#and on other news guess who finally caught up to season 5? and

[shiori8]

Oh look! It's another redesign!

Here, have this little illustration based on my Ladybug/Chat Noir re-designs, that I've been slaving away at for the past month (we're just gonna ignore the fact that I started plotting out the costumes and sketched the pose a year ago lol). I know, I know. A redesign? Very original. But hey I haven't done it yet, so that makes it different ok😝!

(Gosh, I usually don't post sketches, I feel like this is exposing all my drawing weaknesses lol)

These are some of the first doodles I did. For Marinette I basically looked at some traditional Qui Pao and Hanfu dresses for inspiration and mixed and matched details I liked. I also gave her these little skirt flaps (?? whatever you want to call it) to symbolise the ladybug wings and kept the spots concentrated there. All in all I actually immediately knew what I wanted to do with her costume and pretty much just kept to my first draft, but what really gave me trouble was the hair somehow. I really wanted to incorporate actual antennae (I just think it's cute🤧!!!!) but it got too crowded up there so I had to let them go eventually🥺. In the end I settled for her twin tails pulled up instead of down. To make it look more distinct from her civilian form the idea was also that her hair colour changes to black after the transformation.

Chat Noir on the other hand was so difficult😭😭😭. I honestly like the original design soo much it was hard to think about alternatives. I wanted something that matched better with my new Ladybug, but I don't think I succeeded much. Also I hyperfocused on giving him this little scarf/oversized collar thing in my first doodles because I thought it looked cool and ended up scrapping it because the little bell is just too iconic not to keep lol. As you can tell from the final illustration there is actually not all that much that made it into the final version, except for the sheer sleeves, the shoes, the claw marks and some neon green details. I also ended up giving both of them some gold accents to make them match a bit more. As with Marinette, the idea is that Adrien's hair changes colour a bit after transforming too. So I envision Adrien having more of the smooth platinum blond in his civillian form and a more brown-ish dirty blond as Chat Noir, to go for the whole stray cat look lol.

I might come back to this one day, to re-do their civilian forms too or make these costumes more practical rather than just focusing on aesthetics (But hey if the show does this than I am allowed too😂!)

[chirpsythismorning]

The Vanishing of BLANK Wheeler

I wanted to make a list, from least likely to most likely, for which Wheeler I think is going to go missing.

But I also wanted to give a little disclaimer first, that even if these titles are real, they could still be fake, or could even possibly change given how much time we still have until s5 actually premieres.

For s2-3, the Duffers literally released official promo videos announcing episode titles for their upcoming season, with some of them changing when the season finally premiered.

Like in the case of s3 for example, they dropped a s3 episode promo video only a day after they completed filming. Meaning them titling 3x06 The Birthday, made absolutely no sense. They knew they didn't film anything birthday related for that episode. So they intentionally gave that one a fake name.

In the case of s4, that was the first time they promoted an upcoming season without giving fake titles, with the s4 promo announcing them following through with what we ended up with when s4 finally dropped.

I guess I sort of assumed s5 would follow in s4's footsteps, but from a leak standpoint, it might be smart to remember that fake titles are still a possiblity regardless. Especially in this case, where it's getting to the point in production where leaks are unavoidable. And so that might even explain why they play with this idea of fake episodes, which is because they can rest easy knowing leaks will mostly consist of half fake titles they planted there.

But for the sake of this post, lets humor the title for episode 2.

For starters, it's worth noting that the person who shared this leak originally said 'BLANK wheeler'. So as far as I know, they did not give any number of letters via underscores (_) to hint at who this Wheeler could possibly be. It's when ST news accounts caught wind of the leak and started rolling out posts, replacing BLANK with 5 underscores, that led a lot of fans to assume that the Wheeler had to have 5 letters in their name, which would have obviously ruled out Ted and Mike. But since all the Wheeler's are still on the table based on the original leak, they will all be included in this list.

5. Ted Wheeler

Believe it or not, there is something that I think actually warrants considering Ted as a possiblity.

There were some posts @stranger-chichka made a while back, comparing visual parallels between Stranger Things and Chernobyl, which could be hinting at this concept of Ted being in danger.

TBH though I think Ted being in danger or ending up dead is a possiblity regardless of him actually being the missing Wheeler.

Technically speaking, quite literally no one on the show is ruled out from being in danger at this point, so that's not saying much.

And considering the show is going to need to kill off some people next season and they are insistent on not killing any of their leads, supporting characters amongst the ranks have a high risk at being taken out. The emotional connection for Ted from the audience isn't as strong as other characters, but at least him being in close relation to a few main characters is something? I mean, he's funny I guess?

Quite frankly I don't think it's likely nor do I think it would actually make sense narratively for Ted to be the one to go missing out of all of them. I think it's a lot more likely they'd just kill him off, hence the Chernobyl parallels which imply he's gonna die. And so wasting time by having him go missing, only to kill him, just doesn't track. I think they'd just get that over with without dragging it out for very long, if anything.

Can you just imagine someone on the show shouting emotionally, It's Dad (Ted). He's gone.' Like, okay... And? I have a hard time imagining the characters being in serious turmoil over this, at least not enough for it to warrant like final season stakes amongst a bunch of other crazy shit happening. At best, the characters would be indifferently guilty for getting him roped into all this.

So yeah, I really don't see it happening.

4. Nancy Wheeler

I honestly feel like Nancy is even less likely to go missing than Ted, but the un-seriousness of an episode titled The Vanishing of Ted Wheeler is so astronomical, that I really had no choice but to put him last.

The reason I think Nancy is just very unlikely to go missing is because they technically already had her go missing as a cliffhanger between Vol 1 and 2 last season. It would just fall flat if they repeated something along those lines, with that same character, 3 episodes later. Vecna could have killed her and yet he didn't. His point was to send her a message, which was why he did what he did and then released her. The choice to target Nancy and taunt her about her family's safety in the first place, felt like their attempt at foreshadowing the danger that is to come for all of them, but one specifically. One of them that is not her. Which will make this moment back in s4 feel a lot more impactful upon rewatches.

So yeah, not feeling like Nancy is very likely.

3. Karen Wheeler

Karen is sort of a hard nut to crack all around. In the case that she is somehow connected to the Creels (Alice), anything is possible in terms of not only her being targeted, but again the entire family being at risk in some capacity. Without much to go off of outside of the obvious very haphazard timeline confusion, I feel like putting her somewhere in the middle. She was given a poster for s4. If she is Alice, then yeah it would make sense to target her. The stakes are also a lot stronger in comparison to Ted, because she was the parent in the family that actually came to Mike or Nancy and told them verbally that she wanted them to open up to her and is actually shown trying on several occasions. Whereas Ted is sort of just there when he's on screen. So the characters' distress would be a lot more dire and interesting to see unfold amongst everyone.

I also remember there being a leak in relation to Karen, Holly, Mike and Nancy all being at the hospital filming. And this was also like a day or so after ST dropped a video of Cara saying she was filming that day to hype up fans. So that leak did check out on the Karen front at least. Which puts her at the hospital at some point, potentially along with the rest of the Wheelers. Now that I'm thinking about it though, this could all fit with a Ted Wheeler death...

At this point, I'm sort of like indifferent to the possiblity, but it's still more likely than Ted and Nancy to me.

2. Holly Wheeler

It all goes back to s1, when Karen was visiting the Byers to console Joyce after Will went missing, when Holly sort of ventures off to Will's room, being guided by the lights, and sees the demogorgan in the wall.

I feel like people overlook this moment too, because it's kind of crazy that Holly has seen UD shit for herself. She was young enough that she could rule it out as just imagining things. And that could be partly the case even if she is skeptical.

There is something about Holly that makes her curious and sort of open to this world that most around her have no idea exists. And yet simultaneously some of the people closest to her do know about it and could easily clue her in when the time comes to do so, and because of that, I think she would probably be able to believe it all a lot faster than others.

Maybe this is a story where things need to happen and it just always ends up this way, but she has this tendency to be included in things that feel very important. Like in s4 with her playing with the lite-brite, and how that ended up being used to communicate with the others in the UD. There's this almost clairvoyance vibe about her. Her feeling the need to follow the Christmas lights to Will's room and her noticing and then fixating on the trees in s3.

Like I said, I don't know if it's something deeper, but it very well could be in the case she is connected to the Creels.

And while that is all somewhat compelling, at the same time it also feels very convoluted. Even if the Wheelers are Creels, I don't think that means the Wheelers would have powers, given that Henry got them when he was a child, meaning none of his family could have gotten them unless they too were taken in by the lab at some point, or were born with it.

Though I'm being full serious when I say the theories about Mike having time powers or maybe just manifestations from his emotions connected to the powers of others around him is one of my favorite theories of all time. I want it to happen. It would be cool. But that just opens the door to all of the Wheelers in my opinion, assuming his time powers came from being related to Henry. And if it was done that way, I feel like it would add way too much confusion to the story, where now all the Wheelers are gonna need to have powers, and then as a result would just takes away from the uniqueness that is already associated with Henry, El and potentially Will. One person potentially having powers without us knowing until the end aka Will, is enough honestly. Adding the Wheelers to the mix might be a bit much.

I'm also not totally convinced of the Wheeler's being Creels, and yet I also can't seem to want to rule it out entirely. But the prospects of Holly having powers or some sort of ability and just going through the same thing as Will when he was young and unaware of his powers, who is just now finding out the truth about his experiences... It just feels like serious whiplash honestly, when they haven't spent much of any time on Holly up to this point.

Like what are the stakes here exactly? What makes her disappearance and what that would look like compelling, on her front specifically? Because sure, I can see it being compelling watching the perspective of those around her reacting to this, what they would do to try to save her and all that, but what does that mean for her exactly? Are we going to see what she's doing? Are they going to hide it from us like they did with Will and then have to spend even more time uncovering it later on. And what does she even gain from being alone and taunted by Vecna presumably? What does the audience gain from witnessing that sort of event? There isn't a lot of story to explore there, outside of maybe making direct parallels to Will in s1? And then wouldn't that sort of take away from the importance of Will's role in it all just now being uncovered, if it all just repeats for Holly?

Which brings me to something that I see a lot of people using as strong evidence for why it has to be Holly, which is the fact that they recast her character.

