#based on that one s6 episode

[irenespring]

Me: I'm going to get back into writing fanfiction for a fun creative writing outlet, while I work on other humanities and social sciences in classwork :) Also me: Has now read at least one official medical study, multiple interest/support group and government reports, and several online testimonials re: House's possible amputation vs. non-narcotic pain treatments sans amputation, and now has a pretty good mental chart going of decidedly STEM things.

I have been tricked into researching STEM. Creative writing has betrayed me.

[memryse]

anyway over the last week i have caught up on 3 povs of hermitcraft after not watching any episodes in apparently about 8 months, and barely watching any other minecraft content in that time either

and like. even after being out of the loop for literally 2/3rds of a year i'm still very much on the side of this being probably the best hermitcraft season ever. i think the attitude of focusing less on megabuilds and analytics, more on just dumb interactions and having fun has continued even when we're now over a year into the season. i've been watching hermitcraft for 4 years now and the difference between back then and now feels like night and day - you can tell how much closer they've all become as friends in that exact time frame thanks to not just the life series but proximity chat as a whole and the additions of gem, pearl, joel and skizz. who are all such vibrant parts of the server that i completely understand mumbo forgetting gem only joined in s8 lol. and the launch of more irl hermit events like the charity streams. s10 has been such a breath of fresh air and you can see it in every single member's videos

if i had to put it into words s6 and s7 were the peak of "old" hermitcraft, huge megabases and no prox chat, still fun and silly but feeling a little dated in some ways nowadays. s8 (which is my personal favourite, but still) had a lot of hermits trying new things during the peak of mcyt, which resulted in a lot of algorithm chasing (bad!) but also everyone growing much closer as friends thanks to the permanent use of prox chat and everyone's bases being closer together. s9 saw a return to a more conventional style for the hermits rather than the experimental s8, but applied what they learned during that time with things like the empires crossover. great season overall with a bunch of absolute standout builds like scarland and decked out 2, but here is when burnout started to become visible in a few creators imo. mumbo was not the only one. and i think that's completely natural after how much they all pushed themselves in 2021-22. s10 is like the completion of this collective character arc where it's the truest return to form for the hermits since 2020, but with *so* much visible growth in both the quality of their content as youtubers and the quality of their art itself

[bejeweledinterludes]

❝ aw, crap. ❞

❝ i’m a painted whore. ❞

「 pairing 」 : dean winchester x fem makeup ! wearing reader

「 summary 」 : after a near-death experience on a hunt, you stop wearing your usual everyday makeup, not thinking too much of it. but when you meet up with the winchester brothers for a hunt, dean notices. a lot.

「 word count 」 : 1.7 k

「 warnings 」 : swearing, suggestive content, dean n reader being idiots, sam being a godsend (as always)

tags (based off of this post): @blossomingorchids @illicithallways @k-pevensie28 @sunsbaby @theeyesofasoldier @alediao @cowboysandcigarettes

also PLEASE tell me you guys get the title ?! it’s from the spn episode “the french mistake” (s6 , ep15) when dean says he’s a ‘painted whore�� bc he had makeup on hehe anyways enjoy pookies !!!

𖤐 ────────────────────────

as you got older, you started to like makeup less and less. and it wasn’t because you were even bad at it— but over time, it just… got in the way.

especially on hunts. whether you completely sweated off your eyeshadow or left smears of foundation all over the collars of your fed threads, it was becoming more and more of a chore than one of your favorite things to do.

and the worst part was, you almost died from it. 

it had been a simple solo rugaru hunt that you were on about a few months ago in the summertime down in the middle of arizona. so it was hot. and you sweated. a lot. so much so that your mascara started to run and burn in your eyes, making you temporarily impaired— which resulted in almost being that rugaru’s dinner.

after that, you swore off makeup completely. a little concealer and the waterproof mascara that your friend swore was “sob-proof” was the farthest you’d go on a good day— saving a full face only for special occasions, being undercover, or not when you were deep in the thick of it somewhere in the american wilderness.

. • . ° .• °:. *₊ ° . 𖤐

you got a call from the winchester brothers in minnesota a few days ago. you’d been finishing up a wendigo hunt in the next state over when sam called you, asking if you had a minute.

and you always had a minute for the winchesters.

you were already heading their way by the time you hung up the phone, meeting up with them outside the sheriff’s office in your fed threads to get info on the people who had gone missing in the past week under strange circumstances.

sam clapped you on the back in greeting— dean too, at usual. but they both were internally recognizing the fact that you looked a little… different.

but not a bad different.

no, it was almost like you looked… younger or something. which was weird, because you didn’t trust witches or fairies just as much as they did— so a youth potion or some sort of spell was out of the question. 

sam, being sam, immediately recognized without any help that it was because you were wearing less makeup. even now, years and years later, he still remembered the first time he saw jess without makeup on (like he’d ever forget), and remembered how bashful she’d been because of it. with that, sam knew makeup was almost like protection for the wearer.

so he made a point of not saying anything about it to you— because despite popular belief, he wasn’t just book smart.

and when the two brothers trailed behind you inside the sheriff’s station, he quickly shut down dean’s questioning look and mutter of “why the hell does she look so sexy different?” with a swift “don’t you say anything.” to his older brother— to which, dean pouted, left to put the pieces together himself. 

and dean couldn't figure out why he was so infatuated with you all of a sudden.

well, actually, dean did know, but he didn’t want to actually admit it.

because that would mean changing things.

and as much as he wanted to, he wouldn’t allow things to change between you and him. no, he couldn’t. you were one of the only good things— good friends in his life, and he’d be damned if he was going to ruin yet another thing because he couldn’t keep his goddamn mouth shut over some stupid crush.

but something about you was different, he knew it. and over the days on the hunt with the guys, when you all were doing research or talking to people to get info, dean would find himself just… staring at you.

hard.

because now, dean could see clear as day that tinge of pink seep into your cheeks whenever you laughed too hard at something, or got embarrassed— and not to mention the way your eyes still seemed to just light up, even without the usual help of your glittery highlighter that always doubled as your eyeshadow.

he was losing his mind.

you honestly didn’t even really notice it at first. but then again, you didn’t notice a lot of things when it came to dean and you.

he thought he was being obvious with this annoying ass crush for years now— so did sam.

well, he thought, maybe you did notice; you just chose not to mention it for fear of making things awkward.

but in reality, it was because you also had a raging crush on dean. and because of the worry that you were really just imagining all the times you caught dean looking at you when he thought you weren’t paying attention.

the whole ‘not-noticing’ thing sounds a whole lot better out loud, though.

. • . ° .• °:. *₊ ° . 𖤐

which brings you up to right now— sitting with the brothers in some mom-and-pop burger joint after spending the morning talking to the families of the people who had gone missing. it seemed weird to be eating lunch while people were disappearing left and right.

but something pulls you out of your thoughts. you could literally feel eyes on you. you glanced around the hazy sun-lit diner, trying to find the culprit— until you snapped your head to dean sitting directly next to you in the booth, who quickly averted his green eyes back to his plate.

but not quick enough. because you actually, truly, caught him this time.

despite the win, you’re internally freaking out (because jesus, did you really look that bad without makeup on?), but you follow dean’s suit, looking back down at your own food and popping a fry in your mouth smoothly. you were always good at that— keeping a poker face even when you were less than the epitome of calm.

“you wanna take a picture or somethin’?” you inquire cooly between chews— and silently wishing you’d at least put on concealer today.

dean’s eyes immediately flick back up to your side profile— and sam looks up from his salad across from you and dean.

“w—” dean half-smirked nervously with a short chuckle, looking between you, his plate, and sam like he hadn’t just been ogling you mere seconds ago before looking back down at his plate again. “no. it’s just that—”

dean’s words were cut off by a swift kick to his leg under the table from none other than his own brother— shooting a warning glance at dean before he could finish.

son of a bitch— dean shot a glare at his brother right back, glancing back over at you and muttering “‘s nothin’.” and shaking his head before going back to his food.

