#we can't know unless one of them has a flashback

[olderthannetfic]

https://olderthannetfic.tumblr.com/post/784181809513644032/in-fandom-racism-discussions-in-cases-where-an

Never mind that many, many of Hollywood’s most pernicious problems are in the cinematography, lighting, and editing.

I want to hear how the cinematography, lighting, and editing affect things! Can you explain or link some articles?

--

Sure!

The big thing to understand about film is that there is such a thing as "film grammar", and this is a lot of how we read meaning into film.

Think of it like when comic book ladies get drawn in the broken spine pose so you can see T&A at once and some defensive clown is like "Um, um, the comic said she was the main hero! She can't be objectified meat!" But the dudes are not drawn like that. It doesn't matter what the comic said. It matters what it showed.

We know how to read that art even if we aren't consciously aware of it.

We also know how to read film.

A character looks down. We see a shot of a book on a table. We know the book is what they're looking at. A character walks out of a door. We see them in another room. We know it's just a second later and a room away, not three years later on another continent. We see a soft dissolve and we know we've gone into a flashback. How do we know? Film grammar.

The problem is that because this has not been taught in a verbal and explicit way, we often have trouble articulating why film feels a certain way.

That makes it easy for a film (show, whatever) to undercut a character while pretending that isn't happening. It also makes it easy for somebody with a few one-liners to feel huge, and no, it's not just fans randomly picking for no reason.

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The classic early concept everyone talks about is the Kuleshov Effect, a.k.a. the experiment that showed how/that montage works. Basically, if you take the same clip of a stoic-looking actor and pair it with three very different things, people will talk about the subtlety of the acting. He looks so sad when looking at the dead baby! So hungry when looking at the soup! etc.

Another important concept is that closeups of faces are where a lot of the film's story is told. It's often not the dialogue that's being spoken but some other character's reaction to that dialogue that matters.

Part of film grammar is that breaking the forth wall feels weird (i.e. looking directly into the camera and making eye contact with the audience), but looking very close to the camera is intimate, while being shown in profile is not. (Being shown from behind is POV-y though and makes us feel like we're with the character.)

Film has POV, or rather "narrative perspective". It's more complicated and more prone to changing than POV in a novel, but it's there. If you cut to a particular character's reaction to show which dialogue mattered or you cut to them having a thought and then end the scene, they're important. If you cut after they decide something or exit, they're "driving the cut" and we're "with" them. In effect, they're the POV character.

Cool, sexy action dudes with a lot of abs are hot. They punch things in wide shots. But for a single perfect tear woobie, we need a closeup. We need interiority.

This is often not granted to the characters of color or the female characters unless they are definitively the lead or are in an ensemble that primarily focuses on nonwhite characters/female characters/etc. Your MCUs and your ensemble cop shows might do a good job with everyone, or they might prioritize a particular white guy while paying lip service to the idea that the whole ensemble matters.

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A lot of us were taught to analyze writing in school and/or we've just spent way more time doing that on our own. It is therefore tempting to look at a script and make too much of it. But the staging is incredibly important. Lindsay Ellis has a video about Transformers where she shows a scene where the girl is saying plot important stuff that makes it clear her character is interesting... while leaning over the engine and being ogled by the camera. Nobody remembers the dialogue. They remember her butt.

Characters can be standing behind others in group shots. Characters can be only in group shots.

If the script tells you that all five of your ensemble are important and they all have equal lines, but only White Guy McScenestealer gets a closeup, then he is the main character, and he is the only one who matters.

Specifically, he is the one whose feelings matter.

The reason it's all of cinematography, lighting, and editing is that the editor is the one actually putting those closeups in or juxtaposing the characters in a way that highlights them... but for them to do that, the correct shot needs to exist. That shot also needs to look good enough.

Not only do a lot of racist, sexist crews fail to get adequate coverage, but many of them were also taught by people who never had to light dark skin and thus they also do not know how to light it or shoot it. This doesn't apply to all POC, obviously, but it's the kind of thing that can fuck up a shoot with good intentions. If the dark-skinned black lead's closeups are lit like shit and their facial expressions are the least visible out of everyone's in the group shots, the audience won't be able to feel their emotions or connect with them. The editor might leave out a lot of their coverage simply because it looks less professional even if they'd originally wanted to highlight that character.

The director probably has final say on the cut in an indie film, producers for TV or a lot of big budget stuff, but you know what I mean: someone made this choice at the cutting stage, and it might be going against what the script was trying to do.

Prioritizing the character of color needs to happen during all phases of the filmmaking or they're going to get shafted. Ditto filming women like leads and not pointing the camera at their butts all the time, etc. etc. (Substitute whatever minority. I'm sure you'll find the same pattern with non-Han characters in Chinese media.)

It's not that hard. Leverage managed to light for the pastiest, most light-reflecting blown-out shot nightmare and someone with pretty dark skin. The key thing to understand is that lighting well for this scenario takes a little more time than lighting two people with the same skin tone, and time is money.

Other types of choice may not take more time, but they do require a director or cinematographer who's really on top of things to go "No, don't do the stereotypical shot. That's telling the wrong story."

The camera tells us what to think, and what it is usually saying is "Sidekick", "Love interest", "Person number three who is here to infodump and whose feelings do not matter".

I made a couple of little video essays to try to explain this stuff more clearly. They both use The Losers, one to show how POV/objectification works and the other to show how dialogue and even minutes on screen are much less important than how a character is presented.

Aisha is the Object; Clay is the Subject

Carlos "Cougar" Alvarez: Human Exclamation Point

--

In my experience, fandom actually does not elevate five-second randos all that often. Fandom likes the character who cried in a closeup.

Who that character is is neither random nor equitable.

[teriri-sayes]

Reactions to The Light's Chapter 432

Brief summary: Cale begins their search for the Soos. Flashback to CH's talk with CJG. Cale arrives at Count Lupe's estate.

==========

Lots of funny moments today while the group was preparing to leave.

Cale: *worried about Sui's stamina because he's still a teen* Raon: *worried about Cale's stamina because he's weak* Clopeh: Don't worry. I can carry him. Cale: Gasp!

Cale being worried about Sui because he was no longer in his prime as LSH and was now a kid... 😂 Cale, even kid Sui is stronger than you. 😂 Look, even the kids worried about you. 😂😂😂 And funnily enough, Clopeh did carry Cale on his back later while on their way to search for Sui. 🤣🤣🤣

Raon: Choi Han-ah, you guys need to make sure you don't get hurt! CH: Don't worry. Raon: Of course, I'm not worried about Choi Han! But Heavenly Demon-yah, Choi Han's acting is really, very, extremely bad that he doesn't even think he's a bad actor, so you're the one who has to deal with people! CH: … HD: *holding back his laughter* Don't worry.

Raon, what's with that jab at CH? 😂😂😂 Speechless CH and laughing HD though. 😂😂😂

CH's talk with CJG was touching. CJG was described to have light brown hair like CJS, but his eyes were cold. He spoke without emotion, but one could tell from his words that he was worried about CH.

Choi Han. I am your ancestor, and Choi Jung Soo is your descendant. You are the only living human among us. We've already died and become wanderers. You are a living human being and a single-lifer. Perhaps you are the only one of our family, the Choi clan, who is still alive. We single-lifers live long indeed, unless we are killed. Choi Han. As your superior, I'll tell you something. Live like a human being. Live as you wish, but make sure- I want you to live as you wish.

CH replied that he was already living as he wished. Do what you want to do, as long as it doesn't harm anyone else - that was what he learned from Cale. 🥰

CH also viewed Cale as a human even though he had god-like powers. And that was why he disliked Clopeh who viewed Cale as a god. 😂

CH: *glares at Clopeh who follows Cale like a god* HD: In my eyes, you and that guy are the same. CH: …What? (What's with that nonsense?) HD: You also follow Cale, right? CH: …

CH shocked that he was being compared to that Clopeh... 🤣🤣🤣

Cale: Hey, keep an eye on Choi Han. HD: Why? Is it because of CJS? Cale: Yeah. He's a gentle guy, but when he's angry, he doesn't give a damn, so take care of him. HD: (Gentle? Hah.)

Why is everyone bullying CH today? 😂😂😂 But I like how everyone was trusting HD. 🥰 He really was part of the group now. He was even sad to part ways with them after everything was over.

Cale asked one more favor. 'Can't you get in touch with my maternal uncle?' He laughed. “Can you tell my uncle that he needs to pay me?' Cale remembered very clearly, very precisely, that his maternal uncle, of his mother's family, the Thames, had stolen his money and run away with it. He'd written it down so he wouldn't forget. “Hmm.” Even though Aurora had been trying to find him since she had made contact with Cale. 'I can't reach him.' I don't know what's going on with him. She'd told him that she'd connected with Cale, but she hadn't heard from him since.

Even though Cale had "Record", he still wrote it down. 🤣🤣🤣 And Cale's maternal uncle deliberately avoiding him. 😂😂😂

Tedrick: Is He gone? Aurora: By him, you mean, ah, Cale-nim? Tedrick: Yes. Aurora: Yes, he has left. Tedrick: May I ask you questions about Him? Aurora: You are a wise man, so I don't think you will ask any more questions. Tedrick: Hmm. I see.

No, Aurora! Why are you warning the villagers not to ask questions about Cale? You're further enhancing their misunderstanding of Cale as... the Demon God. 🤣🤣🤣

Ending Remarks Today's chapter was hilarious. Next chapter would be Cale finding Sui in Diorel, the capital of Count Lupe's estate. I guess with Lupe gone, the enemies had made their secret base there?

[2-old-to-guard]

Trailer Analysis!!

Hello kiddos and welcome to The Old Guard trailer analysis!! This might beome multiple parts if they more than one trailer but for now it's stand alone.

I've linked the whole trailer on my blog so click on it to watch the whole thing:

So the first lines in the trailer are between Nile and Andy. This eases my fear that they were gonna sideline Nile in this movie. But from the beginnig of the trailer Nile is front and centre. I think there might be a flip of roles in them. I think Andy might be the naive one now whilst Nile is more cautious. With Quynh returning, I think Andy's love for her might blind her to traps. This is supported by a little clip of Nile saying "we're playing right into her hands".

Secondly, I think this scene might take place early in the movie and serves to set up Andy's character arc for the rest of the film. She's at peace with her life which will be immediately interrupted by the arrival of Akasha.

I also think this scene will be at the beginning of the film. Not just because Nile's line ("Didn't look that peaceful when you were shoving that guy out the window") references this scene, but also because it reminds me a lot of the Sudan mission from the beginning of the first film. Director, Victoria Mahoney, said there was gonna be a timeskip from the first movie to this, link here. So, they need a scene to establish the new relationships between the characters.

Also, aww Nile copying Joe's move from the first movie!!

So this scene is from the final battle (I believe) so I think this means that all the immortals, plus Tuah, make it to the end of the movie. I heard some rumors that Nicky might die but there six motocycles so unless something untoward happens I think he makes it. (Also whoever started that rumor why would you scare me like that!?!?!)

I think this is from the final battle as well, supported by the outfits they're wearing and the setting, so we know that Booker joins them again. I love to see Nile taking charge of the team and Andy letting her go first (a reference to the first movie). Also, bold move of Andy to let Booker walk behind her. This might be to show that Andy still trusts him even after his betrayel though he may need to prove himself.

So I think this is a flashback of some description. For the life of me I can't figure out who this is (if you can please comment below). I currently have three theories. The first is this is Andy's first death and rebirth as it looks like they're in mid-battle. The second is maybe after she escaped from the Witch Trials and killing the priests who took Quynh. The third theory is that this is Akasha when she was first turned immortal. Maybe as a way to flush her out as a character. But again, I can't tell who this is at all I'm sorry!!!)

This collection of shots blew my mind. Knowing that Akasha was there at Quynh's trial makes me think that she's always watching the immortals as a sort of spirit. I wonder how they're gonna explain why her hatred of Andy for 'choosing humanity over the immortals' when she let this SHIT happen. Like did she give Andy the choice to turn to the dark but when Andy chose to stay a hero that when she began to hate her??

I completley understand why people don't like Akasha character. You can find the post here. But I tHiNk I understand what they're trying to do. In the comics, Quynh (Noriko) was lost at sea during a shipwreck.

She was lost at sea for a couple decades before washing up on shore. She hid from the group, letting them think she was dead as she built a criminal empire. She reveals herself to the others when she has enough power to defeat them.

