#i now honestly hate chameleons

[fancylala4]

Honestly I am more sad and disappointed about the Ariana Grande thing(s) than anything else. Because Ariana is a celebrity that I really wish I could like. There's this TikTok where a white guy says he doesn't revel in the fact that Nicki Minaj is a bad person because he used to love her and defend her in middle school. And that's exactly how I feel about Ariana. I never "stanned" her nor was I ever a big fan of her(Melanie Martinez, Marina and the Diamonds, and Halsey were more my speed growing up), but I used to really admire her a lot for the feminist stances in her music(such as God is a Woman/Bang Bang/Don't Call Me Angel) and in real life(like that one makeup vs cell phone interview she had) and how outspoken she was about them. And also her body positivity because she was proud of her sexuality while also being very slender and not having any curves, and as someone who is also flat and curveless it made me happy to see that. But when I found out that she was a race chameleon all of that flew out the window, and now she is also an adulteress and even wrote an entire song about how she doesn't accept criticism for her actions and is proud of what she did.

Also back when I admired her for the reasons listed above i thought she was a brown Latina, meaning in addition to all of the above I embraced her as a woman of color like me. But really she's just white and racefishing. It infuriates me that people continue to give her the benefit of the doubt to this day just because they like her songs or because she has an amazingly beautiful voice, or because she has an "innocent" girl vibe(which just reeks of "white women are inherently innocent while woc aren't", because no one ever says this shit about women of color). And I hate how rancid and hostile her cult of personality is. Like seriously, girlypops. Do better. There are so many better and more talented female singers that you could be stanning instead. Just go listen to them instead of Miss Yes, And? Aside from how terribly she was treated/sexualized under D*n Schn*ider, I have no sympathy for her. 🙅🏾‍♀️

I agree with everything you said. I was a big fan of her first album and I still listen to it. But after she started to do brown face and copying other black artists songs and looks, I started to dislike her. It just reminds of those white artists like Christina and Miley who take black culture and aesthetics just to rebel against their innocence image. When they are done with that, they go back to their old image. Which is exactly what Ariana did. She has blonde hair and no tan now. Which is funny because her stans were yelling that she was dark because she’s Italian (which never made sense because she was always pale). 

The homewreaking she did was enough to turn most of the public against her and that trash ass song she wrote just shows us how vile she is. Of course her stans will defend her no matter what. They defended her when she licked those donuts and defended her changing her race every year. They will also go after anyone who is critical of her. They are just like Nicki stans.

#asks #anti ariana grande

[sysmedsaresexist]

how the fuck do you claim to be pro-misinfo while having three """ endos """ on your fucking staff team. do fucking better.

This is it, I think.

I straighten my tie, smooth the front of my suit one last time before I finally open the thick, ornate door. The wedding planner rushes at me, fussy and anxious to get me into place. Less than two minutes later, I'm standing at the altar, waiting.

Organ music rings heavy through the hall, echoing off the high ceilings and reverberating in my chest, drowning out my nervous, hammering pulse. It was a long, long road to get to this point, but I was ready.

I'm lost in thoughts and happy memories as the processional begins, barely noticing the steadily growing crowd around me on the stage, but it doesn't take the sudden hush that falls over the room to tell me that you've arrived. I probably noticed you first, my eyes immediately drawn to you, and it was as if I was seeing you again for the first time. A tear forms in the corner of my eye, and I quickly wipe it away, willing composure onto myself.

This was really happening.

It feels like it took you years to get down the aisle, until you were finally standing in front of me. You look... kind of weird, honestly, but that's okay. You look about the same as you always do, though now there's lipstick smeared across your razor thin mouth to give the illusion of symmetrical, luscious lips. I cut the officiant off before he can start, taking your small, strange lizard hands in my own.

Swallowing thickly, I avoid your gaze. It's hard, though, because your bulging, golden chameleon eyes keep swiveling around, simultaneously looking for a tasty treat as you try to anticipate what I'm about to say.

"Anon... This is the worst ask I've ever gotten. I can't do this."

If you had actual lips, I'm sure you would have looked... sad, or shocked maybe. I don't really know. You were always hard to read. And now neither of your eyes are looking at me. I hate it when you do that. It's creepy.

But... is this... guilt?

No, so I whip out my rad sunglasses and throw up an L before my best man turns into a skateboard.

I do a sick kick flip and ride out of the church and into the sunset.

#bro DID you even read #not even syscourse because lmao #shit cringers say #my mods are not endos and I'm dying at pro misinfo

[weaselandfriends]

Don't suppose you've seen Gen Urobuchi's recent movie on Netflix, Bubble? It has a lot of Madoka Magica DNA, because of course it does—but it's surprisingly bloodless for one of his stories. For that reason, I can't imagine you'd like it, but it occurred to me that its premise, with boys surviving out in the world while playing a competitive sport, had very similar vibes to some of the themes you've discussed regarding your upcoming Pokémon fic!

I have not seen Bubble. I'm honestly awful at watching new stuff as it comes out, though like everyone else I am currently watching Frieren (and I saw Oshi no Ko last season).

As far as Urobuchi goes, I've honestly not been too impressed by the rest of his oeuvre. What I've seen includes:

Fate/Zero: Falls off hard in the second half, though the reason for this might have more to do with being a prequel than any particular decisions Urobuchi himself made

Phantom Requiem for the Phantom: Ignore the awesome name, this is so boring, also has a terrible Dice Guy villain (I'll explain what this means); however, the ending (like the last five minutes) is strong

Psycho-Pass: Another outrageous Dice Guy villain, slow start, though it picks up near the end

Saya no Uta: I actually like this, it's good

Now what is a Dice Guy? This is a term I coined when watching the extremely bad anime Akuma no Riddle. In this anime, there is a character who barely ever interacts with the plot, but rather stays in the background, sitting in a shadowy room, from which he ostensibly exerts some puppetmaster-style control over the events unfolding. The show frequently cuts to this character as he monologues to himself about deep-sounding philosophical topics such as the nature of fate and chance, topics he emphasizes by a fixation with a pair of dice he constantly rolls. For instance, at once point he might say something like "Fate is... a roll of the dice," and then roll his dice. (I parodied this specific guy in Cockatiel x Chameleon via the company boss Harper meets near the end of the story.)

Though it's not always dice specifically that the Dice Guy plays with as he rambles about intellectual-sounding topics in the most surface-level ways imaginable, the core conceit is similar, and Urobuchi loves this type of guy to no end. Psycho-Pass's villain, for instance, is constantly monologuing about and quoting literature; Phantom Requiem for the Phantom's villain has a similar fixation with theater, likening the events of the story to performances in a play.

I hate these guys. They're insufferable. And they plague Urobuchi's work. Kyubey would probably have wound up a dice guy if the necessities of Madoka's plot structure didn't leave him only ambiguously villainous for most of the story. He does, after all, fill the role of a shadowy puppetmaster. I'm imagining a world where Kyubey's speech likening magical girls to cattle isn't a one-off moment but the core defining motif of his character, and I shiver.

While a lot of fans in the space attribute Madoka entirely to Urobuchi, I like to point out that Madoka also had an auteur director at the helm with his own distinct creative vision: Akiyuki Shinbo, the mastermind behind everything produced by Studio Shaft. I think Shinbo and Urobuchi both limited some of the other's more indulgent practices, and it is specifically in their collaboration that something as uniquely special as Madoka Magica could come about.

Anyway, I apologize for going on this diatribe/rant, but I feel bad answering a question sent to me with a simple "No," so I gave you this instead. Enjoy?

#puella magi madoka magica #madoka magica #pmmm #gen urobuchi #akiyuki shinbo #dice guy #phantom requiem for the phantom #psycho-pass #anime #akuma no riddle

[artsywriter25]

Let’s talk about the Kung Fu Panda 4 Trailer 

Okay, we finally got the trailer after waiting for so many months! 

First things first, my reaction to the trailer. I thought it was decent, I didn’t react too much but that doesn’t mean I didn’t like it. I couldn’t stop smiling seeing Po again, I was expecting to see more but this is just a tease. There probably is more that they can’t show us just yet. I watched this trailer multiple times. I’m gonna go on and talk about the things I like and things that I didn’t like. 

=

The Pros: 

- The animation looks great as always. I was hoping they add in the hybrid animation but the one they’re using is still amazing. 

- Po is now using his jade staff to make combo moves which is awesome and I can't wait to see the creative battles. 

- I like Zhen so far and Aquafina’s voice fits her. I know people are saying her design looks weird but I think it looks fine, and I have liked Aquafina since seeing The Farewell. 

- The Chameleon looks beautiful! If you pause during her transformations she actually looks scary. DreamWorks made a frecking chameleon scary, how do they do that?!

- I like how they kept the animals at their accurate heights like it took me the fifth watch to realize how small Chameleon was compared to Tai Lung yet she took him down easily. 

-Speaking of Tai Lung, he is so back! The fact that he is on the poster could be hinting at a possible redemption arc so for those die-hard Tai Lung fans out there, I’m happy for you. 

-I’m also happy they even got Ke Huy Quan to join the cast. I grew up watching The Goonies and after seeing him in Everything Everywhere all at once, I said that he should be in a KFP film and I’m glad he is.

The Cons:

- The jokes are okay, the only one that made me laugh was Po choking on the flower petals. I hate fart jokes, I know that’s what made DreamWorks famous like Sherk but it doesn’t fit well with KFP. Hopefully that’s the only one and there are not too many gross jokes. 

- I like we’re getting new characters but I’m afraid they won’t be complex characters with arcs of their own but just there as comic relief. 

- I’m already annoyed by those crazy rabbits. 

- Tai Lung cannot catch a break. First, his chi was taken from Kai and now the Chameleon took his chi, I hope he doesn’t end up as a punching bag for the rest of the film. 

-I noticed there is a lack of a color theme, I had always theorized it would be purple but I keep seeing gold, green, and white. That’s not a good sign.

- Okay this is just my nick-pick but I was shocked to find out they got Viola Davis voicing the villain. I like her in some movies but she gives me this impression of those actresses with big egos. Honestly, her voice is nice but I need a full clip of her to get a full impression. 

- Lastly, there is no Furious Five. I saw how the fandom is freaking out about this, but I think they are in the movie, just not for long. While I’m sad we don’t see them, the reality is there really is no other purpose for them but to help Po. I still think they may show up at the end for the final battle. I don’t know what the actors are doing right now, but Seth Rogan came out with his movie this year, TMNT: Mutant Mayhem, so he’s probably busy writing the sequel. As for Tigress, I won’t be surprised if she doesn’t have speaking lines because Angelia Jolie is too busy dealing with her personal issues and her divorce right now. 

=

Okay I got the pros and cons out of the way, now I want to talk about what I think may happen in KFP4. There are some things I’ve noticed in the trailer and I have too many theories and so many questions running in my head and I need to write it out. 

So Po’s Jade staff is definitely going play an important role in the story, it seem to have a connection to both the living world and the spiritual world. My guess is the Chameleon wants the staff for a higher purpose of her plan or she needs it to travel to the spirit world herself. We can see her summoning spirits over to the living world, capturing them, and literally eating their chi away. Chi is what helps the spirits stay in living world but Tai Lung’s chi was taken and we don’t know how this will affect him. He may be stuck there until he can get his chi back. 

I noticed in one shot of the trailer there are these strange boxes in the room where Tai Lung was fighting and I realized those are cages. The Chameleon is probably planning on keeping the villains as prisoners to take more chi from them. Knowing Po, he’s going to see this as wrong and wants to save the villains. I know it’s a stretch but I think it could happen. It would be so cool seeing Po, Tai Lung, Shen and Kai working together to take down the Chameleon.

But the question is what is her motive in all this? Why does she say to Po ‘we are not so different you and I’? If she is a powerful sorcerer then why does she need his staff? They better not say that she was never taken seriously enough, there’s gotta be more to it.

And there is Zhen, who I want to know the most. I’m sure they would show some flashbacks to her story and show why she became a criminal. For some reason, I keep thinking she maybe leading Po to a trap, which I hope that’s not the case, but she seems to know more than she lets on. Po didn’t know who the Chameleon was until Zhen explained to him and she knows where she lives. I hope she doesn’t end up being a backstabber because this character is supposed to be the next Dragon Warrior, it would be hard to forgive her if they went that route. 

But these are just my theories and questions that I have. There’s really nothing else to say other than despite my cons, I’m still hyped to see this film and praying to god this will be still good. They may put up another trailer later on, if it’s good enough I’ll write my reaction to it too.

But tell me what you guys think? 

#kung fu panda #kung fu panda 4 #kfp 4 #dreamworks #po #zhen #the chameleon #discussion #sorry took me long to write this out #busy since the holidays are coming #my thoughts #artsy's writing

[zuffer-weird-girl]

Could you imagine Overhauls reaction to a S/O who matches vibes with each person they hang out with? Like standing with Mimic they just start getting aggressive and starts yelling lol. With Chrono their all laid back just conversing with him all while Overhauls in the back upset cause they never act like that with him (around him their calm and collected or something) I know stupid idea lmao

"Are you honestly trying to mime now?"

That's the first sentence this man will say to you as soon as he catches that habit of yours.

I know it sounds harsh, but as I said it before, Kai is a emotionally constipated fella, so it's hard for this guy to understand others behavior that; in his opinion; aren't considered normal.

Although I do believe that after a few months of watching you having different kind of behaviors around others... like... you were just laughing out loud and smacking Rappa's on the shoulder but as soon as you got alone with him you just wouldn't laugh anymore.

Sure you weren't sad or completely stoic with, like he usually was, so you bet this dude will start to feel that lil green monster that we all hate/adore.

Same thing with the others. It wasn't just one or two subordinates you did that.

He never widened his eyes so damn open than when he saw you swearing along with mimic at something... he didn't know you could have a sailor type of mouth.

But it soons starts not only to provoke jealousy. It starts to anger him a bit because the first thought it comes to his head is just that you aren't being your truly self with him.

And what does this bastard does instead of talking with you? Silence. Pure silence.

Just knock him hard enough on the head (not literally) and he will soon understand is not dishonesty. Is just who you are.

After a while he just will watch the interaction between you and the precepts by some distance... a bit jealous sometimes? Yes. But now he at least finds sorta of amusing to see how much of a personality chameleon you are.

