#episode: trust but verify

[lucyyh]

@allimariexf got me thinking about this gifset, so of course I have to reblog it when I saw someone has liked it 😂

TBT Olicity black & white: 1x11 Trust but Verify.

[mayasaura]

It really dawned on me watching episode 17, just how important this sequence of events is to Kabru and Laios' relationship, and how. Well. That's for a different post. I want to keep this one free of spoilers. (Certified Safe For Anime Only™)(There are spoilers for episode 17, tho. Obviously.)

Kabru's main concern has been, at least in part, revealed. He wants to figure out if Laios is capable of defeating the dungeon, and, if so, if Laios can be trusted with the power that might confer. The answer to his first question is simple. Yes. If anyone can defeat the dungeon, it's Laios.

The second question is where things get interesting. Can Laios be trusted with power?

In the aftermath of Laios' first fight with Toshiro, Kabru learns that while Laios has no particular respect for the law or conventional wisdom, he does have the humility to consider that his judgment might be flawed if he encounters conflict with someone he respects.

That is the face of a man taking notes, and I think he's making a cautious mark in Laios' favor. Laios doesn't really understand Toshiro's opinion, but he's listening.

Then, in the fight with the Falin-Dragon chimera, Kabru voices dissent—disgust, even—with Laios and Marcille's priorities.

You can practically see the Dragon Age style approval rating drop. Kabru disapproves. Minus fifteen hearts. If it had ended like this, I think Kabru would have lost all interest in Laios. Someone who would sacrifice a dozen lives out of sentiment can't be trusted.

Laios' response, and the way it builds on Kabru's earlier observation, is crucial.

He listened. And even better, he didn't listen blindly. He applied critical thought to Kabru's argument. What Kabru hears from him isn't just "I'm sorry, you were right," but also, "I understand and respect your position and priorities, and here's a very good argument for why killing what I still consider to be my sister is not in our best interest."

He processed Kabru's criticism and came to his own conclusions, and he did it fast. Not only that, but he's right. Kabru hadn't considered the potential consequences of killing the chimera.

Laios proved in this one exchange that he 1) isn't blinded by either his pride or his prejudice, 2) has the strength of character to not just fall back and surrender to someone else's judgment when he's uncertain, and 3) is smart enough to tactically outhink Kabru.

This is why Kabru is so invested in Laios liking him that he forces himself to eat the harpy omlette. This is why Kabru takes Laios' hand and makes sure he knows he wants to see him again. He doesn't understand Laios, and he still has strong reservations about him. Laios' interest in monsters scares him. But Laios has proved to Kabru that he might be capable of being the person Kabru needs him to be.

Top Ten Pictures Of The Moment He Won You Over (Taken Just Before Disaster).

[kent-farm]

What’s that saying? “Trust, but verify”?

—Moira Queen to Malcolm Merlyn, Arrow, “Trust But Verify”

[nyarmand]

every time i see someone spreading those blatant lies about the production of a certain tv show and particularly the involvement of a certain actor i lose a year off my lifespan. i don't like the guy and if we ever met we would have Words but you're trashing a really good show because of things that never happened? fuck all the way off

[lxgentlefolkcomic]

First page || Previous page || Next page

Start reading Episode 1

Dialogue transcripts:

Panel 1

Jonathan: My diary! You fiend!

Panel 2

Nemo: Stay your anger, Mr. Harker. I perceived you had lied to me, and for the safety of this vessel and its crew it is my responsibility to determine the truth.

Panel 3

Jonathan: The truth about what?

Nemo (offscreen): Your reasons for coming to sea, for one.

Godfrey: This is a monstrous invasion of privacy!

Panel 4

Jack: He wouldn’t be able to read it, anyway—Harker uses shorthand.

Nemo (offscreen): Yes, and wisely so. Fortunately, I have had occasion to study this form of shorthand, and was easily able to decode it.

Panel 5

Nemo: Consider the facts, Mr. Harker. I found you three in the wake of a great monster, sifting through the wreckage of its latest target. When Mr. Harker lied to me about your intentions, my suspicion was aroused.

Panel 6

Nemo: I suppose you suspected me, just as I suspected you. Yet now, with the evidence of this encoded diary you assumed would be safe from prying eyes, I am satisfied on the matter.

Panel 7

Nemo: I am sorry, Mr. Harker, that I have brought up so many unpleasant memories of this “Count”. Now that I have verified your trustworthiness, perhaps I can win your trust in return.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

A media literacy handbook for Israel-Gaza

Next Tuesday (Oct 31) at 10hPT, the Internet Archive is livestreaming my presentation on my recent book, The Internet Con.

Media explainers are a cheap way to become an instant expert on everything from billionaire submarine excursions to hellaciously complex geopolitical conflicts, but On The Media's "Breaking News Consumers' Handbooks" are explainers that help you understand other explainers:

https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm/segments/breaking-news-consumers-handbook-israel-and-gaza-edition-on-the-media

The latest handbook is an Israel-Gaza edition. It doesn't aim to parse fine distinctions over the definition of "occupation" or identify the source of shell fragments. Rather, it offers seven bullet points' worth of advice on weighing all the other news you hear about the war:

https://media.wnyc.org/media/resources/2023/Oct/27/BNCH_ISRAEL_GAZA_EDITION_1.pdf

I. "Headlines are obscured by the fog of war"

Headline writers have a hard job under the best of circumstances – trying to snag your interest in a few words. Headlines can't encompass all the nuance of a story, and they are often written by editors, not the writers who produced the story. Between the imperatives for speed and brevity and the broken telephone between editors and writers, it's easy for headlines to go wrong, even when no one is attempting to mislead you. Even reliable outlets will screw up headlines sometimes – and that likelihood goes way up in times like these. You gotta read the story, not just the headline.

II. Know red flags for bullshit

The factually untrue information that spreads furthest tends to originate with a handful of superspreader accounts. Whether these people are Just Wrong or malicious disinfo peddlers, they share a few characteristics that should trip your BS meter and prompt extra scrutiny:

High-frequency posting

Emotionally charged framing

Posts that purport to be summaries or excerpts from news outlets, but do not include links to the original

The phrase "breaking news" (no one has that many scoops)

III. Don't trust screenshots

Screenshots of news stories, tweets, and other social media should come with links to the original. It's just too damned easy to fake a screenshot.

IV. "Know your platform"

It used to be that Twitter got a lot of first-person accounts from people in the thick of crises, while Facebook and Reddit contained commentary and reposts. Today, Twitter is just another aggregator. This time around, there's lots of first-person, real-time reporting coming off Telegram (it runs well on old phones and doesn't chew up batteries). Instagram is widely used in both Israel and the West Bank.

V. "Crisis actors" aren't a thing

People who attribute war images to "crisis actors" are either deluded or lying. There's plenty of ways to distort war news, but paying people to pretend to be grieving family members is essentially unheard of. Any explanation that involves crisis actors is a solid reason to permanently block that source.