What I think people are failing to consider is the fact that the twins who were cast to play Holly originally, were like 3-4 years old while filming s1. They weren't just kid actors, they were damn near baby actors. And while I know a big part of the reason why they gave Holly such few lines over the years was because the actors were aging way faster than the character they played, I think another factor could have been the fact that their acting experience is near nothing outside of Stranger Things, which is also pretty little on its own as well given that they have very few lines on the show.

It's not at all uncommon for child actors, let alone toddler actors to leave the industry once they start getting older. It could be for personal reasons, like wanting to explore other ventures, or it could be that they just don't perform as well with all the added expectations that come with acting as a character who is a kid with a lot of lines vs. a baby with 2 lines.

The girls got cast because at the time, they were able to perform as well as a 3 year old possibly could and would be expected to be in that role. But does that skill carry forth as they grew older? When now they have to deliver full sentences and carry conversations for scenes that are longer than 5 minutes? They've never really had to do that up to this point. Is it something that they feel comfortable with doing? Is their performance believable and is it something the writers feel confident about?

Honestly, I think they might have recast Holly, not because I think she is going to be targeted and focused on as this missing person they have to find, going through a near identical situation to 11 year old Will, but because they simply want her to be more apart of the story in general. And maybe because either the twins and/or the production didn't feel that they would be able to perform it in the way that they wanted it to be done.

And I mean, even if Holly isn't the one to go missing, one of the Wheelers is going to go missing based on this leak. If it was one of her parents, she would get a lot more scenes than she has in the past. If it was one of her siblings, again it would make sense for her to be more involved with the story. No matter what she is going to have a bigger role.

So no I don't think her being recast is as strong enough of proof as some might believe. If anything I think there is much stronger evidence that, like Karen, if they are related to the Creels, Holly is as fair game as any of them. The stakes could be high because she i such s a child. And her parents and Nancy and Mike worrying about her seems like something they would obviously do because she is so innocent and completely ill-equipped to endure something like that. But like I said, I just can't picture an focus like that on her, for her character, being very compelling given that Holly isn't really someone that needs like alone time with us witnessing it...

But there is one Wheeler left, and boy oh boy would he benefit from being alone.

1. Mike Wheeler

The most simple explanation for why it makes sense for it to be Mike, is that he genuinely benefits more than anyone when it comes to being alone with his thoughts, and with the audience watching. There's a lot of stuff dude has to work through in his own head, and since they haven't really let us have a moment alone with him that isn't under ten seconds since s3, an episode or two dedicated to making that a priority would make him coming back and things building up to the end, feel a lot more earned.

The audience needs to feel confident about how Mike feels about things. It can't be a guessing game for much longer when so many different factors are involved.

And while I think Mike may be the strongest possiblity in terms of the value it would add to the overall story is compelling enough to put him at number 1, the evidence supporting it happening is even stronger.

If we want to be crazy we can go back to the beginning. Plenty of fans have already speculated about how Mike is always late at the start of every season and how that might play into the beginning of season 5 again. I made a post about this recently and speculated it would happen one last time around the 15 minute mark. And maybe I was wrong... but maybe I was also right? Because if the second episode is called The Vanishing of Mike Wheeler, it's likely Mike's fate wouldn't be confirmed by the opening of 5x01, but in fact the closing scene of 5x01.

Throughout the show Mike plays a key role in leading the others, he's even referred to as 'the key' in s3 by Hopper. You know this show and their keys, they don't joke about that sort of thing. It's likely that Mike's story and what it is leading to is going to be central to how all of this ends.

Also in s3, there is one scene in particular that I think could be hinting at Mike being targeted, along with the s4 main poster with all of the characters. In the poster, we see El at the top, with Max and Mike as near equals on each side of her. Of course their roles are central and that's a fair layout on it's own arguably, but the equal-ness provided to Mike and Max feels very intentional. While she is slightly bigger than Mike in the frame, that could be a hint in regards to her being central now in s4, with Mike joining the mix alongside her in s5. Honestly, they could have made it so these two were beside other characters that also played a huge role in s4, and yet they chose those two to give a specific focus to. I think that is interesting (and probably intentional).

But if I'm being honest, there are so many moments in s4 specifically that hint at Mike being in danger, that I will not be able to include it all in detail in this post. So I'm going to link those below and then build off of some of it with some new details I've recovered that are worth re-contextualizing again with all of this in mind.

Hints regarding Mike and Will being targets of the town, but Mike specifically being focused on after the word 'missing' is said...

I'm gonna expand on this one because I think it's important to recognize the massive curtain in the background as this is all happening. And I vaguely reference this concept here as well which is worth checking out. But not is this whole concept of the curtain pretty blatant in this episode, this scene of the town all fleeing to hunt down hellfire club, is followed directly after, by this:

Notice how Mike is nearly always central in these moments? And how what follows feels eerily similar to what is about to go down at the end of s4 aka Suzie = Mike.

Now, this has already been talked about plenty so I won't go into detail, but... based on everything else happening surrounding this, this would apply to Mike in the sense that not only is he not in love with El, he's gay and in love with Will aka a boy. A BOY!

And then this mention of 'the terrible truth'. This word has been used like 3 times in the last few minutes. First intensely during Jason's speech about a terrible truth, with Ted and Karen being focused on with the Mike and Will extra in the background.

But what is even more crazy is that what follows sort of seals the deal for me that, this IS about Mike and it's foreshadowing what is about to come in s5.

5:02... 5x02!!!!

Also peep the watch and the letter from Dustin under it... I don't want to speculate but lettergate is looking extra relevant within all of this as well...

And to close off this point, lets show the shot that follows directly after this one.

Then later in the season, after Nancy is back from being taken by Vecna, here we have this long and emotional pause before she says Mike's name, last after her mom and Holly.

If they wrote and filmed this scene, knowing Mike would be the Wheeler missing early s5, it would make sense for them to list off the characters like this.

Mike peeking in the frame at this moment is not suspicious at all...

If it wasn't enough that Jason hyped up the whole town to see the Hellfire club as their enemy responsible for all of this, here we have a focus on Mike specifically being targeted by Jason.

The Duffer's statement about the show overall in the Piggyback script, and I gotta say it fits Mike a lot more than any of the other Wheelers.

Mike is a Paladin. And when they break an oath, they might spend an all-night vigil as a sign of penitence... aka everything is going to come to a head and Mike is going to be alone dealing with this shit for a bit, until he can come back ready to face it.

And I know it's controversial, but this post explains perfectly why Mike being central to this would make the show go full circle in a really compelling way.

Mike hasn't really unpacked...

Karen lookalike standing in front of the missing persons board. Could be any one of them but still, considering the costume of this extra looks closer to what Karen was wearing when she reunited and hugged Mike... I'm gonna put it more so with him.

Mike's guilt and shame regarding the past and what it has led them to could also play a big role and why him going missing would be worthwhile to explore. Part 1 / Part 2

Mike paralleling Yuri, who eventually reveals the truth (in his pocket) after stalling. If Mike parallels him all throughout the start of that moment, what does that mean for how it ends for Mike?

An antique funeral home fan behind Mike in the s4 character promo photos in the Creel attic, how Mike is seen sitting before Will sits beside him shortly after and it involving upside down imagery, Mike's first line in the show being used to later foreshadow his fate in early s5, and also bringing it back to Suzie's house which I already went into but it might be helpful to look at it again from this lens.

The Duffers would not pass up on the opportunity to parallel Mike with Finn's other character Richie in IT, which is literally based on a book that heavily inspired ST in the first place. And how all of that plays into the queer-coding for Mike going all the way back to s1.

The Duffers revealed after posting the funko-pop shotplanning pictures (2) that they were finished with planning for 5x01-5x02.... meaning this shot of Mike all by himself, is going to occur in one of those episodes...

We could still hypothesize Holly is the one to be taken, given that she doesn't have a funko and so they couldn't include her here regardless. But the fact that Nancy is with the other seems to imply to me that they are all likely working together to get Mike back, who is alone.

This one is a little more hard to pinpoint for sure, but it comes from a BTS Ross posted recently.

We are clearly in the Wheeler's house here. And if you zoom in, it looks like someone is standing (hiding?) behind a doorway/curtain. And the only person that seems to fit it imo is Mike... But why would he be hiding in his own house...?

It just makes me think about what is going on with Mike in early s5. What would be occurring that has him in this sort of situation? And it makes me wonder if him going missing has solely to do with him being taken and gone in one single moment, or if it could involve him avoiding his family and others potentially, with him being taken after that.

Lastly, I'm going to go into more choppy territory, stuff I know only a couple of people will actually consider. But it is pretty fucking fitting of what is about to go down so I can't not mention it.

In the Puzzle Tales' most recent Hellfire Campaign, this is the title...

Like the whole chapter is just a big joke on Mike about him being scared to be alone, which is painfully ironic if this is the direction the show is about to go for the next 2 upcoming episodes.

And then we have a song WSQK posted on Twitter back in January. I know people don't believe that this account is connected with anyone in the production, which is fair because I myself rarely believe leaks from anonymous accounts as it is. But I've been keeping up with it and it genuinely doesn't seem like a fan could come up with these songs.

The song I'm about to mention is the 7th song they posted, called Army Dreamers by Kate Bush. And you might fight it sounds a lot like the situation Mike might find himself in in early s5.

And though I'm sure I didn't cover everything, I feel like all the things I've mentioned and referenced from other posts are plenty to at least consider this as opposed to rejecting it all together.

At the end of the day I think there are some valid arguments for all of them to some extent. And quite frankly all of the Wheelers and most of the characters in the show will find themselves in danger in a way that is going to probably last longer than just one single moment the entire season. So even if it's just one of them, I don't think that rules out the others playing a bigger role in what is going down.

I just think narratively, there is one person that benefits from being on-screen and alone with their thoughts. And the other 4 being confronted with what that person discovers eventually will also make all of this a lot more worthwhile than any of the other options in my opinion.

