developinglife-blog1

[alex-is-a-simp-73]

Look guys I low-effort doodled an argos

And a corresponding Mr. plant

They're so silly I love them

[somewhereincairparavel]

General Jason Grace headcanons ⚡

⚡ I feel like he's kinda sensitive. He isn't the crier type of sensitive tho but since he's super emotionally attuned to body language reading and stuff, he gets a little hurt easily, sometimes misinterpreting someone's behaviour to him, so maybe if one of his friend's start getting snappy with him because they're having a bad day, he'd actually be pretty damn upset about it, but would hide it.

⚡ Also also, this man HATES being yelled at. Sure, he's been trained harshly and stuff but he's very hard on himself too so I feel like if someone yells at him (like in an argument or something) the poor boy's whole day would be ruined.

⚡ This is also why I feel like he NEVER raises his voice harshly at anyone even if he's super super angry because he knows how much damage yelling can do.

⚡ But. He can still manage to be terrifying if he's mad. He'd have that intense icy stare directed at the person (I'm pretty sure this is canon and is pointed out by multiple characters in the books). And his voice would be steady but VERY firm and strong. Kinda like a strict dad.

⚡ Also, his eyes would get a slight shade lighter if he's super angry. Like he usually has bright electric blue eyes right? It would just turn into ice colured ones.

⚡ Okay I feel like before they all go to bed, he'd go check on everyone in the Argo ii to see if they're comfortable or if they need anything, etc. definitely an overbearing mother friend tbh. He gets this habit from camp Jupiter where he was kinda in charge for cabin rounds since he was centurion.

⚡ I hc him to have like lemony yellow hair, instead of platinum or golden blonde. It's not too light but it isn't dark either.

⚡ Why do I feel like sun tan literally never affects this guy? Like for instance, I totally hc that percy gets tanned pretty quickly, but this man's skin just wouldn't budge. Instead of his body getting tanned I feel like his hair would get a few yellow shades darker instead lol

⚡ I felt like he'd be sunburnt instead tho. There would be blotchy pink patches on his face and arms after he comes back from the beach.

⚡ He definitely LOVES his roman baths, could spend hours in that bath (honestly if u guys have seen traditional Roman baths, you'd know that they look like a spa day DREAM omg) so he would feel super disoriented when he has regular baths in chb instead and would miss Roman baths SO badly.

⚡ Like the Roman baths literally ease his muscle tension after a long day. It would be like the only part of the day in camp Jupiter that would actually feel relaxing for him.

⚡ He's such a foodie okay. Remember how he kept munching on his brownies religiously when the crew were in such a dangerous situation? ("Pass me the brownies bro") or when he loved the sweet stuff the snake people had made for them? Like food just makes him forget his duties and be a kid for once.

⚡ Which leads us to our next hc, he has such a sweet tooth! (Tho I feel like this was aluded many times in the books aswell). Like he's every dentist's nightmare tbh. He has like teeth stains which he'd deliberately try to get rid of by aggressively brushing his teeth (it does come off lol)

⚡ As opposed to what people usually assume about him. Jason is secretly such a hopeless romantic tbh. Nothing like his dad in that category. Remember how he snuck Piper out the window, led her into his secret rooftop passage simply to recreate their first kiss under the stars, since Piper was super upset about it being fake? Yeah, he hates upsetting his s/o. he's like super thoughtful and plans stuff like these days ahead so he doesn't forget :(

⚡ He's such a people pleaser even with people he barely knows, and the effect only doubles when he has a partner tbh. Like if his partner doesn't like a particular place? He won't like it either. So he needs someone to encourage him and tell him it's okay to like something the others dislike.

⚡ Which is also why I think that he'd be easier to emotionally guilt trip and manipulate. :(( somone wrap him up in a fluffy blanky pls

⚡ As opposed to canon, I feel like Jason only dislikes Camp Jupiter, not New Rome itself. He ADORES that place to shreds. I feel like instead of settling in a mortal area or something, he'd definitely stay in New Rome for long-term living (bc screw canon, him wanting to leave new Rome all together seems SO ooc to me idk) some parts of his roman self would ALWAYS be there tbh. That place was practically his home. Also, he only wants a peaceful, monster free life right? New Rome would obviously provide with all that, yk since they have a strong barrier for the city to prevent invasion.

⚡ He would have an aptitude for sculpting statues and stuff. He'd love to do it as a hobby, not like an architect or something like annabeth tho. He made such cool dioramas for his shrine ideas, so I feel like he just pours his heart and soul into making cool sculptures.

⚡ He would totally study in law school. His dad's legit the god of justice, he's a great speaker, can hold debates calmly, can canonically hear both sides of an argument before coming to a decision, seems very lawyer coded.

⚡ But he'd also be a good history professor. Have yall heard his yapping? Leo called him professor Grace for how much dedication he goes into explaining roman history. And he genuinely LOVES it. A very passionate teacher material to me.

⚡ Also, all he wants is for his partner to listen to him talk :( he has SO much to say but he feels like no one listens, so hed literally cry if someone takes interest in his long explanations (kind of like annabeth in this tbh)

⚡ Also, Octavian can NEVER argue with Jason because that man is just THAT good at smart and witty answers that even octavian saw him as a threat.

[11queensupreme11]

How would the yanderes react to the character and way of being of Piper and her relationship with Percy, I mean, I'm not judging Rick, but he went out of his way to make a Mary Sue and an icon for women with his way of being even at the expense of ruining his other characters (Annabeth, Percy, etc.) giving him powers that are not relevant in the previous books we had been told that the witchspeaker does not It worked with the gods and out of nowhere comes Piper and it worked when she manipulated Gai later with her attitude of "I'm a daughter of Aphrodite who doesn't like to be pretty, attract attention, be rich." I don't like that my father is a famous actor either, he knows how to fight and that makes me different from my mother's other children." What is this about? Aphrodite's children demonstrated several times that not only did they She worries about their appearance and that they know how to fight especially in the last hero of Olympus and most of the time Piper likes to be paid attention when she is with the 7 in the Argo I feel like Piper would be the type of character who has the script on her side and that's why things turn out well for her. While Rick gives Percy and Nico every character development that makes you think "stop Rick, he's one step away from breaking down," Piper literally said that he suffered a lot in his childhood because"Her father was not with her and he preferred to spend his time working" that is not suffering, your father spent his time working so he could take care of you Meanwhile, Percy's mother also worked and kept her away from him and she did not put herself in a suffering role, Nico Zeus killed his mother, Jason was abandoned by his mother, Leo had to see his mother Dying and blaming himself for it, But each one moved forward While Percy and the others, sorry, but I'm going to focus on my daughter in the books, it seems to me that sometimes Piper doesn't like Percy for the simple fact of being a competition.For Jason being the son of Poseidon

Sorry, I got excited and deviated from the question, what is it:

How would the yanderes react to Piper if she somehow didn't like Percy or treated her badly in the Argo when Percy tried to (as she did in most of the Mark of Athenea book) give orders

It may be a very unlikely situation according to some that Piper treats her badly but it is that in blue arsenic Percy adopted a personality that Piper and most feminists would not like.(Act adorable and like a helpless little girl)

(MY RESPONSE ENDED UP BEING SO LONG TOO LMAO, I'M SORRY)

so a long time ago i found this funny website about the types of mary sues, and here are the ones i feel like piper fits the bill for:

-> not just about piper's issues with her dad and being rich, but her whole thing with jason, which is ESPECIALLY prevalent in toa, where she bemoans about how hera and aphrodite FORCED her into a relationship with jason, when that was not the case at all. throughout all of hoo, we read about piper going through with the false memories even after being told that they were fake memories conjured by the mist, wishing that jason doesn't remember his past so he would stay with her, getting jealous over reyna, getting upset whenever jason thinks about anything related to camp jupiter, etc.

but rick was getting a lot of backlash over jasper/jiper, so he breaks them up in toa, but does it in a way to make PIPER look like the victim instead because, again, he really likes her and wants ppl to sympathize with her

-> someone on quotev mentioned this, but basically piper and annabeth lol. when piper first landed in camp, annabeth was spilling EVERYTHING to her and immediately became vulnerable, when annabeth was never characterized to be like that. she has always been standoffish at times, and after the war, she definitely wouldn't be spilling all her woes to a random girl. but again, rick wants her to be liked, and the best way to do that was immediately have her connect with a well-loved character from the first series

(i'm really sorry about these big ass adds that appear in the middle 💀)

-> piper out-charmspeaking drew, which was made easier for her since the aphrodite kids were given a massive downgrade personality and skill-wise. and like you mentioned before, her charmspeak working on goddesses even though it shouldn't.

-> piper has done a lot of stuff wrong. before they get to kansas, she gets visions from katoptris about jason having golden eyes (he and percy gets possessed by the eidolons and are forced to try and kill each other), REPEATEDLY gets a vision of her, jason, and percy DROWNING, and a dude with a vine hat (bacchus). and she only every speaks about the dude with the vine hat 💀. and after she, jason, and percy drown, she confesses that she had seen it before and apologizes for not saying anything because "i didn't know how to tell you guys 🥺" and she's immediately forgiven

-> honestly, it's not really just piper, but it shows more with her 💀 rick was trying to make her a feminist icon, but she reeked of internalized misogyny and it didn't help that all of her enemies or rivals were female characters who were comfortable with their femininity (they liked pink, wore makeup, liked dresses/skirts, etc.) and she triumphed over them every single time, which is basically proves that piper was RIGHT to think that way 💀

-> she was obsessed with jason bro 💀 like, almost possessive kinda yandere, but ofc it was never supposed to be seen that way, rick just unwittingly wrote her that way which is kinda funny

-> she's not exactly a villain (she's supposed to be one of the good guys) but she was DEFINITELY spoiled by the story for sure 💀

OKAY IM SORRY I WENT ON A TANGENT TOO, BUT I WANTED TO SHOW YOU THE SITE I FOUND LMAO 😭

i'm not gonna have piper and percy interact much, tho to be fair, they didn't interact much in canon either so i don't think anything will change. piper will definitely notice percy's more girly side and be like "ew :/" but she's mostly going to be daunted by her because YES, she's girly and a bit of a girlflop, but she's seen her fight and seen how powerful she can be. she's mostly just gonna be sus and jealous cuz i plan on fleshing out percy and jason's relationship

(i plan on making jason lowkey jealous and bitter about percy because percy is everything he strives to be: perfect, and it makes him insecure. plus, she's clearly well-loved not just by the camp, but by her father and other gods, and he feels inadequate and wants to be like her, but percy's gonna try and help him through with it 🥺💖)

daddyseidon obviously detests piper and is pissed that she refuses to obey percy's orders. in his eyes, his daughter has the highest status out of everyone there and every word she says should be law 💀

hades is put off by piper. he doesn't understand what her problem is LMAO. while he doesn't think it's right for percy to be in charge (she's just a wittle baby, she should be in the palace and chilling, not fighting for her life! 🥺), she's still of higher status and should be obeyed.

