#i think overall i am relatively neutral on the finale

[standreamy]

The issue with Ladybug in regards of  LadyNoir’s partnership

Edit 24/04/2022

This post contains the infos about all the series released up until now, including season 4 finale and the first two episodes of season 5. The concept remains the same overall, being further deepened and strengthened by the new content. They only added more reasons to why the topic is messed up a lot. 

PREMISE

First of all, I apologize for the length of this post and I clap to anyone who will be willing to read it and consider what I wrote with open mind, without jumping to the conclusion this is made just to express hate. 

I have this analysis I wanted to share about the Ladybug/Marinette discourse that went all over the fandom because of the new Kuro Neko trailer, and that then I kept continuing after it aired…

I wanted to write this post some time ago, but I waited to see how season 4 would progress overall. 

I’m aware that season 5 is still to be released and surely my opinion will grow and shift depending on what will happen, but we have enough material to talk about the situation NOW as this sub-plot was made to shape season 4 and part of season 3. Enough material is present to judge what was done in the progressing of the sub-plot in its dedicated seasons. 

I wanted to express what currently I think are the problems with the protagonist’s treatment towards Chat Noir.

As much as on one hand I understand the frustration of Ladybug’s fans, and how some takes and aggressive attitudes by some people are way exaggerated and I absolutely do not condone (Seriously lamenting to the author won’t fix the problem at this point and there is a line between expressing opinions in the right places with good manners and herassement), I can’t also blame who is genuinely but moderately expressing exasperation over the situation.

I am a very HUGE fan of angst, miscommunication tropes, etc... but if those are portrayed and written well. Without forcing characters to just become mean, or act unnaturally incoherent.

As I often say, I am not really into the fandom anymore. I watch the show, criticize it, draw for some headcanons and AUS I have, I read fanfictions and look at fanart, but I don’t engage in the fandom discussions and I’m not super invested in it (aside Marichat). I try to take everything that comes with a grain of salt and be neutral, but in this situation it’s really difficult to not lean on the current opinion that Marinette is acting wrongly.

After years of defending this show, I eventually gave up on the eventuality that its writing is very flawed and not in a light and okay-ish way. This doesn’t mean no one can like it or feel addicted to it, speaking for myself, I still try to always face episodes keeping a neutral critical eye.

But there are some lines I think should be drawn and one is how much we can really excuse Marinette/Ladybug’s behavior, as her character in the show in writing and enjoyment but also for ethical reasons regarding the viewers. 

What she is doing in the series to Chat, is entirely wrong. There’s no going around it, she is the one making the biggest mistakes and acting in a bad way and her actions shouldn't be justified so easily. 

Basic respect for someone in our life is fundamental, mostly who we care about and is supposed to be a closed one. Without respect we go nowhere and what Ladybug expressed towards Chat has serious lacks of it. 

I will go through this picking on the main “mistakes” she has made, from the very second season when all of this started (Yes, it’s not an issue born in season 4, it just exploded in such.) and expand on what’s wrong, plus proposing solutions that could have been taken.

Also, I’d like to remind that Chat has his own faults too and has big issues as character, but in regards of this subplot the problem lays more on Ladybug’s writing than him.

SEASON 2

Starting off with something small but important, she did not inform Chat Noir of a Guardian or explain to him how to reach him. If they talk regularly on patrols and are friends who relatively know each other, as the show pretends since they are supposed to do it enough to be “in love”, she would have been aware of Plagg’s not mentioning it to Chat (Which wasn’t told if it was a direct order from Fu), and the moment she started frequenting Fu she still should have made sure of it. 

If Plagg got sick and couldn’t guide Adrien, or something happened, he would have no way to reach Ladybug or get infos about how to find the Guardian, serious issues could have been raised. 

However, it’s true that before Syren, we weren’t aware that Fu apparently insisted on having Marinette not informing Chat about his existence, so we can blame part of this mostly to him. 

She, at least, tried to talk to Fu about including Chat more. If anything, we could blame that we didn’t get to see Fu explicitly telling her to not speak during their first encounter.

Another big flaw that got carried into the current season, even if not coherently, is Ladybug not revealing the identities of the temporary heroes to Chat. 

On one hand, it’s normal to think that being their identity, it would be their right to decide, just like it’s normal to consider that Fu might have been a big reason why Ladybug didn’t think of informing Chat. But again, we were never shown Fu actively saying to Marinette to not tell Chat, at least not clearly when she started giving out the temporary miraculous to the holders. She assumed it, which is understandable, but if they are partners on the level of equals, he should be kept in loop as much as her. 

If it was urgent and needed for him to find them, if he got into a situation where Ladybug was unavailable and he needed a back-up, he wouldn’t have been able to get help. Maybe, knowing where Fu is, he would get informed on their identities, but that would be only an exception, and it’s not said that Chat would have time to find Fu. Maybe Ladybug already got the Miraculous to give out, but she was trapped and Chat took it. At that point he would have to improvise.

This is generally most of what was wrong in season 2 regarding Ladybug’s attitude. It may not be as big and extreme as season 4, but here the roots were planted and there were barely efforts to fix them or deepen them to create a coherent plot point.

SEASON 3

Season 3 was more damaging as it seems under this perspective, because most of the plot holes that led to Chat being unfairly treated were introduced in this part of the show.

Let’s pick up again from Chat not knowing the temporary heroes. 

Ladybug didn’t inform Chat that other members know each other. If one of them was akumatized, it’s an objective risk he should be aware about. Aside from the fact that the rules were broken of course. It’s not a problem that they knew, it’s a problem he wasn’t made aware of it.

Another big issue is how he wasn’t informed at the moment Hawk Moth/Papillon learnt the identities in Miracle Queen.

This could be more of a plot hole and it probably is, but it became a pretext to continue on the road of Chat being kept in the dark. 

Maybe we can blame most of it on Fu again, but after Marinette became Guardian, even if trained by him, she still has to make her own choices and get responsibilities for them. She could have still realized that Chat needed to know these things.

Of course, there is a lack of good writing even on part of Chat. He isn’t stupid, he could have guessed once reached the battle ground and he could have easily questioned it to Ladybug. But still, Ladybug didn’t think of informing him and insisted on him not knowing (unless he was present already for other holders, but that’s a big incoherence). Either he shall know everyone’s or no one’s.

Shadow Moth knowing and not Chat, doesn’t hold logic or fairness. 

It’s an urgent matter. Chat should be informed about it so to draw his own conclusions and act if needed. 

And it’s also a morally wrong choice which Chat could have easily expressed if he wasn’t so forgiving and passive towards her (As I said, he has his own faults, but first and foremost he should be informed by her). If he was well written, he would have of course thought about how this would give the idea that Ladybug has a specifical worry against Chat in knowing ANY identity. Even more worried than HawkMoth knowing or putting at risk their working balance just to not let Chat know. 

In his shoes, he could even think, in a situation of self-doubts, that she trusted HawkMoth more, and saw Chat more as a danger.

Which seems extreme, but it’s a fair thought seeing how she acts.

This is furthermore supported by Multimouse’s resolution. It’s understandable Ladybug needed to find an excuse, for obvious reasons, but also her excuses at this point could have raised a lot of doubts in Chat.

Aside that Marinette is his supposed dear and close friend and sadly he didn’t even question anything, after everyone’s being compromised to Hawk Moth, Ladybug didn’t really need to keep Marinette out of commission. Sure, it came out Chat didn’t find out the other heroes’ identities, but Marinette was the only one not compromised and substituting her with PolyMouse in season 4 on the basis that it was because of her revealing to Chat could as well make him think the whole problem wasn’t Hawk Moth or others knowing, but him in the specific.

 Hawkmoth didn’t know her identity, only Chat, it made no sense for her to be replaced in Chat’s eyes. The minimum would have been to bring it up and have Ladybug find another excuse so to not let Chat think the worst about the situation. Perhaps taking advantage of her difficulty in justifying that Marinette cannot be called back, to make Chat understand that it is not a matter that depends on him, even if she insists not to tell him who the other members are. It would be a perfect trigger event.

One can say that since this didn’t happen, since the show (and Chat) didn’t bring it up, there’s no real reason to talk about it. But since we jump to assumptions on her care for Chat and justifications, even when they are not present in the show or not as they should, we can also add things that would surely count if the writing was good and coherent to the characters’ knowledge.

Couldn’t she come up with a better excuse? Like maybe the fact that since Marinette had to wear so many Miraculous together she had a magical overdose and was too drained of vital energy? So using a Miraculous again could affect her health? It would surely put at peace Chat Noir, it’s kind of realistic considering the rules and functioning of the jewels (ignoring that now characters wear 3 Miraculous together like nothing happens at all) and would have been perfect to either put the matter aside and not bring it up again or choose instead to work on it and make it a sub-plot, maybe giving chance also to develop more Marinette and Chat’s relationship or how he views her. 

This is more a stretch in matters of how much it was shown, but apparently Chat is not informed on all the things about the Miraculous. If he was an ally like the others, it would be understandable, but he is Ladybug’s partner and equal. He should be informed on what is important. Like the Grimoire, why it was so important. Sure, it creates complications in how to not wrap the plot too quickly, but there are ways to still inform him enough but not to suspect, in a realistic way, about his father ahead of time.

Another stretch, but a topic we can link to her “caring” about Chat Noir the whole series and making him feel important at times… another big mistake was how the balance between her as LadyNoire and Mister Bug was handled. Her thinking that Chat’s role is easy to fill is okay at the start, it’s a common banter many shows used for their characters if working in teams. But the episode didn’t end with her learning he is important or has a difficult and valid role, it ended with her having some fun and having a very easy time with his Miraculous.

If he learnt her role is difficult, she didn’t do the same, so if we take the show’s writing and how she easily substitutes him or forget about his feelings or presence, she didn’t learn from it and still thinks his role is easier and lighter. What was the point of that episode then?

Other small bits of elements we can take in consideration are also how in Desperada she wonders where Chat is and then talks about how they don’t need him in front of Adrien. We can argue that in the end she did need Chat and his cataclysm and admitted it, but more so the focus was on the fact that she needed the right Snake holder. And Adrien or no Adrien, even not considering that she should be developed at least enough by season 3 to not let something so small feelings wise to complicate a mission, since she is excused in her actions because she has to be “professional”, Chat is still an important member and friend. She doesn’t love him? He is still close enough not to talk about him like that, even if she is blinded by Adrien (Which again, by season 3 out of 5 for the main arc, shouldn’t be anymore the case).

Now we go into the biggest point, the one that created most misconceptions in the fandom.

Chat Blanc.

Let’s start with something clear. Chat should have been made aware of what happened if there is a fair partnership or a fair treatment at all of his role. It involves him, it’s about him, he should have known. 

Then, if we want to treat it as something that didn’t happen because Ladybug was traumatized from it, sure, it’s a possible road.

But if it was portrayed as such.

A trauma is shown through the series in acts and proofs, periodically, constantly. Marinette should have shown it when she talked, spoke, and thought about Chat and their partnership, or even having this experience getting in the way of her daily life.

We didn’t see during season 4 any of the real consequences of her stress as guardian. Lila didn’t create many issues, she didn’t lose friends, she wasn’t seen having bad time with school and grades, we didn’t see her parents doubting her, or her disappointing people’s expectations. We saw only her not being able to date Luka, a person she claimed to love and broke up with only because of her duties (Which says a lot about how her growth personally and as romantic relationships is treated. And how she is supposed to fall for Chat or really get to know Adrien. But it was said in a interview that Luka was supposed to create a bit of a mess by being the perfect guy to fall for, and Adrien being more than once listed as “perfect” in Marinette’s eyes about his qualities), but that was it.  

And if THAT wasn’t well portrayed and didn’t solidify a reason to justify her during the season stress-wise, how could it be the trauma from Chat Blanc that received the same treatment?

Every single link from her being so snappy and unfair to trauma from Chat Blanc is suppositions made by the fans who want to excuse her actions as PTSD/Trauma. We could believe so, but she never showed real hints about it, clear and confirmed. She never really gave proof and acted accordingly.

We never saw her having constant nightmares (only once and a unique hint of it all in Sentibubbler), we never saw her regretting her decisions and feeling conflict over her actions towards Chat or decisions concerning him. She never showed regret for leaving him in the dark or keeping him at arm’s length. If she was hit by trauma, she would be aware at least that she is doing it or want to keep a distance. And this is never portrayed.

She never expressed fear of falling in love with him even, she was always sure that she wasn’t in love with him and had no real concern about it. “She doesn’t realize she loves him deep inside”: no. 

This is just a supposition once again, it’s not a fact shown or stated. Her whole actions demonstrate the opposite. Someone who loves the other cares in every single action and act. Maybe they make mistakes but they care and suffer for them and for others and not just themselves (NY Special, which I’ll address later). 

Words speak louder with actions. So she can’t be excused about not informing him about Chat Blanc and leaving him in the dark about everything because she is afraid of him getting akumatized. She never showed it, she never acted traumatized, she never showed to depend on it to determine her actions.

Suppositions don’t really go far when the show doesn’t go accordingly, it will be always more fans trying to convince themselves.

You can’t base it on her trauma unless you show it. Show her hesitant and in fear that telling him would lead him to being akumatized. Otherwise, as being directly involved, it’s his RIGHT to know and there are no excuses. 

In real life Trauma can stay hidden and resurface later, but the signs are clear and surely there aren’t storytelling issues to take count of. If you’re writing a story, you have also some elements to portray to make the story flow with sense and coherence.

What kind of solution could have been found?

Remake Chat Blanc with other concepts in mind and other consequences.

Start from Glaciator, have Ladybug opening up bit by bit in what she can, have Marinette nurturing her friendship with Chat and eventually developing that surprise the heroine had into something more. Slowly getting more open minded and curious, she get also closer to him until, one day, she decides to give him the chance to try something together and she drops her transformation, hoping he still feels the same and perhaps he started liking her civilian self. 

That, makes her big and first mistake, dropping a bomb on him who, even if happy, start feeling a lot of pressure to keep her secure. They are in a relationship, he may or not reveal, but still HawkMoth notices his stress and starts targeting Ladybug specifically. Or even, he could discover Chat sees Marinette. And eventually things escalate and Chat is akumatized for despair but he doesn’t give infos to the villain, and destroys him like in the canon episode. Same consequences, different progression and turning point. Then, Bunnix goes back in time and takes Marinette before she decides to drop her transformation and brings her into the future, with the same events happening. 

When everything is fixed and she goes back to her own time, Marinette is even more hurt by the eventuality of being the cause of that, so even if she still has feelings for Chat, she needs to keep distance from him, even if suffering for it and blaming herself. She keeps doing so, substituting him, avoiding him, hurting him without really getting the consequences of her actions, keeps acting stressed, having nightmares, seeing Chat Blanc everywhere and having difficulties staying by her partner’s side, but faking to be okay. That all is okay.

At that point, it slowly goes down to her lashing out a bit (Not drastically, but still hurting him without meaning to) and the fracture is created in their partnership. 

It could even use an eventual Sandboy 2.0 as a possible increment of their division or to use it to help them fix the partnership.

Or, another options to stay closer to canon’s events: 

Adrien finds out exactly like in canon her identity, he decided to get to know Marinette better instead of jumping in a relationship and so he gets more and more enamored by her. To the point that Gabriel notices something has changed in his son, that he wants to spend more time out as a civilian, that he sneaks out to stay with Mari. Even Lila could inform Gabriel.

So he starts having someone spying on Adrien and eventually he finds out about Chat Noir and indirectly either he spies on Marinette and discovers her or he follows Chat Noir visiting her as hero (Implying Marinette could also get to know Chat and get closer to him) and uses her to akumatize him out of guilt and using other cards like his mother or his amok (It’s confirmed by now).

All this, permits to then give even the reason why the two shouldn’t get too close under any sense, instead of just not developing them but pretending they are.

The most important thing is also to focus on the real dangers of them knowing and getting in a relationship. Aka, not being ready emotionally or facing the dangers that are most concrete, not forcing Gabriel to find out with silly mistakes Adrien wouldn’t commit.

Their relationship and identities being discovered with their reveal to each other, it’s not a natural consequence. It’s a risk, but both in Chat Blanc and Ephemeral it was treated as something bound to happen if they shared their secret, which it isn’t. 

It’s more risky one of them being controlled, but if they were careful as they always were the chances of HawkMoth discovering something changed between them is very very low. 

 The ones I offered are just a couple of the plenty options, but of course, it wouldn’t be enough to just change this episode, but still taking the development and smear it way earlier since season 2 and keeping doing it after Chat Blanc too.

That’s why consistency is very important in a show to have actual characters’ development and in this show it lacks a lot.

SEASON 4

This season takes most of the previous mistakes and acts upon them to give the situation an explosion.

This choice is not itself a bad decision for the show. Creating a conflict between LadyNoir based on Marinette’s mistakes because of stress and guardianship is a valid choice that can give angst and interesting developments.

The problem lies in how everything is treated and that there is no actual development, nor bases to take this road with coherence.

There is much to address but we will start from the very start and try to go over everything.

She reveals to Alya and doesn’t inform him. 

Of course, Marinette’s identity is hers to do as she wishes. We didn’t really have a promise between the two that they would be each other’s first choice. Maybe it could have been implied but it wasn’t made a point of importance. 

The problem is not much that she vented and revealed to Alya, if anything it should have been made way earlier in the show for writing reasons. The real issue is that she didn’t inform her partner of what happened. And she didn’t then tell him about Rena Furtive or Alya keeping her miraculous permanently. 

It wouldn’t be a huge problem if he was a sidekick or general ally, but they are supposed to be equals and solid rules were established for them both to maintain. 

The show didn’t address it, so we don’t have proof unfortunately to say that they cared about revealing (at least, not on Marinette’s side.) or felt the urge to do it, even after taking down their enemy. Chat surely did, but Ladybug never and they never made a promise between them. And she never has shown fear in him not liking her behind the mask and disappointing his expectations, even if I find it a very valid take fanon-wise to give her more character.

The rules spoke clearly, no reveals. But it’s a general rule. “No one has to know”, so if something happened, the problem is not really that Alya discovered before Chat. It would be if CN and LB promised each other something, or we can even suppose it would have been fairer towards Chat. 

The problem is that her identity was compromised in the first place and he is to be informed to act as consequence and take precautions, or problems can rise like in Hack-San.

Marinette never had any intention to inform Chat about having told someone. She never showed regret about it aside in Hack-San when she was found out and Alya pushed her and Sentibubbler but more because of a sudden and casual fear of Alya betraying her. So, this isn’t about Chat being informed, she really didn’t think about it, if she did she gave no weight to it. 

It was Alya telling her to talk to Chat in Hack-san, if she didn’t Ladybug wouldn’t have done anything. Alya, who was his partner only for a day, could see more how he was affected and consider his position.

And still regarding this episode, she left and didn’t inform him. Surely he made the same mistake in the NY Special and he paid for it, showing remorse and being nervous about not having informed her.

Marinette may have left him with a substitute, but she was able to. Chat wouldn’t have left his miraculous to someone else, since apparently he is the only one not spilling secrets around ironically. 

Yet, when she made the same mistake she didn’t get the blame he did, he didn’t lash out on her like she did, even after how he had to find out such a thing. 

And she didn’t feel sorry of not warning him, unlike he did all along.

A simple call would have been enough. A quick bathroom break to leave him a message and then tell him she would explain once she was back. Still wrong not telling him before about revealing to someone, but at least she would have shown consideration and efforts in fixing her mistake.

Marinette may have done a long list for Alya (Very scrupulous in this, but not in taking a minute to give him heads-up) and added to laugh at his jokes cause they make him happy, but if in the same episode she fails over and over again to consider really the impact of her actions, the most important and fundamental ones, how really can that be relevant?

In the end of the episode, she promised to never abandon him, but did she really take into account his fears? 

Worrying about seeing someone important disappear without knowing what happened is terrifying. It happens in real life, on the internet… and if you care about said person it eats you alive. 

Chat may be too forgiving, but he expressed a serious fear that should have been faced by Ladybug with consideration that goes beyond an empty promise she will break even.

She can promise that, of course, and break it as a plot point, but this is furthermore proof of how superficial the whole thing is and how difficult it is to excuse her. 

How can you promise that you won’t end up in an accident? That something won’t happen? You fall sick? You can’t promise that will never happen. It’s cruel to do so, even if she doesn’t know that many people abandoned him in his life. 

You may say that with optimism, but you need to also give some back-up to show you really got seriously his fear and share it.

Doesn’t Ladybug worry about seeing him vanish suddenly one day? Maybe learning something happened and he died without her never seeing him again, saying goodbye or revealing?

Did she offer a solution or compromise? Some sort of realistic element to make him feel better? Leaving a clue, a letter or something for her relatives, where she would ask to inform him if something happened. Write something to give him in case she wouldn’t be there anymore so he would know who she was and she cared even if she didn’t have the chance to tell him in person. 

Encouraging that once all was over with Shadow Moth they could reveal, so to pump his spirits a bit, show she wanted to know as much as him, since she never showed fears about him being disappointed in Marinette.

None of this was made. How much can we say then that his worries really are taken into account?

Or even, why didn’t she think of giving him a chance to find someone to reveal too? As much as she doesn’t know about his home life (Which is more because she doesn’t let them open up, or the writers not giving space to know really how much they know each other personally without compromising infos in the way), on contrary to her beliefs and the show’s writing, his romance with her isn’t his only concern. He still is the bearer of the cat miraculous and it’s an objective weight.

Again, plot-wise it’s okay it passed from her mind, only if Chat showed to be bothered of having no one to open up to. This way, it only seems to lack her considerations or thinking.

This is small, but still important if we want to take everything into account: you tell your colleagues if you are not showing up for patrols. One thing is not showing up if the meeting is casual and more Chat hoping for her to appear and getting his hopes up. Another thing is having set patrols to which, even if you have other important duties, you didn’t stand up professionally. It’s important to inform you won’t show up, even more so if those patrols also hold the scope of spending time with someone important that you can’t frequent outside the mask. 

She forgot? it’s okay, just think about it later, realize and feel a bit sorry! You made a mistake, you were careless and forgetful but at least you show you cared about it.

Chat isn’t seeked or waited most of the time, she doesn’t actively seek him anymore unless she needs at all costs his power. He is her last thought and need, she easily replaces him. Which of course, if case calls should be something to be ready to do, but not so often without worrying. Not so easily.

She makes plans for “two people” but doesn’t give him heads-up. It shouldn’t be something so easy to brush off. He may be very loyal and would back her up, she may trust him to adapt, but for now we don’t know if it’s that or just her not considering it.

So even her “joke” or sarcasm about not knowing each other or she would have seeked him out, it’s really uncalled for. A joke should be ironic at least, even if it doesn’t make you laugh. (Optigami)

She insists on not revealing while people, including herself, are breaking the rules all over… aside him.

Now, I know this is something people discussed plenty on, but I want to try addressing it anyway.

Glaciator 2 for me was one of the episodes with most potential, maybe it showed the deepest part of Marinette and Chat, when they interacted.

Sure, Marinette confessed something to him in the cinema that doesn’t really stand to how she actually acts, but it was a try to put a patch on her character mess. Their interactions in the episode were both funny and endearing (This is what happens when you make two characters actually act as friends and make them get to know each other truly). 

But, Ladybug’s reaction was way over the top. 

Gossip is a thing that exists, as a public figure it’s understandable that it can be pressuring, but it’s also something to get used to. She may be stressed, but lashing out like that remains exaggerated. She acted almost repulsively towards him. 

Chat surely was wrong in pushing just a few lines, we could even pretend he needed to give her more space and lay down with the flirting etc…

It was a lesson for him, but in the same episode she acted as badly towards Adrien, if not worse. She cared about cheering him up so he could fall for her, again fell in her obsession and acted superficial (The gifts weren’t even all handmade like everyone thought). It was shallow, the meanings behind an action count and her acting so furious and exaggerated with Chat was even more out of place with how she acted after. 

But only Chat was the one who had to learn all the lessons of the episode.

I would also like to note that Ladybug never outright said to Chat she will never like him romantically or what he can’t or not do in her regards. She said there was another boy. So she could have fallen for Chat, she just didn’t in the show (Which makes Luka’s presence a bit more pointless romance-wise. She never showed thoughts of giving Chat a chance, even if it meant giving up on it for Chat Blanc. And she didn’t learn from her relationship with Luka on how to treat Adrien).

Yet she flirted back and acted in ways that can make a person still get hopes up. So, again, she holds part of blame if he insisted on it. You put the boundaries? Be clear on your intention, that you being affectionate and flirting back doesn’t mean anything. Otherwise, don’t react as harshly.  

It’s okay getting mad for the timing, but aside that, there’s no reason to throw him in a trashcan. It’s not fun, it’s not a gag or a joke. You portray the scene differently if it was, not with “serious” implications and pressure for him to be wrong about his attitude. Not with how she was even freaking out in stopping the media, almost obsessed to stop the rumors. Is she frantic? It’s okay to do so, but again, show valid reasons. Show that she has flashbacks of Chat Blanc and freaks out because her viewing Chat romantically is possible and she is scared that it will lead to that event happening. Show her having fear, not seeming crazily obsessed with her anger. Otherwise, it just proves that she isn’t unaware of loving Chat, she just doesn’t for real and is almost repulsed to the idea.

And yes, it was a cute thing her asking him for practice, but this if their visits as Marichat friendos were regular and she didn’t just approach the whole situation with him as Ladybug like that. 

Okay, he doesn’t know yet, but if she had the minimal intention to reveal someday she should worry that he would be hurt to know that in a day she pushed him away like that and also asked him to get her with someone else without him knowing. While he suffered over his feelings.

Now, onto Sentibubbler and Rocketear. 

I mentioned before that Sentibubbler holds the only true hint of Ladybug having trauma due to Chat Blanc, but it happens only once and it’s due to her choice to trust someone who would betray her, not because of the fear of losing Chat directly. 

