#I’m biased so sue me lol

[hay1ock]

Another week, another took-a-long-time-to-process-so-now-going-to-ramble Only Friends post. I have no idea where I want to start as there were so many entanglements, emotions, moments for the characters, both separately and together.

Firstly, once again, got to praise the show for looking good. Loved some of the shots, one particular one was the continuous shot of Sand following Ray into his den/music room, and also Nick and Boston beneath those antlers - was as if Nick was being consumed by a beast (how very Hannibal lol)

So, thoughts on the characters and relationships. I guess we’ll start with Top and Mew as they kicked the episode off.

Top - honestly, I’m so conflicted over him. One minute I’m like, okay I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and the next I’m all hell no, shoo *waves him away*. He certainly earned some ‘bodacious side-eyes’ this week.

1. His glance at Boston after asking Mew to be his boyfriend. He looked so smug.

2. The way he ‘claimed’ Mew in front of Ray saying they had a date and taking his hand. Does he already feel threatened by Ray?

3. The way he spoke to Ray when Cheum hurt her ankle. (I’m not a doctor but I didn’t see Ray’s idea to raise a swollen ankle as a bad thing. He clearly wasn’t looking to hurt his friend). It just felt like Top was exerting dominance again. BUT maybe with the backstory we saw he now needs to control situations and jumped in without watching his tone.

4. Him and Boston in the shower (obviously lol)👀. I couldn’t get a read what he was thinking. He said stop but then let Boston get right back to it. His expression bounced around from into it to annoyed to… I don’t know what. BUT that isn’t the way to get into Mew’s good books lol.

Then on the other hand we have the backstory and his fear of sleeping alone. He seemed genuine about his past and can certainly see his sleeping around rooted in that. In episode 1, he could have just left, maybe even still had time to find someone else if it was just sex he wanted, but he asked to stay over, even if just to cuddle and sleep beside Mew. So until I’m shown otherwise I believe him. Curious if he’s abusing the sleeping tablets though (based on bits they showed in both trailers).

Mew - just because he’s a glasses wearing virgin doesn’t mean he’s naive, I mean… have you seen his friends? Lol. I do think he’s ticking things off a little too easily, but Top does make his heart tremble so there are feelings there already and he’s maybe looking for reasons for Top to meet his list. It no way excuses the Top and Boston encounter, but I do wonder how far Mew will push his No Sex rule with Top and this whole reset and then his cookie kiss teasing and if that’ll blow up in his face? (I see you car in the preview). But like I get it. If Top cares for him he should be willing to wait until Mew is ready, build trust and get to know each other properly. Plus you know, Top has his hand and a healthy imagination, he’ll be fine lol.

Boston - or rather…BOSTON! I love him but hate him lol. Bold move with Top in the shower. I’m not really sure why he’s so bothered. Like seriously how good was the sex? Has he caught feelings? Or is it just about one-upping Mew, is there more to their ‘friendship’? Jealousy? A one-sided rivalry of some kind? The fact he’s looking to use Ray and Mew’s friendship to get Top is a scummy move. And then there’s his relationship with Nick.

After Ray, Nick is my second precious, please-protect-him-from-everything-as-well-as-himself baby. He looked so tiny with his knees up to his chest, and soft and vulnerable lying in bed for the photos. Boston has made it clear-ish what their status is so Nick should be aware falling for him is a fruitless endeavour. BUT. The ish is because like Nick I’m getting mixed signals when he’s calling him his favourite, calling him cute, giving him little kisses and confidence boosts. The first sex scene between them this episode is more how I view Boston, flipping Nick over, pushing him down, no need to see his face. He just wants sex, not a connection with Nick. Argh, Nick’s attached and it’s gonna hurt. God, everybody’s so messy lol.

And then we’re round to my best boy, Ray. God I love seeing Khaotung like this. Anyway, yes he’s a danger to himself and others when drunk, not saying he’s an angel, but as Mew said he can’t be stopped, not unless he’s ready to admit he has a problem and get help. Struggling characters speak to me lol.

I loved his scene with Mew near the start. Sure he’s jealous, probably more so when drunk, but this episode he came across as supportive. Worried but supportive nonetheless. He’s probably met some Top’s before so is rightly concerned about Mew jumping in when their might be someone nice down the line (and I’m convinced he wasn’t talking about himself here - there’s no way he sees himself as anywhere near good enough for Mew). I felt like his glances at Top both by the pool and then the outdoor activity were, yes there’s still some jealousy but also as if they were out of concern/viewing how Top is acting - to me, he seemed surprised/wary at Top coming over as controlling and jumping in about the date and taking hold of Mew, and then at the activities it felt like he was observing/considering the genuineness of Top’s calls of support (vs Boston’s done with them eye roll).

There was a lot of stuff brought up for Ray this episode. Him and Sand was just amazing. From following Sand as what probably started out as a nice distraction, to hiring him as a drinking buddy, to genuinely bonding and smiling, to, well, that last sequence - god dang he was oozing with charm and his lustful gaze and… Why does smoking always look so hot? It really isn’t but damn does it look all cinematic and sexy. But yeah, it was great not to have to listen to him throw up this week. The flashback to his mum though. It seemed she died with a drink in her hand. Whether it was straight up from the alcohol, or maybe it caused other health problems? Was it just alcohol or was she washing down pills or something? Did she drunkenly fall and hit her head? *squints at the blurry scene* It’s certainly a trauma that is part of why he drinks, exacerbated by his loneliness and now the fear of losing Mew and that friendship as him and Top get closer. I’m also scared Ray is drinking himself stupid as a way to follow her.

Sand. The goodest boy (shhh pretend he’s not selling moonshine). I loved him so much when he tried to cheer Ray up after asking questions about his mum’s death. It was clear Ray was upset and down and it was lovely seeing him make Ray smile. Also, the way he was staring at Ray in these scenes. Gah. He’s so interested in him. I found it funny him turning away the girl, when Ray had suggested the three of them hang out. At least he got Ray looking very pleased with himself when it was just the two of them. There’s not much else to dive into with him at the moment. That talk to the camera thing at the end. Boy already looks like he knows he fucked up. Playing with fire indeed. Nothing else to say right… okay maybe one thing. Tattoo *kicks feet*

Random things.

1. Cheum and April. Wasn’t much of them but they were cute.

2. Sorry Top but that dive into the water. I kind of like it in that it shows he isn’t perfect. And apparently this isn’t Baywatch lol.

3. Tattoo.

4. I wonder if there was more than that one shot of Nick that Boston took? Hoping there’s nothing that can be used against Nick in the future.

5. TaTtOo.

6. The way Sand broke the kiss by pulling Ray away *melts*

7. Sand and Nick becoming roomies. They can bitch about their emotionally unavailable men over some plum wine lol. Wonder if Boston and Ray will end up there at the same time?

8. Ray’s face when Mew said Top had ticked the get along with friends box on his list.

9. Fluffy haired Ray at the outdoor activities.

10. TATTOO.

11. I kinda wanna go to a laser quest again. Like, are they still a thing? Time to relive my youth lol.

12. Took me a minute but realised those ‘talk to the camera’ interviews reminded me of the first episode of Queer As Folk (at least the UK version) where they had a similar thing. Vince was my baby. What do you mean I have a thing for guys who have a crush on their best friend? Lol

13. I can’t help it. I’m sorry. BUT Ray in that black fluffy cardigan outfit. It was his episode, at least for me.

14. Ray’s little face when he put him mum’s record on. Everybody shush. I love him okay.

15. I know you probably didn’t want him in your bed again since the reset, but Mew, cuddling on the couch did not look comfy.

16. So, if Nick works at a family business I shall switch my guess at Papang being something to do with uni and his course.

17. Title, where you at.

18. Ohhhhh. Yo and unnamed dude (please be called Lo) are together.

And I’ll shut up now. We’re down to hours until the next episode. Exciting.

[peachykoii]

…

I–

All right, y’all, I’ve got some things to say.

Spoilers for ramblings about Dislyte Unknown Collection Story Mode:

First, some positives!

• There were some pretty interesting concepts introduced: Raven having premonition and memory-erasing powers, using her wings + comet/shooting star + all how it influences the EU: the use of stone tablets, giving out only pieces of information to the public, not interfering with the future, etc.

• I liked how the Esper Union felt more gray aligned than straight up black or white considering its origins.

• I enjoyed seeing Triki a bit fleshed out, but let me just say that I'm biased about this because I literally don't have him yet so I don't know too much about him aside from the basics. A little disappointed to not have seen the whole crew. I was also hoping to see Zora and Ren Shi too. 😭😭 I will say, I can appreciate Yamato just coming around to be a menace and have fun, lol

• The silly and cute things like the Draw and Guess game, Tevor’s photo with Hilda??? (When and how even was this/could this happen, lol), commander Xuan Pin post-Immortal Fire and her relationship with Mateo, Alexa and Abigail having their moments together, and Alexa being a Wattpad writer amateur romance novelist on the side, lol.

• Lots of lovely and memorable artwork especially! Sachiko was obviously the devs’ favorite since they drew her so adorably, lol Assassin’s Creed reference?

Negatives.

• Y’all… This felt like an alternate universe rather than an addition to literally everything we’ve ever been introduced to in canon, so I’m just going to treat it as such. I could've avoided this and wouldn’t missed out on anything.

• Also, as interesting as it is, Raven being clairvoyant came out of nowhere, lol There’s no mention, reference, or anything anywhere suggesting this in Dislyte canon, besides the fact that Odin (Norse Mythology) has that ability. I do miss her bike and wolf though, lol The [Player] character gave more Mary Sue isekai’d into the game vibes rather than someone literally not from this world who’s experiencing Grandis and Miracles for the first time. If Markiplier can be canon in the universe but not in a weird way, then they could’ve done something along those lines for him too. Why exactly did Tang Na turn into a “Miramon”? Usually, overdrawing on your powers (could) just kill(s) you like in Gaius’ or Leora’s event. I guess it changed for then humanity/divinity balance. Where’s Discboom? She could’ve been a good lock instead. 😔😔

• What was going on with the writing and pacing? There were lots of typos, weird wording, and kind of a strange flow from chapter to chapter. Maybe localization editing was rushed? Like, I could appreciate trying a new style, but it also felt off-putting a lot of times and not as cohesive or seamless as it could’ve been. The Shackled Collection, the OG story mode, was much better in this regard. And then, there’s…

The ending…

• Honestly, it’s a bit hard to play devil’s advocate with that ending because from the standpoint of a first-time new player, who hasn’t been through Gaius’, Norah’s, or Embla’s event, the OG main story/Shackled Collection, or any other big lore heavy events, it might feel like “whoa, plot twist! That’s interesting!” But it’s still a little lackluster.

As a long time player whose way too DEEP and invested in Dislyte lore, characters, and world building, I was very disappointed.

I mean, he didn’t even have a hinted-at “I want” moment or off-putting conversation with the [Player] to help build it up. All the Anesidora moments literally could’ve been her talking to Embla or Hyde for all I know. I think that I needed better breadcrumbs not because I didn’t see the twist coming, but because it didn't really pay off. As if they chose him to be the villain for the sake of shock value instead of any substance. Why does he want the power? Gaius. Union Hub Director and Researcher Gaius? He was just like, “Good job, Mayor Abigail. Pot, kettle. Yes, I’m bad. AND I want a new world order. 😈😈 What'd you wish for, Sachiko!???” And was anti-climatically blasted away.

The Shadow Decree is more than just “bwahaha evil villainy because evil” kind of people and we’ve seen that several times now so there was a lot to work with. Personally, I’m anti-evil Gaius, but if they wanted to make it a bit more believable, here’s three different scenarios off the top of my head that fits Gaius’ personality and the whole fate theme going on.

1. Desperate Gaius “It’s been more than a decade of fighting and failure and bloodshed. I’m tired of seeing Raven hurt because of her [powers™] and witnessing both the Esper Union and SD fail at achieving what for mere humans and Espers is impossible. But then, I remembered Hannah’s private research from long ago all this time about [insert gate of promotion info to explain how that even cropped up]. And it was all true. Yamato finding [Player], Raven’s vision, and Abigail’s intel confirmed that even further. Hyde, not believing in [insert gate and wish stuff], had tried to counter it with his artificial esper project, but it devolved into something entirely different [insert Sieg]. But I knew if I wanted to prove it, I needed to take measures beyond just the Union’s resources. So, I reached out to Yamato and Hyde and the rest was history. Hannah told me that I could use my powers for good. With the full power of the Starlight’s Miracle Nexus, I can save this world from the havoc and turmoil the Miracles created — by making a new one.”

Or like, 2. Slightly Ominous Positivity™ Derails into Deluded Gaius, “Don’t worry, Raven and [Player]. Just as I trust you, trust me. Even if that was her final premonition, I trust that all will play out according to fate. If fate brought us [Esper Seven] together, if it brought Hannah into my life, then I know that it will lead me to where I need to be to help everyone that I can.” Slowly turns into obsessive, corrupted selfishness as he stresses over of Raven’s prophecy, learning about the Gate of Promotion does through Yamato and the Shadow Decree, corrupted with thoughts of its unlimited potential and what it can do for him; “Can you believe it? Fate brought us to the Starlight Miracle’s Nexus that can grant me the power to do anything. Raven was wrong. This is true destiny [taking all the divine power for himself]. Hannah, give me the strength to best this fate like you did for me to save everyone. I will succeed no matter who’s against me!”

Heck, even a 3. Turned His Back on the Light to Save His Friends Gaius “They’re my friends. Us Seven have been through more than you [Player] can ever imagine. So, when Hyde and Embla came to us [Raven and Gaius] with a truce and told me that we could use this power for actual good for the world... I had to make a decision. One that could change the fate of everything Raven knew, regardless of what she saw, but be our only chance at saving everything. I know Raven would never forgive me after what I did… especially to her… but as the Esper Union Hub Director, I will do anything and sacrifice everything I have to save as many people as I can, even if it means colluding and sinking to the darkest places. Even breaking bread with the dark forces I once knew as my comrades. I promised Hannah that I would help others. You need to understand that the ends will always justify the means.”

