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jadewritesficshere · 11 months

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It's time

Alpha!Steve Harrington x Omega!Reader

Steve goes into his rut.

Warnings: omegaverse dynamics, breeding kink, p in v, creampie, knotting

18+ Only

Steve blearily walked into the kitchen. It was 1 in the morning and something had woken him. He couldn't put his finger on it. Maybe it was Eddie coming home late? Or you, finally getting off a shift (if they would stop switching your hours all over the place, Steve would be happy so you wouldn't be so exhausted). Maybe it was simply the thunder outside.

Either way, Steve awoke with a mouth dryer then the Sahara. He needed water. He felt extremely hot too. As Steve grabbed a glass and filled it with water from the sink, he stared at the rain pelting the house. Taking a quick dip outside sounded nice. Steve chugged the water, quickly draining the cup. He left the sink on and dove forward, drinking directly from the tap.

A low growl rumbled through him as he drank. The water was cool on his tongue, quenching his thirst, but he felt hot. Steve dunked his head under the running water. The cold water running over the back of his head and down into the sink. He panted into the sink, nails digging into the edge.

The realization of what was happening struck him at the same time your scent hit his nose. Your scent smelled so sweet. It beckoned him. It called unto him to go to you. To make you his. To have you cry out his name in pleasure. To writhe and pant beneath him. To knot you.

The thought jolted him. Steve wanted to knot you. Steve knew what was happening. His rut had come, sooner than anticipated. Steve wasn't supposed to go into his rut yet. They had always been on time, but he had never lived with an omega before. That was the only reasoning that would make sense in his mind. Last rut, directly after you presented, Steve had holed up at his parents house (not that they would ever know since they were never there). Steve didn't want to pressure you and thought being around you would have been the most bittersweet torture.

But now you were dating. Now you were his omega. And he needed you. Now.

Steve's head snapped up, water rolling off his hair and down his neck. Beads of water were rolling down his bare shoulders. He never slept with a shirt on, only a pair of boxers. But they seemed too constricting now that he had his mind set on you. He hastily shoved them off, his erection springing up.

Steve's hand fumbled with the spout, turning the handle to shut the water off too hard and hearing a crack. The water kept trickling out, now leaking. It had Steve pause, he didn't want to use too much force and hurt you. You were soft. Pliable. You were sweet. You were his. And he was going to make sure you knew it.

Steve stumbled down the hall like he was drunk. Drunk on your scent. It beckoned him, calling like a siren to a sailor. He made it to your door and almost keeled over. It was too much and yet not enough at the same time.

Steve grabbed the door knob and yanked the door open. In his haste, the handle broke off in his hand. He inhaled deeply and exhaled a breath slowly. The door slowly creaked open as he stood there, staring at the handle in his hand.

Being in a rut, Steve forgot how strong he was. His thoughts only of you. Of pumping you full of his seed. He needed to get a hold of himself. He needed to be careful, or else he could hurt you. He didn't want to hurt you-

"Steve?" You called sleepily, rubbing your eyes and sitting up partly in bed.

He wanted to knot you. Wanted to have pups with you.

Steve felt like he was hyperventilating, taking breaths in and out so quickly. In one quick motion, he had slammed the door behind him and was on your bed. The door handle landing with a metallic clang on the hardwood floor.

You blink the sleep from your eyes as Steve slowly crawls up the bed towards you. A low growl escapes Steve, fangs peeking out between his parted lips. You can feel yourself become wet with arousal from anticipation. Steve's scent rolling of him, almost intoxicating.

You lay back on your forearms, watching Steve. Steve reaches your thighs, prying them apart. He leans in, nose brushing against your clothed cunt, and deeply inhales. Steve groans and inhales again, eyes locking with yours.

You can feel your slick soaking your underwear. You fidget slightly causing Steve to throw an arm across your hips to hold you down. "Smell so fucking good," Steve growls out. He nudges your clit with his nose causing you to jump. His tongue licks the slick seeping through your soaked underwear.

Steve moans at the taste. His fingers grip your thighs tighter. Steve opens his eyes to look up at you. Your eyes meet his, his eyes so blown they look almost black.

Your mouth is simultaneously dry and salivating at the sight of him. You can feel another gush of slick occur as your stomach alights with that familiar warm fuzzy horny feeling. You want him.

But he needs you.

"Please?" He asks, fingers flexing and pulling you closer. Even filled with the hormones from his rut, Steve thought of you first. You thread a hand through his hair,"I got you Alpha." Steve inhales shakily and nods.

On a normal day, he would take his time. Make sure you've orgasmed before him. Spend time being close and nosing at your mating gland, holding hands, whispering promises. Foreheads touching as he thrusts into you, fingers interlocked. When he takes you from behind, he envelopes you with his arms and holds you close. Soft and sweet.

But Steve can't. Not today. There is no soft and sweet in his mind. Steve can't even formulate words at this moment, just a low growl as he grabs your underwear. The sound of fabric ripping fills your ears as he tears the underwear from you.

Steve groans at the sight. You're drenched in slick. You look perfect. So ready for him.

Steve crawls up over you, face hovering over his. "I- fuck. I need-" Steve stumbles over his words as a whiff of your scent hits him. A scent that you've released to calm him. But he can also smell an undercurrent of your arousal.

"I got you Steve. I'm ready for you. Want you." You cup the side of his face with your hand and smile at him. Steve licks his lips before kissing you. He moans into your mouth as you return the same fervor. Steve can feel your tongue brush against his fangs before wrestling with his own tongue.

Steve lines himself up, cock catching on your hole. He teases your entrance slightly, feeling slick gush around him. Warm, wet, and fucking made for him. Steve growls as he thrusts in quickly, filling you to the brim in one motion.

You gasp slightly before a moan escapes. Steve sets a brutal pace. Fast and hard. The bed rocks with each thrust, headboard clanging against the wall. He shifts slightly, grabbing your legs and throwing them up over his shoulders.

At this angle, Steve hits that spot inside of you which every thrust. The thatch of hair and his pelvis hits your clit just right. A gasp escapes you with each thrust, sometimes being able to be formed into a moan.

"You're so- fuuucck. You. Omega!" Steve bites at your chin, close to your mating gland but not quite," So good. Gonna take care of you. Gonna fill you with my pups." You nod," Want it Stevie, please." "You're gonna get it babe. Gonna fuck gonna give you my knot. Make sure it sticks."

You tumble over the edge into pleasure. Your orgasm runs through you, leaving you shaking and spasming against Steve. You've never felt this good before. The pleasure was so immense it felt like you were floating.

Steve could feel your walls clenching around him. His abs tensed and he knew he wouldn't last. He thrust deep inside of you and came with a loud groan. Steve could feel his knot pop. You could feel his come painting your insides, the pressure of his knot holding you in place.

Steve collapses onto you. Steve pants heavily as he looked into your eyes. Careful of his knot, he wraps his arms around you and rolls onto his back, pulling you onto him. "You ok?" He manages to ask. You nod in response, laying your head against his chest. Steve can feel some of the hormones leave, able to think clearer.

"Not too much? We never...talked...about pups." Steve runs a hand up and down your back. You hum as you think before quietly saying,"Didn't think it would be this soon but...I want your pups Steve."

Steve's eyes shine slightly with unshed tears. He wasn't expecting to get emotional about it. You were his Omega. He would bite your mating gland today if he could- but he knew he should wait until after his rut. Steve didn't want you to think he only did it because of the hormones. Didn't want you to think it was "in the moment", even if he wanted to spend every moment with you.

He wanted to be your Alpha. Permanently. To take care of you. Wanted you to be his Omega forever. He can imagine a life with you. Growing old together and falling more in love. He can imagine you pregnant. Your swollen stomach, breasts full of milk. The way you would handle it with such grace. The perfect omega, not because you were an omega, but because you loved so hard and were amazing. Because you were you.

Steve can feel the heat start to come back as his knot starts to deflate. He wants to knot you again. You push off him slightly, sitting up and staring down at him. "Round two?" You grin down at him, running a hand through his chest hair. Steve groans and thrusts his hips up slightly," you're fucking perfect."

You begin to rock into him, slowly working your way up to lifting more fully off him and back down. Steve's hand lands on your hips, helping guide you up and down. He could stay like this forever with you. Gazing up at you with adoration, Steve hopes you want to stay like this with him forever too. His eyes land on your mating gland. He'd ask soon. Make it official. But right now, he was going to fill you up and knot you again.

#I lowkey just realized after finishing writing that Eddie and Robin are probably like 🧍‍♀️#I was so focused i forgot they also lived there in this universe fjskfskls #They leave a care package outside your broken door full of nutritious snacks and waters before leaving for the weekend #Anyways I want to take Steve's knot #I SAID WHAT I SAID #Alpha!Steve Harrington #Alpha!Steve Harrington x reader #Alpha!Steve Harrington x Omega!reader #Steve Harrington x reader #Steve Harrington/reader #Steve Harrington x you #Steve Harrington/you #Alpha!Steve Harrington/Omega!Reader #Jade is Talking #I've had this ready but keep talking myself out of posting cause I feel like I could do better but...here it is yall

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munson-blurbs · 11 months

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I’m torn between snickers and sour patch kids with butterfinger and Steve Harrington, so I’ll leave the first part up to you and your genius mind 🩵

I did a lil bit of both, bb. I hope you like it!

Forced proximity/Shy!Reader/Steve Harrington

Warnings: Steve is an ass (kind of enemies-to-lovers), semi-public making out, mention of a boner hehe

WC: 1k

Divider credit to @saradika

“Okay, so,” Steve starts, adjusting his company-required sailor hat, “there’s a whole method to getting the proper scoop. You can’t just go plunging in all willy-nilly.” He dunks the ice cream scooper into the vat of mint chocolate chip and creates a perfect sphere, plopping it into the empty cup with a triumphant smile. “Now, it’s your turn.”

You hesitantly take the scooper from his outstretched hand. “Yeah, okay.” This was supposed to be a fun summer job–a way to make some extra money before heading off to college in the fall. But you’ve only been here for two days, and Steve has been breathing down your neck the entire time.

You lean over to try and mimic his motions when he makes an obnoxious buzzer noise. “Nope, you gotta hold it in the middle, not the end.” He huffs out with an eye roll. “Here, I’ll show you. Again.”

That’s the final straw; the tears you’ve been holding back force their way forward. You dart into the walk-in freezer and let the heavy door slam behind you before breaking down into a sobbing fit.

“Hey! What the hell?” Steve drops the scooper, flips the “open” sign to “closed,” and follows after you. Light floods the freezer as he swings the door open, pulling it shut with a barely audible click. “What are you doing?”

You wipe your tear-stained cheeks, desperate not to let him see you cry. “I quit!” Your words are wobbly, and you push yourself up off of the ground as quickly as you can.

“You quit?!” He sputters, crossing his arms over his chest. “You haven’t even been here for two full shifts!”

“And you’ve made every last second of them miserable,” you mumble under your breath, reaching for the door handle. You pull it down, but the door doesn’t budge. Once more with some force leads to the same results.

You turn to Steve, who’s watching with a horrified look on his face. “Shit, shit, shit!” he mutters, yanking on the handle without success. “We’re, uh, locked in.”

Thanks, Einstein, you think wryly, but keep that retort to yourself. Instead, you slump back down and bury your head in your hands.

Steve sits next to you, knocking his knee into yours. “Robin’ll be here for her shift soon,” he says, “and then you can leave and never see me again.” When you don’t respond, he sighs and stands up, grabbing something from one of the shelves. You watch as he pulls out a whiteboard divided into two columns and uses the dry-erase marker to add a tally to the side labeled “YOU SUCK.”

“Wh-What’s that?” you ask before you can stop yourself.

“Oh, uh,” Steve shrugs, “just this stupid thing Robin made for whenever I inevitably screw up my chances with a pretty girl. Figured I’d beat her to the punch this time.”

You nod; he must’ve been flirting with a customer earlier today before you’d arrived. “Who was it?”

Steve cocks an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”

“Who was the pretty girl? Did she go to Hawkins High?”

He nearly chokes on his own saliva. “Are…you can’t be serious.” When you only offer him a confused look, he lets out a self-deprecating chuckle. “It’s you, all right? With your cute smile and the way you laugh…” He trails off, shaking his head.

It takes you several moments to process what he’s just said. “Me?!” you finally manage. There’s no way; there’s absolutely no way…

“You,” Steve confirms, nervously tucking a thumbnail between his teeth.