[cheonminhyuk]

tapping the sign that says "you don't need to use slurs or outwardly express bigotry to retain homophobic or racist ideas"

why is the author of hsr incapable of conceptualizing a wlw romance that does not have a sexuality crisis/societal homophobia as a central element? why is greg's route creating a new problem every update? it is not even that we as the readers don't see them as fully realized characters - the author doesn't see them as interesting enough on their own to carry out a romance with.

i'm all caught up on the dmitry romance, and i've seen quite a lot of cain's. why is it that both of them get the tension, the pining, the gradual closeness and what keeps them and lane apart is disregarded eventually because love wins i guess?

meanwhile anna's romance is 'slow burn' and 'angsty' and 'lane thinks they're just friends'...i really just think the author cannot imagine a gay ship being interesting without a backdrop of homophobia lol

and that's sort of what the problem is - interest, or lack thereof. the author doesn't think anna and greg's characters, on their own, can maintain reader interest. i've been romancing greg since the start and damn near every update there's some bullshit disagreement/conflict they have that the diamond scenes are then focused on resolving. rinse and repeat. lane can have two unfriendly interactions with greg about the squad drugging her. she is uniquely upset at greg's involvement in it because "i thought you were different". compare this to the dmitry scene, in which lane only brings the drugging up as a joke and dmitry finally says 'sorry', a season later when it no longer matters to anyone.

this brings us to greg's treatment as a whole. as someone else has pointed out, the black man is the only romance option you can actually kill. he is regarded by lane as the one having betrayed her most severely regarding the drugging, purely because what? they had one civil conversation beforehand?

onto s2 - greg is now the temporary leader of the squad. this changes nothing for him and lane. sure. in dmitry's train cabin scene, they have an exchange about this in which she tells dmitry her and greg "haven't interacted much", even if you've been romancing both. hey, at least the author's self aware? dmitry's position as general colors every single interaction he has with lane and the world, as well as the other characters, react to it. greg's position as his second-in-command is so irrelevant we find out about it only when dmitry is out of commission and someone else needs to lead the squad in his absence.

towards the season one finale, we find out the fate of emma, greg's sister. half of the ensuing interactions with him have lane thinking about how she's keeping this information from him. but she continues to do so with no good reason. 5 episodes later - the gym scene. i don't know about the mercy path, as my greg slot is not on it, but on the no compassion path, lane basically argues she can't tell him because she likes him and knowing the truth would somehow cause him to leave the squad. i simply don't buy this reason. first of all - why would greg, now knowing his sister died in the siberia base, not stay with the only people who could possibly know more about this base? second...where the fuck would he go lmao. one could argue this is simply lane being irrational, but no mercy lane has never before been portrayed as irrational, only lacking in empathy for other people. it's hard not to see this for what it is - another hook for conflict between them because the author, again, does not see greg as interesting enough on his own and feels she has to rely on cheap drama to keep readers invested.

[nothingtherefornow]

New theory about Miraculous World London : Maybe I was wrong, and the "two" antagonist are not different people, but one and the same, and none other than .....

... Adrien Agreste

At first I didn't pay attention to those who theorise that this dude who discovered Bug Noir's secret identity by spying on her after her fight against Monarch :

Could be an akumatized version of Adrien, because the silhouette looked indeed similar to Adrien's body building

But then I also noticed how the mysterious figure who steals Marinette's earings and black cat ring from her, and whom I assumed to be Lila who akumatized herself, does have a body build that's not similar at all to Lila's silhouette, but looks actually more like Adrien's, Luka's or Felix's :

There's also that short glimpse in the trailer where we see Chronobug in the burrow escaping with a book that seemingly belong to the mysterious blue figure who figured out her secret identity

And this takes place where Adrien and Kagami were kept prisonner and "safe" by their respective parents.

Still ... I couldn't imagine Adrien being the one to looks for Ladybug's secret identity, potentially giving it to Lila, given the fact that we see BOTH mysterious villains in Lila's lair, and then stealing Marinette's miraculous from her after seeing how losing all the other miraculous to Felix and Monarch the first time traumitized her. But then ... I remember one other instance where Adrien did try to steal Marinette's miraculous from her.

When he was Chat Blanc ... alone and full of sorrow and despair and thinking that the Wish was the only thing that could fix the broken world he was all lonely in.

And I also guessed that if Adrien were to be ever akumatized by Chrysalis, he wouldn't necessarily know that the new butterfly wielder is Lila herself, and thus somoene who hates his lady and girlfriend guts. Changing identities is Lila's thing after all, all she would have to do is to pretend to be on Adrien's side and promise not to harm Marinette in order to succesfully manipulate him, because that's something that I found curious about the mysterious being stealing Marinette's Miraculous while she's sleeping

How carefull he/she is not to wake her up, which could just be for safety measures, or for another random reason. Notheless whoever he/she is they leave Marinette alone and sleeping after stealing what they wanted, given that the synopsis clearly specifies that Marinette only discovers that her miraculous has been stolen after waking up and seeing the light of a wish being made from a distance.

And that's something I cannot see Lila doing, to not jump at the chance to further hurt Marinette by gloating in front of her and exposing her absolute defeat and Lila's full victory to her face before making a wish

Which left only one question in my mind, what reasons Adrien could ever have to let himself be akumatized by the new Butterfly, stealing the miraculous from his lady, and eitehr making a wish himself or letting who he doesn't know to be Lila making that wish ?

To answer this question, three elements caught my attention :

First, Adrien's reaction in the trailer upon which seems to be learning of his father's death :

Adrien is clearly full of hurt and sorrow in that scene, something which we would not have imagined seeing given the more serene Adrien than the we see in the season 5 epilogue.

Second, The fact that instead of going back to his wielder, despite how Adrien would need a lot of confort after all of that, Plagg instead stayed with Marinette, even letting her wearing his miraculous

And finally, Another synopsis shared about the Special London, and more precisely, the passage that I underlined in yellow :

" In this new episode, Ladybug must make a crucial decision, which will lead to an unexpected twist that fans won't see coming."

This teasing sentence is the core of my theory, here it goes :

According to my new theory, This special London might take place in a timeline where Marinette chose to tell the truth to Adrien, to tell him that Gabriel Agreste died as the supervillain Monarch instead of a hero who helped stop Monarch.

The truth of course didn't bode well with Adrien, who would then feel guilty about the fact that his father may have been indirectly killed because of him, because of Chat Noir's cataclysm.

Which would then explain why Plagg doesn't directly go back to Adrien aftermath and and stays with Marinette instead, because the kwami knows that his presence would be a cruel a reminded of Chat Noir's indirect involvment in Monarch's death

And this would explain how Lila armed with the butterfly miraculous could ever akumatize Adrien and convince him to help her discover Ladybgu's secret identity and steal the miraculous from her, with the promise of a wish that would erase all the cause of Adrien's suffering by creating a new world.

Because what's the point of livign in a world where his father was the supervillain who hurt so many, a world where he is indirectly responsible for his father's death ?

At some point Chronobug will have to travel to the past to stop that mysterious time blue supervillain to figure out her secret identity, and if that person is revealed to be Adrien, Marinette would also have to ensure that the boy never fall prey to Chrysalis's manipulation and false promises. And the solution that will prsent itself to her is to lie to Adrien about his father

It's not the first time that Marinette deviates from the path toward the future adult Bunnix came from, because when she succesfully gave Adrien a gift with her real name on it, that was when the dooemed Chat Blanc timeline was created, Marinette wasn't supposed to have been successfull in giving that gift with Adrien knowing it was from her. So maybe she's not supposed either to tell Adrien the truth right now, in a time when he would be too vulnerable to an akumatization from Chrysalis.

What do you all think about it ?

[wexhappyxfew]

the silver bullets but if they were a baseball team

hi and hello my friends. as u all know (and possibly see from my page) i've grown up a huge philadelphia sports fan all my life, and with the nfl season starting up and mlb season coming to a close (and my phillies in the postseason!) i decided that this was necessary as a development for the silver bullets girls as we have a big enough crew to get a full starting lineup and starting pitcher (along with our coach/manager birdie faulkner, rip queen!) PLEASE ENJOY!!!

silver bullet's team (baseball) manager: birdie 'cap'n' faulkner

no doubt birdie faulkner (in this AU i guess?!) would be alive and well and a damn-good manager for the silver bullets ball club. she's a natural-born leader, would probably actively fight any other team if someone messed with her girls and is undoubtedly someone who wants to do whatever it takes to win. when she used to play, she was one of the most efficient players at first base. in her 5th year as manager for the silver bullets. the girls call her cap'n - she's the leader of this time in every way possible.

(main) pitcher: carrie 'bergie' achterberg

1st starting rotation pitcher for the silver bullets is carrie achterberg, affectionately known by the team, her fellow players, and the fans as bergie. when bergie is up on the mound and pitching for her team, defense knows they can win if they can put up the numbers on offense. bergie is reliable, a fan-favorite despite her obvious stubbornness that is apparent even on the TV screen or radio (if you were to say, when the fans see bergie like that, they know she's passionate about her team and about winning). in her 4th year of a 10 year contract with the silver bullets. a pretty efficient left-hand pitcher (LHP) on the mound.

1st base: bessie 'bes' carlisle

1st basemen bessie carlisle is one of the voices of the team that's been there ever since birdie faulkner got the group together. originally was in the minor leagues for a few years before the silver bullets organization picked her up for their AAA (Triple A) minor league. she played a few games, put up some good numbers, was efficient at the plate, and consistently driving in runs. she played out the rest of her second season in the majors for the silver bullets and was signed to a major league contract for 5 years thereafter. in her 4th year of her 5 year contract with the silver bullets. bes not only is beloved by the fans, but her jersey usually is in the top three with sales! leads an organization that raises money to get kids into baseball, softball, etc...!

2nd base: marjorie 'margie' harlowe

2nd basemen majorie harlowe had one of the most productive rookie seasons after getting drafted by the silver bullets 3 years prior. a few years in the minors did her well and after successfully getting called-up into the majors with high expectations, she soared. still on her rookie contract, she continued to have productive at-bats through spring training and has high expectations for the new season. she quickly gained a large fanbase, is usually in the clubhouse with the best playlists for postgame wins or practice, and had one of the most memorable postgame interviews where she proceeded to tearfully recall the double ground-out, final out, (in which she caught the ball, got the out at second, threw the ball to bessie carlisle and proceeded to scream with joy) that sent the silver bullets into the previous postseason, while equally rambling and interjecting with a thousand different ways to say 'oh-my-god'. safe to say, margie is a fan-favorite. in her 2nd year with the silver bullets, on her rookie contract.

