#enough in my understanding of the characters to go much further than the premise and a handful of short scenes

[sparky-is-spiders]

Tell me ur jon/jonah thoughts

I'm afraid that, while I have many Jonjonah thoughts, they're mostly incoherent snippets of ideas floating around in The Brain Soup. There's a couple varieties, mostly of my brain going "But what if..." -insert idea here- and then refusing to elaborate further.

Personally I'm very fond of AUs where Jon is also a regency man with an interest in the supernatural and they have a corruption arc together. I think they should go around London investigating statements and rumors of supernatural happenings. I like the idea that they were the only people doing research for the institute while it was still getting off the ground, and a lot of their correspondence and journals and papers would've been preserved (although most would be inaccessible/unknown to institute employees). Not sure how Jon would be surviving through the centuries though. Equally enchanted by the idea of him bodyhopping the way Jonah did, just being immortal as the Archivist, and hiding under the tunnels as a weird fucked up monster (I very much love monster Jon).

I've also seen a few AUs where Jonah finds Jon hanging out under Alexandria or something and bringing him back to London to be his Archivist (and maybe also help end the world a little bit). Everyone else is baffled and horrified but Jonah is smitten.

I am also weak to time-travel and/or universe-hopping shenanigans, either post s4 where Jon has to reckon with the Jonah he knew vs the (past? present?) version of Jonah. I think the most fleshed out (read: could be described in more than two sentences) idea I have for this would rely on a rewrite of s5 (at least the ending). I saw a couple posts about TMA ending with Jon trying to go through with his plan only for Martin to decide to kill him (rather than Jon volunteering to die in the hopes they'll end up somewhere else). Between those posts, a handful of "post-s5 Jon ends up in Jonah's time" AUs I've seen kicking around (mostly @/Paptato's "A Game of Cat and Mouse" and @/sm0kebreaks' "My Dear Jonah"), and my desire to see Jon succeed with his plan and kill the fears, my brain came up with the idea "what if Jon tried to get Jonah to do an apocalypse so he can kill the fears for good?" (Note: I often struggle to grasp what would and wouldn't be in character for characters that aren't mine, and this AU in particular may come across as somewhat (or very) OOC for Jon). It's mostly predicated on the idea that, having been betrayed by his friends and his partner for their own selfish ends, Jon came to the conclusion that the fears had to be stopped, and he was quite possibly the only person who both could and would, and wiping out humanity through a fearpocalypse would be the best way to destroy them for good. Thus he enlists Jonah's help in his armageddon quest (conveniently leaving out the part where Jonah would not actually live forever). From here the details get sort of fuzzy (is Jonah the archivist now? is it the Sims Institute?). Mostly I like to imagine them alone in the panopticon, watching the fears wither and starve, waiting for the end. Of course, I'm really not sure Jon would ever do... any of that? Maybe if his corruption arc went further, but I'm not sure the Jon we're given would willingly pursue the end of the world, especially after already being used to end it once. Also not convinced that he'd be very good at the subtle manipulation that would be required. However, I am still somewhat enamored by the concept of Jonah meeting stranger who clearly isn't quite human (possibly helping him recover from hopping realities?), enamored and intrigued by this mysterious person who promises eternal safety for Jonah if only he would help them. I think Jon might come to genuinely love and see some of himself in Jonah, but not enough to change anything. Honestly obsessed with relationships where there's this deep, intimate understanding between two characters, who are mostly on their own/disconnected from the other people around them, but there's still this yawning distance between them that they can't ever quite cross, and I think this specific AU could play into that really well.

#I'm afraid most of my thoughts about jonships are actually only about Jon #and also my ability to write romance is stunted #also I haven't listened to TMA in a while #and am very unsure of my ability to write about characters that aren't mine #(unlike my Wretched Lizards I cannot simply make up new lore/personality traits for Jon every time I get a shiny new idea) #I'm generally better/more comfortable with AUs than with meta/analysis #(again my bastard lizards are an exception to this rule) #but yeah usually what happens is. My brain latches onto an idea. I become too obsessed to stop thinking about the idea but not confident #enough in my understanding of the characters to go much further than the premise and a handful of short scenes #and so I just have a bunch of general ideas floating around in the Soup. (this is what happened to my favorite jon crackship #(jon x og!elias) an idea that came from nothing and makes no sense but is almost constantly in my thoughts) #but yeah anyway. Fond of Jonjonah #I've got a couple of fic recs if anyone's looking for them (but do keep in mind that I am Not discerning and will basically read anything #with those two with very few exceptions) #but yeah anyways. Thank you for the ask!!!! #also sorry it took me a bit to answer #needed to get my thoughts in order because otherwise I would've only been able to respond with garbled screeching noises

[royalberryriku]

Kingdom Hearts: Character Analysis — Kairi and Fear

Okay. I think I need to get this off my chest; I actually really deeply love Kairi's entire character and think her lack of strength and action is essential to the themes she embodies (and starting to literally break out of).

While I 100% agree there are some parts of her character that play off of the outdated archetype of "damsel in distress", I genuinely don't think it was the intention for Kairi to embody only this trope, but to embody the opposite of Riku as a character; specifically, his curiosity and lack of fear towards the unknown. To elaborate further, I believe Riku and Kairi are the two extremes that are supposed to contrast to Sora; Kairi's extreme desire for safety and Riku's extreme plunge into danger.

//Note: this will contain spoilers for the entire series, including Melody of Memory, Re:Mind, and every other game that came before it.

The Main Trio

Our initial introduction to Kairi is on dry land, safe from the wave that swallowed Riku and Sora. Sora himself arrives on shore after escaping, while Riku stays within the waves, beyond reach. While this is excellent foreshadowing, I also believe this is symbolic of each character's thematic role when compared to one another. Kairi (meaning ocean) is safely on land, meanwhile Riku (meaning land) is in the waves of the ocean, standing within danger unflinchingly. Sora is tied between the two; between the safety of land (home) and danger (exploration).

In Kingdom Hearts, land is portrayed as "worlds"; the homes of those who live within them, while "ocean" is used to describe the connections between them. From the start, the premise is to build a raft to explore. But the cast all show they have different feelings about this. Namely, Riku and Kairi. Riku is excited, unfazed and unafraid to explore. He's curious, adventurous and confident that they can handle whatever's out there. He believes the ocean beyond and between the undiscovered lands he wishes to explore to have no dangers. Kairi, on the other hand, is his polar opposite; she's unsure if they even should go at all (note: I'm not saying she's against it at all, she wants to go, but she's unsure). Her "laziness" in building the raft, her anxious laugh when Riku says it's because of her he wants to explore what's out there, her telling Sora "I was a little afraid at first, but now I'm ready!" and, most telling of all, one of her first bits of dialogue in the series: "Well, I'm happy here." While she wants to know where she came from, to see it, she has clear reservations about leaving her home behind; the safe place that holds no danger. She's shown being afraid far more than either Sora or Riku.

Sora is in the middle of the two. He wants to go and doesn't understand Kairi's hesitation, but he's also much more relaxed than Riku. Sora follows the two of them and shows both excitement and nervousness to a degree, but never enough to really sway him in the adventure he wants to have with his friends.

"Sora, don't ever change", when compared to "Riku's changed", really puts even more perspective into why she's a scared. Later, we discover Kairi's past may have led to her understanding of the world's dangers, unlike Sora and Riku who didn't have such experiences to go off. That being said, I think another aspect of this fear (perhaps a subconscious fear born from those experiences) is her desire for things to stay the same.

Strength in Change

Kairi isn't going on this journey to go on a life changing adventure, she's just a little curious and wants to stay with he friends. Of what we see of our interactions with her, as the audience, is that she wants the safety and for things to stay the same. The thing is though, as we see with Riku and Sora, change makes people stronger; it challenges our flaws and makes us face our own thoughts and feelings. Change is needed to grow and Kairi is terrified of the thing needed for that. It's not until Kingdom Hearts 2 that she realises that this way of doing things just isn't helping her or keeping anyone (including herself) safe. She's actually harming herself by trying so hard to not allow change to happen. "This world is too small", but Kairi herself wants it to stay small; discovered, known, safe.

While Kairi isn't weak of a person by any means, in fact she's very strong, she is held back. Not by others, but by her own fears and desire for simplicity. She may be strong to start with, but she's unable to become stronger. She is stuck, left behind, as Riku and Sora embrace change and move forward without her as she stays waiting for simplicity and safety to return.

I think the end of Kingdom Hearts starts to push this realisation a little as well. Whether Kairi likes it or not, change has happened already. She can't go back and undo what's been done, she can only accept it or ignore it. The problem is, she's still used to the habits she herself created; wait, don't rush in, run away, hide. She's used to allowing her fears to lead her back into safety, into light and warmth, while not allowing herself to grow as a person. She's clinging desperately to this desire to stay where it feels happy, safe and warm all the time. But the thing is, that's unrealistic. Bad things happen. Sometimes, you encounter things that challenge you and change your, for better or worse. Kairi's weakness itself stems from her resistance to any change that may actually be good for her because she's so afraid of the bad.

She doesn't want to grow, to be an adult, or acknowledge the scary parts of life that are a part of growing up. It's even more telling how she ends up in Neverland of all places when she's thrown off Destiny Islands. She is the most childish of the three, not because of how she acts, but because of her fear of aging into an adult. She wants things to stay simple and pleasent.

It isn't until Kingdom Hearts 3 that she really realises just how impossible it is to cling to not changing. She realises that she needs to face her own fears of change to grow; to become stronger and catch up to Sora and Riku who embraced what she couldn't until now.

Princesses of Heart

There is also another matter I need to bring up; what is a Princess of Heart? It is consistently noted that these are the purest of hearts, but it isn't really stated that this requires them to have absolutely no darkness in their heart whatsoever. I think it's easy to forget this since Maleficent said "Her heart is filled with light—not the slightest touch of darkness." But considering the implications from the rest of the series and the reinforced notion that light cannot exist without a tiny bit of darkness, I believe this was more of a mistake on Maleficent's part, perhaps born of envy for Aurora? It could also easily be a mistranslation, although I do not know Japanese well enough to know whether or not this is a translation issue. Regardless, it's important to remember that "there is darkness within every heart" is a constant theme pushed in this series. There is no person capable of not having any flaws or fears, not even a princess of a heart.

This also goes for Kairi, who we see has clear fears and flaws. Many of which have directly led to her being unable to obtain the strength she sees Sora and Riku having due to them not being held back by the idea that change is inherently a scary and dangerous thing. It's also another interesting opposite to Riku who represents the light within darkness, while Kairi is a heart of light with a lot of darkness deep down.

The Three Questions

At the beginning of the first Kingdom Hearts game, Sora is asked a question from 3 people within the starting dream, each having 3 answers. While it is true that gameplay wise it's there to effect stats based on what answers you give, I think there's a possibility of some foreshadowing as well. Though that's more just speculation on my part. Here are the questions and answers for those who don't remember what they were exactly:

Tidus: "What are you so afraid of?"

"Getting old."

"Being different."

"Being indecisive."

Wakka: "What do you want outta life?"

"To see rare sights."

"To broaden my horizons."

"To be strong."

Selphie: "What's most important to you?"

"Being number one."

"Friendship."

"My prized possessions."

"Getting old", "to be strong" and "my prized possessions" all remind me of Kairi. Her fear of change, her desire to not be helpless and gain strength and, finally, her using objects to project said fears and self doubts onto.

Memories and Objects

As noted in the above, Kairi often uses objects to cope with her fears. Primarily, her good luck charm made of thalassa shells. Although she does also use other items as well; her necklace (memento of her past in Radiant Garden), poetry, letters, etc. These are all great ways to connect and to keep memories close to her using a physical object for this, but they also could be a sign she's also afraid of losing what she has and feels more at ease making physical reminders of the people, places and things she loves.

It's also possible this stems from forgetting her memories of Reading Garden and, as a result, she may fear forgetting those she loves. This could also explain her development in Kingdom Hearts 2, perhaps "remembering" Sora pushed her past her fears upon realising that staying in her safe place (the Islands) and holding onto reminders didn't protect the memories she wanted to cling to.

The first thing she says after things calm down and she's able to talk to Sora is "this is real". It could be that she was afraid that her own memories weren't real enough and she needed that physical reassurance. It's also why she needed to hug him, to understand that it isn't false and it hadn't been taken away. Despite everything, she hadn't forgotten those important to her again.

Interestingly enough, Ventus also shares the exact same coping mechanism, which makes sense given his similarities to Kairi and his own amnesia. This likely lead to him subconsciously seeking reassurance in the same ways Kairi does. This will likely be a huge part of the two's development, or at least, I very much suspect it will be. Ventus was able to grow past it due to his journey and curiousity, but Kairi is still growing and only recently realised that change is okay. Their friendship will likely be what pushes Kairi to become the strongest version of herself and mature into herself.

Journey of Agency

Kairi's hesitation to take control of her own situation and return to the safety of what she knows has unquestionably left her hindered in her desire to stay by the side of Riku and Sora. However, since her memory of Sora being lost and returned, her realisation in Kingdom Hearts 2 and then at the end of Dream Drop Distance and in Kingdom Hearts 3 with her introduction into the same dangers and change she's actively avoided, Kairi has grown. She's realised that waiting and allowing herself to just be led around because it's what been safe before now doesn't mean it'll work when she's being left behind and others are getting hurt trying to protect that self imposed safety. She has to run into danger herself and learn what it means to be independent if she wants to stand by the side of those she loves.

And finally, at the end of her journey in Melody of Memory and reclaiming her lost memories of Radiant Garden, she finally faces exactly that which scares her most; her memories of "Ansem" or Apprentice Xehanort who used her, forced he to lose everything once before and most importantly caused the fear that began everything for her. She's no longer just taking steps now, she's facing what caused it directly. This is probably the most powerful of any development for Kairi, it's what may define if she is able to break free of that fear or become defined by it.

It's also a stark reminder that she's still not where she wants to be, she's still defined by the weakness of being left behind due to her own fears. That's why, at the very end when she chooses to start training with Aqua, it's shown that Kairi finally chooses to change. She finally wants to become more than what she's limited herself to; she's finally ready to face her own weaknesses and grow.

Kairi's development could very well lead her to being the one to really push the narrative with the coming arc. While Sora and Riku are struggling with their own flaws (which I'll explain in a different post), Kairi will start to move forward. That being said, I think it's only because of the slow development of learning that what she was doing was harming her and ultimately leaving her behind and alone. I think this will also be a vital theme in the current arc where the main villains goal is to destroy darkness; Kairi's realisation that her own pain and fear were part of her growth may very well be the key in stopping him. Though that's just my own suspicions, not what canon has presented us with at this stage.

Conclusion.

Regardless, I for one am excited to see where Kairi's development goes. Her self discovery is fascinating and her arc is very different to the character arcs I've seen. Her entire story is compelling and I think Kairi's depth is something easily overlooked because of its starting atypical themes and structure (running from change and thus being weaker, rather than growing in strength after adversities). I think her journey of how to even start growing stronger when you're stuck frozen in fear is an important and powerful message, it's also just extremely interesting. I love Kairi so much and I hope this helps people look more closely at her characterisation.

#kingdom hearts #kairi #kairi kingdom hearts #kairi kh #kh kairi #character analysis #writing #writers on tumblr #kh analysis #writing community #kh #sora #riku #change #character growth #essay #essay writing

[thequibblah]

I have read and re-read your work so many times, it's unbelievable to me that I get to read such great writing for free! Thank you!

I'm trying to work up to writing something, in your opinion what is the best perspective to set a fic from? Do you have any big no's or tips? Thanks so much!

aww thank you for reading! i am glad you enjoy my writing <3 answers to the rest under the cut!

and hmm i'm not sure i understand the question about perspective. do you mean which character's pov should the fic be from? for me that always depends on the story. sometimes it's a bit more obvious, like which character is going to be moving the story along/the primary actor. for example in i bend like a willow, the story had to be from lily's pov because the story was mostly happening to lily. sometimes the story could be from anyone's pov, but whose thoughts or internal monologue will add the most to what i want to say? this was my thinking in unbelievers, where the story could easily have been multi pov or just from james's, but i wanted to focus on lily's tangled feelings about having shelved her career for a few years (like no surprises i wrote that in 2022 by the way). in come together i have a sense of who needs to be narrating most scenes for plot reasons, but there a couple where i'll be like [any marauder POV] or [any of the girls] in my outline, and i typically try to make sure whatever POV i pick is actually adding to the scene. remember that the cleanest, most efficient scene work is all about doing multiple things at once: can you further the action, establish character, deepen relationships, all at once? what pov is most fruitful to accomplish as many of those things at once with? especially when you're writing something with multiple or changing povs, it's so fun to play around with what parts of one character readers get to see directly, or see from another character's eyes.

in terms of no's: no self-deprecation. ever, not even as a joke. there's a difference between being honest with yourself and others when you want to improve your writing, and being like "here's my trash writing heehhoho" — i really do believe you can start to internalise the latter. be proud of what you've worked on, even once time passes and you improve, because that's evidence of the fact that you were brave enough to put yourself out there, and that you've come so far. don't get too preoccupied with promo or your numbers; that should always be a plus, not why you do it, especially when you're writing for free and it's not like kudos get you a royalty. don't write things other people are writing/things you feel like people want to read unless you're actually invested — why bother? fanfic is The place where your niche little story can turn out to be someone's favourite thing.

as for other tips: have fun! read widely, and reread often. when you read something you like, think about what it did that managed to capture you. how can you accomplish something similar in your work? when you're starting out, write often, even a few lines a day, just to keep that muscle warmed up. you can and should learn how you write best — in silence? with music on? in your room or in a public setting? during the day or at night? — but the most important thing is to just do it rather than trying to perfect the circumstances. hang on to every idea you have, because even if you don't end up using it right away, a banked premise can come back in a big, big way. and...have fun!!!

#ask me #anon #writing tag #idk i hope that's helpful!! #if you have more questions you know where to find me

[liketwoswansinbalance]

Hey, can I get being the Best friend or close Friends With Rafal or Rhian ( Or maybe both? ) maybe the reader is a childhood friend or something. The gender can be whatever or whichever you prefer.

That's if you are comfortable writing that. 😁

My apologies. I wasn't really planning on taking writing requests of this type since I'm not currently interested in writing reader prompts. At times, I sort of view most readers as a blank slate rather than a character themselves, unlike the way an OC or a canon character would have a more definitive personality.

Thus, determining reactions by the reader would be difficult unless I gave the reader a defined personality I chose and made up, which might not align with what you or others want from a self-insert. Sure, I suppose I could fill in the blanks myself, and give the reader traits, essentially making them closer to an OC, but I'm not particularly interested in writing an SGE OC at this time either.

So, overall, I think I'd have a bit of a hard time with the vague nature of this request/anticipating what the reader "should" be like since it doesn't really give me a "plot" to work with, just a blank "character," if you understand what I'm getting at. Sorry if this is at all unclear.

That said, when I originally said you could address characters directly (in this post), perform actions and get them to respond, or give them information or a query to react to, I am open to writing Rhian or Rafal responding to a friend-like gesture or a what-if of some kind, say, what if a reader gave Rhian and Rafal a gift as a friend. This would give me enough specificity to more easily work with.

It's just that I don't plan on representing the asker/reader as anything much further beyond an entity, as if they were the bringer of content/information or the doer of a deed.

In a lot of cases, a typical response might take a form like this:

What would happen if I/you/the reader did/gave/said [this] to the brothers?

And the response would be the aftermath of that action/prompt, usually, written more passively, so as not to involve the reader/asker/doer/whomever:

Q: What would happen if Agatha were given a bouquet?

A: She would sneeze because of her pollen allergies.

Or, alternatively, an answer might look like this:

A: Agatha: [sneezes] Thank you for the flowers, but I'm afraid I'm going to hand them off to Sophie instead. She will appreciate them more than I could.

So, in conclusion, you could "do" something, essentially, perform an action/impart a (potentially dramatic) piece of information, but I won't usually take requests the type of relationship you're requesting. Yet, feel free to send another ask, if you have anything in mind that I might actually write.

For further clarification, what you could probably expect to get from a non-reader request is something with more focus on the character(s) involved and their reaction to an item/action/question posed.  This would mean the focus inherently won't be on the doer of the action (the reader/asker) whether it's on themselves, as a person, or on a relationship with the canon characters.

Overall, I simply don't plan on establishing new relationships with non-canon characters in the case of asks, and I'll only tend to work with new events/novel scenarios/prompts, involving existent characters and relationships.

Most likely, I'll try to keep to some form of canon (or if specified, my fics), as far as characterization or relationships go, depending on what an ask requires. While I think the idea of the brothers having a best friend is sweet, it doesn't really fit with my (very subjective) sense of their characters. Albeit, Rhian might be open to having a friend outside of Rafal.