“If you…then why have you been…”

“An asshole?” he shoots you a guilty smile, raking his fingers through his hair. Even slightly mussed, it looks perfect. “That’s because in addition to being an asshole, I’m also an idiot. And I, uh, tried to convince myself that I hated you so that I wouldn’t get my hopes up.”

You nod slowly, processing what he’s just told you. “That is…” you suck your teeth, “the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.”

His laughter is genuine this time, and he shakes his head as he says, “Yeah…not my best idea.” He looks at you with wide eyes. “I do think you’re beautiful, though. And also really sweet and smart and, um, stuff.”

Despite the chill from literally being refrigerated, you feel heat creeping up your neck. “Steve, you don’t have to be nice to me now just because you feel bad,” you say softly, unable to meet his gaze.

“Hey.” Steve’s voice is barely audible over the whir of the freezers. He takes your hand in his. “I like you. A lot. And I’m sorry I was such a shit head the last few days. Can we have a do-over?”

You giggle, and when you duck to hide your face, he takes your chin between his thumb and forefinger, nudging it slightly upwards.

“I’m Steve,” he whispers, “and I’m going to kiss you now.” He ducks down and presses his lips to yours, gently parting them with his tongue. You accept his touch eagerly, melding your body with his.

Steve presses you up against the wall, his leg between yours. Hands glide up over your uniform, not daring to explore underneath quite yet. You cautiously tug on his little neckerchief, pulling him even closer.

You want more. You need more. You–

“Oh, my God! In the freezer? This is where we keep food!”

Steve jumps backwards, clearly embarrassed to be caught. “Jesus, Robin. A warning would’ve been nice.”

“I could say the same for you,” she bites back. “Go home, Steve. Your shift was over ten minutes ago.”

You shuffle out as quickly as possible, trying to hide your humiliation. Steve follows suit, but not before Robin mutters to him, “Nice boner, Casanova. Real subtle.”

“Shut up, Robs.” He adjusts himself over his pants, shifting his apron to better cover the evidence.

Robin rolls her eyes, catching sight of her infamous white board as she goes to shut the door. With a sigh, she begrudgingly adds the first-ever tally to the “YOU RULE” side.

#trope or treat #steve harrington fluff #steve harrington stranger things #steve harrington #steve harrington fanfic #steve harrington x you #steve harrington x reader #fanfic #stranger things fanfic #stranger things

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osharenippon · 10 months

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Shoujo Manga’s Golden Decade (Part 1)

Shoujo manga, comics for girls, played a pivotal role in shaping Japanese girls' culture, and its dynamic evolution mirrors the prevailing trends and aspirations of the era. For many, this genre peaked in the 1970s. But why?

Manga stands as one of Japan's primary cultural exports, deeply ingrained in the local culture and enjoyed by individuals of all ages and genders across various genres. Conventionally, manga is divided into two editorial segments: shonen (targeted at boys) and shoujo (targeted at girls). While shonen manga, propelled by hits like "Dragon Ball," "Slam Dunk," "Naruto," and "One Piece," has achieved global popularity, girls' comics, with their own international sensations such as "Sailor Moon," hold a crucial position in the market. The evolving landscape of girls' manga serves as a fascinating lens through which to observe the shifting fashionable aspirations and beauty ideals within Japanese society.

Shoujo manga has a rich history, dating back to the early 20th century. However, it truly gained recognition in its modern form in the late '50s and early '60s when prominent Japanese publishers introduced shoujo manga anthologies such as Kodansha's Nakayoshi and Shoujo Friend, as well as Shueisha's Ribon and Margaret. The acclaimed "godfather of manga," Osamu Tezuka, is often credited with creating the first modern shoujo, "The Princess Knight," in 1954, and the first shonen, "Astro Boy," in 1952.

A distinguishing feature of shoujo manga is that it is created by and for girls. But, in the '50s, this wasn't the case, and male artists dominated the shoujo field, which was considered an entryway to the manga business. By the 1960s, that would change as publishers recognized that women creators possessed a unique proficiency in crafting narratives centered around female experiences. Female manga-kas resonated with readers in a way that many male artists couldn't, marking a crucial shift in the landscape of shoujo manga.

The Volleyball Craze

A notable display of how shoujo could mirror societal trends unfolded in the '60s. In 1964, the Tokyo Olympics marked a new beginning for post-war Japan, and the female volleyball team, known as Toyo no Majou (the Oriental Witches), achieved stardom by clinching victory in the finals against the Soviet Republic. This triumph triggered a nationwide "volleyball boom," resonating particularly within the shoujo manga realm.

Shueisha's Ribon, historically the leader in the shoujo manga field, started publication in 1955. Still, the editorial house would only begin to make its series available in standalone tankobon format almost 15 years later through the now iconic Ribon Mascot Comics imprint. The first series to be made available by the imprint was Chikako Ide's "Viva Volleyball."

Simultaneously, over at Kodansha, Shoujo Friend was also eager to capitalize on the boom. Editors commissioned a title about the sport from illustrator Akira Mochizuki and novelist Shiro Jimbo. The final project, "Sign wa V," became a multimedia success, being quickly adapted into a live-action TV drama that achieved very high ratings.

While "Viva! Volleyball" and "Sign wa V" enjoyed success in their time, they did not etch themselves into the collective memory. The true shoujo sports manga blockbuster, a cross-generational classic universally known in Japan, is Chikako Urano's "Attack No. 1," serialized from 1968 to 1970 in Weekly Margaret.

It became the first shoujo manga title to surpass ten tankobon volumes (it had a total of 12 volumes), and it was forever immortalized thanks to its 1970 anime adaptation, which achieved high ratings on Japanese TV. Everything about "Attack No. 1"—from the original manga to the cartoon adaptation to the anime's theme song, which sold over 700k copies as a single—was a success.

The story of a high school girl trying to become the best player in her school, Japan, and eventually, the world became a phenomenon, setting the stage for the '70s "golden era of shoujo."

The Shoujo Lost Years

Until the '70s, manga carried the stigma of being a guilty pleasure, often viewed as a "poison" meant to dumb down young readers. Despite a few discerning individuals recognizing the medium's potential, manga critics, enthusiasts, and tastemakers — predominantly men — largely disregarded female-centric comics. Shoujo manga, despite its immense popularity, faced the harshest criticism.

Because society and critics downplayed shoujo, influential shoujo manga-kas from the '50s and '60s, such as Hideko Mizuno, do not enjoy the same level of recognition as their shonen counterparts from that era.

Hideko Mizuno and a page of one of her most celebrated works, "Fire."

Mizuno was one of the first women to create manga, worked as an assistant to Osamu Tezuka, and was behind several massive hits that had a significant impact on women in the '50s, '60s, and '70s. In fact, the most iconic shoujo manga-kas from the '70s golden period directly mention her as an influence. She fought to include romance -- now the essential element in girls' manga -- in her works back when such topics were deemed inappropriate by male editors.

Mizuno's repertoire was vast: she wrote mangas about little girls and their poneys, magic adventures, and romcoms based on Audrey Hepburn's movies, and she drew the first sex scene in a shoujo manga. The manga in question was "Fire," a teen-targeted manga featuring a rebellious American rocker, which broke new ground by having a male character as its focal point. Alongside other notable female artists from the '60s, Mizuno laid the groundwork for the '70s shoujo explosion, during which girls' comics took center stage.

In 1960's "Hoshi no Tategoto" (left,) Hideko Mizuno created the first shoujo love story. Serialized in Weekly Margaret between 1964 and 65, "Shiroi Troika," set during the Russian Revolution, was the first historical shoujo manga.

A contributing factor to this "golden period" was the emergence of several shoujo mangas as unstoppable hits, selling millions of copies and becoming cultural phenomena. These titles, considered masterpieces, continue to be read and known by multiple generations.

The BeruBara Boom

"Attack No. 1"'s success spread far and wide, forcing Japanese society to take note of the potential of the shoujo segment. Right after this historic success, Shueisha's Weekly Margaret hit the jackpot once again with another epoch-defining manga hit, Ryoko Ikeda's "The Rose of Versailles," which debuted in 1972. Set in the years preceding and during the French Revolution, it weaved together historical figures like Marie Antoinette and fictional ones, like the iconic Lady Oscar, a handsome noblewoman raised as a boy to succeed her father as the commander of the Royal Guard at the Palace of Versailles.

The first volume of the original comic had Marie Antoinette on the cover as Margaret's editors believed she'd be the favorite character. However, the androgynous Lady Oscar turned into a fan fave and the absolute star of the series, which is reflected on the cover of most rereleases since then, including the 2013 bunko version seen above.

When talking about shoujo manga classics from the '70s that are familiar to everyone in Japan, "Rose of Versailles" is probably the first name that comes to mind. It was a hit that really defined the era and impacted the country as a whole. While Marie Antoinette is seen around the world as a tragic, out-of-touch figure, in Japan, many women and girls see her as an aspirational historical fashion icon. While Sofia Coppola's 2006 film "Marie Antoinette" solidified this among younger generations, it was Ikeda's gentle portrait that made her a character loved by so many across all age groups.

When conceptualizing the story, Ikeda was heavily inspired by Stefan Zweig's "Marie Antoinette: The Portrait of an Average Woman," which she read while in high school. Once in college, in the late '60s, she, like millions of others, was heavily involved with the Marxist student movements. These references led to a historical romance that touched on heavy and revolutionary themes, which was atypical for a shoujo manga, a segment that, back then, was primarily catered to elementary school-aged girls.

Because of its unorthodox concept, Margaret's editors were unsure about the series. But right from the start, "BeruBara" (derived from the original Japanese title, "Berusaiyu no Bara"), serialized between 1972 and 1973, was an explosive hit, quickly turning into Weekly Margaret's most popular series. It was compiled in 10 tankobon volumes published, which sold tens of millions of copies. In fact, according to some stats, it is the best-selling '70s manga across all genres in total sales.

In 1974, after the original manga had finished its serialization, Takarazuka Revue, an all-female theatrical troupe, announced a stage adaptation of the story.

Posters of the first three Takarazuka adaptations, from between 1974 and 1975. Since then, the Revue has adapted the manga 11 times, with a new run scheduled for 2024.

The Revue was established in 1913 by the owner of Kansai's leading railway company, Hankyu, to boost tourism to the city of Takarazuka, his line's last stop. It was a huge success, and soon, the group had its own luxurious theater as well as its very exclusive academy where young ladies underwent an arduous audition process to become Takaraziennes. In 1934, a second Takarazuka theater opened in Tokyo.

However, in the early 1970s, Takarazuka faced stagnation, with declining ticket sales attributed to the growing popularity of alternative entertainment forms such as cinema and television.

In 1973, Shinji Ueda, who had risen through the Takarazuka ranks as a director, made his debut as a playwriter in the company with a musical based on ancient Japanese history. While thinking about his next project, he decided to check out a manga popular with some Takarazuka fans, "Rose of Versailles," and he quickly realized it was the perfect theme for an adaptation. Lady Oscar, who had lady-like features but was also as handsome as a man, was the embodiment of the male role-playing Takaraziennes. Ueda reached out to Ryoko Ikeda, who, as an admirer of the troupe, quickly granted the rights.

But Ikeda and Ueda's excitement wasn't shared by many. Most of the Takarazuka team were skeptical about a play inspired by something as vulgar as a manga. Fans of the original were also highly protective of its characters and entirely against a live adaptation.

Amid this climate of distrust, the play opened at the end of August 1974 at the Takarazuka Grand Theater. The reaction after the first night was extremely positive. Soon, Takarazuka's "Rose of Versailles" was the hottest ticket in all of Japan, with the press breathlessly covering the "BeruBara boom" that led thousands of people to stand hours in line to get tickets to the coveted performances in Kansai and Tokyo. Ikeda herself was shocked by the media phenomenon when she returned from an overseas trip and had hundreds of reporters awaiting her at the airport.

A statue of Lady Oscar and Andre surrounded by rose bushes sits outside the Takarazuka Grand Theater in Hyogo, Japan.

The "BeruBara" media sensation single-handedly reversed Takarazuka's fortunes, leading to record-shattering ticket sales for the company. The Takarazuka Academy, which had seen declining applicants, suddenly became highly sought-after again, originating the saying "Todai in the East, Takarazuka in the West," comparing it to Tokyo University, the most prestigious university in Japan. The phrase underscored the desirability and prestige associated with a position at the troupe.

Ultimately, the success of "The Rose of Versailles" propelled Takarazuka back to the pinnacle of the entertainment industry, a position it maintains to this day. The brand continues to hold great esteem among women of all ages in Japan, with Takarazuka's stage adaptations, derived from Broadway musicals, movies, novels, and shoujo manga, consistently selling out. Notably, various adaptations of "BeruBara" have collectively sold over 5 million tickets since 1974.

