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blueberry-bubbles130 · 8 months

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The disappointment of the characterisation of the Bourgeois family in Miraculous Ladybug.

This essay/post will be talking about my feelings regarding the characterisation of Bourgeois family, as I'm doing a rewrite fanfiction of Miraculous and the Bourgeois family plays an extremely important part in my rewrite.

Trigger Warnings include:

TW: Child abuse

Child neglect

Verbal abuse

Emotional abuse

Domestic Violence

If I have forgotten to add any trigger warnings in the post please comment and I'll add them as soon as I can.

Getting this out of the way with now because I don't want to focus on her in this post, and because she won't be in my rewrite at all, I don't like Zoe. In the canon of the show all she serves as is a replacement for Chloe and a wielder of the Bee Miraculous. Unfortunately in the canon show, she is tied to the miraculous and Chloe in such a way that she cannot be talked about with bringing Chloe salt/bashing into the discussion, and has no true character of her own out of just being nice. There are others in the show who already could've filled the role much better. Zoe is far better written in fanon and fanfiction. But I don't want to be beating a long dead horse so there are other posts you can read to see Zoe's poor implementation in the show, and absolutely great fanfictions you can read that gives her a developed character if you like her. With that being said lets get onto the main essay.

Who are the Bourgeois family?

In the show the Bourgeois family are an upper class family that are said to hold a lot of influence. The family consists of Andre Bourgeois; the patriarch of the family who owns a hotel, and is also the mayor of Paris. Audrey Bourgeois; the matriarch of the family and a famous fashion critic. And Chloe Bourgeois; the child of the family and the temporary bee miraculous holder. The Bourgeois family can be considered a large secondary example of Miraculous's wasted potential, and it's inability to truly give a satisfying conclusion to any concept they've tried to execute during it's run. And some will say this is just the end of an arc and season 6 will continue and deliver. But it won't, especially considering Miraculous' record with delivering on expected plotlines it isn't promising in the slightest and I do not hold hope for season 6. Despite this, I'm rather interested in the Bourgeois family, and they are my favourite part of Miraculous making it even more disappointing to see the outcome of the plotline involving them.

Audrey Bourgeois-

I'm doing Audrey Bourgeois first because despite having a lot to say about all the family members, I have the least to say about Audrey.

Audrey is characterised as a harsh fashion critic who has nothing kind to say about anyone around her. Her kind words are only reserved for someone who can truly impress her, examples being Marinette and Gabriel. Marinette being shown to the audience and Gabriel being told to the audience. She is responsible for launching Gabriel into fame as a fashion designer. Audrey isn't even remotely nice to her own family. She abandons them mostly and seems to return only when work arises in Paris. And even then she belittles both her husband and Chloe constantly.

Something I find interesting in fanfiction for Miraculous Ladybug is that before we got any glimpse of who Audrey is. Everyone assumed she'd died and they either called her Simone or Julia, Julie or Juliette. And this gave depth to both Chloe, and Andre. This will be discussed again later.

Audrey's character has at least stayed consistent throughout Miraculous' ever-increasing run, which is a miracle considering Miraculous issues with characterisation, among other issues. However at the same time it's quite odd considering unlike Andre who got more developed regarding his past and what he wants, Audrey remains quite flat character-wise with only glimpses of there possibly something else to her. I think that Audrey despite staying consistent and explaining a lot about Chloe and Andre, she's still wasted potential. In one of the episodes characters such as Gabriel, Natalie and and I think maybe Tomoe are shown watching important story information on a tv. This would seemingly hint that Audrey had something to do with Gabriel. Which is believable considering Audrey's personality and previous appearances with Gabriel. However as of season 5 this has not been expanded upon in anyway whatsoever and like I keep saying I doubt it will be in season 6 or future seasons if they get anymore. This makes me believe that Audrey should've been expanded upon as a villain, she could've stolen a miraculous and possibly became a main villain. She's close to Gabriel, she's got the perfect personality for it; the only thing she needed to be a good villain was a decent motivation and I easily could've believed her becoming a villain if she'd been given decent motivation. She's already controlling and demanding, so Zoe could've never been introduced and you could've had it so she wants ultimate control over Andre and Chloe while placing herself as some sort of evil Queen. And that's all I really have to say about Audrey. Hell! I've already seen a few posts where people state that Audrey should've taken over as mayor after Andre, which makes a hell of a lot more sense then Chloe doing it. It's not exactly the same because she's the stepmother, but something I think Audrey should've been a bit like but far more toned down for the child audience is like Julia Cotton from Hellraiser. She's just so perfect as a example of someone willing to go to extremes in order to achieve their desires. Hell it's already there in her akuma, Style Queen! Just make her an evil queen, it wouldn't have been that hard and then we wouldn't have to deal with that mess we got with them attempting to make Gabriel sympathetic but then being shown him horribly abusing his son with glee at every opportunity he gets. You could keep Gabriel and Natalie sympathetic and make Audrey even more despicable than she is.

Also Audrey is clearly abusive, and in 2023 we should not need to have debates over whether she is because some people say she's just cruel. No she's abusive, it's clearly abuse.

