#so valid anon

[sdv-confessions]

The petty reason why I dislike Haley is because she reminds me of a neighbor/classmate I had in elementary school (I used to live in a small town where all the kids attended the same school) who was also blond, haughty and used to pick on me over the dumbest sh*t ever.

.

[insertdisc5]

Please bear with me, if you have time I’d love to learn and I have a few questions about ISAT worldbuilding:

1. Is there a general time period that ISAT is based in? I’m assuming maybe the 16th or 17th century. Indoor plumbing didn’t become widely available to commoners until the 19th century, so do the villagers just use outhouses in their town? I assume the sinks in ISAT have buckets of water separately you pour into instead of fossetts with running water. Same with tech. I assume because of anxiety meds that medication is pretty modern but something like a pulse oximeter or cars wouldn’t exist in the ISAT world.

2. Does Dormont have a distinct alphabet different from any real world languages? Or not really.

3. This might be a dumb question, but do a lot of people live in the house? Like a college dorm/apartment sort of situation? Are there more houses around dormont or is what we see all there is in terms of housing?

4. Are there any specific swears that people call each other? Not slurs obviously (I wouldn’t ask for anything like that 😨) but things like the word b*st*rd, specifically derogatory words for people you don’t like? Or is that sort of thing unacceptable in the ISAT world and swear words for people don’t exist?

(i start crying and screaming in fear real loud)

[frownyalfred]

Cracky Pennywaynes scenario for your appreciation:

I can't remember if Alfred was still around in that comic arc where Bruce’s parents mysteriously come back from the dead, but now I'm just picturing them, still as young as they were at the time of their deaths, deciding he aged like fine wine and they WILL be fucking that old man. It could easily go angst (especially Alfred's POV) but I'm too amused by everyone dealing with the revelation that Bruce got some things from both his parents (like being sexually forward)

Bonus question is who of the batfam (if anyone) accidentally walks in on them, and how scarred are they from what they see?

I am LIVING for the image of Jeremy Irons’ Alfred standing there with his arms crossed, refusing to be embarrassed about his age in front of his two old hookups. But still wistful, in his own way.

Meanwhile Martha and Thomas both looked at Alfred for a long, silent moment, turned to each other, then turned back to Alfred.

“No,” Alfred said, already recognizing that expression. “Absolutely not.”

[saetiate]

wait that post u rbed... who do u think would be like the absolute worst to try and divorce

og post by saintshigaraki and sorry that this is getting answered like 3 months later it was stuck in my drafts

kaiser and reo i think but i’ll go through the ones i’m thinking of aka: sae, kaiser, reo, nagi, oliver, hiori, shidou.

i think reo has the potential to be very frightening in general. he has to take into account the Optics aspect as well in a divorce. he is football player and major corporation CEO and insanely popular socially and he’s very aware of people’s perceptions of him. that alone makes this very risky and this is not even yet taking into account his love for you.

he himself does not think you could realistically leave him because he’s got you tied up in at least 3 different contracts and all your bank accounts and phone packages and everything is under him. he’s very sure there’s nowhere you can go where he can’t track you. reo is much more prepared for this than anyone else, not emotionally but financially and in the sense of tracking you wherever you go. he’s already always done this. so he’s not scared of it happening, he’s just worried about you. "are you okay, baby? what do you need?" that kind of energy. but you can try. unfortunately money does buy a lot of things. everywhere keeps rejecting you, both houses and jobs. you stay with a friend but you eventually feel bad about being there for so long. you try to do something on your own and all your accounts get shut down. where else are you going to go?

for kaiser, if he feels a contract is the last thing that is tying you to him then he is holding that contract so tightly. i fully think kaiser would actually jail you into the house like he’s so crazy in a divorce situation. overnight all the door locks are the other way round. you have to somehow know him well enough to know he’ll do this so you have to pretend everything is fine without him noticing (level 1000 difficulty) and then just dip. and then he’ll tear the whole world open to find you. you’ll never get divorced but genuinely this might be the only way to be rid of him. you will never be able to go anywhere without being extra careful — no social media, pay with cash only, watch out for security cameras. @haruchiyos talks about this better and more than i could

