#good guess anon

[dusksmote]

Are those Dirk glasses I see?

nope! but i've always thought i drew kenny looking kind of dirk-ish 😭 it's the hair honestly

[xxplastic-cubexx]

is my legacy really going to be about eriks boobs😭 is it possible we could get another doodle of Francesca? i love her i fear

(ps i’m pretty sure you’ve answered all of my asks so far)

francesca upon ye all wo AH

[dykedvonte]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks they're codependent and not in a shippy way either. I'm not sure if I want to say it's codependency in an emotionally abusive/manipulative way but it's definitely not healthy and there are other factors to it outside out that as well.

I think it’s only manipulative on Jimmy’s front.

I see Curly as this deeply lonely person because he doesn’t open up well. I believe he is very rehearsed because he’s used to being the rock, strong man and stabilizing force. His vulnerability is very much ignored or downplaying in the game intentionally by Jimmy who uses his and others woes as a comparative. I see this as a common behavior between them but also just something Curly will do to himself to keep himself complacent. He doesn’t have much he actually enjoys in life more so things he just does. Jimmy is one thing he’s felt more than complacent and comfortable around in a long while despite how inconsiderate Jimmy is. He’s more used to it than he loves it but he’s used to that.

Jimmy in the other hand is like a dog that bites the hand that feeds it. Jimmy recognizes those little cracks Curly has and likes to dig into them to get a foothold. He knows Curly isn’t the one to suddenly budge, so if he can keep him wedged in a place he is, he’s secured to. He needs Curly, but forgets that he chose to attach himself that way and resents Curly for keeping him from getting out from under him. He based everything off the reflections on the shield he force Curly to be for him but can’t see the painful light Curly obscures.

To me, it’s really just Curly is used to how draining Jimmy is. He relents and works with whatever keeps Jimmy placated because it’s easier and he doesn’t feel like he has much else that he actually enjoys. It’s an abusive relationship but not physically, not until after the crash atleast. Jimmy’s a leech and Curly just got used to being lightheaded.

[anghraine]

Hi! Can you explain what really the power of foresight was with Faramir? I read the books earlier this year and I don't really quite understand it. He could predict the future? Like he would see it in his dreams? But how did he found out from Gollum that he was taking frodo and sam to cirith ungol and that he had committed murder before?

No problem, it's one of my favorite topics!

The concise explanation: I think Faramir's foresight/aftersight in terms of visions is a largely separate "power" from his ability to bring his strength of mind and will to bear on other people and animals, and to resist outside influence. The visions seem more a matter of broad sensitivity, something Faramir doesn't appear to have much if any control over. The second power is (in our terms) essentially a form of direct telepathy, limited in some ways but still very powerful, and I think this second ability is what Faramir is using with Gollum.

The really long version:

In my opinion, Faramir (or Denethor, Aragorn, etc) doesn't necessarily read thoughts like a book, particularly not with a mind as resistant as Gollum's. Faramir describes Gollum's mind in particular as dark and closed, it seems unusually so—

"There are locked doors and closed windows in your mind, and dark rooms behind them," said Faramir.

Still, Gollum is unable to entirely block Faramir's abilities. In LOTR, it does not seem that Gollum can fully block powerful mental abilities such as Faramir's, though his toughness and hostility does limit what Faramir can see. (Unfinished Tales, incidentally, suggests iirc that Denethor's combination of "great mental powers" and his right to use the Anor-stone allowed him to telepathically get the better of Saruman through their palantíri, a similar but greater feat.) I imagine that this is roughly similar to, but scaled down from, Galadriel's telepathic inquiries of even someone as reluctant to have her in his mind as Boromir, given that Faramir is able to still see some things in Gollum's mind, if with more difficulty than usual.

(WRT Boromir ... ngl, if I was the human buffer between Denethor and Faramir, I would also not be thrilled about sudden telepathic intrusions from basically anyone, much less someone I had little reason to trust.)