Sometimes when you are interacting with the Korean calm ones on the hassaikai, like Chrono, Nemoto and etc you will find him scoffing.

But if it with the kore out ones you will surely find one of his eyebrows arching in amusement... heck, if he is in a good mood you may caught glimpses of a chuckle escaping from the those sinful covered juicy lips.

I may have been a little carried away on his lips part huh... sorry.

Although don't expect him to not just literally study your behavior for his own amusement.

Now he knows basically everything about you and how you will act with certain types of people.

He found rather enjoyable your interactions with Pops.

Despite feeling a bit bumped about you changing a lot around with different people he is a bit glad that at least you are in love with him.

#overhaul x reader #chisaki kai x reader #overhaul #chisaki kai #bnha villains x reader #zuffer writings #bnha villains

[miraculouscontent]

Okay, first thing’s first, babe, and I’ll get to your problem-infested ask in a second, but this thing you did? That giant wall of text?

Don’t.

Here’s a little piece of advice: if you’re going to send me something that you clearly haven’t read through all my points on (quite frankly, I don’t even know where you came from), at least make it palatable to the eyes. No one’s going to see that and want to read it because paragraphs exist to make information more easily digestible.

Now, with that said, let’s get into all of the issues with your ask (you best sit down for this one too because there are a lot).

if your friend is attacking someone you and her barely know, with little solid evidence to back up her position, and that person she’s attacking is able to produce some pretty solid evidence that your friend is purposely hurting her 

I’ll ignore that “pretty solid evidence” is a laughable phrase to use here for the sake of humoring you, but just know that I would’ve stopped there otherwise.

The first problem in your ask is that this is clearly referring to the episode “Ladybug” with Lila setting Marinette up. Already, you’ve skipped previous episodes, which is a problem in its own right and I’ll address it momentarily.

I have very rarely - if at all - blamed the class for what happens in “Ladybug.” That’s not my issue with this episode and honestly I get more irritated with them for “Chameleon.” I do, however, note things like Marinette being very blatantly set up in “Ladybug.”

There’s no reason for the test answers to still be in Marinette’s backpack after the test is over, as there had been more than enough time to discard it (an investigation that Alya had done properly would also show that Marinette got a mystery call from an unknown person at the time she was at her locker; either that call can be traced back to Lila or Lila used a burner phone, but regardless, that was never mentioned by Alya despite its relevancy). It was also contrived for Bustier (who has previously taken Marinette out of the room to speak with her in “Zombizou” even when she wasn’t in trouble so as to not cause a fuss) just to embarrass Marinette and leave her in the same room so Marinette can blame Lila. The lockers in the school are easily able to be opened by anyone, and Lila was the only one around to “witness” Marinette shoving her down the stairs with no visible injury present and the fact that you would not walk away with barely a leg injury if you were shoved down a flight of stairs. Remember that last one too because it’s going to be important.

then continue disbelieving the girl you don’t know

You keep saying that they don’t know Lila as if it furthers your point. It doesn’t, because presuming that Marinette’s friends know her at all, they would know that Marinette hates liars and lying, which is a commonly known piece of information about her. Marinette has lied and been blinded by the Adrien crush before, yes, and yet she has not gone to such levels of ruining an innocent’s reputation at the time of “Catalyst”(she tries to fact check Lila more than accuse her of lying)+”Chameleon,” the former of which is where Alya accuses her of only hating Lila because of Adrien.

In fact, most of Marinette Adrien-related “crimes” involve Chloe, who is Marinette’s bully and someone that the show has basically described as pure evil, so Marinette being against her makes perfect sense even disregarding Adrien.

Pardon me if I expect Marinette’s friends to believe her over this new girl.

The class do not know that Lila is malicious. She’s a con artist, and she’s good at it.

Remember what I said before about Marinette supposedly shoving Lila down the stairs? Because it’s coming back to bite you right now.

I do not want to hear about Lila being “a good con artist” when the show is constantly and consistently covering for her.

Think back to all of Lila’s lies in “Volpina” that she has yet to own up to, specifically the one where she states that she knows Prince Ali (who Rose knows personally and could’ve asked him about; we see that they have met again in “Guiltrip” and don’t try to tell me that Rose wouldn’t use the opportunity to bond over a supposed shared friend) and that Jagged (who Marinette knows personally and is in repeated contact with, shown by “Troublemaker” and “Gamer 2.0″) wrote a song about her. These two things could’ve come back at any time but the writers explicitly ignore them to protect Lila from being outed.

Next, look at “Chameleon” where Marinette is prevented from outing Lila by Adrien. The fact that this happens heavily implies that Marinette would’ve caught Lila in a proper trap had she not been stopped, which is why the writers had Adrien intervene in the first place. If Lila could’ve been outed so easily had feather boy not stepped in, then no, she’s not a good con artist at all.

Also in “Chameleon,” Marinette would’ve had an easy continuation to go at with her story by saying that she saw Ladybug show up when Lila and Adrien were talking, which is part of the actual truth and even has the bonus of her casually claiming that she’s not Ladybug. Alya or Nino could’ve then asked Adrien if that’s what he saw, leading to Adrien either outright lying to protect Lila or telling the truth and outing himself as someone who’s protecting a liar by not saying anything before, but I guess that would make him out to be a bad person and we know how the writers feel about that. This is a very obvious way of going about it but the writers swerve around it like they’re drifting in a racing game, all so Lila can continue lying with no repercussions.

Also also in “Chameleon,” there are conveniently no cameras around to capture Ladybug supposedly carrying Lila back, despite reporters and regular people whipping out their phones to take pictures of Ladybug normally (like Ladybug carrying Adrien in “Queen Wasp”). The newsreporters just magically disappear even though they’d been recording Ladybug previously at the Eiffel Tower and Ladybug literally circles all the way back to the Eiffel Tower when finishing the fight with Chameleon.

Then there’s the little leg injury in “Ladybug.” Conveniently enough, Lila had a similar fake injury during “Oni-Chan” (which, fun fact, takes place before “Ladybug”) only the firefighter actually, properly looked at her leg and confirmed that she wasn’t hurt at all. Also conveniently, this happened only in front of Chat Noir, who already knew that Lila was full of lies.

They did such a shoddy job in “Ladybug” of actually checking her leg injury that they bandaged her leg over her tights, which shows an obvious negligence. They didn’t even have her remove her tights to properly inspect the wound that doesn’t exist. Had Lila actually hurt herself like a true con artist would (showing real injuries that she’d react to even if you prodded them when she wasn’t paying attention), we wouldn’t be having this discussion. She didn’t even purposefully scuff up her clothes/rip her tights to make it look like she fell (this is a simple and basic texture edit; if they can put a bandage on her, they can edit a texture). Lila also has a motive at this point to go against Marinette even if she hadn’t put the test answers in Marinette’s backpack because Marinette is accusing her of setting her up.

To imply that Marinette would be dumb enough to shove Lila down the stairs in a rage when they were literally on their way to the principal’s office to see which of them was right is dumb in and of itself. To further imply that Marinette (one of the loudest, most emotion-filled people in the school) wouldn’t have yelled or screamed when shoving Lila and no one (neither the staff member nearby and Mr. Damocles in his office) would’ve heard Lila tumbling and screaming while falling down the stairs is even dumber.

Did you ever notice in “Ladybug” that Alya is seen directly interviewing Lila about the expelling situation, but nothing comes out of it? Do you honestly think that Lila would claim anything except “there was no one else around and Marinette definitely pushed me, there’s no other possibility” (y’know, after getting her expelled and having her entire goal be to turn everyone against Marinette)? This is a genuine question, because if not, then it does in fact become a situation of “either Lila is lying after all - because she can’t be this certain if it didn’t happen otherwise - or my best friend actually shoved her,” but Alya’s faith is never challenged. Hell, despite Marinette and Sabine getting akumatized to find “the truth,” Alya not being akumatized is used as a sign that she believes in Marinette rather than she can’t pick a side/wasn’t upset enough about the accusations to get akumatized herself (I refuse to believe that Alya has better control of her emotions than Sabine).

And speaking of Alya’s pathetic investigation, forget about getting fingerprints off the locker. How about getting fingerprints from the test answer sheet?? That thing that wouldn’t have Marinette’s fingerprints, would have Bustier’s, and would also have the culprit’s. Paper is easily susceptible to the oil from fingerprints, so maybe the episode shouldn’t act as if Alya is doing “professional investigative work” to clear Marinette’s name if she’s not going to actually think about what the culprit’s prints could be on?

Oh, and you may not recall this, so allow me to jog your memory: one of Lila’s biggest lies is that she’s friends with Ladybug, and Alya got handed Ladybug’s identity on a silver platter in “Gang of Secrets.” She also becomes aware (“Multiplication”) that Marinette was correct in “Risk” about Adrien not wanting to model (so she clearly wasn’t just lying for the sake of countering Lila), but what comes out of it? Nothing, not even an apology.

What’s happening here is that the writing is telling you that Lila’s great at what she does and you are falling for it, hook, line, and sinker.

You’ve got to be willing to look at this situation from the perspective of the people Lila’s trying to trick

I’m going to stop you there because that is your assumption of me based on nothing. When I talk about Lila and her issues, I’m bringing up example left and right of things that should’ve been noted but aren’t. I’m not seeing people who are being cleverly tricked by Lila, I am seeing people who are letting themselves be tricked just to bask in the awe of Lila Rossi’s fake accomplishments.

What Lila does in “Chameleon” is play the victim to get the class to turn on Marinette for the first time, but none of what Marinette did before that was anything but casually questioning Lila (confirming that she has a hearing problem, pointing out Jagged’s current pet, and asking Miss Bustier why she has to sit in the back). She doesn’t attack her by that point and literally anyone could’ve pointed out how valid Marinette’s feelings are for being forced to sit by herself without being asked, or even stood up for her by saying “oh, I’m sure Marinette doesn’t mean it that way, Lila!”

They did nothing of the sort. They turned on Marinette instantly. Do note also that part of Lila’s victim card is going, “if Marinette has an issue too, then--” with the obvious message being that the class gets upset because they believe that Marinette supposedly has no issue. However, by the end of the episode, Bustier “confirms” that Marinette must have a hearing issue when Marinette doesn’t hear her calling for her, yet no one apologizes to Marinette about it. Lila made it out like Marinette was targeting her specifically when all Marinette asked to prompt the comment was why she had to sit in the back.

This isn’t a mastermind at work. Everyone got played like the cheap kazoos that they are.

And sometimes, you may genuinely not know your friend as well as you think you do.

Let’s flip this around; how about you look at it from the class’s perspective? Virtually everyone is friends with Marinette, and they’re seeing her “attack” this “completely innocent, pure-hearted soul.” Would you be friends with someone like that? No, actually, go even further than that; if you suspected that the cause of this behavior was Marinette’s crush on a boy and nothing else, would you support it?

I can forgive Marinette’s friends being unsure (not convinced, mind you) about Marinette’s motives and wanting to find the truth. What I can’t forgive is the sheer wishy-washiness of their behavior. They’ll discourage her supposed Adrien-based attacks on Lila, even complaining at times when Marinette is talking about Adrien things, and yet when it comes down to it, they support her in her crush anyway. Sorry not sorry, but if they refuse to pick a side (either “your crush is negatively affecting your personality and we won’t support it” or “hey, she might go far with her crush but I believe that she must have a deeper reason if she’s doing this much against Lila”), then I will pick a side for them and say that they are bad friends who avoid any and all personal responsibility relating to Marinette’s behavior.

“this other person they’re attacking is obviously wrong despite all evidence to the contrary”

I would like to hear about this so-called “evidence” you mention, because Lila’s “thing” when is comes to lying is covering up her lies with more lies. Very rarely does she actually have any evidence to prove her case, and accusing Marinette of having no evidence is ridiculous when Alya shows blatant hypocrisy in how she deals with the two situations between Marinette and Lila.

Alya believes that Lila is friends with Ladybug without a word, but when Marinette puts that into question, Alya lets the burden of proof fall on Marinette when proving a negative is virtually impossible. Without digging up footage of every moment of Ladybug’s existence, she can’t prove that Lila doesn’t know Ladybug, but likewise, Lila herself has no evidence that she knows Ladybug. The burden of proof should fall on her because she is making the claim without evidence and Marinette is putting all of it into question. Therefore, Alya is being pro-Lila and anti-Marinette by demanding proof from Marinette but not Lila.

I’d also direct your attention to “Catalyst” where - as I’ve stated before - Alya accuses Marinette of only hating Lila because of Adrien. What you have failed to explain, however, is why Alya believes that when she has direct evidence to the contrary. Kagami is rich, pretty, and talented, and Marinette’s only interaction with her (pre-”Catalyst”) is “Frozer” where she literally says that she’s not jealous and wants to let Adrien and Kagami have their date. It’s Alya who starts shouting about Marinette not giving up on Adrien, not Marinette herself. Therefore, Alya has a comparison between Kagami (who Adrien even specifically expressed interest in, so Kagami is more of a rival than anyone else would be) and Lila, yet fails to connect the dots and realize that something must be wrong with Lila if Marinette is okay with Kagami.

And even if Adrien tell's everyone about Lila's true nature, that still would’ve been a ‘he said, she said’ situation, though with both Adrien and Marinette saying the same thing, I GUESS it would’ve lent more weight to it, but it still wouldn’t prove they were right, and she could’ve said they misunderstood. 

You fail to point out the fact that Adrien is lacking one thing that Marinette isn’t: a motive. It’s not a “he said, she said” situation because whenever Marinette is accused of going after Lila, they claim it to be because of Adrien. Adrien himself, however, has no reason nor motive for going after Lila, and being the “sunshine boy who can do no wrong” that the show hails him as 95% of the time, the class has no adequate reason to suspect him of foul play when accusing this “innocent” person. Lila could accuse Adrien of taking Marinette’s side, certainly, but the class has to start splitting at some point and at least Marinette wouldn’t be alone anymore like Adrien seems content with leaving her in the eyes of everyone else.

If I make three promises to you that I can’t prove were kept, tell twenty tales that I talk my way around instead of proving are true, and give you only a few things that I can actually base in some form of reality, you would have every right to be skeptical of those last few things because I have failed to back everything else up.

