#nino stand up. nino get up.

[moonieratty]

Rocketear was crazy cause like what is HAPPENING here??

[atteval]

imagine pre-s6, alya reveals to nino that she was Scarabella so he, obviously, accidentally tells adrien too. So adrien spends days trying to come up with a plan to make alya tell him LB’s identity but quickly realizes that nothing would work bc alya is alya. and so in a moment of epiphany, he thinks that marinette probably also knows too bc she and alya are besties and tell eachother everything (like him and nino). and marinette is Not Good at keeping secrets and gets flustered quickly so he concludes that somehow convincing marinette to tell him LB’s identity is his best shot. but he thinks of no better way to do so than cornering her one day at school and pretending to be confronting her because he thinks she’s Ladybug. he obviously doesn't but it's a ruse bc that way mari will eventually need to reveal LB’s real identity in order to deny his claims, right? However when confronted, marinette panics because she is, in fact, Ladybug, and after 15 minutes of torturous instigation gives in and actually confesses. and adrien just stands there like haha what. no this was a joke. what. and they’re both simultaneously panicking now and that's how secret identities are revealed!!!

[angrythingstarlight]

booping Bee >:3

Bee has booped everyone in the house. No one knows where she learned this new game but its clear she's having fun.

Pairing: Mafia!Bucky x Reader, daughter nicknamed Bumblebee

She started with Mr. Tato and his people. Her happy, 'you gets boops and you gets some boops. More boops for you,' drifted out of her room before she skipped out to find her bodyguards.

She told Nino she had a 'prise' for him, when he knelt down she booped his nose and ran off, giggling that she got him.

She tricked Ronan by asking if he wanted to see what she had in her hand. Even though he already knew what she was up to, he still indulged her and bent down so she could tap his nose.

Francine was next. She said she wanted a snack but when the older woman leaned across the counter to give Bee the plate, the toddler poked her twice on the nose, yelled 'you gots a boop' and fled. Leaving behind a befuddled Francine and a plate of fruit.

She caught you when you were sitting down to paint. You were quicker than she anticipated, managing to retaliate before she could make her getaway. The two of you spent the next five minutes trading boops until she declared herself the winner with one final tap to your nose.

And now she's down to the final boss in this game of hers. One last person to beat. Papa.

Unbeknownst to Bee, Bucky's been waiting for her. He's pretending to be asleep on the couch, his eyes closed as the toddler sneaks into the room. His lips twitch at the sound of her muffled giggles. Just as she's about to get him, Bucky's eyes open and she shrieks. He grabs her and holds her above him.

"What are you doing Bumblebee?" He teasingly asks.

Bee reaches out, her chubby little arm straining to reach his face. Almost gots him. "I gonna—" she says, wiggling in his grasp. Just a little closer. "—boops you Papa."

Her fingers graze the tip of his scrunched nose. Not quite a boop but close enough for the toddler. This time when she shrieks, it's a happy, victorious sound. Bucky drops her on his chest, grinning as she immediately takes advantage of her new position to squish his nose with her palm. "Boop."

"Did you already get your mama?"

She nods proudly, holding up her hand. "I gots her dis many times Papa."

"Good job Bee. But I think she needs some more," Bucky replies, standing up with Bee in his arms. "What do you think?"

Her mischievous grin mirrors his. "Let's get her Papa."

[aryadelvich]

Hii, Could you please write one about a Jealous and Possessive Luigi when his cousin is flirting with you during a family gathering.🥰

Hii!! Thank you for your request 🫶 Here it is !!!

If you’re looking for more of my work here’s an Updated Masterlist

I don’t like the way he’s looking at you - Luigi Mangione

Reminder : Someone acting like this is not normal. It’s a fiction. If this happens to you in real life you have to make decision to leave. Jealousy is not a justification for bad behaviors.

Everyone was smiling, laughing, and chatting. You were surrounded by Luigi’s big Italian family, meeting what felt like a never-ending list of relatives.

It was the first time he had ever brought a girlfriend to a family event—his first serious relationship. His sisters, his mother, and his father had welcomed you with open arms, treating you like one of their own. Now, you were meeting the rest—his uncles, aunts, grandparents, cousins… So many cousins.

As you poured yourself a drink, a man walked up beside you. He was tall, dark-haired, and undeniably Italian—bearing an uncanny resemblance to Luigi.

"Hey," he greeted smoothly.

"Hey," you replied flatly.

"So, you’re Luigi’s girl? Never thought I’d see the day he brought someone home. You must be special."

"If you’ll excuse me." You turned to walk away, but before you could, he grabbed your arm.

"Hey, slow down. You haven’t even told me your name."

He pulled you a little closer, his hand settling on your waist. A cold wave of disgust rolled through you.

"Hey Nino!"

Luigi’s voice cut through the air like a blade. Before you could react, he stormed over and shoved Nino back so hard that he stumbled into a nearby table, knocking it over with a loud crash. Conversations died, and suddenly, all eyes were on the scene unfolding.

"Don’t touch her," Luigi snapped, his tone sharp enough to slice through steel.

You had never seen him like this before. Luigi was always calm, always kind. But now? He looked ready to kill.

Nino raised his hands in mock surrender. "Relax, Lulu, I was just being friendly."

"Find someone else to be friendly with," Luigi shot back, his voice dangerously low.

His mother rushed over, eyes wide with concern. "Luigi, what’s the problem ?"

"I lost my temper. But he was out of line."

He didn’t wait for a response. Instead, he grabbed your hand and pulled you away from the crowd, leading you toward a quiet corner of the house.

"YN, I told you not to talk to other guys."

You yanked your hand back, frowning. "I wasn’t talking to him. He came to me."

"It’s the same thing! It’s like last time I told you, if you don’t want me to lose it, you need to stay away from guys like him."

You folded your arms, frustration bubbling up. "Do you even hear yourself? You just caused a scene in front of your entire family!"

Luigi exhaled sharply, his jaw tightening. “You’re defending him ?”

You frowned. “I’m not defending him! I’m just saying you didn’t have to react like that.”

He let out a low, humorless chuckle, shaking his head. “Right. So now I’m the bad guy, and Nino’s just some innocent guy making conversation?”

“That’s not what I said—”

He stepped closer, his voice quieter but dripping with jealousy. “Keep this up, and I’m gonna start thinking you actually want him.”

Your eyes widened. “Are you serious right now?”

“I don’t know, am I?” His gaze locked onto yours, dark and unreadable. “Because from where I’m standing, you’re more upset about me putting him in his place than the fact that he touched you.”

“That’s not true!”

“Then say it.” His grip on your waist tightened slightly. “Say that you didn’t like it. Say that you don’t want him.”

You scoffed, pushing at his chest. “Obviously, I don’t want him, Luigi. What kind of question is that?”

He studied you for a moment, with a serious face. “Good. Because if I ever get the feeling that you do… I won’t be nearly as nice next time.”

"Do you even care how I feel? You can’t just act like you own me, Luigi."

His expression softened—just a little. He exhaled slowly, running a hand through his hair.

"You don’t get it, do you?" he murmured.

"Get what?"

He stepped closer, his hands finding your waist, holding you gently but firmly.

"I’m yours. Completely. I have been since the beginning."

Your heart clenched.

"Then why do you act like this?" you whispered.

He hesitated for a second, then sighed. "Because the thought of someone else touching you—hell, even looking at you—drives me insane. I don’t want to share you, not even for a second."

His fingers brushed against your cheek, his touch far softer than his words.

