#I’d like to continue considering myself their biggest fan

[are-we-really-doing-this]

😵‍💫😫😳

(this is your sign to start simping for The Union Underground)

[choiceofgames]

Author Interview: Jeffrey Dean

It’s been four years since we had Werewolves 2: Pack Mentality and I know we couldn’t be more excited for Evolution’s End, the third installment of the “Claw, Shadow, and Sage” series. Tell me all about what we can expect in this game.

It’s been quite a trip! In the immortal words of the venerable master, Hideo Kojima: “Kept you waiting, huh?”

Now that that’s out of my system, Evolution’s End continues the events of Werewolves 2: Pack Mentality right where they left off, exploring characters and mysteries previously left unanswered. We’ll experience the endgame of the mysterious scientist Maker, and what could very well be a final battle between the main character and the former Colonel, Elan Williams. Depending on the player’s choices, there are many possible deaths to brace yourself for by the end.

I’ve also written enough romance content to fill an actual novel. Each of the five romanceable characters has several unique scenes associated with them and hundreds of lines of dialogue. Warning: It gets spicy!

Some characters who were missed in Werewolves 2 make their return here as well, and I’ll enjoy seeing readers’ reactions to it!

What was the biggest challenge in writing this third part?

The biggest challenge was definitely a little gremlin of mine called ‘scope creep,’ which is easy to get caught up in when you have pre-established characters who all have their own desires and goals.

I wanted to put everything into this installment and I got more than a little carried away over time. The word count for this monster is almost twice that of Werewolves 2–comparable to my other game, Vampire the Masquerade: Parliament of Knives. I wanted to explore every aspect of the story that I could, and that resulted in a longer development period. Gods bless the patience of my editor, Jason!

So, I had to balance the responsibility of reeling in my ambitions to make sure I get the game out to the readers who have been waiting (patiently!) to continue their story from book 2. My partner suggested that I’d either have to invent a time machine or clone myself in order to write down all the ideas I’ve discussed for this game over the last two years of development. I’m still working on the cloning thing. Any day now… (I should have started with the time machine…)

Has it been hard to hold all the pieces of two other games in your head (and your code!) coming into this final stretch?

Not particularly. The hard part wasn’t so much the number of pieces, but shifting gears from Vampire: the Masquerade back to Werewolves. The language used is different and I wanted to make sure there wasn’t an accidental tonal shift in the writing from book 2 to book 3 in the Werewolves series. Dialogue in particular is very different in Werewolves than it is in Vampire: The Masquerade, so I spent some time just writing out conversations between main characters, noting how they talk, etc… Even the main character’s observations are written differently than the MC in Parliament of Knives.

There are a lot of other elements to consider than tone as well, like making sure that I write “humans” instead of “mortals,” that kind of thing. That may sound silly, but when you’ve spent two years writing one way for a franchise, it gets ingrained in your style and it requires a manual shift in one’s brain space.

It took me around two months to fully immerse myself into this world again, and I had to re-read my own Werewolf games multiple times to get myself in the heads of the characters. What helped in this process was writing an extensive interactive recap for returning players. Putting together all the important plotlines and permutations for returning players got most of it sorted in my head right off that bat. Once I was there, it flowed fairly easily.

What do you think will surprise fans of this series the most about Evolution’s End?

There are several surprises in store! I think the biggest one is the return to a setting that most readers probably expected they’d seen the last of and it probably isn’t the first one that comes to mind. Both Maker and Williams have some interesting tricks up their sleeves for the pack, and it will be up to the player to overcome them or even possibly benefit from them if they can put their morals aside.

Oh, and there’s also some significant hints regarding the origins of the modern incarnation of the werewolf race and how they’ve been harnessed and manipulated by secretive government projects over the last century. If you like diving into the lore, there are some real treats in store!

Do you have thoughts about additional stories set in this world?

Absolutely! I had a few people ask me this a while back on the official CoG Reddit. Originally, Evolution’s End was intended to be the final book in the series, and while it largely wraps up several major plot lines in what I feel is a satisfying way, there are still areas to explore that are very relevant to the main character’s life.

Long story short, I have every intention to bring a fourth installment of the series to readers if the demand is there.

In the meantime, I’m actually writing a series of short stories set in the “Claw, Shadow, and Sage” world, and it’s been fun to explore the story from various perspectives outside the main character’s head.

What are you working on outside of interactive fiction?

I’ve put all other projects on hold while I was scrabbling to finish Evolution’s End, but earlier in the year I spent time writing the short stories I mentioned, including the story of Colonel Williams, what happened to Haken between Werewolves 1 and 3, and a series of shorts from the perspectives of Dena and Jolon’s parents. I plan to work on more of these in the future, and possibly start a Patreon to fund their creation if readers are interested in that sort of thing!

I’ve also been working on an (unofficial) prequel novel to Parliament of Knives that follows Sheriff Qui’s arrival in Ottawa during the 1970s. Qui meets and falls in love with his ghoul, Sam, and forges an alliance with Arundel before he was Prince. That’s been an absolute blast to write. Once it’s finished, I intend to make it available for free.

Last but not least, I’ve been outlining some interesting ideas I have for a novel in the LitRPG genre, since I’ve been devouring that type of book lately and would love to take a stab at making one of my own. It’s a bit out of my wheelhouse (No vampires? No werewolves? What?!?) but sometimes it’s exciting to take on something new every so often. Speaking of projects, I’d better get back to work on that time machine or I’ll never get all this writing done! Can’t wait to see what everyone thinks of Evolution’s End this November!

[thatnerddave]

I’m a man who grew up surrounded by strong women. Even as a child, I gravitated toward stories about women like those who helped mold me. This included stuff like “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, “Tomb Raider”, and eventually, “Sailor Moon”.

I first encountered “Sailor Moon” as a young boy. I watched the 1990s anime religiously after school with my cousin. Beneath the silly slapstick humor of the anime, I detected characters with depth and pathos. It was love at first sight.

I eventually read the manga and adored it even more, particularly for how it approached the central romance between Usagi and Mamoru. I returned to the manga frequently and yearned for an adaptation that took these characters just a bit more seriously.

Little did I know, that adaptation existed. “Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon”, a live-action tokusatsu series, never made it to the west officially. A chance encounter with a fan sub finally, quite recently, introduced me to what has become my favorite adaptation of “Sailor Moon”.

Here were the characters I loved, given room to breathe, their journeys fully explored. There was just one problem: those journeys ended after only the first arc of the manga.

So here we are. I have written stories for most of my life. I’ve even had the pleasure of having some of my comic book work published. Despite the fact that I always wrote for the love of the process, I’d never written fan fiction. Something about “PGSM”, however, urged me to put pen to paper and continue the story.

I'm sure in a fan community as vast as that of "Sailor Moon", I'm far from the first person to continue the story of "PGSM". I do believe I have a pretty unique approach that is ultimately additive to the fandom. Whether I am successful at crafting something worthy of the franchise is ultimately left up to the judgement of my fellow fans.

I did set some rules before I started writing.

1. Like “PGSM”, I will be adapting an arc from the manga, the “Black Moon” arc. Just like “PGSM”, I will follow the basic spirit of the arc while diverging, making changes, and taking BIG SWINGS.

2. “PGSM” was not blessed with a massive budget. To keep the spirit of the show alive, my second season will similarly stay quite grounded. Events here should at least be plausible in the context of the show.

3. Everything from the show is canon, including the “Special Act”. I knew this would create a challenge, since that final story jumped forward in time 4 years and saw Usagi and Mamoru get married. I jump forward another year after the wedding. We’re dealing with older Sailor Guardians, around 19 years old.

4. My biggest goal was to approximate the feel of a TV show. That is why the story is organized not into chapters, but episodes, called acts. That is why each act features opening and closing credits, as well as eyecatch (アイキャッチ) images common in Japanese television, particularly anime.

5. Finally, I wanted to not “impose my will” on these characters, but attempt to extend their journeys. Character conflicts, both internal and external, and relationships should feel like a natural evolution of what came before.

If you’ve never seen “PGSM”, but are a fan of Sailor Moon, consider my story an “alternative universe” and try to enjoy it on those merits.

I do recommend all fans seek out a fan sub of the show and watch it; it’s fantastic. Search the web for “Miss Dream” or “Sea of Serenity” and you’re sure to find it. The cast and crew really knocked it out of the park.

I will be posting new episodes on a roughly monthly basis and currently plan to write anywhere between 15 and 20 episodes. The whole season is already outlined, but I like to leave myself some room to improvise.

You can find my take on a second season of PGSM currently on three websites:

Archive of Our Own

Wattpad

FanFiction.net

I hope you’ll try and enjoy this little “what if” return to the world of “Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon”. I know I am.

[goneahead]

I was tagged by @radiowrites and @stephmcx thank you♥️!!

Hi! I am @goneahead on tumblr. I am also goneahead on A03 and goneahead over on dreamwidth (see links in my pinned post - my internet has gone wonky again)

So, this was definitely not one of my better years. I have three WIPs and while I plodded away at all three, I was never happy enough to post new chapters.

What’s really sad is I finally hit 1 million words posted on dreamwidth—and then I pretty much struck out this year. I’m mostly posting this cuz I think its good for newer writers to realize that yes, even experienced writers have years where things just go all pear-shaped.

My grand total for fanfic was: 1,513😳

I don’t keep track of my poetry word count, but I started the year writing poem #926 and ended the year writing poem #947

Total Number of Fanfics: about 150

Total Number Of Completed Works: this year? 0

Total Number of WIPS worked on this year: 3

How Many WIPs do you still have: 4

Looking back, did you write more than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you’d expected? Much less. In fact, this year was pretty much a bust.

Did you take any writing risks this year? Well considering I spent all year writing three fics and wasnt happy enough to post anything….

Biggest Surprise: I would love to say I was surprised at how little I posted, but I am a disorganized idjit and—yeah. nobody is shocked.

Biggest Disappointment: see above😆

Do you have any writing goals for the new year? Finish Home verse. Let’s see how that goes….

Fanfiction Questions Below! (if you don’t write fanfiction feel free to skip or rework the questions for your original works.)

Fandoms I’ve written in this year? Hawaii Five-0

Your most popular story of the year? sadly, I didn’t post a new story, just a poem and a tiny addition to another verse.

The story that was easiest/or most fun to write? Still enjoying my MIB AU. Now if I could actually finish it…

Hardest story to write: Lead Me Through the Fire from 2022 was one of those fics where all the different pieces of the plot had to fit together just so. I spent more time than I’d like to admit second-guessing myself on how I arranged the chapters.

Your sweetest funniest story: I have a soft spot for Hawaii Five-0’s Eric Russo. The character is very funny and often wildly inappropriate. I wrote a scene in one of my WIPs where Eric is just soooo Eric

Your saddest scene: I didn’t write anything sad this year.

The sexiest moment you’ve written this year? again, nada.

Your favorite tag: diplomatic javelining😆

Most unintentionally telling story: hmmm. I can’t think of anything too revealing in my fic? Except a tendency to write too many AUs?

Are any of your fics named after/heavily inspired by music? Yes. A lot of my fics have their own playlists and that music definitely influenced those fics. I don’t usually share these songs—or name my fics after songs—because I listen to a lot of obscure stuff most people have never heard of.

What’s your own favorite story of the year? I continued to get a lot of interesting and thought-provoking comments on Care and Feeding of a Super SEAL this year. There are many amazing fix-it fics for S10xE22 written by insanely talented writers—so its crazy and humbling that people are continuing to read and comment on mine.

Fanfiction risks you took this year? sadly, none.

My favorite part of fandom this year: We had new people join our fandom!

You know, I really don’t get what has happened to fandoms these last few years. It used to be that fans just shrugged and continued to write, create, and have fun—even their fandom didn’t have any new content being made. Am I the only one who thinks its weird that most fans now book it for the nearest exit as soon as a show is canceled or a movie series is over?

letsee, tagging um, @cowandcalf @bennyokelly @itwoodbeprefect @stellagioia @redgoldblue

[crookshanksagentofowca]

Superfluous

@microficmay Day 33 (aka June 2)

“So, when we get married—” Voldemort began and Bellatrix grinned like she’d just won the Quidditch World Cup. He smiled back at her before continuing, sounding uncharacteristically nervous, “I was wondering if you would mind…if we had the wedding at Hogwarts? I know it’s a bit ridiculous to get married at one’s old school, but you know how much the place means to me. It’s where I discovered my true self and started the journey that led me to where I am today. I thought it would be appropriate to take the next major step and formally unite myself with the only partner I’ve ever needed on that journey there.” Bellatrix took his hand and squeezed it.

“First of all, I would marry you anywhere, my love. I’d even agree to have our wedding back in Azkaban if you asked.” “I am certainly not asking you to do that!” “And second, I think that’s a wonderful idea. I have fond memories of Hogwarts, too and it’s such a beautiful and historic location. Where better for the two greatest students it’s ever produced; the two who will go on to shape its future, to get married?” Looking relieved, Voldemort raised their joined hands to his face so he could kiss hers. “Thank you, Bella. I really, really appreciate this.” “Did you have any particular part of Hogwarts in mind? The Chamber of Secrets or the top of the Astronomy Tower? Maybe the Forbidden Forest? I’ve always thought it had a romantic feeling to it.” “Well, I had thought we could perhaps furnish the Chamber so that you and I could live there whenever we need to visit Hogwarts but for the wedding I had been considering the most obvious option—having the ceremony in the Great Hall and the reception on the grounds.”

“Oh, so we’re having a reception, then?” Bella asked, excited by the prospect. “Was that not a given? How else are we going to have our first dance as husband and wife?” ���I just wasn’t sure you’d want one. You’ve never been the biggest fan of parties.” “Well, I think I’ll feel differently when there’s actually something worth celebrating.” Bellatrix gave a little laugh, still unable to believe this was happening. “So, were you thinking we’d have a summer wedding then? I know the timing is really dependent on when we end the war but if you want the Great Hall to be empty….” “Who says I want it to be empty? Aren’t we going to invite people?” “Well, of course! But what about the students?” “I was thinking we’d actually make it mandatory for them to intend. Witness the dawn of a new age as their leaders are bonded for life!” Bellatrix raised an eyebrow, frowning slightly.

“Sounds like a pretty big wedding.” “That’s the idea. It will be an important day, after all.” Noticing her confusion, he asked, “Is that a problem? We could certainly do something more private if you’d prefer. I suppose it would be rather…gauche to use our own wedding as a form of propaganda but I thought it would be a good way to celebrate our victory and establish our new government—as well as your place in it. I want to make it clear to everyone that to disrespect you is to disrespect me and it won’t be tolerated.” Tears welled in Bellatrix’s eyes and he hastily backtracked. “But it’s not necessary; not at all! If you want something smaller, with just the Inner Circle or maybe just Delphi, Nagini and the Malfoys…. I’m aware that you’ve had a large, extravagant wedding before and hated the experience, so I have no desire to force you to relive that!” Bellatrix shook her head, now smiling softly through her tears. “Are you kidding? You declaring your love for me in front of the whole world? That’s all I’ve ever wanted, Voldemort.” “Then what’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong! I just never thought…I mean, you’ve always placed so much emphasis on our privacy…agreeing to officially marry me at all was such a huge concession on your part. I figured a normal wedding with a big party would seem…superfluous to you.” “Ah.” Voldemort reached out and took Bella’s other hand, so he was holding them both, then looked her in the eyes and said sincerely, “At the beginning of our relationship, I insisted on secrecy for my own sake. I didn’t want anyone thinking I’d gone soft, which I was terrified I actually had. But as time went on, I did it for your protection too. So no one would attack you in an attempt to hurt me or suggest that you’d only become such a high-ranking Death Eater by sleeping with me. It was better for both of our reputations, but I hated it as much as you did. I couldn’t stand listening to people refer to you and Rodolphus as a unit when you’ve only ever been mine or having to limit the number of times I danced with you at balls. But I kept reminding myself that it was necessary, even more so once you became pregnant with Delphi. She’s still so small and vulnerable. But once I’ve killed Potter, no one will question my power again, no matter how ‘soft’ I may seem. We will no longer need to hide our love and I’ll show everyone that you are not my top lieutenant because you are my lover but that you are both because you are the most extraordinary and powerful witch the world has ever seen. And with the Wizarding world firmly in our grasp, we can ensure that Delphi is protected at all times and then she won’t have to hide either. It will be a new world, with our family at the top. So, while I may scoff at the frivolous pageantry of other, lesser people’s weddings, for you and I, after waiting so long…don’t you think we deserve to be a bit superfluous?” Bellatrix’s wild grin returned, her face shining as brightly as the star she was named for. “Yes,” she agreed, pulling him in for a kiss, “yes, we absolutely do!”

On ao3:

[shakespearefreak]

New friend! Meet Virginia Wilde, from the late 1880s - early 1890s.

I've wanted Truly Me #115 for a while now, and I found a very good deal on her recently. I originally had intended to make her into Luna Lovegood (in fact, I'd already bought a fan-made Ravenclaw uniform for her), but as a trans person with trans and Jewish friends, Harry Potter has become... much more complicated for me the last few years. There's still a lot I really love about the series, and I don't think there's anything wrong with that (as long as I don't buy official merchandise etc.), but a lot of people I know are starting to see HP as a signal that someone isn't safe to be around (which, to be fair, makes a decent amount of sense, especially given Rowling's comments about the fanbase supposedly supporting her agenda). Anyways, the point to all this is to say that while I was planning to make #115 Luna, I also knew that for the comfort of those around me, I couldn't post a lot of photos of her or bring her out in public as I do my other dolls. I also was very torn on having a reminder of how betrayed I feel by Rowling in my room for me to see on a daily basis. Every time I find myself thinking of the Potterverse, it makes me happy, then immediately sad and angry when I remember how Rowling has harmed and continues to harm people like me. I was considering maybe keeping her stored away in her box part of the time.

But here's the thing... when she arrived, I took one look at her face and knew I couldn't do that; I loved her too much. So... now I had a very, very beautiful doll and no idea who she was. And I'd never, even as a child, bought an AG just because she was pretty and made up a character for her later. I definitely wanted to keep her though, so I just decided to wait until she told me who she was.

The first one I got came with a manufacturing defect, so I returned her to the seller and got a replacement. While the replacement was in transit, I racked my brain trying to decide who she should be. I had some vague ideas, but a lot of them seemed contradictory: I kept picturing her in historical gowns, but also found myself thinking of her in contemporary gothic alt fashion. In my mind, she was both a cheerful, creative artist type and an unusual “old soul” who made many people uncomfortable. Then, when the replacement arrived, I found myself thinking of her physical features: her pale skin, wide cloud-gray eyes, and flaxen hair, and tried associating her with pre-existing characters with similar attributes; and suddenly it clicked. She’s a Victorian gothic heroine; her biggest influences are Virginia Otis from “The Canterville Ghost” (which is also where her name came from: “Virginia” from the character herself, “Wilde” from the author), Edith Cushing from Crimson Peak, and Johanna Barker from Sweeney Todd.

