#he was the last one I thought would show up in the gayest of all shows

[gunsatthaphan]

✈🧑🏻‍✈️

[sebastianravkin]

Another Book Recommendation for 2024

Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

Seems obvious and possibly pointless for the Tumblr audience, but hear me out.

CONTENT WARNING: mention of dark moments in LGBTQ+ history.  If you would like to avoid, skip Point #1.

The below notes reflect a discussion concerning the book Good Omens I had with a group of my undergraduate interns over a couple of lunches last semester.  Given that they all loved the show, I had assumed they had all read the book.  Not all of them had, and for those that did, their knowledge of when the book was originally published and an understanding of its historical context was surprisingly limited.  I thought that others may be interested in these points, and so am sharing them here.  

1) *SKIP TO AVOID CONTENT WARNING* To understand the impact of Good Omens when it was published in 1990 on the LGBTQIA+ community, it helps to understand the cultural environment at the time of its publishing, at least in the United States. 

The book came out towards the end of the height of the AIDS epidemic (1981 - early 90s).  I can not stress enough how terrifying this was for the LGBTQIA+ community to live through.  People were afraid - of dying, of watching loved ones die, of being separated from their loved ones as they died, of being ostracized, of being denied medical help, of being attacked and beaten.  While there was a short fluorescence of nominal acceptance of the LGBTQIA+ community during the 1970s, the societal response to the AIDS epidemic was a huge step backwards.  People became cruel(er), whether out of fear or ignorance or opportunity.

Good Omens came quietly onto the scene during this time, providing an alternate universe in which a gay-presenting angel (and his gender-fluid demon friend) could live in a world without the AIDS crisis.  At the same time, this angel did live in fear of his world literally ending, and really would like to have just gotten back to his comfy chair and his Regency silver snuffboxes.  Escapism reading at its best, really.

In addition, the book was published in 1990, so before many of the cultural moments that helped lead to social change but are now taken for granted.  Such as . . . .

-Freddie Mercury died of AIDS in November 1991 (which, by the way, means there was a very short window of time where people were reading Good Omens while he was still alive).

-Sir Elton John came out in 1992

-“Don’t ask, don’t tell” became official policy of the U.S. Military in 1993 (finally repealed in 2011)

-the establishment of LGBTQIA+ centers on college campuses surged in the mid-1990s

-Ellen came out on her show in 1997

-Will and Grace first aired in 1998

-Matthew Shepard was murdered in 1998 (the Federal Hate Crimes Prevention Act bearing his name was not passed until 2007). 

2) The book is queer coded for 1990.  As queer coded as the show is for current times. 

I have heard multiple comments from GenZ students along the lines of ‘there is nothing queer about the book’, and I have read commentary that Neil Gaiman caved to fan pressure in modernizing the script for the show. But I have also heard comments from GenX peers, including one of whom said “it was the gayest book I read in the 90s”. I have highlighted 15 passages in my teaching copy of the book that would have been queer-coded in 1990, 12 of which would go unnoticed today as far as I can tell based on discussions with many of my Millennial and GenZ students. 

It is important to keep in mind that the vocabulary of the 1980s and 90s relating to the LGBTQIA+ community was exceedingly limited; Mr. Gaiman and Sir Pratchett worked within this limited vocabulary, and were working within the stereotypes of the times, to portray Crowley and Aziraphale. And readers are meant to love them. Possibly more importantly, the derogatory comments concerning Aziraphale come from unlikable characters, and so the reader not only ends up feeling defensive of the angel but also does not want to be associated with those who hold negative opinions of him. I can think of few better ways to create social change. 

In terms of the show adaptation, whenever I watch a movie or show based on a book, my first concern is whether or not the adaptation makes me feel the way the book did. I am not an artist, so I do not know how one translates the written to the visual and I do not envy those attempting to do so.  But I do know that successful adaptations are almost never a one-to-one translation. What I can say in this context is that, to me, the show does feel like the book in terms of its themes, its humor, its timely social commentary. So whyever and however Mr. Gaiman updated it, I would argue it was successful. 

3) It is my understanding that Good Omens is the first book written by cisgendered heterosexual males for a general audience that portrays a gay-presenting character and a gender-fluid character as main characters in a positive light that does not end in a tragic way.  This is huge.  This is Captain Kirk and Uhuru’s kiss huge. 

Historically, LGBTQIA+ people rarely get positive representation in mainstream media. Rather, LGBTQIA+ characters in literature were often portrayed as villains in early writing, and are often used as comedic relief in more recent work. When there is a sympathetic main character, their story usually ends in tragedy. While tragic stories are very much a reality for many LGBTQIA+ people, it is incredibly important to also have stories that do not end in heartbreak or death.  And it is also incredibly important for LGBTQIA+ characters to be part of the norm in main stream story telling as this leads to broader social acceptance. Good Omens provided LGBTQIA+ readers with a sense of belonging in the greater world, while ‘normalizing’ the happy existence of LGBTQIA+ people to a broader readership.  This type of representation, presented by heterosexual white cisgendered male authors (at the top of the power structure in 1990) is a key moment in the slow but steady grind leading to social change.

In summary, read the book. Whether you are a fan of the show or not, and regardless of your generation, this book has a lot going for it. Above and beyond its importance to the LGBTQIA+ community, the book includes broader commentary on religion, good vs. evil, right vs. wrong, and identity in general. The menacing humor of Gaiman and the loving satire of Pratchett is a combination that is unequaled. The book is funny, thought-provoking, well-written, and has a lot of great characters above and beyond a particular angel and demon (who are only in about 1/3 of the book).  And as you read it, understand its historical context, and love it for the role it played in getting us to this cultural point in time.

[yurisorcerer]

Two immediate thoughts here. 1. A good chunk of this episode is the gayest thing I've seen in an anime that's not technically about wlw romance in years. 2. It's so, so funny that the obvious solution to the Aqua/Akane/Kana "love triangle" is polyamory but all 3 of them have way too many issues to make that ever work. (Also mainstream fiction just Doesn't Ever Do That because life is pain. Also they're all in showbiz so that's another obstacle there.)

ANYWAY.

I love that this episode, in a fundamentally similar way to the last one, is less about the play itself and more about the psychology of the characters of Akane and Kana. To an extent, "it's about the psychology of these characters, not their performances themselves" is the whole show and at least most good examples of anime about the arts in general, but it's *really* pronounced here. Almost the entire episode is from Akane's perspective from the point that she shows up, and this is especially obvious with her flashbacks to her childhood meeting with Kana.

In a lesser series, something like this would come off as really contrived. You mean to tell me that Akane was taken with the quality of Kana's acting at such a young age? That she just happened to meet her while doing auditions? That when the real Kana inevitably doesn't live up to Akane's idealized image of her (boy that whole relationship is a WHOLE thing on its own), there just happens to be a honkin huge billboard of Kana outside staring her down?

The unreliable narrator card is obvious, but this is so clearly a depiction of how Akane remembers all of this rather than what actually happened per se. I love it, I love how it leads Akane to delve deeper into the psychological side of acting, and I love her speech about how the Kana she loved was an overpowering, selfish actress.

Let's dive into that little monologue actually, because I think it's really telling not just about Akane but about Oshi no Ko in general. The specific phrasing she uses to convey what she wants out of Kana---or at least how it's translated---is "acting that devours everyone around you."

This is something Oshi no Ko is kind of obsessed with. Charisma, talent, star power, as this almost supernatural force that bends the world around it. This is something it shares in common with like, a very small handful of other anime I've ever seen, most prominently Revue Starlight which I think is more similar to Oshi no Ko than fans of either would ever care to admit, but it's such a perfect conveyance of the feeling of being swept up by someone who is just that talented. That's what Akane wants out of Kana, and she is so frustrated that she's not getting it, and she kind of has a breakdown near the end of the episode because she fears she might be in the wrong for wanting it. She worries that she's just coming off as a showboat.

But the funny thing is, she isn't! Kana's general reticence to really stand out is hurting her! This is a fact that Kana herself doesn't even seem entirely cognizant of despite how obvious it is to everyone else. (Including Aqua, who only joins the proceedings at the very end here. There's a grim irony in how good he is at spotting everyone else's issues but how bad he is at understanding his own.) Akane frames it as Kana having been "squashed down by the adults around her" which is a real thing that happens to kids who excel in ways that aren't necessarily expedient to the adults around them. It has a resonance beyond the world of show business that Oshi no Ko takes place in, and I think that's part of what makes this whole ongoing arc so effective. We will presumably get more into Kana's head next episode (and Aqua's, since he's part of this too and there's still the whole "deliberately triggering himself as acting trick" thing to deal with), i can't wait.

Also! I must say I love how dreamlike the back half of this episode feels. There are huge swathes of it where it's not really clear if what we're seeing is the actual play, something backstage, or some kind of idealized thought-space that combines the two. I hope they keep leaning into that, it's fantastic.

[toomuchzozo]

The Miraculous AU, Season 3

We’ve finally made it to Season 3. I imagined Season 3 of the Miraculous AU being the last, but I’d also like to include every Miraculous being used at least once. This season would be subtitled “Cursed Object War” in reference to “Infinity War.” It would take a few months after A Heist With Ladybug.

I wanted to break this into two posts, but I think putting them all together will be better in the long run. The Season 3 villain is a villainess who was trapped in the Guardians’ tower and escaped during the confusion of the Guardians suddenly coming back.

This season 3 premiere is probably the most fleshed-out plot I’ve written for the Miraculous AU besides the first four chapters. This series premiere features references to Sanders Sides, a webshow by Thomas Sanders.

Thomas arrives in Los Angeles and looks for some props he’ll need for his show (that he couldn’t bring on the plane.) He knows he needs a full-body mirror and finds a thrift shop selling one. The cashier of the thrift shop is the villainess I mentioned earlier (her name will be revealed later.) Thomas buys the mirror and takes it back to his hotel room.

“Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the gayest of them all?” Thomas joked, looking into the prop mirror.

However, after staring into the mirror, Thomas feels some sort of pull to it.

Thomas reached out for the mirror, despite almost everything in his body telling him not to. When he placed his hand on the glass, a bright light filled the room… And six figures stood in his place.

Later, Mark and Jack are walking around Los Angeles. They run into Patton, one of Thomas’s Sides. They get to talking to him and…

I have energy, Jack thought, but this guy has dad energy. His energy level far exceeds even my own!

Even after all his talking, Patton hasn’t introduced himself yet. For Mark and Jack, he seems familiar…

“The name’s Patton!” His eternal smile dropped slightly…to a grin. “I think you have me confused with someone else, but I’m looking for him too. He kind of looks like me, but he might be even more handsome~” Mark didn’t have to guess who Patton was looking for, but he joked, “Does this person have a name starting with ‘T-H’ and ending with ‘Sanders’?” “If you use his full name, yes!” Mark gets away from Jack and Patton for a minute to talk with Tikki. “This feels like an Akuma doing this, but it can’t be!” Tikki exclaimed. “Master Fu would’ve told us if anything happened to the Butterfly Miraculous, so this must be something new. What…did you fight before the Akumas came along?” Mark wondered why he never asked that question before, since once upon a time, all the Miraculous were on the side of good. “Just…threats that required a superhero’s touch whenever they came along.” The Kwami shrugged. “Most of them were supernatural, but we helped with other big threats when we were needed.”