"But I need to trust you, Luigi. I need to know you won’t just explode every time another guy so much as breathes in my direction."

He nodded slowly, his eyes locked onto yours.

"You can trust me. But what I feel for you—it’s not something I can just turn down. I belong to you, YN. Every look, every word, every damn heartbeat. I’m always thinking about you, worried about you."

You bit your lip, torn between staying mad and just giving in.

"You’re obsessed," you muttered.

That familiar smirk ghosted his lips. "Isn’t the point ? Yeah I’m obsessed, so what ?."

You rolled your eyes, but he caught the tiny smile you tried to hide. And that was all he needed.

[chocostrwberry]

I was thinking it be cool if Marinette was extremely lucky-

Like it’s a part of her character. She even introduces herself as “I’m Marinette, and I would say I’m a pretty lucky girl!”

Marinette being the type of person who would tell you stuff like “Oh I was worried about eating out today but then I found a 50 dollar bill so everything worked out!” Or “Apparently the road to school was blocked off, but I got there just in time for it to clear out so I wasn’t late to school!”

She finds a lil white dog at the park one day, spends some time looking for the owner out of kindness, and the owner turns out to be an old woman. BUT that old woman is extremely wealthy and a few months later turns out she had decided to sponsor Marinette’s education in her will so she can go to the most private school in Paris

Because she stands up for Juleka, Marinette starts dating Luka, and it turns out he’s one of Jagged Stone’s children so he put her on an album cover as a present AND free publicity for her designs.

Adrien, a TOP MODEL falls in love with her because she returns his mother’s necklace instead of destroying it, basically establishing the love of her life and a secure future if she likes him back.

Nino saying “This is Marinette’s world and we’re all just living in it” as a joke-

But when she gets the Ladybug miraculous, her life starts to fall apart. It’s kinda ironic, that the miraculous of luck happened to make her life worse off, but that might just be a silly side effect of being the holder? Like fate has it where it’s attracted to lucky people, but then it neutralizes it?

And so throughout the show, there are moments where like “everything turned out okay in the end”, but mostly it’s just one super slide of her civilian life going downhill. She still has moments where good things happen to her seemingly out of nowhere, but I’d like to think now they don’t last as long as she’s use to. They’re more fleeting, if that makes sense, because something always happens that ruins it.

Chloe invites her to her birthday party because they’re finally not enemies anymore, but then takes the blame for ruining it

Dates chat noir, her idol and crush, but he breaks up with her and gets akumatized

So you see her going from this happy-go-lucky girl who’s just like “Hee hee, oh well!” to a paranoid and anxious “I have to be careful, something bad is going to happen soon.”

[gremlinmodetweeker]

König vs Reality TV

So, König is not a reality TV fan. In general he doesn't like tv, he considers it lowclass hogwash and prefers reading books or watching horror movies, but he has his weaknesses.

He was immune to the Kardashians. The Housewives of New Jersey could kiss his ass? Honey Boo Boo? Honey Boo Who? Honey Boo Hoo Fuck You. He couldn't care for any of it. The next time Horangi tries to get him hooked on a K-Drama he's going to put the remote through the TV. Nobody could get through to him.

But then he met his match in the form of one British chef.

Yes, König is a sucker for Kitchen Nightmares. That was König's gateway drug for reality tv.

You were just playing it in the background while working when König stepped into the living room. He was gonna ask you something, but then he started watching the show. You eventually had to ask him what was wrong, but he completely tuned you out. Later, he subtly asked you about the show.

"What is this slop you're watching?"

"What? Kitchen Nightmares?" you smirk, "you really are watching it, aren't you?"

König doesn't tear his eyes away from the screen as he says, "I'm not watching it."

He stands there for ten minutes when you ask him what he came to you for. He admits he forgot. He refuses to admit that he's watching. You already know.

Late at night König looks up the show on his laptop and in an instant he's hooked. In one night, König becomes Gordon Ramsey's biggest fan (both literally and figuratively). He's obsessed. It's an entire show dedicated to food. He can't get enough of it. And, despite himself, the drama gets to him. He lives for the drama. Every now and then you'll hear König mutter something like 'My name's NINO' under his breath but you can't be sure.

The thing is that for all of König's media literacy, for all his skills at psychological warfare and his incredible understanding of psychology, König becomes a sucker for the show. He's the same brainless housewife as the next. Not that that's a bad thing! Everyone needs a show to turn their brain off to. It's fun to just chill and watch some brainless slop. But being brainless is a hit to his pride. It doesn't stop him from being completely hooked though. He's watching the show and every time they bring out a dish to Ramsey König looks at it and goes 'Oh wow that looks so good'. Then Gordon Ramsey says, 'it's overcooked, bland rubbish' and then König goes 'That looks so gross. How can anyone eat that slop? Couldn't be me'. It's incredible. It's like clockwork. Somehow, this show works its way through every one of König's defences and he becomes a complete and total sucker.

But Kitchen Nightmares is only the gateway. König learns about the entire world of the food network. He watches Masterchef seasons from multiple countries, he watches Bar Rescue with John Taffer, he eats up all the food tv out there.

Eventually, you come back to him cooking along to Martha Stewart and Snoop Dogg. On one hand, he looked like such a massive dweeb that it bordered on being an ick. On the other, his already phenomenal cooking has only been getting better and it's not slowing down any time soon.

Konig Dump

Headcanons

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

Any ML characters that you do think are overhated?

No one really comes to mind. While I end up defending Marinette the most, I'm more critical of specific criticisms or the way the criticisms are handled than I am of the fact that people can't stand her or any other character. Almost every significant character has come across as pretty terribly at one point or another and I understand why some viewers can't look past those bad writing choices. Many side characters have also done questionable things. Off to top of my head, here are some flaws that are understandably hard to overlook:

Alya blindly believing everything Lila says and dismissing Marinette's concerns, especially after the reveal of Ladybug's identity

Nino outing Alya's identity to Adrien and never telling her (Rocketear), then doing it again in public without asking her permission (Illusion)

Adrien pushing for Ladynoir in spite of Ladybug's multiple requests that he stop

Marinette using her trauma as an excuse for her inability to treat Adrien as a normal human being

The entire miracuclass trying to force Marinette and Adrien to kiss while they watch

Everything Nathalie did - or more damningly didn't do - in season five

Any and all of these things are understandably off-putting. While I don't particularly like pure salt fics, I do get why they exist. Sometimes you just need an outlet to express your frustration! I do it via this blog, but I don't judge anyone for doing it via a vent fic instead. I just get concerned when the annoyance and anger leads to poor media literacy where people act as if these characters are real people doing real things. They're not. They're puppets controlled by poor-quality puppet masters.

Along the same lines, I also get annoyed when people pick and choose which jokes to take at face value, when people hold different characters to wildly different standards, or when people act like their favorite is the biggest victim of the bad writing. They're all victims at this point. There's no point debating who got it worse. It's not going to fix the issues. At this point, I don't think that anything can. The last two seasons made the flaws too deep. The only way to make the story work is a full reboot.

That's why this is a writing salt, character sugar blog. I'm not here to defend the writing or tell you that the characters have done nothing wrong. I'm here to defend the basic story setup and explain why the problems all fall at the feet of the writers. This isn't the kind of story where it is intentionally making you hate the characters. Outside of Chloe and Lila, you are supposed to like basically the entire cast. It's embarrassing how hard the writers failed at that assignment.

