is yours too?"

Kyle had been ripping on him for being old earlier so maybe he plays it up just that little bit more.

He nods, looking over at Gaz with the most proud look he can muster, it's real but he can pretend it isn't just for the bit. "He was an angel when he was a tot, good sleeper and learned to talk quick. Was always a little grumpy that he didn't have horns too but he got over it eventually. Got him a blanket with a dragon on it when he was two and he didn't get rid of the thing until he was fifteen. Big Mumma's boy though, spitting image of his mother and more than proud of it."

It almost saddens him that the interaction ends when a sergeant whose name he can't remember calls over the captain about something but the sound of Nik's deep, gruff laughter is anything to soothe his short-lived annoyance.

Truthfully, he forgets about the entire interaction within a few hours until Soap barges into his temporary room on the base with a positively gleeful look.

"Price, I don't know what the fuck you did but Gaz is due to kick yer heed in."

"Excuse me?"

"Givens won't stop asking him about his dragon blankie."

Shit.

"And what's this about you and Nik playing who's the daddy when I was born?"

Shit.

[burst-of-iridescent]

I hate when people say(*writers*) when zuko is an emo bad boy. When zuko acts "emo" and "badboy" as they say it's him reacting to his trauma and abuse as a kid(most of time. Zuko is still badass. But badboy no). Is it an excuse? No. But when zuko is acting that way in canon, his obsession with honor, his yelling, his moodiness, his short temper. That is the product of having his empathy literally beaten/burned out of him by his father(and mocked and emotionally abused by Azula). The reason Zuko is doing this whole thing is because he wants to please his father. Become someone he's not. His struggle of who his father wants to be with who he is. It's because of the abuse of his father and his family. As the series goes on you get more and more flashes of the person Zuko was and the person he can become. By the end of the series it's such a great contrast and Zuko is much more happier because he's with the gaang. His family. He got out of that abusive situation he was in and finally became himself. A dorky, empathetic, caring, skilled swords men, a balanced person. Does he still have moments of anger? Yes. But over all Zuko becomes a fully balanced person.

gasp! but if we don't call zuko a bad boy, however will we make sure people don't get any ideas about shipping him with katara?

jokes aside, you're absolutely right and i roll my eyes so hard when people point to bad things zuko did, or his behaviour pre-redemption as indisputable proof of the kind of person he'd be post-redemption. like you said, a lot of zuko's actions and mannerisms before day of black sun is a direct result of the trauma he suffered, and though that doesn't excuse him - and neither does the show allow it to - discounting it entirely is to erase the abuse zuko endured and how that shaped him.

using the first half of book 3 as evidence of zuko being a supposed bad boy irks me in particular because a) the narrative makes it pretty clear that this is zuko as the worst version of himself, the opposite of everything he actually is and could be, and b) he is stuck in an abusive household at the mercy of his abusers, in an actively life-threatening situation.

zuko knows that he is in a situation where he has no real agency, freedom or control. he knows that aang is alive, that azula has turned him into a scapegoat and that his life will be forfeit if his father finds out the truth. that is an incredibly terrifying and stressful situation to be put in and it's worsened by the fact that he can't even admit it - not just because doing so would mean accepting that he gave up everything that actually mattered in the catacombs to gain nothing in return, but also because no one around him will allow him to do so.

his girlfriend can't understand his experiences or his turmoil and doesn't seem to particularly want to, brushing off his anxieties and encouraging him to stay the course. he is manipulated by his father and gaslighted by his sister, aware deep down that he is entirely under their control and that they have a vested interest in keeping him helpless, yet forced to pretend as though nothing is wrong. he is isolated from the one person who could help - his uncle - physically and emotionally, both because visiting iroh puts zuko in danger, and because zuko's choices have created a rift in their relationship.

all of this compounds the psychological stress zuko is experiencing, forcing him into a constant state of fight-or-flight, and this context is vital to understanding many of the decisions he makes and how he behaves in the first half of book 3.

(this is why i don't agree with the take that hiring combustion man is an ooc moment for zuko because even though i think the idea of combustion man himself is stupid - not to mention disrespectful to the hindu origins it's pulling from - it's a fundamentally desperate move, and zuko at this point is more desperate than he's ever been.)

that's why it's unlikely that zuko post-redemption would behave similarly since many of the factors that contributed to his anger, hostility and moodiness would no longer exist! judging zuko's future behaviour based on a time when he was constantly abused, gaslighted and threatened is just not an accurate or fair means of measurement, especially since we know what he's like at his best. the zuko we see with the gaang still has a bit of a short fuse, sure, but he's also sincere, honest, awkward, shy and far happier than he's ever been. because shocker, people tend not to act the same way in healthy, supportive environments as they do in abusive, traumatic ones. who would've thought?

people who make this argument also usually tend to compare zuko to aang, especially to glorify how aang remains cheerful and peaceful despite his trauma, and... no. just no. first of all, the show barely gives a fuck about developing aang's trauma the way it does zuko's so of course it seems to affect him less, and secondly, there's something to be said about how trauma responses like aang's are a lot more palatable and comfortable for audiences than responses like zuko's, or even katara's in the southern raiders.

anger or moodiness, or wanting to punish the people who hurt you, are not inherently wrong ways to react when you've been wronged and traumatized. praising aang for remaining cheerful and forgiving while calling zuko a bad boy for being angry and moody implies a sense of moral superiority that comes with reacting to trauma in the "right" way, which is both inaccurate and insensitive.

zuko will never be aang, and that's fine. he doesn't have to be. he ends the show reclaiming everything his abusers tried to take from him, having found himself and his destiny, in a place of healing that is all his own. that is an incredibly meaningful and powerful narrative, and the last thing zuko deserves is to have all of his complexity and development stripped just to be reduced to the tired trope of a "bad boy" when he was never one in the first place.

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

Every Episode of Miraculous Ladybug Season 5 Ranked (Part 2)

Part 1

(This site's stupid 30 images per post forced me to do this, so thanks for nothing, Tumblr)

#14: Transmission

I swear, I'm not doing these on purpose. This is just how I've been ranking the episodes.

Like I said in the last part, this episode just did not need to happen. The first half is cheap melodrama between Marinette and Adrien and the second half is a run of the mill Akuma fight with two different heroes. This is the story that seriously warranted two parts this season?

I just can't stand the fact that Marinette and Adrien gave up their Miraculous so easily here. Maybe if it was Season 2, Season 3 at the latest, I'd buy it, but near the middle of Season 5? They honestly view their love lives as more important than the battle with Monarch. If it was anything else like the stress or physical danger, I'd also be understanding, but Tikki and Plagg decide that Marinette and Adrien are so miserable that they need to be happy by losing their Miraculous without a fight. Remember, this was just two episodes after “Reunion”, which showed Joan of Arc was a Miraculous holder. So fighting in the Hundred Years' War didn't get so much as an ounce of concern from Tikki, but teenage angst is too much for her little heart to bear?

Maybe it's the benefit of knowing this won't be permanent, but the issue I have is how much the show draws this out for so long, as if the audience is supposed to buy it. “It's really happening, guys! Ladybug and Cat Noir won't be the stars anymore, we swear!” This kind of plot can work under the right circumstances. All you needed to do is at the very least, make it something they choose to do instead of their Kwamis taking their Miraculous away so we can see them weigh the benefits of giving up life as a superhero in ways that aren't exclusively about their love lives. I'd even buy it if it's something Ladybug and Cat Noir actually agreed on before quitting.

While I can sort of get Alya becoming Scarabella due to her experience with the Ladybug (even if she chose to give up using any Miraculous at the end of Season 4), Zoe getting the Cat just feels like the writers put a bunch of names in a hat and picked hers. The two just don't have as compelling a dynamic as Ladybug and Cat Noir do, because they don't get a lot of time to know each other. Alya and Zoe have almost never interact with each other, so the masks don't really shake up their relationship, because there's no relationship to speak of.

Also, the Akuma here was really forced. We know nothing about this new character while the show acts like we're supposed to know who he is based on some minor hints with Nora calling earlier. While I will give the show credit for arguably giving us the most powerful Akuma of all time due to being both a man and a bear, he's as forgettable as a villain as Kitty Noire is as a hero.

Just about nobody here comes out smelling like roses in this episode. The Kwamis are morons for caring about one ship becoming canon, Marinette and Adrien are selfish cowards for giving up their Miraculous with little hesitation, their friends are ignorant buffoons for thinking some random attempt to get Marinette and Adrien to talk will somehow seal the deal, and Alya and Zoe are idiots for not thinking that they should take off the shiny ring that tracks their every movement. It's a terrible episode, and the only reason why “Deflagration” is ranked higher is because it didn't irritate me as much as this one did.

#15: Determination

And now we're onto the really bad episodes this season.

This episode is pretty much what you've come to expect by Season 5. People keep forcing Marinette into situations she's clearly uncomfortable, and we're supposed to just laugh at her anxiety, because we still have eight episodes to go before the show decides to take her mental health seriously.

What makes this episode really sting for me is that it's Luka and Kagami that are forcing Marinette into these unfunny antics this time. For the most part, they never really stooped to this level and didn't try to force anything with their respective love interests until they had trouble in their relationships that required them to communicate. But now, even though one knows Marinette and Adrien are superheroes while the other is usually very blunt with her feelings (at least, before she became this season's next victim), they're going to try forcing Marinette and Adrien to spend time together even they both know they have feelings for each other and MY GOD, THIS IS SO STUPID! It's just a cheap excuse for more pointless shenanigans that stopped being funny years ago.

Yet somehow, that's not the worst of the Love Square drama this episode. It's here where we learn that Adrien fell in love with Marinette over a season ago, during a scene where she violated his personal space. In addition, Adrien somehow showed no signs of attraction to Marinette until the plot demanded it, and came right after another episode showing him falling for her. Why not make it the fake confession Marinette practiced with Cat Noir in “Glaciator 2”? The kiss Marinette gave Adrien at the end of “Heroes' Day”? I'd even take another umbrella scene callback like in “Mr. Pigeon 72”. But no, it's the statue scene that the writers decided on. It's like they noticed all the criticism Marinette got in that episode and were like “Joke's on you! Adrien actually liked being lusted over like an object!”.

And then the masks come on and make things even more convoluted. Adrien at least got to reflect on the events of a previous episode to explain his new feelings for Marinette, but what caused Ladybug to suddenly fall for Cat Noir after four seasons?

The writers don't even bother with an explanation for this. Ladybug spontaneously becomes attracted to Cat Noir with absolutely no foreshadowing, buildup, or even callbacks to earlier episodes. The writers either wanted to complicate things one last time before Adrienette became canon, they wanted to bury the Ladynoir conflict arc from last season in the sand, or the most likely option, a combination of both.

The idea of the public turning on Ladybug was an interesting one to take, seeing how she's been universally beloved for the past four seasons. But despite hinting at it in “Multiplication”, this is the farthest is goes, and even then, guess who's behind it? You can't keep raising points against the main characters if it's only Chloe who does it. It doesn't open debate on the story and essentially tells the audience that they're wrong to agree with her, no matter what kind of point she makes.

As dumb as the way it happened was, Ladybug still screwed up and endangered the city by losing the other Miraculous, but we can't actually challenge children by acknowledging that the hero actually did something wrong and needs to grow as a person. We need to use a recurring character as a strawman to tell the audience that only bad people think this way! Way to remove any interesting internal conflict, writers.

The Akuma was pretty weak, just being an older Puppeteer, down to using wax statues like what happened in “Puppeteer 2”. The army of wax heroes could have been interesting, but there wasn't enough time to do much with the idea. The one thing I liked was how the Ox Miraculous' Resistance was used. It felt like an upgrade instead of a core power Manipula got.

This episode pretty much set the stage for a new level of frustrating Love Square drama this season, and it was one of the season's first outright awful episodes.

#16: Conformation

The only reason this episode isn't at the bottom is because the rest of the ones on this list are far worse by comparison. Make of that what you will.

Like most season finales, this one continues the tradition of being better at buildup than actual execution. Gabriel's plan is pretty decent, even if it's just Heroes Day on a global scale. He utilizes his public influence and business skills to plan out a plan to get almost all of humanity working for him. While I don't like the Miraculized, I still think Gabriel being on top works here, especially since he's not going out into the field like the last three finales.

