#‘relationship dynamics many would consider…interesting…’ MY BELOVED

[m1ckeyb3rry]

and ykw speaking of smut there actually are a few fics that i did consider writing smut for LMFAOOO like the one that jumps to mind first is threefold although tbf that one is toeing the line as it is because in part three reader actually does admit (in vague fancy language ofc but still) that she has sex dreams about mydei LFNDKSNS however. unfortunately leviathan is not one of those stories because if there was smut with PHAINON (in the first two parts) it would just make him a villain because bro why are you fucking this girl whose ribcage is actively rotting away and turning greenish black from poison 🧐 like she literally already can’t walk on her own give her a break 😭🙏🏻 as for mydei there would need to be some weird ahh circumstances for that to even occur SO the best option would be freaky portrait smut and idek how that would work. which is why you guys will never get smut out of me #sorry

[anyacad0]

Hi, I hope you’re well!! Do you have any favorite DH/DF-centric and/or renheng/xingyue fics you’d rec? I’ve consistently really enjoyed your interpretation of Dan Heng as a character, as well as your own writings on ao3, so I was wondering if you have any fic recs with similarly good characterization and storytelling :))

yes yes I have many recs

The Archivist's Familiar- ok so granted you have probably heard of this one before but it's so good I'm putting it here anyway. Great story, incredible worldbuilding. I'm not usually a fan of modern AUs but this one has magic which basically remedies every issue I have with the concept

From Somewhere Beyond The Clouds- another one you have definitely heard of but just in case! despite not being completely canon-compliant, this is the best retelling of the full story of the High Cloud Quintet that I've come across by far. All of them are characterised and explored very well. I think the characterisation for Dan Feng is slightly off- more pathetic than canon- but that makes perfect sense given the nature of the canon divergence.

Delinear Garden- I thought this one was niche but I just looked at the hits while getting the link. and. well. Still I'm putting it here because it made me cry on the first read through. I think this fic does wonders for Baiheng's character in particular.

ok and now on to the ones you are less likely to have already read

Talking To The Moon- no particular notes just bittersweet Yingxing/Dan Feng

finally i heard my name, the absolution called- not-quite-reconciled-but-no-longer-fighting-to-the-death Blade/Dan Heng is so interesting to explore because you can see that they both care and yet they're not quite sure how or whether they even want to. Also this author has a beautiful way with words, like they have the exact perfect adjective for every situation and I'm jealous of them

Talking About Hope- in a similar vein to the above one- very tentative interactions with lots of unexpected hope behind them, and beautiful wordplay. The dialogue isn't in quotation marks at first which can be a bit off-putting but there is a reason for it

new moon- okay so I am not sure how people feel about Dan Feng/Dan Heng. I can't exactly say I ship it, but it's fun to read, fun to write, and a fantastic tool for introspection. A bunch of fics change the relationship between them, making them separate people, but for me that kind of misses the point. This fic, however, explores them both very well

An Unexpected Encounter On The Luofu- Dan Heng caring for Blade when he still hasn't quite learned to be kind, but the simple fact that he's trying means so much

We've Been Here Before- an exploration of how close to home Amphoreus is for Dan Heng. I can't believe it's not been brought up in game yet that he doesn't just already know this story, he's lived it. Thank you fanfic authors

Black are the Waters that Sparkled so Green- Dan Heng learning to let himself be cared for ft. Dad Yang

a cowboy's brother-in-law- Boothill realises that Blade and Dan Heng are both pessimistic idiots and helps them also realise this fact

raft of medusa- I'm not sure why this feels as intimate as it does given the subject matter. But it has Blade and Dan Heng's dynamic perfectly down, the fact that really they do care but neither of them are quite ready or sure how to show it. The humour is also very good

Parallels- no particular notes, it's good and it made me cry so you should read it

Serendipity- I like how the author starts of with Yingxing completely out of his depth and then the second half is Dan Feng completely out of his depth. It really makes them feel like equals in a world that would never consider them as such

know that you will always find a home in me- Astral Express trio my beloveds. Super appreciate the March 7th exploration because I feel her fears are less talked about due to more upbeat/silly personality

Broken Promises- any fic featuring Dan Feng's very justified attachment issues is instantly worth reading

Face the Blackened Sky- very very good Blade characterisation. Lots of it

A Stellar Valentine- this is admittedly mostly Stelle/Firefly but it's my favourite Stellaron Hunters fluff and Dan Heng is there so I can still recommend it

in a dim abyss devoid of light, a new dawn begins- pre-Express Dan Heng trying to figure things out

Bonus:

A Dazzling Sidequest to Taco Bell- very little to do with Dan Heng but this is the most wonderful crackfic I have ever read. just. incredibly silly

what happened to the font size? no clue it's fine I can't be bothered to fix it

[merrysithmas]

i really like reading your thoughts on "girl"! i was just wondering what you think might happen after paul passes? do you think people will start to examine the relationship between them as something more than just songwriting partners? i mean nothing really changed when yoko said john was bisexual (and some fans still don't believe it!). in my wildest dreams, paul's estate will drop a posthumous tell all book and we'll be left with so many questions lol.    

John himself said he was queer several times - I remember watching an interview with him when he was saying being an artist in a capitalist world requires money and that if he wasn't famous he'd need to have married "a rich old lady or man" to be a songwriter.

He also said he hooked up with Brian in Spain (Yoko confirmed he told the press they did "do it" and she was seemingly applauding his bravery in saying so).

Lennon remarked that he was "afraid of the fag in him" which made him act on his anger and set off his worst most fearsome temper explosions.

Also I think there was a few "tell alls" where past friends reported that he was open about his queerness & confirmed hooking up with Brian in frustration.

May Pang wrote that he told her he considered (lol) an affair with Paul. He spent two years in gay clubs in LA.

Yoko also confirmed he was bi (as far she she knew, maybe later on had he not been murdered he'd have identified as gay or pan).

Elton John said he and Lennon did "naughty" things together and laughed about said things with Sean, his godson. Julian Lennon did an interview where he said he "agreed" that John and Paul were in love during the Get Back film period.

Lennon also contributed a first-person poem the First Gay Liberation book.

Those are just the examples I can think of off the top of my head. He also seems to have had a relationship of some kind with Stu (conjecture) and an obvious-departed-from-platonic dynamic with Paul which is easily, easily an emotionally romantic affair at least (which isn't the half of it).

Anyone who denies his queerness does a great disservice to his memory & the incredible poignancy of his songs in this context during his time period. Artists have been reworking the lyrics and wording of their queer songs to appeal to an unaccepting general audience for commerciality FOREVER and to assume this was not done by Lennon, who is "confirmed" queer (if you needed to hear it from Yoko for it to be true to you) is truly delusion.

I think after Paul has left us people will feel more comfortable analyzing their relationship in a queer sense and I do think at some point it has likely been engineered that something to that effect will be officially announced or endorsed in some regard by their Estates (to generate continued moneymaking lol and interest and enigma). I feel like that's something that could happen, reasonably, after Yoko is gone and her hold on the Lennon narrative is diluted into Sean's POV & the McCartney family has the freedom to speculate or give their personal feelings on the life of their beloved father in retrospect. There's also the chance Paul could say something or leave something to that effect before he leaves us.

I feel like Paul would never say anything otherwise because John never got to endorse any release of their personal history before his tragic and senseless murder in a time period where being gay was still treated with such bigotry and cruelty (the 80s). I feel like Paul's great respect for Jane Asher and their relationship is a testament to this because he has never spoken about their relationship out of respect for her - for the exact reason that she has never spoke publically about it herself.

Paul is a pragmatic and private person and I feel like he knows the majority of the ignorant world isn't ready to hear the biggest band in human history was founded on teenaged homoromantic affection/gay love. But maybe one day, it will be.

This is speculation on my part but Paul also probably doesn't want Yoko to know anything because either she is willfully ignorant or John truly wasn't honest with her and Paul feels it's something she doesn't deserve to know - especially if it's something John kept private & only between he and Paul. It's something he always has that's over and beyond what Yoko and John had & he seems to treasure those specific things no matter what they are. Obviously... Paul still doesn't care for Yoko and he is probably extremely fatigued of the fact that she has been the managing agent & author of John's estate for 40 years (when in the late 70s she and John seemed on unsteady terms as per other parties) and then treated Julian with such disregard. Sean on the other hand seems to have grown to love Paul, but we'll see lol.

I also feel like Paul probably has a few "surprises" for Beatles fans lined up for after he and Ringo are gone - he just seems like that kind of person and wants the Beatles to continue on in great esteem for many many years to come.

thank you for your ask!!

[gontagokuhara]

Its almost 5 am and I have work [today] but heyyyy what if I sent in another fun ask about pointy objects ;) Last time I asked about PO relationship rankings... but what about notable FRIENDSHIPS😭 I definitely think it'd be ridiculous to ask for a ranking of ALL THE FRIENDSHIPS but I'm saying like, I want to know about any specific fun ones we haven't seen that much of, tumultuous OR harmonic, if you want to share!💖

(if I had to rank some though I'd put Fuyupeko at #1 bc ofc they're like brother-sister, andddd Junko-Izuru ONN THE BOOOTTOOOMMM🗣 bc it's Junko duh) (Honorable mentions: Miu & Kiibo bc idk why I'm blanking on where the demi friendships rank) Okay I'm gonna go back to reading the latest chapter bc I gave up on trying to go to sleep💀 I hope you have a great day btw!!! Please say hi to baby Winnifred the Pooh for me and give extra love💘

I realized this weekend after seeing yet another fic I love get orphaned, how spoiled I was with your tumblr and I'm super greatful to be a reader and just consuming the content you share 😭 I really want to contribute more as thanks but I may not have as much time due to school starting soon😓 I'll just say thank you again for now and ofc remind you that you're an absolute BADDIE, please don't forget!!!💖

HELLOOOOOOOO CIDER MY BELOVED <3 as always u bring some of my favorite asks to my inbox so thank u MWAH!!!!! and as always this is for FUNSIES so there’s no obligation (especially if ur busy with school and work!!!) you have already earned ur place in my heart forever ❤️❤️❤️ you are so real about orphaned/abandoned works my favorite fic of all time had its sequel abandoned like 8 years ago…….u really never recover 💔 and i may have done the same to pointy objects for ~3.5 years but we are BACK and pumping out content at any given opportunity because this fic and universe is my baby. so with that said (and winnie said hello to PICTURED BELOW ‼️) lets get into pointy objects analysis mode WOOOOO

OK. SO.

many conversations have been had with my darling beta reader + kokichi correspondent evan @/faglaios about certain dynamics between characters this is like my DREEEEEAM ask because there are so many friendships in the pointy objects verse that are. so special to me. i have a whole list of friendship dynamics that i think are interesting and would yap about But i have so much to say about even just my select few favorites. so here are some honorable mentions before we get to the Big Boys:

- fuyuhiko & peko: i will forever and always ride for the familial dynamic for these two and pointy objects is no exception, as they consider themselves siblings to the same degree fuyu & natsumi do. talk about an unbreakable bond these two are literally almost as close as komaru & makoto are despite (affectionately) bitching at each other significantly more

- hajime & chiaki: not something i’ve been able to explore in-verse, but these 2 are soooo special to me in general and their friendship carries over into pointy objects rejoice ‼️‼️ i specifically singled this one out for the reason that: chiaki, as the goddess of sleep, tends to be pretty absent for long stretches of time, and so there can be decades that pass where she’s just not in hajime’s life. when he’s alone and stressed he talks to her sometimes :)

- kaede & maki: before they began dating they were without reservations each other’s best friend. i have a LOT to say about these two but yay ‼️ for kaemaki nation a lot of time has been dedicated to exploring it in pointy objects <3 so i will hold my tongue. for now

- rantarou & shuuichi: similar dealio here re: exploration in pointy objects canon. granted, rantarou is “dead” for the majority of it, but just as much as they are brothers they are best friends and for as much as i COULD say, i think their dynamic kinda speaks for itself in-fic :>

- miu & kiibo: i will be the first to admit i Do Not Enjoy miu but objectively her best interactions (both in v3 canon + pointy objects) are with kiibo. their dynamic is mutually (lightheartedly) antagonistic like miu knocks their head off five times a day and kiibo runs to tattle on her but like they eat dinner together basically every day and horrifically gossip in very bad whispers. miu clocked kiibo’s crush (overheard kaede talking about it to maki like a year ago lmfao) and became their unasked for wingwoman (she’s very bad at it).

kokichi & kaito: oh goodness. These Two. it has truly been far too long since i played 3-5 and fully Invested in this dynamic but once again from my conversations with evan There is something there . i almost have so much to say that i cant think of Anything to say lmfao so. we’ll put a pin in these 2 for now. but this is one of my favorite pointy objects dynamics.