This episode also introduces some of the signs of Chat’s feeling left out and how him not being aware of some fundamental infos can get in the way of the mission or lead to him being captured. 

He should have been informed of Rena Furtive, if he was really still considered Ladybug’s equal.  

The problem of his lack of knowledge re-presents in Rocketear, where he suddenly finds out that Rena and Carapace are Alya and Nino (and dealing with Nino’s lashing and more doubts for his self-confidence). Aside the fact that, as mentioned ahead, he should know the temporary heroes’ identities, at least he should have known that they are still called in case even if they were compromised. 

This not only is a problem for his involvement in the team, but also can naturally find another link to the Multimouse case and the dangers of him knowing. 

The holders who were compromised by HawkMoth, their villain, are still called in action, however the only one who didn’t, and was found only by Chat himself, is left out. Isn’t it normal to have doubts on everything? Where trust is really held about his regards?

Ladybug in the same episode says she trust him about not hitting on Alya knowing she is taken, but she also acts exasperated when she explains her why Chat was on her balcony. Does it take an akuma caused by the situation and Chat being beaten up for her to think he isn’t a playboy? She is supposed to know him by now. He jokes but his feelings are genuine.

Moving on to Ephemeral…

This episode was kind of a mess. Both in the rhythm, both is the fact that Ladybug says she loves Adrien and not Chat, ruining every small bit of possibility she would like Chat deep inside and developed a bit in 4 seasons.

 Let’s not call it just her being unaware, she gave support to what she said the whole series. The only time she showed possible hints of starting to think about Chat differently was Glaciator in season 2 after seeing him in a new light and considering the whole picture… and a possible foreshadowing in Kagami’s quote about the manga ending up with the two people practicing falling for each other.

But this is never supported in the series, she was serious about not loving Chat. This shows how behind she is in her development as character and as relationships. She could have these doubts if Ephemeral happened in season 1, not in the second last. 

Was it really necessary to wait until the end of season 4 to have her realizing that Adrien is not perfect, he is a normal person with flaws and that they never speak enough or properly, so to consider themselves close friends? If friends at all?

True is that he hides a lot of his feelings and natural attitudes as Adrien, but if that love she feels has at least some bases, has some genuinity, shouldn’t it be represented differently? With her maybe seeing through the attitude? Seeing he is not perfect and she likes him also for it?

By season 4, it’s like there was no progress at all between the two. 

Then again, all I said about her feelings for him now is more to note how we can’t say for sure she likes him and acts badly because she cares. She didn’t show it.

Still in Ephemeral we have 2 more problems. 

The first is how she brushed off Chat after insisting on talking to him, like if the matter wasn’t important. But this is the lesser grave between the two.

The other is about her plan to let SuHan know Chat’s identity.

I didn’t see many people talk about it, maybe because it didn’t seem a bit deal, but for me this is something extremely concerning. 

Her being willing to find out Chat Noir’s identity with a trick and making him reveal it to other people without his consent or knowledge. Guardian or not, trying to have him revealing to someone else by using his trust for her is a very unfair and dishonest thing. Aside from forgetting herself, she wanted someone else to discover it and without him being aware. It’s his identity and he has the right to decide who to reveal to, even more than the temporary heroes, unless it’s a direct guardian order (then again, if they are also partners who are supposed to be equal, this is questionable). 

Luka knowing already or not doesn’t matter (even if he did a mistake in agreeing and not confessing that he knows), the problem is the intentions Ladybug had. If he wasn’t Adrien, how would it have ended? Would the plan work? Couldn’t she just be honest with Chat? He surely would have helped find a solution.

Ladybug knew exactly where to hit to get Chat to give her his identity. She knew about how much he cares for her, she knew she had to use that to convince him, even knowing which words, addressing very valid points that support why they should know. Points he thinks and agrees on. She manipulated (let’s try to think it not maliciously, as much as possible) the situation, his feelings, his ideas, to her own advantage. This is a typical villain attitude, not one of a superheroine who is supposed to care about her partner and dear friend. 

One thing would be if she showed remorse about it, another is not. Using someone’s deep feelings and vulnerability, a friend, against them without even considering to come off as honest... doesn’t seem a nice action. 

They had Viperion resetting her attempts... why not coming clear in one and asking him directly explaining the situation? If you want to show that she really knows him well, that she was right about him not revealing unless she used a tricky tactic to hit the right spot of his heart and brain, why not just... prove it? 

Now, let’s move to one of the biggest problems of this season.

Kuro Neko.

You can be stressed, traumatized, but that is NOT an excuse to lash out on people when they are not doing anything wrong. This is a basic point. 

For no reason you should treat or lash out on someone like that. 

Then, Chat in Glaciator 2 learnt to not push and even if the pun may wasn’t on spot as timing, he was genuine about his concern to help and was clear about it. She saw it even. 

She was losing time, yes, but she had no reason to be so harsh because the situation wasn’t urgent. If she trusts the other heroes to do their job then she knows there is the possibility of needing to recharge before going to pick all the miraculouses back. She said it herself, she knew where they were, she could go to them a few minutes later after filling Chat in. 

We can’t say she wasn’t pissed for him being late, say that she was aware he needed a break and that her words later to Plagg implied she was okay and understanding with him for not being present because her actions don’t go accordingly. She never showed genuine concern towards him for the matter, the few times she approached him in past was when it was clearly visible he was upset and one of the two it was Alya pressing her to do so. She didn’t even notice, as said earlier, that he needed to talk, in a situation where it’s only normal even if you don’t know the other’s feelings. Something so objectively plain and important to talk about, she didn’t consider.

That harshness is out of question, angry or not, understandable or less, you don’t lash out like that, if you do at least after realizing you apologize. Since he showed up she seemed pissed, at being so at the first occasion she sees him it's not really something that proves her “understanding” of his mental health. 

And her reasons for feeling rushed to begin with were easy to fix.

She could have no idea of how long the fight would last, detransforming before picking back all the jewels is possible and I don’t think she wouldn’t trust the others to wait up a few minutes more. Some of them were still transformed, Chat could easily track down the miraculouses with his own baton and pick them up, or wait for her to recharge and explain to him the location of them as civilians. Or, if for Rena it was too complicated to watch out for both Ladybug and Chat, he still could have gone with her.

Rena Fortive was probably out looking and Ladybug could easily give the other heroes heads-up to wait a tiny bit more. Mylene even said she could feed her kwami herself.

Her phrase during the interview is another concerning fact. 

You can be pissed but there is a basic respect for people, even more partners and friends. Not only she went against her own words and contradicted her bond with him, but also gravely treated him. 

Under a certain perspective, calling him a “partner like any other” could be seen as defending him for his absence, but it’s clear this is not the case.

Let’s remember that Chat Noir is not like any other hero. He was chosen alongside Ladybug to be a permanent member, to work with her as other half and his presence is not optional. He is not like the others who can be called in, whether he is needed or not. 

Cataclysm or not, he has to be there and be present because that is his asset, he is fundamental for the team and necessary alongside Ladybug. They are the team that fixes the problem. Master Fu chose both of them and their roles are still the same, bonus heroes or not. He was chosen to be THERE. Always.

And the people, civilians and viewers, know this very well. The journalist had a right to be worried and ask about Chat Noir’s absence cause he is the root of the team with Ladybug, he is fundamental even when he isn’t needed in terms of powers. He is supposed to be there and the civilians are no tdumb, they understand there was a shift. Downgrading Chat Noir to a partner like the others just reflects what Ladybug thinks about him.

Author, the show, the premises, keep telling that they are equal, a duo. But Ladybug doesn’t think so anymore. She said it in Ephemeral, how they are not anymore a duo and a team, she said it in Risk, that he is now just another holder (with the consolation of being her favourite) and now too. She doesn’t see him anymore as her equal or specific partner, she sees him like the other temporary heroes, just with a more powerful miraculous.

There’s a difference between her unknowingly sidelining Chat and being mean because of her trauma, but still caring about him like no one else and knowing he is impossible to replace... to her not thinking so anymore. It’s two opposite things that clash. 

It would be okay if she made those mistakes with a solid background behind that proves she really thinks he is impossible to replace, they are a duo and she suffers from the distance between them, even if maybe she doesn’t realize her actions are putting him in a corner alone. But she isn’t doing it for this. 

Her words need to be accompanied by actions and for her, he is a hero she can substitute anytime.

“Your friendship is the most important thing for me”. Chat said it clearly, for him Ladybug is important as friend and partner and she said previously she sees him as friend too, not just a partner. 

And she jumped into blaming his romantic feelings without trying to understand that Chat cares about her fully as a friend and important person and not just for those (Even if aside from Glaciator and other few times maybe he wasn’t so skilled in showing it. Sometimes it’s indeed made it seem like he cares only for that, but it was done the same for Marinette in regards to Adrien, so it’s a problem in the portrayal of their feelings).

Marinette, the whole time, blamed his problems on his feelings and acted upon it, without fully considering his position. Plagg surely shouldn’t have remarked again that Chat loves her romantically, this is a very huge mistake from the writing. Pushing everytime only the romantical side of the situation when most of it isn’t related to the romance but to their partnership, friendship and Adrien’s family situation, is very damaging for this topic. And of course, Ladybug takes it as it’s only about romance. This again is a big mistake from Plagg but at this point of the series I’d like to think that Ladybug knows that Chat cares for her regardless of romantic feelings, as he told her more than once and as I think she would know not to make assumptions on someone’s private life. He, romance or not, cares about Ladybug as friend and partner, enjoys her company and would gladly do anything for her even if he wasn’t in love with her. Chat even told her in Hack-San, he is scared to lose her, he cares a whole lot even when she didn’t show to reciprocate the same worry.

Why did she assume he would be okay, without knowing his situation and without considering that he is still her main partner and friend. She was ready to just blame his feelings, be ready to give up on him with the excuse of not hurting him, but not even showing the will of keeping him in her life. She needed a Chat Noir, not her Chat Noir, and the episode never explains why it should be otherwise.

I’d like to note that I understand in this case, the general dialogues were not appropriately chosen and that Ladybug has more the fault of rushing into her decision and not thinking more about Chat’s reasons, rather than the assumption itself that romance in involved. It’s more a writing issue.

However, going on, we still face issues.

We assume Marinette cares because of seeing her stressed, but to have proof of it we need to see her feelings. 

There was no focus on his absence as a person, but only as a holder. No tears, no panic, no pain, it was totally different than New York.  Where was the desperation? Where were the doubts?

A first moment of anger is understandable, it’s also very understandable that she has a role so she needs to look out for what she has to do and not just what she wants. But there was no portrayal of her leaking feelings of pain. 

It would have surely worked better to show her sorrow, her feelings in conflict, between wanting her Kitty back and needing to pick a new Cat holder as soon as possible. 

Saying it was implied it’s not as addressing it. We can’t say her stress and “depression” were due to her missing Chat because so far, no feelings were shown about it clearly. And it wasn’t even addressed. If it’s not shown we can as well say it wasn’t there.

The only thing she showed was urgency in finding someone as substitute and her state of exhaustion didn’t portray desperation in the lack of her dear partner, but in the lack of a solution for her duty. She didn’t spend any second of the episode missing her partner specifically and wanting him back. 

There was no thought about needing to seek him out as a civilian to know him outside her life, almost if she didn’t give importance to meeting him ever again at all. Doesn’t she want Chat in her life in future after all is over? Wouldn’t she want him as a friend in her normal life? Is she okay with just seeing him disappear forever? Was then his fear in Hack-San a one-sided feeling?

She didn’t see her mistakes, she didn’t consider her actions wrong until one single moment in which she thought she drove him to be akumatized.

(Which proved she is not traumatized of him being akumatized or fears for it as much it seems, not really showing any panic for the situation or remembering Chat Blanc. Her confusion while battling was the surprise of the situation, not about him being akumatized at all. Otherwise there would be more pressure over the fact that something she tried to “avoid”, she ended up doing anyway.)

But the first time she felt kind of guilty, she blamed it on him regretting leaving his miraculous and not on how she treated him.  And even remarked how she knows him well, contradicting all her actions and beliefs the whole season. 

She tried to “apologize” for not seeing how sad he was, commenting how he was probably pissed to see a substitute, but again not taking into account her actions or how she treated him until later, where however, she cares more about how she failed as “guardian” and not as “partner” or “friend”.

Once more, she proved she has a different view of their relationship and roles in the team. She didn’t see her actions as in her failing towards a special partner and friend, but only towards a simple asset to the team, no more than how she should treat any other hero. 

But Chat isn’t. 

And the worst problem is how she is excused and her doubts right away washed away by HIM. 

The episode tries to focus on the moral that he should just accept the situation, that it was all about him and to shove down his feelings, in saying it’s okay as long as he self-appreciate.

“His feelings for you don’t mean you need to treat him differently” it’s a cute and right message if it was only about her unrequited feelings, but here we are talking about how she acted towards him all the season as friend and partner. Not just about a not reciprocated crush. 

He was left out, treated differently and felt bad about it and as a partner, friend and human-being, it’s only natural and fair to think about it. To care. Because Chat is not a hero like the others, romance or not.

“You take care of everyone the same way”, it’s only proving that when she spoke about him being a partner as any other she meant exactly that and the episode, the writing, supports exactly that.

He is like the others and shouldn’t be treated as more, with more regard, as in his role isn’t anymore the one of before, as in now his importance is reduced. 

Now even Chat is accepting it. But Chat was the one who convinced her to stay a hero, who supported her, who was there since the start and is supposed to be her best friend with the mask and main partner. Having more heroes doesn't imply his role is lowered down if she takes more instead. His treatment should be the same as before. He should be treated with the same amount of consideration, respect and care as before. 

So his feeling left out does matter. She should treat him differently, or at least the same as the start. Because he has a different role professionally and emotionally wise than the others.

Let’s make an example, a bit stretched but that could make it more relatable:

You and another person are taken to work for a failing company and made the heads. You two become friends and partners, have the same importance, balances roles and work with the same goal and power. You are the one who gave courage to your partner to keep working with you and your partnership both emotionally and professionally is stronger than ever. This brings the company to be stable and improve. 

The head then starts bringing in more of your partner into the higher department until they leave the ownership to them. Since then, you are no longer treated with the same regard, you don’t hold the same aspects of the partnership anymore and are shoved at the same level of the other workers, not being able to do the job you once did, to be consulted on the things you once were consulted for...

You are downgraded to a lower level and not told, you have to get it by yourself. Even if you are part of the reason the company survived, even if you worked very well, now you are not anymore in the same position as before and both professionally and relationship-wise you are treated as any other. 

Your ex-partner says they care but they don’t treat you for the role you had and are supposed to hold.

And then, eventually, even if you feel like it’s unfair, you need to accept that you deserve to be included less, to have less recognition and take the same role of the others because as long as you know you are a good worker it’s alright.

It’s okay to shove all away as long as you know your work has value (maybe metaphorically even underpaid), to settle for less and discard what you’ve done in past and let people treat you less than what they did. 

Why make the episode about Adrien’s self-worth when he acts totally opposite of it in the episode and one of the messages is exactly this? Why should Chat downgrade his feelings and role when the episode speaks about self-acceptance?

Isn’t it pretty similar to Adrien’s homelife situation? Settling for what his father wants? I’m not saying we shall hate Marinette, but we hate Gabriel and call his parenting abusive. Doesn’t then the writing of this situation hit too close? Doesn’t it give some weird messages?

Because the episode uses Chat understanding to treat himself fairly, to accept a situation where he is not treated fairly.

Another big problem is how the episode is not clear about its intentions in the meaning and how Ladybug reaches the conclusion about Chat Noir being better than Cat Walker. 

Because literally, we have no explanation for it. Why is Chat Noir better? Why Imperfection is better than perfection? Does she want Chat Noir back because she feels like it’s the best thing to do for the job or because of her feelings? Why does she prefer Chat?

If at the end of the episode Ladybug says to him that even if he isn’t always needed he is needed (to her), it implies she already knows and it’s a lesson for him to learn. Then why during the episode it’s her learning it? And why is it not explained how she learns it? 

What did she learn?

All we saw was that she was surprised by the new member, but she found him perfect all along, she was attracted to him and never once showed preference to Chat Noir. She said it herself, she “tried everything” to make the Lucky Charm work with Catwalker, because she genuinely wanted him as a partner. She wanted the perfection alongside her, someone who acts and doesn’t question, someone who doesn’t feel excluded. She wanted the perfect partner and tried anything to make it work. 

And not only she did so, but she thought the Lucky Charm told her that the partner didn’t fit, she didn’t do it because she realized herself that it wasn’t meant to be. Let’s remember that the Lucky Charm is just an object and that it’s Ladybug figuring out how to use it, sometimes it has multiple ways to work and many of them she didn’t need the Cat power to make it work. Many times she did it by herself, so this case too she probably could have done it by herself (which she did), simply she wanted to include at all costs CatWalker, as much as possible, because she liked him and wanted to be right about having a better partner now. She wanted the thing to work.

So, does she prefer someone perfect or imperfect? And why the imperfect? Because the Lucky Charm pointed it out?

Was there a real reason portrayed as to why he was “too perfect”? On why the “imperfect” Chat Noir was better? Professionally and emotionally?

On a side her phrase to him a bit after “Do you feel upset? Don’t you feel sad and excluded?” when she says she doesn’t need him but the other Chat could imply she got that her ex-partner wasn’t to leave aside, but taking everything into account, it implies more how she worries about having someone who doesn’t lament on feeling excluded.

If she got Chat was indeed excluded why didn’t she apologize still at the end? Wasn’t it her mistake since she treated him differently and left him in the dark? So which mistakes was she supposed to realize or realized to work better?

Ladybug blushed (And we leave out the values of her romantical tastes) and appreciated how CatWalker was okay with her choosing to not use him in her plan and when she was reassured he wasn’t feeling left out. Then what is really important for her? The feelings of her partner or not having issues with a partner feeling unsettled and giving her troubles?

It doesn’t make her seem someone who cares, if it was the intention, but someone who is shallow and uncaring.

She didn’t choose Chat because she wanted it or because she felt like her feelings asked for it. Nor because she worked better with him. She chose him because he is someone who does his job, who does everything she says and trusts her enough to follow her around and agree with her always with no buts. Her only problem with him is that he felt excluded, which was an issue for her habits in working. 

Catwalker was too perfect because he may was even more professional than her and didn’t listen when she told him to trust her that the villain was akumatized Chat. Chat would have just gone with her convictions. 

She wanted Catwalker as a partner and was ready to substitute Chat with him, and did everything to prove she could but eventually failed.

This is a very easy interpretation to take.

And this leads to the main problem of the episode. The ending.

She didn’t apologize in the end for anything. Not for how she treated him the whole season, not for what happened in the episode. HE apologized for having feelings, for not being treated fairly. He just settled with the situation as he always does. 

He surely had part of blame for not speaking up more decisively to her, and is half of why they have miscommunication problems, but was it all on him? Most of this was on her.

We could try to say she regretted it, that she realizes needs him specifically, but if we can’t see the real motives on why, if we don’t even see an apology, if she doesn’t realize her mistakes… then what’s the point?

What is the point of saying “Only because sometimes I don’t need you it doesn’t mean I don’t need YOU”, if again it all comes down to him exaggerating and her not seeing what she has done all the season? If she doesn’t even say a simple sorry?

Aside that her words don't really fit the construction of the episode, how she implies that it was for him the lesson to learn when in the episode it was more up on her as demonstration. In the fight, it’s CatWalker opening up her eyes. So where does the final phrase come from? Why is it made once again about him?

Aside we don’t know what she learnt, it was about her learning too. In the end, all that Chat learnt was to adapt to the situation.

What was the point of the sub-plot again? If it was again all minimized? Then wasn’t it fair for people to worry that she wouldn’t work to fix her mistakes and issues? That she wouldn’t work hard for it?

Words are cute but they need actions to be proved, once again it was all pushed on him as if she didn’t commit anything.

A parallel of Hack-San where she went to him to apologize (pushed by Alya and not on her own, and not for all she has done), but with him apologizing for having fair feelings. The first time where he was understanding, while she acted like waiting for his apology and rubbed again her words of him being irreplaceable but with no explanation, proof or actions from her so far to confirm it. 

“No one will, ever, replace you”

Someone was going to, she was ready to and was almost okay with it, even with the perspective of never seeing him again. And she didn’t show otherwise the whole season.

The episode just showed that if Chat didn’t have feelings for her, he could reach perfection even as a superhero and can be on par with Ladybug. Under all senses, even strategic wise.

This episode is the top of the messed up moralism and one of the most problematic and confusing as writing, which characters acting in conflicting ways and eventually, doesn’t wrap at all a big and full sub-plot of the season. 

The problem isn’t only that she lashed out on him so excessively. It’s that we lack the development to it. And it concluded with nothing.

Marinette isn’t traumatized, she never showed in the series to be so affected. While her reaching this point of rocture with Chat, once again I think, is natural as a possible outcome, it’s not justified writing wise. She had no real big reasons shown to act like that. She showed no remorse the whole season in her actions or actual difficulty in approaching her partner. So this is objectively out of nowhere. 

This repetitive attitude she had was never faced by her side with remorse. 

You can’t, as stressed as you may be, treat someone like that more than once. If it was a few times with fair background supporting those mistakes, it would be okay. But not like this.

And in the end, this being portrayed as the episode that would resolve the sub-plot, everything was wrapped wrongly. 

And even more confusing it gets if we look into the season finale...

Risk - Strike Back

The season finale brought up again the sub-plot even after it was “wrapped up” somehow, maybe not with the best message. 

Let’s start with something fundamental we see at the start of the episode “Risk”, after Ladybug’s team defeats the newest victim, Chat Noir asks if he can come with her to take all the Miraculous and once again she has to deny (not by words, but her silence speaks enough to give him the answer). Since Chat already knows some of the identities and he is supposed to be Ladybug’s equal and partner, it’s only natural to think he could help out with this and know more about the temporary holders, because if needed he should know infos to act accordingly. It’s understandable that it’s risky now and Rena has to look out from distance for enemies, but wouldn’t Chat be only a bonus security?

But that aside, when he expresses his resignation, he confirms what was already suspected, to then be confirmed again by Ladybug who agrees. “Now I’m just a holder like any other” 

“Yep, but you’ll always be my favourite”. 

They just confirmed that they are not equal anymore, that they never were treated so and that when Ladybug spoke in Kuro Neko about Chat being a partner like any other, she was meaning exactly that, not defending him. 

Chat was degraded all along without knowing, he had to face it himself by growing more and more disappointed, until he exploded. To then be told again he was exaggerating, it was all about his love and him not accepting himself. 

This is already a big problem, because while on a side it’s understandable as angsty sub-plot, to drag on the dispute between the two heroes, it wasn’t treated as something wrong, or something unfair. And it wasn’t either something she was shown to feel guilty about, if not a little when he complained at the start of this episode. 

But moving on...

With Chat affected by Risk’s powers (Which doesn’t help in the writing of any of the two characters. Is basic conversation a risk? Opening your heart a little? After so much time of apparently getting to know each other? This is for both Adrien and Marinette finally talking like normal and him sharing his worries, and also Chat and Ladybug facing the situation they are in. I think in this case the use of an akuma was greatly wrong, since they’re supposed to be close characters), he lets his anger and dissatisfaction speak aloud more and so he starts arguing with Ladybug. 

We are shown, finally, her remembering about Chat Blanc, but this is only provoked by him addressing directly the topic of them being akumatized. It’s not brought up by her own fears, trauma or by the debate between the two, by the whole “keeping him at distance”. It’s once again related to the identities. 

And once again, Chat reminds her that of course he can’t know, since she doesn’t speak to him about anything at all. 

We can skip forward through Chat feeling left aside because she wants to protect his power, or him feeling excluded when he sees her so happy around Felix (don’t make me spell his hero name pls), but then we reach the most important point, that addresses the whole menaging of this sub-plot. It doesn’t resolve it, it doesn’t wrap it up, it just confuses more on the true intentions in handling it. 

“I wanted to control everything. I didn’t listen to you, I lied to you, I kept you at distance”.

First note about her admitting her mistakes at the end of the episode, after being partially defeated; she isn’t apologising. This isn’t an apology, there are no words implying it and surely she isn’t saying it out loud. This is an admission of mistakes. Perhaps we can say it wasn’t the best situation, but if this was meant to wrap up the whole thing, then surely something big is lacking. Her apology is fundamental since she just admitted all along it was her own actions and mistakes the problem and that they were a willing choice. 

But then we turn back and face Kuro Neko. That episode and this admission of the finale, contradict each other.

What was the point of Kuro Neko? The premise was that with Chat blowing up and giving up his Miraculous, it was set up to resolve or reach the highest moment of tension of the sub-plot... but it didn't. We didn’t get Ladybug realising her mistakes, we didn’t get an apology from her. We got one from him, who wasn’t in the wrong in the first place. The whole episode, aside focusing again on the point of his romantic feelings, which weren’t really supposed to be one of the focuses, gives the final message that she wasn’t in the wrong. He was. 

Plagg accused her openly, even if again addressing the romantical feelings which aren’t even that important in the whole sub-plot and scheme of things. He said that she mistreated Chat, but she didn’t come off as guilty, as aware of her actions. “I’m sorry but I’m just doing my best to be a Guardian” She seemed surprised about it all, not even realising before she was making him feel excluded and vulnerable. Ladybug even admits to thinking it was a good break for him and it only seems natural overall for her to think he is now a member like any others, aside owning the Black Cat miraculous. 

But if she wasn’t aware, how come in the finale she admits to keeping him at arm’s length? Surely, she could have realised later on, but we didn’t see her realising it, thinking about it, feeling guilty. She knows Chat, she also can put herself in his shoes, it would be so natural to know that he must be feeling bad about the situation. Then why we never saw her addressing it? Isn’t it a willing choice due to her “trauma”?