“y—” your eyes flicked between the two brothers. that stupid silent communication thing they always did wasn’t lost on you for a second. “w— it’s obviously something. jus’ tell me what’s goin’ on, guys.”

dean glanced back up at you— a huge mistake, because he was taken aback by your more concern rather than anger towards him for staring. classic you. never, ever angry at him, even when he knew he damn well deserved it. that was only one of the many reasons why he lov— liked you.

dean then glanced from you to his little brother, possibly for some sort of saving grace, but he was only met with a warning expression from sam, mixed with something else— that familiar look they gave each other all the time that screamed “you opened your mouth, jerk, so you fix it. and if you fuck this up, i’ll kill you dead”.

great.

dean made the next terrible decision of looking back to you— and god, you were looking right back at him. with those gorgeous eyes, only mixed with mild curiosity and concern. your gaze held no malice, eyebrows slightly scrunched together with that look you always had when you were trying to figure him out. 

oh, you could figure him out, alright. with you under or on top of him. naw, he didn’t care, just as long as it was both of you moving and skin-to-skin, with those pretty lips gasping for air and moaning his name over, and over, and over—

“somethin’s different.” dean blurts out, internally kicking himself just as sam had done earlier to shake the filthy images that had seeped into his mind.

“different,” a sharp pang of nervousnes but mostly that same curiosity spreads across your senses— you tilt your head a little at dean, brows furrowing just a little more, repeating the word flatly. “different how?”

“i—” the words get caught in dean’s throat, and he hesitates. “well, y’know, it’s, uh… i mean, you look—”

“better,” sam finally interjects with the truth, sick of dean tripping over simple goddamn words. he leans into the table a little to get your attention before slumping back in the booth, rolling his eyes slightly at his brother before looking at you with that soft look he always seemed to have, nodding. “you look better. that’s all. did ya do something different?”

oh. oh.

you look back to dean next to you— the way he was pointedly not looking at you at all anymore was enough to confirm what sam was saying. 

“w—” it was your turn to be momentarily speechless, taken aback by sam’s words— and pink appeared on your cheeks, full-throttle before you leaned back against the vinyl, gathering yourself.

you then sheepishly explained what had happened with the rugaru, which ultimately led to your decision to abandon putting on a full beat for ganking monsters. you continued on, saying it was less stuff to pack, and now you could sleep in as much as sam and dean did— besides, it’s not like it even mattered to them anyway.

right?

sam nodded and agreed understandingly— as he always does.

dean just hummed in response, completely and grossly interested in his food again— as he always was.

you nodded too, giving the brothers one last look before delving into a theory you had on the case to sam. and you really thought that was it. 

or so you believed. 

but the truth was, dean could not be any happier with your decision to ditch makeup for the time being. 

because dean was starting to realize that he really liked you without it on.

───────────────────────── 𖤐

[whoify]

sorry i looked in the notes of that post and people are saying wish world felt like a moffat episode so i have to speak. literally while watching i was thinking how differently rtd and moffat tend to approach season arcs, and like not to dichotomize them bc it’s not like they have completely opposing methods, but rtd’s through-lines tend to be content based while moffat’s tend to be context based. bad wolf in s1, torchwood in s2, saxon in s3, whatever that galaxy is called in s4. just words or names being repeated so you start to wonder what they mean. and it hasn’t been that different in rtd2: s14 with susan twist and s15 with mrs flood. the hints at the finale now just have a face to go with them as well. to be clear i’m not even saying this is a bad or worse way to establish suspense, just that it’s different. it’s become a hallmark of rtd who to me and i’ve genuinely always liked that his seasons center around teasing a specific mystery.

but now think about s5-7. yeah we have olivia colman give a rundown of the next three years in episode one, but aside from that, the overarching through-lines are much more connected to actual plot level events. s6 especially—the silence and river and madam korahdbshs what’s her face aren’t just there for us to wonder what they are, but are impacting the story from ep 1. clara in s7 isn’t just a name drop but a mystery we solve right along with the doctor. everything comes together in one big conclusion in the time of the doctor.

s8 is actually much more alike to rtd’s typical method—tease something/someone continuously throughout the season with no context with a big reveal in the finale. s9-10 don’t really have anything like this which is a breath of fresh air on its own.

all this to say that saying wish world felt like a moffat episode is just categorically incomprehensible to me. i don’t think it was bad, i just think it felt so very rtd—from the big reveal (technically last ep whatever) to bringing back classic characters to the heavy handed politics. unfortunately like 70% of dw fans think “moffat” is a synonym for “i didn’t like it”

[angelshizuka]

The fact asstruc literally created an entire character (Zoe) just to bash another one (Chloé) he creepily hates for some fucking reason, to the point where he didn't even bother to give Zoe an actual personality or purpose in the story aside from replacing Chloé and bashing her even more, just proves even more why he needs to be fired from the miracolous production

Zoe is literally a Chloe replacement and nothing else, even with s6 "trying" to expand on her backstory that literally hasn't been touched upon since her introduction episode 2 seasons ago, even then it's literally just how she was a bully... which is once again just taking things from Chloe's character.

Also once again showing the double standards this show keeps shoving down our throat. Zoe has a history of being a bully, she has most definitely traumatized people in the same way TA hates Chloe for, but just because she's at a different school in an entirely different country and was magically turned nice in one episode, it's suddenly okay now? Just because she was "putting on an act"?!

I've also recently seen people discuss, based on things TA has said, how TA genuinely believes a redemption is "a moment", like a literal switch and not an actual development arc that takes time (like what Chloe was having in s2-3) with lots of ups and downs. Which definitely explains why even when characters do get "redeemed", it doesn't even feel satistfying.

The worst part for me is how in concept I should love Zoe, and I've been trying to mentally seperate her character from canon (which I've gotten pretty good at with this show, because there's not a single character where I genuinely enjoy the canon writing), but with her entire existence being a middle finger to Chloe, it's hard to love who she is, most I can do is love the idea of her.

[lover-of-mine]

I'm gonna piggyback on Lizzie's article to say something. The thing about buddie canon now, or like, soon, is actually about the way that s4 happened, and the shooting created a setup that never went anywhere and then s6 happened and added a lot of space between Buck and Eddie. So they had a chance to do something, fox didn't let them, and up until s6, it seemed hopeless, like it was never gonna happen, that they were gonna permanently separate the two. Like, the s6-7 hiatus was rough on that front because realistically with what we were left with during 618, going canon was a distance fantasy. BUT s7 looked at the space they had forced between them and said "Space? There's no space here? What do you mean space?" and just completely ignored that to get them, in the words of Ryan Guzman, "closer than ever". I know I made posts about this before (read more on their screentime and my thoughts on that, including some graphs I made based on my supercuts here here and here), but the fact that we got at least one little moment every episode they were both in since the switch to abc is kind of insane considering they were actively separating them during s6. If the show wanted to keep them apart, s7 started on the perfect spot, but instead they smashed them closer together and made Buck bi. The whole thing here is that they tried to create a setup, weren't allowed to follow through, actively separated them, went on record on how that hurt the show, and now they are closer than ever before and in the perfect spot for them to get together. And it was intentional. Because if the goal was to make them best platonic buddies, they were in the perfect spot for that to happen. It would've been so easy to fully separate them during s7. But they didn't do it. Before 701 their average screentime per episode was 4:23. For season 7 and 8 it is 5:28*. It went up over a minute, which may not seem like a lot but considering that there are actually 3 episodes in 6a where there are less than a minute and 5 seconds of screentime (11 in the whole show all from 6a or before), this is massive. The show has 7 episodes where their screentime is over 10 minutes and 3 of them are in s8. The setup is there, the hype is there, the chemistry is there, the plot seems to be going that way, so seriously, what are they waiting for? The window to make it happen is now. And they made a conscious effort to set it up again.

*some individual episode stats for you to get the perspective of how insane that 5:28 average actually is: 305-06 combined have 6:07 (lawsuit arc), 210 has 5:13, 310 has 3:47, 510 has 4:04 (Christmas episodes), 511-13 combined have 5:18 (Eddie's breakdown), 610 has 5:23 (lightning).

[receivedhope]

I feel like it's pretty undeniable that from Season 3 onwards, there seemed to have been a shift in Blaine's character from how he was in Season 2. While I am not the first to point this out, I do think there are some greatly underutilized traits of Blaine present in S2 that get phased out as he receives more screen time and are not usually brought up in such conversations.

This will unfortunately get long because I love Blaine meta.

There was always some half attempt at making Blaine out to be bossy and while Puppet Master is an episode that aims to address this, I did think it fell a little flat in selling this side of him. He was more whiny than anything lol. This bossy side of him that always wants to be in control of the room and the people around him was... given a better set up, I'd say, while he was in the Warblers. It was more subtly showing than outright telling, though unfortunately we spend so little time in Dalton that it was hard to gauge the inner hierarchy and dynamics of the group accurately since they always presented a united front to outsiders - Trent's betrayal in S4 is a big deal. But I always did find it interesting how hung up they were on Blaine, who at the very most attended Dalton only for two years, as well as that he had no actual title such as a captain or head Warbler, yet was the decided leader of the group not just star performer. (See: Will shakes Blaine's hand after their Sectionals tie. Based on just the Warbler court scenes, you'd assume Wes stepping up here to do so make more sense.)