[cultofasparagus]

I have a new delusional theory I would like you guys to indulge in:

Listen, listen Felix x Kagami was dropped on us with no warning too so this isn't too far fetched

Anytime there is a group shot in the intro almost all of the canon couples are together (except for alya and nino but that's so they can stand next to their respective best friends) and all the singles people are posed alone except...

Very consistent wouldn't you say...

I know that's kinda far FETCHed but I have other reasons. Both Zoe and Sabrina are pretty heavily featured in the trailers meaning they will probably both get some kind of character arc the season

Sabrina just lost Chloe who was her only friend. If you remember in the original evillustrator episode Sabrina immediately starts trying to treat Marinette like a replacement Chloe the moment they are separated. I imagine even though she's free from Chloe, she's still going to try and find a replacement for her since she doesn't really know any other way to be friends with someone. What better person to replace Chloe than her sister with rhyming name. Obviously Zoe would never treat Sabrina like her sister, but they may end up becoming at least friends. Maybe even more if I'm not being fully delusional about the group shots. Side note on the trailer vs group shot: notice how like Zoe, Sabrina will also change her hair after going through some type of arc? (Zoe does it for her?)

Anyway thank for for coming to my conspiracy TED talk, I know there's not a lot of evidence and this is age really bad, but trust.

[ilikekidsshows]

As a huge Adrien fan who was horrified and disgusted by what the show has done to him (especially the season 5 finale) I am so grateful to have found your blog! I hope you don’t mind but I would like to vent my feelings a little to someone who understands.

As an abuse victim with a controlling father I connected with Adrien from the beginning and I was so excited to see his story play out. I thought it could be another Zuko type of character arc where he slowly overtime comes to realize he is being abused and that the way his dad has treated him is wrong and eventually stand up to him and break free of his dad’s abuse and control. I was eagerly watching and waiting what I thought would be such an amazing journey ahead of Adrien. I loved seeing him finally able to attend public school and getting a chance for freedom through his miraculous and being able to make real friends. I thought all of this would help him slowly build up that support system to help him continue to take more control of his life. I couldn’t wait to see Adrien slowly start to heal and gain a found family with people like Nino Alya and even Ladybug as Chat Noir (these were the early days when I genuinely thought they were a team). The episode where all of Adrien’s guy friends threw him a party was so much fun and I was happy to see he had made so many friends who had his back.

In that one episode (can’t recall the name right now) where Luka was making instruments and seeing Adrien a bit aimless and unsure of his future I remember thinking it will be so wonderful to watch him come to figure out who he is and what he wants to with his life outside of his father’s expectations. To see him forge his own identity (something he’d already begun doing as Chat Noir). I went through my own journey of discovering who I am and who I want to be after breaking free of my dad’s abuse. It’s beautiful and empowering and I couldn’t wait to see Adrien go through something similar.

I was a little worried by episodes like Chat Blanc and Ephemeral that showed futures where Adrien learned his dad was Hawk Moth and fell under his control due to his emotions spiraling out of control. It was completely understandable given such a situation and revelation. But I figured the reveal will just need to happen in a way that gives Adrien time to process and work through it before he goes to confront his dad as Hawk Moth and defeat him with Ladybug.

But then he quickly started losing his support system and friends. Things were never quite the same between him and Nino after Rocketear. Chloe became too awful and he had no choice but to cut ties. Ladybug completely disregarded his feelings and never listened to him and he was forced to be HER support system and keep his feelings and problems to himself.

I didn’t understand why this was happening. I stayed in deep denial about senti-Adrien right up until the finale because I just couldn’t fathom them actually doing something so completely horrific especially to one of the leads of the show. I didn’t understand why suddenly everything was regressing and becoming worse for Adrien. He lost his support system and friends. His dad became even more abusive and controlling than ever before in season 5 and then the finale happened.

I truly felt physically sick to my stomach by everything that happened in the finale. It was such a slap in the face to me as an abuse victim. Seeing Adrien trapped in that room. Watching him completely stripped of all autonomy and not allowed to take part in the final battle. And then he never even got to know the truth about his dad and was made to believe his abuser was a hero who he should aspire to be like. He never learned he was a sentimonster never allowed to have any control over his life. He also decided he didn’t need to figure out what he wants to do with his life or who he is because all that matters to him is loving Marinette. It was awful. A living nightmare! The absolute worst show finale I have ever seen in my life. It was all a lie. Adrien was never going to get any kind of character arc or growth. Never get to confront his abusive dad, never get to be anything but Marinette’s satellite love interest. No goals or dreams of his own. And made into a sentimonster (I firmly believe that whole thing is a retcon he wasn’t a sentimonster in the beginning) stripping him of any agency or autonomy. Lied to by the person who is supposed to love him but instead treats him terribly. Forced to see his abuser as a hero.

I am sick, horrified, and devastated by what the show has done to Adrien. I saw so much of myself in him and he got the worst possible “happy” ending. Handed from one controlling abuser to the next with no hope of ever breaking free or even realizing that he needs to. The writers have given the biggest f you to all the abuse victims out there with such an abysmal heartbreaking ending.

---

This blog is a free-to-vent zone, so go ahead.

It really is cruel how much more sympathy Miraculous directs at the abusers in its narrative than the victims. We get to learn all the reasons the abusers have for what they do, how they feel about everything, how they truly do care so the abuse shouldn't matter and they are the ones who get, not just forgiven, but vindicated, proven to be correct in a way that they don't need forgiveness. Right as Adrien is finally ready to say his father's treatment of him is wrong, has always been wrong, our hero shuts him down, tells him he is wrong for being so ungrateful for being angry at the man who saved her and the world.

Like, sure, it's a lie and Marinette feels really bad about it throughout the London Special, but it's not like that lie is ever going to be properly unpacked in the story. Even if Adrien learns the truth, the pieces have already been laid out so that he will instantly forgive Marinette, that he will understand her totally selfless reasoning and vindicate her. Abusers and abuse apologists get all the sympathy and vindication, and it's granted to them by the abuse victims of the story, whose feelings are always treated as secondary to what the people who harm them are thinking and feeling.

Even Emil’s introduction serves to further vindicate Gabriel. These two supposedly unrelated men are carbon copies of each other in looks and mannerisms, and the reason for this is to further enforce the idea of them as loving family men who just have difficulty with expressing their care and that means we should view them as victims of circumstance and celebrate the bare minimum they manage of not always being abusive. There's a difference between acknowledging that abusers are people and not always abusing their victims and celebrating abusers for these facts, and Miraculous does the latter with its constant insistence that people like Gabriel should be remembered for the good they did while the bad they did gets almost completely ignored.

Many people defending Miraculous say this isn't glorifying abuse, that it's just “letting them off too easily”, which just begs the question: how much further would a kids’ show need to go with its blatant abuse apologia to qualify as “glorifying” by this standard? Do we need a character to say: “man, it sure is good Gabriel abused Adrien into submission so that Marinette can enjoy a perfect, subservient boyfriend!” Because, like, no one might say that, but it's very much the implied takeaway.

[kaileedraws]

Introduction: Marinette Dupain-Cheng

Here are some of my changes to Marinette in my Miraculous AU! Below I'm going to go into a little bit further detail about what I'm changing about her character and why. I'll list the problems that I have with her character in the show and explain how I plan to fix it.

1. Marinette is the only character that must be there in order for a fight to be won

I've noticed in the story, other characters have little to no opportunity to save the day if Marinette is not present, and this seems a little unrealistic. She is the protagonist, but I feel like her biggest lesson is that she doesn't need to do everything herself - but unfortunately, the story's plot only reinforces the fact that she DOES need to do everything herself, or else things will backfire on her. I will be balancing the Miraculous powers to reflect the unique aspects of everyone's personality and show that Marinette can rely on others - especially Chat Noir - to win without her.

