#I've been conflicted about this for a long time

[casscainmainly]

if you had a graph with the x axis being from "doesn't view batman as a father" to "views batman as a father" and y axis being from "doesn't view bruce as a father" to "views bruce as a father", where would you put each batkid?

btw, i love your recent metas <3

This is such an interesting ask!! Here's my rendition of it:

I'm going to add a little reasoning because these are contestable!

Dick: I personally don't think Dick separates Bruce from Batman the way some other Batkids do. Even if he did, Dick has been with Bruce so long, is so steeped in both his vigilante and civilian lives, that he's Bruce's son in any identity. Their bond transcends any 'Bruce vs. Batman' division.

Tim: Similarly, I don't think Tim separates Bruce/Batman, especially since he came into his life knowing both identities. The reason he's lower than Dick is because Bruce wasn't his dad originally; I'm a little biased since I'm now reading Batman: Contagion, but the presence of Jack Drake in much of Tim's tenure as Robin prevents Tim from being as strongly attached to 'Bruce/Batman = dad' as Dick.

Cass: Of course Cass separates Bruce and Batman very clearly, as she does with many people, such as herself and Babs as Oracle. For the early part of their relationship she didn't know Bruce, nor did she care; Batman is her father, Bruce is just the guy Batman happens to be sometimes. (I think this is less true recently, but she still thinks of Batman first and Bruce second).

Damian: Struggled with him because he definitely thinks of Bruce as his dad under any name, but I do think it's Batman that matters to him. He is the 'blood son' but it's the Robin mantle that establishes his relationship to Bruce (Robin, Son of Batman, not Damian, son of Bruce). This may have changed recently with the current Batman and Robin run, but for the majority of Damian's time I think it's fair to say he thought of himself as the son of Batman, not Bruce. (He is not anti Bruce though, which is why he's not that low).

Jason: Jason for sure thinks of Bruce as his dad - the entirety of UtRH wouldn't have happened if Jason didn't believe to his core that Bruce loved him as a son. That belief is so strong that Bruce overshadows Batman, in a way. Jason spars with Batman on the moral front, but his conflict is ultimately always with Bruce, which is the name he consistently uses in UtRH. This is the one I'm least sure about though because I've not read lots of Jason's runs.

Stephanie: Like Cass, Stephanie didn't know Bruce at all, so a lot of her relationship to him is Batman-only. She definitely doesn't think of either Bruce or Batman as a father - her desire for Batman's approval has shades of him being a father-figure, but it never goes as far as an actual desire for a father-daughter relationship. The only reason she's higher than Duke is because of the somewhat complicated way he echoes a father (and she, to Bruce, echoes Jason).

Duke: Duke doesn't really care about Bruce, and he cares about Batman only as a mentor. He basically tells Bruce he's only useful as Batman; even then, Duke doesn't have a super deep emotional attachment to Batman. He also loves Doug, who's still alive (though MIA), and wouldn't replace him in any scenario. He explicitly calls Batman a 'mentor' and 'friend'.

These are just my takes, I'm sure there are other interpretations of every single one of these. It's one of those questions that highly depends on your preferred dynamics for the characters, where canon can go either way. Even if this is horribly incorrect, I hope it was interesting! Thanks for the ask <3.

[shizuturnspages]

I love your yan Diluc, it's genuinely one of THE best ones I've seen!!

Please consider: Diluc w/ reader being Knight of Favoinus

Yandere Diluc with a Knight of Favonius Darling

Diluc doesn’t hate the Knights of Favonius—not entirely. But the idea of the one person he cherishes most being a part of the organization he’s grown so disillusioned with? That’s a bitter pill for him to swallow.

Conflicted Emotions:

❥ Diluc sees your role in the Knights as both a strength and a vulnerability. He admires your bravery and dedication, but he loathes the idea of you putting yourself in harm’s way for an institution he believes is fundamentally flawed.

❥ “You work yourself to exhaustion for people who wouldn’t lift a finger for you,” he says one evening, his tone sharp. “The Knights don’t deserve you.”

Possessive Concern:

❥ Your status as a Knight makes Diluc hyperaware of the risks you face daily. Missions, patrols, skirmishes—they all represent potential threats to your safety, and that drives him mad.

❥ He often tries to convince you to take easier assignments or outright avoid dangerous missions. If that doesn’t work, he’s not above subtly interfering—delaying your orders, pulling strings to reassign you, or even secretly completing your mission for you.

❥ “You can’t expect me to stand by and watch you risk your life,” he insists when you confront him. “I’m only doing what’s best for you.”

Tension with the Knights:

❥ Diluc’s disdain for the Knights creates friction in your relationship, especially when it comes to Kaeya. He doesn’t trust his brother’s motives or influence over you, and he’s not shy about expressing that.

❥ If Kaeya so much as teases you in Diluc’s presence, the tension is palpable. “I’d appreciate it if you kept your distance,” Diluc says coldly, his eyes narrowing at his brother.

The Darknight’s Shadow:

❥ As the Darknight Hero, Diluc often follows you on patrols without your knowledge. He sees it as his duty to ensure your safety, even if it means operating in your shadow.

