#or a cartoon series i'm sure they're cooking up

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

This thoughts still cooking, so it might not make sense, but I think Thomas (Tomas?) Astruc is a very good case study on how being too attached to your own ideas can hinder your story telling.

I don't mean this in a "Thomas's original idea for the series was bad", but rather that he seems so attached to this concept that he can't stand other people having a differing view from him.

Chloe's the titular example here. Some people thought she deserved a redemption arc, and instead of just saying "nah, I don't think so" and continuing to write her the same way he had been, he had to prove them wrong, prove that his idea was the only correct one, and so turned her into the spawn of Satan and let her rule over Paris for some reason.

Instead of making Marinette less stalker-y, he wrote an entire episode poorly justifying it. And, imao, somewhat diminishing what PTSD actually is and does to people.

I'm not saying he has to make any change (though I think making Marinette less stalker-y would be a good change), but instead of 1.) sticking to his resolve or 2.) taking the criticism, he clung dearly onto this perception of his characters and his writing suffered because of how much he had to twist things to "prove" that his original assertions were right. And also that everyone who disagreed with him was wrong and didn't understand

idk if that makes sense, but the concepts been lingering in my head recently

It makes perfect sense! I've had similar thoughts. It's hard to say for sure, but Miraculous may be a case study in "kill your darlings". I'm not deep into the behind-the-scenes lore and I was not here in the early fandom, but I do know that, at some point, a much darker version of the show was pitched. That's why these exist (image source):

[Image description: two sketches styled like comic book covers. Both have the title "The Mini Menace Ladybug". The left cover shows Marinette's silhouette in a doorway. The door's glass and the glass of a nearby window are broken. In the foreground lies a hand holding a ladybug charm. The hand is limp and surrounded by blood, implying that someone is injured or dead. The right cover is Ladybug doing a spinning kick while looking angry.]

We also have this evidence of the darker original concept:

Jeremy Zag then proposed another project... which he was unable to sell to broadcasters... the project was called "Ladybug". No one was interested, as the project was aimed more at an adult audience... Sébastien had to make sure that the project could be broadcast on Disney and TF1.... Thomas wanted to make a series for adults, but at the time, it was very complicated to make a cartoon for adults. What's more, they didn't have enough money to take on such a project. Sébastien finally agreed, but there were some changes to be made, which Thomas accepted... In the end, Thomas Astruc's entire project was discarded, leaving only the love story between the two heroes and the city of Paris, where the story was to take place.

I've been aware of this darker origin story for a while due to Tumblr and, because of this knowledge, I have often had the thought, "are the writers trying to sneak elements from this darker version into canon?" Because that's the most likely explanation for what's going on here.

If I'm right, then I think that was a terrible move on their parts. They needed to let go of the story that they couldn't sell and embrace the story that they're being allowed to tell. It's why "kill you darlings" is such good advice. Many good stories have been ruined by writers clinging to an idea that ultimately doesn't work for some reason.

It's why the sitcom How I Met Your Mother has such a universally hated ending. The show was originally supposed to go for two seasons and so they wrote an ending that would fit the second season. The show ended up running for nine seasons and, by then, the ending didn't fit, but the writers kept it and left everyone with a bad taste in their mouths, which is not what any writer wants. That's why you have to do what's best for the story even if it means abandoning something that you really love.

This early version of canon may also be why the writers are so obsessed with Marinette. My understanding is that this concept had her mainly acting as a solo hero and, oh look! What is one of canon's biggest problems? Marinette being treated like a solo hero even though she has a partner and, later on, a team!

Not saying that this theory has to be true, just saying that it would explain some things. And if they're poisoning canon by trying to include elements from their darker original? Then it makes sense to assume that they're also doing it for smaller stuff. Like I'm pretty sure I've read that the head writer wanted Chat Blanc to be a lot darker originally, but no one would green light it, so we got an incredibly lackluster episode that spat in the face of the genres Miraculous' is trying to be part of while also falling to have the sort of impact we'd expect from an episode like that. It's a good example of a darling that really should have been killed. It just doesn't fit.

(Totally unrelated sidenote, but is your blog name from Tangled? Because that's what I immediately thought of and it made me smile!)

