#im always nervous to post anything about her because some chloe stans are so aggressive on my posts

[ladyofthenoodle]

i realized the other day that i haven’t really talked all that much about the last handful of episodes of season 5 and haven’t really touched on the ending of chloe’s story at all. and i really only see people who are upset about it talk about her last few scenes so i do want to offer an alternative take on it, which is basically: to me, chloe’s story ended in tragedy. i don’t really care what astruc has said on twitter or what was leaked in bibles or scripts. i’m looking at the story we actually got, the one that ended with this moment.

does marinette tell her off right before this? yes. and this should be a moment of victory for marinette, right? she’s finally free from chloe, in every way.

but we don’t see marinette after this. this is the last shot of marinette in the episode before it cuts to chloe’s reaction. marinette’s face is still there, but only as the contact image on chloe’s phone. marinette herself is gone. the rest of the episode only shows us chloe and lila. from here on out, we are not in marinette’s story. we’re in theirs.

and it’s here, when we move out of marinette’s story, that we see chloe’s is tragedy. chloe is the villain in marinette’s story and the victim in her own. this is not just about protagonist centered morality, though that plays a role. it’s about not just whose side the story takes but also what marinette is allowed to know and see. marinette only ever gets the smallest glimpse of chloe’s home life and family, but as the viewers we get to see more. and it is after marinette dismisses her and hangs up in revolution that chloe stops being a part of marinette’s story, and, in that moment, loses the role of the villain. freed from marinette’s story, we see her alone, sobbing, because she’s left with only her own story, where she is the victim.

and it’s notable that chloe tried to reject that story. she chooses marinette’s story, again and again. that’s why she called marinette in the end. chloe would rather play the villain. calling sabrina, asking for comfort, would be accepting that she’s a victim, which chloe isn’t ready for. unfortunately, marinette doesn’t give her a choice: marinette’s story doesn’t have room for chloe anymore. she’s fought her demons and has new ones to face. the only role left for chloe to play in marinette’s story is the girl ladybug couldn’t save.

so yeah, this ending is tragic. and i genuinely hurt for chloe in that moment. but i never once thought we were supposed to see her as unredeemable or celebrate her being sent off to her mother. i don’t know what the story plans to do with chloe next - whether she’s gone for good or she’ll come back worse or come back better. but i know this moment, by taking us out of marinette’s perspective, asked us to sympathize with a girl suffering at the end of her downward spiral.

#miraculous ladybug #chloe bourgeois #im always nervous to post anything about her because some chloe stans are so aggressive on my posts #which maybe is why i haven’t seen anyone else posting much about this either? #anyways if you with me that’s fine just don’t be a dick about it or pour salt in the replies #thanks ✌️ #using my noodle