When he gets back to Jack and Patton, Mark asks if Patton or Thomas have met any strange people or found any strange objects. Patton tells Mark and Jack about the mirror.

“I was trying my hardest to tell Thomas not to touch that mirror because it looked spooky, but before I could stop him… I was there, and Thomas wasn’t.” Patton sighed, wishing he could’ve done more.

Mark and Jack decide it’s time for Ladybug and Chat Noir to return, but they can’t just leave Patton here. The two heroes pull Patton into an alleyway to decide whether they can trust Patton with their secret identities.

“Hey, are you good at keepin’ secrets?” Jack asked. Patton frowned for the first time. “Uh…not at all.” “Then cover yer eyes!” Jack told Patton. “I would, but my name doesn’t have any~” Mark groaned and put Patton’s own hands up to his eyes. Mark told him, “Now stay like that until we say you can open your eyes.” Mark and Jack manage to transform by just whispering the activation phrases. Ladybug and Chat Noir ask Patton who they should be looking for next. Patton mentions Virgil first. “Maybe we should start by findin’ this Virgil,” Chat Noir said. “I’m right here,” someone said behind all of them. Chat Noir and Ladybug jumped at the sudden voice and Patton yelped. The two heroes turned to see someone who looked a lot like Patton…if he decided to go completely emo. He had hair in his face and shadows under his eyes. He wore a ragged hoodie with purple patches and had a noticeable slouch.

Ladybug and Chat Noir ask for Virgil’s side of the story, just to make sure Patton and Virgil’s stories are similar. Sure enough, they are: Thomas touched a mirror, and the Sides appeared from it.

“I really wish Thomas listened to me and didn’t touch that mirror.” Virgil sighed. "Things were better when I was just Thomas's habitual worry. No body, no other feelings to deal with..."

Ladybug and Chat Noir are about to ask Patton and Virgil about the others when suddenly:

“Virgil! Patton!” Someone ran up to the two and grabbed them around the shoulders. Virgil and Patton both looked a little frightened by him. He looked like Virgil and Patton but distinctly “normal.” He wore a brown leather jacket and a white shirt with a black collar. “Thank goodness you’re okay. I’ve been looking all over for you!” “You must be Thomas,” Ladybug assumed. Thomas nodded, smirking. “That’s my name - don’t wear it out.” Then he took notice of the heroes’ appearance. “You know, I’d heard stories about superheroes around LA, but I didn’t think they were real.” “I’m Ladybug, and this is Chat Noir,” Ladybug greeted. “We, uh, thought this problem was Akuma-related since we haven’t seen an Akuma in a while. Patton mentioned something about a mirror?” Thomas nodded, frowning. “Yeah. I touched this mirror I got from this thrift shop and then I felt…empty. Before I could stop them, my Sides just…ran off. I think the mirror was gonna split me up according to my personality, but I already do that for my show, heh.” “Sorry, but we haven’t seen your show. How many Sides are there?” Ladybug asked. “Six so far. Morality, Logic, Creativity, Dark Creativity, Anxiety, and Deceit. I think Deceit might be the hardest one to catch, though. In the show, he disguises himself as my other Sides sometimes.” “That could be a problem, but let’s find the others first,” Chat Noir suggested. Thomas also suggested, “I can take Patton and Virgil back to my hotel room if you think they won’t help with--” “We can help Ladybug and Chat Noir,” Virgil interrupted Thomas, looking slightly ticked off. “You can go back to your hotel room and rest until we find the others.” “Wow, okay, no need to get snappy with me, Virgil.” Thomas looked defensive. “But then again, I’m not sure how helpful I’ll be anyway. I’ll go back to my room and try to get ready for the show. Just be back before then.”

Thomas leaves for the hotel room. Ladybug and Chat Noir wonder which Side to look for next. Patton chooses Logic.

Virgil explained, “That’s Logan. He kind of looks like a teacher with his nerdy glasses and tie, likes Crofter’s jam, and he sometimes yells—" “FALSEHOOD!” Virgil clicked his tongue and pointed in the direction of the noise. “That.”

Ladybug, Chat Noir, Patton, and Virgil follow the noise and find Logan in a heated debate with someone. The four either help Logan win the debate or “help” Logan lose the debate, depending on where they stand. After the debate is over, they get Logan to focus on the matter at hand. They ask Logan where the other Sides might be.

Chat Noir realized, “Hey, you’re a smart guy. Do you know where Deceit might be?” “Actually, he goes by Janus,” Logan clarified. “I don’t know why Thomas would tell you otherwise…”

None of the Sides can think of where Janus could be, so they go after Roman and Remus next. As “twin brother” Sides, there’s a likelihood they will be together. They find them prepared to spar in the park.

Ladybug and Chat Noir looked at the two combatants: one was dressed in a white prince outfit with a red sash across his left shoulder. He had gold shoulder pads and a shield symbol on both arms. He held a katana tightly in his right hand. The other looked like a distorted mirror of the first. There was a white streak through his hair and a curled moustache the first lacked. His “prince” outfit was black and green, perfectly contrasting the first. He also wielded a mace in his left hand. Logan explained, “The one in white is Roman, and the one in black is Remus.” Virgil looked at Roman and Remus, and then at Ladybug and Chat Noir. He commented, “You know, if Chat Noir was evil, you guys would look a lot like Princey and the Duke over there.” Ladybug frowned as he watched the “brothers” fight. “I don’t see it.” But Chat Noir did - it didn’t help he’d been Akumatized and fought Ladybug before, even though those memories were a blur. Chat said, “That doesn’t help. We need to turn the fight in Roman’s favor and snatch Remus while he’s distracted.” “It should be easy. We outnumber the Duke five to one,” Logan pointed out.

Ladybug, Chat Noir, Patton, Logan, and Virgil help Roman fight against Remus. Chat manages to hit Remus’s middle.

“GAH! SON OF A B*TCH!” Remus shouted. Chat looked confused at the strange bleep noise. “Did you just…censor yourself?” Remus’s eyes widened and he smiled as he realized where he was. “Wait, I’m in the real world now! I can swear for real! SON OF A—” Patton covered his ears from the string of curses coming from Remus’s mouth. All the Sides were fazed, but Ladybug and Chat Noir weren’t. I mean, they cursed in their videos all the time.

Then, Chat pins Remus with his staff.

Remus groaned as Chat pinned him down with his staff. Wait…now the Duke was moaning. Then he moaned out, “Harder, daddy~” Chat made a face of disgust, and a groan followed.

Soon, Remus is captured. The Sides, Ladybug, and Chat Noir go back to Thomas’s hotel room. It’s getting close to showtime, and they still haven’t found Janus.

“Where do you think this Janus would be?” Ladybug asked. "If you know where to look, Janus isn't that hard to find." Then, Virgil glowered at Thomas. "Isn't that right, 'Thomas'?" Thomas put on a knowing, evil smirk, and everyone reacted: Virgil just seethed, Patton and Roman looked spooked, Logan’s eyes widened, Remus giggled, (add other Dark Sides?) but Ladybug and Chat looked confused. “Thomas” chuckled, “Oh, Virgil, I didn’t expect you’d be the first one to figure it out again.” “Um…I’m lost. Figure out what?” Chat asked. Virgil answered, “That’s not Thomas.” Before the Sides, Ladybug, and Chat Noir’s eyes, the air around Thomas blurred, like a blur effect being used in real life. When their view sharpened again, a figure who looked like Thomas stood. His face almost resembled Thomas’s, if you could overlook the left half was covered in snake scales and had a slitted eye. He wore a bowler hat with clothes that probably wouldn’t look out of place in 19th-century London. Almost all of what he wore was yellow, giving him a clear motif. Now able to see clearly, Ladybug said the truth: “So you’re Janus.” “Who’s she? Never heard of her~” he quipped. Roman groaned, “Can’t you at least get new material? Then again, Creativity’s someone else’s job.” “What was your plan, anyway?” Virgil asked. “Get everyone in this hotel room together, and when we least expect it…kill us?” “You would kill us, Janus!?” Patton looked shocked, even though he knew Janus wasn’t the most moral Side. “HA!” Remus blurted out. “He wasn’t gonna kill all of us, idiots- just you, Roman, and Logan. You know, ‘the good guys.’” Chat asked, “Is that true?” After trying so hard to keep his plans under wraps, Janus could only look at everyone in the room awkwardly as he tried to come up with an answer. “…No…?” “He doesn’t usually tell the truth,” Logan told Ladybug and Chat Noir. “So he was going to kill us, to leave Thomas’s remaining personality at its very worst.”

Ladybug and Chat Noir get ready to fight Janus and Remus, when suddenly:

Janus sprouted another pair of arms, then a third pair of arms. It was now his six arms against the six of them...until Remus managed to escape his binds. He snapped right through them with the four black octopus tentacles sticking out from his back. He said to Chat and Ladybug, “Looks like someone forgot to mention to you guys we’re shapeshifters. Until I saw Janus doing it, I kinda forgot myself~!” Roman said, “We can defeat Janus and Remus together! We outnumber them by headcount, and you have my sword!” He drew his katana from his belt. “And my positivity!” Patton added. “And my strategy,” Logan added. Then, the Sides and the heroes looked at Virgil. He groaned, “Okay, I guess I contribute something to the team, but I’ve been put on the spot and can’t think of it!” “And I guess you guys can shapeshift like the Dark Sides?” Ladybug asked. “You’re all Sides, so…” “I think Ladybug has a point.” Patton grunted as his body convulsed.

Patton transforms into his frog form from "Putting Others First - Selfishness v. Selflessness Redux."

Lily Pad-ton: “No more Mr. Nice Sides!”

The Light Sides, Ladybug, and Chat Noir fight against the Dark Sides. Someone manages to push Remus into the mirror.

“HEY!” Chat shouted, getting Janus’s attention. “BILL CIPHER KNOCK-OFF!”

Chat Noir pushes Janus into the mirror, but not before Janus gives a cryptic warning:

“Remember Mark: snakes have a way of shedding their sk—” Chat pushed Janus through the mirror before he could finish his warning. Chat Noir looked to Ladybug and said, “What? Look, that was an ominous message, but do you really believe th’ lying Side knows what’s goin’ on?”

The Light Sides go into the mirror. Ladybug and Chat Noir pull Thomas out. The heroes consider breaking the mirror, but Thomas doesn’t want to make a mess of shards in his hotel room. Then Ladybug remembers he has to purify the mirror, and does so. The next day, Thomas tries to return the mirror, but he finds the thrift shop is gone. He leaves the mirror at the empty storefront, but as soon as he leaves, someone else grabs it…

Episode 2 starts with a more detailed explanation of the Cursed.

