#inactive protagonists

[starry-bi-sky]

pouring one out for luo binghe in my disciple SQQ fic, poor guy has taken a backseat here. we're nearly 30k words deep and he hasn't even shown his face once. it'll be much longer before he even actually talks to Shen Qingqiu.

(i say im pouring one out but in reality im sitting in my director's chair chewing on a cigar and wearing a beret as he tearily and unsuccessfully pleads with me for more scenes with Shen Qingqiu)

[yansurnummu]

WIP Wriday

tagged by @captain-of-silvenar!

here's a bit from a chapter of THIKL I've been working on, ft. Drals' first time meeting Torvesard :)

-

“Of all the realms I’ve walked, I somehow always end up here,” a voice said to Drals’ right. “Fargrave. Beautiful, isn't it?”

Drals glanced towards the voice’s owner. The sound was clearly Dremora, harsh and grating yet with a tone that he would almost describe as soft. He was tall and broad, bare-chested with scarred reddish skin, his features strong and pointed with black horns that curved back over his head. His cloudy gaze was focused away from Drals, over the city below.

Drals took a quick look behind him for anyone else, wondering why, of all people, this Dremora was accosting him.

“Weird place,” Drals muttered dismissively. “Weird people.”

The Dremora’s attention snapped quickly towards him.

“And what of you, mortal?” He cocked his head to the side, his eyes sizing Drals up. “What business might a servant of Hermaeus Mora have in this plane between planes?”

“I’m no one’s servant,” Drals hissed, his upper lip twitching. “If anything, he’s more like a terrible landlord. If I stink like ink, it’s because he won’t fix the leaks in my bloody ceiling.”

“Hmph.” There was something almost like a smirk on the Dremora’s face, though it was hard to tell. “Perhaps you and I aren’t so different after all.” He stepped closer, coming to a stop at Drals’ side.

“Who are you supposed to be, then?” Drals asked, barely masking his curiosity.

“I am someone who has searched millenia for purpose,” he said, his eyes narrowing. “And now that I am as close as I am to finding it, I will not have it torn from my grasp.”

Drals eyed the Dremora, taken aback by the sudden intensity behind his words. “Do you understand me, mortal?”

[unfortunate--moth]

Good day, greetings UnMoth, I have started playing HSR again and am now going to blow the trailblazer up with my mind, (they're both different flavours of nonbinary to me, as are all male+female chosen protagonists such as Aether and Lumine, and Jesse from Minecraft Storymode) that is all.

- Milgranon

NO YOURE SO FUCKING RIGHT MILGRANON.

i chose stelle and i've never resonated with a player character ever before. both of them just have that gender swag. i love them both so much.

[nothingtherefornow]

In Adrien’s defense. I think a lot of people forget that in Ladybug he did attempt to speak up for Marinette and was silenced. And given who he was going up against Lila and Chloe, I don’t think he believed it and was more likely trying to figure out HOW to go about this.

People like that you HAVE to be careful when speaking against them, and try to do so in a way so your actions cannot be twisted.

Speaking from experience having had my own Chloe and Lila, nearly anything and everything I did was always twisted to make me the villain. It’s likely that he realized that, and combined with the fact that he had been silenced by damocles before… not to mention the fact that anytime he attempted to speak up against his father, he would always get silenced as well.

Getting shut down by adults messes with a kid.

(and it doesn’t help that in revelation when he did attempt to speak about Lila he got shut up and dismissed by Alya and Nino.)

Thanks for your opinion, you may have helped me a little with Adrien's character, I'd rather think that he remained passive and silent most of the time against people like Lila and Chloé because he can't figure quickly enough how to confront them in the right way, and because he is too used to be silenced by adults. The fact that both Alya and Nino dismissed Adrien's opinion must indeed also have played a part in Adrien's reluctance to speak up.

The problem is that the derie doesn't show that those are the main issues and reasons why Adrien never speak up against Lila and Chloé even when Marinette would desperatly need it and appreciate it.

It would have been better to have an understandable explanation for Adrien's silence and inaction against Lila and Chloé's evil words, actions and behavior (just like they gave us a very understandable explanation for Marinette "stalking" habits), instead of leaving it for the fans to guess those reasons.

But I guess that the limited time for each of miraculous episode can be very costing for the miraculous story and its numerous caharcters.