But with how Quynh's story has been crafted, this would seem impossible. Because of their budget, they couldn't stage a CGI shipwreck so went with the iron coffin. In the original script, Qunyh escaped the coffin at the same time the group was at Goussainville. But in the current, version, she doesn't escape until later. She doesn't have the same experience with the modern world that Noriko does and therefore wouldn't have the same pressence. In the first movie, many of Andy's fight scenes carried this aura of being the most skilled fighter in whichever fight she as in. Having Akasha be the "oldest of the immortals" means she has more knowledge of fighting and stragedy than Andy which puts her at a disadvantge. Furthermore, it explains how she was able to create an empire which she will probally have. Not that I am saying she was a good addition and why she HAD to be Uma Thurman. But I think this was a marketing ploy.

This scene supports my theory of trying to put Andy at a disadvantage. This library gives Library of Alexandria vibes and I think this is supposed to represent all the knowledge Akasha has but Andy has lost. Unlike Andy, who has been out in the world doing something with her immortality, Akasha simply watches, learns and records. This makes her a much different villain than the arrogant, irrational and ignorant Merrick.

This is the first lines for the other new addition, Henry Golding's Tuah. I first thought he might have been a traitor who was working with Akasha but I now think he's geniunley helping them. I can't tell but I think he's wearing a bathrobe in this scene so he might be a down-on-his-luck character who's brought into the fray and given a purpose. This also seems to take place in the library from the last shot so might take place at the mid-point, like late act 1 early act 2. I am curious as to his relationship with the others are. This might be a rather out-there theory but he may be a adaptation of Zeus, Andy's adoptive son. This would further the movies themes around paternal love, similar to Booker.

This shot is the cutest fucking thing I've seen in a while. I can tell this scene is gonna break and fill my heart. I've read a brilliant post about it here, so I invite you to read it. But overall, I think this scene is one of comfort. I think they might be comforting each other after seeing Quynh again. We sort of missed out of that in the comics so I would love a scene where Joe and Nicky talk about losing her.

Having, probally Akasha's men, be the ones to find Quynh insted of having her escape by herself, changes her whole story. Veronica Ngo's acting is SO good in this short scene. You can almost see Quynh become confused that Andy isn't the one she's staring at. One of the things that also puzzled me about her villain arc was the idea that she blamed Andy for her imprisionment. I felt like if Andy told her that she tried but couldn't find her it would convince Quynh. But having Akasha be the one to find Quynh and then manipulating her into believing Andy abandoned her would make more sense.

Got to love the manipulated manipulating. This is has clearly been filmed during 2022 insted of during the original filming process as Veronica and Matthias look slightly different. The audio doesn't match her mouth so it makes me think it's an overlay. I wonder what she was actually saying but it is probally manipulation.

This helicopter has been in all the promo for this movie so I wonder if this is when Charlize gets on the helicopter or if it's at a different point.

Another bit of evidence that supports Nicky's survival is this scene. If you look behind Joe, you can see the faint outline of Nicky's murder hoodie. So I'm convinced that he makes it to the end. This scene must also take place during the final fight, costume, location, etc.

I am officialy a child of divoce. I'm not sure if this is the first scene Andy and Quynh interact but it's probally the first scene they fight. Love Nile stood in the background like the 🧍emoji. I think she'll try to help but Andy will hold her back. Andy will let Quynh fight her as pennence. I also think Quynh is working for Akasha as a way to get back at Andy and the gang. My theories are she'll either join with the main gang by the end of the movie or she'll become the main villain for the third movie.

Ahhhh this scene confuses me and I can't figure out what it means. The depressed part of my brain thinks that Booker has also lost his immortality and his line "nothing that lives, lives forever" is him cracking a joke at his position. Or, this scene is meant to mislead the audience into thinking he's betrayed them again. Maybe he's working undercover with the villains and then switchs sides at the end of the movie. IDK, I have no theories guys it seems like it's just there to give Booker ANY scenes in this trailer.

OMG this scene make me scream out loud. I love that Nicky has no fear that Joe will catch him and Joe having no doubts about catching him. I think this scene might be a reference to the opening pages of the Force Mutiplied comics where Andy and Nile drive similar cars to the one Nicky is driving to escape the police. I love the retro car Joe is driving and it makes me think that they have been ambushed by Akasha's forces and just had to grab a nearby car, similar to Goussanville. Also, the car explosion early in the trailer!?!?!? I don't think Nicky and Joe die, as they ARE in the finale, but I think it's meant to show the upped stakes of the sequel. And the upped budget.

I have gone after this shot over and over to try and figure out who was stabbed. I know it's not Joe, Nile or Andy. I also don't think it's Nicky or Booker as neither of them wear rings like that. It's most likely Tuah as he's the only 'mortal' character left. I think this would be a truly tragic moment, especially if he is a close person in Andy's life. It would be a moment in the finale to give Andy an extra emotional push for the final fight.

I love the symbolism of Andy "hammering her bloody fists" against the glass almost like she's the one stuck in the iron coffin. I cannot figure out what she's mutters in this shot but it's clearly important. I wonder if the final fight is gonna be a trap as a subversion to the fight in the first movie.

As I was saying before, Uma Thurman's inclusion in this movie is a huge part of marketing given how much this emphasis this fight is given in the trailer. But it also works from a symbolic standpoint. I think Akasha is supposed to represent Andy's previous form, an immortal cynical violent warrior. But unlike Akasha, Andy has grown and become more optimistic and caring. In a sense, Andy is fighting herself. I also notice that Akasha looks tired so I think her power has been removed during this sequence, leaving her on the same level as Andy. I also wonder if she's also lost her immortality and so this will be a fight to the death. I also wonder if Andy will be seriously injured in this fight

Conclusion:

So here are my thoughts on the trailer. Feel free to add anything you noticed in the comments!! I'm so excited guys!!! I'm gonna be insufferable on July 2nd

[slushycoookie]

My Husband Has a Symbiote! Pt. 2

Pt.1 - Pt.2

Relationship: Symbiote! Miguel O'Hara x AFAB! Reader

Word Count: 2.8k

Content: Smut, p in v, vaginal fingering, Miguel gets choked, Reader can't go ten minutes without being railed, MINORS DNI!

Summary: You try to have a serious conversation about the symbiote Miguel has, but it doesn't really work.

A/N: I'm having so much fun with this, don't mind me. Also, you guys really liked the first part, so here's some more!

After the most wonderful sex you had in your life, you had to get a grip.

It couldn't happen again. Having sex with an alien that your husband bonded with. You were still trying to understand why using a symbiote was the best action out of everything else. You all could try the normal way. Without taking extreme measures. Or, in your case, out-of-this-world ones. That's what you decided to do getting up this morning.

You took your time putting on clothes, your legs wobbling as you stood. You smelled the strong scent of coffee while traversing to the kitchen. Only to get a view of your husband's gorgeous back. 

“Good morning.” Miguel handed you a cup of coffee as a peace offering. As you took it, you tried not to get distracted by his hairy chest and arms. Or how his sweatpants hung low around his waist. 

“Good morning.” You smiled against your cup, “Sleep well?”

He nodded, matching your smile. “Did you?”

“Yeah.” Your eyes darted around his form. No clear view of his new symbiote. Unless he put it in a bottle. “Where is it? Or them?”

Miguel rubbed the back of his neck, “They're still here.” Just then, his new best friend appeared. Only its head, sporting your partner's signature blue and red colors. Its smile and tongue gave you flashbacks of how that was on your lower half last night. Taking exceptionally good care of you. You squeezed your thighs again to ignore the arousal.

“Pretty thing.” A weird form of greeting they uttered before disappearing.

“We should definitely talk about that. In-depth.” You settled your cup down.

Miguel did the same, standing beside you. “What's more to talk about? I told you why I got one.”

“And I understood that.” You sighed, “But that can't happen again. We should try like normal people. Go see a doctor, try more sex positions…”

He chuckled, wrapping an arm around your waist and holding you close. “We're not normal people.”

“I know.” You let out a slight laugh, “But I think it's best to-”

“Did you not enjoy last night?” 

Your heartbeat picked up. His eyes were lowered, gazing at you with an emotion you knew all too well. It didn't help that he smelled so good. Hints of ginger mixed with the fresh coffee hugged your senses. Or the way his rugged arms held you up last night while thrusting into you. “I did-”

He stole a kiss. Stopping you from regretting anything that occurred last night. You started making out in the kitchen, absorbed in the bitter coffee taste. Which somehow turned into you getting destroyed from behind. Miguel's symbiote form pressed against your back, body rutting into you. His ginormous hands covered the countertops. Little cracks formed with each thrust he took. You couldn't be upset about the destruction of your kitchen. You didn't want him to stop.

“You deserve to have our children…” That deep voice resonated in the room, causing you to shiver. 

“Don’t say that…” You whimpered, pressing your ass back against him. A territorial growl emitted from behind and he went harder. Pounding into you until you screamed his name.

Everything was a mess. 

The countertops were damaged, coffee spilled on the floor along with the broken pieces from your mugs. And a sticky, warm substance was sliding down your thighs. Miguel’s normal hand reached down and scooped up whatever was coming out. Pushing it back in to make sure it didn't go to waste. All while he kissed your head.

You couldn't even talk to him about the symbiote in the room. Whenever you tried to bring up getting rid of it, somehow you were on your back, side, bent over or on top. Taking your partner's cock like a champ. Getting full of his seed. And at the end of it, feeling completely satisfied. 

You ranted to MJ and Jess when you all went out for lunch at a café. It's been a week of Miguel using you like his own sex toy.

“All I heard is that you've been getting some.” Jess remarked while sipping on her drink. “And you're complaining about it.”

“Because he's distracting me! So I don't tell him to get rid of it!” You buried your face in your hands.

“Well…how big is it?” Mj asked, eyes wide with genuine curiosity. 

You raised a brow as your cheeks turned dark. “I shouldn't tell you that.”

“You look the way you did when you came back from your honeymoon.” Jess noticed your body practically glowing from all the sex you were having. “We gotta know how good it is.”

The table they were sitting at was rectangular in shape. Long enough for you to show them how big Miguel was with his symbiote. Which was almost half of the table. 

“Whoa.” Mj gawked at the description. “And tell me why you're complaining again.”

You rolled your eyes, “Symbiotes are dangerous! I don't want him to get obsessed with it all because of a problem I have.” You turned to Jess, “Shouldn't you be agreeing with me here? Didn't you have a symbiote?”

Jess waved you away, “No, because I'm too smart not to put myself through that.” You purse your lips as the Spider-Woman kept going. “They are dangerous, but only if they don't have a decent relationship with who they're attached to.”

“Yeah, Peter was very different when he had it.” Mj explained, twirling her drink around with a straw. “First he was energized and then snippy. He couldn’t part with it until he had a wake-up call that it was destroying our relationship. It was scary.”

That's what you were worried about. Your partner turning into someone you couldn't recognize. You weren't scared of him but for him.

“You know you can say no, right?” Jess said before getting a mischievous glint in her eye. “But you don't want to. The sex is that good, huh?”

You gasped at her accusation, “You are…absolutely right.” Your friends sympathized with you, “But we need to talk…”

You had to come up with a plan. A way so you could talk without having his cock buried inside you. You decided to visit him at HQ, trying to look as unattractive as possible with a hoodie and sweatpants. Being married to the leader of Spider Society had its perks. One of them was looking into mission distribution. You noticed the teen dream, which you called Miles, Gwen, Pavitr, Hobie, and Margo, going to report to Miguel that day. You couldn't barge in when he spoke to Peter. He'd have Mayday with him, adding more fuel to the fire. Or any reports with Ben because Miguel would get jealous and sex would ensue. A bunch of teens on the other hand was perfect.

You approached the group as they were about to make their way into his lab.

“Hey!” Miles greeted with open arms, “What brings you here?”

“Oh, I need to talk to Miguel about something.” You waved it off, not deeming it as important. 

“Trouble in paradise?” Hobie said with a smirk, causing you to shake your head.

“No, no. It's just about the symbiote. You guys think it's weird, right? That he's using it?”

“Actually,” Gwen took over, “some of our people have had success stories in using it. Like me, for example.”

You stared at the girl, surprised. “What? You had a good relationship with one of those things?”

“Yeah. It's no big deal.” Gwen shrugged it off. The entire time they were slowly making their way inside his lab. Going past his equipment in the darkness.

Pavitr jumped on her back, “She says it's no big deal. Like a boss.”

“That's Gwendy for ya.” Hobie winked at her.

“Guys, it really isn't a big deal. Symbiote relationships can be symbiotic. It depends on the person and who they connect with. It could make them better or worse.” 

Everyone blinked at Gwen's explanation. Your knowledge of her connection with the alien made you pause. Was it possible for Miguel to have a healthy relationship with the thing? Were you stressing yourself out worrying about him?

