#did i do a good job or are these a downgrade

[verm1c1de]

part saturation beam part simplifying color palettes and part minor color harmonization! i am so good at this

[silverislander]

wish i could just. work at a bookstore

[britney-j-christ]

Oh man, Curly really had no good options, huh?

I see a lot of people jumping to "Curly should have shot Jimmy", which is fine to say because he still should get to shoot Jimmy, but not a compelling argument.

Unless this is even more dystopian of a universe than it seems (Ala the villain being capitalism, not The State Shooting You Without Trial In Space style) there's no legal grounds to do that. That's vigilante justice and while it would solve a part of the Safety Concern Jimmy causes, it leads to too many problems on earth.

Also, you cannot just casually shoot a coworker or 1/5th of the locals. Daisuke and Swansea would have *very reasonable concerns* if their captain just shot someone, even if it was explained. And I don't think either would be down to do a cover up about it. And if they did...

Daisuke would Crack in seconds under interrogation or scrutiny.

We're also talking about Captain Curly pre, uh... "character developement" as it were, being able to see Jimmy's abusive nature first hand now that he's under his control. There's a pattern for trying very, very hard to see the good in Jimmy and enabling him. He'd never be in this position as copilot if Curly hadn't been there, trying to pull Jimmy out of whatever trouble he was at back on Earth. Curly is a big picture guy who doesn't see the dead pixel; he sees Jimmy climbing up and out of the muck with him and he ignores the red flags or, possibly, even prior offenses?

Captain Curly can be seen *trying* to be a good Captain, not unlike the way Jimmy as Captain is also "trying" to be a good Captain(for selfish ego driven and guilt-avoidant reasons). It really is a goal they share. Both of them fail at it, but it is both their motivations in those roles. Even stressed and overworked, jumping to killing his best friend three months into a year long voyage isn't rational.

So how about we downgrade to more reasonable option; jailing. Except the places where one can be locked in are the hold full of valuable unknown cargo, so a non option if they want to get paid (they desperately do), and the medical bay, which is much more viable if they could a) get that set up in a way that didn't jeprodise the health of everyone and b) didn't have a huge human sized vent that might kill you if you go through it. I understand why neither were chosen.

So, how about the cryopods? Seems pretty viable. Much like murdering Jimmy, you'd have to get everyone on board for this. So, confronting Anya's rapist in front of Daisuke and Swansea and hope they can sway them both in favor of Lawful Detainment.

It's not impossible. I think, if they tried, it would have worked in terms of grouping up together- if they could do it without Jimmy getting wind of it and doing something drastic beforehand.

But then there's no copilot. This is such a major issue for an eight month voyage where we see that the ship will see a problem approximately like 2-3 minutes before it happens and requires corrections. Curly cannot do this job for that long. No one else is appropriately trained. Swansea is busy, Daisuke is not reliable enough to handle this, and Anya... could probably do it tbh I have complete faith in her but that's a lot to put on her shoulders to not get paid appropriately for, just for her to be *safe* from Jimmy.

I struggle to blame Curly for the choice he did go with. I don't see any good options, especially without knowing what's going to happen. It's already a huge jump to go from Best Friend to Rapist; expecting Jimmy to go down to Murderer is a big leap. It seems like he thought he had eight months to work with Anya, to figure out what to do. "Talking with Jimmy" could have been anything from Boys Club protection racketing to clinical setting of boundaries for likely the first time in their relationship to a full on confrontation. We don't know. We only get to see the death spiral that came out of it after.

It's pretty clear that Curly failed as a captain to protect everyone, but the scenario was hopeless to begin with. The choices he made before they got on the ship doomed them: trusting and supporting Jimmy was the mistake and it happened well before they got on the freighter.

And in every single scenario, I find it leads back to Pony Express being the ones at fault. Every bit of the ship they are trapped in exists to funnel more money into a dying beast of a company at the crews expense. I think Curly and maybe Anya both thought they had 8 months to figure out what would happen off the boat. A looming unavoidable threat of consequences. Everything to do with getting the company involved would likely drive Anya and or Curly broke; they say straight up they fine the crew for problems arising. That it's flat out the captains duty to handle it and then get charged by the company $$$ about it. They will double the amount of responsibility back onto the Captain and crew. Imagine working a year in isolated space and getting NOTHING for it? Imagine slashing thenrest of the crews wages.

Curly wasn't able to predict what Jimmy would have done. I think his plan was to handle things Off Board. Too late in multiple ways, but I do think he would have genuinely back up Anya in however they go forwards once they've landed.

The option he chose didn't deal with the real problem though. It feels like he tried to problem solve to deal with the consequences and not the issue at hand; the safety of Anya, his crewmember. It's how he failed as a captain.

I'm proud of him rushing headlong unto danger to try and save them all. God. What a vicious cruelty to deny Curly the one thing he does deserve credit for.

Anyways I'm redressing him like a mummy so he's nice and cozy for his 20 year sleep. Poor guy tried to intervene, badly, into something that needed to be prevented instead by the company and by foresight he didn't have about a dangerous, narcissistic best friend. Doomed from the beginning because of your character flaws and unwinnable scenarios. You're such a good little horror character; if feel like he's a good parable about putting safety first. Thanks for your follies bro I hope it has impacted my personal decision making for the better so I don't become you if I'm in your position.

[generalllimaginesss]

"If the entire human population was in front of me, I'd still choose you” with Jack.

I can only imagine what it would be like to have fans attack you if you were publicly dating him. I feel like Jack is so conscious of this. And he’s just soft boyfriend Jack trying to block out the unnecessary noise.

Maybe they just went public and she’s getting a lot of hate and it’s making her insecure. And Jack reminds her that it’s just them against the world and the only people whose opinions matter are their family and friends who love her.

Warnings: self depreciation, insecurities, self image issues, etc. Please don't read if you're not in a good headspace!!!

This is probably my favorite thing that I’ve written. I hope you like it as much as I enjoyed writing it!!

plus size! reader x Jack Hughes

••

You knew that dating somebody in the limelight would have its challenges. Hell, dating an average person was hard. But nothing could have prepared you for the magnitude of hate that hit as soon as Jack went public with your relationship.

It wasn't like the relationship was new. The two of you had been dating for almost a year before he decided to post you on his Instagram. You let Jack set the pace since he was used to the attention. He could let things go in one ear and out the other a lot easier than you could. He was almost conditioned to be able to do that. You, on the other hand, took everything very personally. Every comment about your weight, about what you wore, about how Jack looked miserable with you, they all hit you like a ton of bricks.

You didn't understand why all of these people were coming at you saying so many horrible things, but Jack tried his best to ease your mind and remind you that at the end of the day it was you and him.

He did a really good job at this normally, but he was away on a roadie for a few days and things began to get really bad. This started when you saw a fan account for Jack post something about how Jack downgraded from Sienna to you and all of the comments agreeing.

It was like a rabbit hole...once you clicked on that post it led you to many others. They all made you feel like shit, but when people started commenting on your body, saying that they "didn't know Jack dated plus size girls," it hurt. Your body was yours. It wasn't like you could just zip it off and find a new one, but if you could you would, just to shut the comments up.

You spent the 3 days Jack was gone in a really dark depression. No laundry was done, you hadn't showered, and you barely could make yourself get out of bed to brush your teeth. Dishes piled in the sink, but you couldn't make yourself do them. You knew the signs of your depression, but you welcomed them in a way, almost like a coping mechanism. Not allowing people to see you was the only way the haters couldn't get new material. Was it a healthy way to cope? Obviously not, but it was what worked in the moment.

As soon as Jack walked through the front door, returning from the games, he could tell something wasn't right. You always kept up with the chores when he was away, normally making the house spotless before he got back. So when he saw the state of the kitchen and eventually the rest of the house, he knew something was off.

When he walked into the bedroom and saw that you were pretty much in the same spot he left you in he immediately dropped his bags and climbed into the bed with you, forcing you to look at him.

He gently shifted your body to face him, cupping your cheek gently with his hand.

"Baby, what happened," He made note of the streaks that stained your face, probably from countless hours of crying. He wanted to make them disappear immediately. You were his happy-go-lucky, carefree girl. You danced around the house all the time, singing whatever song was playing. This side of you was uncharted territory that he wanted to take away so bad.