3rd base: vivian 'viv' ratcliff

tall, lean, a bit quiet, but one of the most improved of the team, 3rd basemen vivian ratcliff led the league in the previous season in RBIs and hopes to make the same impact moving forward into the season. she spent multiple years in the minors, before getting called up a few seasons back when one of their infielders went down and was injured the rest of the season. she stayed on a rookie contract for a few years, before she was signed onto a 4 year contract. is most widely known for her defense at third base, along with her rather hilarious postgame tweets that the fans can't seem to get enough of. in her 4th year of her 4-year contract with the silver bullets. viv has joined multiple pregame and postgame interviews and usually has quite the opinion on batting practice - key-word 'just hit the damn-ball'.

shortstop: kennedy 'kenny' farley

shortstop kennedy farley was once told as a kid that she couldn't play shortstop - it was too hard, it was the hardest defensively to play, and she wasn't good enough for the spot. she played her way into the draft, through the minors and became one of the most efficient shortstops in the league. longtime boyfriend, john egan, always says how he knew she'd be one of the best (and she usually tells him off, but secretly appreciates it more than anything). passionate player, has great at-bats, leads the team in homeruns (HRs), and has gotten in a FEW near-fights with other teams (usually defending other members of the silver bullets). in year 3 of her 4-year contract with the silver bullets. kenny has the second-highest selling jersey of team history! best friends with margie harlowe - people call the two sunshine and storm duo!

catcher: annie 'the LT' bradshaw

just signed onto a 5-year contract with the silver bullets and traded from her previous organization, the RPs, catcher annie bradshaw finds herself in a new position - not only needing to gain the trust of her teammates, but of her pitchers. not only needing to call a game, but call a winning game with her pitchers. the silver bullets signed her because of her intelligence at the plate, her ability to throw people out caught stealing bases, and her rather productive at bats that get pitchers throwing full counts, before sending a ball into the field. and she easily reads a field and communicates that with her pitchers. in her 1st year of her 5-year contract with the silver bullets. affectionately called the LT, or lieutenant by the girls because of her willingness to lead and step up to the plate, while also being focused, alert, and disciplined. highly respected around the league.

left field: marianne 'mari' salinger

outfielder marianne salinger was brought up from the minor leagues when left-fielder matilda kerkering went down with a torn achillies. on her rookie contract, mari assisted with getting the silver bullets into the postseason previously with her ability to turn a few hits into big moments, with RBIs or base-hits whenever she can make it happen. through her second year, she struggled with her at-bats and was sent back to the minors for assignment. she worked hard, improved and came back with a huge fan reception and succeeded highly throughout the rest of the season. in her third season, injury plagued her capabilities to play and she finished out the season only playing 1/8 of the games. now in her fourth year, and having just signed a 3-year contract, she's hoping to make a bigger impact and big a key-player for her teammates. close friends with francis montez, having both started in the minors together, with francis being called up a few months previous. in her 4th year with the silver bullets, in the first year of her contract. mari gave the spring training hype speech for the training and finished it off far-too emotional and it sent the team into tears.

center field: judy 'rib-ee' rybinski

rookie outfielder judy rybinski is one of the fastest outfielders of the league. she catches pop-ups and fly-outs that you see on TV and think 'yeah there's no way you can catch that' - and she DOES. it is her first year in the majors, after having been drafted by the silver bullets two years ago and spending some time putting in the work in the minors. now, in her first major league season, she's already put up efficient numbers and given solid at-bats. her stellar defense from the minors has already shown itself on the field, but at times she's struggled to really see the ball and gets far more strikeouts than she would've liked. BUT, she works hard before games, usually having batting practice by herself or with guidance from bradshaw and carlisle. she's a fan favorite, with many tweets trending after games simply stating 'JUDY RYBINSKI MUST BE PROTECTED', and currently has the highest selling jersey on the team, along with high expectations. in her first year of her rookie contract. rib-ee comes from her childhood tee-ball league when she consistently hit the most RBIs or RIB-Es. it seemed to stick! :)

right field: paulina 'pauli/stag' stagliano

outfielder paulina stagliano, admittedly, has more of a carefree, nonchalant, possibly too-sarcastic personality for baseball, but she makes it work??!?! she finished her contract on a previous team, became a free agent, and signed with the silver bullets on a 5-year contract and didn't really meet the expectations she was supposed to have in her first year. poor at-bats, occasional injury, and struggles in the outfield. she worked through the offseason and spring training and found her stride and in her second-year, in the first game, hit a walk-off homerun that gave one of the most beloved postgame interviews constantly recalled by the team and by carrie achterberg herself [achterberg stating she'd never seen pauli or the stag so emotional yet pissed off at the same time while having the gatorade cooler dumped over her head]. a beloved player by the fans, leading an established organization for veterans like her father needing support for aid, housing and food, she finds herself heading into her 3rd year of her 5-year contract with the silver bullets.

DH: francis 'monty' montez

designated hitter francis montez stepped up to expectations and succeeded them in full. back in college, she quickly rose through the ranks as a freshmen and got first spot as DH over the original DH who'd been on the college team for a few years. with such high expectations, she got much more hate than was bargained for - therefore, she continued to work, develop her character, her capability to play ball, her work at-bat and at the plate, and got drafted by the silver bullets and quickly got called up to the majors after a few months in the minors. a natural spokeswoman for the silver bullet screw, she signed an 8-year contract with the silver bullets and has entered her 4th year on the team. affectionately called monty, the TV and/or radio announcers typically call 'THERE GOES MONTY' every time she hits a homer that's out of the ballpark. yeah, there's shirts with the quote, signs, kids usually have her sign it on jerseys and shirts, too. they even have a drink in the ballpark called the monty - alcoholic and nonalcoholic. increased revenue for the sillver bullets exponentially because of both her character, her fame and her fanbase at the ballpark that couldn't wait to come see what monty could do at the plate!

yeah....THIS WAS SO MUCH FUN!!!!! :D

[lukaslosteyelashes]

My Review of the Miraculous London Special, Part 3

I wanted to focus on writing my review but instead I got caught up building in Sims 4 lol. Anyway, here is part 3.

What this part contains:

Adrien/Chat Noir - Heavy feelings and a cute, liitle, black cat calendar.

Spectral Looter and Timestalker - Their powers and their fights with Chronobug.

Lat's gooo!

Spoilers ahead →

Adrien/Chat Noir

I think to the disappointment of many this special wasn't for him to shine, it was for him to suffer (again). A lot of us thought and believed that Timestalker will be Adrien or him from the future and tried to search for signs to justify that idea. I honestly didn't want him to be left out to that extent, even if he'd have been the villain it still would have been nice to see him more in the special. But I guess his absence is understandable at some level. He needs all the time to recover, grieve and be with his loved ones after getting such horrible news. I really want to believe that the fact we didn't see a future Adrien turning full evil means that things will turn out for the better in the future, at least that's my conclusion form Bunnyxs's reaction to Marinette's question.

If I remember correctly we haven't seen Adrien outburst so emotionally like that before (except as Cash Noir),

and I think the reason for that is, his amok rings are not in his father's possession, for the first time. He always seemed emotionally repressed which is thanks to Gabriel who controlled every aspect of his life. We haven't got details on how Adrien dealt with his mother's passing, but given how he had to play the role of the perfect son I think he couldn't mourn properly. I really want to believe that this time he'll let himself feel all of his emotions properly in a healthy environment. On the other hand, I saw a post saying that from season 5's pool and the last Adrianette scenes, it looks like he's suppressing his feelings (I didn't read that post properly so I might be mistaken). That could be valid considering how delighted he looked despite only 2 months(?) have passed since his father's "sacrifice" and he has to deal with complex and possibly contradicting (due to the lie) emotions and it's impossible to get over this that fast. Well, that was only a snip of their life after the final battle, we don't know what he did before and we have yet to see what he will do after.

I only want to add to Adrien's feeling's, that he could be very confused above all else. There's no one to control him anymore so he's free to do anything, but he doesn't know himself all that much. He is processing his mother's death even now and the father who “just wanted to protect him all this time” is also died “as a hero”, but Adrien is still hurt by how Gabriel treated him. From the looks of it he'll still continue modeling in season 6 (?) which he really hated to do. So basically he's free AND trapped at the same time. All these contradicting feelings and uncertainty could lead to him being confused and doesn't know what to feel anymore, so he just let it go and is trying to focus on the joyful things instead.

I'd like to discuss one last thing here about the calendar, one of the Lucky Charms.

I've read posts about how that is an obvious sign that Marinette had to go get Chat Noir that she purposefully missed. Like, when was Ladybug's Lucky Charm obvious? If it would be, then our heroine wouldn't need to fight with a spoon. So, no guys, that wasn't for Marinette. Nooooo! That tiny, little, cute black cat was FOR US TO SUFFER. The creators were trolling with us, they were basically saying "haha that's what you won't get in this special". Besides, Chronobug and Bunnyx went back in time where Ladybug's identity was revealed. So even if they could have avoided for Marinette to discover Chat's identity, they couldn't have avoided Adrien to discover Ladybug's identity and it very much looks like the creators don't want an identity reveal yet.

Spectral Looter and Timestalker

Looks like Lilamoth is able to create abilities that don't have any apparent weak points. Spectral Looter can switch on and off her intangibility without needing any object for that and her ability is also allowing her to touch anything without switching off the intangibility. Timestalker can do small jumps in time and space and she also has a safety ability. Those watches in the boxes let her return to her lair if one of them broke, which is smart considering those watches can easily be mistaken for an akumatized object. If we're at the akumatized objects she hides both of them at her base, so no one can find out who they are. No wonder Marinette decided to leave the Kwamis with their holders, if Lila keeps up with this level of akumatization, or even better if she improves, then our heroes seriously need to get their act together.

Chronobug vs Spectral Looter wasn't as tight as a fight. It was mostly Chronobug chasing her opponent, trying to attack her even after she realized she couldn't touch her at all. I guess she waited for a moment when she could or tried to observe her if there's any opening for an effective attack. I'm kind of disappointed that we haven't seen more of Spectral Looter, her design was my favorite out of the two akumatization. And also her abilities, even though it's for just stealth and not attack, is really awesome.

Chronobug vs Timestalker on the other hand was a well choreographed, more amazing fight, fights actually since they clashed several times. Marinette showed us the results of being a superhero for, like, 9 months. And seeing Lila physically active was actually a surprise considering how she always seemed reluctant to engage in any kind of exercise while in school (the power of akumatization, I guess). Anyway, Chronobug’s and Bunnyx’s teamwork was spotless.

They made a great duo with how Bunnyx synchronized her portals with Chronobug's attacks. Timestalker with her own jumping made great counterattacks and looked as if they're reading each other's moves.

