#is it because it's only relevant in the miracle box

[moonlights-thoughts]

In “Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir”, there are little beings called Kwamis. They are paired with Jewlery to turn their owner into a super hero.

It is a rule that Kwamis are unable to say their owner’s names otherwise they'll just don't out bubbles. If that's the case, then why are they able to say their owner's name???

[actually-factually-anonymous]

Ladybug Vs Avatar's use of the supporting cast and the problem thereof.

I'm not sure if this has been covered before, but there's a serious problem with Marinette being the be-all end-all of everything in Miaculous.

And it's not just because "she's stressed" or "it's all on her". Her being the most important, talented and plot-relevant character in every situation is.

Let's make a comparison to the Gold Standard:

In Avatar the Last Airbender, Aang is the axis of the story. He holds incredible powers beyond anyone else, can bend every element and could conceivably end the entire conflict that plagues his world with relative ease- which he eventually does.

However, for 99% of the story he cannot do so. Because Aang is untrained, he cannot access that divine win-button of the Avatar State at will, and using it carried enormous risks to himself and those around him- making it functionally unusable for common conflicts. Furthermore while he does technically have the capacity to use all four elements, he had only mastered one and needed to learn the remaining three.

Indeed, Aang has outright difficulty with learning Earthbending despite his innate talents and while he's a quick study for the other two, he doesn't demonstrate the same effectiveness with water and fire as Katara and Zuko.

This means that Aang cannot do certain things as well as the others in his team. This means that for the majority of the story, even though his first and preferred element provides him with useful abilities" Aang has weaknesses that he needs others to cover and provide for.

Enter Katara, Sokka, Toph and Zuko.

Katara is a waterbender who teaches Aang and later advances her powers to include the all-important power of healing and the disturbingly effective (though situational) Bloodbending.

Toph is an earthbender who is also one of Aang's teachers, and whose tremor sense later allows her to both detect liars and invent Metalbending.

Sokka is seemingly just the comic relief normie. However his technical mindset allows him to serve as the general of the group, and even plan and lead in that role for entire armies later in the show.

Even Zuko who joins later and becomes less a teacher but a fellow student alongside Aaang in firebending is a skilled infiltrator and melee weapon expert. (This is less of a case than the others since it's not used as much, but it's more of a concrete example than his insights into the fire nation and his potential utility as a replacement Fire Lord).

They each provide far more than those short summaries, but it's important to note that in each case, even when Aang does learn the elements and starts growing into his role as the Avatar: he never gains the full range of abilities that his team offers. He never assumes the fully strategic mindset of Sokka, and even though it's downright implausible that no Avatar before him never learnt healing, he never demonstrates that ability or any Metalbending prowess even in the Avatar state.

There's also the enemy trio of Azula, Ty Lee and Mai. Azula is a powerful firebending genius, but Mai's prowess with her throwing weapons are a close match- and Ty Lee's chi-blocking can outright cripple enemy benders for any given fight when combined with her insane agility: something that not even Azula can do with her firebending. They are an incredibly dangerous combination and when Azula loses them, she becomes far less effective for their absence.

In both teams despite the leader being a powerful, talented bender who is objectively the strongest person on their respective side: there's no doubt about each member of the team contributing something that said leader cannot.

-

Now let's look at Miraculous:

Marinette is the "Greatest Ladybug" of all time despite being fourteen, only having had the earrings for less than a year, and having a list of predecessors that go back literally thousands of years and include Joan of Arc.

She is also the Guardian of the Miracle Box. Specifically she is the Guardian of The Mother Box that is the most important of all the boxes, despite there being at least a full Temple's worth of actually trained candidates somewhere in Tibet who should be far and above more capable than her or her mentor Fu. However, her supposed superior Su-Han seems entirely convinced that she's already surpassed any teachings his order has by how often she breaks said teachings in his face only for him to roll over like a dog. There's not been a single time when Marinette has been confronted by some shortcoming in her responsibilities as a Guardian where she has had to learn anything from the multi-millennia old Order of Guardians.

Marinette has also worn almost every single Miraculous in her Box at the same time, a feat that supposedly risked serious harm to her but merely made her woozy for an afternoon (if that). As of the season five Finale, she has also unified her earrings with her partner's ring: a scenario that in earlier seasons seemed to imply great risk: yet she was able to use the powers flawlessly.

As Ladybug, she is also the lone hero who has unlocked any new advanced powers with her Miraculous (unless you also include the arbitrary "adulthood" that she and Chat Noir achieved that allows them multiple uses of their Miraculous before detransforming), and on the occasions when she's used anyone else's powers has shown no sign of being any less capable than they are with them.

Ladybug does everything as well if not better than everyone else.

Marinette can not only unify with any Miraculous she needs for a given mission, she can use the powers as effectively as their "dedicated holder" can and without any restrictions. Unlike the majority of the cast who are still under the child-power limit. She can even unify with multiple miraculous at the same time without any drawbacks.

And without those drawbacks, without anyone on the cast being able to use the power of their Miraculous more effectively than Marinette: everyone else on the team is more or less superfluous.

Sure, Marinette has tossed out the Miraculous to her team like candy now. But when you get down to it: the real lesson that she should have learnt from Strikeback to just put some damn security on her Yo-yo/The Box. Because this just means that she has to wait for the hero in question to show up when she could have just pulled off whatever plan she has in mind herself.

And that superfluous label includes Chat Noir.

As frustrating as it is to come to the this conclusion: as of right now, there's no real reason for Adrien Agreste to be anything but a temporary holder. Certainly you can point to his experience with Plagg's power, and a few examples that seem to imply he can do more with it (in his second outing he was able to reconstruct part of the Eiffel Tower into a makeshift extension to catch someone from). Things that imply that if he perhaps received any actual training in the show like Marinette did from Fu, any guidance whatsoever from the Order or their Grimoire he might be able to achieve more.

But there's no solid evidence to expect that Marinette wouldn't be as effective, and the narrative precedent does not lend itself to the idea that anyone could overshadow Ladybug as a holder even of their own Miraculous. If anything, the sheer ability Marinette showed as Bug Noire implies that her having a partner instead of just keeping the ring herself is a detriment to any given situation.

If you can justify exposing the ring to potential capture in the first place considering that there seems to be no requirement to do. By all rights the practical thing to do is just keeping Plagg in the box instead of risking reality.

Of course we wanted to be generous, Adrien could still be of some use. He's the resident meatshield and narrative jobber. So long as he has a Miraculous he could continue faithfully serving in those roles, eating up mind-control beams and taking hits for Bug Noire so she can save the day as usual.

But everyone else on the Miraculous team might as well turn in their furry super-suits and go home.

-

You couldn't get a more black and white depiction of the value of others outside of the protagonist. in Avatar, Aang is literally a semi-divine being who still needs to be humble and learn while the others around him still have useful special talents and prowess that he can't simply attain at will.

While in Miraculous, there's only one person of actual true competence. From Paris to Shanghai, Marinette alone is the capable one- barring the odd episode in the limelight (Alya and Felix stand up and take a bow. Adrien can stay seated).

There is a word for a character that is impossibly more capable than any other in spite of all reason and logic. And Marinette is increasingly fitting that mold as the show goes on. There's also a term for characters that ultimately contribute nothing good or bad to a story; wasted space. You can't have an entire ensemble of characters as part of the cast and have them provide nothing if they're supposed to have even a smidge of narrative value without making them something the story would be better off without.

Just as you can't just have one person at the centre of everything, make them capable of everything and not eventually have the story they're in turn into (at best) a power fantasy.

And it's a shame. Because Miraculous seemed like it could have been a lot more.

[vpgoldenrod]

Aziraphale's Haunted Look: On Being Forcibly Outed and Exiled From The Garden

While we're all talking about Aziraphale's reaction to the kiss, I'm surprised by those who thought Aziraphale looked disgusted because that's not an emotion I'd seen in him at all. There's sadness, and confusion, and anger, but I couldn't remember seeing disgust. When I watched the scene again I realized there's something else going on that really struck a chord with me. It's an uncomfortably familiar look.

He feels exposed. And I know what it feels like to be exposed in such a violent and intimate way.

Stay with me, I promise this is relevant to my analysis.

I didn't know what being transgender meant when I was a kid. Being raised in a fundamentalist Christian house meant that I wasn't exposed to those ideas, so I lived my life feeling like something was always just kind of broken. It was like I was looking right through the problem at other things, trying to alleviate symptoms without understanding why they existed in the first place. I eventually met other trans people, who gently nudged me in the direction of my truth. I even became aware that I had experienced some minor dysphoria. Every time I came close to acknowledging the truth however, my eyes would once again begin to glaze over the problem. I always managed to subconsciously shove it back into a little box and move on with my life. It was like I accidentally “did a big miracle” and hid this truth from myself so well that I continually forgot it was there.

Til one day I had an encounter that changed everything.

We're friends now but oddly enough, it was only meant to be a fling. I won't go into too many details because it's not just my story, but it was a lovely time that culminated with us meeting and doing what adults do. The person I was with, a cis man, silently clocked me the minute we were face to face. For reasons I now understand, without warning and in the middle of our shared intimate experience, he decided to talk dirty to me as if I were a gay man.

No one had ever spoken to me like that before. It had never occurred to me to ask anyone to do that, or that anyone would want to. I was in an intimate space and filled with the typical emotions and endorphins one has during sex, but it was a fling. I had walls up. So for the first time in my life, in this incredibly vulnerable position, someone grabbed me by my lapels and forced me to face a deep truth about myself that I'd spent decades silently dancing around. It was a blunt, irrefutable truth and it hit like a sucker punch to the solar plexus. He saw me when I was very much not trying to be seen, and there's few things more terrifying than that.

Even now, years later, I have such a hard time putting into words the overwhelming emotions I felt that night. There were so many, and yet somehow I can see every single one of the emotions I felt in Aziraphale's face when Crowley lets him go. My heart breaks all over again seeing how exposed he felt. He can barely make eye contact until he stumbles onto the one emotion that gives him his agency back: anger.

Gabriel shows up to the bookshop completely naked. When a bewildered Aziraphale points it out Gabriel says, “Who told you I was naked?”

But that's not how the story goes.

God looks for Adam in the garden, but he hides from her. He eventually tells God, “I heard your voice in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid myself.”

Then God asks Adam, “Who told you you were naked?” And of course Adam knows he is naked because he ate the apple.

I've made jokes about Crowley being the apple that bit Aziraphale, but I forgot the bit that happens afterwards. He is aware of his own nakedness. He is exposed. To God, to Crowley, and to himself. As a result he is exiled from the safety of his Eden. Man, if this isn't the perfect analogy for being forcibly outed I don't know what is.

This show is so gay you guys.

[sonkitty]

The Sideburns Scheme Post #23

(For reference: The Sideburns Scheme)

Crowley, Good Omens 2, Episode 2, The Clue, blameless goats

...

Hairstyle Notes

The hair is longer and more fluffy than the previous scene. It is also longer than the scene that started off the whole episode and minisode.

From the front when closer to Aziraphale, it looks more red.

The curls themselves change, dependent on camera angle too. If one wishes to lean into the character POV approach, the more red hair seen from the front is possibly Aziraphale's POV.

I still prefer to NOT lean into such a thing and think of it as generally shared myself because I put so much stock into how important the hiss is for this scene. It's important for Crowley since it's such an integral part of his own Threshold Trick for himself (The Sunglasses Trick). It's important for Aziraphale to remember that it happened because it's part of the message he is receiving.

Crowley's hair is generally dynamic throughout season 2, and the present day of season 2 even shows it can change based on his emotions.

Regardless, we are now shown a new type of space for this era.

This space is a human-built structure with no roof. It has not experienced the damage the barn did. It will be damaged later through the storm. This space also has a fountain, so water is nearby. There are no humans on entry, and there will be no humans by the time this scene ends.

As such, this hairstyle is the closest match to a "supernatural" reading when comparing to the season 2 present day.

The space recognizes Crowley is a demon, or at least a supernatural being. The crows already within it are the goats he transformed into crows earlier in the minisode.

...

Earthly Objects

(For reference: Earthly Objects)

Most of the scene looks to be outright avoiding earthly object touches, largely to help focus on the events of the scene itself with the revelation that the crows were the goats. As such, Crowley was, in a way, "holding" an earthly object during the scene through a miracle touch. Aziraphale himself touched the crows through changing them back to their original forms as goats. Aziraphale used Crowley's name for the time period, "Crawley".

