#New York Miraculous Heroes

[artblooger19moon]

Miraculous Ladybug Movies

Miraculous World: New York - United Heroes September 25 2020

Miraculous World: Shanghai - The Legend of Ladydragon April 4 2021

Miraculous Movie: July 28 2023

Miraculous World: Paris - Tales of Shadybug and Claw Noir October 21 2023

[dragonofthedepths]

Cohabitation (a.k.a.. a List of Places Superman is Not Allowed to Go) 20.2.23

DC, Danny Phantom, Miraculous Ladybug, Megamind.

France is the big one.

Paris specifically, but all of France largely decided better safe than sorry, and stands in solidarity with her capital.

There is probably a small missive somewhere from Paris asking the Justice League for help when their supervillain first raised his head, the kind the JL got all the time and had thankfully ignored. Sent to them back before anyone really comprehended what might happen if someone who could turn normal civilians into supervillains with just some negative emotions got his hands on trained and practiced supers, and appropriately decided solving this would be best left to the miraculous team already working on it.

So the whole Justice League is banned from France, but especially Superman. Superman is somewhat known for being weak to magic and mind control, and the last thing anyone wants is to fight a magically mind controlled Superman with enough additional power on top of his own to make a whole extra super.

Another one is Metro City.

No-one is banned from Metro City, technically. It’s just understood that Metro City has one superhero, and one supervillain, and anyone else trying to insert themselves into things will be booted out quickly, fiercely, and with much prejudice by one of the two.

The JL might even be able to go there on vacation if they wanted to, so long as they stayed off the clock, but no-one really wants to find out.

It’s also understood that Metro City’s hero is like Superman if he was a millionaire with no weaknesses and speed to rival the Flash’s, and his villain can -regardless of never winning- somehow keep up with him. So if they want to be left alone to their city and their weirdly co-dependent relationship, then that is probably best for everyone.

Then there’s Amity Park.

Superman is actually the only hero banned from Amity Park, on pure account of almost every entity there having possession/mind control as a basic part of their power set.

Other than that, Amity Park wasn’t exactly ignored by the Justice League, it’s just that they were a small town with a specific problem, and their local hero -Danny Phantom- had it well in hand.

In fact Danny had it so well handled that eventually he became the Ghost King. A new High King of the Infinite Realms is a spammer in the works no matter how you look at it, and Danny’s beginning to poke his head out of his town to see what the rest of the world is doing.

Day (630/100) in my #∞daysofwriting @the-wip-project 20th of Feb

[excusez-moi-heh]

Love her fr

[crizztelcb]

Genuine question why there's random ass heroes that have nothing to do with a miraculous or such stuff? Did their ancestors fuck a kwami or shit?

[artzychic27]

Can we get some hints for the New York special?

Full on. Motherfucking. Musical. Numbers.

This is gonna be a no-Miraculous-use chapter, because Nath is not stupid enough to get himself and Marc labeled as terrorists who tried to bomb a fucking ass city and areas beyond it. Come on. It’s just gonna be a bunch of foreign teenagers coming to America, falling in love, facing a touch of racism, getting jealous, going to parties, wondering if they’re good enough for their partners, and getting their hearts broken and fixed… While singing

Possible songs (and who will probably sing them):

Carrie: In (Zoé’s classmates) The World According To Chris (Zoé’s “friends”)

West Side Story: America (Akuma Class, Science Kids, Recess Class, Jess)

Legally Blonde: Positive (Science Kids girls to Denise)

Heathers: Big Fun (Zoé’s classmates, French classes)

Hairspray: Without Love (Lotta people)

Bad Cinderella: I Know I Have A Heart (Cosette)

Addams Family: Happy/Sad (Mr. Lee)

[wilygryphon]

Miraculous Ladybug Rewrite– New York Special: United HeroeZ

This take on the New York Special takes place between the Season 3 finale and the Season 4 opener, much like canon, and because things diverged from canon significantly in Miracle Queen and because this is my show, things are pretty different in this take.

Gabriel does not go to New York to acquire the Eagle Miraculous.  He stays in his own lane and doesn’t threaten nuclear war.  He actually spends the week working on repairing the Peacock Miraculous.

Marinette and Adrien are dating, so no shenanigans by Alya and Nino to get them together, though the friends do muse about how far they have come.  They are also dating Kagami, who is not in their class, so they are somewhat sad that she is unable to join them.

Marinette and Adrien are still processing their mutual identity reveal, such as when Marinette fishes for an excuse to separate from Adrien to transform only for Adrien to remind her that they don’t need to hide their identities from each other anymore.

Techno-Pirate is the main antagonist of the special, acting entirely on his own.  After being defeated on the plane, he breaks out of custody by himself and uses stored weapons to break into the museum and steal the Eagle Miraculous.  He does everything that he did in the canon special, but on his own and without being Akumatized.

Chloé is having trouble enjoying the trip, as she had always wanted to go to New York with her mother, yet now she’s there on her own and she is estranged from Audrey.  Sabrina and her new friend Delmar try to cheer her up, culminating in them trashing a Style Queen store window.

Zoé makes a background cameo hanging out with Jess and Aeon at the rooftop party.  When she spots Chloé, she wants to go meet her, but she gives up when Chloé goes off to sulk.

Aeon does not delete her memory of Ladybug and Chat Noir’s identities.  The duo wonders, since AI robots are unaffected by their glamours, if Markov knows who they are under their masks.

In the celebration at the end, Marinette and Adrien bring Kagami into a video call so she can join in.  Juleka does the same with Luka as well as Nathaniel with Marc.