[tadpal]

YESSSSS TOM IS ILL ITS FINALLY ALL HAPPENING

[flagellant]

i could not be trusted to make this game because my immediate thought is that the game advertises and markets itself as what op intended but steadily and then rapidly becomes very clear that instead of a cozy cute cottagecore "mystery" the story SHOULD be about the blatant corruption, cruelty, systemic oppression, and persecution and bigotry of her neighbors, but the main character is desperately clinging to the original genre of omg cozy cute and cottagecore because she feels overwhelmed by the potential responsibility to enact meaningful change rather than feel-good aesthetic positivity, thus becoming actively complicit in the town's crimes through her not mere inaction but in fact conscious choice to decide that she will be the protagonist of a cozy cute genre game rather than a story which might challenge her preconceptions of the world and the state of her own community.

[death-rebirth-senshi]

I always forget da2 is advertised as a "rise to power" story because it never feels like it. What rise. What power.

I know there's probably some commentary about how nothing changes for Hawke regardless and being in a position of "power"/fame more like kind of sucks but also. No?

[himitsusentaiblog]

I could write so much about the differences between Shin Godzilla and Godzilla Minus one as different sides of a political story.

Shin was a political satire at points about the ineffectiveness of Japanese Beauracracy in the face of immediate crisis and how a solution can only be found once the government is pared back to a leaner, more agile and less bound by red tape core of problem solvers. I talks about competence and creativity and radical ideas in the face of insurmountable odds once freed from constraint. The protagonists are young, scrappy and ambitious and the idea that you can make a difference, can step up and save everyone if only you were free to do so.

Minus One is about humans struggling to deal with a crisis in the face of a LACK of government, with almost no military after the trauma of a war they were forced into by their government and then lost badly. It's about picking up the pieces and then having those pieces kicked over again because of the actions of others and possibly, the inaction of one of the protagonists in the past. It's about regret and shame and heartbreak and the feeling you are not worthy of happiness so denying it when it presents itself to you.

And while Shin deals with the constraints placed on Japan by the treaty that ended World War II and whether or not they can deploy their self-defense forces to try and stop Godzilla before it is too late, Minus one deals with the lack of support from the US Occupying Forces who seem to not care if Japan gets absolutely destroyed again. You can almost feel a kind of callous disdain in the non-presence of the Americans as if they are ok with Japan being destroyed as long as it doesn't lead to conflict with the USSR. Or maybe they are just using that as an excuse to further humiliate a defeated enemy that once threatened them.

[mrmidknight829]

Been too inactive on Tumblr lately. Need to post again. While big bad wolves, or wolf villains and antagonists can be cool, we could always use more good wolves, wolf heroes and wolf protagonists.

The wolf characters in the picture, from top to bottom:

•Legoshi (Beastars)

•Mutt (Lobodestroyo)

•Shirou Ogami (BNA/Brand New Animal)

•Mr. Wolf (The Bad Guys)

•Grey (Sheep and Wolves)

•Humphrey & Kate (Alpha & Omega)

•Kiba (Wolf's Rain)

•Trickshot (Trick Moon)

•Wiley Wolf (The Great Wolf Pack)

•Amaterasu (Ōkami)

•Robyn & Mebh (Wolfwalkers)

•Lazor Wulf

•Luka (Kingdom Force)

•Big Brain Wolf

•Gabu (One Stormy Night/Arashi no Yoru ni)

•Wanji and Wicasa (Tales of Tatonka)

•Lupin (Lupin's Tales)

•Hope (Seed of Life)

(Hope's bird companion Letty is also barely seen in the photo like she's peeking)

[i9messi]

You belong with me — Charles Leclerc

You're Charles best friend and a famous singer. When he announces he is going to get married soon, people start to analyze your songs.

social media au

a/n: happy ending!! I got inspired by taylor's songs, I love her so much

charles' masterlist

charles_leclerc

she said yes 💍

liked by pierregasly, landonorris, arthur_leclerc and 693.183 others

view all comments

user1 no, I can't believe this. pls tell me isn't real

user2 you should marry y/n instead

user3 i'll cry myself to sleep

user4 our girl yourusername was meant to be your wife, not her

carlossainz55 congrats mate!

user5 you're team y/n and we all know it

yourusername I'm happy for you charless ❤️

user5 I'm so sad, i hope he regrets what he's doing

landonorris 😡😡 (comment deleted)

yourusername

new song will come out tomorrow, it's a little personal <3

liked by landonorris, charles_leclerc, yourbestfriend and 923.162 others

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user1 another song for charles??

user2 my girl need to express her feelings

user3 must be a sad song

user4 "it's a little personal" okay, that means this song will break my heart forever

landonorris I'm not ready for this

carlossainz55 either am I

charles_leclerc ❤️

user5 DON'T GET MARRIED

NEWS! famous singer, Y/N, is in love with Charles Leclerc?

In her latest song You're losing me the singer and songwriter reveals some important details about her love-life.

read more...

You can also read!

