#this is why i tend to be bored by fics with an established relationship

[oepionie]

BELOVED BAT-WIFE. lilia vanrouge

Characters: Lilia Vanrouge x Fem! Reader, Platonic! Sebek x Fem! Reader

Synopsis: Lilia's wife makes an impromptu visit at NRC. Sebek is dragged into this mess and has to help her sneak into the campus.

A/N:: This is the first fic I've written in years!

Tags: Fluff, Established relationship, Maybe a bit OOC?, Reader is not Yuu and is said to be a mage

Word Count: 800+|💌Masterlist | Batwife masterlist

"Lady Vanrouge! When you told me you planned to visit, this wasn't what I had in mind!" Sebek hissed, staring at you through the gate's frame. He responded to your SMS asking him to meet you at the school gates as soon as possible. Despite the fact that it was two in the morning, he ran to your position right away. How he arrived in under 10 minutes is remarkable.

"I did say it was a last-minute decision." Shaking your head, you pulled the hood to your robe up and slipped on a pair of leather gloves. Indeed, you did send Sebek a letter to inform him of your plans beforehand. Leaving out the fact that you planned to sneak in like some petty thief.

"Now hold this gate steady for me, ok?"

Sebek's eyes practically sprang out of his head when you started climbing the tall gate. He yelled at you to be careful as he grasped the gate with both hands, firmly grasping the metal bars. You easily climbed to the top and laughed as you tossed yourself to the opposite side. Shrieking, Sebek ran to catch you, nearly toppling over from the force.

"Nice catch, my boy!" You grinned, patting his shoulder and setting yourself down. Sebek heaved, kneeling over and pressing a palm over his chest to calm his racing heart from the stunt you just pulled.

"You-Lady Vanrouge-!" Sebek started. "You're a mage! Why would you do that!"

"Teleporting or flying would definitely be easier…but that's boring~" You drawled, a cheeky grin on your face.

"Now, which way is that mirror again? It's been ages since I last set foot on this campus-literally!"

You linked both your arms together and began to pull the boy towards the academy, ignoring any and all of his complaints.

"I really think we shouldn't be doing this." Sebek muttered, begrudgingly pushing the doors to the mirror chamber open. You both slid inside, the door behind you closing with a snap.

It was already late at night, and the moon shone through the windows, its light reflecting off the mirrors. You took a step closer to Diasomnia's portal, tracing the engravings on its frame.

Had they changed parts of it? You noticed certain details that were not previously present.

"Well, too late to back off now. You're making me start to think you don't actually want me here." You pouted, shifting your gaze to Sebek's rigid body beside the doorway. He jumped and dashed over, his cheeks flushed pink.

"Of course I do, Lady Vanrouge! Your presence is always appreciated! I only wish you had chosen safer means to visit!" He yelled, his booming voice practically rattling the walls. Chuckling, you ran your fingers through his hair before patting his head.

"I jest. Now, let's not keep them waiting. Shall we?" You clasped Sebek's hand with your own and stepped into the mirror.

A blur of colours hit you for a moment before you found yourself whisked away to the dark brooding castle Diasomnia calls a dorm. Standing atop the cobblestone steps, you took a deep breath. The air was thick with smothering moisture, like a fog.

The dim light of a window in the distance drew your attention. Among the many windows in the castle, it was the only chamber that was lit up.

"O-Oh? Is someone still up at this late hour?" You wondered, still light-headed from the teleportation. Sebek placed a hand on your back to stabilise your wobbly form. "Ah yes. That's probably Master Lillia, he tends to hold gaming sessions at this hour."

"Is that so?" You huffed, brows furrowing as you glared at the window. "...That damn bat."

Of course, this wasn't news to you. Silver frequently wrote to you about his father's long gaming sessions, which sometimes lasted days or even weeks. Just as you were about to march up to the castle, an arm wrapped around your chest, pulling you back.

"No need to look so mad, dear." A deep voice lulled.

Behind you two, Lillia appeared with an impish smile on his face. Sebek flinched before greeting Lilia vigorously while maintaining a stiff posture of attention.

"Good evening, Sebek! Would you go and get Silver and Malleus for me? This is going to be a lovely reunion." Lillia spoke, crossing his arms over his chest. He was perched upon a nearby tree, hanging off one of the branches.

"Yes Sir!" With that, Sebek was off, dashing towards the castle.

With a frown etched onto your face, you turned your gaze back to the fae who was still upside down. Lillia hummed, leaning forward to press his lips against yours. "Hello there, beastie."

"Still pulling the same old trick, I see." You grumbled, grabbing his arm to pull him down. Lillia smushed his cheek against your shoulder, peering up at you through his lashes.

"It's a classic of mine, isn't it?"

Likes and Reblogs are greatly appreciated and really motivating on my end!

[blindmagdalena]

Writer Tag

thanks for the tag @venus-haze and @sehtoast 🖤 technically i have two AO3 accounts (my og one with all my supernatural fics) but i'm just gonna use my homelander/the boys one for this.

How many works do you have on AO3? 31

What's your total AO3 word count? 225k

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Bit By Bit We Fall In Love

First Time's the Charm

Say It

Eat Your Ego, Honey

Truly, Madly, Deeply

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? yes! although i didn't used to for some reason. lately my feeling is that they took the time to comment, so i always try to take the time to show appreciation for that.

What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending? definitely A Troublesome Transition. i don't really do angst or character death all that often, but this one was cathartic to write.

What’s the fic you've written with the happiest ending? lol pretty much all of my fics have pretty happy endings. maybe Don't Fret Precious ( I'm Here ) ? it's a darker fic that definitely had the potential to be very angsty, but the reveal at the end and the devotion that these two lunatics have to one another is pretty sweet... maybe? LOL

Do you write crossovers? nah

Have you ever received hate on a fic? i got one "wtf is this" type comment on a fic on tumblr once, but i was pretty quick to block the person. i think mostly people are just surprised Homelander has the fandom he does

Do you write smut? If so, what kind? yes. very much so. pretty much any kind. i feel like i'm fairly well known for schmoopy sentimental sex and dirty talk though

Have you ever had a fic stolen? not that i know of!

Have you ever had a fic translated? yes! Hide and Seek was translated into spanish.

Have you ever co-written a fic before? sort of! All That Glitters was a fic collab with @anon-nee, for which they were absolutely instrumental in the worldbuilding and keeping me motivated to keep writing. huge shoutouts to @jethrowest and @irenadel and everyone who consistently lets me blow up their dm's with my wips and helps me when i'm struggling to put words on the page. 🖤

What's your all-time favorite ship? homelander x all these incredibly sexy oc's my friends make

What's a WIP that you want to finish but don't think you ever will? Puppet Master. i had really big plans for this one, but unfortunately it got lost in the shuffle and i've since repurposed the ideas i had for it.

What are your writing strengths? i think my strengths are characterization and keeping the world feeling grounded/true to the source material.