But other than an okay evil plan, this episode is still pretty bad. Marinette being infected with nightmare dust only happens to get her to the Agreste manor because the writers forgot that Marinette learned Gabriel was Monarch last episode. It could have been a decent way to up the stakes by showing Ladybug not being at 100%, but like everyone else, she just fights off the nightmare dust and doesn't have a single problem during her fight with Monarch. In general, the nightmare dust isn't really utilized well, only being an excuse to bring out the Miraculized. It doesn't impact everyone fighting off the Miraculized, and there's no lesson or theme about fear that's conveyed here.

Speaking of nightmare dust, I'm pretty sure the only reason why it was introduced in the first place was to bench Adrien, which is still easily one of the dumbest decisions the show has ever made. While everyone else had no problem resisting the nightmare dust, Adrien is just physically incapable of doing so because of some half-assed character arc the show pretended happened. So either Adrien got a more potent dosage of the nightmare dust, or Adrien's just too weak to actually overcome his fears. “Sandboy”? Never heard of it! The fact that the writers also tried to claim they were being subversive with fairy tale tropes and cliches didn't help, since it devalues Adrien as a character even further. He's not a superhero and Ladybug's closest ally. He's just some damsel in distress who needs to be saved. Let me just remind you, if the genders were reversed, this would not be seen as some bold move, but the same overused cliche trying to be something new.

I already talked about my problems with Nathalie in “Passion”, and the stuff she does here isn't really different. Despite enabling Gabriel for five seasons, the episode has the balls to act like Nathalie always had morals and is appalled by Gabriel planning to sacrifice someone to save his wife. Just remember, “Passion” established that Nathalie had a history as a treasure hunter, so this is like Indiana Jones not knowing what the Holy Grail does. Nathalie only got dumber than in “Passion” because she somehow thought she could take on a supervillain with nothing but a crossbow and a body that already has one foot in the grave. And just like Felix, Nathalie can't even apologize to Ladybug for the aiding and abetting a terrorist thing. Between Nathalie, Felix, and Gabriel, does using the Peacock Miraculous just make you an idiot?

While the buildup is decent, it's just not enough to really get audiences excited for the second part.

#17: Representation

This episode is yet another example of the show's double standards.

Without going into detail too much, this episode came right after “Revolution”, the one that essentially portrayed Audrey taking control of Chloe's life as a karmic punishment. What happens in this episode? We learn Felix's father literally took control of his life and it's portrayed as wrong as child abuse should be. That's why this episode is still better than “Revolution”. It at the very least understands how serious child abuse is, and tries to tell Felix's story with as much dignity as two teenagers in white onesies can have.

With that being said, there's a reason why this episode is as low as it is. The Sentimonster play used to tell Marinette about Felix is just so stupid. The sets and costumes look ridiculous, it's hard to take the story seriously with Felix and Kagami doing all the voices, and most of it is unnecessary since the whole point is to tell Marinette that Gabriel is Monarch... something that the writers decided she needed to find out on her own in the next episode. It comes across less like Felix trying to alert Ladybug to who Monarch really is and more like he's just trying to justify his own actions. Hell, the actual reason he decided to tell Marinette about Gabriel was because he and Kagami were worried about their own relationship being ruined by him. And yet somehow, Ladybug lets him on the team at the end of the season.

The stuff with Adrien was also pretty dumb. It's cheap fanservice that reminds the audience of Cat Blanc when none of the characters should know who Cat Blanc is. You can call him Anticat all you want, but everyone can see that he's just Cat Blanc with blue hair. It's bad enough that this was what all the times Cat Noir almost Cataclysming people this season was meant to lead up to, but this is pretty much the reason why Adrien is benched during the finale.

This episode really shows how desperate the writers are to make people take this show seriously by showing serious topics like genocide and child abuse, as if the show didn't already ignore the horrible implications previous episodes (like the very last one before this) raised and will continue to raise during the season finale. So much of the episode is just dark for the sake of being dark. It's nothing too horrifying for children, of course, but the issue is how obvious it is that the writers are trying to raise the stakes right before the season finale and show how mature the show's writing is. For lack of a better term, it's this show's equivalent to “Ow The Edge”.

#18: Revelation

Get ready for the episode where the writers abandon all attempts to be subtle and create an episode specifically to attack people who think Chloe isn't the most evil character on the show. Because how dare they be optimistic and try to see the good in people! What do they think this is, a kids' show?

While a big problem with the Lila episodes was how stupid the class is, this episode made it so Marinette got to join in on losing brain cells too. Despite outright admitting to neglecting her duties as class representative (as absurd as it is to be in charge of notifying teachers about student progress they should be aware of), we're supposed to agree with her for not telling her teacher about Chloe cheating. Not only does this make no sense since you'd think Marinette would want to see Chloe get punished, but her claiming that all Chloe does is abuse her privileges loses any point to it because Marinette admitted to not doing her job as class representative, making her just as lazy as Chloe and unintentionally helping her through not telling the teachers. And that's not even getting into how many times Marinette has broken the secret identity rule despite also being the one to enforce it the most as the Guardian.

If the episode at least admitted to Marinette having personal issues that prevented her from displaying any form of professionalism towards Chloe (especially since this episode takes place after “Derision”), that'd be fine. Sometimes, people just can't let bygones be bygones and let their emotions dictate how they handle things. If she willingly resigned from her position by admitting she was just as at fault for Chloe getting as far as she did with her cheating, that would have worked. Instead, the episode does the same things it did with Adrien for the last few seasons: Go out of its way to vindicate Marinette's complaining and never even consider the idea of her being wrong in the slightest.

It's also hilarious to see Ms. Bustier act like an actual teacher for once and plan to work with Chloe to help make up her missed work, but portray it as a bad thing because in Marinette's eyes, that's not a punishment. Since the school year is almost over, Chloe will have to attend summer school at best and be held back or even expelled at worst. How the hell does that not count as a punishment, Marinette?

And don't forget how she gets not one, but two separate scenes insulting people for being idealistic and not wanting to write off people as beyond saving, the second one being copied from Astruc's Twittter.

And remember, this was right before a string of episodes where characters were able to change their ways, including Sabrina (Chloe's accomplice), Andre (Chloe's enabler), and Gabriel (Chloe's supervillain contact). How the hell is Chloe the only one being written off as irredeemable when she didn't pull off any of her evil plans without help? You can still punish Chloe. All I want is for the other characters to be punished as well.

But let's talk about the main event for this episode: Lila. In one of the most confusing “twists” in the show's history, she's now an identity thief who lives with three different mothers. Why? Because the writers have no idea how to hype people up for her being the main villain for Season 6, so they think just making her mysterious for the sake of making her mysterious is enough to build her up as a villain. It's like the writers realized Lila had absolutely zero resources of her own, so they felt like they needed to establish her as an evil genius to compensate. “Who cares if there's no logical explanation for how she's gotten as far as she has despite constantly boasting about her celebrity connections in public? We have to make her vague and mysterious, damn it! It worked for Judas Traveller and Kaine, didn't it?”

This episode takes multiple shots at fans and tries to make Lila seem more compelling than she actually is. It feels more like damage control than an actual plot-relevant episode.

#19: Illusion

Want to see the main characters acting like idiots for almost a half-hour? No? Too bad!

So much of this episode's conflict, the characters trying to investigate a possible lead related to Monarch, comes from everyone making stupid decisions. Nino tries to get one of the most influencial men in Paris akumatized, talks about it in public, falls for his trick, and lets him into his secret alliance. This season really cemented his role as the Zapp Brannigan of Miraculous Ladybug with how incompetent he is. If you really want to start portraying Nino as a tactical genius, maybe you should actually show him doing something smart instead of getting outsmarted by obvious tricks.

Of course, the other characters aren't immune to Nino's stupidity either. Marinette, Adrien, and Alya just go along with his asinine plan to get Gabriel akumatized, never question his logic, and ultimately still go along with the Resistance despite how obnoxious their leader is. The worst part is Ladybug not recognizing her own partner being stung by Venom... when they're fighting someone with access to over a dozen Miraculous. I know Cat Noir was born with glass bones and paper skin, but I don't think he literally freezes in terror when he's scared. And of course, Ladybug never questions the tiny invisible men who stunned Cat Noir after this scene.

The cafeteria scene is something that should really be cited as an example of how terrible this show is with acknowledging continuity. You thought there would be some compelling drama discussing the secret identity rule and all the double standards it has? NOPE! It's a funny joke about how confusing the identity stuff is at this point. The fact that Nino somehow doesn't understand the concept of secret identities in this scene is yet another reason as to why he isn't even qualified to lead an anime club, much less a resistance against Monarch.

The idea of Monarch using an illusion to fight Ladybug and Cat Noir was an interesting one, but it still had some holes. For one thing, what if the two heroes can't dodge one of the illusion Collector's attacks? What if they're fast enough to try tying him up, only to dispel the illusion? The entire plan pretty much relies on the fact that Ladybug and Cat Noir are too slow to catch the Collector.

But one scene that has only become more questionable after the finale is Ladybug trying to reach through to the illusion Collector. Like several episodes this season, it comes across like the show is spitting on idealism and wanting to solve problems peacefully because Monarch tricked Ladybug into believing he willingly rejected an Akuma. Remember kids, if someone says they want to change, it's really a trick as part of an evil supervillain's plan to maintain his secret identity.

This episode is like a microcosm of everything wrong with Season 5. Poor morals, characters acting like idiots, shooting down any potential for plot development, and being told characters are right when their actions say otherwise.

#20: Confrontation

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the episode where the writers just gave up.

There is just so much that happens in this episode that the writers cram in. There's Marinette's “final” confrontation with Lila, the battle with Reflekta, Sabrina's redemption, Juleka's character development, Ms. Bustier's character development, Mr. Damocles' character development, and the reveal of Lila's true nature. I don't think I need to tell you that the writers struggle to make all of these plot threads work in less than a half-hour.

First off, Marinette and Lila. The previous episode implied that Marinette let Lila have this short-term victory because she had her own plan to expose her. This episode puts that plan into action. See, she has the genius idea of going along with submitting school application forms to Lila and Chloe with no actual countermeasure in place, waiting for Sabrina to have a sudden change of heart so they can work together to expose Lila and Chloe through a bathroom peephole. This is the kind of tactical intelligence that will be studied in the history books, let me tell you. There's just no weight to Marinette and Lila's final battle of wits because there isn't any. There's no series of gambits or scenarios that actually pit their minds against each other, so you don't get a lot of satisfaction from Marinette's triumph over Lila. It doesn't help that there's more focus on Sabrina than on Marinette, but I'll get to that later. Even the actual payoff is anti-climactic. Most of the class' apology to Marinette was deleted because Mr. Damocles using a Magical Charm shield was just too important to leave on the cutting room floor according to the writers.

This episode really shows just how Marinette's classmates are like NPCs in the Lila-centric stories. They don't second guess Lila's accusations due to their past experiences with Marinette, and as soon as Marinette's name is cleared, they instantly apologize to her and don't even think about how easily they were fooled by Lila and Chloe. The worst example is Alya, Marinette's confidant and someone who was trusted to temporarily use the Ladybug Miraculous last episode, falling for this and not trusting Marinette. My sister in Christ, your friend goes out and saves lives on a weekly basis at least. How can you fall for Lila's story? This is why I think the Lila episodes should have all been set pre-Season 4, so Alya falling for Lila's lies is a little more believable since she isn't already in on Marinette's biggest secret.

I also have to roll my eyes at how melodramatic the talk about everyone's “futures” is. Yes, I don't know a lot about the French education system (If there's anything I'm getting wrong here, don't hesitate to let me know), but I don't get why they're treating their high school choices like such a big deal. Maybe if it was college, I'd get it, but high school? Why can't you just transfer if it doesn't work out? But then again, this is the same show created by a man who thinks school uniforms are a sign of fascism.

THIS IS WHAT THOMAS ASTRUC ACTUALLY BELIEVES.

Speaking of futures, this episode also showed just how little the writers cared about Adrien at this point, with how a supposedly heartwaming moment is him having no plan in life other than Marinette. I know this might seem weird given my problem with him last season was his refusal to think about anyone but himself, but there's a difference between wanting someone to follow orders without complaining and giving them absolutely no motivation outside of their significant other. And once again, if you swap the genders, this becomes sexist as hell.