sae won’t take you seriously if he thinks you’re just angry and might brush it off the first time round. but if you’re really genuine and calm about it he gets a little scared i think. he’s like you want this? really? and he loves you so he wants what you want a lot of the time but if he can truly see you being happier without him... he wants what’s best for you even if it’s this. but the despair is crazy. he will try every other solution before this but if he can really see you being happier without him, you could. it’s hard to get there though like what can someone provide for you that he can’t provide better? he’ll shoot all your problems down logically. sae is not a talker but for this he’ll talk it out. very pragmatic man imo

i think nagi is surprisingly bad at taking it. he’s usually relaxed about what you do to the point where you might even think he doesn’t care. you’ve never seen him so serious and he genuinely cages you into the countertop with his whole body. you have never seen him as threatening as in this moment where he's actually afraid you'll leave. you’re not leaving the house until he’s satisfied you’re not even considering it anymore. nagi is very sure anything u need can be worked out and will give in to whatever request you have

for oliver it's kind of akin to the five stages of grief. you're the one time he actually ever felt safe and secure in a relationship and you're deciding to ruin that. he says no at every turn. refuses to hear you out about this. also like nagi a very scary man and cages you in with his body because he has to capture you now. and then after this he’s switching up and going “whatever the problem is we can fix it” and trying to coax u into talking to him, like sae and hiori will do his best to come up w real solutions but he’s much more emotional about it. also tries to use sex to fix the issue since he knows that’s the one thing he’s good at. like kaiser u have to somehow leave before he catches wind that you want to in order for this to work. if you manage to do this, oliver would probably say some shit like if you want to divorce you have to come see me in person. see me and then i’ll sign. you see him. he doesn’t sign.

hiori similar to sae makes you talk it out w him. hiori is much more calm about it even if internally he’s going crazy. hears you out and affirms your every word and then solves every problem OR talks you in circles until you don’t even wanna bring it up anymore. if you're too adamant about it he'll very clinically sprain your ankle which user lorelune has written about

shidou gets this wide eyed look and similar to hiori is immediately sitting you down and taking in everything you have to say and hearing you out. most serious you've ever seen him. the hug that he wraps you in is tight. “whatever it is, we can work it out. we can do whatever you want. just not this” says it right into your ear. he’s so calm and scared all at once i think it’s pretty impossible that you don’t give in to him

if there's another chara you can come ask me about it ahaha

[yayll]

The jealous Dazqi post was so cute and funny and the callbacks to his past self were fun and now i can’t stop thinking about cringefail teen Dazai with the biggest, fattest crush ever and not knowing how to deal with it

YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH THIS MADE ME LAUGH ANON I ADORE YOU FOR THE VISUAL.

cringefail teen Dazai so obsessed to the point where he is literally pointing a gun at the other recruit who's at least 10 years older than him because he complimented you on how your so mature for your age when it comes to leadership skills. (it's both an insult that he would perceive you in that way and also.... why the fuck is he talking to you at all?) he has to use his authority to further his cruelty.

Dazai does the most unhinged things behind your back, especially. it gets soooo dire that sometimes he has to recruit CHUUYA for intimidation purposes. Dazai thinks of himself as intimidating enough but thinks having the 5'3 gravity user pointing thousands of bullets at any person who made you laugh or smile or cry will add that pizzazz he's looking for. Chuuya smacks him upside the head after and remarks that you'd never go for him anyway.

one time, he begged Mori to let him 'supervise' your mission as executive, and it really just ended up with you doing your job and him standing by any large body of water contemplating if he should kill himself because he doesn't like what he's feeling for you. and if perhaps you don't feel the same? even more reason to wipe himself off this earth. but then you smile at him... and sometimes even give him a high five for a job well done..... and let's just say that was the first time he discovered alcohol. and alcohol poisoning soon after.

one time he saw you writing in your diary, and that very night is driven to insanity in your quarters searching for it, looking for any mention of him in it like a little rabid gremlin. you catch him in the act too, and he simply flings it onto your bed and crosses his arms in complete denial that he's hopelessly smitten with you.

"Dazai? what're you doing here? is that my diary?!"

"HUH? i'm not reading it, i'm literally not!"

"then what are you doing with it, huh?

and he just flashes you those hopeless loser ass puppy eyes when he realizes the jig is up.

"... do you like me or what?"

and you're just like.....

