#I WANT MORE OF HER (and the story in general) BUT ESPECIALLY HER

[purplesaline]

That radar, by the way? It's your unconscious brain (aka not thr part you actively think with) recognizing subtle body language cues and other non-verbal communication cues and noting a pattern then sending up red flags.

These body language and other non-verbal communication clues are so subtle that thr other person doesn't even realize they're doing them either.

ADHD folks and Autistic folks tend to be VERY good at reading these (because out brains don't automatically filter out unimportant stimuli the way neurotypical brains do), though autistic folks aren't generally as good at understanding the flags their brain is sending up (sometimes because so manu situations male them feel uncomfortable they assume it'sa false alarm). Anyone with PTSD tends to be even more keyed into these indicators, especially when it's a potential threat.

What's really cool is that you can train yourself to get even better at doing this. It's not some mystical ability some folks have and others will never have. Even neurotypical folks can teach themselves to pay more attention to these cues. A lot of it is working on mindfulness, start using active listening skills to pay closer attention to the people you're talking to. When you get a vibe, no matter how small, don't just automatically dismiss it, tuck it away until after the conversation and analyze it. Those vibes are the ways right, the larger the database your brain has on human behavioural patterns the more accurate they'll be so when you first start out you're likely going to be off a lot. Keep in mind this skill is only and always a tool to be used in conjunction with other skills and tools, you should never rely solely on this skill to form judgement about a person.

Start paying attention to behavioural patterns. "People who do X often react this way to Y situation." And pay attention to when that's not true, try to figure out what variable you may be missing that explains why they're acting in a way you didn't predict. Human behaviour is ALWAYS rational when perceived from the perspective of the person acting. There is always a rational and logical explanation for why a person is doing anything, no matter how illogical or irrational it may seem to you. If you can't figure out a rational explanation it's because you're missing key data.

And even when you're really, really good at reading people some folks will still throw you for a loop. It happened to me recently and I trusted someone I shouldn't despite this being a special interest of mine for literal decades.

And even I was shocked when I learned about Gaiman, because the information most of us had access to was specifically curated. He always felt a bit off to me, but in a socially awkward sort of way not in a predator way.

One final point about Gaiman, don't let him get away with "They'll all said they wanted it" or whatever bullshit he's trying to excuse his behaviour with. His art has, for decades, demonstrated he has a full understanding of consent and coercion and how vulnerable people will give in to powerful ones when they feel threatened even though they don't want to. His stories are full of these situations and he clearly demonstrates he knows that it's exploitation. He doesn't get to hide behind the socially awkward "I didn't understand" justification. Neither does Palmer, though with her it was more a case of willful ignorance and wishful thinking. Wanting to believe it would be okay this time so she ignored the red flags. I've got issues with her particular brand of exploitation under the guise of community too but that's another post entirely.

I want to step away from the art-vs-artist side of the Gaiman issue for a bit, and talk about, well, the rest of it. Because those emotions you're feeling would be the same without the art; the art just adds another layer.

Source: I worked with a guy who turned out to be heavily involved in an international, multi-state sex-slavery/trafficking ring.

He was really nice.

Yeah.

It hits like a dumptruck of shit. You don't feel stable in your world anymore. How could someone you interacted with, liked, also be a truly horrible person? How could your judgement be that bad? How can real people, not stylized cartoon bogeymen, be actually doing this shit?

You have to sit with the fact that you couldn't, or probably couldn't, have known. You should have no guilt as part of this horror — but guilt is almost certainly part of that mess you're feeling, because our brains do this associative thing, and somehow "I liked [the version of] the guy [that I knew]", or his creations, becomes "I made a horrible mistake and should feel guilty."

You didn't, loves, you didn't.

We're human, and we can only go by the information we have. And the information we have is only the smallest glimpse into someone else's life.

I didn't work closely with the guy I knew at work, but we chatted. He wasn't just nice; he was one of the only people outside my tiny department who seemed genuinely nice in a workplace that was rapidly becoming incredibly toxic. He loaned me a bike trainer. Occasionally he'd see me at the bus stop and give me a lift home.

Yup. I was a young woman in my twenties and rode in this guy's car. More than once.

When I tell this story that part usually makes people gasp. "You must feel so scared about what could have happened to you!" "You're so lucky nothing happened!"

No, that's not how it worked. I was never in danger. This guy targeted Korean women with little-to-no English who were coerced and powerless. A white, fluent, US citizen coworker wasn't a potential victim. I got to be a person, not prey.

Y'know that little warning bell that goes off, when you're around someone who might be a danger to you? That animal sense that says "Something is off here, watch out"?

Yeah, that doesn't ping if the preferred prey isn't around.

That's what rattled me the most about this. I liked to think of myself as willing to stand up for people with less power than me. I worked with Japanese exchange students in college and put myself bodily between them and creeps, and I sure as hell got that little alarm when some asian-schoolgirl fetishist schmoozed on them. But we were all there.

I had to learn that the alarm won't go off when the hunter isn't hunting. That it's not the solid indicator I might've thought it was. That sometimes this is what the privilege of not being prey does; it completely masks your ability to detect the horrors that are going on.

A lot of people point out that 'people like that' have amazing charisma and ability to lie and manipulate, and that's true. Anyone who's gotten away with this shit for decades is going to be way smoother than the pathetic little hangers-on I dealt with in university. But it's not just that. I seriously, deeply believe that he saw me as a person, and he did not extend personhood to his victims. We didn't have a fake coworker relationship. We had a real one. And just like I don't know the ins-and-outs of most of my coworkers lives, I had no idea that what he did on his down time was perpetrate horrors.

I know this is getting off the topic, but it's so very important. Especially as a message to cis guys: please understand that you won't recognize a creep the way you might think you will. If you're not the preferred prey, the hind-brain alarm won't go off. You have to listen to victims, not your gut feeling that the person seems perfectly nice and normal. It doesn't mean there's never a false accusation, but face the fact that it's usually real, and you don't have enough information to say otherwise.

So, yeah. It fucking sucks. Writing about this twists my insides into tense knots, and it was almost a decade ago. I was never in danger. No one I knew was hurt!

Just countless, powerless women, horrifically abused by someone who was nice to me.

You don't trust your own judgement quite the same way, after. And as utterly shitty as it is, as twisted up and unstead-in-the-world as I felt the day I found out — I don't actually think that's a bad thing.

I think we all need to question our own judgement. It makes us better people.

I don't see villains around every corner just because I knew one, once. But I do own the fact that I can't know, really know, about anyone except those closest to me. They have their own full lives. They'll go from the pinnacles of kindness to the depths of depravity — and I won't know.

It's not a failing. It's just being human. Something to remember before you slap labels on people, before you condemn them or idolize them. Think about how much you can't know, and how flawed our judgement always is.

Grieve for victims, and the feeling of betrayal. But maybe let yourself off the hook, and be a bit slower to skewer others on it.

[anmwrites]

Stubborn

Xaden Riorson x Reader

Hi friends! I was originally planning on posting one of my already written fics, but since this was requested I made it first priority! I hope I did the request justice (and didn't miss anything when I proofing it). Forewarning, I feel like I absolutely suck at ending stories, so I apologize if the ending is terrible >:( This was written as a FMC as well, but please change to whatever makes you feel comfortable when reading.

Warnings: Cursing, slight sexual innuendos (?), and faint mentions of childhood trauma.

Other Notes: Xaden being more fluffy, maybe, than usual; reader being moody and not really knowing why she's upset (I think I put some of myself into that oop); pretty rusty at this so I hope it doesn't suck lol.

I also want to go ahead and say that I take trigger warnings very seriously as someone who has struggled with mental health, so for future fics please let me know if I miss anything. This one felt a little lighter than some fics I've written in the past, but I don't want to hurt anyone in any way. Please always take caution even though I will list any warnings. Your mental health matters!

On that note, I hope everyone enjoys and finds a little escape with our favorite shadow wielder! (Disclaimer: I do not own any photos below)

To say the adjustment to training with and well, in general, to having fliers around was easy is a lie. A complete. Fucking. Lie. The only thing both riders and fliers had in common were the amount of fights they caused with one another. That was it. 

Y/N tried. She really, really tried to make the best of a shitty situation, but she was almost at her breaking point. Especially with Xaden’s ex roaming the halls. She was one bad comment away from Sgaeyl biting her head off for snapping at him. 

“He’s not into her anymore,” Violet said, snapping Y/N out of her thoughts as she stared, more like glared, at the short-haired bitch from across the dining hall. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Y/N snipped back. “Yes, you do. You are this close to starting a fight with her. Don’t be like Ridoc, you’re a lot more level headed than him,” she said, pinching her fingers together to show a miniscule amount of space. “Hey! It was one fight,” Ridoc exclaimed from across the table. 

“One fight too many,” Violet mumbled rolling her eyes at their spastic friend. “I’m fine,” Y/N huffed. The entire squad gave her a knowing look. She rolled her eyes, “Whatever, I’ll see you losers in class.” Ridoc gave her a cheerful smile as she stood, everyone else grumbling their goodbyes. 

A silk-like touch wrapped around her ankles as she made her way out of the dining hall. Y/N didn’t have to look to know Xaden sent his shadows trailing after her, a silent inquiry as to where she was going. She just shook her foot, not wanting to think nor speak to her boyfriend. As if Zihnal himself had a personal vendetta against her, though, a rough hand grabbed her arm. 

Y/N turned to find Xaden staring down at her, a hint of concern written in those beautiful eyes. “Where are you going?” he asked. “Kill time before our next class,” Y/N shrugged, refusing to look at him. Truth be told, ever since she found out Cat was Xaden’s ex, she really tried to avoid him, a nasty feeling permanently making its home in her stomach. 

“Well, I gathered as much,” Xaden rolled his eyes, releasing her arm. “I can come with,” he suggested, his tone much softer than what the entire riders quadrant would ever hear. “I’m fine, thanks,” she said flatly. Xaden made a face. “What’s wrong?” 

“Nothing.” “You’ve been saying that for the past two weeks now. Yet I barely get to see you, and you’re avoiding me.” Y/N just shrugged, “I’m busy.” Xaden scoffed, a darker expression replacing his concerned features. “C’mon,” he said, grabbing at her waist before running his hand along the curve of her body. She felt her breath sweep out of her. “Don’t you miss this?” He leaned in, whispering in her ear. He planted a feather-light kiss on the shell of it, sending heat rushing through her body. 

Y/N almost forgot why she was so mad. Until a nasally voice cut through the air. “Xaden!” she practically shrieked. Y/N cleared her throat, taking a step back out of his embrace. “I’ll see you later,” she mumbled before melting into the crowd. A furious expression graced Xaden’s face as he watched Y/N retreat before turning to face Cat. “What do you want?” he snapped. She sauntered over with a flirtatious smile. “Trouble in paradise?” she drawled. Xaden just crossed his arms. Cat flashed him a saccharine smile, “You know, I can always make you feel better. I do know how to make you feel better.” She smirked, and tried to reach her hand out to touch his face. Xaden shot a hand out, forcefully gripping her wrist. “You don’t get to fucking touch me anymore,” he snarled. Her swaggering facade fell slightly as she squirmed to try and get out of his grasp. 

“Fine,” she snapped. He released her. “You’ll come crawling back to me once you get bored with that one.” Xaden glared at her. “I don’t do sloppy seconds,” he spit before turning on his heel and leaving her. 

__

Maybe you should just talk to him, Nordys, Y/N’s black scorpion tail huffed as they lounged in one of the many fields within the nesting grounds around Aretia. That’s not happening. Nordys’ head swiveled in her direction, coming eye level to her. His green eyes narrowed into slits. You’re being childish. He is your mate. 