What are your writing weaknesses? i have a lot of insecurities about my fics being boring or not eventful enough. a lot of the times i focus so much on interpersonal relationships, i don't think there's really enough happening in the story. i'm also bad at bringing in ensemble casts. my fics definitely focus very heavily on just the two leads.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic? i tend to avoid it unless it's very simple established pet names/phrases or something. i use italics and descriptors if they're not speaking in english. if the POV character isn't meant to understand, i'll just describe how the characters are speaking to one another in that language.

What was the first fandom you wrote for? yu yu hakusho on quizilla LOL i was a HUGE weeb. also wrote for inuyasha.

What's a fandom/ship you haven't written for yet but want to kimiko/annie..... they deserve each other......

What's your favorite fic you've written? probably Eat Your Ego, Honey. it's my first multichapter fic, and i'm DETERMINED to finish it. i really love Layla, and i'm so touched by how everyone has responded to her. oc's can be a bit of a sore spot for me, but the reception to that fic really keeps me going and makes me so, so happy. plus i just think it's some of my best writing.

No pressure tags: @xieyaohuan @socially-awkward-skeleton @hom3landr @kosmochlor @irenadel @amostimprobabledream uhhh anyone who has an AO3 okay if you wanna fill this out just say i tagged you lol

[linskywords]

I saw your reblog about fucked up things and being the first to post on AO3 about them and laughed out loud! But I was wondering, do you have any fanfiction hard limits? Like pairings you would never write/tropes you will not read or write?? Love your works sooo much thank you for feeding all of us constantly!!! 🥰

Haha what a fun question! Hard limits...not a ton of them, honestly. There are kinks I feel like aren't for me, but I tend to be into characters being into things, so the right fic can really easily change my mind on them. Heck, I used to think mpreg was a bridge too far for me. That clearly didn't last long. 🤣

HOWEVER I really don't like unrequited love. Requited love is basically what I read and write for, and unrequited love just makes me sad. Even unrequited background relationships are tough for me, especially if they're a pairing I've read elsewhere (I remember one fic -- I think McStrome? -- had Taylor Hall being sad about not being soulmates with Jordan Eberle in the background and I was Not Okay). Absolutely loved dilangley's recent mattdrai fic barons except Trevor had a point of view and he was single and not with Jamie and I might still not be okay about it.

I also don't love huge power differentials. Like, I'll write a moderate age difference, that's not a hard limit for me, but I'll see it as something to compensate for rather than a selling point. How to make this couple feel balanced even though one is way older/more powerful/in a different life stage than the other? And if that can't be done convincingly, I'm probably going to be less interested in writing them. To take this to an extreme: parent-child incest is probably a hard limit for me. Maybe there are exceptions, but I can't imagine them.

There's also a group of tropes that just aren't quite as much for me. I don't love gangbangs; I tend to want my sex to come with emotional attachment or at least really compelling attraction. I don't hate enemies to lovers, but friends to lovers is more my jam (see also: why I still haven't written mattdrai without Connor being involved). I love romantic tension, so I'm less into pure fluff and established relationships. And I don't like coffee shop AUs. They're just boring. 😅 (No, I mean, they're not all boring. But I far prefer the tension of "we already mean a lot to each other, oh no now I have feelings.")

I don't know that there are any pairings that are hard limits for me! Some are less appealing than others, but the only thing that would be really challenging for me is breaking up a pairing I love and putting them with other people -- and even then I've done it sometimes. I tend to put most pairings I haven't written into a "waiting to be sold on it" bucket. Much like kinks. What a fun bucket. 😘

[bibibbon]

Hello, can I ask why do you think there are so many BL ships from BNHA and JJK? Do you also have fav ships from those two series?

I don't mean any negative things to any fan fics writers or fan art artist (thanks so much every one for sharing your hard works in the fandom).

But like, I'm a fan of both series for years now, and I saw them mostly as just platonic (bakudeku, tododeku, kiribaku, satosugu, itafushi, etc). Now, I'm not anti mlm or wlw because I love BL and GL media (manga, manhwa, books, tv series, etc), but I'm kinda hard to enter into shipping. Do you think I'm weird? Or maybe I'm slow in understanding the romantic subtext in those scenes from both series?

My take on it I guess is that people just love shipping characters together. Fandoms low-key thrive on shipping most of the time and especially when it comes to rareships. In my opinion any legal ship can work depending on how someone writes the story so there's that.

Iam not a huge shipper myself and if I do ship stuff I tend to be a multishipper prefering to enjoy multiple amount of contents that people make. MHA has horribly written ships point blank. Sure togaocha could of worked but it doesn't the same with BKDK. Any ships in MHA that were introduced as possibilities also lack any sort of development. This obviously doesn't stop people from shipping and developing their own ships (as they rightfully should) but canon wise there isn't much going for MHA

When it comes to Jujutsu kaisen akutami already acknowledged that he isn't that good at writing romance so he chooses not to excpet of already established ships like hakari x kirarka or tragic ships like mechamiwa. Even when it comes to that people do view stgs and itafushi as heavily romantically coded and I can see where theyre coming from as there is some heavy romantic subtexts.

Overall, Iam not much of a romantic shipper myself I just love platonic bonds and ships. For some reason I find that platonic ships and bonds are just better written and can connect with the audience a whole lot more easily and better compared to romance. Iam not much of a romance fan so I don't consume much of that side of media. Iam not sure if it's only me but stories centering around one ship get really boring for me whereas other stories that go out to critique stuff or explore ideas are more enjoyable.

Also no I really don't think you're weird I do somewhat relate to you tho.

I don't think MHA has any romantic subtexts however I definitely do see the Jujutsu kaisen romantic subtexts.

Writers usually give readers freedom to decide how they view things. Iam not much of a romance type of reader so I just like viewing a lot of things as platonic just because I think platonic relationships are overall stronger and better then romance ones

[factorialsotherfandoms]

\o/!! 2, 10, 19 for the ask game?

game!!!

2. Anything that you'd like to write but feel like you're unable to?

Yes!

... okay so just yes is kinda cheating huh

I think the biiig thing is I really struggle with chapter fic, and this can be extremely limiting for me sometimes? I might /want/ to write an extended 50 chapter fic covering like the intricacies or complications of coming to terms with mental illness or a new disability and learning to live with yourself but... I'd never finish it, and knowing me I'd leave it hanging in the worst places, and I'd just feel guilty? So. I tend to write scattershot in series, but... Some ideas I can't do justice with just a collection of short-to-medium fics, you know?

(Yes this is about Johnny, but this is also about Pac's mental health in XCOM au, or Philza's character development in the happy end au, or tbh a lot of break-it-less-fic ideas I have for OPD)

10. Top three favourite fic tropes.

Oooooh watch me forget all fic tropes ever...