She used so easily his trust in her in Ephemeral, without even consulting him and never feeling a doubt until he revealed and surely because he was Adrien, not because of her actions, so why in all this she never showed regret or guilt or sadness in keeping him at distance?

If it was a willing choice as implied by this phrase, then what was the point of Kuro Neko? An episode that tells us the exact opposite? And treats it as the right answer? Where we are said she wasn’t aware of her actions and she wasn’t in the wrong in the first place?

It brings back to the main problem, she wasn’t shows being vulnerable or in difficulty because of her choices. Because it wasn’t even decided if she was willingly putting him at distance or if it was spontaneous. 

Either she willingly sidelined him, or she just treated him badly naturally and in both cases, she wasn’t shown caring about it until she made an horrible mistake. and even then, she didn’t apologise for it. 

Yes, this is very important, because apologizing is NOT the same of admitting mistakes. You could say “Oh yeah I made your birthday cake fall” or “Yes, I did that and I’m sorry”.  Admitting you did something and showing sadness over it, it’s still not the act of apologizing. One could say you’re just sorry for youself or don’t even care really about doing what you did, or regret it.

And from the finale of season 4 and the first two episodes “Evolution” and “Moltiplication” of season 5, she still didn’t. 

Here is why it’s all a problem.

She never apologized in New York for lashing out on him unfairly about not trusting him. She felt destroyed when he left, which at least is better than Kuro Neko’s situation, but she felt more sorry because she didn’t imagine herself as Ladybug without her Chat, not because she worried about him and how he felt after her lashing out. “He made his choice”. There wasn’t guilt, there was more so blame on him for leaving suddenly once again. He was the only one who apologized. As Kuro Neko once again…

(Note that New York being a cause of stress for her newer reaction to him giving up is to be taken with a grain of salt since so far even if it’s said to be canon, the show doesn’t give any single proof or evidence that the specials had influence on the series and happened).

Her actions, when it comes to her relationship with Chat Noir, never were taken accountable for real in the series. Aside from some sadness, guilt for exposing Master Fu at most, she never faced her mistakes when it regarded treating her partner unfairly or acting in a morally wrong way.

Yes, she did make apologies in various cases and tried to fix her mistakes after realising she was wrong, but they often don’t stick for the following episodes and in the first place, these things don’t apply when it comes to her relationship with Chat.

This is the same reason why Marinette never grows as a character for that regard, may it comes to Adrien and her crush on him or to Chat. All her attitudes and mistakes are more often than not excused or ignored, and treated as normal or not wrong, when there is plenty of alarming signals about how she acts. 

Of course, many characters in the show have this problem. Chat/Adrien does surely, Alya does, Master Fu does, most does… but Marinette is the protagonist and the only one that is so excused.

A character being flawed and making mistakes is absolutely normal, yes teens make weird decisions and they have to make mistakes over and over again like adults to really learn at times, but they must be brought up as such and have the character working on them, not having them passed as nothing much because of this idea of girl-power and feminism the show has. And should show some work done in development at the end of the second last season.

Chat may have acted by impulse giving up, or maybe even he should have talked with her directly, but how would it have worked with her acting like that on a regular basis?

He had many reasons to act like he did, even more justified than her for her own actions. 

Will the show really approach the situation by having her working hard to apologize and fix her attitude? Are we really sure they will when the show never has done it? Even with small moments and actions?

This is the real issue. 

It's a thing that has been going on way before season 4. It just went all over the top now because it’s a choice the writers picked plot-wise, but it’s not written properly and with genuinity. 

The problem is that this time too it was all minimized when the problems are far greater. With Chat taking part of blame in a situation he has almost none. Her actions don't show remorse in the trailers or previous episodes. She doesn’t realize things that are blatant. And it may be understandable if we had clear context and proof of her trauma. But she never showed to care in a healthy and deep way. The actions written for her to prove she cares about Chat can be easily considered superficial or forced to make minimal treatment, which would be only worse if she really did care a lot for him. She once used to care much more, in season 1, maybe even the second, even if she made mistakes there too. She once used to want to fix her mistakes, to improve herself. It’s been a long while since she threw that away in regards to Chat.Sure she may laugh at some jokes, play along, hug him, say she won’t abandon him, ask Alya to laugh at his puns, but how much does it count when there are other genuine and basic rules about respect and care she totally ignores? The basic things we have to show to everyone. A stranger, a friend, a partner…

How much does it count if she told Alya to play with Chat if in the same episode she didn’t even consider his feelings on her identity being compromised and her not telling him she had a substitute?

How much does it count if she acted stressed in Kuro Neko if it was barely about missing him?

How much does it count she chose Chat over Catwalker, imperfection over perfection, where there is no reason explained to why and it’s clear what she prefers?

How much does it count she told him once again he is irreplaceable when in the episode meant to show that it’s showed totally the opposite and never told why it’s otherwise? 

How much does it count she may realized she did something wrong if she shows no remorse for his sake and doesn’t apologize?

How much does it count that she told him she wouldn’t abandon him if she wasn’t even going to address the situation if Alya didn’t remind her? If she didn’t even seriously consider those fears or share them?

How much can we base everything on suppositions? Supposedly she is hurt inside, she loves him, she is traumatized, but when the show barely acts to prove them and explain why the character’s act in a certain way? 

How much can we suppose Ladybug cares right now so deeply when nothing supports it aside our own hopes and thoughts? Our own work of headcanons and fiction?

The important things are shown in how a person takes account of the other and Ladybug, even if Fu is heavily responsible, she is even more by herself. 

Sure, he shares a big part of blame. He was the one who we can, in a very debatable way, say “trained” her. He was surely part of why Marinette got so strict with rules and such. But she is an independent person and she is the one who acted badly with Chat. She still holds most of the blame for her actions.

She's 14, but age works as an excuse up to a point. Of course, Thomas was the first to say that precise age doesn't matter, and I certainly disagree with that. It is very important, if you want to use age as an excuse, specify. (And it’s always important if your show has a structure that requires a linear storytelling and doesn’t fit entirely the filler writing). However, in these cases her age is abused to explain exaggerated behavior which, however, should be gradually corrected.

A character, regardless of the age they have and the target the show aims to, must be written with consistency, care and the desire to improve. 

She needs to make mistakes.

But this does not mean that she can misbehave, not be held responsible and always get away with it, apart from a little sadness etc ...

She needs to pay, learn, be aware of her mistakes and be willing to apologize and work to fix them. Feeling inner conflict over time. Being seen as the one that is wrong at times despite being the protagonist and a supposed strong female representation.

Not to seem the one who doesn't matter what, will be in the right and fair light. Excusing her behavior constantly is what also supports the main problem of this show and why it was barely fixed.

Having a flawed character that acts by making mistakes and works to fix them is okay if it's written and built well. And with valid and shown explanations. 

Miscommunication must be well written and supported by rights and wrongs in the character’s actions. Coherent ones.

Marinette is not a monster, I am sure she is a character supposed to make mistakes but cares. The problem, is that right now, everything written shows the exact opposite and no matter how much she might work later, how much she might feel guilty and really realise what she did wrong, it’s still too late.  (And as of Kuro Neko, she didn’t do it).  She hasn’t proven to do so since season 3. She is thought to care, but not written to do so properly.

We lack the whole road to this development, the proof of a trauma, showing her suffering but still caring. Marinette facing choices and doubts over how to act towards Chat. Her speaking and thinking about what to tell him or not. Her doubting.  And mostly we lack her fixing her attitude.

Show her caring so much that she becomes cold and keep him at arm’s length because it’s the only way to protect him. Show her thinking genuinely about that, and suffering for it. Then, you can say she really has a trauma going on.

You have to show she cares with bigger acts, with consideration and care, even if in the end she makes the wrong choices. 

This is not a character who is suffering trauma. Sure, there are many ways a person can react, but writing wise Marinette doesn’t show the real signs. She is just being mean and stressed, but overall, trauma or not, you don’t treat someone like that more than once. And surely, show’s blame, you don’t act like it’s fine or no big deal.

In the 5 seasons arc, we are at the fourth with no improvement in the matter.

The only hint was Glaciator but everything that episode made and introduced was then discarded for the worst.

There, Ladybug and Chat Noir had miscommunication, made assumptions, and saw they were wrong. There Ladybug apologized and explained, there she seemed to be open to change her attitude or open at the chance to get to know him more so to treat him not superficially.

Why was it all used for the wrong reasons then?

Age is a matter until we remember she is a character with a story arc that is supposed to have growth, constantly even in her fallouts and mistakes. There are way younger characters but they have a growth and development. 

But ignoring, excusing her actions right now, making it seem like it's not something grave when there are millions of children following this series and taking example, is the worst thing of all.

Chat Noir has many writing problems himself, he is far from the perfect character and he too has had similar problems. He is resilient, he doesn’t react often to unfair things, he rearely loses his temper or show disappoint towards his situation, he let everyone decide for himself and lacked a “spine” for most part of the series. One can say that it’s the sentimonster thing, but it should apply only to his father. And if we go towards the topic of abuse, the effects in such a long series should have been reduced as he interacted more with his friends. We should have seen him more open to his feelings with his friends and at least see him trying more to rebel his father, only failing at the very end because of his amok. He should have improved a lot more and sooner.

But, as big as this problem is, he’s been far less the problem in the duos’ interactions, in every side of the square.

I agree that excessive hate is not the right way to go. For any character. Nor for Chat, not for Ladybug. But feeling anger and concern over the situation? Genuine ones? Criticizing her and the writing without blowing up? Seems fair enough to me.

We can’t really blame people for being angry over how she is acting and is written. Of course taking it to extremes is wrong. 

Liking the show with its flaws, liking Marinette, it’s okay, it’s fair. Tastes exist and we are different because we have them.

But the genuine concern is more than understandable. People have the right to feel pissed and annoyed at this point.

Because how she acts is there to see, and ignoring it, excusing it, may be the problem why the authors kept making Marinette the character she is and will ever be in the main series.

I am not even saying all of this to defend Chat Noir because I’m an hardcore fan (I try to be neutral, it just happens right now I think he is less in the wrong. Besides, Plagg is my fav, despite his sometimes wrong choice of speech. It used to be Alya but I didn’t like her much in season 3) and I’m not saying this to defend Ladynoir rights. I couldn’t care right now about shipping what we see in canon, right now I wouldn’t see any of the love square working, aside maybe Marichat, but if they pick this road, it will be wayyy too late. My favorite ship is Marichat, I think it has the most potential, but it’s late to use it now and surely with the context of the series, my likes lays more on the fanon Marichat (which is natural, there’s almost no content even for the canon one).

I said it already also, but I LOVE Angst. This choice of the drama in the ship, of Chat Noir feeling left out, of Ladybug unknowingly OR willingly (picking one clear) sidelining him? It’s VERY good. Excellent twist. People may lament it because many don’t deal good with angst, but I adore the idea, I adore the potential. 

But the problem is how it was executed. It’s not well developed, well structured. It will stay just potential used in the wrong way, like... most of the show’s best elements. People shouldn’t lament about the angst, but about the angst not being well portrayed. 

Season 4 is probably the best season as ideas, better in structure than the third, but the worst still with the third as writing. Yes, there is still left material to judge and I will carefully analyze it, but it won’t change what we already got and how it was portrayed.

She didn’t work to fix her mistake, a whole plot-line was just left like that and yes, as I said, there is still season 5 to see that, but Kuro Neko and the finale only added a good bunch of problems and right now, so far into the series and in their partnership, seeing Ladybug not even realising she is hurting him, seems a bit stretched.

And definitely, waiting for the fourth season to face this kind of plot is too late.

This content fits season 2 or 3, now it’s way too late.

[asmallnerd]

Autistic Shoto Todoroki

The analysis

First off, I would like to say that this is purely a passion project. I am not a professional, I am an autistic teenager and I’m just very interested in this character because I heavily relate to him. I’ve collected some scenes from the manga and two specific things from the third light novel.

If you could boost this (if you’re interested that’d be great because while I really enjoy doing this it does take a lot of time! With that being said let’s dive into this and I hope you find this interesting!

Could Shoto Todoroki be autistic? Here is why I think he absolutely could.

Emotional perception

Let’s start with one of the most obvious things about his character. The emotional factor.

Shoto doesn’t emote in the way his peers do. Now, of course this also plays into the brooding mysterious guy archetype, but that’s not what we’re talking about.

Shoto’s face is typically relatively neutral, this is apparent from the moment we first meet him and while he does tend to express his emotions more clearly later in the story, it doesn’t ever really change. Something that immediately comes to mind is how in chapter 202 Iida asks if Shoto is alright because Iida noticed his expression change (because he knows him very well by this point). Ojiro points out that he did not notice this, since Shoto’s face barely changes at all.

We see Shoto in a lot of situations where his peers show excitement while his expression remans completely flat. This lack of emoting is something extremely common in people with autism. It’s not that they don’t have emotions or don’t express them at all, they just do it in a way that is hard to understand for people outside the spectrum or those who don’t know the autistic individual very well. They often struggle to understand what emotion they’re feeling in the first place and of course it’s hard to express feelings if you don’t know what you’re feeling.

Shoto doesn’t only show difficulty expressing his emotions but also recognizing those of other people. One of the best examples of this is the final exam arc, where he gets paired up with Yaoyorozu. In chapter 63 specifically, he doesn’t realize that Yaoyorozu is upset about something even though to someone else it’d probably have been obvious. Only when Aizawa points out that he should listen to her does he notice that he’s been doing something wrong. Shoto didn’t notice she was upset, and he didn’t notice he was being rude.

Emotions and emotional responses are continuously shown to be difficult for Shoto to handle. What he has absolutely no issues with, on the other hand, are academics. Of course, we can naturally assume that he’s been drilled to study hard from a very young age, but he is also extremely intelligent outside of the classroom. During the sports festival he is the first person shown to figure out that the obstacle course poses a lot more disadvantages to the people in the lead, during the practical exam, he is able to come up with a solid strategy very quickly.

During the training camp arc, him and Deku are the ones to come up with a strategy to protect Bakugo on the spot. He also doesn’t seem to consider his intelligence anything special. A lot of autistic people tend to assume that other people’s experiences align with their own. This can be seen when he seems surprised about Denki worrying that he’ll fail the written final exam. He asks how he could possibly fail if he’s been attending class, like the concept is entirely foreign to him (also there’s about a 0% chance this was a joke because this is Shoto we’re talking about.) He is very good at logical problem solving but emotional issues seem to stump him.

Literacy and verbal filters

Moving on, another big factor that Shoto seems to struggle with is his tendency to be overly literal and very blunt. There are several instances where he says things that we as readers as well as other characters perceive as insensitive. Once again, his interaction with Denki about the final exams (chapter 60) can be an example. He didn’t seem to think it was inappropriate and because this is Shoto, he didn’t ask to tease him either. Denki even points out that this was insensitive to say. A more subtle example is his conversation with Izuku in chapter 73, when they talk about Kota. His overall phrasing is fine, but he remains very blunt and direct and essentially ends up telling Izuku that his tendency to cut to people’s hearts with his words is annoying.

My personal favorite for an example can be found in chapter 83, in the hospital after the training camp, when the class visits Izuku, Shoto points out that “Of course Bakugo isn’t here.” Needless to say, he couldn’t possibly have timed this statement any worse. It wasn’t necessary in the first place, but he didn’t register it as something inappropriate to say.

One example of not him being unintentionally rude but just showing a different approach to telling the truth is seen in the third light novel. The fifth chapter revolves around the class preparing a birthday party for Iida. At one point, Sato asks if Iida has food allergies out of nowhere. Iida naturally asks why he needs to know this, Shoto is immediately ready to answer the question honestly, which would have spoiled the surprise, had Izuku not stepped in.

Autistic people often have trouble seeing whether something is or isn’t appropriate to say. Neurotypical people’s brains have a filtering process, it helps them be aware of possible responses to a statement. This filtering process is not functional or only limited in autistic people.

Shoto is also overly literal. In chapter 57, he gets upset over his friends continuously getting their hands hurt and refers to himself as “the hand crusher”. He is very serious about this and does not understand how Iida and Izuku could possibly think he was joking.

In chapter 164, he answers Gang Orca’s metaphoric question entirely seriously. During the interview training in chapter 241 he first seems confused by the made-up mission in the first place. He then proceeds to ask Mt Lady if she has a heart condition when she uses the phrase “My heart would burst out of my chest”. Finally, he appears genuinely horrified when she calls him a “lady killer” (“My smile will kill women..?!”)

In chapter 257, when Mineta claims school talk will “ruin the taste of the food”, Shoto simply says it tastes the same to him, to which Mineta proceeds to call him out for being overly literal.

Autistic people typically struggle to understand jokes and sarcasm, in fact, it’s often one of the main characteristics in people with an ASD diagnosis.

Overfamiliarity and Oversharing

Shoto’s tendency to overshare is another thing that is very typical foe ASD.

He doesn’t seem to understand that telling his life story to a classmate he’s barely interacted with prior is not exactly an appropriate thing to do. He repeats this later with All Might and, most notably, in chapter 165, when talking to the preschoolers during his provisional licensing course.

He also seems to have a slightly different perception of what makes someone friends than his classmates. As shown in chapter 241, to him, spending time with Bakugo during the licensing course is enough to deem them friends. Even when Bakugo points out that there is no correlation between the time spent together and friendship, he still doesn’t seem to understand.

Autistic people tend to become overly familiar and are easily attached to people if they perceive just one of their interactions as positive.

Attachment to inanimate things

This is something not really shown in the manga, but noteworthy, nonetheless. We know that Shoto, upon moving into the dorm building, remodeled his entire room from a modern, more western style room, into a traditional Japanese style one. The second chapter of the third novels goes into depth about why he did this. Shoto was entirely dumbstruck and thrown off by how different the room is from what he was used to. He knew the traditional Japanese rooms from home and his brain assumed that the dorms would be the same. He felt like the different style was wrong. He doesn’t like the unfamiliar flooring and even a small thing like the positioning of the light switch bother him.

He’s not comfortable in the unfamiliar environment, so he decides to change it.

Autistic people often struggle to adjust to changes. In environment and routine. They feel most comfortable in a well established and familiar routine, that includes the feel of their living space. A change of environment this drastic would be extremely stressful for someone on the spectrum.

Another thing that isn’t particularly obvious but does make sense when considered is that Shoto seems to have a comfort food (cold soba). While he’s never shown or stated to be a picky eater he does seem to opt for the same food whenever he gets the chance. Autistic people often have a very restricted diet due to sensory processing issues that apply to food textures, smells and taste.

Additional points

Shoto seems to be a little face blind. He doesn’t know who Kota is when Izuku mentions him, which seems to genuinely surprise Izuku. He also didn’t remember Inasa at all despite them having been at the same entrance exam.

In chapter 202 he’s shown completely zoning out. Of course, this can happen to anyone, I just found it interesting because it was shown so clearly, making it obvious that it was something we should pay attention to.

In the novel chapter in which he remodels his room it is also mentioned that the feeling of synthetic floor against his feet upsets him.

Shoto also seems relatively indifferent to temperature. Of course, that would correlate to his quirk as well, but it is also common for autistic people to struggle with temperature perception as well as other things that neurotypical people don’t struggle to recognize like hunger or thirst. This specifically applies to situations where you would typically end up in pain like, for example, frostbite. Shoto would obviously be used tot his but him showing no reaction at all to his body halfway freezing over was a little unnerving.

He also is shown to be relatively uninterested in certain social events like for example the room competition after the class moves into the dorms. He doesn’t want to be there; he’d rather go to sleep. In the beginning he also shows clear disinterest in making friends with his classmates. Both very typical things for people on the spectrum.

In chapter 244, Hawks asks Shoto a question in a way that seems to confuse him so much he can’t even form a coherent response. [Hawks: “Seemed like you were in trouble, Endeavor.” Endeavor: “Me? Not a chance.” Hawks: “But it seemed that way, didn’t it, Shoto?” Shoto: “Um..I…uh…”]

He probably didn’t register if Hawks actually wanted him to answer or not.

In chapter 64 he mistakes Yaoyorozu crying for her feeling sick, horribly misreading her expressions.

This last point is more personal than the rest, watching his reactions to Endeavor’s fight with the Nomu in chapter 190 made me think of the stress progression that often causes autistic shutdowns. Shoto was clearly becoming more and more stressed as he was watching and once it was over simply seemed to shut down. That is a very typical response to emotional distress or overstimulation in autistic people.

Final disclaimer

This is purely for my own entertainment; it is not meant to be offensive to anyone and I am not saying that this is absolutely what is going on. I’m simply elaborating on a theory/headcanon that I have. That being said, if you have questions feel free to drop them in the ask box, I’d be thrilled!

[mejomonster]

Ice Fantasy

me too girl.

also it is the funniest thing to me the second she sees him on the riverside her voice is gentler and more conversational. then later when she tells him well be my slave until you remember, she’s still more gentle and conversational. its just like a little thread indicating she probably wants to be a relatively friendly flirty warm person but when she’s working (like when she thinks she’s handling Ice Kingdom, or Fire Kingdom fellow soldiers) she puts on a much tougher/crueler act (either because they’re an enemy or she feels she needs to be seen that way to be respected/for people to believe she can handle things). her voice just gets... so much softer and lighter and she starts smiling like ah yes This warmth is how she’d like to talk to neutral strangers IF she ever got the chance so now she’s doing it with hottie mcstranger she found lying in the river ToT

i really like their dynamic. i mean i’m already biased towards women in charge, servant boy following her, AND secret identities, so i’m kind of a sucker anyway. but their characters also just work really well off each other - he knows she’s suddenly less hostile and so he’s acting a lot more manipulative about ‘oh i could say anything right now’ which i imagine is going to help evolve his character into what looks to be a schemer later in the series. its also giving him a chance to learn to stop acting so straightforward/get yourself killed like he was before, and practice some cleverness like his older brother likes to (although in a different way). also since she is relatively warm, he’s teasing her ToT. which to be honest with a woman like her who needs to be tough all the time its probably nice to have someone look at you and say their mom is prettier, you’re being silly, and not have to worry you having been ridiculous/playing is going to get you killed. I can already see how their dynamic together would eventually lead to them becoming best friends.

Speaking of new friends:

Their dynamic is EXTREMELY Shen Wei/Kunlun (Zhao Yunlan). Li Luo reminds me of Guardian drama Kunlun’s potential SO much. She’s got 2 guns that can hurt gods, is the most skilled Guardian Envoy, she’s taking care of this silent duty bound prince who has a responsibility to his country and world but is TORN UP worried for his little brother. And she looks out for him even though he thinks her way of doing it doesn’t follow the rules. Her energy is AMAZING and I already love Li Luo with my whole heart. 

(On a separate note I am again disappointed with Eternal Love’s overall handling of women and women warriors, this show managed to show both very feminine maternal mothers who mainly specialize in domestic affairs AND a wife who kills to try and save her loved ones and Li Luo the leader of the Guardian Envoys AND Yan Da above the most Interesting character of the Fire Kingdom and a key Princess Warrior, and Ying Kong Shi’s mom Lotus who’s clearly got a lot of shit going on in her life that’s hidden under secrets and royal pressures, the Mermaid Princess and Mermaid Saint who had political influence on the story outcome Already... just like I am only on episode 6 and already I’ve seen more women in battles than I did in all of Eternal Love, more women get to rescue men or fight for them/against them, get to be the protector, in Yan Da’s case get to be the dominant playful flirt, their actions and words clearly carry weight in this show and if you’re GOING to have a cast with lots of women and men then yeah I expect this level of range and good writing for the women too. Love and Redemption does a decent job at accomplishing this too (one reason its my favorite romance xianxia), Eternal Love absolutely did not (Bai Qian gets the most fighting scenes but even then at the finale she’s put out of commission and doesn’t get to fight the Final Bad Guy herself, Fengjiu arguably gets the most equal relationship with her love as far as making choices but as a fighter she’s just not that kind of strong trained character the way Bai Qian is, and the Demon Princess is wonderful but again she’s stuck kind of in this domestic-nurturing category and for the most part no one gets to branch out much except the villains - still in domestic spheres/regarding their love pursuits though - and Bai Qian (and when she branches out, just as often the writing made her a damsel which at the finale of the story was ultimately my breaking point ;-; ). 

Li Luo is phenomenal, serious, friendly, playful, competent, a protector, and she reminds me SO much of Zhao Yunlan when he’s at his most leader-esque or when protecting Shen Wei physically and emotionally by getting him to feel safe and understood and part of the world. I find it impossible to do anything but love her (and I love that so far this show’s given me two leading women I absolutely LOVE both the character setups for and the actual acting/execution of these characters - last time a show gave me leading women that specifically hit the kinds of things I prefer this much was Secret Of The Three Kingdoms with an Empress scheming orchestrator of the country and a widow-princess who’s become a cold assassin). 

And Ka Suo? Reminds me SO much of Shen Wei. The way he has a duty to his brother, country, world - but unlike Shen Wei he’s ALREADY seen how hard the duty was on his father, how much it destroys one’s humanity and personal values, and Ka Suo just wants to fly away like a bird and have his own life (much like I think Shen Wei desperately feels trapped in his duties as the Envoy and all the responsibility he has to the world over even his brother or his own values later on). Ka Suo is the heir, and unlike Shen Wei he is trying so hard to keep balance and at LEAST keep his little brother even if Ka Suo doesn’t have control over the duties he must also handle because the whole Ice Kingdom needs him. I love that he’s playful and curious and likes to learn (very Shen Wei) as seen by how he used to talk to Li Luo and his brother, I love that he’s overwhelmed by worry now and duty and trying his best to be perfect at all things somehow (again VERY Shen Wei). Ka Suo is sort of a mix in vibes of young Shen Wei and 10k years later - Ka Suo still has some hope, is clinging to the idea of getting to stay with his brother alive, does seem to get emotional support and relief from someone (Li Luo) treating him like another ordinary equal, is a fish out of water immortal in a mortal world (Shen Wei my mutant love dealing with Humanity), but is also so bound up in duty and responsibility AND all the death that’s already occured he is definitely holding himself together tightly with everything he’s got right now (very 10k years into present Shen Wei). 