One, ew he’s not my mate. He’s my boyfriend. And two, what am I supposed to say? ‘Hey Xaden, I fucking hate your ex-girlfriend. She makes my life and my squadmates’ lives a living hell. Drags up very painful memories from my childhood. Can I please incinerate her?’ Nordys let out a chortle which was eerily similar to a laugh. Yes. Essentially that. He is the wingleader. And I would be happy to oblige by incinerating her and her mount. Y/N smiled softly at the thought, leaning against his side. At least someone understood. 

Tairn just said he would turn a blind eye to it as well. Sgaeyl agreed too. We would have free reign to kill them all, Nordys continued. That’s a shock considering they won’t let Andarna do it. 

Andarna is a petulant adolescent. She must learn patience and discipline. At least that’s what Tairn told me. 

Y/N sighed. I just don’t know what I’d say to him. I’m not mad at him. He’s entitled to have ex’s. I would be shocked if he didn’t. It’s just…I really hate her.  

You are ten times the human she is. You do not need to worry about your position as Xaden’s mate. Y/N groaned, Stop calling him that. Boyfriend, he is my boyfriend. We’ve talked about this. And I’m not worried about my position with Xaden. It’s just…well, I’ve told you before. My mother chased after rich men her entire life. They basically used her for her body and left her in the gutter. 

I will call him as I see fit and you are not your mother. You are a rider, Nordys huffed, before laying his head down and closing his eyes. You need to go to class now, he said after a moment. Y/N groaned again. He was right. She was going to be late, and Professor Emetterio would have her head. Fine. Have fun doing whatever it is you do, Y/N grumbled, gathering her things. Nordys let out a hot breath in her face before launching himself into the sky leaving Y/N to trek to class. 

__

Y/N’s moment of peace was ruined the moment she stepped into combat training. The fliers were gathered on one side of the mat while the riders stood on the opposite side. “I see immersion into our current living situations are going well,” Emetterio mumbled mostly to himself. Professor Devera just let out a quiet laugh from where she stood beside her colleague. Xaden was standing near the door, pointedly staring at Y/N while she was doing everything she could not to meet his hard gaze. 

“Well, since everyone wants to fight everyone outside of this class, we will be pairing riders with fliers,” Emetterio’s voice boomed through the room. There was an audible groan from both sides. 

“Good, now then!” He continued. Y/N zoned out as everyone began pairing off while he called names. Only when her name and her opponent was called did she really pay attention. Her blood ran cold as Cat stared back at her with a dark grin on her face. 

“You’ve got this,” Violet whispered from her right. Rhiannon nodded in agreement from her left. “You’ve been trained by Xaden himself. You’re one of our strongest fighters,” Ridoc came up behind her, clapping her on the back. Y/N just gave them a look before stepping on the mat. “Begin,” Emetterio called. 

Cat smirked and she began dancing around on her feet. “It’s about time we got paired together,” Cat commented. Y/N snorted, watching her closely. Timing was everything. Xaden taught her that. Study your opponent and assess their weak side if possible. Especially when you go to the mat during class. His voice rang clear in her head from all those late nights spent training. 

“Let’s make it interesting,” Cat continued on, “Winner gets Xaden?” Y/N glared back at her, “He’s not some trophy.” She let out a sultry laugh, “You’re right. He isn’t. He’d be one for you, but not for me. You see, we’re royalty, him and I. So it’s just the perfect match.” 

Y/N let out an inhumane snarl before lunging at her. To her utter shock, Cat maneuvered out of her way resulting in Y/N punching the air. She swung around and landed a sweep to Y/N’s legs, knocking her on her face. Fury rippled through her as she swung around trying to knock Cat off her feet with a swift kick, but to her surprise, yet again, Cat took the hit and rolled right back into her stance exactly…exactly like Xaden. 

Her cackle was like nails on a chalkboard. Y/N pushed herself up quickly, going through the next steps just like Xaden showed her, but Cat didn’t miss a beat, moving just like how Xaden would when they trained. 

Y/N froze for just a second, as she watched for the fifth time, as Cat moved just like him. Her moment cost her, and next thing she knew, a fist met her face. Y/N stumbled towards the edge of the mat where Violet and Ridoc caught her and kept her from falling over. “S-she was taught by Xaden. Every single one of his moves. She knows them,” Y/N panted. “It doesn’t matter. Focus,” Vi encouraged. While Y/N thought no one noticed, she was really wrong. Cat got under her skin. Everyone could see it. 

“Finish it,” Ridoc snarled at her, his hard stare on Cat, who was still laughing. “Ready to tap out yet?” she goaded. Seeing red, Y/N shoved herself off of Violet and Ridoc. Faster than she had ever been, she lunged for Cat. Her fist met flesh with the satisfying crunch of Cat’s nose. 

Cat snarled before whipping back up, slugging Y/N in the face again. “You bitch!” she hissed. Y/N laughed, the coppery tang of blood filling her mouth. “You broke my nose,” Cat snarled. “Sucks to suck,” Y/N smirked. “Argh!” Cat exploded, reaching in her belt and ripping out a dagger. 

Y/N had moments to react. She went straight for the onyx hilted blade at her side, barely blocking Cat’s attack before she could leave a permanent scar across her face. She felt a faint sting on her cheek, but that was the least of her worries because Cat lunged at her again. Rage built within Y/N. She began striking back, dodging every one of her blows. She was fairly certain Cat was using her abilities on her to rile her up, but she didn’t care. Part of this anger was all Y/N’s.

She could barely hear Emetterio yelling at them to drop the weapons. Barely hear her squadmates and the fliers edging on the fight. It was turning sloppy. Both began ripping at each other’s hair, trying to cut one another. Until strong arms wrapped around her center, yanking Y/N off of Cat, who’s entire face was bloody. 

“You won,” a soft voice caressed her ear. “Sweetheart, you won. You proved your point,” Xaden’s shadows wrapped lovingly around her struggling form. Y/N was still seeing red. Cat was shrieking profanities at her as her friends were trying to hold her back. “You fucking whore!” Cat screamed, “He’ll come crawling back after he gets sick of fucking your pathetic ass–” “Cat!” Xaden’s voice boomed. 

Y/N snarled and went to lunge again, but Xaden whirled on her, body blocking her with his chest. “Darling, calm down,” he said. “Look at me!” Two hands gripped her face tightly and she felt the fight slowly slip away. Her eyes met his beautiful gold-flecked onyx eyes. “There you go. Calm down. It’s alright, you won,” he was breathing heavily. Nothing but pride filled his face. 

The high wore off and she finally took a moment to breathe. Y/N glanced around and saw Violet and Rhiannon give her a grimace, but they looked happy nonetheless. Ridoc looked like he just had a blast, and everyone else began whispering excitedly as Emetterio dismissed them. 

She looked back to Xaden who was still staring at her intently. “You were fantastic,” he breathed. “I’ve never seen you move that fast. Albeit it got sloppy there at the end, but still.” That ugly feeling resumed its place within her as the reality of what just happened sunk in. “She fought like you,” Y/N whispered. Xaden tensed. “She fucking fought like you because you trained her,” Y/N hissed, stepping out of his grip. 

“Y/N,” Xaden sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. She just shook her head and turned on her heel, storming out. 

“Y/N wait!” his voice followed her out as she stormed through the halls. Y/N nearly made it to her room before Xaden caught her arm. “What is going on with you?” he asked, with an exasperated look. “You fucking trained her Xaden!” she shrieked. Emotion began pouring out of her. “It’s one thing that I have to pretend to be civil with your ex when all she does is spew shit out about how she’s royalty and that I’m just a side-piece! And now I find out you taught her how to fight?” 

“So what if I taught her how to fight?” Xaden snarled, his temper flaring. He could not, for the love of Amari, figure out what the big deal was. “I-I, just don’t know,” Y/N muttered, exhaustion finally sweeping in. She could feel her cheeks dampen as tears rolled freely down her face. Embarrassment coursing through her. She didn’t even know when she started crying. 

Xaden threw his hands up in the air, still clearly frustrated. “You don’t know? You don’t know? I have been trying to talk to you for two weeks now! How many times do I have to tell you that I am in love with you? So deeply in love with you!” he shouted. Y/N just stared at him.

“Are you mad at me? Jealous? What is wrong!” he asked. Y/N opened her mouth and then closed it. Was she mad at him? “No,” she exhaled, “I’m not mad at you. I, I just don’t know why I’m so upset. I mean there’s a very large possibility that Cat has been manipulating my emotions, but I’ve just had this horrible feeling sitting in my gut ever since I found out about your history with her,” she concluded.  “You have nothing to be worried about,” Xaden sighed. “That feeling, my dear, is called jealousy.” 

Y/N just shook her head. In all reality, she really didn’t want to talk about it with him. He knew what her past was, but just because he said it didn’t bother him didn’t mean it never bothered her. 

She pushed open her door planning on slamming it in his face, but he caught it and followed her in. “Just talk to me. Please, baby, just talk to me,” he said quietly, resting his hand on her cheek and wiping a stray tear away. Y/N squeezed her eyes shut. “It’s just…you were going to marry her. Marry her, Xaden. She’s practically a princess where she comes from. She was practically your first for everything. And she struts around here like she’s still going to be married to you, calling me a whore and all of the other names in the book. Constantly reminding me,” Y/N let out a shaky breath and opened her eyes, "reminding me of where I came from that I so desperately want to forget.” 

Xaden studied her for a moment, his features visibly softening. “You aren’t your mother,” he said quietly. Y/N scoffed. “You really aren’t. You didn’t end up like her.” “What? Fawning over rich, powerful men who only cared when she spread her legs open for them?” Y/N mumbled.

“Is that how you think of us?” Xaden questioned. “No? Yes? I don’t know. It’s just with her here, it’s what it felt like,” Y/N whispered. Xaden let out a breath before wrapping her in his arms. “It’s not,” he murmured into her hair, “It’s more than that. I love you for you. For your light, intelligence, your stubbornness…absolutely everything. She may have been my first but you will be my last. My heart has always belonged to you and will always belong to you in this life and the next.” 

Y/N felt a wave of calm and reassurance wash over her. She melted deeper into his embrace, breathing his all too familiar scent. “I love you too,” Y/N grumbled into his chest, “And I’m sorry for not talking to you sooner.” Xaden chuckled, pulling away slightly. “It’s fine my sweet girl,” he gave her one of his smiles only she was allowed to see. 

“Now can I kiss you or are you going to bite my head off?” He smirked. Y/N rolled her eyes, gripping his face and pulling it down to hers. Xaden’s lips met hers in a fervor. The taste of him all consuming. Kissing Xaden was like a dream, but this? After two weeks of walking on eggshells? Well, Y/N was practically floating. 

His tongue swiped her bottom lip, asking for permission. Y/N happily obliged, parting her lips to give him access. His hands roamed freely all over her body sending lightning cascading down her spine. She let out a soft groan as he deepened the kiss, both of them moving in tandem backwards towards the bed. Y/N hardly registered her legs bumping into it before she fell backwards. The soft duvet fluffed up around her as Xaden followed in suit until he was settled in between her legs. He leaned in bearing more of his weight down and – 

“Oof,” she grunted, a zap of pain shooting up her back. Xaden froze, pushing up off her. “I’m fine,” she whined, staring up at him. “You took a nasty beating,” he commented, pushing fully up and off of her. Y/N just let out another pathetic whine, missing the feel of his lips and body on hers. 

Xaden just chuckled and held out his hands. “Not until you’re cleaned up and feeling better,” he tutted. “Up.” Y/N rolled her eyes, but grabbed his hands. He did have a point. Her whole body had begun aching. “Fine,” she huffed. “But as soon as I’m all patched up, can we go back to kissing?” He let out a glorious laugh, “Yes, love. We can go back to kissing.”

____________

See, I told you my endings are always lame. I'm so sorry. Will also start building a Masterlist soon too.