- kaito & shuuichi / maki & shuuichi: oh training trio how i do love you……both of them have really fun dynamics but the former is definitely a little more well-developed in pointy objects. shuuichi mirrors both of them specifically in his resolve to protect and defend his friends; kaito in his emotional/trust investment and being open and honest both to himself and to the world at large, and maki moreso in the physical sense, in that they tend to be more hands-on and proactive in things that require teamwork (you’ll notice it’s these 2 most often helping others to their feet/to remain upright + at the forefront of public-facing schemes like booking the motel/headlining the convenience store robbery). MUCH to say here (also re: kaito & maki) but yet again i’ve already got so much more to go

- junko & izuru: To Be Continued.

- makoto & junko: exes

WOW! and that was only the honorable mentions 😭 jesus christ. but i saved my favorites/most interesting for last so LETS GO BABEY 🔥🔥🔥

- gundham & sonia: my Personal thoughts on these two have to be divorced from pointy objects canon so i’m speaking specifically on their friendship here. as god of the dark art and goddess of magic they naturally are inclined towards and work with each other, but they’re also just straight-up besties (as much as a grumpy recluse like gundham will allow, especially these days). in Non-crisis times, sonia is one of only a few gods who have near-unlimited access to the underworld. they also have a lot in common in terms of each losing their children within only a few years of each other (sonia with her son who tsumugi killed in her attack on camp pre-barrier, and gundham, we now know, with gonta).

- mondo & fuyuhiko: throwaway joke pointing out their similar organized crime affiliations that evolved rapidly into a like. genuine (business) relationship but also a family-like brotherly bond between them too (fuyuhiko is good at this LOL). there’s a lot of camaraderie (+ arguments) regarding this, as well as their shared isolation and distance from their children. mondo and taka went to fuyuhiko’s house the first night maki was missing both to hash out a game plan on keeping their daughters safe, but also for comfort because…well, at one point or another, they became family.

- maki & tenko: and speeeeaking of family <3 this has been touched on very lightly but of the people maki really has a connection with at camp and specifically considers her friends, tenko is one of those three people (the others being kaede and then later kaito). tenko really had to teach maki what Having Family is like even though she’s hardly the best-equipped to do so, but their shared distance from their godly parents (and lesbianism) helped them foster a dynamic that is very protective and isn’t the most Outwardly affectionate, but is definitely mutually trusting and quietly appreciative. they also train together often (and beat up kaito together when he jumps in too).

- kokichi & gonta: i am a “gonta and kokichi were genuine friends” truther until i die and pointy objects is my love letter to that. i have Many thoughts regarding their canonical relationship [looks at my url] but in my representation of them in pointy objects……when gonta says in his chapter that the two of them are best friends he is 100% correct (for better or for worse). for several years they were in the relatively small (those 2, kaede, miu, and maki) full-time camper group and the 5 of them are naturally more close-knit, but kokichi is…Well. Abrasive. and turns a lot of people off. but gonta was (+ is!) persistent. he sees good in kokichi. they were the only 2 boys at camp full-time for years, and as he did hajime and nagito, gonta lacked other options but to drift towards kokichi with regard to modeling “gentlemanly” behavior after spending so many years not socialized to humans. kokichi would play his usual pranks and mess with him but despite his flighty demeanor…actually U know what i’m just screenshotting my msgs to evan about this i cooked sooooo hard BUT ONE OF MY FAVORITE (and horrificially misunderstood) DYNAMICS <3

- gonta & kiibo: similar to kaemaki in that their friendship has been explored in-verse before their romantic relationship, but i single them out here because there is something very important to me about the two of them learning how to be people together :] gonta spending half of his life to this point living amongst wolves, and the rest of it playing catch-up on Being A Person and defining for himself what the means and who he wants to be and modeling his goals on the people around him that he admires. kiibo lived for a handful of years as an AI with kazuichi, but has only had a soul for three or so years, and despite having a universe of knowledge at their fingertips they still have to learn what personhood is like outside of scanning text and interpreting data — again, with a relatively small and niche group of gods and demigods to learn from. they meet when kiibo is dropped off at camp by a distraught sonia, and immediately recognize in the other something similar to themselves. they’re both entirely disconnected from human culture, but have a fascination with it to varying degrees. they’re both Different, and still learning how to exist in the world they’ve been cast into, and slowly over time realizing that the kind of ‘person’ they want to be, whatever that means…that inspiration might be a bit closer than they think.

- kaede & kokichi: oh i could write essays on these two i swear to god. another one that needs their own specialized post honestly there is So much here and basically none of it is reliant on v3 canon because we were given so little. i’ve built such a little world for these two in pointy objects it’s easily a top 3 dynamic like Period out of the whole fic it’s soooo important to me. people have pointed out they come across as deeply sibling-coded and that is 100% the intention. as previously mentioned, they were full-time campers early on (kokichi arrived before maki did, even, so they’ve known each other longer) and even back then kaede took it upon herself to tour new kids around camp and get to know them (partially because her other options were Adults, her less-than-ideal twin sister, and gonta who she knows but can’t talk pop culture or music with). i’m holding my tongue on certain Details here but they really have grown up with the faux-exasperated big sister and the playfully-annoying little brother dynamic. and on the surface they very much come across that way and have fun falling into those roles naturally. but there is a significant degree of mutual care between them that goes far beyond any prank or argument or fuck up. kaede, as frustrated as she was when kokichi snuck onto the rv and as serious as she was about her reservations regarding his role in their quest, still stuck to her guns and kept him included and safe once he was there, and genuinely meant it when she told them she believes in all of them more than she’s ever believed in anyone. for as obnoxious and as snide and as withdrawn he can be, in the same breath he’s calling kaede a hokey protag he’s diving between her and syo’s scissors without a second thought. he’s still offering kaede solemn, sincere comfort and reassurance in the aftermath of the call with nagito he hung up for her, and lashing out at anyone he thinks is judging her and going to make her feel worse. the two of them are everything to me. pointy objects kaede/kokichi friendship you will ALWAYS be famous

- shuuichi & kokichi: well we already saw everything up until now IN pointy objects, didn’t we? <3

ok bonus WINNIE ATTACK!!!!!!!!!!

[angedemystere]

Going on a limb here - I've been thinking about Jesus ships (romantic or quasi-romantic) and my views on them.

I'm gonna discuss a few and rank them as follows: Love it | Makes sense | Mmm not much there for me | Absolutely not

If there's a ship you know that I don't mention below the cut, DM me for my opinion and ranking!

Let's start with the big ones, then a few fictional ones of questionable (or nonexistent) notoriety:

Jesus x Mary Magdalene: Mmm not much there for me

I'm gun-shy about this ship because it gets pushed a lot, including by scholars, as a way to explain why Jesus would have a prominent female disciple. First of all, she was not his only female disciple - what about Joanna and Suzanna? Mary and Martha? (ok Joanna was married to Chuza so we'll let that slide).

Yes, Mary got to see Jesus first after the resurrection (according to John's gospel), which is awesome. But nothing about that encounter suggests a romantic connection, and I don't think a romantic connection would make it more meaningful. The whole point of Jesus appearing to Mary, or any woman, was to honor what society considered lowly. A woman's testimony was not valid in that time and place, yet Jesus made his resurrection evident to women first. I like when non-canonical stories explore Jesus and Mary's friendship, but a romantic connection undermines the significance of Mary's role rather than augments it.

Jesus x Judas: Absolutely not

I wouldn't be quite so annoyed about it if it weren't so dang prolific in fandom (among people who treat Jesus and his followers as characters more than real people). It's even more annoying when people try to pass it off as wholesome - y'know, apart from that little bit of betrayal for money thing. NO. At least own up that it's a tragic dynamic. Trying to whitewash it for the sake of a cute ship leaves me feeling even ickier.

Jesus x John: Makes sense

I don't consider it canon, but I'll take it over Jesus x Judas and Jesus x Mary Magdalene for a few reasons. It actually IS wholesome, and a romantic element fits with the "beloved disciple" narrative more believably (for me). I have a problem with the power imbalance (teacher-student) and subsequent age difference (30s vs. teens), but if fic frames acknowledges these elements and characters act appropriately (and in character), I'm fairly ok.

Jesus x Ana (The Book of Longings): Makes sense

Obviously the story is written with the intention of making Ana the wife of Jesus. I have some issues with the book and the relationship, but Sue Monk Kidd makes it fairly believable as an unconventional marriage of the era. I think Ana's story could have been told without her being Jesus's wife. At the same time, her relationship with Jesus develops in an interesting and engaging way. You don't necessarily think they are "in love" when they marry, but they acknowledge that they could be good for each other (and are attracted to each other), and it gives her a means of escaping a difficult situation at home.

Jesus x Tamara (Three from Galilee): Absolutely not

This relationship could have been ok were it not for some VERY weird choices made by the author, Marjorie Holmes. Significant age gap (30 vs. 15) and smacks of insta-love. They knew each other one day before deciding they were in love (after he first saw her standing under a waterfall ... yeah). Too many comparisons between Tamara and Mother Mary for me to be comfortable. Pretty much no personality from Tamara, all about how Jesus thinks he's found someone to have a "normal" life with, only to have that shut down. It's supposed to be tragic that they don't end up together, but honestly they dodged a bullet.

Jesus x Lucifer: ABSOLUTELY NOT

Yes, this ship exists. No, I don't know why. Ok, I can kinda imagine why. And I don't like it.

Jesus x Hel: Love it

I know ... I'm literally the only person who ships this.

For those who don't know, Hel is the Norse goddess of the dead. I'm writing a whole story that's a remix of the Harrowing of Hell (not denying the original Harrowing but expanding it with, "What if Jesus went to other underworlds besides Sheol, too?"). Obviously it depends on the interpretation of Hel's character - being a mythological figure, she has flexibility. Also it HAS to be slow-burn, enemies-to-lovers (for me). Would recommend to those intrigued by Jesus x Lucifer but want a healthy, not entirely heretical dynamic.

(Ok we can debate the heretical part.)

What other Jesus ships do you know?

[nocturnal-phantoms-fandoms]

☕ on what your top 3 tropes are and why please! ♥️

Hello Rory!! :D

Judging solely by Hard Scientific Evidence (my ao3 bookmarks) - its Established Relationship, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting and Canon Divergence (if we ignore fanfic genres). Filtered to only HP fics its Established Relationship, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting and Canon Compliant.

Although considering two of them are regarding the canon/alternate setting and aren’t exactly tropes (and Im not sure i would say i agree with this data) - I was resorted to breaking down my two OTPs (wolfstar and stucky) into pieces ;)

So, lets see what we can find inside :D

Childhood Friends to Lovers

Or friends to lovers. Or strangers to friends to lovers. Any form of buddyslash, as it used to be called, as opposed to enemyslash. I am very much not an enemies to lovers person. Even in case of rivals to lovers ships im actually interested in them after they move into a more amicable territory.

So, friends to lovers is my fav type of ship dynamic, I believe.

Im not sure why? Maybe its got sth to do with me being maybe probably on the ace spectrum. Maybe I just think a good romance starts with friendship as opposed to bad romance that starts with rah rah-ah-ah-ah.

