#it is basically an additional thing

[gem-morey]

Every Kiss Begins with Kay🔥[Self-para]

In which Gem buys Snow a gift for their three month anniversary...[takes place: October 14, 2024]

[cw -- none except don't read this bc it is embarrassing]

🔥🔥🔥.

“May I help you?” said a man with slicked back hair, wearing what looked--to Gem’s untrained eye--to be a proper suit. 

Gem immediately felt underdressed and out of place, standing in his work boots and jeans. But, then, he remembered that he hated classist bullshit. He had the money. And he had every right to be here. His eyes narrowed for a second, wanting to tell the man at the counter to fuck off. 

But then, he realized that he was, in fact, standing in the middle of a jewelry store. A place he’d never been before in his life. The whole place was sparkling--bright and expensive. This was the kind of place that would probably chase him out of, if they knew who he was. 

And maybe he did need help. 

“I am looking for something for my girlfriend,” Gem said, his chest full in an uncomfortable sort of way. It got like that when he mentioned his ‘girlfriend’ because he didn’t do it that often. There was still a part of him that felt like it was a lie. That he didn’t have a girlfriend. That Snow Song, of all people, wasn’t his girlfriend. And he’d hallucinated or gaslit himself into believing that she was. 

“Ah! Wonderful. A special occasion?�� 

“Uh--anniversary?” 

🔥🔥🔥.

[link here]

🔥🔥🔥.

[daisybell-on-a-carousel]

Being someone who read Under The Red Hood and came out with the firm belief that, for Jason, it's not about killing Joker, it's about Jason wanting proof Batman would choose him over the Joker (bc shelia chose the joker). Makes seeing any other media where it's all about just wanting the Joker dead is a teeny bit frustrating. to be honest

Jason could've killed the Joker himself, really, really easily. Jason kidnaps the Joker before the confrontation. I can't open my comic for a reference right now, but it felt like he had the Joker for quite a bit before the confrontation. He had him. He beat him up with a crowbar. He had every single opportunity to kill the Joker himself, but he didn't because that wasn't his goal. Make no mistake, he did plan for the Joker to be dead by the end of it, but do you see what im trying to say here

Edit: If I knew this post was gonna get 1000+ notes I would've tried to word it better or something, this was a rant I made on the way to the grocery store 😭

It's not about making Batman kill either. When Batman says he won't kill, Jason adjusts and goes, 'Let ME kill the Joker or kill me to stop me' instead. The test is all about Batman choosing him. The whole final confrontation is Jason's first death again. The parent, The Joker, and the explosives. It even ends with Jason unable to move as a bomb goes off right next to him again because the parent didn't choose Jason. And instead tried finding an option that'd benefit them and (consequencely) letting the Joker walk, again, lol, lmao <-in agony

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

The fandom can't make up its mind on what's supposed to be a joke and what's supposed to be serious because the show can't either half the time. It's a tonally disjointed mess that wants to have absurd over-the-top humor as well as a plot and moments of drama, romance, and angst that demand you see the characters as people and feel for what they're going through. Except you can't do that without also treating the dumb bullshit in a somewhat grounded way. Like, you're still dealing with the same characters. You can't just go "Oh, that? Let's ignore that!" the moment it's no longer convenient to you. You've opened this can of worms and now you have to sleep in it. So, every character flip-flops between two different versions of themselves depending on what the writers need in any particular scene.

This is not to say surreal humor can't be used right alongside characters you're supposed to empathize with, Teen Titans (not Go) did that and it worked. It's just that the absurdity can only come from the setting (Mad Mod, Mother Mae-Eye, pretty much anything Control Freak is in) or from designated joke characters (Date With Destiny). Teen Titans never had the main characters acting in clearly absurd ways as the butt of a joke unless those characters were brainwashed somehow, because the writers knew that would ruin any of the more grounded moments they wanted to write. The writers of Miraculous missed the memo on that one.

I don't disagree. A perfect example is Derision where the show takes all of the bad jokes about Marinette's crush and decides to take them seriously as if you can possible take them seriously without making Marinette come across as unhinged and dangerous. You can't, which brings us to the topic at hand: how do you even begin to understand these characters when the show is constantly making character-breaking choices?