VI. There's plenty of ways to verify stuff that smells fishy

TinEye, Yandex and Google Image Search are all good tools for checking "breaking" images and seeing if they're old copypasta ganked from earlier conflicts (or, you know, video-games). The fact that an image doesn't show up in one of these searches doesn't guarantee its authenticity, of course.

VII. Think before you post

Israel-Gaza is the most polluted media pool yet. Don't make it worse.

There's plenty more detail on this (especially on the use of verification tools) in Brooke Gladstone's radio segment:

https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm/episodes/on-the-media-breaking-news-consumers-handbook-israel-gaza-edition

The media environment sucks, and warrants skepticism and caution. But we also need to be skeptical of skepticism itself! As danah boyd started saying all the way back in 2018, weaponized media literacy leads to conspiratorialism:

https://www.zephoria.org/thoughts/archives/2018/03/09/you-think-you-want-media-literacy-do-you.html

Remember, the biggest peddlers of "fake news" are also the most prolific users of the term. For a lot of these information warriors, the point isn't to get you to believe them – they'll settle for you believing nothing. "Flood the zone with bullshit" is Steve Bannon's go-to tactic, and it's one that his acolytes have picked up and multiplied.

It's important to be a critical thinker, but there's plenty of people who've figured out how to weaponize a critical viewpoint and turn it into nihilism. Remember, the guy who wrote How To Lie With Statistics was a tobacco industry shill who made his living obfuscating the link between smoking and cancer. It's absolutely possible to lie with statistics, but it's also possible to use statistics to know the truth, as Tim Harford explains in his 2021 must-read book The Data Detective:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/01/04/how-to-truth/#harford

There's a world of difference between being misled and being brainwashed. A lot of today's worry about "disinformation" and "misinformation" has the whiff of a moral panic:

https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2023/10/are-we-having-a-moral-panic-over-misinformation.html

It's possible to have a nuanced view of this subject – to take steps to enure you're not being tricked without equating crude tricks like sticking a fake BBC chyron on a 10-year-old image with unstoppable mind-control:

https://sts-news.medium.com/youre-doing-it-wrong-notes-on-criticism-and-technology-hype-18b08b4307e5

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/10/28/fog-o-war/#breaking-news

[therealplaguedoctor]

Never do a shoey.

Daniel Riccardo x Podcast.host!reader

Summary- classic case of he fell first and also fell harder. So y/n is a popular podcast host known for interviewing/having really famous people on her podcast. She was reached out to by mclarens media team to have their two drivers on the podcast. The episode did really well and mclaren invited Y/n to join them that weekend for the Miami Grand Prix! Where she meets a fan of hers that she just so happens to be a fan of... what will happen? Will they get together for just the podcast? Or will there be more?

Warnings- suggestive implications, mention of 'love' marks/bites, alcohol

Stupid warnings- reader is in Florida (surprising i know), author is a dumbass and pretends she knows shit(she doesnt), American spelling, I never spell check, also has refs to some of my twt moots 🫶

F/c- various people on pintrest

A/n- So I had this idea for a minute but I didn't know who to do it with so I had my moots on Twitter help me (hi guys!!) So thank them for the DR3 fic!! (Also i got lazy with texts dont mind it) And as always: sorry if it's ooc and I hate everything I write lol

──⭒─⭑─⭒────⭒─⭑─⭒──

Y/n L/n a name that quickly rose to fame. She started to become famous on tiktok due to her 'face time' series. Talking about events in her life but acting as if the audience was a friend she was on face time with.

Y/n is known for her impressive conversation skills. She can hold and carry a conversation like it's breathing for her.

She had created a podcast as she rose to fame originally named 'facetime' which was scrapped after legal reasons. She changed the name to 'celeb seats' as she was able to secure an interview with YouTube and tiktok influencer 'Kallmekris'. She was able to continue this trend with having a celebrity on her podcast almost every episode-

──⭒─⭑─⭒────⭒─⭑─⭒──

You closed the tab. They had just posted an article about you! You're a new type of famous now, the article was just a get to know you article. It was pretty accurate actually. It talked a bit how you rose to fame, then it talked about how you claimed that fame with your podcast 'celeb seats'.

The podcast you hosted was normally just you and one other guest, only a few times it was just you. Your guests were all celebrities, some more famous than others, some more liked than others.

But there is one main reason on why people enjoy your podcast: you're still a person. You don't act like your famous (whatever that means) and you prioritize your guest comfort over content. The main example is when you had YouTuber Markiplier on and had cut a large portion of it out. Him later talking on it saying something along the lines of 'she told me that she's going to cut that convo out. Cause I mentioned that I was iffy on people seeing it. She didn't ask she just said she was going to when I said I was iffy on it'. Him being a largely trusted person boosted your character and your popularity which widened your audience.

You were able to interview people from almost everywalk of life. Politics, actors, youtubers, streamers, tiktokers, voice actors, and even singers!

──⭒─⭑─⭒────⭒─⭑─⭒──

Y.n just posted!

Liked by Billie.eilish and others

Y.n: great to have you on @/billie.eilish !! This episode of the Celeb Seats Podcast will be posted next week on Wednesday!

User1 OMG GURL HOW

User2 WHY CANT IT BE WEDNESDAY ALREADY

User3 I still can't believe that she has Billie's number

User4 WHAT

User3 It's in episode 12 she mentions it, it was her first QnA episode with the q: who's the most famous person on your phone!

User4 IMMA GO REWATCH THAT HOW COULD I MISS IT

Billie.eilish: thank you for having me it was a blast

Y.n 🫶🫶🫶

User5 I love them sm

danielricciardo oooo can't wait!

User6 WHAT DANIEL HUH?

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You see the verified name pop up in your notifications. Clicking on the profile, daniel ricciardo, the name seems familiar, you then read a little: formula one driver. Huh, it was currently Saturday night. There was a race tomorrow you decided to give it a watch setting an alarm to wake you up for the race, you put down your phone and eventually drift off to sleep.

──⭒─⭑─⭒────⭒─⭑─⭒──

Daniel arrived early the next day at the paddock signing a few things and walking in, with his classic smile on.

He stepped up in front of the camera as the truck drove around the track for the drivers parade.

"Hello Daniel Riccardo" the journalist greeted

"Hey" he smiled

"So today is a big race today" she said "your home race and all"

"Yeah, it's always exciting you know?" He chuckled waving to the crowd

"Of course" she smiled "well we actually only have a quick question for you today: I'm sure you've seen it but people are surprised you listen to the Celeb Seats Podcast. Care to add anything?"

"Oh yeah" he smiled "I've listen to that podcast I think since the first episode it's actually really entertaining. And I think Y/n is a great host and I'd love to be on it"

"Alright thank you Daniel" she said as he stepped off to the side. As Oscar was next to get interviewed

──⭒─⭑─⭒────⭒─⭑─⭒──

Your alarmed blaried in your ear. Turning it off you sat up and made your way to your living room and turned on the TV turning it to the EPSN channel. As you started making some coffee.

You sat on the couch as the race started sipping your coffee. You had to google some terms after they were said causing you to miss some overtakes. As the race wrapped up you turned off the TV and quickly went to YouTube and searched: formula 1 explained. Adding a few videos to a watch later playlist.

