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immaturityofthomasastruc · 10 months

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IOTA Reviews: Derision

Well, here we are. This is the episode you've all been waiting for me to cover. The one people claim is the cream of the crop when it comes to badness, not just for the insane amount of retcons and cases of character assassination, but for how it retroactively makes one of the most criticized parts of the entire show worse by comparison. If you've seen the episode, you know what I'm talking about.

Let's get into the fourteenth episode of Miraculous Ladybug's fifth season: Derision

We start off with Marinette waking up for the day before getting a call from Adrien, who gives one of the clunkiest pieces of exposition I've ever heard on this show, and that's saying something.

Adrien: I was just going to tell you how excited I am that we're meeting at the swimming pool later, and to wake you up just in case you were still sleeping.

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Just as she hangs up, Marinette's hands start to tremble, having visions of a locker, hinting at some old memories resurfacing. Just to get this out of the way, but one thing I want to give this episode props for is the way these panic attacks are portrayed. The colors change, the environments warp around, and it gives off a very uneasy feeling. It kind of reminds me of this one episode of The Twilight Zone, “Little Girl Lost”, which used similar visuals to depict the otherworldly atmosphere of another dimension.

Marinette meets up with Adrien at the local pool, and has another panic attack. Kim and Ondine seem to notice this.

Kim: Woah, Adrien. That must've been some prank you pulled to make Marinette freak out like that. What did you do to her?

Ondine: It's not funny, Kim! Can't you see Marinette's not okay?

Kim: Oh, come on. She always reacts like that when someone pranks her.

Kim then proceeds to tell Adrien and Ondine (and by extension, the audience) about what he means. I'm going to talk a lot about this, so to make things easier for all of us, I'll give you the short version so you have an idea of what happened.

About a year before the events of “Origins”, we see Chloe was bullying Marinette even more than she did before then, constantly pulling sadistic pranks Megan from Drake & Josh would find to be overkill, while making her late to class. To make things worse, none of her teachers believed her and took Chloe's side all the time, giving her detention on the weekends. Mylene, Rose, and Juleka try to help Marinette, but apparently, Chloe orders them to not talk with her before saying that “she'll be there to make Marinette's life a nightmare”.

The only person with the common sense to help out Marinette is Socqueline, that girl from “Jubiliation”. Socqueline learns that Marinette has a crush on Kim, who is even more of a jerk than he was during the first half of Season 1, and when Marinette thinks about asking him out to the swimming pool after school, Socqueline advises Marinette to be careful. Sabrina tips off Chloe to Marinette's plan, so Chloe goes to give Kim advice to pull a prank on Marinette. At the pool, just as Marinette confesses her feelings to Kim, Kim gives her a box full of spiders, causing her to panic and fall backwards into the pool. Chloe films the thing with the intent to make it go viral, but Socqueline stops her plan before she can upload it. Kim doesn't seem to see what he did was wrong, seeing it as a harmless joke as Socqueline tells him to piss off.

It's here that Marinette determines that if she ever has feelings for a boy ever again, she'll need to be super prepared, explaining how much she knows about Adrien and his schedule in later episodes. Chloe then gets Socqueline expelled from school just a few weeks before the end of the school year. Marinette blames herself for what happened, but Socqueline tells her that sometimes, no matter how dire the odds seem, she needs to muster up the courage to fight the good fight.

Oh, and Marinette was almost akumatized by Monarch again, but it's really just an excuse to keep her away while Kim tells the story.

So... let's talk about this flashback. Clocking in at about ten minutes, almost half of the episode's runtime, this is easily the part everyone (myself included) seems to have problems with, for all kinds of reasons. Let's break down each and everything wrong with this flashback.

#1: The Portrayal of Chloe

Surprisingly, this is the least of my problems. Compared to Kim (who I'll get to later), Chloe is mostly in character with how she's usually portrayed by this point in the series. She's egotistical, she orders Sabrina around, she hates Marinette, and throws her father's name around over and over again like it's a boomerang. My feelings on the wasted opportunities with her character aside, this does make sense seeing how this takes place before Season 1.

But there's the problem. This takes place before Season 1, and Chloe does things she never did in Season 1, or any of the other seasons for that matter. She clearly has the teachers and principal doing what she wants, she can boss the other students around (which I'll also get to later), she pulls sadistic practical jokes on Marinette, and even uses her dad's name to get Socqueline expelled. In the show, she doesn't really do any of this. Sure, she can occasionally use her dad's influence to get what she wants (Lady Wifi, Rogercop, Frightningale, Determination), but it was never to this extent. While she also tried to act like she was better than the rest of her peers, barring Sabrina, nobody ever listened to her or took her seriously. Chloe also tended to focus on bullying Marinette, but she didn't do these kinds of practical jokes. Usually, it was either sabotage (Mr. Pigeon, Despair Bear, Gabriel Agreste) or just general name calling, and she picked on other students too (Dark Cupid, Reflekta, Antibug, Sole Crusher, Penalteam, Deflagration).

The point I'm trying to make is why the hell did Chloe stop acting this way? What caused her to stop being as bad as she is here? I get the whole point of this episode is to show how terrible Chloe is, but you're showing off all her bad moments in a flashback and never considering the other things she's done that would be just as effective. Wasn't the main idea behind Chloe's “damnation arc” that she started to change, but went back on her ways and became worse than before? If that's the case, I have to reiterate, why was she even worse in this flashback?