She’s a little older than the rest of my dolls (15). Her father died shortly before her story starts, which is why her Meet Outfit is a mourning gown (I also want to get her some accessories inspired by Victorian mourning jewelry). She was quite close to her father, and became interested in the paranormal after his passing. She also loves art (especially painting). She’s quiet but cheerful, despite her more morbid interests, and friendly when you get to know her. Like Samantha, some of the dress codes of her time period frustrate her, and she surreptitiously rebels against them when she can.

I wanted her to be from 1884 originally (because of the old AG tradition of starting each story in years that end in 4), but then I had the idea of giving her a doll-sized Ouija board (which I’d found on Etsy ages ago, but never found a good use for!), and while spirit boards were used at the time, the Ouija board specifically was invented in 1890, so I’m leaning towards 1891 (I know I could use 1894, but then only a decade would separate her story from Samantha’s). I’ve been having trouble finding affordable era-appropriate doll clothing on Etsy, and I don’t know too much about the fashion from that period myself, so I’m kind of kicking myself for choosing this backstory, but now that I’ve seen it I can’t unsee it. (Any information about the time period any of you have, or any ideas for where to get outfits/furniture/accessories for her, would be more than welcome; thanks in advance!)

Since I don’t have a black Victorian-style gown (yet), for this photo I put her in the nightgown my mother made for Samantha when I was a child. I think it suits her more than it ever did Sam, so it’s hers now.

[fy-wonwoo]

[eng trans] seventeen for vivi mag japan – wonwoo

TMI interview (©)

q: if you were to choose a punishment game, what would you choose? a. extremely spicy food b. bungee jumping c. haunted house ww: for me, i think all three would be fun. so i don’t think it’ll be a punishment game.

q: what do you concern yourself with the most clothing, eating/food and living space? ww: for me, i think it’s the interior (of my living space). if it isn’t stable or comfortable, it affects my performance negatively.

q: what’s a hobby you love nowadays? ww: on youtube, i watch videos of games, fashion and cats.

—ฅ/ᐠ. ̫ .ᐟ\ฅ —

ww: even though i’m in charge of rapping in seventeen, i can also write lyrics, i’m good at singing and dancing, and i can also play the guitar. the thought of “i can do anything” may be my biggest weapon (laughs). however, i am not complete/perfect as i am now, and i believe i can continue to become cooler moving on. because i’m less talktive compared to my members, it’s easy for me to come off as cool/indifferent, but i am actually someone who loves working and positively enjoys every passing day. a major reason why i can be stable mentally is that through writing lyrics, not only can i express my posivity, but i can also outboot feelings of frustration and stress into words. if you look at the notes (regarding lyrics), it’s fun to search for the right execution and expression fit for seventeen. i have 12 friends giving me all kind of inspiration everyday, so i don’t find myself getting sick of it. everyday is sincerely exciting and fun. even though we were able to focus on the work right in front of me. i only have thoughts of wanting to succed in all of the rojets we have set in japan. during our stay, i hope we earn more fans. (©)

—ฅ/ᐠ. ̫ .ᐟ\ฅ —

"during the light testing, wonwoo & mingyu showed off perfect poses that almost had the onsite staff to the point of screaming & cheering. the photo booth styled cut-and-paste photos were made of poses that came from their interactions, presenting us with the best collaboration."  (©)

—ฅ/ᐠ. ̫ .ᐟ\ฅ —

wonwoo & mingyu interview  (©)

wonwoo to mingyu: “thank you for your love that doesn’t make me feel lonely”

ww: my relationship with mingyu is very good mg: (it’s) because we usually have a lot of conversations between the two of us

ww: when i go to the bathroom after practice, mingyu waits for me until im done. mg: ah embarrassing! that’s a secret! (laughs) ww: he’s a reliable presence that reassures me just by being together. im always grateful. mg: i’d say the same thing back to you. really, thank you always.

mg: even when i’m busy and exhausted from work, i receive a lot of positive energy from (gentle) wonwoo it’s like the feeling of “thank you for your existence.” ww: i’m of the same mind as well.

mg: we’re living together, and wonwoo cooks for us sometimes, so it saves us the trouble of ordering food, which is nice. the ramen he makes is really good. ww: [the food] is not at a level that you can consider it cooking. (laughs)

—ฅ/ᐠ. ̫ .ᐟ\ฅ —

wonwoo questionnaire  (©)

q: if you could take one person to a dessert island, who would it be? a: jeonghan

q: a member that you want to style from head to toe? a: jun

q: on the contrary, a member that you want to ask for styling? a: joshua

q: if you lived as someone else for a day? a: vernon

q: a member you want to travel with? a: dk

q: a member that likes children the most? a: seungkwan

q: who do you want to go on a drive with? a: vernon

q: a person who answers kakaotalk the slowest? a: woozi

q: a member who is the most sensitive to trends? a: the8

—ฅ/ᐠ. ̫ .ᐟ\ฅ —

“talking about our team” interview cut (©)

seventeen’s charms stand out in live performances, what do you care about the most during live (stages)? ww: i am also the same way (as minghao). the concept of the song and the appeal of the lyrics are the most important thing. your face shouldn’t be happy during a sad song, your face shouldn’t be sad during a happy song. letting go of distractions and focusing on the performance is the most important thing.

what is the point of focus for this live (performance)? ww: of course it’s hoping that the (1st japanese ep) DREAM gets attention. the dome tour is a dream to us. i’d like to perform with (feelings of) appreciation and love for carats whoo helped us achieve this dream.

what role do you play when the other members are making decisions within the group? ww: i’m usually a listener. the discussion rarely veers in direction completely different from my own. in the case of disagreements, we go with the majority. this is the fairest approach. in the end, wether or not your opinion is accepted, there won’t be any hard feelings.

when do you feel like having 13 members is great? ww: when we’re on vacation, those who enjoy exercising can go to the gym together, those who want to go to a cafe can go to a cafe together, and there are some who go watch a sports march together. it is because we have so many members that no matter who you’re with, there’s someone with a common interest.

[loreweaver-universe]

And that’s the episode.

I like this show.  The characters are great, the voice acting’s great, the art’s great, the story is interesting, the worldbuilding is interesting.  I like it.  Searching for Kipo’s people is a good plot hook; my biggest question about it is whether this is going to be an episodic story or an ongoing primary narrative.  The cliffhanger we just had points to the latter, and I HOPE it’s the latter, but we’ll have to see.

Dave and Benson in particular are very fun.  I’m a big fan of charming rogues done well, and the fact that they backed Kipo up almost without question speaks to their character.  Mandu is...well, just a macot character, really, and one that doesn’t add a lot besides giving Kipo characterization about how she bonds with anything and anyone.  Wolf is fairly fun, and I look forward to the slow cracking of her armor.  Kipo, finally, is a pretty good protagonist; she’s fun to watch, fun to listen to, and both charming and endearing in equal measure.

I‘m looking forward to more of this show.  I’m pretty sure the patron who picked it wants me to keep watching indefinitely, which is fine by me.

That’ll be the blog for today!  Tune in tomorrow at noon EST for the start of Amphibia episode 6, or you can tune in to my Twitch channel today at 1 PM EST where I’ll be continuing The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom!

Before I go, I’d like to plug both my blog’s Patreon and my Twitch/Youtube Patreon. I make my living off of Patreon, and while I make enough to cover rent and bills, I don’t make a ton of money from it and haven’t been able to save anything up for emergencies (medical or otherwise) in the last decade or so.  Every dollar helps, so if you’re willing, please consider pledging a dollar or two.  I’ve also got a slot open on my stream Patreon where you can pick a game for me to play each month, so snag that while you can!

Thank you all for tuning in, and thank you to my 44 blog patrons, who make it so I can do this for a living!  I’ll see you next time!

IN OTHER NEWS:

I recently completed my first playthrough of Undertale!  You can see the full playlist of those streams by clicking here!

I recently completed my first playthrough of Disco Elysium!  You can see the full playlist of those streams by clicking here!

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[married-2-the-music]

K-pop Discography Deep Dives: Chung Ha

Chungha first debuted in 2016, through the temporary group I.O.I., which also launched the careers of soloist Jeon Somi and actors Kim Sejeong and Kang Mina. As a soloist, she debuted with Why Don’t You Know in 2017 after I.O.I. 's disbandment.

Here are my credentials: I’d consider myself a casual fan of Chung Ha, who I know mainly through her friend Sunmi. I’ve heard a decent amount of her title tracks, and a few b-sides, but I’m looking forward to hearing more of her songs and forming a more accurate opinion of her work as a whole.

Why Don’t You Know is surprisingly chill with its acoustic guitar and lighthearted whistling effects, but has a calm kind of tropical summer catchiness that’s honestly pretty effective. It’s not an instant classic, as it does sound a lot like other tropical-inspired songs, but I did like it, minus the rap, which felt a bit too harsh for a song like this. (Also, can I say, I love that yellow, green, and red cardigan she wears in the MV! It’s stunning.)

From the EP, Hands On Me is a jazzy little opening, and I wish it was longer. It reminds me of a 9Muses track in the best way possible. Make A Wish continues that jazziness with a self-assured, smooth Chicago-esque showmanship that I really appreciated. It’s definitely a shoulder-dancing song, if you know what I mean. Cosmic Dust is a pretty traditional ballad, but provides a nice showcase for Chung Ha’s vocals.

Roller Coaster is pretty minimalistic at its beginning, and I was a bit worried that it’d be boring, but it turns out that those worries were unfounded. By the chorus, it spirals into an engaging dance floor bop that had me nodding my head. My only gripe is that I wish it took its high points a little higher, with perhaps more vocalizing or more of a cathartic point at the end of the chorus (a la TXT’s Chasing That Feeling), but overall that’s a small critique.

From the EP, Offset, I wasn’t the biggest fan of Do It at the beginning but I grew to appreciate its energy. I liked Bad Boy a lot, though I enjoyed the fast-paced verses and pre-choruses more than the chorus. Its last minute got me, though, and it became a solid hidden gem of mine. It was a bit of whiplash, though, to go from the fun of Bad Boy to the abject heartbreak of Remind Of You, a good lesson that not every album necessarily needs a ballad if it doesn’t fit in.

Love U is a song that I hadn’t realized I’d actually heard before, since I’d only heard the chorus. The opposite of Roller Coaster, its intro starts with a hard-hitting trap beat, while the song itself feels more like Why Don’t You Know with its bright summery energy. I enjoy the background vocalizing and the underlying drum beat too, though I feel like the chorus is a bit too empty for me to like as much as I did Make A Wish or Bad Boy. From the EP, Blooming Blue, I enjoyed the bright call-and-response of “I’m in love, I’m in love” from Cherry Kisses and the bass guitar contrasted with Chung Ha’s high voice in Drive.

Gotta Go is a single, and intrigued me right from its unique flute-meets-trap sampling, that matches with Chung Ha’s signature synthy background. The chorus is very interesting, because it both is and isn’t an anti-drop; it doesn’t exactly release the tension of the song, but it doesn’t let it fall away either. Instead, it’s a little like a Taemin track in that the tension never really goes away. I do like the high note before the last chorus, though I wish that there was more of a bridge. I’m not entirely sure how I feel about this one. It’s not a favorite, but I don’t hate it, and I don’t think I’d skip it if it showed up on my shuffle.

Snapping picks up similarly to where Gotta Go left off, with a beat in the middle of a lot of k-pop; not a super invigorating one, but not boring by any means. I’m glad that the anti-drop was left until the end of the chorus, as if it was the entire thing, I would be disappointed. I do really like the “now I let you go.” As is, I don’t mind this one, and I wouldn’t skip it, but I wouldn’t search it out either.

From the EP, Flourishing, I had a clear standout in Chica. Clearly taking influences from Latin Pop and some Spice-Girls-esque feel-good-you-can-do-it-babe Girl Power, it’s hard not to smile when you hear it, especially at the “chica, chica, see you’ve got it all; chica, chica, see you’re beautiful!” All in all, it’s a delightful addition to my playlist. I also liked the song Flourishing itself, especially its pre-choruses.

Now, we start Chung Ha’s 20-song epic Querencia, which has four sides, Noble, Savage, Unknown, and Pleasures, and each has a title track. Side A, Noble’s, is Bicycle, a sing-talk track that leads with a trap-beat background and melds K-pop girl crush with Ariana Grande-esque lyrics. I…really do not like this song. I have a very low tolerance for “I’m cooler than you” music in general, but when it’s pared with such an empty chorus and feels like a recycled Blackpink b-side? Yikes. Sorry, Chung Ha. From Side A {Noble}, I liked the subtle Latin-pop influences and interesting percussion of Masquerade and the great, chugging beat that’s so great at leading Flying On Faith (a rare completely English song that I loved).

Stay Tonight is Querencia’s second single, and thankfully returns to her signature synthpop. The verses had me nodding my head—a huge improvement from Bicycle—and had me excited for the chorus. But, after the great high note in the pre-chorus, the chorus itself didn’t feel like enough of a payoff, instead feeling more meandering and unengaging. While I absolutely liked it more than Bicycle, it’s not in my top 10 of her singles.

From Side B {Savage}, I enjoyed the way-too-short a-capella section at the beginning of the choruses and the “don’t make me, don’t make me dream of you” in Dream Of You (another English language track I enjoy). I also liked the breathy vocalizations in both Bother Me and Chill, Chill especially.

Play is the third single, and embraces a more playful and upbeat sound that harkens back to Why Don’t You Know, Love U, and Cherry Kisses. Though the subject isn’t that different from the other two, the genuine fun that its chorus is when it explodes and the excellent interpolation of reggaeton (in both the beat and the choreo) and brass makes this one something special. The chorus here absolutely delivers, with several parts all coming together to form a very satisfying payoff. Definitely my favorite single so far.

Demente is also a single from this side, and shockingly, it’s all in Spanish. It’s not unusual for K-pop idols to release songs with Latin pop inspired beats, or even in different languages, but this is definitely a rarity. Demente (which means “crazy” in Spanish), is honestly a really solid, catchy pop song, and (though Spanish isn’t my first language) if I didn’t know that she wasn’t fluent in it, I wouldn’t have guessed. As I’ve mentioned on my blog before, I’m a linguistics major, so this was a delight to listen to. Genuinely, kudos to Chung Ha, and to Guaynaa, the featured artist, who has the distinction of having a rap that I thought really added to the song. From Side C {Unknown}, my hidden gem was the acoustic guitar and piano led, comfortingly slow Byulharang.

X is the final single from Querencia, and is a more emotional, stripped-back performance that Chung Ha dedicates to her mother and the work that they both put in to achieve her dreams of becoming an idol. Filmed entirely in black and white and featuring an enormous, Godzilla-like Chung Ha wandering through a tiny, closed-off city fighting against her, it’s a great example of why soloists should write their own tracks. It’s imbued with a lovely sense of pathos and feels like a fitting way to end a magnum opus of an album. From Side D {Pleasures}, I liked the restful album closers in Everybody Has’ traditional ballad structure, the calmly catchy Comes N Goes, and the instrumental Querencia.

Killing Me is another single, and while it’s similar to Gotta Go, it feels sleeker and more streamlined, focused on achieving the goal that is its chorus. Because of this, it’s quite short–under three minutes–and, though it’s not the best of her singles, it doesn’t overstay its welcome. Another perfectly fine track that I wouldn’t skip but wouldn’t search out.

Sparkling feels more like Roller Coaster than anything from Querencia, which had me excited right away. It has, well, unsurprisingly, a sparkling quality to its instrumentals, and would be right at home on a dance floor. It’s delightfully bubbly, tip toeing and tap dancing all over the place with delight, and that energy is infectious. As always, I wish it had a more defined chorus, but I really like the lead-in in both the bridge and pre-choruses.

From the EP, Bare & Rare, Good Night My Princess caught my ear immediately with a sense of warmth that’s unusual for a ballad, and I loved it even more when I found out that Chung Ha wrote it as a thank you for all the sacrifices her mother made for her to be able to grow up and pursue her dreams, similarly to X. The song features Chung Ha’s voice at its most lovely, and it made me tear up a little, if we’re being honest. I also enjoyed Bibi’s feature and the excellent sense of drama in Crazy Like You, the celebratory mood in Louder, and especially the crying-on-the-dance-floor vibes of Love Me Out Loud (which gets more addicting with every repeat).

I’m glad I did this! I enjoyed Chung Ha’s work more than I thought I would, although I shouldn’t be surprised as a big fan of Sunmi and synthpop in general. I learned that she writes many of her own songs, and that she speaks some English and a little Spanish, so color me impressed. I found a bunch of songs I enjoyed—mainly b-sides—that I added to my playlists. So I’d say you could consider me at least a fan now!

My Top 5 songs are Play, Love Me Out Loud, Chica, Cherry Kisses, and Flying On Faith, with Good Night My Princess as an honorable mention. Chung Ha gets an 8.25 out of 10 from me, which is about what I expected. I think that where her songs often falter for me are the choruses, which unfortunately is one of the most important parts. When she pulls it off, she’s made some excellent tracks. But more often than not, I find myself loving the buildup but being disappointed by the pay-off. There were very few tracks I didn’t at least enjoy, and this isn’t me saying that I think her work is bad. But with just a few changes and a greater sense of pay-off, she would have a pretty unbeatable discography.

Next time, we’ll be starting a two week series on a pretty huge girl group, and we’ll be having a boy group supplemental next week. Tschüss!

[daisynik7]

PLEASE BY ALL MEANS PROPOSE, I AM SO READY 👰🏻‍♀️ *ahem* i mean *cooly leans against the wall with a rose between my teef* hey cutie ;)

wait no, i can’t i’m a poser:( it’s pathetic. i’m kicking my feet, blushing so much rn, the dumbest giggles, this is crazy 🥲 thank you for YOUR kind words, having your support means the world to me and i hope you to be the same for you <3

but it truly is so beautiful, i’ve recently started to love seeing peoples different mediums of expression, whether it’s fanart, series/ film edits, and pics of course!!! i hope that this is something that continues to garner joy for you as a hobby, i surely love it, and i’m glad others love it. you articulate that creativity beautifully and i hope looking back at this page, you’re proud of what you made. 🥹 anime is relatively new for me too, and i feel like i’ve learnt more and appreciated the characters though fics than i do from watching the actual show @gege you are no longer the artist for jujutsu kaisen after what you’ve done, enjoy retirement bb 🥰 

and yes PLEASE let me talk about strawberry soju for a sec, first of all you said you based this off a song, i’m only finding results for one song by jesse barrera. A VIBE, we love that. second off, i just need to get it off my chest, i love foodie sasha! third, personally i know you for nanami wips n fics, but what you write for other characters, ART🤌🏼fourth, anything you write i will eat up. shamelessly. just know that :) also yes, kbbq was a special occasion meal for us so yes i get giddy over any reference of korean cuisine!

lastly, i’m so happy to hear that you were able to get out of the house and spend time with those core people, i’d like to take this moment to invite them to our wedding 🫶🏼

i’m not ready for the finale, i’m still not over the fact that they glazed over bertholdt’s death and reiner’s (lack of) reaction, like what? i’m also still considering do i need to continue jjk? probably not, i was just joking about actually being a masochist.🫣 

nonetheless; love you my sweet daisy, have a wonderful day/night! 🤍

don't worry, I'm already planning our wedding, honeymoon, and early retirement ;) we're going to be so happy together!! 😭♥️

I will be your biggest cheerleader, I promise you! I love seeing how people express themselves through art. I've always been an avid consumer of fan works (fanart, fan fiction, etc.). I agree that these fics have expanded on the characters much much more than what we're actually given LOL. As much as I appreciate the universe gege has created, these fics feed into my obsession even more and I'll always be grateful to every single writer/artist out there that is contributing to this fandom (and all fandoms in general).

hearing your thoughts on strawberry soju makes me so so happy!! thank you again for reading it ♥️ foodie Sasha is canon, I always imagine here with a hot potato in her pocket for snacking LOL. I have written a lot of Nanami content, but Eren also holds a special place in my heart.

also, we're going to have such bomb ass food at our wedding - filipino and korean cuisine, can it get any better than this?!

ahhhh okay I won't say anything to not spoil you, but I definitely have lots and lots of thoughts about it. can't wait to hear what you think. AND I WAS JUST THINKING ABOUT THIS (regarding continuing jjk). Not sure why I'm putting myself through this pain and misery anymore! it's too much!! but the story and characters are so captivating, idk if I can really drop it completely. we shall see...