No doubt that Lila will make an terrific Hawkmoth. And now I'm thinking: how Marinette fought Gabriel while it should have been Adrien's fight (family issues), in the same way, Adrien could also deal with Lilamoth at the end since Marinette has a personal beef with her? I mostly think like that because I want to see Adrien using both the Black Cat and Ladybug Miraculous too.

I have a feeling that we won't see these two akumatized versions again, considering that Marinette already saw and fought with them, and she'd easily recognize them in those forms and with those powers, and with her experience with them she could defeat them more easily.

part 1 | part 2 | part 4

[we-keep-odd-hours]

tagged back by @hex6rcist! Thank you!

under a cut since I also rambled.

1. How are you!? I hope your day is going well.

ehhhh. I'm working not a great job, but its from home and if everyone is going to be insufferable, every single second i get of downtime I'm going to be on tumblr to stay sane.

2. What are you currently working on? Any little projects of any kind you’re excited to share?

I have an original novel in the works, I'm in the brutal final stages of tying off the loose ends of the rough draft (while this advice is some that I struggle to accept, to all writers I'd like to share this: the only thing that a first draft has to be is done.), I have two on-going fics (an Aliens one that's posted anonymously but tbh you could probably find it easily) and one of Diamondback's origin story.

Her origin story is more or less done (posting new chapters as I edit) except for a few plot points I'll make my decision on as I get to them in editing. There's details from my next project, a full follow up to the movie, that I kind of want to include in an epilogue to her story, since they're scenes/plot threads tied on her character arc.

3. What have you been watching lately? I just finished Righteous Gemstones and I need a new show lol.

I'm halfway through my rewatch of Hannibal right now, and I SHOULD rewatch West World next so I can finally watch the last season, but I've been itching to rewatch X-Files for a year now....the only problem being that X-Files is nine seasons, a mini series, two seasons of Millennium (IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND), and one season of Lone Gunmen (ALSO IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND). I never technically finished Millennium either, because they [spoiler] and it made me so angry at Chris Carter that I rage quit.

4. (A Near Dark one because how can I not) what’s your favorite small detail in the movie that other people might overlook?

When they first walk into the bar, Jesse kind of surveys the layout, but Diamondback immediately looks over to her right--at the bartender and the waitress, she then smiles, holds onto Jesse's arm and sets her head on his shoulder--and looks over the waitress again. Between that and her grin when the woman walked over, that whole weird thing seemed like some continuation of whatever game they were playing when she kissed the hitchhiker, which....guys, get a room. Homer and Mae are right there.

There are others, but this is the first one that came to mind.

5. What blog should I follow right now?

I'm bad at this; most people I've followed on here for literal years, or else picked up along the way when we had the same media obsession of the day.

6. Best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

I said it above already, but THE FIRST DRAFT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE GOOD, IT JUST HAS TO BE DONE.

7. If you could add one fantastical element to the real world and have it be a commonly accepted and known about thing what would it be? (Ie make Santa real)

This is asking for trouble: I believed in fairies at an age that was much, much too old to do so. I think it would be fun, or at least interesting if the fair folk were commonly known to exist. Dangerous, unwise, but fun.

8. What’s the last book you didn’t just read, you DEVOURED?

In the Valley of Sun by Andy Davidson. It was nasty, infuriating, full of characters I didn't like for but occasionally felt bad for, and it's about a wandering killer turned vampire living in an old RV just outside of Waco, TX in the 1980s. Yeah, that's what I thought too.

It was a break-neck paced mystery, not exactly of ''who'' did it, but of what happened, how did they do it, and are they going to get caught?

9. What are you most passionate about?

Art, literature, zoology. The order of those items changes frequently.

10. What do you think is your best quality?

oh I hate this question. Passion, I guess? It's not easy to get interested in something, but when I am, I can learn fast, pick up on details, and make weird connections. I'm literal minded and frequently get over-detailed on things, but I can think on multiple tracks at once and have caught things that even our Risk department at work didn't notice because they disrupted something.

[jrat226]

Spoilers for disventure camp all stars if you ain't caught up

Alec was robbed, ally shouldn't be final 5, Jake and Connor had the golden opportunity to get rid of ally or Riya, the writers are kinda trash this season, I mean I love the show and I respect their work ethic and them as people but yeesh what are they doing, so you give Alec a redemption arc for like 5 episodes of him trying to apologize, it finally works and he's redeemed and make up with Connor... And you boot him the same episode??? Why??? I get they made a promise with Grett but Jake knows better than to trust Grett, they both dislike Riya, Jake hates ally with a passion, so why vote off the only other guy, the same guy you just had a moment and beer with, why tf would you vote him, just lie to Grett, flip him into a boys alliance and get rid of Riya or ally, Alec would've been smart enough to be like yeah that'll work cause he actually cares about Connor, he doesn't care about Riya, he would've flipped with no issue, especially if Connor and Jake told him about the deal with Grett, and I notice they're setting up a little redemption arc for Riya... And her feeling bad about how she treated Connor, Wouldn't it make sense to have a character that can bridge those two together.... Oh wait you already voted him off last episode, Alec is the king of being fucked by the writers and wasted potential, I'm not saying he had to win but we didn't even get 1 episode to see him after being redeemed, like who does that???, they really giving ally the plot armor of the year, and shout out to all the people that are sad Grett got voted off in the new episode, I mean yeah it sucks but if she won it would've been boring, I relate to her but ... That would've been so boring and anticlimactic, they've been hyping her up all season, it would've been trash and boring I'm sorry, this could've been the best final 5 if ally and Alec swapped places, but I guess we'll never know

[orangepanic]

Thanks for the tag, @noexoozes

20 Questions for Fic Writers

1. How many works do you have on Ao3? 143! Wow, how did that happen?

2. What’s your total Ao3 word count? 1,611,020 words. Oh. That's how that happened.

3. What fandoms do you write for? Predominantly Avatar: The Legend of Korra, with a few Avatar: The Last Airbender and the odd crossover for funsies.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

AWOL - An LOK season two rewrite where General Iroh defies President Raiko and goes with Asami Sato on a secret mission to aid the Southern Water Tribe. Irosami.

Severance - A twisted soulmate AU where General Iroh dies in the Battle of Yue Bay and sticks around to haunt Asami Sato. Irosami.

The Mango Tree - The last days of Mai's life as told through her family members as she gives them one final gift.

Glass - A sequel to AWOL where Asami and Iroh get caught up in a lot of intrigue leading up to a new civil war. Irosami.

Smoke - My Equalist!Asami enemies to lovers AU. You guessed it, Irosami.

5. Do you respond to comments? I do! I try to respond to every comment if I can.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Without a doubt, Endgame, a story where Asami and Hiroshi's battle at the end of season one goes differently. I usually write happy endings. This isn't it.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? The 142 other fics? Lol, most of my fics have happy endings. I'm particularly partial to the ending of Glass though.

8. Do you get hate on fics? Less than I used to. I think the fandom has moved on. 100% of the hate I've gotten has been from people who don't like the ship I write.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? I do. Not a lot. It's not particularly sexy, either. I write awkward characters in love and the smut usually reflects that.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? Very very rarely. I think the only true crossover I have (where characters from two fandoms interact) is Asami Sato and the Goblet of Fire where Asami is a muggle student at Hogwarts. I still think it's cute but my brain doesn't do crossovers well.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Someone recently asked about this. I hope they do it.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? Yes! I've co-written a few fics with @ideklolwat.

14. What’s your all-time favorite ship? Oh gosh I just don't know I have no idea what I could ever

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? No. I'm determined to finish everything.

16. What are your writing strengths? Practice? I spend a lot of time writing so there's a lot of it. I like to think I learn something.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? Oh gosh, everything else. Characters moving through space. Proofreading. Plots. Endings. Kisses.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? I've rarely had the occasion to do this since everyone in Avatar seems to speak the same language.

19. First fandom you wrote for? Avatar: Legend of Korra

20. Favourite fic you’ve written? There's no way I can pick a favorite! I don't even think I can pick a top five. I'm my primary audience so all my fics are for me.

Tagging @thatoneguy56fanfic @yell0wsalt @oldandirrelevant @myargalargan @wishingforatypewriter and whoever else wants to consider themselves tagged!

[showtoonzfan]

(SPOILERS FOR AGGRETSUKO SEASON 5, and rant!)

Y’all Aggretsuko season 5 was NOT my cup of tea, I dare even say it’s not good. It’s not as bad as season 4 was in my opinion, but it’s still mediocre at best. For starters it mainly has to do with how Retsuko and Haida are canonically a couple, and if you’ve read my post here, you’ll know how I feel about them. Since their relationship is…sort of the focal point of this season, it bothered me immensely because the relationship is just…..empty, it FEELS empty and unfinished because not only did the show drag it out and force Retsuko to suddenly WANT a relationship with Haida in season 4, but because the writers couldn’t even show them declaring their relationship ON screen. Season 4 had Retsuko yearning over Haida despite it legit not being in character or making any sense from what we’ve previously seen, and then after his villain arc and the season ended, season 5 opens with them as a couple already, and none of it felt natural to me. My point still stands, they shouldn’t have gotten together.

But that’s kinda just the tip of the iceberg with this season. The only way I can describe S5 is in two words, and that’s that it’s random and underwhelming. It did NOT feel like the proper sendoff to this show, and even the ending felt rushed despite the last episode being around 30 minutes. This season didn’t feel like a “last season”, it felt like an idea for…..legit ANY other season other than the very last one. Like…the first half is about Haida addicted to gaming and trying to find a job and Internet cafe’s, which wasn’t that bad I guess but the whole miscommunication plot between Haida and Retsuko drove me crazy, and the first arc for Haida feels so disjointed from what he’s going through in the second half that it bothers me. Oh yeah, and the second half of the season caught me off guard because it’s about fucking politics. Maybe it’s just me but I did NOT enjoy watching all the political shit, like I said this doesn’t feel like a sendoff, this feels more like an idea for any season that wasn’t the last one.

The whole plot with BOTH Retsuko and Haida’s families were so underwhelming to me. For starters we finally get to meet Retsuko’s father and he barley contributes or does ANYTHING. He doesn’t even have that many lines, you might as well call him a background character. They introduce the idea that her father doesn’t approve of Haida since he cut out him in the family photo, but that scene legit goes NOWHERE. We never see that be brought up again, I was expecting an upcoming conversation between either Retsuko and her father, or Haida and her father, but her father only gets like…one line later in the season and then we never see him again, like..you’d think after finally meeting her father and showing that he wasn’t fond of his daughter’s boyfriend, it would play a big part but it didn’t. Then you have Haida’s family, his mother is nice but the focus is on his father and brother, which the show could have done more with honesty, especially his brother, who is nothing but the stern typical anime glasses man who works under their father that is an aging representative of the house. He’s determined to win the election but just turns good after he’s showed off by Retsuko and it felt out of nowhere and forced, same for his father who was just someone who cared more about the election and at the last minute just….laughs along with Haida after he gets showed off and then….we never see him again. Both these parent plots were just not fleshed out enough and it would have been better if politics wasn’t the main damn focus.

