#writing: salt

[zoe-oneesama]

What are your thoughts on what happened to Chloe at the end of Season 5? Do you plan on watching Season 6?

Like as IF that's the last we'll see of her.

I was gonna wait to give my review of Season 5 - I wanted a release date for Season 6 and then drop them like a count down leading up to the new season - which is why I haven't delved in much and talked about my opinions.

But Chloe's ending was bullshit, and we all know it. Not because she leaves Paris, not because she loses the few friends and connections she has, and not even because she's a massive brat who finally gets some form of comeuppance.

But because of the form that comeuppance comes in.

Why on God's Green Earth is ANDRE the one? ANDRE is the one to drag her ass out of Paris and condemn her publicly and gets to act like the big hero, doing the right thing and putting Chloe in her place? ANDRE. The one who GAVE her her place and covered it in gold leaf and never once until this whack-job of a season considered that a bad thing?!

Appropriate, appropriate face Caline.

The absolute absurdity of them to write THIS MAN in any sort of correct light, the one who from Day 1, Season 1 has been a solid and complete background for why Chloe is...Chloe. Who spoiled and abused his power to make sure she never felt an ounce of consequences or remorse or backlash. How dare they try and pull this move on us when they could remove Audrey from the story entirely and no one would second guess Chloe's entire personality or upbringing?

These writers have somehow convinced themselves that Andre is not only without any guilt in the outcome of this situation, but that he's redeemable! Redeemable through the act of shipping off his daughter, whom he's been nothing but devoted to, and sending her off to a boarding school with her (AS HE ADMITS) just as awful mother as her chaperone, while he abducts casually replaces her with his new better daughter, Zoé.

I'm sure that won't have an adverse effect on your child who is used to absolute and unconditional love for her whole life, you are definitely a good person who's finally figured out how to do the right thing.

/s

These writers have somehow convinced themselves that Chloe is absolutely hopeless and evil and has reached the point of no return, but ANDRE. Andre's fine.

And Gabriel too, apparently. Hm, seems to be a theme with these worthless male parents and getting off scott free....

[foldingfittedsheets]

My mom suffers from a critical salt deficiency. This is a lie. She just started her life at a baseline of salt much below the average person. Also untrue. She just fuckin loves salt. That one’s real.

My mom’s boundless hunger for salt manifests in a few ways but it’s almost always met with outrage and to be honest I can’t fault the people who serve her food for being infuriated. She even salts her watermelon.

The most memorable occasion for me was at a creperie in Paris. My mom ordered a ham and cheese crepe. Our food arrived, it looked amazing. My dad and I reached for our silverware.

My mother reached for the salt.

It’s critical to know that she did not taste the crepe before reaching. We had no prior frame of reference for their baseline saltiness. Nevertheless. She automatically went straight to needing more salt.

I looked up and saw our server watching my mother with a look of pure indignation and rage. “Mom,” I said urgently, “You didn’t even try it yet.”

She waved me off and salted the crepe before taking a bite and nodding complacent enjoyment. The server did not return to our table of his own volition.

Most recently for her birthday we went to the aquarium. They had a little restaurant on site and my folks got fish and chips. Mom specified she would like salt and ketchup then waited for dad and I to go collect our food.

I picked up our food and asked the cook, “Is there salt packets?”

His head shot up in confused annoyance, “It’s well seasoned,” he said.

“Believe me. My mom would add salt to a salt lick, I won’t be allowed at the table if I don’t bring extra.”

He looked into my eyes and we shared a silent moment of suffering before he pointed to a tiny hidden bin of salt packets. I thanked him and brought my mom her food.

She salted the fries before tasting them and pronounced them very pleasant.

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

I think a more charitable interpretation of the statue scene being when Adrien first fell in love with Marinette is that he’s lying.

I think contextually with the way his expression is animated the moment Adrien started to see Marinette differently was when he practiced her confession with her as Chat, but Adrien can’t tell her that. So they picked another scene from the show for him to lie about as a cover.

This isn’t to absolve the show of bad writing. It’s extremely telling that the romantic leads interact so infrequently out of the mask that the statue scene was their go to.

It also doesn’t help that we rarely get any insight into how Adrien thinks. Meaning we only have on screen actions to go on regarding his unreliability as a narrator and as a superhero.

