#I can sympathize with Emily

[a-dauntless-daffodil]

Lute sees Vaggie's wings have grown back and tries take them again. She grabs them to pull them off, but her hands burn right through her gloves. Sp, Lute tries to cut them off with her sword, but the blade shatters the second it hits the feathers. That's the power of love, bitch!

this could be either so dramatic or so fucking funny so i'd love to imagine it being Both

(fuck this turned out looooooong XD)

Emily: "Good news!”

Charlie: "YAY!"

Vaggie: "How good can it be, if we had to come all the way to stupid heaven to hear it?

Charlie: "Vaggie, c'mon- We could REALLY use some good news!"

Emily: "Then you'll love this. I looked into it and, Vaggie, you being abandoned in hell was wrong, not to mention Adam never cleared it with anyone else anyway- so you can come back here to heaven! Isn't that great!"

Charlie: "Oh... thanks Emily, that's..."

Vaggie: "Not happening."

Charlie: "Maybe she could have some time to think about-"

Lute: "No.”

Vaggie: "No."

Lute: “An angel's place is in heaven. Hell is a prison for sinners, demons, and the fallen who reject the very order of creation. If you choose to stay down there, then what does that make you?"

Vaggie: "It's making me fucking happy, for one thing."

Charlie: (whispers) "... a happy day in hell?"

Vaggie: (whispering back) "Every single one."

Charlie: (BEAMS)

Lute: "Then you've made your choice. You're not an angel. You’re not one of us. You're a traitor."

Vaggie: "And it's been better company than I had up here."

Lute: "Think so?” (grins) “Sera, respectfully, hell is rebelling-"

Charlie: "We were PROTECTING ourselves!"

Lute: "-they killed Adam and one of their people is up here acting like he doesn’t still sympathize with murderers and filthy sinners. We can’t risk anyone else getting past heaven’s gates.”

Vaggie: “Like I’d ever want to!”

Lute: “So you wouldn’t lead the charge if your demon bitch said the word and pointed at us?”

Emily: “Lute!”

Charlie: “Vaggie wouldn’t-”

Vaggie: “Charlie never would! That’s what makes her different from assholes like YOU.”

Lute: “You think everyone’s as weak as you are, don’t you? She’s a hellborn princess. She just called violently resisting a sanctioned extermination ‘self defense.’”

Charlie: “YOU WERE KILLING PEOPLE!”

Lute: “Sinners are not people. They had their chance and burned it. And they’re not the only ones.”

Emily: “But they can be redeemed! We’ve seen it happen!”

Lute: “Once.”

Emily: “It doesn’t matter that it was only ‘once’- it matters that it happened and we still don’t understand why. We have a duty to the people of heaven, but if sinners can find their way here then that duty includes them too! And the exterminations were just wrong from the start!”

Lute: “Careful Emily, you’re starting to sound like a traitor too.”

Emily: “If the other choice is sounding like YOU, then-”

Sera: “Enough! Both of you! Emily is not the one on trial here, Lute.”

Lute: “Then listen to the ones that ARE! Sera, listen to them, listen to HER- she’s made her choice. She’s fallen even more than Lucifer Morningstar did-”

Charlie: “Don’t you DARE bring my dad into this!”

Lute: “-and there should be a PRICE for that. We need to take precautions.”

Emily: “Precautions? What does that even mean? She’s locked in hell with everyone else, like Lucifer is, what more can you even do to her?”

Lute: “Same thing I did before. Only this time.” (draws sword) “I know how to make it stick.”

Charlie: “What?”

Vaggie: “….you… bitch.”

Lute: "Traitor's don't need an angel's wings, do they? Traitors don't deserve them."

Charlie: "Well she has them again now anyway so CLEARLY having angel wings doesn’t mean what you think it does!”

Lute: “It means I didn’t use heavenly steel the first time.”

Emily: “You-”

Charlie: “Don’t. Come any closer.”

Emily: “Lute stop! Sera stop her! This isn’t helping anyone!”                        

Sera: “I have only one question.”

Lute: “Ask and get it over with, we all know what the answer is already.”

Sera: “Hush.”

Sera: “Vaggie. Do you reject our offer of a pardon, and the orders of and service to heaven, in favor of remaining hell?”

Vaggie: “…I do.”

Sera: "Understanding that no other angel has ever done so before?”

Vaggie: “They would’ve, if they’d met Charlie.”

Sera: “Then you are guilty of treason.”

Vaggie: “…”

Sera: “Lute. Make it quick.”

Lute: (grinning) “As the seraphim commands.”

Emily: “Wait-”

Charlie: “BACK. OFF.”

Sera: “You are not in hell, miss Morningstar, this is not your domain and you have no power to draw on here. I will honor our former treaty not to spill hell’s royal blood but do NOT test my patience with it. Emily, restrain her.”

Charlie: “NO-”

Emily: “Sera you can’t! This is-!”

Sera: “Fine. Exorcists, hold the hell princess. And Emily, if you cannot obey a command or bear witness to my rulings then leave before I remove you myself.”

Emily: “I… you…”

Lute: “Kneel. Traitor.”

Charlie: “TOUCH HER AND I’LL MOTHERFUCKING KILL YOU”

Vaggie: “Charlie don’t struggle don’t fight them- get those fucking spears out of her face- Emily!”

Emily: “…what…?”

Lute: “I said. KNEEL.”

Charlie: “VAGGIE!”

Vaggie: “Please! Don’t let- AGH- don’t let them hurt her!”

Emily: “I won’t… I.” (grabs Charlie and holds on tight) “I- I have her. Spears down. I, have her restrained.”

Charlie: "FUCK YOU LET GO! LET GO-"

Sera: (relieved) “Thank you.”

Lute: "Let's make you look the part first shall we? Trim this hair out of the way?"

Vaggie: "You're pathetic."

Lute: "I'm not the one chained up and crying on my knees."

Charlie: "PLEASE I can make a deal I can make a new agreement with heaven- Whatever you want! What do you WANT from us!?"

Lute: "I want her to hold still. If she flinches, I might nick that left over eye of hers."

Vaggie: "Fuck. You- Ah!"

Lute: "Whoops. Hope that won't scar."

Sera: "Lute I said to make it quick-"

Lute: "We want to it be clean too don't we. I'm just cut cutting off some loose ends- wouldn't want to miss her wings and MANGLE this, would I."

Emily: “Charlie-”

Charlie: “YOU!”

Lute: "There. Now you look just as pathetic as you did three years ago."

Emily: “Charlie just close your eyes, she’ll be okay-”

Lute: “No she won’t.”

Charlie: “VAGGIE-”

(Slash)

(THUNDR CRACK)

(shatter)

Lute: “AARGH!”

Sera: “…….” (horrified)

Lute: “My hand! My sword-” (rounds on Charlie) “Demon BITCH! WHAT DID YOU DO!?”

Charlie: “Vaggie? Are you..?”

Vaggie: “….fine. I’m. I don’t think it’ll even bruise?”

Emily: (awed) “Your wings broke her sword. They shattered heavenly steel-”

Lute: “DEMON MAGIC!”

Emily: “A miracle.” (releases Charlie)

Charlie: "Vaggie-" (snaps the chains off vaggie and pulls her close)

Sera: “Traitor. How did you regain those wings.”

Vaggie: (huddled in Charlie’s fierce hug) “C- someone told me I had to fight with love, and I thought about Charlie, and they just…”

Lute: “SEE!? They were made in HELL they’re as profane as the love that spawned them-”

Emily: “Then they’re not under heaven’s jurisdiction to take away, are they? They belong to Vaggie. Not to us.”

Lute: “Belong to- she doesn’t DESERVE-”

Emily: “And you don’t deserve to cut them off her apparently.”

Lute: “I-”

Sera: “Lute. QUIET.”

Lute: (seething and bleeding from sword shrapnel) “…”

Sera: “You, fallen. If I bent my power on you, I could very likely burn those wings from existence.”

Charlie: “If you want to start a war with hell that’s a VERY good way of doing it. Sera.”

Sera: "...."

Sera: “…you will no longer be allowed past the gates of heaven. You are here on and forever more bound to the regions of hell, regardless of your wings-”

Vaggie: “Fine by f-fucking me.”

Sera: “-and in time you will lose all your divinity. You will bleed a demon’s blood one day.”

Vaggie: “Good.”

Lute: “If you live that long.”

Charlie: (Unholy SNARL)

Emily: (getting between them) “Can I send them home now? Or are we going to do something else to shame all of heaven in front of our guests?”

Vaggie: (sighing) “I’d love to be home right now…”

Charlie: “We’ll be there in a second.” (hugs her tighter) “I promise.” (kiss her hair) “Want to stretch your wings?”

Vaggie: “…yeah.”

Sera: “No, Emily. I will banish them.”

Charlie: “Okay.” (suddenly glaring) “Ha ha thank you Sera but don’t bother. It’s straight down from here and the prison wards don’t stop anyone from coming IN do they?”

Emily: “Are you sure your wings are okay for flying with, Vaggie?”

Vaggie: “That’s what I wanna find out.”

Charlie: “We’ll be fine. And we won’t be coming back.”

Emily: “I’m sorry.”

Lute: “Like you’d have the chance.”

Sera: “Go. Heaven is no place for either of you.”

Charlie: “Wow really I hadn’t noticed! I mean no one in HELL ever tried mutilating my girlfriend in front of me, but whatever I guess!” (muttering) “Sadistic homophobic pricks.”

Vaggie: “Told you.”

Charlie: “You did. You did tell me. I’m sorry I didn’t-”

Vaggie: “I love that you didn’t listen.”

Charlie: “…okay.” (deep breath) “Okay.”

Vaggie: “Besides, there’s Sir Pentious up here now.”

Charlie: “True. They don’t deserve him.”

Vaggie: “And Emily.”

Charlie: “Hm.” (burns a hole in the clouds beneath them) “Ready to fuck off together for all eternity?”

Vaggie: (weak chuckle) “Yeah, sweetie. Let’s go home.”

- they go home-

Sera: “Emily.”

Emily: "..."

Sera: “I hope you will think hard on what you’ve done and very nearly did today. Please.” (touches Emily’s shoulder) “For your own sake. Please.” (leaves)

Emily: “…she’s never going to forgive me, is she.”

Lute: “Oh shut UP. Sera will forgive you for ANYTHING.”

Emily: “I meant Charlie.”

Lute: (disgusted noise) (throws her broken sword down after them) (stalks off)

Emily: (sits down on the edge of the clouds) (finds one of Vaggie’s loose feathers floating by) (picks it up and twirls it sadly as she stares down at the distant warm glow of hell)

-down in hell-

Angel Dust: "Unholy fuck, Vaggie Tales, what the hell happened to your hair?"

Charlie: "Lute."

Vaggie: "Heaven."

Angel Dust: "Huh. Shit that's a bad enough cut to make a guy rethink the whole redeemin' himself stuff to get up there, y'know?"

Charlie: "I know. Trust me Angel Dust- NOW, I know."

[panlight]

I.e. Bella not suffering any consequences: what I find even more annoying is that Meyer makes such a big stink about the books being about choice but only BELLA gets any big choices. Every other member of the Cullens was forcefully turned, either entirely against their will (Carlisle, Jasper) or to save their life (Alice, Edward, Emmett, Esme, Rose). Every shifter is forcefully turned due to the vampires; not even Jacob chose it in the end and actively fought against it. Imprinting is forced. Don't get me started on Leah. And even if Nessie wants Jacob in her life, the book heavily implies that she wouldn't have a choice either way. Also, she has to stay with her family because she'll never look old enough, isn't as invulnerable, etc. Literally only Bella has any choice over life-changing decisions (even Edward claims that he never had a choice in loving Bella). Bella chooses Edward (actively endangering herself and others), chooses to be a vampire (supposedly an evil, immoral life endangering others), chooses to give birth to Nessie (possibly an inhuman killing machine while endangering herself and others), and so on. And instead of ANY consequences AT ALL for what appear to be TERRIBLE choices (based on every single book except the back half of BD), she's ALSO the only one who gets pretty much everything she ever wanted while everyone else has to live with whatever crumbs of happiness they can eke out. It's infuriating if you care about anyone AT ALL other than Bella.

Totally agree! It's always been amusing to me that SM says the books are about choice. The apple being offered on the cover presents a choice: do you take it or not? Do you eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil? Do you take the apple from the old woman who might be a witch or evil queen in disguise? And the original name of the book was "Forks;" obviously for the setting but also for the idea of forks in the road: which path you will choose?

But Bella's the only one with any real choices here. She actually has a lot more agency than a lot of people give her credit for. SHE chose to move to Forks. SHE chose to pursue a relationship with Edward. SHE chose the reckless actions in New Moon. SHE chose to ask Edward to sit out the fight. SHE chose to become a vampire. SHE chose to keep the pregnancy. She certainly suffers hardships, but they almost all come from choices SHE made for herself.