So, to sum this up: I don't (usually) take formal writing requests or those involving a reader, and I'm sorry if I had ever been misleading about this before. (When I wrote dialogue or scripted scenes for other prompts, it was because I was given a premise/writing prompt that actually contained a "plot"/inciting incident/central concept of some kind, and chose to make the characters respond to events/information/other content within what I interpreted, sort of, to be the bounds of canon or the particular hypotheticals.)

None of my previous asks have been complete stories (they tend to be scenes or snippets) like the nature of this request seems to suggest(?), and I'm tempted to say this is because a relationship is a state of being, not a singular event, and such a thing could require much more development or the invention of a self-insert's "character." Also, honestly, I'm not an expert on reader-inserts as a genre, so I might not be the ideal person to ask.

However, again, if you would like to perform an action or give me dialogue of some kind, addressed to the brothers, I'd (usually) be willing to let Rafal and/or Rhian or anyone else from canon respond to such a gesture or events, if the gesture isn't by you or another hypothetical person with a major role.

So, apologies again, but I don't plan on taking requests that involve readers in the vast majority of cases, yet what I will write are Rhian and Rafal (or other characters) responding to concrete things or scenarios, usually in the context of their already-existent relationships, unless they otherwise happened to meet someone from canon they did not previously know.

Basically, these conditions would exclude a new, blank-slate relationship since I can't be absolutely sure what a reader-insert should be like, to successfully align with an asker's tastes, and simply don't have an interest in writing this type of dynamic at the moment.

Finally, if you or anyone else would like me to clarify anything they didn't understand (sorry if anything was explained too circularly), or if anyone has more questions on what I am generally willing or not willing to write, please don't hesitate to ask!

#school for good and evil #rise of the school for good and evil #fall of the school for good and evil #sge #sfgae #the school for good and evil #tsfgae #rotsge #rotsfgae #fotsge #fotsfgae #my post #ask #announcement

[dandansposts]

I am intrigued by DID Vergil, do share

infodump below the cut i will try to cut it up correctly so it is readable.

i am like VIBRATING so here you Go anon

canonical facts!

both vergil and dante have some pretty obvious and pretty intense childhood trauma.

when wrenching himself into pieces cuz he has issues and problems, Not Only does vergil split a human and a demon half, he splits several other independent beings as well. these are explained away as nightmares or whatever in text, it's not super clear what they are, but they're manifestations of his trauma In Some Way

in visions of v theres an extra "nightmare" v doesn't pick up, but we aren't talking about that.

it's clear, i think, that the nightmares exist because he's trying to rid himself of weakness and fear is a very human weakness, but i honestly think it makes more sense looking at the character and all his associated parts thru the lens of DID.

lets get into it shall we

basic premise without all of my headcanons and nonsense is this: vergil has DID as a result of, yk, Childhood Trauma. 'urizen', v, griffon, shadow, and nightmare are all individual alters.

alter roles are reductionist and ignore each alters capacity for the individual, but they're helpful in terms of describibg what each alter does for the group, so i'll be using some here. i'm also going to get into origins of each alter according to me and how they work/don't work together as a person.

urizen

in my own writing i tend to split urizen further into vergil and nelo angelo, but the distinction isn't overly important. the main take away here is this is the alter who considers himself To Be Vergil. as in, this is the guy who IDs most closely with their body.

i like to further break that down and have vergil ID more closely with the way their human form looks (as much as he hates that), and nelo angelo identifying more with their demon form for elaborate worldbuildy reasons, but the takeaway is that this is the guy who looks in the mirror and goes "that's me". this is our power hungry little bastard who'd rather raise a giant demon tower or plant a huge horrible demon tree than be vulnerable. the motherfucker who would rather cleave himself into 5 than admit to being weak. this bitch. this horrible little man whom i like SOOOOO much.

once again in my writing i like to change stuff and the main thing i like to change is like after eva dies i send 8 year old vergil to hell for a decade, give or take (just for fun), and as a consequence of this and being in hell for so long both then and just in his life, he doesn't speak any human language very well. he's fluent, and he understands perfectly, his words just come out clunky and foreign

(not relevant, but i headcanon dante the same but opposite, where hes fluent in infernal but way more comfortable speaking human languages, and his infenal would come out super clunky. consequently as adults, they talk to each other in a super messed up mix of infernal and whatever human language they speak that is largely incomprehensible unless you speak both languages)

enough of my headcanons Next Alter

edit; i'm returning to this after most of my section about v; vergil considers the yamato to Be His more than it being a shared object; he feels he has some more claim to it than everyone else.

edit 2; vergil follows regular dmc lore and fully believes eva abandoned him

v

in terms of the DID ~*~experience~*~ v would be a common fronter if not a former host personality.

you'll have to forgive me here since i headcanon v as nonbinary so very aggressively that referring to them as "he" is physically painful. i will do this again later with shadow and nightmare. i am not sorry. v they/them.

v is the magic bitch. v's the one with the flair for demon magic. the one who at the very least came up with a lot of the weird silly tricks they all do with summoning swords and other things. they are far from the only one who uses their abilities, but they might add flourishes the others don't or experiment in ways the others aren't entirely comfortable with. like, vergil's moveset over the games stays basically the same minus a few things, but those few things, which tend to be little flourishes, would be largely stuff v came up with.

v also considers the book to be Theirs, rather than the entire system's. for more elaborate worldbuilding reasons, in my writing, v also considers nero to be Their Son rather than the whole system's son, or at least they feel they have some higher claim to him than everyone else, both of these things being a major source of strife.

as a departure from textual vergil, v has a much softer view of eva, and therefore has a much more concrete connection to their humanity than any other alter, hence v being the only human and only other proper humanoid besides urizen out of the 5 of them.

notably, when all in their body rather than cleaved in 2 by vergils special magic sword, v has bad posture. this is their main tell aside from the ease w/ which they speak human language. (sounds sort of academic and mispronounces words a lot as a result of having read but never spoken them)

griffon

now. this little bitch is my favorite and i am going to get SOOOOO into him. griffon's a protector of sorts, right, but he absolutely didn't start out that way.

according to me, he was, initially, an introject of dante. he's their brain flipping the absplute fuck out after they lost what was left of their family, and producing an internalized version of their twin to cope.

he's goofy, he deflects with humor, he bullies affectionately, these are traits he shares with dante in spades. there is definitely more, but those are the things that initially made me decide this.

as they grow up and mature and change and, y'know, find out firstly that dante is Alive, and griffon has to grapple with what is probably the worlds most fucked up identity crisis, he does very much eventually Become Griffon, as in, forms his own individual identity. why he decided to be a bird, idk, but i think that's mainly down to him just iding more as a demon and not really feeling even remotely human. identity is fluid and even more fucked up of you're a half demon with dissociative identity disorder, so we will cut him some slack.

he's primarily an emotional protector, and is and has always been primarily associated with v; v is significantly more emotionally vulnerable than vergil, who will just kill you if you inconvenience or upset him.

in their body, unless he's masking, he'd be very obvious. his posture is looser, he's more relaxed, and if i had to call any of them well adjusted, it'd be him.

shadow

shadow she/her because i fucking said so.

i don't have much to say about my friend the big kitty other than she's very much a physical protector and is extremely good at keeping her head in a tight spot. as for why she's a demonic cat that is also definitely not a cat, see griffon. same shit.

in their body, this would be her fronting in a desperate combat scenario in order to get out alive without anyone freaking out. with v while they're all separated, this manifests as her pretty much always being physical and acting as a mobility aid, since v's physically weak and genuinely just disabled.

i also think she's mostly or fully nonverbal and tends not to talk if she's stuck fronting. if she says anything, it's likely single words in human tongues or short sentences in infernal.

nightmare

nightmare is an it/its pronoun user if you ask me. i asked me.

it is also a physical protector in the same way shadow is, and is also largely nonverbal. i don't have much to say on it other than it's more inclined to look after vergil/nelo angelo than anyone else. as for the giant blob of goo features, see the other 2 non humans.

the way they interact with each other is the most interesting to me. i imagine they're aware of each other and have been at least since their time under mundus. how their internal communication skills are really depends on the day as it does for Us All, but as they get older and calmer and have space to process their trauma, they get better at it and for functional as individuals and as a single person.

your headcanon worldbuilding, since dmc doesn't have a ton to go off of, colors this as well.

example, in my writing, eva is always a witch, vergil always grows up in hell, the book of poetry is always a grimoire and i always include nelo angelo. vergil is always a trans man, and always asexual like that is just how i write him. shit like this colors everything from things about v to each of their individual relationships with nero and dante to their individual relationships with each other and etc.

as a fun little aside i'm going to talk about nelo angelo bc i like him so much i like him just a lot hes my blorbo from my dmc headcanons.

nelo angelo

when including him, i also include the tidbit that nightmare split largely because of the same trauma (mundus stuff) that causes angelo to split. angelo bears the brunt of the emotional and mental repurcussions of what happened when they were under mundus (nightmare has the memories but not the feelings; the code but not the software to run it.) consequently he's very reactive, very scared but very steely, and very dangerous. this isn't to say he's an evil alter, it's just to say that literally The Sight of dante can sometimes send him into a panic as he was conditioned to Kill Dante So Much and by god does this man have a fight response.

they all know trish because i said so, but to him, trish is *his* person, she would have been the only semi kind face he saw for *years* and i like to imagine them finding comfort and a sort of like. sibling kind of relationship in each other that is like the only good thing that happened thru the whole mundus ordeal.

however. my absolute FAVORITE things to write with angelo are about his recovery. as they get older, have their processing space, come to grips with the fact that they have family and friends who'll do anything for them, angelo gradually becomes less and less reactive and more and more the most chillest but least likely to take shit guy you've ever met. he's definitely gutted dante a few times but to be fucking frank, who hasn't, so no hard feelings there. honestly, out of all characters in DMC, i think recovery angelo becomes Thee Most emotionally stable. also i just like him so much.

there's soooo much more i could say especially wrt my trans vergil headcanon and how that relates to nero amd also to the system but u know what. we will leave it there. happy to go into that should anyone be curious but this is the most like... thought out DID vergil headcanon post ive ever made.

#vergil dmc #dmc vergil #dmc #devil may cry #dissociative identity disorder #asks #anons #headcanons #dan.txt

[aihoshiino]

your analysis are really interesting and are a joy to read! i wanted to ask about your thoughts on the tokyo blade arc of the manga because its really interesting and gives a lot of characters more depth

thank u so much anon! 🥺 I feel like I've said this in like every ask but it really does surprise and delight me how many people vibe with my longform takes on the series when the extent of my fandom engagement for the last few years has been talking about fate grand order in a group chat comprised of like 5 other gay people LMAO

That said, Tokyo Blade is... an arc I have mixed feelings on! It was, in fact, the arc I originally dropped the manga on back when I was first following it in 2020/2021 feeling it was poorly paced and that I wasn't able to get invested in the cast to the degree it wanted me to me. But upon revisiting the series and this arc in particular with fresh eyes, I think I was being pretty unfair to it - though I do stand by my feeling of the pacing being not the best at least when reading it week to week. It's one of those arcs that definitely works better when you can take it all in at once as opposed to having it doled out over what felt like an agonizingly slow 30+ weeks.

As for my current feelings... in isolation I think it's extremely strong and has some incredible moments that I am PUMPED for seeing animated in season 2 but the further we get away from it and see its long term effects on the cast (or I should say, the lack thereof) the more I feel like it ultimately adds up to less than the sum of its parts.

Not that it's a bad arc, mind! Like I said, it has some insanely strong individual moments and I think the character arcs it ends up serving are super interesting. Its commentary is compelling and I literally can't gush enough about the massive glowup Melt gets in this arc. Every time I have new friends get into the series and understandably react with derision towards him in Sweet Today I just sit there crying tears of blood like that's my fucking baby son you don't understand

I also just really appreciate that the arc is willing to slow down and just let us breathe in some of the emotional baggage the characters are all dealing with without needing to shackle it to Aqua's revenge quest. Even the side characters like the mangakas and the production staff feel like they have real, human lives beyond the ways they factor into the plot and again, it feels like there are real weight and stakes to ensuring the play's success beyond just whether or not it will help Aqua do a thing. So many people's careers (and by extension, their lives) are hanging in the balance and you feel the weight of that responsibility absolutely crushing everyone involved. It's great!

This is potentially a sillier point to add but can I also say that I really like how authentic Tokyo Blade feels as an in-universe piece of fiction LOL. Everything from the premise to the designs rings so fucking true to the exact sort of manga it's a pastiche of that I'm half expecting to hear about the Studio Bones Tokyo Blade anime adaptation announcement any day now because it feels so real to me.

On the less positive side, though... like I said, this arc is s l o w. I believe it's still Oshi no Ko's longest arc at three volumes's worth of chapters and change and it's such a change to the story's until-then relatively breezy pace that it can be really jarring when you go in not expecting it. Again, having the arc available in full to read as quick or slow as you like does a lot to alleviate this problem but if you aren't connecting with it, you're stuck with it for an incredibly long time. This also means that B-Komachi in general and Ruby in specific get completely side-lined for almost thirty entire chapters - Ruby basically vanishes during this entire arc and if you were invested in and excited about her as a character, it sucks to see her get so immediately and completely sidelined after what felt like a big triumphant step forward for her, which is a pattern that will unfortunately continue through the rest of the series.

And speaking of unfortunate patterns... Tokyo Blade is the arc where Akane starts taking steps towards becoming the version of herself I like the least lmao. I've said to friends elsewhere that short hair/LoveNow!Akane and long hair/post Tokyo Blade!Akane basically feel like completely different characters to me and while I really love and am invested in LoveNow!Akane, PTB!Akane is easily my least favourite member of the main cast for reasons that are not entirely her fault.

She doesn't quite achieve her final form in Tokyo Blade arc but the seeds of my worst future annoyances with her (lack of meaningful connection to the extended cast, largely just orbiting Aqua, the overly convenient nature of her deductions, etc) start to take root here. There are some teases of interesting ideas and I particularly enjoy the build up, development and reveal of the true nature of her rivalry with and animosity for Kana but I don't feel like these bear any long term fruit.

That's probably my biggest problem with Tokyo Blade - it feels like an arc that should massively advance the story and the arcs of all the characters associated with it. In some ways it does and we get some tasty crumbs about the central mystery but when you take a step back and really look, the broad strokes status quo of the plot and the character relationships really don't get much of a shakeup and even the things that do feel like they should lead to big changes (Akane figuring out Ai's secret, Aqua finding his half-brother, Kana getting her shine back and Akane's reaction) just kind of... don't? Or at least not in ways that are as impactful as they feel they should be.

Kana and Akane's rivalry is probably the worst example of this. It's built up across the whole arc to the point of their on-stage confrontation basically being the arc's climactic high point. Kana finally stepping into the spotlight again and outshining Akane so beautifully really feels like it should have served as a gigantic change to their dynamic but not only have they barely interacted in any meaningful capacity since it happened, but the times they have it's just been the same old shit of hostility and sniping at each other with the tiny flavour difference of "oh gosh, akane is just such a tsundere tee hee <3". It just doesn't feel like the meaningful, impactful change it should have been based on how hard the end of that arc made me FEEL it.

I've said elsewhere before that a lot of the characters feel sort of like they've been stuck in holding patterns since Tokyo Blade and I'm hoping that in the Movie arc, with the cast being crunched together into a single, extremely emotionally taxing and relevant project, it might shake a bit of life back into the proceedings, especially given that Aka has said that he thinks the manga's ending is probably within sight - though that could be anything from fifty to a hundred more chapters depending on what he's got planned so who knows how things might shake out.

I do ultimately feel more positively about the arc than negative, though! I feel like I rambled a lot more about the things I dislike here than the things I enjoyed but that's because I feel like the arc's strengths speak for themselves while the stuff I don't like as much needed a bit more explaining. At the end of the day, I think Tokyo Blade is a really solid arc that I'm beyond excited to see animated - it has one of my favourite scenes in the whole manga (given that I am an Ai enjoyer you can uh, probably guess which one it is) and I'm really hopeful that we might get a sneaky peek at a certain someone if season 2 ends at the point I suspect it might...

#oshi no ko #oshi no posting #onk spoilers #sorry to akane enjoyers that i never have anything nice to say about her i promise i am not a hater lMDKFJSKDND

[fangirleaconmigo]

It is not lost on me that I've consistently posted Witcher content for several years, slowly and lovingly and painstakingly building a Witcher community, that I've written over a half million words for the witcher fandom AND YET my biggest post of all is an Our Flag Means Death text post that took me about thirty seconds to write. lmaoooo. This is life.

Ok, here goes:

I posted 2,005 times in 2022

That's 1,009 more posts than 2021!

625 posts created (31%)

1,380 posts reblogged (69%)

Blogs I reblogged the most: (apparently my self rb's are being called out, here, but look, I gotta let people know I wrote a fic. Also, hiii blogs I rb a lot)

@fangirleaconmigo

@roughentumble

@witcherladiesamirite

@on-a-lucky-tide

@samstree

I tagged 1,939 of my posts in 2022

Only 3% of my posts had no tags

#the witcher - 1,343 posts

#jaskier - 580 posts

#geralt of rivia - 551 posts

#geraskier - 351 posts

#asks - 279 posts

#yennefer of vengerberg - 236 posts

#the witcher books - 186 posts

#cirilla fiona elen riannon - 147 posts

#dandelion - 123 posts

#eskel - 118 posts

Longest Tag: 120 characters

#half the maidens in the front row throw their underthings at him while he’s still covered in viscera and crocodile tears

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

There are a lot of fics in the fandom where Jaskier is a concubine or bed warmer and is gifted to Geralt (usually warlord Geralt) and that becomes his path to freedom and love. Some of them are among the best fics in the fandom. One of them is one of my favorite fics ever.

But I do get to thinking...

Men who are physically strong and skilled in combat (like Geralt) can also be exploited. In fact, physical power is one of the most limited forms of power, and witchers are exploited and oppressed in canon. And by the same token, men who can't wield a weapon (like Jaskier), can be very powerful if they are born into the correct family.

So. What if we flip their roles in the narrative? (I'm sure there are flipped fics out there, but I'm going to spin my own idea for a minute.) Alright. Here we go. My idea for Prince Jaskier/Gladiator Geralt.

CW for references to past sexual abuse. Do not read further if you don't want to read any references to sexual abuse. As I said, it is a reversal of the trope mentioned above, so none of the abuse is between Geralt and Jaskier, but the premise does involve servitude and abuse.

---------

Jaskier is a prince sent out on his very first diplomatic visit. He has been chosen for this task (negotiating a treaty) because he has come of age, and his father wants him to make a match with the princess. His father has managed to keep his country's economic crisis a secret, but it won't stay that way for long. If Jaskier can impress his hosts perhaps he can marry the princess, and his people will be pulled back from the brink of financial ruin.

But before Jaskier goes, his father counsels him that he will see some barbaric practices in this other country. Though this other country is wealthy and advanced technologically, it still engages in things like gladiator fights and indentured servitude. Jaskier says that he understands. He can keep his mouth shut no matter what he sees. He knows that they are counting on him.

The first day of the visit goes well. During a long session of intense negotiations, Jaskier makes a brilliant first impression, so much so that the king invites him to be the guest of honor at a gladiator fight. Jaskier does not have a stomach for violence or gore. So he downs a few goblets of wine to take the edge off and to keep himself relaxed enough to not vomit at the first sight of entrails.

Their prize gladiator is a striking, white haired warrior with mystical powers. He has an enviable streak of wins, and the people love him. Part of why they love him is because he seems to hate killing people. He will do it efficiently and well, in order to defend his life. But when they push someone out into the ring that is ill prepared or a poor match for him, he does everything he can to stall or stop the fight.

Once, the king tells Jaskier, he refused to fight and managed to convince his opponent to refuse to fight. They publicly executed several prisoners in retaliation, so now he fights. But he curses them elaborately after every win.

Instead of it weighing on their conscience, however, the audience moons over him as a noble assassin, a killer with a heart of gold. It's the irony, it's the angst. They love him. Not enough to free him of course, but they love him.

Jaskier worries he is not drunk enough for this, but he manages. As expected, the warrior wins the fight. It is a tough match against a skilled and weathered opponent. But he fights with the mesmerizing grace of a brutal dancer and he wins in a spectacular fashion. The crowd goes berserk.

Though Jaskier finds the warrior incredibly compelling, his eyes drawn to him over and over like a beacon, he is relieved as fuck that the whole thing is over. He can't wait to go back to his room and cleanse away the memory of that horrible pulsing severed carotid with maybe a song or another drink. He can't wait to have more power and ban some of these horrific practices.