But the big problem comes in the form of how the side characters are utilized. I don't know why the writers decided to focus on developing characters like Sabrina, Juleka, Ms. Bustier, and Mr. Damocles with five episodes left in the season. This should have been done in earlier episodes, not in the middle of a major story arc. I'm just left not caring about the development because it takes away from the conflict between Marinette and Lila, to say nothing about how little Adrien and Alya contribute to the story.

To me, this episode feels like the writers had no idea how to make Marinette outsmarting Lila into an episode, so they crammed in all these half-assed character arcs to pad out the runtime. While “Revelation” personally upset me more, I personally think this is the worse episode of the two from a writing standpoint.

#21: Revolution

Given how often I've criticized the way Chloe has been handled over the years, I bet you're surprised that this one isn't at the bottom of the list. You'll be even more surprised to learn that I think Chloe is one of this episode's saving graces.

This episode (along with “Derision”) provide an example of the Chloe we should have gotten ever since Season 3 ended: A villain who's allowed to be a threat while still being funny. So much of the past two seasons have done nothing but portray Chloe as nothing but an incompetent joke, but here, near the end of the season, she's in a position of power and is taken seriously. The episode does a good job showing how tyrannical Chloe's rule as Mayor is while still making it funny and in-character for her. She uses her power on frivolous things because she's a teenage girl who doesn't understand the complicated issues that come with politics. It's also why her idea of punishment involves detention, because it's something she's more familiar with as someone in middle school. Of course, even the episode all about Chloe ruling Paris with an iron fist isn't stupid enough to actually let Chloe be a compelling antagonist. No, we need to constantly remind the audience that Chloe is being played, as if we're supposed to see her as nothing more than a pawn even though the show still wants us to see her as an irredeemable monster.

Putting aside that one speck of something interesting, this episode is still incredibly bad. So much of the story is dependent not on how smart the villains' plan is, but rather, how lazy the heroes are. Not only is there not a single moment where Ladybug and Cat Noir acknowledge that the whole reason why Chloe was able to take over as Mayor was their fault, they act as if Chloe abusing her power to make everyone's life a living hell isn't enough of a reason to stop her. What kind of Prime Directive bullshit is this? YOU JUST HELPED SOMEONE LEAD AN INSURRECTION AGAINST A POWERLESS CIVILIAN! HOW IS THIS ANY DIFFERENT?! If there was at least something involving Ladybug and Cat Noir taking responsibility for what happened or at least showing that they played a part in this (especially since they “grow up” in this episode), I'd get it. Instead, because this is Season 5, our heroes are perfection incarnate, and can't ever be wrong. Even when they finally decide to get off their asses and stop Chloe, they didn't know she was akumatized, and nobody seemed to care before Chloe blurted it out, so Ladybug and Cat Noir have no excuses for slacking off.

The final battle is just a joke. Not only is it another excuse to force the Resistance into the plot, it shows Ladybug and Cat Noir unlocking the full power of their Miraculous in the most anti-climactic way possible. Even though they spent most of the episode caring more about their personal lives than actually stopping the obvious threat, somehow, this means they “grew up”. There's no buildup, no explanation, and no catharsis gained from this achievement. All of a sudden, Ladybug and Cat Noir are adults now. There's one decent scene with Adrien, but that's far from an actual explanation. What, did you actually expect an explanation for something this huge? Too bad! We need to have Marinette tell Chloe she's not afraid of her anymore even though she was never afraid of her prior to this season. Of all the things that happened this season, this is the one that makes it clear that Season 5 was supposed to be the end. There is no way Season 6 can happen unless the writers come up with some crap that undoes this, because Ladybug and Cat Noir have essentially unlocked god mode.

But I saved the worst for last, and you all know what it is: Chloe's punishment. I still can't get over the fact that there's actually a scene heavily implying we're supposed to be happy Chloe is going to live with her emotionally abusive mother in the same season that's trying to tell a serious story about child abuse. There's already been so much said about all the horrible things this implies, so I'm going to try and bring up something else. Specifically, how everyone is just okay with this. I can buy Ladybug given all the things Chloe has done to her, but it's pretty odd that Cat Noir, Andre, and Zoe all decide to wash their hands of their association with Chloe as if they never knew her. They don't even feel bad that it had to come to this, and feel absolutely no sympathy for her. Remember in episodes like “Malediktator” and “Queen Banana” that showed Adrien and Zoe still cared for Chloe despite all the terrible things she's done, teaching kids a lesson about trying to show compassion to your enemies? The writers sure didn't, because Adrien and Zoe don't get to say a thing about Chloe after she's defeated. Way to establish connections between characters and do nothing with them, writers!

This episode had so many things wrong with it, and it only got worse the longer it went on, to the point where the ending is essentially condoning child abuse. It's disgusting, but at the very least, it means we're not going to have to deal with Chloe in Season 6.

.....

#22: Adoration

This is one of those episodes I honestly didn't think would hate as much as I did.

I think of all the episodes this season, this is the one that shows how frustratingly inconsistent the characterization is. Characters will either announce how much someone has changed or will take a complete 180 while the show makes it clear this is how things have always been. Not only does the show say Zoe has somehow changed and suddenly developed feelings for Marinette, but Chloe's view of Sabrina has gotten even lower, to the point where she calls her an underling to her face. Because actually showing character development and changing interpersonal relationships is too hard for these writers. It's like that rule everyone knows: Tell, don't show. That's how it goes, right?

Before anyone gets on my case about this, I'm not trying to say that Zoe having a crush on Marinette was a bad idea. The issue is more how it comes across like the show is trying to earn brownie points with LGBT+ audiences with the reveal. The issue is that this major revelation isn't about Zoe, but rather, Marinette. It's from a Marinette-focused episode all about her heterosexual feelings for Adrien while Zoe's coming out story is nothing more than a cautionary tale to get Marinette to finally try kissing Adrien. I'm not saying Marinette should have dumped Adrien to be with Zoe. The point I'm trying to make is if you want to show something as huge as a character coming out as sapphic, maybe put more focus on that character's struggles than the struggles the straight main character goes through. Maybe instead of being an afterthought in the story, make the episode about Marinette helping Zoe confess her feelings to a girl she likes.

This was also the episode that laid the groundwork for Andre and Sabrina's “redemption arcs”. Normally, I wouldn't mind something like them changing, but it's less to show a character becoming a better person and more to vilify a different character. Andre went from a corrupt politician who abuses his power to please his daughter to an honest politician who is forced to abuse his power to please his daughter. Sabrina went from Chloe's loyal friend who chooses to help her make people miserable to Chloe's underling who is being forced to help make people miserable. Both of them were perfectly willing to go along with Chloe's acts in the past, and as we saw in “Revolution”, being a pawn didn't excuse her from being punished, so by that logic, they shouldn't get a free pass either. It's also strange how this wasn't the episode where Andre and Sabrina officially cut ties with Chloe, considering they already had issues with them. There wasn't really a reason to wait if they already made their issues clear, especially Sabrina. Somehow framing Marinette here is okay but doing it a few episodes later is too much for her?

Also, Lila served no purpose in the episode. Just like in “Collusion” and “Revolution”, all she does is tell Chloe to do things she was perfectly capable of doing in earlier episodes. We're supposed to see her as a mastermind, but I don't get why she has to hold Chloe's hand here. Why can't Lila come up with her own plan or manipulate different people from behind the scenes? It only further highlights the double standards because while Sabrina being a lackey to Chloe earns her sympathy, Chloe being a lackey to Lila doesn't for some reason.

I am getting really tired of the whole “Nobody believes Marinette” formula that every Lila episode relies on (Chameleon, Ladybug, Risk, Revelation, Confrontation). It's the exact same story. Everyone who has known Marinette for the past four seasons suddenly loses all trust in her, only instead of instantly believing Lila, it's Chloe. CHLOE. This is worse than Lila, because she's at least in good graces with other people, but this is the same season that solidified the idea of nobody liking her at all. They seriously take her words at face value over Marinette, someone whose friends know has tormented her for a year at least (Derision)? Put aside how I feel about Chloe, this is a story that depends on trusting someone nobody has any reason to trust, and it makes no sense.

There are just so many minor issues in this episode that pile up enough to really piss me off. It's like a death by a thousand cuts.

#23: Collusion

I normally don't try to get political on this blog unless I absolutely have to, and talking about this episode is one of those occasions.

If you've been around since the early days of this blog, you'll remember that Astruc once compared Chloe to Donald Trump, and not too long after the January 6th attack on the Capitol Building at that.

Even before that thread, Astruc made a joke comparing Trump to Chloe less than a week after the attack.

Whether you agree with Astruc's views on Trump or not, the point is that he kept up with American politics and strongly opposes him. So anyway, let's get to the episode where the heroes let someone lead a small army to storm the mayor's office and force him to resign, which is totally different from what Trump did.

I cannot get over just how confusing this episode is. For a show created by someone who usually keeps up with American politics, this is such a tone-deaf episode. I get that the story is trying to lean into French history, and I'm not sure how far into production the crew was when the attack on the Capitol happened, but given how Astruc was aware of the drama, he and his team should have at least considered the implications this episode could raise. The problem with the discussion around January 6th is that the supporters see it in as righteous a light as Miss Sans-Culotte is. As far as they know, what happened wasn't a violent invasion of government property, but a peaceful demonstration. Sure, none of the talking balloons said “Hang Andre Bourgeois!”, but it still brings similar imagery to mind.

Something that also harms the French Revolution narrative is the fact that all of Miss Sans-Culotte's supporters are helping her against her will. Much like countless Akumas throughout the show's history (Darkblade, Kung Food, The Puppeteer, Princess Fragrance, Despair Bear, Befana, Zombizou, Malediktator, Gamer 2.0, Mr. Pigeon 72, Hack-San, Revelation, Confrontation), Miss Sans-Culotte brainwashes innocent civilians so they can help her cause. This goes against the idea that she's speaking for the people, because her victims don't have a say in this. She's not reenacting the French Revolution, she's reenacting Order 66!

Also, this is something I've neglected to discuss. Why make Miss Bustier pregnant at all, much less akumatize her while pregnant? Outside of her students telling Chloe not to make a scene because the stress caused from dealing that is bad for the baby, Ms. Bustier's pregnancy adds nothing to the story. Seriously, the story thinks Chloe annoying the class is more dangerous for Ms. Bustier's baby than Ms. Bustier herself running around and getting into fights with her baby inside. It could have made for some interesting drama where Ladybug and Cat Noir are hesitant to hurt a pregnant woman, even if she's been akumatized. While the writers do try to work around it by giving her minions to do the fighting (as much as it mucks up the themes of this episode), it still doesn't explain why she needed to be pregnant during this episode in the first place.

Putting aside how unlikable Miss Sans-Culotte is in this episode, you can't even enjoy seeing Andre getting kicked out of office because this is the same episode where the writers really want us to feel bad for him. Look at how sad the rich white politician is. Let's ignore the fact that he's a big part of the reason why Chloe is as bad as she is, has abused his power multiple times, and is all around the cause of his own problems. But even though this is a show that tries to take an anti-capitalist stance (which I'll get to more in “Emotion”), we're supposed to side with one of the biggest symbols of everything wrong with capitalism and political corruption. Even then, Andre is framed for corruption instead of the several instances he actually abused his power, as if they're trying to say he was never a corrupt man. He just loves his daughter. Is that too much to ask for? His daughter herself? Eh, who cares? You really need to support the rich white man. Are we sure this show was created by a liberal?

But the biggest issue is the moral. It's impossible to frame Miss Sans-Culotte storming the mayor's office as a peaceful protest because she's clearly inspired by one of the bloodiest and most violent revolutions in history. If she was supposed to be a violent warrior who needed to learn there was a better way, that would work, but instead, the show downplays how dangerous she is... when she has a guillotine blade for a weapon. You can't claim Miss Sans-Culotte is non-violently protesting Andre's administration when she brainwashes innocent civilians, storms into the building, and demands he resign without any question. Even taking all that into consideration, the moral ends up backfiring because forcing Andre out of office caused an even bigger problem with Chloe taking over, and the very next episode threw the non-violence message out the window.

Whether or not you want to consider the political implications here, this is still a terrible episode with a terrible moral.

#24: Pretension

I've always had issues with Felix, and after the trainwreck that was “Emotion”, let's just say this didn't exactly do anything to raise my opinion of him. Just like his other appearances for the last few seasons, he did absolutely nothing to help Ladybug, focused on only doing things that benefited him, and making everyone's lives worse due to his incompetence. And somehow, this idiot is the one who moves the plot along the most.