Disclaimer: a few years after LOTR's publication, Tolkien tried to systematize how this vague mystical telepathy stuff really works. One idea he had among many, iirc, was that no unwilling person's mind could be "read" the ways that Gollum's is throughout LOTR. IMO that can't really be reconciled w/ numerous significant interactions in LOTR where resistance to mental intrusion or domination is clearly variable between individuals and affected by personal qualities like strength of will, basic resilience, the effort put into opposition, supernatural powers, etc. And these attempts at resistance are unsuccessful or only partially successful on many occasions in LOTR (the Mouth of Sauron, for one example, is a Númenórean sorcerer in the book who can't really contend with Aragorn on a telepathic level). So I, personally, tend to avoid using the terminology and rationales from that later systematized explanation when discussing LOTR. And in general, I think Tolkien's later attempts to convert the mystical, mysterious wonder of Middle-earth into something more "hard magic" or even scientific was a failed idea on a par with Teleporno. Others differ!

In any case, when Gollum "unwillingly" looks at Faramir while being questioned, the creepy light drains from his eyes and he shrinks back while Faramir concludes he's being honest on that specific occasion. Gollum experiences physical pain when he does try to lie to Faramir—

"It is called Cirith Ungol." Gollum hissed sharply and began muttering to himself. "Is not that its name?" said Faramir turning to him. "No!" said Gollum, and then he squealed, as if something had stabbed him.

I don't think this is a deliberate punishment from Faramir—that wouldn't be like him at all—and I don't think it's the Ring, but simply a natural consequence of what Faramir is. Later, Gandalf says of Faramir's father:

"He can perceive, if he bends his will thither, much of what is passing in the minds of men ... It is difficult to deceive him, and dangerous to try."

So, IMO, Faramir's quick realization that Gollum is a murderer doesn't come from any vision of the future or past involving Gollum—that is, it's not a deduction from some event he's seen. Faramir does not literally foresee Gollum's trick at Cirith Ungol. His warning would be more specific in that case, I think. What he sees seems to be less detailed but more direct and, well, mystical. Faramir likely doesn't know who exactly Gollum murdered or why or what any of the circumstances were. Rather, Gollum's murderousness and malice are visible conditions of his soul to Faramir's sight. Faramir doesn't foresee the particulars of Gollum's betrayal—but he can see in Gollum's mind that he is keeping something back. Faramir says of Gollum:

"I do not think you are holden to go to Cirith Ungol, of which he has told you less than he knows. That much I perceived clearly in his mind."

Meanwhile, in a letter written shortly before the publication of LOTR, Tolkien said of Faramir's ancestors:

They became thus in appearance, and even in powers of mind, hardly distinguishable from the Elves

So these abilities aren't that strange in that context. Faramir by chance (or "chance") is, like his father, almost purely an ancient Númenórean type despite living millennia after the destruction of Númenor (that destruction is the main reason "Númenóreanness" is fading throughout the age Faramir lives in). Even less ultra-Númenórean members of Denethor's family are still consistently inheriting characteristics from their distant ancestor Elros, Elrond's brother, while Faramir and Denethor independently strike Sam and Pippin as peculiarly akin to Gandalf, a literal Maia like their ancestress Melian:

“Ah well, sir,” said Sam, “you [Faramir] said my master had an elvish air; and that was good and true. But I can say this: you have an air too, sir, that reminds me of, of—well, Gandalf, of wizards.”

He [Denethor] turned his dark eyes on Gandalf, and now Pippin saw a likeness between the two, and he felt the strain between them, almost as if he saw a line of smouldering fire drawn from eye to eye, that might suddenly burst into flame.

Meanwhile, Faramir's mother's family is believed to be part Elvish, a belief immediately confirmed when Legolas meets Faramir's maternal uncle:

At length they came to the Prince Imrahil, and Legolas looked at him and bowed low; for he saw that here indeed was one who had elven-blood in his veins. "Hail, lord!" he [Legolas] said. "It is long since the people of Nimrodel left the woodlands of Lórien, and yet still one may see that not all sailed from Amroth’s haven west over water."

