#okay i'm in act 2 now and i see a huge reason why. big spoiler tho so not gonna say but. yeah.

[destiny-islanders]

i get it now

[sweetmoons]

My opinions on the last 2 episodes but I'm a Will Byers enjoyer first and a human being second

HUGE Spoilers obviously

Okay so I'm gonna organize all of my thoughts into seperate paragraphs. First I'm gonna talk about pretty much everything that isn't Will's character then I'm gonna move on to all the Will related things because lets be honest thats what my whole blog is about.

The big sad stuff:

Let me just say uhhhhh fuck everyone that had any hand in writing Eddie's death and putting Max in a coma I hope your pillow is always warm. I went into the last 2 episodes already pretty sad about other outside stuff and I actually just cried for like 30 minutes straight because of that, my fragile mental state can't take this. I don't wanna be the "I told you so" guy but I had a feeling they were gonna kill off Eddie because for some reason each season they add at least 1 long lasting extremely likeable character then kill them off before the next season and I had a feeling Eddie was definitely gonna be the target for that cause he was just such a genuinely likeable character and chrissy wasn't around long enough for her to count as their mandatory character kill. Now is making new main characters just to ultimately kill them immediately really good writing? No. I really don't feel like killing Eddie was necessary at all, it actually didn't add much except for really depressing scenes which people will definitely be talking about so it's great for publicity but isn't really that good in terms of story telling. I truly believe in my entire heart that if Eddie lived after the scene with the bats it would've made his character even better and actually gave that moment more meaning then it currently has. If he survived it would have been a core character building moment where we see he's selfless and how he has now truly vowed to not "run away" and that could've come into play with his future storyline, now we just learned all of that for seemingly nothing and it won't really have much story impact at all outside of Dustin maybe having some flashback scenes like Nancy does for Barb occasionally. I also felt like his death scene felt kind of empty? Like absolutely don't get me wrong it was acted beautifully and I sobbed like a baby, again I just don't think it was even necessary to happen in the first place. I understand he did it to stall the bats but we see anyways that the bats didn't even pose that much of a threat as they all completely dropped dead once the main source of the hive mind was attacked. Obviously that's from a viewers perspective because Eddie didn't know that would happen so it makes sense why he would go after them, just as a viewer seeing the bats drop dead nearly immediately because of a different outside source he had absolutely nothing to do with kinda makes his sacrifice feel in vain.

Now Max's death/coma(?) I have extremely mixed feelings about. Although I hate seeing her get hurt at all because she is one of my favorite characters in the entire show I think her entire storyline about being involved with vecna was amazingly executed. Everything she did felt like it had meaning and truly changed the entire path of the story there's just one thing that's bugging me about it though. How did she come back to life? Don't get me wrong I'm glad she's okay (i think?) I would be devastated if she permanently died I am just so confused of what El did that essentially revived her. Like that is a huge power that came out of essentially no where and for no cost at all, I was thinking at first that El might've been giving Max her power to live or something and that would've been a huge new revelation but we see that El still has her powers at the end so what she actually did in that moment is completely beyond me. The only thing I can think of is that she somehow jump started her heart but I feel like that could've definitely been explained more if it is what happened.

Will

Hooooooo boy do I have a lot to say. First I'm just gonna talk about his overall character. Obviously I love him and Noah as always acted beautifully, I just feel like he was written to pretty much be Mike's therapist and pine over him from a far. Besides the scene with Johnathan and the end scene where we see he still has a connection to vecna none of his scenes really felt like they were about him, they always felt about Mike. Instead of his feelings for Mike portraying more about Will's character like his inner struggle with being queer in the 80s or how important Mike is to him, his feelings came off more like a reason for him to be Mike's motivator to get his shit together FOR EL which is tragically depressing.

Lets talk Byler. One of the most important scenes for Will's character in those episodes was him giving Mike the painting, we see there how Will truly feels about Mike but he portrays it as if it's actually El's feelings for Mike. That scene was so heart breaking since you can see how sad it made Will to not be able to be honest and how he started silently sobbing, it really hurt. But the fact that the reason Mike even gets his shit together enough to tell Eleven he loves her is because of what Will says to him in that scene feels fucked up. The previous Byler scenes in this season all felt like they had a strong impact on how he and Mike interact and value one another but because of the whole I love you speech Mike gave it feels like one of the most important scenes for Wills character was just to pretty much give Mike what he needed. Also with that I love you speech can you just imagine how much that hurt for Will to hear? What he said while spilling out his heart was pretty much thrown back at him by the person he loves FOR ANOTHER PERSON. Also Mike saying his life began the day he found El in the forest is a painful parallel to him telling Will the best decision he's ever made is speaking to him on the swings and I won't forgive whoever wrote that speech Mike gave El.