My approach - and the approach I recommend others take if they're going to keep watching the show - is to focus on the characters' cores and reject anything canon does to violate those cores. I don't argue for this stance because I love the characters so much that I only want the good things to count. I take this stance because, if you don't, then the characters fall apart. There is no way to make them work as fully realized characters while embracing every choice canon has made. Miraculous has massive characterization issues that go well beyond the humor.

For example, Adrien has multiple moments of terrible behavior that are played in a serious manner such as the moment in the episode Frozer where he tries to start a fight with Ladybug in the middle of an akuma attack because she wouldn't accept a rose from him earlier:

Setup

Ladybug: I can't accept this rose from you. I told you already. I'm in love with someone else. Cat Noir: I know, M'lady. But if he weren't here, would things be different between us? Ladybug: Well, you know, I can't even begin to imagine him not being here. I'm sorry, Cat Noir. I really gotta get going, and you better do the same. (Swings her yo-yo to head back home; Cat Noir is sad, looking downwards, with one petal of the rose falling.)

Payoff

Ladyice: Cat Noir. We need to set up a trap for whoever turned the city into a giant ice rink. (throws yo-yo) Icecat: (bitterly) My feline instincts prefer to track and observe before I attack. You go your way, I'll go mine. Ladyice: Please don't tell me you're mad at me about the rose. Icecat: There may be a certain chill now between us. Ladyice: I get it, but we should really focus on saving Paris right now. Icecat: We don't always have to do everything together, after all. It's not like we're a couple. (skates away)

There's no way to argue this off as a bad joke. While Adrien has every right to feel hurt, those feelings don't excuse him acting like a pouting child in the middle of an akuma fight. It doesn't excuse him acting like this at any point! Ladybug is not a villain for telling him no. She wasn't even mean about it!

I clearly fully agree that Adrien looks awful and selfish here, but I'd still argue that it's not something that should be used to define Adrien's character if your goal is to tell the "ideal" version of Miraculous. "Ideal" being the version that canon seems to be going for based on the overall picture we can sort of make out if we back way, way, way up and look at the extremely abstract picture canon is clumsily painting.

Unless canon is going to do something monumentally stupid, Adrien is Marinette's endgame romantic interest. It's also clear that there is no plan to cut him from the team. He's going to be Chat Noir for the rest of his life or at least well into his adulthood. This means that he is supposed to be a good hero who deserves his miraculous just like he's supposed to be a charming and cute romantic lead. These are the two things I keep in mind when trying to shift through canon to figure out what writing choices I should fully embrace and what writing choices I have to either ignore or treat as true flaws that get an actual character arc. In my book, either approach is fine because most of the characters are deeply flawed at this point and you can't give them all arcs without bloating the story to nonsense levels.

My goal with this approach is never to say, "oh, that moment shouldn't count in terms of how people feel about the character." It's more, "that moment goes so hard against who this character is very clearly supposed to be that I can't take it into account if I want to tell the kind of story that Miraculous is trying (and clearly failing) to tell."

As an example, let's list off Adrien's worst behaviors. The things that make him look terrible:

He sucks at communicating his needs and feelings, leading to multiple moments where he gets mad at Ladybug for things she's totally unaware of

He has quit or considered quitting without warning multiple times and only one of those was because of something he did "wrong" (NYC Special)

He puts his feelings before the safety of Paris on multiple occasions, even going so far to purposely miss akuma fights to see what happens

He is incredibly pushy about his crush, often ignoring Ladybug's feelings on the topic by continuing to bring it up even after she asked him to stop

There have been multiple instances where he almost cataclysmed multiple people in a fit of anger

His love for Ladynette isn't strong enough to let him break free of things like akumas and nightmare dust even when he's looking her in the eyes making him a pretty crappy romantic lead

People will argue that some of this behavior makes sense for his character because of the abuse that canon has technically introduced, but that the writers seem blissfully unaware of. I don't disagree with that argument, but that doesn't change the fact that none of this is acceptable behavior for a hero and Adrien is a hero who keeps doing these things. A sad backstory doesn't give you the right to behave poorly without consequences.