Five songs of Y/N dedicated to Charles Leclerc.

landonorris

do something, baby, say something tagged yourusername

liked by fernandoalo_oficial, yourusername, maxverstappen1 and 553.123 others

view all comments

user1 lando is us

user2 say something @/charlesleclerc

user3 three days and charles still haven't showed up. patience isn't my best quality

user4 @/charlesleclerc your best friend openly confessed in a song she's waiting for you to choose her

user5 I would marry her

landonorris me too

user6 Lando! I'm supposed to be team Charles

user5 user6 we can be team Lando too

carlossainz55 🧐🧐

maxverstappen1 I'll go and get some popcorn

pierresgasly this is good entertainment

NEWS! Leclerc and his fiancée ended their relationship?

Some sources confirmed what some fans were waiting for. Charles Leclerc is interested in his best friend, the famous singer?

Read the article.

NEWS!

A month has passed and we’re all asking the same question, What happened between Leclerc and Y/L/N? Since the singer and songwriter has released her latest song, fans haven't stopped mentioning Charles Leclerc, her best friend. Leclerc has made no statement on the matter, nor of his future marriage (have they cancelled it?). Lando Norris and other Formula One drivers seem to be aware of the events, however the protagonist of our story has been inactive in his social media.

Some days ago, fans have met the Ferrari driver at Y/N concert. Does his presence mean they are still good friends or has he finally ended his relationship with his fiancée? Is Leclerc single now?

charles_leclerc

I belong with you 🤍 tagged yourusername

liked by yourusername, landonorris, yourbestfriend and 2.983.123 others

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landonorris WAR IS OVER

carlossainz55 I KNEW IT

carlossainz55 IM NOT BLIND CHICOS

user1 THANK YOU CHARLES

user2 finally our boy realized who was there for him all the time

pierresgasly 🥹 I'm so proud of you

maxverstappen1 finally, what took you so long?

pierresgasly he was an idiot

fernandoalo_oficial I want free tickets for her show, please!

user3 the world healed

[fallout-sole]

Sorry for the inactivity here’s a meme

(I just went through the most protagonist bullshit filled year you could imagine, but I’m back on my bullshit again ! )

[natequarter]

Me on a date: The Sarah Jane Adventures lures you in with a closed-off and paranoid single woman living alone who slowly opens up to her much younger friends in an obvious parallel to the Doctor, particularly the Third Doctor (alone and miserable on Earth, which she cannot leave, unwilling to open up to her friends but slowly coaxed out of her shell); Sarah is the protagonist of The Sarah Jane Adventures, but she is not its hero. We see hints at her trauma, emotional repression, and paranoia over the course of the show; she repeatedly lies to her charges, to the point where they essentially have to stalk her to keep track of her, and she’s fundamentally incapable of relating to ‘average’ people, because she never really adapted back to life on Earth, emotionally or psychologically, and never learnt to grieve. All of this is a compelling, if implicit, storyline on its own, but it hits much harder if you’ve listened to the Big Finish audio series Sarah Jane Smith, in which Sarah is explicitly depicted as an antihero who willingly and recklessly endangers herself and her friends because she’s miserable without the adrenaline of danger and saving the world. Her heroics more often than not cause more harm than good; she cuts herself off from her friends just to solve mysteries (to the point it puts her life at risk), she throws herself into situations that nearly kill her multiple times, and many people die because of her intervention, some of them innocent. The only way she can rationalise the Doctor leaving her to herself is that there was some higher purpose. The artifice of prophecy pervades the entire series; time and time again it becomes clear that any instance of ‘coincidence’ or ‘fate’ are actually down to the machinations of time travel, Sarah, or the cult that has dedicated itself to fulfilling its doomsday predictions. Sarah in The Sarah Jane Adventures is an obvious Doctor stand-in for the narrative, but in Sarah Jane Smith it goes further than that: Sarah embraces his manipulative behaviour, his darker side, his tricks and bluffs. She pretends to be blind to outwit her enemies. She defeats her enemies through words and kills a villain through intentional inaction. At one point she’s forced into a moral dilemma reminiscent of the conflicts that the Doctor faces, where she must choose between the lives of thousands of innocent Londoners and her friend. In the end, it’s no question to her; she chooses to let her friend die. She’s willing to let both her friends die, if it comes down to it—and one of them ultimately does. Sarah is an unusual character; unlike most ex-companions, she’s fundamentally incapable of readjusting to normal life, and has pretty explicitly spent her life since leaving the Doctor isolated, miserable, and in constant peril. But she also doesn’t fit in with the companions who ultimately meet their doom travelling with the Doctor; unlike, say, Clara Oswald, she’s given the chance to back out before it’s too late, and she takes it. But it’s clear that she never recovered from leaving the Doctor, because the Doctor’s lifestyle is the only thing that makes her feel like life is worth living. Sarah Jane Smith clearly portrays Sarah as someone transformed by the Doctor into the Doctor. But this is not a good thing, and the series occupies itself with deconstructing the damaging psychological effect the Doctor has on both people in general and Sarah specifically—Sarah is not a nice person. She is not a better person for having known the Doctor; in fact it’s only made her worse. She’s a danger to the people around her. She’s irrational and obsessed with getting what she wants to the exception of all else. She’s sometimes outright cruel. It’s a fascinating play on a usually much kinder (if imperfect) character, and personally, I love it.