I LOVE YOU THEA!! hope you're having a great start to your week so far! 💗💗💗

[shotorozu]

hi bae!!! deku, shoto, denki with an s/o who's like affectionate with all her friends and they get insecure and kinda jealous :( ?? tysm in advance <33

s/o that’s affectionate to friends

character(s) : midoriya izuku, todoroki shouto, kaminari denki (bnha)

legend : [Y/N = your name, L/N = last name] they/them pronouns used, quirk not specific

headcanon type : fluff, kinda angsty but there’s reassurance (x reader)

note(s) : another one i kinda held off doing because of it getting buried in the inbox sndjwkd i’m sorry for the delay! i didn’t like how denki’s turned out im so sorry

➽───────────────❥

midoriya izuku

man already knows that you’re very touchy with your friends, that’s just who you are

heck, i think before you guys started dating, you were touchy to him too! (but even more because,, you like him)

so he shouldn’t be shocked when you link onto kirishima’s arm, or when you jump to give mina a back hug

and most especially, when you poke at bakugou’s cheeks— and he just LETS YOU for some reason

he’s glad that you feel comfortable around people, considering that it’s why you’re even touchy in the first place.

but he can’t help but wonder,, is he doing enough to you? i mean, you basically do the same to him, but added the cheek, lip kisses

and the wonderful words you get to shower him in daily.

not only that, but he does tend to flush up when you try to initiate some sort of physical affection. maybe,, he’s supposed to let you be?

let you do all of that, since it makes you happy? i mean,, he supposes that he’s willing to do that.

izuku’s not a restrictive person when it comes to things like that, so he supposes that he’ll just have to ignore the weighted feeling on his shoulders despite not carrying a thing at that very moment

on the other hand, you couldn’t help but notice a change in izuku. not anything too concerning, of course

but he’d turn a blind eye— whenever you’d initiate physical affection to your other friends. he’d go silent, until it was over

eventually, you overhear a rather heartbreaking conversation between the dekusquad, and izuku himself

“deku! if you’re so down about it, then maybe you should tell Y/N about it! i don’t think they mean any harm.” you could hear uraraka console him

“correct. L/N-kun does not look like the type to be unfaithful. and even if they were, that would’ve been unacceptable behavior!”

and through out the discussion on how izuku could confront you, his s/o— he speaks abruptly

“i mean.. if Y/N is happy with being physically affectionate with their friends then,, i can’t stop them.” he says sadly, but it breaks your heart knowing that you’ve caused him to sound like this

“plus, i’m sure they have a reason to be acting that way, right?” you didn’t think how your affectionate attitude would have its effects on him

so, the next time you saw your boyfriend, you had a talk with him

“hey, honey!” he’d greet you with the usual demeanor, as if he didn’t just talk about his feelings “how are you? sorry that i was a little late, i was talking with the others!”

you smile, accepting the reason (since it’s true) “izuku, can you be honest with me?”

and this statement shocks him for a bit, “oh uhm,, yeah i can! did i do something wrong?” he scoots next to you, waiting for your reply

“does me being physically affectionate towards my friends make you,, uncomfortable?” you inquire, as straightforward as you could

he’s silent for a bit, which makes you speak again “you can be honest, it’s okay. you’re not in any trouble, zuku.” you ruffle his hair softly for comfort

then, he finally answers. “uhm,, uncomfortable isn’t the word. it’s not that i don’t trust you but,,”

“yeah?”

“i don’t trust,, me.”

this statement takes you by surprise, “oh, why?”

“i don’t trust myself that i could make you happy,” he continues “with physical affection, i mean. i understand if you weren’t, i just feel like i’m not giving you enough.”

“i understand though!” izuku continues, “whenever you initiate physical affection, i can’t help but get all staggery and nervous,” he rambles

he sounds normal, sure— but he’s not looking at you, his emerald eyes set in a downcast state

you make him face you, gently grabbing a hold of his shoulders “i’m sorry, zuku.” you press a kiss on his temples

“in truth, yes. i didn’t want to make you uncomfortable with my physical affection.” you confess, “i’d see that you’d go red whenever i’d initiate something,” you tease, which gives you the exact reaction you’ve wanted

“but then,, i also didn’t think about how you felt about it. i didn’t consider the possibility of you being uncomfortable with it, so i want to apologize for that.” you lean against him, taking his hand and pressing a kiss on his palm

“if you want, i could stop it. there are other ways i could show affection to my friends anyway!” you suggest, but he shakes his head, smiling

“i appreciate it, but you don’t have to.” he reassures, “if it makes you happy then i’ll be happy.”

“is there anything else?”

“just maybe uhm,,” he trails off for a second, before continuing “give me what you give them, but multiply it by 200!” he suggests, his regular self coming back to you

you laugh, leaning forward to kiss him softly, “i love you, izuku. only you. people may receive my affection, yes— but you’re the only one that deserves all of it.”

and with that, the weight on his shoulders is lifted, and he didn’t actually have anything to worry about.

todoroki shouto

despite shouto being sometimes socially ignorant, he is a very observant person when it comes to the person he likes

so the first thing he noticed was your touchy behavior, specifically towards your friends

sure, he’s had some of that physical affection— but it was like you knew him too well. so, he received it less that the others

it doesn’t mean that todoroki disliked your physical affection. during those few times, he did tend to,, not mind it at all, when he’d usually pull them off

and it doesn’t automatically mean that you didn’t like being around todoroki, it was given that he wasn’t very big on being physical

he didn’t care, again— as long as you were happy, but then there would be this tight feeling in his chest whenever you’d run off to do it to bakugou, hugging him leisurely

or even midoriya, sometimes

so, when you guys finally confess to each other— it doesn’t appear that your physical affection towards your peers came to an end

it remained the same, and while he’s the one that received your delightful words, fully devoted love, and time— he can’t help but frown whenever he sees you latch onto kaminari

or when you sit beside midoriya and count all the freckles on his cheeks— the blush on his face being hard to ignore, in your boyfriend’s eyes.

i don’t think shouto’s a jealous person— protective is one thing, and possessive? maybe that one time, he was. but jealous? maybe not.

well, it’s not like he doesn’t trust you to stay loyal and faithful, that’s a different thing. but it’s more like,, he wants for the affection you’re giving to them

needy, that’s the word

early on, (and maybe even before you got together with shouto) it’s been established that shouto wasn’t a biggest fan of physical affection, besides hand holding, and cheek kisses for now

it makes sense to you, especially hearing about his childhood, and his father’s true colors— that are far from anything heroic.

and you definitely respect what he wants— if he wants space, you’ll comply! and if he wanted more, you’ll also be willing to comply!

that’s why you’ve been keeping things just at that— the last thing you want is making shouto uncomfortable, the concept terrifies you

but,, shouto doesn’t exactly know how to tell you that he wants more, more and more— he wants all of your affection

so, what does he do? he tells you in one exact way— he tells you what’s on his mind

and quite bluntly for that matter

the both of you have been sitting in silence for a bit, no words were exchanged. however, glances were sent towards your way

his stare has a different edge to it, as if he had something in particular he wanted to say— mouth gaping open as if he were to speak, but no words come out

“shou,” you call out to him softly, “it looks like you have something to say,” you smile at him, wanting to know what was in that head of his “you can talk to me.”

a minute flies by, and he’s still silent, and you’re about to drop the topic for good— until he finally speaks up “i don’t know what i’m feeling.”

this quirks your interest, “oh, what,, are you feeling?” what he said worries you, since it kinda sounds like he was about to deliver some bad news

“i’m,, not sure myself.” he stares down at his hands “i feel weird, whenever i see you be.. touchy around the others.”

weird, huh? “what kind of weird? could you try to explain? maybe i could pinpoint what you’re feeling.”

“i feel weird, since i haven’t experienced this before,” he breathes in, before he goes on “i feel like i want more, selfishly more. i thought i would’ve been fine with receiving minimal physical affection,”

he turns to you, heterochromatic eyes staring deep into yours “but i’m not fine with it! i want more, like what you give to the others. so that’s why,, it’s weird.”

and it suddenly dawns onto you on what he’s talking about, he’s talking about you being physically affectionate towards your friends and classmates

and how he doesn’t like it.

you frown, scooting next to him “i’m sorry you feel that way, shou.” you fix a stray piece of hair that has been misplaced, hanging near his brow

“i’m glad that you were being honest, and told me,” you cautiously hold his hand, looking at him to detect any discomfort

there’s none

“yes, i’ve been careful. i don’t wish to make you feel weird— in the bad way, and most especially uncomfortable!” he nods in understanding, he adjusts the hold on your hand, choosing to place his hand on top of yours

“and i didn’t.. think about how you would’ve felt about it. i should’ve asked you about it first.” you look at him with meaning, “‘m sorry.”

his gaze softens, and he leans closer— ever than before “it’s alright, love, no need to apologize,”

“that’s just who you are, if you show gratitude and affection with being physical, then that’s okay. i just,, want more— if that’s okay with you.” you nod, laughing softly

“i’ll give you more, if that’s what you wish. i’ll give you everything you want, whatever makes you happy.” shouto presses a kiss on your temple

“so,, does that mean you’re going to.. stop?” he asks— just because he wanted to know

“oh, if you want to, then i will.”

“you don’t have to but.. maybe tone it down?” he suggests, because although the idea of your physical affection towards your friends coming to a halt, is nice he wouldn’t admit that outloud

he doesn’t want you to stop, if that’s how you show gratitude to your friends. so, toning it down’s the best option

“i will,” you smile, “only high fives, pats on the back, and quick hugs, from now on!”

the statement makes him smile, a genuine one— he’s just glad that his concerns have a resolve now. man was just really touch starved, couldn’t blame him

kaminari denki

it took a while for him to actually start being concerned

i mean— dude’s practically the same as you. have you seen him play with ojirou’s tail? he always finds himself touching someone

whether it’d be him poking bakugou’s spiky head of hair (until he’d scream at him) or him resting his elbows on kirishima— he’s always touching someone

so, he understands if you’re going to be touchy feely with others. he actually finds it quite cute when you show your endearing side to your friends with touch (without crossing boundaries of course)

so, it was okay keyword : was

until you slowly started kissing your friends on the cheek— and it erupted,, something from within

it was so casual, that he had to process what just happened— following it up with a smile, to play it off.

he feels bad for feeling iffy about it, honest! he doesn’t have a reason to distrust you, so this feels all,, wrong for him

the gesture was definitely a gradual process. it wasn’t like you just randomly started to kiss people on the cheek— and it wasn’t like you were depriving him

so this made him think harder than he has ever thought before. maybe you were getting tired of being affectionate to him only, so you moved away from that?

or maybe you were tired of HIS affection?

maybe you were giving people affection, because they deserved it, and he didn’t? if this was the case, denki can’t complain.

denki knows he’s not smart like iida, or serious like bakugou.

but even to denki, all of that is a stretch. he’s just laying out all of the possible reasons— rational or not

and before he realized it, you knew that there was something up

denki; utterly afraid of losing you, switches from super affectionate to being isolated in his room— every single day

this is his way of experimenting with your reactions

even the bakusquad didn’t know what was up so,, yeah. there must be something bothering him.

you’re given a few ideas as to why kaminari might be acting this way, and the exact idea popped into your mind

you made him insecure

and you instantly felt bad— yes, you give all of your friends cheek kisses, and you give them to your boyfriend too!

but you didn’t realize that you would’ve potentially harmed him in the process. so, you sought out to talk to him

“hey babe,” it was just in time, your boyfriend enters through your door, “i was looking everywhere for you, you won’t believe it! i would’ve evaporated if i had to endure bakugou’s screaming one more time!”

“i was looking for you too,” you smile, ushering him to sit on your bed, “listen, i want to talk to you.”

“oh,”

“don’t worry, denki. you’re not in any trouble,” you reassure, “i just want to apologize”

it’s his turn to be confused “what? why?”

“let me ask you one thing, how do you feel about me giving people affection?”

he swallows harshly, but answers truthfully “i like it a lot, babe! i do find it cute.” he smiles, but you’re not fully convinced that his statement made it’s end

“i feel like there’s more i should know.”

“i,, yeah.” he admits, and not very gracefully “it’s— ugh! i’m sorry. i know this is really out of character for me, and i’m sorry that you have to see me feeling like,,”

“you can be honest.” you remind him briefly

“—weird. look, it’s not like your love language is weird to me. i think it’s just me being a needy idiot! and it’s not like i think you’re cheating on me!” he holds his hands up in defense

“but in a way,, i didn’t expect you to do that— you’ve only started doing it recently.”

“so it made you uncomfortable?” you’re preparing for the expected answer, ready for what’s about to be said

“,, if the shoe fits.”

seeing denki in this sort of manner gave you the biggest reality check. yes, you knew that you had something to do with his recent personality change

but you didn’t realize how much it made him question himself.

“i’m sorry, once again” you apologize, “it was wrong of me to assume you were fine with it, i just thought you’d be fine with it since well,,”

“hey, it’s okay,” denki smiles, his mood slightly better “i’m touchy too, i mean,, we both show affection physically! i’m not very surprised that you thought i was fine with it.” he brushes his thumb on your cheekbone

“i mean it, denki. i didn’t realize how much it would’ve affected you. you might not realize it, but i do.”

“it’s fineeee,” he whines playfully when you’re still upset, “Y/N, you’re affectionate, which is a trait i absolutely love. if you’re physically affectionate, that fine.”

“just uhm,,” he trails off, almost awkwardly. “maybe,, don’t bless them with your,, cheek kisses? ugh! omg there was definitely a better way to say that.”

to any other person, that would’ve been awkward— like,, really. but you understood, that’s how much you know about him

“got it, they will be exclusively for you.” you kiss him on the cheek, “thanks for being honest, denki.”

at that moment, denki’s shoulders felt lighter, and he suddenly forgot about why he even felt this way. yes, you still gave people physical affection BUT

denki kaminari still wins 😎 your kisses and ultimate tokens of affection are strictly for him

likes and reblogs are appreciated, thanks for reading!

i do not own bnha/mha and it’s characters. boku no hero academia/my hero academia belongs to horikoshi kohei, i only own the writing and i do not profit off of my hobby

do not plagiarize, reupload, translate, or use my works for audio readings without permission :))

[standreamy]

The issue with Ladybug in regards of  LadyNoir’s partnership

Edit 24/04/2022

This post contains the infos about all the series released up until now, including season 4 finale and the first two episodes of season 5. The concept remains the same overall, being further deepened and strengthened by the new content. They only added more reasons to why the topic is messed up a lot. 

PREMISE

First of all, I apologize for the length of this post and I clap to anyone who will be willing to read it and consider what I wrote with open mind, without jumping to the conclusion this is made just to express hate. 

I have this analysis I wanted to share about the Ladybug/Marinette discourse that went all over the fandom because of the new Kuro Neko trailer, and that then I kept continuing after it aired…

I wanted to write this post some time ago, but I waited to see how season 4 would progress overall. 

I’m aware that season 5 is still to be released and surely my opinion will grow and shift depending on what will happen, but we have enough material to talk about the situation NOW as this sub-plot was made to shape season 4 and part of season 3. Enough material is present to judge what was done in the progressing of the sub-plot in its dedicated seasons. 

I wanted to express what currently I think are the problems with the protagonist’s treatment towards Chat Noir.

As much as on one hand I understand the frustration of Ladybug’s fans, and how some takes and aggressive attitudes by some people are way exaggerated and I absolutely do not condone (Seriously lamenting to the author won’t fix the problem at this point and there is a line between expressing opinions in the right places with good manners and herassement), I can’t also blame who is genuinely but moderately expressing exasperation over the situation.

I am a very HUGE fan of angst, miscommunication tropes, etc... but if those are portrayed and written well. Without forcing characters to just become mean, or act unnaturally incoherent.

As I often say, I am not really into the fandom anymore. I watch the show, criticize it, draw for some headcanons and AUS I have, I read fanfictions and look at fanart, but I don’t engage in the fandom discussions and I’m not super invested in it (aside Marichat). I try to take everything that comes with a grain of salt and be neutral, but in this situation it’s really difficult to not lean on the current opinion that Marinette is acting wrongly.

After years of defending this show, I eventually gave up on the eventuality that its writing is very flawed and not in a light and okay-ish way. This doesn’t mean no one can like it or feel addicted to it, speaking for myself, I still try to always face episodes keeping a neutral critical eye.

But there are some lines I think should be drawn and one is how much we can really excuse Marinette/Ladybug’s behavior, as her character in the show in writing and enjoyment but also for ethical reasons regarding the viewers. 

What she is doing in the series to Chat, is entirely wrong. There’s no going around it, she is the one making the biggest mistakes and acting in a bad way and her actions shouldn't be justified so easily. 

Basic respect for someone in our life is fundamental, mostly who we care about and is supposed to be a closed one. Without respect we go nowhere and what Ladybug expressed towards Chat has serious lacks of it. 

I will go through this picking on the main “mistakes” she has made, from the very second season when all of this started (Yes, it’s not an issue born in season 4, it just exploded in such.) and expand on what’s wrong, plus proposing solutions that could have been taken.

Also, I��d like to remind that Chat has his own faults too and has big issues as character, but in regards of this subplot the problem lays more on Ladybug’s writing than him.

SEASON 2

Starting off with something small but important, she did not inform Chat Noir of a Guardian or explain to him how to reach him. If they talk regularly on patrols and are friends who relatively know each other, as the show pretends since they are supposed to do it enough to be “in love”, she would have been aware of Plagg’s not mentioning it to Chat (Which wasn’t told if it was a direct order from Fu), and the moment she started frequenting Fu she still should have made sure of it. 