You quickly made yourself some breakfast before making your way to your office and settling down to start editing a video as well as finish the next episode of the podcast.

Deciding to take a break from editing you check your business email. Deleting the spam emails as well as the ones that were definitely scams. Before you glanced over a familiar orange logo you saw earlier that day. You clicked on the email:

Hello Y/n L/n

We hope this email finds you well. We have seen you podcast called "Celeb Seats" and we would love it if you were able to host our two drivers: Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. We know you're located out of Florida and we have a Grand Prix later this year (may 3-5) in Miami. We would love to be able to invite you actually!

Sincerely, the Mclaren media team.

──⭒─⭑─⭒────⭒─⭑─⭒──

You quickly typed out your own email that basically amounted to:

I would love too be able to host them! Thank you for the invite I accept!

After a few messages back and forth you were able to set a date to record with enough time so you could edit and post it before the grand prix.

──⭒─⭑─⭒────⭒─⭑─⭒──

You were adjusting the angle of one of the cameras as you heard a knock at the studio doors.

As you settled down after adjusting the mics in front of them.

"Okay," you said "Welcome to the Celeb Seats Podcast I'm your host Y/n. And today we are actually joined by two people" you motioned over to them "both formula one drivers for mclaren, Lando Norris" you motioned to him "and Oscar Piastri" you then motioned to him.

"Hey" Lando said

"Hello" Oscar smiled

"Okay so this is actually the first episode with two guests so let's see how it goes" you chuckled

──⭒─⭑─⭒────⭒─⭑─⭒──

After calming down from laughing "okay okay we" Lando motioned between him and Oscar "have a question for you"

"Shoot" you smiled

"Well you did mention earlier that you watch a little bit of formula one" he said as you nodded "well who is your favorite driver?"

"That's tough" you said "well hmm, I'd want to say Logan cause he's you know he's American" you chuckled "but I'd have to go with the other aussie, Daniel Riccardo. Sorry Oscar" you chuckled

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Y.n just posted!

Liked by mclaren and others

Y.n: Guess what! I know I normally post as soon as the episode is recorded but I had to wait to post this 🫣. But I had both mclaren formula one drivers on my podcast! @/LandoNorris and @/OscarPiastri, thank you for joining me!! This episode will be out tomorrow before media day!!

User7 HOW

User8 SHE ALWAYS GETS EVERYONE ON

Mclaren Thank you for taking care of our boys 🙌

Y.n it's no problem!! They were entertaining to say the least!

User9 I LOVE HER SM

LandoNorris Thanks for having us!!

Y.n it was great to have yall on!!

OscarPiastri Best interviewer ever!!

Y.n you just wanna become my favorite driver?

OscarPiastri ...maybe

Y.n dw Osc you'll always be in front of Lando

LandoNorris WHY AM I CATCHING STRAYS

User10 I love the bickering

User11 they are all siblings your honor

User12 wait...

User12 WDYM HER FAV DRIVER SHE WATCHS F1???

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Daniel was happy about another podcast episode dropping he put it on and started his work out. He was taking a break when he almost choked on his water. He was your favorite driver.

──⭒─⭑─⭒────⭒─⭑─⭒──

You were walking through the paddock making your way back to mclaren hospitality with Lando. You two walked side by side before Lando tapped your shoulder and said:

"Hey let me introduce you to some of the other drivers" Lando smiled innocently. There was nothing innocent about that smile.

"Hey Daniel" Lando waved to a man you recognized, Daniel Ricciardo, your favorite driver. Oh fuck you Lando you thought to yourself. Lando then motioned at you "This is Y/n L/n she's a guest for Mclaren this weekend" Daniel looks over at you, fuck he's kinda hot. "And y/n, this is Daniel-"

"-Riccardo yes I know Lando" you chuckled

"Wow I was just trying to be nice and introduce you two" he huffed, you just rolled your eyes and turned your attention to the tall Australian.

"Nice to meet you" you smiled "I don't know if you watch my podcast but I mentioned that you're my favorite driver"

He nodded quickly "yeah I'm actually a big fan of you podcast" he smiled "I've been watching it since episode 1"

"Wait that long?" You asked a bit shocked that he watches it

He smiled "yeah!" He said "I was actually listening to the most recent episode while working out and I almost choked on my water when you said I was your favorite" he said scratching the back of his head a little bit embarrassed

You laughed, he smiled.

──⭒─⭑─⭒────⭒─⭑─⭒──

Media day by passed way to fast. You wished you could spend more time with Daniel but he had practice the following days so sadly you couldn't.

Sunday

The race had began. Each lap passed the next one faster than the last. Next thing you knew you were celebrating with his team in the garage. Lando had just won the Miami grand prix, his first race win.

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Y.n just posted

Liked by mclaren and others

Y.n thank you for the invite mclaren 🙌. Can't belive I was there to celebrate this first win for @/LandoNorris congrats man, you deserved this!!

User13 ONE OF US ONE OF US

User14 NEW F1 INFLUENCER

Mclaren you were great company!! We'd love to have you again

Y.n stopp I'm blushing 🤭🤭

Mclaren 🧡🧡🧡

Y.n 💙💙💙

User15 mclaren admin and Y.n flirting was NOT on my 2024 bingo card

AlphaTauri You should visit our garage..

Y.n is that an invitation 🤭

AlphaTauri ...maybe 👀

User16 ARE WE GONNA IGNORE THE LAST PICTURE

Y.n yes

User16 OMG HIIIII

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Lando had invited you out. In Miami. After his first win. You should have known how wasted youd get, too say the least. You and a small group of his friends went club hoping. The night was fuzzy, but everyone in that group drank their weight in alcohol and then some....

──⭒─⭑─⭒────⭒─⭑─⭒──

You woke up with a killer headache making you remember the highlights of last night: the dancing, the clubs, and the fucking alcohol.

The room was plastered in darkness which you thanked the blackout curtains you invested in. You went to get up but couldn't. You were held down by something around your waist. Or someone.

The arms that were wrapped around your waist were strong. You tried to escape them again, which just made them tight around you and the man next to you burry his face in your back.

You thanked God that you were clothed, thankfully in your own pants but the shirt was definitely not yours.

The man let out a groan as he moved, you froze before closing your eyes and pretending to sleep. The grip around your waist loosened as you feel the man move slightly. Based on the movement he was on his back. He began to move again sitting up, you felt his body heat leave which left you a little colder.

You moved slightly as being frozen there was a bit uncomfortable. This movement in turn caused him to freeze:

"Did I wake you?" A familiar voice asked you. No fucking way.

"No" you said softly as you shook your head sitting up.

As your eyes adjusted to the darkness and you looked the man in the eyes your suspicions were confirmed: Daniel fucking Riccardo.

"Well good morning I guess" you said, if there was even a little bit of light in the room it would show you being beet red.

"Mornin' " he muttered in response "well uh" he said "fuck, what do we do know?" He asked

Which just caused you to start laughing

"What? What did I say?"

