#he's probably the ONLY ML that I would self-insert with
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pikaberi · 4 months ago
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Sylus jumping down a tall ass building with a kitty in his hand and gently placing the kitty on the ground....
......sir, will you marry me? 💍🥺
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chatonnoir · 3 years ago
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Super new fan here butt Im curious as to why there seems to be -Im probably exaggerating- Adrien Stan's who like his chat Noir side or want him to be moore like Felix but not really him. Is there something wrong wit him? -just a vibe I got off of TikTok fans dat confuses me as much as the hate towards maribug-
Those are likely the basic straight girls who want Chat Noir to be this hypersexual masculine alphahole wattpad badboy for their bad heteronormative Chat Noir x Reader smut (often mislabeled as mari/chat with """Marinette"""" AKA reader-insert being jealous/upset that Chat Noir likes Ladybug only to turn around and be flattered when he flirts with the """"real her""""" smh real Marinette would never). They hate Adrien bc seeing him reminds them that he's actually a sweet gentle 14 year old boy with a babyface and a more feminine personality and that shatters the ~sexy alpha male~ illusion for them.
The first time I ever saw an ML tiktok, I saw endless comments talking about how "Chat Noir is sooo sexy but I don't like Adrien, Chat Noir is so much better" etc. and after that I resolved to never touch ML tiktok again. I also see similar shit in Youtube comments, alongside people hating on Buguinette or talking about how they want Chat Noir to ~get mad at Ladybug and then go fall in love with Marinette~ for the reasons mentioned above. I also just see videos that have godawful takes about the show, so I don't touch ML youtube anymore either.
As for the hate towards Buguinette .......... having been in online fandoms for like a decade, I can tell you that fans hating on a girl character for anything and everything, especially when a prettyboy character who everyone loves and/or lusts after is involved, is sadly the norm. If she dares to have agency/personality and isn't blank slate enough to be projected on to/self-inserted through, they'll hate her. If she's simply too nice and sweet, the people with insecurities about their own ugly personalities will decide she's a "mary sue" and hate her. If she likes a fan fave male character too much, she's annoying. If she so much as breathes near a fan fave male character incorrectly, then she's a stupid mean bitch and he "deserves better". If she dares to breathe near two dudes who are in a popular m/m ship, they'll decide she's annoying or they'll say she's a lesbian and box her off in a corner bc they don't actually care about lesbians, that's just a way to keep her "out of the way" in a way that looks good and woke. Jealousy towards fictional female characters is actually the corniest fandom phenomenon of them all
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marimopeace · 3 years ago
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there's a limit on how much you can be an isekai intellectual...
a bunch of analyses have been popping up before me all day so i wanted to throw my hat into the ring. all love to ppl who are exercising their creative minds + ppl like geoff here who just talk about these things because of fan interest but i feel like there reaches a point where exploring the "types" of isekai is pointless? i've seen ppl list out the different types of villainess revenge isekai or fantasy mmorpg isekai but eh why fit them all into separate boxes like that?
i think it's easier to think of isekai as a "type" (genre) of itself with only two categories: 1) a focus on isekai (lit. another world) 2) tensei (lit. to be reborn). this allows for a variety of applications and thus tropes that ppl see so many trends of!
with isekai - in another world
you see everything from:
pure fantasy (inuyasha, digimon wait maybe not the best example but in my childhood mind i count digimon as pure fantasy, fushigi yugi)
mmorpg inspired fantasy/adventure (.hack//legend of twilight, sao ugh, log horizon, overlord (LOVE OVERLORD!)
otome game-esque worlds >>> this is where it gets complicated with "villainess routes" since i admit there are multiple villainess tropes but this is why it's nice to not think of this as a "sub-type/genre" bc it frees you from those complications! (the saint's magic power is omnipotent, the white cat's revenge as plotted from the dragon king's lap soso cute!, the savior's book cafe in another world, i'm a villainous daughter so i'm going to keep the last boss wait i can't remember if she's reborn in this one lmaooo see this is why rules make everything hard)
with tensei storylines - being reincarnated/reborn in another world as *insert character/role*
you see...
the same tropes!!
pure fantasy (a returner's magic should be special, reminiscence adonis, the lady and the beast, light and shadow, i can't think of a manga off the top of my head for this ah)
mmorpg inspired fantasy/adventure (so i'm a spider so what i stan kumoko so hard, her majesty's swarm, can't name another off the top of my head ah i hate lists shorter than two things...)
self-insert based games/novels (fiance's observation log of a self-proclaimed villainess, who made me a princess, death is the only ending for the villainess, the villainess wants to marry a commoner, honestly games vs novels are different applications but i'm not in the headspace to try to remember a bunch of both lol)
*insert line break to give random ppl a break from scrolling but tl; dr just enjoy things for what they are no need to micro analyze*
similar variations occur in both genres (if ppl want to be super technical i guess i'm arguing that isekai itself is a massive genre that has the "another world" subgenre and "reincarnation" subgenre tl; dr) so i think it's honestly a huge pain to try to separate all these trends into so many different types of stories. for me personally it's easier to not get overwhelmed by this gigantic umbrella of "isekai" that spans light novels, manhwa, manga, and mobile games by just stripping each story down into its trademark tropes (aka character archetypes, story structures) and slapping "oh this is a person going to a world that's not ours" and "this person gets reborn as blank in another world". none of this "omg this power fantasy is such a this kind of isekai moment" or "there are 14 different types of villainess revenge stories and this series fits into this" bc AH labels! limitations! circle-jerks via ppl trying to compartmentalize everything and sound smart for leaving a comment on story analysis instead of ooh-ahhing over a character's face! dividing things into light novel manga vs manga vs korean manhwa ft. female characters!
the last bit is mainly why i feel frustrated by ppl's insistence to group everything?
the video linked at the beginning of the post (honestly good video essay, i enjoyed it, i just kept thinking in my head the whole time "marimo these are tropes do not take the genre talk literally") has a baby comment thread talking about "korean isekai manhwas" as a genre featuring nothing but reincarnated villainess' and i can't.
like i cannot acknowledge that as a genre of any sort. the energy i felt reading through some of those insights takes me back to 2012 when all yt americans discovered k-pop and deemed all korean music k-pop from then on! (ppl still do this now, yes you are seen and don't talk to me pls i don't like you. k-pop is korean pop music and nothing less and nothing more. take a few seconds and try to parse apart aspects of korean culture instead of slamming everything into a monolithic label that has the letter k and a hyphen.) it feels so odd to see a bunch of young ppl on ig and tiktok acknowledge korean media that happens to be in the form of a webtoon as "oh stories all about young girls becoming villains in stories they made/played" bc it feels so reductive u.u
(positionality disclaimer that i'm praying isn't actually necessary: i am a 3rd-generation korean of japanese descent do not fite me i am exhausted irl of ppl asking for validation/verification bc massive shove off.)
breaking news! korean manhwa...is just as multifaceted as japanese manga...bc how can comics as an art-form not have multiple genres...huh such a shocker?!?! same likely applies to media in other parts of the world like chinese manhwa and french comics--not my place to explain either of those i just know those industries exist bc of wakfu and donghua shows by Tencent.
at the end of the day it's not like analyzing any kind of isekai is wrong--absolutely not!! i think it can be super fun to think about how isekai elements complicate a story (MCs trying to go back home, ppl from the og world, reincarnation plot-twists) or maybe even bash a series for including some kind of other world element when they could have just written a super fun fantasy.
insert marimo's brief ramble that hey you can get sick of truck-kun's hitting disillusioned guys who happen to be super duper smart or girls who happen to be master chefs/craftsmen but transporting a fully-grown being into a fantasy setting is the ultimate cheat code for making mundane modern technology seem cool and overpowered, and being reincarnated as a fully grown person in a world with a pre-made story/game set-up completely bypasses the need for an author to slowly flesh out world-building in a natural progression so isekai is actually a really smart writing tool it's just that there are some series where the author didn't use it well at all and it's cheesy or clearly isekai was misused as a vehicle for character/story development and it was pointless *DEEP BREATH OUT*
in this essay i will argue...lol i am such a culture studies major!! if i were an english major i would be talking all about writing but here i am having a side-tangent about world-building via someone being reborn wow i love this for me (don't get me started on when an author has someone reincarnate as a baby and the story is mostly them having warm fluffy moments with their family--typically father figures--and getting lots of powers i could and would and probably will rant about east asian toxicity)
but anyway am i crazy????? like yes for being passionate about the technical use of a word like genre (i am a scorpio rising let me be fussy pls) but i don't think it's a lot to ask for ppl to not unironically see "villainess revenge isekai" as the definition of korean manhwa.
idk as someone who resonates with why japanese isekai is so popular domestically + why a lot of korean manhwa feat. the same tropes (it's not for great reasons lads it's actually depressing tbh) i'm just starting to feel kind of pained by the generalization and need to separate "cute japanese girl in an otome game"/"japanese boy finds a harem in another world" from "korean girl dies and comes back as a villainess" bc they are just! applications to the same story device!!
recommendations for any who makes it this far down below <3
// also gladly recommend any of the examples i've listed in the above rant as i've read/watched all of them and adore them v much! //
save me princess
super refreshing fantasy manhwa ft. a princess and her ex-boyfriend having to save the world!
the beginning after the end
an AMERICAN web novel turned into a comic (but see it being not korean/japanese doesn't really matter when you just consider isekai as a genre...isn't it nice to not overthink it?) ft. a super-powerful wizard king reincarnated into another world and starting from scratch--gives mushoku tensei vibes but huge twists!
the reason why raeliana ended up at the duke's mansion
love love LOVE this story--read the title and you'll learn how this girl reincarnated as the character raeliana in a book gets married to a duke!
trash of the count's family
such a good novel!! a guy gets reborn as a lazy oaf and he takes the hero of the story under his wing...plot twists come up later on!
this time i will definitely be happy!
v good and refreshing for a shorter series! she's been reborn 3 times and remembers every time the hero's stabbed her in the back, and now she just wants to break up with him!
silver diamond
older manga but v good adventure w intrigue! a boy who loves plants get sucked into a desert world with demonic lizards and a mysterious bodyguard by his side. shonen-ai not BL but wonderful vibes nonetheless + great side characters!
the princess imprints a traitor
adore everything in this from the world (not in that way this society makes me so angry) to the machinations at play and the dynamic between the fl and ml
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weirdstuffmagic · 3 years ago
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My opinion about uncoven
Alright, so since I finished chapter 1 (yeah, since the first day is actually day 0) I think that I can give a better opinion on this game now. So, what to start with? Hm, maybe the good points?
Right, so I really like the music (you can check it out on youtube) and the artwork, especially the backgrounds. They look amazing. About characters design I would say that I have one complaint – why is the light on them like that? What is it about? xD I really don’t get it, but it looks funny I guess.
About the gameplay – well, it’s the same system as in ML, so you can’t gather more energy points than what you get daily, unless you pay to get more. You know how it works, so yeah. Oh but here we won’t get lost since you can’t go around the mansion as you please, the story leads you.
Next point, the story – To tell you the truth, well at least to me, it’s really boring. It feels like the pace is just, idk, too slow maybe? All we do is talk, talk and talk. We get to talk with other characters soo much that it just pains me that we don’t really get as many interesting infos about them as I’d expect. The conversations mostly go like this „oh, you did this cocktail? I’ts really yummy – Yeah, I did” or „My dad i so bad – Don’t feel sad”. Like, don’t get me wrong, it’s nice that we get to see their daily lives, getting to know them little by little, but it just frustrates me xd And maybe it’s because I expected something else from this, like you know, not reading a whole chapter about everyone’s lifes so much or how, for example, Rose is so against white people and is saying that they are all liars while still believing the crap that her hypnotist said to her about her fears (that her fear of snakes, or trauma if you’d like, comes from her fear of losing her dear ones) and yeah, she didn’t go to a therapist, but to a hypnotist (and when she was a child at that). Good job.
With this one I’m just glad they didn’t make us, the players, believe that this is something legit but at the same time, it’s never said that it’s full of bulls*it. But anyway, moving on
We learn that William is from a rich family, but both of his parents don’t pay much attention to him; Silas is an internet celebrity? Not really sure xd; Kristen has a younger brother and a granny, who is sick; Rose’s mother, an activist (don’t remember well) is like an enemy of Will’s father, who is a politician; Mavka’s father left her family a few years ago and now he came back, so things are awkward; And that Ascian is probably from a lineage of witches, and that his greatgrandpa, grandma and his mother are/were ones (which others think is a lie, since magic in not real and so on).
So all through the chapters there is that one thing that irritates me the most, that it made me hate this one particular character (well, wouldn’t say that it’s real hate, but it’s just more than not liking this one, like what I feel towards few others) – it’s to make this one character to be in the spotlight, the center of everyone’s attention – it’s Mavka. Everyone is just so captivated by her, saying how gorgeuse she is, beautiful, wonderful and so and so on… And on top of that, our MC, Nyx, is just the worst when it comes to saying and/or thinking such things (whether you like it or not) – it’s like we are made to remember how awesome everyone is, and especially this readhead girl… It’s really frustrating that Nyx is made to think that every one of her friends is so special (and it’s even worse that Mavka is probably a self-insert of one of the scenarists, so things like that just make it ever so obvious). Don’t get me wrong, making a character which is like a self-insert isn’t something bad, but while making one, you need to make them something else than… this.
So coming back a little, there is really nothing worthwhile happenning and maybe that’s because it’s only the prologue and first chapter, but I really thought it would be something a little different, after reading posts about this game from their official account on insta. But well, even if it’s like that, since I started playing it, might as well see how it ends (even if it’s gonna take me ages to do…). At least I have fun commenting it with others x’D
If you read it this far, thank you and take care <3 
tl;dr: graphics are nice, game is boring. Will play it for the science and to laugh while hoping there will be less cringy scenes (which probably won’t). Pray for me, please, so I won’t loose my sanity.
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skullsandwineglasses · 3 years ago
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Dear Diary (2021) - First Impressions (Eps 1-7)
It’s as cringey, funny, and watchable as everyone says it is, especially the first 2 episodes. Everyone’s comedic timing is just so on point. Although, I would say that The Day of Becoming You is slightly funnier overall because that drama managed to keep the humour up all the way through. I’m only on episode 7 of Dear Diary, but I can feel it move away from the comedy side, which isn’t a bad thing. The main source of comedy in the first two episodes is how ridiculous Rhydian Vaughan’s Babylonian prince character is. But once he tones it down and starts to assimilate into the “real” world, the charm wanes a bit. 
Edit: I take back what I said about the comedy. I just started episode 8 and laughed out loud within the first 5 minutes. 
The FL is highly relatable, which I find to be ironic since this drama is a critique of young, impressionable adolescents who tend to self-insert themselves into fictional stories (i.e., all of us at one point in time).  And yet, here we have a FL whom most of us can relate to, and therefore, serves as our own self-insert. 
Chen Mei Ru is an average-looking, introverted, socially anxious woman with OCD tendencies. Her traumatic life event was when her aunt forced her to read her personal romance fantasy aloud to the class when she was 12, and the entire hometown never let her live it down. Things get real in episode 5 when she vents her unhappiness to MRJL. She admits that she hates everyone and that she wants to be alone. She doesn’t want to talk to people. She’s tired of being friendly and cordial and appeasing people because that’s part of the social contract she needs to uphold. She’s tired of pretending to be happy. She doesn’t want to explain her job to people. She hates small talk. It’s how we all feel as young 20-something year olds. Her rant perfectly captures the disillusionment we all feel about life and society. 
Mu Rong Jie Lun, our ML, loves CMR unconditionally, because she wrote him to be that way. Like the FL, we don’t really see him as a real person because he’s just a wish fulfillment character come to life. But his reaction to CMR’s rant in episode 5 prompts you to begin to change your impression of him. She’s a depressed pessimist. There’s nothing special about her, nothing that makes her tick. She’s not an especially good person that will inspire him. But he appreciates her honesty. I like what he said about being optimistic enough about the world for the both of them. He likes this world and he thinks it’s beautiful. He doesn’t fully understand why, but we recognize that it’s because he’s now a real boy, given a chance at life, so we can understand where his joie de vivre comes from. He doesn’t try to deny her flaws, but he instead tells her that he’ll compensate for it. And I think that’s a foundation for a healthy relationship. You recognize, accept, and then learn to embrace someone’s flaws without romanticizing their flaws are being blinded to it. Two people are supposed to support each other in a relationship. And sometimes, when one person is venting about a problem, they don’t want you to come up with a solution to solve it, but they just want you to be there and listen. And that’s what he does. He doesn’t tell her how she can change and be less pessimistic, but he just reassures her that he’ll be there with her. I’m interested in seeing how the drama humanizes him. It’s clear that the drama is going to make the ML and FL fall for each other as real people, instead of just the idea of one another. 
And episode 5 is probably when I started to see some of the chemistry happen. Rhydian Vaughan and Tiffany Hsu look gorgeous together, but it’s easy to ship 2 good-looking people. That’s what most idol dramas are based on. But I’m looking forward to seeing how the ML and FL influence and change other other. This is going to be a drama about growth, and I’m here for it, although I’m aware that most cdrama tend to muck it up by the end. 