I also have an issue with making the cause of all of Marinette's trauma because of this prank by Chloe. Yes, the prank was terrible, and trust me this isn't me once again going “GRR! CHLOE STAN ANGRY BECAUSE RICH GIRL IS EVIL IN FLASHBACK!”. It's more along the lines of “Really? We're really doing this?”. While I'm glad that after Chloe's betrayal at the end of Season 3, the show is finally considering the idea of making her more than just comic relief as a villain, it feels like a case of too little, too late.

After so many years of making Chloe out to be harmless unless she screams her daddy's name, now you're treating her like a serious threat who traumatized Marinette for life? Chloe is the cause of Marinette's trauma? This is like if the person who killed Bruce Wayne's parents turned out to be a joke character like Egghead or Crazy Quilt. Just because a serious villain does something important to the story, it doesn't automatically make their prior unfunny antics go away.

But my main gripe with the portrayal of Chloe here is that this flashback fails to do something that still hasn't been done in almost five seasons and eight years: Explain just why Chloe hates Marinette so much. Chloe is unusually cruel here, and doesn't even have a reason to torture Marinette like this. Usually, Marinette gets in the way of what she wants, but here? Marinette doesn't do anything to warrant this level of dedication. You would think for a flashback sequence focusing on her and Marinette's history, they would actually explain why Chloe likes to single out Marinette, but they don't. The writers would rather take time out of the episode to remind the audience of why Chloe is the way she is, and why it isn't acceptable, than clarify what Chloe's deal with Marinette is.

Rose: She’s this way because her mother left her when she was young.

Mylene: So did mine, and you don't see me having fun bullying Marinette.

Gee, I wonder if Astruc himself had a part in writing that exchange or not.

If you're willing to acknowledge previous episodes while also discussing how poorly Chloe treats Marinette, it would help if you finally did something to inform the audience about why Chloe likes to torture Marinette in the first place. Did Marinette show Chloe up at a fashion show? Did Marinette impress Chloe's dad one time? Did Marinette just spill coffee on Chloe's shoes? I will take literally anything, no matter how stupid the explanation is, over getting nothing after eight years.

It's also pretty rich that that scene was trying to say that what happened to Chloe doesn't justify her actions when not only do we never get a scene like that pointing out how creepy Marinette obsesing over Adrien was, but later in the episode, Marinette specifically pins all the blame on Chloe in one line.

Marinette: Adrien! I know what's wrong with me! It's not my fault, and it's not your fault, either! It's all Chloe's fault!

So remember kids, just because bad things happen to you, it doesn't excuse your unflattering actions... except when it does, and in that case, it's all the fault of the person who wronged you in the first place.

#2: The Portrayal of Kim

I'll admit, I'm not really the biggest fan of Kim as a character. I don't hate him, but it feels like after Season 2, he just became that guy who really loves to swim, where even characters like Max, Marc, and Nathaniel had more depth to them. This episode however? Yeah, I couldn't stand Kim here.

Just like with Chloe, Kim is sort of in character as the same eccentric dude who has a habit of being insensitive and accidentally upsetting people (Animan, Syren), and I need to emphasize the “sort of”. Just like Chloe, this goes against his characterization in Season 1, where he was shown to be a bully like Chloe was (Lady Wifi, Timetagger, Origins) before later episodes made him a nicer person. However, unlike Chloe, the show sort of tries to retcon Kim's rude behavior to be more in line with his Season 5 self by portraying him as more of a bully who simply isn't aware of how harmful his jokes are, but it doesn't work because of how cruel he seems, and he doesn't have the excuse of knowing how terrible he is like Chloe does.

There's also how easily he goes along with Chloe's prank when she literally insults him and Marinette to his face.

Chloe: I heard Marinette asked you to go with her to the swimming pool.

Kim: Yeah, we’re going swimming together. Cool! 'Cause I love to swim!

Chloe: That’s not why she asked you, dummy!

Kim: It's not? Then, what are we going to do? Chloe: She wants to declare her feelings for you! Kim: For me? But why?

Chloe: Probably because she's utterly ridiculous, and so are you, which makes you two perfect for each other!

Kim: Oh? You think so?

There's not being aware of how insensitive of how you are to others, and then there's not being able to comprehend basic insults. Chloe doesn't even try to give Kim a backhanded compliment or secretly insult him (“You really like swimming, don't you? Good thing you can swim better than you do in class.”). She just calls him a dummy, and Kim still falls for her trick. If you want to have Kim fall for Chloe's plan, don't make her so obviously cruel. For God's sake, you're making the class in the Lila episodes look smart by comparison.

And even after retelling the story, Kim still thinks Chloe highly, not only saying how pretty she is right in front of his girlfriend, but he still thinks the joke was the funniest thing ever. After five seasons, Kim of all people should know about how mean Chloe is, given he was literally kidnapped and brainwashed into serving her while she sided with Hawkmoth (Miracle Queen).

The worst part is that Kim has nothing to do with this story at all. You could literally replace him with any other guy, even a nameless background character with no lines, and nothing would change. Hell, I'd argue it'd be even better as having Marinette be embarrassed in front of some rando would highlight the impact it had on her self-esteem when she tries to go after someone of a higher social class. It would also better justify the spider prank if someone else pulled it because “Darkblade” established that Kim was afraid of spiders.

And if you think I'm talking about Kim after this part, believe me, there's more to this schmuck than meets the eye.

