#cywmlbttwoml?

[gayhighlightsinyagoddamnribcage]

@grayblacklight

CONGRATULATIONS!

You have won "Can You Write Miraculous Ladybug Better Than The Writers of Miraculous Ladybug?", The easiest game show on earth! And all you had to do was give Chloe a character arc based on her initial role as a damsel in distress!

I mean, it's not anywhere near the level of the first winner, so your prize can't be quite as good as weed.exe, but somehow I think you'll like this picture more anyway:

[grayblacklight]

Ok so as easy as it is to focus on the how the plotline with Chloe's neglectful mother was basically just dropped in favor of trying to make her a flat, one dimensional, irredeemable villain (and failing, because the writers aren't even good enough to do that without her being outright OOC, and even then she's usually tricked/peer pressured/being stupid like everyone else), there's actually an entire second source of significant potential trauma that the show just ignores. Like, Marinette is traumatized because Chloe shoved her in a locker a few years back (which has never come up until now?) Fair enough, but it looks really freaking weird when you treat this seriously, and ignore all the times that Chloe was a damsel in distress, and an akuma's main target. Clearly there's no way any of that had an effect on her, and the fact that she "deserved it" or "it was her fault they got akumitized" (you know, because Chloe is famously the one making people evil with butterflies) means we shouldn't worry about it. Definitely not a cycle of abuse here. Clearly Asstruck is the greatest writer ever.

No, it's time for another round of "can you write Miraculous Ladybug better than the writers of Miraculous Ladybug?" and today the contestant is ME. And boy would it be embarrassing to be the first person to lose at my own gameshow.

So things start out normally; Chloe acts out, and inadvertently gives Hawkmoth an easy shot at a temporary slave. She gets kidnapped - is a bit more clearly terrified because she is a HOSTAGE - and it turns out the akuma was someone she upset earlier. Obviously that's gonna bother her, but Ladybug saved her! A real life hero, a person she can look up to, and is willing to help someone without any expectations or social obligations, and is just generally really cool! And a catboy was there too I guess! (Ok we can save my closeted/hasn't figured herself out yet lesbian Chloe ideas for later).

Besides, maybe it was a fluke, bad luck, it surely wouldn't happen agaaaand it happened again. And again. And now people are starting to blame her for it, that she brought it upon herself, and she believes them. She tries to be more careful and considerate, to help people when needed - but she doesn't know how. She comes off as sarcastic and condescending, and often her help goes wrong. And that leads to her getting captured again, and again, and again. She becomes paranoid, nervous, anxious, and that causes her to snap at people, suddenly and without clear warning - and Hawkmoth takes notice. He starts spying on her because she is practically a conflict farm that he didn't even realize he had sewn, but is more than happy to reap. Or at least he is at first... After all, as Alphys from Undertale once said, you start to root for someone when you watch them on a screen.

For once, Gabriel Agrest has his conscious start to weigh on his again, as he starts to see that the effects of the damage he causes that Ladybug can't magically reverse, the hell he is putting this girl through, a girl that was once close to his son that he had known since she was in elementary school. When he sees her, he can't even look her in the eyes, won't even address her, tries to ignore her because he can't bring himself to face her... And that's just another person giving Chloe the cold shoulder.

And then, the season finale, in a moment of weakness, bad timing, and poor judgment, after Ladybug saves Chloe, she explodes at her. It's happened way too many times, it keeps looping back to her, something needs to change, Chloe needs to do better.

And naturally, she starts to cry.

"I'M TRYING!"

"YOU AREN'T TRYING HARD ENOUGH!!!"

"I DON'T KNOW HOW!"

"IT'S NOT THAT HARD!!!"

The breaking point, even Ladybug has turned her back on her. This is when Chloe gets Akumitized, she wouldn't let it happen before because Ladybug was one of the only things she could cling to after she pushed so many others away, if not by her behavior than by the fact that she is a danger magnet, she wouldn't let herself be used against her. After all, you can only have your life saved by someone so many times before you start to feel like you owe them something.

For Marinette, kindness comes easy, so she doesn't understand why Chloe is struggling. And because she and Chloe are still enemies at school, (perhaps at one point Chloe tried to extend a bridge and apologize, but Marinette understandably doesn't trust her and thinks it's a trick) so she didn't see those efforts herself. Marinette now has unintentionally pushed someone too far, due to the limits of her knowledge, social skills, and factors outside of her control- the very thing she had, without realizing, just condemned Chloe for doing. Chloe just had those variables skewed against her favor.

After being defeated, this time there's no talk; Chloe immediately runs away. Throughout the next season, Chloe starts avoiding people altogether. She doesn't want anyone to get hurt because of her; not that this actually really affects the rate Hawkmoth can create new Akuma's, as by this point he's gotten over his guilt and has had the idea to manipulate people into conflict himself. Marinette meanwhile is by this point the new popular kid, due to her kindness and success over the course of the series, reversing the original status quo. This leads to enough jealousy that Chloe gets Akumitized, after which she decides to ask her father to have her homeschooled until Hawkmoth is stopped for good.

Lonelier than ever and with the uselessness of her father and the neglect of her mother being even bigger issues than before, it's only a matter of time before she finds herself outside; alone, cold, and depressed. Only then does she meet the master (who is competent in this AU, so instead of picturing him, think Sensei Wu from Ninjago) who decides to comfort her, and finally, her efforts are recognized.

"Thanks, but no. I... I Don't want to hurt you."

"Oh my, that's not quite the response I expected. What makes you think you're so dangerous?"

"I... Keep making people upset. And then they get Akumitized... I've tried to do better but"

"Well, you aren't Hawkmoth are you?"

" N-no?"

"Then it's not your fault people are getting Akumitized. And believe me, he hasn't stopped causing trouble just because you became a social recluse."

"!"

"But I can see how hard you're trying - you have become a person who is willing to put the needs of others before your own. Heh, A few short years ago, and I would have thought myself crazy for even considering this"

"?"

"Do you want to stop Hawkmoth?"

"M-more than anything..."

"Here, this is the bee Miraculous. It's the same type of artifact that gives Ladybug, Chat Noir, and even Hawkmoth their powers, although also entirely unique. The Kwamii will explain more"

"W-what?!?"

"Listen. There's two things you need to know. First off, Hawkmoth must never get his hands on both the Cat and Ladybug miraculous. He intends to use them for a wish, and the consequences of doing so are dire. Got it?"

She nods

"Second, you must keep your identity a secret, to everyone. If you don't, anyone could take the miraculous while you're not transformed- including Hawkmoth, who would use it to further his own goals. If your identity is revealed, to ANYONE, you must return it to either me or Ladybug immediately."

She takes a moment to process everything, then nods again

"Good. Go back to school, start again fresh. You need people you can rely on, and something tells me your parents aren't it"

"Ok... But... Why? Why me, after everything?"

"Because I believe that anyone can be a good person if they try. And I've seen with my own eyes that you are willing to try. And I believe that you can be a good hero, because you care, even if you don't know how to show it. You may stumble a bit at first, but everyone makes mistakes. Just keep moving forward... I believe in you"