If Plagg got sick and couldn’t guide Adrien, or something happened, he would have no way to reach Ladybug or get infos about how to find the Guardian, serious issues could have been raised. 

However, it’s true that before Syren, we weren’t aware that Fu apparently insisted on having Marinette not informing Chat about his existence, so we can blame part of this mostly to him. 

She, at least, tried to talk to Fu about including Chat more. If anything, we could blame that we didn’t get to see Fu explicitly telling her to not speak during their first encounter.

Another big flaw that got carried into the current season, even if not coherently, is Ladybug not revealing the identities of the temporary heroes to Chat. 

On one hand, it’s normal to think that being their identity, it would be their right to decide, just like it’s normal to consider that Fu might have been a big reason why Ladybug didn’t think of informing Chat. But again, we were never shown Fu actively saying to Marinette to not tell Chat, at least not clearly when she started giving out the temporary miraculous to the holders. She assumed it, which is understandable, but if they are partners on the level of equals, he should be kept in loop as much as her. 

If it was urgent and needed for him to find them, if he got into a situation where Ladybug was unavailable and he needed a back-up, he wouldn’t have been able to get help. Maybe, knowing where Fu is, he would get informed on their identities, but that would be only an exception, and it’s not said that Chat would have time to find Fu. Maybe Ladybug already got the Miraculous to give out, but she was trapped and Chat took it. At that point he would have to improvise.

This is generally most of what was wrong in season 2 regarding Ladybug’s attitude. It may not be as big and extreme as season 4, but here the roots were planted and there were barely efforts to fix them or deepen them to create a coherent plot point.

SEASON 3

Season 3 was more damaging as it seems under this perspective, because most of the plot holes that led to Chat being unfairly treated were introduced in this part of the show.

Let’s pick up again from Chat not knowing the temporary heroes. 

Ladybug didn’t inform Chat that other members know each other. If one of them was akumatized, it’s an objective risk he should be aware about. Aside from the fact that the rules were broken of course. It’s not a problem that they knew, it’s a problem he wasn’t made aware of it.

Another big issue is how he wasn’t informed at the moment Hawk Moth/Papillon learnt the identities in Miracle Queen.

This could be more of a plot hole and it probably is, but it became a pretext to continue on the road of Chat being kept in the dark. 

Maybe we can blame most of it on Fu again, but after Marinette became Guardian, even if trained by him, she still has to make her own choices and get responsibilities for them. She could have still realized that Chat needed to know these things.

Of course, there is a lack of good writing even on part of Chat. He isn’t stupid, he could have guessed once reached the battle ground and he could have easily questioned it to Ladybug. But still, Ladybug didn’t think of informing him and insisted on him not knowing (unless he was present already for other holders, but that’s a big incoherence). Either he shall know everyone’s or no one’s.

Shadow Moth knowing and not Chat, doesn’t hold logic or fairness. 

It’s an urgent matter. Chat should be informed about it so to draw his own conclusions and act if needed. 

And it’s also a morally wrong choice which Chat could have easily expressed if he wasn’t so forgiving and passive towards her (As I said, he has his own faults, but first and foremost he should be informed by her). If he was well written, he would have of course thought about how this would give the idea that Ladybug has a specifical worry against Chat in knowing ANY identity. Even more worried than HawkMoth knowing or putting at risk their working balance just to not let Chat know. 

In his shoes, he could even think, in a situation of self-doubts, that she trusted HawkMoth more, and saw Chat more as a danger.

Which seems extreme, but it’s a fair thought seeing how she acts.

This is furthermore supported by Multimouse’s resolution. It’s understandable Ladybug needed to find an excuse, for obvious reasons, but also her excuses at this point could have raised a lot of doubts in Chat.

Aside that Marinette is his supposed dear and close friend and sadly he didn’t even question anything, after everyone’s being compromised to Hawk Moth, Ladybug didn’t really need to keep Marinette out of commission. Sure, it came out Chat didn’t find out the other heroes’ identities, but Marinette was the only one not compromised and substituting her with PolyMouse in season 4 on the basis that it was because of her revealing to Chat could as well make him think the whole problem wasn’t Hawk Moth or others knowing, but him in the specific.

 Hawkmoth didn’t know her identity, only Chat, it made no sense for her to be replaced in Chat’s eyes. The minimum would have been to bring it up and have Ladybug find another excuse so to not let Chat think the worst about the situation. Perhaps taking advantage of her difficulty in justifying that Marinette cannot be called back, to make Chat understand that it is not a matter that depends on him, even if she insists not to tell him who the other members are. It would be a perfect trigger event.

One can say that since this didn’t happen, since the show (and Chat) didn’t bring it up, there’s no real reason to talk about it. But since we jump to assumptions on her care for Chat and justifications, even when they are not present in the show or not as they should, we can also add things that would surely count if the writing was good and coherent to the characters’ knowledge.

Couldn’t she come up with a better excuse? Like maybe the fact that since Marinette had to wear so many Miraculous together she had a magical overdose and was too drained of vital energy? So using a Miraculous again could affect her health? It would surely put at peace Chat Noir, it’s kind of realistic considering the rules and functioning of the jewels (ignoring that now characters wear 3 Miraculous together like nothing happens at all) and would have been perfect to either put the matter aside and not bring it up again or choose instead to work on it and make it a sub-plot, maybe giving chance also to develop more Marinette and Chat’s relationship or how he views her. 

This is more a stretch in matters of how much it was shown, but apparently Chat is not informed on all the things about the Miraculous. If he was an ally like the others, it would be understandable, but he is Ladybug’s partner and equal. He should be informed on what is important. Like the Grimoire, why it was so important. Sure, it creates complications in how to not wrap the plot too quickly, but there are ways to still inform him enough but not to suspect, in a realistic way, about his father ahead of time.

Another stretch, but a topic we can link to her “caring” about Chat Noir the whole series and making him feel important at times… another big mistake was how the balance between her as LadyNoire and Mister Bug was handled. Her thinking that Chat’s role is easy to fill is okay at the start, it’s a common banter many shows used for their characters if working in teams. But the episode didn’t end with her learning he is important or has a difficult and valid role, it ended with her having some fun and having a very easy time with his Miraculous.

If he learnt her role is difficult, she didn’t do the same, so if we take the show’s writing and how she easily substitutes him or forget about his feelings or presence, she didn’t learn from it and still thinks his role is easier and lighter. What was the point of that episode then?

Other small bits of elements we can take in consideration are also how in Desperada she wonders where Chat is and then talks about how they don’t need him in front of Adrien. We can argue that in the end she did need Chat and his cataclysm and admitted it, but more so the focus was on the fact that she needed the right Snake holder. And Adrien or no Adrien, even not considering that she should be developed at least enough by season 3 to not let something so small feelings wise to complicate a mission, since she is excused in her actions because she has to be “professional”, Chat is still an important member and friend. She doesn’t love him? He is still close enough not to talk about him like that, even if she is blinded by Adrien (Which again, by season 3 out of 5 for the main arc, shouldn’t be anymore the case).

Now we go into the biggest point, the one that created most misconceptions in the fandom.

Chat Blanc.

Let’s start with something clear. Chat should have been made aware of what happened if there is a fair partnership or a fair treatment at all of his role. It involves him, it’s about him, he should have known. 

Then, if we want to treat it as something that didn’t happen because Ladybug was traumatized from it, sure, it’s a possible road.

But if it was portrayed as such.

A trauma is shown through the series in acts and proofs, periodically, constantly. Marinette should have shown it when she talked, spoke, and thought about Chat and their partnership, or even having this experience getting in the way of her daily life.

We didn’t see during season 4 any of the real consequences of her stress as guardian. Lila didn’t create many issues, she didn’t lose friends, she wasn’t seen having bad time with school and grades, we didn’t see her parents doubting her, or her disappointing people’s expectations. We saw only her not being able to date Luka, a person she claimed to love and broke up with only because of her duties (Which says a lot about how her growth personally and as romantic relationships is treated. And how she is supposed to fall for Chat or really get to know Adrien. But it was said in a interview that Luka was supposed to create a bit of a mess by being the perfect guy to fall for, and Adrien being more than once listed as “perfect” in Marinette’s eyes about his qualities), but that was it.  

And if THAT wasn’t well portrayed and didn’t solidify a reason to justify her during the season stress-wise, how could it be the trauma from Chat Blanc that received the same treatment?

Every single link from her being so snappy and unfair to trauma from Chat Blanc is suppositions made by the fans who want to excuse her actions as PTSD/Trauma. We could believe so, but she never showed real hints about it, clear and confirmed. She never really gave proof and acted accordingly.

We never saw her having constant nightmares (only once and a unique hint of it all in Sentibubbler), we never saw her regretting her decisions and feeling conflict over her actions towards Chat or decisions concerning him. She never showed regret for leaving him in the dark or keeping him at arm’s length. If she was hit by trauma, she would be aware at least that she is doing it or want to keep a distance. And this is never portrayed.

She never expressed fear of falling in love with him even, she was always sure that she wasn’t in love with him and had no real concern about it. “She doesn’t realize she loves him deep inside”: no. 

This is just a supposition once again, it’s not a fact shown or stated. Her whole actions demonstrate the opposite. Someone who loves the other cares in every single action and act. Maybe they make mistakes but they care and suffer for them and for others and not just themselves (NY Special, which I’ll address later). 

Words speak louder with actions. So she can’t be excused about not informing him about Chat Blanc and leaving him in the dark about everything because she is afraid of him getting akumatized. She never showed it, she never acted traumatized, she never showed to depend on it to determine her actions.

Suppositions don’t really go far when the show doesn’t go accordingly, it will be always more fans trying to convince themselves.

You can’t base it on her trauma unless you show it. Show her hesitant and in fear that telling him would lead him to being akumatized. Otherwise, as being directly involved, it’s his RIGHT to know and there are no excuses. 

In real life Trauma can stay hidden and resurface later, but the signs are clear and surely there aren’t storytelling issues to take count of. If you’re writing a story, you have also some elements to portray to make the story flow with sense and coherence.

What kind of solution could have been found?

Remake Chat Blanc with other concepts in mind and other consequences.

Start from Glaciator, have Ladybug opening up bit by bit in what she can, have Marinette nurturing her friendship with Chat and eventually developing that surprise the heroine had into something more. Slowly getting more open minded and curious, she get also closer to him until, one day, she decides to give him the chance to try something together and she drops her transformation, hoping he still feels the same and perhaps he started liking her civilian self. 

That, makes her big and first mistake, dropping a bomb on him who, even if happy, start feeling a lot of pressure to keep her secure. They are in a relationship, he may or not reveal, but still HawkMoth notices his stress and starts targeting Ladybug specifically. Or even, he could discover Chat sees Marinette. And eventually things escalate and Chat is akumatized for despair but he doesn’t give infos to the villain, and destroys him like in the canon episode. Same consequences, different progression and turning point. Then, Bunnix goes back in time and takes Marinette before she decides to drop her transformation and brings her into the future, with the same events happening. 

When everything is fixed and she goes back to her own time, Marinette is even more hurt by the eventuality of being the cause of that, so even if she still has feelings for Chat, she needs to keep distance from him, even if suffering for it and blaming herself. She keeps doing so, substituting him, avoiding him, hurting him without really getting the consequences of her actions, keeps acting stressed, having nightmares, seeing Chat Blanc everywhere and having difficulties staying by her partner’s side, but faking to be okay. That all is okay.

At that point, it slowly goes down to her lashing out a bit (Not drastically, but still hurting him without meaning to) and the fracture is created in their partnership. 

It could even use an eventual Sandboy 2.0 as a possible increment of their division or to use it to help them fix the partnership.

Or, another options to stay closer to canon’s events: 

Adrien finds out exactly like in canon her identity, he decided to get to know Marinette better instead of jumping in a relationship and so he gets more and more enamored by her. To the point that Gabriel notices something has changed in his son, that he wants to spend more time out as a civilian, that he sneaks out to stay with Mari. Even Lila could inform Gabriel.

So he starts having someone spying on Adrien and eventually he finds out about Chat Noir and indirectly either he spies on Marinette and discovers her or he follows Chat Noir visiting her as hero (Implying Marinette could also get to know Chat and get closer to him) and uses her to akumatize him out of guilt and using other cards like his mother or his amok (It’s confirmed by now).

All this, permits to then give even the reason why the two shouldn’t get too close under any sense, instead of just not developing them but pretending they are.

The most important thing is also to focus on the real dangers of them knowing and getting in a relationship. Aka, not being ready emotionally or facing the dangers that are most concrete, not forcing Gabriel to find out with silly mistakes Adrien wouldn’t commit.

Their relationship and identities being discovered with their reveal to each other, it’s not a natural consequence. It’s a risk, but both in Chat Blanc and Ephemeral it was treated as something bound to happen if they shared their secret, which it isn’t. 

It’s more risky one of them being controlled, but if they were careful as they always were the chances of HawkMoth discovering something changed between them is very very low. 

 The ones I offered are just a couple of the plenty options, but of course, it wouldn’t be enough to just change this episode, but still taking the development and smear it way earlier since season 2 and keeping doing it after Chat Blanc too.

That’s why consistency is very important in a show to have actual characters’ development and in this show it lacks a lot.

SEASON 4

This season takes most of the previous mistakes and acts upon them to give the situation an explosion.

This choice is not itself a bad decision for the show. Creating a conflict between LadyNoir based on Marinette’s mistakes because of stress and guardianship is a valid choice that can give angst and interesting developments.

The problem lies in how everything is treated and that there is no actual development, nor bases to take this road with coherence.

There is much to address but we will start from the very start and try to go over everything.

She reveals to Alya and doesn’t inform him. 

Of course, Marinette’s identity is hers to do as she wishes. We didn’t really have a promise between the two that they would be each other’s first choice. Maybe it could have been implied but it wasn’t made a point of importance. 

The problem is not much that she vented and revealed to Alya, if anything it should have been made way earlier in the show for writing reasons. The real issue is that she didn’t inform her partner of what happened. And she didn’t then tell him about Rena Furtive or Alya keeping her miraculous permanently. 

It wouldn’t be a huge problem if he was a sidekick or general ally, but they are supposed to be equals and solid rules were established for them both to maintain. 

The show didn’t address it, so we don’t have proof unfortunately to say that they cared about revealing (at least, not on Marinette’s side.) or felt the urge to do it, even after taking down their enemy. Chat surely did, but Ladybug never and they never made a promise between them. And she never has shown fear in him not liking her behind the mask and disappointing his expectations, even if I find it a very valid take fanon-wise to give her more character.

The rules spoke clearly, no reveals. But it’s a general rule. “No one has to know”, so if something happened, the problem is not really that Alya discovered before Chat. It would be if CN and LB promised each other something, or we can even suppose it would have been fairer towards Chat. 

The problem is that her identity was compromised in the first place and he is to be informed to act as consequence and take precautions, or problems can rise like in Hack-San.

Marinette never had any intention to inform Chat about having told someone. She never showed regret about it aside in Hack-San when she was found out and Alya pushed her and Sentibubbler but more because of a sudden and casual fear of Alya betraying her. So, this isn’t about Chat being informed, she really didn’t think about it, if she did she gave no weight to it. 

It was Alya telling her to talk to Chat in Hack-san, if she didn’t Ladybug wouldn’t have done anything. Alya, who was his partner only for a day, could see more how he was affected and consider his position.

And still regarding this episode, she left and didn’t inform him. Surely he made the same mistake in the NY Special and he paid for it, showing remorse and being nervous about not having informed her.

Marinette may have left him with a substitute, but she was able to. Chat wouldn’t have left his miraculous to someone else, since apparently he is the only one not spilling secrets around ironically. 

Yet, when she made the same mistake she didn’t get the blame he did, he didn’t lash out on her like she did, even after how he had to find out such a thing. 

And she didn’t feel sorry of not warning him, unlike he did all along.

A simple call would have been enough. A quick bathroom break to leave him a message and then tell him she would explain once she was back. Still wrong not telling him before about revealing to someone, but at least she would have shown consideration and efforts in fixing her mistake.

Marinette may have done a long list for Alya (Very scrupulous in this, but not in taking a minute to give him heads-up) and added to laugh at his jokes cause they make him happy, but if in the same episode she fails over and over again to consider really the impact of her actions, the most important and fundamental ones, how really can that be relevant?

In the end of the episode, she promised to never abandon him, but did she really take into account his fears? 

Worrying about seeing someone important disappear without knowing what happened is terrifying. It happens in real life, on the internet… and if you care about said person it eats you alive. 

Chat may be too forgiving, but he expressed a serious fear that should have been faced by Ladybug with consideration that goes beyond an empty promise she will break even.

She can promise that, of course, and break it as a plot point, but this is furthermore proof of how superficial the whole thing is and how difficult it is to excuse her. 

How can you promise that you won’t end up in an accident? That something won’t happen? You fall sick? You can’t promise that will never happen. It’s cruel to do so, even if she doesn’t know that many people abandoned him in his life. 

You may say that with optimism, but you need to also give some back-up to show you really got seriously his fear and share it.

Doesn’t Ladybug worry about seeing him vanish suddenly one day? Maybe learning something happened and he died without her never seeing him again, saying goodbye or revealing?

Did she offer a solution or compromise? Some sort of realistic element to make him feel better? Leaving a clue, a letter or something for her relatives, where she would ask to inform him if something happened. Write something to give him in case she wouldn’t be there anymore so he would know who she was and she cared even if she didn’t have the chance to tell him in person. 

Encouraging that once all was over with Shadow Moth they could reveal, so to pump his spirits a bit, show she wanted to know as much as him, since she never showed fears about him being disappointed in Marinette.

None of this was made. How much can we say then that his worries really are taken into account?

Or even, why didn’t she think of giving him a chance to find someone to reveal too? As much as she doesn’t know about his home life (Which is more because she doesn’t let them open up, or the writers not giving space to know really how much they know each other personally without compromising infos in the way), on contrary to her beliefs and the show’s writing, his romance with her isn’t his only concern. He still is the bearer of the cat miraculous and it’s an objective weight.

Again, plot-wise it’s okay it passed from her mind, only if Chat showed to be bothered of having no one to open up to. This way, it only seems to lack her considerations or thinking.

This is small, but still important if we want to take everything into account: you tell your colleagues if you are not showing up for patrols. One thing is not showing up if the meeting is casual and more Chat hoping for her to appear and getting his hopes up. Another thing is having set patrols to which, even if you have other important duties, you didn’t stand up professionally. It’s important to inform you won’t show up, even more so if those patrols also hold the scope of spending time with someone important that you can’t frequent outside the mask. 

She forgot? it’s okay, just think about it later, realize and feel a bit sorry! You made a mistake, you were careless and forgetful but at least you show you cared about it.

Chat isn’t seeked or waited most of the time, she doesn’t actively seek him anymore unless she needs at all costs his power. He is her last thought and need, she easily replaces him. Which of course, if case calls should be something to be ready to do, but not so often without worrying. Not so easily.

She makes plans for “two people” but doesn’t give him heads-up. It shouldn’t be something so easy to brush off. He may be very loyal and would back her up, she may trust him to adapt, but for now we don’t know if it’s that or just her not considering it.

