#and season 2 was less good but still so cute and so much fun and so thoughtful

[felixcatton]

oh just spoiled ted lasso for myself and i fear i’m never gonna catch up on it now

[barblaz-arts]

Found out about you and your chaggie art on twt and decided to check out more of it on here! I’ve heard about hazbins hotel before and have seen the pair and fanart of them but haven’t made the decision to watch the show.

Wanted to ask from your perspective, what is it about chaggie that you like? Could be anything about their relationship dynamics, wtv representation that they portray, anything! Should I watch hazbins hotel for them 🤔

Gosh! What do I love about them??

Oh man, welll... On a surface level? The dynamics they display are just so delicious to me, and I especially love that it's always a little subverted with them, yunno? It's angelXdemon, but the demon is the precious sunshine while the angel is the grump with a body count. The princessXknight dynamic they display is subverted too because although Charlie is the one born in the worst realm in Creation, she's still the privileged princess, meanwhile even though Vaggie is the one who came from literal paradise, she's the one who lived a life that wasn't exactly luxurious. They just present dynamics I've already always loved but with a fun little twist.

But on a deeper level, I think I love Chaggie because they're already so far along in their relationship, and you can see it in how comfortable they are with each other, which was such a surprise for me. You see, I'm not very good at fixating on ships when they're already canon. Like, I'd think it's cute, but I wouldn't be itching to find fics about them. And if a ship I've liked finally gets together, I actually... usually... Kinda sorta love the ship a little less... I'd still like them! I just wont be as giddy about them.

But omg Chaggie still manages to give me butterflies, and I think it's because they're way past the honeymoon phase, something that I barely see represented for sapphic couples who are such important characters in a story. Lotsa people didnt like how it wasn't initially obvious that they were a couple, but I actually really loved how the writers and animators showed how deep their bond is without having them making out ang grope each other all the time. God if they were like that, it'd probably give me the ick.

It was just lowkey, because they've been together for years. Charlie would casually rest her arm on Vaggie's thigh and Vaggie isn't flustered because it's probably a habit of Charlie's by now. Vaggie would tuck Charlie's hair out of her face while she's worried about something and it isn't framed as a special thing, but you can tell by how Vaggie looks at Charlie that it wasn't done with any less love than it did over the years. And when Charlie's stressed about a phone call, Vaggie wordlessly offers her hand and Charlie takes it with a quick appreciative smile before holding on tight and bouncing their joined hands up and down like it's a stress reliever.

Their interactions weren't uber sweet with heated physicality, but the show had them display familiarity and comfort instead. And idk i just love that. I love that you can clearly tell they're best friends. Like, the very first scene they appear in for the Pilot, Vaggie is tying Charlie's bowtie for her while Charlie stares at her with a smile on her face. So cute...

Also. I just think both of them are hot lmao

So. Do I think you should watch the show for Chaggie? Idrk. I personally watched for them, but I came into the show expecting not to get much shipping fuel bcuz they were already in a relationship in a show that has a whole dang lot more going on in it. So some people who wanted to get into the ship expecting maybe a lotta smooching felt unsatisfied. But honestly, what did they expect from a 8 ep season that only had a run time of 22 mins per episode, in a show that wasn't even a romance? 😭 I personally thought we got a decent amount without taking away from the actual plot.

I think you should try to watch with the mindset of just having plain ol fun. Try the first 2 episodes, which is only 40 mins of your day. If it doesn't jive with you, that's totally fine. But pls do check out the songs if you dont like the show. The songs are so good. My favorite song from the season has plot stuff, but this one is my second favorite

And since we're talking about Chaggie, here's the reprise of that song sung by them. It's short, but they promised more chaggie songs will be in season 2 so im not too sad about it. Charlie and Vaggie's VA harmonizing is just beautiful.

Edit: for those who saw this post when i accidentally prematurely posted it before adding the links and photos, no you didn't 😐

[worthyprnce]

random merlin episodes I wish we had:

a stuck in the same day over and over episode — where someone, obviously merlin, is somehow magically stuck living the same day again and again but only he knows that. we missed so many opportunities. so many magic reveals and so many different reactions to it, specially from arthur and perhaps the knights too.

a halloween special — with a much darker and scarier mood, with less comic relief and more horror. we have a few dark scenes along the show, a whole episode of it would be so cool

a merlin x doctor who crossover — I have this inside joke with a friend that the diamair (that alien looking creature that helps gwaine in the first two episodes of season five) was BBC's way of pushing doctor who into the show, and it would be so nice if it was true. it didn't even have to be a merlin episode, it could be a doctor who episode where the doctor and the companion (I don't remember exactly which ones would be, I guess the 11th?) get back to save the diamair and they help them find a better place to live. and then we see the doctor hiding away from gwaine and percy, and then merlin and arthur and morgana (and all the guards and all) until they can finally talk to the diamair alone. and along the episode we see the characters going as the episodes in merlin canonically did, but in the doctor's pov.

a breaking the fourth wall episode — fleabag style. maybe merlin is the only one who can break the fourth wall, but I like to imagine everyone can, but no one else knows that's a thing everyone could do it. I don't know how this would be explained in cannon, but it would be fun

a green knight episode — where we follow (merlin follows) gwaine in a cheaper version of the tale of the green knight where the writers would obviously time compress a whole year into a few days, give cheap and lazy explanations and the green knight would probably be some random morgana's ally but I would love it anyway

a knights episode — actually I would have loved a spinoff of the knights with two seasons minimum, but at least one whole episode following their pov would be so much fun. maybe something happens and now we watch each of them along their day in flashbacks or something like that, until said thing happens and they have to collect all the puzzle pieces and try to understand what is going on and what happened and why and how to solve it. bonus points if merlin solves it all off screen and they all think that they did it, so now they are all proud of themselves. merlin obviously lets them take the credit for it, but this time he doesn't feel bad about not getting the credit he's due for saving the day once again. he feels happy to see his friends all happy and proud.

an animated episode — I am a huge lover of animation and just thinking about all the characters in an animated style version of themselves makes my heart warm. I love it so much, it would have been soooooo fun and so cute. it could have been an special, didn't even have to be an actual episode. like a christmas special maybe? I don't celebrate christmas so I don't know what would happen, just that it would be animated.

one or some of the characters turn into children — I think it would so fun and so cute to have merlin, gwen, gaius and maybe leon taking care of baby/child arthur. bonus points if uther is still alive and they have to hide baby arthur from him. or worse, all the knights turn into different aged children, leon is a teenager, gwaine has around 11/12, elyan has 7 and percival has 2, and merlin is going insane trying to keep up with them at the same time he tries to solve this mess as soon as possible. I would love the absolute chaos.

a merlin's birthday episode — nothing bad happens, we just get to watch everyone doing their best to come up with a good gift for merlin. and he is so confused as to why everyone is acting so strange around him (but they think they're being stealth and doing a good job). in the end they get the date all wrong and merlin's birthday is like, in six months or something.

that's all I can think of right now, and I know most of them (maybe all of them) don't even make much sense and wouldn't be possible to make in canon, but hey I can dream.

if I ever think of something else I'll do a part 2

[arieslost]

cherry blossoms | ls2

summary: you have a meet cute in japan.

word count: 1,046

masterlist — join my tag list here!

this one is for my sweet mimi @lightsoutletsgo <33 thank you for coming up with this incredible concept, i loved writing it!!