And the negative effects of those choices are temporary or unimportant to her specifically. Her scars from James are healed in the transformation; Emily's face is still scarred. The toll her pregnancy took on her body is erased in the transformation, but Esme is still 'rounded and soft' from her pregnancy, and Alice is 'thin in the extreme' from her malnourishment. Bella doesn't even burn for the full three days, only two! There's even a line where Edward literally says something like, "Renesmee's eyes are exactly your color, so that wasn't lost after all." She gets to keep Jacob literally forever (he has no choice) and she gets to keep Charlie when no one else got to keep their human families in their lives. Irina dies, but Bella doesn't know her so it doesn't matter.

I fully understand the main character is the main character for a reason; because they're special, because their journey is unique, etc. But this is also the reason I tend to find main characters annoying. This is not a Bella problem or an SM problem but a me problem. I feel similarly about Harry Potter and Katniss Everdeen as I do about Bella Swan. I like ensembles; I like when there are lots of narrators, or when there's no obvious 'main' character. And if there is a main character, dollars to donuts they aren't my favorite; I will 100% always sympathize more with the secondary characters and find them more interesting.

Bella gets to choose what she wants for her life and it all works out for her. Good for her! Genuinely! But it's a glaring contrast to the stories of virtually all the supporting characters and, to me at least, less interesting. Forever disappointed Bella being a newborn was such a non-event. I was looking forward to it for three and a half books and she just basically carries on her life like nothing has changed. Meh. The supporting characters not having many choices and making the best of things is personally more interesting to me.

[violasghost]

Why I think Emily and Gabriel are not there yet, but are still endgame

[SPOILER DISCUSSION BELOW ABOUT S4, PART 1]

So we 'dont yet know if Emily in Paris will have a S5 and although the second half of the season has not yet aired, I suspect they are about to toss a huge wrench into Emily and Gabriel's relationship. So below are a list of pro's and con's based on a random fans observations.

Well start with the Cons:

Gabrielle has always kind of been wishy washy when it comes to committing to Emily and even Camille. He was even wishy washy once he realized Emily returned his feelings. One foot in, one foot out.

Emily has always been afraid of her feelings and attraction to Gabriel. She even resisted her attraction somewhat before Camille came into the picture.

Camille is a serious problem for them. Although I can sympathize with her situation a little, she is manipulative, and has proven in the past and currently, that she is somewhat selfish and has and will put herself above Gabrielle/Emily's relationship. And the argument that she was selfless in leaving Gabrielle at the altar is not that strong, especially since Camille neglected to mention her affair with Sofia. She also refuses to accept accountability for her affair with Sofia.

Alfie definitely got the short stick, but its not like the writing hasnt been on the wall.

Pros:

Unlike Camille, Emily values truth and honesty, and has put others above herself on numerous occassions.

Emily and Gabrielle having this brief interlude together for S4, Part 1, has allowed them the chance to explore what their lives would look like as a couple. They deserved that much after everything they went through and were frankly at the point where they had to 'caca or get off the pot' so to speak. So glad they got that chance.

Emily and Gabrielle, have a deep connection with one another and a strong friendship. Aside from Emily's friendship with Mindy, her relationship with Gabrielle comes in second.

Emily and Gabrielle have been the happiest they have ever been, especially when they are around one another. Its really endearing to watch them together.

So the biggest obstacle in their path at the moment is Camille. When and if Camille will ever decide to tell Gabrielle the truth and bow out, is pretty much the kingpin that would allow for Emily and Gabrielle's happily ever after.

Seeing previews for the second half of the season, it appears as if Emily will have a new love interest in part 2. Im assuming "Camille's secret" is the reason for her leaving Gabrielle. I think in addition to Camille however, Emily and Gabrielle need to establish that they are fully committed to one another to work. Since Camille is no longer pregnant, Gabrielle needs to make up his mind on whether or not he wants co continue with Camille or make a clean break to continue with Emily. That said, I think its possible and because I was a long time fan of Darren Star's other show "Sex and the City," (which shares many similarities with 'Emily in Paris,') its likely like Carrie and Mr. Big(who had many committment issues as well)--they finally get them together in the series finale because the will they/wont they is the biggest pull for fans of the show.

What do you think of 'Emily in Paris' S4 so far?

[princess-of-the-corner]

Apparently Astruc went out of his way to make Lila unlovable. Comparison to characters we're meant to sympathize with:

Gabriel started the entire mess because he couldn't try and just ask for help to the guy he knew could help (and this is before using a Miraculous selfishly for months fried his morals and basic decency). He later manipulated two teenage girls, one of which he knew since she was a child, into terrorism, destroyed Hong Kong by accident, and pulled a stunt that brainwashed the President of the United States into firing the nukes (and once the order is given it cannot be countermandered) AND the world's strongest woman into shattering the Moon (and while it's vaguely possible humanity could survive a nuclear exchange, the loss of the Moon would spell the end of all life on Earth).

Tomoe was infertile... So rather than adopt a heir (a rather common occurrence in Japanese society) she borrowed a magical jewel that manipulates one of the concepts that make the universe work to clone herself.

Emilie was also infertile, so she used the above jewel to make a gender-inverted clone of herself, and somehow BROKE said jewel in the process, sentencing herself to a slow death. She then proceeded to be an abusive parent and used her husband as scapegoat, and let her brother in law borrow the jewel to make himself a son (though this could count as a good deed given the jackass).

Colt Phatom had an infertile wife, so rather than adopt he borrowed his sister-in-law magic brooch and made a gender-inverted clone OF HIS WIFE, and was an abusive parent to said clone. I'm feeling ill...

Felix discovered his uncle is a terrorist wielding two jewels that manipulates two concepts that make the universe work... And rather than tell the squadron of superheroes about it, he robbed said superheroes of their magic jewels and traded them for the one that made him and could unmake him (and I'm still surprised Gabriel didn't just Thanos Snap him and steal everything. He then tried to wipe out humanity to protect beings like himself. Though he get something of a justification in that he's a teenager AND raised by Colt Phatom (for all their flaws, Gabriel, Emilie and Tomoe didn't mess their magic children nearly as bad).

Audrey is just plain mean, and so petty she got Akumatized from getting a spot in the second row (I'm willing to forgive Gabriel this one for the sheer hilarity. Plus he had been obviously waiting for years to get avenge all the victims of that bitch).

But the one meant to be unlovable is Lila. Ok.

So like.

This is honestly a point I brought up before, though it was more on a 'why are people more willing to give other characters redemption arcs instead of Lila?'

But yeah for as absolutely fucking awful as these other characters can be, they do have some very basic good traits and someone they care about! Chloé has the toxic af family and genuinely cares about Adrien and Sabrina and her parents. Gabe may be all kinds of fuck, but there was a point in Season 1-3 where we believed he cared about Adrien and he's doing all this because he loves his wife(even if that love is also toxic af). Felix is also a 'he was abused which explains his mindset' and he's shown genuine love for his mother. Tomoe has been shown to care about Kagami, despite everything. Emilie is up in the air but she's presented as loving.

Lila..... has absolutely nothing. Nothing that can be pointed at as some explanation for why she's like this, or proof that there's any hope for her to be 'good'. We don't know her real backstory or what she wants. Every character she's interacted with is just a mark for her cons that she doesn't have any care about, even her 'mothers'.

[saltygilmores]

Thoughts While Watching Gilmore Girls- 3x9-Deep Fried Korean Thanksgiving- Part 1

It's 6:30am on the 4th of July. It feels like as a good a time as any to write about a Thanksgiving episode. I am quite fond of this episode, it's one of my favorites. It includes a historical first: which is Lorelai being kinda nice to Jess? Hooray! It's a Thanksgiving miracle! But off to the house fire with him again for Black Friday. I cannot, however, even in the spirit of Julyskiving, be nice to Lorelai when describing this episode. This is, after all, the "Just because you and Rory broke up doesn't mean we did" episode. Would you mind taking a Niceness Raincheck, Lorelai? I doubt it will be useful in s3. For the time being, just accept all of the comedic verbal beatdowns that you have coming from me. On with Julyskiving.

Jess can sympathize with Pete. But he's beating his meat instead of eggs. This one is a bit borderline, but it qualifies for a check on the "thinly veiled sexual reference" square on my Bingo Card. I cannot take my eyes off this mug Michel is holding and "sipping" from because it's the emptiest Empty Mug I've seen so far on this show. I've seen some empty cups on this show but dang, this one is empty.

Me looking for love in all the wrong places.

Heh heh. We learn that Lorelai has faked illness and poor cellphone reception (that's not terribly hard in 2002, the year of our lord) to try and weasel out of the last two FND's. Why, you ask? Because she's still hopping mad at Emily and Richard for...taking Rory on a trip to look at a school that wasn't Harvard. Emily Gilmore, the Queen that she is, lays down that in no uncertain terms that Lorelai will have to spend Thanksgiving doing FND. Emily won’t allow Lorelai get in a word in edgewise, complain, or protest 🫡 so Lorelai lays down like a dog and submits. I love to see it.

*checks off "Millennial Pop Culture Reference" on the Bingo Card* Have I mentioned how much I love the 35 year old extras playing high school students?

Not anymore he ain't. Just ride it out for another 3 short years. girl. Reese will be history by 2006. He never married again, either. "Is it me, or did everything the teacher say sound dirty? I mean come on, reticulum? The golgi body? Does that sound majorly pornographic or what?" Heh heh. Yeah. I'm scandalized by the use of the word "pornographic" on this wholesome show. We learn that Louise's father is in prison for an unspecified crime. I love Madelyn & Louise lore, don't you? Paris wanted to volunteer at a soup kitchen to pad her Ivy League resume but no one would take her. She will be ever so lonely on Thanksgiving and needs a place to spend the holiday. *bats eyelashes at Rory* Madelyn plans to spend Thanksgiving filling out applications for safety schools. Paris agres that is incredbly important to weigh as many options as possible when applying to colleges. Rory, meanwhile , remembers that just a short while ago, her Mommy had a nuclear meltdown in public and shut her grandparents out for weeks over the mere idea of her even looking at or thinking about a backup school. Much like the time she realized she forgot to enroll in extra cirricular activities, this is someone who is quietly contemplating just how badly she's boned. Academically speaking.

Paris receives a return call on her ancient cellphone from a soup kitchen, with whom she tries to wrangle a volunteer opportunity. This is how Rory looks at Paris angrily ranting at a charitable organization:

Paris may not be able to pad her college application by helping the needy this year, but she will always be a volunteer in the soup kitchen of Rory's heart.

OMG. Could it be? Is that...the window concession stand from s1?

IT IS! IT IS! I love that little guy! I thought the fragile small town economy had swallowed up another beloved business! You ladies are just gonna walk past and not pick me up a fiesta burger and onion rings, huh? Besides snubbing a small business that has to compete with Luke's and could really use the help, ahem, Rory and Lorelai's Thanksgiving itinerary includes dinner at the elder gilmores, Sookie's, Lane's, and Luke's. They then decide to cut Luke from their schedule, because ol Grumpy Gus doesn't care about holidays and he won't miss them.

And so what if he did? Peace and harmony will be achieved when the people of The Hollow are free and able to be their true and authentic sexual selves.

None of which they'll pay for.

"Such a food rut we're in!" Concession Stand Guy would like a word.

Ya'll are just filthy. You're making jokes about stuffing each other a day before this wholesome holiday. Continue. Please. Lorelai informs Luke that they can't make it for Thanksgiving tomorrow. He seems quietly shattered. *Mr Lonely plays*

Perhaps you can un-disappoint him by paying for your food. So moved were the Gilmore GIrls by Luke's rare, almost visible display of emotion, that they decide they can work him into their schedule after all.

Batten down the hatches, guy. The Gilmores are coming. To your restaurant. Just like they do every day. Multiple times a day. Sometimes after you've already closed. Always eating, never paying.

Rory emptied two beach pails of Ben and Jerry's ice cream in one sitting after Dean dumped her. She ain't wrong. Stay tuned for the next chapter where I will explore the re-appearance of the vomit green puffy coat, Rory's continued pre occupation with Dean, Lorelai's continued pre occupation with Dean (the re emergence of the DALA), comedic thoughts about Black Friday, and much more.