"I just need you to hold me," You began to hyperventilate, worried that if he didn't hold you that he would leave you. Even though that would never in a million years cross his mind. But he did as you asked, and whether it was for 5 minutes or 30 minutes, he didn't know. He held you until you pulled away.

"Can we talk about it?" Jack asked, pulling the hair that crusted on your cheek from the tears out of your face. He treated you like you were fragile, and you hated that he felt that way.

"It's just the comments, Jack. I'm already insecure sometimes and these people come at me in so many horrible ways," You began to explain, loose tears streaming down your face, but you were composed otherwise.

"They compare me to Sienna, and God, I know I'm not as pretty as her. They tell me I'm fat and that they didn't know you dated "fat" girls. It's just insane. Do they not realize that I actually am a real person with real emotions? Do they know that I've believed, at some point in time, the things they are saying? I've worked so hard to get to this place where I'm at, to love who I am, and within the span of 3 days they just tear it all down," You let the words just flow from your mouth, whatever thought that comes to mind is voiced to Jack.

"Baby, they don't care. They don't care because they're jealous," He tries to soothe you, but it almost made you mad. Not at Jack, but at the whole situation.

"What the fuck are they jealous of? My thighs that I cover with leggings and pants so that I won't have to go through the pain of them chafing? Are they jealous of the fucking stretch marks that go up my stomach, so I refuse to wear regular bikini bottoms? I mean what the fuck, do they want my anxiety and depression? I will gladly give them that..." The tears were beginning to pick up, but Jack continued to rub your back, waiting to get the chance to speak again.

"I know you could have any girl you wanted. It makes me sick when I see some blonde walk past that looks like she stepped out of a magazine because I know that's what you deserve. You don't deserve this. You're Jack fucking Hughes," You looked at him, your lip quivering. You were going to say something else, but Jack put his finger on your lips, gently stopping you from continuing.

"You gotta stop that. I can't let you keep putting yourself down like this, not when I love you with my whole fucking heart," He began.

"First off, I had that. I had whatever you consider a girl walking out of a magazine is. Look how that turned out. It didn't, did it? You don't look like Sienna, and I'm so fucking glad because I don't want her kind of beautiful. I want your kind. I want to see all of the things on your body that show me that you lived. I don't want some manufactured cookie-cutter girlfriend. I want somebody that nobody else has," He pulled you in for a hug, continuing to talk while placing kisses ever so gently on your cheek and neck, looking out the window at the busyness that was the outside world. All he could think about was how you didn't see what he saw. Why couldn't you see it?

"Baby, I want you to realize something. If the entire human population was in front of me, I'd still choose you. Without a second thought, with no regrets. Every. Single. Time. You have such a special relationship with my brothers and that means the absolute world to me. They love you so much. My parents tell me I should marry you anytime that you come up in the conversation. The entire team has commented on how much happier I am with you. And if I'm being completely honest, at the end of the day I don't give a damn what anybody else has to say because it's me and you until the end. Do you understand me?" He broke the hug, cupping your face with both hands and wiping at the tears with his thumbs.

"I love you," You whisper, your voice long gone by now.

Jack pulls your forehead toward his lips, kissing it for a few seconds before letting your head go.

"I love you, too. More than you, or anybody else, will ever know. Now, I think we could go for some cleaning karaoke, yeah? I'll wash the dishes if you'll dry them," He poked at your side, trying, and succeeding, in forcing a grin on your face.

"Only if we can get a shower together afterwards," You bargained, taking in the beautiful boy.

"Deal," He says and drags you off to the kitchen, connecting his phone the the speaker and blaring Dierks Bentley's new song "Beer at My Funeral," occasionally twirling you in a circle.

The water may or may not have gotten everywhere since Jack decided it was a good idea to spray you with the hose that connected to the sink, but he enjoyed every second that he got chased by you around the island.

Once the dishes were put up and the shower washed away the remaining bit of your depression, Jack couldn't help but to just admire you. He promised himself then that he would remind you so often of how beautiful you were so that would be the only words ringing through your head, taking up any space that the hate may have. Because it was true. You were the most beautiful and precious thing that had ever walked into his life, and he'd be damned if anyone made you feel otherwise.

*

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*

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[vicmillen]

Why Danny should be tossed into the Gotham cast

A short medium long list of reasons, by me:

It funny.

Lady Gotham being an nuisance. A mostly benign one but still a nuisance.

Danny being a even bigger nuisance in retaliation because men can be so petty.

Ol' Batsy getting multiple headaches. Must be his age catching up.

Jason.

Oh sweet, a whole species of enslaved undead waiting to be rescued and rehabilitated. Hmm wonder what's the deal with all the owl motifs?

Did I mention Jason? Oh I did. But how about his magic sword? You know the glowy lightsaber that's powered by his soul or something?

Bird watching is fun. Bat watching is even more fun. Until they start watch you back but eh

The rouges here feels more homely then elsewhere. More malicious to the living then your average Amity haunting, maybe. But the commitment to a theme is very familiar, as is the frequency of attacks.

Another fake clown to soup up! Huh? What do you mean he's human? Humans can't get souped like that don't be silly lol.

Wait. Huh. Well that explains everything and nothing.

How To Manage A Ghost Kingdom 101: a joint lecture by Timothy Drake-Wayne and Jason Peter Todd, teenaged entrepreneur and crime lord, respectively. Targeted student: one future Phantom King.

Advanced Anger Management with Jazz. Targeted student: one Jason Todd and one Danny Phantom.

How To Not Be A Cult Leader Part I, a group therapy lead by Tim. Attendee: one ol' Batsy, his son Stabby Robin, and one Ghost Boy.

So many liminals for a place without a 24/7 portal to the afterlife. Wait what's that green pool underground?

Why and most importantly, How is there ecto detectors in the batcave- wait no actually that explains how the Fentons got their first funding for their cursed research.

'It's good to practice for the future.' -Clockwork, probably.

'Enrichment is important for the growth of a Protector.' -Frostbite, probably.

'Peace is not an option.' -Paraphrased by Danny, probably.

Moving from most haunted city to most cursed city isn't exactly an upgrade, but it isn't an downgrade either, so.

Have you ever considered fighting the bad vibes of your city with cutesy lil blobs? Well you should. Not it's not causing a slime infestation what are you talking about.

Finally someone that is both willing (untrue) and able (we'll see) to deal with the various curses in Gotham. Yay...

No but seriously Danny-make friends with rouges while actively beating each other up-Phantom would fit right in with the Robins.

It's Jazz's dream job working in Arkham... Well it's actually working on dismantling the cursed thing, but baby steps, baby steps.

Imagine the everlasting trio getting onto the bats watchlist within a week. Separately.

Sam for Ivy The Second tendency; Danny because he's poking around old dionesium researches that he shouldn't know about; and Tucker because he's having fun (one-sided) with his new online friends. Oracle is deeply unamused.

Ellie should never meet Damian. They'll be such good bad influences for each other.

[petermorwood]

Microwave Sponge Cake (eventually)

Long ago, @dduane and I had a Whirlpool combi microwave - micro, grill, fan oven - and It Was Great, big enough to use as a proper oven when what needed cooked in a proper oven was small enough that powering up the big proper oven in the cooker was a bit much.

Still with me...?

IIRC it was one of those Christmas presents where Mum, ever-practical, told us; "get yourselves something really useful but not too expensive (I did say practical!) and I'll go halves."

In 2016, after something like 15 years of pretty-well daily use for one thing and another, the old thing expired by stages, micro first, grill second, oven last - it made great bread up until the end - and went to recycling heaven.

*****

We couldn't find a one-for-one replacement (we needed a free-standing counter-top appliance, everyone was selling built-in), so until once was available (optimism) we bought an ordinary microwave.

NB, this and its successors were only used for ordinary microwave things like reheating, defrosting and dealing with freeze-cook stuff. They got nothing like the amount of use of the old combi, mostly because of being incapable of doing a lot of it. As things turned out, this didn't help much.

About eighteen months later, we had to buy another. If a microwave's enamel interior develops a crack (to this day I don't know how), moisture gets in, rust begins and the enamel pulls off the bare metal. That's when you get "sparking".

This demo is deliberate; believe me, when it's unexpected it's even worse.

A private welder show or lightning storm at the end of the kitchen counter when all you want is a hot cuppa is distinctly unsettling. Also, it's only going to get worse, and we could imagine - boy, could we - what "Much Worse" might look like.