The new characters were….fine I guess? Like I said Haida’s brother and father were underdeveloped and I just didn’t feel much watching them, there’s Shikabane, the woman who Haida crashes with at the Internet cafe. I will admit, despite what I said, the first half of the season is more tolerable. I actually like how they’re tackling the concept of unemployment and people who either waste away themselves with gaming or social media, or people who HAVE jobs but aren’t happy or at the top of their game. However, Shikabane didn’t really do much for me either, she’s this socially drained character who sort of cuts ties with the world around her, and in the end it’s sort of left to the viewer wether she’s going to get back on her feet in the future or not, which was sweet I’ll admit, but other than that she didn’t really leave that big of an impact to me since this season is so damn jumbled. Then there’s that crazy angry politician man that legit forces Retsuko to do this politic job in the first place, and like…I legit don’t care I hate this political second half of the season so much. There were also small elements I didn’t like, like how the show INSISTS that Ton pick Retsuko off her feet every single time as if she can’t do it ONCE on her own, or how Fenneko is just a character that’s there and never gets focus or does anything really. The ending of Washimi and Gori I actually liked, seeing them finally reveal what drew them to Retsuko in the first place was nice, but man I did not like them in the first half, they felt out of character suggesting that Haida was cheating on her, like I said that whole misunderstanding plot drove me nuts.

And as I said, the ending felt so rushed, I remember going “That’s it?” When the credits rolled. We never even get to see all of the characters together for one final shot, or see how each character is doing with their lives moving forward. This entire show was praised for its outlook on adulthood and struggles that come with it as well as the lessons, and for the show to end in this half assed way, a show that I really liked, does kinda suck. I hate to say it but I feel like season 3 is where this show started to fall off honestly, and despite how much I love this show, I DID have issues with it as a whole. There’s the whole “we focus too much on Haida and want to drag him out as well as his relationship with Retsuko to the point where it’s fucking insufferable”- problem, then there’s how Retsuko continues to be a doormat for the most part despite previous seasons establishing that she’s done doing that and has leaned her lesson. Like…she’ll say that but then get forced into doing something she clearly does NOT want to do and I feel like her character keeps going back and fourth with that. The plot wants to push her into whatever lesson or deep symbolism they feel like spewing, but THIS time it just doesn’t feel natural like it did before. Characters will TELL Retsuko what she wants and at some point you get sick of it. You also got Ton, a character who kept flip flopping. Despite what I said about him here, the show legit felt like it couldn’t decide wether they wanted him to be a sexist asshole, or just a flawed old man who’s stuck in the times but has a good heart. I could honestly say a little more about the issues I have with the show as a whole, but the point still stands that the last season didn’t hit as hard as I had hoped.

Aggretsuko still and always will have a special place in my heart. I really enjoy the series as a whole and I think it’s a really good example of some of the best adult animation I’ve seen. The life lessons of adulthood, finding a job, falling in love, getting married, being afraid of going out into the world, ect were mostly handled well in the show, the characters (again for the most part) are likable and endearing, and even though this show didn’t go out with a bang and slipped down its slope heavily, I don’t hate it, and still will love and admire it, it’s the same with Star Vs. The Forces Of Evil, where it started out SO good but then ended poorly, but overall it’s a show I’ll always like. With that said these are all my opinions, I wanted to make a post on this since this was one of my favorite shows, so since it was ending I thought I’d talk about it. Thank you for reading!

[iamnotmisosoup]

In honor of the glorious OFMD season 2 teaser drop, I thought I would share some of my fan theories for the upcoming season here because I have nobody else to talk with about them :)

These are sort of ranked by what I think is most likely true, but I will clarify which ones I think are more unlikely then the others.

NUMBER 1: Spanish Jackie and the Swede are gonna hook up.

I from what the teaser looked like, I think this is the one that will 100% happen. In the teaser, the only clip we get with Spanish Jackie is with her and someone else in the background. I think it’s the Swede since it looks like the character is wearing some kind of headband, and the shorts that they are wearing kind of look like the ones that Swede wears for most of the season

NUMBER 2: Izzy is gonna get a partner

Now who this is going to be I have no absolute clue. It could be a new character introduced in the upcoming season, it could be a member of the Revenge, it could be anybody! But the Vainty Fair first look preview made it sound a lot like Izzy is actually going to get some romantic attention, and I can’t help but (kind of) root for him :)

NUMBER 3: Oh no!! The British!!! Oh no!! The Chinese pirates!!!

From what we have so far (the Vainty Fair preview and the teaser) it sounds like the Revenge crew is going to have a run-in with the British army again, and perhaps a battle with a new crew of Chinese pirates. What I am wondering though is if the British army might join forces with the new set of pirates, sort of like what Izzy did during the final episodes of season one, and go up against the Revenge and/or/maybe Blackbeard’s crew at the same time.

NUMBER 4: Big sea storm. Perhaps a sudden rainstorm and a canopy causes 2 people to stare into each others eyes lovingly and realize they were made for eachother….

If you know, you know. But for the sea storm bit the hair and makeup stylist for the show revealed that the most challenging part of season 2 was when “they were caught in the storm on the back of the boat” so….

NUMBER 5: Anne Bonny is going to be rlly important, not just a one episode side character

This is really just me hoping that Anne Bonny will have a bigger part, because she is just such a cool person within history! I hope she gets a chance to be the bisexual and polyamorous (I think I heard somewhere that during her lifetime she was in a polyamorous relationship, but I’m not sure where so don’t 100% quote me on that) pirate that she was!

NUMBER 6: The “major romantic moment between two characters” isn’t going to be Ed and Stede

Neil Gaiman already fooled me once, ain’t gonna let David Jenkins do the same.

NUMBER 7: The Revenge crew see a familiar face in the vanity fair first look image

(Note: for some reason tumblr isn’t letting me put the actual image here, so if you want to see it look at the Vanity Fair article and scroll down until you see the 5th image with most of the crew)

Now, from what the image looks like, I’m taking a wild guess and assuming that the crew snuck onto a ship (perhaps the new crew’s ship) and found a familiar face being held captive. Based upon Pete’s reaction (and my own personal delusional ass) I’m going to guess that they have found Lucius! But with Stede’s reaction, it doesn’t seem like Lucius is in the best shape that they have seen him…

NUMBER 8: The two new New Zealand cast members are apart of Blackbeard’s crew?

To be honest this is just me going out on a limb and guessing, because the two new cast members, Madeleine Sami and Anapela Polataivao, are both from New Zealand, and maybe Taika Waititi wanted to have New Zealand actors be apart of his crew so, maybe? To be honest this one is just a shot in the dark and me guessing idk

NUMBER 9: Lucius is alive, and his being held hostage by the Chinese pirates

Now this one is either my most likely theory, or my most delusional fandom brain theory. This one connects back to my #7 theory, that the Revenge crew might see Lucius again, BUT I think that after he got pushed off of the Revenge, he crossed paths with a Chinese Pirate ship who have heard of the “dreaded” gentleman pirate, or just want to keep him prisoner, and are keeping him captured on the boat.

~+ YIPPEE YOU MADE IT TO THE END :D +~

But seriously if you willingly read this far tysm, this is one of my first ever big tumblr posts and I just wanted to get some of my thoughts out and somewhere! Sooo yeah. If this does ok I might post more, but tbh I’m tired and want to go to bed, so goodbye for now :)

[supersonicsteaktacular]

Some thoughts on Miraculous Ladybug in general under the cut. Don't peek if you haven't caught up because i will be discussing season 5 including the finale.

Apologies if this is an incoherent read, i'm just writing as i think, this is just going to be a total mental vomit.

Ok so i had some complicated emotions when watching the finale. It was great in a lot of ways. We had some of the best fight scenes that miraculous has ever had and some undeniably cool moments, but i can't help but feel a little let down?

I think that's partly because of how long it's taken to get here. To call the pacing in miraculous glacial would be an understatement. Nothing much happened to shake up the status quo of Ladybug and Chat Noir fighting a villain of the week for like 4 seasons. Almost everything was world -building up until Gabriel got his hands on the miraculous.

So we had a story that was going slow suddenly going at a breakneck pace in season 5. Suddenly after 4 seasons of nothing happening, everything happens at once. Gabriel is coming out and fighting the heroes personally, Ladybug and Chat Noir are making plans that very nearly beat him and Gabriel gets wounded in a way that puts a timer on the plot. Things now HAVE to start moving faster.

In addition, the love square dynamics change for the first time in the show. It took 5 seasons to do what everyone wanted since season 1. Everything was exciting again!

And then they kinda blew their load on the first jerk??

Gabriel quickly went back to his villain of the week plans, the changes to the love square came and went within the first half of the season and ended up settling on the end of the love square with the least exciting dynamic?

It's pretty telling that the Love square is the most popular hetero ship on Ao3 in terms of number of fics. It has something like 10'000 more fics than the next most popular hetero ship. The love square is exciting in a way that no other ship is and there are people more eloquent than me on here that will wax philosophic as to why that is.

So it's a tradegy that nothing really changed with the love square until 5 seasons in, and then those changes were over in a flash. Flipped Ladynoir was gone in a few episodes, Marichat fucking burned twice as bright but a half as long and poor Ladrien never got a chance. Now i do like Adrinette but it's just a typical high school romance once you take away all the rest of the love square stuff. It's cute, but guess what? So are all of the other ships that i like. They took away what made the love square exciting enough to write 35'000 fics about.

So just about the only things left by the halfway point of the season to look forward to is defeating Gabriel once and for all and an identity reveal.

And NEITHER HAPPEN.

Gabriel actually ends up winning in the end. He gets to make a wish. In the final scene i was literally saying to my screen "WHERE'S THE CATCH??" but apparently there isn't one? Turns out all that pontificating about how a wish cannot be made without a huge sacrifice was for nothing. Maybe there will be a catch but we'll have to wait and see, and who knows how long we'll have to wait to see that plot point come to fruition.

