#y'know for ~closure~

[inkerii]

So I had a different post up about the miraculous movie and how it wasn't perfect but - as someone who liked the series back when it was just Ladybug and Chat Noir against the world, and sorta naturally dropped it when the show started to introduce more heroes just bc it wasn't my thing - it felt nice and it gave me closure.

I was just gonna rewrite it in a way I liked better, but Jesus, whatever minor desire to pick the show back up again was very quickly snuffed out by how negative the a browse through the fandom tags felt. It's like people who like the movie are rubbing it in with a sort of arrogance, and the people who don't are almost gatekeepy with how "it's not the show" and how inferior it is bc of that. And I feel like wanting to talk about that instead.

Like. There are actual criticisms and praise going around but it gets lost in a sea of salt. It's kinda scary.

Personally, I liked it. It had some very cheesy lines, a couple scene transitions could have been better, What Have They Done To My Son, Plagg, and Adrienette's dynamic would have benefitted from a couple extra scenes (just a few tweaks showing him a little embarrassed or staring a little longer than usual in the Baddie Of The Day Montage(tm) would fix it, since I think they do a decent job of setting Marinette as special to Adrien given she's the only person we see him open up to about his mom, when we know he and Nino are friends and Nino already stated to always be there for him), to make the turning the ball invitation down + reveal hit harder, but overall it was fun. It was different.

What I truly cannot understand how this isn't Miraculous or how it doesn't really have a story. Sure, it's not The Series but in movie format, including the characterizations (they ARE different characters), but?? I feel like the core of who they are, or who they were back when the show began, still remains. Marinette still struggles with self confidence (which is in line with her season 1 self), and I particularly love how you can see how she HAS that spice bubbling underneath the surface, she just needed a push to embrace it and grow more confident (very Origins of her). Adrien is still closed off and quiet, and I love the implication that it was each other that gave them the push they needed to open up and be stronger and more social. I love how it was still Adrien's kindness that made Marinette fall for him, and Ladybug's bravery and selflessness that caught Chat Noir's eye.

Marinette is still clumsy and a little over excited, which we see in the first music, it just has a sense of WONDER to it instead of a frazzled energy like in the show, lol, poor baby. Adrien is still flirty and punny, he's still closed off, except show Adrien is trying to put up a brave face about it and trying to move on, and movie Adrien has lived with grief for longer and developed different coping mechanisms in regards to it. They're both very interesting in their own right, and I think the timing of Emilie's loss really explains the changes in him- movie Adrien is just past the meek attempts to be happy that show Adrien is still trying to do. He lost his mom and lived with an absent father for much longer than his show counterpart and it SHOWS. It's a different flavor of Adrien, but I think it's a neat choice, to have LB be the reason why he chose to open up. Show Adrien was interesting bc he chose to stand up to his dad in order to go to school, but he still felt alienated from his peers. The movie just makes that separation clearer but lets Adrien grow and hang out with his friends* and create actual bonds with them thanks to having first created a bond with Ladybug. It's a cool take on it.

I also really like what they did with Hawkmoth, though I don't think I can compare it to the show bc back when I watched it Gabriel was more or less just the absent father, mustache twirling villain that he was. This is where that * is inserted, I think the biggest change is that show Gabriel was more controlling of his son's life, and more demanding. Movie Gabriel straight up "lets" Adrien go missing for a whole night and only tries to talk to him the day after. He doesn't seem to mind Adrien spending time with his friends. He doesn't micromanage his son, though we still see hints of that control in how he talks about his designs, so its there, just a little hidden, that pride and arrogance. Again, it's a different flavor of Gabriel, but it works within the characterization of the movie and what they wanted for his character. Reminds me a bit of the Gabriel that wasn't willing to hurt Adrien (which apparently is an early series thing only, rip lmao) but was willing to go all out on Ladybug and Chat Noir.

So... yea. Maybe I'm just out of touch with the fandom and the show. Maybe it's because the characters have grown in ways I simply don't know bc I lost interest, and the modern MLB fandom understandably attaches those changes to the characters and wants to see it represented, which is valid. But tbh? I still love early MLB - not bc the "writing was better" or bc of Astruc v Zag shenanigans (are those still going? oh the war flashbacks) - just bc I vibed with the concept more. I love the show versions of these characters. And I think the movie is a different spin on them, but I think it does them justice. It has flaws, but the show also did, and I loved it anyway.