[eobe]

Dangerous Mikkians sighted at the GAR Goth Night in the 79s clone bar in Coruscant ✨🖤

🩵 Jedi Padawan Eo looks tiny and cute, intendedly chose a pretty Victorian Goth style with a skirt of black lace layers, combined with some shimmering purple brocade corset, satin bands and gloves underlining her natural creamy turquoise skin color, that is fluorescent under the ultraviolet light, but also has a natural bioluminescence in the dark in general – the more turquoise glow on the skin of both Mikkians ✨

Close up on Eo (amused about a daring clone trooper, wo gawks at her tall sister):

Eo managed to lure out her (literally) big sister, who is unamazed, but joined the very moment she saw what kind of dress her little sister is going to wear at a event full of testosterone – ignoring completely that Eo is a trained user of the Force and not impressed by the info that her whole Owl Squad 🦉 (<– artwork with 5 gothed clone troopers incoming, I lost my mind) AND the Chaos Squad vode 💥 and friends 🫶 are already there or on their way.

💙 Specialist Ayuna is a Mandalorian armorer and seems to be the direct opposite of her little sister with her dark indigo blue skin, but sharing the same turquoise skin glow, especially at the tendril tips. There is very much lore to tell, how they got separated, how Ayuna got adopted by Mandalorians and how they found each other again under craziest circumstances.

Plot is slowly forming, the writing is like a giant towering behind me, everything around The Source Code – maybe one day it'll blurt out of me 😅

Close up on Ayuna (eyeing the daring clone trooper, thinking the guy hits on her pretty sister, not getting it):

I looped the very deep and melodic gothic metal song "Never Dawn" from Lacuna Coil 🎶 as I drew Ayuna's casual grungy Steampunk Goth style, because that is very much her vibe (and parts of it very much fitting to her and the others stories) 🖤

With enough Spotchka she would sing the female part together with ARC trooper Source (<- one of the incoming clones), who is kind of the actual Cyber goth in Eo's Owl Squad and would shock everybody with the ability to do metal growl singing – OMG somebody lock me up, I can see the scene, I want to draw them, I have too much WIP, I can't go on like this aaaAAAAAHH 🤪✨

🙏 Appreciation shout-out at Lacuna Coil for this song, that nourishes and inspires me ever and ever again. All design credits of that shirt print to the official merch of Lacuna Coil 🤩✨ (Disclaimer: I don't get anything with this, the link shows the design ref and this is just fanart 🎶)

Chaos vode 💥 and GAR Goth Night friends 🖤 @ghostymarni @eclec-tech @lonewolflupe @wings-and-beskargam @foxwithadarkside @crosshairs-dumb-pimp-gf @fiveminutetrash @skellymom @vimse @ladylucksrogue

Thank you all so much for ever ongoing support, inspiration, hyping and being crazy with me, sharing art, thoughts and incredible wholesome vibes – sending warm Mikkian hugs 🥰✨

Taglist, more goth art (nobody complained yet): @bixlasagna @returnofthepineapple @sunshinesdaydream @covert1ntrovert @general-ida-raven @vrycurious @dystopicjumpsuit @chaicilatte @groguandthebadbatch @spaceyjessa @morerandombullshit @freesia-writes

[saylor-twift]

people give all the credit to fontaine for being the “best region” (and they’re not wrong tbh) but why does everyone forget that genshin really started to glow up in sumeru?? like story flow, exploration, multi-layered map, character bursts/gameplay, not to mention the addition of dendro, a whole new element???

granted, sumeru still had plenty of flaws and i’m still not over the fact that they absolutely FUCKED dehya’s shit up so bad (she was the one sumeru character i wanted more than anyone else when it came out) but sumeru was peak in my opinion and im still not over the fact that it’s over. :(

some of my favorite things from sumeru IF you care:

- the relationship progression and teamwork between dehya, cyno and alhaitham. like they all started off super untrusting and unwilling to work with each other but were forced to make it work and ended up making a great team

- the archon quest in general had me so hooked the whole time i loved it (even the annoying ass samsara repetition at the beginning lol)

- Nilou’s burst, gameplay, and design. prettiest character in the whole game imo. (i still wish she had more potential as a dps rather than strictly a bloom/hydro applicator but oh well)

- Nahida’s writing. basically her whole character and development was so good, such a great archon

- literally everything to do with scaramouche/wanderer but if you guys are following me you already know i love him so do i really need to explain?

- absolutely BEAUTIFUL landscape even if it sucks to explore

- coolest looking enemies and bosses in the game i think (especially the eremites like what?? they literally look like they should be playable)

- the music in vorukasha oasis/ basically that whole area in general. the vocals are so pretty i literally stay there for hours just listening to the music, it’s my favorite area in the whole game i go there all the time when im bored

anyways that’s it now it’s y’all’s turn to tell me about your favorite nation and your favorite things in it!!!

[ack-cough]

Hello ms. ack-cough, I hope this ask finds you well. I've become a big fan of your ISAT-related content, including the Siffrin & Isabeau fanchild you've made: Mars. If you'll allow me, I'd like to posit a thought exercise for the aforementioned character: How would Mars react to canon Siffrin (pre-loops, mid-loops, direct post-loops, whichever you believe most fitting/interesting) and vice versa?

That's all for my particular ask. Kindest regards, A Polite Anon.

Hello polite anon!!

Great question and it honestly depends what about Siffrin they learn.

Mars hardly ever hears pre or mid loop info about Baba (Siffrin), do to a fine mix of their poor memory and not wanting to tell Mars about the loops in general!

Cause yes we teach history to keep it from repeating, but how could you look at something so untouched by terror and haunt them with stories full of spilled blood. But you can't have the poor thing clueless now can we? Especially since the title of Savior that follows his family everywhere, and Siffrin being practically painted and carved by what the loops did to him.

So Mars knows the basics:

-that Siffrin was in a time loop

-that Loop is a Siffrin

- About Sifs Bigfrin scars, but not the exact events that caused them.

- THAT THE KING TRIED TO FREEZE VANGUARD<=(definitely knows this one since the guy now lives in his shadow)

-That Mirabelle was chosen by the Head Housemaiden.

- That Siffrin lost his eye protecting Bonnie <=(learned from Bonnie of course)

-"There was no research"

But kids are curious aren't they? Mars' would personally be fascinated and excited to learn more about his Baba and especially the things they've been hiding from him!

He'd love to hear stories of Siffrin's time as a nameless traveler before meeting the family, about the inner workings of the loops, the context for the "script" Baba would still sometimes compulsively repeat. About the way Wishcraft and Timecraft from one of its surviving victims.

But.. unfortunate Mars would bite off more than she can true.. To see and hear someone he loved so much dissent into madness, to learn why he hated the king so SO much.

To learn to be scared of her own shadow, cause the star that lives in it has splattered and painted the once beautiful house of change lightless with her families blood and innard. Hundreds , Thousands of times.

And only two people remember..

A new fear for SirSol would be gained that day..

[astudyinimagination]

Why is BBC Sherloc fandom so horrible to its female characters?!

To be fair, not all of it is. Molly Hooper, Sally Donovan, and Mary Watson, especially, have fierce fans and defenders.

It's a thorny issue, Nonny. Some people will claim it's because of how the women are written. I call bullshit on that idea, because most people don't need a male character to be especially well-written to like him. Dr. Watson isn't particularly well-written in the ACD canon, and yet he is beloved! So... yeah, I believe that they believe that, but I call bullshit.

I've heard people say that Molly is pathetic, but they seem to have this idea of her that's locked on to season 1 and ignores all the character development she gets throughout the rest of the show. (It's also frankly mean to quiet girls who don't know how to stand up for themselves, and as a quiet girl who didn't used to know how to stand up for herself, I really hated that.)

Most hate for Sally Donovan is really just misogynoir, and I have zero problems calling it that. Sally's doing her job, and she's probably doing it better than Lestrade (a fandom darling) is.

Irene Adler... well, to be fair, that story is a mess. But also I at least haven't seen a lot of hate for her...

Janine, also not a lot of hate, but she is victimized by both her boss and Sherlock, so I think she gets a pass, lol.

Mary Watson... hoooo boy. Mary was hated before she ever got to the screen, because a lot of people wanted so badly for their boys to get together, and Mary threatened that. And then she showed up and she was a delight and she sort of won people over for about two weeks, lol. Then she shot Sherlock, and people hated her even more. And I kind of get it, but also... two of my favorite characters of all time are a father and son who cut off each other's hands. I'm okay with some serious angst and drama and even violence between characters if it's not brushed under the rug, and Mary's actions were not brushed under the rug and it was very clear that Sherlock loved Mary and she ended up loving him back. So... I get that Mary is complicated, and that the writers over-complicated her. But, Your Honor, I still love her.

Eurus... dunno, I think by that point, people were too worked up about other things, and Eurus is also handled extremely messily, lol.

Mrs. Hudson is universally beloved, as she should be.

It does seem, in general, that if you have a story or set of stories where the main characters are all male, the fans are going to be hyper-focused on the guys and not pay that much attention to the girls. I could be wrong about that, but I can think of one or two others where that's the case.

But also in general, female characters are held up to much more scrutiny and much higher standards than male characters are, and the BBC Sherlock fandom is no exception. John Watson flew under the radar for years with a characterization that I never especially enjoyed, and very few people seemed to notice until he was cheating on his wife. We all have certain ideas about what our favorite characters are like, but John really benefited from a very cinnamon roll perception the fandom at large had of him, that also had very little basis in reality.

And I know a lot of people would be very angry with me for saying this, but I also think it's the truth: I think that sometimes, female character hate is just misogyny. Especially as it comes from real women. And I'm tired of seeing people here on Tumblr clutch their pearls about that. You can be female or AFAB, you can be politically left, you can be LGBTQ+, you can be a staunch feminist, and absolutely none of that protects you from misogyny coloring your thoughts because we are all born into a world that really hates women. And whether our parents hammer misogynistic ideals into us from a young age or not, they're all around us as we're growing up. Girls are held to higher standards of behavior than boys are. Men can make all the mistakes in the world and you just have to keep giving them chances, but God forbid a woman steps one millimeter out of line.

So yeah, I think that there's a lot of misogyny that goes on in fandom spaces, even left-leaning spaces, and I think that a lot of it is coming from inside the house. And I'm not saying that those people are Bad People TM. I'm saying that none of us are perfect, and deprogramming yourself from a lot of bad shit is a lot of work, and it's hard, and sometimes the shit that you missed surfaces in your fandom life. Which sucks. Nobody is evil for that, though — just human.

I'm not saying, either, that all dislike for the women of Sherlock is misogyny. I am saying that I think quite a lot of it is.

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

Hi. Question, what is Gabriel's fashion style? In the show he's apparently the king of fashion but some of his designs suck tbh...

I'm not going to pretend that I understand high fashion enough to label Gabriel's style. I'm also not sure if the animators understand high fashion enough to label his style. Nothing about the show actually screams "fashion" to the point where I can't tell if the akumas are bad on purpose or not.

While you can connect certain akumas to specific high fashion looks such as loosely linking The Bubbler to Vivian Westwood's 1989 Harlequin suit (see below images), I don't think that's what the animators were actually doing. Any high-fashion similarities are probably an accident, especially since the word of god is that akumas choose their own appearances. Gabriel officially had nothing to do with the designs. Given all of that, it's far more likely that the various designs come from the animators trying to keep things interesting while working within the confines of animation.

3D animation greatly limits what looks you can do. It's incredibly costly to animate a new character or even just a new outfit. That's why the characters generally only have one look and why most of Marinette's designs are things like accessories and posters. Those are way easier to animate!

