#pv reference pretty sure

[piromina]

OK OK GUYS ONE PIROMINA ANALYSIS COMING RIGHT UP!!!

*proceeds to put everything in the tags again*

JK JK ummm gimme some time to look at their costumes.

Got it!!! ok so basically what we gotta do first is see what exactly they wanted whenever they transformed.

*looks up transcripts*

Ok I think I'm on to something......

DESPERDADA:

adrien: she thinks im the perfect guy for this mission!!!! plagg: u cant be chat noir and another superhero at the same time! which means that ur NOT the perfect guy for this mission. adrien: the lucky charm told her I am!!!

REFLEKDOLL:

chat noir: do u know why master fu gave u the ladybug miraculous instead of me? ladybug: bc it requires someone w/ a sense of responsibility????

alright so what we have here is: in desperada, adrien wants to be the 'perfect' partner for ladybug. in reflekdoll, adrien wants to be a 'responsible' partner for ladybug.

BASICALLY, adrien wants to prove himself to ladybug.

aspik wants to be the Perfect Adrien. mister bug wants to be the Responsible Chat Noir.

(and when i say chat noir, I mean the black cat to the ladybug. the partner. the person who she can trust, and who he can trust back, no matter what miraculous. someone she can rely on. someone RESPONSIBLE.)

Aspik is him crafting a persona that he thinks ladybug would love (kinda like catwalker) so he makes it based off of what his FATHER would love (kinda like catwalker) bc his father is also someones opinion that adrien very much cares about.

HENCE this costume looking VERY MUCH like ephemerals. but ofc in the tags for that post I did say that it means that Adriens Dad Doesnt Care Abt His Safety but here it means something else!!! HERE it means that adrien is NOT a coward, he is a BRAVE person who Doesnt Need Protection From Bad Guys.

aspik designed his costume after a diamondback rattlesnake, which represent Dangerous Things! surely he can protect ladybug from desperada!!! diamondbacks r super venomous!!! he can do this!!!! desperada should be cowering in fear rn!!! dont worry ladybug!

aspik, as the wielder of the snake miraculous, cannot AFFORD to die like he does as chat noir (which is why he has the very little protection that he has). aspik is brave (which he thinks ladybug would like) and doesnt need protection (which ladybug would like very much) and will in fact protect ladybug from desperada WITHOUT protection for himself because She Goes First just like Father Goes First (which surely ladybug would kiss him for protecting her like that) and if hes living up to his FATHERS expectations and if hes living up to LADYBUGS expectations and if the lucky charm even TOLD HER that hes the perfect guy, then obviously he is the perfect guy!!!!

MISTER BUG's costume on the other hand. mister bug is very different looking from aspik, ephemeral, and cat walker, bc mister bug is not adrien, he is chat noir. mister bug is the responsible partner that ladybug can trust. ladybug knows that mister bug is chat noir. he still needs to act like chat noir. he still needs to be like chat noir. he is still ladybugs partner.

just.......more responsible. ladybug is responsible. he should try being more like her. but as u might notice, mister bugs costume literally looks nothing! like ladybugs! and thats bc hes trying to be not EXACTLY like ladybug. ladybug is a good enough ladybug. he still needs to add the chat noir-ness to the team. just...more responsible.

hence the cat ears were not replaced by ladybug antennae :(

so when adriens subconscious was designing him a costume, it decided: hmmm, what does ladybug NOT like about chat noir? wellll, she teases him abt the bell a lot, like flicks it and stuff. thats kinda childish of him, dont u think? father wouldn't approve. SCRAP THE BELL (or anything ladybug-related that would fit for it) and.....what else? ladybugs costume is super simple. maybe get rid of anything thats a bit too over-the-top and won't rly help with the mission. OKAY FOLKS WERE GETTING RID OF THE POCKETS AND ZIPPER we have literally Never Used Those during a fight and Why Would We Start Now. erm, also! ladybug doesnt have gloves so why should we. GET RID!!!

and then, he was left with almost Nothing Else. he has on the shoulder pads for protection and he has on the boots for also protection and the black is just to deviate from ladybug's costume and add a sense of chat noir to the whole look. and unlike scarabella, the yoyo is in the same place as ladybugs. adrien designed his suit sorta like ladybugs by using the bare minimum of what he could, but also trying to impress his father by adding in some fashion choices using the scraps he had left.

and both of their outfits are actually rly good despite what everyone says✨

I don't think we talk enough about the similarities of Cat Walker's and Ephemeral's costumes enough and the implications it raises.

[milkkytxars]

(This is not going to be like my other posts but I think it's nice, bear with me for a bit)

Something I said got a bunch of likes on twt a few days ago, but I can't stop thinking about it so I wanted to expand on it a bit! (And I like rambling on about these things, nothing you can do on twt I assure you, this gets a bit lengthy)

Here's the interaction for reference:

OK SO! First things first: PV's awakened form, one way or another, IS a direct representation of the Fount of Knowledge. Or well, at the very least it's what we've been shown to be the most idealistic form of him.

We can't know for sure how the Fount of Knowledge actually was like or acted, because Shadow Milk will never get vulnerable enough on screen to let the audience know such things, but if the statue of him is anything to go by (and not a fabricated lie) then we have something to work with.

The Fount of Knowledge has a key opening in the middle of his chest, and coincidentally, he's also carrying his soul jam on his staff which has the form of a key. This could be interpreted as him having the answers that others' (cookies) can unlock.

However, if we pay closer attention to the pictures, we'll see that the Fount's key is a bit "weird"

As you can see, not only are there two teeths in the key, but there's also a large space from the end of the staff to the point where the first teeth appears.

If someone were to literally try to insert this key into Fount's keyhole to try and get it open, it would pierce through Fount! The key is simply too large, and it doesn't seem like complicated teeth would actually fit inside the hole either.

Now, let's see Pure Vanilla's staff!

As you can see, he only has one teeth right at the bottom of the key. This is how most functional keys look!

One interpretation could be that Fount never actually held the key towards true knowledge, which is a fault that made him fundamentally imperfect towards his greater purpose. Another reason why he fell into deceit in the first place.

Pure Vanilla, however, as holder of the light of truth, also holds a functional key as his staff. He carries that truth with him and plans to open up a path to himself and keep finding out new truths of the world.

His key isn't going to open all keyholes, just as the path he leads isn't going to let him find everything there is to know, but if he holds the truth close to his heart (therefore, the soul jam at his chest) he will continue to follow the light.

But let's circle back to Shadow Milk.

He is the beast of deceit, and he hides so much of himself that you could even call his whole current identity a lie, as if he was trying to be deceit incarnate just like he once was the representation of knowledge.

Let's remember now, that we can interpret the key hole on his chest when he was Fount as an opening to himself, and therefore, to knowledge.

Basically the truth of himself, if I'm making any sense with this.

When he turns into Shadow Milk though, where does he hold his soul jam of deceit? Right where the keyhole was! Essentially, he's obscuring the truth of the world and of himself with lies.

Now, what does Pure Vanilla say at the end of BY8?

He says that he is the one who can understand him best, that he's the only one who can understand Shadow Milk.

And while it's mentioned that it's because of their shared soul jam, this is not the only reason why.

Shadow Milk and Pure Vanilla are very important to each other, in whatever way you want to see it. They're essential to each other's story and development.

In the end, the reason why they can understand each other so well is because they're pretty similar. At least in the way they feel, or have felt, about the world.

There's a reason why Pure Vanilla turned into Truthless Recluse after all. Even if it was for a short amount of time, those were still his real feelings, and they mirrored Shadow Milk's own.

The fact that Awakened Pure Vanilla holds a key is to find his own truth, and this fact cannot be diminished. However, I think it would be a disservice to his character and their relationship if it's not also acknowledged that Pure Vanilla's truth fundamentally involves Shadow Milk's true self too.

Fount of Knowledge, as much as that's a discarded persona, it's also a part of Shadow Milk he cannot erase. And Pure Vanilla understands this the same way he understands that Truthless Recluse was a part of himself too.

Pure Vanilla's staff as a key, exists to unlock the hidden lock Shadow Milk has buried deep into his past. Because Shadow Milk's truth is also Pure Vanilla's truth.

That's why he embraces deceit, because Shadow Milk is deceit. And Pure Vanilla tries to make Shadow Milk embrace the truth too, that's why he asks him to be his friend.

Pure Vanilla is truth, so by asking Shadow Milk to be friends with him, he's asking him to embrace truth.

This entails Shadow Milk accepting his past, which Pure Vanilla has the key to unlock now with his awakening and the arduous journey he underwent in the spire to find himself. A key that has long been tossed away by Shadow Milk when he stopped being the Fount of knowledge.

Therefore, while Pure Vanilla's key can't crack open every lock in his way, it is designed by default for its priority to be opening Shadow Milk's heart/soul.

(One last thing would also be that Pure Vanilla's staff, from having a light, technically is also traversing through the darkness in Shadow Milk. I don't want to go into too much detail because this is better explained by this post, go check their stuff out on both of their accounts, it's really good!)

♪♪♪

Anyways, that's it, thank you for coming to my Ted talk. Maybe I'll post another analysis in the future if this is well received lol (I have this idea of PV's awakened form being Fount's but reverse if that makes sense???)

Bye now ❤

[burningcheese-merchant]

So there's this Shadowvanilla fic on Ao3 Im fairly certain you know about, and in It SM and PV link up to eachother's minds/feelings/souls via their souljams touching, and its pretty sweet since since they're on their chests, the two basically have to hug to connect.

Which made me think, what about the other beasts and ancients? BS and GC would be by far the weirdest imo bc she would have to touch her forehead to his chest??? Which depending on the size difference It could still just be a hug.