Ka Suo and Ying Kong Shi remind me of like. Shen Wei and Ye Zun if they’d never been separated young. Also, there’s parent dynamics at play creating inequality in a way (whereas in Guardian the inequality was Shen Wei being propped up as a war hero/leader and Ye Zun being villainized as an enemy and slave). Like Ye Zun, Ying Kong Shi has ‘no powers’ and when they eventually come out its due to how much he cares about his brother, and its uncontrollable and dangerous and kills. Like Ye Zun, Ying Kong Shi has the suckier power dynamic - he’s the smallest youngest prince with no political future, no powers so regular civilian kids bully him, his mother is the concubine and not the queen like all his other siblings, his mother clearly doesn’t love the king (there’s some not-great something going on there) and is treated slightly less well than the Queen (which extends to her son), the only person with POWER that really favors Ying Kong Shi is his older brother Ka Suo who considers him his dearest brother and a best friend. Its no wonder Ying Kong Shi idealistically promises his brother “I’ll help you not be king and become free like the birds.” Its not surprising when Ying Kong Shi kills the Fire Prince, he wants to be punished or die instead of the older brother he loves who he KNOWS would do anything to protect him. Its not surprising saving his brother is what triggers his powers and causes his first kill. Unlike Ye Zun though, Ying Kong Shi’s close long term upbringing with his brother means he WANTS to believe in goodness in people and in heroism (whereas Ye Zun after being separated thinks all people will do is harm you and others so no cause/person is worth protecting - except maybe your brother you love and miss, or getting revenge on him if you can no longer have his love). 

So when everything hits the fan, Ying Kong Shi’s dad tries to give him to the enemy to BE KILLED as a trade!! Which is horrific! And despite even THAT totally fucked up situation, afterwards Ying Kong Shi offers to die to get a sword to save everyone - because he believes in being noble like his brother, and his dad JUST reinforced how worthless Ying Kong Shi is seen as, Ying Kong Shi JUST killed someone as a child and is clearly coping with guilt badly by thinking he deserves to die too. And so that is an action I don’t think Ye Zun would’ve made, but since Ying Kong Shi has his brother’s influence he’s got more idealism that I’m assuming the story will break down to make him get a more realistic understanding of the world over time. As it stands this kid is SO good, so kind, his brother raised him to be Such a good wonderful person. And this kid does not deserve how fucked up his own father and country treats him, and it really is him and Ka Suo against the world on a personal level.

Unrelated note but I find it extremely odd this show often has Ying Kong Shi just called “Shi” by people. I’m not sure if they’re saying “A-Shi” each time but I don’t think I’m hearing an Ah before the name. I thought it was usually 2 syllables said when saying someone’s name (like how Zhao Yunlan is at least called A-Lan or Yunlan and never just Lan, like how Wei Wuxian is called A-Xian by his sister but never just Xian). But like... everyone just keeps saying Shi to this boy. I’m not sure if like I said, I’m just not hearing the Ah before the name, or if this show/writing purposely calls him Just Shi. 

[entropy-game-dev]

Balancing (Part 1) - Overall considerations

In this blog, I’d like to share with you guys some rules of thumb/tips/methodology that I’ve picked up over the course of my first round of inputting robot/move/part data into my various databases. I’ve had this first pass finished for some time now, and I wanted to write up what I’ve found while it’s still somewhat fresh in my mind.

Just as a recap, here’s what I was looking at for each category:

Robots: Stats, elemental affinities, moves, part slots, rewards, recruit conditions

Moves: Element(s) Costs, damage, targeting, secondary effects, status effects

Parts: Stats, elemental affinities, moves, power cost

All these aspects needed to be balanced against one another, and as you can see, there are a lot of things to take into account! I initially found this task quite overwhelming, but began to tackle it one bit at a time.

Primarily, I wanted my robots, moves, and parts to be memorable! My favourite RPGs have really really strong enemy identities, primarily a function of their affinities (if hitting weaknesses was a big part of the battle system), and their moveset. When you have enemies that can seriously affect your action economy by absorbing, reflecting, or take double/triple damage from a particular attack, it really mixes up how you approach any one encounter.

Even parts and moves can be memorable! The Final Fantasy games (I’m thinking mainly of 9 and Tactics Advance here) where equipment grants skills always made it super fun to pick up new gear. Similarly, moves with varying ranges, costs, and conditional effects (such as in Dofus, Wakfu, and Super Robot Wars), made them feel really good to use! Nothing annoys me more than having multiple spells be just copy-pasted with differing elements attached (Final Fantasy and SMT/Persona suffer from this greatly).

Thematic integrity - absolutely no compromises!

I really strugged to come up with the right word here - organic, ludonarrative harmony, thematic, flavor were all considerations - but the exact word doesn't really matter. My main consideration when designing content was that it absolutely MUST make narrative and mechanical sense in-universe. At a basic level, robots built for attacking would have strong offensive stats, and sturdy robots would have strong defensive stats.

Moving deeper, I also wanted their elemental resistances to tell a story. The rubbery-looking robot would reflect kinetic attacks, and a robot with a large generator would be charged by electomagnetive waves. A primitive communications device might act as a vulnerability point that spreads data damage to allies, and a robot made of particularly volatile materials would be sensitive to temporal damage. The same goes for their moves, I mean, if you have a robot that has a move that folds space in on itself, it better have a good reason for doing so!

So when I say no compromise, I mean it! If it meant the robot would be overly hard or easy due to an odd distribution of strengths, weaknesses, or stats, that's just how things have to be. Of course, I made sure that each unit has at the very minimum, one element it was weak to. A physically sturdy unit might have outdated architecture, making it vulnerable to data attacks, or a precisely calibrated timekeeper might be heavily disrupted by precise particle damage.

So I've spoken about this "organic" design moving beyond the specified bounds of balance, but I haven't yet defined what those bounds should be! Let’s have a look at that graph at the top of the blog. There are two axes, with easy/hard on the vertical and variable/homogenized on the horizontal. This represents my two primary considerations when designing interesting and challenging content, and the two areas show off my target zone (purple area) and how willing I am to stray from this (the red area). Importantly, I don't want EVERY enemy to land in the center of this purple zone, but rather, the optimal is to fill the purple zone as much as possible with different, interesting units, some hard, some easy!

The easy-hard axis

The vertical axis is simple to understand - being an indicator of how easy or hard a player would find a particular enemy at the appropriate level, or how much brain power should go into using a particular part or move. Enemies are intuitively easy to understand - challenging amounts of stats, a good spread of resists, interesting moves... basically nothing that'll stop the enemy from appropriately challenging the player.

For parts/moves, “hard” in this case represents those that were difficult but rewarding to use. For example, moves generally have costs that make the prohibitive to spam, and targeting ranges that need to be maximized to get the most use out of them. Parts too followed the same logic, both having bonuses and detriments to stats and affinities + a power cost such that you can’t just equip everything you find without purpose.

I believe that enemies/moves/parts that are harder to fight against/use will most likely more memorable and make for an overall better experience, and this is reflected in my graph's shadings. This is because you'll have to think more carefully and change up your tactics when dealing with them. I feel like this is more reflective of a harsher and more dangerous universe. Especially for someone coming from the past, it wouldn't make sense that some human is easily able to subdue ultra-advanced war machines! That’s not to say that there won’t be easy robots to fight, because fighting only hard things eventually becomes a slog, but on average I aim to make encounters feel dangerous.

The variable-homogenized axis

This one’s a bit tougher to conceptualise, but to me, this represents how much variance something could have relative to the average. An extremely homogenized unit might have 5′s in all stats, and no affinities. Completely run-of-the-mill. On the other hand, a unit that would be considered highly variable would have all its stats at extremes (~1s and ~10s) and no neutral element affinities - you’d always be hitting a strength or weakness no matter what element was used.

Parts and moves are also subject to balancing on this axis. A more "variable" move would have more of it's databases boxes ticked - it might have hp, energy, AND ammo costs, AND do multiple elemental damage, AND have a weird targeting mechanic, AND have an extra effect attached to the move, AND also apply a status effect... that's a lot of "and"s! Same story for parts, parts would be giving bonuses/negatives to almost all stats and resistances, as well as enable usage of several moves. Here, part and move variability is tied somewhat to how easy/hard they are to use.

Overall I wanted content that does require some thought into their pros and cons both inside and outside of battle, but not so much that the player gets overloaded and burnt out due to taking minutes assessing every possible move/target. As a result, there'll naturally be some easier to use moves and parts as well, especially earlier on!

In summary

I didn't want enemies to have too much OR too little going on. They had to be in the realm of "oh no, not this thing - I have to remember it gets healed by chemical damage and can dish out some nasty aoe attacks! Good thing it's slow!" Parts and moves had to have some benefit to using them, and not have any strictly better counterpart. This blog is getting super long so I'm breaking into two parts, with part 2 focusing on some of the tips and tricks I used to help make sure things were kept within reasonable limits.

[red1culous]

Listen to Me

A/N: Huge shout out to @jumbojamba47​ for the brilliant idea for this fic and helping me out with it.

“I think that it would be better if we…” you start before being rudely interrupted yet again by Natasha.

“Thanks but we go this way. Steve will take the overpass. I’ll clear out the underpass. And you just stay here until we get back” she barks out her orders. The three of you hunkered down behind some tall bushes 100 metres from a (relatively) small Hydra operations base in the Balkans.

“Natasha with all due respect…” you try again. In your defence you knew this base better than either of them having once been held against your will there before being rescued by Shield.

“No!” her answer is final and this time she doesn’t even glance at you.

“What?” you say your anger starting to bubble over.

“I said no, L/N. We do it this way or you don’t participate at all” she spits out.

Steve shoots you a sympathetic smile. “Natasha listen I know you’re…” you try again but this time she just gets up and starts towards the entrance of the the Hydra base.

Steve sighs and gets up to follow her, “she just wants what’s best for you, Y/N” he says before running after her. A few minutes later you lose sight of the both of them and scream in frustration into the crook of your arm. This was the 3rd mission that you’ve been on that Natasha has had you sit out. You were more than able to look after yourself but after your kidnap and torture at the hands of some Hydra splinter cell where you were held for over a month, Natasha has been ultra protective of you to the point that it’s starting to affect your personal (and romantic) relationship with the redhead. Sometimes she wouldn’t even touch you for fear that she might hurt you. It was driving you insane. What was worse is that there was no way of speaking to her about it. Every time you broached the subject with her she would shut off completely.

You would check in on the coms every 2 minuets for updates. Occasionally you would hear grunts and groans indicating  that Steve or Natasha were were being met with some resistance but overall it seemed that everything was under control. You were still seething that the way Natasha treated you but knew better than to let it affect the mission at hand.

“Steve” you called into your earpiece, “updates”.

“All clear up here. I’m heading to the roof access exit to wait for Romanoff” he says clear as day.

“Great. She shouldn’t be too far away” you reply looking at the monitor on your lap showing the location of Steve and your girlfriend as 2 red dots moving along the facility.

“Natasha updates please” you speak again.

Nothing but static.

“Natasha” you sit up slightly noticing that her red dot hasn’t moved yet.

“Shit” you say to yourself.

“Language Y/N” Steve reprimands you, “what’s wrong is it Natasha?”

“Possibly. She isn’t responding and her tracker isn’t moving” you say worry lacing your words.

“I’m going back. You can lead me to where she is” he says without hesitation.

“No Steve, I’m going in” you start to pack away the tablet and load your pistols.

You hear Steve huff, “not a chance, Y/N, I’m going”.

“Steve listen. I am the one who knows this base best. If you go there it’ll take you 15 mins to get to her location. It’s gonna take me 5. I can get her out of there” you speak in a hushed tone as you make your way into the clearing towards the hidden entrance in the side wall.

“Stay put Y/N I’m already moving” Steve says brushing you off.

You’ve had it up to here with the two of them babysitting you. Through gritted teeth and probably steam coming out of your ears you say in a low voice, “just because you are an all powerful entity and Natasha acts like the Virgin Mary please don’t treat me like a McNobody. You just sit your ass down on that roof and stop being such a bitch and wait for me to get there with Natasha! Can you do that Steve?”

He stops in his tracks and back-pedals a little. After a few moments of silence you hear him mutter out something that sounds like an OK to you. Satisfied you continue on your trek towards Natasha’s last known location. Having taken the air vents you reach her in no time. Nat you call out not seeing her where her tracker said she would be. You hear muffled groans and some soft coughing from behind a door.

Slowly you push open the door, your gun at the ready. The dimly lit place appeared to be some sort of store room. You found Natasha sitting on the floor behind the door her pistol in her left hand.

“Nat!” you rush towards her and check her for injuries, “are you ok? You didn’t answer the coms”

“Yeah that guy was distracting me” she looks behind you to a soldier lying lifeless in a pool of his own blood.

“You’re hurt” you say reaching into your backpack for your bandages.

“It’s just a flesh wound” she bites her lower lip as you wrap her thigh up. The hole from the stab wound is oozing blood and it take you 3 wraps of bandages before it starts to slow a little. She watches as you work silently. Still a little mad at how you were treated you focus on the wound and will yourself not to look up at her.

When you’re all done patching her up you squeeze her arm, “all done let’s get you out of here” you say helping her up to her feet. You sling her arm over your shoulder and carry most of her weight as you make your way to the roof.

With how slow it was taking Natasha you call in to the coms.

“Steve I have Natasha. Stab wound to the thigh. Change of plans. Meet you at the river in the forest” you say calmly leaning Natasha against the wall so the both of you could rest for a while.

“Are you sure?” Steve says sounding frantic.

“Yes. See you there in 15” you really did not want to shout at him again so kept it as short as possible.

Looking towards Natasha who is leaning heavily against the wall you shoot her a smile before taking her arm one more time. Instead of going the ‘normal’ way you take her through a grate in the floor which leads to a large sewer complex.

“Are you sure this is the right way?” Natasha speaks softly after walking for 7 minutes.

“This is the right way” you answer curtly.

“Hey, stop stop stop” she says putting her weight behind her literally forcing you to stop. You look at her surprised and before you can say anything she adds, “I’m sorry for being a hard ass”.

You huff.

“Y/N I’m serious” she pulls at your chin so you’re facing her, “I heard what you said to Steve and yea, I have been unfair”.

“Baby it’s ok” you say reaching for the hand holding your chin unable to be upset with her looking so pale and fragile.

“No it’s not, don’t say it is” she scolds you.

You just raise your eyebrow at her. She smiles and continues, “Sorry. I was just so worried you know after the last time…”

“I know”

“I’m sorry” she says again.

“I know”

“Can you say something other than I know. It’s unsettling” this time she cups your cheek.

“I love you” you say and she softens at the words. A smile tugs at the corner of her lips.

“I love you too” she leans forward and kisses you on the nose, “now get me out of here and I’ll show you I’m no Virgin Mary” she says struggling to maintain a neutral facial expression.

You chuckle at her words, “yes ma’am”.

As you turn the bend and reach the mouth of the sewer. In the distance Steve is waiting by the river. He runs when he sees you two and helps support Nat’s other side as the three of you walk towards the extraction point.

------------------

Tagging: @natasharomanoffismywife​ @imnotasuperhero​ @ellebellerules @cybeleceto​ @silverwing2522​ @thelastavenger-3000​ @peggycarter-steverogers​ @niquey-salvatore​ @rooskaya-yelena @jumbojamba47​

I made a doo doo and mixed up who wanted to be tagged in what. So if you want to be on the taglust for everything plse let me know. Or likewise if you want to be removed also hit me up [ill oblige but not before crying buckets].

[one-boring-person]

Bro, I hope I got this right and that you like it, I'm kinda worried that it's not that great😅 I've never really shown much interest in the 50s, but the research I did looked pretty cool, so I hope this is decent!

Requested by: my good friend @jawline-of-steel 😊💛

What Do You Know About Vampires?

The Lost Boys x reader (set in the 1950s)

Warnings: none

Masterlist

"Why must you always meet with him so late, (Y/n)? Why can't you just have a normal date in the day, like the rest of us?" Kiera complains as we walk down to the Boardwalk, our skirts blowing gently in the cool seabreeze that flows through the town, our neatly styled hair loosening a little from the heat of the warm summer night.

At her question, I roll my eyes, shaking my head at her unwillingness, as well as at her ignorance of the fact that it's not just a "him", but more like a "them".

"Because they have to work during the day, Kiera. Not everyone is as privileged as your Jay is." I remind her, referring to her wealthy husband, Jay, a man everyone knows for his money, rather than his personality.

"Oh, yes, you've told me this before." She rolls her eyes in turn, "What is his job, anyway? You've never said anything about that."

I think for a minute, my brow burrowing as we arrive at our destination, the attraction only just starting to fill up as the sun drops below the horizon, casting the town into twilight, the sky turning a beautiful deep blue. They mentioned it once, when I first met them; I remember being surprised to find out that they all work in the same place, but being unsurprised when they told me what the job actually entailed.

"I think they work as mechanics, somewhere on the outskirts of town." I frown slightly, "I don't remember the name of the workshop, though. All I know is that they bought their motorcycles from the place next door (Note that these are not the same as they are in the movie, but are more decade-appropriate)."

"You keep saying "they". Don't you mean "he"?" Kiera queries, eyeing me suspiciously when I chuckle nervously.

"Well, I mean what I say. It's not a "he", it's a "they"." I clarify, brushing a strand of hair behind my ear as I try not to blush too much, knowing my irrational embarrassment is entirely visible on my face.

She stops abruptly, a hand on my arm as she looks at me in horror.

"You mean...you are in a relationship...With two men?!" She exclaims, blue eyes wide.

I struggle for words for a moment, not entirely sure how to put what I need to say, knowing that she'll find it even more outlandish than what she now thinks.

"Not two people..." I start, thinking through my words.

"Not two? So you're in a relationship with one? And you call him "they"?"

"No, no. What I mean to say, is that I'm in a relationship with four men."

There is silence between us as she stares me down, her mouth falling agape momentarily before she regains her composure, straightening her back as she falls back into step with me, brushing off her skirt as she goes.

"Four?!" Is all she can say, the word hissed out at me as we make our way to the base of the Ferris wheel, walking in and out of the homebound workers in overalls, and their smartly dressed comrades as they filter through the popular summer attraction. A tall man greets us as we move past, the top buttons of his work shirt undone to reveal a patch of tanned skin beneath, the bulging muscles on his arms implying that he works in the construction industry, his dusty overclothes appearing bleached and completely soiled. Beside me, Kiera smiles and laughs flirtatiously as he speaks, her sweet demeanour putting a broad smile on the roughly spoken man's face.

"Yes, I'm in a relationship with four men, who I love dearly, and who love me just as dearly. You know, just the other day one of them told me that they had something very important to ask me." I pause for dramatic effect, "I think they may ask me to marry them!"

"What?! But how?! And what do your parents think?"

At this, I pull a face and look away slightly, a little annoyed that she isn't happy for me.

"In the same manner that everyone gets married, Kiera, it is no unusual affair. And as for my parents," I roll my eyes, knowing exactly what they'll say when they find out, "I value their opinions, but they are sometimes old fashioned in their attitudes. They will hopefully come around quickly once they have met them."

Kiera doesn't reply immediately, an uneasy frown on her face as we reach our destination, the two of us stopping by the great struts of the Ferris wheel in silence.

"I'm happy for you, (Y/n), I really am, but I'm not sure I can quite understand how you manage to maintain a relationship with four men. I find that one is quite enough." She laughs dryly, referring to the hardships she often faces with Jay.

"It works well, thank you." I decide to leave the conversation there, unwilling to keep going, "Is Jay meeting us here, too?"

"Yeah, he should be here in a few minutes." She looks around at the crowd, "He's coming straight from one of his car competitions."

"Oh? Where is it this time?"

"I don't know, he told me earlier, but the names all sound the same to me, so I easily forgot it."

We laugh at this, knowing it to be true.

"You two ladies having fun there?" A familiar, smooth voice interrupts us, the tone teasing as it always is.

Together, Kiera and I turn around to face the newcomers, a smile quickly spreading over my face as I see the four bikers standing there, the lapels of their jackets and shirts turned up against the breeze, their usually neat hair dishevelled from the ride over.

"Oh, plenty, thank you. And you boys?" I reply playfully, letting my eyes roam over their masculine figures, very much enjoying the sight of them.

"All the more that we are here now." David smirks, stepping forwards to kiss my cheek in greeting, letting his lips linger a second or so longer than necessary as I breathe in the brief wave of motor oil and sweat, as well as leather and cologne.

"I'm glad." I smile, letting the other boys do the same as I turn around to face Kiera again, "Kiera, I'd like you to meet David, Dwayne, Marko and Paul."

In turn, each of the boys smirks and gives a wave of their own, Kiera politely greeting them as she struggles to process what she's seeing.

Thankfully, Jay chooses this moment to arrive, the short man running up to us with a call of our names, smiling widely as he takes Kiera around the waist and kisses her, a deep blush appearing on her cheeks as she reciprocates it. Upon seeing this, Paul steps forwards and places an arm around my waist, pulling me against his body as Marko steps up and does the same on the other side, David and Dwayne moving to stand beside their comrades, smiling genially.

Jay eventually pulls away from Kiera, only to double-take when he sees the five of us as we are, a variety of emotions flitting over his features before he settles on a neutral one.

"Hey, (Y/n), how are you?" The young man eventually manages.

"I'm good, Jay. How about you?"

"Good, good, thank you." He responds, staring at the bikers behind me, taking in the grease-stained leather jackets and rolled up trouser legs, enviously eyeing their boots as he compares them with his own smart shoes, evidently wishing he'd dressed differently.

"Jay, this is David, Dwayne, Marko and...Paul, was it?" Kiera steps in, looping her arm through her husband's, watching as he tenses slightly, almost as if shying away from her touch.

The four bikers smile and shake hands with Jay, each of them standing a good head taller than the refined man, a triumphant smirk creeping onto Marko's face when he realises this.

"Well, what's the plan?" I ask them, open to any ideas of how to spend the night.

"I want to go on the Ferris wheel, because it looks very romantic. I think you could benefit from that, Jay." Kiera interjects, smiling playfully up at her husband, though he only grunts and rolls his eyes.

"The Ferris wheel it is. Let's go!" Dwayne chips in, pushing Mark and Paul out of the way as he takes my arm and gently leads me over to the queue to get on, where he carefully wraps his arm around my smaller body, pulling me against him. The others are quick to join us, Paul pouting as he watches Dwayne hold me, David only laughing as he pulls a cigarette out of his pocket, sticking it behind his ear as he searches for his lighter, moving it from his blonde hair before he lights it.

"You got a spare?" Jay asks quickly, leaning forwards a bit as he waits for David's response.

"Sure." The blonde confirms, shrugging as he finds another cigarette and lights it for him, handing it over when it starts to smoke.

"Thanks."

"No problem."

The queue moves slowly, but the boys manage to keep us entertained as we wait, making the time feel much shorter as we laugh our way through the snaking line of people. When we finally manage to get on, we find that we have to split up into five separate pairs, plus one of us who will remain alone, so Paul, Marko and David choose to stay at the bottom, watching ad Dwayne and I settle into a seat together, the brunette throwing his arm around my shoulders as we go. Before we leave the ground, I just about catch the other three discussing something, though I only hear a couple of sentences.

"Are you going to tell her tonight?" Marko asks David, voice sounding curious.

"I think so." Is the reply, before Dwayne and I are too high to hear any more.

*

Two hours pass, the seven of us having a relatively good time together, despite the awkwardness between Jay and the boys, before Kiera and the former decide to call it a night, leaving the rest of us to keep ourselves entertained. By now, the Boardwalk is a little less busy than it usually is, meaning we can walk pretty much unhindered around the different stalls lining the road misreading towards their parked bikes. Already, they have offered to give me a ride home, though I have declined, knowing my parents' distrust of boys and men around me, willing to walk home in any case. Of course, they can't let this happen, and have insisted that they at least give me a ride to the end of the road I live on, but not before they tell me something important.

Curious, I let them lead me onto the beach, David keeping an arm wrapped around my waist as he guides me onto the sand, the pressure feeling reassuring but unfamiliar, as if he's trying to keep me calm. We go a few steps away from the edge of the Boardwalk, making sure that we are out of earshot but still within the light, coming to a stop just on the edge of it.

"What is it that you want to tell me?" I ask, frowning slightly as the others crowd around me, as if trying to stop me from going somewhere.

"Well, (Y/n), we think that you've earned our trust, so we think that we can tell you our deepest, darkest secret. But before I tell you what it is, I need you to swear yourself to secrecy. No one can know about what I'm going to tell you. No one." David starts, giving me a serious look instead of his usual teasing one, blue eyes cold in the harsh light.

"I swear?" I say, looking at him in confusion. What could he possibly need to tell me, that's so secret?

"No, you need to mean it. Swear you won't tell a soul." He almost growls, shaking his head.

"Ok, I swear I won't tell anyone what you're about to tell me." I repeat, trying not to roll my eyes.

"Ok that will do." He pauses briefly, exchanging a look with the others, "What do you know about vampires, (Y/n)?"

Shocked and confused, I frown as I regard the blonde in front of me, wondering if he's maybe inhaled a few too many fumes at work today.

"Vampires?"

"Yes, vampires. What do you know about them?"

It takes me a few seconds to reply, needing to collect my thoughts.

"I know that they don't exist." I say with conviction, eyeing him carefully. Surprisingly, the four of them chuckle quietly, obviously expecting the answer from me.

"And that, my dear (Y/n), is where you are wrong."

[snkpolls]

SnK Episode 67 Poll Results (for Manga Readers)

The poll closed with 254 responses. Thank you to everyone who participated!

Please note that these are the results for the Manga Readers’ poll. If you wish to see the results for the Anime Only Watchers’ poll, click here.