❥ You might notice fewer threats during your patrols, unaware that Diluc has already taken care of them. To him, it’s proof that he’s the only one truly capable of protecting you.

Scenario: A Dangerous Mission

The bustling streets of Mondstadt were a far cry from the quiet tension brewing in the Dawn Winery. You stood near the doorway, adjusting the straps of your armour, while Diluc leaned against the wall, his arms crossed and his expression unreadable.

“You’re not going,” he said, his voice low but firm.

You sighed, not for the first time. “Diluc, it’s my job. There’s a report of hilichurls near Springvale, and I’ve been assigned to handle it. It’s routine.”

“It’s unnecessary.” His crimson eyes met yours, burning with intensity. “They’re sending you on missions that anyone else could handle. Why does it always have to be you?”

“Because I’m good at what I do,” you shot back, your frustration bubbling to the surface. “And because this is what I signed up for.”

Diluc straightened, pushing off the wall to close the distance between you. “You’re risking your life for people who wouldn’t care if something happened to you.” His voice wavered, and for a moment, his mask of stoicism cracked. “Do you think they’d mourn you the way I would?”

You faltered, taken aback by the raw emotion in his words. But you couldn’t let him control you—not like this.

“That’s not fair,” you said, your tone softer now. “I know you care, Diluc. But this is my choice, my responsibility. I can’t just abandon it because you don’t like the Knights.”

His jaw tightened, and for a moment, you thought he might argue further. But instead, he turned away, his hands curling into fists at his sides.

“Fine,” he said, his voice icy. “But don’t expect me to sit by and do nothing.”

Later that night, as you patrolled near Springvale, you couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched. The moon hung high in the sky, casting long shadows over the forest. Every so often, you thought you saw movement out of the corner of your eye, but when you turned, there was nothing there.

Unbeknownst to you, Diluc trailed in the distance, his claymore resting against his shoulder as he eliminated threats before they could reach you. He moved silently, his dark cloak blending with the night.

When you returned to Mondstadt unharmed, you’d chalk it up to an uneventful patrol. But for Diluc, it was proof that his vigilance was necessary.

As you fell asleep that night, exhausted from your duties, Diluc stood watch outside your window, his gaze unwavering.

“You’ll see it one day,” he murmured to himself. “That I’m the only one who truly cares. The only one who’ll protect you.”

[love-byers]

sus music editing in s4 byler scenes (a saga)

since tiktok might die in the US soon, i wanted to convert some of my old tiktoks into tumblr posts so they can live on forever! i've been wanting to do this for a while but never got around to it. i'm starting with this one because ive been posting about music coding a lot lately. i recommend watching the video attachment (at the end of the post) after reading the whole post, just so you'll have context when watching.

ALRIGHT!

will and mike are interrupted in the majority of their solo scenes. the scene in jonathan's room, the scene in will's room, the scene on the car, & the scene in the cabin. i noticed a long time ago that the songs used in the first 3 scenes listed build up for the first half and then kind of explode for the second half. there's a point where the song changes/released after the buildup.

the songs are:

eight fifteen (jonathan's room)

on the bus (will's room)

letter to willy (talk on the car)

BUT, in will's room & the car scene, mike and will are interrupted almost right before the song is supposed to climax. i lined the songs up and listened and i'm right. interestingly, in the scene in will's room, on the bus is edited. in the scene, the song starts like normal at the start of the song. but they cut the middle out so it would skip right to the part RIGHT before the climax of on the bus. THEY DID THAT. so at the very end of the scene just before they get interrupted, the song is teetering on the edge of the big explosive part of the song, but it doesn't happen because they're interrupted and the song ends. in the car scene letter to willy is also edited. maybe im wrong, but there's a note i hear in the car scene that i cannot find anywhere in the song. so it seems like they're purposefully using songs that are building to something but cut off right before the pay off of the buildup. i wouldn't be capitalizing on this so much if 90% of the scenes this happens in werent mike and will staring into each other's souls and then having their gazes torn from each other, but they are. so take that as you will.

now we need to talk about eight fifteen. this is fucking wild.

eight fifteen is all build up for the first half. then there's a moment where it teeters on the edge for a second, and then BOOM! release & loud pretty synths. i lined it up, and the 'teetering' part of the song is in the scene in jonathan's room, but like the others, it's edited. but this one is WAY more crazy.

the song starts from the beginning when will sits on the bed next to mike. it builds while mike talks about his problems with el and not saying the thing she wants. then will says "look, mike, you're gonna see her again, and whatever it is you didn't say, you can say it to her then, okay?" the teetering part starts when will says

"look" and goes all the way until he says "then"

when he says "then", that is the moment when the buildup is supposed to release. but in this scene, it doesn't happen. instead, when he finishes talking, specifically when he says "then" the note kind of trails off. it sounds weird. it's unsatisfying. there was no payoff to all that buildup. i've seen plenty of other tv shows where this is used to emphasize the face that there was no payoff. something in the scene was anticlimactic. something that they wanted to happen or were expecting to happen didnt. the characters are disappointed or left hanging.