SS and WL would touch their weapons (sword and staff), which can comes off as distant or cold, despite the fact they're about to peer into eachother's very being.

ES and MF suffer because their's are on their forehead and their ancient's are on their weapons😭😭 imagine HB shield to EG's forehead, that'd be awkward af

I'm not actually sure what you're referring to 😅 is it Jambound? I think something like that happens in it? I don't really remember, I read the first 3 chapters a while ago and that's it haha (I really don't have the time to read fanfics, especially not ones as long as that one (it's like 15 chapters long now and still going with no end in sight, isn't it??? Goodness)). I never really did much of anything on AO3 tbh, I honestly just go there to write and post my own dumb garbage and then vanish into the aether again

Regardless. I always vibed with the concept of the Ancients and Beasts connecting/strengthening their existing connection through their Soul Jams. But the way I've tried to get around the fact that most of their placements are... cumbersome and don't really lend themselves to that (White Lily's staff and Silent Salt's sword, for example) is, I think of it as... Through the sharing of the Soul Jams, they're all already bound to one another, yeah? So do they NEED to have them be a component in the physical aspect of this? Do White Lily and Silent Salt NEED to have their staff and sword clink together to express that intimacy? Or can they simply embrace each other nice and tight, staff and sword set aside nearby, and their souls can resonate just with that action? The Soul Jam not physically being in their hands doesn't really mean it's left their ownership and they've completely lost access to its power, I don't think; we saw that with how the Light of Abundance refused to answer to Smoked Cheese when he took it, and how Golden Cheese could keep fighting Burning Spice for a while even without it (albeit weaker). So idk if they need the Soul Jams to touch so they can feel closer to each other. I think they've all been naturally imbued with that power at least to some degree and thus don't really 100% need the physical Soul Jams to facilitate that closeness. If I'm already super glued to somebody then not putting my hands on their belt buckle or whatever isn't going to make us any less stuck together ykwim

With that said I like to imagine BS's being particularly sensitive since it's embedded in his chest. GC can press her hand down on it, or lay her head against it, and feel his heart beating through it, if only faintly. Maybe it feels warm to the touch, and grows warmer and shines brighter the faster his heart races. Maybe his breath catches in his throat when she touches it because it feels different there than it does when she touches any other part of his body. Maybe it acts as a cute little nightlight when they're curled up together in bed. Maybe it burns hot like a coal and glows like the fire in a hearth when they're deep in the throes of passion. Maybe, as a charming little gesture, she actually will touch her forehead to his chest so they can listen to that soft little clink that sounds the little kiss Abundance and Destruction shares. Maybe a certain something stirs within them both when she does it, maybe not. But it's cute. They're so in love that even their Soul Jams want to make out. Lol

Also any excuse to put her face in those big strong man titties is 👌👌👌 in her opinion

[tamoscringecorner]

SHADOWVANILLA HEADCANONS (We got BillFord as cookies in CRK before gta 6, gng.. 💔💔)

-When SMC does something extra sweet for no reason such as making a not totally terrible breakfeast in bed for PV, he finds it really sweet, and out of happiness and excitement he can't quite express with words so he just picks him up princess-style, and twirls him around with a big smile on his face

-When PV does this SMC finds it rather embarrassing and tries to push him off and cover his face with his hands and sentient hair to cover up his dark blue blush

-When SMC is embarrassed the eyes in his hair look embarrassed too and look away or down in a sheepish manner

-When PV is feeling extra affectionate he refers to SMC as "his silly royal jester" just like how SMC calls him his "silly vanilly" which he thinks he is being genuine about

-PV loves to call SMC "his pretty boy" and SMC isnt good with genuine compliments or nicknames back so instead he just creates graphic frankly concerning compliments about for example if someone doesn't treat him right he'd "slice them limb from limb and leave them to rot in the depths of my castle while they silently wail in agony!" and then just smile and blush and say something like "you know..something cheesy like that, Vanilly!" as if he told a pickup line and not something every 90s serial murder would

-PV often bathes with SMC in a non-sexual manner and does it to show SMC can be cared for and vulnerable without having it have negative consequences

-SMC smells like blue raspberry candy and flavored milk, PV smells like vanilla, a cat after lying in sunlight all day, and slightly of sugar

-PV is always very attentive when it comes to SMC's well-being and constantly makes sure he is bathed, comfortable, and cleaned up

-When they are asleep and cuddling SMC is extremely touch-starved and clings to him with an unrelenting grip and if PV tries to pull away SMC in his sleep he mumbles "P-please..n-no..d-don't go, please.." over and shakes his head like he is having a nightmare, which he often does

-SMC can't keep flowers or plants alive to save his life and frankly envies PV's pretty garden, which he grew with ease. Meanwhile, if he even breathed wrong next to a flower it would die in a second

-Sometimes if his flowers are growing well PV slices the prettiest flower and hands it to SMC especially if it is blue and says something along the lines of "Bluebird, look what I found in my garden today? Isn't it beautiful? It's even blue, just like you!"

-PV doesn't blush easily but does so when SMC says something sweet or kind for once or when says I love you back instead of "Of course you do!

-SMC blushes surprisingly easily from even scraps of affection but physical touch

-PV knows that SMC is touch starved and often teases him by waist hugs, playing with his hair, and holding his hand, and when SMC turns bluer than a damn blueberry and shouts for him to stop, in all honesty PV finds it even more funny and frankly cute. If he is feeling extra mean he says something like "I can't believe you are considered feared, my bluebird! You're simply adorable, after all.."

Like what you read? Well dont worry, depending on how this post does there will likely be more, ya dweeb!

[moonlitbeth]

the Death and Rebirth update yapping, y'all! you're welcome to join in the comments 🐦‍⬛

so... with so many players now sprinting through the lore and main story chapters (myself included), i guess it's perfect time to indulge in a little speculation session abt tomorrow’s update.

first of all i'm sooo glad we're getting a full main story update instead of a separate branch. the only thing here is no free 5-star card (and tbh, most of us were waiting for a green one). but that's at least balanced out by the fact that major updates are now released a bit more frequently than once every 6 months. hopefully, this trend continues (given some rumors, next story updates might be dropped within 2 months). lads really feels the most exciting when the main plot is moving forward, no back-to-back banner mayhem match that energy.

action, drama, and that damn entrance it's pretty clear that we're so in for action-packed storylines. that trailer is absolutely big-screen material. the shift toward more dynamic animated scenes is noticeable and very welcome. esp when it comes to Sylus. the boss-man is finally back nearly a year after his debut.

and how can we ignore that entrance? the man never shows up quietly, always so dramatic and effortless (just like in his intro in LAR). i'm hoping what we saw in the pv isn't all we'll get cutscene-wise since there'll be 2 chapters per LI. it's also possible that the devs might've changed their approach to how they deliver the main story content. tho don't let me get too excited, this fandom loves being delusional.

in angst we trust judging by the Death and Rebirth title, we're sure as hell getting our heavy dose of angst (which i've honestly been craving lately). we've had our fluff therapy over the past couple of months, now it's payback time. and knowing infold, it's going to hurt. i also bet everything i have that the whole "memory return" thing will revolve around MC, not Sylus or Zayne. those chapter descriptions basically scream it.

the Timelock Key event as for the alongside event, there's a solid chance we'll get LIs' POV into their past. last night, while rereading LAR for the umpteenth time (don't judge me), i had this thought – what if we get a deeper dive into Sylus' backstory? like the stuff briefly touched on in World Underneath (Mischief/Elysium timelines), his early years on Earth, his path leading to meeting MC, his POV mid-LAR (this man had a breakdown, ok?), or his absence in the N109 Zone earlier. maybe even small pieces from his anecdote? there's so much potential here, and i hope his team keeps delivering that peak writing. i'm just eager for some analysis fuel.

Eye of Aether and more hints damn, those visuals!

this one is just adding more fuel to the fire for the theory that the Eye of Aether is deeply connected to Sylus. maybe we'll finally get some answers... or another batch of cryptic clues. personally, i think this is one of the most intriguing mysteries in both the core lore and Sylus' story. but as usual, we're only getting crumbs.

and then there's another pic. this one clearly references the abandoned chapel from the limited myth. and i love the gothic vibe (i instantly started thinking abt the next myth, but more on that later). plus, perhaps it's just me, but that specific image radiates loneliness – a sense of forced isolation and unwanted solitude, idk. i'm probably overthinking it. and Sylus' silhouette here is definitely not the one referencing his dragon myth. which means we might be getting a current tl perspective with reflections on the past.

foreshadowing? yes, please now onto the part i'm most excited abt.

every major story update is obviously the devs' chance to tie up previous clues and core narrative threads – all those crucial points and chekhov’s guns finally go off. but that's not all, what abt foreshadowing? it's the best time to start teasing future updates, esp when it comes to new limited myths. with Sylus' character development tempo and the timing of his content, i wouldn't be surprised to see hints of what his next myth could look like. i'm still betting on his anecdote tl. a cosmic conqueror with the Robin Hood agenda? sign me up. this kind of limited companion and setup both have insane potential. and going back to that gothic visual from the new event – what if we get a gothic/futuristic Sylus in his myth style-wise? i'm just widely speculating atp, but it sounds so good.

final thoughts to sum this up, i really hope y'all catching up on the story (or in the middle of it), cuz tomorrow's going to hit us hard. also, don't forget to manage your phone/tablet storage and clear space.

and just be ready for whatever is waiting for us there 🐦‍⬛

[yridenergyridenergy]

Sukekiyo 2025/04/21 "Makoto, Ryougan Chishibaru" live report

-Setlist-

Candis

MOAN

Aishita Shinzou

breeder

Houmonsha X

Creeper

Sharara

Honnou okotowari

mystery na

Kashikomi Kashikomi

Frame out kara no

(session)

anima

-encore-

Kashikomi Kashikomi

I'm not really going to write much about Kirito's part. No one wants my opinion on his songs. He did nine or ten songs, and he was reading almost all the lyrics that were in Japanese. If there are any Pierrot fans reading this, could you please explain? The fact that he constantly had to look down at his memo sheets, even having to step back from the crate to make sure he could see the words well... There's something very wrong about this. Is it a lack of self-confidence, or something medical? We got a sheet for his tour this month and the next, so it's not like he has zero experience and practice. And I'm clearly sensitive to memory disorders myself - that's why I write these reports to begin with - but I've never heard of a singer reading so much.