Everyone asks Marinette to take responsibility and blame when no one else wants to be even the slightest bit skeptical. Alya never asked Ladybug if she knows Lila, everyone believes Lila without even a thought, and Adrien sits idly by without saying a word to the rest of the class so he can play superhero in the background and not risk any backlash from others.

I’m not even asking for everyone to turn on Lila, nor for them to blindly believe Marinette. What I am asking is that they either pick a side and drop Marinette for being “a terrible person who is trying to ruin an innocent girl’s life over a boy,” or at least believe Marinette enough to go, “That’s nice, Lila, and I won’t even accuse you of being a liar, but if you don’t have proof then I'm afraid I can’t believe you. I’d rather hear about stories that you have evidence for to prove that they happened.”

I would also expect Mr. Damocles to inform the school of Lila’s little “lying disease” (which sounds extremely dangerous to leave people uninformed about) thus proving Marinette correct, or at least for the class to apologize for not believing in her, but I have absolutely zero expectations of them honestly.

Literally this would all be over if the class went, “we’ll prove that all of Lila’s stories are true and that’ll show Marinette not to be suspicious!” at which point everything would fall apart like a Jenga tower.

But they won’t, because the class systematically searching for proof of Lila’s tall tales would mean that the writers would have to actually think to figure out how to have Lila “prove” all of these as much as possible.

They will avoid obvious solutions, literally hand characters the answers just so they can ignore them, and have Adrien actively tell Marinette to do nothing so Lila can continue her power trip (ignoring the “Origins” lesson of “all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good people do nothing”).

I could not care less about the class being “victims” when they’re little more than a mob sharing a single brain cell for no other reason than to make Marinette suffer.

#category: long post #category: salt #salt: miracuclass #salt: alya cesaire #salt: adrien agreste #other: ask and answer #other: ml spoilers #((Funnily enough)) #((the wall of text offended me more than the argument (or lack thereof).)) #((It's more tiring than anything else seeing an ask from someone who has probably read one or two posts of mine and nothing else.))

[dxcinhx]

dropping some thoughts about vida here

i started watching this show for melissa barrera and i absolutely enjoyed it and have rewatched some episodes bc it's very entertaining

s3 felt kind of different, it was almost like the sisters switched roles at some points

i might be reading too much into it, but in the first few eps as emma and nico's relationship was going well i would look at emma's face and be like she's happy but she's still waiting for the other shoe to drop, and of course it did. and i was so sad to see her clam up again and fall back into her whole "vulnerability = weakness" thing. for a few episodes she just looked so dead inside like she was seriously depressed and triggered with everything going on, like nico's secret wife and her awful dad making himself known

i love lyn so much but i need her to be single. i'm so glad she finally realized where her true priorities lie and that she needs to work on turning into a chameleon with the men in her life but i just hate that it happened in the last like 20 minutes of the series finale

side note but i was not expecting lyn to get so into religion for a hot minute. i mean i understand that it was her yet again molding herself to the people in her life, so i think she snapped out of it once her father showed his true colors but still like it was so jarring. god the man gave me such awful vibes and the last scene of him and emma after she confronted him was legitimately hard to watch

the sisters spent so much time apart and on different pages this season it made me sad :( i completely understand why but i do miss the moments in the first episode or in earlier seasons when they were sisterly and messing with each other

i love that mari had some more time this season to build herself up a little more and yes this is cruel to say but her dad dying is a blessing ! now she can finally look after herself and find people who appreciate what she does. honestly that man pretty much killed himself after he kicked out the only child who actually took care of him. ladies ask not what u can do for machismo but what machismo can do for u

speaking of this family i can't STAND johnny oh my GOD get off my screen and get away from the women in ur life all u do is hurt them

god i wish this new generation of shows had longer seasons. a 6 episode season is nowhere near enough to develop the characters and storylines better (even tho this season the episodes weren't all 30 min like s1 and s2). i was like holy shit things are happening so fast it's one terrible thing after the other but of course they are, they only have like 5 hours to tell the story!!

i'm really fond of this show and how witty it is, its integration of mexican and american and mexican-american cultures, the spanglish, the butch rep!! everything

actually one of my favorite moments this season was when lyn was talking to that european dude at her bf's mom's bday party (fuck her bf and his mom by the way holy shit he was such a weirdo) and she was talking about how difficult it is to be perceived as mexican by gringos while still not being mexican enough for mexicans. when she said she couldn't even hold a conversation in english or spanish i was like u read my mind. i'm literally incoherent. anyway it really resonated with me as an immigrant and i think it's such an important conversation to have!!

anyway emma and lyn repaired their relationship and their bigoted father is rotting in hell and they keep the bar and eddy's back too and everything is going better than ever, they told me so themselves <3

#honestly i relate so much to emma #emotionally constipated gay older sister of a latino family with mommy issues? #present #vida

[mariharem-trash-heap]

About Adrien.

Sometimes I like saltfics. It’s a good outlet for frustration with the issues with ML’s writing, as well as some of the more ridiculous acts the characters are subject to during the series.

Sometimes I don’t like saltfics. While it can be satisfying watching a hated character’s downfall, something we all wish would happen in reality for fuck’s sake Thomas why won’t you just get rid of Lila or give her more depth already--

Ahem.

One of the characters I take issue with is Adrien. Yes, while he’s not given much more depth other than ‘lonely rich boy wants everyone to be friends’ and ‘mischievous inner self that only gets to surface when he’s Cat Noir’, sometimes y’all can really scare me with how downright awful you write him.

I’m not trying to tell anyone how to write Adrien in their saltfics - really, some of the best fics have Adrien as one of the worst kids in the bunch - but a lot of people get hung up on the ‘high road’ line, particularly “she’s not hurting anyone” at the end of Chameleon.

Did any of you notice, at all, that Marinette never went into depth about how Lila’s affecting her?

She never told him, “Lila threatened to take my friends away” and that she was planning on tearing the class apart. All she said was, “Hey, this girl is lying, why don’t you want me calling her on it?”

And honestly? This might be controversial to say, but Adrien has a point.

Keep in mind that this is the first time in what, months? That the class has even seen Lila. The last time we saw her was in the last episode of Season 1, Volpina, and that was supposed to be the very first day she came to Dupont. This is her first appearance in Season 3, one of the very first episodes to boot, and if the timeline in the wiki is correct, there’s about a 25-episode gap between them. These kids don’t know Lila that well.

And let’s pause a moment to think about the rest of Bustier’s class. Marinette, our lead, has not only designed Jagged Stone’s Eiffel glasses and an album cover, but babysits the daughter of a famous show host, has had a documentary filmed of her home, has won a gaming competition, has been in a music video, has a famous chef as an uncle, and unbeknownst to everyone else, is Ladybug. Adrien is not only the son of a model and a famous actress, but is pretty talented in his own right and is Cat Noir. Alya is a hobbyist journalist whose mother is chef at the hotel Chloe’s dad maintains and her father runs a zoo, as well as being Rena Rouge Nino is a DJ and Carapace Rose literally befriended a prince Juleka’s mom was once a famous performing artist (and according to later canon, her dad is literally Jagged Stone) Alix’s father is head of a museum Chloe’s father is the mayor of Paris and her mother is a famous fashion mogul, Sabrina’s father is a cop Mylene’s father is a talented actor And Max is a certified genius who has a personal robot and made a video game.

All by the age of 14-15.

That’s just what we know of at the time that episode was released.

Is it really so much of a stretch for them to meet Lila and think, “Wow, she’s the daughter of a diplomat! She really must have met a lot of famous people! She’s super cool!”

Keep in mind that although we, the audience, and Marinette and Adrien know she’s lying, to the others she just sounds like a larger-than-life girl who’s had enough experiences to make even Chloe seem boring.

I really don’t think he had any bad intentions when he told her to just stay under the radar. At this point he’s seen how she interacts with Chloe, and he’s grown up with Chloe as a playmate. He knows by now how they both operate. He knows Marinette hates injustice, but he knows the others won’t take kindly to what they consider mistreatment to someone who really hasn’t done anything wrong.

Remember, Adrien is not stupid. He’s sheltered, yes, but is it too much of a stretch to think he’s had enough experience with tabloids and people trying to damage the Agreste name to know that calling her out without any evidence is just going to pitch the accuser against the rest of the class? We all saw what happened in that episode. Everyone got super annoyed with Marinette for pointing out Lila’s lies because she just looked like a jealous girl trying to pit them against a newbie. And that’s not even mentioning her open crush on Adrien is making her look worse.

I love Marinette. Really, I do. But even I was cringing that entire episode. And not just from the napkin scene, because seriously, Max should have caught that one from the get-go. But even if he did, nobody else was speaking up about it, because why would they? To everyone there, everyone believes that everyone else will get upset at them if they speak up, much like they do to Marinette. Groupthink and peer pressure is a real thing, y’all.

Let’s not pretend Adrien is this super-weak spiteful doormat of a person who never does anything. Yes, he doesn’t really know how to comfortably say ‘no’ under pressure, yes, he hates conflict enough not to get involved, but does anyone really think he wants Lila to hurt his friends? The very first real friends he’s had in... forever??

I guarantee you that if she broke down and confessed to Lila’s threats, he would not have told her to lie low. He would’ve been right there with her, and he would’ve stood up to her a lot earlier. And hey, maybe Ladybug wouldn’t have happened.

#let's talk miraculous ladybug #defending adrien #anti adrien salt #ml salt #thomas astruc salt

[emmashouldbewriting]

Didn’t Netflix say that Harry being at the coronation was necessary or worth it? I think he’s going there to stir up drama and then either relay that drama or lie about it for Netflix 2.0.

Also I absolutely hate how people make Harry seem like this misled puppy and Megan the evil witch. She’s terror but he is so much worse. He is an backstabbing piece of shit without any morals

Honestly, I think she just gave him the tools to be this version of him. I've always said he's like a chameleon - he doesn't know who he is, so he assumes the personality of those around him. That's great when it's good people, but when he's around not so good people, like Meghan, he's easily led to a darker path. He's always been a spoilt, racist brat, but he's now an aggressively spoilt, racist brat.

All we can really say is that she has for sure made him a litigious person, because he never was before, and she plays into his hero complex/mommy issues. They're both horribly manipulative.

[thelastbraincellofthehive]

And we're back for V4! Honestly, I'm making it through more than I thought I would. I was sure I was gonna bail after 2 lol.

Anyways, the new engine was really a breath of fresh air for this volume, and it's impressive how much animation is still getting better every volume<3 RWBY makes me proud in a way no other show or just thing has ever done. I just wish it wouldn't hurt so bad lol.

Anyways, time for random thoughts!

I gotta go ahead and say that V4-6 is my favorite outfit for Blake. The pirate vibes on her are *chef kiss* and I'm just in love with her white coat RIP the coat, another good thing Adam ruined *sighs*

God, the yearning separated bees are so angsty <3 I love it, the payoff will be so great.

God, Sun was so annoying this volume, poor boy has a good heart but definitely is too eager for Blake to match him and things get aaaaaawkward lol I'm happy the managed to get into an understanding by next volume tho, Blake needed him, I can see that now.

It's so interesting to hear all the bits of story we get to learn each volume and how eventually it all falls apart with Jinn's story in v6. I don't blame Qrow for how hard he took it, poor man has been through a lot, and he really believed in Ozpin through it all.

I loooove the tale of the two brother's animation style<3 it's one of my favorite parts of the season.

The ship captain is another favorite part lol I don't know, I just think he's neat. Wouldn't be opposed yo seeing more of him.

Ilia <3 Love of my life, best lesbian Chameleon girl <3 good how I miss you!

Again, when is Ilia coming back so she can finally meet and fall in love with Weiss?? RT is homofobic to keep these two apart! /Jk

But seriously they are fuckin' perfect for eachother I won't get tired of saying it. Schnee x Faunus? Both sides of the Atlas/Mantle coin? Rainbow x white? Trying to live their families legacy without letting it consume them? What's not to like?

Ahem, anyways. The Kuroyuri arc had me biting my freaking nails. Seriously after v3 I was so sure someone was going to die!

Remember that couple days we were all terrified of the nuckelavee and then someone compared it to the wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tubeman and since then we just laugh about him? Lol this Is why I love this fandom.

Maya Zwei <3

I can't imagine how horrible it was for the girls all that time we didn't get to see in between volumes. Weiss being completely alone in Atlas, with no way to know if Yang and Ruby had gotten better, just knowing that Blake had ran into the night. Blake wondering everyday if Yang was thinking about her, so sure that she was hated, heating herself too much to ask for help or just company... Ruby missing the friends she had come to trust so wholeheartedly and seeing her big sister broken and depressed and not knowing what to do because Yang had never been nothing but bright and strong and perfect. Yang looking at books and thinking of Blake and wanting to hate her because it would be so much easier. And that's not even counting all of them mourning Pyrrha and Penny and everything they lost in the blink of an eye.

On that note, Ruby's outfit for this arc paying homage to both Penny and Pyrrha still hurts me so much</3 this is also probably my favorite outfit of her, thought her Atlas outfit is quite good too.

The moment we learn that Blake is practically a Princess lol I love it, I love seeing reactors get to that part.

But honestly my favorite part to see reactors will always be Taiyang's 'lost a couple braincells along with that arm' joke lol honestly I hate that joke, but the sheet shock on everyone's faces is just epic lol.

Honestly I feel I've slept on Yang's v4 outfit btw. Yeah, her final/v5-6 outfit is extremely badass and I love it, but the sweats + orange tanktop looks so good on her??? Honestly this was the first volume I looked at Yang and was atracted to her lol.

So yeah Yang please join the line of women who could step on me and I'd thank them.

Also: *puts Ilia there too*

Specially once she paints her arm yellow <3 I stan by my previous statement that Yang looks so much better with her new arm. It feels like her design is finally complete.

V4 villains really, really make me miss v1-3 villains lol. I'm sorry, but I just think Hazel and Watts are unninteresting (aside from the Emm-Hazel plot but I only like it because Emmerald) and while I find Tyrian kinda funny because he's an obvious theater kid lol it was not enough to put team WTCH in my good graces after getting rid of my two faves from team CRMNE lol. Also, Cinder being too hurt to cause chaos was a negative</3 I loved sassy overconfident world destroyer Cinder.