and when that note trials off, mike says

"yeah...yeah" and looks down, looking upset and conflicted and disappointed

he wanted will to say something else. will saying "you can say it to her then, okay?" disappointed mike. that's not what he wanted to hear. i think mike wanted will to reassure him and tell him he doesn't have to say something he doesn't mean or doesn't want to say, and that when they see el again mike can explain himself. mike desperately wants to be told he doesn't have to pretend to be in love with el if that's not how he really feels. he wants to be told that el won't be angry if he's honest with her about his true feelings for her, which are platonic. (hence why he later nods after will says 'what if they don't like the truth?')

but will doesn't understand that. will thinks they are in love, he thinks they're perfect. so in his mind, it's fine because mike can just say it when he sees el again. but he thinks that because he thinks mike actually means it, when in reality he doesn't. and by doing that, will only further pushed mike into giving his false confession. now mike thinks even more that he just has to spit it out and tell el what she wants to hear even if it's not how he really feels. this just breaks my heart because mike is so hated on but he's a GOOD BOY💔💔 he's just a 14 year old kid who's afraid of failing the people he cares about but also hates lying about his feelings and just wants to feel free from the expectations others have for him. he just wants someone, specifically will, to tell him it's okay, and that he doesn't owe anyone anything, especially not his own feelings. and it hurts extra bad because if will knew the truth about mike not loving el he would shower him in support because of course mike shouldn't have to lie just because it's what el wants to hear.

and just in case anyone tries to say otherwise, YES mike lied in the monologue. it doesn't need to be proven, it's simply canon.

like there's no denying this. believing it's just a mistake by the writers before believing mike lied is CRAZY heteronormative copium. like come on💀

anyways, the things mike says and does in the scene in jonathan's support this theory. he threw away el's note. "a fight you cant come back from" "maybe if i just said that thing then things would be different" his phrasing sticks out so much. "said that thing" and not "told her" or "told her how i feel". to mike it's just saying words he doesn't want to say. and "a fight you cant come back from" its almost like he's hinting to will that he and el need to break up and he's hoping will will catch on and support him. he trusts will and values his opinion and wants his support. usually he and will very easily communicate non verbally and are naturally in tune with what the other is thinking and feeling, but this time will doesn't catch on (because of his own heteronormativity and assumption that mike and el are in love), and mike is disappointed. he brings this up over and over, like he isn't satisfied with will's answer, and is a little more honest every time. the only thing that seemingly satisfied mike was hearing will's feelings. why did it even get that far?? why would what will said in jonathan's room not suffice if he is actually in love with el??? it just doesn't make sense.

(unless it actually makes perfect sense)

i'm very confident in this since this lies less with the continuity within stranger things itself and more with basic film/video/sound editing. i even got some comments from editors/musicians who agreed with me!

"It's a tactic I've actually used before in editing. It keeps the audience engrossed, and really makes it FEEL interrupted for the audience."

"Woah that's crazy! And it literally stops on the fifth so it's totally legitimately unstable/ unresolved."

stopping on the fifth refers to a technique used in music composition to make a chord progression sound completed. i actually know a bit about this because i took music theory in college, but if anyone knows more than me feel free to share! a completed progression is like a circle. you must begin and end with the same chord. you start with one chord and move down a fifth to the next chord, and do that until you end up back at the original chord. that way it sounds nice and satisfying and completed. in 'on the bus', which the commenter was referring to, this process is cut short, which would serve no purpose other than making the music sound and feel incomplete or interrupted or unsatisfying.

if i just butchered that whole explanation please let me know, but im pretty sure that's accurate.

here is the video with two of the scenes i talked about, using 'Eight Fifteen' and 'On The Bus'

and just as a reminder, on the bus has only played twice in the entire show. first in the lumax talk on top of the bus in season 2, and second in the byler talk in will's room in s4. 🙂

anyways i hope this was comprehensible😅 i remember my tiktok followers being very confused so feel free to re read and re watch as many times as necessary or reply with any questions! and anyone who has more input on editing/music pls share with the class if you'd like!!

anyways byler endgame, thanks for reading

[supervisormeero]

Syril Appreciation, Part 2: On Syril Karn & Redemption

It's still Syril Appreciation Day (SAD) over at @andorshitdaily, so I'm going to go ahead and create yet another lengthy text post about one of the saddest, most pathetic men in Star Wars. The reason for this is that my other lengthy text post about one of the saddest, most pathetic men in Star Wars would've been too long if I'd continued it, so now I'm posting two lengthy text posts. When they're combined, they'll create a whole novel. Anyway—

I've heard and been part of a lot of discussion over hiatus about the subject of Syril Karn getting a "redemption arc," and whether or not turning Rebel is his ultimate destiny in Season 2. As I said in my other post, I'm 50-50 on it. Over the years, Star Wars has conditioned many of us to believe that the "less evil" or "conflicted" Imperials have a shot at turning good. Frequently, they do. We've seen those storylines play out over and over again, perhaps most notably when placed in direct parallel to Syril, with Alexsandr Kallus. We aren't set up to believe Dedra might switch sides, because the writing paints her as unrepentantly devoted to the mission and everything it calls for. The writers call out, through Bix, that Dedra enjoys the darker aspects of her work. She revels in the torture, the arrogantly delivered threats, and the bleeding Rebels dry. In that way, we are told — without being told — that Dedra won't turn from her path. She's Imperial, through and through. Her sole mission is to save the Empire from itself, and she'll do so by any means necessary.