During this scene is the next touch of The Sunglasses Trick.

Here is a GIF:

This time, we're at the second Single of a group of three Singles that will become a Triple.

Crowley makes a pocket between his right arm and beard, using his right hand to touch the right end piece. This pocket exists for both cuts that show the touch. The arm casts a shadow over where the season 2 present day Tied Hands would be. His headband is like his substitute Belt Head. He received overhead lights before this set of minisode scenes started. He also didn't show his actual hands in the preceding scene.

The sunglasses are different than the last Single, he hissed, and he was miracle-holding crows-that-are-secretly-goats. As a reminder, the sunglasses being different are what demonstrate this group of three is the one for three Singles to become a Triple. The hissing is what they have in common for their eventual switch to a Triple.

This touch really stands out in the Threshold Tricks overall because it is the only touch that takes place in a minisode. All of the others are in the season 2 present day.

Why?

Well, I'm always theorizing though I believe in some of my theories more strongly than others, but nonetheless, here's a reminder that's what I'm doing before I give my answer.

As stated before, these minisodes are stories with hidden messages between Crowley and Aziraphale. Gabriel arrived with a cardboard box at least twice. With the possibility of making themselves forget things from the first time, the characters left themselves clues to solve their own puzzle.

This scene is giving Aziraphale a huge clue that amounts to "goats". I mean, it could do more and mean more, but that's the relevant part for a certain step he's going to take in the present day.

Among the various clues listed on the record is "Goat Gate," so Aziraphale will consider the clues from the minisode, including the goats that are part of this scene, and decide to get himself to Goat Gate.

The next touch for The Sunglasses Trick will not be until episode 5.

Time to pay attention to the pockets.

After Crowley crosses the threshold on entry, he is shown pocketed between two plant stands before Aziraphale arrives.

When Aziraphale is first shown, he's also revealed to have passed a pocket of two plant stands.

I don't think these plant stand pockets mean much more than a general clue about how important the plants are for the season 2 overall connection and ending with The Door Trick, The Door Catch, and the maintained Green of Rainbow Connection.

Probably one of the most important pockets in the scene, communicating the same thing as above, is when Aziraphale and Crowley themselves are pocketing a plant as Aziraphale challenges Crowley to look him in the eye before the hiss. This pocket disappears after Crowley says his full line about "blameless goats", then briefly reappears as Aziraphale starts to walk away.

Crowley's robe makes a pocket with itself and the ground that is generally shadowy and black. It further opens slightly over the ground while the first crow bleats like a goat. That serves as a clue that yes, Crowley somehow lowered his guard enough to let it be known the crows were goats.

The last cut shows Crowley and Aziraphale pocketing the goats, before that cut is pushed away to the camera's left.

...

For my tangential reading progress, I finished re-reading Good Omens. I discussed some of that in this post here: Finished Re-Reading Good Omens. I have a lot more highlights and thoughts, but I don't have the energy to go over them in a post like this one, for now.

I started reading Eric by Terry Pratchett this morning.

...

Story Commentary

Here we are again in the minisode with Crowley first, then Aziraphale. This time we are connected from a scene where we entered by looking at a book. Both of them were on screen, and Crowley received the focus to imply he was the one remembering that previous scene.

Eventually, we're going to pull out of this book and be left with Aziraphale, leaving us to assume that Crowley left sometime during the recollection of the minisode.

This scene is more serious than their last encounter because Aziraphale regards Crowley as a serious threat who destroyed Job's goats and on his way to destroy Job's children.

Crowley himself doesn't seem to take things seriously until Aziraphale draws closer and challenges him by saying he, Aziraphale, doesn't think he, Crawley, wants to destroy Job's children.

The two continue into a more dramatic confrontation that includes the touch on the sunglasses with the hiss.

Before that hiss, Aziraphale brings up the angel Crawley was, and Crawley says quite pointedly, "The angel you knew is not me."

This same angel was shown to not give his name in Before the Beginning.

Season 1 gave us more than one scene showing Crowley doesn't like being a demon. He remarked that he just hung around the wrong people, that he only ever asked questions, that he never asked to be a demon, and so on. Season 2 shows us here—and will show again—that doesn't mean he wants or wanted to go back to being an angel.

Season 2 also doesn't show us Crowley having the same level of regret at his demonic status that season 1 did. The Earthly Objects game even goes so far as to demonstrate Crowley play rather strategically, taking advantage of his status as a snake-eyed demon. The sunglasses are his door, yes, but they are also his accessory. They can switch and give the preferred points he wants within the game, dependent on his own play. He receives multiple Overhead Lights to his left, including and especially the sun in The Door Trick.

He said "former demon" in front of Shax earlier, but he'll drop the "former" when talking to Muriel later.

Moving on, Aziraphale still challenges Crowley further to look him in the eye and tell him he, Crawley, wants to do the destroying of Job's children.

Not only do we see the hiss, we are shown a specific choice in wording by Crowley in what he says, which is, "I want to. I long to destroy the blameless children of blameless Job, just as I destroyed his blameless goats."

It sounds menacing and works effectively. It's actually a lot like the mixed tutorial sequence we received in episode 1, in that there is a hidden truth within a lie. There is a big lie here of Crowley destroying the goats. He didn't do that. There is a truth within that lie. He longs to "destroy" the children just as he did the goats—which would be, not destroying them. Also, Rule of Three. The word "blameless" was used 3 times.

Crowley's lie and hiss are so effective that the lighting shifts to indicate Aziraphale's angel light dimmed, and Crowley's demon darkness darkened by making his robe look significantly more black.

Season 1 showed us Aziraphale can lie to Crowley in its present day and get away with it. Season 2 shows us, at least in 2500 BC, Crowley could lie to Aziraphale and get away with it.

With Aziraphale feeling defeated, Crowley lets Aziraphale learn the truth. That's then Crowley taking a chance on trusting Aziraphale this far back in their history together.

Aziraphale figures out the crows are goats and looks rather pleased with himself for doing so.

With the last cut shifting the way it does to the camera's left, it's reasonable to think that could be Crowley leaving the room.

However, Crowley's next present day scene is going to be the first touch of The Pocket Trick. We just had another touch in The Sunglasses Trick. The Tied Hands were retied before we entered the book to watch this part of the minisode.

If possible, something in this minisode should retie them, besides just being a minisode. I suspect that something is going to be the part with a sign saying, "THE NEXT DAY". I don't know if that means Crowley leaves the room when that part is happening on screen or not, but it's the type of thing I look for when playing the games of the story. I'll mention another oddity he does with his hands later when Job's children are restored, in the scene before we actually get back to the season 2 present day.

...

That's it for this post. Sometimes I edit my posts, FYI.

...

Main post:

The Sideburns Scheme

[flightfoot]

ML Fanfic Recs for 2023: 125K+ Words

So I’ve been going through and adding particularly good fics I’ve read throughout the year. Only Complete fics, of course. Enjoy!

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Dreams of You by @chocoluckchipz

Dreams had long been his only escape. Dreams of Ladybug, the girl who had always been there for him.

If only in his dreams. And only while she was also sleeping.

Because with the first rays of sunshine gliding over her skin, with the first fluttering of her eyelashes, from the moment she opened her eyes in the morning, memories of Adrien would vanish from her mind.

She would go on living her life.

He would always be the only one who remembered.

At least until they meet in the real world and fall in love all over again, something that would’ve been easier to do if Adrien wasn't a prisoner in his own home.

Chocoluckchipz has some of the most beautifully executed lovesquare fics I’ve read, and this is no exception. Most of the fic is dedicated to Adrien wooing Marinette, spending time with her, with her own dream self acting as his wingman, giving her tips on how to get her to fall for him, all the while frustrated that she can’t share memories with her waking self, and that she and Adrien can’t share as much information as they’d like while asleep, due to limitations of the “curse” that allows Adrien to share dreams with his soulmate. 

It’s not all cute Adrienette fluff though. There’s a threat in the background waiting to erupt, as the weirdness of Gabriel’s ultimatum to Adrien about finding Ladybug or else being forced to marry Lila keeps on gnawing at him - and with good reason. This is a world with magic and kwamis still, and that fact makes itself very relevant in the last third of the story. 

It’s a well-written tale and very much worth a read!

---

one does not love breathing by @wackus-bonkus-maximus

All of Paris watched as Hawkmoth murdered Chat Noir, taking the Black Cat Miraculous for himself. Ladybug swears revenge, but her enemy—and every miraculous in his possession—disappear without a trace.

Six years later, a new team of villains launches an attack for the last remaining Miraculous: Volpina, armed with new powers; Queen Bee, with questionable loyalty; Argos, the new holder of the Peacock Miraculous; and Cat Walker, who Ladybug hates the most.

Takes place after S4 - Strike Back.

This is a simply phenomenal fic. You get to explore a lot of different perspectives, like Felix, Kagami, Marinette, and Adrien’s, just to name a few, and see their different thought processes and plans and priorities, and how it can cause their plans to collide with each other, even when they all ultimately are aiming for a good outcome for everyone. The characters are pretty complex and can mess up at times, even when they’re doing things (or not doing things, looking at you Luka) with the best of intentions. It was a joy to read and a real nail-biter the whole time, I actually wrote a fic for it halfway through just to resolve some of the tension for myself, One Does Not Love Shadows.

It also features the version of Luka I’ve connected best with to date, as he feels like Luka, but also is a lot more fleshed out, and can make some major errors while simply trying to avoid missteps. It’s helped me get a better handle on a character who I’ve generally had a lot of problems with really understanding.

It is an M-rated fic, though I think Wackus is being overly cautious on that front. There’s no sexual content and I wouldn’t put the violence or gore above a T-rating, so I wouldn’t let the rating scare you off.

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Boomer!Luka: FeLuka Ending series by @19thsentry-blog

In the Shadows (the first fic in the series) summary:

On one side is Luka, 140-year-old Snake Miraculous holder and keeper of the Guardian's secrets, on the other is Marinette Dupain-Cheng, a relatively newly minted hero of Paris and Guardian of the Miracle Box. Each is looking to fulfill their promises to their now gone mentors to reunite the Kwamis and keep them safe. Sounds simple--until you throw in a rocky start, the Atlantic Ocean, Félix Graham de Vanily, and a whole host of secrets…and suddenly simple becomes complicated (story of Marinette's life, right?).

So this is obviously way outside my normal wheelhouse. I don’t typically read Lukanette fics, even ones that turn into FeLuka later on in the series (though boy it becomes apparent quickly that the author’s fascinated with FeLuka’s dynamic.) But this one is really good, with the best Luka-centric fics I’ve ever read, and some of the best Felix-centric content as well. I love how Luka has his own baggage here, with all the pressure of wandering around for over a century, looking after the few Miraculous he found, trying to keep what’s left of the Order alive, unaware of Fu’s survival or of the Miraculous user’s re-emergence in Paris. There’s a lot of focus on Luka’s own feelings and thoughts and problems, not just on helping other people with them. 

The plot works even without the romantic aspect, so even if Lukanette isn’t a pairing that draws you in, I still recommend this fic, so long as you don’t actively dislike the pairing itself. And even though it’s a Lukanette fic, Adrien and Alya are treated fairly and with respect. Adrien may not end up with Marinette and is bummed about it, but the narrative is still kind to him overall, there’s clearly no ill well towards him, or Alya for that matter. (There are later fics in the series that focus more on Adrien just healing and coping and living after finding out that his father’s a villain and his mom’s been in the basement this whole time, and in the multiversal travel fic, Alya gets some standout appearances as Scarabella which are fun).

And FELIX - it’s clear that 19thsentry has this whole conception about Felix’s psychology. He’s wrapped in a ton of self-loathing until it started to consume him, made him lash out. Him being a sentimonster, wanting to get the Peacock Miraculous, actually gave him some direction for that at least. And he’s just in this pit of his own making, until he meets Luka, who can see through him when no one else can, who cares for him even though he doesn’t understand why, who’d been through so much over the years and yet kept himself kind. He’s attracted like a moth to a flame, infuriated that he cares, yet not able to stop himself from caring about this mysterious, infuriating musician. 

Yeah if you can’t tell this is the series that really sold me on FeLuka as a couple.

Oh yeah, one of the fics in here is M-rated, and it does earn the M rating for sexual content, though it’s nothing too major.

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Accidents Are Also Miracles by @liiinerle

After a few turbulent days where four new people discover her secret identity, Marinette loses faith in her ability to keep the secret hidden. Wracked with doubts and insecurities, she pleads with Alya to take over as Scarabella, but she still can't let those worries go. Especially not once Monarch starts taking a particular, and personal, interest in her.