(Post that spawned this ask or possible this one, not 100% sure since both reference that scene)

While this is obviously not what canon was going for, I utterly adore this as a simple fix to the problem. What a lovely idea that could have been perfectly in line with the show's humor. Just have Kagami ask Adrien when he started feeling like this for Marinette, leading him to flashback to:

The Glaciator balcony scene, but oops, can't talk about that one, he was Chat Noir

The Weredad confession and date, but oops, once again, can't discuss that because he was Chat Noir

The Glaciator 2 confession to "Buttercup", but oops, he's once again Chat Noir

Could even throw in an Evillustrator flashback, but once again, he can't talk about that because he was Chat Noir!

Between each flashback we see Kagami getting ever more impatient so Adrien finally just blurts out something about the wax museum based on a poster behind her head and the rest of the episode is him having to pretend that the awkward almost kiss was the moment while Marinette, Luka, and Kagami all look at him like he's nuts. It could have been amazing! You could also do a variation where the flashbacks happen throughout the episode as Adrien remembers his favorite moments with Marinette, but he can never talk about the real memory because it was with the wrong him.

Then again, that would probably eat up the whole 20 minutes, leaving no time for an akuma attack, so it wouldn't work for Miraculous as every episode has to have a fight in it, but that's not an argument against this idea. It's just another argument for why a romance is poorly suited to an episodic formula show that's incredibly strict about being both of those things!

[legendary-cookies]

I've been working on this on and off for like a long time and honestly I kinda hate it now, but this is like a revamp of these but with the Beasts too lmao

This also has a headcanon I have of if the Legends had virtues like the Ancients and Beasts

Also yes I'm aware Fire and Moon might fit more if they switched but I have lore reasons leave me alone

[motherofplatypus]

The best part of the London Special was when Ladybug said "Its London time!" and spent 99% of the special being anywhere but London.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

fellow + gidel ssr time fellas

(This bastard took an entire soft pity :(( but hey, I got a Dorm Uniform Jade dupe and finally FINALLY my first Dorm Uniform Floyd on the way, so I ain't too pressed about it.) RISE UP FELLOWIVES NOW’S YOUR TIME

***Character profile, voice lines, Groovy, and vignette spoilers below the cut!!***

First off! His official profile, coffin, and candy (Fox Candy):

(School) Grade/Class: None

Birthday: May 17 (Taurus)

Age: 26

Height: 181 cm

Dominant Hand: Right

Hometown: ???

Club: None

Best Subject: Mathematics (specifically Arithmetic)

Hobby: Watching theater

Dislikes: Saving money

Favorite Food: Apples

Least Favorite Food: Potatoes

Special Skill: Sewing

We finally get confirmation of Fellow’s age! (He had previously said in Playful Land that he was 20-something.)

I love that Fellow’s best subject is math Deuce is jealous/j; it makes so much sense given that his inspiration, Honest John (and Fellow himself) aren’t good at reading. It’s that whole “kids are either good at math or English” stereotype. In Japanese, the phrase 算数 is used. 算数 refers to arithmetic, or very basic math taught in elementary school (adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing). That specific phrase explains Fellow’s elementary level of understanding. His dislike being saving money is also related to numbers; he spends the money he has right away to get by in the moment. Fellow doesn’t really have the skill or the luxury of financial planning, he has to focus on the here and now, looking out for both himself and Gidel.

OMG, his favorite and least favorite foods???? 😭 Playful Land has apple (core) flavored candies and popcorn… and again, this is a reference to Honest John and Pinocchio’s first encounter! He takes the kid’s apple and eats it, lol cnsvwiwguwkw Potatoes being his disliked food… Maybe it’s because it’s the “poor” man’s vegetable? Because potatoes are so versatile, keep for a long time, and are filling because of the starch content, Fellow might resort to eating them a lot, so perhaps as a result he got sick of the taste.

