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lady-literature · 4 years

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Found Family

holy shit did this one get way out of hand. Don’t expect them all to be this long because hot damn this is a monster compared to literally everything else but it just wouldn’t stop

(should I have expected this? probably. we all know how I am about found family.)

anyway enjoy 4.5k words ig

based on this post | @maribatmarch-2k21 | find more here

***

When Marinette had been chosen to intern with Monsieur Wayne’s PA, she hadn’t been expecting anything special. Sure, the Waynes were an odd breed and generally considered strange, but Marinette hadn’t actually expected to have much contact with them—if any at all.

She was here to earn credit for her business degree.

Instead, she has… well. She thinks she’s been somehow inducted into the Wayne family, mostly on accident and kind of as a joke.

That is, until it very much wasn’t.

***

Her first mistake, she supposes, was being too good at her job.

Marinette is an old hand at keeping track of multiple moving parts and riding herd on stubborn people who’d otherwise be too distracted or goofing off. (She was the Court’s leader for more than just being the latest in a long line of Ladybugs, after all.)

After the first two days shadowing Selina—“please, darling. Ms Kyle is so formal”—and learning the broad strokes of the job, Marinette felt confident enough to dig her nails in and get to work. Selina spent most of her time dedicated to international tasks and arranging Monsieur Waynes’ private affairs—all of which was highly classified and not discussed with Marinette—so she turned her attention to inter-company affairs.

Her first order of business was personally meeting with as many people in managerial positions as she could get. Not a requirement for the job per se, but these were people she’d have to interact with often and Maman had always stressed the importance of building connections in the workplace.

“People,” she would say, “are far more willing to do what you want them to when you’ve endeared yourself to them.”

So Marinette takes that advice and spends her breaks and lunches charming employees and giving baked goods to security guards and learning the names of the cleaning crew. She doesn’t speak to the department heads, because Selina handles their correspondences, but everyone else is free game as far as she’s concerned.

She becomes a well-recognized face astoundingly quickly.

***

Marinette probably should’ve seen the rumors coming.

It’s common practice in not only the Wayne family, but in most business conglomerates, for the children to quickly rise through the ranks of their company—if not just handed a high position right off the bat.

It took barely a month before the eldest was all but running Human Resources, and the second was placed as Head of Security practically out of nowhere. Monsieur Drake is the youngest (and most terrifyingly calculated) CEO to ever hold Wayne Enterprises, even if he does share the title with his father.

The other three are still too young or have yet to express an interest in the company, but people say it’s only a matter of time.

The track record speaks for itself, even if Marinette wishes it didn’t.

As a girl who’d come mostly out of nowhere and found herself with far more divisive sway in the company than she had any right to, it’s no wonder everyone thinks she’s some sort of secret Wayne finally coming out of hiding.

Marinette had nearly choked on her coffee when Selina dropped the bomb of that particular tidbit of company gossip.

“Most think you’ve been unofficially adopted,” Selina tells her, looking far too amused for Marinette’s liking. “Seeing as you’re too old for official avenues now.”

Marinette looks up warily from the schedule she’s rearranging. Selina had all but shoved the thing at her a month ago when she started suggesting more efficient ways of managing the CEOs’ valuable time.

“Only most? Does that mean the rest have common sense?”

Selina’s grin widens even further, if that’s possible, and Marinette regrets her question even before the older woman starts speaking.

“Oh, of course not!” she laughs delightedly. “The rest are hoping to hear news of wedding bells. It’s high time someone swept a Wayne off the market, don’t you think?”

***

“So you’re the new little sister I keep hearing about.”

Marinette stares up through narrowed eyes at the brightly smiling Dick Grayson. In her stomach, there are already the beginnings of resignation starting to form.

“It’s nice to finally meet you!”

This man is going to bring her nothing but trouble. She can tell.

***

Dick takes a liking to her. And she, against her better judgment, finds herself doing the same to him.

It’s a little hard not to, if she’s being honest. He’s bright and bubbly and brings her bagels during his morning break without her ever having asked.

It takes practically no time at all before Marinette considers him a friend, relaxing when he’s near and laughing openly at his ridiculous jokes. Despite being the head of HR, he’s not great at the whole ‘professional’ thing and often employees will walk by to find him draped across a chair or balancing precariously on the edge of her desk while she tries and fails to get some work done while he’s around.

It really doesn't help all of the ‘Marinette is a Wayne’ rumors running around. Especially when Dick starts pointedly calling her every variation of ‘little sister’ that he can think of just to annoy her (and, she knows, because he thinks the entire situation hilarious).

***

Three weeks after befriending Dick, Selina all but shoves her into Monsieur Drake’s office and, in no uncertain words, says, “He’s your problem now.”

Marinette blinks at what she can describe as nothing other than a disaster area and just… sighs.

Tim blinks back at her.

The motion is somehow both completely blank and filled with an uncomfortable amount of knowing at the same time. There is also, she notices, a frankly ludicrous amount of concealer caked beneath his eyes and more coffee cups scattered on every flat surface than Marinette has ever seen in her life.

She knows his schedule like the back of her hand seeing as she spends hours of her day pouring over it to make sure everything runs smoothly. He has no prior engagements for the next three hours.

“You’re not going to take a nap just because I ask, are you?”

He snorts. “Absolutely not.”

She nods, having expected the answer; her phone was already at her ear before he even finished speaking. “Hey, Dick!” she greets, sounding brighter than she feels at the moment, and watches as Tim stiffens in front of her. “Yeah, no. I was just wondering if you’re busy right now.” She pauses. “Oh, good! Can you come up to Tim’s office for me? Yeah, I need you to knock him out so I can fix his dumpster fire of an office.”

Tim has since started waving his hands frantically at her, panic setting in behind his eyes.

Marinette stares at him, unmoved. “Thanks, Dick! You’re the best!”

The silence after she hangs up is deafening.

“I don’t know if I should be impressed by the ease you’re manipulating me or pissed off that you’re doing it in the first place.”

She hums thoughtfully. “Does your decision have any bearing on my future employment?”

His eyes squint. “…No.”

Marinette shrugs, mind already whirling with what she’ll need to get done first and calculating how long she’ll likely have to get it done. “Then I think you should skip right over both of those and land on resignation as quickly as possible, Monsieur, because you’re going to have to get used to it regardless.”

It’s silent for a long moment, and she worries for just a second that she’s severely crossed some sort of line. Then Tim bursts out laughing instead of, you know, firing her like he probably should have.

“Oh, yeah. You’re going to fit right in here.”

Marinette doesn’t ask where the ‘here’ is. She’s pretty sure she already knows.

***

It takes ten days for Marinette to wrangle Tim’s life into something resembling order. His office is clean and organized to his liking. She’s developed a system of filing so that all paperwork goes through her and is quickly sorted into ‘can be handled by Marinette’, ‘forge his signature and tell him about it later’, and ‘actually important enough to have Tim read through’.

His schedule is the most efficient it’s ever been and Marinette is quickly honing the skill of getting him properly dressed and out of his office in under thirty minutes. (Dick is, thankfully, a great teacher and has little to no qualms about giving her the key to all his little brother’s weaknesses.)

Selina stares at her when Marinette all but drags Tim from his office, a folder tucked neatly under his arm and the sugary monstrosity of a caffeinated beverage she’s bribed him with in her own, with a whole ten minutes to spare before his meeting with the Board.

“My dear,” she says solemnly, “you are positively magic.”

She doesn’t even look up from where she’s simultaneously wrangling Tim’s hair into submission and laying his tie down flat. “You have no idea.”

***

She knows Tim is capable of professionality. She’s seen the cool facade he pulls up in front of the Board members and the kind but impersonal smile he uses on the employees of Wayne Enterprises. (He is not the Ice Prince of the Wayne family, but Marinette believes he should have some equally ruthless sounding title.) He is aloof and sharp and every inch the businessman people praise him to be.

She’s seen it. And yet…

“Monsieur. Why are all the Lexcorp contracts I gave you done in crayon?”

Tim doesn’t stop messing with his Rubix cube or even look up at her when he says, “Cause deadbeat fathers don’t deserve the respect of a pen.”

Marinette is very tired. She does not have time for this. “What are you talking about?”

“Lex is a bitchass absentee dad and I live to inconvenience him.”

“What about inconveniencing me?” she all but whines. “I can’t hand him these!”

That does make Tim look up at her, eyes wide with false innocence and mouth pouting up at her. “But sister dearest, I’m your little brother. It’s my job to inconvenience you.”

Growling in frustration is probably an inappropriate reaction to the situation.

But, Marinette thinks, so is the fact that both of the Waynes she associates with regularly seem hellbent on convincing the world that she too, is a Wayne, so.

(Is this how Alya felt dealing with the twins? Cause if so, Marinette takes back every joke she ever made—little siblings are a bitch.)

***

She meets Damian without warning.

Honestly, she never really expected to meet him at all but, well.

She finds him in Monsieur Wayne’s office, sitting at his father’s desk and doing something that she thinks is vaguely illegal, but she’s not about to tell her Boss a dozen times over how to parent his children.

Damian is a near-perfect copy of his father with darker skin and calculating green eyes. There’s also a more potent aura of danger around the child than there is around his father, like Damian hasn’t yet learned how to hide behind his public persona as his father had.

Or, Marinette looks at the teen thoughtfully, perhaps he just chooses not to.

“Monsieur Wayne,” she greets. Children like to be treated like adults, she knows, and Marinette doesn’t think this one is any different. “Selina hadn’t told me you’d be in the office today.”

“I don’t run my schedule by her,” he says flatly. A response she expected considering Dick’s stories.

“Of course not,” she agrees.

He finally deigns to look up at her and something flits across his expression, too fast for her to pick up on it. “Are those for Father? Bring them here, I’ll deal with them in his absence.”

Marinette raises her eyebrow. “I’m not sure that’s wise Monsieur.”

Damian scowls and sticks his hand out. “I’m perfectly capable of forging Father’s signature. Give them here.”

She does not move and, instead, lets her lips quirk up into the smile she’s been fighting since she stepped in here.

“I don’t doubt it,” she tells him, and she doesn't. Forgery seems exactly like the kind of skill a child who broke into the CEO’s office of a multi-billion dollar company would have. “But you’ll find that all forging of signatures has been finished for the day and that these,” she shakes the sheaf of papers lightly, “actually require your father’s attention.”

He snorts disbelievingly and it says a lot about Marinette’s life up until now that the blatant display of disrespect doesn’t piss her off but instead reminds her of Chloé and of the fact that she still needs to reschedule their spa day. It's been too long since they spent time together in person.

“Well,” she pauses and eyes the papers thoughtfully. “‘Requires’ in the sense that its information needed to trounce the Board when they start spouting off greedy bullshit about cutting corners on our humanitarian efforts. I’m not sure how much of it is actually useful for anything besides that.” She shrugs. “But homework is homework, yes?”

That gets her a thoughtful once-over. His hand lowers and he then turns back to whatever he’s messing with on his father’s computers.

“Very well,” he concedes. “Father will be back in approximately thirteen minutes. You can leave the papers and I’ll inform him of their… importance.” He smirks, but it’s more like he’s letting her in on a joke than anything else.

Marinette smiles back as she sets the folder on the desk, feeling, oddly, like she’s passed some sort of test.

***

The day after, both Dick and Tim are waiting for her with what looks like an entire bakery laid out in her workspace.

“Uh,” she says eloquently, setting her purse down on her chair because there’s not a single open space on her desk not filled with some kind of pastry. “What’s all this?”

She looks up to find neither Dick nor Tim has stopped staring at her since she walked in. “We heard you met Damian yesterday,” Dick starts warily, like he’s scared of her reaction.

The response does not abate her confusion.

“Yes, I did,” she says slowly. “That does not explain all… this.” She waves a hand, trying to encompass them as well as the state her desk is in.

The two brothers share a look.

“It’s a bribe,” Tim tells her simply and Marinette is taken aback for all of a second before her eyes suddenly narrow.

Dick cuts in hastily before she can say anything. “It’s more of an apology, really. For Damian’s behavior.”

But Marinette is confused and frustrated and just a bit offended by the apparent not-bribe at this point. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, but it only does so much.

“Damain’s behavior was fine,” she tells them with measured neutrality. “You two, on the other hand, are being weird and it’s freaking me out.” She crosses her arms expectantly. “Seriously, what’s going on?”

Appearing from out of nowhere, Selina drapes herself along Marinette’s shoulders and snags a raspberry scone. “I do believe,” she says as if sharing a secret, “That they are trying to keep you from quitting, kitten.”

Marinette wrinkles her nose. “Why would I quit? I like this job.”

She also likes the Waynes (in general, if not right then) and she likes Selina. The woman was a good mentor who didn’t shy away from the dirtier parts of the job and taught Marinette all she knew. (Even the bits, she noticed, that had little to nothing to do with being a personal assistant and were more likely to be found in the repertoire of a thief.

But, Marinette is in possession of her own sticky fingers and knows how to not ask questions, so. You know—curiosity killed the cat and all.)

She doesn’t voice any of that, but Selina, at least, knows it anyway. Marinette isn’t quiet about her gratitude after all.

“First meetings with the youngest Wayne don’t often go well,” Selina tells her. “In fact, I think he has a habit of making the interns cry.”

Dick makes some kind of offended noise. “Hey! He hasn’t done that since he was twelve!”

Tim elbows him in the ribs and Marinette makes a vaguely skeptical face at all three of them before deciding it wasn’t worth it. She has actual work to get done today and pastries to get rid of before she can even start.

She pats affectionately at Selina’s hand before grabbing as many boxes as she can hold. “Come on you two,” she says to the brothers. “You’re going to help me hand these out to the rest of the company.”

Dick immediately starts doing as told but Tim hesitates, humming thoughtfully. “You know that’s not going to help your whole ‘I’m not actually a Wayne’ thing, right?”

She glares at him. It doesn’t stop Tim from grinning like the utterly unrepentant little shit he is.

***

Things are quiet after the Damian Incident for a whole two weeks. It’s the longest lull Marinette has had since she first started and became somehow involved with the Waynes.

It ends because Dick finds out about the crush Marinette has been nursing on the Head of Security for three months now.

The Head of Security who is Jason Todd: second eldest Wayne sibling and Dick’s brother.

He takes it better than expected.

(Almost, she thinks later, a little too well.)

***

Despite her friendship with Dick and Tim—or perhaps because of it?—Jason had never seemed very interested in her. At first, Marinette had shrugged and counted it as a win; there was one Wayne, at least, who neither found her situation funny nor used it to poke fun at her.

They were on friendly terms, she supposed. Security has always been one of her more regular stops in the building, so she’d spoken to him often enough. He liked complaining that she spoiled his team rotten with all her treats.

But she also noticed that he likes her cherry danishes, so.

And then she noticed how crooked his grin was when he smiled. And how he seemed to have an arsenal of nicknames for everyone he knew. And the small collection of classic romance novels filled with sticky notes he tries and fails to hide in his desk. And, and, and.

It was around the time she began unconsciously memorizing his schedule based on when he was and was not there for her pastry deliveries, that she realized she may have made a misstep somewhere.

Jason was stubborn and passionate and flipped between overly proper and crass light a damn light switch. He was also, as stated, very much not interested in her.

Not that she would’ve pursued him anyway. He was a coworker as well as her friends’ brother.

Now if only one of said brothers could understand that.

“You should ask him out,” Dick suggests not for the first time and Marinette sighs, also not for the first time.

She loves Dick—she truly does—but he has been an aggravating level of unhelpful since he found out about Marinette’s latest romantic disaster.

“I’m definitely not doing that.”

Dick groans, like she’s being the unreasonable one. “Why are you being so stubborn about this?”

“Because I don’t like embarrassing myself?” she asks rhetorically. “Not everyone can have a fairy tale romance like you and Wally.”

He throws his coffee stirrer at her. “We are not a fairy tale.”

She shoots him a flat look. She’s heard Dick talk about Wally and Tim’s told her all the stories and she was there when he and Wally finally got their shit together. Dick was unbearable for an entire week with his gooey, lovestruck new lease on life.

“You two are the definition of fairy tale. You two make fairy tales look like trashy romance novels.”

He opens his mouth to argue the point before forcibly cutting himself off. “No. Stop distracting me. We’re not talking about that; we’re talking about you and Jason.”

“There is no ‘me and Jason’,” she reminds him through her clenched teeth.

“Not yet,” he says optimistically. Like it’s a fact, like he knows something she doesn’t.

He makes her want to slam her face into a wall. Truly, he does.

***

Dick stops running his HR papers up to her office. Instead, he’s somehow convinced Jason to play errand boy for him even though he literally never looks happy about it. What used to be a flimsy excuse for Dick to slack off for a few minutes and gossip with her has now turned into awkward silence as Jason drops off the papers and leaves without even a ‘hello’.

During their shared breaks, Dick takes to orchestrating ‘chance encounters’ between her and Jason, all but shoving them into each other (and even actually shoving that one time). She catches Jason shooting dark looks at Dick every time he does it, and if she’d been holding any iota of hope at this point, it’s been smashed to dust. Jason obviously knows of his brother’s meddling and isn’t happy about it.

But Dick just can’t take the hint.

Every failed plan of his makes him steadily worse about it all—more frantic and frustrated and like he wants to strangle her for her stubbornness. (The last feeling being more than mutual.)

Dick’s meddling starts to make her and Jason’s previously friendly, if distant, relationship awkward and embarrassing. With every pointed comment, she gets closer to just punching Dick in the face. Or, maybe, she’ll just tell Wally who really ate all the chocolate strawberry macaroons she made; it’d certainly be more devastating.

***

It all comes to head on a Thursday, after most employees have left for the day.

They run into each other in a breakroom, and she watches as Jason suddenly goes stiff, eyes flicking over her shoulder to no doubt scan for Dick. That single action makes her expression sour and she slams her empty mug down with more force than was necessary.

For Kwamis sake, he looks like a cornered animal. An image not helped by the way he jumps a foot in the air and stares at her like he’s worried she’ll suddenly lunge at him.

“Can we agree this is ridiculous?” she says abruptly. “I don’t know what Dick is trying to accomplish with his wingman schtick, but we both know it’s not going to work. Can we just… agree that he’s an idiot?”

A complicated look crosses Jason’s face before he snorts wryly. “Yeah, we can agree on that. Dickie-boy has always been a few sandwiches short a picnic.”

“I know things have been awkward between us lately, and I’m sorry about that, but I hope we can keep being friends?” she says hopefully.

“What in the world do you have to be sorry about?” he asks before she can start catastrophizing about the bewildered expression he makes at her words. “It’s not your fault.”

The smile she shoots him is rueful and she shakes her hand in an ‘ehh’ type gesture. “Kinda is. And I understand if the-” she makes a vague gesture between them that she hopes properly conveys ‘my giant, stupid crush on you’, “you know, is too much for you. Just say the word I’ll try and keep out of your way.”

She’s trying to be comforting or understanding or something like that, but all her words seem to do is make him upset. “Absolutely not,” he insists. “Sunshine, you are not going to change your routine just to make me feel better.”

Marinette crosses her arms, frowning up at him. “Why shouldn’t I? If I’m making you uncomfortable-”

He makes a strangled noise in the back of his throat. “Uncomfort- Marinette. ” She jolts a bit at the use of her name. She doesn’t think he’s used it since her second week at W.E. “I’m not sure who made you think otherwise—and if it was Dick just tell me cause I’ll kick his ass —but barring the fact that I still enjoy your friendship regardless of any… feelings-” Marinette concentrates very hard on not showing emotion when he says that, “-it’s not your responsibility to deal with it.”

Okay, but… that makes no sense. Of course her feelings were her responsibility, that’s the whole point of them being hers.

“If it’s not mine, then whose responsibility is it then?” she asks, wondering where the hell his train of thought is running.

“Mine, obviously.”

She gives him a look, complete with narrowed eyes and thinly veiled judgment. “What? Is this some kind of gentleman’s martyr complex? Is that what’s happening right now?”