Though it was not lost completely and I always have been of the opinion that most conflict Kurt and Blaine have stem from their respective control issues. Kurt needs schedules, sufficient space to move on his own and he exercises his need for boundaries freely (see: retreating to his room in Home and asking Burt to leave as well, not allowing Finn to touch him in Theatricality and Grilled Cheesus, scheduling Friday night dinners with Burt, scheduling make outs with Blaine in DWS) while Blaine enjoys being the protector and ultimately having the last word (see: the entire plot of Tested and NNY). It makes a stupid amount of sense that the times they butt heads the core issue stems from an external force limiting their movement, like how in TFT Blaine sees the opening night closing in on him as a deadline and makes him panic, or when Blaine cheats in TBU to gain some control over how to identify their long distance relationship, or how Kurt feels their impending wedding more suffocating than anything pre S6.

However something that unfortunately did seem to get entirely lost from Blaine's character as time went on, that I do think miss from him entirely in latter seasons, is his conformist attitude from S2.

Blaine is almost Kurt's foil during his Dalton arc. While Kurt hates having to fit in (and has never quite succeeded in it at all), Blaine likes moving as one with other people. He likes being a part of a team, being depended on and being liked. And this attitude ultimately is why he is stuck in a rut before he meets Kurt - he retreats to Dalton when real life gets complicated and messy, because he is never challenged by it. Dalton is how Blaine ultimately sabotages himself.

Even his wardrobe in S2 was telling this story - a completely normal guy who likes being only that. The very few times we see him in everyday clothes, they are average with nothing outstanding to note. Dark colors, jeans, simple shirts. A far cry from "I am the center of attention and this primary colors proves it" and wacky bowties. While I always liked that Kurt is most likely the one picking out his clothes, I did enjoy this side of Blaine more, the subdued, regular everyday guy who wears only what his peers do - even if the costume department would have found it painfully boring to stick with in the long run lol.

Why he got so worked up about and increasingly frustrated with Finn actively excluding him from the ND in early S3 also makes sense. While Kurt, as a true individualist with no real desire to fit in is not easily phased by not being included, Blaine takes it to heart.

(I always thought Blaine views having a significant other is like always being in the same team with someone and is why he desires a relationship so much.)

I like this aligned with his hesitance and slight uncomfortableness over Kurt's prom outfit in PQ as well. (Though, I'm sorry to grasp as straws, I also enjoy the thought of Blaine deciding to side with Burt as a way to impress him - if you look closely, Blaine is more impressed and smitten with Kurt's outfit at first... But you are free to disregard this point because this is just me being insane.)

A natural conclusion of his bossy and conformist personality would ultimately result in him also leaning towards being authoritarian, which I think makes great sense for someone who likes being part of a team, knowing where they all stand and making sure he fits in but also preferring to take charge and be the head. I really like that! And I think this all being contrasted with Kurt, who can't blend in, even if he tries (see: Preggers, Laryngitis, his entire dalton arc, I'd argue that even his senior class president campaign as well as starting in NYADA qualify a bit) and always makes his own path to follow is just sooo interesting and can really sell the whole opposites attract thing! Because I do believe that Kurt found it particularly nice that there is this outstanding, well mannered guy who is respected by all his peers and is ready to go to bat for him, helping him push Kurt's ideas as well as using his influence to help him - I think somthing very similar attracted Kurt to Finn as well in S1 - and it is pretty much canon that Blaine finds Kurt's fighting spirit inspiring and something hopeful (I think he was inspired by Kurt to transfer to McKinley, which is why "I did this for me" and "I even switched schools for him" can simultaneously be true), as well as attractive that Kurt is a one of a kind (cut to 'youre the only one...' in DCT). Also put a pin in that last part, because I have so much to say about the consistent bird allegories and imagery associated with their relationship, but maybe at a later date since this is already getting long.

Other times, I also think that S3+ Blaine is not that out of left field if you pay attention to him in S2. Something that gets pretty early established is that Blaine is a rash and impulsive person. When he is hurt, he lashes out. You can see this in NoN when Karofsky picks a fight with them, it gets physical pretty quickly, however you can see Kurt being just... disappointed? Resigned, almost?

Blaine is also quick to react to Sandy's heckling that Kurt shuts down asap.

We later learn that Blaine is also entirely capable of doing things with the intent of hurting Kurt - he sings a Whitney Houston song at him that implies Kurt much less ambigiously cheated than in reality, in front of all his friends, because at the core of it is his anxiety about Kurt leaving him. He cheats on Kurt when he feels neglected.

And I think it is a bit naive to think he dated Karofsky entirely because of a supposed mutual attraction, ignoring the Kurt of it all. The history them three share is undeniable and he did want Kurt to feel like shit about it - which, for the record, I think is understandable since Kurt broke off their engagement rather ungracefully and it pushed Blaine into a depressive state, to the point of getting cut from NYADA and having to move back to Ohio.

All that to say - I always found all of the above very in line with the S2 Blaine who was quick to compare Kurt to Karofsky in BIOTA, just because Kurt said something mildly offensive in a moment where he was also hurt!

I guess this is also the time to quickly, as a sidenote, talk about Kurt's biphobic comment. I think the ultimate, intended purpose of the scene was more comedic. A mean, off color joke, but a joke RIB wanted to make nonetheless. However I do not find it out of character. Firstly: that is a seventeen year old boy who was told his whole life that he is disgusting and sick for liking men by the entirety of the conservative town he lives in. He is sexually assaulted by his closeted bully and has to transfer schools and he was never afforded to be "in" the closet either, because everyone around him assumes his sexuality. How right or wrong that is to do, is another topic. He has a crush on the only other out and proud gay kid in Ohio - who would rather give it a shot with a girl before Kurt. And to add insult to injury, Kurt already lost a crush of his to Rachel!

Of course he is hurt, of course he will say something less than gracious!

And Blaine in the only other person who is fully aware of Kurt's situation - for him to compare Kurt saying something mean and a bit offensive to Karofsky's actions is out of pocket, in my opinion.

I'm not sure how to end this neatly, but I will say this: I do like all of the above about Blaine and would have loved to see these traits more consistently. I do not think this darker side of his negates the good parts of him. If anything, understanding his lows helps me appreciate his highs even more.

[richardsphere]

Watching Revalator

Ok so we're in the sewers doing a training montage halfway into the season. (remember, this might be the 5th to air, but in the intended watch-order, this is the eleventh). So i dont actually know how to feel about the fact that Sabrina is using her previous design in this scene, either its a flashback (which... means they waited eleven episodes to establish what appears to be a basic tenet for the post S5 soft-reboot's rules) or its a continuity error... Either they waited 11 episodes to establish a basic foundation of the new world, or they dismissed all these heroes "growign up" to a lazy training montage that doesnt even get to show the actual training in the montage. I really dont know which i dislike more between those two tbh. ---

Ok this episode is taking way too long getting started. Like... its such a slow lead-in and so much of it is just "lets sit around watching a screen" that even when our characters are actually doing something, it feels like they're only responding. huh, the girl from Ilustrhater (i think her name was maya?) is back. Dont know how i feel about her. On the one hand she's cute, but she feels largely redundant with Manon and the twins. like this scene didnt need to be the S6 new kid... its strange that this kid keeps returning in the new universe but we havent seen Manon return yet. Feels like they've replaced her, which i guess would line up with the fucking worst fan-theory i've seen in a while. (not in the "theory doesnt add up", Lila is hollow enough it doesnt outright make a plothole or anything, it's just a betrayal of the shows oldest, longest and youngest fans) --- im sorry did the subs just have Maribug claim that she's about to Akumatise revalator? Someone should go back and fix that ASAP. ---

Ok Revalator should be dead. The fight has only just started and revalator should be dead. To explain why: Adrien activated the cataclysm with his right hand which as of currently revealed cannon he cannot turn "back off" without first using it to destroy something. (I am only including this disclaimer because they seem to have waited 11 episodes to insert a pre-S6 flashback about everyone's powers changing so who even knows what is and isnt cannon at this point) Maribug prevents him from touching the ball (lest he discover the wish), and he gets hit and vomits up his own ball. Lila tells Revalator to go grab the ball. Now him and Chat (whose cataclysm should still be active) are bumping into eachother, and Adrien places his (left) hand on revalator's face and pushes him out the way, revalator comes back and Adrien with his right hand pushes him from the back, down towards the pavement.