Speaking of just what I watched back then... I still think nothing in the movie tops the Umbrella Scene(tm), but I love that Ladynoir got a cute equivalent in the sparring one. I love the banter in both. I love the Adrienette moments in the show and I love how the movie expands on the inconditional trust between Chat and Ladybug, on how they're partners and always there for each other. I love Tikki in both. Show Plagg is my baby. I love what they did with Hawkmoth in both (movie and s1/some of s2). Master Fu as a cooky old man is hilarious. The cringe somehow got cringier in the movie. I think it's funny that movie Adrien gets to have his own "oh my god the second hand embarrassment, I want to cry" to balance out show Marinette lol. I love Chat still simping for LB and I love the cute little romance scenes, shipping fodder moments were always one of the strengths of the show, and we have it here in spades, so good for me.

It's just... as I said, it's different, but to me it's a love letter to the MLB that captivated me for years. It does its own thing, but I think I'm just gonna make a few tweaks in my head, mash Origins with the first half of the movie, then watch season 1 and a few select season 2 episodes, then go back to the movie to finish it up. I actually think that they complement each other quite well, even with the characterization changes, because, for example, the early seasons compensate for the movie's lack of Adrienette, while the show expands on the ladynoir side. If you use both, then the movie manages to effectively reverse the love square, allow Mari to grow past her awkward self, deal with the bits of insecurity in her that we still see sprinkled across the series, allow Adrien to stand up to and face his father, and give me a satisfying conclusion to the Hawkmoth plot and a cute little reveal.

I could go on over more talked about topics like the music (its fine. Christina inserts a certain breathlesness to Marinette that you feel Lou is trying to capture but she just can't. I got used to it tho, and Lou's voice is lovely) or the animation (gorgeous), like I did in the original version of this post, but to me what mattered most was the... For lack of a better word, the vibe of the movie. To me, it felt like a little time capsule bc it really embodies everything the fandom liked about the show during season 1 and its hiatus. I can't give it an objective score bc I think my 8.5/10 feels very biased, but I loved the nostalgia trip. I loved getting that closure. I'm still gonna go off and enjoy parts of both the show and the movie, because something something stronger together might just apply to them as well :)

[artish-boi]

Pretty much everyone agrees that it'd be fun for a case where Apollo defends Klavier, as a parallel to 1-4, and giving Klavier closure and development

It's a classic, however, consider flipping it, just for fun. After AA4, Apollo gets arrested, and the only person he trusts enough to help him is Klavier, because he doesn't trust anyone really, and the closest person he knows to a defense lawyer is Phoenix, who he has a,,,, rocky relationship with, and who is still disbarred. There's a bit of a parallel with 3-5, where Phoenix asks Edgeworth to take his place in court, it fits with the 1-4 parallel, and it matches with Apollos trust issues.

Trucys could still be a weird girl, we'd inevitably get interactions with Phoenix, and we'd get to see the difference between Klaviers inner monologues and his mask.

[vamp-a-day]

day 31

Just 8 drinks Maybe I’ve lost count? I can’t remember the night, what I drank, or the amount. I’m fading in and out my very consciousness is crumbling.

[amuhav]

     “You’re not... Not gonna...”      “What? Go? Just leave?” Asher chuckled weakly. “Please tell me that’s not what you thought?”      “N-no? I don’t know...” Loch drew his arms in tighter as a light spring breeze made him shiver. “It’s... I’m never going to be enough.”      Asher scowled. “Says who? I never... I’ve never said that, Loch, ever.”      “If I can’t give you what you want... it’s just a fact.”      “What? No, Loch, I... fucking hell. No.”       As Asher ran his hands through his hair, Loch watched in confusion as multiple expressions flickered over his face until he sighed and took Loch’s hands with a reassuring squeeze.      “I don’t know how you don’t get this already, but... If a chance at something I would like, meant giving up something I can’t lose... I don’t know which universe you think I don’t choose you. Every damn time. I love you far too much for that not to be true.”      Some dam inside him broke, though Loch didn’t feel the tears coming before it was too late and Asher was already pulling him into a tight embrace.      “Hey, I’m sorry if I ever let you think otherwise—”      “You’re so stupid,” Loch spluttered, unable to stop himself. Whatever adrenaline had kept him from breaking down, had also apparently been the thing tethering him to something resembling sobriety, and he felt any filter he possessed slipping away.      Asher locked up around him, his arms going stiff. “...Uh...?”      “I’m just me. A... A fucking mess. You say that like I’m not... Like... There’s just no other explanation. You’re just stupid.”      Asher laughed, no small amount of tension falling away from him as he did. “Yeah. Yeah, guess I am. But so are you.” He laughed harder. “And so very, very drunk. Your brother really is going to regret that free bar, isn’t he?”      “Serves him right,” Loch muttered with little malice, scrubbing his face as he allowed Asher to lead him back inside. “...One more drink?”      “Absolutely fucking not.”