The entire conflict happened because Felix kidnapped Kagami without even coming up with a plan. Even when he believes that Kagami is a Sentimonster (I apologize for saying that word Felix hates, but once again, the show provides no alternative to it), he doesn't think of Tomoe being able to track her or command her to leave even at a far distance. He doesn't even try to explain himself to Ladybug and Cat Noir and spends more time running away from everyone who wants to kick his ass. But by the show's logic, he just needs friends, even though his entire deal is that he works alone to get what he wants.

It's bad enough that Felix has to screw up everything he touches, but now he's dragging Kagami to his level. Kagami has cemented her role as Felix's lackey/girlfriend and nothing more. People give Marinette crap for the way the behaves around Adrien in and out of universe, but Kagami knows nothing about Felix, yet a single conversation about his past is enough for her to fall head over heels in love with him. She went from someone not willing to take any bullcrap from Marinette and Adrien to believing Felix's story in a fraction of a heartbeat. This season really likes ruining the few likable characters the show has left.

I also have to roll my eyes at the conversation Marinette and Gabriel have about fashion. For one thing, it's one of the few times the entire season remembers that Marinette wants to be a fashion designer and doesn't really factor into her rivalry with Gabriel. This season made their conflict revolve around how to treat Adrien, not their views on fashion. It feels like they only brought it up to remind viewers that Marinette is still into fashion. Well, that, and also to take a stance on artistic integrity... supposedly.

And on that note, it's amazing how the writers display little to no self-awareness during this scene. The show that embraces sticking to the status quo and rejecting almost any attempt at keeping consistent continuity is now trying to teach children about the importance of being willing to take risks when creating something. This is like Hannibal Lecter trying to promote veganism. I get the message, but the messenger's history is keeping me from buying it. It doesn't help that for a scene trying to point out how outdated certain views are, the show ultimately chooses to take the side of the man with the “wrong” mindset by the end of the season.

The pancake metaphor really confuses me too. It's meant to be a running gag that the only thing Gabriel knows how to cook is pancakes, but A) Nothing is really indicated to show how terrible they are as a metaphor for how bad his outdated views are other than Marinette's verbal assessment of them, and B) We later learn Gabriel used to be poor, so either he never knew how to cook prior to earning his fortune or being rich somehow made him forget basic living skills. I'm just saying, when an episode of Sid the Science Kid manages to better convey someone doing a terrible job making pancakes, you might need to put in a little more effort to show how bad Gabriel's pancakes supposedly are.

Finally, Tomoe. This episode didn't really do much to show her as a compelling threat, given all she did was nag Gabriel and try to shoot her daughter when she didn't even try commanding her to fight back when she was kidnapped. She's nothing more than a female Gabriel and is another example of how overstuffed this show's cast is,

This episode is awful, plain and simple. It took aspects from previous episodes that were already questionable, and doubled down on them while acting like there weren't any problems at all.

#25: Derision

And now we're onto the really, REALLY bad episodes this season. One of the reasons why this post took so long to make was that I wasn't sure how to rank these last three episodes. Thankfully, I managed to find a way to rank them based on the morals are executed. With that being said, let's start scraping the bottom of the barrel.

Ah, “Derision”. You're the only episode that makes the backlash caused by “Chameleon” seem like a pleasant breeze. It's incredible to see just how much negative a reputation this episode has in the fandom. Virtually nobody likes it because it manages to upset everyone with its poor characterization. I'm talking Marinette fans, Adrien fans, Chloe fans, Kim fans, and pretty much every other character's fans. I've only seen a few die hard fans defend this episode, and they're the people on Tumblr who defend pretty much everything done this season.

I have just one question to ask about this episode: Why did it need to happen? We didn't learn anything new that we didn't know already. We know Chloe is mean, and we know Marinette used to be more timid and had no friends. We didn't even need that much of an explanation for why Marinette acts the way she does around Adrien, seeing how it was usually played for laughs

Speaking of which, let's talk about the fact that the episode tries to shame the audience for laughing at the jokes about Marinette's reactions to Adrien. You know, something that was the show's primary running gag ever since Season 1? A running gag the writers ran into the ground by the end of Season 3 but still chose to go with it? Now we're not supposed to have laughed at it, assuming we laughed at it all. Way to insult even the small portion of viewers who didn't get on your case about this, writers.

I only have about two positive things to say about this episode. For one thing, Chloe actually served as a pretty decent antagonist in the flashbacks. Much like in “Revolution”, when the writers actually let her be a villain on her own without being made a pawn, she can be somewhat entertaining. If this was the Chloe we got after Season 3, I don't I would have been as upset at the direction Astruc's team took with the character.

In addition, the thing that saves this episode from being at the bottom is that unlike the next two, it actually understands that what the antagonist did was wrong. They don't make up excuses for what Chloe did and she actually gets called out as a result. It doesn't lead to anything major, but it's something.

Like with “Queen Banana”, there's not much else I can say that hasn't already been said. There's plenty of retcons, the characterization for everyone is off, it attacks the audience, and the message about trauma got fumbled by the show's usual double standards. It's been said over and over again, and it's become a symbol of how much the show's quality has degraded.

#26: Emotion

I think if you've kept up with my reviews of this season, you should know by now that I don't exactly like Felix, and most of the problems I have with him can be attributed to this episode. In fact, for a while, this was going to be my choice for the bottom slot.

It's clear that the writers want to make Felix this wild card who's only in it for himself, but like most of the show's antagonists, they want to show Felix as this devious mastermind... but he's also not really evil, and you should feel bad for him. For most of the episode, Felix does nothing but make everyone's lives worse during his first outing as Argos. He smears his cousin's reputation yet again, tricks his girlfriend into dancing with him, condemns some rich kids for the crime of being rich when he's just as rich, and eventually wipes out all life on the face of the earth. But he's just doing it for his cousin, we swear!

While Felix has understandable motivations for what he does, wanting to free Adrien and Kagami, the way he tries to achieve his goal makes it hard to sympathize with him. If the whole point was that what he did was wrong and that he needs to find a different way, that could work. Instead, we're supposed to see him as this tragic figure who was forced to do terrible things when the episode shows him happily singing while causing chaos. It's the same problem with Gabriel, wanting a sympathetic character to do unapologetically evil things. The fact that he has to be told that genocide is bad doesn't make us want to sympathize with him when he breaks down crying. It paints a picture that he's crazy but the show wants to act like he isn't.

Even putting all the crap with Felix aside, the episode is still unbearable. The stuff with Marinette was poorly executed and was just done to get her involved in the plot, and later become the first one to excuse Felix for betraying her. Other than the dance scene, you could easily just have Marinette swing in as Ladybug when Argos starts his rampage and nothing would really change. The episode tries to make jokes about how unnecessary this is, but as usual, its attempts to be self-aware come across like its saying “What we're doing it wrong, we know it's wrong, but we're gonna do it anyway!”

Speaking of the dance scene, I can't stop rolling my eyes whenever Felix tries to be all “We live in a society” to Marinette. Forget the corrupt politicians, corporate moguls, human traffickers, and despotic rulers of foreign nations. The absolute worst section of humanity is composed of the teenage children of the 1%. Sure, you'd have to break my legs before I'd agree to supervise them at this party, but I don't get why these are the people we're supposed to see as irredeemable monsters. Do the writers think because these kids associate themselves with Chloe, we'll automatically hate them? Newsflash, but if I had to choose between hanging out with some annoying kids and a mass murderer, I'd stick with the annoying kids.

Rewatching this episode was what helped me finally realize just what my problem with the show's anti-capitalist message is. How the hell am I supposed to hate the villains on this show for being rich when several characters are rich or at the very least, are successful thanks to their connections to the rich? Think about it for a second. Putting aside Adrien and Kagami, you have Marinette, the daughter of two of the most popular bakers in Paris and earned the respect of multiple celebrities, Alya, the daughter of a chef who works at a five-star hotel, Nino, someone who got to DJ at a major fashion show, Rose, who is friends with a literal prince, Luka and Juleka, the children of a popular rock star, and Max, the son of an astronaut with access to cutting-edge technology. Somehow, these people are supposed to be poor? They make Monica from Friends look like Oscar the Grouch. It's why I can't take the message seriously. You can't write a story about a class struggle when both classes are shown to be pretty well-off.

The only thing that saves this episode from being at the bottom of the list is the fact that despite committing genocide while singing, Felix at least gets what he did was wrong and makes up for it. It doesn't fix everything else he did in this episode, but that's better than nothing. As for the villain featured in the episode that's at the bottom of this list? If you've been keeping track, I think you know who I mean.

#27: Re-Creation

I'll admit, I'm sort of cheating here. I'm judging this episode more as a finale than an individual episode, but I'm making an exception because the plot is tied to wrapping up all the loose ends this season.

I'm mentioning this because for a season finale, the stakes just feel so low. The fight between Bug Noire and Monarch doesn't have any weight to it because they've barely interacted at all for the last five seasons. These are supposed to be two mortal enemies, but you can't really buy the enmity between them. It ultimately cheapens the moment of Bug Noire triumphing over Monarch in the end... before Monarch triumphs over her not long afterwards, but we'll get to that.

The stuff with the Miraculized doesn't help either. We already know that the Ladybug and Cat Miraculous are in the Agreste manor, so the Miraculized's goal is impossible to achieve. It's never even explained why the Miraculized don't go back to the manor to help Monarch beat Bug Noire, since they should still be able to track the Miraculous. All of the fights with them just come across like filler, and there's no real sense of danger or hopelessness to be found. Whether the Miraculized win or lose is irrelevant. Nothing will happen either way because the important stuff is happening in the Agreste manor.

This extends to the part where all the heroes appear to help. It doesn't come across as an Avengers-esque moment for the climax, because it doesn't change anything. The episode never explains what any of these characters were doing prior to the events of this episode and why only now they're helping out. The United Heroes are the most egregious example because unlike Fei or Su-Han, they're a major organization whose members include the president, and they didn't do a damn thing when Monarch stole all of the other Miraculous. Speaking of, there is no way in hell that Su-Han taught Mirakung-Fu to three random people over Ladybug and Cat Noir, much less that those three people are actual masters after about two months at best. Maybe they got to train in Bunnix's Burrow? After all, she's not doing anything else to stop the end of the world other than sending four people over to Paris. This whole sequence really highlights how bland the other heroes of this universe are. If they're not slacking off when they're needed, they're criminally underdeveloped because there's a slim chance they'll get spin-offs to flesh them out.

But I think the biggest issue me and other people have with this finale is the resolution. In what is easily one of the most baffling decisions the show has made, Bug Noire doesn't defeat Monarch, and Monarch gets to make his wish. I don't care how many times the writers technically say she won because she beat him in a fight. Gabriel backstabbed her at the last minute and got her Miraculous to make his wish. Yeah, he died, but he succeed in achieving his goal, never faced any real consequences, didn't get any closure with his son (much less apologize for abusing him), told Marinette to lie about the monster he was to him, and was turned into a martyr with a statue made of the same things he used to control the world.

This ending infuriates me because it not only makes Marinette out to be a terrible hero for failing to do the one thing she was chosen to do (get the Butterfly Miraculous back), but it also ultimately makes Gabriel out to be a decent person even though he destroyed and recreated the world. All Marinette did was take credit for saving the world, and even then, Gabriel got more celebration in the end. Our hero, ladies and gentlemen! She got outsmarted by an abusive parent and didn't even get a new statue in her honor!

But the most damning thing of all this is the fact that this finale retroactively makes everything that's happened over the last five seasons completely pointless. If Gabriel making a wish wasn't as bad as it was supposed to be, why didn't Ladybug and Cat Noir let him borrow their Miraculous? Why make the stakes this high if you're going to downplay the impact of a madman recreating the world in his own image? Follow-up question: why make the stakes this high if the wish being made is ultimately shown to have huge benefits for society? In an attempt to wrap things up with a happy ending, the writers accidentally made the conflict completely meaningless.

That's why this resolution is the ultimate example of the writers refusing to allow any major changes to happen. If they're willing to treat the end of the universe as less important than Ms. Bustier becoming mayor, why should we assume they'll ever take their story seriously? For God's sake, every character you know and love is essentially dead, and we're supposed to act like that isn't a big deal? That's how you wanted to end the show originally? Then again, at least they tried to resolve something, unlike the Love Square. We still haven't gotten a reveal, and I don't think we ever will at this point. These writers will drag out the story until the show stops becoming profitable, which won't be for a long time.