#3: The Way Everyone Just... Lets This All Happen

Look, I get what the episode is trying to go for, narratively, and realistically. Sometimes, teachers and other authority figures just don't do their jobs when someone gets bullied. Hell, I was bullied for years by someone who liked to take advantage of my anger issues, and it wasn't until my last year of middle school that the faculty finally decided to do something about it. I also get that this entire flashback wouldn't happen if the teachers realized how cruel Chloe was and got her expelled. What I don't get is how the flashback portrays anyone who was there as unwilling to do anything to help.

First off, Marinette claims that the reason none of the teachers believed her was because they're all too afraid to stand up to Chloe, since she can call her dad and cost them their jobs, but that's far from the truth. The only time we see anyone actually being afraid of Chloe was when Mr. Damocles went back on refusing to expel Socqueline before Chloe threatened to call her dad and get him fired. Other than that, while we only see Ms. Mendeleiev and Mr. Damocles in this flashback, neither of them really show any signs of being afraid of Chloe. They just go along with what she says, and they don't even try to take Marinette's side. Just like Kim, this would be more understandable if these were different characters who were never shown to be this cruel to Marinette in earlier episodes.

Second, while I can sort of buy the teachers not caring about Marinette, the fact that her classmates don't do anything is another story. We saw Mylene, Rose, and Juleka trying to help Marinette, but right after they talk to her, Chloe just orders them to go away, and it's never explained why. Marinette said the teachers were afraid of Chloe, but does that mean the students are too? Again, later episodes would establish nobody takes Chloe seriously as a bully, so this part of the flashback makes no sense. What changed to make them stop being afraid of Chloe anyway? Once again, if these were a bunch of nameless characters who were more apathetic to Marinette's situation, that would make sense, retroactively showing how much Marinette's friends care for her. Instead, it's like that scene in RWBY where the main characters watch a student being bullied by a racist classmate, and all they do is say “Wow, racism really sucks, huh? Anyway, not our problem.”

Third, you're telling me that Marinette came up with multiple excuses not to go to school even with a few weeks left in the year, and Marinette's parents didn't see anything weird about it? They didn't think that something must be making Marinette want to do anything but go to school? I don't think they were even informed about the situation at school, unless you want to be generous and say they knew Marinette got detention. You can't even make the excuse that it would work if these were different characters, but these are Marinette's parents. You know, the same characters the show portrays as loving and affectionate to their daughter? You're telling me they didn't even think to look into the situation, much less talk to Marinette about school?

The problem with all the other characters in this flashback is in order to make what happens possible, they have to be as apathetic as possible. There's being unaware of a situation or being too afraid to stand up (which is unfortunately something that happens when people bullied sometimes), and then there's just not caring about the bully victim at all. It's ironic how even though a big part of the flashback was to show how awful Chloe was, it unintentionally make everyone else in Marinette's life seem just as cruel to let her suffer like that.

But I know what you're thinking. “What about Socqueline? She was there to help Marinette, so why didn't you mention her?” Well...

#4: Where the Hell Has Socqueline Been All This Time?

Like I mentioned in my “Jubilation” review, Socqueline is yet another unnecessary addition to the already overcrowded cast of characters in this show, and it seemed like this episode was meant to justify her inclusion, but it only raised more questions.

Just to remind you, this flashback establishes that Marinette was constantly bullied by Chloe until a nice girl in glasses stood up for her, and inspired Marinette to be more confident.

SOUND FAMILIAR?

Yeah, this flashback is pretty much the same as Marinette's arc in “Origins” was, only with Socqueline in Alya's place. We get it, writers, Season 1 was good. Constantly repeating stuff like what happened in “Mr. Pigeon 72” isn't going to win you any favors.

This really highlights how pointless of a character Socqueline is, as despite supposedly being a really important person in Marinette's life, Marinette herself never thought to tell anyone about her, and judging from how Marinette described her to Tikki in “Jubilation”, I don't think she even stayed in contact with Socqueline after she was expelled. It's not like left Paris afterwards. All we know is that she went to another school and got a job at a local arts and crafts store, so why did Marinette just stop talking with her? Even with Felix and Zoe, they had the excuse of being in different countries, but you can't say that with Socqueline.

Also, this was something I just realized, but if Mr. Damocles got her expelled, why the hell did Socqueline treat him like he was any other customer at her job, much less compliment him as a principal?

#5: The Handling of Trauma in General, and How This Impacts Marinette as a Character

Like pretty much every other serious issue it tries to tackle, Miraculous Ladybug has always had a poor understanding of mental health. When it comes to portraying characters who struggle with some form of grief of trauma, like Adrien, Felix, Chloe, Zoe, and even Marinette, the responses usually amount to some variation of “Grow a pair and get over it, you big baby!”.

With Felix, Chloe, and Marinette, even if their actions are partially motivated as a response to either losing a loved one, trying to emulate their neglectful parent, or as a defense mechanism to avoid repeating an already traumatic experience, they're all proven to be in the wrong, and it's not to teach a lesson about alternative coping mechanisms or support systems. The show just says that they're automatically wrong for what they do, what causes them to act the way they do is never acknowledged, and instead, we're supposed to just act like they're being jerks for no reason. Compare this to Adrien and Zoe, who both had rough lives losing their mother at a young age or living with an abusive mother respectively, and rather than go into detail how it affected them or how they managed to become decent human beings in spite of it, the show just says that they're nice people, so people like Felix, Chloe, and Marinette have no reason to be mean to others.

This is honestly why I feel like this episode's depiction of mental health and dealing with trauma falls flat. In case you didn't know, I asked my followers who had to deal with some form of trauma to share their experiences and how it compared to what Marinette went through in the episode. For the most part, the common consensus seems to be that while the symptoms of Marinette's trauma and her reactions to it are very believable, a lot of it is contradicted by previous episodes, and it seems like it was only there to do a story about dealing with trauma.