Writing: loyalty, angst with a happy ending, somebody else lives/not everybody dies

Reading: wingfic, hurt/comfort, found family*

* not in the mother and father and kids sense, in the interwoven connection of platonic but socially inappropriately intimate relationships sense

(I do like reading what I like writing and vice versa, but... my writing tends to be angstier than what I read? Except atm atm brain demands fluff. I love especially what isn't an established trope but I call "soft angst", the quite conversations where characters sit with their trauma on their laps, the holding each other after a nightmare, the teeth pulling of getting a question answered... any of that)

19. Share a snippet from a wip without giving any context for it.

RUDE you know as well as me how many "WIPs" I've got I can't or can barely share, plus I just posted an entire long snippet xD

I guess you can have some of another thing...

I cannot in good conscience do absolutely no context though - under cut for mild OPC spoilers

“You want me to call in for you?” he decides on, a simple enough task for either of them to do. “Before someone panics - you know how they are.”

It earns him a really shaky smile.

“No, it’s alright, I should-” Arthur downs the hot chocolate, then pushes himself up. He still seems shaky, but not so badly that he might immediately call. “Can I borrow a phone?”

“Landline’s on the living room end of the dining room cupboards.”

He expects another indignant question about why they have a landline - one Johnny is all pre-prepared for, sources bookmarked on his phone and all. Instead he gets a quiet “thanks”, and Arthur slipping out of the room.

Never mind.

Johnny takes the time to cut another carrot and, thoroughly bored of that, tosses it in the pan. From the bottom of the fridge he pulls out a couple of packets of pre-cut veg. He opens them up, and tosses them in too. A random selection of spices, some soy sauce… Given how his arms are cramping, he does not turn on the heat.

It’s tempting, to go check on someone - to go see how Rubens is doing, or corner Arthur on the phone. Instead, he pushes the chopping board further onto the table, folds his arms into its place, and presses his head into him.

The physio might be upset with him later, but his spine is thanking him right now.

His arms, too, with a break from holding even themselves up.

He stays like that for a few minutes, simply breathing through the pain. In, and out, and in, and pretend your body does not feel like fire, and out.

He can take more painkillers with food - there’s bigger problems in the house than that right now.

And speaking of bigger problems, he can hear steps on the carpet nearby.

Sitting back up is not as easy as it should be, even pathetically weak as he is. His back will not just straighten, rather he has to use equally pained arms to push himself back up.

It’s fine though, it’s fine, what’s a little pain really?

[nanuk-dain]

"Actions speak louder than Words" for the ask meme? 🥲

Hello my dear friend! *hugs* Ohhh, I haven't thought about the RED fandom in ages. This is a good one!

Send me a fic of mine and I'll answer...

My favourite scene

Anything with smileys! Coming up with scenarios where smileys appeared on things/people was so much fun, and I loved establishing this very unusual kind of secret love language between Will and Frank. Of course that means that the end with the smiley pendant proposal was the culmination of the whole thing - how could I have them have wedding rings given the significance of the smiley in their relationship? XD

Hardest scene to write

Action scenes are always tons of work, so that scene with the car chase and the warehouse firefight took more work than the rest of the story. With action scenes you always have to make sure every action/reaction is coherent and plausible, and you have to give enough details to make the reader understand without getting too descriptive because the last thing you want is for an action scene to get boring. So, yeah, they demand careful planning and execution, but I really like writing action scenes, which might explain why I tend to have them in my fics.

Favourite character to write in the fic

Okay... Sarah. I love her mischievousness and it was so much fun to write her special brand of support of Frank and Will's relationship in this. On top of that I hate women bashing in slash fics and I love to write awesome female characters into my fics, and she's just so perfect already based on canon. And her good-natured scheming is just too much fun to resist, not to mention that I loved keeping her close friendship with Frank because those two have such an adorable connection. Just because I decided that Frank's in love with Will, doesn't mean that it'll end his relationship with Sarah. It just changed it a little. And showing how comfortably and affectionately she handles that was part of what I enjoyed about writing her in this fic. Not to forget her slowly becoming an active member of the gang and growing close to Victoria XD

Favourite dynamic to write in the fic

Actually, it's not the dynamic between two people in the case of this fic, but the dynamics within the gang. I think it's also part of what makes the movies so enjoyable, and I loved including it here. How the individuals grow into a found family, how you get sibling relationships and parental/mentor figures, how they get comfortable with each other. And strange as it may be, but writing the growing (sibling) relationship between Sarah and Will was very intriguing, not to mention so much fun. Same for Victoria and Will, and Ivan and Frank, and of course Frank and Sarah, not to forget Marvin being his unsociable self with everybody. There's just something that's so enjoyable about all of them, about the teasing and the humour and noticeable connections they build.

Why I chose that title

Well, in this specific case it's kinda the running gag that Frank and Will are not good at talking but quite in sophisticated showing what they think/feel. So yeah, this title was just predestined to be chosen. An expression has rarely fit a fic better than that XD

A fun fact about the fic

This was my first long fic for RED, and I was worried at first that it would be out of character with all the post-canon timeline/events, that it would be too cheesy with all the feelings and the smileys. But guess what, it turned out to be the most popular RED fic I've written so far ^_^

[galactic-pirates]

For the ship classification game:

James/John from Sanctuary and Regina/Robin from OUAT, please.

James/John - makes sense, compels me

I mean I ship them hard lol. They aren’t explicitly canon but the subtext is definitely there. It can’t be proven that they aren’t canon.

So why do I ship them? Well they were friends first. We didn’t see them interact much sadly so a lot builds off the “battle of wits” line. I have written what I think was probably canon in that they met at Oxford, and I also wrote an AU where they went to the same boarding school so met at 11. But meeting at Oxford they had shared classes, so a common intellectual interest. I’m not very good at how people are friends (as I have no friends) but I think shared interest/time together is a good start.

For a romance they would need to find each other attractive. Then the part that compels me is the unfortunate society homophobia - it was literally illegal and they had to hide. For them to have been brave enough to admit their attraction, knowing if it wasn’t returned the scandal could ruin their life.

In ‘canon’ (well headcanon 😛) I feel like John would have made the first move with the sort of “I want to piss off my abusive prejudiced bastard of a father”. There was also probably whiskey involved. I feel like James (in canon) would have been more hesitant but leapt on John’s move the second his quick mind noticed. I wrote the opposite in my soulmark fic because of reasons I tried to make clear in the fic.

——

Regina/Robin - doesn’t make sense, doesn’t compel me

That is probably harsh. I didn’t hate it but I couldn’t see a deeper connection. They did the whole “soulmate” thing but that didn’t land with me. It felt shallow in how it started like it was just “attractive man” and the gorgeous lady is like “oh yes please”. It did develop I suppose as they encountered challenges. Him being a single dad was a reason (beyond handsome) for attraction because Regina is such a mom but they didn’t really show her with Robin’s little boy.