Chloe Bourgeois-

Chloe is definitely my favourite character out of the Bourgeois family and Miraculous as a whole, and while her characterisation post season 3 does sadden and disappoint me, it doesn't anger me like what the writers did with Andre.

Chloe starts the series as nothing more than an obnoxious bully who torments her classmates. When we get to season 2 we get to see Chloe receive more depth as a character and see how her parents helped her in becoming the person she is today. Then season 3 happened and we see Miracle Queen. Now I don't think Miracle Queen is completely horrid, It makes sense that Chloe may begin to regress or backslide into her unhealthy habits. And I've even seen people still redeem her with miracle queen being in their stories. What pisses me off about Miracle Queen, especially when people online talk about it, is that they just seem to forget about Gabriel akumatising Audrey and Andre to use as blackmail against Chloe. Like yes at the end of the day, Chloe still makes the decision to become Miracle Queen and do what she did. But you cannot deny that a fully grown man who should know better, put the two people she presumably cared about the most at this point in danger in order to blackmail her. He cornered her on the balcony and essentially railroaded her into making that decision. Like what was she going to do if she said no, she can't fight Hawkmoth without a miraculous and even if she'd tried he might've legitimately hurt her or her parents to win. Here again we see fanfics just knock the show out of the water, with many people deciding to make Chloe trick Hawkmoth into giving her the miraculous and then she just runs away to get help. Also Marinette shouldn't have gotten involved in Chloe's family drama, like why did she think it was a good idea to do what she did in Queen wasp. Just why?

Something else regarding Chloe's character arc that just genuinely confuses me is that during season 2 it's obvious in episodes like Zombizou, Style Queen, Queen Wasp and Malediktator is that they're written by other writers who have differing opinions on Chloe to Thomas Astruc. And now I think Thomas was busy on a different project while this was was being written, which is fine. But what confuses me is that surely Thomas could've looked over the episode script and maybe said to change it. Instead of just letting a character he clearly does not like get development he also didn't like and then arguing with Chloe fans and Miraculous fans who may not like Chloe but understand her character arc was butchered as well as others, on twitter over it.

As well as this is season 5, I think it's revealed season 1-5 of Miraculous takes place over 1 school year. In France the average school year is about 10 months long lasting from September to late June early July. This means each season could technically take place over about 2 months. This gives Chloe 2-4 months at most to redeem herself. Which is just too much to expect of her to try and completely redeem herself and undo a lifetime of unhealthy behaviours in that short of a timespan. No wonder Miracle Queen happened, she hasn't had the proper support to try and unlearn those behaviours or redeem herself. And it makes Andre giving her over to her mother even more saddening/rage enducing, because Zoe has been around for the same time Chloe was given to try and unlearn her healthy behaviours. So Andre has abandoned his daughter who's he risen for her entire 13-14 year life for some child he's known for about 3 months at best.

Then season 4 and 5 begin the endless parade of Chloe Salt/Bashing in order to prop up Zoe. As well as the butchering of other characters, to continue hammering in that point, such as Andre, but we'll get to him later. Now I'm not saying I'm completely against the idea of evil Chloe, there are some brilliant fanfics out there with Chloe just either hamming it up as an evil villain or treated as a tragic villain, who's fall from grace is a pure tradegy. And I love it both because it treats Chloe with the seriousness she deserves, the majority of fanfics treat the abuse she's suffered with seriousness and not as some joke like the serious does. You want a absolutely brilliant Chloe Bourgeois fanfic read "Float like a Butterfly, Sting like a Bee" on ao3 it's just so good and I can't recommend it enough.

Also on the topic of redemptions Sabrina, Felix, Natalie and especially Gabriel shouldn't gotten redemptions. Gabriel, Sabrina and Felix don't show any remorse for their actions, in fact they all show glee in their actions apart from Natalie. But even then none of them truly face any punishments for their actions and sure Gabriel doesn't get to enjoy Emilie being back alive, but he still gets away with his numerous crimes.

As a final note on Chloe's development, it's been said by some people before it's quite harmful that Chloe doesn't get treated with the seriousness that she deserves and is one of the only villains not given a redemption as well as not being what is considered a "perfect" or "idealised" victim of abuse like Adrien is. And as someone who has lashed out at others due to issues with authoritive figures in the past (not to the extent Chloe has thought, especially with the bullying and wealth, I'm also not French) I do relate to Chloe in a small way. And this makes it harder for me personally, and it really is just harmful because it might give kids who have lashed out like her due to similar or the same issues the same idea that they don't deserve love or a guardian who can actually care for them in the way they need, as children.

I'm not saying give Chloe a redemption, she just should've been treat with the seriousness she needed.

Gettting back on track lets talk about the final member of the Bourgeois family.

Andre Bourgeois-

Oh Andre, where do I begin with him, in canon.

For seasons 1 to 3 he's mainly Chloe's nervous father and enabler. Then we get a bit of depth in season 4 and 5 about him wanting to be a director but not getting to due to Audrey and politics. Then in season 5 he lets Audrey take Chloe.