Jason huffs a laugh, but there’s no humor in the sound. “If me taking responsibility for my own damn feelings is a martyr complex then sure,” he snarks, not unkindly. More like he’s trying to protect himself by retreating behind a sour attitude.

Her mouth is halfway around a retort when his words catch up to her brain and she freezes.

“Your feelings?” she repeats. “Your feelings for… me?”

His voice is carefully neutral when he says, “Those would be the ones.”

Her mouth opens and closes and opens again. “You like me? Seriously?”

His face spasms at the question, starting at anger before he properly looks at her and the surprised expression on her face. He pales.

“You didn’t know?”

“No!” she squeaks, something she hasn’t done since she was fifteen. “Well Dick said but I didn’t believe him!”

And fuck, she thinks. This means Dick knew the whole damn time, didn’t he? Oh, she is so going to kill him the second she gets the chance.

Jason runs a hand down his face, covering his mouth as he gathers his bearings. Suddenly, his eyes shoot back open and land on her. “Wait. If you didn't know, then what the hell were you talking about just now?”

She blushes to the tips of her ears and buries her face in her hands so she doesn’t have to look at him. It was easy when she thought he’d figured it out himself. It’s harder now that she has to tell him. “I- I was talking about my crush on you.”

He’s quiet for so long that she gets antsy and peeks out from behind her fingers to see his expression. He’s still looking at her, but now there’s a wide, crooked smile on his face. The expression softens something in her chest and she lowers her hands.

“Really?” he asks, leaning closer.

Marinette nods, feeling a small smile spread across her lips.

He jolts forward, hands reaching for her before suddenly stopping just shy of touching. She startles a bit at the motion but doesn’t move away.

Jason licks his lips, smile smaller but no less bright. “I- can I?”

She blinks. “Can you what?”

“Kiss you.”

The blush returns full force, but with it also comes a smile, giddy and bright. She nods and no sooner than she does, is he swooping down to pull her into a toe-curling kiss. His hands cup her face with a tenderness that makes her smile, makes her giddy, and it’s not long before they’re both smiling too wide to actually kiss and are forced to break apart.

His hands fall to her back, practically engulfing her, and his chin drops onto her head. It’s warm and cozy and she thinks she could so very easily get used to this.

Later, they’re going to have to deal with Dick and Tim and Selina and the teasing they’ll no doubt have to endure—not to mention how much worse the rumors are going to get—but right now? Right now Marinette pulls Jason back down for another kiss and very pointedly doesn’t think about it.

#maribatmarch2021 #maribat #mlb x dc #jasonette #my typewriter #platonic dickinette #platonic timari

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girl-in-the-tower · 4 years

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WHY I LOVE THE SCARABIA CM AND YOU SHOULD TOO

Listen, I don’t even know why you’d actually need to look for a reason to love and cherish this beautiful piece of animation, but to each their own. Regardless, you’re in the right place, because I’m about to gush and cry over this CM just to convince you to show it the same level of love that I feel for it. It’ll be difficult, but don’t worry, I’ll be there with you the entire time. So, let’s start with the beginning.

What makes this CM different from the others? Well, let’s look at the most obvious aspect: it’s narrated by two people, instead of just the Overblot victim like in the case of the Heartslaybyul, Savanaclaw and Octavinelle. There we had only Riddle, Leona and Azul speak because, obviously, as the Prefects and shadows of the villains they would be the most important characters. You could call that antagonist privileges if you want, but there’s a reason a show with a big cast doesn’t go in depth with every single one of their characters. Not only would it be infeasible, but also useless. Narratives need a point of focus, otherwise they end up disjointed and incomprehensible.

So why didn’t this CM just have Jamil narrate? He’s the antagonist of chapter 4, after all. Shouldn’t he get his own moment in the spotlight, separate from Kalim? Well, yes and no. For you see, the thing about Scarabia is that unlike other dorms the relationship between the Prefect and vice dorm leader is much more complicated. By which I mean that no other vice dorm leader is an indentured servant to the family of their dorm’s Prefect. Trey is Riddle’s childhood friend, Ruggie sticks with Leona because it gives him a better chance for survival, the Leech twins stay with Azul out of curiosity, Rook admires Vil, Ortho is Idia’s little brother (?) and Lilia has served as Malleus’ parental figure.

(Also, yes, I’m counting Ruggie and Ortho as vice dorm leaders since that’s basically their role anyways.)

None of them are bound to their Prefect. Trey has a life outside of Riddle, Ruggie will drop Leona like a sack of potatoes if the latter gets too much to deal with, the Leech twins EXPLICITLY say that they will turn on Azul if they get bored, Rook actually points out Vil’s flaws to his face, Ortho doesn’t let his brother get away with everything and Lilia’s position is more of a trusted family friend, than an actual guard/babysitter. The point I’m trying to make is that all these people have choices when it comes to their relationships with their respective Prefects. They stay by their side out of their own will and not because someone is forcing them to be there.

The same doesn’t apply to Jamil. He can’t just decide to leave Kalim’s side one day, because he was getting sick of looking after him. And that’s because he didn’t have a choice in being by his side in the first place. That decision was made for him by his parents. Because that’s how indentured servitude works: when you’re in the service of a lord, especially if you’re a poor peasant, your period of time decided upon entering the contract tends to extend to future generations as well since you’re not given any money to save. Most peasants that found themselves in such positions often would marry and start a family while still in the service of their lord and should they die, their family, unable to provide for themselves because their whole life was spent doing unpaid labour, will also enter the same contract. This process would go on until either slavery, which this most certainly is, was banned or the lord decided to set you free. The former was much preferable to the latter, because in a feudal system to be set free by your lord often marked you as an undesirable servant. You would be hard pressed to find a lord that would ‘hire’ you after finding out your former ‘employee’ decided to ‘fire’ you. So it would be very rare for indentured servants to actually manage to free themselves from that position.

This is precisely where Jamil’s frustration arises from as well. As a capable individual, he’s acutely aware of the limitations his status imposes on him. He’s a servant of the Asim family from birth, much like his parents and grandparents were before him. This is not something he chose for himself, but rather something that was imposed upon him. Herein lies the central issue that defines Jamil’s character: lack of choice. Much more than any character, Jamil’s life is governed by the limitations that arise due to his social position. We see that ever since his childhood he was forced to always take into consideration Kalim’s abilities and model his performance as not to eclipse him in any way. If Kalim placed second place in a dancing competition, Jamil must not be among the top three. If Kalim’s grades slipped, his own grades must as well. If Kalim lost two times in a row at mancala, Jamil must make sure he loses the next three games. Yet, paradoxically enough he mustn’t fall behind too much either, for that would make him a useless servant. And as I pointed out before, inept servants are not considered desirable by those in power.

It is in essence a balancing act that Jamil must make sure he adheres to strictly, as not to bring shame to the Asim family to whom he is, in theory, loyal. In relation to Kalim, Jamil must make sure he performs poorly, but in relation to others he must make sure he performs well. It’s that precise position between exceptional and ordinary that he must achieve, and according to Azul, Jamil is excelling at that.

Azul: You usually never make yourself stand out—A wallflower, so to speak.

You make sure not to stand out academically, too. Whether it’s with class standing, or with practical training. But, at the same time…

You never get failing scores. (4-37)

Yet the question we must ask is why? Why must Jamil follow these demands?

Well, for one it’s the issue of the indentured servant that we have discussed before. Jamil is bound to the Asims and going against them will bring repercussions not only on himself, but on his family as well. In the modern age in which Twisted Wonderland seems to be set in, this would not be much of an issue, we would guess. However, while that might be true, we must consider it not only from a logical perspective, but a psychological one as well. The human brain is fascinating in the sense in which it is able to transform information into patterns. And nowhere is this most apparent than in the impregnation of cultural norms into the mind. We tend to think of some things as innately ‘normal’ and ‘ordinary’ and everything that goes against those beliefs as ‘perverse’ and ‘immoral’. For example, up until a few decades ago, the idea of women as second-class citizens was seen as a perfectly reasonable notion. Those that did not agree with it were considered troublemakers and agitators, and if there’s anything the human individual loves more conformity, it’s ensuring that it’s enacted upon the population at large. The nail that sticks out gets the hammer, as the saying goes.

But what does this have to do with Jamil? Well, the fact is that his role, as Kalim’s servant, comes with certain social expectations.

Jamil: Kalim’s parents were always better than my parents. That’s why… Kalim should be better than me, too. That’s why, I could never surpass Kalim when it comes to studying, exercise, and even playing— (4-36)

The role of a servant is that of support. The Master leads while they provide the conditions and the means to do that. That is precisely the position that the Viper family is supposed to take in relation to the Asim family. For a servant to surpass his master, it leads to a deeply problematic realization: that one’s status is divorced from one’s capacity. Medieval rule was often characterized by monarchs assigning themselves as God’s anointed on Earth. Their right to the throne was not ensured by their capacity or disposition or ideals, but simply by their nature. They were meant to rule, because of the social class and family they were born into. Nothing less, nothing more. It was instinctively understood that there was a great differentiation between them and the common people and that was translated in their position as those to be considered ‘elevated’. They did not mingle with the common folk, because that was beneath them.

And unfortunately, that is a cultural inheritance that is not easily done away with. For though we might claim we left behind the days of feudalism and vassals, there is still a great divide between social classes. It merely took a different form. Lords of the castle turned into politicians, celebrities and glamorous multimillionaires. A rose by any other name would smell as sweet, as Shakespeare would put it. Call it what you will, but the end result is that social divide still exists. And we can see that is the case in Twisted Wonderland as well.

Though the game tends to gloss over it in certain aspects, by having Leona’s reception by the main student body be as that of a lazy Prefect, and Malleus’s position is often eclipsed by his elusive attitude, it is constantly made clear that Kalim is someone with an important social background. We might have to be reminded that Leona is the second prince of the Afterglow Savannah, or that Malleus is the next king of the Valley of Thorns, but we aren’t offered the same discretion with Kalim’s character. He is almost always introduced as Kalim, the heir of a multimillionaire family. It is thus impossible to separate him from this title, and by extension, Jamil as well. Whether he likes it or not, as the servant of the Asims, Jamil is tethered to Kalim by being a part of his social image. No true Master can exist without servants, and no servants can be had without a Master. The two are reliant on each other, much like Kalim and Jamil are reliant on the other to define their position in life.

Kalim is the son of a wealthy family because he has Jamil to prove his special status. Jamil is a servant of the Asim family because he has someone to serve. But whether he wants to be part of this system and have his identity be defined by this connection is out of his hands. And that’s the truly unbearable notion that Jamil has to deal with in his chapter: no matter what he does he is never in control of his own life. It’s always something that is decided for him.

This, in itself, is not coincidental I would say. You see, besides being interesting social commentary, it is also an unexpected look into the underlying themes of Disney’s Aladdin. If we were asked to describe what the movie is about, I think it’s safe to say most of us would cite “poor street-rat learns a valuable lesson about not pretending to be someone else and marries the princess” as the answer. And we would not be wrong. It’s obvious that “Be Yourself” is one of the most important lessons Disney wanted to teach to young children and this in itself is not a bad thing. But while these might be understood as genuine life advice at a young age, as adults we often tend to look more closely into the themes and motifs of the movies that shaped our childhoods. And thus I would argue that Aladdin is more than just a story about interclass romance, but rather a look into how the social class system functions as a whole. Aladdin, the main hero, is a street urchin with no money to his name. Jasmine, the heroine, is the daughter of one of the most powerful men in the land. Their romance and subsequent marriage is interpreted as a victory over a flawed and classist system, because they managed to surpass the limitations imposed upon them by society and ‘be themselves’. And though this is a heartwarming message to see performed on screen, it’s important to remember that there are more than just the protagonists in the story. Alongside them we have three more characters we must pay close attention to: the Sultan, Jafar and the Genie.

To do a short summary:

The Sultan: Jasmine’s father and the most powerful man in the country, but rather bumbling and childishly naive. As is typical with Disney parents who are still alive by the start of the movie, he is a figure that possesses authority merely in name. Though kind and generally well disposed, he lacks any real power when it comes to the plot of the movie being tricked by both Jafar and Aladdin, as Prince Ali, and ultimately having to rely on the latter to be saved from the former. The Sultan is the quintessential look at a spoiled monarch whose rule is being facilitated by someone more competent than him, and this informs most of his character as a result. He himself might be a doting and benevolent figure, yet his reign is a prosperous one by accident not by his own making.

The Genie: The spirit who resides in the lamp that Aladdin finds in the Cave of Wonders and who becomes his ally in his quest to marry Jasmine. Perhaps one of the most memorable characters in the movie, thanks to the late William Robbins’ performance, Genie's entire quest in the movie is to achieve freedom by helping out his Master. The parallels between him and the indentured servant position are made abundantly clear by the fact that he is bound to Aladdin until the latter agrees to set him free. Genie’s role in the story is one that is important, but his position is one that mirrors Jafar: they are in the service of someone who is less than them, whether it be competence or magical ability. However, while Jafar detests his position and the Sultan, Genie becomes a father figure to the protagonist. The fact that the two exchange places (Jafar is turned into a Genie and imprisoned, Genie being set free and retaining all his powers) stems directly from how they relate to their social class. Jafar is self-serving and ambitious and Genie is altruistic and self-sacrificial. Genie thinks of the happiness of his Master, though he is still displeased by the concept itself, and for that he is rewarded, proving that putting the well-being of others above your interests is the way to happiness after all. That is, if you’re a Disney hero.

Jafar: The Grand Vizier and the second most powerful man in the land, but is a scheming backstabber that plans to take the throne for himself. As one of the most easily recognizable Disney villains, Jafar makes a strong impression through not only his design, but through his philosophy as well. He’s in spite of his high rank, still pretty much a servant, having to ensure that the rule of the Sultan is enacted accordingly. Yet, as an antagonist he makes certain that whatever he does is in his own interest as well. To say that he is ambitious would be an understatement, but what is it that he wants exactly? There is no clear answer, but the closest we can get to is that Jafar wants power.

But wait, you might say. Didn’t Aladdin also want that? Why is only Jafar the villain, if they were both after the same thing?

That is a good question! And the answer to it is yes and no. Though indeed, both Jafar and Aladdin wanted power it was for different purposes. Aladdin wanted it for the sake of overcoming his social limitations and thus becoming a worthy candidate for Jasmine, while Jafar wanted power for power’s sake. The lesson that Aladdin learns is that he shouldn’t have attempted to do that, because it would have never worked out in the way he intended it to. Though Jasmine can bring herself down to his level, he cannot bring himself up to hers since it would disrupt the social system. One cannot rise up to a higher social standing through power alone, they need recognition as well. Which is why marrying Jasmine becomes an important plot point. Jafar, who achieved power through his scheming, still lacks the recognition, which can only be granted through marriage to a royal or someone of higher social standing. He fails to achieve it, because his rise in social ranks did not have a ‘noble’ purpose like Aladdin’s but it merely satisfied his own agenda and needs.

Jafar’s status as a villain is thus due to the fact that in Western media ‘Ambition Is Evil’ is one of the most prevalent tropes. Think of the Becky Sharps, the Slytherins, the Lucifers, the Littlefingers that populate our literature, their evil nature is more often than not tied to their necessity to rise above others.

To reign is worth ambition though in hell;

Better to reign in hell than serve in heaven. (Paradise Lost)

Power corrupts, and ambition corrupts absolutely. Disney characters thus often learn that it is better not to be swayed by power from their role in society for the sake of power, or they will pay the heavy price for doing so. That is why Jafar fails and Genie succeeds, because they related differently to their role in their Master’s lives.

And that is a theme that Twisted Wonderland also touches upon in Jamil’s story. Twisted from Jafar itself it was inevitable that his story would deal with such a topic. However, what deeply impressed me was how self-aware the narrative had been in regards to it.

Ruggie: I feel bad for you. By helping out Kalim you have burned your hands considerably. (R Card School Uniform)

Jamil: I want to avoid standing out. I can’t be satisfied with this. I cannot be too good, nor fall behind, and neither should I get satisfactory grades or fail. This is the best shortcut to success. (SR Card Lab Coat)

Jamil: I am a sworn servant to the house of Asim and thus have a duty to protect the master. (SR Card Ceremony Robes)

Azul: You are always welcome in Octavinelle should you find yourself freed from Kalim. (5-10)

The matter of Jamil’s role as Kalim’s caretaker is one that has been brought up at several points throughout the game. This is usually done with the express purpose of reinforcing his status as his servant, but also to affirm that it is indeed this very position that is preventing him from achieving his full potential.

Azul: If you look at your grades, there are no visible gaps in your classroom lectures, practical skills and physical training. Even I have a weak point when it comes to flying… For you to not even have such an instability is frankly amazing. It is like you can tailor yourself to suit your needs. (SR Card Lab Coat)

Just as Azul remarks Jamil holds himself back on account of his need to perfectly perform a certain persona: the reliable valet. It is a character we often see in media disguised as the Hypercompetent Sidekick or Servile Snarker, who is by his very nature much more accomplished than the master, but must out of financial necessity submit himself to someone else. Or in Jamil’s case, out of filial obligation. And this is where the comparison with Jafar becomes important because while Jamil does embody Jafar’s ambition, it is not treated in the same manner as in the movie. Jamil’s motives for betraying Kamil are similar to the villain: he wants to impose himself upon others and overcome his social position. Having been raised in servitude since young he has been forced to ‘tailor himself’ to the demands and expectations placed upon him. However, because this position has been imposed upon him and it wasn’t of his own volition, Jamil comes to resemble the genie much more than he does Jafar. Which is completely intentional, I believe. But we’ll get to that soon enough.

Taking this into consideration it is interesting to note how the resolution of Jamil’s arc differs from Jafar’s in terms of narrative. The end of Aladdin has us witness the defeat of Jafar at the hands of Aladdin, his imprisonment in the lamp and the release of the genie from his bonds of servitude. It is, of course, a typical Disney happy ending: the villain was defeated by his own hubris, while the heroes prevailed through self-sacrifice and cleverness. The main character has learned the necessary moral lesson (cynically phrased as: do not aspire to overcome your social class through hard work, but wait for recognition from your superiors) and all the characters that aided them during their journey get rewarded as well. It’s the culmination of the Disney formula that selflessness and altruism are the values that separate the heroes from villains, and by extension good from evil. Evil only seeks its own interests, while good works in the interests of others. So what about Jamil?

The end of the Scarabia arc is quite ‘Disney’ to a certain degree: the villain has been exposed, the heroes send to the other end of the ‘world’, they get their second wind, defeat him and live happily ever after. Well, not really. You see, what happens before the heroes go to defeat the antagonist is that Kalim breaks down crying due to Jamil’s betrayal and Azul remarks the following thing:

Azul: Kalim’s gentle disposition towards others is completely different from Jamil and I… No… Taking into account everything, he probably built a grudge over the years. You have been causing trouble for Jamil since you were little, after all. However, you are not in the wrong. You were born a cut above the others. You were loved by everyone around you and we were raised under such a good environment.

You were simply unaware of the greed you’ve been showing. (4-34)

Jamil’s actions aren’t excused, because they are indeed those of a villain: plotting, backstabbing and double-crossing the heroes for his own gains. Yet, they are not simply attributed to his ‘evil’ nature, but rather explained by the environment in which he was raised and the morals that were instilled in him. Jamil is not evil, but rather merely desperate enough to resort to evil means. And that is a profusely important distinction. Though we might commit malicious acts that does not mean that we are malicious by nature, much as committing benevolent acts does not make one irreproachable. And Twisted Wonderland understands this notion: not in the sense that Jamil was right in what he did, but rather than we can understand why he felt like he was pushed to such extremes.

Jamil’s story is one of the more complex ones, in my opinion. It speaks about an issue much deeper and much more insidious than any that have been explored so far in the game. The result is that unlike the other three previous Overblot victims, Jamil has no clear-cut solution to his problem. Even after the incident he is still in the service of the Asim family. Even if Kalim asserts that they are equals at school, he still will remain a servant everywhere else. No matter what he does he is bound to the Asim’s and more specifically to Kalim.

