#I think it's a bit of an unhinged nonsense post i understand

[saintsenara]

Hey!

My main takeaway from your unhinged ships series - which provides me with limitless entertainment btw so thank you for your service - is how intricate your knowledge of the HP series is!

I'm kind of in a weird limbo rn where I have a great love for this world and the series but JKR's behaviour in recent years has completely turned me off the whole thing. I've been too disheartened to engage with the canon material in any real sense for years, but your exploration of it is kind of rekindling my interest. Do you have any thoughts on this?

Also, is HP like your niche or do you possess an encyclopaedic knowledge on any other works of literature or pop culture phenomena? This is just pure curiosity on my end.

thank you very much for this anon! it's extremely sweet.

how to reconcile being a part of this fandom - and, especially, how to be in a corner of the fandom which places more emphasis on the text than others - with jkr's decision to become a bigot is a question i'm sure we've all spent a lot of time on, and it's one which is going to have an inherently subjective answer.

my personal view is that she'll never get another penny out of me - i'm persevering with my original copies of the books, judiciously sellotaped; i won't engage at all with the upcoming television adaptation; i've not seen the fantastic beasts films; i wouldn't go and see cursed child; i wouldn't play hogwarts legacy; i don't buy merch and so on - but that writing my little stories and yapping away on my little tumblr is fine, because it's an engagement with the series which, no matter how much it focuses on the text she wrote, is still mine rather than hers.

but - of course - there are entirely reasonable arguments against this position, in either direction. someone who does engage more with jkr's post-radicalisation output could justifiably say that - since i've written stories involving delphini, who only exists because of cursed child, the fact that i've never seen or read the play is irrelevant and my insistence that there's a meaningful distinction between enjoying the expanded world of the series and enjoying the expanded world of the series in a way jkr materially benefits from is performative nonsense. someone else could justifiably say that jkr benefits [directly and indirectly] from all fandom engagement, even if that fandom engagement is critical of her and even if it doesn't financially support her - the upcoming television adaptation, for example, wouldn't have been greenlit if hbo didn't think it would get an audience, and the continued vitality of the harry potter fandom undoubtedly contributed to their belief that it would.

neither of these arguments are wrong - although neither is objectively correct either. each of us has to form a subjective opinion, be ok with it, and be open to changing it as time passes.

and i do genuinely think that engaging with the text as a text - something else i bang on about all the time - is helpful when it comes to reconciling everything.

i know it sounds very pretentious [and i also suspect that many people think the series isn't "well-written" enough to justify such pretension...] to say that the fandom needs to get better at embracing a variety of methods of reading the text and understanding the author's relationship to it.

this isn't me saying that anyone who wants to get into fandom needs to be able to rattle of the names of literary theorists, or be able to give an answer to "the series is historiographic metafiction: discuss".

[although if anyone would like to try and argue in favour of that proposition... i'd shriek.]

what it is is me saying that the dominant way of reading the text in the fandom - which is to focus on the reader's emotional response [and, above all, the reader's emotional response in childhood] - can end up giving jkr quite a bit more authority in how we engage with the series than she deserves. it's why many of us might say that we feel she's "betrayed" or "taken something away from" us, for example - and it's why many of us might feel that she's forced us into approaching the series in ways which decentre the canon material.

and this is - obviously - a completely legitimate way of engaging and responding. but there's also a lot to be gained from thinking outside of our emotional responses about things like the genre conventions which govern the series, the tropes and archetypes it uses, its language and syntax, its existence as something standalone, the other works of literature which influence it, and the social and historical context in which it was written. treating the series as "just" some books reduces jkr's authority over our response to it - and while the argument that this doesn't mean anything in the real world, since all she's going to care about is that people are reading her stuff, is an inherently reasonable one, i do think it has real-world benefits to us in how we square the circle of enjoying the text.

more controversially, though, i think it's also worth thinking about the personal context in which the series was written.

for me, the author is dead based on whether or not i need her to be. i don't think that the only valid interpretation of a text is the author's intended one, and i don't think that the only valid interpretation of a text is one dependent on matching parts of the story onto the author's biography. but i do think it's important for readers to know both what jkr understands the text as saying and what has happened in her life that bleeds through into it [such as the way her difficult relationship with her father and her experience of her mother's terminal illness undeniably influences the series' prioritisation of sacrifical motherhood and certain coolness towards fathers]. this doesn't mean agreeing with - or even empathising with - her by any means, it's just another tool in our arsenal when it comes to thinking of the series as no more or less special than any other piece of literature, and jkr no more or less important to our interpretation of it than any other author.

and i think it's worth saying that she doesn't seem to be someone who's bothered when fans say that she doesn't understand her own text or that she's lost the right to speak about it or that the fandom has taken it back from her - which is also why when people say that non-canon shipping [especially of queer pairings] must piss her off i think it's just cope - because she can spin that as these people being childish and unwilling to face reality.

but she does seem to be bothered by people who say "yeah, i know that's what you think and i know that's what you intended... but i disagree and you don't have the right to dictate otherwise".

[this is why - i think - she gets so frothingly pissed-off by daniel radcliffe's immaculate stance against her anti-trans bigotry. he's always very firm in saying "she can think what she wants, but - firstly - this isn't about what she thinks privately, it's about what she does publicly and - secondly - i think she's completely wrong and i'm not going to change my mind just because she wants me to", and she obviously doesn't like the fact that this is much harder to spin into the narrative that she's being "oppressed" and "victimised" than she'd like...]

the text is just a text, and she's just one woman, but our ways of reading are infinite and important and ours. the new horizon in literary theory is "fuck her, we ball".

[when it comes to "do i have a good memory?" the answer is "yes, but for purely useless information". when the question is whether that good memory relates to other pieces of pop culture, i'm either very lucky or very unlucky - depending on where you stand on such things - that the fandoms for hit millennial sitcoms don't seem to be large... otherwise i'd clearly be spending all my time writing epic nick/schmidt or liz lemon/jenna maroney romances and/or being cancelled for being in george michael/maeby nation...]

[kiragecko]

Rating Post-Resurrection (but pre-nu52) Jason Todds

Hush(/Clayface/Jason Todd) - eh. Good instincts for drama. Good insults. You're fine, but it was easy to believe you were an imposter. Plot is ridiculous. (Personality 1) 7/10

Under the Hood/Family Reunion/Franchise/All They Do is Watch Us Kill - I mean ... yeah. You're what I think of when I think of Jason Todd. You define the character. Also, you ARE really funny with Black Mask. (Personality 2) 8/10

Life and Death (Titans Tower) - okay. YOU are not necessarily the problem here. The problem is that the author doesn't understand Tim or what happened in the comics he's referencing AT ALL, and puts the most nonsensical words into your mouth as a result. Also misunderstands the New Teen Titans. And you're drawn really ugly. Under all the retcons and nonsense there is SOME okay characterization, though! (Personality 3) 4/10

World War III - never plan on reading this.

Daedalus and Icarus (Summary of Jason's Return) - This is a recap, but it's a recap of things we haven't been shown. Recaps aren't stories, so it isn't GOOD, but it does have some puzzle pieces. (Personality 2) 3/10

Pay As You Go (Outsiders) - you try SO HARD! All you do this arc is try to help a superhero and get beaten up by Dick. Maybe a bit of standing around being awkward because you don't know how to break into the securest prison on the planet. You are being very fanon Jason this arc. (Personality 4) 5/10

Brothers in Blood (Nightwing) - you're ugly, you're mean, you're dumb, and you turn into a tentacle monster. An UGLY tentacle monster. I enjoy laughing at you! (Personality 5) 2/10

Seeing Red - this arc is SO FUN. You are unhinged, but I would have LIKED if this turned out to be who you are. You truly think that blowing up Mia's gym is HELPING!!! Delightful and silly and I like the talking ape. Go hang out with the Arrows more. (Personality 3) 8/10

Countdown - you remain my favorite post-resurrection version. Love you as an insecure, immature kid trying to impress your big brother's friend. Love how young you are. Love how emotionally fragile you are. Love all the pretending to be tough. This would have ALSO been a great version for other authours to run with! (Personality 4) 9/10

Search for a Hero - I HATE EVERY THOUGHT TIM HAS ABOUT YOU IN THIS ARC! Why does the authour think so little of you?? You are not dumb and brutish and I refuse to believe this slander. Your expressions when you see someone in your Red Robin costume, AND when Tim turns down your 'awesome' team up plan, both belong in an arc that respects you more. (Personality 3) 4/10

Robin Dies at Dawn - see, this is how people should write you interacting with Tim. I want him to take you on as a project, and everyone to recognize that this is both condescending and not healthy behaviour. I guess YOU don't actually do much, though. How is this the next issue? (Personality 3) 7/10

Battle for the Cowl - shouldn't there be editors? People to say, "this authour isn't very good and maybe these characters should act like themselves?" I want comics to be better. (Personality 4) 3/10

Revenge of the Red Hood/The Streets Run Red - I don't read Morrison, but I've seen a bunch of panels. Wrong sort of unhinged, in my opinion. I prefer you to be trying to help people, not win some sort of messed up contest with the Bats. (Personality 6) 5/10

Red Hood: The Lost Days - look, I'm not here for your thighs, your daddy issues, or your revenge fantasies. I am here for your truly unhinged attempts at bonding with others, and the sincere confusion you seem to have when they don't work. This is good, but not for me. There's not even any ridiculously large crates of kryptonite! (Personality 2) 7/10

[bengiyo]

Hi Sarge, Not sure if you have answered something similar and I missed it but this is a bit inspired by the posts you made about Sailom and Nuea in Wedding Plan (I couldn’t understand why Sailom was behaving that way and really disliked him before I read your posts).

Who are the most misunderstood characters in BL? - doesn’t have to be from just 2023 shows. Thanks!

I've really struggled with answering this question, and have been sitting on it for months, because I don't generally like to create a strawman and then beat up on it. I think what I'll do is express appreciation for characters in a way I don't think I've done publicly on my blog.

Kurosawa Musashi (Ossan's Love)

This man is incredible and I love him. When I originally avoided Ossan's Love in 2018, it was primarily because commenters complained that this man's attraction to Haruta was the butt of the joke. Having watched it this year, I understand why we would have read it that way in 2018. However, in 2024, I see the primary comedy in how out of step is approach to courtship is more than the fact that he has a crush on Haruta.

I have loved every iteration of this character from Ossan's Love, to the In the Sky AU, to the current season in Ossan's Love Returns. I love how much his affection for Haruta makes him show up to support him, and I love the unhinged fights he has with Maki about it every time.

The show treats his feelings seriously, even if they laugh about his methodology. Everyone who has worked with him adores him, and I am eagerly hoping that he gets a positive resolution for his complex feelings for Haruta this season.

I'm also never getting over DISPATCH 👍.

Pharm (Until We Meet Again)

Much has been written about this scene as an example of blushing maiden, but I don't think it is. I think there's a level of Intouch trauma coupled with this being Pharm's first kiss. However, we spent about twenty minutes of this show leading up tot his with Pharm publicly telling Alex to fuck off because he's with Dean, and Pharm presenting Dean with desserts about commitment and sweet love. He also moves his arms to deepen the kiss.

I think sometimes the read that Pharm is a blushing maiden undercuts how genuinely assured he is about himself and his place in the world. He wasn't afraid to tell his neighbors to quiet down when they were loud as hell on a Sunday, and he wasn't afraid to tell Dean that he overstepped in the kitchen around sex.

I've been rewatching the show lately and am noting how explicitly these two are into each other and say so the entire time.

Seo Lee Jun (Love Mate)

I'm gonna be real: This guys sucks! We begin the show with him getting people out onto dates, disappointing those dates with false expectations, and then blocking them. He was so salty about his breakup that he was going to inflict that nonsense onto a whole dating app. Folks struggled with Ha Ram determinedly pursuing this man, but I think he did the rest of us a favor by giving this man a much needed dicking to reset his engagement with romance.

Vee (You're My Sky)

I don't think this character was misunderstood. I just think it was really cool of a show to have one of the side couples not make it because they started an ill-advised romance. I like that what started as flirting and teasing got way too serious and stressed Vee out so much that he had a whole panic attack over it. In a genre about people getting together, I like the complicated, uncertain place they left these two. Vee understood the seriousness of messing around with his sister's boyfriend and the impossibility of that situation.

[notbecauseofvictories]

I'm in liquified disoriented tatters since the finale, but something I was meaning to say before this episode: I think Carpenter is like. 35, maybe 40, with a dash of "you look like shit" making people assume she's a bit older. the hunter siblings are absolutely teenagers as well.

also, a thought from the middle of the episode, before I was fully liquified:

At a certain point, Mercer wasn't much of a hunter anymore. She was just rabid.

[con't] Faulkner do you want to explain that thing you said to Mason. could you please. I don't. think I follow. faulkner

Incorrect! Carpenter is 45 at the bare minimum. I agree that at first (or second, or fifth) glance she looks older, but honestly she feels even older than that based on the fact that she has been keeping company with twenty somethings for the last two years. (Faulkner being max 22 and Paige being 28 at the outside.) Hayward is the only person in the whole cast who we might consider 'of an age' with Carpenter, and mostly because he's in his late thirties/early forties and prematurely aged by a steady diet of stress-smoked cigarettes, lies, deserved guilt, and paranoia.

"Mercer is rabid" fuck you that's a good line.

I do actually have reasoning for this! There's a great post in the silt verses tag calling out how nonsense it seems for Faulkner to snap at his faith no longer being illegal. Surely that's a good thing! Religious persecution is the reason Nana Glass is dead and Em drowned; the reason for Carpenter's parents being absent and Mason running his a private cult. Real religions have fought tooth and nail to be recognized by the state as legitimate; most modern people understand a lack of religious tolerance as bad and wrong. There's no reason to believe that this wouldn't color our readings of a podcast about fictional religions. What I think perspective ignores, is that---when it comes to TSV a religion's choice is not between "criminalization/persecution" and "recognition by the state/freedom." Instead, the existential question before every faith of the Peninsula and the Linger Straits is "criminalization" or "co-option". Your choices are either to be an enemy of the state, and operate under your own wild rules, however corrupt---or to throw your lot in with the government, and become yet another arm of the state trying to kill you. After all, it's the legitimate government tying sacrifices to trains, courting gods via test audience, letting dispassionate scientists discover your saints by scientific method with a body count. Stripping faith and narrative from your religion for the sake of power---like copper wire from the walls---is what the government does. And that's what I think Faulkner objects to. For good or ill, he is the most sincere believer in the Trawler-man that we know---his investment isn't in the Parish and its earthly power, the way Mason's is; he doesn't particularly care about its people, as Carpenter does. He believes in the absolutism of its god and his role as that god's prophet. No more, no less. Is this unreasonable, unhinged? Yes. But it does mean that Mason willing to sell out that divine absolutism for a seat at the Peninsulan table is an existential threat to Faulkner and everything he is. Hence: Murder.