Following the manga and Takarazuka adaptation's explosive success, the anime debuted in 1979. While the anime received acclaim, Ikeda herself was not entirely satisfied, mainly due to the treatment of her favorite character, Andre, who played a significant role in the manga but had a minor presence in the animated version, which focused almost entirely on the manga's most popular character, Lady Oscar.

In 2013, celebrating Margaret's 50th anniversary, new special chapters of "BeruBara" were published. The first new story in 40 years resulted in Margaret magazine selling out across the country.

"BeruBara" remains a prominent franchise in Japan, spawning numerous licensed products, sequels, and spin-offs. Ryoko Ikeda, known for other successful series, continues to garner widespread respect and media attention. However, while almost everything related to "The Rose of Versailles" turned into a hit, there was an exception.

In March 1979, a few months before the anime premiere, a live-action film adaptation debuted with great fanfare. Fittingly for such a hot property, the movie was one of the most ambitious productions in Japanese cinema, with a substantial 1 billion yen budget.

The Palace of Versailles granted permission to shoot in its interior. The filming was in English, with a European cast. The project was helmed by France's hottest movie director, Jacques Demy. Demy wasn't respected only in the West but also in Japan, where his two most important films, "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg" (1964) and "The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967)," were also hits. In fact, to this day, both flicks remain popular among trend-conscious Japanese as examples of stylish oshare movies that fully capture aspirational girls' culture (alongside, among others, Sofia Coppola's "Marie Antoinette"). Demy, the mind behind dreamy, girly movies, seemed like the perfect choice to turn this blockbuster shoujo classic into a live-action film.

The movie had the backing of three gigantic domestic corporations: Toho, the leading Japanese movie distributor; Nihon Terebi (NTV), one of the main TV stations; and cosmetic giant Shiseido. NTV and Shiseido made sure the movie had one of the most extensive marketing campaigns Japan had ever witnessed. The TV station aired specials and segments on this grand production. Meanwhile, Shiseido made the star of the movie -- British actress Catriona McCall, who played Oscar -- the face of its spring campaign, promoting its new Red Rose lipstick. Catriona was plastered on billboards across the country, made media and department store appearances, and starred in luxurious TV spots.

On the left, Lady Oscar and Marie Antoinette adorn the cover of Margaret in 2016, over 40 years after the end of the original serialization. On the right, Oscar models Dolce & Gabanna new collection for high-end fashion magazine Spur in 2014, celebrating 40 years of the conclusion of the original manga.

Back then, Kanebo, the second biggest local cosmetic company, was in fierce competition with Shiseido. TV ads from both companies had a tremendous impact, propelling singles to the top of the charts, and there was a battle on which commercial would feature the biggest hit. But, in the spring of 79, the focus of the fight changed. As a response to the Catriona "Rose of Versailles" campaign, Kanebo also hired a British beauty, actress Olivia Hussey, and launched a "Super Rose lipstick" with the tagline "You are more beautiful than a rose." The cosmetics war was another proof of the chokehold "The Rose of Versailles" had in the decade.

But when the movie finally premiered, it was a flop. Critics hated it, and Japanese fans thought the adaptation was weak and lacked impact. Catriona, in particular, was criticized for not conveying Oscar's androgynous charm, which perfectly balanced masculinity and femininity. With the well-received anime premiering just a few months later, the expensive movie adaptation ended up being outshone and forgotten. It became only a costly footnote in the manga's history.

An exhibition in Tokyo celebrates 50 years of BeruBara in 2022.

(It's worth noting that Kanebo clearly won the CM war. While the Shiseido co-produced "Rose of Versaille" feature film flopped, the "You Are More Beautiful than a Rose" song Kanebo commissioned from singer Akira Fuse became a considerable hit).

Movie aside, "The Rose of Versailles" is one of Japan's most beloved comics. From its debut in 1971 to its film and anime adaptation in 1979, it remained front and center in the country's mind throughout the whole decade. Its impact was felt in different fields, from the cosmetic business to the publishing business, from live theater to TV. It also forever changed how shoujo manga was perceived and remains one of the country's most beloved properties.

Ace-Scoring Manga

The 1970s marked a turning point for shoujo manga, as it began to gain recognition beyond its traditional audience, propelled not just by critical acclaim but by commercial success. The era witnessed the emergence of several blockbusters that captured the public's imagination. Notable among them were Yoko Shoji's "Seito Shokun," a tale centered on the daily exploits of a mischievous high-schooler, and Waki Yamato's "Haikara-san ga Tooru," a love story set in the Meiji period featuring a tomboy with a lady-like demeanor. These manga were significant hits during their publication in Kodansha's Shoujo Friends, becoming best-selling titles with tens of millions of copies sold.

Some shoujo classics from the '70s are still in publication today, appealing to a diverse readership spanning multiple generations. Suzue Michi's "Glass Mask," serialized in Hana to Yume since 1976, remains a cultural phenomenon with 49 tankobon volumes, over 55 million copies sold, an anime adaptation, a live-action drama, and a stage play. Similarly, Chieko Hosokawa's "Crest of the Royal Family," chronicling the adventures of a young American girl transported to ancient Egypt, has been a consistent presence in Princess magazine since 1976, boasting 69 volumes and over 45 million copies sold to date.

But, when talking about definitive shoujo classics from the '70s, titles that were historical successes, influenced everything going forward, and are known by everyone, three titles come to mind. We already explored one of these, "The Rose of Versailles." One of the other three is "Ace wo Nerae."

Following the monumental success of "Attack No. 1," the prospects of another shoujo sports manga achieving similar heights of popularity seemed improbable. However, Weekly Margaret defied expectations once more in 1973 with the release of Suzumika Yamamoto's "Ace wo Nerae" ("Aim for the Ace"), a compelling narrative focused on tennis that swiftly captured the nation's attention.

Japan and tennis already had some prior history. The first Japanese Olympic medalist was a tennis player, Ichy Kumagae, in 1920. Emperor Akihito met his commoner wife, Michiko, at a tennis match, and they initially bonded over their love for the sport. But, in the 70s, the country was taken over by an unprecedented tennis boom. At high schools across the nation, tennis became the most popular after-school activity. Fashion magazines like JJ and Popeye dedicated pages and pages to "tennis fashion." At the same time, trendy young adults decked in clothes from sports brands populated Shibuya and other stylish districts in Tokyo.

There were several contributors to the tennis boom. But the remarkable success of "Ace wo Nerae," which first conquered girls before dominating the nation, played a part in it.

The manga follows the journey of Hiromi Oka, a high school student initially plagued by insecurities but propelled into the world of tennis through the encouragement of her coach. "Ace wo Nerae" portrays her growth from a hesitant newcomer to a world-class tennis player, navigating challenges and discovering hidden potential along the way.

From left to right: Madame Butterfly, lead character Hiromi Oka and coach Jin Murakata as depicted in the anime. Madame Butterfly, a wealthy teen girl who is gentle and a world-class tennis player, is a fan favorite character.

In 1973, "Ace wo Nerae" was adapted into an anime. Despite initial modest ratings, the anime gained popularity through reruns. Encouraged by this, NTV decided to remake the cartoon. The second adaptation, which debuted in 1978, was an immediate hit. Concurrently, Weekly Margaret revived the manga series, which, after being first finalized in 1975, ran again from 1978 to 1980, spanning a total of 18 volumes.

Since "Ace wo Nerae," several hit mangas focused on tennis -- both shoujo and shonen -- were published. But, thanks to the success of its anime and the intragenerational support for the manga, the original work by Suzumika Yamamoto is still considered one of the defining and most beloved works about the sport. Its role in propelling tennis culture as part of the oshare youth culture of the '70s also defines its impact.

Japan Wants Candy

Following the monumental multimedia success of "The Rose of Versailles" and "Ace wo Nerae," the third shoujo sensation of the '70s is "Candy Candy."

Initially published in Nakayoshi, the story started taking shape when editors at the magazine sought a work of literary excellence akin to beloved classics popular among girls, like "Heidi" and "Anne of Green Gables." They enlisted Keiko Nagita, writing under the pen name Kyoko Mizuki, and paired her with one of the magazine's most famous artists, Yumiko Igarashi. The collaborative effort resulted in the creation of "Candy Candy," centered around an American, blond, blue-eyed orphan named Candice "Candy" White Ardlay.

"Candy Candy" epitomized various shoujo directions prevalent in the '70s. The protagonist, a white girl with lustrous blonde hair, embodied the fascination with Western culture during a time when Japanese youth held a keen interest in Europe and the United States. The manga's narrative style, characterized by its dramatic tone and plot twists, also aligned with the prevalent storytelling preferences of the era.

Candy Candy was such a resounding success that it became the first manga to achieve an initial print run of over 1 million copies of one of its paperback compilations.

Debuting in 1975, "Candy Candy" swiftly captured the hearts of Nakayoshi's readers, leading to unprecedented success. The subsequent anime adaptation by Toei in the following year propelled the franchise into the realm of a cultural phenomenon, sending manga tankobon sales skyrocketing. The seventh volume of the "Candy Candy" compiled paperback reportedly became the first Japanese manga to achieve an initial print run of over 1 million copies. Additionally, Nakayoshi's sales surged, surpassing those of its historical rival, Shueisha's Ribon, for the first (and only) time.

The adventures of young Candy were also licensing gold. With over 100 licensed products, the "Candy Candy" doll alone sold 2 million units, solidifying Bandai's position as Japan's premier toymaker, a status it continues to uphold to this day. The resounding success of "Candy Candy" forged a lasting alliance between Kodansha's Nakayoshi, Toei Animation, and toymaker Bandai, which led to the iconic "Sailor Moon" franchise in the 1990s.

While "Candy Candy" concluded its run in 1979, its appeal extended far beyond its original target demographic of very young girls, captivating kids, teenagers, and adults alike, thus contributing significantly to the manga and anime's widespread acclaim and enduring popularity.

However, a protracted legal dispute between Igarashi and Nagita has prevented the commercialization of any "Candy Candy" related products since the late 1990s, including reprints of the manga and re-broadcasting of the anime. The lawsuit arose from Igarashi's unauthorized licensing of merchandise based on the franchise, falsely asserting sole ownership of the copyright. Although Igarashi was initially credited as the lead artist in Nakayoshi during the manga's publication, the court ultimately ruled in Nagita's favor, emphasizing that Igarashi's artistic foundation was built upon Nagita's written work.

A collection of "Candy Candy" freebies offered by Nakayoshi magazine in the '70s. During the publication of the series, Nakayoshi would eclipse Ribon's sales for the one and only time in its history, (image credit)

Consequently, any commercial exploitation of Yumiko Igarashi's "Candy Candy" artwork necessitates the approval of both Igarashi and Nagita, a challenging prospect given the existing feud. Nagita, on the other hand, can profit from "Candy Candy" as long as she doesn't include any illustrations, which allowed her to release a book sequel in 2010. However, due to the dispute, one of the most beloved works in Japanese manga history is currently out of print. The lawsuit also blocks the anime from being aired or distributed. But, despite the almost two-decades-long media ban, "Candy Candy" remains widely known and beloved across Japan, a testament to its staying power.

While smash hits like "Candy Candy," "Ace wo Nerae," "Rose of Versailles," "Seito Shokun," "Hikara-san ga Tooru," and "Glass Mask," among others were key pieces into shoujo finally earning the respect it deserved, the rise of a revolutionary group of artists during the '70s was another critical element in shoujo's rise: the Year of 24 Group.

Part 2

#1970s japan #1970s #vintage shoujo #shoujo manga #lady oscar #rose of versailles #ace wo nerae #candy candy

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warishahmed · 6 months

Text

The Evolution of Slam Dunk: From Anime to Personal Passion Project

As a child, after finishing school for the day, I would switch on MBC3, a television channel that aired anime. I'd gather with my cousins and we'd watch anime during our pastime together. Among the popular shows like Dragon Ball Z, Beyblade, Sailor Moon, and Yu-Gi-Oh, one that stands out in my memory is Slam Dunk.

The anime adaptation of Slam Dunk ran for 101 episodes, which were based on the manga series written and illustrated by Takehiko Inoue from 1990 to 1996. The story's narratives revolves around Hanamichi Sakuragi, who develops feelings for a girl named Haruko Akagi. Sakuragi decides to join the Shohuku High School Basket Team in an attempt to win her affections.