And with that, I am officially done with Season 5. Honestly, after having to rewatch this season again, I'm not sure if it's even worth giving Season 6 a shot. There's nothing to look forward to, and Lila becoming the main villain isn't really appealing to me. At the very least, I have the movie review to look forward to, meaning I can watch something good for a change.

[marcmarcmomarc]

(I wanted to post this in the form of a video with GamingMagic13’s style of editing, but I don’t have the energy for that.)*

People say Chloé’s redeeming qualities only started to show through during Seasons 2 and 3 because Thomas had no involvement in the production of those two seasons as if he wasn’t on the writing team on every episode for those two seasons.

The consensus shouldn’t be, “Thomas went away so the other writers started a redemption arc which Thomas ruined when he came back”. It should be, “Thomas and the other writers spent two seasons tricking people into feeling bad for Chloé by revealing that she was more than just a one-dimensional mean girl, and then yanked the rug out from under them just for the sake of yanking the rug out from under people”.

Thomas, your target audience is literal children. I don’t think subverting their expectations is that much of an achievement to brag about.

Also, does anyone else think that, if people weren’t so antagonistically vocal about Miracle Queen and didn’t harass Thomas over it and the “We thought she was redeemable” tweet, then Chloé wouldn’t have gotten worse and worse as Seasons 4 and 5 went on?

Considering the fact that, after Season 3 ended in Fall 2019, the show went on a hiatus that was forced to be even longer due to the COVID pandemic with only the New York special to keep us company in September before finally returning in Spring 2021, the crew had plenty of time to rework the scripts to worsen Chloé.

I would say this applies to Lila, too, but it’s not like feeling bad for her was ever a common fandom talking point and the only thing about her that could have qualified as a redeeming quality that could have gone somewhere (that she lies for attention that she can’t get at home because her mom is out working for most of the day, which only briefly comes back at the beginning of Oni-Chan) is now irrelevant (now that she has multiple moms and identities) because this show has proven how much it loves its retcons and has done nothing to convince me it’s not misogynistic, not even the half-a**ed attempts at redeeming Nathalie and Sabrina after four seasons of them making Bayonetta faces. I know I’m of the “better late than never” opinion, but that mindset can only go so far until “too little, too late” kicks in.

*When talking about the GM13’s editing style, I’m referring to the one he’s been using since the Top 20 Worst Movies video, as in, the topic he is currently talking about will contain clips from the franchise the current topic is discussing.

Talking about Toy Story? Clips from the Toy Story saga.

Talking about The Incredibles? Clips from the Incredibles duology.

Talking about Cars? Clips from the Cars trilogy.

Talking about The Owl House? Clips from The Owl House.

Practice with this.

[laventadorn]

This is half about danmei, which isn't the main or even tertiary purpose of this blog, BUT also half about writing in general, so here I stick it.

I've been reading danmei since 2020 but I've really struggled to write anything for it. If i measure success by just getting something going, the fic I'm currently working on is the most "successful" venture I've had. It took me ages to even crank out the opening scenes. Despite longing to write in the New Hyperfixation for a long time, I just couldn't grok it.

Initially I thought it was unfamiliarity with the background of the culture the media was based in. With HP, for example, there is a whole lot of English culture that's easily accessible to me, and I studied British literature in school for years. Obviously this isn't the same thing as being English, but it gave me enough of a background to fake it that once when i applied to a graduate program in England, they thought I was actually English.

But with china, there is so much I don't understand and can't access in the same way, so I thought perhaps that was the problem.

But now I'm thinking it's more about the literary approach.

The tradition I learned to write in is one of realism. I often cite Jane Austen as my favorite author; she was a writer of realism: people, situations, and style are all as close to reality as possible. She was actually one of the most hard-line realist writers of the time, even meticulously accurate in minutiae such as how long it took to travel between cities, or when you could reasonably expect to receive a letter. The way she renders character is also heavily based in the psychology of real people, especially in the latter half of her career. And I love the psychology of character. Nothing interests me more as a reader or a writer. It's what I use as a foundation for writing: how to render people and their emotional responses within a tradition of realism, so that they feel (as much as possible, given that i also love fantasy) like genuine human beings.

But this is not, in my experience of it, what Chinese BL is about.

Now, the first of my caveats is that plenty of western media isn't, either (though fandom tends to be obsessed with it to the point of mania, where a character's psychology is microscopically detailed, in particular their responses to trauma). But western media often maintains a veneer of it -- my favorite marvel movie is Captain America: the Winter Soldier, which features Steve feeling purposeless and empty in a world he no longer fits in. (And then his internal conflict is symbolically made external with the reappearance of his dearest friend, whose mind has been wiped to forget him.) That whole movie revolves around Steve's psychology. And that's a big budget blockbuster movie chock full of punchy, blow-uppy action scenes. It still finds time to make a character feel depressed and lost.

(They then did absolutely nothing interesting with it, but you know. They had a single moment.)

To a certain extent, if western media is character based, it has to explore the characters' mental state, and tries to do so in a way that enlightens both the audience and the character, opening up their dark parts and forcing them to change. We probably have Joseph Campbell to thank for a lot of this; his Hero's Journey was modeled heavily on the works of Carl Jung, the psychologist. In fact, Carl Jung was hugely influential in English-speaking literary criticism of the 1970's. (I say "English speaking" because that's the only field I'm familiar with.) To give you the biggest example I know of, Ursula K. le Guin's phenomenal Earthsea trilogy is steeped in Jungian psychology, no book more so than the opening novel, A Wizard of Earthsea. The climax of that novel blew my mind, by the way.

My second caveat is this: it's not that the patterns of Chinese BL don't have character work, or that they aren't concerned with the character's interiority. With my fixation on character, if those things were entirely absent, I wouldn't be reading these books. It's more that the media tradition of hyper-focus on the characters' mental state, the delicate unfolding of their psychology, is not what drives the media. The characters do suffer, and they have feelings and desires, but they are often preternaturally strong-willed and able to withstand horrific trauma while still maintaining their sense of self.

(Two characters really come to mind. One is Chang Geng from Sha Po Lang, whose "mother" repeatedly puts him through such intense physical and psychological abuse in his childhood that you wonder how anyone could possibly stay sane. But he's also been injected with a magical poison that will drive him insane, and gives him bloody nightmares every night, and requires him to drink blood -- you get the idea. The other is Gu Mang from Yuwu: Remnants of Filth, who goes through things that are just mind-bogglingly Yiiiikes. Each of them feels the pain, but realism isn't where we're trying to arrive at, because it would be impossible for a real person to hold it together under the things they endured. But neither of them is supposed to be like a real person. Chang Geng, Gu Mang, is supposed to be more.)

Nothing is always. To use the novel I'm writing for as an obvious example toward some measure of realism, Xie Lian spends Book 4 being deeply traumatized; it's part of his character journey and essential to the plot. But his character psychology is still not based in realism. It wasn't designed to be. MXTX herself said in her afterword for TGCF that neither Hua Cheng nor Xie Lian were remotely like real people, because they weren't supposed to be. They were supposed to be larger than life, more than mere existence.

So when I am puttering around with my Psychology of the Individual writing tool, I get a bit wrong-footed because the entire way that I approach writing does not seamlessly settle into this brave new frontier. How can I realistically explore the emotions and mind of people who are not written to be like real people at all? That's what's truly been stumping me.

[crusherthedoctor]

💛 💚

💛: What is a popular ship you just can’t get behind, and why?

Sonamy, predictably. Three decades worth of official material, fanfics, fanart, a month dedicated to it on this site, and I still feel nothing towards it, and in fact have been actively turned off by it for multiple reasons. Including: little consistency among fans over how it would function and thus making it hard to imagine the "true" dynamic, fans often neglecting Sonic's needs and seeing him as little more than a trophy that Amy has earned, official teasing in stuff like Boom and Prime requiring dodgy characterization in order to back it up...

Outside of Sonamy, as hinted at earlier, with me tending to be more interested in rarer Sonic ships, you could say that very few popular examples do it for me, with Sonaze being the only mainstream exception that comes to mind. Sonadow? Meh. Shadamy? Meh. Silvaze? Meh. Is it an oversaturation response? Is it because a lot of the time, they tend to use their pre-established popularity as a shortcut for not having to put effort into their actual chemistry together? Who knows.

Whispangle is particularly tragic, because in an alternate timeline, I think I could have enjoyed it. With what Tangle and Whisper were apparently set up to be as individuals, I think it could have been cute and perhaps even comforting in the right hands. But of course, like Starline's self-destructive simping for Eggman, the comic had other ideas, and so we're left with rampant flanderization and conjoined twins who ended up being more toxic together than the writers probably realised, not helped by them also having Lanolin the Sally alongside them.

Shame.

💚: What does everyone else get wrong about your favourite character?

I've already explained why Eggman being less evil than other Sonic villains is James Somerton levels of delusional, but it goes beyond that.

"Eggman is a family man" Nope, robots he built don't count. Excluding temporary allies and certain simps, he is very much a lone wolf compared to someone like Bowser, with even his thoughts on the late Gerald largely stemming from a selfish lens of the latter's genius making himself look good by association. Given his ego, he also probably wouldn't be interested in having a heir to his throne, because it's HIS empire, and ONLY his: he would just find a means to immortality instead.

"Eggman can't plan" If that were true, 95% of the game plots would never have happened. Using this to handwave shitty writing in a comic whose premise leaped off of Forces, a game where Eggman is constantly planning, is Mr. Fantastic levels of reaching. The intro cutscene for Unleashed, a moment that I'm pretty sure fans fondly reminisce over to this day, had a setup that specifically relied on the idea that Eggman can plan. If you're going to claim he can't plan because he makes some mistakes and ultimately loses to his nemesis, then you might as well claim that all video game villains can't plan... including other villains in this very franchise.

"Eggman is cowardly" My man is so hands-on that he's the sole boss of half the games. He also made a beeline towards the Time Eater mere seconds after it appeared in front of him without warning.

"Eggman is physically inept" He punched a wall of ice.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

WIBTA if I confronted my boyfriend about not feeling praised enough? Over dumb D&D shit?

Background - I (20s F) live with my boyfriend (30s M) and things are usually great. He's always been supportive, emotionally intelligent and caring and we've had no major problems. We met via D&D several years ago so it's pretty important to both of us, and I'm a DM. Before we met, he was involved in a years-long campaign with some friends and is generally more experienced in D&D than me (I've been DMing around 5 years, he's probably closer to 10).

The current campaign that I'm running is something I'm really proud of. It's a mid-length campaign and I made the story myself (I typically plan mine to be 6-8ish months to avoid things fizzling out) and I've tried really hard to step up my writing and story planning for this one.

I've put in a LOT of extra time and effort and have been holding myself to a much higher standard than I usually do. As a DM I get self-conscious over how much time people are spending with me each week, and I want to make sure it's REALLY worthwhile. And because my boyfriend is more experienced in D&D than me, I've been looking to him for feedback and/or praise, as it would mean a lot to me coming from him.

And I've been getting close to nothing. At the end of each session he immediately falls asleep and doesn't talk about it at all. It makes me feel like I'm keeping him up/boring him. So I started asking him things like "hey what did you think about how I handled X" and he'll give a brief response like "yeah it was great" without explaining anything.

He didn't even give much thought into the character he's playing either - for his old campaign he created a HUGE story for his character, background, goals, etc. I know for a fact he's an incredible creative writer and could have come up with something wonderful for this. But he didn't put down anything other than basic character sheet stuff. When I asked him about it, he says he only goes deep into character when it's "long campaigns like my old one" and "too bad a long campaign like that will never happen again. That's D&D at it's best but now we're all adults, and we're too busy to ever do that, half my friends have kids, it'll never happen again and it's so sad" etc etc.

It made me feel like shit - like anything I try to do is a waste of time and pointless compared to this legendary "old campaign". Like it's barely worth staying awake for, like it's some kind of chore he has to sit through every week just because I'm his girlfriend and he's just humoring me.

The other players have been EXTREMELY enthusiastic and supportive - they send me art they make based on the campaign after every session and have contacted me privately to compliment me on certain aspects of the campaign. I want to make it clear that this is NOT something I EXPECT, but moreso I just really really love and appreciate that they do this for me, especially while my boyfriend is kind of leaving a void where I'd want this kind of praise.