In contrast, because Season 1 spends so much time devoting itself to showing Syril's turmoil and pain in his home life, we don't get that with him. We know he's Imperial because, obviously, he's made it his life's mission to rise through the Imperial ranks. We see him desperate and striving for more, determined to get into the ISB, yearning to assist Dedra in her investigation into Axis and Cassian Andor. The writing makes no secret of the fact that Syril Karn is a man with ambitions, and those ambitions are Imperial. It also continually highlights his connection with Dedra, whatever direction that's destined to take; the first official image we got of him in Season 2 is him meeting with her in the ISB conference room. So, while Season 1 does unflinchingly frame Syril as Imperial, it holds back on framing him as devoted to everything the Empire stands for. It doesn't frame him as approving or supportive of Imperial violence or torture, as it does for Dedra.

What does this mean for his future, and his chances of redemption? It depends on which path the writers choose to take with his character, I think. On one hand, because Syril's not been exposed to the "darker" side of the Empire (at least that we know of), he might be in for a rude awakening over the next five years. We see him believing fully in the Empire because the Empire is law, and his central guiding principle seems to be that law and order are always true, that justice is always just, and that if everyone followed the rules, there would be no trouble in the galaxy. We, as viewers, know this is incorrect... but at this point, Syril doesn't seem to. Throughout the next five years in his story, either through gaining an understanding of what Dedra actually does for the Empire or through time spent on Ghorman before the massacre, it's possible he will come to question some of his beliefs. Is it really just to execute a crowd of peaceful protestors? Is the use of Gorst's recordings ever justifiable, from a moral sense? If Syril sat in on one of Dedra's interrogations and saw the agony and terror in that poor Rebel's eyes, would he still hold her up as his beacon of light and hope?

At this point, we don't know. The biggest tally in the "redemption arc" column is, in my opinion, that Syril's main motivation isn't necessarily getting promoted and rising to the top of the Imperial ladder: it's being loved. That's where he differs from Dedra. Where she only wants complete order and (potentially) power, he wants someone to believe in him and tell him he's done a good job — he never got that unconditional affection from Eedy, and he's still searching for it in the only way he knows how: by being good at his job. Will he eventually realize he can't find that within the Imperial structure and turn to join the Rebels? Potentially. It's also possible he keeps searching for it within the Empire to the point where that endless search dooms him, and he never understands that the Empire is indifferent to him until it's too late for him to do anything but die in its service. If his Imperial beliefs are too engrained in him, it's possible he really will think that what Dedra does is for the greater good, and that what we know will happen on Ghorman needed to happen.

If that's the case, though, and he's never meant to be conflicted, why bother sending him to Ghorman? The fact that he's seemingly being set up to spend significant time on the planet leads me to believe we'll at least see him grapple with his Imperial faith and devotion to Dedra — otherwise, he could've stayed on Coruscant. That said, I'm not necessarily a complete believer in him turning around and helping the Rebels, either; I don't know that I can see him following Kallus' route. Perhaps if he has a vaguely similar trajectory to Lieutenant Gorn and the Ghorman people show him kindness only for him to watch in horror as they're all killed in front of him, he could "lose his taste for the Empire." I've also wondered, based on a prediction of @hegodamask's, whether he might play a role in Lonni's execution only to then find that, whoopsie, Lonni had a family, and that sits heavily on Syril's conscience. Or both of those things happen. There's more than enough time in a 12-episode season.

My ultimate prediction is that if Syril lives to see the show's final arc and doesn't die on Ghorman, we might see him step back from all of it and side with neither the Empire nor the Rebellion. Just because he doesn't believe in the Empire doesn't mean he'll support the Rebels. I could see him losing faith in all of it to the point where, in his final episode, he comes face-to-face with Cassian again... and he lets him go. @hegodamask also had the thought that he might get promoted post-Ghorman to a supervisory role within the ISB, thus getting what he'd always wanted, only to find it hollow now after he's seen what the Empire stands for. I guess he could also die a last-minute redemptive death, although I'd really rather he didn't. I think Andor will treat him with more complexity than that.

So, do I think Syril will be 100% redeemed? I think it's more complicated than that. Star Wars has a habit of "redeeming" its villains, and if Syril descends farther and farther into the Empire as Cassian commits to the Rebellion, a no-redemption storyline could make sense. It could also be oddly fresh, considering the sheer number of redeemed Imperials in this franchise. Regardless, I trust Tony Gilroy and his writing team, and I'm looking forward to seeing how Syril's story ends.

I'd prefer it if he didn't die, though. The galaxy needs those pretty blue eyes.

[flightfoot]

ML Fanfic Recs for Completed Fics 10K - 15K Words

12 fics in this category. Decent amount of Lovesquare, but you also have a fic from the rarest rarepair I've ever recced, I never even considered Vivica/Marinette before.