In fact, I like all 3 couples. We have 3 “real” characters who each have to navigate a relationship with a “fictional” character. The FL sees her fictional character as being a bad memory she wants to forget. But she slowly begins to remember why she created him in the first place, and through learning to love him, she’s also learning to love herself again. The SFL, Jiang Hui Zhen, is having a lot of fun with her fictional character, Ou Yang Wen Shan. He’s everything she hoped he would be. She knows he isn’t real, and doesn’t feel much remorse in exploiting him, both financially and sexually. But she’s starting to develop real feelings for him, and I can see how he’ll one day get the upper hand, and she’ll finally be beaten in her own game. Their relationship is fun to watch though. It’s flirty and mature. The SML, aka CMR’s childhood bully, feels incredibly lucky that the imaginary woman of his dreams, Dragon Lady, has actually come to life. He worships the ground she walks on, and would do anything for her, even break his own legs and help her win MRJL’s heart, even though he knows that it’s futile to change the trajectory of the story. But his ulterior motive is that he hopes that she’ll develop real feelings for him and deviate from the story. Duan Shui Liu is thus probably the most self-aware character out of the 3 “real” characters. He’s the first one to tell CMR that these fictional characters are living, breathing people. He’s the first one to embrace the situation and roll with it. He sees Dragon Lady as a real person and respects her goals even though he knows it’s pointless. That’s not to justify his unhealthy obsession with her though. 
As for the fictional characters, I can see how they’re going to develop real feelings and a sense of agency. I’m curious to see how they break out of their assigned roles. 
I like how the drama explicitly mentions feminism, women’s rights, consent, and indirectly mentions LGBT relationships, which was probably the most they could manage to get away with given the censorship. I also like how this drama admires western trends instead of bashing it in the name of patriotism, like when JUZ reminds CMR about how when they were growing up and looking at fashion magazines, they would love how American women are confident enough to not wear a bra, and JUI and CMR think that these women look gorgeous regardless. It’s a great statement empowering women, and as someone with a conservative Asian mother who condemns this, I think it’s great that cdramas are trying to normalize that women can wear (or not wear) whatever they want, even if it’s through a small offhand comment in a drama like this. 
Oh and another point is when CMR tells Dragon Lady how pretty she is and says only women are able to understand how pretty other women are. Like how most attention that women get on the street is from other women. It reminds me of how women often dress up for other women to see, not for men.
I think one of the lyrics of the subthemes said something like “If I came to life and found you when you grew up, would you still believe/remember me?”. And it just made me reflect on all the trashy stories and fanfics I wrote as a teen. It’s one of those dramas that make you reflect on your own life by comparing who you were when you were and who you’ve grown up as now. We’ve all come a long way since those days. And even for those of us who still write fanfiction now, it’s still humbling and nostalgic to reflect on how much we’ve changed (and also how much hasn’t). That inner teenager is still inside us. 
The production quality also feels high, even though it doesn’t seem like a drama that many would want to invest it since it’s so niche. The cinematography does feel more cinematic.
In terms of how this drama compares to other stories about transportation to a fictional world, this drama takes the opposite direction where the fictional characters get transported into the real world instead. Disney has done it with Enchanted, and Kate and Leopold was another romcom in a similar vein. But I like this idea being explored in a cdrama since it’s different from The Romance of Tiger and Rose and Lost Romance. 
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flightfoot · 4 years ago
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Divergent Points: ML Salt -Chapter 8
AO3/FFN
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Alya leaned against her boyfriend, just resting for a moment. A few meters away Marinette sat with Adrien’s head in her lap, stroking his hair as he purred like a motorboat.
She smiled. They both could use comfort after the nightmarish world they just came from.
That world’s Ladybug…. 
She shuddered.
Adrien’s situation had been pretty bad. Hearing all those people say those things about a version of him, seeing someone with the face of the person he cared most for try to hurt him as much as she could…
If they’d each been by themselves, if they’d thought that the worlds they’d gone to had been real, that the people had been genuine, that they actually thought those things…?
Between Adrien’s self-worth issues from his father’s treatment of him and Marinette’s anxiety, her fear of letting people down? 
It was a very, VERY good thing neither of them were going through this alone.
Not that she’d be doing too well by herself either. She didn’t have the same sort of issues as Adrien or Marinette, but this place could mess anyone up – Nino’d probably have some issues as well.
Come to think of it, what was up with Nino’s world? It was still really strange how he’d been the only one able to actually move around, who no one’d started out being hostile to. That world’s ‘Marinette’ had even tried to recruit him to her cause!
But all the worlds differed somewhat. 
In hers, ‘Marinette’ was a hapless victim of that… that THING that’d taken over her body, and the bodies of Adrien and Marinette in their own worlds.
Though… maybe it wasn’t so different?
Adrien’d mentioned the ‘Ladybug’ in his nightmare world saying that he’d refused to stand up while one of his friends was beaten and her property was destroyed. Assuming Ladybug had been talking about herself, about ‘Marinette’, that’d fit almost perfectly with her own nightmare.
And even Nino’s nightmare… it didn’t seem to be as extreme – not from what he thought of it – but it seemed to follow the same basic idea, the idea of everyone around Marinette shunning her, even bullying her, believing Lila – and then her taking revenge.
The world they just came from was different – Lila wasn’t involved, and Marinette wasn’t being bullied, but… it still had some similarities; mostly in Ladybug striking back for perceived slights, barely even seeming to consider the person she was taking revenge on to be, well – a person, and just seeming intent on causing the person she hated to suffer as much as possible.
What would the next world bring?
“You okay?”
Sighing, she looked over at her boyfriend. “Just trying to figure out what the deal with this place is, what’s coming next.”
She gazed at the looming door, an imposing reminder that their respite was temporary. “The last world was just… just horrible. Most of them have been. Everyone’s warped and twisted and just… not themselves. And being trapped in that… it’s like being akumatized, but being fully aware of it the whole time, and no one else knowing or CARING that something’s wrong!”
At least she hadn’t run across her counterpart in this last world. Judging by that Ladyblog article, she’d rather not have had anything to do with her. Experiencing the twisted version of herself she’d been forced to inhabit during her nightmare had been quite bad enough, thankyouverymuch. Hopefully she didn’t run into any other warped versions of herself.
Somehow she doubted the universe would be that nice.
Nino put his arm around her shoulders, giving her a warm smile. “I know things look bad. I’m worried too. But… just look at us!” He gestured to Adrien and Marinette, still lost in their own little world, then back to Alya. “We’re together. All four of us. Whatever this place has in store, we’ll manage.”
He leaned in closer. “And for us two especially… well, it isn’t exactly the first time we’ve been in trouble together, is it?”
Her face softened as she gave Nino a small smile. His courage (and recklessness, but she wasn’t exactly one to talk) attacking Anansi repeatedly, over and over, even though he stood no chance of beating her, staying with her after she was infected by Zombizou, just holding her, unwilling to let her go through that alone-
There was no one she’d rather have by her side. 
“Thanks.” Leaning over, she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. “You’re right. Even if things go wrong, even if everything seems hopeless, I know you’ll be there for me, and I’ll be there for you.”
On Heroes Day, she’d seen him be targeted by Dark Cupid. And she just… she couldn’t lose him. 
So she’d taken the arrow instead.
She didn’t remember anything after that of course – the victims of mind-altering akumas usually didn’t – but she’d seen the footage. 
He’d held her, tried to calm her, speaking to her gently even as she struggled to get away and fight him.  
He didn’t give up on trying to get through to her.
Even if this place tried to warp them, break them, change them, showed facsimiles of them doing the most horrible things, tried to say they were real, that this was who they were – they’d always know the truth.
Slowly she stood up, facing the door, fists clenched. “You know what, world!” she shouted, “It doesn’t matter how much stuff you throw at us. We’re friends, and we’re a team. We’ll figure out a way out of here, kick the butt of whoever’s responsible, and get back home! So WATCH OUT!”
Looking over her shoulder, she smiled triumphantly at her friends. “You ready to take on whatever’s waiting for us?”
“Yeah!” Nino and Marinette cheered.
“Mmmmr?” Adrien grumbled sleepily, sounding like a disgruntled cat.
“…Maybe five more minutes,” Marinette chuckled.
Ooph
It would be nice if the world would NOT just drop them. But things just had to be that little bit more difficult, didn’t they? Because just walking through a door and stepping foot on the other side would be too easy. But noooo, the world had to be PETTY about it.
After standing up and dusting herself off, she took a look around.
“Huh. Francois-Dupont. Shoulda figured.”
At least they wouldn’t have to navigate an unfamiliar site.
Looking around, nothing particularly stood out as unusual. Not that it had with previous worlds either, but with this thing, you never knew.
Pulling up her phone she quickly checked the Ladyblog.
What Ladybug REALLY thinks of Chat Noir: Lila tells all
Lila Rossi: The Most Talented Teen Of Our Generation
Malicious Marinette Bullies Disabled, Promising Classmate Lila Rossi
So this version of her was completely fooled by Lila. And also was down with publicly shaming her friends.
Not a surprise considering her counterpart in the previous world had even worse things to say about Adrien, and in her nightmare-
She shuddered.
Ok, best not to think about that more than she had to.
(She had a feeling she’d have to).
Marinette looked over her shoulder and grimaced. “Oh. Lila.”
Yeah, that about summed up how she felt too.
Clicking on the articles, the first two seemed… well, bad, but she’d seen worse.
The tell-all about Ladybug’s and Chat’s relationship was mostly just Lila bragging about supposedly being Ladybug’s best friend while inserting little jibes about how Chat wasn’t really all that competent and how she’d been thinking of recruiting more heroes, while HEAVILY hinting that she herself would have a large role in the selection process.
The second was just her standard bragging and lies like she’d sometimes tell around school. Annoying to see herself lap them up, but well – she’d kinda done that when she first met her, though not to THIS extent. 
But the last one-
Bugheads, I regret to inform you that a girl I once foolishly called a ‘friend’, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, is a bully and a liar. I know I’ve promoted her work on this platform before, but that was before I knew she’d secretly been stealing Lila’s designs, badmouthing and lying about her behind her back to certain influential people, and even going so far as to trip her down stairs, bump into her, and purposely aggravate her medical conditions when no one’s looking!
I know this is hard to believe. It took me awhile to come to terms with as well. But she’s not the awesome person I and some other media outlets and celebrities have hyped her up to be in the past.
No; that honor goes to Lila, the most talented, kindest, and all-around best person in existence. 
You want further proof of Lila’s awesomeness? She’s the reason the Ladyblog’s even a thing, the reason Ladybug’s a superhero at all! In fact, Ladybug looks up to her so much, she wanted LILA to be Ladybug at first, but she refused, seeing the talent in our beloved bug. She encouraged Ladybug to try being a superhero and pushed her into action, gave her the self-confidence she needed to become a pillar of the city. Truly we all owe Lila a debt of gratitude, and owe Marinette contempt for how she’s treated her.
Marinette peered at her phone and snorted. “She really leans into the ‘false fox’ thing, huh?”
Alya just shook her head. Clearly, this universe ran on irony.
…Oh what was she saying, even their normal universe ran on irony. She wasn’t about to forget the absurd ‘unrequited requited’ love square her best friend had managed to get into with Adrien. When she’d gone home after finding out about all THAT, she’d buried her face in her pillow and intermittently screamed and laughed her head off for a few hours.
Okay, admittedly, finding out about the existence of the Lovesquare (and consequently that two of her favorite ships were actually the SAME ship and were helping to block each other) was hardly the only reason she’d been screaming into her pillow. There’d been a LOT for her to digest that day.
More importantly though, the early part of the article was troubling. It rang a little too similar to Adrien’s, Nino’s, and her own nightmare worlds.
With the way it talked about Marinette… maybe she was the sane person in this universe? The one who was ‘split off’ of one of them upon arrival in this world? Assuming this world functioned the way the last one did of course, which was by no means guaranteed. 
Then again, the ‘Marinettes’ of some of the other worlds had also been put through this kind of thing, and the ones for Adrien’s and Nino’s worlds at least DEFINITELY weren’t in their right minds…
This would require more investigation.
A hand forcefully pulled her downwards and to the side.
“Waaa-!”
“Shh!” 
Marinette put a finger to her lips.
Confused, she looked at the school.
There was herself, walking out of school… beside Lila.
Her heart dropped. Reading the articles, this version of herself was clearly ‘friends’ with Lila. If you could call any relationship with Lila ‘friendship’. Did she even know what true friendship was like, or had she fooled herself into thinking that manipulating others was at the core of every close relationship? …Maybe she HADN’T ever had a mutually supportive relationship before, never experienced what a good friendship should be like. 
Lila was a threat certainly, and wasn’t that great a person… but maybe it was possible for her to be better?
She shook herself slightly. Time to focus on the here and now. That wasn’t actually Lila, nor could she DO anything about Lila right now. Trying to puzzle out what to do about her wasn’t exactly a priority at the moment.
She quietly stowed that whole train of thought. Maybe later she could explore that more, talk it over a bit with the others once they were out of danger.
“…so then the prince asked ME to be his top advisor! Of course, I had to say no, since I’m already advising that king – you remember the one I told you about – on how best to rule his country, and conflict of interest and all. I DID help set him up with his fiancé though! I’m even invited to his wedding!”
Well. Those were stupidly extravagant lies. Still not too far outside what she expected from Lila though.
The ‘Alya’ of this universe ate it right up. “Oh Lila. You’re so smart, and talented, and famous, and powerful. I’m so glad you’re leading several charitable agencies as well! How DO you find the time?”
Lila gave a dramatic, long-suffering sigh. “It’s hard, but I just HAD to bring everyone’s attention to the urgent need for penguin sweaters! Those poor little things…”
“Seriously? Penguin sweaters?” Alya muttered quietly. “How ridiculous-“
Marinette shook her head, whispering back, “Actually, that’s real.”
She blinked. “Huh?”
“People thought it would be helpful for penguins impacted by oil spills, but it turned out not to be very useful and they got way more of them than could ever be used. Most of the ones received were sold for money to support penguins instead.”
That… actually made a lot of sense. You ask people for help putting cute penguins in tiny sweaters, you’re gonna end up with a LOT of tiny sweaters.
And if she was running a charity collecting the penguin sweaters, and they usually ended up being sold for funds instead of being put on penguins ANYWAY…
Oh. That was DEVIOUS. She was almost impressed.
“I can’t believe Marinette refused to make more penguin sweaters to help! What does she have against helping penguins stay warm!” ‘Alya’ fretted.
Lila put on a sad face. “Sadly, not everyone can be as kind and enlightened as you and I.”
Marinette mimed gagging. Alya was inclined to agree with her.
She might’ve swallowed Lila’s lies before, but she was never this sycophantic. 
And then this world’s Marinette came barreling out the front doors.
She tensed.
Oh crap she was running right past ‘Alya’.
‘Alya’ stuck out a foot.
Right in her path.
This was gonna be-
‘Alya’ pulled back her foot seconds before ‘Marinette’ reached her, a look of confusion and shock on her face before quickly smoothing away into a sneer.
“Well look who it is,” she said disdainfully, “the penguin-hater.”
‘Marinette’ looked away and downwards, her voice breaking a little. “I- I’m so busy with all my commissions, making the scarf for you, organizing school field trips, I- I’m not gonna devote that much time creating sweaters for a fake charity, that Lila’ll just sell for profit!”
Lila gasped. “Why Marinette, how could you possibly accuse me of such a heinous act! I would never do something so awful!”
“How dare you say such a thing about Lila, if you don’t- take that back-“ 
Alya’s eyes narrowed. Her counterpart seemed to be struggling, spitting words out but… it almost seemed like something was forcing them out of her throat.
And her eyes, her expression…
Her eyes bulged, her face screwing up slightly. 
‘Alya’ stepped forwards, towards ‘Marinette’, her hand closing into a fist-
And put one foot forwards a little too much, abruptly stopping her forward momentum, then moved back slightly. She grit her teeth, breathing raggedly. “I’ll- I’ll tell someone about it,” she slowly said, seeming to shape every word. “They’ll be- be really upset.” She closed her eyes, closing her mouth into a straight line. Noises emerged from her throat, but with her mouth closed, no words.
‘Marinette’s’ eyes narrowed, taking on a dangerous expression.
And then she blinked and it was gone, the doe-eyed expression returning.
But Alya saw it.
Something was wrong here.
Something was VERY wrong here.
‘Marinette’ looked at the ground, scuffing her feet. “Are- are you going to lie about me again? Tell them I’m hurting Lila, like you did before?”
“YOU’RE the liar!” Lila spat. “Tell her, Alya!”
‘Alya’ jerked, her tongue loosening. But her eyes widened, looking terrified. “It’s not a lie,” she spoke mechanically. “You are awful. Lila said you did those things, so you did. You de-de-deserve-“
Abruptly she started walking away, still attempting to finish her sentence. 
“Hey, where’re you GOING?!” Lila called. 
Alya just jerked her head to either side in what looked like an approximation of shaking her head, if it was done while actively fighting against something. Her pace sped up.
‘Marinette’ glared after her.
Alya looked at her friends. All of them looked shaken, eyes nearly as wide as Alya’s counterpart had been.
“Should we-?” she asked.
They all nodded and as a group, quietly followed after this universe’s version of Alya – and she was beginning to suspect, the ‘split-off’ fragment of herself.
------------
As ‘Alya’ got further away, her pace sped up until she full-on ran, her movements becoming smoother, less jerky and forced. 
Alya herself was doing the best she could just to keep up with – well, ‘Alya’. Girl could be fast when she wanted to be. The four of them had long since abandoned ‘sneaking around’ in favor of ‘just trying not to lose track of her’ several minutes ago.
