Laura

[Soul Jelly]

Thought she finally deserved her own thread.

Mixed reaction from the fandom so far, but I personally love her.

[LovelyMadness13]

I respect Laura's intellegence, but other than that.... From the second she perked up and started following Jeremie where ever he went, she reminded me of Sissy. This was made worse thanks to that snide, smirky look Laura sent Aelita when Jeremie defended her (Laura) . The language difference from French to English doesn't matter, that was plain, mean girl silent language for "haha, I'm better then you".
Being an Aelita fan...I wanted to punch her XD
I get why she'd be useful to the group, espeically since the super computer is bigger and more complex. BUt she needs to lay off Jeremie and the creepy stalking...and be nice to Aelita. She was the first one, Laura honey. You ain't got nothing' on the Princess.
There's only one Mrs. Einstien. ^^ And it ain't Laura....
My rant is done XD

[Dobermutt]

I really do think she could be an interesting character. But honestly, after seeing her in the show, I have to say I'm not a big fan. I mean, watching the show growing up, I always liked that Jeremie was smart enough to figure out how to solve everything. I mean, yes he had Aelita's help, and even more so when she came to earth. But, that was his thing, being kinda like the hero on earth while everyone else was on Lyoko being heroes. I feel that, in some ways, adding Laura as the help (or whatever) kind of decreases the hero-ness of Jeremie. (If that makes any sense.) I don't mean to rant. Again, I think she could be an interesting character. I do admire and respect her intelligence. Guess I'll just have to see where it goes from here.

[aelitaxwilliam]

I can see why people wouldn't like her, but why I personally like her is because she has guts. Unlike Sissi, she actually has brains to back herself up (though I still love Sissi, heh). I really don't think following the group was what Laura should've done, but at the same time, I'm excited to see what she'll do! I think she sees Jeremie as something as a kindred spirit, so she wants to reach out to him and nerd over who-knows-what together.

While I like Aelita, I don't think her first reaction was warranted. I guess it adds fuel to the Jeremie/Aelita ship, but Aelita glaring at her for daring to walk up and talk to Jeremie was just...ugh? Like, I don't like girls like that. At the same time, maybe that would've been my reaction too. I'm not sure though. I'll have to find it, but Kay/lemonsdarling posted this great analysis of why Aelita will hopefully have some personal growth due to this uncertainty with Laura. So, personally, I can't wait to see Aelita and Laura's interactions.

[QuinSeparable]

I don't know. I'm still pretty unsure about Laura. I guess it's because I don't trust her. Maybe it's the fact that in many shows I've seen, when a new character comes into a group and is accepted by everyone quickly (with the exception of 1) they end up betraying the main characters. I'm not saying that's what Laura will do, but that's my knee-jerk reaction.

I guess another reason I don't like her is, through no fault of her own, because everyone (well, except Aelita) accepts her right away. There's no questioning of her, no real "we should wait to tell her stuff to see if she can be trusted." Yeah, they have the RTTP thing but still. They trusted her way too easily. I know that's no fault of her's. I guess this just reminds me of many of the bad fanfictions I've read.

I hope I'm proven wrong and that I come to like her but for now I just can't make myself do so.

[Dobermutt]

I guess another reason I don't like her is, through no fault of her own, because everyone (well, except Aelita) accepts her right away. There's no questioning of her, no real "we should wait to tell her stuff to see if she can be trusted." Yeah, they have the RTTP thing but still. They trusted her way too easily. I know that's no fault of her's. I guess this just reminds me of many of the bad fanfictions I've read.

I feel the same way. It's a completely different reaction than how they felt about William. And good point, by-the-way, Kelly. I do think this conflict might help Aelita mature some as a person as well as in her relationship with friends and especially with Jeremie. I could also see how this might help Jeremie mature as well.

[Stella Luce 333]

I think I’m also sort of in the middle. On the one hand, there is something that’s likable about her. I’m not sure what it is, but I didn’t hate her on the spot. On the other, the New Kid Who Finds the Factory is an OC that has been written a million times by the fans, so maybe we all thought of the bad versions of those fics (not saying they’re all bad, there are some good ones out there)…

[aelitaxwilliam]

One thing that's been really bugging me is that a reason I've seen floating around for why people dislike her is that she "dared to act smarter than Jeremie." Like, she's allowed to act smarter than Jeremie. She's allowed to be smarter than him. When he goes off to university, he might find that there are a lot of people on the same level of intelligence or higher than him. There are plenty of reasons to dislike and distrust her, but her high intelligence is not one of them.