And of course there was no identity reveal. In fact Chat Noir just flat out doesn't participate in the season finale. Let me repeat that. THE AGRESTE DOESN'T PARTICIPATE IN THE FINALE OF THE AGRESTE SAGA. You deserved so much better than being locked in your schrodinger box Adrien. You absolutely should've been there to deck your father in the face.

Sorry if this has come across as a whole bunch of complaining and salt. I just needed somewhere to reconcile my own thoughts. At the end of the day i really do love Miraculous. There's a reason i've been invested since season 1, there's a reason why i've always looked forward to new episodes releasing and why i've spent the last year desperately trying to avoid spoilers. It's clearly has something special even if i can't quite put my finger on it.

[mysticinsightstarot]

Hiii ! I'm Sending up my question here ♡

My initial- k , sign- Pisces, Pronouns-she/her , preference-he/him

Ques : When will I meet my future spouse ?

[Actually I'm asking for someonelse]

✨ WHEN WILL YOU MEET YOUR FUTURE SPOUSE? ✨ Okay, bestie, buckle up because this spread is giving main character energy and some tea you NEED to hear 🫖. Let’s dive in and figure out when your future spouse is entering your life! 💍💫

Card 1: Present Energies Surrounding Love 9 of Wands + 6 of Swords Omg, babe, you’ve been THROUGH it, huh? 😩💔 You’re lowkey tired of all the battles in love, but guess what? You’re finally moving towards calmer waters 🌊. The past may have felt like climbing a never-ending hill (ugh), but now you're on a spiritual boat ride to better vibes 🌟. Keep going—you’re so close!

Card 2: Blockages or Challenges Ace of Pentacles + 2 of Cups The universe is literally holding a golden ticket 🎟️ for your love story, but are you ready to take it? This combo screams, “I have options but am I ready to commit?” 👀. You might be caught up juggling priorities (hello, career glow-up 💼✨), but babe, the second you open yourself up emotionally, that soulmate energy is ON LOCK. 💞

Card 3: What Needs to Be Healed Wheel of Fortune Girl, fate is literally waiting for you to stop clinging to the steering wheel 🚗🌀. Release. Control. The Wheel is spinning in your favor, but you have to trust that divine timing has your back 💖. You can’t meet your boo until you surrender to the magic of the universe! ✨🌌

Card 4: Signs or Synchronicities 5 of Pentacles + The World + 8 of Pentacles Okay, this is so specific it’s giving CHILLS. 😱 Look for moments where you’re stepping out of a “lack mindset” (hello, you’re the main character 🫶) and stepping INTO success 🌟. Travel might be a big clue (The World, anyone? ✈️), and the person could even pop up while you’re focused on your work or passion projects 🛠️. Also, if you keep seeing globes, coins, or birds, THAT’S YOUR SIGN.

Card 5: Context of the Meeting Queen of Wands + King of Wands 🔥 POWER COUPLE ALERT 🔥. You’re meeting someone who matches your vibe PERFECTLY—like, they’ll have you looking at them and going, “OMG, it’s YOU!” 🥹💃. This could happen somewhere creative or where people are shining—think parties, events, or even a work-related setting where you’re both slaying 👑✨.

Card 6: Timing of the Meeting 7 of Pentacles Patience is KEY, babe. The universe is planting seeds right now 🌱, and this love will grow slowly but surely. Expect to meet them in about 7 months or during a harvest season (maybe Taurus or Virgo vibes 🌾♉♍).

Card 7: First Impressions of Each Other 8 of Cups This one’s juicy 👀—when you first meet, you might BOTH feel like, “Whoa, is this person making me walk away from my old life?!” It’s giving "transformational love" vibes, where you’ll see each other as a chance to step into a new chapter 📖✨.

Card 8: Guidance to Align with the Meeting 6 of Pentacles Okay, hear me out: this person will match your energy IF you keep giving to the universe and others 💌. Be generous with your time, love, and energy—because that reciprocity will call in your soulmate faster than you can say “manifestation.”

Card 9: Outcome of the Relationship 9 of Swords + Page of Pentacles SWEETIE. This relationship might make you face some fears (cue the late-night overthinking 😵‍💫), but it’s all part of your personal growth 🌟. They’ll challenge you to dream BIGGER, take risks, and grow together 💪. This love is like a seed with the potential to grow into something lasting and beautiful 🌳.

Bottom of the Deck: The Magician HELLO, YOU ARE THE CREATOR OF THIS LOVE STORY. 🪄✨ The universe says you already have all the tools to manifest this divine connection—confidence, charm, and that ✨it girl energy✨. Believe in your power, boo, because YOU are the magic ingredient here.

💌 SOOO, what do you think?? Did this reading hit home? Are you ready to manifest this spicy love story? Spill all the tea in the comments, bestie—I NEED the deets! 💕 Let’s manifest this glow-up TOGETHER! 🌈💖

[bookswithsyd]

Is Spy X Family my anime of the year? [Spoiler Free-ish*]

*This article will avoid all major plot spoilers but will include some basic information about the story/characters. This will also only cover part 1 as part 2 is still airing at the time of writing.

Welcome to After Thoughts, a series where I take a moment to collect my thoughts on things both old and new. These things will include newish content that I am viewing for the first time (most of the time, month behind everyone else) or perhaps things that I am coming back to so I can re-experience (like my future plans to explain why Soul Eater is my go-to comfort anime). Now, onto my thoughts on the recently finished season one of Spy X Family!

How I found Spy X Family

After deciding that Spy X Family would be our next anime, my boyfriend and I sat down and binged the first six episodes in one evening. Around midnight, we had to drag ourselves away from the TV to go to bed because we did not want to stop watching, we were already in love with the premise of this show. We spent so much of the night laughing at the characters and guessing what would happen next. It was the pinnacle of "just one more episode" and that feeling was present from beginning to end. The next night after work, we caught up to episode 11, which was the latest episode at that point. We realized halfway through episode 11 that it would be four days until the final episode aired, crushing our spirits because we were on a Spy X Family high. The wait until episode 12 dropped was painstakingly slow and even worse knowing that we couldn’t watch it the day the last episode was released. Having to avoid spoilers was easiest to do when you just avoid social media almost altogether.

Thoughts on the show

I went into Spy X Family with decently high expectations. When I mentioned that I would be watching it over the weekend, I was told by a friend that she and her girlfriend were absolutely loving it. I had been avoiding anything related to this show for a while at that point and I just knew the premise of the show going in. A spy must gather a fake family in order to perform his mission. His new wife turns out to be an assassin and the child he adopts is a telepath. Neither of the adults knows the other’s secrets, but the child learns everything.

Spy X Family is a brilliant mix of comedy, action, a little romance, and of course, slice-of-life. This blend makes the show something that you can binge and not get sick of. The progression through the 12-episode season seems so well-paced that I was never wanting to speed up through an episode or was confused because it seems like the anime skipped over something.

I think that the art style used here really enhances the overall feeling of a cute slice-of-life comedy. The bright colors and the way the characters are drawn allow for the wacky facial expressions and actions that really sell the mood.

I'm excited to see how the plot will progress as I am waiting for the full season to be released before starting. After finishing the anime’s season 1, I am now tempted to find the manga just to see how the anime holds up to the original material and also to see what happens next. Now to answer the question in the title. Do I think Spy X Family is the anime of the year for me personally? Maybe. I think this show could definitely make my top 5 when I look back at the end of the year.

Final thoughts

Thoughts on the genre: I loved the mix of multiple genres that really keep the show moving. The blend allowed for amazing moments that pulled emotions from amusement to empathic pain.

Favorite character at the start: We really only get a good look at Loid at the start, so he was the one I wanted to know more about at the beginning.

Favorite character at the end: Normally I change who I really like by the end of a season, but I still think Loid is in that top stop. My enjoyment of other characters has certainly grown over those 12 episodes, but Loid still remains my favorite.

Thoughts on the animation style: I love the use of quirky animation to give those over-the-top expressions that really fit the fun mood of this comedy show, I feel like this is the best style to use and can’t imagine it in another style.

Grade on pacing: I think the pacing is great, I feel like the show never lags, and really made me want to keep watching.

Grade Overall: I would give this a high B to a low A grade. I think this is an amazing show, I just wish we could have seen more out of the other characters.

Does this show make me wanna read the manga: Yes! I would love to pick up the manga and I hope that if I do, I can get some of the information that I am looking for.

Who would enjoy this series: I think that this show has a wide range of people who would enjoy it. Of course, people who enjoy simple slice-of-life anime will love this. I think people who want a funny story no matter the genre will enjoy it. I think this is a good anime to start when you just want to throw something on that won’t take too much brain power or you wanna watch something short.

Now that you know my thoughts, what were your reactions after finishing this series, or do you wanna watch it for the first time?

[balanchine-ballet-master]

Interview with Emma von Enck

This is from the Kennedy Center's blog. All photos are by Erin Baiano via the Kennedy Center.

By Brittany Laeger

The stages of the Opera House have extra sparkle this week with the opening of New York City Ballet in Jewels, one of George Balanchine’s iconic works. In between rehearsals and company ballet classes, we caught up with Principal Dancer Emma Von Enck to chat about why she thinks Jewels is timeless, the ever fascinating question of what’s in one’s dance bag, favorite recipe, and more.

Emma hails from Cleveland, Ohio and began dancing when she was five with enrolling as a full-time student at SAB (School of American Ballet) in 2012. She joined NYCB in 2016 and was recently promoted to Principal in May 2024. Read on to get to know her better!

Did dance find you or did you find dance?

I guess you could say that dance found me. I have two older sisters who do ballet, and I remember specifically picking gymnastics, because I wanted to be different. But it only took my seeing one or two of my sisters’ shows to realize, Actually, I want to do that. I begged my mom to put me in dance. I couldn’t wait until I was old enough to perform like they did.

Congrats on your recent promotion to Principal Dancer! You'll be performing as the lead in "Rubies" during the KC run—what's surprised you in the rehearsal process as you have worked on learning this role?

The first time I debuted this role was last fall, and every rehearsal has been so fun. With your partner, you have to discuss what works because the partnering is different than classical ballet—it's more angular, leaning off balance and catching each other at the last second. And it took a second to digest some of the counts. The corps in the Rubies, which I did previously, is actually much harder to count than the principal part. Now, it's almost like breathing, I don't even think about it. And paired with the choreography—Balanchine and Stravinsky is just the perfect partnership, it feels so natural.