2. Separated by war and imprisonment and Reunited against all odds

This just screams soulmatism to me, and not in a “we are soulmates bc we fit so well together” (bc r/s dont) but in a “the chances of us finding each other again were so minuscule it must have been done consciously by the universe”. Its sometimes so crazy to me that this things happened canonically. The shack scene is absolutely crazy on its own (the forgave each other 12 years of pain in one conversation) and then Sirius and Remus go live together for like a year. The whole Winter Soldier movie is, again, bonkers, when you have shipping goggles on (and even if you dont, the romance isnt in the subtext, its in the text)

I was surprised I was into exes to lovers in modern/no magic aus, but yeah its canon for r/s so it makes sense. Something something second chances something something love conquers all something something they were meant to be something something soulmates.

3. Recovering after years of torture prison

hurt/Comfort my beloved.

This trope fits fill-in-the-blanks type of canon-compliant fics for r/s and canon-divergent fix-its fics for s/b.

In case of wolfstar this is Lie Low at Lupin’s. Absolute banger. *slaps hood* This bad boy can fit so many smaller tropes. Bed sharing. Bath sharing. Helping wash/cut hair. Comforting after a nightmare. Communicating and talking and settings things straight after years of lost time. Yeah. Cannot go wrong with this one. (and I can pretend they stay in this intimate serene bubble and nothing bad ever happens to them bc im delusional)

In case of stucky its all types of post-WS or post-CW fix-its where Bucky finally gets some fucking treatment and therapy (and actual therapy, not this piss-poor excuse for a therapist from TFATWS).

In both cases there is also an interesting switch in the dynamic that im not sure i can put into right words. Just, the one that used to stand up for the other, take care of them, was more confident and outgoing, now is the one being taken care of bc they went through hell and were on a run from the government for 2 years. And the one taking care of them is doing only slightly better, had a bit more time to adjust, but still, is quite traumatized as well.

Cinematic parallels or sth idk.

***

However, i mostly read fluff so there are many fluffy tropes i could mention but i couldn’t pick my top 3 (Sirius raising Harry and getting together with Remus. Domestic bliss. Established relationships with marriage proposals. Raising kids together. Post-full-moon sick fics (that one is technically h/c). Holidays spend with loving families. etc) I eat that shit up

send me a ☕️ and a topic and i’ll talk about how i feel about it

[sunriseverse]

Shipper tag game

tagged by the lovely @lucientelrunya (thank you!!!)

What ship were you completely obsessed with when you were a teenager, but now you don't care about anymore?

hmm..........i wrote a lot of oc stories when i was younger, largely for warrior cats settings/spinoffs, so i don't think i had a specific ship i was into? i read a lot of genfic (again, warrior cats fan).

Which ship would you consider your first one?

like i said, i didn't really have a "ship" for a long time, but in 2013 i was gifted the first l&co book and it prompted me to get much more seriously into fandom, so.......locklyle, i guess (i had yet to discover gay people, which is very ironic if you consider certain facts about my life).

Your first fanfic was about which couple?

again, locklyle! i actually deleted the fic i wrote, rewrote it, and reuploaded it years after i had first written it.

Do you remember the first couple you saw fanart of?

i think it was wc art? probably sandfire (gay cats weren't exactly..............in, yet).

Have you ever gotten into ship discourse?

no. i refuse to do so. if i hate a ship i'll complain about it to my friends to let off steam and then continue on with my life. i'm here to have fun not spend my limited spoons on arguing about fictional characters. if there's one person or people who post a lot of ships i don't like i'll block or avoid them.

Did you use to have any NOTP or have one currently?

yeah but i'm not going to say them because i would rather not get into an argument about things with people. beloved friends can probably guess though.

Who were the couple in the last fanfic you read?

uhhhhhh fuck. i think. hang on. du cheng/shen yi (this is @lunarriviera's fault).

Currently, do you have any OTPs?

[shakes dmbj] yes. (mainly tiesanjiao as a romantic pairing. i have written quite literally 100k+ about them u_u)

Is there any couple that, to this day, you are extremely mad about not getting together?

i was going to say nygmob in gotham but then i remembered. [YOU cat meme] syfy magicians. ohhhhhh i have so many words in my head and rage in my heart and hatred of showrunners and the way the show was handled later on and—whatever. whatever. it's fine. i still have a life in the day.

Is there any ship you used to dislike but now you think they are kind of interesting?

uhhhhhhhhh fuck. um. i can't think of anything on this aspect but i have the opposite. when i first got into tgcf i was neutral on fq but as i read more i got more and more annoyed that people were ignoring the clear class dynamics at play and how that complicated and complicates their relationship and instead just pigeonholing them into the enemies (rivals) to lovers mould.

Do you have any ship that, in the past, would've been considered normal but now you would be cancelled over?

what's the view on firetiger these days because that's probably the only one i can think of.

What is your favorite crack ship?

i don't really read crackfic? i like crackfic but i prefer crack taken serious—WAIT. I JUST REMEMBERED. tony stark x thomas barrow. if you know who that is you probably know the exact fanfic i'm talking about. that's probably the only crackship i can think of that has left any sort of impression on me. no idea how it holds up currently since i only read it once at like 4:00am but yeah it was fun.

What is the couple you read the most fanfics about?

numbers-wise probably either newmann or hualian. probably hualian? emotional support godghost couple <3

What do most of your ships usually have in common?

deeply fucked up people who find meaning in each other, probably.

What you absolutely hate in a ship?

destroying a character's personality to make the ship work. i love shipfic but fuck you i want those characters to be in character. i don't care if it makes the ship "more fucked up" that's actually fun in my opinion.

tagging..................uhhhhh @lunanoc @lungache @owengrose @lasenbyphoenix @mhaccunoval @butchybats and anyone else who wants to play!

[abyssalaerlocke]

honestly you're so real for the Halsin/Tara post. I'm too scared to like it and I'm paranoid enough that I turned on my VPN to send this ask bc I live in fear of antis. But Tara passes the Harkness Test: Intelligent, able to communicate, and mature for her species. I'm half tempted to write a short anonymous fic because ugh I'm kind of obsessed. Imagine this:

Tara is in heat and the camp is going insane. She's yowling at all hours, nobody can sleep, and Gale is getting worried about her wandering off and mating with a random stray tomcat (act 3)(i don't know if tressym can have kittens with regular cats but whatever).

Seeing everyone get increasingly grumpy, bickering over nothing, and even performing badly in their battles, Halsin realises he is uniquely equipped to take care of the situation. And he is nothing if not resourceful.

He's not sure of etiquette on this, but he decides it's best to approach Gale for permission, so as not to find himself on the receiving end of a fireball when he finds out.

Gale, in his typical fashion, is incredulous, flustered, and altogether out of his depth. He eventually concedes it's for the best, acknowledging her capacity to consent.

He approaches Tara in his elf form, scritching her while they have a brief chat about it - she accepts his offer without hesitation. He wildshapes into a cat, and... well. The rest is perhaps best saved for...... not here.

Anyway thank you for this delightful little brainworm. my ADHD meds kicked in while I was rotating them in my brain so I had to get some word vomit out there!

Honestly between everyone being on board with bards bangin' dragons (in dragon form), the bear scene, countless fics of werewolves in wolf form and ones with just-dogs, with the feline displacer beast, and catgirl/boy phenomenon — I think the defining issue that separates this from all of that is size. The fact that neither partner can be in humanoid form for it to work, crosses a line for most people.

Same goes for me — not as a squick, just generally disinterest. I'm on board with that being an aspect of their relationship, but personally more interested in thinking about Tara curled up on the back of Halsin's big, fluffy, bear form.

But hey, when the muse hits ya ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ fiction is a good outlet, that like all the violent video games and media, lets us address things in a medium that isn't hurting anyone.

I think the biggest issue for me is consent during heat — it's something that generally turns me away from a lot of omegaverse and sex pollen fics these days. If inclined, you could make tressyms' heat less severe, or Tara's interest in Halsin discussed beforehand. He would have smiled, comfortable with the naturalness of it and flattered, without really considering indulging her at the time.

I know the mentioned WIP was Tara transforming into a human, instead of the other way around, and I'd probably go for Tabaxi or one of the other feline humanoids in DnD.

I have a brainworm of Cazador not doing the black mass, but Gale "prodigy archwizard, chosen of Mystra" Dekarios of Waterdeep is regarded by many as "the man who'll become a god". Cazador hears how Gale talks about his beloved tressym, and to earn his favour and hopefully aid one day, custom breeds some tabaxi/owlin or something — basically humanoid tressyms. And so Astarion and his siblings are basically a litter of these, and Astarion gets gifted to Gale — who was entranced, but mostly just accepted to get him out of Cazador's hands.

They pursue a relationship on their own prerogative, but Tara is very cross Gale abandoned the other poor tressym-adjacent victims of Cazador. So they go on an adventure, tracking down Astarion's siblings, who have been sold off, escaped, rescued... They find them in varying dynamics with other characters from canon. Dalyria helps Halsin as an apprentice healer in the grove, Leon is an employee for Grand Duke Wyll Ravengard, Aurelia's with Karlach, etc.

[joelslegalwhre]

Hey!! was just looking to request a little something, if you don't want to/don't have the time I don't mind.

So, like a Max V x Reader where reader is Toto's daughter. Reader and Toto doesn't have a good relationship because she isn't very interested in the Mercedes team and after a petty fight he kicks her out of the house, max hears them fighting (they're in the paddock) and offers to host reader and as time goes, they start to build a relationship and then everyone finds out about it. Also if it could take place under the 2021 season. 🏎️🤍

*sips on dr pepper* Alright Toto my beloved, it‘s time to be a bitch

Thank u sm for the request anon! I made some small changes to the plot but nothing major xx

Paddock Pass pt.1

pairing: max verstappen x fem!reader, dad!toto wolff x fem!reader

word count: 1.6k

summary: After Toto takes your paddock pass, Max comes to your rescue. You didn‘t think that rescue would lead to something much bigger. (Pls trust me this is good, I just suck at summaries)

warnings: angst, fighting, bad dad-daughter dynamics, fluff, mutual pining turning into more, use of Y/N one time, not really proofread (anything else? Tell me if I missed something)

Masterlist || taglist || part one || part two || part three

There wasn't a year when you hadn't attended at least half of the grand prix. And this year was no different. 

Your job allowed you to work from everywhere you liked, so it was the perfect opportunity to follow your dads team around the world. 

The Mercedes Formula One team was something you’d consider family. 

You knew everyone by name, some of them knew you since you were only a few years old, attending your first races. 

But you never cared for the strategies, the way the cars worked, or anything in that field. 

You were here for the excitement of the races, the familiarity and the people. The drivers, the mechanics, the strategists or the people working for the media… they were close to your heart, and you couldn't imagine not being part of this world.

Even if you weren't the least bit interested in the details; you knew everything about the sport, you just didn't want to go into detail why the car would work better if you added this thing to whatever part of the car that your dad had explained to you so many times. 

But Toto Wolff would not understand that. And he made it very clear. 

In his eyes, you should be just as interested in all aspects of the sport. To be like him, you thought.

„You know what, Dad? Shocker, but not everyone shares your fucking interests and cares for them as much as you do!" 

You've never talked to him like that, but you've had enough. "I know I'm not the daughter you'd like to have," you continued, „I really don't care  about the aerodynamics of Lewis‘ car and how it's different to Valtteris'! I simply don't care!" 

You felt hot tears burning in your eyes, but you managed to blink them away. Barely, but he didn't have to see them. "They all know that," these damn tears wouldn't stop, you thought, "Everyone except for you, Dad.

The disappointment in your voice was clear as day, "Why do you even take me with you, when you don't just accept me as I am?" Your lips were pressed in a tight line, the tears still on the verge of falling. 

"You're right." Toto said in the coldest voice you might've ever heard from him, his accent thick, „I don't have to drag you with me anywhere, you're an adult after all. But I also don't have to give you access to the paddock, nor to the garage or anywhere else."

You clenched your teeth, hard. He just had to snap his fingers and your all access pass was worth nothing. You couldn't enter the paddock, couldn’t go anywhere else. And he knew, clear as day, that you couldn't just take a plane back home. You needed the money to pay your rent and couldn't just waste it on a plane ticket that was way too expensive. 