Slam Dunk first volume manga cover, featuring Hanamichi Sakuragi (redesigned)

The First Slam Dunk (2022): An Overview

Takehiko Inoue took on the roles of both screenwriter and director for the First Slam Dunk movie, making it a personal passion project. The film picks up where the anime left off, after the climactic match between Shohoku and the Shoyo and Ryonan teams combined. However, rather than focusing on Hanamichi Sakuragi, the protagonist of the original story, the movie shifts its focus to Ryota Miyagi. It follows Miyagi's journey as he navigates the world of basketball, his relationships within the team, and his own personal growth.

The Establishing Shot

The movie opens with a scene of Ryota engaged in a one-on-one basketball match with his older brother, Shota Miyagi, on a court. The opening scene effectively sets the tone for the film by showcasing the close bond between Ryota and his brother, and illustrates their deep connection to basketball. Despite the scene's initial brightness and joy, it carries a sense of foreboding, hinting at the tragedy to come: Shota's unexpected death.

Following this loss, the movie delves into Ryota's journey of grief and his determination to honor his brother's memory by pursuing basketball.

Throughout the film, we see present-day or specifically courtside scenes intercut with flashbacks to Ryota's childhood, which is heavy with the weight of processing grief. This storytelling technique slows the pace of the film, allowing the emotional impact to unfold and resonate with viewers.

The Film's Animation

Inoue wanted the movie to capture the essence of the manga, so he chose a light and muted color palette. The film combined 3D CG imagery for basketball scenes mixed with traditional hand-drawn 2D animation for everyday life scenes. Personally, I believe Inoue achieved his goals because as I watched the movie, it felt like the manga illustrations were coming alive. I particularly enjoyed the "watercolor" effect created by the sharp outlines around the characters, and the soft, layered colors.

Lessons Learnt from Shota Miyagi

"I’m always like this too, my heart pounds like crazy. That’s why… I have to pretend that I’m fine."

In the opening scene, at the basketball court, Shota is not only teaching Ryota how to play basketball but also valuable life lessons about strength and resilience. In the scenes leading up to this, we witness Shota processing with the loss of his father while also being a support for his mother. Despite his own grief, Shota bravely declares to his mother that he will take on the responsibility of being the head of the household. This display of strength and determination resonates deeply, almost as if Shota is speaking directly to the audience (breaking the fourth wall), urging them to remain steadfast in the face of adversity. His courage serves as an inspiring reminder to stay strong during trying times, no matter how challenging they may seem.

Final Thoughts

"The First Slam Dunk" stands out from other sports and action anime or movies by taking viewers on a journey from pain and trauma to resilience and strength. It blends fast-paced basketball scenes with slow flashbacks, creating tension and anticipation that keeps viewers engaged. When I watched the film in the cinema, I felt inspired and motivated—it made me want to start drawing in my sketchbook right then and there. The movie left a strong impression on me and remains my biggest inspiration for improving my artwork.

It was incredible to see how the narrative shifted from focusing solely on sports and romance in the anime adaptation I watched as a child to a more personal and meaningful message in the movie years later. As the title suggests, Inoue intended for both familiar and unfamiliar audiences to experience it as though it were their first time watching, establishing a different perspective and impact.

#the first slam dunk #anime #slam dunk #movie suggestions

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aelloblu · 29 days

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Sailor Regulus

╔═════ ∘◦⛧ﾐ◦∘ ══════╗

Seishin Wantanabe / Sailor Regulus

╚═════ ∘◦ ミ⛧ ◦∘ ═════╝

:Mission:

Seishin was just an ordinary kid going to Mugan Academy. She’s trying to get to grips with highschool bullies, algebra and how to wear a skirt when suddenly a mysterious force wants her dead.

Turns out she’s Sailor Regulus, reincarnation of a warrior princess and last of the Leo’s Alliance. Fortunately she has the Inners to teach her, and she’ll need all the help she can get. Her forefathers protected the mysterious Infinite Lion Armor but one by one they were struck down by the brutal legionnaire Alcides, and he will not let some puny princess stand between him and immortality.

╔═══*.·:·.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.·:·.*═══╗

Civilian Form

╚═══*.·:·.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.·:·.*═══╝

:Name & Meaning:

Although he was born with the name Yurei, meaning ‘ghost’, it began to fit less and less until highschool was a chance to reinvent herself. She chose the name Seishin, a feminine name meaning ‘spirit’. Her surname Wantanabe means ‘transition’ or ‘to cross’ .

:Age & Birthday:

Born on the 2nd of August, she’s fifteen and a Leo.

:Appearance:

Seishin stands quite tall for her age at 5’6 with a lanky figure she tries to hide behind various fashions. She’s always felt more comfortable with long hair, letting it fall in a silky veil to her waist with a brushed fringe and two long ribbons framing her face. Her eyes are a sapphire blue and her skin is slightly tanned with a long scar running down her right shoulder blade, red and raised and of unknown origin.

Although she’s still exploring her tastes, Seishin chooses cute and spunky fashion. She loves to accessorise with gloves and belts and colourful kerchiefs! Her jewellery box is filled with necklaces and dangling earrings. She is especially drawn to glittering, cut stones which she brings out at every chance.

:Nationality

It means that although she’s practically an adult she has to relearn everything. She’s nearly fluent in the language but her knowledge of manners and customs still requires polish.

:Personality:

On top of transitioning to a female, moving to a new country and joining a new school, Seishin learns she’s a star princess sworn to fight evil. All these alien experiences have made her desperate to fit in and somewhat gullible, but it also makes her much more empathetic to the adversity of others. Her loyalty to those who support her is unwavering and her trust in them unshakable. She’s sensitive, easily distracted and her sensitivity to the opinions of others means she may suddenly need space and quiet to reassure herself.

This need to please makes Regulus a strong fighter and she doesn’t want to let her new teammates down. She idolises Sailor Moon and Sailor Venus as protectors both strong and feminine. She wants to impress them but as an amateur senshi she's still learning the tricks of the trade and harnessing her own growing powers. When she gets too excited her powers are prone to friendly fire which is so embarrassing! She wants them to know that she can protect them too and be a guardian senshi in her own right so she’ll try to track down her crown on her own.

:Likes:

English essays, Fridays, winter, thunderstorms, fish and chips and apple juice.

:Dislikes:

Snakes and spiders. She once had a bad experience with a huntsman and never forgot it.

:School:

Seishin is in the tenth grade of Mugan Academy because of her father’s connections. She has inherited his love of computers, but her favourite class is Japanese where she can explore the poetry and literature of her new home. She also appreciates history as she finds the stories useful for her writing. She’s also very athletic and was recruited for Mugan’s basketball team and slam dunks like a pro.

:Hobbies:

Since transitioning she’s been developing her own look. She loves thrifting and trying new styles, from retro to loli to visual kei! Every day and every shop is filled with possibilities! She enjoys escapism, whether it is through her videogames or her creative writing. She loves to disappear inside her own worlds of magic and aliens and alternate dimensions. Little did she know she’d get first hand experience.

:Family:

Seishin’s family has always been open and understanding, so the decision to come out was welcomed with her parent’s support.

Her father Makuri (to do something too much) Wantanabe is an exceptional computer programmer and businessman but also loving and supportive of his family. He thought nothing of following his wife Callwen- who took the name Hinaki (bright) when she immigrated back to her Tokyo. She is kind and accepting and has tried to pass on these virtues to her two daughters.

Unfortunately it hasn’t worked. Seishin’s older sister Akuru (black jewel) resents leaving London. Despite her innocent face she has become cruel, taking her frustrations out on Seishin in violent and vindictive ways.

:Relationships:

:Akira Saito:

Akira is a girl that enjoys singing and drawing and has a challenging history with personal demons, but through singing and drawing, she finds her escape from the world. For a while, they made themselves feel like all would be okay. She's also grown very fond of Seishin. The kindness she shows is very much needed, and in return, she loves having Seishin as a model for her. Yet one drawing from before she met Seishin is too eerily close to a vision she's seen.

:Chiyo Bushida:

Chiyo is a girl from a family that prides itself on honesty, integrity and hard work, coming from a family line that started from next to nothing, constantly swearing to keep remembering the values told by their great grandparents. She enjoys physical activities during the sports curriculums, especially full-contact sports that require physical strength and skill. They have grown close to each other with a friendly rivalry on the basketball court.

:Alexa Williams:

An American transfer student is also new to the school and refuses to accept the traditions compared to what she's used to in the States. She’s snobbish and thinks highly of only herself and her family. Due to this, she thinks everyone is a worm compared to her. She firmly believes in tradition and dislikes… Deviations. Seishin has become a favourite target because she knows something is off with that girl. Something is unnatural in how she carries herself and how she walks. She will expose it to the whole world and show everyone what a weirdo she truly is!

:Sexual Orientation:

Seishin is still figuring it out, finding a few guys and girls in her class that she's finding herself pulled towards, though she's rather obvious to queues and hints dropped by friends and the people she's been speaking wit. But out of all the people she's met there's a certain blunette who is clever and adorable.

╔═══*.·:·.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.·:·.*═══╗

Sailor Regulus

╚═══*.·:·.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.·:·.*═══╝

:Name:

Sailor Regulus

:Guardian Starseed:

She holds the starseed for the only large planetary body in the Regulus system which takes its name from its star. It is a dry planet, prone to boom and bust seasons, covered by various arid biomes and mysteriously pure wellsprings.

There are labyrinthine red sand dunes that tower and shift in cool breezes. And vast salt pans claimed by ancient bequeathed by transitory seas, landlocked places of death and hopelessness. The creatures that live there are strange, opportunistic scavengers.

Much of its population is nomadic, and palm groves sprouting from river wadis provide respite along migration routes but it is the permanent oasis that are the jewels of civilization. Lying above boundless aquifers, they grow plants like apricots, dates, figs, and olives. Their markets weave brightly woven cotton and trade lustrous opal, tanzanite, garnet, emerald and diamond.

:Realm of Influence:

Much of her powers come from her totem symbol, the lion. It represents family, courage and protection.

:Past Life:

In the depths of space, many aeons ago was King Nemea, the Lion Majesty. He was rumoured to be immortal due to his impenetrable armour and powerful weapons. He would fight the agents of Chaos, shining as a beacon of hope as golden as the sun.

He doted on his five daughters and he vowed he would always protect them. When they were married he gave each of them an heirloom to pass down through the generations. Denebola his breastplate, Subra his pauldrons, Chort his cuirass, Zosma his girdle, Algieba his greaves and Regulus his crown to unite them. Time passed and history vanished into legend.

Until one day a ferociously cruel mercenary named Alcides consulted the Oracle of Ophiuchus; The Pythoness. He yearned for immortality and she told him of the renowned armour of the Lion Majesty. He and his legionaries (Achilles, a powerful, arrogant warrior. Perseus, a brilliant strategist. Orpheus, an enchanting musician. And Aeneus, alluring beauty.) struck down each of the royal families of the Leo Alliance. With each fallen star he took their Artefact, bringing him closer to the all powerful, undying conqueror he knew was his destiny.

The King Othniel (Lion of Kings) and Queen Ariel (Lion of God) of Regulus knew of his approach and feared for their daughter. They used the Silver Millennium Cotillion as an excuse to smuggle Princess Leocadia (Splendid Brightness of the Lion) and her guard Sapphire out of the system, leaving behind her parents and sisters. There she was briefly introduced to Silver Queen Serenity, her daughter and the inner princesses who made her feel at home.

The peace was short-lived as the Moon Kingdom was struck down. Sailor Regulus was separated from the senshi and although she fought valiantly, she also lost her life. She was also reincarnated, although perhaps not as intended.

However Grand Regis Alcedes hasn’t given up. With five of the six artefacts he has only aged ten years of the one thousand , but it is ten years he will make the heir of Nemea regret. After years of searching he has finally found the key to life eternal and nothing. Will stand in his way.

:Allies/Team Mates:

Leo Senshi:

Long ago it was expected Sailor Regulus would replace her father as the guardian of Regulus when she came of age and part of that responsibility would be leading the senshi of the Leo Alliance.

In his quest for the Artefacts, it is thought that the Great King Alcedes killed them and their starseeds returned to the Galaxy Cauldron. It is unknown if they have reincarnated but likely they would be drawn to the remaining heir.

Sailor Denebola - MIA

Sailor Subra - MIA

Sailor Chort - MIA

Sailor Zosma - MIA

Sailor Algieba - MIA

Inners:

Although only a year younger than the Inners, Regulus is the baby of the senshi still finding her feet. Venus is a wonderful leader and teacher, as is Artemis. Together they patrol the night searching for leads. However she feels herself warm and flustered as she gets to know Sailor Mercury.