My date: What the hell?

[ghsface]

I knew it, i know you - Matt Sturniolo

Sumary: You return to a place in the past, where memories and guilt haunt you as you find your ex, facing what you could never let go of.

Warnings: angst, break up, insecurities (on the part of the protagonist) guilt, no happy ending, I think that's all.

A/n: Merry Christmas super late, I've been really inactive so sorry about that but I'm back now yayy, I wrote a second part of this fic if you can call it that idk, I wasn't sure about posting this version because I wrote a happy ending in the other version, I'll probably post both as an alternate ending so enjoy this and happy holidays!!!<3

𝜗𝜚 Part one , alternative ending

⛧°。 ⋆༺ ✮ ༻⋆。 °⛧

The cold night wind hit you as you left the restaurant, sending a chill down your spine that had nothing to do with the weather. You walked down the cobblestone streets of the city that was once your refuge, your home, but now felt alien. With every step you took, you could hear the echo of your own thoughts, and the words you never said to Matt repeated in your mind like a mantra of regret.

You had decided to leave him, decided that it was best for both of you to be apart, but that decision hadn't brought the peace you'd hoped for. All it had accomplished was filling your life with awkward silences, lonely nights, and memories that seemed to torment you more with each passing day.

The night was calm, but your emotions were a whirlwind. Every corner you turned reminded you of a moment with him. There was the cafe where he knelt in the snow to tie his shoe while you laughed nonstop. There was the park where you shared your first kiss, when Matt had taken you by surprise and made you feel like the whole world had stopped for an instant.

The city lights flickered above you, and cars whizzed by, but all you could feel was the weight of his gaze on the restaurant, the way his eyes had pierced you, as if they could see every single regret you carried in your chest.

When you finally stopped, you were facing the river. The water reflected the city lights, creating a colorful spectacle you couldn’t enjoy. You just stared at your reflection, searching for answers in a version of yourself you no longer recognized.

“Why?” you wondered out loud, even though you knew there would be no answer. The reason had always been the same: fear. Fear of being happy, fear of not being enough, fear of Matt realizing he loved you more than you could love yourself.

You didn't know how long you were there, lost in your thoughts, until you heard a familiar voice behind you.

"I didn't think I'd find you here."

You turned around, and there he was. Matt. With his hands in his pockets, his hair ruffled by the wind, and that look that had always left you speechless.

"Matt..." you murmured, as if his name were a confession.

He took a step towards you, but kept his distance, as if he was afraid that getting closer might break what little remained between you.

"Why did you leave so quickly?" he asked, his voice calm but full of that intensity he'd always had.

You wanted to answer, but the words stuck in your throat. How to explain something that you yourself couldn't understand?

"I didn't want to interrupt..." you started, but he shook his head before you could finish.

"Don't lie. We're not at that point anymore, right?"

His honesty hit you like a bucket of cold water. He had always had that ability to see right through you, to decipher the emotions you didn't even know you felt.

“I didn’t want to make this harder for you,” you finally admitted, shifting your gaze back to the river.

“Make what harder?” he asked, taking a step closer. “See you? Talk to you? Because, believe me, nothing can be harder than the last few months without you.”

His confession made the air feel heavier. You looked up at him, and his eyes were filled with pain, but also something else: hope.

“Matt, I…” You tried to speak, but he cut you off.

“No, let me speak this time.” His voice shook slightly, but there was a firmness to it that you couldn’t ignore. “I don’t know what happened, I don’t know why you walked away, but I know that I haven’t stopped loving you for a second.”

The words hit you with a force you didn’t expect. Tears filled your eyes, and for a moment, all you wanted was to run to him and tell him you were sorry, that you loved him, that you never stopped.

But the fear was still there, like a shadow you couldn’t shake.

“Matt, I can’t…” you murmured, and you watched as the glimmer of hope in his eyes slowly faded.

He nodded, taking a step back, as if he understood there was nothing more to say.

“It’s okay.” His voice was soft, but the sadness was evident. “I just wanted you to know.”

And with those words, he turned and began to walk, leaving you alone once again, with the sound of the river and the echo of what could have been.