It is also extremely painful for me to watch Cinder slowly dig her own grave after seeing her backstory. I always had a soft spot for Cinder and that really made it worse.

Baby Nora and Ren<3 good they were cute! And god did the timeskip did them good lol this is also my favorite Nora outfit <3 she looks amazing.

That moment in Kuroyuri when baby Ren gives Nora the hammer while boop play in the background? I tear up every fucking time. It's literally imposible not to love them together, just as It was literally imposible for Nora to not fall for him <3 my babies

Qrow being bandaged over his clothes while injures will never not be funny to me lol oh, the joys of working with 3D models!

Weiss learning to summon <3 also just... Weiss <3 She's the best. This volume wasn't kind on her, but she rose to the challenge and got so far!!

Also, can I just say that I feel Whitley... Is what people thinks Draco Malfoy Is? Like... I always remembered Draco while watching Whitley, but Whitley is an actually cool character as you get to know him, while Draco just... disapointed me. He's also my baby and I demand him to be protected.

Seeing Raven oficially was one of my favorite parts of the volume <3 She's a bitch, she's the worst, I love her so much!!!!

Again with the controversial and refuted headcanon... Qrow getting a song that includes the line 'you don't want the burden of my name', talking to Ruby about how his semblance makes things hard on family... That delirious 'Tai, she's not coming back' while poisoned... Seriously it would've made so much sence if Ruby was his daughter lol. At this point it's just hilarious.

The Jaune - Ruby moment in Kuroyuri </3 seriously give these poor kids therapy, they need it.

This Is the only volume where I actually have a score saved on my Spotify playlist: the first part of The next step where you can hear the music box version of Divide. I would pay for a full of that song <3 I adore creepy music box covers.

The way Blake's voice breaks when she finally says Yang's name? I'm ok, I swear! I'm not.

If you didn't cry during Ruby's letter scene... You're lying!! It's not possible to not cry! Specially with Home in the background. Home is another special song to me, it was one of the first ones I memorised back when my english wasn't great <3

That part when Ruby talks about people who are still lost and people who wants to take advantage of them and it shows Ilia with the Albains? I loved it, that's why I never doubted of my girl<3

And so it became the long journey to have Winter back... I remember how annoyed I was during all of v4-5 that we never got to see her outside of the Weiss trailer lol you don't just introduce a character like Winter for two episodes and then take it away like that RT! I say, as if I didn't knew v5 at all lol

I'm still curious about Tyrian and the fact that he apparently couldn't fight while Qrow didn't have his Sword/Scythe? Did we ever got a reason for that yet?

I think that's all that comes to mind right now lol also, I watched the v5 trailers and I just had to say how much I love them <3 Blake's probably my favorite, but they were all great!

O better keep watching now lol I gotta watch as much as I can before saturday!

#rwby #bumbleby #long post #just salem rambling around #pre volume9 rewatch

[some-pers0n]

1, 2, 11, and 25 for the ask game? 👀

1: Favourite character

As of now it's Albatross. However, other favourites are Moonwatcher, Turtle, Queen Scarlet, Mastermind, Hawthorn, and Mangrove

2: Least favourite character

Webs. It's fully irrational but I hate him. I also dislike Vulture, Sky, and Cottonmouth

11: Favourite quote

Ooughhh hard one. I don't remember too many quotes, regardless of media. Disappointing, I know. Though, if it makes up for you, the message I took away from Moon Rising was that "nobody cares". Everyone's so anxious and nervous about themselves that you are just a blip in their lives.

25: Hopes for a new winglet?

Honestly I don't have any hopes. If we were to get one though, I'd love to see one for Chameleon, Hawthorn, Greatness, or Hailstorm

#ask #anon

[gale-gentlepenguin]

Not sure if you'd like to talk about this but if so, could you explain the Adrien discourse? I haven't really interacted with fandom for ML that much but decided to search through Tumblr and saw so much hate towards him so just a bit confused.

Where do I begin?

Honestly there is a LOT with this topic, but I will try and explain it.

So Adrien is the most popular character in ML among older viewers. (Marinette being second)

In the first season, Adrien was beloved and it was rare to see any negativity directed at him.

Season 2 that’s when things started to get rocky. People found some fault in certain episodes, a lot of which I think was overblown, but the show fandom itself was going through growing pains, so criticism of the main characters was growing.

Season 3 was the birth of the Salt season. This was when ML salt became a more prominent part of the fandom. Claims of Criticism that was actually character bashing was becoming much more common.

Adrien had the misfortune of coming off negatively in the Episode “Chameleon” which resulted in the Adrien salt wave that still exists to this day.

People were getting tired of the extending of the lovesquare drama, people were making claims that Adrien was awful and used bashing him to justify their other ships. But really most of it is just projection. (For an example, read any prominent salt fic that bashes Adrien, Marinette is basically the author wearing her skin like a suit.)

Basically the salt community just wants something to hate and unfortunately Adrien suffered from some bad writing at some unfortunate times which resulted in a salt collective against him that anytime the boy Breathes they find fault with him. Like there is some flaws to be had, but the salt community takes it to an alarming degree

Personally it’s a bit crazy, now the salt community is like it’s own separate fandom at this point. It’s not really worth going further into. But now the salt for Marinette has surged too and I think that’s also equally ridiculous, cause the parallels to the Adrien salt are starting to show

#ml salt #ml salt fandom #ml salt on salt #Adrien salt salt

[gamerknight7310]

Never fear @celestiall0tus this flightless avian with a gun is here to aid you with your cause. I'm still doing my little what-ifs on the side, but fuck I need a little break from it, and what better way to get the brain juices flowing than rare gems of ships and kwami pairings. I already threw out Marinette & Juleka being a cute couple, but another one that I don't really see a lot of, but could work is Adrien & Rose (I also just realized I switched two couples around lol). Those are the only ones I'll submit for now cause I want to focus on the kwami pairings (I don't usually focus too much on love but I do like the power). I'll only do the characters you listed cause I don't know who else is planning to appear. The first one I said was Juleka & Nooroo because I would like to think he would help her come out of her "cocoon" and help her become a more confident person. I also said that Marinette & Luz would be a good pairing due to the simple fact that she hates liars and Luz is the concept of Honesty, and it's a pairing I'm surprised you haven't used yet. I have to shout out @bakawitch for this pairing being Rose & Psyche cause I can see it (also ignore that I mixed up her power and Fluffs), but yeah with Rose's helpful nature and the fact that with this power she would better know how to help them without overwhelming them plus I want to see her chuck a spear at someone lol. Okay hear me out on this one, I think Adrien & Corbin (only if Emilie is dead) would be a phenomenal pairing. Think of all the times Adrien in the show was a sad little bean a lot if you haven't noticed hell even in the movie he was an all-sad boy, so let's give him sad boy powers (bonus if Gabriel gets Daizzi for how neglectful he is of Adrien). Now for the double trouble, Zoe and Chloe this one was a doozy. Originally I was gonna say Zoe & Trixx due to her being a "social chameleon", but we already have ourselves a "maestro" already, so I thought a little more on it and thought "Huh has Zoe & Kaalki been paired before?" and sure enough they haven't. This pairing could be Zoe's longing to be free from control from her family (honestly don't blame her) and I feel like she & Kaalki would get along. Now onto Regina George herself, this one wasn't hard at all… Mill. Chloe with the Ant is almost poetic her having the power to make people into mindless puppets for her to boss around it was too good to pass on I also wanted to see some love for Mill. Okay I lied, I have one more pairing cause every Regina George needs her Gretchen Wieners, so I propose Sabrina & Mullo this one was also a no-brainer. That's all I can provide my liege so good tidings as I crawl back into the abyss from whence i came from.

#miraculous au #siren's song au #Love4Mill

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

Every Episode of Miraculous Ladybug Season 4 Ranked

Well, I've gone over what I liked about Season 4 as a whole, but how did I feel about the individual episodes? Eh...

With Season 3, the quality in episodes was mostly the same, with a majority of them either being related to the Love Square, or just being plain forgettable, with the occasional good one like “Silencer” or “Startrain”. With Season 4, it felt like there were episodes that started off strong but fell off towards the end, episodes that were unbelievably bad, episodes that were just boring because not much happened, or episodes that could honestly stand up with some of the greatest episodes from even the first two seasons with how good they were. It's kind of amazing how this season has the exact same team of writers (Thomas Astruc, Melanie Duval, Fred Lenoir, and Sebastien Thibaudeau), yet the quality fluctuated so much. How can you say you were the same group of writers behind okay to bad episodes like “Mr. Pigeon 72”, “Hack-San”, or “Kuro Neko”, yet also managed to give us great episodes like “Furious Fu”, or “Guiltrip”?

But of course, this list isn't going to talk about the good stuff immediately. First, I get to talk about the worst of the worst, then gradually work my way up to the actually good episodes, essentially reliving Season 4 all over again. Doesn't that sound great, and like a decision I don't regret at all?

Yeah, think of each entry as sort of like a follow-up review to the respective episode to see if my thoughts have changed or if I have anything else to say. In addition, I'm ranking each episode on how well it holds up in the context of the season itself, not just on the basis of how good it is in comparison to good episodes like “The Collector” or “Silencer”. For now, let's just get this started with...

#26: Penalteam

When I claimed that this was the worst episode of the show, I got a couple of weird looks from my followers, especially after I utterly trashed “Queen Banana”, but even after rewatching the entire season to make sure my opinions on each episode hadn't changed, I still stand by my opinion that this episode is the absolute bottom of the barrel.

Say what you will about the episodes many consider to be the worst, like “Frozer” or “Chameleon”, but at the very least, it felt like there was some form of effort there to make the stories work. It wasn't a lot of effort, but even those episodes felt like the scripts were finished. This episode feels like the storyboard wasn't even finished by the time the animation process started. In general, describing this episode is a good way to explain how... mismanaged this season felt. Sure, the writers had multiple chances to introduce the last four temp heroes in earlier episodes, but instead, they thought it would be a good idea to just cram them all into the penultimate episode of the season that already has almost every other hero in it. Sure, the writers could have focused more on their celebrity guest star and gave him a reason to even be in this episode, but instead, they thought it would be a good idea to have him do nothing but commentate on this boring soccer match supposedly in order to appeal to French sports fans, while everyone else won't understand who this guy even was. Sure, the writers had a lot of options for who could be the Akuma for a sports-themed episode like the athletes in the school, including Kim, Alix, Kagami, Marc, that one kid from the tie-in comics, or even an entirely new character if they needed to, but instead, they thought it was a better idea to make Chloe the Akuma, even though she hates soccer.

I really need to emphasize how stupid of a decision it was to make Chloe the Akuma of this episode for no other reason than to justify her status as a villain. I've already gone over my problems with the way she was portrayed all season, but even in “Queen Banana”, the story was somewhat justified because it focused on her relationship with her sister, and the Akuma powers were related to the changes she made for the movie to boost her ego. To put it bluntly, it was a story that only could have worked with Chloe as the main antagonist. Here, the writers couldn't even keep her motivation consistent for the first act. One minute, she's too lazy to even care about soccer, yet the next minute, she's rambling on about how awesome she is, then she gets akumatized willingly in order to force all of Paris to stop playing soccer.

And then there's the way Penalteam acts that makes even less sense. Her plan is to hold a soccer game with Ladybug and Cat Noir to decide the fate of all soccer players in Paris. Here's something I never brought up in my initial review: How exactly was she supposed to enforce this new law? I get she's an Akuma, but outside of the dome she created, her powers were very limited, only being able to trap victims and potentially kill them with the prisons getting smaller with every goal being scored. But then halfway through the game, she reveals she's willing to cheat in order to win, so why doesn't she just crush the hostages she has right now? What's even the point of the game to supposedly prove she's the best and force everyone to stop playing soccer if she's willing to cheat to do so? Why can't she just try and red card all of the remaining heroes instead? Why even make the stakes of the episode about something so minor like not wanting to play soccer? Why the hell did any of these heroes go along with this game instead of focusing on finding the Akuma or just ganging up on Penalteam with their superior numbers? Do you see why I think this script makes no sense?

And yeah, the heroes are just as stupid in this episode. I've gotten used to Cat Noir being dead weight, but even as a joke, portraying him as this complete imbecile who doesn't know the basic rules of arguably the most popular sport in France is frustrating, especially since this is right before the finale, which goes back to trying to convince the audience to have hope that Cat Noir is Ladybug's only superhero ally... when she just had to save his incompetent ass after he got captured by Penalteam. Most of the other heroes didn't even use their powers this episode, until the very end, where writers decided to have them do what they should have done from the start and just bombard Penalteam with their powers. That is, the heroes who were actually allowed to use their powers in this episode. Viperion, Ryuko, Polymouse, and Pigella didn't get to use their powers, while only one of them got a single line of dialogue. There were just way too many heroes here, and even the ones who were lucky enough to use their powers barely got to do anything else, yet the writers didn't wait until for the finale to show off all fifteen temp heroes for some reason.

That's because the four new heroes needed to be shown off to promote the toys that don't exist, and their stupid powers. Miss Hound's power got retconned by the very next episode, Minotaurox's power was just to be invulnerable to every other power, Caprikid's power is essentially Lucky Charm on steroids, and Rooster Bold's power is essentially entering God Mode. Because the writers needed to have all four heroes make their big debuts, the other nine heroes essentially got sidelined in an episode supposedly meant to show off almost all of the allies Ladybug and Cat Noir have at their disposal. It doesn't even make sense for Ladybug to draft these four heroes because she already had enough heroes to match Penalteam! Hell, despite the episode being about teamwork, the climax is basically about bailing out all the teammates who got captured, yet by the end, they want to make it seem like every hero did their part to save the day. MOST OF THEM DIDN'T EVEN DO ANYTHING!

In fact, let's get into how this episode was resolved. Rather than find a clever way to outmaneuver Penalteam or win the game in spite of her cheating, the heroes literally annoy Penalteam into giving up by doing what anyone in a competently-written show would do from the start and use their superpowers to make it seem like they're cheating as well. Because that's a good lesson to teach the audience. “Remember, kids, if someone isn't playing fair, the best thing to do is to stoop to their level and also cheat until they decide to just quit”. Because being the bigger person doesn't matter because this is Chloe we're talking about, who isn't a person, according to the show whose main character outright said having her on a team is the same as a handicap.