I think honestly a good part of it is that Once did relationships so badly. There was very little build-up. It’s like they skipped what they considered the boring part and - so had the meet cute and then just “oh we are together now” without really then making it make sense. I guess they were very focused on the plot and nothing else really got developed consistently. It was like that for a lot of the shows relationships - especially those that came into the show later on in the seasons. They did a much better job establishing stuff in season 1.

Once really did suffer with a “tell rather than show” problem. With some ships I filled in the blanks with headcanons. I didn’t care enough with Regina and Robin to bother. When I wrote close to canon fics I tended to keep their relationship if it was set during that time, as I didn’t hate it, I just didn’t see the point of it.

It’s not that I really shipped Regina with anyone else either. I never went in for SwanQueen. Sometimes things just don’t click you know? I didn’t hate that either, I could see all the points people made in meta posts but a ship grabs me or it doesn’t and it didn’t.

Actually I suppose at the end of the day all the trauma Regina went through. All I wanted for her was happiness and I didn’t want that to come from a partner, I wanted her to find that in herself first. I said before that Regina was such a mom and basically yeah. It’s like for some characters romance is their most important relationship, and for Regina she found contentment in being a mother. Not to say obviously that she couldn’t also have a romance - it is only right and proper to have many different types of relationships. I just never saw her with anyone and thought “yeah that’s happiness”.

[goat-shoe]

ok, i Rant time

ive been reading this fic Knowing itd be a mess and im just... ive had it with this characterization! aimless rant below ^^;;;

tw for bullying, harassment, abuse, homophobia

so a lot of highschool AUs are just..... Bad? like LOL sorry :x but. youre taking away everything interesting about the miraculous holders, And youre trying to make Fully Grown Adults into children. ??????

n e ways, i found this highschool dropout au,,, im Sure you can guess how i feel abt dugout and tiderdrop together, but personal biases aside (its Icky to me and someday ill figure out why)..... lets read this fic.

(to prove i am Not taking things out of context, heres the whole fic)

FIRST of all, youre ognna notice that the prose is Boring, written in long and uninspired runon sentences. i dont wanna just bash on an inexperienced writer, but if youre gonna be this lazy about it.. who is it for :x

second, headcanoning mariquitas name as the Only spanish name you can think of that starts with "mari"? is just uninspired. mariquita wouldnt Choose a hero name so obviously close to her Real Name.. again im not an unmasker, but this headcanon is ridiculous....

finally, and most importantly.... "he sighs wearily". umm, No actually. he Doesnt. you dont even get an insight into dugouts thoughts other than "im nervous about school >m<"

Needless to say, this and his whiny, whimpering demeanor is incredibly infantilizing,. Furthermore in this context, all it does is plays into the ""yaoi"" trope of a big buff bad big boy x boy who says uwaaah! (i hope it goes without saying, this is Not a condemnation of boys who say uwahh, yall are doing gods work and ily)

cramming tigerdrop and dugout into this trope comes off as (and actually is) incredibly homophobic and harmful. need i remind you, these are real people. i wouldnt be surprised if this author was a fujoshi or something too :x

anyways.

im a dugout fan Because hes reserved, but in this fic, thats being watered down to him just being sad and whiny.

its just so insulting to be written shrugging every 3 sentences. dugout im so sorry theyre doing this to you ;;;

guhh. ill give them points for this cute relationship with mariquita...

but again, the prose is just.. clumsy. and again, all dugout does is whine about change. its not even a realistic portrayal of adjustment disorder :x

speaking of disorders Lol,

we Know how i feel abt tigerdrop, but i tend to actually like fanfic portrayals of him.

but this one is just... Confusing...

(also we have mandatory "describe their entire outfit in vapid detail" LOL i should have made this a bingo)

i havent really been talking about the plot, but heres what it took the author two chapters to get through:

dugout it new in town, hes nervous about the changes. (we dont even know why he misses home??? just, make it up i guess, god forbid a fanfiction Make That part up!!!!!!)

tigerdrop has lived in new york all his life, and he appears to be pretty bored with life (ex: pushes pipsqueak over just because he thought itd be funny, no doubt an allusion to the canal street incident last july)

his characterization is actually really confusing and i think its supposed to be like, Alluring??? but its just disconcerting :x

thats It. Two established characters and empty conversations with others (the mariquita mischaracterization especially drives me up the wall ever since i confirmed my kin with her)

they meet in math class when dugout unknowingly sits in tigerdrops seat..... girl, Literally no one in high school acts like this.

at this point, this fic is no better than glee and the millions of other incorrect and careless portrayals of highschoolers. tigerdrop has some weird banter with the faceless teacher (yet Another reason i hate most highschool fics)

:/ i Kinda saw it coming, but....

tigerdrop apologizing and not meaning it? In character. But, hes just acting like a greaser, and its Weird

dugout wouldnt care! he would not look like "a deer in the Headphones."

i Realize the author doesnt have a beta reader but :x that doesnt excuse pawning off lazy work btw, in case anyone was wondering....

last but probably Most important: this is setting up such a toxic dynamic. tigerdrop is actively pushing the message that dugout is taking up too much space and he doesnt belong. its alienating and shitty. and this is a fic Shipping Them :x

but i Clicked on a dropout fic, so.... should i be surprised :/

like i said. dugout is Already afraid of him.. his body is reacting just to the sound of his voice, not unlike trauma in PTSD victims!

like. guh. this is literally so toxic. also..

take a shot every time you see the word "smirks"

lips ghosting his nose And ear? Lol.....

likely The Worst way to incorporate their miraculous personas :x reading this literally made me nauseous.

anyways.... thats all of the fic thats been posted so far. so to summarize: this is just Icky. its even worse, setting this kind of relationship in their high school years :x imagine if someone treated you this way! youre Not gonna grow up and marry them.

i Cant even.

~ ty for reading <3 ~

[museaway]

🥺🛒

tysm for the questions! <3

🥺 Is there a certain type of moment or common interaction between your characters that never fails to put you in your feels?

I ADORE confession scenes. I love to write them, and I love love LOVE them in manga! They are just! The best!

🛒 What are some common things you incorporate in your fics? Themes, feels, scenes, imagery, etc.

It is always raining and people are always, always taking baths and showers. I set stories lakeside and oceanside. So water, I guess? Which is probably why I ended up in a fandom about swimming.

Memory/identify is another huge theme for me. I didn't realize it until a few years ago, but it's omnipresent.

I also tend to focus on established relationships. They allow me to explore quiet domestic moments that wouldn't be possible in first-time fics. I just adore people being boring together.

–

from this post. feel free to reblog it!

[dont-call-me-algernon]

For the fanfic trope ask thing… only one bed, modern au, coffee shop au, omegaverse (personally, nope), and enemies to lovers!

Only one bed: C

Heavily depends on execution. If I have to be completely honest, I feel like it’s a biiit overrated – as in, it’s fun when it’s part of a broader story, but I’ve seen fics that use the only one bed trope as the entire premise and for me that’s just…not enough to make it interesting, most of the time. As part of a larger story and popping up at the right time when we’ve already seen some tension building up between the characters involved, however? I might very well like it!