[x-liv25-jamieswife]

i'm going to be fr, in the first few chapters (when i first read the books) i didn't really like grayson. he just seemed like a stuck up ass who thought he was better than everyone else like "for now, it's best if you just assume i know everything" like ok buddy.

same thing sort of goes for jamie i didn't like that he kept treating avery like she was nothing of importance, but then he'd make up for it by saying smth flirty or smth which made me love him again.. (flirty men are my type)

i liked xander and nash immediately though and never stopped.

avery has always slayed. i don't trust people who don't like her. she is so underrated in her own series and she literally solos all of the brothers. she's a girl boss, how can you not stan her. how can she not be your fav character.

max is such a great friend. she acts all carefree and all, but she really cares. she's always been there for avery. my only complaint is her swearing, but even that isn't really a problem.

rebecca's a little complicated i sympathize with her and have forgiven her for all of her wrongdoings (not telling avery drake was gonna try to kill her) because she's just one of emily’s victims (and imo the most hurt and affected. this isn’t even an opinion it’s just facts).

alisa is a girl boss. she fucking slays. everything about her is just >>>.

i don't really like thea. she may have done some good things, but whenever i think about her, i think about how petty she was in the first book and how she took it out on avery. i do love how much she loves rebecca though. i hate her for letting avery get kidnapped, like, miss girl, what happened to being a girls girl.

oren>> (that's all i have to say and i shouldn't have to say more)

zara is my little underrated pookie. i kinda relate to her honestly.

skye can go f herself

MIND YOU I LOVE JAMIE AND GRAY (ESPECIALLY JAMIE HE'S MY POOKIE). MY FIRST IMPRESSION OF GRAY WAS JUST A LITTLE IFFY AND JAMIE WAS SOMETIMES A LITTLE QUESTIONABLE BUT THEY'RE MY POOKIES AND I LOVE THEM AND I'D DIE FOR THEM (I'D LET JAMIE DO WHATEVER HE WANTS TO ME, AVERY CAN JOIN TOO)

[chaifootsteps]

Afterlife Anon here with an update on the Linkin Park thing.

Emily Armstrong put out a statement that says she only supported that rapist guy when she believed he was innocent, and cut ties with him immediately after and hasn't interacted with him since. Which was my main worry - the singer before her was a CSA survivor so I would have hated to learn that the person following after Chester supported a rapist, but I'm glad that's not the case. Plenty of times predators fool even though closest to them, let alone fans, and turn out to be awful people - Neil Gaiman, for instance. I think he fooled all of us fans.

As for the Scinetology bit, from what I can gather she was raised into the cult, and that's much harder to get out of, let alone feel like you can get out of, especially since her parents were higher ranking. So a sympathize on that front and really hope she makes it out.

Now I'm off to happily listen to The Emptiness Machine for the 10th time and be happy for the new LP album coming out.

Good update. That's slightly more hopeful!

[papyrusgayfont]

* ok here’s why Sole Crusher and Zoe’s story throughout it is a queer allegory: a very long post (that might be good idk)

* (doing this because I only just paid attention to it and I haven’t really seen anyone else mention it, like I found an amino post and that’s it so yeah)

* before I begin, I know Zoe is queer, she is sapphic, but this episode came out before Adoration so it wasn’t “official” then (she was probably always intended to be sapphic but still)

* ok so first, Zoe states that she has to act all the time in front of people, how she’s “acting all the time, playing these different roles, trying to please everyone, until I couldn’t do it anymore”, and that can absolutely be read as a queer kid who’s in a situation where the people around them won’t be accepting of who they are, hence why she wants to be accepted; “the real me”, she says, and why it hurts her when, even though she left New York, she has to do act AGAIN to please her mom and Chloe. It can be read as someone in a more conservative household/environment being forced to pretend, to act they way their family and others around them want them to act.

* Zoe says that she wanted to meet her family’s expectations, and that if she did everything Chloe told her to do, she’d accept her (basically saying, my family expects me to be “normal”, so I will pretend I’m not like this hoping that they’ll accept me)

* she says that, at the boarding school, she was “playing a part, being someone else, hoping they’d accept me. But finally, I just couldn’t anymore. That’s when everyone turned against me.” This can so clearly be read as her “playing a part, being someone else, hoping they’d accept me” (pretending to be straight in front of others, hoping that if she keeps up the act, people won’t question her and she’ll be safe from everyone’s prejudice and judgement).

* and then there’s “But finally, I just couldn’t anymore. That’s when everyone turned against me”, which can be read as “when I just couldn’t act anymore, and I let my guard down, and I came out, everyone judged me, everyone hated me, I wasn’t ‘normal’ to them anymore”.

* she says that she understands if the others don’t want to be her friend, and is then surprised when they accept her. Mylene says they’re “one big happy family”, and Rose says that she’ll be fine with them (Rose also suggested “adopting” Zoe earlier in the episode, and idk if this is just my experience but in middle school a lot of my friends were queer and two of them “adopted” me and a few of our other friends, so yeah)

* Marinette states that “You’ll never have to leave again, Zoe. Welcome to Paris”, which can be her telling Zoe that there’s now people she can connect with that won’t ridicule and judge her for who she is, that they’ll accept her, and she won’t have to leave again if things go south.

* now onto the Andre scenes, first there’s the roof scene, where Andre admits that when he was young, he wanted to be a movie director, but he had to give that up to “earn his place”, which leads to Zoe confessing to him how she wanted to be an actress, but now acting just hurts her since she does it all the time to please everyone else, to be accepting.

* and so, Andre decided to show her his “cellar of dreams”, a cellar where he keeps things from his directing days. He then states that “it can be lonely when even your own family can’t accept you for who you are. We end up burying our feelings deep here, and here”, putting back Emilie’s profile. “If you want, I can make some space for you”, he says, and Zoe puts her sneakers inside.

* I 100% read this as an adult, someone else who is queer, seeing someone younger going through a similar situation to theirs, and being able to sympathize with them. He says “it can be lonely when even your own family can’t accept you for who you are”, which is, unfortunately, what a lot of queer kids (and adults too) go through with their own families. Him showing her what’s in the cellar could be seen as him showing her that she’s not alone, that he’s like her, that he’s gone through what she’s going through now (note how he holds the profile close to his heart), and that he is able to understand her.

* now the ending scene. Chloe and Audrey are upset that Zoe went against them and demand that she be sent back to New York, and Andre says that it would just take too long to enroll her in another boarding school, so for now she can stay, but Chloe demands that she has to stay in another part of the hotel, where she can’t see her, and Andre obliges. Zoe thanks Andre, and asks him to promise that he won’t keep his dreams locked away for too long, which he agrees too. The end cards then show Zoe interacting with the others, all while texting Marinette, saying “Thank you for everything! You were right. I can be myself here, ‘cause you and the others will always be there for me. For the first time in my life, I actually feel at home!”

* the constant threat of sending Zoe back to New York, which is in almost all of Zoe’s major appearances, can be seen as someone being disowned and kicked out of their home because they’re queer, because they’re not abiding by their families’ expectations.

* Zoe asking Andre to not leave his dreams behind can be seen as her trying to encourage him to be himself, to have more confidence in who he is.

* and the text message can be read as her thanking Marinette for introducing her to a community of people who will accept her no matter what, people who will help her live authentically, which is something she’s always wanted. She now has people she can talk too, and who will support her, without the threat of ridicule and harassment.

* now onto the more visual aspects of the episode, there isn’t as much here but still (this post is so long I’m sorry lmao)

* first, Zoe blushing after giving Marinette her number

* then there’s the cellar and what that represents

* and then there are two instances, from what I could see, of the pan flag being put into the episode (maybe I missed some idk)

* and lastly, this one card with Nino pointing and Zoe smiling (conveniently he’s pointing to where the rainbow is hmmmmmmmmm)

* and then for the final end card, where there are hearts next to Zoe as she looks at Marinette, the first person who was nice to her (aside from Jess, but we didn’t know that until recently so)

* (again, so sorry that the post is this long lmao, I just had so much to say about this episode and I’m bad at condensing my thoughts)

* (also please like and reblog this, but also you don’t have to lol)

[literary-illuminati]

Book Review 49 – Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh

Introduction

I forget who initially recommended me this book, but I owe them an incredible debt. Really the only disappointing thing is that I hadn’t heard of it even sooner, as this really is just perfectly tailored to appeal to me specifically. First science fiction/fantasy novel I can remember reading in a long time that I actively wished was longer. As a testament to how much I liked this book – this review is long enough to need subheadings.

So! Some Desperate Glory is a space opera, following Kyr (Valkyr, technically), a 17-year-old cadet and genetically enhanced ‘warbreed’ golden girl of Gaea Station – that being the quasi-fascist statelet of militant dead-enders who fled to a desolate planetoid in a dead system to continue the war after aliens destroyed the earth/most of humanity. After she gets assigned to Nursery (read: breeding the next generation of soldiers) instead of a combat wing and has a crisis of faith, she talks herself into running away to help her brother on the suicide mission terrorist attack he was deployed on. With the help of one of her brother’s friends and a captured alien, she manages it, discovers that her brother had absolutely no intention of actually following orders once he’d made it out, and take it upon herself to do her own, better, terrorism. From there the plot gets weird, and I’m going to spoil it shamelessly talking about it, but if you value surprises when reading at all just stop this review and go read it.

The Heroine

Kyr is, and I say this lovingly, the most insufferable bitch of a 17-year-old military brat I’ve ever spent time in the head of (at least at first). Even compared to the other indoctrinated child soldiers she’s the cop nobody likes. She then spends the first third to half of the book unlearning this indoctrination, by which I mean very arduously and painfully reaching a point of ‘the fascist cult was a corruption and black mark on the good name of the death cult vengeful crusade, I’ll do it better’ and ‘it’s probably okay to not, like, personally hate aliens who were too young to have been alive when the earth was destroyed. Torturing them for no reason is wrong, like abusing animals was, back when there were animals’. She spends the entire book expecting on a bone-deep level to get herself killed for the cause, and at the end of the book is only like 10% of the way better (one of the last beats in the entire story is, standing with one of her only friends and sure they’re both about to run out of life support, offering to snap their neck for them because ‘asphyxiation’s a nasty way to go’). Whenever she is confronted with the idea that some people aren’t constantly aware of the possibility of physical violence or get to live their lives as something other than a bullet in the gun seeking vengeance for a dead planet she wants to scream and smash things at the unfairness of it all. I adore her.

Honestly my only real complaint is how quickly she starts mellowing out in the second and third acts of the story. There’s extenuating circumstances (whole extra life of memories, time loop bullshit, forcibly confronted with what she said she wanted and what it looks like, etc), but past the one real big hump it did rather feel like her character development suddenly became a bit smooth and easy/. This is one of the things I’m talking about when I say I wish the book was longer – everything after the first big climax and the time travel/universe editing felt kind of rushed and abbreviated.

As far as being a #problematic fave goes, Kyr was also very carefully kept from being, like, directly personally culpable for anything really unforgivable. Which I do understand why from a wanting people to sympathize with the racist homophobic fascist child soldier, but like – you’ve already introduced time travel and retroactivity. C’mon, don’t get cold feet now. Let her and Avi really share the ‘killed trillions in a universe that retroactively never happened’ credit.

Also, and entirely tangentially – you know how in a lot of action shows, the hero has incredibly emotionally tense rivalries and/or camaraderie with other guys, and then also an extremely conventionally feminine girlfriend off to the side somewhere who does like two things in the entire story and mostly seems to exist to prove he’s straight? Kyr has that, except she is textually gay (if incredibly repressed about it and like 90% of the way to asexual in terms of libido). Sorry Lis, but you are literally barely a character. Cleo’s right there, and already has a personality that’s more than two bullet points and is actually involved in the plot in ways beyond ‘love interest’.

Gaea Station

The shitty fascist asteroid habitat that Kyr grew up on is (if barely) the primary setting of the story, and as far as portrayals of incredibly unbalanced and fundamentally broken society just full of cultlike and ultranationalist neuross. I kind of love it as a dystopian setting, though I feel like the author kind of over-egged the pudding on it by the end of the book.

Society is organized into what feels like an intentional parody of a lot of YA dystopia setups, where you live in a tightly integrated mess all through adolescence (each with their own heraldic animal to idenity with!) but then at 17 your exams determine the branch of society you will be assigned to for the rest of your life to do your duty for humanity. Of course, unlike most YA dystopias, the System isn’t the result of some leviathan-state ruling the fates of millions or a tradition that’s going back generations upon generations – it’s a ramshackle mess that can barely consistently feed its warrior elites enough protein slop to take advantage of their genetically engineered hormone levels for muscle growth. It’s all so clearly and intentionally artificial and fake that it loops around to feeling extremely realistic.

Also do love how the elder generation all have names like Joel or Ursa or Elena, while the younger generation are all Valkyr and Magnus and Avicenna and Zenobia. The only really surprising thing is that they don’t specifically call out how children are raised in common and without individual families as following Plato’s Republic – it’s exactly the sort of attempt to create a grand unifying mythology for all of Earth’s true and vengeful children.

I really do wish Tesh had trusted the reader a bit more about it, though. Like, we can tell that almost all the names of the younger generation are either historical figures form the Mediterranean/Greco-Roman world or Norse mythology (with a few exceptions like Avicenna who fit the general aesthetic if not those exact conditions), which puts a bit of a lie to the whole ‘pan-human’ bit. It’s a clever bit of characterization through worldbuilding! You don’t need to call it out twice in dialogue between characters and then again in an in-universe scholarly essay excerpt at the start of a chapter. I can’t complain too badly though, she’s really not even close to being the worst for that I’ve read recently.