At the same time, if I fully embrace these elements of canon, what I get is an Adrien salt fic where he loses his miraculous for good while Marinette finds her real true love or even just a non-salty fic where Adrien leaves for his own meatal health and gets replaced by someone who can handle being a hero right now. Canon's not writing either of those, so the only way to engage with these flaws while enjoying canon or aiming for the same end goals as canon is to say, "I guess this doesn't count" or "I guess I need to tone this way down and work through it via a character arc" or even "I guess that was just a bad joke maybe?"

That is the essence of what I mean when I call myself a writing salt, character sugar blog. It comes from looking at canon and seeing that there's simply no way to embrace the worst moments and the best at the same time. We're not dealing with a coherent plot and/or complex characters. We're dealing with a nonsense plot that will warp the characters to bizarre shapes to make random ideas work even if those idea go wildly against canon's end goals.

As an example, Glaciator and Frozer should not exist in the same universe or, at the very least, something should explain why Chat Noir randomly changed his stance on Ladybug's crush from acceptance to pushiness. As is, the pieces don't fit together. The behavior is too contradictory. Remember, this is how Glaciator ends:

Perhaps Ladybug will love me someday. I mean, like, I love her. I have to believe. In the meantime, her friendship is the best gift of all.

Where did this version of Adrien go? Why did he regress in Frozer? There's no in-universe reason. It happened because the writers weren't ready to let the love square date or grow close, but they also wanted the love square to cause drama, so Adrien ends up looking terrible just like Marinette ends up looking terrible when it's her turn to cause love square drama. Her terribleness takes a different flavor so it can be hard to realize that this is a systemic issue, but that's what it is. It's deeply frustrating, but it also clearly stems from cheap writing and not quality characterization.

This is also why my stance is that canon as a whole only supports my Doyalistic core-character analysis style of approach. The writing is too poor quality to do Watsonian analysis where you embrace the full picture and try to put it all together. The closest I'll get to Watsonian analysis is pointing out how much the writing botches a Watsonian take by showing you all the way the writing contradicts itself, twisting into a nonsense pretzel of frustration where the payoffs never satisfy! (See the season four rant for an example or anything where I talked about Chloe's supposed damnation arc.)

There are even characters where canon is such a total mess that you can Doyalistically argue for two separate takes! Gabriel is a perfect example. He is all over the place and his ending was so poorly handled that you can make strong arguments for writing him as a cold-hearted villain or a sympathetic villain without the end result feeling like it spits in the face of canon because both takes maintain his one core element: villain.

That's the big thing I keep in mind when I look at the characters and the lore and the plots and try to come up with versions that the average fan would like. I don't think that there's one true version of any of these things, but I do feel comfortable saying that there are versions that will very clearly only appeal to people who are salty about a specific thing that canon did poorly. That's not who I want to appeal to in my adaptions, so while I'm not going to argue that those takes have no backing in canon, I will argue that those takes are not supported by canon as a whole. Embracing them requires you to take the worst parts of canon at face value while ignoring what canon is clearly trying to do with the overall story.

I get the appeal of that, but it's not fun for me because that approach feels like rolling around in the mud with the pigs. I don't want to sink to canon's level! I want to have fun! That's why I talk about how to make canon into its best self, not its worst self. If you want its worst self, just go watch the actual show. I will be shocked it if disappoints you.

[wakeupthemembersofbylernation]

Everyone who aggressively denies obvious Byler foreshadowing pointed out to them is gonna look awfully foolish when Byler is endgame. It’s one thing to be a GA member and just not know the evidence; it’s another thing to be an avid watcher of the show and be shown specific evidence in great detail, only to be like, “Nuh-uh, this means nothing 🙅‍♂️”

[markantonys]

i was like "maybe i should test out entering my late 20s baking era like everyone else i know is doing" and proceeded to make coconut macaroons that came out more disgusting than i ever could've imagined it was possible for a thing with those ingredients to be

[orbch]

non-americans making fun of americans for this election outcome is kinda the equivalent of watching someone get shot in both their knees, and going up to them like “hey umm.. just letting you know everyone saw that and it was kind of embarrassing”

[bubblebaath]

sheezy art!

i havent uploaded much since it started back up, but if you want to follow me for art irrelevant to this blog anime lawyers and rpgmaker sprite wips then ★ click here ★

[queer-omens-in-the-archives]

I was dreaming of the wind

Relationship: Mello/Near Rating: T Chapters: 1/1 Words: 1,485 Series: sweet atonement

Near wakes up and Mello is not here. (Set roughly a year after the events of sweet atonement and please don't follow me into the sun.)

