#for my ml salt story

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

Keep hearing people say maribug keep asking adricat if he's ok and he keep saying he's ok instead of telling her his problem but I don't remember it happened more than once in s4 in Rockettear but even then the circumstances of that episode did warrant the "nothing" answer he gave her unless he want to tell her that "nino tell me you let nino and alya know each other identity" which will reveal adricat identity. So when else did she ask? about the thing in hack-san, I think another credit goes to alya since she's the one who bring the topic to maribug who seems to be blissfully unaware that her leaving without telling adeicat that she send subtitute would be a problem.

I didn't get into this side of things in my other post because it was long and I wanted to focus on why Chat Noir's behavior was so frustrating, but this ask brings up the other big reason why the season four conflict was such a frustrating and terribly written plot line. Specifically, the part of your ask where you point out that Maribug seems blissfully unaware that her actions are having a negative impact on Chat Noir until someone points it out to her.

Yes, she is presented as blissfully unaware of this and every other interpersonal conflict we're given in season four. Your ask treats this as a failing on Maribug's part as if she should have obviously realized that she was in the wrong, but that's the whole problem. Telling kids - telling anyone really - that they should just magically know what others need is a frankly terrible life lesson as that's just not how the world works. You cannot just assume that everyone will have the same view of the world as you do and instantly pick up on the same issues as you do. That is the path to easily avoidable frustration and conflict. It also teaches people to assume that their view of the world is inherently correct when that is rarely the case. We often don't know the whole story and the other person's point of view may end up being equally or even more valid. This issue is extremely present in season four as Marinette has legitimate reasons to behave the way she does, which I'll get into in a bit.

If Marinette were written as feeling guilty about how she was treating Chat Noir, then this would be a different story. She'd be way more in the wrong and would shoulder a much greater portion of the blame. But as is? She has no idea that she's doing anything wrong. And until someone takes the time to tell her that her actions are causing harm, she is going to continue causing harm because she has no idea that she's causing harm.

In fact, I'd argue that the Alya thing in Hack San is a point in Maribug's favor. Throughout the episode, we see Marinette sending Alya messages on ways to be a good partner to Chat Noir, proving that she does in fact care about him. And then, as soon as Alya says, "You need to talk to Chat Noir," what does Maribug do?

She goes and talks to Chat Noir, giving him a pretty good apology for the problem she now knows she caused. Because, shockingly, Maribug doesn't actually want to hurt her partner. She also clearly cares about his feelings, making me want to take the season four conflict and tear it into itty bitty pieces because what is the conflict even supposed to be when you write shit like this?

I want to briefly step away from Miraculous and talk about this issue in a broader context via this YouTube short:

This short is from a Vietnamese woman who moved to Germany. Her YouTube channel is about her experiences there, including things like the short above which goes into the differences between what it means to be a dinner guest in Vietnam and what it means to be a dinner guest in Germany. In Vietnam, it's apparently standard for the guests to cook dinner with you where as, in Germany, you're expected to have the meal ready when the guests arrive, making this a situation where it's super easy to come across as rude just by doing what you think is normal.

Society is relatively aware that these types of culture clashes are a thing, but you don't have to be from different cultures to have these types of situations. Every person has their own unique needs and ideas of what "normal" is. The culture they were raised in will affect this, but so will their family, their personal needs, and many other factors. Two people can be raised on the same street and wind up with wildly different world views even though they supposedly share a culture. This is extra true when you add in compounding factors like neurodiversity, which is why it's an exercise in futility to say, "But Maribug should have realized..."

Well, she clearly didn't. And you can't change that she didn't realize whatever you're mad about. All you can do is have someone tell her what she's doing wrong. If she then continues the behavior, go ahead and judge away. But if she immediately corrects it like she did in Hack San? Doesn't that just prove that she truly didn't know that Chat Noir was hurting and would have probably fixed all of his problems if someone just pointed them out to her?

This is only exacerbated by the fact that Marinette's behavior in season four is largely unchanged from her behavior in previous seasons. The only major change is that she revealed her identity to Alya, but as soon as that's pointed out as a problem, she course corrects with an apology. After that, she thinks that everything is okay because why wouldn't she? Chat Noir said it was fine and everything else has been business as usual.