Along the way, she also starts to date Kagami, and has to deal with changing feelings about herself, Adrien, Alya, Kagami, and the idea of being Ladybug. At the same time, Alya works to uncover Monarch's secret identity, while Kagami struggles against a controlling parent, and a girlfriend who seems bent on destroying herself - with or without Monarch's involvement.

Fantastic Marigami fic here! You’ve got three major POVs in this fic: Marinette, Kagami, and to my delight, Alya. I loved getting to see Alya cope with taking over as Scarabella especially.

But of course, this fic centers more around Marinette and Kagami, with Marinette struggling with Monarch targeting her, and Kagami struggling against her abusive parent, as well as both of them trying to navigate their relationship together when they know that not everyone will approve. 

There’s also some other plots going on in here, like Sabrina breaking away from Chloe and becoming more independent (and closer to Adrien in fact), as well as a Lila takedown plot, though thankfully not one that involves demonizing other characters. While there are conversations about people believing Lila and siding with her, no one’s actually attacked for it except for Lila herself.

Oh yeah, and while this fic may not have much focus on Adrien, he’s still treated fairly and with respect, even when he messes up. He can make mistakes, but people understand where he’s coming from, and are still kind to him and want things to be okay, and to help him escape his abusive circumstances.

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Awaken by InkyIbis

The previously white butterfly, now oozing black and purple as a conduit of the butterfly miraculous powers, flutters softly within the silvered-gloved hand.

It sits there for a long time.

"Go, my akuma," The soft sigh pushes the butterfly, the akuma, out towards the despair of a love not returned. The same ache within his chest. On a level so great that he's willing to sacrifice the city to mend it.

It's okay if he's the villain for now. He'll force the miraculous of creation and destruction to be revealed, and once he gets his hands on them, none of this pain, none of his loss, will ever happen.

This is essentially a canon rewrite for Miraculous (specifically seasons 1 and 2, with a bunch of the events mixed around) that focuses primarily on Adrien, with his relationship with Nino being the main driving relationship of the fic. (Don’t worry, Marinette’s still treated fine, she’s just not the focus). This is the best “rewrite Miraculous with more of a focus on Adrien” type fic I’ve seen, with it reworking the plots of the episodes so that they’re different enough to be their own distinct thing - it’s not trying to just rewrite the canon episodes but from Adrien’s POV, there’s a lot of lore changes going on as well, and things occur in different orders.

Like lorewise, Chat’s given a more important role in cleaning up the mess the akumas leave, with his power helping to cleanse akuma victims and he and Ladybug needing to use their powers in tandem in order to cast Miraculous Ladybug. There’s also no Miracle Box holding the kwamis. Instead, Chat sometimes surpasses his limits and ends up summoning kwamis, which is dangerous to him, but very useful.

What really makes this fic great though, is its focus on Adrien’s emotions. You really get a feel for Adrien’s insecurities, especially when it comes to not feeling like he’s good enough for Nino, with not wanting to bother him when he absolutely should, with feeling like he’s not a good enough friend to him, and then there’s dealing with all of Gabriel’s usual abuse on top of that.

Speaking of Nino, this is an Adrino fic (though several characters get crushes on Adrien, Nino’s the one who matters most for this), though a slowburn one. Nino’s clearly head-over-heels for Adrien, but Adrien has like, no context for what a romantic crush feels like and is basically viewing Nino the way he viewed Marinette in canon prior to season 5. He clearly cares for him a lot, including romantically, he just... doesn’t get it.

Anyway, if you want an interesting canon rewrite fic from Adrien’s perspective with Adrino as the main pairing, this is a good story to pick up!

---

Kintsugi - The Beauty Of Broken Things by @xaran-alamas

When freed from Mayura's control, and given a chance at a normal life, the Sentimonster clone of Ladybug must learn what it is to be not only a hero, but also a human being, and part of a family.

Meanwhile Marinette needs to figure out what to do with a hyper-energetic Kwami with a broken Miraculous.

Sentibug-centric fic here! The longest one in existence, in fact. Xaran does a great job of developing Centi, having her figure out what she wants and how to belong, and also deal with her feelings towards her creator - which are pretty negative since, you know, Mayura tried to kill her. The way she’s developed is excellent, and I adore her fitting into the Couffaine family after they take her in, with Juleka, Luka, and Anarka taking a shine to her quickly, and her to them. We spend a lot of time with the Couffaines as a result, so it’s also worth reading if you want to see more of that family, especially Juleka.

---

you made me a hero - reverse crush short stories series by @non-fantasy

This series is just plain fun! Like the title says, it’s a reverse crush AU, so Adrien’s head-over-heels for Marinette, while Ladybug’s smitten with Chat Noir. Which means that Adrien’s constantly trying to woo Marinette while Ladybug’s attempting to have normal conversations with Chat Noir (and failing), and both of them are oblivious to each other’s feelings. 

I love the way non-fantasy executes it, with Alya literally carrying around a spray bottle because of how eager Adrien is, and Ladybug being VERY SCARY if you ever lay a finger on Chat Noir (seriously akumas will literally beg for their akumatized object to be broken just to escape her wrath). 

Oh, also, Ladybug regularly stops by Adrien’s room so they can both lament how difficult of a time they’re having wooing their crushes, and just have fun together.

There’s a lot of entries in this series - 29 of them in fact - but most of them are pretty short, making it great if you want to devour some quick, cute, hilarious romcom action! 

Some stuff does actually change over the course of the series, it’s not just slice-of-life. Like identity reveals, dating, and even Hawkmoth’s defeat, so there’s clear progression and changes in circumstances as well.

---

Not a Monster at All by @book-sandwich

Adrien Agreste overhears a conversation he shouldn't, and a revelation sends him falling onto the terrace of the only person he can trust: his good friend (?) Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

Takes place sometime after the first two episodes of season 5!

As you can probably guess from the title, this is a Sentimonster Adrien, Monarch takedown fic. Adrien’s going through a tough time, and Marinette’s just trying to be there for him as his whole world’s collapsing around him. Unfrotunately, they still don’t know what the object is, or how likely Gabriel would be to control Adrien if he hinted that he knew the truth, which leaves Adrien in a precarious position - still not having done an identity reveal doesn’t help matters.

It’s a really solid fic for the genre, though since it started up before the later parts of season 5, there are a few things that don’t match up with the canon information we obtained later on. 

---

Under Oath by @eoscenes

In the aftermath of Hawk Moth's defeat, Ladybug finds her heart torn between her schoolgirl crush and her superhero partner ― who returns, after an unexplained hiatus, more irresistible than ever.

⋆☆⋆

Gabriel Agreste is unmasked, and Paris rises up in the aftermath.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng must weather Paris' anxious protesters, ravenous reporters, a scattered team of judiciary investigators, and her conflicting feelings for two different boys. In the eye of this storm is the elusive Adrien Agreste, the primary witness in his own father's trial, who might just hold the secret to finding the Peacock Miraculous.

(If only she wasn't in love with him.)

Meanwhile, locked away in Le Grand Paris hotel, Adrien grapples with his responsibilities to a city that can't decide if it hates or loves him. Keeping his daytime persona and Chat Noir separate entities becomes even harder when Ladybug, whom he has finally decided to get over, starts visiting him at night, determined to figure his secrets out.

(If only he wasn't in love with her.)

When an unknown figure returns with the Peacock Miraculous, Ladybug and Chat Noir will have to save their city once more — or lose each other trying.

I love how this fic shows Adrien just breaking down over the reveal of Hawk Moth’s identity, he’s in a Very Bad Place for a substantial portion of the fic, and being a suspect and witness in the case does NOT help. It’s got the most detailed “Adrien suffering the consequences of the backlash to his father’s prosecution” plot that I’ve seen.

Still, things get better with time, slowly, gradually. It’s not all at once, or a completely linear road, but he’s got his friends, even after everything.

[quantomeno]

My ranking of the 'And that person is you!' scenes from Professor Layton

Ah, the iconic 'finger point' scene. They are Layton's trademark and it's so much fun when you know it's about to happen. You can feel the tension build.

But these moments are not all equal. Which scene will reign supreme?

Because these scenes involve big revelations and plot twists, this list will be rife with spoilers for both trilogies and the movie.

7. Azran Legacy

Firstly, the audience already knows who it is and no one else in the room could be it even if we didn't know. The other issue is that it's just got no build-up: Layton gives his spiel and then does the point. The room is cramped and there's not much drama or flair. By far the greatest problem though is that this felt like a side story. Bloom himself felt like wasted potential in some respects, but this whole mystery didn't seem all that important in the grand scheme of things. I honestly don't remember it that well and I am pretty sure he only stole a few artefacts that weren't plot relevant. It feels like they just wanted a pointing scene and this was the only logical place to put it.

6. Lost Future/Unwound Future

It is far too short, but the reveal has much more heft than Azran Legacy's. It is somewhat obvious that it's Future Luke once you realise what's happening, because only Don Paulo could be the other option, but the Clive revelation is still a massive twist. I give this scene bonus points because I like Clive's reaction to the accusation too.

5. Eternal Diva

I like this one, but it also feels a bit tacked on. The 'who has the key?' thing feels like it doesn't need deduction because they could just check everyone's pockets (and she's literally just holding it), but what saves it is that it ties into the bigger mystery and the revelation of Janice/Melina's identity. It feels impactful by the end, even if the initial tension feels overblown.

4. Miracle Mask

This one feels a fraction lacking in drama, but it makes up for it with its position/significance in the story. The wind blowing at the pivotal moment adds some nice flair. I would say it's also quite a shocking twist. It is what I would consider the baseline 'finger point' scene because it contains all the key features that make a good one, but I just don't think it has the same sensation of suspense that it needs to rank higher. Its execution is not as great as some.

3. Curious Village

This one lacks the trademark phrase, and it is also obvious who's the 'criminal element', but it makes up for it with the atmosphere of the room: it gives a classic murder mystery vibe, where all the key players have been gathered to learn the truth. It is scenes like this that makes me wish CV was a more traditional murder mystery because it has all the hallmarks of it. I am tempted to put this one below MM, but I feel this one is a touch more elegant and I value that.

2. Spectre's Call/Last Specter

This is one of the few times the game manages to surprise you with the revelation and has actively worked to make it seem like it was someone else. The foreshadowing of Doland, out of focus, standing behind Clarke, and Luke staring at his father, fully believing his own dad has been terrorising the town... and then how the camera pans from Clarke to Doland. It is a cleverly laid out scene and it has a great feeling of drama.

Pandora's Box/Diabolical Box

I could watch this scene on repeat forever. It is gorgeous. It also gives classic murder mystery vibes which I love. The suave coolness of Layton stirring his tea and calmly telling Chelmey he's go thee wrong man: perfect. Everyone's shocked reactions are fun and add to the tension. The pause after Layton's reasoning, and the shots of those involved leaves us with a delectable moment of suspense. Every shot is framed perfectly. And the revelation: it is not really surprising given we see Flora get kidnapped and she just made the comment that gave Layton the proof he needed, but it is still such an outrageous idea that Flora killed Dr Schrader and stole the box. The shots of everyone during the aforementioned pause at least try to create the illusion that it could be someone else. It also resolves one of the earliest mysteries of the game. The cherry on the cake is Luke's reaction (I love him so much). It is moments like this that make me want to put PB as my favourite game, but alas... I love LF too much.

[collidedscope]

After watching Good Omens 2, I have a bit of an out-of-the-box theory as to a plot twist that might be coming in s3: Crowley used to be Lucifer and had his pre-fall memory removed.

My evidence:

Crowley was the one who tempted Eve to eat the apple. According to the Bible, this was Lucifer's doing.

I'm pretty sure Crowley is the only entity who we know is able to stop time.

Adam is described as being "human incarnate"… But he was SUPPOSED to be Hell incarnate… what changed? Crowley. Crowley "went native" and so did his son.

[The more compelling pieces of info are from s2 and they are under the "keep reading". I spent a LOT of time on this so please give it a chance.]

Both Saraqael (the new archangel) and Furfur (the demon who made the Nazis zombies) immediately recognized Crowley, but he had no memory of either of them. It seems odd to include both of these instances within 6eps, especially considering the fact that other lines were removed for not being plot-relevant.