“Miguel has been getting better lately.” Miles cut in.

“Yeah, at first he was moody, but then he gave me the day off so I could play a new game that came out.” Margo added. “He never lets me take the day off for video games.”

You hummed. Sure, his mood was getting better, but they still had to talk. You didn't want to assume everything was okay until they at least spoke about it.

Inside the lab, the teens gave their report to Miguel. The entire time he stood high on his platform, nodding to everything they were saying. Once in a while, he’d glance at you, a trace of intrigue, like he wanted to talk. Or breed you before getting back to work. You couldn’t relax seeing him in his typical suit. The symbiote was still attached to him, just not present. 

“Good work.” Miguel complimented, “Now, my partner needs to speak to me about something.”

You perked up, shaking your head. “They can stay, it’s not that important-”

“I’d rather they didn’t.” His stare shot through your body. It was hard but yet filled with increasing lust. All you did was walk in the room. 

The teens walked past you, shooting apologizing looks. Hobie’s face was amused, giving a reassuring pat on the back before whispering in your ear. “Don’t rough ‘im up too much.”

Miguel called you to his platform. You made your way across, trying to devise a quick game plan as your current one backfired. You placed yourself on the other side to create as much distance as possible. You heard him command Lyla to lock the lab so no one could get in. You took a deep breath to stabilize your beating heart. 

“Why are you over there?”

You shot him a glare, “You know why.”

“Do I?” Miguel tilted his head in question. A rumbling chuckle filled your body when you tsked. He stood on the other end, not making any moves to get closer. Yet his eyes were trailing down your covered body. Picturing himself peeling every layer off of you. “I like your outfit today.”

You saw him take one step closer and you had to straighten yourself. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” Another step and you cleared your throat. You could see yourself being bent over that console if the conversation kept up like this. 

“Look, we really need to talk about this symbiote.” Miguel hummed, partially listening. As he took another step, you pressed yourself back against the console. Realizing you couldn’t get further back, you raised a harsh pointer finger towards him. “Miguel.”

“I’m listening, preciosa.” He paused, that same look of hunger in his eyes. 

“Are you? Do you see yourself right now?” You watched him take another step. 

Miguel snorted, “Do you see yourself right now? You’re so sexy. I can’t believe I married you.” 

He closed the gap, one hand on the console behind you. You placed your hands on his chest. At first, it was to try to create some distance, but the hardened muscle under your palms made you reconsider. Those same pectorals you've always felt and pressed up against. Your hands had a mind of their own, running along them. The corner of Miguel’s lips curled up in amusement. 

“You still wanna talk?” He picked you up and placed you on the console. His other hand placed against your lower back, pressing your entire body against his chest. Your resolve was dwindling as he gazed at you. “Or do you want to be bred?”

That’s how you ended up the way you were now. Clothes removed, thrown who knows where in his lab. Legs spread while his gigantic finger pumped into and out of you. Miguel’s symbiote form took over, drooling while watching you take him in easily. You whined while clutching his arm. Small sopping sounds fill your ears. 

A gasp escaped your lips when a second digit entered you. Your back arching at the beautiful friction. How his fingers knew where to touch inside. A satisfied growl erupted from Miguel, mouth wide as his tongue glided across your pleasure-fixed face. 

“Pretty thing. So obedient…” His thumb pressed against your clit. Your nails dug into his sticky skin at the additional sensation. Not wanting him to stop for a second as that familiar burning feeling started to rise. It pooled in your stomach before spreading up and over your body. Miguel didn’t care when you screamed for him in his lab, letting all the spiders know he was pleasing his partner. 

You panted, leaning back a little on the console when his fingers were gone. The familiar sight of his large cock came into view, ready to go in. A rush of clarity filled your mind as you stopped him. He gave you a look in question.

“Lemme be on top.”

Miguel grinned, eyes lighting up with intrigue. “Oh? Pretty little thing wants to bounce?” 

Before you could nod in confirmation, he sat down. Back pressed along the console. Goosebumps formed, feeling the cool steel amongst your feet. You licked your lips, watching your partner observe you. Dark blue cock aching to be inside. You hovered over him, stabilizing yourself by touching his shoulders. Before sinking down. 

Each time Miguel’s cock entered you, it was always as if it was the first time. After a couple of thrusts, You always lost your ability to think straight. Only taking what Miguel gave you. This time was going to be different. 

A moan escaped you, getting used to the feeling before raising your hips again. Before slamming back down on him. His eyes lowered at the sight of his partner fucking yourself on his shaft. Even though Miguel took over most of the time during sex, You had your moments of being the one to make him quiver under your touch. While fucking the symbiote, it was still affected by things that made regular Miguel whine. So you went slow, sliding up and down at an antagonizing pace. Even for you. But you needed to get your point across. Miguel’s hands hovered by your hips, ready to have you pick up the pace. Only for you to use one hand to grip his thick throat. 

His eyes went wide at the sudden action, your tiny hand doing your best to choke him out. “Pretty thing wants to get rough?”

“You like it rough.” You quipped back, still rolling your hips on him. Miguel growled at the sensation before latching his hand on his arm.

“We do.”

It happened in an instant, the symbiote tendrils curling around the lower half of your arm, coating it the signature blue. You felt stronger. Enough to grip his neck tighter. You also picked up the pace, bouncing in a way to drive him crazy. If you could see Miguel’s face, you knew his eyes would be rolled back, while his hips thrusted up in unison with your bounces. 

“L-Let me…speak to him…”

“You are.” The symbiote’s chest heaved, almost succumbing to the intoxicating sensation. 

You shook your head, a whimper coming out as you hit a spot that was too good. “No. I wanna…see him…” Miguel’s face appeared, pleasure permeating his dazed face. If there were any other moment, you wouldn’t stop, help him chase his fucked out high. But not right now. You slowed down, earning a cry from Miguel. 

“N-No. Don’t stop, mi amor.” 

“Listen to me first…” Your pace was torture as you sunk down enough to provide pleasure still. In this position, Miguel was susceptible to agree to anything as long as he made sure he released inside you. “We’re gonna have a conversation about this thing.”

“Okay, okay. We will. Now let’s-” A strangled moan escaped him when you squeezed his neck.

“I’m serious, Miguel. If we end up like this again without talking, you’re not coming back home.” You stared right into his eyes, serious while clouded with pleasure. Miguel stared right back, taking in that you meant every word. You didn’t like it had to come to this, but it would put you at ease if you two talked about it. 

He nodded, taking your words to heart. “Okay.”

With that, your pace picked up again. You bounced on his cock with vigor, hand removed from his throat and back to his shoulders. Miguel’s hands were on your hips as he fucked up into you to meet your own. Both were extraordinarily loud in the lab. Neither cared as they went to chase the high together. A mix of grunts and moans spread amongst the atmosphere. 

Then, a comfortable silence took its place.

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

When did people learn that Emilie was sick?

Since season one, we've known that Gabriel's motivation was his wife Emilie. As the show goes on, we learn that Emilie was sick because she used the peacock miraculous, not knowing that it would give her a terminal illness. This raises some pretty obvious questions:

When did Emilie realize that she was sick?

When did Gabriel figure out that she was sick?

How did they figure out that the peacock did it?

When did they realized that the illness was terminal?

I doubt we'll ever get answers to those last two questions, but I thought we knew a rough answer to the first two. Then Werepapas aired and retconed the established timeline, making the progression of Emilie's illness impossible to follow.

Allow me to explain!

Pre Season Six Timeline

Prior to Werepapas, my impression was always that Gabriel, Adrien, and Emilie had a happy life when Adrien was young. Then, at some point, Emilie started showing symptoms of a mysterious illness and everything went south. This impression came from lines like this one in the season three episode Feast:

Adrien: My mom used to have dizzy spells, just like Nathalie. My father said those weren't serious either.

Adrien says this after Nathalie has a dizzy spell around him and it implies that there was a time when Adrien didn't know that his mother was seriously ill. It also implies that he remembers her starting to show symptoms of her illness. After all, dizzy spells are the first sign of the illness. If Emilie had dizzy spells from the time Adrien was born, then he probably wouldn't remember asking if the dizzy spells were a problem. He may not even associate them with his mother's illness. And if he already knew his mom was seriously ill, then there would be no point in lying to him about the dizzy spells.

The season five final actually straight up confirmed this timeline by having Gabriel say that's what happened:

Gabriel: I still remember her smile the day Adrien was born. When I placed him in her arms, for so long, we've been thinking that we would never be able to have a child. Adrien was our little miracle. (voice breaks) Everything was so... perfect, until Emilie became ill.

As he's saying this, memories of those good times flash by. One of those memories sees a young Adrien blowing out five candles on a birthday cake (see below image) pretty clearly establishing Adrien's age unless France doesn't do candles based on age. I tried to find an answer to that, but came up empty.

Assuming candles do in fact equal age, then we're explicitly told that Adrien was at least five before Gabriel knew that Emilie was sick because these are memories of the perfect times that ended when they realized that Emilie was sick. Even if we ignore the number of candles, Adrien is clearly old enough to blow out said candles on his own without needing multiple breaths which I can tell you from experiences doesn't happen until a kid is at least four.

Now let's get into how Werepapas retcons all of that.

Werepapas Flashback One Problems

The first Werepapas flashback shows a young Adrien asking if his father loves him because Gabriel is never around. Emilie reassures Adrien that Gabriel's absence isn't due to a lack of love. Gabriel and Nathalie are only gone because they're looking for a cure to her illness, promising, "One day he'll find [the cure] and I'll get better. Then we'll all stay home together."

As you can see in the following clip, this conversation happened when Adrien was pretty young. He can't be much older than five here:

So, based on this flashback, Adrien basically always knew that his mother was sick and Gabriel was off looking for cures long before Adrien was whatever age he was here. This contradicts the things that were implied in earlier seasons and everything we were straight up told in the season five final.

The only way to make the season five final and Werepapas vaguely fit together is if Emilie rapidly deteriorated out of nowhere shortly after Adrien's fifth birthday but that doesn't match the way Nathalie's condition progressed when she got sick. It was very clearly a steady decline and Nathalie used the peacock multiple times! Emilie's decline should have been just as steady and probably much slower. Gabriel would obviously have been worried during those early stages, but he wouldn't have known that the illness was terminal. Emilie was the first one to catch it and the first to die!

If he did know it was terminal, then how? And if he didn't know that it was terminal, then why did he immediately jump to never being home? That seems like a massive observation. He shouldn't be that desperate untill death is on the line.

There's also the fact that Gabriel wouldn't have started looking for a magical cure until they knew that Emilie had a magical illness and I'm still totally lost on how the hell they figured that out if there were years between her peacock use and her getting sick. They clearly didn't know that the peacock was deadly when she used it and it's pretty insane to go straight from happy family to playing Indian Jones. Shouldn't there be a medical step in the middle that would probably take a year or two? Did Colt contact them and tell them he was sick, letting them realize the source of the problem? And why wasn't Colt involved in finding the cure? He was supposedly a wealthy warmonger with an army of fighters! He'd have resources a fashion mogul wouldn't! Same goes for Kagami's family as I'm assuming someone died to make Kagami, too. Nothing about this backstory/timeline adds up to me.

And if Emilie was ill enough that Gabriel was always off looking for a cure by the time Adrien was around five, then how did she survive for so long after that? And why does Adrien remember her having dizzy spells as her only symptom? CPTSD leading him to form memories at an unusually early age?

This "fix" of Emilie rapidly deteriorating also doesn't fit young Adrien's claim that his father was never around because, if the season five final was accurate, then Gabriel being gone would be new behavior for young Adrien. After all, Gabriel could only start looking for the cure once he knew one was needed which would come after the good times ended and we are explicitly told that the good times lasted for several years.

Flashback Two: Even More Nonsense

The second Werepapas flashback shows a significantly older Adrien greeting Nathalie and Gabriel as they return from yet another mission, letting us know that Gabriel continued to be an absent parent for all of Adrien's childhood. This also makes no sense!

I've often assumed that Gabriel looked for a cure, so I'm not saying that's a bad addition. It fits his character. The problem is the implication that he was always off physically looking for a cure.

Why is that a problem?

Because Gabriel was an incredibly successful, self-made fashion designer who founded his own company after meeting Emilie. How the hell did Gabriel pull off that career path if he was off playing Indiana Jones for all of Adrien's childhood? Fashion houses don't becomes successful overnight! Gabriel the brand would have still been quite young when Adrien was born and fashion designers are incredibly busy people, especially when they're establishing their brand! There's no way the company would have survived if Gabriel and Nathalie weren't around to run the damn thing!