[daggerspared]

@monkiedude tagged me in this game and i keep forgetting to do it so i’ll do it now. thanks for the tag!

3 ships

obviously hangman/rooster for this blog. i didnt’ get it the first time i watched the movie and then the second time i went in and my head exploded. glen powell and miles teller made some acting choices and i support them for that. i’ve written so many unhinged posts about them i dont think i need to ramble on any more.

i went on a trip in december and on the plane i watched the netflix show 1899. it’s pretty good, i’d rec to anyone who hasn’t seen it. from that show, olek/ling yi are my ship of choice. they’re literally so fucking cute. neither of them understand what the other is saying at any given moment but it doesn’t even matter they just stare soulfully into each others eyes and understand each other better than the people who do speak the same language.

final ship is roy/jamie/keeley from ted lasso these guys had my brain on lock for most of autumn. something about parallels. something about jamie having keeley’s picture in his locker and roy’s poster on his wall. i just think they’d balance each other out. roy’s got a lot of attention to give. keeley needs more space. jamie loves attention. i’d take this even platonicly i just think me, my boyfriend, and the guy i used to date who just kinda hangs around us now is an underutilized dynamic but its one of my favorites. (see steve nancy jonathon and scott allision isaac for other examples).

First ship

god it was either a percy jackson ship or a dc comics ship. if it was percy jackson it might’ve been jason/reyna that was the ship i felt most strongly about from that series (even though yeah percy and annabeth are literal soulmates) if it was dc, it was probably robin/kidflash from my young justice obsession

Last movie

okay so i just watched the menu which really got me craving a cheeseburger. but i’ve currently paused my james bond skyfall rewatch to do this ask game.

Last song

nonsense by sabrina carpenter. a bop. an absolute bop.

Currently reading

uh book-wise i’m not really reading anything at the moment. fic-wise i’m doing a reread of this daredevil fic called rocky horror pancake show which i really like. it’s time loop shenanigans and gay pining. great stuff.

Currently watching

well i’m currently doing a craigbond marathon because my friend offhandedly mentioned no time to die to me earlier and then i was like “oh i wanna watch that but oh i have to see this scene from spectre but oh now i have to see this bit from skyfall” and now we’re here. besides that i’ve also been on a daredevil kick and rewatching some of that this past week.

Currently consuming

just had a cheeseburger due to aforementioned craving. thank you anya taylor joy.

Currently craving

another cheeseburger

i’ll tag @onedrinkafter and anyone else who wants to do this because im kinda shy about tagging people ha

[amischiefofdeets]

DEADPOOL

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CHARACTER SUMMARY

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A wisecracking mercenary turned anti-hero, he tries to help people in his own way, even if that means leaving a trail of bodies in his wake. He's capable of breaking the 4th wall, commenting on things happening in the real world outside of the content he's in. He's capable of healing from pretty much anything, but unfortunately it means his cancer leaves him with tumours all over his body, making him a bit wary of letting anyone see him underneath the suit.

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WRITING NOTES

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My Wade is a mix of various sources with the movies as a baseline, sprinkle in some elements of the comics, some of my own headcanon nonsense. I utilise [little boxes] when writing him, based loosely on his comic iterations. [This one] is Wade's inner voice, while [This one] is the voice of the writer - Wade is aware of the writers voice and can respond to it both internally or verbally - in the latter case most characters tend to believe he's crazy unless they're versed in meta/4th wall breaking nonsense too. Unlike any of my other muses, I almost exclusively write Wade in present tense, IE. 'He grabs hold of the thing, it seems like it might be something important but he doesn't have time to think.' because that flows a lot better with his commentary about what's going on, just feels more natural and flows better. I am not bothered if rp partners use different tense, that doesn't matter to me at all, just do what's comfy. Wade is also prone to delusions, full blown daydream scenes of things that aren't really happening, and thus in certain situations he's likely to make absolutely NO SENSE. It's totally fine for characters to address this and react accordingly.

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MUSE DETAILS

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Name: Wade Wilson Nicknames/Alias: Deadpool, DP Race: Turned mutant, formerly Human. Age: Around 45 Height: 6'1 Gender: Male Sexuality: Pansexual Location: All over the place Occupation: Mercenary/Hero Abilities: Accelerated healing, nearly immortal, skilled with countless guns and swords, and talented at hand to hand contact. Reputation: Insane. Pretty much everyone assumes he's an unhinged wackjob who can occasionally do the right thing when he feels like it, some people know he has a heart but only those close to him. Mental state: Very unstable - he is capable of breaking the 4th wall, or at least the audience understands that, everyone else just thinks he's rambling nonsense to himself.

Scars: Whole body is covered in tumours/scarring. Tattoos: N/A Alignment: Chaotic Neutral Goals: Protect the people he cares about, maybe become a hero if he can (without giving in to their holier than thou practices), have fun. Hobbies: Collecting things, playing at arcades, drawing (in crayon) Likes: Golden girls, weapons, making references, unicorns, killing, Dislikes: Being bored, people seeing his face, following the rules Family: N/A

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VERSES

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#MIXING IT UP - MAIN VERSE - Set in (mostly) canon post Deadpool and Wolverine - with comic influences.

Okay, to avoid spoilers for the time being I'm just stating where my wade differs from film canon here. I'll edit this once the movie has been out a while but the basic changes are as follows: - Vanessa stayed dead after DP2, she's now playing the role that Mistress Death played in the comics, where the two of them are separated by mortality but consider themselves in an open relationship. He can only see her when he 'dies' for long enough. - He hates showing his face, he will actively freak out if his mask is taken off around people. At most he might bring it up just below his nose but that's as far as it's going. - He's spent his time doing the whole mercenary gig and avoiding any big responsibilities between DP2 and W&D.

#HELLO FROM THE OTHER SIDE - Set during Deadpool 2 - Mostly canon.

Spending time taking out really bad guys, he ends up losing Vanessa - the love of his life - to a failed job that followed him home. Blaming himself, he tries to end his life, which only accomplishes allowing him to see her on the other side. He ends up teaming with the X-men, fails them and gets put in jail trying to protect a kid (by killing, but come ON they deserved it!) and ultimately comes face to face with Cable, a time traveller sent to stop the kid he was trying to protect. Blah blah blah, save the kid, didn't save his girl but saved Cable's family - so it balances out a little. At least he gets to see Vanessa whenever he's close to death.

#ORIGINS (NO-NOT THAT ONE) - Set during the first Deadpool movie - mostly canon

Just your typical romance story where a handsome mercenary meets a girl, they fall in love and live happily together.. Until he gets cancer. When offered a chance at survival if he becomes a human lab rat, he agrees, wanting to do by right by Vanessa even if it means vanishing in the middle of the night. Getting powers takes a lot of torture it turns out, so he's put through hell until he gets his regenerative abilities, which also fucks up his handsome face. He wants it to be fixed, chases down the guy who did it to him and failing to catch him means Vanessa gets taken. He kills the bad guy and gets the girl.

#PAID JOBS - Set pre-Deadpool movie

Just a mercenary making his money by fucking up bad guys, he doesn't need superpowers for that.

#DIE DIE DIE - Set post-'Deadpool kills the Marvel Universe' - Slightly divergent

After being sectioned by Xavier, Wade is accidentally left in the care of 'psycho man' who tries to manipulate Wade to use him as a weapon. This kills his 'little voices' and makes him aware of the fact that he is just a character - this isn't a matter of just breaking the fourth wall, it comes with the realization that every hardship both he and those he cares about has been orchestrated by the writers and comic artists.  No longer seeing those he cares about as 'people', he sets about killing them systematically, killing every hero and villain he can get his hands on in order to help them and find a way to get to the creators. This is where my Wade diverges, he never finds the writers. This Wade has been through countless universes, slowly but surely tiring of killing those he cares about but there's a coldness to him. An emptiness that will be jarring to anyone meeting him for the first time, especially if they know a Deadpool who is still so full of life. For interactions, consider: he might need a place to crash and rest, perhaps he's gone to your muse with hopes of figuring out how to get to the creators, maybe someone mistakes him for their Wade and tries to help him with whatever is wrong. Just to name a few ideas.

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TAGS

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Main tag - Headcanons - Ask tag  Likes - Aesthetics - Musings - Wardrobe

RELATIONSHIP TAGS

LOGAN - FICKLEFABLES

[heewongirl]

It's like. you feel this deep bond with this person, you feel like you understand him, when he is first of all not a real person? You understand him because he is similar to you yet you don't because he is so different? It's the feeling that even after reading from the pov of this one person you still feel distant because who is he. You know everything about him and barely know anything about him at the same time even after reading pages worth of descriptions about him?

And then you realise you were never supposed to understand or know him all this time you were loving and hating and was comforted by the "idea" of him? Like You never really knew him, he was just a collection of memories of what used to be him its always been a faceless figure created by the love and care people felt towards him, and in the end it does not matter whether he is real of whatever because regardless what you felt is real?

[edorazzi]

Once again, it’s the post everyone’s been waiting for! 

This is a followup to the post I made on the first Miraculous “Felix” episode (two and a half years ago! 😱), so if you haven’t already read that one then you might like to! 

This one’s going to follow a very similar format, and as it’s pretty long I’ll put it under a cut. So like before, click through for my complete scene-by-scene reaction to Miraculous Ladybug’s “Gabriel Agreste” episode (feat. Felix) and my thoughts afterwards! 💕

---

Before I get into everything, just a couple of disclaimers:

   1) This post is heavily adapted from much more unhinged and screamy notes - all my reactions are genuine and just a bit more coherently worded. I watched in French, but am taking screencaps from the English dub so I might have some additional commentary!    2) I went on content lockdown between the time this episode aired (Saturday) and when I could watch it (Wednesday). Unfortunately some spoilers were unavoidable but I did go in 99% blind.    3) I was WAY behind on the current season of Miraculous, so as of right now I’m only caught up to Queen Banana and now this one.

That’s the important stuff, let’s get into it!

-

So I really had no idea what I was getting into here. Season 3 was a self-destructive mess (which is why I’m so far behind, I didn’t really want to come back!) but Season 4 has so far been surprisingly good! 

However, it was still a case of weighing  “Season 4 has been pretty respectable and good with its characters” against “Felix Graham de Vanily is a character created as a giant FUCK YOU to longtime fans” so I truly didn’t have a clue what to expect. Felix’s introduction was the lowest point of the Season 3 trainwreck right next to the nonsensical finale, so were they re-introducing him in a bid to fix things or to double down on what they started? 

I wasn’t eager to find out, but in I went anyway. As a longtime Felix fan I have a duty to keep tabs on what my terrible boy is up to.

- Ol’ Gabe’s in the basement soliloquizing to his comatose wife again. I think I made a comment last time about it being no wonder Emilie remained unconscious for this, but I still think it’s for the best because she would MURDER Gabriel for bringing her sister and nephew here to target them on purpose.

- I do love that Gabriel apparently invited Felix here, fully intending to rob him right back. Like has he MET his terrible nephew? Gabe gets regularly dunked on by children and the Miraculous Holders are nice kids; Felix has a thirst for chaos and nothing to lose so good luck. I guarantee Uncle Gabe won’t be getting what he wants out of this.

- AAAAA, IT’S MY BOY. BABY. I’m sure it’ll only go downhill from here but it’s lovely to see Felix again all the same! 

- I like that he’s keeping up with the Ladyblog too, though I really wonder if it’s safe for Alya to be putting out so much public information about the Miraculous. I expect she’ll tone it down now she’s personally involved with Marinette’s secret, but since becoming Rena Rouge you’d think she’d understand the necessity of keeping it quiet. Too much public knowledge is how Miraculous get stolen, you know!!!

- French Felix is interesting. I only ever saw the previous episode in English so this is the first time I’m hearing him! Clearly he sounds exactly like Adrien but I was hoping he’d be softer-spoken, he sounds way too perky for our demure little menace. 

(But going back over this scene in the English dub - while I screencap things - Felix actually sounds really good! It might be a one-off but his voice is pitched significantly lower and calmer; it’s very distinctive from Adrien’s and it wasn’t like that in the previous episode. I really like this change!)

- God, I love how much Amelie loves him. She seems like a massively irresponsible mother - and I’m still concerned about whatever happened with Felix’s dad, which was only briefly touched on in the previous episode - but they really do adore each other. Their little hand touch and the way Felix presses her kiss to his cheek afterwards is the cutest darn thing I’ve ever seen! :’0

- Oh hi Nathalie, thought you were dead.

- Awww, Adrien, sweetheart! He brought her some lunch on a fancy little cart! And then immediately sits down on her bed and starts venting about Gabriel banning his friends from the house again. Nothing comes free in this household.

- Don’t talk to him about Kagami or Chloe, Nathalie. I know you’ve slept through most of this season but things have happened.

- GABRIEL JUST BURSTING THROUGH THE DOOR LIKE “GET OUT OF NATHALIE’S ROOM AND LEAVE US ALONE IN HERE”, MY GOD. In the previous Felix episode he was furious at Adrien for thinking they were dating but then he goes and does things like this, what’s the poor boy supposed to think?!

- Do both Agreste men just periodically come into Nathalie’s room unannounced and cry on the edge of her bed? Is this in her job description? :/

- She just shuts Gabriel up with food and a to-do list. This is basically marriage.

Okay, listen. Sidebar for a minute. 

I don’t dislike Zoe. She’s a perfectly fine character and I think she’s an okay addition to the Girl Group at large. However, I in no way believe she was planned before the Season 3 trainwreck and I don’t like that she’s been introduced as a superior version of Chloe - whose obvious redemption arc got trashed halfway through while SOMEONE (Astruc) was on Twitter claiming that bad people can never be redeemed, and that anyone who emotionally relates to Chloe is either naive or evil like her.