Now I feel it's important we talk about queer baiting and representation regarding Will given how this turned out. Do I think they queer baited us? Honestly I don't know. I feel like the answer at this current moment and time before the last season comes out is yes. Will's feelings are never directly addressed at all yet being a big selling point of the season to a lot of queer viewers and Wills sexuality is never even discussed. I was hoping that the scene between John and Will could've been Will's coming out scene and it was framed as if it was implying that Johnathan was telling Will that he loves him even if he's gay but no one ever even says the word gay or anything that shows black and white "this character Is queer". I know to most people with 2 brain cells it's obvious that the subtext of these scenes are showing Will is not straight but the fact that homophobic people can still argue that he's straight because of the fact it wasn't blatantly stated is extremely frustrating. But the reason I say it also may not be queer baiting is because if AND ONLY IF they're going to directly address Will's sexuality and feelings in season 5. I can understand if they put a lot if effort into Will's character season 5 that this could've been a slow burn build up, but the ball is really now in their court so it's up to them if they fumble it or not.

Season 5 hopes

I want Wills character to actually be used to its fullest potential. I want him to finally get fully fleshed out and get to show just how important he is in all of this. I have always been a Will Byers has powers truther so I think it'd be amazing if he actually played a vital role in taking down Vecna and the Mind Flayer. I also think it'd be a really cool parallel if while he figures out more about himself and his sexuality he also discovers more about his powers. It'd make him feel like he's finally being seen as an important character. I'd also like to see Mike's character get more fleshed out, right now it feels like his entire character just revolves around El and that's incredibly frustrating since they're both great character without one another.

Conclusion

I really liked this season but the last 2 episodes felt more like duds unfortunately. I do have decent hopes for season 5 though since they'll be able to see fan feedback and see where they could've done significantly better. I'm really tired because it's nearly 9am and I have not slept so I'm sorry if any of this didn't make much sense or sounds repetitive, I may add some more thoughts later.

[toujoursmiraculous]

Thoughts and Reactions to Truth!

Just going to go straight into it because this episode is huge! I really like how at the end of a season and the beginning of another, we see the same scene that leads us out of one and into another. Gabriel fixes the Miraculous and ohhh poor Dusuu thought it was all a dream, being in evil hands. So in a way, the Miraculous being damaged may have been a blessing for her. Dx Too bad it couldn't have been fixed after Marinette got it back :/ But at least Nooroo isn't alone right? Legit only positive I can get from this. ;-; Tikki and her little hats omg it's so cuuuute! I wonder if she makes her little clothes, too awww But the other Kwami's are almost like siblings to Tikki if you think about it. Now Tikki has to share things with them all as they cause chaos all around when she's so used to her quiet life alone with Marinette. Even for a Kwami, that must be hard to adjust to.

Okay so it's almost Prince Ali's birthday that Paris is going to celebrate. Interesting! I'd really like to see him back and a storyline with that. :O Marinette holding something, clearly, that the girls can't see over video chat. Talking to what appears to be herself, reacting to what someone's saying from different sides of her room. Camera flashes going off. And then her phone getting yeeted at her all on a video call with her friends when she's supposed to be alone...considering they're all going to have Kwami's and learn some things later as they become heroes, I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if they think back to this scene someday! OH WAIT spoiler for the upcoming episode Gang of Secrets!!! Fair warning. What if this episode with the plushies she said she's going to make, is one of if not the reason they go over and are looking around her room? Because she's been acting sus and they want to know what's going on. Especially after what happens later in the episode with Luka. Okay, back to the episode itself. Her friends observation: You're acting way weirder than normal.... IS ADRIEN AT YOUR PLACE?! I mean, fair point. xD But the thing is, whenever Marinette tends to act weirder or say/do things that Alya and the girls don't understand, it's almost always connected to her being Ladybug/Guardian. Even Lila. If she wasn't Ladybug and dealt with her so much as her, she wouldn't know a lot of things that made her not trust Lila to begin with. So Marinette has to overcompensate to try to hide everything or can't explain her thoughts or feelings about certain situations, so Alya always just assumes her behavior has something to do with Adrien. It really sucks but at the same time, what else is she going to think?