"No, nothing" you said "just funny"

──⭒─⭑─⭒────⭒─⭑─⭒──

You stood in your bathroom as you looked in the mirror. Daniel offered you to shower and get new clothes on first (mostly so he could get that shirt back). As you stare at yourself in the mirror hand tracing the love bites and love marks that covered your body. Damn. You thought to yourself.

──⭒─⭑─⭒────⭒─⭑─⭒──

You awkwardly handed him his shirt after you exited the bathroom. He thanked you as he grabbed it and walked into the bathroom going to take a shower himself as he stilled smell of alcohol and the late night activities.

You walked into your kitchen not knowing what else to do you started making breakfast. It was pretty basic: toast, eggs, and some sausage.

Daniel exited the bathroom, his hair still a bit wet. He looked even hotter than before, how is that even possible. Shaking your head of those thoughts you slid a plate across the counter in front of him. You both ate in silence before he spoke up:

"Do you remember anything from last night?" He asked

You shook you head "I remember getting drunk but no I don't remember what your referring too" you said

"I don't either" he said softly munching on a peice of toast

──⭒─⭑─⭒────⭒─⭑─⭒──

After a little bit and a extreme amount of awkwardness Daniel left. It was weird you house almost felt empty now that he was gone.

It had been a few hours since Daniel left before you got a text:

??- hey this is Daniel, I asked Lando for your number I hope that's not weird

Yn- No it's not,

Daniel- good lol

Daniel- so I just wanna talk about last night real quick....

Yn- let's just not mention it again like ever

Daniel- agreed.

──⭒─⭑─⭒────⭒─⭑─⭒──

After that awkward first string of text messages you actually started talking to Daniel. It started off with just some comments on his racing or one of his posts soon you were texting him almost everyday. Text turned to calls, some calls turned to facetimes.

──⭒─⭑─⭒────⭒─⭑─⭒──

"Hey Danny" you smiled as you answered the face time placing your phone back on the counter facing you as you cooked.

"Hey y/n" he said, "what are you making today?" He asked

"Well I'm making this stir fry-" you started "wait what time is it for you?" You asked him

"Uhhh doesn't matter" he said the screen to your phone was almost completely black. You could only see bits of his face.

"Daniel" you said in a warning tone

"It's, 1am" he said muffling himself as he talked

"Daniel-" you started. "You litterly have a race tomorrow. Go to sleep"

"But-"

"Nope you need to sleep before the race"

He huffed "fine." You heard a little bit of shuffling before a quiet "goodbye"

"Good night danny" you said before grabbing your phone and hanging up the face time.

──⭒─⭑─⭒────⭒─⭑─⭒──

"AND LEWIS HAMILTON WINS THE BRITISH GRAND PRIX-"

──⭒─⭑─⭒────⭒─⭑─⭒──

After the celebration you got up and texted Daniel:

Yn- tell yuki I said congrats on points!

Danny- I get no congrats... 🥺

Yn- maybe if you went to sleep earlier youd be in points and you'd get a congrats too

Danny- :(

──⭒─⭑─⭒────⭒─⭑─⭒──

"Danny isn't it like past midnight over there or something?" You asked, you two were currently facetiming eachother again, while you worked on editing the next episode of your podcast.

"Yeah" he yawned "but I like talking to you" he said groggily

A notification popped up on your phone as soon as you looked over, "what the fuck?" You said

"Hmmm?" Danny asked

"Carlos just signed to Williams"

"What" he asked "he what? Williams" you heard some shuffling as he checked his phone looking through Twitter. "Damn" he chuckled "glad I was up to witness this with you"

"Youre just trying to get out of me scolding you" you chuckled

"...maybe" he smiled "well hey if I was over there I wouldn't have to stay up" he said sleepily

"You just want to be on the podcast huh?" You joked

"Maybe" he smiled "come on let me be on it"

You smiled "okay okay" you chuckled "I actually have recorded a bunch of episodes for over your summer break so, you can come over anytime"

"Really?" He asked hopefully

"Yes Danny" you said as you went back to editing. "Just schedule a flight and let me know how long you want to be here"

"What if I wanted to be there the rest of the summer break?" He asked

You freeze a bit in surprise but before he could say something you spoke "I wouldn't be apposed"

He smiled as he hummed softly. Soon you heard soft snores coming from your phone.

──⭒─⭑─⭒────⭒─⭑─⭒──

You heard a knock at your door. You walked over and opened the door a large smile on your face. As you opened the door to: Daniel Riccardo.

"Hey Danny" you smiled letting him inside

"Hey" he smiled walking inside nodding a quick thank you.

"Here let me show ya to the guest room" you smiled shutting the door behind him

──⭒─⭑─⭒────⭒─⭑─⭒──

BREAKING NEWS: DANIEL RICCARDO SPOTTED LEAVING AN AIRPORT IN MIAMI BEFORE HEADING OUTSIDE THE CITY

User17 HWAT WHERE IS HE GOING???

User18 it's probably a media thing guys

User19 WAIT ISNT Y/N BASED OUTSIDE MIAMI???

User20 PLEASE YOURE FEEDING MY DELUSIONS

User19 😭😭😭

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Y.n just posted!

Liked by danielricciardo and others

Had this guy on my podcast he said he is a famous f1 driver...I don't see it 🤔

But anyways- it was great having you on the podcast @/danielricciardo !! As always look out for these upcoming episodes!! (had to rearrange my posting schedule for this man 😒)

User21 I KNEW IT

User22 dieing. Dead.

danielricciardo thank you for hosting me!!

Y.n it was great having my fav f1 driver on!

LandoNorris :(

Y.n know your place, youre behind Osc

OscarPiastri :D

User23 SHE CALLS OSCAR OSC IM CRYING

Frankie THE DANIEL PICS THANK YOU YN

Shelbyrose Get back in the cage

Olivia kinky.

Nics 😰😰😰

View more

──⭒─⭑─⭒────⭒─⭑─⭒──

"Okay" you said adjusting the mic arm in front of you as you sat down. Clearing your throat you start:

"Welcome to the Celeb Seats Podcast I'm your host Y/n, and to day I am joined by: DANIEL RICCARDOOOOOOO" you smiled

"Y/nnnn L/nnnnnnn" he said back

You chuckled "it's great to finally have you on"

"Great to be here" he smiled "sad I can't say that I'm the first f1 driver on the pod"

"But you can definitely say your the favorite" you chuckled

"True" he smiled

──⭒─⭑─⭒────⭒─⭑─⭒──

"Okay okay" you said as you breathed stomach hurting from laughing, you turned to the camera "Thank you for joining us for this episode of Celeb Seats! We'll see you later!"

You got up and stopped the recording on the cameras as well as the mics. "So what ya wanna do?" You asked Daniel as you packed up the camera

"Well I don't know what you have around here" he shrugged "you have anything in mind?" He asked

You smiled "You don't mine if we go on a bit on a trip before we get there right?" You asked

He shrugged "I think I'd live" he chuckled

──⭒─⭑─⭒────⭒─⭑─⭒──

As you pulled into the small dirt parking lot Daniel looked at the tall trees that surround it.