Tags: Multiplicity/Plurality, Near's Mello Introject, Dissociation, Difficulties in Inner Communication, (and resolution thereof), Traumaversary, Grief, Lucid Dreaming, Post-Canon, POV Near | Nate River

[read on AO3]

[bitchthefuck1]

Who would you cast as Kaz? How about all the Crows?

You're going to be disappointed in this answer, but my preference would be to go with a cast of unknown/newer actors, which inherently means that I can't give you a cast list :/ idk I just feel like that would be the best choice for the story practically and thematically.

That being said, I honestly feel like the best way to adapt soc would be in animation. I know that would literally never happen, but in general when it comes to stories with very vibey worlds and magic systems I feel like animation is almost always the best way to go. It's really easy for the sets and costumes to look cheap or super generic in live action, and that's even more true for any effects for the magic system. Soc has such a unique flavor and atmosphere that even if an adaptation had, like, game of thones money and an insane powerhouse creative team, it's just really hard for me to see it getting done right in live action.

[bigcats-birds-and-books]

TBR: Black Authors Spotlight!

In honor of Black History Month, here's a selection of my mountainous TBR--new works by many fave authors (Okorafor, Emezi, Polk, Solomon, Roanhorse, and Giddings), and many others I am hyped to try (shout-out to Ancrum, Monae, and Shawl especially!).

And honorable mention, too, to P. Djèlí Clark and Suyi Davies Okungbowa, who did not make the TBR list only because I read them last month haha.

[mwagneto]

you people have no fucking idea how good you have it. first of all you have stores that are open 24/7. second of all you have stores that sell slushies like there's just a slushie machine. at the store. and you can fill your own cup with it which btw costs the same as in hungary but is 3 times bigger. third of all those two are the same store

[cinnamonest]

I just realized that I forgot to send what I wrote to the translator, so I'm writing again .I really like the ideas of a dear with such poor eyesightthat she can hardly see beyond a couple of centimeters . This is very convenient for Yandere, because if she behaves badly, they just need to take off their glasses. + makes an escape attempt very difficult Sorry to write this again 😭

You're fine! I actually know like a very small amount of Russian so I was like trying to challenge myself to read without using Google and managed to recognize a few words which was fun 🤭

And that's literally me, I remember the first time I went to the eye doctor as a teen and tested my sight he was literally so baffled he outright asked me "how have you gotten by this long like this" 💀💀

---

Obviously the worst would be either Kaeya or Childe because they find your impairment very cute and will make your life all the worse for it. Taking your glasses away is not even so much as a means of control for Childe, he just genuinely finds it funny and endearing to watch you struggle. It's just one of many things he does to mess with you, along with putting things you need way out of your reach and hiding your stuff and making you do favors or say sweet (and embarrassing) things to him to get it back. Because it's less a control thing and more pure amusement, though, he's more likely to occasionally relent and give it back to you when you need it.

For Kaeya its both control and amusement, so the same is not true — in fact, he most likely outright throws them away for good. Anything you really need that your natural vision prevents, he can just do for you, and now you'll be forced to ask nicely. But he absolutely will do little things to mess with you.

Diluc just decides you've seen enough for one lifetime. Off they go. You wake up one day and they're not where you set them down and he just shrugs off any accusations from you, but doesn't deny them. It's actually a part of his borderline obsessive fixation with moulding you the perfect wife-y version of you he's constructed in his head. That version of you has no need for them. What do you need good vision for? Seeing things?? Looking at other people?? Navigating the world outside? None of these are approved activities. You don't really need great vision for cooking and cleaning and laying on your back with open legs and other more suitable things. You'll adjust just fine.

If you're farsighted and really want to read a book (which, as long as it's approved reading material, is fine, ideal even as it's a sedentary activity), you may ask very nicely and you may temporarily have them back. You can, however, "negotiate" with him by making it backfire on him, such as "accidentally" getting juice confused with rat poison you give to him. Do this sort of thing enough times and he may relent to let you have them a little bit more often... but still only with permission.