[fiirebug]

Queen bee’s design is obviously top tier yes. But since im kinda reimagining her rn to be all bubblebum and y2k,,, i wanted to change her hero design a bit

Her miraculous in this case is her sunglasses/visor thing. (She wears them on top of her head when in civilian mode >:D)“wahh but her secret identity would be revealed so easily!!” Fucking magic idk. Its not like it matters in the show anyways lol.

Im also not too sure about the leg warmer thing? I feel like it makes a cool silhouette but i might ditch it for some knee pads or something.

OH i didn’t mention that shes on skates now yea. Soooo shes in some skaaates. I think its very cool and reminiscent of roller derby. She also has a wing/cape thing that trails behind her, purely to be flashy. I wanted to give her a different style of transportation since i thought her yoyo thing was too similar to ladybugs. Yea. She gets a stinger on her hand as her power. She says the magic words and itll appear. I don’t remember if thats how it was in the show or what but idk i think its cool.

Any thoughts and ideas are welcomed!! Smoochies to u if u even read this far 🫦

Also here is some ideas for her civilian form. Here she has a firm y2k, early disney sitcom, American-core aesthetic. She rly goes over the top to impress her mom whos in new york. It doesnt work tho. Shes annoying and awful just like her mom too! Will she be reemed? Will she find her own self worth and make real friends? Can she really be part of paris’s hero team? Idk. I cant write for shit

[ilikekidsshows]

I know you’re more of an “Adrien centered” criticism/defense blog but I am curious about your opinion on this.

What is your opinion on the “Chloe deserves/doesn’t deserve redemption” situation or the “Chloe wasn’t meant to be redeemed and there for what happened to her is fair game” stance?

---

My thoughts on the Chloé situation are kinda complex. Back when the show only had three seasons, I did think Chloé’s character trajectory made sense. Sure, she’d saved people when she was acting as Queen Bee, but she still treated her classmates the same. In fact, she started treating Sabrina worse than before because she considered being anything other than Queen Bee hanging out with Ladybug was slumming it. For me, it really was a 50/50 on whether or not Chloé would be redeemed or fall into actual villainy.

Because, here’s how I saw it: I didn’t think Chloé was an actual villain-villain in seasons 1-3. She was Marinette’s school nemesis and a decidedly defanged one. Marinette was scared of her exactly once, in Origins, a flashback episode meant to showcase how much more confident being Ladybug has made Marinette that she views Chloé as small potatoes. The season 3 finale could have been the culmination of an arc where Marinette accidentally causes Chloé to become a villain and ally herself with Hawk Moth in the future.

And it would have been caused by Marinette, even if unintentionally. It would have shown how good intentions can have unforeseen consequences, especially when you don’t know what you’re helping someone with or what they want before you do so. Marinette doesn’t really understand what she’s trying to help people with whenever she does try to be helpful, because she assumes what they want and need instead of asking and listening (like in Reflekdoll, the latter part of Ikari Gozen and Quilt Trip). Many heroes create their own villains this way, and Marinette could have done so as well since she was the one to strengthen Chloé’s bond with the person who taught her to be an entitled bully and then she dragged her feet on whether or not she could use the Bee Miraculous.

The season 3 finale shows Chloé brought to a new low. The following New York Special gives us a glimpse of a Chloé who is withdrawn, like she’s reconsidering her life. This could have led to Chloé deciding that she would have revenge on Ladybug for leading her on and then dumping her (as a teammate). But, it could have also have led to Chloé realizing that, while Ladybug wasn’t her friend, Sabrina was, and she pushed the latter away in pursuit of being the Bee Miraculous holder. Chloé could have gained new insight that would have led her to start working on how she treats those closest to her, finally starting to treat her schoolmates with decency and, maybe, with time, kindness.

Then season 4 came along and all that foreshadowed introspection was dumped out the window in favor of having Chloé do cartoonishly stupid school antagonist character things. In season 4, where this kind of hijinks are so incredibly low-stakes that it’s both laughable to see, and laughable to realize the writers think this is good television.

I think the writers realized this too, because then comes season 5 with the retcon that, actually, Chloé is an evil mastermind who is so heinous that she orchestrated a traumatic event that led to Marintette’s character flaws and therefore Marinette should be forgiven for her flaws and Chloé blamed for them. Never mind the damage this episode does to Kim’s character, turning him from an oblivious to jock to a total creep, it also tries to convince us that Chloé is this big threat despite that it happened at least a year ago in-universe and that she had never done anything even close to this bad since. It just makes no sense when contrasting with the early seasons, where Marinette treats Kim as just one classmate among many and Chloé as a low-threat nuisance.

The problem was that they decided that they didn’t want Marinette to hold any responsibility for anything she does anymore. This is why they wrote the episode ‘Derision’, to absolve Marinette of all responsibility in her stalking of Adrien, even though them making it a serious trauma response instead of a cartoon-logic joke means that now she absolutely should take responsibility for her behavior and get therapy. Because they wanted to give Marinette a retroactive justification, the episode just doesn’t mesh with the rest of the show. But, like, the writing in Miraculous seasons 4-5 is so bad it’s of course never just about a single episode, it’s all about how the Miraculous writers don’t know how to build up arcs that then come to a logical conclusion, which is why all their story arcs’ endings fall flat and leave viewers thinking “where’s the rest of it?” when they’re not considered one of the worst finales for a show.

