#I’ll try to go semi-in order with Magicae

[oros-ash3s]

＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙* ── | “Training” | ── *•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*＊

Characters // Wren (they/them), Atlas (he/him), Cato (she/her)

Wren didn’t mean to get distracted. 

That’s what they always seem to be saying. They meant to focus on their homework, they meant to do their chores, they meant to get their mom to sign their permission form, they meant to remember to study — it just slipped their mind. Somehow, by some sort of unfortunate miracle, it always did. 

Today, of course, is much different than a basic task like cleaning their room or remember to take the trash out. It might just be the most important day in their life. Because today…. they are on a mission. A critically vital mission. 

A mission to save the world. 

But for some reason, they can’t help but become sucked up with the rest of the crowd, their curiosity getting the better of them. They know they should be using this time to focus, to sneak off while everyone is preoccupied, but at the sight of the bustling crowd blocking their way, they find themself unable to push past it, but instead wander over to see what all the fuss is about. 

The crowd is all gathered in front of two thick-paneled glass walls, eager trainees pushing and shoving to get a better look at what is going on inside, shuffling and whispering with each other in excitement. Wren squishes through, their small stature coming in handy, as they finally find themself standing at the front, body pressed tight to the window. 

They peer through the glass, face tipped so close their nose almost brushes against the window, as they squint and attempt to get a better view of whatever was the cause of all the muttering. In the middle of the room, barreling through opponents like some sort of unkillable machine, is…

A boy. 

· · ───────── ꒰ঌ·✦·໒꒱ ───────── · ·

Atlas swings through the air, sweat slicking to the nape of his neck. He can feel the piercing gaze of each of the training officers locking onto his back, practically burning into him as he spins his staff, jabbing it into the gut of one of his opponents’ while delivering a harsh blow to the jugular to the other. They both go flying, one crashing into the wall with a yelp while the second bulldozes through two unsuspecting trainees, sending them all tumbling to the ground like bowling pins. Although he doesn’t dare lower his guard to check, he can already see the nods of approval he is undoubtedly getting from behind the observation glass, trainees and trainers alike watching in awe at his indupitable form, his unbeatable strength, his quick wit. His perfect score. 

Each training session prior has gone like this: Atlas’ unmatchable skills, next to his less-than-satisfactory classmates, each who are desperate to finally rise above lucky number 792 — the golden boy. And each training session, he easily overpowers them, knocking each opponent that dares to cross his path to the ground, his movements so swift and light that it appears to be effortless, the boy hardly breaking a sweat. The only one who is still left standing by the end of the hour, his figure radiating power above the bruised bodies all fallen at his feet. 

Today is no different. Atlas takes on opponent after opponent, not allowing himself a second of rest, as the crowd continues to gape at him in complete astonishment. It is only when the sharp whistle from the lead director cuts through the thick atmosphere does he finally allow himself to lower his guard. Relaxing his posture, staff clattering from his grip, the trainee he had in a tight headlock plummeting to the ground with it. It is only then, as he turns his attention away, that he is able to see the amount of people gathered outside, watching. 

A large horde of people stand in front of the observation glass, eyes all trained onto him. More faces than he can count are pressed close to the glass, trainees all excitedly trying to push their way to the front to see what all the fuss is about. Quite the turnout, he thinks dimly to himself as he steps past the rows of crumpled bodies and outstretched limbs, making his way outside. 

This isn’t unusual, of course. It seems that at all times there is someone or somebody watching him, inspecting. As much as he doesn’t like it, he has to get used to it, being at such a high rank now. It came with the territory. But a crowd this size, well, it is definitely not what he was expecting to see. He slides the door open, eying the rows and rows of eager, nervous faces anxiously before tipping his head down, averting his gaze. It wouldn’t have bothered him so much, if not for all the whispering. It is hard to all make out, in a crowd of this size, more a dull buzz of reverence, digging under his skin, turning his stomach to a mess of jitters. He sucks in a sharp breath through his nose, pushing down the nervous tension and muttering a quiet apology as he pushes his way through the crowd. 

He only makes it two feet before he is very rudely interrupted by someone crashing into him. They stumble back, letting out a loud huff of annoyance — like they hadn’t been the one to run into him — and glare up at him, eyebrows knit together. Their expression quickly morphs into one of panic, fear flickering between their eyes, as they realize exactly who they are looking at. It’s a look he knows well by now. 