These Kwami are a lot of trouble. xD Now she's even more frazzled, so she calls Luka Adrien. More than once. I've done this where I call my siblings the wrong name more of than I'd like so I can't fault her for it. Her mind's probably a mess, poor girl. Dx "I'm sorry it's just that I cheated on you!" BIG OOF. But this gives me Kim Possible vibes when Ron assumed Kim didn't want him anymore and told her he was cheating on her when he meant to say he was cheating to be on the football team so he could be more worthy of her when he thought she wanted to "trade up" her boyfriend. Our poor Marinette! So frazzled she can't remember when her dates are, when they've been rescheduled. She can't remember her patrols with Chat Noir which are really important. She's getting to the point where it's going to be a wonder she can even function. Dx "But Marinette and I are such a big fan of his" wow this sure hits different. The way they kept quizzing each other to finish the sentence with Jagged Stone trivia was pretty cute. Luka having her finish the line with "Kiss me" that she screamed to the entire theater made me choke on my cake. "Well, if that's what you want." Smooth. "I think, yes. I want to." But you know, it gets interrupted by an akuma attack of course because that's just the way things work! :D And wouldn't you know it, it's Mr. Pigeon. AGAIN. Totally worth interrupting the moment lol Ladybug can't pick and choose, however, so here comes the sequence where she's constantly running off and he starts doubting her. Notice the parallel when Marinette started to like Luka after Adrien could never show up to things? Now Marinette's having trouble showing up and Luka's having issues with it. The second Chat Noir started to sneak up on Ladybug, we all knew he was going to get flipped. But it's so adorable and funny at the same time I love it x333 And that whole scene there of Ladynoir. Obviously it's a Lukanette-centered episode but the Ladynoir in this episode! So good! And you know, it's interesting. First time we see Adrien this episode is for FIVE whole seconds! And the way it abruptly cut off as he opened the car door... yeah you know what, Lies is going to be Adrien's POV or something of this same day. It has to be. He has 2 total scenes one of them is 5 seconds and the other one is 2 seconds. Crazy. We got about 7 seconds of Adrien's face today woo! But ugh here's where we get hurt Luka ;-; "A girl, who as always, isn't here." Ouch. The fact that if Marinette said she loved Adrien still, he'd understand and he'd get it is so sweet, and so sad that it's not even because of that, it's because she's Ladybug and the Guardian and she can't say a thing about it to him at all, that he can't accept. It's the one thing he couldn't deal with that's the issue and that really sucks. AND THIS MOMENT RIGHT HERE HAD ME GASPING AND HURTING FOR LUKA. IT'S THE MOMENT HIS HEART BROKE

But also really guys, did you notice his eyes are different now? Almost like a blue diamond look or something.

Luka trying to fight it, trying to tell Hawk Moth that the truth needs to be willingly told, not forced. But stupid Hawk Moth's able to get him to hold on anyway and gets akumatized. But not before he told Marinette to run. Which was such an awwww moment. x33 I mean, this is definitely getting a bit close to Chat Blanc territory if you ask me. New transformation music is pretty good! I like it. Also can we just appreciate that instead of trying to track down Marinette to get the truth from her, he's instead asking all her friends and family, pretty much any source besides her? AND ROSE'S RESPONSE "Marinette has no secrets because she's the most honest girl in the world!" She thinks so highly of her and it's just so beautiful. Nobody would blame her for these secrets if they only knew either. But awwwwww I love this scene!! And here's the big reveal! (no not that one) Jagged Stone is Luka and Juleka's father. 😮

Thomas today tweeted that Luka and Juleka are twins. Which would have to be fairly obvious after this reveal. There's no way that Jagged, who says he'd be a lame dad and left because he wasn't cut out for it, would have Luka with Anarka, then stay long enough to also have Juleka. I also totally forgot that in the French version, Jagged has an American accent when he speaks. XDD Just the fact that even WITH his truth powers, he asked his mother TWICE who his father was. Both times she said Jagged Stone. He still didn't believe it until he went to Jagged himself omg. This poor poor boy. Luka: 😱*gasp* Marinette: 😲 *gasp* Adrien: 😮 WHY IS THIS SO FUNNY OMG. LIKE I'M WATCHING A TELENOVELA OR SOMETHING. THEY EVEN ZOOMED IN ON THEIR REACTIONS I CAN'T And then Luka just yeets his dad because he wasn't ever there for him. I honestly did not expect Luka having dad issues to ever be a thing in this show, even though I knew he wasn't around. So like... when everything's worked out with Marinette and Adrien in the end, will Luka and Adrien end up becoming friends and bonding over things, like the whole daddy issues thing...? Are we really supposed to believe she has no feelings for Chat Noir? I mean really, look at this.