Basically, making Chloé a villain could have worked, but it would have required her getting built up into such a status. The Chloé of seasons 1-3 isn’t a monster, she’s a brat. But the writers didn’t want to do that work despite wanting that story, thinking some repetitive episodes of Chloé being a brat some more will accomplish the same thing. So, Chloé just keeps performing petty bullying until the writers think the viewers forgot that she’s like this because of her mother, who Marinette reunited her with, all the while pretending the woman who calls her by the wrong name to her face on purpose has done nothing wrong as a parent other than “leave”, before she randomly turns on Miss Bustier and starts working with Hawk Moth for supposedly no reason in Collusion.

And, like, the thing that really grinds my gears is that it worked. So many people forgot that Chloé’s bullying was modeled to her by her mother, who Marinette reunited her with. Marinette repeatedly tries to fix abused kids’ relationships to their parents with no regard for how that could harm them in the long run (Adrien, Chloé and Kagami). It’s a pattern, but the show thinks Marinette’s missteps shouldn’t be pointed out because she “had good intentions” when her intentions in the instances of The Bubbler, Style Queen and Ikari Gozen were nothing more than: “Well, my parents are great, so these kids are obviously safe with the parents I just saw make them miserable!” The accusing finger for Chloé’s behavior should be pointed at Audrey. Marinette being “triumphant” over Chloé because Chloé is now stuck with the abuser who made her is already iffy without the added grossness of Marinette being the one who reunited them in the first place.

[sciderman]

After reading your opinion of de sp/do comics, I saw a complain that I see a lot of people say about not liking the characters, and it is that they are the worst versions of DP and Sp (with the whole being billionaires etc)

What would be the best versions of Spiderman and Deadpool, in these two scenarios?

1) They doing their usual business while facing challenges and character growth.

2) They being their own ideal selves, they are in their best emotional, financial,heroic selves. (Although I believe this scenario may be similar of how they are in the time skip when they are parents of Elise)

i think there's a typical status-quo for spider-man and deadpool as characters that generally works well, and it's just - what we come to expect from the characters, and most fanon interpretation (and most comics) follow suit - that status quo is something like:

peter parker is broke and generally in a state of misery. probably single. underpaid. probably hated by the public. kind of grumpy. doesn't have a lot of patience for deadpool specifically. wade puts him in a sour mood. it's unusual, because usually spider-man is the quirky annoyance in the dynamic, but in this dynamic, spider-man is the sour-puss. it doesn't come out of left-field, though, we know spider-man is a bit of a bitch - even and especially with other heroes. but deadpool gets his gears grinding like no other. we don't know why he's so mean to wade specifically, but we have an inkling it's probably because wade reminds him so much of a worse version of himself.

wade wilson is chronically lonely and directionless. nomadic. kind of goes where the wind takes him. wants to be part of something. join a team. make a friend. annoy someone until they give in and begrudgingly hang out with him. wants to feel needed and wanted. wants attention. will wear ridiculous outfits and sing and dance and do just about anything to get people's attention. will commit murder to get people's attention. very little in the way of a moral code, except when it benefits him in some way. gets him recognition, gets him closer to people. it isn't all about the money - it's mostly about attention and praise and validation. wade wilson searches for something to give his life worth. he thinks money is a pretty objective signifier of worth, but the fact is, he's looking for something more abstract. which is why he's becoming more inclined to do good, even if it doesn't pay. he's looking for something to give his life worth. not to get heavy, but i think - deep rooted in wade's core, is a feeling that he shouldn't be alive - literally. he was meant to die. he was going to die, but he clung onto life. so he's tirelessly looking for justification as to why he's still alive. he needs constant reminders that his existence is worth something to someone.

so! that's their whole deal. i think. at least to me. if a piece of writing nails those things, i think they're 👌 primo pieces of spiderpool content.

of course, i love to see a stable wade and peter in the future - but fact is - peter's always going to be underpaid. and, well - i think wade's destined for that too. wade's most stable existence is going to be one of mediocrity but domestic stability. same as peter. i think that's why i love the thought of them - their victory isn't anything grand. it's a modest income that, miraculously, pays for an apartment in new york. a daughter. a trip to the bahamas, maybe, if they tighten their belts.

[anxresi]

I’m Sorry, But We REALLY Need To Talk About THIS from the leaked scripts.

Out of the MANY downright idiotic and plainly risible events that occur in future episodes of this accursed show, THIS is the Big One which stands out to me as being utterly beneath contempt (and it’s got nothing to do with Audrey being a balloon, funnily enough).

Who the hell does Andre think he is, giving himself a divorce JUST. LIKE. THAT. Pretty sure even mayors don’t have that power.

Also, how can he adopt Zoe out of the blue? (don’t forget: he’s barely even LIVED with her for one season, and not even say her name for THREE) He hasn’t asked her, and as far as I’m aware, they never even discuss it before the end of the season. 

Come to think of it, what does her ACTUAL father Mr Lee back in New York have to say about this bizarre situation? Is he going to fight this sudden whim of Andre’s in court? Is he dead? No-one knows, sorry. Expecting any kind of logic from Miraculous is like waiting for it to rain chocolate milk in the Sahara during the middle of summer, I guess.

Andre has a point with Audrey, of course... but who was it that caved into his daughter’s worst excesses while his wife was regularly away? Who let her have everything she ever wanted, so she became the spoiled brat we know of today? And who’s set to avoid prosecution for YEARS of political corruption, just because he now wants a quiet life as a movie director with his oh-so-perfect adopted daughter? Here’s a clue... he’s wearing a big sash! 