He clears his throat, albeit a bit awkwardly. “Uh, excuse me.” 

The trainee scrambles away from him, patting off their uniform and staring down at their feet sheepishly. They fumble with their hands, twisting and intertwining their fingers together, their entire body tensed up at once. “Sorry. Wasn’t paying attention.” They grunt, not sounding very sorry. They’re already disappearing back into the crowd before Atlas can even register their rushed apology, cutting off any other conversation. 

Atlas watches them go, unmoving for a moment, a small frown tugging at the corner of his lips. Strange. Although he is used to the weird looks or the whispering or even the intimidation at just talking to him, something about this particular interaction stands out to him from the rest. Something about how the trainee behaved was just… completely unlike any other soldiers he had the privilege of speaking to. Most of those at Eden, not unlike himself, were level-headed, calm, and respectful. While this trainee in particular was none of these things: Running into him, not paying attention to where they were going, even looking like they were about to fight him. It wasn’t like anything he had seen from another person inside the warehouse before. How very strange. 

If he was to actually think about it, Atlas couldn’t remember ever seeing them around before. All their features were plain, with pin-straight jet black hair cropped short, dark brown eyes, and pale skin. Nothing to make them stand out in a crowd. Still, Atlas was sure he would have remembered seeing them around at least once. He’d been here for ten years, he would have remembered someone like them, so rude and scatterbrained. Unless they were new. It would explain away the attitude, and why he didn’t recognize them. But such a low rank, how could they have found their way to this level? Someone like them certainly wouldn’t be allowed to oversee training…

He quickly pushes those thoughts aside, briskly continuing through the crowd and ignoring the odd feeling that still pokes at him from their interaction, as short as it was. It wasn’t any of his business. Maybe they’re a special case, like him. Granted access to the higher levels due to their powers. Maybe he would find them in training soon. A proper opponent, now that would be nice. 

“Atlas.” All thoughts of the trainee are quickly forgotten at the sound of his name being called. He glances up, finding himself face-to-face with Cato, her crisp black badge engraved with silver lettering shining up at him, marking her as the head of the Task Force. She makes her way towards him, the crowd dispersing at her wake, creating a clear walkway for her as they press themselves up against the walls. It is only when she stands directly in front of him that she allows herself to properly greet him, giving him a curt nod. “Training went well, I assume?”

The attention from everyone else is only amplified tenfold with Cato at his side, the wide clearing she has made leaving him out in the open, exposed. All their eyes burn into him as he gives her a small nod and a smile, fingers twitching at his side, tapping against his thigh. He knows he should be used to it by now, but still with every time he is singled out like this, the center of attention, he can’t help but flush and stare down at his feet, silent. He loves his job, loves Eden, but this is always going to be one of those things he wishes to not be a part of it. 

Cato smiles, the look of approval lingering in her eyes distracting Atlas from all the attention on him, for only a moment. It is the smiles from her that makes it all worth it. He can take the stares, the whispers, the rumours, as long as he has Cato at the end of the day, eyes shining in pride. 

Cato glances around at the gaggle of people gathered in a wide circle around the two of them, and her expression quickly shifts to one of annoyance. Her sharp gaze pierces through each of the whispering, eavesdropping trainees as she raises a brow, as if to say move alone, before nodding to Atlas, motioning for him to follow. “Let’s walk.” She says, not waiting for a response as she moves forwards again. 

Atlas quickly scrambles to follow, falling in step beside her, taking extra care to match her sharp pace exactly. “You are on track then?” She asks, gaze trained straight ahead. “To advance.” 

“Yes,” he nods, rubbing his thumb and index finger together in a soothing motion as he speaks. “I should be ready for when the rest of the leaders come to observe at the end of the month.” 

Even now, as they walk further away from the training room, eyes still linger on them. Some murmur behind their hands, shooting Atlas envious looks before being silenced by Cato’s harsh gaze on them, while others, he can feel watching him, following his every movement, the glare in their eyes saying more than any whisper ever could. 

“Good,” Cato says, her voice calm and steady. “I’m sure they will be impressed.”