© arieslost 2024. DO NOT REPOST WITHOUT PERMISSION.

being in japan during the springtime was always a magical experience, and it was owed primarily to the beautiful abundance of cherry blossoms. when the 2024 season calendar was announced and you saw that the japanese grand prix would be held during the spring, you wasted no time in procuring tickets and a flight to the country.

the paddock is absolutely stunning this time of year, you realized as you walk through it after qualifying. the teams were either debriefing or preoccupied with working in their garages, so the paddock itself was relatively clear, save for the blossoms that were falling out of the trees and lining the ground in brilliant pink. it’s almost overwhelming, but you and your camera can’t get enough of it.

you wouldn’t call yourself a professional by any means, but taking pictures has always been a fun hobby for you, and the vibrant japanese setting was the perfect subject matter for photos.

you were fully engrossed in your task, taking shots of the blossoms at multiple angles, even getting some action shots of blossoms falling through the air to rest on the ground. the paddock was much quieter than usual, and it was nice to only really hear the breeze against the sound of muted, far off conversation. you could even feel some of the stray blossoms brushing the top of your head and your shoulders. it was peaceful above anything else, and you weren’t bothered by it, gazing intently through your camera’s viewfinder as you walked along the paddock.

in retrospect, you probably should have been paying better attention to your surroundings. one moment you were adjusting where you stood to get a better focus on a specific blossom that you noticed, and the next you were colliding with something warm and solid.

“i’m so sorry— is your camera okay?!”

through the viewfinder, your eye focused on what (or who, rather) you’d bumped into. slowly, you lowered the camera so you could look directly at him. he was blond, and tall, and damn was he cute.

“yeah… it’s fine. are you okay?”

without saying anything in response, he reached out and plucked a stray blossom off of your shoulder that you hadn’t even taken note of. you looked down for a moment, overwhelmed with the gentleness of his touch, and missed him slipping the blossom into his pocket.

“thanks,” you said quietly.

“no problem. and i’m fine too,” he stretched out a hand to you. “i’m logan.”

“oh, right, of course! logan sargeant!” you exclaimed before feeling your cheeks heat up. “i mean… something less weird.”

he laughed. “something like your name?”

“right,” you laughed as well, introducing yourself. “i’m sorry for not paying attention. i just haven’t been here in the springtime in so long, i forgot how beautiful it was.”

“this is my first time here in the spring,” he shared, looking almost shy as he met your eyes. “but you’re right, it’s beautiful.”

“how was quali for you?” you asked, fiddling with the settings on your camera to hopefully still be able to get the photo you wanted.

“could’ve been better.” he shrugged, watching you lift your camera up to the trees. “getting good pictures?”

“amazing pictures,” you nodded, taking a few shots. “here, i’ll show you!”

enthusiastically, you held the camera out to him and started going through the pictures you’d taken throughout the day. eventually, you got back to the experimental ones you’d taken of a few cars on the track.

“hey, that’s me!” logan said suddenly, stopping you when the screen showcased the blue williams with the number 2 on it. “that’s incredible. you have a great eye.”

“hire me.” you said, mostly joking, but you could almost see the cogs turning in his head as he contemplated it.

“listen, i have to run, but… do you think i could get your number? i want to take you out. and maybe you can show me some more of your pictures.” he rubbed the back of his neck, watching you intently as you considered his offer.

“i think i’d like that a lot.” you replied with a smile, biting your lip to stifle the giggle that nearly escaped when he eagerly grabbed for his phone.

two years later, when you’re living with him and you turn over to grab your phone from the nightstand, you see a cherry blossom, pressed and proudly displayed on the wood surface. your whole body grows warm with affection when you feel logan’s arms around you, pulling you back into his soft embrace.

“logan,” you admonish quietly when he refuses to let you reach your hand out for the flower.

“stay,” he grumbles in response, brushing his lips against your shoulder.

“how long have you had this?” you ask, managing to grab the blossom before he pulls you further into him.

“hmm?” his eyes blink open and he looks at you with bleary confusion. “i love you, but why are you trying to wake me up right now?”

“it looks like you’ve had it for a while,” you continue, turning the blossom around in your hand.

“oh, that.” he lifts his head, watching as you inspect it. “i’ve had that since the day i met you.”

your jaw drops. “what?”

“yeah, it was on your shoulder when you bumped into me.” he explains easily. “just sitting there like it belonged there. i had it pressed so i’d always have a reminder of that pretty girl i met in suzuka, just incase i never saw you again.”

well. you weren’t expecting to tear up so early in the morning, but you’re still learning that logan sargeant is full of surprises.

“i love you,” you whisper, overcome with emotion as you set the blossom back on the nightstand.

“i love you so much,” he whispers back, leaving a loving kiss on your cheek. “even though you woke me up.”

“okay,” you giggle, putting a hand on his face and forcing his eyes shut. “let’s go back to bed then, sleeping beauty.”

“don’t need to tell me twice,” he hums happily, snuggling close to you and sighing in content.

you stay awake for a little while longer, admiring the pressed flower and thinking of how pretty a spring wedding would be in suzuka.

note: apologies if this feels rushed. i’m once again drowning in schoolwork as the semester ends this month 🙃 pray for me

my inbox is always open for comments, criticism, and conversation! feel free to pop in!

reblogs are greatly appreciated <33

tags: @venusacrossthestars @67-angelofthelordme-67 @emails-i-can-send @nelly187 @cixrosie @fangirl-dot-com @sainzluvrr @imheretoread @mellowarcadefun @yourbane @monsieurbacteria6 @c-losur3 @papayatori @ssprayberrythings @namgification @maih23 @evlkking @witchycarmen @ilovethispookie @maxverstappenfan79 @sya-skies @sweatrevenge5436-blog @kimis-gloves @mia-rrrs @decafmickey @customsbyjcg-blog @bigheartsthings @tania2748 @scuderiadevils @iloveyou3000morgan @ctrlyomomma @hiireadstuff @daemyratwst @arian-directioner @evelyn-ny @avg-golden-retriever @likedbygaslyy @vintagefucksstuff @piastorys @jisungstuff

[allnightstay]

Day 26 - Ticklish Kiss

Summary: Drunk Your decides to get playful with Loid 🤭

Lee: Loid

Ler: Yor

A/N: I'm tryna catch up here! Lol, it's already November and I've fallen behind 🤭

** I just started Season 2, so believe me when I say this is probably something that wouldn't even happen because Yor just gets too flustered with this kind of stuff xD But it would be cute <3

Also, Loid being one of the "serious all the time" characters makes me melt when I think of him in a ticklish situation 🫠 Enjoy!

It was a rare evening in the Forger household. With the mission behind them and Anya tucked in bed, Yor and Loid finally had some time to unwind. The two had shared a bottle of wine, and as the evening wore on, Yor’s cheeks flushed a rosy hue.

“Loid, you’re so serious all the time,” she giggled, leaning closer to him on the couch. “Don’t you ever just… let loose?”

Loid chuckled nervously. “I appreciate the sentiment, Yor, but we have to be responsible.”

“Oh come on! Just a little fun?” Yor insisted, her laughter infectious.

Caught up in her playful spirit, Loid found himself smiling more than usual. That’s when Yor’s eyes twinkled mischievously. “What if I found out one of your secrets?”

“What secret?” he asked, genuinely curious.

She leaned in closer, whispering conspiratorially, “You wanna find out?”

Loid’s brow furrowed. “What are you—”

Before he could finish, Yor’s fingers danced across his neck, a gentle tease. Loid flinched, letting out a surprised laugh. “Yohor!”

“Awww no way!” Yor exclaimed, her eyes wide with delight. She couldn’t help but tickle him again, causing him to squirm and laugh uncontrollably. “This is too good!”

Trying to regain his composure, Loid shook his head, a mix of confusion and amusement. “Ahaha, hehehey!” Yor stops, leaning in.

“Just relax! I promise I won’t hurt you.” Yor leaned closer, her breath warm against his skin. “But what if I gave you ticklish kisses instead?”

Loid raised an eyebrow, trying to process her words. “Ticklish kisses? Umm well I-I..” he stutters

With a mischievous grin, Yor pressed her lips against his neck, her kisses soft yet playful. Loid’s reaction was instant; he erupted into laughter, the sensation overwhelming him. “Gah! Nahaha, Yor, wahahait! That tihihickles!!”

Yor couldn’t help but giggle along with him, encouraged by his laughter. “See? It’s fun!”