Luckily she was pretty distrac-
‘Alya’ abruptly stopped and turned around.
Ah, crap.
“Who- what-?”
Hissing slightly, she grabbed her other self, pulling her over to a nearby alley and out of sight. Her friends hurriedly followed them.
Was this necessary? She wasn’t sure. But the idea of being out in the open talking about this made her hair stand on end.
Better to be at least slightly hidden.
A spark went off in ‘Alya’s’ eyes. “An akuma! That’s why-!”
“No. Well… at least, WE’RE not following any akuma.”
Maybe an akuma was responsible for this? If so though, they were being surprisingly cagey about it. They tended to be a lot more obvious than this.
Her eyebrows furrowed. “If not an akuma then-“
“We’re not from around here,” she cut in.
“Wait, who are ‘we’?”
Just then Marinette, Adrien, and Nino rounded the corner.
‘Alya’ flinched for a moment looking at Marinette, braced herself… and then relaxed. “That… that THING that took over me… it’s gone now?” she murmured confusedly.
So her suspicions were correct. 
“It happened to you too, huh?”
‘Alya’ blinked. “You’ve gone through it?!”
She shrugged. “Something like it at least. I was trapped within my own body, my own head. I didn’t realize anything was wrong for a few moments, but… well, the nasty thoughts towards Marinette clued me in that something was off, and once those thoughts transformed into actions...”
‘Alya’ shuddered. “Things were fine at first, when I was just walking with Lila. Until the subject turned to Marinette anyway. Something niggled at me once the whole penguin sweater thing came up, but I couldn’t place it. 
Then a thought came to trip her down the stairs. And when I balked, it started to sound more like a command than my own thoughts. I was still able to stop it, but… barely.
But it just kept going. If I hadn’t been able to force myself away-“
She let out a small sob.
Outwardly Alya gave her counterpart a hug and a small, hopefully reassuring smile. Though considering how forced it was, she wasn’t sure whether it did the job. 
Inside she seethed. This… this thing, this compulsion, this controlling entity had no right. And just… why? Why did this thing want her to hurt Marinette so badly?
The violence, the bullying… just… why?
And why the focus around Marinette?
Every world so far had revolved around her in some way, either with her as the main victim or as the main perpetrator. Or both. 
Granted, Adrien showed up too, but… he didn’t seem to be focused on to the same extent. 
Was Marinette being targeted for some reason? 
“We’re going to figure this out.”
Alya snapped out of it, turning towards the speaker.
Marinette stood in the alleyway, a fire in her eyes. “I’m tired of seeing my friends warped. I’m tired of seeing them controlled. And I’m especially tired of seeing it done using my face!”
Done using her-
Ah.
So she’d picked up on it too.
“…Huh?”
So ‘Alya’ hadn’t noticed. Unsurprising. She’d had other things to concentrate on.
“That ‘Marinette’, that supposed version of me… she acted strangely. She seemed upset when you managed to fight off against the worse compulsions trying to control you. And considering previous experience… well I’m pretty suspicious.”
‘Alya’ mouthed ‘what happened-‘, then shook herself. “…Maybe you guys should come home with me and explain.”
----------
“So none of this is real?”
Alya nodded. “Well, so far as we know.”
“That explains my memories at least,” ‘Alya’ muttered. “I remember doing all this awful stuff to Marinette and being a complete sycophant to Lila, but… none of it feels real. Like it’s something I read about or maybe saw in a show, not something I actually did.”
She stared at her hands. “Which means the first time I’ve actually had a chance to fight back against this THING was today.”
“And you did great.”
She looked up at Nino.
“Don’t you see?” he continued. “Even with all this made-up backstory, even with it controlling your body, you still realized something was wrong and fought back. And you WON.”
She glanced to the side. “Yeah, but only barely. And only by forcing my feet to walk away. What if- what if I CAN’T next time?! Or- or if it’s able to reassert control over me?!”
“Then I’ll fight for you. Wouldn’t be the first time. I WON’T abandon you.”
Alya chuckled. That was for sure. It was one reason she was so easily able to figure out his secret identity; Nino disappearing while she was in danger? Not likely. He’d fought Anansi for her, stayed with her after she was infected by Zombizou, even tried to talk her out of the Dark Cupid infection.
If she was in danger, even if she WAS the danger, Nino would still be there for her.
…Though at some point they may need to have the whole ‘I’d rather you save yourself than go down with me’ talk. She’d delayed it since she figured it’d be useless. Marinette had tried a similar talk on Adrien after taking a blow from an akuma for her once again, which to the surprise of no one, didn’t seem to have changed his stubbornness about making sure she stayed alive, uninjured, and uncaptured, even at his own expense. But hey, at least she made an effort.
It was weird to see Nino addressing this version of herself as being her, but… well, she was, wasn’t she? Even now, while it was weird, it felt more like an out-of-body experience than him talking to someone separate. Not that she was actually experiencing what her counterpart did. It just felt like everything she was saying, everything that was going on with her, applied to herself as well. 
Almost like… almost like an empathic bond, but the feelings themselves didn’t exactly transmit? It was hard to explain. 
Which come to think of it-
“There’s another reason why everything before we arrived felt unreal,” she told ‘Alya’
Luckily, she took the revelation of what they believed to be her true nature rather well. She’d even looked a little relieved.
“Better than being entirely manufactured for this mess of a world,” she said, grimacing. 
The explanation of how ‘Marinette’ had been acting, along with the more in-depth explanation of what all of them had been through so far prompted more discussion. 
“So what’s the theory then?” she asked, sipping on some hot cocoa. It wasn’t that cold outside, but after what she’d been through? She deserved some comfort. 
Not that she was the only one. They’d all scrounged up some warm, fluffy blankets to arrange into a nest along with hot cocoa and chocolate chip cookies for everyone.
The food was delicious, exactly how she remembered – EXACTLY how she remembered. They’d all had a quick discussion and come to the conclusion that they were tasting what they expected it to taste like, rather than what it actually would taste like. Which explained why she, Nino, and Marinette, who’d all had a decent amount of delicious cookies over the past few years, tasted normal, but really good cookies. They probably wouldn’t have noticed anything remiss if Adrien hadn’t complained of not being able to pin down the flavor or texture of the cookie; it’d been years since he’d had a chocolate chip cookie, so his memories weren’t as fresh.
Something which Marinette had already promised to rectify when they got back home. She had a feeling they’d all be pulled into a baking lesson – while Marinette and Adrien enjoyed time alone together, something like baking was often more fun all together. They’d had some experience with it anyway, with Sabine recruiting her and Adrien to help with the bakery when Tom fell ill.
It might’ve been a little crowded at times, but it’d been fun!
“My best guess is that that ‘Marinette’,” Marinette put air-quotes around her name, “might be partly responsible for whatever was going on with you. Or at least, benefitting from it somehow.”
 ‘Alya’ frowned. “That would explain some things, like why getting away from her caused that controlling entity to release. Though Lila was also there.”
Hm. She had a point.
“Lila’s acting pretty normal though,” Marinette cut in. “But then again, she already acts like these messed-up versions of people. Huh. Come to think of it, she also has a similar weird hold on people. Well at first anyway. So maybe she just didn’t need to be altered that much to fit in with this world?”
Actually-
 “Is it just me, or does the messed-up version of Marinette remind you of Lila, but like, on steroids? Especially in the last world.”
Marinette blinked, then grimaced. “That… actually makes a lot of sense. She had a similar focus on everyone needing to worship her, and along with the pure vindictiveness she had towards Adrien, it was pretty reminiscent of Lila’s vendetta against you, me, and Ladybug.”
“Maybe Lila’s not actually Lila and she’s just some version of whatever this entity controlling and twisting people is? Like a weaker version.”
She laughed. “That’d certainly make her easier to take care of. I think we’re stuck with her, unfortunately.”
‘Alya’ frowned. “Putting that aside, what’s the plan? How do we get out of here?”
Marinette sat back, putting her hand on her chin. “Well Chat was able to break out when he was able to lay out what was wrong with that messed up ‘Ladybug’, and before that we were all able to break out when we figured out what was wrong with the worlds we were in and rejected them. That’ll be a little more difficult this time around with how this thing keeps trying to control you.”
She closed her eyes for a moment. “You were able to fend it off a little right? Not just by fighting directly, but by modifying it?”
‘Alya’ slowly nodded. “I was able to tone down some of the speech the thing wanted me to say even when I wasn’t able to stop it completely. So long as it was still within the ballpark of what it wanted me to do or say, it released a little.”
Light dawned in her eyes. “So maybe if I can work around it a little, go after the problems and inconsistencies in a way that’s not directly against what it wants me to do, it might loosen up enough for me to strike the final blow!”
Marinette smiled and nodded. “That might work! Do you know how you could do that though?”
‘Alya’ slowly smiled, gears seeming to turn in her head. “You know, I think I have an idea…”
------------
‘Alya’ approached the school steps. Or rather, Rena; talks concerning both herself and her counterpart had gotten confusing a few times, until her counterpart had suggested that one of them take the name ��Rena’ while the other stuck with ‘Alya’.
She’d been more than happy to take ‘Rena’, especially after finding out Ladybug and Chat’s secret identities. Well, more like rediscovering them. As soon as they mentioned it, the knowledge just kind of slotted in, like she’d known it for a long time but had gotten buried and just called to the surface again.
It’d just felt right. She hadn’t been called on to be Rena Rouge again since Heroes Day in this reality. Which made a lot more sense after finding out who Ladybug was (well, finding out again, she guessed).
Being called Rena by everyone? Having that affirmation that she was part of the team, part of their group? It’d made her feel like she belonged.
But Marinette calling her by that name had meant the most to her. She’d been the one to give her the ability to be Rena Rouge, to have chosen her as the first new Miraculous wielder. Giving her the Fox Miraculous may not have been possible right now, but she’d given her something else; her trust, her confidence, her belief that she could do this.
Marinette had chosen her to be a hero.
She wanted to live up to that.
The five of them spent the rest of the evening and night chatting and goofing, then finally going to sleep. Her parents and siblings never came home. No message explaining where they were either. They’d speculated that since they weren’t very important to this world, to this narrative it seemed to be building up, they just… weren’t there. At least, not yet. Like how a video game engine might render smaller background elements in less detail than larger, more important elements, or only render them as backdrops – at least, until the player got closer.
Speaking of video games, fortunately hers and Nino’s favorite dancing game still worked here. Only the songs they’d played a few times, but luckily that was most of them. They’d competed against Adrien and Marinette, beating them narrowly, experience winning out. She had a feeling that if they got an opportunity to practice more she and Nino would have quite a fight on their hands keeping the top spot. She and Nino had experience and moves, but the level of coordination between Adrien and Marinette was unreal.
They’d ended up dragging their blanket nest to the living room once they figured out her family likely wasn’t going to make an appearance. Technically everyone could cram into her bedroom, but it was a little tight for all five of them to sleep in there, especially if they needed to go to the bathroom.
Which they apparently didn’t? It took awhile for any of them to notice, but none of them had felt the need to do so the entire time they’d been there. No one felt hungry or thirsty exactly either, though eating and drinking were still comforting even if it didn’t appear to be a bodily necessity.
Sleep DID appear to be necessary. Everyone’s eyes had started drooping around 10 pm, none worse than Adrien’s. Part of that may’ve been an excuse to lay down and cuddle Marinette while purring up a storm though.
Smiling at the memory, she turned into the classroom.
Immediately her smile died.
The entity, the compulsion - whatever it was - had returned.
Do you see that bully, that two-faced slime? It whispered. She’s evil. You should let her know exactly how much you despise her. You know she deserves it.
She wasn’t about to fall into its trap.
She’d play its game, but by her own rules.
Her feet took her towards ‘Marinette’, towards her usual seat.
‘Marinette’ looked away from her coldly.
Then she stood up and made her way over to Chloe, sliding into the seat next to her.
Huh.
Where’d Sabrina go?
Unbidden, her feet took her over to ‘Marinette’ and Chloe.
Rip them to shreds, the voice said. She’s evil, and she’s proven it by siding with Chloe. You can do anything you want to them, say anything you want, and they’ll deserve it.
It wanted her to destroy them, huh?
It probably meant in a similar way to before, trying to hurt and damage ‘Marinette’ emotionally and physically.
But she had other plans.
So long as it still appeared hostile and anti-Marinette, or anyone on her side, maybe it’d work?
“So you’re taking Sabrina’s place, huh?” she said testily.
For a moment she was afraid the compulsion, the entity would force her to add something unintended to that; but it seemed to accept her declaration, at least for now.
Hopefully she could keep it like that. Maybe not fully satisfied, but not perturbed to the point it took over and forced her to act against her will – at least until it’d weakened enough for her to strike.
“At least Chloe never pretended to be my friend! At least she was honest!” ‘Marinette’ shot back.
She could see the argument. Easier to befriend someone who’d never been on your side than someone you’d once been close to and who’d then turned on you. And to be fair Chloe’d shown some small signs of being able to do better.
But there were flaws in that logic.
“Why though?” she asked, looking at Chloe. “You’ve been mistreating all of us, sometimes for years, and one of your closest ‘friends’ worst of all. Why is it only now that you’re okay with Marinette?”
Chloe scoffed. “At least I don’t worship some liar. And I can still tell who’s the REAL bully.”
“But why you above-“
She choked.
What are you doing?! What are you even trying to say?! Criticizing Chloe for being too nice?
Ok so she couldn’t go in that directly, not while implying so heavily that her defending ‘Marinette’ was a good thing.
So what negative thing-
Sabrina.
That was it!
It hadn’t stopped her talking about Sabrina before, so maybe-
“And what about Sabrina? You know, your closest ‘friend’? The one who does your homework, covers for you, steals for you, provides anything you need, and yet you repay with verbal abuse?”
Chloe glared at her. “She’s honored to serve me. She loves me!”
“What’re you trying to say, Alya?” ‘Marinette’ cut in. “It’s not like you’re any better. We used to be friends, but you threw me away the second someone came along who seemed shinier, more interesting, more powerful. I gave so much of myself to you, but now you just hurl insults on Lila’s say-so.”
Not in the regular universe; unfortunately she couldn’t say that just yet. Too direct. Too soon.
“Why do you think Chloe will treat you better than she does Sabrina?  And if you’re comparing me to Chloe, or I guess to Sabrina if I’m supposedly Lila’s lackey… what gives Chloe a pass?”
What does this have to do with anything? Tear into Marinette! Tear into Chloe! What’re you waiting for?!
She suppressed a smile. The voice might be making demands, but it was a little quieter, a little less compelling than it was before.
Chloe stood up, shoving herself in Rena’s face. “Now listen here Cesaire. I can recognize the talent you threw away, misused, mistreated! You might not have fully appreciated Marinette, but I DO. Finally, she has friends who recognize what she truly deserves.
That’s what makes me different. I know the worth of the people around me. And you? YOU are worthless.”
Well even in these circumstances, Chloe was still at least somewhat Chloe.
But as for the rest of it-
“But that’s the thing! Those descriptors of how I supposedly treated Marinette better match how you treat Sabrina. And you never cared much about Marinette even after she helped with your mom. So why’re you the one who defends Marinette above anyone else? It’s almost like-“
STOP. PUNCH HER. RIP UP HER STUFF. SCREAM AT HER. HURT HER.
She bit her tongue.
The compulsion, the entity, had run out of patience.
But it wasn’t as powerful as it used to be; she could feel the undertone of fear in its commands.
And she was NOT about to let it puppet her around again.
She ground out, “It’s almost like you and I swapped.”
A ripple ran through her body.
Her jaw unclenched slightly.
The entity had faded to a whisper.
She straightened up, looking ‘Marinette’ straight in the eyes. “Chloe being the one who recognizes bullying and stands up to it? Sabrina seeming to almost disappear when convenient? All while everyone else descends into really toxic relationships, becoming sycophants who do whatever Lila says, no matter how hurtful? It doesn’t make sense! Chloe’s been getting better but that doesn’t mean she’s suddenly one of the only people in class with a moral compass, especially when she’s STILL treating Sabrina as badly as ever, treating her the way everyone else has been contorted into treating you!”
Looking up, she gazed at the rest of the class. “And with everyone else; would this really happen? None of us are perfect. All of us have our off days. But this sustained bullying of a friend? Badmouthing her, pushing her out, even trying to hurt her or damage her stuff? Even with Chloe who we’ve all actually experienced bullying, none of us did worse than avoid her or make a few comments and we still helped her when she was in trouble like when Zombizou came after her! No matter what lies we might be told, we wouldn’t be this callous, this hurtful, this openly malicious.”
‘Marinette’ glared at her, her face stony. 
Rena breathed in one last time, and gave the final blow. “THIS. ISN’T. REAL.”
The world shattered and dissolved, breaking apart into small particles. ‘Marinette’ broke last, expression unchanging.
A tingling went up her spine, followed by a light, floaty feeling. For a moment she started to panic.
Memories surged through her mind. 
"Before this past year, I've never been very confident. I was always kinda a screw-up. But you gave me HOPE, Alya. I meant it when I said that Ladybug thinks you're cool. You INSPIRED me, Alya."
“You might not come up with the super complicated plans that Ladybug does, but you can do them your own way. You’ve got this.”
A moment later her body felt solid again as she reconciled two - no, three sets of memories; the ones the false world had created for her, as well as the two sets of memories from her adventures while she was split apart.