Or something like that since we know he can be incredibly selfless/borderline sacrificial when it comes to saving people close to him and up keeping this position. Also, is Leora’s backstory still the same bc I feel like she would’ve already tried to tell everyone about Gaius being a shadow councilor when she defected since she was mentored by Embla, a shadow councilor. They hold annual end of year All-Hands, for crying out loud, lmfaooo Ain’t no way she didn’t know.

I don’t know, y’all. I’m just rambling at this point.

I really needed the seasoning Gaius was missing in his life if they’re going to make him bad. He wasn’t a very compelling bad guy. 🤷🏾‍♀️🤷🏾‍♀️

Furthermore, it felt like they potentially retrofitted the general Dislyte lore/world building for a lot of stuff?

For me, one of the biggest things was everything around the Gate of Promotion in the Nexus. “The Miracle Nexus, the source of all Miracles,” Mkay, but how did they learn about the Gates? How did Narmer and Cang Ji, dudes who LOVE researching and exploring Miracles, not find it or learn about it years before? It’s been about 10+ years since the whole Miracle-Miramon situation began when the Esper Seven explored Miracle Prime and you’re telling me that supposedly somehow only now Yamato, Gaius, Raven, Abigail and the SD know about the Gates? And if Raven’s premonition gave that info, that still doesn’t explain why everyone else knew about it before then like Xuan Pin, Abigail, and Yamato. And about the lock too. Who gave everyone this knowledge? Like, Did the [Player] character come with a manual that Yamato’s been making leaks of or something, lol? He’s supposed to be a whole ‘Miracle destroyer’ and no one else is interested in that?

All in all, all I can say is that it was a choice and I had fun if I just think of it as an OVA or Isekai AU or something.

Bonus pics bc Hall’s censored for some reason lol AND my bby girl, Jiang Man, is looking cute here.

[http-soukiebb]

babel by r.f. kuang book review (for fun)

babel, or the necessity of violence by r.f. kuang book review 🪙

rating: 8.5/10

-

this is the first time i’ve read one of kuang’s works and for some reason i feel like this is her best one (I AM BIASED). this book kind of has a reputation for unwarranted reviews criticizing implications of self inserted “tangents” that are against white people but if you’re not utterly DUMB and look beyond that, i believe this book was able to unfold the realization of what it means to have to go against something that has treated you well because of what it stands for, and when to apply violence to achieve what you want, to put it in short. i enjoyed the perspectives of minorities in higher education (also in a white dominated society), and robin’s relationships with his cohort were also very special and made me very happy whilst being the highlights of the story (robin and ramy’s relationship is untouchable and so special, inarguable). *also the chapter ramy’s interlude is a COMPLETE masterpiece and the best chapter in the whole book, sue me. overall, as a rather fantasy repelled reader, I’m glad I read this book, that was definitely supported by magic nonetheless, and would give this an 8.5 out of 10.

-

points off because i personally don’t like footnotes when i read and there was a ton lol and kuang’s writing is very advanced and as a kind of rusty reader it was a little hard to digest some of the tangents robin’s inner monologue would go into, but overall a great book and a great ending i loved.

[melancholicmoishele]

ED Book Review #1–Drowning Anna

IRL most people only know me for reading a helluva lot so I thought I should bring that into this blog. IDK how many ED-related books I’ve read but it’s definitely a lot lol so here we go. The first ED-related book I can remember reading is Drowning Anna by Sue Mayfield, which I read when I was eleven.

SUMMARY: in the first day following Anna Goldsmith’s suicide attempt, her mother and best friend piece together what led to it in flashbacks and through her diary entries.

REVIEW: this was probably the first mental illness related book I ever read in general. I was EXTREMELY suicidal when I was eleven and this book was sooooo precious to me because it made me feel seen in a way I’d NEVER felt seen before. I reread it recently and it didn’t fully live up to what I remembered it as but it’s still so important to me. Solid 4/5 but I’m a bit biased cuz nostalgia.

BTW the ED isn’t discussed much. I completely forgot about it until I reread the book.

Favorite quote: “I was too small and the pain was too big”-page 233

[willothewispwisteriadawn]

This may be a long ask because I like to yap lol

Honestly, I feel like one of the most realistic possibilities/best addition they could give us in the remaster is: more clues to find that would provide more insight to the characters and their relationships to one another. I feel like there’s many great opportunities for them to do that with the characters, especially the Washington’s (which I would happily take as a win because they are so interesting to me and we didn’t really get to know Hannah and Beth). First opportunity that comes to mind is when Sam finds Josh’s phone. This is probably me totally being biased because I want more Josh content even though he is the character that has the most lore (sue me) but I feel like we didn’t really get to see him genuinely interact with most of the characters. I mean there were obviously moments that I believe Josh was being genuine, but most of it was definitely a mask *pun intended* and him being devious. They could add some text interactions between him and all other members of the group or allow you to just kind of search through his phone. Because I’m a JoshxSam enthusiast I would geek if they had a couple of flirty messages between the two or texts that show them being what each other needs. Hell, throw in a couple messages between him and Chris where they both talk about their crushes (and more texts between him and Josh in general because friendship goals). I mean the devs used to look through Reddit so they know what the ppl want. Why not make JoshxSam Semi-Canon 9 yeas later LMAO?! I’d also like to know if Josh is really girl crazy or if it’s an attempt at being normal so seeing some brief talk surrounding Josh’s love life or affairs would be rather entertaining to me.

Another cool thing they could do with his phone is have it to where you can go to the photos app and get to see photos he’s taken. They could even have you be able to open his email and find things regarding school or his interest ect. 

Since I mentioned the photo app, They could also add like a scrapbook in Beth‘s room where she writes little notes about the characters to give insight about her relationships to the characters or memories she’s had with the group and her family. All the devs gotta do is add a couple more badly photoshopped edits to the game /lh.

Another thing I think they could do is add a couple more rooms that you can explore, maybe like two or three. One: Josh‘s bedroom, Two: Bobs office where maybe you can find emails on his computer regarding Josh’s psyche, talks of Hannah and Beth’s disappearance/memories of them, some personal journal entries that talk about the dynamic of their family, history of the land and their encounters with the suspicious activity that takes place on the mountain. It’s been a few years since I’ve watched the video game fully so maybe some of this is in there because I think I remember you being able to find police report Melinda made regarding noises. ORRRR im making things up.

This would be an easier way to add some content without actually needing the actors to be there. What do you think? Do you think it is plausible? 

Yap away, Anon!!! Honestly, we all need to get used to reading detailed thoughts again 😂. It’s healthy.

Anyway, I love this!!! I mean, I am a SUCKER for putting pieces together via settings and items. (I am weirdly attached to the fact that you can find one of Bob’s trophies for a film called “Blood Monastery,” because it loops back to Chris finding the monk outfit in the basement). I just geek over anything that makes the world feel detailed and connected. So I love the idea of adding content to Josh’s phone! You’re right; it’s a very easy way to add more lore and fun interactions (absolutely give me texts between Josh and Sam or Josh and Chris!!!).

I also like the idea of seeing Josh and Beth’s rooms, because I thought Hannah’s was VERY well done. You can glean so much about her from her bedroom. Whoever designed her room did a stellar job. Beth is the least developed notable character in the whole game, acting as a bit more of an exposition machine than character at points, so I’d love stuff to further humanize her like what we saw for Hannah.

Anyway, Ballistic Moon DID confirm new footage/story animation (though it seems limited)— along with more collectibles and interactions, so your idea is quite feasible, actually! Meaghan Martin has confirmed she recorded a little bit for the remake, and there have been vague leaks of Jessica. So we will be getting some new voice work/face animations for at least some characters.

In a weird way, I hope it truly is all minor additions. I definitely want certain things cleaned up and emphasized and whatnot, but I’m also nervous that a lot of new content might include things that don’t align with the tone or lore of the original (though, there have been official statements saying the devs worked hard to ensure new content keeps with the integrity of the old. And Ballistic Moon has many workers who’d worked on Until Dawn before).

I think the following things are also realistic:

Adding Emily and Matt’s “extra” chapter back into the game. That really should not have been removed as a pre-order bonus. It’s part of the story.

I think they could recycle some PS3 content for Mike and Chris. Brett Dalton and Noah Fleiss joined the project in its PS3 phase. So they have recorded content for Mike and Chris that was scrapped along with parts of that prototype that didn’t make it into the finished project. Now, I think some things were very much scrapped for a reason. All the characters changed a bit from then as did the tone and beats of the story. But I also think some stuff could potentially be added back even if Brett Dalton or Noah Fleiss can’t/decline to return.

Anyway, these are my thoughts! Thanks for the discussion!

[russilton]

I don’t really know what people is on when they first shit talk Mercedes, Lewis, George and the team and then proceed to say “X driver to Mercedes in 2024 when Lewis leaves”! Dudes, Mercedes is incredibly selective on their drivers, You have not only to bust your ass to get a chance, but also have certain talents and qualities required. There’s a reason why they’ve had 5:6 drivers in there since their creation as a team. Now my rant is done, I’ll go lay down and drown in britcedes feels, goodbye

Yeah I have a lot of thoughts on this honestly. Some nice and some not so nice lmao but all agreeing with you.

Long ramble under the cut bc I guess I wanted to get some stuff out of my brain and I can just refer back to this later if asked again lol.

And let me say first of all that look, I get it, I would bend over backwards and lie to myself and god when it comes to my favourite drivers. Part of me deeply and truly believes George and Lewis could walk into any other car in the grid if they asked, I really do. I don’t think they’d want to, but if they did, they could. Because we are ALL delusional about our faves. Sometimes it’s what makes this site so fun, we’re all a little stupid for these dudes.

But I have a very salty view of people who people who think certain drivers could just walk into Merc without a Nico level fall out, or a Lewis level of skill in the sport*. ESPECIALLY when it comes to “problematic” drivers like Lando, Max, Carlos, etc.

* more on that one in a sec, spoiler alert: they’ve already got that, his name is George.

I think what really grinds my gears about it (and I mean the people who SERIOUSLY think their driver has a shot at Merc, not people having fun) is it comes down to three tracks of thought; people who think Lewis is genuinely about to retire, people who seem to forget George exists, and people who seem to profoundly misunderstand how Merc work as an organisation.

The first one is easy to be annoyed at and dismiss, Lewis has made it clear over and over he’s not going anywhere. I’m rankled by people who think he’s suddenly going to retire bc of his age. Alonso is still here and he’s fuelled by salt rather than skill, you think Lewis is gonna go just bc he’s 38? He’s insane, and there is nothing he is more buck wild about than F1. I also don’t like thinking about Lewis retiring. Sue me.

The second I get but hate a lot. I’m a George fan, I am biased but George is ignored by a lot of people; and the narratives about him being PR63, even by some Lewis fans, are flimsy and shitty. He’s got so much heart in his stick thin frame that it flows out his ears. You look at him, past the surface for a couple seconds, and god you can see it shine like a beacon. He doesn’t answer Lewis and himself when he’s asked for the perfect driver line up because of PR, but because he fucking adores Lewis. He adores the team. He goofs around with them, spends time with them, he’s embedded with the engineers and mechanics. He seems boring off track because he’s private, but he has been going to dinners with them and travelling with them for years, he’s boring because he’s an old soul who puts focus on his family and his mental health. He does try to be funny online and people scoff at him. He posts shirtless pictures and he’s teased for it. Like what do you want from the guy; if he’s genuine he’s cringe and if he’s reserved he’s PR boring. Fuck that, he makes Lewis smile and that’s enough for me.

But then It’s because of his less than popular off track self that people look past him on track, and you shouldn’t because this man is insane. This is what I was talking about earlier when I said Merc have got their Lewis 2.0. George is him. He drives like Lewis, he’s learning to approach the garage like Lewis, he knows how to restrain himself to the media just like Lewis. Talk less, smile more, because they want to bait you more than anyone, they’re waiting for you to slip. Don’t give it to them and then unleash a terror that leaves other drivers blinking in shock on track. Singapore this year SHOULDN’T override Austria, when George drove from the back in a garbage car to finish 4th. He copied Lewis in Spain like a text book because that’s the kind of driver George is. He knows how to manage his tires because Lewis taught him. He says over and over again how important he finds it to learn from Lewis because Lewis is his standard of greatness. Merc have trained him like this, because together he and Lewis mesh well. They both know where to put their cars to make overtakes others wouldn’t, they drive like their cars are an extension of their body. Nothing bothers me more than people who set team line ups at Merc without Lewis or George, because it often assumes Lewis would retire and Merc would just… throw George out?

George Russell is grit, spirit, positivity and determination, and I feel like the people who don’t see him as an insanely impressive generational talent like Charles or Max are choosing not to look, or were blinded by how trash Williams was. I’d you don’t judge Mick on where haas dragged him down; you can’t judge George.

(Yet another place george is like Lewis, is he let the hard times humble him and make him better. He will never, ever have to struggle the same way Lewis did and he’s been afforded privileges that Lewis won’t, he himself will tell you that. But they were both boys from families without much money who’s parents struggled to let them follow their dreams. Why do you think Lewis likes him so much? He’s said it himself, he sees the same instinct he had, in George)

And finally the third thing I’ve probably spoken on most: some people really only see Merc as a fast car and not as a team. Which I guess is fair if you aren’t a massive fan of either of the boys. You think I’m invested in how mclaren or RB or Ferrari behave as organisations outside of drama? Of course I’m not. I barely even cared about Williams outside of GR and NL. But Merc is another breed of team honestly. Not to suck corporate dick bc you know I hate it but there’s a reason they aren’t really ever involved in silly season. Why them CHOOSING to hire George was monumental. They are unlike anyone else in how they cultured George. He’s been in the Merc garage on race weekends since 2016. They watched and carefully primed him for it, they made him work so hard for every step. I’m not sure they would have ever got rid of Nico and hired Val if he hadn’t chose to leave. Do you know how resistant they were to put anyone other than George in their car? They were worrying about who would take Lewis’ seat in Sakhir if they couldn’t get him. Their reserve driver, stoff, WAS RIGHT THERE.