And remember that the search for Emilie's cure came after the search for the peacock to make Adrien meaning that this isn't Gabriel's first time spending years playing Indiana Jones. I assumed the fashion house came after that. Now I just don't believe that the fashion house even exists. When was he supposed to establish it? These things take time!

The only way this would have worked is if Gabriel was the source of the funds, but he made someone else head designer and also handed off CEO responsibilities to a third party. That's clearly not the backstory canon is going with so this just reads as total BS. I can buy Gabriel slacking off for a year or two after the company was well established, but 10+ years while the company was still young? Not happening.

That's not even getting into the issue of what the hell Nathalie and Gabriel were even looking for. Archaeologists don't just run off into the wild hoping they'll find something! They do a ton of research to know where to look and then go looking.

One of the big reasons why I was fine with the idea of Gabriel looking for a cure is that looking for a cure doesn't mean never being home. It means dedicating all your free time to research and occasionally going off to track down a promising lead. You don't actually spend all your time in the field!

Some Final Thoughts

The writers really need to make up their minds on this shit. This is not how you write good characters or lore and I didn't even touch on the whole disappearance vs death BS. The early seasons explicitly said that Emilie disappeared:

Nadja: This was Gabriel Agreste's first public appearance since his wife disappeared. This fashion week is full of surprises and shockers.

And gave an incredibly strong impression that no one had a clue what happened to her which is yet another reason I wasn't sure if Adrien ever knew that his mom was sick! Seeing her in a wheelchair in that flashback was jarring! You're telling me her illness progressed to it's final stages? Really? Really? Look at Emilie in her coffin and Nathalie in the season five final and tell me they have the same illness in the same stage. Just look at these transformations:

[Image description: Nathalie in Origins vs Nathalie in the season five final. Her hair has gone white, her lips have lost color, and her eyes have dark circles.]

[Image description: Amelie who never used the peacock vs Emilie in her coffin. The two women are identical. Same hair color, same lips, no signs of illness.]

Fun fact, I read this post to my partner after I was done writing it and when I got to the line about the wheelchair he had the same "wait what?" reaction I did so I can confirm that even a casual fan was under the impression that Emilie's illness was some subtle thing that no one knew about. I once again have no idea how a little kid is supposed to make sense of this crap. I pity those who have to deal with kids who are obsessed with the show, but also want to understand what's happening because I have no idea how I'd explain this shit outside of baby's first lesson on the existence of bad writing. Not an easy lesson for most five-year-olds to wrap their heads around.

[traincat]

Hi! I was rereading your fics and noticed that in Sticks and Stones you mentioned referencing Claremont's F4 run. Now it's haunting me because I can't find where their origin is brought up 🥲 So sorry if this has already been asked/answered, but perchance do you remember which issue it was 😅 (if not or even so, do you have any other good F4 origin moments?)

No worries, I've got you. It's a little hard to find if you don't know where to look.

This is a flashback from Fantastic Four v3 (1998) #11-12, which recontextualizes the crash and turns it into a horror story for more than just Ben. Claremont is really interesting as a Fantastic Four writer, and he loves thinking through the implications of Johnny's powers. Here, Johnny absorbed the heat from the shuttle crash, but he can't hold onto it and he goes Nova. The only reason he doesn't kill Reed and Sue accidentally is because Ben shields them with his rocky body. It's a really interesting interpretation because it sets up this dynamic between Ben and Johnny where they can fight with each other because they can't really physically hurt each other unless they're really trying. Ben has a degree of protection against Johnny's flames, and Johnny is fast and fiery. Claremont loves Johnny's powers, though, and he puts a ton of thought into what Johnny can and can't do with them. He also writes a very introspective Johnny. He's one of my top writers of all time for Johnny characterization.

(Just don't go into his run expecting the plot to make sense. It won't. But the characters are fun and the interactions are all really charming. He introduces three new female characters who are all great, too.)

In terms of Johnny's relationship to his powers -- specifically a negative relationship, not just the joy we usually see from him -- I also really recommend the Burn! storyline, which encompasses the first six issues of the Human Torch (2003) miniseries. It's kind of an origin story? It starts before Johnny goes to space with the others and then picks up after the crash, when he returns to high school suddenly not the loser weird kid. Fast forward a few years and his old high school enemy looks him up to ask for his help solving a series of mysterious murders involving the victims being burned alive. Fun stuff, really great ruminations on Johnny, his understanding of fire, and the amount of control he has to exert every day.

(Human Torch #3) You're going to have to put up with a lot of very early 2000s art. It's worth it.

Also not really an origin story but useful in understanding Johnny's origins is the Sue and Johnny power swap arc.

(FF #520) To save Sue's life, Reed swaps her powers with Johnny's, but the timing is pretty bad. Galactus takes Johnny as his herald, while Sue struggles with keeping Johnny's powers under control.

But okay, Fantastic Four origin stories, a crash course. This isn't totally comprehensive, just kind of a collection of my favorites and ones I find interesting.

Fantastic Four (1961) #1: The mother of all origin stories. Pretty one and done. We have to beat the commies to the moon! Cosmic rays! Shuttle crash! We've changed in horrible and fantastic ways! The world will never be the same! It's worth reading if you haven't read it before, but it's no Amazing Fantasy #15.

Byrne's retcon: Byrne doesn't particularly do anything interesting regarding the crash, but it's useful to know the changes he did make to the origin, because they were a point of contention for a long time. In Lee and Kirby's run, Sue and Reed are established as next door neighbors and childhood sweethearts. It's all very sweet. Byrne, though, LOVES an age gap with an older man and a younger woman. This is a theme you'll see repeatedly if you follow his work. Byrne retconned things so Reed first met Sue when he was renting a room at her aunt's house when he was in college and Sue was twelve. It's not great, but it does introduce the concept of Sue and Johnny living with their aunt after their father's incarceration. No run previously had ever mentioned such a thing. While the age gap was both immediately retconned out (Simonson did it as soon as he took the reins, establishing Reed and Sue as college friends, but it didn't stick) and eventually retconned out (Fraction retconned it so that Reed did stay at Aunt Marygay's boarding house but that Sue was over eighteen), the boarding house origin stuck. Not much to do with the actual "getting powers" aspect but interesting in terms of where Sue and Johnny were living when they met Reed and Ben.

Fantastic Four Mythos: Now we're cooking. Mythos is a beautifully illustrated oneshot retelling of how the Fantastic Four gained their powers. It's gorgeous, fun, and emotional. It's probably my second favorite origin story after Claremont's take.

Mythos posits that the emotional state the four were in at the time they were cosmically irradiated is responsible for their powers. Sue was trying to hide, Reed was trying to reach her, Ben was shielding Johnny, and all Johnny could think was that it was hot. It's an interesting interpretation. Sidenote, I'm pretty sure the new Fantastic Four movie is drawing inspiration from Mythos, just based on the visuals.

I love him so much. Idiot baby.

Fantastic Four: First Family: Oh boy where to go with this one. I don't dislike it, and I think it explores the origin in a much more realistic way, but I wouldn't say it's my favorite. First Family is a miniseries that takes a more grounded approach to the origin story. After the crash, the four are imprisoned on a military base as they adjust to their powers.

I think there's a lot of interesting ideas in this version, but I wouldn't really recommend it to any new readers as an origin story. I think it's more of an interesting way to examine things after you're already basically familiar with the FF's early days if you want to see a more grounded take on the origin.

Fantastic Four: Season One: Another miniseries retelling the origins. Is it good? Not particularly. Is it shiny? Yes. Does aged up Johnny work as a pinup model before the accident? Also yes.

It's giving the Chris Pine leather pants desert photoshoot. Again, not my first pick for an origin story by far, but if you want to read some mildly campy nonsense, you could do worse. If you don't want to read it, which is like, probably the smarter idea, please note that Johnny registered the domain name hottieonfire.com and that he's obsessed with the whale from the American Museum of Natural History. Samesies.

Ultimate Fantastic Four #1-5: This feels like the equivalent of going "want to make some bad decisions." Ultimate FF is NOT good. I know I've said that a hundred times. I've also read it a hundred times so who's the idiot now. I do think the origin is an interesting take on things, though, and like First Family it's more grounded in the exploitation of the Fantastic Four by the military. So not good, wouldn't recommend it as baby's first Fantastic Four origin, but not completely not worth reading.

Origin stories I don't recommend:

Fantastic Four v2 (1996): This is when the FF got bubble universed. It's basically a retelling of the early days that doesn't add anything new or interesting.

Fantastic Four: Life Story: Life Story was an interesting experiment. The idea was to have a six issue miniseries where each issue took place during a specific decade -- issue #1 would be the 60s, #2 would be the 70s, etc -- moving the characters through those decades aging in real time and dealing with both the major storylines of those decades as well as the real world events that were happening. Like I said, interesting experiment. The actual comics, though, and I'm counting the Spider-Man one here too, were bad. Like so bad. I'm going to give you the only thing of note in it here and then you don't have to read it. (Don't let this fool you into thinking the rest of the comic is progressive in any way; the writer decided Jewish Ben should say pork was "the food of the Gods" and also that Romani Dr. Doom should put people in concentration camps. Whole yikes.)

(FF Life Story #2) That figure sitting in bed with Johnny sure looks like a guy. Interestingly, for your value of interesting, "perpetual bachelor" Johnny dies in 1986 in issue #4, and issue #5 immediately opens with T'Challa creating a cure for AIDS. Take that one as you will.

One final kind of a rec. This isn't really an origin story for the Fantastic Four as characters, but rather a retrospective meta take on the creation of the Fantastic Four as a series. Fantastic Four: Unstable Molecules is an Eisner winning miniseries dedicated to the fictionalized "real people" who inspired the Fantastic Four, positing that one night at a dinner party on Long Island, two comic book creators encountered a family fight so epic it inspired them to create a comic book. Deeply introspective, it's take on Johnny and the Mole Man (yes really) really shines.

(Unstable Molecules #3) Sorry to turn this into a "Johnny is flaming" discussion once again. It just kind of comes up naturally when you look at his origin stories.

[zalrb]

As a Nick & June shipper myself, I want to ask you, what do you think June has done for Nick? We saw him time and time again risk EVERYTHING for her, and sometimes it feels like she decides to interact with him only when she requires his help. Example the most recent episode to save Luke and Moira knowing it hurts Nick.

OK, I write as I think so bear with me, this might be all over the place but I actually find this entire issue really interesting because what I think June does for Nick is love him and know him and see him and want him for him and not for any other purpose, and what is often a characterization of their relationship and her dynamic with him is the opposite of what I just said i.e. she uses him when she needs something while he risks everything for her.

So, I'm going to try to explain my thinking.

1. As I mentioned in my "unconditional love" post about them, I think something that gets lost about their dynamic is that I would say that throughout the series as a whole, most of the time, June doesn't know Nick is helping her until she just knows

which is why it's almost always a reveal

2x01

4x02

4x03

I also have a whole breakdown of her 3x03 "what are you good for?"

Once she's in Toronto, it's not as if she can just pick up the phone and call him just to call him or just to see him, he's a Commander in Gilead with a wife and a child on the way and she's Gilead's Public Enemy Number 1. If she calls him it's because she needs to call him. In 4x09, she's not even the one who has the idea to reach out to him, Luke is

in 6x03 it's made clear that he's a last resort because Tuello can't help, Mayday can't help, he's the one who can help.

So I kind of just feel like with circumstances, when else logically are they going to see each other unless she needs his help with something or he leaves Gilead, that's just the reality of where their lives are at right now, which is why they have their Scandal-esque Vermont theme (iykyk) with Hawaii or running away together or the world going away

but when they do see each other or speak to each other, she loves him, she actively loves him

they even crack jokes like they used to.

So, establishing my feelings about when June and Nick see each other, and her using him, let's talk about June loving Nick for Nick.

A few years ago, an anon asked what I thought was the difference between Serena and Nick and I spoke about the manipulation of Nick in the 1x08 flashback:

I, then, go on to say that this is why Nick is wary of the Swiss in 3x06

because whenever someone takes an interest in Nick or deigns to care about Nick, it's not real. They don't see Nick, they see an instrument, they see a tool for something bigger and terrible but June cares, she legitimately cares

he matters to her even when he doesn't admit it to himself

she sees him and she sees him even when he's not there, she sees him to other people:

I've spoken about this before but I find June's message to Luke in 3x05 to be one of the most romantic Osblaine moments for various reasons but one of them being that June tells him that he met Nick and her telling Luke that they met indicates to Luke that Nick told June about their meeting, which I feel is June telling Luke that Nick's the type of man to do that, i.e. he's a good man.