A deleted part of the script was revealed in which originally he gave Chloe to Audrey which in itself is horrific because he knows how Audrey is. Not only has she subjected Chloe to verbal abuse but him as well. This would be changed in the series to him just letting Audrey take Chloe, which is just as worse. These are just as bad because either way he's trying to absolve himself of any responsibility of what happened with Chloe which he is equally responsible for as he is Chloe's main enabler. And you know I actually had some hope for him in canon that he'd realise it was time to as someone else brilliantly put it "ditch the bitch" and forge a better relationship with Chloe, but that never happened. I guess that's what I get for having hope for Miraculous's canon.

It legitimately pisses me off so fucking much than in canon he gets to wash his hands clean of the whole problem with Chloe.

Now fanon Andre is so much better than his Canon counterpart and thinking about it now, Fanon Andre has always been better than his canon counterpart.

Bringing back up the whole thing about fanfics that pre-date Audrey is that it gives not only Chloe but Andre more depth. These fanfics typically paint the picture that Andre is a man that closed off not only by politics but the death of his wife and because he's not in tune with his own emotions, he can't help Chloe so instead of ignoring her grief like her father, Chloe is lashing out instead.

Even fanon versions of Andre that are more far more closed off, corrupt, and evil are much more enjoyable to read about than canon Andre, and have more depth. Something about Canon Andre just makes him even more loathsome and detestable then his many often better fanon versions. And when he does get redeemed in fanon it's just so good, because the people writing him, understand what makes his character have actual depth to him and make him realise his faults in a satisfying way that gives him a good redemption.

Maybe it was just me projecting the fanon versions of Andre onto the Canon version that made my disappointment and anger so much worse. But either way his overall canon characterisation is disappointing.

Again if you want to a fanfic that has Andre be a good antagonist, read "Chloe and the Bee" by @anxresi it isn't complete but what is there is just brilliant. And If you'd prefer to read a fanfiction where Andre is trying his best to be a good parent to Chloe read "Float like a Butterfly....Sting like a Bee" by Bookmonkey on ao3. They're both such amazing fanfics.

Conclusion-

Overall the characterisation of the Bourgeois family within the canon of the actual show is just a neatly packaged example of Miraculous' many issues such as bad writing, poor pacing, inconsistent characterisation and either attempting to poorly redeem abusers who should know better or just letting them get away without any consequences whatsoever.

I'd like to say thank you for listening to my long feral rambles about the Bourgeois family.

#miraculous ladybug #chloe bourgeois #audrey bourgeois #andre bourgeois #zoe lee #ml salt #miraculous salt #ml critical #ml analysis #mlb chloe #andré bourgeois #marinette salt #ml fandom salt #this just has a little fandom salt though not a lot

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taibhsearachd · 3 months

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So, for a while, I've been like "wow, I eat way too much fast food, we gotta cut down on that and start cooking more at home". And then my wife was away for three days, I didn't eat out at all, and by the third day I was nearly blacking out any time I did anything at all. Getting out of bed. Standing up. Climbing stairs (which I have to do to go to the bathroom). Taking the dogs out. Orgasming. It was just an unsustainable situation.

At this point I don't know how to maintain consciousness without eating fast food every day unless I'm literally doing shots of salt water, which... I've done it before, let me tell you, it's MISERABLE and comes with the added problem where you might throw it up shortly after.

#personal post #chronic illness #pots #adding more salt to the food I make at home... is not an option #because if I add more salt to my food at home it becomes inedibly gross #even for me with my pathological need for salt #...though writing about this did remind me of when #on family spaghetti nights #I would just eat plain spaghetti with salt on it #no sauce #I might have had pots a lot earlier than I thought I did #hmm

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dykefaggotry · 2 months

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I'm convinced the people complaining that dune is a white savior story that glorifies paul have not watched either installment or read a book they just saw the trailers and said ooooh they're making timothee chardonnay COOL. missing the point that he's literally just darth vader if darth vader were like. worse.

#and that's a HARD thing to achieve but boy paul does it!#I've also heard that anakin was inspired by paul but I can't find sources on that so I'm taking it w a grain of salt #I'd believe it though like sw was clearly inspired by a lot of other sci fi/fantasy & dune was definitely one

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the-martyrfication-of-the-matron · 1 year

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MCD but Aphmau uses salt as currency because her brain is still wired to how society used to work back when she was Irene and salt was still a symbol of wealth.

#she gives Brendan handfuls of salt whenever he helps her and he just doesn’t understand.#he walks around holding the salt all day until Donna or Kiki come over and empty his hands for him.#Logan has actually earned a lot of money selling the salt she gives him.#though not as much as he’s lost letting her pay for things with salt #aphmau #aphverse #rewrite #aphblr #minecraft diaries #mcd #amaranth #aphmau shalas’haska

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pk-sideblog · 5 months

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Also, before someone decides to argue, I am a NaruSaku and SasuLee shipper. I literally think Sasuke is queer, but that doesn't erase that some of y'all just hate women. Because there is sincerely nothing Sakura Haruno has done that she A) Hasn't shown growth and moved away from behavior wise B) That isn't nearly as close to the same level of bad that Sasuke, Itachi, Neji, Gaara, Obito, or even Naruto "Probably would have been the coolest guy" Uzumaki have done. But, people rush to defend them but cannot extend the same grace to Sakura who was just an annoying teen girl?