If George hadn’t gone above and beyond to prove himself ready for Merc, they would have stuck with Valtteri. Merc play it safe and close to the chest far more than they’ll admit, I think it’s why our number one issue with races this year has been emergency strat choices. We so often play it safe and panic when pushed. And that’s why I end up laughing at some driver move theories bc it’s like really? You think, safe playing, elitist weirdos Merc are gonna do that??

The only driver on the 22/23 grid I genuinely, truly think Merc would consider putting in their car if LH decided to split second retire, or George, idk, stabbed Toto in the leg, is Esteban Ocon or MAYBE they’d go back to VB if VaL would be willing to accept the pressure of the seat again. They like Ocon, he has history with the team, he’s got some real promise in his development, and he’s got a lil bastard in him they like their drivers to have. But that would ONLY happen if they had 0 prep time and had to pick another grid driver. Merc have their dream team right now.

[aemoglobin]

i watched a lot of album unboxing and photocard organizing videos today...it was fun. i’m living vicariously through people who clearly still live with their parents and aren’t worrying about rent or utilities lmfao cuz there is No way you are affording this level of hobby dedication on a minimum wage job

sad i don’t have the time/energy to do pc trades/sales or in-depth organization but then again, i am very VERY casual about this in comparison to even the self-professed ‘casual’ ytubers lol. maybe if i ever get a desk and some more bookcases or shelving, i can indulge a little bit...as a treat. i mean i have a lot of supplies left over from when i was into journaling and those translate over fairly well into packaging for trading/selling. i would just have to re-dl insta and retailor it for pc trades/selling....which i don’t really want to do...but i COULD, if i get bored enough.

also found that more people are multis than stantwt would have you believe. a lot of the ytubers i watched had multiple biases, were buying/trading for multiple groups, and listened to a variety of groups. i’m currently trying to find more ytubers who are primarily into ggs and not bgs u.u;; but it was interesting to see! i guess in my corner of stantwt i’ve only really seen people who have one or two groups they’re into vs these ytubers/insta users who collect for A Lot of different groups. like i only limit myself bc i’m minimum wage lol not wasting $500+/mo on rent and utilities really broadens your hobby horizons, huh

a couple of the videos made me realize that some of the inclusions/cards i got in my albums are like...Popular or Heavily Wanted and they’re just sitting in my binders lmfao......but again i don’t have the time/energy to get involved with that aspect of the community. and i will cherish my pc dupes even if i don’t like having them in spirit.

i am mentally pronouncing 95% of these names wrong lmfaoooooo i knew my korean was bad but i didn’t realize it was This bad. that’s what i get for never watching actual content where they talk and say names out loud and only watching mvs. sue me i hate the editing style and lack of english captions for most of the extra video content available for my groups! i can’t hear the right way to say his name if it’s pronounced completely different from how it’s spelled and i have to Guess based on dialogue i can barely catch because everyone talks so fast  (17 i am looking directly at you)!!! not that i think Ye Average White Girl Ytuber is saying their names with 100% accuracy but y’know. 

i don’t even really have a wishlist of pcs outside of loona ones. i only really like olivia and kim lip so i’d be in trouble lol and i don’t want to spend money on cards.....i have enough problems with buying things i don’t need as it is lol

[queenharumiura]

Ship game. Mukuro x fem!Tsuna

[My KHR ship game] ||Accepting|| @signorinavongola

My understanding of both Tsu-chan and Mukuro are weak, so I'll probably get some things wrong. This will be shorter than the others because i'm not confident at all and therefore uncomfortable with speaking at much length about it.

Hate it |Am Neutral to it| Ship it| love it! |

Long stressed explanation short: As per usual I don’t know Tsu-chan nor Squaletta very well, so I’m liable to get things incorrect. If you weren’t aware, I’m also not personally fond of Mukuro either so I purposefully don’t really think about him much, so there’s a higher chance of me getting things about him wrong. As such, I probably won’t go too in depth with this one as I honestly feel a little bit uncomfortable to talk about the two of them together in regards to dynamics.

Translation: If I get anything wrong, please forgive me. I’m doing my best based off what little I know and I’m stressing out.

-

I am mostly neutral because I am not entirely sure how things would go due to variables of- Tsu-chan is not exactly a canon character in the sense that I cannot use canon to accurately depict events and how scenes unfolded between characters. Some scenes obviously had to change in the event of her being female and how characters interact with her due to her gender change is something we can’t ignore either. The reason why I also chose ‘Hate it’ is because I don’t like Mukuro (lol). I also am super on the fence with the whole ‘is trying to take over bodies of others’ aspect of him. It promotes a kind of dynamic that I personally am not a huge fan of.

Does this mean I hate seeing it on dash? Absolutely not. Does this mean that I think it’s a bad ship? Not really. It’s just not personally my preference for ships is all. I fully support anyone who likes the ship and finds it fun. It’s just not for me is all.

As stated above, I am not a Mukuro fan (call it the strong Hibari bias in me). I do appreciate him as a character, and I know he adds a lot of value to the story, to the progression of certain character growths and the like- but I just don’t vibe with him. I can understand that he had a rough past, I can get that he’s nuanced, I can understand a lot of things, but ultimately, I view him as a bit of a risk. For his ideals, he is liable to doing things such as taking over bodies and not caring for the state that the body will end up in.

It isn’t to say that I don’t understand his motives, because they’re certainly understandable. He doesn’t want what happened to him to happen to others. I, unfortunately, am an emotional bean who is feels guilty very easily. I cannot use others in quite the way that he does. The moment he was shown to possess kids or possess injured people to use them against others- while totally understandable and a viable tactic- I just don’t like it. I don’t vibe with it. I just cannot get over it. MY CHILD FUUTA!!!!!! The emotional turmoil that child went through. I am truly a Haru-mun, I never could forgive him or like him because of what he did to Fuuta. That’s quite literally it. He also took over the body of another child as well so I’m like BROOOOO LEAVE THE KIDS ALONE!!!!

Then there is Birds who was very much willing to want to use Haru/Kyoko against the others and possibly ruin their lives. It matters not to me that it may not have been explicitly upon Mukuro’s orders or what. Inherently, the fact that he’s doing so, it makes it feel like he knows it’s okay to do so while under Mukuro’s wing. Perhaps the mentality of the necessary sacrifices for the greater good and it does rub me the wrong way (yes, I’m biased, and it may very well largely be because of Haru. SUE ME).

I’m well aware that people really like him, and that’s totally fine! Like I said before, as a character, I like him. He’s got a lot of nuance and dynamicism to his writing. He’s got a lot of depth to him in regards to his motives, machinations, his pitfalls, etc. That said, from an emotional and moral stance, he rubs me the wrong way and I don’t like him very much. I don’t hate him, no, but I will just stare at him from afar and squint. Would I defend him from any slander? Absolutely. I truly have my allegiance to the girls and to the kids. I hate Iemitsu and Cervello more than I do Mukuro for instance.

[[hm? This sounds familiar? Yep more copy pasted things from a previous answer because my assessment of Mukuro still applies]]

Oh- I also forgot to mention. My favorite character, my very FIRST one was Lanchia. Do we now understand why I truly just cannot vibe with Mukuro? After what he did to Lanchia’s famiglia? How it left him with a lot of guilt and trauma? MY FAVORITE? NAHHHHHHH NAAAHHH!!!!

So yeah. That’s why I don’t like him. Don’t hate hate him, but also HISSSSS!

The only time I like Mukuro is when Rikku is writing him and that’s because I’ve known him for years and he mostly just trolls around with Haru. I enjoy troll humor, so he’s the only one that I am okay with. The others will always secretly get glared at by me.

Don’t forget that I also write Hibari. As a loyal Hibari mun, I have to hate the pineapple head LOL.

ANYWAYS.

I honestly think that a ship between Tsuna and Mukuro is really hard to work with. He hates the mafia after all, and she is the next boss of a really big mafia famiglia. Sure, he in a sense accepted becoming one of the guardians, but his hatred towards the mafia is still really strong if you properly read the source material. That kind of ingrained hatred and grudge isn’t easy to overcome. Working together is one thing and being romantically involved with someone in the mafia is another.

The fact that he does state a few times in canon that he’s just waiting for the right time to take over Tsuna’s body is another source of concern that shouldn’t be overlooked. Mukuro, for the sake of his goals, is willing to go to far extents. Reborn in canon has even reminded Tsuna before ‘don’t forget what Mukuro has done.’ He may be one of the mist guardians, but he’s still done some really bad things. He is still capable of doing bad things. There are those who still have their guard up around him (ie Reborn and Gokudera), and that is certainly a hurdle that would have to be crossed.

Does this mean that Neo thinks he has no redeemable qualities? 1000% no. He’s a very complex character and his values are pretty simple to figure out if you really try to look at him. He does have the ability to care for others, but his goals are simply more important a lot of the times. His ability to be cut-throat is a very important aspect to balance out the more positive and innocent members of Vongola 10. Mukuro pretty much symbolizes all the bad and harshness of the mafia itself while the majority of the others symbolize what the Vongola were truly meant to be: protectors. When you need to protect something, sometimes you have to be willing to make hard decisions to protect the majority and Mukuro embodies that.

It takes a lot of strength and bravery.

I suppose that may be a reason to take notice of him.

Again, Mukuro is a very complex character, and depending on circumstances and how certain events in canon went, it can vastly change how he interacts with other muses. It would have an impact on his dynamic with others.

Honestly? If you were to ask me, Mukuro does not actively look for love. He is not interested in love but rather his ideals. He wants to eradicate the mafia. He wants to make sure that what happened to him can’t happen to others again. He may use some drastic means at times, but I have to respect the motive. For a guy who is driven for this kind of goal, more often than not, they won’t have the time or emotional space to even consider love. Even if they did love someone, they usually don’t act on it until they completed their goal.

Obviously, the Vongola is still going to exist, along with the Cavallone famiglia and the Shimon… so his goal to destroy all the mafia will never actually come to fruition.

Not only that, but he is such an intwined pair with Chrome, that it’s very hard to separate the two from each other. It’s hard for me to consider him a ship pair with anyone when Chrome is basically his other half. They are the parallel between Daemon and Elena.

Do I think it’s impossible to ship Mukuro with Tsuna? No… but it would be really difficult and I honestly cannot really think of how it would go because of how complex he is. I think if he were to fall in love with her, one thing that he’d like about her is probably the fact that she doesn’t like the mafia. She’s only here because she’s forced into it, and she’s been trying to clean up the mafia using her influence. That is some positive points in her favor.

I think also, in canon, Tsuna has shown to trust in Mukuro’s abilities and his judgement on some matters. I think though he’s never forgotten what Mukuro has done in the Kokuyoland arc, he has come to respect and trust in Mukuro. The fact that Tsuna does so is both super naïve but also a pleasantry—to know that he too can be given other chances. Seeing how Chrome is able to thrive with the Vongola’s company is also a big positive. As his pair, her happiness and ability to survive in the Vongola’s environment is important to him. In canon, her ability to synergize with his illusions had a profound affect on him, like it was somewhat healing his heart. (Again, parallels between Daemon and Elena).

So it’s very important to him that Chrome is in an environment where she can be happy. So, MAYBE if over time he calmed down and acclimated to the Vongola, maybe he could spare some emotional space to fall in love. I honestly do not know. I don’t understand Mukuro that well, as you can see.

I won’t make any comments about what reason I think Tsuna would have to fall in love with Mukuro. I think those reasons would greatly depend on how he acts around her and what dynamic they have. I don’t have a good idea of what their dynamic would be because I don’t really study Mukuro much (as the professional Mukuro hater I am lol jk). I will not reference RP interactions because the vibes I get from the two Mukuro’s you interact with are different, so it’s hard to really say.

I think that’s all I’m going to try saying on this ship, because I sadly have no good ideas.

No secondary section because I don’t ship them, and I don’t understand their dynamic to even suggest cute ideas for their dynamic.

[genderisareligion]

Recently told I have “tunnel vision” regarding my current world view. Lol. Probably because this person knows I’m a “TERF.” I really should change this url but the joke has a point that I still think should be said: “gender” probably works best where it belongs in languages like Spanish and not universally applied to the entire human species which has too much variation to try and categorize like that

When I tag my reblogs with things like “kill all pornographers” I’m aware that technically the word “pornographer” would include those people like couples who gladly film themselves fucking and post it and consent every time they do it. Do those people deserve to be dead for that? Nope. My point is that the rape crisis happening in and often because of porn is such an extreme crisis, to me on the ground here watching women right and left be traumatized by it, that I personally would rather the entire industry go away or at least go away until all it consists of is the privileged minority who really genuinely want to make sex on film their job. Never going to be my thing but go off I guess. My point is that men who get off on the pain and humiliation of women and children and feel no remorse are sociopathic and subhuman and should be separated from the rest of us normal people for our safety. Whether it be by death or prison or isolation on island somewhere lol I don’t care I just want people to wake the fuck up to how little the severely porn addicted and the billionaires churning this content out care about humanity.

When I say “kill all pornographers” I’m reflecting the amount of hatred men are showing us when they all but say “kill all women” in their porn. No, that’s not the message in all of it. But it is in enough (snuff porn is an entire genre) and there are enough enablers and those willing to turn a blind eye that it exists at all, and sue me for thinking it shouldn’t because it’s dangerous when there are real women dying constantly at the hands of men in real life, why do y’all need to watch it on a loop online too?