(imagine their shock when they find out that percy's actually NOT treated as a princess there and is just treated as One of Them, which she's perfectly cool with ofc, but they hate ittttt 😂😂😂)

apollo is disgusted. his whole thing is about loving yourself and with piper's blaring internalized misogyny, she clearly does NOT love herself and makes it everyone's problem in his eyes 😭😭 he's so worried about percy, what piper's her pissy attitude influences his darling?!?!?! 🥺

beelzebub would just want her dead 💀 his stress levels are high okay, this poor man is stuck watching the love of his life fight against giants, monster, and GAEA 24/7, he just wants them all DEAD ALREADY

loki would find her the most hilarious thing ever (in a derogatory way). she's so full of contradictions it almost makes him feel better about himself 😭 says she's not boy-obsessed and that her siblings are pathetic losers, but acts crazy when it comes to jason. etc etc. it's not until she makes her dislike to percy known that he sobers up and goes "ok that bitch has got to go 😤"

anubis (omg i think this is the first i ever got to write about him like this?!) wouldn't even CARE about piper. she wasn't even in his RADAR and she would've been perfectly safe!! ...but then she goes and does ONE wrong thing to percy and now all bets are off 💀 anubis would've been the only one who would've spared her cuz his only concern is percy, but once she goes after her, he's planning on killing her and using her bones as a chew toy 💀

[nikoisme]

Going absolutely insane over the concept of name and identity in The Odyssey. The concept of recognition. Like, the reveal of one's identity is present in both The Iliad and The Odyssey, but specifically The Odyssey drives me into despair.

The Phaeacians don't recognize Odysseus. His family doesn't recognize Odysseus (except his dog!! all praise Argos). Odysseus doesn't recognize Ithaca. There's barely any recognition without revealing, and Odysseus takes a while to reveal himself. Chronologically speaking, his first disguise in The Odyssey is Nobody. And when he does reveal his true identity, it causes him and his crew pain and suffering. Maybe that instilled a fear of revealing his true identity. His name invoked the death of his men. And all his other identities (too tired to remember/look for all the names he's gone under), while realistic and authentic sounding, are non-existent. All those people he claimed he was are not real. They are nobody. If he is not Odysseus, he is nobody, and if he is not nobody, he is Odysseus. But Odysseus, his fucking name drives me insane. His name means to hate. Since his childhood that hatred was imprinted on him. Do you think it left an lasting impact?? Some sort of "expectation" that he had to meet?? A curse, a constant shadow following him everywhere he goes?? Something he inherited, that is tied to him even if it's not his?? Hate was tied to him directly through his name that his grandfather gave him. In The Iliad, everyone refers to him as "Son of Laertes (which is obviously the way they identified as back then)", "sacker of cities", "long-enduring" etc etc. But Odysseus refers to himself as "Father of Telemachus". Also this:

He swears by his son's name, by the name of someone, something that is his. Something that is not inherited, that isn't placed upon him. Something that he earned himself. Something that he loves, the opposite of the hate that is his name. It's a part of him, part of his identity. And if he is not the son of Telemachus, then he isn't Odysseus. He is nobody.

But in The Odyssey, he refers to himself as the sacker of cities. When he introduces himself to the Phaeacians, he says that he is the sacker of cities. His invention of the Trojan horse was the bane of Troy. And that trick is a part of him, his cunning and trickery. He destroyed the home of hundreds, thousands of people. And do you think, that after every hardship he faced on his journey back home, he lost his sense of self?? In the war, he had the hope of going back home. He had the hope that he would see his wife and son again. As long as the other kings and soldiers are there, also longing to go back home, then his hope is real. He is real. But after all of his men died, he was alone. No one to share his longing, to share his hope. No one is there to remind him that he is real. So he only has his newer memories, new things that are tied to him. Sacker of cities. Long enduring. Doesn't sound all that happy. It almost sounds like hate. Without the hope of seeing everything that is his because he earned/worked for it himself, he goes back to his name. It might be the only thing grounding him, reminding him that he is real. And when he hears the bard sing of the fall of Troy, the man absolutely weeps. Because he sings about him. He sings about the fall of Troy, and it fell because of him. It fell because he is the sacker of cities. He is the sacker of cities because he is Odysseus. Because he doesn't know who he is. And even Penelope when she listens to the bard wants him to sing about something else. Someone else. Because that is not her Odysseus, her husband, her son's father. It hurts her to think that even though he might be alive, her Odysseus is gone. He is dead either way. And even his son when he sees him first thinks he is a god. That he is not human, that he is not a man. Because gods are immortal, ever lasting. And mortals have only a lifetime to make it worth it, to attach something to themselves and their names. And Telemachus thinks that his father is a god, that his father has no name and no identity of his own.

And when his loved ones recognize him, it's by the things he attached himself to during the war. The things that are a part of his real identity, of his identity. Odysseus tells his son that he is his father. Argos recognizes him as his master. Eurycleia recognizes his scar that he earned when he went hunting. He tells his father about the trees in the orchard. And Penelope finally believes it's him because of the olive tree bed story. The bed that he built himself. That he built his home around. And Penelope doesn't believe it's truly Odysseus, because he is not the man that left Ithaca twenty years ago. But when Odysseus is able to tell her about the bed, she can believe it's Odysseus. Or atleast a part of him is there. It's Odysseus Odysseus, the name and identity that he built. And not Odysseus, the name that simply means hate.

[queenpiranhadon]

do whichever you want, I dont care lol

zenitsu agatsuma

Leo valdez

tanjirou kamado

grover underwood

they are put in order of how much I simp for them

A/N: I'm going to assume you want x reader because yeah lmaooo but since his birthday is today, I figured I'd do our favorite Uncle Leo hahahah Here's the masterlist!!

Warning(s): Cursing, mentions of being burned, blood, crying, you are Leo are best friends, angst with a happy ending, Leo is in love and doesn't realize it bahaha, reader is unclaimed, people be shit talking, there's no timeline for this, just insert it where you want lmao, reader is gn but is written with f!reader in mind, usage of Y/N, Leo refers to you as an angel

Pairing(s): Leo Valdez x Reader

•────•°•❀•°•───── ʙ��ᴏᴋᴇɴ ─────•°•☁︎•°•────•

Aw fuck.

Leo may or may not have royally messed up. Like a ton.

He didn't even know how it happened, because one moment he's walking through Camp Halfblood with you, his best friend in the entire world, and the next, he overhears some bastards talking shit about you and he just...snaps.

"Ugh who'd you get on your team for capture? Can't believe Mr. D thought it would be a good idea to split up the cabins and 'mix and match'"

"Yeah it's honestly super dumb- I'm not complaining though, I've got Annabeth."

"You're just lucky- I got Y/N of all people- literally the most annoying person on camp- and honestly the most useless too."

At at the sound of that, Leo whipped his head to you, just in time to see your eyes wide, on the brink of brimming with tears before looking forwards, attempting to pretend you didn't hear anything.

But you had.

And Leo knew.

You were unclaimed, and you mostly kept to yourself until Leo found you tending to Festus while he was away one day- and surprisingly the metal dragon seemed completely at ease around you.

Leo was awestruck, and ever since then, you two had gotten extremely close, the son of Hephaestus even found himself longing to be in your presence whenever he was on quests.

You were quiet, but around him, you opened up more, you were funny, and kind, and you have a quick tongue too, always engaging in light banter with him that never ceased to be entertaining to either of you.

To him, you were perfect- because you were there. His first best friend technically wasn't his in the first place, given that Jason, Piper and Leo himself were all under Hera's unnerving control. Needless to say, the three of them were still close, but Leo couldn't shake the feeling that it wasn't genuine.

Along with the rest of the Argo II members, he felt more like a seventh wheel more than anything (if that was even possible) and deep down, the nagging thought that he was nothing but a burden always lingered.

Around you though, he felt like someone, like he was special - around you, he felt like Leo Valdez.

Maybe that's why he got so mad, he didn't even know he could get so mad- and the next thing he knows, a murderous scowl is painted on his face and he's lunging for the two other campers, fists ablaze.

But you were faster.

You, sweet angel you, saw what was coming the moment his palms tightened into fists, lunging forward to stop him, using your hands to stop him own.

In hindsight, you probably should've remembered his hands were on fire.

But even as pain seared your palms to the point tears where subconsciously running down your face, you swallowed, and stood firm.

"Leo, please." you beg weakly, and in an instant, his flames distinguish, and your blood now paints his first- horror overtaking his face as you stare into his eyes pleadingly. "They're not worth it."

Leo, in his guilt ridden frozen state, can only bring himself to look at you, and yet, he doesn't deserve it, your eyes wide and cheeks stained with tears- he can't believe he had done this to you.

He, of all people, had hurt his angel, his haven, his best friend.

But you didn't waver, when he buried his hands in his eyes, sobbing uncontrollably, you said nothing, engulfing him in your arms and pressing his face into the crook of your neck and he heaved, tears soaking into your shirt.

He was broken, but he knew, even if he didn't deserve it, you would be there to pick up his fragments, piece by piece, with your damaged hands, just so you two could be together again.

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

IOTA Reviews: Pretension

Oh joy, another Felix episode. Because the last one was just so good, wasn't it?

Let's get into the nineteenth episode of Miraculous Ladybug's fifth season: Pretension

We start off with Kagami and Adrien heading to school, with the former making plans with Marinette to spend a little time together, all while Argos stalks them. We then cut to Gabriel, who's attempting to heal his Cataclysm wound with a machine that drains the energy from his imprisoned Kwamis. It fails because... uh... uhhhh... it just doesn't?

Kaalki: I told you. No magic can heal this wound.

Barkk: A Cat Noir Cataclysm can't be healed!

Yeah, they just say nothing can heal the wound, and don't even mention the fact that we've already seen the Ladybug Miraculous heal Adren when he was wounded by his own Cataclysm in “Miraculer”. And before you say it was a weaker version of the attack, check out what Astruc said a few years ago when the subject was brought up.