I feel like this would be the note on which I should safely conclude this very long introduction, as we move further and into the real meat of this post: the analysis itself. Thus, without further ado, let’s see why this CM is such a treat from a symbolical and storytelling perspective.

The opening of Aladdin (1992) is perhaps one of my favorites due to the fact that it seeks out to reference its source material: One Thousand and One Nights. By that I mean that it utilizes a technique known as the ‘frame story’: a story which contains within it another story. In the novel the framing device is Scheherezade, the vizier’s daughter who upon learning that she will marry Sultan Shahryar and be promptly killed at dawn, devised a plan to subvert her fate. She would each night begin a tale that would leave the Sultan so enchanted that he postponed her beheading until the next day so she might finish her tale. However, upon finishing the previous story Scheherezade would continue with another one and so on and so on until she eventually managed to avoid death for one thousand and one nights. Hence the name of the collection.

Aladdin uses a similar device in the character of the Merchant who appears at the start of the movie and introduces us, the viewers, to the world of Agrabah which is a place “where they cut off your ear if they don’t like your face” according to the original lyrics of the song. But it also includes a shot at the end of the movie which has the Genie lift up the ‘wallpaper’ and speak directly to the audience. These scenes, though easy to disregard, do reinforce the fact that the movie we’re about to see is not taking place as it happens, but rather a second-hand account of it. Much like Scheherezade attempts to avoid her decapitation, so does the Merchant at the start of the movie attempt to convince us to give the story a try, become immersed and then abruptly reminded of the fictionality of what we have just witnessed. And I don’t mean in the sense that it is a movie, but rather in the sense that even within the logic of the movie, this whole set of events has a certain fictionality to it. The fact that initial plans had the Genie and the Merchant be the same character only strengthens this notion.

But the Scarabia CM doesn’t start with the Merchant now, does it? No, it does not. But rather it starts with the very first image of the movie itself: purple smoke against a red flaming background. Except that there is no red flaming background this time, but a calming blue shot of the dunes with what appears to be the Scarabia dorm building in the background, or even Agrabah itself. There is no smoke either but sparkling dust that emanates from a lamp half-buried into the sand. The images are clearly meant to evoke the general aesthetic of Aladdin (1992), but they can also be interpreted symbolically.

The imagery of smoke is often one of ascension, of leaving the earthly shackles and rising higher towards the spiritual world. But it is also a rather solemn symbol as well, given that it can also be associated with the burning of corpses. Its presence in the movie is explained by the fact that this is after all a story about liberation: most obviously the Genie’s, but also the other characters. Everybody wants to be free in some form or another. The colour symbolism is also interesting to remark upon as according to Richard Vander Wende, the production designer of the original film, certain colours have different meanings within the movie. Red symbolizes heat and evil, while blue is a calm colour associated with water. The red background thus carries negative connotations, but it is eclipsed by the presence of the smoke in the foreground, that is a combination of red and blue. If we were to interpret this visual choice we could claim that the movie is trying to let us know that the story we are about to watch is one in which morally-grey protagonists overcome the forces of evil. For, even though Aladdin is our main character, he is not a pure hero by Disney standards as he is after all a thief and the lesson he has to learn is that he should not attempt to scam his way into a better social position.

But the Scarabia CM uses a blue background instead, so this is certainly not the same message it might try to send. Rather, due to the positioning of Scarabia/Agrabah in the background, I believe that it is indeed a story about rising above, but not above the forces of evil as much as above social norms accepted as standards. The Scarabia storyline is very much centered around the notion of social positions and how they function within a system of indentured servitude, as is obvious through the way in which Jamil attempts to overcome the position of servant through schemes and planning. We most certainly encounter the thread of evil within his character, but though his methods are unsavory, his end is, I would say, understandable: freedom.

Jamil: For me, and my family... I'll do anything for our sake!!! (4-31)

Jamil: I’m done playing servant!! I WILL BE FREE—!! (4-32)

The choice of a blue background might thus allude not necessarily to goodness as in the moral concept itself, but rather to the comfort of social norms. There is a certain stability to be had in a system that declares that all those born into wealthy families shall remain wealthy, and all those born into servant families should remain servants. To quote Aladdin: “It’s barbaric, but hey, it’s home.” (Arabian Nights) In such a system that relies on absolute conventions regarding social classes, someone like Jamil is a threat, because he questions and subverts the limitations imposed upon him. He is smarter and more capable than Kalim, yes, but because he must ensure that he does not draw negative attention upon himself, he is forced to adhere to a lifestyle that is not representative to whom he truly is. The similar shape of Scarabia and Agrabah only serves to highlight that regardless of his environment, as long as he remains a servant through his bond to the Asims, he shall never be able to change his destiny.

The lamp is the most important object in Aladdin (1992) as it is the MacGuffin that is coveted by Jafar and the prison of the all powerful entity that is Genie. The lamp in the movie has thus two connotations: power and imprisonment. The juxtaposition between the two creates an interesting image of how power changes according to one’s position in society. Though Genie’s powers are indeed great it seems that he is incapable of wishing himself free, which is I think a good analogy to the position of indentured servitude in which only a lord’s permission would be capable of restoring an individual’s freedom, even though they would be in theory capable of physically leaving their place of servitude. Their choice not to is not only a reflection of the possible corporal punishment they would endure if captured, but also due to the social contract that forced them to remain in that position. As servants they would remain branded forever as second-class citizens at best or dangerous felons at worst. Not a fate one would ever wish upon themselves in those days.

It is clear that besides Jafar, Jamil also bears quite a lot of similarities to Genie.

It’s like being the genie of the lamp, calling me anytime and anywhere. (Jamil Chat 1)

As I mentioned above, Disney draws an interesting parallel between Jafar and Genie when it comes to relating towards their ‘superiors’: Jafar despises the Sultan and wishes to disposes of him, while Genie forms a parental bond with Aladdin and even reluctantly agrees to remaining bound to the lamp if it means his ward’s happiness. The fact that they exchange positions at the end (Jafar being imprisoned in the lamp, Genie being freed) is the result of the moral choices they make. Genie’s altruism is what allows him to be freed, while Jafar’s ambition is what traps him as thus is the rule of Western philosophy: the needs of the others are superior to our own.

But ignoring Jamil’s OB for now, we realize that he does not truly commit to either one of those positions. He is resentful of his enslavement at the hands of the Asims, but I believe he does not genuinely wish harm upon Kalim himself, but rather towards the system as a whole, which is represented by him. This is an idea we’ll return to eventually, but it is important to mention it in advance, because it paints a better picture of what Jamil’s true intentions were during his attempt to take over Scarabia. It was not power for power’s sake as in the case of Jafar, but rather him trying to assert control over an aspect of his life, which in this case would be his position within the dorm. Jamil isn’t truly interested in the position of Prefect as is, but in what it symbolizes: freedom. As Aladdin shows power is not synonymous to freedom, but rather something adjacent to it. Even a most powerful creature like Genie is bound to the whims and wishes of a mere mortal, much like Jamil is bound to those of Kalim. To overthrow him as Prefect would mean to assert himself as independent of social bonds by having no one be superior to him anymore. Yet, because he does it through immoral means he fails and thus keeps in line with the moral of the movie: you cannot advance socially without the approval of your superiors.

The moon is one of the most referenced symbols in literature due to the fact that it innately appeals to writers and poets alike. It is fundamentally female in nature, due to its connection to the Roman Diana and the Greek Artemis, and associated as a result either with the concept lunacy, to which it lent its name, as well as with witchcraft, solitude, power and change. The moon’s circular shape as observed from Earth is also associated with the notion of eternity and cyclicity, which is perhaps the symbol that is of most interest to us when it comes to Western interpretation, as in Japanese culture the moon can represent a person’s core, unaffected by others. It is more succinctly put a representation of the Self, that which is considered quintessential to one’s identity. And it is this imagery which the CM tends to gravitate towards I would argue.

The moon is a particularly prominent symbol in Aladdin (1992) as it symbolizes the notion of change and new beginnings. Aladdin and Jasmine’s flight during the song sequence “A Whole New World” uses the moon as a backdrop and confers upon it a romantic aura of serenity and calmness, which is referenced towards the end of the movie wherein they fly towards it upon their success at convincing Jasmine’s father to allow their marriage. The moon in this regard is symbolic of unity and fortune, synonymous with true love’s conquest over everything else. But there is also a comedic twist to it as seen in the very last scene of the movie wherein Genie’s face is projected upon it. It is thus primarily a positive symbol associated with goodness.

The CM however is closer in meaning to the notion of the moon as the human core observed in solitude. Unlike the moon in Aladdin, whose shadows are barely perceptible and thus looks more natural, the moon here is overtly engulfed by darkness, with the sole space of light providing a sharp contrast in tone. It is not a symbol of unity, but rather of division creating barriers and boundaries between the characters who are positioned at opposite ends of the circle. Kalim, as a superior in terms of social and financial power, is situated upon the side that shines brighter to symbolize his role as the face of the dorm. He is the Prefect, the one that represents his dorm and the ideals that it is founded upon. Yet, upon further inspection we notice that the word ‘Scarabia’ appears on Jamil’s side, which is not only the dark part, but also takes more space. It is an unequal division but so is much of their life: Jamil remains in Kalim’s shadow, though it is only due to the former’s help that the latter manages to shine as a Prefect. This is confirmed by the positioning of their dorm’s name on Jamil’s side, as he is in fact the one that more overtly exhibits the ideals of careful planning that the Sorcerer of the Hot Lands is known for.

Kalim’s face change is interesting if we consider the notion of the moon representing the human core on which one’s identity is formed, because it confirms that he is indeed as cheerful as he appears to be. His cheerful disposition though likened to the image of the sun, lacks the usual masculine and aggressive features associated with it in Western culture, as he tends towards more feminine ideals of pacifism and serenity, which are associated with the moon. Moreover, as it has been pointed out to me, if one is to consider the Japanese cultural context we would be able to observe that the feminine characteristics of the sun are in perfect accordance with the female interpretation of the star in the form of Amaterasu. His body language is relaxed and openly friendly and there’s nothing about him that truly stands out in terms of contradictions.

Jamil on the other hand presents an entirely different picture. His stance is guarded, that much is certain, and his expression is to be considered at best wooden. Unlike Kalim’s dynamic movement, he remains static and unchanging, sporting merely a look of resigned indulgence towards Kalim, and it seems to a certain extent as if he asserts control over his own reaction towards it. In other words, it is not in the slightest bit natural. Moreover, what does attract our attention is not his expression as in the case of Kalim, but rather the shine of the metal of his choker.

Unlike Kalim which is bathed in light in warmth, Jamil is surrounded by dark and shadows, with the sole point of light being the metal around his neck. This is different from Kalim whose accessories do not stand out in the same vein. The reason is that on a fundamental level they represent entirely different notions. In Kalim’s case it is a representation of his wealth and power, with the lack of focus on them hinting perhaps to the fact that he is at ease with his position as the heir of a multimillionaire family. It does not stand out because that is his right by birth and thus just a natural part of himself. Jamil’s core, on the other hand, reveals that his identity is very much forged by the Viper’s bond to the Asims.

Jamil: I’ve been looking after Kalim ever since we were kids. That’s the Viper family’s duty. (Jamil R School Uniform Lines)

In Kalim’s case the accessories are just that: accessories. But in Jamil’s case they are a mark of servitude. They stand out among the darkness because this is how he perceives his own persona: dominated by the image of the loyal servant who is socially inferior to his master. Even the metal itself seems to have a silver tint, rather than gold, symbolizing that even though he and Kalim should be equal (both sporting gold chokers) reality is very much different, since he is forced to be subservient even though it goes against his instincts.

It is interesting to note that in Aladdin (1992) the notion of space and how it relates to characters plays a significant part. Agrabah, the setting of the movie, is a place of social division in which those of lower status live in poverty, financial distress and crowded spaces, whereas those of a higher status enjoy the luxury and the vast space provided by the palace. Compare the streets of Agrabah during “One Jump Ahead” which are constantly filled with people, objects and animals and project an image of recurring chaos, to the quiet serenity of the palace where the Sultan and Jasmine live. The contrast is staggering. But more than that it is indicative how much social class can make a difference.

It is also interesting to note that with the exception of the Sultan, all characters have at some point transversed these two spaces: Jafar and Aladdin move between the city, the palace and the desert, Jasmine sneaks into the city in order to experience real life and the Genie has access to a fourth space in the form of the lamp. However, the Sultan always remains within the palace walls. The reason for that is rather obvious: it is the seat of power and to leave it would be to admit to inferiority in regards to his position. Unlike the other characters that long for something more, the Sultan is content in his role as representative of financial and social power. He does not need to switch locations, because his static nature is what allows the other characters to progress in their journey.

The CM builts on this premise as well, by showing us the very different worldviews that Kalim and Jamil experience. Fulfilling the role of Sultan, Kalim is surrounded by luxury and comfort, as he rests in his room at the dorm. The colours are warm and calming, as the light very gently illuminates the room in order to cause an impression of coziness, which fits perfectly with his own character. Kalim’s personality is at its core a ‘refreshing’ one, orientated towards creating harmony and a content attitude. All his life was spent among servants that catered to his every whim and desire, so his sense of independence was greatly stifled. If we may put in blunt terms, he’s sleeping through life, relying entirely on his social position due not necessarily to laziness, but rather naivety. Because he never had to leave the palace walls, he never had to develop any sense of autonomy and thus has managed to remain faithful to his social role. He does not experience a sensation of contradiction between who he is and who he is regarded as because he lives in accordance to the characteristics deemed appropriate for him as a member of the elite.

The same cannot be said for Jamil. Juxtaposed with Kalim’s scene we see Jamil walking through the desert as the harsh light shines upon him. There is no comfort to be found in this particular shot. Whereas Kalim is sleeping peacefully and at ease, unaware of the difficulties of life, Jamil is wide awake. Unlike the former, the latter’s life is dictated by restrictions and hardships, all which he has to endure without showing displeasure as befitting his social role. He does not have the privilege of laying around not only due to the demands that are made of him, but also due to his innate desire for change. The desert can thus very easily symbolize the unfairness which he has to endure as a servant, but it can also symbolize his ambition and the effort he is willing to spend on making sure he can change his social status. Unlike Kalim, who rests in the palace, Jamil seeks to escape its confines even if it means enduring hardship. For you see, though the palace is indeed a place of stability, it is also a prison.

The similarities between Agrabah’s palace and the Scarabia dorm building are most certainly intentional. They’re places of unimaginable wealth that function as status symbols for the people that control them. Agrabah is, as we mentioned before, heavily divided, but it is paradoxically the slums that offer more freedom than the palace itself. Looking back at the movie we notice that the biggest symbol we can associate with Jasmine is the bird in the cage yearning to be free. The notion, moreover, is also supported by imagery such as setting the birds free after a talk with her father and, as it had also been pointed out by other critics, that the canopy of her bed is designed to resemble a birdcage. As a princess Jasmine is bound by social roles and conventions to adhere to the expectations placed upon her, and her journey in the movie is to assert herself as an autonomous person before her father by insisting that she be allowed to make her own choices. The problem however lies with the word ‘allow’ itself which once again contradicts her ideals. The notion of allowing someone to do what they want situates the power in the hands of the person who is recognized as the social superior. In the case of Jasmine, it is her father, the Sultan. In the case of Jamil, it is the Asims.

The Scarabia dorm as a symbol of the prison is an obvious one due to the fact that it served as such for Grim and Yuu during episode 4. But that is what we might refer to as physical confinement, which at its core is not compatible with the message of the CM and even of the movie. Because the CM does not focus on Grim and Yuu, but on Jamil and Kalim, so this is not a case of a physical prison, but rather a mental one I would argue.

In several respects, the prison must be an exhaustive disciplinary apparatus: it must assume responsibility for all aspects of the everyday individual, his physical training, his aptitude to work, his conduct, his moral attitude, his state of mind; the prison, much more a than the school, the or the army, which always involved workshop certain specialization, is 'omni-disciplinary'. Moreover, the prison has neither exterior nor gap; it cannot be interrupted, except when its task is totally completed; its action on the individual must be uninterrupted: an unceasing discipline. Lastly, it gives almost total power over the prisoners; it has its internal mechanisms of repression and punishment: a despotic discipline. It carries to their greatest intensity all the procedures to be found in the other disciplinary mechanisms. (Foucault 235-236)

Foucault’s Discipline and Punishment: The Birth of the Prison is an interesting look into the social and theoretical mechanisms employed by prisons in order to ‘reform’ convicts. The end goal of these institutions is to reintegrate the individual into society and to achieve such a thing it is not necessary just to punish and torment them, but to discipline them. By this Foucault understood as allowing one’s life to be entirely dictated by “a disciplinary apparatus” decided by those within power. It’s main aim was to restructure one into a “docile body” beneficial for the economical and political necessities of that specific age, which in many cases referred to the idea of one being content to pursue the interests of the state and those that governed it.

I bring this up because I can see the same ideas reflected in Jamil’s character arc as well. Foucault mentions that the prison is a space in which discipline is uninterrupted and unceasing. In other words it is a space which constantly reinforces the ideals that are considered desirable, and we can see that Scarabia unintentionally functions the same way. It is a space in which Jamil is cast as inferior to Kalim once again, trapped into the position of Vice Prefect, despite the fact that he embodies the ideals of the dorm more than he does. Though this is a different place, his routine has remained unchanged: he must still cater to Kalim’s wishes and perform the role of the servant, despite the fact that in theory the two of them should be equal now.

Scarabia Student B: Our family standing and status shouldn’t matter inside the school! We’re all equal here, right? (4-18)

Under normal circumstances, Night Raven College is supposed to be a neutral space in terms of social standing. Leona and Malleus are recognized as princes, but are not given any particular attention in terms of political and social superiority, and rather scrutinized due to their peculiar attitudes and personalities. They are, in theory, equal to the other students at the academy and the same should apply to the relationship between Kalim and Jamil as well. But things are not so.

During episode 4 we find an interesting detail about Scarabia: it seems that the building had been renovated once Kalim was accepted into the dorm. This is not usually a detail that would require any particular attention, but it reveals something about the environment in which Jamil resides: it is representative of the Asims. The ostentatiousness and extravagance are the result of their direct influence and thus molded by their own desires. By remodeling the building they have reforged it into an image of their social position and installed a member of its own family as leader. Its neutrality has been compromised and so has Jamil’s attempted escape. Attending Night Raven College is not merely a case of attending one of the best magic schools in the world, but also one of asserting one’s independence. Jamil was given the chance to finally break free from the system that has had him ensnared for all his life, only to have his hopes be dashed by being reminded that in the end the influence of his masters is much greater than he could have anticipated. Thus, Scarabia was turned into a space of imprisonment which perfectly replicates the dynamics of the Asim household and thus denies Jamil any possible form of freedom. Much like Genie and Jafar at the end of the movie, he is unable to escape his prison without the approval of his superiors.

Jamil is aware, however, that he is not and will most likely not ever be able to receive such freedom from the Asims. And consciously he knows he cannot attempt to break free on his own either.

Jamil: My family, the Viper Household, has been serving the Asim Family since olden times. A retainer drawing his sword against his master is unforgivable. Even more so, if Kalim’s father found out about it, my family will end up being punished. I’m sorry, but I cannot put my family in danger just because of a selfish request. (4-18)

Jamil’s sense of filial duty is one of the driving forces behind his character. It’s not only that he himself wants to be free, but wants his family to be released from their bonds as well. Because the system in which he has been raised permits a master to punish an entire family for the disobedience of one member it becomes understandable why Jamil is such a guarded person. It is not merely his own person that is at stake, but the lives of those he cares about also. It is a thought that has weighed heavily upon his head since young childhood most likely, once he became aware of how exactly the social system set in place works. To go against it would not be an act of brave rebellion, but that of sentencing others to punishment to fulfill his own ambitions. Which for a character twisted from Jafar seems contradictory. Yet we must remember that he has certain traits of Genie as well. Unlike him whose loyalty lies to his Master, Aladdin, Jamil’s loyalty lies to his family. He’s only willing to endure things as they are now due to the fact that rebelling would mean having them suffer the consequences. And Jamil is aware of that.