Bringing temp heroes into help as needed? That's been going on since season two. Having these additional members has been vital in multiple battles and there have been plenty of times where Chat Noir took a background role to the temp hero of the day like in Sapotis, Rena Rouge's season two debut. So why would Maribug suddenly think that this dynamic is a problem when it's been working fine for so long? We even had a whole episode about how Chat Noir was still needed in spite of the new heroes back in season three! Or, at least, I think that was Desperada's message? This show is shockingly bad at giving clear lessons.

Keeping guardian knowledge from Chat Noir? That's also been going on since season two and was even treated as a conflict that supposedly got resolved in the episode Syren which was the episode that ended with Master Fu coming to the mansion to talk to Adrien after everything was over.

When I watched that episode, I assumed this meant that Chat Noir was going to be more involved in things like picking the temp heroes. I actually thought this was how we were going to get Queen Bee because I knew she was going to be a thing, but it made no sense for Marinette to pick Chloe for a miraculous. Of course, I was wrong. Nothing changed after Syren. Chat Noir remained nothing more than the comic relief while Ladybug got all the insider info.

To be clear, I think that was a terrible move writing wise, but it doesn't change the fact that this is what they went with. This is the established dynamic. I can't even say that Alya learning Marinette's secret led to something new. She's just taken Marinette's old role while Marinette has taken on Master Fu's old role. This show loves it's status quo and Chat Noir has been at least tolerant of that status quo since Syren, so it's not surprising that Maribug doesn't register that this is a thing that should change and no one bothers to point it out to her even though she has a mentor in Tikki (and Su Han, I guess?) and a confidant in Alya and a whole slew of Kwamis who could also provide insight if they were allowed to do that sort of thing. (Sass and Wayzz were robbed of mentor roles.) Additional blame goes to Plagg because he should absolutely have told Adrien to talk to Ladybug. What is the point of giving these characters mentors who never mentor? It's aggravating in the extreme.

To circle back to the first part of your ask, outside of Hack San and Rocketear, I don't think there are any times when Ladybug invites feedback from Chat Noir unless you want to give credit to the end of Kuro Neko:

Cat Noir: (lands next to her) I've been a really temperamental kitty, m'lady. I didn't realize how much trouble I'd make for you by giving back my Miraculous. Ladybug: (sits closer to him) Just because I don't need you all the time doesn't mean that I don't need you at all, Cat Noir. No one could ever replace you.

Which isn't Maribug inviting him to tell her what's up, but she is clearly willing to listen to him and reassure him, further backing up my point about this conflict being some of the worst writing I've ever had to suffer through. If Maribug always fixes the issue as soon as she learns about it, you are not writing a situation where she's clearly in the wrong. You are writing an easily solved communication issue where she gets blamed for something she clearly doesn't realize she's doing wrong and it is so frustrating!!! I feel so bad for her. The next episode is Penalteam, btw, which starts the battle with this gem:

Ladybug: (laughs) Nice scare tactics, but it's not gonna work. Cat Noir and I are the best at soccer! Cat Noir: (Whispers to Ladybug) I don't know a thing about soccer M'lady. Maybe it's time to call the real team?

And basically just spends the whole episode making Chat Noir seems like a worthless partner while Maribug tries her best to make him - and everyone else - feel special.

Oh, and the episode before Kuro Neko? Well, it's technically Ephemeral, but that got magically overwritten so let's go one further back and we get to Dearest Family, which ends with this:

Cat Noir: (grabs a golden paper crown on the coffee table) Since I'm the king, (wears the crown on his head) would you be my queen, Ladybug? Ladybug: With pleasure, kitty cat! Tradition is tradition!

Oh yes, these two are in such conflict and Maribug does nothing to validate Chat Noir. He's in pain every episode and she's just totally oblivious to it.

If that was what they wrote, then I'd probably agree that we needed more instances of her asking if Chat Noir was okay. But it's not what they wrote. If you look through the list of season four episodes, you'll find that less than half of them deal with the supposed conflict of the season (by my count, only 8 of the 24 episodes before the final actually showcase the conflict and they are not in a logical order in terms of escalation as I tried to demonstrate above). The rest of the episodes flat out ignore it or even straight up work against the conflict like when Ladybug says this to Chat Noir in Guilttrip: "I probably don't tell you this enough, but I couldn't do this without you. And it'd be a lot less fun too."