Master Fu: “Cursed Objects are much stronger than Akumas. They can create emotions where there are none, and drive a sane person mad.” Mark: “Thomas didn’t have an emotional response to the mirror, though. However, he did say he felt a pull to it. So the Cursed Objects manipulate thoughts and feelings.”

Episode 3, Gang of Grumps – the Grumps are re-Akumatized (or rather, Cursed) into their previous forms after Suzy tries to do something nice for Mark, since she knows he’s trying to maintain work-life balance as Ladybug. The other Grumps don’t know what’s going on, but Suzy insists on helping him. A mysterious woman (the villainess) gives all the Grumps matching friendship bracelets after insisting it’ll help them – she even gives a spare for Mark to wear.

After Mark rejects them, they turn into their Akumatized forms: KittyKatGaming, Starbomber, Weathidor, Animator, and the Music Master.

Ladybug manages to convince KittyKatGaming to de-Akumatize/throw off the curse, and she throws the bracelet away. Ladybug purifies it and then asks for Suzy’s help as Queen Bee.

Once Queen Bee uses Venom on Weathidor, Ladybug purifies Brian. Without their most powerful Akuma/Cursed, the Gang of Grumps quickly dissolves. Back to normal, the Grumps console Mark. Then Suzy talks to Mark alone about what’s really going on. She says she hates to keep secrets from the rest of the Grumps – especially her husband – but hopes that they’ll get alter egos soon too. The episode ends on Mark and Suzy hugging.

Episode 4, Detective Abe – This episode takes place during the filming of In Space with Markiplier. They are filming the noir scenes when Mick Lauer comes in dressed as Detective Abe. However, he’s supposed to not be wearing a hat in this scene. Mark and the rest of the cast and crew start to hear a film noir monologue. Mark realizes somehow, Mick’s hat has become a Cursed Object.

Mark screamed, “Everyone scatter!” and the crew obeyed. He ran with them. Behind them, with a FWOOM, a bubble of monochrome-colored energy appeared.

The Cursed Object turns everything in a certain area film-noir-themed. Mark transforms into Ladybug and calls Master Fu. Master Fu arrives with the additional Miraculous. Ladybug chooses the Monkey Miraculous and gives it to Amy. She uses Confusion to screw with Detective Abe; suddenly the world is covered in polka dots and everyone’s wearing Ladybug’s mask. Ladybug uses this distraction to grab Abe’s hat and purifies the Cursed Object.

Mark asks Mick what happened. Mick says he was given a new outfit by a wardrobe assistant he’d never seen before. Mark wonders if this is the same person who gave Thomas the mirror and the Grumps the friendship bracelets.

Episode 5, Furious Fu – This episode is like the original “Furious Fu” episode. However, instead of involving an amnesiac Fu being Akumatized, a still-Miraculous-Master Fu buys a cursed paintbrush from the villainess. Su-Han still shows up and brings Fu’s status into question, especially when he finds out the Miraculous are spending a long time away from the Mother Box. Fu stands up to Su-Han when he comes looking for him. However, this allows Fu to become Cursed, channeling his anger into his transformation into Furious Fu.

Ladybug, Chat Noir, and maybe some of the other Miraculous users help to save the day. This helps to convince Su-Han that Fu made the right choice in picking Miraculous users. However, he still doubts if Fu should keep the Mother Box. He’ll be keeping an eye on Fu and the Los Angeles Miraculous users.

At the end of the (or beginning of the next) episode, Fu has a conversation with Su-Han. He tells him he thinks someone is targeting the Miraculous with cursed objects. He describes the woman who gave him the paintbrush and Su-Han can think of only one person: a woman called Huli, the Fox. She was a former student to the Celestial Guardians, much like Fu, but the Guardians saw her lust for the Miraculous’s power. They banished her from the temple, but she managed to sneak her way back in, bringing cursed objects with her. After defeating her, they sealed her in a prison cell she could not escape from. When the temple came back in “A Heist with Ladybug,” she escaped during the chaos. Su-Han warns Fu that she will be hard to defeat, even with the Miraculous’s help, so he will do all he can to get the other Celestial Guardians to come here.

Before Su-Han leaves, Fu asks his opinion: because he’s worried Huli may find out he’s the current Guardian, he asks if Su-Han thinks Mark would make a good guardian. The episode/scene ends before we hear Su-Han’s response.

Episode 6, Holidaze – Huli creates a Cursed that puts people in the mood to vacation/party instead of doing their jobs. That includes the heroes. Ladybug gives the Snake Miraculous to Ninja Brian and tells him the plan.

Ladybug: “Brian, have you ever seen Doctor Strange?”

Ninja Viper traps Holidaze in a “I’ve come to bargain” scenario and wears them down after dozens of five-minute time loops.

Ninja Viper: “Your vacation time is running out. I’ve made sure of it.” Holidaze: “You cannot do this forever.” Ninja Viper: “Just try and stop me.”

Ninja Viper is exhausted afterwards and knows he’ll never be able to pull that off again.

Throughout this season, there are gaps in the episode numbers. Currently, there are no episodes 7-11, 14-18, 20, 22, and 24.

Episode 12, Plant-themed Cursed VS Plastic-themed Cursed - This episode is a mix of “Crocoduel” and “King Plastic.” Not only does it borrow the dueling Akumas/Cursed from “Crocoduel,” but this AU’s version of Purple Tigress makes her debut here.

Episode 13 – Suzy is captured by a Cursed, and her twin sister Jean must take Queen Bee’s place. Huli suspects Suzy is Queen Bee from the encounter with her during "Gang of Grumps," so she sends a Cursed to target her specifically. Luckily, she doesn’t have the Bee Miraculous on her at the time. Ladybug retrieves the Miraculous and gives it to Jean. He explains what she needs to do to protect Suzy’s identity. Jean accepts and becomes Queen Bee for the rest of the episode.

Episode 19 – A Cursed that can multiply shows up. Would probably be less like “Megaleech” and more like “Sapotis.” Ladybug gives Ross the Mouse Miraculous, thinking his ability to focus on multiple projects at once will be a benefit to him using it. Ross insists on the name Rat King, despite Mullo’s insistence that she is a mouse.

Ladybug: “Why do you want to be known as ‘Rat King’?” Rat King: “Look, Ladybug, you came to me. You know who I am. So you must know I give off rat energy.”

Episode 21 – A Cursed captures Mark, so Ethan takes up the Ladybug Miraculous. He gives himself the name Scarab Boy. When he meets up with Chat Noir, he assures him that Mark is still alive, just captured.

Episode 23, Party Crasher – Remember the previous episode, Gang of Grumps, and how it ended with the foreshadowing that more Grumps would become heroes? And then they become heroes in the following episodes? Well, it all comes to a head in this episode.

This version of “Party Crasher” is a party hosted by the Grumps, to be a little more gender-neutral. I haven’t pinned down who Party Crasher is, but probably someone with a tie to the Grumps.

The Grumps all become heroes: Suzy becomes Queen Bee, Barry becomes Storm Dragon, Brian becomes Ninja Viper, Ross becomes Rat King, and Danny becomes Bunnyx. But Arin doesn’t have a Miraculous yet. Master Fu, who has managed to sneak into the party, gives Arin the Pig Miraculous. He uses Gift to show Party Crasher what he really wants: to enjoy a party with the rest of the Grumps. Mister Pig promises Party Crasher will get what he wants if he rejects the Curse and lets everyone go. Party Crasher does so, and he enjoys the party with the rest of the Grumps.

Episode 25, Heart Hunter - As the name implies, I would like to do my own take on the “Heart Hunter” episode, based on an early synopsis that stated Heart Hunter would be a two-headed dog. Of course, this serves as a distraction for the real threat Huli is about to unleash. Ladybug tries to meet up with Master Fu, but Huli and the Ladybug copy she made in Episode 21 capture the real Ladybug.

Huli traps Mark in the cursed mirror. Ladybug, Darkiplier, Warfstache and “The Engineer” (from In Space With Markiplier) come out of the mirror. Basing this off Sanders Sides, Ladybug represents Mark’s morality, Warfstache represents Mark’s creativity, “The Engineer” represents Mark’s logic, and Darkiplier represents the parts of Mark’s personality that he’s tried to hide. Huli and the Ladybug copy leave Mark’s Sides alone, but not before trapping all of them in the mirror.

Mark: “Well, do you have any ideas, guys…?” The other Sides looked at each other. None of them looked confident; not the smug Darkiplier, nor the heroic Ladybug, nor the bombastic Warfstache. And the Engineer… Mark didn’t even know that Side of himself existed until today, so he had no way to read him.

The Ladybug copy strings the other Miraculous Heroes along somehow. Master Fu becomes Jade Turtle to defend himself and the Mother Box.

At some point, Chat Noir sees the truth and realizes Mark’s been replaced with a Ladybug imposter. First, the Ladybug copy can’t purify Cursed items, and the Ladybug copy ONLY copies Ladybug – he can’t de-transform into Mark. Master Fu gives Chat a choice of Miraculous, and he chooses the Rooster Miraculous. Chat Noir finds the real Mark trapped in the cursed mirror and forms a plan to get him out. Meanwhile, Huli takes the Fox and Bee Miraculouses for herself.

Episode 26, Queen Fox - Chat Noir figures out what’s going on and finds the mirror. He feels he can’t just destroy it, lest he destroy Mark. So, he decides to give Jesse Cox the Rooster Miraculous.

Chat Noir: “Ya can’t give yerself a power a Kwami has, or something that’s a ‘wish.’ Ya can’t just say ‘I wish Mark and his Sides were out of the mirror.’”

Jesse gives himself the power to get people out of places they’re permanently stuck. He uses this power to get Mark and his Sides from the mirror safely.

Chat Noir: “We need all the help we can get to defeat Queen Fox.”

Mark, his Sides, Jesse, and Chat Noir join the fight against Queen Fox and the Ladybug copy. Side!Ladybug gives Mark a copy of his yo-yo to fight with. The Engineer fights with his tools. Warfstache fights with a (relatively harmless confetti-launching) gun and a butterfly knife. Darkiplier uses his powers, cane, and hand-to-hand combat to fight.

During the fight, Master Fu gives control of the Mother Box to Mark, to keep it out of Queen Fox’s hands. With all of them working together, they beat Queen Fox and the Ladybug copy. After the battle, Mark’s Sides must go back to the mirror.

“Please, Mark, before I go back…” The Engineer took Mark’s hand. “I want a name.” Mark thought hard. What would be a good name for an Engineer, besides his own? He could only think of the Engineer from Team Fortress 2. He had a name, right? What was his name…? “Dell,” Mark finally answered. “Dell…” The Engineer smiled. “I like that.”

Due to the battle, Mark’s identity is exposed through his Sides. It would be hard not to link him to the Ladybug Miraculous now. Tearfully, everyone has their Miraculous taken back, and Su-Han takes back the Mother Box.

Su-Han: “This may have been Fu’s last wish, but your identity has been exposed, as both a Holder and a Guardian.”