Adrien's cataclysm should be active in this scene and the struggle features both hands making palm-out contact with Revalator. Revalator should be dead. Then he touches the orb and it insta-breaks without needing to re-call cataclysm. Thus confirming that cataclysm is still active in this scene. ---

"But your miraculous ladybug will fix everything". Well given the precedent re:memory-power akuma's and amnesia. It absolutely should. Which is why i hope that we arent about to backpedal on Oblivio and claim that Mari cant wipe memories so we can pretend to respect Catboy by turning him into nothing but an agency-free tool to be used to destroy Alya's memories. Because that would once more be a case of "nominally claiming adrien deserves to be a person, while actively stripping him of personhood and agency". No way the show could possibly do that again... (who am i even trying to kid there) ah, Adricat seems legitimately hurt knowing his lady lied to/abandoned him mid fight. (which.. yeah valid. Plus the implication that the orb must've been bigger then a secret identity, given that identities could definitly wait until after the fight).

--- Ok so marinette does the Miraculous Ladybug. the power that based on all currently established precedents should erase everyone's memories like it did in Oblivio and the "cat-ball" scene hasnt happened yet. Is the plot actually about to do the one thing i feared coming into this: Provide in-name-only lipservice to the idea that Chat deserves to grow into more power as well/be her equal while actually stripping him of all agency in the scene and turn him into nothing but a tool to be used? Are we really about to have him develop a deeply invasive use of his powers that (though admittedly creative and interesting) the show wont actually consider trusting him to use 1-fully informed 2-at his own agency? "nothing is broken, secrets arent physical damage". Never stopped you before. You've "fixed" time, space, reality and memories before. There is no reason for your powers not to work here. I absolutely hate this. This is some monkey's paw shit. We wanted adrien to be given a power-up so he could close the power-gap. But now his power-up only exists so Mari can have a veneer of deniability in this scene while using Chat as, not a person, but simply a tool at her disposal. The one time they refuse to make Marinette absolutely bullshit in ways her powers cant really justify, and it's so the show can pretend Chat is the one responsible for all of this.

--- Ok so from now on, i'll refer to permanent power-ups as "evolved". (to prevent a nomenclature issue with the potions). ---

its the stupid merchfodder keychain again... oh you fucking did not make the message of this episode "people deserve to keep their secrets and decide wether to tell the truth for themselves". YOU DID NOT JUST SAY MARINETTE HAS A RIGHT TO GASLIGHT HER BF. HOW DARE YOU! You did not just make that the explicitly stated textual message of this episode that "everyone has a right to their secrets and we shouldnt force people to tell them" in the middle of a lying to your boyfriend plotline. Like you were so close with Alya's righteous anger at Maribug, and then you had her do the post-villain "moral of the episode" speech and you just fucking ruined it. If this episode was about the importance of truth (juxtaposed with Vincent's influencer lies) i would've gotten behind it, but it's clear that the thing this episode considers Vincents problem isnt the lying its the "revealing other people's secrets at all". Back on the beach, and we're once again doing the sublimation thing where we have the character who literally doesnt know what just happened provide platitudes about how trustworthy and amazing Marinette is so we can pretend she's still a good person. No this is not a "reveal the secret when you are ready to tell it" story, this is an "adrien deserves to know" story.

[ilikekidsshows]

Sorry if I'm in your ask again but all I've been hearing is praise for s6 mlb writing and I don't believe it really I won't

This shown is known for being a disappointment and having bad moral etc etc

I think the only way it'll get me believe the praise I've been hearing from the mlb fandom if they do what is basic for telling a story

Cause and affect I want Marinette face consequences for her actions and have it stick and be there

Have her be held accountable and not cuddle for her own selfish comfort anything then maybe I might consider understanding the praise but maybe I'm hoping to much for the show to do well in that regard

---

I’ve seen some of that praise and I think some of it is the viewers giving the writers credit prematurely, or it’s focused on the writing of the side characters. Like, all the people praising Marinette’s “arc” are making a lot of assumptions about where it’s going and how willing the writers are to commit to the course they’re on, based on stuff like Alya being mad in ‘Revelator’ and ‘Sublimation’ having Marinette go “I’m the villain”. They’re assuming that the writers totally will, without a doubt, actually give Marinette consequences for her actions, but there are some pretty strong “buts” to that assumption.

even the times in season 6 where Marinette has been called out, it’s been done by the unsympathetic villain of the episode and/or with Marinette vindicated by the end

the person she is wronging is her endgame romantic partner, meaning the writers can’t damage that relationship irreparably

it’s still very likely that Marinette’s consequences will be her crying what an awful human being she is before she gets coddled again

Of course, to a lot of people who think the show is totally committing to giving Marinette consequences, Marinette going through another bout of catholic guilt and self-flagellation while performing no actual reparations is just consequences.

In addition, a lot of the praise season 6 has gotten that I’ve seen has been focused on the side characters, who’ve been so neglected that any focus, even when it doesn’t make much sense in the larger continuity, is better than nothing. The audience has been so starved for any variety in this show that the writers telling us a few basic one-off stories is a noticeable improvement. I will give them credit that the stories about the side characters have been passable, maybe even good, but, every time, Marinette and her nonsense is there ruining an otherwise good episode, and that’s a sentiment I’ve seen shared by many people.

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

The changes in writing in s6 are so interesting. Because you're totally right that a lot of the rotten core is still there (sublimation is a whole mess with their half assed attempt to hold Marinette accountable that they can't even commit to, for example) but there's also some technical writing that's on a way better level than anything seen before. Granted, the bar is on the floor, so I wouldn't exactly call the current quality great, but it's starting to feel like there are some actually decent writers involved who know who to use an A plot and B plot the reinforce the main point, and how to use parellels and foils and allegory in a way that feels competent, at least on an episode level.

But even with those improvements I don't have much faith for the season level writing. The very premise of s6 seems to make failure inevitable because they're unwilling to do any of the things that they would have to do if they wanted to have any kind of satisfying pay off here.

At the very least, the plot would have to hold Marinette meaningfully accountable for her mistakes for a good period of time. They would need to treat Adrien like his own character with inner world as well as "imperfect" traits like being angry and acting on that anger in whatever way, specifically against their precious protagonist. Hell, they would need to dedicate some more screen time to Adrien's emotional arc in general in a way that's more than "uwu sad boy", which might make him a very inconvinent boyfriend to Marinette.

Most importantly, they would have to write a character arc with development that sticks. Something which the show never managed to do intentionally.

(I think this was the post that spawned this ask based on timing)

I completely agree. There have been some improvements at the episode level, but the higher levels have yet to show any improvements. That's a problem because the show has too many serialized elements for me to turn off my brain and enjoy the one-offs. That's what I used to do back when the serialized elements were more subtle, but they're glaring now and Miraculous still isn't serialized, making it impossible for it to be good given its current narrative. Is anyone enjoying the fact that the lies can't be addressed because it would break the status quo? I don't think so. Even those who are positive about this season seem be waiting for the lies to come out, but I'm not sure if they even will be and the lies existence kills the fun for me.

I'm not going to sit here and coo over the love square when the writers have decided to have Marinette knowingly keeping things from Adrien. That's the kind of plot that needs to be addressed! Gabriel being the villain also needed to be addressed, but his identity staying a secret for seasons made sense for the story and characters. The same cannot be said of the lies. You can argue that it makes sense for Marinette's character (I disagree), but there's no argument for it making sense in the context of the story unless the love square isn't the end game couple. I wouldn't put that past these writers, but it would be a shocking move and I don't see the higher ups signing off on that one.

[ct-multifandom]

S6 ep speculation

Get ready to hear my 80% wrong predictions even though I’m like, super not caught up on this show! It’s still fun to guess. Also this post will be generally leak-free so don’t go replying to it with “uhhh actually from the leaks we know this and that”. Not the place. Warning, this post is incredibly long.

1) Climatiqueen

I lean into the microphone and say, “Aurore”. The crowd erupts into cheers and fervent applause. Everyone shouts and whistles and pumps their arms in the air.

Interesting that they went with the French name for both translations, and she clearly seems to be a powered up version of stormy weather. It’s so fitting to circle around and start this new arc and new butterfly user off with the OG… I just hope we’ll get to learn a little about her character this time (doubtful). She’s gone to the main cast’s school this whole time and was Marc and Zoe’s classmate. It’d be great if they made her an actual recurring character instead of a special NPC. The children yearn for a character who acts like a cunty Mean Girl but isn’t actually a bad person.