Seriously, what even is this season? What is the conflict supposed to be? Because it sure as shit isn't Maribug undervaluing Chat Noir, if memory servers, season four sees her validate him more times than any other season. And it isn't her guiltily hiding things from him like so many fanfics claim because we have multiple points of evidence that prove that she's completely oblivious that there even is a conflict. So what conflict are the writers actually trying to write?

What's even more baffling is that none of this logically leads to the loss at the end of the season:

Maribug's new secrets didn't lead to her downfall. The only reason she lost was because of the secret that's always been there - a fact that's never revealed to her - and a freaking evil twin! So why did it matter that Maribug was keeping secrets? This is made even worse by season five maintaining all of the secrets, once again begging the question of what lesson were we trying to teach here???

Chat Noir wasn't needed for the final fight of the season, Maribug only needed the powers of a few of the temp heroes to win, a baffling ending to a season whose focus was Chat Noir feeling unimportant. You could scrap that conflict entirely and the ending would not change. In fact....

Adrien quitting to be nothing more than a good little boy who obeys his father would have actually saved the world from eventually being rewritten. If you think about it, the season four final actually punishes Adrien for being defiant. So does season five as, if Chat Noir had quit, his father would still be alive. I thought this show was supposed to be a romcom, not a tragedy. Why is Adrien being punished for being a hero? Is this supposed to be karma for lying to Ladybug with the whole Catwalker thing?

This shit is why I say I'm a writing salt, character sugar blog. I can't get mad at the characters when they're in such a nonsense story where things never logically tie together. They all deserve so much better.

None of this is meant to imply that ignorance is a blanket excuse for hurting others. Nor is it meant to imply that you have to forgive someone who hurt you just because they didn't mean to. There's a ton of nuance around these topics. But season four acknowledges none of that nuance while creating a situation that desperately needed nuance because there was no clear right and wrong here. Should Maribug work to be more aware of others feelings? Sure, but that journey can only start after she's made aware of her faults and no one ever points them out to her. Does Chat Noir need to work on clearly communicating his needs? Desperately, but no one is teaching him that lesson so he remains a terrible communicator who suffers in silence. What impressively bad writing.

[theerurishipper]

Since I've seen the argument going around... I don't "blame feminism for ruining the show" or whatever. I blame the writers for not understanding feminism. In my opinion the writers tried to send an empowering message and failed miserably. I wish they had done it right, and if they had I would have loved it, but they didn't. This is on the writers. There's really no point in blaming the characters or something. The only ones to blame are the writers. Feminism didn't make them do this. Feminism is important and I would have loved to see it be well represented. It wasn't.

And I know I do get salty about Marinette, but that's mostly because I really dislike the message being sent through her character. Ultimately, she's a bunch of words and pixels on the screen and nothing else, and any negative message that comes from her character is the work of a writer behind the screen, and that's where the fault truly lies. I don't blame Marinette for ruining the show, I blame the writers for not allowing her character to develop and grow. Really, she's as much a victim of the writing as any other character.

The show isn't bad for trying to be feminist. That's a good thing. The show is bad because it pretended to send a feminist message and ended up being misogynistic and reductive. Simply gender-swapping character roles doesn't "fix" anything. And that's not even getting into the misogyny of men getting excused for their actions without any effort on their part while the women and teenage girls are irredeemable. In the end, the female protagonist was used to perpetuate misogynistic stereotypes, and she still lost to the man.

I don't hate that the show is feminist. I hate that it isn't.

[familyagrestefanblog]

Sorry, I just need to get this off my chest.

You know what's shit?

That I always come back to work on my explanation posts on why Alya, Plagg, and Emonette being treated unfairly and being disregarded by Maribug's writing is by now pissing me off to similar degrees as her bad treatment of Chat Noir

But that always ends in a domino effect of me putting together more of the overall narrative that ticks me off so much cause my ADD brain can't NOT look for the continuous string of the writing pattern I follow once I'm at it.