I was pretty invested in Queen Bee Chloe, and her sudden regression plus the introduction of Zoe feels like we’re being told “people don’t change!” and having our spicy redeemed bully replaced with a completely bland and inoffensive character who’s a good person right from the start (and gets a Miraculous within two episodes with minimal effort). I do not like it.

ANYWAY.

- It’s nice to see Marc again! They’re reusing a lot of the unique supporting characters this season and I like that a lot, it’s more fun to catch glimpses of Aurore and Wayhem than an endless sea of generic backgrounders. Though why wasn’t Marc involved in the filmmaking episode, isn’t he a talented writer? Is it because that was another of Astruc’s indulgent self-insert stories and the person Marc is based on blocked him on Twitter? Makes you wonder.

- Marinette, your feelings for Adrien are not a secret. We’ve established this. Luka’s akuma established this. Marc may have kept his distance enough to be blissfully unaware, but Nathaniel’s been in the same class for as long as Adrien’s been here. TRUST ME, HE KNOWS. 

- Juleka’s remarkably chill with this new “get Marinette and Adrien together” plan after what happened with Luka, though maybe she truly doesn’t care or even prefers that her bestie not be dating her brother. Hurry and hook her up with Adrien before family dinners get weird again. :/

- Nath and Marc are ��romantic comedy specialists”? As in everyone saw them trying to kill each other in the park that one time (during Reverser) and now they’re dating? Because that IS funny, they’re right.

- They wrote a love story about Ladybug and Chat Noir? 1) That’s a surprisingly hetero choice for them, but 2) since Ladybug and Chat Noir are real people, is this like the people who wrote One Direction fanfic when I was in school? Who’s the person who trips in the hall and drops their XY/Prince Ali fanart everywhere, I have to know.

- Ahaha, this Sleeping Beauty parody with Gabriel and Adrien. This is cute as heck actually and really well-drawn, not to mention Adrien being in a flowing dress the whole time which was apparently Nathaniel’s artistic choice. Also it’s nice to see how much Nath’s art has improved since Season 1! I don’t know if that’s intentional or just inconsistent (the same way Marinette’s thought doodles keep changing art style), but he’s really upped his game from those early classroom scribbles and that’s some nice subtle character development when he hasn’t had lot of focus episodes.

- And I was going to say “I don’t think Zoe knows Adrien well enough to joke about his life yet”, but to be absolutely fair it’s likely he comes up in conversation among the girls often enough for her to have picked up on a lot of this stuff already. Zoe may suffer from chronic Mary Sue syndrome but this does make sense, she passes for now.

- Nath really drew Adrien in a princess gown like six times for this flipbook, I’m YELLING.

- CHLOE, WHAT THE HELL. HER BURSTING OUT OF THE CEILING IS LITERALLY THE LAST THING I WAS EXPECTING, THAT’S SO FUNNY. This is what I mean about Zoe being so bland and inoffensive, she hasn’t done a single thing you’d call “entertaining” and yet we get this from our irredeemable villainess. Which sister do YOU think deserves a Miraculous??

- CHLOE’S DOODLES ARE ALSO SO FUNNY. THE RAW EMOTION IN THESE SCRIBBLES. The evil in Marinette’s eyes! Adrien’s fear grimace! Gabriel’s fragile sensibilities!!! And Gabriel holding Adrien protectively like that in the following picture is all I want in the world, even if Adrien has absolutely no clue what’s happening. He’s just tapped out of this whole situation.

- Oh, he put Adrien in a cage forever. Never mind. What happened to that hug?? :(

- OKAY BYE CHLOE. That whole sequence was so funny, oh my god. All the protagonists are being so serious and Chloe just busts in, proclaims her comedically evil plan and busts right out again. I miss her redemption arc but I think I can get through this season if she’s like this; cartoonishly villainous but wildly incompetent. She’s not a hero but I don’t feel I’m being encouraged to HATE her either, you know?

- So tonight is a dinner where Gabriel “invited all his close friends with their children” as in ONLY the friends who have children, or he just invited his close friends and if they have children they’re welcome to bring them? This is an important distinction. Imagine commuting from London to Paris just for dinner like the de Vanilys are apparently doing, couldn’t be me but only because I’m poor and very jealous. :(

- Oh no PLEASE don’t bring Zoe into this. If she’s going to stick to Marinette like glue she could have been Bridgette, get your own plotlines! >:0

- Oh okay, she’s not going because Chloe pitched a fit about it?? Thank goodness, oh my god. I don’t mind Zoe hanging around with the girls but I draw the line at her being a main character when I’m trying to focus on Felix. No offence girl but I’m not here to learn how good and sweet you are compared to your horrible sister, I’m here to see an old man get robbed of his one remaining wedding ring.

- “The Knight” (Marinette) may not have an invitation to “the ball” (Gabriel’s party), but the Knight previously stacked like 15 wheelie bins with the intention of breaking into the Princess’ castle so I don’t think entry will be an issue. 

- They’re going to dress Mari up as a waiter to break into the mansion?? She’s a skinny teenage girl with Ladybug hair! There’s no possible way this can end well, unless Felix is going to catch her out and then lie for her or something but why would he? :/

- I’ve already shared my negative feelings about Zoe, but I do like the performance skills she puts on to act like she fits into her unpleasant family. It’s a nice detail that she has to visibly psyche herself up to be mean to anyone, I’d feel the same! 

- I would also say “just be nice to the staff and they’ll be willing to do more things for you!”, but to be fair (again) it could be this guy’s job on the line. It does make sense for Zoe to act like a brat so he won’t question her - trying to explain that a group of teenagers need him out of the way so they can infiltrate a high-class party and potentially wreck the whole thing isn’t going to get her anywhere.

- I do like Marc hanging out in Marinette’s room. It’s a real change from him physically hiding from her under the stairs at school because she was so intense. You gotta let him come to you, Mari!

- Okay, I get the mustache to hide Mari’s face, but doesn’t it look strange when she’s a 4′11″ schoolgirl?? If the girls won’t be there to see this plan in action then surely Rena Rouge could hide nearby and project a better illusion over her; I understand the responsible use of power and everything but Jem does it! :(

(On writing this up I did remember the five-minute Miraculous timer - and while it would be even funnier if the “waiter” had to make constant quick exits while Alya recharged her kwami and cast fresh illusions, that would mean less focus on Felix and Gabriel so I’m glad they just went with the stick-on mustache!)

- “Close the office. Done!” Oh, you think a shut door will stop Felix if there’s something in there he wants? Where is my boy anyway, I get that he’s just a side character this episode but it’s been ages since we saw him!

- THE FUCK KIND OF EYES WIDE SHUT BULLSHIT IS THIS?? Is Gabriel running a cult? Are they the rich Squid Game patrons? More importantly, are these masks going to be yet another excuse to not show Felix’s face for most of this episode, like in the previous one where he was just Adrien for half of it??

- Oh poor Gorilla, I’m the same with the three different TV remotes my dad programmed. I feel you buddy. But WHAT is happening here? The whole place is on lockdown, there are robot units skittering around instead of real staff, everyone gets fingerprinted and picks up a creepy animal mask? This whole setup feels uncomfortable as hell and how come Adrien isn’t dressed extra-formal like everyone else? 

- Love how this catering lady does not care enough to interrogate this random child in a fake mustache. You can’t scan Marino’s fingerprints though, he’s got a record. :/

- Okay, I love “Marino” grabbing the boxes and insisting he’s THE SUPERIOR MUSCULAR MAN. I’m sure that’s some kind of comment on toxic masculinity but it’s very funny when Mari’s half the size of this lady and trying so hard. :’)

- Why isn’t Chloe dressed up either, by the way? Are the adults having a cult meeting/blood sacrifice and the kids are just going to hang out and have a regular dinner? WHERE is Felix.

- Adrien. Darling. I can buy that you wouldn’t recognise Ladybug but is “Marino” truly enough to fool you?? Is this his Li Shang moment where he spends the rest of the day wondering why he was so attracted to this strange man?

- YESSS, FELIX. BABY BOY. But oooh, did he spot the peacock brooch before Gabriel hid it under his scarf? Does he know what it is or does it just look stealable? 

- What has Gabriel done for Felix that Amelie needs to thank him for? Did he lift the ban on him re-entering Paris or something, because no way there wasn’t any kind of fallout after Felix stole his goddamn wedding ring last visit. I’m amazed Felix had the guts to come back here.

- Oh, does she think Gabe GAVE him the ring?? That’s so funny. AND FELIX’S CUTE LITTLE WAVE LIKE HE’S DARING HIS UNCLE TO SAY SOMETHING ABOUT IT. I’d better get another hug between Felix and Adrien by the way, even the previous episode gave me some cute moments and that was almost entirely dedicated to proving how evil Felix was.

- That sneaky, smug look on “Marino’s” face when the catering lady tells her to stay in the kitchen. Is she about to wreck the place just so she gets kicked out-- YES SHE DID EXACTLY THAT, AHAHA.

- AM I GETTING INTERACTION BETWEEN FELIX AND CHLOE?? MY DREAM, OH MY GOD. I remember it was confirmed they knew each other (and Felix thought Chloe was annoying) but we never got anything more than that, GIMME.

- “It’s Fake Adrien!” Did she hear about that?! Who told her. Felix better have heard about Queen Banana to even the playing field of embarrassment.

- Is he instantly pretending to be Adrien just to mess with her? I’m WHEEZING, she doubled back on herself so fast. THEN HE JUST LAUGHS AT HER AND LEAVES. I should turn this off now; like when Adrien hugged Felix in the previous episode this is peak content and it’ll only go downhill from here.

(And rewatching in the English dub - it sounds like Felix’s deeper voice is consistent! In French there was no difference between his tone and Adrien’s so of course Chloe was fooled, but in this scene you can hear it’s Felix. I really appreciate it! :0)

- Hi Kagami!! But WHAT is this dinner. Once again, why is the place on lockdown with everyone being masked and fingerprinted. I hope this is some kind of weird top-secret rich person fashion reveal because it ABSOLUTELY seems like a murder cult right now.

- I like the subtle motion of “Marino” removing the earpiece when the audio feed gets interrupted with that shrill interference, it sounds like it HURTS but she holds it together really well! I have a lot more appreciation for Marinette than I did last season; I feel like everyone’s being written a lot better now and there are more subtle details to appreciate.

- Everyone gets to go upstairs but Felix, huh. He must be sweating bullets, did he actually not get away with stealing the ring and now Gabe’s going to sacrifice him to the cult?? 

- Oh, a private confrontation?? But this is a really sweet look at Felix actually - I’m sure it’ll turn out he’s faking this wide-eyed remorse and gave Gabriel the false ring, but in this moment the guilt over what he did and his pride in the way he’s “fixing” it is very cute. That bright look in his eyes when he hands the “real” ring back to Gabriel and puts on the new one, he’s such a cutie! :’0

- That evil look as Felix left the room though. He definitely gave Gabe a fake.

- But oooh, the way he pauses at the top of the staircase and looks back! Does he know something’s up? We saw Felix notice the peacock brooch earlier but he was also watching Alya’s Ladyblog content, so is he just looking to steal something else and mess with Uncle Gabe (though he had a reason for taking that specific ring, as it was an heirloom Amelie wanted returned to their side of the family) or does he have a hunch Gabriel’s up to something?

- Bro, don’t freak out in Nathalie’s room. Just grab Felix again and tell him you know the ring is a copy. It’s no wonder this man gets dunked on by children every day of the week when he can’t even handle this minor confrontation.

- It’s very interesting for Felix to hide and listen outside the door. Is he trying to overhear whether Gabe believes him about the ring? Also it’s so nice that Adrien’s happy to see Felix, I love that a lot. :’0

- I’m also realising that if Nathalie’s room is directly through that door, there’s no reasonable way Adrien would have been able to get that service cart up there. It’s all stairs!

- “Akumatize him.” That’s cold as hell, Nathalie. Jesus. No nonsense in this bedroom. I like how we’re back to nearly everyone in this house wanting Felix dead, the Agreste mansion is usually so uneventful.

- “He might be feeling negative emotions now, thanks to you, Gabriel.” Except he was NICE to Felix just now. There won’t be any negative emotions if he thinks he got away with it, can this man do nothing right?! WE know Felix overheard Uncle Gabe figuring it out, so he probably knows he’s in trouble - insert the “(chuckles) I’m in danger!” meme except it’s Felix on the stairs outside Nathalie’s room - but neither of the adults know that, right?

(The English dub phrases this as Gabriel being capable of creating negative emotions in Felix from this point onward, which makes more sense. The French subs may be a little wonky.)

- Gabe’s really going to transform right here in Nathalie’s bedroom?? Can he do nothing without his bedridden assistant on hand to approve each step. He didn’t even do the full elaborate Drag Queen Moth transformation, so either he’s REALLY mad at Felix or doesn’t want Nathalie to know how dramatic he is when alone in his lair. :/

- I love that he hasn’t even TRIED to approach Felix and demand the truth about the ring, he just jumps straight to this. Drama queen. Also, Gabriel looking at a perfect copy of himself and lustily whispering “tu est PARFAIT” is something to unpack later. Anyway, let’s see what the kids are doing--  

- I love whatever silent conversation Felix and Kagami are having. I always thought they’d get along great. I also like the little detail of Kagami having a straw in her fancy juice drink but not using it, that’s very her. :)

- Nice to see Adrien got his foosball table back from the void in Sole Crusher! We never did see that being returned. But I’m already curious where Felix is going, I know it’s not really to talk to his mom so is he up to something other than fooling Uncle Gabe with a fake ring? I figured he was just listening in to see if Gabriel bought the lie or not, but then why would he need to go back out there?

- God Adrien sweetie, I’m so sorry. This is awkward as hell. It would have been fine to get left alone with Kagami if you guys hadn’t broken up literally last week. Also I wish Prince Ali and XY were here (and maybe even Lila), we know they have connections with Gabriel and it would be a great excuse to get all the weird rich kids together for once. Even Luka could have come along if Gabriel would let Jagged Stone into his house, I’d love to see Jagged touting him around as his son now they’ve reconciled and he should come see Adrien’s cool room sometime!

- “Marino” getting away with literally anything to “entertain the youth” has me wheezing.

- WTF is going on in this room. This is like a horror movie. I’m so confused about what this party is supposed to be, is this just rich people nonsense?? 