But suddenly ‘redeeming’ Andre and relieving him of all responsibility to his daughter’s conduct (not to mention avoid punishment), it just goes to know how DETERMINED the show is to vilify Chloe and give her the WORST possible outcome (even ahead of ACTUAL TERRORISTS like Gabriel) even at the expense of changing past events, and radically modifying other character’s personalities at the drop of a hat if it suits their painstaking ‘Chloe sux lol’ agenda. 

But seeing as they’re pretending Chloe was ALWAYS a complete monster with no moments of humanity now, at least they have form in this department. They must hope the audience has amnesia at best, or are complete fools at worse. Well, there’s nothing with MY memory Mr Astruc, and I may not be a genius but my IQ is comfortably three figures last time I checked. Better luck with the rest of the fanbase though!

You can just imagine Thomas personally BEGGING to animate that last shot of ‘Chloe Looking Worried’. Probably offered up the life of his firstborn grandchild. That ****ing *****... 

Anyway, please spare a thought for Chloe being forcibly taken away by her lifelong abuser on a plane to further damage her permanently, I guess. “Take Control’... yep, I’ve heard those words before...

All at the behest of ‘Father Of The Year’ Andre, who I suppose is now meant to be some kind of hero for subjecting his now estranged daughter to even more trauma at the hands of his despised ex.

But it’s all okay! He likes Zoe ‘the best’ you see, so he can quite happily turn off his conscience now that the show has seen fit to allow him to escape any kind of karma, and start a new life with no regrets. YAY!

This is Chloe’s last scene in the episode, the season and possibly last in the series as a whole. 

Gabriel gets a statue. Andre gets a fresh start. Chloe...

I’m sorry, I can’t even think about it. Did I mention I now HATE this show with the intensity of a million suns?

Because I do. And now you know why.

[bittersweetresilience]

adrien often being referred to in fanon as “sunshine” and the sun and something about Felix having Moon symbolism. is this anything sunny?

sentitwin sun moon symbolism is absolutely ridiculous. i have thought about it before but never gotten anywhere. this time i consulted @ninadove about it and rotated it in my mind for many hours and i am still not sure about my verdict. therefore i'm just going to ramble a bit and then pass it over to nina. birthday teamwork!

i started out agreeing with the assignment of adrien as the sun and félix as the moon.

their personalities seem to fit the vibes. moreover, it ties into yin and yang.

adrien's miraculous is placed on the yang half of the miracle box, and ladybug's on the yin. his hair is parted to the right, which is the direction of yang, while félix's and ladybug's are parted to the left, yin.

a brief tangent here: even though the placement in the miracle box and adrien and marinette's civilian selves with their white and black outer garments respectively seem to indicate yang and yin, when they become heroes, they swap entirely. ladybug wears red, yang, and chat noir wears black, yin. their powers of creation and destruction are also yang and yin. my theory is that not only are adrien and marinette meant to be halves of a whole as partners, but their hero selves are also meant to halves of a whole with their civilian selves. yin and yang symbolism all around.

back to adrien as sunshine. before félix was introduced, adrien was established as the character in the show with the disney princess golden hair and golden smile, so it's easy to see where this fanon came from.

marinette describes her love for him as three suns in her heart.

then if we want to pair the sentitwins, and we think adrien is the sun, it makes sense for félix to be the moon.

some final evidence in support of this is mirror imagery. the same way the moon reflects the light of the sun, félix reflects adrien. both in his creation as a reflection of adrien's and in his behavior in the show. félix dresses as adrien in over half of his episodes.

but this picture is complicated by several factors. there's a fair amount of evidence that the twins are actually associated the other way around, with adrien as the moon and félix as the sun.

gold and silver color symbolism. one could easily think of gold as the sun and silver as the moon, but in the show, félix and the graham de vanilys are associated with gold and adrien and the agrestes are associated with silver. the wedding rings, the colors of their homes, their camouflaged miraculous, the lighting... anarchist gang talked about this a few months ago and i think nina may want to expand on what we discovered, so i will leave this to her.

another brief tangent here: white and black color symbolism. i have not fleshed out my thoughts on it but i am leaving notes here for future reference. adrien's civilian outfit features white, but this likely reflects gabriel's influence on him. his hero selves wear black. meanwhile, félix is introduced dressed in black and haloed in white as he enters gabriel's sphere. in the play, it's the opposite. at the diamonds' dance, he and marinette wear white and kagami, like lune rouge, wears red. obfuscation? femininity? yin and yang again?

and a third brief tangent here: when chat noir is unhealthy, he becomes chat blanc, who is white, and patte de velours, who is accented with gold. colors of entanglement? of influence? of inauthenticity? are félix's best parts adrien's idea of a perfect self? i am contemplating.

there are more significant reasons for moon adrien and sun félix. in important moments of the show, adrien is frequently associated with the moon. glaciator, chat blanc, kuro neko, new york special... and on the other hand, where does the sun play an important part of the story? in réplique, with félix.

narratively, sentitwins seem to have moon and sun roles. adrien is the one from whom things are hidden, while félix is the one who shines light on the truth. adrien spends most of his time as support, while félix is an active agent. adrien reacts to things, while félix makes them happen, for better or for worse.

nina has an entire essay on félix and the development of his sun associations from lune rouge to the sunrise in représentation, so i'll leave that to her to discuss.

all right. sentitwins are either sun and moon or moon and sun. what does this mean for them?

it intrigues me that adrien is viewed by fanon as the sun when he could be better described as the moon. adrien agreste enjoyers, please get on this.

here is a starting point for your thoughts. if adrien is the moon, it makes sense why he destroyed the moon in chat blanc when he was trying to destroy himself.

and if félix is the sun, it further puts into perspective why he felt guilty about réplique's fate. they were a sacrifice for his goals. he may has well have literally killed them.

role reversal and false impressions are prominent in sentitwins and this complicated picture adds to that.

frequently bought together. do not separate.

in conclusion, yes, autumn, this is most certainly something. fuck if i know what it is, but i love losing my mind about it.