You probably can imagine that this isn't very good for my mental health and the only reason why I'm still doing it is because I have a strong suspicion on what the new story arc will do with Cerise after this agonizing hiatus, and only once the actual new story arc proves me wrong can my ADD brain let this emotional investment of 7+ years in my "comfort show" since I was a 16 rest in peace.

Being neurodivergent is exhausting of FUCK...

So I always stop writing any of the posts about the other topics and come back to my Adrichat corner because that's the "safe space" my brain is the most familiar and comfortable with by now since season 4 to make a post AT ALL that isn't running the risk of leading me down 7 new rabbit holes I can't unsee anymore afterwards...

I MISS looking into several narrative threads in this show and voicing my opinions on them. In hindsight, I regret not having done it more when it was still possible, but I feel like it should have been alright in any other normally written show to have a fan blog dedicated to a specific part of the story. I feel like I shouldn't be the one in the WRONG for having done that.

Anyway, I honestly MISS the time where I knew that Maribug's benefit and comfort weren't the only things accepted as "valid" readings of the story. From both sides. Supporters and critics/salters.

Where saying anything that isn't immediately connected to Marinette's benefit and comfort didn't need a full-blown 20 page essay post going into any detail possible to fight for the right to even be taken seriously as a realistic reading of the story at all.

I know I'm not the only one upset at this, but I wonder how many people really realized by now how batshit insane this is right now. That only the most vanilla and vague-ass posts that do their best to not in anyway say something that would be "mean" and "non-validating" to Marinette can be posted now without it automatically being categorized as at least "critical" or running the risk of getting perceived as salt or wishful-thinking.

You can't point ANYTHING out anymore without at least one person running in and either saying "You just HATE Marinette and want to see her punished! You people never care about HERRRRRRRRRR (regarding a topic that isn't about her or is her fucking JOB as a narrative tool to DO)" or "Yeah, nah, the show would never let that happen because of the Marinette bias lol"

You can't even say anything anymore about Adrien's abuse without it being either undermined to all hell because of Marinette having been bullied and needing to be a girlboss who does to others what she's declared "tortured" for, or Félix "hypocrite and victim-blamer" Fathom. Gabriel being abusive was once the most basic ass thing to talk about, what the fuck happened?? (don't answer that, I know the answer...)

The whole analysis' side of this fandom that isn't catering to Marinette was either killed or basically exiled into the "critical" or outright "salt" tag because you can't even be interested in world-building anymore without having to fight for the post's right to be taken seriously under the crushing weight of Marinette's narrative benefits and comfort.

Because mademoiselle ain't fucking interested in ANYTHING lore wise beyond what's convenient for her (not to mention the retcons), so talking about the Guardian and Kwami lore for example counts as SALT now because it automatically implies for people that Marinette isn't all that matters and her flaws of not being interest in ANYTHING might actually COUNT as flaws she should work on. I know, the fucking HORROR! 😱

I MISS writing theories, analysis posts, and speculating about this shows future plots in even the most basic "set up and pay off" manner but I know I can't because my default approach is always complementary to the main character - meaning what challenges them and the narrative the most to grow, expand, and develop. This isn't a Marinette specific thing, I ALWAYS do this.

And contrary to popular belief in this fandom, I get by perfectly fine doing that for the majority of other pieces of media I consume. It is MIRACULOUS and this damn Fandom that now genuinely did it's best to convince themselves that this level of main character centric morality and revenge porn level writing is NORMAL when it's seriously NOT.

There is a REASON why this show hardly ever gets recommended on social media the way one would think despite its success. Or why the Fan backlash is so enormous despite a solid part of the Fandom already having left long ago and the young target demographic not uniformly having a voice in the social media discourse.

Or why people actively advise others AGAINST watching the show, AGAINST forming an emotional investment, and AGAINST going anywhere near the Fandom.

Cause no fucking shit, this isn't normal.

[ilikekidsshows]

Astruc stops making stuff up about media he hasn't seen challenge level impossible

[dedud3d]

I'm bored so:

ml au where the ladybug miraculous is the one that creates sentinel/sentimonsters and the bee miraculous is the miraculous of synergy (or promotion maybe?) so it has a sublimation like power and I can rest in peace knowing the three powers that work really well together all share the same theme of bugs instead two being fowls (or whatever rooster and peacocks are considered) with the butterfly being an odd one out.