In addition to that, Faramir's men believe he's under some specific personal blessing or charm as well as the Númenórean/Elvish/Maia throwback qualities. It's also mentioned by different groups of soldiers that Faramir can exercise some power of command over animals as well as people. Beregond describes Faramir getting his horse to run towards five Nazgûl in real time:

"They will make the Gate. No! the horses are running mad. Look! the men are thrown; they are running on foot. No, one is still up, but he rides back to the others. That will be the Captain [Faramir]: he can master both beasts and men."

Then, during the later retreat of Faramir's men across the Pelennor:

At last, less than a mile from the City, a more ordered mass of men came into view, marching not running, still holding together. The watchers held their breath. "Faramir must be there," they said. "He can govern man and beast."

Tolkien said of the ancient Númenóreans:

But nearly all women could ride horses, treating them honourably, and housing them more nobly than any other of their domestic animals. The stables of a great man were often as large and as fair to look upon as his own house. Both men and women rode horses for pleasure … and in ceremony of state both men and women of rank, even queens, would ride, on horseback amid their escorts or retinues … The Númenóreans trained their horses to hear and understand calls (by voice or whistling) from great distances; and also, where there was great love between men or women and their favorite steeds, they could (or so it is said in ancient tales) summon them at need by their thought alone. So it was also with their dogs.

Likely the same Númenórean abilities were used for evil by Queen Berúthiel against her cats. In an interview with Daphne Castell, Tolkien said:

She [Berúthiel] was one of these people who loathe cats, but cats will jump on them and follow them about—you know how sometimes they pursue people who hate them? I have a friend like that. I’m afraid she took to torturing them for amusement, but she kept some and used them—trained them to go on evil errands by night, to spy on her enemies or terrify them.

The more formal version of the Berúthiel lore recurs in Unfinished Tales:

She had nine black cats and one white, her slaves, with whom she conversed, or read their memories, setting them to discover all the dark secrets of Gondor, so that she knew those things "that men wish most to keep hidden," setting the white cat to spy upon the black, and tormenting them.

Faramir, by contrast, has a strong aversion to harming/killing animals for any reason other than genuine need, but apparently quite similar basic abilities. He typically uses these abilities to try to compassionately understand other people or gather necessary information, rather than for domination or provoking fear. Even so, Faramir does seem to use his mental powers pretty much all the time with no attempt to conceal what he's doing—he says some pretty outlandish things to Frodo and Sam as if they're very ordinary, but it doesn't seem that most people he knows can do all these things. This stuff is ordinary to him because it flows out of his fundamental being, not because it's common.

It's not clear how much fine control he has, interestingly. This is more headcanon perhaps, but I don't feel like it's completely under his control, even while it's much more controlled than things like Faramir's vision of Boromir's funeral boat, his frequent, repeated dreams of Númenor's destruction, the Ring riddle dream he received multiple times, or even his suspiciously specific "guess" of what passed between Galadriel and Boromir in Lothlórien. Yet his more everyday mental powers do seem to involve some measure of deliberate effort in a lot of the instances we see, given the differing degrees of difficulty and strain we see with the powers he and Denethor exhibit more frequently and consistently.

This is is also interesting wrt Éowyn, because Tolkien describes Faramir's perception of her as "clear sight" (which I suspect is just Tolkien's preferred parlance for "clairvoyance"). Faramir perceives a lot more of what's going on with Éowyn than I think he had materially observable evidence for—but does not see everything that's going on with her by any means. He seems to understand basically everything about her feelings for Aragorn, more than Éowyn herself does, but does not know if she loves him [Faramir].

I'm guessing that it's more difficult to "see" this way when it's directly personal (one of the tragedies of his and Denethor's relationship is that their shared mental powers do not enable either to realize how much they love each other). But it also doesn't seem like he's trying to overcome Éowyn's mental resistance the way he was with Gollum, and possibly Frodo and Sam—he does handle it a bit differently when it's not a matter of critical military urgency. With Éowyn, he sees what his abilities make clear to him, is interested enough to seek out Merry (and also perceive more than Merry says, because Faramir has never been a normal person one day in his life) but doesn't seem to really push either of them.