"of course i do, idiot."

like damn took him long enough. you kiss him on the cheek and he's like.... oh wow could it be i'm not delusional? but he can't even HANDLE YOUR DIRECT CONFESSION so he just self destructs and snorts like the immature little shit he is rolling his eyes and whatnot as he storms out of your room.

"yeah, well OF COURSE YOU DO. I KNEW THAT ALREADY."

then he giggles and prances alllll the way back to the shipping container oopsies.

[roydick]

just saw j*ayroy posts claiming that dickroy is very toxic and therefore bad for roy and that j*yroy is more positive, requesting some instances of dick and roy being nice and wholesome and friendly and caring for each other, specifically of dick being good to roy

Oh boy, I think I know what you're talking about and those do such a disservice to both Dick and Roy, most of the time the comics they're using aren't very good, or are out of context. And they're missing the most important part: Dick and Roy cut each other so deep because they love each other. Platonic, Romantic, whatever, at the core of it is love. They've got a solid foundation of friendship that they've built on, and no matter what has happened between the two of them, they always, always come back to each other and forgive each other.

A lot of the examples I use are so important in context. The two of them hurt each other and in several of the screenshots down below they are actively fighting each other, but context is important and I tried to be as descriptive as I could without overloading this.

It got really long lol, so they're under a cut, and just the ones I already had the screenshots for.

This is all from Nightwing: Old Friends, New Enemies. Roy comes to Dick asking for help and despite knowing Roy is keeping something more from him, he doesn't hesitate. And later when Dick snaps at Roy he is quick to apologize for it, the very next panel in fact.

Dick holding Roy, not much to say on this other than I love it a lot and he doesn't take off after Cheshire instead staying to care for Roy.

After, while Roy's recovering in the hospital, Dick is the one to introduce Lian to Roy, he's so gentle with both of them and listens to Roy's insecurities and does what he can to help alleviate them.

For some Outsiders Era, this is the stuff that's funny to me that they don't include, out of context (and some even in context) a lot of this could be considered toxic, it is their #divorceera after all, but I think the context is so important here, and that's that a lot of this (especially the early stuff) is good matured teasing, and when it's not it's shadowed by the grief they're both sharing from the loss of Donna. Dick also backs Roy in front of the rest of the team, despite agreeing with them, waiting until they're gone to bring it up in a non-confrontational way.

I could talk for hours about Outsiders, the whole run is fantastic and there's a lot that is just text in it as opposed to subtext that I think is fantastic. When Winick does well he really does well.

Finally, I'm going to wrap it up with a bit from the roughest part of Roy's life. All of these come from Justice League: Rise of Arsenal #3. Dick is so careful with Roy, he's in a horrible place at this point, he lost his arm and was not even given a chance to process that before he finds out that he's lost his daughter as well. It's no surprise that he turns back to drugs in an attempt to cope with the physical and mental pain he's in.

Roy has been hallucinating Lian, and attacks Dick (Batman) thinking that he's trying to take her from him. Dick initially reacts only defensively, catching the hits, or avoiding them while he tries to break through to Roy. When, and only when that fails, he takes Roy down quickly and efficiently, before taking him to the only place he can think of that can help him.

While this one is a tough read, I think it showcases the care and concern that Dick has for Roy. Not only is he the one that finds him, but he tries multiple times to deescalate the situation.

There's more in Titans: Villains For Hire with Batman!Dick and Arsenal!Roy, but I don't have those on hand at this moment. I hope these show how they aren't toxic, and it's not a one-way relationship between the two of them.

Sometimes it's the ones who love us most that hurt us, it's the pain that comes from loving someone so deeply. It's how relationships work. They know each other's weaknesses but they trust each other implicitly.

Take it. Take the gun from me, Roy. C'mon. Take it. Three months ago I wouldn't have been able to draw it on you. You saw me grab for it. Take if from me.

[marzipanandminutiae]

Eggers confirmed in interview that Ellen wasn't a child, she was teenager at the start of the film. You can probably say there's case of ephebophilia. But there is no CSA there. Also Eggers absolutely saw it as Dark romance and ships it himself. He wouldn't be doing it if there was CSA.

And that's fine, but not everyone accepts Word of God as canon

My thoughts on Eggers' interview statements are that he should have made his intentions clearer if that's what he was going for, because a huge portion of the audience came away with the impression that it was about someone's stalker/rapist coming back to jeopardize the life she'd made for herself out from under his thumb. And like...if he wanted people to not think that, he should have made directing choices that made the onscreen story match his vision better.