"Welcome to Highlands Hammock" you said "we don't really have mountains or the like for hiking trails but we have these cypress boardwalks" you smiled as you both got out of the car.

You two slowly walked the boardwalk, you pointed out the different types of trees, some animals and other plants.

"I love cypress swamps" you smiled "they're so beautiful" you chuckled

Daniel who was right behind you whispered "yeah beautiful" as he looked at you

"Hmm what did ya say?" You asked turning to face him

"Oh nothing don't worry" he smiled

──⭒─⭑─⭒────⭒─⭑─⭒──

You kinda forgot when you got here but you both ended up at a small park next to a lake. Sitting on a small bench as you watch the sun set across the lake and eating ice cream.

"This was nice" Daniel said

"Yeah" you smiled looking up at him

He looked back at you. You stare into eachothers eyes.

"I wouldn't mind spending all of summer break like this, with you" Danny said

"I wouldn't mind spending the rest of my life with you" you said

With that you leaned into eachother, lips touching you melted into the kiss. His lips were slightly rough but the kiss was gentle. He placed his hand on the side of your neck just under your jaw.

The kiss broke.

"God I've been wanting to do that for so long" he said

You chuckled "me too"

"So can I call you mine now?" he asked

"Yes you can, but I will never do a shoey" you said

Causing him to laugh before pulling you into another kiss.

You did in fact ended up doing a shoey. It was fucking disgusting. Never do a shoey.

Fin.

──⭒─⭑─⭒────⭒─⭑─⭒──

[embracing-the-ineffable]

The Ineffable Detective Agency Presents: The Main Bookshop Clock's Hands are BACKWARDS and Other Revelations!

(Good Omens Season 2, Episode 1)

We can't trust the way we've been reading the bookshop clock next to Aziraphale's desk, because the Hands are Reversed* for some (or all?) of the season!!

Plus a Time/Clock Disruption shortly before the double half miracle!

And possibly another Time/Clock Disruption when Gabriel first arrives at the bookshop! Did Gabriel (or whatever he had in the box) cause the hands to reverse?!

And more questions about Gabriel and what Other Thing might be going down in the up!

*Sound unbelievable? To us - @meatballlady and @embracing-the-ineffable at our new @ineffable-detective-agency - too, but let us share our proof:

Welcome to our Ineffable Detective Agency! We've been doing some digging the past few weeks; among our research has been recording each sighting of in-universe timestamps - Crowley's watch, Nina's phone, Maggie's watch, Aziraphale's clocks, and more! Our main findings are summarized here (if you're looking at a reblog, you can check for updates on the most recent version, here), with detailed screenshots below.

Main Findings - Episode 1:

Aziraphale's main bookshop clock next to his desk is frowning for Reasons! Maybe this is one: during most or all of episode 1, the minute hand is the one with the wider arrow, and the hour hand is the thin long one. (Proof is in the very next section, and it changes everything we think we know about reading that clock!)

Edit - New Finding! There may have been a time/clock disruption when Gabriel first arrived at the bookshop, which could have CAUSED the hands to reverse.

There's ALSO a big time/clock disruption when Gabriel appears at the top of the stairs, after the apology dance and before the double-half-miracle. Perhaps the clock's ability to show the time accurately is disrupted by something like a powerful 25-Lazarii miracle?

Shax and Crowley initially discuss something "going down in the up", far sooner than when Gabriel shows up in the bookshop. ("my arms were aching 'cause I had to carry that box for so long....")

Shax later tells Crowley that the previously-discussed trouble involves Gabriel, and even that conversation next to the Bentley (at 10:35 or 11:35) was well before Gabriel arrived at the bookshop (at 4:20, no matter how you read the clock's hands; screenshot below). Is there some OTHER trouble in heaven that started before Gabriel left?

Or, if Gabriel's arrival caused a time/clock disruption, perhaps Aziraphale forgave Maggie's rent at 11:23 and Gabriel arrived shortly after, which lines up more neatly with Crowley's 10:35 or 11:35 phone call/conversation with Shax.

This all might mean the time jump (or clock disruption) after The Kiss is different than we thought. (Yes, we know Neil is misdirecting everyone about there being a time jump at all by calling it a "continuity error"; he's performing magic for us, and we're still in the middle of his act! His misdirection is part of the trick!) The times are still weird in the last episode, whether you read them the typical way or the new, reversed way that we're suggesting, and we're still working on getting clearer images. Stay tuned - or help us research!

Quick sidenote: If anyone would like to verify our work or join in future sleuthing (ESPECIALLY IF YOU CAN VIEW/ SCREENCAP IN 4K), we would be very grateful!!

Now, let's talk about the clock hands.

Typically, in typical clocks all over the typical world, the hand with the big wide arrow is for the hours, and the thin long hand points to the minutes. But the main bookshop clock next to Aziraphale's desk is frowning, so who knows what it's doing? Here's the A-B-C sequence from episode 1 that convinced us to read the hands in reverse:

A) Jim shows up naked, knocks, and Azi stops his music with a dramatic groan. Both clock hands point to 4, so this should be 4:20 no matter what hand is for the minutes:

B) Jim tries hot chocolate when the wide arrow hand has traveled just past the 5. This is either 4:26 (reversed) or 5:20 (typical):

C) Aziraphale opens the box, and Gabriel says "I love you". It's now 4:30 (reversed) or a misaligned 6:20 (typical):

Ok, the sequence of A) Jim arrives, B) Jim drinks hot chocolate, C) Jim says "I love you", fills about 6 minutes of onscreen time. If we assume A-B-C makes more sense as 4:20-4:26-4:30 than 4:20-5:20-6:20, that means the wide arrow hand is sweeping across the minutes and NOT indicating hours!

Those three time points are also bookended by the moments Azi reads Maggie's note and forgives her rent, and later, Crowley's discovery of Jim in the bookshop:

As Azi reads Maggie's note, let's play "spot the clock":

Did you see it?! Yep, we catch a tiny glimpse of the clock through a space in the bookshelf, in what might be the most cleverly concealed but clearly deliberate bit of staging in the entire season (!!). If you've been thinking that we're looking too closely at little unimportant details that don't matter, the way the clock is so carefully made visible here - and in focus - strongly suggests to us that this is important:

It looks like 3:58 (reversed) or 11:20 (typical); given that Azi is interrupted while listening to his 21 minutes of Shostakovich at 4:20, it would make sense that he read the note at 3:58. That means the wide arrow hand is reversed, pointing at the minutes there, too.

[ Edit: BUT, there's also this moment, when Maggie's rent is forgiven; her watch shows 11:23 or possibly a reversed 4:57 (turn it the way Maggie would read it):

So one more possibility is that the bookshop clock hands were typical when the episode started, Azi read the note at 11:20, and forgave Maggie's rent at 11:23. Then when Gabriel showed up, the bookshop clock jumped ahead to 4:20 and its hands reversed!? ]

Later, Crowley meets Aziraphale at the coffeeshop, then they return to the bookshop. Right after "I. Am. Dusting." - there's the OTHER bookshop clock on the west side of the building. It's hard to see, possibly 5? That could fit with Azi and Crowley meeting at the coffeeshop sometime shortly after 4:30pm.