But before he can get back to his room, the king makes him an offer that he is entirely unprepared for. He has taken such a liking to Jaskier that he offers to send the champion up to his room.

That is when Jaskier learns that the royal ladies (and some of the men) take great pride in partaking of the warrior after a match. It is the highest honor.

It's partly his beautiful physique. They have special clothing made up for him that resembles his armor, but offers more access. It's partly the danger and the thrill of conquering such a violent beast. They bind him and they station guards close by so he can't retaliate. But the thought that he could kill them with the twist of a wrist is part of the appeal. It is also partly the exclusivity. The entire kingdom loses their mind for this warrior, but it is only they who have access to him. It gives these wealthy, bored, royals a rare thrill.

When his host explains all of this, Jaskier's stomach drops almost to the soles of his shoes. His first instinct is to be outraged. To say no. His kingdom has done away with bed warmers and...well...sex slaves, really. He has been brought up to believe that ravaging someone, anyone, is a base, cruel, horrible thing to do.

So he almost says no. He almost shouts it. Frankly, he would like to slap the king across his smug beastly face. Obviously he can't do that. But he wants to. But then a thought flickers across his mind. If he says no, then this warrior will be sent to someone else. And who knows who that person will be and what they will do to him.

Jaskier feels sick to his stomach when he accepts the king's offer. He hopes his disgust isn't apparent. He tries to make it sound lusty. To his own ears, he fails at it. Besides his disgust for the idea, he is also incredibly inexperienced. If he has to feign an intimate understanding of the specifics of sex, he'll reveal himself to be the young amateur that he is.

But the king is so drunken and self absorbed that he doesn't even notice. He claps Jaskier on the back, calls him my boy, and motions to his guards. The guards jump to attention. The king points down to the arena at the warrior. The warrior is slick with sweat and blood and grime. He is quietly cleaning his sword with a far away look on his face. The cheers of the crowd weigh on him.

Just then, the warrior looks up at Jaskier. His golden eyes feel like a punch to the solar plexus. He sees what is happening. He knows who is being conferred the honor of his body tonight.

Jaskier wants to mouth an apology. To explain himself. Of course he can't. They are too far apart and there is too much noise between them. Besides. Jaskier is currently pretending to be into this. But his eyes slide away guiltily. He feels queasy and he is regretting the wine right about now.

The king asks Jaskier if he wants the warrior grimy or clean. They can bathe him before they send him up, or they can just walk him up as he is, for a more authentic experience. Jaskier feels a cold fury bubbling inside. He shoves it down. He says to send him as he is. Jaskier will draw a bath in his own room and give the gladiator privacy.

The king makes a crude joke about Jaskier liking it dirty, and he almost bites through his tongue in order to hold it. He tastes copper.

Soon, Jaskier is alone in his room, pacing the marble floors, clenching and unclenching his fists. He is deep in concentration, trying to figure out how to play this. When the guards bring the warrior, will they leave? Or will they insist on staying close by? How will Jaskier hide his true intentions from them? Whatever they see, they will undoubtedly report to the king.

Jaskier chews his bottom lip and whispers to himself, practicing what he will say to the warrior if he can get them alone.

You'll be safe tonight.

You don't have to do anything.

Would you like to bathe yourself? I won't look.

See the full post

1,850 notes - Posted May 20, 2022

#4

Geralt, who has lost his swords: I need those specific swords back.

Dandelion: Oh, just buy new ones.

Geralt: Oh rly and what if someone took your lute?

Dandelion: OH GOD WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT IS SOMEONE LOOKING AT MY LUTE OH SHIT WHAT HAVE YOU HEARD NO ONE LOOK AT MY LUTE YOU FUCKERS*covers lute with body like a human shield*

😂😂 they are hilarious. Also, Geralt saying he feels like a snail without a shell is adorable.

1,924 notes - Posted August 27, 2022

#3

Ok let's play a game called:

I Can't Believe It's Not Fanon.

Otherwise known as...

Witcher facts that sound like Geraskier fic writers made them up, but that are, in fact, book canon.

PART ONE:

We've all read the fics where bad guys kidnap Jaskier in order to get to get to Geralt. These bad guys always regret it when Geralt slaughters every single one of them.

Well, good news! In Season of Storms, starting on page 310, this very thing happens.

(TW: Violence and gore)

Geralt is attending a royal wedding and once again, powerful people are trying to get him to do something he doesn't want to do. He enters a room to find:

Dandelion was as white as a sheet and clearly terrified...He was sitting on a chair with a high backrest. Behind the chair stood a skinny character with hair combed and plaited into a queue. The character was holding a misericorde with a long, narrow, four-sided blade. The blade was pressed against the poet's neck, below his jaw, slanting upwards.

"No funny business," warned Ropp. No funny business witcher. One false move, even one twitch, and Mr Samsa will stick the minstrel like a hog. He won't hesitate."

So, these particular assholes have accurately surmised that Geralt's weakness is Dandelion. There were any number of people they could have kidnapped, but they chose the poet. Of course, they underestimate Geralt, like so many people do.

Geralt tries to warn them that this is a very very bad move.

"You're making a mistake, Ropp."

They don't listen to him. They keep going, making increasingly florid violent threats to Dandelion's safety.

"Now," said the captain..."Now you will confirm that you've understood the task and will execute it. Should you not, before I count to ten under my breath, Mr Samsa will rupture the minstrel's right eardrum...if the desired result does not ensure, Mr Samsa stabs the other ear. And will then gouge out the poet's eye. And so on, to the bitter end, which is a jab to the brain. I'm starting to count, witcher."

What does Dandelion do? Well, he's terrified but he tries to be brave.

"Don't listen to him Geralt!" Dandelion somehow managed to make a sound from his constricted throat. "They won't dare to touch me! I'm famous!"

This is hilarious and very, very Dandelion. But also, it's not entirely unreasonable. Dandelion's fame often protects him, and sometimes it protects Geralt too. However, it doesn’t seem to be doing either at the moment.

Geralt says to Mister Samsa:

"First, move that dagger away from the poet's ear."

Mister Samsa seems to think that they have succeeded and Geralt is negotiating with him, so he complies. (this guy makes one bad decision after another)

"Ha," snorted Mister Samsa, lifting the misericorde high over his head. "Is that better?"

Geralt simply answers:

"Better."

Then without another word, Geralt kills them all, violent and bloody. It is a descriptive, vividly gory passage. He slices carotid arteries and groins. One man's neck spews blood onto the chandelier and ceiling. But I find what Geralt does to Mister Samsa to be particularly significant and satisfying.

The Witcher jerked the sword from the scabbard before Ropp fell, and with one fluid movement coming out of a short spin, hacked off Samsa's raised hand. Samsa yelled and dropped to his knees.

So Geralt’s actions say...you use your hand to hold a blade to *my* poet's neck, and I will chop that motherfucker off. Let's see you do that again without a hand, you piece of shit.

It's a gory passage. I'll skip to the end. The royal instigator comes into the room to investigate and asks Geralt about the one man he has left (sort of, temporarily) alive.

The instigator examined the captain, who was lying, stretched out in a pool of urine, salivating copiously, and trembling incessantly.

See the full post

2,203 notes - Posted May 3, 2022

#2

It’s doing bizarrely well on Twitter so I’m bringing it over here.

6,071 notes - Posted October 30, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Blackbeard: I’m bored as fuck and no one understands me.

Stede: *appears in a silk nightie. Is weird as all fuck* Do you want to talk about fabrics?

Blackbeard: *under breath* Fuck yes

6,280 notes - Posted April 3, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #the witcher

[incarnateirony]

Wait until my doxxy screechy loser haters realize that the same meta they were themselves screaming against for years was, in fact, mutually intertwined with leaks they never perceived, and built upon those leaks by observation and understanding, yes, but from those kinds of conversations. Alchemy. Kabbalah. Spiral narrative that the crew is all tweeting out now. Literally everything that started their shrill evangelical pearl clutching about Cults.

It just. It doesn't fucking compute to them that they are so many years behind on the discourse of creatives that they can't even comprehend where to start fixing it, because they can't allow themselves to admit they've been flat wrong for over half a decade on... basically everything.

I mean hell, despite proven S12 market testing which costs the company money, despite Bobo nearly quitting, re-signing only for One Thing, which he wrote first, these chuds are STILL trying to save their "NOBODY INTENDED ANYTHING UNTIL THAT MOMENT S15" because, well, they refuse to uproot the basic truth that yeah, you guys were clueless clods for years. They'd rather find a way to argue to save their ego and hope anybody else believes the nonsense.

This is WHY they can never parse what people say or mean. They don't care about Robbie or Jensen's intent now any more than they did Bobo's back then, and you know what, it didn't stop Bobo, and now there's nobody to stop ANYONE. They care about THEIR perspective, THEIR egos, and THEIR ways to save image, and will go out self immolating to the very end.

I don't know who's really been HERE all these years of 2po's screaming failures against all the things that came true, or the lies he invented about others to try to smear them on manipulative emotional and ethos appeals without any kind of logos to it. (You know, ohhhh, people are SO SCARED of Aaron, he MIGHT doxx them, they theorize--while they're the ones that actually got caught doxxing people. At least twice. And they're the ones threatening people at cons. But uwu he's not civil enough. No logic, no reality, just attacks on character since they can't actually attack my leak record.)

Like bro. Reality doesn't care if you hate me or not. That's not how reality works. You can attack my character all you want. I could be a goddamn serial killer or some shit but if what I'm saying is true about a particular topic, it remains being true, regardless if by night I do fucked up shit. Reality doesn't bend to ethical appeals, much less completely made up ones designed to manipulate people emotionally like 2po does.

But like. This is literally The Same Picture. It's been The Same Picture for years. When they denied market testing, intent, a pending confession, the roadhouse, omissions, the pilot script, the morals and premise of the Winchesters, all of it. Deny deny deny, because of their egos and what they WANT to believe, rather than what IS. Over and over again, The Same Picture of the Same Chucklefucks stirring the Same Shit they've been stirring for 6 years to zero success.

And the thing is, if they could let go of the narcissism long enough to adjust their methodology and check their biases and ask WHY they keep getting this shit wrong for years on end vs me, their egos would ACTUALLY TAKE LESS HITS. Every single time among the shit I listed, they had an opportunity to inspect their methodology, but never did, and instead doubled down. At any point, they could have accepted, guess I was wrong there, lemme figure out where I messed up so I figure out how to be right. And then boom! They'd stop failing and getting angry. But they can not let themselves admit this shit, so in result, you get them doubling down for years and years on end, deeper and deeper into the hole, further and further from the truth, because now, well, goddamnit they've committed literal years to being wrong, and they'd have to accept their like, entire fandom presence is Being Wrong All The Time And Being A Complete Joke.

So those same egos, the ones that made them refuse to update at earlier junctions, are just going through trash compactors right now. They feel it, and it's what's causing thrashing like on 2po's blog lately. The pancake flip from trying to yell about his sources, to yelling nobody can have sources because NDAs, to whatever else. Just trying to claw his way down the wall while they realize everything THEY ever had was a fuckin' joke, so maybe they can project that at everyone else, and maybe THAT will save them. But it won't.

Just. Jesus guys. It's okay to be fuckin wrong. But once you make as big a mess as 2po and spnscripthunt and their various mods have, there's really no coming back from it. Because now they've committed THEIR ethos into it, doxxed, threatened, harassed, tried to invade and break into security, whatever the fuck they've done. They gave up ethics while trying to appeal to it. All in desperate irrelevant power cloys vs someone that's laughing at them for what they considered Fandom Power to begin with.

[realityandrebirth]

Today, as my writing exercise, I took Morro's basic character premise ("summoned ghost who wants power") and re-interpreted it as the start to three different stories. Here they are!

One

The spectral takes the form of a boy in ragged clothes, and when I look at his face it clicks that I know this boy–at least, I've seen him in old family pictures dressed much nicer than he is now. He was the high school student my grandparents hosted for a time, and they recalled him as the quiet teen who would talk your ear off about old ruins and tombs. Months before graduation, police found him dead outside the church, seemingly in the process of digging up someone else's grave. My grandmother always said he was a kind, gentle boy, which I take to mean he never held a knife to her throat the way he's holding one to mine.

Two

Clarissa double-checked her spellbook. "You're not a demon," she informed the ghost standing in the magic circle. "You're supposed to be."

"Am I supposed to be bound to you, too?" the boy said in a bored tone of voice.

"I didn't mess that part up," she said. "Tell me your real name."

"Kazuhiko," he said at once. Then, "Wait, no, I didn't–ugh, just Kazu is fine."

Clarissa sighed and clapped the spellbook shut. Might as well make the best of it. "Stay incorporeal," she said. "You may not touch or interact with anything in the living world without my permission. You are permitted only to speak to me. Nod if you understand."

Kazu nodded with a grimace. "So I am to be your servant," he said. "Great, fantastic. Definitely wanted to spend my afterlife like this."

"Oh, hush." Clarissa wiped the chalk off the floor, dismissing the circle. "You're only here until I can actually summon a *real* demon, and then I'll put you back."

"I don't mind being summoned," Kazu snapped. "It's being subject to your every whim I despise. If you're going to demand so much of me, how about you promise me a favor?"

Three

His parents requested he have a spirit summoned to guide him through university, which Tavish wasn't keen on, but hey, the ghost seemed amicable enough, and it wasn't like he could make any other friends. "So," he said out loud, while the ball of light led him down the hall, "how did you get this job?"

"It's part of a program," the ghost said in an echo-y voice. "Students who died before completing their studies can get their degrees by helping a living student."

"Huh." Tavish frowned. "Shouldn't you just get the degree anyway? It feels unfair to make you work for it after you died."

"So?" the ghost paused at the stairwell doors. "Wasn't the school's fault I died. I'm lucky they even felt sorry enough for this."

Tavish opened the door and started climbing. "Death's kind of a big thing, is it?" he said. "Even if it wasn't their fault… I dunno. Even if the dead come back, we have funerals for a reason."

"Tell that to them." The ghost huffed. "Come on, it's just a little further."

The door at the top of the stairwell was locked. "Huh," said Tavish. "Are you sure this is the way to class?"

"Never mind that."

The temperature dropped. Tavish stepped back in alarm, but cold, transparent hands grabbed his shoulders.

"You're going to open that door," the ghost whispered in his ear, "and I'm going to finish what I started."

#original writing

[tiistirtipii]

Hiii! How about 14 and 17 for the ask game? 💕

Hii 💕 thanks for asking me the questions! Sorry I went a little overboard with my answers but they were a lot of fun to write.

14. bl you think is underrated

There’s a few really great shows that come to mind like Triage and Vice Versa but the first one I thought of was actually My Secret Love. It aired May this year but I don’t remember seeing many people talking about it. Probably because the premise is pretty straightforward, set in University, enemies to lovers, nothing particularly genre defying or unpredictable. I think it’s underrated because it features a lot of great friendships and some of my favourite relationship tropes and is a well made enjoyable show.

It has the essential Enemies to Lovers but also my favourite underrated trope of Best Friends to Lovers. As well as an adorable established relationship couple and the cute fan and idol style relationship Bomb and Bear have. All four couples are very likeable and are successful in having their own individual storylines without making the show feel too cramped. The show balances it’s lightheartedness and jokes with it’s more emotional scenes while it starts off quite unserious, it becomes a bit more intense as the show progresses. I don’t think it’s the greatest show ever and it’s not one of my favourites but for some reason it’s the show I thought of when I saw the question. I definitely recommend giving it a watch and, if you do, let me know what you think.

17. best kiss

No contest. Didn’t even have to think about it. Bad Buddy episode 5 rooftop scene is the best kiss scene hands down. The range of emotions I felt watching it. The way Ohm and Nanon put their whole souls into that kiss. And the scenes leading up to it? The building of tension throughout the whole episode culminating in ’Do you want us to be friends?’ ‘No.’ Makes me crazy. The first part of the kiss followed by the slow separation and then Pran pulling Pat in to kiss him again like it’s the only time he will ever get to do it? Actually makes me insane. The music. The hands in each others hair. The absolute heartbreak you can feel them both go through at the end. Pat’s sadness coming only after Pran leaves because for a second he is just so happy that he finally understands his feelings and that they are reciprocated and it’s beautiful but him soon realising that it’s not all okay and that it’s never going to be that simple for them. I can’t fathom a scene that could possibly beat it and I wish I could watch it again for the first time every day.

Honorary mention to my favourite kiss of the year which is the Eclipse episode 6 imaginary kiss. I know it’s not real but the fact is we all thought it was, for everyone watching, Akk and Ayan’s feelings for each other had been slowly building and the tension had been building almost imperceptibly throughout the episodes and they went from enemies to more than enemies so smoothly that you could barely pinpoint when their feelings appeared or even when they became aware of those feelings. The kiss seemed like a solid awareness of those feelings from both sides and presented a vulnerability from both characters that we had yet to see (even if it was fake vulnerability). And maybe because we watching knew these characters weren’t aware enough of their feelings to kiss each other that the kiss seemed that much more intense? Because despite not understanding their feelings for each other and still being enemies they were kissing anyway. Like once they started they were only drawn further in and got lost in it. Plus of course the scenes leading up to it that made it that much more real being the intense and emotional beach scene and the tension of the locker room scene where they 100% would have kissed if they hadn’t been interrupted. Also it’s super funny that everyone was waxing poetic about the kiss and what it meant for their relationship only for us all to get clowned as soon as the next episode came out.

Basically first kiss scenes are my favourite thing ever because I love the tension and emotions and everything about them and you should never (always) ask me about first kiss scenes because I will go crazy talking about how much I love them.

#ok wow!! I kind of went crazy answering this!! thanks for asking me the questions! #I could talk about first kiss scenes for actual hours and I would be happy to #I think this shows that I need more friends to talk to about bls because i have none #if you see this be my friend please 🥺 #but yeah My Secret Love is a lot of fun even if there are def better shows out there I could have picked. 🤷‍♀️ oh well whatever #bad Buddy episode 5 rooftop scene is unbeatable but we all already knew that #eclipse episode 6 imaginary kiss is my number two #the eclipse may have dethroned bad buddy as my number one show but it can’t beat that scene #PatPran and AkkAyan both support each other and that’s why I love them so much #My Secret Love #bad buddy #the eclipse #PatPran #AkkAyan #tiistirtipii #bl ask game #my ask games

[dlamp-dictator]

Thoughts of Spellblades

God, there are no good banner-esque images of this series.

Last year I made a post about the anime adaptation of Hundred, a subpar and overall generic combat school anime from the mid-2010s and what seemed to be the last of the combat school craze that had hit the 2010s along with my general opinion of why I liked that niche genre of story telling. In that post I discussed how I found that anime completely subpar on almost all fronts, both as a combat school story and a story all on its own. It’s setting wasn’t fully utilized, it’s main character was neither interesting nor did their reasoning for being at the school feel very important, and almost every other character within the main cast was more interesting and would serve as better protagonists. A very generic show that practically refused to engage in the elements that made it unique. It was with this anime and series like it that I thought the combat school would die with, a semi-decent and fun premise to always be squandered for cheap action, easily marketable waifus, and simple plots without much thought to them.

And then folks, read the first three volumes of the manga Reign of the Seven Spellblades and I have some thoughts.

Positive thoughts. Positive enough thoughts that I think this dead genre might be coming back with some writers that actively care about what they’re writing and have an honest love of both the characters and setting they write about. I... have hope, something my cold, dead heart hasn’t felt about anything anime/manga/light novel related in years lest we count the Korean Webcomic scene.

But first, before I get carried away, that synopsis.

Kimberly Magic Academy is a well known... well, magic academy, taking in the best and brightest young mages to mold their talents into something worth a damn for the greater advancement of sorcery. Our main character is Oliver Horn, attending Kimberly as part of his family’s tradition and following in their footsteps. He quickly makes friends with several students, most notably the foreign exchange student Nanao Hibiya from the Far Eastern lands of Azia and a few others. For the next seven years he’s to study and further his magical ability. However, the world of mages is a dark and cruel one. For all the encouraged curiosity and exploration of magic there is equally a lack of ethics, respect for life, and even civil rights. As the headmaster stated to the arriving mages: A mage’s role is to be acquainted with evil, feel it, understand it, then control it. Magical advancement is through the mountain of corpses that made the same attempted and failed, and these students will learn that lesson well in week one.

If you want the short version of my opinions on this series:

There is a genuine love and care put into the main cast and writing that I haven’t seen since some Royal Road serializations.

The world takes its magic and world more seriously than most and the setting feels stronger for it.

This is less and combat school and more a school with combat in it and is better for it.

My original draft was going to have me compare this series to some other shows and stories I like, but that really does this series a disservice, so I’ll be breaking those above points down in more detail.