To the recycle dump!

(NB, micros with stainless steel interiors don't seem to do this, probably because they're already tuned to deal with the bare metal.)

The replacement, another ordinary micro, Just Up And Died after eighteen months and, guess what, the quote for a check-up and replacements-if-required was as much as the price of a new one.

(Inkjet printers seem to operate on this principal too.)

To the recycle dump again!

We got a third new one (which BTW is still running just fine, because it's been downgraded to Extra, read on), totalled up what we'd spent on ordinary microwaves, said a few well-chosen words about planned obsolescence and the "Vimes 'Boots' Theory of Economic Inequality" and got ourselves a pre-pay credit card whose top-ups were dedicated to Get A Combi Again.

We didn't bother with GACA baseball caps.

That would have been silly.

I don't know if these cards exist in the USA; we treat them as the modern version of a piggy-bank...

...except that to get at the money you need two people acting in accord.

*****

And in 2021 we got one.

Okay, this next bit is going to read like an ad.

It isn't, because the appliance is discontinued. (Whirlpool FINALLY do something similar but not identical.) It's just enthusiastic users discovering there's even more to a gadget than expected.

*****

The New One even bigger than the old one, which had 28 litres capacity; the new one was 33 L (was .99 ft³, is now 1.16 ft³). In non-tech terms, wow, More Room To Cook In.

Reading the figures was no help (to me, anyway) in visualising what a maw the thing had, but opening the door did that and no mistake.

I said something to DD about "bite radius"...

...and she instantly responded with "anyway, we delivered the bomb".

We're a quotesy household. ;->

BTW, The New One does a very good job on seafood, too...

*****

Since we got this, almost exactly two years ago, we've used it from reheating tea to roasting meat to making chilli / goulash / stew / curry (you can run the oven / grill separately or add simultaneous zaps of microwave for much less cooking time) to baking bread.

One of the best things about it is that when the set cooking time is done, the appliance switches off automatically. No risk of busyness, absent-mindedness or out-in-the-garden-ness ending in clouds of smoke, ruined food and possibly even worse.

As for breadmaking, it has a dough-rise setting which is a Time Machine, reducing a two-hour "doubled in size" rise time to about 35-45 minutes...

It also has the most reliable Defrost Butter setting either of us have ever encountered, turning a rock-solid butter brick from the freezer into something spreadable while never - to date - doing the "never mind a butter-knife, give me a spoon or a paintbrush" thing.

*****

However...

There's also a "Chef Setting" where there are some simple recipes. Here's the pastry page.

Basically, you assemble and mix the ingredients, input the correct settings and the machine does all the timing, heating and cooking.

We'd never used this until yesterday, when DD said, "Let's try the sponge cake..."

Yes, this post was entitled "Microwave Sponge Cake (eventually)..." and here we are...

We did all the measuring correctly and checked it by pouring the mixture into a baking container while on the scale, wondering betimes why the recipe says 900g, the ingredients total 925 and what actually poured into the container reads 906... Weird. Really weird.

Then we put the container into the oven, entered the correct code, and let things do what they were going to do.

A little later we discovered something else about the recipe besides a weight anomaly.

It didn't mention the required size of the container. Or or how much the mixture was likely to rise.

It rose...

Let's say more than we expected...

The fluted ceramic container used for baking this one makes it look like a Vesuvius cupcake; not quite a pyroclastic flow, but a lot of flow regardless.

Once it cooled we separated the sponge-cake from the escaped sponge in the same way as sculptors work with wood or marble - "Chip away everything that doesn't look like a cake" - and found that despite its misshapen looks, it tasted pretty good.

So today DD made another, this time using a larger container.

...and this time it stayed put until removed using the cunning base-and-lifting-straps of baking parchment.

It's not the loftiest or best-risen sponge cake either of us have ever seen (a smaller-diameter higher-sided container would probably deal with that) BUT if there's something needing sponge cake in a hurry - this went from cupboard ingredients to done and cooling in less than 55 minutes - that treatment seems to fit the bill.

We're now wondering what other secrets lurk in the simple recipe pages; falafel, quiche Lorraine, stuffed peppers, even Flammkuchen* from scratch.

(*Though I have my own views about Flammkuchen, mostly involving a plane flight...)

And we'll be paying a lot more attention to what size of dish we put them in. :->

[yuikomorii]

Do you like Cordelia or Christa more?

// Does ‘none’ work as an answer too?

On a more serious note, this is a tricky question. That said, I guess I do prefer Cordelia over Christa. Don’t get me wrong, Cordelia is a TERRIBLE mother and unarguably the worst of the three. But, despite her actions, she's an incredibly interesting character and does a fantastic job playing the role of the villainess. I love her interactions with Yui and Ayato in DF, and what I find particularly fascinating is how that route didn’t try to portray Cordelia as a good person. Instead, it helped the audience empathize with her. Even after she comes back to life, there's no apology or remorse for what she did to the triplets, yet we get to see the reasons behind her actions as well as a chatty and funny side to her, without automatically redeeming her as a person. Cordelia is unapologetically a bitch and she's honest about it.

As for Christa, I simply don’t really like her—neither as a person nor as a character. What annoys me the most is how 99% of the fandom sees her as this docile, weak-looking lady when she’s actually a completely CRAZY woman. Sure, it’s normal to feel bad for her, I do too, but I don't understand why so many people excuse her behavior by saying that “she’s mentally ill 🥺,” when literally all the characters are mentally ill. Why does she get a free pass for being awful? I get that what Karlheinz did to her is disgusting and that she’s his victim, but so is everyone else. On top of that, I’m not fond of her role in the story. The reason she was so admired in the Demon World was because of her purity (in the virgin sense), and then she starts blaming Subaru for ruining that purity—? Losing her title drove her to madness, which leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I understand she didn’t want to get pregnant, but she was in love with Karlheinz and wanted to marry him, so she should take some responsibility as well instead of blaming her son, who had nothing to do with it. It's nice that she had a loving side, but her constant back-and-forth—"Subaru, you filthy monster! Kill me! Kill him! He loves me the most! I hate you!"—is so exhausting and confusing. I especially remember a scene where Subaru tried to defend Christa from Karlheinz, but Christa got mad, slapped him, and was like “HOW DARE YOU SPEAK LIKE THAT TO YOUR FATHER!?". She’s not even meant to be a villainess, yet her unpredictability makes her dangerous. I was hoping Subaru’s DF route would make her a more entertaining character, but she actually felt like a downgrade compared to the previous games.

[anxresi]

They're absolutely right...

...It's the writers that deserve the lion's share of the backlash, for poor, innocent, boring-as-hell Zoe is merely a tool of the oppressor, aka Mr Astruc. What's being oppressed, you may well ask? Well, interesting storylines, proper continuity, two-dimensional personalities... I could go on. Everything that makes a show compulsive and rewarding viewing that Miraculous Ladybug conspicuously and utterly lacks in every department due to his increasingly destructive machinations, basically.

This pink-streaked plot device masquerading as a serious character can (along with another equally pointless individual called 'Soquerline' who was so unmemorable I almost forgot she was ever a thing) exists for one reason and one reason only: to diminish Chloe's relevance and role in the show to the sum of precisely nothing. Well after S5, job done I guess guys. Well done. Well done indeed. (Although apparently not... they're bringing Miss Bourgeois back for more torture in the London 'special'. Guess Tommy Boy just can't keep away from his favorite punching bag, can he?)

The irony is though, having such a super-sweet but dull-as-ditchwater Mary Sue to replace a well-established and multi-layered person such as Chloe actually sends out a seriously awful message. Why? Because if I was a bad kid and saw S1-3 Chloe, I'd think 'what a fascinating redemption arc, I can inspired by that and do better.' But after seeing S4-5 Chloe and what an arguable downgrade as a replacement the incredibly tedious Zoe is, I'd be more like 'well, obviously there's no point in trying to be good, because you'll probably turn into a psychopath overnight with no explanation in the middle of your genuine efforts to improve. And if what the show is presenting to me as the ideal for a teenage girl to be is the waste-of-blank-space that Zoe clearly is... then a life of deliquency sounds more tempting with every passing minute! Now, where did I put my spray can?'