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RATE THE EPISODE 246 Responses

The response to this week’s episode remains overwhelmingly positive, with 97.6% of responses giving it a score of 3 or higher. 

This is the first episode where I have absolutely no criticisms, so im quite happy with how it turned out.

Voice acting was top tier

perfect

Emotional 

Great Job! I'm glad my favorite character's death was so emotionally misered.

Forget Attack on Titans, this episode was Attack on my Feelings ! 😭

I want to rate it a 1 because of Sasha but a 5 because of how well it was done... so 1.5

Absolutely loved it

Perfect

ASIDE FROM SASHA’S DEATH, WHICH MOMENT WAS THE MOST EMOTIONAL FOR YOU? 247 Responses

Connie’s heartfelt admission to Jean seems to have stolen the hearts of the plurality of responders (36%). That is followed by a tie of 18.2% responses noting Eren’s breakdown or EMA’S tense reunion as the most emotional moment for them. In third place is Gabi’s tragic declaration about her struggles with 11.3%. Other responses were, in order, Jean lamenting all of the deaths occurring, Gabi and Falco realizing that Zeke betrayed them, Hange scolding Eren for forcing the SC to intervene in Marley and Levi and Eren’s confrontation.

Connie telling Sasha and Jean that they're special to him made my heart hurt knowing what was going to happen mere minutes after. I honestly saw me and my two best friends through them, and it was gut wrenching seeing Connie and Jean's reactions. Even Mikasa's reaction broke me, to be honest. They all lost a huge light in their lives.

WHICH MOMENT SURPRISED YOU THE MOST? 222 Responses

So this question was meant to only go on the anime watchers poll and ended up here somehow. Thanks to the 222 who were good sports and responded anyway! :P The most shocking moments that took place in this chapter/episode was the revelation that Eren went rogue from the Survey Corps, that Zeke was collaborating with the Survey Corps, how the Survey Corps treated Eren, and that some Paradisians seemed to be turning to nationalism, in that order. 

Not sure why we're being asked as manga readers which moment shocked us the most since we already knew everything that was going to happen this week

HOW MUCH DID SASHA’S DEATH HURT YOU? 249 Responses

When it came to Sasha’s death, it would appear that it broke the hearts of the overwhelming majority of responders, with 81.1% giving it a rating of either 4 or 5 on the tragic scale. 

Broke my heart and I'm still crying over it three days later. Honestly though, it was greatly done. 

3 years later it hit me, Sasha is dead ;_;

Cried my whole soul and body. Rip sweet Sasha

I thought Sasha's death would've been more emotional.

WHOSE REACTION TO SASHA’S DEATH AFFECTED YOU THE MOST? 250 Responses

Sasha’s death elicited various reactions from the main cast. Two different responses tied at 36.4% noting Connie and Mikasa’s reactions to Sasha's death as the one affecting them the most. This was followed by Eren’s at 13.2%. The rest were, in order, Armin, Jean, Levi and Hange. 

I don’t cry at fiction much, but Sasha’s death got me more than I thought it would. I feel like seeing Armin and Mikasa’s reactions in particular is what got me.

The way they animated Armin and Mikasa bawling over Sasha's body and the inclusion of Call Your Name made it all the more emotional. I think by "Assassin's Bullet" they also meant a bullet through my heart because man did that hurt to watch. 😭🤧

WOULD YOU PISS YOUR PANTS IF LEVI WAS GLARING AT YOU WITH MURDEROUS INTENT? 248 Responses

A bit of a joke question, but we wanted to know if Levi appeared as threatening as he seemed. 80.2% seems to think so, admitting their incentive to piss their pants. In contrast, 19.8% don’t think the Captain’s such a scary guy!

THE FULL VERSION OF “ASHES ON THE FIRE” BY KOHTA YAMAMOTO (THE PREVIEW SONG) IS NOW OUT. IF YOU’VE LISTENED TO IT, WHAT DO YOU THINK? 236 Responses

“Ashes on the Fire” has been released to rave reviews, with 88.1% of responses giving it a 4 or a 5. Nobody gave it a 1, either. Yamamoto-san, thank you!

OVERALL, HOW WELL DO YOU THINK MAPPA ADAPTED THE MARLEY ARC? 251 Responses

In spite of the relatively vocal complaints about the adaptation of certain elements of the Marley Arc, it would appear that the overwhelming majority of responders seemed pleased with it, with 51.4% giving it 5 and 37.1% giving it a 4. 1s not present. 

I've been a bit bothered how Mappa follows the Manga like a slave, using the panels as scenes and not adding anything in between. Sure it works for Manga, but it feels weird to me to watch in Anime how Eren grabs Armins hand and they don't give a transition where Armin pulls him in, but just show him inside the airship next. Just little things, but bothers me a bit. Overall I'm really enjoying their choices.

The show looks BETTER

I was fine with the episode. The quality of animation dropped but I understand that every scene cannot be animated on highest level. MAPPA has done a great job with the Marley arc. They shown the character development and bonds between the warriors perfectly. We had some cuts here and there but overally was okay: 8/10 for me. 

I’m so pleased that MAPPA has taken the anime. I’m still more of a fan of this particular series’ manga than anime though.

DID SASHA’S DEATH AFFECT YOU MORE WHEN YOU READ THE MANGA, OR SEEING IT ANIMATED WITH VOICES AND MUSIC? 249 Responses

As noted above, Sasha’s death seemed to be a hard hitter for most. Comparison of the adaptation vs the original allows to discern which hit the readers/watchers the hardest. Just one percent shy of a majority (49%) thought that the anime made it much more tragic. 30.9% noted that the impact was roughly similar across both mediums. On the flip side, 10.4% thought that the initial depiction of it in the manga was the hardest hitter. There were also a couple of write-ins. 

I dont remember I sped run reading the manga, kinda regretting it

I knew it for the first time in the manga, so it had a more powerful impact (I cried for a whole week. Not kidding) and the anime managed to make me cry as hard as in the manga. Though, I already was aware and grieved so it wasn't as bad

Got Spoiled :( so kinda meh, saw it coming

When the music kicked in after Connie announced she was gone, my heart broke into a million pieces. 

Let's be honest, Sasha's role was over after she killed the titan in the village and saved Kaya. After that she was just there. She got zero development, zero important moments, zero depth. Her death effected many characters and helped them to develop. Sasha's death was sad but at least brought some important changes in others. 

Not a Sasha fan so I was not really that affected but having a death in the series always feels sour

I think for me, they're both even.....mostly. There's just something about having been waiting for the chapter leaks on reddit with a bunch of other people and most of us collectively grieving at the same time. Once bigger pages of the chapter started coming out, it made me cry. I didn't even cry during serumbowl when I first read it and that had plenty for me to be even more upset about.

Honestly while reading manga I hated that Sasha’s last word was „meat”, it seemed so ridiculous. I’m happy MAPPA made it look more serious with music. Actually everyone’s reaction for Sasha’s death had more impact on me than the death itself

HOW DID YOU FEEL WHEN YOU SAW GABI KILL SASHA IN THE MANGA? AND HOW DO YOU FEEL SEEING IT AGAIN NOW, KNOWING HOW GABI’S ARC DEVELOPS? 247 Responses

Gabi is perhaps the most controversial character introduced post-time skip. Whether you’re a proud member of the Gabi Gang, proud hater of the 12 year old or just a neural party, everyone can admit that. With Sasha’s death at her hands, many seemed to offer up their opinion on the kid, back then and now. A slight plurality, 31.2%, stated that they did not hate her back when 105 first released and they don’t hate her now. 23.1% note that although they were rather upset with her back down, they are not (upset/angry) any longer. On the flipside, 25.5% state that they still hate the kid, as they did back then. Finally, some were simply neutral. Classic. 

Quite a few write-ins, as well.

I hated her in the manga but after watching the anime, I’m not happy about it but I understand why she did what she did and don’t hate her as much anymore.

I was extremely upset about it before and am still extremely upset about it now, but for different reasons. I hate her less but am not any less annoyed by her brainwashed hatred of the Paradisians, although I understand her much better and realize and empathize that she's just a kid who's been used by her country in the worst way.

Gabi Braun Must Die

Broke my heart and was upset, but understood where she was coming from (thought about her perspective only)

Sasha shoulda killed this cunt while she had the chance

It’s war, she did as she needed to.  Her arc is fantastic 

love hate relationship 

I didn't like her but not because of Sasha death (that's war consequence) and it's the same now

I really hated her with my whole heart and soul, but now that it has been all explained, that she had character development, I even like her now

I used to be angry about it but I understand why now, Gabi is just a victim of Marley’s control just like anyone else is, it’s a shame this is the results of it. She’s still at fault but I can’t hate her so much for it

I feel tired of Gabi hate. I disliked her in the manga back then but now I feel neutral towards her, because she has changed. Yet, I wish she took less screentime. 

SORRY for ranting! I don't understand the hate on Gabe. Yes, I know she killed a Paradise character which was present in series since its beginning and I understand Sasha's fans are upset Sasha is not here anymore because of her. but those people do not analyse Gabe as they should be. Every character belongs to a different side and each side is blinded by what heir belives in. It is okay to not like Gabe but I don't tolerate hate on her. I THINK THIS QUESTION SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN INCLUDED AT ALL.

Initial hate, understanding after some thought

Understanding her situation I know I shouldn’t hate her, but I’m choosing to be petty and hate her anyway 

I liked her much more than I like her now. She was a much better character back then, her killing Sasha (a one-note comedic relief) was cool and brought some spice to the story. Now she just exists to spout themes and convenient exposition and to be an aimbot

i dislike her, even if i understand her

I dont like Gabi. Never did. It isnt because she killed Sasha tho. I just dont care for Gabi tbh BUT i can totally understand her actions and do not blame her for it after seeing the destruction and killings

I was and still am upset about Sasha's death, but from the start I blamed it more on the circumstances than Gabi.

I loved her then, I love her now and it probably wouldn’t change even if she killed my favourite characters. She’s my cinnamon roll

Gabi did nothing wrong, killing a soldier in the battlefield is not a crime.

See, I WANT to like Gabi since she's obviously changed, but knowing she killed Sasha nonetheless will ALWAYS prevent me from having any love or respect for her. She will always be my most hated character

MAPPA ADDED AN EXTENDED SCENE OF FLOCH AND OTHER SURVEY CORPS RECRUITS BEATING GABI AND FALCO. HOW DID YOU FEEL ABOUT IT? 240 Responses

MAPPA added an extra scene of Floch and Friends raining down copious amounts of gratuitous violence upon two 12 year olds (MAPPA is pro-child violence???????? Find out when 111 is adapted). 48.8% seemed to think that it was a decent addition, even if just for the SC’s characterization (or perhaps you enjoyed seeing that?). 22.5% thought it was a bit over the top to feature. Finally, 16.7% did not care. 

I didn't like it. But, it was def a believable reaction from them.

I just wish it was enough to kill her

I liked the additional characterization of Floch & co.

Great addition, it was implied in the manga so the scene fitted well. Still, it was horrifying to see how vile the scouts were to two kids

How about an option where we're glad Gabi got beaten to a pulp but not when Falco was?

ORA ORA thing, but we viewers get hurt too. 

Didn't feel bad about Gabi getting beat up, but I did feel bad seeing Falco get beat up. Poor boy didn't deserve that

A nice addition 

I thought it was a great choice to highlight the continuing violence and feelings of vengeance from both sides even more. and I thought it contrasted really well with Jean's decision not to throw the kids out of the airship.

The people glorifying this scene annoy the shit out of me

It's a good way to hint the "Yaegerist" perspective to anime onlies

MUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDA

The Gold Experience memes are funny

It was an IC scene for people like Floch + I feel bad for the kids

The way they shot that scene made the recruits seem like mindless, gross-faced animals storming towards the kids to beat them up. I liked how they were dehumanised like that, considering that most faces amongst them belonged to the ones who support the rumbling. 

It hurt to see that but good scene though

Feel empathy for Gaby. Violence don't solve problems

Now THAT'S what I call fan service! Who needs big-boobed, big-ass females or shirtless guys with and when you can just have the most hated character get the tar beaten out of them xD

I can see why they did it. MAPPA's not dumb and I'm sure they anticipated a massive onslaught on hate towards Gabi specifically, so it was their way of trying to satisfy the haters. Falco didn't deserve it tho.

It was a good addition

GREAT JOB MAPPA

I hate Gabi too but that was too much beating up a child, yet it also showed how shit Floch and the others are.

Apparently some people never noticed that Gabi and Falco got beat up, probably because it happened in the background. So it was good for MAPPA to call attention to it.

I love Gabi but she had that coming. No need to hurt Falco though. :(

OVERALL, HOW WELL DO YOU FEEL MAPPA EXECUTED THE REVEAL THAT ZEKE IS A TRAITOR TO MARLEY? 240 Responses

The reveal that ZOOK has been working against Marley for years on end is one of the most important ones in the series, really. So it was important to have it be executed in a rather decent manner. The vast majority of the fandom thought that MAPPA did a fine job. 52.1% gave it a rating of 4, 27.5% gave it a 5 and 17.1% gave it a 3. The couple of the other respnders gave it a 2, with no 1s.

IN THE END, DO YOU THINK EREN’S ACTIONS IN MARLEY WERE ULTIMATELY JUSTIFIED? 242 Responses

A question to remember… Were Eren’s actions in Marley ultimately “justified”? A plurality, 44.6% seems to think so. In contrast, 24% disagree. And 31.4% still aren’t sure to this day.

SIMILARLY, DO YOU THINK THE SURVEY CORPS WAS ULTIMATELY JUSTIFIED IN TREATING EREN AS THEY DID? 244 Responses

When it comes to the SC treating Eren as they did, the division is much less pronounced however. The majority, 60.7%, think that the SC had quite the justification for treating Eren as they did. On the flip side, 19.7% think that there was such justification for behaving in such a manner towards Eren. Finally, the same amount of responses stated that still can’t be sure to this day.

NOW THAT WE’VE GOTTEN A CLEAR SHOT OF YELENA, DID MAPPA DO HER JUSTICE? 243 Responses

YELENA is here. Queen 👑. Or well, maybe not. Who am I to say? In any case, her appearance was received well. 52.7% thought MAPPA did very well and 33.7% went on to declare their love for her. Just shy of 10% noted that MAPPA could have done a little better though. 

Kinda wish her hair was like neon or something idk

Need more eps of her to decide, she didn't get much screentime and lines here. 

I don't like Yelena, but yeah I guess they did good.

In the manga she was a creepy-looking person. MAPPA made her unique, interesting and mysterious. I love her voice and her stoic, relaxed self. MAPPA did a good job.  

QUEEN!!!!!

Great adaptation but I still don't like her as a character

Don’t care about her 

don't really care

I hate her and I don't care about her.

WHICH SCENE FROM THE PREVIEW ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO? 247 Responses

Such a colorful chart for this one. It would appear that slightly over a quarter look most forward to seeing Crykasa at Sasha’s grace. Slightly less (21.9%) want to see Sasha enjoying Niccolo’s cuisine. In third place is the scene with Connie, Jean, Mikasa and Niccolo at Sasha’s grace. The rest are, in order from most to least, Onyankopon and Yelena teaching the Survey Corps about the Port, EMA talking at the shooting range and Hange and Armin learning about Marley’s technology.

HOW HYPED ARE YOU FOR THE UPCOMING TIMESKIP FLASHBACKS? 239 Responses

The time skip flashbacks seem to be a hit. A little over 51% are super stoked about seeing them animated. Slightly under 24% state that they’ll enjoy them, but are looking forward to other things more. In contrast, 22.6% are ready to go crazy (from a positive standpoint)! Wooo! 

Enjoying AND dreading it at the same time

I just want the centipede

Boring. The only thing what interests me is Historia teasing Mikasa about her crush on Eren. The rest is too jolly. 

I'm looking forward to see Yelena's insane self be animated. That, and more Zeke.

THE MOST RECENT LIST OF FUTURE EPISODE TITLES SHOWS THAT EPISODE 12 WILL LIKELY END AROUND CHAPTERS 109-111, LEAVING CHAPTER 112 (EMA’S ARGUMENT) FOR EPISODE 13. EPISODE 67 WAS ALMOST ENTIRELY ADAPTED FROM CHAPTER 105, PROVING THAT ADAPTING DIALOGUE-HEAVY CHAPTERS FAITHFULLY CAN EASILY REQUIRE THE FULL 20 MINUTES. WITH ONLY 16 EPISODES - AND SO MANY WHICH ARE DIALOGUE-HEAVY - DO YOU THINK THINGS WILL END OFF WITH THE INITIATION OF THE RUMBLING (CH. 122), AS HAS BEEN SPECULATED BY MUCH OF THE FANDOM? 238 Responses

The manner in which the Season will end is a mystery to even the manga readers. Where will it end? Will it have many cuts? These are the questions. 36.6% seem to think that MAPPA will somehow manage to both end it at Chapter 122 and cut as little as possible. 26.5% don't believe ending on 122 is possible. 12.2% do believe MAPPA will end the Season on 122, but only with many notable cuts. Finally, just a little under 20% are simply not sure. There were a few write-ins as well. 

I hope not, too many cuts would be required 

The is no way they're making it up to 122, at first I thought they were going to finish it off with Eren's head getting blown off in 119, but now that seems like a reach too. Now I think MAPPA is probably going to end this first half of the season with Eren and Pieck's "where is the enemy?" and the warriors arriving to Shiganshina 

I’m not sure right now so I’ll have to see for later episodes for the cut-off point, if it isn’t the Rumbling then it’ll be when Gabi shoots Eren

MOVIE

I'm conflicted. I'm sure they'll end at rumbling because it's the only reasonable point to cut it, but I feel like they're running out of episodes. Then again I'm feeling the same about the state of Manga, there's just too little chapters left to end things up well.

I don't really want to think too much about it, I just want to enjoy the anime lol

I fully expect 119 to be the end

What was the point of rushing Reiner's chapters if you are going to slow down later. Goddamn it MAPPA. 

It'll really depend on the pacing for the next couple episodes, but I'm with a bulk of the fandom that see Chapter 119 Two Brothers being the end point for The Final Season. IF they were to skip the opening and maybe the ending, I can see them transitioning from Eren's head getting blown off immediately into his transformation and the beginning of the Rumbling. But even that is quite farfetched. 

I have no idea, I'm a little worried now. Wouldn't be the first time a lot of content gets cut but if they insist on reaching ch. 122, I just don't see how you do that without butchering a lot. If that happens, it would probably lessen my enjoyment of the season.

Yeah, I think it will have a lot of cuts, but I believe that it will get there because Ymir falling in the tree was in the trailer

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS ON THE EPISODE?

It's amazing seeing how each week, something with SnK trends! ^^

It still baffles me just how much people insist on hating Gabi, especially when her arc has shown tremendous growth in the manga. Reiner was no better than her when he was a child and continued to insist that Paradisians are devils and chose to further destroy their lives even after sleeping under the same roof as the 104th for 3 whole years and forming personal bonds with them. Yet, his actions are forgivable but Gabi's are not? Both characters have shown remorse for their former beliefs and misdeeds against Paradisians. Both realized that they were in the wrong. The characters have forgiven Gabi. Why can't y'all do the same? People who want Gabi to suffer are no better than they accuse her of being. 

Well done episode which managed to capture the emotions of sasha's death perfectly

monke

I really appreciate Gabi as a character. She has spunk and a strong character arc in which she changes and grows more than anyone in the last 30 chapters of the manga, save maybe Mikasa (ignoring how Eren, Reiner, Armin and maybe a few others changed during the timeskip). It makes me sad seeing people wishing for her to die and praising Floch and the others for kicking her.

Gabi absolutely deserves the hate she gets

I absolutely love to see the anime-onlies mass hate of GabBitch, does my heart good xD

Boring ,too much Gabi she is annoying

Time to strap in: wild ride ahead!

Gabi Braun is the WORST character, her arc was poorly written and the moment she kills Sasha solidifies her rightful place as most hated character

No development has made me stop hating Gabi. The wound of Sasha's death will ALWAYS overshadow any crocodile tears Gabi may cry.

Kudos to Jean's and Connie's voice actors. Emotions were so raw and natural.

so good! they're really nailing down the emotional beats so far!

Dialogue-heavy but still amazing! Also the music was great

I didn't felt anything when Sasha died. Even the first time, in the manga. She hasn't enough personnality for me to care. Erwin and Bertolt's death were more saddening for me. Stop hating Gabi. She was in grief and she did what Marley brainwashed her to. And Sasha killed people right in front of her, so…

1 chapter was too little to be adapted for an episode, you could tell some scenes were stretched to fit the runtime

The music they chose for the scene of Sasha passing was also the same music they used when the Survey Corps first donned their capes and Eren found out Marco was dead... man, that song is gonna hit harder than ever now

It didn’t help with the overwhelming amount of hate Gabi is getting. I hope Mappa does her justice because she’s a great character but the Anime only seem to hate her because its a “funny” “popular” thing but it really isn’t... shows who really is paying attention to the story and the people who are watching it because it’s popular and trendy 

People who are hating on Gabi do not understand the themes portrayed in AoT

Pretty solid overall. Wonderful bits of animation such as the ODM bits and the solid character acting from Sasha going down, Mikasa and Armin is distress, personal highlight being Gabi's reload animation. Good ost choices, nice addition of Samuel and Daz to foreshadow their conflict later on in the story, and great work from Connie, Gabi and Eren's VAs.

Friendly reminder that just because we hate Gabi does NOT mean we don't "understand" the story or themes. We just don't care because Gabi is a bad character.

U mad at Gabi for what she did ? Did she kill Potato girl for no reason? Imgine a kid, at least 3 years younger than the 104th, made fighting on WARS and praised for it, brainwashed by Marley that Paradisians are devils, and these devils came in her home, killing her friends and this WOMAN killed in front of her eyes two people who tried to protect her. Don't be mad at Gabi. Grieve for Sasha, okay, but stop hating Gabi. You're the worst when you do it

Hey Gabiatans: as long as you're not threatening the VA or other RL p olle, it's PERFECTLY fine to hate Gabi. Period. We don't have to like her, and it's not like we don't "understand" her just because we hate her. I "understand" a lot of Germans were forcibly coerced into joining the Nazi regime, but I don't have to pity then for any consequences that came for them.

Leviiiiiii

I was surprised that Mikasa and Armin crying over Sasha had no voice over. I thought it was still effective but I'm not sure if I prefer it. Other than that, the character animation was amazing this episode. Gabi's hands as she reloaded the rifle and Armin crying were my favorites. Overall, everything was pretty perfect and I love it when a chapter gets adapted in full with basically no cuts. One of the best episodes in the series and a proper send off for Sasha.

Wonderfully done episode! They truly did Gabi and Falco's perspectives justice. Also, seeing Eren's expressions and reactions in animated format was clarifying and super well done, too!

WHERE DO YOU PRIMARILY DISCUSS THE SERIES? 227 Responses

Thanks again to everyone who participated! 

[scream-into-the-voiddd]

this looks like fun! [I can’t seem to find the og poster but i got it from @lizzaroona]

September 1st: Favourite s1 episode?

Honesty a super hard pick, and i think there are better episodes in the season but the one i go back too most often is ep 10 “The Sear of Selene” 

It just has some of the best character moments (for me) and is truly funny and interesting. And has some real insight into Donald and Dewey’s feelings about Della and her being gone. we saw glimpse of this in ‘dime chase’ and ‘woo-woo/Atlantis’ but here we actually see the pain Della left in her wake. And what it means going forward. 

Plus stokeulse is a big sweet boi and i love watching him and Donald ‘re-connecting’ speaking of witch it is also the frist time Scrooge and Donald have a form of re-connection to 

“just like old times ah lad”

look at that face.

its a strong ep and lead the way for bigger ‘emotional hits’ down the line (the last crash of the sun chaser)

September 2nd: Favourite triplet?

I don’t really have one as they are all fleshed out and well rounded, that being said I am looking forward to more of Huey this season. But i don’t have a fav.

September 3rd: Favourite member of team magic

Webby, but i don’t know if that counts as she is main cast so i see her more often then any other Team Magic characters. The girl is fun and filled with so much love and she is to be feared. and I love her faults to she is awkward and hyper-fixated on Mcduck history to the point that its scary. and is a fun loving social shut in.

She is just so multifaceted and complex that i love her with all my heart.  

September 4th: favourite three caballeros 

I am bias on this one as i love José Oliveira (the og José) and anything involving that funky little parrot makes me happy. But in DT17 I do love that there is elements of that Og Jose in his characterisation

like in s2 ep 4 

when he calls over and hugs Donald (so sweet), and that he knows how to claim Donald down so fast (by making him dance and then getting him to sing) and to my knowledge he is the only one to do this in the whole show not just once but twice, so it shows that he has a deep understanding of Donald that most just don’t, and i have always loved that about their friendship.

plus from what i can tell from that ep as well it was Jose’s idea to meet up and he planned the trip (as he payed for it) so the fact he made arraignments for Panchito, Donald and THE BOY’S (+ scrooge) shows how much Jose really loves his friends, and plays an umbrella as an trumpet.       

September 5th: favourite ep of season 2

This was a hard one as most of the eps knock it out of the park, but i’m going to have to go with, ep 16 “the Duck Knight Returns” its just such a good ep and has so many wonderful layers to it, and i was actually caught of guard with the final Jim Starling twist. like i can’t even remember the lat time a twist hit me that hard (i got side swiped) I actually had to sit in silence for a solid minute or two and then watch the whole ep again.

they wasted no detail big or small in this ep (like that Jim was already wearing an unbuttoned DW suit and had the hat in the box next to him, or the sound drake made being thrown into the bathroom just like og DW, and the meta jokes and the animation, the whole ep just went so hard) 

and it was a really fun way to ‘pass the torch’ from one actor to another, especially playing with the idea of someone just not being done with the character yet and not wanting to let go, (as a lot of audiences have that issue, with re-boots and relaunches, and especially when a version of a character has an unfinished story left, think Andrew Garfield’s spider-man for e.g.)

i could honesty talk forever about this ep but i’ll spare you all.     