“Disorienting isn’t it?” Adrien asked.
She nodded as he helped her off the floor.
Looking at her friends, she smiled.
These worlds may be trying to break and remake them. 
But they’d forge through nonetheless.
She knew who she was.
And no entity was going to change that.
---------
(A/N) I really wanted to cover the whole "making Alya violent and malicious and a bully in order to have her victimize Marinette" thing more. Especially since... well... unlike with Adrien bashing which has several distinct categories (heck Adrien and Chat are bashed for some pretty different things) Alya bashing resides on more of a continuum, with what I'd argue is the WORST of it being the "hurting Marinette" stage. Oftentimes Marinette's just her hapless victim during this part, though that sometimes changes later; sometimes she at least ACTS kind of like canon Marinette would in that situation and doesn't have a complete personality transplant, in which case either her protection squad does the dirty deed of enacting revenge or she moves away or commits suicide, in which cases the revenge is meted out via the guilt breaking Alya or by family/friends/law enforcement coming after her for being so awful to Marinette. Though for the moving away plotline, I think it's often more "Alya learns that everything good and fun and pure came because of Marinette and without her she is nothing and everything falls apart."
Even in the cases where Marinette HERSELF isn't warped much, if the people around her are warped, contorted, made into people they aren't in order to promotes this whole "Marinette Deserves Better" mindset by importing or exaggerating negative qualities into them... well... that's still only slightly better. I wanted to cover how Alya WOULD NOT DO this stuff; she seems to be used more as a puppet or a stand-in for the character the author wants or needs for the story, this traitorous, violent, malicious, sycophantic (to the wrong person) former friend. Alya's name and appearance are used for this, but her personality is scrubbed out and replaced. Hence why she's controlled so tightly here; this part of the storyline in a lot of Alya bashing fics wouldn't work if it was derived from things that were within the realm of what she might do canonically, of how she's been shown to act.
I also wanted to cover the whole "replace Alya's role with Chloe" thing that crops up a lot. I like a good Chloedemption but when it's done while making the 'good' characters fill in for her role as a bully while she just magically becomes better? It doesn't work and comes off as very hypocritical.
 I understand where some of the general idea came from. Chloe was hot off the heels of the Queen's Battle arc and Heroes Day when Chameleon aired and with Lila's threat about turning Marinette's friends against her combined with Alya being receptive to Lila's lies? There was a certain amount of narrative sense.
It's really when Alya became more and more warped into someone she wasn't along with canon showing that while she may buy some of Lila's lies to a limited capacity but yet won't leave Marinette high and dry and CERTAINLY won't try to intentionally hurt her that that plotline became grating. 
Doesn't help that well... all the accusations I hear about Alya being a terrible friend to Marinette... even in a lot of saltfics, the ones that don't go so far as to have her try to physically harm Marinette, that fits how Chloe treats Sabrina or even Adrien far, far, FAR better than how Alya treats Marinette (seriously the Alyanette friendship is great and I love their relationship). If Chloe tried to show Marinette what a "better" friendship was like by treating Marinette the same way she treats Sabrina... well there's a reason I've never seen that done.
ANYWAY, I wanted to pour as much sugar as I could onto Alya. She needs love and comfort and appreciation and for nice things to happen to her. 
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gale-gentlepenguin · 5 years ago
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Gale’s Top 10 Worst episodes of ML
(Now this list is my personal opinion, and since I haven't been so active, might as well make a big list)
I will be making my top 10 best list later)
This list is my personal opinion, and I don't expect everyone to agree with all my picks (some are obviously bad, and some that may have been awful to you might have not been for me. and the reverse. Let me know your personal top 10 worst)
10. Gigatitan
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The reason this episode got on the list is mostly because it is completely unnecessary to anything in ML. It was such a dull episode. However, there were two things I did enjoy in the episode. 1. The Girl squad, which I did find funny.
2. I did like that Gorilla will stop being mad as long as Adrien’s okay. 
Aside from that this episode was pretty dull.
9.Malediktator
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This one is on the list because it is subpar in a LOT of ways. Chloé’s ‘Redemption’ was pretty much on life support and this did too little too late to make anyone think Chloé was redeemable. The akuma design was lame, Adrien’s attitude (While I do understand why he was upset, had no reason to say no one else should be unhappy) The lesson is more of a slap in the face now with season 3′s ending.
It did have some cool action shots, and Actual cat Chat noir was funny to me.
8. Animaestro
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Or as I like to call it, “Thomas’ emotional HJ episode” 
The fight itself was the only somewhat entertaining thing about this episode. (Also Marinette and Kagami’s outfits were cool, but doesn't really save the episode)
It is a textbook case of how ‘Not’ to do a self insert. and how not to do a “Call out the critics” episode. 
Marinette got a lot of flack on this episode, and I think people were too hard on her, she was clearly regretful about he actions and swore not to do it again, besides it was chloé that did the stuff, not Marinette. 
But mainly just the episode was bleh.
7.Stormy weather 2.0
MAN, I HATE CLIPSHOWS.
this episode was a glorified recap, I am not even bothering with an image for this one, because it would just be recycled footage.
Also just drives in the nail that Chloé isn't getting a redemption. So, just more insult to injury.
I guess it does give a little insight on how characters think of each other, but really, it is a pretty weak episode. Aurore deserved better.
6. Antibug
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Finally a season 1 episode makes the list.
I am someone that LOVES the evil opposite trope. But the way this episode is done is so... lacking in every sense of the word.
Antibug wasn't even the akuma for Half the episode. How she beats chat noir easily made no sense. Her design was lacking. It felt rushed and the action between Ladybug and Antibug could have been so much better.
I do like the ladynoir in it, but its not a good episode.
5. Copycat
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I agree this was a more entertaining episode to watch then most of the episodes below it, but this has a few things wrong with it that I can't look past.
A. HOW OLD IS THEO?! (This is like 30% of my problem with this episode.) Cause potential pedo. I kind of hope @zoe-oneesama​ is right and he is actually Adrien and Marinette age. Or at least Luka Age. Because then I can like his character, Theo wasn't really that bad.
B. Chat noir is at his worst in this episode and doesn't apologize for acting like an absolute possessive prick, which if he did would have probably made this a great episode.
C. (Related to B) Ladybug takes the blame for not showing up. This isn't her fault and I feel like she should know that.
4. Captain Hardrock
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This was the episode that made me quit ML for a while.
It was a poorly written and incredibly boring episode.
IT HAS A PIRATE BATTLE IN IT, BUT IT WAS BORING! HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE?!
Luka’s intro was so... ehh. Comparing it to Kagami’s would be like a paper tiger to a category 3 hurricane. Kagami’s intro was so much stronger.
I found him so douche-y at the time I first watched this. Now my feelings on the guitarist have softened. But I feel he could have had a much better introduction.
also, Marinette’s character was not written well in this episode. (not that she was awful, but her interactions with Luka felt really off to me in this episode)
3. Miracle Queen (Spoilers below)
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I loved Loveater, and seeing Miracle Queen was such a MONUMENTAL letdown.
It had a LOT of expectations to meet and Failed in meeting every single one.
The only thing I Found legit enjoyment out of was the fight with Dragonbug and Snake noir against team evil miraculous.
Fu’s departure was... I didn't care. I honestly could not care at this point.
Like I should have felt sadder, but I felt more bad for Marinette. Fu basically Yeeted his responsibility to her. Marinette thinks all of this is all her fault. Now she is the guardian, is giving up on Adrien, and is pretty much alone, because she is under the impression if her identity is ever known, THE WORLD WILL F***ING END.
So yea, I hate how hard Marinette gets hit.
Maybe if they did One of the things, it wouldn't have been so awful.
The show did give up the love square, now its just fucking love triangles. Whoop-dee f***ing do.
Honestly the worst part is how insufferable certain members of the fandom were when this came out. (you guys know what I am talking about.)
2.  The Chameleon
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What? This isn't number 1? I bet you are all thinking. 
The truth is, its a bad episode. Objectively one of the worst written episodes, inspired the most salt, and pretty much set the tone of the salt Fandom last year.
Adrien’s lesson was bad, (which he does learn he was wrong, but damage still done)
Marinette had to deal with so much unnecessary crap.
Everyone had the IQ of goldfish.
The akuma was Lame.
The only funny part was Clam Lila (and that is really the only thing that saved it from being number one)
1. Frozen
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This one is my personal least favorite episode.
It had Kagami, Adrien and Marinette at their relative worst in terms of personality.
The only decent character in this that didn't make me want to shoot myself was Luka. (and Plagg, but I actually like plagg a lot so he is always exempt unless stated otherwise)
The ice skating battle was sorta cool but I wish there was more to the ice designs, as well as the fight itself.
I was still not over the lame drama from earlier, that really set the tone for the ending of season 3.
And for that, I really can't forgive.
It established the whole love triangle bs.
It made Chat noir an asshole to Copycat levels of asshollery.
It also was the rise of the anti’s that shipped Lukanette. (Not the ones that ship Lukanette because they like the ship and just want happiness for both of them. Those peeps are chill and have great art)  The ones that want to rag on Adrien and use this ship as some sort of way to punish him, because Idk.
I think I hate what the episode started more then the actual episode itself. But that is the main reason why I put this at number ones.
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faireth-reed · 4 years ago
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Comparing writing styles for the routes: Moonlight Lovers
Before I begin, this’ll be a long post. I just wanted to make Raphael vs Ivan at the beginning, but there’s much more to say. I know that I can’t fully decide my preferred writing style without the 2nd half of the routes, so I’ll take that into account. Careful, there might be some unpopular opinions, and spoilers, of course.
Let’s talk about each of them, by route order. At first I expected to have Aaron and Ethan as my favourites because of my Ezarel-Valkyon love, but these guys are not copies of Eldarya’s characters, so...
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Vladimir
The first one tends to have it more difficult. While he has this “main LI” aura, we had to discover all the lore of ML through him, so it meant going at a slower pace. Good backstory, both for Eloise and him, and I was surprised to see a more unique past for Vlad. While some of us felt a bit frustrated at first because of “Vlad is mad at us again”, I really enjoyed seeing his character evolution, how he opened himself up.
Bad points? The route might seem “less unique” because it took a lot of time to explain the main story, and Vlad is not really present in other routes. That’s supposed to change in Raphael’s route, but it won’t be his main writer, so we don’t know how that’ll be.
Beliath
Who doesn’t look at him and say “my man!”? It’s impressive how we expected to get a boring casanova cliché and he was so much more, he managed to make us love him in all routes. And the relationship evolution was a gulp of fresh air, more interesting and a lot of respect. Beliath’s relationship with every manor member is unique, there’s fun and camaraderie.
The only thing I’d change about his route is the exaggeration of Leandra. Even if she’s a quite good character, there’s still that “Chiino’s too perfect/seductive self-insert” vibe.
Ivan
I’ve been thinking a lot of him, because he’s given me this “little bro must protect” ideas. Many people had Aaron-like expectations for him, but the events made lots of them stop playing, and I understand it. But I’ve come to a conclusion about his route.
I used to find his route really contradicting. Half of it gave me the sensation that our Chalice was falling in love out of pity, and that all the vampires were acting too badly, even out of character. But even if we mostly see her thoughts, we are seeing the story from Ivan’s point of view.
Why the clown-wholesome dissonance in every chapter? Is it contradictory or not? Turns out, it’s just two sides of the same coin. We’ve got a young man who’s ashamed of his past (rich boy who partied too much), who’s lived a trauma as big as the Chalice’s, and he doesn’t even remember it properly.
He has this pain that he doesn’t really understand, and he has to mature for his survival, and he’s responsible of other people too. What we see every chapter, even if it makes us uncomfortable, is the amount of reasons that we have to get the good or bad ending. Ivan is really fighting to overcome his condition, but the choices are so crucial that the outcome is either very romantic, or catastrophic.
The cruelty from the beginning is his point of view, he really thinks the others don’t trust him at all. He starts getting healthier when people show him their trust. He’s in desperate need of comfort (and that is worrisome), so that’s why he wants to fight so hard his previous obsession for Constance and Loic. He really wants to begin a new life, but the trust that he receives is such an important condition that he either manages to overcome his past or not. And it turns into a life-death situation.
I still don’t know what to think about the neutral ending. Is it just meme material? Is it good instead? Do Ivan and Loic deserve each other? Probably they do, but there’s someone else suffering here. I somehow like it, but if I were an Ivan stan, I’d be probably hurt.
Aaron
Most people’s favourite, and the best beginning, but... I’m so frustrated! It’s easy to compare the first chapters with Vladimir’s, because the main lore doesn’t need to go as slow now that we already know it. Even so, I put too many hopes for him. I expected a tavern scene, but the “trying to impress you in Moondance” was also cool.
And we got interesting stuff coming. His story, the naturality of being bisexual and our Chalice’s attraction towards him, both’s relationship with Farah... Until we were forced to see her as a rival too. WHY?! Where is the feminism that we were promised? Love rivals are boring! And Farah herself said that she didn’t want to compete. I found her cool, but it’s as if we were playing A6 and its dumb self-inserts.
I still have some expectations about the ending but not too many, Rather than having a choice to express attraction towards Farah or not, we were forced. Perhaps my problem is that I wanted to voice my thoughts, and this is a pre-made Eloise.
Raphael
No, no, no... I’m really sorry for his fans because they are really cool people, but I didn’t want Leiftan 2.0, and I’m getting Leiftan after buying stuff from Nathaniel.
I can’t judge because it’s too soon, but I really need an explanation. I have various hypothesis:
a) As “religious” as he is, Raphael thinks that a Chalice is some kind of miraculous gift, so he’s in an exthasis state.
b) Considering that some people confirmed that there’s a past lover again, Raphael is having as much trouble as Ivan. He could even compare the two women if they have physical resemblance, but I don’t know.
c) With one of the previous conditions, the vampire-chalice bond has become so strong all of a sudden that she feels the strong emotions as well. She wakes up already infatuated because he’s been feeling that for a while, looking at her unconscious form.
d) Much simpler, it’s manipulation again, we know that he’s good at mental stuff with humans. That would mean that he’ll have to respect her soon, if this is properly adressed.
Either way, I’m happy that the past lover seems to be an unknown woman and not Alessio, because his design is somehow interesting, and I want to know his role in the story. But I’m still mad that Eloise hates everyone but Raph.
Fortunately, this time we can choose our reaction with Ivan instead of what happens in the other routes. We can find a middle ground where she isn’t excessively comprehensive nor harsh.
Ethan
Here comes my bastard! He doesn’t have a route yet, but we’re learning so much from him. And I’ll defend him, because I just like relatable bastards (like with a certain SnK character).
We know his main behavior is caused by his war trauma. It’ll depend on how the writer manages him. Hopefully he won’t treat his chalice very heartlessly, but she’ll be scared at first for sure.
He’s seen the worst side of humanity, had a tough time adapting, and he cannot rest. There are two recently converted people that are a reflex of humanity and himself, so he’s conflicted. We know he respects Eloise and becomes closer with her in Beliath’s route, and some of the other vampires appreciate him as well.
From his point of view, Ivan doesn’t even try to survive (it’s practically true in his bad ending, and almost false in the good one). Ivan has technically put all the manor in danger and killed someone, so once the biggest danger happens, he snaps. He doesn’t even know how to react, so the first thing that comes to his mind is scaring Eloise or breaking a few bones if necessary, so Ivan stops going into a trap, or at least, it doesn’t affect the other members. Really twisted choice, but it comes in a rush.
He’s suffering the “only love-interests” problem of this kind of otomes. Since there are almost no secondary characters, he has to be the one to do the harsh comments. I don’t want to mention routes 4-5, but in Vlad’s he seems to snap when Neil’s situation is too badly handled.
So, by now you must already know which writer I prefer, and perhaps it surprises you. But I’ll add something more. The infamous list of ML’s incoherent things.
First writer’s mistakes:
”A chalice can’t kill their vampire”. Vladimir’s neutral ending proves otherwise, unless we acknowledge that euthanasia is consensual assistance. I still don’t like how much they make it look too romantic, but I understand the point.
”A chalice is only free when the vampire dies”. Ivan’s neutral ending has Eloise being “replaced” by Loic, and that has no explanation at all.
Neil’s disappearance.
Second writer’s mistakes:
”Vampires can’t have children, unless they are hybrids”. What about Beliath’s father? He was 100% vampire, otherwise Bel would be a mixture of more races.
There is an unwritten law about chalices not getting romantically involved with other vampires. Perhaps it’s just a matter of respect, but Ethan explains it as if it were as bad as drinking their blood. Was Beliath’s comment just a joke, then? Quite weird, anyways.
”You will be given more options in the story to make it more visual-novel-like, so you can choose more freely”. I don’t know about the endings, but the illus are harder to obtain than ever. Failing Aaron’s second illu? Raphael’s first? Or is it just Beemov having bugs again?
Go up again and stare at the pic. Now look at my bastard’s scared face. I don’t want him to have another past lover, or to act too out of character, even if he has a problem.
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angelofthequeers · 5 years ago
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Ladybug and Reine Nuit: Chapter 20
Pixelator
Disclaimer: I don’t own ML.
Okay so I’m extra salty about ‘Animaestro’ and That Guy’s self-insert tantrum but by god am I gay for Buninette
I really don’t like Pixelator, but I do need to introduce Uncle Jagged within this story’s universe, so…yeah, I basically used the necessary intro scene.