Other than that, one major difference that I noticed between Kirito's band's presence on stage and Kyo's bands' is the lighting. The musicians were constantly lit up, even if there was a backdrop video. It definitely made the show a lot weirder and less submersive than Kyo's bands. Fans of Kirito probably get much better pictures, but performance-wise, there's nothing like being bathed in darkness, apparently.

Kirito did MCs. From what I gathered, he teased the fact that sukekiyo fans are referred to as "torii-chan". He said it was cute, like fragile. I think he had his fans shout in comparison, and it seemed to be mostly male voices hah. Kirito also said something about Kyo but I was totally confused with my basic level of understanding for verbal Japanese because he never added a suffix after Kyo's name... It seemed to be about the discussion on the title of the show.

Onto sukekiyo, what a fucking show! I'm so glad people are now at the level of physical excitement as I was two years ago, pretty much on my own hah. It was amazing, the crowd followed everything and reacted to the songs even if we didn't know at first whether we could clap, let alone cheer after the songs or even when the members walked on stage.

Yuchi wore a kind of tutu skirt, I think? With a weird protruding black bra on top of a white dress shirt. He had a spiky hat, beautiful makeup, black (fingerless?) gloves and goldej rings around his neck. Takumi's hair strands were mostly pink/purple but a couple were blue on his left. He had a kind of black and white suit, I think. Mika wore all black. UtA wore a black ensemble with buttons all down the front, like a school uniform. His hair was either blond or pink, slightly puffy.

Kyo wore two articles from Adidas:

I think he hiked up the skirt higher than the model in this picture, because it appeared puffy, and it definitely seemed like a lot of his thighs was showing. Due to how Club Citta is constructed, I have no clue what shoes he wore. He also had large glasses, like in the breeder PV, and he added a couple of blond extensions to the sides of his head, in bows.

Candis was awesome as usual, the extension at the start really enhancing the song. I can't get enough of Kyo's sudden knee drops in this performance! I hadn't known whether we even needed penlights for the show - Kyo usually warns us ahead of time. When I realized which it was and that it needed a penlight, I rummaged through my bag, but like a sign of life, one penlight started flashing out of the three: the right one!

It was my first time witnessing MOAN with the penlight. We essentially do our best to replicate Kyo's moves in the chorus.

Aishita Shinzou is kind of where we started being less stiff, I think. Kyo asked us to sing a few times, and he was jumping and dancing (the dance reminds me of North American Indigenous dances) a lot. Oh and he did the finger-in-his-mouth thing before jumping!

breeder came on and woah, the PV plays in the background but whatever, what a banger, as expected! Kyo at first asked us for a few "kill my mind", but near the end of the song, we were basically tasked with them all, essentially wrapping up the song ourselves. I think we also had to do one or two "how much am I worth?" At first, it was just Mika and Yuchi playing. Yuchi had this big bass placed vertically. Kyo looked at us and nodded, hopefully when he saw that many of us were excited for the song to be performed.

And you know what? To be honest, there's something to be appreciated with projecting a PV that doesn't feature Kyo behind him on stage. It's always weird when they show the PVs since Kyo is different and unique, so he has starkly different looks and he doesn't always move the same way on stage and on screen. Having some rando isn't distracting, in that sense.

At some point, Kyo briefly asked us, seemingly out of curiosity, if this was indeed a "Ceremony of Liberation", to which we cheered and understood that we could let loose completely.

In Houmonsha X, I found Kyo to move less than he did in the Jetblack Ceremony performances, but maybe because he compensated then for the fact that nobody else could move. Even the musicians were hella concentrated and immobile during the instrumental parts. At least now, we could dance.

I got to see Creeper live! The pot-stirrong at the beginning, all the little moves throughout this song! Kyo asked us to shout the "kaeru"s sometimes, and I seem to recall that Kyo pointed a lot to us based on the lyrics.

Before this point, maybe in Aishita Shinzou, Kyo walked over on the right side of the stage and he was teasingly chewing his index in his mouth with a grin while staring at us, as if considering who he'd ask out.

Sharara and Honnou okotowari were very nice, but I don't necessarily remember anything specific right now. Probably because it involved a ton of headbanging? I think Kyo might have moved sensually more at the end of Honnou okotowari than at the beginning, even though that's how the song sounds with his low singing? And it's lovely that Kyo changed the tone of the third or fourth paragraph in Honnou okotowari to ramble on in a high-pitched voice as though he's 'bitchly vexed' and disappointed.

For mystery na, I haven't heard the studio recording beyond the audio teaser that they added on YouTube a week or so ago. They kept the essential parts of it, but there's a weird kind of empty section near the end? We were also expected to sing a part that sounds like: "...smile" but hey, most of us haven't had the chance to listen to it yet, so it showed. Otherwise, I loved how Kyo rapped, and how he made a gesture from his chest to three parts of the crowd for the "ha haha haha" part after "Odoreeeee", as though he was distributing the wealth or some emotion.

Kashikomi Kashikomi played next and it's crazy how everybody in the band is super demanding of us even in this super short song hah. For some reason, there's an emphasis that the 🙏 be bumped upward, and since the song is about ditching the concept of sexes/genders, I must say I'm confused. When Kyo sings the "woman?" "man?" part, at least once he pointed to Yuchi for one of them, and UtA for the other, before going crazy growling the rest and leading us to the headbanging part.

Frame out kara no was as cool as I expected, even if Kyo didn't do the same "throwing his hands in the air and walking around mad" move like in the video I posted recently. There was a ton of gesturing of a camera frame, and Kyo adlibbing or again changing the tone of some lyrics to act really disappointed by the resulting photograph that he held so much hope for. And when he sings about stabbing, he goes straight to Yuchi, who has his back turned because of whatever instrument he plays then, and Kyo boldly gestures stabbing him, before retreating to his central position.

Sukekiyo then started playing an improvised session, with Takumi peoducing a simple melody on the piano at first. I can't remember all of Kyo's lyrics, but it was about finding someone, something killed, tears, etc. and it became very intense rather quickly, with him shouting out his emotions. At that time, a lot of hands at the front of the crowd got up and became really agitated, so I was thinking that they were vibing way too much with Kyo and believing that they were the ones who resonated with him the most, but no, I guess they were frantically pointing out that someone had a medical emergency right there. The band kept performing like professionals.

Anima then played and the credits rolled on screen, signaling that it was probably the last song. It was emotional, most people listened stoically, in silence. This time, we started cheering before Kyo had completely walked off the stage.

We clearly didn't get enough sukekiyo with just about a half-show, so we quickly chanted: "ske-kiyo-sama" and man, you gotta love sukekiyo's punctuality. They always start their shows earlier than Dir en grey does, with little delay for latecomers, they took less than thirt minutes to come on stage after Kirito left, and once we called them for an encore, they were back right away.

Kyo asked us, unbothered, if we could go on. He kept alternating between "Ikimasu ka?" and "Ikaremasu ka?", the lattet of which is a much more formal question that would mean ", sir" in another context but which is hard to translate here. He sometimes used a tone that was like that of a polite employee asking a patron for confirmation on their request. He had his hand on his head while asking us that.

Kashikomi Kashikomi was played with somehow even less restraint, more intensity. Kyo took out one, then the second of his ear monitors to hear us, and he headbanged with us a lot. At the end of the song, he promptly walked out while the musicians jammed like a real end of concert. They were all smiles. UtA came to the very end of the other side of the stage and basked in gratefulness at multiple points on his way backstage. Yuchi insisted on us maintaining the Kashikomi 🙏 as high as possible. Mika left promptly the second time, but he had waved broadly at us from behind his screens after the main setlist in acknowledgement.

By the way, when we entered the venue, the staff asked us one by one which band we mainly came to see, and they had a counter for each.

I haven't felt like wanting to run until I collapse and exhaust all this overflowing energy in a long time.

I am definitely not bringing any penlights tomorrow - this show is meant to be danced unhampered!

[1800pain]

GENDER, SEXUALITY, & PRONOUNS HOARD TEMPLATE.

A really fucking big Notion template by yours truly

I was requested by a follower of mine to create a gender hoard. So obviously, I did everything and more. You can look at my personal gender stash if you want ideas on what to make yours look like.

Genders!

Sexualities!

Pronouns!

Templates within templates

Views. Too many of them. My head hurts.

And an about me?

I took the extra effort and sanity to be pretty in-depth about explaining things for people who are new to this sort of thing. There's a note at the top of the page called "Notes for template users" that I HIGHLY recommend to read to understand if you're new with Notion.

Does it look long? Yes. Is it actually long? Technically no. What I did was added a lot of views for the database so that you can pick whatever you like and just delete the rest. Just be sure you do it properly so you don't accidentally delete anything you actually want to keep.

The entire thing is meant to be pretty modular, meaning you're free to add and delete shit as you will, and you can also insert this into another template if you feel. It's pretty adaptable, so go ham. The only thing I will say about this template is that it wasn't made with DID/OSDD in mind, so there isn't say, categories for alters or specific labels etc for that, but you can fix that with just a few clicks.

You probably already know the next thing I'm going to say...