The Setting

I’m going a little out of order here, but I feel the first point I mentioned should be discussed last. But to explain my first two points, I would describe the world of Reign of the Seven Spellblades (which I will shorten to Spellblades for simplicity) as Fate with the bullshit.

To make things very brief because I don’t feel like dealing with Fate fanboys clogging my inbox, the world of Fate’s mages is a world of advancement and exploration at the cost of humanity and morality. The world of Fate does not care for rights, morals, or righteous, it only cares about learning magic and regaining the old magecrafts at any cost. To that end are things like the Holy Grail War, human experimentation, ruthless inheritance practices, and so on. Spellblades follows a similar mindset. To give you the full quote of what I summarized and my synopsis, here’s the headmaster’s full speech to the students on their first day:

“This is Kimberly Magic Academy. The two tenets of our school are ‘Freedom’ and ‘Results’. That is no platitude. Statistically speaking, only eighty percent of you will graduate intact. Some of you will lose control of their rites, injuring themselves beyond repair. Others will go missing, lured by some unknown call. Still more will god mad, forcing their fellow students to end their lives. You have your choice of dooms. In the magical world we call this ‘being consumed by the spell.’ Accept this fact! It was true last year and the year before. It will be true next year and in all years to come! A mage’s role is to become acquainted with evil! Feel it! Understand it! Control it! Advancement in sorcery is made upon the countless corpses of those who came before! Thus, I leave you with these words- You are free to live... and free to die.”

This speech might as well be a direct quote from Tokiomi Tohsaka for just how on brand it is with the magus mindset of the Fate series, and you really start feeling that when the majority of antagonists so far in these three volumes are just senior students doing some variety of magical experiments that the school has no issue with since they’re also bringing in results. Most of the tension in the story comes not from the antagonists getting in the protagonists’ way, but from the first year students still working with a human level of empathy and compassion clashing with the colder more pragmatic senior mages and teachers, with fights to the death against magical beings being shrugged off so long as there was some level of consensual agreement or understanding that lives might be lost in the process of an altercation, that human rights being argued by our main cast is getting in the way of progress. Not to say this series is gritty or overly edgy for the sake of it, but you can really feel the apathy of the setting when it clashes with our main cast’s idealism and that’s something I appreciate. I love my idealistic heroes, but I especially love those heroes having their views convincingly challenged by the world around them. And in a setting this cold and pragmatic when the chips are down there’s a lot of challenging going on.

I know I said I wasn’t going to compare too much, but I want to at least point to Absolute Duo due to the similarity. The first moments of the series really set the stage and its what good me hooked on the series, so let me give you my dramatized version of the scene that convinced me to read this series with full engagement.

The Duel

To set the scene a bit, this happens soon after an incident with a wild troll is solved by Oliver, Nanao, and their soon-to-be friends all work together to stop the troll from harming other students. During this event we learn that while Oliver is a capable mage his skill set is more towards strategic thinking and excellent understanding of magical application, and that Nanao is a physical powerhouse that has the experience of not just a great swordsman, but a true warrior that has seen her fair share of battlefields. Soon after this event the entrance ceremony begins and the first day of classes arrive, the first class being magical swordsmanship. During class the teacher gives a basic lecture on why mages learn swordsmanship, the short of it being that while mages are magically powerful they should know some form of self-defense when unable to use spells quickly in emergencies. At the end of his lecture the teacher asks students to volunteer for an exhibition match. the mages are naturally shy about engaging in physical combat, so the training hall is silent.

Until, of course, the samurai swordswoman of the class immediately volunteers herself.

Oliver, not wanting his new friend to cause problems on her first day and be outclass by someone understanding the rules of magical combat more than her, offers to be her sparring partner for the match. This causes some grumbling at first, but once he explains his merits as a key figure in solving the troll incident and earning a right to test the other participant of that event’s mettle most arguments are quelled.

In Oliver’s mind, this is a simple practice match. While Nanao is powerful she lacks skill in magic where Oliver succeeds. He has no intention on taking this seriously and humiliating her, just fighting hard enough to make it look convincing and maybe take a swipe or two from her if the hits look weak enough to tank. All he has to do is make the fight look good without completely trouncing Nanao with his magic and embarrassing her.

And then, shit gets real.

This went from a spar to fight for survive in seconds. Nanao wasn’t just strong and fast, she was ruthless. Every dodge was avoiding a fatal slash, blocking against her strength was impossible, parrying had to be done with magical assistance and tricks, and even then Nanao’s physical athleticism practically ignored all of Oliver’s magical advantages. It was then he realized something about his friend, something he couldn’t see until he faced her blade himself.

Nanao has killed.

Not one person, not ten people, and not even in self defense. From her swings alone he can tell she’s already standing on a mountain of corpses to get her swordsmanship to the level its at. He’s not sparring with his new friend, he’s dueling her to the death to survive.

And the moment that thought sets in. The moment the two realize just what kind of fight their having and that one of them isn’t walking away from this fight...

“... ... ... It was here...”

No. He couldn’t ask for context. He couldn’t hesitate. The death match they were having wouldn’t allow him to drop his guard and leave himself open. There was no mercy at the start of this match, and there wouldn’t be any until it finished. He could only offer one thing to his friend in this moment.

“Don’t cry.”

“Sorry.”

And... well, I’ll end things there. This happens around chapter 2 and 3, so this is still pretty early in the manga, but the ending is something to see for yourself. It was this moment that I knew the writer behind this series had some love for their characters and an understanding of what they wanted to do with them. This scene is a real nice play on the typical duel of most first arcs in the combat school genre. Unlike most, this duel wasn’t a challenged issued by the female lead, instead an attempt by the male lead to keep the peace of the situation. The stakes started low but were ramped up instantly once Oliver realizes just how skilled Nanao is. And while I didn’t detail the specific moves it really is a matter Nanao’s athleticism against Oliver’s strategies and tricks, no one side completely overpowers the other. And the aftermath of this duel had some lasting consequences throughout the first major arc too. All in all this was the scene that convinced me to get sucked into the world and engage with it on its own terms.

Other Positive Notes

There’s a lot I want to talk about with this series right now, but I don’t want to spoil anything and I already did one play-by-play of a scene so I’ll try and keep the rest of this brief:

This really does feel like all my issues with Hundred were addressed and fixed to a degree. The magic school is taken very seriously as a setting, Oliver as a character -despite wanting a peaceful school life- has no issue getting involved with his friends problems for the sake of earnestly helping them, and I feel that Oliver is an interesting and fun character all on his own, with the rest of the cast being nice additions to help shape his more rational mind and show off his social graces.

All of the side cast is utilized very well, as everyone seemed to have their own thing going on with Oliver serving as an objective voice of reason and Nanao being the foreigner with her own outside view of mage practices.

This is a small thing, but the fact that every character has a realistic name is a relief. Oliver Horn, Guy Greenwood, Michela McFarlane, even Nanao Hibiya sounds like a normal Japanese name. It just refreshing to see that.

Speaking of normal, all the main cast really do feel like friends. There’s some crushes here and there, but for the most part the six characters of the main cast feel like people that earnestly care about each other’s well being, which is nice to see.

Similar to my feelings on Masters of Ragnarok, I like that the male lead is more a strategist than a fighter, with Nanao being the powerhouse Oliver has to guide through team battles, but is a competent fighter in his own right when left to his own devices.

Criticisms

While thankfully few, I do have some criticisms of this series so far. Again, these will be brief:

The first three volumes of the manga might as well end with “to see what happens next, read the light novel.” And while I am going to read the light novel out of curiosity still find it annoying to learn the manga I was reading is a glorified light novel advertisement. Especially after volume 3.

The world-building and magic system aren’t too well explained in this series. It’s decent enough that I’m not asking questions in the moment but flimsy enough that I do have them after awhile of thinking when I put the books down.

There’s a bit more focus on the female side characters than male ones. This is common in most light novels and the arcs are just starting, but there’s already a bit of a love triangle going on and it definitely made me roll my eyes a little.

Conclusion

All in all, this is a fun series. If you’ve been wanting to see some magical action in your manga collection these first three volumes aren’t bad reads for it. I’m gong to be reading the light novel later this week and I might have some thoughts worth given then. Until then, I’ll see you folks later.

#Reign of the Seven Spellblades #your dictator is speaking

[chaseadrian]

LORD IM SO NERVOUS but im sending you three of my fics i want to know your opinion! (i could always use constructive criticism and/or praises)

Supernova - jason todd x reader

Glasses- adrian chase x reader

Window Repair - adrian chase x reader

CONGRATS CONGRATS CONGRATS ON 2K IM SO PROUD

hi kyna!!!!

glasses ★★ —the concept is so so so cute, but it just moves way too fast for how short it is. backstory is great, but this feels like entirely backstory except for the last paragraph. it could read as snapshots leading up to the final moment with the glasses, but it doesn't feel like we're spending enough time in each moment for it to truly be a snapshot. everything is laid out plain, there's no connecting the dots using actions. reader lightening up adrian's time in the hospital by trying on his glasses is adorable, and i think it would've been good to let the audience figure out on their own how they got roped into the team. it's like a very quick retelling of the entire season, and i just wish we'd gotten more time in the actual moment with the glasses and adrian.

window repair ★★★ —the premise again is the cutest thing in the world, and so true to adrian. i think between the two fics, too much is explained. you write, "John was directing the team from the van..." and then a few paragraphs later, "the team, except for john who was driving, watched as Harcourt looked over Vigilante's wound." It's redundant, since you already established john was staying with the van. The banter before the mission is so fun, and I can imagine the team totally ribbing Adrian about his "fake" partner, and I like that there seems to be a similar banter between adrian and the reader. the biggest thing really is to just trust your audience, especially since fanfiction is established characters, so there's already some understanding about who these people are and how their motivations work.

supernova ★★★ 1/2 —this was a feat for you to write, honestly, the storyline is solid and the chemistry between jason and reader is outstanding. i love the juxtaposition of reader's prim & proper upbringing to the roughness of gotham. the motif of "making sure to show teeth" was genuinely kinda terrifying like reader struggles to control their powers but they're also controlling their every move to project this air of perfection. there was at least one sentence that started and just stopped randomly, and the grammar i think could be worked on. and again, showing rather than telling would really further the reality of your writing.

the biggest thing i noticed was in this passage:

You can feel yourself begin to lose control of your powers, sometimes you can feel it happen before it does. Sometimes when that happens your eyes tend to glow. This is reinforced by the way everyone takes a small step back from you, not daring to ask another question.

It doesn't feel as menacing as it should, because everything is told to us. we don't know yet at this point that reader can lose control, so describing what she's feeling would go a long way in bringing that sense of urgency. Just an example of what showing would look like instead: "The sting of a microphone shakes your shoulders, your eyes burning with a familiar heat. Reporters step back as you sweep over your field of vision, wonder replaced by fear. Straightening your back, you rush through a closing statement..."

But overall this is a super impressive piece!!

join the celebration!

#answered* #fic rec fest #mutuals! #kyna tag

[onewomancitadel]

I have a small fear that if Jaune saves Cinder the hate he gets will skyrocket to new heights. I can already see people calling him a pathetic loser, a simp, and a weak doormat. Knightfall is a ship that combines the two most hated characters in the fandm so I'm slightly worried about it's reception. How do yo think Knightfall will be received by the fandm if it happened? Do you think the reaction will be positive or negative?

Hi anon, thanks for your ask.

My first impression reading this ask was that I think there's more going on here than worry about fiction and narrative. I think it's totally okay to recognise how that type of projected worry works (and perhaps even how to identify and work with it). There's nothing you can do to control other people and what they think (and life would be very boring if we could do that). It's also important to recognise that these people you're referencing are not people who necessarily share fundamental values with you; if someone would unironically use 'simp', I'd immediately dismiss their opinions wholesale.

I also don't think that in itself is viable criticism, and if the writers were looking for criticism, they would ignore that particular type. Whatever backlash by Redditors against Jaune's character didn't affect the storyline given to him in V5, or even V6, or into V8. We can already demonstrably see that doesn't matter. The same is equally true for Cinder.

I also think the fact that they went ahead with the Ozlem reveal in V6 and then also further committed to the Atlas Arc suggests to me that whilst there are points of criticism from the fandom they take on at times, they still have an idea of where they're going they're not going to turn away from. The Ozlem reveal in particular is pretty damning to people attached to the Huntsman Academy happy funtime premise.

It's very funny you said that Knightfall combines two hated characters in fandom. Personally, as a Cinder and Jaune fan since V1, I have seen a gradual shift in the way the two are perceived, especially after V8 with Cinder. So that's one thing.

Another thing is that, funnily enough, quite early on I said Knightfall was actually a pretty elegant solution to that fandom reception problem. I don't think they would intentionally write it that way, but I do think that Jaune and Cinder make a shit load of sense together that would give you different perspectives on them.

I also am not going to lie, I think some of the hatred towards Jaune and Cinder comes from a childish tantrum that Jaune wasn't the shounen protag they were promised and Cinder isn't the sexy, uncomplicated femme fatale they wanted. By the same stroke, that is exactly what makes their character arcs so compatible and what makes them intersecting make so much sense; the character archetypes they truly are, truly make the most sense together. I don't know how it would go for everyone, but I do think that once they intersect, people might start to see.

But if you go through my blog, like under the redemption arcs tag, you can see me talk about characters like Cinder that are harder to understand, and equally for the compassionate heroic figures in love with them.

I'm not quite sure what the complete context of this ask is - e.g. if you are a Knightfall fan, or just a Jaune fan worried about what would happen to him - but I think, if you are looking for advice, my advice to you would be to try to be part of space where the things you enjoy are taken seriously. If people are mean on Reddit or in Discord servers about the characters you like, you don't have to be around them (or you can just learn to ignore them and be steady in your own opinions. Me personally, I have to be away from those types).

You could start a Tumblr blog (if you don't already have one) or you could start your own R/WBY server for people with a similar attitude to you (I imagine a single character server wouldn't go on very long).

With that being said, let's say in the worst case scenario Knightfall is not received well. By the time it happens, if it happens at all, it's going to be towards the end of the show - which is around when the Relic of Choice will come into play. You can see more under my Indecisive Queen tag, or indeed referenced in my Knightfall masterpost, that them meeting over the Relic of Choice is at least one thing I expect to happen. Also, according to the Vault and Relic special worlds, the two surviving from the first Vault meeting at the last Relic makes the most sense.

So, if it makes you feel better, you've got time where it's not happening quite yet, at least in terms of canonical confirmation (and some people are still convinced Blake/Yang isn't a thing because there's been no kiss).

On the other hand, I think that if people don't understand that Jaune's Semblance is literally compassion as a superpower and that he's got a bigger purpose in the narrative (connected to Cinder) that makes perfect sense, their opinions are not really worth your time worrying about. If they don't understand the themes of the show and basic storytelling, how can you take what they're saying seriously? I try not to be so cynical, but there are a great deal many viewers - and here I'm not sure what it is about R/WBY that seems to attract some of them - that lack the tools to understand how stories work. Like, reading reviews recently that complain a story has conflict? That a protagonist needs something to drive her and something to overcome? I don't know what's exactly happened; to some degree I think it's just contrarianism.

The people you're thinking of calling him a - simp? This is the second time someone has said this about Jaune in an ask to me. What the fuck is going on? What is in the water? Like, I don't know want to know who might say this kind of stuff, but it's very silly. Anyway, I have no idea how a character exercising active agency in a story is a simp.

If someone thinks transgressing the boundaries of the side of Good with the villain everybody expects to be irredeemable and then also committing an act of effective heresy and then succeeding at the task of helping the woman the audience and the characters at large believed unable to be helped is somehow a doormat or a simp, then they're not criticising the narrative.

They're misogynists. I'm just going to say it. They don't know how to analyse narrative. Someone saying that, thinking a male character exercising nonviolence and helping a female character is 'simping' is just a misogynist, and probably not wanting to change their opinion because their defensiveness and victim complex has shrouded their worldview.

I don't think telling them they're being misogynistic will necessarily help; with those types, it never does, especially because misogynistic, in their eyes, is not a bad thing or something that would make them want to change their beliefs/behaviour.

But I do think pointing out they don't know how to criticise things properly is the thing I would do. Because they're not doing that. I don't mean to characterise one group a particular way, but that crowd always thinks their personal aggrieved feelings count as narrative criticism. It is very ironic when they call women emotional. it makes me laugh.

With that being said, I am not exposed to this end of the fandom anymore. I don't know whom you are referring to, and I hope it doesn't seem like I'm trying to stir trouble. But sometimes you have to recognise when something isn't an intellectual debate anymore and is something else instead.

Now, with that horrible shit out of the way:

How do yo think Knightfall will be received by the fandm if it happened? Do you think the reaction will be positive or negative?

I think I have talked about this before somewhere on my blog, and I have sort of already answered this throughout the ask, but I think the reaction will be complex. It does mystify me that basic, thematically sound narrative beats I saw coming (Ironwood's fall, Penny's death) were subject to such controversy. I don't mean whether you anticipated it or not is the problem - I mean the offense that was felt at the very notion of such story beats. So, as much as I think Knightfall makes sense, if it does happen, a lot of people are going to be surprised.

On the Tumblr end of fandom, I don't really see either Jaune or Cinder subject to virulent shipping; a lot of Cinder fans on here don't ship her with anyone, and generally prefer her not to have a romance or don't consider that in their interest. Jaune is usually second to a lot of Tumblr users' interests as well. So I think the reception here might not be as significant as people think. I anticipate a range of reactions, one of which will include writing a romance for Cinder somehow reduces her character because she shouldn't want for things for only herself or true love or anything, and probably some anti-redemption opinions which are nonsensical from the foundation and just people who don't like her, don't like vulnerability, and don't like complexity.

I don't know about the rest of the fandom. I avoid Reddit, Discord, etc. I used the subreddit from the first volume until five, but I quit when people were celebrating Cinder's 'death'.

Honestly, I think we might be mentally overblowing it.

The way I view it as well is that because we bring so much baggage to narrative, sometimes what we're arguing about isn't what we think we're arguing about. That's why the way I run my blog (which is often about interrogating my tastes or why I do or do not like things) is, well, the way I run my blog. I find it really fascinating, and with R/WBY in particular you can see this in an extreme fashion.

I do want to say though, twists that make sense in hindsight are some of the most fun. I think if you talked to the average R/WBY fan and said you shipped Jaune/Cinder, they would think you're a bit weird or someone who just reads fetish erotica (because Cinder's not a complicated character, of course). But if it did evolve onscreen, it wouldn't seem so strange; it's one of those things that might inspire confusion or revulsion at first, and then once you lay out the argument for it, it seems like the only way to realise everything thematically and narratively, and character-wise.

Because as I relentlessly do not shut the fuck up about: I think Jaune and Cinder are one of the major pairings (along with the others) that literally resolves the Ozlem conflict. Moreover, it resolves their own personal conflicts, realises the themes of the show, and it's very, very unique, and the kind of thing R/WBY does best. The clincher for me personally with Knightfall was when I realised it fits perfectly into R/WBY tonally, and it's the exact kind of thing I am into tonally.

Because I am in one of those moods, let me cite Campbell from Power of Myth, Episode 5:

JOSEPH CAMPBELL: What he was saying is that this love is bigger even than death, than pain, than anything. This is the affirmation of the pain of life in a big way.

BILL MOYERS: And I would choose this pain for love now, even though it might mean everlasting pain and damnation in hell.

JOSEPH CAMPBELL: That’s right.

[…]

BILL MOYERS: So there’s joy and pain in love.

JOSEPH CAMPBELL: Yeah, there is. Love, you might say, is the burning point of life, and since all life is sorrowful, so is love. And the stronger the love, the more that pain, but love bears all things.

Love itself is a pain, you might say, but is the pain of being truly alive.

Basically that's it. If you notice, the major R/WBY pairings go through major conflict and deal with major vulnerability and pain, that's what makes Blake/Yang what it is over Blake/Sun, and that's what makes Ren/Nora able to reveal their feelings for each other and see the truth. Part of this is Salem and Ozma's problem. That's why Ozma hides in V6.

This is why I think there's potentially something very major in Jaune and Cinder's favour. The thing people say makes it impossible is the thing I have - not to repeat myself - gone on record of saying the pain between them is the thing that makes absolution, healing, and, well, romance, possible.

Same citation as above, emphasis mine:

JOSEPH CAMPBELL: Right. That’s a very mysterious thing, that electric thing that happens. And then the agony that can follow, which is that which the troubadours celebrate, you know, the agony of the love, the sickness that the doctors cannot cure; the wounds that can be healed only by the weapon that delivered the wound. […]

Well, the wound is the wound of my passion and agony of love for this creature, and the only one who can heal me is the one who delivered the blow, you know.

