#SO ILL ABOUT THIS EPISODE /POS

[happystarzarchive]

how we feelin ab this episode

[little-mari-on-a-roof]

Along with finally airing the season 5 finale, Tfou released a version of the two last episodes commented by the writing team!! So, as I already did with the commented version of Evolution, here's an overview of what they said!! It’s quite long given that it was two episodes and they talked a lot so I will put the parts I think are the most interesting in bold!! Obligatory disclaimer, this is my own interpretation and translation so take everything with a grain of salt!

At the beginning, the writers recall that the first episode of the season 5 finale, Conformation, starts with Adrien and Kagami supposedly arriving in London "like rock stars". However, it is actually just an illusion made from the scanned version of them and the two teens are actually being sequestered in London. At this moment, Thomas says "talk about good parenting" in English, which I think is very funny. The team explains that they were first put in regular apartments in the previous episode but are now in rooms without windows after both of them escaped. This is also done to protect them from what will happen, as Gabriel is about to put his plan of akumatising the entire world into action.

The writers say that Gabriel had been imagining his plan ever since Animaestro when he was seen signing contracts with Tsurugi, and has been putting it in place since the second episode of season 5 (Multiplication). They say that he also tested the first part of his plan, to put nightmares in everyone's heads, in a previous episode.

The rest is under the cut!

Talking about previous episodes, they then say that as was the case with the Risk - Strike back - Evolution - Multiplication - Destruction series of episodes (aka the longest day ever), the 5 last episodes of season 5 (Collusion - Revolution - Representation - Conformation - Recreation) go together and there is a direct continuation between them. (However, one of their rules as Miraculous writers is that these episodes can also be watched and understood independently.) Therefore, season 5 both starts and ends with a series of 5 episodes (quintologies as they call them).

They note that Marinette's nightmare at the beginning is reminiscent of the episode Weredad from season 3. At this point, we can see that Marinette starts to understand who the villain is although she's not fully conscious of it yet. Thomas says that you can read it in two different ways: if you don't take the previous episode into account, she's starting to intuitively link things together but if you did see Representation, you know that she knows who Monarch really is. (They say that to highlight the fact that even though this is the 4th episode of a quintology, all episodes can be understood on their own as mentioned before.)

They then talk more about Gabriel's plan. He gives everyone nightmares on the same day and we can see the different characters suffering because of that (for example, Marinette's mom who thinks Tom is overprotective). He will then offer a solution which a sort of relaxation application directly inspired by the different yoga apps people have on their phones nowadays. This app helps them relax, but also makes people addicted since their nightmares come back as soon as they don't use it anymore. They joke about the relevance of this in today's world with people being "addicted" to their phones or people in positions of power spreading poisons and then monetising the antidote, or the corruption of capitalism selling things we don't need or causing mental illnesses to make people addicted. They ironise that nooo they couldn't possibly be referring to all of that, not in a children's show!!

During the scene that leads to Adrien wearing the Alliance ring after being reticent to it, they say that they had a conflit when writing it as they had to find a way for Adrien to not become his superhero self, cataclysm the walls and go help his lady in Paris. The end result is that Adrien is reminded of the devastating effect of his power by the nightmare and would therefore do anything to avoid hurting people, and so he wears the ring. Mélanie says that he "could become Chat Blanc" and the others add that even though he does not remember and has never lived it, Chat Blanc still has an influence on his actions.

Thomas mentions that Plagg (who he calls "Plaggo" and "Plagounet", which are sort of funny and affectionate nicknames) doesn't show up on cameras, and Sébastien jokes that there could be kwamis around them as they're talking but we just can't see them. Speaking of Plagg, Sébastien jokingly calls Fred the "queen of cheese" as she's the one writing the cheese puns and mentions that there are way more cheese jokes in season 5 than there were before, which makes him think that she is getting retributed by cheese industries in exchange for writing them. Fred then replies that she's getting paid directly in cheese.

The writers say that while the episodes are often narratively dense with science fiction elements, Plagg allows them to add humour in the scene and keep a lighter atmosphere for small children (you know, when he shows his butt to the camera while Adrien is having an existential crisis).

Anyway moving on lol, the writers then say that they had actually planned since 2014/2015 that Chat Noir would not be there to defeat Hawkmoth as they wanted a very particular power fusion to happen (aka Marinette wielding both the ladybug and black cat miraculous and becoming Bug Noire).

Fred then talks about how ever since the start of the series, they have incorporated the symbolism of fairy tales with the sleeping princess and the knight coming to save her. However, they're switching the genders in Miraculous as Adrien is the princess and Marinette the knight (while Gabriel is the evil dragon). They add that they already explained this in a previous episode (in season 4) but they're showing it again now in Marinette's nightmare.

In the scene where we can see that Tikki ate all the croissants, they joke that she did well given everything that is going to happen afterwards. They also jokingly tell the kids watching that they shouldn't do like Marinette and hide in trash cans but eating bananas and croissants is ok (trust me it's funny when they say it). They add that if Fred is the cheese queen, Mélanie is like Tikki because she loves cakes and anything sweet.

We then see Nathalie's nightmare in which Gabriel successfully makes his wish, and therefore manages to accomplish his evil plan which Nathalie knows about. We can see that she's looking very bad and the writers again jokingly give recommendations to the children watching, here to not use a damaged peacock miraculous.

They then talk more about Natalie's past, in which she was a treasure hunter. They say that someone should let them show the fabulous story of Nathalie, Gabriel, Émilie, Audrey and André when they were younger. Indeed, they already wrote what happened in their youth as it is the origin story without which they couldn't have written Miraculous. When Natalie looks at the picture of her in her "Lara Croft outfit", as they call it, from when they were chasing the miraculous and found the peacock and butterfly ones, they jokingly ask what they were chasing and why and say that you have to watch the rest of season 5 to know (basically, they're strongly hinting at sentiadrien).

They say that Gabriel/Hawkmoth and Tsurugi have been allies for a very long time, but it has only been revealed rather recently in the show and we can see it now in a scene where they're plotting together and rising the tension.

In the following scene, we can see all the kids ready for the "miraculisation", except Mylène who is not wearing a ring because while she is not fully anti technology, she is more wary of it and vigilant of its excesses. They then focus on Ivan, who would also like to resist like her but for whom it is too hard. They add that he has "things stressing him out" but that we will only learn about them in later seasons 👀👀.

They take a moment to appreciate the "exceptional" direction and lighting done by Wilfried in the scene where Nathalie threatens Gabriel with a crossbow. Thomas also makes a reference to Citizen Kane but I've never watched it so idk what he meant by that sorry I'm uncultured haha. The writing team says that while they are the ones writing the scenes, they need a director to make the scenes look like what they imagined, and that it's not always easy.

In the next scene, we can see Ladybug looking around in Nathalie's room to find hints about where Adrien could be and finding her tablet with all the information about the miraculous, which makes Marinette realise that Nathalie was Monarch's accomplice right before they enter in the room. They joke about how OMG THEY NEVER COULD'VE GUESSED that Adrien's father was actually Monarch the whole time. We can see Ladybug recording a message for Chat Noir where she reveals his identity, but she never ends up actually sending it.

They talk about how this scene is a huge climax as it is rare to see Ladybug in the Agreste mansion. It had already happened in season 1 during the episode Simon Says where they already played on the dramatic irony of Hawkmoth being Gabriel (which people did not know at the time). This is the second time that Ladybug is in the mansion, while Marinette has been there before a few times (including the iconic pancake moment). While they talk about Simon Says, Fred looks really smug saying that they had planned everything since the beginning.

They say that the scene during which Nathalie gives Ladybug her phone with the pictures and videos of Émilie explaining all of Miraculous's backstory is beautiful, and that if we as viewers had this phone, we would know everything about it (👀👀👀). In addition, they mention that since this is the final episode of the arc, a lot of things happen to get all the final outcomes of the different relationship between characters.

When Gabriel shows the video of Ladybug and Chat Noir kidnapping Adrien and Kagami on everyone's Alliances, the writers explain that people are so disoriented and stressed that they'll believe anything we tell them. They are therefore receptive to any controversy presented to them, just like how people nowadays will engage in numerous sterile debates on social media.

We can then see Monarch using things he obtained in previous episodes: the cataclysm dust from his deteriorating hand and the magical charm Ladybug gave him. We can see that Gabriel had been planning everything from a very long time but that because of the cataclysm he suffered from, he has no choice but to carry it out now. Coincidentally, it is this very cataclysm that allows his to have Chat Noir's quantic signature and put his plan into action. They jokingly compare what he is doing to making a dog sniff a sock, but in a cyberquantic version.

The quantic signature allows the miraculised people to find Ladybug and Chat Noir, and the team says that when they were writing the scene where they detect Ladybug in Gabriel's mansion, they were all going omg omg omg trying to figure out how they were going to get away with it. They say that while Ladybug is trapped in the villain's lair, the writers trapped themselves with the story.

They once again give a shout out to Wilfried's direction when we can see Ladybug getting attacked from all sides by the miraculised people, notably because of the camera motions. They also acknowledge SAMG's amazing animation especially in the scenes including a lot of characters.