Endogenic systems/non-traumagenic systems and their supporters are not allowed to use my templates, full stop.

Bigots and assholes aren't allowed to use my templates. Eat shit and die.

You can edit it as much as you like as long as you do not redistribute any version of the template as your own.

I honestly didn't put a place for credit, which is fine because I don't require anybody credit me. If you do keep the credit (or make one in this case), you can move it anywhere you want.

It's 1 AM. I'm going to sleep now.

Also, I'm not really sure how to sort out these sorts of lists, so I just kinda put in the bare minimum after doing a few Google searches. If I get anything wrong or misrepresent something, it isn't my intention to be an asshole just because.

I'm exhausted. Good night.

Link: https://1800pain.notion.site/Gender-Sexuality-Pronouns-Hoard-Template-4cfac5f1336b4fcdb7d00f4be3f41b0b?pvs=4

EDIT: AHHHH I also forgot and I don't know where to put it—I added some references for pronouns/pronoun dressing rooms since I thought those were awesome and cool! Alright, that's all, I'm off to dream about men.

[nairanorica]

Pure vanilla cookie got to go to hanamicon!

And my photography skills need some work, I know, I know. But look how pretty the pink backdrop was! Bonus marianne:

More yapping about the con under the cut

So it was a pretty small con and *very* hot, but even tho I was very tired for most of it, I had a fantastic time!

Friday wasn't a full con day, it was just a cosplay ball in the evening. Which was fabulous, so many elegant and fancy cosplays! For the opening act we also tried to learn how to dance a quadrille - it was utter chaos, but still very fun. It was also fiance's first time wearing a full cosplay (except for two semi-closet cosplays like... 9 or so years ago and a fluffy tail here and there) and we didn't expect it, but there were quite a few people who knew cookie run and git super excited to see the cosplay. It made me so happy to see him chat with people excited about his cosplay <3 special shoutout to the very excited drunk girl who talked to us about the game for like half an hour, you were great

Second shoutout to the guy who came up to me and yelled "edelgard did nothing wrong!!", to which I agreed. That was clearly not the response he was expecting xD he looked at me in confusion, then doubled down with "nohr is better than hoshido!!"... and I had to agree again, which confused him even more. He then gave me an approving nod and said that usually those are much more controversial opinions xD

Saturday was super hot. I still decided to wear marianne and died a little the whole day. But again very fun - the funniest interactions that day were the girl who held up her phone to fiance (again in pv cosplay) and asked him to do a pull for her in crk (he even pulled an epic!), and what happened after the contest: one of the contestants was a pure vanilla cookie! A truthless recluse to be precise. We tried to find him for a photo after the contest, but initially had no luck. So we went to the bar either to give back our cups or get something to drink and while fiance is in line, I'm waiting a bit to the side, holding the vanilla cone hat. And there comes the other pv rolling in on his wheelchair, grinning. I greet him with a "he was already looking for you!" And he replies "and I was looking for him!" So the two cookies take photos together, and while they're posing I see a bernd das brot cosplayer sneaking in next to them. Fiance then sees him and gets super excited bc I mean, that's a perfect bernd das brot costume. The other pure vanilla just kinda covers his face and says "ye, that's my fiance...". It was amazing

Sunday was even hotter, so I wore my marcille cosplay but without a wig and it was so much more bearable. That day we watched flying sushi theater's newest play - it was a dungeon meshi play, ofc I had to see it. I love them so much, their ability to create a stageplay that's fun and entertaining for people who don't know the source material while also including a lot of nods and references for the people who do will never cease to amaze me. It was a hell's kitchen parody, with a second baking show parody running parallel - I'm sure that's also a play on an existing show, but I didn't recognise it. It was called "mimic'ed it!" and they had to recreate baked goods as shown on a photo. All due to djinn shenanigans. And ofc bc it's dungeon meshi, the djinn got consumed in the end - they made djinn tonic, with the sound effect and recipe card from the anime. Truly amazing - if you ever get the chance to see them perform, I highly recommend!

Ok, enough yapping for now

[seventeenlovesthree]

THE DIGIMON ADVENTURE MULTIVERSE

... Or at least a very poor attempt at trying to make sense of what is happening at the moment. Please keep in mind that I could also be horribly wrong in the end, so while this is merely a HEADCANON as of right now, I'd like to imagine that this is how things may turn out once Adventure Beyond comes out. Please excuse the small letters, I highly recommend using full view!

After reminiscing over the concept art that was published today, I think I'm not too far off to assume that we will witness a(nother) split timeline from now on.

First things first: The OG Adventure anime timeline (of the TV series 1999) has been the baseline of every other Adventure timeline as well - some versions/adaptations followed the events and characterizations pretty faithfully and just added or took away singular aspects (like the Manhua), others were pretty loose and merely used the protagonists, but basically told a different story (like the reboot, the V Tamer manga, etc.).

And while different writers and producers have been involved with all these works, I feel like there is ONE timeline we may wanna call the Kakudou-timeline - which, in accordance to the announcement of the "Digimon Adventure Beyond" PV, refers to all media Hiroyuki Kakudou has been involved in. So it'd go in a straight line like this:

Adventure - Adventure 02 - Adventure Beyond - Epilogue

The movies that take place in the same timeline - namely the 1999 movie, Our War Game and Diablomon Strikes Back - are not 100% congruent with this timeline, but I'd say they're still around 90% coherent. (The odd one out here is Hurricane Touchdown, which may or may not be considered canon, or, just like the various audio dramas, shall be taken with a grain of fanfiction-esque salt.)

Tri (+ the stageplay), Kizuna and The Beginning are very likely to be all part of the split timeline - they're an alternate continuation after Adventure 02, but we do not know if they will lead back to the epilogue or not. Judging by the fact that Adventure Beyond depicts Taichi and Yamato united with their partners AND holding their digivices, it IS possible that Beyond will simply ignore the events of the - assumed - split timeline, but we cannot know this for sure yet. (It's absolutely possible that Beyond will continue from The Beginning onwards and just restore the partnerships and bring back the digivices!)

As for the other iterations - the novels and PSP game have been marked with a blue hue as well, as Kakudou had been heavily involved with them as well, so they may be seen as additions to the Kakudou-timeline.

(If I've forgotten any version of the Adventure timeline, please let me know!)

[lance-sugar-cookie]

Speaking of Golden Cheese's story chapters in Beast-Yeast, yeah, the quality of her story was awful and B-Y ch7 proves it. I'm frustrated, and worried about Hollyberry and White Lily's turns.

Spoilers and discussion of Golden Cheese's Beast-Yeast adventure and Hollyberry's potential under the cut.

While playing BY7, i realized how focused the story was.

Yes, it did split a little between the Crew (GingerBrave, Strawberry, and Wizard) and Pure Vanilla, but that brought narrative clarity. It was a good balance. We learned something with the Crew, then went and saw what was happening with Pure Vanilla. Plus, they weren't separated for long. (For the sake of this point, I'm not counting Fortune Teller as PV, just Truthless Recluse.)

In BY5+6, the story was split between Golden Cheese, Smoked Cheese, Nutmeg Tiger and the Wild Spices, and the Kulfi village. Even Burning Spice had a couple story parts that were basically exclusively him! Like? Huh?

I know from a meta/audience standpoint, that the devs were i think trying to get people to care about the Kulfi monkeys so that we'd buy Young Kulfi's package to have him as a Guest cookie. However, splitting up your two protagonists, and your antagonists, *and* with a batch of minor characters you give at *least* three exclusive story sections, is stupid! It just is!

The only thing the Kulfi said was "oh i hope Golden Cheese will be ok!" Like. As if, as an audience, we dont realize there's real danger?

Also, the final cutscene/story between Golden Cheese and Burning Spice is so empty. Burning Spice just repeats the same thing he's been saying for 59 levels of story, Golden Cheese repeats what *she's* been saying for 59 levels of story (or really even some of Crispia Ch18!) and they say "Let's Fight to Prove Who's Soul Jam This Is" and then... cut to black, Golden Cheese shows up and saves Smoked Cheese, and ... that's it. Everyone goes home safe and sound.

There's no depth of character. There's no change. There's no development, except Golden Cheese looks... a little different. There's no "uh oh, Burning Spice might still pose a threat!" like how I think Mystic Flour got to have, if i remember correctly? For someone who's so powerful in use for players, he just. Disappears. That didn't really seem to be his style.

I get that he might have had the easiest time becoming a God of Destruction, from being Herald of Change, but it just doesnt make sense. It was the most boring outcome of story that we've had in the entire game. Im pretty sure Smoke Cheese still makes a reference that he still wants the Soul Jam, or at least that he'd keep Golden Cheese in check if she didn't use it to keep her promise to bring her Kingdom back! She experiences no humbling moment, where she might become truly *grateful* for what she has.

So, with all that said, I'm worried about Hollyberry.

I think White Lily is honestly close enough in proximity to the dev's goldn child favorite (Pure Vanilla) that they can't possibly mess up her story. While she's the least compelling to me, i do think theres lots they could pull on in her story, and it'll hopefully end up balanced between touching on relevant story, while not overwhelming or splitting attention too much.

Hollyberry, on the other hand, has felt like the devs embarrassment. I know she, unlike the other Ancients, got a whole Special Episode. I've been thinking about her a lot these past months in anticipation for her story, so I've paid attention to what her Awakening story *could* be. But I'm worried, seeing how shallow Golden Cheese's story was, that they won't commit to truly bringing Hollyberry some depth.

I think Hollyberry is depressed and/or traumatized. As far as we can tell, after the battle with Dark Enchantress, the fates of her friends were:

White Lily disappeared, Pure Vanilla disappeared (he lost his kingdom and forgot his past), Dark Cacao isolated himself in his kingdom (and also got an incredibly manipulative advisor) (AND was dealing with not having his son around), and Golden Cheese lost her kingdom and isolated herself until her friends couldnt find her.