The convo with Saraqael: Throughout the conversation, Crowley has his smiling facade, but looks clueless (even surprised she knows him by name), and Muriel looks smug. "Hello Crowley. I didn't expect to ever see each other again." "Do we know each other?" "When you were an angel. We worked together on the Horsehead Nebula." "I meet a lot of people..." She then smirks and immediately changes the topic.

The convo with Furfur: "We have [met], haven't we?" "Have we?" Furfur looks incredulous that Crowley didn't recognize him on sight. "What do you mean 'have we'- you know we have. We were in the same legion... just before the fall...? Doing dubious battle on the plains of Heaven...? Remember?!?" "... Well, I remember going into battle, I don't remember being there with you- sorry." "Wha-? I was right next to you!!! We did loads together!!! You used to jump on my back like a monkey in a waistcoat!!!"

Crowley did not remember a very high-ranking person he collaborated with (on a project he was very passionate about). He also did not recognize someone he was very chummy with, even when he was reminded of specific events, even though Furfur had immediately recognized Crowley by name all these years later.

Crowley was able to open the confidential file on Gabriel. And when he did it, he looked like he was trying to open them... no sarcastic remark beforehand, no bragging about his previous position... just Crowley trying to open it. (As if he doesn't remember his rank.)

Crowley tells Aziraphale "I am NOT the angel you met"... I believe he meant this in the sense that he's truly not the same entity... he's not operating on the same memories that angel!Crowley was, and he isn't going to remember his experiences he had with Aziraphale as an angel,

The miracle that Aziraphale and Crowley did together (masking Gabriel) was described as an archangel-level miracle, enough to raise someone from the dead 25 times over. Now, maybe this was because A&C were working together.... however, they were under the assumption that this would make them less conspicuous.

In the instance of Gabriel being removed from the position of supreme-archangel, his memory was erased. He assumed he would be sent to Hell, and seemed to already have a plan for his memory to be erased- he immediately requested a box, Beelzebub had already gifted him the perfect place to hide his memory, and Gabriel had quickly carried everything out before anyone else was even suspicious. Almost like this had happened before and he knew what to expect. (And according to the Metatron, there was only ever one other "Prince of Heaven" who was removed and cast down to Hell.)

Now, the the Metatron was going to erase Gabriel's memory "as a kindness"... So what was the reasoning for erasing Lucifer's memory? Control. My guess is that Lucifer somehow messed up God's original plan... Just like how Crowley was the reason Armageddon failed (I acknowledge there were many reasons why Armageddon failed, but Crowley was the instigator and Crowley was the one who stopped time to prepare Adam.)

It makes sense that if someone upended your system, it would seem like a safe bet to erase their memories and stick them in a fairly low-level position, where they are barely able to interact with any powerful entities.

Who would now be in charge of Hell and why? My guess is that there's some demonic equivalent of the Metatron, and they are given power over Hell in exchange for pretending like there's still a Satan.

Then what was the Satanic monstrosity in s1e6?? idk man, i just go here. Maybe a paid actor or something. But Adam defeated it by saying "YOU'RE NOT MY DAD! You never were." and then it just... vanished??? into smoke???? That never made sense to me... like did fucking Satan just... die??? (Do not ask me what really happened or how Crowley didn't know he had a son.)

Okay now the big question: WHY????

We all know that Aziraphale still has a lot of unlearning to do when it comes to his ideology of "Heaven/angels= good, Hell/demons= bad". Because, SURE, there's been exceptions to this rule, and Aziraphale has come to understand that human morality is somewhat nuanced.

And sure, there's some "bad apple" angels like Gabriel, who just don't understand God's will. but he still believes that God is unequivocally good and Heaven will be too, as long as it's under good management.

Right now, Aziraphale views Crowley as some kind of exception, an anomaly. In Aziraphale's mind, Crowley should be an angel- there really must've been some mistake that he's supposed to be a demon.

And Aziraphale has believed this for MILLIONS OF YEARS. Since the beginning of existence, Aziraphale has been brainwashed. And I think the only thing that will break it is being presented with irrefutable proof that Crowley is Lucifer and having to figure out which one is false:

Crowley is not evil.

Lucifer is evil.

Crowley is Lucifer.

I think first, Aziraphale will disbelieve #3. He will refuse to believe Crowley is Lucifer until it's undeniably true.

Then, I think he will instinctually disbelieve #1. He will believe Crowley was lying, tempting him, tricking him all along.... until he is confronted by every undeniably nice thing that Crowley has ever done for him.

Then... #2 is the only one left. It must be wrong. Hell must not be inherently evil. Which means Heaven must not be inherently good. Which means everything has been a lie. It means Heaven and Hell are 2 sides of the same coin. It means a full dismantling of the system.

It means a full episode will be dedicated to a 50minute "I was wrong, you were right" dance.

I certainly believe this all lines up with Neil's description of s3 to be "Bigger, Louder, Final."

[neoyi]

We've reached a point in our lives where nostalgic bait is at an all-time high. From the thousands of reboots; remakes; and sequels to beloved cult classics from the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s, it is shameful how many of these we have, all varying in terms of quality and almost always with the intent to pocket money off of us peons.

What can I say? We were desperate for anything because we hardly ever got anything back then.

Even the darling favorite of many a fandom back in the mid-2000s, Avatar: The Last Airbender, was hurting for merch back in the days. And Danny Phantom's was practically non-existent. It is astonishing this comic exists, but not at all surprising because now, Nickelodeon knows to cash in on the products that fans have carried a torch for decades later.

I'm sounding really cynical here, I know. And while Ol' Nicky is seeing dollar signs, it is worth noting A Glitch in Time was clearly made with the most utmost love and respect for the show. Gabriela Epstein gave so much of a damn crafting this near 200-page behemoth, covering almost 90% of the hanging plot points the show never got the time to answer and simultaneously wiping off the backwards series finale that left a bad taste in a lot of people's mouth.

Like altogether, this comic explored Danny's story and what his purpose is post-"PP", Vlad's redemption arc, Pariah King's artifacts (and why Vlad was collecting them), and Dark Danny's return, all while working around a plausible narrative that retooled "PP" using time manipulation and newfound lore. And it's amazing how seamless it flows.

This comic isn't just incredible, it's a miracle.

And in spite of all that, the author still had the balls to leave some of the dangling plot threads and character arcs unfinished for a potential sequel hook, as if they knew this comic would sell enough to justify one.

Well, as of this writing, this motherfucker is still the #1 top seller in Amazon's all-age for graphic novels. Fool on me to rely purely on that hell site's sale counts to accurately know how well it did, but I imagine that's pretty damn good. If you had told me years ago anything DP-related beyond lame ass Box Lunch shirts would officially come out of the woodwork, I would have laughed. That the possibility of a second comic book seem plausible would be chuckly-worthy, but now... damn, I think it genuinely could happen.

And I hope it does, because A Glitch in Time still finishes with a couple of snags left to untangle.

The first major incident is the controversial matter of a one Miss Danielle Phantom. Now that Vlad has been given a second chance to raise a child, and do it right this time, what does that mean for Danny's clone? How will she feel knowing Vlad has changed? Or that he has a son? Would he have been a better father by the time she flies back to Amity Park? What has this kid been up to in the few years since "PP?" How would Danielle feel when she reunites with a Vlad that looks to be genuinely trying? Distrustful on his true intention? Angry that this man had the gull to change? Jealous that Dark Danny had Vlad's unconditional love when his fatherly affection is all Danielle ever wanted?

Dani is never mentioned at any point in the comic, with any hints that she still exists the Danny clones lingering in Vlad's secret base. I understand why she wouldn't be relevant for this comic. Dark Danny, for one, is such a huge entity that an entire spotlight dedicated to him and him alone would be worthy of a full graphic novel. But Dani's existence, her dilemma as a lone wanderer with only a distant relationship with Danny, and the unresolved tension between her and Vlad means her story is worthy of a full comic, too.

Now that Vlad is on the path of redemption with promises to be a better person and a father, his relationship with Danielle is going to invite a lot of questions, conflicts, and hurt feelings before it presumably and hopefully treads into happier paths. And Danny is likely gonna be stuck playing the awkward monkey-in-the-middle family member in all this. But damn, the setup is there.

The other Big Huge Plot left is Valerie.

In her last major role prior to this comic, Valerie was confronted with a moral dilemma: will she take the life of a human if said human is a half-ghost? Danny, in desperation, had to confess to Valerie that Dani is a half-ghost, meaning Valerie would have the blood of an actual mortal on her hands should she kill her.

And mind, this was the best Danny could do. We've seen that ghosts in DP are their own species with their own (dead) lives and free will. I'm not sure if Valerie has killed any ghosts or if she's just thermos'ed them back into the Ghost Zone, but her unscrupulous and, by the end of the show, downright brutal nature, seem to imply if she hadn't already murdered any ghosts, then she's more than willing to should the issue arise.

And so we have Val in A Glitch in Time, still doing her ghost hunting thing (her father hasn't been seen since season two, is he okay with her doing this or is she hunting ghosts regardless of any concerns he might have), a job I'm sure she's positively thriving in now that Amity Park is gung-ho for some ghostbustin'.

Indeed, though she's not as prominent as the main trio and Vlad, Valerie gets enough time in the spotlight to meet Dark Danny. In a particularly brilliant callback, she gets a couple of one-on-one battles with Dark Danny, with both the tone and even color scheme echoing so much of what her alternate, older counterpart has countered with Dark Danny from that timeline.

And I'm sure Dark Danny is just thrilled at the deja vu.

The damning part is how Valerie reacts when she realizes Dark Danny is, well, Danny.

Keep in mind, this is post-"Phantom Planet." This is post-Valerie has known Danny Phantom is Fenton. She says this after knowing the town's hero was a fellow student she once liked and dated, and whom she nearly gave up her ghost hunting career for.

Yeah.

This has implication.

Valerie's first reaction to meeting a future Dark Danny is to straight up tell him, "you're evil." Is that how she felt about Danny Fenton after "Phantom Planet?" Did she feel betrayed that the boy she fell for was secretly half-ghost? Did she feel manipulated into saving Dani? Given the exceptional story Gabriela Epstein has expertly crafted, this one piece of dialogue cannot, under any circumstances, be accidental.

Valerie saying this straight up to Danny fuckin' Fenton after everything that has transpired is one of the biggest bomb drops in A Glitch in Time.

The end of the comic implies she remembers the old timeline, meaning she's still aware of Fenton as Phantom. The tragedy of her character is that Valerie has always been strictly one-minded in her goal. Her downright hatred for ghosts and the absolute destruction of Amity Park before Clockwork fixed everything means in her eyes, she has justifiable cause to kill Danny Fenton. The current Danny Fenton. After all, if he is capable of turning into Dark Danny, then why shouldn't she get rid of him before it's too late?

Valerie is also intricately connected to Dani through "D-Stabilized", meaning there could be a way to tie all of these into another Big Damn Comic Book down the line. And while I had problems with how Valerie's dialogue was written in that episode (sounding deviously supervillainy as oppose to her feeling like her actions are justified), having her as the central villain in the next book sounds about right.

I've always been opposed to the idea of Valerie being an outright baddie (as oppose to a just being a dangerous obstacle), but the potential dynamic and high stakes tension for her to be the biggest obstacle to Danny, Dani, and Vlad (since she also knows what the latter is, too) in her pursuit to kill all ghosts and protect her home has nuances and character exploration that I think Gabriela Epstein is more than capable of dissecting.

Whatever the outcome may be, should another DP graphic novel come to light, I, for once in so many, many, many years, look forward to it.

[melissak2802]

A talk with a person pointing out superficialness of the connection of the Miraculouses with Chinese culture inspired me to look a bit more into the Miraculous power and culture context.

So we have in the show the Chinese Miracle Box with 19 Miraculouses.

The duo of Ladybug and Cat: as the person rightfully pointed out, indeed based on European folklore concepts. Also in the show associated with Yin Yang duality.

The next five:

Fox IS alluding to Asian folklore of illusion-crafting fairy foxes. Additional point for them using a flute and the visual of summoning a ball of light (in some Asian folklore such as Japanese the fairy foxes were considered responsible for atmospheric light phenomena, don't know if it is the thing with China too). A cunning fox is a cultural archetype in Europe too, but a bit different.

Turtle, while matching the actual characteristics of the animal, IS prominently featured in Chinese culture, and IS symbol of protection and longevity, such as its image used in traditional monuments to represent survival through centuries.

Bee, Butterfly, Peacock - I know next to nothing of their role in Chinese or generally Asian cultures.