September 6th: favourite hug? 

Honesty its a three way tie...

1) Scrooge and Della when she first comes home. Just they way he scoops her up like a kid and holds her tight, makes my heart full. 

2) this one with Louie, just the mother son embrace was really earned here. 

3) and this one with Jose and Donald, its rare we see Donald so happy to see anyone (who is not his family) and just how naturally he ran into his arms was so nice. And Jose dropping his umbrella right away show how he knew what was coming. Plus i am a big fan of men showing their love and friendship in sweet fun ways like this, so a win for non-toxic masculinity here.   

September 7th Gizmoduck or Darkwing duck?

this is a hard one as i do like both of these hero boy’s and i have talked about how they have conflicting views of their own success through the other (basically, Drake has is personal life together, but Fenton has his hero life together, and i think it would be a point of envy for both characters) And I love Fenton and Drake for different reasons, but at their core they are somewhat the same just two people who want to help others for no other reason then it is the right thing to do.

And i Love what the show has done for both characters but...I will have to give it Drake by a fraction of a hair (feather?).

As unlike Fenton I only needed one ep to be 100% on board with Drake and i know everything i need to know about him from that. As DW had a whole ass show for a reason and that one ep showed it. As Fenton is a wonderful character and he is a very well done character, but one of his defining traits is that he is all over the place (like in his life, work, the way he specks ect) but that can get messy from time to time as it can be hard to be ‘on board’ with someone with no clear ‘goal’ persay (they did cover most of this in “who is Gizmoduck” but some of it still lingers now that can be a tiny bit jarring at times) But like that is SUPER Neat-picky, tho. 

And Drake has that chaotic feral energy that Fenton just don’t have (Fenton has more Bi panic energy), but Drake also has tired dad energy (like how he growls at GD in moonvation and when he calls to LP before the set explodes) and i love that about him. 

Get this man his Gosalyn already so he can be the dorky dad he is destined to be.     

September 8th: Favourite duck cousin?

I’m going to have to go with Gladstone, because he is a HUGE prick, but in a way he is not fully aware of. He is generous (he literally offers the boy’s a bucket of diamonds, just because they came by)    

And I love that half hazard nature about him, he is true neutral, things just happen to him and for him and he just takes it, and that is actually really interesting, (don’t get me wrong i love Fethry, Della and Donald) but Gladstone is such a wild card in the duck/mcduck family when compared to everyone else that its a nice change of pace from the rest in a way (all of them good hearted and well meaning people) I generally have no idea what he might do when presented with an actual problem/ choice, so to see that will be fun and this crews take on Gladstone in that regard.

As i think out of all the cousins he has the most growing/changing to do.      

September 9th: favourite ship?

Ok here is the thing.

in general fandom 

I don’t really have any strong feelings about most ships one way or the other. I think a lot are nice and I enjoy seeing others enjoy themselves and all the wonderful art and time they put into it. That being said out of all my years of being in fandoms I have had a grand total of 5-10 ships i am super passionate about and that is over the span of 10+ years. 

and one of the things i love the most about ducktales is how much it focuses on family love and pure platonic friendships (for both kid and adult characters). And that makes my ace heart happy.  So basically I’m saying is I have no strong feelings about most ships in general beyond “aww” or “man i love how much the fandom loves them” and “that is some great art/ fic / creative output I’m happy for them.” 

But with that out of the way, the question at hand.

I’m going to have to go with Donald and Daisy, as from a writing sand point it was so well done and sweet and cute. And it gave a new perspective on a relationship that has been around for 70+ years, so that was impressive all on it’s own, and it is going to be a loving, interesting relationship going forward.

September 10th: Favourite season 3 episode  

I am going to assume that this is out of the 7 eps so far (duh), which again is hard cause this show is just so damn good. But I would have to say it is ep 6 “Astro B.O.Y.D”

now cue story of me as a kid in 3...2...1...

when i was a kid, I was obsessed with Astro boy, i was maybe 6 years old and i loved it. I was a relatively poor kid so in the early/mid 2000′s i would get a lot of my reading/watching materials from my local library. This included 4 VSH tapes of Astro boy episodes for the 80′s series and i would watch the 2003 anime dub on Saturday mornings TV (one ep a week if that), The library also had the first 2 vols of the og manga that i read so many times that i could probably re-sight it from memory. anyway, the reason i love astro boy so much was because it gave me a feeling i had not felt in my young life before that point, even if i did not full understand it at the time.

Its a feeling i still can’t fully put into words, but i will do my best. Astro boy goes right for the heart in every way possible, but it always twist the knife when it goes for, grief, regret and longing agony. specifically when in looks at lost love, usually platonic love (Tobio and Tenma e.g), the feeling these story’s gave me was the complexity of pain that losing love can bring, but it is most effective because it is through the lens of a child (astro/ tobi) and an innocent, loving child at that. The child is (somewhat) untouched by the tragedy (via memory loss) but is still shaped by the love that was put into them, despite the grief's overall out come (the abandonment of said child). So the feeling is a bitter-sweetness that comes from a place of innocents but also personal understanding of the self Astro was made by Tenma, but he was not what tenma made him to be (his lost son) but astro became his own person who loves and is loved by others, and is a whole person on his own outside of what he was made for (and is in a way still A son to tenma just NOT Tobi). and there is that sense of a child just wanting to be heard and understood for who they ARE and not what others what them to be, regardless of their “potential” (in other words personal choice’s and passions that the child actually wants for themselves)

I just love Astro Boy ok...and i never get a chance to talk about it, so i thought i would here, as this list was foolish enough to give me an opening.

Moving on to the DT17 ep.

The Astro Boyd ep. hit all of these notes, the longing agony of lost love (Gyro and Boyd) the regret that came from Gyro for boyd’s creation.

Boyd’s innocents and loving nature coupled with his wants and identity not being fully understood (gyro thinking he is evil, Fenton wanting him to be a hero, Akita having him be a tool and Tesuka thinking he is just a mindless robot) and just wanting to be seen for what he truly is “a defiantly real boy” and he gets that conformation from Gyro at the end!

and Gyro has is own actualisation, about his own grief, after thinking his love was “misplace” for years on end in a way that made him shut down his heart almost completely. Only to find that he was right to let himself love and that love is actually what helped Boyd help himself. Gyro in essence realising that both him and Boyd are not mistakes or failures but two people who lost the one they loved (each other) and have finally found a way back to each other so they can both begin to fully heal.    

So it was a good episode *wipes tear away from eye*

September 11th : favourite villain?

I don’t really have a favourite villain as the show don’t tend to focus to heavy on them and when they do it is somewhat short lived, (like Magica in season 1 and Lunarus in season 2) and since this season has a group of villains (FOWL) and not just one main one like the last 2 seasons, I have a feeling that one of the up coming FOWL members may take the top spot later down the line.  

but if we are going off the one i find most entertaining...

I’m going to have to give it to

Magica she is played as scary, funny and damn relatable on occasion (the funzo scene), and i am never disappointed to see her. I think she is very different from comic magica in a lot of ways, but i enjoy this version for different reasons. And i think this magica has room to grow/ change (for good or for worst). So safe to say i am looking forward to the first ep in the line up.  

September 12th : favourite character?

why must you make me choose...

seriously all of the characters major or minor is shown in a way that makes them feel very real and well rounded even if they have very little screen time. for god sake the ottoman empire guys get character development (one left the show to pursue acting and they fight with scrooge in the moonvation). So this is not an easy pick to say the least.    

but I will be judging it by the one i ‘get the most out of’ so to speck....

and I have to say its a tie...

Donald Duck

I love him ok. He is very small and very angry and he will fight god(s) for his family safety. Anyway, I have always love Donald Duck shorts and everything else he shows up in he is always my fav.

I have always been able to relate to Donald as i too have a bit of a disability that makes it hard for people to understand be (in writing) and i have a ‘voice issue’ that makes me different from everyone around me. So i really understand the feeling Donald have and the anger that comes from being misunderstood in the most basic ways. Its not fun

So Donald has always been important to me in a sense,  

The thing about Ducktales 2017 that i love is that it fleshes out Donald’s already established characteristics, by giving them context (e.g. using his outbursts to protect the boys). this gives him something that me has been missing (in animation) for awhile now, and that is how functions outside of himself.

what i mean by that is that Donald is kind of unique when it comes to the Disney sensational 6, unlike the rest is/ can be

-selfish

-cowardly

-rude/ mean spirited

-a loser

these things are what make him different to the rest but in animation for a while he has been shown by himself (without his family or even Daisy) so all of the above characteristics are not “diluted” or held to any standard outside of Donald’s personal misery.

So he can be super selfish and an all around ass cause, yeah, if your life was one pain after the other no matter what you did and you were all on your own all the time, then yeah, your going to be a miserable little shit.  

But by reintroducing the boy’s and giving him a more defined role (father/ solo care giver) at least at the start of the show, it gives Donald a reason to “fight off” his less than noble parts of his personality. It also makes his action have more weight as everything he does or fails to do effects the boy’s. So that makes him more appealing overall as what he does (or doesn’t) do now matters, and all the tragedy in Donald’s life are also given weight (Della being gone for 10 yrs, and what that did to his relationship with Scrooge) so his pain is now REAL and even tho he is funny and reckless, he is now a person with flaws and failings but also victory's (getting Della back and his family being close again) and dreams (the three caballeros and his relationship with Daisy)

I do love this little Rage machine  

the other fav is

Drake Mallard

(maybe I just like single duck dads? idk, lol)

I have already talked a bit about his intro ep,

but as of right now i am more in love with the potential i see in the character. As we have not really seen to much of him like maybe 4 ep’s total. But Drake is the character i am most hyped to see more of (and the people who are around him, Gos and LP etc.)  

as i find him really interesting and he is (ironically) one of the more “normal” people in the show as a whole, He is not rich (high society rich anyway) he is not an explorer, not a scientist, he don’t have a ‘crazy’ backstory (like Gyro in Tokyok) and he doesn't have a direct connection to Scrooge himself (he never worked for him directly, and is not a family member)

so he is just a random guy, who thought “I’m going to do this crazy shit just because a handsome pilot man said i could if i wanted to”

and honestly that’s cool.    

he is fun and goofy in an engendering way, and his ego is the right amount of controlled (ish) but still over the top. the character is full of story’s that can be taken from the og show and mixed in with the new show (like his intro ep),

Drake is a just fun to think about, and how his world relates to the world of ducktales in general, as they were separate for such a long time, so seeing it come together in a new way is super existing.

I was already blown away by his last solo ep I can’t wait to see more of him (and his how he will be with his Gos, and how that adventure will unfold)  

September 13th Favorited actor/ actress 

now this is just an unfair question, this is a star strutted cast and everyone is amazing. There is a pop culture icon and a Disney legend in the cast (and the fact your not 100% sure which one’s i’m talking about proves my point)

So i am going to cheat a little here, I’m not going off the actors and actress themselves per say but rather I’m going to talk about my favourite performance in the show.

I judge this on two things

1) how much the act ‘disappears’ into the character (as in i don’t see the human person when there talking, even if its still just their normal voice)

2) I can’t see (/hear) anyone else being able to do the role

So on those two things in mind i will have to go with.

Paget Brewster

she just plays Della with this fun life to her, she can switch on a dime from crazy adventurer to comic foil to herself and then have moments of deep self refection. And she had to carry the introduction to the character all on her own, as Della was isolated, so if she didn’t sell Della to us (the audience) then the whole mystery/ build up to Della would have fallen apart. So that was not easy but she pulled it off (with great writing as well).

and she was/is amazing as Della, she is just awesome and I love listening to her and how she plays Della.

September 14th Favourite song

Oh for me it hands down has to be “not good enough” I love a good Bond ballad and Ben kills it. Plus it plays a big part in the episodes theme’s for LP,

its perfect, it fits the story, character and the parody.   

September 15th: Favourite scene from favourite episode.

well out of my top 3 episode (that i have already listed) I’m going to not talk about ‘the dark duck returns’ as there is a scene in there that i will talk about later. my favourite scene out of the other 2 episodes i have picked, i would have to go with...

The ‘Defiantly real boy’ scene from Astro BOYD

(i have already talked about my love for Astro boy and this ep in relation to that)  what i love the most about this scene is that not only did Gyro and Boyd ‘find’ each other again, but they found themselves again.

Boyd turned back into the real boy Gyro ‘made’ him to be (the boy Gyro always believed he was/could be) and that not only was that ok, but the best way for Boyd be himself. Thus his reclaiming of the word Boyd, he is still ‘the same’ but now has a clear sense of what it actually means to himself, mixing both 2BO and Boyd into one. With the love given to 2BO by Gyro and the life experience he has had as Boyd, so Boyd didn’t have to change everything about himself to be complete he just needed to understand that he was loved for being himself and to get confirmation that he is what he believes himself to be a ”Defiantly real boy” (T-T)

as for Gyro, he realised that his love, care and idealism (as he put it) was not misplaced (on Boyd), as when the little boy he loved so fully seemingly turn on him, that broke his heart and his spirit in a way that just would not fully mend. (thus his cold and rude behaviour through out the show so far...) But when Gyro fully embraces his idealism and loving side again (by embracing Boyd) he realises that he can bring his true feeling to the surface again as it was never a mistake for him to do so. thus why he embraces Fenton as an equal, by calling him Doctor and showing the respect he actually always felt for Fenton.

They found themselves through each other, and it melts my heart (T-T) 

September 16th: Favourite moonlander

Penny.

September 17th: Favourite Beagle Boy

Black arts Beagle,

I mean he is the reason we have Duckworth back so thats got to count for something.

September 18th: Favourite scene of your favourite ship

I have to say its this little moment here...

Donald spent the whole episode wanting to impress this woman (Glamor), but after spending time with Daisy decided that Daisy’s dignity was more important then his Big Break. And Daisy returns in kind like ‘yeah i shouldn’t be treated this way’ and its just really sweet. It also got Daisy noticed and most likely jumb started her career and Daisy (again) returned in kind (most likely) by having the three Caballeros perform on stage right after.

so its a small but very insight look into the new dynamic Donald and Daisy are going to/ do have in this show.

[plus this screen shot was funny to me,

i think it has meme template vibes]

September 19th: Favourite scene of  your favourite character.

oh my, where oh where to take this?

every character in this show is so good so this is just hard man....

but I will go with “The Duck Knight returns” one of my favs, and honesty i could talk about this episode all on its own (and I just might after “Lets Get Dangerous” airs)  but for me one of the scenes that really stuck out to me (that others have not really touched on) Is when they have the “meeting” with Alister, Jim, Scrooge and Dewey and then Drake comes in (and then immediately gets his shit wrecked by Jim).

As a film student, I feel this scene on a personal level.

the old(er) man who knows nothing but wants to take control.

the Pretentious “artist” that thinks “making it dark” makes it meaningful.

the person who pretends they know what there talking about but is to stuck in their ways to really change their mind.

and a child or child like understanding (its more common then you think)

(tho i would place LP in the audience position, which is the point of this scene) This scene hit me where I live, and is a really good commentary on Corporate meddling. As there are three ‘battles’ happening in this scene

1) Scrooge Vs Alistair

this acts as a money vs art argument, that is seen all to often in movies and shows, as I can guess we can all name at least one movie or show that has the “the record studio is changing your sound its not authentic...”

but Dt 2017 shows the other side to this and asks

authentic to what? like its one things when its your own creation but what if its was someone else's (like a reboot)  

is it better to be authentic to what was before (the og material), or is it best to take a new direction because its more ‘comfortable’ for you to do (fits your style / sensibility's)

thus leading to

2) LP Vs Dewey  

or a young audience vs the older audience, now Dewey and LP don’t really clash in this ep per say but, they act as a more “aggressive” views on audience backlash now they are Not Malicious but they do act as conflicting presences. Dewey (understandably) doesn’t get why it has to be dark and gritty, or what was happening at all as Alistair is going for a high concept film, but guess what, kids aren’t always great at picking high concepts up (at least not right away) and they can be easily bored by it, if its not engaging in a way that can appeal to them.  

and LP as an older audience member does know what the show/ movie is “meant to be” so seeing these high concepts added in a way that is not in the sprit of og material can be unnerving. And high concepts can miss the point or main message/style of the og material to the point that unrecognisable (*cough*Live action, Titians *cough*).

both of these points are legitimate concerns for audiences to have, as if something is so different its not unrecognisable then why not just make something original? and not draw a comparison.

and if your main audience is meant to be younger, they how are you going to engage them in way that matters to them or in a way they can understand (youth culture or ‘young truths’ i.e. things kids deal with/experience when growing up)          

speaking of which

3) Jim Vs Drake

this one is kind of the mix of the pervious two, or nostalgia vs update? (i can’t think of a better word),  

Jim is so determined to be in the spot light that he is willing to ‘throw away’ is morals (as seen at the end), his ‘artist integrity’ no longer matters as long as DW gets to come back, he just wants some sense of being back that it doesn’t actually matter how (*cough* Teen Titians Go*cough*), so he losses a big part of what made it DW to begin with and not because he don’t care about DW but because he places his value of it in one spot (himself as darkwing)  

as Drake on the other hand. understands that changes need to be made but he knows the movie is off base (he says so himself later), but he puts the value of DW in more then himself, as he has felt it be bigger then what was just on screen (Jim) and has carried that with him here. And since he is set up as an ‘enemy’ here (Jim jumps him) new is seen as an enemy as well, but he literal gets attached for just existing, so yeah not a great move by Jimbo there, and due to nostalgia (both in and out of the show due Jim starling/cummings) most may not of have pick up on it right away.

so yeah, this is an underrated scene and i wanted to talk about it a little as it sets up the rest of the episode.  

September 20th: Favourite friend group 

hmmm....

I have a feeling that this is going to change after the new wave of episodes (i like how team hero is shaping up) but for now i will have to say team science. They just have a nice balance of personalities and ability's, plus they the most team (ish) as they literally have to work together (most of them)

huey, gyro, fenton, manny and lil bulb

and all have their own style and smarts

Manny and Lil blub don’t even talk but they have big personalities and now with the addition of Boyd this little group feels well rounded.

I love them nerds

[permanentmess]

Painted Purple

GIF IS NOT MINE

A/N: Hello! Other than a couple of (bad) Supernatural oneshots that were made when I was 13, I have not posted any sort of fanfiction on here. So here is one of my first oneshots on here! CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK IS GREATLY APPRECIATED!

Genre: Fluff! Just pure fluff!

TW: none that I know of! :)

Pairing: Spencer Reid x female!reader (I do try and remain relatively neutral for race)

Word Count: 2,132

summary: reader and spencer have recently moved in together, and their house is a gross color, so they decide to paint it. however, some chaos ensued. overall, its just a cute day.

When you awoke, all you saw was orange. And not a pretty orange, like one you see in a sunset or a fire, but a gross one. This orange was the color of pasta sauce being vomited, and you did not like it one bit.

    Blinking a few times, you glance over at Spencer, who was still resting. It had been a tough few weeks; you had gone through each of your apartments to figure out what furniture and things you would keep, and which ones you would donate or sell once you found the perfect house, and then moved all of your items to one apartment, except for your mattress. 

    You got up, heading out to the Starbucks that was nearby to get breakfast and coffee for the two of you. When you got back, Spencer was awake and sitting on the kitchen counter, staring at the walls. He immediately jumped off and came towards you, closing the door and taking the coffee from your hands with a quick kiss to the forehead. He returned to his spot on the counter and you sat next to him. The house was perfect, and everything you two had wanted, except for…

    “I think we need to paint the walls,” he said, his voice still sleep-rough. You handed him his breakfast sandwich and took a bite out of your own. 

    “I agree. This orange color is hideous,” you replied and leaned your head against his shoulder. 

    “What if we do blue for the living room and hallway, since that’s a relaxing color? The kitchen could be gray, or maybe yellow. Studies have shown that yellow increases the appetite..” He gasps suddenly, turning to you. “Can we please have a purple room? Please?” He looked like a puppy dog, and you just smiled at him. 

    “Maybe, love. It’s a little early to be making decisions just yet. Haven’t had enough of this,” you say, as you referenced your coffee. 

        Too many colors. They all looked beautiful, and you wanted to make sure it was going to be decent, because you did not feel like repainting later. Spencer had gone off to grab supplies for painting, as you stared at the swatches. You had a white swatch and a pale blue, but were struggling for which yellow to get for the kitchen. Staring in concentration, you didn’t realize that your boyfriend had come back with the cart full of drop cloths, paint rollers, and trays and tape. You jumped when you felt a head rest on your shoulder and upon seeing it was him, relaxed. 

    “Have you given a purple room more thought?” You couldn’t help but grin. He kept hinting at it on the car ride over to the home improvement store as well, so you turned to him.

    “Which room?” 

    “Bedroom.”

    You kiss his cheek. “Go choose a color.” He jumped and ran to the purple section, studying them all. You finally decided on a pale yellow for the kitchen just as he came back. He had chosen a beautiful, light lavender color. 

    “That’s really pretty, Spence. I love it,” you tell him. He just grins as you two head to order all the paint. 

~~

    Spencer collapsed and stared at the kitchen wall as he laid on the floor. After 7 hours, you had finished the entire living room, hallways, and kitchen, and you were almost done in the bathroom. Some jazz music played in the background as you worked, and you hummed to the tune of “La Vie En Rose” as you giggled at him from where you were kneeling on the counter in order to fix a few spots on the ceiling. 

    “I’m getting hungry. Do you want Chinese? The neighbors said there’s a good place down the road,” he asked, sitting up. You turned around and sat down on the counter, making grabby hands at him after you set your paintbrush down. He instantly gets up and settles between your legs, placing a gentle kiss on your lips. 

    “Yeah, Chinese sounds good. The usual.” 

You just stare at him for a moment as your hands move to the paintbrush that’s besides you on the counter, putting paint on your hands and fingers. Grinning, you grab his face and pull him in for a kiss, making sure to get paint all along his face and neck. He pulls back, gasping and making a face of shock. You just grin at him again. 

“I’ve been wanting to do that for the past 7 hours. You’re welcome.” However, he just grabs the paint brush and streaks some on your nose and cheeks. You giggle and push him away but he traps you as he runs it along your neck and you gasp, feeling the paint coat your skin. 

“If I wasn’t as hungry as I am, I would continue doing this right now. But this isn’t over,” he says, setting the paintbrush down and pecking your lips. He grabs the keys before shouting a quick “I love you!” as he walks out the door. You just grin and begin to peel off the leftover painters tape. 

~~

But he comes back with more than just food. In his hands, there’s a smaller paint can and you give him a questioning look. 

“It’s a surprise. Let’s eat, we’ve done a lot of work today.”

After eating, you started in the bedroom, already having cleaned the walls and taped them off. 

You had left on your jazz music to play in the background, knowing Spencer secretly adored it, as you rolled paint onto the walls, and Spencer did the other side of the room. 

You were humming as you painted the edges and corners, after having finished rolling paint onto the walls as high as you could, when you suddenly felt a bunch of wet droplets hit your skin. You gasped and turned around, seeing Spencer grinning, paintbrush in hand as he applied purple paint to the corner, acting as if nothing had just happened.

“Told you it wasn’t over,” he said innocently and you stood up from your spot on the ground, wadding over the plastic drop cloth so that you were in front of him, crossing your arms with your paintbrush in hand. “What are you gonna do about it?”

At this point his face was in yours and you looked him dead in the eyes as you reached to hold up his old, slightly ripped t-shirt and swiped the brush across his stomach. You continued to look him in the eyes as he lifted the back of your own shirt, pulling you to his chest and smearing paint all across the lower portion of your back. As you had done earlier, you stuck your hand onto the paint and set your hand against his cheek, and he decided to swipe some on your lips. 

“Don’t worry, it’s non-toxic and water-based,” he said, but that was the least of your worries. You decided to reach up and kiss his forehead and cheeks, leaving a glob of purple lips on his face, even kissing his neck to wipe off all the paint on your lips so that you could finally put your lips to his. He kissed back, grabbing your paintbrush out of your hand and set them on the floor as he pulled both of you down, kissing you even deeper as you pulled you into his lap. 

You pulled apart, looking him in the eyes. “I think we could probably work on a second coat and finish it now.”

“Yeah, I just wanted a break. We’ve been working all day,” he told you as he pulled your head to his chest. 

“Let’s just finish this room. We’ve got the ceiling and the top of these walls, and then we can sleep,” you said, listening to the steady rhythm of his heartbeat and rubbing his back gently. 

So you continued to work, growing more tired as the time went on. Finally, you looked down from the corner you were working on to find Spencer laying on the floor, staring at you as you worked. With a quick glance around the room, you made sure no more spots were needed and peeled up the tape on your side. He had gotten up at that point, though, and rolled up all of the drop cloths, moving them and the painting supplies to one of the extra rooms that you needed to work on next. He was pushing in the mattress as you moved the ladder into the same room and let it drop. 

“Wait! I almost forgot,” he said as you plopped on the bed. You groaned but he left and came back into the room quickly, holding the paint can from earlier, as well as a screwdriver and a paint tray. “I know we’re already covered in paint, but I really want to do this. I saw it in a movie.” You looked at him in confusion as he opened the paint can, giving way to a mint green paint. 

He stuck his hand in the paint after he poured it into the tray, and moved towards the wall that had your mattress against it, placing his hand just above where your bed frame would probably be, and leaving an imprint. You smiled as you figured out what he was doing, and placed your hand in the tray as well, placing it to the right of where his had been. 

“Been watching Disney movies, have we?” you asked him teasingly. 