And what I think we can talk about more is how there are times where Nick will try to keep distance or give space or just be there for her without any expectations and simply be a crutch but June draws him close

which we actually see in 6x03, he said his piece about how he risks everything for her, and how she chose Luke, about how he loses her again and again, and then he expects that to be it

but she doesn't let him,

she responds to what he says by loving him i.e. they're not going to say goodbye, because they can never say goodbye, because they love each other, which is why I love the ending shot -- sure Nick will always be there

but June will always look behind

Nick is always there but June is also always there.

So, what she does for him is love him unconditionally, it's just very messy and very complicated.

[conundrumoftime]

One of my perpetual annoyances in SF/F film and tv is how often it replicates a broader cultural sexism of women not really being people any more when over 30/married/mothers. Embrace your natural narrative endpoint you are now a support role.

Writers/showrunners have such a blind spot around this. "But some women want to be mothers?" and "what's wrong with settling down with someone she loves?", as if the problem is her choosing those things rather than the assumptions at play behind what happens to women when they do.

It's probably easiest to explain this w/ examples of sci-fi that doesn't do it. Naomi Nagata in The Expanse (books & tv) gets a storyline about motherhood which is about her backstory, motivations, skills, & connections to political ideologies; it adds to her character rather than concluding it. She doesn't disappear when the existence of her son is revealed.

"Walking away is the only choice anyone ever has."

Chrisjen Avasarala is married, a mother, and a grandmother, and all of these things are important to her but none of them are her personality

"No-one starts a war unless I say they can."

By contrast: my much-adored Babylon 5 gives Delenn four seasons of active and fascinating storylines about things like devotion and belonging and guilt over starting wars... and then in s5 after she gets married, the narrative doesn't seem to know what to do with her and her one storyline like that begins with her sneaking out of her husband's bed.

"It pleases me that you care for what I have become. But never forget who I was, what I am, and what I can do."

It's not infidelity but ends up feeling like it - she's meeting someone she's very close to who's in love with her, says "we need to be discreet", strokes his face, and they talk about how her husband can't know about this meeting and whether he knows her "as well as he should." I don't think this is meant as shipper bait (although much appreciated for those of us who do ship that); I think it's an unintentional consequence of female characters getting so often written as either "has own storyline" or "is married now" as if they're mutually opposed, that if she's doing the first it's somehow at the expense of the second.

As for Star Wars and its legions of dead mothers and whatever they were going for with Bix in Andor... sigh.

But! I'll give JJ Abrams of all people credit for inverting this sort of thing in his pre-Star Wars days: Season 1 of Alias sets up Sydney Bristow's dead mother in soft-focus domestic dreamy flashbacks for ages before you find out that she's a) an undercover enemy intelligence agent b) still alive and c) baaaaaack, dun-dun-DUN...

Anyway this is why I worry about SF/F doing storylines in which someone gets into a committed relationship or has a baby despite really enjoying stories about established relationships and motherhood, because it's not in general that these shows can't do this well - they can absolutely write good female characters and often do! - it's that they'll think they are writing this in a really great way while, once again, like so many before them, proving incapable of fitting a whole woman in their heads.

(This was a Bsky thread from last month inspired by Andor and Doctor Who, which I want to expand on in more detail at some point when I have time but i’m throwing it here as-is for now so i can find it if/when ‘some point when I have time’ ever arrives.)

[nabi-unveiled]

As I tried to write up the meta about "why" the writing has problems in Secret Relationships, I found myself too often writing "unless XYZ" happens. After all, we know there will be many reveals and outright surprises in the next two days. The format/narrative structure of the show demands it. I decided to leave those points off the table for now. I'll give a more detailed analysis after all of the reveals are out.

To be clear - I'm here for this messy show. I don't waste my time writing about shows I'm not enjoying. I've bought popcorn kernels so I can make the good stuff this week (that's rosemary infused popcorn for me), and I'll just ride along in the insanity.

Because I now have a notebook filled with timelines, venn diagrams, character breakdowns, etc., but I couldn't predict a single thing that might happen moving forward. I don't trust the writing and it's a makjang after all. I told someone in a DM that this show is like riding one of those high thrill amusement park rides that takes place in the dark.

The framework is so open currently that you could build just about anything on it. It's also those very problems that have prompted so many discussions about this show. If it had clean writing would we be discussing whether Da-on was a doormat? Debating whether Sung-hyun had good intentions or not? Creating head canons on what went down in the past? Probably not.

But as we approach these final two episodes, I'll leave you with just the thoughts I know to be true.

There are too many critical scenes/pieces of information from the backstory that we don't have yet that are actually required for certain parts of the narrative to be complete (without writing head canon). At the rate this show gives information, we will NOT get all of them. The question is just - which pieces do we get?

The writing is inconsistent. There is more than one example of when the writing either directly contradicted itself or did something that there's no good explanation for at the moment (without head canon). I'm not talking about any of the reveals, attempts at partial viewpoints, parallels, etc. I'm talking about the basic moments (like bar scenes, delivering the congee, etc.). When you can't nail the basics, then it makes it harder to trust the show's writing for the hard stuff.

The lack of true character building is a problem (for some of us) in interpreting the dialogue. We don't really have a good grasp of our character's motivations. The show tells us certain things, but it's been left up to us to write meaning into it. It's why there are so many very different, incompatible interpretations of these characters. It's why people are going to war over certain characters. Essentially, each of us is writing fanfiction in our head to make it make sense. For many people, that's probably not an issue. For some of us, it is.

I'm very comfortable with layering & parallels, partial viewpoints, reversals & reframing, flashback reveals, etc. Most of my favorite shows use those narrative tools. This show is pulling from that toolbox, but you could argue that it's not consistently using the tools correctly. That really depends though on what's to come in the next two episodes. Anyone want to place bets? That's the part of my analysis that has to wait until everything is revealed.

I should also clarify - saying "It's Jae-min's fault" or "Su-hyeon is violent" is not a good enough explanation for me for why things have happened or how characters (like Da-on) have reached this point. That's a multiple choice answer. I'm obviously an essay kind of gal. I get the gist, but I want MORE.

With that in mind, I'll leave you two examples of why/how the writing is causing problems.

Da-on is an enigma. It's purposeful, but it hurts our understanding of him.

At one point, I had described Da-on as someone who lets things happen to him. But if you watch, he takes action pretty frequently. We're just not privy to his thoughts. To be clear - he HAS them. We just don't know what they are. The story is really told from the viewpoint of our suitors in a lot of ways. @incandescentflower described Da-on as "a reaction emoji" and that's more accurate than you might initially think.

Take the "running to the apartment" scene in episode 3.

We know what Sung-hyun is thinking here.

We know what Su-hyeon is thinking.

We know what Jae-min is thinking.

But we don't have a CLUE what Da-on is thinking.

He's on his phone. He's looking at ..... ? He's been dropped off, but he has no idea that anyone is coming. A simple reveal at any point of what he was looking at on his phone (even if it's meaning was obscured in that moment) would give us insight to his thoughts. It could have built meaning into later dialogue or actions. But it didn't. Just like we don't really know what Da-on was thinking when he tied Sung-hyun's tie, why he agreed to go to the movies, etc. We know what Sung-hyun is thinking in those moments. We normally know what Su-hyeon and Jae-min are thinking too (in the modern timeline, the past not so much). But there are numerous moments in this show where Da-on makes a move, and we really don't know why he makes that move or what's he thinking. We just see the move itself. (There are a few exceptions to this statement.)

I actually think it's purposeful. The show wants the cathartic release of big moments where you get Da-on's thoughts. Da-on's "I'm embarrassed" is actually an example where they did "the moment" fairly well. But most of these moments have not been as direct or executed as cleanly ("I shouldn't have said it", "this is who I really am", "it feels like I'm looking at myself"). It's every viewer left to their own interpretation (for now), and y'all have been delivering that in spades. I've loved reading it. Bring me ALL the thoughts 🧐. For myself, I've written a lot of head canon in the past few weeks. 😂

2. Sung-hyun is divisive. But I don't think the show meant him to be.

I've said before - I truly believe Sung-hyun is meant to be a straightforward white knight. It's not an uncommon archetype in makjangs. Everything in the lighting (which this show does play with), framing, parallels, and even certain narrative cues tells you that. The next two episodes could prove me wrong, but it seems he's been cast as the "good guy" operating without secrets and in the open. I'd even argue that he's meant to be better than Da-on.

But he makes a lot of people uncomfortable.

After all, he overzealously buys all of the things for his crush.

He pushes his way into his crushes' life.

He kisses someone when they're drunk.

He's very physical (towards someone who is ALSO physical).

And he may ask, but he doesn't wait for verbal consent to be given before making his move.

Hold up.

Were we talking about Faifa from Perfect 10 Liners?

He does all of those things too.

But no one (that I've seen) doubts Faifa's intentions or his character. There's no hate train on Faifa. Because we KNOW him, and we understand Wine. We know how Faifa is outside of this relationship. We have a clear grasp of both Faifa's motivations and Wine's reaction to his actions. Wine is clearly ok with Faifa's moves.

But Sung-hyun is doing more than that. He's clearly manipulating Da-on into things like wearing matching clothes. Right?

Let me raise you either version of Cherry Magic. There are secret matching clothes shenanigans in those too. We don't question intentions in either version of that show either. Because it's SUBTLE and we again clearly understand motivations and reactions.

So it's not JUST the base version of Sung-hyun's actions that are making some people uncomfortable or causing this flurry of questioning. It's the writing causing chaos.

The show is trying so hard to show Sung-hyun as a man that doesn't hide things and does things in the open, that many of these become "public" proclamations and exaggerated. For some of these actions, I even wonder if it's supposed to be comedic and didn't come across as such. After all, Sung-hyun is clearly living in a romantic comedy while the others are in a thriller.

So why do I think some people are uncomfortable with Sung-hyun?

Because what is "seen" is that Da-on is uncomfortable and it feels like pressure.

Because Da-on doesn't understand Sung-hyun's actions either (which is fair - with his love experience, who would?).

Because even though all of the signs are there that he's feeling Sung-hyun and he likes him (a lot),

The ratio of those moments where Da-on lets himself "enjoy" Sung-hyun's company vs. feel uncomfortable by his actions is a bit skewed.

And because yet again - we aren't privy to most of Da-on's thoughts.

Some people will focus on the earnest "white knight" moments and the numerous moments that Da-on does show he enjoys Sung-hyun's company. After all, Da-on is clearly coping with trauma.

For other people, they will focus on Da-on's frequent discomfort and the pushiness of Sung-hyun's dialogue. Because after all, Da-on is clearly dealing with trauma.

Then there's the third group - which includes myself - who can't decide what I want to think about Sung-hyun. I'm as confused as Da-on seems to be half the time. After all, what the first group saw as earnest, the second group saw as pushy. I think it's both? My feelings vary by episode.

At this point, I don't actually know that it matters to me whether Sung-hyun's a good white knight or not. In my mind Da-on needs to choose himself, because the man is clearly working through trauma. (Note: This doesn't always preclude a relationship. I just think Da-on needs time to be independent.)

When characters get this muddled, it's almost certainly because of the writing/script. The question this time is....is it intentional? or is it not? We won't know until all is revealed.

Anyways, let's get the popcorn popping. There's insanity to be enjoyed. Let the thrill ride commence.

[thebroccolination]

THE GREAT CRYING LORE OF 2018 AND WHY IT CONNECTS TO "THE EX-MORNING"

There's a bit of lore underlying a scene in KristSingto's 2018 "Our Skyy" episode that we fans have been using to torture each other for years while we waited for a new series to be announced. I bring it back today in the hopes that I can torture indoctrinate share with unsuspecting new people. \:D/

It's about this scene:

If you haven't seen everything preceding it, I'll do a quick recap for you:

"SOTUS" is the story of first-year Kongphob who makes it his purpose in life to be the persistent thorn in third-year head hazer Arthit's side. It's a brilliant slowburn romance that leads neatly into the sequel, "SOTUS S," which follows Arthit's transition from Openly Queer University Student to Closeted Real World Employee and shows how his fear of bigotry affects his relationship with Kongphob, who's still in the safety of school. Their last installment in the "Our Skyy" episode focuses on Arthit struggling with Kongphob's impending departure to Beijing where he'll be studying for the next two years.

In the lead-up to the infamous scene above, Arthit has spent hours doomscrolling forums about long-distance relationships after secretly breaking down into tears twice because he's not coping well with the looming separation. He's doing this, by the way, in a park overlooking the bridge where he and Kongphob had their first kiss. He's doing this, I presume, for optimal self-harm.