You watched him walk away, and a part of you wanted to run after him, to scream his name and ask for another chance. But your feet remained planted on the ground, unable to move.

When you finally turned around and started walking in the opposite direction, you felt like you were carrying with you not only the weight of your own regrets, but also that of his love, a love you never knew how to accept, but one you would always carry with you.

And as you walked away, the city seemed darker, emptier, as if it knew that, this time, there would be no turning back.

⛧°。 ⋆༺ ✮ ༻⋆。 °⛧

your reblogs and replies are always appreciated dearly, and feel free to leave a request ✮

Tags... @matthewsroses @sophand4n4 @strnilolover @lolastrniolo @marrykisskilled @sweetshuga

[sugar-grigri]

I think Makima's woken up.

But already a small series of observations for this chapter I loved

- CSM's curse is to lose his loved ones, if he has no one left to lose, Denji can't become Chainsaw Man again.

- Just as Asa loves Denji AND Chainsaw Man, Denji loves Asa AND Yoru because he can't tell them apart.

- I have the impression that this is the first time Denji has asked for help.

- Denji doesn't want to fight to protect, he needs to protect to fight

- Yoru hands over to Asa several times, because rummaging through rubble and mourning are human things, but that doesn't mean she's immune, because she's also mourning her opponent.

Asa doesn't like sushi, probably because it's often made of fish.

But what's important isn't culinary taste, it's the symbolism of these fish.

When Denji restored Asa's hope, he literally gave her back her strength by feeding her.

A hope that naturally repels Asa, who is not used to it.

What this chapter is about isn't just "I feel like eating sushi".

It's : make me hope again among the rubble

Make sure there's someone behind me when I fight you

Finding a loved one lost to Chainsaw Man's curse is already fighting Chainsaw Man.

Now that we've talked about water, how about fire?

The symbol of fire is not loss, despite the title "charred remains".

Fire in Chainsaw Man now has a precise symbolism, conveyed by the fire demon itself, allowing co-contractors to become whoever they want.

That's why, symbolically, in front of his burning apartment, Denji wanted to be CSM.

But Nayuta also came close to this dreamy fire

By being literally pointed at by a firearm by Barem, weapon of the flame thrower, co-contractant of the fire demon

Charred remains is the old Nayuta

Focus on fire

What Nayuta wanted to become or become again

For this, Chainsaw Man needed to be wounded, completely inactive.

And Control Demon to be alone again

What this chapter indicates is that several cycles are closing

Asa has been helped by Denji, who asks for her help,, closing where time left off with virtually the same protagonists, at the aquarium.

The element of water, hope

That's why Yoshida's question only makes sense now: is Denji in a state to literally face death, i.e. his own mourning?

And then part 2 gently embraces not only its beginning with water but now part 1 with fire, what we wish to be

Deep down, in choosing to be CSM Denji has chosen to be alone

And Nayuta has finally answered the question

Both decided to return to their own starting points, one running after the devil of control, the other embracing her new-found solitude.

You know, I said earlier that Yoru was also mourning the loss of an adversary. Don't you feel that we're bitterly trying to mourn our own? That of our own antagonist? But as fire signifies rebirth… not loss… A remnant… For Nayuta… A carbonization… For Makima.

To fight, Denji needs… Nayuta For the demon of control has awakened in her…

So friends, wash your hands: let's eat

[tossawary]

I'm enjoying this "Yue Qingyuan sent Shang Qinghua to go spy on Luo Binghe after Shen Qingqiu's death" AU, because I love it when background characters have their own goals and business, are fighting with each other, and are doing wild shit on purpose. Even if you're doing an AU (as per canon to our knowledge) where Shang Qinghua is not a double agent - and is just fleeing to the Demon Realm because he was found out as a traitor and/or decided that it was time to dip because the protagonist and Cang Qiong Mountain Sect are now in semi-open conflict - the question remains for exploration:

Why did Yue Qingyuan not go to Huan Hua Palace and try to kick Luo Binghe's ass to get Shen Qingqiu's body back?

It's suggested at several points that Tianlang-Jun at the height of his power was stronger than Luo Binghe, and Yue Qingyuan was part of the team that helped to seal Tianlang-Jun. Shen Yuan suggests that the original Luo Binghe had to bait Yue Qingyuan into a death trap of ten thousand arrows because Bing-ge (even with the Xin Mo Sword at this point) didn't want to face Yue Qingyuan head-on. (I think Bing-ge sent SQQ's legs to YQY or something.) Yue Qingyuan is willing to draw Xuan Su for SQQ and Liu Qingge is willing to help (although LQG might be mad that YQY let SQQ go to the Water Prison at all). YQY versus LBH is not a totally unbalanced fight.