So even her “joke” or sarcasm about not knowing each other or she would have seeked him out, it’s really uncalled for. A joke should be ironic at least, even if it doesn’t make you laugh. (Optigami)

She insists on not revealing while people, including herself, are breaking the rules all over… aside him.

Now, I know this is something people discussed plenty on, but I want to try addressing it anyway.

Glaciator 2 for me was one of the episodes with most potential, maybe it showed the deepest part of Marinette and Chat, when they interacted.

Sure, Marinette confessed something to him in the cinema that doesn’t really stand to how she actually acts, but it was a try to put a patch on her character mess. Their interactions in the episode were both funny and endearing (This is what happens when you make two characters actually act as friends and make them get to know each other truly). 

But, Ladybug’s reaction was way over the top. 

Gossip is a thing that exists, as a public figure it’s understandable that it can be pressuring, but it’s also something to get used to. She may be stressed, but lashing out like that remains exaggerated. She acted almost repulsively towards him. 

Chat surely was wrong in pushing just a few lines, we could even pretend he needed to give her more space and lay down with the flirting etc…

It was a lesson for him, but in the same episode she acted as badly towards Adrien, if not worse. She cared about cheering him up so he could fall for her, again fell in her obsession and acted superficial (The gifts weren’t even all handmade like everyone thought). It was shallow, the meanings behind an action count and her acting so furious and exaggerated with Chat was even more out of place with how she acted after. 

But only Chat was the one who had to learn all the lessons of the episode.

I would also like to note that Ladybug never outright said to Chat she will never like him romantically or what he can’t or not do in her regards. She said there was another boy. So she could have fallen for Chat, she just didn’t in the show (Which makes Luka’s presence a bit more pointless romance-wise. She never showed thoughts of giving Chat a chance, even if it meant giving up on it for Chat Blanc. And she didn’t learn from her relationship with Luka on how to treat Adrien).

Yet she flirted back and acted in ways that can make a person still get hopes up. So, again, she holds part of blame if he insisted on it. You put the boundaries? Be clear on your intention, that you being affectionate and flirting back doesn’t mean anything. Otherwise, don’t react as harshly.  

It’s okay getting mad for the timing, but aside that, there’s no reason to throw him in a trashcan. It’s not fun, it’s not a gag or a joke. You portray the scene differently if it was, not with “serious” implications and pressure for him to be wrong about his attitude. Not with how she was even freaking out in stopping the media, almost obsessed to stop the rumors. Is she frantic? It’s okay to do so, but again, show valid reasons. Show that she has flashbacks of Chat Blanc and freaks out because her viewing Chat romantically is possible and she is scared that it will lead to that event happening. Show her having fear, not seeming crazily obsessed with her anger. Otherwise, it just proves that she isn’t unaware of loving Chat, she just doesn’t for real and is almost repulsed to the idea.

And yes, it was a cute thing her asking him for practice, but this if their visits as Marichat friendos were regular and she didn’t just approach the whole situation with him as Ladybug like that. 

Okay, he doesn’t know yet, but if she had the minimal intention to reveal someday she should worry that he would be hurt to know that in a day she pushed him away like that and also asked him to get her with someone else without him knowing. While he suffered over his feelings.

Now, onto Sentibubbler and Rocketear. 

I mentioned before that Sentibubbler holds the only true hint of Ladybug having trauma due to Chat Blanc, but it happens only once and it’s due to her choice to trust someone who would betray her, not because of the fear of losing Chat directly. 

This episode also introduces some of the signs of Chat’s feeling left out and how him not being aware of some fundamental infos can get in the way of the mission or lead to him being captured. 

He should have been informed of Rena Furtive, if he was really still considered Ladybug’s equal.  

The problem of his lack of knowledge re-presents in Rocketear, where he suddenly finds out that Rena and Carapace are Alya and Nino (and dealing with Nino’s lashing and more doubts for his self-confidence). Aside the fact that, as mentioned ahead, he should know the temporary heroes’ identities, at least he should have known that they are still called in case even if they were compromised. 

This not only is a problem for his involvement in the team, but also can naturally find another link to the Multimouse case and the dangers of him knowing. 

The holders who were compromised by HawkMoth, their villain, are still called in action, however the only one who didn’t, and was found only by Chat himself, is left out. Isn’t it normal to have doubts on everything? Where trust is really held about his regards?

Ladybug in the same episode says she trust him about not hitting on Alya knowing she is taken, but she also acts exasperated when she explains her why Chat was on her balcony. Does it take an akuma caused by the situation and Chat being beaten up for her to think he isn’t a playboy? She is supposed to know him by now. He jokes but his feelings are genuine.

Moving on to Ephemeral…

This episode was kind of a mess. Both in the rhythm, both is the fact that Ladybug says she loves Adrien and not Chat, ruining every small bit of possibility she would like Chat deep inside and developed a bit in 4 seasons.

 Let’s not call it just her being unaware, she gave support to what she said the whole series. The only time she showed possible hints of starting to think about Chat differently was Glaciator in season 2 after seeing him in a new light and considering the whole picture… and a possible foreshadowing in Kagami’s quote about the manga ending up with the two people practicing falling for each other.

But this is never supported in the series, she was serious about not loving Chat. This shows how behind she is in her development as character and as relationships. She could have these doubts if Ephemeral happened in season 1, not in the second last. 

Was it really necessary to wait until the end of season 4 to have her realizing that Adrien is not perfect, he is a normal person with flaws and that they never speak enough or properly, so to consider themselves close friends? If friends at all?

True is that he hides a lot of his feelings and natural attitudes as Adrien, but if that love she feels has at least some bases, has some genuinity, shouldn’t it be represented differently? With her maybe seeing through the attitude? Seeing he is not perfect and she likes him also for it?

By season 4, it’s like there was no progress at all between the two. 

Then again, all I said about her feelings for him now is more to note how we can’t say for sure she likes him and acts badly because she cares. She didn’t show it.

Still in Ephemeral we have 2 more problems. 

The first is how she brushed off Chat after insisting on talking to him, like if the matter wasn’t important. But this is the lesser grave between the two.

The other is about her plan to let SuHan know Chat’s identity.

I didn’t see many people talk about it, maybe because it didn’t seem a bit deal, but for me this is something extremely concerning. 

Her being willing to find out Chat Noir’s identity with a trick and making him reveal it to other people without his consent or knowledge. Guardian or not, trying to have him revealing to someone else by using his trust for her is a very unfair and dishonest thing. Aside from forgetting herself, she wanted someone else to discover it and without him being aware. It’s his identity and he has the right to decide who to reveal to, even more than the temporary heroes, unless it’s a direct guardian order (then again, if they are also partners who are supposed to be equal, this is questionable). 

Luka knowing already or not doesn’t matter (even if he did a mistake in agreeing and not confessing that he knows), the problem is the intentions Ladybug had. If he wasn’t Adrien, how would it have ended? Would the plan work? Couldn’t she just be honest with Chat? He surely would have helped find a solution.

Ladybug knew exactly where to hit to get Chat to give her his identity. She knew about how much he cares for her, she knew she had to use that to convince him, even knowing which words, addressing very valid points that support why they should know. Points he thinks and agrees on. She manipulated (let’s try to think it not maliciously, as much as possible) the situation, his feelings, his ideas, to her own advantage. This is a typical villain attitude, not one of a superheroine who is supposed to care about her partner and dear friend. 

One thing would be if she showed remorse about it, another is not. Using someone’s deep feelings and vulnerability, a friend, against them without even considering to come off as honest... doesn’t seem a nice action. 

They had Viperion resetting her attempts... why not coming clear in one and asking him directly explaining the situation? If you want to show that she really knows him well, that she was right about him not revealing unless she used a tricky tactic to hit the right spot of his heart and brain, why not just... prove it? 

Now, let’s move to one of the biggest problems of this season.

Kuro Neko.

You can be stressed, traumatized, but that is NOT an excuse to lash out on people when they are not doing anything wrong. This is a basic point. 

For no reason you should treat or lash out on someone like that. 

Then, Chat in Glaciator 2 learnt to not push and even if the pun may wasn’t on spot as timing, he was genuine about his concern to help and was clear about it. She saw it even. 

She was losing time, yes, but she had no reason to be so harsh because the situation wasn’t urgent. If she trusts the other heroes to do their job then she knows there is the possibility of needing to recharge before going to pick all the miraculouses back. She said it herself, she knew where they were, she could go to them a few minutes later after filling Chat in. 

We can’t say she wasn’t pissed for him being late, say that she was aware he needed a break and that her words later to Plagg implied she was okay and understanding with him for not being present because her actions don’t go accordingly. She never showed genuine concern towards him for the matter, the few times she approached him in past was when it was clearly visible he was upset and one of the two it was Alya pressing her to do so. She didn’t even notice, as said earlier, that he needed to talk, in a situation where it’s only normal even if you don’t know the other’s feelings. Something so objectively plain and important to talk about, she didn’t consider.

That harshness is out of question, angry or not, understandable or less, you don’t lash out like that, if you do at least after realizing you apologize. Since he showed up she seemed pissed, at being so at the first occasion she sees him it's not really something that proves her “understanding” of his mental health. 

And her reasons for feeling rushed to begin with were easy to fix.

She could have no idea of how long the fight would last, detransforming before picking back all the jewels is possible and I don’t think she wouldn’t trust the others to wait up a few minutes more. Some of them were still transformed, Chat could easily track down the miraculouses with his own baton and pick them up, or wait for her to recharge and explain to him the location of them as civilians. Or, if for Rena it was too complicated to watch out for both Ladybug and Chat, he still could have gone with her.

Rena Fortive was probably out looking and Ladybug could easily give the other heroes heads-up to wait a tiny bit more. Mylene even said she could feed her kwami herself.

Her phrase during the interview is another concerning fact. 

You can be pissed but there is a basic respect for people, even more partners and friends. Not only she went against her own words and contradicted her bond with him, but also gravely treated him. 

Under a certain perspective, calling him a “partner like any other” could be seen as defending him for his absence, but it’s clear this is not the case.

Let’s remember that Chat Noir is not like any other hero. He was chosen alongside Ladybug to be a permanent member, to work with her as other half and his presence is not optional. He is not like the others who can be called in, whether he is needed or not. 

Cataclysm or not, he has to be there and be present because that is his asset, he is fundamental for the team and necessary alongside Ladybug. They are the team that fixes the problem. Master Fu chose both of them and their roles are still the same, bonus heroes or not. He was chosen to be THERE. Always.

And the people, civilians and viewers, know this very well. The journalist had a right to be worried and ask about Chat Noir’s absence cause he is the root of the team with Ladybug, he is fundamental even when he isn’t needed in terms of powers. He is supposed to be there and the civilians are no tdumb, they understand there was a shift. Downgrading Chat Noir to a partner like the others just reflects what Ladybug thinks about him.

Author, the show, the premises, keep telling that they are equal, a duo. But Ladybug doesn’t think so anymore. She said it in Ephemeral, how they are not anymore a duo and a team, she said it in Risk, that he is now just another holder (with the consolation of being her favourite) and now too. She doesn’t see him anymore as her equal or specific partner, she sees him like the other temporary heroes, just with a more powerful miraculous.

There’s a difference between her unknowingly sidelining Chat and being mean because of her trauma, but still caring about him like no one else and knowing he is impossible to replace... to her not thinking so anymore. It’s two opposite things that clash. 

It would be okay if she made those mistakes with a solid background behind that proves she really thinks he is impossible to replace, they are a duo and she suffers from the distance between them, even if maybe she doesn’t realize her actions are putting him in a corner alone. But she isn’t doing it for this. 

Her words need to be accompanied by actions and for her, he is a hero she can substitute anytime.

“Your friendship is the most important thing for me”. Chat said it clearly, for him Ladybug is important as friend and partner and she said previously she sees him as friend too, not just a partner. 

And she jumped into blaming his romantic feelings without trying to understand that Chat cares about her fully as a friend and important person and not just for those (Even if aside from Glaciator and other few times maybe he wasn’t so skilled in showing it. Sometimes it’s indeed made it seem like he cares only for that, but it was done the same for Marinette in regards to Adrien, so it’s a problem in the portrayal of their feelings).

Marinette, the whole time, blamed his problems on his feelings and acted upon it, without fully considering his position. Plagg surely shouldn’t have remarked again that Chat loves her romantically, this is a very huge mistake from the writing. Pushing everytime only the romantical side of the situation when most of it isn’t related to the romance but to their partnership, friendship and Adrien’s family situation, is very damaging for this topic. And of course, Ladybug takes it as it’s only about romance. This again is a big mistake from Plagg but at this point of the series I’d like to think that Ladybug knows that Chat cares for her regardless of romantic feelings, as he told her more than once and as I think she would know not to make assumptions on someone’s private life. He, romance or not, cares about Ladybug as friend and partner, enjoys her company and would gladly do anything for her even if he wasn’t in love with her. Chat even told her in Hack-San, he is scared to lose her, he cares a whole lot even when she didn’t show to reciprocate the same worry.

Why did she assume he would be okay, without knowing his situation and without considering that he is still her main partner and friend. She was ready to just blame his feelings, be ready to give up on him with the excuse of not hurting him, but not even showing the will of keeping him in her life. She needed a Chat Noir, not her Chat Noir, and the episode never explains why it should be otherwise.

I’d like to note that I understand in this case, the general dialogues were not appropriately chosen and that Ladybug has more the fault of rushing into her decision and not thinking more about Chat’s reasons, rather than the assumption itself that romance in involved. It’s more a writing issue.

However, going on, we still face issues.

We assume Marinette cares because of seeing her stressed, but to have proof of it we need to see her feelings. 

There was no focus on his absence as a person, but only as a holder. No tears, no panic, no pain, it was totally different than New York.  Where was the desperation? Where were the doubts?

A first moment of anger is understandable, it’s also very understandable that she has a role so she needs to look out for what she has to do and not just what she wants. But there was no portrayal of her leaking feelings of pain. 

It would have surely worked better to show her sorrow, her feelings in conflict, between wanting her Kitty back and needing to pick a new Cat holder as soon as possible. 

Saying it was implied it’s not as addressing it. We can’t say her stress and “depression” were due to her missing Chat because so far, no feelings were shown about it clearly. And it wasn’t even addressed. If it’s not shown we can as well say it wasn’t there.

The only thing she showed was urgency in finding someone as substitute and her state of exhaustion didn’t portray desperation in the lack of her dear partner, but in the lack of a solution for her duty. She didn’t spend any second of the episode missing her partner specifically and wanting him back. 

There was no thought about needing to seek him out as a civilian to know him outside her life, almost if she didn’t give importance to meeting him ever again at all. Doesn’t she want Chat in her life in future after all is over? Wouldn’t she want him as a friend in her normal life? Is she okay with just seeing him disappear forever? Was then his fear in Hack-San a one-sided feeling?

She didn’t see her mistakes, she didn’t consider her actions wrong until one single moment in which she thought she drove him to be akumatized.

(Which proved she is not traumatized of him being akumatized or fears for it as much it seems, not really showing any panic for the situation or remembering Chat Blanc. Her confusion while battling was the surprise of the situation, not about him being akumatized at all. Otherwise there would be more pressure over the fact that something she tried to “avoid”, she ended up doing anyway.)

But the first time she felt kind of guilty, she blamed it on him regretting leaving his miraculous and not on how she treated him.  And even remarked how she knows him well, contradicting all her actions and beliefs the whole season. 

She tried to “apologize” for not seeing how sad he was, commenting how he was probably pissed to see a substitute, but again not taking into account her actions or how she treated him until later, where however, she cares more about how she failed as “guardian” and not as “partner” or “friend”.

Once more, she proved she has a different view of their relationship and roles in the team. She didn’t see her actions as in her failing towards a special partner and friend, but only towards a simple asset to the team, no more than how she should treat any other hero. 

But Chat isn’t. 

And the worst problem is how she is excused and her doubts right away washed away by HIM. 

The episode tries to focus on the moral that he should just accept the situation, that it was all about him and to shove down his feelings, in saying it’s okay as long as he self-appreciate.

“His feelings for you don’t mean you need to treat him differently” it’s a cute and right message if it was only about her unrequited feelings, but here we are talking about how she acted towards him all the season as friend and partner. Not just about a not reciprocated crush. 

He was left out, treated differently and felt bad about it and as a partner, friend and human-being, it’s only natural and fair to think about it. To care. Because Chat is not a hero like the others, romance or not.

“You take care of everyone the same way”, it’s only proving that when she spoke about him being a partner as any other she meant exactly that and the episode, the writing, supports exactly that.

He is like the others and shouldn’t be treated as more, with more regard, as in his role isn’t anymore the one of before, as in now his importance is reduced. 

Now even Chat is accepting it. But Chat was the one who convinced her to stay a hero, who supported her, who was there since the start and is supposed to be her best friend with the mask and main partner. Having more heroes doesn't imply his role is lowered down if she takes more instead. His treatment should be the same as before. He should be treated with the same amount of consideration, respect and care as before. 

So his feeling left out does matter. She should treat him differently, or at least the same as the start. Because he has a different role professionally and emotionally wise than the others.

Let’s make an example, a bit stretched but that could make it more relatable:

You and another person are taken to work for a failing company and made the heads. You two become friends and partners, have the same importance, balances roles and work with the same goal and power. You are the one who gave courage to your partner to keep working with you and your partnership both emotionally and professionally is stronger than ever. This brings the company to be stable and improve. 

The head then starts bringing in more of your partner into the higher department until they leave the ownership to them. Since then, you are no longer treated with the same regard, you don’t hold the same aspects of the partnership anymore and are shoved at the same level of the other workers, not being able to do the job you once did, to be consulted on the things you once were consulted for...

You are downgraded to a lower level and not told, you have to get it by yourself. Even if you are part of the reason the company survived, even if you worked very well, now you are not anymore in the same position as before and both professionally and relationship-wise you are treated as any other. 

Your ex-partner says they care but they don’t treat you for the role you had and are supposed to hold.

And then, eventually, even if you feel like it’s unfair, you need to accept that you deserve to be included less, to have less recognition and take the same role of the others because as long as you know you are a good worker it’s alright.

It’s okay to shove all away as long as you know your work has value (maybe metaphorically even underpaid), to settle for less and discard what you’ve done in past and let people treat you less than what they did. 

Why make the episode about Adrien’s self-worth when he acts totally opposite of it in the episode and one of the messages is exactly this? Why should Chat downgrade his feelings and role when the episode speaks about self-acceptance?

Isn’t it pretty similar to Adrien’s homelife situation? Settling for what his father wants? I’m not saying we shall hate Marinette, but we hate Gabriel and call his parenting abusive. Doesn’t then the writing of this situation hit too close? Doesn’t it give some weird messages?

Because the episode uses Chat understanding to treat himself fairly, to accept a situation where he is not treated fairly.

Another big problem is how the episode is not clear about its intentions in the meaning and how Ladybug reaches the conclusion about Chat Noir being better than Cat Walker. 