One thing I did like especially because I don’t think it was ever called out and brought front and centre is just the sort of, like, perfect irony of both Kyr and her brother Magnus – ‘warbreed’ engineered supersoldiers with physical capabilities beyond any baseline human, blonde aryan ubermensch, the golden children and eugenic future of Gaea Station/true humanity – both being queer and totally unsuited to their assigned gender roles. If it was, like, specifically brought up in a big monologue as disproof of the Gaean ideology or something it’d feel much too on the nose, but as just a set of facts underlying the characterization of the protagonists I liked it quite a lot.

Trio Dynamics

They don’t actually have all that much pagecount spent together, now that I think about it, but as far as I’m concerned the absolute heart of the story is the dynamic between Kyr, Avi (Avicenna, genius-level hacker and cynical rat bastard discontented Gaea Station restaurant) and Yiso (young and rebellious Prince of the Wisdom, taken captive by Gaea when they’re personal ship came too close and then liberated/kidnapped by the other two in their escape attempt). It’s peak trauma-bonding in that the first time it involves a) Avi torturing Yiso to force the alien supercomputer to let him access it and b) Kyr shooting Avi in the head after he uses access to the supercomputer to wipe out 90% of galactic civilization as payback for the whole ‘destroyed Earth with an antimatter missile’ thing (she got a case of morals when confronted with what ‘winning’ would mean. Also her brother shooting himself.)

By all rights they should absolutely hate each other and after two temporal recursions and oceans of retroactively unspilled blood on all their hands they’re the only people who even slightly understand each other. At one point Kyr tells Yiso ‘just so you know, I don’t really care about you as a person,’ and then immideately thinks ‘that was a lie. Why did I say that?’ Avi and Kyr both deprogram themselves from the cult that raised them but only the ‘loyalty to the cult’ bits and not the ‘alien race war vengance death cult’ bits. Yiso meets Kyr in an atemporal training simulation and gets retroactive Stockholm syndrone even though the first time they actually meet she breaks their ribs for repressed teenager reasons. They all drive me absolutely insane and I absolutely adore them. Even if Avi’s redemption felt waaaaay too rushed and unjustified in the final recursion, willing to forgive it here.

Time Loops

The big twist of the story is that, having fucked up and enabled Avi taking vengeance for Earth by doing the same thing to every other alien species, Kyr jumps into the alien supercomputer time manipulation buisness wholesale and goes back to prevent the destruction of Earth. Which then fast forwards to her being a newly minted officer in the Terran Expeditionary Fleet that is the imperial power dominating the known galaxy in increasingly high-collateral damage ways as time goes on. Yiso, in this timeline the beating heart and soul of the main alien resistance group, seeks her out and restores her memories and they go back to try and hijack the alien supercomputer before the government office whose hijacked its crippled remnants (as helmed by the alternate-timeline version of Gaea Station’s great leader, now a fleet admiral of the ‘Providence’ division) manage to literally destroy the universe.

It is mostly down to all the fanfic I’ve read, but I really, really adore timeline divergences that ropagate out and leave all the major characters different but similar people in alien yet appropriate situations. I also adore time travel stories about someone turning the timeline into swiss cheese trying to brute force their way to the one and only golden ending. So I adore this whole conceit. Really my only complaint is that there were only two (one and a half, really) recursions. Not that I’m demanding a full groundhog day here. But, like, it’d have been nice. And Kyr/Avi/Yiso continuously bumping into each other in different configurations and usually ending up at gunpoint would have been ann absolutely amazing bit.

Space Orcs

I can’t be sure Tesh actually had any exposure to the whole online meme of ‘humans as space orcs’, but I do and it’s really impossible to read the book as anything but an examination of the idea. Compared to every alien species ever encountered, humans are tall, heavy, muscular, impulsive, and violent. In a one-on-one confrontation they’ll snap any other species’ neck. The very first pages of the book are an excerpt from an in-universe text writing for an aliens about how actually really humans are very intelligent, and then talking about how threat displays and ‘human culture’. In the original timeline they even fit into the usual social niche of orcs in a lot of fantasy these days – the scattered and diminished remnants of a brutal empire that was defeated and mostly-exterminated in their attempts to conquer the universe.

The book’s handling of this doesn’t really have a point, as far as I can tell – the worldbuilding’s sufficiently divorced from anything real that trying to call it a commentary on racism or genocide or conquering empires is a stretch. (It is after all a fundamental point of the book that the obliteration of earth and extermination of the vast majority of humanity really was the only way the Wisdom could prevent the Terran Federation from conquering the known galaxy. Which is I’m extremely sure not something the author intends to be a historical analogy.) I found it a fun bit of worldbuilding and interesting subversion of normal space opera tropes regarding humanity’s relative abilities, anyway.

Theodicy

Is an incredibly pretentious way to title this section, but also in a sense kind of the core of the book’s plot? In an interesting way, and I think it’s really the book’s greatest weakness that it doesn’t explore or grapple with it enough.

Which is to say – the Wisdom is at the heart of galactic civilization. It’s an alien AI with vague but vast (though limited) reality-warping and precognitive powers. It does not rule the civilizations that accept it, but guides them as a benevolent god towards best, happiest outcomes with whatever support they ask for or need. To determine what ‘best’ means, it creates its Princes, vat-grown heirs to the dead species that created it, with a lifespan of millenia spent going through simulations and interacting with the world to provide the data and decision-making it requires to make that sort of strategic decision.

The Terran Federation’s attempt to reverse-engineer or hijack the Wisdom put it in a situation where the only solution its princes could find was to destroy the better part of humanity and even more of their industry and culture. Through the plot of the first acts of the book, Kyr and her genius-level-hacker friend hijack a node of it and Kyr convinces/forces it to accept her decision-making instead of its prince (who they just killed). This results in an explicitly colonialist human empire ruling over aliens as oppressed subjects, and using the half-wrecked and poorly understood Wisdom to eliminate threats before they occur (shunting the reality backlash off to alien worlds they don’t care about). The next acts of the book mostly resolve around fixing or reverting this, and end with Kyr diving back into a node and having another conversation with it.

A conversation which is basically it giving up. It reverts things back to the human-genocide timeline, then shuts down its infrastructure and goes dark, leaving the entire mostly pacifistic and loosely governed galactic civilization it had protected suddenly on its own. Humanity were such assholes we found a loving god and then convinced it to kill itself.

Which, like, could 100% totally work. As far as high concept short story prompts go its incredible. But as far as actually driving the action goes the Wisdom is the one who makes the most important deciisons in the entire book, and determine the entire shape of the plot. For it to land, it really really needed more than two and a half short conversations on screen, at least to me.

TL:DR

Good book, lesbian doing space atrocities, should have been longer.

[batrachised]

inspired by the rubio quote on emily - I understand believing the LMM heroines leaving their ambitions behind is somewhat necessitated by the historical context, and I sympathize with those who would have preferred a different ending for Anne or Emily...but also (esp w Anne), I find it the line of thinking frustrating because (1) it's a false dichotomy that's (2) belied by the text imo and (3) somewhat dismissive of marriage as less than. Anne keeps writing after her marriage. She reads her poems aloud to her family and (iirc) inspires her children to do the same. Just because Emily is marrying Teddy doesn't mean she'll stop writing. The text gives us literally no reason to think that, and in fact explicitly states the opposite when Emily says that she has to write. No matter what, she has to write. If Anne, who doesn't demonstrate Emily's level of ambition, keeps writing, it's nearly laughable to think that Emily wouldn't.

What's especially frustrating is that repeatedly, LM Montgomery's stories focus on the importance of community and family in shaping, sourcing, and strengthening creativity. In Emily, it's explicitly stated that she couldn't have written her breakthrough novel if she had moved to New York and followed her ambitions as such. That's doesn't necessarily translate to romantic support, but romantic support is one form of that! Certainly, these heroines all have domestic endings; it's almost as if LM Montgomery's defining characteristic is finding beauty and power in domesticity, all while acknowledging domesticity doesn't exclude talent and ambition. Her thesis is that women can, and do, contain both. Anne can dream of handsome princes one day and publication the next because you know what--quite a lot of girls do! Emily can fiercely chase publication and long for companionship because you know what - that's the most human thing imaginable!

Acting as if marriage is an imprisonment or hindrance of some sort while LM Montgomery's heroes are marked by being supportive of their wives' talents and ambition (Gilbert is unthreatened by Anne's intelligence; Teddy understands Emily's ambition) ignores the major themes of the novels. It also fails to grapple with the historical barriers faced in a substantive or satisfying manner; it simply poo-poos the semi-requirement of marriage as the happy ending all while ignoring how radical the statements that first, women have ambitions and, second, their ideal partner would support those ambitions, were for the time.

The position also assumes that publication is the only legitimate form of success for writers, and similarly, "real" success requires recognition. It ignores the inherent value of creativity, inserts its own standards for success, all while ignoring what the heroines themselves state they want. Anne wanted marriage and babies; Emily is deeply lonely at the end of Emily's Quest and desires a companion who understands her. LM Montgomery actually directly addresses the idea that Gilbert stole Anne from her ambitions in TBAQ, and Anne laughs at the idea. For Emily, it's more understandable because she does value publication and is very ambitious, but that's where point number one comes in. Would the critics of her (admittedly rushed and slapdash) ending prefer that she stay alone surrounded by people who don't fully understand her? If anything, it's implied that Teddy will enhance Emily's creativity by providing the support she needs, and has in the past when he literally gives her the idea for her first novel, A Seller of Dreams.

I understand the cut and paste ending of "love husband marriage babies" can get to be tiring, especially when presented as the "right" path for women. I admit that the historical context - and pressure - here is impossible to ignore. After all, the examples I gave above are only legitimate to the extent LM Montgomery legitimized them; there could have easily have been a version of the story where Emily only succeeded because she moved to New York. Even LM Montgomery, as mentioned above, writes Gilbert explicitly saying that he regrets that he stole Anne's talent from the world. Sexism is definitely present in these novels. Still, the condescending tone when talking about these ending irks me. In the end, I guess I find the sainting of ambition as ridiculous as I find the sainting of marriage and babies as paths for women. One's as gross a simplification as the other.

At the end of the day as well, LM Montgomery writes slice of life novels based on the charm of rural PEI and local community. She focuses on the everyday purposefully. Complaining that she doesn't have heroines who move beyond domesticity (although really, she does with Sara Stanley) is like going to a pizza parlor and complaining when you get served pizza. Again, this only works to the extent that you agree with LM Montgomery's presentation - but there's something silly in complaining that her slice of life semi-romance novels from the late 1800s-early 1900s all end in marriage for the heroine.

[dr-spencer-reids-queen]

Public Enemy: Final Part

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Female!Reader

Word Count: ~2k

Summary: Someone is terrorizing the public by taking their comfort away from them. You're trying to heal from being in prison, and Spencer helps as much as he can.

Warnings: canon violence, canon language, canon talk of death, methods of kill

Season Five Masterlist

Author’s Note: I do not own anything from Criminal Minds. All credit goes to their respective owners. If there are any warnings that exceed the normal death/kills from the show, I will list them.

x

The next morning, Spencer places the photo of the dead cop on the board where all the other victims are, and the other officers immediately become pissed.

"Those gotta be on the board, too? What's the next great bit of advice from the FBI, huh?" an officer scoffs.

"Take it easy, Gardella. This ain't the time or the place," Detective Moreland steps in.

"If we hadn't listened to them, Liddy and I would be having our morning cup of coffee."

"We profiled that he was mission-oriented, and this kill doesn't fit that pattern," Hotch says. "The murder of Officer Liddy is a significant departure even for someone as unpredictable as this unsub. This was a murder of self-preservation just to get away. This location is not his MO. It was secluded with no audience. He stabbed instead of cut."

"So?"

"This was a personal attack," you say. "He must have pissed him off somehow."

"He's out prowling the streets right now looking for another victim so the city will pay attention to him. You've been handed a list of locations that we think might be of particular interest to the unsub. We're asking you to double and even triple your surveillance in these areas."

"Keep your wits about you, guys," Detective Moreland sighs.

"Detective, we'd like to speak to you."

"Sure. That's it, fellas. Thank you."

Detective Moreland follows the team into a private conference room to speak.

"Detective, the story has become about Officer Liddy. We need to get the attention back on the unsub or we're afraid that he may lash out. Up until now, the unsub has been disciplined enough to avoid killing if the circumstances weren't right. Like an arsonist won't set a fire if there's someone there to see him leaving while smoke is billowing out the windows."

"What if we say that one of the buildings didn't burn? How would the unsub react to that?" Rossi asks.

"He'd be compelled to come back and finish the job."

"Then we pick one of the previous locations and show that the community has rallied around it, that they're not afraid of him."

"Okay, so we need to find a location with the greatest symbolism up to this point. That's easy. The church. We use the city's fallen hero as inspiration," Emily says.

"Should we get the chief of police or the mayor to make a statement? It could help with inspiring people," JJ asks.

"We've got something better. Captain Collins' widow."

This doesn't sit well with JJ.

"I cannot ask her to do that, Rossi."

"She's highly visible, and she's someone with whom the entire city can sympathize. When she tells the city not to be afraid to come back to church, the unsub can't ignore that."

"What happens if this draws the unsub to Meg?"