[QuinSeparable]

I definitely agree with you on that. And I hate that's a reason that some people dislike her. That's not the reason I dislike her...I dislike her because I don't trust her and I don't know what her motivations are. Once I find out, whether they are innocent or not-so-innocent, I may like her. I just can't like people that have an angle I can't figure out.

I will point out that I do hate that many Laura supporters think that those of us who dislike her dislike her because of her intelligence. I think for the majority of the fandom on this end of the spectrum that's just not true. I couldn't care less that she's smarter than Jeremie...in fact its refreshing to see a female character that is so intelligent and loves science (those are rare).

[Stella Luce 333]

Actually, that’s one of the reasons why I like her! I kind of like having a new character to shake things up a little bit. I don’t completely trust her, & I probably wouldn’t like her in real life, but she’s an interesting character…

[aelitaxwilliam]

Yeah, I don't think most of the people who dislike her dislike her for those reasons (because even though I like her, I know that there are definitely legit reasons to really, really dislike and/or mistrust her). I did see a couple of comments that I side-eyed because it was like, really...? You had to list that as a valid reason when there are so many reasons that have so much more basis?? For example, she was really bugging Aelita about Franz and being rude about it, and she also shouldn't have brought her father to the factory. If I'd had Laura's chance, I don't think I would've brought my dad to the factory. 8|

@Stella; it is cool having a character to shake things up! I think Laura will definitely force some character development--at least I really hope she will.

[Snickie]

Well it's not like Aelita's been very nice to her, telling her to mind her own business when she asks a simple question, and then being nasty when Laura only did what any curious person would have done. ...At least, /I/ would've done it. I don't like this new jealous!Aelita and mean!Aelita, and I happen to love how William stood up for Laura when they were debating her fate in Chaos at Kadic. Because he can empathize with her.

[QuinSeparable]

I'm going to kind of say the same thing as I mentioned on a post on Tumblr.

I can completely understand why Aelita snapped at Laura when she asked about her father. I don't necessarily condone it, but I understand it. Remember, Aelita is a teenage, human girl. She's not perfect. Like I said I understand how people get angry with Aelita for snapping, I don't think she did so because she's jealous that Jeremie's paying attention to her. At least, not in that instance.

Let me explain. For all intent and purposes, Franz is dead and really it hasn't been that long since he died. As someone who lost her own father at a young age, I can completely sympathize with how Aelita reacted to that question. I would be lying if I, myself, haven't acted the same way.

Despite how "put together" Aelita is, we have to remember that it hasn't been that long since her father sacrificed himself for her. We're talking, what a year between season 4 and Evolution? Maybe longer? I don't know. That's not a lot of time to handle her grief (and judging from what I have seen, she hasn't handled it much at all...just buried it). So, Franz is a painful memory that envokes all kinds of emotions in Aelita. Pain, anger, sadness, regret...all of those things.

The last thing you want is your "enemy" getting glimpses of these feelings. Talking about Franz will envoke pain no matter how many good memories she has (and let's face it, she doesn't seem to have all that many to start with). That pain...those emotions, if she shows them, show's her vulnerability. Aelita sees Laura as an enemy. She's not about to show her enemy that vulnerability. I honestly don't believe Laura would try to exploit it, but Aelita's guarded. I know that feeling.

So she snaps at Laura and tells her to mind her own business. Like I said before, I've done the exact same thing to people I don't know very well\like asking me about my father. It's painful. Trust me. But then Laura continues and even later accuses Franz of not loving Aelita. The more I think about that exchange the angrier I get. No, I don't think Laura knew that Franz had died and I even give her the benefit of the doubt that, if she did know, she wouldn't have said anything. That being said, on what planet is it acceptable to accuse a father of not loving his daughter? Where is that alright? It's not. Never. How many of you would say that to someone you didn't know all that well, even if you didn't like them? I hope most of you wouldn't. So why is okay that Laura does it? To me, it's not.

So because of that interaction she moved to my "dislike" pile. Perhaps I'm way more emotionally invested in Aelita's case than I should be. Perhaps I'm over analyze Aelita's reactions to her. But it rings far too true to me to not sympathize with her. I'm not saying it's the right thing to do, but it is a common response given Aelita's situation.

And, to be honest, I think Laura got off pretty easy with Aelita. I mean, if it were me, I would have really given Laura a verbal tongue lashing if she had done the same thing to me. Heck, there might have been a good chance I would have hauled off and slugged her. *shrug*

But...yeah...that's my feeling on that whole interaction between Aelita and Laura. Understand that just as Laura has a reason for asking (wanting to know), Aelita has just as equal reason for wanting to tell her to go to you-know-where (to protect herself).