The most shameless aspect to this whole argument though, is by those trying to paint the hapless Zoe as some kind of lesbian icon. Pardon? She got a plot-mandated crush on Marinette in one episode and somehow that makes her insipid and needless presence an asset for the gay community? Somehow a few people have got it into their heads if you 'dare' to make someone non-straight in cartoons these days you deserve a big pat on the back for that 'risk' alone. WRONG. They should also be fleshed-out, complex, necessary characters whose sexuality isn't just define them or deflect from deserved criticism as to what the hell they are doing there if they turn up in the middle of proceedings with no prior explanation. See: The Owl House for how it's done.

And that's all Zoe being gay is... an irrelevant trait Mr Astruc can point to cynically and say ' you're a bigot for disliking her whatever your reasons are, so I'm not listening to you' instead of engaging with the actual argument which is SHE IS NOT AND WAS NEVER NEEDED IN THE SHOW. Everything you required to make Chloe the brilliant character she could've been was RIGHT THERE in the script but you CHOSE to rub it all out and scrawl some hastily scribbled doodle with no personality other than being 'very nice' in her place. A tragedy. The worst case of self-vandalism I've ever seen. No wonder Jeremy Zag wants to start from scratch with his rebooted movies. More power to him, IMHO.

Needless to say, nearly all the above in the quoted post about her father loving her (we haven't met him yet, it's DEFINITELY not Andre Bourgeois, his name ends in 'Lee' for a start) her supposed growth (the only 'growth' she's had is when she turned into that giant golden Chloe after being akumatized) her alleged pansexuality (all in the desperate mind of the OP) her 'abusive' family (I think you'll find Chloe had it FAR WORSE over the course of the show in that regard, so why not idolise her?) is complete bunkum. and to be frank I couldn't compose a much delusional post if I tried. Sometimes I wonder: what planet are some people on to reach such implausible conclusions? I don't understand it, I'll never understand it and quite frankly I feel quite sorry for the arbiters of such risibly deluded takes.

Last but not least though, we have...

Now this I ALSO agree with 1000%. And I know just the place to 'flush' her... ;)

[goodolddumbbanana]

Some of my headcanon facts about House of Suns au.

1. Dark Sun calls all the Sun, Sun, except Servant, because he doesn't consider Servant Sun as Sun. Also, all of the Suns, only Servant Sun wants to call himself Servant and not some variant of Sun's name.

While Dark Sun with Sun is the: "I could make him worse." And "He is not so bad and maybe there are still hopes inside him." Relationship.

Dark Sun and Servant have the same: " You should be addicted to shut the fuck up. --- You want to kiss me so badly it makes you look stupid." Relationship.

2. There are three people who technically couldn't die in House of Sun.

Servant who keeps getting revived anytime he dies, (just like Kenny in South Path.) and keeps dying countless times a day because what is dead is supposed to be dead. The universe is trying to fix the existence of Servant, making him couldn't get to another day without some ridiculous deaths.

SunBOT who lives by the rules of the cartoon, meaning he is usually indestructible and very durable. Also he has a lot of clones under Moon's basement.

Sunny who is a half-ghost, he gets linked with his Solar. Which means as long as Solar still exists, he is still there, wandering around. He likes Danny Phantom without the alive part and has no power except floating (?) and turn solid (?) Also the reason why his vision is terrible and he needs glasses is because His and Solar's codes matched, so the universe decided to split their abilities in physical in half.

3. Cringe Sun is besties with Sundrop (No Moon's Sun).

They are both smarter than people give credit for, with Sundrop having to deal with Fazbear's shit everyday since he woke up and don't have a Moon to give him a heavily low self esteemed and downgrade his intelligence.

Sundrop is also more curious than usual Sun (he has more free time) and he usually spies on and travels on different dimensions a lot to the point it becomes his addiction and his professional job. Intergalactic bounty hunter, or just a Traveler.

He is getting better, though.

And with Cringe Sun, because being smart is based, so maybe from his dimension he is still considered an idiot but from outside difference universe perspective, he is actually pretty smart.

Cringe Sun also has to work his ass off to fix his Solar and find his Moon, who went on vacation so he always has his sunglasses on and he actually lives on vodka and coffee.

Sundrop is the one who always drags his ass back to bed to make him rest.

4. While Sunny has a very good banter with Servant and Goose Sun, and Sun with Sunshine (EAPS!Sun). It is SunBOT who follows Dark Sun a lot and likes his little sidekick.

SunBOT also can turn on and off his intelligence, but he is too dumb to be able to do that to himself.

It is Dark Sun who did that lots of time because he wants someone to do the hating and killing Moon with him sometimes.

Also SUNBOT compared to the others is more unhinged. Dude can be a little sociopath sometimes.

That's it for today. You guys can ask more if you guys are interested in this AU :)

[smolerthanthediagram]

Just saw a post about how studies path is different for everyone and it reminded me of how I loved the Good Will Hunting reference in Community and how it shows some interesting anti ellitist views about career choices and social class

Im adding a link of the scene in question for context but for those who can't watch it, in s1 ep24 there are some math students struggling to resolve a puzzle on a green board. Then they are gone and Troy approaches, takes a chalk, stares at the board, ans just goes away with the chalk lol, before stopping at the water machine to drink, but sees it's not working, so he then proceeds to repair it like he has been doing this his whole life. Then he leaves and two plumbers, who saw the scene, come to talk to him, too late.

First the gag is really funny, like textbook setup payoff joke, but with a double payoff because the first one is that Troy is not good at logic so it shouldnt be a surprise he doesn't resolve the puzzle. But because we all know good will hunting we are still expecting it. But this would have been unsatisfying/unfinished if Troy would have resolved nothing at all, and so instead he repairs the pipes of the water machine, and this is how we get to see his actual gift : repairing stuff.

Troy in this gag is a mirror of Will : just like him, he is in a life path that can't make him discover and exploit his true potential ; like him his speciality is almost a gift, something he has intuitively, and that he is always good at, and can get him to prestigious places (Troy later learns he is the chosen one to plumbing school AND AC repair school, and even becomes the Messiah of the latter and saves someone's life and restores justice with his gift - s3 ep 22). But on the surface, Troy has an opposite path from will : while Will starts as a janitor and ends up as a student, Troy does the opposite: he starts as a student and becomes a worker of manual labour, something that, in our world, is seen as less valuable, and a downgrade from his former status. But not in Greendale. Here the ac repair school is like this masonic organisation that controls Greendale's budget and by doing so holds the actual power, because they are the only ones who can actually guarantee their students a job at the end of their cursus.

And while it sounds crazy, it is not far from the truth. Speaking for myself, I tried (and failed) a master degree in human sciences only to find out I wouldn't have been sure to find a job with it anyways because long studies are not valuable anymore, whereas almost all the people I know who did short studies and more manual labor are in a more stable situation than me. I also have ADHD, and I'm almost sure Troy has as well which explains in part the struggling in this capitalist élitiste system. While classes give Troy a hard time to focus or study, repairing is something Troy is actually good at, and the series explains it by making a parallel with air conditioning and people, because "the true repairman will repair men" (s3 ep 22). Troy seems to actually use his high emotional intelligence (yet again something seen as less valuable than logic etc) to repair stuff because he know how things and people work. It doesn't matter if he doesn't have extended knowledge about everything because he is best at focusing on what's just before him and between his hands. This way community shows another look on manual labor and it's actual value, because let's not forget that without it the whole society litteraly falls appart.

PS : just a reminder that I know that choosing a job is very often not motivated by gift or passion because capitalism and so the ones in power need poor people who have nothing to lose to do the physical, hurting labor while the rich get to choose. This post was just taking about these jobs are seen as inferior because they are mostly done by people with low education, but that doesn't mean these jobs don't require actual skills and knowledge, on the contrary. Just wanted to clarify a bit

[yunjinsstar]

weak, only for you. | tim drake x reader

Tim Drake's philosophy is that sleep is for the weak. This is not a good enough reason for you to let him go without sleep. (Alternatively, a fic where Tim Drake is coaxed back to bed because we all need sleep, no matter how necessary it is to stay awake.)

pairing/characters: tim drake/reader genre: fluff tags/warnings: soulmates, sleep deprivation word count: 1.6k crossposted on ao3

You turned onto your side as you tried to get some shut-eye. Usually, you could get your eight hours of sleep but it felt odd sleeping without the extra weight of your partner, Tim. You understood his job didn't really allow for a lot of rest but he wasn't a robot, he was a human being. He had limits.