But you wouldn't give in this time, no, if he wanted to punish you for telling him the truth, fine. But he couldn't just humiliate you like he did right now. You grabbed the all access pass hanging from your neck and shoved it in his hand. "Take it then." you said, your voice matching his cold tone. 

Max was hearing every part of it. He'd noticed your voice just before he walked past the Mercedes facility, stopping dead in his tracks when he heard the tone of your words. The voice he had heard so many times, the kindness you always spoke with. All gone. And then Toto's. Just as horribly cold. The two of you were standing between the facilities, so he pretended to be on his phone answering someone, so he could wait in front of his own facility. 

"Take it then." he heard you say in a bitter tone, and just a moment later, you walked past him. He could tell that you were upset. Hell, everyone could've. The way you almost ran out of the paddock and tried to blink away the tears - of sadness, anger, or possibly both, he couldn't tell - it was obvious. Max waited another moment, and when he saw Toto returning to the Mercedes facility, he quickly followed you.

He had to quicken his pace, due to your fast steps. Some were curiously watching where he wanted to be so quickly, but he didn't notice them, just trying to catch up to you. "Hey," he called after you, "wait for me!" 

You didn't hear him, and even if you did, you wouldn't think he'd meant you. It was when he called out your name, that you finally turned around. 

"Thank you." he said, taking a deep breath. He stopped right at your side. "Ehm," you looked at him in utter confusion, still trying not to be obvious of your emotions. "Can I help you, Max?" 

You haven't seen him, when you walked past the Red Bull building, too focused on what to do now. 

„Uhm, yeah, I mean… Can we find a-„ he looked around, “a more private place to talk?” 

His gaze was filled with sincerity and softness. You needed a second to answer him. „Uhm, yes. Of course.“ you quietly said. 

“Great.” Max gently took your wrist and led you to a more secluded place between two facilities. The grip he had on your wrist turned into him sliding his hand in yours. It didn‘t surprise you how the skin where he had touched you tingled, the feeling of your hand in his a feeling you could never quite explain. It was childish, but ever since he started driving for Red Bull, you had a crush on him. You obviously never told your Dad or anyone else about it, hell would've broken loose if you did. 

“I was actually heading out of the paddock,“ you started, “I don't have a pass anymore.” 

His lack of confusion or surprise to that made you draw your brows together, and then he simply answered, „I know.” 

“So what are you-„ you started, but he interrupted you, “I know it's not the most gentlemen thing to do, but I heard all of the-“ he thought for a second, “discussion, between you and your Dad.” he ended. 

That actually made you smile a little, he tried his best to be as gentle as possible and you appreciated it. „It’s okay, Max. I guess everyone kind of heard us.” you sighed, „We had a fight, and he kicked me out.” a bitter smile formed on your lips. 

„Yeah, but he can't kick you out of the paddock.” Max's lips turned into a mischievous smile. “What do you mean?” He looked at your hand and his thumb caressed it for a second. „I'll give you one of mine.” 

„Max,“ you started a little shocked, but he quickly shook his head, „It's really no problem at all,“ he smiled, „It would be an honor to have you in the garage.“ he winked.

His knees almost buckled at the sight of you.

He had given you one of his spare Red Bull shirts. It was a little too big for you, but you had styled it perfectly, the new pass dangling from your neck with every step you took.

You looked absolutely beautiful. And you weren't walking past his garage like you usually would, because his garage was the one you'd watch the race in. It filled him with a sort of pride he couldn't explain. Never in a million years, had he dared to believe you'd be rooting for him and his team. Little did he know, you did since meeting him for the first time. 

"Hey," you greeted him with a warm smile. Max was glad that you seemed to be in a much better mood than yesterday. „Hey.“ he grinned. „Is this-„ you gestured over your outfit and pass, „Is it really okay with the team?“ 

You were a little nervous how they'd react to you being in the garage. Nearly everyone knew you were Toto's daughter. And although you knew most of the other teams, including the people who worked for them, you felt quite nervous. „It is.“ His voice had no trace of uncertainty in it. And when he grabbed your hand for the second time since your encounter yesterday, your stomach did a little happy flip. 

„Alright, I have to go, but you can just go over there to watch the race,“ he pointed to your left, „But I guess it's no different to the Mercedes garage, so…“ he laughed. You smiled and chuckled, „It isn‘t, but thank you.“ He gave you a small nod, still smiling. „No Max, really. Thank you.“ Your voice became more serious, and you looked at him with utter gratitude. 

Just when he gave your hand a light squeeze, you noticed that you must've still been holding hands. „I already told you it's no problem, I'm glad you are here.“ You couldn‘t tell the look on his face, you just knew that he was standing so very close to you that only a few centimeters separated the two of you. His gaze wandered from your eyes to your lips. His hand that caressed yours as you still watched him with such intensity, trying to figure out what he was thinking, but at the same time just taking him in. „Y/N, I-„ he started whispering, so close to your own lips, just so very close. 

„Max! We need you over here!“

The voice made both you and Max look up, almost startled. He turned around to the mechanic, and nodded quickly before turning back to you. 

But the moment was gone. You took a step back, letting go of his hand in the process. You smiled at him, though nervously, „Good luck, champ.“. And with that you left him standing there, your heart still aching for so much more than a simple ‚good luck‘. 

I appreciate your comments and reblogs so much!

here’s my kofi if you‘d like to leave a tip 🩷

[evilwickedme]

hey so this is frankly wayy later than I thought it would be but my dear beloved mutual @briefcasejuice asked for batfam fic recs that are (in my opinion) accurate to canon characterization, and they specifically said they're most familiar with jason and damian so that's what they wanted me to focus on. he also asked for no ship fic so it's all batfamily focused

many of these are repeats but that's just because they're so damn good

first and foremost, Make a Little Birdhouse in Your Soul, which I have said on the record is my favorite Jason fic and I stand by it. I think it absolutely understands Jason to an extreme degree, and I like how it makes Jason take accountability for his actions. extremely believable character development, beautiful writing, and the sequel adds Damian into the mix absolutely beautifully

The 70 Days After Groundhog Day is another one I've recommended before. this one focuses on Jason & Dick's relationship. it's told through Dick's POV, but it's about the aftermath of a time loop that Jason was stuck in. cw that a couple of scenes deal heavily with past sexual assault/rape

I like Nests and Cages because I too find it incredibly interesting that Jason thought Shiva could have been his mother, and his ethnic ambiguity has simply never been brought up since. also I love Cass in this. anyway yeah it's just about Jason's parentage and him finding himself and on the way rejoining the batfam

Minefield is literally too much to explain in one paragraph, each fic is really its own thing. I'm linking it mostly for Harvest, in which Jason and Bruce spend a long time together more or less isolated on the Kents' farm. it's emotionally raw and incredibly authentic

3:16 is an au where Bruce actually really did die in Final Crisis, and focuses on Dick's developing relationship with Damian. it's incredibly steeped in various canons and also will hurt your soul. it's incomplete but still updating semi-regularly, and also frankly because almost every chapter is a standalone you can read it as a collection of short stories most of the time

Assassins and Animal Crossing is about Damian playing Animal Crossing. I figure we all deserve some fluff considering how absolutely insanely emotional this list has been so far. and will continue to be.

one of my absolute favorite dynamics to explore is Tim and Damian's, which is done incredibly well in The Study of Birds. Damian and Tim find out they have something in common - they both enjoy birding. character development ensues

and a couple last Jason focused fics, both featuring the rebirth outlaws team - first is Retrogade Motion, which is The de-aging fic in my eyes, it just does so much with the concept and doesn't cop out on the consequences. second is we're a gang, friends, which relies heavily on both post-crisis continuity and early rebirth before sort of doing its own thing for a bit there.

and here's another fluff fic that's not incredibly rooted in a canon but makes me laugh just to close us out - Life in the Fast Lane. I just like it a lot.

enjoy :D

[ranchthoughts]

Thai QL Favorites Tag Game

Tagged by @telomeke, @chickenstrangers, and @wen-kexing-apologist (thanks!! <3)

Credit also: this game was created by @thatgirl4815 as Thai BL Favorites Tag Game.

Once again, I am forced to make decisions (!!) about media... this is so hard.

Favourite Thai QL:

Bad Buddy was made for me in a lab I think, the way it checks all my boxes. I also have a deep enduring love for MSP.

Favourite Pairing:

(Like many others, interpreting this as favourite pair of fictional characters) Pat and Pran's dynamic is everything to me. The teasing, the understanding, the care, the commitment to the bit...

Most Underrated Actor:

I do not feel qualified to discuss the quality of acting, nor whether or not people are underrated... but I will throw my hat in the ring for Fluke Pusit (he does what he needs to do! Would be interesting to see him anchor a series like Gawin has gotten to with Be My Favourite)... and pretty much every woman ever in a BL.

Favourite Character:

Oof oof oof. So many are near and dear to my heart. The ones who occupy the most brain space are Pat (Bad Buddy), Gun (MSP), and Li Ming (Moonlight Chicken).

Favourite Side Character:

Sending love to Li Ming (technically a side character?). Ink from Bad Buddy; love her, love her relationshisp with the other characters. I also was unreasonably delighted by Sky (as someone who didn't vibe with most of the rest of SCOY).

Favourite Scene:

Completing this tag game is teaching me I need to keep detailed lists of everything, because I forget.

Bad Buddy ep 5 fight scene and rooftop confession scene, of course. Thanks to @chickenstrangers for reminding me about my beloved, the ep 11 Chinzhilla fight scene in MSP (the emotions were perfect, everyone was acting their hearts out, I've rewatched this sequence in isolation multiple times).

Ooh also @kattahj reminded me of how much I love the scenes with Li Ming and Jim in Moonlight Chicken - the rage, the love, the passing of the torch...

And @lurkingshan reminded me of the sniffing scene in ITSAY... god the atmosphere and ambience and TENSION was out of this world. The scene of Teh and Ohaew airing out their feelings in the hammock is another amazing scene.

Shout out also to any and all scenes involving Vee and Dome in You're My Sky, especially the hands scene and the looking across the river scene. Love that they just kept starring in short queer films.

Favourite Line:

I'm not the type of person who notes specific lines of dialogue (and if I do, I rarely remember them for things like this).

The ones that stick with me thus are those that get repeated a lot by others - Pat and Pran's "Do you want to be friends?" "No" and "You've got to stop doing this to me" are powerful and so revealing about the characters and their dynamic. Shout out also to @wen-kexing-apologist 's list of lines about being weak around each other, those are always sweet.

Most Anticipated:

Only Friends. Mixing pairs? 👀 Sluts? 👀 First and Khaotung AND Neo AND Mark AND Force and Book? 👀

Healthiest Relationship:

Pat and Pran - their balance between bits and genuine care is wonderful

Tinn and Gun - sweethearts fumbling their way into their first relationship, with a maturity beyond their years

Most Toxic Relationship:

I mean, there's a lot of relationships in QLs that I don't think would work all that well in real life, but I do tend to suspend my disbelief while watching the shows and thus can't think of many examples now.

I mean, VegasPete is not what one would consider "healthy" and neither are TharnType... not a huge fan of the convoluted lies or inequalities the relationships of AkkTheo (Enchanté) or PuenTalay (Vice Versa) are born from... ?

Guilty Pleasure:

I like taking pieces I like out of every show I watch, regardless of quality or how "problematic" it is, so I don't really feel guilty about any of them? Shows that are controversial or oft-disliked by others that I latched on to in some way: Enchanté, Vice Versa, The Shipper (wait, is that QL?)