“That’s true…” Mark sighed. “I respect your authority, Su-Han. Take the Miraculous back to the Guardians, where they’ll be safe.” Mark allows Su-Han to take his memories, but Su-Han allows Mark to keep his memories. He also offers Mark the chance to study under the Guardians. Mark decides that maybe it would best to go back to a normal life…for now. However, Su-Han leaves the offer open to all the Los Angeles heroes.

[hermanunworthy]

!DNDADS S2 EP37 SPOILERS!

im a bit late bc i was at work all day but time for ep37 reactions!! i cant believe its already here

- now ive heard everyone talking about the intro i bet its gonna be a rickroll or some shit

- ITS FUCKINF ALL STAR. I KNEW THEY WOULD PULL SOMETHING LIKE THIS

- A TEENAGE GIRLS PARENT JUST GOT SHOT AND KILLED AND UR PLAYING ALL STAR.

- hermie mention in the intro im so calm and cool and chill about this /j

- "ur enough as u are" AINT NO WAY UR ABOUT TO MAKE ME START CRYING OVER A PARODY OF SMASH MOUTHS ALL STAR. WHY DID U HAVE TO PULL OUT THE BIG GUNS

- I DONT WANT THE TAYLOR VOICE CHANGE GOD NO

- MATT IM SCREAMING

- WILL CAMPOS U ABSOLUTE MADMAN. i already knew he was gonna find a way around using revivify but THAT WAS WILD

- are people gonna start drawing normal w that piece of jewelry now. bc i wanna. i already like drawing him w bracelets

- oh god what is beths fact gonna be.

- "i just keep meeting all the right people at all the wrong times" BETH MAY U ARE EVIL. THE PLOT OF THIS EPISODE HASNT EVEN STARTED AND IM ALREADY EMO

- ITS STARTING. OH NO

- NICKY BETTER FUCKING SHOW UP im curious to see what they actually decided on for the reason for him not being there last episode

- HERMIE WAS REMEMBERED giggles and kicks my feet

- TAYLOR AND LINCOLN ARENT AWARE THAT TERRY IS DEAD RN.

- were getting terris reaction rn i cant believe this is happening

- IM starting to feel sick godddd

- i bet im gonna see art of the lincoln and taylor piggyback ride hehe

- OH MY GOD. OH MY GOD TERRIS ASLEEP THIS MEANS WERE GONNA GET SCARY BACK. ALSO IS SHE GONNA SEE WILLY OH NOOOO

- NO NO NO NO NONONO

- "theres my girl" STFUUUUUU

- DOES SCARY REMEMBER ANYTHING??? DOES SHE KNOW WHATS GOING ON????

- "just wake him up" I. HATE. THIS EPSIODE

- SCARY GETTING CHOKED UP I CANT DO THIS

- TERRY DIDNT EVEN NEED TO DIE FUCK THIS

- "whoooa shit thats fucked up!" anthony burch i know u are just so incredibly pleased w urself.

- SCARYS STILL PRETENDING LIKE SHE DOESNT CARE ABOUT TERRY. JUST FEEL UR FEELINGS GIRL GOOD GOD

- "EMBARRASSING"??? FOR A KID TO BE UPSET THAT ONE OF THEIR PARENTS GOT MURDERED???? WILLY STAMPLER WTF IS WRONG W U

- there was never a more obvious lie than willy saying hell revive terry

- 19 INSIGHT LETS GOOO

- THATS RIGHT SCARY. STAND THE FUCK UP TO HIM

- NORMAL DESPERATELY TRYING TO HELP AWWWW MAN :[[ I HATE THIS

- PUTS MY HEAD IN MY HANDS. THIS IS SO DEEPLY UPSETTING

- WHEN WE SAID WE WANTED MORE SCARY AND NORMAL INTERACTIONS WE DIDNT THINK ITD BE LIKE THIS!!!

- THE TWINS ARE HERE NOW OMG

- beth is out for fucking blood this episode. god she is so good at making the audience feel for her characters

- SHES TELEPORTING TO GRANT?? IM NOT READY YET

- "hes dangerous! get away from him!" THE FACT THAT THIS IS LINCOLN SAYING THIS ABOUT GRANT BREAKS MY HEART

- SCARY HAS A GUN FUCK YEAH!!!

- FIRST HERMIE SPEAKING LINE OF THE EPISODE YIPPEEEE

- halfway through the episode now. cant wait to see what could possibly go wrong next!!

- i love whenever anthony allows a fun rulebreaking idea to work

- IDK WHY THE IDEA OF THE KIDDADS HAVING A GC IS SO FUNNY TO ME

- rons status remains a mystery....

- "we could do a whole scene w just hermie and all the other ones" u joke matt but i enjoy every scene w hermie no matter how unnecessary and drawn out

- as always linc and taylor are such a funny iconic duo

- WERE FINALLY GETTING ANGRY NORMAL??? FINALLY????

- WILL WITHDRAWING HIS COOL MOVE LMAO

- i just realized WE STILL HAVENT SEEN NICKY!!! GODDAMN!!!

- "the gayest fucking mecha of all time" swiftli fans do u like the new ship name /j

- ig i cannot deny it anymore swiftli is practically canon atp

- NICKY!!!! NICKY!!!!! I SHOT STRAIGHT UP IN MY SEAT

- NICKY AND HERMIE ARE FINALLY INTERACTING. PRAISE THE LORD

- i thought nicky got all his limbs back?? did anthony just forget

- btw ive probably been waking up my whole house w how hard im laughing over swiftli this episode

- LINCOLNS GONNA PUNCH GRANT WHOA. WHOA

- "so what are u gonna do, ur gonna kill me?" as i said before. i hate this episode.

- SCARY OBLITERATED PAPA JOHN SO FAST WHOA.

- THE DUNGEON SETUP VS THE TONE OF THE EPISODE HELPPP

- i just had such a weird thought/prediction. but i will hold my tongue. bc the last time i said something like this it came true and i do not want this to come true

- IS SCARY GONNA BREAK IT W LOVE FOR TERRY. I CANT DO THIS

- "i love u and i hate that u made me love u when u are who u are and u knew it." I WISH U COULD SEE MY FUCKING FACE RN. HOLYYY SHIT THATS DEVASTATING

- oh. my. good. lord.

- GUYS????? I DONT EVEN KNOW WHAT TO DO NOW. HOLY FUCK. THAT WAS HEAVY AS SHIT

[shslskaterboy]

Those are all such good ships!!! I also love aro/ace Togami. I feel like he'd be grey-romantic so when he felt romantic feelings for Naegi he was like "... What IS this" (like fuckinf miles edgeworth with his unnecessary feelings line ahdkshdnd)

Would you tell me more about your komahina thoughts? :3c 💜

YES I was born ready to talk more about it, so long as you’re ready for yet another essay question (also love a good wrightworth around these parts)

One of the things that originally hooked me into Komahina was the level of in-game context and subtext surrounding them. Picture this: you are Hajime, you wake up on the beach with some willowy pretty-boy standing over you, he then proceeds to befriend you and show you around. He’s a little weird but whatever; it’s quirky, he’s cute, what’s the harm in that? Then mans decides to go fully off the deep end in ch1, which is where you’d think that love story ends because WHY would you stick around after that? But what does Hajime do instead? He spends the next 60+ hours of gameplay being decidedly un-normal about his crazy boyfriend (we’ve all seen ch3 play out, that was some of the gayest shit I’ve ever seen)

The thing that really gets me is that at first glance they seem so opposite, Hajime is surly, he’s snarky, he’s kind of a bitch (love him for that), and Nagito is a little more upbeat, he’s friendly, he’s light hearted, and even after the betrayal of ch1 he’s still weirdly optimistic in his own way. But upon further reflection of both their characters going forward, they seem to have more in common than initially imagined. Nagito is more brooding and Hajime is more hopeful than I would’ve given them credit for at least, and it turns out they’re a lot more complimentary to each other than just contrasting.

All things considered, I think what really makes it for me is how snarky they are with each other. In a non-despair world it is the pinnacle of banter; Komaeda is such a smartass, Hinata is such a tsundere, they both think they’re right all the time but neither of them ever are, they definitely spend all their time together judging other people, and when they’re alone they’re having the softest sweetest moments imaginable (which Hajime gets so flustered over, bless his heart)

It just feels like they have all the right similarities and differences, like they were scientifically formulated to be the otp for me. I know in-game subtext isn’t the be all end all for shipping (saiouma arguably doesn’t have much romantic subtext outside of FTEs and love hotel yet I still love them) but there’s something about Komahina that is so meant to be. I liked my chilli and chocolate analogy from the last ask cuz they’re a little spicy, a little bitter, but they work wonders despite it all.

They come from similar walks of life, they have similar views on Talent and how that plays a role in society and their lives, they would both truly do The Most for talent, and because of this they understand each other each other in a way none of the other ultimates possibly could.

They are meant to be your honour, they are in love, and that’s all I have to say on that

[dead-twink-storage]

Dumb moments in time

More story time bullshit from my college days. Got invited out to go to a gay bar by a whirlwind trainwreck goth girl I was friends with a girl of constant tall tales and many adventures and her obnoxious aspiring drag queen friend;

her boyfriend ditched on going with us probably because gay clubs and being around her drag friend was a bit too faggy for his liking. After her and I got all retro goth’d up and her drag friend did the most piss poor make up smear job I had ever saw we went into the communal patio area of her rundown roach motel apartment where some middle aged white trash poverty wage man was drinking beer alone after his long shift on one of those old metal patio tables that had been over painted with so much white paint over the years that you could tear off balls of just clumpy paint.

So the three of us sit down to pre-drink and of course we strike up a conversation with him so it’s two goths explaining yea we’re goth into the music and all that; short, sweet, and easy for a layman to wrap their head around. The drag gay with us? Proceeds to go into the entire rundown of every last bit of drag drama from his show with the guy who has no idea what the fuck an alaskan thunderfuck is but he doesn’t want to be rude so he just tries to tune it out and focus on the bottom of his coors’ light bottle after what felt like an eternity of watching this poor blue collar white trash dude try to understand what hunty and slay means we finally fucking leave for the club.

We get to the club, doorman lets us in after the typical ID check and all that and immediately upon entering I see one of my brother’s exes hanging out with her friends watching the drag queens do their awful attempts at Britney Spears and Lady Gaga performances. Realizing I was not going to hear any music I could stomach I b-lined it for the bar where the girl behind the bar managed to put together 3 Amaretto sours, one for my fellow goth and two for myself by this time her Drag friend was far off trying to interact with the drag performers trying to get his foot in the door. Some chatting about random stuff with the bartender, my friend, at one paint even my brothers exes and a few more drinks in I needed to find a washroom. Upper floor was filled no spare room and no urinals so was directed downstairs.

 On my way down I would end up cornered in a dark small stairwell down by some guy twice my age trying to press against me much to my distaste, after some drunken scowls on my part and insistence to fuck off I would elbow and knee my way out of his grasp absolutely livid and pissed a thousand violent thoughts coming and going all while the fucking shittiest gayest pop music was playing only making it even more unbearable. I would take a minute to calm myself and continue my descent down this dark grey black painted stairwell.