Modern AU: C

Another “depends on execution” case. The thing is – most pieces of media I’m currently reading fanfic for are already set in modern times, and when it comes to the ones that are not one of the most interesting things about them, in my opinion, is the setting and how the characters interact with it. So taking that away is almost a sure-fire way to also take away one of the reasons why I’m interested in reading fic about that piece of media in the first place. However, if the plot and character dynamics are interesting enough, I can easily get over a boring setting (compared to the original one) and enjoy the story. Like, if the characters are just transported to modern times with no real differences other than their clothes and the fact that they now own a smartphone, chances are I won’t be too impressed with it. But if in the context of the modern AU the characters are given, say, new jobs/occupations and backstories that impact the way they interact with one another, then I’ll probably like it!

Coffee shop AU: D

It’s not an instant nope out or "an avoid at all costs" situation, but I have to be very desperate for content about a given character and/or ship to start reading one. I have no real explanation as to why other than the fact that plots revolving around characters meeting and falling in love in the context of a customer/worker dynamic don’t appeal to me personally (which is why I feel the same about the also somewhat popular flower shop, bakery, tattoo shop AUs and the like). Also, as much as I like fluff when writing and reading established relationship snippets, in my experience a lot of coffee shop AUs tend to be cutesy and overly-saccharine which is just not my style.

Omegaverse: F

Nothing against people who enjoy it, but for me it’s a major squick. There are many reasons why I steer clear of omegaverse fics and if I had to list them all I’d be here for ages. The main ones have to be the reduction of characters to their biological needs and the fact that a lot of them involve pregnancy in some shape or form which is another big nope for me. I’m vaguely aware of how nowadays there are more “nonstandard” omegaverse fics that challenge the classic alpha/omega dynamic, but it’s not enough for me to ignore the discomfort that I get from engaging with the sub-tropes and social roles inherent to the genre, be them subverted or not.

Enemies to lovers: A

GOOD SHIT 👌 👌 👌 Even though these past few years I’ve been gravitating more towards friends/allies to lovers (boringification process as I grow into an adult, I guess), enemies to lovers remains one of my absolute favourite ship dynamics. I’m a sucker for the “I’ve seen you at your worst and vice versa, yet here we are” implication once the relationship progresses towards the lovers part. Bonus points if it’s not a straight path, but the two characters oscillate between one and the other and some weird middle ground in between for a while before eventually settling.

Thanks for the ask!

[maeve-on-mustafar]

please tell me you’re joking bc i LOVE THE SHY SUB ANAKIN PREMISE YOU PROPOSED AND WOULD LOVE TO READ IT IF YOU FELT LIKE WRITING IT!!!! demure anakin with an obi-wan who encourages him to recognize his achievements is one of my favorite tropes!!!!!!

Haha, I'm glad the premise captivates you, anon. I've been very surprised but flattered at the amount of interest those Obikin ideas have received. The reason I've always held off on writing any of them is because I genuinely thought no one else would want to read them, or that people would think those fics were boring for not including the typical fanon tropes.

I fully admit to sounding like an obnoxious hipster, but I often don't gel with a lot of fanon takes, particularly about Anakin, so whenever I have an idea that goes against an established fanon idea, I tend not to write it. I just figure, well, it's the opposite of the popular thing, and things that are popular are popular for a reason, so my idea would automatically be unpopular and most fans would pass over it for the nearest fic that has all the popular tropes. In essence, why bother? And this goes double for Obikin, which seems to have a very popular fanon relationship dynamic that I personally don't get a whole lot out of, so I wouldn't be writing. And when you know that you're not going to be writing the popular thing that everyone wants and that you're drawn to this contradictory idea instead, it can be hard to summon up the motivation to write when you're basically setting yourself up for failure--or at least, to be ignored.

But my Obikin ideas seemed to have garnered a few fans, and I already have the introductory scene written for the gentle dom!Obi-Wan and shy sub!Anakin fic that you and others are asking for, so who knows. Maybe that will be my main fic project for this holiday season.

Thank you for your support and enthusiasm, anon. I really appreciate you taking the time to let me know you'd like to see my ideas transformed into fic. ❤️❤️❤️

[pagesofangels]

17, 22 and 39 for the writing asks!

17.) Past or present tense? Why?

Past tense is the only thing I feel comfortable writing. I wrote a novelette I entered in a Scholastic contest in high school and it was the cringiest shit I've written. To. Date. It was used so poorly it just added to the teenage pretentiousness of that story.

22.) What is it about watching the same two idiots falling in love over and over again?

Okay, this is gonna be an unpopular opinion, but: I don't like to read the process of them falling in love over and over again. This usually applies to multi-chaps, not one-shots.

I'll read quite a few, because I've found some lovely examples where the process of them falling in love is beautifully unique and breaks the mold. But with how much fanfic I browse, I've come across quite a few fics that feel the same. A lot of romantic retellings of the canon story tend to feel boring to me, bc it's often just the original story except the love triangle drama is non-existent (unless the author makes Raoul into an irredeemable tool).

I, personally, much prefer fics where the shipping relationship is established somehow. I'll only read the process of them falling in love if the AU is so different from canon I won't be able to predict all the story beats.

....This is also why I'm growing such a soft spot for rarepairs.

39.) Wildest AU scenario you have written?

Honey, I write nothing BUT wild AU scenarios. But, of course, the wildest is the one I never shut up about bc it's my favorite:

"Erik is a woman and Nadir knocks her up."

The premise sounds like a fever dream, but I swear I tried my best!

[beevean]

I just don’t get Sonadow. Maybe it’s because I view them more as rivals so much that I don’t see how that will shift their relationship to lovers at all. I do like seeing small moments of these two bonding when Sonic isn’t as snarky and Shadow isn’t as closed off but that’s it. No hate to people who like Sonadow but I just can’t see them together as a couple.

I'm the last person you should ask then 😂

Gay rival ships are, by far, the most popular ships in a fandom, it's just facts - Drarry, Sasunaru, Narumitsu (for a value of rivals from the third game onward), Kazumaji (also more or less), just on the top of my head, fans see two men glaring at each other and their collective braincell goes "but what if they kissed tho 😳"

(I'm not superior to this btw. I've also fallen in the same trap. Gay rival ships are appealing for a reason)

Anyway... I don't care for Sonadow because I simply don't care for their rivarly.

Maybe it's because I played Heroes and ShTH before SA2 so I just have never experienced the hype around the character, but I think Shadow is the weakest rival for Sonic. The two... smacktalk a little? They've fought... three times? Four if you count the non canon endings of ShTH? I don't feel the connection, I don't feel the intimacy, I don't feel the deep personal bond that characterizes rival ships. Their parallels are weak (I can't see Shadow as "Sonic but dark", he's just Shadow, his unique person), their rivarly is barely there, the closest thing to a bonding moment they have is when Shadow compliments Sonic for pulling off a Chaos Control with a fake Emerald. My favorite banter of theirs is still "Not you again" "Nice to see you too" in ShTH, but as funny as it is, it's not enough to convince me that the two think of each other as special.