Tim hadn't slept for a couple nights now. The boys were hot on the trail of a new crime boss that recently moved his trade to Gotham from Star City. Green Arrow had been of much help but the home of Batman needed its' own vigilantes on the case.

While you appreciated the work Tim did as Red Robin for the city, especially in times like this, it made it especially harder to let him do his thing. You didn't sleep well at night knowing your partner and soulmate was sleep-deprived.

Time had run out for your patience.

You grumbled as you peeled your woollen blanket off your body. You did not appreciate having to sacrifice your warmth just to get Tim into bed. Gotham City was not a warm place at night, in both the literal and figurative sense.

Tim's insomniac-like habits were worse beforehand when he would stay at the Batcave. According to Bruce, Tim's 'bed' consisted of a thin blanket and a pillow off of the living room couch. Mind you, he didn't even use it to sleep, he used it for a quick power nap.

You eventually convinced to build his own Bat-computer at your shared apartment. He folded after you told him *exactly* how lonely you felt when he was away. With great reluctance, he left the Wayne manor that night and slept for a good five hours.

As soon as he woke, he started getting supplies to build a mini Bat-computer fit for the apartment. When you walked out to the kitchen for breakfast, you were met with a note on the bench: "Hi love, I've just gone to the tech store. I made eggs and bacon for you. I promise I won't be long. I love you :)"

Tim spent the entire day building the computer. He downgraded to only three monitors but the PC itself was still the same quality as Bruce's. He even improved on it, adding extra features. 

Your genius finished his project on the same day, proud of his achievement. You kissed him softly as a congratulations and a thank you. He was grateful you made him come back home.

Now, the only hassle was having to travel outside, rather than across town. Wrapped in a cardigan you picked up from the bedroom floor, you watched your soulmate type away at the keyboard.

The monitors displayed maps tracking all criminal activity in real-time, personal information on the crime boss, and details of his criminal record. Unsurprisingly, the desk was littered with empty coffee cups, of which you could count eight.

If Tim noticed you, he hadn't shown it by now. You padded over to him, a quiet yawn escaping your lips. Approaching him, you stood behind him as you placed a gentle kiss on his cheek. You trailed your hand down his arm to his forehand, where the red mark stained his pale skin.

His body shivered as you brushed your fingers over the mark before settling your hand on his. 

•

You stared up at the Egyptian coffin. According to the Gotham City Museum, the sarcophagus you were looking at was extracted from the tomb of Hatshepsut, a famous female pharaoh who began her reign around 1473 BC. She was titled "The Queen Who Would Be King."

As you admired the detailing, you felt another body sidle up next to you. You weren't sure whether to break your stare to assess the person beside you or just continue looking. You opted for the latter.

The two of you stood there in silence until you saw him enter your vision to read the plaque in front of the glass display. This time, you got a good look at him. He didn't look too old, probably in his mid-20s.

He was wearing a collared shirt under a Gotham University hoodie. The sweatpants he wore bore the Gotham University logo as well. You wondered why you'd never seen him around the campus before.

Deciding to entertain the unknown, you stepped up to the plaque, reading it alongside him. Granted, you'd already read it but he didn't need to know that.

His slender hand drifted over the words. It had some scars and discolouration. You desperately wanted to know the secrets behind them but curiosity killed the cat.

"Did you know that Egyptians thought the most significant part of your life was death?" he spoke without warning. You looked up at him, bewildered by not only the fact but by the tone of his voice.

It was rich and full, but had a tinge of aching behind it. It felt like he was hiding something but you couldn't tell exactly what.

"No, I didn't. Why, do you agree?" you asked tentatively. For all you know, he could be a creep. It was never good to easily trust anyone you met in Gotham.

"Not at all. There's so much merit that comes from living," he said softly. It was at this moment his piercing sky blue eyes met yours. His face looked familiar but you couldn't place it.

"Some of us aren't living, though," you tore your eyes away from his, "we're just surviving."

"A pity," he agreed, his hand still resting on the steel plaque. You looked over to him once more to see his head hung low. He was a tainted soul in the city of the living dead.

You couldn't explain why you did so, but your hand reached out from your side to rest gently on his. So much for not easily trusting people.

"Maybe one day, peace will find us," you pondered. You only hoped his eyes would find yours.

They did, as his head rose.

"I only hope so," he added.

When he finished his sentence, your hand started to tingle. His was too, as his eyes widened at the sensation. Suddenly, a bright burst of light shone through the museum. You lifted your hand from his and turned it over to see your whole right palm covered in red.

His hand remained on the plaque as he took in the red hand mark branding his left forehand. Your mouth parted slightly as you gazed up at him. He mirrored your shocked expression.

"You're..." he trailed off.

"I can't believe this. We're soulmates?" you asked to no one in particular. You touched your left palm gently and shivered at the feeling, the area still sensitive.

The mystery man beside you finally turned to face you completely and it was then you realised who he was. Tim Drake, successor of Bruce Wayne as CEO of Wayne Enterprises, the corporate group that owns the entire city, was your soulmate. 

He attended Gotham U but according to one of your friends who was doing the same degree as him, he never really showed up to class. That made sense, but you couldn't imagine doing university and running a corporation.

"I'm Tim Drake," he stuck his right hand out. You took it in yours as you introduced yourself to him as well.

"I would've never guessed my soulmate was going to be a rich business CEO," you mused. He laughed and dear God, it was heavenly to listen to.

"I would've never guessed my soulmate was going to be the most insightful and beautiful woman I've ever met," he said. Your cheeks flushed at his kind words.

"Oh, I'm not anything like that. Once you get to know me, you'll find I'm just as ordinary as anyone else in Gotham," you denied. He clasped your fingertips and brought your hand up to his mouth, pressing a light kiss to your forehand.

"In Gotham City, no one's ordinary."

•

"What are you doing up, my love?" Tim mumbled, shifting your hands so his now laid atop of yours. He rubbed his thumb across your knuckles.

"Trying to get you to sleep with me," you responded, fatigue evident in your voice. You were heavily relying on the chair Tim was sitting on to hold yourself up.

"This case is important," he tried to reason.

"Your sleep is important too. When was the last time you got more than four hours of sleep, Tim?" you asked him, knowing the answer full well. He gulped as he let the silence act as his response.

"Exactly. Please, come to bed," you pleaded with him. He sighed, contemplating his decision.

"I love you, sweetheart but we're so close. I need to make sure I'm awake for when there's new activity," he told you. Now, you were getting frustrated.

"Timothy Drake," he immediately made eye contact with you as you took your hand away from his, "I'm not asking you to sleep for me. It's for you. I don't like seeing you barely alive and drinking unhealthy amounts of coffee."

His eyes softened as he saw how irritated you'd gotten.

"So, would it be that bad if you just got some good sleep?" you asked, tired of having to do this all the time.

"I guess not," he replied. You backed away as he pushed away from the desk and stood up. He took your hand in his as he tucked in the chair and walked to the bedroom with you.

The two of you tucked yourselves in and you faced in to each other. Your left hand laid on the pillow, the red soulmark faint in the glow of the Gotham moonlight.

His fingers traced over your palm lines ever so gently. The touch was soothing. He softly smiled at you and you returned the smile.

"Thank you. I just get so caught up in it, I forget," he whispered.

"You're in luck, because I'm always going to be around to remind you."

© yunjinsstar 2023. do not copy this work.

[azulsluver]

If josuke was always getting beat up and insulted by reader, especially if they insult his hair that is VERY important to him and he just lets it slide...

Wouldn't koichi or okuyasu know/be suspicious about this? And they would atleast try to fight reader back or atleast defend josuke right?

When did they realize josuke let it slide for a reason?, Plus, how much can reader push josuke until he actually snap? (Other than moving out of town like the fic?)

I just want to see the side characters opinions about josuke and reader's dynamic lol (including rohan ig?)

Got it. Let’s make some things clear however.

We all know Josuke didn’t develop the sense of style he calls a hair until later on. Now was there an official saying when he decided to have a pompadour? No. So my guess was him moving into middle school, secretly using his grandpas hair gel… now you didn’t exactly call him out about his hair. It looks silly, but you’re usually not the one playing fire with your mouth. So technically he didn’t let you “slide”, although I’m sure Josuke would if you didn’t go around spouting how much you hate him. Nonsense!