So many episodes across Seasons 1 through 4 show Marinette dealing with Kim and Chloe without really any issue, and she showed no problem with starting relationships with Luka and Cat Noir, to say nothing about Nathaniel's brief crush on her in “The Evillustrator”. If Marinette was so traumatized by this prank, why did she want to go swimming in episodes like “Gorizilla” and “Mr. Pigeon 72”? Why did she bother to help Kim confess to Chloe in “Dark Cupid”? Why did she team up with Chloe to sabotage Kagami in “Animaestro”? Why did she suggest Chloe could change for the better throughout Seasons 2 and 3? Why did she continue to let Chloe and Kim use the Bee and Monkey Miraculous respectively, even after they got them from outside sources? This flashback is desperately trying to tie previous events of the series together together, but it only works if you ignore all the times Marinette has interacted with Kim and Chloe without having a panic attack.

Then there's how the flashback tries to connect this to Marinette memorizing all of Adrien's schedule to make sure he won't hurt her, an obvious attempt to rebuff one of the biggest criticisms of her as a character. Here's why it doesn't work.

First off, the setup doesn't work because while Marinette vows to do a better job getting to know the next person she falls in love with and how, in her words mind you, “He isn't friends with Chloe”. Putting aside the kindness he's shown her in “Origins”, she kind of failed to really consider her choice to pursue him if he stayed friends with Chloe if we're going to believe Chloe traumatized Marinette so much.

It also doesn't really explain the more predatory actions Marinette has taken whenever another girl tries to get close to Adrien (The Bubbler, Volpina, Animaestro, Oni-Chan, Heart Hunter), or how she tries to rig up situations to get closer to him (The Gamer, Gigantitan, Backwarder, Party Crasher, Felix, Psycomedian, Glaciator 2, Simpleman). And that's not even getting into how obsessive she is with him in other areas, like repeatedly playing a commercial he was in (Gorizilla), making a bunch of presents for him in advance (Christmaster), trying to kiss a wax statue of him (The Puppeteer 2), sniffing his pillow (Cat Blanc), or all the other times she's creepily obsessed over him.

But of course, you've probably noticed that I've forgotten to mention one key thing about what this flashback means: You know how Marinette tends to act nervously and stumbles a lot around Adrien when she isn't meticulously documenting his schedule? Yeah, they were essentially panic attacks brought on by her PTSD, and the episode tries to act like Kim did to her wasn't funny afterwards. Here's the problem with this.

YOU MADE MARINETTE'S TRAUMA YOUR PRIMARY SOURCE OF COMEDY FOR THE PAST FIVE FUCKING SEASONS!

You do NOT have the right to act like what happened to Marinette was bad when you were constantly playing her anxiety up for laughs for almost EIGHT YEARS at this point!

In addition to all the other examples I mentioned, we had episodes like “Psycomedian”, which confirmed that the same behavior that this episode is trying to say is connected to her trauma was hilarious to Adrien, as well as “Backwarder”, which thrived on playing up Marinette's anxiety towards Adrien and was said to be one of the funniest episodes of the show to work on by Astruc himself.

THIS IS WHAT THOMAS ASTRUC ACTUALLY BELIEVES

#6: Why This Flashback Is Ultimately Pointless

But above all, the biggest problem I have with this flashback is because of how pointless it is. It's trying to better go into detail about why Marinette acts the way she does around Adrien, but did we really need to do that?

This flashback doesn't really reveal anything that we didn't know already. We know Marinette was bullied by Chloe, we know she was a lot more meek and needed others to stand up for her, and we definitely know that we're not supposed to like Chloe. Adding to my earlier point, if we actually got more insight into the origin of Chloe's obsession with Marinette, that would have at least made this flashback important to watch, but once again, despite being a flashback episode, we learn nothing about the characters that we don't already know.

But this flashback is also meant to explain why Marinette is so hesitant to embrace her new relationship with Adrien when we already got a reason for that last season. The first half of the season has made a big deal about how much her feelings for Adrien cost her the Miraculous, so why not focus on that? This flashback just feels like it's here to give more Marinette angst instead of focusing on the things they've already established. And that's not even getting into what she saw during “Cat Blanc”.

Why couldn't we just have a story about Marinette's own insecurities causing her to doubt she can make her relationship with Adrien work, seeing how poorly things ended with Luka? Have her worry that something could go wrong as a result of her need to overcompensate, or worry that Adrien could betray her. That way, you could have Adrien supporting Marinette in a way that reflects their partnership as Cat Noir and Ladybug respectively.

But no. Instead we have this flashback that's taken me about ten pages to fully dissect. And the worst part is that I still have the rest of the episode to talk about. God help me...

So after Adrien and Ondine explain how this prank could have done a lot of damage to Marinette's psyche, Kim decides to find Marinette, and apologize for being so—Ah, I'm just messing with you guys. After all, that would actually make Kim likable. So what does he say instead?

Kim: Come on! Loosen up, you guys! It's like you can't even speak your mind these days.

Ondine: That doesn't give you permission to hurt other people!

Kim: Whatever! I'm the way I am and I'm fine that way! It's not my fault you guys have no sense of humor!

Yep, rather than having Kim realize the error of his ways and maybe be akumatized out of guilt, Kim just whines about how everyone else is just a humorless pansy these days. The writers pretty much made Kim's motivation boil down to “It's just a prank, bro!”. Even Monarch seems to go along with this, as he refers to Kim as “A free spirit feeling unjustly rejected”, when this was right after he called Chloe the prettiest girl in front of his own girlfriend's face. So Monarch sends his Akuma to Kim's goggles, akumatizing him into Dark Humor. Yes, that's really the name they're going with.