This is why I much prefer Sonuckles and Sonegg. Sonic and Knuckles walk the line between friends and rivals, and the two clash under many aspects: speed vs. strength, freedom vs. duty, chillness vs. hotheadedness... but they care for each other, and you can tell because they help each other even after they just fought for a silly reason. As for Sonegg, they're by far the closest enemies and their relationship is quite unique, they absolutely are as close as rivals tend to be, even if they genuinely hate each other and there's next to no fondness between them unless you consider eggman's bio in origins canon. Hell, at this point even Sonurge makes more sense, at least Surge has the excuse that she's programmed to be obsessed with him!

(just to be clear, I don't always ship with the objective of seeing two characters fall in love. I can appreciate a non-romatic ship too! But Sonadow is often depicted in a cute romantic way, so...)

I don't see any of that in Sonadow, and I wonder if I just missed something lol. But considering that a lot of people ship because ~aesthetic~, even if it doesn't make sense (there are some popular ships I can't stand for this reason...), I just stopped to be bothered.

Sonic and Shadow becoming close friends and allies? Absolutely a development I love to see. Them falling in love? Why? They can absolutely appreciate each other as people, but there's that spark missing. Them just having a fuckbuddies relationship? Not nearly enough tension for that IMO. Shadow's best bond is with Rouge and you can't change my mind :)

[ichayalovesyou]

Hey 💙🖖🏻

I just found you today, and absolutely love your writing, I think I just binge read your Pike fics today 🤭🔥

I also saw that you're taking requests... I might have an idea for you...

Captain Pike going apeshit because you got captured by bad people? Nothing specific, I leave it up to you... Any relationship, platonic, love etc... Getting hurt badly or not... Anything and everything is up to you 😉

(if you don't like the idea, I understand that too💙💕)

Aw geez thanks 😅 I got the warm fuzzies watching you barrel through my fics the other day! I appreciate it! ALSO are you kiddin’?! That sounds delicious! This is one of my all time fav tropes, I got you covered pal-o!

Revenging Angel (Pike x Reader)

Rating: Teen and up (Violence)

Word Count: 1.1k

Content: SFW, angst, hurt/comfort, whump, GN!Reader, Medical!Reader, established relationship (romantic), Protective!Pike, torture by neglect, stabbing, blood, spoilers for SNW 1x07 “The Serene Squall”

Teaser: You're a medical officer aboard the Enterprise whom Captain Angel has kidnapped in order to treat their wounded lover, and as revenge on Pike for causing a mutiny on the Squall. Hopefully he can save you before it's too late!

“Since your Boy Scout’s little mutiny sent my last medic for a zero gravity swim, you’ll have to do. If you fail to save my husband’s life. You’ll be joining her long before the Enterprise even knows you're gone.”

That was two days, and four hours ago. That’s how long you’d been confined to this butcher’s shop they called a sick bay on the Squall. No food, no water, just medieval quality surgical tools to heal this mad captain’s Vulcan lover, then being left in here to die.

They would have to tend to you eventually right? After all, you have a highly valued life in your hands, rather, you had. You lost that bargaining chip the minute you kept your Hippocratic Oath.

But you knew why Angel chose you.

It was to get to Chris, to throw the Captain off his game.

Monsters like Angel loved to manipulate people, you had heard that they’d managed to manipulate and take Mr. Spock of all people hostage the last time Enterprise encountered these pirates. They seemed to have a thing for using love as a bargaining chip.

The only thing keeping you from caving in was knowing in your bones that the Enterprise was coming for you, that Chris was coming for you. That he would come even if you were a stranger to him. It was part of who he was.

So you waited.

When you woke up again, you thought you were delirious, after all, it had been a long time since you had any water. Sounded like fighting, was that phaser fire? You prayed it was another mutiny, especially when Angel and her Vulcan squeeze burst into this poor excuse for a sick bay they’d chained you to.

Then you heard familiar voices, Noonien-Singh’s crisp English accent barking orders, and-

Oh thank god, it was Chris!

“Captain Angel! Release Doctor Y/N and Xavierus, come quietly and we can discuss the terms of your surrender.”

The Captain’s normally leveled command tone was laced with a sharp bark reserved only for when he was at his angriest. He was breathing heavily, the blood on his cheek wasn’t his own. You hoped he hadn’t been forced to do anything he would regret.

“Sorry Captain Pompadour, you only get one.”

If looks could kill, and it wasn’t about the hair jab. When you made eye contact with him, you watched Chris regain some of his composure with the confirmation you were alive, if not well.

“That’s not how this works-“

“Aw! You make it sound like I’m giving you a choice! Better end this before it gets boring.”

It happened so fast, yet it felt like slow motion, Angel whirled around with lightning speed, necklace in one hand, and blade in the other, driving it into the side of Chris’s neck.  

When you tried to scream “No!'' It was La’an’s voice that came out. She rounded the corner as Chris fell, trying to body check Angel as they vanished, transported away mid-tackle. The mysterious Vulcan followed suit.

La’an bitterly remarked about the Captain not following protocol. You barely even heard her, you were too consumed by the sound of Chris struggling to breathe. A twisted part of you was relieved that choking on his own blood meant he was still alive.

Your hands shook, wanting to stay the bleeding but knowing one wrong nudge would drive the blade into his carotid. And that would be it.

You trained for years, seen dying people beneath your hands and had spared them. But you had nothing now, no strength, no wits, and worst of all no equipment, not anything that could save him anyway. You winced at all the times you berated him…

You’d never been there when it happened, not like this, not when it was your life he was trying to save. You weren’t prepared for this.

“La’an, no time, he’s dying.” You begged hoarsely. Her eyes widened as she quickly registered the severity of the Captain’s condition.

“Kyle! Two for emergency medical transport! It’s the Captain.”

As the golden light of the transport beam engulfed you both, you heard her say

“Don’t worry, we’ll find them.”

Maybe that was reassuring for her, but not for you. The only thing that could fight the growing numbness was Chris coming out of this alive.

You didn’t fight your coworkers when they gently pulled the two of you apart. Firstly because you didn’t have the strength. Secondly because you knew you had to recover first if you wanted to help him. And last of all

You trusted your family. Chris was well-loved, nobody in this room would forgive themselves if they couldn’t pull him through. You especially.

You got a drug induced full night’s rest for the first time in what felt like months. You were given a rapid rehydration and anti-malnutrition diet to compensate for the days you spent on the Squall. But, with lucidity came anxiety.

After loudly and stubbornly fulfilling the stereotype of doctors being terrible patients. You were permitted to do some very light data pad work in sickbay, where you could keep an eye on Chris.