The soccer match was just boring, the first act still had the same unfunny gags from all season like teasing Love Square, the celebrity guest star was pointless and added nothing to the story, and the plot just made no sense. It's basically Space Jam with absolutely none of the charm, and I still unironically consider this to be the worst episode, not just of Season 4, but of the entire show.

Not only that, but it makes the Kamen Rider Gaim soccer movie look good by comparison. Yes, that was a real sentence. I just hope there won't be anything to remind me of that series where the Riders wear fruit-shaped armor—oh wait...

#25: Queen Banana

I just... what else do you want me to say? It's “Queen Banana”, an episode featuring a character I've talked about countless times, and just talked about it in my last major post about this season. It's an episode designed to insult TV executives and Chloe fans while forgetting to actually do anything to built up Chloe's replacement, who is irrelevant until she gets the Bee Miraculous for some reason, and is somehow seen as a better hero even though she hasn't really done anything different from Queen Bee other than not betraying her teammates. Is there anything else I can really add that hasn't already been said?

I guess I can say it was a little better than “Penalteam” because Astruc's self-insert didn't get too much dialogue telling Chloe what a waste of a human being she is, but that's not saying much. That, and it felt like the story was actually structured better than “Penalteam”. The character motives felt somewhat consistent, and even Zoe's out of nowhere declaration of love for Chloe felt in-character. The weird thing was than even Chloe felt more in-character in this episode compared to later entries on this list, even if this episode was basically a rehash of “Horrificator”.

That being said, the episode was still a complete trainwreck, and was the nail in the coffin for any hope at a redemption arc or competent writing for Chloe as a character. If you want to see an anti-hero turned villain story done right, watch Kamen Rider Gaim. Ironically, said character, Kaito/Kamen Rider Baron, has banana-themed armor.

#24: Strikeback

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think this season finale is actually worse than “Miracle Queen”.

Even with “Miracle Queen”, I was somewhat invested in the stakes regarding the titular Akuma's army of four superheroes and how Ladybug and Cat Noir would defeat them, but here, the actual threat by the villains was nonexistent. Strikeback, despite the awesome design, barely got to do anything cool, and Ladybug's plan to, as the late Gilbert Gottfried put it best, send those fuckers into the stratosphere, felt very... anti-climactic. It didn't feel like the heroes were slaying a group of titans or achieving their greatest victory thanks to the scale being downplayed.

I suppose this was due to the twist regarding Felix, but it honestly does a disservice to both him and Gabriel as villains. First, the fact that I can say that the best villain in the show in terms of personality, motives, and successful plans is a fourteen year old child created to be a walking insult to fans of one of the show's earlier drafts is incredibly sad. I don't know what his plan was before Ladybug gave him the Dog Miraculous. Then there's Gabriel, who once again gets his ass kicked by a bunch of superpowered teenagers, and suddenly gets fifteen Miraculous through no actions of his own. This doesn't make him a threat, and it doesn't make Felix a smart villain. It makes both of them idiots, because Gabriel's victory doesn't feel earned, and it makes no sense as to why Felix would make this deal in the first place when he could have told Ladybug about who Shadowmoth is.

“But IOTA! It's an unexpected plot twist, and therefore good writing!” Just like with what happened with Chloe, it doesn't matter if a plot twist is unexpected if it's only done for shock value, and nothing else. The writers were clearly banking on the drama of Ladybug “making a mistake” when absolutely nobody in her situation could have guessed that the person they recruited to help save the day was actually the evil nephew of the big bad who secretly planned to use his power to teleport any small object to their hand on her yo-yo that conveniently had every Miraculous inside of it. This is why the plot twist doesn't work. There are just so many plot contrivances in the last act of this episode just to deprive Ladybug of all of her spare Miraculous when Hawkmoth had the Miracle Box in his hands at the end of Season 3, and didn't think to grab any of the Miraculous inside when he had the chance. You had the chance to give the main villain all the spare Miraculous last season, so why do this song and dance again?

And then there's Adrien, who decides whining about how Ladybug doesn't trust him is perfect for when she's having A FUCKING PANIC ATTACK. The resolution for the whole schism between Ladybug and Cat Noir was easily the most insulting thing the show has ever done. Say what you will about Chloe, but at the very least, we're supposed to hate her after the betrayal. Here, we're supposed to be happy Cat Noir comforted Ladybug at the end, even though he talked shit behind her back all season, making this act seem very two-faced of him. Even putting aside everything else he's done in previous episodes, the context of this episode makes him out to be nothing more than a whiny brat who complains about Ladybug treating him unfairly without any evidence to show it, yet we're supposed to feel bad for him for some reason.

I jokingly compared Cat Noir to Bakugo from My Hero Academia due to thinking they're both pompous jackasses last year, because that was fresh in my mind at the time, but now I realize that Bakugo is actually a better hero than Cat Noir. As egotistical as he can be, Bakugo is still good at his job, excels in combat, still thinks things through more than Adrien, and actually shows more remorse for his actions than Adrien does, even blaming himself for inadvertently forcing All Might to retire when the #1 Hero burned out his powers while saving him from All for One's team. In addition, the show makes it clear Bakugo isn't that popular because of his abrasive behavior which was the result of being coddled with praise all his life, yet with Adrien, despite arguably being worse than Bakugo in terms of recklessness, we're always supposed to take his side, even in an episode where he does nothing but complain about how much his life sucks because Ladybug keeps secrets from him.

And again, Adrien is still rewarded for not liking the temp heroes because of Felix, and we don't even get a moment where he regrets his words and says something about this not being what he meant. Even though he ranted about how Ladybug is a big meanie who smells all season, he's now willing to comfort her and let her admit she was wrong about everything, because just like in the New York Special and “Kuro Neko”, he's pretty much only loyal to him as long as his ego is validated. It just astounds me that the show could have at least made a point about how Chloe is a worse person than Adrien because she was just as obsessed with Ladybug and took it to the logical extreme with the betrayal, but instead, this season ends with Adrien acting the same way Chloe did in Season 3, and rather than learning his lesson about what it means to be a hero, he got rewarded for his behavior while Ladybug was blamed for everything going wrong. Let's be honest here, in any other show, Adrien would be a villain, because this show has shown that he is not a superhero, and this episode is only one of several reasons why.

While I think the last act is the most rage-inducing moment of the show, I put this higher than “Penalteam” and “Queen Banana” because the first half was more boring than anything else. The last two entries were frustrating from start to finish, and had worse stories by comparison. Here, it at least felt like the episode was going somewhere interesting by virtue of being a season finale. It didn't go anywhere good, but it was something. The action was lame, the plot was contrived as hell, and Cat Noir continues to be an insufferable moron, yet is seen as an angel according to the writers. Pretty good way to describe most of this season, isn't it?

#23: Glaciator 2

What a surprise, the sequel to one of the worst episodes of Season 2 is one of the worst episodes of Season 4. Who could have seen that coming? The original “Glaciator” had a lot of problems, most of them revolving around Cat Noir feeling entitled to Ladybug's attention, and credit where credit is due, the episode tries to acknowledge this flaw of his... keyword being “tries”.

For once, Cat Noir actually gets called out for violating Ladybug's personal space and gets punished for his behavior... yet we're still supposed to feel bad for him instead of Ladybug. Okay, yes, in any other context, Ladybug throwing Cat Noir into a trash can is uncalled for, but A) Cat Noir was bothering Ladybug in the middle of a fight, and this was basically Ladybug reaching her breaking point with him, and B) Cat Noir was refusing to take no for an answer, or at least wait until after Glaciator was defeated. Instead of taking either of those factors into consideration, the episode makes it seem like Cat Noir is aware of how bad his behavior is, but he can't control himself because “He loves Ladybug too much”, making it seem like it's a heartwarming thing that he still pines for Ladybug when she's said she loves someone else.

Do I even need to explain how wrong this is?

And then the episode has the balls to make it seem like Adrien actually learned something from this wake-up call, only for him to go back because now, he wants to show her who is really is. When was this episode about Adrien learning to be himself? That wasn't even close to the reason why Ladybug blew up at Cat Noir in the first place. You can't even say something like it's a realistic depiction of someone struggling to get over their crush, because they treat it like we're supposed to support Adrien for relapsing when this episode only showed how he's pretty much learned nothing.

A real problem I have with this episode, and the show in general is that despite most of the drama revolving around the Love Square, we don't get to see any perspective on why Adrien loves Ladybug so much. Yes, we know from “Origins” that he was impressed with her skills while still having a sense of humor, but other than that episode, there's not a lot of Adrien talking about why his feelings for Ladybug outshine every other girl in Paris. This episode could have been a really interesting character study for Adrien to reassess why he loves Ladybug so much, and what he should do if there's really no chance with her. Instead, most of Adrien's scenes for the second act revolve around Marinette's subplot, which is just as bad.

Putting aside the fact that Marinette showing excitement at seeing an upset Adrien for her to comfort is something I'd expect to see Chloe do in Scarlet Lady, the actual plot with Marinette trying to practice her confession to Adrien is one of the most boring subplots in the season. I get the idea is to show Marinette and Cat Noir getting to know the other side of each other, but it just feels like padding that doesn't really advance the plot or characters. I'm going to talk more about this when I analyze the Love Square, but just like Adrien's feelings for Ladybug, we don't really get to see Marinette talk about why she loves Adrien so much, even as she practices her confession. It only serves to highlight how vaguely defined Marinette and Adrien's feelings for each other are, despite being the crux of this episode.

But then we have the big guy himself, Andre. I skimmed over this in my review, but I still find it hilarious that the writers are portraying Andre as this maniac who is obsessed with his ships and will attack anyone who dares to not follow the magic ice cream, and not realize that this is how the other characters react whenever the Love Square is involved. It's like they were trying to make Andre a caricture of shippers, but accidentally made him a caricture of their own writing instead. Putting that aside, it still doesn't save him from being even more insufferable than his debut episode. At least in the original “Glaciator”, you could kind of understand where Andre was coming from when he got akumatized because Marinette essentially said how meaningless something he puts a lot of pride in is to her, but here, she doesn't even talk to him. Andre literally sees Marinette walking with Cat Noir, assumes they're dating, and freaks the hell out, targeting her in particular. Dude, it's one girl! You've brought hundreds, if not thousands of couples together, and you're acting like one inaccurate fortune is proof you're losing your touch?

The car chase scene was still cool, but after the ending that undid Cat Noir respecting Ladybug's boundaries, it doesn't really do much to salvage this episode.

#22: Hack-San

Does anyone even know why the titular Sentimonster was called Hack-San? I mean, at least Kuro Neko was based off a maneki-neko, so the Japanese motif made sense, but this is just a flash drive. Are the writers really that desperate to sound cultured by referencing the Japanese language like this? Obviously, this is the least of the episode's problems, but it's just bothered me since I posted my initial review of it.

The story just makes no sense. Why the hell would Gabriel go through all this trouble to reuse Robostus, the one Akuma who actively tried to kill him, and didn't even get as close to getting Ladybug and Cat Noir's Miraculous in the first place? Why not use a Sentimonster with similar powers to enrage people enough to become Scarletmoth again? If the writers really wanted to use Robostus again, why did they change his powers so drastically? Like, he's basically another Pixelator, so why not bring him back instead of wasting time on this Sentimonster idea that's literally only used to bring back a single Akuma?

And that's not even getting into how they justify Alya getting the Ladybug Miraculous. I already talked about how Astruc played dumb when asked why Marinette couldn't use Kaalki when she's used the Horse Miraculous several times this season, but it's kind of strange that out of all the times Marinette has come up with excuses to avoid getting in trouble (Troublemaker being an obvious example), only now does it fail. It's a minor nitpick, but it just bothers me that the one time her excuses don't work is for an episode like this, because it really goes out of its way to set up this kind of conflict when all they had to do was make Marinette too sick or injured to be Ladybug for a few days.

But that's nothing compared to what Cat Noir is like in this episode. Anyone who says Cat Noir is a responsible hero has clearly never seen this episode. This is arguably his worst outing this season, because he's even more of a jerk than usual.

It's one thing for Cat Noir to be distrustful of Scarabella without getting any explanation, but it's another thing for him to immediately assume murder is the only option, and even after learning the truth, continuing to throw a hissy fit because he doesn't like the temp Ladybug while never telling the real Ladybug what he did.

The thing was that the way they set up Scarabella, as contrived as it was, it felt like the lesson would be for Cat Noir to not judge Scarabella or at the very least, learn to trust her. You know, “Don't judge a book by its cover, don't make your mind up too soon”, that kind of stuff. Unfortunately, Cat Noir judged Scarabella by her cover from the start, made his mind up way too soon, yet it seems like the episode wants us to take his side more than Scarabella's. Putting aside the fact that the writers ignored a couple of easy options for Marinette and Alya to explain the situation to Cat Noir, the episode wants us to believe that it's more unfair for Cat Noir, even though the opening made it clear that there was no other option.

This episode, like a lot of the other Angstdrien Depreste/Cat Dour episodes, wants us to believe that Marinette is deliberately keeping Cat Noir locked out of the loop for selfish reasons, when earlier scenes show the circumstances that lead to Cat Noir being kept out being related to events beyond either his or Ladybug's control. This episode pretty much opened up with Marinette having no excuses to get out of leaving Paris, so she had no choice but to trust Alya with the Ladybug Miraculous for the time being. It's easy to see how unfair it is for Cat Noir, but even though we have the context as to why this is happening, we're supposed to be okay with Cat Noir being an asshole to Scarabella for doing nothing wrong. And yet, he gets to comfort her when she gets overwhelmed by the battle, because the writers think they can have him be a whiny jackass and a shoulder to cry on at the same time.

The episode had some decent scenes of Alya doubting herself and struggling to find her own identity as Ladybug's temporary replacement, but Cat Noir was still an asshole, the action wasn't that interesting, and I feel like Marinette saving the day to show she's more used to figuring out the Lucke Charms could have been pulled off better. It's still better than the last few entries on the list, but that's really not saying much. And of course, this isn't even the last episode where Cat Noir whines about not getting special treatment.

#21: Kuro Neko

If anyone reading this is struggling with any story they're working on, just know you're probably doing a better job with your characters than episodes like this.