Dark Humor is a pretty forgettable recolor of Dark Cupid. Other than inverting the red and black color scheme and giving him a targeting scope on his right eye, there's not much else to say other than the incredibly on the nose name they gave him. His powers are sort of like Dark Cupid's, only now, instead of turning people heartless, they now share his soulless brand of “humor”. At least, I think it is. His Alliance power is the Monkey Miraculous's Uproar, but it's not really clarified if he's only using Uproar arrows or not, judging from the use of the rubber ducky that we've seen King Monkey use before.

Marinette and Adrien transform into Ladybug and Cat Noir respectively, but once they meet up, we get the most controversial part of the episode that isn't connected to the flashback scene: Cat Noir gives Dark Humor the beatdown of his life and is about to Cataclysm him, for pulling a bad prank on Marinette a year ago. Yeah, a lot of people have pointed out that Adrien felt a lot of remorse for Cataclysming Monarch earlier in this season, yet here, Cat Noir looks like someone told him that Kim just shot the Pope. For God's sake, writers, you're five seasons in! How hard is it to determine whether or not you want your hero to be okay with killing people or not?

And of course, this bites him in the ass, as Dark Humor stabs Cat Noir with an arrow, not only changing his Cataclysm into something that creates a bunch of balls from his hand, but also making him just as insane as the rest of Dark Humor's victims. You know, I'm this close to starting a “Remember Season 1” counter, because this is just glorified fanservice.

Ladybug tries to summon her Lucky Charm, but is stopped by Dark Humor, so Ladybug transforms back into Marinette, transforms into Ladybug again, and summons her Lucky Charm for real this time, getting... a toilet. Of course, the only way to combat Dark Humor's bad jokes is by using even worse jokes! Genius! Ladybug places the toilet over Dark Humor's head and breaks it along with the goggles, freeing the Akuma.

Ladybug de-evilizes the Akuma, uses Miraculous Ladybug to fix the damage, gives Kim a useless Magical Charm, and Cat Noir apologizes for murdering Kim by saying his emotions got the better of him, which is like saying OJ Simpson and his wife had a minor disagreement.

Kim apologizes to Marinette for traumatizing her, and I guess that's enough for Ondine to forgive him for saying another girl is prettier than her.

After Marinette sort of explains what happened to Adrien, he goes over to tell Chloe to apologize, and we get... this scene.

Adrien: I know about everything that you did to Marinette last year, Chloe. You're going to go and apologize to her and prove to everyone that you can change. I'm sure she'll forgive you.

Chloe: (laughs) Forgive me? What do I care about her forgiveness? I couldn't care less about Dupain-Cheng's feelings! She and the likes of her only exist to suffer for my entertainment. Why bother having power if you can’t use it against those who don’t have any? You’re the one who’s getting things wrong, with your baker girl! You’re a prince! You belong with me, the princess! You’re in this world to shine! To make fun of all the losers who are only good enough to be used as doormats!

Adrien: You're nothing like a princess, Chloe. I supported you. I gave you multiple chances to become a better person. Everyone reached out to you, including Ladybug and Cat Noir when they gave you the Miraculous of the Bee again. But all you ever think about is yourself.

Chloe: And what else IS there to think about? Losers and nobodies? The little bees? The planet?

Adrien: We will never be friends again, Chloe. You and I are done.

Chloe: Traitor.

Okay, first off, “She and the likes of her only exist to suffer for my entertainment.”? That's the line you're going with? She sounds like a dark lord in an RPG game. How is this the closest thing we ever get to an explanation to why Chloe hates Marinette so much?

Second, ignoring the fact that we already had Chloe end her friendship with Adrien last season (Queen Banana), it's pretty weird that this is the breaking point in their friendship. Adrien doesn't mention all the other times she's bullied people or when she sided with Hawkmoth even when he brought up her time as Queen Bee. He saw her being mean to so many people over five seasons, yet only when he learns Chloe did something to his girlfriend that he decides to finally confront her. If we at least got a line where Adrien acknowledged that he essentially enabled Chloe for so long by thinking she could change, that would have at least sort of worked. Instead, he makes it about how she refused to change herself. Dude, you had the chance to stand up to her for years, and you even did so in one episode before you went back on it (Despair Bear). You have nobody to blame but yourself.

Finally, Chloe is pretty out of character here. She's way too calm about ending her friendship with Adrien compared to what happened in “Despair Bear” and “Queen Banana”. You'd think if the writers wanted this to be a big moment of catharsis for the audience, Chloe would at least beg Adrien to stay a little. But no, Chloe brushes it off when it could easily justify her getting worse in later episodes, and even Adrien doesn't even consider how much he thought Chloe's friendship meant to him. Because these writers are dedicated to making sure that any identifiable trait Chloe once had is removed so you have no choice but to hate her.

But hey, at least the episode's over. What did I think of it?

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Yeah, it wasn't very good.

I just... what else do you even want me to say here? I spent about ten pages going over why the flashback sequence doesn't work, I've already ranted about Cat Noir trying to kill someone with his Cataclysm in previous episodes (Hack-San, Jubilation), and I think you all know what my feelings on the portrayal of Chloe and Kim are.

I guess I can answer one question you may have: Is this episode worse than either “Penalteam” or “Queen Banana”? Eh, not really. Let me explain.