It's possible that Yue Qingyuan didn't go fight because he kind of shut down due to grief. Shen Qingqiu has changed in recent years and died in a very sudden, very shocking, very confusing way. YQY also has a sect to look after and maybe he can't fully justify going out and escalating the conflict over a dead body (as opposed to a live hostage), and possibly get himself killed, when he's maybe hoping that Cang Qiong and Huan Hua can settle this without further death. The other peak lords all must have opinions on this and are probably pulling him in all sorts of directions. By Liu Qingge's account, Yue Qingyuan probably knows that Shen Qingqiu intentionally died for Luo Binghe and he knows that SQQ loved his disciple, so maybe he wants to respect SQQ's sacrifice and affection by not trying to kill Luo Binghe. When Luo Binghe invades Cang Qiong for SQQ's body (and Shen Yuan), Yue Qingyuan has to dangerously abort cultivation in the Ling Xi Caves to come face him, so it's possible that YQY had decided 5 years in that peaceful resolution was impossible and was gearing up to fight Luo Binghe, only to be a victim of bad timing (Liu Qingge's unexpected success in body retrieval).

It could be a combination of these reasonings! People do things for lots of different reasons and this is an emotionally charged situation which puts Yue Qingyuan in a complicated political position.

So, yeah, it could also be that Mu Qingfang came back from his kidnapping saying, "Luo Binghe was repairing Shen Qingqiu's body, trying to summon his soul, and was researching resurrection techniques when I was there," and Yue Qingyuan decided to just... sit back and see where that went. If Liu Qingge (who is probably NOT happy that YQY isn't throwing down already) succeeds in retrieving the body, fine, that's good enough, but if Luo Binghe succeeds in bringing Shen Qingqiu back...? Well, that's also good, isn't it? Yue Qingyuan can outsource the "go mad with grief and engage in crimes against the natural order" to someone else here.

I mean, I really don't think that Yue Qingyuan was actively PLANNING for Luo Binghe to resurrect Shen Qingqiu. That seems a little too wicked and scheming to be his main motivation here. But I do think he might have been... vaguely aware of this potential consequence of his inaction, this possible side effect of his paralyzing grief causing him to be hands-off about the situation and/or his cautious approach to peace negotiations, and I really don't think that he minds that Tianlang-Jun and Zhuzhi-Lang succeeded in bringing Shen Qingqiu back. (I do think he kind of wishes that the Shen Jiu who remembers him had come back instead, though.)

[arlakos]

The High Road: A counterpoint to one of the most commonly used Salt Takes for Adrien.

This isn't really a salt fic idea, but since we are on the topic of salt on this blog, I'd like to take a moment to talk about a scene that has largely been used out of contex ever since Chameleon came out, and that is the infamous high road scene that has since been used to death for every Adrien salt story

For those who are unaware of this scene (or perhaps are unfamiliar with the canon version), in the episode Chameleon of Sesason 3, Marinette is about to go expose a plot hole in one of Lila's many fabrications, only for Adrien to stop her by stating that it won't change Lila for the better (Full Transcript Below). Keep this transcript in mind because I'll be referencing it a lot.

Now, this scene doesn't seem like something to be mad over, but the the whole episode of Chameleon has twisted a lot of people's perceptions of certain characters for the worse. This particular scene just happens to be one that changed people's pereceptions of Adrien.

However, I think its actually somewhat unjustified. I feel that in many ways, Chameleon as a whole has been misrepresented for what changes it has actually brought into the show, and I feel that it's easy to take a lot of moments in the episode out of context, especially when emotions come into play. The episode transcript actually happened to be leaked before it was supposed to be relased, so a lot of people already made up their minds about what this episode was about before it was released. It's easy to hate on this episode when you're friends in discord have watched it before you and have started to shout buzzwords such as "The class betrayed Marinette!" or "Adrien is a monster!", etc etc. I would know, since that was how I found out about the episode in the first place, and watching it for the first time didn't change my initial perceptions.

Today, I would like to take a moment to take the infamous high road scene and talk about what it meant for the salty portion of the fandom, before taking a metaphoically sledgehammer and slamming some misconceptions about Adrien from the perspective of salty people. Sure, they're other scenes that could be looked at, but since every salt fic tends to reuse this plot point, I feel it deserves its own deconstruction.

1. The High-Road scene is proof that Adrien is an asshole!

Now this statement is a bit of a buzzword since the actual reasons for people disliking this scene can vary, but to be fair, the reaction to this scene is also more nuanced as well.