So I tend to imagine that with someone like Faramir, Denethor, Aragorn etc, we're usually seeing a relatively passive, natural form of low-grade telepathy that simply derives from their fundamental nature and personalities (as we see in Faramir with Éowyn, possibly Faramir with Aragorn). That can be kicked up to more powerful, forceful telepathy via active exertion of the will (as described by Gandalf wrt Denethor's ability to "bend[] his will thither" to see what passes in others' minds, and seen with Faramir vs Gollum, Aragorn vs the Mouth of Sauron, more subtly Faramir vs Denethor). At a high point of strain this can be done very aggressively or defensively (Denethor vs Gandalf, Denethor vs Saruman, Denethor vs Sauron seriously is there a Maia that man won't fight, Faramir vs the Black Breath given his completely unique symptoms that Aragorn attributes to his "staunch will", possibly Aragorn vs the Black Breath in a healing capacity...).

Anyway, I hope these massive walls of text are helpful or interesting! Thanks for the ask :)

[ankle-beez]

Please go drink bleach.

i can't drink bleach, silly, that's a anime

[rhapsoddity]

May I please have some Styx art? 🙏🙏

Redraw of this from 2023

[rickybaby]

Genuine question as I am curious — I know it’s pretty obvious with his expressions/ body language that Daniel seemed shy/insecure(?) about having his braces, but has he ever outright said anything about feeling that way with them? Just out of curiosity as I am new around here!

“I feel very different in terms of looks. Fortunately, experience also bought me better looks. I’m not really too fond of showing people photos of me when I was younger”

[shepscapades]

how’s dbhc mumbo in last life

bad actually, on most fronts really

[the-kingshound]

Spoilers abound, and though I will try to be as vague as possible, I’m going to assume that I’ll probably get accidentally more in-depth, as I quite enjoyed myself. Feel free to hang on to it until more people have read, I’d understand.

The wedding was good, it has a bit of a dissociative air to it that I think was a positive considering the circumstances the mc is in. I think the amount of story time dedicated to it is hits the sweet spot, since it is a political marriage of convenience rather than one of love and celebration. I’m liking the secretive/confidante air the siblings are taking on leading up to the meeting. It kind of makes it seem like the Camelot natives aren’t being ridiculous for trying to put distance between the Venegard family members (that and Ghaven’s gifts). It really shows how scared of the Venegard house in general that they are despite winning and despite not knowing who or if any of the other siblings are mages besides Adrei. Considering they are surrounded on all sides and literally smack dab in enemy territory, it really makes them look like cowards, though in the case of my MC their sheer size and demeanor probably makes it doubly hard to pretend otherwise. Can’t wait for MC to really use that to their advantage, after they’re done lamenting their current enemy #1 status (my mc especially since they wore the house colors).

I feel bad scaring the Pendragon mount but am having a lot of fun giving Arthur whiplash with my rough/stoic, militaristic MC (one second soft as can be for Mordred, the next scary, very very scary. They surprisingly share a lot in common with their House’s mount, it would seem). It’s not because I don’t like them, just because I think it’ll make a very funny story looking back.

“Can you believe I was afraid my bestie was gonna kill me/thought I was going to kill them mere minutes before our wedding?” He says, innocently, while the Hound wades through the blood of his enemies. “How silly of us,”

I’m enjoying Gywar’s scenes the most at the moment, but that’s because they hit a certain soft spot for me. MC is a sword, and that scene before the festivities is basically Gywar telling them that to them, they’ll need to be a shield. A guide, confidante, friend in exchange for a protection and the same in return. They seem to be scared to get close, but already hopelessly invested. It shows a vulnerability despite them very obviously trying to guard themself from the hound. Their desire to help is so earnest, and foreign that my mc finds themself in a similar position, yearning to earnestly return the sentiment while feeling like they aren’t emotionally built for that. They find themself at times, uncharacteristically softened, and at others characteristically direct in their desire to show Gywar that they’ve thrown their lots in together. It makes for a very powerful set of scenes (MC thinking of getting Gywar to rest the very second they’re allowed to, squeezed my little heart). Evaine’s scene was also v good, and my giant of a hound is on the look out for their bullies, Evaine is gonna make the shocked pikachu face soon because the second my hound figures it out, there’s gonna be a new world order in that court (goes for Yniol’s bullies too). Morien’s scene was more fun then I’d expected, and I wasn’t expecting them to make such polarizing and quick assessments of the MC (either A. You’re too cute to exist, or B. Nice, another bastard like me) but both made me smile. The scenes were really good at showing which ROs were more open, regardless of whether they were earnest and dispense their trust easily or not. Yniol was sorely missed, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they were A. Avoiding Nobles, B. Concerned with Overcrowding MC, C. Concerned with Bedivere’s likely change in body language, D. Using this opportunity to check on their kids, or E. Taking their duty too seriously and working

.