- Also I should at least mention the subplot of Chloe trying to get hold of a phone so she can show Gabriel the video of her classmates planning to set Adrien up with Marinette via fairytale metaphors, but I just didn’t take many notes about it because I’m way more interested in what Felix is doing. Rest assured that Chloe’s here and I’m enjoying her presence.

- I’m absolutely enamoured with this screencap of Felix peeking over the balcony rail. It’s cute as hell and I want it as my wallpaper. But he’s still spying on Gabriel, what for?

- Oooh he got into the office. I SAID a closed door wouldn’t stop him. And it’s heartbreakingly sweet to see him appreciating that portrait of Emilie - maybe it’s just that she looks like his mom, but the previous episode established that Felix and Adrien played together as kids so Felix probably has a lot of nice memories from that time. If he didn’t then surely he wouldn’t have been THAT angry about Adrien “abandoning” him after his dad died, there’s a terrible bitterness there and I get the feeling Felix has been seriously damaged at some point in a way Adrien hasn’t.

- He’s getting kinda close to the secret buttons on that painting--

- OH JESUS FUCK. OH GOD.

- Felix’s recovery time is IMMACULATE. He just brushed that jumpscare right off and turned around all super sweet like “Oh Uncle I want to get to know you! :3″. I would have DIED.

- So Gabriel made a Sentimonster just to ask Felix where the ring was? What if he’d actually told him and/or given up the real one, what would Gabe have done then when his elaborate plan of revenge on a child was already laid out?? He’d be a fool dressed like a peacock in his secretary’s bedroom.

- WHAT? PARDON ME?? FELIX GUESSED HE’S SHADOW MOTH????? I’m sure the Sentimonster clone will “prove” he’s wrong, but YOU’RE TELLING ME FELIX FIGURED IT OUT BEFORE ANYONE ELSE ON THE WHOLE SHOW???

- Startling revelation aside (for now), it’s a VERY bold claim that Gabriel has “the power to destroy (Felix’s) life”. Gotta catch the slippery little bastard first and I don’t think your old man joints are up to it. :)

- LEAVE MY SON ALONE!!!!! What does he MEAN snapping his fingers is enough to get rid of Felix, is he threatening to have him killed?! I’m loving this dramatic framing though, holy shit, this is so intense!!!

(And I didn’t consider this at the time, but when chatting with my friends afterwards they brought up the theory that this could mean Felix - and by extension Adrien - is a Sentimonster, and that’s extremely interesting. I’m not sure I buy into it quite yet, especially when the English dub words this line slightly differently, but it’s a pretty strange and intense threat for Gabriel to make right here...)

- I already saw it coming that Sentimonster!Gabe was to remove suspicion from the real Gabriel, so that’s no surprise (though I hope Felix holds on to this theory, he’s come SO close to the truth and I’ll be devastated if it stops here!), but FELIX REJECTED THE AKUMA??? HOLY SHIT. BRUH. I was expecting anything from “Felix causes an akuma because he’s terrible” to “Felix becomes an akuma because he’s terrible”, but “Gabriel goes out of his way to akumatize Felix and Felix simply does not allow it” was NOT what I anticipated!!!

- Didn’t I draw something like this after Chat Blanc, with Adrien wrapped in a shock blanket and Felix insensitively going “if Papillon tried to akumatize me I simply wouldn’t let him, RIP to Adrien but I’m different”. Is that canon now??

(I did draw that, and already made a joke post about it! UNBELIEVABLE.)

- What was that?! Felix grabs a worryingly-sharp cufflink off his shirt, skids under “Gabriel’s” legs and slashes his trouser cuff with the pin?? Look at my boy GO! The way he books it out of there, instantly blocks the door and starts planning an exit strategy because he’s literally fleeing from Shadow Moth!!! This is so insane, I didn’t expect this episode to go anywhere NEAR this hard!!! >:0

- Nathalie really wants Felix dead, doesn’t she. No empathy, just “akumatize the Sentimonster”.

- OOOOH, THE COLLECTOR IS BACK!!! I MISSED THIS GUY. I’m not naïve enough to be optimistic (they still have a good 5 minutes left to ruin Felix’s character, ample time for him to set Adrien on fire or something) but this episode APPEARS to be getting better and better!

- I love how upset Adrien looks that his dad got akumatized, like this day is not going the way he wanted but he’s not particularly surprised. I also adore Kagami stuffing him in the closet and grabbing a rapier to fight with, she’s the real knight in this fairytale and I appreciate that she still cares about Adrien’s wellbeing even though their friendship has been rough lately! 

- This catering lady running in with a broom!!! It’s kinda fun that akuma are so integrated into Parisian life that regular people are prepared to just grab a weapon at any time. I really like the borderline-mundane reaction to the party host going nutso, like they’ve just gotta hold their own until Ladybug and Chat Noir get here.

- I don’t blame Felix for not getting involved (he’s the target after all, he’s not getting anywhere NEAR his insane possibly-supervillain uncle!), but smart boy for making Collector take out the front doors so he could escape! I’m deeply pleased by how clever and resourceful Felix is, it might be intended as a negative trait but he’s VERY capable in a way we’ve only really seen from the Miraculous heroes so far.

- Ladybug catching Felix in her arms is everything. And are the heroes making boomer jokes about Collector finally catching up with technology? That’s extra funny considering Gabriel engineered this whole thing because he couldn’t approach one (1) child. He’s been dunked on by every toddler he’s fought today!

- Now before catching up with this episode I did see a glimpse of this part with Felix on Chat’s back, but I thought the circumstances of getting here were going to be MUCH more unpleasant and offensive than this. I love the way Felix has been yanked around between the two heroes and neither of them have reacted negatively to him. He seems a little starstruck - he isn’t even smirking! - which is a huge contrast to the way he acted in the previous episode. Maybe I didn’t get a hug between the boys this time but this is just as cute!

- Oooh, alright, so he guessed Gabriel was Shadow Moth but he seems to have no clue about Adrien! I love him immediately going “Oh I don’t know WHY my uncle is after me, he’s so weird and scary :’0″ - I doubt Chat will buy that for a second but this kicked off in such a short amount of time, what the hell did Felix manage to do in 20 minutes to make Uncle Gabe hit the roof??

(And in the English dub it’s really pleasant to hear Felix and Chat talk back and forth here; they sound very similar but no longer identical. I know I’ve commented on this like a hundred times already but it’s a tiny change I appreciate so much!)

- A very bold assumption that Collector’s tablet has a finite storage space! I’m sure the kids are correct because otherwise this fight will never end, but you think Gabriel Agreste wouldn’t equip himself with unlimited Cloud storage?? Though if he locked down his mansion so thoroughly for a party (allegedly NOT a cult gathering) I imagine he’d reject the idea of storing any of his top secret fashion data online. They know this boomer is limited to offline storage only!

- I do like the use of the map with everything disappearing into Collector’s tablet; it draws attention to how many individual assets they have in this one location (especially compared with how barren it was in Season 1!) and it’s cool to see them stripped away piece by piece!

- TRAMPOLINE??

- The building getting zapped out from under the heroes while Ladybug is TRYING to make a plan is so funny. They landed safe - and we’ve seen Chat hit the ground after getting thrown off a skyscraper (during “Lies”) and he was fine! - but neither of them saw it coming! There’s no safe place to perch!!! Also nice “ZAG” numberplate on the catering van, I do appreciate these little details.

- There’s something hilarious about the Lucky Charm plan being to just throw a bunch of plates at Collector until Chat yeets his baton along with them, smacking Collector’s tablet out of his hand and smashing it. It’s so simple compared to some of the ultra-complex plans and really highlights how thoroughly Gabriel’s getting dunked on by children today. :)

- SO WHAT DID THIS ACHIEVE. Gabriel’s playing it nice and graciously returning the fake ring to Felix as if it’s the real thing, after threatening him in his office and trying to kill him? There must be some bigger plan here, he already “proved” he wasn’t Shadow Moth so why go to the effort of pretending he isn’t mad any more, and why treat Felix so carefully if he thinks he’s gotten away with this elaborate cover story? What else does he want from this??

- I also really like the contrast between Sentimonster!Gabriel and Shadow Moth right here; fake Gabe sounds very sincere and apologetic but the cut to Shadow Moth’s precise, deadpan delivery of the same words is terrifying. WHAT is he up to.

- Felix’s lil face when he gets the ring back. Both of them know it’s a fake but is this permission for him to keep the real thing without Uncle Gabe murdering him over it? I didn’t even need another screencap for this part of the scene, I just want everyone to look at our boy.

- The contrast between Sentimonster!Gabriel accepting the protective charm from Ladybug and Shadow Moth speaking through him is CHILLING. Goddamn.

- DUDE, SHADOW MOTH IS TALL. WHAT’S WITH THAT. But OOH, Gabe and Nathalie are going to work on reverse-engineering the protective charms! That’s an interesting possibility; I like the introduction of those to prevent the same akuma being created over and over again but I don’t know if the show’s budget would allow it. Gotta start poking holes in Ladybug’s new Guardian powers.

- I see Felix is still lurking around suspiciously. But oh my god, is THAT why he tore Gabriel’s pants, to see if he was using a body double?? So he doesn’t have definite proof he’s Shadow Moth but he had a hunch from the moment he was targeted with Gabriel still in the room! And even after the whole akuma debacle (which should have “proven” Uncle Gabe’s innocence) Felix still held on to that theory and went back to check the evidence. Oh my god.

- I should think Gabe would be quick to change pants given he’s an elite fashion designer hosting a party full of high-profile guests, he wouldn’t be seen walking around in damaged clothing so this seems like flimsy “evidence”. I won’t put that burden of common sense on Felix though, he’s my baby boy and he’s SMART. :)

- I see Marc keeping his distance while the girls are hugging Marinette for a job well done, he’s not getting too close in case she decides they’re besties again and he has to go back into hiding.

- That’s a nice Mini Menace reference with Marc and Nath’s new comic! But Nath sweetie, WHAT happened to your cool digital art style?? :’0

- What is this, a postscript?? Gabe putting the peacock brooch away in the vault again? I see that stick drawing of him and Adrien in there and it’s very cute, he really does love his son even if you wouldn’t know it sometimes. :’)

- “A little surprise will be waiting for you when you return, my dear nephew...” When he returns? WE’RE SEEING FELIX AGAIN?? I’M ACTUALLY EXCITED, GODDAMN. But I AM very nervous Uncle Gabe’s going to murder him, what does this MEAN--

-

-

WELL. Just like before I can say “THAT WAS AN EPISODE”, but with a completely different tone this time! Obviously I was trying to avoid spoilers to the point of not even knowing whether this episode was good or bad, but I was truly expecting another hearty “fuck you” to PV fans and I’m actually amazed at how they turned this around. I’m going to split my thoughts into two parts:

What do I think of Felix?

If you’re familiar with my posts you probably know how I’ve been straining to embrace Canon!Felix; his introductory episode was a huge middle finger to longtime Miraculous fans and obviously on purpose; the entire thing was a mess going out of its way to prove how unreasonably horrible Felix is and why he should never ever have been in the show - despite his characterisation going against all known concept art, including the original 2DPV where Felix is animated as a shy, reluctant Chat Noir who comes out of his shell around Ladybug.

He did cartoonishly villainous things. All the characters talked about how evil he was. It confused a lot of casual fans who’d never heard of Felix and had no idea why Adrien suddenly had a doppelganger cousin with an entire episode devoted to hating him. They even threw in a moment where he tries to assault Ladybug, because we really NEED to despise him. He also spent half the time just dressed as Adrien (using Adrien’s character model) so we barely got a look at him to begin with. It was an appalling vendetta and made me lose a LOT of respect for the show for a very long time - until literally right now, in fact.

I can quite honestly, unironically say I love this boy. He’s not the same character from before. He’s still a clever little bastard with a quick wit and a habit of sneaking around, but he’s been toned down a LOT. His conflict is solely with Gabriel and he doesn’t do anything to harm other people, also Gabriel fucking STARTED it this time. I love that Adrien enjoys seeing him. I love that the Miraculous heroes are indifferent to him instead of waxing about how evil he was last time they met, and he even has a tiny moment with Ladybug. I love that he gets to roast Chloe a little bit. I love that he and Adrien are now distinctive characters, so for the first time it feels like I’m really seeing and hearing Felix instead of a weird clone. I love his soft moments with his mom and looking at Emilie’s portrait. And most of all I love that he’s suddenly become a very significant character - not just an insulting throwaway. 

What do I think of the plot?

This episode was completely insane, girl help. I didn’t expect a single goddamn thing in here, I thought Felix was going to arrive back at the mansion to cause more problems-on-purpose for poor Adrien! But instead this boy just walks in, identifies Gabriel as Shadow Moth and simply says “No.❤️” to being AKUMATIZED. RIP TO ADRIEN BUT HE ACTUALLY IS DIFFERENT. 

Alya and Chloe have rejected akuma as well - and both were displays of huge inner strength - but one of my friends pointed out that Felix is the first to have done this without ever being akumatized before or wielding a Miraculous. He has no direct experience with magic (that we know of) or how Shadow Moth gets into people’s heads, he just has that much self-control! That’s incredible!!!

I’m also deeply invested in this rivalry between Felix and Gabriel; it’s so much better than watching him go after Adrien for no (coherent) reason. Gabriel is terrifying when Felix gets too close to his secret, and despite his elaborate plan to conceal his identity, Felix actually holds on to his suspicions and fucking figures it out!!! THE FIRST PERSON TO PUT TWO AND TWO TOGETHER IN THIS ENTIRE SERIES AND IT’S FELIX. The status quo isn’t restored at the end either, Felix actually knows!!! I can’t put into words how mindblowing that is to me - it almost feels like an apology for the way they introduced him.

Actually, yes, that’s what this whole story feels like - a goddamn well-deserved apology while this show is trying to recover from Season 3. Felix returns and there’s only minimal hell raised - the important thing is he stole Ol’ Gabe’s wedding ring and there’s no mention of the frankly fucking ridiculous lengths the previous episode went to. He’s an important character now. He’s clever. He figures something out that completely rocks the status quo and makes Gabriel scarier than he’s ever been. He’s strong in a very significant way which implies he would have been a good Chat Noir in some other life. He’s not a “good person” but he doesn’t have to be in order to bring something interesting - if they’re going to put Felix in the damn show at ALL it should be like this, I think.