She falls quiet, letting the words sink in. Impressed. Cato thinks he is something to be impressed by. The thought brings a new type of jitters to his stomach — a good kind, this time. Atlas had been training for so long, restlessly improving his skills, rising above the odds, constantly fighting to be recognized for his talents; the fact that the day where he’d finally be something more than a lowly trainee from the warehouse is actually arriving… Well, it all felt surreal. Evaluation Day is only weeks away. Mere weeks, and he’ll finally have everything he had ever wanted. All of Cato’s lessons, the sleepless nights before tests, the drills and workouts and fights, they were all paying off. Just like they told him they would.

“This will be good for you Atlas.” Cato’s gaze finally lands on him, sweeping him up and down, observing. Atlas goes stiff as a board, his posture straight. He waits for her to pick out an imperfection that he would need to hone in on before Evaluation Day, waits for the criticisms of his form or posture, or the little remarks about his unruly appearance. But for once, no such thing comes. No, for once, Cato is staring at him in nothing but pure, complete pride. “You’ve earned this.” 

Atlas’ lips part slightly, the praise — something Cato doesn’t hand out lightly — coming to him as a shock. He instantly brightens, chest puffing up in pleasure. “Right, of course.” He says quickly, the smallest smile quirking the corners of his lips. He had earned this. 

A whisper catches his ear, pricking the back of his neck: Look who it is. Cato’s little pet. 

The snickers take him off guard. Usually, he is good at disregarding the little snide remarks said behind cupped hands. They are insignificant, in the grand scheme of things. Just words. Harmless, when compared to the blow of a weapon, or the pierce of a dagger; they are nothing. But for some reason, being so out in the open, Cato staring at him so gently, the words almost… hurt. Of course, it isn’t anything he hasn’t heard before. He knows why life at the warehouse is always so lonely, why he gets the glares and looks of intimidation. He knows what they all think, what they say about him. 

792 only made it this far because he’s her favourite, he doesn’t know what true hardship is like. Not when he’s pampered by the commander herself. She’ll let him get anything he wants. He’s only ever been special because she dotes over him so much. He’d be nowhere without her. 

It was what made working under the Leader so… intriguing. Under her, there would be no judgement, under her they would see him for who he truly is, not just as an extension of Cato. Under her, he’d be surrounded by like-minded people, driven for power, to do true good in the world. They’d be equals. 

Unless…

The whispers worm their way under his skin like needle pricks, causing his expression of excitement to fade, eyebrows drawing together.

Despite himself, despite the praise Cato has given to him so softly — praise he could usually never expect from her — he finds himself doubting his place, wondering if maybe they are right. After all, the Elites, the Evaluation – they are hand-picked by Cato herself. If she didn’t like him so much, if she hadn’t kept such a close eye on him, given him personal lessons, allowed him to move up when others couldn’t… would he have even made it this far? Was he truly deserving of this? 

“They are jealous. You deserve this.” Cato’s voice cuts through again, practically reading Atlas’ thoughts.

He glances back up towards her, but this time her gaze is focused forwards again, not making eye contact with him. He wishes that she still was. He’d do anything to get that soft smile, the way her eyes crinkle up when she is pleased with him. He simply gives her a nod, lapsing back into silence beside her. She has to be right. Cato wouldn’t lie to him, and especially wouldn’t give him a freeride to the Elites. Only the best of the best made it through. And if she thought that even the other leaders would be impressed by his skills… Well then, he had to be the best of the best, didn’t he? 

The thought spurs something inside of him, and he turns back to face her, a flicker of doubt passing across his face. “Um,” he says, lowering his voice, almost hesitating. “Ira will be coming with me, won’t she?” 

At Atlas’ words, Cato casts her gaze down on him again, but only briefly. Her eyes are laced with something indescribable as she stares down at him, and then the look is gone, her face turned away. “To your evaluation with the other leaders?” She pauses. “Or moving forward to the Elites?”

Atlas stares down at his feet. “To the Elites.” He says, his words suddenly stuck in his throat, as he thinks desperately on how exactly to word his next question. It is a stupid question to bother Cato with, especially when she takes time out of her already-packed schedule to come visit him after training — to make sure he is alright. She doesn’t have time for questions about Ira Mawar. Still, he can’t stop himself from continuing. “You’re considering her too, right? They’ve fought so hard to finally be one of the selected — they’ve even been here almost as long as I have. I don’t know if…” He cuts himself short, the words lingering in the air as he looks towards Cato for her approval. 

