#and like so obviously getting followers is the main deal but what's with the specific 'promo hour'?

[thornshadowwolf]

OK I'll bite what the hell is "promo hour"? /gen

[coolshadowtwins]

Scumplane friendship (or maybe more?) concept where Shen Jiu is so ridiculously close to figuring out SQH’s deal with MBJ.

And SQH knows it! He knows that SQQ knows, but does SQQ know that SQH know that SQQ knows???? How far down does this go? How complicated is this situation and how much of it is specifically SQH’s fault?

And SQH can’t see a way out of it. He’s about to just jump ship, even if he has years before the main plot starts, but ultimately decides to try… something. He has a talisman/enchanted jewel or something to teleport him straight to MBJ if need be, so he decides to do something incredibly stupid for once.

He acts like it was a story.

Oh, he’s been doing that for years, technically. He knows where he is, and the plot, and his role. But he has been acting in accordance to PIDW. But now, with his back to the wall and the only option he can really see for himself is running from the sect, he takes this scenario and treats it like it’s the main plot of a book.

SQH would never be the main character! So this story is following SQQ. So you have a Shixiong who suspects his Shidi to be making deals with demons? The story can only go two ways- the Shidi is indeed suspicious or the Shidi has some other shit going on. And SQH may be indeed suspicious, but by god does he need SQQ to think he just has other shit going on.

Which is why he shows up to the Bamboo house one day, is served tea by a glaring SQQ, and then blurts out, “This Shidi would like some advice!”

SQQ: …advice. For what?

SQH, having not thought this far but always doing better in the heat of the moment:….. romantic struggles.

SQQ:………… you came to me for this?

And then something something, SQQ is a little touched that he was the one SQH came to for help, even if he now has to deal with an obviously abusive demon boyfriend. Jeez Shang-Shidi, what do you get yourself into?

(It doesn’t hurt that SQH seems to know everything that happens on the peaks and isn’t afraid to gossip with SQQ. It makes very enjoyable hangout times. And if the scum villain wants to verbally tear down someone based on that information, it is so not SQH problem)

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Just like how kalim embodies scarabia's mindfulness in his own way, how do you think other boys embodies their respective dorms spirit?

For the sake of ease and consistency, I will be using the official TWST localization's terms for each dorm's core value.

Please note: these are my personal interpretations; even the definitions of each dorm’s “spirit” is not explicitly defined within official TWST materials, so I’ll be running with my own definitions before covering each NRC student. Additionally, since I’ll be covering 22 characters in this post I may not have time to get into painstaking detail for each one.

***Main story spoilers (including late book 7) below the cut!!***

The Queen of Hearts' Spirit of Strictness

Literally speaking, strictness refers to following rules or beliefs exactly. There is rigid enforcement of these rules or beliefs, and very few, if any, exceptions or mercy granted.

Right off the bat, it’s easy to see how Riddle aligns with the spirit of strictness. He is the embodiment the law in Heartslabyul, serving as both judge and executioner to his students. Riddle insists that the rules—no matter how nonsensical—be followed, and he does not hesitate to unleash his wrath and collar those who step out of line. He is strictness itself. Beyond book 1, we do see Riddle trying to be more patient and flexible—however, the fact remains that he upholds rules and continues to have trouble with circumstances where he has to think independently or without a set of instructions to refer to.

Trey is known for frequently indulging others and behaving in a manner which some may call kind. The twist here is that Trey’s strictness is present in the “big brother” role he adopts when dealing with his peers. He’s generally more lenient than Riddle, but Trey often alludes to the fact that he shouldn’t be underestimated or thought of as a nice guy. There are moments when Trey gives others their comeuppance for misbehaving (such as in his dorm uniform vignettes, where he deprives first years of cake for complaining about his same-y baked goods). The thing is, most don’t see it coming because he’s typically so… nice. When he wants to be stern and put his foot down, he certainly can—it just isn’t something that happens a lot, since he’s more mild-mannered than his classmates.

Cater is strict with his public image, specifically how his peers view him. This is most obviously seen in his obsession with social media. He's constantly taking pictures and posting, being heavily involved on Magicam—a space where he can control the narrative about the type of person he is and the life he has. Cater keeps up this front in real life as well, acting cheery and sociable with his classmates while masking a far less motivated and sad side to his character. (This is implied in his Lab Wear vignettes, where a mandrake he infuses with his own magic becomes gloomy and huddles into itself.) There are occasions when Cater expresses that he is lonely or that he wishes he had more friends growing up, but he never fully opens up about his true nature. He strictly keeps that part of himself locked up tight and is seemingly afraid of what others would think of that persona.

Like Cater, Deuce is strict with himself. In Deuce's case, this arises from a past of delinquency and the desire to reform and to be an honors student that his mom can be proud of. Because of these goals, Deuce tries very hard to excel in class (but often falls short) and to behave in a way that he believes honors students would. This means changing the way he looks (he let his natural hair color come back in; it used to be bleached blonde), the way he speaks (not using foul language), the way he dresses, and, most importantly, the way he acts. Of course, his temper gets the best of him at times and his delinquent self bubbles back up (like in book 1 when the eggs were ruined), and Deuce is currently working on better repressing that.

Ace is probably the most carefree and the least stereotypically "strict" of the Heartslabyul group. Instead of having a focus on enforcing rules, Ace is usually the one breaking or defying them. How, then, does he embody the Queen of Hearts' spirit of strictness? I believe it comes through in some of Ace's most iconic scenes: the ones where he is calling others out on their bull crap. Time and time again, it's Ace that is bluntly telling others what they're doing or saying is hypocritical or wrong, or that they haven't truly taken accountability. He does this no matter who he is facing, be that his own dorm leader (book 1), an undead bride (Ghost Marriage), or Malleus Draconia himself (Endless Halloween Night). Ace has his own set of morals and beliefs, and he speaks them loud and clear without imposing as harshly as Riddle does.

The King of Beasts' Spirit of Persistence

Persistence is when one continues their course of action in spite of difficulty or opposition. In other words, there is an obstacle in the way of achieving a goal, and one persists in the face of that obstacle.

Leona is a somewhat strange case to make for persistence because initially he comes off as a very lazy character. We quickly learn that though he appears unmotivated, he’s comfortable scheming and thinking multiple steps ahead to cut out difficult or unnecessary work. There’s no doubt that Leona has had a challenging childhood, feeling like he was always being compared to his brother and never recognized for his own talents. We feel the effects of Leona losing this hope as late as book 6, when Leona says that Jamil is capable of change, unlike himself. Some fans even speculate that Leona’s dialogue implies he has fallen into depression as a result of frequently being dismissed and put down in spite of his efforts to be seen. Even when Leona is dealing with such trauma, he cooks up a plot to return his dorm to glory and to support its future. He, the lowly second born prince, wants to prove himself and his team of misfits, as being worthy of respect and admiration. When the plans fall through, Leona is quick to give up (which seems to go against the idea of Savanaclaw’s persistence). However, I would say this is part of his character growth in book 2. Later in the main story, Leona also throws in the towel quickly—but it doesn’t contradict his development; he knows when to strategically retreat in book 6.

Ruggie comes from an extremely impoverished background. He has had perhaps the least “cushy” life out of the entire NRC cast. Even so, Ruggie was able to study and work hard enough to earn decent grades, get multiple part-time jobs, and pick up many useful survival skills. He’s street smart and knows that what he lacks in strength he can make up for by sticking to someone who is strong (Leona). (Their relationship is mutually beneficial!!) Ruggie knows that just having money isn’t sustainable in the long run, so he’s hauling ass now to make something of not only himself, but also for all the people in the slums.

Jack embodies persistence through the events of book 2. At first, Jack tries to get Leona to see reason by letting him know that he genuinely is a figure Jack admires. He’s put in a moral dilemma when Leona argues that even if they play dirty, he has good intentions. If Jack interferes, he is messing with the future job prospects of his dorm members. Jack wrestles with the question before ultimately coming to the conclusion that he has to tell others about it—and, what’s more, put his own pride as a lone wolf aside to confront Leona and stop to his machinations.

The Sea Witch's Spirit of Benevolence

Benevolence may refer to meaning well or general kindness and compassion. It involves a willingness to help others and caring for them.

Azul, being at the head of the operations at Octavinelle, passes himself off as a benevolent man who will listen to your woes and grant your wishes. In fact, he does—but at a price. The shady ring he’s running is NOT wholly benevolent; the deals can definitely come across as malevolent in book 3 (when Azul wrote the contracts in such a way that the loopholes could fuck clients over). The deals themselves (assuming no foul play), however, are neutral since both parties agree to the terms. Contracts are written with the idea that they will benefit the clients. And Azul is, of course, also seeking out benefits for himself, as that is the nature of business dealings.

Jade represents a kind of benevolence associated with acts of service. He’s Azul’s right-hand man and information broker—furthermore, much of how Jade presents himself alludes to being a butler or some other supportive role. Jade just generally behaves in a way which benefits others. He acts demure and servile, then uses the trust he has gained through service to ply what he wants out of others. Jade does it so sweetly and so expertly that his prey don’t usually notice, or willfully overlook it, being far too impressed by his abilities to fixate on his ulterior motives. This strategy works even on notoriously stern individuals such as Vil (Jade Dorm Uniform vignettes).

Floyd gives “free hugs” :) is… well, ironically, the “kindest” of the trio in a weird way. While this is highly dependent on his mood, the fact of the matter is that Floyd is the easiest to read in terms of “telegraphing” his actions. If he’s in a bad mood, he usually will not hide it. You know what you’re signing up for as soon as you see him. He also typically doesn’t put forth an effort to manipulate or to scheme like Azul or Jade would; Floyd would prefer to be direct and get it over with already. That, in a sense, is the mercy that he offers: something swift and plain to see.

The Sorcerer of the Sands' Spirit of Mindfulness

Mindfulness is a state of being aware of oneself and the present moment. A mindful individual can aknowledge and accept one’s feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations. Mindfulness may also extend to being aware of others and perceiving their own states of being.

Kalim is not viewed as the most intelligent or crafty of leaders, but where he shines is in his ability to welcome and to bond with his dorm mates. His emotional intelligence is extremely high, which proves itself to be a useful skill in getting to know others and to earn their trust. Kalim has made a name for himself in Scarabia because he is always there to listen and lend a helping hand to his dormmates. He is unabashedly open about his own emotions too, crying when he is sad and trying hard when he is frustrated or dissatisfied. He often asks to know what is wrong when he senses upset within his classmates and wants to do what he can to rectify those situations. This is peak mindfulness--not only is Kalim acutely aware of his own emotional state, but he's also pretty consistent with sensing those in others (the one big exception here, of course, is Jamil). Sometimes Kalim can be blindsided by his own blind faith in others or his overeagerness causing him to blurt things out unintentionally. He's definitely not perfect in this regard--however, there's plenty of room and willingness to grow and to learn (something which Kalim has expressed both in book 5 and in birthday vignettes).