[bottombaron]

gwadhhsjfk ofc i want people to interact with my nerdy drunk rants, who else am i going to get attention from 😆

plus i need to get the word out to marvel because i'm not letting this one go

and just be clear, i don't actually hate comic!Zemo, so much as i'm disinterested in him. i mean the narcissism and supremacy is already a huge turn off but it's not like that hasn't been done in compelling ways with other types of characters but instead he's just kinda,,,meh to me. it's like nobody really knows what to do with him. he's not fun enough for me to get pass the cliché villain monologues and yet it's like they don't take him seriously enough to actually confront the turn-offs of his character.

he just isn't Vegeta enough to me iykwim. and to-be-sure a lot of this has to do with my problem with long running comics from big industries. you can't possibly get consistent character growth with a million different writers all with different stories to tell.

and what's sad is comic!Zemo had a lot of potential to be a great character when he was first introduced as the Phoenix. from there i feel like they botched it. Helmut to me had always represented the generational trauma of war. that's a really fascinating, under-represented, issue to explore that an orphan of a world war would uniquely be able to tell. and they just flopped it. Helmut had great potential to represent how war leaves lasting scars even to those who've never fought in it. how it bleeds into civilian life and how younger generations are radicalized in these war torn countries and the cycle continues. Helmut Zemo forced Steve to reckon with his hand in completing the cycle for a kid that was younger than Bucky when he fought his father. in a war that everyone celebrates as being 'one of the good ones'. that's compelling! (idk maybe the world wasn't ready for 'all war is bad and leaves victims on both sides' talk about the one war americans want to feel good about)

i really do believe that bringing in a next gen!Zemo is the solution to making it about that kind of story again. younger generations are the ones who hold their seniors accountable for their failings, it's the circle of life. you're a hippy in the 60s then a Reaganite in the 80s, and the 90s you're suddenly at the thanksgiving dinner table and your kid wearing a moth-eaten nirvana tshirt is screaming at you about how you fucked up the world and it's now up to them to save it.

it can be just the thing for comic!Zemo to gain some much needed relatability as a father that need to confront the kind of world he's actually giving to his bloodline. and also benefits readers of a younger generation to have a character going through a heightened version of their current struggles in a Helmut jr. (i'm thinking of a riff on Greta Thunberg. just fed up. fuck you and fuck everyone else. really eloquent savage rants to authority, smash up a Target, etc.)

kids and young adults these days are struggling under the immense weight of their parent's sins. exploring that kind of fury and confusion and helplessness in the face of overwhelming crisis' while the adults are just consumed with a lust for power can be cathartic for many people.

they just never told the kind of stories i wanted to read (and they could have told) with comic!Zemo and, obviously, i REALLY like mcu!Zemo and want him in comics and cartoons with a blinding passion. this feels like a good way to have both.

and the only fault of this costume is that it wasn't purple, how dare you:

just here me out

look, listen, marvel comics...i'm a lil drunk but here's a genius idea

you just do with zemo what u did with fury...make some story where he has/had a kid (maybe that he didn't know about or whatever idoooo not care) and THAT zemo is our mcu!zemo and then you can keep your annoying white suprema*ist!zemo for whatever reason you'd want to and also have the superior aNTI-suprema*ist (because fuck u dad) anti-villain!zemo based on the mcu version in the comic universe too!

bam

i solved it

[desultory-novice]

character ask. rat.

Ah, the eloquence that Anon has failed to supply in their ask, I shall make up for with my own flair and panache, for what else are the legendary Squeaks known for, if not style!

...I swear I'm not a Daroach kinnie, I just love his type, okay?!

003 Daroach

How I Feel About This Character:

...I like cartoon mice. I'm not afraid to admit it! Whenever you've got an ensemble cast of anthropomorphized animals going on, tv show or game, my eyes just go to the rodents! And I like phantom thieves. Ooh boy, do I like phantom thieves... And I like the color red, especially when paired with top hats. So, uh, you put all those things together and you get a character Dess is going to like QUITE A LOT.

And I'm not the only one! Look at him! This is OFFICIAL ARTWORK!

Like, Magolor is a total chatterbox, but when it comes to dialogue in Kirby games, Daroach RAN so Magolor could float. How does he have so much character?! How does he have so much character that is sitting there and HAL just moves on...?! (If only Squeak Squad had a better rep as a game, or if Mass Attack came out a little earlier, he could have became a series regular, perhaps.)