Cato’s expression is now far from the soft, gentle look of pride. She shoots him a firm stare, stopping him in his tracks. He is sure that the next word from her lips will be a harsh “no” — he already knew the question was wrong to ask as soon as the words left his mouth. But surprisingly enough, Cato doesn’t shoot him down so fast. She hesitates for a moment, before saying in a quieter tone than before, “We are… considering them. Though, I suggest you don’t speak to her about this.” She adds, the ‘if you know what’s good for yourself’ goes unspoken. 

Atlas relaxes ever so slightly, relief flooding through him. “Understood.” 

The idea of having to leave his best friend behind had been the one problem that had been troubling him as Evaluation Day drew closer. Of course, he’s been waiting for the day to come since he was only a child; it was his one dream, the goal he’d been working towards for years, the thing he wanted the most. But the thought of going ahead and leaving Ira alone at the warehouse is unthinkable. She is always at his side, his rock through it all. They do everything together; an unbeatable duo. When he imagines being an Elite, she is right there at his side. 

To hear that Ira might be one of the selected instantly eases his worries. He knows it was foolish to wish to have Ira as his partner, always, but he is glad that there might be a possibility that the two of them won’t have to part ways. Of course, he is never going to tell Ira this. He is fortunate enough that Cato is willing to allow him such classified information. No one knew who the top picks for the Elites were, not even the other commanding officers. Only Cato and the leaders had access to those files. To think Cato trusted him enough to tell him…. He wasn’t going to dare disobey her, not when she thought he was special enough to know. He could never break her trust like that. 

Cato nods at Atlas’ affirmative. “You have a good heart… thinking of them like that.” She says slowly, falling quiet for another long moment. “I understand your closeness with Ira. However, you would do well to maintain your own success as your number one priority.” 

“Right.” 

“Keep training. Don’t let yourself get too relaxed now that you’re finally getting the recognition you deserve.” She reaches a hand up and gives Atlas a brief pat on the shoulder, causing his ears to go pink. “I’ll see you at your next training session.” 

And with that, she disappears down the hall again. His time with Cato is finally up.

masterlist || next

✧ ೃ༄*ੈ✩

Credits go to @ohagiwrites as she helped co-write this. Wren is also co-owned with @ohagiwrites ੈ✩‧₊˚

✧ ೃ༄*ੈ✩

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[glowyjellyfish]

…and I just finished Ducktales! Here are some semi-random notes on episodes roughly in order:

1. Okay, i’ll admit I am a little sick of kids’ shows always feeling obliged to stick a Real Santa in, but Ducktales did it perfectly. Super appreciate that they even made Santa a contemporary of Scrooge, because what could be more fitting or accurate?

2. The last Fenton episode was great, poor tiny anxious Huey. And Fenton was not faring much better but at least he had a girlfriend to show for it. Also, Mark Beaks acting like a stalker with a crush towards Gizmoduck, which is peak Beaks right there. And I loooove that Huey brought in Louie to lie for him, and didn’t even think to tell him about Fenton! Lol Dewey knew because he was right there when Gizmoduck debuted, Huey figured it out quickly when Gizmoduck was in front of him fighting crime, and Louie never even had a scene with Fenton or Gizmoduck until that moment did he? L O L.

3. I am still a little bit salty that the Talespin episode didn’t even mention Launchpad, but i get why now, it was all about following in the footsteps of the mentors and there really wasn’t room for Launchpad. I will just politely headcanon that Stunt Pilot Molly Cunningham is friendly rivals with Launchpad’s sister. And maybe that Della got home and promptly told Launchpad he is no longer the worst pilot she’s ever met.

4. I’m impressed how many flashbacks they crammed into The Life and Crimes of Scrooge McDuck! And also, Poe! I don’t think even 1987 Ducktales ever gave us Person Poe. Aw how cool. I feel pretty bad for Magica with that story. Scrooge really was a bit of a dick to her, and I’m glad that’s the one he owned up and took responsibility for. As an Animorphs fan, you really do not want to accidentally lose a loved one in bird form. Birds have short short lives.

5. THE FINALE.

A. Definitely felt like we suddenly hit fast forward and had to cram a ton in at crazy speeds, but Ducktales pulled it off!

B. I cannot BELIEVE they crammed a gargoyles reference in there too, Frank Angones you madman. With the addition of Keith David this truly was the correct thing to watch after I finished Community s6. It was practically the same cast!