Like sorry for not being desensitized to women in pain? How is that “tunnel visioned”? I’m a former watcher of this shit because I thought being closeted was reason enough that I should just ignore the horrific shit I was constantly scrolling past and just get mine. That’s why I get on this and another blog and shit on the porn industry constantly. I’m no prude and I can speak from experience. I did all the rationalizing and the “she must be fine it can’t be real.” Then I did the research about how often it is real and critically thought about it all and made the decision to be openly critical of it. I know technically sometimes she really is fine. I’m wildly concerned about all the women who are paid to lie about being fine.

One of my favorite books is the S.C.U.M. Manifesto because so many people refuse to believe it was satire. When I say “Valerie Solanas was right” do I mean that her misandrist society exactly as she wrote it should be instituted tomorrow? Nope. She was right about how painful it would be for men to imagine themselves in our shoes for a day. They hate that book and KAM sentiment because they know they’re lucky as shit the tables aren’t turned and being afraid of a woman isn’t manly. She was right that people would take her literally and ignore the meaning, which as I read it was that something urgently needs to be done about male violence against females and the culture that upholds it.

Is it “tunnel visioned” of me to say sexism is defined as the oppression of males against females? Am I saying that I think females are incapable of mistreating males? LOL no. I’ve mistreated males. Females have often mistreated me. I am fully aware of all of these things and aware that there is a much worse pattern of male on female violence than there is the reverse. The FBI crime statistics on rape agree with me.

Idk man I’m just sick of “SWERF” and its cousin “TERF” and being told I'm biased or a bigot for wanting something drastic to be done about sexual violence. Dworkin really went the fuck off when she said

[sajdd]

Look I’m super syndicate critical and all, but what do you think they could have done to actually be engaging as a group?

Like Phil and Techno are Mary Sues, Ranboo lore confuses me, and Niki arc was based around the og L’manburgians and especially c!Wilbur

Like the only thing I could think of was Ranboo finding about tubbo’s execution, but he did and that went literally no where

What would you do if you were in the discord calling the writing shots?

the solution is really simple actually, either make these characters realise their mistakes and have it become some sort of character development arc, for example, c!techno realising he was just being biased and his ideaology doesnt work in this situation, realises he hurt people, stops teaming up with c!dream, and slowly but surely rebuilds his relationship with the other members of the server by helping them fight back against c!dream. OR. it could be acknowledged hes a hypocritical asshole who does whatever he wants because hes strong, and actually be painted as a villain hiding behind ideologies to really just do whatever he wants. personally id prefer the first option because theres so much you could do there, and i want to actually like his character.

the issue is, all these characters have so much potential that just never gets explored. i cant tell you what exactly i would do because ive seen it be done better by other people. the potential is there and thats why its so annoying. because it gets thrown away in favour of being epic mary sue characters who are a "family" despite there barely being any emotional connections or substance.

for example, c!niki. the whole rocket duo arc was interesting, her and c!jack planning to kill c!tommy. c!jack actually had a reason whereas c!niki was simply trying to find someone to blame for all her traumas and problems. the potential of this? sweet, beloved c!niki who stood up against tyranny with nothing but spite and bravery? turning into a bitter traumatised girl in the face of loss and despair, trying to kill a friend because she had to blame someone because she couldnt handle the pain of it all? the potential for the exploration of her mental health was craaaazy. and then she just. dropped it lol. she was just like "im baking again" and its like. ok? so where did all that go, her trying to kill c!tommy just brushed under the rug, suddenly shes just "better" despite not really seeing the progression. she just suddenly was. dont even get me started on the fact she joined the syndicate, yknow, the guys who helped her destroy her home, and worked with the biggest monster of them all, c!dream, to the point she eventually helps them free him??? and shes like "theyre my family they accept me" LIKE WHAT???? WHERE???? IN THE 5 MINUTES OF SCREEN TIME YOU GUYS HAVE TOGETHER?

c!ranboo..... man. hes even more wasted potential. and i get half of it is scheduling issues, and i sympathise, but thats not the only issue here. c!ranboo has more mysteries than personality. he just keeps creating more and more questions and then never answers them, and then he kills off his character 💀 like yeah hes gonna come back but we still have no answers to anything really and its just like. ok. also the fact hes a character thats like, on everyones good side??? sorry but it pisses me off that hes all buddy-buddy with the guys who destroyed lmanberg. like he saw them blow up a nation (helping c!dream while theyre at it) and was like "PEOPLE NOT SIDES. anyway im gonna go live with them". like what?????? and then the fact he finds out about the execution and just. its never brought up again (and never fuckign will be because now c!tubbo and c!techno are buddies which was so horribly "developed" lol). he really just listened to them shit on c!tommys death and didnt say or do anything. he knew they were a threat to c!tubbo but also never really did anything other than observe. he talks so much about "people not sides" but then, what have you done to help people, to choose people, other than just be friendly with everyone and avoid conflict? so much potential, so many questions, but no actual closure for anything. also the fact that people take his word as law, despite the fact that he is actually written to be unknowledgeable/hypocritical on purpose pains me, though thats more to do with the fandom than the character.

c!phil. once again, POTENTIAL. imagine this: immortal being kills his own son in the midst of war, confusion and anguish. he carries out what he believes to be justice and pays the price by having to kill his son who he believes lost his mind. he feels guilt and for that he tries to help the nation trying to rebuild itself, only to be haunted by the ghost of the very son he killed, and finding out he lied in his letters because he didnt want to dissapoint his father. potential conflict between trying to help lmanberg vs realising maybe his piggy friend isnt so justified in everything that he does, and he sees the wreckage of november 16th for what it was. but we got this instead: kills suicidal son, calls him evil, blames government for having to kill him, disrespects his sons ghost, believes c!techno can do no wrong, and never for a second doubts himself or his buddy while actively villainising the victims and trying to "teach them a lesson"....... lol ok

sorry i went on a bit of a tangent there, but what im trying to say is, look, the potential is right there. they were SO close. but they threw it away and thats what infuriates me. because ive seen these characters be rewritten in much more interesting ways, while still keeping their flaws. but instead we got this, and if they were separated i probably wouldnt care. but my biggest grievance is the fact that their bad writing ends up fucking over the other members of the server and its annoying.

[castlesbyrs]

OKAY HERE ARE MY THOUGHTS I KNOW IM BIASED AND IM NOT LOOKING AT THE BIG PICTURE BUT BEAR WITH ME (heads up for spoilers obviously):

-I expected for one hour and forty five minutes to get one Cali gang scene at ep7. What a wasted opportunity aldjajdksjdudsjfhsj they could have done so many more things that were relevant to the plot I just really hope will fucking byers gets what he deserves in vol 2 because he literally knows the upside down and survived to it? Everybody names him all the time and yet he’s been reduced to a lovesick baby boy and that is not even well developed alcjakfkjsjdksbd I’m angry

-For me the season was VERY good tho, glad to see they’re back in shape after the disaster that was s3, but also as a byers family fan ofc I’m not fucking happy.

-Clearly as a Jancy shipper I’m not either akdjskfksj this was so FORCED I hated it so much it didn’t make sense at all and I don’t think people are truly going to enjoy it because it truly feels like the writers needed a last minute resort to add adolescent drama and they found no one else and were like HEY let’s bring stancy back that clearly makes sense doesn’t it? I’m scared af for Jancy tho and honestly to me it doesn’t look good for vol 2 because how are they even going to meet again if Jonathan is still like on the other side of the country, help

-BUT I do have to say this and perhaps I’m crazy but I don’t care: I actually loved every single scene Jonathan had. I KNOW it could have been a hundred more scenes instead of wasting time on the fucking basketball players and their stupid plot???? But I think Charlie did a wonderful job with every scene he got and I actually felt incredibly relieved in the sense that Jonathan’s worries about his family and university and his relationship were actually addressed and he openly confronted them (yeah his conversation with Argyle was by far my favorite scene in the season, sue me) I loved that we got once again to see his personal struggles and god we hadn’t gotten that since s1 so I have to say i enjoyed it very much.

-I wish I could say the same thing about Will. I can’t even begin to unwrap everything that’s wrong and all the wasted opportunities about the way this perfect and beautiful character is treated but… yeah, I’m angry about that.

-I very much ship byler lol and I fucking need one honest scene where I can have Jonathan and will talking about it.

-um excuse me? That dinner scene and the next day Joyce is just gone???????????????????? Are you fucking kidding me? We didn’t even get the goodbye???????????????? I’m so angry aldjdjskfjsfjiscjjdkx FUCK

-I don’t think Jonathan only got the role of comedy relief and I’m incredibly relieved about that.

-I don’t GIVE A SHIT about Stancy kajfakcjsj that will not end well just stop it I’m begging you it was weird

-I LOVE the fact Nancy will play a major role in vol 2. I need it and hopefully that will clear her brain and we’ll get some very desired Jancy angst???? Give it to me now

-Argyle was another wasted opportunity Jesus I’m so angry akgjsjfks

-I won’t talk about Russia but I did cry a lot when Hop and Joyce reunited ❤️ at least there’s hope somewhere. Also that scene of hop in prison? His monologue? I loved it and I’m so glad they learned from that awful treatment of his character in s3

-I literally don’t care about anything else I just need the byers and mike of course to play an important role in vol 2 but there’s only two episodes left so I think it won’t happen and I’m like so tired???????

-anyway aside from that I TRULY enjoyed this season and I think it was a huge leap forward from s3. I enjoyed the overall plot, I think it was better thought out for certain that s3, it will never top the iconicness of s2 and s1 for me but it comes close in a sense.

-i truly don’t have predictions nor theories for vol 2 and honestly I’m done predicting because I’m always wrong. I just expect something… anything… for the Byers.

Anyway… had to put my thoughts somewhere.

[sindirimba]

a thing i wonder a lot: where are some getting this idea that nile was coerced into not going back to her family, and that if not for booker (usually it's just said to be booker's fault, let's be honest here) or andy, she would have gone back?

andy like, explicitly let her go. it was in the movie. i've seen it with my own two eyes multiple times now. and nile was fully on her way back until she realized something bad was going down.

as for booker, he was just being honest with her in the cave, something i feel like a capable and clear-eyed woman like nile would appreciate (i'm biased in that i love both nile and booker, lol, sue me). and either way, nothing about nile's character shown in the movie indicates she would be solely swayed by booker's sad eyes or andy's everything.

so, like, if anyone's wondering what nile would have chosen regarding her family? wonder no more, it's right there in the movie :)

can't help but feel this is yet another thing where people act like nile has no agency, imo.

[gallavichthings]

This week’s interviewee might be new to the fandom, but she’s not new to fanfiction! Also: have I just found our lucky charm? Hm...

Please send all the love to Heather aka @whaticameherefor​, author of  Hollywood, Lineup, and Dude, where’s my car?, among others. 

GT: What can you tell us about yourself?

H: Hmm, well. I'm a mom to two crazy babies, doing the stay at home thing. But I freelance as a marketing consultant since that was the field I worked in before I had kids. I've been in and out of various fandoms ever since I was a kid, all with different levels of interest, but Gallavich has been the deepest I've ever gotten and I have no regrets about that lol. I'm originally from NJ, but I've bounced up and down the east coast (with a brief stint in London a few times since that's where I met my husband) and I don't think we're quite settled for good just yet.

GT: Do you remember when you started reading fics?

H: It's been years! Back when the internet was new there were these things called zines. Basically like graphics and fics and stuff in a email newsletter. It was I guess what is called bandom now, for as certain boyband, but it was mostly reader insert/Mary Sue kinda stuff which I guess is something all 11 year olds love lol. I read a lot of fic and wrote a little too but that was in the long long ago lol. When I was older I read a lot of Mighty Ducks (the movies), Harry Potter, LoTR, took a break and then rediscovered fic with Bughead/Riverdale, which was the fandom I was in just before Gallavich. TLDR: it's been a while!

GT: I know someone is organizing a Gallavich zine, actually! [@odietamo-gallavichzine]

And is Gallavich the first fandom you write for? What made you decide to write for them?

H: I have seen it! I’m debating participating but I’m super busy and don’t want to overcommit myself. I’m definitely looking forward to it though!

They’re actually the second couple I’ve written for. Like I said, Bughead brought me back to fandom and after reading fic for a while, I wrote a whole bunch of one shots for them. As for Gallavich, I once again read fics solidly for a long time (and watched the show/their scenes a ridiculous amount of times) before I felt comfortable with writing them. They have such distinct voices and characterization and parts of their story are so sensitive and important to so many people, I always want to honor that in whatever I write — whether it’s a silly meet cute or a longer fic or whatever it is. And I decided to write for them because I was craving a different kind of s6/7 fix it/ divergent fic than I was finding. I’ve talked about it before but I just find a lot of them too biased and vengeful and that didn’t feel true to their relationship. It was the longest thing I ever wrote, to this day it still is lol, which I find funny because some people are out here writing chapters the length of fics I write lol. But I wanted to get Ian back to Mickey of his own accord and Mickey out of prison legally so he could be free and they could stand a chance at a life together. And now I can’t stop thinking of story ideas for them!

GT: What pov do you normally use?

H: I think I actually use both of them pretty evenly. For “longer” stuff I have this annoying need to be in both of their heads lol. I can’t not know what they’re thinking! Even in most of my one shots, I tend to go back and forth; only a few of them stick to a single POV, published or not. Boring answer probably lol.

GT: No, not at all, it's all interesting! Do you find one of them easier to write than the other?

H: I wouldn’t say he’s easier, but I think because Ian is a lot harder for people to understand and get right, I think I have something to offer when it comes to his POV that I enjoy writing. Mickey’s fun to write because he’s really external and a character but Ian’s really internal and I love introspection so it’s fun to explore his head lol

GT: What's the best part of writing them?

H: Superficially, I love writing their banter. But I also really love writing about their love. They have such a deep, rich history between them and I love exploring that.

GT: And what's the most difficult thing?