Whether you want to take this as fact or not since it wasn't explained in the show itself, the point is that we've seen Ladybug heal someone who was wounded by Cataclysm before. Then again, considering the recent reveal, that episode only opens up another can of worms.

Back at school, Marinette talks with Adrien and Kagami about how Gabriel only sees her as some crazy fan, though she doesn't do a lot to help her case.

Tomoe arrives, and just like she's done this whole season, is only here to provide exposition while nagging Gabriel to get Ladybug and Cat Noir's Miraculous already. Gabriel comes up with a plan involving a gadget Felix accidentally dropped at the end of the last season. If you forgot, I understand, since it's a pretty weird thing to call back to.

Marinette: He feels worried and I would be too if I were him. He thinks I'm one of those fans who follows you everywhere, showers you with hand-knitted gifts and knows every single one of your middle name days.

Kagami: Isn't that what you used to do, Marinette?

Marinette: Yes... except no! I mean, yes, but I was doing it out of love and, besides, I've changed a lot.

Kagami: You are correct.

Marinette: Really? You think I've changed a lot?

Kagami: No. Well, not that much.

I love when even the show points out how little character development there is. Makes my job a lot easier.

Adrien goes with Marinette to talk to Gabriel about their relationship. We get a pretty somewhat chilling moment where Gabriel's kind father facade briefly fades as he orders Adrien to go to his room so he and Marinette can talk, all while he still puts on a welcoming image. After Plagg reminds Adrien that all Gabriel knows how to cook is pancakes, Gabriel then lectures Marinette about why he doesn't want her to see Adrien.

Gabriel: I don't think you understand, child, so let me put things differently. Life is like fashion. You think you have a choice, but all you have is the illusion of choice. And I decide what choices are given to you.

Marinette: You're wrong! (Shows Gabriel her sketchbook with her designs) Fashion is about listening to people, it's about understanding who they are, what excites them and creating the clothes that will help them express their inner world. Help them connect with others and make their dreams come true.

Gabriel: (Laughs and looks over Marinette's sketchbook) No, that's not fashion. That's making dresses for your dolls. Fashion is a product, a marketing strategy, an industry that relies on uninterrupted trend renewal that forces you to either throw away everything you have and buy more or, worse, to be out of fashion.

That bastard! I can't believe Gabriel wants to make an honest living by using market research data to his advantage! What a piece of scum...

I joke, but the rest of Gabriel's little rant is even worse, as he acts as if he decides what people like and don't like, even though he just mentioned the importance of keeping up with current trends. Seriously, this dude's talking as if the entire world revolves around his brand.

Gabriel: Thanks to the clothes I create, the celebrities who wear them, the advertisements I design and the Alliance rings that broadcast them, I create an idyllic vision. A perfection that everyone aspires to achieve, while keeping it just out of their grasp. You finally understand the difference, don't you? You listen to people's desires and create what they want. Somehow, people make you. Whereas I create people's desires. They buy what I decide to buy. They think what I want them to think. I'm the one who makes people. You think you love Adrien, but you're just under the spell of this world I've created. A world where Adrien is the star, shining high above. A world where you're just part of the crowd below looking up at him.

Let's see... a complete narcissist with an obsession with controlling others, puts on a facade to make himself look more approachable, uses his influence to sell something to the masses that are part of his greater operation, and acts as if his products are necessary for society to function when they're more of a luxury than anything else? Where have I seen this before?

Marinette goes against Gabriel's wishes and tells Adrien she loves him before rightfully telling him to piss off... through a pancake metaphor, for some reason.

Marinette: You know what the problem is with your pancakes? Way too much flour, not enough butter. You're using an old, completely outdated recipe. No one likes them like that anymore. And that's the good thing about being a baker's daughter. I don't even need to try them to know that they're tasteless.

You know, I could make so many jokes about the state of the show with this little speech, but I feel like it'd be too easy.

Meanwhile, Kagami tries to tell her mother that she's not interested in Adrien anymore, but we get the same crap Tomoe has been saying ever since Season 3. “You must follow our family legacy, Kagami!”, “Stop letting your emotions control you, Kagami!”, “I'm only blind for a cheap visual metaphor, Kagami!”, yadda, yadda, yadda. During this, Argos overhears this and outright kidnaps Kagami. Rather than call the police to report a kidnapping, Tomoe calls Gabriel, who had transformed into Monarch offscreen, and tells him to akumatize him (even though she's still carrying her useless Magical Charm), which he does, turning her into Matagi Gozen.

Matagi Gozen is basically Ikari Gozen, only instead of a centaur, she now rides a robot dog for some reason and has a bow and arrow now. Her powers are basically related to her size and riding a robot dog, mostly so we can focus on her Miraculous powers for the day. Even though Tomoe was seen wearing six Alliance rings before she called Gabriel, she only gets three powers, the Bee Miraculous' Venom, the Rooster Miraculous' Sublimation (which she uses to give herself an enhanced sense of smell), and the Mouse Miraculous' Multitude. It's really just the same setup we got in “Multiplication” with a few changes, and it's nothing special. Although, it's too bad that Monarch doesn't have the Dog Miraculous, as that would have really gone well with her powers.

As the four Matagi Gozen clones go on the hunt, Argos takes Kagami to the Eiffel Tower to hide out, where we get—wait, it's, it's, BY GOD, IT'S KAGAMI WITH A WOODEN CHAIR!

Argos transforms back into Felix, and unintentionally throws Matagi Gozen off the trail since she was tracking him through one of the feathers on his fan. It turns out that after that single conversation they shared last episode, Felix is suddenly developing feelings for Kagami, and the whole reason he kidnapped her, aside from “protecting her from her mother”, is to get to talk to her again.

Felix: We have so much in common, and yet, you're also so different. I've never met someone like you.

Kagami: We don't even know each other!

Felix: I know you. I've been following you non-stop.

Kagami: Even better! You follow me, you spy on me and now you've kidnapped me to get to know me?!

Felix: Uh... yes?

Kagami: You are utterly incompetent at social relations.

See? Felix isn't a sociopath who just tried to wipe out all of humanity last episode! He just needs to make friends, that's all.

Yeah, in case you can't tell, it seems like the show is still trying to course correct the characterization of Felix. Rather than the overconfident and manipulative wild card he was for his last five appearances, the episode is now trying to make Felix out to be a secretly awkward person with noble goals. Afterall, he saved Kagami, so by that logic, he has to be a good guy. Yeah, he technically stalked her like a creep, but it ended up being good in the end, didn't it?

After Marinette and Adrien transform into Ladybug and Cat Noir respectively, the Matagi Gozen clones start to track Felix through the scent of the aforementioned gadget. Right as Matagi Gozen finds Felix, Ladybug and Cat Noir arrive on the scene, giving Felix the chance to transform into Argos and escape with Kagami again.

Matagi Gozen: This is what heroes do? Not only did you help that monster escape, but now you're going to fight me? A mother trying to save her daughter?

Cat Noir: Hey, my lady. When you think about it, they're not wrong. We all want the same thing. If we let them save Kagami, we could seize the opportunity to get Felix's Miraculous back.

Ladybug: Too risky. They're under Monarch's influence.

Yeah, but you can't even try to negotiate a temporary alliance between Matagi Gozen? Yes, we know that she's working for Monarch, but the heroes don't know that. All we get is Ladybug asking Matagi Gozen to reject the Megakuma, and she goes back to fighting them. How interesting would it have been for Ladybug and Cat Noir to make an uneasy alliance with someone they don't know is working for Monarch?

After Cat Noir gets ignored during one of the few times he makes a decent point, he escapes to the sewer and detransforms, Matagi Gozen losing their scent trail. Matagi Gozen goes back to looking for Kagami, and decides to shoot her with some arrows tipped with Venom. Argos defends Kagami, and breaks up his fan to throw the pieces around and create multiple fake scent trails to throw off Matagi Gozen before detransforming. How Argos even came came up with this plan when I don't think he figured out Matagi Gozen could smell really good is anyone's guess.

As Kagami and Felix keep running away, Kagami asks the question I'm sure you've all been thinking.

Kagami: I don't understand. You have the Miraculous of the peacock, why don't you create a Sentimonster to get us out of here?

Felix: First of all, don't call them that.

Fine, “walking sin against nature” it is. Got anything else to say there, buddy? Maybe anything that isn't a half-assed speech meant to make the audience sympathize with you?

Felix: I refuse to create a being to manipulate them, control them, abuse them, and end up destroying them. When you bring a living being into this world, you have a responsibility towards them. Your duty is to protect them, love them, help them discover the true meaning of their existence. To deprive them of that... is monstrous.

Kagami: Are you talking about... yourself?

Felix: I'm talking about... us.

Come on dude! I said anything that isn't a half-assed speech meant to make the audience sympathize with you!

Okay, I've been putting this off long enough. Let's talk about Felix's ideology, his little speech, and, how it contradicts his previous appearances.

First off, for someone who refuses to create a Sentimonster to control and abuse, Felix had no trouble screwing around with Adrien in his first episode when his main goal was to get one of the rings from Gabriel. Hell, it makes even less sense why he'd keep that ring that we know can be used to control Adrien if his plan ultimately amounted to trading it away along with the fifteen Miraculous in Ladybug's possession.

Second, Felix literally created a Sentimonster to destroy humanity with just last episode, and he doesn't even mention that. Yeah, you can chalk it up to character development, but we don't even get a line about learning about the burden of ending a life you yourself created. It just feels like a way to make him seem more sympathetic after he went all “I'M THE GOD! I'M THE GOD!” last episode.

Third, and I'm just going to be honest about this, but why should I care about the life of a Sentimonster when the show has shown it doesn't care either? Ever since the end of Season 2, we've seen Sentimonsters be summoned and erased from existence left and right, and other than a single occasion (Ladybug), nobody has really brought up the fact that Sentimonsters are living beings too. Even putting that aside, most of the Sentimonsters we've seen have either been giant monsters, clones of other people, or mindless tools, none of which showed any desire to be alive other than to serve their purpose. It's only because Adrien, Felix, and now Kagami are revealed to be Sentimonsters that we should care about the ethics of summoning a Sentimonster in battle. Even in the last episode, Felix never brought up than Ladybug is essentially taking innocent lives whenever she de-evilizes an Amok.