All of these fics will be in my Keyseeker's Choices For Best Completed Miraculous Fics Of 2024 Collection, and if you like that, please consider checking out my other collections, Keyseeker's Choices For Best Completed Miraculous Fics Of 2023, Keyseeker's Choices For Best Completed Miraculous Fics Of 2022, and Keyseeker's Choices For Best Completed Miraculous Fics - Misc. Years.

circling back to you by @taketwoinink

Things have been breaking between Ladybug and Chat Noir for a long time, for even longer than Marinette knew about. He keeps trying to walk away and she keeps dragging him back. They're running around in circles and something - or someone - needs to change. So when he leaves a note on a rooftop for her to find, telling her he's left again, Marinette's willing to swallow her fear and her pride to get to the root of whatever problem started this in the first place.

So this is a season 4 fic, rooted in the Ladynoir conflict of that time, with Chat giving up the Black Cat Miraculous again. I love how much we see of Marinette's thought process, how clear it is how much she cares about him, how much she wants him to realize his own value and wants to hear the actual problems he has (including the ones to do with her) in order to fix things, to make it so they can fight as a team again. Because while she could be Ladybug without him, she doesn't want to be.

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And Mark Ronson Can Get Stuffed by @liiinerle

Marinette gets a call from Vivica, Jagged Stone's guitarist, with a proposition. She wants a producer - and she's heard Marinette's the best one for the job. At least, that's what Jagged says, and well, the only real competition is Bob Roth... ... but Marinette still isn't prepared for the whirlwind of feelings she'll get spinning through her brain whenever she sees Vivica play. Or for the realisations she'll make about herself as she sits engulfed in a type of music that feels like it gets her, and gazes up at the angel who's holding the guitar.

So this is a RARE rare pair, I've never seen Vivinette before! Man though, is this a great first fic for the pairing! I love seeing Marinette's efforts to be the best producer she can be for Vivica, not totally realizing at first why she's so nervous and determined to be the best she can be for her... and then becoming all too aware of her feelings XD. I especially adore how enamored Marinette becomes with Vivica's songs, being deeply affected by them but unable to put her feelings into words well enough to give feedback.

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Stop Time by @liiinerle

— she put her hand on the page, blocking it so the words wouldn’t scream so loudly at her. They had screamed more than enough already. Gritting her teeth, she pulled her fingers together, crumpling the paper slightly — just enough that it didn’t look so pristine and mocking. It needed to be full of despair, in every possible way. “Marinette —” started Mullo. “No! Never again. Marinette is… gone, forever.” She let go of the paper. Now it lay alone in the light, as the last thing she could ever tell them. That she loved them, that she’d miss them, that she would never talk to them again. A suicide note. Of sorts. ----- Fu accidentally names Marinette as the new guardian, and not Ladybug. She's forced to fake her own death and go into hiding in order to get away from Hawk Moth. She finds a hiding spot in the Louvre, but there she's forced to face the effects of her going away by a very unexpected source: her friend Alix.

Definitely mind the tags on this one! But if it ain't triggering to you, then I highly recommend reading it. You can really feel Marinette's struggles here, with basically making herself homeless, unable to reach out to her friends and family, needing to steal just to feed herself and the kwamis, and then dealing with everyone in her life grieving... and then moving on. Except for a few people who don't...

It's just... it's really good, really heart-wrenching.

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To Feel The Sun From Both Sides by @nemaliwrites

"Be careful," Cat Walker finally says. He lets her go before taking a big step back, as though purposefully trying to put more distance between the two of them. "You might fall." "No, I wouldn’t," says Loveybug. She takes one step forward for each one he takes back — continuing their dance from before. "Not when I have you to catch me." -- The masks they wear might be different, but it doesn't matter. They'll still find their way back to each other.

This is a Loveybug AU fic, obviously. I love the philosophy in this one, where Marinette comes to a revelation on how to feel about love, on how she loves, and how this change in her worldview naturally makes her transform into Loveybug.

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Not Quite Right by @ladynoirfanao3

When Marinette wakes up one morning, she can’t help but feel that something is just a little bit… off. No one else around her seems to feel the same, however, and she is forced to shake off the strange feelings. It proves to be more difficult than she imagined, especially when an akuma attack leaves her feeling helpless as she watches Chat Noir and Ladybug arrive on scene.

So this is an interesting one, Marinette feels like something's off, and seeing the way Ladybug's acting just reinforces that. I love the mystery element here as both she and the audience figure out what's happening and she and Chat Noir try and fix things.

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impromptu training exercises by @14muffinz

“I didn’t do anything,” Rena says proudly, not flinching away from the ire of their leader. “Eagle, on the other hand…” “DO YOU HAVE IT!?” Rooster Bold shouts eagerly, running forward to shake Rena wildly by the shoulders. “Do. You. HAVE IT!?” “YES,” Rena shouts back. [Eagle deposits an heroic object of importance known simply as The Ball in Alya's bedroom. Chaos, a game of keep away, and bonding insues. Also, a spreadsheet.]

This was a really fun fic! Basically the NYC superheroes play this training game where they attempt to steal this one tennis ball from each other and hold onto it for as long as possible. It's led to this one, ratty ball becoming an important piece of superhero memorabilia.

Naturally, the Miracuteam continues the tradition.