I’m guessing this episode will serve as a general intro to the new world, showing us a typical day in the life of LB & CN kind of like the original pilot without dropping any important main plot developments.

2) Dessinatriste/The Illustrhater

Why is nobody talking about how funny the English name is, that’s hilarious. The haterrr. I’m getting very different vibes from both translations emotions-wise. The English title makes it sound like they’re petty or angry rather than sad.

My first thought was Nath because the name follows similar conventions as Dessinateur/Evillustrator in both languages and as one of the earliest and most iconic akumas it might continue this idea of Lila following in Gabriel’s footsteps while first learning how to butterfly.

In early s1, Gabriel was still experimenting with his powers while figuring out what does and doesn’t work when making an akuma. Well actually, since it was Gabriel, he learned absolutely nothing and was shocked when making the same mistakes over and over didn’t give him different results.

I think putting Lila through that same test drive phase would show her being much more analytical and actually develop her skills based on what she learns. In s1, Gabriel had a hard time making The Evillustrator do what he wanted, going so far as to like bloodbend him, then never targeted him again. If Lila was in that situation, she might figure out how to be more persuasive/manipulative/motivational or just learn that she has to choose akumas who will align with her goals in the first place.

Nath is also majorly due for character development. And he might be a pro level hater. It’s odd and a shame that we’ve only seen him once while every other class character has been akumatized like a hundred times atp. I think it’s most likely him.

I’ve seen people bring up that the French name sounds like a pun on the feminine form of the word. While Nath might be a diva, my counter argument is that this might be referring to Kagami, who is also interested in illustration and a girl. <- LMAO [insert Kagaminette joke], I mean “and is a girl”.

We haven’t heard much about her artistic journey in a long time even though it was important enough to mention in that trading card game where they said she secretly wants to make her own manga but lacks the confidence to start even though she has it planned out (super paraphrased).

Since Tomoe will become a greater villain, this could be the opportunity to show it since she’s the reason Kagami is self-conscious about her art. Maybe Tomoe will provoke Kagami into getting akumatized on purpose to test out Lila’s abilities or use her somehow. I’m not sure what her motivations are. Kagami does have, what, four different akuma forms already not counting powered-up ones? Crazy evolution tree, why not add more.

This might be an episode where Kagami becomes more comfortable pursuing what she wants and finding support among Marinette and friends instead of looking for Tomoe’s validation, continuing the plot line from Perfection. Once again, I don’t think it’s likely to be her tho.

3) Sublimation

I’ve seen the leaks and I believe everything I’ve seen has been from this episode. I feel comfortable saying this since it was already released in the official trailer, but the villain here is the coach woman. This episode seems to mostly be focused on this new runner girl character. I won’t elaborate because I don’t think any of the other stuff I know about this ep was in official material, but yeah, very much a new character situation.

You’d think this episode would have something to do with the power of the rooster miraculous, but there is absolutely no indication of that. I like to imagine the writers have a “word of the day” calendar at the office, and when they learned the word sublimation they were like, “hollllyyyy shit you guys, we need more people to know about this”.

4) Daddycop

I expect this to be a Sabrina-centric development episode and would be shocked if it’s not. Her relationship with Roger is pretty interesting since they seem to be on good, loving terms, yet he’s okay with all the Chloe bs and seems apathetic or ignorant to how Sabrina was being treated. Maybe we’ll see some rebellion from her now that she hangs out with other people.

The akuma’s name, to me, implies that Sabrina will be responsible for Roger’s akumatization or at least the main focus of it. Maybe he will become overly protective of her and target anyone who fucks with her or worry that she’s straying from the right path and exaggeratedly try to correct her behavior.

Sabrina’s behavior up to around Penalteam was likely informed by Roger’s influence, possibly more-so than Chloe’s. He had this “doing what you’re told is right” mindset that he instilled in his daughter, so in this episode, she might help him unlearn it. As a cop, he was always mindlessly bossed around by Mayor Bourgeois, so since Andre is gone, Roger will have to think for himself more.

5) Papys Garous/Werepapas

Continuing the theme of dramatic dads, the consensus seems to be that this will be Tom and probably Rolland. I’m not sure why, but Marinette’s always getting up to some silly billy antics, so. Tom doesn’t seem to have any issue with Adrien and idk what type of beef is gonna start for the grandpa to get involved. It might be some misunderstanding situation or another “Chat Noir is on our fucking balcony again, get the broom” moment.

It might very well be the mom and dad though, not the dad and grandpa. People have been talking about how it’s unrealistic that Marinette has been able to keep huge secrets from her parents for so long, so they might snap this time, not because of Adrien, but because she’s been acting shady herself. They might assume she’s getting into trouble. People have been long speculating that Sabine will learn Ladybug’s identity soon, so maybe she will finally have to tell her parents in a situation similar to gang of secrets.

6) Princesse Syren/Sleeping Syren

Ondine yayyyy! Yay! Ondine. Possibly a Kimdine episode to redeem Kim after they ruined his character for no reason and everyone got really mad because it didn’t even make sense. Remember when the instas were still a thing Alya had a post like “hanging out at the pool! Ondine is so awesome idk what she sees in Kim” or something. Yeah. How’d he pull a baddie like her if he’s been acting the way they’ve been showing him to act? Makes no cents luv. I’m dying to see more of their relationship, more of her, and some repair of what they’ve done to Kim.

It sounds like they might be doing some kind of sleeping beauty retelling? Idk how that would make Syren a threat if she’s asleep the whole time, but maybe she’ll still be doing the whole flooding the city with tears thing while she’s sleeping.

I also really hope Ondine will be attending their school now. I want to see her interact with other characters and become more relevant. Please give The People (me) what they want (official Ondine street clothes design). Also they’ve been introducing too many lamely designed girl characters with average heights and athletic-skinny body types. We need the 6ft swole girl to balance them out.

7) El Toro de Piedra

This name is so Ivan-coded that I’m tempted to just say that it’s not him, but why would they make an intentionally misleading Ivan clone. The name is concerning because it sounds like a mix of stoneheart and his hero persona. That makes me think maybe he’ll get akumatized AS Minotaurox. His arc has been about how he’s scared to accidentally harm others because being the first akuma bothered him so deeply. If he’s in a situation where he has to act tough or use force as a hero, he might become upset, worrying that he’s going overboard. I can see him cracking if his fight against an akuma ends up getting a civilian hurt in the crossfire or with someone being scared of him afterwards. Having his regular/akuma and hero forms mix together could compromise his identity.

Also I guess he’s Hispanic? *sonic voice* I didn’t know that. I remember a long while ago they said in an interview to look forward to Ivan lore which is one of the things I am most excited for this season. He is probably THE most underrated character in the show and most overdue for development.

8) Vampigami

Guys I hate to say it. I really hate to say it. My heart wants this to be vampire Kagami sooooo bad but my brain says we aren’t allowed to have nice things. I already suggested a Kagami akuma earlier, and she can totally get akumatized several times a season again because her mom hates her, but I’m not ready to be disappointed like this. I want her to become a badass evil vampire and acquire a Ben 10 arsenal of villain forms, but Vampigami is probably gonna be some stupid shit like Optigami except it looks like a bat instead of a butterfly this time.

I really don’t know what to seriously expect. I can’t imagine vamp referring to anything other than vampire, although it can also mean patching/editing like the word revamp. Gami has only been used in a senti name before to mean oragami. Idk man vampire Kagami is so engrained in my mind that I can’t come up with anything else. Like to charge reblog to cast. Let’s manifest that the writers have finally tuned in to what the people want.

9) Monsieur/Mister Agreste

This has got to be the episode that introduces Adrien’s grandparents, right? Meaning his grandpa is gonna be Gabriel’s dad and the title could stand for three generations of Mr. Agrestes. I’m surprised we haven’t heard much about them yet, but since Gabriel’s dead, it makes sense they’d come around to get his affairs in order or attend the funeral etc etc.

We got a big movie about Emilie’s history and her noble family, but all we know about the Agrestes is that they weren’t rich, and they sold fries. But there’s the weird part: wouldn’t Gabriel’s parents be the Grassettes? How much do they know about his life after he moved out? This episode might show us more about where it all went wrong for the Gabriel of this timeline. Maybe his dad will get akumatized because Gabriel abandoned their family, and he’ll become Mr. Agreste instead of Mr. Grassette to try to fit himself back into Gabriel’s fake narrative. He’ll turn into a rich asshole old guy because he thinks that’s the type of dad Gabriel would have wanted instead of his real self. Dang that’s sad.