My unculturedness shows again when they say that Marinette hiding in a cupboard under the sink is a reference to Jurassic Park. The reference I do get however is when they say that Plagg not being able to shift through the door with his ring was the plot of Mr Pigeon 72.

The action then reaches a maximum as Monarch knows that Ladybug is hiding somewhere in his house, detransformed. We now get to THE moment they had been waiting for since the beginning: when Monarch discovers that Marinette is Ladybug and she transforms into the fabulous BUG NOIRE!!! They keep talking about how cool she is and that they left the best for last: the final fight with Monarch does not happen with Ladybug, nor with Chat Noir, nor with Chat Noir and Ladybug but with BUG NOIRE!!!!!

Fred says the season has a particular taste of closure, even though there is still a next part, and warns to hold on because the latter will hurt a lot 🥲🥲.

🐞🐞🐞

Now, onto the the second episode, Re-creation !! (Yeah the first 2k words before that were on Conformation alone. I am bad at summarising. 😭)

At the beginning of the episode, when we can see Lila laughing when she sees Alec having an akuma induced nightmare on TV, the writers say that it is because she has known who Monarch is for multiple episodes now. They mention that it is because she read something on people’s lips in Evolution (episode 501) which allowed her to discover things. She also stole a case from Tsurugi so she knows who Gabriel really is.

Then, they focus on the fight we "had all been waiting for", and Mélanie mentions that her favourite lucky charm is the piano crashing on Monarch. They say that while they have spent multiple hours finding intelligent and sophisticated lucky charms for years, this one is just simple and exhilarating.

They then talk about how the resistance is fighting against the miraculised people, and how this happens all over the world (in China, Rio, New York) and includes a LOT of different characters. This explains why it takes a long time to deliver the episodes and they joke about how they’re blowing up their budget. However, despite all the superheroes fighting all over the world, it is still not enough.

Indeed, the outcome doesn’t play out in the giant arena outside, but in the KITCHEN. They joke about how they waited long enough to finally get it and that the resolve should therefore happen there, and even nickname the episode a « kitchen-two-room episode » (the joke makes more sense in french since we define homes according to their number of rooms, not just bedrooms).

They say that in the fight between Bug Noire and Monarch, both are so evolved in mastering their powers that neither of them have limits (Monarch can use as many powers as he wants at once thanks to his rings, and Bug Noire can use as many lucky charms and cataclysms as she wants). They lovingly say that our little Marinette from season one has grown a lot 🥺. She’s now super badass (they kept talking about how cool she was) and has learned so much.

They add that the scene where Bug Noire uses her handcuffs lucky charm is a reference to Kung Fu movies where characters fight while being chained to each other (once again, I’ve watched like zero movies so I’m gonna trust them on that lol). They once again mention the amazing direction and get very excited when Bug Noire slams Monarch through the wall.

During the fight scenes outside, they joke that Doorman (the USAmerican superhero whose power is to open doors) and Fang (a literal crocodile who knows Kung Fu) were essential in saving Paris. However, despite all the people fighting outside, the miraculised people remain too many and there is only one person who can save everyone from Monarch’s perfect plan.

Back in the Agreste mansion, Bug Noire is losing and her only escape is to cataclysm the floor which makes them land in the crypt (which was right under the mansion all along !!!). She then sees Emilie’s body and understand why Gabriel is doing all of this. When talking about his motive, the writers joke that if he succeeded, it would be hard to explain to Adrien why his mom, who has been dead for a year, is suddenly back and that while it would be unjust for Gabriel to trade her life for someone else’s, he doesn’t care and would just make Ladybug go away.

The team explains that in the following scenes, there is an alternance between the outside (in Paris) and inside (in the crypt) fights, with the dialogue happening inside continuing while we see what is happening outside on screen. They don’t do that often, which gives this scene all the more impact during the finale. They talk about how this kind of thing is a trademark of Miraculous: the episodes are quite dense despite their short length, thanks to the fact that the story continues when the action is taking place and the emotion continues to be conveyed. They oppose it to classical action movies where some scenes are dedicated to dialogue/story while fight scenes are just about fighting.

The writers say that from the moment Bug Noire gets her glue tube lucky charm, they are already working on the plot of season 6: when she manages to steal the butterfly miraculous from Monarch, she does not actually retrieve it because of how far away she is and it falls in the water below (cf Lila retrieving it which will be relevant in season 6).

At this moment, Gabriel loses and the resolution of the battle is not what we could’ve expected: we don’t have Ladybug winning by thrashing him, but she instead simply talks to him and even detransforms in front of him. It is not Ladybug who defeats Monarch but Marinette. This echoes to a message they have been trying to convey since the beginning : that in the end, it is not violence or strength that wins, but people talking to each other and opening up about their feelings. It is when people are not subject to their emotions, but instead try to understand them to think better and take the right decisions. And this is what Marinette is hoping for here by showing Gabriel the video of Émilie saying that she never wanted him to become evil, and instead just hoped for him to take care of Adrien (which he didn’t do lol).

In the end, Marinette and Gabriel’s main goals are the same : making Adrien happy. She takes a huge risk and detransforms to see how much he loves Adrien, or on the contrary how much he would rather bring his wife back. This is the only moment where we see Gabriel being truly emotional and understand why he has been doing all of that. Fred adds that he is a character who thinks love goes beyond good and evil, and oversteps every boundary, including moral ones. Therefore, Marinette is trying to solve a crisis of feelings by using feelings.

Back to the episode, we can see Marinette taking the biggest risk in her life and extending her hand to her nemesis, even the kwamis tell her that she’s insane. The writers joke that well, they were right, as Gabriel steals both miraculous and it does not end well (or at least not for now). Gabriel has now won as he can do what he has been wanting since the very beginning.

The team mentions that the next scene is one of the biggest reveals of the show, as we can finally see how the wish happens. We discover that the kwamis are not actually little plushies but take this appearance to avoid scaring their wielders, and the writers actually hinted to that in Dearest Family when Tikki ate all the galette des rois. One member of the team jokes that when the kwamis reveal themselves, they become a Swedish hit from the 70s : Gimmi (as a reference to Gimme ! Gimme ! Gimme ! by ABBA of course).

Moving on from the dad jokes, when Gabriel removes all of his miraculous rings, Marinette is released from the bee sting and can now witness her defeat. But the fact that Gabriel laid down his weapons shows that she has actually won, even though it is only shown and not said.

However, they say that there is still some doubt : we do not actually know what he wishes for as his words are cryptic and we only see the outcome of his wish. They do say that Émilie will not be brought back to life as Gabriel has finally mourned her death, which Adrien has already done for a long time. But Gabriel cannot live without her and decides to die with her.

In order to accomplish the wish, they explain that the world has to be destroyed and then re-created, which leads us to the aftermath of the wish a few weeks later and the pool party where everything seems to be going well. Then comes probably the most enigmatic shot of the episode with Nathalie and Amélie/Émilie. The writers say that they’re not telling us who it is but I think we can guess pretty easily based on what they said right before 😭😭. They also add that with Nathalie next to her we can guess what Gabriel’s wish was, but that it is "not what we think" and that there is a trick.

They say that with the final wish, they have arrived at the end of what they wanted to tell in this arc, which is a revolution of the minds. They said that each played their role, including the villain because he gave up on his power with which he could do anything to make his son happy. They add that the new world we are seeing shows the premise of season 6, which will have a "different taste" and in which they will talk about different things.

They say that at the end, some lies remain as Gabriel is presented as a hero. They say that Marinette gave Adrien the twin rings, in what frankly looks like a wedding proposal lol. Then they go insane because it’s time for LE BISOUUUU, and a real lovey kiss that they remember for once, not like in Oblivio, and not a desperate kiss like when Adrien left for London. However, even with all this cute romantic stuff, we can see some ominous butterflies flying around them…

In the next scene, we can see Marinette taking the miraculous that have been standardised and industrialised by Gabriel and putting them back in shape. The writers specify that this is a parabole about craftsmanship vs industrial production. The miraculous will now be adapted to every person, but we can’t see what they look like just yet! In this new world, the powers are all shared, among people who they trust and know will work for the common good. They joke that the "Avengers" shot at the end with all the heroes is something they’d been dreaming of.

In the last scene with Lila, they joke that it’s never really finished because there’s a bunch of epilogues one after the other. Thomas add that the school described at the end is how he thinks all schools should work!

And we’ve finally reached the end!! They don’t reveal anything in the scene where a weird flash appears in Lila’s room to keep the suspense, and just all scream going OMG WHAT’S HAPPENING!!!

🐞🐞🐞

I hope this was helpful to learn more about the writing team and some stories behind the episodes!! Don't hesitate to add stuff if you think I forgot something or ask questions if I wasn't completely clear :)).

[alexthemacaronian]

II EPISODE 15 RELATED STUFD

INUSTFINISHED II2 EP15 AND OH MY GOF I AL ASCENDING????THAT WASACTUALKHB SOHOOD

I CANT MAKE COHERENT SENTENCESRN SO IM NOT GPMNA PICK APART THE EPISODE (YET) BUT MAN. ALSOI WAS WAYYY OFF WHEN ITALKED ABOYT THE TRAILER LMAOAOAKSO

THWYRE SO FUCKING STUPID I HOPE THEY EXPLODE AND DIE /VVVPOS

WRITERS HOW COULD YOU WRITE THIS YOU. YOU.