Jamil more readily fits in with a less savory interpretation of mindfulness. He thinks ahead and uses what he knows of others to manipulate them or put himself in an advantageous position. This notably occurs in book 4 (when Jamil plans to use the feedback of Yuu and the Scarabia members to dethrone Kalim), as well as in events (like Beans Day, where he plans to entrap Kalim when Kalim cooks a fragrant lunch that Jamil purposefully packed for him). He uses what he notices or knows about others (Azul’s shadiness, rumors about Lilia being a bad cook) to avoid interactions which could be less than beneficial to him. Jamil’s main fault is that he fails to recognize people’s strengths (something which Leona calls him out for in book 6), and instead focuses mainly on their weaknesses, shortcomings, and how those could be exploited (mostly because he’s in a position where he cannot outright act in certain ways without suffering some consequences). Jamil is aware of these potential consequences and finds or plans workarounds for them. However, he is also mindful in a more conventional sense too. He’s usually the competent one in Scarabia’s leadership and fulfills the organizational tasks that Kalim doesn’t. The duo is like sun and moon; they balance each other out.

The Beautiful Queen's Spirit of Tenacity

Simply put, tenacity is determination and endurance. One is persistent in maintaining, adhering to, or seeking something valued or desired. Each of the members of Pomefiore knows what they want, and they are stubborn in their pursuit of it.

Vil makes it clear in book 5 that he wants to win VDC/SDC, thereby proving to himself and to the world that he is capable of more than playing the part of a “villain”. He already had high standards for himself prior to book 5 (exercising, doing skincare, maintaining a healthy diet, etc.), but you can see how single minded Vil is toward this one goal. He drives his team members hard and even cancels a major job offer from his manager so he can dedicate all his time and energy into seizing the win. And how many times has Vil lost in the past??? Countless, I bet. Yet here he is, trying again and again, even when he knows that happy endings aren’t guaranteed and his efforts may not bear fruit after all.

Rook pursues any and all things beautiful!! He used to just be content admiring beauty, but with Vil’s prompting, Rook soon also found value in beautifying himself. It means Rook can also put beauty out into the world, and helps him better appreciate other works of art. This man is infamous around campus for his… admittedly creepy and unnerving habits. He follows people around, documents them in photographs, memorizes their personal details, etc. His keen eye has also earned him praise though—Vil can comfortably rely on him for honest feedback, and Neige recognizes him as a dedicated member of his fan club. Rook is nothing if not determined and dedicated to his craft.

Epel is tenacious too, but in a way that Vil would not approve of in all circumstances. Epel is stubborn in his thinking and refuses to let go of his hometown roots. He’s very proud of where he comes from, so he puts up a fight with Vil when Vil demands that Epel address his upperclassmen more politely. Epel sees the command as a threat to himself, and a challenge to the hometown he loves. Additionally, it takes Epel a while to reevaluate his deeply ingrained views on gender norms. He’s all-around very strong-headed!

The King of the Underworld's Spirit of Diligence

Diligence is when one is involved in careful and persistent work or effort. This principle generally governs all of STYX, the blot research organization operated by the Shroud family. Their job is a thankless one—they do such important work, yet it isn’t recognized by the general public due to STYX’s secretive nature.

Idia, as the temporary acting director of STYX in book 6, gets involved in their research. There’s many Phantoms kept in the STYX facility, so there are many safety precautions in place and care taken to ensure no one is harmed. (Ironically, it was Idia’s lack of diligence that led to Ortho’s passing.) Outside of book 6, one can say that Idia has a diligent personality, at least when it comes to his hyperfixations. He becomes dedicated to media that captures his interests to the point where it actually incentivizes him to leave his room (Ghost Marriage) and overcome his meek stutter to speak confidently and lecture people (first Halloween event, his Dorm Uniform vignettes, etc.).

I believe Ortho is diligent in being Idia’s emotional support both before and after Ortho is officially recognized as a separate student. He cheers Idia on and encourages him to touch grass socialize, wishing nothing but the best for his big brother! Ortho wasn’t always like this either; he used to be quite stiff and monotone, and had to learn how to emulate emotions by carefully observing and absorbing media. His motivation in book 6 is also fueled by diligence—Ortho worries about what he can do to support Idia’s wishes, and this is ultimately what drives him to taking over STYX and unleashing the Phantoms. Then, in Fairy Gala: What If, Ortho stubbornly tries to come up with his own ideas regarding the theme of evolution rather than rely on others for answers. He works hard to developing his own concept and is able to put on a show-stopping performance with it!

The Thorn Fairy's Spirit of Nobility

To be noble can refer to strength of character, mind, and/or literal position, birth, rank, or social status. No matter which definition you go with, I think they could all apply to the members of Diasomnia.

Regarding noble status, Malleus and Silver are both princes. Lilia and Sebek may not be nobles themselves, but they (in addition to Silver) serve royalty and have close personal connections to people in high places, be it via friends or via family. Diasomnia is very well-connected.

Beyond superficial nobility, one can say that those in Diasomnia are noble in character as well. To begin with, Lilia has sacrificed himself for his country on multiple occasions. This isn’t limited to going to battle, but also ferrying his princess’s egg to safety, traveling the world for knowledge on dragon eggs, and going so far as to give up his own life force to hatch Malleus. And what does Lilia get for all of this? Banished from the capital, screamed at, shunned—all because he is a nobody, a bat of no status. Despite this, Lilia does not become bitter nor hateful, he instead opens his heart and mind to the world and seeks to instill others with the same wisdom. Through all the tragedies he suffered, Lilia rose stronger than ever rather than sinking to the same levels as the narrow minded senators that rebuked him.

Silver is, perhaps, the most overtly noble in character. He extols the virtues of listening and getting along with others, often serving as the peacemaker between parties (typically between Sebek and their peers, but we’ve also seen Silver smoothing things out between all of NRC and diurnal fae). He also assumes the best of others and is ready to leap into action to protect them at a moment’s notice. His kind and gentle nature attracts many forest animals to him, who can likely sense the purity of Silver’s heart.

Sebek’s brand of nobility isn’t geared at others in general but rather is pinpointed on one person (that being Malleus). He is noble in the sense that he dedicates himself to his prince. It’s no secret that practically everything Sebek does is to “live up” to perceived standards so as to not shame Malleus or the Draconia royal family—from doing well academically to dressing neatly and throwing himself into training… Sebek’s passion and eagerness is what makes him stand out. It could also be said that he fiercely defends his friends and those who have earned his respect (albeit maybe not worded in the most tactful ways). That, too, in a sense, is honorable.

Finally, we have Malleus. What can be said about him that hasn’t already been said? He is the prince of a nation, so there are many people looking to him for leadership. As such, Malleus must always conduct himself in a manner that puts his country’s best face forward and expects the same of others. Indeed, he reprimands Sebek for behaving in poor taste and instructs him to apologize to Leona, the prince of another nation. However, what is most telling about Malleus is his impetus for Overblotting. He deludes himself into thinking “this is what is best for everyone”. In his mind, he frames forcing everyone into dream states so they can stay forever and have their happily ever afters as the “good” and “noble” thing to do. He’s definitely not doing this for himself, he argues, it’s a gift for everyone. And throughout book 7, Malleus tries to gaslight others into this belief too 💀 when bro’s already convinced himself of this and refuses to see otherwise—

[wasyago]

unsure if you’ve been asked this before but what is your character designing process?

i have already answered in this post (you can go read it if you want), though it's more jrwi based, so i feel like i can answer again! i doubt I'll end up saying something new but hwhatever who cares dhhdhd

obviously this isn't math, so there's no specific scheme i follow every time, and each design is different and it all varies heavily.

in general, when i start working on a design i already have *some* sort of idea in mind. normally not for the entirety of it, but some bits and pieces here and there that help me characterize the design in my head! i try to get those on the canvas first. they're like key points, and i most likely wont change them.

(and if i don't have an idea, i don't start drawing. and instead scroll through my gallery or pinterest in search of inspiration)

let's take my Gem's recent design as an example! i knew i wanted her to be a squirrel, and i already had squirrel scar and cub designs to base it off. so the key points were big pointy ears, curvy tail, claws. i also knew i wanted her clothing to look regal and floral, and reflect her main base. this is an idea that i haven't fully visualized, but i kept it in mind and knew in which direction i had to move.

after that comes the point where i start making stuff up 👍👍 i enjoy thinking my designs through and making them make sense in my head and be practical. so the process consists of me asking myself questions and then answering them in a design. with occasional "oh wouldn't that be cool" thrown into it.

continuing with gem. she needed to have her clothes be suited for a tail, so her underskirt splits in three parts to make it easier. i still wanted the design to be recognizable as gem and have it resemble her skin; so i kept the white sleeves, the green skirt, the corset. i wanted to make her and scar's designs match, so i changed the corset to green with this long piece of cloth but decided to change the patterns on it. because the brown from the corset was gone, i removed it from her shoes as well and made them black instead, so brown wasn't part of the color pallett anymore. i will introduce pink into the design later, so getting rid of one of the colors wasn't that big of a deal. plus, brown makes her look more down to earth, whereas i want her to look elegant and rich, so its a win/win. i wanted to keep her antlers, but obviously she's not a deer anymore, so i turned them into a crown and made it black to match the shoes. etc etc. i can ramble for three more hours about this hdgshsh.

well, that's how the well thought designs work.

sometimes it's just "im gonna draw all the things i think are fun and cute until i can't think of any" and there's no rhyme or reason to it. that's why things like "doc as a unicorn", one-off series designs, random concepts, aus exist!

sometimes its a "i have no idea what to do with it, so im gonna merge all the layers together and just keep fiddling with it until i figure it out", and that's exactly what happens. if i feel stuck with a design, merging it together and working with both line and color helps a ton, because it helps me to see the design as a whole and i dont have to divide my process and think of which parts im gonna do in color and which in line! recent example is hypno's design. here it is when i didn't know how to make it interesting and the final version:

(funnily enough i still like the first concept, the fact that all the clothes is the same color is quite tasty. but i know that if i needed to draw this design in the future, i would struggle with keeping the clothing layers separated and shading and all that stuff.)

visually i don't think there's much difference between how i design things (?), but the process varies and in my head they're all on like, different tiers.

hopefully this was somewhat helpful! if not it at least let me ramble about my design process which is great hdhsjsh

[chlorine-and-daisies]

did the metatron only chose aziraphale as supreme archangel because of his connection to crowley?

in this essay i will make the case that metatron is inadvertently sowing the seeds of his own destruction!

i. metatron does not respect aziraphale

metatron looks down on other angels in general, sending the supreme archangels back to heaven like naughty children and calling muriel dim.

he treats aziraphale's bookshop as unimportant, passing it on to muriel last-minute without asking aziraphale who he would want as the successor (perhaps because aziraphale would have chosen crowley.)

he has some previous beef with crowley, as i'll get into later, so the way that he says casually that he knows aziraphale worked with crowley a few times is extremely disingenuous.

he says that as supreme archangel, aziraphale could restore crowley to angelic status.

notice two things.

a. metatron doesn't say "you can bring crowley" or "you should bring crowley" or "you and crowley can be together." he doesn't care about their relationship at all. a life with crowley is a perk of the job. just a way to sweeten the deal.