This is pretty much what most of the season has been building up to, the schism in Ladybug and Cat Noir's partnership, and boy, is it disappointing. The writers pretty much went out of their way to give Cat Noir as little ground to stand on as possible while saying we're supposed to feel bad for him, even though before he willingly gave up his Miraculous, he was intentionally not going to fights out of the belief that he wasn't needed, which only makes him seem even more irresponsible than usual.

I'm not sure if this is an accurate comparison, but remember when Peter Parker quit being a superhero in Spider-Man 2? Remember how it was visualized through Peter talking to Uncle Ben, and Peter tearfully tells him that his desire to have a normal life was stronger than Uncle Ben's death motivating him to use his powers for good? Remember how it was framed as an understandable, but still selfish act, and the satisfaction of seeing him become Spider-Man again after realizing how much he's needed? Imagine if absolutely none of what made that sequence great was condensed into the first act, and Peter needed someone else to beg him to be Spider-Man again. That's pretty much how Adrien acts in this episode.

It'd be one thing if Adrien giving up his Miraculous was framed as a reckless thing, but the episode goes out of its way to once again blame Ladybug for something she had no part in causing. All she did was rely on other heroes more when Cat Noir wasn't available, because, in case you forgot, HE DIDN'T SHOW UP TO FIGHT AKUMAS BECAUSE HE CHOSE NOT TO. It's almost impossible to take his side in the first act here, and he doesn't even seem to regret it or feel remorse like he did in the New York Special. Instead, Plagg has to motivate him to get off his ass because of his plan to trick Ladybug, which I'm still mixed on due to the intentions.

But when we see how competent Adrien is as Catwalker, it only raises more questions because it shows how smart Adrien can be in combat, but essentially chooses not to. The reason is when he does, Ladybug can't stop simping over him. It's supposedly meant to mirror the episode's earlier claim that Cat Noir quit because Ladybug “broke his heart” for the unforgivable crime of working with other heroes, but even Cat Noir wasn't this stupid around Ladybug, who can't do anything because Catwalker is so attractive. Because, it's not like Cat Noir can use his brain more in combat without flirting with Ladybug, right?

In general, this episode does everything in its power to make sure Marinette literally has no other choice but to rely on Cat Noir. Alya and Su-Han, her two confidants who could have made this episode a lot easier, are nowhere to be seen, and while Adrien's depression is played completely straight, Marinette scrambling to find a new partner while essentially having a mental breakdown is played entirely for laughs. With the way the episode is written, it's saying that it's bad for Marinette to get help from other heroes, it's bad for her to get help from another hero who's as smart as her, so she has no choice but to have Cat Noir as her only superhero ally, which was basically confirmed in the finale. Because God forbid Ladybug have more than one ally who doesn't get beat up or brainwashed every other episode, right?

I will say the fight with Kuro Neko was more interesting than the action in the last few entries, thanks to the mystery about whether its an Akuma or Sentimonster, and I liked the idea to give both sides points in their argument (any episode where Cat Noir shows actual remorse gets a plus for me), but the episode was still biased toward Ladybug, saying she's a terrible superhero, she ignores Cat Noir because she hates him with a burning passion, and she cheats on her taxes. This episode arguably had a lot of potential to be good, but the characterization really needed improvement to show that neither side was right or wrong. Instead, the episode rewards Angstdrien for being an entitled jackass who demands he get praise for doing absolutely nothing.

#20: Qilin

You know, after rewatching this episode, I kind of feel bad for Astruc here. He caught in the crossfire from a very dangerous protest with his infant daughter a few years ago, put a lot of time and effort to convert that experience into an episode that audiences could relate to... and it still got censored in his home country of France, who failed to understand that scenes depicting racism are meant to make kids uncomfortable.

I still don't think the episode is good though, not by a long shot. It's a very sanitized take on the police brutality debate, and doesn't even address the concept of racism, just making it about some asshole who can't wait a few minutes with this stranger for her daughter to get back. The only reason the episode's plot got as far as it did was because they dumbed down Roger, someone who got fired after refusing to arrest someone without a proper investigation (Rogercop), and made him a government drone who knew Sabine had a daughter. Because it's not like they could have created a different police officer to lead the charge in the episode, right? Then again, considering how this is easily the worst animated episode of the season, I'm almost afraid to see what said police officer would look like.

The actual Akuma of the episode really didn't help things, as while she wasn't too violent, it was hard to sympathize with Qilin when she attacked cops left and right and pretty much said they deserved to die for unfairly arresting her... even though she's just as guilty of using excessive force. If she only fought in self defense and stayed in one place while the police kept getting reinforcements, that would make sense, as it would have highlighted how the cops were overblowing the threat she posed. Instead, it's very hard to root for her supposedly getting her revenge on the cops because only five of the police officers know what's going on, while the others see an Akuma attacking them all. The writers were clearly trying to go for an argument where both sides have a point, but it's undermined by the rest of the episode blatantly saying we're supposed to side with Sabine for attacking these cops.

The cops themselves don't help either. I've already talked about what happened with Roger and the asshole ticket taker, but the rest of the episode goes with all of the standard bad cop jokes we've all seen in much better shows. The cops are trigger-happy, they'll try and arrest anyone on a whim, never take responsibility for their actions, and are completely incompetent despite their massive arsenal. The thing is that there's actually some clever commentary and good visuals that help the episode's theme of police demonizing the people they arrest while using way too much force on one person, but most of that gets undermined by the whole “the corrupt cops and unfairly accused are just as stubborn” crap they were trying to pull.

But then there's the way the episode chooses to deliver its message by having Marinette take responsibility for the incident that she kind of had a part in causing by virtue of borrowing Sabine's purse. The fact that the episode about police brutality ends with the biracial girl taking the blame for an incident where her mother was unfairly arrested and humiliated in public while the government officials who kept escalating the situation got off scot-free is insensitive at best, and insulting at worst. I wasn't really enraged like I was with the way the season ended in “Strikeback”, more dumbfounded at the idea that this team of paid writers thought this was a good moral to teach in the wake of George Floyd's death. What, did the ending where Ladybug stopped the conflict by handing Roger a can of Pepsi not do well with test audiences?

Like it or not, the death of George Floyd was a major event that really made us rethink how we view the police and how hard it is to hold someone accountable for their crimes when they enforce the law itself. While I do appreciate the showrunners attempting to do an episode to teach kids about police brutality, it still doesn't excuse it from being handled poorly for the most part and doing nothing to really educate kids about the concept of racism and police brutality.

As for good things, I guess once you take away the terrible police brutality lesson, the episode isn't as frustrating as the earlier entries on this list, and I do like how Cat Noir got to be somewhat useful today. I also thought the way Ladybug peacefully resolved the situation by unlocking Sabine's handcuffs had potential, but it needed a lot of fine-tuning like the rest of this episode. The idea of seeing the Akuma victim's daily life beforehand was an interesting take, but I think the episode could have worked more if it focused more on Marinette's bond with her mother as opposed to the story the writers went instead. As the episode stands, well, like I said, it oversimplifies the police brutality debate to a dangerous degree without even mentioning racism, and isn't nearly as groundbreaking as some of the writers want us to believe.

Before I move onto the next entry, I'd want to thank some of my followers of color for speaking up about this episode and providing a new perspective on it by relating their own stories of facing discrimination in comparison to the “discrimination” Sabine faced here. I really appreciate your honesty here, and it helped me understand how inaccurate this episode’s writing was.

#19: Lies

This episode does not do a good job at setting the stage for Adrien's “arc” for the season. Once again, Adrien does nothing but slack off as Cat Noir, not really putting a lot of effort into his relationship with Kagami, and once again recklessly sacrificing himself while laughing it off and saying Ladybug looks cute when she's worried, because this show is written by people who don't know how to flirt.

And while I like the idea of Kagami's stubbornness being a key factor for their breakup, Adrien doesn't get nearly as much blame for said breakup as Kagami does. Kagami forces herself onto Adrien, demands he comply to her perceived image of him, and runs off crying as a result of Adrien lying to her, while all the times Adrien missed their dates were because he had to do stuff as Cat Noir, but it doesn't work because earlier in the episode, we see how Adrien doesn't take being a superhero seriously. With Marinette in “Truth”, it worked because you could see how upsetting it was for both her and Luka whenever she had to leave to stop an Akuma or Sentimonster as Ladybug, but with Adrien, it's hard to see him as someone who knows saving the day is more important than his social life when earlier in the episode, he tried to get someone akumatized so he would have an excuse to see Ladybug again. Because how dare she have a life of her own outside of being a superhero, am I right? Compared to Marinette, Adrien didn't even seem that upset to be dumped by Kagami, seeing how he was flirting with Ladybug while he was still dating her.

And don't get me wrong, I'm not saying Kagami shouldn't get any slack here, as she has her own problems that contributed to the breakup. The problem is how the episode chooses to ignore her blatantly violating Adrien's personal space while at the same time, making it seem like she's the one overreacting to Adrien for lying to her due to being Cat Noir, as if that was the problem she had instead of her preconceived image of Adrien not being the one she is dating. You know, an lesson that someone like Marinette could benefit from? What was even the point of Kagami forcing Adrien to model for her if the drawing didn't even factor into their breakup? And also, writers, if you're trying to make Adrienette endgame, maybe don't make the charm Marinette gave to Adrien the powder keg that causes  Adrien and Kagami's relationship to go up in flames.

I think the idea of the episode taking place around the same time as “Truth” was an interesting idea, but the continuity still gets screwed up at times, like how Shadowmoth sent out two Akumas in one day. I also thought the hands-off they endaged Lies was somewhat clever, in addition to using Fang as part of their plan. Other than that, it's a pretty mediocre episode.

#18: Ephemeral

Fun fact: When I rewatched “Ephemeral” for the sake of this post it reminded me of this episode of Ultraman Cosmos where the monster of the week was called Ephemera (this giant bug creature whose lifespan is only a day), and so I watched that episode afterwards. I found it far more entertaining than pretty much everything seen in “Ephemeral”.

While most shows use the one-hundredth episode as a way to celebrate its long run in some way, Miraculous Ladybug uses its one-hundredth to celebrate how stagnant the plot has become by teasing us with a reveal for the first time in two seasons, only to undo it via reset button. At least when The Big Bang Theory used its one-hundredth episode all the daydream of a single character, it made sense because the point was to show how he was too paranoid about things going wrong with how complicated things are with the girl he wanted to ask out, and gave him the kick in the pants he needed to go through with the date, and actually advanced the plot in the process. Here, it's pretty much stuff we already know.

We already know things could go horribly wrong if Marinette and Adrien figure out each other's identities before the writers run out of ways to prolong the Love Square, so what's the point of doing another episode where the same thing happens, only the circumstances change? Yeah, the world still ends, but that's because of the dumb new rule regarding the with that the writers made up to try and raise the stakes.

I will give this episode credit, as it manages to show the pros and cons of an identity reveal, but man, did it rush through things going wrong. I hated “Cat Blanc”, but the rushed pacing was pulled off far better because we were only seeing snippets of that timeline going horribly wrong along with Bunnix, who was skipping a lot of parts to find out what went wrong. Here, they decide to have Gabriel find out Adrien is Cat Noir simply because he used the term “My lady”. He literally heard him say it once, and decided to take a gamble by revealing his identity as Shadowmoth to him, in addition to psychologically tormenting him while the writers still try to make us feel bad for him. It's times like this where I'm really glad The Owl House isn't pulling this crap with Emperor Belos.

There's not much else I can really say. It's a cheap excuse for a “What if?” episode that is pretty much “Cat Blanc 2”.

#17: Risk

In Miraculous Ladybug's long standing tradition of its season finales having better first halves than the second, “Risk” is leagues better than “Strikeback”, if only forgettable it is.

Of course, despite having a lot of confidence as Cat Noir, Adrien is helpless to stand up to his father, even while under the influence of an Akuma who forces its victims to take more risks, so everyone has to rally around him and fight his own battles for him. Because it's always good writing when one of your two main characters is constantly coddled with affection by others, right? The fact that Felix and Adrien once again switched places was boring, Marinette's subplot amounted to nothing, Lila had no reason to be there, and that damn frog kid wouldn't shut up. I really can't say a lot here, because other than thinking it's better than “Strikeback”, my opinion hasn't changed a bit.

Look, this is a really boring episode to talk about, and rewatching it is hard because most of the plotlines introduced went absolutely nowhere, as the second half focused more on Felix than either of the main characters. The only reason why I think it's better than “Strikeback” is because it's nowhere as infuriating as that or the earlier entries on the list. So yeah, while it's not incredibly bad, it's easily one of the most forgettable episodes in the entire show, and that's saying something.

#16: Simpleman

The only reason why this episode is higher than “Risk” is because I like the Akuma design a lot more. That's it.

Again, hardly anything happens in this episode. The lesson on keeping things simple is as consistent as the forecast in New England, the Marinette and Adrien subplot was stupid, Rolland's motivation for being akumatized made no sense, and we're pretty much forced to follow these kids around while they help Ladybug and Cat Noir save the day. I seriously don't get why shows like this think kids want to see other kids in cartoons starring teenagers or older people. No kid wants to pretend to be Manon when they're playing. They want to pretend to be Ladybug and Cat Noir, the actual superheroes. These kids do nothing but eat up screentime that should be going to the superheroes the audience actually wants to see.

I think the worst part of the episode was that it contradicted its own moral for the sake of making yet another “Marinette stutters around Adrien” gag. Fun fact about myself: I actually have a stutter when I talk that I'm looking into getting help for, which is why I take these unfunny jokes about mocking Marinette stuttering so seriously.

Then there's the metatextual stuff Astruc said the episode was supposed to have, as if it was really this deep masterpiece of a story. The fact that Astruc thinks that it's a super compelling story because it calls out critics of the show while acting like kids are great because they don't ask questions about the writing is arguably one of the more perplexing things I've ever heard him say. Like, this dude will literally use any excuse to talk about how deep his show is when this episode is about as deep as a kiddie pool.

#15: Sole Crusher

I can already imagine this is what you're thinking as you realize how high this episode is on the list.

I swear I can explain. Yes, this was the episode that introduced Zoe, and it was really where the writers dropped all the pretenses and tried to make us hate Chloe more than the main villain, but I think the episode had a few good points, like a good Akuma design, and... uh... competent pacing?