10) Le Chateau Noir/The Dark Castle

My first reaction was Chat Noir, but I saw someone say Darkblade which makes so much more sense. I mean Chat Noir getting akumatized is an avengers-level threat, and last time it happened he blew up like everything, plus the episode was pretty late into the season.

Darkblade fits pretty well with the castle thing since he’s a knight. He lost yet another mayoral election, unable to even blame it on corruption this time. On top of it all, the new, fairly elected mayor is his old coworker from school who also didn’t have much political experience. Ouch.

11) Revelator

I’m getting Reverser from the name but only vaguely. This sounds like a similar type of villain to Gold Record who forces people to reveal something about themselves. Maybe this episode will go into how suddenly having secret identities is affecting the other characters’ relationships like Gang of Secrets again or Truth/Lies. If the akuma’s power has to do with revealing secrets, someone may get their identity exposed on accident like in Wishmaker. By that I mean a reveal between characters other than the akuma and the secret they want to find out.

12) Psyconductrice/Wreckless Driver

My first thought here was Max’s mom because she’s a train engineer, but the name seems to imply cars specifically. Totally unrelated, but remember that one poll on here about who’s the hottest MILF in miraculous, and Claudie Kante was in dead last by a lot, even way behind Audrey with her fuckass Anna Wintour bob and horrible child abusing bitter personality? Yeah you all have horrible taste. Democracy is dead and I hope everyone is happy being so goddamn ignorant and wrong. /hj.

On the topic of moms this could still be someone’s mom. I’ve brought up the pattern before: many moms are associated with a mode of transportation that are connected to their villain form. Car: Tomoe, boat: Anarka, train: Claudie, motorcycle: Gina. We could get a bus driver mom, or a trucker or taxi or racecar driver. Imagine. I’ve been saying we need a pilot mom.

Even if this isn’t anyone’s mom, it might be a new character. Idk who else it could be of existing characters.

13) Yaksi Gozen

This bitch again. Boo. I mean she IS super badass actually, but can we comically pull her offstage with a long hooked cane and let someone else have the screentime? I gotta say I am interested in her as a major villain but. Her akuma was cool the first two times and it’s time to calm down.

Clearly there’s something new about her this time. When looking up what yaksi means, it brings up yakshi, a type of nature spirit, but nothing that actually matches with “yaksi”. Maybe she’ll run a greenwashing campaign with her company? That reminds me of Mega Leech and how she wasn’t held accountable for her involvement in that scenario. If she comes under fire, she might get herself akumatized on purpose Collector-style to save face. Does anyone know if yaksi means something else? I’m not convinced it’s supposed to be yakshi without the h.

14) Couchorak/Grendiaper

Gigantitan vibes, possibly a powered-up version of him. When Hawkmoth first akumatized the baby, it was by mistake, and he ended up regretting it because he was hard to control and useless to his cause. Would Lila akumatize a baby on purpose, or is this an accident too? Since there’s a time skip, baby August would be a year older as well, so he’d actually be a toddler now, which might make him less unpredictable.

A shot in the dark I’m gonna make is that this might be Ivan’s younger sister. We know he has one, and while we don’t know her age, it sounds like she’s probably a toddler. We also know that he’s interested in childcare as a career. If I had to guess, I’d say he probably takes care of her often, which might be what gave him the idea. If she gets akumatized, it would be a great setup for his superhero focus episode.

15) La Redresseuse/The Ruler

My hottest take on this whole post is that this one is Mendeleev. Isn’t she the principal now or something? Idk but she’s a strict teacher who needs order, so I think the name matches her because 1: rulers are school supplies, especially for a science teacher who needs everything to be measured exactly, 2: ruler meaning leader with a totalitarian connotation, 3: the French title means straightener which connects to disciplining students or controlling how the school is run.

I think she’ll get akumatized because her students lack respect for her, and her strictness makes them dislike her which actually hurts her feelings as seen in the NY special. She might have a hard time adjusting to this new school system and her new role, not seeing the same positive relationships Bustier and Damocles held with the kids. She’ll go way overboard and turn into an evil school-themed dictator to try and regain control, but then learn her own lesson.

16) Noe

This is most likely a new character or something, but I love the idea that it’s just like, evil Zoe. Zoen’t. Noe.

OR imagine if it’s a more powerful version of Nino’s brother because it’s Noel but without the L, meaning this time, he won’t be taking the L. Coincidence? I think not. He is Lila’s pawn or whatever after all.

In all seriousness I have no idea what this is and the name could mean a lot of things, so I’m gonna just go with a completely new character.

17) La Fee De Beaux Reves/A Fairy Good Night

This is so Pigella energy. Not Rose, Pigella. In Jubilation, we saw how terrifying her power is when used for evil, trapping people in their own daydreams. Maybe she’ll struggle with nightmares or sleep problems and turn into an akuma that forces everyone to get stuck in imagined utopian illusions so they can “rest”. This idea is kind of the opposite of Sandboy and Nightormentor. I’d love to see more of her power and how it can be used for both good and evil, especially since a lot of people seem to think it’s useless or too situational.

18) Les Crassetastrophes/The Dirtifiers

This might be the little kids in another obligatory babysitting episode. The villain name is plural, so it could be a comic relief moment where the kids get mad because they don’t want to clean up or something silly. Otherwise maybe this is another pollution situation? I’m leaning more towards children, though. Another possibility is that we might be getting our first animal akumas.

19) Riginarazione

So I’m pretty set on this being Lila herself. Italian words? Check. Villain name having “queen” (rigina) in it because they can’t be too creative? Check. I’m guessing the pun is supposed to be regeneration rather than “queen ration” so maybe she’s gonna make herself some sort of nearly invincible self-healing villain.

20) Renverse-cœurs/Heartfixer

This sounds like that monstrosity Andre and Audrey turned into. Heart Hunter. I had to Google the name because I erased it from my mind. Out of all the old villains, I’m surprised this is one they’d choose to revamp since it was such a jumpscare, but I can see how they’d want to revisit it in the context of the Bourgeois’s messed up relationship since they were more of a temporary joke villain the first time. Maybe we’ll get some backstory on Chloe and Zoe as kids and who this Lee guy is who’s supposed to be Zoe’s American Dad (goooood morning, USA!). Based on the akuma name… maybe they’re gonna get less divorced. Wouldn’t that be a shocker? Audrey character development? Or maybe they’ll feel the need to keep it together for the kids.

21) Les Titans Chaines/The Chained Titans

I have no idea but it sounds awesome. Clearly more than one person. My first thought was s5 finale energy with the miraculized, like a whole mob of people sharing the same negative emotions. The metal vibes make me think maybe Couffaine family just because they’re so dramatic, and Jagged was a titan in the music industry who didn’t want to feel chained down? Kind of a stretch perhaps. Of course, it could be something new.

22) Lady Chaos

I’m saying Marinette akuma idc. I know people have been making this prediction for the past couple seasons and the writers were saying no but. Episode 22 is the one where shit goes down. Now that Bunnyx is active full time and there’s an entire team of other superheroes, there’s finally a chance to beat her if she does turn evil. I’m guessing it’s gonna be a bad timeline one like the Adrien akumas.

My concern with this type of ep is that they’d Mary Sue her and be like “her power levels are so high that nobody stands a chance against her, the best ladybug ever” even with like 20 heroes fighting her. I don’t think it’d be too bad though, because thinking about Chat Blanc, if she instantly blows up the whole world and the goal is just to undo that timeline, it’d probably be about equivalent.

23) Tristanansi

Using triste in two of the French akuma names is uh… we couldn’t come up with anything more creative? Anyway obv Nora so this could once again be a Nino episode like the first, but it could also (more likely imo) be an Alya one. Nora has a fiery personality and strong opinions so maybe Lila could’ve taken advantage of that to manipulate her kind of like what happened with Jalil. We were briefly introduced to a character who is her friend or boyfriend last season, and he may be more relevant this time, like maybe they have a fight. Similar to Sentibubbler, maybe Lila is targeting Alya’s family to try and get information out of her or steal the fox miraculous.

24) La Reine de Frayeurville/Queen of the Dreadzone

Other people have been saying this could be a Halloween special but… I want to say this might be a powered up Horrificator. This might be one of those episodes where they make it more lighthearted before the finale, and we haven’t seen her act on her own since s1 which is like the whole point of her akuma. She isn’t effective at all in groups and everyone’s been kinda desensitized to what’s supposed to be scary about her. Maybe they’re bringing her back scarier. Mylene has come far with her phobias, so they’d need something to really scare her.