2. The show's narrative punishes characters when they trust others - making Marinette a hypocrite

An example of this is pushing the narrative that Ladybug and Chat Noir cannot know each other's identities or else the world will end (except in their alternate universe). Marinette also punishes Alya for trusting Nino with her identity - yet is not so reluctant to share her own identity with her own best friend.

More people know Ladybug's identity than Chat Noir's identity (and not even because he told him he was Chat Noir), yet Ladybug consistantly shows Chat Noir that she trusts others more than him. She has a hypocritical nature of warning him about secrets, yet does the very things he warns him against.

Fixing this, Marinette, as a character, lacks trust due to her past with Chloe - an ex-best-friend - and Kim - an ex-crush. She has a nature of becoming suspicious of strangers, and she is overly cautious and judgemental of those she meets (which would also explain her canon reactions to Lila and Kagami when she first meets them). Because of this, she stereotypes Adrien when she first meets him and thinks he is just trying to manipulate her like all of the other popular kids she has met. He is constantly trying to prove to her that she is a good person and she doesn't buy it for a while. For Alya, she is also suspicious with her at first, but because she is so brutally honest to everyone - she has an easier time with learning to trust her than anyone else she meets.

With the Ladynoir dynamic, Ladybug starts the series pushing Chat Noir away - desperately trying to keep their relationship professional. But as things blow up in her face the more she pushes him away and tries to do everything herself, she finds herself apologizing for her mistakes and trying to become closer to him so they can function better as a team (power of love always so strong~). As the story goes on, she finds that she can be more herself as Ladybug to Chat Noir than as Marinette because Marinette becomes a chronic liar to keep her identity.

In the future, when Alya comes clean to Marinette that she told Nino about her own miraculous, Marinette reacts the way she did in the show and feels betrayed, but later forgives Alya and trusts her to make her own decisions in her life (character development here).

3. Marinette doesn't have a clear character arc

the show is set up - as cooberated by many others - as a "lesson of the day"-type show, but Marinette doesn't have any character development other than becoming a little more confident and standing up to her bully (which also gets her into trouble more and happens early on in the show). I think that her character development should revolve around learning to trust others and learning that she can't do everything by herself, and learning how to cope with her anxiety.

4. Marinette's creepy obsession (Stalker) with Adrien

No one tells Marinette that she takes things a little too far with Adrien except for the school bully (Chloe). She doesn't even recongize herself until later that what she's doing is wrong. I feel like - especially aged up - that Marinette has a duality with this. She knows morally that it's not OK to stalk people or be as obsessive as she is, but she continues to make excuses that she is either protecting Adrien or herself from harm. She feels guilty about it, but her inherent curiosity and lack of trust gets the better of her sometimes.

5. Marinette is mostly bubbly and awake

Either this girl takes adderall every morning or eats coffee beans - she is always shown to be alert despite being a full-time student, overachiever, and superhero. It would be good to see her struggling with sleep more often and developing an energy drink/coffee addiction just to stay awake. Perhaps it gets so bad that she has to be hospitalized for severe sleep deprivation.

6. The plot prohibits Marinette from ever being akumatized fully

Because of her huge emotions, Marinette would definitely be akumatized at some point. She would fight it - perhaps Tikki would take her Miraculous and find a temporary holder - or not - but being a main character and a miraculous holder should not exclude her from becoming a victim of hawkmoth. This would also push the narrative that Marinette is not perfect and she is not inherently needed to save the day every time.

Conclusion

These are just a few of my changes for Marinette - once I nail down a design, I'll probably make a character sheet for her general personality. I like the idea that she is one of the weird, awkward art kids in school that is incredibly dark, tired, and weirdly bubbly around her friends, but depressed at home (my middle school experience tbh). I'm really excited to make Marinette a lot more relatable and a product of the things she experinces in the show - not just a protagonist with layers of plot armor and villian-like hypocracy!

[camryn-haitani]

c'mon bugaboo

cat noir x reader

'sentibubbler': season 4, episode 10

TW: angst and comfort, cursing, spoilers for that episode.

this is a little scenario I had in my head about him, so I decided to put it here. I don't know if this is really angst but I'm just gonna put it just in case. I'm sorry I've been gone for so long, here's my apology<3

- - - - - -

"b-but I wanna help. why can't I help?" cat noir asks.

"well, we really don't need your cataclysm so" rena says as she makes a mirage of ladybug. she runs off, rena following the fake ladybug.

"well.... there's nothing I can do now. I feel useless now ladybugs the guardian of the miracle box." cat sighs.

cat felt useless like he said. since ladybug can temporarily give people miraculous's, there was almost no need for him anymore. cat goes off with no destination in mind. he just jumps around from roof to roof. rena said their plan didn't require cat noir, so he walks around for hours. he sees the miraculous ladybug fix everything and sighs. by the time he's tired of running, he jumps down onto a roof and sits down, not knowing he's waken up someone.

y/n pov

"what the fuck, who or what is on my roof?" I get up from my bed to see what the noise came from.

I see that familiar black cat costume with the matching ears coming from that blond head.

"cat?" I walk up behind him and sit down.

"o-oh I'm sorry. I landed too hard and probably woke you up. I'll leave." he stands up to leave. "no no no, I was already awake. I've just gotta ask, what are you doing here? shouldn't you be with ladybug?" I sit down next to him.

he sighs, debating on whether to tell you or not. "well..." he goes on.

"ladybug hasn't really been needing me the last few missions. she's been asking other people for help. and...." he takes a breath, holding in tears, "it makes me feel like she doesn't need me anymore. like she's tossed me to the curb. like today, nino got akumatized into the sentibubbler by shadow moth. I was all ready to come and help, but rena said they don't need me..." I see a single tear fall from his eyes.

"ladybug has missed a lot of our nightly patrols. I miss it. I miss saving akumatized villains, I miss our patrols around Paris, I miss...." he takes a breath, "I miss her."

I look at him and hold his hand. I see him look at my hand on his.

"I'm kinda in the same situation, cat. but that's for another day. I don't wanna put this on you. do you wanna come in? it's kinda cold out here." I ask.

"sure... it is a bit chilly" he stands up and follows me.

we walk through my back door into my room. my room is quite big with the couch so it won't be too cramped with both of us in here(I know this is a bit much but just work with me please).

"hey cat." I look at him. "what's up?" he tries to say without breaking his voice. I hold out my arms to invite him in a hug. he looks at me with sad eyes, tumbles into my arms and breaks down crying.

he cries for a good while and when he calms down he asks, "am I just not enough?" he whispers. "oh cat, of course you're enough. I can't tell you why she gives other people miraculous's. but I do know that you're a great hero to Paris."

"I am?" he looks up at me. "yes cat, you're the best hero i have ever seen." I reassure him.

"thank you, truly. I'm sorry I was so loud on your roof." he apologizes. "no no it's ok, I'm glad you were because I wouldn't have met you" he smiles at my words. I hear faint beeps as cat looks down at his ring. "shit, I gotta go. it was nice meeting you......?" he pauses, not knowing my name. "it's y/n. is there a name I can call you instead of cat?" he laughs a bit at my question, "call me whatever you come up with, i don't mind." he answers.

"it was nice meeting you, kitty," I take his hand before he leaves, "if you ever feel like this again or need to talk, I'm always free. come by anytime." I smile.