And finally, the fact that this speech was used to set up a romance between Felix and Kagami, not because he saw a kindred spirit in her, but rather, because he believes that she's a Sentimonster too. You know that episode of South Park where Cartman tried to set up Token with a new girl, where the entire joke was that it was because Cartman believed that black people can only date other black people? This is basically that story with none of the irony. The episode seriously treats Felix taking an interest in Kagami specifically on the basis that she may be the same kind of artificial creation as him, as if he isn't capable of relating to anyone who also has to deal with abusive parents and isn't a Sentimonster. On a completely unrelated note, isn't it funny how out of the four rich kids with abusive or neglectful parents, Chloe is the only one who isn't a Sentimonster and is the least sympathetic?

Ladybug (having gotten a pair of scissors from activating her Lucky Charm offscreen) and Cat Noir try to stop Felix, but after a single speech from him, Kagami is now completely on his side for some reason.

Kagami: Felix is not your enemy! He's like me! He doesn't know how to express himself. Everyone is wrong about him! Including me.

Funny, I don't seem to remember you dooming all of Paris by giving over a dozen magical artifacts to a supervillain. Also, speaking from someone who struggles to socialize in real life, I can confirm that social awkwardness isn't really an excuse to kidnap someone. Just remember what happened in Misery.

Ladybug realizes that Felix and Kagami are vital to her Lucky Charm working, she decides to trust Felix. Felix then transforms into Argos and immediately escapes without contributing to the plan, while Kagami uses the scissors to cut the string of Matagi Gozen's bow after Ladybug and Cat Noir restrain the Akuma.

Ladybug then de-evilizes the Megakuma, uses Miraculous Ladybug to fix the damage caused by the fight, gives Tomoe yet another useless Magical Charm after the last useless one broke because it was completely useless, and Argos once got away without facing any consequences for his actions.

Afterwards, Kagami tries to stand up to Tomoe, but she orders her to hand over her ring containing her Amok—I mean, her ring that has absolutely no control over her, and is part of this thrilling mystery. Adrien also tries to stand up for Marinette, and Gabriel tells him to enjoy her time with Marinette... before saying he's moving to London next year. This is supposed to be a dick move, but with how often Adrien gets caught in the crossfire of Akuma attacks, with or without the mask, this is arguably the smartest thing Gabriel has done for the past five seasons. Adrien chooses not to tell Marinette about London, because I guess all that whining about hating secrets only mattered when someone else was withholding information from him.

The episode ends with Felix revealing that the ring Kagami gave her mother was a fake. Of course, this makes no sense because not only did we never see Felix steal the ring from Kagami, but Tomoe has a mental connection to Kagami, she should notice the ring is a fake. Also, you know how Kagami's arc so far has been a mixture of finding independence from her controlling mother while coming to terms with her breakup with Adrien? Get ready for all of that to be thrown out the window, because the writers are desperate to make him look good, Felix is now the one to save her from her mother and give her independence back, while also hinting at a relationship starting between the two. I'd say this episode fumbled the landing, but I haven't even gotten to the season finale yet.

This episode started out pretty poorly, and quickly went downhill afterwards. The idea of explaining why Gabriel's Cataclysm wound can't be healed was convoluted, Felix continues to be unlikable, Tomoe once again shows how terrible of an antagonist she is.

I'll admit, the chemistry between Marinette and Adrien was decent, but it's far too late to really establish a proper rivalry between her and Gabriel more than halfway through the fifth season, especially while discussing fashion when it's only been used to justify plots where she tries to make stuff for Adrien. The writers had plenty of time, yet rather than build up tension between the main hero and main villain, they decided we needed more episodes revolving around Chloe, Lila, and Felix.

Speaking of, Felix once again shows how poorly written he is. He was the one to instigate the conflict, it wasn't established if he even had a plan on what to do once he gets away with Kagami, and if anything, only made things worse because of his refusal to surrender, much less acknowledge his fault in this situation when the Akuma chasing after him is only as powerful as she is now because he gave his evil uncle multiple Miraculous to use for his Akumas. But no, he has to be the one to wreck Kagami's character arc and be the one to try and liberate her from Tomoe's influence because he's a good guy now! It says a lot when Cat Noir is the only one who still isn't trusting Felix at this point.

While it's nowhere near as bad as “Emotion”, this was still a really bad episode to follow up on.

THE BIGGEST IDIOT OF THE EPISODE IS...TOMOE

While Felix came dangerously close to winning the award, he at least showed more restraint here, and was able to throw off both Matagi Gozen a few times. Tomoe, on the other hand, got nothing to show any real intelligence, and if anything, proved she was just as incompetent as Gabriel is. She chose to nag Gabriel while he was suffering from the effects of his fatal wound, decided to akumatize herself instead of even considering contacting the cops to stop a single kidnapping, while ironically drawing more attention to herself in her attempt to save Kagami and stop Felix, decided to try shooting her daughter instead of the one who abducted her, and didn't even realize the ring capable of controlling her daughter was replaced by a fake when she should obviously be able to sense something.

[pain-is-too-tired]

hi, kinda random but what's your fav valgrace headcanon?

I'm having a slight half fixation on them rn (if that made any sense) and I'm interested lol

<3

Both are aspec

Demi-Gray Leo and Nebularomanic Jason(also,Apagender Jason has my heart as well but that's a different thing dhdh)

Leo fell first but Jason fell harder.

So hard actually. He has it so bad 😭

Jason just a lovesick puppy, Leo doesn't know how to feel about how affectionate Jason is. Especially cause it took forever for Jason to really figure out "okay yeah... this is a crush."

He just thought he just had very strong platonic feelings for Leo. The poor guy is pretty affectionate with everyone after all, so he doesn't really think much on the fact he was a bit more affectionate with Leo fdgdg

Leo figured out he had a crush on Jason not too long before the Argo II was finished, but he didn't want to ruin their friendship,especially with Piper and Jason dating at the time, and he wasn't sure about coming out either so he just pushed down his feelings.

After the giant war Leo struggles even more with burying his feelings, and he goes to Jake since he's both his brother and the only one he could talk to who didn't have some connection with Jason as well.

Jason goes to Nico first, but at some point ends up telling Piper as well. And it ends up with Nico,Will and Piper trying help this poor boy with one of his many identity crises.

Leo also ends up telling Will at some point (I hc they're best friends cause why not) and Will doesn't tell anyone but immediately is now doubley playing wingman for the two idiots.

That and helps sympathize with Leo having to deal with the obliviousness of a son of the Big 3.

"I was pinning for like 3 years before Nico took notice. You gotta be more obvious dude."

"Damn it."

Them being disasters my beloved.

Also. 4'11 Leo and 6 ft tall Jason because I'm a sucker for height difference (there's a reason two my top ships is them and Masonyew. Ftgdg)

[why-are-all-the-users-taken]

random rrverse headcanons

leo is bisexual

Jason is gay

Connor is dating Malcolm no questions asked

Carter is aroace cuz I say so

Alex is such a flirt

Magnus glows when he gets flustered

Piper had a crush on annabeth

Everyone is trans

Mainly Magnus and the only one who knows is Alex and annabeth

Magnus and Alex we're both shocked at how hot Percy was

Lester did think that Leo was hot pun intended

Calypso joined the hunt

Apollo vists chb a lot after toa

Jason and Leo are both alive and in perfect health

Percy is the kind of friend to fall asleep on someone's shoulder

Nico either is rlly sleep deprived or sleeps for like 16 hours there's no in between

Will wore cowboy boots when he was young all the time

Everyone is poc because yes

Leo calls everyone darling

Hazel calls all the girls love

Jason is an introvert and has social anxiety

He also doesn't know how to act around adults so he just closes up

Leo has had a crush on everyone on the Argo II at some point

Will has a Texan accent

Nico calls will cute names in Italian

[amplexadversary]

Okay I've gleefully derailed posts before but this is a big derail and kind of dumb so I'm linking it.

When I watch the linked video, I end up thinking of Allenby gossiping about the shuffles, and now I need to headcanon who would likely say what bullshit.

-"I'm going to shit your pants." -> I could see this coming from a few people. Sai is a little fucker, he would make this threat and mean it. Chibodee would say it facetiously. Domon (while I headcanon him to be pretty good with languages) probably isn't above a gaffe where he means to say "I'm going to make you shit your pants," but misspeaks (probably when the guys are getting really rowdy and distracting and everybody's talking over each other.)

-"A duck the size of a tiger would have to be quite stout, I don't know that I could vanquish such a foe." -> George, though he'd choose different words than the video.

-"I'm all wet because Allenby dropped her phone in the river and I jumped in to get it. I can't find it though, can somebody call it while my head is underwater?" -> Domon would do this reflexively. Chibodee probably would as well.

-"I think it's time I come clean, I don't actually understand how wind works." -> Sai would be the funniest person to admit this, with his wind-based super move.

-"toodaloo, kangaroos" -> Domon, because someone told him it's a thing people say in English and he's kind of gullible.

-"Why the hell do we all have identical jackets? I can never find mine. Oh, but it's probably the one with my name on it though." -> while Domon or Chibodee would probably be the most likely to have this kind of brain fart, I think it's funnier if a very tired George says this (... ignore they fact that they don't have matching anything).

-On Monday Sai dared me to eat a spider, so I did. But then later that day I was running up the hill and shit my pants a little. I think those two things were related. -> I'd believe this from three of them in different contexts. Chibodee impulsively agreed to the challenge and admits this because hes mad about it. Argo ate the spider to humor Sai and is trying to discourage the rest of the group from making a similar mistake. Domon ate the spider because Kyoji didnt not have nearly enough chances to teach Domon to be weary of this exact kind of siblingeque horseshit, and we know from how he responds to Master Asia that Domon will just do things that you tell him to. He admits it, begrudgingly, because everybody wants to know why he bailed on them for several hours.

-"Do you guys think my shirt is cute? Too bad, I'm taking it off." "You're cute that way too." -> I could see George and Chibodee, in any order. Chibodee and Domon would only be believable if they're together, and with a massive time skip for them to get comfortable over.

-"My idol is that one dude who ate an entire airplane, love that guy, don't know his name." -> Argo, sarcastically, when Chibodee makes some remark about his physique and asks "what do you eat, sheet metal?"

-"Guys I think I watched the wrong Zootopia." -> Argo probably doesn't only pirate physical goods in the space age. He got a joke translation.

-"Domon, what type of feed does Fuunsaiki like, we want to make him a cake for his birthday." -> I feel like this is George and Argo's planning, and I could see either of them being the one to ask.