IM NOT EVEN MAD LB GOT OUT THAT WAS THE MOST WHOLESOME SHIT EVER ARE YOU KIDDING ME???

ME RN v

ALSO TT MAKING LB A PEN TO CLICK WHEN ANXIOUS THAT SENDS OUT A DISTRESS SIGNAL??? ACTUALLY HOW DARW YOU.HOW DARE YOUUUU (/VVPOS)

YALL WERE NOT SLICK KN THE SLIGHTEST WITH THIS PEN DESIGN

"I came as fast as I coul" SHUT UP YOU GODDAMN HOMOSEXUAL (/VVVPOS, ALL OF THIS IS POS IM GOING TO STOP CLARIFYING RHAT FROM NOW ON BUT JS SO YK)

I HATE THEM SO MUCH I HOPE THEY EXPLODE can yall tell who my favs are ikik it's very hard

ALSO TACOS MUSICAL NUMBE????HELEPRO???????THAT SHIT WAS FUCKING FIRE I NEED IT INJECTED INTO MY BLOODSTREAM

ALSO TACO AND MEPAD AS A DUO I HRHRHGGRGGEGRGTHRHHRHRHRHSH

ALSO COBS????HELLO???? wRITERS STOP TORTURING MEPHONE HES CLEARLY STRUGGLING TO COPE AS IS LAMALKWKQNAKQMJEJKEJEHWHWHHWHEHQHHWHE

OKAY ILL STFU NOW,ILLBEBACK WHEN IM REASY TO TALK ABOYT THIS EPISODE IN FULL LAMOWJEH

(I PROMISE I CARE ABOUT EVERYTHING ELSE IN THE EP TOO BUT I NEED3D YO GET RHIS BRAINGOOP PIT FISRT 🙏🙏)

[modernsuperhero]

Who are these fun characters and why are they taking over my dash? /pos /please tell me abt your blorbos

i'm assuming you mean these little guys:

These guys are my newest silliest dudes from the webcomic School Bus Graveyard! It's free to read on webtoons here and is currently in talks to get a TV adaptation soon so now is 1000% the time to be getting into it!! It's basically a supernatural mystery about six high school freshmen from Georgia who go on a field trip and end up sucked into a demon dimension every time it hits midnight! It's super cool - the pacing is very good imo, a good balance of the Main Plot (oh no we need to survive the Demon Dimension again, also Why Are We In A Demon Dimension) with character development and backstory stuff!

The characters are badass but in a way I feel is very realistic? Like, not just "oh i'm the protagonist suddenly i know how to judo flip armies the moment i'm in danger" but more like "i'm going to train for months in self defense classes to build up some basic muscles" kinda way. The characters themselves are also pretty well fleshed out - they're not just the typical archetypes. Like, the "weak bullied nerd kid" isn't JUST a weak bullied nerd kid, he has well developed motivations and backstory and simultaneously realistic and satisfying character growth.

There are implied potential/future romances but it is so NOT the core point of the story, so whether or not that's your thing you can either ignore it or get excited about it in equal measure. The characters also aren't just edgy and gritty "we must deal with this alone... augh misery woe is us..." they actively do what they can to use all the resources available to them (including trying to get help from their parents, which is an ick for me in other media when the kid protagonists just refuse to ask for help? or assume they can't without trying? anyway).

I would say to be careful about any warnings at the beginning of specific chapters, because some can get quite violent.

The six main characters, without giving to many spoilers, are as follows under the cut (cuz this got long):

The protagonist Ashlyn, an asocial ballerina with her loving ex-military parents, who has a condition that gives her incredibly sensitive/enhanced hearing (she ends up using this to help detect the monsters after them, since they're otherwise silent to the other protagonists!)

Aiden, a creepily-smiley ex-homeschooled rich kid who has no concept of social convention or personal space. Has forcibly chosen Ashlyn to be his friend during his first year in school against her will and ends up accidentally setting off the chain of events leading to the Plot. (I love him. He definitely has Every Mental Illness <3)

Ben, Aiden's incredibly physically intimidating cousin, who is mute and so, so sweet and gentle and follows Aiden like his shadow, in part to take care of him when Aiden's antics get him injured and in part because Ben's muteness makes it incredibly difficult for people to understand him. Aiden, however, can understand his nonverbal communications with ease

Taylor, a friendly girl's girl who tries (often in vain) to befriend Ashlyn. Is also a talented mechanic who ends up putting googly eyes on her weapon once they end up in the Demon Dimension. She's the most Emotionally Aware Person Here but also she's like, 15, so, the bar is on the floor

Tyler, Taylor's twin brother, a somewhat aggressive and rude baseball jock who mostly Minds His Own Damn Business aside from his clinginess to Taylor. In fact they wear matching outfits in almost every episode of the comic it's so funny and cute. Is often found fighting bullies to defend their victims so i forgive him for all his own asshole crimes he's just a dude. he's one of my little guys

Logan, who is canonically compared to a puppy. Shy, intelligent, and incredibly empathetic! My partner's favorite character who has one of the best character arcs so far imo. Likes photography, astrology, and gardening. I think they should give him more guns, as a treat. He can never have enough

anyways thank you for the ask! overall i highly recommend - it's still ongoing, we're currently in the middle of season two!! the mystery is unfolding, there's funny and sweet moments along with the intense ones, and i am INVESTED. :DDDDDD

[nijigasakilove]

Another really fun episode with some great Maomao moments.

Creepy one eye glass dude from last week is back and looks like he’s taken an interest in Maomao after overhearing some people talking about her exploits.. really bad vibes from him.

“People naturally pay attention to stories that are interesting” “you always cut me off mid sentence” 😭 man why Maomao always gotta do my boy Jinshi so dirty. No wonder he get insecure about her lol.

The pufferfish poisoning case was really interesting and still relevant today. In many parts of SEA it’s still eaten as a delicacy and very much runs the risk of severe illness or death. Just a couple of months ago, my mom was telling me about a lady who went to a restaurant and ended up dying from eating it. Why you’d risk your life for some food I have no idea, but it is a thing

Love how Maomao just tests the potentially poisonous seaweed with absolutely no hesitation whatsoever. She’s a riot

Speaking of stupidity, killing your brother over inheritance stuff is also a tale as old as time and looks like the case was as open and shut as that. As soon as Basen and Maomao got there and the young master got all suspicious, I knew it had to be him.

Case might have been predictable, but Maomao’s faces and antics during this episode made it great. Jinshi bashing his head up against the wall because of how cute Maomao’s maid cafe style greeting was.. don’t blame him at all lol.

Yea, this Lakan dude is a POS. Bragging about considering raping a courtesan because she didn’t want you, and “lowering her value” what a scumbag. The courtesan shown in the flashback almost seems like she could be Maomao’s mom with the same coloured hair, similar personality etc… I wonder.. I doubt the inheritance puzzle he wants her help with is as simple as he’s made it out to be too.

Next episode should be really interesting

[tomyo]

Dungeon Meshi perfectly captures love and bonds developed between found families. At the start you expect a bunch of people who mostly reluctantly deal with each other, especially with how much things were falling apart only for the story to slowly tell you these people were once a hugely solid venturing group.

There really is a gentle beauty to the way the story slowly unveils the love they share for each other, Laois often going out of his way to protect Marcille who is one of the most integral people in the party. In another series they’d probably be the ones shipped if it weren’t for the obvious lesbianism. While she’s initially portrayed as whining and high maintenance, as the story goes on she’s very practical and determined to help their chances by teaching Laios magic. There’s also small details at the start like comforting back pats when Laois makes himself ill on bad cooking. A later episode I love is when he willingly ventures into her nightmare to help her from bad nightmares. The show makes a point that being in good condition is tantamount to surviving the dungeon but the motivation obviously lies more around her mental suffering. To me Laios and Marcille are also the standout relationship in the red dragon fight, they act like they have the most tightest bond of the current members. I want to liken them to a lady and her knight but also in how again, the series subverts the obvious dynamic of partners with romantic undertones that usually would get put onto them. Laios deeply cherishes Marcille but in the way one would cherish their sister (fitting since he is an older brother).

Chilchuck stands out as being especially distant and anti social with the others, the most likely to criticize the others. Albeit even before he is clocked as loving his teammates you can see the dad in him pop out at many points, more specifically his girl dad ness rubbing off on his relationship with Marcille. A cute early moment where she tiredly insists to got with him for the water refill but he refuses only then to get in trouble and believe she’ll be no use when in reality she was already waking up the others to find him. The irony is her thinking of him as younger when she really hovers around him like a daughter would around their father. He protects her innocence over the mermaid eggs for instance. A commonly seen spoiler is he is the one to braid her hair when she looses the ability to desire that. You regularly see him being the one to patch gear as well. His moodiness if often attributed to his age but it was mentioned somewhere he intentionally calorie restricts so he doesn’t set off traps and it wouldn’t surprise me if he experiences regular hunger.