Full transparency, one of my worst fears is forcing people to play along with something that I am passionate about, but bores them to tears. I never want to make a big deal over something that means a lot to ME but doesn't mean that much to someone else. So maybe I should just let this go because, at the end of the day, it's just a game? And taking it so seriously makes me an asshole and I should touch grass? I feel like potentially starting a fight over stupid nerd stuff would be pointless on my end. But at the same time, the more we play the more I feel deflated and I really hate feeling that way. I'm not sure what to do tbh.

What are these acronyms?

[jalebi-weds-bluetooth]

hi, jalebi, hope life is treating you well.I watched your interview with Utkarsh Naithani,it was absolute delight and kind if a tutorial class of story-writting.keep it up and waiting for many more interviews like that.And I got to see your face too😍,which was a sight for sore eyes.

I want your absolute opinion on the fact that do you think that the introduction of kidnapping tract had disrupted the flow of IPKKND and kind of destroyed what the writters had previously had in mind?

thank you.

Thank you so much for the sweet comment <3 Uff, you and your taareef.

Now, regarding to your question;

do you think that the introduction of kidnapping tract had disrupted the flow of IPKKND and kind of destroyed what the writters had previously had in mind?

To be very honest, the introduction of the kidnapping track brought the show back on track - for me. The show started addressing everything that was needed. The circumstance of the marriage. The fact that Arnav wouldn't believe Khushi. The fact that the situation was against Khushi. And that Shyam was upto something, he would take revenge against Arnav.

All the characters and situations were put on a RUDE pause from the end of Holi until the terrace scene (which worked into the kidnapping).

I have, legit, NO idea what the writers had in mind. Because the writers were writing aimless comedy, forgot the weight of the situation. And the months from Holi to Arnav leaving for London had absolutely little sense. It raised FAR too many questions, character rewrites, motivation rewrites, than anything else.

I believe, given the situation Arnav and Khushi was in - nothing would've been able to shift them away from bitterness apart from the fact that they loved each other UNTIL it was, literally, a matter of life and death between the characters.

We got back the telepathy, the hurt. Khushi is no longer a stupid woman trying to get back at the man who holds the reins of her sister's marriage in his hand by annoying him? (WTF was that logic)

Rather she's back to being the intelligent, hurt woman, who painfully knows that if things were fine - he'd never say he loved her.

So what went wrong with the show is not the kidnapping track but how they showed the investigation.

I laughed at them forgetting Khushi is a Raizada. If, let's say Manish Malhotra's relative goes to the police fearing Manish Malhotra's safety. The police is not going to laugh at it. We know how the police treat the elite class. Remember how upon Lavanya Kashyap's (who is not even a Raizada) phone call the police had arrived at Shantivan personally to do an employment check?

Which by the the police don't have to carry out by themselves. Employees submit themselves and police verifies the history and fingerprints. But just because the house was Shantivan - they were ready to do basic duty. Secondly, not everyone in Delhi can just gently hold Delhi Police's hand and escort them out of the house.

Arnav Singh Raizada can.

So, the kidnapping, Khushi's intuition and disbelief over Arnav's confession, her constant panic and the family sending her to Lucknow and even she and Mami getting suspicious of Arnav reaching London or not were BRILLIANTLY done.

And even with Arnav, right. Forced upon this horrific situation he is stripped of his prejudices, fears and doubt. He loves her. She feels strongly for him (she nearly confessed before he left). She wanted his trust.

It was a great way to reset the dynamic between the two.

And FINALLY Shyam is doing something as a villain. He wants everything Arnav owns, everything Arnav has. It starts with his assets and ends with Khushi.

Also Khushi knows Shyam is enough of a horrid man to actually pull something like this off? She's suspicious of him from the START. And we see her dealing with her abuser and the threat of Shyam being under the roof as her.

What went wrong is in the execution of second half of kidnapping track:

Arnav's LIFE is at stake. Just why has she NOT confided in Akash? He's right THERE. Why not in Payal? Just how is the 'ghar ki shanti' more important than the life of the head of the household?

What was the whole stupid James Bond thing with Manorama?

WHY WAS NO ONE UNDERSTANDING THAT A RAIZADA WAS SEEKING HELP?

What was the stupid "let's honeytrap Shyam" plan?

Just why were they doing Tom and Jerry stuffs to trap Shyam?

In short, why did the intelligence just disappear in the execution of this track?

WHY DO BABLI AND MASALA MAMA EXIST? (Honestly, I felt if Akash and Payal had a more relevant, important track the kidnapping track could have felt better than this demon child cause EVERYONE loved Akash Payal).

Actually introduced a really good cameo of a private detective/police inspector who would work in private sensing a bigger threat.

Either way, I have far less issues with the stupid kidnapping track because I got Arnav and Khushi back, and I got Shyam back. The three wheels of the story, their characterization, their plots, were on track.

And this is my absolute opinion of the kidnapping track.

Best,

Jalebi

[emin-folly]

@fezwearingjellybananas 💚: What does everyone else get wrong about your favorite character? I've already talked about Barry, so it's Eobard's turn this time!

Okay so like....the whole deal with Eobard and the thing that a lot people seem to kind of?? Not get?? Is the fact that he's a pathological lair.

He's SO GOOD at this, he straight up got his own ass fooled into thinking he actually hates Barry. He'll say he "hates" Barry, and that he wants nothing more to than to be rid of him forever (nevermind in the next breath, he says he wants them to be equals??? Make up your mind, bro) BUT THEN he goes and tracks Barry through the timeline and proceeds to build a massive lightning rod which turns himself into the Negative Speed Force JUST to drag Barry out from the afterlife. Keyword there--Drag. Bringing Barry back to life wasn't some freak accident, Eobard deliberately dragged him out, kicking and screaming (<-- His exact words) Like...sacrificing your humanity, literally making yourself into your archnemesis's universal half to resurrect your most "hated" enemy is uuuhhhhh??? PRETTY GAY NGL And that's not the only instance either. There's lots of little things that Eobard does that shows he is surprisingly capable of being kind (like, the person who fixed Irey and Jai's whole speed aging thing? Yeah, that was Eobard), though it can be very easy to miss because he uses malicious pretense to distort them

"Oh, that's just writers inconsistency/rectonning things!" While true, there were things about Eobard that were changed/rectonned over the years, there still seems to be this same, underlying thread that ties all of Eobard's actions together, even going back as far as the Silver Age and that's love

When you rip away all the layers and get at his very core, you'll find that underneath all of that, he just wants to be loved.

That's it, and that's why he's so ruthless and unstoppable. He's willing to tear the whole universe apart just for a brief moment of happiness Eobard is a person who on some level, realizes how unlovable he is and is vehemently rebelling against that. He doesn't know how to love nor how to ask for it. All he's familiar with is his own obsessive and erratic love for Barry. This is why he's so, SO hellbent on making Barry as obsessed with him as he is with him, because that's the only form of love he knows As for him being petty, I've also gone a bit indepth in another post but I'll go over it briefly here why this is also VERY incorrect:

Yes, Eobard pushing Barry down the stairs or erasing his friends looks very random and ridiculously childish on the surface, but the second you look deeper, you'll see in actuality it's all part of a elaborate and sinister plan which he executes with terrifying precision

Eobard pushing Barry down the stairs isn't him being childish, it's to make Barry paranoid.

Eobard opening the door to let Barry's dog out isn't him being evil for the "lulz", it's to rip away all the things that Barry loves which love him back systematically until he's so lonely and desperate, like Eobard is

Every single little thing Eobard does to Barry has VERY meticulously thought out reasons behind them, most of which are known to only him. He's is SCARILY patient and extremely proficient in getting the results he wants and honestly, we don't talk about that nearly enough TLDR, Eobard wants to mold Barry into someone who would love and accept him. To make him into someone who could understand him and love him (the tragedy here being Barry already was that but it wasn't enough for Eo)

🤍: Which character is not as morally bad as everyone else seems to think? Batman. But that's too easy. So instead I'll say: Wally West.

Now, now. Hear me out.

Yes, Wally IS kind (though he had to learn that the hard way) and he does absolutely care about people, and he is compassionate (unless they're in his way....well, we'll get to that) but he also has this undeniable nasty streak.

He grew out a lot of it but he still has his moments where he's uhhh, really kind of horrible? He's judgmental, he's quick to jump to conclusions, he's selfish and he has a bad temper. He also struggles with empathy sometimes, too caught up about himself and what he's feeling to get the bigger picture. Wally definitely has good intentions, I'm definitely not doubting that, but when push comes to shove, he does has a tendency to do what he thinks is right vs what actually is right

Like, listen I'm sorry, Wally/Birdflash fans, but Wally's more than just the sunshine quippy, flirty guy. He's an asshole with some dark tendencies (remember when he turned Thad into a living statue? Y e a h) A good example of this is his relationship with Barry. Their relationship has so many layers to it and uhh, noooot all of it is positive.

They do truly love each other so, SO much. They tore through reality and time for each other. Nothing can separate them and yet...despite all of that, Wally has just...so many issues regarding Barry and how he sometimes treats Barry (honestly, you could extend this to the rest of the Flashfam. Yes, they are more emotionally adjusted and healthier compared to some, ahem other families coughtheBatfamcough but still, the way they seem to treat Barry a lot of the times is really?? Kind of rancid) Let's look at Flash War. Yes, Wally yelling at Barry was also influenced by Eobard, but I can't help but think Eobard's hypnosis wouldn't have worked as well as it did if Wally wasn't already harboring some deep-seated resentment, ya know? It's not really feasible to think Eobard created all of that anger there, but rather, he just nudged it to the surface, all of Wally's jealousy and fear regarding Barry (to be fair, he did get accidently 'eaten' by his uncle a couple times and reduced to a non-corporeal existence where no one remembered him, sooo yeah the fear is definitely justified lol) Barry for his part spent that whole arc trying to desperately reason with Wally and telling him to slow down and think things through. And how did Wally respond? By insulting him and threatening to cripple him beyond repair

"That was all just Eobard!" Mmm was it tho? I don't think so. I'm sorry, but I think to call everything Wally did in Flash War Eobard's fault seems very reductive and as well as the fact that Wally lashing out at Barry is something that seems to repeat itself a lot in the comics history.

The first time being at Barry's trial when he was being convicted of killing Eobard. Wally, who up to this point in time idolized Barry and wa his biggest fan, was now accusing him in a court of law of being incompetent and responsible for Iris's death (as bad as this was, I do give Wally a lot of slack here, he was very angry and hurt and needed someone--anyone--to use as a outlet)

Second time was during his solo run when he hallucinated Barry and Wally was attacking him, calling him a monster....yeahhh, I don't think I need to elaborate

Like...I absolutely get it, Wally was blinded by grief, he was hurting so bad, he wasn't thinking straight, I understand that. But he still threatened to hurt Barry to get his family back and if that doesn't speak volumes about his relationship to Barry, then I don't know. Because Wally is definitely possessive of the Flash mantle (which is also a whole thing in itself) and he doesn't know when Barry would suddenly re-absorb him back into the Speed Force again, Barry will always be a threat to him whether Wally likes it or not

Wally doesn't like confronting his issues either, and Barry will never call him out on it (that's his precious son boy after all) so it'll most likely just keep happening, sadly. And it's not just Barry, you can pick a lot of other characters, like Roy or Bart, who Wally also lashed out at Now, I'm not saying all of this to prove that Wally's a "bad character" or that Barry is flawless and perfect--far from it! Wally's complex, he has grey areas/layers which isn't the same as being horribly written

This doesn't negate his good traits nor vice versa. Wally's a very messy and also very human and that's perfectly fine! And I wish more people would internalize that

Disclaimer: I really do like and enjoy Wally and I LOVE his relationship with Barry <33 I adore them, BUT I also understand that it's not completely wholesome at all times and there is underlying problems here~

[yubellia]

How they could have written Lila, to be a better villain

(Just a theory) and keep in mind, english is not my first language

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Well hello there! I am working on a new chapter for my miraculous fanfiction. I know it has been a while.

But before that, let’s think about our favorite local liar, Lila Rossi/ Cerise Bianca/ Iris Verdi (whatever name she feels like using).

People hate her but I don‘t think it’s just because of the things she does. Let’s be real. The things Marinette is doing are also…. Questionable at best sometimes. And that’s the protagonist. So we can‘t just talk about the bad things.