Outfits and character designs also have to greatly limit their moving parts as each uniquely moving element vastly increases the cost. It's why all of the characters with long hair transform into heroes with pigtails or pony tales. Animating those is way easier than free flowing hair because you can treat those as one unit without it looking too bad, but free-flowing hair just looks silly as you can see when Marinette is riding her scooter:

I don't think any of this excuses the show's bad fashion sense, though. They chose to make the lead and the villain fashion designers. That's a choice with obvious repercussions for the way people will view the show and yet the show's fashion elements feel as slapdash as the Chinese elements, showing a clear lack of care for the world they're trying to create. It feels like fashion was only included because girls like fashion and not a choice made because the show wanted to root itself in the setting (Paris is the fashion capital of the world). While it's fun to joke about how terrible Gabriel and others look, when I get serious, I'm way more judgmental of the creators than the characters.

Knowing how to design a character isn't the same as understanding fashion. It is a specialty unto itself. A true field of expertise that people spend their lives learning. It's also a field that gets a lot of flack for being "girly" with women often being judged for caring too much about fashion. Those are two things you need to keep in mind if you're going to make fashion a big focus of your show for girls. And if you're going to have episodes focused on environmentalism? Maybe talk about fast fashion and not non-issues like trash being blasted into space?

What I'm saying is that, if you want to have a show or story focus on the fashion industry, then you do need to do some actual research and, ideally, hire someone to help guide those elements. A thing the writers absolutely could have done since they have the money for that! I don't think that's the route they took, though. I've never heard anyone mention it. Fashion doesn't even feel like a major part of Marinette's character! She rarely talks about it.

All of which is a very long winded way to say that I fully agree that a lot of the show's designs suck, but I think that fact is just one of the many little ways you can see how little care was put into the baseline world building. If Gabriel was a movie director instead and Marinette wanted to be a director too, then the bad fashion would still be commented on, but it wouldn't feel like a mark against the characters. Alternatively, the show could have used the bad fashion as a running gag in the show about Gabriel being bad at his job. Instead, we get people claiming that Gabriel is a great designer and I'm just sitting here going, "you couldn't even get this minor element right? Really?"

[carefreejules]

My personal headcanon of what everyone's teams might look like!

Notes will be under cut! (some Pokemon choices are better thought out than others aka some Pokemon are just chosen purely for aesthetics LOL also there's like, general ISAT story spoilers so don't read if you haven't finished the game!!)

Siffrin:

Since astronomy plays a big cultural role of the island that Siffrin is from, I'd like to imagine Jirachi is a messenger deity or something to the Universe. Maybe when Siffrin is 'running away from home' (more like rowing away from home haha), perhaps the big wish that caused the disappearance of the island used up most of Jirachi's strength and power and they just so happen to fall towards where Siffrin is in his boat, where they catch him and nurse them back to health (tho maybe Jirachi can't really make wishes anymore)

And then Siffrin gets Amnesia Blasted and suddenly forgets who Jirachi is and why they're with him now that the link between Jirachi and the island is gone

But Jirachi sticks with them like the bestie that they are

Wow I didn't mean to write so much lore LOL

Mimikyu: Cute on the outside, scary on the inside

Hatterene: just look at it LOL

Ceruledge: "The fiery blades on its arms burn fiercely with the lingering resentment of a sword wielder who fell before accomplishing their goal." Something something ghost events of past Siffrins from previous loops

Greninja: Frog ninja is fast and cool

Aegislash: "Generations of kings were attended by these Pokémon, which used their spectral power to manipulate and control people and Pokémon." I think if the King also had an Aegislash, Aegislash vs. Aegislash would be rad as fuck

Isabeau:

Sylveon: Eevee is like, the epitome of change, and Sylveon is a trans icon with those colours

Gallade: "True to its honorable-warrior image, it uses the blades on its elbows only in defense of something or someone." Protector Craft!!!!

Lucario: Isabeau is very compassionate and is pretty attune with other people's emotions (especially Siffrin's), so it's fitting for him to have a Pokemon that can read and sense people's auras

Hisuian Arcanine: Cool rock/fire dog looks cool KJAHDKAD

Milotic: another metaphor for his change!!! It takes a lot of work to evolve Milotic from a Feebas, and it took him a lot of work to craft his body into a self that he's a lot more proud and comfortable in!

Metagross: He's smart so I give him a smart Pokemon KJAHDJASD (also he's like, good at math iirc???)

Mirabelle:

Eevee: Because Mirabelle is content with who she is and struggles to want to change in ways that the Change belief encourages, I'd like to think she also has an Eevee that also struggles to know which Eeveelution they might want to evolve into

Ninetales: a reference to the ISAT fan letter thing that was done on twitter a few years ago, and one of the questions was which Pokemon each of them would have and Mirabelle said Vulpix!

Gardevoir: "It will dedicate itself to defending a master it has come to adore. Its pure white dress, reminiscent of those worn by ladies of nobility, is the dress of one who is willing to risk their life." Mirabelle is very dedicated to her role as a Housemaiden, even if she experiences doubts of herself, but it's a role she holds with pride especially if it means protecting her friends!

Audino: since Mirabelle is a healer, she needs a Nurse Joy adjacent Pokemon LOL

Sirfetch'd: The fact that she uses a rapier but is also the party's healer is sick as fuck and it's giving Celica from Fire Emblem. She deserves to had a cool Pokemon that can fight and protect like her

Chandelure: This is my magnum opus because "The Cursing of Chateau Castle" - what do castles tend to have? Chandeliers. What would CURSING castles have??? SPOOPY CHANDELIERS!!!!

Odile:

OK Odile was the hardest to come up with Pokemon for but

Alakazam: "It has an incredibly high level of intelligence. Some say that Alakazam remembers everything that ever happens to it, from birth till death." Because of Odile's sus event, the fact that she remembers every little detail of Siffrin's mannerisms to be suspicious of him, yeah LOL

Noctowl: Owls are cool and I always associate owls with scholars

Flygon: because she has a lot of type coverage, dragon-types are known to have a large type coverage as well and Flygon has like, goggles over their eyes, kind of like glasses!!

Torkoal: Turtles are slow but steady, and I feel like older folks get colder more easily so it's good to have a fire turtle around to keep you toasty!!

Spiritomb: Kind of the opposite of Flygon, in that Spiritomb has only one weakness (it didn't have any until fairy types became a thing)

(Also low mobility - ya'll should look up how Spiritombs move because it's so funny)

Froslass: Cold and unassuming LOL (also Froslass' look like they're wearing kimonos!)

Bonnie:

Nidorino: Because I gave them mostly food related Pokemon, they deserve an eventual Nidoking as a treat LOL (also an ISAT fan letter thing)

Vanillite: The first time Siffrin sees this Pokemon with Bonnie, they're like "Ice to meet you" LMAO

Bounsweet: tropical fruit Pokemon from Bambouche probably!!!

Fidough: Cute bread dog is cute

Capsakid: spicy Pokemon that Bonnie can prank Isabeau with by making him cry from spice LOL

Tatsugiri: Their sister owns a Dondozo heehee

[calamitaswrath]

Honestly the more we hear about X Definitive Edition, the more I just can't believe this is real. I mean yeah obviously in the sense of "Oh my god it's finally happening", but also in the sense of all the things that they are doing for this game.

Xenoblade 1 is probably my favourite game of all time, so back when its Definitive Edition was announced, I personally kept thinking about all the various ways in which they could've improved the game (i.e. new skip travel points, changing it so Vision Reacts no longer interrupts the standard battle theme if you change the future, having it so that Mechanical Rhythm already starts playing for Sword Valley battles instead of only beginning with Galahad Fortress, giving Sharla a talent art that isn't a complete detriment to her, or just generally rebalancing the characters and battle system a bit), and we then essentially only really got a bit of polish for the game while nothing really got rebalanced. And that's fair and all, there's a reason why I love it so much, but as a Definitive Edition, there could've been more. Especially with regards to Future Connected, which was just kinda there.

But with X Definitive Edition?? They're continuing the story without it being a small epilogue, they're reinstating cut content and storylines they're adding new playable characters, they're raising the level cap, they're adding a whole new gameplay mechanic to battles that's seriously gonna shake up how those play out, they're giving us brand new options that we've wanted for a decade, they're getting rid of a ton of minor gameplay annoyances (even if I think those were good for the ludonarrative), they're fixing gameplay bugs that were bothersome but might as well have stayed the same, they're removing an entire gameplay mechanic to make the gameplay flow better. . . It honestly just kind of feels like Monolith Soft saved up all their earnings from the entire Switch era just to go all out with this Definitive Edition for X.

[kaibutsushidousha]

What do you think of the 2025 valentines?

Events in general are just a focused character study of the new guy, but in this one, it felt more true than ever. Your reward was for every collected piece was getting to know Komachi more, and the stakes were losing Komachi.

It all rides on Komachi's characterization, which I'm personally a fan of. She strikes a great balance between sweet and unsettling, and there's a really steady sense of progression in how you discover her more unexpected sides.

The side cast was pretty solidly utilized, especially Kiichi. This might be her best showing. I can't believe it took so long for her to be allowed to have complex opinions and to actually feel like a tengu character.

It's not an event I can widely "recommend" because it heavily expects the reader to be previously invested in knowing Komachi. It's one of those niche stories that sacrifices broader appeal without a second thought to fulfill its niche as effectively as it can. And it sure does that.

Except for the climax. I feel like Haganeya came up with the epilogue first and didn't know what to do for the climactic fifth and that's how we got that weird joke ending to an otherwise serious character study.

Neither Iyo nor Kukulcan are Buddhas. You must have gotten the wrong character.

Well, this is certainly not how I expected she'd arrive.

Well, as I mentioned before, Komachi is good. Simple, heartfelt, and multifaceted. But Kannon is definitely her weakest side. She's severely lacking in personality both in the story and in her voice lines.

As I also mentioned before, her resolution also feels poorly thought out. Kannon takes her full form and immediately starts fading into Nirvana, which is A) entirely willful, and B) not a harmful to literally anyone. It feels uncharacteristically selfish of Fujimaru to deny someone from simply walking away when they don't want to be around. Chaldea is not that desperate for soldiers that this feels necessary. It's an unsympathetic plea with an unserious conclusion.

(Besides, Kannon chose to manifest as a Takamura-bundled Komachi here because she wanted to give Takamura a Valentine's gift, so if Komachi Kannon terminated herself without fulfilling the mission, Kannon's main soul would probably just summon her again.)

The scene was nice as a way to show how Buddha Servants work, but Kannon's moment really benefitted Shakyamuni's and Sanzang's characterization a lot more than Kannon's own. Plus, the pharaohs already created more interesting drama with a similar enough idea.

[rozaceous]

and now for something completely different

This is a fandom blog, but I need to break character for a sec and talk about the United States. Probably obvious to people who've read my stuff or follow me, but I live there, and we're all the fucking Titanic, have made impact with the iceberg, and are now tipping vertically in the ocean and about to split in two. Shit's fucked; we're headed towards dictatorship and economic collapse at mach speeds.

The worst part is, I've been talking with some of my family members who are moderate but left-leaning, and they have no idea what's going on. Part of this can be attributed to the soft-balling that most mainstream media outlets have been giving current events, and part of it can be attributed to not paying attention. Neither is acceptable. And in a media landscape that's changed and is changing rapidly, I want to share what I use to keep abreast of current events.

I don't have a TV, I don't pay for news subscriptions, and I don't have streaming services, so every resource I share is going to be completely free, though some have paid subscriber tiers. My news goes to my email, and I'm fairly selective about what I subscribe to because I can't handle having too much or else I start doomscrolling. There are also plenty of excellent journalists and writers I'm not linking to, and it's no shade to the info they offer, only a reflection of my individual capacities. All that said, not knowing what's happening, and not being able to talk about it in an informed fashion with the people in my life isn't an option. Our sources of information determine our thinking and actions, and it's critical that no one be taken by surprise in ugly, disastrous fashion.

Another thing you'll notice is that I share mostly independent journalists and individual writers. This is because, increasingly, that's where the news is breaking, and where I believe a lot of the news is shifting. (We also have reliable, non-partisan sources like the Associated Press being barred from the White House press briefings because they don't refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America, in keeping with the AP Style Guide.)