I love how you get little vignettes of what all the different characters are doing, getting a glimpse inside their heads as they try to find, steal, and keep The Ball. If you're a fan of hijinks or the Miracuteam more generally, this'll be right up your alley!

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Mamma Mia! by @ladynoirfanao3

When Marinette discovers she is pregnant, she is distressed to realize any of the three men she slept with in the recent past could be the father; Chat Noir, Ladybug’s partner and ex with whom she had gone through a tearful breakup - the mysterious Cat Walker, Ladybug’s rebound - or Adrien Agreste, Marinette’s current boyfriend. Bit of a twist on the base concept of Mamma Mia, where she doesn't realize all three potential fathers are, in fact, the same man.

So this is a fun little fic. I loved seeing Adrien and Marinette independently wrestle with the situation - Adrien, with maybe being the father of his former girlfriend's children (but maybe not), and Marinette, with needing to tell her former and current boyfriends that they might or might not be the father, and having to deal with a potential change in their relationship because of that.

Oh yeah, this fic is rated M, but the sexual content is relatively mild. The foreplay is detailed, but the actual sex is just implied.

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Bend the World Around It by @kasienda

“Tell me it was real." She can’t look at him. She can barely stand the pain in his voice. She definitely can’t face it. “It wasn’t.” He shakes his head, and turns to her - his eyes swirling in their intensity. “That’s not what I meant and you know it. Tell me that you were there. We were there together, having the same dream.” She squeezes her eyes shut. She wants to lie to him. She needs to lie to him. But she can’t. Lying would be like it never happened. But it did happen. And if it’s all they get to have, she wants him to know it. “I think we were having the same dream,” she whispers, unable to meet his eyes.

So this is an adorable Jubilation aftermath fic, with Ladybug and Chat Noir both mourning the loss of what only they remember, of a dream that never was. And them deciding that screw it, it may not have been real to anyone else, but it was real to them. They remember those years together, and they want to live together, if only during the times when they can afford to be missing from home. They remember being happily married, and crave that life.

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Are Hexagon Square Dances A Thing? by @hueynomure

Tikki flew right in her space, playfully booping her nose. "Marinette!" She threw her hands in the air. "What!" "You're going to be late for patrol," the kwami giggled. Marinette checked her phone and she muttered a few choice Mandarin curses. She couldn't be late, not today! Chat was waiting for her! She called her transformation and strode to her balcony's trapdoor- She accidentally caught a glimpse of her reflection in the vanity mirror and froze. She slowly turned and blinked, almost disbelieving her eyes. Her featureless, smooth polka-dotted suit was just gone.

So unlike in most Loveybug AUs I've seen, Ladybug adoting the Loveybug identity was an accident. She decided to confess to Chat Noir, butterflies in her stomach, and then when she transformed, she was Loveybug.

Unfortunately being THAT smitten makes it difficult for her to fight like she usually does.

Luckily, there's another Black Cat who she is currently less in love with who can fight alongside her...

---

Me and You, We're Roses of Blue by fennieaile

For centuries, the blue rose has represented mystery, royalty, and that which is unobtainable. Why? Because the blue rose is artificial. Unnatural. So close to being real, but not quite. The unfortunate, disappointing result of humanity daring to challenge the natural order. And for some reason, Felix Graham De Vanily can't stop thinking about it. Meanwhile Kagami Tsurugi, despite everything, thinks they are wonderful. And Adrien Agreste, who prefers his roses red, is just here for a good time. (A story in which Felix reflects on his childhood, his relationships, and the nature of what's artificial and what's real.) (Alternatively, a story where the ideal date is destroying a dead man's property in the name of art, and two cousins who are actually brothers' bond over one truly terrible joke.)

I love Felix's and Kagami's introspective talks, with Felix reminiscing about the past - both the good, and the bad. He still has trouble believing that his life is this okay now, and especially that the class (and Marinette in particular) are actually friendly with him. Him and Kagami deciding to destroy some of Gabriel's things is great.

I think my favorite part is when Chat decides to give Felix birthday greetings. Chat loves to mess with him and Felix just doesn't understand why. Chat apparently has a little brother he likes to do this sort of thing with, so why can't he got bother that guy instead?

---

The Art of Blossoms by @fruitdragon1a

Marinette is a florist. Adrien needs a bouquet. Or: Five times Adrien walked out of Marinette's store with flowers, and one time he left with something far more precious.

This is a classic, adorable No Powers Adrienette AU. I love that Nino and Alya are a couple and are friends with Adrien and Marinette, but that Adrien and Marinette don't know that they have friends in common, it leads to some fun reveals!

---

Peppermint Kisses by @kuromori4

After a holiday adventure with his best friends goes horribly wrong, Adrien unexpectedly finds himself finally confessing his love. Too bad he confessed to the wrong girl.

This was fun and cute. An akuma attack gone wrong results in Adrien being a bit woozy and confessing his love to Ladybug... which would be fine, if he was Chat Noir, but as Adrien... well, there are problems.

Plus well. He HAS started catching feelings for Marinette as well...

It's cute, has some nice Ladrien, and just a nice, pleasant read.