C. Impeccable division of teams, so that everybody went up against the appropriate villain, teams were logical, and banter was beautiful

D. DARKWING AND GIZMODUCK AND LAUNCHPAD. OMG. I still would like to have approximately twelve seasons worth of bantering between Darkwing and Gizmoduck, and Fenton and Drake, and all combinations in between. Launchpad is everybody’s sidekick, EXCEPT WHEN HE PUTS ON THE GIZMO SUIT AND GETS TO SHINE. AWWWW LAUNCHPAD.

E. Okay I’m going to ramble about Launchpad some more for just a minute here. First, Launchpad’s subconscious has been struggling to tell everyone this intel the whole time??? And without his double-o mission they would have been stuck at square one?!? HOORAY LAUNCHPAD HELPED! Also, who is the first character to say “isn’t family the greatest adventure of all?” or most of it at least, that’s right, Launchpad! He is the HEART and I love him and I am very proud of him.

F. Back to Fenton and Drake, I am now going to assume that both of my suggested scenarios happened. Fenton had a long day and said something like “ugh, don’t even talk to me about Gizmoduck!”, then Drake took that as his cue to start griping about Gizmoduck, and Fenton just awkwardly agreed to be polite at first, and Drake was like “haha, yes! He clearly hates Gizmoduck too! My new buddy!” Also, I find it hilarious that Darkwing refuses to consider the possibility that Fenton is Gizmoduck, possibly because he likes Fenton too much? Which is great. I loved the classic versions getting on each other’s nerves every which way in Tiff of the Titans, but this is an extremely lovable dynamic as well. Especially that Fenton got frustrated enough to try to just tell him. These guys are terrible at secret identities, and yet still Fenton somehow managed to have one from Drake, and from Louie. Somehow.

G. Hooray, I finally know the thing about Webby properly! And yes, there was a TON of foreshadowing and themes about nature vs nurture all over the place throughout this show, omg! Especially as other clones we have seen on the show were (usually?) exact duplicates, while there is no question that Webby is fully her own person, despite having clear streaks of Scrooge in her. Which, to be fair, also could have just come from growing up around him! I wish there was more time to get to know May and June, and I love the way Beakley just kinda… bluescreened and went off on her own over Webby.

H. Seeing Scrooge and Donald and Della together in action was glorious. Surely we saw it before, can’t remember, buuuuut still glorious.

I. also aaaaaaaa Huey’s woodchucking skills saving the day, the parallel with the villain coming together nicely

J. and all the kids getting to shine too!

Okay, I’m sure I forgot a ton of important stuff as I just sat down and started rambling. Now I can look at TVTropes and the whole rest of tumblr and AO3 and everything!

[miraculouscontent]

Ask Explosion #9:

Asks answering previous posts:

Sabrina, I have one word of advice for you...

R U N

“Chat, please stop talking.”

“But that’s my thing!”

“YOU JINX EVERYTHING!!”

Ayyyyyy~

Well, it’s something, I suppose?

Answered this here.

It absolutely did. Bless you, kind and hilarious citizien. ;P

I’m torn because... on one hand, I want to give proper mythology and such for like--anything that’d be put into the show, but on the other, I liked the idea that Alix’s brother was just sort of a conspiracy who thought of stupid stuff (which is why I kept the concept for MC Jalil Kubdel).

Zoe did it really well in Scarlet Lady where Alix knew the actual mythology and started blurting it out whenever Jalil got it wrong.

New Asks:

Considering “Ikari Gozen,” I imagine Alya and Kagami don’t get along as well. I agree with basically everyone that Marinette and Kagami not getting along is bad, but Alya and Kagami not really getting along makes more sense and is more tolerable.

Since Alya is Marinette’s “““BFF”““ (supposedly), I could see her kind of being like, “You’re competing with my girl over the same guy,” and keeping Kagami at arm’s length, worried that keeping Kagami close will allow Kagami to be closer to Adrien since Adrien is an extension of their friend group (kinda, sorta, not really, but Marinette calling him a friend so technically--)

You know, Alya trying to be a good friend and help Marinette with Adrien in more subtle ways. It’s the wrong way to go about it but she’s trying.

LUKANETTE IS AMAZING IN TERMS OF PROGRESSION KDJNGJDFG, I ADORE IT. Every episode they share together, we either learn something new about them or see more details on their relationship.