|<Previous | Beginning | Next>| 

[ndscottsummers]

things i think about a lot:

scott reuniting with no-longer-mind-controlled robyn hanover

scott finding out what happened to the bogarts

[thatswhatsushesaid]

shitpost dispatches from jinlintai - [2/?] incorrect but plausibly canon quotes edition

love it when a cql meme made for shits and giggles is accurate to the novel canon by accident. very gucci tbh.

[kafkaeszque]

the funniest thing that could possibly come out of this situation is that the kelp cocaine Does end up fixing mike & literally all he needed was a good high

[panevanbuckley]

my one disappointment with the ToN ending was that Lityerses and Apollo didn't actually have a conversation. no hug, no tears, nothing. we just hear that Lit is watching over the elephants and that's it. not cool. i got so hyped to see him again and for what??!

[loopy-calico]

rant ab tomorrow's sam's ep

what will probably be 'new moon meets old moon in vrchat' or smthn like that

this will be short, but I just wanna say what I hope will happen

i want old moon to:

admit that he was wrong in how he treated sun, no matter how much he loved him. it would also be cool if old moon could mention his and sun's last interaction with each other (the argument + old moon locking sun up) bc that was messed up too

i want old moon to be sorry. to feel guilty. because he should! I might not be remembering correctly, but I don't remember old moon saying sorry to sun in his final voice recording to him, so I want him to say it now

i want him to be satisfied and get closure. he deserves it, I think. I want him to ask about sun and for new moon to tell him how suns been since his death. how sun is getting better, albeit slowly.

you may never be coming back, but the one you loved and spent your life with is getting better. And he'll keep getting better.

You might never see it, but you can rest in peace knowing the one you love is happy.

I think that's the message old moon needs to hear. I think it could even make him cry.

(btw, not saying this needs to happen or that I'll be mad if it doesn't. Its just my ideas on what might happen and what i think could leave a bittersweet but satisfying message.)

[blaisenova]

hmmm... feeling i should write something fluffy after that angst bomb i just dropped... something with miguel and xina, me thinks. they don't get enough attention and i love their silly little relationship even after they break up.

i can't remember what fic it was that i read but the author had written a running joke between xina and miguel from when they were dating that was "besito para miguelito" and i don't think i'm being overdramatic in saying that changed my life

[thechosenanubis]

Maybe it's because it's exam season and my braincells are actually melting from the summer heat, but these past few days the plot bunnies have been going rampant and now i'm writing another fic while procrastinating on 'my destruction & my salvation fic and my studies, but i digress.

So these past few days i've been writing some scenes of "Nina and Eddie have a chance encounter in America, five years after S3 and plot happens" post-canon-divergence fic. And all i can think about is the Sibuna reunion chapter, and just imagining their reactions at seeing Nina again... and especially Fabian's reaction, which causes me actual physical pain.

It's in the way that Fabian immediately tries to reconnect with Nina, thinking that they can pick up where they left off, as if no time passed at all. But time did pass and they both are different people, and there's this distance between them that they both know it's there, but he tries to act as if that barrier doesn't even exist, because he missed her so much and -

[inkerii]

Okay I lied here are some more thoughts on the mlb movie including some actual criticism.

I was just listening to the soundtrack a little and I feel like? A lot of ~character~ is injected into the songs. I mean, it's a musical, it's how they work, characters burst into song when they cant hold back how they're feeling / what they're thinking anymore. But I feel like people who are calling the movie soulless must have just tuned the songs out when they came up, because without them yea, it kinda feels like its just going through the motions. But... It's a movie, so they cant have five million scenes of Mari being awkward, especially since they need her to outgrow it bc ~character development~ so these bits go into her intro song + her first outing as Ladybug. It's obviously stated in Chat's number that he was high off the freedom of being Chat Noir, which explains his cockier attitude towards Ladybug (which is? Not too unlike their dynamic in Origins pt 1 tbh, anyway).