(also, the colors don't clash too much this way)

[emsylcatac]

Reading the movie opinions on my dash this morning like

[dainobones]

miraculous is one of those special children's shows that can stare the audience in the eye and directly say what the episode is about, and the adult fandom here on tumblr dot com will still cry "how dare he say we should piss on chloe??"

[username8746489]

What would you think if Chloe and Audrey heard rumours about the way they were going to be portrayed in Astruc’s new movie, so they went back to Paris in an unsuccessful attempt to stop the movie from being completed? Then an evilized villain (maybe a wishmaker-like villain or maybe even a villain that's unrelated to the butterfly miraculous) caused Chloe and Zoe to switch bodies somehow, and nobody fully understands what's going on, so Zoe (in Chloe's body) is taken by Audrey back to New York, despite Zoe desperately trying to explain things. But Chloe enters a fugue state (heavily due to trauma caused by the neglect of her parents) and genuinely thinks she's Zoe, and is even able to recall many of the things Zoe did due to being in Zoe's body. The class thinks “Zoe's” change in behavior is due to the psychological effects of method acting, since “Zoe” is playing Chloe in Astruc's new movie, but they gradually convince “Zoe” to let them help her relearn how to be “herself” again.

Zoe is not able to gain access to Chloe's memories while in Chloe's body, because unlike Chloe, Zoe knows she's in the wrong body. In New York, Zoe is trying to get back to Paris, but when she gets there, “Zoe” thinks she’s there to try to hurt Marinette. Eventually, after listening to “Chloe”, Marinette starts to suspect that “Chloe” might be telling the truth, so she decides that she must test “Chloe” and “Zoe”. She fakes being in danger to see how they react. “Zoe” reacts slightly faster than “Chloe”, so Marinette comes to the conclusion that “Chloe” is lying and that “Chloe” has an evil and manipulative plan. Marinette thinks that “Chloe” must have picked up a few tricks from Lila, because she thinks no version of Chloe could possibly react faster than Zoe when it comes to protecting her. So Audrey takes “Zoe” back to New York again to “correct” her after “Zoe” fails to convince anyone of the truth.

10 years later, “Zoe” gets seriously injured after fighting a villain when Ladybug isn’t around, which causes “Zoe” to not have long to live. Then Ladybug accidentally stumbles upon the truth about “Zoe” while trying to help “Zoe” using magical powers. Ladybug decides that the moral thing to do is to switch Chloe and Zoe back to their original bodies. Once Zoe gets her body back, she blames Chloe for her impending death and for leaving her with 10 years of loneliness, while Chloe got off scot-free. When Lila gets defeated, Zoe steals the Butterfly Miraculous to get her hands on Ladybug and Catnoir’s miraculouses, hoping to “make things right”. Zoe gets defeated by the heroes (including Chloe, who has gotten her memories back) and Ladybug manages to cure Zoe’s injuries.

It sounds like an interesting story in concept. Personally not my cup of tea cause I'm not a big of Chloe and Chloe redemption as most of the fandom is, but I think Chloe fans would like it.

Though, there is the question of why Ladybug didn't cast the cure after defeating the bodyswap villain, hence fixing Chloe/Zoe's switch, since it's a villain in Paris. This question could also apply to the villain that injures "Zoe" in the future, but that's a more vague point so I can let it slide. This was a problem I had with the actual show too, since Ladybug just neglecting to cast the cure during Representation felt out of character and like a plot contrivance.

I also think Marinette would be a little more willing to listen to Zoe's story. We've seen time and time again that she reaches out to people who've wronged her in the past, even if they haven't acted in a way that shows they deserve it yet. We also know that Chloe is a somewhat bad actor so Marinette could probably pick up on Zoe's genuineness too.

Also, why would Audrey take Zoe's body back to New York with her? Isn't Chloe's body the one "acting up"? Zoe's body wasn't the one trying to "convince anyone of the truth".

Also also Chloe would be in a boarding school in London and not in New York if this takes place anytime 3-4 years after canon (or however long high school lasts in London).