BILL MOYERS: So we often hurt most the person we love, and heal the hurt by the love that hurt.

JOSEPH CAMPBELL: That’s something like that, that’s the paradox of the job.

Given R/WBY's major mythic influence, both from the monomyth (Campbell is the Hero's Journey, monomyth bloke) and from the mythic and religious traditions from whence the monomyth is derived, I think it's thematically appropriate to share. The Wound of Love also has a presence in Christian theology, which is relevant for a character based on a Catholic saint, and as a story that does use Christian themes (which I think personally it uses like many other influences, not as a predominant theme, but it is there) it is worth considering there's some type of precedent here to consider the Wound of Love.

But with that aside, I think you can still say that interaction of vulnerability and love is there. This is just how I would formally describe it.

Anyway, back to fandom reception: you might be surprised, who nose! I personally think Knightfall is a story beat that makes Jaune's ultimate purpose narrative very clear, and makes him very powerful in a transformative way - and the same for Cinder. But as I mentioned in this ask here, which I recommend reading, violence as narrative language is partly our issue here. To be quite honest, I think that this is actually a theme of Knightfall already, and already a facet of Jaune's character. I just take this to the logical conclusion in the story. If you were not supposed to kill Cinder in V5 and unlocked your magical Semblance whilst you were at it, then what?

Ultimately, I think that whether people respond to Knightfall positively is not really the thing I am personally concerned about. Some people want a simple story and they want to leave a story with fluffy feelings or justified feelings. They want something that leaves them feeling like evil has been defeated and killed and they want it in a familiar way. But I think that the question more pertinent to me is what's thematically appropriate and what is a story like R/WBY trying to do. Even if I didn't agree with R/WBY I would still want it to tell the story it's supposed to do. A lot of people can't sit with discomfort with a story or understand what does and doesn't work for them.

I also intellectually respect a story much more if it commits to its ideas.

At the end of the day I think Knightfall is the organic conclusion of what they've established. A lot of people in fandom do not understand what they've established, and in some ways I think that's the show's fault and in some ways I don't think it is - and is a totally separate post.

As always, I think you just need to find your bliss. If you're a Jaune fan and you're worried, just remember that you enjoy Jaune's character and you understand him in a way some others don't. (I am also a Jaune fan, as is obvious). It might be a fun exercise for you to figure out what compels you about him. If you are a Knightfall fan, I think you may have to get used to narrative and fandom uncertainty. (;

With asks like these, and even by myself actually, I often wonder what's the point of reading or watching stories. It should move you. Are you moved?

#seraphina's asks #user: anonymouse #knightfall #well that got overly long #that's what you get! #sorry I don't use cuts very often because I hate them and they're annoying

[starlight-time-machine]

Week in Review

02/18/2024 – 02/24/2024

Sunday

Week 2 of missing Cipher Academy. Yes I’m going to do this for at least a year.

Girl Meets Rock is fine.

Undead Unluck is pretty good, it’ll be interesting to see how the group gets out of this one. Loved the parallel between the Gods searching for the Greatest Life while Fuuko and Andy search for the Greatest Death.

Oshi no Ko is fairly intense, but I appreciate the creators still including comedic moments; I guess they don’t want the story to get too harrowing. But Hikaru and his relationship with Ai is really fascinating, as the two of them bond over being perpetual actors/liars in order to hide their pain.

Dandadan fine. At least Momo and Zuma have a fun dynamic.

I guess Chainsaw Man’s been demoted to Manga Sundays rather than Tuesdays when it comes out, as I don’t really get spoilers for it anymore. It does feel a bit hard to see where Part 2 is going after Part 1 was just strength after strength, but I’ll still keep the faith.

One Piece good. As always, I feel like I don’t know enough to be able to say much about it.

Finally watched the second Kizumonogatari movie, Nekketsu. I loved the distinct Monogatari atmosphere, the action scenes were beautiful and fluid and odd, and lowkey this movie series has me kind of shipping Araragi and Hanekawa… I know Senjougahara’s his true love and all, but the vibe of two people sharing a unique experience is unmatched. Also that wheat field where they talked was absolutely gorgeous and extremely up my alley.

A new chapter of Yuria-sensei! It’s fun that she and Riku once shared a hobby, and it hammers home just how much Goro had a type lol

I’ve fallen off of reading non-Shounen Jump manga extremely hard, and I can’t pretend that some part of that isn’t because of this Week in Review thing lol It’s just a bit boring when I read a single chapter and have no thoughts on it but I have to log it here anyway, so I’ve been putting off reading a lot of series I follow. But also, it’s true that I feel like when I binge-read a manga, get caught up, and then have to survive off infrequent releases, everything I read just gets deleted from my memory and I spend the next few months confused with every new chapter – I want to strive to wait until a manga’s finished before reading it now, unless it’s something I know I would really like.

With that out of the way, Shiroyama to Mita-san ended recently, so it’s time for me to catch back up with this endearingly strange couple. As a whole, it’s fairly one-note, with the same dry sense of humor throughout all of its gags, but the premise itself is engaging enough on its own and there’s moments of sincerity scattered throughout that keep it a fun read.

Monday

Ah

Tuesday

Oh no

Wednesday

Okay I had some errands to run today and then I just passed out

Thursday

Okay!!! This week was a bit of a crapshoot but I’ll never miss DunMesh Thursdays. Today’s meal was (instant) ramen, and I wish I had some shrimp or fish tofu to put in it, but we used all of those for the fried rice the other day (and I don’t like eggs in ramen…I don’t like how it makes the broth all gloopy). We get a cute flashback scene to the origin of Falin and Marcille’s friendship, and a further examination of the themes of the show – that being the delicate balance that all ecosystems must maintain in order to thrive, and the folly of humans who try to enact their own visions on it without understanding its structure or how they themselves fit into it. The fight afterwards was also fun and dynamic, with a cute gag to end off the episode.

Also read the latest chapter of Takatora-kun, but there’s not much for me to say about it. I’m interested in this new adult character who looks just like Takatora but with glasses, but I’m more curious about the pharmaceutical advancements that he seems to hint at.

Friday

Busy again today…couldn’t even watch Drag Race before passing out in bed lol

Saturday

Alright, it’s Drag Race time, but I’ve been kind of dreading it since I heard that Nymphia doesn’t do well and Snatch Game is such an all-or-nothing sort of challenge to watch anyway (in the sense that on the rare occasions where there’s a genuinely stand-out performance, it’s a blast to watch, but usually it’s middling at best and absolutely agonizing). The reading challenge at the top of the episode didn’t bolster my confidence too much, and I had to skip the Snatch Game entirely because the second-hand embarrassment made me want to die. Once again, I don’t give a shit about Plane Jane’s storyline this season, but they’re definitely pushing her as a frontrunner and finalist so we’re going to have to contend with her for a while yet. (Currently, my prediction is that the final four will be Nymphia, Sapphira, Plasma, and Plane Jane.) The runway was super cute, though – I loved how everyone had a different approach, and the theme lent itself to interesting runway walks and a lot of fun interactions with the judges. Sapphira and Nymphia were the highlights for me, but it was fun seeing Plasma weaponize her BFA again. I’ve never been happier to see the judges’ favouritism allowing Nymphia to be safe, and I think it lent itself to a bittersweet and meaningful lip sync. Xunami and Morphine dancing together and singing to each other really embodied the song and heightened the emotions.

Undead Unluck…I’ve been nervously anticipating this arc because I love Anno Un, and I’m happy to report that his voice actor does not disappoint. Yumi Uchiyama really handily plays off both his cuteness and his coolness, and sets him apart as the enigmatic character that he is. The cold open had some great animation, with Sean’s bloodied silhouette and eye being a particular highlight. I hope this is a sign of better animation to come when the Autumn fight actually starts in earnest, and that this will be the last episode where they have to cut corners as the cour reaches its end. But before that, CANADA MENTION!!!!!!!!! This absolutely blew my mind when I first read it, and it’s so special to see it in animation – I love that they got the seawall and the weird seahorse head looking shape of the peninsula, and the poutine was so cute. I love how Anno unsettles Andy and Fuuko, and his G-Liner ability is cool to see animated…but of course, the elephant in the room is the CG again. And once again, I can’t really fault them, and they did hand draw the spiders when they got executed by the guillotine, but I wish they could’ve done something more to integrate the models into the look of the show better. But again, I have my fingers crossed that the finale run will be more stable. The main Autumn UMA is done well so far, with that light bit of body horror with the poor guy’s head and the mechanical movements of Autumn’s eyes. And then Anno and Juiz’s conversation had a fun terseness to it, as two characters who know more about the world than most other characters but with opposing philosophies and approaches. I wish they didn’t have that long flashback scene in the middle of the episode, because the episode could’ve ended with Fuuko diving into Andy’s past and been stronger for it, I think. But regardless, I’m once again nervously anticipating the next Undead Unluck episode.

#week in review #2024

[diatonight]

The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake

☆☆

(this review is my honest opinion and has no intention of offending anyone. So just read if you want. It contains spoilers.)

(Quite long as I had a lot to rant about 😅)

Okay, let’s talk about one of the most disappointing, nonsense books I read and it was one of my biggest book disappointments.

The premise of the book was dark academia with big plot twists, about a group of talented people that enter a competition for a year to be part of a society that has the knowledge that once was in Alexandria. However, only five could pass to the second year and turn to be society members.

World Building

Bad or even non-existent. In this book, there are people with and without magic. However, a lot about this magic system is not explained in the slightest.

We know that there are different types, which makes us believe that people are born within a specific type. However, characters end up talking about having abilities outside their magic type. Despite it trying to explain (minimally) how that is possible, we just don’t know enough about the magical system to fully understand it. It just comes as a very broad and limitless magic type where quite everything can be put in a way to fit it.

The separation between humans and magicians is also never truly explained. It tells us that people with magic go to universities, have important roles and even high-paying jobs. Due to this, you end up assuming that everyone knows about magicians. However, suddenly when explaining that an old scientific theory regarding light was actually wrong as the real event was caused due to a magician making fun of the unaware scientist, we have to assume that humans actually don't know about magic. It could be that in the past humans didn’t know about it but now they do. But there is really no point in thinking it forward because it is never truly explained.

This constant lack of explanation of the world that you are being introduce to will, unfortunately, continue.

Another good example of how the world of this book lacks structure is the existence of mermaids. I had to reread the section more than once as I was surprised that this book had mermaids as they were just introduced out of nowhere. Pretty much as “Ah, and that’s Gideon, he is half mermaid, half something else”. So, they are in the universities but again does everyone know? Never explained. Additionally, why do they exist? They were meaningless besides creating a subplot for Nico and Gideon, which was also meaningless, so...

Writing Style

The writing style made it difficult to understand what was going on. I have nothing against simple writing, there are lots of books that can be very profound while maintaining it simple. But it was quite different. It kind of felt that the author didn't have the energy to properly explain and write things clearly. For example, she tends to use brackets to explain things further or even to indicate who talked. It went pretty much like this:

That had begun almost immediately after the installations (”installations” being Atlas’s word for all of them nearly dying on their very first night as part of the society).

“Why would someone want us to think Rhodes was dead?” (Nico.) “Is the question why Rhodes, or why us?” (Parisa).

The use of a certain vocabulary also made the writing feel like pretentious tweets more than actual thoughts, conversations or explanations, but I believe this is more a picky point on my part.

Some quotes really didn't make that much sense. You just have to think about them more than once to see the flaws behind their logic. For example:

You have a choice, you know. You have only one true choice in this life: live or die. It is your decision. It is the only thing no one else can take from you.

Hmm... not so sure about it. There were some more, but this was one of the best.

There were also moments when it seemed that what was pointed out in one page, was forgotten in the next one. For example, after a battle Atlas shows up and it is described that Dalton was right behind him when everyone looked. Considering this is written in POVs, they saw him, but in the same scene, it is pointed out that they were surprised when he talked because they didn't know he was there.

This type of situation is repeated in the plot too. For example, when Atlas and Ezra were thinking of their motive to create the new team, it is said that they didn’t know but wanted to do something useful with this magic. But suddenly on the next page, it changed and now it was because they wanted to destroy the society as they disagreed with it.

However, the scene that made me question my interpretation skills was the battle, which I blame on the lack of proper description. In this scene, Libby and Tristan are trying to defend the place from some invaders and they enter a room that has some enemies. For Libby, there were dozens of them, but Tristan could see there were merely three (powers and stuff). So they start arguing about it, and due to the lack of description, it just looks like the enemies are just there waiting while they start understanding their trick. Another thing that made me annoyed in this scene was when this pair entered another room where there were two more enemies. But the thing is that it just described that they entered and decided to wait to see if there was someone else. So... were they hiding? Were they just standing there in the middle of the room? I don’t know. However, when it is mentioned that the men looked up from the computer and immediately locked eyes with Tristan, I just laugh. So I guess they were just there, in the middle of the room. I actually tried more than once to understand this scene and reread it but still have no clue.

Characters

This is a topic that lots of people seem to disagree in their opinions. Some love all the characters, and some really hate most of them. I would say that I am in the middle.

Nico was my favorite initially (aka he was giving Cardan vibes). However, despite looking like he was gonna be the focus on the first pages, by the middle of the book he was practically forgotten in the main plot of the book and only appeared to participate in the secondary plot, which was honestly meaningless for this book.

Libby was also a character that I enjoyed. I did like her interactions with Nico for the most part, but they did start to annoy me as they were always the same, their relationship got no development whatsoever. Plus, it did feel like she was always a topic in almost every chapter, even if the reason was everyone making a very teen-like comment about how she asked too many questions when all were still meeting. This made no sense as she didn't ask that many and didn't even ask many more for the rest of the book. It feels like the author wanted to make us understand that Libby’s attitude irritates the group but thought that only describing her being annoying once would be enough to justify everyone's constant complaints for the entire book.

Reina is probably the most boring of them all. Not because she didn’t have potential but because she was simply left out of everything in the story. She was just there to read, quite literally and didn’t care about anyone, or start caring. So, when she disliked someone it would only feel dull as there were barely any disagreements besides a single moment. Once again, it feels like the author thought that just one single scene where nothing major happened was enough to justify the characters' complaints for the entire story.

Tristan was the one that I disliked the most. I understand he is the guy with daddy issues who looks for people who can hurt him and be cruel towards him. It was an interesting build for some time. But it got to the point that his monologues were always the same. All of his thoughts are loyal to his traumas but it never felt like he barely tried to think outside that even if he had all the ways to do so. No development whatsoever. Plus, his sudden high interest in Libby after that drunk nightstand just didn’t feel right to me. I can understand the reasons for the attachment, but it was just too sudden. However, I was quite interested in his dynamic with Callum, to the point that I would much prefer that the attachment he created with him would have been the focus instead.

Parisa was a surprise for me as I didn’t expect to like her as I did, but she was without doubt the most interesting one. Parisa made her relationship with s*x seem very logical. For her it was not just s*x, but her way of playing mind games. She is by far the most intelligent character in the entire book and the one that made this book seem engaging for a while. Everything she did had a logical objective and made sense. She even made the fact that the author always had to add sexual references in almost every moment a little bit more tolerable, but just for a bit.

Callum had all the potential, but none of it was used. His perspective on morality was very intriguing and his thoughts on emotions due to his ability were fascinating. He could have been the character that would make the reader doubt, make them question, be the imbalance, be the one that would challenge others, but all that was left behind. His game against Parisa was the best part of the book and the only reason I might have given 2 stars.

Plot

Firstly, there was the plot regarding the society. As expected this was the most academic part of the book. All six of them had to create better security for the society. Were they able to do it? So for the largest part of the book it was completely forgotten, but eventually it was mentioned their success when it was no longer important. If it ever was.

We also know they are having classes about certain topics and I guess they needed to research independently (once again, wasn't very clear). Three of them ended up working together on this research regarding wormholes in space. Despite sounding like a very big event as it was never done before, it was, once again, completely forgotten for the rest of the book. It didn't add anything to the book at all. And this same pattern repeats. There are academic topics that appear from nowhere, then the characters do something incredible, nearly impossible, and then it is just forgotten or not developed.

Now, back to the mermaids. From the very beginning, we know that Nico needs to protect Gideon from his mother. However, we never know what bad stuff she's on, apart from her being a terrible mom. We are constantly reminded that she is a threat, to the point that Nico almost died just to make a safe place she couldn't invade. However, she didn’t do anything threatening. By the end of the book, we are just left wondering why she even existed. Of course, this narrative may be going to be expanded in the sequel. However, I can not even feel a bit excited about it as her existence wasn't important for this book.

Despite these, there was a part of this book that was okay. Since the tension between Parisa and Callum started, the stakes got higher. The majority of it was still dialogue and not a lot of action, but when we finally got a bit of it actually made me interested. The best parts of this book were definitely when Parisa manipulated Libby and Tristan and the mind duel. At this point, it felt more like a dark academia and I was so ready to see their corrupt arcs coming up, especially when all of them decided to kill Callum. Until it was all left behind for the "plot twist".

One of the main topics of this book was about what we do for more or prohibited knowledge. This is introduced when they all understand that they have to kill one of them. The book makes it look like most characters would have refused before but the time in the society and the taste of all that knowledge had changed them and they would kill to continue having it. However, at no point in the book we saw this corruption happening. There were just random discoveries but never the obsession with it nor the selfish thoughts. And is not like most cared for each other to think murder would be a big challenge.

Now the "plot twist"…

Guess what, Libby’s boyfriend, Ezra, was all this time a time travelling and together with Atlas, selected the whole group for a reason that changes each page. Jumping all the moments and changes of narrative in the only chapter where all this was presented, I want to point out how badly this plot twist was introduced and how it completely destroyed the good potential that it had.

The first time we are foresight about this was when Tristan saw someone outside the society and the reader can easily guess that it was Ezra. At this point, it was intriguing. Then Ezra speaks with Atlas out of nowhere. Then we know there is an outsider from the initial six. Finally, we are just explained in one chapter to the end, that Ezra saw the future and Atlas is a traitor who is planning to destroy the whole world. This whole chapter made me just scream "WHAT?", and not a "now everything makes sense" WHAT but a wtf WHAT. Everything in this chapter is just confusing. Was Ezra not being part of the initiates a betrayal or his decision? Does Ezra like Libby or not? I don't really know since he does say he likes her and then thinks it is better not to respond to her question regarding him caring for her since he does not have something good to say. Even the whole thing about Ezra now having six recruits to go against the society made me question how the hell he got time to find those people as he didn't even know about Atlas's plans for the longest. Atlas’s choice, despite having good logic behind was terribly discovered and foreshadowed. The only things we know for the whole book about Atlas are that he got a position uncommon to be gained and that he was not in society a lot. The same applies to Ezra. To add to all this, Ezra only associates the end of the world he saw in the future with Atlas because he remembers a conversation between them when drugged. He didn't even question if he was wrong, that his friend would never do it. No, he immediately knew clearly it was Atlas.

This book made me feel that all the years learning English were for nothing because I constantly couldn't understand what was happening.

#the atlas six #book review #olivie blake #ya #dark academia #book rant

[standreamy]

The issue with Ladybug in regards of  LadyNoir’s partnership

Edit 24/04/2022

This post contains the infos about all the series released up until now, including season 4 finale and the first two episodes of season 5. The concept remains the same overall, being further deepened and strengthened by the new content. They only added more reasons to why the topic is messed up a lot. 

PREMISE

First of all, I apologize for the length of this post and I clap to anyone who will be willing to read it and consider what I wrote with open mind, without jumping to the conclusion this is made just to express hate. 

I have this analysis I wanted to share about the Ladybug/Marinette discourse that went all over the fandom because of the new Kuro Neko trailer, and that then I kept continuing after it aired…

I wanted to write this post some time ago, but I waited to see how season 4 would progress overall. 

I’m aware that season 5 is still to be released and surely my opinion will grow and shift depending on what will happen, but we have enough material to talk about the situation NOW as this sub-plot was made to shape season 4 and part of season 3. Enough material is present to judge what was done in the progressing of the sub-plot in its dedicated seasons. 

I wanted to express what currently I think are the problems with the protagonist’s treatment towards Chat Noir.

As much as on one hand I understand the frustration of Ladybug’s fans, and how some takes and aggressive attitudes by some people are way exaggerated and I absolutely do not condone (Seriously lamenting to the author won’t fix the problem at this point and there is a line between expressing opinions in the right places with good manners and herassement), I can’t also blame who is genuinely but moderately expressing exasperation over the situation.

I am a very HUGE fan of angst, miscommunication tropes, etc... but if those are portrayed and written well. Without forcing characters to just become mean, or act unnaturally incoherent.