So, if we continue reading the main bookshop clock in reverse, let's see what else happens in episode 1:

Maggie and Nina, trapped in the coffee shop, are freed by Crowley. Just before Nina's phone starts receiving messages, it reads 21:02 (ie, 9:02pm):

During the apology dance, the clock behind Aziraphale says 9:06 (remember! read the hands in reverse!) This makes sense, if Nina's phone said 9:02 a few minutes earlier:

The clock behind Crowley (the one on the west side of the bookshop) says 9:02 or a misaligned 11:45; if its wider arrow hand points to hours like a typical clock, and not like the sad reversed clock next to the desk, then it could be reading 9:02, possibly a few minutes slower than the desk clock:

Then Jim appears at the top of the stairs and nothing makes sense; the sad clock next to the desk looks like it says 12:40 - a forward jump of 3 hours and 36 minutes!! (Alternatively, it says 8:02, which means it went backwards by an hour! Either way, it's weird, and we'd love a better picture if you can get one!):

And the clock still shows the same time after the miracle, just before the episode ends: 

As episode 1 ends, we certainly have even more questions. Did time jump when Gabriel first arrived?! And again, after the apology dance? Or were there whole scenes or conversations that we didn't see? Or did time actually jump forwards or backwards in that moment? Or was the main bookshop clock's ability to accurately show the time interrupted by something like Gabriel's arrival with the mysterious contents of his box, and again by a powerful 25-Lazarii miracle before the double-half-miracle??!

There are 5 episodes to go! Will our sad bookshop clock consistently tell time with reversed hands for the rest of the season? Maybe! Is it becoming untethered from Actual Time as it reacts to the Eldritch forces around it? Possibly!

And what about our other findings? What ELSE is going on in Heaven? Where did Gabriel go after he left, and how long did that take? How long does the elevator ride last? Why was his box heavy, and what was inside?

Stay tuned for the details as we collect them! We'll add links to new posts here, so check the latest version for any updates! And please get in touch with @meatballlady or @embracing-the-ineffable if you would like to help with sleuthing, including getting better resolution screencaps of clocks and all the tiny watches!

Be well, fellow ineffables! Solve Clues and share your findings!

PS: There's a huge list of Clues and metas, here!

[kys02]

Hey Tumblr!!

So, I’ve noticed something in episode 3 for a while now, and I feel like we haven’t talked about it enough ;)

The moment during “therapy” with Zooble, where Kane start glitching, and the space around him glitches too. What is this? What if Zooble hadn’t stopped him? Would the circus have disappeared? Would it have vanished? And what would have happened to the characters?

I don’t want to make any theories, I just want to lay out the facts because I don’t want to make false assumptions. All my theories are based on verified facts which I trust. ( at least, I hope so )

But I don’t think it’s the “void” like in the pilot when Pomni opens the door with the label “exit”. In one moment, we see the background simply disappear and turn into black. (Or was that just an animator’s think? idk)

Either way, there would have been at least a few seconds of the void during the glitching if that was the case, but that’s not shown (trust me, I rewatched that moment from every angle I could).

This moment is also suspicious because Kane started glitching after seemingly being triggered by something human. Like, excuse me? But I don’t believe a normal AI would randomly say: “Making adventures is my art! It’s all I exist to do! All I’m… good at. …w-what you’re saying could imply that I’m bad at the only thing I’m good at.” (And then the glitching starts)

What’s the Detroit Become Human reference?Where androids also break their programming in a similar way.

Those are just my thoughts. What do ya think? I’d love to hear your opinions!

[unfortunately-a-miraculous-fan]

Every goddamn day, I think about how Chameleon was a very stupid episode, but for the exact opposite reason that I initially thought it was.

I always thought it was because the entire class was acting unreasonably stupid, but they were actually pretty reasonable, all things considered.

It was Marinette's writing that was the issue.

You're not gonna complain about your assigned seat being moved around to accommodate a disabled new student, nor demand proof of her disability, that would just be a dick move. (It doesn't make sense for the ENTIRE CLASS to be moved around, but I'll ignore that point because it's just kind of a nitpick.)

Many members of the class have personally met at least one celebrity, with a few classmates even being celebrities themselves. Lila's stories are certainly out there, even by this class' standards. But it's her first day, and again, most regular people don't hound others for proof on claims like this, even the ridiculous claims. (It doesn't make sense for the class to be so enthralled by her stories, but I would just chalk that up to them being nice to the new kid. The show does get kind of ridiculous with how much the class trusts her later on though.)

Lila could've absolutely caught that napkin on instinct. It would've hurt, but she wouldn't be thinking about her injury because that's how instincts work. Lila actually almost drew unnecessary attention to herself by making up that "explanation" on the spot, as protecting herself with her injured wrist needed no defending in the first place.

The only reason Marinette knew about Lila's lies to Adrien is because she stalked the two of them, which Alya and Nino are rightfully distrustful of. (It's still completely stupid for them to ignore her story entirely though. That's potential evidence of Lila lying to someone. At the very least, they should've verified the story with Adrien. But they just completely blew it off, and that point is never brought up again.)

From the class' perspective, Marinette complained about accommodations made for the new girl's disability because she wasn't allowed to sit close to her crush anymore, demanded hard evidence of the new girl's claims despite having some ridiculous celebrity stories herself, threw a napkin at her, potentially making her wrist injury even worse when she protected herself out of pure instinct, and then stormed off when that didn't work out in her favor.

I don't like this episode, not because of the way the class was acting, but because they took the girl who is supposed to be the smartest character in the show, and had her make probably the worst possible decision in every single situation. There are fatal flaws that cause characters to make understandable mistakes, and then there are characters just ignoring the obvious right answers because that would make far too cohesive of a plot, I guess.

They could've literally had some Spy vs Spy esque shenanigans between Lila and Marinette where neither can openly admit what they both know the other knows and have to skirt around social barriers in order to make the other look bad while saving face themselves. That would not only write itself, but would make more sense given their respective characterizations and would allow for much more interesting drama and character dynamics across multiple seasons.

[sgiandubh]

Fitness at Dawn - The Brixton Dusk edition

This, related to @bat-cat-reader's Anon she refused to publish (see below post):

So, according to The Queen of Nothing, The Nicorettes own a fitness club in Brixton?

Really?

LOL until the Summer Solstice, folks. In a world where information is more and more readily available to anyone with a keyboard, it took me 15 minutes to debunk this bullshit. And FYI, the UK Company Law has recently substantially changed, with the new Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act. Starting May 1st, we will progressively have even more transparency in the Company House system. For example:

And all the directors will have to have their identity verified. For old and new companies alike.

The only Rasenti being a currently appointed company officer in the UK is not the Male, nor the Female Nicorette:

I could have stopped there. But I didn't. I went on the Gymnasium's company website. Lo and behold:

Their Brixton fitness joint is one of the three they own in the London Metropolitan Area. The company is, therefore, a group.

Surely enough:

Who is running it and most certainly owning it?