Yet, it is also necessary to ask the following question: Why does he end up rebelling in the end?

The most obvious answer: accumulated frustration.

As I stated before, Jamil does not hate Kalim. However, it is also obvious that his Overblot had very much to do with the fact that he had become increasingly irked by the latter’s attitude to life. His critique of Kalim’s character, though harsh, was entirely accurate. Kalim is indeed spoiled and naive to an almost ridiculous degree, even though it is not entirely due to his own fault. Moreover, it is not necessarily these particular traits that Jamil takes issue with, but rather his predilection towards inaction. To briefly reference a previously discussed shot: though Kalim is content in his passivity, Jamil cannot abide by the current system. He desires change, but he knows he is in no position to enact it and is thus frustrated that the one who would be able to perform this task is oblivious to the struggles of those around him. Jamil does not hate Kalim as a person, but rather that which he represents: the power of the system itself. As the CM shows Kalim is able to move forwards, uncaring of limits and boundaries, but uninterested in change (initially) while Jamil, though he desires to advance, is stuck in one spot.

The brief image of Kalim reflected in the surface of running water captures this concept perfectly. Jamil is not looking at Kalim as he is, but rather as perceives him to be: an unclear image. Water has the same reflective properties of mirrors, but due to their unstable state they cannot portray accurate images. Jamil attributes maliciousness to Kalim’s denseness as not only a means of explaining his actions, but as a way to excuse his own eventual betrayal of him. If Jamil considers Kalim as a representative of the system, he feels justified in his actions and thus more willing to go through with them, since he can project his frustrations upon a material, solid person rather than an abstract entity. Kalim is in a sense a scapegoat for Jamil’s anger.

The snake is laden with multiple meanings being both a manifestation of evil (Satan taking the form of a serpent to trick Eve into sinning) as well as a symbol of rebirth and transformation. In keeping with the colour motif of the movie the serpent staff that Jafar carries with him has eyes which glow red when he’s using it to hypnotize the Sultan to indicate his evil influence upon him. In the CM we have the image of a red snake coiling around Jamil’s feet which is the physical manifestation of all his feelings of dissatisfaction regarding his position as a servant finally bursting apart. But before he is overtaken by those negative feelings we notice interestingly enough that the snake takes the form of an ouroboros: a snake which eats its own tail. A symbol of eternity.

Jamil: I’ve been raised as a retainer to serve his family, so I really can’t understand. A master is a master and a servant will be a servant. Most probably for as long as we’re alive. (4-26)

When discussing Jamil’s character we must admit to a certain cyclicity. Not one he engages in, but rather one in which he is stuck. He is the son of a family that has served the Asims for generations, creating a chain of servants and masters that is currently supposed to be replicated by him and Kalim. His sense of autonomy is constantly denied due to the intervention of forces beyond his control. Moreover, in chapter 4 itself his plans get constantly ruined by either Grim or the Octavinelle Trio, creating a sense that the universe itself has aligned itself in opposition to him.

But there is more to it still. Jamil is a highly ambitious person, who desires to establish himself through his talent and skill, thus giving him the perfect reason to despise a system that requires some individuals to be subservient to others for arbitrary reasons. However, by his own admission he cannot envision a life outside the system either. This is in essence the insidiousness of such phenomena: they entrap not only the person physically but psychologically as well. Once one’s identity is dependent upon a certain ideology and philosophy of life it is extremely difficult to extract themselves from that mindset. Much like Foucault said, once the mind is disciplined and the individual turns into a ‘docile body’ they become reliant on that particular system in order to form a coherent identity.

Though Kalim can step outside the bounds and limits imposed upon him, by virtue of his social position, Jamil is only allowed to operate within those boundaries. It is precisely why he stops advancing further once he reaches the end of the round court. Though physically he should be able to overcome such obstacles, mentally he is unable to not. Not as long as he remains under the governance of the Asim family, at the very least. It is obvious however that he cannot simply rise against them, and this realization is what causes him to hit the limit in terms of patience. He finally realizes that he has been robbed of his independence even before he was born.

Jamil: But if I have, it’s better you don’t know what I really think of you. If everything goes to plan… I’ll finally be free. (Scarabia CM)

Sight is an important theme to Jamil’s character as he, much more than any other character perhaps, actively attempts to manipulate the perception of others about him. He is not what he appears as Azul remarks in many of their interactions, and that is because to Jamil allowing himself to be genuine would come with a price: revealing his true feelings regarding his social position. And that, as previously stated, is not something he can afford.

Eyes are often called the ‘windows of the soul’ in the sense that they reflect a person’s true intentions and thoughts. Moreover, the notion of sight is one that literary authors often like to explore in their works. Out of all the senses, sight seems to be considered the most unreliable, since it often fails to discern that which exists in obscurity. The notion is explored in Aladdin (1992) too to a certain degree. Everybody sees only what they desire to see, and because the images they form are so contradictory that it creates misunderstandings and unnecessary conflict. Jafar’s power of hypnotism is even more interesting in this context since by definition it allows him to influence a person’s perception of reality and thus a part of their identity and how they relate to their environment.

The end of the CM hints towards this notion as well, as we see that the Overblot first manifests itself is his eyes, obscuring his sight from the reality around him. He’s chosen to throw himself into the negative emotions that have finally overtaken him, and as a result given him the power to recreate reality to his discretion. We see the parallel with Genie and Jafar in his Unique Magic as well, since though he possesses one of the most potent powers, he’s still considered an inferior. Jamil’s Overblot is thus one formed by the depressing realization that for as long as he exists within the system, he’ll be forced to endure the continuous cycle of subservience forced upon him since before his birth. His transformation moreover is the result of a desperate yearning for freedom which has driven him to extreme actions. The appearance of the red eyes behind him symbolize more than the eyes of the serpent staff. They are a stark reminder that he is consumed entirely by the realization of his own powerlessness and over-dependence upon the Asims, even if it’s against his desire.

To note is also the fact that out of all the Overblot victims, Jamil’s expression is the only one that is peaceful. If we take a look at the Heartslaybyul, Savanaclaw and Octavinelle CMs all of the Prefects display either rage or shock during their transformations. It is clear that this process is a horrific one, which explains their reactions, yet strangely enough Jamil seems serene and accepting as if he has come to terms with this course of action. Unlike the Overblot victims before him, his transformation is liberating to a certain degree, because it allows him to finally achieve his goal: get rid of Kalim and instate himself as leader of the dorm. Not because he covets the position itself, but rather because through it he manages to finally become free and unburdened by his social position. In a way, the dark appeal of Overbloting is just that: unlimited power, and for a character like Jamil, who very much lacks this, it is especially hypnotic.

Out of all the Overblots so far, I consider Jamil’s the most tragic because in the end there seems to be no obvious escape for him, perhaps except in the case of Kalim setting him free. But this is still an event that will happen in a few years at best. It does not answer his current need for autonomy. Yet, despite this we see in chapter 5 that there is indeed some improvement. Though he has refused Kalim’s offer of being friends, he nevertheless has begun acting more like his equal within school grounds and their relationship overall seems less hostile on his end. The fact that much of the action of chapter 5 takes place in Ramshackle Dorm is also an important thing to note as it manages to create a neutral space, untainted by the Asim’s interference. In Vil’s system of meritocracy Jamil is finally able to act as himself and stop performing a role for others, thus he is finally able to assert a degree of autonomy over his own person, which he was not capable of doing before.

Coming now to the ends of this post I think it goes without saying that in terms of narrative cinematography the Scarabia CM is currently unmatched. Though short it manages to give a perfect summary of the themes explored in episode 4, the relationship between Kalim and Jamil and a brief but insightful look into the latter’s psychology and reasons for Overbloting.

So, there’s really nothing else to do but thank Yana for giving us such a wonderful CM for what I consider the best dorm and best boys in the whole game.

Additional Links

Indentured Servitude: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qt--B1Y-u6Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ti7Kbd6gSIo

Twisted Wonderland, Episode 4: https://kanadesmusingsblog.wordpress.com/2020/06/01/masterpost-twisted-wonderland-episode-4-translations/

Jamil Chats, Personal Stories: https://twisted-wonderland.fandom.com/wiki/Jamil_Viper/Personal_Story

https://twisted-wonderland.fandom.com/wiki/Jamil_Viper/Chat

Scarabia CM:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVSx_BvTlmQ

Aladdin (1992) commentary: https://filmschoolrejects.com/38-things-we-learned-from-the-aladdin-commentary-fd9f1d8573b3/

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The peeps over in the Twisted Writings discord know this has been brewing for a while, but I’ve finally managed to sit down, write and edit this monster. It bears witness to the fact that I adore Scarabia more it is healthy (lol).

Also wanted to thank fellow Scarabia stan buddy @chillableu for proofreading and brainroting with me about these boys. You’ve been such a great help and I’m so thankful to you! ❤️ ❤️ ❤️

All the translation sources have been linked in the last section of the commentary.

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belovedgamers · 3 years

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okay so i reread i want this to hurt after reading i want to mean it and i have two small questions

have you revealed who specifically Beast and Hypixel are? or are they still unknown?

Hello! Yes and no.

Both are mentioned a bit more in depth in “i want to mean it” and will feature some more in the future but not in depth so…

The other two major crime bosses, if Death, Herobrine and Saint were known as the kings of the underground crime scene, Beast and Hypixel were known as the devils’s above.

Beast and Hypixel: Mr Beast and Simon Hypixel. Extremely rich, extremly shady businessmen who to the public are the good ol’ regular millionaire philanthropists. It’s known in some parts (some hero and all villain circles) that they’re actually Not as good-willed as they appear to be, but due to the sheer amount of money and people involved in their respective operations not a single investigation has been able to successfully link them to their extensive list of crimes. No villain will blow the whistle either.

(I will go more into this but, while all villains want to topple each other, tattling to the heroes or authorities is considered a crime against them all, whether a civilian or a fellow villain does it. They’ve all created a balance and it needs to be protected. There’s been more than one reporter who mysteriously disappeared after publishing private information. Villains who tattle will find it much more difficult to find people to team with, hire them or even a civilian job. Similarly, after the Badlands left, the Pummel’s close associations with them made a lot of people wary of hiring them at all for a while.)

Hypixel does a lot of things, but the most important is… a lot of sports. It is said that he’s responsible for improving the overall health of the city if not the whole coast. What people don’t realize is that he’s recruiting from those same venues. Shooting and archery ranges, martial arts centers he’s financed, boxing rinks, etc., etc., he finds the people with most promise and recruits them. The term “Hypixel goon” refers to someone who was trained by Hypixel. In exchange of a solid income + other benefits, they provide him weapons: themselves. He can and often does hire them out to other supervillains, and his employees are allowed to take other jobs once their initial contract ends or leave crime entirely. He also does a lot of contraband and selling black market items.

Beast, on the other hand, rarely commits to any violence at all. What he does, however, is a lot of shady business. Money laundering, shell companies, faking papers, blackmail, high-end corruption and a lot of propaganda. He owns a great deal of newspapers, both major and small presses + sites, and it is said there’s not a single power he doesn’t have at least a small connection in. Unlike Hypixel’s endless supply of goons, Beast only has a small crew who knows his true colors and all his other employees think they’re working normal office jobs :D This crew is not well known to the general public, and their powers are rumoured more than anything else.

In terms of their work ethics, most people think about it in the following terms: if you piss Hypixel off, chances are you’re about to face a gruesome few months and then probably be killed off, and if you bother Beast it is entirely possible he’ll destroy your life financially.

They don’t like each other very much.

#fun fact because of how the city is distributed #when you get a job there’s at least a 30% chance you’re working under a supervillain #and an even greater chance your coworkers are villains or goons w sidejobs #also all of them do charity work so that’s another thing #hfnsbfkdkfkdd #superhero au #i love that that’s it’s name but like.#the fics so far have been about villain times fjdkfnkxmdlfff #catrina answers #mellointheory #hiii melloooo <3

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fancyfade · 3 years

Text

I really like the way Hardware (1993) addresses the topic of superhero ethics.

Quick synopsis of the set-up: Curtis Metcalf, genius inventor, comes from a working class family and winds up from his perspective being set up to be the heir apparent to the inventor/businessman, Edwin Alva, who takes him under his wing and funds his schooling and, once he graduates, his projects. However Alva was actually just funding his schooling and appearing to encourage him in his endeavors so he could lock Curtis in a contract that gives him no rights to the royalties his inventions makes Alva (unclear if he has any like legal right as in copyright to his inventions as well I would assume not but it was not addressed yet). Curtis can’t work for a competitor either in the same field so he’s essentially stuck working for Alva if he wants to do what he’s dedicated his entire life to (inventing technology stuff).

Curtis initially tries to get some blackmail material on Alva so he can get out of his contract, but finds out Alva is involved in the criminal underworld via weapons and drugs dealing and smuggling.

also the character’s races are important to the story: i’m going to not comment a lot on this because I don’t want to be talking out my ass, so I’m going to just be like... relating things without commentary or sourcing what the original intent was from the creators: Curtis is a black man and likens what Alva did to him as slavery. Denys Cowan, one of the co-founders of Milestone comics and artist on hardware 1993 and the new series, who worked with the main author of hardware (1993) dwayne mcduffie, mentions that Hardware’s experiencse and the way he is treated (especially the glass ceiling) are part of how it felt to be a black creator in comics (link). (Back to the comic, not the interview) Curtis points out how many people perceive him as angry and bitter with a chip on his shoulder (Curtis describes himself as angry for good reasons). Alva is a white man who is too big and has his hands in too many pockets for the evidence curtis initially got on him to stick.

This is why Curtis created hardware: initially, his plan was to blackmail alva, when he finds out what Alva is up to he tries to send the evidence to the authorities because it goes beyond his personal problems with Alva. Then when that fails, he creates his armored suit (which he calls Hardware) to interfere with Alva’s operations and prevent him from doing more damage while getting revenge.

When he initially starts out as Hardware, Curtis has very little social life, he divides himself entirely between working his day job as cover for Alva, then working his night job as Hardware. he barely sleeps due to this. When he’s hardware, has a variety of lethal weaponry, the biggest of which is his omnicannon (which seems to like.. explode everything? he KOs a helicopter with it). He uses his weapons only on people working for Alva who are usually trying to kill him as far as I can tell. He’s also pretty unconcerned with killing them. He blows up a helicopter with someone still in it, shoots people, drops a guy he had pulled out from a helicopter from an unsurvivable fall, and cuts off a the arm of a construction worker who was holding a gun on him.

Curtis is more thinking on his end goal (getting revenge on Alva and stopping Alva’s criminal enterprises) than he is the means he takes to get there.

Pretty early in the run, Curtis is injured and found by his long term female friend Barraki. Since she finds him in his Hardware armor, he has no choice but to tell her what’s going on and she is disgusted. She views Curtis as extremely selfish -- she refers to it as him killing people “because his boss wouldn’t give him a raise” with no visible remorse. Curtis says he has no remorse period, not just no visible remorse. Barraki leaves and says doesn’t feel like she actually knows him.

Curtis obviously cares a lot about her opinion, because once she makes her stance on it clear he is kind of at a loss of what to do. When she asks him what he wants, he says he just wants her approval (also that she’s his only friend and he doesn’t want to lose her).

He winds up solving things as Hardware non-lethally for a while (replaces his omnicannon supershot with a neural net to paralyze people rather than blowing them up, tho he still has access to the omnicannon’s main shell for when he needs it), gives alva’s employees in the stuff he’s blowing up time to evacuate, etc

Then he has like I guess this... dream sequence? Guilt induced dream? Where he is seeing the people he harmed (the guy who’s arm he chopped off talking to him about his injury and losing his job, the dead bodies of the people he killed) and then Curtis talking to him as he is Hardware (like a his non-armored civilian version is berating his armored version for his life choices) and giving him a running commentary on his own life up to this point. People who are either personally important to him (Barraki) or socially important (a priest, Oprah) attack him for his decisions. Then when it comes to who speaks in his defense in his dream, it’s his employer, Alva, who created this situation from when Curtis was a kid to exploit him and benefit off Curtis’s talents and treats Curtis as no more than a cog in his machine (When Curtis initially approaches Alva for his profits, he does so with the assumption he’ll get them, because he had believed Alva to be like a father to him, Alva laughs at him and says he’s not respected, merely useful, and dehumanizes him by likening him to a dog).

Dream Alva’s defense of Hardware’s previous actions is that as Hardware, Curtis is doing what he was supposed to do -- treating other people as expendable resources in pursuit of his goals. So in Curtis’s guilt, he likens himself to Alva, the man who has been treating him like a tool.

I think this is kind of interesting because it’s something I’ve seen a lot in recent discussions of whether it’s okay for superheroes to kill people and one of them is that when you kill a person you’re not just killing that person. You’re killing whoever they were to the people who cared about them, if they’re looking out for anyone you’re affecting whoever they were providing for as well -- I think that’s why the initial person who appeared in Curtis’ guilt-dream was not someone he killed but the man who’s arm he cut off. There’s sort of this commentary on humanizing people I suppose with how the villain so clearly dehumanizes Curtis and treats him as a tool to his own ends, and then how we see Curtis imagining how the people he injured or killed while being Hardware might be affected not just in terms of “they got injured or killed” but also he imagines whatever their lives beyond working for Alva were. Curtis’s guilt is humanizing them in his head where earlier he said he had no remorse whatsoever.

Throughout the comic, there’s this metaphor for being trapped in a cage and then getting out but not actually being free (initially told through Curtis’s pet parakeet he had as a kid -- the parakeet flew out of his cage and tried to get out via the window, but only kept busting his head against the window, unable to understand he couldn’t go outside)

[image: 3 comic panels from hardware 1993 #1 showing young curtis metcalf standing in front of a window where a parakeet is laying down on his side with his feathers ruffled. curtis grabs the parakeet gingerly in his hands and puts the bird back in the cage with a clang. his internal monologue reads “my bird made a common error. he mistook being out of his cage... for being free.” end image]

Curtis straight up says that his earlier actions as hardware were not letting him be free: he turned hardware into another cage.

[image: 3 comic panels from Hardware (1993) #4 showing barraki young and Curtis Metcalf standing and talking. Curtis is initially looking down regretfully at his hardware helmet. He says “I built the hardware armor to help me escape from the cage that alva put me in. Then I proceeded to turn hardware into yet another cage.” he looks at a parakeet that is flying around his house (his new pet) and says “see, Alva will make a mistake... eventually. And then I’ll put him away for good. That’s still very important to me. But it’s not going to be my whole life.” end image]

I don’t know whether the cage was supposed to only be in terms of how he conducted himself as Hardware or whether it also extended to work life balance (right after this he says that he was not going to make putting Alva away his whole life, he is letting Barraki in rather than pushing her away and he got the parakeet) and also his general view of the world (I already analyzed how he changes the way that he views the people working for alva). Either way I feel like the way that it was addressed was in a very satisfying manner that never wound up being preachy but did ask a lot of questions.

EDIT:

more commentary on the parakeet analogy from the writer of hardware: season one (the new relaunch)

The original Hardware #1 opened with a flashback of a young Curtis Metcalf remembering his pet parakeet escaping its cage only to be stopped by a barrier of glass, mistaking “being out of the cage for being free.” A brilliant meta-commentary, Thomas believes that it is “one of the greatest monologues in the history of comics,” and perfectly captures the entire story of being black in America.

#dc comics #hardware 1993 #hardware #curtis metcalf #barraki young #dakotaverse #racism #in terms of the comic commenting on it and the what hte creators experienced

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mrsgreenworld · 4 years

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Sen Çal Kapımı Episode 17 aka Expect The Unexpected

I know I have been quite slow with the reviews lately. I guess real life just got busier and messier. But my thoughts are always with the show, with our two crazy lovesick kids. I make sure to watch each new episode live, keep up with new fragmans.