"We keep her with us. We'll take the bastard down."

JJ has no choice but to go to Meg and ask her to do the impossible. Meg, however, won't do it. Hotch called the Mayor to ask him for a press conference, but he too won't sign off on it.

"How long has it been since Officer Liddy was stabbed?" Rossi asks after Hotch gets off the phone with the mayor.

"Sixteen hours."

"If the unsub was going to go out on a spree, he would have done it by now. Why hasn't he?"

"He killed a cop. He's probably laying low."

"Maybe, but we've profiled this guy like an arsonist. It's the aftermath that matters, not the act."

"Do you think he's feeding off the grief of the police department instead?"

"If so, then he's found something new to get off on," Rossi shrugs.

Hotch stops Detective Moreland when he walks by.

"Detective. I need a list of establishments where your officers socialize--bars, restaurants, pool halls, everything you've got."

"Sure."

You use the desk phone in the conference room to call Penelope and the rest flock over when they hear her voice fill the room.

"Comrades, I have amassed employment records for police hangouts. What do you want me to look for?"

"White males twenty-five to thirty."

"I need more than that."

"Arsonists typically have a stronger relationship with their mothers than their fathers, so look for single-mother households with a history of abuse, bad divorce, or paternal violence," Spencer says.

"Manifestations in the son, too, Garcia like juvenile arrests, petty crimes, and a significant drop in grades," Derek adds.

"Thank you, boys. That will do. Oh, this looks like something."

"What do you have?" Rossi asks.

"Connor O'brien. His dad went to prison for... Oh, lordy... not only setting mom's apartment on fire but making it look like it was an accident so he could collect on the insurance. Then Connor testified against his father at the trial. He was ten."

"Where is he now?"

"He works at the quality cafe."

"Guys, it's across the street," Detective Moreland says.

"That's why I felt eyes on us before the profile. He's been watching this whole time."

"Thanks, Garcia."

Your team and Detective Moreland head across the street to the cafe but luck would have it that Connor isn't there. An employee says he stepped out for a smoke break but that was ten minutes ago. The officers who are supposed to be on patrol duty are sitting at the counter, and Moreland isn't happy about that.

"What are you guys doing here?"

"We were done with our shifts, and Sowe poured one out for Liddy."

"Did you talk to him about the recent murder?" you ask.

"Of course. We said we'd catch the coward."

Idiots. "You pissed him off."

"I got the address," Hotch says. "1121 Admiral, Apartment 16."

"That's on the other side of town."

"Dave, you and Morgan meet Prentiss and SWAT on site."

Rossi and Derek leave the cafe and head over to the apartment where Prentiss and SWAT are. The place is empty, of course, and it looks like he isn't going back there. It looks to Emily that he is going to make this one his final stand before killing himself. Located on his wall is every article that was printed about his mother's death. He has the prayer card from her funeral and birthday cards--all of them signed by his mom, not his dad. His dad is already in prison so he can't hurt him, so he goes after places that remind him of his father. The only way he can get through to his dad is with violence.

They come back empty-handed, and you call Penelope for more information on his father. If you have any hope of finding Connor, you have to know who his father is.

"His name is William O'Brien, aka Billy. He was a connected guy who specialized in turning faulty wiring into a three-alarm fire. Because of Connor's testimony, he was given a life sentence for the murder of his wife, but it was recently reduced to the possibility of parole in five years."

"When was the sentence reduced?" Hotch asks.

"One month ago."

"There's the stressor," you say. "The killings started right after."

"Why would he do this to get back at his father if he's already in jail?" Detective Moreland asks.

"Somebody's gotta pay. He's a tough guy now."

Connor is so pissed that he already found another victim in the local library. At the news, JJ becomes upset, especially when she finds out that a baby was with her when the unsub killed the woman. You put a hand on her shoulder for comfort and she grabs your hand with a slight smile that tells you she appreciates this gesture.

"Where did it happen?"

"In a library about a mile from here. The mother was found next to her crying baby."

"Is the baby okay?" you ask.

"Not a scratch, but they haven't found the knife yet."

"It's his memento now. He won't stop until he's killed as many people as possible."

"We have to go to our original plan... Create an event he can't resist coming to. He has to believe he was unsuccessful," Rossi says. "Is the mother already gone?"

"She bled out at the scene. The EMTs stopped working on her."

"Tell them to keep trying to resuscitate her."

"She's dead."

"The unsub doesn't know that. Tell the press she made it, that she's hanging on for dear life, and we've organized a candlelight vigil for her tonight. If he's mission-oriented and he thinks she's still alive, he'll have to come back for her. We'll be waiting."

"Let the husband know what's going on so he's aware," Hotch says.

"Have the press there. Tell them to go live and to keep the focus on us as much as they can."

Meg, the military captain's wife, came into the police station as soon as she heard a mother had died. She wants to help, and JJ is more than happy to let her in on what she needs her to do. Meg agreed to do a press conference speaking about her husband in hopes it'll draw Connor out. He will be watching and he will be pissed.

"As many of you know, my husband Captain Paul Collins was murdered this past Sunday. The support I have received has been inspiring which is why I'm asking everyone to support the latest victim, Julia Vecchia, who is fighting for her life right now at St. Frazier's Hospital. On behalf of my husband, we are asking you to come together at St. Frazier's Church to hold a candlelight vigil tonight. Please, help restore this great city. Thank you."

That night, your team and Moreland's team are in the crowd of people waiting for Connor to show up. He won't have a choice. He will have to come here and ruin this experience for everyone by killing someone. You're biting your thumbnail nervously because you can't help but think about the possibility that you'll screw up.

"Do you think this'll work?" Moreland asks.

"It should. We've shifted the public's focus from Connor to his victim. That should make him angry enough to show up and try to do something about it."

Something prickles at the back of your neck and you remove your nail from your mouth and look into the crowd. You look to your right and see Connor stalking angrily towards the crowd, a knife in hand.

"Rossi, there he is. He's right there!"

"Morgan, go," Hotch says.

"Connor O'brien? Put your hands where I can see them and get down on the ground!" Connor immediately bails as soon as he sees Derek, but your friend is a lot faster than him. "Hey! FBI! Stop right there! Stop moving!" He tackles Connor to the ground and pins his hands behind his back. "Stop fighting! That's enough! It's over!"

"She's dead! There no possible way she could have survived!" he wails.

"Connor O'Brien, you're under arrest. We know why you came down here. Do you?"

"I had to make sure. She... she's dead, right?"

Derek pulls him but the smile doesn't leave Connor's face.

"What are you smiling at? You're going to jail," Detective Moreland glares.

"In jail, they treat cop killers like Kings."

"First you gotta see how we treat 'em at the station. Get him out of here."

Connor is taken away and Rossi approaches you with a small smile.

"You did really well. That's what not letting your fear control you looks like."

"Thank you, Rossi," you smile.

Rossi pulls you into a hug and you savor the moment. I did it. I overcame this obstacle. Enough is... Enou... Maybe another day. You and Spencer sit in the same seats on the plane as you were when you first arrived, and he has his arm around your shoulders. There it is. His touch. His loving and delicate touch. So comforting.

"It's hard to believe that guy was so starved for attention that he murdered all those people just to one-up his father," Emily scoffs.

"I spoke with Detective Moreland about Connor's father. He said the older police knew to give him a wide berth. He didn't say much, but when he did, people listened."

"The adult version of a bully," Derek chuckles.

"There are lots of ways that sons defeat their fathers."

"I just keep getting PhDs," Spencer says with a smile.

The others still converse about the case but you look up at Spencer with a smile on your face. There is so much love in your eyes that it makes him blush slightly under your gaze. 

"I am so proud of you."

You lean up and kiss him quickly, and he pulls you as close as you can get. Your head rests on his chest and he kisses the top of your head.

"I'm so proud of you," he whispers back.

"When a father gives to his son, both laugh; when his son gives to his father, both cry." - William Shakespeare

x

Follow my library blog @aqueenslibrary​​​​​​ where I reblog all my stories, so you can put notifications on there without the extra stuff :)

[kindlespark]

hello, this is the anon who sent august that really long fhjy ask - thanks for your thoughts!! they helped me understand some of the season's strengths that weren't as apparent to my tastes - i think you're so right that the temple was a high point and i greatly sympathize with the sentiment of like, it all could've been so much more compelling if the bad kids had keyed into that more (which i think is also partly on brennan's presentation of info as GM, ofc - not saying it's anyone's responsibility alone). i'm still not sold on porter that much, but i can understand your perspective and i do appreciate some of his moments - i enjoyed him being a terrible teacher to gorgug because of the tension it created within the party (isn't this bad teaching? is it not? that self-doubt was really dramatically satisfying, especially in the twist payoff). i also think you're right that the finale truly muddies the waters of what the ratgrinders' thematic positioning was - as much sense as it makes that they're genderbent foils, it feels like each member gets less and less pointed - kipperlily and riz are the clearest parallel followed by kristen and buddy, but then like ruben and fig's interactions were essentially just bits, oisin and adaine basically boil down to differing access to generational wealth, and then gorgug/maryann and ivy/fabian are basically just like rage/apathy and ranged/melee. and i don't necessarily think fleshing this all out would've made the season good, but i think (and i want to say this came up in the podcast) it was overambitious/overcomplex to combine the ratgrinders' story with porter's - hence the very confused finale. on a more positive note, i actually totally agree that the downtime system was fun and thematic! the reason i cited that aspect as a negative is more because of the eventual execution, where a lot of the ratgrinder elements got sidelined and relegated to "we'll resolve that later" - as flavorful as it was, there were times when i felt like it didn't mesh with the beats brennan expected or it stymied the group's efforts to investigate things in favor of siloing them. this is a more meta criticism but another reason i don't quite gel with the porter story is because it's the reason brennan asked emily to play as fig this season even though she didn't want to, and while i trust that she genuinely chose to go along with him in that, it definitely felt like she (and brennan) struggled to find a new throughline/arc for fig (especially since the ruben thing went nowhere) and i don't feel like that sacrifice was worth what we got with regard to porter (and ruben, as her foil) - when i think of fig's storyline this season it just feels kind of empty/reactive. anyway, i hope it's clear i don't say this to argue with your opinions and i certainly don't begrudge anyone hoping for a satisfying narrative from d20 especially considering their past successes (i couldn't agree more that fhsy and tuc are some of their finest work in this regard - easily two of my favorite seasons alongside acofaf!). i'm still exploring my relationship to subtextual readings of actual plays - i love literary criticism so i appreciate many fan theories as emotional/philosophical exercises, but with TTRPGs i often have a harder time as compared to pre-written material given their more improvisatory/fluctuating nature. as such, the shooting schedule looms large here, and i mourn What Could've Been if the cast had gotten to rest and reflect between sessions right alongside you... ah well, there's always another season <3

hello!!! thank u for a really great ask!!! sorry it took me so long to get to it, i literally haven't been logged into tumblr on desktop since i saw it and typing up a good reply on mobile would've been impossible LOL

i pretty much agree with all your points here; especially the one with fig's arc this season. i think emily should've trusted her gut and retired her after her near perfect arc in fhsy, and that brennan shouldn't have had her in this season just for the porter reveal (which could've been a fun twist even with a new character, given that emily would've still had her suspicions). her arc this season is rly meandering and inconclusive which is such a shame. the problem is that i just REALLY love porter as a villain LOL. or rather, i love porter as a concept of the villain he could've been but that was never really treated seriously as such by the show. he represents so much of what i thought this season's themes would address--he's a symbol (as a teacher) of the unfair and fucked up school system and the power it holds over kids, as well as the concepts of rage and manipulation and radicalisation and revenge. that shit is super interesting to me (also as a teacher), and if all of this was engaged with it would've been incredible. alas!

but yeah me and august were talking abt ur ask like ur literally right and we wish we had ur foresight for the season tho LMAO. like perhaps my blinders were on because truly up until the last three episodes brennan was giving me everything, conceptually, that i wanted. i wanted trg to be sympathetic villains, and they were! i wanted kipperlilly and lucy to be best friends and have tragic yuri potential, and they did! i wanted jace to also be a victim of porter's, and he was! there was a moment before the last three episodes where i was convinced nothing could go wrong and this would be my favourite d20 season ever LMFAOOOOOO OH HOW THE PRIDE COMES BEFORE THE FALL

wrt literary criticism and d20, i totally get what you mean. i've been a real hater about this season but i'm usually pretty forgiving about the improvisatory and comedic aspects of d20 seasons believe it or not LMAO. m&m is one of my favourite d20 seasons of all time, i do not care that the ending flopped spectacularly bc of the tone, dice rolls and bad jokes. acoc is another one of my favourite seasons of all time, but the back half of it is super lacklustre in comparison to the first half, and i was completely zoned out of the rushed and anticlimactic final combat until calroy came in. these things did not taint my enjoyment of the show--it's always been forgivable and understandable to me because well, yeah, comes with the improv liveplay territory!! i love analysing the shows thematically and have my critique but ultimately understand there's things no one can predict or account for. i think fhjy's case in particular was just so egregious to me; the themes felt so much more obvious, the character hooks right there, the set-up so good, that i truly had never been so disappointed by a d20 finale helppppp

like i'm used to d20 seasons not having themes that are perfectly executed or followable; when i make my posts about wishing that fhjy was about the unfair school system, it's more like... wishing that anything could've happened that would've made it possible to come to my own conclusions on that theme. i'm ALWAYS reading too deep for my analysis of d20, and i'm super aware of it--this is part of the fun of it for me, thinking about implications and characters the creators didn't have time to, fleshing out ideas and subplots that didn't go anywhere, death of the author and all that. it's just that this season's main plot and themes, more than any other d20 season for me so far, felt so completely incoherent, despite its direction being so completely obvious to me, that i couldn't even pretend to come up with coherent analysis for it and i was left absolutely flabbergasted LOLLL

and maybe that's on me! it's definitely not a mistake i'm going to take into another d20 season, i've actually made my peace with the fact im probably never gonna get another fhsy or tuc or even acoc from d20 again (or at least the main IH cast) and that's okay..... i actually almost relapsed into taz the other day i was so desperate for a good ending AHJFSKFSFSFS

anyway this got long sorry i had a lot of thoughts. thank u for ur messages anon!