“Nahahaha okay, okahahahay, I get it!” Loid managed between breaths, still chuckling as she continued her affectionate assault on his neck.

But as Yor grew more enthusiastic, her kisses turned more intense, causing Loid to burst into another fit of laughter. “Ahaha ohohoh my gohohosh! I can’t—ah! It's tohoo much!”

“Just one more!” she teased, her lips brushing against his skin, eliciting more laughter from him. He tried to push her away playfully, but she was relentless, her ticklish kisses becoming a delightful torture.

Finally, breathless from laughter, Loid leaned back against the couch, his cheeks flushed from both the wine and the joy of the moment. “Alright, you win! No more ticklish kisses!”

Yor, still giggling, sat back, a satisfied grin on her face. “I think I prefer you like this, Loid. Less serious, more… fun!”

Loid smiled back, still recovering from the unexpected ticklish adventure. “Maybe a little fun isn’t so bad after all.”

As the two shared a comfortable silence, filled with laughter and warmth, they knew that this was a night they wouldn’t soon forget—a night of ticklish kisses and a bond that grew even stronger.

[missconchshell]

Okay, just watched episode 6 of Link Click Bridon Arc. What is going on here??!! I'm so confused about the timelines! Lu Guang's mention of this being his last chance, just like at the end of season 2 makes me think that this is all the same timeline! But I was originally so convinced that this was just one of Lu Guangs failed attempts! I don't know what to think anymore! If anyone has any evidence for either way, please let me know!

Anywho, onto the less confusing parts of the episode! Cheng Xiaoshi went through it in this episode! From thinking he was about to be sold into prostitution, to actually having a good time with the photoshoot, what a whiplash that must have been! And Cheng Xiaoshi and Lu Guang were so cute! Loved them getting pretty photos on the bike before just eating it in the dirt! And then all the fun times are ripped away from him and he's forced to meet his mom, who immediately tells him to forget about this and stop trying to search for his parents! I can't believe that he might have been holding onto this secret throughout all of seasons 1 and 2! This poor boy can not catch a break!

And Cheng Xioashi's mom! Wow that was a shock! Was not expecting her to possess Wang Qing. I wasn't quite a fan of how blasé she was about abandoning her son for like a decade, but I definitely can see where he gets a lot of his personality from. And I have seen someone mention that maybe with her plan to change the past and save his dad, maybe she's working towards a timeline where everything is fine and they both end up coming back from London when he was still a kid, basically making it so that he was never really abandoned. So, for her, this more of a neat glimpse into what her son is going to grow up to be. Still doesn't really excuse her behavior to me, but it makes it easier to process, so I'm gonna go with this headcanon until proven otherwise.

Onto my best boy Lu Guang, wow he was fun this episode! Loved getting to see him have fun with Cheng Xiaoshi and even bond with Xia Fei a bit! And then seeing him show his anger with Vein was neat! So curious about Vein's "death" scene, I can't tell if it was more Lu Guang "orchestrating" his death by delaying him enough to change the timeline so he's killed by Wang Qing, or if Lu Guang actually somehow possessed Wang Qing and directly used her powers to take him out. Hopefully season 3 will give us some answers.

I almost completely missed that Vein had come back to life, only went back to watch the end cause someone had mentioned it in a comment. It'll be interesting to see what role he and Liu Xiao play in season 3 and what their plans are for our crew!

And Xia Fei, wonder what happened to him and the guy who got fired? And will Lu Guang even mention it to Cheng Xiaoshi, or will this be another Emma incident?

I love this show so much, even if it can be a bit of a mess to puzzle through occasionally. I'm so curious about what's coming next, and excited to spend the rest of the day reading others' theories about what the heck just happened!

[iambicpentameterhamster]

Every umbrella academy character ranked (seasons 1-4)

After that shitshow of a fourth season, i felt it necessary to redo this.

#36 -The Sparrows (Jayme, Alphonso, Fae etc.)

The show had no clue what to do with these characters. They sit around being evil for a little while only to promptly die within four episodes. Also one of them is a fucking cube?!? Whats up with that?

#35 - Sloane

How come she disappears in season 4 but not sparrow Ben? So much of this makes no sense.

#34 -Sparrow Ben

I hate this character with my whole being. He goes around calling people emo as if HE DOESNT WAKE UP EVERY MORNING WITH A SCOWL ON HIS STUPID FACE AND EMO HAIR ON HIS STUPID FOREHEAD. He's so rude and awful and i'm given no reason by the show to give a shit where he ends up.

#33 -Carl Cooper

This one speaks for itself.

#32 -Reggie's wife

The two of them annoyed me so much.

#31 -Viktor

Moochy emo sod. Elliott Page's acting got progressively worse throughout the series (and i like Elliott Page, but this wasnt his best work.)- season 1 Vanya was tolerable, beyond that i couldn't stand this character. All his jokes land flat and he has the charisma of a piece of cardboard.

#30 -Season 4 Five

For the sake of this ranking, i am treating seasons 1-3 Five and season 4 Five as seperate characters. Seems like the writers were doing the same. What the fuck, guys? How do you bulldoze a character this badly?

Season 4 Five was unfunny, selfish, cowardly, and most of all on a different plane of being from the Five we all knew and loved. Screw you, season 4 Five, you're not canon.

#29 -Season 4 Lila

I'm treating Lila the same way. Season 4 Lila was an injustice to seasons 2-3 Lila.

#28 -Harlan

Couldn't care less about him. He represents to me when the umbrella academy started going to shit in season 3.

#27 -Jennifer

Again, we are given no reason to care about her.

#26 -Pogo

He was just there for the exposition. They never explained why Reggie was doing experiments on monkeys??

#25 -Reggie

He was quite a good villain but i still hate him. Really goofy at times, too.

#24 -Jean and Gene

They were quite good actually. If season 4 wasn't a dumpster fire, i reckon they'd have been able to really shine.

#23 -Cha Cha

This is getting into better territory. I liked Cha Cha, she was badass, but not well developed.

#22 -Detective Patch

Again, i liked her, but she wasn't given much time to develop as a character.

#21 -The Swedes

They were funny, whimsical villains that were fun to watch on screen. Funny and whimsical are two adjectives that TUA used to embody.

#20 -Elliott

My guy just wanted to eat fish and be a conspiracy theorist 😔

#19 -Sissy

Welcome back, Sheldon's mum.

In all seriousness, she was well acted despite Viktor's actor giving her nothing to work with, so props to her.

#18 -Dave

WE GOT ZERO MENTIONS OF DAVE IN SEASONS 3-4?!? DESPITE HIM BEING A HUGE PART OF KLAUS'S CHARACTER?!?! WHEN I CATCH YOU WRITERS-

#17 -Destiny's children

I am in fact an active member

#16 -Luther

I have bumped Luther up my list because in seasons 3-4 he sort of embraces his goofiness, but in seasons 1-2 he is an insufferable, incestuous moron. He is up here for good character development and i wished he could have ended up with Sloane.

#15 -Agnes

She was really cute and sweet, i liked her a lot. RIP season 1, you were peak.

#14 -Herb and Dot

They were sweet and funny too, and i miss the whole idea of the time commission.

#13 -Kenny's mum

An honourable mention

#12 -Grace

Grace was super well performed and poignant. I have no issues with Grace.

#11 -Stan

Live, laugh, love Stan. I hate that the trauma of losing him was never mentioned in season 4 for Diego or Lila.

My top 10

#10 -Lenoard Peabody/ Harold Jenkins

I stand by him being one of the best-acted and most cleverly written villains of all time. He is not only a well-executed surprise villain, but a scarily accurate one, and the actor plays him to perfection. We even start to like him before the cracks show. Also he looks like a creepy version of Lin Manuel Miranda.

#9 -Ray

Season 4 did Ray DIRTY. It was completely out of character for him to just walk out. They could have at least have him die in a tragic accident or something. Season 2 Ray is the perfect, most charismatic, ideal man and i hold him in my heart forever and in my head Alison and Ray ended up together.