H: Finding the balance between wanting them to just fucking talk and also staying true to the fact that they historically suck at communicating lol

GT: Lol so true

Walk us through your writing process. What do you do when you decide to write something? Where do you get your ideas?

H: I’d say 95% of my ideas are from music lol. Sometimes it’s the story of the song itself or just a lyric or even the vibe of it, just a lot of inspiration from music. When I get an idea, I write everything down in a document — relevant lyrics, dialogue, plot points, etc just so everything is out of my head and on paper, so I don’t forget 😂 If I’m not actively working on something, I go back and add to it when I get ideas until I can focus on it. Bigger fics I outline and break down into chapters, smaller stuff I’ll just word vomit everything out lol. I need music when I write. If it’s inspired by a particular song, I start with that one, and kinda let Spotify do it’s thing. I write and edit sections until they’re where I want them to be before I can move on, I don’t really do a “first draft” at least of a whole chapter. I also don’t really write chronologically. I’ll have the end and sometimes the more exciting bits or the part that inspired the whole fic already done before anything that comes before it, then I add transitions so it makes sense, sometimes whole new scenes will pop up, and then if I must…smut. It’s always last 😂 After I reread/edit/ add on to a one shot or a chapter 50 times it’s off to my beta! Simple!

GT: Simple, she says, as if she's just described something simple lol

What kind of fics do you write most often?

H: I guess a mix. I have some AUs and a few canon compliant fill ins and then the one divergent fic published. I do have a lot more AU/divergent/adjacent ideas in my folder than compliant though so I guess I'd lean that way lol. I don't do anything to the extreme I guess in terms of angst or fluff or smut, although I suppose that's subjective. I'd say my sweet spot is flangst -- fluffy angst. I have some "heavier" stuff planned and I'm working on a WIP that's a bit smuttier than I'd normally do as a challenge to myself. Jack of all trades, master of none or just well-rounded? You decide! lol

GT: Flangst! lol

Tell me a bit about the fics you're working on right now.

H: I’ve got two active WIPs right now — a vampire AU and a Little Mermaid AU that’s sooo close to being done. Other than that, I’m mostly a one shot kinda girl so I have a bunch I’m committed to getting out there. I’m almost done with a bodyguard AU I started for a friend last November and halfway done with a soulmate AU. Other than that, so many one shots outlined and started: s1 missing scene, s3 divergent/amnesia AU, s4 missing scene, s7 divergent getting back together fic, s10 divergent engagement fic, an enemies to lovers F1 driver AU, and a meet in prison AU. I have exactly one multi chapter I have on deck and it’s an accidental roommate fic, but there’s some more to it, kinda fun with some ups and downs. It’ll be tropey, cuz I love those kinds of fics and I write what I want to see in the world 😂

GT: We love a tropey fic. Speaking of, what are your favorite tropes when reading?

H: I love (best) friends to lovers, roommates, supernatural/fantasy, royalty, fake dating, forbidden love, celebrities, mutual pining!!!, h/c, enemies to lovers… probably easier to list ones I don’t like 😂

GT: Alright, go ahead then. What don't you like?

H: Haha I walked right into that one, didn’t I? So, the only one I’m really not into is pregnancy (yes, including mpreg) just because I hated being pregnant, so that’s the last thing I want to read about lol. There are other ones I’m not a huge fan of but anything in the hands of the right author, I’d take a chance on.

(Also, so embarrassed I forgot two of my favorite tropes in my list above — soulmate and ABO! Shame on me 😔)

GT: Hahah, fair enough!

What are some of your favorite fics and writers?

H: Oh boy, this is such a tough question because I could just sit here all day and rec stuff and I do that all the time already lol My absolute favorite fic is The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Ian Gallagher. I can't tell you how many times I've read it because I've lost track and if I could it would be an embarrassing number of times lol. I'd definitely say @goodkwuestion is one of my favorite writers. Lost in Translation is a fluffy fave and I am loving ORFNSP right now too. Promised Land is one of my favorite fics despite it being a perpetual WIP (we do not say abandoned we do NOT) and anomalously another favorite writer. Ian Gallagher And All of His Mistakes is another favorite fic. Everybody Talks is the perfect best friends to lovers AU. Anything by @damnnmilkovich especially CCC and AWIWP. eighty-four by kissteethstainred, Twenty-One series by jaxington, Erasure by @grumblesandmumbles, Is There Somewhere by andchaos and pretty much anything by them too, Love is A Ballfield by and_i_take_it, literally anything and everything by @palepinkgoat​, Two of Your Earth Minutes and really everything by @the-rat-wins​, It's Not The Waking It's The Rising by dodgerbear... I need to stop at some point I think lol. But I've done some lists before with fave fics here: https://gallavichficfinds.tumblr.com/post/613538604425379840/can-you-recommend-fics-for-people-who-are-new-to and authors here: https://whaticameherefor.tumblr.com/post/653717980123922432/do-you-have-any-favorite-fic-authors-for. I feel really lucky that there were so many beautiful fics waiting for me when I got into Gallavich. I love all the fandom classics and the older authors, but it's so exciting we have amazingly talented authors still here or coming back or discovering them now and contributing. I just love reading fic!

GT: Some wonderful gems in there! Including two of my all time favorites, Lost in Translation and Is there somewhere. ❤️

What about your own fics, which one are you the proudest of?

H: Right? I reread LIT whenever I need a quick angst palette cleanser (along with the alien Ian verse.)

I think I’m going to go with Sideways. It was my first multi chapter attempt and my first Gallavich fic. I usually stick to one shots but I just had to fix canon and the story just kinda kept growing. It was everything I wanted to see in a post s6 divergent fic so I’m really happy it resonates with other people too.

GT: I know we all like getting comments, but what kind of comments get you the most excited?

H: The ones that can lead to a conversation. The comments section of fics is where I’ve met so many lovely people, so anything that starts a dialogue about the fic or the show is really great to get.

GT: Do you leave comments as well?

H: I do! Big proponent of commenting. As I said, many friendships started in the comments section and oftentimes it it’s me leaving essays on other people’s stuff that leads to them lol. I also really like to encourage new authors or if something doesn’t seem to be getting the kudos it deserves, I try to give extra love. I love WIPs too, so I try to keep up and comment so authors stay motivated.

GT: That's so important!

H: I agree, and I always like to engage on Tumblr too if they’re here. Whether that’s DMs or asks or whatever. If everyone tries to keep the community alive, the fandom will stay strong!

GT: How did you start watching Shameless?

H: So, I actually saw prison endgame gifs on tumblr from some of my Bughead mutuals around when it first happened. It’s really funny how many people ship both couples. But anyway, I remember seeing the gifs of 9x06 and there were a few that paralleled the 7x10 reunion too and I was just gone on them from that moment. The way they were looking at each other simply ruined my life. I watched all their scenes (a lot) and went down the fanvid rabbit hole before I started reading some fics that were recommended to me. So, I went in fully shipping them already by the time I started watching the actual show. It was on a hiatus mid season so I was all caught up and watched the back half live. I was totally fine with entering a dead fandom, cuz it kinda was at the time, but then Noel’s announcement happened and suddenly the fandom was alive again lol

GT: I wholeheartedly agree!! The fandom died out a lot after season 5 (I wonder why), and I myself stopped watching the show, but I never stopped reblogging people's works and hosting events because to me fandom is not about the show itself, but the friends you've made. I'm so very thankful for all the friends I've made in this and other fandoms and I wanted to continue helping out.

I first saw them on gifs here on Tumblr as well, but that was season 3 lol. Several years ago.

Wow, talk about timing! Maybe you were our lucky charm lol.

What was your first impression of the fandom, being so new to it?

H: I’ll take that title! 😂 I mean, it was definitely kinda dead lol. I tried to follow all the authors I’d been reading but there wasn’t a lot going on. I was okay with it, because I was in love and there was almost a decade worth of fic to read, which is really what it’s all about for me. But yeah, total turnaround after the social media hack — that was an awesome day btw — and it’s completely different nowadays.

I distinctly remember the very few fics that were being updated at the time and active authors and it’s wild thinking about how many WIPs and authors are writing now.

GT: I lived through that cycle several times lol. The fandom got a lot smaller after season 5, then there was a brief revival after Mickey appeared on season 7, again after episode 9x06, and then finally again after they both got back for season 10. I expect it to get smaller again eventually, of course, as all fandoms do, now that the show is over, but I know there will always be people who are just starting watching it. And there's so much fan content now that it's impossible to keep up, which is far from a bad thing, of course.

Do you have a favorite episode of Shameless?

H: If I have to pick a favorite it would be 7x10 Ride or Die because it was just a perfect little episode. Well, not perfect but as a stand-alone episode it perfectly used their history and chemistry and potential and really proved that they loved each other no matter what happened (and would happen.)

GT: Oh, that's a different one! I don't think I've seen anyone pick this one before. What about a favorite scene?

H: Really?! It feels like it’s a fan favorite, can’t believe no one’s said it before! Well, I’ll go for a scene in a different episode so I’ll say the original dugouts date. It’s just so obvious how head over heels they are for each other. Young love 💜

GT: Hm, not that I remember. I mean, the docks scene, definitely, but the whole episode I don't think so. Or maybe my memory is just failing me.

What's your favorite scene from this episode?

H: Bleachers reunion! Like I said, the way they looked at each other after not seeing each other for over a year… the chemistry is just off the charts! And then Mickey says my favorite line: “You’re under my skin.” Goosebumps, every damn time.

GT: That line was fire!!

If you could go back and change one thing in canon, what would it be?

H: I mean… 3x666 for sure. I don’t think I need to elaborate on that answer lol

GT: Well, that one is definitely a popular answer. It was so terrible.

Fun fact, it was the first episode that I got to watch right after airing. 

H: Omg how are you still here if that was the first impression you got!

GT: Lol right? I mean, I binged all the show up to that point in three days, finished on Sunday afternoon, then on Sunday night watched that one. It was a roller-coaster for sure.

What are you thoughts on the ending?

H: Honestly? I was just happy it was over lol I’m pretty vocal about my distaste for the writing the past few years, so I was ready for the end. I didn’t mind the open ending for Ian and Mickey because it was kinda the end of an era for them, living at the house. It was the start of a brand new chapter that was full of possibilities and they absolutely deserve a soft epilogue now. But for everyone else? Come on, give the characters some closure! Give them a direction! So many open ended storylines and aimless characters is not what you want after 11 seasons.

GT: I couldn't agree more.

How do you headcanon their future?

H: You know, I don’t really have anything solid or fancy I guess for them. I think they stay in their apartment for the rest of their lease, maybe another year cuz moving sucks. Then they find a little house closer to home. Maybe expand the business. Branch off with extra side hustles. In like, 5-10 years once they’re a little more settled and financially comfortable, they work on getting a kid, maybe a second one a few years later. A dog at some point too. But no matter what life throws at them, they stay best friends and lovers and soulmates and make everyone they meet jealous of their love 💜

GT: I love that

Alright, that was it from me. Is there anything you'd like to add?

H: I don’t think so… thanks! This was fun!

GT: Ok, so leave a message for your readers, please.

H: Thank you to everyone who’s ever read anything I’ve written. Thanks for commenting and sharing and putting a smile on my face with every single kudos. I hope you guys love what I’ve got coming up, I can’t wait to share them with you 💜

[rayverl]

The plot of Boruto so far, I guess

Just warning you, this is probably gonna be cringe.

 There’s gonna be a bit of spoilers at the end.

Also, if I say something biased, you can blame the Boruto subreddit. 

*Deep breath*

Okay, so there’s this guy called Bolt. He’s sort of a genius. He seems pretty bratty, right? Well, being neglected by your dad, who’s the literal leader of your village does that to you.

Bolt is a student at this ninja academy. There’s a new transfer student. His name is Meets Sue Key. He likes snakes and has pale skin and golden eyes. Totally not suspicious at all. He has a friend called Salad. She’s an Uch-Yee- Haw.

Things Happen. The class rep, Sumire has a monster. Something about Danzo, I think.

Salad get’s her own arc. She meets her dad, Sauce ok, who almost stabs her, thinking she’s this guy called Shin, who calls himself an Uchiha. Turns out he’s just someone experimented on by A Roach In My Room. 

Imagine not recognizing your own daughter. In Saucegay’s defense, he probably never even saw her as a baby. Actually, that would be even worse.

Mitts key gets backstory. Oro is a PILF. (Mitsuki’s mom has got it goin’ on!)

Bolt, Mitski and Salad participate in the Chew-nin exams. Bored tho cheats. Bolt’s dad, Ramen toppings, is extremely disappointed and embarrassed. 

Then, some aliens arrive. There’s this dude called Momoshitkey. Nerd tho, Bolt, Sauce gay and the Kage fight Momoshitkey. Momoshitkey implants something called Karma onto Bore root toe.

Choo choo arc is a mix of celebrity crushes, anti fatphobia and Butterflies

Mitsuki “betrays” Konoha, Oh no key dies, Mitsuki says sike lol I’m still a Konoha Shinobi.

Some filler and anime canon later, it’s the Kara Actuation Arc, which is still anime canon. 

There’s some new character called Mugino. Boruto uses sexy jutsu to get Hashirama cells. 

Oral chi fishballs Thanos snaps some chick for ripping off his kunai-licking thing and completely annihilates Oh no key knock-off Viktor Krum, a Kara inner.

Bolt and co defeat Deepa with a Super High Compression Rasengan.

Mitsuki needs new organs and I headcanon that Great Snek Circle completely lost his shit internally. They’re a total tsundere mum.

It’s the Ao arc! Boruto fights with Ao and people begin to say he truly is Mean A Toe’s grandson and Nawrrrr a toe’s son.

Woooo! Kawaki time! 

I was too busy so I couldn’t catch up on the show and relied on Reddit to find out what happened, so from here onwards the stuff I write might lack a few things.

They find Car Key and Naruto adopts him as a son or something.