Hollyberry, as far as I can tell, returned to her own kingdom and tried to continue on without her friends, but eventually disappeared. She left the throne to her son and became a drunk adventurer, accompanied only by Wildberry, who she wasn't open and vulnerable to. She doesnt care about her own safety, harking on how she was the one to defeat the Great Red-Green Dragon alone.

She's done a lot alone! Even when Wildberry is around, she doesn't trust him! Pitaya is the one who probably knows Hollyberry the best (outside of the other Ancients, if they really know her at all), and they've got stuff going on- like stealing the throne, essentially, from her son, Royalberry!

She experiences a lot of doubt in her story, and interestingly, her Light of Passion is what draws her back to her kingdom, to only be shown that she's not even needed. Princess and Knight defeat the Great Red-Green Dragon (with some help from the Crew) and Jungleberry is in charge more than her husband, Royalberry, in the first place. But under their rule, especially with Princess Cookie present as heir again, Hollyberry isn't needed. I think she goes back to adventuring- beside promising she won't be so no-contact.

There's a lot there!!!! She's the only one not active as a leader in her kingdom! She's the only one who didn't lose it during her reign! But she did lose friends! She's had to do everything herself! She's famous for her drinking, and for defeating the dragon. Alone!!

But I'm afraid they'll just see her drunkeness and maybe her boldness as her Passion, and they'll harp on that instead of getting to the root of her problems, her loneliness and distrust.

Or maybe i'm projecting... a lot. I'd like to say im just relating a lot to her story.

I really hope they do her story well. So far, story ranking is: Pure Vanilla as best, Dark Cacao as good/fine, and Golden Cheese as bad. I expect White Lily to be good, and i really hope Hollyberry is, too. At least fine.

[judesmoonbeauty]

Hi, sunshine. I just wanna congratulate you and everyone who has been waiting for Jude's route trailer for so long. He's finally here! Hurray! (Too much Vivi? Naaah!)

And I have a question. Did you notice any hints in this trailer about what might be on his route?

I'm slightly worried about Jude saying that Kate doesn't really like people. Perhaps this will happen at a later stage of the route, after she has seen too much of the people's cruelty (I'm not talking about Jude!). If not… This Kate must be the most cynical of them all and has moved even further away from the flower girl Belle.

Well… I'm always happy to hear your thoughts.

No pressure)

Hiii Friend! Thank you, I think we're all pretty excited and CONGRATS again on Ally's EN release! I'm so hyped for his route. Oh, and it's never too much Vivi!!! I do have a post I am working on about the PV, so I'll address most of my thoughts on that post, but about Kate....

When you say that Kate doesn't like people, I'm assuming you're referring to the part of the PV where Jude says that Kate calls others 'sick bastards' or 'wicked pieces of trash', (depending on whichever of the amazing fan-translated PVs you watched)?

There's so many things that could be happening in that scene....perhaps he is referring to the criminals that Crown takes down? Maybe he is referring to himself, or both? I feel like it’s the latter because Jude asks for how long she is going to stick around him.

Kate is going to be exposed to a lot of bad things - I mean she is in every route, but since we're in Act 2, we should be getting darker with each release. So, maybe Kate is calling others those names because they deserve to be called that, all the while she is trying to stay with Jude, (whom is also sick and/or wicked).

Perhaps, that's why Jude says that she's got interesting hobbies, (I believe this may also be rendered as 'bad tastes'). I'm sure Kate will argue it's because deep down she can see that he has a kind heart and compassionate person.

Overall, I think Jude's Kate is going to start out as being naive, kind, clean, and forgiving, but after she ignores Jude's warnings, and receives his punishment (probably in the form of deep humiliation), she'll want to prove that she isn't a "fool." Then, she'll try to prove that she can be useful to him, by being gutsy. Personally, I look forward to seeing her grow from the "naive" Kate to one who is resourceful, clever, and curb-stomping. I have more to say, but it'd be rambling at this point.

Sorry, I turned into a yapfest like Dari.....

[starthaw]

Ghostblade is going to die!!1!!

This post is totally bait (well, kind of). It's all rambles about him, not a lot of substance to be found here.

I dunno, I can see it happening. I saw a comment about how there's a high chance the popular characters will die (sure got a lot of that in Link Click), and yeah. I see it.

He has a lot of death flags, okay? I've talked about this on Twitter before, his ranking is No. 4. Off to a terrible start! (四 (4) phonetically sounds like 死 which means death - a very unlucky number.)

Moreover, his birthday (08/28) is very... not auspicious at all? This would be around the time of 中元节 or the Ghost Festival. It's like Day of the Dead or Obon, a day to pay respects to lost loved ones. From his PV we can probably assume his wife died or something, his motivation for killing is likely related to her death, whatever. Bro's going through it.

And his name. Most characters have the same name in JP/EN, with some exceptions.

From the JP Twitter account, this lists the VAs and the characters they play; Dragon Boy, Ghostblade, and E-Soul are the only characters (thus far) with kanji names. The kanji means the same thing as the hanzi Chinese characters, which more or less translates to what their English titles are. I'm going to focus a bit more on Ghostblade though, since I think that's a pretty interesting take on what the characters actually mean.

默杀 is the Chinese name for Ghostblade (again, same meaning as the Japanese 黙殺). Translated literally this means silent killer, but the character 杀 has a... hm. I guess a more violent connotation? Or at least a rather strong one, it's the kind of word you'd use to describe murder.

So the ghost part makes sense - silent as a ghost, probably a reference to the Ghost Festival. Blade also makes sense, he kills people.

But he's got Buddhist symbolism all over him??? Ghosts don't linger, we all enter the cycle of reincarnation until we're free from the karmic debts of our past lives, and one of the cornerstones of Buddhism is to abstain from inflicting unnecessary suffering. To live is suffering enough, man. I guess he can justify it to himself if he's only after the bad guys...

The website quote for him says 开不了口 (lit. can't open his mouth anymore). Terrible for him. Someone wanted him fo stay quiet that bad?

No clue where I'm going with this. My expectation is that he's not going to have a great ending though - death would be kind if only to reunite him with the person he lost. He's a solitary individual, so even if he successfully kills off all his targets, he doesn't seem to have a lot going for him past that. I'm guessing there's something brewing with his hero agency, but it's hard to say with the very limited info. we have as it is.

[wedreamedlove]

I can rarely make a connection between L&N's chapter titles and the chapters themselves (except for Osborn and Wretched Love/Because I Felt Love). Do you have any interpretations of your own about the chapter titles?

what you brought up actually isn't a chapter title, it's the pv title or title for a chunk of main chapters and, in my opinion, applies to all of the men because they all make an appearance in the main chapters even if they aren't the spotlight of the chapter itself (which is who the actual chapter title refers to).

light and night actually uses a lot of classic literature for their chapter titles too btw so i'll be linking some!

Chapter 1: Turning Point of Fate 命运的拐点 = pretty self-explanatory because our game starts here.

Chapter 2: The Time In Between 时间针脚 = "an ordinary woman using her talent and courage to transform herself first into a prestigious couturier..." and then more.

Chapter 3: The Ocean and Flame 海水与火焰 = we're introduced to Evan and Osborn here, respectively the ocean and flame, although Osborn also has strong ocean themes.

Chapter 4: The Journey of Edward 爱德华之旅 = the novel itself "contains several themes involving loss and recovery, kindness and compassion, and the journey to self-discovery" and this is a chapter where the heroine and Sariel get closer together, as well as hints at their past together.

Chapter 5: His Border 他的边境线 = a chapter that delves more into Evan and his circumstances.

Chapter 6: The Cage and the Bird 囚笼与飞鸟 = where the heroine starts getting caught up in things and Charlie's introduction.

Chapter 7: If This Was The Finale 假如是终曲 = many "death shadows" appear here, like Osborn's car explosion, the heroine taking Charlie's russian roulette pill, Sariel's accelerating degeneration, and the burn victim who tried to commit suicide.

Chapter 8: Belated Midsummer 迟来的盛夏 = Jesse's introduction!

PV 9-10: FLAME AND ASHES 直至燃为灰烬 = everything starts escalating and falling apart.

Chapter 9: Enslaved Heart 被奴役的心 = Evan testing the heroine but realizing he's caught the feels.

Chapter 10: Ward No. 6 六号病房 = Charlie's philosophical and social conflict in his profession as a doctor.

PV 11-12: THE SILENT (CALL FOR HELP) 听不见的呼救 = the light and night men start catching on fire here, except for Osborn.

Chapter 11: Walking With Sin 与罪同行 = Charlie trying to save people in the hospital but the hospital itself being... well... and Jesse's path of revenge.

Chapter 12: The Savage Game 蛮荒游戏 = Sariel getting poisoned by the spirit clan and Evan starting to distance himself from the heroine as he sinks deeper into his chessboard.

PV 13-14: A BUSTED FLUSH 失败者的失败 = where all the men start losing their respective positions.

Chapter 13: Witness of the Past 过去的证人 = the debut of Osborn's other half and past.

Chapter 14: Border Crossing Angel 越界天使 = the cliffhanger where Charlie went from being a doctor to a killer.

PV 15-16: FOR WHOM THE SUN RISES 太阳为谁而升 = pretty sure this is a homage to Ernest Hemingway's book and how everyone is involved with each other.

Chapter 15: A Murder 一次谋杀 = the repercussions of Sun Taizhong's death and all the people that got dragged into it. there's also more metaphorical deaths like the heroine's memory of Sariel.

Chapter 16: Before the Storm 暴雨来临前 = ironic because this sets up Sariel and Osborn's flags and most of Evan's focus here until the end where he loses everything.