Let's watch the scene together, shaaaall we?

That hurt, huh! \:D/

First of all, and I just like to say this to cause unnecessary pain, but I'm pretty sure Kongphob was building up to a proposal before Arthit succumbed to his anxiety spiral, pulled out a trident, and lanced him through the heart with it.

But anyway, I'm not here to talk about the characters. I'm here to talk about the crying.

Because apparently, Krist wasn't supposed to start crying here:

Disclaimer: I can't find the source for this lore, but I've checked in with other Peraya who also remember it from somewhere, so either we're all sharing in a very specific mass hallucination or it's real.

Krist has said in the past that he draws on personal experience when he acts. Some characters, like Arthit, are easier for him to portray because he can align some aspect of himself with the character. Kawi, famously, was one of his biggest challenges because he couldn't wrap his head around a character who avoids communicating when he needs to.

Normally to make himself cry, Krist said he usually thinks of family or other people he loves, but for this scene, he thought specifically of Singto leaving him to study abroad.

Before Singto officially left GMMTV to go freelance in 2022, he'd always talked about going overseas to attend film school. I don't have any source for this, but since their "Our Skyy" episode wasn't based on anything, it's possible they based the script for this episode on Singto's real-life plans to study abroad and applied them to Kongphob's canon desire to study economics in graduate school.

So when they filmed this scene, Krist started crying much earlier than Arthit was meant to, and they just kind of had to roll with it. He was too overwhelmed by the thought of Singto leaving, it just overflowed.

So now that you know The Lore, have a watch of that scene again. That's Krist thinking about Singto leaving him someday.

Why do I bring this up, you're wondering?

WELL.

"The Ex-Morning" is an exes-to-lovers series, right? And unless it's been altered in the revisions for some reason, the premise is that Tamtawan (Singto) broke up with Pathapi (Krist) in university and then moved overseas, only coming back years later to help Pathapi patch up his reputation as a reporter.

We know flashbacks were filmed, and there's a scene in the pilot teaser where we see Tamtawan end things with Pathapi, so I'm pretty sure that's going to be in the full series.

And I think it was filmed waaay back in Q6, because one of the crew is seen crying while filming.

Since Krist made himself cry in "Our Skyy" with the thought of Singto someday leaving him, I'm willing to bet every limb I have as well as one of my chocolate Easter eggs that he used Singto's actual leaving to make himself cry this time.

And seeing how well he did in "Our Skyy," I can see why drawing on experience would make even the crew cry.

Oh, and just to twist the knife, after Singto officially left GMMTV, the pandemic and his father's health interfered with his plans, so he didn't end up going overseas. Krist, who'd understood and supported him going, saw him Not Going Anywhere and convinced himself that Singto had just used that as an excuse to get away from working with him. They talked about it when Singto first came back, and while Krist was smiling and laughing during the interview itself, Singto said he had to talk Krist down from sobbing over the phone for a Very Long Time to convince him.

He might have supported Singto leaving to pursue his dream, but from the way Krist's described it, he missed Singto every day he wasn't by his side.

Basically, I think this series is a form of therapy.

Get ready to cry along, y'all. \:D/

[thistlerock]

Hmmm okay I sat on it for half a day and have decided that the things I DONT like abt fantasy high webtoon so far aren't just me being a bitter fan of the og highly critical of an adaptation. It's still a little bit that though, so take this with a grain of salt.

- I have no problem with Riz being the main focus so far (I do think it makes a continuous plot easier to follow) but I really do hope we get more on the others. And I REALLY hope that the girls get actual attention on their backgrounds and characters? Idk, Gorgug and Fabian didn't get as much as Riz either but they got way more than the girls, especially Fig, and I will always be a little annoyed when male characters get more attention in action and/or fantasy stories. This is my biggest issue and the only one that I genuinely think could turn into an "okay no this is where the adaption is bad". Like, I'm gonna assume they either get flashbacks or new moments in the next few chapters (again I only read the free ones so far) but still. Arghfj.

- Kristen coins their party name by telling Daybreak she wants to hang with the Bad Kids. Since they'll all end up in detention eventually I'm sure we'll still get there and I'm not completely opposed to change but that is a pretty iconic line to leave out. I think if they get the name by someone else referring to them as such or if Kristen says it later that still works but y'know.

- I understand that a comic has to spoon feed the reader lore because Brennan can't just do it, lmao, but it does feel slightly out of character for the Riz we know to need explanations on how Agueford operates. Like, he would have done extensive research on it. This is very much an alternate universe/parallel timeline with minor differences situation and in this version Penny's only been missing for a week so he had less time to do research, yeah, but still. I don't think this is an inherent flaw and I do expect these Bad Kids to be slightly different than their counterparts, but yeah that bothered me a little bit.

- Riz's whole deal visually. I both love it because he's so cute and it's working on me exactly as intended and I'm also kinda mad that it's working. And I'm kind of mad at the fact it's a thing. He's a creature, he's a gross little guy. Yes the fanon portrayals of him are way more creature-ish than canon ones, but he is NOT cute even in canon. Look at his freshman year art and then look at this guy, insane difference. I get why they did that. And it works. It works SO well. Penelope's reaction to him suddenly makes perfect sense to me. This makes me so conflicted lmao. I understand that this an alternate version of him and not SUPPOSED to be the exact same but I don't think I'm gonna get over it, which is fine. Doesn't mean I'm not collecting screenshots of cute Riz. He really is squishable.

- Unless I misunderstood Fabian wasn't present when Ragh threw Riz! How will he The Ball him now? It's pretty easy to establish it either way (other people could call him that, especially on the Bloodrush team which Fabian will presumably try out for) but if it ends up not being Fabian that fully establishes Riz as The Ball (because let's be real, regardless of how persistent Ragh is, if Fabian didn't repeatedly call him that it would not have become his thing.) then I genuinely think that takes away from why their dynamic is fun! I am waiting with baited breath

- this is a minor thing but I wish Kristen wore shorts,,,like short overalls,,,,,,I FULLY understand why they didn't put her in tie dye I wouldn't wish repeatedly drawing that upon my worst enemy, and the corn coding IS pretty fun, and they DID keep her awful sandals. But shorts,,,,,my girl needs shorts for her summer camp fit,,,,

I do still find the webtoon enjoyable so far. I think liking adaptations of media you love is actually really hard because it'll almost never do it "right", but you kinda have to distance them from each other and go "okay this is the thing I like but from a different angle and that's okay, and I might be bothered by a lot of changes but that doesn't inherently make it bad". (Extreme example of this for me is death note. As an adaptation of the anime/manga the live action movie sucked ass, if you forget all about that it's a pretty good movie?? Obviously in the case of fantasy high the two are a LOT closer and this isn't a good comparison, but death note has taught me to at least try to view adaptations positively even if my first instinct is to be upset.) Idk, if they're the exact same then what's the point of adapting it.

So far I think it's a competent work, if flawed in some ways; the art is cute and some of the jokes (even the new ones) made me chuckle. The first 3 chapters were nice, I think this can be a fun thing to relive freshman year through and if it brings in even one fan that doesn't wanna watch two hour recordings of people sitting at a table rolling dice (fair) then that's really great! I'm curious to see the rest, but if they continue like this and give the girls their spotlight then I think it'll be pretty cool even if I'll always prefer the original

[l-in-the-light]

Through the Looking Glass, and What Luffy&Katakuri Found There (2/2)

Part 2 of my analysis of Luffy and Katakuri's similarities, done on request from @mewiyev. Part one is here, in case you're interested: https://www.tumblr.com/l-in-the-light/763628387804856320 (you can read it in any order you want, but part 1 is meant to be the first chronologically).

To continue from where we left off, to understand Katakuri and his vow and what kind of a person he actually is, we need to do things in reverse. By starting with analyzing his talk with Brulee and his flashback.

Brulee removes the hat from Katakuri's face like it's not a big deal, despite what she just said. And of course she does, because she prefers him when he isn't hiding how he looks.

She seems genuinely more curious than disappointed. Also she came back here because she was worried about him, brought first aid with her as well.

Katakuri on the other hand finally says something he has been keeping a secret from everyone.

Seeing from his reaction, he also kept it a secret from Brulee as well. This is the first time he realizes she already knew. She's also so happy that he's sharing it with her, that *she* doesn't have to pretend not to know as well.

Brulee thinks Katakuri did it for all of them and she's very touched by that. We learn that Katakuri, long time ago, didn't care to make friends, he wouldn't put on appearances or get along with people who make fun of him. He just wanted to be himself, inside and outside, completely transparent. He would always beat up people who made fun of him too.

And then he learned actions come with consequences. "It was my fault it happened to Brulee".

And this is his resolve as the result of it. "I was too soft, too naive!". He decided to be perfect from now on, show no weakness. But let's stop here for a moment. Because how exactly "showing no weakness" or "being perfect" is gonna help prevent similar situations from happening? We can't really reach any conclusion here, unless we go back and ask the question Katakuri himself asked as well: "Why did they go after his sister?"

The answer to that is, surprisingly enough, revealed if we compare Katakuri's flashback to Luffy's. After all, just like accident with Brulee shaped Katakuri, the same way accident with Shanks losing his arm shaped Luffy. There's a clear parallel here so let's look deeper into it.

How did it happen in Luffy's case? Oh, right. Luffy was the one who started the fight with the bandits, because they were talking bad stuff about his friend (Shanks) and he stood up for him. Mountain bandits were just drinking, minding their own business and talking trash about the thing with Shanks that happened the other day. Luffy, who looked up to Shanks, but also just really loved him, couldn't just sit and ignore what he heard.

We're led to believe that the bullies "got revenge" on Brulee, but Katakuri is taken aback. That clearly never happened before. Let's look at what Brulee said after that "Don't worry, it doesn't hurt. If you ask me, you're fine the way you are". No one asked anything about that, why did she say that? We should ask this question and draw a parallel to Luffy. What actually happened was probably Brulee overhearing the kids trashtalking her brother, she told them to take it back, said that Katakuri is fine the way he is and demanded that they apologize to him. Which the kids wouldn't do and some struggle happened, Brulee probably tried to force them to follow her, the situation escalated fast and someone took out a weapon and she got hurt.

She doesn't want Katakuri to know that she got hurt while defending her beloved brother. She didn't want him to worry or blame himself, because she knew Katakuri is actually a gentle kid. So she instead blamed it on the kids, Katakuri can get his revenge and everything will be fine, was probably her reasoning here. But she didn't realize Katakuri figured out the truth. He realized that his attitude of "I don't care what others say about me, I will just beat them up" was naive. That's because he thought it only concerns him. He didn't think it could also affect people he actually cares about. Not only because of the potential revenge, but them trying to defend him as well.

In world of One Piece (but often in our world as well), when you love someone you don't want to hear others say trash about them, you know you need to defend them, take their side. By doing that, you can often endanger yourself to violent situations like this. The only way to prevent this from happening is to reduce reasons for others to try picking fights with you, so people are too scared to badmouth you, and also eliminate all possible reasons why they would make fun of you (in Katakuri's case: covering his face serves that purpose. If they can't see his mouth or witness him eating, they can't laugh. And as the consequence no one needs to defend him and get hurt in the process!).

The same can be said for Luffy, btw. Luffy understands why Katakuri hides his face and what he's trying to protect by doing that. And he approves. Because Luffy is the same. When Shanks saved Luffy, Luffy also blamed himself, just like Katakuri did. Katakuri decided to hide his true nature as the result, from everyone. Never showing his weaknesses, vulnerability, not even his own emotions (enjoyment of eating, for example). Luffy also vowed to himself that he won't show weakness again, won't ask anyone for help, basically won't make the same mistake he did before.

Except it happened again and that wound is still quite fresh in Luffy's mind. In Dressrosa Law, Luffy's dear friend, almost lost an arm because of Luffy's actions. The result wasn't that drastic, because they could still restore Law's arm, but it defnitely gave Luffy quite a scare. Who knows what answer would Luffy reach if he didn't meet Katakuri? What kind of vow would he make to himself to make sure nothing like that ever happens again?

Maybe the very same vow Katakuri once made. "Show no weakness. Make them fear my perfection!" so that no one has to risk their wellbeing for Luffy ever again. Seems Luffy reached a different conclusion in the end and even convinced Katakuri that This Is Not The Way. Do what you have to do to make sure things don't become like that again, but don't close yourself up to the people who are actually dear to you. Everyone deserves a safe haven. First thing Katakuri did after the fight was to tell Brulee the truth (and probably only to her).

You can’t change the past, but you might learn something from it, says Alice from Through the Looking Glass.

The only way to achieve the impossible is to believe it is possible. Is another lesson Luffy relearned in WCI.