Spirit Guide:

When King Othniel sent his daughter to the Silver Millennium Cotillion he sent her personal guard, Captain Saphira with her. She died defending Princess Leocadia and when she was reincarnated on Earth she vowed she would never fail her again.

Captain Saphira belongs to the planet Hund, a species like the Mauese have the ability to switch between canine and human form. They are well appreciated across the galaxy for their loyalty and determination. Captain Saphira’s canine form bears a striking resemblance to Earth’s golden retrievers. Unfortunately since reincarnating she hasn’t been able to transform back into her human form.

Saphira has a sisterly protection of Seishin, and is often all that stands between her and Akura’s bullying.

Know your enemy, know your enemy and you know the key to victory. She spends a lot of time with Sailor Mercury researching Alcedes past conquests to fortify their team for the coming fight. She believes in preparation and cringes at Sailor Regulus’s rash behaviour in battle.

:Henshin Item:

Given to her in a flash of light by her bodyguard Saphira, she received the Ring of Regulus. Although she was expected to have her own transformation item forged when she came of age, there was no time. King Othniel pressed his own ring, that which transformed him into the warrior Lion Heart, into her palm as she left for the Silver Millenium.

It is a golden ring with a sapphire clenched in the jaws of a maned lion’s head. The sapphire is inscribed with the symbol of Leo. It’s a little loose but Seisen treasures it as a link to her past.

:Henshin Phrase:

Seishen reaches to the sky with her hand aloft and ring finger gleaming. She shouts "Leo! Regulus! Give me strength!"

Bright blue flames erupt from the sapphire, coalescing into the the form of a lion’s head behind her before dissolving in tongues of fire. They lick out, wrapping around her body to form her bodice and skirt. They tangle with her arms and legs to reveal her heels and gloves. Finally the head roars again, blowing her hair in turmoil and on her brow gleams her symbol before forming a teardrop shaped sapphire burning with an inner fire.

The sapphire flames whirling around her body recede back into the lion which bellows one more time as Sailor Regulus poses and prepares to attack.

:Symbol:

:Guardian Challenge:

“Arising for the fires of battle, I am the lion hearted Sailor Regulus and with pride I’ll protect! Surrender now or face my wrath!”

:Guardian Fuku:

Sailor Regulus is wilder than her civilian counterpart. Her body is distinctly feminine, with breasts and flaring hips. Her silky hair is long and unruly, an untamed mane that flies around her in battle. Her scruffy fringe hides that she doesn’t have a tiara, but a teardrop shaped sapphire between her eyes that glows and flashes as she becomes more emotional.

With white signalling calm and cool, blue signalifying feelings of sorrow, pink flustered, red overwhelming rage and black.

Her sailor colour is midnight blue with gold and white trim in a lattice edge. Her bodice is two layered, black with wite over, trimmed in gold with golden hip guards. Her skirt is also two layered, pleated white with an overlay of midnight blue, lighter and more flowing. Her blueblack gloves have metallic rings with tufted white fur. She wears white open toed sandals just over her ankles.

:Weapon:

Her ancestral weapon is the Lion Rampant, a urumi or whipsword that would lash like claws.

:Attacks:

Regulus Roaring Rush

Regulus crosses her arms across her chest before flinging them wide with a guttural scream. Behind her the majestic maned lion head lets out a deafening roar, stunning the enemy and sending them flying in furious winds.

Regulus Claw Crush

Regulus swipes her claw like fingers through the air and spectral claws maul the enemy again and again.

Regulus Lion’s Pride

Regulus stands tall, her body beginning to glow as one by one five giant phantasmic lions begin to burn with silver auras. With the final word they lunge to destroy the enemy.

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ✯ ⋅.} ────── ⊰

╔═══*.·:·.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.·:·.*═══╗

Trivia

╚═══*.·:·.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.·:·.*═══╝

Lei motif: Ed Sheeran - Celestial

Transformation Theme: Head Of The Table

Battle Music: Let's Light It Up

#sailormoon #sailormoonoc #otaku senshi #sailor moon oc #sailor moon #otakusenshi #sailormoon oc #fansenshialliance #leo alliance

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skretri · 6 months

Note

What is Icelys favorite Animes ?? :o

damn list made by a damn "anime expert"

(It was my friend who is kin & Icely irl) @exiiiqqu

-Naruto/Naruto Shippuden

-SPY X FAMILY

-One pice

-Cardcaptor Sakura

-Gintama

-Kimetsu No Yaiba

-Sailor Moon

-Gintama

-Death Note

-Fairy Tail

-Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid

-Seishun Buta Yarou wa Bunny Girl Senpai no Yume wo Minai

-Dragon Ball

-Bleach

-Yu-Gi-Oh

-One Punch Man

-Dororo

-Pokémon

-Sonic X

-Evangelion

-Toradora

-Inuyasha

-Jujutsu Kaisen

-Saiki K.

-Tokyo Revengers

-Banana Fish

-Hunter X Hunter

-Fullmetal Alchemist

-Kinnikuman

-Slam Dunk

-Candy Candy

-Ranma ½

-Boku No Hero

-Cowboy Bebop

-JoJo's Bizarre Adventure

-Clannad

-No Game, No Life Zero

-Dungeon ni Deai o Motomeru no wa Machigatteiru Darō ka

#icely oc #icely bsaf #bsaf #between seasons and freezings #simon bsaf #simon oc

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magpie-sherlock · 1 year

Note

Write some ✨fluff✨, any characters you want just vibing on a fall day playing in fallen leaves 😌😌

Could be lu or something else!

OR you can draw that prompt!

ehehe fluff. time likes leaves, right?

"RAAAAAH!" Wild slams a ball of leaves onto Twi, who squawks in surprise and stumbles.

"Wild!" Twi shouts, spitting bits of leaves out. "I swear to Hylia-" he grabs his own ball of leaves and throws it at the Champion.

The Chain had been dumped in Wild's Hyrule, specifically the Akkala region. The reds and oranges on the trees were a welcome difference from the miles of green they had been traveling through. Warriors had immediately started gushing about pumpkin spice, to which Legend's response was usually in between a scoff and trying to slap the Captain.

Wind watches the older boys throw leaves at each other, curious. Time walks up behind him. "Something on your mind, Sailor?"

"Why are the leaves orange?" Wind asks.

Four whips around in surprise, having overheard the situation. "What do you mean, 'why are the leaves orange?' It's autumn!"

The sailor's eyes widen. "Your guys' leaves turn orange in autumn?"

Sky join in on the conversation. "Yours don't?"

"Palm trees are green all year," Wind shrugs, before looking over at where Wild and Twilight had made a leaf pile. "Ooh, what are they gonna do with that?"

"Jump in it, probably," Time chuckled. "How'd Wild rope the Rancher into that?"

Wind runs over to where the leaf pile was being built. Hyrule follows him, eager to join in on the chaos. The four discuss their plan, laugh, and continue building up the leaf pile. Sky and Four start looking at the leaves, trying to identify each tree. Legend walks up to Time and rolls his eyes.

"Can you please get Wars to shut up?" the Vet asks. "He's been talking about pumpkin spice for the past thirty minutes, and I can't take it anymore. You should be glad I haven't strangled him yet."

Time laughs. "Go join in on the leaf pile. Or you can join the on-going leaf identification debate between Sky and Four."

Legend nods. "That doesn't involve pumpkins. I'll do that." He walks over to Sky and Four, and the three get lost in their conversation about leaf shapes.

Now it's War's turn to walk up to Time. "How are you, Old Man?" he asks. "Not going to join in on the fun?"

Time smirks. "I will. I just need to get my armor off first. Leaves and armor don't go well together." He takes off his breastplate and lays it down by the Chain's pile of stuff. He rolls out his shoulders and sighs, taking a look at his surroundings, head-counting his boys. They're all safe. They're happy. He looks at Wars, who has a wicked grin on his face. "Alright, ready."

"Good," Wars says, and waves over the leaf pile gang, who all come running. Before Time knows what's going on, they all dunk leaves on his head, yelling and laughing. Wars stands off to the side, laughing. He's glad to see that his men are happy. They needed this break.