PV 17-18: WRETCHED LOVE 由于感到了爱 = look at what love made Evan do! imprisonment! look at what both Osborns are going through! look at how the heroine was about to die for Sariel! look at Sariel live with his perceived sin for the heroine!

Chapter 17: The Third Bang 第三声巨响 = there really are three iconic bangs that define Osborn's chapter here and the plot beats.

Chapter 18: Amongst All of Nature 在万物之中 = this one's hard to explain but it's like Sariel's zen about his death and everything else, but also how the universe actually isn't against them and things start taking a better turn at the very end.

NEW SEASON PV 1-3: WHITE THAN WHITE 大雪化为乌有 = both ominous and optimistic because snow and ice can be seen as bad and it's finally melting to show everyone's true colors underneath, which can be good or bad.

Chapter 1: Following the Past 沿往事而行 = pretty self-explanatory since we go really deep into Sariel's past here.

Chapter 2: Whenever I Hesitate 每当彷徨时 = applies to both Jesse and the heroine's growth in this chapter.

Chapter 3: A Sublime Disease 崇高的疾病 = Charlie's fight against DEA and his father.

coincidentally, the new chapters have released and their titles are below... very ominous sounding and my guess is that it will be Charlie, Osborn, and Evan in that order.

PV 4-6: ANOTHER FAREWELL 从再见走向再见

Chapter 4: Apoptotic Narcissus 凋亡的水山

Chapter 5: The Person who Eats Memories 吃回忆的人

Chapter 6: Runaway Mustang 野马私奔

[o7o7o7]

Love Live Manga Vol. 3-current Assorted Thoughts

Okay bud, there's bait and then there's whatever this is.

Competitive Maki hell yeah. I just really like the manga iteration. The anime version is kind of a braggart, and mostly just keeps to herself in the corner except when she's being needled by others to make her blush or getting gap moe passionate about the club.

She gets competitive, fails, admits defeat, and copes by going "meh, I'm more of an elegant artiste type." I love it.

But for real, manga nicomaki is where it's at. And Nico has the perfect combination of self-serving and mature and reliable that I love so much. Absolute fave. It's so crazy compared to their anime versions.

By the way, anime Nico gets attached immediately to everyone in a way that does make her seem like a little sister, but manga Nico keeps her cards close enough to her chest even after joining, and she still maintains an aura of capability that her anime counterpart completely lacks.

Of course, I like hyper capable and over confident Maki, but this Maki who's not that familiar with this style of music and is still feeling things out is much more my thing. Also, this is the kind of nicomaki I was always expecting. Way to go, manga-dono. Maki is uncharacteristically going full dere here, especially for her manga version which can be so full of herself.

And Nico is all mushy and friendly to Maki and I'm sure she does have some genuine interest in her (she showed some desire to coddle her too for a sec before) but she still mostly keeps the "she's useful to me" vibe which I really love.

I still love the manzai duo vibes.

AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! Tsukkomi Nozomi is my…. everything…..

YOU KNOW WHAT??????

I'm interested in how so many of their lyrics reference the beauty and impermanence of their SEISHUN. Like… I don't think young people are really as fascinated and self-conscious at their own youth. To them, they don't know anything else, it's just their natural state of being. It feels a little like adults wrote that song for them, rather than something a real teenager would write, if you get me.

What are they doing? lmfao.

The comedy is so goofy lol.

Nico is so cheeky and easygoing here I really like it.

This really works for me. If Nico is going to be the one who cares about the vibes, the "idol" aura they give off, of course she'd be the perfect one to always be thinking about pushing the image, and the one good at making the PVs and making them emoi.

^ Yep, she's the queen of theatrics, and I appreciate them making her good at it. She's trying to sell a story.

HonoNico crumbs!!

I love how Maki seems to find her shenanigans kinda charming here, lol.

NozoNico really is the… outlier, lol. But it's so good in fanworks though!!!!!

CLOUT CHASER NICO HELL YEAH!!

FAVE!! KotoNico GO!!!!

Are all the good Nico couples from the manga? Or, well, except Nozomi… The fanworks are so top tier, where did it come from?

Nico is so nice!

FAVE.

LMFAO, she's so annoying!!!

Finished volume 3. It was mostly about finishing Eli's recruitment and making their first PV. They still have no fans.

They just can't help themselves.

LOL.

LMAO. What is this chemistry?? Go beat her ass, Nico!! I can't believe they made MAKI the punching bag in the manga (although they all seem to get their time, but it seems to be mostly… Maki as the put upon comic relief type.)

Eli keeps getting genuine ship bait with everyone for some reason, huh. Like, actual literal bait where they make her kinda misunderstand.

Nico keeps being used to cockblock.

AGYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (dies)

Super ultra powerful blorbo jumpscare!!!!!!!!

She's da strategist!!

The manga makes a super strong point of dividing Nico's "idol" and normal persona by her hairstyle.

UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

Sasuga Nico's minion.

Nico is still only thinking of her own self-interest (and being pretty successful with it too.)

I hope she gets to care about Muse eventually, though. Without her getting dunked on… 😓

Hmm…

I love NicoEli so much so much.

AHAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!! This is so compelling!!!!! Get dunked on, Nico!!!!!!!!!!!

LMAO, the one who got dunked on in the end was Eli. This is so unexpected but not bad I think.

I really thought I'd have to finish the manga before moving on with the anime, but… Sigh, I'm already meeting Tsubasa here. Welp. Let's see.

This Eli rules so hard to be honest… I like anime Eli too, but this hotblooded Eli rules too!!!

Ahh, this has been making me want to watch a sports anime…

She's having such a good time here, happy for her.

GOD Manga Eli is THE BEST.

LOL, when Nico's not just the constant punching bag I actually do want to see her get rekt a little. GO ELI.

I love this so much.

It's such an amazing brainstorming session. I love this. I love that it acknowledges they CAN'T compete, but they won't just roll over either.

NicoEli is so peak…….

Come on guys, for contest 1, you gotta hype up Maki (and Umi…) who's the one who will have to carry there!!!!! Damn!!!!!

I LOVE THIS, AAAAAAAAHHHH, Maki-chan's so real… UGH HELL YEAH I LOVE HER.

I'm a lit girl so I love the realness of Maki-san, but I'm also a birdbrain so I love the fanservice, teehee!!!!!!

This is one of my favorite chapters. I love songwriting and composing more than the dancing and idol showmanship I guess, lol. (I love the showmanship when it comes to entertainment skits and comedy though!! Like… you know, vtubers or something….)

Welp, finished vol 4. I'm really enjoying this arc, but based on where the story is going (and the very large release gap) I should probably just go watch anime season 2 instead, and then finish this…? Oh wait, the end of this volume (the last 3 chapters I think). Oh well.

Anyway Maki's arcs are always interesting because she's the one carrying the full leverage of the actual work. I mean, of course, it's all of Muse who perform it but the actual uh creative product is all Maki's work, as the composer!!!!!! And Umi as the writer I guess. Nah, the anime almost completely glosses over the creative production side and zeroes in on the performance of it side… Just the singing and dancing (and physical training for the dancing.)

I love manga Nico taking any chance she can to mess around with people and cause scenes (like, in lighthearted skit ways, like the faux love triangle with HonoEliUmi). She messes so much with Eli too it's like Nozomi's out of a job. Or rather, she's more like an outsider reacting detachedly to things here, lol.

A… AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!

NozoNico crumbs!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's interesting here how A-Rise have no real personal desire to compete against Muse, and it's all manufactured by their school's student council prez personal drama with Eli.

This is so nasty, lol. The anime presents a dreamlike world where all their fans are also cute young, pure girls, but the manga seems to acknowledge that a big bulk of the fanbase for teen female idols are definitely gonna be dirty old men.

I just realized Kotori doesn't have the side gig here, but she's shown to be a fan of maid cosplay (and outfits in general I guess as the costume maker.)

Hell yeah they're letting Nico show expertise as someone who has a hold of the pulse of the idol fandom. Too bad about Hanayo though. RinPana and Nozomi seriously get the shortest end of the stick here. She's so cute, she enjoys the trolling.

Maki and Umi getting offended at Honoka talking about Muse like they're below A-rise is the best!!!

Hello???????? NicoMaki moment. I forgot how great the manga was.

Maki intensely checking the fan feedback on the song they released and being pleased by the positive comments RULES. I enjoy anime too cool for school Maki, but this babbu's first actual creative project Maki is awesome too!!

Nico is so chill here, it's such a variation from how intense she is in the anime. But it's obviously because manga Nico has zero interest in being a Muse school idol, her goal had always been to switch into UTX and join A-Rise… This Nico doesn't care about her own school's club and therefore is not relying on Muse to move forward towards her goals. As a result she's also much slower to open up to them (still seeing them as a means to an end, although she might have been warming up to Maki a little because of her baby little princess vibes).

Bruh everyone takes Nico's opinions seriously, I'm so moved. ;~;

Nozomi is still so baffling to me in the manga…

It's still so weird how frank and detached this Nico is portrayed. The one who cares SO MUCH is Maki. I mean Anime Maki does too but she acts all too cool for school…

Eli is so homosexual in this manga, getting swayed by any type of flirting at all, lol. Anyways, WAOW, NicoEli?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! HELL YEA!!!!

(oh no, I've hit the max image limit lmfao).

Nah, Nico took Nozomi's role in behavior but she also stole her spot in the NozoEli dynamic of number one Eli understander!!!

And Nozomi is relegated to just literally sitting in the back and make extremely flabbergasted faces, lmfaoo. Makes sense since here she doesn't give a shit about any of this, she just wants to carry one with her supernatural club.

Childish Eli and Nico minding out for people despite herself… I love it.