"I can't imagine what your daily life must look like" ... is she really actually being the one to bring up something about his secret identity? With that face? 😲

Their flirty banter that at this point I don't even think they realize it is, and those soft looks I just... My top ship is Ladynoir and I was not expecting any significant moments of theirs but I got it anyway. Just watching their scenes, I kept going "See, this is why they're meant for each other." My heart is happy despite all the Luka pain! It's helping me cope with it, okay? "When you're ready, I'll be here for you, Marinette." Awww so they're telling us Lukanette is on hold here. Not a guarantee, but at least on hold. He's an option for her later. So now the Adrienette vs. Lukanette for S4 we heard about awhile back makes sense now. Later on this season, probably when things calm down and she gets the hang of things, she'll be in a better position to be with someone. And by then, Adrien will probably realize and understand his feelings for Marinette. So then she'll be in a position to choose between them. Now we know where Luka gets his ability to turn emotions into great songs. That's adorable! Father-son bonding! Gabriel needs to take notes when a man who was never in his son's life as more than his idol has the ability to try to be there, but Gabriel can't. Ugh our poor Marinette, probably thinking she's going to be alone for a very long time just because of a supervillain. That's so wrong she has to feel like this. If you notice, Hawk Moth's akumatizations help people patch up relationships so much of the time as a weird unexpected result of an akuma attack. And yet, he does nothing but hurt Marinette and at times Adrien, the most when he akumatizes people. He makes me so angry! But I'm too tired for a rant about that. At least the Kwami hugs at the end helped a teeny bit anyway! c:

[thoughtfulpaperback]

SPOILERS!!!

Charmed 02x02 Review

Y'all part of me just can't. Like the excitement and energy over this last episode is too much to keep inside. I am super ready to burst and super excited for episode 3. But I am just gonna say that overall I thought this episode was superb 8/10 only because I am saving my 9 and 10. But if I could I'd give it a 9 out of ten. There was only like a couple things I was nitpicky about and it's pretty standard tv logic stuff that most people overlook so dont come at me for it. So I am just gonna start like I always do except I cant just pick 3 likes and dislikes so I am just gonna list my likes some of the nitpicks and then some episode highlights.

SPOILERS AHEAD

Things I liked:

1. Hacy development

So no secret I am a hacy fan and I pretty much love any hacy content the show will give us but I really thought the show did so well this episode.

Originally, I thought the show was going to explore Macy's feelings through Dark!Harry, and in a way they have revealed them using Dark!Harry (Season 1 ended with us not sure if Macy felt anything for Harry, but knowing he had some feelings for her). I was worried there may be less hacy moments because they would keep most of the interaction between Dark!Harry and Macy. Even had me scared that Macy may be falling for Dark!Harry and not Harry proper. But no, they gave us Genuine Hacy.

The awkwardness of the interactions after the dream. That car ride was hilarious with the map and the radio (harry is still super at comedic relief in club and in car)

Harry's concern over having done something wrong

The looks when checking each other out.

Making each other laugh and encouraging each other.

Harry trying to save that witch and Macy being concerned by what it would

"I know Harry"

I mean it wasn't just tension. There was some fluff thrown in. Harry telling her to celebrate the victories and looking at her proudly. Which brings me to item 2.

2) I love what rupert does with his eyes between the two Harrys. Real harry (as macy put it) is so harmless looking. Those puppy eyes are adorable and rupert makes sure to have then turned up all the way when being real harry.

The only time Dark!harry makes soft eyes (well sort of) is the first time we see him with Macy, the initial moment in episode 1, and then when Maggie goes for a hug in this episode. He is just so taken off guard by the affection that his pretending-to-be-Harry-face slips and his eyes kind of go wide and they arent so narrowed and focused. Which makes me think he has not been hugged often or at all . . . That's sad. Then the switch when Maggie backs away. The eyes narrow again and he gets all mean. Just love that rupert can do things like that to give both characters distinctive enough feels that you can tell that dark!harry is acting.

3) Mel and Maggie bonding

So I really do hope that we get some Macy and Mel bonding, but I am happy anytime the show can deepen the bonds between the sisters. Maggie and Mel have a bit of a complicated relationship even though they grew up together. I mean especially from this episode we see and remember that Mel was the big sister for most of her life. She protected Maggie and seems to have acted like a second parent. It is sad that there dad really just turned out to be a bad dad. No reason behind it no, issues with Marisol other than apparently the ones he created on his own (which I will get into on my nitpicks). The fact this was just a loss for Maggie, and not just a loss as in she was the only one to feel something when Ray died but a loss of memories she thought she had and an idea of who her dad (a piece of her past), was sad but it actually gave us further insight into mel and Maggie's dynamics. First season we knew the rift between mel and Maggie was over Mel's obsession with and Mel's expectations of how Maggie should have acted and behaved. I think a lot of us chalked it up to Mel being controlling and having the oldest child attitude, but I think now we see there is more there. Mel seems to have spent a lot of time protecting Maggie and biting her tongue about certain aspects of thier lives and in a sense making sacrifices for her. So it makes sense she would expect the same from Maggie, but at the same time Maggie didnt know, and even if she did thise were Mel's choices and Maggie doesnt owe her anything for them.