The better part of a day has passed. You had settled into the unfocused dullness of busywork when a sharp gasp followed by a coughing fit made you drop everything.

Chris was awake! He tried to sit up, looking disoriented and afraid, no surprise considering how much danger there’d been the last time he was conscious. You moved so fast you practically transported to his side.

“Easy Chris, just lay back down, you lost a lot of blood.”

The Captain looked puzzled but relieved, he listened to you. He took your hand, normally he was so strong, but you could sense the exhaustion in his grip.

“You alright?” he asked “How long?” his voice cracked, it was practically non-existent, the strain was breaking your heart.

“Don’t try to speak. M’Benga and Christine have been taking excellent care as usual, but, we’re both still healing. You managed to take more damage from that pirate in five seconds than I did in two days. How’s that for unlucky?”

He glanced at you, half amused, half exasperated.

“Alright alright, you’ve been out for a little less than 24 hours, and you’ll be out of sick bay in a couple days IF you behave yourself. And since I’m confined to light labor only until I’m back in good condition…”

You circled the biobed, not letting go of his hand, and kissed him on the forehead.

“I’ll be sticking around doing absolutely nothing else, just to ensure you do.”

He laughed weakly, your hands broke away as you sat right next to him in sick bay. You had every intention of getting back to work, but you couldn’t take your attention off of him. So eventually you just gave up.

It was time to enjoy the quiet, no words, just the comfort of the mutual knowledge that both of you were breathing. Pirates, and paperwork, could wait forever for all you cared.

[sukirichi]

Museum Dates with Porco

Modern AU  — Art Museum ver!

(had to make this headcanon because I had a fic idea for him and it included him going on a museum date with the reader :D)

To be honest, he’s not really into art that much, but after finding out you liked paintings and seeing the stories and meanings behind it, it was his idea to get you two tickets.

He’d be SOOO shy like I hc Porco is a cocky ass, but he’d definitely be mushy around his SO (especially when they’re at that stage of not confessing yet)

He’d try his best to look good that day, slicked back hair and wearing your favourite perfume

Ofc he’s going to bring flowers for you

The smile on your face as you light up, bringing the flowers up to your nose to smell it, oh it’s going to make him WEAK in the knees

He’d be a little surprised that even though you both are polar opposites, the sense of style is the same. You’re both dressed very casually and comfortably but still stylish that expresses yourselves

Let’s be real here, he doesn’t really understand the whole jazz behind paintings

He thinks they look good and knows it takes a lot of talent and effort to do one, but he’s just not that into it

Seeing you admiring them though?

That’s a different story

The way you’d just stop and stare at the paintings, a small smile on your face, an unreadable look in your eyes

He’d fall for you even harder

He couldn’t even believe that you actually agreed to go out with him that day, since he was never good at expressing himself and worried that maybe he hadn’t properly gotten his feelings across

But you’re there with him, and suddenly he doesn’t have any complaints about how “boring” looking at the paintings were because it’s never boring when it’s with you

Cliche but,,,he’d only have eyes for you the whole time, he’d glance maybe once or twice at the artwork but that’s it lol

When you explain something to him about the painting, he’d be humming and nodding in agreement, but really he’s too focused on the way your lips move or how you’d clasp your hands in excitement while telling him all about it

He can’t believe how precious you are – and he finds it even more admirable that you’re able to connect with art pieces in a deeper, different level

HE WANTS TO HOLD YOUR HAND SO BAD

But you keep running away or dashing to a piece that you’d been dying to see

He’d stretch his hand out to reach you but you’d move before he can do anything, so he’ll play it cool by pretending to brush his hair or something

When you go, “What’s wrong?” after seeing his flushed face, he’d be like

“Oh, nothing. You were saying?”

You’d shrug it off and just light up all over again, but cmon, HAVE MERCY FOR THIS PRECIOUS BOY

You guys reach the department or hall with more solemn artefacts (maybe something about the war or just gruesome or melancholic messages) and he’s astounded by how you pay respect to those dark times

Porco would inch closer to you, finally getting the courage to place a hand on your shoulder and rub it gently

Finally, he sees something he’s familiar about

Shyly, he tells you about what he knows about that painting, and when you turn to him looking like he just handed you the stars, this man would BLUSHHH

Overall, going to an art museum date with Porco would be very romantic and sweet!

Even though he has a tendency to be an ass to everyone, he’s really gentle and respectful with you. I mean, he finds all these boring, but he legit spent two hours in art museum with you listening to you rant about everything

It’s going to be difficult for him to listen to every word since he’s more distracted with your presence and enthusiasm, but that slight pinch in his brow lets you know he’s trying his best

Of course he also wants to impress you, so he did a little research beforehand (he gave up trying to know a LOT about the themes after 15 minutes, it’s just not his thing lol) but you’re surprised he knows a thing or two about the historical backgrounds of some things

After that, Porco buys you an umbrella with a painting you liked as its design from the museum’s shop

He’s not always good with his words, so please appreciate everything this man does for you, he’s really trying his best

He knows he can be crude sometimes – most of the time – so he tends to hold himself back when it comes to being verbally affectionate

Instead, he’ll show it through touches and spending time with you, investing in your hobbies and always being a good listener

But he also doesn’t miss the opportunity to tease you when you turn into a blabbering mess when you get excited over a certain piece. He can’t help himself, he’ll just lean forward and pinch your cheeks because you’re so darn cute like that

Once you’ve gotten closer and established a more official relationship, you can bet this man will SPOIL you

An art gallery out of town? He got you tickets.

An art exhibit by a foreign artist you support? He’s busy with his thesis but he’ll still make the time to drive you there or pick you up afterwards, never forgetting to provide you your daily dose of kisses

The next art museum date you guys have, he’s not that shy anymore

He’ll hold your hand, rub his calloused thumbs against the pad of your palms, and sniffing your hair because your shampoo smells so good

He’s TOUCHY for sure, but never to the point PDA becomes uncomfortable for others

But he’s really going to want you close to him all the time

Porco likes to party, but he’s actually not into too much noise or clamour, especially when he’s with you

You’re like the sweet breath of fresh air in his life and he wants to treasure everything with you. The next museum dates with him would include lots of hand holding, and him telling YOU about something you told him regarding that piece

And when you beam up at him, surprised that he remembered, it makes his chest swell with pride

If he’s not holding your hand, he’s got an arm wrapped around your waist

But if you’re eager to see something, you’d drag him inside a room and he’d just laugh while you light up like a little kid

IDK WHY but for some reason I can see you guys sharing scarves because most museums are really cold, and this gives him more of an excuse to be closer to you

I can really see this scene very well, where you guys are just staring at this piece you both like (you like it for art and philosophical reasons, but Porco will like it more because of sentimental reasons that involves you) and you place your head on his shoulder, his breath softly tickling your skin

The tranquillity of that moment and just being with your SO really calms you both down

He couldn’t be any more thankful in that moment, he’s extremely glad he met you

Then, as you’re too busy admiring the artwork, you’d feel Porco’s gaze on you, his eyes are literally SHINING with love and appreciation for you

PORCO BEST BOI

please comment/like/reblog  — let me know what you think! I’m new to writing HC’s but I’m sooo in love with all the bois rn, I might do a Museum Date ver with all of them <3

[ilikekidsshows]

One thing that pisses me off not just about the miraculous fandom but modern fandoms is fans inability to consume long overarching stories.