Finally when it comes to Laios, I find him surprisingly profoundly sad. Despite being the biggest source of comedic relief, his oddities come with a sense of profound loneliness. It’s natural for a big brother to be determined to save his younger sister but flashbacks often sell me the idea that Falin is the one who truly gets him the most. There’s a higher range of emotions flash back Laois shows, sometimes feeling like a completely different person. A goofy child, a broodish teen, and a cautious young adult, always with Falin alongside him in his memories. But as a full adult he expresses happiness and light levels of sadness but often a lot more subdued contemplation is involved, likely why he is also the presumed party leader. In some ways it can feel like that lack of expression was in part the sense of a neurodivergent beat down into normalcy. Despite his comfort around his party, he never tells them of Kensuke’s nature. But Falin was shown to adore her brother deeply and share interests in dungeon culture with him. They never seemed to fully develop a “I ‘hate’ you” sibling phase. While mostly keeping calm about rescuing her, you can see a desperation suddenly appear when he finally takes on the red dragon.

The loss of Falin clearly has a big effect on all of them as possibly the heart of the group. You first feel it around the ghosts appearing when Chilchuck realizes she isn’t there to protect them. Someone who warded off the mental hardships for her comrades, such as the one to teach Laois about nightmares. Loved by Shuro and considered accepting his proposal despite not sharing his feelings. Loved by Marcille so much that she committed a crime to bring her back even though it lead to them never being able to leave the dungeon. Her return completely takes the edge off the group. It’s the defining jump from silly antics to more tender family moments. The group more or less surrenders their lives above for her sake. There’s something beautiful about that when we see from Marcille’s memories, she was also seen as a bit of a freak by her peers.

On the opposite side, there is Senshi who often exemplifies a lack of familiarity with the group. His relationships are defined as a common interest with Laois, an ignorance for chilchuck’s maturation, and often at odds with Marcille. In a lot of ways he stays an outsider for a long part of the first half of the anime, rarely presenting a character growth moment until the kelpie instance. Despite overall being agreeable, he acted somewhat arrogant over his understanding of the dungeon and his beliefs. One of the few ways he had to grow thus far is accepting his views weren’t always the truth.

The newest member Izutsumi was a great means to display the bond developed thus far, basically creating an outsider view of a family they have yet to belong to. Her story questions the norm we accepted of people who eat together from the vantage of someone who never was in a familial situation but rather a living piece of property. This time Senshi is playing the role of the father, teaching her manners for her food while Chilchuck is a bit of a pissy uncle until they manage to bond over a fight leading to him making her her own bag, and finally Marcille trying to be caring to her needs. What got me the most is what can be said from how in tune they were together with creating a sauna and how comfortable they were being semi nude with each other in a tight space. A different series would have taken the opportunity to exploit Marcille and Izutsumi for a moment of cheesecake. However we never really end up with a lingering shot or a comment on the situation because no one there is sexually interested in each other that way; they are a family after all. Great place to point out the difference in tone compared to Falin and Marcille’s bath scene, two characters considered to be the rare non platonic instance. Beyond that, there is some warmth to the way the all join in with each other for a meal as Izu watches on; Senshi feeding the blind Laois his food while Chilchuck joins his surrogate daughter (Marcille) who smiles at his presence.

I feel like I could go more at some point into ep 20, the overall dynamic, and the sadness of Laois but I’ll falling short rn.

[risingscorchingsuns]

OHHH MY GOD YOU CANT MAKE ME WAIT A FUCKING WEEK FOR THIS. YOU CANT MAKE ME WAIT A WEEK FOR THE MUZAN KAGAYA CONFRONTATION YOU CANT DO THIS TO ME. FUCKING HELL OH MY GODDDD

hiiiii im feeling so normal right now!!!!!!!!!!!! *barely contained frenzy of biting and screaming*

anyway thoughts on this weeks ep!!! <3

- tanjiro. please. please i love you baby but i will never understand why you decided it was a good idea to go “🥺 are you fighting about ohagi? ill make lots!!” tanjiro honey they are TRAINING

-/pos btw. I love him he’s iconic for this

-shoutout to giyuu for immediately finding out about Sanemi’s favorite food and being like “:) if I bring some to him we’ll be best friends :)” giyuu sweetheart i love you. ive been waiting so long to see this scene animated god I love them. im not even much of a sanegiyuu shipper i just think this whole scene is iconic

- the ECHOES of muzan’s FOOTSTEPS right after Sanemi realizes they’ve been infiltrated????? holy fuck it is CHILLING. ohhhhhh mygoooodddd. oh my god im going INSANE

- holy shit, I feel like it’s massively under-discussed how dark Gyomei’s backstory is. Like… the whole scene really pounds it in how brutal his experiences were. His disgust at having to fight, much beyond what a normal human would tolerate. He likely had to keep caving the demon’s head in over and over because it kept regenerating. Holy shit. The color choice of everything being monochrome except for the blood is particularly chilling. I love when media uses that palette and KNY does it so good

- AUGHHHH his smile when he pats tanjiro 🥺🥺🥺 he thinks about Sayo…. GOD I love the Hashira

- I’d love to read more character analysis on Gyomei. I feel like we didn’t get as much context for his character as we deserved- why he continued to fight, despite how disgusted he is by his own strength, why he trained Genya despite his general distrust, especially towards children? Ultimately, I believe it comes down to Gyomei being a genuinely gentle human, and I’d love to read more analysis on how he maintains that. Maybe his own repetitive action helps him. I wrote a big paragraph about questions about his character, but wound up deleting it because I found myself answering them as I wrote. Regardless, if Gyomei is anybody’s blorbo to the extent that Kyojuro is mine I would absolutely love to hear your thoughts on him- I think he’s a massively underrated character and I’d love to understand him deeper!

-OUGHHH THE MUSIC!!!!!!! god I am LOVING the theme they did with the sanegiyuu fight that shit went CRAZYYYY. and the ANIMATION. look im biased because i love the way water breathing looks but godddd its so pretty. also drop ripple thrust mentioned!!!! we haven’t seen that form since Susamaru!!!

-is the next episode gonna be the last in this season?????????? where are they cutting this off?????? god i wish i could reread the manga but i lent the set to a friend so he could read it pain agony MY CROSS REFERENCES

- [MANGA SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT]

-I’m presuming Zenitsu’s letter was about his Master’s suicide, and Kaigaku’s transformation. I think it was really clever of ufotable to put this scene in Gyomei’s episode, and put spotlights on Kaigaku being the kid that first betrayed Gyomei- I think that fact was only actually mentioned in a Taisho Era Secret. That’s gonna blow a lot of minds in the finale arc lol

-I wish we got more development on Zenitsu in this arc. His processing of the letter, his departure from Tanjiro and the others. I think Zenitsu is also a really misunderstood character, and this arc doesn’t exactly do him many favors in that regard. I wish we’d gotten a bit of filler vis-a-vis his development, but I’m hoping we still get that in his fight with Kaigaku.

[soopest]

SO GUYS. I FINISHED III

GOD DAMN DO I HAVE THOUGHTS GUYS. but i'll just cover things i think are relevant to the doodles i made afterwards. if you have any questions on my thoughts on things i wouldn't be impartial to asks or replies to the post :3 i just need to rant for a minute im so mentally ill please

knife is only there because my friend watched ii s2 and he LOVES knife and i was like. word. hes awesome so i drew knife for him

HOOO BOY OKAY nickel and balloon. it was a bumpy ride fellas. going immediately from s2 where nickel was kinda a POS to s3 where they suddenly became acquaintances was a little weird to me. (especially in that one episode where silver & candle interrogate nickel about baseball. no suitcase mention?? huh???) but it was cool to see their journey! the buddy-buddy thing seemed weird throughout earlier episodes because in s2 balloon and nickel kinda hated each other's guts so i'm glad that was covered in a later episode and that their friendship was actually solidified. BUT that doesn't leave nickel off the hook if he dont march his ass up to suitcase and say sorry the minute they go back to season 2 i'm gonna have a WORD with that boy

BOT!!! OH BABY BOT they are SO adorable and i loved the reveal that they were a robot! i was so mystified on how bow was magically alive at the beginning and seeing that it was just a product of tt and fan's grief was very heartbreaking... but seeing bot evolve into their own person was genuinely so so so beautiful and the representation for queer folks is done very gracefully and it's very wholesome. seriously im not even trans and i was tearing up like a little bitch y'all. fan and test tube are the parents ever it's so cute and they are the cutest fam ever

silver spoon and candle.... hrrrmmm you are certainly funny little guys.... i would like to put you in a jar and study you.... their sudden intense craving for winning was a little jarring but their dynamic is funny. i didn't like silver much at first but he def grew on me especially in the finals, and candle's friendship with yinyang was really cute too (still bawling he got out i really grew to love him.) AND dont think i didnt see ur blushing in ep 17 silver. im onto you

i already covered bot but i just needed to say their friendship with painty is the BEST THING and for some reason painty just stating they were nonbinary made me unnecessarily happy like YES KING (NONGENDERED) GO LIVE UR TRUTH WE LOVE YOU

cabby... oh you are an interesting little gal. i saw her design before ever watching iii and i was like wow! what a critter! but i'll be so honest at first i didn't like her because her information obsessed demeanor seemed very cold and calculating to me (and i'm so biased for fan and tt so when she got them out i was like. Girl.) but now that i understand her whole character arc, how she learned that its not always about the "facts" and how to lean on people, it was really heartwarming and shes rly grown on me. im a cabby appreciator

blueberry's whole fiasco was interesting. errrrrm u tried buddy that's all i gotta say. respect the hustle man

AND FLOORY IS THERE TOO i love him he's in the club of my favorite brits he's a silly guy

okay. if you read this far i'm so proud of you. also the whiteboard doodle was before i finished the series LMAOOOO um hope u enjoy that. thanks for reading my insane ramblings it might happen again i am not sorry

[quodekash]

this show is making me so very sad but let's get back into it

GUYNAWA TIME??