[takemetomyfragiledreams]

DamiTim 7.…to shut them up.

Have a side of Banshee!Tim with your order

Tim does not get hurt. This is a truth that Damian has carried since a child; since he was held in cold arms and whispered stories he couldn't yet understand; since he saw Tim materialize and rematerialize out of view. Tim is a creature of death. He can kill and revive in a single breath.

It has never occurred to Damian before that he would not simply do so again. It has never occurred to Damian that it hurts him to see them hurt.

It is why he is so thoroughly rocked when, that night, instead of a blade going through his stomach, it goes through Tim's instead.

There's a banshee scream that blows the foe away, bleeding from eyes, nose and mouth; Damian cannot focus on it. He cannot see anything other than the black of Tim's blood beginning to stain his suit.

He must say something over coms as he scoops Tim up, because Nightwing and Wraith cover them immediately when he retreats.

There are words in his ears as he swings through the night but he does not register them. It's not until they're in a safe house and he's yanking the zipper to Tim's suit down that he starts hearing anything at all.

"I need to take the knife out," he tells Tim. The blood is cold on his hands, like the rest of Tim, and it does not help the nausea in his gut. Damian has long since been desensitized to gore but in this moment it does not feel like it.

The knife comes loose. He packs the wound and finds himself at a loss.

"Do you need stitches? I do not know how healing works for you."

"Damian," Tim tries.

"How do you replace your blood? Will a normal transfusion work?"

"Damian," he tries again, taking his face between his hands.

Damian resists as he runs through what he knows of beings like Tim. It is frustratingly little.

"I'll call Zatanna--" his words are stolen as Tim presses a firm kiss to his mouth. It takes a second for his brain to reboot, to process this new event. It's then that he finally realizes he's shaking; how shameful.

"There," Tim says gently, gloved fingertips running over Damian's suddenly wet cheeks. "It's alright, baby bat. I'll be fine."

"You took a killing blow for me," Damian croaks out. "Why?"

"I guess I grow weary of watching you die, knowing I could stop it before it even happens."

"But your blood--"

"It'll replenish. I'll just need to go hunting to regain my energy."

He settles some at the knowledge. "Do not do that again."

Tim smiles a ghastly sort of smile, eyes twin pits of shadow. "No promises."

[finnlongman]

Hi, I was reading about Gaelic evolution, today, kind of on accident, and I came across this discussion of o-stem and s-stem verbs(?) (Might have been nouns?) changing their conjugation/declension (i think they were talking about like 800-1200 more specifically, im not totally sure though) except none of the words had any o or s in them that I could see and I was wondering if you knew anything about this

Ah. Stems. If they're o-stem and s-stem they're probably nouns. Theoretically, I was introduced to the concept of stems as an undergrad. Nobody, however, ever thought to explain what the stems were for and why we might need to know them -- I suppose they thought we might have learned this in previous language studies at school, but I did French the usual English way, and thus learned very little grammar and no linguistics. So I treated this as fun but ultimately irrelevant bonus information and spent most of my undergraduate years deeply confused.

Five years later I was sitting in a modern Irish class with a teacher who also taught Old Irish and she was explaining declensions in the context of the genitive case. "This is the first declension, and therefore behaves like this," she said, and looked at me: "Finn, that's like an o-stem masculine in Old Irish."

Me: 🤯 Me: Wait. That's what the stems are for?! That wasn't just fun bonus information??? They actually tell you something?!

So that... cleared a few things up.