The zodiac Miraculouses: the list of them is using the Chinese zodiac, despite they don't feel actually like a set (too different powers, disproportioned power scale, and some of them look like the authors were desperate to find ANY kind of power because the animal has to be on the list - most notable with Goat). So it feels like if they weren't a fixed list, it could be better. What of their individual powers...

Mouse. Mice being small and coming in multitudes is just a fact, does NOT look like a culture reference.

Ox, Tiger. Oxen being steady and tigers being fierce and strong also is an obvious fact, but at least tigers ARE actively featured in Chinese culture with these connotations of fury and power, so I'll let it pass. Seems like oxen also can be culturally relevant, but not sure.

Rabbit. The time travel powers in Miraculous seem purely authoric mythology (does not allude much to actual rabbits either). Rabbit is relevant in Chinese culture, but with a very different role - moon and healing. So NOT.

Dragon. It IS obviously relevant in Chinese culture, and indeed with weather/elemental powers.

Snake. Snakes associated with wisdom and prophesy (-> Intuition -> knowing beforehand) is a culture archetype, as well as association with cyclicity (the Ouroboros theme), and probably IS more clearly seen in Asian cultures than in Western European where the snake is mostly connected with treachery.

Horse. Horses being used for transportation is just a fact for any material culture that has domesticated horses, NOT a symbolic thing.

Goat. This power does NOT seem to allude to anything at all, on top of being repetitive within the show system.

Monkey. Monkeys associated with parodying and mischief IS an archetype and IS relevant for Chinese culture via the legendary character of the Monkey King.

Rooster. Roosters being (over)confident and showing off looks like an obvious fact. There are prominent symbolic connotations of roosters both in Asia and Europe (like sun symbolism), but those are NOT used in the show.

Dog. Dogs fetching things is another obvious fact.

Pig. Pigs are viewed culturally, in Chinese culture too, as symbol of hedonism which can connect to "jubilation", but their association with down-to-earth delights of the moment feels like the opposite of dream-based power.

To sum up: out of 12 zodiac Miraculouses, only 4-5 actually use Chinese cultural symbolism (Tiger, Dragon, Snake, Monkey, and possibly Ox). At least three missed a good chance to do so (Rabbit, Rooster, possibly Pig) by picking non-culturally-charged powers.

So yes. The supporting Miraculouses could easily be a random collection of Miraculouses from around the world, postulating Chinese connection only for those four. Not a set. Also, that would allow to rid of the Goat if the authors ran out of imagination, or replace it with any other animal/power if they wanted a Miraculous for Nath so much. Also with the Pig, they could use a better animal for the dream power if not bounded by need to shove everything into the zodiac.

[monstersqueen]

I don't really have any interests in the 'who fell first/who fell harder' question ? most of the time i find trying to answer the question feels like trying to force a dynamic in boxes that just don't fit.

but this said i'd like to say - dazai fell first, ango fell harder.

here's how it goes.

way back in the port mafia, in those miserable days where friendship was the only candle in the night, dazai used to have something of a small crush. it was not very important nor relevant next to friendship, trust, affection. it was just a small thing that he didn't feel the need to do anything about, when good things in his life was already so few and fragile. not a risk worth taking, not even a strong feeling, overshadowed as it was by the miracles that were the nights the three of them shared.

then, of course, dark era happened, and dazai burned all of it down, every positive feeling he had for ango - affection and friendship, trust, respect, nascent romantic feelings - all of it, leaving only behind pure rage and resentment and hurt and blame. until they met again, four years later, and it turned out that none of it actually disappeared and that those four years of estrangement had completely fucked up dazai's ability to separate his crush from the rest of his feelings. what is this doing there. why are those feelings - any of it - still there.

dazai's carrying a torch, but he is not pining. not really. only a little, buried under the weight of the grief and the heartbreak and the anger, all of it disguised as murderous hatred, all of ti hidden behind the need for revenge

meanwhile ango IS pining. absolutely. he is 100% platonically pining. because he met dazai and odasaku, ango was spying on the mafia. because odasaku was the lowest ranking member of the mafia, but that didn't mean he didn't have the potential to be one of the most lethal members - that didn't mean odasaku wasn't a retired hitman. and dazai ? dazai was way too sharp, and perceptive, and close to mori himself, and the youngest executive of the mafia, and also the guy the torturers call when they couldn't crack someone. dazai was this very dangerous, troubled, highly placed teenager. so all the affection that ango developped, all the friendship he couldn't prevent himself from accepting, from getting into, because when they meet their ranks in the mafia didn't matter, their positions didn't matter, and so his role as a spy didn't matter - this was oh so important for him, and he loved them both so much, for the possibility of being himself, for the vulnerabilities they all allowed themselves , for all of this - but also. those circumstances put some very real limits in the feelings he developped, and so none of it was romantic.

and then he spent four years blaming himself, and grieving, and missing his friends, one of which he would never be able to see again, and the other who would not want anything to do with him.

until they met again, of course.

and in twenty minutes dazai cared again, and in a few days or weeks he was looking at his feelings and not understanding how this happened. the anger is still there. he still doesn't want to forgive ango. but also? this small crush that didn't matter back then? it's not a small crush anymore. it's there in every feeling of affection and trust and respect that comes back, and he doesn't want it any more than he wants any of it.

meanwhile ango is STILL quietly pining in a pure platonic manner. dazai isn't anymore a highly placed teenage mafioso; he's an ex-teenage mafioso who was ango's dear friend and is now in the ADA. But as they spend time together - and they do, i'm pretty sure they met times we didn't see, that's kinda the vibe i got from Wan, and also it explains how we get to the whole 'being dazai's contact while in prison' -, as dazai still is treating him so coldly, he stays that ex-mafioso now in the ada, who used to be ango's friend and for whom ango still cares. so nothing changes - at first.

but the thing is - dazai HAS changed, even if i'm not sure how much he realized it himself, and as he softens towards ango, there's a slight switch that happens between 'ex-port mafia member who happened to be in the ADA now' and 'member of the ADA who used to be in the port mafia'. it's a small thing, and it has no incidence on the important part of ango's feelings, or really on how he sees dazai - but it does.

it's not something that would have happened if he had been there to see the change, and it's only something that can happen as he spend time with dazai now. at some point, he looks at dazai and he sees the man he is now, and yes it's the same person he's known all along. but - as he realizes that dazai is not in the mafia anymore - that it is not as important a part of his identity anymore, he realizes the rest of it isn't true anymore either. he's not lying about his role anymore. he's not hiding a potentially deadly secret. he's not spying. and dazai is not anymore entranched in the darkness of the mafia. the whole circumstances that defined their interactions back then - none of it is true anymore.

and it hits him all at once and suddenly this massive affection he feels - changes its nature all at once and he has zero idea how to deal with it

anyway. in this particular case i have a very specific answer to 'who fell first and who fell harder'. as you can see.

[theytistic]

Are that any MLB characters that WON'T appear in any way in your AU? (You mentioned Marinette is not in Paris, does that mean she'll not even appear? Or will she switch places with zoe/Have went do NY because of the fashion career Audrey has offered her?)

Also, You mentioned something about keeping the specials. Are you gonna keep all of them? Are you including all the special characters? And most importantly, are you keeping the Prodigious and the heroes of NY or are you changing that?

And will you only use the main miracle box, or will you somehow plan/write other boxes as well (like the NY one)?

There are some I wish I didn't put in, like Andre (Glaciator) or Marinette's grandfather (Bakerix), and they might appear, but some of them wouldn't be very relevant, I think they'd still have to appear even minimally. Oh, the guy of Action, he definitly will not appear. About Marinette, she'll appear, but not at the beginning of the comic, since she went to Shanghai, the most I can say is that apart from being nothing to do with fashion, it was more like therapy than a hobby, apart from her meeting Fei. Oh, and Zoé is in Paris, sort of a "supervisor" for Chloé. And about the part of me saying that Derision is canonical, I'm only referring to the flashback part, because, even if the characters are 2 years older, I'm considering the beginning of the origins as the beginning of the comic, so what happened to Marinette in this ep, that originally she would have been 12 years old, happened with her being 14/15 years old (I'm sorry for leaving this information a bit ambiguous).

Regarding the specials, I was referring to the specials I created "chaotic weekend" and "worst choices" (again sorry for leaving it ambiguous), I can't say much about them, as for the official specials, I can even fit them into the story, really, it would work very well for the development of some characters, thanks for the idea! If I were to put it in, the only one I wouldn't put in would be the one in Paris/the reverse, because considering the powers of miraculous, at least in this universe, it wouldn't be possible to see the villainous holders. About the prodigious, I can see it happening, of course with a big change in the story, and a bit of how it works, as well as the change in appearance, not to mention that Kwami guardian, I would love to use, but that will be a bit later for me to define these new specials. No kidding, but I hate the way they did the New York special, everyone is a hero? No secret identity? With powers? It's nice that they established the idea that there are other jewels, and it's nice that they showed that there aren't just miraculous, like in the case of prodigious, but now, you can just born with powers, that's something that really bothers me, most of them have powers, I'll see what I can do about it, but depending, I'll create new jewels or miraculous to justify it. Obs: if the Brazil special comes out and I like it, maybe I'll put in.

My initial idea is only for the main box, which in the story is just a cluster of "domains", being separated into Yin-Yang, Elementals and Zodiac. Well… about other boxes and miraculous, it would depend a lot, as I said, the case of NY, maybe, outside of that, I doubt it very much, but maybe, who knows.

[lord-vermin]

Oh shit I don’t think I’ve actually told this fucking story on here BUT (and this story is totally made up for many reasons) I ~accidentally~ kinda stole(?) a painting/tile worth iirc 15,000

So this was back at my old shop and basically it used to be an art gallery, the building was old as shit and I had a theory that the loft (attic) of the building connected to the other two buildings & my boss wanted me to store some furniture but we were so limited on space in this tiny fucking studio that I decided hey - I’m going to strategically break (gently rip it open) the door to the loft & see if we can get away with storing the furniture upstairs.

I get up there and it’s creepy as shit but my theory is true it’s HUGE up there & because it’s not the same building we can store stuff up there & hopefully the landlord won’t have a clue. But on my exploration into the world of black mould and asbestos I find these cardboard boxes filled with pictures, frames, tiles, etc.

(Fictional pictures to help your imagination)

& bc the building used to be a gallery up until the 80(?)s when the guy who owned the gallery passed away. I immediately start seeing what’s good - I decide ‘hey let’s not go crazy’ and I took 3 downstairs for people to look at.

Alas I only have pictures of the two that aren’t relevant to this story & not the third one which was the once that caused all the fucking trouble in the first place.

But I take them downstairs wayyy too eager to please my boss and I’m like “hey these are cool maybe we should put them on the wall?” I mostly just liked the one with the crows Ngl. We all agree they’d be good to fill some gaps on the wall and they go into a plastic bag on the floor while we all procrastinate on actually putting them up. Which turned out to be a fucking miracle.

So the landlord comes by and this is the first time in years he’s stopped by, first time I’ve ever seen the dude and he’s PISSED because SOMEONE broke into upstairs and has gone through all his paintings (no idea who that would be) and even worse some are missing. We own up to using it as a cheeky storage space which he says is fine. And I SOMEHOW had to look this man in the eye, with said paintings wrapped in a plastic bag on the floor in front of him and go “no clue mate sorry” while this painting shaped plastic bag sat on the floor in front of him. My boss decides he will keep the paintings because they’re his bc he pays the rent despite me saying maybe we should just put them back upstairs.

So the dude apparently reports the paintings as stolen & takes everything he had from upstairs and removes it. And my boss on a slow day tasks me with finding out what the fuck is up with these paintings and why this guy lost his shit. The first two paintings, the ones pictured above - worth £100 at a stretch. Valued at that but no one is buying. But the other one was this ceramic tile that I end up bringing to a gallery and I’m like “do you know anything about this” the guy immediately is like “oh my god where did you get this I haven’t seen one of these in forever” I lie. Just frantically making shit up as I’m starting to realise it’s probably been reported nicked and I’m getting it fucking checked out. And he tells me the artists name & some info and I get back to the studio and we do about 5 seconds of googling and this guys incredibly well known & his stuff goes for a lot. This piece was part of a set and some of the other pieces of the same set had been sold at auction for roughly 15,000. I am fucking mortified.