b. metatron specifically brings up angelic status. aziraphale is currently torn- he loves crowley and thinks crowley is good, but he also thinks only angels can be good. either crowley is meant to be an angel, or crowley is actually evil. and if crowley is actually evil not only does aziraphale have poor taste in men, but he is himself deserving to Fall by association. metatron is telling him clear as day- it's the former. you're okay, you're both okay, as long as you follow me and my rules. obviously this is still fucked up but to aziraphale a higher power has forgiven both him and the love of his life. this gives aziraphale so much relief, you can still see him bouncing and smiling on his way back into the bookshop to talk to crowley.

the offer is such targeted manipulation.

sorry to say this, but aziraphale- if the metatron hates your peers and your livelihood and your husband, he looks down on you as well, no matter how special he says you are.

think back to the oat milk latte. metatron puts aziraphale at ease by saying that he also eats/drinks (something that gabriel made fun of aziraphale for, something aziraphale associates with nina and crowley) but do we ever see metatron buying anything to eat or drink himself? they sit together talking and there is only one coffee at the table. between them.

it's all lies.

aziraphale was played like a fiddle while not even being the target that mattered, and it breaks my heart.

ii. aziraphale is not qualified for the job (at least not in the way you would expect)

the main thing aziraphale has that other angels don't is an appreciation for humanity. that is incredibly important but it is also a blind spot in heaven, because most of them treat humans like slightly more interesting ants. would the metatron, who wants to destroy all of humanity, think that aziraphale is a qualified leader because aziraphale is sympathetic to humans?

more generally, from heaven's perspective as of s2e6, what has aziraphale done to set him apart as a leader of angels? why is aziraphale the ideal choice to lead the second coming, when he spends all of his time reading books and eating sushi? when he's only a principality with no social capital whatsoever, and no way to defend himself as he doesn't have the flaming sword and his store is no longer a official heaven embassy?

the only time when he appeared to be a vaguely gifted angel was when he "survived hellfire" and i doubt that he would be appointed over that.

you love him, i love him, but the archangels hate him and want him to be removed from the book of life! so he's not going to be voted in by popular vote either.

iii. metatron has been bitter towards crowley for 6000 years

first metatron generally acts pretty snotty to crowley and refers to him simply as "demon." he asks if he recognizes him, crowley immediately implies that he does but he doesn't speak about their past.

then metatron tells aziraphale that as supreme archangel he would have the power to bring crowley to heaven as an angel. as i talked about before the primary goal of this is to manipulate aziraphale.

he doesn't actually want crowley in heaven or expect him to accept the offfer. how do i know that? because the second aziraphale admits that crowley denied the offer, metatron goes back to badmouthing crowley, saying that he "asked damn fool questions" when he was in heaven.

why does metatron hate crowley so much? well we can only speculate, but s2 has been FILLED with hints that crowley is extremely powerful and was Actually A Really Big Deal when he was still in heaven. others have made posts going into this in more detail but these hints include muriel's "throne, dominion or above" line, crowley being shown creating the stars, controlling the weather, and stopping time. most fan money is on crowley being either raphael or lucifer, i mean this guy is larger than life, and might even have been the first prince of heaven to fall that was mentioned in gabriel's trial.

metatron would have good reason to fear that kind od power, and there's a personal aspect to his hatred too because they knew each other in heaven. in other words- crowley asks annoying questions and is annoyingly powerful.

iv. conclusion and implications

hopefully by now i've convinced you that metatron doesn't respect aziraphale, and that aziraphale isn't exactly the ideal candidate for the supreme archangel job, and that metatron shows bitterness towards crowley.

connecting the dots:

why would you hire someone for a job when you don't respect him, and none of the existing managers would ever pick him to do that job?

maybe because you think you can manipulate him, and because you want to get back at his more powerful husband who you happen to hate.

aziraphale is not the guy you pick because you believe he can do great things- he's the guy you pick because you think he will eat up your propaganda, because you think he's not competent or connected enough to interfere with your plans, AND bonus points picking him make your enemy sadder and weaker

but metatron underestimates aziraphale and crowley.

aziraphale gave away the flaming sword. his love for humanity and the world and his lower principality status actually make him a great candidate to stop the second coming. because compared to gabriel, he is more likely to speak to other angels from all parts of the hierarchy, show them how amazing earth can be, and call for nonviolence.

also, if the aim is to take aziraphale away to get back at crowley and break both of their spirits...you think crowley is just going to accept aziraphale being damseled? it's classic in human stories for someone to come to save their captured partner and get even more powerful than they were before in the process, but metatron isn't human! he doesn't realize ~the power of love~!!!

once crowley realizes that he couldn't have just stolen away with aziraphale while the world that they care about was threatened, and aziraphale realizes that he has been deeply manipulated and taking crowley to heaven would have been both soul-crushing and impossible, they'll learn that they were in a no-win situation, and neither of them was in the wrong for the Final Fifteen going so poorly.

and then.

they'll try to find each other again.

and metatron's days in power will be numbered.

[wannaeatramyeon]

You hit the nail on the head! I‘ll ask for more professional assessment: honest opinion on Crystal?

Following on from my ramblings about Sally Park. Oops! Edited to add in Zoe too.

Well written female characters in Lookism? Uhh...

When the bar is at an all time low, it's really not hard to step over it.

At this point, I've been pavloved to think that any female character that expresses a personality trait other than 'simp' is pretty good. Simp is fun when it's part of a list of characteristics (Zack, Ryuhei). Not so much when it's the only thing.

Long live PTJ, the greatest feminist. Anyway.

Female characters I like

Mary Kim

Love her. Empress of 2 seconds. Queen of my heart.

Surprisingly kept a platonic relationship with Vin Jin, showing quite a healthy mixed gender friendship. Sassy and smart. Loyal. Good taste in men (Jace). Is shown having a life and interests outside of a man.

On my hands and knees praying that PTJ doesn't ruin her. Kinda glad she hasn't appeared in a while so she is kept away from his incessant need to turn everyone into a love interest.

Lua Im

Once we got over the odd Johan panels, which I heard the Korean audience didn't like and I'm quite happy about, she's fine. And it's not that I care that much about Johan staying a single dog-dad, I just needed a coherent reasoning/build up why they would be interested in one another.

Lua has potential.

Sourcing intel, even impressing the likes of Gun? A little Muay Thai knowledge? Jake and Jerry scared of her? Lol. Ok. Good. Let's build on this.

Just please don't white knight her.

Crystal Choi (meh)

And Ms. Choi, because anon specifically asked. I really don't mind her? I know she's meant to be anti-Lookism but still judges people based on their looks eh. That's fine. Pretty realistic actually. Whatever.

She can be a bit bitchy for no reason. So can I. Handwaving all that.

What I do take issue with though, is her so called title of Business Genius. Please show me the chapter where she actually does something to earn that title besides the one where other people ooh-ed and aah-ed over her in the meeting with DG.

Wow she's sooooo gorgeous. Ok good for her. If that's the route they're taking her character then at least OWN. THAT. SHIT. Use her beauty and looks to sign deals and get what she wants. GOOD. DO IT.

Zoe Park (also meh... Wait)

Sorry anon, I think 'really well written' is a bit of a reach... She does have some decent character development, starting as quite a flighty, shallow girl and then showing that she has a heart of gold, liking both Daniels and. Huh.

Wait. You're right. She is pretty well written. She's selfless and kind and loyal to her friends, putting up with Logan's bullshit. There's enough of a character arc for her from the Zoe we're introduced to at first.

And I do like that she's good at maths too.

Wasted potential

Minseong Kang (Jake's momma)

Appreciate this is the older generation and from a much more conservative culture. Saying that, I am so over the slighted and bitter housewife rotting at home while her big powerful husband cheats on her.

And then some sort of marriage redemption cos they pop out a kid. Whatever. (Sorry Jake bb, I love you).

If you were going to do that, give me the most toxic red flag shit where they are constantly at each other's THROATS. Show me how they are equals. Can't live with or without one another. That's the good kinda shit.

Leonn Lee

I just. What the fuck was this.

A girl in Burn Knuckles? A group that reeks of testerone and (positive) masculinity? Show us why she joined! Show us why she stays. SURPRISE. Main character trait?? Having a crush on Vasco.

She could have been SO interesting. And she obviously trains, why not get her to fight?

Hate for irrational reasons

Joy Hong

Listen, she's not really in enough or significant enough for me to really feel one way or another about her. BUT. The reason I HATE her is because I was trying to write a headcanon involving everyone and then I got to Joy and I was STUMPED.

Sub in a plank of wood, and it would have the same depth of personality.

Truly. Who is she apart from Jay's sister and a Daniel simp? At least everyone else has something.

Others

I don't really think about them. Sera Shin has potential I guess.

And of course a special mention to Daniel's momma. She's not exactly a unique character, but who doesn't love her?

LET. THEM. FIGHT.

Lastly. Why can't we see women fight? Like the men's fights are realistic LOL. Ultra instinct? Smashing through walls? So why are women fighting men outside the realms of this.

And yes yes. Men are SoOoOoOo strong. But can they take a kick to the balls?

Are you saying Gun Park has been training his dick and balls and would be able to eat a hit there? He wouldn't go down like a heap of shit??

HUH. TELL ME THAT.

In Summary

Mary by and large is pretty well written. Lua has improved.

I don't care much about anyone else.

And I wanna see Gun, Goo, Sammy, Vin etc. get kicked in the balls in a fight.

[intrepid-fictioneer-7]

Somewhat detailed sypnosis of Fate/school life, the 4-koma spinoff of Fate/stay night following the regular lives of the Homurahara students, specifically the track team trio. A manga that has never been translated into English, and so is largely unknown in the English fandom. This would largely not be a problem, except Fate/strange Fake is set in its continuity, or close enough, which makes its allusions to it and important plot points derived from it incredibly confusing.

Not my work, this sypnosis was exclusively typed up by Comun (@kaibutsushidousha​ here) on Beast Lair:

Ok, I have time now. Here's what the general deal with HimuTen is. Himuro no Tenchi is a yonkoma manga starring the normal girls of the track trio + Mitsuzuri, and the much less normal Sajou Ayaka from Fate/Prototype. As the "Fate/school life" subtitle implies, it's wholly slice-of-life, featuring its cast involved in everyday situations, the many original games they play, and supernatural shenanigans that they don't realize are supernatural thanks to Rin or Ayaka cleaning things up neatly.

Publication started in 2006 covering a story set 9 months before the Grail War, but then during its 2015-2017 run, it covered the Grail War from the perspective of people who didn't know the Grail War happening, and is currently set after the Grail War.

In terms of timeline, the main point of divergence that defines HimuTen is Kotomine's handling of Tokiomi's property. Like in the Fsn timeline, after the 4th Grail War, Kotomine was in charge of Tokiomi's finances until Rin grew up, but he made categorically stupid decisions on what to sell and what to keep, and his disastrous management was the cause of Rin's current money problems. But in HimuTen's timeline, while the outcome of Kotomine's poor management was still the same, what specifically he chose to sell was different. This results in two major consequences that separate HimuTen from Fate/stay night:

1)A lot of Tokiomi's less practically useful artifacts and Mystic Codes were sold to Makidera's father's antique shop, which often results in Makidera and her friends being involved in strange phenomena that Rin needs to take responsibility for.