(A detail I love is how in "You Are Ladybug", Marinette's whole point is that when things get rough she "makes excuses", which is a level of self awareness that I don't recall her having to that degree in the early show. At least in season 1, she'd always ALMOST do the things she wanted to, only to stop and second guess herself. I love the interpretation that it isnt just shyness or being frazzled and nervous in front of her crush, like the fandom interpreted, it's her ACTIVELY being aware that she's self sabotaging bc she's afraid of taking chances. It's such a fun little spin on her actions in the show. )

Like. It's all there??? It's in the movie???

Anyway.

Wanna see an ACTUAL criticism? What some songs imply just isn't represented as well visually, which makes the movie more confusing. Most notably Marinette's Sad Song after Adrien turns her down. If you actually listen to what she's saying, it feels like they skipped a few scenes, lol.

Like, listen to it, it's like she's saying she - as Marinette - isn't enough, just being the silly shy girl that she is. This is right after Chat confesses to be falling for Ladybug, but Adrien turns Marinette down. The song is implying that Mari went from not thinking she could be Ladybug to gaining confidence in herself (she's kicking butt as Ladybug, she's overcoming her shyness/awkwardness and making friends, she even managed to ask Adrien out, so its not like the old fic trope in which Mari always had a low self esteem and always considered LB to be perfect, she's getting better as a whole), to only now second guessing it all. Is only Ladybug, her more heroic, responsible side, the one people (boys, "both" of them) like? Is being "just" her softer, klutzier, dreamer self not enough?

It ofc leads into the final fight against Hawkmoth, and how Marinette is so down about it that she now thinks she NEEDS Ladybug to win. She still tries to save Adrien on her own with a last nudge from Tikki, and tho it isn't enough to keep Hawkmoth from getting to him, it's enough for herself. Like, she very clearly Has An Arc in the movie.

The thing is, it can get a little fuzzy because we don't really see this contrast between Ladybug's self assuredness and the parts of herself that Marinette prefers to identify with as a civilian, not if you haven't watched the show. The montage just skips throughout their "pound it!"s without lingering on her resourcefulness, her confidence, and how different Ladybug feels from Marinette. Like, it's there, but only superficially, and its hard to notice it unless you have the backstory from the show to back you up.

It's the same issue with Adrien's feelings towards Marinette, we know from the montage that Mari is special to him, we only ever see him open himself up about Emilie to her (when Nino is Right There and actively letting him know he can talk to him if Adrien wants to), and the end credits song (that seems to match the reveal in both melody and lyrics) basically states what we do know - that Mari is aware that Adrien is Chat Noir and was waiting for the right moment to tell him - and what we DON'T, which is that Adrien always felt a degree of familiarity and a special bond with Mari, possibly bc subconsciously he always knew (which actually calls back surprisingly well to the cut Wall Between Us number and how that poor catboy was SO confused). So he was and wasn't surprised at the same time bc OF COURSE it was her, of course the girls who held his heart on both sides of the mask were one and the same. Ergo the smiling through the tears.

But we don't SEE that, unless you take what the music numbers are saying AND you have watched the first season of the show (I am once again reminding folks that the movie was conceptualized during the season 1 hiatus). You don't SEE Adrien go from a slightly weirded out stranger to someone fondly amused at Mari's antics to blushing and shuffling awkwardly when their fingers touch when playing videogames. You don't see how LB takes control and appears to be a natural leader, heck, the movie does a better job with Ladynoir but it STILL doesn't match how it feels to watch it knowing things like Chat straight up being willing to die for Ladybug in Timebreaker or knowing they kiss once in Dark Cupid or how Chat keeps himself from peeking at who LB is in Lady Wifi. You don't have the Adrienette side of the square to explain some of those lyrics away and the Ladynoir Song(tm) or even the sparring scene, with all the implicit trust they gives us, don't hit as hard as they do with the proper context.