-

So there we go, I think! Thank you for coming on this journey with me, I’m astounded to say I actually had a lot of fun and I’m fascinated with where this story is going to go. Roll on the next Felix episode, I think I might have faith in this.

Now where is Bri? 🤔

[tribus-mantodea]

[ Memories of the discarded. ]

I’ve been holding onto these but uhhoohogh it’s time for some awkward headcanons again!

Today’s session brought to you by: tentative thoughts centering the Mantis Child.

(In which for me, she was born pre-traitor arc.)

With mutual respect and consent came her^TM, but it was an ultimately loveless cause. Nothing more than a simple bond between two strong(?) mantids. Well. That said, he’s not a bastard and had taken due care of both partner and child when the time came (where the sisters had also doted and loved her).

I will add that while he did betray his tribe at some point for various reasons while still keeping enough of his mind, she had the choice to either stay or go. Feeling it wrong to do otherwise, she had reluctantly left with him and the defectors on her own volition. In part to see it through, and in knowing and being warned that the associations would be... gray, so to speak, if she did stay. So she couldn’t really be considered part of them anymore after choosing beasts over the village.

-

(...and the phrasing is the Traitors’ Child, rather than Traitor’s.)

Thereby, I enjoy implying that the mantises are fairly cool-knit with each other internally — at least up to an extent, or perhaps in some idea that any offspring of a Lord would be considered part of the tribe/everyone’s.

In turn. Though she did not take the infection like the outcasts had (they respected her will, at least — it was more than enough that she came with them anyhow), they treated her just like how they did when they were not traitors: as if she were their own.

And it’s quite the fun thought, really, to imagine her tiredly and quietly watching her kin slowly accept more of this sweetly foul thing and be more aggressive than they normally would be. Though they held familiarity and a degree of kindness in the initial phase of their exile, she still felt an uncomfortable uncertainty she couldn’t place. Where interactions grew a bit more sternly, hinted with resentment at the existing reminder that they all chose to take the infection even when the Daughter held on her own (albeit not without struggle).

-

It’s equally fun to imagine that as soon as she died, they started their downhill collapse into the unhinge.

Rather than have her die at her own father’s hands by some whacky rage/misunderstanding, I like to think that at some point they kind of... well, being influenced by the Radiance, I’d like to think that their disdain for anything regarding Hallownest intensified, resulting in them defiling and ransacking the gardens of the Queen since Man She’s Right There (and if not that, then just a hint of a whisper directing them to said area that so happened to be her domain) and their thoughts had grown more swayed.

So she didn’t have to accompany any battle, really, and she especially had some conflict when her own lover admitted her allegiance to Hallownest and here she was trying to keep things under wraps. But she still remembered how fondly she was treated, and so came the feeling of obligation to go.

One thing led to another, and she fell by Dryya’s nail, quickly noticed by the Traitor Lord after she was thrown to the side like she were any other mantid that had clashed with the fiercely loyal protector. And she does remember the brief tell in passing from the other knight, “Che’ found fondest affection for a mantis, different.” Remembered after hearing the roar that halted their fight, where the Lord swung back one of his own kin when they did not seem well enough to heed the order out of both insanity and rage.

The traitor tribe had a screaming headache that they were to kill and continue onwards, but their Lord held on enough to deny them of that. Had managed to get across to the despicable knight following lies that he would — will — bury their beloved Daughter before returning to conclude. It was in no way advantageous to say this and actually follow through in a brief retreat, but he did brush off the hint of appreciation that her corpse wasn’t outright dismembered (somehow).

So right after they could complete said burial in a place they suspected to be most frequented by her (and perhaps another) alongside the surface precaution of thorns, well...ya know. They lost their reminder, their reason; at that point, it was easier to mentally influence the traitor tribe with all the nonsense that came along with the infection. Hallucinations, loudening suggestions, muddled thoughts, the works.

They are led to believe at this point there was no going back and that their tribe would certainly not take them back, so they gave in entirely and lost rationality where not even the Lord himself could remember where the grave they made was at some point (aside from a memory that it’s within these very gardens).

-

(Miscellaneous | Mantis Lords)

I’d like to also think that the sisters had kept some sort of tabs on the traitor tribe, though they did not directly see to them. A group of scouts here, a hunt to check there; they at least had a vague understanding of where the mantid and beasts had taken territory to. 

Concerning the grave, I would like to assume that they do know, but as for how they know... I’d want to say either by word or by an unfortunately-timed and poor impression of meeting Ze’mer, stuck in mourning. It isn’t as if all of the Lords could go and see it, so it’d be a rather one-by-one basis just to acknowledge the fact, if at all.

Also I double-like to think that they could demolish the fourth throne entirely if they so wanted to, but they kept it to serve as a reminder of failure/what could come to their tribe (and in an unspoken yet vain hope). Fun memories/regrets for the whole kin! :D

or something. um

okay listen I already said my interpretations might be a bit too indulgent on the family-loving side, but I hope that makes sense enough? haha ooohg...

I just want a bit of happiness here and there before it turns outright Bad. I figure the dude’s got good intent and lots of thought behind his decision(?) in being infected rather than the straight up “you know what’s sexy? strength. alright. i think i’m going to go batshit now.” and while I love, I would also spontaneously combust at the thought of him killing his daughter (at least for my interpretations), especially if it’s over just somethin’ small like “you love a NOT-A-MANTIS?!” due to that one outsider-honor dream dialogue from a mantis warrior makin’ me wonder otherwise.

(for that my thoughts is more Ze’mer: the Hallowed-of-nest Knight? -> Radiance as Infectious Influence: “Oh. That bug sucks. You hate Hallownest? That bug’s going to totally leave your daughter to rot.”)

I can explain about this stuff more but maybe... maybe I leave that for another post before I babble on hsdflkhj

[lovelyprincessn64]

Hello my name is LovelyPrincessN64 I'm the girl who is always happy to accept your request to draw whatever your mind but please be respectful☺

Info about me:

1. The reason why I started Tumblr account so everybody can have a chance to request something for me to draw since I felt bad to alienate people so I decided to give it a shot and give everybody a chance to so they won't feel left out.

2. Don't repost my art especially without my consent if I find out that it has been reposted without my consent or stolen my work there will be a screenshot and there will be a call out post especially with a report do not put yourself at risk and most importantly do not vandalize my art or there will be consequences for bad behavior.

3. I accept people's requests regardless of identity or sexual orientation and regardless of race or skin color meaning everybody's welcome to do so as long as people follow the rules and be respectful and understanding also I'm very open of taking requests but before you ask me please follow the rules before asking.

Note: if you try to harass me if your request violates one of these rules and if you try to bully me and send me nasty messages I will block you so before you request please follow the rules and the link please understand and please be respectful and one more thing please don't rush me my drawings take time.

4. In my spare time I try to brainstorm ideas of what to draw and when I'm on brakes I play video games and relax for a bit and yes I have a life outside of the internet.

5. Things not to do: Don't Force something down my throat, No NFTS and AI art, No victimhood card or any false accusing especially harassment, don't ask me for stuff I don't feel comfortable with, No cancel culture business, No death threats or nasty messages, No slurs such as N word especially cis or the L word those words are an insult and keep it to yourself please no one wants to hear or see that, No buzzwords because no one wants to hear that or see that as well and to top it all off it's stupid victimhood cry baby that no one wants to see and it's embarrassing, Don't Force AI down my throat, No oppressed excuse it's stupid and no one wants to see it, No false accusing do not put yourself at risk, No spams or spam Bots, No Nonsense only common sense, Do not force me to go against my beliefs or religious beliefs it is wrong and it is discriminatory but most importantly treat people how you want to be treated and don't play victimhood, Don't act like an unhinged person or throw any baby Behavior, Don't be a snowflake when it comes down to satire keep in mind satires a joke and everybody can poke fun regardless of what side it's on and no excuses about it, and one important thing I take screenshots for evidence meaning if you try to threaten me or harass me or make up false excavations it will not be tolerated and it will be reported and most importantly an awareness post do not put yourself at risk, most importantly no funny business. Also if I find any false information about me on status updates you will be screenshot and blocked especially reported and by the way false accusing is not cool. Do not use just because it's a drawing it's not an excuse you may think it it's a gotcha however it is not an excuse to harass me or threaten me in any shape or form and you're rights stop when you violate mine, meaning that any attempts of doing it will get you screenshot and a status update report don't put yourself at risk. if you don't like it then move on I am not your babysitter I am just trying to provide for my clients including friends and most importantly enjoy what I love doing the most. No politics are not allowed and never will be also i don't any drama or fights, I just want everything about fun.

6. I have a random art styles that will go down in random madness and I like to customize or mix and match. One more thing every art styles I use or customize belongs to the rightful creators and credit goes to them, second my goal is to master every art style and hopefully become a style master I dreamed to be in my lifetime. Also art styles are not protected under copyright law meaning that you cannot own a style and I want to make this clear it's meant for creative purposes nothing more nothing less. Third you also have an option before requesting to request me a certain art style to do however it has to be something that I can actually do I don't mind new ones however I cannot do realistic is way too hard for me to do also I'll try that I can in the best of my abilities.

7. No Ai bros or NFTS and art thieves, No pedophiles and No groomers especially No Zoophiles, No trolls, No victim hustlers not welcome here and not allowed.

8. I do art trades now even on special events or secret santa events .

7. No using my work for stupid AI / No using for NFTS. DO NOT USED without my consent, if I say no it means no👎!

8. Be respectful and have fun but most importantly be kind and be nice and treat people how you want to be treated.

9. The notes and chat are for requests only or something else most importantly do not send me any nasty notes or messages any attempts of doing it will get you screenshot for evidence and a status update will be made to spread awareness take my advice think before you do it.

10. Anyone is welcome to send me a request regardless if someone is a follower or not everybody deserves a chance.

11. I'm also accepting Art trades now after some thinking I decided fully confirm that I'll be doing art trades however there is a chance that I might not do it in time due to something bad happening or suffering health issues from over working if that happens I do sincerely apologize however I will do my best.

12. All of my works are completely fiction also I do not condone or support any behaviors, you are responsible of whatever happens to you especially actions take responsibility instead of blaming artists take accountability for what you do instead of crying and victim blaming. Artists are not emotional support animals or babysitters don't treat us like that we have lives too and we have freedom of speech it's not okay to violate someone's freedom of expression if you don't like it just move past it and move on don't cause drama be the responsible person instead of being an irresponsible baby. Don't blend reality and fiction together, it's as simple as that.

13. If you're lucky you may catch me stirring up a request event for those of you that don't know I reached a certain milestone of requests because of these amazing achievements and a huge thank you to the fans out there I decided to make something special for all including to enjoy request events are based off of holidays special occasions including many other specials as well if you're interested feel free to go to the events although big disclaimer unlike normal requests you have to request based on special event themes based on options available if that's not your thing you have an option to send me a normal request and don't worry I understand your reasons and opinions.

14. I'm open to criticism as long as it's constructive and reasonable regardless if your friend, watcher, or just a visitor however no unrealistic standards and no bad mouthing or ugly behavior will not be tolerated.

15. I will answer questions but be respectful and no personal or fun business.

16. If you don't have anything to request for me to draw and trying to start trouble THEN GET OUT OF MY REQUEST STORE!!!

17. Be respectful and don't be a jackass.

18. Things that will get you banned and what's not allowed: if you're an AI bro that likes to insult artists and mocks artists it will get you banned, using a tragic event as an excuse will get you banned, using conversations that don't belong in art will get you banned as well, sending me threats will get you banned regardless of what it is, trying to force something down my throat will get you banned, forcing me to use AI down my throat will get you banned and not be tolerated I do not want to use it if you like it that's fine but that doesn't mean you should harass someone or force it down their throat, making fun of certain groups of real life people with talents will get you banned, trying to get me force NFTs down my throat will get you a banned, Using victimhood or victimhood hustling as an excuse to harass me we'll get you a banned keep in mind be nice to people regardless and it is not an excuse to harass people, No CP if you try to send one that will also get you banned, using it disability as an excuse will get you banned, if you're a person that uses AI and tries to pass it as your own will get you banned, No porn bots or porn accounts are not allowed you will be blocked if there's a single of it, no weird messages or messages that will get you screenshot blocked and banned, no pedophiles are not welcome, No zoophiles are not welcome, no predators are not welcome, No buzz words nobody wants to see that or hear that, no trolling, no death threats, no false accusing, no cry babies or cry baby behavior, more thing I will take screenshots for evidence and proof and a way to defend myself take my advice be nice be kind and don't be stupid and a bully or try to harass me and if you try to start a bullying campaign keep in mind I will screenshot every abuse you throw at me and will come back to haunt you do not take the risk.

19. Link to the rules and request events here:

9. Have fun and enjoy your fanservice and stay. 🔮💝💐

[prongsmydeer]

Ayesha Liveblogs 2gether the Movie 

The anticipation of this movie has been so long, I really can’t wait to see it even if it is a recap of 2gether hahaha

“You nervous?” “No, I’m okay, I think.” WHAT ARE WE NERVOUS FOR BOYS, WHERE ARE WE GOING

“I got a note from someone. Someone who would change my life forever.” Tine to Green: Thanks for indirectly getting me a boyfriend, bestie

Wild that in the greater context, the most intelligent friend of all, Fong, is the one who convinces Tine that giving people a sedative is the best course of action to get them to leave you alone. [Jackson Whittemore voice] Where are you getting your juice???

“A plan made by a fool can bite you in the ass real fast.” That’s the moral of the show, isn’t it

I still can’t believe this band is called “Sssss..!” imagine asking someone about their favourite musician and then they just hiss at you

“Though it seemed like a bad idea, it wouldn’t hurt to try.” LMAO it really is such a loose and nonsensical premise

Tine: How do I convince this man I am not interested?

Fong, Phuak and Ohm: Date more men.

Tine: Why?

Fong, Phuak and Ohm: We have found a really hot guy.

Tine, bisexual and stupid: Okay!!!!

“He’s a political science student with anti-social behaviour.” Me too, Sarawat hahahaha

Incredible that Sarawat walks away from this exchange where all Tine does is call him an ass, and then he’s like, “Perfect. Incredible. Waited my whole life for this. I want to kiss him.”