"GAH! Wild!" Time picks up the Cook like a log, and reaches for Wind, who runs away cackling.

~~~~~

Later, Sky, Legend, and Four come back from their leaf escapade, looking like they're carrying miniature flames with all the leaves they're holding. Warriors waves them over to the leaf pile, where the rest of the Chain has collapsed, sleeping or half-asleep. "They had a leaf-pile battle," the Captain clarifies.

Sky laughs and falls into the leaf pile, snuggling up next to Wind. Four scoots in between Wild and Hyrule. Legend chuckles. "You gonna join them?" he asks Warriors.

The Captain shakes his head, smiling. "I'm okay. I only watched the fight."

Legend sits down next to Wars and sighs, smiling. "I like autumn."

Wars nods and hums in agreement. They watch the wind shake the trees, making the leaves tremble like flames.

#a question for 'lock #'lock writes apparently #ahaha!!! did it!!!#its so hard to type on a bus dcvgbfhnt #hope u like it!!! /gen #hello lovely anon <3 #linked universe #lu

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iam-what-killed-the-dinosaurs · 6 months

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Anime Poll

#sick polls #anime memes #anime #retro anime #90s anime #old anime #tumblr fyp #text post #love #polls #tumblr polls #my polls #random polls

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dearayei · 5 months

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Holiday Break Productivity

As a lady born in the year of the "Horse" 🐎, it is a natural characteristic of ours to always do something productive, even during breaks. This holiday break should have been a rest or game day for me, but instead I practiced my drawing skill and continued reading "Ikigai," which I hadn't opened in weeks.

I've been practicing different "emotions or feelings" in chibi, as I haven't drawn chibis in a while.

I used to sketch "anime" rather than chibis or illustration back in elementary because I was a big fan of ✨ 90s anime ✨ like Fushigi Yuugi, Ghost Fighter, Ranma 1/2, Flame of Recca, Hell Teacher Nūbē, Oh my Goddess!, Sakura CardCaptor, Boys Be, Gatekeepers, Slam Dunk, HunterxHunter, Sailor Moon, and many more.

Unfortunately, I don't have a copy of my sketches today because I used to draw on notebooks or pad papers - I remember back in primary school, my classmates would pay me PHP 5.00 - 20.00 💰💰💰 (yup! business-minded since I was a kid 🤣) to draw their favorite anime which technically honed my skill in creating anime art and marketing/sales, but as I grew older, I outgrown drawing animes and now I prefer to draw still life or illustrations/chibis since I love anything kawaii and sketching beautiful landscape or places.

Book Review: Ikigai (Chapter 1 to 3)

I promised myself to finish this book by May 🎯; please don't get me wrong, on why I'm still not done reading this book its because I didn't have a time for reading this past few weeks due to my workload (my job), but this holiday I made sure to allocate 3-4 hours just to read this book and discovered that...

Ikigai is one of my favorite book out of my 7 new self-development books and I am now currently on Chapter 4: How to turn work and free time into space of growth - very timely to what I need nowadays, isn't it? 😀

To give you an idea why I love this book so far, one of the reason is that it tackles on how we determine our life's purpose and reasons to live more, like the centenarians in Okinawa, Japan. It also emphasize the importance of maintaining physical health by staying active even after we reach the age of 60, since sedentary lifestyle can lead to hypertension, imbalanced diet, cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, and even some cancers. Sleep plays an important role in how we can slow the aging process and build our immune system because "melatonin" is a powerful antioxidant in our bodies that contains an ingredient that protects us from cancer, Alzheimer's disease, aging, and other diseases.

This book also discussed "Logotherapy," a therapy developed by Victor Frankl that focuses on people's search for meaning in life. Unlike other therapies, logotherapy takes a spiritual approach. Frankl's logotherapy incorporates three philosophical and psychological concepts: freedom of will, will to meaning, and meaning in life.

Freedom of will asserts that we have the ability to chose and take action in response to both internal and external circumstances.

Will to meaning states that we have the freedom to follow our goal and purposes in life, which means this is our major motive for existing and doing, allowing us to bear pain and suffering.

Meaning in life is a subjective experience, but the meanings exist within us and waiting to be realized by us in any moment or in any situation.

One of the therapies that this book also tackles is the "Morita Therapy," a therapy based on the Buddhist perspective and developed by Dr. Shoma Morita, wherein the therapy focuses more on accepting the fluctuations of thoughts and feelings, embracing negative emotions, and learning how to blend with nature - if you ask me, it is quite similar to what we've learned from Grandmaster Lao Tzu (Taoism) which is

"Go with the flow, Be like water 🌊"

Sounds very profound, isn't it? �� The first time I heard that, I was perplexed: how and why be like water? Then our Grandmaster taught us the value of being fluid, soft, and flexible in any situation, just like water, which takes shape wherever you put it and can adjust to any environmental changes.

Change is inevitable and if you resist it, problems will arise in your life and that's why our ancient philosophers taught us the importance of adaptability, because change is constant and not fixed; our lives are the result of constant change in our environment, feelings, emotions, interpersonal relationships, religion, and so on, and those who adapt easily win life, whereas others rot in the past, are unable to move on with their lives, and are depressed.

Like "Morita Therapy," embrace the imperfections in your life, welcome them with open arms, and acknowledge that the sentiments or emotions you're experiencing are valid. Simply accept how things are and then figure out how to mend them or overcome your own demons.

I'm about halfway through the book, but I'm looking forward to get more insights and teachings from Ikigai.

I definitely suggest this book to everyone who has ever felt empty on the inside, unable to discover their purpose in life, or simply lost.

Sincerely, Ayei 🌻

#ikigai #self help #books #practice #digital art

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destinygoldenstar · 8 months

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Just A Little Rewrite Of The Character Of Marinette Dupen-Chang/Ladybug (Part 1; Origins)

Hey y’all. So I never expected to come here.

I’m doing rewrites of characters as exercise cause why not? I always need to be writing otherwise my skill goes rusty.

I don’t have a wonderful history with this show. I remember watching season one as a kid, but I didn’t go beyond that because I got bored. I thought it was just a me thing and I was more attracted to serialized kids shows like Ninjago and the books of Sailor Moon. (Yes, that’s serialized.) As a kid I liked the books more than the 90s show and I think that’s a completely personal thing.

I think that’s just my personal preference, I tended to gravitate towards serialized shows a lot more and just have episodic shows as background noise.

But I posted before what drove me back in to this show. My GF’s sisters were a fan of the show, and the movie was coming out at the time. So I was forced to watch it with them and thought it was decent.

They hated Ninjago without even seeing it besides clips, and I liked that. We both saw these respective shows as childish junk without much intrigue and value. So I made a deal with them that I’d watch Miraculous if they watched Ninjago. They actually started to like Ninjago after seeing its compelling story unfold. They didn’t think it was serialized. As for me on the Miraculous show after seeing it Seasons 1-5, I expected that to be the case for me too…

What a surprise, I didn’t see the appeal and even got uncomfortable and upset at some points.

I would say why, but honestly, there’s so many YouTube videos online that pretty much say the same things as to why it didn’t work for me.

It’s too long, the villain suffers from the length and is a joke, the main character is a stalker, the secondary is a sidelined joke, they hate a teenage bully but give a middle aged terrorist a pass, messy lore, promotion of toxic behavior-etc. I’d just be repeating.

So instead of doing that, I got a cool idea that I got from one of the sisters. She asked “Well if you’re so much better than professional writers, how would you do it?”

I am NOT better. Keep that in mind. I’m just a scatterbrained person who likes to write and has personal preferences.

I do see the appeal with this show. Again, I was a Sailor Moon Stan as a kid, I liked Pretty Cure, magical girl properties are my special interest. So this show should’ve been a slam dunk for me. It has a very compelling IDEA of the secret identities putting a strain on a relationship between two leads, and the main villain being the father of one of them.

So… how would I bring forth the potential of this story? Well, there’s a lot more factors than you think. That’s why I’m going to only going to be focusing on one factor for now. (I’ll do Adrien/Cat Noir in another post)

I’ll see how this does, and depending on if people like it or hate it, I’ll continue and flesh out this rewrite idea.

So… love it or hate it, here you go.

The show’s theme introduces you to the idea of Marinette as a character:

“In the daytime, I’m Marinette. Just a normal girl with a normal life. But there’s something about me that no one knows yet, cause I’ve got a secret.”

Except, a more accurate description is ‘perfect girl with a perfect life’ because that’s how the story presents her a lot of the time. I can get behind being above average in privilege, but I can’t get behind none of her very blatant flaws being called out. This girl actually kinda scares me.

I wouldn’t mind it if her stalking-possessive nature was called out and a focal point for character development, but it’s not. I wouldn’t mind it if it was just placed in one bad episode, but it’s nearly EVERY episode.

I honestly don’t know if she’s better or worse than Total Drama’s Sierra…. Honestly I’d say Sierra’s worse cause she’s in a more sexual show, but I can definitely see arguments otherwise. (Y’all who know my blog, know I DESPISE Sierra as a character)

That, and Marinette’s essentially a ‘perfect person’ in the narrative and can do no wrong, to the point where she’s instantly a great Miraculous holder episode 1. It’s hard to relate to her, which I’m supposed to.

So I’m going to be rewriting her character to have a legit arc, and a likeable character.

Keep in mind that I am not here to ‘replace’ the original version. If you love the canon Marinette and the canon show, then by all means, love it. This is just an exercise and it’s not meant to be personal.

And uh, EDIT: This was originally gonna be one post, but… the essay got way too meaty and long, so I’m splitting it up into parts, parts being the significant points of growth Marinette has in this rewrite version. So… you guys like what I have so far, I’ll definitely continue this.

So, here’s my version of Marinette Dupen-Chang, AKA Ladybug.

Before I begin with Marinette, I have to address her status as Ladybug, and in order to do that I have to address the Miraculous, and in order to do that I have to address the power system, and in order to do that I have to change said rules.

In short, the original show is 130 Episodes long, not counting any specials. I feel like those can just be supplemental and I won’t be addressing them here. So many episodes are filler and this is ridiculous. It also hurts the threat of the villain when one story arc is THIS long.

So in this version, it’s NOT 5 Seasons of the Hawk Moth story arc.

Instead, it’s 2 Seasons.

How many episodes per season? I wrote all the episodes of seasons 1-3 on notes, cut out the episodes that were either filler or contained content I cut, or were just flat out offensive, and I STILL got a big number, so… I definitely plan it to change.

Yes there’d still be filler episodes with this logic, but it’s also not fast enough that the story feels like it’s going too fast, and personally, I don’t hate there being filler. So I can keep SOME.

But which episodes I’d keep in and which ones I’d cut out is a discussion for another day. If I mention an episode that means it’s not cut. That’s a given.

Basically, the Season 3 finale is now the season 1 finale. And the Season 5 finale is now the season 2 finale and the end of the story arc.

Cool?

Next, the lore regarding the Miraculous.

In the original show, there’s multiple Miraculous with different powers, and the Ladybug and the Cat Noir Miraculous are deemed the most powerful due to their abilities of creation and destruction respectively. And these Miraculous have been carried down from user to user since earth existed.

ALL of that is being carried over here. I have no problem with those rules.

But I am changing how the Miraculous work.

You can NOT swap users Willy Nilly. Whoever is linked to the Kwamii of a Miraculous is the ONLY one who can activate those powers. The only way to break that link is by using certain abilities that permanently cut that link. More on this later. (So NO Scarabella, no other ALT user, it’s just Marinette who can access it)

How does Hawk Moth plan to use the Ladybug and Cat Noir Miraculous to grant wishes with that logic? Miraculous’s powers can be released if they are broken, relieving their Kwamiis and ending the cycle of that Miraculous Hero forever. But if the powers are released, anyone can get their hands on it when they’re released, so you know, someone could use that to grant a wish of theirs.

I’m hesitant on this one, but regarding the ‘After you use a certain ability you only have five minutes left before you de-transform and have to replenish your Kwamii’. The rule itself is fine, it’s just broken constantly, especially in later seasons. Yeah in episode length it’s realistic but in universe some of these are definitely taking more than five minutes. So I WILL keep that rule but increase the time limit to TEN minutes. Not five.

In regards to the Ladybug Miraculous specifically. This one is important. The specific abilities themselves.

She has Lucky Charm, where she can summon a random item to aid her. Okay. Simple.

She has the ability to capture the Akumas. Okay. That’s pretty vital story-wise. Fine.

Then the titular Miraculous Ladybug…

Yeah fixing literally everything I removes consequences like property damage, people getting hurt or killed, etc.

So you’re probably thinking “Okay, this is where she cuts this power entirely so there’d be actual consequences”

Well… you’re actually wrong.

Yes, I didn’t remove this ability. But I DID change the rule for it.

Remember when I said the only way to break a Miraculous link is by using a certain ability that cuts the link permanently?

This is that for the Ladybug Miraculous.

You CAN use Miraculous Ladybug. And it DOES restore everything to its proper fixed state. (Physically.) EVERYTHING. All at once.

BUT, by doing this, the user resigns. Unable to use any power from the Ladybug Miraculous ever again. Any strength or power they got from the Miraculous is gone.

Once it’s explained to Marinette, and essentially the audience, it’s a stake of whether or not she should use that ability. Especially when there’s multiple consequences in battles that could be fixed. She could fix it. She could fix the world and resign and go back to her normal life. But when Hawk Moth would still be around, that’s not the right thing to do.

Why do I bring this up?

Well one it’s to keep in mind for some character choices. And two, it’s so I can reveal another big change on Master Fu. One that impacts Marinette’s character.

Master Fu is still the guardian of the Miraculous box. But he’s NOT the user of the Turtle Miraculous. He’s not a current Miraculous user at all.

Before Marinette, Master Fu was the previous user of the Ladybug Miraculous.

Yep.

First off, it’s my firm belief that all Miraculous are bound by no gender.

Second, the Ladybug Miraculous are basically one of the two most important, and considering the Cat Noir Miraculous Users hold the power of DESTRUCTION, why would the guardian of the box NOT be the Ladybugs?