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

The show made such a big deal about Ladybug leaving Paris for a week-end in Hack-San without informing Cat Noir beforehand and yet it never said anything about Cat Noir never telling Ladybug that he's gonna leave Paris for a week-end in Backwarder ... or that he's supposed to leave Paris for a few weeks in the S4 finale ... or that he's supposed to move out of Paris permanently in S5. The hypocrisy seems palpable.

In my opinion, it's actually not hypocrisy. At least, it's not hypocrisy in the grand scheme of things. When you look at the series as a whole, it turns out that this is just another case of inconsistent writing because the show does punish Chat Noir for leaving without warning Ladybug, but only when the plot needs to punish him. Let's go over the facts in chronological order!

In the Shanghai special, Ladybug and Chat Noir both leave Paris without warning each other or Master Fu and it's not just fine, it's the right move as they're magically where they need to be for the fight of the day. Neither one of them gets mad at the other for their actions. The issue isn't even brought up.

In Backwarder, Chat Noir leaves Paris without warning Ladybug and it's treated as a non-issue.

In Startrain, Ladybug and Chat Noir both leave Paris without warning each other, but Marinette visits Fu first and gets the horse miraculous so that she's okay to leave. When she learns that Chat Noir left without warning her, she doesn't seem even remotely phased.

In the New York special, Chat Noir leaves Paris without warning Ladybug. This is Very Bad as Paris was left undefended and he knew that was going to be the case. This is a fair critique at face value, but Ladybug is the guardian at this point and has instant access to the horse miraculous, thereby negating the issue, a fact that is never discussed. Fun fact: this is the only instance in the entire series where one of them bothers to tell the other when they're leaving Paris.

In Hack-San, Ladybug leaves Paris without warning Chat Noir and it understandably causes tension, but Chat Noir ends the episode absolving her of any guilt even though she could have transformed and left him a message to warn him that she's assigned a temp hero her Miraculous. A thing we know they can do since this season literally starts with Ladybug playing messages from Chat Noir on her bug phone. She's also the guardian at this point, so she could have taken the horse with her and teleported back or even just taken the horse in case Alya ran into trouble. (Do you see how the lack of consistency just builds and builds the more they ignore established logic?)

The last few episodes of season five see Chat Noir fully aware that he's being shipped off to London and then actually getting shipped off to London, a change that he never informs Ladybug of even though she will now be truly alone. The show never addresses this and treats it as a non issue.

As far as I can recall, those are all of the instances where this issue could have potentially come up along with the various ways the writing handled the issue. As you can see, both Ladybug and Chat Noir behave recklessly when it comes to leaving Paris. They pretty much never let each other know when it's happening, but whether or not that's a bad thing is entirely dependent on what plot the writers want to tell. So hypocrisy on the writer's part, sure, but I'm not gonna give Chat Noir that label when Ladybug is arguably equally deserving.

This isn't as egregious as lore inconsistencies like the way split up amoks and akumas work, but it's still a very clear case of establishing rules and then ignoring them because the writers do what they want! Who needs narrative consistency and good world building?

[zoe-oneesama]

Hello, Zoe! I can't believe there's only four episodes left of SL. I see you recently finished Frightningale. The next is I believe Malediktator. I would love top hear your thoughts of the episode.

Lord have mercy, this episode wasn't good when it came out and only got worse with hindsight:

There are two big, huge stinkers in this episode. Chloe's "arc", which got covered in even more mold over time, and Adrien.

My thoughts at the time (and I know because I went back and FOUND my thoughts) was that this episode would've been a good START for Chloe's redemption..but it was the Finish. So it sucks.

It had all the elements. Chloe being Chloe:

Pretending to be Ladybug just to sing her own praises as Queen Bee

Making her Important Historical Person Project about herself

Getting insultingly defensive when called out and doubling down despite how obvious her lie is

Focusing on Marinette telling her she's not a hero despite the rest of the class being just as "mean" about her time as Queen Bee

Her over the top demands of a disproportionate punishment for the slight by crying for Daddy to shut down a school and banish Marinette from the city

Having an over the top tantrum when she doesn't get her way by declaring she's leaving the country despite her father being on his knees, begging her not to go

Making an over the top announcement of her departure under the delusion that her going to live in New York will somehow negatively effect her former classmates

Her continuing to lie about the circumstances of the akuma to Ladybug herself, only trickle truthing after being pressed multiple times

And in the conclusion, flaunting her ridiculous wealth to not only her peers who were doing something nice for her, but to her best friend who was genuinely upset at her leaving.

Chloe being Chloe. Chloe being a liar, a bully, a spoiled princess who only cares about what SHE wants.

And in this episode she breaks the one person who was always in her corner, even more than Sabrina - her father. As far as a redemption arc goes, that's probably the best way to start things, because this is the guy who'd drop everything for her, bend heaven and earth for her whims, who abandoned his dreams of being a movie director to instead become Mayor to get the power and money to take care of her (at Audrey's insistence). And she broke him. Left him, just like her mom left them both before.