@miraculousl4dybug @livinthebilife tagged as requested :)
Check out my Ko-fi for writing commissions!
Chapter 19 | Chapter 21
“I like it!” Tikki chirps. Marinette hums in indecision as she turns her head, examining her reflection from all angles.
“I haven’t worn a bun in years,” she says. “I found the pigtails way cuter and easier. I’m not even sure why I decided to try this today.”
“The bun makes you look cute too!” Tikki says. “You look cute and mature. Not that I don’t like your pigtails!”
“No, no, I know what you mean.” Marinette twirls a lock of hair framing her face to give it a slight wave. “I actually kind of like it.”
“Well, you’ve got about two more minutes to decide before you’re officially running late.”
“What?” Marinette springs into action to grab the nearest pair of jeans and a flowy pink top that’s just big enough to tie it at her waist fashionably. Once she’s dressed, she snatches up her purse and tries to balance hopping down the stairs with pulling on her usual ballet flats, which she thankfully pulls off without tripping and breaking her neck.
For once, she’s actually not late to school, which is probably thanks to Tikki keeping track of time because heaven knows Marinette can’t. She’s still sweaty by the time she makes it there, though, and she needs to collapse on the stairs outside the front of the school to catch her breath. Not only is she not late but…she’s early. She actually has time to relax beforehand rather than freaking out and trying to get to class.
“Dupain-Cheng,” sneers a familiar voice as a shadow looms over her. Marinette rolls her eyes and looks up to see Chloé blocking the sun, hands on hips and smirking widely.
“What now, Chloé?” Marinette sighs. Chloé reaches out and flicks Marinette’s bun.
“After what happened last year, I’m surprised you’ve got the nerve to wear that thing again,” she says. Oh, that’s right. That’s why Marinette’s been wearing pigtails. Her hair used to be long…until Chloé had thought it would be very funny to stick a wad of gum in her bun. As a livid Sabine had carefully and soothingly cut a bawling Marinette’s hair to the length it is now, that’s one of the only times Marinette can remember being terrified of her usually quiet, cheerful mother.
“It’s called change, Chloé,” Marinette says. “Something you don’t seem to understand. You can’t even be nice when it’s Adrien asking.”
“Adrikins and I will always be friends,” Chloé scoffs. “Even if he’s being utterly ridiculous right now. I wouldn’t expect someone like you to understand true friendship like ours.”
“Are you done?” Marinette’s not even annoyed at this point. Honestly, Chloé’s daily antics have just grown exhaustingly bland with the knowledge that she’ll never change and that she’ll just keep being the same old nasty girl, even when she’s lost both her best friends. It’s not like she’s harmless, what with how many people she’s bullied to the point of vulnerability to Hawkmoth. Just…more like a mosquito hanging around and buzzing, rather than a venomous snake constantly striking and biting.
“I’m sorry, am I boring you, Dupain-Cheng?” Chloé says.
“It’s old, Chloé.” Marinette stands up, brushing the dirt off her blue jeans. “You show up, say some mean things, then walk off laughing while I get angry. You can’t even be original when it comes to bullying me.” She turns to head into school.
“Original?” Chloé storms in front of Marinette to block her way with crossed arms and a dangerous scowl. “I am original! Everyone looks up to me! I’m original and exceptional and you’re just a ridiculous –”
“Oh, back off, Chloé,” says Alya from behind Chloé, her arms crossed. Marinette climbs to her feet. “Picking on Marinette is the least original thing about you. Although you are exceptional at being a bully.”
With a snarl, Chloé shoves Marinette out of her way as she storms up the stairs. Marinette shrieks and teeters on the edge of the step, then topples forward and would have cracked her head and ribs if not for Alya rushing to grab her.
“Um…thanks!” Marinette says with a sheepish grin. “Nice reflexes!”
Alya just smirks and pulls Marinette back to her feet. “I gotta have good reflexes with you around, girl. Love the bun, by the way.”
Marinette rolls her eyes with a grin as they head after Chloé at a more sedate pace.
“Marinette!”
Marinette and Alya pause at the top of the steps to let Nino catch up. Before Marinette can react, Nino’s throwing his arms around her and saying, “Thanks again for getting Reine Nuit to take me to see Luka, dude.”
Marinette smiles as warmth blossoms in her belly. “Of course, Nino. I’m glad she could help.”
“Sorry, wait, what exactly am I missing?” Alya says with her hands on her hips.
“Never mind,” Marinette says as Nino releases her. “Just something I did for Nino.”
The three of them head inside for class as the bell rings, Alya pestering Nino for details the whole way there. They’re the last ones into the room, which has erupted in drama with half their classmates on one side and the other half on the other side. Only Chloé’s sitting separate from the drama, painting her nails with a scowl.
“Uh, what’s going on?” Alya says.
“My last video got nuked for graphic violence,” Adrien says sullenly. “Again. I’m losing subscribers because people don’t see the point in sticking around for someone whose videos keep getting taken down.”
“Uh, I can help you make your own blog,” Alya says. “Then you can post whatever. Why didn’t you ask me before?”
“It didn’t occur to me!” Adrien’s eyes start to sparkle. “You’d do that for me, Alya?”
“Yes, yes, because I am a kind and gracious queen.” Alya sits down next to Adrien and pulls out her laptop.
“I get the feeling that’s not what the drama is about,” Marinette says. She’s immediately confronted by Alix, whose eyes are narrowed at her.
“Which team are you on?” Alix demands. Marinette blinks.
“Um…what?”
“Which. Team?” Alix says. She jabs her thumb at the people on Adrien’s side of the room. “Those losers think that Ladrien is where it’s at. But we are dedicated LadyNuit fans.”
“Ladrien? LadyNuit?” Marinette stares at Nino, who just shrugs.
“Ship names!” Rose chirps from the LadyNuit side. “Ladybug with Reine Nuit, or Ladybug with Adrien!”
“Wait, as in…romantic?” Nino says.
“Oh, come on!” Ivan says. “Adrien’s always running after Ladybug! And she’s always saving him! He’s the Lois Lane to her Superman!”
“Yes, there is an eighty six percent chance of Ladybug and Adrien eventually realising their feelings for each other within the next year, what with their obvious fondness for each other,” Max says, adjusting his glasses. “LadyNuit only ranks at –”
“Excuse you, but Reine Nuit is Ladybug’s partner,” Juleka says. “They’d die for each other. They’ve always got each other’s backs.”
“You weren’t there when they kissed!” Kim boasts. “But I was!”
Marinette freezes as ice coats her insides. Out of the corner of her eye, she notices Alya’s cheeks darken furiously. “K-Kissed?” she says.
“Yep!” Kim slides down to the front of the room and slings an arm around Marinette, no doubt thinking that he can lure her to the LadyNuit side. “When I was Dark Cupid and hit Ladybug with an arrow! Reine Nuit kissed her to break the spell after destroying my akuma so she could use Miraculous Ladybug!”
“Because true love defeats hate!” Rose squeals, bouncing up and down.
“It could be platonic love,” Mylène pipes up. “There’s no reason why Reine Nuit’s platonic feelings wouldn’t break the spell.”
As her classmates argue, a dazed Marinette sits down in her usual seat. Nino sits with her, since Alya is currently helping Adrien establish his new blog.
“The Ladyblog!” Alya declares, waving her hands. “It’s perfect!”
“But I like being called Ladybugreste,” Adrien sulks.
“Just use that as your pen name,” Alya says. “And Nino can make up his own name. Duh. Look, you can livestream and upload videos and pictures and posts – I can handle the blog posts, by the way, since I’m the journalist around here – and fans can interact with you and – it’s gonna be so cool!”
“You’re just living vicariously through me, aren’t you?” Adrien says.
“Of course,” Alya grins. “If I can’t be the Ladyblogger then I’ll just have to settle for leading the school blog and nudging my little sunshine apprentice who got in first.”
“Good morning, class!” calls a voice over the din. Everyone immediately shuts up and scrambles to their seats, saying good morning to Ms Bustier as they do so. Alya and Nino switch their seats back in the chaos.
“LadyNuit and Ladrien?” Marinette hisses to Alya, who just shrugs.
“I’m personally on team LadyNuit.”
“Alya!”
.
Apparently, today is their year’s work experience today at Le Grand Paris, although Marinette can’t be sure if she’d just forgotten this or if she’d been actively trying to block it out. The latter seems more likely when their class arrives at the hotel and not only are Alya and Marinette assigned trash sorter and gopher as jobs respectively, but Chloé’s job is specifically to hang around an uncomfortable Adrien and cling to him. This is payback for the confrontation that morning, isn’t it?
“Wow!” Chloé gasps. An annoyed Marinette turns to see what Chloé’s so stunned over, only to feel her jaw drop to the floor at the sight of Jagged Stone walking into the hotel! Jagged Stone is here? Here?
“Mr Stone, welcome to Le Grand Paris Hotel!” André rushes to simper to Jagged Stone. “I am Mayor Bourgeois, the owner of this luxury establishment; in fact, the most luxurious in all of Paris! How might we serve you?”
“How d’you think?” Jagged Stone says in his British accent. Marinette giggles behind her hand. “I didn't just come here to admire your lobby.”
“Jagged would like to check into your most luxurious suite,” says Jagged Stone’s assistant, a woman with bright purple hair that’s still not as bright as Jagged Stone’s.
“And Fang better get a real bathtub, not a tiny water hole like the one in that hotel across the street!” Jagged Stone adds.
“We have everything you need, Ms Fang,” André says to Jagged Stone’s assistant. “Even a state-of-the-art entertainment centre!”
“That’s Penny,” Jagged Stone says. “Fang’s me crocodile.”
André lets out a nervous little laugh at the sight of the collared crocodile at Jagged Stone’s feet. “Mr Stone, we have everything you require for your…Fang. Would he, um…enjoy a bubble bath?”
“Crocodiles don't like bubble baths. That dries their scales out!”
Marinette frowns at Fang as he trots around a large planter box to where a blond man is hidden with a camera. She nudges Alya and points.
“Oh no, not him again,” Jagged Stone groans when the blond man is frightened out of hiding by Fang.
“Remember me, Mr Stone?” the blond says. “Vincent Aza! Just one photo to show everyone in the world that we're best buds! Come on, please! I'm your biggest fan!”
“I know, you've been to my last thirty-six shows,” Jagged Stone snaps. “But we are not friends.”
When Vincent tries to take a photo with Jagged Stone, Penny promptly ejects him from the hotel. Once the stalker fan is gone, André personally escorts Jagged Stone, Penny, and Fang to their room, with Marinette and Ms Bustier following, although Marinette can’t figure out why she’s being dragged along. Not that she’s complaining when she gets to be in the same elevator as Jagged Stone!
“Mr Stone is going to need a new pair of shades for tonight's gig,” Penny says once Jagged is settling into his room by playing hoops with Fang. “Red, white, and blue, with two large Eiffel Towers on them. Can you get that for him?”
“Of course we can!” André says. “Marinette here is our gopher. She'll take care of that for you.”
“Huh?” Marinette says. André leans in to whisper in her ear.
“A gopher is an employee who goes for anything a customer needs. Anything at all. So, go ahead. Goph!”
With a sigh, Marinette trudges out of the room and leans against the wall. “How am I supposed to find those sunglasses?” she complains. “They don’t exist! Ugh, I knew Chloé was setting me up to fail.”
“Then don’t give her that satisfaction,” Tikki says, poking her head out of Marinette’s purse. “So what if they don’t exist? Get creative!”
Marinette gasps as an idea strikes. “You’re right, Tikki!” she says, speeding down the hallway. “Let’s go!”
Once at home, she rummages in her drawer until she finds an old pair of sunglasses, then pops the lenses out and gets to work. It takes the better part of an hour, but she manages to create a pair of sunglasses with two large Eiffel Towers over the lens holes in the French flag colours, and so she runs back to the hotel to deliver them. She’s gasping and panting as she hands them to Penny, who looks a little concerned for her wellbeing but promises to pass them on to Jagged Stone when he’s finished resting.
Just as Marinette’s about to enter the elevator to head back down for her next assignment, a bright flash of light bursts behind her. Her eyes widen at the sight of the bright blue and black figure standing in the doorway to Jagged Stone’s room, and she ducks into the elevator and cries, “Tikki, spots on!” Her work experience is going to have to wait a while. Hopefully she doesn’t fail from lack of effort in the meantime…
.
BONUS:
“I'd like to dedicate this song to the girl who saved my life!” Jagged Stone announces at his concert that night, wearing Marinette’s sunglasses, while everyone in Ms Bustier’s class minus Chloé cheers from the front row. “This one's for you, Ladybug!”
Best. Day. Ever.
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purrincess-chat · 6 years ago
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In your opinion, what are all the things that ML writers could do to fix the show and make it better?
Oh, Lord, how much time do you have?
I don’t even know how to begin gathering my thoughts for this, so if this ends up being a big incoherent brain dump then, uh, I’m sorry. XD
So, first and foremost I guess, they need to balance their main characters better. Why is all of the plot tied to Adrien? Why does Adrien have a more fleshed out backstory than Marinette? This is supposed to be a girl power show, and yet it revolves more around the boy’s life from the girl’s perspective basically. Marinette really doesn’t have a dog in that fight outside of the fact that she was asked. 
Marinette needs some kind of tie into the plot that doesn’t revolve around her love interest which is basically all they are willing to give her in this show. Everything about her has to relate back to the boy somehow, and if girl power is their message, then they are kind of defeating the purpose. Sure, they have episodes that are supposed to depict that the girl doesn’t need the boy, but then when you pile on top of that dozens of other instances where she gets pushed aside in favor of the boy, including words coming out of the creator’s own mouth (or off of his two thumbs onto a screen) then it doesn’t exactly hold the same weight. 
If your protagonist doesn’t have a tie into the plot, then why are they the protagonist? Take other shows, for instance: Avatar: the Last Airbender, Aang is the avatar and it’s his destiny to keep the balance in the world, She-ra, Adora was destined to become She-ra, it’s in her blood. But you have Marinette who is Ladybug because….the greater good? Some fairy sprite bug thing asked her to be? 
The villain isn’t personal for her, there is no mark of destiny that deems that she must be a hero, she’s just kind of there. Even her family barely gets fleshed out in comparison to Adrien’s. I mean, her parents are just blindly supportive of her meanwhile Adrien’s mom is in a magical coma, his father is cold, distant, and neglectful, which for some reason turns his assistant on and makes her want to sacrifice her fucking health even though Gabriel looks like a dried up soft pretzel. They canceled the special where we were supposed to learn about Marinette’s family, and I think that about sums up my point.
Secondly, I think they need to abandon the idea that Adrien is perfect because it’s not doing his character any favors. Thomas is so far up his ass about Adrien being a perfect example to boys that he has actually looped back around and made Adrien a poor example to boys. He gets away with all of his bad behavior because Thomas just covers his eyes if you call it bad behavior, he refuses to take no for an answer from the girl he likes, he thinks standing up for yourself is being unkind to the other person regardless of how unkind they are being to you, he conveniently turns a blind eye to the abuse of his friends, but god help you if you try to assert yourself against your aggressor because “you should just be nice to them and eventually they’ll change” like um, and maybe they won’t, in the mean time, I don’t want to put up with their bullshit! 
By insisting on this perfect image, they prevent Adrien from growing because you can’t improve perfect. I have said it before numerous times, but Adrien reeks of amateur fanfiction author’s self-insert OC. He’s described as being perfect, he’s good at a lot of activities just because, he’s wildly attractive, charming, smooth, can generally do no wrong, everything revolves around him, the narrative is constructed in a way that usually puts him above the everyone else. The fact that more people don’t realize that, especially the creator himself, is laughable. 
“But Cat, Chat Noir gets mind-controlled and thrown around and is goofy and-” Okay, but when Chat throws a tantrum about Ladybug not returning his feelings, who apologizes sincerely? Who is painted as being wrong in that situation? When Chloe puts a train full of people in danger just to play hero for a day, who does he scold? And of the two, who does the fandom adore more? Bonus: who do the Chibi specials revolve around and pity? 
Thirdly, they need to actually delve into shit more. It’s season 3, they’ve only been greenlit for 2 more seasons, and what plot do we have? Gabriel wants to bring his wife back from her magical coma, Master Fu messed up something in the past that led to two Miraculouses being lost as well as their temple to be destroyed where presumably everyone else but him died making him the last member of that magical society. That’s it. We don’t know how Emilie got to be the way she is. We have suspicions, but nothing explicit in canon yet. Same with Fu. We don’t know what his mistake was, only that he made one. We barely know any lore about the Miraculouses, the origins, how they were made, when they started working with humans, why they were created. 
If you want my honest opinion, with how slowly they’re dragging out this Agreste plot, they could have accomplished it in two seasons if they actually made every episode count and mean something. We get like maybe 1-2 minutes of actual plot relevant information once every few episodes, if that, and sometimes that “plot relevant information” is just the villain learning that there’s a guardian. Hang onto your asses, guys, they’re really laying it on thick for us. 