And Luffy rediscovered the old truth: there are some things he can't do (like cooking, navigation, fighting with swords etc.), but there is one thing he can do: beating up the biggest threats and fighting seriously. Luffy started the arc and went through it trying to do things in different ways than usually, but only realized that he still sucks at them and can't do them no matter how he tries. (I wrote more about that in this post: https://www.tumblr.com/l-in-the-light/762470814037819392, you don't have to read other posts in the series to read that one).

By the end of the arc Luffy accepts again that he has to rely on others. It feels like nothing really changed after Whole Cake Island, Luffy is still the old Luffy. But sometimes reaffirming who we are is as important as making big changes and decisions. Luffy faces a lot of anxieties about growing up in this arc, just like Alice from Through the Looking Glass does. Both of them start to understand the rules of the "adult" world, are confused by them and proceed blindly through as they learn by making mistakes. And both of them walk out of this experience without dramatically changing themselves. The change will come inevitably either way, no one can avoid growing up, all they can do is to watch it do it's thing in due time, while trying to stay themselves.

Nothing happened, but at the same time, so much happened. Not many are strong enough to keep on being themselves despite hitting the magical adulthood's treshold, right? We try to adjust ourselves to fit other people, like Katakuri did his whole life. He became a people pleaser, thinking that keeping appearances is more important than who he actually is. But he actually doesn't have to be perfect, he can allow himself to fall flat on his back, and it won't mean he broke his vow to protect his siblings. He will still hide his face though to prevent people who care for him from getting hurt for his sake. But he realized that he can prevent it without hiding himself from everyone. He will for sure no longer try to hide from Brulee. She's his new safe haven, where he can act openly like himself, he doesn't need to be perfect for her. I wonder if Luffy will eventually find his safe haven too? Because we all know not all Luffy's smiles are genuine, often he smiles just to make others stop worrying.

Let's go back to Brulee for a moment. She is kinda coded to be Katakuri's most important person, according to my own theory of pirates and their treasures. They both have matching marks on their faces, Katakuri has his mouth ripped from ear to ear, Brulee's scar literally rips her face in half. He hides his mark, Brulee wears hers proudly without trying to hide it, like she is fond of it. And of course she would be, if she earned it defending her most favourite brother in the world, right? One Piece Red shows us beautifully who is her most beloved person, when Nami lures her out of the mirror by saying "you will be stuck here forever if you won't help us, and you will never see your family again!" and Brulee appears, crying "Even my older brother Katakuri??" and upon getting affirmation Brulee decides to help them.

Actually, seeing Whole Cake Island through the lens of this theory significantly changes motivations of Brulee and Katakuri, so let's take a closer look, shall we?

The very moment it's revealed that Brulee was made into unwilling accomplice, Katakuri declares that "there's no way to stop things" anymore. He won't let it slide, after all. He can't let it slide, even. He's the perfect brother meant to protect everyone.

"I'm the victim here, brother!". Big Mom wouldn't care for that excuse. Many times through the arc other characters and Brulee herself mentioned that if Big Mom finds out, Brulee will end up dead. That's why Opera lied (which ended up working in Luffy's advantage too), to save himself from punishment. The said punishment is clearly hinted to be most likely death.

This puts Katakuri in a tough spot. He should punish Brulee or allow others to do it. What he does instead though, is keeping her close to himself at all times.

He takes her to the Sunny with him, he fights Luffy in the mirror world, and I think it's all because he wants to keep an eye so that no one tries to execute punishment on her. He's also making sure it looks like she's making amends for her blunder, which might or might not help. The bottom line here is: he's protecting her by bringing her with him everywhere.

Also that motivation he shares here? "Strawhat Luffy needs to be snuffed out now"? A big fat lie. You can see that Katakuri's eyes are shaded (in One Piece that often means that a character isn't completely honest!). His true motivation is getting revenge on Luffy for manhandling his sister. That's why he waits on Sunny for Luffy to arrive, that's why he tells others to retreat. This fight is personal for Katakuri, it's payback. Would he do the same for any other sibling? Maybe yes, maybe not, but I think Brulee is Katakuri's most beloved person in the world and he would do just about anything for her.

But, you might say, Katakuri cares for all the siblings, he's the perfect brother! Yes, he does. But that doesn't mean he can't have one special sibling he cares about the most, right?

Both Katakuri and Brulee care for their family a lot. Their care is reflected in each other like a mirror image.

And just look how fond he is of her. He's teasing her that she's just gonna sleep all day (is that something that actually happens often, because it sure sounds this way). She's kinda out of the loop here, but he doesn't even acknowledge this because he doesn't have to. He knows Brulee is one tough cookie. We also know that thanks to the flashback. And of course the person who would defend Katakuri like that would become His Most Favourite Person in the world.

Brulee is also always observing Katakuri in this fight. She's worried, but she won't assist him, she knows better than to interefere in his fights. And it's not because she is afraid of punishment or Katakuri disliking her. Oh, if his life was truly in danger, she would easily have done that, she has the guts. She doesn't act just because she doesn't want her brother to suffer the consequences. Let's look at things from her perspective. Once upon a time she defended her brother and got hurt as the result. That was the last time Katakuri showed his face, despite the fact that Brulee loved his face and told him as much. She probably reached conclusion that the change in him is Brulee's fault, she wanted well but caused him pain instead that he doesn't want to experience again. She doesn't want a repeat of that so she doesn't try to interfere anymore.

They both act this way. One is protecting the other by withholding and pretending. Brulee knows Katakuri didn't truly change, thanks to her devil fruit's ability she can peek at him anytime she wants, but she won't call him out on his lie and will play along. They both play the pretend game, which reminds me of polish novella "The Waistcoat", in which wife and husband keep on lying to each other to spare their beloved one pain and ligthen the burden.

"I will pretend to believe your lie and will play along with it, to help you and to keep your spirit up!", is what Brulee is truly doing here.

Also Brulee isn't so weak, and yet she fails to fight Luffy and his crew properly, mostly just trying to sabotage him indirectly. Why? Because he probably reminds her of Katakuri. In One Piece it's a reccuring theme, when one of the characters can't fight someone that reminds them of a dear person or some impostor pretending to be them. Brulee in that frame above almost sounds *worried* for Luffy or unusually interested in him (though she also just wanted to lure him out, not gonna deny that).

Katakuri changed his attitude in that fight after Luffy's return. He realized probably that Luffy would never harm Brulee and he might be grateful for that, and his initial anger for them misusing her kinda dissipated.

On the contrary, suddenly Katakuri seems like he's trying to teach Luffy how to fight, getting disappointed in him when he doesn't deliver. At first he wanted to defeat Luffy in fastest way possible:

It's clear Katakuri's motivation changed in the middle of this battle.

Till it finally reaches this point. What is actually going on inside Katakuri's head? At first, he wants to make up for the blunder of Brulee. He's monitoring the situation outside the mirror world closely. He knows that if they get the Strawhats, Brulee's blunder will get forgotten and he will deliver his revenge at the same time, just like he wanted.

After he realized that Luffy won't hurt Brulee, he decided for another way out of this situation. If they all lose to the Strawhats, Big Mom would have to punish all her children, which she won't do. So if Katakuri loses to Luffy, he will save his face and protect Brulee from punishment at the same time (her blunder wouldn't stand out anymore if they all lose!). That's why he takes the loss against Luffy despite being stronger than him. All of Luffy's last punches miss him while every single one of Katakuri's is landing. Katakuri easily accepts the limit of Luffy's current strength. That's also why he asks him to come again (once he's stronger, too), so they can have a rematch, without the "losing face" shanenigans coming in the way. He allows himself to voice his wish to fight someone strong, just because he wants to fight him in an even fight, not doing it for his family or for keeping appearances.

Just look at this. He's anticipating Luffy "doing the unthinkable". It's like he wants to see it, despite claiming he should probably eliminate him before that happens. In the middle of the fight, with his resentment gone, he started to kinda root for Luffy, he wants to see how far he can take his observation haki in such a short amount of time.

And Katakuri is actually a strategist, we can see that when he tries to manage the situation at the tea party/wedding. Trying to prevent the biggest disaster scenarios, telling his other brothers to assemble two squads to go after Bege and Strawhats while he himself goes to the final goal and waits, so their targets get surrounded from all sides. Even standing guard at the entrance to the tea party proves that he chose the most strategic position to avoid any bad things and twists happening:

He sales it as his haki's premonition, but he truly doesn't need that to know what this guy is planning. He knows Big Mom and her usual modus operandi (and we know it too thanks to explanation from Pekoms), anyone who refuses to attend the tea party (no matter the reasons) will receive a special "gift" - a severed head of someone close to them. Katakuri claims it's his haki at play here just to instill fear and so no one questions him. He strategizes his strong points for maximum impact, and it works fantastically well.

Brulee claims she won't forgive Luffy for hurting Katakuri, even though she knows already that Katakuri is very fond of him. Katakuri doesn't even answer, because what could he say? He did everything there for her and he's still not gonna admit that openly. Brulee doesn't need to see the future to guess Katakuri's reaction either, she knows him so well she doesn't even need that ability. That alone proves she's his favourite sister, imo.

Also, here's a thought. Katakuri might have also realized that Brulee was unusually fond of Strawhat Luffy through this arc, definitely going easy on him. Heh, indeed.

Fun food for thought: Luffy probably wanted to master observation haki just so nothing bad ever happens to someone dear to him on his watch, without him knowing. I bet you anything that's why Katakuri ended up mastering his observation haki too, so the tragedy never repeats again and so he would have a chance to prevent it if it ever does anyway.

This marks the end of my meta on Katakuri :) This one is sooo long. Whoever lasted to the end of it, I hope you enjoyed!

There's more Katakuri and less Luffy here, mostly because I already did the full analysis on Luffy in Whole Cake Island here: https://www.tumblr.com/l-in-the-light/762470814037819392

[starberry-cupcake]

Me reading this book is like trying to pin things to a cork board with red thread but the things I'm trying to pin down are fog and they vanish before I can grasp them.

Here's a visual representation of me finishing a chapter:

previously, in harrowbeenie the ninth:

this happened

currently, after chapter 5 (you're gonna have to be patient with this one):

we're moving back and forth between the second and third person

knowing now the content of the letters that yandere twin had talked about in the prologue, it makes some sense

but we aren't there yet

I need to point out something I don't think I specified enough last time

ice cube barbie changed eyes

people be changin' eyes here

she used to have eyes like harrow and now she has, and I quote: "ever since you had writhed in Lyctoral agony, her eyes had turned a yellow that made you dizzy to behold: a bronzed, hot, animal yellow, as amber as the inside of an egg"

this is from gideon's last ch.: "Gideon's eyes, as they always did, startled her: their deep, chromatic amber, the startling hot gold of freshly-brewed tea"

just gonna leave that there

but now, moving forward...or backwards to ch. 3 flashback of sorts

we got a recap of most of the events we knew, but in a gideon-less ver.

I'm gonna also point out that harrowbean mentions her mother holding her wrist the same way she said ice cube barbie did when they were in the coffin hangar

another addition to the clown emperor's story is that the Resurrection is described in harrow's memories as "ten thousand years ago had given them all release from death that none of them had deserved"

I don't know about any of this

we've got a disturbance in the force when harrow describes her parents finding out about the tomb thing

it says "her parents had...found out...about what she had done"

interesting edit of the story there

there's a gideon-sized hole in this story

there's also an interesting new count of nooses??

she says they tied five, two for mortus (???) but in gideon's book she said they tied their own nooses and then helped her tie hers, what's up with mortus having two??? is this nothing and I'm just obsessing about every detail???