Still shocked at how everyone just… takes her seriously, respect her ideas and don't look down on her for just breathing. She's just the actual expert in her area and is allowed to be right sometimes, rather than just having grit and being petty.

This rules…. Especially since it implies Nico knows that's just how Maki is when she's close to you I guess? Seems more in line with their SIF chemistry too (where Nico also seems a little more mature and calm, less intense with a chip on her shoulder and petty jealous…)

Nice HonoNico chemistry. Nico is less emotional here, I like it in its own way.

Nico is just the Nozomi here. She's the one who can read people.

OMG they gave Nico-chan the biggest W in the entire manga for the climax!! I guess she was technically the final girl to be won over, emotionally…?

Eli RULESSS.

Okay, so to spread the pamphlets they divided themselves with: second years, RinPana, NozoEli, and NicoMaki. They're really well paired off.

Manga Maki is so special I love her. She's so cocky. Manga Maki at least tries to pretend she's not mean is the thing, Anime Maki would have been, yeah so what, better safe than sorry.

They have more of this type of deliberate manzai scenes in the manga.

Okay, NicoMaki have now been completely won over. Nice. I wish we'd seen the transition of their feelings a bit more deeply though.

Put upon Nozomi rules.

NozoNicoEli BANZAI!!!!!!

OMG DRAMA LETS GO!!!!!!!

It's actually a little tense. You WOULDN'T do that to Eli, right, Nico? You WOULDN'T??? Also, nice tsukkomi.

OMG, does it really end here? Where's volume 6???

Oh noooo, eternal hiatus…????? Damn. Sucks.

[silentlilyy]

alright here it is: my “sage of truth is canon” theory 😼 putting it under a cut because it’s really long

so i’ve seen a pattern with the legendary costumes: we’ve got powered up versions of some characters, corrupted versions of some characters, etc etc. and these are never shown to be from alternate universes. (more on this later: i can prove this)

so why is sage of truth the only exception?

my take is that it’s not, and we just haven’t seen it in the story yet.

so we know this isn’t past!shadow milk cookie, since he was the fount of knowledge back then. there was nothing ever said about a sage of truth until now. this is a brand new form of his.

when pure vanilla got his awakened form, there were elements from shadow milk’s design incorporated, like how golden cheese got reds in her colour palette to reference burning spice & dark cacao got white from mystic flour.

here’s a screenshot of my own awakened!pure vanilla. note the design under his robes there, a clear shadow milk reference; same with the symbol on his hat, which closely resembles shadow milk’s soul jam.

like how PV takes elements from shadow milk’s design, sage of truth takes elements from PV’s.

the yellow is brand new, the eyes on his coat-thing (don’t know the actual name 💀 sorry) are closed, like how they are on pure vanillas, the sleeves on his coat resemble base!pure vanilla’s cape (again not sure what the actual name is), the symbol on his hat is literally half of pure vanilla’s soul jam. like how they have two halves of the same soul jam in canon!! i’m pretty sure this is meant to show a connection greater than just “shadow milk in a swap AU”.

coming back to my “all legendary costumes are canon” thing, yes there’s a few that seem like AUs…at first. so the next part of my theory involves me proving every legendary outfit is canon!

Midsummer Night’s Tragicomedy

first, the PV and white lily matching costumes. hear me out: it’s canon but not in the way we expect. so among all of PV’s appearances, the symbol on his forehead only changed colour when he went deceit mode right? and it went blue…so this means the only other time it changed colour was with this legendary costume - ALSO TO BLUE (albeit a darker shade). so next, looking at the costume’s description, there’s two things that stick out to me: him being called the king of faeries, and that the faeries played a trick on him by giving him a love potion so he’d fall for white lily. in the story, the faeries we meet aren’t tricksters at all.

except for one: apple faerie cookie, AKA candy apple cookie, AKA SHADOW MILK’S MINION.

and the final part of the description: “until he wakes from this sweet daydream, his time with the Queen will last forever and ever”. so this could mean a daydream in the literal sense…but hear me out. who’s known to mess with pure vanilla’s dreams?

shadow milk.

coming back to the king of faeries part: in episode 8, he and shadow milk combine their powers. seeing as how the faeries in the costume’s short story are tricksters, he’d be considered the king of tricksters. and what do tricksters do? they deceive. in other words, this is linked to him doing the whole “let’s both be cookies of deceit” thing with shadow milk, as combined they’re so powerful it scared black sapphire, so if you understand what i’m saying it’s like he’s the king of deceit.

my final conclusion for the two outfits is that this takes place in pure vanilla’s dreams while he’s in his truthless recluse era, and he winds up dreaming about white lily. shadow milk knows that PV cares a lot about white lily (platonic or romantic, your choice), so when the faeries are laughing about how they sneakily gave him a love potion, i think it’s kinda alluding to shadow milk manipulating his dream to make him act in a way he normally wouldn’t. pure vanilla in his king of faeries outfit wakes up in the story feeling happy the next day - but would he feel happy when he wakes up for real as truthless recluse, knowing that the days with white lily are long gone? like i’d compare it to having a dream about being in the perfect relationship, only to wake up and find out it was a dream, and left feeling upset, if this makes sense.

Celestial Messenger

this is technically part of a duo too but black pearl’s i think we can safely say is a power-up like fire spirit’s, wind archer’s, etc. so anyways, this one seems like exclusively aesthetics at first, but there’s one phrase that stands out to me: “…mesmerizing like the vivid spring sky”. sherbet is obviously associated with the winter, so my theory for this one is that at some point, sherbet kinda graduates from working for frost queen and gets a new job as a messenger, like how winter turns to spring.

The Sea and the Dark Side of the Moon

okay this one stumped me for a bit but i think ive finally got something: like sherbet’s and shadow milk’s, we’re looking at moonlight and sea fairy’s futures. their costume story speaks of their present selves that we know in the past tense, so i think this is showing that at some point, sea fairy will reunite with moonlight, and they’ll get their golden outfits as seen here.

(also maybe their ship will be confirmed as canon 👀)

Sweetness Shall Fade at Twilight

this one i’m fairly certain is way way off in the future, like “end of the cookie run universe”-type future, so while they won’t assume these forms for a while yet, this is kind of a look at what will happen when time eventually stops, if that makes sense.

and there you have it: my reasoning as to how the legendary costumes all take place in the same timeline! and there’s no way shadow milk’s is gonna be the only one to be from a different universe, so in conclusion: i’m pretty confident sage of truth shadow milk is gonna appear in a later beast yeast episode.

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

IOTA Reviews: Jubilation

So far, Season 5 has been pretty decent for the most part. Sure, there have already been a handful of plotholes and retcons (to the point where I'm honestly thinking of starting a retcon counter in the future), but at the very worse, the first three episodes were below average at worst. But now we have to see how the Akuma of the day formula will play out now. Can it bring new life to this show, or is that nothing more than a pipe dream?

Let's get into the fourth (chronologically the fourth) episode of Miraculous Ladybug's fifth season: Jubilation

The episode starts off with Marinette going for a jog, and shockingly, it isn't in her pajamas, but rather, clothing appropriate for running. She stops to see an advertisement for the Alliance rings, and reminds the audience that she's totally not in love with Adrien anymore because it cost her most of the Miraculous. Marinette is about to continue running, when she sees her principal, Mr. Damocles, dressing up at the superhero, the Owl, while attempting to save a cat from a billboard... even though he learned his lesson all the way back in his spotlight episode, “The Dark Owl”. Before Marinette has the chance to save him from his incompetence, another girl dressed as Ladybug saves Mr. Damocles, though Marinette recognizes her as an old friend. Both “heroes” run off, but Marinette has an idea of who the fake Ladybug is.

Marinette: That fake Ladybug from this morning, I think it was Socqueline, a school friend from last year. Knowing her, I’m sure she means well. But I have to convince her to stop putting herself in danger like that.

So basically, we're repeating the civilian plotline of “The Dark Owl”, but this time, with two different heroes. I'm also confused as to why we've never heard of Socqueline until Season 5, especially if Marinette already knows her. It's not as egregious or forced as Zoe's introduction, but it's weird that Marinette has never brought her up, not even to Tikki or Alya.

Also, why the hell does she look like Marinette? It was at least understandable to reuse Adrien's character model for Felix because they were related, but these two are just friends, and Socqueline doesn’t even have the same name most fans use for the PV Ladybug, Bridgette. What, did you think changing her name would make the reference more subtle? Oh yeah, and even though we already have two Asian characters with the same surname, Socqueline’s last name is also Wang. Because just like the mayor and ice cream man sharing the same first name, this isn’t confusing in the slightest.

Socqueline works at a local arts and crafts store, and before Marinette can ask her for why she's pretending to be Ladybug, she pretends to be buying paint first... even though she could just transform into Ladybug, walk in and say “Hey, I heard you've been impersonating me, so stop it before you get yourself killed, idiot”. But then I guess we wouldn't get an explanation as to what Alliance can do. Like we saw in “Multiplication”, it's basically an Alexa in ring form that totally isn't a front for supervillain activity. Marinette and Socqueline talk about Adrien, and Socqueline assumes the two are a couple after Marinette talks about how close they are, when all Marinette does is recap the whole thing about his mother “disappearing” and that he doesn't want to be a model. Wow, you really know him, don't you?

Eventually, the conversation goes back to Socqueline dressing up as Ladybug.

Marinette: Well, it’s a good thing you’re not trying to be a superhero, because it’s very dangerous to do the same thing they do when you don’t have magical powers and supersuits!

Socqueline: Yeah… Well, what if it’s a relief for Ladybug to have people help her?

Marinette: No way would she want that. It’s too risky!

Socqueline: Yes, but you gotta know when to step in. That’s the only way you can change things in life!