Knowing that we can see how it is so easy for riffs to form between them which make the start of this season make more sense to me. Because Maggie wants to live her life and is a trusting and positive person. Mel expects a certain level of loyalty and commitment and has a different idea of what that looks like compared to Maggie. On top of there general personality differences it makes sense they all that would culminate into a rocky relationship prone to communication difficulties and tifs. But I love that they are starting to acknowledge those things and rebuild. Last season it was them just getting over feeling abandoned by each other after the death of Marisol. This exposed deeper roots of the initial rift. I liked that.

4) I love that the Maggie and Mel still have Magic and even though though the active powers are gone they arent defenseless. They just need to be resourceful. I actually like this a lot and I feel gives the writers a lot of room to play with creative ways for the ladies to save other witches.

5) demon lore!!!! Okay so while season 1 seems mostly thrown out the lore actually explains season 1 demons better.

One of the issues I had was that there did not seem to be a synchronized front with the demons and they never explained why even though Alistair claimed to be a hotshot the only people he had working for him was his family.

In the OG in first season before lore got expanded) demons and witches werent organized. Demons sort of acted on thier own for thier own purposes and witches seem mostly solitary except for occasional get togethers on important events. Later on in the series demons got an organization system (triad) then later one ruler (the source of all evil). Witches seem mostly solitary except for now the elders who assigned white lighters watched over them and placed rules on magic. I dont think people really remember the drastic shift in lore and the plot holes OG had because we generally liked the places it was going. So I am kinda on that page fro the reboot.

It flipped the script. Witches are or were the organized bunch both self ruling and ruling over the magical community. Demons were at war with each other and all had different agendas so makes sense that the Caines were mostly on thier own.

I like this idea of there being different general types of demons and a hierarchy. I do wonder if that will limit then in the long run, but assuming they can be creative with the categories they have defined I am not too worried. I am excited to get more info on demons now.

6) the new love interests. I love Mel's new love interest. So different from Mel and her previous love interests. I reserve judgment until we get more interaction but I am liking her so far. Jordan is interesting I am actually liking the build up of thier relationship and will be nice to see maggie start off slow and make friends with him first. I wasnt a huge parkerita fan but I did not dislike the ship. But one of my general blehs is love at first site between teens. The way parker and Maggie began was just off putting to me but they were nice together when they were together honestly. This will be a good venture into perhaps an adult relationship or at least on that doesnt begin with as much drama. That said she is dead and will have to hide her identity from him soo....

Now on to the nitpicks:

1) Ray's characterization.

Okay so I dont mind that Ray turned out to be just a crap dad. It happens. But there are things we know that Ray probably didnt that makes us wonder why marisol even got with him and married him.

A) we know Marisol continued an affair throughout her marriage to Ray. Even assuming Ray was just a crap husband and father, why did marisol get with him and marry him if he was so good at alienating everyone he met. I wouldnt think he was just a one night stand that Marisol decided she would have to marry after getting pregnant. I would think she would be above that.

B) did he even know about magic. Was his whole relationship and life with Marisol and the girls just based on secrets, ignorance, and not being around?

I mean for B it is fine if it was I just would like to know for sure what it was versus just guessing. But I assume like Maggie I am just gonna have to move on from this

2) the house lights and the job application.

Okay how does the house have power and and water without the city noticing? How can maggie apply for a job with no social security number? I mean I assume because she is dead she cant use her real info. Or she could but wouldnt that make it easy for demons who may think to infiltrate government records to find them? I mean this is a nitpick and can be explained away by Magic, but still it was on my mind.

3) the mysterious figure at the end. Okay y'all, I assume it is Dark!Harry. But the more I thought about it, the more I got angry that they didnt show his face. Basically, that is leaving room that it could be someone else like one of the other new love interests or someone we havent met yet. I dont like that. If it is Dark!Harry we've already met him and know he is after the girls so most likely would be working with the demons. So showing him wouldnt be a big deal. But keeping the figure hidden means leaving that door of possibilites open. This has me paranoid now. Again nitpick. I'll get over it. Some people might like that.

Episode Highlights:

Comic relief Harry. Getting knocked down when orbing into the club and not being able to hold a map.

"I'll put a hex on you."

"I'm formidable!" You tell him!

Harry's wonky orbing in general. so confused so turned about.

Maggie being able to tell that Dark!Harry was not Harry. "Those are Harry's charges and family you cant fool them ya creep!!!"