[clonerightsagenda]

Nica Stamatis?

(Ask meme here)

First impression

Greater Boston is so cruel (complimentary) for making our first look at Nica basically the only time she's happy and confident. She's going to be famous! I don't think I knew quite what to make of the podcast or its characters then but man was I not prepared for the journey she would go on.

Impression now

:( <3 She goes through so much! She is complex and messy and interesting! She drives people away and lashes out and wants to be noticed but doesn't know how to ask. I am so sad about her. Actually I think she's doing a little better by the end of season 4 but I didn't retain that season very well, I need to relisten sometime.

Favorite moment

Nica gets so many great monologues, but I remain haunted by the story she tells at Leon's funeral and how she concludes "In that moment, I was famous." It ties back to her intro monologue in a brutal, unexpected way and sets up how the rest of her story so far will be her dealing with being infamous due to her poor choices. The funeral episode is where I first realized how good Greater Boston was going to be.

Idea for a story

I would have loved to see how Nica would've handled it if she's gotten 'possessed' by Leon the way Michael did. I think that might make her worse actually.

Unpopular opinion

Not enough people talk about Greater Boston for me to know what standard opinions are, but in-universe I think it's interesting that people talk a lot about the things Nica did wrong assisting the Lottery but don't dwell as much on Leon helping. Iirc Leon was the one who helped frame Isaiah which - as Isaiah notes - could have gotten him (a Black teen) killed.

Favorite relationship

Nica's connection with Emily is so interesting. She's spying on her but then genuinely becomes her friend, and Emily is awful but Nica gets why she's awful and sympathizes with her even while she's stabbing her in the back. Emily is still on her way to rock bottom, but I think if anyone is willing to extend a hand when she hits it, it'll be Nica. Emily will probably spit on it when she does, but you never know.

Favorite headcanon

Nica is probably still banned from several Italian restaurants on the North End. Some crimes can never be forgiven.

[tenpintsof-sundrop]

sorry for dragging it on, but i saw your last post. (f the fandom lmao. it’s truly flawed and idk why people can’t keep thoughts to theirselves 🤦)

but i do have one question. did your experience ruin every character? like do you still like Elle, JJ, and Morgan? (the characters i personally consider to be a bit less oversaturated, or who i see much less posts about, and who are also my faves lol)

it's fine, I totally understand that people would have follow ups

no, my enjoyment of the other characters has not been ruined, but I still hesitate to rewatch the show and participate in the fandom because of my mixed feelings about the fandom as a whole.

I still reblog gifsets of JJ and Emily because I can still casually enjoy them, and I would reblog Morgan if I saw more gifsets of him in existence, but people don't gif him enough (if people have any good gifsets of him, please send them my way). I have a fic for Morgan in my drafts that I have been heavily considering finishing, but I haven't quite had the motivation to do so, and same thing with a MILF JJ fic that I drafted out a few weeks ago

I really wouldn't mind posting fics for those characters because they are way less popular and I feel like the crossover between the fans who only watch the show for Spencer (or even fans who don't watch the show at all and just thirst over MGG via tiktoks) and people who enjoy all the characters equally and would enjoy JJ fics and Morgan fics is not a venn diagram but two separate circles.

also, I have such an intense love for Gideon platonically. I feel like there is not nearly enough love and passion in the fandom for Gideon as a pillar character in the series, and I have mentioned it before - how I have a passion for collecting father figures from different series. John Kramer, Gideon, Dale from TWD (and yes, it's because my own father irl is so shit) - and Gideon is a character who truly warms my heart and gives me such a fondness and I would rewatch the show over and over again just for him

also on a side note, one of the biggest flaws of the fandom and one of the huge reasons I don't interact with the fandom and left - while on discussion of JJ and Morgan - is because of the treatment of characters aside from Spencer.

people ruthelessly hate JJ but uphold Emily, because most people believe that Emily is 'canonically' a lesbian, while JJ is in a main het relationship and she is a wife and mother - she gets endlessly criticised for 'choosing' Will over Emily (as if the network would have ever hosted a main queer relationship, and as if the homophobia of the network is the choice of a fucking fictional character to put that blame on), she gets criticised for spending too much time at work instead of being with her kids when one of her main storylines is about her physically fighting to save her child, and yet she's also criticised for being too soft and emotional when one of the best parts of her character is that her empathy as a mother brings a unique perspective to the cases? people act like she's cold and ruthless for not being with her children constantly, yet she's too emotional when she sympathizes with cases involving children???

(like is she a bad mother or not, please fucking decide)

also, I will never forget the post where someone said unironically that JJ 'ruined' Spencer's life by yelling at him one time, that she's a horrible friend to him, and that he loves Henry more than she does. thank you, I'm out

and not to mention how a skinny sickly looking beanpole like Reid and a crusty dusty geriatric liver spotted old man like Hotch get paraded around as if they are the hottest pieces of ass in the world and they have ten thousand fucking fics each and Morgan is suffering for CRUMBS while being the hottest man on the fucking show, and it is literally just because he's black. like the fandom will never say it out loud, but the white men get more attention from fangirls than he does because they are white

the fandom is flawed from the ground-up. and if I did ever finish and posts the fics I have in my drafts, idk if I would still be motivated to post that much about the fandom in general? especially because I am more into Teen Wolf right now because that's what I've been watching (which - I need to pick back up on it).

I do really like discussing the source material because it's something I've been involved with and enjoying for more than a decade now, so idk. if people sent me CM asks I might answer them, I might not. I like discussing and making meta about all the fandoms I'm in because I am fucking yappy in general

[princess-of-the-corner]

Princess Bee Thoughts

(Gonna be honest, mostly I just didn’t want to deal with the ask’s text limit)

1) I can honestly see, of everyone Chloé “reconnects” with, she gets on best with Luka. And like, part of it is Luka’s whole “Heartsong” thing, he can “hear” Chloé’s sincerity. But the other part is Chloé didn’t really interact much with Luka before it all went to shit, and Luka’s spent the past what, twenty? Thirty?-ish years hearing about her mostly from Sabrina and Adrien. And neither of them are exactly singing her praises, but they talk about her as an actual person, as apposed to “Spoiled Rich Bitch” (Marinette). So Luka sees her a bit more favourably than the others do, and it lets them get to know each other easier. Plus, Chloé’s first act is making sure Luka’s treating Sabrina well, but she’s also clearly “I mean, she MARRIED you, I trust she made the right choice!” Like, she isn’t being controlling, just verifying, and she’s genuinely happy for them. 

2) I feel like reconnecting with Adrien goes … less well. At first. Like, it isn’t necessarily BAD. Just awkward. They aren’t sure what to say to each other. And part of it would be that Adrien can’t really be honest with Chloé right now. Like, I don’t know when in Princess Bee Chloé leaves exactly, but did she know Adrien was Chat Noir? She certainly didn’t know Gabriel was Hawk Moth. And now everyone is wary of Chloé, thinking she might be the new Butterfly. So Adrien has to be suspicious of her, so even if he WANTS to, he can’t tell her any of this … and I could see him wanting to.

Say whatever you will about them, but Adrien might feel Chloé would GET it. She missed Emilie just as much as he did. She was just as hurt by Gabriel retreating into himself. It wasn’t quite the same, because they aren’t her parents, but it still mattered to Chloé in the same ways it mattered to Adrien. When Adrien was dealing with all the reveals, when Hawk Moth turned out to be Gabe, when he died, when his mom came back? Yes, Adrien had plenty of support, but to almost everyone else, the situation was very alien. Yes, it sucked. Yes, they all sympathized. But none of them really GOT IT the way Adrien feels Chloé would. So, when they meet back up again, part of Adrien wants to tell her all of it. Wants to say, “Hey, it wasn’t anyone’s fault my mom disappeared, she and dad were fucking around with a Miraculous, that’s why it all went fucky,” but he can’t right now, until they’re sure she isn’t the new villain.

-

1.) Yeah I can see it! Less baggage overall because they only met like. Once or twice. I will say that like. Chloé doesn’t get discussed a /lot/ during the inbetween years. Like back when everything first happened, there was still comments but over time there’s a lot less. And yeah anything that comes up is just a passign ‘god remember this asshole?’.

2.) oof yeah there’s a lto they don’t know. Chloé doesn’t know about the Gabe being Hawkmoth thing, she believes the thing the public does of ‘Emilie probs killed him after he tried to kill her’. But on the flipside, Adrien doesn’t know that her father kicked her in favor of Zoé, or the full extent of Audrey’s actions.

And yeah Adrien can’t- he doesn’t know if he can trust her or not. Especially with the new Butterfly popping up right as she returns (totally a coincidence actually) He knows that she theoretically has the capacity for good, both back then and even now. But he doesn’t know what choices she’s made in the meantime.

[k7l4d4]

K Reviews and Rants: Miraculous Ladybug Season 5! Episode 22

Alright, now onto the episode where we are supposed to sympathize with Andre! Emphasis on "supposed to."

There are several things I could focus on with this episode. I could call attention to the show arbitrarily trying to have Caline attempt to reach out to Chloe only to get her gesture slapped away, despite the prior episode having her "realize there isn't any good in her" at the end. We could focus on how Gabe is once more being painted as sympathetic, alongside Nathalie, because of videos from Emilie, despite the fact that they've known about those videos all this time and knowingly chose to go against her wishes anyway, even though they had known for YEARS that she was going to die. There is a lot I could focus on.

But no, what I'm going to focus on is the episode trying to depict Andre as sympathetic and honestly failing. This episode tries to double-down on the idea that Andre secretly isn't a bad guy... but that's wrong. No matter how pushy or bratty his daughter and wife might be, Andre is a grown man, one that has basically been mayor longer then the majority of the cast has been alive, with his wife spending ninety percent of her time overseas, long enough that she had a kid with someone else (not that the series ever acknowledges this!!).

This episode tries to frame Andre as having no choice but to obey Chloe's whims... and anyone, and I do mean ANYONE, who has kids should know that that is a load of horse shit. Andre goes out of his way in this episode to downplay or ignore his actions, and treats his running away from the consequences of his own actions as some noble deed, rather then cowardice. His claims that "City Hall is no longer for sale" is a farce; by abandoning his position, he is, if anything, making it MORE vulnerable because there is no guarantee that whoever replaces him won't be able to be manipulated, and he's leaving all the damage he inflicted on the city over the course of his tenure in place. The man is a coward, and a social parasite of the highest order.

Beyond that, I think it's time to get onto the review. There is too much to go over and too little that I can use to accurately express my frustration. I hope you aren't disappointed, but please mind the profanity.

Episode 22: Collusion

Alright, we open with Gabe monologuing to his wife, once again ignoring how he's going against her wishes for his own selfish inability to let go and move the fuck on with his life, WHY DO WE KEEP DOING THIS SHIT!?!? Also, he mentions something about a cycle. Now, if this were a better written story, this might hint towards there being some kind of time loop going on, or what have you... but it's not, and I've got no fucking clue what this asshole means.

Considering we literally had it revealed this Season that Emilie explicitly DID NOT WANT HIM to pursue the Miraculouses in her name, him saying he swore in her name that he would reunite them feels disgusting on multiple levels. He is explicitly using her as justification for his own obsession, with no regard for the harm he's caused his son in the process. Get bent, asshole.