-[musing about Ice Age squirrel heteronormativity] -> I think Chibodee's the only one who could reasonably have seen it. He also dyes his hair two colors of the bisexual flag and wears the third so I can see him being annoyed by it.

-"I failed to locate a bear suit, does anybody have a spare bear suit?" -> Tbh this one could be any of them, except George, who is listening with his head in his hands.

-[quoting the infamous Snapcube Eggman rant] -> This is either Sai Saici, or Argo lost a bet to Sai Saici and was told to recite this. Sai is the only one of them I can buy being chronically online enough to reference this. Chibodee looks up Shadow and immediately asks Domon if it's his fursona, which backfires because the only other person in the room who knows what a furry is is Sai.

-"Why aren't you being silly? You promised you would be silly with me." -> ARGO. Said with a straight face to George. (Sai would be too low-hanging-fruit here, but I guarantee he's also looking at George expectantly. Admittedly, part of why I can see this coming from Argo is because of choices the dub made with how he speaks.)

-"Rain sent me this picture. I thought she was telling me that she was pregnant, but this is a covid test. She does have covid." -> Domon. Also worded a little differently than the original. While he did spend half his childhood in a jungle with Master Asia, he's probably seen pregnancy tests in drug stores when they have to make very occasional supply runs. Sai has probably also showed everyone the meme where people would edit a pregnancy test into various pictures.

[umbran6]

A Different Champion

Ok, hear me out on this - Leo should've been the champion of Hera rather than Jason. At the very least, they should've had a relatively more positive relationship in comparison to the one time they interacted in The Lost Hero.

For those who've seen my prior posts, you know I've analyzed Leo's importance in the plot. I would also further cement this in that Leo has more importance to Hera than Jason. Even from an initial viewpoint, Hera would have more motivation to help Leo considering his background. Esperanza Valdez was willing to raise her son and still love him despite her family blacklisting her for having a child as a single mother and willing to work 9-5 just so they could live. Jason was the second child of Jupiter and Beryl Grace, who this time was fully aware of her lover's divine nature, willingly having a child despite the fact that not only did it defile Hera's marriage, but it was the second child that was testament to Zeus' disregard for his Pact made among his brothers. Overall, Hera seems more likely to sympathize with Leo and Esperanza.

This sympathy and favor is visible when you examine how Hera interacts with them, even when they were young. I always found it pretty hard to believe that Hera would pressure Beryl Grace to sacrifice Jason to sate her wrath, because Jason and Thalia were already destined for persecution - Zeus had broken the Pact of the Big Three twice. Thalia was never specifically targeted by Hera ( and the statue incident is... questionable, considering Olympus was freaking collapsing and Hera was also busy fighting Typhon), and as far as we're informed by Riordan, Hera was never particularly active in Jason's life while he was in the 5th cohort of the legion.

On a side note, Beryl Grace was an utter idiot for naming her son after the OG Jason. The OG Jason may have initially been favored by Hera for being one of the few mortal heroes without any divine parentage. However, he also severely screwed the pooch because he willingly broke his wedding vows towards Medea by attempting to marry Glauce despite all that Medea did and risked for him, to the point that its noted in most analyses of Euripides' Medea that the titular protagonist got approval from the gods for all of her actions. So yeah, Beryl painted a very big target on her son with that name. And the less said about Thalia's name, the better.

Hera spends nearly most of Leo's youth acting as his nanny while Esperanza Valdez works in the warehouse so they can stay afloat. Though most of the time Leo discussed this in the Lost Hero, he focused on the bizarre and unusual — having him use knives to cut jalapeños, prodding him to poke a snake, the whole 'burning your fingerprints into the park bench' incident, there is more to it than that. Hera doesn't just encourage the traits of a stereotypical hero, but also Leo's creativity such as him drawing the Argo II in crayons and though he wasn't aware of it, gives Leo hints as to how his future may look like. We also kind of forget that Hera still willingly helped raise Leo for Esperanza, which must've been an immense boon because she was a single mother.

Hera even performs what is quite likely the same ritual Demeter applied to Demophon so long ago — roasting him in a fireplace so Hera can burn away his mortality. Of course, it could be argued that she was doing this to strengthen Leo so she could have a stronger demigod to fight against Gaea, but either way such a possibility would benefit him more than it would for Hera. Needless to say, she must've favored Leo to the extreme if she was willing to make him, a demigod son of Hephaestus, immortal.

Furthermore - and please hear me out - let's expand on this connection. Esperanza seemed to be aware of Hephaestus's true nature as an Olympian because she knew that Leo's powers came from him, so it wouldn't be too far to say she was aware of Hera's true nature. She didn't know, however, that Hera was planning to train Leo to become a being that would defeat Gaea when she rose. She made the Queen of the Gods to promise not to intervene in their lives until Leo became aware of his true nature when Esperanza saw the fireplace scene, because Leo noted that ever that day, Tia Callida never showed up in Leo's life afterwards. So when Leo knows he is a demigod, all bets are off and Hera can finally start playing a more active role in his life.

So, now hopefully I've established that Leo should've been Hera's champion considering how she seems a lot more sympathetic to Leo. Now let's imagine how this plays out in the story. For now I'm going to specifically focus on the Lost Hero, because that's the series Hera is more prominent. Jason's memories are still wiped, Piper still thinks Jason is her boyfriend, but Leo is remarkably spared from the memory-warping effect of the Mist and is aware that Jason just straight up appeared out of nowhere.

Leo doesn't have that same edge of trust towards Jason, but that gives him a better perspective on what exactly Jason was sent out for. So he notices that Jason has a coin engraved with Latin, he uses latin terminology to describe the monsters that hunted Leo since he was young, and sees that Jason has combat skills far more advanced than an amnesiac should really have, he starts putting the pieces a lot earlier than we expect and when he is introduced to Camp Half-Blood, Leo cooks up the theory that Jason may have come from a Roman camp, and reasonably cooks up the corresponding idea that Percy is now in said Roman Camp.

When Leo figures out Jason's true origins, two things happen: he immediately tells it to Annabeth (he's not that much of a dick to hide what actually happened to her bf), and Hera conjures a specter to confirm this theory and explain why she's doing what she's doing. The whole scheme against the Earth Witch that killed Leo's mom, and that oh yeah, there's a wrench in the scheme. This concentrated method turns the gist of the quest from how the original Lost Hero presented it:

'Oh, this nebulous evil villain is going to use me as a freaking battery for her son/dragon and that sucks, so you must rescue me.' Oh yeah, and Percy is gone too, and we don't know where the freaking Tartarus he is, so there's that.

To this:

The Witch that was involved in your mother's death has captured me so that she can use me to fuel the resurrection of her strongest fighter. So if you want to get some sweet, sweet revenge/atonement for your mom's death you have to rescue me. Also, I'm holding your friend's memories with me so if you want to help him recover who he his he will also want to join. Percy Jackson? The guy who's gone missing? I have him with me as well, so Annabeth Chase better actually help out, or he's going to die too. You're in? Okay, here's how to do it, and you better get your butt here before the Winter Solstice because that is the day the absorption process is going to finish and things will really go to hell in a hand basket.

With that single message, we actually have people that aren't just following a prophecy. Annabeth joins the party because, oh yeah, now she finally knows where her boyfriend is and is willing to stomach saving the goddess she hates the most in order to help him. Jason's in it because Hera wants his memories and wants to know why she got him involved in her gambit in the first place. Leo? We have the direct motive of him wanting to atone for his mother's death while also getting revenge against the other party that was also involved. Piper's the unexpected fourth party member/possible traitor because her dad's still being held hostage.

Now, I'm not going to delve into the full plot detail changes, but a good chunk of it remains the same with some other changes. Annabeth gets a stronger friendship with Leo on an intellectual level, because you know, the guy was able to offer her a bit of hope in finding her boyfriend. He's more cautious of Jason, but also more genuinely comforting. And finally... he's suspicious as heck of Piper, because he can feel there's something more behind her joining the quest.

But I want to focus on this scene: when Leo gets claimed by Hera as her champion. I, preferably, would imagine it takes place after she is rescued from becoming a power source for Porphyrion. Mainly because then she would have enough power to do a proper claiming and thus she can be as extra with it as possible.

I mean, imagine it. Everyone's gotten back from rescuing Hera, they're all patting themselves on the back and everyone's praising Jason, Piper, and Annabeth unwittingly ignoring Leo. Everyone's hearing about Jason fighting Porphyrion, Piper getting to free her dad from Enceladus, the surprise reveal of the search for Percy, when...

A light starts to glow above Leo's head. It's faint at first, but then it grows more vibrant and swells to cover the entire dining pavilion, swallowing him whole. Then it fades away to reveal Hera, putting a crown of laurel leaves on Leo's head, his clothing replaced with a chiton that was dyed ruby red that glimmered against the firelight from the braziers. A peacock is glowing above his head, the hundreds of eyes shining like the aurora of the north.

Leo's stunned as his mind does his best to process his new reality. Hera gives him a single, warm smile, and everyone else is staring in shock as she announces his status as her champion and gives him her divine blessing. Camp Half-Blood practically erupts in shock because this is the first time the camp has witnessed a male demigod being claimed as Hera's champion with the last guy being... the OG Jason.

I mean, the look of horror in Annabeth's eyes as she realizes one of her friends is now the champion of the goddess that she hates with a burning passion. Jason suddenly realizing that Leo was a lot more in the know of Hera's whole plot than he suspected, because why otherwise would Hera make him her champion? The members of Cabin Nine, suddenly looking at Leo with a sense of betrayal because yeah, Hera's the goddess that threw their dad off of Olympus. Leo isn't really sympathetic with them, Hephaestus had practically abandoned him for sixteen years of his life and forsaken him for eight. Piper can't exactly see him in the same light - how could she, when suddenly her friend had changed so suddenly?

All of this happens as Chiron steps forward, bowing in front of Leo and his patron before uttering these words: "Hera. Goddess of the Heavens, Protector of Men, Patron of Rulers. Hail, Leo Valdez, Champion of the Queen of Olympus."

[fighting-these-demons]

Divorce Saga Domon - A Haunted Honk Prequel

Hello Internet Stranger looking up G Gundam on Tumblr dot com!

This is an idea for a fic set in an Alternate Universe involving Queer Non-Canon Relationships between the characters of the series.

If you are not looking for this content please scroll on.

If you ARE looking for this content - and you're ok with reading my and other's Headcanons for this Alternate Universe I've haphazardly spun up -

Then go ahead and feel free to:

Check The Tags Of This Post For The Pairings

and click the Read More below!