Most Underrated:

I mean, everyone has said it but: He's Coming to Me

I'm also going to throw my hat in the ring for You're My Sky - people are talking about this on the dash now and I'm very happy

I think pretty much everyone has done this game at this point, but if you haven't, here is your open invitation to do so! Love to see what people think

[scary-monsters]

this post showed up in my recommended and i debated whether or not to explain my obsession with this guy, ultimately my love got the best of me so here we are.. i'm not very good at being concise or sounding intellectual in any case, but i will do my best to explain what the hype is (for me personally, i'm sure others would have different viewpoints which i'd also love to hear)

first off: i think it's very important that you try to detach scary monsters diego from alternate diego. in my mind alternate diego is actually much closer to og dio than he is to regular diego. i think it's also important that you try to detach regular diego from dio as well, (i'm not sure how controversial that take will be.. to me they're both more enjoyable as their own standalone characters rather than diego just being dio 2.0, which is an issue i often find especially in the way he's characterized in fics. but i digress.)

lemme 'read more' this cause it'll probably get long 💀

if you ask me, diego's appeal comes down to a few things: he's morally grey, he's got a tragic past, he's scarily intelligent and perceptive, he's solitary and ultimately only cares about his own goals and ambitions, he's goofy at times, he's a mama's boy, and he loooooves his horse LOL. there's a lot going on under his surface which makes him very interesting and layered, but even if you ignore that entirely and take him at face value he's a great character.

and if you're a shipper, that adds like 1000 more layers of intrigue! diego's dynamics with other characters were a big part of what made me feel drawn to him as well. yes, i mentioned that he's solitary, he prefers to work alone but he's not beyond working together with others as long as it benefits him above all else at the end of the day. he's very opportunistic.. and charming as hell, if he wants to be. there is so much to explore if you further consider his relationships with other characters. anon mentioned hot pants, which is a great example. it was really awesome to see someone so guarded and misanthropic kinda put aside those traits for a moment for the greater good, even if his motivations were selfish at the end of the day. he still put himself on the line to help HP. it's also a wonderful example of his determination to see his goals completed and achieved, he will risk even death if it means locating his father and seeking revenge for his mother. GAH i could seriously talk about this guy forever, i swear.

i think the problem for some might be built up expectations after experiencing dio for so much of jjba in general; dio is an amazing character and villain (he was my #1 favorite before diego wormed his way into my brain), there's a reason he's so iconic and beloved by soooo many people. i think if someone carries that and expects diego to be the same sort of terrifying and powerful being and to loom over the story in the same way, they're going to be disappointed in his character, for sure. diego feels far more human than dio does (which is funny, considering his stand is to literally turn into something non-human) and that makes him vastly more appealing to me personally. i love a BIG villain that feels undefeatable, always have, but there's something really interesting about a 5'3" british jockey who thinks he's larger than life and untouchable when in fact he is not...

finally, remember that alternate diego was pulled from a different world, one that we didn't get to watch like we did with the one scary monsters diego resides in. we were able to watch sm diego develop and to hear what his motivations and inner thoughts were like. we have no way of knowing how different alternate diego's experiences were (even if we did, i'm not an alternate diego apologist in the slightest, lucy didn't deserve that, but i do appreciate him as a villain in the same way i do with dio). i think this makes it easier to not compare sm diego and alternate diego as carbon copies. they are different characters, even if they look the same.

now i will say i'm coming off a full day of work and my brain is kinda mush so i'm not sure how great any of this is at convincing anyone LOL.. in my experience i'm much more likely to latch onto a character if i see someone else singing their praises, so i can only hope my own admiration for diego brando has a way of rubbing off on others :')) that's the whole point of this blog, after all

(warning for steel ball run spoilers)

i dont really get all the love for diego?

ive always *loved* dio and i was told that i'd like diego even more a lot, and i just didnt really. like he was really cool and everything, i liked seeing him work with hot pants to get the corpse parts near the end. but i was also thrown off by what alternate diego did at the very end

this isn't me complaining or anything, i'd just love to see people explain why they love diego! ^^

.

[miraculouscontent]

It’s heeeeere! Another summasalt, this time with nearly twice the length of the first one!

(Turns out that not having caffeine doesn’t help me talk any slower.)

Script below:

Anonymous asked:

Thoughts on Rocketear?

Can you Rocketear the newest episode apart with your salt, my beloved Salt Queen?

Penny for your thoughts on Rocketear?

Aw, anon! You can have that for free! I'm a generous goddess.

"Rocketear" begins with Chat Noir and Carapace - just Carapace, really - holding back a pack of what I presume to be the physical manifestation of the writing staff's age, or at least a representation of how behind the times the writing seems.

Just as the dinosaurs break through Shellter. Ladybug shows up with the scientist who revived the dinosaurs in the first place and said scientist uses a whistle to calm the dinosaurs down. There's also a line from Bob Roth about putting the dinosaurs in a theme park to make money and I know what it's referencing but it's so incredibly random that it doesn't really come off as a proper joke.

Carapace was notably sad right after battle, but insisted that he was fine when Ladybug asked. Rena, sporting a... - I would like to say "new design" but it's a recolor in every sense of the word - is hiding behind part of a building and smiles after the heroes before walking off. Ladybug takes Nino's miraculous back but sees that he's still upset and asks him again what's wrong. Nino asks where Alya was and Ladybug claims that she only needed Carapace for the job, which cheers him up but only until Ladybug is already gone.

Mm, I guess Nino and Adrien relate in heroism not being enough for them unless they have their respective love interest to flirt with.

Also, I know this is an obvious set-up, but the show can't tell me that Ladybug just always brought Nino and Alya whenever she needed one of them. Season 3 required her to go to Master Fu to get the miraculouses, and unless she already knew that Nino and Alya would be in the same location - which, okay, the show does basically shove the two of them together whenever Nino is onscreen, fair, if two characters are in a relationship in this show then it's weird for them to NOT be with that person - but it just seems like a gamble, not to mention proof to Shadow Moth that the two are close if Ladybug constantly brings both of them.

Anyway, Ladybug goes into the sewer and asks Rena if she's seen any sign of Shadow Moth or his traps. Rena didn't see anything and they de-transform. Marinette is about to leave when she thinks of something, but Alya assumes it's about her new look, which was apparently not voluntary on her part and the suit automatically adapted to Alya's new role as Rena Furtive, which she has now named it as.

Marinette reminds her that this is supposed to be a secret and that they agreed that the fox has no owner. When Alya is evasive about whether she told Nino that she won't be Rena anymore, Marinette stresses that everyone needs to believe that Alya won't be using a miraculous anymore so that she can remain an undercover spy.

What's the point in changing the look if you're not going to show yourself anyway? I mean, insurance, I guess, but still.

Alya, exasperated, parrots what Marinette has apparently told her before: that she helps Ladybug with Mirage in case Shadow Moth tries to follow her so Rena can follow him instead. Marinette stresses the situation again and Alya tries to get Marinette to agree on her telling Nino that she's Rena Furtive, but Marinette refuses.

At Marinette's house, Alya talks further and explains that she doesn't know if she can lie to Nino since they don't keep any secrets--Alya, babe, you kept Rena Rouge from him and didn't tell him that you knew he was Carapace until Ladybug was forced to give you your miraculouses at the same time. I don't wanna hear it.

Marinette states that it's too late for that and also not technically a lie, but Alya gets upset and says that Nino will never trust her again if he finds out that she kept something from him. Marinette brings up how she had to keep secrets from Alya too, but they're interrupted by Tom appearing and wanting to play games with them. Marinette makes an excuse about homework that she's repeated many times, as Tom comments that the teachers give her too much. After Tom is kicked out - hang on, lemme just... - Marinette uses the moment to show Alya that she's lied to her family a lot and hasn't played games with her father in months. She states that there's no other option as they have to protect their identities, and Alya agrees to talk to Nino.

In Alya's room - I just presume at this point that Nino's house doesn't exist and Chris is an illusion - Alya tells Nino that they need to talk, but stammers and states that it's hard to talk about. Nino thinks that she wants to break up with him, but Alya assures that she loves him. She finally gets to the cover story that Rena herself made up in "Sentibubbler" and Nino understands, sad that she won't be around anymore but agreeing if it's what Ladybug thinks is best.

Is it weird that Nino respects Ladybug's wishes more than Alya does?

Nino hugs her and is confused by why Alya was nervous to tell him, as she can tell him anything and nothing will change their relationship. Alya feels guilty and hugs back, murmuring about how they don't have any secrets; that's not what Nino said, but sure, push this plot to its already predictable conclusion. I mean, I thought it was vaguely sweet that Nino switched to seriousness immediately when Alya said that she wanted to talk, but how am I supposed to be invested in this couple when their dynamic boils down to "STRONG, INDEPENDANT WOMAN who wears the pants in the relationship because her boyfriend is portrayed as a wimpy coward"? Like, the show constantly dragged Nino down to make Alya look "powerful" by comparison, and then when it comes to characters like Marinette, we get a girl who works very well outside of her relationship with her endgame love interest.

It's the fakest form of "girl power," dragging guys down to raise girls up or actually making a strong girl character but having her love interest be a weakness that creates flaws in her that weren't there originally and having that love interest be who she's "destined for."

I'm rambling, sorry.

In class, Marinette assures Alya that she did the right thing and Alya agrees. As they're leaving school, Marinette talks about how their "night walks" start soon, and Alya non-subtly talks about how Rena Furtive will be on the lookout while Ladybug and Chat Noir patrol. She stops, however, as gets excited about some pictures she took of herself as Rena Furtive, which has a lot of details that Marinette hasn't seen. I don't know whether to groan at what I just heard or remind everyone that Rena Furtive is literally just a recolor and therefore this is the writers patting themselves on the back for this design, so let's just move on.

Alya then shows Marinette her phone--AUGH, MY EYES--and suggests making a poll on her Ladyblog so people can vote for their favorite Rena design. Marinette has to stress again that Rena Furtive is supposed to be a spy and thus invisible, which Alya admits that she forgot about.

Okay, I've been holding off on talking about this, but now seems like the best time to bring it up. Alya has been a trash friend as well as a trash confidant, and her role as Rena Rouge boiled down to, "it was convenient for her to be the fox at the time it was needed." She's not particularly stealthy like one would expect of a fox, and she was easily one of the worst candidates to be told Marinette's big secret. I'll get more into this later, but I have to stress that Alya has treated Marinette no differently since learning of Marinette's identity and has already gone against Marinette's orders once before at the time of this episode airing. Episodes are constantly torn between validating their decision to have Marinette tell Alya, having Marinette be worried about the decision while the show considers her to be ridiculous for it, and then having Alya either consider or make choices that clearly don't gel well with what's good for her role. Much like Marinette, she lacks a sense of self-control and--wow, a female character who's impulsive, never seen that stereotype before.

Point being, "Sentibubbler" stressed over and over that Alya was the right choice and deserved to be both the permanent fox and the understudy for guardian, but then we have "Rocketear" here where Alya is making basic emotionally-driven errors that I'm not even remotely sympathetic to when Marinette has gone through so much worse over the course of three+ seasons.

*sigh*

Alya laments that it's hard to find new content for the Ladyblog - ah, yes, tell me more about your struggles, Alya - but figures that at least she can post stuff about Chat Noir instead of--I don't know--making fake Ladybug theories to lead people off Marinette's trail. Marinette says that it's a great idea, though Alya still doesn't look too happy. The scene then rewinds to a little bit to show a different point of view, this time with Adrien and Nino. Wait, this feels familiar, wasn't there another episode that did something like--ohhhh no, this is going to hurt.

After saying good-bye to Adrien - something I wish I could do every time he's mentioned or on-screen - Nino catches the bit of conversation where Alya talks about the Ladyblog. Nino talks as if Marinette isn't there and asks Alya out to the movies because Marinette is chopped liver and this is about Alya and how sad she is, guys.

Wow, she's turning into Adrien faster and faster.

Alya hesitates, but Marinette assures her that there's still time. Alya excitedly runs off with Nino and they watch what I presume are previews given the narrator, featuring recycled footage from the Ladybug PV. Nino is upset because Rena is mentioned but not Carapace, and the preview features Rena telling Chat Noir to forget Ladybug because it's Chat and Rena herself who are trulu made for each other.

I don't know what's funnier; the complete lack of self-awareness or the suggestion that a biracial couple would exist in this show outside of a special that gives them maybe a minute of screentime and acts more like suggestive canon anyway. I think I might've been too generous with that line about dinosaurs.