Josuke in the anime is shown to bite his tongue when bullied by his seniors, besides the insulting hair part. So where does Okuyasu and Koichi play a part in this? First off, they don’t know you personally. You stray away from Josuke and his friends now high school peaked. Being known as the student who once fought Josuke. Josuke however practically moans and groan about you on the daily, it makes Okuyasu a little jealous since Josuke didn’t tell him the reason and how you were his bully. He likes to leave those details out.

Avoiding Josuke is your job. Giving up on the bullying. He’s scary and he’s popular. You kind of downgraded and stayed with close friends. You are in no position to try and scream in his face, his admires will bite you back for it.

Implied, Josuke is smitten with you, when you are alone he’s more affectionate. Which you have been a couple of times. He’s daring and never gives up, you could be married and he’ll set your partner up to make you see how horrible of a person they are. Josuke’s relentless pursuit has caused some of your older friends to part, which would explain why you had a few in high school. To push him is almost impossible—all you had to do was yell it in his face. Children don’t exactly say they hate something without a good reason, you just so happen to bubble up those feelings. What really gets him is showing PDA with a partner that’s not him. Babe that’s cheating! God forbid he ever went to those type of house parties and playing spin the bottle, everyone going out.

For the ‘side characters’ opinions on the relationship it’s all show. Josuke tells what he thinks, sweet, adorable you, the attitude could be fixed—you just miss him because he hasn’t been paying attention, he’s sooo sorry.

Okuyasu believes Josuke wholeheartedly, whatever you say must be butterflies, he gets those too when he’s talking to a cute girl. Don’t be an ass, Josuke gets a little mean and will use Okuyasu’s ability as an example if you continue to run your mouth. Your cheeks are just as kissable.

Koichi at first was a little skeptical given rumors. He’s seen you before, all avoidant and uneasy whenever Josuke waves loudly for your attention. But Josuke is a good man, a good friend, once he puts two to two together he comes to a conclusion that you weren’t the nicest. How could Josuke ever be so sappy with you when you clearly got the look of wanting to call him a bitch. You kind of remind him of Yukako with that expression you make.

Call Rohan an expert, he’s not new to these sort of things. But you’re on your own. Why should he snoop in Josuke’s personal relationships, how would it benefit him?…..although he could get back at Josuke for ripping him off his bet. He practically knows how it all went down and the dynamic you two had. Laughing a couple of times as he flips to the next page on your arm, Rohan would be a little indifferent. Every man to themselves I guess.

[ilikekidsshows]

About you being harassed by Marinette fans. I don't know if me doing this is weird, but you being open bout that makes me want to open up more too. I've send you 4 anons by now (u probably could already tell they were from one person) because I don't have a miraculous Blog anymore since the hiatus before Destruction because Marinette fans found one of my posts criticizing Marinette's treatment of Cat Noir and her leadership and they went after me for i think almost an entire week. I ended up deleting my blog in panic and fear of it getting worse the more traffic it got amongst Mari stans.

I followed the show and Fandom til now from afar to see if any of my Marinette problems were getting the fixes everyone screamed about season 5 would deliver but I can't say that happened. I wholeheartedly agree that with alot of other people that it only got worse with the doubling down and her gettin less heroic underneath the surface.

So I'm still here and upset that I was bullied out of this fandom for things I was apparently right about to degrees I didn't even knew back then how right I'd end up being....

I found a couple of blogs to follow that share my opinions and you guys have been interwoven alot now so I thought sending anons to dip my toe back into being part of the discourse is a good idea. I hope I didn't cause any Mari stans getting angry at you for it, I've been worried bout that ngl.

I would like to ask bout one of the topics Marinette fans cyberbullied me for but I still think I'm right for questioning:

How much value does Marinette see in being friends with her love interests?

Oc im not doubting that she sees at least some worth in it, but it feels very shallow. Fandom is working the lion's share to take what little canon gives and run with it til they think their fanon is real.

Marinette values friendship, sure, but Zoe is the only love interest of hers for whom that feels right to say

Marinette in Canon has said many times that for her being friends with the one she loves is the worst thing she could possibly imagine. E. g. Psycomedian. And she was rewarded with Adrien being her devoted and desperate prince for her doing probably the most friendship related thing she did in all season 4. She had a basic little convo with him about understanding to have problems and that's where it ended. Where did Marinette ever even try to be rlly Adrien's friend? She said 500x that she's finally gonna put her romance feelings aside for a bit to focus on her job (which I hoped would mean she'd work on her weaknesses in the platonic Ladynoir team dynamic too... Silly me... )

But that never goes anywhere? Weren't Adrien and Kagami the ones literally having been created out of the feeling love or to love someone in particular and even THEY could overwrite their senti programming better than Marinette ever could get over her normal ass feelings for a week? Adrien and Kagami value the friendship with the one they love deeply, is that the difference? That Marinette can't ever move one from loving someone because friendship feels like an awful downgrade and torture to her so she stays the same? What does that say bout her?

Or that Luka and Cat Noir never caused her stalker paranoia to break out that Derision claims she does to protect herself. Why does it only apply to Adrien? And not even Cat Noir, too? In my other anons I brought up how awful I think it is that Marinette seemingly has no interest in leaning anything rlly about the boy underneath Cat Noir's mask, now she barely acts like she remembers that he's real and that they'll one day reveal where he'll then find out how many times she deliberately deceived him with her civilian identity in very hurtful ways.

How does that correspond to her being in love and more important for my question, what does that level of refusal to treat someone like a real person say about her willingness to be Cat's friend? Cause I can't see friendship in Ladynoir anymore. Marinette was the one who killed that in season 4 and then season 5 didn't improve her in much. Friends don't treat each other the way Marinette so easily uses, hurts ignores, silences and deceives Cat Noir without batting an eye.

The only effort she really made was before Kwamis choice. When she thought he was still in love with her and expected that s4 magically caused no damage to his feelings for her. she seemingly thought she could just allow him to dedicate himself to her for an overall easy way to sweep everything under the rug and make him "happy" again without her ever having to really try and do better herself because that was the comfort she was seeking at that time (shoutout to Familyagrestefanblog and erisluna35. I've been paraphrasing them alot and wanted mention that too. Didn't get to write out my own opinion in a while and I agree with them x})

This refusal to face her hurtful actions of s4 quickly developed into her craving for him to give her his easy love and not wanting to take anything less than precisely the endless devotion she wanted from him now. No matter what the price. No matter how much it put him too in danger (what even meant Cat Blanc?), and yet, still no interest in him as a person.

Once she had to take the no, she left and then she never again made a genuine effort in Ladynoir. Any effort to better herself was romance related. Determination may have been the episode where she rlly noticed her changed feelings for him, but she did try earlier than that. But it fully stopped with his no as did her changed feelings vanish as quickly as they showed up. So what does that say about her and how she views their "friendship"?

Season 4 has her already show that she doesn't want Ladynoir to be an actual friendship since she treats him barely better than a magical pet she rarely ever thinks about, which caught her off guard over and over that she isn't being the kindest and adoring person of all time to him. She treats him so much worse than her actual friends and in s5 she isn't trying to build a real connection beyond wanting him to shower her in his devotion and love.

What season 5 shows bout Marinette's view of the Ladynoir friendship is in my most generous reading her not getting to hide behind any romantic feelings from either side that she doesn't know how to be his friend, after she had to learn in season 4 that she was a really really bad one. But even with that generous reading, it would still mean that Marinette then went on prioritizing not having to feel any further discomfort or having to owe up for her actual mistakes in their bond over her finally being the friend she SHOULD think Cat Noir deserves. A friend he desperately needed but never got cause she called it a day with her personal needs being met my having her best friend Alya with her.

Friends don't do that. Marinette denied him any genuine friendship he obviously truly needed as Cat Noir because she personally didn't need it from him anymore cause of Alya. And he rejected her desire to now be adored by him so there was no purpose left anymore for him to fulfill in her life besides the easy partner she made clear cant ask shit from her.

That is so unbelievably selfish... How on earth is that supposed to be FRIENDSHIP?

Srry, for this being long. Last point.