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Ended up outlining a completely different fic as a Segway for an explanation instead of making progress on the Royal Flush Haunted Honk AU's Clown Motel Fic like I wanted to but uh....

For y'all's review for the AU: A Prequel Outline - Divorce Saga Domon

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Hey real quick - I'm thinking of maybe changing the timeline to 2 years post canon as opposed to 3 years and change post canon.

The reason being: I had a thought that this scene could either be part if the fic or if it's getting to big then it could be a stand alone tie-in prequel fic as part of this AU but - like

Immediately Post Divorce Domon Needs Space and runs off. As one does. And he runs to Earth because he just wants to Get Lost for a while.

He has Argo smuggle him out to avoid detection.

Argo has Andrew help stow Domon in a storage hanger of a Neo Canadian supply ship that's returning to the US - they have trade often enough and share agricultural resources - which leads to Domon ending up in New York when he hits Earthside pavement.

He's privately worked on his English the last couple of months and after being dropped in New York with a different hairstyle, outfit, and accent he's unrecognizable. 

He considers making his way west to get some solitude in the wilderness, but something about that initial plan feels off now that he's on the ground.

Chibodee is also Earthside for a special series of prize fights aimed at raising charitable appeal for the US in the eyes of Neo Americans.

Domon decides to hit up Chibodee for a fight on a day between matches hoping it'll clear his head and give him the clarity to decide on a course of action. What ends up happening is an unexpected heart to heart via blows and a breakdown.

Domon is happy for Rain and Kyoji, and he knows it's not true; but he feels like he lost a piece of himself when his relationship with Rain fell apart.

Domon's instinct is to run after that but Chibodee knows this city and Domon doesn't hide out for long before Chibodee drags him back to his place to stay and just "Chill out and breathe. You don't have to be anyone but yourself here. You can take as long as you need to find out what everything changing means for you." Friends and teammates stick together.

So Domon spends a few weeks with Chibodee sparring and hanging out in New York. Chibodee does a frankly awesome job at containing his feelings because he's focusing on Domons feelings and being a good friend first and foremost. Whatever he's feeling can wait until after Domon is done going though it.

There's a bit of a twinge in Domon's heart as he leaves that he can't really place.

After he returns to Neo Japan and gets settled back into life with his family, The Dreams start.

They're mainly set in New York. Small things first like noticing Chibodee's smile and his eyes. Then sparring sessions that begin to turn lurid.

He thought these kinds of dreams would stop after he was married.... he doesn't know what to do about this.

I just figure it gives more clarity and sense of time for the journey from Comphet Marriage Dissolution to Feelings to Confession. Idk.

But I got stuck on a bit and then had this thought and needed to get it down before I lost it and it was so long it made sense to make it its own post as opposed to several replies.

The Maize and Clown Motel will probably still be 3 years and change post canon for clarification.

@thedragonchilde @amplexadversary @youreaclownnow

[kisilinramblings]

My top 5 of things I hope next ML seasons will explore

(In no particular order)

The Guardian Staff

Remember Furious Fu episode? I know people don't like Su Han but he did brought up a detail : Ladybug never received her Guardian Staff when she was made Guardian by Fu. It might not have been a necessary element for S4 and S5 thus why it wasn't on the burner, but that doesn't mean it has been forgotten. Just reserved for later.

(And yes, I am still hopeful that the Guardian Staff is destined to Chat Noir one way or another).

The New Permanent Holders

As we know, at the end of the S5 finale, Marinette distributed all the Miraculous among her peers who are now in charge of protecting their respective Miraculous and Kwami. However, while Ladybug has the most experience as an Holder alongside Chat Noir and has the knowledge of the Guardian, she is still fairly "new" in leading such a large group of people at the same time.

It was one thing when it was just her and Chat or when it was necessary for her to distribute the Miraculous herself for one mission at the time.

Now, we still have 15+ permanent Holders whose job isn't necessary well defined and who can potentially intervene all the time. (That includes Chat Noir but I will talk more in details in a separate point).

And Ladybug might have learned a lesson during Penalteam, but mastering being a leader to an entire team of several people is a whole other league.

For some, their role is already pretty clear. Argos will probably only involved himself if the conflict concerns Sentis matters. Bunnyx will be called upon only as a last resort. Rena Rouge has experience of being a permanent Holder and with Carapace, they are the most experienced Holders after LB and CN, I could see them take over some patrols or being delegated tasks or even a small team for side-missions. But even for them as well as all the other classmates Holders, this bring up the question will they be always there and if not, when and why they wouldn't show up?

I don't expect everyone to appear for every Akuma Battle, and I don't expect the show to do that either unless for the season finale, yet I still want to know the reasons why those new permanent Holders aren't helping. That is the challenge with suddenly getting such a large team.

So, I'm guessing a part of S6-S7 and S8 will have the Miraculous Holders figure who they want to be as individual and superheroes, further exploring what are their respective cause and value. To them, and to us. They did bring something like that with the new school model that will take place with the start of S6. So, I can see those two elements align narratively. Even with our main characters.

And just like Alya's values clashed with Marinette's during Rocketear, I am expecting that all those new heroes to each bring their own spice in challenging Ladybug in her perspective, opinions and bias.

Chat Noir's Fears

For real, Plagg, what if I ended up destroying everything around me? Without even meaning to. -- Adrien, in the Paris Special

Simple question, but how do you make a very powerful character not overpowered? One way is by adding a limitation in using their power. Be it physical... or psychological.

Superman restrains himself because he doesn't want to hurt people, including villains. Batman and his bat family don't kill. Same could applied to our heroes.

It is great that Ladybug and Chat Noir can use their power without having to transform back now. But unlocking the ability to use consecutively their superpower doesn't mean that the job becomes easier. In a way, it becomes harder. Especially for Adrien.

Due to the nature of his power, Adrien as Chat Noir has to have self-control, but during S5, his arc involved him starting to fear to lose control over his power.

Of course, I am not expecting the tone to become angsty. As a civilian, Adrien has now a more stable life. He will find new hobbies. He will explore and learn more about who he is and who he wants to be. Find out what he likes.

But Adrien also has the tendency to put a mask on and conceal things up in order to not bother others with his problems. But if he is ignoring or even repressing his fear of his own power and not getting help, that might bite him in the rear later on. The message from the broadcast in the last scene of S5 is very telling on what will be carried on next seasons: "If we don't listen to what our fears, sadness or anger are trying to tell us--". And that message was cut short. (More on that in the next point).

But more importantly, Chat Noir's absence during the battle against Monarch imo will affect him. It might turn him into overcompensating either out of guilt or because he was angry at his own powerlessness or both.

If he had been there, maybe Monarch wouldn't have been able to make the Wish.

If he had been there, maybe the Butterfly wouldn't have been lost.

If he had been there, maybe his father would still be alive (btw I'm expecting a lot of conflicting emotions about that last one).

If he hadn't been that powerlessness against his father, maybe the whole ordeal could've been avoided.

Basically, I expect Chat Noir to involve himself a lot more, finding distractions and outlets, while limiting how he uses his Cataclysm, unless triggered.

The Ladynoir Conflict

Let's be clear, Ladybug did take accountability for the way she treated Chat Noir during S4 and recognized it was a mistake to have rejected his help over and over before finally accepting his helping hand and rely on him for the course of S5.

And Chat Noir stayed and stood by her side against adversity (and also because he feels part responsible for what had happened to the Miraculous as well).

Until the S5 last battle against Monarch due to outside circumstances, that is.

Still, S5 ended where it started : on top of the Trocadero.

Visually, the parenthesis on the Monarch chapter is closed. It is now daylight instead of nighttime. The dark days are over. The Miraculous are back with the heroes instead of being in possession of the villain. Yet some things that has been put on hold for the greater good might resurface again.

As stated in the previous part, Maribug will continue to develop and refined her skills as a leader as well as what kind of leader she wants to be. She may now rely on Chat to second her (at least, I hope she does), but because she is the Guardian, she may again take again too much on her shoulders that what she could bear or have her mind too wrap-up in her own problems and duties, that she may forget to pay attention to her partner.

Judging how Adrien talked when he is forced to go to London, how he is blaming himself or underserving of Marinette's love (which is a parallel with how his father's blame himself for Émilie), his self-esteem is still not at the best level (thanks Gabriel). So there is still a lot of work to do and now, he technically has the safe space to do so.

However, add the fact he wasn't there to fight Monarch and that he believed his father died during that fight and you have some ingredients to cook with him next seasons.

I don't know if I'll ever manage to be like him.

The more I hear the line, the more I cannot help chase away this ominous feeling : what if he is saying "I don't know if I'll ever manage to be a hero like him".

As Chat Noir, over the 5 seasons, he had a bit to much the tendency to sacrifice himself for Ladybug. For him, this is a selfless and heroic act.

Even if Marinette tells to Adrien to focus on who he is instead, I'm theorizing that Adrichat thinks that being himself is not enough.

Adrien might be physically free from his father, but that doesn't mean that he is yet free from his father's ghost haunting him (in the narrative sense).

Adrichat did grow, both as a civilian and as superhero during S4 and S5, but Adrien still has to find out who is he and who he wants to be. Him questioning his purpose in a team has been brought during episodes such as Gamer (S1) and Kuro Neko (S4).

And when he stopped modeling, just look at the state of his room during this brief Jubilation scene :

(Side note, but they sure love depicting Adrien playing video games when his sense of self and worth is low).

And Adrien will probably holds to what bring him joy (Marinette) and might focus on that for a while. But he cannot avoid the underlying negative emotions he has nor hide them forever.

So how is that having anything to do with the LadyNoir conflict?

Well, I bring you back to the last scene S5 in Marinette's room again. Like I have mentionned in the previous point, the broadcast about what our emotions are telling us has been cut short. But another detail was that Marinette wasn't watching it. She was doing something else instead, not paying any attention to it, making it more a background noise.

Meaning that next seasons, Maribug will again be too focused on the problem she has to deal with (the new Butterfly Holder), that she will probably not notice again what is actually going on with her partner until it is too late. Like Kuro Neko. Or like with Kagami during Perfection.

Basically, the Ladynoir conflict is continuing and is evolving. On the surface level, things have been patched and new cracks and hiccups will also gets fixed, but the core of the issue remain and will continue to grow. That is my feeling.