#8 -Hazel

He had one of the best arcs on the show, period. Continues to represent everything good about the first two seasons of TUA. He was flawed, he was human, he was loveable.

#7 -Umbrella Ben

He seemed like he could have been a brilliant character with more screen time. His sacrifice in season 2 was a genuinely moving moment. The backstreet boys moment is SO FUNNY and his and Klaus's dynamic is something i really miss.

#6 -The Handler

We don't appreciate The Handler enough. The show started rolling downhill as soon as The Handler was gone. She was the glue that held the show together, one of the best villains/antagonists in TV history.

#5 -Allison

Yes, season 3 Allison made some stupid choices and did some terrible things, but a lot of it came from grief and she redeemed herself in season 4 imo. Seasons 1-2 Allison was one of the most charismatic, endearing and empathetic characters on the show.

#4 -Seasons 1-2 Lila

I love you. I miss you. Come back to me.

#3 -Diego

Bumped up the list for being a CONSISTENTLY good character who is flawdd but still extremely loveable and hilarious.

#2 -Seasons 1-3 Five

Seasons 1-3 Five would shoot season 4 Five in the face. He is the daddy here, and season 4 Five is the creepy uncle.

Original Five is a masterfully crafted, hilarious, unique, intelligent character and i will not let season 4 ruin it for me.

#1 -Klaus

This needs no justification.

What do you think? How far do you agree?

[fandom-susceptible]

TDP Rewatch S1E4: Bloodthirsty

I like the way the intro voice changes, I wanna keep track of that now. Pilot was Aaravos, Callum was the second or third? I don't remember the other one though. Viren is the fourth.

Editing in: listen if you like Viren, you may not like my commentary on this episode. I have absolutely no judgment if you do, have fun, go wild, but I personally love to hate him. He is a fictional character. My opinions on him do not reflect my opinions of anyone in the fandom or even the writers. Actually, I think the writers who created him are brilliant - they've successfully created villains that some people will like, who are complex and make sense, but who you can also just absolutely despise! And that's well-done! Anyways yeah I'm coming for Viren this episode, embody the old fanfic rules, don't like don't read.

Rayla is so goddamn cute. I love her so much. Also, feral Moonshadow headcanons are being fed by her first solution being to chew on the binding, not USE A SPELL. Since it's a MAGICAL RIBBON. Darling, dear, sweetheart, baby, Rayla, moonberry I'm wheezing. BOTH OF YOUR DADS ARE MAGES. Why was magic not your first solution darling?

They're also just . . . such teenagers in season 1? Idk, I'm nostalgic now, she really feels like a 15 year old watching this. When I first watched it when I was barely older than she is I was wrapped up in the story, but watching it as an adult, I want to wrap her up in a blanket and tell her she did a good job.

Oh Rayla really does curl her lip like she's showing teeth at Bait when they have a little stare-off, my feral Moonshadow headcanons are LIVING for this.

I love how her clothing design at this point has that little like. Heart shape at her throat, too.

At some point maybe I'll stop gushing over Rayla and watch the rest of the episode.

I think it's neat that her eyes match the shade of her tattoos in nighttime scenes.

Can we talk about Harrow managing to set up a funeral procession for Harrow THE NIGHT AFTER HE WAS KILLED? Less than a day? Poor Soren too, he just says "long night", but this has got to be hell on the guy.

"in his final hours, Harrow called me . . . his brother." YOU FUCKING BITCH. Shut the fuck up Lord Viagra. Lord VILLAIN. HE'S NOT EVEN DEAD AND YOU KNOW IT.

Also holy shit oooh yeah "the princes are dead" yes okay lord villain is a bitch in this moment but I also think he said that in a panic because he somehow thought his Nat20 on the Deception check was gonna propel him through the entire funeral, unfortunately Opeli's player finally rolled a perception check above a 3 and realized that the princes weren't there and he had to cover his ass. This is why he sends Soren to kill them later. He done fucked up and then had to commit to the bit.

I also think that Viren refused to allow Harrow to have a proper funeral out of sheer guilt. He's still him at this point, he hasn't even discovered Aaravos yet. Like he's really just this much of an evil bastard to begin with, but he's a self-centered coward. He can't allow a proper funeral to be had for a BIRD. He knows it would all be fake. He has to minimize this and bluff past it before anyone realizes what he's done, because he's still on edge and nervous because his original plan has gone so far off the rails. Harrow didn't listen to him like he thought, now the princes have absconded with what Viren thinks is one of his most powerful weapons, he's told the country that they're dead, and now he's just improvising and he's super not great at that.

Very teenager moment with the kids, Rayla not even waiting 2 seconds before calling Callum's name again. I also think it's cute that she checked to make sure she got his name right.

I love the fact that they're both fucking nerds. Like Callum's obvious but Rayla couldn't remember the word for whetstone despite also using swords, but she's out here giving a full on info dump about Primal Sources and magic and how it works at the slightest provocation from Callum. She is aLSO a nerd. (I like to think she gets this from Runaan. We see him giving lectures in Bloodmoon Huntress, and he references obscure history facts that Ethari thinks are just stories too, so I imagine he's that one guy who can and will give a complete history of the Moonshadow Elves if given a single chance.)

Rayla claims sky magic requires at least a strong breeze to cast a spell, but we never see other sky mages requiring that. Could be a retcon, but I'm gonna mentally patch it as her just misunderstanding how sky magic works because that's not her arcanum/instinct set.

I love how Rayla gets hit in her own insecurities by Callum's speech, like the shared parallel.

Rayla's clenched fist and recoil when Callum assumes they're drinking blood. "Is that what humans think we are? Bloodthirsty monsters?" Rayla, you say that like that isn't also what Skywing elves think of you, per the ones you met when you were 8. Like it's not a common story in Xadia, to the point that YOUR PEOPLE TELL IT ABOUT THEMSELVES. Granted there's actual history behind it from your POV, but yk.

Man . . . when I first watched this Amaya just was my sexuality for like a week, and honestly, the introduction holds up. (also, all my affection for strawberry boy Gren, the Army Commander who does not carry a weapon)

Actually side note about Gren, lmao, he really just caught Amaya's helmet like tossing it over her shoulder is a thing she does all the time, and I want to imagine honestly that it is. That's why he just catches Callum's staff when the boy throws it after finding out Amaya's engaged. He's just used to this family throwing things around him.

I have complicated feelings about the portrayal of Amaya's disability in the show. I've seen a lot of people analyze it, and the general consensus appears to be that it's mostly really good, but there's a handful of things that don't. . . quite make sense, especially her early interactions with Janai with no interpreter present. I will say for me, I could not figure out if she was meant to be deaf or mute until I read an outside source. The more nuanced take deserves its own post, it just occurred to me again with how she reacts to the boys without them signing or her bothering to look at Gren.

Moment of appreciation for Gren's admirable relaying of Amaya's intended tone and inflection, which you can also see reflected in her face. Also her soft smile at Callum when she reminds him it doesn't help to yell is so cute.

I just needed to appreciate the mimicry down to her expression here, complete with putting his hands on his hips to portray the bit she can't because she's using her hands to talk

Amaya really didn't notice the sheer weight in Ezran's backpack huh?

"I skipped breakfast?" THESE BOYS KNOW HOW TO PLAY THEIR AUNT SO WELL I love them so much, it's adorable. Weapons-grade fucking baguette, lmao. Amaya, did you expect the children to be able to yank your whole sword out of the table?

Amaya having the opinion of Moonshadow elves being the worst kind is interesting, given most of her interactions have been with Sunfire elves, based on what we see later. Makes me wonder what exactly happened to shape that opinion. Many little things, specific events, just information? It'd be interesting to find out, especially in the context of Runaan also having Personal Opinions about humans (that they're all liars/can't be trusted). What if their opinions were based off a conflict with each other years before this? It's not canon and I don't think it ever will be, but it'd be a neat idea to play with in a fanfic.