What I find most interesting about Fellow’s profile are his listed hobby and special skill. He largely comes off as despicable and a slimy scammer (which he is, don’t get me wrong), but we can see different sides to him in these details—both the inner child that had his dreams trampled but remains hopeful about the future and the big brother figure/guardian to a child. Gidel is actually formally referred to in Fellow’s profile as his (non-blood related) brother, which made my heart melt 🥺 TWST must know I have a thing for beastmen who act shitty but are actually excellent mentors to the children/j

Fellow enjoys watching theater. It’s a way of transporting you away temporarily to new worlds with crazy stories and emotional performances. When words aren’t enough, you sing. And when singing isn’t enough, you dance. It’s an area that’s so full of life and joy, at least from the audience’s perspective. I’m thinking that watching theater must have been a form of escapism for Fellow, especially with how accessible it is (think of like street performances). Watching theater might also serve a dual purpose of teaching Fellow how to come across as amicable and friendly, which says a LOT about his character. He’s resourceful and able to learn from unconventional sources, then is able to apply those skills to real world situations.

Fellow’s special skill being sewing is surprisingly very cute! If you’ve taken one look at his and Gidel’s designs, we may have already spotted some of his handiwork. There’s mismatched fabric patches on their clothes!! The stitches look so clean too. The patterns not matching is probably because Fellow just used whatever scraps he was able to get his hands on, but I also like to imagine that he tried to make the best of the situation by incorporating the mismatched fabrics in a fun way (like the diamonds in his pants).

Next, can we talk about the composition of that GROOVY????

It’s another reference to the same Pinocchio scene! Fellow’s holding his book like Honest John did and it looks like he’s trying to teach Gidel the alphabet from words scratched on the sidewalk. Notice how the C is written backwards too 😂 He even wears glasses like when Honest John was trying hard to act like an intellectual.

And Gidel!!! Pencil and pad of paper in hand, he looks so interested to learn (something which was hinted at in Playful Land). Gideon in the film is also shown with a pen and pad of paper, scribbling down nonsense as Fellow pretends to diagnose Pinocchio.

Gidel glances up at Fellow with an expression of admiration. I love how wholesome their relationship is depicted as, it leaves a warm feeling in the heart.

The framing of this Groovy is very interesting. We have Fellow to our left—a direction has historically been associated with evil (in Italian, the word for left is even sinistra, as if to imply something sinister) and in the darkness. Gidel is the one to our right and in the light. It presents Fellow to us as someone who has given up on his dreams—but not completely, since we see some light touching his hat, gloves, and highest features + he is currently teaching Gidel and still has dreams of opening his own school. Gidel is shown in the light because he’s still a naive child that doesn’t understand how the world works. His dreams haven’t been destroyed yet, and there’s hope for him to have a better life since Fellow is looking after him and instructing him.

CHECK THIS OUT, GIDEL FOLLOWS FELLOW TO CLASS LIKE MARY'S LAMB OR SOMETHING????? Gidel pops out from under the desk or out of/behind Fellow's cape! Gidel also joins Fellow on the homescreen.

Some of Fellow's expressions are so priceless... For example, look at him in Flight! There's an unsure face and a little bead of sweat. (He makes a lot of pathetic accompanying sounds too, lol) Flying takes magic, so he's probably not confident or powerful enough to maintain flight for long stretches of time--though when he does nail it, he looks ultra smug.

ADGKVAVFOOEFIEQOfsl HIS SHOCKED FACE

How uncool, Fellow-san...

His attack sprites are very similar/identical to what we saw in Playful Land--Fellow's just playing for the opposite team now.

Gidel hops into battle to assist, so I guess they count as the first two-character card. It's been a while since I've seen these animations, but I think I can appreciate them a lot more now. I'm noticing new little things like how Fellow adds a bunch of showmanship into his attack, little flashy flourishes and even presenting Gidel with his arms splayed, as if welcoming a star to the spotlight. The attention to detail really is crazy for these.

If you want to read his voice lines in full, you can find an excellent fan translation of them here! I'll just be remarking on things I noticed while combing through the voice lines myself:

First off: bro calls himself Fellow Hones-SAMA???????? OKAY, KING 😭 Love that confidence you got goin' on there...

bifabsiyofbefe Love how he just reads a textbook and then flat-out admits he has no clue what the heck it's saying. Hey, honesty is a virtue.

Ace ��� He has the balls to play a prank on an adult... I kind of want to know what the prank was, but at the same time I feel like I should be shaking my head and telling him off for doing it in the first place. I do appreciate that Ace being shitty brought out Fellow's true personality there for a second though, I live for it when Fellow gets real steamed and starts shouting that the NRC students are brats or that they should drop out if they have no motivation in school.