2) A plot of land directly above Fuyuki's best leyline was sold to Sajou Hiroki, causing him to move with his two daughters to move to Fuyuki in 1994. By 2003-2004, Manaka already moved away from her father's house, and Hiroki himself never appears because he's always out of Fuyuki either meeting up with his mage buddy from Tokyo or dealing with Manaka situations, but Ayaka is a main character in this story, so that obviously has many ramifications.

Also, Ayaka's and Manaka's characters in HimuTen are pretty different from their Prototype counterparts. Fake Ayaka is about as much of a self-hating introvert with no self-esteem as Proto Ayaka, but she didn't get from the real Ayaka of this timeline.

The younger Manaka still had the same propensity to set the world on fire for her Prince Charming, but direct quote: "Her excessive omnipotence caused [REDACTED] to [REDACTED] because it was [REDACTED], thus [REDACTED] went completely off-rails, resulting in the collapse of her most confident plan. Catastrophic shipwreck. She learned that picture books are pictures books are for a reason. The Prince Charming of her dreams wasn't real. Disheartened, she [REDACTED]. [REDACTED]. She turned harmless."

Meanwhile, since Manaka never found her ideal hot man, this Ayaka has none of her Grail War trauma. Instead, she had the experience of witnessing depression turn her highly competent sister into an unproductive failure of a human being, and built an actual self-esteem from training in Fuyuki's best leyline, so she internalized that she needed to be the responsible sister.

And, relevantly to /strange Fake, Ayaka also left Fuyuki in the July-August 2003 period for a student experience in the Clock Tower. Waver naturally got interested in a new student with the same last name as Manaka, so they met and she was a temporary student in his class, where she also got to realize her Formalcraft talents from Proto and was advised to specialize in plants since she was so opposed to sacrificing animals.

The last major thing to talk about is the Grail War arc, although I think this was already discussed in the thread when FsF being a HimuTen sequel first came up. Due to the premise of the manga, we don't see anything of the Grail War actually happen, but from its consequences to the people around the track trio (Kuzuki's disappearance, Mitsuzuri's assault and hospitalization, Zouken's death, the Ryuudou family needing to move to the Semina Apartments after the collapse of the cavern under their temple, Medusa's post-war presence, Shirou's survival and relationship status with Sakura, etc.), it's completely that HimuTen follows Heaven's Feel Good End except for the minor divergences caused by Ayaka's presence. And those are only two:

1) During the weeks of the Grail War, Ayaka was teaming up with Ciel (yes, Ciel was there, but she isn't a character in HimuTen, she's just an incognito figure you find, exclusively during the Grail War chapters, talking to Ayaka in the background, appearing on the corners of pages, group shots, etc. and what is up with her cameos is only revealed in profiles outside of the story proper) to kept outside scavengers from interfering with the Grail War. Mashin's official statement is that together the thwarted 9 out of 10 invaders, and the 10th one that slipped past them would have consequences later in the United States. (This seriously implies that the Fsn timeline had a bigger number of scavengers profiting from the Grail War, which certainly will come up in some spin-off, probably the El-Melloi series)

2) Shinji lost a bet to Ayaka during that week, so he had to wear a magical wig that copied his hair, but slightly off-center, making people think he was wearing a wig all along. This protected his head from Sakura's attack, so in this timeline, Shinji was only injured rather than killed.

I suppose I could also talk about Tsunokuma since he cameoed here and how the reveal that the real Ayaka is currently studying in Romania is an extension of Manaka's and Celenike's relationship in HimuTen, but I'll stick to the Ayaka parts to keep this post as short as it can be.

[darkmasterofcupcakes]

So basically, CWF Human AU Adam, alongside obviously being a better person, is also a healthier one, since here, there's not this thousands years old gap between his human time and modern actions, and specifically for CWF, between being a father for his sons and having fathered Vaggie.

So while CWF Adam only vaguely did stuff regarding to Vaggie once or twice, this Human AU Adam didn't really want to do father shit with Vaggie, but only a early*on thing, a majority of his mind was reassured about Lute wanting to take care of Vaggie alone, but he at least wanted it to be known he's her father at least by her, even if Lute is the main parent, which would give him room to deal with his shit and see if he feel like being a father.

Which make sense since here, Lute dealt with a less messy, and one which hasn't yet coped regarding Eve by being the worst™.

So he's definitely a bit more honest, at least to himself, that he care for Lute, so even if they aren't a full on couple, it not even being put on the official paper is what really hurt him, since he can see why Vaggie have the Guerrera name, but it doesn't mean he couldn't be on the official document.

Lute probably felt guilty about it, but felt like it was for the better.

Though this drama also explain why Adam became more of a womanizer I think, because Lute kinda closed the door to becoming his full-on romantic partner, let alone wife.

And considering Lute and Adam pretty much always stick around one another, poor Sera definitely had to care for Vaggie while her parents were being messes.

At least Vaggie didn't lacked for aunts, because Lute's army buddies (which I think, due to administrative mistakes, were all women soldiers with the exception of Adam) also stepped in.

I think Lute said to Vaggie that Adam was her Godfather prior to Vaggie learning the truth from Cain.

So, what were Vaggie and Seth's reaction to Cain's reveal of Vaggie being Adam's daughter?

Yeah, Adam is a lot healthier in the human AU, in part because his sons are all pretty active kids and while Adam isn't really into playing sports, he will usually play around with them, both when he still lived with Eve and the boys, and when they visit him at his new place following the separation and divorce. He’s not skinny by any means - he’s still got a bit of a gut, especially by the time his youngest are teenagers, but he’s got some muscle on him too.

He's definitely not looking to actually help when it comes to raising Vaggie. He can't deny that he was relieved when Lute made it clear that, if she did end up keeping the baby (because she did admit to Adam, pretty much as soon as she told him she planned to carry the pregnancy to term, that she genuinely wasn't sure if she was going to keep the baby or put it up for adoption) she would be raising them on her own and didn't expect or really want, any help from him. Which worked fine for Adam. He loved his sons, and he did take care of them when they visited, but if he was honest, he hadn't been ready for fatherhood when Cain was born, and that didn't change much, if at all, with the births of Abel and Seth, and if anything, he felt even more unprepared to even consider the idea of being a father to Lute's baby.

But he did want to be acknowledged as being Vaggie's father, even if it would only really be known by a select few people and would likely rarely come up outside of official documents. And, yeah, part of that was because part of him didn't want to completely shut the door on the idea of at least sometimes doing things a dad would do with their kid, with Vaggie. Or even just spending time with her sometimes as she got older.

He even gets into a very short argument with Lute about it, because he was honestly hurt she didn't want him even to be listed as Vaggie's father. To him, it kind of felt like a bit of an insult that she would go that far to try and deny it, but it also didn't help that, on at least some level, I do think he had started to realize he did have genuine feelings for her - which was part of why, even if he didn't plan to be actively involved with the pregnancy or the baby afterwards, he did do what he could to make sure Lute was taken care of the whole time.

And Lute does feel kind of bad about it, but tells everyone, including herself, that it's really for the best that she does this. Whether anyone would agree with her or not, especially once Vaggie learns the truth, is the real question.

It did not help at all when it came to that. I don't think Adam was really thinking that far ahead at the time - he and Lute had literally only hooked up twice before she showed up at this place and told him she was pregnant. But before that happened, he had actually started wondering about the possibility of properly asking Lute out, once his divorce was finalized. Personally he saw nothing wrong with just starting already, since he and Eve both agreed the divorce was happening and while they'd try to get along when they had to be around each other, especially for the sake of their sons, they weren't going to get back together. But after they hooked up each time, Lute did kind of scold herself for "sleeping with a married man" despite Adam's insistence that it was fine. So he decided he'd drop the whole thing until after he was no longer legally married...then she got pregnant before that could happen.

Adam did actually ask Lute about the idea that maybe they could give a real relationship a shot. It was in part his way to trying to convince her to put his name on Vaggie's birth certificate when he saw it. But Lute very firmly shot the idea down. They pretty bluntly said that they were just friends, they made some mistakes, now it was best to just pretend none of it ever happened and they should just move on with their lives. And Adam, hurt but kind of knowing he's not going to be able to change her mind, does accept the decision, if begrudgingly. And yes, this does help turn him into more of a womanizer. He gives up any desire to have proper relationships with any woman, and just starts resorting to casual short term hook ups and one night stands.

Vaggie was close to all her mother's old army buddies, who she did consider to basically be her honorary aunts. She also did sometimes try to get any of them to tell her about her father, since she had a feeling they had at least some idea, but none of them would tell her anything that actually helped her with trying to figure out who he was.

Adam is actually Vaggie's godfather, and the person who would be charged with taking care of her if anything happened to Lute. Something that Sera actually convinced her to do, by pointing out that since Adam isn't listed as Vaggie's father anywhere legally, if Lute doesn't specify a guardian for her daughter in a will or something...should anything happen to her, Vaggie would either be immediately placed into the system, or put into the care of her next of kin. Which would be Lute's parents, Agatha and Hector....and Lute pretty much knew that they'd refuse to raise Vaggie, since they don't even like that she was born, meaning her daughter would end up in foster care no matter what if she didn't do something. So after talking to Adam and making sure he'd be okay with it, Lute officially wrote up her will to leave all her possessions and assets to Vaggie, and officially named Adam as Vaggie's legal guardian, should anything happen to Lute before Vaggie is legally old enough to be on her own.

When Cain accidentally spilled the truth, Seth and Vaggie were both stunned, though Vaggie quickly became angry. She kept trying to deny it, calling Cain a liar and insisting he had no idea...but deep down she did start to wonder if it could be true, and then the anger started turning a bit towards her mother for never telling her. And she did confront Lute about it when she picked her up from the party - a confrontation that did result in a bit of an argument because of course Vaggie was angry her mother kept this secret from her for her whole life, and Lute was angry that someone else told Vaggie the truth.

[faerytreealtars]

🌞☁ “Wisdom from the Sun” ~ How to reach your Divine Self  ☁🌞

This PAC is a very exciting collaboration with the most wonderful and imaginative @punkpandapatrixk and they are going to reveal to you secret wisdom from the moon, specifically dealing with Inner-child work! So make sure to check out her PAC to get a full in-depth reading!

[The Moons Message to Your Inner-Child]

Now, my dear Saplings 🌱 I am so very excited to get into my reading with you all. The main focus is on how can you improve yourself in order to make progressive steps towards reaching a better you, or as I call it ‘Your higher/divine self’  obviously no one can be perfect and I am not asking or assuming one must be perfect to be closest to their higher self. No, one should always be Authentic. That is one of the key ‘ingredients’ to reaching a state where you are more aware of yourself and the world around you. Nonetheless I will get on with the pick-a-card, I hope you’re excited to choose your pile.

Trust your intuition, don’t overthink it and if you’re still struggling, close your eyes take a deep breath and let yourself be guided to an image.