I think I was already all-in before “Silencer,” but man, that episode just sealed it even more. I was like well dang, why does the love square even EXIST???

jfdngjkfdjgfdg

Incredible. Only problem is that the creator doesn’t know how to use it properly.

You mean fourteen year olds aren’t perfect human beings???? :o

(no, but really, that’s me all the time; like, she’s barely a teen!)

He’ll believe it if it’s Chat Noir who’s doing it. If Marinette ever does it though, he’ll be sure to shut it down. ;P

Ugggggh, the worst part is that I have the same exact fear that they really are going to be like yeah Ladybug you silly fool Chat Noir has been with you since the beginning!

I mean, we’re already basically getting that with the New York special; Chat was supposed to protect Paris and then didn’t tell Ladybug that he “had to” leave for New York (and the New York thing is inadvertently Marinette’s fault and parts of the fandom actually did blame her for it even though it was Chat’s choice not to say anything), then Ladybug gets upset with him when she discovers it mid-battle, which leads to Chat being distracted and Cataclysming someone (another thing that Ladybug can be “inadvertently” blamed for), then Chat gives up his miraculous so Ladybug isn’t even allowed to be angry and cue the later line of “I can’t imagine being Ladybug without... him.”

So clearly that’s saying something. Adrien doesn’t get anything close to that level and Marinette is chewed out for not asking him to stay when Nino had already asked him too.

It’s like--Marinette chooses to go after Adrien and then gets either nothing in return, or humiliated by the narrative, and then in the New York special, she decides to do nothing and everything still goes wrong while Alya yells at her for it. The “damned if she does, damned if she don’t,” on display is stunning. The girl tries to confess and it’s like, “no, not allowed, but Chat is allowed to confess.”

I still don’t understand this logic of his overarching plot but also “there’s not much of a timeline.” I think the only solid thing we’ve ever gotten was something about all the episodes in one season coming after all the episodes in a previous one, but there are still things that don’t add up? The only thing the season 3 production order will give is making sure the hero debuts work out (so no Viperion or Pegase before “Party Crasher,” for example).

It’s not really reliable. I mean, like--I’ve been experimenting with timelines for a while, and stuff like “Miraculer” baffles me. It’s basically non-canon with no value whatsoever. All it does is make “Heart Hunter” look even more confusing and treats Marinette even more horribly for not picking Chloe when she explicitly told Chloe that she wasn’t getting it back.

I’m not familiar with that one! Is it any good?

(Okay, I actually was too curious and ended up looking it up; fancy! I couldn’t have guessed that it was a webtoon! I started reading the 1st issue and before I knew it, I was on the 6th! Oops~)

Lila is totally Rashta, 100% agree. The fact that the comments have a nickname of “Trashta” for her, equivalent to Liar Rossi, says as much ;P

Because lessons that involve telling someone that they’re valid and allowed to feel a certain way don’t apply to Marinette. Isn’t it nice? :3

Not that I know of? Though I also don’t look for that kind of thing, so it’s possible that it exists and I just don’t know about it.

Even if it did exist thought, I don’t see a problem with you doing your own regardless. Good luck if you do!

No. No I do not. ;P

GREETINGS FELLOW INTJ!

And yeah, I’m not really capable of not analyzing shows. There are some small exceptions, but they’re usually not full shows in the normal sense. If there’s an ongoing plot, my mind tends to be working at all times.

In terms of Miraculous, Season 1 was harmless enough where I was bothered but pretty quiet about it, but then it just got progressively worse. It really feels like one of those things you can’t unsee when it finally hits you, y’know?

I’m glad I was able to help you get that satisfaction you need (and appreciate Lukanette, of course ;3)!

Non-Miraculous Asks:

(some heavy Puella Magi Madoka Magica salt below)

Wow, this is a really dedicated ask! Nice!

Gonna go point by point here:

1 - Yeah, the whole thing with Homura not “being able” to save everyone... kinda questionable, and I didn’t really buy the arguments they used to explain it away. I think there was this one PSP game or something with Madoka Magica where you could kind of choose what happened (like, there were bad ends where Sayaka didn’t get her soul gem back in time and her body was partially decayed; ick) and I think there’s a good end where Homura saves everyone but--yeah, not canon.