Luka of course needs to be mentioned too. Sure, the show says they are friends. But are they really? Their friendship is built on him being her platonic therapist back-up boyfriend who doesn't ask shit of her either. This is still the same pattern as with Catrien. Luka does all the emotional labor and Marinette just takes and takes and that's what makes her so comfortable around him but she isn't interested in him either beyond what she sees day to day in front of her.

That doesn't count as friendship in my book. For Adrigami you can still feel their friendship after their breakup. But Lukanette is Luka being a platonic therapist boyfriend and Marinette being just as disinterested in him as with Cat Noir while being just as comfortable getting showered in emotional labor that she's unwilling to work on giving back the way she should.

How is that friendship? What value has friendship for Marinette once any romantic feelings are involved from either side and it isn't Zoé (feels like a homophobic backhanded compliment lmao)

That was very long, I apologize. But thanks to writing in anon I started becoming more comfortable with the idea of joining the Fandom discourse again. I've got alot I wanna say after all that time in silence but I'm not sure yet if I should put myself out there again with a blog. With how season 5 ended Marinette stans are gonna be vicious beasts to any criticism they come across and I don't want that to happen again :(

---

I hope this isn't a case of speak of the devil and he shall appear but lately things have been really quiet on the Marinette stan front. The worst I’ve gotten was this really unhinged one, but they were so unpleasant they didn't have any friends so the harassment was very one-note and stopped pretty quickly since they had to run it alone. It could be that now that season 5 confirmed that season 4 wasn't an outlier, that the show’s writing has gotten incredibly sloppy and nasty, the critical side of the fandom has become unified and we add to each other’s posts and kind of back each other up. It's harder for Marinette stans to target us one by one, and their preferred tactic is dogpiling a single blog. A lot of the Marinette stans protesting my posts now shut up right quick when they see more people agreeing with me adding to the reblog chain.

As for the question, I agree with your assessment. It really does appear that Marinette hates the idea of being friends with a love interest. She whined about Adrien seeing her as just a friend all the way back in Riposte. Adrien sung her praises to Kagami, while she spied on them, and she had the gall to whine that the boy she “loves” thinks so highly of her because it wasn't the kind of thinking she wanted.

There was this one thing I said in a previous post that I think is accurate: Marinette part-times being Cat Noir's friend. Even the part of time she acts as his friend, she ignores his feelings, insults him, pushes him away, refuses to give him emotional support in any way and lies to him about anything she possibly can. She only approaches him as Marinette when she wants to complain about Adrien not coming to the date he didn't know was a date, when she thinks she can score a date with him or so that she can practice confessing to Adrien on him. Marinette's “friendship” with Cat Noir is all take with no give when she isn't outright ignoring his existence.

She also ignores boys who have feelings for her in her civilian life. Nathaniel is very suspicious of her in Reverser, having to be convinced that she wasn't planning to humiliate him, implying he isn't part of her friend group since he doesn't know her well enough to know she only humiliates people when they're in her way of getting at Adrien. (Alix makes it sound like she wouldn't do that period, but we know the truth by now.) She also refused to come to Juleka and Luka's shared birthday party if Luka was present after they broke up. I bet if you tried to tell Marinette, or her writers, that your romantic partner should also be your best friend to make a healthy relationship, they just wouldn't compute. 

I don't want to say Marinette doesn't hold friendship in high regard period, because the amount of exceptions she makes for Alya shows that she at least values Alya’s friendship. I think she just doesn't value friendship with boys. I feel like Marinette is the kind of person who doesn't think boys and girls can really be friends, which would explain why she thinks Adrien considering her a friend is worse than anything else. If boys can't really be friends with girls, Adrien using the word “friends” means they aren't even that.

Consider this: how often does Marinette hang out with her guy classmates when it isn't 1) a whole-class outing or 2) more likely that Marinette just wanted to hang out with his girlfriend? Like, in Animan, Marinette had no idea Nino had a crush on her, but she still acted like an outing with him at the zoo was the worst thing ever. I get that she was disappointed Adrien wasn't there, but Nino is one of Marinette’s oldest classmates, yet she doesn't want to spend time with him, unless she's planning to use him to get closer to Adrien, since he's Adrien’s best friend.

Of course, she doesn't really value the time with her other friends for its own sake outside of Alya either. It seems like the only times they hang out together is to plot or participate in her get Adrien quick schemes. The only times the girls do something not Marinette related is when Marinette hasn't called them together, like when they were going to the pool in Gorizilla, something Marinette completely forgot until Alya called her. Marinette has poor memory but, despite her knowing she has poor memory, she apparently gave herself no reminder to hang out with her friends. You bet I write down every occasion I’ve agreed to see my friends specifically because I have bad memory as well.

It seems like, unless you're Alya, Marinette only cares about you for how able and willing you are to help her catch Adrien's attention. I keep saying Marinette treats her Adrien romancing problems as the most important thing going on at any given moment, and it's true for all areas of her life. Maybe that's the reason we didn't see Socqueline for four seasons despite her supposedly being such an important friend to Marinette, and why she never joined the friend group proper; Socqueline couldn't help her get with Adrien so she wasn't worth Marinette’s time.

This is a yet another thing where Miraculous is actually pretty sexist; girls and boys can't ever just be friends and girls care more about getting guys than they do about their friends. Another thing of course is this idea that boys just don't have as in-depth feelings as girls or should bury their feelings and never ask for emotional support, which is why all of Marinette's love interests are her emotional support dispensers whose opinions on anything don’t matter when their job is to simply mindlessly worship Marinette while their feelings are devalued by the narrative every time they dare to try to ask Marinette for some support back. Luka gets Akumatized which convinces him to break up with Marinette when he had emotional needs she wasn't willing to fulfill. Meanwhile Adrien goes through the travesty that is Kuro Neko

“Power of love always so strong” but only when it's Marinette's toxic idea of love and when it isn't platonic love. Unless you're Alya, I guess.

[adobe-outdesign]

Neopet review: the Zafara! Last in the alphabet of neopets, but certainly not last on how cool they are!

I always enjoy a good abstract creature that's still a believable animal, so unsurprisingly, I like Zafaras a lot. They've got a really unique body shape amongst Neopets that's vaguely like a kangaroo, but that's where the similarities stop. I really like the feathery structure to their tails, their long ears, and that random set of spines they have along their back.

Visually, my only nitpick is that I'm not a big fan of the base color's palettes—most PB colors fix this, but the base colors have a weird mix of beige, pink, blue and black going on with their accents and none of it goes together. I feel like the back spines should've been black along with the nose, or the spots should've been beige instead or black, etc etc.

I'd argue Zafaras mostly benefited from customization as their old art was getting very dated by the time the conversion happened, and they likely would've received a redraw even if customization didn't become a thing. Plus a lot of the updates look really good, such as the tail tip shape being improved, fluff being added to the chest so they don't have a weird shape jutting out there, the feet being lengthened, etc. The only downgrade are the fists, and that's just a standard thing for customization.

My only other minor nitpick is that old Zafara eyes were almost pitch black and it gave them what I can best describe as a sopping wet meow meow vibe that gets lost nowadays. Even when they had color in their eyes, it was more of a crescent shape and overall cuter. Granted, though, the new eyes are more in line with other Neopets, so I get the change.

Favorite Colours:

Christmas: While most Christmas pets are just the standard reds and greens, the Christmas Zafara goes in a completely different direction by being an angel with a very pretty white and yellow color palette and a nice get of wings. It's super simple but very pretty. I also like how they fixed the color balancing that I mentioned above by changing the ear spots to yellow and making the tail tip match. (I do kind of wish the nose were black or something, but that's an extreme nitpick.)

Maraquan: I am 100% cheating by including this one because I usually try to stick to only pet colors you can obtain in the present day, but with UC styles becoming a thing I'm hopeful we'll be getting the old design back one day.

Because yeah, I absolutely love the pre-customization design; making it a sort of sea horse/leafy seadragon cross works perfectly with the Zafara's body shape, the pose is lively, and I love the bright pink fin accents to contrast with the teal body striping.

(The converted is... okay, but the concept was completely lost by changing the pose, the striping was reduced too much, and the body has this bizzaro lumpy shape instead of being a smooth curve like it should be.)