As I often say, I am not really into the fandom anymore. I watch the show, criticize it, draw for some headcanons and AUS I have, I read fanfictions and look at fanart, but I don’t engage in the fandom discussions and I’m not super invested in it (aside Marichat). I try to take everything that comes with a grain of salt and be neutral, but in this situation it’s really difficult to not lean on the current opinion that Marinette is acting wrongly.

After years of defending this show, I eventually gave up on the eventuality that its writing is very flawed and not in a light and okay-ish way. This doesn’t mean no one can like it or feel addicted to it, speaking for myself, I still try to always face episodes keeping a neutral critical eye.

But there are some lines I think should be drawn and one is how much we can really excuse Marinette/Ladybug’s behavior, as her character in the show in writing and enjoyment but also for ethical reasons regarding the viewers. 

What she is doing in the series to Chat, is entirely wrong. There’s no going around it, she is the one making the biggest mistakes and acting in a bad way and her actions shouldn't be justified so easily. 

Basic respect for someone in our life is fundamental, mostly who we care about and is supposed to be a closed one. Without respect we go nowhere and what Ladybug expressed towards Chat has serious lacks of it. 

I will go through this picking on the main “mistakes” she has made, from the very second season when all of this started (Yes, it’s not an issue born in season 4, it just exploded in such.) and expand on what’s wrong, plus proposing solutions that could have been taken.

Also, I’d like to remind that Chat has his own faults too and has big issues as character, but in regards of this subplot the problem lays more on Ladybug’s writing than him.

SEASON 2

Starting off with something small but important, she did not inform Chat Noir of a Guardian or explain to him how to reach him. If they talk regularly on patrols and are friends who relatively know each other, as the show pretends since they are supposed to do it enough to be “in love”, she would have been aware of Plagg’s not mentioning it to Chat (Which wasn’t told if it was a direct order from Fu), and the moment she started frequenting Fu she still should have made sure of it. 

If Plagg got sick and couldn’t guide Adrien, or something happened, he would have no way to reach Ladybug or get infos about how to find the Guardian, serious issues could have been raised. 

However, it’s true that before Syren, we weren’t aware that Fu apparently insisted on having Marinette not informing Chat about his existence, so we can blame part of this mostly to him. 

She, at least, tried to talk to Fu about including Chat more. If anything, we could blame that we didn’t get to see Fu explicitly telling her to not speak during their first encounter.

Another big flaw that got carried into the current season, even if not coherently, is Ladybug not revealing the identities of the temporary heroes to Chat. 

On one hand, it’s normal to think that being their identity, it would be their right to decide, just like it’s normal to consider that Fu might have been a big reason why Ladybug didn’t think of informing Chat. But again, we were never shown Fu actively saying to Marinette to not tell Chat, at least not clearly when she started giving out the temporary miraculous to the holders. She assumed it, which is understandable, but if they are partners on the level of equals, he should be kept in loop as much as her. 

If it was urgent and needed for him to find them, if he got into a situation where Ladybug was unavailable and he needed a back-up, he wouldn’t have been able to get help. Maybe, knowing where Fu is, he would get informed on their identities, but that would be only an exception, and it’s not said that Chat would have time to find Fu. Maybe Ladybug already got the Miraculous to give out, but she was trapped and Chat took it. At that point he would have to improvise.

This is generally most of what was wrong in season 2 regarding Ladybug’s attitude. It may not be as big and extreme as season 4, but here the roots were planted and there were barely efforts to fix them or deepen them to create a coherent plot point.

SEASON 3

Season 3 was more damaging as it seems under this perspective, because most of the plot holes that led to Chat being unfairly treated were introduced in this part of the show.

Let’s pick up again from Chat not knowing the temporary heroes. 

Ladybug didn’t inform Chat that other members know each other. If one of them was akumatized, it’s an objective risk he should be aware about. Aside from the fact that the rules were broken of course. It’s not a problem that they knew, it’s a problem he wasn’t made aware of it.

Another big issue is how he wasn’t informed at the moment Hawk Moth/Papillon learnt the identities in Miracle Queen.

This could be more of a plot hole and it probably is, but it became a pretext to continue on the road of Chat being kept in the dark. 

Maybe we can blame most of it on Fu again, but after Marinette became Guardian, even if trained by him, she still has to make her own choices and get responsibilities for them. She could have still realized that Chat needed to know these things.

Of course, there is a lack of good writing even on part of Chat. He isn’t stupid, he could have guessed once reached the battle ground and he could have easily questioned it to Ladybug. But still, Ladybug didn’t think of informing him and insisted on him not knowing (unless he was present already for other holders, but that’s a big incoherence). Either he shall know everyone’s or no one’s.

Shadow Moth knowing and not Chat, doesn’t hold logic or fairness. 

It’s an urgent matter. Chat should be informed about it so to draw his own conclusions and act if needed. 

And it’s also a morally wrong choice which Chat could have easily expressed if he wasn’t so forgiving and passive towards her (As I said, he has his own faults, but first and foremost he should be informed by her). If he was well written, he would have of course thought about how this would give the idea that Ladybug has a specifical worry against Chat in knowing ANY identity. Even more worried than HawkMoth knowing or putting at risk their working balance just to not let Chat know. 

In his shoes, he could even think, in a situation of self-doubts, that she trusted HawkMoth more, and saw Chat more as a danger.

Which seems extreme, but it’s a fair thought seeing how she acts.

This is furthermore supported by Multimouse’s resolution. It’s understandable Ladybug needed to find an excuse, for obvious reasons, but also her excuses at this point could have raised a lot of doubts in Chat.

Aside that Marinette is his supposed dear and close friend and sadly he didn’t even question anything, after everyone’s being compromised to Hawk Moth, Ladybug didn’t really need to keep Marinette out of commission. Sure, it came out Chat didn’t find out the other heroes’ identities, but Marinette was the only one not compromised and substituting her with PolyMouse in season 4 on the basis that it was because of her revealing to Chat could as well make him think the whole problem wasn’t Hawk Moth or others knowing, but him in the specific.

 Hawkmoth didn’t know her identity, only Chat, it made no sense for her to be replaced in Chat’s eyes. The minimum would have been to bring it up and have Ladybug find another excuse so to not let Chat think the worst about the situation. Perhaps taking advantage of her difficulty in justifying that Marinette cannot be called back, to make Chat understand that it is not a matter that depends on him, even if she insists not to tell him who the other members are. It would be a perfect trigger event.

One can say that since this didn’t happen, since the show (and Chat) didn’t bring it up, there’s no real reason to talk about it. But since we jump to assumptions on her care for Chat and justifications, even when they are not present in the show or not as they should, we can also add things that would surely count if the writing was good and coherent to the characters’ knowledge.

Couldn’t she come up with a better excuse? Like maybe the fact that since Marinette had to wear so many Miraculous together she had a magical overdose and was too drained of vital energy? So using a Miraculous again could affect her health? It would surely put at peace Chat Noir, it’s kind of realistic considering the rules and functioning of the jewels (ignoring that now characters wear 3 Miraculous together like nothing happens at all) and would have been perfect to either put the matter aside and not bring it up again or choose instead to work on it and make it a sub-plot, maybe giving chance also to develop more Marinette and Chat’s relationship or how he views her. 

This is more a stretch in matters of how much it was shown, but apparently Chat is not informed on all the things about the Miraculous. If he was an ally like the others, it would be understandable, but he is Ladybug’s partner and equal. He should be informed on what is important. Like the Grimoire, why it was so important. Sure, it creates complications in how to not wrap the plot too quickly, but there are ways to still inform him enough but not to suspect, in a realistic way, about his father ahead of time.

Another stretch, but a topic we can link to her “caring” about Chat Noir the whole series and making him feel important at times… another big mistake was how the balance between her as LadyNoire and Mister Bug was handled. Her thinking that Chat’s role is easy to fill is okay at the start, it’s a common banter many shows used for their characters if working in teams. But the episode didn’t end with her learning he is important or has a difficult and valid role, it ended with her having some fun and having a very easy time with his Miraculous.

If he learnt her role is difficult, she didn’t do the same, so if we take the show’s writing and how she easily substitutes him or forget about his feelings or presence, she didn’t learn from it and still thinks his role is easier and lighter. What was the point of that episode then?

Other small bits of elements we can take in consideration are also how in Desperada she wonders where Chat is and then talks about how they don’t need him in front of Adrien. We can argue that in the end she did need Chat and his cataclysm and admitted it, but more so the focus was on the fact that she needed the right Snake holder. And Adrien or no Adrien, even not considering that she should be developed at least enough by season 3 to not let something so small feelings wise to complicate a mission, since she is excused in her actions because she has to be “professional”, Chat is still an important member and friend. She doesn’t love him? He is still close enough not to talk about him like that, even if she is blinded by Adrien (Which again, by season 3 out of 5 for the main arc, shouldn’t be anymore the case).

Now we go into the biggest point, the one that created most misconceptions in the fandom.

Chat Blanc.

Let’s start with something clear. Chat should have been made aware of what happened if there is a fair partnership or a fair treatment at all of his role. It involves him, it’s about him, he should have known. 

Then, if we want to treat it as something that didn’t happen because Ladybug was traumatized from it, sure, it’s a possible road.

But if it was portrayed as such.

A trauma is shown through the series in acts and proofs, periodically, constantly. Marinette should have shown it when she talked, spoke, and thought about Chat and their partnership, or even having this experience getting in the way of her daily life.

We didn’t see during season 4 any of the real consequences of her stress as guardian. Lila didn’t create many issues, she didn’t lose friends, she wasn’t seen having bad time with school and grades, we didn’t see her parents doubting her, or her disappointing people’s expectations. We saw only her not being able to date Luka, a person she claimed to love and broke up with only because of her duties (Which says a lot about how her growth personally and as romantic relationships is treated. And how she is supposed to fall for Chat or really get to know Adrien. But it was said in a interview that Luka was supposed to create a bit of a mess by being the perfect guy to fall for, and Adrien being more than once listed as “perfect” in Marinette’s eyes about his qualities), but that was it.  

And if THAT wasn’t well portrayed and didn’t solidify a reason to justify her during the season stress-wise, how could it be the trauma from Chat Blanc that received the same treatment?

Every single link from her being so snappy and unfair to trauma from Chat Blanc is suppositions made by the fans who want to excuse her actions as PTSD/Trauma. We could believe so, but she never showed real hints about it, clear and confirmed. She never really gave proof and acted accordingly.

We never saw her having constant nightmares (only once and a unique hint of it all in Sentibubbler), we never saw her regretting her decisions and feeling conflict over her actions towards Chat or decisions concerning him. She never showed regret for leaving him in the dark or keeping him at arm’s length. If she was hit by trauma, she would be aware at least that she is doing it or want to keep a distance. And this is never portrayed.

She never expressed fear of falling in love with him even, she was always sure that she wasn’t in love with him and had no real concern about it. “She doesn’t realize she loves him deep inside”: no. 

This is just a supposition once again, it’s not a fact shown or stated. Her whole actions demonstrate the opposite. Someone who loves the other cares in every single action and act. Maybe they make mistakes but they care and suffer for them and for others and not just themselves (NY Special, which I’ll address later). 

Words speak louder with actions. So she can’t be excused about not informing him about Chat Blanc and leaving him in the dark about everything because she is afraid of him getting akumatized. She never showed it, she never acted traumatized, she never showed to depend on it to determine her actions.

Suppositions don’t really go far when the show doesn’t go accordingly, it will be always more fans trying to convince themselves.

You can’t base it on her trauma unless you show it. Show her hesitant and in fear that telling him would lead him to being akumatized. Otherwise, as being directly involved, it’s his RIGHT to know and there are no excuses. 

In real life Trauma can stay hidden and resurface later, but the signs are clear and surely there aren’t storytelling issues to take count of. If you’re writing a story, you have also some elements to portray to make the story flow with sense and coherence.

What kind of solution could have been found?

Remake Chat Blanc with other concepts in mind and other consequences.

Start from Glaciator, have Ladybug opening up bit by bit in what she can, have Marinette nurturing her friendship with Chat and eventually developing that surprise the heroine had into something more. Slowly getting more open minded and curious, she get also closer to him until, one day, she decides to give him the chance to try something together and she drops her transformation, hoping he still feels the same and perhaps he started liking her civilian self. 

That, makes her big and first mistake, dropping a bomb on him who, even if happy, start feeling a lot of pressure to keep her secure. They are in a relationship, he may or not reveal, but still HawkMoth notices his stress and starts targeting Ladybug specifically. Or even, he could discover Chat sees Marinette. And eventually things escalate and Chat is akumatized for despair but he doesn’t give infos to the villain, and destroys him like in the canon episode. Same consequences, different progression and turning point. Then, Bunnix goes back in time and takes Marinette before she decides to drop her transformation and brings her into the future, with the same events happening. 

When everything is fixed and she goes back to her own time, Marinette is even more hurt by the eventuality of being the cause of that, so even if she still has feelings for Chat, she needs to keep distance from him, even if suffering for it and blaming herself. She keeps doing so, substituting him, avoiding him, hurting him without really getting the consequences of her actions, keeps acting stressed, having nightmares, seeing Chat Blanc everywhere and having difficulties staying by her partner’s side, but faking to be okay. That all is okay.

At that point, it slowly goes down to her lashing out a bit (Not drastically, but still hurting him without meaning to) and the fracture is created in their partnership. 

It could even use an eventual Sandboy 2.0 as a possible increment of their division or to use it to help them fix the partnership.

Or, another options to stay closer to canon’s events: 

Adrien finds out exactly like in canon her identity, he decided to get to know Marinette better instead of jumping in a relationship and so he gets more and more enamored by her. To the point that Gabriel notices something has changed in his son, that he wants to spend more time out as a civilian, that he sneaks out to stay with Mari. Even Lila could inform Gabriel.

So he starts having someone spying on Adrien and eventually he finds out about Chat Noir and indirectly either he spies on Marinette and discovers her or he follows Chat Noir visiting her as hero (Implying Marinette could also get to know Chat and get closer to him) and uses her to akumatize him out of guilt and using other cards like his mother or his amok (It’s confirmed by now).

All this, permits to then give even the reason why the two shouldn’t get too close under any sense, instead of just not developing them but pretending they are.

The most important thing is also to focus on the real dangers of them knowing and getting in a relationship. Aka, not being ready emotionally or facing the dangers that are most concrete, not forcing Gabriel to find out with silly mistakes Adrien wouldn’t commit.

Their relationship and identities being discovered with their reveal to each other, it’s not a natural consequence. It’s a risk, but both in Chat Blanc and Ephemeral it was treated as something bound to happen if they shared their secret, which it isn’t. 

It’s more risky one of them being controlled, but if they were careful as they always were the chances of HawkMoth discovering something changed between them is very very low. 

 The ones I offered are just a couple of the plenty options, but of course, it wouldn’t be enough to just change this episode, but still taking the development and smear it way earlier since season 2 and keeping doing it after Chat Blanc too.

That’s why consistency is very important in a show to have actual characters’ development and in this show it lacks a lot.

SEASON 4

This season takes most of the previous mistakes and acts upon them to give the situation an explosion.

This choice is not itself a bad decision for the show. Creating a conflict between LadyNoir based on Marinette’s mistakes because of stress and guardianship is a valid choice that can give angst and interesting developments.

The problem lies in how everything is treated and that there is no actual development, nor bases to take this road with coherence.

There is much to address but we will start from the very start and try to go over everything.

She reveals to Alya and doesn’t inform him. 

Of course, Marinette’s identity is hers to do as she wishes. We didn’t really have a promise between the two that they would be each other’s first choice. Maybe it could have been implied but it wasn’t made a point of importance. 

The problem is not much that she vented and revealed to Alya, if anything it should have been made way earlier in the show for writing reasons. The real issue is that she didn’t inform her partner of what happened. And she didn’t then tell him about Rena Furtive or Alya keeping her miraculous permanently. 

It wouldn’t be a huge problem if he was a sidekick or general ally, but they are supposed to be equals and solid rules were established for them both to maintain. 

The show didn’t address it, so we don’t have proof unfortunately to say that they cared about revealing (at least, not on Marinette’s side.) or felt the urge to do it, even after taking down their enemy. Chat surely did, but Ladybug never and they never made a promise between them. And she never has shown fear in him not liking her behind the mask and disappointing his expectations, even if I find it a very valid take fanon-wise to give her more character.

The rules spoke clearly, no reveals. But it’s a general rule. “No one has to know”, so if something happened, the problem is not really that Alya discovered before Chat. It would be if CN and LB promised each other something, or we can even suppose it would have been fairer towards Chat. 

The problem is that her identity was compromised in the first place and he is to be informed to act as consequence and take precautions, or problems can rise like in Hack-San.

Marinette never had any intention to inform Chat about having told someone. She never showed regret about it aside in Hack-San when she was found out and Alya pushed her and Sentibubbler but more because of a sudden and casual fear of Alya betraying her. So, this isn’t about Chat being informed, she really didn’t think about it, if she did she gave no weight to it. 

It was Alya telling her to talk to Chat in Hack-san, if she didn’t Ladybug wouldn’t have done anything. Alya, who was his partner only for a day, could see more how he was affected and consider his position.

And still regarding this episode, she left and didn’t inform him. Surely he made the same mistake in the NY Special and he paid for it, showing remorse and being nervous about not having informed her.

Marinette may have left him with a substitute, but she was able to. Chat wouldn’t have left his miraculous to someone else, since apparently he is the only one not spilling secrets around ironically. 

Yet, when she made the same mistake she didn’t get the blame he did, he didn’t lash out on her like she did, even after how he had to find out such a thing. 

And she didn’t feel sorry of not warning him, unlike he did all along.

A simple call would have been enough. A quick bathroom break to leave him a message and then tell him she would explain once she was back. Still wrong not telling him before about revealing to someone, but at least she would have shown consideration and efforts in fixing her mistake.

Marinette may have done a long list for Alya (Very scrupulous in this, but not in taking a minute to give him heads-up) and added to laugh at his jokes cause they make him happy, but if in the same episode she fails over and over again to consider really the impact of her actions, the most important and fundamental ones, how really can that be relevant?

In the end of the episode, she promised to never abandon him, but did she really take into account his fears? 

Worrying about seeing someone important disappear without knowing what happened is terrifying. It happens in real life, on the internet… and if you care about said person it eats you alive. 

Chat may be too forgiving, but he expressed a serious fear that should have been faced by Ladybug with consideration that goes beyond an empty promise she will break even.

She can promise that, of course, and break it as a plot point, but this is furthermore proof of how superficial the whole thing is and how difficult it is to excuse her. 

How can you promise that you won’t end up in an accident? That something won’t happen? You fall sick? You can’t promise that will never happen. It’s cruel to do so, even if she doesn’t know that many people abandoned him in his life. 

You may say that with optimism, but you need to also give some back-up to show you really got seriously his fear and share it.

Doesn’t Ladybug worry about seeing him vanish suddenly one day? Maybe learning something happened and he died without her never seeing him again, saying goodbye or revealing?

Did she offer a solution or compromise? Some sort of realistic element to make him feel better? Leaving a clue, a letter or something for her relatives, where she would ask to inform him if something happened. Write something to give him in case she wouldn’t be there anymore so he would know who she was and she cared even if she didn’t have the chance to tell him in person. 

Encouraging that once all was over with Shadow Moth they could reveal, so to pump his spirits a bit, show she wanted to know as much as him, since she never showed fears about him being disappointed in Marinette.

None of this was made. How much can we say then that his worries really are taken into account?

Or even, why didn’t she think of giving him a chance to find someone to reveal too? As much as she doesn’t know about his home life (Which is more because she doesn’t let them open up, or the writers not giving space to know really how much they know each other personally without compromising infos in the way), on contrary to her beliefs and the show’s writing, his romance with her isn’t his only concern. He still is the bearer of the cat miraculous and it’s an objective weight.

Again, plot-wise it’s okay it passed from her mind, only if Chat showed to be bothered of having no one to open up to. This way, it only seems to lack her considerations or thinking.

This is small, but still important if we want to take everything into account: you tell your colleagues if you are not showing up for patrols. One thing is not showing up if the meeting is casual and more Chat hoping for her to appear and getting his hopes up. Another thing is having set patrols to which, even if you have other important duties, you didn’t stand up professionally. It’s important to inform you won’t show up, even more so if those patrols also hold the scope of spending time with someone important that you can’t frequent outside the mask. 

She forgot? it’s okay, just think about it later, realize and feel a bit sorry! You made a mistake, you were careless and forgetful but at least you show you cared about it.

Chat isn’t seeked or waited most of the time, she doesn’t actively seek him anymore unless she needs at all costs his power. He is her last thought and need, she easily replaces him. Which of course, if case calls should be something to be ready to do, but not so often without worrying. Not so easily.