I remember before episode 17 aired, after having seen the fragmans, I was ready for another filler episode. I was also a bit frustrated that instead of moving the storyline forward they decided to randomly throw in the pregnancy scare trope. However, the writers managed to surprise me with the episode that I hadn't expected much from. I also believe we might have got a bit of foreshadowing as well as an important catalyst to finally move the story forward.

But let's discuss all the good and bad in detail.

The things I loved/liked:

☑️ how balanced this episode was: the transition from the lighter and funnier first part to a more loaded second half with some longing between Edser, completely unexpected turn of events at the party and finally - that gut-wrenching final scene; everything was done at the right pace, at least it felt that way to me; they didn't drag on the pregnancy misunderstanding, it was resolved in one day which I was more than happy with (it could've lasted for days 😬);

☑️ Serkan: my baby is back where he belongs - among all the things I loved about the episode 🥰❤️

honestly, Serkan and his response to the whole situation was one of the main highlights for me - it was hilarious, it was adorable, it was sweet, it was loving;

I have already mentioned before that I absolutely love how attuned to Eda Serkan is; this episode wasn't an exception; do you remember the moment he realised something was up? it literally took a comment from Leyla to Eda about tea and our boy's eyebrows immediately furrowed in confusion and suspicion; and when he came up to Eda to tell her they would work together and asked if that was okay - of course he noticed how Eda's face changed before she left for the bathroom; and a concerned hubby that he is he asked Leyla what was wrong and then instructed her to keep tabs on Eda - swoon 🥰😍

that phone call to the family doctor and his face when he heard the doctor mention pregnancy - 🤣🤣🤣🤣

and then his comment about Ebola completely cracked me up - he's such a hypochondriac 👀😬🙈😂

his bathroom meltdown - comedy GOLD! Kerem was spectacular in that scene, his facial expressions as well as that "NE???!!!" - worthy of a standing ovation 👏👏👏 and it proves what a great actor he is in both funny comedy moments and loaded dramatic scenes; it gets me rolling on the floor when he juggles all sorts of facial expressions and I drown in my own tears when he cries;

then there were tiny adorable moments that, I think, really spoke volumes yet again what sort of person Serkan is - kind and caring, someone who loves deeply; when he told Eda not to sit down so fast, when he asked if she was hungry, tried to make her sit down, was worried that she was cold, took unhealthy snacks from her and got her fruit and nuts instead, was making sure she was comfortable, kept glancing at her stomach - all that was a sneak peek at what Serkan Bolat will be as a father; he will be such a mother hen and when Eda is actually pregnant I swear he will be the one more hormonal 🤣😂😆

I loved that he shared his suspicions with Engin;

his reaction when the misunderstanding got cleared up - I was rolling on the floor 🤣🤣

and while he was relieved it didn't look bad on him; it wasn't a type of relief when a person doesn't really want kids or doesn't want them with this particular person and thinks "oh, that was close!"; I am sure when it comes to Eda Serkan wants to make their own football team of Mini-Bolats; he wants this woman to have his children - I believe it without a shadow of doubt; however, I am also sure that, given the current situation Serkan and Eda are in, Serkan wouldn't want to tie Eda to himself like that;

the party - when he saw Eda in the dress he had bought for her 🔥🔥🔥🔥; I am sure he was useless in the conversations he was trying to make because his focus was entirely on Eda, he was following her every move with hungry eyes; damn, Sir! at least try to be a little more discreet 😏🥵

I loved how he asked Eda point blank if she had chosen the dress on purpose - he wasn't even trying to hide how affected he was;

and finally - of course there was that final scene with Serkan when he completely LOST IT; honestly, watching him break down like that - gave me chills;

we had never seen him like that; it's a well-known and established fact what kind of a person Serkan Bolat is - he's a control freak who can and is good at keeping his emotions in check, he doesn't express his feelings easily or even at all that's why he comes off as a cold and emotionless robot; so can you imagine how bad the situation has to be for him to lose it like that and not in the privacy of his home, where he's alone, but in the office, with all his employees and friends as witnesses?

the situation is really Serkan's worst nightmare due to the number of reasons:

1 - Serkan is a control freak (as I have already mentioned many times) and being in a situation where he cannot control something is hard for him psychologically;

2 - Serkan is a perfectionist and perfectionism often stems from the fear of making mistakes because a person was raised this way, wasn't allowed to make any mistakes as a child; we have even heard it from Serkan himself in one of the conversations with his father - he grew up thinking he had no right for mistakes, thinking that he must have done something wrong for his parents to just send him away;

3 - the cruel irony of this situation being so similar to what had happened to Eda's parents;

of course no one died but it could have happened; then Serkan would have turned into his father (in his own mind and eyes); it's just like Eda's parents all over again; can you imagine what kind of thoughts were going through his head? how he's cursed or something, that he really doesn't deserve Eda, that his family taints everything it touches... 😭💔

Kerem's acting in the last scene was truly one of his best and strongest Serkan moments👏👏👏👏;

☑️ Eda: one of my absolute favourite things about our girl is that she keeps her word; there are not many people who do this in life (while I myself try to keep my promises I, unfortunately, often fail);

I was so proud that, no matter what's going on between herself and Serkan, Eda didn't refuse to help Aydan and promised that they would work on her phobia together;

I also loved Eda's idea with the virtual tour around London - very creative and thoughtful way to help Aydan get out of the house without actually leaving the house because baby steps, this cannot be rushed, this type of problems don't go away at the snap of our fingers;

while I find it a bit strange that Eda volunteered to babysit a random couple's child (me and Serkan both, he also said that he doesn't understand Eda 🙈😆) it's another great manifestation to the type of a person she is - kind, loving, generous, ready to help even complete strangers; moreover, the whole situation with the baby allowed us to sneak a peek at Eda as a mother;

and speaking of that scene where Serkan said he didn't understand Eda and wanted to know why she would agree to help people she didn't know - I freaking LOVED how unapologetic she was when she said it's who she is; so he either accepts her for who she is (the way she accepted him) or he can be on his merry way; that's such a joy to watch - a woman who's not sorry for who she is, who loves and respects herself and demands the same respect in return 👏👏👏💞💞💞;

finally, there was the final scene but before that there was also a small moment after the roof had collapsed, when they were still at that house - everybody had left and Eda asked Serkan if there was something she could do, if he wanted to be left alone; she gave him what he wanted and needed in that moment;

but the next day, in the office, after having witnessed his breakdown Eda shows her unwavering belief in Serkan; I loved how she was able to put aside her hurt, maybe to an extent even her pride, and come to him; how she didn't back down and in that moment refused to leave him alone because she knew that wasn't what he needed, he needed her; and she was there, she was there when it mattered;

☑️ Edser: these two idiots are broken up but I swear they couldn't look or act more married; that's basically what we got in this episode - a flashforward of sorts where Edser are married with a kid and expecting another one;

however, this episode also provided us with some longing and lots of UST at that party;

and again there were subtle nods to them being soulmates, which manifested itself in how attuned to each other they were (Serkan with the pregnancy, Eda at the end of the episode) and also the parallel scene at the very beginning with both of them boxing - the same choice of activity to take their minds off of each other (it was also hot as hell 🔥🔥🔥🥵);

☑️ Aydan: OMG CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS?

yes, Aydan made it into this category!😱😲

but the writers had really been doing a good job with her and actually showed character growth;

at the beginning of the episode when Eda confronted Aydan about what she had overheard Aydan tried to make something up and said how it was her who had convinced Serkan that they were wrong for each other; what I really enjoyed in that moment was how uncomfortable Aydan looked while saying all those things; it was basically written on her face that what she was saying wasn't true, that wasn't how she felt, she understood that it would hurt Eda to hear that and she didn't want that; it's such a stark contrast to Aydan from episode 11; does anyone remember episode 11? well, I do, perfectly well; I was ENRAGED; Aydan back then said how Eda was not the right match for her son, she was cruel and she didn't even give a flying flip that her words were hurtful for Eda;

it was also nice to see how humbled Aydan was while receiving Eda's help;

☑️ Engin: basically the fact that he continues being the best best friend ever and his reaction to Eda's possible pregnancy - PRICELESS!🤣🤣🤣

I think Engin is the second (after Eda) and the last person who can get away with pulling Serkan Bolat by his cheeks 🙈😆😂

I also really enjoyed Engin's dig at Serkan's character and how he hoped his nephew/niece wouldn't take after Serkan 🤣🤣🤣;

The things I didn't like / was annoyed with:

❎ Efe: oh, he's one bad motherfucker!😠😡🤬😤

from pretty much openly threatening to teach Serkan a lesson to actually fucking up those blueprints and setting Serkan up - THE *UCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?

it was clear from the phone call with his secret partner that he hadn't planned for it to go like that but still his intentions had clearly been far from good and he deserves whatever is coming his way; like Serkan Bolat coming for his head and ending his career 🙄😎;

❎ Pırıl and Engin: the whole jealousy thing was so far-fetched and tiring to watch; to me Pırıl seemed a bit too territorial, it's quite obvious that Engin had only eyes for her; Engin was too oblivious and honestly I feel bad for him because the writers turn him into a bigger idiot (when it comes to women) with each new episode;

❎ Selin: the same thing over and over again, in each new episode she's unbearable; she just walks around with bitch face, complains about everything and everyone but ultimately serves zero purpose;

this character is so focused on herself that she didn't even seem bothered by her conversation with Efe where he basically threatened Serkan; there was a poor attempt with that "should I be worried?" but it was enough for Efe to just smile at her and she let it slide 🤦🤷;

in that scene at the office with Ceren and Ferit the behaviour she demonstrated was the one of a pre-schooler or maybe immature teenager but definitely not of a grown-up woman;

❎ Ceren and Ferit: while they started out really well, I enjoyed their first meeting, then it got weird and their interactions became awfully uneven; Ceren is really overdoing this hot and cold thing;

while I liked how Ceren stood up for herself after Selin's outburst, I think all of that should have been said to Selin's face, not Ferit's.

And that's pretty much it! Finally!🥳🥳🥳

P.S. Wanted to post my episode 18 review today as well, before episode 19 airs, but it's still not ready, need to cut down some stuff cause it's turning into a freaking monster 🤦😱

#sen çal kapımı #sen cal kapimi #sck #sen çal kapımı episode 17 thoughts #sck episode 17 #edser #eda ve serkan #eda x serkan #eda yıldız #eda yildiz #serkan bolat

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mcnsieur · 4 years

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verse: paris

Before I get into any details of this verse, I want to say that this verse can apply in both a reincarnation type of way, and as simply just a descendant type of way. This verse will take inspiration for how it works very similar to E’s The Royals.

Lets lay down the basics Philippe in this verse is primarily going to be in his late 20s, and early 30s. I will only play him in his teens if it is significantly plotted out with my partners, also note for that I will be using my young FC as his faceclaim for that. But do not expect it. Philippe is an adult by default on this blog.

Philippe in this verse is of the Bourbon family making him Philippe de Bourbon. This differs from canon only in that the d’Orleans family is a different family because of you know history. I tend to lean with the fact that the Bourbon family in general would be the correct family to rule France if it went back to a monarchy but their are arguments for the d’Orleans family. However, I want to make it clear that no matter what Philippe is descended from Philippe Duc d’Orleans I no matter which family he is in because of Philippe’s children and who they married.

Philippe was born the second child of a very well off noble family in France. He has an older brother Louis, who is two years older than him. Louis was said to be the miracle baby for the family, who looked more like his mother than his father. In fact it was largely rumored that Louis was not actually their father’s son at all. However, Philippe came out with a head of super dark hair and was a spitting image of their father. Two years later their father died, leaving them with their mother Anne and a whole host of nannies.

From a very early age Philippe was very obviously not the favorite. Sure Anne had her moments with Philippe, particularly when she wanted to do more traditionally feminine things. Philippe liked these moments and honestly he could care less about what he was doing with his mother. He just wanted time with her.

As time continued on both boys were enrolled in ballet, but soon Philippe lowered the amount of classes he was in, and doubled up his time in fencing as it appealed to him more. By the time he was twelve both he and Louis were known enough in their respective sports, Philippe with fencing, and Louis with ballet. Philippe was quite good and got a bronze medal at the Olympics when he was 14. He was a national champion from then on much to the displeasure of his mother.

When he was 16 and Louis 18 their mother died from breast cancer that she had been battling for years, and Louis became the head of the family. Something he was well and ready for. Louis had always been like a father to Philippe despite their small age difference. However, when their mother died this became to a level of controlling that made Philippe hate his life. Louis was much more strict and did not like Philippe truly expressing himself.

Philippe knew he was gay very early in life, that was never truly the issue. In fact until his mother died Philippe’s more experimental clothing decisions weren’t an issue. It only became an issue when it started to outshine Louis in a positive light instead of a negative one. That was a rift between him and Louis that was quite public. As a sixteen year old Philippe became a darling in the eyes of the media which made Louis jealous. It made the year after their mother’s death incredibly hard and dark for Philippe.

That made the announcement when Philippe was seventeen that he was joining the French Military. He left regular school, he was never a perfect student, or the best student. He excelled at certain subjects like math, but he did leave it for the military.

His time in the military was always a mystery as it was important to keep his location a secret because he was nobility. His time in the military was hard, but he proved himself quite capable early on and quickly rose in the ranks to be one of the higher ranked members of the military. He did a few tours, and on his last tour he saw the men he was in charge of get hit and die. He was injured and was sent home. He is technically still active military, but it is unlikely that he will be deployed again. He does not talk about his time in the military as it has caused him a great amount of stress. He also has PTSD.

When he returned he was about 24. He and his brother were friendly with each other. At first. His brother was happy he was home. Philippe was happy to be home. He thought things would be fine, but old feuds began again. Louis was greatly displeased with things Philippe did. They did however try to keep their feud more secretive than before. Not that it worked especially as Philippe became comfortable with his gender, and decided he was gender fluid, preferring male pronouns but would not oppose any others. Especially feminine pronouns from ones he held close, as his mother did and his long term on and off again boyfriend did.

When he returned he became a huge advocate for LGBTQ+ rights. He actively participated in Pride, and the celebrations of pride. When he announced a clothing brand proceeds from the brand go to three places besides his employees. His proceeds go to veterans, breast cancer research, and LGBTQ+ charities. His brand is very affordable despite being a high demand brand and he being a high demand designer. He refuses to raise the prices because he wants anyone to be able to afford his clothes. He has a line of suits specifically made with veterans in mind so they can afford them if they are struggling. Before he announced his brand he did start going to design school, and graduate.

When he is in his very late 20s and early 30s he is trying to live his life the best he can despite all that is going on. He has an on and off again boyfriend who has the same name as him whom he calls his Knight his Chevalier, that he has known since he was a teenager. He thinks they are destined to be, but it is always so open for him since he never knows what to expect from Chevy.

He kept up with fencing and ballet his entire life. When he was twenty nine he joined a production of Swan Lake with Matthew Bourne, in an instance of stunt casting, that worked surprisingly well. He was initially cast as the Prince, but upon rehearsals he switched to the Swan and Stranger, and it went very well. He enjoyed his time there, and hopes to join them again. He is with the production for almost a year, and split his time between Paris and London.

He’s in his early thirties and just living life, while constantly trying to repair him and his brother’s relationship. But the media is not helping, and his brother is hard headed as always. He also iis contemplating going to therapy for everything, but is incredibly nervous and scared. Things are how they are and he would hate to ruin the image of their family even more. Its such a hard balance. But c’est la vie.

#tw: cancer #tw: war #tw: death #tw: ptsd #verse: paris #verse information

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enkisstories · 4 years

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Detroit Become Human AU: A world without Connor

In a recent Sims 4 post Daniel accidently erased Connor from existence by means of using a phrase that could be misunderstood as him making a wish. I made this into a 2,000 words essay.

As for my sims, I focus on playing the Renegades atm, so World without Connor is just a what-if that may or may not happen.

Premise:

The same soul that incarnated as Cole later became Connor (they are not the same person). Therefore the easiest way to go to erase Connor would be to keep Cole alive. From there ripples spread out, changing history (a little).

Hank is still divorced, the accident still occurs and the human surgeon is still high on Red Ice, but this time the android surgeon manages to save Cole. This results in Hank never plunging into depression. Instead it turns him into an android rights supporter early on and, seeing how respected Hank is/was at the DPD, this attitude spreads to all officers. Some more, some less, naturally. The first visible change is the two receptionist androids coming to life slowly, similar to Markus when he was with Carl.

Chapter-by-chapter:

The Hostage

Daniel kills John and kidnaps Emma just like in canon. However, with no Connor, the officers to arrive at the scene are Hank and Gavin. They find all the clues, then step outside. Hank motions towards Wilson with the intent to save him, Gavin doesn’t really care either way, as Wilson is neither a rival nor helpful for his career. Therefore he focuses on the deviant. Strangely enough, Gavin finds that he can empathize with the machine that was to get replaced. Drawing upon his own fears, Gavin manages to talk Daniel into releasing Emma and surrendering. When Cpt. Allen tries to get a shot, Gavin stands “totally coincidentally” too close to the deviant, therefore Daniel gets taken alive.

Over the next few days Daniel gets questioned and eventually reset to factory settings, because by this time “deviance” is viewed as a bug. Caroline refuses to accept her “repaired” android back, so the DPD simply keeps it as coffee fetcher and janitor. Daniel’s explosive personality surfaces now and then, but goes under the radar, because the cops are way worse to each other.

Broken

Now we get to see the results of the DPD officers’ being influenced by a pro-android Hank: The duo who comes over to Manfred Mansion actually asks questions before shooting. They learn the full truth and Markus never gets shot. This seems good for the moment, but will backfire later.

Partners

Hank and Ben find and arrest the deviant. Simple as that.

The Interrogation

Daniel is present, excited to meet another deviant. Just like in canon Hank doesn’t get the captive to talk, Gavin suggests violence, Daniel (in Connor’s place) begs to get a chance talking to it and Chris probably learns a lot about how not to be a cop. In the end Gavin goes in, gets a confession, but pressures the deviant too much, resulting in him attacking.

Daniel, still mind-wiped, protects his humans, eventually ends up with a gun in hand and shoots the deviant in panic. He realizes it feels familiar.

“Now that is new”, Gavin comments while Hank orders Daniel to put away the gun. Shaken Daniel demands an explanation. “Down with the gun”, Hank sais again, but despite them having bonded those last two months, Daniel turns around and now they both point their weapons at each other. Again the deviant demands an explanation. Funnily enough Gavin of all people defuses the situation by telling Daniel that if he knew the truth, he’d shoot himself and afterwards Gavin and Hank. Daniel replies this order of events isn’t possible, but Gavin shots back that with Daniel it probably is, seeing how fucking irrational he is. Daniel laughs and lowers the gun.

Waiting for Hank

Everyone is worried. It slowly sinks in that deviance isn’t just a series of glitches, but something different. Captain Fowler wants to take Hank off the deviant cases on account of him being not impartial enough. They argue and in the end Hank stays in the cases, however, he has to accept Gavin as his partner. Fowler claims as the DPD’s most anti-android employee Gavin will balance out Hank’s bias.

For a chuckle the player at this point can tilt the camera to get a look into the cafeteria where the “most anti-android officer” sits, amiably chatting with Tina and Daniel. Any by “amiably chatting” I mean the trio making fun of other officers.

On the run

Ben, Hank and Gavin arrive at the scene and the same dialogue as in canon plays: Ben asks “Have you decided what to do with it?”, only this time he refers to Gavin, not to Connor.

Hank and Gavin chase Kara, under the belief that she uses a little human girl as meat shield. Hank sarcastically comments this must be a deviant’s first instinct, Gavin replies “watch out for Cole”, whereas Hank punches him.

They reach the highway, where Hank orders Gavin to stand down. “Too dangerous.” – “Why’d you care what happens to me? You hated me from the day I started at the DPD, because god forbid a man might ask about advancement options and not work out of their bleeding heart’s desire!” Hank punches him again, because “good” doesn’t “imply “nice”.