The problems with “Queen Banana” and “Penalteam” went beyond the treatment of Chloe with the way the stories were handled, with “Queen Banana” being a cheap jab at critics and TV executives while propping up their new character Zoe, and “Penalteam” being an excuse to have a soccer episode while making Cat Noir look like a buffoon right before the finale. Most of the problems with this episode have more to do with how they affect the way we see previous episodes, and why some scenes that were already unfunny are even less funny now.

With this episode, you can at least tell there was some effort being made to tell a more serious story here that went into what made Marinette tick. Yeah, it and the themes of mental health and trauma were handled about as gracefully as a ballet dancer trying to get a bear trap off their leg, but there's at least an attempt here.

Of course, this episode is still awful. The conflict with Kim not getting how much of a jerk he was after a year was dumb (as was him being even more of a jerk as Dark Humor), the fact that Marinette's trauma seemed to come and go when the plot needed it to really showed off how forced it is, and it only ends with you having more questions about Marinette and Chloe's rivalry rather than answering them.

While I'm still not a fan of this episode, and would still place it in my top five least favorites, I don't think it's the absolute worst. Although it's still the worst one so far this season from a technical standpoint.

THE BIGGEST IDIOT OF THE EPISODE IS...KIM

It says a lot when Cat Noir actually tried to murder someone in this episode, yet not only is he not even considered for the award this episode, the person he tried to kill ends up being the bigger idiot. Not only did he easily fall for Chloe's plan when she insulted him to his face, he failed to understand how it affected Marinette for a year, and when he was told about how bad it was, he refused to take responsibility for his actions, blamed it on other people not being able to take a joke, and only gave the smallest apology after he was almost killed for his attitude. It's honestly funny how he somehow comes across as more unlikable than Chloe, the character this episode was made to make you hate even more.

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celestiall0tus · 4 days

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Tales of Bloody Bug and Chat Noir - Chapter 34 - Dark Cupid

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“Happy Valentines Day!” Adrien cheered.

Alix raised a brow as Adrien handed her an assorted bouquet of salmon, deep pink, orange, purple, and lavender. He pushed them closer to her until she took them.

“Do you like them?”

“They are lovely, but I’ve never seen these type of roses. Well, not often. Do they mean something?”

“I’m glad you asked. The deep pink mean gratitude and appreciation, the lavender that I adore you, purple is for majesty and that I value and look up to you, orange because you mean the world to me and that I’m happy you’re in my life, and salmon is showing admiration but also how much better I’ve become with you in my life.”

Alix’s eyes widened before her face softened. “You are incredibly corny and sentimental, you know that, right?”

“You love me for it.”

“Unfortunately. Don’t ever change. What’d you get Sabrina?”

“Oh! Let me show you.”

Adrien pulled out a box with a bizarre necklace like it came from a cartoon.

“What is that?”

“Rin shared with me one of her favorite magic girl shows and character in it. That character wears this necklace. So, when Rin told me all that and how the necklace was one of the things she loved about the design, I had one made for her.”

“That is sickeningly sweet, you dorks.”

Adrien beamed as he put the necklace up. “I’m going to give it to her at the Valentine’s dance later. Are you still going?”

“I don’t have anyone to go with. And Chloe made it clear that it was a couple or thruple only thing.”

“Well, then you can come with me and Rin.”

“No. I’m third wheeling with you two.”

“But I want you to come.”

“And I appreciate it, but there are just some things that I won’t be able to join you on. Now, let’s get to class.”

Alix stashed the bouquet in her locker before she and Adrien headed up to homeroom. They stopped by the door as they stared at Adrien’s desk that overflowed with small presents and chocolates. He winced at the sight and slowly approached it.

“Uh, why are these all here?”

“Uh, because you’re Adrien Agreste? What girl, or guy, wouldn’t want you as a Valentine?”

“But they don’t know me. Wouldn’t they rather give one to someone they actually want to be with, or like? Not a stranger like me.”

“People work in mysterious ways, Adrien. But, hey, if you want to unload that chocolate, I’m sure Nino and I would be more than happy to help.”

“Of course, dude,” Nino said as he stood beside Adrien.

“Do you even know what we’re talking about?” Alix asked.

“Nope. I heard chocolate and my name. Woah! Adrien, look at you! Quite the ladies man, eh?”

Adrien forced a smile. “I wouldn’t go that far. I really don’t want to accept all these.”

“Not even our stuff?” Rose called out.

“Yeah. We left stuff for you too, but it was buried under everyone else’s,” Mylene added.

“Did you put your names on it?” Alix asked.

“Of course! We wanted Adrien to know how much we care about him. No sense to not put our names,” Rose commented.

“There you go. You can pick out the stuff from your friends and give the rest to Nino and me. Problem solved,” Alix remarked.

“Yeah, dude. Here, I’ll even help. As is my noble duty as your desk bro and best bro in general,” Nino offered.

Adrien smiled and nodded. He and Nino took their seats as Alix took hers. She smiled at the small pile of gifts left by the girls. She neatly put them to the side when she found a small heart-shaped box with no name on it. She assumed it was from Luka and put it with the others. She got ready for the day when Rose tapped her shoulder.

“Hey, Alix, would you have a date for the dance tonight?”

“Uh, no.”

Rose gasped. “Will you come with me and Juleka?”

Alix furrowed her brows, then raised one as she looked at Juleka. Juleka smiled and nodded.

“Uh, sure. Why not?”

“Yay! Make sure to meet at Liberty an hour after school so we can all get ready together!”