You're free to interpret it however you want. What I take issue with is people saying that there's One True Interpretation and no viable way to see it in any other light. There's one interpretation that the director intended, but the movie he actually made leaves holes to interpret it a different way. He shouldn't have made it that way if he had a very specific story to tell.

How can I see it as CSA? Simple. She said she was "a child" when it started and even if she was a young teenager, it being the early 1830s (assuming she's like 20-23 at time of canon, based on statistical age at first marriage for women back then) doesn't magically make 15-year-olds adults. 15 back then was about like 17 now- not a Tiny Baby, but decidedly not a Full Grown-Up either. "Child" CAN be a euphemistic term for a naive or inexperienced adult, but it's not always

And maybe if he wanted people to not interpret her as a literal child...he shouldn't have had her characterize herself that way in the dialogue, talking about when all of this started? "I was so young," "I didn't know better," "I was a fool," "I was naive," etc. SO MANY clearer wordings there. They already didn't get a child actress to play her in the opening scene; without that line, I'd assume it had been like. A few years before her marriage, when she was maybe 17-18, and just seen it as abuse rather than arguable CSA. It's a weird dialogue choice if he wanted to convey "the vampire sex started when she was young but not unacceptably young," like many other weird choices that I felt were counterproductive to his stated narrative aims.

Doesn't mean my interpretation is objectively correct either! But you don't see me going around saying that there's No Way Anyone Could See It As Consensual And That's Wrong And Bad.

I have both been there and done that before, coming from a fandom (Crimson Peak) where there's no way to interpret a central relationship as peer CSA/COCSA if you go by Word of God, but there's absolutely space for that based on what ended up in the actual movie. And I've had to make peace with it, even though I ship that couple to the moon and back.

You like these fake people kissing in this way, and other people don't. And that's fine! You don't need a big moral justification for it, or to have the Single Correct Interpretation!

[velvetwyrme]

Okay, you like both Undertale and Transformers, so maybe you can see my vision.

Crossover au where transformers and monsters simultaneously exist. Not an undertale characters as transformers au, or vice-versa. An au where post true-pacifist, the monsters leave the underground only to find a new sapient species has arrived on the planet.

“Humans couldn't share the Earth with us, but they can with giant alien robots?!!! ...Wtf.”

An earthspark-like setup would work best for this, honestly. Just the “How dare” vibes on the monsters’ side, and the “You humans did WHAT?!” On the transformers’ side, with humans in the middle.

Also, the humans, whether through time or magic, completely forgot about the monsters. It would be such a spectacular shit-show! 😈

And don't get me started on the lore implications!

This idea has been rotating in my head for weeks, and I actually want to talk about it with people. So I entrust it to you to spread, 'cause I have like 10 actual followers, and I don't think there's enough overlap there for this to gain traction on my blog. (I'm asking on anon because I'm nervous)

Thanks for reading! :D

oh that is a really fun idea!!!! like. hey not only do giant alien robots exist but so do MONSTERS. also MAGIC exists too. what a revelation.

i have not watched ES as of yet so i dont have much more to add in that respect but. really really fun to think about. did monsters know abt cybertronians before they surfaced... did the news spread that far........

im putting this out into the world like sending a little paper boat out into open water. GO FORTH AND GATHER OTHER UNDERTALE/TRANSFORMERS FANS...

[proship-culture-is]

proship culture is blocking and moving on

☆

[myfairkatiecat]

Okay guys I was debating making a post about it but I’m just going to make a short one with just the root of the point

You’re allowed to criticize media you enjoy, especially the writing itself, but if there’s something about the content of the story being told that isn’t your thing, that’s not an objective issue with the author

If you’re reading KOTLC and you really dislike sokeefe, you can either keep reading for the other stuff in the story that you like, or you can stop reading because it really ruins it for you, but what you really shouldn’t do is act like Shannon’s done something wrong by writing sokeefe into the story she wants to tell, I mean that’s actually pretty disrespectful to the author. You don’t have to LIKE her story, but she’s not objectively doing something wrong just because it isn’t the choice you would have made

For example: if Shannon made sophitz canon that would definitely not be my thing. However I would keep reading kotlc for my enjoyment of the story she was telling. I would not come into tumblr and start picking out every issue with their relationship, calling it terribly unhealthy (unhealthy dynamics can be storytelling devices btw) and saying therefore Shannon has made an objectively wrong decision that ruins her own story. That would just be disrespectful, not just to other shippers but to Shannon herself!!