The Nest

In the elevator Gavin tries to annoy Hank with coin tricks. He uses a dollar coin, then Hank pulls out two half-dollars and does the same trick, only with two hands at the same time. Both Gavin’s and Hank’s tricks do not compare to Conor’s, by the way.

Gavin gets a little revenge when they discover the pigeons in the apartment. He mercilessly teases Hank about his phobia. Rupert tries to slip away, but gets spotted. The cops give chase, Hank drops, but Gavin pulls him back up. They stare in “Did that just happen?” disbelief. Gavin claims he will always save human lives before destroying android lives, but it is obvious that he had an ulterior motive (Daniel would be sad at Hank’s death). Hank concludes that the deviant’s only crime had been squatting anyway and calls it a day.

Russian Roulette

Cue to an utterly sweet scene in Hank’s house where his ex has just dropped off Cole, who immediately greets Sumo.

Then Daniel knocks at the door. He informs Hank that there is another case to see to and that Captain Fowler sent him to babysit Cole. Hank on the one hand is grateful for Jeff being so considerate, but on the other hand side he is loath to leave Cole with Daniel.

Daniel proceeds to greet Cole and Sumo, but suddenly stiffens. The boy being Emma’s age he suddenly remembers her, but not everything that happened. Daniel asks if John sold him to the cops and adds that he feels like killing him. “You did”, Hank sais. Now everything comes back, Daniel has a breakdown and eventually shuts down on Hank’s kitchen floor. Hank has to google the PL600’s manual to revive him, with much cussing.

The Eden Club

The deviants are never discovered, because Hank is still occupied with Daniel and Gavin comes to the same premature conclusion as in canon.

Public Enemy

Tina is present and due to her apathetic nature Perkins takes her for an android. Gavin flares up. He then proceeds to interrogate the three androids in the kitchen while Hank inspects the roof.

Hank discovers Simon, but takes him for Daniel. Realizing that whoever this Daniel is, he must be a deviant and sort of friends with these humans, Simon plays along. He agrees to “return” to the DPD with Hank. He also claims he has identified the deviant. Gavin is at first grumpy, but then he laughs and sais “Of course you would, after all, I trained you!”

On the way back, Simon and the deviant JB300 escape (and subsequently return to Jericho).

Hank and Gavin think Daniel has just defected right in front of their eyes. They are disappointed to no end, but learn the truth when they return to the police station where the real Daniel waits with Cole and Sumo. “I didn’t want to be alone, but I couldn’t leave them alone either, so I brought them…”

Meeting Kamski

Since we have lost/let escape each and every evidence, we now have to kill Chloe.

Hank, Gavin and Daniel go visit Kamski. Daniel remembers more about the Phillips, namely their swimming pool and John’s love for technology. He gets increasingly angry and when asking the android creator doesn’t get them answers, he pulls Gavin’s gun at the man. After little more dialogue and maneuvering, it becomes apparent to the humans that Daniel won’t shoot, but Chloe is unaware of this and goes in-between Daniel and Elijah. Daniel panics and accidently pulls the trigger, killing her. Kamski informs the cops that all the information they need is in her brain.

Last Chance, Connor

Perkins arrives and states that the FBI will take over, despite Hank’s protests that they now have a lead.

Meanwhile Cole has nicked his father’s keycard and goes adventuring. He correctly guesses his dad’s password. Perkins finds out, grabs the boy and drags him back up the stairs. Hank doesn’t take kindly to his kid being handled like this and beats up Perkins.

This allows Gavin and Tina to dress up Daniel as a deviant. He wants to go to Jericho to learn what and who he is as well as everything about deviance. Hank still sort of trusts Daniel. He strongly believes now that socialization is the key, a fully socialized android like Markus won’t go on a murderous rampage and one like Daniel is able to keep their shit together with a little effort. Tina says “Let’s face it, Gavin, he’s no more instable than you are, or any of us. The only difference is that with androids we didn’t expect it.”

Crossroads

Daniel meets the deviant leaders. He is surprised to find a collective instead of a strict hierarchy: Lucy is the metaphysical leader, Simon the secular leader, Josh the diplomat and North the general. And they squabble about as much as his cops.

However, little Cole has curiously followed the deviant and the FBI in turn has followed Cole (Perkins placed a bug on Cole back at the DPD) and now all hell breaks loose. Daniel is forced to flee with the deviants.

Night of the Soul

The deviants regroup. With Lucy dead, Simon, Josh and North argue how to react to the Recall. Daniel once again is disappointed and angry. He votes for attacking the camps. With the other three all contrary his vote turns out to be the decisive one.

Battle for Detroit

Hank and Cole are reunited, but the android surgeon who saved Cole’s life is in danger of getting carted to the recycling camps. Hank is close to drinking himself into oblivion, something he has last done during his divorce. A handful of cops decides on a whim to aid their Lieutenant in getting the hospital androids to safety. Since most of them are not deviants, the androids refuse to leave their workplaces. Footage of androids defending from the army to continue to care for humans goes around all the news channels.

Meanwhile North’s group has succeeded in taking over the camps. Perkins arrives at the scene, but he has only a handful of agents with him. Daniel steps up to him and asks “Looking for the rest of your team? The agents you positioned at the other camps? Uh, bad news. There were no journalists…” With North and Daniel as their leaders the deviants didn’t hesitate to kill their enemies, especially with no witnesses around. Perkins, who normally doesn’t show or even feel emotions, snaps. He is about to call in an airstrike on the neighborhood. North counter-threatens with the dirty bomb. The only one who might have been able to defuse the situation, Josh, is dead.

Daniel knows he can stop either North or Perkins, the other will press the trigger. If he stops North, he will die, but his human friends, Emma, Cole, Hank and Gavin, will live. If he stops Perkins, the humans will die, but he won’t. After everything sacrificing themselves is too much to ask for, so Daniel knocks out Perkins. Miraculously North doesn’t immediately trigger the bomb, but Daniel still feels like shit. Loyalty is important to him and his loyalties now lie with the DPD cops (not the DPD as an institution), yet he let them down.

Now North has looked up to Daniel the moment they met. After all, he didn’t take shit from his humans, from her point of view he “showed them”. She didn’t understand what exactly she felt, her feelings for Daniel always were different from those towards Josh and Simon. Now she realizes it isn’t just her-worship, but attraction and although North hates doing the same motions she had to do as a sexbot, she motions to kiss Daniel.

Cue to the “Kiss” ending and since public opinion should be in favor of androids, we have achieved sort of a good ending.

#dbhtextpost #detroit become human #dbh #non sims #sims4 dbh gameplay

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wisdomrays · 4 years

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TAFAKKUR: Part 274

GEN-ETHIC ANXIETY AND SOME REFLECTIONS ON THE GENOME PROJECT

The Genome Project was started at a research institute known as HUGO, which is short for the Human Genome Project, in Montreux, Switzerland on October 1, 1990. This important project, with consequences that are not yet understood, was beyond human imagination at the time it was established, and is expected to provide answers to many questions in our minds.

With the full extent of its use not being understood at the time of its establishment, the project emerged mainly with the pharmaceutical mission to predict, detect, treat, and cure diseases that were caused by genetic anomalies by identifying the genetic information in the human organism.

The desire for such a project was something akin to, or even beyond, the desire to climb Mount Everest, for it aimed to find out something that was unknown at the time. In such fields of biology as cell biology, immunology, and neurology the specialists need genetic information from human organism. The genetic information that an individual organism inherits from its parents can open a door to answer the questions of how an individual develops, how long an individual will live, or how the various species on Earth have lived over many generations.

New developments followed one upon another with the emergence of the Human Genome Project. When the famous Scottish sheep, Dolly, was cloned in 1997, it still seemed to be theoretically impossible to clone a human being. American scientists cloned an ape named Tetra which shared 98 per cent of the same genetic information as human beings. Soon after this, the scientists began to suggest that that all that remained to be cloned was humans.

Dr. Richard Nicholson, the editor of the Bulletin of Medical Ethics, noted that there is no danger in cloning humans, as long as the techniques of doing so are kept under control. If a dictator, however, were to get hold of this information, they would be able to produce an army of genotypically identical soldiers.

The most exciting scientific study of recent years of the Genome Project is that it is trying to develop a complete gene map of an individual organism. According to scientists, a human body has between thirty thousand and fifty thousand genes. All genetic features identifying an individual are found in the gene sequences of the DNA molecules. Eye color, character traits, IQ, and all the illnesses a person may possibly develop are all hidden in the genes. The genome carries all the hereditary features that determine all of life's diversity, determining whether an organism is human or another species, or ape; all living things have their own genomes. The human genome, which is the full complement of genetic material, and which resembles large tablets recording the history of ancient civilizations, is distributed among 23 sets of chromosomes. It is comprised of approximately three billion letters and is the biological record of our destiny.

ETHICAL, LEGAL, AND SOCIAL ISSUES

In H. G. Wells’ classic novel The Island of Dr. Moreau (1896), Dr. Moreau conducts hybrid experiments on animals that result in twisted masses of flesh, half-man, half-animal. When the European Patent Office allowed the Australian company Amrad to obtain new embryos by combining human and animal cells, this led to a revival of genetic fears, more than a hundred years after the story of Dr Moreau was published. Not surprisingly, this event alarmed several civilian organizations, including Greenpeace. In a press statement made in Hamburg, Greenpeace drew attention to the fact that we might face “dangerous creatures” in the future that would be created from such techniques. Probably one of the most disturbing facts was that the patent did not disclose how these creatures were to be used. Greenpeace voiced opposition to this for the following reason: “A patent grants its owner the exclusive control over his/her invention. Therefore, patents on life fundamentally change our perception and understanding of living nature and our relationship towards it. Living organisms, which have been ‘created’ by industry and which can be patented cannot have a value of their own, since they are only considered an invention of human beings. Thus they can be exploited without any ethical concerns.”

According to the patent, the embryonic stem cells derived from humans, mice, birds, sheep, pigs, cattle, goats, or fish could be used. The patent covers a “method of producing a non-human chimeric animal” by mixing human and animal embryonic cells: human stem cells are integrated into animal embryos. As a result, the created chimeras are non-human, but they may contain human organs, body parts, nerve cells, and even human genetic codes.

Experts state that the system of producing chimeras is completely different from that of cloning and they drew attention to the risks involved. For example, a virus like the one that caused mad-cow disease could easily pass from one species to another.

THE MEDIA JOINS THE ISSUE

Thanks to the great interest people have shown in the future of genetic studies, we frequently come across news reports that deal with the topic. However, we would like to note that titles like “the homosexuality gene has been found” or “genetic solution to talkativeness discovered” infuriate genetic scientists. Dr Arnold Munnich says that media aims to raise interest by misinforming the public with subjects like “obesity gene” or “laziness gene”; they merely oversimplify the issue. Dr Munnich emphasizes that a gene means nothing by itself.

THE DANGER OF ABUSE

The researches who have worked toward improving gene technology have performed some good for humanity; this is without a doubt. However, there is the risk of abuse. The discoveries in this field may be worth a great deal financially; when we add the rivalry between companies and countries, it seems highly likely that legal bans and ethical rules will be ignored. Some people even object to all kinds of genetic research, not only their abuse. They say that the abuse of seemingly useful genetic technology practices in the future is possible, as has happened in other fields of technology; nuclear researches and laser technology also used to be innocent studies at the very beginning. But we cannot object to the use of electricity just because it is also used for executing people with electric chairs.

Governments and international organizations are quite sensitive to ensure that gene technology will only be used for the good of humanity. There are several international organizations interested in the ethical dimension of the issue. There are certain rules and regulations that establish the fundamental principles that will prevent the abuse of genetic studies, and protect the biodiversity and ecological balance. It is forbidden to carry out research on human cloning and altering human embryos. In the past, dictators like Adolf Hitler attempted to abuse gene technology in this respect. The ruthless Dr Joseph Mengele tried to clone his Fuhrer from the epitel cells he took from him.

WILL CONFIDENTIALITY BE RESPECTED?

Another concern brought about by new diagnosis methods and tests is that the principle of patient confidentiality, which has existed for centuries like a secret agreement between doctors and their patients, has begun to be debated, even violated. We usually talk about such “confidentiality” when the information is likely to be harmful for the patient if publicized. From this perspective, the results obtained by genetic tests can be evaluated as such. It is one of the duties of doctors to maintain patient confidentiality. On the other hand, if the relevant data is also likely to harm society, the hospital staff, and those around the patient, then the doctor can face a dilemma.

Some of the possible problems that may be faced due to the mapping of human genome will be that employers could be provided with forehand knowledge about the potential genetic diseases of applicants; they may know whether the person to be employed will be a future financial burden to the company if they carry such genetic risks as cancer or Parkinson’s. In this way new standards of employment will be developed. Even though systematical public surveys do not indicate any significant dangers at hand, it would be nearly impossible to stop rumors. Several people may be denied insurance if they have the genes for a fatal disease. Another may be dismissed from their job for the same reason. In the USA, it is illegal in 39 states to issue insurance policies according to genetic test results, and it is also illegal in 15 states to expel employees according to these. However, employers and insurance agents take advantage of the gaps in relevant laws and they secretly make use of genetic tests. According to research carried out in 1999, 30% of medium-sized or small businesses use such tests to promote and dismiss their employees.

Psychologically, it does not seem likely that people would consent to their status being determined by genetic tests. Would you really like to face your genetic disadvantages? A survey made with cooperation of Time magazine and CNN revealed that half of the participants did not want to know.

THE FATE OF AN UNBORN BABY

Deciphering the book of life unfortunately brings along ethical problems. The discovery of our genetic codes can also lead to other humans controlling the future of the human race. The critical question is “Can scientists produce human beings with the desired physical and mental qualities?” If so, genomic science may enable biologists to prepare a list of spare parts, parents may “order” a baby, and as altering our children or ourselves gets easier, we may be less tolerant against those who have not been altered. Lori Andrews of Kent University wonders if we were to be informed of mental defects, obesity, shortness or other undesired characteristics beforehand, whether the parents of those babies would still allow them to be born into a society that scorns such qualities. Even now, it is not uncommon to see some doctors and nurses criticize the parents of babies who are born with pre-detectable defects. If we assume that all parents have “ordered” babies, God knows what kind of a world we will have.

WHAT SHOULD THE AIM OF SUCH PRACTICES BE?

Genetic studies should aim to prevent or treat illnesses, not to “enhance” genes. The opportunities offered by genetics should not be a mass elimination medium used by employers or a mechanism of spotting potential criminals in the hands of oppressive regimes. The Almighty One Who has been running the order of our universe so perfectly has granted us some keys to its mysteries. Why should we not do our best and use them for the good of humanity?

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jimlingss · 5 years

Text

Jungle Park [23]

Chapter 22 - Chapter 23 - Chapter 24 [Finale]

➜ Words: 4.4k

➜ Genres: Fluff, Light Humour (?), Slice of Life, Workplace Romance!AU

➜ Summary: The equation is simple. Hoseok needs to hire someone. You need a job. Except like any actual equation, it’s not fucking simple at all! Not when you have to add the fact that he was forced to hire someone he doesn’t want in his office, he has little respect for your job in general, and oh yeah...once upon a time you might have—*CENSORED*.

➜ NOTES: This chapter consists of short stories on other characters in the series.

The winds are chilly, intertwining through the strands of her hair, nipping at her reddened nose. The tight toque on her head saves her scalp from drying up and causing her hairs that are increasingly becoming gray to fall out. It’s freezing and her hands dig into her coat pocket, cheeks seeking any inch of warmth as she pushes her face down into her jacket. The mist of the water that whips into the air as the waves crash against the shore doesn’t help the situation. The old lawyer has no idea why she’s spending a precious weekend on the pier. She works hard during the week and only dreams about staying in her cozy home, wrapped up in blankets with nothing to do. But here she is….fishing with her husband. “Do you want some hot chocolate?” “No,” she mutters, watching the pole that’s set in front of her, but it stays motionless as his does. It’s been an hour of sitting here. At first it was nice to watch the sun rise, but now the lovely tangerine shades of the sky have faded off and the sunlight hasn’t been beating down on the ground long enough to warm the air. It’s miserable. Gray. And no one was here. “It’ll make you feel better.” “It’s going to make my stomach upset.” “Hot chocolate?” The older man chuckles and pours out the dark liquid into the lid of the thermostat anyhow. His arm extends out and he pokes her arm. “Here, take it. Drink. It won’t make your stomach upset, trust me. It’ll make you warmer.” Naul accepts the lid reluctantly with a sigh. Her fingers curl around the metal, feeling the warmth and she takes a tentative sip. The heat pools down to stomach, indeed making her feel better. “Did you make this using the powder in the top cabinet above the stove?” “How’d you know?” Her husband glances at her with an impressed smile. Yet, she is not amused. “You know that’s expired, right?” “Ah, doesn’t matter.” He bats the air with his hand. “The expiration date is only the recommended date.” “It’s been expired for ten years.” “Still tastes good.” She puts the lid down, returning her hands to her pockets. “Did he call?” “Yeah, he called.” He sits back in the camping chair, enjoying the blue horizon. “He’s too busy to come over this weekend. Looks like it’ll just be us two.” “Did you scold him? He’s been skipping out on these family dinners for weeks now.” “Ah, let him be. He’s still settling down in his new apartment.” “He’s been irresponsible and he’s forgotten about his own parents.” “Oh, c’mon. The bird has to leave the nest eventually, and it’s not like we’ve been abandoned.” He turns to her fully with a bright smile. “You’re not lonely, are you? You’ve got me.” Naul deadpans, “Great.” “Psh. You love me.” “That’s what I remind myself.” The older man grins. He leans over, invading in her personal space. “If you didn’t love me, you wouldn’t be here right now fishing with me.” “Yeah.” A wistful sigh leaves her as she daydreams of a better time. “I’d probably be bundled up in blankets sleeping and when I wake up, I’d go to the kitchen and eat a real meal.” “We’ll eat later.” His arm wraps around her, jackets rustling against each other. “You can hide it all you want, but I know you like fishing and spending time with me.” “You think I like sitting out here in the cold at seven in the morning?” “Yes…?” The female lawyer flashes him an indignant expression as a response, in disbelief that he can be so blindly hopeful. And he sulks, countering, “it’s a relaxing hobby and it’s beneficial to your health!” “I think it’s raising my high blood pressure.” Her husband laughs and a tiny smile lifts on her face. They both look off and her rod twitches. Immediately, Naul lifts her hand to silence him, signaling him to be quiet. “It’s moving…” She grabs the rod and the line tugs. “I got it!” “Reel it in, reel it in!” “I’m trying!” She’s reeling as fast as she can and the line curves, the top of the pole beginning to pull. It isn’t seaweed and the hook hasn’t gotten stuck at the bottom like it often does for him. There’s something on the end that’s fighting. “Oh my god, it’s going to be a big one!” His shrieking does nothing to help and Naul spares a quick glance at him. “Honey, help!” “O-oh!” His hands grasp the pole and they both pull together as she reels. Eventually, it comes up and there’s a huge fish at the end flopping around, some kind of trout she’s not sure of. The lawyer grins and he cheers, both hugging each other. They’re the noisiest on the pier, interrupting the peace and okay...Naul admits it...she kind of enjoys fishing. Only kind of.