Because literally, we have no explanation for it. Why is Chat Noir better? Why Imperfection is better than perfection? Does she want Chat Noir back because she feels like it’s the best thing to do for the job or because of her feelings? Why does she prefer Chat?

If at the end of the episode Ladybug says to him that even if he isn’t always needed he is needed (to her), it implies she already knows and it’s a lesson for him to learn. Then why during the episode it’s her learning it? And why is it not explained how she learns it? 

What did she learn?

All we saw was that she was surprised by the new member, but she found him perfect all along, she was attracted to him and never once showed preference to Chat Noir. She said it herself, she “tried everything” to make the Lucky Charm work with Catwalker, because she genuinely wanted him as a partner. She wanted the perfection alongside her, someone who acts and doesn’t question, someone who doesn’t feel excluded. She wanted the perfect partner and tried anything to make it work. 

And not only she did so, but she thought the Lucky Charm told her that the partner didn’t fit, she didn’t do it because she realized herself that it wasn’t meant to be. Let’s remember that the Lucky Charm is just an object and that it’s Ladybug figuring out how to use it, sometimes it has multiple ways to work and many of them she didn’t need the Cat power to make it work. Many times she did it by herself, so this case too she probably could have done it by herself (which she did), simply she wanted to include at all costs CatWalker, as much as possible, because she liked him and wanted to be right about having a better partner now. She wanted the thing to work.

So, does she prefer someone perfect or imperfect? And why the imperfect? Because the Lucky Charm pointed it out?

Was there a real reason portrayed as to why he was “too perfect”? On why the “imperfect” Chat Noir was better? Professionally and emotionally?

On a side her phrase to him a bit after “Do you feel upset? Don’t you feel sad and excluded?” when she says she doesn’t need him but the other Chat could imply she got that her ex-partner wasn’t to leave aside, but taking everything into account, it implies more how she worries about having someone who doesn’t lament on feeling excluded.

If she got Chat was indeed excluded why didn’t she apologize still at the end? Wasn’t it her mistake since she treated him differently and left him in the dark? So which mistakes was she supposed to realize or realized to work better?

Ladybug blushed (And we leave out the values of her romantical tastes) and appreciated how CatWalker was okay with her choosing to not use him in her plan and when she was reassured he wasn’t feeling left out. Then what is really important for her? The feelings of her partner or not having issues with a partner feeling unsettled and giving her troubles?

It doesn’t make her seem someone who cares, if it was the intention, but someone who is shallow and uncaring.

She didn’t choose Chat because she wanted it or because she felt like her feelings asked for it. Nor because she worked better with him. She chose him because he is someone who does his job, who does everything she says and trusts her enough to follow her around and agree with her always with no buts. Her only problem with him is that he felt excluded, which was an issue for her habits in working. 

Catwalker was too perfect because he may was even more professional than her and didn’t listen when she told him to trust her that the villain was akumatized Chat. Chat would have just gone with her convictions. 

She wanted Catwalker as a partner and was ready to substitute Chat with him, and did everything to prove she could but eventually failed.

This is a very easy interpretation to take.

And this leads to the main problem of the episode. The ending.

She didn’t apologize in the end for anything. Not for how she treated him the whole season, not for what happened in the episode. HE apologized for having feelings, for not being treated fairly. He just settled with the situation as he always does. 

He surely had part of blame for not speaking up more decisively to her, and is half of why they have miscommunication problems, but was it all on him? Most of this was on her.

We could try to say she regretted it, that she realizes needs him specifically, but if we can’t see the real motives on why, if we don’t even see an apology, if she doesn’t realize her mistakes… then what’s the point?

What is the point of saying “Only because sometimes I don’t need you it doesn’t mean I don’t need YOU”, if again it all comes down to him exaggerating and her not seeing what she has done all the season? If she doesn’t even say a simple sorry?

Aside that her words don't really fit the construction of the episode, how she implies that it was for him the lesson to learn when in the episode it was more up on her as demonstration. In the fight, it’s CatWalker opening up her eyes. So where does the final phrase come from? Why is it made once again about him?

Aside we don’t know what she learnt, it was about her learning too. In the end, all that Chat learnt was to adapt to the situation.

What was the point of the sub-plot again? If it was again all minimized? Then wasn’t it fair for people to worry that she wouldn’t work to fix her mistakes and issues? That she wouldn’t work hard for it?

Words are cute but they need actions to be proved, once again it was all pushed on him as if she didn’t commit anything.

A parallel of Hack-San where she went to him to apologize (pushed by Alya and not on her own, and not for all she has done), but with him apologizing for having fair feelings. The first time where he was understanding, while she acted like waiting for his apology and rubbed again her words of him being irreplaceable but with no explanation, proof or actions from her so far to confirm it. 

“No one will, ever, replace you”

Someone was going to, she was ready to and was almost okay with it, even with the perspective of never seeing him again. And she didn’t show otherwise the whole season.

The episode just showed that if Chat didn’t have feelings for her, he could reach perfection even as a superhero and can be on par with Ladybug. Under all senses, even strategic wise.

This episode is the top of the messed up moralism and one of the most problematic and confusing as writing, which characters acting in conflicting ways and eventually, doesn’t wrap at all a big and full sub-plot of the season. 

The problem isn’t only that she lashed out on him so excessively. It’s that we lack the development to it. And it concluded with nothing.

Marinette isn’t traumatized, she never showed in the series to be so affected. While her reaching this point of rocture with Chat, once again I think, is natural as a possible outcome, it’s not justified writing wise. She had no real big reasons shown to act like that. She showed no remorse the whole season in her actions or actual difficulty in approaching her partner. So this is objectively out of nowhere. 

This repetitive attitude she had was never faced by her side with remorse. 

You can’t, as stressed as you may be, treat someone like that more than once. If it was a few times with fair background supporting those mistakes, it would be okay. But not like this.

And in the end, this being portrayed as the episode that would resolve the sub-plot, everything was wrapped wrongly. 

And even more confusing it gets if we look into the season finale...

Risk - Strike Back

The season finale brought up again the sub-plot even after it was “wrapped up” somehow, maybe not with the best message. 

Let’s start with something fundamental we see at the start of the episode “Risk”, after Ladybug’s team defeats the newest victim, Chat Noir asks if he can come with her to take all the Miraculous and once again she has to deny (not by words, but her silence speaks enough to give him the answer). Since Chat already knows some of the identities and he is supposed to be Ladybug’s equal and partner, it’s only natural to think he could help out with this and know more about the temporary holders, because if needed he should know infos to act accordingly. It’s understandable that it’s risky now and Rena has to look out from distance for enemies, but wouldn’t Chat be only a bonus security?

But that aside, when he expresses his resignation, he confirms what was already suspected, to then be confirmed again by Ladybug who agrees. “Now I’m just a holder like any other” 

“Yep, but you’ll always be my favourite”. 

They just confirmed that they are not equal anymore, that they never were treated so and that when Ladybug spoke in Kuro Neko about Chat being a partner like any other, she was meaning exactly that, not defending him. 

Chat was degraded all along without knowing, he had to face it himself by growing more and more disappointed, until he exploded. To then be told again he was exaggerating, it was all about his love and him not accepting himself. 

This is already a big problem, because while on a side it’s understandable as angsty sub-plot, to drag on the dispute between the two heroes, it wasn’t treated as something wrong, or something unfair. And it wasn’t either something she was shown to feel guilty about, if not a little when he complained at the start of this episode. 

But moving on...

With Chat affected by Risk’s powers (Which doesn’t help in the writing of any of the two characters. Is basic conversation a risk? Opening your heart a little? After so much time of apparently getting to know each other? This is for both Adrien and Marinette finally talking like normal and him sharing his worries, and also Chat and Ladybug facing the situation they are in. I think in this case the use of an akuma was greatly wrong, since they’re supposed to be close characters), he lets his anger and dissatisfaction speak aloud more and so he starts arguing with Ladybug. 

We are shown, finally, her remembering about Chat Blanc, but this is only provoked by him addressing directly the topic of them being akumatized. It’s not brought up by her own fears, trauma or by the debate between the two, by the whole “keeping him at distance”. It’s once again related to the identities. 

And once again, Chat reminds her that of course he can’t know, since she doesn’t speak to him about anything at all. 

We can skip forward through Chat feeling left aside because she wants to protect his power, or him feeling excluded when he sees her so happy around Felix (don’t make me spell his hero name pls), but then we reach the most important point, that addresses the whole menaging of this sub-plot. It doesn’t resolve it, it doesn’t wrap it up, it just confuses more on the true intentions in handling it. 

“I wanted to control everything. I didn’t listen to you, I lied to you, I kept you at distance”.

First note about her admitting her mistakes at the end of the episode, after being partially defeated; she isn’t apologising. This isn’t an apology, there are no words implying it and surely she isn’t saying it out loud. This is an admission of mistakes. Perhaps we can say it wasn’t the best situation, but if this was meant to wrap up the whole thing, then surely something big is lacking. Her apology is fundamental since she just admitted all along it was her own actions and mistakes the problem and that they were a willing choice. 

But then we turn back and face Kuro Neko. That episode and this admission of the finale, contradict each other.

What was the point of Kuro Neko? The premise was that with Chat blowing up and giving up his Miraculous, it was set up to resolve or reach the highest moment of tension of the sub-plot... but it didn't. We didn’t get Ladybug realising her mistakes, we didn’t get an apology from her. We got one from him, who wasn’t in the wrong in the first place. The whole episode, aside focusing again on the point of his romantic feelings, which weren’t really supposed to be one of the focuses, gives the final message that she wasn’t in the wrong. He was. 

Plagg accused her openly, even if again addressing the romantical feelings which aren’t even that important in the whole sub-plot and scheme of things. He said that she mistreated Chat, but she didn’t come off as guilty, as aware of her actions. “I’m sorry but I’m just doing my best to be a Guardian” She seemed surprised about it all, not even realising before she was making him feel excluded and vulnerable. Ladybug even admits to thinking it was a good break for him and it only seems natural overall for her to think he is now a member like any others, aside owning the Black Cat miraculous. 

But if she wasn’t aware, how come in the finale she admits to keeping him at arm’s length? Surely, she could have realised later on, but we didn’t see her realising it, thinking about it, feeling guilty. She knows Chat, she also can put herself in his shoes, it would be so natural to know that he must be feeling bad about the situation. Then why we never saw her addressing it? Isn’t it a willing choice due to her “trauma”?

She used so easily his trust in her in Ephemeral, without even consulting him and never feeling a doubt until he revealed and surely because he was Adrien, not because of her actions, so why in all this she never showed regret or guilt or sadness in keeping him at distance?

If it was a willing choice as implied by this phrase, then what was the point of Kuro Neko? An episode that tells us the exact opposite? And treats it as the right answer? Where we are said she wasn’t aware of her actions and she wasn’t in the wrong in the first place?

It brings back to the main problem, she wasn’t shows being vulnerable or in difficulty because of her choices. Because it wasn’t even decided if she was willingly putting him at distance or if it was spontaneous. 

Either she willingly sidelined him, or she just treated him badly naturally and in both cases, she wasn’t shown caring about it until she made an horrible mistake. and even then, she didn’t apologise for it. 

Yes, this is very important, because apologizing is NOT the same of admitting mistakes. You could say “Oh yeah I made your birthday cake fall” or “Yes, I did that and I’m sorry”.  Admitting you did something and showing sadness over it, it’s still not the act of apologizing. One could say you’re just sorry for youself or don’t even care really about doing what you did, or regret it.

And from the finale of season 4 and the first two episodes “Evolution” and “Moltiplication” of season 5, she still didn’t. 

Here is why it’s all a problem.

She never apologized in New York for lashing out on him unfairly about not trusting him. She felt destroyed when he left, which at least is better than Kuro Neko’s situation, but she felt more sorry because she didn’t imagine herself as Ladybug without her Chat, not because she worried about him and how he felt after her lashing out. “He made his choice”. There wasn’t guilt, there was more so blame on him for leaving suddenly once again. He was the only one who apologized. As Kuro Neko once again…

(Note that New York being a cause of stress for her newer reaction to him giving up is to be taken with a grain of salt since so far even if it’s said to be canon, the show doesn’t give any single proof or evidence that the specials had influence on the series and happened).

Her actions, when it comes to her relationship with Chat Noir, never were taken accountable for real in the series. Aside from some sadness, guilt for exposing Master Fu at most, she never faced her mistakes when it regarded treating her partner unfairly or acting in a morally wrong way.

Yes, she did make apologies in various cases and tried to fix her mistakes after realising she was wrong, but they often don’t stick for the following episodes and in the first place, these things don’t apply when it comes to her relationship with Chat.

This is the same reason why Marinette never grows as a character for that regard, may it comes to Adrien and her crush on him or to Chat. All her attitudes and mistakes are more often than not excused or ignored, and treated as normal or not wrong, when there is plenty of alarming signals about how she acts. 

Of course, many characters in the show have this problem. Chat/Adrien does surely, Alya does, Master Fu does, most does… but Marinette is the protagonist and the only one that is so excused.

A character being flawed and making mistakes is absolutely normal, yes teens make weird decisions and they have to make mistakes over and over again like adults to really learn at times, but they must be brought up as such and have the character working on them, not having them passed as nothing much because of this idea of girl-power and feminism the show has. And should show some work done in development at the end of the second last season.

Chat may have acted by impulse giving up, or maybe even he should have talked with her directly, but how would it have worked with her acting like that on a regular basis?

He had many reasons to act like he did, even more justified than her for her own actions. 

Will the show really approach the situation by having her working hard to apologize and fix her attitude? Are we really sure they will when the show never has done it? Even with small moments and actions?

This is the real issue. 

It's a thing that has been going on way before season 4. It just went all over the top now because it’s a choice the writers picked plot-wise, but it’s not written properly and with genuinity. 

The problem is that this time too it was all minimized when the problems are far greater. With Chat taking part of blame in a situation he has almost none. Her actions don't show remorse in the trailers or previous episodes. She doesn’t realize things that are blatant. And it may be understandable if we had clear context and proof of her trauma. But she never showed to care in a healthy and deep way. The actions written for her to prove she cares about Chat can be easily considered superficial or forced to make minimal treatment, which would be only worse if she really did care a lot for him. She once used to care much more, in season 1, maybe even the second, even if she made mistakes there too. She once used to want to fix her mistakes, to improve herself. It’s been a long while since she threw that away in regards to Chat.Sure she may laugh at some jokes, play along, hug him, say she won’t abandon him, ask Alya to laugh at his puns, but how much does it count when there are other genuine and basic rules about respect and care she totally ignores? The basic things we have to show to everyone. A stranger, a friend, a partner…

How much does it count if she told Alya to play with Chat if in the same episode she didn’t even consider his feelings on her identity being compromised and her not telling him she had a substitute?

How much does it count if she acted stressed in Kuro Neko if it was barely about missing him?

How much does it count she chose Chat over Catwalker, imperfection over perfection, where there is no reason explained to why and it’s clear what she prefers?

How much does it count she told him once again he is irreplaceable when in the episode meant to show that it’s showed totally the opposite and never told why it’s otherwise? 

How much does it count she may realized she did something wrong if she shows no remorse for his sake and doesn’t apologize?

How much does it count that she told him she wouldn’t abandon him if she wasn’t even going to address the situation if Alya didn’t remind her? If she didn’t even seriously consider those fears or share them?

How much can we base everything on suppositions? Supposedly she is hurt inside, she loves him, she is traumatized, but when the show barely acts to prove them and explain why the character’s act in a certain way? 

How much can we suppose Ladybug cares right now so deeply when nothing supports it aside our own hopes and thoughts? Our own work of headcanons and fiction?

The important things are shown in how a person takes account of the other and Ladybug, even if Fu is heavily responsible, she is even more by herself. 

Sure, he shares a big part of blame. He was the one who we can, in a very debatable way, say “trained” her. He was surely part of why Marinette got so strict with rules and such. But she is an independent person and she is the one who acted badly with Chat. She still holds most of the blame for her actions.

She's 14, but age works as an excuse up to a point. Of course, Thomas was the first to say that precise age doesn't matter, and I certainly disagree with that. It is very important, if you want to use age as an excuse, specify. (And it’s always important if your show has a structure that requires a linear storytelling and doesn’t fit entirely the filler writing). However, in these cases her age is abused to explain exaggerated behavior which, however, should be gradually corrected.

A character, regardless of the age they have and the target the show aims to, must be written with consistency, care and the desire to improve. 

She needs to make mistakes.

But this does not mean that she can misbehave, not be held responsible and always get away with it, apart from a little sadness etc ...

She needs to pay, learn, be aware of her mistakes and be willing to apologize and work to fix them. Feeling inner conflict over time. Being seen as the one that is wrong at times despite being the protagonist and a supposed strong female representation.

Not to seem the one who doesn't matter what, will be in the right and fair light. Excusing her behavior constantly is what also supports the main problem of this show and why it was barely fixed.

Having a flawed character that acts by making mistakes and works to fix them is okay if it's written and built well. And with valid and shown explanations. 

Miscommunication must be well written and supported by rights and wrongs in the character’s actions. Coherent ones.

Marinette is not a monster, I am sure she is a character supposed to make mistakes but cares. The problem, is that right now, everything written shows the exact opposite and no matter how much she might work later, how much she might feel guilty and really realise what she did wrong, it’s still too late.  (And as of Kuro Neko, she didn’t do it).  She hasn’t proven to do so since season 3. She is thought to care, but not written to do so properly.

We lack the whole road to this development, the proof of a trauma, showing her suffering but still caring. Marinette facing choices and doubts over how to act towards Chat. Her speaking and thinking about what to tell him or not. Her doubting.  And mostly we lack her fixing her attitude.

Show her caring so much that she becomes cold and keep him at arm’s length because it’s the only way to protect him. Show her thinking genuinely about that, and suffering for it. Then, you can say she really has a trauma going on.

You have to show she cares with bigger acts, with consideration and care, even if in the end she makes the wrong choices. 

This is not a character who is suffering trauma. Sure, there are many ways a person can react, but writing wise Marinette doesn’t show the real signs. She is just being mean and stressed, but overall, trauma or not, you don’t treat someone like that more than once. And surely, show’s blame, you don’t act like it’s fine or no big deal.

In the 5 seasons arc, we are at the fourth with no improvement in the matter.

The only hint was Glaciator but everything that episode made and introduced was then discarded for the worst.

There, Ladybug and Chat Noir had miscommunication, made assumptions, and saw they were wrong. There Ladybug apologized and explained, there she seemed to be open to change her attitude or open at the chance to get to know him more so to treat him not superficially.

Why was it all used for the wrong reasons then?

Age is a matter until we remember she is a character with a story arc that is supposed to have growth, constantly even in her fallouts and mistakes. There are way younger characters but they have a growth and development. 

But ignoring, excusing her actions right now, making it seem like it's not something grave when there are millions of children following this series and taking example, is the worst thing of all.