When I got to the basement and went forward I saw the second lower bar; the bear den, a bunch of fat hairy, large gay men shooting dagger eyes and sneering faces that some make up wearing goth twink faggot would dare tread in their part of the club. Bartender down there was kind enough to direct me to the washroom where I would proceed into what was the most vile looking washroom I ever set foot in, imagine the washroom from SAW 1 imagine broken stall doors, non functioning toilets, and enough grime, filth, and used condoms that you would be at ground zero if airborne AIDs was a thing. I made my stay down there short, trying to use as much paper towel to keep myself from having to make proper physical contact with anything in there. I would finally ascend out of whatever the fuck I interrupted down there.

Not long after I return to the surface we are hanging out on the patio chatting with some other patrons having a good time when some yuppie homos twice the age of my friend and I start laying into us for wearing goth fashion “in the current year” because it’s so outdated and not in fashion anymore or whatever. We ignored the first barrage of comments but they kept nagging and insulting us thinking they were being oh so catty and witty. Well the thing about trailer park goth girls who may or may no be using hard drugs is there is little in the way of fucks to give so it wasn’t long before she would go on the offensive calling them every homophobic slur she had in her repertoire after the most impressive linking of slurs and them fucking imploding in anger and crying to the doorman we got kicked out including her drag friend who was pure collateral damage in our little verbal scuffle we managed to talk the doorman into letting us hangout infront of the club until her boyfriend came to get her.

So there we are outside the club fence chatting to each other about whatever it was we were chatting about while her friend was leaning over the fence to keep talking to the queens. The guys who got us kicked out left and gloated and acted like they won some great victory and weren’t fucking overgrown school kids who cried foul.  After sometime and phone calls her boyfriend finally arrived they went off to do meth, the drag gay went home, and I would try to find a public washroom to strip off all the baby bat eyeliner, black lipstick, and nail polish before heading home with results as equally disastrous as what I had just been through.

[mistress-chan]

Its weebsday my dudes

Sorry about missing last Weeb Wednesday, started a new position at my job and life was crazy, but it got me thinking about jobs and long story short I thought of isekai because this devil is not just a part timer. I am not a fan of most isekai, even though one of my favorite stories is an isekai (Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There) I did want to talk about an isekai I did like. Also because it is Weeb Wednesday it has to involve gay magical girls, okay that might not be the rules but the world just needs more gay magical girls. I mean technically one is magical(ish) but does travel through time and there is something about time traveling lesbians.

Anyway the anime I am wanting to bring up is Shokei Shōjo no Ikiru Michi (The Executioner and Her Way of Life) which I loved because it started out as your normal power fantasy isekai where some guy gets summoned to a fantasy world and turns out he has a magical ability that gives him incredible power. Now, in your average isekai the hero would:

Meet up with a priestess, ⭕ like he does

She shows him how to use his ability, ⭕ like she does

They go on an adventure. ❌ wrong.

Nope, turns out the priestess was not your normal member of the clergy but an executioner who was sent out to kill anyone who ended up getting isekai'd.

So the “main character” gets murked halfway into the first episode and all the nerds got upset on MAL (MyAnimeList) and review bombed the episode because they “killed the main character.” From then on it follows the story of the priestess Menou as she tries to kill other “lost ones” but turns out that is harder than you think, mainly because the one she has to kill is just a normal Japanese school girl, Akari, but falls in love with Menou and can turn back time (yep a time traveling lesbian). Throw in her assistant Momo who also has a crush on Menou and Ashuna the warrior princess who has a thing for both Momo and Menou and you get the gayest anime in the spring of 2022 that did not involve golf (yes golf). It is not really a polycule but damn close. Unfortunately it looks to be just one season but the light novel is better than the anime in my opinion. 

Oh and last thing, just to twist the knife the last episode showed the corpse of the “main character” being used as a component in a spell so he is double dead.

[thirdeyesherry]

I just need to verbalise these thoughts I have in regards to the ofmd s2 finale, so don't mind me and be on your way.

My fear going into the last episode was that there were A LOT of loose ends to tie up and 25 minutes would never be able to do that. We got 28, if that counts for anything. But the thing is that this was a 2-3 episode plot put into one. It was rushed, because clearly they didn't want to leave anything hanging. I'm very grateful for that. I blame max for the bad pacing, but I am also a bit let down about the things set up that never fully got explored the way they deserved. When it comes to other things, they're not even properly set up. They just happen because there is no time to set them up. Izzy getting his makeup on for example. There would have been so much fun to see a more proper set up for that. That the makeup and singing would resolve something that had been set up properly prior to it. Now instead it's just a part of his self discovery that we get tidbits of through the season. I'm not complaining about it, just saying it deserved to get explored more. That would have been so nice.

I don't agree with the people who are mad at Izzy's death though. It was not greatly executred, as all in that episode is rushed, but his death did not come from nowhere. I do wish it'd have been more of a sacrifical death, instead of him just straight up getting shot and then just not saying anything about it. His death is just an accident and feel somehow amateurish, misunderstand me correctly. They could have made a point of his death being caused by him not being as quick with his wooden leg or something. But this just happens. I'm curious to see how many seconds actually pass between him getting shot and him being buried. So rushed man. But to blame Djenks for falling into the "kill your gays" trope for killing Izzy... dude? Are you right in the head? Every fucking character in this show is queer, they wouldn't be able to kill a single fucking character if that was true. Which is part of the beauty of it. They didn't kill off the queer, they killed off a character. We have come to a point in time where a show can kill the queer without it being a trope. Also, if we're being honest here... Izzy is one of the least queer coded characters on the show. Some will disagree with me on that, especially the more unhinged izzy stans, but let me just point out that no one got mad at Lucious being killed in the last season because it was in some way homophobic. And Lucious if quite literally the gayest of the bunch (as in the closest to the stereotype). It's not "bury your gays" just because a queer character dies. That's not the endgoal here, to never have queer characters die. It's to get to a point where it's not a trope, one you can see from miles ahead. "Oh, there's a gay guy in this war movie, he's gonna die." "Oh look, she got a girlfriend but she'll probably be dead by the end of the season." Like do you see the difference?

I'm rambling now so I'll just stop because I got to ramble about the things my brain couldn't let go.

[rebeccadumaurier]

thoughts on bungou stray dogs season 5

woo, that was a fun binge-watch! ok, my (not spoiler free) thoughts:

this was a good season, really really good. i'm really impressed by asagiri's ability to keep us guessing and to play off old story patterns while also developing new ones—characterization's very consistent but also keeps developing in fresh and interesting directions. pacing's less wack than s3 (where fyodor appeared in like 3 episodes), the plot develops at a solid pace, the themes are really interesting

this was the gayest season i have seen so far and i've been letting this stupid show queerbait me for 6 years now, so that's saying something. fukichi and fukuzawa simultaneously have the energy of messily divorced exes, pining repressed best friends, and happily married couple all at once. if i was mori i'd be jealous (but it's mori so he's not, though i do appreciate mori/fukuzawa as a foil to fukichi/fukuzawa).

i'm not really the biggest fan of raising the stakes continuously overall, like i really don't think media needs to go like season 1. save my friend season 2. save my home season 3. save the world or some shit, it's fine to have similar magnitude of stakes throughout. but it's cool that asagiri's got the ambition to tackle some lofty questions—in particular i think nikolai's own struggle to determine his free will compared to fukichi's desire to strip free will from humanity in exchange for world peace is interesting.

i have never been particularly taken by fyodor, or fyodor's relationship with dazai, or fyodor's relationship with nikolai. but this season has finally caused me to cave and admit he's great. he's hilarious, he's a great foil to dazai (their weird 4D chess frenemyship is excellent, i understand why people ship them now), his dialogue is top tier and i fucking lost it when he faked having a split personality to the character with split hair because he (rightly) figured sigma would fall for it. like yes DRAG HIM

speaking of split haired characters, i miss Q, who had a lot of potential to add some more chaos to the mix and who i generally want to see more of (his fucked up gender energy and his being a lovehatechild of dazai and chuuya is so entertaining)

i'm...actually a bit disappointed that dazai did not actually let chuuya die, although i do like the direction asagiri took—in "double black," we saw chuuya place his trust in dazai, and it paid off. this time around, dazai placed his trust in chuuya—literally let him put a loaded gun to his head!!—and it paid off (and also chuuya got his revenge for dazai taking too long to nullify corruption last time, you know he had fun with those extra bullets).

i really enjoy that asagiri shows time and time again just how much these two trust each other, but at the same time, i think their relationship could actually be stress tested more—like, i genuinely wanted to see dazai placed into a real "pick chuuya or the ADA" situation! i want to see dazai and chuuya actually on opposite sides, not in truces or working together or whatnot, and i suspect that this will happen in the show's last arc—it's eventually going to circle back to ADA vs. PM, just like the beginning. TL:DR; i'm an insane dazai/chuuya shipper and the chokehold they have on me is so humiliating that i just don't talk about it 99% of the time. if i loved you less i would be able to talk about it more.

although i did 100% call him being OK with killing chuuya as BS, because there is no goddamn way dazai's last words to chuuya would ever be as mild and cliche as "we didn't really get along, but sometimes we understood each other." that man has been practicing dramatic monologues in his head daily for the last seven years. when he does deliver that monologue it's going to fucking SERVE

speaking of being taken in by fyodor: fine fine I GET THE DAZAI/CHUUYA X FYODOR/NIKOLAI PARALLELS NOW OKAY. not that i denied them before but we were really getting bashed over the head with it in the prison break episodes. being queerbaited by this show is better than a lot of actual media gay couples but it still hurts like a bitch.

i continue to want to wring atsushi's neck lol. akutagawa has never really been my fave or anything, but his character development is clearly progressing much faster (and i really really respect it) and our narrator still can't fucking form an opinion without one of his friends to guide him!! kyouka and lucy please ditch him and date each other instead. the lack of kyouka in this season was CRIMINAL.

i kind of ship kenji and tetchou now...i know the show is pushing tetchou and jouno but jouno is just so fucking MEAN and tetchou deserves someone who doesn't judge him for his quirks okay :(

tachihara biggest glow up of any character since the beginning of this show. the character development i didnt know i wanted

this season did a lot more work to humanize the hunting dogs (esp. the non-tachihara ones) and i enjoyed that a lot. teruko's role in the finale, killing the man she loved most because fukuzawa couldn't, absolutely murdered me. i think it's such a good step in her character arc as she has to figure out who she wants to be without him. also i appreciate that she's a badass female character who isn't a weirdly sexualized girlboss and is also a weirdo

aya and bram is truly one of the most bizarre pairs in this show and there are a lot of bizarre pairs, so that's saying something. i legitimately feel like asagiri picked some names out of a hat or spun a wheel for this or something. but i am excited for bram to figure out what he wants after spending forever being enslaved to others, and hope that this involves listening to the radio all day with a 10-year-old girl. the way children are portrayed in BSD as these incredibly vulnerable and impressionable people worthy of love and protection sincerely fucks me up so bad

loose ends: where is the help me note from? i assumed dazai wrote it, but i doubt it, and i also doubt he just left sigma to die. we still don't know what fyodor's ability is, which makes me nervous, since he is ALLEGEDLY dead. i wonder if it's nikolai's (frankly he does legitimately seem like the type to have split personality issues). i'm worried the antidote isn't an actual antidote, and we obviously haven't seen the end of nikolai. there's an actually comical amount of power in bram's hands now. mori's been fairly quiet this season, and there's no way he didn't plan a way for himself to benefit from the carnage. that man is a vulture, he exploits starving orphans off the street! and he sent in chuuya to save the ADA's ass twice and let akutagawa disappear for 2+ weeks! this man was just negotiating to have yosano join the mafia, you can't tell me he didn't get something for himself out of this.

honestly i kind of just want this shit with the hunting dogs and the decay of angels to end and to stop worrying about world domination so we can go back to the ADA battling yokohama's villain of the week, like man the tension has just been building nonstop. give the ADA a coffee break. 😭😭

ranpo fans are truly getting their time lately huh. we are winninggggg

[bengiyo]

The Eclipse Ep 10 Stray Thoughts

There's so much BL happening that I don't exactly remember where we are. I know we're waiting on a phishing attempt, there's a protest coming, Neo and Khaotung gave the gayest lovesick expressions I've seen in a while, and Akk almost had a swimming mishap last episode before shivering through an underwater kiss.