You don't have to like her, but some of y'all need to really reflect and realize your dislike of her is rooted in some base of misogyny and because a femme presenting woman dared to be close to your favorites; or for some that a not femme enough presenting woman dared to not kiss your power fantasy's feet. Ultimately, sexism is a disease and it's disturbing the hold it still has on the Naruto fandom.

#discourse #pro sakura haruno #fandom sexism #fandom salt #Seriously #I am bored and tired of Sakura insulting #Sasuke is not a prize #Sasuke has been though a lot but THAT DOES NOT MAKE HIM A POOR DEFENSLESS FLOWER THAT NEEDS TO BE PROTECTED FROM THE EVIL WOMAN WHO WANTS TO #KISS HIM #FIRST OF ALL #He almost killed her so like straight up he can protect himself #Also #Sakura literally after a certain point loved him but focused on what was best Naruto's Sake #Sakura is not nearly as Sasuke obsessed as fans scream #Yall shoulf be looking at Naruto for that #Also Sasuke is just not that great of a person in Shippuden but y'all think mentall illness is an excuse fot everything #No one in Team 7 eas a perfect angel but you rush yo give Naruto Sasuke and Kakashi grace #Even Sai #But never Sakura the one woman #Hmm why is that

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randomsufff · 1 month

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Lmao guess who’s replaying Fallout 4…

Funni comic based on my something I’m doing in my Survival run (which I know isn’t that hard but I’m not really a hardcore gamer in the first place so it’s challenging enough lmao). I wanted to try to be in a relationship with all the companions but since you can’t auto save and stuff I decided to just rack up as much charisma bonuses I can via clothing before the final Flirt check (and yes I know I could save if I ask them to talk later and just find a bed but where’s the fun in that?)

So it results in me going “oh hold on-“ *frantically changes into suit and puts on stupid wig and glasses* “Hey I love you- be in a relationship it’s me 👍” and I though it was such a hilarious visual I had to draw it out.

Plus bonus random meme that I kind of made up because the image of this man managing to pull multiple people while spontaneously dressing on the spot into this goofy ass fit (the glasses are so large on the face- like why are they that big 💀💀💀) was so funny to me

#fallout 4 #preston garvey #not sure what else to tag #super hot opinion but I actually like Fallout 4 a lot #I think the entire companion system makes the game for me #the story is crap- but not as bad as Fallout 3s lol #sorry fallout 3 fans #also the hold breath feature in 4 when using the sniper rifle #hate that it’s not in earlier games #though to be fair I played 4 first #and I heard that skews your view on the rest of the Fallout series so #take what I say about the game with a grain of salt

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eggrestes · 8 months

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hey ml fandom, polls weren't made to see every 2 weeks which is the fandom's fav side of lovesquare

#I keep seeing them every 2 weeks like. it is NOT changing omg we all know it's Mari//chat!!#I don't even vote because I don't want to see against nd again how my fav is the least fav I KNOW!!#I was active for 3 whole years I can tell a lot abt this fandom without polls!!#though I miss the when someone had done a thorough analysis (seasons episodes ships EVERYTHING) which was fun to look at #ml fandom salt #?? Idk??

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thetruearchmagos · 2 months

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Tangerine, Carrot, and Honey for whichever oc is rotating around in your head (like a microwave) the most right now

- @athenswrites

Well then, thank you kindly for the Ask(s) @athenswrites !

For this Ask game, and I'll be answering for dear Captain Castex, of Swift Seas And Whirlwinds.

Tagging @theprissythumbelina @hessdalen-globe @caxycreations @thatndginger @nerdexer @coffeexafterxmidnight

TANGERINE - Describe them!

A gaunt, lanky man in his late 30s. Lacking in exercise or an especially physically intensive lifestyle, and generally appears a lot older than his age. Perpetually tired outside of the rare moments of intense action that occur within his job. Poorly dressed outside of his uniform, and enjoys the luxury of not having to care about his appearance too much.

CARROT - What do they usually eat?

Whatever they serve in the mess hall whenever he deigns to leave his office. Skilled hoarder of snacks within it, to the point where his colleagues might occasionally wonder if he's still alive.

HONEY - What is their silliest fear?

Sudden loud noises, dating back to an incident in his youth in the countryside. Gunshots in particular, a fact which will most certainly make an appearance in SSAW.

FIRE - How much do they know of their home's history? Is their knowledge right?

A great deal more from his work than in his childhood, and when he first signed on. Born just in time for the educational and broader social reforms of the Republic to be reversed, the same romantic patriotism which would see him join the Party and sign on in its service would eventually place him in circumstances where his knowledge would be gradually corrected with time. Though he now knows more of the truth than he ought to, he hasn't let it change him or his duty.

#writing #writeblr #my writing #my wips #original writing #my ocs #take all this with a grain of salt though #I'd say my ideas towards Castex as a major character are in their early days yet #and a lot of him is subject to change

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chatonnoir · 1 year

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Adrienette stans wanna gaslight Ladynoir stans who don’t like this plot point and act like Ladynoir was always meant to be platonic from the start and Adrienette was obviously always meant to be the side that would start dating .... No.