I just don’t care for twisted stories like that unless there is actually a good end on the horizon (and I mean like “Everyone Lives and is Happy” good end). Angst is just so exhausting so the second I saw Mami’s head being bitten I was just like, “Ah, okay, so we’re doing this then.”

2 - Eugh, the sexism thing. It’s so... yeah, and especially this because the whole “girls are emotional” thing, I don’t really care whether or not the show is trying to “subvert” or “explain” anything, it just feels like poor taste and I don’t like it. (I also didn’t know about that Death Note thing because I didn’t watch it, but geez.)

3 - Wow, I’ve been away from the show for so long that I forgot what Mami’s wish was; I thought it was to “not be alone” or something (or maybe not die alone?? I really don’t remember), but either way, the fact that it follows some sort of genie wish logic is just--*sigh*--they’re teenage girls, come on (plus, the “genie wish logic” is really overdone to me anyway).

4 - The other thing about Sayaka is that it’s really predictable that she’d “die so quickly.” Basically everything was pointing to her just being annihilated at some point, and being Madoka’s best friend, it was pretty inevitable that she’d go.

((semi-unrelated, but someone also asked me which character’s name was lied about before episode 3 hit and they wondered if it was Sayaka’s; it was Kyubey’s))

Yikes. Sorry you had to experience that.

Anyway, I guess I’m not experienced enough in multiple fandoms to say for sure? If I was ever in a fandom, I would just blacklist the people/stuff I didn’t like, so I didn’t get to see a tong of “bad things” going on.

+ I try really hard not to generalize fandoms into one thing.

𝓖𝓮𝓷𝓭𝓮𝓻 𝓝𝓸𝓻𝓶𝓼 𝓐𝓻𝓮 𝓢𝓽𝓾𝓹𝓲𝓭 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓑𝓸𝔂𝓼 𝓐𝓻𝓮 𝓐𝓵𝓵𝓸𝔀𝓮𝓭 𝓽𝓸 𝓛𝓲𝓴𝓮 “𝓖𝓲𝓻𝓵𝔂” 𝓣𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓼

Oof, uhhh, shows, huh? That’s tough.

I think the main ship from Given (Mafuyu and Ritsuka) is really adorable (you might’ve seen the amusing video of their love being mutual before), and while I would’ve said the same thing for the kinda-sorta side ship, it gets--uh... really bad during the movie/rest of the manga, I’ll just say that much.

Mafuyu and Ritsuka though, totally adorable.

Inuyasha kinda? Though Inuyasha and Kagome are definitely not the kind of romantic chemistry that I lean towards (I find “the bickering couple” to be rather exhausting). Plus, Cardcaptor Sakura did the “male tsundere” better than Inuyasha did (though the Clear Card Arc was terrible, at least it’s not canon kinda-sorta? idk it seems like a mix of the anime and manga so...).

After that there’s...

uh

...

hm.

I mean, there’s probably a couple more examples somewhere, but--yeah, I’ve got nothing. Maybe if I thought back to all the generic children shows I watched when I was little (like those old Disney live-action shows; I had no taste when I was younger), there might’ve been something that satisfied kid me but idk.

I don’t remember what post inspired this, but I have no problem answering regardless, ahaha~

My main issue is Aang’s attitude about the whole thing. I’m not saying it was right of Katara to go out and get “revenge via murder” exactly, but I also think that Zuko had the right idea with allowing her to go and face the man who killed her mother so she could get some form of closure (also note that Zuko doesn’t express any sort of opinion when Katara decides not to kill him; he just wanted her to have whatever she thought she needed to heal).

It’s also the episode where Zuko directly confronts Aang on his “violence isn’t the answer” rhetoric which then goes completely ignored as Aang lionturtles his way out of the conflict. Aang is also not confronted on his point of “forgiveness is the first step to healing” (when Katara has a right not to forgive and Aang isn’t challenged outside of Katara commenting on it) and was permitted to ride his high horse when Katara “steals” Appa like, “It's okay, because I forgive you... that give you any ideas?” which is just--

reaaaaaally "holier than thou”-esque when Aang is like, ten, and Katara is a sort of motherly figure to him. The episode even has Sokka praise Aang for how “wise” he is and I groaned through the entire thing.

Another smaller thing is that it sort of makes the air kingdom look way too “perfect” by having Aang be the “source of wisedom,” especially when it’s like “violence isn’t the answer” while all the other airbenders are dead.