"of course, cutie. I wouldn't want to miss any opportunity to see you again." he kisses the back of my hand.

"I'm see you soon, kitty." I kiss his cheek. he smiled at my kiss and went out the window.

'i hope I see him again. he's pretty cute.' I say to myself. I go back to my bed and drift off into sleep, thinking about a certain cat in mind.

- - - - - -

I will hopefully be doing a part 2 if y'all are interested<3

[skania]

OnK Chapter 155 Akane Thoughts

Before I start rambling about the chapter, let me just confess that my hopes of Aka delivering some Chapter 51 & 52 parallels in the upcoming weeks just increased exponentially.

I know, I know, I'm probably playing myself but. In this week's episode we see Aqua and Akane go out together and starting to work together as a team.

And in this week's manga chapter, we see... Aqua and Akane go out together and (potentially) starting to work together as a team.

As if to prove that it's no coincidence, Akane is even wearing a choker in both, this week's episode and this week's manga chapter. Even though in the manga, she hasn't worn one since... well, the very chapter the anime is adapting this week.

It's like Aka's break was strategically placed just so the chapter & episode line up 😭

Granted, there's nothing to guarantee that he will keep it up in the next two weeks. Maybe this will be enough for him and he will call it a day. But since we've gotten this far and hope is free, may as well keep hoping while expecting nothing 😂

Moving onto the chapter, full disclosure: I've been half-expecting Akane getting the "Moving On"™ patented haircut because it very much is a thing in Asia, whether it be in manga or in real life. So no surprise there.

The reason she gave on the other hand...

^ My face knowing Aka just served Akane on a silver platter to every Akane hater out there 😂

The funniest thing about all this is that, hello?? The bangs are one thing, but are we supposed to pretend that Akane didn't wear her hair long as a kid? If anything, Akane cut her hair short that first time because her idol wore hers short. So why should anyone take short hair as a more genuine Akane thing than long hair??

But whatever, Aqua went back to his Love Now hair so the choice of haircut itself was obviously just Aka wanting Akane to be in sync with him. Because even if Aka recently spent 4 chapters establishing that Aqua is supposed to end up with someone else, he and Akane are the ones who continue to move as a pair.

Naturally.

So leaving the haircut itself aside, Akane is back to her original hair parting and thus (apparently) done imitating Ai.

The question here is: in what ways exactly has Akane been "imitating" Ai up to this point? Because I know there are a lot of different schools of thought when it comes to that.

As far as I'm concerned though, we have seen Akane, we have seen Ai, and we have seen Akane acting as Ai.

Needless to say, this isn't at all how Akane conducts herself in her day-to-day life lol

However, I don't think she means that she just shaped her hairstyle after Ai to be more like Aqua's ideal girl. That's fair and makes sense on paper, but if "imitating" Ai was just about making her hairstyle more appealing to Aqua, then why didn't she cut her hair after she and Aqua broke up? More than that, why didn't she cut it after she chose to support Kana's love life?

Because the timing of the haircut is key, IMO. She cut her hair short only after Aqua chose happiness and accomplished his revenge. In other words, she cut her hair short only after her goal of saving Aqua was accomplished.

To me, this implies that if Akane has been imitating Ai, it's been in ways that she thought would help her accomplish that goal.

Now, since she hardly speaks this chapter, it's hard to gauge what changes this will bring to Akane's characterization. However, there is one thing that already stands out to me:

Remember what happened when Akane thought that Kamiki killed Ai? She feared that Aqua would get his hands dirty by killing him in turn, and as such decided that she had to deal with Kamiki on her own in order to protect Aqua.

Now she knows that Nino is the Big Bad, and the first thing we see her do is... go discuss the situation with Aqua.

Akane now trusts that Aqua won't break, and so instead of acting on her own to protect him, she wants to be forthcoming with him.

Considering what I mentioned above about Aqua and Akane moving as a pair, I can't help but to think Aka may just be establishing Akane's own version of this:

And — what a coincidence — those lines also fit none other than Ai, who pretended to not love Kamiki and kept her distance from him because of how important he was to her.

Since Ai knew Kamiki was about to break, Ai put on a façade that wouldn't show her own doubts and fears. All in an effort to not burden him more, to protect him better even if she failed at it.

So I'm inclined to believe that may just be how Akane has been imitating Ai.

Aqua recently described Ai as someone who was always carefree, strong and who never cried. Needless to say, he was wrong about her, but that's the impression Ai deliberately tried to give. And what have we seen from Akane, especially lately?

Even when going against her true desires, Ai always put on a smile and remained flippant. So Akane may have been taking a page from that particular book... to be Aqua's perfect support.

His perfect ally.

I theorized before that this star here was Akane fully embracing the role as Aqua's girlfriend, but she wasn't just any kind of girlfriend. She was as supportive of Aqua as she possibly could, always trying to offer him solace, precisely because she knew how burdened Aqua was.

And throughout it all, Akane kept her own feelings and wants very close to her chest. She even intended to say goodbye to him with a smile, not realizing just how hard it would be on her.

Akane has been striving to save Aqua all along and playing any role she deems necessary to accomplish that goal (the supportive girlfriend, the well-meaning ex that gets in the way of his plans), but now that Aqua has finally been saved, she doesn't need to put on a mask anymore. Unlike Ai, who wore hers nearly until the very end.

With that reading, I can't help but think that Akane's wording was pretty clever. If she wants to be vague about her haircut being related to the "saving Aqua chapter" finally coming to a close for her, saying that she no longer needs to imitate Ai is a good way to convey it without actually saying it.

I may be completely off about all this, though. Truth is, we could sit here all day trying to figure out Akane's thoughts and Aka's intended meaning, but we all know that a lot of people will be running off with the most unflattering interpretations and they could be right for all I know. Aka's mind sometimes works in twisted ways 😂

That said, one unflattering interpretation I do want to fight against is that of Akane's feelings for Aqua just being an emulation of Ai's own. That doesn't add up, because Akane's goal from the get-go has been to help Aqua be happy.

And she had that goal even before she started imitating Ai:

Unless Aka retcons this, Akane's feelings for Aqua are Akane's own. He saved her and helped her be happy, and Akane has always been seeking to save him and help him be happy in turn.

It is possible that Akane has been trying to fill for Aqua the role of unconditional love and support that Ai would've filled for him if only she were alive. That's more or less just another way to say everything I already mentioned above.

However, even in that case, this should be motivated by her own feelings for him rather than Ai's. Not to mention, Ai's feelings for Aqua are motherly feelings and thus, strictly platonic. Meanwhile, Akane's for Aqua were paralleled to Ai's for her lover literally just a chapter ago:

So if Aka's writing is consistent, that particular interpretation should be off the table.

But that's enough time spent trying to make sense of Akane's line and Aka's intention behind it lol

Moving on, I can't help but notice what a big coincidence it is that right after we get a chapter showing that Ai and Kamiki are (in many ways) a failed Akane/Aqua, we now get a chapter where Akane cuts her hair short to differentiate herself from Ai.

Akane and Aqua may just be about to move into uncharted territory.

The first time we saw Aqua and Akane team up in Love Now, they did so as a business, fake relationship. Now, they're (potentially) teaming up all over again and being more honest while they're at it. What kind of dynamic will we see now, I wonder?

Granted, it doesn't have to involve anything romantic. This could be very well Aka setting up the stage for Aqua and Akane to end up as friends, and I'd personally be fine with that as long as it's executed well.

Regardless of the nature of his feelings though, I can't help but remember this:

Aqua once said that he will like Akane no matter what kind of Akane she is. With some luck, we may just see Aqua finally prove that he meant it.