The way Fellow automatically clocked that Kalim is way too trusting and would surely be in danger even if he wasn't the one to come for him... Fellow, watch your back. Jamill WILL come for your sketchy ass for what you did back then.

I didn't find anything super interesting in Fellow's comments about Ortho, but I do think it reveals that there is value in him coming to school. It's only at NRC where Fellow can see such a curious thing like Ortho, and that speaks to the value of really going out there and being exposed to different things. That's part of Lilia's own growth arc too, and a large part of why he now spreads that same rhetoric.

Fellow remarks that Ramshackle is "pretty sweet", which means one of two things: either this is the refurbished post-book 6 dorm OR it's still the shabby pre-book 6 dorm, but since Fellow and Gidel have never really had their own stable housing, even run-down old Ramshackle seems like a massive upgrade.

Fellow and Gidel must have been so happy to see that lunch at NRC is free and served buffet style (so there's no limits to how much you can take). On top of that, they got dead chefs from 5 star restaurants staffing the kitchen! Those two really hit the jackpot, I hope they eat well.

AVUSDGVUADOVIAISDBIDAS THE DIALOGUE IMPLYING FELLOW CASUALLY BYPASSED THE SCHOOL'S BARRIER AND OTHER SECURITY MEASURES... So Chenya-core of him, really. Fellow may not have magical might, but he's seriously street smart to have found a way in like he has.

Small detail but I appreciate how Fellow has lines which call attention to Gidel. It doesn't just remind us that Gidel is there too, but it also demonstrates to us that Fellow actively tries to include him in the conversation despite Gidel's muteness (a condition which may lead others to outright ignoring him or talking down to him).

LAST THING (though it's not in MysteryShopTL's linked post): in his birthday greeting to the player, Fellow says that both you and him don't have talent for magic, so you should get along. I didn't think the game would acknowledge the player and Fellow's similarity in that sense, so it was very nice to be proven wrong.

And to finish off this post (which ended up being way more massive than I thought it would be), a quick summary of the vignettes!! If you want to read them in full, please check out MysteryShopTLs’ post!

In vignette 1, Fellow and Gidel are putting on a street performance in Silk City. Fellow collects fees from the onlookers and then tries to milk more out of them by spinning a story about how Gidel is a puppet that can walk without strings. Buuut Gidel moves like a normal living being and sneezes, which ruins the ruse and leads to the crowd getting mad at them. The duo run off, but Fellow reveals that while the locals were looking at Gidel, he used magic to steal some of their precious metals and jewelry. In the next vignette, Fellow and Gidel have moved on to Fairest City. It's said that they live a nomadic lifestyle and hop from place to place, never staying for too long in any one location because word of their scams may spread and cause a situation where they cannot reasonably make money through their lies. (Cute detail: Fellow listens to Gidel's suggestions on where they should go next and even praises Gidel's smarts.) This time Fellow's trying to auction off a magestone that he claims will allow anyone who holds it to use magic. The people of Fairest City don't believe him and give him the cold shoulder, which upsets Fellow (since he really hates it when others look down on him). He ends up using his UM to get his audience to be more pliant and manages to sell the magestone for a pretty penny. At the end of this vignette, Fellow drops a line about how he and Gidel are so free, how they can do whatever they want since they have nothing holding them back. I really love that thought~

AND IF YOU THOUGHT VIGNETTES 1 AND 2 WERE FUNNY HAHA TEEHEE CUTE, WAIT UNTIL YOU SEE VIGNETTE 3 💀 VIGNETTE 3 FELT LIKE IT WAS A TARGETTED SNIPE ON MY HEART

The setting is Sunrise City! Fellow and Gidel are being chased off by an angry person they tried to rob. It looks like they're unsuccessful today and will be going hungry. Gidel tries opening a random can of OIL in search of food, so Fellow scolds him and tells him to leave it be. Apparently Gidel does this a lot when he's hungry (just grabbing random shit and trying to eat it), even though Fellow has tried teaching him how to read. THIS IS WHAT THE CONTEXT OF THE GROOVY IS, FELLOW SQUATS DOWN (like we literally see his 2D model lowering) AND DRAWS IT ON THE GROUND FOR GIDEL TO SEE. O is for orange, I is for ice-cream, and L is for laugh. Fellow realizes that L is the only non-food word, but he couldn't come up with anything else. I wonder if like... this is some common game they do to distract from hunger. They have to imagine the food they could have but can't. And L being "laugh"? That can't be a coincidence. Fellow could have used any other L word as an example, even if he couldn't come up with a food that starts with L. It makes me think he picked "laugh" on purpose in an effort to lift Gidel's spirits and to try and distract from their circumstances.