That’s all I’m gonna say unless someone miraculously misses the entire point of this post to a terrible degree

Have a great day

[utilitycaster]

I truly have no patience for "criticizing a creative choice is disrespectful" as a statement. If you can't tell the difference between sending hate or harassing creators/fans, vs. saying "I didn't like this and here's why" you are an idiot. And on the flip side if you're a creator and someone says "I didn't like this" without any sort of personal attacks or hate involved, simply on the basis of critique and personal preference, and that makes you feel bad enough to stop creating then maybe you should step back and either get offline or make room for someone who has an actual creative vision that isn't "I want everyone to like me."

[kremy-lecroux]

Wait wait wait, pre-feywild wedding? Y'all were married before?!

Well obviously, the Witchlight Carnival wasn't actually inside the feywild when we visited it.

Though there was that other time...

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

Hi, I've been watching s4 (unfortunately) and one thing I've realised is that part of it's weird "secrets" plotline is how... chopped up it is? I'm so sorry, but I might rant a little.

Ep 1-4 (including mr pidgeon 72 since it directly leads off from gang of secrets) are mostly connected regarding the issue of the superhero secrets messing with the Main Characters civillain lives. Ep 3 resolves this somewhat. This then leads to Alya Knowing, but while it's used a few times, its generally a background thing that's not used in the plot itself save a few episodes.

And then the next time the issue of the superhero-related- secrets comes back is... Optigami, ep 13. There's about 9 episodes of not really caring about the secrets plotline in favor of Zoe and the Felix thing. (I'm not including Guiltrip or anything in the secrets theme since they feel more standalone)

Optigami is the next time the whole "secrets" plot is brought up, finally addressing miracle queen and also not fixing the hole they pointed out. It also leads to Alya going full time and directly into Sentibubbler, possibly the First Time we see CN noticeably upset about being left out of the loop. Possibly also the first time in s4 we see that there IS a possible issue between the heroes.

And then it's picked back up for "Hack San" with the Scarabella thing and "Rocketear" with Nino, even if it's a bit strange in tone as to what exactly is the wrong action in these situations...and of course dropped again for another 4 episodes before "Ephemeral" (which only counts more than Wishmaker since it's CN seems slightly upset at the end about LB keeping secrets, I don't think he's ever told what she was going to talk about, why viperion was there, or why she had a timer on?)

(Slight tangent but it seems that this convo, basically having CN ok with having the team cover for him,

Ladybug: The countdown has begun. It's 1 am, and we've got just five minutes before you transform back. So we've got to be done by 1:05. You'll rewind on my signal.

Cat Noir: (upon landing on top of the Eiffel Tower) I'm sorry, but I really couldn't make it earlier.

Ladybug: (waves) Hey, no big deal! That's the good thing about a team. It's not the two of us anymore!

Cat Noir: Oh, yeah! So then, why did you need me exactly?

Technically no longer exists in main canon. In the current timeline the convo is cut off:

Ladybug: The countdown has begun. It's 1 am, and we've got just five minutes before you transform back. So we've got to be done by 1:05. You'll rewind on my signal.

Cat Noir: (upon landing on top of the Eiffel Tower) I'm sorry, but I really couldn't make it—

(The lights are flashing alternately, while the malfunctioning cars are making a lot of noise)

So we Could assume that CN, instead of being reassured that things were fine and being chill with it, is instead more upset due to there being a Mysterious Meeting that's left unexplained. Thats probrably the best way to explain his perceived heel turn over the team in Kuro Neko.

But also the sheer existence of that exchange means that you'd mostly remember that, AND him being upset at the end, it's really confusing and the audience is forced to fill in too many gaps. But I digress)

Kuro Neko is basically the climax of this issue that was spread out from episodes 14, 16-17, and 22. It ends with this issue seemingly resolved at the end. Since the inbewteen episodes have Ladynoir acting completely normal, CN seems to ping-pong between whether or not he's upset woth Ladybug about secrets.