Anyway, when I was doing my MA, I had to actually learn them, and have subsequently figured out they can be pretty handy when you're staring at a word trying to work out what case it could possibly be in and whether it should be behaving like that. Who knew. It's almost like a proper understanding of grammatical principles is more helpful than just giving people a textbook from the 1970s and a set of paradigms from the 1920s that were both written with the assumption that the person would have studied large amounts of Latin.

But yes, very often you will look at a word, and it claims to be an o-stem, and you're like, but there's no o here, what is this about?? So what's that all about? Well, I believe, based on the little I've gleaned from hearing people who actually understand linguistics talk about them, that this reflects the word endings in a much earlier stage of the language development -- like, way earlier, we're talking Proto-Celtic, so by the time it's Irish that's already usually gone. For example, fer 'man' from Proto-Celtic *wiros. There's an O there! Or carpat 'chariot', from Proto-Celtic *karbantos. There's an O there too. Now both of these being o-stems makes more sense.

(That said, all the s-stems also seem to end in -os in Proto-Celtic, so what makes some of them o-stems and some of them s-stems when they both contain both of those things, I could not tell you. Frankly, I zone out whenever people start offering me reconstructed forms with asterisks in front of them, so I am the wrong person to ask for more detail on that 😅)

The person who is really into all this stuff is David Stifter, who wrote Sengoidelc, among other things. He's always talking about the linguisticsy side of things! But if all you want to know is why they're called that, I think "there used to be that letter there a long time ago even if now it's gone" is probably the important part, and as for why you need to know what stem it is at all, it's because that decides how it will behave in different cases. Which is a piece of information I really would've benefited from being given five years earlier than I was actually given it.

(In fairness to my Old Irish teachers, I think if they'd realised I hadn't grasped this concept, they would have explained it. I just hadn't even understood enough to realise that I was missing a crucial piece of information, and so didn't know to ask. I was, put simply, not very good at Old Irish in undergrad, and survived purely because our language exams were also literature exams and my essays pulled my overall marks up. This did not work during my MA, when language was a separate exam. I had to (re)learn so much grammar 😞)

[roaldamundsen]

Is Johnny bercholt seriously not gay. I saw his appearance (twink) I saw all of those interviews of him being like yeah its a dream to work with Kyle I want him to beat me up more and I was like aww so cute that this gay boy gets to work with his idol and get weird with it. BUT HE’S. STRAIGHT? HE’s STRAIGHT MARRIED? Is this some elaborate prank it has to be right

I saw his appearance (twink)

[magentasnail]

Hey, how are you doing?

well I just started art uni and it's going so much worse than I expected,,, genuinely considering dropping out but that just makes me feel worse about myself !

so yknow, great !

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

If you had to do a Nathalie redemption, how would you do it

Asking cause I wanna make a fic with the gorilla and Nathalie platonically co parenting nathalie

I'm gonna assume you meant to type co-parenting Adrien and go from there.

To start, I must confess that I wouldn't redeem canon Nathalie. At least, I wouldn't redeem her into Adrien's new parental figure. Let's discuss why and then talk about some ways to fix that.

Canon made Nathalie a terrible person and then never even tried to have her repent for her various crimes. It's actually horrifying to me that Adrien has picked her as his new mom because he has no idea who she really is. He has once again been denied a fully informed choice about his own life. Like remember this moment from Ladybug?

Sentimonster Ladybug: You're in charge, Ladybug. Cat Noir: (sighs) I should've guessed. (With their squad nickname decided the trio approaches Mayura, who is backed into a corner with the three ready to confiscate her Miraculous. Mayura clenches her hand, hurting the Sentimonster Ladybug and causing her to collapse in pain) Mayura: I release you from existence. (Mayura snaps her fingers, destroying the Sentimonster identical to Ladybug, with the keychain falling to the floor and the amok flies out of it, indicating the Sentimonster no longer exists.) Cat Noir: (enraged) How could you!? (Angered at the weakened Mayura for erasing the innocent Sentimonster, Cat Noir charges at her but Hawk Moth suddenly appears and knocks away the latter superhero. Who mocks him for getting emotional over the former artificial being.) Hawk Moth: Getting sentimental on a sentimonster? Ladybug: Hawk Moth! Cat Noir: You're the real monster!