In another universe, maybe this would be the thing that broke Chloe, that finally made her look inward and realize that the call of toxicity, negativity, and entitlement is coming from inside the house. She is the one who makes people around her miserable, and in turn, herself miserable, because it makes no one want to be with her, it makes no one like her.

Realizing this, vocalizing this, and doing something about this could've been a good start. She can be rewarded for being vulnerable and open and taking responsibility by being given the Bee Miraculous and being allowed to fix things, which could start her wanting to fix things without a Miraculous. Thus, a START of her redemption arc.

But as I noted back then, and as I note now, this isn't the start. It's the finish.

All this vulnerability about not being liked and hurting her daddy's feelings and feeling worthless comes after info-dumping about her Sad Mommy issues which were pretty much resolved as soon as they were brought up THANKS TO HER SWORN ENEMY MARINETTE, and after she picked up a Miraculous and kept it for herself, and after she abused that power to CRASH A TRAIN to try and win herself clout. So I'm sorry that I don't care that Chloe "deserves a second chance" or that "maybe Queen Bee will make her a better Chloe" after she almost killed people to show off for Mommy.

The big finale says "Well Chloe's sad so maybe she could possibly be good, though only when it directly effects her." She can't even muster a goddamn thank you for the party, they didn't even pretend she was going to change.

And that's where hindsight makes this even worse. I clocked this as a failed start when this episode came out, but adding on top of that the next two seasons where she unofficially joins the villain's side makes this even dumber.

The episode does the usual shtick of Somehow Blaming Marinette: she feels bad for telling Chloe she's not a hero, she feels bad for celebrating her leaving, she gives HERSELF partial blame for Andre being akumatized. Well, I don't blame her, show. In fact I'd say she's pretty justified.

For one, what did Chloe do as Queen Bee that was heroic? Try to crash a train to get credit for stopping the crash, which she couldn't even do, and then being akumatized? How about the fact that she found this Miraculous and didn't return it? Or let's look wider and assume Marinette wasn't even talking about just Queen Bee: What has Chloe done that was heroic? Oh one time she kinda helped with Despair Bear - oh wait but she also CAUSED that akuma so it kinda cancels out.

Chloe's not a hero. She could be, she has all the resources, she just isn't because she doesn't want to be.

And why should Marinette feel bad that Chloe's leaving? Adrien says she left angry and upset, but she seemed pretty content when she was throwing out fliers from her helicopter and announcing it to the whole school in one last hurrah. Play me the world's smallest violin. After TWO SEASONS of abuse from this whiny little rich girl, why shouldn't Marinette be happy for herself? Happy that she won't have to worry about her property being vandalized? Or work stolen? Or relative's career sabotaged? That next year she doesn't have to dread going to school because there's no chance Chloe will be in her class? Why WOULDN'T she throw a party over that?

And in what universe is Marinette to blame for the akuma that she didn't even come in contact with? Just because, as usual, Chloe decided to blame Marinette for all the backlash she rightfully got even though Marinette was the last one to say something? Just because her classmates agreed with what Marinette said, and Chloe got weirdly fixated on Marinette, and Chloe took it out on her father, it's somehow Marinette's burden and blame for Maledictator? Sure Jan, that'll hold up in court. The mental gymnastics to even blame a twice removed party...

And all of it is for naught. Marinette sees a vulnerable side of Chloe and gives her a chance as a hero and throws her a party to celebrate her "accomplishment" as Queen Bee because "Being Ladybug made me a better Marinette, maybe being Queen Bee will make her a better Chloe".

Well guess what. It didn't. It inflated her already massive ego and gave her another thing she felt entitled to that she didn't earn and led to the mother of all tantrums when she was told multiple times she wouldn't be getting her way, leading to Marinette losing Fu as an ally. All the self flagellation, all the bowing to Chloe's ego, all the hoops Marinette went through to make Chloe feel better did nothing to help Chloe change into a better person, so all it is is a waste of time and teaching Marinette a lesson that ends up blowing up in her face. It was frustrating back when this episode came out to see how unearned it all was, and now it's extra frustrating because you know how pointless it all was. All the deliberate audience manipulation for a complete non-starter.

SPEAKING of frustrating to watch, I believe I promised you TWO big stinkers in this episode.

Get back here Adrien, I'm barely even started with you. How fucking dare you come in here and lecture anyone about treating Chloe badly? I don't care if Chloe was your friend when no one else is, that doesn't invalidate the happiness everyone - and I mean EVERYONE, including teachers, your classmate, and your own Best Friend - was feeling at her departure. Good for you that she was a warm body to stand next to in your childhood years, but what kind of criteria do you even have Mr. If We Made Eye Contact We're Friends?

Because you haven't shown us that she was a good friend. Hell, you haven't shown us YOU were a good friend! If you were so concerned for her, why didn't you go after her when she left in a huff? Why didn't you text her or try to convince her to stay? Why didn't you stop your class from pointing out her bullshit when she gave her duplicitous presentation? Why NOW is your only move to berate her number one abuse victim (next to Sabrina) and then sulk in the corner like a dark cloud trying to ruin everyone else's good time?

Why aren't you NOW going after her or texting her? Why are you still at this party? Why aren't you lecturing any of your other friends about what they're doing? Why why why?

(Logistically it's so Marinette and Adrien are on the outer rim of the party and don't get hit by Maledictator's command spell to destroy the school, but literally since when has the show cared about logical reasons for the two to get away from a crowd?)