Third, this establishes a connection between Marinette and Master Fu. But what exactly is that connection aside from “He used to have this power that he is now carrying down to her”?

That’s where we get into the Origins, where we’re starting discussions about certain key episodes.

Origins

The Origins episode begins not with an info dump narration, but with a little narration from our main character.

“In the daytime, I’m Marinette. Normal girl. Normal life. But there’s something about me no one knows yet, cause everything’s about to change for me.”

This is a younger version of Marinette. About 6-7 years old. She’s playing with her mom’s hat on the window seat of a bus.

She and her mom are on this bus moving to Paris France as Chinese Immigrants, as her mom is now engaged to a local baker that lives here.

Yes Marinette’s parents in the show weren’t married until just a few months after this flashback’s event. And this dad is adoptive and not biological. It’s not very huge on the story, maybe it could be discussed in a filler episode, but all it does is make Marinette not half Chinese, just Chinese.

If you’re gonna have your MC be non-white, have your MC be non-white. Especially if there’s the opportunity.

Anyway, the mom and daughter get off the bus and enter the city, and after some establishing shots on how grand Paris is (in fantasy land, anyway), the bus leaves, but Marinette’s mom realizes she misplaced their passports on the bus and runs after it to go get it back, telling Marinette to wait on the bench and play with the hat.

She does, wondering if she should put something in it as a pleasant surprise for mommy, and then…

Paris gets attacked.

In an almost dream-like state, black butterflies swarm the place, with people screaming and running. Some people not being fast enough and turning to stone once the butterflies make contact with them.

Think Chat Blanc, that’s kinda what it looks like.

Marinette watches it all stuck in place, unsure what to say or do.

That is until a voice demands the surviving citizens to go a certain direction.

That’s when the Ladybug appears in view, leaping in vision heroically and using their magic yo-yo to capture the dark butterflies. It re-directs them, but there’s too much for them to handle. They try, though.

We’ll learn, not here, but in a later episode, that this is Master Fu.

Marinette watches in awe of the ideal perfect looking hero handling the threat the best they can. All while they’re pleading to some ‘cat’ to stop this.

I’m gonna leave it at that here, but TLDR, this is to indicate that the previous Cat Noir (Not Adrien) is one of the villains causing this. Or at least working with the previous Hawk Moth. (Not Gabriel)

Anyway, this allows the Ladybug to take their guard down, and it results in him to direct the butterfly swarm the wrong way, leaving them to hit Marinette.

From there, her vision goes dark. But we know what happened to her.

We stay in her POV as we can’t see anything, but just hear the voice of the Ladybug.

“I’m sorry… it’s all my fault… but I’ll fix everything the only way I know how.”

We see a flash of red, and him decreeing,

“MIRACULOUS LADYBUG”

And just like that, red floods Marinette’s vision, and then starts to open up again to reveal Paris again.

Only, it’s perfectly normal, and back to the pretty state we originally saw it.

The Ladybug is nowhere to be found.

Marinette’s mom comes running to her daughter, grabbing her hand to take her away, terrified about what just happened.

Still, Marinette looks around for the hero that saved her. Confused. Curious. As an actual ladybug flies away in the sky.

*Queue Opening*

Keeping a shot of the sky, we follow the ladybug down to the bakery home that the Dupen-Changs love in.

Their house is the same as in the original. (Anyone else want that bedroom?)

The ladybug flies to the window of Marinette’s room and we see a few shots of fashion concept art, almost all of them with red and black colors. There’s also a few kid drawings on the wall of Ladybug and different variations of what her hero looked like. (None of them are accurate)

This is a show don’t tell way of giving the audience a good indication of Marinette’s character and how this prologue impacted her. She’s not only looked up to this heroic figure, but was also inspiration to apply to her fashion designing profession.

(Yeah anyone remember she was a fashion designer? That’s actually one of the aspects of her original character I unironically liked. I miss the old days when girls can be girly. So yeah, that’s definitely being kept here.)

It’s early in the morning. But we see Marinette, now a fourteen year old student, getting ready for school in a quick (like ten second) easy to digest establishment.

You may notice my concept art for Marinette on this post and that I added an ALT outfit to her original civilian design. Well this is why, and this is where we see that.

She does everything to make the look PERFECT in this scene. Re-tying the shoe laces to be perfectly even, adjusting the jacket collar to be perfectly firm, and trying to put gel in her hair to hide the cowlicks from her OG and Ladybug design.

The point is clear, again show don’t tell, that Marinette is a perfectionist who values her appearance. Though not in the diva way like Chloe, more so she cares about how other people see her.

This is gonna be a constant for this version of her character. She cares a lot about finding what she deems as the best version of herself, and beats herself up when she fumbles at that or makes mistakes, mistakes that she makes A LOT. Because she’s only human. However, with her idealism of Ladybug, she’s non self aware that she’s deeming ‘the best Marinette’ as a completely different person.

(I’m going for a theme of self love here.)

She even went as far as having made a ladybug patterned hat to display for school today. Which she sheds nervousness about.

She gets called by her mom to breakfast, and in the frantic pursuit, Marinette says she’ll be right there, fixes her hair again, and runs down the stairs-

-Only to trip over them.

Yeah she’s still clumsy. I didn’t write that out.

Her mom asks if she’s okay, to which she gives the thumbs up, and from there we get a similarly framed breakfast scene from the original.

There’s some changes to context though: It’s NOT the first day back at school. It’s not the first day of school at all. No, it’s only the first day for Adrian, who is transferring this day.

But Marinette doesn’t know that, nor does she know who Adrian is right now. (Because Gabriel keeps his son locked away until the agreement to let Adrian go to school.) So in a post about rewriting Marinette, I’m not gonna touch on Adrian centric scenes.

No, instead in this scene Marinette is concerned about a student council meeting. Saying “I bet Chloe will shut down my ideas again.”

Yes. Marinette is a part of the student council. An addition here.

She’s not the president though. She’s the fundraising officer.

The student body president is Chloe Bourgeois. Other student council members include but not limited to: Sabrina, Kim, and Zoe Lee. (Yes Zoe Lee is here from the start. She’s not a half sister, she’s a full sister. A twin.)

So not only is Marinette a part of this council, but in said council she is surrounded by Chloe followers. To get an idea of how… unfortunately treated she is there, as well as everyone supporting Chloe and her calls over Marinette’s, or anyone else’s. Not because they like Chloe, but because she’s the daughter of the mayor and therefore intimidating. So nobody wants to get on her bad side.

It also paints Marinette in the light of ‘I can’t speak up for myself or say my opinion if I know what’s good for me.’

Anyway blah blah her mom tells her that the hat fundraiser for a local insect zoo is a good idea, Marinette knocks over the breakfast stuff and is ashamed, her dad making his first appearance gives her the macaroons as a bonus, and she happily leaves for school saying she loves them.

The parents are loving and supportive in the original and I have no problem with that.

We get her running to school, finding an old Master Fu nearly getting hit, and her saving him at the expense of the macaroons.

Here’s the only change to that scene: (Aside from the Fu scene before not being here in favor of that prologue) Fu is NOT trying to test anyone here. He’s just an old guy now, and without any Miraculous powers, age caught up to him. Instead during the save and the crashing of Macaroons, Marinette scuffles to save a few whole ones, and accidentally includes the Miraculous Box in that mix.

Yes I know the box in the original is bigger than a macaroon, in this version let’s pretend it’s much smaller to fit an accident like this realistically happening.

After she leaves, Fu realizes the earrings are gone, and he starts to panic a bit. He didn’t intend that to happen and is ready to go after her to get them back before she interacts with the power item. Only problem? He’s old and can’t get to her fast enough.

Just like in the original, Marinette goes to school and Chloe and Sabrina, in their introduction, kick Marinette out of her original desk to make way for Adrien. With of course the tweak that no one mentions first days, and another change that Alya is NOT in the same class as Marinette.

There’s a reason for this.

So instead of anyone defending Marinette, Marinette just takes it and moves on, sitting in the corner quietly. She doesn’t object, she doesn’t fight back, she just takes it.

From there we get Adrien transferring into their class for the first time. (Yes he actually shows up here.) And Marinette, at first, is more interested in fixing her hat, UNTIL the last name gets brought up by Chloe. To which she recognizes the name ‘Agreste’ as a famous fashion critic in Paris.

That knowledge makes her unwilling to approach the new guy, thinking he’s the same way and will critique her at every turn. After getting chastised for sitting at the wrong spot, she wants at least one period of a break from it.

After class, and after Ivan gets sent to the office for… I guess calling someone out for bullying you too loudly?? That’s gotta be the most brutally realistic this show will ever get. Marinette spends lunch focusing on fixing up her plans, and trips over again, ruining the macaroons left. At that point she decides to screw it and silently shun herself for failure.

But this is where Alya, from another class, comes up to help her out, recognizing her as the Fundraising Officer. Marinette is surprised that someone recognizes her and apologizes all over.

Alya was trying to find a student council member to help her pitch a campaign idea for a local insect zoo that she knows so she can send off her pet spider there for safety from her little sisters. (Yes Alya has a pet spider. My headcanon.)

Marinette, who already had plans, decides to add that to her paper to sell her point, and Alya gets to see her work. She loves the work, and also recognizes the Ladybug inspiration on her hat. She expresses that if Ladybug was still here, they’d be thrilled to see her looking out for the little ones.

Marinette says there’s no point as she’ll never be like that, but Alya uses her hero fanatic nature to pump her up and to stand up to Chloe to get her plan heard. Thus the start of their friendship as they introduce and hope to see each other more.

Two things: One, Marinette isn’t really friends with anybody in school up till this point. She’s not this overly popular figure that everyone worships. She’s just a regular girl who trips over her own feet, and is seen as the quiet girl in the corner in a crowd of cool kids.

Two, everyone knows Ladybug as the local superhero that whisked away years ago. Ladybug is famous in that sense, and kids especially talk about Ladybug like a perfect hero. All the more significant when a new person takes on the Miraculous.

Moving on with Marinette stuff, we have the student council meeting she attends. She’s in the back keeping to herself as, again, the rest of the council is Chloe and her followers. Yes Kim and Zoe Lee are her followers too, AT FIRST. It’s not just Sabrina.

As Chloe discusses the fundraiser plan for her mommy’s magazine plans, or whatever you want to say, (point here is that Chloe is someone who focuses on results SHE thinks will be beneficial. Not considering what those results do to others) she gets votes, well, she silently threatens them with a stare to vote on that idea, but remembering Alya’s words, Marinette decides to speak up.

She shares her idea that since she and Chloe are both fashionistas, especially Chloe, they can sell hats to fundraise not for magazines, but for the aid of an insect zoo in need of the support, to be a safe haven for those critters.

Only Zoey is fond of the idea, but she doesn’t get to say anything cause Chloe shoots down the others voices. Chloe shuts that idea down, saying it’s a terrible idea and “Who would EVER want to waste money on creepy crawling BEASTS?!” That fundraiser would fail.

Marinette tries to speak up that she knows how-

But Chloe shuts down all of it rather harshly, even going as far to ask if Marinette has the mayor’s support?

“No-“

“Then stay in your corner. Not every Ladybug wannabe has the essence.”

She flicks the hat off Marinette’s head, says that her stitching is rookie’s work, and proceeds to campaign HER idea. While everyone goes along.

While Marinette, again, takes it and moves on, hugging the hat tight the rest of the meeting.

I want to bring up that this is a show don’t tell explanation on why Marinette isn’t often targeted for Akumas, other than MC plot armor. She’s naturally a quiet pushover person at the start. She’s a perfectionist and that goes for unprofessional emotions. She doesn’t wear her emotions on her sleeve or allow herself to break when it’s not fit, so instead if she doesn’t get the results she wants, she keeps the fit and disappointment to herself as much as possible and moves on with her day. Not because she’s emotionless, not at all, she just can keep a level head better.

She’s not Jiang Kai Smith, she’s not an impulsive hot head. She CAN control her temper.

The next time we see Marinette is when Stonehart begins to attack, to which he goes rampaging around the school to look for Kim.

Because it’s implied the class we see in the original episode is the first period. There’s no way in hell Ivan would be dormant and just sit in the office the entire day till Kim left school. So instead he’s just attacking the school.

When the attack happens, all students are demanded to evacuate. You know, treating this like an actual serious emergency, until authorities arrive.

Marinette and Alya are in the same room when this happens, and Alya being Alya, decides to go after the monster and ignore orders. Marinette tries to go after her saying it’s too dangerous, but loses her when she breaks a corner. Stonehart’s damage on a wall cuts her off, and the girl is forced to hide in an alleyway alone. And rubble traps her there. (Not on her. Blocking the way out is what I mean.)

So you know that after this, Cat Noir is trying and failing to deal with it as we get Adrien getting his Miraculous, accepting the hero position right away, and going to have some fun.

Marinette has the last scene of the first part though, as she, in fear, is trying to calm herself down. Again that ‘she has a level head’ thing I talked about earlier. She decides to find a way out of her situation and rummages around her bag, to which she goes for the macaroon box…

And that’s where she finds the Miraculous Box.

Wondering what that’s doing here, she opens it up, it glows, and Tikki is revealed, waking up for the first time in years.

Marinette’s reaction is basically the same, freaking out and throwing whatever she has at the little bug mouse thing.

Tikki chastises the rude awakening. She’s been dormant for how long and THIS is the welcome back party she gets-

Only to realize it’s a scared girl that’s doing this, so she changes the attitude to calm her down.

In the original, Tikki is… super boring. Basically she’s just an exposition and lesson of the day dump, and the only personality she has outside of that is being nice. At least Plaag has personality.

Not this Tikki though. As this Tikki is… kind of arrogant.

She’s deemed one of the most powerful Kwamiis of one of the most powerful Miraculous ever. She’s had her fair share of users. And thus she has high expectations for all her users to be these perfect idealized heroes… and Marinette ain’t it. So naturally she’s nice, but she’s also strict with her ideals and prideful in her power and status and expects the best out of Marinette. (In short, she would NEVER deem Marinette ‘the best Ladybug ever’)