Chat Noir has many writing problems himself, he is far from the perfect character and he too has had similar problems. He is resilient, he doesn’t react often to unfair things, he rearely loses his temper or show disappoint towards his situation, he let everyone decide for himself and lacked a “spine” for most part of the series. One can say that it’s the sentimonster thing, but it should apply only to his father. And if we go towards the topic of abuse, the effects in such a long series should have been reduced as he interacted more with his friends. We should have seen him more open to his feelings with his friends and at least see him trying more to rebel his father, only failing at the very end because of his amok. He should have improved a lot more and sooner.

But, as big as this problem is, he’s been far less the problem in the duos’ interactions, in every side of the square.

I agree that excessive hate is not the right way to go. For any character. Nor for Chat, not for Ladybug. But feeling anger and concern over the situation? Genuine ones? Criticizing her and the writing without blowing up? Seems fair enough to me.

We can’t really blame people for being angry over how she is acting and is written. Of course taking it to extremes is wrong. 

Liking the show with its flaws, liking Marinette, it’s okay, it’s fair. Tastes exist and we are different because we have them.

But the genuine concern is more than understandable. People have the right to feel pissed and annoyed at this point.

Because how she acts is there to see, and ignoring it, excusing it, may be the problem why the authors kept making Marinette the character she is and will ever be in the main series.

I am not even saying all of this to defend Chat Noir because I’m an hardcore fan (I try to be neutral, it just happens right now I think he is less in the wrong. Besides, Plagg is my fav, despite his sometimes wrong choice of speech. It used to be Alya but I didn’t like her much in season 3) and I’m not saying this to defend Ladynoir rights. I couldn’t care right now about shipping what we see in canon, right now I wouldn’t see any of the love square working, aside maybe Marichat, but if they pick this road, it will be wayyy too late. My favorite ship is Marichat, I think it has the most potential, but it’s late to use it now and surely with the context of the series, my likes lays more on the fanon Marichat (which is natural, there’s almost no content even for the canon one).

I said it already also, but I LOVE Angst. This choice of the drama in the ship, of Chat Noir feeling left out, of Ladybug unknowingly OR willingly (picking one clear) sidelining him? It’s VERY good. Excellent twist. People may lament it because many don’t deal good with angst, but I adore the idea, I adore the potential. 

But the problem is how it was executed. It’s not well developed, well structured. It will stay just potential used in the wrong way, like... most of the show’s best elements. People shouldn’t lament about the angst, but about the angst not being well portrayed. 

Season 4 is probably the best season as ideas, better in structure than the third, but the worst still with the third as writing. Yes, there is still left material to judge and I will carefully analyze it, but it won’t change what we already got and how it was portrayed.

She didn’t work to fix her mistake, a whole plot-line was just left like that and yes, as I said, there is still season 5 to see that, but Kuro Neko and the finale only added a good bunch of problems and right now, so far into the series and in their partnership, seeing Ladybug not even realising she is hurting him, seems a bit stretched.

And definitely, waiting for the fourth season to face this kind of plot is too late.

This content fits season 2 or 3, now it’s way too late.

[antidotefortheawkward-art]

I just got into the Lego Monkie Kid fandom recently, and I must ask. How do you feel about the Wukong/Macaque shipping? I've seen a lot of people say it's inappropriate because they're commonly interpreted as brothers. But others say it's okay cause it's not set in stone and lmk has changed some details on the original story, including Wukong & Mac's relationship.

I will be frank and say that Sun Wukong x Liu'er Mihou (Six-Eared Macaque) shipping grosses me the hell out, and it is one of the biggest reasons I'm hesitant in involving myself with the Lego Monkie Kid fandom, due to its domination of the fandom.

This will be a long post, so here's a bulleted TLDR:

I feel it is unfair to consider LMK independent from JTTW, given just how much LMK draws from JTTW.

I feel that the fandom's earnestness to detach LMK from JTTW does not consider how LMK is a Chinese piece of media and is thus insensitive of JTTW's place in Chinese culture.

JTTW functions as a Buddhist allegory. Within this, Six-Eared Macaque represents Sun Wukong's flaws and strife, and is literally created from him. Therefore sharing the same DNA while being two separate people, functionally siblings. Which is what has led Chinese popular culture to commonly interpret these two as such.

That being said, even if LMK makes them beyond a shadow of a doubt not siblings, I still think it's gross to ship people who were siblings in the source material. Shipping is not the only way to interact with media.

Why It's Important to Consider JTTW in Relation to LMK

While Lego Monkie Kid has changed details in the original story, I do not think it's fair to consider it as independent from Journey to the West. As a Chinese person, I feel the fandom's earnestness to separate JTTW from LMK is insensitive at best.

Journey to the West is one of the 四大名著 [Four Classical Novels of China]. Not only that, it is arguably the most accessible of the four, and as such, it occupies a very special place in Chinese culture. JTTW is a story everyone grows up with, whether it be the actual text, adaptations, or even just a bedtime story from a family member. Nearly everyone can name the main pilgrims, notable antagonists, chapter titles, and weapon names. The story is basically a backdrop to everyday life due to how much it's casually referenced, whether it be in pop culture or even food names. As such, much of the story is considered general knowledge. Changing details and rewriting parts of JTTW for an adaptation is expected because everyone's already so intimately familiar with the original story. It doesn't make an adaptation any less of an adaptation. With the case of LMK, I don't think you can reasonably consider it independent of JTTW. Not only are the majority of the cast lifted directly from JTTW, but Qi Xiaotian makes a point to directly quote chapter titles in the literal first and second episodes. If you want to call LMK anything, it's honestly a fan continuation.

Similar to how I've spoken on my discomfort regarding people using the Arthur Waley names for the pilgrims, I'm uncomfortable with people detaching LMK from JTTW because it feels like an avoidance of the original Chinese culture and context. LMK was originally produced with a Chinese audience in mind. As such, the target audience would have gone into LMK with the cultural context JTTW holds. Detaching JTTW is insensitive to the original intent of the producers, insensitive to the fact that LMK was produced for an audience that isn't just white westerners, and insensitive to JTTW. Therefore I think it is disrespectful to consider LMK without considering JTTW.

It will take time to understand Journey to the West, especially if you're not a fan who grew up with the story. However, I believe that if you're interacting with media from a culture not your own, you hold a responsibility to take measures in order to interact with said media and its culture respectfully. If creators are going to share an important part of their culture with you, then it is common decency and courtesy to interact responsibly. It's better to expend the effort to familiarize yourself with JTTW than to act insensitively, watering down its significance for the sake of digestibility.

Sun Wukong and Six-Eared Macaque within JTTW

Before going into my JTTW-grounded reasons for being uncomfortable with Sun Wukong x Six-Eared Macaque, I'd like to make a point in bringing up how JTTW is, at its core, a very Buddhist story and that you cannot, in good faith, separate the religious aspects from this story. JTTW is often read as a Buddhist allegory, and as with any allegory, thoughtful analysis and interpretation is a must.

(Chapter 58- Photos from my copy of 西游记 and screenshots from Vol. 3 of Anthony C. Yu's translation)

Please note the title of Chapter 58 uses the wording 二心 for "two minds" and that these are the same characters for 二心, the Buddhist concept of double-mindedness referenced in the screenshots below.

(Screenshots of Anthony C. Yu's JTTW footnotes regarding the Buddhist thought behind Six-Eared Macaque, provided by my friend @uwukong -who has xyr own post with further reading on interpretation of Six-Eared Macaque functionally being Sun Wukong's brother)

It is commonly accepted that Six-Eared Macaque was literally created from Sun Wukong and is a personification of his strife, his flaws, and the things generally holding him back from the true path to enlightenment. Some adaptations go as far as to depict Sun Wukong in genuine pain when killing Six-Eared Macaque since the act of killing Six-Eared is actually hurting a part of himself. While "sibling" may not be the completely technically correct term for their relationship, Six-Eared Macaque shares DNA with Sun Wukong, since he was created from Sun Wukong. However, as a separate person with identical genetics, Six-Eared Macaque is functionally his sibling. If you have to pull the "technically it's not incest" card, then I don't really think there's ground to stand on. The "grey area" this ship resides in is too thoroughly debunked by the text.

That being said, even if LMK decides to change Sun Wukong and Six-Eared Macaque to be explicitly, unequivocally, undoubtedly unrelated, I still find it really uncomfortable to ship characters who were brothers in the source material.

Please don't go through such lengths to ignore the original text and its significant Buddhist context just to justify a ship. There are other ways to interact with media other than shipping. I'm a gay Chinese man and I too want to see more gay rep in Chinese media, but let me tell you, the monkey brothers are not a healthy place to look for them.

[storiesforallfandoms]

talent that runs in the family ~ machine gun kelly

word count: 2128

request?: yes!

“Being rooks sister and substitute him while he recovers and slowly start to fall in love with colson”

description: she steps in to replace her brother when he is seriously injured and ends up gaining feelings for his friend

pairing: machine gun kelly x female!reader

warnings: swearing

masterlist (one, two)

“Thanks so much for doing this (Y/N),” Rook said over the phone. “I appreciate it.”

“Yeah, no problem,” I said. “But does Colson know that I’m...y’know...not a seasoned vet?”

“You’ll do fine.”

I refrained from reminding him that he didn’t actually answer my question.

After Rook’s accident left him out of commission for some time, he came to me to ask if I’d fill in for him. I jumped at the opportunity. Rook had taught me how to drum when I was young and, much like my big brother, it became a passion of mine. How could I turn down working with one of the biggest artists of the year, even if it were just for a short while?

Well, my nerves were definitely telling me I should’ve said no as I walked into soundcheck that day.

“Whatever,” I said. “I’ll call you after the soundcheck.”

“Hey, don’t be nervous. You’re gonna do great.”

I said my goodbyes and hung up. I tried not to focus on how big the venue we were playing in was as I made my way to the otherwise empty stage. I thought I was the first person to arrive until I heard someone calling my name.

“(Y/N), up here!”

I looked up to see the guys sat in a booth in the balcony. Colson was all but leaning over the railing, waving for me to join them. I had no idea how to get up there on my own, but luckily a security guard showed me the way.

The guys were eating pizza and drinking from plastic cups as if they were the ones attending the concert and not performing in it.

“Pre-show ritual,” Colson told me. “Especially when we have someone new joining the band. Sit! Have a slice!”

“Shouldn’t we be practicing?” I asked, but still sat with them. I didn’t want to completely mess up my first day.

“We have hours to practice,” one of the other guys I remembered as Slim said. “And we don’t really need to. We do this every night. A soundcheck is basically just to make sure everything is working tech wise.”

I just nodded, not wanting to point out that I hadn’t been doing this every night. I hoped that I’d have some time to figure out the songs before the shows.

Colson nudged me, bringing my attention to him. “Don’t stress. You’ll do great.”

I smiled at him, wishing I’d believe him.

After our small feast of pizza and beer in plastic glasses, we finally got to our soundcheck. I was so nervous that I kept messing up during the first song. My hands were shaking and I kept hitting the wrong drum by accident. My face was burning with embarrassment as I buried it in my hands and groaned.

Colson walked up to me, a sympathetic smile on his face.

“I’m sorry,” I sighed. “I can get this, I know I can.”

“I know you can, too,” he said. “Just take a breath, relax. We’ll try again when you’re ready. And remember, it’s just drumming. Rook says you’re great at it.”

I smiled at him and nodded. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I pictured myself back in my bedroom from my childhood, playing my drums super loud until my parents had to call out for me to keep it down.

When we started practicing again, it went off without a hitch. We did most of the setlist all the way through and did quick takes on the last few songs before our time was up.

I was proud of myself as the soundcheck came to an end. I was still nervous about performing during the actual show, but I felt confident enough in myself not to make too many noticeable mistakes when we actually had an audience that night.

I was walking to my car when I heard someone calling for me. I turned to see Colson running to catch up with me. Or rather he was taking long strides to catch up with me considering he was so tall.

“I told you you would do great!” he said, putting an arm around my shoulder and giving it a light squeeze. “It’s like drumming runs in your blood or something.”

I chuckled. “That’s what mom and dad always said too, but neither one of them can keep a beat to save their lives and no one else in our immediate family plays either.”

“You and Rook are the start of a long line of drummers then I guess.”

I shrugged in response. We both stood awkwardly for a moment. I wasn’t sure what else to say. His arm was still around my shoulder and I didn’t want to pull away and make it seem like I didn’t enjoy the contact because I definitely was not complaining about it.

I guess Colson also realized that he was still touching me, though, because he pulled his arm away and awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck.

“Do you need a run to the hotel or anything?” he asked. “We have the tour bus.”

I shook my head. “I’m good, thanks. I have my car, and besides I haven’t even checked into the hotel yet so I should probably go do that.”

“Oh, yeah you definitely should. Get some rest before the show, too. It’s a lot more physically demanding when it’s an actual show, even if you’re just sitting at a drum set the entire time. I’ll see you tonight then I guess.” He turned to walk away, but paused and turned back to add, “What were you planning on wearing tonight?”

I looked at him, confused. “Uh...this I guess.”

I was wearing a hoodie and a pair baggy jeans and my most comfortable pair of sneakers.

Colson raised an eyebrow at my outfit before looking back up at me. “I mean, it’s definitely comfy, but I would recommend something a little less...well, just less. It’s going to be hot as fuck on that stage, especially with all the lights on you and shit.”

I nodded, taking note of this as I got into my car and internally panicked a little because I didn’t know if I even had anything to wear.

~~~~~~

A few hours later, after checking into my hotel room and promptly wrecking it by throwing my clothes everywhere, I was heading back down to the lobby to meet up with the guys. We were going to the show together, which would’ve been my first tour bus ride. I couldn’t lie, I was super stoked for it.

I was the last one to the lobby. All the guys were stood around, loudly talking to one another. You’d think they were just a normal group of guys and not a group about to play a sold out show in a massive arena.

Colson spotted me first. I smiled at waved at him. His eyes widened and his jaw basically dropped, which prompted all the guys to turn. Their reactions immediately matched his as they looked me up and down.

“Rook would kill you guys if he could see you right now,” I teased.

“Damn (Y/N),” Colson dared to say first. “You look...you look hot as fuck.”

I had decided on a loose muscle shirt with a bralette underneath since the shirt showed a little more than what I was used to, a pair of ripped skinny jeans, and kept on the comfortable sneakers I had been wearing earlier that day.

I giggled. “Thanks, but again, Rook would kill you for saying that. Also, it’s not anything super attractive.”

“You got a nice body,” Baze pointed out. “Anything showing it off even a little is hot.”

I could feel my face burning as I waved their comments away. “Okay, enough with this. We have a show to get to.”

We boarded the tour bus and started towards the arena. The guys were distracted amongst one another again, completely forgetting about me and my “hot outfit”. Besides Colson, who had come to sit next to me on the couch while the rest of the guys were already drinking whatever was in the mini fridge.

“Do you guys always get drunk before your shows?” I asked.

“Not always. Usually we get high,” Colson responded.

“Now that I can get behind. I’ll probably be less afraid if I’m high.”

Colson held out the joint in his hand to me. I took it and took a quick puff, the smoke immediately burning my throat and lungs as I tried to inhale it. Colson laughed as I started to cough.

“I still say you have nothing to worry about,” he told me. “You’re gonna do great tonight. You can’t even really see or hear the audience with all the lights and the inner ear pieces.”

“That’s even worse cause then I’ll just imagine how big the audience is.”

He put a hand on my leg, something I assume was just instinct for him to do to comfort someone, but the minute he made the contact I felt a jolt of electricity run through me. Colson quickly pulled his hand away and I wondered if he had felt that too.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that without asking,” he said.

“You can if you want,” I assured him. “I wasn’t mad about it or anything.”

Colson looked at me and I realized how blue his eyes were. Rook had always made jokes about how Colson could seduce any woman with just his eyes because they were such baby blues, but I didn’t really believe him until the moment I was looking in them myself. Now I was lost, completely forgetting everyone around me as I felt myself moving closer towards him.

The bus jerked to a stop, causing Colson and I to nearly be thrown from our seats. The guys started off the bus first, running towards the entrance to the arena as I could hear the waiting fans screaming outside.

Colson stood and offered a hand to me. “It’s showtime.”

~~~~~~

After the first song went perfectly, I stopped feeling nervous. Colson was right, I couldn’t see the audience in front of me, but I could faintly hear their screams of excitement over my inner ear piece. It was weird to have it in and not only hear all of us playing, but also the crew talking backstage. It was almost distracting, but it became easy to tune them out.

During one of Colson’s talking points in the show, I reached for my water bottle to take a sip. Colson was hyping the audience up, which made me smile a little.

“Before we continue the show,” he said into his mic, “you guys may have noticed that we do not have our regular drummer tonight.”

I immediately knew what he was about to do and I wanted to hurtle my drumstick at him before he went there.

“As you’ve probably heard, Rook was in a bit of an accident and is off recovering for the time being,” he continued. “So, we decided to get some family to fill in for him for the time being. Everyone, I want to hear y’all make some noise for Rook’s little sister, (Y/N)!”

The crowd cheered loudly. Colson turned to me and waved for me to stand. I glared at him, which I hoped he could see, before standing and awkwardly smiling and waving at the audience.

“All the cool drum shit you guys have been hearing all night has been (Y/N),” Colson said as he started to approach me. “She’s a bad ass fucking drummer, and she’s a pretty fucking cool chick, too.”

I was confused where he was going with this as he came to stand next to me, slinging an arm around my shoulder the way he had earlier that day after soundcheck.

“Which is why, (Y/N), I gotta ask: will you go on a date with me sometime?”

Slight embarrassment was swelling somewhere inside of me at being asked out in such a public way, but that embarrassment was overshadowed by the fuzzy feeling of excitement inside of me. I looked up at Colson, my eyes wide and a smile on my lips.

 He lowered the mic so he could privately add, “I’m being serious. I wanna take you out on a real date. Just the two of us.”

My words were stuck in my throat, but I was able to nod in response. The smile on Colson’s face stretched so wide that I could’ve been convinced he was the one lighting the show.

“Okay,” he said, then lifted the mic to say to his audience, “Let’s get back to the show guys!”

[arvinsescape]

Getting mobbed.

Summary: You get mobbed by the paparazzi and Tom and Harry come to the rescue.

Warnings: Swearing.

W/C: 1.6K

You made your way through the hotel, preparing yourselves to go out into the onslaught. Tom was set to do an awards show, and this usually meant an influx in paparazzi, which he hated. He loves his job and he loves his fans but the paparazzi could just be too much at times. The problem with events like this was that every member of the papz wanted the first picture, which usually left them very close and diminishing any concept of personal space. Tom had gotten used to it in a way, it still made him uncomfortable, but he was used to dealing with it.

You on the other, although you’d been with Tom for a while now, weren’t. The first time you ever dealt with it was hard, but you kept your head down and kept moving forward but you were new then. You always thought it would get easier the more accustomed people came to you being with Tom, but it didn’t. The papz having more and more questions for you each time they saw you. Are you pregnant? Are you engaged? It didn’t bother you as much anymore, but something felt off about tonight.