I'm gonna start seeing palmolive's force ghost roaming around my house

at the end of ch. 3 it says "there had been another girl who grew up alongside Harrow—but she had died before Harrow was born"

this is a VERY INTERESTING wording

if someone dies before you are born, they can't grow up with you

UNLESS

I'm not gonna dwell on that yet

let's put a pin on that

ch. 4 has the re-apparition of yandere twin

*live studio audience cheers, maybe*

she gives her a letter addressed to her from her

the letter has a lot of instructions of things she doesn't remember at all and also are supposed to be opened at specific times/events

one of them says "in the event of the emperor's death"

another says it's in case she sees regina george twin, which makes a whole argument happen and knives are used to settle it

yandere twin will not hear someone imply her sister might be no longer with us

she probably isn't dead, this I know for certain, people wouldn't be confusing my names for them if that was all we got from her

the most important letter, though, is the one in case she sees camilla, who harrow claims not having interacted with ever

this is a very important thing to note, but most importantly, CAMILLA MENTION

very important to be noting who harrow remembers interacting with and who she doesn't

very important as well that she remembers yandere twin losing an arm in battle but does not remember gideon or camilla

I haven't mentioned it yet but, in the letter, past!harrow tells present!harrow that she needs to check yandere twin's tongue and lower mandibule

to which I think to myself "I bet she's gonna kiss her"

and that she did

which makes me want an edition of this book but with gideon commentary

like a dvd commentary but it's gideon commenting on all this stuff

and cracking jokes

because I bet she'd be cracking jokes about this

remember when she joked that yandere twin would marry mayonnaise uncle?

and then both harrow and mayonnaise uncle were like "ew the third's magic is weird"

imagine if she saw this display

another CRUCIAL thing is that harrow is doing like an oath to yandere twin as requested by past!harrow

and she says "by the ripped and remade soul of ortus nigenad"

and yandere twin goes "who? oh, yes—the cavalier"

I mean, mood at not remembering the names, but also SUSPICIOUS BEHAVIOR

she also tells present!harrow "I gave you something you cared about very deeply at the time"

side note, there is yet another moment in which chad is read for filth

get obliterated even in undeath, chad

last detail from this chapter is that harrowbean almost gets assassinated

maybe I should have started with that

at this point there's so much going on, death seems like a normal one

so yeah, she's gonna get killed with a pillow to the face and then she defends herself and discovers at the end of the chapter that she didn't hallucinate the whole thing and it was hidden from her on purpose that somebody tried to end her

so what's the point in being in this clown death star and surviving big brother canaan house if you can't even sleep peacefully???

moving on to chapter 5

remember the timeline I was making?

yeah, about that

chapter 5, in the third person continuity, establishes that what I saw previously was not necessarily a memory but an au memory

if we can call it something at this point

so my calculations were made as if the timeline was one

but this is not one timeline, it's a sort of parallel gideon-less one

of course my heart is making me believe the gideon-less one is the one that isn't real

and that past!harrow might know what's going on with that

maybe gideon's existence needs to be protected

maybe the emperor doesn't have to know about her

(I'm still holding on to the gideon hope, leave me alone)

but, in any case, present!harrow doesn't know

let's remember the prologue begun with harrow doing something she shouldn't and yandere twin saying something like "was there something in those letters I don't know about?"

I'm just gonna have to throw my timeline in the trash and start over with multiple timelines for now

ALSO, I didn't say anything about it yet, but it's mentioned that harrow is "in love" with ice cube barbie

take that as you will

which is another joke gideon has made in the past and would be stellar in a commentary of this

and, talking about things gideon would be awesome at commenting

in the new ortus-inclusive (?) narrative, ortus is talking about the epic of Matthias Nonius, who we know because harrow has compared gideon to him in the past

and also there's is a comment made about how ortus looks down on people who read "prurient magazines or pamphlets"

I really need gideon confessionals commentary over here

she also says that "the ninth house character, she was forced to admit, had always been low on wild and confident fucks"

yeah, well, how about that

and we end with THE FLIMSY

lots of important flimsies in this

she finds a note that reads "THE EGGS YOU GAVE ME ALL DIED AND YOU LIED TO ME"

ortus says he can't read it

but, in any case,

that made me stop in my tracks because I was reminded I forgot about the writing on the walls of canaan house?????

I filed it under canaan house weirdness but then, it was never talked about?????? again????

also the paper gideon found with her name

which I assumed was addressing the other gideon that not!dulcinea mentioned knowing

but who tf knows at this point

who knows what time and space are anymore

time to leave it for today...this is getting wild, you guys

[madamemiz]

So what's your opinion on Dr Dee and his kerfu(The Abandoned kerfus)?

ooooo ok so there's probably not much i can say that hasn't already been said or speculated on, but i'm pretty torn between two camps of thought on them:

1. dee is dead, and his body is stuffed in kerfu, which is where all the blood and gore comes from. there's a skull visible in the screen when kerfu is at stage three of the fight, and it would just be so fucked up if that was dee. the lore video does point out that they never found his body, which is funny considering we fairly easily find several remains and even more skulls. either they didn't look very hard at all, or none of them were him and they didn't bother to cover their tracks

2. kerfu became possessed, dee managed to subdue them, and then either could not or would not destroy them. he then burried them, never to be found again (except clearly that didn't work). dee may still be alive in this scenario, and the fact that monique recently released a full character model for him does make me suspicious. why fully render someone who won't be part of the story in some way? possible it's for a flashback, but either way there's probably something planned for him

either way, the event makes me sad. the description from the teaser video for it doesn't help

they don't mean to hurt anyone, they can't control it. it hurts. they don't want this. the ehole video is kerfu struggling to say "i love you" over and over. i'm gonna choose to take this as confirmation that kerfurs can, in fact, feel and think in some way, even the base models, which... oof. ouch. i do wonder who's point of view that text is supposed to be from, kel or dee? dee would make more sense in way (kel wouldn't have time to be emotionally attached enough to feel that bad for something actively trying to kill him, unless he like us, the player, is attached to his kerfur and has compassion for kerfu by association), but from the brief descriptions we've had of the guy, i can't imagine him treating kerfu as anything more than a tool... but maybe he pittied them in the end. who knows. the text is probably just meant to make us sad, but i still wonder

as a final note, i'm just going to point out that a few notes found in the game make it seem like all of the previous kerfurs were scary or not to be trusted. in the latest build of the game, the parts needed to upgrade to an omega are scattered around the map and the ai module is sunk in a safe in the bottom of the lake by one of the previous tenants. why? what happened with the previous models? did they all become possessed? will ours?

time will tell

[hikarry]

As immortal beings, by definition, Crowley and Aziraphale don't have to worry much with mortality.

Sure, they are surrounded by it constantly. After all, they live amongst humans, and they watch the few friends or acquaintance they make through the ages come and go systematically. They are aware of mortality, of death, they just don't think much about it in regards to themselves

To them mortality is not scary. It's just another step in the humans' lives when their eternal house is decided. It's something natural and unavoidable. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if Aziraphale has helped some humans cross to the other side more peacefully.

My point is: As immortals, they are aware of mortality. But they don't think much about their own unless they are thinking about being caught by Heaven and Hell, but that's just a what if. An hypothetical. A real one at that, yes, but not reality yet.

Now, the bookshop fire.

In this moment, Crowley is punched in the face by the mortality of immortals.

Something he doesn't think that much about just falls into his lap by the hand of no other but Aziraphale.

Suddenly he is faced with utter loneliness. The ending of a life that, technically, should be eternal. A life he took for granted for more or less 6000 years.

In theory, he has always known both him Aziraphale could die. By their bosses' hands. By the end of the world itself. But it's very different to think about it in theory and living it.

Crowley wasn't prepared. This happened suddenly.

He was on his way to find Aziraphale, possibly to apologize again over the stupid shit he said and talk about the whereabouts of the Anti Christ, and suddenly a day that was actually not going that bad anymore (aka escaping Ligur and Hastur with little to no collateral damage) turns into his worst nightmare.

For 6000 years he has had the theory, and suddenly he his gifted with reality.

And the last thing he had said to Aziraphale's face was that he wouldn't even think about him when he left. You bet those last words started playing in his head as soon as he saw the fire.

And there's a whole hidden layer there: it wasn't just his best friend that went up in flames, which in on itself is already painful as fuck. No. The man he has loved for 6000 years also was destroyed.

Coming to terms with your own mortality as a supernatural being and the destruction of your companion since Eden would drive anyone into shock. Would be ingrained in their brains like a new trauma. The new notion of how actually fragile life is gifting you a whole new perspective.

No surprise Crowley probably has PTSD with fires. Or that he has nightmares about that day often. Or that he forbade Aziraphale from having anything fire related in the bookshop and convinced him to buy electric candles and a shit tone of fire extinguishers. Or that his mind went into "Fuck this, let the Apocalypse come. I'm too tired to deal with this anymore". OR that his first instinct was hidding in a random bar and getting sloshed out of his own mind to try and put the pieces all together. (Like, cmon, my man was about to open his third bottle)

The actual relief he must have felt when he found out Aziraphale was only discorporated must have been fucking abysmal! Like taking a cold shower after a fever! But you bet his encounter with mortality has changed him. You can't go through something like that and remain the same. And he didn't.

Imagine how he must have felt when Beelzebub told him about the Book of Life. The fucking flashbacks he must have had. No surprise the first thing he did was drive to Aziraphale, apologize and agree to his dumb plan of helping Gabriel. Anything to keep him under his eyes. At least if they go down then, they will go down together.

Or so he thought, innit? We know how this story ended.

[0lshadyl0]

Hiya! I saw request were open! So hear me out. What if, the reader s/o, darling, whichever you may call it, what if the reader managed to act get unlucky enough to be bought by a Celestial Dragon? 👀👀👀? But more so, with Yandere Boa Hancock? (headcannons) it'd be interesting to see what you'd think she'd do, seeing her beloved go through what she did. Also would you mind adding yandere Sabo and Ace to that list? Tell me if you don't wanna write this, I'm honestly just tryna see what you'd think they'd do :P. Thank you and bye~! ヾ(≧▽≦*)o XOXO(´▽`ʃ♡ƪ)

 Yandere reaction of s/o bought by a Celestial Dragon

Since I'm feeling generous, I'll make it possible for the darling to be rescued and have a happy ending with their yanderes, but if you want the bad ending, send another request.

Boa Hancock

When the news reaches the Pirate Empress that her Darling has been captured and not only that, but that she has been sold to celestial dragons, she will feel as if the world is falling apart around her and flashbacks of how much she suffered during her years of slavery will come back to her head, which will make her collapse to the ground while being comforted by her sisters while she is consumed by helplessness after all she still has not overcome her traumas with those people. But when she manages to react again, she will have to be stopped by Marigold, Sandersonia and Gloriosa (you know, Grandma Nyon) because without thinking twice she will try to leave Amazon Lily alone to rescue her beloved.

When she comes to her senses again, because even if she wants to, she can't take on what is technically the entire world government alone, she will turn to the only person she feels could go against the Celestial Dragons and win, obviously I'm talking about the Mugiwaras (especially Luffy, well Boa was just thinking in Luffy)

And we all know that this little group is always willing to save whoever it is, no matter who they have to face, in fact, they would help even more because everyone hates the Celestial Dragons (remember Sabondy and Camie's kidnapping, Luffy's punch was epic)

So with the help of the Mugiwara (I'm thinking we're already out of the Wano arc), Luffy's army (because yes, all his followers that he got in Dressrosa would go to help his yonko) and all the Kuja pirates (only Grandma Nyon and the very young girls who can't fight would remain on the island)

All together they are going to Mary Geoise to do a raid of biblical proportions and while the Mugiwaras and the rest are breaking everything breakable in the government and its people, Hancok will be crazy looking for her dear all over the place while praying to the god Enel or whatever she believes in for her well-being (remember that except for Luffy, I don't think she is romantically interested in another man… unless it's Shanks but we all here know that he is irresistible, he's like Thanos, inevitable XD, I don't make the rules that's like a law in One Piece, I know, Oda told me in a dream)

In those moments she is not Boa Hancock, she is the demon of her fruit manifested in the body of a beautiful woman who will turn you into stone and kick whoever crosses her regardless of whether they are an ally or an enemy until they are less than dust, after all nothing matters more than her beloved, besides, everyone will forgive her because she is beautiful.

When he finds her, she will cry with joy as she will thoughtlessly free her beloved and shower her with kisses until her lips get tired. Then, when the euphoria passes, she will analyze the state she is in. If she is okay, Hancock will thank the heavens for such great fortune, but if she is hurt, her anger will be immeasurable and as she takes her to a safe place, she will have no mercy on any poor idiot who crosses her path.

Honestly, this raid will help take away some of the trauma the Pirate Empress has with the Celestial Dragons when she sees them fall into Luffy's crew hands.

If her beloved were to have a mark of slavery like her, Boa Hancock would cry and the two of them would console each other for the hard event that they both went through, but now that symbol would change in their minds, or rather, in Boa's mind, since it is a mark that unites them, a traumatic event from which they both survived and which is a sign of destiny that nothing can separate them, not even the government or the celestial dragons.

Oh yeah, after this Darling will never be able to leave Amazon Lily again, or even be more than 30 centimeters away from Hancock, she will be very afraid that a similar situation will happen again, good luck trying to convince her otherwise.

Well, I only did the Boa Hancock one, I was going to do the others but the post would be too long and I couldn't explain everything I wanted if I had to do the three characters in the same post, if you still want to know Sabo and Ace's reactions, feel free to leave me another request.