There's also the philosophical question of if "Chloe in Zoe's body" is even Chloe anymore. Perosnal opinion, but the redemption feels less earned if she has no memory of her past wrong-doings. Even if she regained them in the end, she spent 10 years thinking she was already a good person, meaning she never actually has to learn how to make up for her past mistakes. Chloe never works towards redeeming herself (Just like canon, cough cough).

Anyways those were my thoughts on this prompt. I didn't know if you wanted constructive criticism or just blind praise but here we are lol

[jeankirsteind]

Anyway, I know either you or your staffs are stealing fan contents both characters’ designs or story (like Chat Blanc) and you’re keep making your virtual daughter with your ex-girlfriend like a saint who always right on everything around her.

Congrats sir for making Chloe irredeemable as possible by using many excuses which comes out of nowhere. And you know what, your characters are sucks man. They’re either just being nice like a saint who got immune from the consequences or make them like a devil incarnation.

I know I’m not a good writer but I hate someone like him making a bad moral through their creation just for sake to fulfill his revenge fantasy and self-insert that he’s better than the others.

For another fan content makers who find this post, just keep going on making a good story from this wasted potential. You’re only one who can fulfill the void that made by him.

[charlietheepicwriter7]

MOTHERFUCKER, i thought you were dead!

AND THATS ANOTHER FIC LOSING ANON RIGHTS

fuck it, might as well do all of them. ugh, there's so many...

[fernsnouveau]

What if I just pretend we're still in the post-Elation hiatus before the Ladynoir Ghosting and before the confirmation that Edgy Murder-Noir is supposed to be his consistent characterization now, and there was still a sense of potential for the story?

[kyuani]

opinion on the miraculous movie

Ok so the miraculous movie was okay for what it was i guess. But I'll never watch it again lol. And I'm not gonna act like it's better than the current show. The show is undoubtedly imperfect in writing, but it has more depth, more angst, and a background that will keep us watching it til the very end just to see how the execution will go down (even if it sucks at times 🙃). The story is SO heavy & that makes it super interesting. But if you're not interested in the angst, then sure, the movie universe will suit you fine ig?

I will say that I absolutely hated the fact that Cristina Vee wasn't the one singing for Marinette in the dub. As amazing of a singer as she is, why didn't they just have her do it?? At least the one who sang for Cat Noir had a similar tone to Bryce Papenbrook, so it worked. But it was WAY too obvious that Mari's singer & VA were two different voices, and it just... was very awkward to watch/hear. 😫

It was also a little frustrating to see Cat Noir still be a lil salty about the fact that his feelings wasn't returned. 😮‍💨 Like I get it, the person you have feelings for doesn't feel the same. It's not a good feeling. You feel crushed & have to mourn your loss of not- reciprocated feelings. But.... I don't understand this idea of "I'd rather fight by myself than with a partner who cares about me just bc they don't feel the same way about me that I feel about them (despite them not having to)" 🙃 Why would you get mad/petty/salty to the point of trying to do things by yourself when EVERYONE'S LIVES IS AT STAKE?!?

He's a kid and he's flawed, okay. It's still annoying af lol. At least he got to take his frustration of rejection out on Gabriel afterwards tho. 🤣 Probably my fave part of the whole film after Ladynoir's play fight. 🤭💓

In conclusion, the movie is okay. I still prefer the messy show tho. 🥴

[miraculosus]

I will count it as an absolute win for my creative development or whatever if the way the remainder of season 5 plays out turns me into a writer - creator of (progressively less trash quality) terminally earnest and desperately heartfelt fanfiction/art because neither the simple joy and love I felt from S1-2 nor skepticism and apprehension mixed with enduring hope that developed through S3-4 were enough of a push. From the trailers it looks like a mess, from the “bible” it looks like an utter Disgrace. Perhaps unrelenting despair and disappointment of perceived injustice will do the trick? That’s what the salters run on right? Although I doubt I could be that mean spirited and vindictive that may be a point in my favor

[brokenhardies]

i have made two original rogues gallery characters for amber. i might share them later!