As you prepare for these Kennedy Center performances, what do you think makes Jewels timeless?

It's such a beautiful full-length that's so different from many of the traditional classical ballets. Each Jewel has its own specific flair and inspiration. When I first got into the company, the second ballet I ever performed was Emeralds. I love the music—it's so grand and the opening has you weaving in and out of different patterns shaped like a jewel, framing the other dancers. And then I moved to Diamonds, which I adore. The finale gives me chills every single time.  And then I moved to the corps of Rubies. It is full circle to get to do the lead—I remember being at the School of American Ballet and watching Rubies and specifically thinking, Oh my gosh I want to do that so bad.

Dancers amass a lot of stuff in their dance bags—what's the number one thing you can';t live without?

Pointe shoes. I cart around far too many pointe shoes because I spread them out to make them last longer—5 to 6 pairs of pointe shoes take up a lot of space. I can't be without a water bottle. I always have snacks, especially for long rehearsal days.

Certain items are staples for when I’m about to perform—a Theraband is essential, always do the foot exercises. Deflated balls for ab series. Cliff chews—I choose the non-caffeinated because I'm very sensitive to caffeine, and the adrenaline is enough!

What's your go-to karaoke song/favorite song to sing in the shower?

"Paper Planes" by M.I.A. because you don't really have to carry a tune—and it's classic, everyone knows it, it's a bop. And then in the shower, it really depends—pop, folk, classical are all on the playlist. Sometimes, if they have scores that I love, I will put the ballets I'm doing that season into rotation.

Go-to recipe? 

I try to implement one new recipe each month. Tortellini soup has been a new go-to—I make a large quantity that I can spread out through leftovers. I usually have a sandwich every single day. I'm a huge smoothie person—after barre, it's the first thing I crave, especially if I'm going right into another rehearsal. My current recipe is spinach, cucumber, pineapple, mango, ginger, lemon juice, water, and cashews if I really need protein.

With the upcoming 2024 Paris Summer Olympics, we have to ask—if you were competing, what's your sport of choice?

I love swimming, although I couldn't hold a candle to anyone actually competing. Gymnastics is so fun to watch, but I have a heart attack every time they do the balance beam. It's super stressful. But they are such professionals who train their whole lives for it—I'm sure it's similar to when people ask, "How do you do a pirouette?"

Is there anything that you do backstage pre-performance that's unique/notable?

I put my pointe shoes on before my costume to let my feet acclimate to the shoes. I try to give myself until the last second to see if I've chosen the right ones, before sewing in, which is where you tuck your ribbons in and sew them down—you would hate for your ribbons to come undone onstage.

What's the craziest thing that's happened to you during a performance?

I remember coming onstage for a pas de deux once and the music was supposed to switch—and it didn't. This happens, the scores are so complicated and instruments come in and out. And I just looked at my partner Jovani and he didn't miss a beat. And we just plowed on pretending as if we were dancing to our normal music. It's strange to turn off your brain in that way because you're so used to listening for the music, but honestly, your body will sink into the muscle memory. And most of the time the orchestra will pick it up. It's unexpected but it's show business, sometimes that's how it goes!

Dancing runs in your family as your two sisters also dance professionally, what has been a favorite memory you have from supporting each other on- or -off stage?

With the frequency that we perform, there are always those shows that just don't feel as good. And I remember recently after a performance, I just felt it wasn't my best—most people wouldn't be able to tell, but I know myself—and I was feeling really upset. And I remember calling my oldest sister, who is a Principal at Texas Ballet Theater, and asking her, "How do you get over bad performances? I just don't know how to move on." And she gave me advice that I think about a lot. She said, "Time—you have to put in several other good shows for the sting of the memory of it not going so well to fade." And that was reassuring. Perfectionism can be a good thing at some level, because that's what keeps you pursuing excellence. But it can be destructive and upsetting when you feel like you didn't live up to that standard. So her giving me that advice soothed the stress of it.

I love ballet and I have had to make it my own, but it is so tethered to my family, my sisters specifically. My sister Claire and I lived together when I first got into the Company, but she was very respectful of letting me find my own way and I was so thankful to have that support. My sisters, we each have our own journey and specific relationship with ballet, but I've been so grateful to have that communal understanding.

And…bonus question as we also would like to congratulate you on graduating from Fordham University recently! What was your favorite class within your studies?

For my English major, I took a Jane Austen in Context class, which was one of my favorites—with Professor Greenfield, she was amazing. I also loved my Virginia Woolf class—I wasn't even supposed to be able to take it because it met on Wednesdays in the middle of the day, when we have rehearsals. I reached out to this professor explaining that I would most likely not be able to make 50% of the classes. But she was so accommodating, and she let me take the class anyway. I wrote all the essays and made it when I could.

[starlight-time-machine]

Week in Review

11/05/2023 – 11/11/2023

Sunday

As expected, the Ichinose chapter last week was a fake out. Just one more gotcha – but just kidding this time! before the end of the road. And now that we’re here…it’s a little baffling to me that it took us 48 chapters and an entire year to impart the relatively basic message of “families aren’t perfect but you gotta keep trying anyway.” I wish we could’ve gotten more focus into each of the other family members like Tsubasa did, what with the whole set up of the seven deadly sins and all. I wish there weren’t so many twists that seemed to be only for shock factor/cliffhangers. And I wish this series had a stronger thematic backbone, but I’m learning that Taizan 5’s M.O. is all about bordering on trauma porn/shock factor until they pull it back for a conclusion that’s about as complex as you’d find in a Disney Channel movie. They always have great premises, but from what I’ve seen, I don’t think they have the skill to actually follow through with interesting and evocative ideas. I’m just glad the trip is finally over. I’ll give Ichinose a 3/10, and I honestly don’t think I’ll check out Taizan 5’s works in the future.

Next up is Undead Unluck, and it’s so serendipitous that we got this chapter right after episode 5 of the anime, because otherwise I don’t think I would’ve remembered Andy firing his fingers at the Round Table, and then I wouldn’t have caught this parallel of Fuuko shooting her guns at the UMAs! What a full circle moment. And oh my God Andy…pulling a Fire Punch, I see. Solid chapter overall.

Dandadan 127: YAYYY RIN!! LET ‘EM KNOW!!!

Magilumiere 90: Plot-wise I don’t have much to say about this chapter, but it’s fun to see everyone in the Manga Plus comments lamenting about Shigemoto being denied his magical girl dress.

Hmmmmm yeah okay, it’s the end of the line for Akane-banashi for me…I know I said I was going to stick with it for the rakugo stories, but I think I’ll just listen to a rakugo podcast or something. I’m glad I got to see fox Karashi before I went, though.

One Piece was fine.

CIPHER ACADEMY YAYYYYY I’m glad to finally learn more about Karigane and what a threat she can be! I also love when Byu’s eyes go into sniper mode, it’s such a unique character design detail. But oh boy……I tried so hard to get into mahjong when I played Yakuza 0, and I’ve since accepted that I’m just too dumb for it LMAO like, there’s no way I’ll ever be able to memorize all the point-winning hands, and I barely understand what a dora or tenpai is. I wouldn’t even be able to tell if I was winning if there wasn’t a video game telling me that I was…all of which is to say that this code battle is just going in one ear and out the other, I’m afraid. But I’ll just focus on the emotional journeys of the characters and I’ll still have a great time.

My friend and I finally marathoned a ton of House episodes, but they were all pretty standard fare. I can’t believe we’re only halfway through season 5 and there’s still four whole 22-episode seasons left…they really let TV shows go on forever back then, huh? What’s really surprising to me on this rewatch is how Taub has become my favourite character…? He’s pragmatic, self-aware, and doesn’t tend to get caught up emotionally – my kinda guy.

Monday

Finally got around to watching the Dirty Laundry episode that came out like two weeks ago. This one was pretty fun, with one or two wild stories, but still doesn’t reach the heights of some of the earlier Dirty Laundry episodes for me. And every time I watch, I think about how hard it must be to cast for this show, because not only do you have to get good comedians, you have to get four of them who are familiar enough with each other to have funny banter and to actually guess whose secret it is… And I fear that their talent pool is running out…or rather, their talent pool of people I recognise and would like to see on the show is running out.

Watched the new Make Some Noise episode while I was at it and I love seeing Jacob again, his energy with Lou is really fun. I feel like some of the prompts this season have been a little…subpar, though… I don’t like the ones where it’s just a pop culture reference that’s basically only one obvious joke, or the ones where there’s no real room to expand… But I think the guests this time did the best with what they got. But holy shit I did not enjoy the minigames in this episode…

Tuesday

Agh

Wednesday

Ack

Thursday

Aghhh

Friday

It’s been a busy week… I’ve gotten sucked into all my various projects and errands…but I always have time for new Undead Unluck episodes. Unfortunately, this was probably the weakest episode in the series so far. Story-wise it was a lot of setup for next week’s fight, and visuals-wise…look, I get it, there’s literally no other way they could feasibly do this on a TV anime schedule, but goddamn the 3D zombies look goofy as hell… I really hate seeing 3D human models in 2D anime, it just never looks convincing and completely takes me out of it. But it is what it is, I suppose.

I loved the part in the beginning of the episode though, where Shen was being cute and having fun banter with Fuuko. And then the fish-eyed lenses effect to amp up the horror vibes when they were listening to the recording was also a nice touch. Now I’m just really looking forward to seeing if Shen has his little unhinged moment next week. (Special shout out to the cameo from Mr. Spongebob himself, that made me laugh).

Saturday

Pretty good episode of SpyFam today. I love seeing the tension racket up as Yor and co. realize that they’ve been found out – the scene with the room service guy was particularly excellent. The Anya segment provided a nice balance of comedic relief, though perhaps it dragged a bit longer than it needed to. I’m excited to get into the assassin battles proper next week.

It’s fun to be eating Chinese food while watching Kusuriya, especially when it’s a super spicy mala dish…I feel like I’m doing a poison mukbang with Maomao. Rihaku is really cute in anime form! The Garden Party as a whole was adapted about as well as I could’ve expected, but I think I just prefer seeing it in manga form for whatever reason…probably something to do with the pacing of reading the dialogue versus watching it being spoken aloud.

Pretty barren week, huh? I wish I could say I was being productive the whole time but it’s more like I got sucked into my hobbies while watching a lot of YouTube in the background. Hopefully next week will be more eventful.