You know what sucks? This episode was fun until Adrien opened his big mouth. Everything was fast paced and melodramatic and over the top and fun - and then party pooper Adrien has to call everyone TeRriBlE despite ALL the terrible things Chloe's done over the course of this series RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM.

And because the writing is poor and doesn't want to actually challenge Adrien in any way, they have Marinette call Chloe "useless" when that is literally the least of her problems: a bully, a brat, selfish, spoiled, vindictive, manipulative, a liar, self centered, delusional, I don't know, just plain fucking MEAN. If Marinette stuck to any of these things that Adrien couldn't refute, maybe we could've had something INTERESTING here. But instead they gave him a near strawman just so he could refute ONE THING "bad" about Chloe instead of confronting the fact that his childhood friend was and is a shitty person.

Maybe on top of Chloe realizing something about herself, we have Adrien realize the nature of their relationship: that he's so conditioned to accept her and his father's crap that he's even conditioned to be uncomfortable when anyone ELSE challenges their crap. That he's put unrealistic expectations on his other friends just because of his own coping strategy against the people in his life that constantly take advantage of him. That it's unfair of him to expect other's to just shut up and put up with unfair treatment just because shaking the status quo makes him kinda nauseous. Just, you know, if they wanted to do something INTERESTING for once.

Maybe this could've where Adrien realizes that not only do his friends deserve to be treated better, but so does he. That by not invalidating his friend's feelings, he can stop invalidating his own. It could be a first step to him overcoming his people-pleasing nature and begin his own arc about taking charge of his life, maybe eventually leading into him taking control of his portion of the plot, MAYBE leading him into being an actual deuteragonist in this series instead of the semi-damsel love interest.

If Adrien would've been made to actually face the fact that the person he grew up with was a garbage person, maybe he'd take some time to look at his dad differently, or Nathalie, or even his own mother and try to see them from a different point of view. A view where he realizes he deserves better.

But instead he manages to guilt trip the only person in the room who wouldn't have challenged him so badly that she actually gives the cruelest person she's known a freaking Miraculous and throws her a celebration party for doing ONCE the thing she herself does on a daily basis with no accolades. And it was aaaaaaaall worthless.

Or should I say "useless"?

[rosie-b]

What would you think if an evilized villain (maybe a wishmaker-like villain or maybe even a villain that's unrelated to the butterfly miraculous) caused Chloe and Zoe to switch bodies somehow...

Please reblog so we can see how many people in the ml fandom have gotten the ask! It's one that I see popping up every so often, and one that I've gotten myself (although the ask has evolved somewhat since then to include the aftermath of the s5 finale). I'm very curious to see how many other ml fans have received it!

What would you think if an evilized villain (maybe a wishmaker-like villain or maybe even a villain that's unrelated to the butterfly miraculous) caused Chloe and Zoe to switch bodies somehow, and nobody fully understands what's going on, so Zoe (in Chloe's body) is taken by Audrey back to New York, despite Zoe desperately trying to explain things. But Chloe enters a fugue state (heavily due to trauma caused by the neglect of her parents) and genuinely thinks she's Zoe, and is even able to recall many of the things Zoe did due to being in Zoe's body. The class thinks “Zoe's” change in behavior is due to the psychological effects of method acting, since “Zoe” is playing Chloe in Astruc's new movie, but they gradually convince “Zoe” to let them help her relearn how to be “herself” again. Meanwhile, in New York, Zoe is trying to get back to Paris, but when she gets there, “Zoe” thinks she’s there to try to hurt Marinette. Eventually, after listening to “Chloe”, Marinette starts to suspect that “Chloe” might be telling the truth, so she decides that she must test “Chloe” and “Zoe”. She fakes being in danger to see how they react. “Zoe” reacts slightly faster than “Chloe”, so Marinette comes to the conclusion that “Chloe” is lying and that “Chloe” has an evil and manipulative plan. Marinette thinks that “Chloe” must have picked up a few tricks from Lila, because she thinks no version of Chloe could possibly react faster than Zoe when it comes to protecting her. So Audrey takes “Zoe” back to New York again to “correct” her after “Zoe” fails to convince anyone of the truth. 12 years later, “Zoe” gets seriously injured after fighting a villain when Ladybug isn’t around, which causes “Zoe” to not have long to live. Then Ladybug accidentally stumbles upon the truth about “Zoe” while trying to help “Zoe” using magical powers. Ladybug decides that the moral thing to do is to switch Chloe and Zoe back to their original bodies. Once Zoe gets her body back, she blames Chloe for her impending death and for leaving her with 12 years of torment, while Chloe got off scot free. When Lila gets defeated, Zoe steals the Butterfly Miraculous to get her hands on Ladybug and Catnoir’s miraculouses, hoping to “make things right”. Zoe gets defeated by the heroes (including Chloe) and Ladybug manages to cure Zoe’s injuries. 

[vintagegeekculture]

50 Years of Kung Fu Movies

There’s an overlooked anniversary that hasn’t been widely reported much yet: as of March 2023, it’s been 50 years of Kung Fu movies in the United States. 