It does a decent job establishing Zoe as a character, despite her nonexistent personality, and the Akuma fight wasn't terrible. Like, this episode is bad, but compared to “Queen Banana”, it's harmless. Other than that, there's really not much I can say here.

#14: Mr. Pigeon 72

It's time to talk about “Fanservice: The Episode”, and by that, I mean “Mr. Pigeon 72”.

Yeah, this was still a pretty rough episode to get through, mainly because once again, the writers think Marinette stammering and tripping around Adrien is the funniest stuff they've ever come up with. In addition, the episode thinks it's perfectly okay for Marinette to swoop in and ask Adrien out right after his breakup with Kagami while laughing at the idea of Marinette wanting to comfort Kagami in the first place. Like, Jesus, writers, you really want to set up the Love Square again this quickly, don't you?

I still stand by my theory that some of the stuff in this episode was included as a way to lure back Love Square shippers by making them think there was going to be progression because of that new umbrella scene, when in reality, nothing changed between the two this season. Just like with “Ephemeral”, I don't see the point in redoing something we've already seen, especially if they don't have a Season 1 budget. It's a blatant excuse at fanservice that just doesn't work.

Putting the poor story aside, I still think the episode had some decent moments, like the action and use of Rena Rouge's illusions, as well as the occasional funny joke. Other than that, it's a very bland episode that fails miserably to get back the investment of Love Square shippers who jumped ship after Season 3. It's bad, but not as bad as some of the worst this season has to offer.

#13: Dearest Family

Look, this episode isn't great. I think the Tikki plotline is stupid, and the Megakuma idea is pointless, but I still think it had some good visuals and animation. The giant galette plummeting towards Earth looked pretty menacing, and as underwhelming as it was for the story, Cat Noir destroying it looked cool enough.

That being said, the Akuma team was still pretty weak, as not much was done to show off their powers. Weredad only got to use his vines once, Befana only used a couple of fairy minions, while Bakerix and Qilin didn't even get to do anything cool. The infighting was a nice idea, but I think it was executed better in “Crocoduel”. The Tikki plotline was still dumb, because even though the season wants to act like Marinette doesn't trust anyone when this plot literally happened because Marinette decided to trust Tikki over the other Kwamis, and once again, almost inadvertently caused the end of the world because of it.

I know I might sound like I'm being nitpicky here, but compared to some of the other episodes here, this one isn't really bad, just mediocre. It has a few good moments, but it's honestly nothing special, and even the idea of the Megakuma supposedly being plot-relevant isn't worth the rewatch.

#12: Gabriel Agreste

Look, writers, I get that Marinette's the main character, but of all the ways to get her involved in the story, you choose one of the most pointless subplots in the show's history?

It doesn't even make sense that Marinette has to go undercover when it was Nathaniel and Marc's drawings that Chloe snapped some pictures of, so why did she have to clean up their mess and take blame for it while Nathaniel and Marc faced no consequences and made a comic book making fun of Marinette for having to go through this whole ordeal? The party itself was cryptic for no real reason. I know I'm not part of the 1%, but what's the point of leaving your phone with a glorified Roomba and dancing while wearing masks? Is that a rich person thing I'm not aware of? And of course, the only reason this plot went on for so long was because the writers forgot what social media is, because Chloe goes out of her way to show Gabriel a picture when she could have just texted him or posted it on social media for everyone to see. This episode came out early into the 2020's, so you can't say Chloe, the girl who posts on social media constantly, was too stupid to think of this.

What salvages the episode is the subplot with Felix and Gabriel. It's pretty interesting to see a majority of the action revolve around Felix trying to outsmart his evil uncle, while Gabriel tries to throw Felix off his track. If Chloe didn't get so much screentime across this season, I think Felix could have been a more compelling character.

In general, I think the episode could have been a lot better if there was much more focus on the conflict between Felix and Gabriel instead of all this Unfunny Marinette Slapstick set in this Squid Game-themed masquerade ball. Also, really subtle with the masks, writers. It's almost like it's a reference to Gabriel being a supervillain.

#11: Truth

It's the opening episode of Season 4, and what do I think of it? Uh... It wasn’t terrible?

I think the episode does a good enough job showing the tragedy of Luka and Marinette's breakup, and the way Truth's powers worked was interesting enough, as was the use of an Akuma and a Sentimonster to establish Shadowmoth's new powers. Generally, this is a pretty decent way to set up the tone of the season, with major reveals and plot twists, not to mention how it set up Gabriel being more dangerous as Shadowmoth, even if he ended up being more pathetic as the season went on.

On the other hand, you can really tell the writers wanted to rush through Luka and Marinette's relationship so they could go back to the same routine of teasing the Love Square. I still think there was some kind of change behind the scenes, because there's no way these writers would spend two seasons building up a relationship that gets undone in a single episode. As critical as I am about what happened to Chloe, her betrayal at least impacted the story and arguably caused a lot of the stuff in this very season to happen. Here, the Lukanette breakup barely amounted to anything, and Luka was essentially pushed to the sidelines, becoming yet another Love Square shipper thanks to knowing both Ladybug and Cat Noir's identities.

The writers trying to blame Marinette for still loving Adrien didn't really work, because 1) Adrien was barely present in the episode outside of his scenes as Cat Noir, so it's hard to really see how Marinette views him in an episode where everyone says she still loves Adrien, and 2) the episode itself doesn't care enough to focus on this aspect of Marinette's character because they thought the bombshell of who Luka's father is (something that hadn't been mentioned once outside of some mild foreshadowing in “Desperada”) was far more important. Making the second half of the episode revolve around this is a disservice to Marinette, Luka, and Adrien, because even though the three are the focus of the conflict, all Jagged Stone does is waste time that should have been spent on Luka realizing Marinette will never love him as much as she loves Adrien.

I still think the episode is decent, but the writers really needed to save the Jagged Stone stuff for another episode and focus on breaking up the relationship they themselves spent so much time on for some reason.

#10: Sentibubbler

This is an episode with some really high points that unfortunately stumbled towards the finish line.

First off, I love the premise of Shadowmoth himself heading into the field to coax Alya into betraying Ladybug. Yeah, you could argue it's a repeat of what he did in “Miracle Queen” with a more direct hostage situation, but there's still a lot of tension and high stakes here. I also love the battle of wits Alya and Shadowmoth get into thanks to Alya secretly having the Fox Miraculous, leading to some much more creative illusions, as well as Alya having to take charge with Marinette being held captive. The first half of this episode genuinely has some great drama and a compelling story.

Unfortunately, towards the end, the episode starts to falter, which is why it isn't higher. I feel like I've already gone into how unheroic Cat Noir smashing that chimney and defying Rena Rouge's orders out of anger is, but the way the conflict is ultimately resolved is very underwhelming. It was pretty obvious that the only reason why Pegabug couldn't steal Shadowmoth's Miraculous while she had the chance was to keep the season's plot going, as was why Shadowmoth placed Sentibubbler's Amok in a coffee cup of all things instead of in his cane or somewhere else. There was also the fact that Ladybug's Lucky Charm didn't even factor into her resolving the conflict, just to trap the Cesaire family's pet tarantula, which also didn't play a big part in the climax despite being set up to do so earlier.

So yeah, while the episode had a strong enough start to crack the top ten, it unfortunately couldn't get any higher due to how quickly things fell apart towards the end.

#9: Rocketear

While it's still very flawed, this episode honestly holds up surprisingly well.

I like how it decides to give more focus on Alya and Nino, two characters who really needed more focus lately. I also think it was nice to show some actual conflict in their relationship, as it does more to make them seem like actual characters compared to them just being the same character in Season 3. It's pretty interesting to see Alya be the one to struggle with balancing her social life and her new support role as Rena Furtive. You can see she generally loves Nino, and having to keep secrets from him really hurts her. It's some pretty good stuff.

This is also easily the best Adrien has been the whole season. Not only does he take fault for supposedly charming his best friend's girlfriend, he talks to her to clear things up, and when he learns she and his best friend know each other's secret identities, his reactions are genuinely believable, as he sees a double standard he's hurt by. Why couldn't we get more of this Adrien for this season? He's far more tolerable than he was in “Strikeback” or “Glaciator 2”. Did the writers just not realize they had lightning in a bottle here?

Other than that, the episode still has flaws, mainly Nino's controlling behavior and refusal to let Alya have a life of her own. It really doesn't do much to help his character, much less feel bad for him here. Then again, guys acting like assholes to the girls and getting off scot-free seems to be a theme for this show. There's also Nino's new Akuma form, Rocketear, which I already went over and explained why it was so underwhelming. The ending with Alya telling Nino her identity as Rena Furtive was something that could have led to some interesting drama, but ended up being pointless by the end.

But honestly, it's not as bad as I thought it was when I first reviewed it. It could still be better, but it's not completely terrible.

#8: Wishmaker

Likewise, this episode does have some pretty good moments, and the story is actually pretty interesting.

Seeing both Marinette and Adrien worry about their futures while considering everything they're going through does make for some compelling drama. I'm sure this is something viewers of all ages can relate to, as we've all been here before. I also like the lesson behind Andre quitting his office job to pursue a career in something he's more passionate about, selling ice cream to others. Yeah, it doesn't really make up for both Glaciator episodes, but it's still a nice backstory that teaches viewers that sometimes, people will find a profession they like later in life. Even though it's obvious this is to show they're just friends now, I still like how Luka and Marinette interacted this episode while Luka talked about his dream of making instruments. Another thing I liked was the art shift showing drawings of the dreams people like Andre and the victims of Wishmaker had. It was a decent visual, and I thought it was a nice touch.

Of course, the episode still has its fair share of problems, mainly with how Alec is portrayed. While it's not bad on its own, the fact that Alec got to have a very quick change of heart thanks to Luka and Andre while a majority of Chloe's appearances show how irredeemable she is is frustrating to say the least. Yes, what Chloe did was worse, but it's strange that the writers act like the grown man who likes to humiliate people on TV is a better person than the girl who still has a lot of room to develop as a person. Alec also becoming what's heavily implied to be a drag queen was an ending that came out of nowhere, and it only makes me wonder if this was to appeal to make it seem the show is woke or something like that.

There's also the whole thing with Viperion finding out Ladybug and Cat Noir's identities only really amounting to him having a reason to ship the Love Square. With Ladybug, it was understandable, but it's really weird that the show never called out Cat Noir for letting himself get hit by Wishmaker on purpose. Don't get me wrong, the tragic image of Adrien's dream to just be the ideal child for his parents isn't a bad visual, but it's just how we got it that bothers me. Maybe if he sacrificed himself as usual or if there was more thought put into how reckless this action was, it could have worked, but as it stands, it still really sours the episode for me. It's far from the worst thing he's done this season, but it's still not a good moment for him.

So yeah, while it's a sort of funeral for Lukanette, I still think this was an above average, if very flawed, episode.

#7: Psycomedian

A celebrity guest star episode that isn't blatantly worshiping the guest in question? Say it isn't so!

While I don't think a lot of his jokes are funny, I still thought Franck Dubosc gave a good performance as Harry Clown. It was a pretty grounded take on the struggles some celebrities have to go through whenever they try to break out of the niche they've made a name for themselves in. Sure, it's not “Beware the Gray Ghost” levels of heartbreaking, but it's still some pretty compelling stuff, even if most of the mockery Harry's planned movie got is eerily similar to some of the things Astruc himself said about Pixar's lineup. Even the ending where Ladybug and Cat Noir just told Harry that Bob Roth wasn't the only manager in Paris was a pretty funny, yet optimistic way to end things on.

Another thing that puts this episode above the others is that for the most part, the writers get all the cringe out of the way. After Alya “reassures” Marinette that her flaws are good, and Marinette's disastrous prop comedy performance that wasn't nearly as bad as what she did in “The Puppeteer 2”, things mostly pick up from there. The twist of a relatively simple Akuma to beat being made harder by Ladybug's mood change was a nice change of pace, as was Cat Noir actually stepping up and taking the lead for once. Even some of the emotional beats like Marinette crying were taken very seriously, as tonally jarring as they could be at times.

Granted, my biggest problem with the episode that prevents me from putting it any higher is the whole idea that Marinette's erratic behavior being the only thing to really make Adrien laugh is nowhere near as heartwarming as the writers want it to be. They're essentially saying Adrien only finds Marinette funny/interesting when she's making a fool of herself in public. Sure, it's a decent attempt to show Adrien cares for Marinette, but it really could have been done in a better way.

Other than that, it's a surprisingly good episode, even if nobody ever made a “What’s black and white, and red all over?” gag with Psycomedian’s design.

#6: Crocoduel

When you take away the fact that the reveal of Jagged Stone being Luka and Juleka's father could have easily been established here instead of in “Truth”, this is actually a pretty good episode.

Like I mentioned, I have some problems with the whole thing about Jagged being a deadbeat dad, but I think he was handled pretty well here, genuinely wanting to actually connect with his children after years of neglect. I also think the idea of the argument between him and Anarka over their old record starting out small but gradually becoming Akumas as a result of the rising tensions was well done for the most part, even if the writers skipped out on actually acknowledging how Jagged missed out on his children's lives, much less portray Luka and Juleka as having trouble connecting with him. In addition, while I thought it could have been done better, the minor subplot with Marinette and Luka struggling to adjust to becoming friends was adequate enough.

The action with the titular Crocoduel was also pretty fun, as it really showed how much chaos their fight was causing and how Ladybug and Cat Noir couldn't do much to break it up. And then there's the stuff with Purple Tigress. While I have some problems with the poor explanation of her power, I can't lie when I say that seeing her using Clout to punch both villains into the sky while yelling at them to stop fighting and talk didn't put a huge grin on my face.

Of course, outside of the writers deliberately ignoring the space power-ups that allowed Ladybug and Cat Noir to fly, this episode can't really be ranked any higher because a lot of the ideas for the story here, while interesting, aren't explored as much as they really could have been. But hey, just missing the top five is still pretty rock and roll if you ask me.

#5: Gang of Secrets

I said before that this episode was okay in my initial review, but my opinion has sort of changed since then.