Invisible mel putting a shovel to the side of Dark!Harry's face. "Yess!!!!"

Harry's puppy dog eyes when Macy says all she needs is a look to know who the real Harry is

[hannie-dul-set]

mfking tumblr won’t let me reblog in peace i just lost everything i typed in 💀 anw will try to say it all here again, hope i still remember everything T_T

SPOILERS AHEAD but i will try my best not to spoil anything below.

ok maybe i’ll start to the part where she just lost it — when she saw how her mother was just okay with her sister going out at night to have fun and all that. oof the way i felt that. hard. with all due respect to the parents i’d say GOOD FOR HER. that she just burst out her feelings. i mean IT REALLY IS UNFAIR FOR HER. they were (or SHE, her mom) was, or still is being unnecessarily (?) hard on her. sure times change and their beliefs change and all but i personally think that still doesn’t excuse the fact that they don’t give her as much freedom? dang.

next, ok i think that’s alr a lot of words for someone who’s about to say i’m still a lil speechless after reading the interlude like i haven’t rlly processed everything yet would u believe me lmaooo but OKAY SEE, i know THAT THERE’S A HUGE SIGNIFICANCE TO THE TITLE. like of course there’s a reason why you titled it like that. we just don’t know what or why yet but AAAAAAAA :(((

also (i get a glimpse of flirty jaemin once now i need more 👀 lol) THE PEACH TREES. :( that’s where and when they finally made it official:(((( GODDDD and back to the present when they were both there as well definitely remembering the events unfolded there back then lmaoo yes we know about the slooooooooowburn but i just rlly want them to finally have A talk or THE talk whichever pls. when, you ask oc? YEA SAME HERE SAME QUESTION (lol pls note this is in no way of pressuring or anything)

i’ll most probably get back to u once i get to read it all again right from the first part. I HATE THIS APP SO MUCH i had so much more to say but ofc with this brain i alr forgot a huge chunk of it >:(((

before i go tho i just want to say i’m vvvv much a weakass bitch for jaemin damn now my crush on him has grown a lot bigger it’s dangerous lmaooo anw thank you so so much for this update i hope you’re taking care of yourself esp with all the studying and doing tasks you have to do >< totally get that

tumblr proving once again that it's a big boo boo bitch >:(( but gah. hello. hi. i love u. thank u for reading and thank u even mORE for leaving this behind :(( will put my responses under the cut HAHSHJA

when i said i projected in this fic, i did not lie AHAHAHA yeahh....i have a younger brother and the treatment is p much the same aHA okay. that aspect in this stort is just me venting LMAO but eniway it'll get better in act 2. i promise 😭😭. hopefully i'll do a good job wrapping all the pieces tgt HAGSJSKW

aside from the whole making it official business HAHAHA. the title means two things, significantly: patience & waiting. it takes at least four years for a peach tree to bear fruit, and following the timeline....it's been four years since they....u know.....💔💔.......meaning it also took four years for them to reconnect. reconcile. and hopefully rekindle the past in the next act HUEHUSHSJAISK (it's gonna end happy i promise just wanted it to sound suspenseful 😭😭).

seriously na jaemin....raising the bar higher than my height....thank u so much for reading again bb :< i'm sure (ofc i do, i wrote this 😭😭) that they'll get the chance to talk soon HAHHSJA timing is one of the major themes of this, and i just really wanted to paint it as realistically as possible that, as much as we'd like to go through our main character moment, our lives don't revolve around love alone 😔 (i.e. my college au romance isn't playing out as i'd like. it's deadlines, due dates and readings instead of drama, dates, and flirting 😭😭) bUT I DIGRESS—

[oumakokichi]

Hi! I've been seeing posts saying Ouma said 'I love you' to Himiko, and that they're hinted to have feelings for each other in the game? I've read your metas about them so I know about Ouma being gay and Himiko /possibly/ having feelings for Tenko, but are there actually events in the game that actually hint on romantic feelings between them? Though I believe in letting people ship w/e they want, I'm not exactly fond of the pairing, especially because one of them is actually confirmed to be gay.

Hmm, this is a difficult question to answer. I don’t want to come across as condemning any ships or putting my foot down as though my opinion on shipping is the only one that matters, because that’s definitely not the point of this blog! As long as it isn’t unhealthy or there isn’t a huge power imbalance between the characters, I’m pretty okay with most ships.

That being said, it’s true that there are some that just aren’t personally my cup of tea. That doesn’t make them bad ships necessarily, it’s just…there are certain factors involved when it comes to my own personal preference. If it comes to talking about it from that perspective, I don’t mind. I just don’t want anyone to get the wrong idea and assume that I’m trying to act as though I’m some kind of shipping authority when that’s definitely not the case.