And now we get Nathalie watching the videos from Emilie who is trying to justify Gabe's actions by how he just gets too focused on his goals and that he's doing it all to make his wife happy, all while ignoring how this season has literally shown Gabe ignoring his son's happiness on every level and trying to dictate his life. You can't try and paint a man as being haunted by his actions and driven beyond belief in the sake of those he cares about while ALSO having him act as a direct and deliberate obstacle towards the happiness of his only child!! Also, Nathalie is far too late to start giving a shit about Gabe's actions, especially as she's refusing to bite the bullet and just TELL THE POLICE WHAT HE'S BEEN DOING ALL THIS TIME. Seriously, STOP TRYING TO FUCKING PORTRAY NATHALIE AS SOME KIND OF MOTHER FIGURE FOR ADRIEN!! SHE HAS STOOD BY AND ENABLED ALL OF GABE'S BULLSHIT ALL THIS TIME!! THEY HAVE KNOWN ABOUT THESE VIDEOS ALL THIS TIME SO ALL HER WATCHING THEM IS DOING IS HER THROWING A FUCKING PITY PARTY FOR HERSELF!!! GET OVER IT ALREADY!!!

Now we get a montage of Adrien and Marinette spending their morning together through a video call. If it's meant to be sweet or cute, it's kinda undermined by the fact that being that fixated on your phone, up to the point of dragging it with you while you are brushing your teeth, is NOT healthy. Oh, and then we get Adrien walking into his kitchen where Gabe asks him if he's told Marinette about him moving to London... and for all that's good and decent in this world, I cannot fucking get WHY THE IDEA OF A LONG DISTANCE RELATIONSHIP DOESN'T OCCUR TO THEM. Seriously, they are literally showing off one of the premiere methods of making a long-distance relationship work, VIDEO CALLS!!! It would honestly be more impactful to focus on how him moving to London would impact his abilities to be a superhero, or how it means he won't be able to hang out with his friends like Nino and the rest anymore, not just fixating on why it's all about him and Marinette!!

"I'm doing this for your happiness," he says as if he hasn't literally threatened his son's girlfriend into breaking things off with him and dictates who his son can and can't hang out with. Nathalie offers a token effort of sticking up for Adrien, which I'm ignoring because again TOO FUCKING LATE BITCH. And STOP WITH THE FUCKING PANCAKE METAPHOR!!! IT DIDN'T WORK TO START WITH AND IT JUST SOUNDS STUPID!!!

One thing that kind of baffles me is why Adrien or Plagg think Adrien going to London is something he can refuse. Abusive asshole or not, Gabe is his guardian; if he decides to move Adrien to London, there's nothing he can do to prevent it short of running away. Aaannnddd we get a sappy comment about how him and Marinette will last forever, no matter what. HA!! HAHAH!!! No. Not even gonna pretend to take that seriously, it's too dumb. Also, really dumb thing; Adrien was STILL ON HIS VIDEO CALL when he walked into breakfast, and I didn't see him turn it off before Gabe dropped his bomb, so that should've honestly revealed at least SOMETHING of what is going on to Marinette, yet she doesn't seem to know. Let's see if that changes. And multiple failed attempts at a kiss in a row and I'm gagging; this is dumb. This isn't cute. This is just obnoxious.

WHY THE FUCK ARE THEIR CLASSMATES STILL FIXATED ON THIS!? THEY ARE TOGETHER, MISSION SOLVED, GET OVER IT AND GET TO CLASS!!! THEY AREN'T A LIVING SOAP OPERA FOR YOU TO GAWK AT!!! Rose... sweet, innocent Rose... FUCK OFF. Do NOT DEMAND SOMEONE KISS IN FRONT OF YOU!! THERE IS SO MUCH FUCKING WRONG WITH THAT I CANNOT EVEN BEGIN TO GET INTO WHY THAT IS WRONG!!! GET A THERAPIST GIRL!!! Also, shut up about the "will seal the eternal love" BS; that isn't how love works, that is not how ANY healthy and lasting relationship works, and you are fucking old enough to know this by now, who the fuck am I kidding, this is the girl who honestly wanted to be a hairstylist for mythological animals!!! I'm honestly half-expecting the reason for this scene is meant to be one of Astruc's terrible attempts to be "in on the joke" by "signaling" to viewers that he fully gets how annoying dragging out the kiss is, but trying to reassure them it's for a good cause. Too bad it's condescending as hell!!

Yeah, the way that Rose is talking really feels like this is badly done meta-commentary, given her gushing about Adrien and Marinette being the "Cutest sweethearts ever" that they've been "waiting forever for." It just plain DOES NOT WORK, because an actual group of people openly and deliberately shipping two people they actually know like that is uncomfortable as hell, and it's the kind of thing that kills a ship for me (there's a reason I don't like Molly x Ollie for TGAMM).

"We're just waiting for the right time!" No, you really aren't seeing as how the two of you literally both tried to kiss each other twice already only to stop when you saw the other person was trying to initiate it. That isn't "waiting for the right time" that's "pussyfooting around something you are well past the point of being able to just fucking DO by now!!"

Now they are doing the stereotypical "no you are" thing. Not cute, that's annoying as fuck. Also, them openly calling each other perfect is disgusting to me, considering how much this series itself has emphasized the toxicity of "perfect" as a concept. Them acting like lovestruck idiots gushing about how "perfect" the other is comes off as a red flag to me, not something sweet and/or entertaining. Even their classmates are fucking sick of it. Once again the show proves it can't do self-awareness to save its life.

Now we are in the classroom and Sabrina is apparently officially "good now," since she chooses to sit next to Nathaniel instead of Chloe. I'm honestly surprised Chloe didn't try and yell at her or anything and just sighed in exasperation. How long before this show makes things worse? And we get the grade-school insults upon seeing Adrien and Marinette, only this time she's focusing on Adrien. They really are committed to having her burn down every possible bridge they can.

Also, the way they are having Marinette confront Chloe by talking about how she was able to get rid of Lila, how she had to leave because of all her lies, while gripping Chloe's desk and looming over her... just the positioning and the way she's talking makes HER come across as the bully. Seriously, there is NO WAY TO MAKE HAVING YOUR PROTAGONIST THREATEN TO DO ALL SHE CAN TO GET SOMEONE KICKED OUT OF SCHOOL LOOK GOOD!!!

Now we get a look at Lila's lair, base, whatever this weird room with a map of Paris and a web of photos connected by strings is supposed to be. It's really disturbing to take in just how much of her life she's apparently willing to waste for... we haven't even been given a MOTIVE FOR HER YET. This isn't just pathetic, this is unhealthy. And we get a scene of Chloe choosing to play music and make a spectacle of herself. She isn't a threat. This, this petulant CHILD is not a threat. WHY IS THIS SHOW SO OBSESSED WITH MAKING HER LOOK LIKE SHE'S A THREAT!? THERE IS NO WAY TO TAKE HER SERIOUSLY AS ONE, SHE IS JUST ANNOYING!!!

Also, as an aside, as someone who has gone to school, any students unironically saying they care about the lesson is sus. On the other hand, them wanting her to quit being distracting is totally in-character; having someone be a jerk and loud is ANNOYING no matter where or when it happens. Also, oddly enough, while she took the wrong thing away from the lesson, she apparently WAS paying attention to it enough to correctly name and describe the subjects of it. It makes it a bit odd why Thomas insists she's dumb; lazy and unmotivated, maybe, but this scene makes it feel like the issue is that she thinks she doesn't need to apply herself. Then again, she's apparently ignorant of the fact that spending money makes it go away, and she can't expect to coast by on her family's collective wealth; as fucking awful as both of her parents are, they at least actually WORK and made their money.

Yup, Ms. Mendeleiev immediately proves to be just as, if not MORE spineless than Damocles. Marinette decides to scold Chloe over causing their pregnant teacher stress (despite her not seeming stressed out in the slightest), instead of Chloe once again abusing her father's authority to bully someone into doing what she wants. Alright, that's a choice I guess. And as meanly as she phrased it, Chloe's right; none of the class can STOP Chloe from abusing her dad's power and authority, only HE CAN.

What makes this stupider is that if Chloe was able to bully her dad into doing shit like this, WHY HASN'T SHE DONE IT BEFORE!?! For fuck's sake, this season has bent over backwards to make it clear that Chloe doesn't give a shit about protecting her reputation or being anything less then a complete and utter fucking pain in the ass, so why the fuck has it taken THIS FUCKING LONG for Caline to "realize" that Chloe is a cheater and a pain in the ass. If she was able to make her dad allow her to get away with playing music in class, WHY HASN'T SHE DONE IT BEFORE NOW!? The big fucking problem with all this is that if Chloe was ALWAYS supposed to be this bad, why hasn't she tried shit like this before?! WHY!?

Oh, and Andre isn't even pretending to give Chloe's whims legitimacy and just tells the school to let her do whatever she wants, and Ms. Mendeleiev keeps proving she's useless. "He's my superior." NO HE FUCKING ISN'T!! THE MAYOR OF PARIS HAS NO AUTHORITY LIKE THIS OVER THE SCHOOLS OF PARIS!! IT WAS LITERALLY A PLOT POINT IN SEASON 2 THAT HE HAS LIMITED ACTUAL AUTHORITY OVER THE SCHOOLS!!! GOD FUCKING DAMMIT!!!!

And now Lila has Chloe faking Marinette hurt her... I can see where this is going. And wow, Chloe seriously forgot that she's already been ratted out as a liar to Miss B, this is fucking stupid. And yup, immediately throwing her weight around. And now they are gonna shoot Chloe's one act of genuine kindness towards Miss B in the foot, just like they did everything else. Honestly, them having her try and reach out to Chloe NOW of all times doesn't work, considering that last episode involved her "realizing that Chloe has no goodness in her." FUCK THIS NOISE.

"We all tried to help you." THE FUCK YOU DID!!! YOU HAVE DONE JACK SHIT TO HELP HER!! WHERE WERE YOU WHEN HER MOTHER VERBALLY ABUSED HER ON LIVE TV!? WHERE WERE YOU WHEN CHLOE WAS CHEATING!? WHERE WERE YOU WHEN CHLOE HAS BEEN ABUSING HER DAD'S AUTHORITY FOR WHO KNOWS HOW LONG!? YOU HAVE NEVER DONE SHIT TO HELP HER, YOU ARE JUST GASLIGHTING HER!! If she wasn't meant to be the bad guy, this would be more disgusting then it already is.

Yada yada, Chloe being awful, Mendeleiev being a spineless worm, Hawkmoth tries an Akumatization, Caline calms herself down. This would be more effective if it weren't for the fact that he successfully Akumatized her LAST TIME despite her not even being the actual fucking target; them introducing the possibility of an Akumatization being rejected was awesome at first, but now it just feels pathetic. Also, them making it look like Bustier's gonna cry doesn't work when her tone of voice NEVER FUCKING CHANGES.

I'm just... I'm literally fast-fowarding so much of this since it's nothing but contrivance. This is bullshit. This is SHIT. I'm just waiting for it to get to the scene where Gabe meets with the Mayor, because so far this is just engineered idiocy, minute after minute of Chloe being a braindead, upper-class twit stereotype who makes me want to punch a wall. There isn't anything emotionally impactful about this, it's just INFURIATING.

Okay, that didn't take too long, and we get the Security Robots. Honestly? For starters, ignoring the fact that Andre does not have the authority to affect Paris' police force in the slightest, getting rid of these things DOES NOT EQUATE TO GETTING RID OF THE POLICE. You CAN have both, and if anything having them work in coordination would be the optimal choice in terms of ensuring that they are following their duties properly.

"It seems like Ladybug and Chat Noir are the ones enforcing the law in Paris." ...What is that even supposed to MEAN!? Outside of blatantly WEIRD stuff like that thing with the flying clone dinos and their patrols, they only deal with supervillain stuff. HOW does dealing with the one thing that NO police force, robotic or otherwise, could handle equate to them "being the ones enforcing the law in Paris." And Hawkmoth HAS MADE TECH CONTROLLING VILLAINS BEFORE IN THE FORM OF ROBUSTUS!!! I'm aware that it's Gabe and Tomoe pushing this, but Andre should KNOW about Robustus, meaning he should have a ready made reason to NOT ACCEPT THEM that doesn't involve badly executed arguments!!!

Seriously, this episode's entire root conflict basically relies on Andre somehow not remembering Robustus. Oh, and now Lila's infiltrating the hotel, which makes no sense as I'm pretty sure that the workers would be able to tell she's not one of them. Blah blah blah, pretentious rich girl sounds from Chloe... Lila using her video camera to spy on them...

Also, how the hell does Andre not realize that letting his daughter talk to him like she's his boss makes him look like a complete and utter loser in front of Tomoe and Gabe?

Lila is literally having Chloe say things she knows will make Gabe want to Akumatize her, clearly these two are criminal masterminds. /s

Wow, Gabe describes Chloe acting like a pretentious little brat as "not being cowardly." Even ignoring how he's clearly only doing this for Akuma reasons, this is fucking stupid.

Andre earns one point for pointing out that trying to ban superheroes is dumb as people love Ladybug and Chat Noir (not even mentioning the impossibility of actually ENFORCING such a ban)... and immediately loses it for not realizing that he has allowed Chloe to get away with PLENTY unreasonable bullshit, so him standing up on not BANNING HER ENTIRE CLASS FROM EVER GOING TO ANY HIGH SCHOOL is utterly toothless. Heck, he's not even standing up to her, as he's literally just standing up to her in the most superficial and tepid way imaginable.