(Also, on the topic of Kuro Neko, it's the only episode before the finale I can clearly note CN offering help and LB rejecting it, this help being helping her retrieve the other Miraculous from the temps faster. A reasonable offer that she unfortunately doesn't take, but it's like once only. He offers again in Risk, and honestly I think the only reason they put these moments in is so the audience has at least once instance of her refusing help when LB later mentions it in her breakdown. They only bothered putting it into later episodes so its fresh in our memories and nothing else, so its not built up well.)

To put it simply, while s4 appears to have a theme of "secrets" being... bad? Good? I'm not sure, The only real times it's brought up even briefly are spread out horribly: Eps 1-4, then nothing till 13-14, 16-17, 22-23, and then the finale 25&26.

Even when the episodes are close together theres at least one episode in between messing with the flow. In short, would the conflict have been done better if they had stuck those later episodes together, or would it at least have helped fans perspectives on it? Again, sorry for the long rant ask.

Also, on the topic of Kuro Neko, it's the only episode before the finale I can clearly note CN offering help and LB rejecting it, this help being helping her retrieve the other Miraculous from the temps faster. A reasonable offer that she unfortunately doesn't take, but it's like once only.

THANK YOU!!! I recently brought up the fact that I couldn't remember Chat Noir offering to help outside of Kuro Neko, but I was worried that I was forgetting something. It's nice to have it confirmed that he really did quit after a single rejection. Writers, wtf are you doing? This is not how you write a good conflict where Chat Noir comes across as deeply wronged!

Anyway, don't apologize for the rant, I enjoyed it! Much like the Kuro Neko thing, it was nice to get confirmation that season four played out the way that I thought it did. While I've reread the scripts for certain episodes while running this blog, I only watched season four once so there was always a chance that I'd forgotten some random nuance. This risk was only enhanced by how badly the writing setup the supposed conflict between Ladybug and Chat Noir. I didn't even realize that the Ladynoir conflict was going to be a thing until we were at least a few episodes in so I always wondered if I missed something subtle in the early episodes. Sounds like I didn't.

Then there was the issue of what the conflict was even about. I thought that the Ladynoir conflict was going to be over Alya learning Ladybug's identity and basically getting promoted to Ladybug's partner. That's a solid conflict in which both sides have valid points of view. Ladybug should get to choose who she trust! However, it's also perfectly valid if Chat Noir is not interested in being partnered with someone who doesn't seem to trust him. We even had a solid set-up for Ladybug's actions costing her everything without Chat Noir holding any blame because Chat Noir was never told about Rena Furtive. That could have lead him to do something dangerous in battle because he mistook her for an enemy, which would have been 100% Ladybug's fault!

None of that ended up mattering, though. Instead of using these lovely setups for complex and nuanced conflict, the Ladynoir conflict ended up coming to a head over...

Plagg: For a while now, you've been neglecting this camembert— I mean Cat Noir, and going on adventures with the all other cheeses! Ladybug: But he should be happy about it, it gives him more time off. Plagg: Cat Noir doesn't wanna have time off, Ladybug! He is in love with you! And your persistent calling on all the other heroes has broken his heart.

Ladybug relying on other heroes in battle.

Why would you pick that as the reason Chat Noir quits??? That is the one issue where Ladybug is objectively completely right! When it comes to battle strategy, feelings legitimately do not matter!!! Ladybug shouldn't prioritize Chat Noir in the middle of a battle! She needs to do whatever is required to save the day even if it means picking a temp hero over Chat Noir. Paris' safety matters more than Chat Noir's need to feel special!

Also, as anon alluded to in the ask, Chat Noir feeling like he isn't special enough isn't the right conflict to focus on. It isn't properly set up! The Ladynoir conflict comes to a head in episode 23 (Kuro Neko). The last episode to address this conflict was episode 17 (Rocketear). The conflict introduced there was this:

Adrien: Huh? You're... Carapace? But... the two of you know?! You know each other's secret identities?! Nino: Of course, Alya and I have never kept anything from each other. Until now, though that Cat Noir's business! Adrien: Wait a sec, I don't understand! I thought that secret identities had to be protected at all costs. If it were true, you'd never just tell me like that. Ladybug would never agree to that! Nino: Are you kidding? Ladybug is the one who gave us both our Miraculous at the same time.