I think people are mad because of what happens to the other characters the moment Lila starts to speak. It’s kind of a joke in the fandom but Lila‘s lies turn pretty much everyone into idiots. Except for Marinette. Even Adrien almost fell for it if Marinette didn’t expose her as ladybug. Her lies are stupid and sure, we as the audience can see through it easily but that’s not an excuse for how everyone acts. (Unless my theory about superpowers in miraculous ladybug is correct. Look it up in my masterlist!)

Some of them are so easy, we could hit our heads on a table (repeatedly) and still see through it. So, let’s pretend we turn back the time. How could the writers turn Lila into a really well written villain?

1. SHOW us that she is smart and a good liar. NOT tell us!

This is the one golden rule for writing. The audience hates it if they are told something. Even more so, if there is no evidence to back it up.

Her lie about being friends with Ladybug HAD to blow up in her face. Especially knowing how Marinette acts if anyone gets too close to Adrien. Even more so in the early seasons.

So what could they do?

Well, one of her moms works at an embassy. She might not be a diplomat herself but Lila doesn’t have to tell anyone about that. She could simply tell them, that because of her moms job and because she has no other relatives around really, she has to move with her a lot. (That’s only half a lie). From there, she could use that for more convincing lies like „oh that one time, we stayed for a year in (please insert country). And there I saw (insert important person).“

And here‘s the thing. With the embassy thing, even Marinette couldn’t really talk against her if Lila plays her cards right and doesn’t show up in front of her.

Also, it’s not like they didn’t know how to do it. The first time Lila goes to Adrien’s house, Nathalie wants to throw her out. Lila starts a lie, that Adrien struggles with something at school.

Now, Nathalie knows who and ‚what’ Adrien is. She knew him the longest right after his parents. She must have known that Adrien CAN‘T fail. He was supposed to be perfect.

However, even if that is so, she couldn’t take the small chance that Adrien MIGHT be failing for whatever reason. So she let Lila stay. If the writers had used this somehow, explained it more. Either from Lila’s pov or Nathalie‘s, it would have been so much better. They could have made Lila look smart. Using the high expectations Adrien’s family has for her advantage.

2. Don‘t overdo it with her lies.

The biggest Problem with her is the fact that her lies are too big. Instead of big and impressive things, they should have used little lies that built up. Small ways that make her look resourceful and smart. She was way to aggressive in her desire for fame in that school.

3. show us some skills.

This plays into the first thing but still. I think everyone was impressed when we met her third mom and found out that Lila knows sign language. We know little to nothing about her real family so they should have explored that. Why does she know that?

The same thing with her using Tsurugis laptop.

She opened it with force, using tools like a screwdriver. Ok, I buy that so far. But than what? She used hacking skills and they didn’t show us? LAME!

We see Ladybug and Chat Noir in every episode. It wouldn‘t hurt anyone if we followed one of the villains for one episode and learned more about them. An entire episode I mean. Not scenes. It was about to get interesting and they take it from us.

And again, it’s not like they can‘t do it. Lila isn‘t an idiot (if the writers have a good day) she knew she needed something solid to show Adrien that she is a hero. So she took the book and got herself this replica of the fox miraculous. The same one she used later to frame Marinette for theft. Also she wasn’t afraid to fake an injury and get herself into danger to frame Marinette either.

4. make her a threat in the background.

This kind of plays into the first point again. Lila didn’t show up too often at first. In the early seasons I mean. That way and because of her introduction in ‚volpina‘, we as the audience knew every time she shows up ‚oh no here we go again.‘ this also combines with the little lies I talked about.

Her impact would have been much greater, if she had been there all the time and in the end we learn that she had a plan B or that everything worked exactly how she wanted it. That’s something most people like. A surprise villain, a twist, something we can‘t see coming.

Also, again, they kind of did that when we learned about her multiple identities. Marinette didn’t defeat her at all. Didn’t hurt her in the slightest. Only her ego and she will be back for that.

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I really think that, if they had changed Lila just a little, she could have been more liked. Not as a character but a villain. Also what do we learn? The writers can do it if they want to! (And if they had a good day)

Throughout the show, Lila had her moments. Like when Gabriel threw her out and she called him ‚Monarch‘. We knew that he hurt her where it hurts the most. Her Ego. And not taking her seriously was one of the biggest mistakes.

The writers don‘t really have a choice. From what it looks like, Lila is confirmed to be The next big bad. And they also stated, that there are multiple more seasons to come. So they have to explore her more.

Let’s wait and see. I hope you liked it and I see you again. Later!

[ohmyfate]

One of the most frequently discussed problems of the series can be safely called the relationship between Stolas and Blitz since it was to please these relationships that the series changed its vector of development. From a black comedy with elements of drama, it turned into just a drama of the level of romantic novels from young writers with no experience. But more about this some other time.

So what is the main problem with this relationship? The fact that they are toxic and built on blackmail? This is the problem most often referred to and I understand why. "Stolitz" is one of the most striking examples of romanticization of unhealthy relationships.

Their relationship remains one-sided to this day. Unhealthy love can only be observed from the side of Stolas in his stalking of the object of affection, attempts with all his might to get Blitz’s love and complete ignoring of his daughter. Blitz at the same time does not show any signs of sympathy. Yes, in several episodes he showed some concern for Stolas's condition and unwillingness for his death, but this is not enough to indicate romantic feelings. It looked more like he didn’t want to lose his ticket to the human world which at the moment only Stolas had. And I will remind you that his business is built on the human world and it is vital for him to have access to it. And in the first episode of the first season, Stolas took advantage of this for their monthly deal. There was no sense that Stolas saw Blitz as anything more than a toy for entertainment that he enjoyed using. But at the same time, they are clearly trying to convince us that he is the most damaged party in this “business” relationship, because Blitz rejects him over and over again. And it could have worked if we were shown that Stolas recognized the unhealthy nature of their current relationship. If he was committed to sincerely apologizing to the imp and trying to make their relationship just a little bit better. And there's even a good reason for this. Stolas grew up completely alone, surrounded only by servants. He has not seen true love and does not know how to show sympathy in a normal way. And then romance novels or TV series come onto the scene, which he might be interested in. We all know very well that very often unhealthy relationships are transmitted to us, and in Hell, where love is ridiculed in one of the rings, this can be even worse than ours. Stolas could have adopted an unhealthy pattern of behavior from the hell media or communication with Asmodeus and reproduced it in his relationship with Blitz. At the same time, one could ridicule such novels. Helluva is a comedy after all if I remember correctly. It would also be possible to make it so that it was Blitz who proposed this deal, since he has nothing else to pay the aristocrat with. And Stolas would again perceive this as a sign of attention to his person and therefore would see something more in their relationship. The main thing in such relationships is to show that this is wrong and unhealthy. And such a plot would work even taking into account the following problem.

There is no chemistry between Stolas and Blitz. Since the series decided to take the path of exploring a romantic relationship between two broken personalities, it should be obvious to the viewer where this love came from. But even after half of the second season it is still unclear what they found in each other, other than mutual benefit. The series spends a lot of time on these two, but generally doesn't explore their relationship to each other on deeper level. They don’t really spend time together, and if they do, it’s either a forced measure (“Loo loo land”) or their relationship is going through tests (“House of Asmodeus”). There was no more relaxed interaction between them where we could have been shown why they can love each other, since the authors are most often focused on creating tests for these two, where they have to show their love, but they have nothing to show.

The relationship between Blitz and Stolas completely changed the direction of development of the series and almost completely freed it from the original concept. In fact, this problem is much deeper and I want to discuss it in another post separately, since series began to change not only because of the Stolitz, but also several other factors. However, for the sake of the relationship between these two we almost completely lost the originally stated plot. They didn’t want to write the series in such a way that the activities of the IMP and the personal lives of the characters would run parallel to each other in the same episode. As a rule, all episodes pay attention to one thing, and if the authors try to carry out a parallel plot, it turns out to be a C grade at best.

I know that these two have several more problems, but I decided to limit myself to the most basic and related to both of them at once. Sometime in the future we will discuss Stolas and Blitz separately, where I will talk about the rest of the problems with their relationship. For now, that's all. I'd love to read your thoughts on these two!

[9leaguesofmirrors]

How It Feels To Hate (a Ross Gaines x Joseph Lisgoe fanfic)

I don't know if this will ever see the light of day but, if you're reading this, that means it has and I've lost the small amount of shame I was clinging onto. Mad respect to smut-writers, because this was difficult!

WARNINGS: Hate-sex, knife play, very light choking/breath play

Ross Gaines and Joseph Lisgoe despised each other, it was obvious from a mile off. In the rare moments the two of them were together there was calm chaos, like two electrodes coming together to create a spark that threatened to set them both alight

Yes, they really did despise each other

Which is why Lisgoe hated the fact that Ross would continuously fall behind on his debts, forcing him to take time out of his day to sort it out

"What the fuck," he emphasised the question by pushing Ross hard against the door as it shut behind him "is your problem?"

"Not even a hello? What a shame."

That's another thing he hated, the fact that Ross seemed to take great pleasure in being a smarmy prick. Especially so, since his wit was quick enough to prove a challenge

"Why do you insist on making my life difficult? My freetime gets pissed down the drain because you'd rather play silly buggers!"

"You don't have to come, surely your subordinates could take over. Maybe not the fat one, but that tall man could easily take your place."

Ross expected the silence to follow, and the hard glare Lisgoe frequently gave him. What he didn't expect was the patronising smile it ended up contorting into

"Something tells me you wouldn't be too fond of that."

"Excuse me?"

"I'm not stupid, Ross. You're not the kind of person to forget their debts this many times," as Lisgoe spoke, his voice became more condescending, hands on his hips "you're usually so good."

Ross hated the way that tone made his stomach turn, in a way that he couldn't equate to sickness. It was the type of turn that settled deep within up, his lower stomach... and somewhere else below. For a split second, he moved his head away and suddenly felt his chin being grabbed and tugged back with such force it almost knocked his glasses off

"Fucking look at me when I'm talking to you."

"I tend to tune out of conversations that bore me."

There was something about Ross' eyes that gave Lisgoe the creeps. They were blue, but reminded him less of skies and oceans, and more of ice. Yes, they struck through him like icicles and he hated the fact he couldn't pull away

"You have no fucking idea," Lisgoe tightened his grip on Ross' chin, stepping closer in a sharp movement "how much I fantasise about dragging a knife across your chest."

"Fantasize?" Ross repeated, looking him up and down with a glint in his eyes "What an interesting word."

"What that means," his hand moved from Ross' chin and wrapped slowly, almost teasingly, around his throat "is that nothing brings me more satisfaction than imagining every single way I could hurt you."

Ross hated the way his pelvis dropped when he heard that

"You wouldn't do that." He showed no signs of being affected, keeping his face as neutral as possible

It was the exact face that pissed Lisgoe off

"Is that right?" He replied in a half-whisper, pressing gently against Ross's neck "And why's that?"

There was something oddly amusing in all of this. Toeing the line, hatred boiling into something else. Something that rested deep within both of them, and this was all part of the game. How long before the fire started?

"Because," Ross' voice came out hoarse, but didn't lose it's smugness "I don't think you hate me half as much as you claim to."

He managed to move his knee between Lisgoe's legs, taking the breathy groan that slipped up from the bottom of his throat as a small win

"I think you're full of fucking shite." Came the retort "I hate you just as much as you hate me."

"Then show me."

That wasn't what Lisgoe expected to hear

Hell, it wasn't what Ross expected to say!

"Show you what?"

Regardless of the unexpected demand, Ross kept his demeanour calm and collected

"You talk a lot about the pain you want to inflict on me, but you're yet to actually do anything about it. It's not as if I don't have plenty of knives for you to play with, but if you don't have the guts-"

"Cut the shite, what are you on about?"

"Show me how much you hate me."

Lisgoe's jaw tightened, considering where this could go. If he were more collected, perhaps more logical, he'd have thought about how this would further complicate whatever strange relationship they had

But Lisgoe was never good with logic

"Right." His lips were brushing against Ross' ear, murmuring into it "This is what's gonna happen. I'm heading for the kitchen, you're can either wait here or leave. I don't give a fuck what you do but, if you decide to run off, god help your sorry arse when I find you."