His reaction when he saw her was so funny though. Aqua's feelings for Akane can be interpreted in many different ways, but indifference definitely isn't a plausible one lmao

Even here in this panel he's anything but indifferent. Almost like Akane just broached a sore subject

Also, it is kind of poetic that as soon as happiness is back on the table for Aqua, we see Aqua and Akane reunite on a chapter titled "Happy Ending" of all things lol

Now, onto the plot! It's nice to have confirmation that Aqua did originally intend to kill Kamiki. I'd like to know what exactly entailed his original plan, but that may be asking for too much at this point.

We still don't know what changed Aqua's mind, though. This chapter presents it as Aqua simply respecting Ruby's choice, but like I mentioned before, if that was all there was to it, then why didn't Aqua change his mind after he saw Ruby act the "I don't love you" scene for the first time? What let Aqua finally accept that Ruby's version of revenge was the right one?

On that same note, this chapter seems to confirm that Aqua has now embraced his life as Aqua Hoshino. He once discarded the naive thought of being happy, but now he seems ready to move on and getting a happy ending. Last time we saw Aqua pre time-skip on Chapter 151, his stars were still black. So, what gave?

We should still be missing a piece to solve that particular puzzle, IMO. I do think that Aka will eventually show it, even if it ends up being something as simple as "Kana True Oshi ❤️" (lmao)

Speaking about puzzles, it's hilarious how Aka makes Aqua be smart only when it's convenient to him. Just like Aqua magically could tell that his father was Kamiki just "thanks to Akane's movements", now he was suddenly able to tell that Nino was the big bad 😂 At least we're being told Akane already figured that out for herself, so that's good.

I swear though, if this doesn't all end with Aqua asking Akane what her happy ending is, I'll riot. Akane has spent the entire manga trying to save Aqua, and now that he's saved, she will be working to make everyone's happy ending possible. So Aqua better put in some effort to make sure Akane gets her happy ending too, whatever that may entail.

Things are moving super fast though, way faster than I thought they would. Now they even know about Yura, like?? Hopefully we'll at least get a few flashback panels to show how in the world they knew about her, because Aka is seriously pushing it lmao

In-before Aqua and Akane use a B-Komachi concert as bait to draw Nino into making a move so they can catch her. With everyone's help, of course 😂

I also can't help but wonder if Kamiki may pull some strings so that Ruby can have her Dome concert...

Everyone could see the Nino reveal coming after what happened with Kamiki, so I won't dwell on that. What I do find interesting though is that Nino is being presented as a fan gone wrong. She is everything a fan shouldn't strive to be. So knowing Aka, it's only natural that she will be contrasted to someone who is a true fan. Someone who genuinely wants only the best for their idol, without seeking to own them in any way.

Considering everything that has happened in the story, the two people who are most apt to fulfill that contrast are Aqua and Ruby. In Aqua's case in particular, that's a very interesting thought... especially considering his relationship with Kana and what Kana wants out of him: to be his number one idol, an idol that is an idol for him and him alone.

But we'll have to wait and see whether Aka sticks to his values or not 😂

All in all though, I'm very pleased that this chapter seems to put Akane front and center in this final arc, which is exactly what I was hoping for 😭 And I even got Miyako! I wish her relationship with Ruby and Aqua weren't so underdeveloped, because that family hug could've been one of the manga highlights for me otherwise.

I do kind of worry that Aka may pretend that now that Aqua has (more or less) embraced his life as Aqua Hoshino, there's no need for anyone else to know that he once was Goro though. Akane learning about it is the one thing I've always wanted to see in this manga, so I really hope Aka will at least let me have that much

[carriagelamp]

My favourite books from 2024! Another really strong year of books for me -- every year will have some stinkers and a bunch of middling reads, but the highs of this year were really high so I'm pretty content

As always, I give more detailed descriptions and opinions of the books in my month reviews, but here's a quick breakdown for anyone who's interested:

The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt

A non-fiction book that looks at how childhood has been “rewired”, focusing specifically on the increase of overprotective parenting, increase of tablet/social media usage, and decrease of unstructured, independent play. It was a fascinating read that really looked at how children need to be given lots of opportunities to play, take risks, and make mistakes in order to learn and grow and how a loss of that might be impacting people’s mental health. As someone right on the cusp of the age bracket that’s being focused on, it felt very exposing.

Apothecary Diaries v1-2 by Natsu Hyuuga

Maomao is kidnapped and sold as a servant to the imperial palace, where she serves as a general dogsbody in the rear palace, home of the emperor’s various consorts and concubines. She’s determined to keep her head down until her contract is up… until she helps solve a mystery and catches the eye of the powerful eunech Jinshi who soon learns about her in-depth knowledge of apothecary work and anything to do with poisons. Very funny premise, Maomao hates Jinshi soooo much and he is such a simp for it. She just wants to eat poisons and be left alone and he says “no<3” to both of those

Bury Your Gays (and Straight) by Chuck Tingle

Both of these are very explicitly queer horror novels. Straight is a novella that riffs on the format of a zombie story, but with straight people becoming inexplicably violent towards queer people one day a year. Bury Your Gays is about a Hollywood screenwriter who realises his horror creations are begin to stalk him in the real world. Both are very intentionally built around social commentary on queer issues, and despite have audacious premises they completely own their camp and end up producing really well thought out, insightful stories. I can’t say I liked either as much as Camp Damascus but either is worth a read.

Console Wars by Blake J. Harris (and Blood, Sweat, and Pixels by Jason Schreier)

Console Wars is a nonfiction book I’ve meant to read for years on my brother’s recommendation and I quite enjoyed it. It explores the history of the video game console market in North America, with a focus on how Nintendo revitalized it and how Sega then swooped in to upset the monopoly it held. The book is written in a very narrative, personable style and I found myself really rooting for the various people and companies being portrayed ahahaha. A shockingly fun read. I also read Blood, Sweat, and Pixels which wasn’t quite as narratively compelling but a related read that looked at games with complex development cycles.

Defekt by Nino Cipri

Technically the sequel to Finna which I also read this year, but Defekt works as a stand-alone and is, imho, the better of the two. Both deal with a surrealist horror Ikea setting, where the sheer density and liminal-space-ness of it all allows strange wormholes to open up between these stores from different dimensions. Finna deals with actual wormhole hopping, whereas Defekt focuses in on one employee who gets assigned to a very strange overnight inventory shift.

The Disabled Tyrant’s Beloved Pet Fish v1-2 by Xue Shan Fei Hu

Fish isekai book. Is this a good book? No. Is it a really really fun book? Yes, in spades. In this book, Li Yu wakes up in a court drama novel… but not as a character but rather as the tyrannical prince’s pet fish. He is given the task to improve the prince and is stuck figuring out how the hell to do this as a fish. This book knows exactly how ridiculous it is and leans into it. Li Yu and Prince Jing are both idiots in very unique and exciting directions. No one knows what the fuck is happening.

Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire

A prequel to Every Heart a Doorway, though it works perfectly well as a standalone. Honestly I liked it more than the first. This book has deliciously gothic horror vibes, and it plays with all the tropes you would expect from gothic horror / fear of the sublime. It’s about sisters who find a strange chest that lets them descend to the sinister land of the Moors. This is where vampires rule, werewolves stalk, and mad scientist’s ply their craft. The girls end up separated on and very different trajectories as they grow and acclimatize to the brutal existence of the Moors.