Some of it (Ladynoir) can be excused by it being a movie and having a much more limited runtime to tell a story, but others (Adrienette) just NEEDED a little bit more. Even if it was just one more scene showing how their civilian relationship has ALSO evolved.

That said, it makes me wonder, it's been ages but I loosely remember being told that the movie was supposed to show the origins of Ladybug and Chat Noir back in the day. I wonder if the things we see changed between series and movie (the power ups for instance, details like Nino always having a crush on Alya) weren't originally, and the movie was originally going to be released as both the beginning and the end of season 1, showing how LB and Chat met, revealing Gabriel as Hawkmoth, and concluding the love square shenanigans and giving us a reveal before setting up a season 2 in that post The End scene.

Mostly bc I've been watching season 1 again and if you take Origins out and ignore the smaller incongruencies as just edits reworked into the base story later in order separate the movieverse from the showverse as a way for Zag and Astruc to find a compromise... I'm using an old friend's personalized episode timeline instead of just the release/production order and you can SEE the development there. It's subtle but it exists, and it works surprisingly well.

If you look at it this way, the movie wouldn't need to show things like Adrien's modeling career and Gabriel's micromanaging (which in season 1 STILL works with movie Gabriel, especially knowing he gets obsessed to the point of neglecting his personal hygiene. He's distant and cold but not aggressive), so the show could explore that. The show could set up Adrienette and Ladynoir (and the other subtler sides of the square)'s base dynamics so the movie could do its thing by flipping the love square (had it had more time to properly show the Adrienette side. as I said above, its an actual issue with the movie) and resolving the tension. Even the earphones symbolism would hit harder knowing Adrien went through a whole season without them, only to falter and fall back into using them after LB rejects him.

Idk, I'm too fond of Origins to ever delete it from my heart, but I think its a fascinating concept to think about.

[blitzisms]

vent ahead, be warned. idk how to do read more on mobile, sorry.

You ever just want to go off on a petty rant because you used to be friends with people who are absolute hypocrites of themselves because they preach themselves as soft and good people for their friends but the moment that you need them they flake on you and assume terrible shit about you besides knowing you for months and maybe years? No? Nevermind then today was baller how's it going.

[lord-radish]

So it turns out that 8 seasons of The Blacklist is bordering on too much. Not because I don't still enjoy it, but because it's got a relentless myth arc that doesn't have nearly enough resolution the longer it goes on.

I think there's a trope on TV Tropes called the Chris Carter Effect, named after the showrunner of the X-Files, where a show will keep adding onto its myth arc until the show implodes and people stop watching because they don't care what the mystery is any more. It took one turn too many, kept people on the hook for so long that they ate through the bait and decided they didn't want to be reeled in.

For the most part, I think shows that do this aren't wholly planned out. I think Lost was a big example of this in the 2000's, it was written as it was being filmed and the ending disappointed because they couldn't possibly resolve everything in a way that made sense - it was never written to make sense. From what I hear, the X-Files pulled the same move of building up this myth arc even when it was revived. Some shows thrive on that "down the rabbit hole" feeling without actually having an endgame.

I don't think The Blacklist is that kind of show. It is absolutely a "rabbit hole" type show, it's a conspiracy thriller - what I mean is that I think it has an endgame that it's had set in stone since at LEAST season four. The issue is that it just isn't giving up the goods, and the conflict is now being built on top of that tension instead of resolving the tension. It's beginning to get frustrating.

[babylonbirdmeat]

I'm always like "I don't do true crime anymore" BUT APPARENTLY THEY IDENTIFIED THE BOY IN THE BOX???

[gremjaylin]

Ok, uh, rq-

WHY ARE MOST OF THE BALDI'S BASICS ARTISTS AND ASK BLOGS FROM MY CHILDHOOD JUST- GONE-?

Like, I missed so much over the years of not being obsessed with BB, idek what happened or what's happening, like, I be rewatching VOAdam comic dubs and see most artists just gone and while I'm going thru Pinterest, I cannot find a single original source, not even Google Lens is helping, it's literally taking me to TikTok or back to Pinterest like "Sorry, kiddo, guess the artist just dipped" and like- don't get me wrong, I'm glad if they took the decision to leave cuz of mental health or improvements or whatever, BUT LIKE, MOST OF Y'ALL WERE COOL AND PART OF MY CHILDHOOD, AT LEAST ARCHIVE THE STUFF MAYBE-