IS IT GUYNAWA TIME PLEASE LET IT BE GUYNAWA TIME

FDSNJGHDJSHGFJDSHGJDHSJFHDS

ITS GUYNAWA TIME BABEYYYYYYYYY

FINALLY

THAT'S STILL PROGRESS, THAT'S STILL GOOD

ITS SOMETHING

I BELIEVE IN YOUUUUUU

(maybe if you DIMWITS had TURNED AROUND you would've seen the freAKING SHOOTING STAR--)

smoochy smooch time? is it smoochy smooch time now please?

BECAUSE ITS SMOOCHY SMOOCH TIME

RIGHT????

please, im so hopeful

NO

NO

NOOO

PLEASE COME ON WHY CANT ANYTHING BE HAPPY THIS EPISODE

ohhh

wait a second

okay

so I could be wrong about this, but I think nawa's plan is to antagonise guy so that he's determined to get better so that he can play soccer again and pursue his dreams and all that jazz

at least I hope thats what hes doing

dont crush my soul please and thank you, it's very fragile

OKAY THANK GOODNESS I WAS RIGHT

PHEW

is it angsty kiss time now? they yell at each other and oh whoops we smoochin' now

their faces are so close rn bro

if they dont take this opportunity it's wasted

nawa just has to stand on his tip-toes and bam

I CALLED IT

THAT'S RIGHT BITCH, ME, I KNEW IT

I SUSPECTED IT SINCE EPISODE FREAKING 2 WHERE NAWA WAS LIKE "and that jerk, guy" WHEN GUY HAD DONE LITERALLY NOTHING UP TO THAT POING, WHY WAS HE CALLING HIM OUT??

NAWA'S LIKED GUY SINCE DAY ONE

LOOK AT THAT

LOOK AT HIS FREAKING FACE

im gonna sob

I AM NOW SOBBING

BRO THE WAY HE LOOKS AT HIM

H U G

THEY HUG

GIUERKJSHGDVRE

GO4EIRLDSUGJPIV4ORUEJDIGOKLVEN4RDOISGNBV4EROIDLKGNBIOVE4RKLDFNGOIB

IS THERE A DOUBLE MEANING HERE

NAWA ARE YOU IMPLYING WHAT I WANT YOU TO BE IMPLYING

RYFHXCTUKGHCOUYGHLJV

'ILL BE A SHOOTING STAR THAT MAKES YOUR WISH COME TRUE'????

NO WAY

OH YM GOSH

IM NOT OKAY AND THIS IS THE REASON WHY

THEY MAKE ME MENTALLY ILL

BUT IN A KIND OF GOOD WAY???

GOI4ERJBDGNOILJB

with this much development a kiss is in the bag for next episode

if they dont I swear ill commit murder

usually I would wait until ive gone through all 30 images that Tumblr allows me, but I love guynawa too much so this is getting to be its own post

[cactuupng]

I was staring at your Mounders fanart where they're all falling last night (...for far too long while just a liiiittle bit sleep deprived)

And I was curious if you have any notes or thoughts behind the various details to maybe share because there were just so many little things I noticed, and idk how much I missed or how much was me reading too deep into it, but it would be very cool to hear what your intent and thought process was if have any thoughts / remember them

Either way I just really liked that fanart and have Many Thoughts and Feelings! So Many ! I could probably make my own list of notes and observations and reading too deep into its at this point tbh

KEK HELLO THANK YOU if i'm being honest, there aren't than many details (at least i think so), but here are some that i added in conciously that i could remember:

- The falling order is intended! From bottom to the top, it's the order of who died first, so it would be that Mumbo died first, then Bdubs, then Joel and then Pearl.

- The colored squares behind each Mounder is the color they said was their favorite during the episode where Joel (i think) asked everyone what their favorite color was (or what color they would be, i dont remember fully)! The filter makes them look more silly and different though

- Mumbo has fire on him because i associate traffic!Mumbo with fire and burning (mostly due to LL, i can talk about it if anyone is interested /silly)

- I see the whole composition of Mumbo falling into the darkness and away from the light in two different ways:

Him falling into the darkness of death, away from light as everything goes dark yada yada basic perma death stuff, hence the more glitchy feel (basic, boring /j)

Him falling into the darkness of his own mind, feeling like he's alone and doesn't belong where the light is (Mounders) as he falls deeper and deeper (cool, makes me depressed /pos /j), it makes Bdubs reaching out to him more meaningful, with the rest if the Mounders falling to catch him

- Blood coming from Mumbo's head because Warden beat his ass lmao im coping

- traffic!Mumbo makes me incredibly ill so the falling anvil and the task holder thingy is meant to be his :-) or at least stuff that was tied to his character or to the red lifers in general

OTHER THAN THAT i dont think there are any stuff that i fully intended to be small silly details? I would GLADLY listen to any if your thoughts, i love it when people read into my art and see possible references or details that i've accidentally added and didnt even notice :-) also makes me feel so smart actually because i am in fact not

[loverofstufflof]

The Lord Deer Demon

Megapolis’ most sane doctor

Dr. Bài works at a hospital in the Megapolis Bhikkhu district. Being one of the few clinics that understands demon biology, they get a lot of traffic from all walks of life.

Including the occasional visit with a squad of heroes after their brushes with death.

Unfortunately, Dr. Bài has a rocky history with one of their mentors.

Is it really so bad that he wants to put his past behind him? To live happily with his daughter, and save lives as he’s always wanted? Why does this scheming, knifing, stupid monkey need to be all up in his business?!

He doesn’t know anything about the Bone Demon, so just leave him be, already! There’s a woman downstairs that urgently needs her daily dose of freshly extracted heart and—yes he is still using that method! It works and who cares if a few stupid mortals die in the process?!

-

Bài Lùjing, more accurately known as the White Deer Spirit, is a blorbo I’ve been working on for quite some time now. He’s meant to be my idea of how the show could incorporate the actual JTTW villain.

For those whose knowledge of JTTW antagonists extends as far as OSP episodes (/pos) Lùjing appears as the main villain in the Kingdom of Sons arc.

The king of the land has fallen deathly ill and is desperate for whatever source of immortality he can get. His advisor, the White Deer Spirit, informs him that consuming 1,111 hearts of young sons will bring him back to health.

However, when the pilgrims arrive, Tripitaka’s heart should be hearty enough to do it instantly, because, you know, reincarnation of Golden Cicada.

As you can imagine, this section is very gorey, chaotic, and a great opportunity for Wukong to flex his body horror skills. My favourite arc of the whole book.

A lot went into the design to figure out how LEGO would make his story more palatable for younger audiences, how they would fit him into the futuristic city LMK takes place in, how they would anglicize his name, and so on.

I don’t feel like giving too much away because I’m honestly kinda proud of how I built his character and want to reveal his backstory in a cool, dramatic way, but I will say this:

His surname is very, very relevant.

Anyhow, this is my propaganda piece for the @lmk-oc-competition ! You can vote for him to win a duel to the death! Make sure to give the other creators some love, too! This is just a friendly competition, after all :]

[physical-manifestation-of-spite]

NO BECAUSE THEY ALSO MAKE ME SICK. I'm insane about them to the point where all I can do is gesture violently. They're awful together/pos but they'd get So Much Worse separated. John and Arthur are the definition of codependent do not separate I'm cuckoo

They are so!!!!!!!! my everything!!!! The fact that they are so inseparable, literally physically bound to each other with no escape, both toxic and gnashing at each other. Two strong wills constantly fighting for control and yet!!!! They make it work! Suddenly this Entity who cared so little for the life of humans CARES so deeply about Arthur, and Arthur is so reliant on John that he finds a friend with whom he can finally pour all of his bottled-up emotions into. They fight and fight but the moment they separate, Arthur spirals into violence and self-loathing that is practically inescapable without John. And without Arthur, John returns back to his callous destructive nature as the King in Yellow, all the while he's still clawing for humanity. They hate and love and care so deeply about each other it makes me ILL

Anyway episode 40 comes out in less than an hour and I'm not sure I'll be sleeping tonight

[quohotos]

Thoughts about bonds/bonding

This was something I was already planning to write up but then the latest return to regalia episode opened the flood gates and filled in some missing pieces for me. What follows is my own educated guesses and headcannon, very little of this is explicitly in the text of the books. Understand that much of this is my own headcannon, though I'll try my best to justify it with the text.