With all that said, and understanding that these are just my personal opinions on the ship so please take this with a grain of salt, I’ll go a little more in-depth about this under the read more. There will be spoilers for Chapter 5, so be careful!

The main reason for people shipping Himiko and Ouma from what I’ve seen stems from the Chapter 5 trial. The two of them interact occasionally prior to this; in Chapters 2 and 3 in particular Ouma is quick to accuse Himiko as the first suspect in both trials despite knowing who the real culprits are ahead of time, generally to defuse the suspicion from her and move on to the real topic instead.

In the post-trial for Chapter 3, his most notable interaction with Himiko is that he confronts her very specifically about her feelings for Tenko: he calls her out on the fact that she’s still not being open and honest with her emotions even after Tenko’s death, and says that she’s only lying to herself. Even though he’s a liar, he says that at least he always tries to be honest about his own feeling for himself—and puts heavy emphasis on the fact that appreciation can only be shown for people while they’re still alive. He comes down hard on her, but his speech is what prompts Himiko to stop holding back her grief and start crying, and ultimately she becomes much more straightforward about her emotions from this point on.

I feel like because he could tell that Himiko was such a poor liar, and because even though he refused to trust anyone fully he could still tell that she posed relatively little threat to the group, he intentionally pushed her here because he knew that she had potential to grow and develop the way that she did. And I feel like it’s very telling that he specifically talked about her feelings towards Tenko in that scene, the same way that he often targets Maki’s feelings for Momota later on, or even Saihara’s feelings for Kaede. Ouma, as perceptive as he was, knew very well that Himiko’s regret and her feelings about Tenko were the very things necessary to push her to become stronger.

Only in Chapter 5 is there any discussion about Himiko and Ouma’s feelings towards each other, and it’s this scene which prompted most of the push for it. Throughout most of the trial, Himiko spends the whole time getting easily flustered by pretty much everyone because she was lying about bringing the crossbow to Momota in the machinery bay. Her lies are transparent and super easy to poke holes in, and the more flustered she gets, the easier it is to get her off-topic in the trial discussion.

When asked why she was definitely seen going to the machinery bay, and while she desperately stammers out excuses about checking on Momota to see if he was okay and says “What other reason would I be going for?!”, “Ouma” in the Exisal responds like this: “Because you like me~.” And Himiko gets even more flustered and embarrassed by this, assumes that “Ouma” is messing with her and of course tells him to stop lying and messing around, to which he responds, “It’s not a lie~, I like you too~.” And Himiko proceeds to get pretty noticeably embarrassed and fond at the idea of someone having a crush on her (Tsumugi calls her “a young maiden in love at some point” when telling “Ouma” not to mess with her, haha), and this kind of interaction is I think why most people decided to start shipping it.

The thing is, it’s not actually Ouma in the Exisal, it’s Momota. However, he is following a script that Ouma wrote (a multi-branch 300-page script, give or take, that could predict almost perfectly how everyone would react during the trial). He does say that “some parts were his own ad-lib,” and asks the group if they can tell “which ones,” but there’s no real way to tell the specifics exactly. Personally I’m inclined to think the “confession” was something Ouma himself wrote—because this kind of teasing behavior is definitely in-character for him and I have no doubts he definitely liked to see Himiko get riled up. He’s undeniably a prankster, and Himiko’s quick temper later on made her a pretty easy target to tease in a very mischievous way.

That being said, it’s not something I exactly ship per se because…well, it’s not something that ever seemed to me like it was intended seriously. Himiko reacts to “Ouma’s confession” about the same way that she reacts to Monokuma suddenly saying that he’s their friend now and he’s going to help them theorize in the school trial—she’s indignant at first, then falls for it completely and even gets sort of shy and flustered and says she wants to give Monokuma a big hug. And when Monokuma goes back to giving absolutely no shits about any of them in the post-trial, she’s super shocked and outraged and even says “Y, You bastard, even though I loved you…!”

This kind of behavior isn’t anything new or out of the ordinary for Himiko. She admits in-game to enjoying soap operas and cheesy, clichéd twists. Her line to Monokuma feels very much like a child imitating a soap opera line they once heard, in my opinion. And I feel like her enjoyment of these pastimes is what led to her very much liking the idea of being in love or someone having a crush on her, but without it necessarily being a serious thing.