Mes is here. This must be the past.

Smash cut to the burning effigy and then don't play the whole intro? Shit's going down today!

This headmaster just did the shoulder touch to Chadok and promised some nebulous reward. Just how far up the chain does this go?

It's interesting seeing how the adults are navigating this. Some demand the students conform for the sake of the majority, whereas Sani tries to deflect and defer the matter.

Finally. Some of the other students have had enough and are siding with the World Remembers.

A terrified Thua was able to vocalize his fear directly to Kan, and Kan is finally able to offer him comfort at school.

I love how Thua suspects that Kan is using Bruce Wayne to talk to him and leans into that illusion to push Kan. Admitting he has feelings for Bruce Wayne has me leaning all the way in. Kan gives an encouraging response, but we'll see if he can give Thua what he's asking for.

Ayan and Akk have a great dynamic when they aren't picking at each other.

Aw yes, we're pulling out the earbuds for shared listening. This is one of my favorite tropes.

I also like Ayan teasing him for stealing glances. It's time to play the entirety of the I See You album by the xx I think

I am just floored by Khaotung and First every week. The way he shifts as Ayan says, "I get you. When I first found out, it was difficult, too," sent me through the roof. Akk's response of, "You can't like a bad person like me," broke me. How many queers who've had to closet themselves and act as agents of the oppressors feel like this? How do we help them? I went to a school not dissimilar from these boys. I've been Akk.

Akk's smile when he finally agrees to the relationship with Ayan is absolutely incredible. First is just SO GOOD.

Oh, Ayan. He let Akk rest for a moment before pulling him in to cuddle.

Ooh a seme wall lean. Interesting that we're using this after Ayan has gotten Akk to agree that they're dating, and is getting him more comfortable admitting that he likes Ayan and misses his presence. I do worry about them getting caught at school though. Akk believes he needs this scholarship if he's going to succeed and make his family proud.

Interesting use of queer gender politics to tease Akk into kissing him. Ayan completely tickled at getting the response he hoped for is fantastic. My circle and I always play around like this as well.

Kan's smirk at this lame explanation for their clandestine getaway is the kind of queer friend group content BL has been missing.

Thailand loves basketball if BL is to be believed. I'm okay with this show using basketball to flirt.

Ayan pulling Akk away from the protest is good for him, but I wonder where Ayan's feelings lie when it comes to the gang and their protest. He seems friendly with them, but he's clearly more concerned with his own beef with Suppalo than there's.

I'm very proud of Kan and Thua for coming to support the protest. It matters for both of them stepping up as students invested in the school structures to side with the queer people who don't fit in and are being bullied.

Oh my goodness this beach scene with Kan and Thua is everything. Kan asking if Thua can be with someone as messed up as him. Thua wanting clarity on the kiss. It's giving, "If you had ever stolen a kiss from someone, how would you give it back?"

Oh that was actually perfect for them as a confirmation kiss. They're both still awkward, so the quick kiss into an offered hug is a good choice.

Ah, public shaming of an individual. The favored tool of terrible educators. Calling on his relationship with Mrs was a gross move.

Akk is breaking, and this probably looks too similar to what happened to Dika.

I haven't been this relieved that someone responded to a hug in a long time. I hope Akk can hold on to Ayan and pull himself out of this spiral.

I think it's time Ayan told Akk his full story.

Oh good. I was worried Akk would run from Ayan. Breaking down and realizing he'd been misled to hate his favorite teacher is heartbreaking.

Passing on the necklace is a big deal. I just finished 180 Degree Longitude Passes Through Us, so I'm definitely not okay about significant momentos being passed along.

Ayan is still so smart. Akk asked how Dika died, clearly asking about grim particulars. Ayan diverted that right away towards the lead enforcement agents of this harsh system.

Oh boy I am excited about next week. Looks like we might be setting up for an Episode 12 denouement!

[queerenteen]

The character development that Bakugo Katsuki got just, hits me sometimes? It’s just so beautifully done that I have to stop whatever I’m doing (like my trig homework) and appreciate it.

I always keep coming back to this one line from chp 285 which just seals the deal for me. 

I mean every single thing in that chapter, or even the entire war arc is amazing but this one line just completely redefines him.

“Even if One for All is a cursed power--” 

The next few panels show how he thinks that the people (All Might and Deku) make the power heroic.

(also bakugo’s expression in that last panel just kills me)

But, is that something that Bakugo at the beginning of the manga would have thought?

The one who believed that victory and strength were the ultimate goals, who was completely willing to sacrifice everything for the perfect win, and got into UA with the highest villain score but zero hero points?

Who believed that a powerful quirk was the indication of the strongest hero?

Logically, OFA is the strongest quirk in their world.

Sure, you can argue and say that AFO which gives the user multiple quirks or Todoroki’s Half Hot-Half Cold which are powerful and balanced, or even Bakugo’s explosions or Momo’s Creation could take that title.

But speaking from a biological perspective (my stem nerd side just jumped up and down with glee), the passing of OFA is what makes it so powerful.

The combining of the original (and incredibly powerful) quirk with those of several other heroes, with increase in variation and deepening of the quirk’s power (the quirk singularity theory) which all cumulated within Deku, makes it an awe-some power.

Even Shigaraki/AFO almost levels an entire city trying to take away OFA.

The combination of super-strength, super-speed and even affecting of air pressure from the original power stock-piling quirk with blackwhip for restrainment and offence, float and even danger sense (four of the seven existing OFA quirks that we have seen so far) is absolutely unstoppable.

But it also tears the user apart.

Bakugo Katsuki, who would do anything for total victory, to be the absolute best that there could be, calls the most powerful quirk a curse because of what it does to Deku.

While pro heroes like Manual are in awe of the power (also why is Rock Lock the only one questioning why a teenager is the one fighting, get it together adults), Bakugo is in absolute panic because Deku is wrecking himself with OFA.

If that complete shift in mentality isn’t peak character development, I don’t know what is.

{also sidenote: how do I think this shift affects the dynamic between Deku and Bakugo? 

Well, the way they are now is so at odds to how they began: they are probably one of the, if not the most important people in each others lives.

This is illustrated heavily by Bakugo’s sacrifice and how Deku becomes absolutely feral when AFO insults that sacrifice; and how they are the ones that the other asks about first--the top priority.

Do I think that this is leaning towards the romantic side of the pairing?

I would like to hope so, because having not one, but two of the main charcaters be top pro heroes and also queer would mean so much to me; because people do tend to assume that one cannot be queer and also a hero (as shown in the media, most hero stories are so heteronormative it’s painful). I mean, you can like people of the same gender and still fight good.

But as someone who’s best friend is probably the most important person in my life, I know that platonic relationships can be as, if not more impactful than romantic ones.

Saying that, do I still think that they’re queer (for each other)?

Yeah. I love my bestie, but I don’t look at her the way Bakugo and Deku look at each other.}

(take note of the dramatic lighting, the briefest of ‘touches’ and the reaction--it’s like some shit out of regency novel)

(The first time I read the last panel I proceeded to gape in shock, almost trip over myself and fall flat on my face getting out of bed so i could grab my phone from my desk and call my best friend and then do the vocal equivalent of a keysmash for five minutes. This picture is picked up from a screenshot i sent to her in an email with the title: the gayest thing i have laid my eyes on.)

[cyanwormonastring]

Heartstopper Playlist!

Guess what LGBTQ+ community, it's officially the last day of pride month. But fear not, for I have created a (very detailed) playlist for Heartstopper, mainly based around the characters! I'm also interested in making playlists specific characters would listen to put that might take a while to make. So without further ado, here is the list of songs that will be in this playlist, currently titled "gay rugby lads"

NOTE: this post will constantly be revised with the addition of more songs, and trust me, there will be a lot of new additions

(mostly) specific reasoning ->

Dance Wiv Me - Dizzee Rascal: when i heard this song initially, i thought "oh this is what a rugby lad would listen to" but now i also think *shakes head* *nods*

Stupid for You - Waterparks: a cheesy love song, but more specifically focused on the line "you're yellow, i'm natural blue" because the show has a yellow-and-blue theme

Hug All Ur Friends - Cavetown: idk how to explain this one it's kinda just heartstopper energy

Settle Down - Ricky Montgomery: "I wanna settle down with you/I wanna complain about my day with you" TRY AND TELL ME THIS ISN'T LITERALLY EVERY COUPLE IN HEARTSTOPPER. GO AHEAD.

Can't Take My Eyes off You - Frankie Valli: Look at the title. Look at it. Ok good.

Fool - Frankie Cosmos: "I thought we could eat bread/I thought we could talk" Nick talking to Charlie because he's so utterly in love with him

Line Without A Hook - Ricky Montgomery: CHARLIE TALKING TO NICK BECAUSE HE'S AN INSECURE BASTARD AND CAN'T COMPREHEND WHY HE LOVES HIM BACK (especially the first verse)

It’s Not a Side Effect of the Cocaine, I Think It Must Be Love - Fall Out Boy: "Why can you read me like no one else?/I hide behind these words/But I'm coming out/I wish I kept them behind my tongue/I hide behind these words/But I'm coming out" literally the gayest song ever just go listen to it

Fruit Roll Ups - Waterparks: "I don't wana leave my house 'cause in here I'm the ruler/With my refrigerater full of pacific cooler/But for you I'd brave all the traffic outside/The way you brave all the bullshit I hold inside" PEAK INTROVERT (charlie) MADLY IN LOVE WITH HIS BF (nick)

Crushcrushcrush - Paramore: "I noticed your eyes are always glued to me" just look at the way literally ANY of the couples look at each other (also the "let's be more than this" being repeated multiple times throughout the song)

Television/So Far So Good - Rex Orange County: "What the fuck is a girlfriend? Imma need advice" wow a song that's not specifically about nick and charlie! this reminds me more of tao being too shy to shoot his shot with elle, but eventually doing so, and actually being in a happy relationship (see also: "i need insurance on my emotions, i can't get hurt again" because if that ain't tao i don't know what is)

Le Velo Pour Deux - The Brobecks: (no song lyrics here just listen to the whole song at this point) IMAGINE. THE PARIS GANG BEING VAMPIRES IN LOVE IN THE LATE 1800s OR EARLY 1900s?? AND THEM ALL BEING ON TANDEM BIKES??