(also note that since I was an audio book kid I don't actually know if it's spelled flyer or flier and I'm going to get it wrong more than once and you're just going to have to live with that)

Luxa says that it wasn't normal for her to bond with Aurora so early, but that an exception was made as almost a form of therapy after the death of her parents. The same exception was made for Hazard and Thalia. We aren't explicitly told how old Henry was when he bonded with Ares, but I'm assuming it was before adulthood given how all four of them (Luxa, Henry, Ares, and Arora) have a storied history before the events of the first book. Henry had to be younger than 16 when they bonded (16 being the age of legal maturity in the underland, will amend if I'm misremembering), which isn't surprising given that he's Henry and he's never played by the rules. This raises the question of the bats' ages... we aren't ever told that. I would assume that the bats are of similar ages to their bonds, but I have no evidence to back that up.

In the Marks of Secret Ripred explains that rats grow up incredibly fast and reach full maturity in about a year, and that humans are uncommon in how long they take to grow up. It's not clear how long the bats take to grow up. Would Thalia have become an adult while Hazard was still a little kid, or would they have grown up concurrently? I can't say either way. One thing I can say with more confidence is that regardless of their ages, Aurora and Ares probably see their respective bonds like younger siblings. Obviously, being bonded to someone is a completely different relationship that we can't exactly map onto what we have in the overland, but I think that's a close approximation.

So Why and How do regular people get bonded?

The most surefire way to get bonded would be to join the military (something you can do from a very young age... I mean they have armor on hand for 12 year olds and we see seven year olds doing military drills in the Prophecy of Bane... yaaaaay). In the military you will be assigned to mixed species units and it's just sort of assumed that they'll all end up pairing up and bonding.

For civilians there are likely special yearly festivals that the two kingdoms share with the express purpose of giving people a chance to find bonds. My guess would be right around the time of the harvest when there's plentiful food to go around. After a hard year a bunch of flyers come to regalia and everyone has a big party to celebrate. There are probably specially organized games of whatever sport Gregor walked in on back in the first book. While specific flyers are probably scouted for sports and more importantly the military there's still plenty of opportunities for common Regalian and flyers to interact and meet.

What does bonding do for a flyer?

We see so much of the Underland Chronicles from the point of view of royal humans. To them, the benefits are obvious. Humans can't fly, bonding gives them access to someone who can. But why would a flier seek out a human bond? That just sounds like an obligation, right?

The Regalians have incredibly advanced medical technology. I've roasted them before for their metalworking, but their chemistry/biotech is unparalleled. They're able to produce antibiotics, as well as synthesize plagues and their cures. They have ways of treating illnesses that the overland doctors (allegedly) cannot. We also see that they have incredibly reliable and safe oral administered sedatives. Anesthesiology is such and advanced and risky field, and they seem to have cracked it to the point where people can safely be sedated for trivial maters without anyone batting an eye.

The arrival of humans (as permanent residents, native people made limited journeys to there before the arrival of Sandwich) in the Underland definitely raised everyone's average life expectancy by decades... before lowering it immediately afterwards through endless wars. In Curse of the Warmbloods someone steals the pain killers and Gregor realizes that the rats couldn't even use it if they wanted to because they don't have hands to open the bottle. Much of the Regalian's medical technology still requires a human to administer it. You need humans to carve splints and set them, you need humans to administer injections, you need humans to cut hair and perform surgery. Spinners can do some things to stop bleeding, but any significantly complex medical procedure is going to need human hands involved. Think about things like glasses and prosthetics, things we don't normally associate as medicine but would still kinda are. Humans probably manufacture and prescribe bat-glasses.

For a flyer, traveling long distances without a human bond is incredibly risky. If something bad happens, even if you have other flyers with you, you could die from what would otherwise be preventable causes. Bitten by mites? Who's going to apply the the ointment? Wing dislocated, who's going to pop it back into place (this one literally happened to Aurora). There are also probably some foods that can't safely be eaten raw, but a human could prepare. Heck, a human can boil water to purify it, or place traps that catch pray that otherwise wouldn't be hunt-able. Humans can catch fish that live too deep in the water for a flyer to peruse. Humans are adaptable. Your bond is your Swiss army knife, adaptable and versatile even if sometimes fragile.

Any flier trying to pursue and education needs to be bonded. You wanna go to bat-college? You gotta bring a human. You'll need one to transcribe all your essays and help you read books. The fliers definitely have a rich oral history that they all maintain, but there are some things that you just need a human to access. The average flier probably doesn't have a bond, but the higher in status definitely do for the educational purposes alone. While the queen herself doesn't have a bond, in fact it seems almost frowned upon in the royal family (Nike doesn't have one despite getting very close to a human who would like to bond with her in the later books), you bet your ass that every middle manager and local bat official has a bond who takes care of paperwork and accounting.

It's a funny parallel how flyers of low status like Ares can suddenly be whisked into royalty by being bonded to Henry, the same thing probably happens to humans. You could be Joe Shmo nobody (or I guess this is the underland so Joeth Shmavetus) who would probably live out their whole life carving stone jars, but you do numbers good so the bat-secretary of bat-state bonds with you and now you're really important.

That means that there are probably lots of places within the flyers lands that are built specifically to house humans long term. We see a little bit of that in the first book, but there's probably a lot more out of sight. Special areas where an important fliers' bonds can live and do their taxes and whatnot.

Bonding is usually an egalitarian process. It seems like both sides and both factions have to consent to it. When Gregor insinuates that one side owns the other he gets massive push-back. With that being said, I'm almost certain that Ares had little control in the matter over bonding with Henry. I think there's kind of an unstated rule that the royal families are going to bond with whoever they please, and that turning down a bond of high status would be a massive faux pas. Ares probably didn't feel like saying no was even on the table.

What about non-flyer bonds?

Oh yeah, code of claw spoilers beyond this point. Now that everyone's doing the reread and we're probably bringing a few first time readers into the fold I'm going to spoiler mark this part just in case since I'll be discussing things that happen in the last installment

Luxa and Ripred bond to usher in peace. This is treated as something that has never happened before but that the rules don't explicitly forbid. Henry jokes about people bonding to the crawlers, but in a way that portrays it as stupid and pathetic rather than impossible. In doing so she also symbolically brings the Gnawer into the spiritual fold that the flyers and humans already share.

Humans and Gnawers would then be allowed to bond with each-other. It might take generations for that to happen in earnest, sicne both sides have so much trauma and resentment built up, but maybe decades in the future the younger generations will find it in themselves to do so.

The fact that Luxa bonding with Ripred doesn't break her bond with Aurora sets the precident that you can bond with as many people as you want so long as you never have two of one species. I do not think Aurora is that happy about that, and I doubt she sees Ripred as her own bond. It's possible though, that in the future you could have big groups of underlanders who are all united by one bond. A whole bad batch rogues gallery of a flyer, a gnawer, a human, and a nibbler who each bring something special to the group.

Though never explicitly stated, I think it probably goes without saying that Hamnet and Frill were bonds. It definitely wasn't done the proper way, probably just informally in the jungle with nobody else observing, but still. A bond is a bond.

[echovale052]

so I have three characters in mind for the ask game, no 1 carol >:)

Oh this is gonna be mad goofy, all of them are but you mean our short girlboss that has given me brainrot for what will almost have been a year in July 💀💀

My first impression

SPOOKED, episode 5 made me sit up so fast I hit my head on my ceiling, but her first episode had me shaking ngl

My impression now

She needs like 18 naps a day (me too), but they keep waking her up. LET HER BE🤦/lh girl bossing is tiring and I need her to chill out. I can’t fix her but a hug and a few therapy sessions certainly can’t make her worse- even if she’d tried to insist it would.

Favorite thing about that character

UGH where do I begin!! (/pos) Her sense of humor fr is really good when she ain’t grumping. *hair tuck* I meannnnn she’s forward fs 👀 and I’m kinda dense so…

Spoilers for the corollary under the cut

Least favorite thing

Carol is so mean to the anima and her subordinates(namely conservator)- I mean babe we know why but most of them are nice to you and for why. She lost in the sauce-

Favorite line/scene

Favorite scene: Where she Infiltrated woodhull she so sneaky for that I was holding my breath (gotta love Margot for her part in that episode though)

Favorite line: “i don’t know figure it out that’s your job.” (Speaking to conservator) she’s so real for that 🙏💀

Favorite interaction that character has had with another

Her interactions with annex are so fun omg but seeing her get schooled by the eminence was so silly to me /pos 😭💀

A character that I wish that character would interact with more

Neighbor!!! Omg but hell give Lori a spatula/knife/shovel whatever and let em beef I’d be CACKLING

Another character from another fandom that reminds me of that character

I’m trying to think of another character that isn’t Miranda Priestly from the Devil Wears Prada but they do be vibing at least

A head-canon I have about that character

She is aware of fanfiction (which is canon see Ep5) I think she’s read a good few… but I guarantee you if she’s aware of that she’d be aware of my silly ass, I’d be on some MIST watch list or some shit.