Any/All the People I Ship Romantically With this Character:

More like who WON'T I ship with Daroach?!

...Hopefully you've all read "Dreamy Gear" in some form, where Daroach is just casually sleeping on Meta Knight's couch, entering through his window every night, talking about all his private habits to anyone who will listen, covering for him, and kissing him when the...! :SHOT: ...Ouch... Anyway. they're married. They're married in that universe, I'm sorry. I don't make the rules.

I actually forgot this during my DMK post, but I just now remembered that Star Allies pic of Daroach and DMK fighting back to back and it's like...oh no...they would be good too...

Oh, and I have a Daroach crack ship! Yesss, a crack ship. Are you ready? Daroach x Captain Vul! You heard me. Both of them have this mature vibe (...I've seen silver fox-style gijinka of Daroach that should be illegal...) and Daroach is a mouse and Vul is a bird of prey...but in this case, the tables are turned because Daroach is the master thief and Vul is, in a word, incompetent. And the way Vul gets all shooketh in Dreamy Gear whenever Daroach shows up! Anyway, thank you for letting me put that in your heads.

...To answer my own question of who I won't ship with Daroach, the answer is Adeleine but I always laugh at --the expression-- he gives her in the Star Allies victory picture. Maybe it’s the oldschool FF fan in me, but I feel he’s the kind to flirt harmlessly with her in a "...Perhaps if my lady was older..." kind of way. 

(...Waddle Dee squad cars appear. "Here Come the Squeaks!" plays.)

My Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship For This Character:

I've done this three times already and I actually think I keep getting this question wrong but whatever. I'll keep at it. I actually really like Daroach with THE SQUEAKS. Considering that none of the rest of them have any dialogue to speak of, you can just sort of sense their tight-knit band of brothers vibe? Daroach is so confident in his little Squeakers. And Doc...well Doc made Mecha Kracko and I hate that boss! (/pos) Spinni and Storo are good too. I love that they worked all of them into Star Allies! Class act!

My Unpopular Opinion About This Character:

I'm so sorry, I only have popular opinions that should be held by EVERYONE about Daroach, such as: "He is the most attractive Kirby character." "He should return to the main series." "He deserves to be represented in more merch." "He is a great cook, an upstanding gentleman, and an excellent lov-... :SHOT:

...Oh, here’s one! I have no idea where this falls on the scale of opinions, but it IS an opinion! I completely LOATHE how his name was localized! 

They did so good making sure "Mahoroa" became "Magolor" in English. How could they take a beautiful name like ドロッチェ, a clever combination of the Japanese word for "thief" (dorobo) and the Italian word for "sweet" (dolce) and come up with something that has the word ROACH in it?! I'm not always a huge weeb, but I will -always- pronounce his name JP style for this reason.

One Thing I Wish Would Happen / Had Happened With This Character In Canon:

...Maybe not getting jobbed by the worst last boss in Kirby history...? AHEM!  U-uh, the Triple Star!! The Triple Star is CLEARLY important (despite being terribly silly looking) yet with future Daroach appearances being a massive unknown, we still know almost nothing about it? Where did it come from? Is it another Halcandran artifact? How'd he get it?! (I actually have my own headcanon about that. Will make it a post someday.)

Favorite Friendship For This Character:

Outside of shipping them, he and Meta Knight are, again, amazing in the Dreamy Gear Novel. But also Kirby! Daroach is so soft on Kirby, sticking around to help him out for a really long time and talking to him, like, OMG, cute!

And Adeleine in an obviously non-romantic way. I keep thinking about I-like-eyes's post where Daroach and Adeleine are talking about fanfic (idk if it's a quote from something or not, anyway it was hilarious) and that is exactly the kind of thing I want to see more of!

My Crossover Ship/FREE SPACE/Video Recs:

...Uh, fandom? Where are the Daroach videos?! How am I supposed to link an amazing Daroach AMV if no one has made one?! There is that Rhythm Heaven parody, 「こっそりドロッチェ団」 which is super cute but still...

Anyway, he may not be loved by AMV creators, but according to what I've seen, he's fairly loved in both the Mie novels and many of the manga adaptations! I don't know if this is one of the ones that is out of print or not, but someday I'd like to see more of the Kirby manga that released right around Squeak Squad's release date that I recall bumps him right up to regular cast member!