ABSOLUTELY FLOORS ME THAT THIS EXCHANGE IS HOW SARAWAT TALKS TO PEOPLE THAT HE LIKES. SARAWAT UNDERRATED FOR MOST UNHINGED BEHAVIOUR

“Some day you may want someone to be a nuisance in your life.” You know that post that’s like ‘marry someone you want to annoy for the rest of your life.’ Yeah 😌💕

If you’re going to cheat at your music audition, you really ought to put your phone on Do Not Disturb lmao

Funny that this phone call is basically the only time we ever see Tine interacting with his parents. Did he ever tell his parents he and Sarawat are in love or do they still think they’re just friends and roomies

Also funny that Dim arranges this lady-and-the-tramping-a-snack exercise by gender. P’Dim said: I understand u may be uncomfortable with the possibility of heterosexual kissing, so I have come up with a solution: gay kissing, hope this helps xoxo

The longer that this movie goes on, the more I feel a bit bad for Bright bc Win gets all of the voiceovers. They really only needed him for like, 30 seconds so far khgjhggj I hope he was still paid well 

“This was the first time Scrubb’s song could make my heart beat this fast,” said Tine, thinking that is a chill and platonic thing to think about your music club buddy

I really do love that Sarawat starts this tradition of singing his feelings to Tine, and also that Tine sings along, slightly out of time

How is Green such a dedicated non-boyfriend to Tine, and yet somehow in his real relationship, finds it okay to join a club to flirt with another man in front of his actual boyfriend. Green and Dim need years of couple’s counselling

Is the reason that Dim’s band is wearing face-obscuring cardboard masks so they could use the same band members as “Sssss..!” without ppl noticing LMAO. Economical!

🎶 It doesn’t matter who you like. Just look at me. 🎶 I don’t know what it is about this song, but Took Yang (Everything) GETS ME EVERY TIME. IT’S JUST VERY ROMANTIC

“Whatever it was, I didn’t like this feeling.” That’slovebitch.jpg

“All I knew was if I let this feeling continue, it might not do any good to... both of us.” HONESTLY. This line alone makes the voiceovers worth it. Like, that Tine is AWARE of his growing feelings and thinking of Sarawat’s really changes the way the scene reads. THEY 🥺💕

“I feared that I might develop feelings for him,” said Tine, already tits deep in feelings 

What I enjoy most about Bright, both as an actor and in general, seeing him in interviews and such, is that he somehow has this expression as if he is in love with everyone he’s ever spoken to. It’s compelling

I think in one interview he describes it as “listening really intently,” and I’m like. That is not how I look when I listen. You listen with love in your eyes. It is very endearing

I’ve never understood why the fake-dating break-up takes place while Tine is in a towel. Who decided this lol it really does distract from the sincerity of their feelings. His hair isn’t even wet LMAO

“But you like Earn.” It’s funny that in this recap, Tine doesn’t describe the like, 8 or 9 times that Sarawat, prior to this, sincerely declares that he is interested in Tine hkjfhkjfhf bisexual blinders on

“The guy I just talked to. He is the guy I like!” Sarawat’s flashbacks are so funny in the context of how he reacted to Tine every time he spoke to him. Sarawat’s that tweet that goes, ‘When I was 7 I had a crush on a guy in my class & didnt know how to deal w it so I wrote him a letter that just said “get out of my school”’

I love that how even when Tine is not quite ready to admit his feelings, he leaves the door open for Sarawat to understand that he is starting to reciprocate them

“Nowadays, I only wish for him to be faithful to me,” said Tine, as if Sarawat has not been in love with him and only him since the moment they met

HAHAHAHA it’s been 64 minutes and finally Sarawat gets a voiceover, good for him 

Also if Sarawat proposes to Tine I will cry, I love that for them. I hope Tine uno reverses him and pulls out his own ring 

“So are your parents coming?” “No, they will only come to the party in the evening.” WILL TINE’S PARENTS FINALLY MAKE AN APPEARANCE? ONLY TIME WILL TELL 

JKGKJHGKJHG Tine’s lack of self-awareness gets me every time

Ohm: How do you feel about him?

Tine: Not much. Just, my heart flutters when he’s around. When I listen to Scrubb songs with him, the songs sound better. Especially when his face gets close to mine, it feels like my heart is jumping out of my chest. But I guess that’s normal

Fong: ???????????????????????????? TINE PLS

Also kills me that despite this monologue, Tine’s friends are like, ‘He’s being very nice to you and he’s very hot. This could happen to anybody. We will protect u from the Void of Sarawat’s Hotness’ GETS ME EVERY TIME

“Though I had sung with him quite a few times, this was the first time I felt... something between us.” THIS WAS THE FIRST TIME? WAT PLS

“Did Tine dump you already? Why did you ask me to take you here?” “Why are you such a jerk?” Accurate sibling interaction between Sarawat and Phukong lmao

It’s a shame that so far they haven’t included any scenes from Still 2gether, in which they address any of the relationship or personal insecurities that arise for these two over the span of the series, but I guess ‘and then we put work into our relationship’ doesn’t make for as good of a movie LMAO

 OH PSYCH Sarawat said: Still 2gether was also my favourite part of the series 😇🥰

“We spent time apart,” said Sarawat, as if they were not literally 30 mins away from each other for 2 weeks kjhkjhj they’re so silly

OHHHHHHHH THEY WERE GOING TO THEIR GRADUATION AHHHHH I LOVE THEM IT’S VERY CUTE 

“Don’t you ever look at anyone else.” 2gether the movie said you can have a leetle BossPear, as a treat

Hahahaha they gave us a Fong x Earn x Ohm triangle so they’d have something to do I guess hahahahaha

Tbh I was still rooting for Earn and Pear 

Also: Sad that Phuak couldn’t make it kjghgh RIP bestie. When they said “look who finally decided to show up,” I really thought they were gonna cut to him

“Look who’s here. They couldn’t wait.” HAHAHAHA TINE’S PARENTS FINALLY GET 0.2 SECONDS OF SCREENTIME AND SARAWAT’S PLAN IS ALREADY GOING AWRY

I REALLY WANT TO KNOW IF THE PARENTS KNOW THEY’RE DATING. TINE’S PARENTS, AT THEIR WEDDING: So Tine, you and your roommate are very close, huh?

“Mom, this is Wat, the guy I told you about.” THEY HAVEN’T MET HIM IN THE PAST FOUR YEARS? LMAOOOOOOOOOOO

Awwww Dad wants Sarawat in the family photo too, I love that <3

“Your bracelet looks the same as Tine’s.” THEY DON’T KNOW THEY’RE DATING, I’M WHEEZING. HONESTLY MOOD THOUGH I NEVER TELL MY FAMILY ANYTHING ABOUT MY DATING LIFE

ALSO. BOTH OF THEIR SONS ARE DATING MEN. TYPE HAS ALREADY PAVED THE WAY. WHAT COULD BE THE POSSIBLE CONSEQUENCES KJGHKJGHG

WAT AND DIM’S CONVO IS PURE PHYSICAL COMEDY FJKHFJFH

“You’ve prepared this for your man. Hurry up.” REST IN PIECES SARAWAT HAHAHA

Tine’s parents, rn: I think your roommate has a crush on you

“Honey, Wat sings so beautifully.” “Of course, he’s singing to his boyfriend. Right, Tine?” HAHAHAHAH I CAN’T TELL IF TINE’S DAD IS SAYING WE KNOW OR WILFULLY IGNORING THE LOVE

Dad’s strained smile kjghkghkgjh there’s only 5 mins of the movie left, nothing else can happen

“I would never get sick of singing with you.” ROMANCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This movie is so funny. They could’ve easily made this a special episode in which Tine’s parents find out about them dating, but instead they had a 70 min series recap, and then they wrapped it up with, ‘Yes, Sarawat proposed to Tine in front of his parents. Tine said yes. No, I will not elaborate.’ Power mov(i)e

😭❤️😭❤️😭❤️ WAIT THEY ELABORATED 😭❤️😭❤️😭❤️

“Come to Uncle Wat!” PFFFFFFFFFFFT THEY PSYCHED US OUT, SEEMS LIKE IT’S BOSS AND PEAR’S KID KJGHGJHGJKH THE BETRAYAL WHY WOULD U DO THAT

2gether said: I wanted to remind you that gay marriage and adoption is illegal in Thailand actually, xoxo sorry. But our parents love us and our dog is our baby

Well, 2gether wanted to make sure that their movie took you through the same emotional roller coaster the series had. And they sure did!!! It was very fun to watch regardless

[katara0524]

Impromptu Ramblings about the NEO:TWEWY Demo

In case y'all weren't aware, I've been a pretty big fan of TWEWY for a couple years now, and with the sequel coming out next month, the excitement I feel for this game is greater than ever :) I played the Demo for the first time yesterday, and following a couple views of some livestreams of others playing it, I felt like sharing my (very ramble-y) thoughts prior to the release of the full game. This post WILL contain spoilers for both TWEWY and NEO:TWEWY, so if you want to avoid those from now on, please block the tags: #twewy spoilers, #ntwewy spoilers, #neo twewy spoilers, #ntwewy, and #neo twewy ^_^ Oh, and if you wanna keep up with any other posts I make about my experience with this game, please refer to the tag "kat plays neo twewy" :)

-First things first: I have not watched the Final Trailer and I don't plan on doing so to avoid spoilers, especially after the pre-release era of KH3 where a lot of the later trailers spoiled a lot of the endgame content. That being said, I've seen some minor screenshots from the final trailer including what many believe to be characters from the original TWEWY, namely Shiki and Joshua. That is all I know about the Final Trailer and I would very much like to remain as blind as possible going into NEO :)

-The very first cutscene was quite ominous in the sense that this game is likely going to be about "changing fate" (a recently common theme in Squeenix games, which I do appreciate), perhaps leading off from the end of A New Day in the OG and trying to stop an Inversion of Shibuya. Also worth noting that A New Day had similar aspects in which the main character experienced "future visions" of tragic events, although in A New Day these events were not able to be changed, while in NEO it seems like one of the main "powers" our protagonist has is specifically to rewrite these events and avoid a "bad ending." Very interesting indeed!

-I really like the revamped comic book style dialogue scenes, it's much more fluid and modern, which is an excellent direction for the series to take!

-I would love to have an actual PokemonGO knockoff of Final Fantasy creatures, please Squeenix that would be incredibleeeeee

-Also the LINE stickers??? Are so cute???

-I would just like to point out that Fret is an absolute treasure throughout this entire demo, he's hilarious and I will protect him with my life

-UHHHH don't like that Fret picked up some Reaper Pins just out of nowhere.....or the fact that they're apparently popular all over Shibuya.............did y'all not learn anything from the OG game or what lmao

-Okay so when I first got the "curry or ramen" scene and heard NPCs talking about the new curry place replacing the old ramen place I became IMMENSELY distressed that Ramen Don was totally cut from the game because....well, Ramen Don is a King okay?? But I'm glad to learn that no, he didn't fall off the face of the earth, he's still in business and he's the one opening the curry restaurant lolol. PHEW, crisis averted!

-.....I don't like the sudden appearance of a Wall Reaper and being able to read NPC thoughts. Wtf happened when they left the ramen place??? Are they playing the Game alive somehow?

-Okay so I have my own theories about this "Swallow" character and what they're up to but considering this is only the Demo and I still Have No Idea What's Happening, I'm just gonna say that I think Swallow intentionally led Rindo and Fret to the Crossing so they could join the Game. I mean, add in the fact that Swallow still communicates with Rindo during the Game and you've got yourself a suspicious character right there lol

-"Hey they're shooting off fireworks!" Fret honey that's not fireworks oof (see also: "*laughs* I'm in danger")

-WOOOOOO way to traumatize Rindo right off the bat like that LMAOO

-The visuals for the intro are VERY GOOD, the song is pretty decent until it gets all "screamo" (which I absolutely cannot stand sorry lol)

-Shoka is every Customer Service employee ever and I respect that

-Susukichi went from being "meh" to "WOW THIS GUY IS FUN" in the span of 10 seconds and I also respect that (he is also built like an Absolute Unit which is hilarious)

-The Wall Reapers (and just Reapers in general) seem.....way nicer and more helpful this time around?? Like in the OG the Wall Reapers were SO RUDE gfhjgjdfkhn and yeah I'm sure we'll get some like that but the juxtaposition of the first Wall Reaper in the OG compared to the first one in NEO is insane.

-The puzzles are quite a bit more entertaining this time around even if it's generally the same "fetch quest" formula lol

-"Rindo's Group" way to go Fret HFKJDGHSDFKJ mans really left the default name in there lmao

-OKAYOKAYOKAY so to those who aren't aware I am a MASSIVE SIMP for Sho Minamimoto, he's my absolute favorite and I think about him daily. HIS INTRODUCTION IS. INCREDIBLE. I LOVE IT SM.