Bruce Lee was not the first big international Kung Fu movie star. Rather, the first English-dubbed breakout Chinese martial arts movie to become a hit in the greater US (apart from Hawaii) was “5 Fingers of Death” (also called “King Boxer”) in 1973 starring Lo Lieh, six months before Bruce Lee’s “Enter the Dragon” and posthumous fame, making Lo Lieh the first true international Kung Fu star. There were lines halfway around the block at Times Square to see “5 Fingers of Death,” thanks to a radio giveaway in the New York area, and to those who first saw the movie, they remember the very first scene when the 63 year old Kung Fu master started backflipping and kicking out of nowhere and everyone watching this started losing their minds. “Five Fingers of Death” was like “Star Wars” in that it was a movie people saw over and over, minds blown, never having seen a film like this before. 

Because Kung Fu movies were shown in less expensive grindhouse cinemas in urban areas, like seedy, pre-gentrification Times Square in New York, the audience for these films was disproportionately black, and to this day, the black community has a strong connection to 70s Kung Fu movies. Every middle aged black dad today loves this stuff. It isn’t just due to them being shown in inner city theaters, however, or on UHF stations where they were replayed cheaply on Saturdays. Rather, the success of Kung Fu movies in the black community is based on the themes of the movies. Most Kung Fu movies are about poor dishwashing working class underdogs in an unjust system, usually either Japanese Imperial Occupied China, or during the Manchu Dynasty, where China was ruled by despotic foreign conquerors. The heroes bow in humiliation at first, but who secretly take the power back through intensive personal training, blood and sweat and a montage, that lets them stand up to oppressors. As RZA of the Wu-Tang Clan explained: “when we saw these movies about opposing the Manchu Dynasty, it made us think we weren’t the only people in world history that ever went through this.”

When it comes to introducing the genre, “Five Fingers of Death” is a great “first movie,” a pure, emblematic example of what these movies look like. In the very first scene, in Japanese occupied China, an old Kung Fu Master who is our hero’s teacher is pursued by Japanese karate killers, enforcers of the occupation. His student, Lo Lieh, has to learn the iron palm technique in a brutal, bloody, visceral series of training montages to harden his palms to iron, which involve him excruciatingly breaking every finger in them. The themes of vengeance, pursuing justice under occupation, training montages that are as important as the action, and the theme of failing brutally over and over until it “clicks” and you have a miraculous “Eureka!” moment that every teacher recognizes and lives for. It helped it started with the Kung Fu right away....imagine seeing flips and flying kicks for the first time when you’re used to western bar brawls. 

It’s worth noting that, despite being a hugely important moment in pop culture, 5 Fingers of Death was not a hit in Hong Kong, and was not even in the top 10 highest grossing movies of the year. It reminds me of Voltron, which is absolutely unknown and completely obscure in Japan, when elsewhere, it is THE giant robot show. The fact 5 Fingers was a big hit in the US absolutely baffled the Shaw Brothers, who were convinced to part with the rights for their movies for cheap, leading to a flood of Kung Fu movies. Notably, Lo Lieh, though he was the first Kung Fu movie star and a reliable martial arts leading man, did not have much of a career after this in lead roles. His character skills were best served playing villains in Shaw Films, notably as the evil Kung Fu eunuch supervillain, Pai Mei, in “Executioners from Shaolin” and “Clan of the White Lotus.” Tarantino wanted Lo Lieh to reprise his role of Pai Mei in Kill Bill Part 2, only to discover that he died just before filming. 

[imthepunchlord]

One thing that has really interested me as of late has been the development of the Miraculous Shanghai special. Looking at all the old promo art, it seems to have changed a lot. For starters, it was originally called "The Chinese Legend" and was seemingly going to have Master Fu in it

(Makes me wonder if it was initially going to relate to the Order of the Guardians in some way since it doesn't give a clear location)

Also, it seems that there was going to be what appears to be a spirit dragon that looks like it would've played a major role with how often it appears in promo art

On top of that, when I went to the Wiki to get those images, I found these

And I honestly don't know what to say about them other than that the New York special influence was strong.

I could definitely see that the Shanghai Special was potentially more about the Order and Fu. Makes sense given it's related to China. And if it potentially would've been an exploration on Fu, his origins, and on the Order.

Which makes me wonder what the earlier plan was, especially as it doesn't feel like they really had sentimonsters planned from the start, and I don't know about you guys, but I didn't like Fu's origins. So I wonder if they had something else in mind and made changes. As with most of ML's concepts, those ideas were probably better.

As I do think the Chinese Special should've been the place to reveal and introduce the Zodiac Miraculous and where they came from (as it didn't make Fu look good having 16-17 Miraculous and gave out the very two HM wanted), that dragon could've been a protector of them, seeking a worthy Guardian to take on the Zodiac. Could even be the dragon kwami spiritually manifested. Which a whole Zodiac of powerful Miraculous sealed away makes more sense than the Prodigious that just has you transforming into 8 animals, which you can't even control unless you're virtuous. Very dangerous indeed.

Or that dragon it could've been a rare instance of just seeing another magical creature, work off Thomas' older claim that there was other magic out there than just Miraculous.

As for the heroes, I am kinda glad they didn't make it in. I don't like those designs. I can roll with the idea that every country/state/city could have their own hero, but they really do just roll out too much.

Speaking of Specials, I remember that, supposedly, that we were going to see the Turtle's power in the Christmas Special, and hearing that Chris Master was the original Christmas Special, I wonder if that was originally where we were supposed to see Carapace for the first time, and Nino was going to be the first temporary hero to be seen. And that would've been his time to really shine. Though it also could've been our first intro to Jade, seeing what Turtle could do in a fight, and potentially Chat's way of meeting Fu (though as Jade instead), and maybe that's the point where Fu's like, ok, I really am too old for this, you guys do temp heroes.

Either option sounds better than what we got in canon.