My dudes there is a reason Ladynoir has always been more popular than Adrienette among the online fandom. There is a reason the bulk of the fancontent when the show first came out focused on romantic Ladynoir. Hell there is a reason Zag chose for their expensive piece of ship merch to be a $300+ Ladynoir statue. They’re even using romantic Ladynoir scenes to advertise their movie now. Stormy Weather, the pilot episode, the episode meant to introduce us to and sell the show to us and networks, was 99% Ladynoir. Every “Valentine’s” episode (Dark Cupid/Glaciator) has been heavily Ladynoir-centric. Chat Blanc, despite starting with Ladrien followed by an Adrienette dating montage, was heavily Ladynoir centric. “Our love did this to the world" came through Ladynoir. We were shown Ladybug getting upset any time Chat Noir seemed to show interest in another girl. We were given “maybe if Adrien didn’t exist, I’d feel differently about Chat Noir...” in s1. We were given Ladybug explicitly dodging Chat Noir’s question of if things would be different between them if her “other boy” wasn’t a factor. We were given “maybe if I show Ladybug my true self, she’ll fall in love with me,” followed by that very thing happening. We were given a second coup de foudre in Strike Back. The first kiss in this show happened through Ladynoir. The first kiss they were both conscious of happened through Ladynoir in Jubilation. We were shown Ladybug blushing after Chat Noir kissed her cheek in Glaciator. We were shown Ladybug progressively learning that Chat Noir is more sensitive than she thought and not the kind of guy she thought he was and growing closer to and more fond of him over the course of the series -- the plot of like every good romance worth reading (Pride and Prejudice anyone??).

Everyone picked up on the romantic vibes and the depth of their relationship over the past 7 years and now y’all wanna pretend we were hallucinating all along just because your fav side is canon and y’all don’t want to acknowledge the fact that cutting out Ladybug’s feelings for Chat Noir after 4 seasons of development and literally /3 episodes/ of actual visible feelings is an insane choice because it gets in the way of said side being canon. We all picked up on the fact that Chat Blanc and Ephemeral both told us explicitly that Adrienette can’t safely be together as civilians because Gabriel can and will use it to his advantage even without knowing their identities and now y’all want to pretend we’re the ones who weren’t paying attention when even the show was telling us that Adrienette is the side that can’t happen. Apparently the payoff of the 7-year-buildup of Ladybug realizing her romantic feelings for Chat Noir was ... three whole episodes. Followed by her ditching him entirely. Y’all are okay with completely ignoring the insane choice of having Marinette and Adrien not at all worried about abandoning their partners and spitting on “I’ll never abandon you” and every time they’ve ever said “you and me against the entire world” because all you see is weee cute Adrienette scenes <3333.

Like I said I and many others did not watch this show for a generic school romance we watched this show for a Love Square with identity shenanigans because that’s what was being sold to us yet apparently it was never about the "falling in love twice” and the parallels between the two relationships and two loves even though that’s what the past 4 seasons told us it was because it was actually just “adrienette with some obstacles” all along and oBvIoUsLy it was always just meant to be about romantic Adrienette!!!1!!1 I did not watch 7 years worth of romantic development on the Ladynoir side just for Adrienette stans to decide to tell me that I was actually hallucinating that whole time and that Ladynoir was always meant to be platonic

#ml spoilers #ml transmission #ml fandom salt #y'all must be watching the english dub if y'all think ladynoir is exclusively platonic that's the only explanation #thanks for the confirmation that we have indeed been watching completely different shows though lol #and why do y'all think ladynoir being The Best Friends side somehow means they're not also romantic?#congratulations you've bought in to hollywood's idea of what romantic love is #and have failed to realize that best friendship is not removed from romance and is in fact the CORE of a real loving relationship #also a bizarre take when the SHOW ITSELF literally just showed you romantic ladynoir over the past several episodes tf #this is just like when months ago i said how much i didn't like the concept of pre-reveal a/drienette #and then someone of course decided to vaguepost saying 'ackshually pre-reveal adrienette was obviously always more likely #and marinette is more set in her ways regarding chat noir and wouldn't be in to the idea of dating him pre-reveal etc etc'#and i said no actually ladybug is already on the cusp of realizing her feelings for chat noir and would be even more inclined to date him #bc of how comfortable she is with him and how much more developed they are and dating =/= revealing identities #and then the beginning of the season proved me right about this #but not before i was driven insane by the revelation that a lot of y'all apparently don't care about the 'falling in love twice' and the #parallel relationships and thought marinette and adrien getting together without the show ever having ladybug fall for chat noir would've #somehow been a satisfying outcome 💀 we are literally not watching the same show