In truth, a lot of people already had issues with Adrien/Chat Noir as a whole (for reasons that I won't elaborate here since it would be worth its own post), but this scene seemed to open the floodgates with hatred for our secondary protagonist out of his percieved inaction, since many people now had dislike for Adrien, while those who hated him prior were more than happy to provide fuel for the fire. After the episode was released, these ideas began to merge together, resulting in this belief that Adrien has always been an asshole, and that the Chameleon scene was simply the final straw, and that if the show was written by a good writer (read: anyone who hated the episode), Marinette would actually ditch his ass!

Now, its debatable on whether Adrien had writing issues prior to this point, but I feel that using this scene to justify hatred for him is outright slander for several reasons:

First of all, Adrien never suggested for Marinette to take the high road if we are being logistical about it. He only complimented her on that regard, telling her she did a good job for "taking the high road", and that was after he sat next to her to show he was by her side.

His actual message to Marinette was that it wasn't worth it to try expose Lila at that moment (and to be fair, it wouldn't have worked, more on that later though) because all it would do is make her double down on her behavior. Plus, trying to expose her in front of everyone would just hurt Lila more than help everyone else, which is, if anything, not untrue.

Overall, the advice Adrien gave to Marinette was not meant out of a desire to hurt anyone (least of all Marinette), but was out of a genuine desire to help resolve a situation and prevent Marinette from doing something that would not have helped the situation. Even if he does have other character flaws, this situation was by no means a reason to villainize him for it.

2. Adrien prefers Lila over Marinette, thats why he told the latter to take the high road!

Again, another idea that is found in fanfics, but is ultimately untrue in canon.

While Adrien doesn't believe Lila at all from the beginning of the episode, he isn't exactly just letting Lila's actions slide either; his stance comes from that of believing that Lila being decietful will do nothing to actually help her make friends. However, rather than confronting her angrily like Marinette does, Adrien instead tries to be friendly with her and try offer Lila some advice to try and change, albiet to no avail.

Now, some people might argue that Lila doesn't deserve kindness considering her threat to Marinette just moments ago, but it should be also stated that Adrien knows NOTHING about this: as far as he's aware, Lila is a transfer student looking to make friends, but has a wrong way of doing so (so in a way, she's not unlike him, from his POV at least), so he's just trying to help her, rather than attempt to force her out in the open.

(Quick tibit though, if Adrien knew what Lila did to Marinette, he would probably be more inclined to help her and protect his friends, given that he was willing to 'sacrifice' himself to get Marinette un-expelled in the Ladybug episode)

By the end of the episode Adrien is obviously dissapointed in Lila continuing to act the way that she is, but ultimately refuses to sink to Lila's level in order to teach her a lesson. As childish as it is (and it should be considering Adrien is a TEEN) Adrien believes that Lila's deceptions will ultimately come back to bite her (Adrien even tells her this himself, see below.), but trying to expose her in front of everyone else will do more harm to Lila than it will help others, hence his methods of speaking to her privately about it.

3. Adrien's reasoning is horrible and stupid! He deserves to pay for it!

This reasoning is the one I find the most dissapointing, partly because it inspired The Karma of Lies story (Written by CartoonAddict564), and also because while Adrien's reasoning can come off as naive, it is by no means stupid, nor should he have to suffer for having a different viewpoint for Marinette. But to understand, you need to think of Adrien in terms of his character.

Adrien is not just a celebrity, but also a child with a very controlling father, who pretty much controls and manages his day to day life with the help of his secretary. As a result of his popularity, Adrien has to be very careful with what he says or does, not only because it would reflect poorly onto his father's company, but it would also force his father to step in. As the Collector has shown, Adrien being able to even LEAVE the home is something that could easily be revoked at any time, and being Cat Noir has only loosened the bars on his cell, not remove them completely. Adrien has very little to gain by confronting Lila, but everything to lose, which is in direct contrast to Marinette having everything to lose by letting Lila walk by.

So in the face of all that, plus the situation he is in now, why would he not act passive and provide advice to try mitigate conflict rather than escalate it?

Now whether or not that should be seen as selfish is debatable, it's ultimately not out of character for Adrien to try and provide more passive options to deal with Lila rather than go for the most violent option. You could even argue that Adrien's actions are also out kindness to Marinette, since (in his eyes at least) it could get her in trouble with her own parents if they try and confront Lila violently.

At worst, Adrien's passiveness is a result of his controlled upbringing. At best? He was just trying to help without causing conflict.

4. Adrien shouldn't have stopped Marinette from confronting Lila!

.... im sorry to say this, but yes he absolutely should have.

Marinette was about to confront Lila over which ear her supposed tinnitus was in. Aside from the fact trying to expose her on this alone would not have worked, this would have just resulted in Marinette becoming more estranged from her classmates in this situation. If Marinette should have confronted Lila about her lying, this was DEFINTELY NOT the way to do it.