---

Even a Lucky Charm Can't Find a Soulmate by BeeRye

After a heart-to-heart with Alya, Marinette decides to go all in on finding her soulmate. The problem is, in a world where countless methods of getting a soulmate exist, how can she even go about making that happen? Meanwhile, Kagami can't make heads or tails of Marinette's strange behavior, but she won't turn down more time with her. If only she could do something about this troublesome crush that shows no signs of easing up...

I love a good soulmate fic, and it's even better when the two people choose each other. Marinette WANTS Kagami to be her soulmate, and Kagami wants to be with Marinette. Honestly, that's enough.

Also, Alya's the MVP here. Sometimes lovebirds just need an outside perspective in order to get out of their own heads and actually do what they need to do to ask out their crush.

[mitigatedchaos]

[ @bwv572 ]

Objectively bad for you, but they are fun and can be rationalized as good for you, just like literally every other bad thing

[ mitigatedchaos ]

In fact, I decided to avoid game development as a career partly out of such concerns. They'll be more valuable if we increase average human lifespan.

[ mitigatedchaos ]

I don't think that if we decide to eschew all entertainment, solely read non-fiction that's designed to increase our grasp over the world, focus solely on production, and max out the number of kids per family, leading to conflict, that this is really more meaningful; at the same time, I don't think that where video games are right now is necessarily good for society. Probably some time this century there will be adjustments based on attention limitations.

So this gets into an article I've been meaning to link here on Tumblr for a while, which is Cameron Harwick's "High Culture and Hyperstimulus," which argues that cultivating taste in the consumption of cultural goods is partly about resisting becoming a solved system.

It's not clear that e.g. woodworking is truly better hobby than strategy gaming. You learn more about wood and materials, and wood has a depth to it as a physical object. You obtain physical objects that represent your skill, such as making a ship in a bottle. If you build furniture, you obtain greater mastery over your environment.

However, while the map in a strategy game will be destroyed, so too, in time, will the ship in a bottle and furniture be destroyed. You gain greater mastery over your environment, and ability to express your intentions, but this comes at a cost in time.

You may be familiar with my infamous Funko Pop Hatred post, which has widely circulated on this website.

So I would say, with a video game, are you relaxing, are you learning, or are you socializing? Are you smiling and laughing, or just compulsively clicking?

If you are relaxing, then you are giving your brain some slack. If you are learning, then you are gaining some mastery over the world. If you are socializing, then you may be making valuable enduring friends (and if the game is setup so that you can't gain long-term friends, then it's just utilizing human competition to add dimension to the conflict).

Social media is similar to video games in its attention structure, in my opinion. Consider the habit of compulsively responding to arguments and having that hanging over you all day, rather than just arguing once per day and setting it aside for the other 23 hours.

My belief is that during the 21st century, there will be an increased consciousness on the issue of attention, leading to a reorganization of computer-based media through the imposition of a one hour daily episode format or something similar on video games and social media.

If this does not occur, then there will be an increasing social movement towards a weekly "no electronics, no Internet" day, as a means to reset stimulus response and break compulsion-driven feedback loops.

Regarding video games, there is an argument as to whether or not they are good for people. I think that's a tough question.

An initial consideration: story (high density), skill (mastery), and emergent gameplay (mastery) are good; gacha (gambling) and grind (low-density) are bad.

Computer games can teach intuition, but only if that's the thing they are actually doing.

[kayooreh]

honest to goodness discussion: is woobifying historical figures that are (rightfully) controversial a marker of "good" morals because it disrespects asshole racists' legacies, or is it a marker of "bad" morals because it prioritizes drawing these asshole racists in cutesy memey internettish ways rather than reflecting on their sordid pasts and the people who were victimized by them?

[juaneloriginal]

silly thingy

@blackkatdraws's sillies

[vaguely-concerned]

Origins is of course the DA game most closely in conversation with and playing around with Tolkien (right down to the walking talking poetree haha) -- and even more so than most works in the larger western fantasy tradition derived from Tolkien's work that DA:O also hails from and owes a lot of its Stuff to, what makes the game so great to me is that it's doing so very deliberately, and is subverting and deconstructing those tropes and entrenched ideas in some very interesting ways without at all denigrating what it's commenting on. (it doesn't have the almost disdainful undertones of the vein of fantasy that seeks to make the world more 'realistic' ala the more tedious reactions to G.R.R.Martin's work, for example, despite having the darker fantasy bent to it.) among other elements it adopts, what I find the most fascinating is the choice to use the same literary device/conceit Tolkien did in ostensibly only having in-universe biased sources and works to deliver the world through (which I feel is an underappreciated thing about his approach but is part of what makes his world so enduringly compelling and real-feeling -- the feeling of real scholarship devoted/applied to a made-up world. the grounding effect of a good diegetic footnote about source criticism, truly).

many things to be said there, and I'm glad each following game has taken on different perspectives and lenses and traditions to view the world of Thedas through because if you stick with that one too closely for too long I fear we could teeter precariously close to Pratchett's famous and bitingly accurate accusation of most modern fantasy of that era just being about rearranging the furniture in Tolkien's attic lol. and while you could accuse DA2 (my perfect wife who has never done anything wrong in her life to be clear) of many things, that's not one of them, they are pulling on some completely different strings for that one and both the game and DA overall is better for it, to my mind. as so many things in this series: worth staying with and exploring for an installment even if it might get stale if all of it was like this! people are understandably sad about the elements from previous games that they liked which were lost along the way, but that capacity for reinvention is to my mind a huge strength of dragon age as a whole.