She makes plans for “two people” but doesn’t give him heads-up. It shouldn’t be something so easy to brush off. He may be very loyal and would back her up, she may trust him to adapt, but for now we don’t know if it’s that or just her not considering it.

So even her “joke” or sarcasm about not knowing each other or she would have seeked him out, it’s really uncalled for. A joke should be ironic at least, even if it doesn’t make you laugh. (Optigami)

She insists on not revealing while people, including herself, are breaking the rules all over… aside him.

Now, I know this is something people discussed plenty on, but I want to try addressing it anyway.

Glaciator 2 for me was one of the episodes with most potential, maybe it showed the deepest part of Marinette and Chat, when they interacted.

Sure, Marinette confessed something to him in the cinema that doesn’t really stand to how she actually acts, but it was a try to put a patch on her character mess. Their interactions in the episode were both funny and endearing (This is what happens when you make two characters actually act as friends and make them get to know each other truly). 

But, Ladybug’s reaction was way over the top. 

Gossip is a thing that exists, as a public figure it’s understandable that it can be pressuring, but it’s also something to get used to. She may be stressed, but lashing out like that remains exaggerated. She acted almost repulsively towards him. 

Chat surely was wrong in pushing just a few lines, we could even pretend he needed to give her more space and lay down with the flirting etc…

It was a lesson for him, but in the same episode she acted as badly towards Adrien, if not worse. She cared about cheering him up so he could fall for her, again fell in her obsession and acted superficial (The gifts weren’t even all handmade like everyone thought). It was shallow, the meanings behind an action count and her acting so furious and exaggerated with Chat was even more out of place with how she acted after. 

But only Chat was the one who had to learn all the lessons of the episode.

I would also like to note that Ladybug never outright said to Chat she will never like him romantically or what he can’t or not do in her regards. She said there was another boy. So she could have fallen for Chat, she just didn’t in the show (Which makes Luka’s presence a bit more pointless romance-wise. She never showed thoughts of giving Chat a chance, even if it meant giving up on it for Chat Blanc. And she didn’t learn from her relationship with Luka on how to treat Adrien).

Yet she flirted back and acted in ways that can make a person still get hopes up. So, again, she holds part of blame if he insisted on it. You put the boundaries? Be clear on your intention, that you being affectionate and flirting back doesn’t mean anything. Otherwise, don’t react as harshly.  

It’s okay getting mad for the timing, but aside that, there’s no reason to throw him in a trashcan. It’s not fun, it’s not a gag or a joke. You portray the scene differently if it was, not with “serious” implications and pressure for him to be wrong about his attitude. Not with how she was even freaking out in stopping the media, almost obsessed to stop the rumors. Is she frantic? It’s okay to do so, but again, show valid reasons. Show that she has flashbacks of Chat Blanc and freaks out because her viewing Chat romantically is possible and she is scared that it will lead to that event happening. Show her having fear, not seeming crazily obsessed with her anger. Otherwise, it just proves that she isn’t unaware of loving Chat, she just doesn’t for real and is almost repulsed to the idea.

And yes, it was a cute thing her asking him for practice, but this if their visits as Marichat friendos were regular and she didn’t just approach the whole situation with him as Ladybug like that. 

Okay, he doesn’t know yet, but if she had the minimal intention to reveal someday she should worry that he would be hurt to know that in a day she pushed him away like that and also asked him to get her with someone else without him knowing. While he suffered over his feelings.

Now, onto Sentibubbler and Rocketear. 

I mentioned before that Sentibubbler holds the only true hint of Ladybug having trauma due to Chat Blanc, but it happens only once and it’s due to her choice to trust someone who would betray her, not because of the fear of losing Chat directly. 

This episode also introduces some of the signs of Chat’s feeling left out and how him not being aware of some fundamental infos can get in the way of the mission or lead to him being captured. 

He should have been informed of Rena Furtive, if he was really still considered Ladybug’s equal.  

The problem of his lack of knowledge re-presents in Rocketear, where he suddenly finds out that Rena and Carapace are Alya and Nino (and dealing with Nino’s lashing and more doubts for his self-confidence). Aside the fact that, as mentioned ahead, he should know the temporary heroes’ identities, at least he should have known that they are still called in case even if they were compromised. 

This not only is a problem for his involvement in the team, but also can naturally find another link to the Multimouse case and the dangers of him knowing. 

The holders who were compromised by HawkMoth, their villain, are still called in action, however the only one who didn’t, and was found only by Chat himself, is left out. Isn’t it normal to have doubts on everything? Where trust is really held about his regards?

Ladybug in the same episode says she trust him about not hitting on Alya knowing she is taken, but she also acts exasperated when she explains her why Chat was on her balcony. Does it take an akuma caused by the situation and Chat being beaten up for her to think he isn’t a playboy? She is supposed to know him by now. He jokes but his feelings are genuine.

Moving on to Ephemeral…

This episode was kind of a mess. Both in the rhythm, both is the fact that Ladybug says she loves Adrien and not Chat, ruining every small bit of possibility she would like Chat deep inside and developed a bit in 4 seasons.

 Let’s not call it just her being unaware, she gave support to what she said the whole series. The only time she showed possible hints of starting to think about Chat differently was Glaciator in season 2 after seeing him in a new light and considering the whole picture… and a possible foreshadowing in Kagami’s quote about the manga ending up with the two people practicing falling for each other.

But this is never supported in the series, she was serious about not loving Chat. This shows how behind she is in her development as character and as relationships. She could have these doubts if Ephemeral happened in season 1, not in the second last. 

Was it really necessary to wait until the end of season 4 to have her realizing that Adrien is not perfect, he is a normal person with flaws and that they never speak enough or properly, so to consider themselves close friends? If friends at all?

True is that he hides a lot of his feelings and natural attitudes as Adrien, but if that love she feels has at least some bases, has some genuinity, shouldn’t it be represented differently? With her maybe seeing through the attitude? Seeing he is not perfect and she likes him also for it?

By season 4, it’s like there was no progress at all between the two. 

Then again, all I said about her feelings for him now is more to note how we can’t say for sure she likes him and acts badly because she cares. She didn’t show it.

Still in Ephemeral we have 2 more problems. 

The first is how she brushed off Chat after insisting on talking to him, like if the matter wasn’t important. But this is the lesser grave between the two.

The other is about her plan to let SuHan know Chat’s identity.

I didn’t see many people talk about it, maybe because it didn’t seem a bit deal, but for me this is something extremely concerning. 

Her being willing to find out Chat Noir’s identity with a trick and making him reveal it to other people without his consent or knowledge. Guardian or not, trying to have him revealing to someone else by using his trust for her is a very unfair and dishonest thing. Aside from forgetting herself, she wanted someone else to discover it and without him being aware. It’s his identity and he has the right to decide who to reveal to, even more than the temporary heroes, unless it’s a direct guardian order (then again, if they are also partners who are supposed to be equal, this is questionable). 

Luka knowing already or not doesn’t matter (even if he did a mistake in agreeing and not confessing that he knows), the problem is the intentions Ladybug had. If he wasn’t Adrien, how would it have ended? Would the plan work? Couldn’t she just be honest with Chat? He surely would have helped find a solution.

Ladybug knew exactly where to hit to get Chat to give her his identity. She knew about how much he cares for her, she knew she had to use that to convince him, even knowing which words, addressing very valid points that support why they should know. Points he thinks and agrees on. She manipulated (let’s try to think it not maliciously, as much as possible) the situation, his feelings, his ideas, to her own advantage. This is a typical villain attitude, not one of a superheroine who is supposed to care about her partner and dear friend. 

One thing would be if she showed remorse about it, another is not. Using someone’s deep feelings and vulnerability, a friend, against them without even considering to come off as honest... doesn’t seem a nice action. 

They had Viperion resetting her attempts... why not coming clear in one and asking him directly explaining the situation? If you want to show that she really knows him well, that she was right about him not revealing unless she used a tricky tactic to hit the right spot of his heart and brain, why not just... prove it? 

Now, let’s move to one of the biggest problems of this season.

Kuro Neko.

You can be stressed, traumatized, but that is NOT an excuse to lash out on people when they are not doing anything wrong. This is a basic point. 

For no reason you should treat or lash out on someone like that. 

Then, Chat in Glaciator 2 learnt to not push and even if the pun may wasn’t on spot as timing, he was genuine about his concern to help and was clear about it. She saw it even. 

She was losing time, yes, but she had no reason to be so harsh because the situation wasn’t urgent. If she trusts the other heroes to do their job then she knows there is the possibility of needing to recharge before going to pick all the miraculouses back. She said it herself, she knew where they were, she could go to them a few minutes later after filling Chat in. 

We can’t say she wasn’t pissed for him being late, say that she was aware he needed a break and that her words later to Plagg implied she was okay and understanding with him for not being present because her actions don’t go accordingly. She never showed genuine concern towards him for the matter, the few times she approached him in past was when it was clearly visible he was upset and one of the two it was Alya pressing her to do so. She didn’t even notice, as said earlier, that he needed to talk, in a situation where it’s only normal even if you don’t know the other’s feelings. Something so objectively plain and important to talk about, she didn’t consider.

That harshness is out of question, angry or not, understandable or less, you don’t lash out like that, if you do at least after realizing you apologize. Since he showed up she seemed pissed, at being so at the first occasion she sees him it's not really something that proves her “understanding” of his mental health. 

And her reasons for feeling rushed to begin with were easy to fix.

She could have no idea of how long the fight would last, detransforming before picking back all the jewels is possible and I don’t think she wouldn’t trust the others to wait up a few minutes more. Some of them were still transformed, Chat could easily track down the miraculouses with his own baton and pick them up, or wait for her to recharge and explain to him the location of them as civilians. Or, if for Rena it was too complicated to watch out for both Ladybug and Chat, he still could have gone with her.

Rena Fortive was probably out looking and Ladybug could easily give the other heroes heads-up to wait a tiny bit more. Mylene even said she could feed her kwami herself.

Her phrase during the interview is another concerning fact. 

You can be pissed but there is a basic respect for people, even more partners and friends. Not only she went against her own words and contradicted her bond with him, but also gravely treated him. 

Under a certain perspective, calling him a “partner like any other” could be seen as defending him for his absence, but it’s clear this is not the case.

Let’s remember that Chat Noir is not like any other hero. He was chosen alongside Ladybug to be a permanent member, to work with her as other half and his presence is not optional. He is not like the others who can be called in, whether he is needed or not. 

Cataclysm or not, he has to be there and be present because that is his asset, he is fundamental for the team and necessary alongside Ladybug. They are the team that fixes the problem. Master Fu chose both of them and their roles are still the same, bonus heroes or not. He was chosen to be THERE. Always.

And the people, civilians and viewers, know this very well. The journalist had a right to be worried and ask about Chat Noir’s absence cause he is the root of the team with Ladybug, he is fundamental even when he isn’t needed in terms of powers. He is supposed to be there and the civilians are no tdumb, they understand there was a shift. Downgrading Chat Noir to a partner like the others just reflects what Ladybug thinks about him.

Author, the show, the premises, keep telling that they are equal, a duo. But Ladybug doesn’t think so anymore. She said it in Ephemeral, how they are not anymore a duo and a team, she said it in Risk, that he is now just another holder (with the consolation of being her favourite) and now too. She doesn’t see him anymore as her equal or specific partner, she sees him like the other temporary heroes, just with a more powerful miraculous.

There’s a difference between her unknowingly sidelining Chat and being mean because of her trauma, but still caring about him like no one else and knowing he is impossible to replace... to her not thinking so anymore. It’s two opposite things that clash. 

It would be okay if she made those mistakes with a solid background behind that proves she really thinks he is impossible to replace, they are a duo and she suffers from the distance between them, even if maybe she doesn’t realize her actions are putting him in a corner alone. But she isn’t doing it for this. 

Her words need to be accompanied by actions and for her, he is a hero she can substitute anytime.

“Your friendship is the most important thing for me”. Chat said it clearly, for him Ladybug is important as friend and partner and she said previously she sees him as friend too, not just a partner. 

And she jumped into blaming his romantic feelings without trying to understand that Chat cares about her fully as a friend and important person and not just for those (Even if aside from Glaciator and other few times maybe he wasn’t so skilled in showing it. Sometimes it’s indeed made it seem like he cares only for that, but it was done the same for Marinette in regards to Adrien, so it’s a problem in the portrayal of their feelings).

Marinette, the whole time, blamed his problems on his feelings and acted upon it, without fully considering his position. Plagg surely shouldn’t have remarked again that Chat loves her romantically, this is a very huge mistake from the writing. Pushing everytime only the romantical side of the situation when most of it isn’t related to the romance but to their partnership, friendship and Adrien’s family situation, is very damaging for this topic. And of course, Ladybug takes it as it’s only about romance. This again is a big mistake from Plagg but at this point of the series I’d like to think that Ladybug knows that Chat cares for her regardless of romantic feelings, as he told her more than once and as I think she would know not to make assumptions on someone’s private life. He, romance or not, cares about Ladybug as friend and partner, enjoys her company and would gladly do anything for her even if he wasn’t in love with her. Chat even told her in Hack-San, he is scared to lose her, he cares a whole lot even when she didn’t show to reciprocate the same worry.

Why did she assume he would be okay, without knowing his situation and without considering that he is still her main partner and friend. She was ready to just blame his feelings, be ready to give up on him with the excuse of not hurting him, but not even showing the will of keeping him in her life. She needed a Chat Noir, not her Chat Noir, and the episode never explains why it should be otherwise.

I’d like to note that I understand in this case, the general dialogues were not appropriately chosen and that Ladybug has more the fault of rushing into her decision and not thinking more about Chat’s reasons, rather than the assumption itself that romance in involved. It’s more a writing issue.

However, going on, we still face issues.

We assume Marinette cares because of seeing her stressed, but to have proof of it we need to see her feelings. 

There was no focus on his absence as a person, but only as a holder. No tears, no panic, no pain, it was totally different than New York.  Where was the desperation? Where were the doubts?

A first moment of anger is understandable, it’s also very understandable that she has a role so she needs to look out for what she has to do and not just what she wants. But there was no portrayal of her leaking feelings of pain. 

It would have surely worked better to show her sorrow, her feelings in conflict, between wanting her Kitty back and needing to pick a new Cat holder as soon as possible. 

Saying it was implied it’s not as addressing it. We can’t say her stress and “depression” were due to her missing Chat because so far, no feelings were shown about it clearly. And it wasn’t even addressed. If it’s not shown we can as well say it wasn’t there.

The only thing she showed was urgency in finding someone as substitute and her state of exhaustion didn’t portray desperation in the lack of her dear partner, but in the lack of a solution for her duty. She didn’t spend any second of the episode missing her partner specifically and wanting him back. 

There was no thought about needing to seek him out as a civilian to know him outside her life, almost if she didn’t give importance to meeting him ever again at all. Doesn’t she want Chat in her life in future after all is over? Wouldn’t she want him as a friend in her normal life? Is she okay with just seeing him disappear forever? Was then his fear in Hack-San a one-sided feeling?

She didn’t see her mistakes, she didn’t consider her actions wrong until one single moment in which she thought she drove him to be akumatized.

(Which proved she is not traumatized of him being akumatized or fears for it as much it seems, not really showing any panic for the situation or remembering Chat Blanc. Her confusion while battling was the surprise of the situation, not about him being akumatized at all. Otherwise there would be more pressure over the fact that something she tried to “avoid”, she ended up doing anyway.)

But the first time she felt kind of guilty, she blamed it on him regretting leaving his miraculous and not on how she treated him.  And even remarked how she knows him well, contradicting all her actions and beliefs the whole season. 

She tried to “apologize” for not seeing how sad he was, commenting how he was probably pissed to see a substitute, but again not taking into account her actions or how she treated him until later, where however, she cares more about how she failed as “guardian” and not as “partner” or “friend”.

Once more, she proved she has a different view of their relationship and roles in the team. She didn’t see her actions as in her failing towards a special partner and friend, but only towards a simple asset to the team, no more than how she should treat any other hero. 

But Chat isn’t. 

And the worst problem is how she is excused and her doubts right away washed away by HIM. 

The episode tries to focus on the moral that he should just accept the situation, that it was all about him and to shove down his feelings, in saying it’s okay as long as he self-appreciate.

“His feelings for you don’t mean you need to treat him differently” it’s a cute and right message if it was only about her unrequited feelings, but here we are talking about how she acted towards him all the season as friend and partner. Not just about a not reciprocated crush. 

He was left out, treated differently and felt bad about it and as a partner, friend and human-being, it’s only natural and fair to think about it. To care. Because Chat is not a hero like the others, romance or not.

“You take care of everyone the same way”, it’s only proving that when she spoke about him being a partner as any other she meant exactly that and the episode, the writing, supports exactly that.

He is like the others and shouldn’t be treated as more, with more regard, as in his role isn’t anymore the one of before, as in now his importance is reduced. 

Now even Chat is accepting it. But Chat was the one who convinced her to stay a hero, who supported her, who was there since the start and is supposed to be her best friend with the mask and main partner. Having more heroes doesn't imply his role is lowered down if she takes more instead. His treatment should be the same as before. He should be treated with the same amount of consideration, respect and care as before. 

So his feeling left out does matter. She should treat him differently, or at least the same as the start. Because he has a different role professionally and emotionally wise than the others.

Let’s make an example, a bit stretched but that could make it more relatable:

You and another person are taken to work for a failing company and made the heads. You two become friends and partners, have the same importance, balances roles and work with the same goal and power. You are the one who gave courage to your partner to keep working with you and your partnership both emotionally and professionally is stronger than ever. This brings the company to be stable and improve. 

The head then starts bringing in more of your partner into the higher department until they leave the ownership to them. Since then, you are no longer treated with the same regard, you don’t hold the same aspects of the partnership anymore and are shoved at the same level of the other workers, not being able to do the job you once did, to be consulted on the things you once were consulted for...

You are downgraded to a lower level and not told, you have to get it by yourself. Even if you are part of the reason the company survived, even if you worked very well, now you are not anymore in the same position as before and both professionally and relationship-wise you are treated as any other. 

Your ex-partner says they care but they don’t treat you for the role you had and are supposed to hold.

And then, eventually, even if you feel like it’s unfair, you need to accept that you deserve to be included less, to have less recognition and take the same role of the others because as long as you know you are a good worker it’s alright.

It’s okay to shove all away as long as you know your work has value (maybe metaphorically even underpaid), to settle for less and discard what you’ve done in past and let people treat you less than what they did. 

Why make the episode about Adrien’s self-worth when he acts totally opposite of it in the episode and one of the messages is exactly this? Why should Chat downgrade his feelings and role when the episode speaks about self-acceptance?

Isn’t it pretty similar to Adrien’s homelife situation? Settling for what his father wants? I’m not saying we shall hate Marinette, but we hate Gabriel and call his parenting abusive. Doesn’t then the writing of this situation hit too close? Doesn’t it give some weird messages?

Because the episode uses Chat understanding to treat himself fairly, to accept a situation where he is not treated fairly.

Another big problem is how the episode is not clear about its intentions in the meaning and how Ladybug reaches the conclusion about Chat Noir being better than Cat Walker. 

Because literally, we have no explanation for it. Why is Chat Noir better? Why Imperfection is better than perfection? Does she want Chat Noir back because she feels like it’s the best thing to do for the job or because of her feelings? Why does she prefer Chat?

If at the end of the episode Ladybug says to him that even if he isn’t always needed he is needed (to her), it implies she already knows and it’s a lesson for him to learn. Then why during the episode it’s her learning it? And why is it not explained how she learns it? 

What did she learn?

All we saw was that she was surprised by the new member, but she found him perfect all along, she was attracted to him and never once showed preference to Chat Noir. She said it herself, she “tried everything” to make the Lucky Charm work with Catwalker, because she genuinely wanted him as a partner. She wanted the perfection alongside her, someone who acts and doesn’t question, someone who doesn’t feel excluded. She wanted the perfect partner and tried anything to make it work. 

And not only she did so, but she thought the Lucky Charm told her that the partner didn’t fit, she didn’t do it because she realized herself that it wasn’t meant to be. Let’s remember that the Lucky Charm is just an object and that it’s Ladybug figuring out how to use it, sometimes it has multiple ways to work and many of them she didn’t need the Cat power to make it work. Many times she did it by herself, so this case too she probably could have done it by herself (which she did), simply she wanted to include at all costs CatWalker, as much as possible, because she liked him and wanted to be right about having a better partner now. She wanted the thing to work.

So, does she prefer someone perfect or imperfect? And why the imperfect? Because the Lucky Charm pointed it out?