Love At First Sight - The Brobecks: a cute little love song :)

Out Of My League - Fitz and The Tantrums: charlie totally thinks nick is out of his league

Looking Out for You - Joy Again: "It's just the way you're glancing at me/Something about you just makes me feel guilty for liking you" charlie feels bad about having a crush on nick, thinking he's the straightest dude alive (also i put this song on pretty much every playlist i have)

Favorite Record - Fall Out Boy: i think it would be very cute to have a scene of nick and charlie spinning in their rooms to their favorite songs

Somewhere Only We Know - Keane: it *can* be interpreted in many ways but generally i would like to see it as a couple going to a place that they have special memories, and i think that's beautiful

Cloud 9 - Beach Bunny: "But when he loves me I feel like I'm floating" LITERALLY NICK, CHARLIE, AND ELLE

Sofia - Clairo: a sapphic love song for tara and darcy

My Heart Is Buried In Venice: can't go wrong with ricky montgomery, man

space girl - Frances Forever: I think this song perfectly describes Darcy and Tara's relationship

Smile - Lily Allen: Charlie totally feels this way about Ben after realizing he's a bitch

Skeleton Appreciation Day in Vestal, NY (Bones) - Will Wood and the Tapeworms: Charlie's eating disorder (anorexia) is the general theme of this song

Sweater Weather - The Neighbourhood: nick is bi and that's reason enough to put this here

Daddy Issues - The Neighbourhood: Nick literally has daddy issues

Body - Mother Mother: Charlie feels insecure in his skin

Body Terror Song - AJJ: Same as Body

7 Minutes in Heaven (Atavan Halen) - Fall Out Boy: Charlie telling Tao he's "not that desperate" for a rugby lad

It's Only Sex - Car Seat Headrest: basically what Charlie is going through in chapter 7

in the comics/show ->

Telephone - Waterparks: in the show

girls - girl in red: in the show

cute little love songs :) ->

Sugar Rush - Addison Grace

Friday I'm in Love - The Cure

Kiss Goodnight - iDKHOW

Clusterhug - iDKHOW

Always - Panic! At The Disco

Sweet Tooth - Cavetown

Crazy Little Thing Called Love - Queen

All My Loving - The Beatles

I Will - The Beatles

[lananiscorner]

FE3H route review and thoughts - Crimson Flower

This was the third route I played, and one that I was really looking forward to. I wanted to like this route. Edelgard is the villain of the story and that's great—I can route for villains if they are well-written and well-used (Cersei was one of my favorites in Game of Thrones). Unfortunately, while I appreciate what this route was trying to do in terms of Buddhist symbolism—showing Byleth taking the path of the beast, the path of hatred, greed and ignorance, compared to the other three routes where people have to let go of exactly those vices—I believe the intended message was lost to the Western audience, partially because the narrative was already too subtle about it for someone without a buddhist background, partially because of mistranslations that whitewash Edelgard and demonize the church. Instead, this route came across as one of total tonal dissonance, where everybody just up and forgets that White Clouds ever happened. Flame Emperor who? Blood experiments what? But I am getting ahead of myself. This is my least favorite route by far. Even so, I do have some good to say about it. Rest beneath the cut because it got long:

Things I really liked about this route, in no particular order:

Hubert was unapologetically hammy evil. This man is a treasure. I love him for the same reason I loved Peter Baelish in Game of Thrones—here's a character who would flat-out tell you "oh you misunderstand, distrusting me is the first smart thing you've done since you got here". He simps for Edelgard and is willing to lie, steal, cheat and kill for her. I may not agree with him or his methods, but I can respect his talents and dedication. Easily the most competent and enjoyable character of this route.

Edelgard lied to her closest allies to demonize her enemies. Again, I may not like it, but I can respect the dedication. Say what you want about Edelgard, but she does not back down and that's good.

While fighting Rhea and the Lions was painful, I appreciate that we got two unique maps in Tailtean and Fhirdiad (or is it Firediad?).

Dimitri's and Dedue's alternate death scene was some of the gayest shit ever and I cried. Absolutely superb.

Bernie got out of her room at last! Good for her.

Dorothea and Lysithea having doubts about the Arianrhod lie. Kudos!

Things I didn't like/would have changed:

While changing school class from one professor to the next is not really a big deal, choosing to side with the country who declared war on yours is. Therefore, I believe with the exceptions of Lorenz, Hanneman and Manuela, and the Ashen Wolves*, all recruits should have been automatic defectors post time skip. Those who do actually suffer from the crests they bear or the ideals of nobility should have been recruitable again post time skip if defeated and convinced by Edelgard (Sylvain, Felix, Ingrid, Lysithea, Marianne, Mercedes), everybody else, only if defeated by Byleth (Shamir, Alois, Ashe, Annette, Raphael, Ignatz, Leonie).

Even with this new recruitment, let more characters point out the dissonance between part 1 and 2. Let them ask the heavy questions. For example, Leonie/Lysithea/Alois/Lorenz/Faerghus Four: What about all the kidnapping and murder the Death Knight did under Edelgard's employ? What about Remire? What about Captain Jeralt? Mercedes/Marianne/Ignatz/Annette/Sylvain/Lorenz: How can the goddess be false if Byleth was blessed with her powers? Marianne/Mercedes: How are the archbishop/church supposed to have abused their powers for riches and greed when working for the church specifically includes abstaining from greed and the church supported orphans, rebuilding efforts, sanctuary for stranded enemies etc.? For that matter, just because someone is not human, doesn't mean they are not deserving of life and peace. Leonie/Raphael/Ashe: Curious how the only Black Eagle who wasn't made a general is the self-made commoner. Also, many of us would not be here in the first place if we had had to rise and fall solely by our own merits.

Related to that, let more people doubt the Arianrhod lie. In short: let other characters point out the holes in Edelgard's narrative and let Byleth purposefully ignore them because of their personal attachment to Edelgard.

Change Dimitri's line to Byleth to make it clear for the western audience what he is trying to say here. In EN, he currently says: "Why did you choose to walk this savage, bloody path?" In JP, from what I have seen written by people who actually speak this high-context language, it is clear that he refers to the path of the beast, the Buddhist concept of straying from the path of enlightenment by giving in to the three poisons. Make that clear in the English translation: "Why did you choose to walk this path of ignorance, hatred, and greed? The path of the beast?"

Crimson Flower got done dirty in the cutscene department. At the very least, Dimitri's execution should have had a cutscene (with a gore discretion shot of course), potentially even his alternate death scene. Edelgard’s reunion with Byleth in chapter 13 also should have had one, as well as Byleth’s “death” in chapter 12, because as it currently is, that scene makes zero sense.

Change the choice in the Holy Tomb from a very loaded "I must protect Edelgard./I must kill Edelgard." to "Side with Edelgard./Side with Rhea."

Translation choices that whitewashed Edelgard and demonized the church were a mistake (e.g. leaving out mention of her "information campaign", adding "kind" to her attributes for her desired successor, implying Edelgard's life span was affected by her double crest in her ending with Lysithea, which is literally not stated anywhere else and not what the JP source says, that NPC that went "I embezzled money from the church, because my village was attacked" which had "and the church didn't put in enough to rebuild" tacked on in English, or the commandments of Seiros being changed from "don't hurt others without a good reason" to "don't hurt others unless by command of the goddess").

Have Ferdinand, Linhardt, Caspar, Constance, Hubert or Edelgard mention the other Hresvelg children who died at least once or twice outside of her supports, so they don't feel like badly tacked on backstory, which they currently do. All of these characters are nobles of the Empire and we know that unlike in Faerghus, Empire nobility usually reside in the capital. Ten imperial children dying leaving no impression on any noble in the same city just makes no sense. Unless Edelgard was lying of course (very possible), in which case, we should get a clue about that. For example, change Ferdinand's explore dialogue in chapter 14: Ferdinand: "I have been wondering. If things had gone differently, where would I be now? Who would I be? Do you ever think about that sort of thing, Professor?" Byleth: "1) Like if I had not sided with Edelgard? 2) Like if one of her older siblings had become Emperor instead? 3) No, I don't." Ferdinand, if you pick 2) and she was lying: "Siblings? Edelgard is an only child, professor. Always has been. As son of the prime minister, I would have known if there were older siblings in the line of succession at any point." Ferdinand, if you pick 2) and she was telling the truth: "I... must admit I have not thought of the other Hresvelg children in a long time, but now that you mention it... some of Edelgard's older siblings were very different from her, yes."

Byleth slaying Rhea and Sothis’s crest stone disappearing from her heart should have had clear consequences, instead of the writers trying to have their cake and eat it too. Either let Byleth die (they were stillborn and only managed to live because of the crest stone) or make Sothis's S rank unachievable and make it clear in Byleth's ending that the shining sword she's wielding is Seiros's sword, as seen in their ending with Jeritza, rather than the Sword of the Creator.

Make it so that Nader's dialogue in Edelgard's paralogue changes if Claude died, e.g. "Break through the locket and make them pay!" and when he attacks Edelgard: "On this day, I will make you pay for what you took from us!" Because even if Claude was considered an outsider by many, we do know that Nader cares about him and Nader having no reaction whatsoever to meeting the woman responsible for Claude's death (potentially) makes no sense.

* My reasonings for these exceptions: House Gloucester always sides with the Empire by default, Hanneman and Manuela side with Empire by default if unrecruited, Yuri would stick around to keep Abyss safe, Hapi dislikes the church, Constance needs Edelgard to restore House Nuvelle, Balthus would benefit from Edelgard's intended future and has no other allegiance

[zoophagist]

Finally got to your answer about PD and boy do I have Thoughts about this show.

I really feel bad for Jekyll's actor. In the end he was kinda just there to be an eye candy and have slurs thrown at him, because what else is a Pakistani man for in a 2010s show? I really wanted him to do and be more. Seeing him team up with (and maybe kiss) Renfield would be... Just beautiful, ok, I love me some characters who start wrecking things because they were treated like dirt by everyone around them.

Also the showrunners putting Sam Barnett, the gayest, fluffiest, sunny twink in front of me and going: "Look, this one has never been loved and he definitely wants women in a creepy way" was just so funny. Guys, I know like 12 men who'd propose to him on the spot, also he looks like he has never thought about a girl carnally.

I really liked his Renfield though. There's just something very pretty and very tragic about him, like yes, he's very much going for Frye-vibes, but it all comes out simply endearing. Barnett!Renfield feels and sounds like Frye's younger brother. I do believe this Renfield genuinely loved his Master, I do believe he'd be torn up about having to hurt living beings in the most heart-wrenching way.