Aaaah, as I was saying! Fellow gets upset that he doesn't know as much as your average 26-year old would since he never went to school. Gidel seems to sense his frustrations and reassures him with a pat, which reenergizes Fellow. He says he'll try to find some food, so Gidel should focus on making a fire. While gathering wood to burn, they come across a job posting by a shady rich man that Fellow and Gidel supposedly did another job for in the past. Fellow suggests that they check out the job and if they don't like it then they can leave. ADSKJBBSLDIADBLUBAB These are the events leading up to Playful Land... meaning that Fellow’s showmanship is wasn’t something he developed at the amusement park, but as a general coping and survival mechanism to get by day-to-day.

I uh. May or may not have cried a little at Fellow and Gidel's really wholesome interaction 😭 I MEAN YEAH OF COURSE I'M A SUCKER FOR BIG BROTHER CHARACTERS (and we certainly see that in how Fellow scolds Gidel and looks out for his wellbeing, both in the vignettes and in Playful Land) but also???????? ? ? ? ? ?? ?????? ? ? ? ?? I love Love LOVE how Gidel is shown to be supportive of Fellow as well. Fellow as the older person, the adult, and the able-bodied one of the duo is pulling most of the weight when it comes to getting resources and handling communication. However, Gidel plays an important role in their dynamic as well. He's the heart and the emotional support that Fellow needs when he's down in the dumps and being hard on himself. Gidel not only serves as a "reason" for Fellow to work hard (to support a child), but he also gives Fellow motivation and hope that tomorrow can be another day. YOU CAN REALLY TELL HOW MUCH THESE TWO CARE AND LOOK OUT FOR ONE ANOTHER OTL

OOOOOOOoooOOooOOGGHHHH MY HEART *clutches it* I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE, I CAN'T HANDLE THE ONII-SAMA OF IT ALL

[official-trainwrecks]

HEY, YOU. Are you a fan of Friends, Riverdale, Dracula Daily, or Heartbreaker? Do you love romance/romantic plotlines? Do enemies-to-lovers and will-they-won't-they scenarios keep you on the edge of your seat? Are you starving for more diversity and mental health rep?

Then you should read Trainwrecks, a FREE online serial following the lives of six Seattle-adjacent best friends from 2004-2015!

Meet the Cast!

Art by mangomangoj on Instagram.

Luna Cruz: (14) A nerdy and artistic girl who's had enough of being bullied about her weight. Her dream is to become a fashion designer. Or an ASL interpreter. Or both!

Dimitri Hale: (19) The most charming genius-turned-bag-boy you'll ever meet. He likes alcohol a little too much, but better booze than heroin, is he right??

Sebastian Velasquez: (16) The only thing keeping Seb from a life of debauchery is his best friend Dimitri, who he happens to have a crush on. Singing, dancing, and playing the guitar are his hobbies.

Jasmine Nolan: (16) Jasmine had the baddest reputation in her high school until she met Jesus. Now He's forgiven her, but she's having an awfully hard time forgiving herself.

Duke Kingston: (14) Duke might be one of the best friends you'll ever have! But if you're a bully, he's going to beat the shit out of you. No questions asked.

Victoria Hale: (14) Victoria's just moved to the U.S. from London, and she has her sights set on Juilliard. Beware her ADHD rage: She can go from 0 to throwing furniture in seconds.

About the Series

Trainwrecks: Season 1 (2004-2005) is now premiering on Substack! Each week, subscribers will receive both a narrative chapter and a social media chapter in their email inboxes. This entire story is free to read, but paid subscribers will receive four pieces of bonus content a month!