[oooocleo]

theres a couple of books missing from here bc they didnt tile nicely but kicks my legs... reading log so far from the first half of 2024 🫡

i wanted to share my favourites out of the above as well:

carmilla by sheridan le fanu (the og vampire novella, somewhat archaic writing style but Way more lesbian than i was expecting, v evocative of those insane girlhood friendships one has growing up afab)

the goblin emperor by katherine addison (maia… the ultimate good boy truly trying his best to be a good ruler - i felt alternatively so bad for him and rly proud of the sentiment of kindness he embodied + gorg descriptions of the goblin/elf cultures)

empress of salt and fortune by nghi vo (novella; gorgeous poetic writing, like catching glimpses of an epic fantasy story but being Allowed to fill in a ton of it yourself.. rly tactile…also WAMEN and a sprinkle of lesbianism 🤌)

white is for witching by helen oyeyemi (magical realism prose which powerfully serves the unreliable narrator/psychological issues the protagonist has/seems to have + haunted house horror where the house is also in the characters after they leave.. i rly want to reread it already)

the dispossessed by ursula k le guin (anarchist socialist anticapitalist anti-prison anti-police theory beamed straight into my brain. made me want to move to the moon. actually nuanced in its depiction of issues in supposedly utopian societies)

annihilation by jeff vandermeer (delicious bio-horror.. weirdness abounds… really vivid pov/protagonist in the autistic broad shouldered biologist, imo very well crafted mystery but dont go in expecting to have all the answers at the end, thats Not The Point tm)

blood over bright haven by ML wang (sciona.... ur THE power hungry maniac academic ive been waiting for... this is a visceral fantasy that quite skillfully deals w gender & ethnic oppression w.o cheapening those issues for the (lowkey) romance's sake, a common gripe for me)

bride by ali hazelwood (just a freaking good time if uve been traumatized by abusive male leads ur supposed to like.. werewolf x vampire contemporary romance)

[astr0exe]

Heyyy, I just like read all your fics, and was EXCITED to see that your requests are open. So I was wondering if you could comfort w/ John Price (Husband). Reader going home, from work or something, needing his husband and just some comfort after a bad day :3

And FLUFF make it FLUFFY

Please and Thank you!!

It might be sad but I've been single for a bit and need that relationship comfort again 😔

THIS TURNED INTO SOMETHING ELSE ?! BUT I ACC LOVE IT ICL <3 (this turned into some full in poem typa shit) also turned into gender neutral reader

Hey ml !! Ur so real for that i get it <3 cause same, messages are always open if anyone ever needs to talk 🫶🏻🫶🏻 ALSO ignore the fact I had like died im back ish been busy n really burnt out n watching the aus gp cause i have a problem

Husband!Price who just sighs softly, wrapping his arms around you as you slouch into his body as soon as you walk through the door. Not even taking off your shoes or coat, just clutching Price’s shirt tightly.

His eyes narrow at the waves of pure exhaustion which shows in your dull eyes. His strong arms are tight around you, keeping you grounded and protected. A safe space, where you can finally let your shoulders drop and the tears flow. A home where you can smile and laugh, a place where you know, that no matter what, you will be supported and loved. Because John has worked so hard on making sure you know you are loved, through everything he will be there for you. Those horrible days at work, the overwhelming stress you often feel, for every little positive and negative he will be there for you. Because you are his moon and he is your star.

“You’re safe my love, here in my arms you will always be protected.” John murmurs softly in your ear, his deep voice reverberating through your body and soul, the slow soft sigh that leaves your lips as your fingers untangle from his shirt, a quiet apology leaves you lips from the new found wrinkles on his perfect shirt. Everything about your husband is perfect in your eyes, his light salt and pepper hair which he blames on you lovingly, his smile which still makes your heart race and head spin even after being married for 5 years. In your eyes he can do no wrong, because he is your star. And you are his moon.

Your slight smile relaxes John, his eyes full of affection and love. He is enamoured and he is proud to admit that you, his husband, is the light of his life, his moon. He knows that through everything, you will always be together. The adoration you both feel for each other is immense, endless. Just like the moon and the stars.

The soft bed envelopes you both, the familiar comfort mixes with Johns hold perfectly, his body against yours as you both just lay down, unable to bring the words to fill the room. The love too pure for anyone to properly understand, no one will ever fully understand it, it’s far too complex for any love story. But it’s yours. The moon and the stars are always seen together no matter what. Forever and always.