I would love to hear if the message you received resonated with you, so don’t feel afraid to comment, for it makes me so happy to connect with you all! 💕  

Song: Giving into the love by Aurora

Faery-Tale: The Faeries - Words ~ “Remember Words have the power to change Lives”

 [ My Instagram ♡ / Personal Readings ♤ /  Faery Masterlist ☆  ]

Pile 1

[Cards: The hermit, The high priestess, eight of swords, the chariot & three of wands]

Dear ones, to reach a divine state, closer to the brightness of the sun, I suggest following & trusting your intuition more, Have faith in yourself  & don't go looking for a second opinion when you know in the truth of your heart you've already made up your mind. I sense fast movement and travel to be a part of your divine path so I implore you, Don't be afraid to follow your wanderlust & make changes in your life. If something is not for you the world will reveal that to you but you must take a chance or else you will never know. While everyone faces challenges, no doubt you may come up against some too but I feel some changes are divinely guided to happen no matter what you do. In the journey to reach your divine self others may fall in step with you, welcome them warmly, and allow them to fill your cup just as you fill theirs in return.

Oracle: Healing

You should allow some patience for yourself. Physically, mentally and spiritually there is a lot going on. Allow the waves of life to ebb and flow as and when need be. Don't go chasing the retreating sea for you will accomplish nothing except wearing out your already tired soul. Healing takes time, allow it to pass & trust in the divine.

Pile 2

[Cards: Nine of Wands, Two of Wands, Queen of Chalices, Five of Wands & The Hermit ]

Dear ones, the sun tells me in order for you to reach your highest divine self you should continue to be light & free, and allow imagination to inspire your creativity. Don't forget to take breaks from the world & all its energies - you have a sensitive soul who feels strongly the emotions in the world so make sure to cleanse your self regularly & set healthy boundaries that are clear and direct. You are already very connected to your higher self so just keep up the great work! My only advice to you is; Remember that all emotions are necessary so when you are feeling down don’t force positivity onto yourself, allow your body to feel and release. Perhaps their is some activity you can do to channel the emotions in a healthy way? Like painting or writing? I’m sure the right one will appear in your mind when needed.

Oracle: Intuition + Protection

Your Intuition is strong & you may feel connected or called to use psychic gifts. Learn, acknowledge & strengthen these talents of yours, you don't have to use them for others if that makes you feel uncomfortable but mastery of them could really benefit your overall everyday and spiritual health.

Just a little note: I pull the oracle cards after I've written up the tarot and found it a nice synchronicity that protection was your top of the deck!

Pile 3

[Cards: six of chalices, Knave of Swords, Four of Wands, The Hermit, Death & The Knight of Chalices ]

My, My Pile 3 a lot of shifts are occurring as you journey towards your divine self, My whole tarot deck nearly jumped from hands it seemed every card had something to say!, Nonetheless I can see the sun is saying stay connected to that child-like energy of curiosity that lingers in your heart. Always wondering why and asking questions. Always striving to grow and learn new skills, acquire new knowledge & new friends. Allow a bit of stability into your life and don't fear settling down in some areas of your life. You also don't have to stick to staying the same, if your opinions change as you reflect and learn don't be afraid to express that & finally, don't forget to fill your cup, it's okay to indulge your heart and fantasies now and again! Just remember to ground yourself afterwards.

Oracle: Nourish

I am getting more practical advice this time ~ make sure you're eating healthy & filling your body with nutritious food and water, don't over-work your body, or follow toxic diet trends that promote harmful habits. It may be helpful for your mind if you engage in calming activities such as yoga, meditation, or even just a daily walk outside. I'm even hearing colouring books could provide peace after a hectic day.  

That’s all for now, Saplings! 🌱 I hope you enjoyed the reading and it resonated with your soul. Don’t stress too much about reaching your divine self, as long you put your best foot forward and live the day with as much kindness and light that you can muster depending on your energy levels I think you’re doing a great job!

Again, remember to check out @punkpandapatrixk side of the collab, she’s put so much energy into it for all of you so give it some love too! oh, and if you would like to see the actual cards I pulled they can be seen on my Instagram post, link up top for that!

Bye bye for now, sending gratitude and love to all!

-Fae🔮🧚🏻‍♀

[n7punk]

"Start Your Engine" Fic Notes

SYE is done! For once something didn’t get away from me. What, it was supposed to be a one-shot? Shut up!

Playlist:

Unreleased demo (we could be the baddest losers in the world together)

Life Sux — Leah Kate

Supernatural — Transviolet

I Want Her — Georgie Harris/The Blind Truth

I Can See You (From the Vault) — Taylor Swift

GIRL ON TV — chloe morionado

Cdbaby<3 — chloe morionado

Suburban Legends (From the Vault) — Taylor Swift

Hot Child In The City — Jessica Leigh

Ruin My Life — Zolita

Fruity — chloe morionado

GLOW — SNOW WIFE

Overdrive — Gia Woods

good girls go bad — Lauren Sanderson

Your Engine — Gia Woods

Epilogue Life:

Catra does take awhile to adjust to school because it is a huge shift from her last few years of essentially doing whatever the fuck she wanted whenever (she did have a stream schedule, but it wasn’t a big deal if she canceled, or extended, or slept or ate or anything else whenever she felt like it), but even though she spends the whole first year questioning her decision, she does adjust eventually. Her friends all graduate long before she hits grad school, but Entrapta and Bow both went for a grad degree too so their life keeps following the school rhythm and it keeps her from feeling too left out. Catra does keep up with streaming even after she gets an internship with a law firm, her hours just reduce as it becomes more of the side thing she was trying to downplay it as.

Swift Wind isn’t actually 100% done until the summer after graduation, but Catra certainly doesn’t mind how long it takes, and on nights when both of them have roommates home they like to take drives out somewhere private to make out on the side of the road under the stars. Adora 100% supports her girlfriend in her weird niche and later on hypes her up a lot as the more impressive one for going through law school, which kind of blows Catra’s mind because she’s still used to thinking of herself as a loser.

Entrapta’s software does see a steady rise in usership after the introduction of Wildcat, and there are two main reasons why: 1) yes okay she specifically improved the physics for Wildcat. I’m not going to pretend that wasn’t a driving factor lol, but 2) Emily did a great job of showing off what was unique about Entrapta’s software — but people who weren’t looking for unique didn’t have much reason to pay attention to it. Wildcat showed she could make great, more “mainstream” avatars as well. She doesn’t become the #1 overnight or anything, but she does slowly become the #1 alternative to the corporate options and that’s really what she was looking for.

Catra does eventually tell Glimmer and Bow she’s Wildcat — who Glimmer likes even more than she ever did Emily — once they’re better friends, but it takes a few months. Glimmer doesn’t really suspect anything until Catra lets slip the occasional comment leading up to her revealing it because Catra is very private about her identifying info on stream — and cognizant not to tell stories involving Glimmer when she’s in chat — so she doesn’t actually have a lot of clues to get suspicious from. When she finds out she loses it, though. She eventually comes around to finding it funny, but by god for a while she would pout about it if you mentioned it. She’s mostly annoyed that Adora hid it from her, but Adora does argue that it was Catra’s life and it wasn’t really her business what she does for work. It mostly matters because Glimmer actually watches her, lol. If it wasn’t for that, she wouldn’t care.

Around the time Catra is comfortable telling Glimmer she’s finally ready to meet Adora’s moms, something she has been avoiding as long as she can because she’s terrified of the concept of Family, but obviously Mara and Light Hope are super sweet, it just still takes her a little while to get comfortable with them, but by the holidays she’s ready to experience them with Adora and her family for the first time. She never thought she would get a family along with a girlfriend, but 14 year old Catra couldn’t even conceive of the life she would have ten years later.

Chapter 1:

⦁ I’ve already talked about this a little because an anon guessed it Fast over here, but the original concept for this AU was just the neighbor thirsting stuff around the car. Catra didn’t have a job planned, but that stuff came up when it did come time to write it. I figured Adora would be in university since they were supposed to be in their early twenties, and I could have stuck Catra there too, but I liked the concept of Catra having this kind of very different life experience that made her feel a little alienated from her peers and especially contributed to her not being confident when it came to actually making a move on Adora. I don’t follow any like, VTuber vtubers, because the ones I do are people like jaidenanimations who just use an avatar of themselves and aren’t a character or anything, but a friend of a friend is super into vtubers and I hear a lot of the drama and shipping and stuff secondhand because of that. When I was getting ready to write the AU, my friend was explaining the drama about this company having a bunch of controversies with its vtubers and nearly everyone leaving, and that planted the seed of “lol wouldn’t it be funny if Catra was a vtuber in this”. And then I put in the allusions in the first chapter to stuff like gigabit internet still not thinking I was going to do it, except by the end of the second chapter I realized I was definitely going to do it, so I doubled down on it when editing chapter one to post.

⦁ Before those additions, I was kind of thinking this would be a one shot, and tbf that would have made sense with the amount of content in the first three chapters, but then I decided I wanted to shift perspective in chunks, which meant it made the most sense to make it a multi-chapter with the POV shifting by chapter even without those additions, and hey, I did manage to keep to my predicted chapter count once I decided that! For once! It totally counts.

Chapter 2:

⦁ This chapter was really short but I had to show that they were both being so incredibly stupid with their flirting when at any point one of them could have asked the other out and they would have said yes so fast the marriage proposal would be implied.

⦁ Catra lashed out a lot in school because, to be fair, her home life absolutely sucked and she had no friends and no hope for the future, so she just hated everything about school knowing it would probably add up to nothing and at least if she was a problem people were paying attention to her. Teachers might not have liked her, but they were looking at her and not hurling insults like Weaver, so that was about the best she got.

Chapter 3:

⦁ Adora was really just trying to lean over and not caring about where she put her hand because all her friends are touchy and she is too, but any touch like that from Catra would be her trying to put the moves on someone she desperately wanted to hold, so she extended that to Adora’s behavior as well. Adora doesn’t remember it at all because it wasn’t important enough to. If you asked her about it five minutes later it would take her a second to think if she had done it at all.

⦁ Scorpia and Sea Hawk aren’t exactly friends, but they did have a class together. They would wait for it to start in the closest lounge for a good half hour if not an hour beforehand so they ended up talking a lot over that semester and they still chat now when they run into each other. Scorpia only saw Mermista if she came there to be with Sea Hawk, and usually she was “too cool” for that and Sea Hawk had to come to her instead, so Scorpia really isn’t involved in Adora’s friend group at all despite the peripheral connection.

⦁ Adora stopped working on Swift Wind for two reasons: 1) she was only working on him so much for an excuse to talk to Catra (though she’ll glad for all the work she got done once it does get hot) and 2) she just felt so disappointed when she would see Catra and Catra would ignore her that it discouraged her from going out even the baseline amount she would without her.

⦁ Adora brings up hooking up with Mermista once because she, not remembering the leg touch thing, can only guess that someone mentioned her history with Mermista to Catra and she drew conclusions from partial information that was out of date and incorrect anyway.