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siena-sevenwits · 5 months

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💎

#Take with grain of salt - not exactly sad but will probably feel much dandier another time #Tonight I want so much to create - to make stories that will make others love what is good and true and beautiful #I have a condition which (among a lot of other things that are irrelevant to this post) causes me to feel very tired a lot of the time.#and I also tend to go through bouts of insomnia - in the middle of one now.#It's small potatoes compared to what a lot of my friends have to go through health-wise and I am grateful #(though i probably should be more so)#But - the point. I am just so tired all the time and I try to soldier through and be creative because that's the way my heart is shaped #But so often I just feel like the exhaustion sabotages everything and tonight I am just aching to be more creative than I've been #I'm not unhopeful about it - so many people go through this after all and end up making wonderful art. And there's something to be said for #patience and filling the creative well and trusting all to God. But tonight I feel - not sorry for myself thankfully - just very wistful.#Wanting to make something really beautiful and see it through the end and be more resilient in the face of the tiredness.#(Ha - my life is a good one if that's what's making me wistful!)#God can do whatever He wants with it and maybe the greater glory is for another time.#But I also wonder... I would not have been calling to Him unless He has been calling to me - and I hope!#OK - sentimental pout over. ;-)#neverending storytellers

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sysig · 6 months

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Ok so I had an idea, if it would be fun: designs for the yanderapy boys as Just Desserts versions! Was thinking about the Vargas sweets designs, and that one art style that's out there with the neon candy looking blood/'cute' horror stuff going on, and it became a WHOLE mental image, lol. I feel like there's potential, and I'm not sure if you've already done something like this, but figured I'd put it out there!

Day 20 - Cut the cake

#My art #Requestober #Yanderapy #Just Desserts #Candy gore #Flashing gif #Spoilers: It was fun lol #Previously I've done some pastel gore - which looks to be very similar! - but I've never done candy gore #Which is strange because I mean - Just Desserts is right there lol #I guess I still haven't settled on how blood/meat works for candy people lol but! Stylistically? >:3c #I've always really enjoyed the cutaway look - just take a chunk right on out! They probably weren't using it #And with these two I mean-#Watch them switch limbs and Frankenstein themselves back together ''So they always have a piece of each other'' pffft #They're fine it's just the spooky aesthetic! Probably! Lol #Really though it was a lot of fun to think about what they might be in Just Desserts hehe ♪#Mitsu immediately jumped out to be as an ube roll :D His favourite colour is purple so he likes purple things!#That also includes things like amethysts and quartz and violets but what dessert is purple - ube cake! It's perfect #For Ishida I liked the idea of going for something a bit weirder on the palette and landed on salted lemon #Maybe with a white chocolate secondary but honestly just sweet-and-salty-sour suits him really well haha ♪#His two-tone pants with the lemon spots are probably my favourite he turned out so cute <3 #Honestly both of them were quite fun! :D I like that they have different ''innards'' that are both roundy hehe #One gets a swirl and one gets a natural wheel-spoke look :D It's very cool! They're different but similar #It was fun ♫ Getting to see how they might look in the JD universe especially hehe

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arthur-r · 11 days

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what’s really embarrassing is my roommate on the phone with his mom saying “yeah i’ve been getting really sloppy i haven’t cleaned in a week it’s terrible” and my side of the room is just like that. all of the time. and i feel guilty but he also hasn’t ever said anything to my face he moved my stuff some at the beginning of the year but has never talked to me about it and i’m also so fucking ill that i just cant really handle adding that to my list while trying to also not fail school. so here i am being a terrible person i guess. did i tell you guys about turtle-person. have i showed my bracelets. i’m gonna go to sleep but in the morning i need to show my bracelets

#help i have work tomorrow. i also feel sick and strange. wish me luck #the sun was around today which was incredible but also i think it gave me too much mental energy #cause for the first time in forever i had the brightness of spirit to go for a walk. but that’s not the same as having the blood flow for it #so i think i overexerted myself cause of being finally happy and mentally energized i forgot about being physically disabled #i also had to explain POTS to somebody today and she was literally like ‘oh is that the thing where you need to have salt’ and NO like #i do have a really high salt intake to cope with POTS. but that’s not the fucking thing yknow?? like no that’s not what the thing i have is #it has nothing to do with salt. salt is a fun little coincidence that it can help with water retention which in turn helps with POTS #and it raises blood pressure is i think the other reason? but anyway idk i would honestly rather she just not know about it than have like #that very particular tiktok version of it like i am so glad for internet knowledge being spread and stuff and i mean. i guess even the posts #that i’m about to complain about are good for making people feel like they’re not alone. so maybe it’s fine. but i was going to complain of #the videos that are like ‘‘that one POTS friend’’ and it’s just like. salty food. instead of like. having to sit down?? BEING FATIGUED??#and like whatever. whatEVER but i wish it wasn’t getting conflated with one particular little way of treating it. even though i use that way #i don’t have needs-a-lot-of-salt-disease. like that’s not the point. that’s not the issue. it��s not a salt deficiency. salt just helps #and it doesn’t FIX it. it just helps. that’s all #ANYWAY EVERYTHING IS FINE. i feel sick though. but i’m gonna sleep and i’ll be fine #i miss before i had a job cause then i could sleep all day if i skipped class and it would be really nice. but now i have a job i would be #missing on my responsibilities for. and I don’t actually have accommodations. but im gonna sleep i’ll be fine #and library book cart is actually so rollator. like as far as being able to walk the library situation is such a win #anyway i’m gonna go to sleep now. but yeah idk i’m sick and a mess what else is new. but i have something whatever i’m good theres something #unrequited love for life or something like that. ok im gonna go to bed sorry for being weird and strange all the time!!!!#me. my post. mine.#delete later

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crown-ov-horns · 21 days

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I said I have 4 storylines of Good Omens fanfiction (including the Crossover with Legion). Had I said that today, I would've lied. There's five.