Marinette: I know. You told me that last year, but in this circumstance, it’s Ladybug’s job to take risks, and no one else’s! Because if everyone takes risks, then Ladybug may have to take more risks in order to deal with their risks, which is even riskier!

Mr. Damocles: Sounds like someone’s jealous because she wants to be a superhero.

Marinette: I do not! I’m Marinette! I’m very happy to be a normal girl, with a normal life, AND SO SHOULD EVERYONE ELSE!

Admittedly, this is a decent argument for Marinette and Socqueline to have, but I feel like they're kind of oversimplifying it. Yes, it's obvious that Socqueline and Mr. Damocles can't do much to help Ladybug without any powers, but that doesn't rule out Ladybug getting other allies in the form of local law enforcement or even other heroes with high-tech gadgets like Batman. It's also strange that the whole deal with Marinette last season was that she wasn't willing to trust anyone like Cat Noir, so wouldn't it make sense to call back to that, and consider getting help from people in other ways, like moral support?

While Socqueline tries to console Mr. Damocles, some of the dinosaurs from “Rocketear” break out, so Marinette quickly transforms into Ladybug to catch them again, but while she does so, she accidentally brings Socqueline's Alliance ring with her. Turns out that, shock of all shocks, Gabriel is secretly monitoring the Alliance rings, and the data gathered from the step counter app registers the user as moving around far beyond human capabilities. Gabriel obviously assumes that Socqueline is Ladybug, and transforms into Monarch, where we see how the new Akuma routine will go for the season. Sensing Mr. Damocles' negative emotions from believing he can't be a superhero, Monarch uses Kaalki's Voyage to send his Akuma towards one of his masks. When it reaches Mr. Damocles, Monarch uses his Alliance ring to grant him Daizzi's Gift, turning him into Darker Owl.

Darker Owl is basically just the same as Dark Owl, but with some shinier parts, and instead of the campier Batman he was originally themed after, he has a sightly deeper voice, not unlike Christian Bale's interpretation of the character. Nothing special, but compared to reusing past Akuma designs, at least an effort was made to make him look different.

Darker Owl breaks into the paint shop, believing Monarch's claim that Socqueline is Ladybug. Using one of his gadgets with the Pig Miraculous' gift, he traps Socqueline in her fantasy to be recognized as a hero by the real Ladybug and Cat Noir. Before she was trapped however, she secretly used her Alliance ring to trick Darker Owl into revealing where the Akuma is.

Of course, like a concerning amount of episodes before it, we finally get Adrien's first scene, where he's just playing video games until he learns about the Akuma, transforming into Cat Noir. Both heroes arrive to stop Darker Owl, who has taken Socqueline as a hostage, and while Cat Noir saves Socqueline, Ladybug summons her Lucky Charm, an old fashioned alarm clock.

After Cat Noir saves Socqueline, both him and Ladybug are hit by Gift, where their shared fantasy is beating Darker Owl and finding Monarch's business card in Mr. Damocles' jacket. After the two defeat Monarch and get the Miraculous back, they grow closer together, and eventually... get married... even though they're still teenagers.

Okay, that's very concerning, especially since Cat Noir's “suit” is just the Cat Blanc model with green eyes, but it's not like they're going to become parents too, right?

Oh.

Ohhhhhh....

Ohhhhhhhhhhhh nooooooo.....

Yep. The writers REALLY didn't think this through. I get that it didn't really happen, but I don't get why they had to make the fantasy of Ladybug and Cat Noir being all about them starting a family when they can't even afford new models to show that they're older so they could avoid these implications.

Putting that aside, the fantasy is decently put together, but it's nothing special compared to something like “Perchance to Dream” from Batman: The Animated Series. I like the recurring surreal imagery with the alarm clocks, and the babies looking like dolls could be seen as a way to show how fake this all is. On the other hand, I don't get whose fantasy this is exactly. Yeah, it's implied that since the same Gift bullet was fired at both Ladybug and Cat Noir, they're sharing an amalgamation of their fantasies (Ladybug defeating Monarch and getting the Miraculous back and Cat Noir starting a family with Ladybug), but it feels like more focus is given to Cat Noir's fantasy even though he didn't even get to do anything before the Akuma showed up. They even have the scene with him hesitating to leave the fantasy when it should have been Ladybug struggling to reject it. In fact, I think the reason this fantasy sequence rings hollow for me is because it doesn't really connect to the idea that Marinette wants a normal life. Wouldn't it make more sense for Marinette's fantasy to be a world where Socqueline or Alya is Ladybug instead of her? You could easily alternate between Marinette's fantasy where she lives a mundane life and alternate it with Cat Noir's fantasy where he embraces the superhero lifestyle. It would have made more sense given that this was a Marinette-centric episode,

Even after the two heroes break out, it's Cat Noir who snaps at Darker Owl, not Ladybug. You could have easily had a scene where Cat Noir is the one who has to restrain Ladybug from getting too aggressive while fighting Darker Owl to show how reliable of a partner he is. Instead, well... remember how last episode, Cat Noir felt a lot of guilt for accidentally Cataclysming Monarch when Monarch let himself take the hit? Yeah, he almost Cataclysms Darker Owl out of anger. Yeah, he’s not thinking straight, and he stops at the last minute, but it makes him look like a real hypocrite. It also doesn’t really reassure the audience that he's now the only ally Ladybug has at the moment. This moment would have made more sense if the roles were reversed, with Cat Noir begging Ladybug to not hurt Darker Owl because Monarch was the one who taunted them with their ideal lives.

Ladybug purifies the Akuma, gives Mr. Damocles a useless Magical Charm, fixes the minor damage Darker Owl caused, Daizzi is sent back to Monarch's lair, and nobody ever acknowledges that Cat Noir almost killed a man.

After Socqueline apologizes to Ladybug, and Ladybug gives a vague statement of wanting Socqueline to find another way to help, she goes back home as Marinette. Sabine offers her an Alliance ring, but Marinette decides against it, mostly because of what happened earlier.

The episode then ends to Ladybug talking with Cat Noir about what happened with Darker Owl, how he got the power of the Pig Miraculous, and what happened in their fantasy.

Cat Noir: Ladybug, that power of Jubilation... it’s supposed to show us our deepest desires, isn’t it?

Ladybug: Yes.

Cat Noir: But that was... that wasn’t real, right?

Ladybug: Tell me about it. The wedding, babies, totally… fake.

Cat Noir: Are you sure?

Ladybug: Monarch… must’ve altered it somehow, to trick us. Yeah, that’s got to be it.

Cat Noir: Of course, otherwise, it would be totally super weird, wouldn’t it?

Ladybug: Right. Totally… super… weird.

Yeah, calling what you two lived through “weird” is an understatement.

Overall, this episode was just mediocre, and other than the climax, there wasn't much for me to talk about.

Socqueline as a character confuses me. Do we really need another member of Marinette's friend group, especially when you could have easily replaced Socqueline with another character? Seriously, someone like Alya, Mylene, Kagami, Zoe, or even Chloe would have worked better, as their personalities and motivations would fit a story like this. She's just an unnecessary addition to an already bloated cast of characters.

I will say I liked how the villain side of things was handled. In a world where the use of technology in our daily lives is more common, the idea of the Alliance rings being a way for Gabriel to monitor the public is pretty clever. I’m still confused as to why he even needs to use a Miraculous to give Akumas more powers when he can already do that with Akumas in the first place, but I like how the conflict seems to be ramping up.

I also don't get the point of this conflict, especially since we already did it three seasons ago. Back in “The Dark Owl”, it was unnecessary because Ladybug and Cat Noir were already doing a good job at fighting Hawkmoth's Akumas, but now, he's stronger than ever, and they need all the help they can get. Yeah, Mr. Damocles and Socqueline were endangering themselves by trying to help others, but at least they're doing something after everyone just gave up preparing for Monarch's new wave of Akumas in “Multiplication”. But then again, at least Ladybug didn't call either of them entitled for actually wanting to help people instead of focusing on their own selfish desires like the “hero” in Kamen Rider Geats.

Even the resolution feels tacked on. In “The Dark Owl”, the ending was similar, with Mr. Damocles choosing to stop trying to be a hero, but instead focusing on doing community service, helping people in his own way. Here? Ladybug tells Socqueline to help someone without endangering herself, and we don't get any follow-up on that, not even with Mr. Damocles. It feels more tacked on than anything else.

It doesn't help that despite the episode hinting at Marinette wanting a normal life, the actual highlight of the episode, the fantasy sequence, doesn't really connect to those wishes, as Marinette stays transformed the whole time. From an out of universe perspective, it's obviously because Cat Noir and Monarch can't find out who Ladybug is, but it's not clear why her fantasy is like that. You could have easily thrown in something like that rule they established last episode of Miraculous magic not being able to interfere with other Miraculous, so Monarch and Darker Owl have to make up their own ideal fantasy for Ladybug and Cat Noir to live in because they can't completely read their minds. Well that, and also, DON'T SHOW TWO TEENAGERS BECOMING PARENTS WITHOUT EVEN AGING, BECAUSE IT GIVES OFF THE VIBE THAT THEY HAD SEX.

This episode wasn't really terrible, more boring than anything else. At least I had something to talk about with the past three episodes, but here? Outside of the fantasy, there's not much else to say.

THE BIGGEST IDIOT OF THE EPISODE IS... MR. DAMOCLES

Even though he already learned his lesson three seasons ago, he still didn't get that a man of his age and physique wasn't fit to be a superhero. At least Socqueline was established to be in good shape for her age. On top of that, he easily gave away his cover (even if it was obvious, the joke before was that everyone else pretended to not know who he is) at the drop of a hat, and when he was supposedly confronted with Ladybug's civilian identity, he didn't think to just rip her earrings off, and spent way too much time talking before he zapped her with a Gift bullet.