Seriously, they give us breadcrumbs of plot, and they don’t even go into any of the cool shit (like fucking Master Fu and his ancient magical fight club perhaps??) because obviously the villain’s assistant being in love with him despite the fact that he’s married, has a kid, and is doing all of this to resurrect his comatose wife whom he loves and devotes everything to is WAY more interesting and important than all that froufrou magical ass Chinese bullshit, right? Like, this show has all of this Chinese lore and a biracial lead, and they still somehow manage to make it all about white people. but ya know, the French are proud of themselves I guess
Fourth, chunk the status quoyo out the fucking window. I get that this decision may not have been the writing team’s, but in fact a higher up decision, but it’s still a stupid ass decision. For a show that is trying to introduce deeper plot, you cannot progress anything if you constantly have to set everything back to the way it was at the end of the episode, and that much is evident. The relationships are getting stale, characters aren’t developing, plot is moving at a snail’s pace, all because they are so bound by this idea that everything needs to be right in the end to maintain an episodic format. If they wanted to keep the series episodic, they shouldn’t have gone in for all of this lore and backstory that they say exists, but never tell us what it is because that just leaves a lot of people unsatisfied. 
Fifth, for the love of god learn how to write dynamic characters. Not everyone needs to be dynamic, but your main cast should probably be. Adrien, I love him to bits, but he is static as all fuck. Which, again, see point number 2. One of the biggest complaints floating around about Stormy Weather 2 is that the characters haven’t changed. With the exception of Marinette, none of the other characters have really learned anything. Adrien hasn’t, Nathalie doesn’t have enough focus to learn shit, Nino and Alya really haven’t, Chloe sure as hell hasn’t, and Gabriel can’t decide if he’s an abusive piece of shit or a sympathetic, heart broken sad man, so I barely count him. 
In fact, 3 of those characters’ “development” just revolves around being in love. Nathalie’s “change” is that she for some reason wants to fuck Gabriel (I guess the whole gray-ass pompadour, candy cane aesthetic really does it for her), and then Alya and Nino’s “change” is that they fuck love each other now which them being a couple has basically just become their entire character. They’re barely separate anymore, particularly in Nino’s case more than Alya’s. I’m sure that Chloe’s bit about having changed juxtaposed with flashbacks of her not being nice coupled with how she wasn’t nice in this episode was just for humor because they like to make the point that mean people will never change, but for some reason they still feel the need to teach the protagonist a lesson about being nice to mean people so that they can change, but they don’t do that, they just think that you should keep hoping. :) :) :)
I honestly think that the writers don’t know what “character development” means, and Stormy Weather 2 was just proof of that. All they did was show that the characters have been in a number of different situations, but none of them have really learned anything or grown from those situations, so it’s kind of a weak argument to say that they’ve changed when they’re all intrinsically the same. Except for Marinette because she is constantly the writing teams’ punching bag in all of these morals of the day cause can’t teach shit to perfect boy cause he’s perfect, but of course they don’t reflect on all of the lessons they forced her to learn, what are we, stupid? No, her only importance to the plot is the fact that she loves the boy that the plot really focuses on, so of course her only significant development of character is that she can talk to him sometimes without foaming at the mouth. Not a peep on how she has learned to overcome her jealousy and hotheaded nature, gained confidence in herself, and learned to maturely accept when someone doesn’t return her feelings, a lesson that a lot of us wish good old perfect boy would fucking learn, but he can’t because he’s perfect. :) :) :)
Another part of the problem with characterization in this show, is that often times characters behave in such a way to push the moral of the day rather than giving them established characters. It’s why Alya only questions Marinette’s sources in Chameleon while she just lets Lila claim a bunch of wild shit without batting an eye because she only cares about journalistic integrity when she can use it to beat down her friend so she can learn a lesson about turning the other cheek. :) :) :)
Sixth, pick up a fucking romance novel every once in a while cause hot damn is their relationship progression a heaping pile of hot garbage. Their love drama is so forced and there’s no real development because of the #status quoyo because they must drag this shit on until we’ve all basically lost interest. I’ve seen more people dropping off the love square in the last half season than I’ve ever seen in any other show. Part of that has to do with Adrien becoming a real “nice guy™” but a good chunk of it also has to do with the fact that they don’t really know how to write love drama or romantic tension in a way that makes you care. We all pretty much know that Adrien is never going to figure it out, even if someone grabs him by the shoulders and screams it in his face that Marinette is in love with him, so why should we care? We know that Chat Noir is never going to stop loving Ladybug, but Ladybug is never going to stop loving Adrien so why should we care? We know the show is never going to break the square because they’re endgame so why should we care about the love rivals? 
Seriously, Captain Hardrock didn’t give me a reason to care about Luka or ship him with Marinette. I still stand by my opinion that their chemistry was incredibly forced and inorganic, and it still is, and as much as I love Kagami, I wasn’t convinced that she was interested in Adrien at the end of Riposte either. The only reason we know Luka likes Marinette is because Winny said he “fell in love with her at first sight” on Twitter (which the whole love at first sight trope is bullshit, but that’s a post for another day). Somehow in Frozer Kagami was randomly into Adrien all of a sudden, and no one likes to bat an eye about the fact that she told him to change targets because the girl he likes doesn’t like him back and then at the end of the episode when Adrien admits that he still likes the other girl over Kagami, Kagami is all “well, it’s fine. I’ll wait.” like bitch, again on characterization. A strong and confident character like her would know her worth and would show that boy the door. But of course she would contradict herself because they need her for #love drama later even though we all know it doesn’t matter. 
I love the love square, and I live for soft moments between them, but I’m ready for them to turn up the heat and give me some actual drama and tension that doesn’t revolve around Chat being a pouty pissbaby or Marinette fucking up another love confession. Cause when you do that too many times, it stops being interesting. You have to throw us a bone somewhere or else we’re gonna stop caring, and lots of people already have.
Seventh, can we please stop pitting all of the girls against each other while the boys just get to be cool with each other? For a show that promotes itself as being a “girl power” show, there are a metric fuckton of misogynistic undertones to this show. See: why does the plot revolve around the boy even though the girl is the slated protagonist. See: why does the girl learn all the lessons while the boy gets to be right all the time. See: why two teenage girls are “the worst things I can think of” while an actual neglectful father gets to be sympathetic and “do anything for his family” uwu
Seriously, I think making Kagami and Marinette rivals while Luka and Adrien are just chill dudebros is so tired. Girls fighting over boys is tired, especially because we have it not once, not twice, but three fucking times in this show. Chloe and Marinette don’t often fight over Adrien, but in Despair Bear Chloe sure as hell didn’t want them dancing together. Marinette initially follows Lila because she’s hanging off of Adrien, and even at the end of Chameleon, Lila makes it known that she is still gonna try to steal Adrien. Kagami basically tells Marinette that she better stop hesitating or she is gonna steal Adrien away, and we have Backwarder where Marinette is basically plotting to cockblock them even though we had Frozer where she decided she wasn’t going to be jealous of them because Adrien liked her. Again, see: characters behaving in a way that is convenient for the plot of the episode. All of the drama is between girls. All of the women in this show are described as being terrible, the worst things they could think of, never going to stop being mean. Seriously. Chloe and Lila? Worst things Thomas can think of. Audrey is constantly shown intimidating her husband who is extremely corrupt himself, not that anyone bats an eye at that. Nathalie/Mayura was described by Jeremy as “making Hawkmoth look like a baby.” Any time they show a man being problematic, they have to bring in a female to be ten times worse, and the worst part is: they don’t even know they’re doing it. #girl power, am I right?
Eighth, speaking of making people bad, can we stop half-assing redemptions? Honestly, they’re so back and forth on whether or not they’re going to redeem Chloe. First it’s “mean people will never get a miraculous” then dingdong, who’s that? Queen Bee, motherfuckers. Then it’s talk about how they’re not going to redeem Chloe then bam bitch, “why don’t you love me?” But even after that they reset the status quoyo and have her go back to being mean. Even after they give her a second chance to be a hero and do good, she still goes right back to being her nasty self. I think they really highlighted in Stormy Weather 2 how much they haven’t changed her at all, and yet somehow she still gets to play the hero. 
Additionally, now we have them trying to make Gabriel sympathetic? Boo fucking hoo my wife is in a coma so I terrorize the fucking city on a daily basis, pity me! Also I neglect my son, verbally abuse him from time to time, and I don’t even let him see his friends or feel any happiness, and even though my superpower revolves around feeling people’s negative emotions, I never seem to care about my own son’s unhappiness, but hey, I’m doing it for his mommy, so that makes me better than the 14 year old girl. :D
Shit or get off the pot, Zag. Either you’re going to redeem these characters, or you’re going to leave them the way they are. Make up your damn mind.
Ninth, be diverse in more than name only. For a show that prides itself on its biracial female lead and its ties to Chinese culture, uhh, they spend a lot of time focusing on not those things. I said it before, but they focus all of their plot attention on rich ass white people drama more than the vastly more interesting Chinese lore they have going on. Their black characters were paired together just cause, and their only real important quality now is that they love each other. Their ship is basically their character now, and we barely have a reason to root for them outside of the fact that they’re canon. They have such shallow relationship development that my feet wouldn’t get wet if I stood in a puddle of it. Can we have more on them, please? 
This show is diverse only on the surface. They use diversity as decoration then fill everything else with less interesting shit, and even then they get a lot of shit wrong. It drives one of my Asian friends nuts that Sabine’s neckline is facing the wrong direction. (for those unaware of what I mean, it should look like a y. hers is backwards) They use diversity to pat themselves on the back and say they are diverse, but they have no intention of doing anything meaningful with it. It’s just a gold sticker they wanted to give themselves to draw in an eastern market. It’s cheap, and several of us see through that shit. 
And last, but certainly not least: Shut the absolute fuck up on Twitter. Just shut the fuck up. Every time Thomas opens his mouth, he just pisses off more people or makes everything more convoluted. Shut the fuck up. Please. 
Now, I know a host of you are going to be like “buhhh, it’s a kid’s show, go outside, hur dur, I’m so smart and mature,” but like, honestly that’s a weak argument. Yes, Thomas’s audience is young now and they may not be able to see all of this shit, but when they get older and decide to go back and watch one of their favorite childhood cartoons, all of that shit is gonna come out. They’re not gonna be so naive forever, especially if our generation is raising them, and just because they can’t see all of this shit now, doesn’t mean that it’s not still there just because they don’t notice? That doesn’t make it any less problematic. One thing I love about several shows I used to watch as a kid is that they aged well. When I go back and watch them now as an adult, I find things that I missed as a kid that I appreciate now as an adult. I can’t say that the same is going to happen with Miraculous, especially in this day and age. 
Additionally, kids learn a lot through media. I never believed that I was any less than the boys growing up because I consumed a lot of media that taught me that, and going back and watching it over now, I still get that from those shows. Clearly, if you apply two ounces of logic to this show, it falls apart, and that’s not because it’s a kid’s show, it’s because it’s bad writing. I can always see what they are going for, but they always miss just a little bit. sometimes a lot
A lot of us complain because we are concerned with the message being spread to the next generation because those kids are going to grow up one day and be influenced by what they are consuming now. If we teach our girls that the perfect boy is going to chase after us no matter what we say to them and if we teach our boys that in order to be the perfect boy we have to continually chase after the girl until she says yes, how are those kids going to approach relationships? That mentality is actually something that we are trying to combat in the world. That mentality is why rape is so prevalent because we teach boys that they are entitled to a woman’s affection if they’re “nice” to them, and if she doesn’t give it to them, then she is wrong. 
Media has an impact on kids, whether we like to admit it or not. Yes, parents can still teach them, but sometimes things get into your subconscious and it can determine how you see yourself and the world. Lots of kids engage in make-believe play where they put themselves in that character’s shoes and play pretend. I just think it’s important to give them the right things to look up to. 
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bouwrites · 4 years ago
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OC Spotlight: The Cardinal Virtues
This isn’t so much a spotlight on each of these four individual characters so much as an elaboration on how they came about and why they’re so closely related in my mind despite no more than two of them appearing in a single universe at at time thus far. Honestly, I felt this elaboration is necessary just to save space for if/when I do individual spotlights for them.
The Cardinal Virtues are some of my very favorite OCs that I have, and I’ve been calling them that because each one roughly corresponds to one of the four cardinal virtues. In truth, all four are very similar in a lot of ways, for reasons I’ll explain soon, but to prevent this from getting too long...
Hunter Stone - Justice Valerian Isolde - Strength Arno Buenaventura - Temperance Carter Wroden - Prudence
The first thing to know about them, is that Hunter and Valerian (Vale) were originally meant to be the same character. Likewise, Arno, though not created with Vale in mind, was put into my personal cast of OCs with the intention of him “replacing” Vale for stories where Vale isn’t really appropriate. Likewise, Carter was created as a “replacement” of sorts for Arno.
All of them grew in their own ways and developed into distinct characters, but it’s important to note that the framework of their characters, esp. Hunter/Vale and Arno/Carter are essentially the same, and based around my original concept for Hunter, who is actually my very first OC.
Now, I didn’t design them to fit so nicely into the four cardinal virtues. In fact, the reference to the virtues is something that only arose very recently, as I was looking into adding Carter and Arno into my Persona daydream story and stumbled across references to the virtues by chance as I was trying to assign arcana to them.
But this isn’t a spotlight of the characters themselves, but rather how they’re related, and for that we’ll have to go all the way back to my very first OC ever, Hunter Stone.
Hunter is, for all intents and purposes, retired as a character. I haven’t seriously worked with him in many, many years, yet he’s almost constantly on my mind because Arno and Carter, both characters I work extensively with today, are so closely connected with him.
He was my favorite OC for a long time, and my primary best friend and sometimes love interest character in my daydream stories at the time (yes, I romance my OCs in those daydream stories and yes, I’m only admitting to that because that is one of the threads tying these characters together.) until the time I decided to make an original story.
That story was a fantasy novel, and ultimately a tragedy. It’s pretty much abandoned now, though I’d like to use that world for a story at some point, but the creation of that fantasy world is where things got... slightly out of hand.
Now, I should note that a large portion of the magic system used in that fantasy world actually comes directly from my development of how psychic powers work in the Pokemon world (where Hunter is from - kindly don’t remind me that middle-school me thought making an OC child of Steven Stone and Wallace for my cringy grimdark Pokemon story was a good idea. He’s keeping the name, though.) and thus a lot of the framework for how certain things work came from that world as well. Including some characters.
That said, there’s a bit more background we need before getting into that original story. And that, my friends, is Wizard101. I promise you I am completely honest when I say this, and you can trust me because if it wasn’t true there is no way in hell I’d ever admit to this, but “Valerian” is actually the name of my Wizard101 main. I once made a half-baked attempt at a Wizard101 fanfic, and my love for Hunter meant I wanted him in the story, but I decided to use “Valerian” as his name instead to nod to my actual in-game character. For both our sakes, I won’t elaborate any more than that and continue into the original story.
The original story started, at first, in media res with Hunter and some other OCs and their problem, and helping them out is this team of adventurers who were, in hindsight, basically there to babysit the main cast. I actually wrote a lot for that story - most of it, in fact - but eventually decided to change it entirely and set the story two years prior, focusing on that previously mentioned band of babysitters and how they came to be.
But I love Hunter, and couldn’t stand to let him go, so Valerian Isolde comes in to take his place. Vale is probably the single character of mine that has changed the most throughout his development - he actually was in the original script of the story as one of the babysitters, not to mention the other changes from when he was a copy of Hunter as a Wizard101 OC - and that would be much more appropriate for a spotlight of his own, but suffice it to say I ended up with a story with Vale and Hunter both, and them different enough that it honestly doesn’t feel weird even today.
(Needless to say, with my mind so much in that original universe, Vale occupied a lot of my daydreams. He was my primary companion character, often bringing him into fandom universes, though it always felt off to try to romance him, and to an extent even have him around, because of his canon romance and other ties in his native story.)
Enter Arno. Arno Malik Buenaventura is a character I created in tandem with one of my friends as we were traveling to and from university. Long car-rides and shared fandoms, two writers stuck in the car together, there’s only one logical conclusion.
He and his twin sister, Elizabeth, were created for a shared story we worked on. It never developed into anything, really, and to be honest I never really felt right for a while after that using either of them, as they aren’t technically “mine” so I used Arno as a background character for a while. If I needed a name in a fic, just some random schoolgoer who’s mentioned, that kind of thing, I’d use Arno.
I ended up getting more comfortable with him and using him more freely - he’s one of the featured OCs in my ML Twin AU, actually - though I still don’t use Elizabeth much if at all. That’s the reason she doesn’t appear in that story despite being mentioned several times, and being his literal twin - I just kind of feel like she’s more my friend’s OC than my own.
Anyway, I fell in love with Arno, and since, for a while, I was nervous to use him as a character proper due to his origin, he ended up becoming a character that appeared often in my daydream stories - the ones I don’t write, which are usually self-insert just for my own entertainment.
But I ran into another snag like with Vale. Arno didn’t have a love interest at the time, but I was getting older and it started to feel weird to me to play out imaginary romances with imaginary boyfriends in my daydream stories only to turn around and have him as a perfectly ordinary character in my actual written ones.
The solution was simple: make an OC cast reserved for self-insert daydream stories. “Their” stories, their native stories, would include me, or rather my self-insert character based on me. So, I did. Thus, Carter was born. To this day, Carter is my “imaginary boyfriend” and because of that is probably one of the most heavily featured OCs I have in terms of number of universes they appear in - he’s just in my daydream versions of those universes rather than the ones I use for actual stories.