["Diary entry" under the cut, so there's no litany on an unwilling scroller's feed]

NOTE: I haven't seen S2 of GO, not do I intendt to, so beware of canon divergence

Well... The 5th one is less a coherent storyline, more a concept. I was playing Gardenscapes, and suddenly thought "What if F!Crowley were my Antichrist's mother?"

You know, maybe Crowley owed Satan a new Antichrist, or something. I guess, she'd have screwed up this one, too... Well, she'll gladly take over the world, she just won't destroy it.

The conversation (between myself and myself) went about like this:

Me: ...

Also me: what if?..

Me: for fuck's sake, not again

Also me: Lady Crowley...

Me: please stop

Also me: Was Maxine's mother?

Me: whyever would she be her mother?

Also me: because she owed Satan for the ruined Apocalypse, and had to carry the next Antichrist

Me: Maxine doesn't want the Apocalypse, she's a sane politician

Also me: works for Crowley

Me: she also has black hair and blue eyes

Also me: Satan has black hair and blue eyes, Benedict's not his faceclaim, anyway

Me: fine, why would her last name be Frost?

Also me: Satan goes by Lucian Frost on Earth

Me: why would he ever go by the surname Frost?

Also me: a not to Dante's Inferno

Me: I hate you

Also me: 🤪

Me: you're killing me

Also me: with pleasure 😊

[End dialogue.]

Now, like I always do with any new idea, I of course collapsed down into the daydreaming pit, which often turns fanfiction, and original stories alike, into Tolkien-level complex universes you'd need a lifetime to fully explore.

I thought, it could be funny. When Max meets Anathema and Newt's daughter Agnes in Oxford, they can bond over their unhinged families.

"You'll probably think my parents are weird as fuck, they have a pet raccoon they dye black, and pretend is a cat."

"Honey, no, I get you. My mother mentally abuses her house plants, and wears sunglasses at midnight."

Rich people things, I guess. I mean, they're both nepo babies, who would ask questions about why their families are weird. Who would ask questions about why a rising star politician's mother mentally abuses her house plants.

There's a lot of potential for comedy. Crowley's issues with her sister-in-law, for example. Satan and Michael... They have a strange dynamic. The last time they spoke to each other is mentioned in the Book of Jude. But, they both have the familia ante omnia, blood is everything mentality. They support each other's political aim. They would kill for each other. And, Michael feels very protective (possessive, even) over her niece (the family mediator, why do you think she's a perfect diplomat). It would annoy the Hell (Heaven?) out of Crowley. Still, in the end, she and Michael would probably kill for each other, also.

I'd imagine Satan forbidding any contact with his disowned son... I don't know. In my fanfictions (where he is a thing), Maxine and Adam usually do have eventual contact, and consider themselves siblings (do keep in mind, though, Max would always choose her father over her brother). Satan doesn't mind her not wanting the Apocalypse, as long as she's loyal to him. He sees good points in her arguments against. He never really cared for it, anyway, it was mostly the armies.

Also... Maxine rides horses, ever since she was a child. Crowley doesn't get along with animals, everyone knows that. But. She's the nightmare equestrian mom (think soccer mom, only worse - much worse). How does she get along with Max's animals?.. Well, Titan (the hellhound) actually likes her. Ulysses (the horse) tolerates her. Horus (the falcon - yes, Max's so posh she's in the falconry hobby)... I have no idea. He'd probably sit on her shoulder, sometimes. But, Crowley's anxious around him, since snakes aren't usually friends with raptors.

At first, I thought about conflict between Crowley and Maxine. For example, her refusing to ride in the Bentley, because she (every author must place pieces of them in their characters) despises Queen. But... I don't like writing that. I like writing loving, healthy relationships between mothers and daughters. So, it's more "What do you mean you're bad at being a demon? You caused the Fall of Humankind. None of them can compare to you", and"You'll be the perfect Secretary-General of the United Nations, honey". We love mothers and daughters supporting each other here. ❤

I even thought of cute scenarios, like Crowley coiling in Max's crib, because she's anxious, and wants to protect her baby.

Max is fiercely protective of Crowley. That's why she'd be in conflict with Beelzebub - funny enough, for a similar season to the other stories (Beelzebub causes the death of her adoptive mother, after she realizes she's raising the Antichrist). Beelzebub hates Crowley, and the Beast of Rev. will show her very sharp teeth, should someone threaten her mom. Satan's on his family's side, don't worry.

Actually... You know why this story is cool? Horrific things happen to Crowley in my other fics. Not this one. Actually, she's doing great. She's the Queen of Hell. Damn... She'd outrank Beelzebub. She could terrorize... Her? Like I said, I haven't seen S2, Ι don't know the pronouns, and I don't care, you can get them right if it matters to you (I just know in S2 an actress from Bridgerton played her (?)).