Curious about the characters? You can browse this blog or follow the link in the bio to the official website for bios, Spotify playlists, and more information!

Thanks for reading!

[tea-cat-arts]

Shen Yuan getting transported into pidw isn't "the system punishing him for being a lazy internet hater," but instead representative of "step 1 of the creative process: getting so mad at something you decide to go write your own fucking book" in this essay I will

[m3nt4llyr4v3d]

I think it’s fascinating how both the narrative and the in-universe magic system punishes only the teenagers for acting terrible and never the adults.

The universe of Miraculous has an evil transformation, for one, and that transformation only starts killing the user if they’re not an adult. If you’re an adult, the universe itself doesn’t really care

And we all know how the narrative treats its teenage antagonists compared to adult antagonists (Chloe’s treatment compared to her father’s/Gabe’s)

I don’t think I’ve seen anything like it before

[avalonelf]

Okay I never post but seeing all the misinterpretations of Ragatha and Gangle in the new The Amazing Digital Circus ep made me feel the need to at least put my opinion out there, for whatever it’s worth. Everyone asks for morally grey characters but when given them, they are heavily misjudged and mischaracterised.

So this scene:

Also! Please take into consideration that Ragatha is literally drugged up here. She’s in an altered mental state and would never normally say these things. She probably doesn’t even realise the things she’s saying.

So, notice how Ragatha says ‘Happy mask’ and not ‘Comedy Mask’?.

She is referring to the new mask that Gangle has never had on around them before (which I may also argue altered her mental state too but that’s another can of worms), and also the fact that it’s a MASK. She didn’t say “you’re annoying when you’re happy.” And people interpreting it that way are the same ones saying that Ragatha is too much of a people pleaser and needs to be more honest, which yeah she does! She’s more saying “Not to offend, but right now, you are being quite overbearing and demanding” and considering Ragatha is all loopy and out of it, I’m sure it was just how she was feeling in that moment.

Ragatha is not this secretly evil or nasty person who hates everyone, and Gangle saying to Pomni:

Was not saying that Ragatha is ‘hiding and true feelings and actually doesn’t like me’, it’s more once again Gangle worrying that’s what Ragatha may actually think due to how much of a people pleaser she is and how with this mindset, makes her dishonest. Which yeah! Being a people pleaser is not always a good thing, it can cause this exact situation! This doesn’t mean Ragatha is ‘hiding her true evil feelings’, more so she just not honest when she should be. You can be a critic to someone without being mean, and hopefully Ragatha can learn that.

Once again, what Ragatha said to Gangle is not a nice thing to say to anyone at all, but she is not thinking straight at all and Gangle is literally her boss essentially, or at least supervisor (in this ‘adventure’ setting). Anyone who has worked in retail/fast food or any minimum wage job understands that no matter how much you get along (or don’t) with your supervisor, there’s going to be points where they get on your nerves. Gangle herself is not happy in this episode, she has another mask on and is working a job she doesn’t even want to do! Here is a plain example of this:

Gangle doesn’t even want to do this job, she wants to be a comic artist but she’s been made to believe that it’s just an impossible dream.

I also feel this episode is heavily a direct metaphor on how the capitalist society and how a minimum wage job can just destroy a persons soul and motivation. Coming from someone who has worked this sort of job, your own personal relationships can be negatively affected and even ruined due to work pressure. Whether it’s managers getting in your business or whatnot, work can make people grouchy and harsh in fear of losing their jobs or being criticised or people just being eager to please and get a raise or just words of affirmation from higher ups. Like Jax for example, we don’t know what Gangle did to make him so afraid and make him a shell of his usual self, but once again is showing how jobs such as this can change and affect people deeply.

And also! All you people saying Jax is finally getting a taste of his own medicine and what he deserved, we don’t know what that employee training video was and why Jax reacted the way he did. So be careful with that!

Gangle was not happy this episode, and the ending solidified that for me. She wasn’t taking her mask off and finally feeling free and happy, to me it felt like she was in a manic sort of state and was being so careless that she unintentionally fell into oncoming traffic. As soon as she got out of work and took that work based mask off. I don’t think it was a reflection of her finally taking off her mask and being free, it had very unsettling undertones. Not to mention Cain straight up grading her ‘performance’ including what she did AFTER she clocked out which was quite literally being hit by a truck. Do you see what I’m getting at here? It’s the exact similar situation I have seen where my own supervisors were particularly demanding or grouchy on a day where I wasn’t feeling it, and then they themself regret it or end up getting in some sort of trouble with a higher up when they were just trying to essentially do their job! Also Ragatha was straight up drugged, without consent, due to the materials she was forced to work with!