This is where the realisation that I’ve fucked up really starts to set in. We don’t want this anymore. We wrap it up in plastic & bubble wrap - put it in the store room and never speak of it. Kinda running off the logic of ‘it’s never left the building so it’s not stolen it’s just misplaced’

until one of the tat-artists who decided to secretly move studios steals a bunch of shit including the tile-painting-thing. But then he suffered a psychotic break and gave it to someone. So now it’s just out there somewhere??? The other two got put back up stairs into storage.

[gwydionmisha]

Personal: I Ain’n’t Dead

It took about an hour and a quarter total, but we will find out if i had a heart attack or not on Tuesday.  They I had to chase down the asshole agency as they had not called to tell me the cleaner wasn't coming, so it's now rescheduled for Tuesday.  Then I waited on hold to try to schedule the mobility assessment, only to discover the number they gave was for central processing.  They were going to transfer me when call waiting beeped, so i made them give me the direct line number and extension.  (It was meds.  Pharmacy was delivering meds and they only wait five minutes so that was the correct call on my part.)  The making appointment direct line was faster by far, but I had no clue which wheelchair vender I was interested in. O.o  apparently they have the vender in on assessment days, so that effects scheduling.  I let her pick.  She was like: We like this one better, but we have to offer both.

Forage delivery still hadn't arrived.  It was now really hot and polleny outside.  This is relevant.  I can't leave food out there very long or it will spoil.  Inside, i have air conditioning and extra filtering.  I can breath inside, but not outside.  I was exhausted and frustrated and really pissed off about the medical stuff.  My chest was still tight.  There is a band of intense pain keeping me from lifting my arms  properly.  I manage to drag the laundry basket to me room anyway, but I'm not remotely up to the pain involved in folding it.  Livia wants her love.  I climb into bed for Livia loves.  My experience is, getting ready to sleep summons Forage Delivery somehow.  Livia is done with her love.  I've been in bed over an hour waiting.  Tavy insists I should sleep with claws to my nipple, because health stiff makes him anxious.

The phone rings.  We have the conversation where we double check which porch to put it on.  I lie there a bit, working up to the pain of levering myself out of bed.  I lumber out there.  No food boxes.  so I'm thinking did he think left instead of right?  So I'm out in the mid day sun with my crutch and bare feet, struggling to breath because I can't breath in the heat on a good day and this isn't close.  I have no idea how I will get the food boxes to my apartment.  My best guess is crawl on the pavement pushing them ahead of me because there is zero chance of my arms even lifting them.  It's not on the patios of any building facing the gazebo.  Me: did they drive past and hit the wrong side of my building?  So I hobble around the other side in baking heat and it's not on the logical patios.  I have to then hobble all the way back to my patio, exhausted.  I simply can't be out any longer or I will collapse.  This is why I have forage delivery, so I don't have to seriously endanger myself getting the food.  Which i am now doing and failing at miserably.

I try last call return.  No one answers.  Fuck!  I restart the computer and look up forage delivery dispatch.  I get a live human without a long wait on hold for the first time in two days.  This is possibly a miracle.  I am still struggling to breath when I explain and ask if they could at least give me a hint as to where the food is because I can't be out in the sun searching anymore.  She puts me on hold and reaches them.  she says they will come back.  

So I go lie down in my room where the air is best and wait.  He’s like: I’m right here.  The food is here.  I go look.  No man.  No food.  I used my stop a kid from across the playground below to see if we could get a Polo for my Marco.  No dice.  I had cleverly left the phone off the hook when I went to look on the grounds that the food was definitely not on my patio previously.  

It turns out that they'd put it in the middle of the other side of the building, expecting me somehow to drag it all that way over carpeted halls.  O.o  I didn't think to look there because we'd discussed patio locations in such a super specific way moments before he'd put it at the main entrance instead of a patio.  He was nice enough to bring it around and drop it right inside my door.

I have recently learned Millennials generally don't know the word "gazebo" and are afraid to ask or look it up because of the cleaners.  I am now wondering if patio may also be too bougie to be familiar, but lots of apartments around here come with small patios if they are ground floor, even the shitty apartments I can generally afford, just like tiny balconies are super common on upper floors in this region.  Surely jungle of plants and blue chair were hints though?  IDK.  We've lost a lot of delivery people in the decade we live here too. Something about the complex confuses people.

Forage delivery guy looked like a thiryish Mr. Clean and really was very kind, just confused.

Goth Millennial was sweet enough to come in on their day off to work and extra two hours looking after me, and then we finished the back third of a movie we'd been re-watching together.  I'm not great, but improving.  I also have a new unexplored theory about what is wrong with my arms from the article about statins I linked in this space.  I guess I'll run it by the doctor when I see them.

[sonkitty]

The Pocket Trick: Basics

The tie strands are connected to the hands because they are Crowley's Tied Hands.

...

(For reference: The Earthly Objects Game | Earthly Objects Study - Crowley's Sunglasses | Threshold Tricks)

(Previous version: Earthly Objects Study: The Pocket Trick)

This post was last updated 04/28/2024.

Introduction

The Pocket Trick is difficult to say the least. This Threshold Trick was almost certainly meant to be found last because, from my own experience, it snowballs into an increasing realization of its profound impact on a lot of what is happening in Good Omens 2.

It is the epitome the saying, "Big things come in small packages," and that was assuredly intentional.

The Pocket Trick is a monster.

It is a gigantic, frustrating, infuriating, challenging monster.

But at least it has a sense of humor.

And it's insightful too.

I call it a "giant pain" most of the time.

The core concept is, "Think outside the pocket."

That phrase is more commonly understood as "Think outside the box," but this Trick is about pockets. We'll think outside the box and replace that word with "pocket".

Once we start to think outside the pocket, a lot of other things in this confusing Trick start to make sense. Specifically, it helps to understand the idea to pocket while pocketing and grasp that these touches are puzzles using assorted word play and imagination.

It takes time for various aspects of this Threshold Trick to truly sink in.

I eventually thought of that core concept because Crowley gets boxed in, like in a frame—a Pocket Frame, but not fully boxed in as part of the touches in the Trick. Reason being, it's like putting Crowley in a pocket. There are both words right there. Plus, there is a lot happening outside the pocket. In fact, there are so many things, when I first started to grasp how much this Trick entails, it felt like everything matters when it comes to the pockets. That realization was—and still is—overwhelming.

There is a curious clothing touch requirement on the pocketed hand(s). While I have long struggled with it, I have finally come to the conclusion it's a big assist to filter and find the touches themselves. You see, once I grasped the scale of this thing, pockets were better understood to be everywhere in Earthly Objects because they are not limited to relevance in The Pocket Trick itself or literal apparel pockets. Pockets are advanced mechanics within the game.

The Pocket Trick impacts every Threshold Trick because every Threshold Trick uses advanced pocket mechanics in some way. It impacts things like understanding there is a significant Overhead Light for Crowley when performing the miracle to hide Gabriel or realizing the Tied Hands are often active even outside the touches of The Pocket Trick.

While I can't fully understand every move happening the way it does, I do understand Crowley can't just touch apparel or be touched. There are rules. There is some logic to what can be touched and when. The clothing and the accessories pass along or share touches as necessary until they get what they want to accomplish the touch. It involves them making pockets amidst each other with the assistance of the hands while an audience player guesses what Crowley is trying to even do.

Lighting acts as clues but might even do more to allow certain things.

Shadows seem to allow leniency, such as stretching things or hiding things just enough to qualify.

This Trick wants to perform. It is playful. There are puns, rhymes, alliteration, references, callbacks, and illusionary threshold touches. It is constantly challenging you to question everything on the screen if you dare, but maybe you should at least check the lighting.

...

Summary

So, get ready for a long haul that amounts to, "I have a limited understanding of what's happening here, but I know things are happening," or just take this summary at face value. There were threshold-only touches on pockets or using pockets by Crowley in Good Omens 2. Yes, really.

Here is a visual representation: The Pocket Trick Visual Representation

Action #1 (Episode 2; Short sideburns; Triple Part 1)

Crowley walking alone before encountering Nina. The Pocket Frame is Between Building Windows.

Action #2 (Episode 2; Short sideburns; Triple Part 2)

Crowley walking alone after encountering Nina and encountering Aziraphale. "Do you need a lift somewhere?" The Pocket Frame is Between Cars.

Action #3 (Episode 5; Two pockets; Double)

Crowley standing against the door of the music shop using two pockets. The Pocket Frame is Between Door Frames and Papers.

Action #4 (Episode 5; Short sideburns; Triple Part 3 that has its own two parts)

Crowley standing and watching Aziraphale invite Justine. The Pocket Frame is Between Car Windows.

Action #5 (Episode 6; Astragal; Single)

Crowley walking into the bookshop after escorting Maggie and Nina out. The Pocket Frame is Between Door Windows.

He has a potential two Triple multipliers on the door panel for shifting the fingers and whatever else was necessary at the right times.

...

Definitely Not a Summary

Now for the long stuff that's still just helping lay the groundwork.

There is a lot going on.

This Trick part of a game, and this part of this game is something I very much struggle with. I have often said I am defeated by this thing.

I am defeated in the sense that I can't explain every little bit of every finer mechanic happening. I still pieced together some significant parts, and that's worth something.

I'm not going to throw away all my progress by deleting my save, so I'm still keeping and sometimes updating this post anyway.

Despite my complaints and frustrations, The Pocket Trick is my strongest assurance that the Earthly Objects game is a game and it does exist. It's given me some laughs along the way too.

I'm still taking breaks and if I actually do think of a way to go further, I take the time to do so.

Even so, I am going to miss things because it is really hard to pay attention to everything when you don't really know what's going on but know enough to sense something's going on. It just is.

Crowley's dark clothes and the show's lighting make this part of the game difficult. My own PC wasn't the best to use for the visuals either, but I have finally found a way to adjust the brightness in a more suitable way. The way this Threshold Trick works, a player has to be willing to check things frame by frame. It helps to be willing to do things like brighten a screenshot or draw a line from one place to the other too.

...

The Door Trick

The Door Trick should be considered while analyzing The Pocket Trick. It uses a pocket touch.

One of the Pocket Trick's many mechanics is a Pocket Chain, and The Door Trick is indeed linked to the Pocket Chain of The Pocket Trick.

It's also using the Rainbow Connection in the Pocket Chain.

That's on top of so much else The Door Trick itself is doing with its truly exceptional circumstances.

While they are two different Threshold Tricks, The Door Trick clearly using some form of the other mechanics involved just differently to enough to get what it wants.

While the touches in this Trick require Crowley's four fingertips to be definitively shown on screen at some point, or something very close to them, The Door Trick does not. It shows certain fingers certain ways when it starts. At the end, it has one curled pinky with a tip touching that pinky. The ring finger and middle finger are curled and not showing their fingertips. The pinky is touching the ring finger, which is touching the middle finger. That version is still allowed for a Triple multiplier within The Door Trick as part of the skin contact touch.

Presumably, that's because those fingers are handled the way they are in an acceptable manner., largely aided through human assistance and the way the apparel Crowley himself is wearing has been positioned.

All of these things are supposed to lead to the left index finger and right thumb to touch the pants where the legs are crossed and earning a Double clothing multiplier.

As part of playing this game from the story, we are probably supposed to compare and contrast the two. That way, we can eventually figure out both, should we be so lucky.

Once things start to settle in, it becomes evident the story wants this puzzle figured out because it is actually quite relevant to the part after The Door Trick is visually finished. Aziraphale then does The Door Catch because, like I said, this Trick uses word play.

...

The Bigger Thresholds Trick

As noted earlier, every Threshold Trick uses advanced pocket mechanics.

The Bigger Threshold Trick starts with the Double in the pub and in the same episode The Pocket Trick starts. The pub visit is, in fact, before The Pocket Trick starts and has a particular pants pocket touch that I think is filling in any possible prerequisites for this Trick to start to begin with. If it's not doing any prerequisites, it's at least ensuring a pocket touch during that part and showing a contrast to how the rest of these touches in The Pocket Trick are done.

Later, The Pocket Trick Double and The Bigger Thresholds Trick Single are happening at the same time in the same place.

Then for the Triple, this Threshold Trick helps alert a player to pay closer attention to touches both Crowley and Muriel are doing when it comes to their use of the Heaven elevator.

I don't think The Bigger Thresholds Trick has a direct link to Crowley's Pocket Chain, but it does have the overall link of advanced pocket mechanics being in play.

...

Hands

For most humans, we have two hands with 10 digits total. Of our digits, we have 4 fingers and 1 thumb on each hand. That's 8 fingers and 2 thumbs.

To use more than half the digits of one hand requires 3 digits.