Makes it really hard to get excited about Nathalie's "redemption" when she's shown that she doesn't give a rat's ass about human sentimonsters. She doesn't even hesitate here! And I'm supposed to think she's going to treat Adrien differently? Why? It's not like she's been a good mother figure to him all along. She was more than happy to support Gabriel as he let multiple sentimonsters and akumas hurt, kidnap, and otherwise threaten Adrien. She's even the one who told Gabriel Adrien's identity in Chat Blanc!

When you look at her actions, you find that Nathalie has not been show to be massively different from Gabriel. She may have undone specific commands Gabriel gave during season five, but she never actually did anything to stop Gabriel or ensure Adrien's freedom. She happily kept Adrien in the dark, putting Gabriel's wants above Adrien's needs. Even when she was minutes from dying, she didn't try to make sure Adrien was free even though she had the opportunity to tell Ladybug about the amoks and knew that Gabriel would probably continue to use them if he survived the fight:

Ladybug: Where is Adrien Agreste, what have you done with him?! Nathalie: He is safe, but you aren't. (Coughs.) The whole world is in danger. Monarch is about to send all of humankind after you and Cat Noir. (Coughs.) He can't get ahold of your Miraculous...

All of this means that you either need to remove massive chunks of canon or give Nathalie an actual character arc in order to make her feel like a worthy parent for Adrien. Let's talk about one possible path for the character arc option first.

Giving Nathalie a Character Arc

For this path, we're going to fully embrace canon Nathalie and her total disregard for Adrien's safety and happiness. She doesn't get Adrien birthday gifts. She happily kills sentimonsters. She fully supports Gabriel's efforts. She does all of this because she doesn't view Adrien as truly human. He's just the human-shaped doll that killed her best friend/lover/whatever. She'd happily kill him to bring Emilie back, but that's not an option so she tolerates him to honor Emilie's wishes while quietly hating him in her heart.

This all changes when Nathalie makes her own sentikid. That's right, we're bringing back my sentiLila plot! It doesn't need to actually be Lila, though. What matters is that, in season four, Nathalie makes her final sentimonster, a teenager whose job is to infiltrate Adrien's school. This could actually be a Zoe rework where Zoe is now Nathalie's "niece" or something like that. (And then Zoe could get an actual redemption instead of just info dumping her redemption as a tragic backstory of dubious quality.)

At first, Nathalie views her sentikid as a non-human tool. Nothing more than a very convincing robot. But as time goes on, she starts to like and then love her kid. By the end of the arc, she no longer views sentikids as fake. As a result, she's no longer okay with the way Gabriel treats Adrien and she changes sides because of Adrien.

This would fix another issue with canon. Namely that Nathalie's stated reason for changing sides has nothing to do with Adrien so it's really weird when she starts acting motherly. Why would this lead to any change in how she treats Adrien:

Nathalie: (on-call) You had the Time Miraculous. You could've chosen to save Émilie! You could've chosen to save me! (coughs) But instead, you chose your obsession with Ladybug and Cat Noir. You're insane, Gabriel!

Based on this logic, you could argue that her various senticommands were only given to mess with Gabriel. She's not undoing the various commands because she thinks Gabriel is in the wrong, it's because she wants to annoy him and Adrien is the perfect pawn for that. That's not what canon implies or how I think it's meant to be read based on the way those scenes are played, but it's still the more logical read for her character since she was never motherly before season five, making her sudden change in behavior suspicious. What made her start caring about Adrien and acting motherly? And don't say Emilie's videos, Nathalie has had those for the entirety of canon.

There is simply no canonical reason for this change. Nathalie got a personality rework because the writers wanted to give Adrien a new mommy and so Nathalie was forced into that role even though nothing prior to season five even mildly implied that she wanted to be a mother. In my opinion, she deserves an arc that makes it feel like her choice and not something forced on her because of a last minute change in plans re saving Emilie. (Or you can just leave her evil. I personally love her evil. I wanted Nathalie darker not whatever she is now.)