The kids' sheer exasperation at the suggestion they build a dirt man was hilarious, especially when we follow it up by Amaya's soldiers just casually becoming a construction crew to fix the doors she levelled earlier. Does she do this often? Is working for her just an endless string of "she just kicked down a door again. Fuck, now she's put a hole in the table. DID SHE JUST LEVEL A PILLAR?" (all things she did in fact do in this episode, all in like a day)

Callum warning Ezran not to tell Amaya was something I didn't get as a kid, because I saw how Amaya was later and thought maybe if Ezran got to her first, told the whole story before she ever saw Rayla, maybe she would go for it. Watching it now, no, he's . . . unfortunately probably right.

Amaya looming behind Rayla in that scene was absolutely terrifying I love it. Also, seriously Rayla, did you think leaping up to come down like that on a SHIELD was a good idea? That didn't work for you on Runaan, why would it work on Amaya?

I love Rayla sassing the guards with her four fingers joke, but also holy shit the one guard got blinded and just immediately came at her swinging with the sword. This could have gotten so bloody if it wasn't a kids' show.

Yeah no, telling her AFTER she's fought with Rayla wouldn't work.

I would have paid to see a conversation between Amaya and Rayla after this moment, where they talk about what happened here and what Callum told them.

"Puttin' everyone's lives in danger" is such a loaded line after what happened with the other assassins.

I love what a little shit Soren is with his father. "Crown hour. Crown o' clock?"

Harrow being in the damn bird makes so much sense. I fucking knew it. He's caged and refusing to make noise now, and looks away when Viren taunts him, the same way Harrow did when Viren was annoying him before.

I love the one old lady in the crowd who just looks Mad after she hears about the princes' "death", where everyone else is looking sad.

Notice how Viren isn't claiming the title of king? Just Lord Protector? Bitch knows the truth and it's under his skin.

Opeli sometimes hits me in the religious trauma a bit but her grin when Amaya announces the princes are alive gives me life.

[inchidentally]

@ the anons I’ve accrued over this year who brought up Oscar not being embraced by the media team I’m still not going to post the asks bc there’s a lot of doom etc in there but like…

(and even tho it’s easy to find out who it is I’m not including who posted it bc do NOT want hate or anything in their comments and fandom issues =/= relevance to real life teams and their jobs)

“carland0 won the McLaren constructors… Oscar was there ig anyway remember when I staged a puppet show to commemorate carland0” LIKE SHSBSBVSBSBD

and I get that to a media person the subjects are mostly valuable for how good they are on camera bc even Andrea only gets a passing mention in this post compared to a bromance and he’s the actual architect that Lando himself says is behind this win - but he’s also famously deer in the headlights when a camera is on him.

it does possibly explain why the quality and quantity of McLaren content took a sudden nosedive not long after Oscar joined. (side note that Joe also moved on from McLaren early this year who was on the media team and spent a lot of social time with Oscar and posted him more) it’s a lil sad bc if you watch any of Oscar’s Prema content where he feels comfortable and friendly with the people behind the cameras he’s hilarious and willing to “dance” and yap and be silly. even in Alpine he was actually known by broadcast teams for being funny and a sardonic yapper and meme guy. but I think the McLaren ppl mistook Oscar coming into the team in the worst possible way PR wise and clamming up as a result as that being his real personality. Nicole saying how she wanted more people to see his real personality and ironically Carlos himself warming so much to Oscar despite the on track rivalry and not rly hanging out like… I hope the media team maybe start this next season fresh and realize that people who aren’t naturals on camera are still worth putting in effort to help them relax and be themselves. and if one of the people who’s been there for so many years put in that effort then it would have a big ripple effect !!

again I am not gonna post those asks bc a)do NOT support any harassment (however well intentioned) of employees just doing their jobs and b)in the grand scheme of things socmed does not matter and c)Oscar thankfully is blissfully unaware and/or does NOT care. he brings up Carlos and Daniel and carland0 totally on his own and he is utterly free of ego about his perception or presence in McLaren media.

and while it definitely means less Oscar and therefore landoscar content per capita or whatever the phrase is, the whole landoscar dynamic is that it’s so completely not slick fun millennial YouTuber ready PR content and they’re funny and cute and have their own unique chemistry even in the under 2 minutes allowed them for each video. and ofc Oscar has his own social media to put his dry humor and chronically online references <3

but as I saw in comments on a different post, Oscar might take longer to win over the media people but the people who matter most like Andrea and the ppl in the garage and factory and crucially !! the women working directly with him all utterly utterly adore him. he’s quietly there just being a hard worker and proving himself <3

and ultimately ofc the people who don’t like that Lando said he’s decided to not joke or perform as much for media (and saying he picked up from Oscar to just be himself and relax more) can always go back to the old content! and since Carlos creates the same fun bromance atmosphere with all his teammates I mean we all know Team Torque is about to become one of the best parts of race week media. Williams media team is going to eat him UPPPP

anyway yea none of it is deep it just got me thinking about how Oscar post alpinegate withdrew so much and so many ppl haven’t looked up who he was before to realize what a fun silly chatty kitten he is and that ofc he must be bc Lando holds him in his hand lovingly for a reason - and I do think when the ppl who got used to the Carlos and Daniel school of media warm up to Oscar and learn him more we’ll get that high res DSLR filmed content again instead of portrait iPhone instagram <3

(side note the whole thing if Unboxed dropping bc of DTS got debunked. DTS hasn’t stopped any other teams content and if it were true then Lando wouldn’t be allowed to make Landologs. this was definitely a media team decision made midway thru 2023)

[my-rose-tinted-glasses]

Happy New Year! I've been writing too many recaps lately so this will be brief. Anyway as usual, spoilers and opinions below, read at your own risk.

QL - Currently Watching

🇹🇭 Caged Again [9/10] - I don't think the poachers escaping and going after them again was necessary, and it certainly wasn't well executed.

🇯🇵 Call Me by No-Name [1/8] - I love the visuals, it's all very deliberate, with the lighting , the colours and all the lines. I'm intrigued about no-name and the scheherazade of it all. She must be running from something, or someone. Probably the second. 🇹🇭 Fourever You [15/16] - I don't know why I'm still watching. I really don't.

🇨🇳 I'll Turn Around This Time [1/6] - Very nice production, I really like the visuals. The first episode spanned 3 months so it was a lot but I think it was well paced. Time loop has begun so I expect a lot of heartache. Curious about this one. 🇯🇵Miseinen [9/10] - I think some of the changes they made from the source material really didn't help the story in the second half of the show. And this last episode just felt like they were more focused on continuing the visual metaphors than to actually move the story forward in a way that made sense. I'm kinda disappointed tbh.

🇹🇭 Ossan's Love Th [2/12] - I'm having so much fun. Smitten Mix is my favourite Mix, and I'm loving seeing Earth do something different. I actually like the Boss, I think the show is doing a good job balancing the more excentric side with the professional. That moment on the roof when he and Moo went from fighting to professional mode was well done.

🇹🇭 Perfect 10 Liners [14/24] - I adore them.

🇹🇭 Sangmin Dinneaw [3/8] - This show just went full on bonkers. I mean, this whole episode was crazy. I don't even know what to say. The hotel manager is not funny, I can't stand her. The mains are cute but I don't know if I'm gonna stick with this one.

🇹🇼 See Your Love [11/13] - It's like watching two shows in one. On one side we have the most endearing couple. They are completely in love with each other and helping each other through their individual issues. And the other...I don't really know what's happening.

🇹🇭 The Boy Next World [4/10] - Ok, so we all agree that Cir is just more than a little insane, like probably because of that mother, and not really from a parallel universe, and has probably been stalking watching Phu from afar since that day in the classroom, right? Great.

🇹🇭 The Heart Killers [9/12] - I'm still watching quietly.

🇹🇭 ThamePo [7/12] - They are so charming and earnest. And Est is too beautiful for this world. But also...