She has a bit of a character arc, so don’t think she’d be that unlikeable for very long. I just gave her a blatant flaw to make her more interesting.

Anyway, Tikki like in the original tries to calm Marinette down and pleads for her to help her. She doesn’t know why her previous master chose this girl as the new Ladybug, but fact of the matter is Marinette is the only one who can stop Stonehart.

Marinette starts listening at the mention of Ladybug. She could be Ladybug? She could be her hero?

Tikki, now that attention is granted, explains to Marinette her powers and how to capture the Akuma, and how to transform.

Marinette, without being ready, does, and transforms into Ladybug the first time.

To which her reaction is panicked screaming like in the movie.

Again, you seen my drawing on this post you see that I redid her Ladybug design.

The reason for this is simple: I just hate her design in the original show. Why is this minor wearing a body suit?!?!? On top of that it’s just a red body suit with black spots on it. I think you can do a lot more creative things with a superhero ladybug costume.

I will admit my redesign isn’t perfect. You can see a lot of my ‘magical girl stan go brrrr’. But I tried to keep the Ladybug motif as much as possible while also alluding to her Chinese heritage a bit. The gold around her black belt space is actually the yo yo string.

All I wanted to do with it was “NO minors are wearing body suits in this kids show! You can’t make me!”

Anyway, Part 2.

Marinette content is… at the same place we left her last episode.

Other than the setting of her being in an alleyway instead of her room, or an abandoned shop, this is literally just how the movie did it.

She finds the yo yo, gets yeeted outta there, gets swung to Notre Dame where the fight with Cat Noir and Stonehart was lured to.

And she crashes into Cat Noir. And they meet for the first time.

And their introduction to each other is… literally just the movie again. Seriously the movie did real good with this part. And, you know, the show could’ve used some more France landmarks than just the tower.

The only differences here that it’s Stonehart instead of the gargoyle. Which you can easily rewrite that design to be a stone gargoyle, it’s stone, it’s in the name. And Cat Noir had a plan to lure it here as a trap, that he was really confident about, but it fails. (He did become a superhero today after all)

Same chase from the movie just with that logic. Honestly this movie sequence did a really good job with setting up the two personalities of the heroes and keeping the lighthearted humorous tone of the show, while also being tense enough to keep interest.

But there really aren’t any citizens making watermelon jokes, cause most of them know Ladybug as a concept already. I can see Adrien, being shut out from the outside and all of that, making watermelon jokes and not knowing, but everyone else? Nah.

Not even the spot vision needs to be changed, as that’s just how Marinette thinks. It’s not part of her power, it’s just her. And I love seeing that thought process.

Same results too; They lure Stonehart in gargoyle form to a train station, Cat Noir gets his foot stuck, Ladybug saves him, and the train proceeds to run over the creature and destroy it.

Yes I know that’s not how Stonehart works in the show. I don’t care. This is beginner’s boss, let it be beginners boss. Regular rock monster. Not too complicated.

I know the magical girl formula well enough.

Anyway, there’s only one change here: This is NOT the end of Stonehart. As like in the show, the Akuma gets away to Ladybug’s neglect. Because she’s more worried if Cat Noir is okay.

The reason I use this sequence instead of the one in the show is because the origins episodes are supposed to be a two parter. As in two episodes tell one complete story. In the original though you have two instances of Marinette not being confident in her ability to be Ladybug, getting confidence to take on the role, fighting the villain, and winning. And then they just repeat the same thing again the next episode! Like what?!?! You don’t need her to have TWO instances of her learning the lesson!

So it’s just one of those instances here.

After they THINK the fight is said and done, Ladybug helps out Cat Noir as they both realize they’re surrounded by reporters and cops asking them questions.

Alya is one of them, asking if they’re the new Ladybug and Cat Noir.

To which Ladybug answers no. She’s not. In fact, she was thinking about handing that role to someone else, so… bye.

And she throws the yo yo and chickens out.

She goes to a… balcony? Bathroom? Closet? Somewhere that’s private. And de-transforms. Tikki congratulates the first fight, but Marinette isn’t too pleased with how that turned out. Tikki however assured her that it’s going to work out. They’ll get her in shape.

Marinette is about to leave, but then she sees in her view the multiple stone gargoyles around the city. All frozen.

Tikki asks if she captured the Akuma, to which Marinette realizes the mistake, and immediately starts beating herself up about it, saying over and over again that she can’t do this, she creates disasters for everyone, nobody like that could be Ladybug. Ever.

And Tikki doesn’t try to object, and simply states that if Ivan gets Akumatized again, this army comes to life.

To that, and realizing that the boy could be in danger, Marinette decides to go find him and help him. She may not be cut out for Ladybug, but she can’t just do nothing towards someone hurting.

She goes to a small hospital to find Ivan, and she asks a doctor how he’s doing. She says he’s not injured or sick at all, just distraught. He’s going to be okay.

Ivan is in a chair looking exactly that way. After a soft knock to let him know she’s here, Marinette tries to ask him personally what happened. He tries to be tense and say it’s of no business of some acquaintance like her, but she kindly insists, promising to not tell anyone any of it.

Not that she had anyone she was close to she could tell-but-whatever. You get it.

Still, Ivan refuses to speak. So instead Marinette goes to the crumbled paper, revealing that he was crushing on another girl in their class. Once she reads it aloud, Ivan says that Kim is always picking on him and taking advantage of his own feelings and he’s just sick of it.

Marinette, from her own experience, though without context here, says that she understands. “I get what you mean.”

This is vague enough to be taken into either context. Either she’s talking about Chloe, or Kim and her backstory with him from the original show, that… didn’t get cut entirely to your surprise.

Marinette says she’s no Cupid, but her advice is to at least try to get to know Mylene better. Maybe this could turn into a real thing one day.

Ivan is hesitant, saying he’s still mad at Kim, to which Marinette says “Then by all means, be mad at Kim. Just don’t let that possess your every waking thought is all.”

See I personally don’t like the message that ‘it’s better if everyone just stays happy’. You know me and my character, that’s not how I roll. So instead the message is ‘Control your negative emotions best you can. But when you have to feel them it’s okay to feel them, and the ones that take advantage of those feelings are the real bad guys.’

Ivan decides to call the school to see if she’s around, and Marinette decides to leave to give him privacy. What’s next on her mind is how to break the link between her and Tikki so she can hand off the Miraculous to someone else.

And as she wonders this, she bumps into Adrien, who also came to check on the Akuma victim. She tells him that Ivan’s fine and just needs privacy for now, then asks a little coldly what he’s doing here anyway.

Adrien says he was just… curious how he was doing. That’s all.

It’s awkward after that, as Marinette asks if he’s friends with Chloe. To which Adrien gets his line “Why does everyone keep saying that?”

Marinette tells him she doesn’t need another mental beating today and tries to brush him off, thinking he’s all on board for Chloe’s plans. Adrien tries to say something but is interrupted by Nathalie showing up and needing to talk to him.

Alya finds Marinette outside to gush about the footage she got of the ‘new ladybug’ that’s showed up, and this is basically the “What if Ladybug isn’t cut out to be a hero even though everyone thinks she is?” talk. It’s important because the way Alya describes Ladybug in this scene is what Marinette wants to be seen as, so it’s something she can take to heart.

That’s when Ivan gets Akumatized again and the Stonehart comes back. Though MyLene didn’t even show up or answer, that’s why he’s upset. So instead he goes after and captures Kim… and Chloe. Cause she’s a jerk.

It’s the same as in the show with Cat Noir taking action and failing, as he can’t capture Akumas, and Alya gets caught in the crossfire for Marinette to witness.

And well, because the last talk Marinette had before the fight was Alya’s impression of her, and in this version not too long ago, it’s more fresh in hers, and the viewers mind, and hits harder.

(They’re well done shots. I will give the producers that.)

During Marinette witnessing the peril, we also get some flashes of the incident in the prologue. As this is the same spot that happened, and is now replaying in her head.

She’s familiar with peril like this. She knows the fear that comes with it. But Ladybug was there to save her and everything else when it first happened.

And now it’s her turn.

She has to be that Ladybug to protect these people that need it.

So she puts on the earrings again and confirms to Tikki that she is, indeed, the new Ladybug.

It’s the same fight as in the show, not anything to change there, up until the Hawk Moth speech thing, as in this rewrites context this is actually the first time we get introduced to Hawk Moth.

And Ladybug swearing to stop him is a little more impactful here, as she recognizes the dark butterflies.

She captures the butterflies, leaving all that’s left to save Ivan… and hesitantly, Kim. Ladybug, predicting the Akuma is in the other clenched… claw? Thing? Idk. From an observation in the previous match, makes the plan to figure out how to open the fist.

Details of that plan is… not in my script, cause you can creative no matter what. But just know it doesn’t involve anyone ‘growing closer’ in this scenario.

They get it, both boys fall, Ladybug and Cat Noir save them, she captures the Akuma, the day is saved. Only change is that Ladybug doesn’t use Miraculous Ladybug, for obvious reasons, as the other stone beasts disintegrate with the Akuma, and just become rock rubble around people.

We can do a character centric episode on why MyLene wouldn’t show up to stuff like this. Maybe something regarding her family.

After the fight, Ladybug assures Ivan she personally will not blame him for this. That was Hawk Moth. Not him. Ivan is still disappointed he won’t get the chance to tell MyLene, but she tells him “Well, you see her in school, right? There’s multiple chances to speak up. Just… do it. Even if she says no, it’s worth it.”

Keeping that message in mind for herself, she’s already on her original desk the next day, watching a broadcast that the news reporter is explaining about the heroic return of a new Ladybug and Cat Noir. She also mentions the footage is from a minor that goes by the name Alya, who in an interview says she’s starting a blog to post footage of the presence of Ladybug and maybe play the detective and figure out her secret identity.

Chloe sees Marinette back in her original seat and demands that she gets lost. Only this time, Marinette stands up for herself, and tells Chloe to get lost. After a snarl, the blonde gives up.

Ms Bustier tells the class that they’re doing Chloe’s fundraising idea by majority vote, and Marinette sheds disappointment. Adrien notices.

Then we get the rain scene.

Adrien says hi, but Marinette isn’t in a mood to talk. So he decides to bring up a fact that he voted for her idea.

That gets her interest.

Adrien explains how he knows they don’t know each other very well, and knows that people have their opinions about him… but he’ll be the first to say his, that he respects people with a good heart. Hopefully that convinces someone that he really is trying.

And he’s rich, so… he can help her help that shelter anyway. And he offers her his umbrella. It’s the same scene from there, with Marinette developing her crush, making him laugh, and being all awkward while she watches Adrien leave.

The last scene of the origins episodes is of Marinette (and Adrien) having a letter appear behind them out of nowhere. Unsure how and what to expect, they read the letter. Which tells them both:

“Meet me at *the massage spa’s address* at Dawn tomorrow. Come transformed. We have a lot to talk about.”

“- Ladybug from 2000”

I think you know who that letter is from.

So you know what I’m going for with Marinette throughout the rest of the show, is giving her an actual character arc. An arc involving a theme of ‘self love’. You love someone, but if you’re gonna love someone, you gotta love yourself. And Marinette clearly doesn’t seem to think too highly of herself unless she’s Ladybug. That’s because she’s basically pretending to be someone else, someone she saw in her youth as a perfect figure, and what the public views her as. With all the responsibilities that come with her new role, she clings to the image of Ladybug, rather than Marinette herself.

With the nature of Akumatized victims being a focal point, and Marinette being one of the two main characters, there can be some cases where Marinette interacts with or even befriends some of her classmates or other townies that we’re just acquaintances with her before. All while she uses the Ladybug idea in her head as the reason why she succeeds. Not realizing that in the best cases, it’s all just her. Just Marinette.

Her crush on Adrien is also important, as unlike in the original, I want her to actually talk to him, maybe awkwardly cause she’s still a kid, but still talk to him and get to know him. If Adrien loves her, then that must mean she’s worth it. But they can’t click and become a couple because Marinette cannot love herself. For one reason or another that becomes apparent and her pretending to be another drives the boy away from a love angle.

Marinette is also a little more flawed, and are flaws that actually get called out in some episodes. This is apparent with the new Tikki dynamic, clashing with Marinette’s more humble nature. She’s a pushover in her normal Marinette self and unable to say no to anything. When she tries to go do what she wants it leads to recklessness you expect from any teenager. She also has trouble trusting some people, due to her backstory with Kim, which yes is kept, but one, there’s some edits to it, and two, this episode is gonna be moved to a Season 1 episode so it’s blatant it’s not an excuse but rather used as a base for lessons Marinette has to learn. And you know, explaining her actions not justifying them.

The idea that something like that can be viewed as PTSD and excuse for bad behavior in the writers eyes is honestly disgusting.

What was that Terrible Writing Advice quote?

“Why use trauma to explain behavior when you can use trauma to excuse behavior?”

Not this Marinette though. Maybe through her inability to speak up or confront a crush, there can be a few episodes, not every episode, where she does certain tactics. But here’s the thing: Unlike in the show, these will be viewed as BAD things to do. Ones she gets CAUGHT doing and is disciplined as such. One she needs to apologize for and learn a lesson that there’s much better ways to interact than being an obsessive psycho.

And definitely by season two, this stalker behavior is non existent. Because she would’ve learned the lesson already.

And you know, she isn’t gonna be the focal point of every single episodes, as I definitely want some to be Adrien centric, and even centric on other side characters.

Don’t think Adrien is neglected, he’s an entirely different topic as I didn’t mention his bits in these origins. Because his issues are different from hers.

Anyway I’ll try to get the next post of some other episodes that are Marinette centric in my eyes, if you guys like this version. Or not, you know, best be honest. That’s cool too.

#miraculous ladybug #miraculous au #marinette dupain cheng #ladybug and chat noir #tales of ladybug and cat noir #ladybug #rewrites #rewrite #character analysis #character designs #character redesign

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