Like so many people are complaining about how long the reveal is taking or why haven't certain characters outgrown this trait yet or why is this character arc botched or abandoned. Like guys we just got the confirmation this show will be 7 seasons long PLUS like 3 tv specials. We're only roughly halfway through the series.

Once the reveal happens half the tension in the show is gone! I'm not saying leave the reveal till season 7 and make us wait 9 years this isn't HIMYM but miraculous is not a fast paced story. It's a long haul story. I just wish more fans would be patient. Miraculous is in the extremely fortunate and rare position that it will have a conclusive end and not be suddenly cancelled. That was and still is a huge problem for shows and cartoons with dedicated fans but networks pull the plug for stupid ass reasons.

So miraculous fans please chill the fuck out on things not resolving right away. We still have 78+ episodes plus the tv specials. If we get the end to certain things now it'll be so boring.

I think the concept of Instant Gratification describes the issue with many modern fandoms today. I hate to sound like I'm anti-technology, but the constant stream of quick and short bursts of entertainment allowed by the information age has made people more impatient. It's not about waiting for the climax to get a deeper sense of satisfaction, it's about getting that instant gratification right this instant. It's why one-shot fanfics are all over the place, when multi-chapter stories used to be just as common and popular, if not even more so, and it’s also why people are less willing to read a fic that’s still a work in progress. It's why people refuse to watch Youtube video essays even as they leave comments on the topic based on the title and thumbnail alone because, while they couldn't be assed to watch a 20-minute video (let alone an hour long one), they sure can spend that time calling the Youtuber names and making arguments the video actually already refutes. It's why a lot of online arguments happen only because one party read nothing but the first and maybe the last paragraph of someone's post and skipped all the explanation for their point of view (if I've ignored an counter argument for one of my posts, it was either because I missed it or because said counter argument did this. I have attention deficit issues so I do genuinely forget responses sometimes, but I'm also not writing a second essay for someone who's proven to me they won't read it).

Of course, it's only by constantly consuming only fast-paced content that you can become this impatient. People have different ideas about stories based on what stories they have encountered in the past.

Another thing that influences the Miraculous fandom in particular is that, while I love to show off exactly how much Miraculous has done to build up the overarching plotlines, Miraculous isn't really a show that's about a single story. It's easy to understand why people think it is one though: there's one main villain, we keep discovering more about the mythology, one of the main plot threads is the romantic relationship between the leads and singular episodes and plot elements tend to get payoff later. What is the purpose of a show if not to progress the story? Because the heroes aren't getting closer to defeating Gabriel or getting together, people think that the story isn't accomplishing anything.

I'll do a comparison to illustrate why these things aren't as clear-cut signs of a continuous storyline as people think. In the Spider-Man comics, you can pick any issue up and the chances are that the villain will be a part of Spider-Man's already established Rogues Gallery, who's back for more after who knows how many defeats, and those past defeats might even get referenced in callbacks to previous issues. It's also very possible that Peter and Mary Jane's relationship is the central focus with them not being together yet, having relationship problems or even having broken up (in really old issues the girl might be Gwen Stacy and short-term options have also always been available for romantic entanglements). Does this mean Spider-Man is a continuous story where the only point is that all the villains get put away for good and Peter and MJ live happily ever after? No, it doesn't. Spider-Man is designed to go on indefinitely, so there's no clear ending point. So, what is the point of Spider-Man then, if there is no Ending?

It used to be the single issue, because comic books used to have every issue be a stand-alone story about the hero and their supportive cast. These days it's more every three-to-six issues, because superhero comics are written to have short story arcs that can then be collected into trade paperbacks. A superhero series is not a single story; it's a series that functions as a story engine, meaning the series can generate several shorter stories where the hero helps fix a problem or solve a mystery.

In the superhero genre a villain will never get killed off or removed from stories permanently as long as the writers think they can still come up with stories to tell about them. The hero's romantic life will never be completely smooth sailing unless the writer is using other things to ramp up the stakes. Everything always allows for there to be another adventure.

I think the huge success of Avatar: the Last Airbender made people think that a series that is a single story is always superior to a series with multiple shorter plots. When I was liveblogging Sailor Moon, a viewer offered to give me a list of all the non-filler episodes because they genuinely thought I'd feel like I was wasting time on the show otherwise. This attitude is simply not based on fact. It's not fair to compare Miraculous Ladybug to Avatar, because they're both setting up to do completely different things. Miraculous Ladybug is trying to become a brand, like Batman or Spider-Man. It is part of the "Zag Heroes" lineup, a series of French-created superhero franchises to compete in the America-centric superhero market. This challenge is good for the genre, because Marvel and DC have started resembling each other more and more as these companies stew in their old ideas and copy everything that worked for the other one. The superhero genre needs new blood.

Also, Avatar: the Last Airbender first became popular by doing episodic plots for almost the entirety of the first season because it's actually not a wise choice to expect the audience to be willing to commit to a story that'll only give payoff later when working with an untested IP. Very often shows with longer story arcs start with the episodic format to hook people first, and sometimes the more linear plot is introduced specifically because the audience for the show is now expected to be both dedicated enough and older and capable of keeping up. Because, here's the thing: you can't expect little kids to remember every episode or even every character you've introduced in your show. I'm not sure if people are ready to hear that but I'm throwing it out there anyway. Kids are not dumb, they can understand more complex storylines, but many kids are still training their memory, so they might not remember the details of complex storylines that go on for too long.

This is why the news that Miraculous Ladybug's fourth season was going to have a recommended viewing order originally had me concerned. Miraculous is being branded for kids. The plot requiring too much skill in memorizing story details will make it less accessible to kids and might put those two additional seasons at risk. However, it seems that the "constantly changing status quo" concept of Truth, Lies and Gang of Secrets was a fluke and the evolution of the show is more subtle, so they might not be cutting the amount of episodes for those final seasons because the show is getting too complicated for kids to follow all the important details.

Regardless, Miraculous Ladybug being an adventure cartoon TV show instead of a comic book or a more cheaper-to-produce TV drama does mean that Miraculous Ladybug isn’t expected to go on for decades like a superhero comic or a soap opera. Because of this, it can have evolution and changes and even a planned ending. The show is expected to end at some point, even by the people making money off of it, mostly because making a cartoon like this indefinitely costs a lot of money, and kids’ adventure shows tend to see a decrease in returns if they go on for too long.