The rest of 25% is most probably split between three other partners/Directors:

Peter Michael Cuff Olivier, aka 'Big Red Olivier'. Acquaintance of S. South African. He is a shareholder and well, if we are generous, owner of Gymnasium. Probably the real Brixton fitness joint's manager, too.

*urv got it all wrong, again: she wasn't 'hanging out there'. She was probably discussing cha-ching 💵💵💵 and Hyrox-related stuff:

Is this tenuous connection, via Hyrox, to his fitness buddies being actively pushed, in order to try and substantiate a relationship with S? The answer is yes.

Was *urv tipped accordingly? The answer is hell yes, knowing she will publish anything without double-checking.

I see Ye Olde South African Mafia Connection still alive and kicking. Hats off to you, @samheughanswife!

But when your mental age is 5, that Fitness at Dawn new episode is probably satisfying, IDK 🤷‍♀️.

PS: Thanks, dearie, for the tip. You know who you are: a much trusted friend.

[schizodiaries]

ten ways I cope with psychosis

Grounding techniques — Make use of the five senses: Listen to your favorite song. Run your hands under cold water. Taste your favorite snack. Smell your favorite candle. Look at beautiful artwork. Be mindful about the sensations you feel while engaging in these activities.

Listening to music — My go-to way to deal with auditory hallucinations. I recommend listening to instrumental music, if you are prone to ideas of reference.

Creating art — A good creative outlet takes the focus away from my psychosis and towards whatever it is I’m creating. Plus I can make something that symbolizes how I feel while psychotic.

Taking a walk — This can be hard to do if I’m psychotic, as the paranoia makes me think people outside are watching or following me. So what I like to do is pace the hallway in my house. It helps me keep my mind off things.

Journaling — Writing out what I’m feeling can be an immense relief, especially when I’m experiencing delusions. Also I can also look back at these thoughts and reflect on them.

Identifying triggers — Discovering what makes you psychotic can help to prevent future episodes. (Be mindful about who you share this info with as others could use it against you.)

Breathing exercises — When I’m psychotic my stress and anxiety levels ramp up. Just one minute of deep, steady breathing helps to keep those levels under control.

Spend time with pets — Pets don’t judge you for being psychotic. They’re perfect for snuggles, and running your hands through their fur reduces stress and anxiety, and makes for a good grounding exercise.

Asking for reality checks — Sometimes I have trouble telling what’s real and what’s not. When in doubt, asking a trusted person for a reality check can be very helpful in dispelling delusions or paranoia. If you’re alone, recording with your phone can help to verify if you’re hallucinating.

Finding a community online — One if the worst parts of psychosis is feeling like you’re completely alone in this. But you’re not. I found communities of psychotic people on Tumblr, Reddit, Youtube, and more. I find that being around people like me helps me feel less alone in my mental health journey.

[independent-fics]

Inde watches “The Rollin’ on the River Job”

Leverage Redemption 1x03

“Hardison had to have a lot of practice before Eliot agreed to open those van doors” yes please missing 12 years lore (or original run lore) either way I love

I kinda love how Sophie just keeps referring to Harry as our Mr Wilson it’s cute. She really working to make him feel included

Oof growing pains with Sophie coming back and Parker being the mastermind

Really love Hardison’s algorithm. Love how he’s still helping them find clients

Ahhhh callbacks to learning it’s not always about the money with clients

“I lost count of my marriages, but I only had one husband” my heart

15 MANUALS WHERE

Sophie being happy to be back on a stage

”I’m Parker” yes you are

“We have to rob the vault” “YES” Parker my beloved she deserves all the vents and vaults 

Brennas “trash bags from couch, couch” the implications there

Telling Sophie to walk off after her “let’s go steal” get her back in the groove hahaha

a con with a flow chart Hardison making those for her and helping her ahhh I love them

“Are you using a flow chart for all your interactions” SO WHAT IF SHE IS and where can I get one

The Mark being upset about not being verified on Twitter goodness, they really thought these guys through 

Goodness, Eliot transitioning into OK I was a cop why is he so dramatic 😭this man closeted theater kid I swear the slight accent and tone change? Man suddenly sounded like he’s been through 40 years on the beat like what

I don’t like the cgi clay birds (idk why it bothers me like it would be cool if they learned ig )

I am not getting enough Parker and Eliot brainstorming moments together

Sophie that pink suit is stunning

Breanna already out and aboutttt

Gahgh nvm already benched

Gah the parallels of the newer team members growing like the originals

Parker’s you don’t like my dress? 🥺(also love that this is kinda mirroring the original run episode 3 bridesmaid dress? In a way)

Eliot bonding over cooking with the other security guard ahhh my heart

Ahhh more leverage friends??? I want all the lore

“It’s a very distinctive- hold on” the writers just couldn’t forget that love it

Ice cave, gorilla enclosure, catered a wedding I love these mentions

“Food sensory experience” Eliot you nerd

Harry’s little thumbs up to Breanna I love this duo

Nooo not Eliot’s new friend

Why they always go for typical Russian names we got Ivan Dimitri then the bodyguard is Jake??

Parker making Eliot smell the money haha I love them

Breanna coming in with the ideal gas law you smartical partical

Awww Eliot helping Dennis still and having game night (and the 7 shirt!!!)

THAT WAS MY CAKE PARKER (I love them so much)

Always trust the person inside the van (ugh Hardison I love your notes)

Ugh yeah Breanna me too about the world and the timeline of my life. I would love to kick it in the junk too.

With the pearl yes Parker!!! My beloved world famous thief

[thank-god-and-you]

Now that I've had a week or so to digest it, I need to post about my appreciation of New Year week's Sukeve scenes.

[FULL THOUGHTS IN THE REBLOGS, THIS IS JUST PART ONE.]

The whole week was so beautifully done. Monday's ep was heartfelt and hopeful, Tuesday's was hilarious, and the moment it was announced that Kevin Rundle had Wednesday's and Thursday's, I knew we would be in safe hands. There can be a stigma about men being in wlw spaces, but it's so clear that no one on the EE writing team understands Suki and Eve's relationship the way he does. He has consistently given us the most incredible, beautiful scenes for the two of them, and there was no one else I would have trusted to have delivered the wedding episode. Take a bow, sir.

(Good to see Walford police being as useless as ever by deciding that a dying murderer who is a danger to his family broke out of prison to...commit suicide, on the 'evidence' of an anonymous call and an abandoned bag with no body. Case closed, job's a good 'un, no need to verify any of it! Also, they were conducting a manhunt...but didn't think to check the abandoned flat just around the corner. Great job, guys.)

ANYWAY, I appreciated the lovely little family moments on Monday. It was so nice to finally see everyone (minus Nugget) as a proper unit, happy and supportive of each other, and Suki and Eve just basking in the chaos.

The scene in the kitchen was so special, seeing Vinny and Ravi in particular throwing their full support behind the wedding was such a nice moment after their actions last year. I don't know why, but Ravi kissing Suki and then instigating the group hug really made me emotional. It's crazy to think that literally every male Panesar/Gulati besides Kheerat has attempted to kill or been complicit in an attempt on Eve's life, LOL. Suki really is Eve's soulmate for her to forgive all these idiotic men and not run a mile in the opposite direction.