Rose ran back up to her desk as Chloe and Sabrina walked in. Sabrina jumped around excitedly as she put a large bag on her and Chloe’s desk. Chloe moved Sabrina next to Adrien’s desk as she stood next to the bag.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, Chlo,” Adrien chimed.

“Yes, yes. You too. I have something very special for you, Adrikins.”

Adrien’s eyes widened. “What did you get me?”

Chloe opened the bag and rummaged through it. She carefully pulled out a stuffed cat toy that looked like Adrien. She turned and handed it to him. His eyes widened as they misted over. He scooped up the stuffed toy and nuzzled it.

“I love it, Chlo. Thank you.”

Chloe beamed as she reached into her bag and handed a dog stuffed toy dressed like Sabrina to Sabrina. She gasped and mirrored Adrien’s reaction. Chloe took a deep breath as she reached into the bag again, pulled out a rabbit stuffed toy that looked like Alix, and gave it to Alix. Alix pursed her lips as she stared at herself as a stuffed animal.

“I’m mad that I love this. Damn you, Chloe,” Alix remarked.

Chloe smirked and held her head high before she turned to her bag one final time. She pulled out a stuffed bear that looked like Mylene and gave it to her. Mylene covered her mouth as tears rimmed her eyes.

“For me?”

“Well, who else?”

“But why?”

Chloe hugged herself and looked away. “You know. That reason.”

Mylene cried as she smiled. She fanned herself as she tackled Chloe in a hug. Chloe forced a smile as she patted Mylene’s head. The bell rang and everyone took their seats. Everyone moved through the day until the last bell rang. Adrien and Alix grabbed their things and headed to their homes to see Kagami waiting outside. Alix sneered and stood between Kagami and Adrien.

“Buzz off, bitch. You’ve no reason to be here any longer.”

“On the contrary, I do, for several reasons. Adrien, your cousin, tell him to cease his displays of misguided affection.”

“What do you mean?”

Kagami took out her phone. She showed Adrien the messages she had received from Felix asking her about her day, attempting to make small talk, and just to say hi. She left her messages to show Adrien the pictures of gifts left by Felix for her that included him swinging by, all dressed up, asking her to the Valentine dance tonight.

“Do you have any idea what I’ve been through because of your cousin? His silly words, stupid gestures, and everything is distracting me! Tell him to stop.”

Adrien furrowed his brow. “No. You tell him to stop if it bothers you so much.”

“I… can’t!”

“And why not?

Tears rimmed Kagami’s eyes. “Because… because I don’t want him to. Because I like all the little, silly things he does. Because my thoughts are about him and not you. Because I want to spend time with him instead of you. I want to be near him and not stuck with you. And I can’t let that happen, so tell him to stop!”

“No. Kagami, we’ll never be anything. I don’t care what Gabriel and your mother arranged. I will never love you like that. Not when my heart belongs to another.”

“Would you stop thinking about yourself, you selfish brat? This isn’t just about you. This is about what our parents want. I already failed because of you and this tiny delinquent. I will not fail because of your amazing cousin and all his sweet nothings. I can’t. I just can’t. What kind of daughter would I be if I-?”

Kagami stopped mid-sentence as her breath caught. She dropped to her knees as her heart sped up and her breathing became short and ragged. Cold dread gripped Alix as she realized what was happening.

“Adrien, we need to get her somewhere else, now!” Alix hissed.

“What? Why?”

“Fucking look at her! She’s having a fucking panic attack!”

Adrien’s eyes widened as he looked back down at Kagami.

“C’mon. Let’s get her somewhere that’s not here. Preferably somewhere private,” Alix urged.

“Can we head home?” Adrien asked.

Alix inhaled, then nodded. She helped Adrien get Kagami into the car before they headed off. They hurried Kagami out as they arrived at the Louvre to Alix’s home. They stepped inside and sat Kagami on the couch where she curled up into a tight ball. Alix moved around to get ready while Adrien sat with Kagami.

“Kagami? Are you… are you ok?”

“You ask that now after I just embarrassed myself in front of you and the delinquent because I was too weak to keep my feelings away. Mother would be disappointed in me.”

“Kagami, you don’t have to follow your mother’s orders.”

“Yes, I do. I come from a long line of samurai women that followed orders because they chose to. And, like Mother before me, I must do the same. It is simply how things are, and nothing can change that.”

“That’s not true. Kagami, you can change things. Especially if what you want doesn’t align with what your mother wants.”

“How dare you! You would suggest I forsake everything? That I abandon my heritage, my orders, my own mother, and all for what? Some boy that looks like you with his sappy poetry, sincere heart, and innocent gestures?”

“No. I suggest you forsake everything for your happiness. If Felix is part of that, then by all means, but I would rather see you happy than miserable.”

Kagami laughed. “Yeah, right. What do you care about my happiness?”

“Because I still care about you. I may not love you like a partner, but I love you like a friend. And I hate that I can’t be friends with you so long as you blindly follow your mother’s orders. Especially when it’ll just bring you heartache because I will never stop fighting, Kagami. This is my life, and I will live it how I want. Not how other people dictate. I’ve already lived like that, and it was the most miserable time of my life. If you must continue to follow orders and bind yourself to me, then I hope you get used to the feeling of failure.”

Kagami clenched up. She opened her mouth to yell but shut it before she raged and screamed in Japanese in a mini tantrum. Alix ran down and stopped at the scene.

“What the hell happened?” Alix asked.

“Nothing! Just, take me home,” Kagami demanded.