The Secret™

S4 also involved a lot of secrets impacting Ladybug and Chat Noir's team which put their team at risk and got exposed one way or another. And now, for S6, Ladybug is still covering another secret. A bigger one. This time to a whole lot of people. She is keeping a secret to the whole city, to most of the team which I think might also include Chat Noir (London Special, I beg of you, GIMME ANSWERS), but also, more importantly, to Adrien, covering the truth to him out of all people.

We know that Alya, Su-Han and maybe Alix (we'll have more clear answer with the upcoming Special London) know that a Wish was made, but when I look at the ending scene of S5, in Marinette's room, I cannot help but think she wasn't telling the whole story. This is why I have my eyes on the Special.

Notice the pause she took after Su-Han asked her the question about the Butterfly Miraculous whereabouts? Notice how we cannot see her face nor that she is not looking at either Alya or Su-Han.

Did she really told them everything that has happened during that last battle to them or is she covering something to them too?

And the secret was one element of miscommunication and divide between Ladybug and Chat Noir during S4 (though the main factor was Ladybug refusing Chat Noir's help nor letting him assist her).

But with this new secret (or should I say secrets?), what will be the consequences this time? Will the new Butterfly Holder manage to use it to her advantage? What will be the impacts on Ladybug, Chat Noir and their team? How will the world react if the truth comes to light to them?

Honestly, I am not expecting anything out of S6. The upcoming special might explain some decisions before the season slowly sets the table with the ingredients simmering in the background (that is what the show writers love doing).

But I will bide my time. This secret is too huge. Something is bound to happen with it. And whether Ladybug knows it or not, she isn't the one in control and cannot protect Adrien forever.

[green-like-pine-trees]

Oscar and the Sun

Right out the gate, characters are not either sun or moon. I have seen this in so many circles. I understand that typically this is a shorthand for a character having a collection of qualities. "Oh, this character is so sun because she is firey, yellow, upbeat, and persistant". Like okay, this is fine, you have observed traits about a character.

But saying character = sun, character = moon doesn't inherently give it meaning. These symbols need to be grounded in something and contextual to the work.

I think this post is actually one of my favorites because it tries to provide meaning as to why Ruby is constantly associated with the moon. Ruby is the light in the darkness, she is looked up to as a beacon of hope. Just like the shattered moon, she still persists even after all of her hardship. It's very insightful, mentions things I never even noticed before – please give it a read.

I prop this up to say, that when she also proposed Oscar was associated with the Sun and/or artificial light, it gave me pause. I think it's an astute observation, however it also feels incomplete. Why is it important, what does it mean?

Well, I have a few guesses that I was hoping to share :)

V4C1 – The sunrise is a useful way to indicate a hopeful new era for the show and Oscar, just as dawn indicates a new day. Lots of transitions in this scene: sleeping to waking, closed to open, inside to outside, darkness to light. Oscar doesn't know it yet, but he's got adventure that's about to come knocking.

V4C7 – The scene where Ozpin tries to convince Oscar to leave. The colors in his room are warm (browns, reds), comfortable– contrasted by the cold blue of the world outside his window. It may be cozy but inside it's dark; the lantern only provides some small, temporary light. If Oscar wants true fulfillment, he'll have to venture outside and into the sunlight.

V4C10 – Oscar leaves the barn for the first time since Oz has made himself known. The scene is filled with cool colors and it starts to storm as Oscar approaches the train station (love some pathetic fallacy). The main light source comes from the blue terminal– all of these elements and technology are a heavy contrast to the comfort and warm colors Oscar experienced before. This is his crossing of the threshold, his first brush with danger and the unknown– the beginning of a long road ahead.

V6C6 – The episode opens with Ruby looking out the window at the moon and snow outside. Meanwhile, WBY are gathered around the fire, while Oscar is far away from it, pacing in the darkness. Ruby looking out the window could be a sign of her focus on the bigger picture, moving forward.

WBY's focus on the fire is a sign of their focus on the present, temporary comforts. They're not completely checked out like Qrow, but it's short term. Oscar keeping away from the fire could be a sign of his greater uncertainty. WBY are all huntresses (with Maria, a former), they're doing all they can do right now. What can Oscar even do in a situation like this?

I love V6 but also wish they capitalized on Oscar also being a farmer who would've stayed stagnant if he hadn't left his former life.

V6C9 – in this episode, everyone's sad and worried, running around in the the streets of Argos. When Oscar is found, he's light in the darkness: a celebration, an unambiguous joy. With his return, the gang are brought out of the darkness of night, past that gateway, into the warm light inside a home. Not only does Oscar want to be a part of the team, but the team wants him around, too. The rut is over, and they're a united front, again.

V7 – Oscar spends a lot of time indoors, this volume. The interiors of Atlas are shades of white and grey, lit by cool blue artificial lights. Earth color farm boy Oscar isn't in Kansas anymore, that's for sure. He's trying to get through to Ironwood, but there's always a sense of unease, that Oscar can't fully get Ironwood to see eye to eye.

I love how Oscar descends with the blue light harshly lit behind him, then he ends up being forced to walk along it as Ironwood corners him. All of the shadows contrast strongly, pitch black. All of these elements stress how dangerous Ironwood is.

Oscar is then shot off the edge into the dark mechanical underbelly. He breaks through and we get our first glimpse at the sunrise. In contrast, it's open, warm, and colorful. He's free.

Again, Oscar carries us forward into a new era with another signature sunrise. However, the sunrise is definitely bittersweet. On the one hand, Penny is the winter maiden, Ozpin is back, and Oscar is safe. On the other hand, Qrow is going into custody, Ozpin is back, and Salem's forces are on the horizon.

However, I do want to return to the notion of Oscar being not necessarily associated with the sun, but in lieu of. Dawn but not the sunrise, light but artificial. We don't even see the sun itself while Oscar is falling, that honor is given to Qrow. As if it's sort of taunting him, considering what he just lost.

Why is this the case? Well, we've established that Ruby is often associated with the moon– light in the darkness, hope in uncertainty. If we're going to tie Oscar in here, making him the sun doesn't really work. Ruby is the mentor, the one Oscar looks up to and is inspired by. The moon reflects the light of the sun, not the other way around.

So, we have the next best thing. Oscar is an artificial light in the darkness, not a celestial one. When the moon goes down, the sun rises.

Another reason why I'm cautious of saying anything definitive, is I think it's more of trend than a symbol. Take this V8C1 scene, when they're figuring out their plans. Once Oscar starts trying to help mediate and temper expectations, he's constantly positioned beside this light fixture.

When Yang calms down and agrees with Oscar about Penny, BOOM, light fixture be upon ye. She might've been harsh to Ruby, but her heart's in the right place.

(Previously she was positioned in front of it, blocking the source of light).

I see this less as "Oscar's thing is light fixtures" and more so, Oscar is constantly, unambiguously a good boy™ who always tries his best. Very often, the plot and framing positions him as a bringer of sunrises, a warm welcome on a cold night. Light has historically been an indicator of truth, knowledge and goodness– things Oscar tends to embody.

We could get into lamps, gold, and the little prince but this post is long enough.

So yeah. I'd like to thank gatherkeepsakes for the inspiration, I thought you made some really good observations.

[kawaiichibiart]

It's been a while....

More Miraculous Headcanons!! :D

Very specifically the Chaotic Trio (Marinette, Felix and Adrien)

They have either daily or weekly slumber party anytime Felix is in Paris (prior to Gabe's defeat that is). It's always at Marinette's house. Always.

↑ they sleep in the same bed. And you'd think they'd spoon or just lay next to each other very close because Marinette's bed isn't made for 3 people. No, they're a jumbled mess of tangled limbs. Someone's been kicked in the face more than once everytime. And someone's been pushed off the bed at least once.

Felix and Marinette's friendship began as a truce, for Adrien's sake. Now they're partners in crime, again for Adrien's sake.

Ladybug is reluctant to let Argos patrol with her and Chat, but moreso reluctant to let the two boys patrol without her. She just has a bad feeling about it, but okay...just this one time!!

Oh, they're playing at the park, that's nice-

Never mind they're egging each other on to do stupid shi- CHAT CATHERINE NOIR I SWEAR TO GOD!! .... Catherine? ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

Sometimes Marinette and Felix give Adrien a freeday and have him hide in the bakery while Felix poses as Adrien for the day. No one's noticed yet (Chloe suspects something but doesn't say anything because the last time she did, Felix laughed in her face after he tricked her and she wasn't falling for his shit again).

Ladybug knows it's futile to ask for the peacock back. She knows it's more futile to ask Chat to get it back, because he actually likes Argos and apparently they're family...well, she supposes she can see the resemblance, maybe they're twins. Hard to tell when one's...ya know. Blue. Purple. Whatever.

The Ladyblog has a new tab/channel (I dunno what to call it) specifically for the times either Chat and/or Ladybug are caught messing around with one of GABRIEL's ads with Argos, because they noticed a pattern. One: it only ever happens when he's around. And Two: it's almost always Chat Noir but once in a while Ladybug will also join in or be the one to partner up with the peacock Miraculous user. And it's the funniest thing they've ever seen, and gets funnier when the Adrien Agreste chimes in on his socials and says he likes what they've done, maybe he should pay them to deface his ads more. The post is removed quickly but screenshots of said post live on.

Adrien's happy his cousin and his friend are getting along, sure sometimes the sneak off to do things to annoy his father, he's not stupid he knows, he's just happy they're not going at each other's throats anymore.

Felix and Adrien will more often than not put on the same outfit, and style their hair to look the same, and walk around together and act as if they don't notice the other.

Adrien makes Felix and Marinette apologize to each other if he sees them get into an argument, he doesn't care who started it he's ending it. Unfuck you or whatever. Thanks. Keep. Yourself. Safe. Hahaha, thank you.

[aroaceleovaldez]

I would LOVE to hear your thoughts on the Percabeth parallel (can you call it a parallel if it is the exact same thing happening twice????) in TSATS (also the travel brochure thing)

The entirety of TSATS is very clearly trying to make Solangelo into Percabeth 2 and its one of the fundamental flaws of the entire novel.

Because immediately, Solangelo and Percabeth are such drastically different relationships and characters to one another that trying to make Solangelo into a cheap mirror of Percabeth results in Solangelo feeling so horrifically warped and out of character that it constantly makes you wonder if either author actually had any idea what Will or Nico's personalities and personal themes are supposed to be going into the book.