Also don't get me started on his Seward and his Dracula.

anon you're so right about all of this, speaking the very thoughts from my mind. i wanted jekyll to be so cool and he sure was just... there.... and that weak ass, last minute "lord hyde" reveal??? oh the humanity... look how they mutilated my boy. and YES, why subject one of our rare poc to all this just to rob them of any actual character development? now i never said anything about him kissing renfield (haha, unless...? no. although...?) but yes, truly, wanted, needed, craved a better look at jekyll in PD. if i weren't already the last atrophied member of this rpc and there were anyone left to care about it, maybe i'd also be writing jekyll and just saying YOINK he's mine now, going to make up lots of cool canon for him, thanks <3

the AUDACITY of PD to show me the man i knew as david posner in 'the history boys' and tell me he was a malevolent little sex pest? unappealing? STRAIGHT, of all things? the nerve is just galling. yeah the scene right before he meets dracula, where he's supposed to be going at it with that sex worker, i'm just..... sam you're trying your best, and it's not your fault they gave you a completely unbelievable scene to work with. i could believe that his renfield has thought about a woman carnally but only in the "desperately trying to conceal how much i want to be pegged with oversized dominance and light misogyny" way, you know? i love your description of sam's take being "frye's younger brother." so true. and the sincerity of his longing for love, yes!! the whole bit he said to seward in that final scene like "if i’d had a friend like you in life i mightn’t have ended up like this" god this man was really latching onto any crumb of affection he could.

i'm not only getting you started on seward and dracula but i'm BESEECHING you to go off. so interested to hear your thoughts. i generally thought dracula was ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ okay. you know? he was a competent and mysterious dracula that was fun, but the way it all ended with hiim was real lackluster. absolutely indebted to this dracula tho for giving me a whole scene of renfield being called his 'chosen one' and getting to really homoerotically kneel at his feet and then drink from his master's wrist like. thank you for your fucking SERVICE. PD seward is.... i'm mixed. i'm an absolute heretic among theatre kids because i don't like patti lupone and wasn't thrilled she was in this role, and but i thought the take on seward was at least.. idk interesting? there was something going on that could be fun, but hmm. i think i'd have to watch it again to articulate fuller thoughts on her.

[wangxiandecoded]

Episode 10

Previous Episode | Next Episode

(Spoilers for the whole show ahead!)

Going to draw a heart over Wangxian to keep track of every time the camera shows someone third wheeling them from now on.

Wei Ying uses his Binding/Bonding talisman on Xue Yang to show Lan Zhan it’s a dynamic tool that doesn’t deserve to be named “Boring”. Even though there’s a serial killer on the loose, Lan Zhan’s opinions on his inventions matter a lot to him. Standard Wei Ying stuff.

Wangxian’s Mirrors

At this point of the show, I could not believe there was a couple who directly mirrored Wangxian. And surprise! They were two men who dressed in black and white and came together for their common vision exactly like Wangxian did. Wei Ying cannot help but connect the dots and Lan Zhan is already aware of their eminence.

Xue Yang Fancies The Yiling Laozu 

Xue Yang’s introduction makes the story take a darker turn but also a gayer one. The homoerotic subtext between him and Wei Ying literally jumps out of the screen.  

(This episode had a lot of moments that were just begging for alternate dialogues to be written. I just wanted to have fun with the subtext that’s already present.)  

Wei Ying doesn’t want Lan Zhan to waste his precious breath interrogating the bad guy. He protectively steps up (something he does quite a lot) and puts some distance between the both of them.

But he wants Lan Zhan to hold his sword while he does that.. and if that act wasn’t necessarily considered to be intimate or romantic before, it just became that after Lan Zhan refused to do it in front of everyone.

Wei Ying has uttered many conspicuously gay things on the show but most of them are with reference to Lan Zhan. Therefore, this is possibly the gayest dialogue he has ever said in a strictly non-Lan Zhan context.

His tone is all, “Honey, you've been existing for 5 minutes, I'm the queerest person the cultivation world has seen in a millennium. You think frisking a guy is going to make me feel scandalized?” This is nuts to me because Xue Yang is arguably the most blatantly coded gay character on the show.. and here is Wei Ying all but saying he can outgay him. That he shouldn’t come after his job. And Lan Zhan just looks like..

It is curious how Lan Zhan says no to something that would require Wei Ying to go near Xue Yang again.

We get it, Lan Zhan. It was hard to see your guy giving attention to someone who wasn’t you.

When Lan Zhan is unsure what's happening back home, the first person his eyes seek is Wei Ying, his source of strength and reassurance.

SongXiao Help WangXian Fall Deeper In Love

Wei Ying is euphoric to meet another pair of Soulmates™. (The same kind of glee that queer people feel when they meet a celebrity queer couple.) His relationship with Lan Zhan just gained supreme validation and a boost to the power of infinity!

He sees everything he has with Lan Zhan reflected in SongXiao’s relationship. He admires them and is delighted that people like them who aren’t concerned with clan drama can walk the wider path of justice, and also lead successful, honourable lives. He looks to Lan Zhan for confirmation but Lan Zhan doesn’t seem too eager to publicize the super sweet promise they made at the lantern ceremony or the fact that he’s been secretly enjoying Wei Ying’s companionship on this expedition. And let’s be honest, it would’ve been more shocking if Lan Zhan did confirm any of that here.

Cheer up, Wei Ying! Lan Zhan will get plenty more opportunities to prove his love for you and he'll ace every single one of them.

No one asked for this but thank you NHS for declaring your ideal type is beautiful gentlemen who fight crime together and unapologetically go their own way.

The parallels between the two pairs write themselves. More importantly, it is while watching SongXiao leave together that Lan Zhan stumbles onto an epiphany.

This is such an underrated moment in the show. The sorrowful music and slow-motion shot of Lan Zhan looking at Wei Ying with vulnerability all over his face once again drives it home that Wei Ying is The One for him, and he is his. He was already getting tired of denying that Wei Ying is his soulmate in every sense there is, and he feels his pain and sadness in this moment. It is enough for Jiang Cheng to feel sorry for him and move on but not for Lan Zhan who feels all that his soulmate feels. 

It is overwhelming and brand new information to Lan Zhan himself that he can feel it because Wei Ying is not in impending danger right now, so this need he feels to protect him and be there for him can only mean that he loves him beyond the shadow of a doubt. Wei Ying seems upset thinking about his mother and Lan Zhan gets it, without Wei Ying having uttered a word the whole time. His face shows a kind of defeat in this scene; he surrenders to everything he has known and felt for some time now : He's in love with Wei Ying and would tear down the universe without a second thought if it means it would rid him of his unhappiness. And he isn't able to do that in this moment. But thanks to Song Lan and Xiao Xingchen, he’s found comfort in the truth they have each other at the end of the day, even if they have nothing left in this world. He cannot give back to Wei Ying what he has lost but he can accompany him in his sadness, and it will have to be enough. And it is, because Wei Ying can overcome just about everything as long as Lan Zhan walks by his side.

Wei Ying Says Lan Clan Deserves Rights

Wei Ying has many nice things to say about the Lan clan who he found exhausting a few months ago. Love brings about miraculous changes in a person, y’all.

Wei Ying gravitates towards Lan Zhan as if it's second nature to him and it really is.

Jiang Cheng spends a lot of time trying to get Wei Ying to spill the Top Secrets about the Yin Iron and Wei Ying is like, "Sorry, I’m bound by the Soulmate laws to tell you absolutely nothing."

Wei Ying is already embracing the idea of controlling the Yin Iron and people are rightfully getting offended by his suggestion.

What did you expect, Wei Ying? Not everyone is your lifetime confidant to give you the benefit of the doubt and reciprocate it with compassion, trust and open-mindedness.

Wangxian’s Temporary Separation

What was that, Wei Ying? Did we hear you admit that the Gusu Lan roof is softer than the one in Qinghe? Could this have anything to do with a certain law enforcer in Cloud Recesses you fell in love with at first sword fight? 

There is a delicate, bittersweet air to this separation, and even the casual watcher is going to be wondering, “When did I get so invested in Wangxian that WuJi makes me want to cry?”

It's cute how Lan Zhan is like, “Okay, I’ve seen the love of my life for one last time, I’ll quietly take my leave so he doesn’t know I was waiting for him to come back.”

Turns out, "I'll sleep on your roof tonight," is one of the most romantic things we could tell the person we love. Isn't it brilliant that just few seconds ago Wei Ying had said he will take whatever ground he finds as his home for the night, and how utterly beautiful is it to have followed it up with this dialogue? “Lan Zhan, I'll sleep on your roof tonight.” Because the world is big but my home is wherever you are. That’s where I’m happiest, I'll sleep on this rugged roof and walk through thorns if it means I get to be by your side. I won't mind it at all. And how unbelievably romantic is it that Wei Ying makes a philosophical statement about life, which ends up being about Lan Zhan?

Lan Zhan hears the implications in his voice. And he openly yearns to stay behind a little longer and commit to his memory what Wei Ying looks like when he is drunkenly proclaiming his love for him under the moonlight. It is pleasantly surprising that Lan Zhan is willing to express his emotions when he knows he is safe from Wei Ying hearing them, that he doesn't mind telling him goodbye when he thinks Wei Ying won't remember it. 

But the audience can hear his voice and we are going to remember it. How, "Wei Ying, I have to go," is uttered in a cadence so sweet we did not know Lan Zhan was capable of before this. And the choice of words do not simply mean that he’s going to leave, but that he has to, and most certainly not because he wants to. And how it really means, “I’m worried about everything, but especially you, and I'm sorry I have to go. I have to trust that we'll both be okay on this path. Please know that I don't wish to leave you, and forgive me for it. Wei Ying, I love you."

Even their temporary separation hurts so good. If they were meant to be best buddies, this scene wouldn't have been shot so poignantly. But we got used to seeing them together and every frame is designed to dig deeper into your heart and instil the fact that these soulmates are parting, and we don’t know when they’ll see each other again. This is the melancholy of a man who does not wish to be away from his lover but is forced to for the sake of the greater good. Anyone can see that.

The rooftop and moonlit night come as a callback to their first meeting, only Lan Zhan no longer wants to point the tip of his sword at Wei Ying, it gives him far greater satisfaction to place Wei Ying behind his sword.

I haven’t counted the number of times people acknowledge Wangxian’s relationship and/or know that they are inseparable, but it’s safe to say almost every character does that at some point. And some even know how to exploit their weakness, that in order to hurt one of them, the surefire way is to simply aim for the other like Wen Chao does here.

To summarize, Episode 10 saw Lan Zhan showing us his true colors : When he isn’t occupied with being the esteemed, intimidating Lan Wangji, he’s busy being a regular, sweet, romantic guy in love. And Wei Ying did that. He single-handedly exposes the soft side of Lan Zhan that nobody sees to the audience now and the world later on. 

This episode also gave us this : Two soulmates chilling shoulder to shoulder zero feet apart because they’re falling in love.