But yes, I think people are empathising too heavily towards Gangle in thinking how they often have masks up and how much it would hurt if their friends acted this way or if they HAVE in fact acted this way towards you, but I don’t think this is the case here.

I ramble a lot but I hope this got some of my thoughts and interpretations across??

I loved this episode and it’s left me asking so many questions that I’m so curious about and I’m so excited for what future episodes bring!

[zoe-oneesama]

If its okay to ask what exactly is the issue with Chloe's writing in the show for you? The creators have stated multiple times "there will be no redemption, she's rotten to the core and she's gonna stay that way" and it seems like thats what you want from her. So where exactly do they fumble the bag for you?

Mostly the part where they wasted everyone's time.

They tried to play both sides - kept her as nasty and self centered as always and did nothing to change her, but also make multiple episodes where we're meant to feel sorry for her and the heroine is portrayed as In The Wrong for being too harsh on her. It was annoying.

Like, it was just...tonally confusing at the time. It's totally in character for her to "steal" a Miraculous and not give it back when the rightful owner demands it back, being a thief was never outside of Chloe's wheelhouse. So tell me why they had the heroes give her soft woobie eyes and make excuses for her on the grounds of "you just wanted Mommy to look at you" and frame it like that's correct??????

And then, AND THEN, after wasting everyone's goddamn time trying to pretend they were doing something deep with Chloe, they didn't just double down on her being a two-bit one dimensional mean girl and tried to pretend like they didn't devote multiple episodes to convincing the audience she was more than that, but they wrote her to be even more comically evil as if to drive the knife even deeper! You can't help but read into their motivations, it feels like they're doing it to target certain fans specifically. "Oh you liked Chloe and wanted her to be redeemed? What if we ANTI-REDEEMED HER?! And now she's somehow more evil than our abusive magical terrorist! BWAHAHAHA!" Like?????? The Fuck?????

There's a moment in Season 5's "Collusion" where Bustier brings up the gift Chloe got her at the end of "Zombizou", doing this speech about how she recognized that Chloe was just a fragile teenager looking for love and attention (the EXACT THING that Season 2 spent a multi-episode arc trying to convince their audience of) only for Chloe to snap back that Bustier is using her student's feelings to "blackmail" her in that moment and uses this as grounds to get the woman fired.

And I feel like that really encapsulates the frustration I have at specifically the staff behind Miraculous Ladybug when it comes to Chloe.

Here is Chloe mocking Bustier for reading into what happened in "Zombizou" and instead it feels like the viewer is being mocked. Everyone who thought they were going somewhere with Chloe, everyone who bought what they were selling, everyone who's time was fucking wasted, is being laughed at in this moment.

Look, I never bought into Chloe being redeemed, so my personal annoyance was this dilly-dallying through this random side quest that amounted to nothing, which is a constant in this damn show. But, and I know this might be hard for some to believe, I had deep deep sympathy and empathy for fans who really thought and really wanted for the Battle of the Queens Arc to amount to something. I am so, so angry for them, because every season finds a way to not only stab you all in the back but twist the knife.

So yeah, that's my "issue".

[demigodseameg16]

Bro as someone who uses a walking aid (a cane) and is disabled seeing the new trailer for Miraculous Ladybug makes me absolutely furious. I have never felt so much hatred for a fictional character before and yet here we are. I didn't like Marinette before but like, this just. This hits way too close to home and I know Astruc is going to frame it in a way that makes Marinette the good guy. But NOTHING excuses touching a disability aid without permission, especially fooling around with it and sabotaging it. And the fact that a younger generation is going to see this, I absolutely can't. I feel so bad for disabled children who will see this scene on TV and have their feelings be in the wrong, shown that they are the bad guys for getting upset, or heavens forbid being disabled. Screw you Astruc.