⦁ Catra knows Mermsita doesn’t believe in marriage from Sea Hawk telling Scorpia he’d love to make the gesture of proposing but Mermista would just dump him again for it.

Chapter 4:

⦁ The valentines card was handmade because ain’t no way Weaver has even letting Catra use a printer to get something that looked “better”. Adora would have treasured it as if

⦁ When Catra is talking about hiding her face, she doesn’t get deeper into it, but it’s all about being safe. It’s not just Weaver punishing her for acting emotionally, it’s also the danger of letting someone see when she’s afraid, or in love, or anything else they can use to hurt her later.

⦁ The "go live" scene was one of the first ideas I had related to Catra being a VTuber and is one of the things that kind of convinced me to include it in the fic and then I almost forgot to write the scene lmao. The only problem with this joke is the whole thing is based around the fact the two different kinds of "live" are written the same, but that makes it hard to control which version of the word people naturally read there (especially the people who had figured out Catra was a VTuber already) so I hope the way I framed Adora's reaction to it made it clear. Catra was SO grateful Adora read it entirely wrong, but that showed her she couldn't keep it secret for much longer, but she wasn't ready to force herself through telling her either.

⦁ Okay, Roach. The cockroach thing is actually a joke I had for canon four years ago, thinking about how ways Catra talks sound like insults because that’s how she had to disguise her compliments in the Horde. That lead to the cockroach nickname for Entrapta, because seriously, thought dead twice and actually just thriving? Really? And no one in the princess alliance is really sure how to take it because Entrapta doesn’t seem bothered at all — because she understands, and she takes it as the weird compliment it is.

⦁ The black curtains are supposed to muffle sound transmission. Catra shoved her sound absorbing foam boards — which she just had leaning against the wall even months after moving in anyway — into the closet when she showed Adora the room before.

⦁ Adora doesn’t know what an OC is, so she’s just assuming that’s the name for a VTuber avatar and calls Catra’s new V that. She’ll eventually figure out how it works.

Chapter 5:

⦁ I had a lot of fun with the chapter titles in this one. I used a similar basic structure in LotD to signal when I was switching perspectives by chapter but it’s fun to heckle the characters in them.

⦁ Catra did try to pay Entrapta. Entrapta was confused. Eventually she more than paid in her back in commissions following Wildcat.

⦁ Catra was just a clerk at a random department store in the mall when a guy snagged a designer purse and tried to bolt with it. The purse cost equivalent to Catra’s entire paycheck, which she desperately needed, and her boss was within eyeshot and yelled when the man started running, so Catra just acted on instinct to protect her job and fucking tackled the guy — which is a terrible idea by the way, pretty sure they can argue that’s assault — which then knocked the purse out of his hands, so her boss ran over and grabbed it, and then the dude struggled up and she wasn’t paid enough to get punched so she just followed him as he ran out of the store to make sure he didn’t yoink something else. And then obviously her boss called mall security and they both told the whole story and like two weeks later the mall offered for a job because they were kind of stretched thin. She did like the mall security job better because she got to wander around a lot more without a boss looking over her shoulder and do a lot less (especially from a customer service perspective), but they both were a little soul-draining.

⦁ I’ll be honest Auntie Anne’s pops the fuck off. Wetzel’s Pretzel’s can suck a dick.

⦁ Catra just says “she’s colorblind” here because I thought about it and didn’t think she would casually make the distinction of “partially” within her own head right then.

⦁ Catra’s race both wasn’t a secret and was, because there were plenty of “hints”, but stuff like Emily having antenna in place of ears didn’t actually mean anything. Her viewers didn’t know they were mapped to follow Catra’s ears, they could have just been animations. People who were observant could figure it out given they don’t do the same thing every time she laughs or anything — it’s especially obvious when she moves just one ear — but it did still surprise some people when they saw her new avatar. The Wildcat in her handle didn’t really give anything away considering there’s a streamer named smallant irl and guess what, he’s not an ant lmao.

⦁ I think this literally never came up in the entire fic (only vaguely implied by Adora “moving away” when she got adopted) but neither Catra, nor Adora, nor Glimmer, nor Bow is from Bright Moon. Scorpia is local and Entrapta is from nearby (as is Glimmer), but Adora and Catra grew up like two hours away. When Adora was adopted, it was to Bright Moon’s outer skirts, so she’s kind of local now and it’s not even a day trip to go visit her moms. It is, however, long enough Catra dodges it as best she can. Anyway, Glimmer and Bow try to arrange their time visiting family to overlap so they don’t have to be apart for too long because they’re really fucking gay for each other.

Upcoming:

*clears throat*

*steps up to the mic*

Ahem.

Are you ready for Heathers’ Broadway debut?

[nikonladyz4]

Does the Maknae Line Fan the Ship Wars?

First and foremost I believe that Jimin and Jungkook are partners. I support their relationship and believe they got together in 2015 and committed in 2017.

But, I do question the shipping aspect of the maknae line and how all three maknaes seem to play into it.

What i really hate is how Jimin is the one to get dragged the most because of shipping. He is obviously close to JK regardless of the type of relationship they have (boyfriends or best friends) and friends with Tae.

I think JK and JM have been loud over the years but toned it down in 2022/2023 for one or more reasons, but one main reason being they knew they were going to enlist together and had to make people/government see them as friends/colleagues and not boyfriends.

Although we had some great jikook moments last year, there were also taekook moments. Were any of these moments intentional by any of the three or all three members for specific reasons?

What do you all think of these?

As stated above I think a major reason that JK participated in shipping moments with JM and Tae was to try and dispel the belief he and JM were romantically involved due to their upcoming enlistment. By all three playing the shipping games, there is plausible deniability of an intimate relationship with any one of the members.

The shipping moments seemed to get heavy around promotions, concerts or release of content. Goes back to the k-pop business model of supporting shipping because it makes money.

Although, Jk was loud about Jimin. He also had his moments with Tae. Jimin also had his moments with JK, Tae and Suga.

Then we have the events of this week with JK following a fan site that reposted a lot of Jikook content along with Taekook and BTS members. It seemed to be in response to the craziness after he liked both Tae and Jimin content on his TikTok page. Of course he unfollows and that creates another uproar of hate against Jimin.

Interesting enough, JK searches and views multiple shipping accounts under the names of Jikook, Minkook, vkook. There may be more, i got tired of searching…..lol

I honestly think the guys could care less about the fan hate. Their participation in fanservice/shipping/skinship is part of their marketing strategy. It also protects their real, personal relationships. The fan behavior and reaction is on the fan, not on the members. They have been trained to deal with fan behavior/reaction since 2011/2012. Yet, when one of the members crosses a boundary, JK seems to step up and address it in lives or songs.

In spite of them participating in the shipping games, JK and JM continue to show who they are to each other regardless of what the fans do or say. They proved this when they boldly went to Japan together, even when they were being threatened with death and antis reporting an alleged gay relationship to the military.

The ultimate show of their bond was the announcement of them enlisting as companions in the military. Spending 18 months together: training, working, living, sleeping, vacationing.

Edit: i thought I had lost this post when I fell asleep. I just realized the draft is saved and I can finish and publish. So this is similar to my post on a reblog.

[thestrangestthing89]

This situation with Noah isn't a new problem in the fandom. These fans have been harassing everyone for months in them name of progressive causes they aren't well-informed about. This is obviously not specific to the Stranger Things fandom. Go anywhere online and you will likely see a bunch of teens screaming about something even though they clearly skipped the step of educating themselves. Not only have I been the target of the dumbest shit, but so many other people have too. No one can post here without someone getting self-righteous and yelling about it. I have been accused of the following simply for posting something to my own blog: - I've been called misogynistic because I said El wasn't the main character. A thing the writers have said several times now (it's Will). The writers aren't misogynistic either. - I've been called misogynistic because I said El has character flaws like everyone else. - I've been called a condescending bitch when I politely tried to explain what misogyny actually is. A thing you'd think they'd be interested in learning if they actually cared about that cause (clearly they don't or I wouldn't have been called a bitch so much). - Been called racist because I said Hopper wasn't copaganda, even though I explained clearly why I thought this was. - Got called racist because I pointed out that Lucas was often filling his Ranger role and that's why he is helping Mike in S3 (the boys all play their D&D characters). But the trendy thing to say at the time was that he was being written in racist way so obviously this means I'm racist too. - Had multiple people say I was silencing them when I wrote my own damn post (not a response to theirs) about many of the above topics. I just simply disagreed with their points and that isn't allowed here. - Had someone I never interacted with spread a rumor that I sent them anonymous hate filled asks even though I had no fucking clue who they were. And those posts were anonymous so they have no idea who actually sent them. They just wanted my attention. But I never sent anyone an anon ask before anyway so this was just bizarre. But a several people believed it. - Pretty much every adult on here has been accused of pedophilia for watching a show with kids on it. This gets pretty relentless sometimes. I'm sure I could think of several others and other people have had a lot as well. The thing about this as someone who has actually experienced things like misogyny first hand is that being called this is incredibly upsetting, especially when you are being called this by someone who doesn't know what they are talking about and doesn't care about the impact of these words. They just want you to shut up and stop telling them they did something wrong.

This is all happening because they are watching a show that is overwhelming them and they can't deal with people discussing it in a more nuanced way than they are. This wouldn't be happening if there were more adults here to drown it out. But as it is, no one can actually discuss this show and it has nothing to do with Noah. It's because kids are watching when they shouldn't. And they have weird, boundaries with the fandom and the cast that are constantly causing problems. This didn't happen back in the first 2 seasons because it was only adults watching. I'm not saying adults can't be problematic too, but most of this shit is from people who are way too young to handle this. And now we are all getting lectured by 14 year old foreign policy experts. It's not ok and they need to spend a lot of time learning about how to interact with people online better. This isn't the shows fault. But they can make it clear who this is actually for. Because these kids are going to throw a fit over everything. They always do. They aren't going to like S5 either. They are only watching because it's cool and they have FOMO. They can't understand it and are constantly insulting it and everyone associated with it and the fandom. Seriously, amp up the horror. Make it rated R. A lot of us would really love to be able to discuss this show and can't because of how awful it is here.

[razorblade180]

And as a bonus because I felt it wouldn't fit with my last ask: It is mean to say Blake's character development when it comes to being in a relationship might have gone backward? I mean, you would think after Adam she would want to be more upfront with wanting to stand on equal terms with Yang. But Blake mostly went along with what ever Yang wanted in Vol 7-8. It makes her advice to Nora feel hallow and that she's back to where she was before she met the others. The only difference is that Yang is a way better person then Adam. I know I've probably brought this in an ask before, but it's something that I've thought about in recent days. Blake really got the short end when it came to her character.

I saw both of your questions so I’m just gonna combine them in this post.

You’re right about Blake not having much of a personal investment to Salem. That could’ve been solved by making Adam run back to Salem with the other villains in V5 instead of completely divorcing him from the main plot. There’s irony in him working with humans but they could double down on him simply wanting the world and enemies to suffer. I would’ve paid money to see Jacques’s face hearing a soldier say “Adam Taurus is in the manor.” You can argue Weiss needed more of reason at the beginning but that remedies itself by her learning Winter is supposed to be a maiden. She doesn’t need a specific villain. Her reason is making sure her sister doesn’t get murdered.