A song that reminds me of that character

IM GONNA SOUND WILD FOR IT but- snuff out the light from the emperor’s new groove sung by eartha kitt OR Ill and getting worse by rosegarden funeral party they are purely vibes not exactly lyrics but ✨she✨

An unpopular opinion I have about that character

I don’t know I feel like I can pretty much are with a bunch of stuff, maybe gaslighting people ain’t attractive Carol- but as much as I love seeing her girlboss, I cannot take her seriously /nm she’s just goofy to me. 😭💀💛

Favorite picture

I am so normal about her and annex-

[hermanunworthy]

Hi, there, Siren, hope you're doing well! If you're still taking dndads ship requests, how about maybe 35 for Cheerkicks/Oakli (not entirely sure on the name here, but. Link and Normal. You get it), please? Feeling in a silly rarepair mood today hehe 💚💚💚

Bullet Holes and Acne Scars (and Other Wounds to Heal)

35. kissing their bruises and scars

from the touch prompts list!

I WAITED A MONTH TO START ON THIS HELP 😭 trust me though ive been so excited about this one, oakicks makes me ill /pos (and also im glad i waited bc i got to use the latest episode as context for this scene!)

cw: violence (including gun violence), blood and injury

also on ao3!

Normal never would’ve taken Lincoln as a fighter, at first.

Ever since they were young, Lincoln has been timid, uptight, the type to go rigid if you get too close to him. Or maybe that’s just in Normal’s case. They’re working on it, though. He thinks. He hopes.

He never would've thought that the sweet kid he used to see kicking rocks in the corner or a soccer ball on a field would one day be kicking FBI agents and military soldiers on the battlefield. With the force of a beast.

Normal thinks he understands, now, why Lincoln’s dads tried to shelter their son so much.

But he also thinks he understands, as he’s too distracted looking at Lincoln to succeed at the spell he’s currently casting, the way he feels. He may not understand what it’s like to be unconditionally loved by his parents (something that arouses a deeply-rooted feeling of envy in him towards his friend, but that’s another thing he’s working on), but he understands what it’s like to feel pressured by his parents. And he thinks, in their own loving way, Lincoln’s dads have pressured him too much. And this is his release. His rebellion. Like a caged animal set free.

And Normal does believe he deserves this. However. It also concerns him greatly.

Because the paladin is moving so quickly, so aggressively, and the cleric is barely able to even keep an eye on him but it sounds like he's breathing heavily and at one point he thinks he catches a glimmer of something in his eye. And it all keeps distracting him from helping out in the battle himself.

Normal just narrowly avoids another incoming attack. Focus, Normal, fucking focus! He shakes his head, his heart pounding irregularly in his chest, trying to pay attention to anything other than Lincoln, Lincoln, is Lincoln okay—

“Norm!” Scary’s voice calls from a ways away, blasting a fireball directly into a man’s face. “Taylor could use your help!”

“No, I—!” Taylor immediately snaps back from where he stands off, holding a soldier back with their weapons clashed. “Uh, I mean… Yeah! Normie! We need you!”

Normal leaps straight into action, fueled by his friends’ words and ready to defend them, but realizes while he’s charging his spell just what’s going on. Something burns within him, something that has settled deep within his veins and has been repeatedly threatening to burst through these days. Do you really need my help, or do you just want to feel better about being such a dick to me lately?

His spell fizzles out in failure again, and he clutches his head and growls to himself. Lincoln, get out of my damn head!

“Norm— Augh!” Scary, in her distraction, takes a blunt melee attack to the head, knocking her down.

Taylor swivels around with a slash to his opponent to face Scary’s assailant. “What the hell?!” He jabs his sword toward the FBI agent. “Normal! What’s with the weaksauce spells?”

The blood is roaring in Normal’s ears so loudly that he can't even hear himself stuttering. He dizzily looks between Scary on the ground, Taylor standing off against the agent, and Lincoln, off in the distance, surrounded by soldiers. He's paralyzed. His lungs feel compressed tightly in his chest, and not even the strong emotion shooting through his blood is enough to awaken any magic.

Scary, thank the metaphorical heavens and not the godawful place they all visited earlier, manages to make it back onto her feet, but not without great effort. “You're—” She coughs. “You're good, Norm, you're good.”

The squeezing feeling in Normal’s chest somehow worsens. Stop it, don't say that. Why am I even here? I'm no help at all!

He stumbles backwards, and his back bumps into somebody. Before he can turn around to face them, a pair of burly arms are slung around his neck. Already short of breath, the cleric is easy to choke out, and his hands fly up to scratch at their sleeves. Panicking, he looks to Taylor, the closest nearby person, and cries out, “Help!”

Without a moment’s hesitation, Taylor drops what he’s doing and, like a true hero, blindly sprints over to slice the back of Normal’s attacker. The arms release him from the chokehold, and he falls to the ground, heaving for air.

But he isn't able to recover for long, because somebody is yanking him back up by his collar. He braces himself this time, but finds himself face-to-face with Taylor. His expression is twisted in anger, the way he looked at him the last time they argued.

“What the fuck was that, dude?! You can't even use a spell to help me, but you can use me to help you?” He shoves him, nearly toppling him back to the ground.

He… I used a Command on Taylor, didn't I? He didn't even realize. It was just instinct, of course he wouldn't just use his friend like that…

You only ever want to help yourself, a familiar voice scolds him in his head.

“Taylor, quit it, he’s already been…!” Scary is beginning to argue with him now, but Normal can't even pay attention to that anymore.

Lincoln is now fighting Agent Shmegan.

The man is trying to resist his attacks, shielding his body with his arms and trying to talk to him, but the paladin will not let up. “Kid, if you could just— You're making this harder than it needs to be, we just want—”

“I don't care what you want!” Lincoln roars, the first words Normal has heard him say during this entire fight. “I'm not going to listen to you anymore! I hate you adults! Fuck you!” He kicks him again, and again, and he's starting to lose his momentum with each swing but he refuses to give up. “Fuck you! Fuck you!”

Normal knows Lincoln has a history with this man, but he also can tell that this is not just about him and Taylor’s kidnapping.

“Li-Wilson— Please just get a hold of yourself and your friends—” Schmegan orders through grunts of pain. Normal knows Lincoln has been training hard to perfect his soccer kicks, so that can't feel good to take.

“Shut up! That’s Mr. Kicks to you!” The soccer player utilizes a swift kick to the crotch as emphasis.

While the FBI agent is finally doubled over in pain, unable to make any more demands, Lincoln’s body heaves with effort. He looks like he’s preparing another kick, but he’s cut short when a loud gunshot fires out, and he stumbles backwards.

“Link!” Normal shrieks, his body finally allowing him to move again, and he dives over to where his friend has fallen. As he gets close, it becomes apparent to him that Lincoln is crying, and he’s crying hard.

“Sir, let's get out of here.” Another agent, holding the gun used to shoot Lincoln, rushes over to Shmegan’s aid, helping him to lean on his shoulder and escort him back to their helicopter. “Freeman kept us from capturing the King, but we have him and his buddies as hostages for later. We need to retreat for now.”

Shmegan’s face contorts in pain and anger. “That better include Wilson. I have some words for that man about his son.”

The other agent chuckles wryly. “Oh, yes, sir. He’s been incapacitated since the fight began.” He looks down at where Lincoln sits, with no sense of remorse. “Seems we’re not the only ones disturbed by that kid’s violence.”

Normal is crouched by Lincoln’s side, trembling just as bad as he is. “Link, it’s Normal. Normal’s here.” God, that must be the least comforting thing he could hear right now. He must be the last person he wants to help him.

Normal’s hands are on Lincoln’s hands. Lincoln’s hands are on his knee. Lincoln’s blood is on his hands, on his knee, on his clothes, on the ground…

“Dad,” Lincoln sobs weakly. “Dad.”

All of Lincoln’s fight has left him. Now he’s just a scared, powerless little kid.

And so is Normal, now that he’s drained of magic. He can't cast any more spells. He used the last one to help himself. He can't heal his friend. And dear god, Lincoln’s still crying for his dad. But Grant has been captured. And so have the rest of their dads, it sounds.

Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck!

He presses down harder on the wound, but he can't tell if it’s even helping to stop the bleeding, or if it’s just him trying to squeeze Lincoln’s hands to help himself calm down. God fucking damn it, I'm so selfish, even as my friend is sitting here with an actual bullet wound… Can’t do shit for him…

He dares to look back up at Lincoln’s face, and finds it even worse to look at than all the blood. His eyes are scrunched up, leaking a river of tears down his face, his lips quivering with each shaking breath. It reminds him of when he got to see this boy as a baby, and how he promised him that it was going to be alright. He has to make this alright again, if it’s the last thing he does.

With one hand still pressing against his knee, Normal uses the other one to carefully lean forward and stroke his cheek again, wiping away some of his tears.

Lincoln opens his eyes, and when they meet Normal’s it’s clear that they are bloodshot and unfocused. “D-Dad…” he still whimpers. “Help…”

It hurts, knowing that he doesn't want Normal, but he tries to put himself in his shoes. What would I want from my dad, if I were him?