(I think Veilguard is coming in as a close second in Tolkien conversation-ness if only in outlining/revealing the worldbuilding that indeed may have been planned since DA:O around the animosity that SHOULD by all rights exist between dwarves and elves in this universe (as per Tolkienesque tradition standards). but doesn't really because you see: politics and the many pitfalls of conservation of knowledge over the ages. our ancestral enmity got semi-intentionally lost between the floorboards of history and you know what. maybe for the best. the humans are already up to so much shit you gotta keep your eyes on them at all times you can't be brawling with each other in the deep roads while they're still around getting up to their nonsense or they'll just pile up even more of it)

[awesomebutunpractical]

How do I just forget the years 2016-2018 whenever I am trying to figure out why I am Like This?

[fuckmeyer]

Wiggins!) the bizarre thing about the vampire men in the cullen family all seem to be at least subconsciously what Smeyer wants Bella to have but can’t seem to get over her initial vision of what she saw in her drafts or whatever. It’s odd that every single one of the Cullen men are like strongly devoted (but mostly devoid of personality because it’s so Bella centric) but when you compare them to Edward they seem interesting in some ways. Like Narratively we’re supposed to have this threat that Edward is constantly holding back from killer her but I don’t feel like we see that. Conversely, Jasper is constantly the one who is suffering about human smells and is the more vampire-like. But he’s also a glorified lap dog. So it’s like ‘oh he’s a monster but he’ll never hurt me” (things Alice has said out loud. Man even psychics slip up. I swear her powers weren’t so accurate until Smeyer needed an excuse for plot reasons)

Emmett feels like when some women say they like waifish guys because they don’t want to seem like they’re vapid for liking “big dudes with muscles” so of course you pair Emmett with the “shallow blonde”

Carlisle, I swear only exists so Edward has someone to model but I would also argue that he’s proto-Edward before whatever reworking she had to do when writing Twilight for a YA audience and brought him back as a different character.

Yeah a rant

hello again bestie Wiglet! (note to self: learn Photoshop so i can shop Jacob's bad wig onto a pic of Piglet)

this is such an interesting take! thanks for sharing. i totally see what you're saying. in all the Cullen men we see both a blend of softness & devotion *and*, interestingly enough, a patchwork of patriarchal ideas of what a man "should" be. & this idea comes to the forefront with the depiction of the love interests

smeyer wants us to see Edward as the chivalric gentlemen from the Days of Yore. we see this in the opening doors, the cutsey little romance taglines ("you are my life now," "look after my heart; i've left it with you," "so the lion fell in love" etc), the knight saving the damsel in distress, the expensive tokens of his affection, etc.

at the same time, in both Edward & Jacob we see the crude traits of the Patriarchy Dreamboat kinda guy. if i had to sum it up, it's like the guy you see in 80s movies. "bad boy." "opposites attract." he's a jerk. he's a hunk. he's domineering. he's allowed to show emotion only & especially if that emotion is anger. he's persistent in his efforts to get the girl, going so far as to kiss her without her consent if it's For a Good Cause (Edward in New Moon post-Volterra, Jacob in Eclipse). he's a cool guy who's In Control 👉😎👉

perhaps that's why the Twilight saga appealed so such a large swath of women & girls. the women, who grew up with the notion that they could have the true love of their dreams so long as they submitted to the patriarchal social contract, saw the contract being fulfilled in Edward. (i.e., "you can be the king if you treat me like a princess.")

on the other hand, the 90s/00s girlies who grew up in the midst of a feminist revolution & who could see the glimmer of a dismantled patriarchy on the horizon were attracted to Edward for the flashes of radical feminist love they saw: the unapologetic expressions of emotion, the honesty of him sharing his vulnerabilities & weaknesses, Bella's ability to override Edward's will when necessary, etc.

sorry, i know this isn't really the crux of the rant you submitted, but it is extremely interesting to see these contradictions playing out in all the male characters of the saga. it's almost like smeyer is having this internal debate with herself without even realizing it...

[atinyladybug-daydreams]

Fuck it, I'll make my own version of Bright and rewrite the entire family myself.

I already have some base but it's going to take a while to fully rework and remake this entire thing. The thing's rooted deep and I need to do a lot of research.

So until then, I'll pause my shit on Bright. Until I get a bit more of a solid footing and figure out more stuff.

[mitamicah]

.

[timothyslucy]

why am i getting random anon discourse about ryan guzman and his controversies, i'm not the person to go to about this, i've never followed/cared for him that much. 😭😭😭😭😭😭

[running-in-the-dark]

well. we just saw Poor Things in the cinema. and I'm. so. ?????

[a-shrieking-cloud-of-bats]

alright after finishing watching joel play giraffe town that guy Has to be doing that on purpose it's too on the nose there's no way this is like legitimate it's a gag