🇯🇵 When It Rains, It Pours [1/7] - I'm very curious. I really like the setup, it feels grown up. Also I'm curious if the gay couple, is actually a couple, or if maybe they were once but now they stayed together for convenience or some other reason. We'll see.

🇹🇭 Your Sky [11/12] - Hia and Real need to get on with it. Lee and Ghlai need their own show. Teerak and Fah continue to be the most lovable couple in all the land.

QL - Finished

🇯🇵Love in the Air Koi - I appreciated the condensed stories, with less filler and the parallel kidnappings. And I preferred this version of the second couple.

🇯🇵 Love is a Poison - I adore them. Shiba is such a fascinating and original character. The actors did an incredible job, and I could watch them be battle husbands for 5 more seasons. Oh and the succulents. I will miss them most of all.

🇹🇭 My Stand-In - Final thoughts here.

🇹🇭 Spare Me Your Mercy - It's interesting in the context of euthanasia but not much else. The crime part of this was messy and the romance was practically not existent or otherwise not believable.

Others - Watched

🇹🇭High School Frenemy | 🇨🇳Fangs of Fortune | 🇯🇵Lion no Kakurega |🇰🇷 Squid Game 2

Coming in January: 05/01 - 🇹🇭 The Boy Next world 06/01 - 🇹🇭Ossan's Love Thailand 09/01 - 🇯🇵 When it Rains, It Pours - 🇯🇵 Call Me by No-Name 15/01 - 🇹🇼 Impression of Youth

I've finished my yearly recap by country. Korea | Thailand | Japan. I hope you all have the most wonderful year. As usual my ask box is open. 💜

[evanvison]

Mystreet season 7 ideas

I was recently thinking about the upcoming season of Mystreet and decided to come up with ideas or hopes for some of the characters and their stories.

I may do a few of these, but for this post, I wanted to discuss one character whose development I originally didn't think much of. After thinking about it for a bit I realized that this character had far more potential in the upcoming season than I had originally thought.

That character is Dante!

When it comes to Mystreet, Dante doesn't have a whole lot going on. He is a good friend in the group and is currently roommates with Travis. Other personality aspects can be narrowed down to flirtatious and silly. His biggest moments were mostly in season 2 and some fun moments in season 3.

I sat down recently and thought long and hard about what kind of potential dynamics and character moments everyone in the cast would have during season 7 and Dante surprised me with all the different dynamics that could not only give his character far more development, but a few others that I had trouble with as well.

I will break these dynamics down into groups. Mostly in order of how important these moments would be for his character and the plot.

4. Starting with the obvious, Laurence! Laurence and Dante are the only two characters in the main group that have been entirely left out of the overarching plot of seasons 4-6. We don't know for sure how much information they have regarding what the Starlight gang has gone through. What information was made public by the news? Let's assume they know at most, that the Ultima exists, went crazy, and was supposedly "killed". We have to also assume that neither of them knows that the Lodge crew was at Starlight, or they figured it out from how long they were gone (less likely)? They know Travis and Katelyn were there but that may be it.

When the rest of the gang all come home together, without Travis and Aphmau, I have to imagine that unless the gang explains what happened immediately, a good chunk of the season could be Laurence and Dante trying to figure out what happened. Obviously, they can't hide much this time. Zane can only say names as numbers, Aaron is damaged and has no memories, Lucinda has no magic, Garroth is a werewolf (there is no way he will keep that hidden for long), and finally... Aph and Travis are still not back! Good luck trying to keep Laurence and Dante from asking questions when they can figure all that out pretty easily.

I can imagine some scenes in the first few episodes where the two are working together to go around detective style, to try and gather up all the clues so they can piece some stories together, even if everyone tries to leave some parts out. Either way, finally bringing these two into the "in-the-know group" should be a good character moment for at least a few people.

3. Kawaii~Chan & Zane. This one is the least likely (probably) but I liked the idea so I am talking about it. One thing that Dante is known for in Mystreet is that he is a flirt and has trouble staying with the girls he dates. In some of the videos outside of the "main canon content" we see skits where Dante is in love with KC and actively tries to steal her away from Zane. I don't know how canon these silly skit ideas are and they may have no relevance to the season at all but Jess wrote them and they connect to Dante in key character ways, so I'm using it! Assuming Dante does have a lingering crush on KC since dating her in the past, I could him talking to her more this season only to realize that Zane is dating her now. This could lead to him either becoming jealous (like the skits) or using this moment to realize that Zane has grown and become a man worthy of dating KC. This could give Dante a growth moment where he could then realize how happy KC is and step back to maybe think about becoming the kind of guy that could keep a girlfriend too.

I could see a cute conversation between him and KC where she gives him a pep talk about growing with someone when you truly love them (it could be so cute).

2. Aaron. Something that we as a fandom don't talk enough about is Dante and Aaron and their surprising friendship. These two are actually far closer than we tend to give credit for. Dante literally was the one who helped Aaron get the ticket situation for Starlight and the proposal set up. Imagine that everyone comes back except Travis (& Aph but for this let's focus on Travis) and Dante is already missing him like crazy then he sees all his friends hurt, and then he sees one of his friends who looks like he really shouldn't be alive AND he says he doesn't REMEMBER YOU! I would lose it. I want to see Dante with little else to do, so he decides to try and help bring back or at least assist with getting Aaron's memories back. It would be a massive character moment and would slowly help him mold into the Dante we know from Diaries.

Diaries Dante is known for being loyal as all get out. He is a protector of the village, he waited 15 years for his friends to return home, even when everyone else had left. He went through a lot and matured because of it.

Mystreet Dante is also loyal, we don't see it that much, but he is (which is why I don't like the idea of him trying to steal KC from Zane). He loves his friends so much. He is sort of going through a similar moment to Diaries Dante by having the Aph group leave without knowing what is going on or why they are gone and having to wait patiently for their return. Then they all come back (mostly) and they are damaged and broken returning to a very empty town. A place Dante has been waiting in for a while. This season could bring Dante and his arch full circle and show that his Diaries counterpart isn't all that different after all.

1. The final one. Katelyn... Now I know this one seems odd as number one, but Travis is still in the hospital for now so until he returns home with Aph, I can't count him but this Katelyn one is also a Travis-related one so... Anyways, I assume at some point Katelyn will have to explain what happened with Travis (whether it's fully truthful or not is a debate). A moment that I feel could be a game changer is if Katelyn asks Dante what Travis was like before high school. We don't talk enough about how Dante and Travis have been friends since before high school. He may know some things about Travis and his family before we meet him in the story that could be insightful. Imagine with me if you will, an entire back-and-forth conversation between Katelyn and Dante where they discuss Travis, his past, and what went down with him on Starlight. That could tell us a lot about Travis that we might not have known before. It also would be cute if Dante told Katelyn how much Travis has changed because he loves her.

I just wanted to share these because if I don't I'll lose it. I hope Dante gets the character moments he deserves in the new season. until then I want any other Dante season 7 stuff you can think of to be commented! I wanna hear them! Also enjoy this very quick sketch of Dante I did.

Anyway, have a good day/night everyone! More season 7 character ideas to come so look out for them!

[kneworder]

I FORGOT MALIA IM SO SORRY MALIA

hate when the fic is so mean spirited towards one character that it doesn't matter how much it focuses on my fave i absolutely have to click off immediately

[sharkyisashark]

.ೃ࿐

Aight, two stories in one night :') Couldn't think of any ideas, so I went to chat gpt :') It actually cooked today, so I thought I'd make a timebomb story based off of it. <3

(chat gpt prompt) Thought it'd be super cute if it was based a few years after season 2's ending. So Jinx has been "dead" for a while. Ekko has his suspicions she was alive, but the letter sort of just proves it. The last piece of evidence. Anyway, enjoy!