“Henry begged me to when I baby-sat him last week. He said it was his favorite, but then he passed out right on me after the first ten minutes, so I had to watch the rest. It’s an interesting concept, and I want to test it,” he told you, closing the paint can lid. You just admired him for a moment, staring at all the paint spots you had left throughout the day. You had quieted the radio you had brought a while ago, so there was a peaceful silence in the house. Our house, you thought, and that made you smile even more. You realized you were staring when he gave you a confused look, coming over to you and wrapping his arms around your waist. Instinctively, you wrapped your arms around his neck.

“Sorry, I’m just really happy that we finally have this reality. We’ve got a house together, and we’re making a world for ourselves. Also, did you cry?”

“What?”

“During the first 10 minutes of the movie, did you cry?”

He looked down for a moment, avoiding your gaze. “Maybe.”

“That’s really cute, Spence. You know I like when you’re sensitive.” He finally looked you in the eyes with a look of endearment that almost made you melt right then and there. 

“I know. It was just so sad. They were living a nice life, and then she was gone. I couldn’t imagine going through that, there’s no way I could lose you. That’s why I get so scared when we’re on cases and you don’t respond,” he pressed a kiss to your forehead and pulled your body towards him even further. 

    You hesitated for a moment but he caught the action. “What is it?” he asked. 

    “Spence...Would you ever want to have kids? Or get married, or do any of that?” You asked quietly. You knew it didn’t matter to you either way. As long as he was in your life, that really was all you cared about. 

    “I really do,” he said, equally as quiet. “I mean we’ve got an extra room. I just kept thinking last week, when Henry was laying on my lap, how I would love for it to be our own kid. I’d want to have those moments with them, and get to lay down and see you every night. And have you be the first thing I see when I wake up. I want a full life with you, more than I’ve ever wanted anything before.” You were near tears as you kissed him gently. 

    “I want that too. A lot. I kept thinking about it when I thought about what color to paint one of the spare rooms. I think we should keep it as is for right now so that if the time comes we can paint it then. Together.” 

    Spencer looked up for a moment before looking back down at you with a sly look in his eye. “We could try right now.” You just giggled, but yawned soon after. 

    “Let's maybe wait until tomorrow. It’s been a long day.” 

    You laid down while Spencer turned off the light. And as you closed your eyes, you thought of so many moments that were to come, and smiled, pulling his body closer.

[wakraya]

Hello everyone! With some people having been showing interest in my art lately, I thought I’d get my stuff straight with Art Commissions and Pricing! I have a variety of styles, so bear with me.

I’m open to draw a variety of topics, not just Homestuck, and like designing characters and OCs, but I do reserve the right to turn a Commission if the topic makes me uncomfortable. 

You can find examples of my art Here, Here and Here, in This Imgur Album, as well as below the Read Me!

If you’re interested, you can contact me here on Tumblr, or at Wakraya#4164 on Discord.

Commission Slots Filled: 1/4

The MSPA Style is pixel-based, reminiscent of the style used for Homestuck. It’s simple and generally line-less. The usual size for these is a 500x500px canvas, but depending on the complexity, they can easily go bigger.

- Partial Shots (Bust, from the Waist-Up...) come up to 10-15$ per character, depending on complexity of the pose, while Full Body Shots would be 15-20$, again, depending on the complexity of the pose.

- More Complex composite shots, positions, backgrounds, etc., will be priced on a case by case basis- That is to say, tell me what exactly you want and I will see what I can do.

- The Basic Background for this style is simply a solid grey or a few tones of grey to represent the background. Room furniture, outdoors detail, etc, all count as more complex Backgrounds. (See above)

- I can do some Basic Animation in this Style! Snappy sprite movement, tail wagging or ear twitching. Once more, entirely dependent on complexity, parting from the Basic Prices listed above.

- Once the base is done, Extra Edits can be done to the pictures, such as, using the same base but giving the character different clothes, or changing the position of the limbs/facial expression. Very minor edits like, a version with a White Sprite and another with a Skin tone, are free. Basic Edits are 5$ each, and more Complex ones will be once more a case by case basis.

The Standard Style is just my normal drawing style. The canvas are generally 1000px or higher in size, which makes it more elaborate and slow.

- Rough Sketches are usually what I do first to get a clear idea of how the overall piece is going to look like once inked, but more elaborate Rough Sketches can look quite good as well. A Rough Bust would come up to 10$ per Character, 15 around Waist, and 20$ for a Full Body Rough Sketch.

- Inked Sketches are more refined, and ready for coloring if needed, but obviously need more time. An Inked Bust would come up to 20$ per Character, 35 around the waist, and 50$ for a Full Body Inked Sketch.

- Basic Coloring depends on the size of the piece, but will usually come up to about 5-15$ per Character, depending on the amount of detail.

- Other details like the Complexity of the Piece itself, or Background Detail, may add to the final price, but will be calculated on a case by case basis when discussing the full piece/s.

Chibi little dolls/charms that look really cute! This is a relatively recent style, and the Chibis themselves are about 400x250px.

- A Sketched Chibi Doll with no Color will come up to 15$, 20 if their pose is particularly complex, or they’d have some detail with them like some item or weapon.

- Adding Basic Color to them will be an extra 5$, or 10 for particularly complex ones, although considering the Chibi Style, I struggle to think what would qualify as ‘Complex Coloring’.

Pixel Sprites! These are good for character reference, like a D&D Sheet. These sprites are proportional- 5′6″ being equivalent to around 150px tall, and may range from fairy-sized to 8+ feet tall. Even if you don’t care about the proportional size, have it in mind to request a Bigger or Smaller Sprite for pricing purposes!

- Standard Pose Sprites are the cheapest, a standard base in a neutral stance. These are 20$ for the Average-Height Sprites (And for the Tiny Sizes that require a Zoom), but may range from 16 to 24 for smaller and larger sizes and depending on complexity.

- Basic Pose Sprites are slightly more expensive, but can give the sprite more personality than the neutral stance. These are 30$ for the Average-Height Sprites and Tiny Sizes, but may range from 25 to 35 for smaller and larger sizes and depending on complexity.

- Complex Pose Sprites are much more dynamic and unique, but require a lot more time to deal with. These are 40$ for the Average-Height Sprites and Tiny Sizes, but may range from 32 to 48 for smaller sizes and depending on complexity.

- Objects like Weapons, or Non-Human Anatomy may come with extras. Things like, Ears or Tails shouldn’t be much of an issue, but Wings or a Digitigrade Pose will require time and work. These extras will be a case by case thing, depending on the specifics of the Sprite.

I do Other Stuff, too, which ranges from the experimental to the silly. I don’t have set prices for anything like this, but hey, if you’re interested, I am capable of doing the following:

- Iconography & Symbology, stuff like this. I even did a Tattoo for myself once.

- Landscapes. Very out of practice with these, and I’m not even that particularly good, but I know I can draw general scenarios with nice vibes.

- Maps. Note, I haven’t drawn any in a while, but I have done some stuff in the past.

- Dumb Memes and Emotes. I doubt anyone would be interested in something like this, but hey, if I’m exposing all of my work, I may as well showcase the sillier of the bunch as well.

[infinitelytheheartexpands]

Month of New Operatic Works #5: Gustave III (live audio recording from the 90s although I couldn’t find the location)

Generally, when experiencing a new opera, even if I know the story and/or some of the music, I try --and am able-- to go in with little to no actual expectations. This is what I like to do. I like to give things a chance and let them impress me (or not, in some cases).

However, I simply was not able to do that with Auber’s Gustave III, ou le bal masqué. Not the “give things a chance” part, but the “go in with no expectations” part. Reason being: Giuseppe Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera, which is one of my favorite operas by my favorite opera composer, was based on this opera, and this was considered the inferior opera that had already, deservedly fallen into obscurity by the time Verdi and his librettist Antonio Somma borrowed the libretto to last-minute fill a commission (which, ironically, due to censorship they never actually filled, but I digress). So as much as I wanted to go in neutral, that was in the back of my head.

And well, in short, while I still agree that Ballo is absolutely the superior opera, Gustave III holds up surprisingly well.

So Ballo and Gustave have basically identical plots (obviously) and structure, with a few changes:

Where Ballo divides 3 acts into multiple scenes, Auber mostly stays away from scene divisions in order to stick to the general grand opéra principle of 5 acts: Scenes 1 and 2 of Act I in the Verdi correspond to Acts I and II of the Auber; Act II of the Verdi is Act III of the Auber; the three scenes of Act III in the Verdi are Act IV and Act V, Scenes 1 and 2 in the Auber.

Gustave III has a bunch of characters with only a line or two who don’t add much to the story, so the cast list is significantly longer. However, all the principals are basically the same, down to voice type (except Anckarstrom is a bass and one of the two head conspirators is a tenor, so that means people would actually be able to tell the two head conspirators apart @simone-boccanegra).

Gustave III has two ballets: one in the first act when Gustave (who IRL was a major arts patron) oversees rehearsal of a ballet to be premiered soon during his morning routine, and one in Act V, Scene 2, that’s just...people dancing at the ball. The former particularly overstays its welcome just a bit (although the latter ballet is longer, but I think it Bops More and it would be more fun to watch), but I think my experience would improve if I were able to actually watch them (there is no filmed production available).

Anckarstrom does not get an aria in Gustave III. His Act I aria in the Verdi is a full-fledged duet with Gustave here (which I admit is probably better; I love that these two now get a full duet, and also unless your baritone can pull it off, “Alla vita che t’arride” is...somewhat boring). However, nothing in the Auber even remotely corresponds to “Eri tu che macchiavi quell’anima”, which... :(.

Technically, Gustave doesn’t actually die in the Auber, which is admittedly more historically accurate (he died about two weeks after the shooting) but is less theatrically effective (he just gets carried offstage while dying).

I’ve never heard or seen a full Auber opera before, so I wasn’t really sure what to expect musically. To me, this sounds like a little of everything: a little Gluck, a little Rossini, a little of his grand opéra contemporaries (for reference, the original quartet of singers for whom the roles of Gustave, Anckarstrom, Amélie, and Oscar were created [Adolphe Nourrit, Nicolas-Prosper Levasseur, Marie-Cornélie Falcon, and Julie Dorus-Gras] all also appeared in the world premieres of Halévy’s La Juive [as Eléazar, Brogni, Rachel, and Eudoxie] in 1835 and Meyerbeer’s Les Huguenots [as Raoul, Marcel, Valentine, and Marguérite] in 1836, so their roles would all be relatively vocally similar across operas and composers), and intriguingly, stuff that could only be described as either proto-Verdi or proto-Offenbach.

Generally, I find it is in the more comic scenes that Auber is best able to marry music with situation and stands up best in the shadow of Verdi. Particularly impressive are the ensembles that end Acts I and IV, as well as the entire “grand bal” section of the climactic masked ball. There are some places where Auber attempts the kind of musical irony that Verdi hits so perfectly on the head, such as in the ensemble that ends Act III and the dialogue at the ball between Gustave and Amélie, and while he makes a good attempt at it, it just doesn’t have the same effect.

The more serious scenes are overall not as effective, but there are some exceptions: both Madame Arvedson’s and Amélie’s big scenes (respectively in Acts II and III) are Gothic brooding leaping off the pages of the score (the former also throws in some rollicking vibes). The love duet in Act III has the seeds of Verdi’s writing in some places, and while it takes some time to get going, it stands up admirably in the end. The final scene doesn’t have the sheer heartbreak of Verdi’s take, but it gets a great mood.

(Unusually for grand opéras, the fourth act, which usually at the very least has a showstopper aria if it isn’t the strongest scene in the opera, is the weakest act, with the only highlight being the really wonderful quintet that ends the act.)

Scribe’s libretto is pretty much everything you’d expect based on either a) other Scribe libretti (I stg 99.9% of libretti for French operas over an about 50-year period were at least partly his doing. the man is indefatigable.) or b) the Ballo libretto. Some of Ballo’s best masterstrokes, such as the “laughing chorus” of the conspirators and the lot-drawing scene, have their origins here, and while Auber (as already stated) doesn’t quite live up to the dramatic potential, it must be said that at the very least, it’s there. Also, there’s a lot of innuendo and insinuating that Gustave is bisexual, which? we love to see it. (Also, it is more likely than not that the real Gustave III was gay, so there’s that.) Gustave, Anckarstrom, and Amélie should have just had a threesome.

In short: it’s not a masterpiece, but it’s good. a pity (although somewhat understandable) it’s been virtually completely forgotten. there are Bops. the story is great, if not ideally realized. I enjoyed this a lot.

Links:

the recording I listened to

and the French libretto (there were some small cuts in the performance, so be prepared to skip a few lines every so often)

[theanimeview]

First Impressions: Kirakira Pretty Cure a la Mode

By: Casea Mhtar | @madamekrow

As a fan of Mahou Shoujo, I’ve had my eye on the longstanding Pretty Cure series for quite a while. However, I couldn’t jump into this colorful franchise because it was only available on illegal streaming services. As a Neutral Good, that doesn’t sit well with me. My only other option would be Glitter Force on Netflix, for which I have heard many complaints about the dubbing. So, I decided to forgo that as well. It wasn’t until fairly recently that Crunchyroll has started adding their dubs for Healin’ Good Pretty Cure (their most current season) and Kirakira Pretty Cure a la Mode that I am finally able to hop right in! I mean, yeah, Crunchyroll had the very first season already, but I’m picky, and I didn’t want to start with that one. Not only that but if I had watched it when I first wanted to get into this franchise, I’d have to wait years before legally watching more seasons! (And why would I sentence myself to such a horrible fate?!) Frivolous complaints aside, I now have my chance to start this series exactly where I wanted to in the first place: Kirakira Pretty Cure a la Mode!!

What Should You Expect?

I’m seven episodes in, and I’m thoroughly enjoying it! First and foremost, PreCure (short for Pretty Cure) is generally aimed toward a demographic of 4 to 7-year-old girls; however, there is a loyal fanbase of adults who watch the show and buy the merchandise (much like My Little Pony). All this to say that it is obviously a show for young girls, so you won’t be seeing the same kind of content you might find in a Shonen, for instance. It’s all just good wholesome fun, perfect for a brightly colored distraction from the darkness of the real world. With that in mind, the animation exceeded my expectations, which were relatively low to begin with, and there’s a wide array of expressions. There were definitely some moments that had me bust out laughing because of their attention to detail during well-timed comedic moments. I certainly have my gripes, but I’m rather at peace with them considering I was well aware of potential issues going into the series--those issues being with the villains and the combat.

PreCure, as a whole, is a monster-of-the-week kind of show, but as far as I understand, there is usually an overarching big-bad working behind the scenes throughout the season in these kinds of shows. There are a total of 49 episodes in this particular season, so the main villain will probably appear at some point. As of right now, the monsters in each episode are painfully convenient and, thus far, the fights feel somewhat lazy as they shoot out ropes made of cream to bind the enemy in each episode with little struggle. I’ve heard other PreCure seasons have excelled in both of these things, so I understand that each one will have their own pros and cons. But again I’m only 7 episodes in; there’s plenty of room for spectacle and splendor to go! Besides, these minor complaints really don’t amount to much since this show has exceeded my expectations overall, allowing me to look past the blemishes and simply enjoy the show. With all of that said, let’s address the pink magical-girl in the room...

Tokyo Mew Mew

I know, I know, I was thinking the exact same thing I'm assuming you're thinking right now. I too had an accusatory tone in my head as I thought, "Is that a Tokyo Mew Mew rip off?" The answer is, "Well of course not!" Otherwise, they would've legally been taken down, like, yesterday. Even so, there are some similarities. While not outright plagiarism, the show will remind you of Tokyo Mew Mew, either because of the designs or color schemes. But honestly, those reminders begin to dissipate as the shows' respective stories begin to diverge. You will soon realize that PreCure is entirely doing their own thing with the whole food-mixed with animal themes. In fact, they lean into the animal side of things far more than Tokyo Mew Mew, and it's enjoyable to see these ideas played out. Sure, both groups have a pink, strawberry girl as their leader. But, if you were to look past that, you'll see that these two characters, much like the series themselves, are entirely different from each other. So if you're a fan of Tokyo Mew Mew and you were rolling your eyes and brushing PreCure a la Mode aside for that reason alone, I'd say give it a shot!

With All of That Out of The Way,

Let’s talk about why I really like this season of PreCure: I love a good sweets motif, and I am absolutely infatuated with the character designs of this show. Moreover, the food looks so good that I want to eat it. Going in, I knew that the food would look okay, but boy did they not disappoint! In the second episode, they make pudding (the jiggly kind, not the plastic cup variety) and let me tell you... when that pudding plopped and wobbled onto the plate, I felt it. 

I think though that what I really enjoy is the show's overall message. This show is all about coming together with your friends and putting your heart and soul into your creations, adding those little personal touches that your stomach will indifferently digest with the rest of it. I know that the idea of friendship and coming together is a staple feature of the genre, but this show feels like it's taken a refreshing look at that idea. 

As the person watching, I feel like the show's intention is to make watchers the recipient of feeling special and loved for who you are and what you like. I appreciate that the characters aren't masters of their crafts in many regards yet, but evens though they might not be the best and they make multiple failed attempts, they remain determined. These girls are driven by the power of friendship and the sweet times they spend together, as well as their own passions. That right there is precisely why I will continue watching Kirakira PreCure a la Mode. In fact, that's why I'm a fan of the Mahou Shoujo in general--To be reminded of the pure joy a wonderful friendship can bring!! 🧡 To feel that pillowy-ticklishness I get in my heart when I think of the ones I hold dear. 

Something as simple as friendship, just like that extra whipped cream on your favorite treat, can make all the difference in life! 🎂🧡

[briefdelusiondestiny-bct]

Week 6 reflective blog post

How is my creative practice changing?

One area where I have seen a change in my creative practice is how I approach the creative process and work through ideas to arrive at a final solution. Previously when I have had an idea I have often tried to come up with the final product or idea right away. This has drastically changed to now having an idea, working through research, asking questions like who, what, when, why, where and testing prototypes to receive real feedback.  Another area where I have seen change in my creative practice is where I get my inspiration from. I have learnt that I am naturally drawn to the natural world and time and again find myself pulling creative ideas from this realm. Lastly I have found myself becoming more eager to try out new software and apps and incorporate those new skills into projects I’m currently working on. The two main ones I have used the most so far are premier pro and audition.

How am I experiencing the difference between having an idea in my mind vs growing it in the real world?

Trying to grow ideas that are  in your mind into the physical world has highlighted massive gaps in my creative skill set. I always thought I was a relatively creative person or had a creative mind to a certain extent. But when trying to implement real ideas I have discovered I am often limited by my skill level when it comes to operating certain software. In my spare time I need to invest more time in learning new software and technologies so I have more variety to choose from when it comes to expressing ideas.

I’m developing more nuanced views on what?

I have developed more nuanced views on the overall creative process. I now understand in more the depth the journey a product goes on before it goes through the manufacturing process and then released to the market. I have also developed more nuance views towards technology and the roll it plays in our lives, and the potential for it to have glorious effects on society but at the same time the potential for it to impact our lives in a negative way. We need to approach technology consciously and with awareness to ensure we are extracting all the positive benefits from technology while also remaining aware of possible negative flow on effects from new innovations . This will help humans guide technology in a positive direction and avoid innovating new technologies to cure past mistakes also known as technological determinism (I think).

How can resourcefully prototype with what I have at hand?

I have learnt this week that prototyping is a vital component of the creative process  and to be able to do it  resourcefully can help the designer to make improvements and adjustments  to the overall development of the design. Lo-fi prototyping is an extremely useful method of prototyping as it is frequently done with cheap materials such as cardboard, paper etc. With lo-fi prototyping you are able to do quick iterations  which maximises the amount of feed-back you can receive. It also gives you the opportunity to experiment with many different ideas early on in your design process avoiding costly changes the closer you get to production.

These are some things I have learnt over the past week.

Technological determinism refers to a theory about the relationship between human beings and  technology. Technological determinism raises the idea technology is the sole determinant for outcomes of social change. I watched an interesting video on this topic and  the video raised an interesting point of how can say the internet stand for democracy as well as an informational dictatorship at the same time? This lead to the idea that technology isn’t inherently good, bad or neutral. Technology is just technology it doesn’t have any essence, they are simply artifacts that us humans use to make our lives more productive. Technology has many outcomes as a social constructiveness would say and it is up to individual human beings to decide  how they want to utilise these technological tools. Every day we are proactively choosing how we use technology and how we are incorporating it into our daily lives. A good example in the video was a hammer. The hammer can be used for many good things such as building a house, fixing things or hanging up a picture, but at the same time the hammer can be used to conflict pain or even kill someone. Does this mean the hammer is good or bad? Well no the hammer is just a tool like technology. If you were to kill someone with a hammer it isn’t the hammer that is killing the person it’s the fellow human being. So it’s a social choice of how the individual wants to use the hammer and relating It back it’s a social choice how individuals want to incorporate technology into their lives. We shape our tools and vice versa our tools shape us. Humans as a whole have a collective obligation to direct the digital age because technology doesn’t have a pre-determined outcome.

I also learnt about effectuation logic which is a methodology that is centred around the decision making process and the performance of actions in the creative and entrepreneurial processes.  Effectuation logic is a way of  making rational choices when the future is unknown. Its about  recognising what is next best thing to do in relation to your goals, while always comparing these goals to available resources and actions that need to be taken. The difference between effectuation logic and casual logic is there is often a pre-set goal and the way you are going to achieve this goal is by methodically planning out your actions and the choices you are going to make.

There are four principles to effectuation logic. They are:

Bird-in-hand: You have to create solutions. Don’t wait for inspiration. Take action based on who you are and what you know.

Lemonade principle: Embrace uncertainty and surprises. Always remain flexible.

Crazy Quilt: Form good strong relationships with people who are open to making a commitment with you.  

Affordable loss: Only invest what you can afford to lose.

Pilot in the plane principle: Understanding not everything is within your control effectuation logic encourages you to focus your time and energy on aspects which are to a certain degree in your control.

https://innovationenglish.sites.ku.dk/model/sarasvathy-effectuation/#:~:text=Saras%20Sarasvathy's%20theory%20of%20Effectuation,goals%20with%20your%20resources%20and

I can now see the ethical issues behind..

I have recently been interested in nanotechnology and nanoscience research and for this question thought it would be interesting to look at the ethical issues behind this topic. Firstly nanotechnology and nanoscience is the study and application of physical, biophysical and biochemical peculiarities on an extremely small scale ( ~1 to 100 nanometers). Its goal is to deliver an understanding of phenomena and materials at the nanoscale and to create and use structures, devices, and systems that have novel properties and functions because of their extremely small and/or intermediate size (National nanotechnology initiative, n.d.). With something as new as nanotechnology its vital early on to consider and make researchers and society aware of the potential ethical and social aspects of nanomedicine and technology to help reduce possible contrary impacts on the environment and public health. Nanomedicine when first introduced to the market is likely to be expensive and has the potential to make national and international inequalities even worse than what they currently are. As the technology develops and gets more advanced we could possibly be looking at using it for human enhancement or human longevity. Again this may make the disparity between the rich and the economically disadvantaged even greater as the richer members of society are probably the only ones who are going to be able to afford it. If it is going to be used to increase human longevity there are many ethical issues surrounding that as well. Is it ethical to increase someone’s life span when we haven’t addressed or found solutions to current medical problems. Does this mean someone is going to have to live longer with diseases such as dementia making their quality of life even worse.

 https://www.nano.gov/nanotech-101/what/definition

[protectwoc]

thots on little women (2019)

or, y’all are giving greta gerwig too much credit (part two)

The character arc that was changed the least from the source material, but that still manages to personally offend me the most, is, of course, Amy’s. It’s no secret that Gerwig is an Amy stan, or at least more of a fan of her than most people. I am as well, which is why I am so disappointed with this particular arc.

It’s honestly more disappointing because Gerwig handled parts of Amy’s arc extremely well, namely, her relationship with Laurie. Gerwig did an excellent job of making Amy and Laurie’s relationship feel less like a consolation prize since Laurie did not end up marrying Jo and more like a fully realized and reciprocal relationship, arguably more so than Alcott herself. HOWEVER, and this is a big however, the Amy/Laurie relationship is not the only important part of Amy’s characterization in the novel, and unfortunately, it is in the movie.

Amy starts out the novel as a selfish twelve year old girl, which is evidenced in no other but the infamous book-burning scene. However, throughout the novel, she grows out of that selfishness and into a more selfless, self aware woman. (Again, whatever your thoughts on “learning to be selfless” as a trope in women’s narratives are not necessarily relevant.)

For example, in the first half of the novel, one of Amy’s most notable chapters deals with pickled limes. For anyone who only watched the movie or doesn’t quite remember the book, a short summary:

Amy, the only one of the March girls who attends school, is upset because the girls in her school have been trading pickled limes. The limes are seen as a status symbol, which can be traded for little trinkets, bestowed upon favorites, or indulged in in front of your enemies. The pickled limes trend has become so popular that the teacher, Mr. Davis, has banned them in the classroom, which has done nothing to curb their popularity. Amy, who is relatively popular among her classmates regardless of her relatively lower class status, has been gifted several limes but had no way to return them, is greatly “in debt.” When Meg gives Amy enough money to buy a whopping twenty-five pickled limes, she flaunts and preens her way around the classroom until a girl she snubbed tattles to the teacher and gets all twenty five limes taken away.

This scene is a good example of the beginning of Amy’s arc of overcoming her one major personality flaw. It shows how her selfish nature is really just immature behavior, and as she ages, she matures out of that childishness. Another good example of this arc happens when Beth contracts scarlet fever. At first, she complains, saying that she would rather contract the deadly disease than to go to her Aunt’s house, but as she remains there, we see her mature and even grow fond of Aunt March. Her personal arc independent of Laurie was a big part of Amy’s plotline, and it was unfortunately left out of the movie.