Like with “Psycomedian”, it feels like the writers but the bullet and saved the cringe like Cat Noir's annoying flirting and Alya violating Marinette's privacy for just the first act, because afterwards, things mostly pick up from there. The titular Team of Secrets is a pretty effective unit overall, even if we didn't get to see all of them do anything cool, like that army of brainwashed Reflekta clones that just disappeared offscreen. The action also holds up surprisingly well, and compared to later instances this season, the scene where Alya breaks free of Shadowmoth's control is a pretty powerful moment. The actual reveal of Marinette's identity is also very well shot. There's no big visual or drawn out conversation. It just focuses on the expressions of both girls, and their reactions to this huge shift in the status quo.

So while it just made the top five, I still think this episode was a lot better than I gave it credit for initially.

#4: Mega Leech

While the episode is a very simplified take on climate change, I still think it does a pretty good job with what it sets out to do.

The whole plot with the Oxygen Project being backed by Mayor Bourgeois in an attempt to look good is actually some pretty good commentary on politicians either pretending to care about certain issues to boost approval ratings or generally having no idea how to deal with situations like climate change. Getting a superstar like Adrien to promote the bottled air while Adrien himself didn't know the true context was also a nice touch.

The actual Akuma fight was also a nice scenario, as it mixed up Malediktator's mind control powers in a fresh way thanks to the use of Mega Leech. Granted, it's a little specific that all the clones were tiny in an obvious attempt to warrant the use of the Mouse Miraculous, but it's still pretty nice. The fact that the team has to divide and conquer to stop the Malediktator clones and Mega Leech is a great way to shake up the standard Akuma formula. I especially liked the way Ladybug and the other temp heroes rounded up all of the Akumas and Amoks in one space for Ladybug to purify.

Most of the problems I really had with the episode were really just nitpicks and minor gripes in my opinion. Aside from the obvious unfunny gag with Marinette fawning over Adrien and the obvious plot twist of Cat Noir once again being brainwashed to add drama to the plot, I didn't like the episode saying Marinette isn't as good as Mylene because she didn't remember the protest she had planned... when Marinette spends most of her time saving the city. That's like saying Superman is a terrible hero because he doesn't help out at his local soup kitchen. I also really didn't get why Marinette didn't just unify the Ladybug and Mouse Miraculous together to get the job done when “Kwamibuster” showed she was more than capable of doing it. It's not as bad as forgetting about the space power-up in “Crocoduel”, but it still bothers me.

But then again, for an environmental episode, it not only does a good job at teaching a lesson, but it manages to be pretty entertaining as a regular episode as well.

#3: Guiltrip

Again, I still can't believe the writers haven't realized that the episodes that aren't dominated by the Love Square are some of the better written ones than the ones that over rely on it.

Forgetting the blatant Adrienette tease, this was still a great focus episode for Rose and the other kids in the class. It discusses the idea of how to treat people with disabilities and diseases. Granted, the episode doesn't clarify what kind of illness Rose has, but it shows how while it does make Rose different, it's no excuse to panic over her like she's this precious glass sculpture. She's just as capable of taking care of herself, even if her illness gets her down occasionally. While I would have preferred if Rose's illness was actually defined, I still like how the vague illness can easily be interpreted as a stand-in for any disease or disability, physical or mental. It's done in a way that makes it so more people can relate to Rose's position of constantly being coddled for when she doesn't really need it, highlighted best when we see Juleka's greatest desire at the moment is for the class to just have a normal day with Rose.

The actual Akuma action is a really cool twist on the formula we've come to expect. The writers seemed to realize how often they've used Reflekta, so she's mostly sidelined in favor of Guiltrip itself, which is less of a monster and more of a pocket dimension, leading to some pretty eerie visuals as a result. I especially like how the conflict is more about trying not to give into despair instead of just fighting a bunch of Reflekta clones like the past few times. Even if I hated the way Cat Noir had to be reassured by Ladybug, it made more sense here because the episode was all about staying positive about things. And of course, Pigella is a pretty great temp hero, and her saving the day felt more warranted compared to earlier temp hero episodes before this season.

Even the cringey moments like Marinette simping over Adrien as usual and the aforementioned boosting Cat Noir's ego scene were very brief, and didn't really derail the plot that much. It's almost like not relying on the same old gags means more focus on telling a good story. But of course, since the episode's all about being positive, I can positively say this episode deserves the #3 spot.

#2: Furious Fu

Ah yes, the very first episode of this season I reviewed, and in my opinion, the episode that should have been used to kick off the season instead of the “Truth”/“Lies” duology we got instead.

This episode's plot is a pretty interesting conflict revolving around Marinette's struggle to adjust to her new role as Guardian, and it's done far better than “Truth”. The idea of Su-Han being a very no-nonsense character in comparison to the more soft-spoken Master Fu does make for a good conflict, as you can see the point he's trying to make here. Marinette was literally made Guardian as a last resort, isn't the normal age most people get their Miraculous, and doesn't know the identity of the dude with the power of mass destruction on his finger.

At the same time, you can see where Su-Han is wrong, as he doesn't know about all the good Marinette has done as Ladybug, isn't able to stop Akumas by himself, and could care even less about erasing Marinette's memory and taking back her and Adrien's Miraculous by force. It's a great conflict of ideals.

The action is also really great, as is Furious Fu himself. Sure, he doesn't have the best personality, but I love how he's basically there to screw up the conflict between Ladybug, Cat Noir, and Su-Han. And of course, unlike in “Penalteam”, the brief soccer game was actually fun to watch.

The only problems I had with the episode were how annoying the Kwamis were initially, and still portraying Fu as someone who made a huge sacrifice, but those are very minor in comparison to how great this episode was. But of course, there's only one episode this season that I thought was better...

#1: Optigami

Yeah, if you read my initial review of this episode, you already know this episode was my favorite this season. Not only that, but it's become one of my favorite episodes of the entire series.

I love the plan Gabriel and Nathalie come up with here, as it exploits the temp hero formula that had become common since Season 2. Because most of the exposed temp heroes are being targeted, the stakes feel far more serious compared to your average episode. It's even harder because both Marinette and Adrien aren't able to head into action, meaning the threat is even higher without Ladybug or Cat Noir to at least hold off Style Queen. This is why it's also really cool to see Alya take charge and prove herself worthy of being Marinette's confidant, while still making a mistake that almost costs them the Turtle Miraculous. It shows she has good intentions, but can be just as impulsive as Marinette, and like Marinette, has to learn from her mistakes. Granted, it doesn't stick, but in the context of the episode, it's a good moral.

There's really not much else I can say, as the only problem I have is with the beginning with the standard cringey Marinette simping for Adrien scenes, but those thankfully go away once the action kicks in. Even the cliche evil doppelganger plotpoint is done in an interesting way that makes said evil doppelganger, Sentinino, much more interesting than Copycat, Antibug, or Volpina.

It's just a really good episode, folks, and easily deserves the #1 spot on this list.

And with that, I'm finally done with this season. Just so you know, I probably won't do another one of these rankings when Season 5 ends. I broke the thirty-three page mark with this, and I'm tired as hell.

#immaturity of thomas astruc #iota #miraculous ladybug #miraculous ladybug salt #ml salt #miraculous ladybug sugar #ml sugar

[neeneeeeeee]

They really could have gone somewhere with the lone CYBERMEN, but instead that fell flat because the Master turned him into a doll and it was all about the Master whining about how the Doctor is inside him (lol pun may be intended)

Ngl I hate dhawans characterization of the master. His personality and execution is NOT very Mastery? With Simms, I understood the ticking made him a nutter. And I guess looking into the time portal ??? But with Dhawan, after Missy's era, I would've thought he would be more insidious and calm like Delgado....

BUT i honestly I understand the sentiment about The Future Master wanting to see the Doctor transform into "death" like him, and not "rebirth " like he's always been... Especially the reveal regarding her "rebirths" which if dissected properly, it really is about The Doctor's trauma splicing of the self, which I'm guessing will play a role re: bigeneration

I have no issue with the Timeless Child concept for now...... NOTHING has changed. The "indigenous" gallifreyans who injected themselves with Doctor's "TIMELORD" energy are still there in the plot, same as it did during Sixth Doctor's time (the trials of a TIMELORD)...

I think the Timeless Child plot is more about the psycho-historical aspect of the title character, THE DOCTOR, rather than actually "changing" the history of DW as a show? And I approve tbh

So in that sense, the CYBERMEN trilogy was surprisingly weaved well together in terms of gallifrey/doctor history.

I am still not a fan of Dhawan's Master characteristization, Ngl. I hate the fuck out of Dhawan's characterization.

And Ryan Sinclair is most definitely a character I enjoy watching increasingly.

And I have to bring this up..mmmm, so their explanation about Yaz being a "flat character" because she didn't make some lovely speech like Graham did is because "I'M YORKSHIRE MATE".

Idk what to say about that tbh. They're slowly fleshing her out, but it feels so dry? Like when she tried to stop Thirteen from setting off the bomb herself, meh. didn't bring any emotion out of me.

AND THEY REALLY COULD HAVE GONE SOMEWHERE WITH THE LONE CYBERMAN WITH FEELINGS, Wasted potential .

I love the bit about the TARDIS in the end with a working chameleon circuit as a Tree!!

Edit: did they kill the master for good?

#doctor who #the timeless child #ascension of the cybermen #yaz khan #yasmin khan #graham o'brien #ryan sinclair #sasha dhawan #dhawan!master #Missy #michelle gomez #delgado!master #The master #Thirteenth doctor #Cyberman #sixth doctor #simm master

[rphelperblog]

Scarlet Book Quote RP Meme

book two in the lunar chronicles by Marissa Meyer- feel free to edit quotes or change pronouns for rp purposes

“I think I realized that I would rather die because I betrayed them, than live because I betrayed you.”

“You’re not in danger of low self-esteem, at least.”

“I promise not to make fun of your boyfriend anymore."

“I lied to you about a lot of things....but I meant every apology.” 

“We’re having another moment, aren’t we?”

“Just stay with me. Protect me, like you said you would.” 

“I appreciated everything you gave me. “Although I didn’t deserve any of it.” 

“If by a moment, you mean me not wanting to strangle you for the first time since we met, then I guess we are.” 

“A captain always knows where his ship is. It's like a psychic bond.”

“If only we had a captain here.” 

“Don't thank me for telling the truth when it would have been mercy to lie to you.” 

You'll always be the only one.” 

“It seems that you’ve stumbled into the wrong jail cell. Do you need directions to get back to yours?

"Normally I like gushy things, but its different when its real people. I prefer the net dramas.”

“Now I understand why you’ve been so immune to my charms. I had no idea I was competing with an emperor. That’s a tough hand to beat, even for me.” 

“If you were a gentleman, you would offer to buy me one as well."

"If you were a lady, you would have waited for me to make the offer.” 

“We met less than a week ago and in that time I've done nothing but lie and cheat and betray you. I know. But if you give me a chance...all I want is to protect you. To be near you. For as long as I'm able.”

"Oh - I'm sorry. That was mean. I know I shouldn't tease you about this."

"Why is my ship talking back to me?” 

“You’ll want to aim for the head. That usually makes for a fatal shot. Or, if you’re feeling shaky, the torso. It’s a larger target.” 

“I don't like to think of it as 'stolen'. They have no proof that I didn't plan on giving it back."

“Besides, if you are who you claim to be, that makes you my true queen. Therefore, you have my loyalty.” 

“I know, I know. She seems a little-but it’s really part of her charm, once you get to know her.” 

You'll be fine, because you're strong, like me.” 

“I think it was hiding a princess.” 

"They do realise I'm missing, don't they?"

“It would be easy to abuse a person when they never recognized it as abuse.” 

“She was tired of everyone deciding her life for her. She was ready to figure out who she really was--not what anyone else told her to be.” 

“Who would win in a fight—you or a pack of wolves?”

“Yeah, well, I try to think for myself once in a while, rather than buy in to the ridiculous propaganda the media would have us believe.” 

“They’ve turned you all into monsters.” 

"Don't you have some tool in that fancy hand of yours that can get us across?"

“My dear Emperor. How could I resist such a charming proposal?” 

“I know you must want nothing to do with me. I don’t blame you.” 

"I mean, I really hate to agree with him, but he's right” 

“I don't compute.” 

“Two counts of treason, if you must know. And resisting arrest, and unlawful use of bioelectricity. Oh, and illegal immigration, but honestly, I think that’s a little excessive.” 

"Oh, she's had a thing or two to say about it.” 

"What an unusual name. Did your parents give it to you?"

“I'm going to escape now.” 

“The better to eat you with, my dear.” 

“If this was her chance to decide who she was, who she wanted to be, then the first decision was an easy one. She would never be like the current queen.” 

A beautiful name for a beautiful girl.” 

“She was dressed like a chameleon in a room full of komodo dragons.” 

“ Wolf? ” How … predatory.” 

“I would not have thought it before, but now I think Her Majesty might actually have cause to be afraid of you, Princess.” 

“You helped me. You rescued me.” 

“Your head looks pretty big from here.” 

"I'm not saying I think you and I are--after just--I know we just met and that's...but it's not out of the questions, is it? That your instincts to protect me could be as strong as your instincts to kill?” 

“She ruled with fear, yes, but also with adoration. It would be easy to abuse a person when they never recognized it as abuse.” 

“I don’t compute.” 

“Idiot! You idiot!” 

“A reality show about a group of children attempting to run their own small country.” 

“No. That blood-sucking, howling wolf-man killed her.” 

“So glad to be of service,”

“it was nothing compared to his awe as he watched her de-feather the dead fowl like a trained expert,” 

“How many people had helped rescue and protect her, had kept her secrets? How many had risked their lives because they believed hers was worth more?” 

“You wouldn’t have needed saving if it wasn’t for me.”

“One more patronizing comment and I will have you slice off and nail your own tongue to the palace gate.” 

“His prison photo showed him flippantly winking at the camera. he hated him immediately.” 

“Now, hold on just one minute there, little miss disembodied voice.” 

“What I need is to know that I’m not responsible for whatever they’ll do to you. You need to stop being stupid and get out of here. At least give yourself a chance!” 

#open rp #open to all #open to anyone #ask meme #open meme #open to anybody #rp meme #ask prompt #roleplay meme #memes #marissa meyer #book quote meme #ya books #lunar chronicles rp #open lunar chronicles rp #lunar chronicles #scarlet #the rampion crew #open starter