Nino is offended by the preview and Alya brushes off his comments, stating that it's just a cartoon and it's made to entertain people, though Nino himself is certainly not entertained. Can't say I entirely blame him considering that Alya doesn't really try to say anything substantial or even agree with him. No cuddling or reassuring kisses, she just gets slightly sad and turns to her phone for a bit.

After the movie, Nino is cheered back up again until he catches Alya on her phone once more. He offers to take her home, but she's distracted, and he comments that what she showed to Marinette looked pretty nice; I don't know because they didn't show it. Nino asks what it was and Alya evades the question, stating that her battery is running out. Nino is suspicious, but spots Andre's ice cream cart and the two head over there. Andre calls them his favorite couple and asks what they want, but Alya sees Ladybug gesturing for her and has to run off, giving Nino a cheek kiss as she goes which feels like too little too late at this point.

Nino catches some conveniently-placed kids arguing over who Chat Noir loves, but they settle on the fact that girls in general love Chat Noir. Nino is then seen at the Seine watching the Ladyblog's latest video, where Alya is talking up how amazing Chat Noir is. I hate to stop every five seconds to complain - okay, actually I don't - but I presume this video must've been made after the movie since Nino seems like the type who would actively follow his girlfriend's blog, yet not only is this video perfectly set up to echo the kids and the movie preview, but Alya - despite apparently caring about her boyfriend soooo much that she kept trying to convince Marinette to bend the rules - didn't even try to warn Nino or text him so he doesn't take it too seriously. It's like "Sentibubbler" with the conflicting messages about identity rules; Alya cares about her boyfriend but both isn't thinking about how he'll take the things she says and apparently doesn't know him well enough to realize that he wouldn't be mad over her keeping a secret that she was told to keep. I already talked about how they play up Nino to be the emotionally weaker one of the relationship, but then they don't have Alya try to cover or make up for that. She's been acting very much not like Alya - you know, the one who in "Sapotis" practically bragged about how great she'd be at covering for Ladybug - with her stutters and weak excuses, so I can't completely blame Nino for being upset after everything that's happened when he sees the writers projecting onto Alya as she talks about how Chat Noir is brave and funny and cute and showing all these images of him as well. I don't agree with all of his actions, but--oh yeah, speaking of which--

Nino calls Adrien and is talking to him about how Alya must be in love with someone else. Adrien dismisses the idea, as Alya and Nino are together basically all the time, and asks who she could possibly be in love with. When Nino suggests that it's Chat Noir, Adrien laughs and jokes about it being Fang instead. Nino points out the video but Adrien did see it but is overall unphased and convinced that it means nothing. Nino says that he'll find proof and hangs up, but Adrien is certain he'll find nothing. Plagg comments that Nino will find someone because Plagg's charisma has definitely contaminated Adrien.

Ugh.

Adrien expresses concern that he put on the cat's charm too much and accidentally made Alya fall for him, and decides to visit Alya as Chat Noir to be sure.

Meanwhile, we get a reference to film noirs as Nino narrates. That's the second blatant reference this episode and now I feel like they wrote this script while doing a movie marathon.

Chat Noir arrives at Alya's house and Trixx hides before Alya opens the curtains to reveal her surprise guest. Nino is nearby watching the scene with his phone as Alya wonders aloud if something's wrong. Chat assures that everything's fine, but brings up the video she posted. He insists that it made him happy, but points out that she's been following him and Ladybug since the beginning and that they know each other much better due to everything that's happened. He has some conveniently-worded dialog as he starts to say that he hopes something's just an illusion and Alya gets worried that he's about to bring up Rena. Chat continues and clarifies that he wonders if she started to feel something for him, though adds that he understands because just look at him.

UGGGGH.

Chat clarifies by making a heart with his hands, which Nino sees. Alya laughs at this gesture and states that she has a boyfriend, doing the same heart gesture and suggesting that her love for Nino is even more than that. Chat Noir apologizes - hm, I didn't know he had the capacity to do that - and hugs Alya, saying that he was just confused.

An absolutely unnecessary hug for two people who, at least in terms of their current selves, have had very little screentime together, but this is also the show where making eye contact basically means your friends and it's all just to push the plot along so Nino inteprets that Alya is in love with Chat Noir, so whatever I guess.

Alya states that Nino is far more irresistable than Chat, then adds that she doesn't even know his secret identity, and she'd never fall in love with someone she doesn't know. Nino then runs away upset and the scene cuts away to the next day where--

Wait, wait, wait, hang on a second. Two things right off the bat there.

First off, we're just gonna sidle past that "wouldn't fall in love with someone you don't know the identity of" while ignoring the existence of the love square? Not even Chat thinking about how he doesn't know Ladybug's identity and trying to excuse that he doesn't have to? This guy is that certain of their relationship?

Secondly, Nino is practically sobbing and Shadow Moth doesn't take this as his opportunity? Same guy who akumatized Mr. Pigeon 72 times and has akumatized Gigantitan more than once? What is this pacing???

But--alright, so Adrien comes into school and sees Nino, still dressed up in his detective gear, which gets ignored completely as Adrien goes to tell him about Chat Noir and Alya. Because the show doesn't know how Adrien would convey this within reason, Nino interrupts him, taking him down into the lower part of the school where he has a desk and chairs set up. Adrien goes to ask when Nino had time to do this, but Nino slams his hand on the desk to cut him off. Nino presents the evidence he took and they go back and forth, likewise with Adrien turning off the background music while Nino turns it back on. Adrien insists that it's a misunderstanding, but pleads innocent when Nino asks how he knows. Adrien states that Alya is just a superhero fan and that she and Chat Noir have nothing in common.

Again, the complete lack of self-awareness is astonishing.

Adrien repeats what Alya said about secret identities and how she wouldn't fall for someone she doesn't know - they're really ignoring this, aren't they? - and continues hitting Nino's soft spots about how unlikely it is until Nino decides to tell Adrien something he's not supposed to.

He tells Adrien, not only that Alya is Rena Rouge, but that he's Carapace. Adrien goes through a range of emotions beyond sAD for once, shocked at the fact that they know each other's identities. Nino states that they don't keep secrets from each other, except now Alya is with Chat Noir. Adrien still doesn't understand and brings up how secret identities have to be protected, or else Nino wouldn't have told him because Ladybug wouldn't agree to it.

Oh, here we go. So that's why they waited.

Nino states that it was Ladybug herself who gave them their miraculouses at the same time; not giving the reason why, of course, nor pointing out that they're temporary heroes so there's understandably some leeway. Adrien is having a moment, but manages to bring the subject back to Alya and Chat Noir, who he still doesn't think are a thing. Nino argues that it's because Adrien doesn't know Chat Noir, but he does because he's Carapace and knows how Chat Noir acts. He says that it's all flowers and confessions when Ladybug appears, but he gets rejected because Ladybug thinks that he's annoying, and she's right. He adds that Chat flirts with Rena Rouge and that's all that needs to happen, with Chat stepping in on the first mission Carapace lost in. Nino laments the loss of the love of his life and wishes to shut Chat Noir up forever; we all do, Nino, we all do. Shadow Moth finally steps in with - oh, less than eight minutes left in the episode, yikes - and Nino is akumatized into Rocketear.

Rocketear rejects Adrien's pleas to stop, insisting that Chat Noir is who he's after, not Adrien, and Adrien transforms in sad fashion despite Plagg's reminder of who Rocketear is after. Alya, meanwhile, is in the art club with Marinette - wait, since when was Alya in the art club - telling Marinette about how Chat Noir thought she was into him due to the video, which Marinette groans at. There's an earthquake and they peek outside to see Rocketear firing his tears at Chat Noir, shouting that he stole Alya from him. Chat Noir tries to tell him otherwise, but Rocketear won't listen.

Alya groans at Nino doing this, then she and Marinette set off to find a place to transform. They conveniently go to the same place Adrien and Nino were, so they see the desk that Nino had set up.

Genuine question, how seriously does this episode want me to take itself, because now when I recount all the unnecessary love square drama in my head - because you know that's where this is going - I'm going to have to think, "Nino, dressed in a detective outfit, ripped off his fake mustache and told Adrien both his and Rena's identities, and also that Ladybug was totally cool with it and thinks that Chat Noir is annoying."

Gettin' two completely different vibes here. The episode clearly wants to be important but it doesn't take itself seriously either, which it totally could while including enough jokes to keep things light. Instead, I'm just left scratching my head and wondering what tone they're going for.

Marinette finds Nino's phone on the desk - I'm calling continuity error on that one because he at no point put it on the desk, at least not on-screen - and she questions Alya on the video she sees. Alya insists that nothing happened, apparently completely unphased by her boyfriend having spied on her, and says that he wouldn't have misunderstood if he'd heard the actual conversation.

The two transform and Ladybug immediately uses Lucky Charm, receiving a projector. Ladybug is clueless and Rena Furtive suggests creating an imaginary movie like Nino. Ladybug gets an idea, remembering Alya's earlier comments, and Rena confirms that she remembers every word of it.

Aaaaand, just like that, all of the tension has been completely sucked away. You know, "Backwarder" was a trash episode, but at least when Ladybug was showing every step of her plan, she didn't tell us what it was.

Meanwhile, Rocketear and Chat Noir are still arguing--I started zoning out at hearing the same thing over and over again at this point, so I just presume they were fighting over who does stuff behind their love interest's backs better; I don't think they came to an agreement but they're both losers anyway.

Chat Noir says that he'll prove his innocence, tossing his baton aside to show him giving up, but Rocketear points out that it proves nothing and strikes Chat Noir with his tears.

Our endgame love interest, everyone. Straight As yet about as smart as a sack of bricks, and that at least won't flirt with anyone non-consensually.

Chat Noir makes a point that he doesn't want to hurt Rocketear, and Shadow Moth tells Rocketear to take his miraculous before finishing him. Chat Noir can only weakly tell him not to before Ladybug snags Rocketear's wrist and diverts the shot. Ladybug explains to Rocketear about the projector and how it'll let him hear the audio of the recording he took. She adds that she doesn't know what Chat said, but she trusts him.

Marinette, I'm sorry, I feel so bad for you.

Ladybug turns on the projector and Rocketear relaxes at actually hearing what was going on. Rena then de-transforms and hurries out to meet with Rocketear, hugging him as Rocketear apologizes for doubting her. Alya also kinda sorta apologizes in a way I don't understand and Rocketear then breaks his akumatization, very casually, all on his own.

Yeah, just--casually, in a matter of seconds in fact. You know, it's really sad when people resisting akumatizations are more tense and emotionally compelling than them breaking them. This is twice in one season now and has zero impact considering that Nino's reason for being akumatized was already taken care of so he had no reason to stay akumatized anyway. Him breaking his own object to release the akuma would've at least been different, but instead it's just a repeat of what Alya went through with even less tension considering that Alya's wasn't even that good in the first place, relying on her relationship to Ladybug rather than who she knew to be her best friend.

Moving on, Ladybug captures the akuma and uses Miraculous Ladybug to bring everything back to normal. Shadow Moth monologues about how love and secrets don't go well together and he's sure that she has a lot and I'll talk about this later.

Ladybug hands over the magical charm, which Nino takes but insists that he won't need it, as he'll never let Shadow Moth use his love to manipulate him again. Plenty of other things to get akumatized over, but they gave the supposedly ace character a robot to help him stick out and also gave the supposedly aro character a miraculous back in season one to give her more importance. If characters aren't in love then they need something to ceompensate for it.

Nino apologizes to Chat Noir for being wrong and Chat Noir assures him that everyone has doubts, even him. He gets sad and Ladybug asks him what's wrong, but he insists that he's fine - officially throwing away his right to be upset at her later as far as I'm concerned - and they do their usual fist buuuuu--

...Really?

Everyone then splits up and Chat Noir sulks by himself instead of--you know, talking to Ladybug, or asking her anything, or making any sort of excuse for her because that would mean he actually has faith in her and understands that their partnership is different from temporary heroes, even if the excuse was as basic as her wanting to protect him more than the others because he would be that egotistical if they didn't want to stretch out this unnecessary drama.