Weird, when Gabe revealed he's taking Adrien out of Paris, even if she almost used her new grade school insult for him, Chloe almost sounded WORRIED about him not being around. I have zero doubts in my mind that if the show bothered to acknowledge this, it'd be because she's "upset at losing a new target to make suffer" or some pretentious shit like that. I feel like I'm using pretentious a lot.

And Andre once again proves to be a completely spineless JOKE when he "promises to do whatever Chloe wants" so she'll stop pestering him. My guy, it is so far past any point where you could salvage your image, you should've shut her down and had the staff take her to her room THE SECOND SHE CAME IN YELLING AT YOU WHILE YOU WERE IN A FUCKING MEETING!!! All admitting you are bowing to her whims does is make you look like a spineless jackass.

Oh, and Lila feeding Chloe's ego by saying that Chloe's engineered temper tantrum was a "real display of power." Yeah, how in the WORLD could Chloe have turned out so awful. /s

We are back to the class, all of them deciding to spend their afternoon at Juleka's place, ROSE SHUT THE FUCK UP ABOUT THE GODDAMN KISSES!!! Stop "awwwing" over them!! THEY ARE NOT THAT CUTE AS A COUPLE!!!!

And we're back to Gabe and Andre, Gabe's about to confront Andre, what was the fucking point with the scene at the boat?? They start off talking very familiar with each other, implying that they have history beyond both being Rich People In Paris, with Gabe basically pulling a "just trust me bro" to Andre's request for an explanation behind the robots. I'd honestly like one as well; what is even the fucking point of those stupid things?

"Remember when we were young and penniless?" No. NO. SHUT THE FUCK UP. YOU DO NOT GET TO DO THAT!! YOU DO NOT GET TO STOP AND REMINISCE ABOUT BEING POOR, NOT WHEN YOUR FUCKING NAME IS LITERALLY A TERM FOR BEING BORN INTO FUCKING WEALTH AND PRIVILEGE YOU CORRUPT PIECE OF SHIT!!! YOU DO NOT GET TO START TALKING ABOUT "THE GOOD OLD DAYS" AFTER ALL THIS FUCKING BULLSHIT, NOT WHEN YOU AND GABE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN PORTRAYED AS BEING RICH AS FUCK, EMILIE LITERALLY HAVING BEEN DESCRIBED AS FUCKING OLD MONEY!!! IF YOU WERE EVER FUCKING POOR FOR REAL I WOULD EAT MY LEFT FOOT!!!

"Don't you think we were much happier back then?" NO!! SHUT UP!!! YOU DO NOT GET TO GO "WOE IS ME" ABOUT BEING FUCKING RICH RIGHT NOW!! IT IS NOT A MATTER OF WHAT YOU HAVE NOW OR WHAT YOU HAD BACK THEN, ALL YOUR FUCKING PROBLEMS ARE ENTIRELY BECAUSE YOU ARE A CORRUPT, SPINELESS PIECE OF HUMAN FILTH!!!! YOU MADE YOUR CHOICES!!!! YOU CHOSE TO BE A FUCKING MONSTER!!! YOU DO NOT GET TO BLAME BEING WEALTHY!!! YOU HAVE NO FUCKING RIGHT TO DO THAT!!!!

"A woman who barely respects me, a selfish heartless daughter, and a city hall that I never wanted!" SHUT UP!! SHUT! THE FUCK!! UP!! STOP WHINING ABOUT HOW AWFUL YOUR LIFE IS!! YOUR WIFE DOESN'T RESPECT YOU BECAUSE SHE'S A BITCH AND BECAUSE YOU ARE A SPINELESS WORM WHO DESERVES NO RESPECT!!! CHLOE IS ONLY SELFISH BECAUSE YOU HAVE SPENT YEAR AFTER FUCKING YEAR SPOILING AND NEGLECTING HER!! YOU MADE THIS FUCKING BED AND YOU CAN GODDAMN LIE IN IT LIKE THE FLEA BITTEN DOG THAT YOU ARE!!! AND YOU NEVER WANTED CITY HALL, YOU COULD FUCKING QUIT AT ANY TIME!! NO ONE IS FORCING YOU INTO THIS LIFE!! NO ONE IS MAKING YOU DO ANY OF THIS SHIT!!! YOUR MISTAKES ARE YOUR OWN, OWN UP TO THEM FOR ONCE IN YOUR MISERABLE EXCUSE FOR A LIFE YOU LIVING SHITSTAIN!!!

"All my life I've lied, cheated, and abused my power." NO ONE FORCED YOU TO!! YOU DON'T GET TO BELLYACHE ABOUT YOUR MISTAKES WHEN YOU HAVE DONE NOTHING TO CORRECT THEM YOU DEGENERATE SACK OF WASTE!!!

"I've become a tyrant in service to my family and their friends," STOP FUCKING BLAMING YOUR OWN CHOICES ON YOUR FAMILY!! THEY HAVE NO POWER TO FORCE YOU TO ABUSE YOUR POWER, YOU CHOSE TO DO SO!!! CHLOE BEING A BRAT IS ALL BECAUSE OF YOU!!! AUDREY DISRESPECTING YOU IS ALL BECAUSE OF YOU!!! YOUR LIFE IS NOBODY'S FAULT EXCEPT YOUR OWN!!!!

God fucking dammit, that isn't out of my system, but if I keep pausing for every little thing that upsets me, I'm gonna have an aneurysm. Yadda yadda, long-winded lecture about Andre abusing his power in stupid ways that he has no power to actually enforce, we get the "reveal" that Gabe used to be better, once again without any evidence when all the evidence regarding his treatment of Adrien instead points to him having always been a self-absorbed, self-righteous control freak, and FUCK does this bullshit piss me off. There is NOTHING I loathe more than slimeballs like Andre, who whine and cry about how unfair life is when everything being shit is entirely a product of their own actions, grow the fuck up and start doing something productive with your life. You've got the office, stop bending over backwards like a coward and just DO YOUR FUCKING JOB.

"Maybe there's still hope, maybe we can still change." I do not trust you to "change" in any meaningful way that doesn't involve running away from your mistakes and leaving someone else to clean up the mess. "Give up our privileges, go back to the way it was," yup, immediately proven right. His idea of "changing" is "plug his head in the sand, ignore reality, and act as if all the damage he's caused is no longer his problem." THIS is the man they want us to sympathize with? Yeah, fuck that.

Also, the way they used "privileges" reminds me of Astruc's bullshit about Chloe not redeeming or changing as a person. WHAT fucking privileges?? His status as the Mayor? All he has to do is stop running each election. Give up his money?? He's already rich because of his fucking hotel, that's not happening, and it means he'll still have a massive status to rely on. WHAT fucking privileges could he even give up!?

"City hall is no longer for sale." What, have you been making illicit deals like this with Tomoe before now? If it's ever been "for sale" you've got no one but yourself to blame. And Gabe had been recording the entire thing, and Andre's monologue just so happened to include a sarcastic list of awful abuses of power, conveniently all in a row, that Gabe can neatly and easily edit down into a "confession" he can use to induce an Akumatization, because apparently he can't just force the process despite having shown that yes, he can do exactly that during Zombizou. Also, weird thing with the edited video, it somehow changed the pitch and tone without any efforts to actually DO that, he just shuffled stuff around.

Caline's Akuma form is stupid looking on so many levels, and why would she even NEED the Pig Miraculous power?? Hawkmoth has made forced recruitment powers LOADS OF TIMES!! Heck, this time is even weaker then normal since her recruits are FUCKING BALLOONS!!!

Gabe and Tomoe plot to make Chloe look like a savior, I wonder how in the world they'll do that. /s

And now Caline's Akuma is on live TV, announcing her intentions. I can't even take her words seriously because of how stupid she looks.

Back to Adrien and Marinette, and right when it looks like Adrien's gonna share the bad news, word about Caline getting Akumatized arrived. They aren't even trying not to drag this out anymore.

Adrien, it's NEVER going to be the right time. It's the kind of thing you just have to get over with. Ideally, you do it in a situation where the other person is comfortable. But there's never gonna be a "right time for it."

Zoe takes off running after seeing the doctored video, and we get a scene with Chloe, who shows... well, annoyance at Andre's words. Either because she's dumb enough to think that this is a genuine and knowing confession, or because she has enough moral standards to know that what he's suggesting is idiotic... who am I kidding, of course it's because they think she's stupid.

Yeah, she's just stupid. She literally had to have Lila spell out the problem with assuming she'll still have any kind of power or protection from her actions after this engineered confession.

Caline confronts the cops, and after slashing through a bunch of them... all except the two that are LITERALLY right next to her landing spot are just standing in place, not doing anything, despite holding weapons. They, they aren't even RUNNING AWAY FROM THE SUPERVILLAIN IN THEIR MIDST. Also, this scene honestly makes Tomoe and Gabe's creation of a robotic police force look JUSTIFIED just due to how utterly incompetent the cops come off here.

"I think it's strange that Monarch would support a revolutionary." Ladybug, he literally already did this with Darkblade. He might've been more about personally seizing power, but it is literally the exact same fucking principle. He doesn't "support" anyone, he uses people's personal crusades as a bludgeon to get his way, nothing more and nothing less.

"A revolution when everyone is corrupt," you literally heard a single clip regarding a single politician. If that's proof that everyone's corrupt, that points more to you having been one bad day from going on a rampage to start with.

Also, just noticed, her "army" is even weaker than minion-maker Akumas normally are; they literally can't do anything but FLOAT THERE.

"It's not up to us to decide who should or shouldn't be a mayor, we just need to deakumatize the villain." ...NO FUCKING DUH!? FOR FUCK'S SAKE, THAT IS LITERALLY WHAT YOU WERE ALREADY DOING!! ARE YOU TRYING TO IMPLY YOU WEREN'T TAKING HER SERIOUSLY TO START WITH!? IT DIDN'T LOOK LIKE IT, BUT WHAT THE FUCK DO I KNOW, I'M NOT THE CREATOR WHO DECIDES EVERYTHING IN-UNIVERSE!!!

Oh hey, the Balloons finally do something, I wonder how hard it'll be to make literal balls of air go away... Oh, they are actually struggling. That's honestly sad.

"Deep down, he's not a bad mayor!" Zoe's on the scene for some reason, and trying to talk down an Akuma, clearly that'll do something. /s

Also, no Zoe, your step-dad is a TERRIBLE mayor. He's done nothing but use and abuse his powers for YEARS, and no matter what he says to the contrary, it's entirely his own fault, and he is literally planning on abandoning his position, doing nothing to actually correct his mistakes, to live out his hobby.

"I thought we were friends, Gabriel, but it seems that is no longer the case!" Andre, buddy, for him being your "friend," the two of you never hang out or communicate in any way. Heck, why would you think he's your friend when he literally made a high-end "get along shirt" to mock your dysfunctional marriage?

"Then again, what you did was finally the push I needed to make the right decision." I suspect you don't mean "own up to my mistakes and do all in my vast power as both the Mayor and a wealthy hotel owner to correct them and keep them from coming back again."

Seriously, why the hell aren't Ladybug and Chat just taking her out from behind. SHE IS DISTRACTED!! YOU LITERALLY SAID YOURSELF THAT IT IS NOT UP TO YOU TO DECIDE WHO GETS TO BE MAYOR OR NOT, YOUR ENTIRE POINT IS TO DEFEAT AKUMAS AND SHE IS NOT SO INTIMIDATING THAT YOU NEED TO ENABLE SOMEONE WHO IS CLEARLY NOT IN THEIR RIGHT FUCKING MIND!!!

Yup, just got confirmed that he's going to weasel his way out of his responsibilities and the consequences of his actions. Corruption carries steeper penalties then just losing the job, there's jail time and steep fines involved.

"The Lucky Charm was warning me about her!" ...How? How in the WORLD could it be warning you about the powerless BRAT before you? I just... I cannot deal with this shit. This is just stupid.

Also, this scene kinda shoots the "her spotty vision is all in her head" idea in the foot given that it only went off after Chloe entered the room. If it's meant to be a representation of Marinette being creative, it fails massively when it's clearly reacting exclusively to her biases right now.

"A crown for the queen of brats" OH GET THE FUCK OVER YOURSELF YOU LEATHER CAT-SUIT WEARING SIMP!!!

And here comes the scene of Chloe illegally taking power that she doesn't actually have, and trying to pin the blame on Ladybug and Chat Noir. How pathetic. And everyone watching the news as Chloe appoints herself mayor... I'm pretty sure the VICE MAYOR is the person who gets the position if anyone wants it. Also, if Andre DID resign under duress, he's technically still in office and can just COME BACK.

Also, if anyone believes that CHLOE of all people, especially when she's actively in the middle of illegally seizing power, would unironically say "power must return to the people," they are an idiot.

WOW, she just declared the known terrorist an outlaw, THAT will actually mean something and have a tangible effect on what happens going forward! /s

Not even gonna touch her "outlawing" Ladybug and Chat Noir, since that's stupid to start with.