Water: Technically speaking this isn't too fancy, but I just think they did such a nice job with this one. There's so much gorgeous detail in the shading along the head and tail splashes, and the artist really did a good job at capturing that watery look. The choice to make the head tuft and tail splashes in the first place was a great choice, and I especially love how the ear spots are water bubbles. Super pretty all around.

BONUS: I really like burlap pets and think it's an underrated color, so I figured I should give the burlap Zafara a shoutout for being one of the best burlaps out there. The colors are kept muted, the uncanny valley vibe is present, the way they handled the fur tufts looks great, and I like the various slate blue patches on the body, which match with the back spines, spots, and eyes.

[jaestrz]

𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬 - 𝐧𝐚 𝐣𝐚𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧 나재민

*ೃ༄. *ੈ✩‧₊˚

𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗿𝗲: fluff | slight angst | established relationship | hurt comfort

𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴: jaemin x afab reader

𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴: mentioned of jealousy

≡;- ꒰ ° you didn’t have the courage to confront about the event that happened at work. ꒱

⋆.ೃ࿔* a/n: this would be my first nct content in this account. a bit excited and scared if it isn’t good. Enjoy! (The title doesn’t have anything related to the actual writing, i just ran out of ideas lol

Both of you had acknowledged the consequences when it comes to falling in love while working the same job. A job that requires you to work harder for people to like you, a job that requires so much communication or else the world could turn a blind eye and sees you differently. It could turn the unconditional love into pure hatred in a blink of an eye.

Jaemin was the most sweetest human you had met since debut, until now. He would be sweet to anyone he bumped into. Although sometimes that sweet behaviour of his could really made you feel a bit downgraded, maybe it was just a you problem. You should start shoving the jealousy thought at the back of your head each time award events comes around. A bad image won’t do any good and that’s the last thing you wanted to do before you die.

This subject was brought up a few months ago. You can’t really remember when, maybe it was a small peep talk with Jaemin alone.

He was okay with it. Jaemin didn’t have any intentions to make you feel bad. He knows your limit and the opposite same goes to you. If he has to pull away from someone he would. He had understood you too much, you wish you could do the same.

Now when you sit back, alone while reflecting yourself, maybe you were the problem.

The sound of Jaemin calling your name echoed, grabbing your attention and your eyes searched for the male that was sitting in front of a vanity. “Does your wound still hurts love? You don’t have to force yourself. I don’t want your injury to get worse.” He wasn’t turning his back but he managed to see you through the mirror reflection. Of course you looked at him, except- something was a bit off.

This would be the first full (even though it’s short) conversation you had with jaemin throughout the day. He had been talking more with the temporary stylist. The previous stylist went on maternity leave, more like his stylist since she was in charged of Jaemin. No one really knew anything about the new temporary staff. She looked a bit younger than most of the people here. But mostly Jaemin had been the only person she talks to a lot today. It went from exchanging laughters to getting closer. Maybe a bit too close. Yet you didn’t want to sound like you’re possessive about it.

So you deny the thoughts in your head and ignored it.

“I’m good.” You replied dryly.

There was a concerned look on Jaemin’s face but it soon faded away when he starts getting back in conversations with the staff.

It definitely stung a little more than your wound. But who were you to tell him what to do?

“talk to him y/n. You’re hurting yourself even more.” Mark told you.

-

Jaemin had never felt more unease in his life. Feeling like something had gone wrong that made you upset. Because even if you were, you would’ve confessed and settled it on spot. He had practically asked all of the members why were you were acting this way and asked a million times if there was something going on that he didn’t caught up.

Sadly the members turned a blind eye and just shrugged. Repeating the word ‘I don’t know, just go and ask her’.

You were nowhere to be seen except for the award ceremony. It was the last time he had saw you before you disappear somewhere. Jaemin didn’t get the chance to ask you about it.

It did weirded him out since you were the most calmest person that rarely gets annoyed or upset. It takes a lot for it to happened. Maybe there was something big that had happened that made you uncomfortable? That was what Jaemin had set in his mindset.

After the events ended, everyone returned to their respective hotel rooms while Jaemin managed to catch you at the private lobby room, alone while cuddle yourself by the sofa, the oversized hoodie was a replacement of a blanket, snoozing with earphones in. You probably didn’t acknowledged his presence but your eyes fluttered open when you realised he was stroking your cheekbone.

“Why didn’t you nap in our bed baby?” His tone has soften. You didn’t answer, a loud sigh left your lips as you tried to stand up and walk away only for it to be blocked by him. There was a hurt expression in his eyes. “why are you ignoring me love. Did I do something wrong?”

The silence you gave him was making it uncomfortable for the both of you. He was looking at you, but you didn’t even look at him back. Maybe Jaemin had thought about a thousands time about what he did today just to think of what he did to make you upset.

Until he finally remembered.

“i stopped talking to her. I didn’t realise she was so close to me until a few minutes when she asked me out.” Jaemin said.

“go and have fun with her, she was practically all over you and you didn’t stop-”

“all I could think on my mind was when will haejin return so I could stop worrying about what you were thinking. I didn’t mean to make you feel low love but still, I’m sorry.” his hand brought up to brush away the few strands of hair and planted a kiss on your forehead. It did soften your tensed heart, your eyes caught on his and he smiled at you.

“You’re the only woman that I want by my side y/n. Will you forgive me baby?”

Jaemin stared at you and waiting for your answer. You aren’t the type of person to hold grudges for long. The faster the problem is solved, the easier it gets.

“Just once.” You replied and Jaemin nodded. His hand intertwined with yours and you buried your face in his chest as he hugs you.

[roboromantic]

OKAY movie was really really good. I do have a couple minor critiques and general thoughts below; no real order just whatever I happen to remember wanting to mention

would it have killed them to have Alpha Trion just say "No child of Primus is born without a T-cog." It would've been significantly less clunky than "son or daughter" and more inclusive; it felt like a step backwards from Earthspark :/

I woulda liked to get to know the Iacon High Guard a bit more, we really didn't get much time with them. We coulda had a bit of a teaser of them by having them attack the train that OP et al. were on, which would also show that they sabotage Sentinel

that said I think the whole "we follow the strongest bot" thing and having Starscream actively push Megatron to fight him harder was a nice change of pace from the "Megatron abuses Starscream" narratives that have kinda been the norm since ...Aligned I guess? it does feel like that means they shoulda followed Optimus at the end since he clearly defeated Megatron, but it doesn't really bother me that much

also it's only been 50 "cycles" since the Primes went offline??? surely SOMEONE besides the High Guard would remember how things used to be

It's interesting that the Primes have been kind of downgraded from being made to fight against Unicron to being made to fight Quintessons, but hey I'm all for chucking the CoP stuff out lmao

speaking of chucking stuff — I don't think they ever mentioned an AllSpark. The Matrix of Leadership was what sort of healed Cybertron instead, which was interesting.

did the scene from the trailer where Megatron looked particularly purple get cut or did I just not notice it

using Airachnid's memory to transmit the incriminating evidence kinda felt like it came from nowhere? like yeah she "sees everything" but the idea of being able to just.....wave her head over a table or st didn't have any kind of setup

the synchronized Creation of both Megatron and Optimus. chef's kiss, perfection, and I'm pretty sure Primus pulling in Orion to transform him into Optimus was staged more or less the same as the scene where Unicron rebuilds Megatron into Galvatron in the '86 movie? very neat detail if true. anyway people in the theater were cheering when Optimus flew back out to fight Megs.

ough. the portrayal of the MegOp friendship and build up to enemity was sooooooooo good. was NOT expecting Megatron to actually shoot Optimus and OUGH GOING FROM "WHY DID YOU DO THAT" TO "I'M DONE SAVING YOU." SCREAMING, CRYING, ETC.

I kinda thought the Quintessons would play a bigger role in the movie, lmao. guess that's potential sequel material? sidenote but I think it would be very funny if they just called it Transformers: Two

establishing Bee as a guy who's been working a shitty job alone for who knows how long I think made him significantly less annoying then I probably would've found him otherwise. I don't think he was THAT bad but. yeah

ok that bit near the start of the movie where OP is like "I feel like I could drill down far enough to touch Primus himself!" followed by Elita saying "You don't have the touch OR the power" made literally no sense. it was very obviously just "hey y'all remember the '86 movie?"

I kinda thought Megatron was going to do a whole "You are being deceived" speech to the masses but sadly no 😔