This is yet another decent source of conflict. Ladybug didn't reveal Alya and Nino's identities on a whim, it was an emergency! But Chat Noir doesn't know that and this is right after he learned that someone else knows Ladybug's identity, so it makes sense for him to feel like he's not a true part of them team. In spite of this, identities never come up in Kuro Neko nor is the conflict focused on Chat Noir feeling like he's not part of the team. The Kuro Neko conflict is about Chat Noir wanting to be more than just another part of the team. This is what leads to the argument where he quits:

Clara: (from TV) By the way, where's Cat Noir? You've saved Paris without him quite a few times recently. Are you two at odds with each other? Ladybug: (from TV) Of course not, it's just that... umm, he's a partner like any other! The most important is to pick the best superheroes for each mission, with or without Cat Noir. No matter what, we've got a great team and we'll always be here to save Paris. (Adrien is shocked.) Adrien: (turns off the TV and sighs) "A partner like any other..."

None of that fits the rest of the season! The conflict you set up was him feeling left out, not him feeling like he wasn't special enough!!! If the conflict was supposed to be him wanting a bigger role, then write that! Have him ask for more responsibility outside of this one episode! Have him learn about Rena Furtive and get upset about her having a special role! Let him think that Alya and Nino know each other's identities because of some special role they've been given! Without those moments, this conflict comes out of nowhere. It also makes him look weirdly demanding and self-centered.

I'm starting to rehash my season four rant, so lets cut this off here and give some final thoughts.

My best guess is as to why this season's main conflict was such a mess is that this is yet another case where the show's commitment to being an episodic formula show cost us good writing. Chat Noir quitting after finding out about Rena Furtive or the identity reveal is a complex plot that's hard to pull off in 20 minutes, especially when you have to include an akuma fight along the way. It also doesn't really standalone as it would be bringing in plot points from other episodes. Add in the fact that a proper resolution to the conflict would probably take more than a single episode and this just doesn't work in canon. None of that fits an episodic formula show so the show couldn't do any of it.

In spite of this, the writers apparently wanted a Ladynoir conflict, so they did the worst of both worlds and just threw in a bunch of random conflicts throughout the season even though those conflicts could never be properly addressed. They also didn't want to make every episode depressing because this is supposed to be a fun show for kids and so the majority of the season sees Ladynoir being totally fine, completely undermining this supposed conflict. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Ladynoir are simply way too happy in season four for me to buy into this supposed conflict.

I'll end by once again thanking anon for the rant! It was a genuine relief to read near identical thoughts from someone fresh from a rewatch where they watched with the full knowledge of what the conflict was supposed to be.

(Note anon I did get part two of this ask. It's queued for tomorrow.)

[frownyalfred]

There’s a chart incoming to your dms from The anon who Talks A Lot bc while I still wanna publicly stay anon, I wanna be able to send this to you lol. Yes I set up my drawing tablet to make this more easily and then also made it in mspaint bc im lazy but would love to see your perception on how I view these things! Colour coded it a bit and labeled whose who hoping to make it a bit easier!!

I love this!!!! So much. I find it so fascinating you put Jason at the center. It makes so much sense. I tend to think about Bruce as the center but Jason is really the one holding them all together moving forward, isn’t he?

I love that you included “almost romantic” for Lex and Bruce. So true. I tend to view their relationship as a little less than equal in some ways, just because of how Lex defers to Bruce so much when it counts. The same for Clark and Lex. A part of Clark will always be a little suspicious of Lex and Lex will always be trying to make up for Zod in a way, I fear.

I’m curious what your take on Dan and Alfred is!

[melocherie]

I remember encountering iaptbap a few years ago and thinking it was an interesting concept, but then dropping it after not really liking the writing style. I mean, I’m also a leftist who likes writing social justice ideas into my fics, but the way she went about it in her story felt so preachy and boring. The themes didn’t feel naturally woven into the narrative. Love interests felt flat and it seemed like they only existed to make the mc look better.

But I was like “different strokes different folks, not like she’s hurting anyone, as long as people are happy, there are way cringier fics out there” only to find out a few days ago while scrolling through tumblr that she had groomed a minor?? Which goes against so much of the character she’s made herself out to be? Especially since she was strict about keeping minors from reading her smut.