So who I'm reading:

What the Fuck Just Happened Today? Gives you a daily summary of events Monday-Thursday, and occasional weekend updates if something especially wtf just happened. I like it because it gives a summary paragraph, and then goes into a deeper dive on each event, with links to other news articles on the topic. Only overwhelming in terms of the amount of shit happening every day; the content itself is pretty bite-sized.

Garbage Day gives summaries and links of various internet happenings, including memes, with the occasional take on media as it relates to politics which I find continually thought-provoking and fresh.

Your Local Epidemiologist is run by Dr Katelyn Jetelina and her team. She an epidemiologist (as the title suggests lol) and I've been following her since omicron. Grounded, science-based public health newsletters that never fearmongers.

If You Can Keep It is run by Protect Democracy, which is a non-partisan organization dedicated to fighting authoritarianism. They have some other, more specific, substacks like Dear Civil Servant, which is geared towards federal workers.

Timothy Snyder is the author of On Tyranny, as well as some other excellent books. If you've been hearing the phrase "don't obey in advance" going around Tumblr, that's this guy. Super insightful about authoritarianism generally, as well as policies that relate to Ukraine and Russia.

Nathan Tankus's Notes on the Crises is what broke the story about Musk (and his patsy iPad babies) busting his way in to the Treasury Department's payment system, even before WIRED's article. Parts of his newsletter are free, others are paid. Everything I've read has been topical and clear.

Marisa Kabas is an independent journalist who broke the news of the pause of all federal grants and loans from the OMB in late January. Something of an irreverent writing style.

I would also say that listening to foreign news sources (The Guardian, to name one) is a great idea as the US is experiencing a breakdown in mainstream media reporting. Most of the people above^ also have social media which you could follow, of course--Bluesky seeming to be the platform du jour--but I personally use sparing socmed outside of Tumblr. I also think that relying on platforms owned by the billionaire tech class, like Meta or Twitter/X, as a way for your news to reach you is a mistake. I've been seeing a lot of talk about how dissenting opinions are getting filtered out and suppressed. (In this case, 'dissenting' referring to opinions contrary to those held by the current administration, or that critique it.)

It's also more important than ever that we check all of our sources before we share, and use good judgment. A lot is happening, but it's not the time for panic. What we need is reason and clarity. Do what you need to do in order to take care of yourself, but please pay attention.

Take a deep breath.

[rewordthis]

Oooh! Thank for your kind words, friend but I’m just a little human and I may have not the most correct takes on the story but I sure try to have an overall view and I most definitely don’t think I’m this off the mark.

Honestly speaking, I wanted to reply as soon as I saw your reblog but I have so much to say that I confused myself. lol

First of all, Trigun 98 is the first thing I watched and then Trigun Stampede and I know just what wikipedia has to offer for the big spoilers (mad about it, too btw) of the manga—so my knowledge is limited to that. Having mentioned that, each version is a completely different thing in my mind and consider each canon in only its respective version.

Now, I had wanted to do a review/analysis for each anime separately ever since I finished watching them both (September-November ‘24) but unfortunately, rl is being a bitch (excuse my French) so I never really got around to doing that. Anyway, I am only going to talk about the 98 anime twins’ character focal points, because this is the topic of the post.

Before that though, let me say this, what these fans agreed on—that maiming Knives in a direct analogy to removing a spider’s legs—basically means to torture and eventually do drive him to madness (even worse with how unstable he already is) and finally to death because a spider without its legs it’s no longer a predator and being unable to feed and execute the most basic of its needs aka to move and knit webs it will just die. So no point in Vash taking him back at this point, his IQ is too hight to act this stupid. Simple as that.

(Rest is under the cut because… long talk is LONG. 😬)

So let’s talk about Vash: First of all, from the very first episodes we are introduced to Vash, we hear Rem telling him that he is thinking like an old man; he is too skeptical, too careful and generally he tends to think and act a lot like an old man, possibly without curiosity or spontaneity (and even more setting him apart from Knives,who in retrospect may act a lot more like a kid). This is important, because it sets the base for Vash’s real character. Also, both twins are of an absurd IQ.

Next thing we see, is Vash acting like a loon. He is all over the place, acting funny/stupid. This carefree character is his persona. Fake acre to acre. This façade has very few, tiny holes though, something we see in bits and instances throughout the series, even more so when he’s really dropping the façade if his opponent has gone beyond just being dangerous but rather uncontrollable.

Vash is calculating and just as capable of being manipulative like Knives, he just won’t do it unless it’s absolutely necessary. He actively prefers being misleading and avoidant, just so he can move freely until he achieves his goal, to find and take “revenge” on Knives. But he also has kept Rem’s teachings as a means to keeping her close to him—out of love and reverence.

What Rem represents for Vash in this anime particularly, is both the ideal of a mother/lover and humanity’s potential. She is literally his God and connection to humanity, so her word is The Word. “The future is a blank ticket” and “everybody deserves a chance to have a tomorrow” and “no one but God has the right to choose who lives or dies—every life is important”. These are pretty straightforward and good messages—in theory—that Vash has taken to an extreme to preserve since he meddles even in things he’s got no business in, especially about the every life matters.

He is not just doing that for Rem, though. His main goal from the moment we see him (it is the afterglow of the July Incident), is Knives. He wants to save as many people as he can (and essentially atone for both the Great Fall & July) until he finds Knives. What we also find out halfway, is that he has absolutely no recollection of July and as he says “how he got here”. Which is giving us another perspective of his character as well; he was wandering alone after the incident not knowing how the angel arm worked or that he had nearly (possibly? who lives after being torn in half?) killed Knives. His anger about the fall was still what he presumably, remembers clearly and a vague sense of responsibility he most probably shoulders for the destruction of July—but July should only be a vague feeling for him and not as driving as the fall. And let’s not forget that while the twins wandered the desert, he did pick up that rock, ok? He just chose not to do it: because every life matters and… well, even as a genocidal sociopath, Knives is still his only brother. Also, Vash thrives in company.

Here, I want to point out that Vash in the anime uses mainly “ore” when referring to himself as an adult. This is a fairly rude way for men to refer to themselves and it shows nonchalance and generally being tough. But he also changes to a more meek/cute “boku” depending on the situation and how he wants to address politeness (either fake or heartfelt—the only distinction is the scene for this) to the person he speaks to. On the other hand, Knives uses “boku” throughout the entire anime. And honestly? I was fairly surprised by this. I really like these kind of characters because they are using politeness in a way that sets them apart from others, JJK’s Gojo also refers to himself with “boku”, btw. A kid usually uses “boku” during elementary and an adult when speaking with someone older or of a higher status. An adult that uses it all the time though, does it either do be more approachable (cute) or because he really sees himself as more gentle (meek). This ties back to Knives seeing himself in the butterflies and the plants in the spaceship’s garden. He is shown (from the little we see of him) aside from being manipulative and cold-blooded, as a rather fearful child so it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that he also feels fragile. Both he and Vash got regularly beaten, after all—to him, they are the butterflies. Also, when he fights with Vash over killing the spider, we have a moment of the twins freezing while looking at each other. That specific moment is a revelation to Knives for two things: a) Vash is far more stubborn than him thus potentially more dangerous (maybe to even himself) and b) he can not reason with him. This moment literally shows us Knives being scared of Vash.

Now, remember when I said that Vash held Rem as God; his sense of obedience and faith is shaken after he realises his own destructive power during the Fifth Moon, then Wolfwood died because of his (Rem’s) ideals and even more when he is finally killing someone himself, Legato. For the first time (as far as we can see), Vash experiences a detachment from his consciousness, as he very literally loses his cool and then realises how cruel and lethal he can be just like how Knives had said. This is the beginning of his unraveling, the loss of his faith in himself—he is not as innocent as he wanted to believe. Then, he lost a precious connection—a friend— because he wanted him to believe in Rem’s word, too and finally, committed a grave sin and he can only think of retribution by dying, to “go where Rem is”. This moment is heartbreaking, because after stubbornly living 130 years and condemning suicide since he is no God to take a life (not even his own), he’s finally so broken to seek death and Meryl is first seat spectator to his undoing. He literally undergoes a death of his ego in this moment, and tastefully so, if I may say.

Next thing is finally his face off with Knives. At this point I’m pretty sure that Vash is prepared for any outcome in this fight. Their fight is so intense because they both know each other much too well and are equals on both cunning and physicality. This is actually a fight that can only be settled eirher by a hair’s breadth of a difference in their strength or by luck and… Vash is lucky af. The second he grasps the punisher, Vash knows that he can win and thus to also have the chance to save Knives. It’s why he renders him immobile (and I don’t know how to scream that more! he doesn’t maim him! he renders him IMMOBILE! much like you pick a cat from the scruff!) so he can put an end to the fight—so he can be the winner. I don’t know how obvious this is, but throughout the anime, every opponent Vash won against, the fight was considered conclusive and they would all submit. Not one fight was restarted! So now we have: a) Vash finishing the dispute with Knives in an irrefutable way—Knives actually expects him to finish him as he lies bleeding. b) Every conclusive victory is permanent (within the anime at least). c) Knives will not go against Vash again because he is lowkey scared of him and now he is also proven “stronger”(or more stubborn, but that’s just me, I think). d) Knives will be forced to live in close proximity with humans for as long as he recuperates and Vash is going to be on his ass (prooobably) until they die.

And Vash. Vash after deciding that he will give Knives a new day to use his “blank ticket” is throwing away his coat because: a) he is no longer a messenger of Rem’s Word. He has killed and he is unfit to continue wearing Her colour. b) His quest is over. He has finally stoped Knives from wiping humanity out and has him in his care (or captivity, but he ain’t that cruel) and also the girls’ (Knives will be begging to be killed, trust me). c) He is also going to have new people to dedicate himself than Rem, which is Meryl, Milly and Knives. d) He is no more The Stampede, he has a family now that he reunited with Knives and he is going to become as domestic as possible and keep an eye on Knives. Sort of how a parent has their child on a “leash” kind of thing. NO MAIMING! NO! NOT EVEN A MENTION OF THAT THING!!! e) And eventually, since everything he has been through and all his quests and all his (self-inflicted) obligations (see Rem here) have come to an end, he is going to relax with jumping into other people’s arguments. I mean… he will bother to reconcile those around him—just look at him, he’s not stopping that shit any day soon—but he just won’t go around the planet for this. He can do that for his neighbours in the town he lives. f) He now knows how difficult it is to uphold Rem’s ideals for humans—and they do try to be kind and good, but after breaking down himself he understands the strides humans need to make. He is no longer that uptight about it. And finally f) He is freed from his persona. His family knows him, his brother and the girls know who he is and what he is capable of (Knives a little more that the girls, but still) and so there is no need for him to be The Stampede, anymore. Dude needs some much deserved rest and peace. ʅ（◞‿◟）ʃ

So because of all these reasons above, I am fairly sure that going back to treating Knives like how he used to while maintaining in the back of his mind of what they both are capable, he is going to have their guns destroyed—aren't they already? Or did he also tossed them right there... I don’t remember—I should rewatch the anime and make more on-point observations because writing so far by memory, I hope I’m not forgetting anything… Oops.

He will also make Knives participate in the everyday life, help with chores etc. Fairly sure that he will be a grumpy cat about it but will still do it—not because he owes Vash but because he literally stands there and smiles creepily at him until he does what he’s supposed to do.

And for crying out loud, I hope he finally remembered what Rem told him to do with Knives, because I’m 100% sure the woman told him to stay with him and take care of him and not to be a stubborn shit to him; I believe then he will be way more understanding of Knives and this will have the most impact on that feral stray, too. Btw.

Not sure if I make sense, but like… these are some of the most basic points that I can recall off the top of my head and that is without delving too much into specifics and details in the depictions and the narration of the scenes but rather of the anime in its entirety.