(And please, I'm not coming through to poop on anyone's opinion. These are just mine and how I feel. Just putting that disclaimer out there now because I'm not trying to stomp on anyone else's opinions or hurt anyone's feelings. I love you all too much for that! )

EDIT: Oh good lord, look at that wall of text. x.x Sorry guys.

[Snickie]

Yippee, a devil's advocate discussion!

Maybe Laura said those things about Franz Hopper because she doesn't have that experience of having a father who really loves her. As we saw in episode 12, Laura's dad is not a very nurturing person. For him, if she's not at the top of the top, she's nothing. Like Ulrich's dad, but enjoys the fact that his kid is actually very successful, unlike Ulrich. And based on some dialogue, Laura's mother is out of the scene. So she has no idea what it feels like to have parents who really love her, but she's probably at least heard stories of the ideal family. Hers is most definitely not. I'd be willing to bet money, if I had any, on that her father neglected her for his research and technology until he realized she could be a valuable asset.

Since she now knows Aelita's father is out of the picture in her life, she wonders if that's what happened to her. She probably would have asked politely if Aelita wasn't so defensive and so obviously snooping in what Laura was doing, but her annoyance led her to be snarky about it. And she might have even led herself to believe that her family life might be better than somebody else's, especially a rival. So when Aelita told her what had happened and turned the question around, Laura felt crushed. Aelita /did/ have it worse than her, but in a completely different way than she was expecting or hoping. And Laura knew her father would probably not sacrifice himself for her. That has to be an awful feeling.

[QuinSeparable]

Haha, love those.

And I'm in no way negating Laura's experiences. Yes, not being sure that your father would sacrifice himself absolutely must be a terrible thing and I do feel bad for her for that. And I definitely do see your point. I definitely wasn't trying to negate Laura's issues with her own father at all. I was more or less just trying to bring a different viewpoint to why Aelita might have reacted the way that she did.

And you definitely do raise a good point on why Laura asked that...one I hadn't considered. That does make her question seem a little more... understandable I guess? Though I still definitely dislike her.

I think we can agree though, that this scene, when you really look into it, is heartbreaking on both sides of the argument. Curse you Moonscoop!

[Dark Raku]

I dislike her. This is, no fault of her own rather it is the fault of everything they are doing with her. She is basically being used and written like every bad mary-sue insert character befriends the group Code Lyoko fanfiction ever written. Which wouldn't be so bad if they actually showed her actually having skill at what she does. With Jeremie you at least got that he was good with computers because they showed you him being good with computers and actually being smart. Laura's introduction episode did a great disservice to her in that regard. It failed to set her up. Oh look she is really smart? Why? She answered a question. Well we have absolutely no idea whether the answer to that question was hard and since Jeremie was not in the right frame of mind to answer it correctly it does not actually prove she is smarter than him - but it's presented to us as though she is. Liking virtual reality does not equate to being smart at computers. Heck they couldn't even show her hacking the factory lift.

She just comes in, destabilizes the group dynamic and far more than William ever did and I did not like it when he did it to begin with because it felt like an extra wheel. I was only fine with William as a character because it helped the Yumi and Ulrich relationship develop but Laura doesn't do that for Aelita and Jeremie because the point of Aelita and Jeremie was to be the perfect couple to point out how utterly inept Yumi and Ulrich were so adding in a third wheel to that seems like a step backwards to me. Besides, William was only useful for one thing, extra man power on the inside, Laura is capable of helping Jeremie on the outside, could fight on the inside, and with a slight Code Transfer - which I am pretty sure could be done if I am remembering Season 1 or 2 correctly - could also shut down towers. She is basically better than all of the established cast at everything and she has no reason to be. Oh and she wants to bed Jeremie and because she is from earth understands more than Aelita. She is basically Miss Perfect.

SO they have taken what could be an interesting character and sued her to the point of un-likability.

As just a character though, can't say I dislike her. Even though she is arrogant and has her moments where you would want to punch her in the face, that just makes her a character. I just hope the universe stops bending over backwards for her because that is making her unlikable for all the wrong reasons.

[Fau1tyL0gic]

She feels forced.

Part of it is her magical ability to be better at programming the supercomputer, despite no experience.

Another is the immediate acceptance into the group, while William has an arc centered around him not being accepted, despite helping them a lot.

Finally, it seems like the writers are going out of their way to add more angst, to the point of making Laura act irritating, and Aelita (established as quite kind and compassionate) act stereotypically jealous.

[Stella Luce 333]

I’m still not fully caught up on CLE, but I think she feels forced because we still don’t know much about her. I think she has the potential to be a good character, but we need to see more of her…preferably in scenes that will make her seem less like a Mary Sue…

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