The rest of his crew, some of which are mentioned in the one fic I’ve written that includes him, including his “love interest” Avery Graham who is, in truth, my self-insert character (though not, technically, meant to be me), are also part of my “Daydream Cast” which follow me around and appear as-needed in my daydream stories so I can avoid awkward situations with characters who are supposed to have very clearly defined stories not ruined by me running around in their backyards, so to speak. I don’t always care about that, but sometimes it doesn’t feel right.
Anyway, that’s  the summary of the four who were supposed to be one but somehow separated into four completely distinct characters. I know I didn’t really describe what makes them similar and different in this spotlight, but their character analyses are much more appropriate for individual spotlights and this one has already gone on long enough, I think.
Interestingly, though, despite the fact that you can roughly categorize them as old (Hunter/Valerian) and modern (Arno/Carter) they actually match up in personality more closely in the pairs of Hunter/Carter and Vale/Arno, though in the first case that’s somewhat by design and in the latter is because that’s one of my favorite archetypes of characters. Hunter/Carter are also the most similar in design of them all with Vale being a huge outlier design-wise.
That’s enough for now, though. I’ve leave this here before I add on another whole essay about these four.
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marshmallowgoop · 5 years ago
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I write stuff, at times. I swear.
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(Check it out! These are my research books and plot outline for this novel that I’ve been working on for nearly half a decade!)
So, it’s National Novel Writing Month, and I’ll probably be a little absent from this site for the rest of November ‘cause I’m trying to write a 50,000-word novel in 30 days and am also the boss lady (ML) for the event in my area and have boss lady things that I should be doing.
Buuut since my novel is my Kill la Kill fairytale AU (which I even have a tag for!), posting about the project isn’t totally procrastinating, right? 
Anyway, I’ve written drafts of this story for two NaNos already (2016 and 2017), and the first draft is basically getting totally flushed down the toilet, but the second draft is closer to what I wanna go for, so I’ve been revisiting it to see what I wanna do with my NaNo 2019 attempt. 
And did you know? Maybe kinda relevant to all the anon hate lately, one OC I wrote for the story is a villain that exemplifies a lot of what I hate about myself. Her situation is of course different than mine—I ain’t beautiful, lol—but her jealousy, vindictiveness, egotism, etc. are all things that I despise about me.
Like, I guess maybe you could consider her my evil self-insert. Pfft.
I dunno how much of her backstory will really be in the final draft, and it’s definitely way, waaaaaaaaay too much right now ‘cause it was written for NaNo and all, lol, but tl;dr, tl;dr, I guess one big message of my entire story is that being bitter and envious isn’t fair to anyone, destroys others and yourself, and I gotta knock that crap off or be just as awful as this awful, awful woman (who arguably literally caused some of the biggest problems in the book).
If anyone’s interested in reading, I’ve included her segment under the cut! (As well as a little segment about Senketsu ‘cause that’s just where it was placed ‘cause this novel is a disaster in terms of organization, lol.) It’s super messy and unedited ‘cause it was written for NaNo, and I only lightly cleaned up some grammar and placeholder names for this upload, but eyyy, I swear I do write creatively, sometimes!!
And maybe me being so honest about the stuff I hate about myself will do something for others, I dunno. I can only hope ^^; 
From Chapter 5, “About King Prasenajit’s Daughter Ugly Adamantina”
As it would happen, the curse that befell the beautiful empress’s princess was quite the complicated affair. If the man in the cave could have been there and could have known, he might have begun the story by speaking in great length of a woman from a kingdom far beyond the Kingdom of the Reed Plains.
The woman, you see, was a magnificent, wondrous healer. She knew her medicines and herbs better than anyone had ever seen, and she knew how to combine them better than anyone had ever seen, too. And so it was said, as it may be imagined, that she was a prodigy of her craft, and she was a genius, and she could only be a miracle doctor sent from the gods.
But it was not purely the healer’s knowledge that made her well known throughout her kingdom and others. The healer, much as the empress of the Kingdom of the Reed Plains, was also extraordinarily beautiful. People would come from far and wide to set their eyes upon her, just as people would the empress, and those who were lucky enough to be her patient would say, in great sincerity, that the healer’s beauty alone was enough to cure them of all sickness and pain.
So you must imagine that when the empress sent for all the best doctors and healers in her land and lands far beyond that this miracle doctor was called for. The healer received the invitation one quiet afternoon, and she tried her very hardest to hide her displeasure as she listened to the empress’s messenger speak.
All those with the healer were left open-mouthed by the messenger’s letter. They oohed and ahed, and then they very quickly turned their attention to the woman to whom the letter had been addressed to.
The woman smiled her politest smile, bowing before the messenger as though the messenger herself was the empress
“It is a great honor that you have come all this way,” the healer said, and she hoped very heartily that her irritation did not seem apparent in her voice. “I am much humbled to be called upon by the empress of the Kingdom of the Reed Plains herself, and I pray for the empress’s health and happiness, and for the health and happiness of her child.”
The healer rose from her bow now. “However, I cannot leave my patients, and so I must decline.” She bowed again, her dark hair falling over her shoulders and concealing the cruel smile on her lips.
Silence fell over the room. To decline a royal order was unheard of, and the poor messenger seemed at a loss for what to say to the woman’s refusal.
Everyone’s eyes had fallen upon the woman. She was no longer smiling. There was a great sense of dread building inside her, as though she had swallowed an entire snake whole.
It was a royal order, the healer realized, even if it was not a royal order from her own country.
And so, with another great bow, and knowing that there was nothing she could do, the woman said, “Please forgive my manners. I will be on my way.”
The healer did indeed travel to the empress’s kingdom. It was a long journey, quite uncomfortable if the healer could say so herself, and all the while, her human heart grew colder and colder.
To help the empress of the Kingdom of the Reed Plains! the healer thought to herself. It was the very last thing she could have ever wanted because, you see, she was quite worn of hearing of the empress’s beauty.
“They say, good healer,” she had been told, time and time again, “that she is even more beautiful than you yourself!”
The healer had to listen and listen to such sentiments and always smile so politely back at them, as though she truly liked to be compared in such a manner! It was a disgusting thing, the healer thought to herself all throughout her journey to the Kingdom of the Reed Plains. Not only did she have to go so many ri away from her homeland, but she had to use her skills to help this woman who could not possibly appreciate her own beauty!
How could she ever appreciate her beauty as I appreciate my beauty? the healer asked herself. Only small people came to tell the healer of her wondrous looks, you see, and the healer always adored every single one of her admirers, but the empress was adored by big people, and very big people came to even catch a glimpse of her, and she could not be like the healer herself, the healer knew, because she had to be very haughty and condescending and must surely not be thankful for the great gift of beauty she had received!
But I am thankful, the healer told herself, and she continued to tell herself this as she went on her way. She thought to herself that someone as high and mighty as the empress did not deserve her talents, and a woman like that also could not understand what it would be like to be born ugly, because a woman like that could never, ever appreciate what a great gift beauty truly is in the cruel, inhospitable world that they both lived in.
It is here, then, that the healer began to entertain a great, terrible idea.
She thought to herself, It would be most wonderful, if the empress’s child is born hideous!
And so the healer laughed to herself, and she thought herself quite amazing to consider such a thing, but she never did consider the thought anything more than a thought.
That is, you see, until the healer first arrived at the empress’s palace.
#
The story of the bitter-hearted healer is a story that the man in the cave could not tell you.
The man in the cave could also not tell you about love between humans and demons to Satsuki or anybody else. That is also a story the man does not know.
Perhaps, too, he does not want to know.
But the little red demon knows this story. It is the story that fills his blood and built his bones, and it is the story he will dedicate his life to believing.
Indeed, to the little red demon, the story that the man in the cave tells Satsuki one day—of demons and humans as mortal enemies where peace is impossible, and only one can be the victor—feels as wrong to the child as a waterfall that he has never seen flowing backwards, up a cliff.
But it is this story, you see, that the little demon heard time and time again from his mama’s setsuwa and stories.
“Why is it,” the red demon asked his mother one day, long before he catches his sister prepared to drink their mama’s blood and long before he comes across the young Ryuko collapsed in the snow, “that in all of Mama’s tales, the demons want to hurt the humans?”
He had thought at first that it was simply the case of a few villainous demons. There are surely many stories where humans play the role of the evil force that must be vanquished. But the demon soon saw that humans were allowed to be heroes and kind princesses and great shining beauties. All demons ever could be were empty-headed and ugly and horrible, ravenous beasts.
The demon saw, too, the way his mama’s face would turn red in the same manner in which his face would turn green as she told him, “Do not let these stories about the bad demons make you feel as though you are destined to be bad and nothing more. There are many good demons, too.”
But Mama could not seem to tell the little red demon a single story she had heard about a good demon.
Mother had been at the loom when the red demon asked why it is the demons must always be the villain. She was weaving, chan, chan, chan, karin, and this she continued to do as she answered the little demon’s question, her amber eyes fixed on her work.
“Those stories are very ordinary human stories, my love,” she said. “If I were to tell you demon stories—and I could not, I must say, because I am not very much good with words like your dear mama—then you would see that the demons see the humans as the humans see the demons.”
The red demon was left very confused indeed. “But why would the humans and the demons want to see each other as evil?” he asked. “Isn’t it ordinary for humans and demons to be together?”
Mother still did not look the little red demon’s way. She seemed distant, as though a thousand ri away. “No, my love,” she said. “Your Mama and I are... not very ordinary at all.” A smile was on her lips as she told him so, but she seemed almost sad at the statement, as though the admittance of being unordinary brought a sort of pain, the kind that the demon would come to feel when he looks upon the fallen girl in the snow.
“Demons and humans are not meant to mix,” Mother said. “That is what everyone will tell you, both humans and demons, and even the little birds that come to visit this home will tell you, too.”
The little red demon still did not understand. The situation became ever more puzzling to the child, as incomprehensible as the world saw the red demon’s very existence.
“But you are very happy together,” he said. He frowned, the usual chan, chan, chan, karin of his mother’s loom no longer the soothing sound of his childhood but an anxious rhythm that the demon could not free from his mind.
“No, we are very happy together,” he insisted.
Mother laughed. “Yes, my little smart one,” she said. She patted the demon’s head, careful to avoid the horns that were just growing from his scalp. “But most people, my love, human and demon alike, do not believe it is possible.” She smiled again, though it still looked strange and distant, and she took her hands from the loom where she had been weaving, finally turning her eyes upon her son.
The little demon saw that she had been crying.
“Most people,” she said, “believe it is a curse for a demon to let a human into their heart, and for a human to let a demon into theirs.”
Mother turned her wet eyes away from the little red demon. “But I would do it,” she told him, unwaveringly, as though speaking a grand declaration no matter the quiet whisper of her voice.
And the red demon felt it was more to herself than to him that his mother then said, “If she would let me, I would grant her every wish and keep a piece of her within me, always.”
#
A story the man in the cave does know, as it would happen, is the story of how demons hold within them the power to grant any human’s wish.
This, you see, is a story that more humans once understood, back when the Kingdom of the Reed Plains had not been cursed to be covered in an endless, inhospitable snow that would not disappear and could not disappear.
It was a story that the bitter-hearted healer who had gone to see the empress had known, and she considered this story her first evening she spent in the beautiful empress’s palace as she peered outside to the lands that were not her kingdom and not anything much like her home country.
If I would give my heart to demons to have a wish granted, she thought to herself, I would not have my wish be to make the empress’s child born hideous.
But it would be such a nice thing, she considered some more, if I could truly make such a reality with my own two hands.
Another healer interrupted her thoughts with a great curse of her own. This healer was unabashed in her complaints and did not keep them locked deeply away as the bitter-hearted healer did.
This healer said, “I am number 37, can you believe it?” She expressed a great many more curses, crossing her arms and pouting in a manner that the bitter-hearted healer could not help but find quite admirable.
“I am number 43, myself,” she said. She smiled politely, as she was so very used to doing in her practice. “I am sure I will not be able to return to my home kingdom for quite a long while yet.”
At this, the other healer offered a sympathetic look. “Oh,” she said, and she shook her head, as though ashamed of herself. “I live very near this palace, and here I have been cursing!”
“You have every right to be upset,” said the bitter-hearted healer. She tried very hard to restrain herself from clenching up her fists at the thought of the beautiful empress and how that woman had successfully called her to this wretched palace.
The other healer smiled at that. “I most certainly do have all the reason in the world to be upset!” she said. “Calling upon so many healers and doctors! You must forgive our empress.” She lowered her voice, until she was near whispering. “She is just very afraid of losing a fourth child, you see.”
This the bitter-hearted healer understood perfectly, and had the empress been another, uglier woman, perhaps the healer would have been meant it, when she said, “I wish the best for her and her child.”
“With all these healers and doctors, there won’t be any need for wishing,” answered the other healer, and then she was quite quiet for a moment before she added, “To tell the truth, I wasn’t happy with my number because I wished to return to my family as soon as possible, but also....” She paused, as though bashful. “It’s maybe a bit silly, but I’m afraid I won’t even be able to meet the beautiful empress with my late number! I was hoping to make my family very jealous for getting to be in the same room as her!”
The bitter-hearted healer’s smile slipped, just slightly. She then made her smile all the brighter as she answered, “I have heard that she is quite a sight.”
“So the talk of her beauty goes beyond even our little Kingdom of the Reed Plains!” cried the other healer. “I so wish to see for myself.”
The healer then looked very carefully at the bitter-hearted woman.
“I hope you don’t mind my saying, Miss, but I almost find it hard to imagine a woman prettier than you.”
The bitter-hearted healer’s smile became very wicked. “You flatter me!” she said. “I am sure I cannot hold even a candle to the empress’s beauty.”
“I suppose we will see about that,” said the other healer.
But the bitter-hearted healer very much did not want to see about it. She had only been in the empress’s palace a few mere hours, but already it seemed an eternity, and so there came the time when the bitter-hearted healer—surely not thinking clearly, mind you—left her room that night and walked very resolutely to the palace gates. The other doctors and healers looked at her quite oddly as she did this, and the guards of the palace questioned her quite thoroughly.
“It is unwise,” said one of the palace guards, “to walk the streets at night, when the demons are about.”
The healer considered it might almost be a blessing, if she could be eaten by demons and never have to come before the horrible empress she did not want to see!
But the healer smiled very politely, as she was so very used to doing from her practice. “My number is very far off, you see,” she said, and she showed the guard the parchment with 43 written cleanly upon it. “I have relatives not far from this palace, and I would very much like to spend the night with them, if you understand.”
The guard shifted uncomfortably. “I understand...” he said, “But you were to come here, on royal orders—“
“And I will return,” said the bitter-hearted healer. Though she had interrupted the man, the tone of her voice had become sweeter than sugared honey. Her impertinence almost seemed kind.
“Yes, I hear what you are saying,” said the guard, and once more he shifted uncomfortably, “but you must understand....”
He could not finish his words. The bitter-hearted healer ran fingers through her slick black hair. She batted her eyelashes, only a small amount. “I know it is dangerous,” she said, “but I am a healer, and I am very good at what I do—as I am sure you know because I am standing here before you right this moment!—and if any demon were to try to hurt me, I could heal myself in just an instant!”
The bitter-hearted healer bowed down very low before the guard. “Please, good man, I am begging you to let me go.”
It was with a great hesitance that the guard did exactly so.
But the truth is that the bitter-hearted healer had no family in that kingdom. She knew no one at all in the Kingdom of the Reed Plains, and she entertained the thought that she could run away to a new settlement somewhere, perhaps by the mountains, and then she could avoid ever seeing the empress and ever living with the shame from refusing a royal order from a kingdom allied with her own.
The person she was at that moment could be considered lost. She could start a new life, and she could become a healer even more renowned than she had been in her backwater hometown. The healer’s head buzzed with ideas, bun, bun. Of course she could start up a new business someplace far away! She was so beautiful that she would quickly become the talk of the town no matter where it is she went!
This thought brought the bitter-hearted healer to stop in her tracks. No, she thought, she could not become the talk of the town in a town where the only beauty anyone could speak of was an empress who did not appreciate her beauty nor deserve it!
The healer clutched the lantern she had taken with her on her journey away from the palace quite tightly. Why did all her thoughts keep returning to such a terrible woman? Even when she had been thinking of the new life she would build for herself, the healer could not help but think of the empress.
She frowned to herself, all by herself in a great kingdom with a wondrous empress, in the forest just beyond the palace, no less, and she thought to herself that she must be such a pitiful sight that even demons would take pity upon her and spare her life should they ever find her.
The bitter-hearted healer, however, did not realize that she was so stuffed full of bitterness and cold that she smelled quite terrible to the demons who were indeed wandering about the Kingdom of the Reed Plains that night.
“That atrocious stench is ruining all the wonderful ones,” the woman heard a demon complain (though she was not aware that it was a demon speaking because the healer did not truly expect to come across demons in her great escape from the palace).
Zushin, zushin, the healer heard, thud, thud, stomp, stomp.“It must be another cold heart,” said another demon (that the healer again was not aware was truly a demon at all).
But it is quite disconcerting to hear voices that you cannot see the source of in the midst of the night, and so it was then that the healer, whose heart was beating very quickly at that moment, raised her lantern and shone it all around her.
“Who is there?” she asked. The light danced all about the darkness, and when it settled upon a face, the bitter-hearted healer was rather surprised that this face was a considerably good-looking face.
She was even more surprised when she saw another face besides the first face that was equally attractive, and indeed perhaps even more so.
“Ah,” said the owner of the first face, who looked to the bitter-hearted healer to be a young woman with eyes that sparkled like bright red rubies.“So it is you who are making this horrible, ghastly stench all throughout these lands.”