Worship the mighty Vase-kun.

Naruto defeats Delta.

Monk dude destroys Nerd Toe and Sauce ok. Bolt, Salad, Mitsuki and Car Key fight Borrow. They get a great team strategy.

Boruto turns into BoruShitKey. Naruto turns into a chakra station. BoruShitKey defeats Borrow. 

(Borushiki’s “What was that Jutsu he used again? Oh, right... The Rasengan” gave me CHILLS. I simp for that voice.)

Kashin Koji and Amado are actually traitors of Kara. Koji tries to kill Jigen and miserably fails. Koji is revealed to be a clone of Jiraiya (Totally didn’t see that coming /s). Koji runs away from Jigen. 

Somewhere around this time, Car Key loses his Karma.

Jigen becomes EatShitKey, and defeats Nerd Toe and Sauce gay. Ramen toppings gets Baryon Mode and Kurama is like “Sike lol you won’t die but I will”.

Feels and Nostalgia. RIP our Fox boi. Press F for respect.

Borushiki: “Yes, very sad. Anyway”

RINNEGONE

Code wakes up and checks on the Ten Tails. Code is sad because his daddy and god, EatShitKey is dead (boo-hoo lol). Code swears revenge against the people who had a part in EatShitKey’s death.

There’s going to be an anime canon Chunin exam soon, I’m pretty excited for it.

Manga spoilers time

Code meets Ada, or Eida. (The name Ada is funny to me because in my language, Ada means “have” or “got”)

He also meets Doraemon. 

Amado offers to give Kawaki a Karma again and Kawaki is like “No why tf would I want that”

Kawaki runs from the Uzumaki house, for some reason. Code Catches him and Bolt interferes in their battle.

Btw worship Fatachi

[nattikay]

So I saw this post while browsing toa tags the other day. While I don’t think being obsessed with the school mascot automatically makes Toby a furry (though it is funny to joke about lol) since “being a furry” actually just means “being a fan of anthropomorphic animals” and doesn’t necessarily require any form of costuming or interest in such, it did get me thinking, hmmm...if he was a furry, what would his fursona be? 🤔 And from there I started wondering what Jim’s and Claire’s would be as well because y not ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  

BUT WAIT, I hear you say--haven’t you already drawn the trio as werewolves and wolfwalkers etc.? Wouldn’t those be their fursonas??

Well yes....but actually no.

I guess it’s a little hard to explain, but there’s a nuance between “[person] but as an animal” and a proper “fursona”. While a fursona is an animal character used to represent its person, it doesn’t have to physically resemble them at all as you would expect [person]-but-as-[animal] to. For example, if you were to design me but as a cat, you’d probably give it light brown fur and green eyes like I have irl. But my fursona, unlike my human self, actually has blue fur and purple eyes. You can give your fursona matching physical traits to your own if you want to, and some people do, but most use only a pinch of their irl appearance, if any at all.

The choices people make when designing their fursonas vary wildly from “it looks like me irl” to “it looks like who I want to be”  to “I just really like this color scheme” to “this particular color/marking holds deep personal meaning to me” to “this particular pattern represents a particular defining moment in my life” to “idk it looks cool and i vibe with it” etc. etc. etc. Everyone has different reasons of varying depth for the decisions they make in designing their fursona.

Therefore, to design a fursona for Toby etc., it’s less a question of “what would this character look like as [insert species here]?” and more of “how would this character choose to present himself with his own [animal] character?”

And that’s a much trickier game than just transferring a character aesthetic to a new species. ^^; We have to kinda dive into the characters and makes some guesses about how they, if given infinite creative freedom to design an animal avatar with no rules or limits, would choose to present themselves.

So all that said, here’s what I came up with:

Starting with Toby because he’s the one who inspired the post. I think Toby might choose a wolfdog fursona. A lot of people who choose wolves as fursonas consider themselves to be overwhelmingly loyal to their friends, a trait that fits Toby very well. However, while Toby likes to be “cool”, I don’t think he really thinks of himself as much of an “alpha” type--he’s more of a sidekick, and he knows that, and he’s ok with that. He’s the wingman. So what better way to incorporate that than to add dog into the mix? Man’s best friend=Jim’s best friend. Sociable, humorous, and unwaveringly loyal. Wolfdog it is!

With the species decided, we can move on to the design itself.

I can’t imagine any form of Toby in anything other than warm colors. This is extra emphasized by the flamelike patterns on his legs and tail, which both speaks to his desire to be totally awesome-sauce as well as acts as an allusion to his flaming warhammer. It’s fairly common (not universal, but common) for people to give their fursonas a more “ideal” physique than the person actually has as a sort of way to live by proxy physical goals or fantasies they’ve been unable to attain irl for whatever reason. Given that we’ve seen Toby struggle with fitness from time to time, it wouldn’t shock me to see him take this route. His wolfdog self is still relatively short and stocky, but it’s all muscle, babey. 

This fursona is strong, fun, boisterous, and generally just kicks butt. Concentrated awesomesauce flows through his veins. Just don't mess with his friends, or you’ll feel the flames!

.

Moving on to Jim. Jim was the hardest to nail down, and most definitely the hardest to keep my personal biases out of oof. Which I may have failed to do anways because yes, ok, I made my favorite character a blue feline, sue me ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  But hear me out first!

For Jim I ultimately settling on a cheetah/lion hybrid.

Cheetahs, in a way, are sort of the underdogs (er...cats?) of the feline world--at least, in their local ecosystems. They are built wholly for speed, not strength--and as such, just about every other large predator in their environment has them beat when it comes to raw strength. Remind you of a certain Trollhunter? plus the long lanky legs. don’t forget those lol

However, because of this disadvantage, cheetahs...usually surrender. They know it’s not worth it to defend their kill from larger, stronger opponents, so they’ll give it up and just catch something else. This aspect doesn’t quite fit our protective, selfless protagonist all too eager to risk everything to save his loved ones--so a pure cheetah may not be the right choice.

So what animal is brave and protective? That’s where the lion part comes in, of course!

Why not just make him a pure lion? Well, a little similar to making Toby a wolfdog instead of a pure wolf. A straight-up lion feels a little too “chad” for our sweet Jimbo. Too much of a jock. 

Jim has the humble underdog nature of a cheetah as well as the bravery and fierce protective drive of a lion. Cheelion? Leetah? idk, but let’s design it!

Like Toby and warm colors, I don’t think I can possibly associate Jim with any color but blue. While it’s never directly stated, given that we’ve never really seen him wear any other color (with the exception of the Eclipse armor), I think it’s pretty safe to assume that that’s his favorite. Blue sweater, blue jeans, blue shoes, even his backpack and bedsheets are blue. So naturally, his fursona would be predominantly blue as well! Plus some yellowish accents to (somewhat) match the natural colors of his chosen species(s).

I imagine he originally designed the character without horns, but then added them after becoming the Trollhunter, since it became such a major and impactful aspect of his life.

His lion’s mane also continues down his back in imitation of the “mantle” found on baby cheetahs. This youthful feature could subtly represent the fact that he’s been forced to grow up too fast and take on so much responsibility so young--so his fursona can still be young and carefree as long as he likes even while his real self struggles with the weight of the world on his shoulders.

This fursona is relaxed, calm, and confident. He’s not just cool--he’s crispy!

.

Lastly but not leastly, we have Claire. Out of the three, I think Claire was actually the easiest to choose--or at least, I had the clearest idea of what I thought she might go for.

Claire is a bit of an interesting duck, because while she’s shown to be fairly popular at school, she’s definitely far from the stereotype of The Popular Girl™. Yes she’s smart and pretty, but she’s also a little spunky or even a bit quirky--she’s a theatre kid, she’s a huge fan of hard rock band Papa Skull, and while I wouldn’t quite call her “rebellious” per se, she’s certainly willing to bend some rules if she feels the situation calls for it (not telling her parents that she was going to the concert with Steve, literally sneaking into Jim’s basement to try to find out what was up with him, etc).

That said, I think Claire might go for a hyena fursona--something a little out of the box, but not totally out of left field. (she also shows a slight Gurl Power™ streak here and there “the staff was not meant to be wielded by man--” “I am not a man!!!”) and if you know anything about hyenas...well, yeah lol)

I think Claire would lean into her punk-rock “rebellious” side with her fursona design. This character is completely free of the pressure of being the councilwoman’s daughter and having to maintain her mother’s public reputation, and thus allows Claire to express a less restrained side of herself. She has a bold semi-edgy color scheme with bright accents (and some earrings to match her person’s hair clips) while still remaining feminine and (her own brand of) fashionable. 

This fursona is spunky and sassy; she’s spicy and sweet all rolled up into one. She knows what she wants and she’s not afraid to chase it down. She lives her own life and she’s dang proud of it.

.

....sooooo yeah there’s my take on what Toby’s, Jim’s, and Claire’s fursonas could hypothetically be. And I guess since this post was inspired by a joke about Toby’s infatuation with the school mascot, here’s just some quick thoughts on how they might approach fursuiting to end us off:

Jim I don’t see as much of a suiter. He might try it once or twice if given the opportunity, but at the end of the day it’s not really his cup of tea--he’d rather act as the “handler” for his friends, if anything.

Toby and Claire, on the other hand, I could definitely see as suiters. In fact, with her interest in acting, Claire would probably particularly enjoy it--she’d be one of those suiters who really gets into character, absolutely refuses to break the magic publicly (outside of any actual medical emergency), and popular at cons because she just performs so well. 

Toby, meanwhile, would be the more chill type--uses his normal voice in-suit, isn’t really too stressed about “breaking the magic”, just kinda hanging around like he would normally except “look I’m a talking dog, cool right?”. 

also while I was typing this it occurred to be that since Eli is canonically a cosplayer then he could be a fursuiter as well; in his case i imagine he actually made his own suit it’s a protogen and it’s full of little LEDs and other electric gadgets, it’s not the prettiest thing ever as sewing is not his forte but boy did he try!! good for him. good for him

[miraculouscontent]

(miraculous asks)

Anonymous said:

Oh My Gosh!!!! I was just thinking about Party Crasher and man I hate how they had Ladybug get captured for the men to save! It's a continuous thing you see in media: strong heroic woman gets put in peril so that the men can shine. I didn't even realize it until you said it! I get that it was probably meant to be a "role reversal" of Chat always getting kidnapped or brainwashed for Ladybug to save, but the fact that this is the "guys' episode" it read like "well damn, we can't have the guys be strong if a girl is in the way; let's have the girl get captured so the boys can prove their worth by rescuing her!".

At least in Sandboy, Ladybug was still competent and came up with the plans, but this?! It makes me sick, and it's all too easy to fall into these traps; even Kim Possible did it! In my magical girl story, the heroine does get put in a magical coma and require someone to bail her out, but it's her female friends AND her boyfriend who save her, so it's not just a girl being weakened so a boy can be powerful, especially since said boy actually does a minority of the work required to save her; the focus is on the female characters so it's her girl friends who do most of it. I still ended up scrapping that side plot anyway, and do you know why? Because regardless of who saved her, I still didn't want my female protagonist to be put in distress at all due to the unfortunate implications! Needing help in a fight? Sure. But outright being captured or kidnapped? Nah fam.

I was honestly thinking about that when the first episode came out. Like, they could’ve just had Marinette NOT SHOW UP in time so the guys take care of things, which at least gives more of a message that Paris wouldn’t go to hell just because Ladybug is a little late or something.

And yeah, the “boys squad episode so gotta toss the girl out” is... sigh.

Anonymous said:

I think the writers were trying to show Chat angsting to show his regret instead of an actual apology. Still doesn't explain why Aeon didn't bring up her death afterwards. Did Olympia delete that from her memory banks?

I guess? :|

I don’t know why Chat can’t just apologize without fishing or trying to earn sympathy. Like JUST SAY YOU’RE SORRY, DAMMIT.

Anonymous said:

If you haven't read Maribat, then you won't regret it. I am not in the DC universe but I started reading it and WOW. Literally every single time Marinette is a badass queen and gets her complete revenge and is actually happy! Even if you absolutely love Lukanette (which I have nothing against) you should totally try it.

Appreciate the comment, but I find it hard to ship other Marinette ships outside of Lukanette. Ivanette is a very loose exception and it’s not like I ship it hard or anything.

Anonymous said:

Despite not being a Lukanette shipper I love you. Why? Because you amazing, so right in literally everything and I love you <33

gkdfjgfdngjkfdg thank you

bat-anon said:

The NY Special made it so that Max is literally the only Black/Brown kid that doesn’t exist to make Love Square happen and that just makes me hate it even more.

I wish you didn’t make me have this realization because I hate it.

At least Delmar existed in the New York special???? I guess???? I dunno, I’m trying here, I don’t recall him doing anything love square centric.

Anonymous said:

I honestly don't mind Alix's outfit as Bunnix! I feel like it fits her, plus she's an adult so its not much of a problem, not saying it can't be improved however. I DO have issues with the designs for the underage girls outfits however....those are very sus

Yeah, the problem I take with Bunnyx’s is that it’s a bodysuit. If there was just more definition, like having actual boots, I wouldn’t complain as much.

Anonymous said:

I actually just really like the idea of the new bee being a genuinely nice person who becomes friends with Marinette. Not exactly close friends (since I like the idea of friendly working relationships without actual personal stakes in them). I also enjoy the idea of the new bee having some small animosity for Chat Noir- just because their personalities aren't the greatest mix. I also think that it would make sense for the miraculous of subjection to be at odds with the miraculous of destruction

Full agreement but we know how much the writers are resistant to have characters go against Chat.

Anonymous said:

Not gonna lie the scene where the girl squad gets akumatized almost makes it seem like they got akumatized on purpose, similar to Manon in Puppeteer 2(although she was a little kid who was probably just imagining she could enact revenge). And why can't they have a uniformed design, like they're a team but wear different colors, similar to the Sailor Senshi(like, Alya's the leader and wears orange, Rose wears pink, Alix wears green, Juleka wears purple, and Mylene wears yellow). It's so boring.