Later on, Adrien is staring at a picture on the Ladyblog that might be a metaphor for the show considering how "in the foreground" Chat Noir and Rena are.

Adrien vents about Ladybug giving miraculouses to Alya and Nino, but Plagg states that she's the guardian. Adrien clarifies that he's referring to Alya and Nino knowing each other's identities, but Plagg doesn't see the issue. Adrien gets huffy and asks why the rule exists for LadyNoir but not Ninya, but Plagg again points out that she's the guardian, so she makes the rules, though obviously he uses cheese metaphors to convey it.

Okay, Plagg is only, like--half-right because he doesn't have all the information. If you don't mind me rambling for a bit, I'm on the fence here because, on one hand--yes, I agree that Marinette should be allowed to make her own rules, and I often do that in my writing because I think she should be permitted leeway in order to let herself be happy, but on the other hand, it's not technically her rule, as she had to let Alya and Nino in on their identities back in the Season 2 finale, so Fu was still around for a season. She wasn't even guardian yet!

Now, presumably so the fandom could blame Marinette if anything happened, Marinette never discussed this with Fu on-screen, so I can't say whether or not Fu knew, but I feel like he must've since Marinette had to have told him the heroes' identities off-screen, given "Party Crasher," and thus I imagine that Marinette would tell Fu everything that happened, which is consistent with what she does on-screen even if she'd keep things from him for a little while.

"Furious Fu" had also established that not even Master Fu followed rules completely, meaning that Marinette is in this awkward spot of mostly following what Fu taught her, which aren't all guardian rules anyway, and having to break the rules on occasion for various purposes. I can't say what Fu approved of and what he didn't, because episodes spend so much time on the love square that they forget about Marinette as a person and how she interacts with everyone else. From an emotional standpoint, I can't blame Marinette for not revoking the miraculouses of people whose identities get discovered because of her, as I imagine she feels guilty and it probably doesn't seem fair to force them into another miraculous or have them be entirely without one because of a mistake that she made, meaning that someone needs to be throwing a lot of red flags for Marinette to be through with them.

Though obviously, from the show's standpoint, it's just an excuse to not make new models, but I complained about that enough in "Sentibubbler" and this episode even went out of its way to design a detective model for Nino while spraypainting Alya's bodysuit in the same breath, so this is the world we live in.

Anyway, Marinette is essentially in this position where she still has Fu's rules hovering over her, but she's also trying to step out on her own and make her own decisions to varying degrees of success or failure depending on your point of view. Tikki--wait, no, bad idea--Su-Han then, could easily give input on these things, perhaps with Marinette discussing a modern day set of rules for someone her age and going back and forth with Su-Han on what the right choices to make are, finding something that's comfortable but within a realm of predictable control. Su-Han was okay with some rules being broken after seeing how Ladybug handled them and they could've easily made this episode about that instead, but instead, we get rules being set and then being broken on a writer's whim.

Which now brings us to the end of the episode, where Marinette is on the phone with Alya and apologizes for causing trouble between her and Nino. Alya tells her not to worry and she'll fix things - you know, those things that, to Marinette's knowledge, have already been fixed - and asks if Marinette trusts her. Marinette does, and Alya hangs up in order to face Nino.

Yeah, that feeling of dread in your stomach? That means you know how predictable the writing is and what's about to happen, good for you.

Alya explains that she has to tell Nino something and he's worried, this time trying to sheepishly break the tension. She explains that she's still Rena Rouge, much to Nino's shock, and adds that she's in hiding, which is why Ladybug didn't want her to tell anyone. Nino asks why she's telling him if she's not supposed to tell anyone - proving my point from a while back that he wouldn't have been upset had she kept it a secret - then asks if Ladybug agreed with it.

I want to give him a pat on the back for considering Ladybug, but he didn't even tell her when he had the chance that Adrien knows his identity now, so I'm just beaten down at this point.

Instead of answering the question directly, Alya says that she can't hide her identity from him because she loves him and they don't have secrets.

You know, like Nino telling Adrien about Rena's identity, or Alya saying specifically that she's a permanent holder, which I'm sure both of them will confess to since they said that they don't have--aaaaand the episode ends on happy triumphant music, okay.

I mean, I guess Alya at least didn't tell him that Marinette was Ladybug, but that is such a low bar and not even remotely worthy of congratulations when Alya told Nino the specific thing that Marinette told Alya not to tell; the thing that they had agreed on.

Nino wasn't upset anymore. He won't be getting akumatized either. Alya endured the supposed hardship of being a permanent fox holder for four episodes before breaking down and telling her boyfriend. Even her excuse doesn't hold any water because, again, they're both still technically keeping a secret, particularly Alya who knows Marinette's identity as Ladybug. The episode also apparently forgets that Alya and Marinette's friendship must not be as strong by her logic of telling Nino specifically everything, as Alya kept Rena Rouge a secret from Marinette for all of Season 3, but tells Nino about continuing to be Rena Rouge in Season 4. Boyfriends before BFFs without explicitly saying it, or to be more specific, whatever screws Marinette over the most, because that's what this comes down to, made worse by "Optigami" where Marinette told Alya that she'd tell her everything and I guess that doesn't go both ways.

"Sentibubbler" had Alya stress that no one would ever know. She promised Marinette and told Marinette to trust her, and the episode spent its entire running time talking her up and assuring Marinette that she was the right choice, even considering Marinette ridiculous for worrying when Alya had done something without Marinette's permission the episode right before it. Then, three episodes after "Sentibubbler," when Marinette is finally comfortable and trusts Alya completely, Alya betrays that trust. Nino betrayed that trust, knowing he wasn't supposed to do so but telling Adrien his and Rena's identity anyway, because he was losing an argument and needed to PROVE something.

Marinette gives them an inch and they take a mile. Marinette bent the rules so that they could continue to have the miraculous they'd started with and they disrespected her because it was hard for like a day.

And if this bites them back, it won't reflect poorly on them, it'll reflect poorly on Marinette.

It's not like Alya just overrode Marinette. She didn't go, "Hey, I'm telling Nino, I'm sorry," or tried her hardest to go back and forth with Marinette until they both agreed. No, she did what she told Marinette she wouldn't do without saying a word to her, because LOVE and SEEEECRETS.

And this only applies to her, of course, because don't think I didn't notice the parallels between this episode and "Truth," because WOW.

Episode begins with Marinette hoping for something and it blows up in her face? A date at the cinema that ends on a sour note? Plot-centric couple trying to get Andre's ice cream and the female with a secret needing to leave in a hurry? Boyfriend character getting akumatized over their girlfriend's secret? Boyfriend assumes/suggests that the girlfriend's secret involves Aaaaaadrien - or his alter-ego in "Rocketear"'s case - and the episode hints as much to him even though he's completely wrong? Akuma's colors are blue and black? THE BRIDGE?

But, ahhh, little difference, here and there, y'know, like how Marinette was forced to break up with her boyfriend while Alya got to keep hers, and Nino got to have long talks with Alya while Luka got little to nothing with Marinette.

Because do note that Alya, while trying to convince Marinette and talk to Nino about not keeping secrets, at no point suggests that Marinette deserves to be happy and deserves to have a boyfriend and that Marinette should be allowed to tell Luka her secret so they can get back together, so you have Alya here selfishly prioritizing her relationship with Nino while making no comment about Marinette's relationship, essentially asking Marinette to allow her what Marinette herself didn't have the luxury of, and Alya knows this because Marinette told her. It is both incredibly insensitive of Alya and incredibly insulting of the show to make so many parallels between this episode and "Truth" just to have everything crash down for Marinette because she's Marinette while everything goes well for Alya and Nino because they're not Marinette.

We've talked before about the formulas that are literally baked into the show, and one of those is how Marinette makes a mistake in every episode and has to learn from it. What that mistake is in this episode, I don't know, but considering that she apologizes for Alya and Nino's problems, I guess the show blames her for what they themselves had taught her.

Point being, there's a clear karma system in place, but it only applies to Marinette, and forcing her to mess up in every episode means that she is literally not allowed to be with Luka because had she been able to clear things up between them, he would've eagerly accepted her and they could've been happy. It'd be too difficult for her to mess up when Luka doesn't put mountains of pressure and expectations on her like everyone else. Factor that in with how she can be herself around him and it leads to situation that are too difficult for her to screw up in because her mistakes - more often than not - center around Adrien or her role as guardian.

And because another rule in the show is to bring up Adrien so they don't "lose him for too long," she can't avoid bringing him up either. If he's not in the plot, he has to be mentioned, leaving Marinette in a lose-lose situation that she'll never be free from.

So, let me just get this straight then:

The guy who spied on his girlfriend instead of talking to her about his assumptions gets to keep his girlfriend, not because he realized it was wrong regardless of whether he was correct or not, but because the situation had been cleared up for him, yet the guy who actively resisted his akumatization, saddened by his girlfriend's secrets but wanting her to share them when she was ready, gets broken up with and tossed to the wayside because he's not a rich blond boy who got a miraculous because he happened to be within the twenty meters of space where Fu was searching for new holders?

Meanwhile, the girlfriend who has gone against the wishes and insistence of her best friend - guardian of the miraculouses, by the way, so she calls the shots, something that Alya herself said in "Optigami" BEFORE GOING ON TO DO HER OWN THING IN THE SAME EPISODE AND BEING REWARDED FOR IT - is allowed to go against the wishes and insistence of her best friend again for the sake of "all love, no secrets" with her boyfriend and so she can have the happy ending she wants, yet the girl who was chosen for a miraculous without her consent, forced to screw up and talk about a random boy who doesn't even go out of his way to spend time with her, treated like absolute trash by writers who find humor in her misery, and is the only one to receive overly harsh and long-lasting consequences for her actions while also covering up and forgiving the actions of others within the episode where they do it...

doesn't get her happy ending, and won't ever get her happy ending. That thing Shadow Moth said about love and secrets not going well together? Yeah, only goes as far as the writers want it to, because both Nino and Alya still have secrets, and some of the ones they did tell each other were forced by someone else and kept until that very moment. This idea that people in love have to tell each other everything and that it makes a relationship stronger makes me immensely uncomfortable, and that lesson is also in "Guiltrip."

People should be allowed their secrets, and obviously there are exceptions for things that are being hidden with malicious intent, but being essentially forced to share everything or risk not having a "full and complete" relationship is stifling and sounds like it'd only cause stress.

This episode sucks. It furthers and confirms everything I've already thought about the show, Nino's screentime continues to be dependent on Adrien, Alya, or both, there are pointless references that completely take me out of the experience, and the utter betrayal from Alya and supposed message of the episode just reminds me that Marinette is inevitably going to be stuck with a guy who didn't even DO anything in this episode and is going to let himself stew instead of asking for any sort of clarifications from someone he apparently trusts so much.

So the takeaway is that Marinette's life is awful, she'll be forced to apologize for rules that she didn't even come up with herself, her best friend will walk all over her for the sake of her relationship with a guy - not even for the sake, really, they were going to be fine, it was more for HER personal comfort if anything - and the guy who actually makes Marinette happy and could've known her identity instead BECAUSE HE AT LEAST DIDN'T HAVE A TRACK RECORD OF SPILLING HER SECRETS gets treated in the exact same way that she does; like nothing, just something to abuse unfairly.

What a waste of an episode.