“Right. Adrien, could you drop me off at Liberty? I’ll be joining Rose and Juleka to the dance tonight.”

Adrien’s jaw dropped that led to a smile. “You are? That’s amazing! I’ll go let Gorilla know.”

Alix and Kagami watched Adrien run out before Kagami spoke.

“They are too good for someone like you,” Kagami hissed.

“Yeah, well, they asked and, hell, why not? At least I’m taking a chance. Unlike you.”

“Can it! I don’t want to hear anything from a causeless rebel like you. I have my orders and they are clear. I’m supposed to be with Adrien, not his sweet cousin. Got it?”

“Suit yourself. Enjoy blindly following orders and letting life slip by while Adrien enjoys his. When the regret finally sinks in, remember this moment.”

Alix left Kagami as she stepped outside. She headed for Adrien’s car with Kagami following after her. She glanced back at Kagami when she heard wings flapping. She looked up to see Kim in a red and black villain suit, large wings, a purple brooch, and a bow and arrow.

“Hello, Alix. I’ve been looking for you.”

“Kim? Is that you?”

“Kim is long gone. Call me, Dark Cupid!”

“Wonderful. What the fuck happened to you?”

“You, that’s what! Chloe rebuffed my affections in favor of you. We’ll see how much she wants you when your heart is as black as mine!”

Alix braced herself when a lasso ensnared and constricted Dark Cupid. She looked past him at Outlaw and Gallic Chick. Her eyes widened as Outlaw reeled in Dark Cupid and she beat the shit out of him. Gallic Chick snuck in and took the brooch off of Dark Cupid while Outlaw continued her assault.

Gallic Chick spoke to Outlaw in English before she destroyed the brooch, used Sublimation, and unmade the Akuma, purifying it.

“Woah. I thought only Chat Noir and Bloody Bug could destroy those nasty bugs,” Alix remarked.

“Oh, uh, fine print? You can thank Outlaw for pointing out some of these things. Anyway, please forgive this annoyance. Uh, he got a little upset when he was turned down,” Gallic Chick explained.

Alix crossed her arms. “And how was he turned down?”

Gallic Chick flinched. “Well, there might have been some yelling. And there might have been some words tossed around that this boy is an idiot baboon that can’t take a hint. And that a certain girl with dyed hair was better than the said baboon. And that the baboon would never be loved by anyone.”

Alix pinched the bridge of her nose.

Kagami tsked. “Are you sure it wasn’t Alix who was breaking his heart? Sure sounds like it.”

“At least I can acknowledge when someone likes me rather than running like a damn coward.’

Kagami snarled as she grabbed Alix. “I am a Tsurugi! We are not cowards! We are warriors!”

Alix laughed. “Some warrior to run and hide because a boy makes her feel weird with all his sweet nothings. I may not be a noble warrior, but at least I can handle a boy.”

“What about Luka?” Adrien asked.

“Luka?” Gallic Chick screeched.

Kagami and Adrien raised a brow at Gallic Chick’s reaction while Alix shot her a warning glare. Gallic Chick shrank and laughed nervously.

“Right. Well, I’ll take care of this boy. Uh, good day, citizens.”

Alix, Adrien, and Kagami watched Gallic Chick and Outlaw leave with Kim. Alix shook her head and turned to Adrien.

“That’s different. I don’t have Luka leaving me gifts, writing sonnets, or making any move on me. I would hope not since I was sure he and Marinette were dating. The moment that Luka says something to me, then I’ll address it. However, there is no point in bringing up speculation now.”

“But do you really want to leave Luka in the hands of Marinette? What if she’s not the right person for him?” Adrien asked.

Alix shrugged. “Not my place. Luka is free to date who he wants. And if it’s a mistake, then he makes a mistake. Simple as that. Again, at least I’m not running like the coward here.”

“I’m. Not. A. Coward! I’ll show you too.”

“Yeah, right. What’re you going to do, coward?”

“I’ll show you!”

Kagami took out her phone. Alix and Adrien watched as she sent a message, then held up her phone. Alix and Adrien smirked seeing the demanding message Kagami sent Felix that they were going to the dance together.

“How’s that, delinquent?”

“Man, you showed me. I hope you and Felix have fun tonight.”

Kagami’s face fell. She looked back at her phone as the panic set in.

“No. No! I can’t! I can’t! Mother will be disappointed. Adrien, please, you have to tell Felix I made a mistake. You have to tell him that we aren’t going together.”

Adrien shrugged. “Sorry, Kagami. You’ll have to tell him yourself. I have to head home and get ready for the dance myself. Alix, shall we?”

“Let’s. See you later, Kagami.”

Adrien and Alix left Kagami and stepped into the car. Adrien glanced back at Kagami as she collapsed on the ground, staring out in disbelief.

“You think she’ll be ok?” Adrien asked.

“I don’t know. There’s a lot she needs to work through before something gives. If reason doesn’t work, maybe this might?”

“I hope so. I miss having her as a friend.”

“Well, here’s to hope. And for tonight with you and Rin. I better see you two making it official by the end of the night.”

Adrien smiled and blushed. “I hope to. If I chicken out, will you come slap sense into me? I really don’t want to miss this perfect chance.”

“You know it. I’ll always be there for you.”

“Thank you. And good luck with whatever is going on with you, Rose, and Juleka.”

Alix waved her hand dismissingly. “That’s nothing. Probably just invited me because whatever Rose has concocted. Whatever the case, I’ll be sure to live it up.”

“Hey, don’t leave me out.”

“I never could. We’re in this together.”

“Forever?”

“Always.”

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