Mood.

Not to mention that WE ARE SO TIRED OF THEM GETTING AKUMATIZED INTO THE SAME AKUMA.

AT LEAST PALETTE SWAP THEM.

Anonymous said:

Relating to the Didn't Need Burrows and Treatment of Marinette bingo cards, have you considered making one for whenever the show fails at girl power? It could say things like "sexualized frames of teenage girls" "boy tells girl what to do" "girls don't get to keep Miraculouses", and "girls are forced to apologize whenever a situation goes wrong". And in the center, it could say "Don't show this to your daughter!"! Lol! What do you think?

lol I feel like I have enough cards, otherwise I would.

Anonymous said:

I saw another post that talked about Miraculous New York, and they theorized that it was rewritten to focus more on Marinette and Adrien in order to get viewers invested in the Love Square again after more people started to lose faith in the ship. Do you think that's a possibility?

I think so. The whole special comes off as trying to reassure love square shippers because of how hard it goes for him. I cut out Marinette’s crushing and it cuts like 18% from the episode, meaning it’s even worse than Season 3 (15%).

Anonymous said:

Maybe the point of the [break-up episodes] is meant to discourage people from shipping Lukanette and Adrigami too?

Spoiler alert: didn’t work.

Anonymous said:

Are we not gonna talk about how in one ask, somebody legit said "(long dreamy sigh) Viperion"? Like same.

RIGHT????

Same.

Anonymous said:

Ml fandom: I hate how Ladybug keeps secrets from Chat Noir! He sacrifices himself for her all the time and she never appreciates him for it! He has EVERY right to get mad at her!!

ML Fandom when Chat Noir does the same thing in the special: ....Wow Ladybug was way to harsh on Chat Noir!! She doesn’t appreciate him at all!! Shes so mean to him!

:|

i hate it

Anonymous said:

Idk if it's just me, but a majority of the fandom is split in two; it's never one or the other "MARINETTE SUCKS AND IS A HORRIBLE PERSON GUARDIAN MARY SUE WHO SEXUALLY HARRASSES" or "ADRIEN SUCKS HE WAS NEVER ON MARINETTES SIDE" but im personally on the latter, but not to that extreme. i hate videos bashing marinette and then never acknowledge adriens faults

Yeah, the fandom gets more divided as time goes on because of the writers trying to increase the drama/tension.

Anonymous said:

I am PERSONALLY offended they gave Luka the snake miraculous. Snakes have such a negative connotation. A lot of people insult Lila by calling her a SNAKE. And now those ML writers DARE insult the best character in ML?! HOW DARE THEY!?????

I adore Viperion but I agree that I first heard he was getting snake and was like, “BUT MY BOI???”

It gets awkward too because other animals like the pig have negative connotations, like how Daizzi basically means “idiot/stupid” and they’re giving it to the freaking blond character, really???

Anonymous said:

I think that Ivanette would be even better if Marinette was plus-sized character.

I see why you’d think that. I just disagree because then it turns the ship into “let’s pair the heavyset characters together because they heavyset.”

Anonymous asked:

On the topic of romance failures and general series salt, my main issue right now is how the series puts so much focus on romantic relationships while failing to consider other levels of relationship or what they affect.

On the L² front I can completely buy Marinette being in love with Adrien. Most of the time she genuinely wants him to be happy and is ready to take a step back for him, however much it hurts. But in terms of romantic love? It. Is. A. Crush! But if we step back from the formula, what is there left between them? Their civilian relationship is held together by a “comedy” of errors and without that there is surprisingly little left. Well, besides two “best friends” desperately trying to make it happen because somehow they lost their individual characters and instead of being friends became matchmakers?

I too like Luka and Marinette together. Their relationship is pretty nice to see and all. But sometimes it feels like it happens in a dimension of its own, like the writers want to make the endgame clear in that the “sideships” can be easily cut out of the big “how they got together”-recaps. I especially miss reactions from and interactions with Juleka. She is Luka’s sister, Marinette’s friend, and IIRC someone aware of if not even a bit player in the great shipping game. She is in a prime position to step up and bring progress on all fronts: She can talk with Luka. She can either give Marinette helpful pointers or go “All in or nothing”, i.e. trying to make Marinette get her Adrien-feelings in order as she does not want her brother to get less than Marinette’s full heart. Similarly, she can counteract “friendly acts” and stop humiliating situations from escalating, or she herself can escalate them in the “All or Nothing”-scenario. Yet she remains basically a background character who gets little attention from the camera and almost no “non-focus identity”

As for Kagami, I may be too biased. *Any* positive Kagami/Marinette relationship is to me what Lukanette is to you. So naturally I have lots of opinions when it comes to her role ;) But can I just say that Adrien/Kagami is the weirdest ship for me? They have a few cute scenes and I think if they’d spend a lot more time together, they’d do each other good but I don’t know how they work. “No Hesitation” Kagami would lob Adrien’s head straight off with all his…everything. If we are meant to take Adrien’s love for LB seriously (and I guess we have to because how in the name of sanity is any form of the stated endgame gonna work otherwise???), how does Kagami fit into that picture as a girl who can hardly express emotions while Adrien is the definition of a  guy who can not stop flirting or goes for all kinds of romantic gestures? Sometimes it feels more like a “social fit” and “Mommy/Daddy approves” kind of deal which is quite the shame! Normally I like these kind of relationships in fictions but they need a solid underlining or good development. One they haven’t and one the series has not been giving to anyone so far.

Yeah, the whole thing with the love square versus side ships ends up feeling extremely forced. Keeping Luka away and forcing Adrien into Lukanette episode are the biggest giveaways, basically a big fat sign that says, “We know Marinette would forget that Adrien exists if she hung around Luka for more than five minutes.”

AND YEAH, KAGAMI WOULDN’T PUT UP WITH ADRIEN’S GARBAGE. I liked Adrimi but it’s definitely more flawed than Lukanette.

Anonymous said:

Watched your opinion on the New York special and I agree with you. It was mediocre at best. It could have been something nice, like if they added Kagami and Luka, for example, so that we can get a bit of development from the new couples on season 4, so that it doesn’t feel rushed when they start dating on season 4. It could also be a good opportunity to see the other temporary heroes one last time, since Marinette technically has the miracle box.

They could have had an epic fight with the American Superheroes, maybe even giving the bee miraculous temporally to Aeon or Jess so that we didn’t need to see their awful and uncreative superheroes designs. It would have been nice if they made something more useful other than being characters that believe that Adrien and Marinette are “Meant to be”, like, we already got a ton of these already, couldn’t we get someone who didn’t feel something about this ship? It has so much wasted potential that I don’t even know how to start. Do you agree with anything I said?

I agree, yes. They could’ve easily thrown Luka/Kagami into the mix (or had Marinette/Adrien stay behind while flipping perspectives or something; flawed but they could make it work).

Anonymous said:

I'm rereading ladybugout and wow... the moment of silence after "chat deserves that kiss" gets me every time. Everyone stopping and just staring because wow he really just said that

Me whenever Chat Noir opens his mouth in the show.

Anonymous said:

I saw the Backwarder post you just talked about and yes, it is so totally ridiculous. They forgot another thing, though. Miraculous isn't just about comedy, action, and romance, it's about embarrassing Marinette. And the fact that almost everyone in the comments was acting like the medicine scene at the end was funny was just stupid and saddening to hear or read about, because it shows how people have been conditioned to hate and rally against Marinette without even realizing it. Granted, there was one lady who said it reminded her of her husband, so I guess that's okay(but all it means is that Adrien will be Marinette's--aka "his lady's"--husband like eeerrrgh!). And there was one person who said they liked that Juleka's advice because "If you're friend isn't willing to commit crimes for your happiness, is she even your friend?". But everyone else liked the ending. And I don't get the person who said we got "Subtle progression with Adrien and Marinette". We're right where we started.

Weeeeell, I understand the “comedy, action, romance” comment because all of those basically boil down to embarrassing Marinette or invalidating her. Comedy and romance goes without saying while action involves her dealing with Chat “Nice Guy” Noir.

Anonymous said:

Is it just me, or does Snow White's "Red Shoes" form look a lot like Marinette. I know, I know, Marinette is Chinese and Red Shoes is Korean, but they still look strikingly similar. They're bodies are really similar, too, but that might just be because animation tends to use eerily similar body types for its female characters on a whole. It's sad and it makes me think of how cute Marinette would be if she was fat. I also think Snow White was cuter than Red Shoes but that's kind of the point.

I think it’s the body type thing but that’s just a guess since I didn’t immediately make the connection.

I agree that Snow White is cuter.

Anonymous said:

Am I the only one who's never liked "destined to fail" characters? Basically this is when characters aren't allowed to be good at/succeed at something or else the whole universe will somehow fall apart. Think of how in The Amazing World of Gumball, if Richard gets a job, the world will be in complete and utter chaos. So he's better off as a lazy, bumbling dad. In Phineas and Ferb, Candace is always trying to rat out her younger brothers but if she gives up or succeeds something bad will happen.

TV Tropes put it the best: "Not only is she not allowed to succeed, but she's also not allowed to stop trying!"(conveniently under the Cosmic Plaything trope). I just don't like it because it shows that the writers just want to lead them on with the promise of success then snatch it away at the last minute. And now we're back at Miraculous Ladybug, where Marinette is humiliated every time she doesn't sign a gift that's for Adrien, and yet when she does, everyone in Paris DIES. Except for...HIM.

you: *mentions Candace*

me: [a million awful flashbacks]

Also, yeah, it’s so hard to watch, especially in “Chat Blanc” because it’s like, “Oh, you want to give a gift to a boy and you dArEd to use your powers for it? Congrats, but everyone else is DEAD and you can hang out with him as much as you want! You’re welcome!”

Anonymous said:

I think it’d become a “faintest idea blackout card”rather than a bingo.

(referring to my “Faintest Idea” card)

We’re getting there.

darkmoonravewolf said:

I hate that everything on that list could happen and very likely will

(referring to “Didn’t Need Burrow”)

Yeah, and it makes me sad :’)

Anonymous said:

That’s be real here. Miraculous ladybug is not a show about Marinette; Miraculous Ladybug is a show about Adrien. Adrien is the real main character.

Notice that when they focused on Adrien in “Lies,” they only cut back to Marinette (IN A SCENE THAT CAN’T EXIST) to have her fawn over him.

Anonymous said:

Is it just me or are Lady Noire's eyes huge? Maybe it's just the green but they seem way bigger than Marinette's

I’m not sure, but considering Rena’s facial structure being different from Alya’s, it wouldn’t surprise me.

asexual-individual said:

With what you've said about Adrien lacking a reason to exist outside of development for Marinette and Gabriel, I have to wonder how different the show would be if Chat Noir's identity was also kept from the audience. Adrien would still be there as himself, but he only gets as much focus as Alya, and Chat Noir's identity is treated as a mystery (a Tuxedo Mask type mystery, but a mystery all the same).

I see what you mean but it might cause Adrien+Chat’s screentime to feel excessive once the reveal happens, because suddenly their screentime gets combined and it’s like, “oh wow so the combined screentime is his then.”

Anonymous said:

I know that the kwami's really only exist so we can hear our protagonists' thoughts outloud (like what the Coraline movie did with adding Wybie to the story). But honestly, what's the point in having magical gods in the jewelry if you're not going to do anything with them?

Marketing with “cute” side characters.

guisendisguise said:

It's funny, originally, I had shipped Marichat in the sense that Chat and Mari start hanging out and both fall in love with the other's supposedly less perfect, more real selves. Then Luka was introduced and I ended up putting both lukanette and marichat at the same level. Then S3 hit and killed any love I had for Marichat. The writers themselves killed the Love Square for me. At this point, it's very clear they are living in a delusion where the Love Square could ever work narratively without Deus ex Machina or Deus Lo Vult (God wills it). Basically, they've gone past scraping the bottom of the writing skills barrel and are now shoulder deep in the hole they dug thru the bottom of said barrel. I'd like to point out that the bottom of the barrel is writing poop and now they're digging thru the useless plastic landfill the barrel was sitting on top of

Uggggh, yeah. Any appreciation I could’ve had for Marichat died in “Weredad.” I already didn’t like Adrien/Chat and then “Weredad” just showed his complete lack of... well, ANYTHING.

cosmostellar said:

Honestly feels like MLBs writers are going based off the "JUST IMAGINE EVERY POC CHARACTER YOU'RE WRITING AS WHITE" instead of, yknow, fleshing them out while developing them also in the context of their cultures and giving them these little things that the audiences who belong to the same minority can identify with. I don't mean "have Marinette walk in qipao 24/7" bcs thats just... bad on its own but man, /some/ casual acknowledgments of her culture would be nice.

Reading the sentence “JUST IMAGINE EVERY POC CHARACTER YOU'RE WRITING AS WHITE” physically hurts me.

Anonymous said:

Ok, I've always thought that Chloe was robbed of redemption (they held it in front of us, but then jerked it away while Astruc says, "She's irredeemable! We thought she was redeemable, but she wasn't :)!" What are your thoughts! Also, I just recently found your blog and I really like it :)

Thank you!

But I have no sympathy for bully characters, so I didn’t want Chloe redeemed. Maybe I’m still bitter about my own bullying experience, but I just wasn’t here for Marinette being forced to forgive Chloe, which is basically what they did until they backpedaled.

The time spent on her was wasted though and that I can agree on.

Anonymous said:

Me: Writes a 1k rant about how the tweet makes no sense as the "mistake" is about motivation and not the critical plot. Also me: Remembers that in MLB the plot always comes back to the romance. Finally me: Wonders why he got involved with the series post-S3 when all the red flags were already everywhere.

Mistakes were made.