As for Blake’s relationship status, o stand by my opinion it makes the most sense for her to want to be single for a while. Nora’s character arch is a very nice message, but it honestly should’ve gone to Blake who needs it more because the entire show makes Blake act based on the partner they attach her to.

V1-V2 had her act based on what Adam trauma and she only stopped because Yang told her to get a grip. Her even finding the WF was with Sun’s help.

Blake wasn’t planning on doing much or letting people help her in V4 without Sun kicking her butt into gear for the next volume; also implying a little bit of romantic behavior since V1. Then V6 has her trying to be a good partner to Yang and once again deal with her ex. After that traumatic experience, the show has her flirting with Yang. I know V7 has time skips but the flirting started after the haircut which was only a few days after V6

The decision to tell Robyn was brought up and pushed by Yang without any say from the other teammates which personally bugged me. Yang is obviously a better person than Adam by far but you can make the argument Blake gravitates to strong willed and outwardly passionate people, which creates an environment where she has less agency, or more likely to be a follower. Especially in later seasons because she would actively be trying to be a better partner instead of a better teammate to all.

So yeah I also found it a little odd for her to be one saying “You have to know who you are outside of the other person” when the audience doesn’t really get Blake making strong decisions and statements that come from her own way of thinking and not outside sources. Her strongest choice was cutting the train to leave the WF.

Nora’s never had a problem telling Ren and her friends when she thinks something is dumb or wrong and that they should be doing something else. She took the lead in the V6 conversation telling Jaune to heal, and is perfectly fine slapping Ren to his senses when he needs to get a grip.

If you read this far, just know I actually like bmblb and I think Nora’s development was sweet, but I really wish Blake stood up on her own more often.

[justanancientfangirl]

So this might be known already, and if so....sorry. I've been a huge fan and follower of Starkid since AVPM but I have never been involved with the fandom, so again, sorry if this is out of pocket or common knowledge. I just haven't seen it mentioned. This is a long one, so...main idea up top, long explanation under the cut.

So in the Hatchetfield musicals and Nightmare Time, we are told that the Lords in black are basically evil Eldritch monsters and Webby is their good guy sister, right?

But what do we know about Webby? We know what she has told Hannah and Lex, and we know she works in opposition to her brothers. We also know that Wiggly calls her a stupid bitch, but she was also actively telling Hannah what his plans were in order to thwart him, so. My point is, we do NOT know that she is a good guy, specifically. Just that her desires don't align with her more obviously evil brothers.

We also know that time seems to loop starting at Jane's car accident and seemingly ending at a point where the Lords in Black win enough influence to potentially cause a problem for the world at large. Sometimes this is a huge deal (TGWDLM or Black Friday). The NT episodes are much smaller and it's harder to tell when a reset might have happened (it seems like NT1 was more scattershot, but NT2 happened in the same continuity, but not the same one as NPMD).

The Lords we see in NT2 are Pokey and Nibbly. Nibbly gets what he wants (ie Linda Monroe) but Pokey doesn't in (presumably Killer Track) or Yellow Jacket. And Linda's dad says that Nibbly gets his Honey Queen Every year (I wonder how many times it's been her), so Nibbly getting what he wants isn't enough to reset the timeline. Possibly because he only gets one lady at a time?)

Some of the Lords seem more intent on being a real influence on the whole world (Pokey, Wiggly) others seem more content to mess with a smaller group (Blinky, Nibbly, Tinky).

We don't know what Webby wants, except that she doesn't want her brothers to succeed in getting what THEY want.

So: she creates a time loop. She sticks her brothers in a bit of a trap where they can potentially get free, but only in Hatchetfield to then spread to the world at large (Wiggly had influence all over the world (tho primarily in America it seems) but chose Linda Monroe as his vessel to come into the world even though the US and Russia had portals into the black already.)

Webby spins her stories, over and over, every time Hatchetfield fails to stop one of her brothers, she unravels it to the starting. Weird things keep happening in Hatchetfield, like in Perkys Buds that don't seem to relate to a specific Lord and their bid for power. Magic runs rampent in the town, seemingly stemming from the Starry Children cult. Now, they were worshipping the Lords in Black, but there has to be a reason that the Lords are so prevalent in the towns history, especially if Webby is the one who is resetting everything to Jane's death.

Tinky is the Time Bastard. If Webby trapped the Lords well, potentially with the sacrifice of Jane, he and the others might not have been able to properly escape, but they could use his time powers to influence the past of Hatchetfield. Like IT does with Derry. They've been a slow poison in Hatchetfield for decades, their magic and power causing a troubled past and weird events to occur. They try to break free, but if they get too close, their sisters web closes in and sends them back to the Black and the people of Hatchetfield back to the night Jane died.

Miss Holloway says that the deal she made for power comes with the cost that none can truly know her. She knows a lot about the Lords in Black and magic as well. It's indicated that she knows Webby as well in The Witch in the Web. We don't know with whom she made her deal, but I think it's likely it was Webby.

Webby also says to Hannah that she didn't give Hannah her power, but she also hasn't helped her understand it much, considering that Hannah thought Webby did in fact send her the visions, including the one that ended with her finger getting chopped off. To that end, when Hannah tried to confront her about it, Webby first tries to show up as a spider, and then as several (annoying) characters to distract her instead of trying to help, like she says she wants to do.

Who knows why Lex and Hannah have powers connected to the Black and White, maybe it's some weird Hatchetfield stuff, maybe their mom was the first to grow weed in the witchwood, maybe she had sex with a dude secretly possessed by one of the Lord's (it would have had to happen twice, so...idk about that) or maybe she herself was possessed by one of the Lords (Or Webby herself, planning for the future to make little soldiers to fight her brothers in the physical world). Not sure where that leaves the other kids with powers in YJ but none of them can do their magic outside the arena, and none of their powers seem to relate to the Black and White. So...maybe that's just Pokey giving them some power with his blue goop in his own quest to get Hannah to bring him into the world.

Anyway. Long post but...I just haven't seen anyone suggest that theory yet, and I thought it merits questioning.

I just don't think we can fully trust Webby. Not that she is definitely evil ... But she is an Eldritch god. She is bound to have a different view of morality than humans. And if what she wants is to get one over on her brothers, who she doesn't like and who don't seem to like her (well, Wiggly doesn't, and he seems to be the leader) then why shouldnt she use a town like Hatchetfield to do it, spinning her webs, he stories, and slowly trapping everyone inside. Hell, maybe every time they lose, they get a little more stuck.

We don't see the end of the world at the end of NPMD, but it definitely ends with Grace going on a rampage. I just wonder how long that will be allowed to last.

Fingers crossed for NT3 or another musical I guess.

[littlestarlost]

You're Probably Taking Yellowjackets too literally, and there's still time to stop.

So there's like two months until the second season premiere of Yellowjackets, and as someone who was watching the show literally from the night of the pilot premiere, I have some Thoughts about how the fandom reacted to a lot of the show's mysteries at the time of airing, how a rewatch of the full first season feels after getting all that info piecemeal week after week, and how, in my humble opinion, people are simply misunderstanding a MASSIVE part of the show's conceit. So here's that rant, because I just rewatched season 1, and very few shows make me want to write full-blown essays like this one. You should absolutely watch the show if you haven't yet, ESPECIALLY if you are AFAB or femme or were raised and socialized female. Because hooooooo boy.

One: What is Yellowjackets?

Yellowjackets is a television show that made its debut in the last few weeks of 2021. It stars Melanie Lynskey, Tawny Cypress, Christina Ricci, and Juliette Lewis as four women who, as teenagers, survived a harrowing plane crash with their high school soccer team which left them stranded in the Canadian wilderness for a year and a half. The series opens with a scene that really heavily implies that the girls resorted to cannibalism to survive during their ordeal, but we still do not know the specifics of how that came to be.

The show flips between following the adult survivors in the year 2021 and flashing back to the accident in 1996. The four main survivors--Shauna (Lynskey as an adult, Sophie Nélisse as a teen), Tai (Cypress as an adult, Jasmin Savoy Brown as a teen), Misty (Ricci as an adult, Sammi Hanratty as a teen) and Natalie (Lewis as an adult, Sophie Thatcher as a teen)--are all shown suffering from various levels and types of post-traumatic stress disorder, as you might imagine one would deal with if one had survived a fucking plane crash and cannibalism as teenagers. Without going deep into spoiler territory, let's just say that some shit goes down, and the first season concludes without a single piece of eaten flesh.

Two: Why is Yellowjackets Good?

These things are obviously subjective, but in my opinion Yellowjackets is one of the best pieces of fiction ever made about female trauma, specifically. When we meet the four adult survivors, none of them are doing well: Shauna chafes against her role as a stay at home wife and mom, seeking out an affair with a mysterious younger man because her world feels far too small; Taissa is running for state senate, but the stress of the election is causing the breakdown of her marriage and massive stress to her son; Natalie is in and out of rehab, actively suicidal and incapable of self-care; and Misty is a nurse who uses her role as a caretaker to manipulate and control everyone around her. Their various issues all stem not just from the plane crash, but also from the traumas that have been sprinkled throughout their lives up to the crash as well; Misty was a bullied social outcast, Natalie came from an abusive home, Shauna was constantly in her best friend Jackie's shadow, and Tai is a gay Black woman, with more than enough generational trauma to go around.

As a high school soccer team, all of these characters had their place in the hierarchy; but the crash upends that hierarchy. The queen bee is utterly useless out in the woods; the off-putting weirdo is suddenly the closest thing they have to a medical professional (she took babysitting training twice). Being in the closet no longer matters when you have to know how to hunt and clean a deer if you don't want to starve. Being the golden girl's best friend no longer carries the leverage it once did if you're more useful to the group than the golden girl. One person's hidden mental illness becomes a massive problem because she only took enough meds to cover the few days they were supposed to be away; another girls' religiosity becomes a lifeline in a mire of confusion and fear. The adults in the room are gone, and the already complex social structures of teenage girlhood become even more confusing when lives are literally on the line.

Three: What's Wrong With the Response to the Show?

The thing about Yellowjackets is that it has the misfortune of existing in the world that JJ Abrams has made, and JJ Abrams fucking destroyed the concept of mystery for an entire generation. For this, he will never be allowed to enter the kingdom of Heaven. May God have mercy on his soul.

Yellowjackets purposefully doesn't give us all the answers we want when we want them, and the setup of its many mysteries--how did the girls get rescued? Who gets eaten and when? What's with the weird symbol carved on the trees near the crash site?--includes allusions to possible--POSSIBLE--supernatural explanations. And as a result of JJ Abrams being one of the most irresponsible storytellers on the planet, I watched the media and fan response to Yellowjackets spiral into the same kind of mystery-box-solving, "MOVIE ENDING EXPLAINED IN 10 MINUTES" youtube video type of bullshit. It's dismaying because, at least in my opinion, it demonstrates a complete lack of understanding of what the showrunners are actually trying to explore, which is the fact that trauma does not resolve itself when given a tidy answer, and tidy answers simply do not exist anyway.