-GOD hearing him actually SPEAK FULL SENTENCES is just SO SURREAL I love this sm

-Also the remix of his theme???? NEO TRANSFORMATION????? IT'S SO GOOD????????? It's like gone from a Boss Theme to a more triumphant sounding theme and I am HERE for it (every version of Transformation is just INCREDIBLE and getting a new one is even better)

-I Love Him, Your Honor

-Also idk how exactly but it's kinda weird seeing Sho in the OG vs NEO, cuz while he's mostly the same Insane Math-Obsessed Catboy, he's.....calmed down quite a bit?? Like OG made a whole point of how poorly he cooperates with others (not to mention just being completely unhinged and trying to kill everyone), whereas here in NEO he's......actually kinda working with others??? HELLO???? Sir what happened to you and Neku during those 3 years I would love to know all about it

-I guarantee you Sho is still probably scheming shite and will likely pull some total insane BS later down the road, and I am very much looking forward to that. Also, is he looking for a certain Pin or something??? Cuz he keeps talking about different Pins and even mentions "this is just another Psych Pin" like he's actively looking for a Pin to do something with. Maybe it also has to do with the "latent powers of Players" thing he mentioned as well??? What is this dude UP TO oml (also is he in contact with Neku at all?? they're both technically fugitives at this point right?? WHAT HAPPENED AFTER A NEW DAY I AM BEGGING YOU)

-I seems like Sho ALSO has an idea of what's going on in this specific game (even if he won't admit it straightforward). Per his quote "The game's 142,857. Factor it out," he's essentially saying, "This game is a neverending cyle, figure out how to get out of it" (or at least that's what I got from his "cyclic number" nonsense lolol)

-I do like how Sho mostly stays out of sight until he's needed for a battle or assisting with a mission, that's kind of on par with his whole "uncooperative" quirk from the OG, plus he might literally have to stay out of sight of other Reapers and Players considering he's likely breaking the rules of the Game (not surprising considering him and Neku broke practically every rule in the book during OG)

-The nicknames for Sho- I can't- They're so FUNNYYYY GFHJSDFKJ

-He goes from being called "Pi-Face" and "Tabooty" in OG to "Mr. Minami" and "M-Teezy" in NEO LMAOO

-(Wowee I just realized I've been mostly talking about Sho oopsies sorry y'all, this is what I meant by thinking about him almost daily he is THAT much of a fav of mine ghfkjsd)

-Okay RIP Fret and Rindo for not getting literally ANY explanation as to how the Game works OOF, that is kinda cringe that whoever gets the Pin earns points, not whoever erases the Noise (which like I understand but also URRRGGHHH I WANNA SEE THE SQUAD SUCCEED)

-"I should be going home now it's getting late" Oh you sweet summer child-

-Also love the mention of parents in this game???? KH you could learn a thing or two from TWEWY (poor Rindo's mom fhgjkdh)

-KUBO IS HILARIOUS I SUPPORT HIM AND HIS GROSS FACE (also thank you Final Trailer thumbnail for spoiling my suspicions about him very cool smh)

-Kaie is a LAD I also support him, go King type those funky texts I believe in you

-FRET PLS STOP SCANNING FHGJKSDHKJFGHFKJ he's like me when I scan in OG during Weeks 2 and 3 and see Taboo Noise coming after me ghfjdshfj

-Also Rindo can you stay off your phone for TWO SECONDS ik you're trying to figure things out but Fret is a jelly boi and I don't want him to be upset with you my guy

-Sho being an actual sorta mentor to the kiddos?? Who are you sir this is so unlike you ghfgskj what happened to the guy who tried shooting children in the face 8 times over LMAO (granted he's probably just using them but it's still nice to see him actually cooperating and sharing knowledge with the kiddos aaaaa)

-EYO EIJI OJI THE TIKTOK INFLUENCER IS BACK LMAO

-hgjkfshgkjf "we aren't glorifying capitalism on my watch" THATS SO FUNNY TO ME GFHJFSDGHJKS (also an all-orange ensemble is disgusting you deserve jail for one thousand years fkn Cheddar Goldfish Cheezit ass woman)

-WICKED TWISTERS NAME DROP EYOOO we love to see it

-gfhsgjf Poor Rindo embarassing himself for the sake of the Game that's incredible

-R e t u r n t o M O N K E. That is all.

-Dialogue during boss battles is HELLA cool i love that

-HHHHH THE KANON SCENE MADE ME A N G E R Y FRET STOP SIMPING MY GUY says the girl with a Literal Simp Encyclopedia and simps for pixels on a screen daily

-Can't wait to see the other Reapers :eyes emoji:

-CAN'T WAIT TO SEE NAGI MY BELOVED YEAHHHH WOOOOOO AAAAND that's about it for the demo lolol, I absolutely CANNOT wait for next month, this game is gonna be INCREDIBLE holy hell Prepare for more simping, more screaming, and more vibing from Yours Truly :) I fully intend on sharing more general thoughts like this on both Tumblr and Twitter so it's not just reblog-retweet-reblog-retweet with the occasional comment fhgskjd

If you wanna witness my insanity up close and personal I have a Square Enix Discord server called Sea Side Dreamers! You can look it up on Disboard, or you can add me on Discord @Katara0524#9244 for a direct link :) We have topics about Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, NieR, and ofc TWEWY (as well as other topics!), so if you want some good ol' chaos and chitchat, you're more than welcome to join!

[lady-divine-writes]

Kurtbastian one-shot - “Revenge on a Car Napper” (Rated M)

Summary: After Kurt breaks an important promise to his boyfriend, Sebastian plans an appropriate revenge. (1390 words)

Notes: Assumes Kurt and Sebastian met at Dalton. Rating is for mention of a sexual act.

Read on AO3.

Sebastian tries to be nice about it. 

“Kurt?”

He tries to be gentle. 

"Hey, Kurt?"

He tries to wake Kurt slowly, the way a loving boyfriend should.

"Ku-urt? Wakey-wakey... "

But when Sebastian shakes his shoulder for the fifth time and Kurt doesn’t even blink, Sebastian loses his cool. He shoves him over, hard enough to jostle his head.

“Kurt!”

Kurt snorts indelicately, sitting bolt up in his seat like he heard a gunshot.

“(Shn-ick) Wh-what!? What happened? What’s going on? Did someone hit us? DID YOU REAR END SOMEONE WITH MY BABY!?”

Sebastian rolls his eyes, pulling Kurt's Navigator to the side of the road.

“No,” he says, voice tight with a desperate need to sleep. “Your baby is fine. We were supposed to switch off more than two hours ago!”

Kurt's eyes dart around the interior of the SUV, falling on the radio clock and blinking to bring the numbers into focus. He nods, arriving at some sort of silent understanding. “Right! Right, right, right… ” His eyelids flutter closed, head bouncing forward as he drifts back to sleep. Sebastian watches him nodding off and (seeing no other cars on the road, not that he'd really care if there were) slams his hand down on the horn.

Kurt’s eyes snap open, and he scrambles upright again. “I’m awake! I'm awake!”

“Come on, Kurt!”

“I’m sorry!”

“We had a deal! You knew you were supposed to take a shift! Why did you take that Goddamned Ambien to begin with?” Sebastian whines, quickly coming to terms with the fact that Kurt is probably in no condition to drive regardless of whether or not Sebastian is in danger of dying in his seat.

Which he is.

“You know I get sick on long car rides," Kurt says through only half his mouth and with one eye open. "It was either I sleep or I vomit. Which would you have preferred?”

“At this point,” Sebastian growls, teeth clenched, “I wouldn't care if we were swimming in your partially-digested dinner as long as I could put my head down for an hour!”

Kurt glares at Sebastian with disgust. “Ewww! That's an image,” he says, head dropping onto the headrest behind him, eyelid falling shut.

“Kurt?” Sebastian waves a hand in front of Kurt's face, trying to assess the consciousness of his drugged boyfriend. “Kurt?” 

Kurt’s lips part and Sebastian hears him snore softly.

“Kurt!? Fuuuucccccckkkkkk!” Sebastian jumps up and down in the driver’s seat, smacking the steering wheel until his palms vibrate with pain. His tantrum pauses momentarily when he surrenders to a yawn, realizing with dismay that he’s wasting the little energy he has left while on a road with no turnouts for him to pull over and take an emergency snooze.

Sebastian sighs, defeated. He puts the Navigator back into drive and resigns to keep going for as long as he can.

He'll find a way to get back at his boyfriend later.

An hour down the dark and lonely road, Sebastian’s mind swirls with ways he can exact revenge on Kurt. It might not be the nicest subject to dwell on, but for now, focusing on vengeance is the only thing keeping him awake. His eyes shift from time to time to peek at his selfish boyfriend resting comfortably in the passenger seat.

Bitterly, Sebastian pokes Kurt in the arm.

Nothing.

He smacks Kurt on the shoulder.

Still nothing.

He licks a finger and sticks it in Kurt’s ear.

Kurt shifts positions, mumbles nonsense. For a second, Sebastian is relieved, certain that a wet willy did the trick where all else has failed. But after a few unattractive grunts, Kurt settles down and starts to snore again. Sebastian changes lanes sharply. Kurt rolls toward the door, then flops back to his original position.

Not a stir.

“Un-fucking-believable.” Sebastian's eyes flick to Kurt, whose mouth has opened further, almost inhumanly, like a python unhinging its jaw to devour a rabbit.

“At least he’s not drooling. And thank Heavens no one important is here to see this,” he declares loudly, still trying in vain to wake Kurt up. “God forbid your friends from Vogue saw you with your mouth hanging open and your hair messed up.” He gasps dramatically. “What would Isabelle say?”

Sebastian's eyelids grow heavy, fighting to close, so he aims his face towards the cold air rushing in through the cracked window. With the frigid wind prying his lids open and its howling whoosh drowning out the wet rattle of Kurt’s snoring, he can think much more clearly.

And because he can think, he gets a nasty idea.

He pulls his iPhone out of its dock on the dashboard.

“I know you get angry when I use my phone while I drive,” Sebastian mocks an unconscious Kurt while activating his camera app, “but what you don’t know won’t bother you… yet.”

***

They reach their hotel a little after three in the morning. It’s too late for a dip in the hot tub to ease Sebastian’s stiff muscles, so he zeros in on the shower instead, determined to let the hot spray beat the ache out of him.

“I am so so so sorry,” Kurt repeats for the tenth time. “I totally… ”

“Forget it.” Sebastian reaches for his luggage, but a chipper and fully-energized Kurt swoops in and grabs it before Sebastian can pick it up.

“No, I was an ass. And I promise I’ll make it up to you.”

“How about you drive the rest of the way to San Francisco,” Sebastian suggests. “This way I can spend seven hours sleeping this time.”

“Done,” Kurt agrees, kissing Sebastian’s cheek before leading the way to their room. “But in the meantime, why don’t you get the shower started… ” Kurt runs the keycard through the reader and unlocks the door, holding it open so a barely conscious Sebastian can stumble inside “... and I’ll join you in a bit to help polish your doorknob… ”

Sebastian chuckles. Polish your doorknob is their ridiculous secret code for an in-shower blowjob. It was a phrase they had come up with in high school so that they could talk about sex under their teachers’ noses and it kind of stuck.

Sebastian’s face lights up.

“You promise?” he asks, pulling Kurt into the room and wrapping his arms around his waist.

“I promise."

Sebastian smiles wider. “Swear on your entire collection of McQueen scarves that no matter what, you’ll come into the shower with me and… uh… polish my doorknob.”

Kurt’s eyebrows shoot up, surprised that Sebastian would feel the need to have him make such a promise. But seeing how badly he broke the last promise he made, he supposes it's only fair.

“Of course,” Kurt reassures him. “You know how much I love it. And after what you've been through tonight, you deserve to have your doorknob gleam like the top of the Chrysler Building.”

“Great.” Sebastian kisses Kurt on the forehead. “I’ll get the water started.”

“I’ll be with you in a second. I want to check Facebook." Kurt slides out of his coat. He fishes his cell phone out of his pocket and unlocks the screen. “Our East Coast friends should be awake by now. I want to update my status. Make them all pea green with envy.”

“You do that.” Sebastian grabs his toiletries and walks into the bathroom, maniacal grin on his face. He shuts the bathroom door and stands quietly behind it, listening to Kurt mutter as he checks his home page.

“Wow!” he calls out so Sebastian can hear. “I have thirty-two new notifications! We’ve only been gone for a day… what!?”

Sebastian throws a hand over his mouth to stifle his laughter.

“What the… ?” Kurt's voice grows more and more agitated as he flips through recent posts.

When he sees photos he was tagged in overnight.

There’s an unnerving beat of quiet, and then: “SEBASTIAN!”

“Hurry up, babe,” Sebastian manages through guffaws. “You promised to come in and polish my doorknob.”

The bathroom door shakes violently with the force of the shoe Kurt throws at it. Sebastian jumps away from the door before something heavier follows. He undresses quickly, steps into the shower, and turns on the spray. 

So maybe he won’t get his blowjob. But for now, revenge feels much, much better.

[neednothavehappenedtobetrue]

okay. this is a post about a new character, who is a person in the same 'verse as the main one for Robert and Isabelle, sci-fi and spaceships. she is a pastor in the one specific "limits on technology" religion I made up, but also, she is very cool. she does not live on their main terraformed colony, she lives in another colony with some definite cultural differences.

I am mostly posting this for my own future reference. there are definitely people who will enjoy Gwendolyn a lot, even with the extensive trigger tag situation here, but I think "a short story that has space for more nuance" would be a better venue for her than "my thoughts from Skype at 4AM"

if you do decide to read this, check the tags first, please

shoutout to @anonymus-maximus-er for being my thought partner on this.

but as I understand it now, there are, like , degrees of Intensity in Church Of Man

like, even their chillest followers are kind of intense about it because it's hard to be real, real chill about "god said we were only allowed to use these specific fifteen technologies" or whatever the exact rules are

but as far as incubators go, Aimee's community, the one you saw, would definitely have been like "well, too bad God wants that baby to die" and there are some other communities which would be more like "okay, probably make sure your baby does not die, do what you've gotta do there, but don't come back and talk to us afterwards"

and also for sure there are communities like "do literally whatever you have to do to make sure your baby does not die, we will be here with whole-made casseroles when you're home again"

and like, could some of those kids have benefitted from subsequent quality-of-life stuff they didn't get? probably, yes

to varying degrees

but hopefully Aimee finds a nice community where she can be like "this is so important to me but my babies and I experienced a bunch of technology in order to not die and we got excommunicated."

and they're like "wow that sounds like a lot of Not Your Fault would you like some whole-made casseroles and toddler clothes?"

and she's like "I got excommunicated" and they're like "did you know, perhaps you didn't, that there is no Central Authority for every Church Of Man church in the galaxy? there for sure is not! the people from New Maryland often pretend they are, but we didn't vote for them! your old pastor is just not at all the boss of us, is the thing"

that is the future epilogue I want for Aimee

I feel like the Tau Ceti Church of Man community is small and some people think they're weird, but they're nice neighbors. their pastor is a woman named Gwendolyn or something who is just constantly mad about Richard Brinton That Fucking Asshole

she has never called him any of those words because of decorum, she has just spent a lot of time talking to new people like "wow you seem very traumatized did you know he is not the boss of us?"

"we don't have a pope!"