To use more than half the digits of two hands requires 6 digits.

We use our thumbs for a lot of things differently than how we use our fingers, and that's important.

Crowley may not be human, but he chooses the shape of a human with two hands, much like most humans.

As a snake-eyed demon, he actually has a very special touch to his own sunglasses that involve thumbs. If he wants to switch them from an accessory to a door or a demonic tool as he removes them from his face, he almost always has to have a thumb tip visible in the motion, even if the motion is blurred. That thumb tip is a requirement with one notable exception. In the exception where it is not seen, the middle finger crosses under the index finger. A pocket forms between the thumb, index finger, and middle finger. Yet another pocket is formed between the pinky finger, lower part of the thumb, and the palm.

All of these pocket touches in The Pocket Trick involve at least the right pants pocket and one of them adds in the left pants pocket.

They all involve both hands.

This link is probably a good point of reference:

https://www.neuro-spine-ortho.com/health-services/neuroscience-spine-orthopedic-institute/orthopedics/hand-wrist-care/hand-anatomy/

Since links go down sometimes, here are some notes that are very much copied and based on the above:

Working our way from the top down if you raise your hand with all digits extended as if counting to ten, the digit tip bones are the distal phalanges. For the fingers, below those are the middle phalanges. Thumbs do not have middle phalanges. Below the middle phalanges for the finger bones and below the distal phalanx for the thumb are the proximal phalanges. The singular form of "phalanges" is "phalanx."

The bones in the hand are called metacarpals. The thumb metacarpal makes a joint with something called the trapezium that "allows much of the thumb motion."

Now using this reference (https://orthoinfo.aaos.org/en/diseases--conditions/thumb-fractures/), that joint is is called the carpometacarpal (CMC) joint. I will simply be saying "thumb joints".

...

Thumb Joints

For these special pocket touches, the thumb joints act like catalysts for things to happen and what clothing item is linked to a given tie strand, even if that link seems to happen earlier. There's still something significant about these joints in getting things connected or managing the connections. Sometimes accessories are involved, but it's almost like the accessory is more of an assist with the clothes.

The left thumb joint is the more proactive one of the pair. It is going to be seen, and it is going to either make a vertex touch with the jacket or transfer one to the jacket. These vertex touches might be illusions, but if they are, it does not matter to this Trick. The point is to get it done. These vertex touches tend to be parts of pockets, but they are a special pocket due to the sharpness and jacket edges involved compared to other pockets that form.

The right thumb joint is usually seen but generally it is vertex touched, if that happens at all, instead of actively making a touch on anything else.

If there is a door-related pun to be found, the touch hinges on the left thumb joint making its vertex touch to the jacket through whatever tricky methods can be found. Or, the thumb joints are hinges.

...

The Right Thumb

Most pocket touches have the right thumb outside the pocket.

For these touches, once Crowley is seen from the front with fingers in his pocket, the requirement seems to be that a clothing-touch is allowed near that thumb or connected to that thumb so long as another outer pocket has taken shape between the apparel or, in the case of the Single, a threshold in that area.

...

Tied Hands

The header for this section is an intentional pun.

Each tie strand below the knot of Crowley's tie ends up connected to a hand in some way (The Pocket Trick - Tied Hands).

The tassels are the thumbs.

The tips of the tassels are the thumb tips.

The clasps above the tassels are the thumb joints.

For fingers, it might be the part of the tie above the knot, but I couldn't possibly explain to you the subtle change in position for skin contact on the neck compared to Triple Part 3 (part 2) and The Door Trick. I could just tell you, yeah, there is one and that the right side of that part of the tie touched his neck when certain fingers were visible on his left hand in positions for whatever they were set out to do.

These things have an imaginary mirror. They can switch which hand they are tied to—as in, the mirror can be flipped. The flip is done through Rainbow Connection Reflection trickery. You read that right. There we are using both word play and our imagination.

See the Rainbow Connection section further below for more.

...

Threshold

The threshold seems to be the front outside area of the pockets and requires extra care in fully qualifying itself to be touched in a threshold-only form due to special requirements for each hand and its digits.

It is extremely important to consider edges of things in general as thresholds for this touch.

...

Upper Body Clothing Layers

There are three layers of clothing on the upper body: the jacket, the vest, and the shirt.

...

The Jacket

The jacket is a huge requirement to any touch because it must receive that vertex touch from the left thumb joint, transferred in or not.

Another thing the jacket does is have sleeve pockets. By that, I mean if you look at certain frames within the touch, you are going to see a hole between a sleeve and usually the torso of the jacket because of how the hands have positioned themselves. However, the Single flips this idea by actually having the holes be between sleeves and parts of literal doors. The sleeve pockets go outward from the jacket to a door instead of inward from the jacket to itself.

It has other pockets or links to other pockets too, but the sleeve pockets are probably a big part of the job.

I'm not sure if the upper body clothing is actually supposed to be a door, or like a door, since I can't find the puns, potential other word play, or references like I understand for "tied hands". If the clothing is like a door metaphor, then the jacket edges are basically a door frame for the upper body apparel despite the watch being on the outside. The jacket is the way in, from the left hand to the right, outside the pockets.

...

The Vest

The vest seems to give the left thumb permission to touch things if the right vest tip is touching the right thumb. The vest itself is largely the resting place for the tie strands, along with the shirt, if the strands aren't intentionally swinging themselves off. The vest will intentionally touch the belt at various points.

If there is a door metaphor for the clothes and some word play for that metaphor, the vest tips are thumb locks. If the vest is touching the right thumb, not just the edge of the right thumb, the left thumb is up to something. Yeah, that doesn't have "vest" in it. The vest tips are still invested or something.

...

The Shirt

The shirt is the innermost layer. Sometimes the right shirt sleeve will be visibly out of the right jacket sleeve for some extra assistance. Tassels might aim for the shirt as part of a touch when that happens.

...

Other Apparel

...

The Watch

I don't know exactly what this thing does, but it does things.

In the first touch, the watch is what gives the first red alert on the Rainbow Connection but never does so again.

Its reflective surface will become more lit, likely as a clue to pay attention to something, especially with the fingers doing what they are doing.

In Triple Part 2, it makes sure to still be seen in a window pane reflection with the watch itself otherwise not on screen during the actual Pocket Frame Touch Point.

In the Double, it's doing something so important that Crowley said, "Can I watch?", then later the watch aligns itself quite deliberately with part of the jacket and part of the door frames on the door panel.

In the Single, it looks like it assists in a vertex transfer between the left thumb joint and the jacket, then perhaps helps keep the Tied Hands as tied.

I can't find the true consistency, but it's definitely managing something.

Generally speaking, it seems the watch is required to be seen in some form and well...watch things, like it's a "lookout".

The timing of the touches seem more dependent on factors other than the watch, such as the digits making threshold touches when they do and the framing being ready. The watch is watching for when that time comes.

...

Belt Head

If I search for "belt head" through Google, I find belt buckles.

The snake head buckle has a connection to Crowley's head. When Crowley is standing at the door to the music shop, the lighting looks to be giving the snake eyes. That's how Crowley does a self-mouth touch that otherwise does not seem to happen in the scene but happens in other ball invitation scenes.

There is a curious little self-pocket of hair on Crowley in The Door Trick with a left vest tip so near the back of the snake buckle's head. Plus, the framing near the head there is so intentional.

For a currently unknown reason, the Belt Head gets a truly special job in the Triple of The Bigger Thresholds Trick. The belt disappears on Crowley's altered appearance with the different clothes. Crowley then has no belt on his waist, but he does have...a headband.

It reappears during the exit, letting Crowley briefly have both a belt and a headband at the same time for a potential three heads at once. Ever so curious.

If the "head" for the belt is also supposed to have a door metaphor or further world play, that would be something like "head jamb". It would make the door upside down, possibly an upside down double door set with a strange design due to the location of everything since the jacket-edges-door-frame would extend below the belt.

...

The Pants

These things can pocket towards the bottom of the screen if they so choose. They are bound to help the jacket and car with some pocketing in The Door Trick.

...

The Shoes

The shoes appear in a reflection in Triple Part 1 and from the back standing in a shadowy area in Triple Part 3, so they probably do something. They are not fully shown in The Door Trick as part of a set of clues that leads to The Door Catch's Ground Zero cut.

...

Already-in-Pocket Rules

When the right hand is shown with only the thumb not already in the pocket:

Right Hand:

1. The right thumb must be outside the pocket and touching it.

2. The four fingers must be in the right pants pocket from when Crowley is shown at a front view.

3. The right hand must be touched by at least one piece of clothing during the touch. That touch is likely required to include a pocket itself so that the apparel can link as necessary through the rest of the touch.

4. The four fingers inside the pocket can never be shown as leaving the pocket.

Left Hand:

1. All five digits of the left hand must be visible, likely including their tips or nearly their tips, at some point during the touch. It does not have to be in the exact same frame, just sometime during the touch.

2. By the end of the cut for when the touch takes place, the digits have to be either off-screen or having accomplished proper threshold-only touches of their own, including at least one illusionary threshold-only touch for one digit.

3. The left hand should remain outside the left pants pocket.

4. The left thumb joint has to be visible sometime during the touch for its required vertex touch to the jacket. That touch can be transferred from the watch or human assistance, but it must be done.

Between:

1. Crowley must put himself between certain things as a figurative pocket to be in. Those things are the Pocket Frame.

2. Crowley can receive assistance from nearby humans if necessary to help complete the touch, such as framing him in properly or giving a temporary allowance on what the left hand is allowed to touch.

3. Crowley cannot speak to any humans during the cut with the right hand and pocket visible.

...

Going-in-Pocket Note

There is only one touch where both pockets are used with digits not already in the pockets and going in, so I'll cover what that touch seems to allow then.

...

There is a possible rule that Crowley isn't allowed to smile during the touches.

...

Pocket Chain

As I have said, this Trick loves word play.

After the first touch, each touch calls back to the other in some form, making them chained together.

The Trick takes things a step further where the chain allows certain touches under the right circumstances based on the chain. It will be easier to explain in describing each touch. I'm confounded and asking myself, am I really seeing what I am seeing? It's part of thinking outside the pocket, and I assume it links Aziraphale in for The Door Trick.

...

Pocket Frame

The way Crowley is put into a pocket is to frame him between certain things.

Keep in mind that pants pockets like the ones Crowley are using are supposed to have openings. He is not completely boxed in besides the overall existing box of a screenshot. The figurative frame tends to be on his sides. Sometimes things at the bottom do frame him in further. The top of the screen is the expected opening of the Pocket Frame.

...

Pocket Puzzle

These touches are tricky. They are puzzles. They are not the last video frame of the cut where the pocket touch is taking place or even the last time the pocket touch is seen on screen. It's sometime during the cut. A player has to figure out what the Pocket Frame is to begin with and pick up on the clues for when Crowley reaches what I just generally call a Pocket Frame touch point. I suspect there is one exact video frame to find. I have what I hope are good guesses, but I won't claim certainty they are right.

In addition to finding the particular Touch Point, the puzzles are about discovering the mechanics at work, such as the existence of the Tied Hands and Overhead Lights.

...

Humans

Humans are remarkably present during each of these touches. They are clues and unknowing assistants. Human are also remarkably present in The Door Trick. These things are not a coincidence.

...

Findable Rainbows

Each touch has a collection of rainbow colors or an actual rainbow to be found. Why? In part, probably because there is an Elvis Presley song titled "A Pocketful of Rainbows".

These findable rainbows help demonstrate that Earthly Objects is indeed a game, and that The Pocket Trick especially does have puzzles for each touch.

You can find the findable Pocket Trick ones here:

The Pocket Trick Rainbows

The Bigger Thresholds Trick, The Door Trick, and The Window Trick also have rainbows. The Sunglasses Trick receives a reflection of white light, theoretically due to its layering. The Perfect Entrance Trick doesn't get one, and I've excused it on the grounds that the Rainbow Connection described below hadn't initiated yet.

...

Rainbow Connection

The findable rainbows are strangely easy compared to everything else in The Pocket Trick, and it turns out that's because they are a clue to a much more difficult mechanic in the Trick called the Rainbow Connection, named after the song from The Muppets Movie. A connection can be found through the names of songs as references through the word play mechanic of The Pocket Trick.

Here is what I was able to gather from trying to understand the Rainbow Connection:

The Pocket Trick - Rainbow Connection

...

Overhead Lights

I had to look up that some doors have something called "overhead lights".