I remember something about a proposed Halloween special taking place in the catacombs, which is coincidentally where Lila’s lair is. There might be a connection where the gang figures out she’s there, and something spooky goes wrong while investigating. The Paris catacombs are an understandable place to get scared in and a great setting for horror.

25) Protocole Secret/Secret Protocol

26) Nemesis

^^^ Ok I don’t know what specifically to say about the finale except that they’re probably gonna fight self-akumatized Lila since they tend to be kind of unpredictable.

What I do want to do is bring everything together and point out that Lila knows the identities of like half the heroes from the beginning because she stole Nathalie’s iPad or whatever happened. In Miracle Queen: Alya, Nino, Luka, Kagami, Kim, and Max had their identities revealed, which was relevant again in Optigami. Alix didn’t even try to keep a secret. Lila can easily connect that five of these people are her former classmates and all of them are friends, so she must have figured out that the rest of the heroes are also from their group. In the London special, it didn’t take a lot of hard work to uncover Marinette’s identity. She also targeted Kagami last season on a personal level. Side note, I have no clue if she knows Felix is Argos or not. That point is unclear to me, but I’m gonna assume she does since Gabriel knew.

We have Marinette, Adrien, Juleka, Rose, Mylene, Ivan, Zoe, Marc, Nath, and Sabrina left in the safe zone. I predicted most of these characters will get akumatized, and I believe Lila will be targeting them on an individual level under the suspicion that they’re on the team. It’s likely that she will even expose some if not a lot of them. In fact, she might have gone after Ondine as a red herring because she’s friends with them and King Monkey’s gf. From her perspective, Marinette could be one of the superheroes just as easily as anyone else could.

I’m not too worried about Adrien since he’s been the best at staying secretive, and Lila might not even suspect him because of the idealized yet untrue preconceived notions she has about him.

She may also be going down the list to see who does and doesn’t show up to each fight, making ladybug feel the need to call the minimum number of people to help her, which would solve the narrative problem of “why can’t ladybug sic the whole team on every akuma”. Discounting any Mirage tricks, having a certain hero help fight an akuma would tell Lila that the akuma is for sure not that hero. And obviously if every hero except one shows up that’s uh… suspicious.

Something very interesting is that out of all these characters, the episode I predicted to focus on Sabrina is one where the akuma is not her. Perhaps Lila will overlook her because she only recently made new friends, thinking she’d never be trusted with a miraculous. This same mistake of underestimating Sabrina is what led to her downfall the first time, so it’d be poetic if Sabrina managed to play the spy twice.

I did not predict any of these episodes to potentially be a Juleka akuma, but you know this girl will never in her life catch a break, especially with the rest of the pattern I’ve laid out above. Which episode do you think is secretly gonna be Reflekta? I guarantee you it’s one of them.

As a final note, I think Nathalie will be instrumental in helping the team identify Lila as the villain. They’re very unlikely to defeat her this season for good, but Nathalie knew about Lila’s little internship with Gabriel, and she was the one who originally had all the grimoire pages and Optigami identity data digitalized. She may recognize that information has been stolen or connect that Lila may have had the opportunity to physically take the butterfly miraculous by entering the lair. She’s in a unique spot because she’s the only one who knows this much about Lila’s villain plans, but also knows Ladybug’s identity now. I’m interested to see her role as a redeemed ally to the team.

Aaaaand that’s my novel length essay. Thanks for making it to the end. As always, I’m interested in hearing what other people think! (I feel like a YouTuber doing an outro lol) I’m excited to see the first episode soon which is actually gonna be the second episode I guess. So close! Off to an incredible start. I want to hear other theories!

[celestiall0tus]

Late night musings

So, I've watched the most recent episode of Miraculous S6, Revelator, and it wasn't as awful as I was dreading. It honestly does raise an interesting moral and even philosophical debate.

Alya and Marinette present this debate. Is it better to share everything, no matter how harsh it may be? Or should you keep secrets for whatever reason? The thing is, there's no right or wrong. There is a fuck ton of gray with this debate.

Personally, I actually agree with Marinette. Shocker, I know. But in this instance of the debate, I do believe the truth is too harsh. I do disagree with Alya here that truth is essential for personal growth. It can help someone's personal growth, but it can also destroy a person utterly and completely. This was actually seen in the episode.

We see Alya take the initiative to share the truth about Vincent Truth, or whatever his name was. Morally, she was doing what she felt was right by exposing him, clearing Marinette's name, and what not. But what about the other end of the spectrum. Yes, Vincent was in the wrong by making up lies, his little stories, but how would that affect him? What are you destroying just to speak the truth?

Will the same happen if the world, and Adrien, learn the truth about Gabriel Agreste? We don't know, and that adds to the uncertainty of the decision. And it harkens back to a quote from Final Fantasy 13:

"Humanity's greatest frailty is that we prefer past happiness to future uncertainty."

Marinette has enough awareness to acknowledge that the truth will be devastating, it is her decision to make based on her own judgements. Should Adrien know? Maybe. However, I believe he is better off not knowing. Gabriel Agreste is dead. Let the dead stay dead. Some things are better left at the grave, not to be dug up again.

Truth can find a way, but it can be twisted. The line between truth and deception is thin. Always has, always will be. For what's true to one, may be false to another. The best kept secrets are the ones you never share.

[riacte]

I know you made a post a while back on how to write Rendog, do you by any chance have tips for False or any posts on how to write her? The docs I have found on False are very limited XP

Thanks for the ask!

I personally find False tricky to characterise because her reactions can be finnicky and unpredictable, but that's why I like her.

False loves animals. Her bases are full of them and she gives them silly names like Noddy (she's bad with names)

False has mentioned her favourite animals are foxes and she didn't really understand the bird association until chat pointed out it was because she built an eagle for like two times

False knows she has an intimidating reputation but she doesn't fully vibe with it because she thinks she's rusty and out of practice.

False is community oriented and quietly connects different areas done by hermits (what she did at the end of S6, especially prominent with the districts, also what she's doing with the rivers this season). She keeps the group together and keeps infrastructure running (she contributed to the HC7 Nether hub) without making a big deal out of it

Based off the above, False has a flexible style and can work with a variety of aesthetics/styles while keeping them coherent with the overall landscape, clean, and on a realistic scale (realistic for Minecraft builds anyway). She has a keen eye and can easily pick up the finer details of someone's build/vision.

False's kindness really shines through her actions. She may be snarky and sarcastic a lot of the time, so you may not hear her say she cares for someone or openly show verbal affection but you know she does because she does favours for them/spends time with them/remembers specific details about them. Which ironically ties to the following:

False has bad memory and Does Not Remember a lot of "significant" things (she forgot her MCC10 Orange team once)

Some phrases to pepper in [insert British accent]: "Oh my goodness" "Blimey" "What the heck man?" "Flippin'" and her catchphrase of sorts for this season in the form of a horn��� "Oh my God HI"

False sometimes introduces her male collaborators with a mister prefix to the audience presumably for fun and whimsy, I don't know if she does this for the female collaborators

False is VERY skittish and scared while being competent at facing whatever she's scared of. She's constantly confused. Think Xisuma and Mumbo's type of British confusion. She's paranoid.

False is mischievous and quick witted. She can come up with pranks on the fly and execute them swiftly. (For example, the invisible hat/briefcase prank on Gem) She loves punching/shooting/killing people and throwing them into one block holes.

Honestly, False is just random at times. Why does she have two phantoms in boats on her base? Dunno. Why does she sleep in that awfully cramped staircase bed? Dunno but it doesn't seem like she's changing it. Why is it called Big Business? It just is. It's for fun and whimsy (until she gets scared and starts crying and running away).

False has a tendency to randomly sneak up on someone and randomly escape. She's hard to catch. She's an enigma.

False tends to stay quiet during big group events and is also the type to get talked over

It takes time for her to warm up to new people so she'll be pretty quiet around them, however she will speak up for business/practical purposes (eg. her comms when she plays competitively).

I think this already gets talked a lot but False has great spatial awareness + reflexes and does a lot of the wrangling when it comes to team games

I don't think this can make it into a fanfic but she LOVES using emojis 😄🤨😒 I think for her HC7, most of her episode titles have an emoji

This is more of a personal interpretation but False seems like she would be scared/wary/paranoid of things most people don't care about but then when something actually freaky shows up she's like "yeah sure whatever".