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

Is it true that Miraculous often sexualizes its characters? Because I see other people say this and want to know if it’s correct

I have not picked up on anything like that in Miraculous, but I'm ace, so sexualization has to be pretty overt for me to notice it on my own. It's entirely possible that there's something subtle that I'm missing. Until someone gives me specific examples, my stance is that this is incorrect. It's not an element that even crosses my mind when it comes to the reasons why I would discourage adults from introducing this show to kids. I am concerned about the quality of the romance between the leads, but that concern comes from a psychological standpoint about modeling what healthy relationships should look like. The love square is way too teen drama for a family show! However, from a purely physical standpoint, it's appropriate for all ages.

[asoftepiloguemylove]

Jack Stauber Just Take My Wallet // Lady Bird (2017) dir. Greta Gerwig // Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022) dir. Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert // Hannah Green Night Terrors // Veruca Salt All Hail Me // Fleabag (2016-2019) cr. Phoebe Waller-Bridge // Laurie Anderson O Superman (live) // Kyung-sook Shin Please Look After Mom // Ocean Vuong Someday I'll Love Ocean Vuong // Euphoria (2019-) cr. Sam Levinson // Ernest Hemingway The Garden of Eden

[prolibytherium]

Saying 'sex and food and gore are variations on the same concept so you can write them interchangeably' is so crazy because like you are fundamentally missing the point of theme, it's meaning Assigned to concepts that don't necessarily have intrinsic meaning beyond what they fundamentally describe.

Like you Can write sex like food effectively if it's serving a purpose (to communicate about the nature of the sex, the emotional stakes, the character's personality and their relationships, etc) and using eating as a metaphor effectively communicates this purpose- ie to evoke that the sex is an act of consumptive indulgence (maybe at the expense of the other? is it self-serving for one or both? do they treat it like mindless snacking? is it like binge eating?), or that it's an attempt to satiate a feeling of starvation (does it? are they still hungry?), etc. It Can work very effectively if you're using the food connection to convey additional layers of meaning that are not implicit in the act itself.

It does NOT work if you're operating on the basis of 'sex and gore and eating actually all the same thing as an act consumption and love and violence and sensation and cannibalism dog motif take me to church'. Like just first of all you are Wrong, these are meanings you've attached to (mostly) neutral human behavior. Having sex, eating food, and grievous bodily injuries are, shockingly, not the same thing (hence why juxtaposing/connecting the concepts to create new meaning is the way you make it work!) You can't even write variations on Sex Itself interchangeably, sex is not all the same, sometimes it's boring and routine, sometimes it's affectionate and emotional, sometimes it's self harming and ugly. Much less writing every act of human bodily sensation interchangeably. This will not make your writing better but instead lead you to crafting the most garbage sentences known to man. Tread carefully.

[motherofplatypus]

No Closure For Abuse Victim?

It comes to my attention that all the abuse victims in the show never really got a closure with their abuser. In fact, most of them even had it worse.

Adrien never got to confront his dad as himself and call him out for his mistreatment. He lived his final days with his father seeing him as a monster that he is, and when Gabe died, he sees him as a hero.

Chloe never got to confront her mom either for neglecting her for YEARS, and when she met her, Audrey attacked her with verbal abuse. In the end, she had to live with her own abuser for some fucked up reasons.

Felix is a hard case bcs we never see if he confronted Colt or not, but from that avant-garde play, apparently he didn't. Colt just died, and that's about it.

The only one who gets to have a closure with their abuser, based on how TA and the writers see it, is Andre, by sending his daughter he never raised off with her abuser and kidnap someone else's daughter bcs she's better than your own.

Im not sure to put Marinette here or not with Chloe.

It's really messed up that the writers created these abused characters and never gave them a chance to heal from their mistreatment even after the first arc finale.

Well, that's just my opinion. Im most likely wrong about some of those points, so share your thoughts.

And speaking of mistreatment, please spare your time to sign this petition to kick israel from the UN and ban them from Nobel Ceremony for illegally colonizing and committing genocide upon the Palestinians. Over 17.000 children have been murdered by them in less than a year, children like Marinette and Adrien, and even younger than them. They put civilians inside a concentration camp like the Nazi did during WW2.

All that is necessary for evil to succeed is for good people to do nothing. No more silence, no more ignorance. End the occupation now!