Was there a real reason portrayed as to why he was “too perfect”? On why the “imperfect” Chat Noir was better? Professionally and emotionally?

On a side her phrase to him a bit after “Do you feel upset? Don’t you feel sad and excluded?” when she says she doesn’t need him but the other Chat could imply she got that her ex-partner wasn’t to leave aside, but taking everything into account, it implies more how she worries about having someone who doesn’t lament on feeling excluded.

If she got Chat was indeed excluded why didn’t she apologize still at the end? Wasn’t it her mistake since she treated him differently and left him in the dark? So which mistakes was she supposed to realize or realized to work better?

Ladybug blushed (And we leave out the values of her romantical tastes) and appreciated how CatWalker was okay with her choosing to not use him in her plan and when she was reassured he wasn’t feeling left out. Then what is really important for her? The feelings of her partner or not having issues with a partner feeling unsettled and giving her troubles?

It doesn’t make her seem someone who cares, if it was the intention, but someone who is shallow and uncaring.

She didn’t choose Chat because she wanted it or because she felt like her feelings asked for it. Nor because she worked better with him. She chose him because he is someone who does his job, who does everything she says and trusts her enough to follow her around and agree with her always with no buts. Her only problem with him is that he felt excluded, which was an issue for her habits in working. 

Catwalker was too perfect because he may was even more professional than her and didn’t listen when she told him to trust her that the villain was akumatized Chat. Chat would have just gone with her convictions. 

She wanted Catwalker as a partner and was ready to substitute Chat with him, and did everything to prove she could but eventually failed.

This is a very easy interpretation to take.

And this leads to the main problem of the episode. The ending.

She didn’t apologize in the end for anything. Not for how she treated him the whole season, not for what happened in the episode. HE apologized for having feelings, for not being treated fairly. He just settled with the situation as he always does. 

He surely had part of blame for not speaking up more decisively to her, and is half of why they have miscommunication problems, but was it all on him? Most of this was on her.

We could try to say she regretted it, that she realizes needs him specifically, but if we can’t see the real motives on why, if we don’t even see an apology, if she doesn’t realize her mistakes… then what’s the point?

What is the point of saying “Only because sometimes I don’t need you it doesn’t mean I don’t need YOU”, if again it all comes down to him exaggerating and her not seeing what she has done all the season? If she doesn’t even say a simple sorry?

Aside that her words don't really fit the construction of the episode, how she implies that it was for him the lesson to learn when in the episode it was more up on her as demonstration. In the fight, it’s CatWalker opening up her eyes. So where does the final phrase come from? Why is it made once again about him?

Aside we don’t know what she learnt, it was about her learning too. In the end, all that Chat learnt was to adapt to the situation.

What was the point of the sub-plot again? If it was again all minimized? Then wasn’t it fair for people to worry that she wouldn’t work to fix her mistakes and issues? That she wouldn’t work hard for it?

Words are cute but they need actions to be proved, once again it was all pushed on him as if she didn’t commit anything.

A parallel of Hack-San where she went to him to apologize (pushed by Alya and not on her own, and not for all she has done), but with him apologizing for having fair feelings. The first time where he was understanding, while she acted like waiting for his apology and rubbed again her words of him being irreplaceable but with no explanation, proof or actions from her so far to confirm it. 

“No one will, ever, replace you”

Someone was going to, she was ready to and was almost okay with it, even with the perspective of never seeing him again. And she didn’t show otherwise the whole season.

The episode just showed that if Chat didn’t have feelings for her, he could reach perfection even as a superhero and can be on par with Ladybug. Under all senses, even strategic wise.

This episode is the top of the messed up moralism and one of the most problematic and confusing as writing, which characters acting in conflicting ways and eventually, doesn’t wrap at all a big and full sub-plot of the season. 

The problem isn’t only that she lashed out on him so excessively. It’s that we lack the development to it. And it concluded with nothing.

Marinette isn’t traumatized, she never showed in the series to be so affected. While her reaching this point of rocture with Chat, once again I think, is natural as a possible outcome, it’s not justified writing wise. She had no real big reasons shown to act like that. She showed no remorse the whole season in her actions or actual difficulty in approaching her partner. So this is objectively out of nowhere. 

This repetitive attitude she had was never faced by her side with remorse. 

You can’t, as stressed as you may be, treat someone like that more than once. If it was a few times with fair background supporting those mistakes, it would be okay. But not like this.

And in the end, this being portrayed as the episode that would resolve the sub-plot, everything was wrapped wrongly. 

And even more confusing it gets if we look into the season finale...

Risk - Strike Back

The season finale brought up again the sub-plot even after it was “wrapped up” somehow, maybe not with the best message. 

Let’s start with something fundamental we see at the start of the episode “Risk”, after Ladybug’s team defeats the newest victim, Chat Noir asks if he can come with her to take all the Miraculous and once again she has to deny (not by words, but her silence speaks enough to give him the answer). Since Chat already knows some of the identities and he is supposed to be Ladybug’s equal and partner, it’s only natural to think he could help out with this and know more about the temporary holders, because if needed he should know infos to act accordingly. It’s understandable that it’s risky now and Rena has to look out from distance for enemies, but wouldn’t Chat be only a bonus security?

But that aside, when he expresses his resignation, he confirms what was already suspected, to then be confirmed again by Ladybug who agrees. “Now I’m just a holder like any other” 

“Yep, but you’ll always be my favourite”. 

They just confirmed that they are not equal anymore, that they never were treated so and that when Ladybug spoke in Kuro Neko about Chat being a partner like any other, she was meaning exactly that, not defending him. 

Chat was degraded all along without knowing, he had to face it himself by growing more and more disappointed, until he exploded. To then be told again he was exaggerating, it was all about his love and him not accepting himself. 

This is already a big problem, because while on a side it’s understandable as angsty sub-plot, to drag on the dispute between the two heroes, it wasn’t treated as something wrong, or something unfair. And it wasn’t either something she was shown to feel guilty about, if not a little when he complained at the start of this episode. 

But moving on...

With Chat affected by Risk’s powers (Which doesn’t help in the writing of any of the two characters. Is basic conversation a risk? Opening your heart a little? After so much time of apparently getting to know each other? This is for both Adrien and Marinette finally talking like normal and him sharing his worries, and also Chat and Ladybug facing the situation they are in. I think in this case the use of an akuma was greatly wrong, since they’re supposed to be close characters), he lets his anger and dissatisfaction speak aloud more and so he starts arguing with Ladybug. 

We are shown, finally, her remembering about Chat Blanc, but this is only provoked by him addressing directly the topic of them being akumatized. It’s not brought up by her own fears, trauma or by the debate between the two, by the whole “keeping him at distance”. It’s once again related to the identities. 

And once again, Chat reminds her that of course he can’t know, since she doesn’t speak to him about anything at all. 

We can skip forward through Chat feeling left aside because she wants to protect his power, or him feeling excluded when he sees her so happy around Felix (don’t make me spell his hero name pls), but then we reach the most important point, that addresses the whole menaging of this sub-plot. It doesn’t resolve it, it doesn’t wrap it up, it just confuses more on the true intentions in handling it. 

“I wanted to control everything. I didn’t listen to you, I lied to you, I kept you at distance”.

First note about her admitting her mistakes at the end of the episode, after being partially defeated; she isn’t apologising. This isn’t an apology, there are no words implying it and surely she isn’t saying it out loud. This is an admission of mistakes. Perhaps we can say it wasn’t the best situation, but if this was meant to wrap up the whole thing, then surely something big is lacking. Her apology is fundamental since she just admitted all along it was her own actions and mistakes the problem and that they were a willing choice. 

But then we turn back and face Kuro Neko. That episode and this admission of the finale, contradict each other.

What was the point of Kuro Neko? The premise was that with Chat blowing up and giving up his Miraculous, it was set up to resolve or reach the highest moment of tension of the sub-plot... but it didn't. We didn’t get Ladybug realising her mistakes, we didn’t get an apology from her. We got one from him, who wasn’t in the wrong in the first place. The whole episode, aside focusing again on the point of his romantic feelings, which weren’t really supposed to be one of the focuses, gives the final message that she wasn’t in the wrong. He was. 

Plagg accused her openly, even if again addressing the romantical feelings which aren’t even that important in the whole sub-plot and scheme of things. He said that she mistreated Chat, but she didn’t come off as guilty, as aware of her actions. “I’m sorry but I’m just doing my best to be a Guardian” She seemed surprised about it all, not even realising before she was making him feel excluded and vulnerable. Ladybug even admits to thinking it was a good break for him and it only seems natural overall for her to think he is now a member like any others, aside owning the Black Cat miraculous. 

But if she wasn’t aware, how come in the finale she admits to keeping him at arm’s length? Surely, she could have realised later on, but we didn’t see her realising it, thinking about it, feeling guilty. She knows Chat, she also can put herself in his shoes, it would be so natural to know that he must be feeling bad about the situation. Then why we never saw her addressing it? Isn’t it a willing choice due to her “trauma”?

She used so easily his trust in her in Ephemeral, without even consulting him and never feeling a doubt until he revealed and surely because he was Adrien, not because of her actions, so why in all this she never showed regret or guilt or sadness in keeping him at distance?

If it was a willing choice as implied by this phrase, then what was the point of Kuro Neko? An episode that tells us the exact opposite? And treats it as the right answer? Where we are said she wasn’t aware of her actions and she wasn’t in the wrong in the first place?

It brings back to the main problem, she wasn’t shows being vulnerable or in difficulty because of her choices. Because it wasn’t even decided if she was willingly putting him at distance or if it was spontaneous. 

Either she willingly sidelined him, or she just treated him badly naturally and in both cases, she wasn’t shown caring about it until she made an horrible mistake. and even then, she didn’t apologise for it. 

Yes, this is very important, because apologizing is NOT the same of admitting mistakes. You could say “Oh yeah I made your birthday cake fall” or “Yes, I did that and I’m sorry”.  Admitting you did something and showing sadness over it, it’s still not the act of apologizing. One could say you’re just sorry for youself or don’t even care really about doing what you did, or regret it.

And from the finale of season 4 and the first two episodes “Evolution” and “Moltiplication” of season 5, she still didn’t. 

Here is why it’s all a problem.

She never apologized in New York for lashing out on him unfairly about not trusting him. She felt destroyed when he left, which at least is better than Kuro Neko’s situation, but she felt more sorry because she didn’t imagine herself as Ladybug without her Chat, not because she worried about him and how he felt after her lashing out. “He made his choice”. There wasn’t guilt, there was more so blame on him for leaving suddenly once again. He was the only one who apologized. As Kuro Neko once again…

(Note that New York being a cause of stress for her newer reaction to him giving up is to be taken with a grain of salt since so far even if it’s said to be canon, the show doesn’t give any single proof or evidence that the specials had influence on the series and happened).

Her actions, when it comes to her relationship with Chat Noir, never were taken accountable for real in the series. Aside from some sadness, guilt for exposing Master Fu at most, she never faced her mistakes when it regarded treating her partner unfairly or acting in a morally wrong way.

Yes, she did make apologies in various cases and tried to fix her mistakes after realising she was wrong, but they often don’t stick for the following episodes and in the first place, these things don’t apply when it comes to her relationship with Chat.

This is the same reason why Marinette never grows as a character for that regard, may it comes to Adrien and her crush on him or to Chat. All her attitudes and mistakes are more often than not excused or ignored, and treated as normal or not wrong, when there is plenty of alarming signals about how she acts. 

Of course, many characters in the show have this problem. Chat/Adrien does surely, Alya does, Master Fu does, most does… but Marinette is the protagonist and the only one that is so excused.

A character being flawed and making mistakes is absolutely normal, yes teens make weird decisions and they have to make mistakes over and over again like adults to really learn at times, but they must be brought up as such and have the character working on them, not having them passed as nothing much because of this idea of girl-power and feminism the show has. And should show some work done in development at the end of the second last season.

Chat may have acted by impulse giving up, or maybe even he should have talked with her directly, but how would it have worked with her acting like that on a regular basis?

He had many reasons to act like he did, even more justified than her for her own actions. 

Will the show really approach the situation by having her working hard to apologize and fix her attitude? Are we really sure they will when the show never has done it? Even with small moments and actions?

This is the real issue. 

It's a thing that has been going on way before season 4. It just went all over the top now because it’s a choice the writers picked plot-wise, but it’s not written properly and with genuinity. 

The problem is that this time too it was all minimized when the problems are far greater. With Chat taking part of blame in a situation he has almost none. Her actions don't show remorse in the trailers or previous episodes. She doesn’t realize things that are blatant. And it may be understandable if we had clear context and proof of her trauma. But she never showed to care in a healthy and deep way. The actions written for her to prove she cares about Chat can be easily considered superficial or forced to make minimal treatment, which would be only worse if she really did care a lot for him. She once used to care much more, in season 1, maybe even the second, even if she made mistakes there too. She once used to want to fix her mistakes, to improve herself. It’s been a long while since she threw that away in regards to Chat.Sure she may laugh at some jokes, play along, hug him, say she won’t abandon him, ask Alya to laugh at his puns, but how much does it count when there are other genuine and basic rules about respect and care she totally ignores? The basic things we have to show to everyone. A stranger, a friend, a partner…

How much does it count if she told Alya to play with Chat if in the same episode she didn’t even consider his feelings on her identity being compromised and her not telling him she had a substitute?

How much does it count if she acted stressed in Kuro Neko if it was barely about missing him?

How much does it count she chose Chat over Catwalker, imperfection over perfection, where there is no reason explained to why and it’s clear what she prefers?

How much does it count she told him once again he is irreplaceable when in the episode meant to show that it’s showed totally the opposite and never told why it’s otherwise? 

How much does it count she may realized she did something wrong if she shows no remorse for his sake and doesn’t apologize?

How much does it count that she told him she wouldn’t abandon him if she wasn’t even going to address the situation if Alya didn’t remind her? If she didn’t even seriously consider those fears or share them?

How much can we base everything on suppositions? Supposedly she is hurt inside, she loves him, she is traumatized, but when the show barely acts to prove them and explain why the character’s act in a certain way? 

How much can we suppose Ladybug cares right now so deeply when nothing supports it aside our own hopes and thoughts? Our own work of headcanons and fiction?

The important things are shown in how a person takes account of the other and Ladybug, even if Fu is heavily responsible, she is even more by herself. 

Sure, he shares a big part of blame. He was the one who we can, in a very debatable way, say “trained” her. He was surely part of why Marinette got so strict with rules and such. But she is an independent person and she is the one who acted badly with Chat. She still holds most of the blame for her actions.

She's 14, but age works as an excuse up to a point. Of course, Thomas was the first to say that precise age doesn't matter, and I certainly disagree with that. It is very important, if you want to use age as an excuse, specify. (And it’s always important if your show has a structure that requires a linear storytelling and doesn’t fit entirely the filler writing). However, in these cases her age is abused to explain exaggerated behavior which, however, should be gradually corrected.

A character, regardless of the age they have and the target the show aims to, must be written with consistency, care and the desire to improve. 

She needs to make mistakes.

But this does not mean that she can misbehave, not be held responsible and always get away with it, apart from a little sadness etc ...

She needs to pay, learn, be aware of her mistakes and be willing to apologize and work to fix them. Feeling inner conflict over time. Being seen as the one that is wrong at times despite being the protagonist and a supposed strong female representation.

Not to seem the one who doesn't matter what, will be in the right and fair light. Excusing her behavior constantly is what also supports the main problem of this show and why it was barely fixed.

Having a flawed character that acts by making mistakes and works to fix them is okay if it's written and built well. And with valid and shown explanations. 

Miscommunication must be well written and supported by rights and wrongs in the character’s actions. Coherent ones.

Marinette is not a monster, I am sure she is a character supposed to make mistakes but cares. The problem, is that right now, everything written shows the exact opposite and no matter how much she might work later, how much she might feel guilty and really realise what she did wrong, it’s still too late.  (And as of Kuro Neko, she didn’t do it).  She hasn’t proven to do so since season 3. She is thought to care, but not written to do so properly.

We lack the whole road to this development, the proof of a trauma, showing her suffering but still caring. Marinette facing choices and doubts over how to act towards Chat. Her speaking and thinking about what to tell him or not. Her doubting.  And mostly we lack her fixing her attitude.

Show her caring so much that she becomes cold and keep him at arm’s length because it’s the only way to protect him. Show her thinking genuinely about that, and suffering for it. Then, you can say she really has a trauma going on.

You have to show she cares with bigger acts, with consideration and care, even if in the end she makes the wrong choices. 

This is not a character who is suffering trauma. Sure, there are many ways a person can react, but writing wise Marinette doesn’t show the real signs. She is just being mean and stressed, but overall, trauma or not, you don’t treat someone like that more than once. And surely, show’s blame, you don’t act like it’s fine or no big deal.

In the 5 seasons arc, we are at the fourth with no improvement in the matter.

The only hint was Glaciator but everything that episode made and introduced was then discarded for the worst.

There, Ladybug and Chat Noir had miscommunication, made assumptions, and saw they were wrong. There Ladybug apologized and explained, there she seemed to be open to change her attitude or open at the chance to get to know him more so to treat him not superficially.

Why was it all used for the wrong reasons then?

Age is a matter until we remember she is a character with a story arc that is supposed to have growth, constantly even in her fallouts and mistakes. There are way younger characters but they have a growth and development. 

But ignoring, excusing her actions right now, making it seem like it's not something grave when there are millions of children following this series and taking example, is the worst thing of all.

Chat Noir has many writing problems himself, he is far from the perfect character and he too has had similar problems. He is resilient, he doesn’t react often to unfair things, he rearely loses his temper or show disappoint towards his situation, he let everyone decide for himself and lacked a “spine” for most part of the series. One can say that it’s the sentimonster thing, but it should apply only to his father. And if we go towards the topic of abuse, the effects in such a long series should have been reduced as he interacted more with his friends. We should have seen him more open to his feelings with his friends and at least see him trying more to rebel his father, only failing at the very end because of his amok. He should have improved a lot more and sooner.

But, as big as this problem is, he’s been far less the problem in the duos’ interactions, in every side of the square.

I agree that excessive hate is not the right way to go. For any character. Nor for Chat, not for Ladybug. But feeling anger and concern over the situation? Genuine ones? Criticizing her and the writing without blowing up? Seems fair enough to me.

We can’t really blame people for being angry over how she is acting and is written. Of course taking it to extremes is wrong. 

Liking the show with its flaws, liking Marinette, it’s okay, it’s fair. Tastes exist and we are different because we have them.

But the genuine concern is more than understandable. People have the right to feel pissed and annoyed at this point.

Because how she acts is there to see, and ignoring it, excusing it, may be the problem why the authors kept making Marinette the character she is and will ever be in the main series.

I am not even saying all of this to defend Chat Noir because I’m an hardcore fan (I try to be neutral, it just happens right now I think he is less in the wrong. Besides, Plagg is my fav, despite his sometimes wrong choice of speech. It used to be Alya but I didn’t like her much in season 3) and I’m not saying this to defend Ladynoir rights. I couldn’t care right now about shipping what we see in canon, right now I wouldn’t see any of the love square working, aside maybe Marichat, but if they pick this road, it will be wayyy too late. My favorite ship is Marichat, I think it has the most potential, but it’s late to use it now and surely with the context of the series, my likes lays more on the fanon Marichat (which is natural, there’s almost no content even for the canon one).

I said it already also, but I LOVE Angst. This choice of the drama in the ship, of Chat Noir feeling left out, of Ladybug unknowingly OR willingly (picking one clear) sidelining him? It’s VERY good. Excellent twist. People may lament it because many don’t deal good with angst, but I adore the idea, I adore the potential. 

But the problem is how it was executed. It’s not well developed, well structured. It will stay just potential used in the wrong way, like... most of the show’s best elements. People shouldn’t lament about the angst, but about the angst not being well portrayed. 

Season 4 is probably the best season as ideas, better in structure than the third, but the worst still with the third as writing. Yes, there is still left material to judge and I will carefully analyze it, but it won’t change what we already got and how it was portrayed.

She didn’t work to fix her mistake, a whole plot-line was just left like that and yes, as I said, there is still season 5 to see that, but Kuro Neko and the finale only added a good bunch of problems and right now, so far into the series and in their partnership, seeing Ladybug not even realising she is hurting him, seems a bit stretched.

And definitely, waiting for the fourth season to face this kind of plot is too late.

This content fits season 2 or 3, now it’s way too late.

#LadyNoir #miraculous ladybug #kuro neko #mlb spoilers #mlb season 4 #chat noir #ladybug #marinette #ephemeral #glaciator 2 #chat blanc #rocketear #Marichat #cat walker #strike back #mlb strikeback #risk #mlb season 5 #analysis #and moderate criticism #I don't really define it as salt