Also, super sorry for the monster-length of this analysis, I tried to keep it short but... 🫣🫠

Oh, if you have anything to add or think differently about, please do tell me! Me wants food! 😌

The bad takes in this fandom are making me insane…

Sooo… critical question: When did we go from this…

to this?

[chloesimaginationthings]

The death of Vanessa and the birth of Vanny in FNAF

(Inspired by this art by Yuto Sano)

[egophiliac]

redesigning my headcanon for Sebek's parents, based on important new information (SCALES)

(you can't see it but they're both wearing crocs)

[daisywords]

thinking about this post but also it's more than that. do you ever think about how stories starring men are allowed to be about humanity but stories starring women have to be about Womanhood

[pythagoras180]

GABRIEL AND EMILIE AGRESTE

For your first point, there is a quote from MusketAnna on Twitter than comes to mind about this topic.

"[Game of Thrones] was on TV for a decade and had a stranglehold on popular culture and it ended so poorly that literally the moment it ended its cultural influence dissolved. It's amazing. It was like, overnight and it's baffling to think that something that was so everpresent for eight years simply ceased to exist because we all collectively decided it wasn't worth it. Eight years of memes, references, a presence you could not get away even if you tried and didn't care and all of this, ALL OF IT, undone to such a point that I can't even remember the last time I saw [Game of Thrones] referenced or talked about."

I agree, canon has done an absolute garbage job at establishing the limits of these powers. But SL did not "capitalize" on anything, considering the result is (in my opinion) garbage.

Gabriel being an idiot in canon is simply due to the writers not being good enough to write an actual good villain. I think intentionally writing a terrible villain is even worse.

"And the reason why Emilie is brought back... so Adrien will stay in Paris" And what is it called when a writer writes a terrible plot point just to justify something else they want to happen? It's called bad writing. "And this also lets us get to know Emilie" "Get to know" on the same level as all the other anti-characters in this story.

You're right, Emilie isn't a character in canon. But she also isn't one in SL, she is just another strawman punching bag.

TONE

Romcom and magical girl are not incompatible genres, I don't know where you get this idea. And you know, there are a lot of moments in your response where you just kind of say stuff without providing examples or backing it up in any way.

"it does feature moments that are not played for laughs" Like two moments across countless pages? And something being "light-hearted" isn't really an excuse. Kids movies still contain enough power to make the audience feel things. Something being all light-hearted all the time isn't entertaining.

CHARACTERS

"they're teenagers, and that should be rather a default" I was once a teenager too, and I can tell you that my classmates had different personalities. "Sarcastic smartass" was not the default, especially not for the girls.

"I personally never came across a take where being sarcastic is considered being generic, usually, it is about being nice" Have you heard any discourse surrounding superhero movies in the last couple years? This characters archetype is like a cancer throughout Hollywood.

"All characters in Scarlet Lady have in fact their own personality that are hardly the same" Well, not really. I expect every character to react to any situation in the same way, with a sarcastic and smartass quip. Sure, the characters aren't totally identical, but that individuality gets lost when their exteriors are basically the same.

CHLOÉ

Justifying why characters interacting is boring doesn't make it not boring. If there was nothing interesting that could be done with Scarlet Lady and Chat Noir after the first two interactions, then the author should have found a way to cut out those interactions entirely.

Everything you said about the public liking Scarlet Lady is stuff I already knew and acknowledged in my original post. So to restate my point, getting rid of a dangerous individual that very nearly caused the heroes their defeat is more important than their PR. This is a BS excuse the author uses to justify keeping Scar around for longer than she logically should.

In your paragraph about Chloé's consequences, you use a lot of words like "almost" and "maybe". That doesn't feel like real consequences to me, and I don't believe Chloé has actually learned anything.

MARINETTE

Yes, Marinette can occasionally be a little snarky. But my point is that her characters always had an underlying sincerity to her that SL!Marinette absolutely does not have, because Zoe is allergic to sincerity.

SL does a whole lot of "tell, don't show" with Marinette's character. And even if she does help people, I still don't like her simply because of how outwardly unpleasant she is in her interactions.

"Marinette nowadays is not exactly popular and well-liked :/" You know, even with the abhorrent character Marinette has become in season 6, she's still at least a character.

ADRIEN

As I said in the original, I don't like canon Adrien. And I don't think he got any real development, but at least he had the potential to get some, which is more than I can say in SL.

"No-personality where?" You just listed a bunch of traits, that's not what a personality is. I could also list a bunch of traits for canon Adrien.

"So it's already established at first that while Adrien is fighting for his freedom the second he's in, he didn't have it immediately in him." You just described a bunch of BS that happened offscreen. I wouldn't be surprised if he was physically dragged back kicking and screaming.

"allowed Adrien to grow" No. That's my entire point. He is the exact same character sarcastic smartass at the end of the comic as he was at the start.

"He genuinely broke down at Master Fu's place over his dad being a villain, because he did love him and all this hurt came from a broken heart" You mean that moment that, like everything else, was undermined by a joke? Right...

As for all the Chloé and Adrien stuff, tell me, what is the difference between ending a friendship, and threating to end a friendship and then not treating someone like a friend a single time for the entire rest of the time you knew them? Chloé and Adrien were never friends in SL. And you know, canon Adrien giving Chloé all those chances to learn her lesson is more character work than every character sarcastic smartass in SL combined. And I don't even think is was good.

"And Adrien objectively is a victim" Agree to disagree for canon, but in SL he is absolutely not a victim by any metric.

"Adrien apparently also never had a birthday party in his life while Emilie was still around" Oh hey, I made a post about this exact thing awhile while ago.

"So Emilie still has 13 years of being around Adrien's 13 years of sad backstory, so excuse Zoe for deciding to make her not so innocent because of this as this would be a moral failing on her part regardless" Adrien does not have 13 years of sad backstory in canon, he had one year of sad backstory. His fans just make this up to make him a perpetual victim because that's the only way they can contextualize his character.

As for everything you say about Adrien's "growth" in SL, well I think that's fundamentally disproven by the fact that literally the first thing we seem him do is curse out his father. He has no growth.

"Scarlet Lady does him justice" By turning him into an anti-character? Sure...

"Oh, and Adrien absolutely has a reaction to his mom coming back; he's too stunned to speak and confused on H O W and what to think of it. God forbid the guy to be confused" If God had rules for writing stories, he probably would forbid this. Again, this potentially powerful and emotional moment is undermined by a cheap gag that tells us nothing about the characters sarcastic smartasses.

THE MALE CAST

"no other women are being kept out from entering" Did you see other women at the party?

"instead of repeating every word canon has to offer" Bad excuse. "The author didn't want to just repeat the words of canon, so she had Nino say something different that completely decontextualizes the scene."

"Arguably SL did boys better by showing how guilty they are with their entire plan" In canon, Nino did express regret to Marinette about what he did. Except in canon, Nino did what he did because he thought it was the only way to spend this time with Adrien, not because he's a misogynist.

"And it's absolutely fair that Adrien is not held accountable because he literally never planned for this to happen and genuinely was upset and questioned why they couldn't invite the girls" It was perfectly within Adrien's power to say "no", yet he didn't and just went along with Operation Sexism. He's just as culpable as the others.

"This isn't even about sexism but it's worse when you know you could invite any guy to the party and none of the girls which is also what Canon did by bringing almost every male character to the party." In canon, this is played as a funny turn of events. In SL, Nino explicitly said to keep girls out of the house. That's the difference.

NATHALIE

This will be quick. You claim that Nathalie has all these flaws, so tell me, when in the narrative is she called out for them or punished? Oh, she isn't? Mary Sue, end of story.

"especially when in the show if Alya was able to see through Grimoire (not necessarily decode but understand how it actually works as rather an archive for the discoveries)" That's not even remotely the same thing. That's like saying "This Russian child was able to understand this book written in Russian, so it stands to reason that this grown man should also be able to understand it, even though he doesn't speak Russian."

ZOÉ

"The canon never gave you ANY reason for how Zoé came to be" Like I said, it's self-explanatory. "Her father is mentioned once and never again" Twice actually, and referenced a few other times. Point is, he exists, unlike in SL. "She didn't fumble her name the first time we met her" Do you remember how this scene went? The butler introduced Zoé by name 2 second earlier. The only way Audrey could get it wrong is if she has dementia.

"The comic isn't a complete standalone story and never intended to be as even the very first chapters rely on the audience knowing how things went as Zoe admitted herself" I'm saying that there's several parts of SL!Zoé that contradict canon, so the explanation doesn't make any sense here.

"canon never said him and Chloe were never as close" I never said that it did. I'm saying that SL implied that they weren't close, and that's the reason Adrien didn't know about Zoé.

"Chloe would never pay attention to ever bringing a subject of having a half-sister unless said half-sister would appear in a flesh" Okay, that just loops back to my other question. Why are they only meeting now for the first time, when they are teenagers? SL gives no justification for this.

"Well Scarlet Lady indirectly answers this question by embracing Zoé into the family and never rejecting her based on being a bastard child, and that's good because it shows that even those kids who never asked to be born into such a situation still deserve to have a normal life and be treated like you know, people, and not mistakes" No, that's what canon does. In SL, Zoé just appeared out of hammerspace, so it has nothing to say on this subject matter. And again, Chloé and Zoé were kept apart for years. For no established reason!

"Zoé does not refer to Andre as her actual dad or parent" She does. She refers to Audrey and Andre as "our parents".

"In therapy scenes, they ARE one family, even if Zoé arrived recently" I'm referring to the fact that the therapist says something like Andre spoiled the girls, even though the first time we see Zoé with Andre was a couple weeks before this, tops.

"in canon her personality is informed and not showcased immediately after her debut episode" She taunted Queen Banana so well that plenty of real people thought she was being serious. And she tricked Chloé into accepting the charm. And she tricked the butler into not going to the party. She demonstrates her personality, unlike in SL.

"it's just that you downplay everyone else's fury because the author did decide to end it on a more comedic note" It's simply. Comedy weakens emotion. The fact that Zoé hating Gabriel is made comedic means I don't really buy it as real. So I don't buy Zoé's love for Chloé at all.

"Another thing is that Vesperia didn't do anything other than what Queen Bee did during Heroes Day and her not getting to achieve much is also because she's both a newbie and because Queen Bee failed during Heroes Day to do anything interesting." So since one character failed in this season finale, that means this other character accomplishing nothing in her singular appearance is okay? No, it's not. You could have cut out Vesperia and nothing of value would have been lost. But the reason that value is lost is because we were teased with something potentially cool that amounted to absolutely nothing.

BECAUSE CANON DID IT TOO

So you seemed to misunderstand the point of this section in your first paragraph. I'm not criticizing SL for relying on canon for context, it is fanfiction after all, I'm criticizing SL for sticking to some things from canon even though it damages the story of SL.

You're basically saying "All the Miraculouses were included because Zoe got greedy and wanted to use every idea and design she thought of." That's not a defense at all.

"It's worth noting that Zoe did release recently for the anniversary of her comic an "extended scene" of all the heroes beating down Hawk Moth and each of them contributing to the battle as no, Chat Noir didn't solo Hawk Moth" Don't you think that the fact that this is "extended" it inherently means it's unnecessary? Characters doing something in a fight doesn't justify their inclusion on its own. For example, if Hawk Moth had a series of minions they had to fight through to get to him, and everyone's unique skills were necessary, then that would have justified their inclusion. Chat Noir did basically take care of it himself, because his inclusion was the only one that was narratively meaningful.

* "but it's nice to know that all miraculouses were included" Ah yes, "Destroying the stakes is okay because it means we got to see all the Miraculouses in action."

In "Cat Blanc", Bunnix is slowly disappearing as a result of the timeline changing. Like I said, there aren't really any alternate timelines, changes to the timeline simply overwrite the old one. So again, no, the fact that Zoe treats SL's timelines like it's the MCU means that SL is completely incompatible with canon, and how it established alternate universes work.