I can find Overhead Lights to the upper left of Crowley's head with some effort in every touch except the Single.

In the Single, it's much harder to determine what is going on, but there are hints something is compensating for their more clear presence, most likely through a reflective object shown above the part of Crowley's hair on the left side of his head.

As noted, the sunlight is part of The Door Trick, which further signifies to me it is acting as such a light. The sun is the greatest source of light on Earth while not technically being on Earth.

Aziraphale is given a special overhead light to his right for his Ground Zero cut of The Door Catch.

...

Imaginary Pocketing

Aside from the pants pockets in use and the existing Pocket Frame, a player must analyze the visual pockets created in various ways. Use your imagination to think about if the pocket is saving something for later or moving something out of the way or telling you why what's in that pocket has any relevance at all and so on.

If there are filters to help determine what specific types of imaginary pockets do, I have not found them.

...

Reflective Surfaces

For two of these five touches, there is a prominent earthly object found to the camera's right and Crowley's left with a reflective surface. Both instances are not the parts of the Triple, and both instances involve Crowley touching an actual literal door.

For the Double, there is an Overhead Light for Crowley before he enters a threshold bigger than him.

For the Single, no Overhead Light to his left can be found. Instead, he receives another reflective surface of an earthly object appears above his left ear when the touch itself is nearly over, as if that's an acceptable substitute. The Single itself is incredibly different than all the other touches.

While I don't know entirely what these things mean, I've at least taken note and think such things are intentional parts of the puzzle as clues to how important the sun is acting as the Overhead Light during The Door Trick.

...

Hidden Messages

The Pocket Trick has hidden messages. They aren't necessarily found within The Pocket Trick itself. Some can be found by realizing the scale of impact this Threshold Trick has on the rest of Earthly Objects and the Threshold Tricks.

I will note them as best I can in my various Earthly Objects posts.

Here are some links and words that mention them:

The tie strands are connected to the hands because they are Crowley's Tied Hands.

The Metatron makes mistakes.

The Door Catch Ground Zero: "Here goes nothing."

Pay attention to the pockets.

...

Links

The below links mainly cover the touches and have a conclusion.

...

The Pocket Trick Touch #1 - Triple Part 1 - Between Building Windows

The Pocket Trick Touch #2 - Triple Part 2 - Between Cars

The Pocket Trick Touch #3 - Double - Between Door Frames and Papers

The Pocket Trick Touch #4 - Triple Part 3 - Between Car Windows

The Pocket Trick Touch #5 - Single - Between Door Windows

The Pocket Trick - Conclusion

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

An irritating pattern I've observed in this season of Miraculous Ladybug is how it feels no one really earned anything this season. Aside from the obvious Gabriel not earning his victory in the season finale and how Chat Noir acting like Ladybug's last hope when he's not as reliable as he should be to make that difference, I'd argue Ladybug also didn't quite deserve that shallow comfort either as she did do stuff that would've killed trust in a normal partnership. Her appeasing Chat Noir in certain episodes feels hollow when she proceeds to continue as she does (knowing how it affects him) without really changing things. Hell, I wouldn't even call her a good enough guardian for Su Han to just trust her with the miracle box unsupervised (girl tries, but she clearly isn't handling it well). Alya, as awesome as she is, I didn't feel she quite earned her place as a permanent fox when she did get that role (in optigami, making a bad call by recruiting senti nino and it was Marinette who had to clean up that mess). She got a few good moments like in senti bubbler, but then her role got sacked unceremoniously at the finale without doing much with it. Nino did not earn learning about Rena Furtive at all. No new hero earned their miraculous at penalteam. Zoe didn't earn shit. And Luka sure as hell did not earn learning about the main duo's identities and proceeding to not do anything useful about it (he could've stopped Ladybug from gaslighting Chat Noir im Ephemeral but he did nothing, which is, in retrospect, worse than Marinette's actions in that episode).

Honestly, nothing important was built up properly so when the main event happens, it feels like it came out of nowhere with no basis whatsoever. Funny how Astruc once said something about how an idea is not a story... he had a lot of interesting ideas, but couldn't weave it to a story that made sense.

To me, Season 4 just felt like filler, even more than Season 3.

Sure, there were a couple of minor plot twists and reveals, but only a handful of them actually factored into that mess of a finale, and like you said, nothing really felt earned. A lot of stuff in the finale just happened with barely any buildup (Alya’s cover being blown, Ladybug “apologizing” to Cat Noir, Felix being relevant to the plot again, and Gabriel’s unearned victory).

But the most damning thing of all is the fact that a lot of this could have been avoided with the right writing. The writers had twenty-six episodes to balance out all of these character arcs and subplots, and what did they do with this precious time? Waste most of it on either Unfunny Marinette Slapstick, Angstdrien Depreste whining about how much his life sucks, introducing two entirely new characters that added nothing to the overall plot, giving Chloe more spotlight episodes than Gabriel and Felix combined when Chloe also added nothing to the story, throwing in seven new heroes that will end up being written off by the end of the season anyway, a pointless “What if?...” episode, and making an episode about some grumpy old man as a stand-in for the critics of the show.

The writers had plenty of opportunities and a lot of time to focus on a lot of the stuff they set up, but they settled on spinning their wheels instead, and as a result, like you said, nothing actually felt earned. Very little actually happened this season, and I’m pretty sure it was because the writers knew they were getting a fifth season, so they felt like they could slum it for a year before they actually had to put effort into writing a story arc, judging from what the first two episodes of Season 5 are setting up.

Sure, most TV writers can only dream of getting a network deal that good and would want to do as much as they can, but not the writers of this show. But hey, better late than never, am I right?

[ddixons-angel]

Fanfic Advent Calendar 2021 - Day 11/24: Christmas Miracle

Hey guys! So it's my turn to post for this Advent Calendar, if you guys haven't read the other stories for this amazing event, I linked the masterlist above so go and read! This one is different from what I have written in the past, mainly because I haven't done anything that wasn't canon to the story before, but for this Christmas miracle... I needed it XD I'm sure you guys will know what I mean, anyway, enough of my blabbering, happy reading!

Warnings: canonical defiance (I guess?), swearing (just a bit)

Season 10/11; Alexandria

Ever since the end of the modern world, Christmas always felt like a pipe dream. When the cold, harsh winters rolled around every year, you’d always reminisce about putting up a Christmas tree and decorating it with your family who were no longer around, or sharing hot cups of cocoa while you sat around the fireplace while singing Christmas carols. With the way things were now, all of that seemed so far away. You missed those memories and deep down, you really wanted to be able to create new memories like those with the new family you’d found in the new world. 

You never dared to bring it up though. Celebrating the holidays wasn’t relevant anymore and with all the noise you would make, it would only bring danger and lure walkers from miles away. Even if you were all surrounded by the walls of Alexandria, you couldn’t risk attracting a horde of walkers. All of that changed though when you had found the box of Christmas decorations in the attic of one of the houses in your community. You and a few others were trying to find blankets to keep warm since the ground was now covered in sheets of white snow; the worst of the storm had passed and now you were all living in a winter wonderland. 

The first, and only, person you approached with the idea was Glenn since you knew he would be on board with throwing a mini Christmas celebration and you were sure he would be willing to help you convince the others. That proved to be true since Rick and Michonne were more than happy to let RJ and Judith know what Christmas used to be like, and of course Maggie would never turn down the thought of celebrating the holidays with Hershel, especially not with Glenn giving her puppy eyes. This was how you set up Alexandria’s first Christmas celebration and why you were in Daryl’s makeshift apartment with Dog sniffing through the decorations. 

“Hey, Dog, no! That’s not for you,” you call out to him as he attempts to paw at the red and green tinsel on the ground. 

Dog stops at your call and sits while looking at you, he lets out a small huff and you chuckle, “you want in on this Christmas stuff too, huh? Let’s see what we can find you.”

You chuckle again when Dog’s tail begins to wag at your words. You were sure he had no idea what you were saying but he was happy to have your attention. You gasp happily when you find a headband of red antlers. Taking out the item, you look at Dog with a grin. 

“You like this?” you hold it out to him as he carefully sniffs it, his tail wagging again, “alright, let’s see if it fits, it should, it’s not too big and not too small that it’ll hurt you, I hope.”

You reach out to Dog and just as you’re about to put the accessory on him, the door to the room opens and you’re met with Daryl staring at the two of you and you stare back at him like a deer caught in headlights. He analyses the scene and quickly puts the pieces together. 

“Oh hell nah,” he says as he makes his way to you, snatching the headband out of your hands, “ya ain’ puttin’ this on Dog, nuh uh.”

“But Daryl, he’d look so cute with it!” you plead, reaching out for the headband but he pulls his hand away before you can grab it, “just once, please?”

Daryl sighs as he looks away from you, he knew he could never say no to you when you were looking at him with those pleading eyes, “fine... but jus’ this once.”

You squeal at his words then quickly take the headband back from him, you then turn your attention to Dog again, “now, let’s turn you into a reindeer!”

---

The scent of Carol’s freshly baked cookies hit you hard once you opened the door to Daryl’s room and Dog was the first one out. You giggle as you follow him down the stairs to the living room where the kids were opening their presents. Most of them were toys you’d managed to find on runs or trinkets you all thought they’d enjoy. Daryl shakes his head at you with a smirk on his lips as he follows your steps. After you had managed to convince Daryl to let you dress up Dog as a reindeer, he ended up helping you keep him still since Dog kept wiggling and fidgeting with the accessory.

A loud but friendly bark interrupts the kids as they squeal with glee when they see Dog charging in. His tail wags happily as the kids surround him and pet him, giving him some much wanted attention. 

“Oh my God, it’s a reindeer!” you exclaim excitedly, wanting to hype up the kids. 

“Oh my God, it’s a fuckin’ reindeer...” Daryl says mockingly under his breath, only wanting Rick and Michonne who were standing beside him to hear. 

They both clearly did hear his words as Michonne nearly spits out her drink as a laugh is caught in her throat. Meanwhile, Rick puts his hand on Daryl’s shoulder, making him look at the former sheriff.

“Language,” he says in a stern voice, but Daryl snorts a laugh once he registers the playful grin on RIck’s face.

“Did you just put fake antlers on the dog?” Judith calls out as she raises her brow at you.

“I... I did... but uh...” you struggle to find an answer that would appease the children’s imagination as well as Judith’s brains.

“It’s obviously Dog,” Hershel ends up answering for you, “but you just have to imagine it’s not, right dad?”

Glenn smiles at his son as he sits with Maggie on the couch, “yep, your imagination can be a powerful thing.”

Judith looks at Glenn then at Hershel skeptically then shrugs before petting Dog, “I guess Uncle Daryl’s going to have to change your name to Reindeer for a day.”

“Not a chance,” Daryl retorts loud enough for everyone to hear, earning a wave of laughter throughout the living room. 

“Cookies are ready!” Carol announces from the kitchen causing the kids to jump up and run to the kitchen.

Their excitement makes Dog also follow them, hoping they would also give him some treats. You aren’t able to hide the smile on your face as you feel the festive spirit in the house. The children were clamoring over the kitchen counter sharing Christmas cookies, talking about their new toys and trinkets. Streams of tinsel were hanging on the wall and stockings over the unlit fireplace and you could smell the hot cocoa Carol was preparing for everyone. This was something you’d always wanted to see ever since the end of the world and now it felt like a dream come true. 

You didn’t even notice that Daryl had made his way over to you until you felt his arm around your waist, “ya a’right?”

You look at him and you realize that he must have noticed the tears of joy that welled up in your eyes, you nod to reassure him, “yeah, I’m okay. More than okay, I’m just... I’m really happy.”

A smile pulls at Daryl’s lips at your words, “ya did good with this idea.”

He then plants a kiss on your temple which makes you giggle, you then look at him teasingly, “even with dressing up Dog?”

He eyes you at that and rolls his eyes, not giving you a verbal answer. You chuckle at his reaction and lean into his side, letting out a content sigh. This was the first Christmas celebration you’d had at Alexandria, and with how well things were going, you were certain that this would not be the last.

---

I hope you guys enjoyed this! I was having a hard time coming out of my writer’s block and this was literally the first thing I wrote a month, so I really hope it’s up to par ^^ And yes... I BROUGHT GLENN BACK BECAUSE I NEEDED TO WRITE HIM INTERACTING WITH HERSHEL. I miss him...

Please let me know what you guys thought of this, I really love hearing from you guys 😊 Happy holidays, and stay safe everyone!!!

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