Nathalie Rewrite

This is the easier option. Just change Nathalie's character so that she always cared about Adrien. There are a myriad of ways to do that such as having her be off looking for a cure at the start of canon so that she doesn't see what Gabriel is doing first hand. She shows up mid-canon and is horrified by what's going on. She wants Emilie back, but not at the risk of Adrien's life! Nathalie now joins Gabriel both to help him and to protect Adrien.

Another option is to have her be in the dark about Gabriel's activities like she was in season one back before the writers decided to make her a coconspirator. Then she never becomes a terrorist who risks Adrien's life and can just grow to love Adrien on her own.

A third option is to just remove the stuff that made her a monster and keep her a more tame domestic terrorist who only terrorizes people she doesn't know. Adrien is never knowingly attacked or outted by her so giving him to her as her kid isn't as horrifying. You still need to explain why she's giving up on Emilie, though.

[kenzan-brainrot-mp4]

Adding to the post credits scene a bit. The way Majima kept staring up at the hospital (presumably the floor Kiryu is on) made everything just that much more painful.

And I know this is a reach but I got serious flashbacks to Majima's one-sided attraction to Makoto. It happened again, he fell hard and I don't think he can let go this time. Can they please stop tearing into his feelings like that my god.

OUGH I DIDN'T EVEN THINK OF THAT Of course I guess we can't know for sure, but god. God, Imagine the possibility. *holds head in hands*

Also now that I think about it, you're right, when you put them side-by-side, the shots of Majima walking away from the camera in pirate yakuza is a bit reminiscent of the shot of him in yakuza 0.... Oughh imagine the parallels though, Majima walking away from the viewer and away from Makoto in yakuza 0 (and yk2) with the intent/hope that they never speak to each other or see each other again, vs Majima walking away from viewer but towards Kiryu (y8 gaiden) to spend whatever time he's able to afford left with him.

Obviously there's a lot of factors surrounding why Majima decided to keep Makoto specifically at a distance post-y0, but I think what's killing me with this parallel in particular is the idea that Majima, by the time we get to post-pirate yakuza, doesn't really have anywhere left to run/can't afford to walk away like that with Kiryu in this game.

Like, it's not like with Makoto where he can keep their relationship suspended indefinitely until they forget about each other (or rather Makoto forgets about Majima), it's not like yakuza like. Five-to-infinite wealth where Kiryu was keeping everyone at arm's length, which prevented Majima from really reaching him in general (Majima's own avoidance at being anything but roundabout with Kiryu aside), or all the previous games where Majima could just get away with not voicing his feelings towards Kiryu directly. They're on a very directly stated time limit now (in all fairness rgg has left a window of possibility of Kiryu surviving, but typically you'd probably assume the worst), and now they're in a situation where Kiryu can't push people out anymore, and Majima can't keep this distance going for much longer because he's already spent years and years dancing around this and now he's officially running out of time and he Knows it (basically there's no room left for the possibility of them reaching a point where they can just 'forget about each other and move on', that he was hoping to achieve with Makoto (not that he'd want that atp with Kiryu probably but you get what I mean)). There's nowhere for them to run anymore, so this time when Majima walks away from the viewer, he's actually going to fact the object of his interest, rather than run away from it.

[glitter-stained]

Tim dkrake was abused and overlooked by everyone in the hero community and dickwad Grayson was cruel to take away the only thing Tim had in his life.

Damian wasn't even chosen by bruce to be robin and has no skill over than being a greedy bitch to Tim for no reason and it's fact that dick tried to send Tim to Arkham because he thought the Tim was reverting to joker junior which isn't fair because tin was just looking for approval after being abused by his parents.

Nest time educate your self before coming for the only good robin

You guys I'm curious, because I'm pretty convinced that this ask (which i've seen all over my jason fan-account beloved moots) comes from a tim drake anti dedicated to make everyone dislike tim more. This theory comes from the fact that a) i've rarely seen a sentence more reactance-inducing than "nest time educate your self" and b) there is a form of performance art in the way absolutely none of this is true, like this is all verifiably untrue information. True poetry, it's gotta be satire. Also, bonus for tin dkrake, that was gold.

So:

(don't worry about the gerrymandering we can do the maths)