Ekko was sat looking silently out of his stained glass window. Looking quietly out at the large tree, it's long branches creating soft shadows that draped through the room. In his hands was a letter, no name, no address... nothing. He at first thought it might've been from Vi, considering she usually visited him, often to catch up, or help Cait with a case... But now, he wasn't so sure. Vi's letters were never this... ominous. Ever since the war, things had been... good? Piltover had somewhat created peace with the Zaun now, and things were probably the most peaceful they'd been in years. And yet for Ekko, he just felt... lost. Like a part of him was missing. It drove him insane. He finally got what he wanted, hadn't he? A happy ending. He could relax, and be with the people he cared about. But, he had to realise what the problem really was eventually... He had to realise who this was really about. Jinx. The girl he cared so much about, the girl who had deserved another chance.. was gone. There wasn't a goodbye, there wasn't even one last glance. She had just... slipped from his fingers, vanished from his life, within an instant. He'd been sort of living in shock for the first few months, things had felt all.. weird, dreamy. He couldn't process it, she was gone..? She couldn't just.. die? Even when Vi had told him, the person he'd trust with his life... he still couldn't believe it. He wouldn't. So he didn't, wasting years of his life on some fantasy that she was still out there... somewhere. And he just needed to find her. But never the less, he grew out of that. Forcing himself to recognise how much time he was wasting. He gave up, there was no finding a dead person. He'd spent so long trying to go back to normal, to forget about her, to move on. And when he finally did. He finally felt okay... he finally felt like himself, like he could be released from whatever turmoil was stirring inside of him... This damn letter arrived at his door. He spent days putting it off, he knew it could never be... from her. But he just felt- scared? Excited? Terrified..? Eventually though, Ekko did what any rational person would do. He opened it. His fingers trembled around the paper, chewing on his lower lip as he tugged the card out of it's casing. Stunned as a colourful variety of confetti erupted from inside of the note... settling itself over his desk. There must've been some... event in Piltover, some invite... surely there was something- He felt himself pale slightly as his gaze landed over the page however, soon realising that there weren't many words spread across the paper, maybe a few "hello"s scribbled in blue pen, and rather large "Boom!"s written in red... But it was enough to make his head spin. Those familiar scribbled monkey faces, or quirky little stick figures, drawings of people he could recognise from miles away. It made his heart hurt, this had to be some cruel joke...? Some delusional prank. But he knew otherwise, he'd learnt to memorize the childish lettering, the bright colours... everything that made Jinx... Powder. The part of her that was still in there... the part of her he fell in love with. With an exhaled breath he hadn't realised he was holding, he read over the only coherent text; on the bottom of the page. 'see you in a blink?'

Words cannot explain how fun this was to write <3 I'm thinking I might turn this into a sequel? Tell me what you'd think of that! Anyways! Requests are always open annddd join my community? It's new and we need members, just for chatting and making arcane friends :) Community invite .ೃ࿐ - sharky 🦈

[ilikekidsshows]

So I watched the first 2 seasons or so of ML because I thought the premise was super cute and fun, and while I had a generally fun time watching it was just a bit too episodic for me so I just kinda stopped watching (like, I recall even the writers at the time saying the eps could be watched in any order, which was for me enough of a sign that this wouldn’t go anywhere that I just couldn’t feel truly invested). But like I said the premise was so good I’d peek into the fandom from time to time just to see how things were going and it seems like I made the right choice to drop when I did, lol. I just fell into a rabbit hole of ml salt posts recently and feel like a lot of my early concerns ended up super validated. However, even though I haven’t watched the show in years I can’t help but feel disappointed at so much wasted potential. I’m curious as someone who still watches, do you engage with fanfic / other fandom stuff as an alternative to canon?

---

Oh, don’t get me wrong, I don’t watch, not even to hate watch. I follow from the sidelines and read episode transcripts and check out singular scenes. It’s like, when you move away from a crappy town, and there’s some news article about how bad that place is having it and you read it for some vindication of the “I knew it was shit, I hope others can see that too now and get out” kind.

I have a very hard time engaging with Miraculous fanfiction for the same reason I have a hard time watching even my old favorite episodes. The way Miraculous shat the bed retroactively made all the things set up in the previous seasons crap too. Oh, you like the lovesquare? Well, in canon Marinette doesn’t give a damn about Adrien or Cat Noir as a person, only being interested in him as a prize. Have fun watching them grow closer in the previous seasons! Oh, you want Adrien to get freedom away from his abusive dad? Well, in canon he gets gaslit into thinking his dad was a good person and he’s now stuck living in a world his father created. Also he’s a remote control robot and can therefore never be truly free! What a fun twist!

Adrien’s entire species got retconned in a way that makes a happy ending impossible, and the main romantic couple got twisted in a way that I just can’t see our lead actually caring about her romantic partner, unless she was blatantly out of character. That makes it very hard to enjoy fanfic, even when they don’t bring these problems up, there’s very little a fan writer can do to disconnect their story from canon enough for these things to not be serious problems. Currently, the only Miraculous fic I’m reading is the Divorce AU, Perfect Paradise, where Adrien finds out all this and instantly divorces Marinette, and the fic is about them dealing with the fallout of Adrien having been married to and having had kids with someone who, while still loving him, was mistreating him to such a degree.

And the irony of this is that the show started getting noticeably worse as soon as it started being less episodic. For many other shows, that’s usually when the writers really cut their teeth and the show starts being more engaging as a result. For Miraculous, the episodic format actually worked to lessen the issues with the writing.

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

What do you say about 2 most despised characters in the fandom: Andre the Ice Cream Man and Thomas’s self-insert?

Are they the most despised characters? I feel like that honor goes to more prevalent characters like Gabriel, Lila, or André Bourgeois, but I could be wrong. Either way, my thoughts on the two you asked about are as follows:

Andre the Ice Cream Man

Andre reminds me of the weeping angels from Dr. Who. Great - or in this case fine - initial concept, but the more they show up, the less sense they make because the rules keep changing.

If we go by his initial appearance, then he's just some guy who can magically sense who you're supposed to be with and who gives you ice cream to point you to them. That's a cute concept for a rom-com. I can even accept him getting akumatized when he first shows up because, if you're a magical match maker who delights in love, then it makes sense that you'd be sad to see someone giving up on love even if it's just a teenager being dramatic. Those feelings are still quite real plus this show is aimed at little kids. They're going to view Marinette's heartbreak more seriously than an adult audience.

Unfortunately, every subsequent appearance ruins the initial setup by changing Andre's rules, turning him into a pretty obnoxious character. If he can sense perfect matches, then why does Marichat set him off? Shouldn't he be able to sense that this is a perfect match? And why didn't Adrigami set him off in the season three final? They got ice cream without him throwing a fit while Marichat was refused service once and caused an akumatization another time! That makes no sense. Does this man sense true matches or just support whatever couple comes to see him? And what happened to the whole, "anyone who eats his ice cream together stays together forever" thing? Consistency matters, people! Pick a lane! Obnoxious shipper who can't take a hint or true magical match maker. Which is he?

Based on his initial appearance and rules, Andre should be the only person in Paris who knows the truth of the square right from the start. If they'd done that, then he could have been a fun character that was used to subtly push the square together and give them an odd feeling of hope in dark moments where their love is wavering. After all, who doesn't love ice cream when nursing a broken heart? It could have been a cute running gag where Andre shows up with ice cream every time a part of the square is moping. Instead we get whatever nonsense canon is doing with him because even the super minor characters suffer from how wildly inconsistent canon is.

I'll end the Andre discussion by saying that I'm not sure if I'll ever forgive the writers for having Andre be the one to out Marinette's crush on Adrien. Five seasons of waiting and that's it? That's the big reveal? You are not getting me hyped for the actual big reveal, guys. Between this and the what-if episodes always making someone look terrible, my feelings about the eventual square reveal are basically just low-key dread. Thank goodness there are so many solid reveals in the fandom to give me the satisfaction I crave!

Thomas’s self-insert

Confession time, I didn't know that this was a self-insert when I watched this episode. I thought that Thomas' character was just a gag about how most people don't really know what directors do because that is certainly a thing. The fine details of individual roles in the entertainment industry are kind of nebulous to industry outsiders. We can see this in the fact that people often attribute way too much power to individuals and ignore how many people are involved in making movies and TV shows.