"he's a superhero getting himself in very scary and risky situations and Marinette could end up as a casualty due to her lack of superpowers" Being in a relationship doesn't mean she needs to fight villains without superpowers.

"Marinette is not indestructible" Remember when she casually tripped Timebreaker? Yeah...

"said episode is a rip-off of the Marichat fanfic genre" I'm sorry, what? This is the show that that fanfic genre is based on. How exactly can it be a rip-off?

"And the comment 'sometimes it's better to diverge things' while on a post that is bashing said divergences comes off as a bit hypocritical." No it isn't. "These changes are bad" is not incompatible with "Keeping these things from canon damages this story."

In canon, Ladybug and Cat Noir reflected on the Sentibug situation after it happened. In SL, Sentiwasp was forgotten the second she was gone. There is zero substance in SL.

"Reflekdoll is a low-stakes mini-story, so that makes it okay to forgo logic and just do the Miraculous swap without even trying to justify it." That's really not a counterargument at all. "Sure you can like the canon version of Reflekdoll" I never even said it was good, I simply said it met the bare minimum requirement of making sense.

ZOE AND THOMAS ASTRUC ARE ON THE SAME WAVELENGTH

So you seem to again have misunderstood the point of a section. I never said that these two are equals morally or anything. It's simply about them having similar ideas. However... "Zoe doesn't GLOAT herself as a great writer" Yes, yes she absolutely does.

Okay, I guess I was wrong when I wrote that SL!Chloé went to a different country. But I stand by everything else I said. Chloé is a strawman punching bag, so I have no confidence that she will actually change at all or anything will turn out fine for her.

"Also, sidenote Marinette calling him out is not wrong as Adrien also called out Hawk Moth while gaining his power up, and Marinette also deserves a right to defend her boyfriend, especially since Adrien always had to deal with Gabriel alone" This is actually really funny, because you can literally copy-paste this exact quote to defend Adrien's role in the canon season 5 finale. Just replace "Hawk Moth while gaining a power up" with "his father during the Nightormenter fight". Like I said, on the same wavelength.

CONCLUSION

I'm not saying these emotions aren't valid, I'm saying it's bad to act on them and let them bleed into your work. To be clear, I hated how canon season 5 ending. And yet, as much as I hate to admit it, it was still better than SL's ending. It felt like Marinette faced an actual challenge, and there were actual characters making actual decisions. Low bar, I know.

I actually think partaking in Saltfics just feeds those bad emotions.

But she didn't do justice to any of the characters, and I think I've broken down why. She made every single on of them worse.

"Zoe herself pointed out how Marinette has plenty of flaws, especially within her story (like her clumsiness, her temper, her jealousy, and her tendency to overthink and complicate stuff)" I can't remember any of that stuff causing any actual problems. So they're not real flaws, they're something an an amateur writer slaps onto their character because they heard people say that characters need flaws. And I was mostly talking about Adrien in this section.

I'm specifically talking about the fact that the only reason anybody like Adrien and Marinette in SL is because they liked them in canon, despite the fact that in SL they have none of the traits people liked about these characters from canon. Fanfics can depend on context from canon, but not when they contradict that context.

"They didn't exist just to bash the story of someone else, but to serve justice to those characters so their happily ever after feels earned and satisfying." Canon somehow felt more earned and satisfying than SL ever could, simply because canon has actual characters and a story.

I was being mostly hyperbolic with how I ended the original. But the fact is, there are a lot of people on both Tumblr and Reddit that have absolutely no critical thought and just mindlessly consume what they see. Bad content can still have a fanbase.

To finish up and respond again to your defenses of the writing of characters like Gabriel and Chloé, I'm going to use one of my favorite quotes from one of my favorite movie reviews.

"And here's the thing, it does not take any talent whatsoever to depict a character whose death would be cathartic to watch. [...] In the case of 'John Wick', it is very efficient. Man is bad because man kills puppy. No time is wasted showing us ten different scenes of man killing ten different puppies."

Canon is Better than Scarlet Lady

I while ago I read a post where someone said that they don't like fanfiction because "Why would you take someone else's story and butcher it?" When I read that, I thought "Isn't that harsh? Most fanfics are made out of people's love for the source material." Well, I think the Scarlet Lady AU by Zoe-Oneesama is exactly the kind of fic this person was imagining when they said that. "Scarlet Lady" is a Miraculous Ladybug fanfic/saltfic/fixfic that fundamentally misses the point of pretty much every character and major plot point in it. And since it recently ended, it's time for my comprehensive review of it.

Just a few things before we begin. I'm going to assume that everyone reading this has read "Scarlet Lady", so I'm not going to recap the story. I was originally planning to write this on the day of the last page, but the final page was honestly such a nothing burger that I thought it wasn't the final page initially.

Some people may have a problem with the very concept of this review, saying its not fair for me to criticize a non-professional fanfic with this much scrutiny. I think that's an opinion Zoe herself holds. First, I think nothing is above criticism, especially not something that is claiming to be better than the professional product. People didn't hold back against "Spiderman: Lotus", did they? Even within this fanbase, people had some pretty harsh words for "Karma of Lies". Second, I think any discussion of non-professionalism went out the window the moment Zoe stated her intention to sell hardcopies of "Scarlet Lady". This arguably is professional. Third, I wouldn't be making this review if I thought this was a fanfic made out of genuine love and passion, and simply missed the mark. No, "Scarlet Lady" is in fact created out of nothing but spite and contempt, and I feel that makes it pretty fair game for criticism. So, without further ado, let's begin.

Why is Canon Better than Scarlet Lady?

In "Scarlet Lady", Emilie Agreste was woken up with no consequences, no buildup, no emotion, and no meaningful consequences. In canon, Emilie's loss was accepted by the characters and she died. I'm pretty sure that automatically makes canon better than "Scarlet Lady", so you don't even need to read the rest of this review! In all seriousness, this is genuinely some of the worst writing I have ever seen, and it is what made me decide that "Scarlet Lady" was a bad story, so I decided to just mention it on its own.

To be clear, I think Miraculous Ladybug is a poorly written show. "Scarlet Lady" is just worse. And since I used to enjoy Miraculous Ladybug, I'm in a good position to compare the two. When I read the ending of Scarlet Lady, what I though about canon was

I think that writing the middle part of a story is relatively easy. The audience is already hooked from the beginning, and they are intrigued for what might happen, so they'll keep reading even if not everything is great. I think the beginning and ending is the hard part. "Scarlet Lady" didn't have to worry about the beginning and getting people interested because it's piggybacking off of an already successful show. And since the ending of "Scarlet Lady" was so awful, it's clear to me that it was always badly written.

I'll now be analyzing "Scarlet Lady" in terms of its tone, its various characters, and more.

Tone

Every single potentially powerful moment in "Scarlet Lady" is played off as a joke. This may be in part because of the format, with it being released 8 panels at a time, so the audience has to be given something to be entertained by in every page. The thing is, I don't think that's true. I have seen plenty of webcomics where a situation is spread across multiple pages, and the audience doesn't instantly lose interest when one page is for setup purposes.

The consequence of this unserious tone is that the entire story is an emotional flatline. There's no moments that make you sad, no moments that make you happy, nothing that makes you scared or invested. Nothing feels like anything, because everything is a joke.

The season 2 finale of canon is actually really good, it feels like a real challenge with both sides giving it their all. In SL however, the same battle feels about as challenging as a stroll through the park.

I've seen a lot of comedies, and most of them still have a strong emotional core that isn't made into a joke at every turn. So arguing that SL is a comedy doesn't really help.

The problems with this unserious tone run deep, and you will see that as I explore the various characters.

Characters

I don't even like most of the characters in ML, but I could see the absolute downgrade they are in SL.

In general, I just wanted to say this: almost every character in this story is a sarcastic smartass. This makes them rather monotonous and uninteresting. Also very generic considering how common this archetype is these days.

Wait a second. Every serious moment is undermined by a joke, and all the characters are sarcastic smartasses. Was Zoe secretly an MCU writer this entire time?!

Chloé

I figure we should start with the titular Scarlet Lady. I actually think that the idea of a superhero duo where one of them is extremely lazy and unhelpful, but still necessary, is an extremely interesting idea for a dynamic. The problem is, there is no dynamic. Scarlet Lady and Chat Noir have no relationship, they just talk at each other constantly. And the result of this is that basically every interaction is the same: Scar does something selfish, Chat gets mad, rinse and repeat. It could have been interesting to explore different scenarios and ideas with these two, but no they just do the same thing over and over.

There is a pretty big plot hole here once Marigold is introduced. Why don't the heroes just take the Ladybug Miraculous back? It would be rather easy. Well, the explanation is that since Scar is still popular with the public, its best to keep her around for public cooperation and morale. Okay, I can accept that. Except, only a few episodes after this explanation we get "Zombizou", an episode where Scar straight up attacks Marinette in the middle of a battle, which causes Chat to get infected and them to very nearly lose. After that, there is no excuse anymore. Scar is clearly too dangerous to keep around, take her Miraculous now. But no, they actually don't even talk about what happened at all.

One particular episode where I have a problem with how Chloé is treated by the writer is "Silencer". In this episode, Chloé helps Bob Roth and XY with their plagiarism scheme. In canon, she had nothing to do with that. Now, yes, this is a different story and the writer can do whatever she wants. And this also gets Chloé more involved in the story. However, doing this just gives me a feeling that Zoe is blaming Chloé for something she didn't do. I don't know, it's just a vibe.

Anyway, throughout the story Chloé gets worse and worse until it culminates in her working with Hawk Moth and betraying everyone. And what are her consequences for this?

I mean, except for her father making her apologize (offscreen). So ultimately this plot feels like such a letdown. Chloé is the titular character that this fic's whole concept was started by, and yet it ends with her character just fading away with a whimper. What a letdown.

Marinette

This one will be quick. Zoe says that Marinette is her favorite character in ML, but I don't think she understands her at all. Remember what I said about every character being a sarcastic smartass? Well that is most prevalent with Marinette, and that is just fundamentally not who she is as a character. Marinette is someone whose is unabashed in her kindness and compassion. That's why plenty of people like her. If Marinette was in canon like she was in SL, she would be an extremely generic protagonist with almost no fans at all. The only reason anyone likes her in SL is because they relate her to the canon version.

I will say, I do like the idea of her being such a hero at heart that she'll run into danger even without powers. But this is completely diminished by her basically being invincible and having plot armor in her civilian form.

Adrien

Adrien in canon is one of my least favorite characters of all time. And yet, Adrien in SL is even worse. I'd go as far to say he's an anti-character. He has no growth, no arc, and no real personality.

The reason people like Adrien in canon is because they perceive him as someone who is treated very badly by his father and by others, but is still a kind person regardless. Well, in SL it's hard to perceive any poor treatment considering how he's only ever seen disobeying his father. And he's really never done anything kind throughout the entire comic.

Do you know the only reason people like Adrien in SL? Because they see him as who they wanted canon Adrien to become. Someone who can stand up to his father, who is useful in battle, and who doesn't put up with Chloé. But since SL Adrien was that way the entire time, there is no growth at all. Again he piggybacks off of his canon counterpart. If canon Adrien didn't exist, nobody would give a single crap about SL Adrien. None of the traits people liked about him in canon are present, and there is nothing new added to replace it. He is nothing.

Speaking of Adrien and Chloé, isn't it kind of weird that Adrien ended his friendship with her twice? In "Despair Bear" he ends his friendship with her and this is played as a big moment, even though he already basically ended their friendship all the way back in the pilot. There is not a single moment in the entire comic where Adrien treats Chloé like a friend.

As I mentioned earlier, Adrien has no emotional reaction to his mother coming back. In fact, I think it's fair to say that Adrien never loved his parents. And the reason for this is because Zoe hates his parents and she just imposed her feelings onto him, just like most bad fanfic writers do.