The most glaring example of this is the omission of one of the most important scenes of Amy’s arc in the book: the occurrences at the fair. Again, indulge me in a brief summary for those who won’t know exactly what I am talking about:

The mother of one of Amy’s friends, Mrs. Chester, holds a three day fair for all of the girls in Amy’s social circle. As Amy is the most talented and most well-liked of the girls, she has the best table at the fair, at the very front, where she is to sell her beautiful artistic creations. However, her friend, May Chester, is jealous of her, and seeing this, Ms. Chester takes the table from Amy and gives it to May, relegating Amy to the back corner to sell flowers. At first, Amy is incredibly upset, and takes all of her art back to the table with her, however, after talking with her family, who are properly indignant on her behalf, she resolves to be gracious and humble and gives her own drawings to May to sell. Seeing this, Jo tells Laurie to take all of his handsome, college-aged bachelor friends to Amy’s table, which he does, and they spend the entire next day of the fair flirting with her and buying every one of the flowers from Amy. On the final day of the fair Amy, who has entirely overcome her own selfish wishes, tells Laurie and his friends to go do the same to May. This string of selfless acts is seen by Aunt March and Aunt Carrol (who in the novel has half of Aunt March’s role in the movie) and is the premier reason behind Aunt Carrol deciding to take Amy to Europe instead of Jo.

Leaving this scene out of Amy’s narrative in the movie is, I think, unforgivable. The inclusion of this scene would have exponentially improved Amy’s arc, for three major reasons:

This scene is the culmination of Amy’s “selfish to selfless arc”. Again, regardless of your opinions on whether this is a good lesson for her to learn, it is an arc, and as the movie stands currently, she simply doesn’t have one. The occurrences at the fair show her finally growing out of her childhood vices into the mature woman we see in Europe, and to exclude this scene does her a disservice.

Prior to her trip to Europe, this is one of the only scenes in the novel where Laurie and Amy have any sort of interaction. If Gerwig wanted to more fully develop the Amy/Laurie romance I cannot imagine the logic behind leaving this scene out. It would make the romance seem less rushed, which has been a common critique of their love story since the book came out, and would even  provide context for Amy’s “Not when I have spent my entire life loving you” line which Gerwig added to the narrative.

As previously mentioned, this scene is one of the main reasons behind Amy being allowed to travel to Europe with Aunt March/Aunt Carrol. Within the movie, this reasoning is less obvious, especially given the fact that Aunt March had already told Jo she would take her to Europe, and the inclusion of this scene would have made the trip feel more earned for Amy.

Greta Gerwig has made no secret of the fact that she both a feminist and a fan of Amy March. I am both of those things as well, which is why I cannot understand her logic behind robbing Amy of a complete arc. In the movie, the most important parts of Amy’s arc are all tied to a man. Even that arc is not as fully developed as it could be. Gerwig did a magnificent job with Amy’s overall likability, but that is not the same thing as writing a fully realized arc for her.

But even though Amy is my personal favorite character, and I am more personally invested in her arc, Gerwig’s mishandling of Amy is not the most egregious sin committed in this movie. That honor is reserved for Jo’s arc.

Part Two: Jo

A Buzzfeed article entitled “The New ‘Little Women’ Makes Space for Jo’s Queerness” claims that “Gerwig’s adaptation, without being too explicit about it, does gorgeous justice to that [queer] reading.” An Advocate magazine article called “Greta Gerwig Brings Out the Inherent Queerness of Little Women” makes the bold claim that the 2019 Little Women “offers the queerest and most feminist reading yet.” An even bolder declaration by them magazine says that “The New Little Women Basically Proves Jo is Queer”. Gerwig has been lauded both by critics and by her own actors for creating an explicitly queer narrative for Jo March. 

As previously mentioned, I do not generally read Alcott’s Jo as queer. However, upon my first encounter with this headcanon, I could immediately see why so many people did see her this way, and why this interpretation is so beloved. Jo has a lot of non-stereotypically straight traits that have made her something of a queer icon in many progressive literary circles. Both the way she bemoans being “born a woman” and her intense desire not to marry spoke to a lot of queer or non-cis readers, many of whom were excited to see her portrayed this way on the silver screen. And though I am not particularly attached to this headcanon, as a bi woman, I too was excited to see her that way.

And then… I didn’t.

Look, I hate to burst y’alls bubble, but there is literally not a single second in the movie where Jo is anything resembling queer. At best, she could be read as aromantic/asexual, but that’s about it. (Note: Obviously I don’t intend to imply that being aro/ace is somehow “lesser than” being L G B or T, but obviously the form of queerness people were expecting is one in which Jo is explicitly attracted to women.) There are no subtle looks in the direction of another woman, no scenes in which Jo expresses any negative emotion towards the idea of marrying a man specifically. She doesn’t even have a single female friend outside of her sisters.

One of the reasons the 2019 Jo (and by extension, Laurie), have been hailed as queer icons is their relative gender fluidity. Jo and Laurie exchange clothes throughout the movie, which was intended to display their “gender fluidity”. I knew about this particular facet of the movie before going to watch it in theaters, so I was looking for these occasions specifically, and I still couldn’t tell that they were supposed to be gender neutral. Maybe that’s just me, because I don’t know a lot about civil war era clothing, but whatever.

The other reason that Jo is considered queer in the movie is her rejection of traditional Civil War era femininity. She doesn’t want to get married, and she has no interest in “girly” things like dresses or parties. But neither of those things are specifically queer. Being “not like other girls” as your premier personality trait is not queer, it’s just garden-variety misogyny.

Even Jo’s big scene where she laments her competing desire to stay unmarried and her intense loneliness, has nothing marking it as explicitly queer. “I’m so sick of people saying that love is just all a woman is fit for,” she bursts out. Love. Not love for a man. Not even marriage. She is decrying the entire concept of love.

“But Rae,” I can hear you asking, “what about the ending, where it’s implied she doesn’t marry Professor Bhaer and gets to publish her novel?” To that, there are two important things to consider. One: the ending is intentionally portrayed as optional. Even though it is heavily implied that Jo did not go off and get heterosexual married at the end, it is possible to ignore that ending or do some light mental gymnastics to make the two versions of Jo’s ending coincide. And I’m not just saying this as a worst-case-scenario, I actually have seen people do this, in fandom and my own life.

Secondly, even if you take the ending as completely factual, we still have all the scenes involving Bhaer previous to the ending to give some hint of Jo’s sexuality. We never see her even look at another woman, but she flirts with Bhaer and blushes when he looks at her and asks for his opinion on her work. Even ignoring the straight-as-default setting of most casual viewers, canonically, Jo has only ever shown interest in men. One man specifically, but still.

“But she could still be bi/pansexual, or suffering from compulsory heterosexuality,” I hear. And this is basically the crux of my argument. In fandom, you don’t have to assume straight as the default, and it's probably better not to. Bi/pan headcanons for “straight” characters are a good, positive way of adding to a fandom culture. However, when it comes to canonical representation, the opposite is true. Representation is not representation if it is not explicit.

I’m not saying that queer viewers cannot feel represented by Jo in this movie. I personally  feel represented by Hermoine Granger as a black woman, due to her “wild, bushy hair” and her penchant for social activism (SPEW). However, I cannot give JK Rowling credit for that representation because she had nothing to do with it. She did not do any of the hard work to actually make Hermoine a black woman. In the same way, we cannot credit Gerwig with adding queer representation to Little Women, because she didn’t.

Conclusion: The Response

I know reading this essay probably makes me seem like a Greta Gerwig-hater or like I disliked the movie. Both of those things are untrue. As previously mentioned, I loved the movie. I’ve watched the Amy/Laurie scenes of the movie like a hundred times already. I also don’t hate Greta Gerwig. This is the only movie of hers that I’ve seen, but I heard all about Lady Bird and its popularity, and I think the directing of Little Women was excellent. The fact that Greta Gerwig is a very talented filmmaker is not necessarily an arguable point.

I don’t believe that Gerwig had to fully develop any of the sisters. I don’t even think that Gerwig is required to add queer representation (or racial diversity for that matter) to her movies. Greta Gerwig decided to adapt an extremely white, cishet Civil War era book into an extremely white, cishet Civil War era movie. Hot take time: she is entirely in her rights to do that.

BUT. The thing that bugs me the most about the movie, and is basically the impetus behind me writing this essay, is the response to the movie. For whatever reason, Gerwig’s Little Women adaptation has been deemed more “woke” than it actually is. Little Women (2019) has been lauded for its strong female presence (even though there are only white, cis, straight women), for it’s development of the other, non-Jo sisters (even though it doesn’t), and for giving its lead space to be queer (even though she isn’t).

Greta Gerwig made an excellent film, but she did not do anything that has never been done before. I liked the movie, but I’m not about to go campaign for Greta Gerwig or the movie to win an Oscar. In general, we need to be less willing to acclaim those who do the bare minimum.

Again, I’m not good at writing conclusions. At a certain point I’m going to just start repeating myself, so I’m going to go ahead and cut myself off now. Again, if anybody has any opinions on this, agree or disagree, please come talk to me about it! I’d love to hear any other thoughts.

[roc-thoughtblog]

SSBU SEPHIROTH DLC THOUGHTS PART 2 of 2

The second post on what I think of the Sephiroth DLC, this time on Sephiroth himself. Moveset, playstyle, etc. The first post has my thoughts on the music, stage and trailer.

tl;dr: Sephiroph seems to join Byleth in an oddly specific new archetype of explosive, long-reach, shield-disrespecting swordsmen. Shadow Flare is uniquely mad and I think its incredible. I have no idea how good One-Winged Angel will turn out to be. 90% chance Mkleo will take him through tournament and I’m looking forward to seeing the carnage.

CONTENTS:

General Playstyle

Shadow Flare

Octoslash

One-Winged Angel

Final Smash

Overall

GENERAL PLAYSTYLE: The most obvious comparison to make here would be with Byleth. They share three key similarities that are otherwise uncommon in the 78 strong cast:

Their forward and backward aerials have notably similar function, with extremely long horizontal range and an extremely deadly sweetspot. The two characters will likely be spacing similarly in neutral, and will likely rack safe KOs in similar scenarios, spacing back air very safely against cornered or frametrapped opponents near the edge of the stage. While many characters do this because back airs are generally strong and fast and a cornered opponent is an easy target, these two are the ones who will be doing it while occupying a very specific stage position that they don't share with many other characters.

They can both create extremely deadly situations at the ledge at very early percents, with the key similarity that they can both cover many options at once while also safely threatening below the ledge. Byleth with their forward smash trap with the sweetspot that can potentially KO you at 40%, Sephiroth with Gigaflare, and to a lesser extent their down smash.

They both seem to have an ability to absolutely decimate shields baked into their movesets in a way most characters do not. Both of them have sweetspots on their spacing normals, and projectiles (special note should be made of Shadow Flare), that do hefty shield damage on their own accord. To build on this, both of them have normals designed to utterly shatter any shields that are even slightly damaged, being Byleth's Aymr normals and Sephiroth's down smash. And on top of that, they both have charge specials designed to be able to KO at very low percents. All characters can punish bad shields with grabs to various levels of effect, but these are two characters which are designed to prey on bad shields at range as a regular part of their gameplan, with an ultimate reward on success of near guaranteed KO at any percent.

Together they seem to be forming a new moveset archetype of swordfighter in smash, characterised by sacrificing general attributes of mobility and/or weight for a deadly combination of extreme horizontal sweetspots, devastating traps, and a predatory disrepect for shields at their optimal range. Which, personally I think is really cool. It seems reasonable to expect that they will function fairly similarly outside of One-Winged-Angel form.

Of their differences, outside of the obvious general differences that Byleth is heavier and Sephiroth is more mobile, and leaving aside unique properties of Shadow Flare and OWA, the other difference is that where Sephiroth has greater range coverage in general, Byleth is less vulnerable up close.

Byleth's arcing hitboxes on their tilts mean they lack blind spots that Sephiroth has to move or jump to cover. Also, their longer-lasting multihit neutral air has better defensive properties up close, due to more shield pressure and having a landing hitbox mixup. From this we can probably make a basic inference, before any specific factors, that Sephiroth's will likely start with a similar matchup spread to Byleth's, albeit slightly more polarised.

SHADOW FLARE: This is Sephiroth's most unique attack, and likely the one that will come to define Sephiroth's general playstyle. What it affords Sephiroth, no other character has. No, not even Megaman's crash bomber. It comes the closest, but it's just not the same.

Shadow Flare is a powerful offensive autonomous disruption tool. On a superficial level, returning projectiles like Belmont's Cross or Link's boomerang can situationally be used to trap and autonomously disrupt opponents. So can timed projectiles like bombs and grenades, for a given space. However, those all involve situations that can be escaped by the opponent through movement. Only Shadow Flare and Crash Bomber force the opponent to stop what they are doing and interact with attack through a defensive option. And of those two, while Crash Bomber is another useful tool in Megaman's kit, Shadow Flare is instead uniquely devastating in the context of Sephiroth's moveset.

Shadow Flare is a tool that, at any point in the future when it sets off, immediately has the potentially to turn the game around for Sephiroth against most of the cast. If Sephiroth is under attack or in disadvantage, it forces the opponent to relent. If Sephiroth and the opponent are in neutral or are at a stalemate, it immediately gives Sephiroth an opening. And if the opponent is in disadvantage, is trapped, or is on the run, it immediately makes the situation worse. Against most of the cast, this is already an amazing move that fulfils its purpose with 100% reliability just in its ability to force a shield, a dodge, counter or an escape to the ledge.

But then there's its power, and Sephiroth's moveset, to consider.

As the Shadow Flares pile up, dodging stops being a reliable option, or just flat out stops being an option, as the attacks when the Flares explode start outlasting dodge invulnerability. As soon as the opponent is made vulnerable, or as punishment for dodging, Sephiroth's powerful sweetspots enter the picture for big hits or a potential KO from a variety of stage positions. Octoslash is even available if Sephiroth really needs the burst movement to reach the opponent, and is itself quite powerful. And when shielded, at higher numbers the Flares absolutely shred shields on top of trapping opponents in shield for a while. And given Sephiroth's propensity for high shield-damage sweetspots on his normals, and moveset that capitalises on broken shields... you get the idea, probably in the form of a Gigaflare.

I think every player interested in Sephiroth needs to be immediately aware of the sheer power of this move. I don't think I am overstating its significance when I say that it can be a win condition in and of itself. Due to the relatively short range and low hitstun on the base projectile, it may be difficult to safely land in neutral without trading, but honestly? In many situations, as long as you're not getting KO'd or put straight offstage by the trade, that trade is probably worth it. Sephiroth is a character with the raw power to snowball a KO with a single opening at almost any percent, and provided you're not in heavy disadvantage at the time, you've just set yourself up that opening in a few seconds to the future. Outside of neutral, it's probably an attack you would want to land at almost any available opportunity after combos or during strings or tech chases, to set youself up for beyond the current string.

Being such a powerful and potentially centralising tool though, it will be interesting to see how Sephiroth will fare relatively in matchups where its application can be shut down, or even a detriment. I can already see Shadow Flare being a detriment in the Joker matchup, being incredibly potent Rebel's Guard fuel; and I suspect Arsene is already extra deadly to Sephiroth due to his light weight, and due to Eigaon giving Joker the option to fight Sephiroth from outside his range. Other notable such matchups might be Game and Watch for bucket, anybody with an absorb, and potentially Hero for bounce. Incineroar could be hilarious but given Sephiroth's range I don't see it being much of a problem.

OCTOSLASH: Octoslash very good. We've seen it's type before. It's just extra big, extra strong, extra disjointed and extra damaging now. It's a lot.

It's just so much extra bigger, stronger, disjointed and damaging that I felt the need to draw extra attention to it. Also it scoops at least some characters from their ledge-hang, so it's potentially yet another deadly, wide coverage Sephiroth ledgetrap option.

Imagine if Sephiroth's massive up air could be used to ladder. Octoslash finisher ladder combos would be hilariously upsetting, I would love to see it modded. It would be completely in character for Sephiroth to upset everyone with blatantly broken combos on obscene moves.

ONE-WINGED ANGEL: I have no real comments on how I think it will affect his playstyle as I really don't know, and we probably won't know exactly for a while. Sephiroth will of course be overall better in every dimension, but it's hard to directly quantify the specific effects of the movement speed enhancements and an extra jump brings beyond the obvious: better recovery, slightly wider combo windows, better strings, better tech chases, better spacing. It'll take people a fair amount of labbing and experimentation to see full potential, and then even more time to see how much of that potential is practical. The super armor on smash attacks is very nice though.

What I wanted to note was that, of the comeback-styled character mechanics in smash so far, One-Winged-Angel is probably one of the better designed. This is mostly for the fact that as it's only supposed to be received once per stock, and only last until the opponent's stock is taken, it's the one least likely to snowball. Having said that I am a Joker player and I do like my Arsene. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

FINAL SMASH: Supernova is completely over the top and I love it. One of my favourite out of the new cinematic final smashes. Some of the previous DLC ones have been slightly disappointing in an "overly obvious .jpeg" way, so it's nice to see this one go all out.

OVERALL: Very cool character. Flashy glass cannon, and Shadow Flare's unique properties interact with Sephiroth's moveset to take any similarities he might share with other characters and add a new level of threat to them. I also personally find Byleth's archetype to be very fun to play and watch, because who doesn't like a meaty sweetspot or a good shield break? Sephiroth seems very much the type of character that Mkleo will give a few tournament runs, and I'm looking forward to seeing what he can do with him.

[wisdomrays]

TAFAKKUR: Part 37

Your Intestine

Maybe now you will snap at me saying, “What are you trying to do? You are nothing but a set of long pipes, you are the last one to talk about itself!” But take care and do not be so quick to dismiss me; do not make a face at me for the waste material I carry. You need to know first that your organs-the heart, kidneys, liver, and others-cannot work without me. Exaggeration? Not at all! So just listen to me and see for yourself.

In order for you to understand me better, keep in mind a basic principle about the functioning of living organisms-they all depend on energy use. If no energy enters a living system, then no metabolic activity, no life function can be carried out. Think about a car without fuel. No matter how great the car is, it simply won’t work without any fuel in the tank. The human body is no different. Plants and animal products which people consume as food provide the body with fuel. However, you cannot make use of the energy in nutrients in the form in which you take them in. They need to undergo a process so that they become usable fuel for us, like crude oil being refined into gasoline to make a car work. This is roughly what my duty is. Without my functioning, you would be devoid of the energy to move a finger, and eventually die. Do you understand now how important a set of pipes I am? You just think that I look like a soft and hollow canal and misjudge me as simple. Well, I know that I don’t have such complex parts as the heart, lungs, and kidneys, but I’m created as a perfect work of art in plain design.

Although the hoses you use for watering your garden wear out and break in a relatively short time, my walls made of four layers keep functioning through a lifetime without any holes unless I contract a disease like cancer. My outer layer consists of a durable connective tissue, the next one consists of two sets-one horizontally and one vertically laid-of straight muscles, the next layer under that consists of glands spread in a soft connective tissue, and the innermost layer is the epithelial mucosa where the actual absorption takes place.

Now, let’s come to how I achieve digestion, one of your body’s vital activities. Actually, there is no place for me to take any pride in it; I’m just doing as I am ordered. Anyway, the complex processes occurring within my simple-looking walls are just fascinating! Every one of my cells producing the particular enzymes to break up each nutrient is like a separate factory. Some of these enzymes break proteins into different levels of peptides, some break the peptides into amino acids, some break fats into fat acids and glycerin, whereas some break carbohydrates down into glucose. All of these particular enzymes have their sub-branches within themselves. For example the enzymes breaking down fructose (fruit sugar), lactose (milk sugar), and starch are all different. In order for the enzymes to be effective, my inside needs to have the right pH level; the enzymes work in very sensitive conditions. To give you an idea, the enzymes in the stomach-which happens to be the second station the nutrients are destined for before they come to me-work in an acidic environment (pH: 2.5–3). In my case however, basic fluids are secreted and this strong acidity is neutralized for my enzymes to work.

My overall length is around 8.5 meters from the first entrance at the stomach to the last exit. The small intestine is nearly 7 meters long and the remaining 1.5-meter section is the large intestine. Although the small intestine is the longest section of the digestive tract, it is still called small since it is smaller in diameter than the large intestine.

The small intestine is also divided into three sections. The very short (25–30cm) and relatively thicker part right after the stomach is the duodenum. Bile-which works like detergent and facilitates breaking up fats-produced by the liver and digestive enzymes from the pancreas enter the duodenum. Thus, the nutrients are digested one step further and pass on to the second section (jejunum) and then to the third (ileum). You cannot easily tell apart these final two sections. As blood circulation is more intense in the second section, this section is more reddish and the contractions here are faster and stronger. The third section is narrower and has thinner walls. The blood circulation here is relatively lower and the movements are more limited. The thin membrane of connective tissue (mesentery) around me which attaches me to the abdomen wall and prevents me from knotting up is relatively fatty in this third section.

My most vital parts are the villi-tiny nipples covering the curly surface of my inner wall like a carpet. Shaped like the fingers of a glove, villi yield an enormously large inner surface. They contain a net of capillaries and lymph canals. In addition to the glands secreting the enzymes to break down nutrients, the secretion of certain glands protects me against the destructive effect of the stomach acid. Some cells secrete mucus for lubrication and protection of the passing nutrients. As some cells of the villi secrete digestive enzymes, some of my cells absorb the nutrients broken down until the final phase and pass them to the bloodstream.

How can some guys mistake such a splendid mechanism as a work of unconscious nature? What I’m telling you about is a manifestation of such great knowledge and might that it leaves you spellbound. I know the characteristics of foods, I know about the other organs’ needs, I adjust various enzymes and an absorption system, I fit them in a limited space… In addition, I do all these in the most ideal way, without any waste or flaw! C’mon can all these happen by themselves? Now, if I were to start telling everyone about the absorption mechanism in detail, they would probably see those cells as divine beings! The One who assigned special carrier molecules and a system for every nutrient molecule, has placed two transfer systems as blood and lymph pathways in every single one of those millions of villi! The blood pathway passes amino acids, water and salts into the blood directly, whereas the lymphatic pathway absorbs fats to pass them to the blood indirectly. After absorption, the nutrients become a property of the body and they are carried in the bloodstream to all the cells waiting for them in need.

Well, what about the waste then? Since everything you eat is not beneficial and usable, and some things are even toxic, they should be disposed of as soon as possible. The unabsorbed remnants are still too watery to be disposed of; sending them away as they are will be a waste of water and minerals. But don’t worry, everything is perfectly planned! Now the large intestine comes on duty. In this 1.5-meter section, the water of the waste and certain minerals are absorbed, and the waste solidifies. The large intestine is also divided into three sub-sections. The pouch connected to the junction of the small and large intestines is named the cecum and there’s the appendix at its end. This end sometimes festers and you have to have it removed in an appendectomy. Now, there’s this made-up story that the appendix was once longer since your ancestors only ate plants, that it has evolved into a shorter form for I now eat more meat, so on and so forth… Bah! Nothing is created in vain. If it didn’t have a duty, it simply wouldn’t be created. Only after some time did it dawn on them, after researchers proved that it is so necessary, that as a lymphoid organ, rich in blood vessels, it produces antibodies to fight the germs which somehow make their way into me.

The rest of the large intestine is the colon and the rectum. The mucosa covering my inner surface is rather smooth. It secretes mucus to facilitate the removal of waste. In addition, useful bacteria are made to work in abundance in the large intestine for your needs. These bacteria synthesize the group B vitamins like B12, thiamin, and riboflavin, along with vitamin K. You see how all the processes are carried out so splendidly? If it weren’t for vitamin K, your blood would fail to coagulate, and the slightest injury to your blood vessels would kill you. Could you ever have imagined that what looks to you like a sewage canal could produce vitamins of vital significance? Your Creator has infinite wisdom.

Now you may wonder how the acts of this organ which resembles a long hose are regulated, how the nutrients inside are propelled, and then thrown out. To put it briefly, the “willful” part of your brain does not even know about it. Indeed, if it knew, it would be constantly busy with me and unable to do anything else.

Under the control of the autonomous nervous system, the straight muscles of my walls gradually contract in waves-this is squeezing act is called peristalsis. The nerve fibers connected to me fall into two basic categories-sympathetic and parasympathetic. As the sympathetic fibers pressure me to slow down, parasympathetic fibers stimulate me to act. Thus, I try to keep a balanced functioning between these two opposite effects. When the waste material I propel this way assumes a state to be disposed of, it reaches the rectum, and when the walls here strain, I make a natural call to you that I need to get rid of garbage. This is the step where your will has a partial interference.

Colon cancer, which troubles many people today, appears in this final section. The major reason is consuming too much meat and fatty foods, lack of movement, and leading a stressful life. When these are combined, I fail to function properly. If you want to help me at that, you should consume fiber-rich foods such as fruit and vegetables, and also lead a peaceful life. My web of nerves is amazingly rich and complex. Therefore, I am sensitive to nervous changes. If you feel down or sad, and if you suffer too much stress, I begin to go into spasms. Then I fail to dispose of waste, the toxic material inside me begins to damage my inner walls and eventually increases your cancer risk. Therefore, you’d better take up the habit of a glass of warm water when you get up in the morning, and try to have regular meals at the same times of the day. Most importantly, always have fresh green vegetables on your table, reduce meat intake… and it would be great if you could afford to consume olive oil rather than any other.

Hey, wait! I was about to forget the most important point. If you don’t have any peace of mind, all of these will be useless. This doesn’t mean that you will never worry; after all, this world is a testing ground and you are a human being like anyone else. However, if you give in to troubles and get overcome by feelings like panic, fatigue, and hopelessness, then my functioning will be upset. So, troubles faced with active patience and effort without giving up hope do not harm me much.

I do not wish you to wait until you see colon cancer patients disposing of waste through a hole in their belly into a plastic bag before you feel grateful for the blessings you enjoy. Actually, maybe I have told you at most a tenth of what I know about myself. Anyway, I think even this much will give you an idea of what a work of art I am. Thanks for listening to me