[lepidopteragirl]

tbh, as much as i love hating and being a hater, i think /r tntduo in the nevadas era is rly interesting and if i wasn't a toxic karlnapityolo i think their dynamic would rot my brain So Much. however i do unironically strongly dislike ''right person wrong time'' soft pogtopia era ctnt so fucking much. obvs niki's birthday party happened lol, clearly they have a smth.. going on if you want to read it like that, and while i think it could be fun to look at that like that, i personally don't rly think that kind of hurt/comfort, sitting on the roof heart to heart kind of thing really works with them mostly bc, for lack of a better word, i don't think cwilbur really respects cquackity as an equal rly in s1/manburg era. he calls quackity schlatt's bitch for fuck's sake. (and perhaps this is a little bit fair given how swag2020's victory got started off, but i also am a toxic quolo and i feel like reading the whole story cq pays farrrr more he's got narrative consequences than his narrative crimes and it makes it hard for me to get upset w him also he's my special little boy i don't even care, okay?)

cwilbur has that bossy older sibling thing (/aff) going on where he very much sees his position towards a lot ppl during s1 as a leader, older sort of for lack of a better word authoritative figure who knows better than most everyone. (obvs cwilbur mental illness plays into this but it is also kinda not good lol) and im sort of scared to touch this bc i fear it will erupt into the most horrid rancid discourse to grace this fine earth, but the fact that cquackity is a few years (five i think actually lol) younger than cwilbur absolutely plays into this too. im not gonna sit here and go oh no fictional age gap bad bc i gen do not care about how it makes their relationship "toxic" or not lol. (also rpverse tnt my beloved are the only version of ctnt that wont be just a little but toxic imo tbh, the toxic-ness is where the fun comes in lmao.) however, it very much affects how the two of them interact in s1. it doesn't necessarily make their dynamic Bad or #Problematic or one of them using the other etc i don't think, but i do think it's why pogtopia era tnt content that starts w ''these two make out/fuck sometimes but they're both sad and somehow let down walls to take care of each other'' doesn't really work like it does in the las nevadas era. (which even as the worlds most toxic karlnapityolo i v much enjoy if ppl do it right) part of the issue i think is that some ppl transplant their s3 dynamic back into s1 and treat it like its the same, and i don't really think it works.

to me, its that huge change in the dynamic between s1 and s3 that makes nevadas era tntduo so intriguing. its part of what makes the " i don't think about you" line so hot sexy etc imo, the shift from cquackity being so Young in so many ways and then coming back face to face with cwilbur and being able to stand toe to toe with him now. (i am am not immune to girlboss cq.) its cquackity reinventing himself, he's not the little boy who wasn't worth cwilbur considering as a real candidate, one who would never be worth enough to be a real leader of lmanburg. he's not schlatt's bitch anymore, hes no one's bitch. he's not the naive ditz that stood on a hillside at sunset with cwilbur and was told he was too weak, too scared, too soft to do what's needed to get power. but he's better, he's better than that too, there are no walls around las nevadas, and he'll even offer wilbur a job as his vice when he wasn't even let in the gates of wilbur's nation. hes winning and by god will he make sure wilbur knows it. love her shes soooo crazy omg

(is it perhaps not that healthy mental state no it is not but he is like elle woods but withso many more problems he is moving to a brand new city and teaching himself how to die and so long to the person you begged him to be he's down he's dead etc i love characters sooo much)

also if i have to pick up one more rly good s1 cquack character study that suddenly springs ''then wilbur and quackity fucked in pogtopia'' im going to become the joker slash serious

[black-rose-writings]

Fate rant part 2 - The Big Bad

Villains and antagonists are almost always the best part of a story. In Winx, they varried in quality, but generally, they would also be really interesting and honestly, some of them are my favorite characters. So, let me rate the villains antagonists of the OG series and compare them to the stuff Fate gave us:

Season 1: The Trix

The Trix are three young witches, who are the main antagonists of season 1 and supporting ones in all the others, save for season 4.

And you know what? They’re great. Their sibling dynamic is impecable, their rivalries are hilarious and they always choose each other over whoever else they’re working with. They come as a package deal and will do their best to cause chaos and destruction.

Why?

That’s actually the most tragic part: Because they’re witches. Because they were raised to believe that they as witches are bad, that a proper witch does that. They idolize the Ancestral witches, whom they are descended from, and want to be just like them. That’s their original backstory. They were raised to be evil. Their school rewarded them for being evil, until they went too far one too many times - then they were shunned.

The Trix are a tragic result of an environment where their worst qualities were praised and rewarded. And the fairies’ and specialists’ ostracism of witches and the prejudices against them only radicalized them further.

Because fairies are good and witches evil, and that’s just the way it is.

Season 2: Lord Darkar/ the Shadow Phoenix

He’s kinda boring and generic, but by the Dragon, he’s as evil as they come.

He’s basically the Devil of this universe, as I said in the first part. He’s the physical manifestation of death. He’s the engineer of Domino’s destruction. He tortures cute bobblehead creatures.

What he does to Bloom is fucking horrifying and it’s almost criminal that it is brushed off so easily by the story.

Basically, he gives me the creeps and I hate him with all my heart.

Season 3: Valtor, my beloved

Yeah, sorry, spoiler. Love the guy. He’s very much up my alley when it comes to antagonists.

He’s Bloom’s foil, her dark reflection. In many ways, he’s what she could become if she chose the Dark Side and it’s a shame they didn’t get to have more interactions.

Not even in a romantic/sexual way, though the tension there is through the fucking roof any time they do. I could totally see them having Luke-Vader type dynamic, too.

(Bloom: You killed my parents!

Valtor: Bitch, I was already an icicle when Domino fell, who the fuck told you that crap?)

He is a connection to her past and her homeworld.

And even outside of Bloom, he’s great (what can I say, I have a competency kink). He’s motivated by revenge and by a quest to gain more power and he’s definitelly a character that deserved a deeper exploration which would lead the protagonists to question the status quo and who they are actually loayl to (Company of Light is shady AF is all I’m saying).

Basically, he’s one of my favorite characters in the entire show, even as is, though he has so much potential to be something even more interesting.

I do consider season 3 to be the best Winx Club season FYI. The show peaked there and it just went downhill from there.

Season 4: The Wizards of the Black Circle

They’re cool, I guess. A little flat.

I wish they had a backstory, a reason why they are hunting the fairies.

They feel a little undercooked, in general. The potential is there, but it’s not really delivered on.

I’ve read somewhere that it was originally planned for this season to be much darker, with the Winx being forced to use dark magic to defeat the Black Circle, but that never happened and it feels in places like it should have.

Season 5 - Tritannus

He’s passable, I guess? He feels a bit like knock-off Valtor and his voice is atrocious.

Again, it feels like a waste of potential or not quite finished.

He’s very much a generic bad guy in a very unhealthy relationship with Icy. S5 was strong thematically, but Tritannus wasn’t anything to write home about.

Season 6 - Trix again, I guess

Season 6 is all over the place with its bad guys and since Selina gets redeemed at the end, and Acheron isn’t really that present until the very end, the Trix would probably be the main antagonists here.

So, let’s talk about the Trix’s growth in the past few seasons.

Because the Trix are, for lack of a better word, the “anti-winx”. They grow and get more powerful alongside of the Winx, getting stronger and better with each season.

They started out being high school bullies who became top tier villains overnight and basically by good luck on thier part and they were kinda out of their depth. I wholeheartedly believe that part of the reason they lost in s1 was because they were out of their league. They were not ready for that level of villainy. They used bully tactics and took their time showing off a power they barely knew how to control and that gave their enemies time to get their defences ready and Bloom to reawaken her powers.

But by now, they’re proper villains in their own right and they know what they’re doing. Selina and the Legendarium make it easier for them, sure, and they end up getting double-crossed, but they are actually trheatening and capable on their own, now.

Season 7 - Kelshara and her brother

I was not impressed. They were both pretty generic.

I honestly skipped through this season because I was bored out of my mind.

Season 8 - Who are you and what have you done with Valtor

I hate this Valtor. Well, not completely, but he’s definitelly getting on my nerves.

He’s easily angered, punishes his allies for no reason at all and he has a bogus new backstory because they retconed dragon flame out of the story.

Like, he’s still surrounded by idiotsTM, but he also rarely does his own dirtywork anymore, one of the things that made him a really cool character in season 3.

IDK, I just don’t really consider them the same character.

He’s not really that menacing, you know?

Fate: Rosalind and Luna

I consider these two to both be the main antagonists of this season.

Luna is an insult to the OG Luna, but that’s for another day. She’s the despotic queen of Solaria and seems to have some influence over the other realms as well.

She’s also a mean abusive bitch to her daughter, forcing her to act like a horrible person, because she’d rather her daughter be seen as a vindictive and untrustworthy bitch thanto have her be seen as weak or unable to control her powers.

She also quietly swept a mass murder under the rug and has no issue with child soldiers (Why couldn’t they age up the character? Just asking. It wouldn’t be that much of a change).

She’s an okay bad guy, though I feel like the messy writing didn’t help.

And Rosalind. She’s the puppetmaster behind a lot of the show’s things, in a way, to the point where it is almost unbelievable.

We’re told more about her than we see of her. Her motivations are unclear. She seems to believe she’s doing everything for the greater good, but what exactly is her goal? Who knows, certainly not us.

We end on a cliffhanger of her doing a hostile takeover of Alfea and murdering the previous headmistress.

Honestly, she is probably the weakest on motivation, so far. I’ll get to it later, probably, but the shift from the more episodic format of the OG show to this more serialized way of storytelling did hurt the story a lot and Rosalind is definitelly a weak villain because of the messy writing and change in story structure.

[cucumbiejerbiegalope]

How I Met My Husband

By Alice Munros

INTRODUCTION

About the Author

Alice Munro is a beloved Canadian novelist and short story writer who has captivated readers around the world with her captivating and nuanced literary style. Born in 1931 in Wingham, Ontario, Munro grew up in a turbulent family environment before going on to study English Literature at the University of Western Ontario. Throughout her life, she has published numerous collections of short stories that explore complex themes such as love, loss, and the struggle to find one's place in the world. Her work has been praised for its honesty and emotional depth, which often draws upon her own experiences growing up in rural Canada. Despite facing significant challenges throughout her personal life, Munro continues to be an inspiration to many aspiring writers today.

About the Novel

Alice Munro's "How I Met My Husband" is a classic short story that explores the theme of social mobility and the power dynamics between men and women in rural Ontario during the 1950s. The protagonist, a young maid named Edie, develops a crush on the handsome pilot Chris Watters, who charms her with his stories of travel and adventure. However, when she learns that he is engaged to the wealthy Alice Kelling, Edie becomes disillusioned and decides to move on with her life.

Statement of the author

"How I Met My Husband"? It's a pretty fascinating story with an even more interesting thesis statement that speaks to the complexities and contradictions of love and romance. Munro argues, in essence, that we tend to fall in love with people because they represent something that is missing from our own lives - a kind of fantasy or idealized version of ourselves.

My own statement

But for me those fantasies can be shattered by the reality of the person we're actually involved with, leading to disappointment and disillusionment. The protagonist of the story learns this lesson firsthand as she falls in love with a man who seems to embody all her hopes and desires, only to realize that he is not what she thought he was. It's a poignant reminder that love is never quite as simple as we want it to be - but it can still be beautiful nonetheless.

Summary

Romantic relationship begins with an unexpected incident, leading to a never-ending journey of love.innocent girl who is visiting relatives in rural Ontario. She is captivated by the stunning view of the farm, and decides to climb up the steps of a strange house that she spots to get a better view. By this chance encounter with Chris Watters, a pilot, who flies over her head, the series of events that unfold bring him in, as her eventual husband as well. As fate would have it, Edie falls in love with Chris, thanks to his charming personality, and his sophisticated demeanor. It is as though they both are meant to be together, as Edie, initially, had not considered him as a romantic prospect, she had even taken a firm stance of steering clear of romance. But alas, destiny had other plans for her. In some ways, it depicts how our choices and decisions in life can alter our fate in ways that we cannot predict or expect.

Analysis

Alice Munro's "How I Met My Husband" is a short story that is widely regarded as a masterpiece of modern literature. However, like any work of art, it is not without its flaws. The story takes place in a predominantly white, rural community, and there is no representation of diverse cultural backgrounds or experiences.

Conclusion

The story presents traditional gender roles. This reinforces gender stereotypes and fails to challenge them. It is important to note that these criticisms are not meant to diminish the value of the story or the skill of the author. Instead, they are intended to encourage critical thinking and discussion about the themes and messages conveyed in the story.