"we've tried to have a council a few times, but it's logistically complicated"

"every church is supposed to make its own rules in accordance with the texts"

"yes, I have read every single one of his missives to the world, I know which bits of the Texts you probably have memorized, here are some bits I like a lot"

Gwendolyn has some opinions

like, churches are supposed to set their own rules about "necessary" technologies and she has quietly labeled almost all life-saving medical technology "necessary"

meanwhile, Brinton thinks it's necessary for him to have access to telecommunications equipment to he can send his editorials all over the galaxy, so people can be Educated

huh

of course, he does not actually physically touch the telecommunications equipment, he keeps like four people who know how to use it around so they can spread his word, but also, huh

the thing about Gwendolyn is that she has spent a long time watching traumatized New Marylanders join her community, many of them quite young and quite traumatized

also, she was never a New Marylander, she is fourth-generation Tau Ceti, which, crucially

means that her first set of principles is "Church Stuff, Misc" and her second set of principles, right there after the first is "you're not the boss of me"

even if somebody could point to actual scripture that said they were the boss of her, she would have some trouble with it, but some dude! who cannot point to anything at all! no justification whatsoever! nothing in the texts even a little bit! keeps trying to be the boss of her! and also keeps traumatizing all of the people in his community pretty badly! and making everyone else look like jerks!

"I'm more conservative than you, therefore, I am the boss of you"

NOPE

not for Gwendolyn

Gwendolyn votes in every local election and votes for her Senator, who she has met and quite likes. she occasionally goes to protests when the local government does some dipshit thing, but the Tau Ceti local government is pretty well-behaved because if it's not the citizenry will absolutely be like "fuck you, you're not the boss of me" at its government

she has some Very Big Opinions about debtor employment. she's not thrilled about the like, severity of the gang situation in her city, but she doesn't have a lot of optimism that the Government is gonna fix it, so she does community groups instead

also, in recognition of the fact that she can't just throw these traumatized New Marylanders right off into the personal autonomy deep end she is like "okay, if you need someone to tell you what to do sometimes, I will be the temporary boss of you until you are ready to be the boss of you"

she does not Love that aspect of her job, but sometimes you gotta

you can't bring people from "obedience all the time" to "you must make every choice in your life with no backup" overnight, they'll just collapse in on themselves or become targets for worse people

so she does the thing

she and Brinton have a <very> passive aggressive correspondence going as church leaders

there are many many long letters back and forth

they are very polite and also, if any of them are preserved, historians will find them fascinating

"wow these people just fucking loathed each other"

Anonymus, 5:05 AM

your obedient servant, A. Burr

5:05 AM

if they did not live on separate planets, legitimately maybe

like, if she could get to Brinton's house on a horse to yell at him in person, she would have by now

she didn't swear a lot in real life, but sometimes she wanted to

she got real good at saying "that man" or "sugar" or "nonsense" in A Tone, but you could tell

I can't decide if she has a husband or a wife

Aimee's church definitely thinks gay people are Modern and therefore Wrong, but like

I feel like probably their specific religious texts don't even have that much on being nice to people? like, there's definitely a few pages on like "kindness is an ancient value, we hold fast to ancient values, these are them"

but it's like 70% Rules Minutiae

it's also not a super long book

so everybody has very different opinions about how to interpret the Rules Minutiae in light of the 30% of the book that's like "here are our actual values"

"modesty" and "fidelity" are both in the Ancient Values bits for sure

and I feel like different denominations went in different directions on the "modesty" and "fidelity" implications of "gay people"

no, I've decided, Gwendolyn definitely has a wife

show her in the actual rules where she can't have a wife

yes, fidelity, that thing she has with her wife

Anonymus, 5:13 AM

can the wife be a very proper rebbetzin?

organises all the casserole chains

5:14 AM

yes, she can definitely organize all of the casserole chains

5:18 AM

right

Gwendolyn's wife's name is Tara and she came from an Earth Church of Man community where they were like "technically it's not illegal for you to be gay, but, like, ehhhh? we'd rather you didn't and also you definitely cannot have children if you're gay"

5:20 AM

and she got to Tau Ceti and met Gwendolyn who even in college was like "show me in the texts where it says I cannot have a wife."

"show me."

Anonymus, 5:21 AM

sounds like excellent breeding ground for Very Textually and Theologically Conversant, but not actually a religious authority

5:21 AM

the thing is, Tau Ceti is Bad At Authority

if they had a motto on their coins it would just be "you're not the boss of me" but maybe in Latin

but maybe not even in Latin because people who know Latin often think they are the boss of you

Anonymus, 5:22 AM

WHO MADE U KING

5:22 AM

for real

I think there is a dude who is technically the "boss" of Gwendolyn and they take turns giving the sermons and calibrating which parishoners they support based on like, communication styles in a way that often ends up with just all of the women and queer folks being Gwendolyn's people

she is smarter than him, he handles all of the Local Politics things that require you not to go "EXCUSE me, where is the LAW ABOUT THAT"

Anonymus, 5:24 AM

different type of smart

5:24 AM

if he ever tried to pull rank on her, she would either be so startled that it would work or she would unhinge her jaw and eat him

so he's never tried

he doesn't want to! very few people on Tau Ceti even want to be in charge, both because it's like herding cats who will hate you if they catch you herding them and because the finely honed distrust of authority doesn't go away when you become authority

Anonymus, 5:26 AM

"I'm pretty sure I'm up to some bullshit"

5:27 AM

yeah, Gwendolyn spends a lot of time with these sad transplants from other communities, nearly all of them women (because for SOME REASON women tend to get excommunicated WAY MORE OFTEN. HUH. are there ADDITIONAL RULES for WOMEN? I DON'T SEE ANY)

and they're like "please I am so sad and scared just tell me what to do"

and she wants to be like "I am not the boss of you, you have to be the boss of you" but they often are not ready for that, so she just tries to get a sense of what they want to do or what might be healthiest for them and tells them her strong recommendation is that they do that thing

everyone in her community knows she is passionate and can get fired up about some of this stuff, she doesn't hide that, but also, there are some conversations she (a only has with her wife and also (b has had with her wife a number of times

they are basically "our community is like 55% traumatized exiles from other communities and like 30% traumatized people from This One Dude's Community specifically. he traumatizes women and girls and girls he calls women and gay people and parents with sick babies!"

"we have so so many people we take care of now who are so so shaken and traumatized and sad"

"and we only get the people who don't leave the faith entirely!"

"it's not fair! it's not fair that he gets to do that! it's not fair!"

because when you carry the faces of like twenty good people all traumatized by the same garbage person and all you can do is try to take care of them and send passive-aggressive letters, sometimes it sucks!

if they lived on the same planet and she could get there on a horse, she would have done something ill-advised by now. yelled, certainly

but then again, if she had been born on New Maryland she would be a super different person and if he had been born on Tau Ceti there would have been a hard upper limit on how much he could get anyone to listen to him

like, bad bullshit happens on Tau Ceti, but the first time he married a fourteen-year-old girl off to her rapist, his neighbors would have set him on fire

church of man neighbors, regular neighbors, possibly neighbors who are criminals, just all the neighbors

5:37 AM

so her wife listens to her cry and reads over her letters to Brinton to make sure she doesn't actually say anything Too Impolitic (I think her boss also reads them, but he's less invested)

and her wife has these new folks over for dinner and helps them find clothes for their kids and adapt their modesty rules to the thing where it's like, as hot as it is possible to be in Tau Ceti

5:38 AM

like, most of the summer it's like 120 degrees, on a brisk day in December it drops into like, the low nineties

5:39 AM

sometimes people from other communities are like "we do modesty more modestly than they do" and they have to be like "okay, your choices are us dressing this way or us using air conditioning, because people do die in real life of heatstroke sometimes, that is a thing that can kill you"

also, even before Gwendolyn came along, her previous pastor was definitely like "we're gonna make electric fans permissible. we're just... heatstroke sure does kill you in real life"

"particularly in Modest Dress"

she liked him. they had meetings like twice a month when she was young because she had A Lot of questions and her parents were less invested in the answers than she was

when she was like twelve, he was like "maybe they'll give you my job one day" and she was like "I don't want your job! you're the boss of people!" and he was like "they very much would not give you my job if you wanted my job, kiddo"

(even 50% of the organized crime leaders on Tau Ceti are like "hey, I'm not the boss of anybody, I'm just a guy you don't want to fuck with because of all of the friends that I have got"

"I am not the boss of you, but I do have this gun")

5:49 AM

final thought on Gwendolyn: she had a real hard time when Robert Thompson died, because that dude thought her faith was a good reason to murder a husband and father.

and like, that dude is a fucking asshole, obviously, but it's hard

and then Brinton puts out an editorial about it and it is the only time Gwendolyn and Tara's children ever hear one of their mothers swear

because she is usually super meticulous about that

but also, sometimes

there is a limit

she makes several attempts before she writes him her next letter and the subtext of the entire letter is just "fuck you SO much, I do not generally believe in Hell, however, I will make an exception"

there is a limit! a man is dead and his wife and daughter are grieving and then a dude who everyone thinks is, like, the pope of her puts out some bullshit like "of course we don't do hate crimes but also that dude who got murdered deserved it" bullshit

there is a limit she is past it!

5:53 AM

also, they have seven adopted kids

[tortoisesshells]

James Norrington

Why I like them: Initially, because I imprinted hard on Horatio Hornblower and Captain Wentworth as a kid so when I saw Curse of the Black Pearl, who else was I going to get attached to? In all seriousness, Norrington has been living rent-free in my head for seventeen years now, so my reasons for liking him have changed over time, but I suppose it’s in part the unrequited love thing (ah, one of my favorite tropes), and in part the tension between him trying to be good/honorable and both his unwillingness (up until the last few months of his life) to question the imperial system he operates within & his own ambition and selfishness.

Why I don’t: Had the audacity to die and not come back in a series where almost no one stays dead. 0/10 stars.

Favorite Scene: “Swann Song”, in At World’s End, even though it got cut; watch this hopeless shipwreck of a man who knows he sold his soul for something worthless lose the last little bit of hope he didn’t know he had! Context for Norrington actively choosing to die as opposed to escaping with Elizabeth and the crew of the Empress!

Actually canonical? The tavern sequence in Dead Man’s Chest. This scene has everything: pathos! a history of inexplicable weather patterns! complete unhingement! head trauma! pig shit! humiliations galore!

Favorite Movie: Oof. Tie between Curse of the Black Pearl and Dead Man’s Chest. Not At World’s End, for obvious reasons. 

I suppose if you put a gun to my head right now, I’d say Dead Man’s Chest, but you might get a different answer tomorrow.

Favorite Line: “My story? It’s exactly the same as your story, just one chapter behind. I chased a man across the seven seas. The pursuit cost me my crew, my commission, and my life.” OR “You hired me. I can’t help it if your standards are lax.”

my love for this character as a self-destructive tragic antagonist versus my love for this character as the universe’s chew toy, fight!

Favorite Outfit: The full dress uniform from Curse of the Black Pearl.

OTP: James Norrington/Character Development, but because I apparently like pain, I definitely have a soft spot for the doomed nonsense that is Norrington/Elizabeth, especially post-DMC.

BrOTP: There’s incredibly little canon interaction, but Lieutenant Groves apparently has 0 compunctions about openly admiring Jack Sparrow around him, and that dynamic is gr8.

Head Canon: I’m going to go out on a limb and say the prequel novels are canon, or at least the parts I find useful, so everything that happened to him as a kid in Sins of the Father are (unfortunately for him) true, sorry, don’t make the rules.

There was a fic I read wayyyyyy back in the day, Mutiny on the Dauntless, that absolutely colored the way I think about Norrington’s relationship with authority structures, so I suppose the events of that fic - the near mutiny combined with the Captain having Norrington (even as a lieutenant!) flogged for perceived insubordination fundamentally changed his thoughts about shipboard power structures for the more lenient - are my head-canon for what else happened on the crossing from England at the start of Curse of the Black Pearl.

Unpopular Opinion: ??? idk. I don’t think I have any.

A Wish: That whoever was editing the original trilogy didn’t cut half his scenes, or that he became the next Captain of the Dutchman.

(... which both thematically makes sense in terms of Norrington’s sense of a need to redeem himself for his sins and his identity very much being wrapped up in his career as a sea-officer AND doesn’t senselessly break up Will and Elizabeth! I understand intellectually that DMC/AWE were trying to play up the parallels between Jones and Will over Will and Elizabeth’s inability to communicate and working at cross-purposes, but ... eh. Also I would not trust William Turner with a boat; they never last long while he’s aboard.)

An oh-god-please-don’t-ever-happen: pls don’t actually come back, I don’t trust the Mouse.

Five Words to Describe Them: Just An Asshole With Feelings; alternately: ambitious, serious-minded, honorable, emotionally-underdeveloped, messy.

My Nickname For Them: Like everyone else in this fandom, Jimothy.

[yanak324]

Brutally honest opinions of Jonsa?

Oooh, this is a great ask, because I think a lot of people might not really understand/know what I really think about Jon/Sansa together. Thank you anon for the opportunity to share my dissertation on these two.

To start, I need to scream from the rooftops that I do not hate Sansa Stark. If you don’t like her, stop reading, because this post isn’t for you. Truly. It’s not.

I do have to separate my answer into two categories: canon (split between book and show) and modern AU. You’ll understand why.

Let me just quickly rule out any sort of Jonsa existence in book!canon. It’s just...not feasible. I’ve seen a lot of metas around about why Jon and Sansa are meant to be together eventually in the books and I buy none of it. I’d believe that GRRM wants Jon/Arya to happen more than Jonsa. So please, sit down, book!Jonsa fans. I implore you.

As far as show!canon goes, I gotta be honest. I saw inklings of it in S6/7. The entire bit with Sansa and Jon reuniting at Castle Black and all that tension and relief of finding each other *could* theoretically lead to something between them. And when I say something, it would never be a relationship to me. I can see them seeking comfort in each other, recognizing a somewhat kindred spirit who has endured as much suffering and loss.

It’s truly the recognition of family and familiarity, and YES they didn’t like each other as kids. And YES Sansa was a total bitch to him, and YES Jon’s favorite IS Arya forever and ever, but listen...people change and evolve and grow, and forgive. They forgive.

So all of this nonsense about Sansa not being redeemable for mistreating Jon carries as much weight to it as the possibility of them in the books. HAHA. I am unhinged, I apologize. But really, why can’t Sansa apologize for her behavior and why can’t Jon accept it? Is there a law against giving people second chances?! Please point to which article and section this law resides under, because I don’t see it. Thank you.

Anyway, all this to say, the places where i see the most Jonsa opportunity is in modern AU that plays up on the idea of them reuniting and only having each other. Infer what you will. P.S. everything obviously hinges on proof that Jon and Sansa aren’t related...so YA. 

Result: Varied based on canon vs. modern au vs. book - but overall, I can accept it if the situation is right, and there’s reasonable doubt that they’re NOT related.