As soon as he felt Ross nodding slightly, he was off

Ross knew he'd be in deep if he left, but then again, he didn't really care. It's my house, he reminded himself and he invited himself here. I can do what I like, who does he think he is? With that, he took his keys off the hook beside the door and left. Part of him wondered whether he should lock Lisgoe in to teach him a lesson, put him under citizen's arrest, but he quickly decided against it. He hated him, why would he want him in his house for that long?

So Lisgoe came back to nobody

"That bastard!" He snapped, fully prepared to turn the whole house apart before he noticed the unlocked door, which he swung open and stormed right out of

"Come out, you fucker..." he muttered to himself, making his way to the back of the house - where he saw Ross at the other end checking, presumably, for him

Wasting no time, he darted over and grabbed him by the back of the neck, pulling him into an iron grip. His torso was pressed against Ross' back and he had a knife under his chin

"I just want to talk." His voice was unnervingly soft as his eyes trailed the length of Ross' throat, meeting his eyes with a hard stare "Why do you have to piss about?"

"You're talking way too much, it's like you're overcompensating for-"

Ross was cut short by teeth running up his neck and his shirt being unbuttoned. Before he knew it, his back was slammed into the brick wall behind him. Despite the growing feeling of heat through his body, his face was unmoving

"As I was saying, it's like you're overcompensating. You're stalling." At this point, his face contorted into one of cold arrogance as he leaned towards Lisgoe, peering at him "You're scared."

"Scared, am I?" Was the response, in that dangerously soft tone "You have a lot of fucking nerve." He took his hand to Ross' throat, using it to push his against the wall again

The cold tip of the knife met Ross' lower stomach, but in a way which showcased a rare gentleness. It hovered slowly up his torso, barely touching his skin, and sent a sensation which caused him to lean his head back and sigh. It wasn't long before he could feel the bladed edge at the side of his neck

Each stared at the other. Eyes fixated, as if neither was able to move in that moment. Perhaps they didn't want to. There was something electric which had somehow become magnetic

They hated each other, but they didn't hate this

All at once, Lisgoe's mouth was on Ross' and his other hand was following the path his knife had taken, this time moving down the body until it reached his belt and-

Ross' right hand was shielding the buckle. He broke the kiss and stared at him with a cold expression, as if he wasn't being held at knife-point

"The fuck are you doing?" Rasped an impatient Lisgoe "If you didn't want it you should've said-"

"I do."

Lisgoe lowered the knife in his confusion

"I want this, but I'm not sure you do."

"What the fu- I'm the one that fucking started it!"

"And I'm not convinced by you. At all."

"OK? What am I meant to do about that?"

"Beg me."

That caught Lisgoe completely offguard and he moved back slightly. Once the shock had melted away, he couldn't help but laugh

"You're taking the piss, me? Begging you?" He brandished the knife in front of his face "I don't need to beg you for anything."

"I'm the one that's put in most of the work," Ross shrugged, as if he were discussing business plans with a colleague "you just waved a knife around and got a little violent." He pushed the knife away with a look of superiority "If you really want it, convince me."

Lisgoe's smirk melted into a sneer as he grabbed Ross' right wrist

"We both know I could rip your hand off if I wanted to."

"But you won't, because that's boring."

"If you don't shut your mouth, I'll leave you high and dry."

"You won't do that either."

Ross' eyes showed no signs of intimidation, and it was pissing Lisgoe off. To ask such a thing of him with such little shame, it was unheard of. The worst part was that he couldn't say he disliked the push-back

He moved closer, one hand gripping at Ross' wrist and the other grabbing the collar of his open shirt. He was close enough for his mouth to brush against his neck

"You're a thick bastard if you don't think I want this." He muttered sharply, running the flat surface of the knife down his throat "So cut the shite and just..." by the time he reached his collarbone, he felt something in him slipping and he let his hand rest over Ross' right hand "Please Ross, put me out of my fucking misery."

A smarmy remark brewed in Ross' head, but ultimately died there when his brain realised just how nice it sounded to hear the slight hint of Lisgoe's need slipping into what was clearly meant to sound like a demand. He moved his hand away from his belt, felt a hand move down his trousers, and everything blurred. It was just heat, friction and breath. Lisgoe's mouth pressed hard on Ross' and their heavy breaths syncronised in a way that made them both light-headed, breathing in each other's exhales until they were both pleasurably dizzy. It was like, if Ross didn't dig his nails hard into Lisgoe's back (which tore out someone quite nice from the pit of his throat), he'd end up falling. Clearly, this was a shared feeling; as Lisgoe had dropped the knife and his free hand was against Ross's jaw, his fingers gripping the back of his head like an anchor

As soon as Ross ripped his head away for air, Lisgoe took the opportunity to go for Ross' neck, but was stopped

"Work tomorrow." He panted, leaning his head back against the wall "I don't feel like explaining it to them."

"Would make you more interesting."

Ross retaliated by moving the collar of Lisgoe's shirt down and biting, hard, at his shoulder. The sound that followed send shivers through Ross' whole body and resulted in him being grabbed by the throat and held there as Lisgoe's hand pumped faster. The bitemark was prevalent, even now, despite the top of the tattoo sleeve on the man's arm

"Suits you." He breathed out

Lisgoe didn't respond, he was too busy watching every movement on Ross' face. He was trying to keep composed, it was obvious by the way his jaw clenched, showing all his teeth. And the way, every so often, he'd bite down on his lower lip to muffle any sound that might come out. He leaned in close, his breathing heavy against Ross' ear

"Next time, I'm marking you."

"Next time?" Ross raised an eyebrow, somehow not losing his smugness despite what was happening "I thought you hated me."

"And?"

"Why would there be a next time?"

This got a breathy, slightly gutteral, laugh from Lisgoe and he pressed a kiss to Ross' mouth, pulling his lower lip between his teeth

"Let's not be fucking stupid."

A/N: DONE IT'S DONE! I hope you all saw that because I will NOT be doing it again... or will I? /hj

[benoitblanc]

hey arwen, long time no see!! hope you're doing well! 💜

i know nothing about txf besides what i've gleaned from this hellsite which is a) mulder is a lovable idiot, b) scully both loves him (almost against her will??), and c) they literally invented shipping BUT tell me about your top 5 txf episodes!!!

hi mitali i have been EXTREMELY patchy on here lately haven't i lol. local woman appears on tumblr to write ten meta posts about the x files and then disappears again! i'm doing okay; my real life has been kind of chaotic (had to last-minute cancel a trip i have been desperate to go on for years so :/ but! on the bright side it means i get to see my flatmates sooner than i thought and i miss them even though i've been gone from my flat for like a week and a half lol). how have you been???

those are very accurate txf vibes but i will say that scully is a very active and willing participant in being in love with mulder even though he can be very very stupid at times lol. i hope you watch it someday- i think it would be right up your alley! kind of similar doctor who ecological niche of being weird, heartfelt, politically relevant sci-fi with no consistent quality or tone.

ANYWAY. top 5 txf episodes, bearing in mind that i've technically only watched up until the end of the fourth season so far; i'm just a ho for spoilers:

pusher (3.17)... what can i say about pusher that i haven't said already. a lot, probably, because every single day i log on here and i see someone's written new meta about pusher that makes the entire show make more sense. it's just... it's txf distilled to its barest elements. it's about trust and codependency and a supernatural force that is made all the more unsettling by the fact that at its core it is just some guy. it's funny and terrifying and heartfelt all at once. the russian roulette scene changed television

clyde bruckman's final repose (3.04) is also just so txf. darin morgan (the writer) tended to write episodes that were so absurdist they wrapped back around to satirical, but this is far and away my favorite of his because it's not too bonkers. i love coprophages and from outer space especially, but clyde bruckman is a little more grounded, and it manages to be sarcastic and sincere in equal measure. and i love when scully gets to solve the mystery

irresistible (2.13), which is famous for being pretty much the only txf episode where there isn't actually an x-file. and it's SO fucked up. it is hands-down the most fucked up episode of the entire sh- well. besides the episode that they banned from reruns for like a decade for being so fucked up, it's hands-down the most fucked up episode of the entire show

beyond the sea (1.13) and paper hearts (4.10) are thematic sisters so i'm keeping them together. they're both about choosing to move past grief instead of wallowing in it and choosing the future over the past. so what if a criminal says they can give you the answers you've spent your whole life chasing? what matters is that you're at your partner's hospital bedside when he wakes up from an injury, or that you save a little girl's life

right now? probably ice (1.08), because i just rewatched it with my flatmate (who is going through s1 for the first time and is almost as obsessed as i am). it's like if midnight doctor who and the thing had a baby. normally i think this slot would go to duane barry/ascension/one breath (2.05/2.06/2.08) or nisei/731 (3.09/3.10), which are the tightest, tensest episodes relating to the show's overarching mythology

honorable mention goes to elegy (4.22) because the a-plot is a very 90s depiction of neurodivergence and it's not the best-handled thing i've ever seen, but the character showcase of scully in the b-plot gave me fucking brain worms. i cannot stop thinking about it. it's haunting.

also, memento mori (4.14). vince gilligan and gillian anderson you're splitting my therapy bill

ask my top 5/10 anything!!!

[thekingofwinterblog]

Glad to see you be more critical to one piece, to me it seems obvious that there has been a large shift of direction at some point - I think the Gorosei going from real-politik buerocrats, that do horrible things through tears for "the greater good", to "hahah humans are insects haha, we are literal demon monsters" is the best evidence.

The problem with the tonal shift is that Oda obviously wanted/planned to go through a shift into darker territory starting with the last part of Paradise, and then continuing into the New world.

He opened up with Luffy, sanji and zoro murdering pacifistas in rather graphic ways, the fake straw-hats being buried alive, Caribou's crew seemingly all being killed when their air bubble burst, with plans to delve into the destroyed Shogunate of Wano, Big Mom's horrific dystopia, have the kingdom of Dressrosa go through the bird cage, explore child experiments at Punk Hazard, and have the driving force for most of the New World be Luffy signing his name and crew unto several assassination plans regarding Kaido and Big Mom to take out his biggest rivals for the title of Pirate King. Nothing heroic about that.

On paper, all of that sounds like it would lead to a second part that though comedic, took itself way more seriously than part 1, and led to a comparitively darker follow up.

Of course, anyone who has read One Piece knows this did not happen. Oda ultimately didnt have it in him as a writer to go down this path he had set for himself, and the tone set early into the second half was quickly forgotten, and One Piece single biggest flaw, Oda's complete inability to ever kill off a character unless he absolutely, positively has to, returned and worse than ever, castrating the effectiveness of almost all of the part 2 arcs in one way or another.

The ultimate result is that part 2 overall actually feels way lighter in tone than part 1 ever did, with absolutely nothing part 2 ever did coming close to the horrors of the Alabasta civil war, the Marineford war and the torture palace of Impel Down.

Which puts the final part of the series in a bit of a mess regarding it's tone.

Because Playtime...

Is over.

Oda has now finally reached the point where he now HAS to write One Piece as he originally envisioned it, with the dark tone, and brutal battles he originally had in mind, where characters die, because he actually needs to remove them from the board now that we are here at the finish line.

The problem is the fact that it's so fucking jarring.

Also he is realising he doesnt have the time left to let things play out in a slow burn as he has done all through part 2.

I have no doubt that Oda originally had some plan in mind where the Gorosei would act as the usual Miniboss squad of One Piece's villains and would be fleshed out over time... But the simple, brutal fact is, he doesnt have the time left.

Oda is both Old and tired, and does't have the energy he had 10-15 years ago, but even if he had, he doesnt have the arcs left where he could take the time to introduce them one by one.

I honestly thought that was what he had in mind for Egghead, but then suddenly he realised halfway through that there wasn't gonna be any arc to do this after it. So he had to basically cram everything about them into the arc now, now, now, and he was forced to saddle all of them with the one, single fleshed out elder he had planned, so now they all have god complexes, when that probably was only supposed to be spider guy's thing.

Hey, remember that there was one of the Gorosei(The boar guy)that objected to just wiping one of their kingdoms from the face of the world for a test drive before falling into line when push came to show?

You probably dont, because it's obvious whatever that was supposed to be setting up that one of them had scrouples seems to have been abandoned/forgotten.

There are a lot of Problems with part 2, but basically most of them boils down to the fact Oda's editors didnt force him to follow through on the tonal shift, and didn't reign him in when the arcs began to baloon, and that spiraled until we ended up here at the end when everything is now for all the marbles.