Sorry you had to deal with her plagiarism accusations and her ego. Hope you’re doing well

exactly!  see,  my  issues  with  noor  incorporating  social  commentary  into  her  work  isn't  the  politics  themselves  or  their  inclusion——again,  i  find  stories,  even  bad  ones,  are  better  when  they're  about  something——but  rather  her  execution  always  falls  flat. 

 it  reminds  me  of  greta  gerwig's  barbie——the  film  presents  a  very  shallow  and  lite  discussion  of  gender  and  feminism,  and  while  i  admire  it  for  that  alone,  among  its  other  good  qualities,  i  disagree  with  critics  who  hail  it  as  the  pinnacle  of  feminist  media.  similarly,  while  i  admire  iaptbap's  attempts  to  address  many  of  society's  faults,  it  does  so  with  such an  immature,  condescending  hand that i don’t think is deserving of praise.

 i,  as  a  queer  blasian  girl,  already  know  of  queerphobia  and  racism  simply  by  living  in  a  society  that  wants  me  dead.  and  if  i  wanted  to  further  my  education,  i  could  simply  pick  up  a  nonfiction  book  or  essay  and  conduct  my  own  research.  so,  when  it  comes  to  media,  literature,  and  storytelling,  i  don't  want  robotic  perfect  monologues  to  clap  for;  i  want  to  feel  something.  i  want  emotion,  passion,  intellect.  i  want  the  author  to  use  their  art  to  connect  with  me,  the  audience.  i  don't  want  the  author  to  have  their  main  character  turn  directly  to  the  audience  and  deliver  the  moral  lesson,  as  if  it's  a  kids'  show.

i  recently  watched  this  video  by  withcindy  about  the  faults  with  “reading  for  empathy”  and  performative  activism,  and  one  quote  particularly  caught  my  eye: 

 “[…]  characters  must  exist  for  positive  representation  so  that  you  can  empathize  for  whatever  group  they  represent,  but  ironically  by  having  those  characters  be  instruments  or  tools  for  good  politics,  and  having  them  only  exist  for  good  politics,  that  also  makes  them  not  represented  in  their  humanity.”

 and  it  immediately  reminded  me  of  winter  white.  noor  ended  up  quietly  deleting  this  section  later,  but  in  her  9k  raffle  one-shot  chapter,  she  revealed  that  winter  was  half  chinese.  based  on  how  it  was  handled,  she  solely  did  this  as  an  excuse  to  comment  on  bigotry  against  east  asians.  miriam  asked  it  was  like  dating  winter,  and  mc  noted  how  she  received  some  gross  questions  about  "what  it  was  like  dating  jungkook,"  and  noor’s  only  other  depiction  of  his  ethnicity  was  that  he  used  chinese  skincare  products. 

it  doesn’t  feel  like  representation  for  the  purpose  of  making  chinese/mixed  race  readers  to feel  seen  and  loved  within  a  popular  character,  but  rather  as  a  pretext  to  educate  a  white,  ignorant  audience  about  the  evils  of  racism.  it’s  a  depiction  of  asian  trauma  without  ever  depicting  asian  joy.  and  while  it's  good  that  she  decided  (presumably)  on  her  own  to  remove  this,  this  type  of  shoddy  writing  can  be  found  everywhere  in  iaptbap.  i  don’t  recall  a  single  conversation  in  iaptbap  which  actually  felt  real,  only  exchanges  meant  to  constantly  educate  me,  which  is  doubly  infuriating  when  i  know  about  this  stuff  already. 

and  noor  has  the  audacity  to  do  all  of  this,  then  sidestep  criticism  by  saying,  "well,  it's  just  a  silly  disney  fanfiction  in  the  end."  you  can't  make  me  suffer  through  mc  explaining  sexual  abuse  terms  like  she's  a  living  dictionary  and  clapping  back  against  strawmen,  then  switch  from  iaptbap  being  an  extension  of  your  activism  or  a  dark  romance  depending  on  which  one  gives  the  least  amount  of  criticism.  that’s  not  how  that  works.  how  no  one  called  her  out  on  her  bullshit  sooner  genuinely  boggles  my  mind

[moeblob]

I spent 3 hours replying to this anon simply to say "everyone gets a Vaporeon (except Sylvain)".