You looked out towards the front of the hotel and gasped, there were far more papz than usual and it didn’t sit well with you. All you had to do was make it to the car, which wasn’t a long way but there was a lot of people between point A and point B.

“There’s so many.” You said as you grabbed Tom’s bicep.

“I know, this movie is a big one.” He’d expected this, this was one of the biggest movies he’d starred in so far and of course the attention surrounding the film had meant that more people had turned up for his picture. He took your hand that was holding his bicep and kissed the back of it, easing your nerves slightly. “I can always get Harry to take you out the back, if you’d be more comfortable?” He suggested.

“No, I don’t think that’d look too good. The rumours would be a nightmare.” You sighed as you grasped his hand firmly, interlocking your fingers.

“You know I won’t let anything happen to you. I’ve got you.” He promised as he squeezed your hand. “And Harry is right behind you.” He reassured. You swallowed down your nerves as you nodded. He was right, you’d be okay, right?

You made your way out of the front of the hotel, Tom’s security fending off the first lot of paparazzi from getting too close but there were too many. Tom’s grip on your hand tightened and it felt like he was cutting off circulation, but in reality, he was making sure you were still with him. Harry was close behind you both.

It was all going pretty well considering until you felt someone much taller than Harry behind you. You’d been split up and although you knew Harry would be okay it made you nervous. The man behind you was shouting your names, any question that came to mind and you did your best to ignore it and continue to move forward. That was until he got a little too close to you, your figure being much smaller than his and you lost your footing. Trying to regain your composure meant you weren’t holding Tom’s hand quite as tight anymore.

You felt his hand leave yours and you panicked, and another man had now gotten in between you, then a couple more. You managed to keep yourself upright and you were now being pushed forward quicker than you could walk, it felt surreal. It was like an outer body experience, you were just kind of going along with it, just praying you’d make it too the car.

All of a sudden, a hand grasped your arm and pulled you out of the way causing a panic to rise in your chest and you felt tears well in your eyes. Two hands grabbed your shoulders and turned you around. It was Harry. Your nerves instantly calmed.

“You okay?” He asked panicked as he took in your state, checking for injuries. He didn’t find any.

“I’m okay, just a little overwhelmed.” You said.

“Are you hurt?”

“No, honestly I’m fine Harry.” You reassured.

“Okay, we should keep moving forward, here take my hand.” He said as he held your hand. Tom’s security had caught up by this point, one of them standing beside you.

“Where’s Tom?” He asked as he frantically looked for him.

“I’m not sure. We got split up.”

“I’m sorry but I have to go and find him. As much as I know he’ll kill me, I’m paid to make sure he’s okay first.” He smiled sadly and you laughed at that.

“Go. It’s fine. I’ve got Harry.” You said as you watched his security make their way through the crowd.

Your hand was still in Harry’s as you slowly made your way forward. The car wasn’t even that far away from the hotel, but it felt like a lifetime before you’d get there.

“You’re handling this quite well.” Harry suddenly pointed out.

“Gotta get used to it right? He’s only get bigger.” You said as more people moved past you, barging against your shoulder a little too rough.

“Oi!” Harry kept shouting as more people did it. Although you knew it wouldn’t leave any lasting damage, it was beginning to get sore. “Fuckin’ hell.” He grumbled as he grabbed your hand tighter and tried to move a little quicker.

You suddenly collided with someone’s back, stopping in the process. You looked at Harry and furrowed your brows in confusion, they’d suddenly stopped trying to move forward. Harry pulled you against his chest as he hugged you, the crowd of people seeming to take all breathing space away. All of a sudden, the man in front of you was moved to the side by a familiar looking member of security and Tom appeared.

He rushed over when he saw you, having a similar reaction to Harry, checking you for any injury. You laughed as he cradled your face, checking it over for any injury.

“I’m fine Tom.” You said as he finally calmed down, looking satisfied that you were, indeed, okay.

“Okay, we’re gonna try this a different way.” He said. “Thanks by the way bro.” He said as he clapped Harry’s shoulder, who waved him off in response, smiling. “Right come on.” He said as he took your hand. He moved you in front of him and placed your back against his chest. He slowly moved the two of you forward and kept his strong arms firmly wrapped around you. Harry had now placed himself in front of you and helped move the paparazzi out of the way.

“I’m sorry baby, I swear as soon as I felt your hand leave mine I shit myself.” He said into your ear. You kissed his bicep as you continued to move forward.

“It’s okay Tommy. Its just a bit more hectic then we’re used to.”

“Yeah, now I really know how RDJ feels.” He laughed softly into your ear before placing a kiss there.

The move towards the car was much easier, given your new position it would be extremely hard for anyone to get between the two of you now. You made it to the car and Tom gently pressed you against it for a moment as his security made room behind him. He opened the car door for you and carefully manoeuvred you into it.  You slid to other side as Tom followed you into the vehicle, Harry shortly joining.

Harry sighed as he took the seat opposite you and Tom. “Bloody hell.” He groaned.

“Yeah that was intense.” You laughed but you felt much better in the security of the car. Tom had shuffled closer to you wrapping his arm around your shoulder.

“I thought something had happened to you when I couldn’t feel your hand anymore. Gave me a heart attack.” He said as he kissed the top of your hand, smoothing your hair out for you.

“Nah, I had Harry. You should charge for your services.” You said as you pulled a laugh from the younger Holland.

“Yeah. I reckon I’m gonna bill him. Do you reckon I’d be able to charge more for looking after important goods?” He joked and you laughed.

“I should dam well hope so.” You said as Tom laughed.

“Name your price mate. It’s yours. In all seriousness though, thank you Harry.” Tom said sincerely.

“Anytime. You know you might be late putting a ring on it but she’s like a sister to me already.” He continued to joke.

“Noted.” Tom laughed and he took your hand in his, kissing the back of it.

“I don’t know why you haven’t already. You’re a fuckin’ sap for her.” Harry joked as he earned a punch from his brother.

“Just love her a lot.”

“Code for sap.”

“Piss off.” Tom snorted and they both laughed. “I’ll put a ring on it eventually, I promise.” He concluded with a soft smile in your direction and bringing your hand up to kiss the promise ring he’d given you a while back, the smile to which you returned. Harry fake gagged but he couldn’t help the warm smile that made its way onto his face at how happy and in love his brother was.

[the-king-andthe-lionheart]

So this is definitely in response to that certain dark section of our fandom (you know exactly who you are) who are throwing a fit about the Arya and Daenerys fandoms enjoying the possibility of a canon Daenarya friendship in the future.  So let’s look at all the quotes that possibly foreshadow a future Arya and Dany friendship and put it into context.

It was very dark right now, she realized. She hugged her bare knees tight against her chest and shivered. She would wait quietly and count to ten thousand. By then it would be safe for her to come creeping back out and find her way home.

By the time she had reached eighty-seven, the room had begun to lighten as her eyes adjusted to the blackness. Slowly the shapes around her took on form. Huge empty eyes stared at her hungrily through the gloom, and dimly she saw the jagged shadows of long teeth. She had lost the count. She closed her eyes and bit her lip and sent the fear away. When she looked again, the monsters would be gone. Would never have been. She pretended that Syrio was beside her in the dark, whispering in her ear. Calm as still water, she told herself. Strong as a bear. Fierce as a wolverine. She opened her eyes again.

The monsters were still there, but the fear was gone.

Arya got to her feet, moving warily. The heads were all around her. She touched one, curious, wondering if it was real. Her fingertips brushed a massive jaw. It felt real enough. The bone was smooth beneath her hand, cold and hard to the touch. She ran her fingers down a tooth, black and sharp, a dagger made of darkness. It made her shiver.

"It's dead," she said aloud. "It's just a skull, it can't hurt me." Yet somehow the monster seemed to know she was there. She could feel its empty eyes watching her through the gloom, and there was something in that dim, cavernous room that did not love her. She edged away from the skull and backed into a second, larger than the first. For an instant she could feel its teeth digging into her shoulder, as if it wanted a bite of her flesh. Arya whirled, felt leather catch and tear as a huge fang nipped at her jerkin, and then she was running. Another skull loomed ahead, the biggest monster of all, but Arya did not even slow. She leapt over a ridge of black teeth as tall as swords, dashed through hungry jaws, and threw herself against the door. - Arya III AGOT

Here is the initial passage that has to do with dragons in Arya’s story.  She comes across the dragon skulls in the dark and feels afraid of them.  She feels as if the eyes of the skulls were watching her and did not like her. She also doesn’t recognize them for what they are.  She initially refers to them as monsters, but later she comes to realize they are dragons: 

This time the monsters did not frighten her. They seemed almost old friends. Arya held the candle over her head. With each step she took, the shadows moved against the walls, as if they were turning to watch her pass. "Dragons," she whispered. She slid Needle out from under her cloak. The slender blade seemed very small and the dragons very big, yet somehow Arya felt better with steel in her hand. - Arya IV AGOT

Now admittedly the first quote does sound like the foreshadowing could suggest antagonism between Arya and Dany, but the second quote doesn’t suggest this.  Arya thinks of them as if they are old friends.  That is the most notable sentence of the paragraph, not the fact that she slid Needle out.  But when you actually look at this paragraph you actually see a duality here.  The monsters did not frighten her.  They seemed almost old friends.  Yet she slides her blade out and feels better?  So for me this quote just seems to foreshadow that Dany will be Arya’s friend, yet Arya will remain wary of her dragons like anyone naturally would be.

So putting these two quotes into context, it tells us that if Arya and Dany will meet they will initially be antagonistic and wary of each other (most Daenarya fans I’ve seen acknowledge this will likely be the case).  However it also suggests that this wariness will eventually fade and they will become friends.  Arya doesn’t need to think she is wholly safe from the dragons to have a friendship with Dany.  EVERYONE is wary about the dragons, just like most people would be unsure and most likely afraid if they were in the same room as a large cat or a bear. 

But this isn’t Arya’s only dragon connections in the narrative.  Arya’s closest relationship is with Jon, who is half Targaryen.  In Braavos Arya is fascinated by the courtesans and the Black Pearl in particular:

"The Black Pearl," she told them. Merry claimed the Black Pearl was the most famous courtesan of all. "She's descended from the dragons, that one," the woman had told Cat. "The first Black Pearl was a pirate queen. A Westerosi prince took her for a lover and got a daughter on her, who grew up to be a courtesan. Her own daughter followed her, and her daughter after her, until you get to this one [...] - Cat of the Canals AFFC

The woman with him could not have been more than a third his age. She was so lovely that the lamps seemed to burn brighter when she passed. She had dressed in a low-cut gown of pale yellow silk, startling against the light brown of her skin. Her black hair was bound up in a net of spun gold, and a jet-and-gold necklace brushed against the top of her full breasts. As they watched, she leaned close to the envoy and whispered something in his ear that made him laugh. "They should call her the Brown Pearl," Mercy said to Daena. "She's more brown than black."

"The first Black Pearl was black as a pot of ink," said Daena. "She was a pirate queen, fathered by a Sealord's son on a princess from the Summer Isles. A dragon king from Westeros took her for his lover."

"I would like to see a dragon," Mercy said wistfully. - Mercy TWOW

There is even foreshadowing that Arya will form a closer relationship with the Black Pearl in the future by becoming an apprentice for her so Arya can refine her highborn manners so it’s easier for the FM to place her into highborn society to do their work, because why not utilize a highborn girl in this way?

But also notice that Arya/Mercy is friends with a girl named “Daena” which is ridiculously close to the name Daenerys.  And in the same conversation with Daena (Daenerys) Arya/Mercy also said she wished to see a dragon.  And no this isn’t “Mercy’s” wish, this is Arya’s wish:

As Arya crossed the yard to the bathhouse, she spied a raven circling down toward the rookery, and wondered where it had come from and what message it carried. Might be it's from Robb, come to say it wasn't true about Bran and Rickon. She chewed on her lip, hoping. If I had wings I could fly back to Winterfell and see for myself. And if it was true, I'd just fly away, fly up past the moon and the shining stars, and see all the things in Old Nan's stories, dragons and sea monsters and the Titan of Braavos, and maybe I wouldn't ever fly back unless I wanted to. - Arya X ACOK

Doesn’t really sound like Arya hates dragons or have any issues regarding them.  She wants to see them irregardless of any fear they may inspire within her that everyone would naturally have upon seeing a dragon.

Arya also expresses a wish to fly throughout her narrative and she also has wing symbolism in her arc:

If I was a crow I could fly down and peck off his stupid fat pouty lips. - Arya X ACOK

If I had wings I could fly back to Winterfell and see for myself.  And if it was true, I'd just fly away, fly up past the moon and the shining stars, and see all the things in Old Nan's stories, dragons and sea monsters and the Titan of Braavos, and maybe I wouldn't ever fly back unless I wanted to. - Arya X ACOK

I wish I could change into a wolf and grow wings and fly away. - Arya XIII ASOS

She might be bald and skinny, but Mercy had a pretty smile, and a certain grace. Even Izembaro agreed that she was graceful. She was not far from the Gate as the crows flies, but for girls with feet instead of wings the way was longer. - Mercy TWOW

Also lets not forget how similar Arya and Dany are to each other and how many parallels they share.  They are both lost princesses exiled and sent to Essos, specifically Braavos, after their father's deaths at the hands of Lannister's.  They each know what it's like to be bought and sold and to be enslaved – Dany as a child bride and Arya as a child soldier.  And they both have pretenders trying to take their claims.  Both have been forced into becoming smallfolk, living in poverty and starved.  And they both know what it's like to be hunted and scared.  They adapt exceedingly well into other environments and cultures, and their morality and sense of justice are very attuned, as they seek to protect those that can not protect themselves.  Very protective, they are both empathetic and maternal and care for the sick, ailing, and dying.  Both of them are survivors and have both suffered abuse and sexual assault (more so for Dany, but it's still there).  They are both clever and know how to manipulate people.  They are both polyglots and both of their deepest desires are for home and family/pack.  They both try to live up to the image of their older siblings (ie Sansa and Rhaegar).  Arya is said to look and act like Lyanna and Daenerys is compared to Rhaegar by the people that knew him.   They are both very close to their house sigils and even dream about them and the mystical beasts they both own.  They both love horseback riding and they both have encountered mystical prophets.  Wanted/considered becoming sailors and they both have fantastic people skills.  Not to mention that it was Arya who said that the slaves should have killed the masters, while Dany is leading a slave uprising to overthrow and yes, execute the masters.

Dany is also not some “mad queen” and she does listen to the people who knew her father and Rhaegar.  She is learning the truth about the monster her father was and learning to accept that.  So there is no reason why Dany should continue to feel antagonistic towards the next generation of Stark’s for something they didn’t do.  

I’ve also seen comments about how the fire devastation that is within Arya’s story must clearly mean “Dark Dany” and that Arya and Dany will be antagonistic towards each other in canon when they meet.  I’m assuming these people are referring to the burning barn scene:

"You take her!" she yelled. "You get her out! You do it!" The fire beat at her back with hot red wings as she fled the burning barn. It felt blessedly cool outside, but men were dying all around her. She saw Koss throw down his blade to yield, and she saw them kill him where he stood. Smoke was everywhere. There was no sign of Yoren, but the axe was where Gendry had left it, by the woodpile outside the haven. As she wrenched it free, a mailed hand grabbed her arm. Spinning, Arya drove the head of the axe hard between his legs. She never saw his face, only the dark blood seeping between the links of his hauberk. Going back into that barn was the hardest thing she ever did. Smoke was pouring out the open door like a writhing black snake, and she could hear the screams of the poor animals inside, donkeys and horses and men. She chewed her lip, and darted through the doors, crouched low where the smoke wasn't quite so thick.

A donkey was caught in a ring of fire, shrieking in terror and pain. She could smell the stench of burning hair. The roof was gone up too, and things were falling down, pieces of flaming wood and bits of straw and hay. Arya put a hand over her mouth and nose. She couldn't see the wagon for the smoke, but she could still hear Biter screaming. She crawled toward the sound. - Arya IV ACOK

Arya rolled headfirst into the tunnel and dropped five feet. She got dirt in her mouth but she didn't care, the taste was fine, the taste was mud and water and worms and life. Under the earth the air was cool and dark. Above was nothing but blood and roaring red and choking smoke and the screams of dying horses. She moved her belt around so Needle would not be in her way, and began to crawl. A dozen feet down the tunnel she heard the sound, like the roar of some monstrous beast, and a cloud of hot smoke and black dust came billowing up behind her, smelling of hell. Arya held her breath and kissed the mud on the floor of the tunnel and cried. For whom, she could not say. - Arya IV ACOK

This chapter does not mean that Dany is going to go “evil” or “mad” and start burning stuff to the ground.  You guys do remember that Dany has three dragons right?  And that Dany is only the dragonrider to Drogon?  That leaves two other possible dragons that could be stolen from Dany.  We have Euron/Victarion who has the dragon binder horn and then we have Aegon who may or may not be able to claim one of those dragons for himself.  There is also the possibility that Euron dies or Aegon dies and someone else will take their places as dragonriders via Targaryen blood or use of that horn.  So besides Dany we have Aegon, Jon, Euron, and Tyrion who may all ride dragons within the story as they all have the proper set-up and foreshadowing for it to be a possibility.  So why is it the automatic assumption that it will be Dany burning shit down?   

Not to mention, wildfire has the same types of language used as the two quotes above:

And then some vast beast had let out a roar, and green flames were all around them: wildfire, pyromancer's piss, the jade demon [...] From bank to bank there was nothing but burning ships and wildfire. The sight of it seemed to stop his heart for a moment, and he could still remember the sound of it, the crackle of flames, the hiss of steam, the shrieks of dying men, and the beat of that terrible heat against his face as the current swept him down toward hell. - Davos I ASOS

So considering there not only is there a ton of foreshadowing that it will be Cersei who destroys King’s Landing with wildfire, but also there is foreshadowing that Jon Connington will do something incredibly drastic to win and keep the Iron Throne for Aegon.  And may I remind the audience that the fires Arya went through and experienced in the Riverlands had zero to do with Dany.  They were the direct result of the Lannisters.

So if Arya IV ACOK is foreshadowing a future fire she is stuck in, there is no evidence that the fire will be caused by Dany nor that the fire is dragonfire.  And if you are going to point out the show as evidence, let me tell you something, go to the youtuber The Dragon Demands and watch his videos dissecting everything about the scene of Dany burning King’s Landing by using the script, listening to BtS content, looking at the storyboards, actually noting that a scene of Cersei looking out the window, depicting her watching people put barrels of wildfire on the battlements, etc.  Because the compilation he makes proves that Dany burning KL the way that she did in 8x05 was a last minute change.  It was supposed to be an accidental wildfire explosion before they changed it so they could justify Jon killing her.  But I’m sure even with the evidence you’ll still cling to the idea of Dark!Dany because you are incredibly insecure about your fictitious ship and your blatant mischaracterization of your favorite “pure as the driven snow /s” character, because there is literally nothing in the books that foreshadows Dany going “mad” or “dark”.  So why don’t you take your jealousies about Daenerys and Arya and the very possible Daenarya friendship somewhere else.