This isn't to say that Marinette could not have confronted Lila, but this moment simply was not it. There were better alternatives to Marinette that she could employ in the future had she thought of doing so (such as coming to Alya as Ladybug and revealing that her frienship with Lila is a lie), or carrying a voice recorder to record any threats made by Lila.

As uncathartic as the situation was, from a writing standpoint Adrien's inteference ultimately helped Marinette keep her friendships in the long run, while avoiding making a fool of herself with a battle she simply could not win.

5. It's Adrien's fault that Marinette didn't go after Lila! Marinette would have been better if she brushed him off!

This sounds crazy, but this is a genuine point that people seem to mention when it comes to their reasons for writing salt fics. Even if Adrien's attempts to dissaude Marinette were out of concern rather than malice, people still condemn Adrien for pushing Marinette off that path of going after Lila. In their eyes, Marinette didn't get her immediate revenge for what Lila did, and Lila herself was allowed to continue manipulating the class. All of this becomes Adrien's fault by virtue of being the one to deny this from happening, denying the fans their catharsis.

However, the question I ask it that for all the blame they give to Adrien in this situation ... how come nobody blames Marinette at all for the same thing?

See, despite people argue that Adrien manipulated Marinette into not going after Lila, Marinette isn't necassarily gullible or stupid. If Marinette really thought that Lila was a threat worth going after, she could and would have easily found a way to take Lila down and get her removed, with or without Adrien's support (given she made a similar plan in season 5 for when Gabriel tried to get the Kwamis to lead him to Marinette). She wouldn't even need a miraculous to do so given she can make plans without transforming, and most of Lila's lies aren't particularly smart, they just can't be immediately discredited without proof.

And it can't even be argued that Adrien took advantage of Marinette's love for him (whether intentionally or not). Marinette has shown that even though she does value her friends, she doesn't need to rely on the validation of others to do whatever she feels is right (given that she argued against Alya and others in Risk when it came to their belief that Adrien was fine, even though she was partly amped by an akuma at the time). And if Marinette did think that Adrien was wrong, she probably wouldn't have continued to crush on him anymore.

Also its kind of lowkey sexist? Like, Marinette can probably make her own decisions, she doesn't need someone to dictate her own actions given she's the leader of a superhero team?

Ultimately, Marinette made the choice not to go after Lila. Perhaps she thought that Lila wasn't worth it. Maybe she thought that taking down Lila wasn't worth the time and stress. Maybe she ended up agreeing with Adrien and thought that Lila would expose herself sooner rather than later with her own deceptions. Either way, Marinette can make her own decisions, and she ultimately thought that going after Lila was not a good idea, for whatever reason.

Now, some people might be upset about this idea that Marinette is to blame, but people can't just play the blame game and expect their target to lose. It would honestly be preferrable to say that both Adrien and Marinette made a decision that (for better or worse) thought was good at the time and that neither should be judged for it, but the fandom doesn't seem to care for that because that means their salt fics would be invalid.

Thus, since people want to blame Adrien for apparently "manipulating" Marinette, Marinette should get equal blame for allowing herself to be manipulated by Adrien. Sucks to hear it, but since nobody calls out Marinette on her shit, I might as well be the first. Sorry if it triggers you ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

So ... what does this all mean?

It means that my boy Adrien is innocent.

He meant no harm by suggesting that Marinette not go after Lila, nor did he do it because he took Lila's side over Marinette's. At best, he was unaware of how evil Lila was and thought she was misunderstood, and at worse he defaulted to using the same ideas that he uses to protect what limited freedoms he had, and offered it to Marinette as geunine advice. Marinette isn't a pushover either, meaning that not only did she also think what Adrien said was a good idea, but the fandom is inadvertently being sexist by implying she can't be independent and can't make her own decisions, given that she's shown her own independence multiple times. At best, both characters made a dumb decision that they thought was good, but neither can be soley responsible.

Ultimately, Chameleon was an episode that gave Adrien (and whoever else was targeted) a bad rep due to the kneejerk reaction everyone had to the episode due to Lila's lies, myself included. In truth, nothing of what happened in the episode had any actual long term effects, since Marinette still kept her friends and Lila didn't end up playing any major role for nearly 2 seasons, at least until season 5 finally got rid of 'Lila' and set up 'Cerise' to be the new Butterfly villain.

It took me a long while to put this belief into words, and it may be 2 seasons too late, but at least I can upload it now knowing that this truth could possible be shared with the world. Maybe it will stop the excess of salt fics in the world, and allow for new salt free works to be made. Who knows?

Anyways, I hope you found this to be an interesting read as I had writing it!