Albedo is actually similar to Childe and Kaeya in that he finds it amusing. He's just not as outwardly teasing about it, rather, he tends to quietly observe with a faint smirk watching you struggle. Him taking them away shouldn't really come as a surprise though, seeing as he's the worst candidate for limiting your capabilities in general. Like, having your glasses taken away actually kind of pales in comparison to being rendered permanently lame or having your entire body temporarily paralyzed when you're being mean to him. He already takes every conceivable opportunity to render you as helpless and dependent as possible, this is just another aspect of that, and the primary reason for doing so. Doesn't mean he doesn't also find it cute, though. He's just not going to outwardly say anything to belittle you about it... unless you're being bad, in which case, a few dry-humored jabs might be warranted.

But most surprisingly, Baizhu of all people has the audacity to use it to his advantage. Total betrayal from someone you would have thought understood Universal Glasses-Haver Solidarity. But perhaps that is why he does it, he knows just how inconvenient and limiting it can be, thereby viewing it as a fairly strong leverage in his favor. Besides, you did earn it when you tried to poison him. Have fun reading labels on the medicinal jars on high shelves now.

Should you ever bring up the inherent hypocrisy of keeping you deprived, he merely says it was a necessary act for your own well-being and his alike. He has a tendency to bounce back and forth between how strict he is — he has a soft spot for you and wants to be lenient and trusting, but his self-awareness of his own physical condition and potential weaknesses make him paranoid enough that once he's decided on something like that, he likely won't go back on the decision.

[lamentfulwarbler]

Old Fic Bingo!

Been off my groove for a bit, but I finally got around to completing a bingo for @feedthefandomfest ‘s Old Fic Bingo! For simplicities sake, this time I will only be counting horizontal bingos, so that I don’t have to worry about any accidental bingos, or bingos where only one new fic was added to a line. I have learnt from my previous mistakes 🙏

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THE BINGO FICS

3-5 Years Old & Under 10 Comments: To Wish by FactorialRabbits

Posted 1-2 Years Ago: Someone Else Calling You Baby by calmlb (1)

Sort by Date Updated; Fic Listed in Middle Pages: wedding challenges by setosdarkness (2)

Comment, Kudos, Bookmark Fic Completed 1+ Year Ago: Narrow Staircases by rutu14 (3)

1-2 Years Old & Under 10 Kudos: So, hey…. by Plantress (4)

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BONUS FICS

Posted in Your Birthday Month at Least a Year Ago: forest honeymoon by setosdarkness

6+ Years Old & Under 15 Comments: An Affectation of Love (Could Lead to Honest Affection) by tealady19 (5)

Sort by Date Updated; Fic Listed on Random Page: forever’s a long time to miss me by feralrookie (6)

Sort by Date Updated; Fic Listed on LAST PAGE: elegy of the celestial crane by inberin (7)

(1) Comment made on 23rd July 2024

(2) Comment made and bingo sheet marked on 24th July 2024, fic may have moved past the half way mark by time of bingo

(3) Comment made on 24th July 2024

(4) Kudos at time of commenting: 6

(5) Comment made and bingo sheet marked on 28th July 2024; Total Comments at time of commenting: 7

(6) Comment made on 23rd July 2024

(7) Fic listed on last page of tag ‘Mo Xuanyu/Nie Huaisang’ when sorted by Date Updated at time of commenting

[riiviir]

hey guys so I just started reading Flatland by Edwin A. Abbott and OMG AHSBNSBSBSNSNBSHZHSHDBFHGGHFHGRJ2KSHSBSNSK AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA I LOVE THINKING ABOUT THE RELATIVITY BETWEEN DIMENSIONS!!!!!!

[lynxfrost13]

Praps if I’m good I’ll post not only about Frau Wasserlinse!! But also the very prestigious and totally not falling apart Vinetan Defense Freighter crew and additional operations

[emotionally-charged-arson]

Transitus Comic Studies

These were meant to be colored but alas. Faulty art supplies. Still like these sketches though! They’re lifted from the OG comic book. The idea was to only use direct poses and scenes from the source material and try to infuse some more productive character design into them.

Focus on status of a given character (and changes in it) and some stronger air of historical reference, kept as far away from my own personal head canons of the characters and their backstories as possible.

Really had fun with these. Great figure practice ✏️