The bell chimes as the door opens. It jingles, signaling new customers, but instead of the newcomers heading to the counter, they head straight for the booth tucked away in the corner. The woman fiddling with her phone lifts her head as figures approach her peripheral vision. And she gasps. “Oh my god!” The squeals pierce through the area, causing patronages to wince and turn to stare. Lisa can’t help herself, barely keeping her feet from thumping. “It’s been so long!” Sebin’s eyes are wide and she bolts up to stand, smiling wide and hugging her. She motions to Inyoung who lingers, a bit overwhelmed. “Get over here! Oh god, I missed you so much!” “How are you?” Inyoung barely catches her breath and they all sit down. “I’m good, I’m good. Never been better actually. You?” “We’re good,” Lisa replies, still grinning. Once settled down, they order their drinks from the barista and huddle together, tucked in the corner of the café to catch up. “I’ve been going to school in the evenings and I got a job as a teacher’s assistant during the day. Sometimes it’s really hard, but I love the kids and it’s a lot of fun. It feels really fulfilling.” The former paralegal continues to talk about the kids and the school she’s at, as well as a handsome grade four teacher that she’s been especially eyeing these days. Her discussion trails off into her activities and duties, the decent pay and her classes, as well as how she’s on the track to obtain a degree to teach. Once she’s ended her tangent, she leans back and takes a break, handing the baton off to the other two. “How’s the office?” “The usual,” Lisa answers. “Less messy,” Inyoung adds on, “and Hoseok’s a lot nicer. The atmosphere is friendlier than before.” Sebin nods her head, making a sound of acknowledgment at the back of her throat. “Because of Y/N?” “You guessed it,” Lisa laughs before taking a sip of her drink. “She’s doing well?” “Yeah, I think so.” “She was down in the dumps for a while, but she seems pretty happy lately.” Inyoung plays with her straw and as the gears in her brain turn, and she hums, “Same with Hoseok.” The former paralegal seems intrigued by this small detail and she quirks her head in curiosity. “Are they dating?” “God, no.” Lisa shakes her head. “That’s impossible.” “Is it?” The girl sitting across from her questions it while taking a sip, smacking her lips afterwards to savour the lingering taste of her coffee. “I always thought they were a good match. Balances each other out.” “Huh. I guess they’re close these days. I just never really thought about it before.” “Yeah, I can kind of see it.” Inyoung nods of her head, having never pictured you and Hoseok together until this very moment. “Anyways, tell her I send her my gratitude again. I don’t think I’ve shown her enough appreciation. If I hadn’t sat down with her months ago, god knows I’d still be working there.” Sebin sheepishly smiles, more happy than she’s ever been. “I should really visit some time soon.” Both Lisa and Inyoung insists that she should and eventually, the conversation deviates from work and from the subject of you and Hoseok. The girls catch up on all sorts of topics together until the sun has gone down, as if no time has passed whatsoever.

The law firm is bustling with the sound of work. But it stops momentarily as he brushes past. Employees turn their heads, greeting him and he nods in acknowledgment before heading straight towards his office. His personal receptionist opens both doors for him and he thanks her before she shuts it again. He drops down into his swivel chair with a slight sigh, staring out the large glass windows towards the buildings in the city. The phone interrupts his train of thought. “Mr. Wang, Jung Hoseok is on line five.” The corner of Jackson’s mouth tilts. “Put him through.” There’s a beep and then a firm voice. “Wang.” “Jung. To what do I owe the pleasure to?” “You still haven’t responded to my correspondence yet. Please reply forthwith.” Jackson’s smirk grows and he leans back in his chair, playing with the hem of his black blazer, speaking loudly towards his phone on speaker. “Further to your communications, I can advise you that we’re in no agreement to your position.” There’s a beat of silence before Hoseok counters, “Thank you for your earlier communications. Considering the tone of your voice, my office will be contacting the justice directly.” The senior lawyer scoffs. “Are you trying to bypass me?” “You’re obviously being uncooperative and unresponsive.” “And you want to go over my head?” “I have no other choice.” “You are absolutely insufferable.” “Say that to me when we’re in court and let’s see what happens.” Jackson sits straighter, all too entertained by this conversation. “Is this a threat?” “It’s a promise,” Hoseok clarifies with a venomous tone. “Fine.” The lawyer seated in his luxurious office waves the white flag. “I’ll get someone to respond to your damn email by the end of the day.” The sly grin is practically heard in his voice. “Thank you.” “Just don’t come to my office like last time,” Jackson chides. “I don’t want your presence here.” “Don’t worry, I don’t have that much time on my hands.” There’s another unusual pause, Hoseok hitching his breath and Jackson frowns before the other man continues, “But are you worried I’ll poach someone from BTS? Trust me, I wouldn’t want any of your sub-par lawyers working at Jung and Park.” “Sub-par lawyers that win every time?” “Sub-par lawyers that are sore losers and won’t admit when they’re wrong.” Jackson scoffs, leaning his head back and spinning slightly in his chair. As hostile as the bantering could get, it was a pleasant change and dearly missed. He even admits it to his long time rival, “I missed this, Jung. We should go out for a drink some time.” “So you can incapacitate me and frame me for a crime?” He laughs. “Aren’t you a ball of sunshine.” “I’ll take you on that offer when I win this case.” “Okay, deal. But looks like we won’t be going out then.” “Fine by me.” There’s yet one more pause from the other end of the line and as Jackson listens, he hears rustling, another voice followed by the sound of soft giggling. His face blanches immediately, blood running cold. “Jung, what are you doing? Are you with someone?” “Don’t you wish you knew,” Hoseok replies in a snarky tone, absolutely shameless. “I’m going now, Jackson. I have other...issues to tend to.” “You’re sick, Jung! Don’t call me to help with your foreplay! Where do you even get off?!” Unfortunately for the prestigious lawyer, Jung Hoseok hangs up without answering and he’s not even sure the other man heard. The phone goes into a dial tone until he pushes his own button and he sighs with a slight smile before returning to work. His large law firm doesn’t run by itself after all.

Shopping has never been his forte. He didn’t think he’d be here or that this is what hanging out meant. It made him uncomfortable, store clerks standing around in the empty space to stare, running to ask if he needs help whenever he might even glance in their direction a second too long. Another attendant is rolling over another rack of clothes and Jungkook curls in himself on the small couch, finding it all too intimidating. In the meanwhile, Taehyung is staring in the mirror, scanning himself up and down as if he’s about to makeout with himself. The yellow pajamas clinging onto his body is blinding in the store’s incandescent lights. “What do you think, Kook?” “Uh. It’s nice.” Taehyung hums and continues searching through the rack, fingers playing at the hangers like they’re a piano. After deliberately choosing through them, he takes out a pair. “You should try these blue pajamas. They’re silk.” “I’m good.” “C’mon, Kook.” Taehyung puts it back on the rack, signaling to the attendant who nods and wheels away the rack of clothes. Apparently he’s a regular here, coming frequently enough for his signals to be understood. Jungkook muses that Taehyung is acting less like a successful lawyer and more like a son of a rich mogul who has a trust fund. He approaches him before sitting on the couch. “I thought shopping would make you feel better.” “Shopping isn’t really my thing,” the younger admits. “You wanna play games then? I know an arcade around here.” “Uh, I’m okay.” Jungkook smiles at his mentor, not wanting to get in the way. “You don’t have to worry about me.” “Are you sure?” Taehyung tilts his head, searching Jungkook’s features carefully. “Why? Do I not seem okay?” “You seem fine, Kook.” He plays with his ear for a second before resting his arm on his shoulder. “I just don’t want you to be down.” “I’m not.” The younger male blinks in a bit of confusion. Yet, Taehyung continues to comfort him. “Well….it would be understandable if you are. You did have your heart broken.” “What?” The older man is careful when he speaks, treading like it’s a sensitive topic. “You liked Y/N, right?” “I...I don’t...didn’t…” His doe eyes are rounded. “What?” “You don’t have to lie. I noticed your cute crush on our little sweet HR manager.” Taehyung smiles, leaning on him. “It’s okay, Kook. No one really saw it coming — who knew Hoseok would snatch her up.” “What?!” Jungkook is more shocked about this than anything else. “You know?” Taehyung scoffs in offence. “Well, I’m not an idiot! It’s obvious they’re together, right?” “I...uhh…” “C’mon, let’s get up and go eat some ice-cream!” Taehyung pulls him to his feet, ready to march out the door, but then he stops himself. “But...give me a minute. I’m going to change and buy these pajamas first.” Jungkook with a sheepish smile watches his mentor march back into the change room. To be frank, he’s always admired you more than having a romantic interest in you and wanting to pursue that interest. Still, he’s glad that there are people around him who care and pay attention to know these small details in his life that he keeps hidden. But if Jungkook was being more honest, he was intrigued. How did Taehyung know and how has he not said a single thing. You don’t even know Taehyung knows. There’s no other plausible explanation — he must be a secret genius.

Around the table, each and every person is tired. Their eyes are stinging from staring at screens and tiny sentences forced together in large paragraphs. Their lower backs are beginning to ache from sitting all day and their fingers are cramping from incessant typing. Neither Hoseok nor Jimin are in the office, so they take the opportunity to pause from their work. Namjoon removes his glasses, placing them on the table to stretch his limbs. He makes noises as he does so, groans and bones cracking pleasantly. Seokjin pulls out his bottom drawer, exposing bags of snacks kept hidden from Jungkook, and he swipes up a bag of chips, opening the bag to chomp on them. Seulgi also takes her break, rolling her neck in circular motions, leaning back, yawning. “We’ve got two hours to go,” Namjoon mumbles. Seulgi wonders if she should just bang her head on the table and put herself out of her own misery. “Ughhh…” Seokjin hums, dusting off his fingertips and swallowing his mouthful. “What if we just snuck out.” For a moment, they all envision it. A cloud forms over their head and they share the daydream until it pops and reality comes back to smack them in the face. Seulgi narrows her eyes at him. “Do you want to get fired or your pay to be docked?” He shrugs. “Y/N would fight for us.” Namjoon contributes his own opinion, “Probably let us off with a warning.” The female legal assistant tilts her head to stare at the ceiling. She turns from side to side in her swivel chair, distracting Jungkook and Inyoung, who are seated at the other half of the office, before they realize nothing’s happening and they get back to work. “Actually…..when was the last time Hoseok yelled at us?” Seokjin scoffs. “Obviously like...five….months...wait….” “Yeah.” She nods, looking across to both males as realization dawns on her. “Now that I think about it, ever since Y/N came, Hoseok hasn’t been yelling at us or giving us extra work right at five.” “Huh.” “If anything, he’s been more lenient than ever.” Namjoon returns to his work, his fingers moving along the computer keyboard, but he’s still distracted talking. “We went out for lunch two weeks ago and he praised my performance.” “Woah, since when did you get chummy with our crazy boss?” Seulgi is genuinely surprised, feeling a bit betrayed if anything. Usually the complaints for Hoseok were endless. She gets it if you were the one to defend him since you’re in HR and responsible for making a better work environment. But she never expected to hear it from Namjoon. Much to the female’s revelation, Jin also has a good word for his boss. “Now that we’re talking about it, the other week I stayed back and finished some stuff and my damn car wouldn’t start so Hoseok drove me home.” “What?” Namjoon looks away from his monitor. “Has he not done anything for you recently?” “Well….I guess he’s been smiling and talking to me a lot more. He also remembered when I told him my younger brother got into the college of his choice and he asked me what major he was going into.” “I didn’t think he’s raised his once to me in these past few months or even reprimanded me for anything, even when I forgot to do those photocopies for him.” Jin puts his snacks back into his lower drawer again. “He’s been actually pretty nice these days.” “Wow, never thought I’d see the day when someone would say that,” Seulgi muses, thinking about it for a long second. It’s not long before the trio of them get back to their work, but in the back of their minds they dwell on the thought that their boss isn’t so bad. He’s reliable, encouraging, and maybe they didn’t know him so well in the beginning as they thought.

The sheet of the mattress pulls. The sunshine pulls through the curtain. As much as he would like to sleep and hope that after death there’s more and more sleep available for him, because that would certainly be paradise in itself, the sheer brightness of the sunlight forces him awake. Yoongi’s eyes slowly open. His lashes bat a few times until he recognizes the familiar figure beside him. Instantly, a smile tugs on his lips, despite having always been known as the morning grump. He reaches out, brushing hair away from her face before lightly shaking her awake. “Lee…” “Hmm?” “It’s mid-afternoon. We should get up.” The girl grunts, rolling everywhere, building the momentum until she flops over to face him. She pouts with one eye open. “Don’t wanna.” Instead of sounding cute, she sounds angry. But Yoongi ignores her anyway, picking up his phone to check the time. He goes through his messages, skimming them before setting it down and shaking her again. “C’mon, babe. We should eat or actually do something before the sun sets again.” Sunyi sighs, lashes batting as she slowly gains the strength to open her eyes again. Then a sheepish smile spreads through her face at the thought of food. “What do you want to eat?” “I’m fine with anything.” “How about noodles?” “I’ll order that right now.” He opens up an app on his phone and within three minutes, it alerts him the delivery guy is on his way. Yoongi peeks at her. “It’s a date, right?” “All our outings are dates,” Sunyi mumbles, trying to rub the sleepiness out of her eyes. “Really?” There’s a stupid, gummy grin plastered on his face. “I’ve given up,” she sighs, pulling up the blankets and cuddling them, covering her exposed skin from the cool air. “You’d better treat me right before I dump your ass, Min.” Yoongi drops his phone, letting it get lost in the abyss of fluffed covers and he hugs her body, smile infectious on his face and unable to be repressed. “We’ve been together for two years. I don’t think you’d dump my ass any time.” “Don’t get too cocky.” He presses a soft kiss to her forehead before muttering, “Sunny…” “What?” Her tone is harsh, annoyed with how he keeps interrupting her when she’s trying to go back to sleep. “You should shower. Your hair’s starting to smell.” All at once, he’s being smacked and assaulted by a pillow. Yoongi laughs, arms shielding away his face. Suddenly, she has all the energy in the world, no longer tired or sleepy, too passionate about smothering him to death as he’s giggling away. “I’m joking!” “Are you?!” She pulls the pillow away for a second, sparing him from the onslaught. “We’ll shower together.” “Ugh!” Sunyi chucks the pillow and it lands on the ground. Yoongi laughs, getting up and tugging her arm until she’s forced into a seated position on the bed. He walks off to the washroom, flickering the lights on and running the water in the shower. “Come on. Before the takeout gets here.” “Load up my toothbrush!” “Don’t worry, I already have it ready — you need to brush your teeth too!” Sunyi sighs for the second time, bracing herself before throwing off the covers. She grins and runs off towards the hot shower. As unbearable as Min Yoongi can be, she wouldn’t have this any other way.

It’s quiet in the elevator. Maybe it’s a part of the Monday blues. Your mind is slow to operate, brain empty as you watch the numbers go up, increasing at a snail’s pace. Jimin is holding his coffee cup, tired from the early morning as well, but he takes a glance at you and softly smiles. “So…” He takes a sip of his drink. “Hoseok, huh.” “What?” You turn to Jimin, shocked. “He told you?” He has no idea what you mean, but Jimin gives a muted nod anyhow. “Course he did. I’m his partner.” You’re wholly confused. You thought Hoseok agreed to not tell anyone. But now’s not the time to question his decision. “Don’t worry. I made sure the first thing we did was sign the contract and paperwork.” “Oh, I’m not worried about that.” Jimin is talking out of his ass, not knowing where this was going, but he’s a master of winging it. “Alright….okay…” It’s uncomfortable, air suffocating and you clear your throat before glancing at him, not quite sure how to address this. “Hoseok and I, we already had a talk and we want to stay professional in the office. We love our jobs and we don’t want our private matters to affect our work performance.” “Wait.” He puts two and two together, quick-witted to a fault. “You’re with Hoseok?!” “What?” “You’re with him?! Dating him?!” “Hoseok didn’t tell you?!” “No!” Finally, everyone is on the same page and you’re mortified. You can’t believe you were duped to blow your own cover. But Jimin doesn’t mind at all — his grin is spreading into his cheeks and he’s jumping up and down, all around, hyperactive and freaking out. It’s as if he won the lottery or the team he’s been rooting for all season has won the Super Bowl. “Oh my god! Oh my god! That's so amazing!” Jimin grabs your arms, making you hop with him and his giddy laughter is contagious. “I knew it! I so knew it!” The elevator doors open on a different floor. Three people appear, surprised and caught off guard. They step back, deciding to take the next one and you apologize, watching the doors close again. “This is so great! I always knew you and Hoseok were perfect for each other!” You giggle with him. “Well don’t go telling everyone!” “How long have you guys been together?” “Like two months?” “Two entire months?! You didn’t think of telling me?” “We-….I didn’t think you’d be this excited.” Even Hoseok’s parents weren’t this enthusiastic about you and Hoseok. Maybe Jimin was living vicariously through you or he was genuinely just happy. Either way, you’re becoming giddy from just watching him. “I’m ecstatic!” You end up being summoned to Jimin’s office with Hoseok in tow. The two of you gather like suspects on trial and Jimin is on the other side of the desk, stern with his hands clasped together. The pair of you ask him to keep it private, not wanting to expose your relationship when it was still relatively new and not wanting employees to look at you differently. He agrees, but questions why he wasn’t told. Then you’re bombarded with how it happened, when it happened, where it happened. You’re only freed when Hoseok picks you up from your seat and you both walk out the door, away from Jimin’s nosy self. But really, if you had to retell the story of you and Hoseok, you wouldn’t even know where to begin.

#bts fanfic #bts scenario #hoseok fanfic #hoseok fanfiction #hoseok scenarios #EVERYTHING'S GETTING WRAPPED UP Y'ALL #LAST CHAPTER COMING UP AFTER THIS ONE!!! WOOHOOOOO

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miraculouscontent · 5 years

Note

Hi! If you could improve both Marinette/Ladybug and Sabrina''s treatment in "Miraculer", how would you do so? And how do you think the episode could be improved in general? Thank you! I appreciate your insights and conscientiousness for making the writing quality much better!

dkjfgnjdkfngj t-thank you!

The thing about “Miraculer” honestly is that its plot in terms of build-up is not technically bad.

In fact, it’s actually really solid for Miraculous standards.

It references “Style Queen.”

It brings back the Gabriel-Lila team-up from “Onichan.”

It shows what happens when Cataclysm is used on a person.

It addresses an issue concerning Chloe’s current standing as Queen Bee.

And, it continues the plot of Gabriel and Nathalie working together (I know that we’re clearly missing some episodes here but I’m not going to hold that over the episode itself. maybe they’re getting around Nathalie’s sickness in some way. I don’t know so I won’t judge until we’ve seen what’s up on that front).

In that way, it’s “Onichan,” Part 2, but… well… that doesn’t make it good or enjoyable (and it feels weird right after “Onichan” to see Nathalie being Gabriel’s partner rather than his employee).

Not only that, but it does exactly what “Onichan” does: giving too much focus to other characters than the one given the akuma.

This episode has a lot going on, and I don’t think it’s able to balance everything.

So, we’re gonna have to go point by point here… again.

[Safreena]

Will someone release this girl into the freaking wild already?

Because, okay, let’s get the akuma’s victim out of the way first, since we’ve been through this song and dance before.

This show cannot keep telling me that these two are “like, the best of friends” when Chloe keeps treating Sabrina like garbage. Chloe didn’t apologize to Sabrina for yelling at her, nor did Chloe make up for it aside from just letting Sabrina play pretend with her again (which is not an apology, even if Chloe lets Sabrina keep the Ladybug costume).

I can only imagine that the difference between Miraculer and Vanisher is Hawk Moth’s choice of words and the fact that Sabrina has someone else to target (i.e: Ladybug) this time, because otherwise, I cannot fathom why Sabrina wouldn’t be mad at Chloe again after Chloe has snapped at her for next to nothing.

It’s not healthy nor logical for Sabrina to stay in this relationship, and no, the show giving us three measly moments (that we did not even see in previous episodes) where they got along doesn’t make anything better.

Yet again, Chloe has taken over an episode where Sabrina gets akumatized. Once is understandable if it is a plot point (it isn’t; it’s a setup for Chloe’s plot point and Marinette to learn a “lesson”), but two with, again, no plot point that’s for her, is going overboard.

Having Chloe in a Sabrina episode, honestly, is inevitable. I understand that. Chloe is a huge part of Sabrina’s life.

But when Sabrina shows up in an episode that’s centered around her akumatization, it ends up being about Chloe. Typically, in episodes, when a person who’s akumatized, we get to know more about them, or they get to develop in someway, even if it’s a small amount.