(Putting the rest under a cut because it got VERY long)

The plot itself is obviously a very direct mirror in trying to repeat the emotional effect of Percabeth falling into Tartarus, but right off the bat it doesn't work because the contexts of each situation are so different. Particularly the thematic elements to it - Percy and Annabeth are both pulled into Tartarus due to their fatal flaws (loyalty and hubris, respectively). It's emotionally charged, it's unexpected, and it's coming right off the heels of Nico returning from Tartarus and us seeing how absolutely horrible it was for him, which sets us up to have this huge impending fear of how this will impact them because we have zero information about what Tartarus is like besides how it impacted Nico (with no further details). Plus, it has a cliffhanger (literally), so it builds suspense so much better because you LITERALLY have to close the book and open another one to find out what happens. Meanwhile for Solangelo, not only is it physically impossible to hit those same emotional notes or suspense, especially within a singular book, but... the quest itself is entirely pointless. With the Doors of Death and Tartarus in HoO, the main point is a.) Nico entered Tartarus willingly to search for the Doors of Death because the gods couldn't because Gaea's army had found it and taken control of it, b.) Nico located it, but he was the only one who knew where it was, the gods didn't. He was able to pass on this information to the rest of the Argo II crew, and c.) Percabeth did not intend to enter Tartarus, but when they realized they were going to against their will, they knew that was going to be their only way out and that they would attempt to solve the problem while they were there anyways. With Solangelo in TSATS, a.) We know that Hades is in control of who can and cannot leave Tartarus on a general level, and is able to release individuals from Tartarus at will, and b.) basically everyone in the Underworld knows that Nyx is holding Bob prisoner. This is literally how Will and Nico learn of this information in the book. In fact, Hades himself is fully aware of the situation Bob is in, and we are directly told that Bob is an employee of Hades' whom Hades views favorably. There is literally no reason for Nico to have had to go to Tartarus. And before anybody says "But Nyx!" - Nyx's interactions with Nico were entirely retconned/fabricated for the sake of this narrative. Bob was not originally stuck in Tartarus because of Nyx- he was stuck in Tartarus because of Tartarus. They even somewhat acknowledge this in TSATS. Also, Nyx shouldn't be able to affect Nico's dreams like she does when he's in the Overworld, because she's too far away to impact any of the demigods (or else Percy and Annabeth would also still be in danger) and Nico in BoO is established to have very strong dream powers. Also, why was Bob reformed but not Damasen? Bob is a titan, he's supposed to reform extremely slowly. Damansen is supposed to reform very quickly, that's his entire thing, because he's constantly fighting the serpent in Tartarus. Literally no part about the plot itself makes sense with what has been previously established, it's all manifested entirely because we needed an antagonist for some extremely poorly executed heavy-handed metaphors.

Then there's Nico and Will's actual personalities as presented in the book and other random details - the most notable one being Nico giving his ring to Will (which seems extremely ooc to me, personally), which is very obviously supposed to be a nod to Annabeth wearing a ring on her necklace, alongside the coral on her necklace she received as a gift from Percy. Will and Nico repeatedly referencing gifts they gave each other in the most shoehorned-in way possible is also meant to mirror Percy and Annabeth, except they're cramming about ten books worth of relationship development into one. I suspect this may also be why Will is characterized as such an asshole throughout the book - they were gunning for the Percabeth "loving but frequently bickering/sarcastic" couple dynamic, but ended up with it just coming off as Will and Nico almost hating or being extremely antagonizing towards one another but seemingly putting up with it and dropping arguments frequently for no reason - Nico in particular frequently getting more shit from Will than he gives in return, and feeling hurt about it! But then randomly forgetting about it immediately, which is probably supposed to be like how Annabeth frequently gets annoyed by Percy but finds it endearing, except they did it entirely wrong. I'd bet this is also why Nico is so characterized as helpless, weirdly sarcastic and "dark humor"ed, and randomly completely ignorant about Greek mythology (and maybe even his random boat knowledge, despite completely forgetting about his pirate special interest and the fact that because he grew up in Venice that he'd almost definitely know about boats, since the book claims the only boat Nico's ever been on was the Argo II) - because it was trying to shove Nico into Percy's position, with Annabeth/Will being the exposition (which is Percabeth's dynamic in the first place because Percy is the stand-in for the audience as the POV, so Annabeth has to act as the exposition to teach the audience what's going on through the POV. This doesn't work for Nico because when Annabeth isn't able to be the exposition, that role actually often falls to Nico, so it's extremely difficult to put Nico in a situation where he's supposed to be the POV and teaching the audience new information that he is usually the source of. There's no reason he shouldn't know it, so they have to randomly make him ignorant of stuff he should know, which results in him being completely OOC). If you're trying to make him the POV, you can't make him the type of POV that has a secondary figure doing all the exposition for the audience to learn through, because you have to basically make him forget all the information he logically should know in order to excuse him not previously knowing it (this is actually why, on a meta level, Jason and Percy have their memories wiped at the beginning of HoO, because they cannot reasonably function as that format of POV protagonist otherwise). The annoying thing is that you can have Nico be a POV protagonist, it just requires that you use a different format. First person limited would have actually worked great, because then we would not only get Nico and Will's internal voices, we would also get to see how they interact with the audience. It would have also allowed Nico to explain concepts to the audience rather than not know them for no reason (give me Nico struggling to not infodump excitedly to the audience about the Underworld every 20 minutes). I particularly take grievance with this when they're in Tartarus, because not only should Nico logically know about Tartarus before he goes there the first time, but by the second time he should definitely know the landscape rather than him seemingly being lost both times. There's exactly zero reason for Nico to not know Underworld stuff. You can make that excuse with Percy and Annabeth, or Will, but not Nico. If they wanted to play up the feeling lost in Tartarus thing, then they should have tried to stay in Will POVs for Tartarus!

I could honestly go on about even more details that just clearly spell out this being a cheap Percabeth 2 rip-off that's a complete disservice to both Nico and Will's characters, but this is already so long and I've gone over my main points.

One more thing - the travel brochure thing in particular pissed me off, and actually I have the perfect video to explain why it pissed me off (and why I've disliked a lot of the writing in recent Riordanverse books) - Overly Sarcastic Production's video on bathos. The Riordanverse, particularly since HoO, has had a really bad problem of overusing bathos and rarely allowing scenes of emotional sincerity. The travel brochure thing is one such example of this - we're at a very big emotionally charged moment... and immediately it's broken because we jump into a joke. And because we overuse that format so much throughout both this book alone but also the series in general, it just completely ruins the effect of the scene. And this happens multiple times throughout the book! It's downright aggravating.

[dulcemaiden]

Lord Canopus, revealed

So, we have received confirmation in ch. 204 that Doll is Lord Canopus, as many in the fandom have theorized. I personally believed this too, not because Vega was most likely Layla/Al (and canopus was the only left), but because her personality fits with the japanese chart about blood type personalities. By now we know these canopus/Types B: Lizzie, Doll, Redmond, Lau, Bard, Wolfram, and all the corgi class students like Mabel and Ginny.

"Type B blood people are creative, cheerful, independent, laid-back, and adventurous. They are quick thinkers and spontaneous, as well as passionate and strong-willed. They do things at their own pace, and mostly end up going their own way because they are not good at follow orders, so they are known too as the "rule-breakers". They are honest and caring at heart, and make friends easily because they are loyal and non-pretentious. On the other hand, their negative traits include being “wild,” selfish, unforgiving, irresponsible and unpredictable. When type B blood people focus on something, they put their all into it, and they are unlikely to let go, even if the goal seems unachievable or impractical."

There are interesting things in the symbolism of canopus too:

Canopus was the helmsman of the Argo Navis, the ship of Jason and the Argonauts, who served King Menelaus. Canopus is described as a handsome young man who was loved by a egyptian prophetess, but never reciprocated her feelings. While visiting the Egyptian coast, Canopus was bitten by a serpent and died, and Menelaus then built a monument to his memory on the shore where this happened, around which the town of Canopus later grew up. In this town was worshipped the egiptian god Osiris, under a peculiar form: that of a vase with a human head. Osiris is a god who is in among other things, the Lord of the afterlife, the dead, resurrection and life in ancient Egyptian religion).

Osiris is the name of the group/company Undertaker was supposedly working with on his bizarre doll/resurrection project during the Campania arc. It is curious too the way Canopus died (it will implicate Doll's fate in the future?... although for now I see it unlikely).

About Doll's role in the plot, I don't think she will be killed (in this arc), because I think our Ciel will see her again, it would be a poor choice on Yana's part to reintroduce Doll just to kill her off so quickly, what would be the point then? And we still don't know why Undertaker revived her either. The "Stars" require a lot of work and huge amount of resources to function properly, and her blood type is rare (not as rare as Sirius but still rare), so why Undertaker gave her such preferential treatment is a mystery. I don't think he has revived her just to mortify OCiel, there must be another reason.

And some things start to make sense now, just at this part. I don't think the relationship between RCiel and Doll is good at all, since RCiel wouldn't tolerate someone who hold such a big grudge against his brother, and Doll wouldn't like the idea of dealing with the brother of the one who killed her and her family. So it makes sense not to mention Canopus as a candidate for his butler.

Besides, the butler of RCiel would need to be a fighter, and unlike Lizzie, strength in combat doesn't seem to be Doll's strong point, who also seems to be in a delicate state. Polaris fought AGNI and won, Layla(Al) almost beat Ronald if it wasn't for William's intervention, but Doll just walk and collapse? Like with RCiel, that could be because of a low blood supply.

What will happen now?

Regarding what will happen next, I was somehow expecting a confrontation between Doll and Finnian, but in her current state that seems impossible, since she probably can barely move, so the whole conflict will happen between Finny and Snake.

Doll is an important part of Snake's character. She is the first person who reached out for him, and in his memories she is the most prominent figure of his "circus family". The worst thing is that Snake has been serving loyally to the one who ordered her death, and him forgiving OCiel after finding out seems unlikely. There are inocent children involved too, so the situation is really complicated. It will all depends on what are Snake's priorities and loyalty, but I wonder if he will bear with the idea of killing Doll, I highly doubt it (I hope he and Finny save the kids though).

On the other hand, I expect Finnian not to die and return to OCiel and Sebastian, but he could learn from Doll the truth about Sebastian's nature. At first obviously not believing her words, but the seed of doubt would be planted, as he could remember Sebastian's strange behavior in the Emerald Witch arc. Finnian could confirm this later, causing a huge conflict between the servants and Sebastian, who would want to protect their master from him, and complicating things for our Ciel.

In addition, we must consider that Meyrin and Bard have already achieved 2 victories for OCiel, will this be the occasion where RCiel will win a game?