He knows Grant wouldn't know any healing spells. But he does know that he was very tender and affectionate with his son. He seems like he’s very gentle in how he cares for him, like he feels like his own dad has the potential to be.

He knows what he wanted his dad to do for him when he got hurt when he was younger. Grant seems like the type to care unconditionally, though. So, unlike his own dad, he ignores the disturbing and gross nature of this situation, and with all the love (and lack of magic) in his heart, he presses his lips lovingly against Lincoln’s knee as if it was simply the scraped knee of a child.

Lincoln gasps at the feeling, and Normal instantly regrets it, feeling like an utter idiot, He has an literal hole in his knee, I can't just kiss it better, this must be hurting him so bad—

“Normal,” Lincoln chokes at last. He grabs one of his friend’s hands and squeezes it with enough strength to break him. “Normal.”

The cleric lets out a squeak from the strong grip, but watches as a golden light begins to slowly, slowly glow from underneath the paladin’s other hand, which is still on his knee. He’s casting Lay on Hands on himself. Oh, Normal didn't even think about the fact that Lincoln hasn't been using any magic, so he probably could've…

But no, Lincoln wasn't able to help himself before, was he? It wasn't until Normal kissed him that that something in his eyes cleared, like a fog being lifted. Did Normal actually help? Or is he just being selfish, just taking credit for something that had nothing to do with—

“Thank you, Normal,” Lincoln breathes. The words he’s been wanting to hear all this time. Normal’s heart squeezes at the sound.

“Did you…” Normal’s own voice feels thick in his throat, and he realized just then that he has tears dripping down his face as well. “Did you even realize what you were doing? How hard you were fighting?”

More tears begin to roll down Lincoln’s cheeks. “It… There was no pain… At first… Only anger…”

He squeezes his friend’s hand back, but it’s not nearly as strong. Not as strong as Lincoln, never. “I was so worried, it felt like losing you…”

Lincoln’s face crumples again, and Normal can hardly bear to look at it. “Normal…”

His eyes wander over Lincoln’s body, realizing that there are other spots of blood not just from the gunshot. All sorts of cuts and bruises, all of which look very painful, but Lincoln hasn't acknowledged any of them. That “zone” that he seems to get into, that rush of adrenaline, that thrill of violence, must be a very, very dangerous place for him to be in. He never wants to lose his friend to that darkness again.

So he shows him the light. He leans in close to each wound, trailing the gentlest of kisses over the dark spots on his legs and the nasty gashes on his arms, never once shying away from the blood or the hair or the sweat or the filth because it's all normal to him, and even though he knows it's selfish to give Lincoln what he wants for himself, he wants to love Lincoln like he’s perfectly new.

“Normal,” is all Lincoln can say now, through his continued crying. “Normal, Normal…” The way he’s whimpering his name, like a prayer upon his lips, only fuels him further, the way it feels to have replenished magic surging through his veins.

It isn't until he gets tugged away by his hair that he realizes he should probably stop. But Lincoln's hand doesn’t move from the back of his head, and when he looks up at him, Lincoln just stares back, his pupils wide. “Normal,” he whispers again.

Lincoln’s gaze is roaming over his face, and especially over the blood drying on his mouth. Normal can taste it, he realizes self-consciously.

“How can you still be so nice to me?” His eyes shine with a horrible, heart-wrenching guilt, a guilt that Normal can feel himself as he fights the overwhelming need to kiss the one little cut that he missed, the one he’s been avoiding, because he knows it would be too selfish of him.

The one on his lip.

“I'm… so sorry.” Lincoln’s fingers loosen in his hair, but Normal still leans his head into his hand before he can decide to let go entirely. “For how I've… I've been so…”

“It's okay, Link,” Normal murmurs, even though he doesn't know if it's true. It’s just hard to focus on the long-term pain this boy has caused him when said boy is caressing the back of his neck so delicately that it makes him melt.

“No. You're my friend. You're my husband.” The certainty with which he says it brings Normal a shiver. “I need to make it up to you.”

This time, Lincoln is the one leaning forward. Normal freezes up, his face flushing red as his husband’s lips land on his cheek.

But Normal doesn't understand. He doesn't need healing, he doesn't have any scars. Not on the outside, anyway.

Is he… kissing my tears away?

Another kiss. And another. Each touch of his lips to his face leaves him with a feeling of warmth and light. Lincoln even reaches with his bloody hands to brush the sweaty hair sticking to Normal’s skin out of the way, and begins to leave kisses on his forehead as well.

Oh. He’s kissing his acne scars.

More tears run down where Lincoln has kissed. Nobody has ever… He's always been told that he's gross, that his acne is a problem, something to be ashamed of. He has spent countless hours staring at himself in the mirror, popping pimples and picking at scabs (despite his sister’s warnings), wondering why he has to look like this and if anyone could ever love him like this. His parents would never do something like this for him.

But Lincoln is. Lincoln, the one he’s been trying to win over for years. Lincoln, the kid he always wanted to play with but wasn't allowed to. Lincoln, the friend who always seemed to shut him down no matter how hard he tried to love him. That same guy is here, sitting on the ground in literal Hell, a bullet in his knee and blood on his clothes, his fingers curling in his greasy hair and his lips kissing his pockmarked face.

“I'm sorry,” Lincoln whispers tearfully against his skin. “Thank you for… for being my friend. For being you.”

As he pulls back, Normal pushes forward, resting his forehead against Lincoln’s. “I love you,” he sighs, selfishly but honestly. He hopes it brings Lincoln as much catharsis as it does him.

Lincoln glances up from where his eyes sat downcast at the blood on the ground, to stare into his husband’s eyes. His hand on Normal’s neck drifts to his jaw. Eyes still glittering sadly, he offers a smile, but the stretching of his lips opens his cut and makes him wince away in pain.

Normal reaches forward with a careful hand, and catches Lincoln’s chin. He really hopes this isn't going too far, too fast, too bold, like he always seems to be going without realizing it. “Let me…?” He can't even finish the question, can't bear another rejection.

But Lincoln beats him to it, kisses him first, kisses him better. Cradles him with such love and care that you’d think he’s the one being nursed back to health.

And it is undoubtedly healing. Something Normal has needed for a long time. Something that tastes like blood and grime and filth, something that tastes so normal and familiar that it feels like coming home. Feels like being blessed by an angel visiting Hell.

After all, Normal always thought Lincoln was more of a lover than a fighter.

[beatleswings]

HEYYY, crazy what royal pain (in the ass) does right? wanna share some insight? the shit he does and all? maybe stuff he is involved in with the po peeps? >:3

Oh boy, I got a lot to say about that man and his constantly screwing up stuff. JNSAKASKASJK

First off, he ruined Nadine's singing career and she never forgave him for it. Yes, the poor girl can't sing but she thought this guy would help her get out there. He didn't. He was all about money and his songwriting was crap. Yes, he rewrote some lyrics for her and even added unnecessary sounds to her songs. She also had to take him to court to make sure she has ownership of her songs, her original songs. The last thing she wants is this British Wario getting money from her own music.

He was also involved in the production of El Luchador's movie El Luchador's Great Adventures. To Royal, it was a masterpiece. To Luchy, it's his old shame. Any mention of this movie makes him squirm and he tried to pass it off as lost media but unfortunately it's available to view online (in 480p or someone upscaled it). And if it got an official release, he wants no involvement in interviews or any of that. He is known to block people when they mention the film to him. Yes, he hates it that much.

Originally, the film was going to have a great script, bigger budget, and Luchy's favorite director was going to direct and produce it. Unfortunately, said director fell ill with food poisoning and in came Royal Pain who took over immediately and is believed to have something to do with the director dropping out. This lead to him changing the script and plot, making casting changes, crappy budget because Royal is a cheap bitch, and despite this, Luchy and his co stars gave it their all. The film flopped hard but later on became a cult classic. Despite that it has garnered fans, Luchy still hates the movie, mostly due to it being a reminder of the production hell he went through and also being a reminder of how much he hates Royal.

He also has a dating show which received mixed reviews but has led to many memes made about it. It was after that he was hired to be executive producer and writer for Joe's own short-lived show, Le Glass Show (a pun on Le Glass Joe). Like Nadine's singing career and Luchy's movie, he managed to turn this show into a flop. The show underwent so many rewrites, reshoots, and only six episodes were filmed. And yes, he was still a cheap bastard with budget. it was cancelled after three episodes with only the last three not airing and at the moment is lost media. Rumor has it that the last three episodes were deleted with the show ending on a cliff hanger with Joe and Kaiser (who was cast as Joe's neighbor/bestie and eventual love interest) who are about to kiss and before they can do so or say anything, it turns to black and credits roll. Gabby Jay was cast as Joe's father. The show was known for it's low budget, bad acting and writing, and overuse of the laugh track. It was said the show was actually going to be good with a better producer, director and writers but the changes happened and unfortunately with Royal's involvement, it turned into a flop.

If there's a lesson to be learned, never EVER work with Royal Pain. Anything he touches, flops. There's a reason why the boxers even Aran and Narcis enjoy bullying him.