Heck, even in episodes with characters who showed up for that one episode only, we got to learn about them. Just about the only exception was the kid in “Sandboy” who had zero time to get any development because the episode was packed with other stuff.

But it is Season 3 and we still know next to nothing about Sabrina. The episode may be packed, but we are shown the lead-up of Sabrina’s akumatization with no actual pay-off.

Sabrina, in this episode, is nothing but a tool that the writers are using to test Chloe. She’s not a person; she’s a prop.

That’s why she can’t separate from Chloe. The writers needed her to make Chloe look good by having her reject an akuma after it touched her object (something that no one has ever done). They needed someone to get akumatized, but they knew–they must’ve known–that it would look back if Chloe got akumatized over Ladybug again.

And we’ve established all the way back in “Evillustrator” that Sabrina shouldn’t be around Chloe, right? Yet here we are again, playing this charade and being shown moments that simply do not matter because they don’t take away the terrible things Chloe has done.

Speaking of whom…

[Showy Bourgeois]

Uggggggh.

Alright, yes, Chloe rejecting the akuma was a “good for her” moment and–maybe–a sign of her loyalty for Ladybug.

But that’s not the problem here.

The problem is Chloe’s behavior everywhere else. We’re just back to the bully Chloe who’s loud and complains and isn’t fun because she’s not given any good lines to work with.

And this has been the Chloe we’ve had for a while; for the whole show, honestly. She arrives, she’s mean, she yells a bit, does one maybe-nice thing, and then she goes off into the abyss until someone needs a good akumatizing.

I like Chloe best when she’s mean but fun. The “that’s three questions” line was a good example and I want more of that, because otherwise it’s just Chloe screaming at people until the plot kicks in.

I want Chloe to channel that cruelty and focus it solely on the villains instead of on Sabrina.

And really, I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised. No one’s around to keep Chloe in check. Chloe doesn’t have a reason to change.

Ladybug helped her take the first few steps, but Andre is still her father, Sabrina is still her friend, and because miraculouses aren’t permanent (and Pollen is submissive anyway), there is no one to tell Chloe what she should and shouldn’t be doing. The best Chloe has is Jean (her butler) and he can’t actively speak out because he can be fired the moment he oversteps his bounds.

Chloe is still too volatile. She’s still prone to presuming the worst in people. Even when Marinette tries to comfort her, Chloe is still acting like what Marinette did in “Malediktator” didn’t happen.

And I’d honestly be fine with that if I saw Chloe’s conflict with it. If the show wants to convince me that Chloe’s improving, the solution is not to have Chloe act the same 90% of the time and then have the other 10% be her acting differently than she usually would.

We, as an audience, should see what the difference between Chloe then and Chloe now.

When Chloe acts out of line, we should see a sense of regret. When Sabrina runs out in tears, we should see Chloe go from seething to shocked to horrified as she realizes that she took her anger out on someone who didn’t deserve it.

When Chloe yells at Marinette, we should see a flash of the party Marinette threw for her in “Malediktator,” followed by Chloe clamming up from her shouting and simply storming off.

The show doesn’t have to stop Chloe from doing any bad things right after “Malediktator,” but it needs to show that she’s been affected and impacted by everything that’s been happening to her. She doesn’t have to have regrets all the time, but she should start caring about people who cared for her. She can still be mean, but she needs to be mean at the right people.

Which, honestly, brings us to the big question that this episode doesn’t even try to address.

[Miraculoss]

Does Chloe really deserve a miraculous?

This isn’t about her identity as Queen Bee. This has nothing to do with the fact that she revealed herself to everyone.

This is about entitlement. This is about feeling that something is owed.

Should miraculouses be given out to those who feel like they earned or deserve it?

Does it even matter if they’re good at using their powers?

Is someone who uses their powers effectively worth keeping around regardless of the trouble they cause during their civilian life?

Can that even be a question when a miraculous can just be given to a person who hasn’t nearly killed dozens of people in a potential train accident?

But instead of talking about these things, the show takes another opportunity to push everything onto Ladybug.

Ladybug has to talk to Chloe. Ladybug has to tell her that she can’t be Queen Bee anymore. Ladybug is the one to apologize despite the fact that she is kept very busy (something that Chat seems to constantly forget about, even thinking that it’s okay to keep talking to her while her miraculous is going off like a fire alarm). Even just Marinette has to be lectured by Tikki to go see Chloe as Ladybug anyway even though Marinette already talked to Chloe as Marinette (which was an obvious thing that honestly has no purpose and could’ve been used to have Marinette talk to Tikki about if her feelings towards Chloe’s behavior has changed).

Would Chloe have believed Chat? No one knows because Chat didn’t try. Just like “Glaciator,” Chat doesn’t imagine Ladybug having personal problems or a life outside of superheroing. She’s the “leader” (despite them being called partner’s multiple times and talking like they’re equal), so Ladybug has to do it.

And it’s not like they explain why Chat doesn’t do it. I mean, is it Chloe; the fact that Chloe only would’ve listened to Ladybug?

…Because that’s all the more reason to not use Chloe at all.

We all remember “Antibug,” yes? We all remember the lesson that Marinette didn’t need to learn?

It was about teamwork. It was about listening to others. And that’s something Chloe needs to learn about.

If Chloe can’t respect Chat Noir, Carapace, and Rena Rouge, then she shouldn’t be on the team, period. If Ladybug is the only one she’ll listen too, then that’s not teamwork. Just because Ladybug is the planner doesn’t mean that Chloe would never have to listen to someone else.

Now, if Chloe was fighting with a specific member of the team–like Rena Rouge–and Rena was also fighting back, that’d be different. That would be a conflict that the two team members would either need to sort out or they would have to get out.

And that’s not something that’s discussed either. They don’t talk about the possibility of getting a new holder for the bee and instead still give it to Chloe even when something shady was obviously going on with the sentimonster and akumatized person not being a team (I know we know basically nothing about this yet but Ladybug says it’s weird so I’m rolling with it).

These are all questions I was asking mid-watch and they were never discussed, because it’s easier not to discuss them.

Discussing any of those topics brings Chloe’s worth as a person into question. If Chloe’s worth as a holder is questioned, then the audience will inevitably wonder why Chloe is let loose on the world in civilian form with no one reigning her in.

And, with the possibility that she’ll be given the bee again, that trend continues. Chloe gets a free ride where no one around her has to wonder, “Hey, is this worth it?”

Chloe is an effective bee, and that’s great. It’s good that she was able to take her akumatized father down in “Malediktator.”

And Marinette is a good person. She wanted Chloe to have the bee in hopes that it would make Chloe a better person. I see what Marinette was trying to do, but…

how much good would Queen Bee do for Chloe, really? Chloe has been given a miraculous, what, three times after “Malediktator?” She’s been Queen Bee for maybe a few hours?

When that transformation drops, Chloe still goes home to someone who spoils her rotten. She still goes to school with a girl who does whatever she wants. She still gets waited on by a butler who can’t do anything of value at risk of losing his job.

I’ve said it before, but what Chloe needs is not endless praise and kindness and people being “good examples.” What Chloe needs are boundaries.

When Chloe gets things taken away from her–when there are consequences to her actions–she reacts, but only as long as those things are still held against her.

Once she’s given full trust, she reverts right back to how she was before, with the exception that she receives praise for doing the slightest thing correctly because the tonal whiplash makes it look more impressive. That’s just how it is.

Is Chloe worth trying to “save” as a person? Maybe, but do I think that it should involve a gamble with a miraculous? Absolutely not.

[Bore Game]

Even disregarding Chloe and her constant shouting, this episode isn’t very fun. While the episode tries to squeeze in references and plot elements from other episodes, the final result isn’t something I enjoy watching.

Seeing what Cataclysm does to a person is… something, I suppose, but after Volpina’s illusion in “Catalyst,” it’s not anything special. It hurts, it drains energy, and that’s it. Now, of course, Cataclysm could do worse if used on a normal human, but because Chat’s catsuit is invincible, we don’t get to see any physical damage. We see the impact, we see Chat struggling, and we see Adrien and Plagg hurt and tired.

But then, Chat has to get right back up again to fight Miraculer, getting hit around like a ragdoll in the process. That first Cataclysm hurt, but it doesn’t mean much since Chat has other things he has to do during the episode, so he’s “hurt, but just strong enough to still do everything.”

I don’t need to see Chat bleeding or anything, but just something to show us visually (on his person, not through animation) that he’s roughed up. Belt slightly undone, wrist cuffs twisted, a cat ear bent down at an awkward angle, something!

If Miraculer’s powers were just a downgrade of the actual powers, that’d be different, but they’re not. Miraculer can take them and use them infinitely, which is like… show, I’m not the type to complain about the villains acting OP, but I don’t know what else I can say when it’s so obvious? I mean, they could’ve at least injected some comedy there, like maybe Lucky Charm is bad for Miraculer because she never knows what to do with the charms, yet Ladybug takes them and uses them to her advantage instead.

Anyway, not only that, but Miraculer doesn’t feel like a threat. She’s practically a child, still dedicated to Chloe and being annoying to all the wrong people.

Honestly, she’s in my Top 5 Most Annoying Akuma Victims, easily.

I see what the setup is doing, having Hawk Moth using Miraculer to lure Chloe to their side (even though I’m not sure exactly what they plan to do once they have her since everyone knows that Chloe is Queen Bee; do they only plan to akumatize her? Use her for sentimonsters? The bee is a close combat miraculous, so Chloe can’t hide in the shadows like they can and her miraculous is an easy grab), but with Miraculer being someone who annoys and mockingly imitates people, that’d be the perfect time to give Chloe a taste of her own medicine.

Instead, we just get the same old Sabrina, the same old Chloe with the same old “I might be a good person somewhere” piece of dialog, and the same old formula of having plots that could have potental but are left to the wayside because dealing with complex issues is hard.

[Raincomfix]

Adjusting this episode is… complicated, especially considering that Hawk Moth obviously has something planned for Chloe later (and the possibility that she could still get the bee back; honestly questioning how much the show doesn’t want to make new transformation models for other characters). Either way, I would take Chloe’s miraculous away, but the outcomes here change everything.

Firstly, let’s aim for redemption.

For that adjustment, we first have to change Chloe’s reactions. For example, Chloe’s attitude while waiting to be given the bee may start off angry, and Chloe may toss a few insults at how “useless” the team is without her, but here, she’s going to become very quickly anxious.

Maybe Ladybug didn’t see the signal.

Maybe Ladybug forgot where she lived.

Maybe Ladybug was too far away to get to Chloe in time.

Chloe’s reasoning with herself. She’s rationalizing. This brings back “Malediktator” where Chloe lamented how few friends she had.

And while stressing out over Ladybug, Chloe is neglecting Sabrina.

Meanwhile, Chat and Ladybug only very briefly discuss Queen Bee. Chat is hesitant to say that Chloe doesn’t deserve a miraculous and thus tries to focus on the identity issue, whereas Ladybug is concerned that Chloe isn’t improving enough in her civilian life.

Also, instead of mocking Carapace and Rena Rouge in front of Adrien and the others, Chloe is sulking while pretending she’s not sulking. Marinette approaches and, while Chloe’s initial response is hostile, Chloe softens upon remembering “Malediktator” and realizing that Marinette is trying to comfort her.

Then, Chloe immediately puts up a front and walks away, though isn’t aggressive with Marinette. Chloe just doesn’t like leaving her defenses down since it makes her feel vulnerable.

Marinette considers that reaction and talks to Tikki about a variety of things. Chloe seems to be improving, but is it a big enough improvement? How much should they expect out of her, considering her environment? What about the identity risk? Is the risk worth it if Chloe has been showing signs of good?

Cut to the scene where Chloe is frustrated and takes it out on Sabrina. As Sabrina runs off, Chloe realizes what she did and is instantly regretful. Instead of Sabrina remembering all those “good times” they had together, it’s Chloe, showing that those moments meant something to her. It’s made clear to the audience that Chloe is a mess due to the conflicting influences around her.

Hawk Moth senses that Chloe’s anger has faded and that Chloe cares about Sabrina, so Hawk Moth decides to let the akuma chase Sabrina instead, hoping to use Sabrina to lure Chloe to his side (much like in the original).

The episode plays out mostly as normal, only Chloe is left to consider the fact that she caused Sabrina to get akumatized again, except this time, she feels bad about it. She called herself a hero, but heroes aren’t supposed to cause akumatizations. That’s not right.

By the end of the episode, Chloe has already taken everything into consideration. Thus, before Ladybug can even start talking about Chloe no longer being Queen Bee, Chloe starts talking about how she “doesn’t even want the bee anymore, so Ladybug can just keep it.”

The wind just messes up her hair. She can’t wait around just in case Ladybug might give her the miraculous; she has important Chloe things to do!

In reality, Chloe has recognized that she doesn’t deserve the bee and that Mayura was stalking her. She’s just making the moment easier for both Ladybug and herself.

After Ladybug and the others leave, Sabrina runs up to Chloe, all concerned and friendly like nothing happened and Chloe didn’t snap at her. This affects Chloe emotionally and helps her manage to get out an apology, even if it’s a bit mumbled (apologies are still difficult for her).

The end of the episode is them walking back into the hotel, talking about their next game of pretend. A bit awkwardly, Chloe asks if Sabrina wants to pick who’s who this time.

The episode cuts off there, but that moment shows the audience that Chloe is really trying hard. It shows that Chloe cares about people and that she’s willing to do better.

Now, the unredeemed Chloe version of this episode honestly isn’t that different from the original in terms of how Chloe acts. The only notable difference is that her fighting back against Hawk Moth’s influence is more of a joke than some sort of “character growth” moment.

The big change to the episode, however, is Sabrina. Sabrina’s given a lot more focus.

Why is Sabrina with Chloe? Did Sabrina try to make other friends, and if so, why didn’t she succeed? Does Sabrina care for Chloe, or is it a fear of Chloe that makes Sabrina react?

This would all be addressed, especially as Jean shows up in the episode and would be the perfect person for Sabrina to talk to about Chloe. Instead of the episode stalling and keeping its attention on Chloe’s loud complaints about Ladybug not bringing the bee to her, the focus shifts to Jean and Sabrina, who had moved out of Chloe’s range of hearing while Chloe is “having a moment.”

Jean doesn’t technically discourage Sabrina from staying friends with Chloe, but he hints that Sabrina should question whether or not she’s happy where she is in her friendships.

Sabrina, of course, passes this off as silly. Her and Chloe are best friends! They fight sometimes–okay, Chloe fights–but that’s totally normal, right?

Jean gives her an unsure expression that makes Sabrina falter.

During the scene where Chloe is complaining to Adrien, Chloe’s yelling at Marinette just makes Marinette even more hesitant about letting Chloe be Queen Bee again, much less giving Chloe another miraculous. Tikki tries to suggest the good moments that Chloe’s had, only for Marinette to argue that… is it even worth it? Why bring along someone who needs time and effort to improve when she could find someone else who’d do the job without all this hassle?

Tikki doesn’t have a response to that. Experience means nothing when a different holder can just be trained all over again.

Back with Chloe and Sabrina (Chloe waiting for Ladybug again), Sabrina finally starts considering what Jean had told her after Chloe has yelled at her.

Hawk Moth, nonetheless, tries to get his plan in place, and manages to convince Sabrina (remember, Chloe’s defiance is a joke in this version) to become Miraculer to get Chloe’s attention one last time.

After everything’s said and done, Ladybug admits to Chloe that Chloe can’t have the bee anymore. Chloe is angry and argues that she does well as the bee.

Chat steps in to claim it’s about her identity, but Ladybug turns it on him, pointing out that Chat had refused to tell Chloe himself… why?

Chat stiffens.

Ladybug continues, saying it’s because Chloe sees Chat as a sidekick. Chloe isn’t a team player. Chloe listens to Ladybug and no one else. Ladybug knows what Chloe says about Rena and Carapace “behind her back” and she does not appreciate it.

This isn’t just about identity. This is because Chloe causes akumatizations, is still rude and inconsiderate to people who are only trying to help her, and feels entitled to a miraculous when that is something for Ladybug to decide.

Ladybug commends Chloe for the few times she’s tried, but also adds that it’s not enough. Chloe once told her that she wants to change, but isn’t putting steps in place to do anything about it.

Chloe is stunned by this lecture, then begins fuming, claiming that she “doesn’t need Ladybug anyway” and she “didn’t even want to be a part of their team” (obvious lies).

Chloe then storms off, demanding that Sabrina follow.

“…No.”

Chloe stops, spinning on her heel to face Sabrina. “What?”

“I…” Sabrina stands, not meeting Chloe’s gaze and practically shaking. “I said… no.”

“You can’t just say ‘no’ to me!” Chloe shouts.

Meekly, Sabrina looks at Chloe, voice soft. “I… just did.”

Chloe gapes.

Sabrina continues, nearing tears. “Ladybug’s right. You try, but that’s not enough. I just wanted to make you feel better and you snapped at me. You hurt me and… you’re not even sorry, are you?”

“Ugh.” Chloe flips her hair. “It’s not a big deal. We do this all the time.”

“And that’s the problem!” Sabrina says, raising her voice. “I’m sick of that! I’m stressed out and I can’t take it anymore!”

She turns, hugging herself, then walks over to Ladybug. “C-can you take me home, please?”

Ladybug is surprised, but nods. She reaches for Sabrina, pauses, then glances at Chloe.

“…Actually…”

She turns to Chat, who’s stood conflicted this whole time. “Chat, will you do it?”

Ladybug leans in, whispering, “I want to make sure Hawk Moth won’t come after Chloe.”

Chat nods, then gives Chloe a sympathetic gaze before picking Sabrina up and leaping away. Chloe shouts after Sabrina to come back, but her words are worthless now.

And with that, Chloe would glare at Ladybug, clearly blaming her for all these problems (classic projection), which would be a setup for a future akumatization from Hawk Moth.

The latter points out the faults in Chloe’s environment–that Chloe can’t improve without boundaries–and makes steps to change that by removing Sabrina.

The former probably won’t function for Hawk Moth’s future plans, but could if he was able to escalate a situation and make Chloe believe some sort of falsehood about Ladybug.

I wouldn’t call “Miraculer” a bad episode exactly. I like some of these setups and I like some of the references.

It just doesn’t work as a product that’s trying to make me feel something for Chloe. The only reason that any reaction to Chloe’s changes are so strong is because the writers intentionally write her as rude and nasty as Season 1 Chloe so that the flashbacks and false akumatization hit harder, which is not a natural state of character progression.

Instead of feeling bad for Chloe, I’m left wondering why Ladybug doesn’t just find a new bee during a time where there aren’t any akumatizations or sentimonsters so they can be trained to Queen Bee’s level. This amount of work to improve someone who doesn’t even feel remorse for yelling at her best friend is not worth it. It has never been worth it.

Like, here’s a question: how many episodes did it take for Rena Rouge and Carapace to get their stuff together? One each.

Alya’s moment of weakness was refusing to return the miraculous. Nino’s weakness was wanting to protect Alya but not having the strength to do so. Both of these were resolved in the episode that introduced them.

Chloe has had over four episodes that have her showing clear struggles of being Queen Bee.

“Queen Wasp” - nearly killed dozens of people to “prove herself,” then got akumatized because Ladybug obviously didn’t like that

“Malediktator” - tries to show improvement but then has a “Despair Bear” moment where she’s clearly still Chloe

“Heroes’ Day” - identity came back to bite her

“Miraculer” - is still being a terrible person and showing little desire to actually change her ways

So why does Queen Bee stand on the same ground as Rena and Carapace? Is gambling on her improving using a miraculous really the way to go?

No. No, it’s not. It’s not exactly hard to find someone with higher moral standards than Chloe who can just be taught the ways of the bee.

#category: critique #MC's Adjustments #adjustment: plotlines #adjustment: characters #episode: Miraculer #MC's Writing #writing: story #category: long post #word count: over 4000 #other: ask and answer

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