False disrupts the flow when she's expected to go with it and goes with the flow when she's expected to disrupt it.

TLDR:

Surface level: quiet, skittish, alarmed, confused, nervous, wary, awkward, snarky, sarcastic

Under the surface level: cautious, considerate, kind, patient, loyal, humble

I really want to emphasize that she teases/kills/roasts her friends because that's how she shows affection. The more I watch her, the more it hits me how kind and patient she is but I guess that doesn't fit into the slay girlboss trope. And if she does show affection, it's in a subtle way, like quietly correcting someone's self deprecating joke or giving "gifts" to them in the form of pranks.

[all-pacas]

anyway something about how observant chase is and how he doesn’t get enough credit for it

- one of his first assisted solves is in sports medicine. he sees the patient refuse a drug test and at the time it means nothing. house needs to figure out how they got cadmium poisoning and now chase gets it.

- control: house doesn’t brag about solving the case. cameron and foreman are like whatever. chase realizes it’s a clue and goes to the patient’s room and finds out she’s been chugging ipecac. he had no clue case wise, medicine wise. he got it from looking at house.

- the whole s3 firing arc. he realizes almost instantly that house doesn’t want foreman gone, that foreman also feels guilty about it all. he spends episodes practically vibrating with frustration about it. foreman laughs at a joke! house ruins foreman’s interviews! chase is correct btw. house all but admits it. he sees them acting slightly odd and gets tweaked and figures it out.

- there’s other times! he puts together the little girl is allergic to light because she keeps getting worse during procedures. he realizes a woman is dying because her cat didn’t eat dinner. very controversial but you can make a strong case he’s right about cameron after she breaks off her fwb thing for the same reason: he tells her as such. and yes it’s not great to have a man explain to a woman how she feels but what he says? honestly? he has a pretty good read on cameron as a person?

- s6, private lives? wilson thinks house is acting sketchy and goes to chase for info. not foreman or taub or 13. chase has been working for house again for like two months and half of that time he’s been in a divorce depression. and yet chase instantly explains who house’s bookie is, his favorite sex worker’s name, and also figures out what he’s hiding based on his glasses. incredible.

- and the thing is it’s so fucking neglected kid of him. it’s so this child was parentified and spent his childhood taking care of his mother and looking for her tells. this child wanted desperately for his dad to pay attention and care. chase is phenomenally observant of other people. house tells him this specific trait is why he got hired. chase might not be the most book smart but man when he feels like it

[waywardmillennial]

Puppet History Trailer Breakdown

The PH season seven trailer dropped on Watcher TV today and I'm going to try to break it down New Rockstars style - so settle in because this is a long one!

disclaimer: I am an oxymoron of a human who notices lots of details and misses other clues - so I might not have caught everything but I tried!

[s7 trailer easter eggs and spoiler-y thoughts under the cut]

The trailer opens with the Professor looking at the billboard for Phorgedytol, the tagline of which reads "(something) WITH YOUR BRAIN"

[note: this is different to the Phorgedytol billboard we see at the end of the trailer that reads "FRENCH THE VOID!"]

the first shot of Ryan in the trailer is from the episode with Aria Inthavong

behind them on the bookshelf you can see what I think is a brachiosaurus (from the late Jurassic era), a pair of alpacas, and the Genie lamp very prominently displayed!

then we cut to this interaction Ryan: How long has it been since we've been in class? to which the Professor gives a very non-committal "Uhhhh...."

[Interesting, no? Possible side-effect of the Professor taking Phorgedytol maybe?]

then we cut to guest Alex Song-Xia with a possibly foreboding comment

[this probably has no lore implications but I like that there's a framed copy of this photo that Ryan tweeted in 2021 on the set]

the trailer continues with the Professor talking to the guests

then the trailer cuts to what could be a major lore drop with Ryan saying, "You keep my wife's name out of your god damn mouth!" as he marches to the theater to slap the Professor

[notice how this is in black and white -that's the trailer edit not mine- so perhaps this is a flashback of some kind? Maybe to something that happened to make the Professor want to take Phorgedytol?]

Remember in s6 Ryan and the Professor were friends (see: the JC Penney photoshoot) so seeing a moment like this in the trailer is, for lack of a better phrase, a slap in the face

Based on what all the guests are wearing in the trailer it looks like The Slap will happen in Claudia's episode, based on the shot right before Ryan gets out of the chair (their reaction face is gorgeous btw)

we get a great out of context line from Sara Rubin

and the Professor talking about his anatomy with Brennan

Then the Lore Drop Hits

[yeah the rest of this was just a drop in the bucket in this trailer tbh]

The cuts happen fairly fast with overlapping VO - I posted most of the main shots earlier and there are some shots of the history skits that I skipped to focus on the Lore. These shots also have some alt descriptions in this post of things I noticed on the rewatch

VO Script Mysterious Puppet: No, you louse. You sops. You absolute men. Ryan: Well, this is collusion. They clearly- Professor: That's not collusion. Ryan: It's collusion! You guys fucking figured it out before this. Brennan: Just get on his wavelength, man. Professor: Get on my level! Ryan: You're just not ready for the truth!

[First reactions: The Professor is wearing a party hat for a lot of this trailer, and so is the new puppet. So they must have been at the same party. Also, the Professor is standing in front of a sign that reads "Six Nasty Seasons" even though this is the trailer for season seven. Is that from the season six wrap party? Could it also point to Phorgedytol symptoms that we're 'missing' a season?

The horse puppet looking through the door has a moustache, so is very likely not Dorothy Ruth or Stanley Melvin Murphy. Maybe DR's fiancé? This same moustachio'd horse is in the pasta scene

Hard to say which horse is walking towards The Brown Derby but fun to note that was a real chain of restaurants in LA starting in 1926]

Then the Professor meets with the new Shane character - shall we call them Patch for now?

and that's the trailer in a nutshell!

*Roll End Credits*

Other reactions:

Delighted that we get canon confirmation that the Professor goes by Connie McNasty, at least some of the time

Love that Joyce and Garrett are back this season!

The noir, old Hollywood vibes of this trailer are gorgeous and overall it looks really well-made!

I hope we get some explanation for the slap that's not Ryan and the Professor becoming enemies again

the Liza Minelli* of it all

Not too sure on many theories at this point, but I'm sure it's going to be a great (but maybe nail-biting) season!

[bloginnimi]

Theory, Macaque doesn't know/remember why his name is the Six Eared Macaque

Okay, hear me out. The first time we meet Macaque, he introcudes himself like this:

Macaque! Or actually The Six Eared Macaque is- you know- My full name.

And then he introduces himself the same way in his own game to the player (MK)

Yo, how's it going? It's me Macaque-or rather the Six Eared Macaque- you know my full name, HEH!

I know it's a running theory that Macaque uses his magic to "hide" his ears in order to protect them. Glamour or other type of spell. His ears are one of his biggest vulnerability, given the supernatural hearing, loud noices would be very overwhelming for him so it's only logical to try and hide them, right? To try muffle some of the loudest noices with magic.

Then why does he keep telling everyone that he in fact HAS six ears? We know how cautious Macaque is, we know he has self-preservation, also he's a great liar so he wouldn't just throw information like that out there, if he really didn't want to.

I base this theory with Cherllyio's (in Tumblr and yt) theory, where they think the next big bad of S6 is gonna be one of, If not all of, The Four Evils. They are basically counterparts for the Four Holy Beasts we saw this season. In their theory Macaque made a deal with one of them. Then is it possible that the creature demanded him to give it, or "he?", something in return?

His ears.

Macaque doesn't remember making any deal with anyone or about these chaos powers as seen in episode 9.

But his six ears are what he's known for. So ofc something so rooted to his identity wouldn't be easy to erase from his memory.

He just knows that it's his fullname, he just can't remember where the title comes from. And I highly doubt someone like Macaque wouldn't have stopped, even for once during every cycle and asked himself: Hold up- why's that my name?

But the Ten Yama Kings called him Six Ears? Well... I don't think they'd bother to count his ears. Wukong? He never calls him that. So it's not like someone could give Macbook answers since no one seems to be interested about it (lol).

But we do see him react poorly to loud sounds and noices. Take Pigsy's singing for example.

Conclusion: Macaque gave his ears up to a creature from chaos in exchange for more power. Why'd he do that? Who knows. But IT has something to do with the whole lost memory theme, since his ability to hear past and future could give us answers to all the questions but because NONE OF THE CHARACTRES CARE to ask him about his ears, we just need to wait and see what happens.