Of course, it is even more disconcerting to hear a beautiful stranger in the woods describe you as smelling atrocious, and so perhaps it is not unusual that the bitter-hearted healer felt her bitterness grow and grow within her, puffing out and expanding much like her medicinal breads did in the ovens back in her home.
She said, “Well, now, how terribly rude! I will have you know that I have traveled quite a long way!Even the bath that I have been offered in this kingdom has not treated me well, it seems!”
The owner of the second beautiful face, who seemed to the bitter-hearted healer to be an older woman with great red lips that were a deeper color than even the setting sun, shook her head at the healer, her long, dark hair brushing against her shoulders and elaborate flowered kimono.
“You misunderstand, Miss,” said this second beauty.“No amount of sweet soaps or fragrances or wondrous baths could save you from this disgusting stench that falls off you much as snow falls from the sky.”
The second beauty lifted her chin up very high.“This reek feels even more endless than snow, too,” she said.
This, too, made the bitter-hearted healer even more bitter hearted than she had been before.
The two beauties coughed before the healer could even begin to speak.
“You are making it worse!” said the first woman. “It is no good to upset a human who already smells so terrible.”
These words were the first that the bitter-hearted woman could perhaps smile at. She said, “Come now, are you traveling storytellers looking for refuge by the palace? It is quite funny of you to try to include even your audience as part of your story, but I must confess that I do not have a single coin upon my person at this moment.”
The bitter-hearted healer laughed, and the sound was surely as horrible a sound as her heart was a horrible heart and her stench was a horrible stench. “I must say, though,” said the bitter-hearted healer, “that it is not quite an appealing act to begin by insulting your audience and then continue by calling them 'human' as though you are not humans yourselves!”
These words made the two demons laugh quite heartily indeed, gera, gera, ha, ha. They laughed much more heartily than the woman, and they laughed much more genuinely, and when they had finished this laughter and wiped the tears from their eyes, the younger beauty smiled in a way that the bitter-hearted healer did not find so attractive.
Indeed, she found the grin quite terrifying.
Because, you see, the bitter-hearted healer saw that this beauty had teeth that were perhaps not quite so beautiful. There were long fangs, sharp, and it seemed very much to the healer that she was looking straight at the smiling jaws of a great monster.
“As though we are not humans ourselves!” repeated the once-beauty. The strange creature laughed once more, looking less and less beautiful to the bitter-hearted healer with every second. Its form seemed to distort and mutate before the bitter-hearted healer, and the sight was to the woman very hideous and unsightly, but somehow, you see, she could not look away.
And so it was that the bitter-hearted healer watched with wide eyes as rosy skin changed to a slick blue, shiny, dark hair became as long and wild and white as snowflakes in a great storm, and the once-beauty seemed to grow several feet, towering over the bitter-hearted healer with eyes that the healer then realized to be the shining eyes of a demon.
She also realized that they were the shining eyes of a very hungry demon.
The bitter-hearted healer, in her immense fear, toppled to the ground with a great gasp, haa, haa, wheeze, pant. Her lantern shattered, and the flames jumped out, lighting the leaves scattered upon the forest floor on fire and threatening to burn the trees as well.
Here the demons’ laughter was quite diminished.
“Look what you have made the foolish human do with your silly sideshow display,” said the older beauty. She had shifted her form as well, now bearing the appearance of a massive, red-haired blue demon clad in tiger skins, with three great horns upon her head.
She stomped out the fires with her feet, zushin, zushin, thud, thud, and the younger demon only helped with what the bitter-hearted healer would have considered reluctance, if she had the mind to think clearly. Soon enough only a small bit of flames remained, and this the younger demon held in her hands as though it was a small, fluttering little heart.
“It must be strange to you to see that flames do not burn us,” said the demon, perhaps not knowing—or perhaps knowing very, very well—that the bitter-hearted healer could think nothing on how a demon would not be burned by flames.
“As it would happen, silly, stinky human,” she explained, “demons are not affected by the cold or the heat like you flimsy creatures.”
The bitter-hearted healer could not quite take another moment of this torture. Her heart was nearly threatening to jump out of her chest, beating so very quickly, baku, baku, thump, thump, because, you see, though the healer had often come face to face with death in her practice, she had never given very much thought to the idea that she could truly, actually be the one facing death one day!
She pressed her head against the singed, cold ground with her hands in front of her and said, “Oh, please, demons, please, please spare me! Once you understand my sad tale, you cannot possibly wish to eat me!”
Of course, the bitter-hearted healer did not understand the tale of the demons themselves (and this she would never understand, much as the man in the cave would never understand the love between demons and humans, but, ah, that is a story for quite another time). The bitter-hearted healer did not understand that the demons she had encountered that fateful night were demons from a smaller settlement, and she did not know that this settlement had grown very tired of hunting humans and so had pledged, with great sincerity and passion, to refrain from ever tasting the sweet flavors of human flesh and blood ever again.
It is easy to say that the bitter-hearted healer could not have understood this tale, and it would be correct to say so, because no human in all the Kingdom of the Reed Plains at the time could say that they knew of the demons within their own lands who had sworn off eating them forever. But the bitter-hearted healer would also not have understood this tale should she have ever been told it, because, you see, to the bitter-hearted healer, a demon was a demon, and demons ate people, and there was nothing anyone could do about it.
However, the bitter-hearted healer did think very much that she could avoid being the human the demons chose to eat, if she were only clever enough.
And so the woman pushed her face even farther into the dirt (which she didn’t quite think possible), and she said, “You would understand my tale, too!”  The woman’s voice absolutely dripped with desperation, and there was enough that the demons could scoop it up with their hands and drink and be filled. “You are very beautiful demons,” the woman cried, “and my sad tale could only be understood by those who understand the gift of great beauty, and I know very well that you understand this gift!”
Now, the demons had no desire to eat the woman or even drink her blood on account of their pledge, and truth be told, they would have no desire to eat the woman or even drink her blood had they not been bound by such a pledge. There was such a terrible, ghastly stench coming off the woman and her cold, frozen heart, and the demons were quite sure that, should they even attempt to eat her, she would taste as terrible and ghastly as she smelled.
The bitter-hearted woman could also not have known that the younger demon entertained the thought of wiping her tongue off on the bark of trees after tasting someone as disgusting as the woman who sat crouched before her, and indeed, she would not have even considered such a thing. To the bitter-hearted woman, all that mattered was her beauty, and as her thinking went, beautiful creatures must also taste quite delicious, and so she must have seemed quite the delectable treat to the two demons before her.
As the bitter-hearted woman saw her situation, she would have to try her very, very hardest to not be eaten.
The demons played along with the woman. “A tale, you say?” asked the older demon woman. “Perhaps you are the one who should be the traveling storyteller?”
In all her fear, the bitter-hearted woman thought herself at least wise enough to agree with a demon when asked such a question. “Perhaps, perhaps!” she agreed, though deep inside she could not imagine being in such a lowly, silly, worthless profession as a traveling storyteller.
The demons tried very hard to refrain from gagging at how the woman’s stench became much more terrible with her lie. They continued to play the woman’s game.
“We shall see how skilled you are,” the younger demon woman said. She still held the flames in her hands, coaxing the fire as though it were a small animal.
“Yes, yes, you shall see!” cried the bitter-hearted healer, and she then told her story in the best manner she could muster. She spoke of how the beautiful empress did not deserve her beauty and did not appreciate it, and she spoke of how all the empress deserved was a hideous child, and she said that she had half-considered running away from this horrible place and starting a brand-new life because she quite abhors ungratefulness, you see, and the beautiful empress is surely the definition of ungrateful!
The bitter-hearted healer could not have known how the demons reacted to her story. She could not have understood how the two looked at each other with great plans and ideas blooming in their minds, and she could not understand the language that they spoke to one another in quiet tones, because to the bitter-hearted healer, you see, the language of the demons sounded much the same as the go-o, go-o of the wind.
And so after the bitter-hearted healer had spoken all she had to say, she stared a great, long while at the two incredible creatures before her, knowing all too well in her frozen heart that there was nothing else she could do.
But it was such a long, painful time that the demons spoke to one another, and as you might imagine from a woman who believed very sincerely that she was at death’s door, the bitter-hearted woman became quite consumed by fear. Though there was a great bitterness inside her that would not go away, there came too to be a great terror.
How horrible and unfair is everything! the woman could not help but think, tainting her scent ever more as her heart grew ever colder. Here she had not only come to the ungrateful empress’s kingdom to do her a great deed, but on her first night in the supposedly beautiful empress’s lands, she is held hostage by demons and sentenced to death! Her great kindness to come to the empress’s aid had only resulted in her very downfall!
And so the bitter-hearted woman fumed quite thoroughly to herself, and her bitterness grew and grew, and the demons spoke more and more quickly because, you see, they were not so certain how much longer they could stand being so close to such a cold-hearted, cruel woman.
It was only once the bitter-hearted healer became very convinced that she was going to be eaten on the spot that the older demon woman said, with a hesitance that the woman did not recognize as hesitance, “You have told quite an amazing story indeed.”
The bitter-hearted woman thought immediately upon hearing these words that the demon was genuine in saying them, and she would have been correct, to an extent, because the demon woman did find her tale amazing, in a sense.
The younger demon woman said, “We like your story very much, and we would like to help you! It is true; a cruel fate has come upon you, and it is not fair that you have been sent away to this kingdom! To think that you have been sent all this way to help such an empress as the human empress that reigns in the Kingdom of the Reed Plains! It is disgusting! Despicable!”
At these words, the bitter-hearted healer could have broken out into tears, and it is only the older demon’s next words that keep her from doing just that.
“If you would come with us, just a ways, we can make it so your dreams can come true,” she said.
The bitter-hearted healer felt the great relief that had only just filled her dissipate away, tainted. Her fear came back, and this fear was a terror so great that it felt to the bitter-hearted healer to be almost as tangible as the rain that began to fall upon her at that moment, zabun, zabun, plop, plop. With dread and anxiety building deep within her, the bitter-hearted woman considered many possibilities for what the demons planned to do now.
They were discussing which of my body parts they are going to eat, she thought to herself. They are going to take me back with them to their home, and they are going to enjoy me while they drink away all the water in the river that they must live by, because of course demons must live by a river! I am going to die here, and these demons must consider me quite foolish, to think that their compliments and kind words are enough to tempt me straight into the jaws of death!
The bitter-hearted woman grew more and more bitter, but she smiled very kindly at the demons, the way she had become so accustomed to from her practice, and she knew that even in the rain, she looked very beautiful when she smiled.
“I will go with you,” she said, and she got to her feet, and the demons smiled back at her, though even the bitter-hearted woman could sense that these smiles were not fully kind.
And so the bitter-hearted healer went with the demons because there was surely nothing else she could do, and she thought to herself that when they stopped and tried to devour her whole, she could perhaps kick their teeth, or perhaps they were thinking of saving her for another day, in which case she could steal their shoes and surely run a thousand ri in just a moment.
On and on the bitter-hearted healer’s thought went in this way, and she was so very preoccupied with her illusions that she did not notice at first that the demons had stopped. The bitter-hearted woman had only the little flickering light of the demon’s fire (that had somehow not been extinguished in the rain) to use to see in the darkness, but it seemed to her that they had stopped before what the healer recognized to be an herb garden much like the one she had back in her own backwater hometown.
“It is exactly what you believe it to be,” said the younger demon. The older demon then proceeded to pick from the garden something that the healer could not recognize, even with her great skill and beauty at her craft.
The bitter-hearted woman wondered briefly if whatever it is that the demon had picked would be used to make her tastier, or perhaps it was poison, and the demons truly had been moved by her tale and wished for her to have a peaceful demise rather than be swallowed whole.
It took everything the bitter-hearted woman had to not shudder terribly at this thought.
But the older demon explained, very matter-of-fact, what it was in her hands. “We do not grow the same herbs as you humans do,” she said. “Demons are much stronger than humans, with hearts that are much lighter, and we are far more advanced in our medicines.”
The bitter-rated healer did not believe this in the slightest, but she smiled her very politest smile. “I would very much like to learn more about your herbs,” she said, though she wished to say, I want absolutely nothing to do with your cursed medicines because they would be sure to poison me and all my patients!
“Unfortunately for you, I cannot share the demons’ secrets with a human,” said the older demon. “But I can provide you with this herb, to present to the empress.”
This the bitter-hearted healer found very surprising indeed.
“An herb to present to the empress?” she repeated, a strange sensation of excitement filling her no matter the fact that she was surely just seconds away from being tricked into her own demise by demons.
“Yes,” said the younger demon. “If you present this herb to the empress, her child will be born very, very healthy, because we demons have healing magic, you know, and we have the power to cure nearly any ailment known in the world just using our own power. You must imagine that our medicines are capable of much, much more.”
The bitter-hearted healer felt her excitement wane. Her polite smile fell to nastiness, and this she did not even make the slightest attempt to hide. “Why in the world would I want to give the empress exactly what she wants?” she asked. It seemed so very horrible, and she considered herself such a very sad creature, to be in a position where even the demons sided with a disgraceful, ungrateful empress over her! Was she not beautiful enough to be given whatever it is she wanted? She, who so respected and was so very grateful for the gift of beauty that she had received from the gods?
And though the bitter-hearted woman did not take any note of it, the older demon would think that perhaps she was too harsh with her next words, but she could not help it, you see, because it is a demon’s curse to be extraordinarily honest, even if humans could not comprehend nor understand this honesty.
She said, “We would hope that even the most wicked of humans would not wish for a child to be born so sickly that they perish shortly after birth,” but then she shook her head and said to the bitter-hearted empress, who smelled even more terrible at this point and seemed very much to be fuming, “But we would like to make your dream come true, healer from a faraway kingdom.”
The bitter-hearted healer crossed her arms and surveyed the demons quite thoroughly now. “Are you saying?” she started, and she could not quite finish, even if that was quite unbecoming of a beautiful lady.
“Yes,” said the younger demon. Her face was lit up by the flame that still danced in her palm. “If you give this herb to the empress, her child will be born uglier than any human and far uglier than any demon.”
A great, horrible smile came upon the bitter-hearted healer’s face at this revelation. She very gladly took the herb from the older demon, and she even more gladly presented this herb to the beautiful empress when she returned to the palace to a very relieved guard and when it came to be her turn to come before the terrible empress who had brought such pain and misfortune upon her life.
“Take this,” the bitter-hearted healer said very confidently to the empress, smiling her very politest smile that she had grown much accustomed to smiling from her practice. “Place it in your tea, and be sure that the tea is very warm, and your child will be born very healthy and very lovely.”
The bitter-hearted healer, you see, was not like the honest demons. She very much relished her lie, and her very politest smile would have seemed distinctly not polite, had anyone looked closely enough.
But no one looked closely enough, because the bitter-hearted healer was simply a small healer from a faraway kingdom, and though she was a great beauty, no one could be bothered to look her way, not when in the same room as the most beautiful empress in all the world.
However, perhaps the woman’s heart was not as cold as the demons had seen it, because even this bitter-hearted healer felt within her a sting of remorse as she stood before the empress. In the woman’s mind, you see, the empress was surely not as beautiful as she was made out to be, but this silly empress held herself up as though she was the most beautiful creature on all of the Earth! The bitter-hearted healer almost felt sorry for the poor creature, left thinking that she is so amazingly lovely when she is so clearly not.
And yet, as it may be expected from a tale such as this one, the bitter-hearted healer’s small bit of remorse was not enough for her to treat the empress properly, as she would one of her own patients back in her hometown that the woman found herself missing in increasing amounts, and so she kept her smiling as the empress thanked her for her work.
The bitter-hearted healer, of course, did not know that it was not the demons who had made it so the medicine would cause the princess of the Kingdom of the Reed Plains to be born horrifically ugly. She could not know, and she could not understand, because she did not realize her own bitter-heartedness and would never understand it, not for as long as she lived (and this, you see, was not a very much time longer).
“Humans with hearts as cold as this woman,” the old demon had said to the younger demon, back when they had first heard the healer’s sobbed tale, in a language that the bitter-hearted healer did not understand and could not understand, “are capable of tainting even the strongest medicine with evil, but it is they who suffer the most from their bitterness. A human heart is not meant to be cold. Humans are not designed for the cold as we demons are, and a frozen heart can only beat for so long before it wears itself away with its darkness.”
And so, perhaps it was not odd that the bitter-hearted healer did not live to see the day that her tainted medicine had done its work, and the empress’s daughter was indeed born as hideous as a snake. The healer was a miracle doctor from the heavens and a healer who could heal all, it seemed, except herself. The bitter-hearted woman’s coldness made her incurably ill upon returning to her kingdom, and the people sighed for a moment at her passing.
“She was quite a beauty,” the people said, because it was quite sad to lose someone who looked so lovely, just as it is quite sad to lose a lovely flower to an unseasonal bout of cold weather. “It is a shame to lose her and no longer see such a lovely face.”
But as all beauty eventually fades one day, so did the memory of the healer, who, you must understand, was not truly especially skilled at her craft, and indeed, had relied heavily on the skills of her not-so-pretty assistants whose stories the world did remember far beyond their time.
And so the bitter-hearted healer’s tale was forgotten, and when the time comes that a man in a cave tells this story of the beautiful empress’s ugly daughter to the Crown Princess Satsuki, not a soul remains who remembers the bitter-hearted healer at all.
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