There are flashbacks inside flashbacks, pieces of the characters' childhoods that help to develop their backstories. One excellent example is the Man With No Eyes, a spectre first introduced in a flashback with Taissa as she watches her beloved grandmother die.

She sees The Man With No Eyes again in the woods, and then again as an adult spiraling into a psychotic episode. More intriguingly, Tai's son Sammy seems to imply knowledge of the Man With No Eyes too, despite the fact that Taissa has never told him about it. So, the fans wondered--how could he know? What could it mean? Is the Man a ghost? Is Sammy telepathic?

No.

The Man With No Eyes is a visual representation of generational trauma, and a really great one at that. Taissa does not come up with him; she learns of him from her grandmother, who sees him in her last terrified moments on this earth; it is a fear that is passed onto her children and grandchildren, despite having no explanation or origin. And generational trauma passes down to your kids, even when you don't vocalize it; that's what makes it generational trauma. Sammy inherits his mother's trauma, and in the absence of an answer he grasps for his own explanations for the spectre haunting him.

Another issue I take is with people trying to red-string-and-pushpin their way into a full explanation of the events we see. The crash survivors find a lake with an abandoned cabin nearby, where they can take more permanent shelter; why was there a mummified corpse in the attic? Why wasn't there a road from the cabin that they could follow to civilization? How far into the Canadian wilderness could they really be, to not be found for nineteen months?

It doesn't matter. If you're asking those questions, then you're not paying attention. You're missing the forest for the trees.

Four: Yellowjackets is a Show About Trauma

The thing about trauma is that it impacts every part of you. Nothing is ever the same, and the great agony of recovery is having to reconcile that painful truth. Another thing about trauma is that it defies logic and reason; there is no reason for why this happened to you and not to someone else. There is no tidy answer for every loose end. A lack of knowledge in the moment leads to actions which have consequences, and all the hindsight in the world can't change those decisions you made.

But one of the keenest and sharpest observations that Yellowjackets makes about trauma is the rather hilarious fact that we are all somehow supposed to just......go on living after it. Without getting help, without rending ourselves to ash and dust to be remade, without shrieking our anguish to the sky until we spit blood--we're just supposed to move on, to compartmentalize and keep going, to show up at work or school every single fucking day and just pretend that we're fine. And that doesn't just apply to major traumas like a fucking plane crash, but to all the tiny little traumas that come along with being a girl in society: the bullying, the ostracizing, the family issues, the generational trauma, the friendship breakups and emotional schisms. Yellowjackets is a show that demonstrates the absurdity of this expectation that we place on everyone in society, but especially on AFABs, to recover and continue and pretend that we aren't being eaten up from the inside. It's a show that takes great pains to reveal that nothing happens in a vacuum; every survivor of the plane crash arrived there with her own traumas already strapped to her back. It's a show that is willing to talk about how surviving something horrible will make you paranoid and anxious and insecure, even 25 years later, because trauma is continuous and healing is not linear. It's a show about reconciling the fact that answers simply aren't going to help, even if you get them someday.

Conclusion: How to Read Yellowjackets

I can't recommend Yellowjackets enough. It's a phenomenal show, especially if you are Gen X or millennial and grew up with these actresses as a major part of your adolescence. It's also a show that is proving itself to be whip-smart, far smarter than JJ Abrams ever was. It's a show that reminds us how cannibalistic teenage girlhood can be on its own, never mind the stresses of a real survival situation. It's a show that talks, openly and honestly, about how many of us simply are not okay, and shouldn't be considered okay, and probably should not be operating heavy machinery. It's a show that is willing to confront the way we need to cannibalize ourselves, consume our own trauma like Saturn devouring his son, in order to return to the world waiting impatiently for the version of us who will never exist again. It's a show not only about MILF rights, but also about MILF wrongs.

[edgybutnotveryedgy]

My Very Unhinged Lila Theory Part 1/3

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

Lila isn’t a good liar. From the beginning she has told lies that a even a fifth grader would never take at face value. Let alone adults. Yet she has so many people who believe these lies to the point that she has multiple women convinced that they are all her mom. She is enrolled at multiple schools. She has a secret lair in the Paris catacombs. She has been caught in her lies multiple times even, yet it wasn’t until Confrontation that she was caught in any of these lies. 

The easy thing to do is to say that this is just lazy writing or plot convenience or something, but I don’t like that answer. It’s boring and lazy and I like to have fun. That being said, I think to begin with the real question we should be asking is: why do people blindly believe Lila? 

Knowing what we know about Lila as of season 5, I think that it is worthwhile to look back on her former appearances. Going through former episodes, I have come to the ultimate conclusion, I don’t think that Lila is just a good liar, even in universe. I believe she is using some sort of power or magic to make people believe anything she says. 

To begin with, I would like to address the following. There are canonically other forms of magic and superpowers in the Miraculous universe. Obviously we have the Kwami, but on multiple occasions Plagg mentions other kinds of magic. In Origins Part 1, Adrien, after putting on his ring, says “No way! Like the Genie in the Lamp!” followed by Plagg saying “I met him once. So he grants wishes. Big deal. I’m way more personable!” There’s also mention of Dragons a few times in the series, as well as United HeroeZ showcases many different heroes and villains who have abilities of their own. There’s also The Legend of Ladydragon with the Renlings, who are similar to Kwami, but still are not Kwami. 

Furthermore, Miraculous is a part of a shared universe. Any show that goes under the Zag Heroez brand is a part of the shared universe. This includes Zak Storm, Power Players, and Ghostforce. Obviously Ghostforce has its ghosts as its main supernatural element. Power Players has a life giving magic called minergy that brings inanimate objects like toys to life. Zak Storm has aliens, witches, ancient gods, Atlanteans, time travel shenanigans, magic wizard aliens, star people, magic guardians, and skeletons. And that’s just scratching the surface. (seriously please watch zak storm. It is so underrated and needs more eyes on it.) These are just the shows that have aired. There are more shows that have been stuck in production hell, like Fairyon, Pixiegirl, and others that all have other magical elements. Bottom line is that a character in Miraculous having powers that aren’t connected to Kwami’s is not unreasonable, and in fact would add a lot world building wise. 

To begin with, I want to note some specific quotes from episodes involving Lila that I believe suggest her having some sort of abilities. I recommend that any readers should go rewatch the episodes themselves. In this post I’ll just be covering episodes in season’s 1 and 2. So lets begin!

Volpina 

When Marinette first gets to school she hears everyone fawning over the new girl Lila. Here is her dialogue

[Shortly after watching Lila drag away a clearly uncomfortable Adrien.] [Marinette is panicking because she thinks Lila is going to seduce Adrien and then he'll never love her.]

Marinette: *gasp* "where are they going? Alya! We've gotta stop them."

Alya: "You need to chill out Marinette. My Ladyblog has the highest number of hits ever after that Lila interview!"

Marinette: "what's going on? I mean has this Lila girl hypnotized everyone or something?"

Tiki: "You wouldn't be a little jealous, Marinette?"

Marinette: "huh? Me? Jealous? No way!"

[Marinette proceeds to run after Adrien and Lila]

...

While Marinette is spying on Adrien and Lila, Adrien is looking at the book he stole from his dad. Lila comes over talking about doing history homework with Adrien.

Lila looks smitten with Adrien. 

Her eyes look down and she notices the book Adrien has, then she immediately looks shocked.

Lila: "What's that?"

She pulls the book over to herself to look at it while Adrien starts to panic.

Adrien: "uh.. Nothing! Just stories about superheroes." (Smooth save bro)

Lila puts her hand on Adrien’s hand.

Lila: "I love super heroes!" (It feels like she's specifically trying to form a character that she thinks Adrien will like)

Lila turns the page and it shows Ladybug.

Lila: "Ladybug?" (She seems genuinely excited when she sees this.)

Adrien: "She's amazing!" (He's so smitten)

Lila suddenly has a jealous look. She puts the book down and moves herself and her chair over closer to Adrien.

Lila: "A girl doesn't need to wear a costume to be amazing, you know."

Adrien panicking autistically: "uhh, i don't know? I mean i-"

Lila: "so! You've got a little soft spot for the bug huh?"

Adrien: "me? Oh no. Not at all!"

Lila: "You know, I actually happen to be very close friends with ladybug." 

Adrien: "Really?"

Lila: "We can chat about it if you want! Not here though. Why don't we meet at the park after school, and I'll tell you everything."

Adrien suddenly has to go to fencing practice, and he drops his bag. Meanwhile the book falls out, and Lila slips it away with her shoe. Before giving Adrien back his bag.

Why is she so obsessed with getting Adrien to like her?

Heroes Day Part One

Lila has apparently convinced her mom, the ambassador Ms. Rossi, that school has been closed down and isn't reopened due to akuma attacks, as well as apparently she has convinced her mom that ladybug is useless and unable to save anyone. Like... Doesn't her mom watch the news? Or go outside? She's an ambassador. There has to be more to this than just Lila being a good liar. Especially to her own "mother."

While in her room looking over the heroes day footage

Lila: "Liar! Traitor! Coward!"

Gabriel comes up on the screen to announce his contribution to the parade as well as to denounce Volpina.

Gabi: "in honor of the wonderful Ladybug who has saved my son Adrien and myself, and who relentlessly protects all of us every day. I have financed this tribute to Ladybug, because Ladybug is the only true hero unlike her mediocre imitations, such as Volpina."

As soon as Gabriel comes on screen Lila goes quiet and is suddenly very interested to know what gabe has to say. I just think this is interesting. 

After hearing what Gabriel says about Volpina, Lila gasps and looks upset. She then proceeds to throw her laptop against the wall, then dramatically yell

Lila: "I HATE YOU LADYBUG!"

Next the scene cuts to Gabi doing his Hawkmoth thing. He sends an akuma out to Lila. 

Lila is just sitting in her room looking very alone and upset.when she hears the akuma wings fluttering she looks up. Suddenly she looks frightened and jumps back a bit gasping before it goes into her bracelet. 

Hawkmoth: "Volpina."

Lila: "Hawkmoth!" (She says this very happily)

Hawkmoth: "Your dreams were once a reality, until Ladybug turned them into a nightmare. Regain your power of illusion, and make this heroes day a nightmare for all Parisians!"

Lila: "With great pleasure Hawkmoth."

...

After Volpina does her whole thing and makes everyone in Paris worried,

Hawkmoth: "Dear Volpina, you've performed your role well for the time being. We will meet again very soon."

Volpina: "I'll be waiting, Hawkmoth."

After being detransformed, Lila looks up, and she has a very sinister smile.

About Volpina

Powers of Illusion. She uses her powers to make people believe what she wants them to believe, such as in her debut episode, where she uses these powers to convince Ladybug and Chat Noir and Adrien as well as all of Paris, that she is amazing and that she accomplishes great feats. As we know though, this is all an illusion. Much like her lies. She also uses these abilities to ruin the reputation of Ladybug in Hero’s day, as well as to attempt to trick Ladybug and Chat Noir. This mirrors her behavior in later episodes as well. 

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3