After the Chapter 5 trial, there’s never again any indication that Himiko had particularly deep feelings for Ouma, or vice-versa. When discussing Ouma’s “true character” and what his real objectives and feelings are, in fact, Himiko is one of the characters who believes in him the least. She assumes that he was lying about absolutely everything, because that’s easier than accepting the alternative—that perhaps they were too hard on someone who was actually trying to help the group all along in his own way. She does not accept the fact that he was never quite the villain he played himself up to be; even when they all know for a fact that Ouma was not the ringleader, she goes as far as to say “he wasn’t someone who could shed real tears.”

Considering how much of Ouma’s character requires a deep understanding of the fact that he was not completely evil and not actually a horrible person, the fact that Himiko pretty clearly doesn’t believe there was even the slightest chance that he was telling the truth in Chapter 5 just…doesn’t really appeal to me from a shipping perspective. As part of my own personal preference, I just don’t really like the feeling of a dynamic where one character doesn’t ever really understand the other and thinks they were a horrible villain the whole time.

There’s also definitely the point that you brought up, about gay characters when it comes to these kinds of ships. Ouma is definitely, undeniably confirmed gay, and Himiko is at least open to fan interpretation and qualifies as what I would at least consider gay-coded. But it’s true that there’s no outright confirmation that Ouma was only interested in guys, and as Himiko definitely expresses interest in guys on multiple occasions, I would say it’d be perfectly plausible to headcanon her as bi or pan.

And while it’s certainly not confirmed that Ouma was only interested in guys, I do feel as though there’s at least room to read into him having a preference. When it comes to his interest in guys, he only uses phrases like “my beloved ___” with Saihara and Amami specifically—both of whom are guys. And rather than teasing Maki or Himiko, he asks Momota constantly, “Oh, Momota-chan, could it be that you’ve fallen for me?” These are phrases that he doesn’t ever use with the female cast, and in my own opinion, it just feels to me as though Ouma has much more of an interest in guys than girls.

What grabs my attention with Himiko and Ouma though is this: even though one of these characters is canonically confirmed to be gay and the other one can at least be read as such, I’ve seen many, many people in the fandom trying to deny that fact. Even though being gay is not only a fact about Ouma but also an essential, plot-related factor (because he would never have taken as much interest in Saihara as he did if he hadn’t fallen for him), I’ve seen many people since the game’s launch questioning whether he “really was in love with Saihara,” saying it felt very forced or random even though there were plenty of hints to it all the way from Chapter 2 and onward.

It reminds me quite a lot of people’s reactions to Juzo prior to the actual reveal about him being gay in dr3. Even though it was clearly foreshadowed and very noticeable hints that anyone could pick up on were dropped the whole time, many people wanted to deny it—or even ship Juzo with Chisa instead, even when it was very clear he didn’t feel that way about her. And being gay was so essential to Juzo’s motivations and character, just like it is with Ouma. Trying to gloss over the fact or ignore that there’s a canonically gay character when we so seldom get this kind of confirmation in canon, ever, just feels… Well, it’s not something I like very much.

This is all just a matter of my personal preference, once again. People can certainly ship these things if they’d like to! As long as there’s no gross or unhealthy basis for the ship, I don’t think it’s right to try and tell people to just stop shipping something, moreso if it’s something they clearly enjoy and are having fun with. Shipping is by and large a matter of people’s personal tastes and desire to see more development, interactions, etc. between certain characters, and I think if people want to take Himiko and Ouma’s interactions and expand upon them or read in a certain way, that’s perfectly fine!

But I do think it’s also true that it’s important to try and think critically about why we ship certain things or why certain ships seem “more plausible” than others. There were quite a few people who were willing to believe a “love confession” from “Ouma” (who wasn’t even actually Ouma, no less) that was mostly brought up for the same kind of comic relief as Monokuma joining the group in Chapter 5. However, I noticed considerably more people raising objections or questioning whether Ouma was “telling the truth” when he confessed in Chapter 4 that he “had fallen in love with Saihara-chan” even though he was speaking to an empty room where he had absolutely zero incentive to lie.

I feel as though it’s important to occasionally ask ourselves this: “Why do I want to ship these characters? What do I enjoy seeing the most in their interactions?” When provided with a canonically gay character or a gay-coded character, it’s important to try and evaluate whether we’re actually shipping those characters in non-gay ships for a certain reason, or if it’s just because it “seems cuter” or “more plausible.” And if it’s the latter, that’s a very dangerous mindset which can and does have real-world implications, because media is so full of the assumption that heterosexuality is the norm, and I just think it’s good to be careful of trying to fall into that same assumption.

Anyway, I really hope I didn’t offend anyone with this, because it’s not my intention at all. I’m not against other people enjoying this ship, and I can see why people would think it’s cute! It’s just not something I myself ship, and again anon, I can understand your feelings and your hesitation.