In terms of Adrien having no arc, there is one moment I wanted to talk about. During the final battle, he gets a power upgrade when he's talking about how he doesn't understand Hawk Moth's perspective, and he doesn't want to because Hawk Moth is so awful. This moment is played as if it's character growth for Adrien, but I want to ask, in what way? Well, I guess it does make sense because Adrien always gave his father the benefit of the doubt, stuck by Chloé even though she's cruel, and defended Lila. All those things could be considered him trying to understand a bad person. Too bad that none of that happened in SL. Adrien always hated his father, he ended his friendship with Chloé day 1, and he never defended Lila. Zoe was so focused on removing all of Adrien's flaws that she left him with no starting point for this supposed arc. In general, flawed characters are more interesting than perfect ones. Again, the only reason people liked this scene was because they subconsciously associated SL Adrien with canon.

Also, Zoe adds in her headcanon that Emilie was a bad parent. This headcanon only exists because people are incapable of imagining Adrien being anything other than a victim. I call it my "Perpetual Victim Theory". Anyway Zoe just makes up a bunch of random crap that has no basis in canon just to make Adrien more of a victim.

Gabriel

At first, "Scarlet Lady" looks like a Chloé saltfic. Well, that's only partially true. It's actually mainly a Gabriel saltfic. It honestly seems like Zoe hates Gabriel so much that she can barely think when he's involved. Gabriel is always portrayed as a complete moron with absolutely no humanity at all. He honestly seems more like a caricature in a political cartoon rather than an actual character. I actually find it hard to believe that his motivation is to bring back his wife considering how devoid of human emotion he is. Because the main villain of the series is a buffoon who can't be taken seriously, there is never any actual threat or tension. People criticize canon Gabriel for all his bad decisions, which is absolutely fair, but there are at least a few moments where he is genuinely menacing, and some moments where he is human. But writing him that way would require Zoe to let go of her hatred for a few minutes, so that's clearly not an option.

Nathalie

To put it simply Nathalie is a Mary Sue. She's a "girlboss" that does a bunch of horrible things she's not punished for. She can create a sentimonster to solve all the show's problems, she can decode an ancient book without a reference (Some people have defended this by claiming that the book was decoded IRL. IRL it was written in Engish in a different alphabet. That's not true in-universe). She's so much smarter and cooler than everyone else. Mary Sue, plain and simple. Oh, and she hates Gabriel because of course she does. She's a character written by Zoe after all.

In canon, Nathalie has some complexities. She's not great, but she's certainly better than this.

The Male Classmates

I'm just going to say it. Almost every male classmate was character assassinated in "Party Crasher". In canon, Nino lists his female friends to Gorilla and tells him to not let them in the mansion. This is because he assumes that if they find out that they ditched tree planting, they'll stop the boys from hanging out with Adrien. Is it a jerk move to ditch their plans in order to spend time with Adrien and not tell the girls? Yes, but it's understandable and they have limited time with Adrien. In SL, Nino tells Gorilla to keep all girls out of the house, which instantly imposes a sense of underlying misogyny to the situation. Oh, and they let Marc in even though Marc is nonbinary in this story, which implies that the boys went full Royce Du Pont, which is unintentionally hilarious.

I have no idea what motivated Zoe to change the boys from regular flakers to misogynists, maybe she just misunderstood the original episode, but it's still bad. Also, the SL episode goes out of its way to say that Adrien isn't at fault. No, he was completely complicit in the blatant sexism as well. So yeah, pretty much all the boys are instantly made worse by this one episode.

Zoé

In these previous cases, I have been making comparisons to and defending canon characters that I don't even like anymore. But Zoé Lee is my absolute favorite character in Miraculous Ladybug, and I was not happy with how SL handled her.

So a pretty important question right off the bat, how does SL Zoé exist? Zoe said that since canon didn't explain Zoé's existence, neither will she. But the thing is, what is there to explain? Chloé's parents have been married 20 years. Chloé's mother lives in New York, away from her family in Paris. Chloé's mother also has a daughter in New York with another man, much younger than 20-years-old. I don't think it takes a genius to figure out what happened there. But I'll spell it out anyway: extramarital affair. In fact, I think the whole reason the writers of canon made Zoé Chloé's half-sister was to hint why she hadn't been mentioned before: because Audrey was ashamed of her, and Chloé didn't know about her.

On the other hand, "Scarlet Lady" never mentions Zoé's father, has her refer to Andre as her parent, says Zoé lived in New York, and never implies that Audrey is ashamed of her in any way. How does this make sense? Well, maybe Zoé is the older sibling in SL, and Audrey and Andre met and got married after Audrey was already pregnant, and Zoé's biological father isn't involved in her life. It still seems weird that Zoé was living in New York instead of Paris (why not live with her stepdad that she's close enough to call a parent, and how did they form such a strong relationship long distance?), but this does make most of the situation make sense. Except for one little detail: Why on Earth are Chloé and Zoé only now meeting for the first time? It makes absolutely no sense that their parents would not even tell these two about each other. How was Zoé so close to Andre to call him her parent, but didn't meet her sister until she was a teenager? None of this adds up. And honestly, it seems like after a certain period of time Zoe just straight up forgot that Zoé only arrived recently. In the therapy scenes, she acts like they were always one family. When canon gave Chloé a sister, they gave a reason why nobody knew about her until now. When SL gave Chloé a sister, she just suddenly has one who isn't explained and they act like she was always around. In fact, the only part where they acknowledge her showing up suddenly is when Adrien hasn't heard of her, but SL actually just implies that this is because he was never actually close with Chloé.

Putting all that aside, SL also sucks out everything interesting about Zoé. Gone is her cleverness or willingness to lie for the right reason. In fact, the defining characteristic that SL gives Zoé is that she has no personality. I've seen some people claim that SL had Chloé and Zoé having more of a sisterly bond, but I actually don't believe that Zoé actually loves Chloé. During the final battle, Hawk Moth has basically poisoned Chloé, and for all Zoé knows, it could be fatal. If I were in Zoé's shoes in this situation, I would be furious with Gabriel. But is she? No, she just has the same jokey, ironic disgust towards him that all the characters do. Yeah, this is one of the moments when the comic's insistence to turn everything into a joke hit critical mass. Doing that ends up damaging the characters.

One last thing. In canon, Zoé was pretty cool as Vesperia. She helped out a bunch of times, and she was one of the only heroes to demonstrate unique skills in how she taunted Queen Banana into anger. Not in SL though. Vesperia achieves nothing, she could have been cut out entirely and nothing would change. That actually transitions nicely into my next point.

Because Canon Did It Too

Zoe has said that she wants to keep the lore consistent with the show. Even though she didn't like the name "Venom" for that power, she kept it for consistency purposes. I can respect this idea, but there are multiple parts of this story that would have just been better if it diverged.

For one thing, having 19 Miraculouses and as many superpowered characters. I can understand why canon did this: because they clearly want the show to go on forever and they want as many characters as possible to fill that time. SL on the other hand was only planned to last a certain number of episodes, and yet Zoe crammed in as many heroes as the original did. This leads to a lot of time setting up these characters that leads to nothing, because they're all barely in the finale and contribute basically nothing. It would have been so much better to simply limit it to the 7 main Miraculouses, that's so much more manageable.

Another thing is the Rabbit Miraculous and time travel. Zoe acknowledged how OP it is and how it can instantly solve the conflict. She might not want to change its power because of her lore rule, but if she had just ignored its existence entirely, that would have been totally acceptable. But no, the final battle has Master Fu using the Rabbit Miraculous, which instantly makes the stakes even lower than they already were. It wasn't even necessary, Master Fu is shown to be faster than he looks, he could have just delivered the Miraculouses the normal way. Oh, and there's also the fact that Zoe looked at the insanely OP Rabbit Miraculous and said "That's not OP enough." She also gave it the power to teleport to other universes. To be clear, this completely contradicts canon. ML is not the MCU, alternate universes are not alternate timelines. Changes to the timeline just overwrite the old one, and you can use the Rooster Miraculous, not the Rabbit, to visit other universes. So yeah, despite Zoe saying she wants lore consistency, SL actually doesn't fit into the Miraculous multiverse that canon established.

Also, let's talk about the romance. Like canon, there's a love square that doesn't get together until way later. But it seems like Zoe forgot about an important rule of romance: if the characters aren't together yet, why not? In SL Marinette and Chat clearly like each other, and unlike canon's Ladrien, they talk quite a bit. So why don't they get together? Canon actually has a really great episode "Elation" where Adrien decides that he can't date a civilain as a superhero if she doesn't know his identity. But nothing even like this is remotely acknowledged in SL (Sidenote: The writing of "Elation" is better than the entirety of SL). Also, Adrien doesn't confess for most of SL, I assume because Marinette didn't confess in canon, but this is just so out of character for Adrien. He's not the kind of person to hold his feelings back. In canon, he confessed to Marinette only a few episodes after he started liking her. He claims that he doesn't want to date until Hawk Moth is defeated, but then he starts dating her before he's defeated, so this is a BS excuse.

When Chloé snaps away her sentimonster, Zoe copies the line "How could you?!" from "Ladybug" in canon. This is a completely soulless copy though, because that episode made it clear that Sentibug was sentient, and Chat Noir was genuinely angry in this moment. None of that same substance applies to SL, it's just a meaningless copy of a better scene.

In canon "Reflekdoll", Adrien and Marinette are modeling her designs, and they take their Miraculouses off in order to wear the earrings and ring she made. When Reflekdoll attacks, they try to get their Miraculouses back but end up switching them. In SL "Reflekdoll", Marinette and Adrien are wearing each other's Miraculouses during the photoshoot for no discernable reason. Both versions have a Miraculous swap, but the original earned it and SL absolutely did not.

Zoe and Thomas Astruc are on the Same Wavelength

Zoe has made it clear that she's not a fan of ML's creator, Thomas Astruc. And yet many of her ideas ended up being the same as his.

In both Canon and SL, Chloé publicly commits a bunch of serious crimes, but faces no legal consequences. Instead, she is taken to another country where she can resume her life as a rich brat because she's learned absolutely nothing. Yeah, Chloé's ending in both is basically the same.

In the season 5 finale of canon, there's this huge fight between the side characters and an evil army. This fight has absolutely nothing to do with the actual important fight between Bug Noire and Monarch, so the side characters are completely wasted. In the final battle of SL, the other superheroes contribute nothing and are completely wasted. Chat Noir basically took care of Hawk Moth all by himself. So both finales involve wasted side characters that should have just stayed home. Less time would have been wasted.

Zoe actually says that she added Marinette calling out Gabriel in response to the canon finale. This is absolutely hilarious considering it's still Marinette calling out Gabriel, which basically did happen in the canon finale. Adrien still just stood there and didn't say a word!

Conclusion

"Scarlet Lady" is absolutely worse than canon Miraculous Ladybug. And I think there are a lot of lessons to learn here.

First, don't be so angry and hateful. Zoe basically ruined any possibility of a decent ending simply because her hatred of Gabriel made it impossible to write him like an actual person or a good villain.

Second, any story written in bitterness or spite will be bad. That might not be totally true, I haven't read every story. But I feel that every fanfic I read where the author clearly hates a character has everyone behaving OOC and the story being meanspirited and bad.

Third, don't be arrogant. Just because you can recognize flaws in a story doesn't mean you can do better. Maybe just make some posts calling out those flaws.

Fourth, the way to fix a bad character is not to simply remove all their flaws. Acknowledge those flaws and do something with them.

Fifth, while fanfics do often build off of the original, they can't depend on elements from the original when they contradict those elements. Again, the only reason people like SL Marinette and Adrien is because they associate them with the originals, even though their personalities do no match up.

All in all, I think the world and characters of "Scarlet Lady" will be forgotten only a week after its over. There is no actual substance to them. The only purpose of this fic was to bash somebody else's story, and yet it ended up being so much worse than canon in almost every way.