(The Yolande and Suki scene was also very powerful and beautifully written, I loved these two survivors coming together and it ultimately giving Suki the strength to press on with her life regardless of Nish's looming presence.)

The hen night was in turns heartfelt and hilarious. Loved seeing all of the women gathered together, just generally having a good time. I always enjoy seeing Suki and Eve being incorporated into the wider community.

Eve being there to comfort Suki about not hearing back from Ash, and Suki correcting Eve when she said that it was Suki's time to be happy with it being their time to be happy, and the little sway in the rain were so lovely.

HOW Nish was able to lurk in the shadows and wander around in front of the club without anyone recognising him is another thing, but whatever, LOL.

The moment between Priya and Suki was one of my favourites. Priya has been such a wonderful addition to the family dynamic, and I really hope we continue to see her relationship with both Suki and Eve develop into 2025. I've loved seeing Suki going from subtle hostility to grudging respect to reluctant acceptance to genuine affection for her (and the same in reverse). And Eve is going to be losing Stacey soon, so it would be nice if Priya could fill that role for a while (but no one can ever replace the Bap Van Wives duo, sorry).

Suki's reaction to Eve's 'I have never slept with a woman' made me laugh, it was so cute. Yes, girl, you do sleep with one particular woman!

Will always appreciate Suki and Eve being complete horndogs for each other. It's so refreshing to see two older women clearly portrayed as loving each other (lots of sweet physical touches, words of affirmation, always there to support each other), but also really fancying each other as well.

(I always thought getting the "beg" scene pre-watershed was unbelievable, but a middle-aged lesbian dipping her finger in champagne and then suggestively putting said finger in her wife-to-be's mouth on the king's BBC...good LORD!)

And it literally carrying over to the actual wedding day, haha!

[yearnerspermit]

Been thinking about Armand’s claim that Louis asked him to remove memories, and as much as I don’t believe him or the way he presents it at all, from a writing perspective I am considering the possibility of if there is any kind of veracity to this, how the writers might go about it and what layers it would add to the story and dynamic

I’m thinking about how in 2x05, when Armand brings up Claudia not loving Louis, and he says he knows, Louis immediately starts spiraling and talking about Paris “coming back to him.” Now, he is very high at this point and disoriented from it, but it does indicate that, if nothing else, he’s been suppressing those memories himself — that’s my personal interpretation but it does lend itself to the possibility of memory tampering before that, whether consensual or not.

One thing I noticed - the piano note that plays repetitively over the beginning and end of the episode when Louis and Armand say the words that have been fed to him. It plays at this point in the episode as well, when he says memories are coming back to him. But not just that note, it goes back and forth between that, and a step up, then back down, before moving into the rest of the score. That note was very clearly associating itself with tampered memories, so what does that say about Louis recovering memories in 1973 about Paris?

I think one way or another, those memories have been suppressed, either by Louis’ behavior, or Armand. The only way I see there being any potential truth to Louis requesting memories being removed is right after the events of Paris, when he feels he’s lost everything and is likely at his emotionally most vulnerable. Those kinds of moments and drowning in grief where you would do anything to take it away

If that’s the case, there is some element of Louis asking for that to happen, but that still is something that Armand clearly would go on to use as permission to alter memories in a way that I don’t think Louis would have ever consented to, and we now don’t have any evidence or way to verify if he did consent to this at any point.

And to use a possible original ask/consent to continuously act in your own self interest, regardless of how much Armand thinks he’s preserving something, would still be a complete violation and betrayal, possibly even more so because it would mean Louis trusted him with his mind and memories, only to have Armand then use that trust as an excuse to erase and replace entire parts of him

But that’s just my speculation on how it might play out if there is literally any scrap of truth to that claim. More likely than not, especially after Assads BTS talking about Armand trying to find a new way to spin things, it’s probably still just a lie, or at least a twisting of some kind of truth

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

You: *writes two small essays clearly, cleanly, and thoroughly going through issues you have with the writing in Miraculous, and how they affect what the show is actually saying vs what the writers are going for vs what the audience is taking away from the show, without treating the characters as autonomous people who actually exist a single time*

Someone who pisses on the poor: 'oh so you think this abused child, who was magically created from a feather, deserves to be maliciously lied to by his lifelong romantic partner and fellow 14 year old? After everything he's already been through?'

Media literacy classes should be a requirement everywhere

Thank you for your kind comments about that post. Comments like yours have been very validating after what was initially a really disheartening series of events.

I was quite pleased with what I wrote and thought that I had done a good job focusing on the writing and emphasizing that I was talking about the big picture of the narrative, not chastising or praising specific characters for what the writers had them do. But after I had multiple people go off on rants defending Alya and Adrien, I started seriously questioning my own sanity and communication skills. I even looked up the definition of betrayal to make sure that I wasn't somehow misusing it since that word really seemed to upset people. In case anyone was wondering:

Betrayal is the breaking or violation of a presumptive contract, trust, or confidence that produces moral and psychological conflict

After verifying that I hadn't been using "betrayal" wrong for well over a decade, I got a little annoyed and did my angry rant in the hope that it would save me from further backlash.

While it has been super validating to see that my two initial essays did in fact make sense to a good number of people, that last post did go a little viral, which I didn't see coming, so I want to take a moment to make it clear that I DO NOT want anyone go after the people who did the rants that spawned my rant. Nothing they did or said was worthy of any sort of pile on. They were just expressing opinions and that's fine. I even get it to some extent because a lot of people have unfairly salted on Alya, acting as if she's the problem and not the writing. And that can be really upsetting when you like her because she doesn't deserve those pile ons any more than Marinette does. They are both victims of bad writing!

I get the desire to treat fictional characters like real people, I really do, but Miraculous is frankly not a good enough show for you to do that. The hand of the author is far too blatant, making characters do whatever the writers want instead of what makes sense for what has been established. One of my favorite quick examples is that the writers gave us a full episode where Gabriel "proved" that Adrien wasn't Chat Noir only to have him figure out Adrien's secret identity because he heard his son use the words My Lady as if that's a super unique pet name that would make Adrien's secret undeniable.

It's all nonsense, which is why I focus on the writing issues, treating the characters like the tools they very clearly are. I simply can't do the kind of character analysis you can do in well written shows where the characters feel real and their actions make sense in the established narrative.

I'll close with this statement to explain how I try to run this blog: the characters in the show are fictional, the people you're talking to on here are not. In the grand scheme of things, nothing about Miraculous is bad enough to be worth fighting over. That's why I enjoy talking about it. With all the truly important fights going on in the world, it's nice to come on here and relax by talking about writing - a topic I adore - without having to care if people agree. It's also why I have this as a side blog. I want people to be able to avoid my content if it upsets them as my goal is first and foremost to have fun dunking on a show that is bad in interesting ways. If I only ever got upset replies to my posts, then I would not run this blog because Miraculous is not worth being miserable over. No piece of fiction is.