As for Satan/Crowley... As long at Crowley's female, I don't mind it. I like it. Good for you, you little serpent tempter. Because, you know I always romanticise the Devil.

Have I any ideas for smut? You bet I do. I even have crack ideas... You know that picture of a female wolf protecting a male wolf's throat? Think that, but Crowley's coiled around Satan in her snake form, and snaps at anyone who wanders close.

So, I let this out into the web. Now I'll have to actually do it. Wish me luck. 😑

#diary pages #writing journal #fanfiction ideas #good omens #good omens fandom #good omens fanfcition #writer problems #fanfiction writer #crowley #lady crowley #female!crowley #satan #the antichrist #maxine frost #crowley x satan #crowley is maxine's mother #this is like an actual diary entry #when i think about crowley and satan... hell it's actually hot #satan knows how to make br**ding kink work alright and I intend to show it #crowley could rub so much salt in beelzebub's wounds - she's the queen of hell she outranks (?)#seriously i don't care about this characters canon pronouns and I will use whatever pronouns I wish #the thing that matters is crowley's the big b*tch in the yard now and Satan will always take his wife's side #seriously i can think of so many cute scenarios but also funny but also... the smut okay #the serpent and the dragon #lucian frost is such a great name though it's very aesthetic very dark academia old money #maxine's opinions on beelzebub and gabriel reflect my own #seriously i need to put in an equestrian mom crowley scene into whatever i make of this that would be hilarious #also I'm pretty sure Crowley calls Satan Lux and he calls her Vixen #why do i feel Crowley and Max's bond here is going to be everything #i have so many wips i'll need a lot of whiskey i guess i better start plotting and better start writing not killing time on here

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mintacle · 1 year

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A trend in whump fanfiction that has been bothering me for a while actually is the conflating of morality messages with whump stories.

As a great fan of the catharsis through Whump (Whump is like “Angst with a happy ending” or “extreme Hurt/Comfort”) I’ve been noticing that it greatly irritates me when the character being saved out of the bad situation of the premise has to either prove their moral worth before or after being rescued.

The two characters who get the most whump attention are Tim and Jason, and I want to talk about each of their cases and why implying the need for moral goodness is problematic.

Tim is commonly going to “deserve” his salvation through silently suffering prior to his rescue. These stories enforce the mentality that it is good to not speak up about one’s suffering, that other people will notice if they really love you and that your best hope to be saved is to comply as far as possible with the expectations placed on you, to the point of self-neglect or self-harm.

Jason will commonly “deserve” his rescue through punishment or repentance after the fact. Often he is portrayed to be ashamed of his actions, asking for forgiveness and promising to change his ways. Along the lines of Tim, if silence is rewarded, then Jason’s willingness to speak up about his trauma must be punished. Often the defense for this is to say that Jason has killed people though, and surely we all agree that is just wrong. And indeed, in the real world, we do. But Jason is a fictional character, and his killing is more of a symbolic action for the demand of extreme justice in reaction to one’s trauma than meant to be understood purely literally.

If we suspend our disbelief for the dressing up in a Batcostume and child-soldier-indoctrination of Bruce to be part of the medium, then we ought to understand Jason’s character with the same degree of abstraction. In the real world context Bruce suffers from severe delusions and Jason commits arbitrary murder. Suffice to say, this is not the story these comics are purporting to convey.

However a lot of fandom whump works choose to include an overt or covert moral message within their work. While it is understandable to cathartically want to feel that one deserves to be relieved of one’s suffering, it is troublesome that the implication arises that one ought to deserve it. The truth is that everyone deserves help and support, regardless of whether they in turn act in the ways we think would be best for them. After receiving help, a former victim should be entitled to the same freedom of self-determination as anyone else. There is no moral debt created by the act of having been saved by someone else.

Where Tim is usually the “good” victim and Jason typically the “bad” victim, they both get measured according to the same insidious metric that pervades the western cultural ideal of victimhood. Silence in suffering is expected and rewarded, complying to the demands set by the abuser is seen as more deserving of outside intervention than standing up for oneself and the narrative that being understood and having people agree with you, means that you are right and that you are loved. I find these implied moral conflations to the whump element of the story upsetting as a former victim of abuse.

Because, look, the fact is that you aren’t more likely to be saved irl no matter how good you are. Victims don’t have to deserve help, everyone inherently deserves to be helped out of respect for them as a human being. No strings attached.

#Tim Drake #Jason Todd #fandom salt posting slightly #I'm having more Tim thoughts lately #I still also stand by my opinion that fandom wrongs are not culturally significant enough to be a cause for social campaigns #I don't mean to say this is a huge and relevant issue and we should all be up in arms!!#I'm more interested in just exploring victimhood through the different representations that Tim and Jason offer #and I'm choosing to take fandom works seriously as a focus of analysis #I'm about to apply all the genuine thought that goes into my understanding of Jason to Tim muahahahaha #I'm a ctually having a lot of fun with his character. Not to be too judgy #but its kind of a pity that his fandom treatment is so pervasively superficial and acricature like #caricature*#Keep having fun though ultimately #write whatever fanfic you want. You're not actually hurting anyone tbh #this is very much my subjective opinion #dc fandom #batfam

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