One of my favorite stories about this is the fact that a Star Trek writer had his episode win a Hugo only for him to completely disavow the episode because they changed his script so much after he turned it in. This is not a unique story, btw. Stuff like this happens all the time. It's why I've mentioned that I use "writers" as a bit of a catch-all term for "anyone who effects the story telling" for simplicity's sake. Though I will note that, outside of season one, every season of Miraculous was written by a team. Members of that team are then credited as directors, so these guys have a lot more powers than the guy who won the Hugo. The guy who won the Hugo won it because Star Trek was apparently being run like Miraculous was in season one when the show was written by a bunch of different writers who just sold scripts for individual episode and those scripts then got worked into a final version by a smaller core team. Film is a complicated industry like that.

Anyway, back to the character question!

I now know that this was a self-inset, but it doesn't really change my initial feelings about the episode. All of the problems come from Marinette's writing, not Thomas' self-insert character. I'm actually not sure why his character gets so much hate. As far as bad self-inserts go, it was pretty tame. I'm not sure if I'd even call it bad. Thomas wasn't painted as a god or anything like that. He was the butt of a running joke that I didn't find very funny, but I do think that it indicates a level of humility to let your self-insert be seen as less than perfect. He doesn't even take credit for being both a writer and a director:

Jagged: Ladybug is one of my best buds! I can't wait to see her movie! Thomas: Well I'm— I'm the director, so actually it's more my movie, so to speak. Jagged: Oh, so you're the one who created the story? Thomas: Well, technically the screen writers wrote the story, inspired by Ladybug's exploits. Jagged: Oh, ok. So you did all the drawings? Thomas: No, no. The animators do all the drawings. Jagged: So what do you do then? Thomas: Well I—

Now that I know that this character is a self-insert, also I find this moment at the end a lot more cute:

Thomas:(after seeing the conversation) You know what. Take my seat and enjoy the movie. I've seen it ten times or more. What matters the most for the movie is to be seen by people who really want to see it right? Marinette: (stutters) But... I-I... Uh... But... Thomas: Sorry, I guess you don't know who I am either Marinette: Of course do. You're Thomas Astruc the movie director! (hugs him) Oh thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you! Thomas: She recognized me. Somebody actually recognized me! (wipes away tears) This is the best day of my life! 

I may not like major elements of this dude's show, but I really don't see this as an ego trip. I see it as a nice moment between creator and creation, possibly because I got to view the episode without any biases when I first watched it. I'm not sure if knowing the full story would have changed my read, though, because I really do think that it's fine for writers and directors to put themselves in minor roles in their creation. You have to come up with so many characters for a story like this, why not let a random akuma be based on you?

To give you a little perspective, the head writers of the show RWBY both voice characters in the show. Once again, I have no problem with that, especially since RWBY didn't have the massive budget you need in order to hire a bunch of voice actors. The thing that I do judge them for is the fact that both of their characters get unnecessary romance plots with major characters. One of the writer's characters - a guy named Jaune - even gets an obnoxious amount of screen time to the point where he feels like more of a main character than some of the actual main characters.

This whole video analyzing that show is excellent and may be worth a watch even if you've never watched RWBY because it plays with some of the same general genres as Miraculous and suffers from some similar writing problems, but I'll give you two specific time links to parts that talk about the self-insert problem so that you can see what I mean if you'd like a little more context:

The RWBY issue is the kind of setup where finding out that it's an author self-insert makes me uncomfortable. These two characters have some pretty clear writing problems, so learning that they're also self-inserts? Not a great look. It makes it feel like the writers were prioritizing their self-insert characters over telling a good story. That's not what we got in Miraculous so Thomas' character seriously doesn't phase me. I doubt it would phase most salters if the overall show was actually good.

[screamlet]

2024 Tumblr Top 10

tagged by @rcmclachlan​!!! what a fun journey through time, especially because this is the first time i've been in a tumblr-centric fandom... ever.

Share your top 10 tumblr posts from last year! Visit this site, scroll down to "Find your Tumblr Top 10," type in your username, and select 2024. When you get the results, simply click "Share to Tumblr" and you'll get an auto-generated draft for a post with links and previews. Make any adjustments you see fit.

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1. 558 notes - Nov 9 2024

Another hospital room. Buck takes a deep breath and closes his eyes again, letting it out and hoping he gets back to sleep. It doesn’t happen, though, because his brain catches up to his eyes: Maddie, wearing a yellow paper hospital mask, a hand anxiously on her belly, sitting in the chair next to him with that too-familiar oh-thank-god-you’re-finally-awake face… and Tommy leaning in the doorway.

this is from break and be mended, the 4.5k bucktommy fix-it fic i vomited up literally two days after the breakup aired. the spirit (of anger and spite) moved me i guess

2. 406 notes - Sep 17 2024

so imagine: s8e1, many bees, zero tommy until another last 5 minutes of the episode, the jeep pulling up to this small house...

this little whatever from a week before the s8 premiere when we thought the bees would be something and/or tommy would do anything and/or we would ever see tommy’s fucking house. the dodgeball of apollo missed me on every count.

3. 400 notes - Oct 4 2024

“well we’re so happy the co-pilot’s awake! everything’s gonna be just fine and we can land this plane now” god don’t they know they’re in part two of a three-part season opener, they did this to themselves

this random post from an episode live blog and it wouldn’t have gone anywhere without @dadvans​ and the assist, god this still makes me laugh

4. 232 notes - Dec 8 2024

It’s not until the elevator starts moving that he hears it through the doors: “Tommy! Tommy, wait—Tommy!”

the fic post for a wolf without a foot, my 34k bucktommy fix-it fic that just... 😐 i might write a buck interstitial to this one because buck’s (lack of) presence in it continues to bug me. no promises!!!!

5. 222 notes - Aug 28 2024

The plan doesn't involve kissing Evan, this man he's met three times. Disaster rescue, work tour, basketball disaster, Evan's apartment right now—four times. This is only the fourth time he's ever laid eyes on Evan Buckley, but Evan Buckley hasn't fucking blinked since he stepped into the room. Has Tommy?

for a random wip wednesday, i posted the whole tommy pov scene of The First Kiss from what are your intentions? and it’s still getting notes four and a half months later. this poor man!!! what’s a terrified gay to do!!!!!

6. 214 notes - Dec 11 2024

Tommy has one arm firmly around Buck and one finger pointing at Sal. "I'm from LA. When the hell would I have seen a live chicken?"

aw, this cute @118dailydrabble​ where buck learns about Maurice the Chicken while hanging out with tommy, sal, and bobby.

7. 213 notes - Dec 20 2024

Buck reads to himself: If my grief is violent enough, perhaps he will come back to life again... "Mayday, mayday, mayday, companies respond to an explosion at Harbor Station."

the beginning of blow up that chopper!!!!

8. 204 notes - Nov 16 2024

"Yeah, pretty much. You got some good parts, though. The really good ones." He swallows past the lump in his throat, and means it when he says, "I wouldn't give you any less." "But I wanted all of them," Evan says. "You gave me less, Tommy. Don't think you did me some favor, here. You didn't. You gave me less."

a wip wednesday excerpt from a wolf without a foot, gahhhhhhh yes it still kills me, too

9. 201 notes - Nov 26 2024

my favorite part of the bucktommy breakup fic explosion is seeing each writer focus on THE thing that bugs them most about this breakup and/or breakups in general...

"confessions” aired almost exactly two months ago and man has this fandom been a fucking ride since then

10. 198 notes - Dec 9 2024

unfortunately kinley cafe posits a REALLY interesting coffee shop au where the fluffy gay owners break up and a whole neighborhood has to scheme to get them back together so they don't sell the cafe

where is this coffee shop au!!!!!!!!!!!

tagging: YOU, YES, YOU