Anonymous said:

I'm semi-catching up on miraculous, and- is it my impression, or does Kagami rebel against her mother more in few episodes she's in (even though her mother's influences on her seem to be stronger in general), than Adrien in the entire show? I /know/ that I don't want to see Adrien free himself from his father w/ the desperation I want to see Kagami free herself from her mother and realize that the standards she's held up to are unhealthy and too strong.

Yeah, I’m way more invested in Kagami than Adrien.

Anonymous said:

Am I the only one confused about whether the staff stopped caring and half-asses the series or cares too much and over-produces the hell out of it?

Nah. It really feels like they secretly hate the love square so they have to keep forcing it.

Anonymous said:

ngl I haven't watched any new episodes since Chameleon and I've been getting all that Miraculous News via tumblr to avoid that Marinette Brand Second Hand Embarrassment™

Understandable.

Anonymous said:

If they aired the 6th one first WHAT WHAT HAPPENED TO LEAD UP TO THIS???? WE ARE ON SEASON FOUR WITH TWO SPEICALS, GETTING A THIRD, AND ANY DEVELOPMENT WE HAD HAS GONE BACKWARDS, SUCKED, OR STATUS QUO YO-ED AWAY!!!!! HOW THE HECK DO WE GET ADRIENETTE FROM FOUR SEASONS OF NOTHING?????? I USED TO FANGIRL AT THIS NOW I AM TERRIFIED.

Answer: We don’t get Adrienette. We get forced love square and rushed/fake “development” of it while being constantly confused as episodes air out of order.

Anonymous said:

im sorry But adrienette has been suck in this limbo of one sidedness for 3 seasons. neither of them have become closer, neither of them have confided in one another, but somehow people still ship it? at least luka was able to make a move on marinette lol adrien still repeats the same boring “shes just a friend” line. adrienette is a really boring ship.

lol don’t apologize, you’re absolutely right.

nahte123456 said:

Very minor bit of salt to throw to the pile, but can this show just decide on how strong Miraculous holders are? Yes it's a cartoon and not the focus but in the Furious Fu episode we literally get Ladybug dodging lighting and then Su who seems mostly human and is at least slower then Fu was outspeeding her. It's distracting trying to figure out what is and isn't a serious threat in this show.

The deciding factor in the strength of the miraculous holders is “whatever works for the plot.”

Anonymous said:

At this point the only thing I'm excited for concerning Miraculous Ladybug is when it gets a reboot in like, a decade with actually competent writers

Best case scenario is that Zag goes bankrupt and Disney/Netflix picks up the series and gives it to competent people.

Problem is that the love square has been ruined so badly for me that even a “good” version of it wouldn’t be something I’d be into, but still.

Anonymous said:

Honestly, the problem with having all of Marinette's mistakes result in huge disasters (ex. Feast), is that is gives off the impression that teenagers aren't allowed to make mistakes. This show clearly doesn't like giving second chances to the protagonist, so why would life give one to you? Am I right, kids?

Exactly.

Marinette makes mistakes and suddenly the world is ending.

Anonymous said:

If your gonna watch the show, at least pirate the episodes so the writers dont get your support

Don’t worry, I have no interest in financially supporting the show.

Anonymous said:

ml in a nutshell: wasted potential, then giving themselves more potential, only to turn the rest of it into a dumpster fire

Yup, that’s it.

Anonymous said:

u know, when My Little Pony, Sofia The First, and fanfiction carries out character development, respect, romance, and the main plot better than the original show, especially when the shows mentioned above are aimed more at little girls and the original show is aimed at slightly older audiences... somethings wrong

*sigh*

And then it’s like--people will excuse the show because “it’s a kids’ show” and then I’m just “okay then, why are there actually good kids’ show?”

If shows get a pass for being for children then all childrens’ shows should just not try and be garbage since the standard is so low.

Anonymous said:

ive seen some cool fic ideas/concepts/reviews that made me think: ml could use so much more looking into how a character thinks in some situations. one fic i read had alya in chameleon (i know its been forever since the ep came out but hey) not question lila cus she thought: "hey, lb wouldnt befriend a bad person" w and added a plot line of lila making her think lb was cobsidering replacing rena rougue. like, just a few lines to make them seem better pls?

YES. Like, show us characters’ perspectives and why they’re rolling with the facts that they’re rolling with, otherwise they just end up looking like jerks.

We sort of got it in “Ikari Gozen” with Kagami but of course it was just to make Marinette look bad.

Anonymous said:

You know I’m honestly considering making reviews of this show and if I do I could create hour long rants about the show just from that mans twitter.

Yeaaaaaah, once you had in the Twitter stuff, it just becomes, “okay so this is going to add another hour or two then.”

Anonymous said:

Okay one thing that bothers me is how plain marinette's suits are despite being a DESIGNER. Her multimouse suit it just blocks of color and her ladynoir suit is just grey with green lines. I think the lines are supposed to represent actually clothes. Like the limes on the calves are supposed to make it look like boots but why not actually GIVE her boots. (Right, because she has to have a skintight suit unlike the boys who get some layers.)

THE SHEER DISRESPECT OF HAVING THE FASHION DESIGNER WEAR SUCH A PLAIN SUIT.

It also goes to show who really designs here, like oh, interesting, the girls get skin-tight simplistic bodysuits and the boys gets all the cool stuff--

Anonymous said:

I heard some people in my class saying they watched Miraculous Ladybug for the first time, and they were saying how good it was, and I was like: 'Oh you poor fools. You have NO idea what it's truly like.'

You know what they say: ignorance is bliss.

bat-anon said:

Isn’t it INTERESTING how in Frozer, Luka understands that Marinette is torn between her crushes and continues to support her even though he knows she probably won’t chose him, and in the exact same episode Chat Noir refuses to help save the city because Ladybug told him AGAIN that she wasn’t romantically interested in him? HMMM 🤔😑

dbfgjbdfjkgf

I’M REMINDED OF “FELIX” WHERE IT’S LIKE--THEY WERE CLEARLY TRYING TO SHOW HOW MUCH “BETTER” CHAT NOIR IS THAN FELIX, BUT LUKA WAS THE RESPECTFUL ONE.

Anonymous said:

You know what I want to see? An evil kwami, like they just want to commit crimes. No moral high grounds, just chaotic evil.

That’d be amazing just because I wouldn’t be able to take them seriously.

Anonymous said:

Watching S1 and S3 episodes back to back, it feels like reading salt fics at times, especially in regards to the L². Like, Marinette was happy about weird plans, she both needed and wanted the final push, and most of the time there was at least something coming out of it. Nowadays it just makes her sad, Alya and the girls act *against* her, and we get shipping for shipping's sake.

That’s a good point. The shift from Seasons 1 to 2 to 3 is rather noticeable.

Anonymous said:

I hate how Adrien's busy schedule seems to only matter when it's used to make Marinette feel bad, but the second Marinette has a bit more to do, it somehow has a negative effect on not only her, but also everyone/everything she cares about, like, what's up with that??

I’m reminded of “Lies” here and I hate it. :|

Anonymous said:

Honestly, the way the show treats teenage girls is horse ass. The show treats the teenage girls of this show as if they're stupid, naive, emotional, clumsy, and need a boy to tell them what opinions to have. Marinette is always treated like the show's punching bag and blamed for everything that goes wrong because she's "emotional" or "obsessed with Adrien", Chloe could've been redeemed but the writers would rather keep her a brain-dead Alpha Bitch Valley Girl(even though Gabriel and Felix, the latter of whom is a teenage boy introduced in one episode, get to be treated as redeemable, despite the things they do being far, far worse), and Lila is a conniving, self-absorbed fox.

And even though Kagami seems better, she's still roped into the "girls catfight over an oblivious guy" cliche and so far, all of her akumatizations have been because of Adrien. Whenever Marinette tries to move on from Adrien the other characters tell her what's good for her and steer her in the "right" direction because she apparently can't think for herself, and the writers LOVE to use the girl squad to tell us who Marinette should be with, because they apparently know better than she does.

Plus the show loves to treat all the girls as the same, making them all either fight over Adrien or be obsessed with shipping, as if teenage girls are all one assimilating, homogenized group(also when they treat Marinette as if she's "just as bad as Chloe", rinse and repeat for the other ladies.). Honestly, the show feels like it was written by those types of people who think "teenage girls are the worst" so they make them all mood-swingy, obsessive, showoffs, emotional, and downright clingy.

Plus the way Thomas Astruc talks about the female characters on Twitter is even worse, and only serves to make this more evident: he claims Marinette "has poor control over her emotions"(all the while calling Adrien "perfect"), that Chloe was racist in Kung Food "because she's stupid"(so rather than having that scene serve as a lesson on respecting other's cultures, he just did it to pick on Chloe and make her look "stupid"), that she's incapable of being redeemed, that Lila's unlikable but Gabriel and Felix aren't(even though he claimed Felix was a terrible character and a "cliche", that's not what the show says my guy), and other such nonsense.

Other Twitter users have also called out Miraculous Ladybug and its stereotypical treatment of teenage girls. The only shows I've ever seen do this worse are those pretentious "darker" Magical Girl "deconstructions" aimed at grown men such as Madoka Magica and Yuki Yuna, as well as most shonen/seinen shows such as Naruto and Death Note, which says a lot. Honestly, whenever I feel like watching a show with empowering and respectful depictions of teenage girls that treats them as bright and intelligent and actually unique from one another, I just watch Equestria Girls, Liv and Maddie, LoliRock, ANT Farm, Moesha, PreCure, or Sailor Moon. Because the way the show acts towards them is deplorable, absolutely deplorable.

Yes to all of the above. Almost all of the girls are involved in love affairs in some way, the two teenage girls are irredeemable while Felix got a sympathetic backstory right away (Chloe took forever to get hers which is a failure), and Marinette is flawed because she’s “too emotional” (a misogynistic stereotype).

Anonymous said:

Hi, I'm the anon who got upset at the lady who made the "Miraculous Ladybug is a Mess" rant, and yes, thank you zodiacspirit17 for liking and agreeing with my rant! I'm glad someone else saw that video! And ugh, Marinette learning to love Chat Noir? Really? I don't remember that line but I also don't want to go back and revisit it to make sure so I'll take your word for it. Ew. That was actually one of the things I hated about the Glaciator scene. Chat was supposedly comforting Marinette by taking her to the rooftop where he planned Ladybug's date, and yet only Marinette finds out about Chat's crush on Ladybug and comforts him on that(while rethinking her feelings), while all Chat knows is that Marinette's heart was also broken. He never asks who it is, or tries to help her get over her crush even if he doesn't know it's coincidentally him.

I know it's because of the "love square" but it's unfair that only Chat's love problems are directly addressed. Come to think of it, the reason Chat took Marinette to the rooftop...I know he was doing it in-universe to help her instead of intruding on her personal feelings(which might have also been why he didn't ask her who her crush was, he was probably thinking along the lines of "we don't have to talk about it right now, we can just have fun!"), but meta-wise, since we know she's Ladybug, the writers were probably trying to tell her "See? This is what you could've been doing, but you missed it. Shame on you!" That's a huge issue I have with the show: characters will do things in-universe to help Marinette, but the show has a different motive in mind. Compare to how Tikki gave actual advice to Marinette in Puppeteer 2, but the writers intended that for the statue scene so they could embarrass her in front of Adrien and the thousands of eyes watching the show(except we're not laughing.). Even if characters do support her, the writer is using them as props for her ritualized humiliation. And yet Luka is the problem somehow.

If Marinette needs to learn how to love Chat Noir, then it should at least be balanced out by Adrien learning to Marinette. I'm sick of this double standard that "girls need to learn to accept boys who like them but guys can do what they want". Another thing she said was that "Marinette needs to learn to define herself outside of who she's crushing on." NOPE. NOPE. NOPE. You see, unlike Adrien, Marinette HAS a life outside of who she's crushing on: she has school, she has Kitty Section, she has her "girl squad", she has her parents, she has her outside family, she babysits Alya's and Nino's siblings, and she has OH YEAH HER FASHION DESIGNING! I didn't even count being a superhero since Adrien does that, too. She has so many things to do outside of Adrien, and yet the fact that she makes gifts for Adrien or dreams about Adrien or wants to have kids with Adrien somehow makes her nothing but an "Adrien fangirl"?

First of all, she's the bloody protagonist?! That's such a "Real Women Don't Wear Dresses" argument, that she can't have her own life AND be in love at the same time! And somehow her crushing on Luka also means her life revolves around him, too! But Adrien's life doesn't revolve around Ladybug even though he doesn't really have anything going for him in his ordinary life? Outside of being rich, hot, white, and male, that is? What are his interests and hobbies, besides what Gabriel lets him do to pass the time? He doesn't even like modeling! And the Agreste plot is more about Gabriel, Emilie, and Nathalie than it is about him.

And what about his friendship with Nino? He didn't even care that Nino was getting strung along by Lila with the others! What about his friendship with Chloe that also waxes and wanes? Granted, Chloe's not a GOOD person, which that lady acknowledged, but she at least tried to change and has more development than him, the writers just won't let her change. I hate when people come for Marinette for doing literally anything when the show won't let her have agency and progress. It's so unfair of her and I wish they could see that. These double standards are driving me insane and they're sexist(maybe even a little bit racist, too), and it hurts even more when a woman's doing those things.

(I had to cut off some of this ask because I didn’t get all of it, so I cut it off at the point where it still seemed like a full ask.)

I FEEL THE “GLACIATOR” THING SO BAD. It hurts even worse when you realize that “Frozer” has to take place after “Glaciator,” so Chat Noir heard that Marinette has love problems and then ignored it to ask her for advice about his own love problems later on. The total lack of insensitivity???

Also, the idea that Marinette’s life would revolve around her crush on Luka is stupid. It’s the exact opposite, in fact.

Meanwhile, Adrien has so little going for him and the “interesting” parts of him involve who he’s connected to or what his father has forced him into.