Escape From Incel Island by Margaret Killjoy

Exactly what it says on the tin. Completely insane book that is very worth the read if you feel like something that is patently insane. I strongly recommend treating this as a read aloud with a friend or loved one because I read it with my brother and couldn’t stop laughing. Top notch mercenary Mankiller Jones is sent to escort a computer scientist to Incel Island to retrieve lost governmental data. There they have to survive the hoards of Nice Guys, Volcels, Betas, and every other violent inhabitant of the island if they ever want to… escape from Incel Island.

Heaven Official’s Blessing v6-8 by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

I finished the main series of Heaven Official’s Blessing (without reading the extras yet), and man what an ending! I could not have asked for a more epic or satisfying conclusion! The final battle and its various stages? The character reconciliation? The villain reveal? Perfect, no notes. The series itself follows Xie Lian, a prince who has ascended to godhood twice and been cursed and cast out from Heaven just as many times, giving him the title of the Laughingstock God. The story begins with him, to everyone’s dismay, ascending a third time.

Horrorstör (and Paperbacks from Hell, My Best Friend’s Exorcism) by Grady Hendrix

This book also deals with a Strange Alternate Ikea, but is the superior book. This was one of my top reads for 2024, and it was flawless horror. It is essentially a haunted house story set in an Ikea, that manages to be both chilling, disgusting, and a shockingly insightful critique of capitalism and retail. Very worth the read. 

After reading this I also read Paperbacks from Hell (a nonfiction book that does an analysis of horror fiction from the ‘70s and ‘80s, very good read) and My Best Friend’s Exorcism (which was decent but not my favourite of Hendrix’s since possession and exorcism isn’t my favourite brand of horror. The vaguely queer undertones and ending I found interesting, and it did some cool things throughout.)

Jeeves and Wooster books by P.G. Wodehouse

I ended up listening to so many of the Jeeves and Wooster audiobooks this summer while I was travelling. There were some I really really loved and some that fell very flat for me. I think I listened to too many in a row by the end… These books are like popcorn, not deep but very fun, and follow the airheaded but good natured Bertie Wooster and his man Jeeves who unfailing swoops in to solve all the strange and inane problems the Bertie gets involved in. They tend to be funny, light-hearted, and clever in their resolution of plot problems… though some of the issues do get rather repetitive. My favourites were: The Inimitable Jeeves, Very Good Jeeves, Right Ho Jeeves, and the Code of the Woosters.

Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi

Some excellent science fiction, especially for my Pacific Rim loving heart. This bordered on the cosy fantasy genre, while mixing in plenty of science, world-building and a good dash of excitement. During the Covid-19 lockdown, Jamie Gray is stuck trying to make ends meet as a food delivery driver… until he runs into an old acquaintance who suggests he might have a very different job offer for him. Jamie ends up joining this very secretive “animal rights group” and finds out just how massive, dangerous, and otherworldly these “animals” are by being risked to an entirely different dimension filled with giant, radioactive monsters.

Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books by Kirsten Miller

One of my favourite books from this year! Tthis book managed to hit on very topical subjects with both tact and humour. Lula Dean has spearheaded a book banning crusade, managing to get a number of “problematic” books removed from the library and has made a show of setting up a Little Free Library in her yard full of “appropriate” books instead. When Beverly Underwood visits her mother and hears about this she’s so exasperated with it all that she quickly hatches a plan swapping out the dust jackets of some of the banned books with the ones in Lula Dean’s Little Free Library. The rest of the story is about various people in the town who borrow a book from Lula Dean’s library and how the book they got instead ends up impacting not just themselves but their town. The first story involves a penis cake. Can’t recommend it enough, starts out humour and quickly becomes something you want to rally around.

My Happy Marriage v1 by Akumi Agitogi

This was pure mindless fluff, it was honestly a delight. This is a low-fantasy, Cinderella-esque story set in the Taishō era. It focuses on Miyo Saimori who lives under the thumb of her cruel step-mother, haughty step-sister, and indifferent father. She’s resigned to being treated like a servant in her own home and ekeing out a strained existence, but her life takes a turn when she finds herself nominally engaged to the allegedly cold and cruel Kiyoka Kudou. It’s just absolutely overwhelmingly cute and I really enjoy the contrasting POVs.

A Series of Unfortunate Events and Poison for Breakfast by Lemony Snicket

I’d never finished The Series of Unfortunate Events when it was originally coming out, so I finally sat down and did that, and honestly it was well worth the wait! It was a very interesting series to read as an adult, especially all in one go, because it really let me appreciate everything that Snicket was trying to say. It was a much more clever and philosophical read than I was anticipating, and The End was fucking superb. He absolutely stuck the landing, it completely blew me away. Poison For Breakfast was also a very interesting standalone novella that felt like surrealist philosophy. I might have even enjoyed it more than the basic TSOUE.

The Poison Squad (and The Poisoner’s Handbooks) by Deborah Blum

Poison Squad is a very compelling and topical nonfiction about the formation of the American Food and Drug act. The state of unregulated food processing in the late 19th century was, in a word, nightmarish. Don’t read this book if you have a weak stomach. But it’s completely fascinating to see how one person, Dr Harvey Wiley, made it a personal mission to scientifically prove what all these mysterious food additives were doing to people and put limits to what could be sold to consumers. I liked it so much I went to read Blum’s other book, The Poisoner’s Handbook which is set during Prohibition and explores the rise of forensic medicine and again exposes how people were being poisoned by simply living their standard lives.

The Pushcart War by Jean Merrill

The real, true history of the New York City Pushcart War!! For real!!! This is a delightful underdog story that is really written in the style of a history textbook recounting the fictional Pushchart War. This war started in New York City as the roads get increasingly congested with traffic, the worst offenders being the increasingly massive and arrogant trucks. The trucking companies hatch a plan though: if they begin to push out the little pushcarts, framing them as the problem for the congestion, then how hard would it be to push out taxis next? Or buses? Or motorcars? How long until they can make the road a perfect habit for trucks and trucks alone? How can something as small and poor as a pushcart owner fight back?

Railsea (and This Census-Taker) by China Miéville

I heard Railsea described on tumblr and it sounded sufficiently insane that I had to read it for myself. This author is truly unrivaled when it comes to bizarre worldbuilding that feels both very, very grounded in reality while also being completely unexplained and impossible. Railsea is essentially a Moby Dick meets Treasure Island retelling but with trains instead of boats and giant, mutated, vicious moles instead of whales. Unhinged. Can’t recommend enough. I followed this up by reading his novella This Census-Taker which was not as much of a frolicking adventure but fucked with my brain just as much or more than Railsea did. Genuinely not sure I even know what happened in that story but I enjoyed the experience of being completely fucking baffled for some 200 pages.

The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw

Another book to ideally not read if you have a weak stomach. This novella is very big on unrelenting body horror. This is a twisted fairytale retelling in which a cannibalistic Little Mermaid meets a plague doctor Frankenstein. Both of them are walking away from cruel past lives, along a trail that’s soaked in blood and viscera. You feel how painfuly and disgustingly human this book is, while also being so wildly separate from anything that resembles human anatomy or morality. Superb.

Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System v1-4 by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

The last of MXTX’s three series I needed to read. It was the one I was most hesitant about, but I ended up having a really great time with it. It is simultaneously the most light-hearted and silly of the three series, while also the one that most gleefully dives into torture and sex. So you get a bit of everything with this, and as usual MXTX does a really good job of mixing the humour and series in a way that keeps things constantly interesting. The story is about Shen Yuan who dies our of pure, frothing fury after reading the shitty ending to the shitty, porny webnovel he’s been reading for hundreds of thousands of words. He dies cursing the lousy author and the lousy writing so he’s given a chance: step up and do it better! Which is easier said than done, when he finds himself waking up in the body of the series’ villain who is destined to be gruesomely tortured to death. Better get on that!

Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent by Judi Dench and Brendan O'Hea

This is the written result of a number of interviews held between Judi Dench and Brendan O’Hea and she discusses her time as a Shakespearean actress. It looks into what her time working with theatre companies was like, summarizes the plays she took part in, and delivers into some fascinating character analysis of the roles she played. An absolute treasure of a book for someone who enjoyed their Shakespeare and/or Judi Dench.

Singing Hills Cycle v1-5 by Nghi Vo

Probably my favourite series that I read this year, I can’t wait for the next book! This series follows Chih and her magical bird companion who come from the Singing Hills Monastery, an order that is devoted to keep recording tales and keeping a history of the land. Chih travels all over in these various novellas, collecting stories, memories, and histories that they come across. The first book has them entering the recently unwarded palace of the late Empress to learn about her marriage, imprisonment and rise in power. The second has them trapped by a pack of tigresses with nothing to do but frantically lure them into comparing stories. 

The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

Ten year old Ada was born with a club foot and because of it has never been allowed to leave her apartment. She lives a hard life trying to care for her younger brother and suffer through the abuses of her mother. Things change though as the Second World War truly begins and London begins to evacuate children to the country. Ada is determined — she and her brother will evacuate, they will escape their mother’s house, even if it means her learning how to walk on her club foot. Even if it means facing how different life is for unwanted slum children in the country, and confronting how much she and her brother don’t know about life. This was a very touching book, it did a great job of balancing Ada’s justifiable pain and anger with an optimistic story. Queer elements are all subtext but there — they aren’t the main focus of this story.

When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill

This book absolutely took my breath away, it was a next level literary experience. It’s very, very solidly magical realism, so don’t go into this expecting true fantasy, everything going on here is allegorical and a beautifully done allegory at that. This story is set during the 1950s, in a time surrounding an event known as “The Mass Dragoning” when thousands of women suddenly, spontaneously, transformed into dragons and flew away. The story follows Alex Green who was a child during this event. Her aunt transformed. Her mother didn’t. Both of these things have profound impacts on Alex as she grows up, and a woman’s role in society, a woman’s anger, her joy, her desire are all questioned and explored.

[angrythingstarlight]

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DGYK7_lsS69/?igsh=MW84OXB0bnZydXh4OQ==

Ronan & Nino each have to grab an ear to keep her from sliding away 😂

"I gonna go now. Sees you laters!" Ever since Bee learned that she can really take off by wiggling her way down the slopes, she's been unstoppable.

At least she warns everyone that she's about to leave. Gives her bodyguards just enough time to get in position. No one bothers trying to reason with the toddler when she gets this focused on something she wants.

Considering its futile to argue with any Barnes, let alone the youngest one, Nino and Ronan found that it's easier to stand behind her, ready to catch her if she slips.

Bucky crouches beside her, a smile pulling at his lips. "I'll race you." His grin widens at her excited gasp, her eyes lighting up. "First one to the bottom wins. Ready?"

Bee lowers her goggles with her mitten covered hands and gazes up at her Papa. "Weady."

It's close. Bucky stays beside her until they reach the end of the path, pulling back so she can cross the finish line first. "You won Bumblebee."

She cheers, tries to jump up to celebrate and promptly tips over in a fit of giggles. Bucky laughs as he picks her up, offering to let her pick her prize for winning.

Since then, she's been bragging about her accomplishment all while showing off her new watch, the one that used to adorn her Papa's wrist but now sits atop Mr. Tato's head( right next to Steve's timepiece), her purse full of prize monies and her two cupcakes.

Bee can't wait to race him again.

[the-sprog]

Chat Noir, completely unprompted during an interview: "Adrien Agreste has so little personality that even calling him a wet paper towel would be a compliment"

Ladybug: *gasp* "CHAT! How could you say that? I don't even have words to tell you how insensitive talking about a civilian like that is!"

Despite having no words, Ladybug yelled at him for the next 45 minutes. Chat had to stop himself from laughing.

*Later that day*

Plagg: "...kitten... Why..."

Adrien: "shits and giggles mostly. Things have gotten boring around here"

Plagg: "I can respect that"

*the next day at school*

Nino: "dude why does Chat Noir hate your guts?"

Adrien: "what? I thought it was funny"

Nino: "... Do we need to have the talk about standing up for yourself again?"

Adrien: "what- no! I just mean- look, Chat Noir doesn't know me. And the Adrien Agreste brand my father cultivates is, admittedly, as bland as possible as to not create any controversies"

Nino: "That's one way of looking at it... People on tiktok have been aggressively coming to your defense"

Adrien: "Aw, at least people care!"

*the next day*

Alya: "Chat Noir! Care to elaborate on recent controversial comments made by yourself in this week's interview with Nadja Chamack?"

Chat: "whu- really? Y'all are still on this? Geez a dude doesn't get along with ONE GUY and gets crucified for it" *rolls his eyes*

This does not help.

Adrien goes home and watches tiktok after tiktok of people overanalyzing the situation while eating popcorn. Plagg laughs. Ladybug never forgives him. Nino is worried.

[jasmine-the-fox]

Uncle Jagged get's justice

IceWolf92 on AO3 made this request so here we go!!

Jagged Stone was a hard worker in the music industry. While he focuses on his music… he also works hard to take down rumors and fake claims about him as they can affect his music career greatly and possibly his public image too.

He and Penny were taking Fang on a walk when he overheard a conversation “I hate this. Lila and Father are forcing me to obey to make Lila happy… even though her lies are hurting Marinette badly” they turned as they heard Adrien’s voice “I know dude. To be honest I hate the fact that she’s lying not only about Marinette… but about her connections to Jagged Stone and others” Nino said making Penny and Jagged’s eyes go wide “Penny love… I need you to look into this… Lila for me” he said making Penny nod as they walked away.

It didn’t take Penny very long to discover who Lila Rossi was at all. She wrote Lila and found the Ladyblog where it only spoke about Lila now and barely spoke about Ladybug and Cat Noir anymore. She uncovered multiple lies she’s claimed to be true and as a result discovered stories she’s made about knowing famous people.

She shows Jagged who becomes angry “Contact them and let them know about this liar” he said making Penny nod and get to work quickly enough. She contacted everyone Lila lied about knowing and they were all enraged by the whole thing, as a result… they quickly began to lawyer up to sue Lila for her lies and Alya for posting the lies without doing a little research.

It was a huge disappointment to them…

Penny did as much research as she could about Lila, she worked hard to collect evidence against her. Meanwhile… Jagged decided to go visit Marinette, he remembered her talking about her best friend Alya and wondered what she knew about this whole thing. When he got there with Fang, Sabine welcomed them in and called Marinette down before heading back downstairs to the bakery to work the register.

Mari came down a moment later and quickly went to give Fang some well deserved attention and love from her, she then sat down with Jagged on the couch “So… I found about some girl named Lila Rossi saying lies about herself like how she saved my cat and how I dedicated a song to her. Since your friend Alya posts about her lies I was wondering if you knew more?” he asked and was shocked at how sad Mari looked all of a sudden.

 She then told him about Lila’s threats and how the class bullied her since Lila claims she’s bullying her “She paints herself as a saint who only wants to be my friend… while all I do is hurt her in the end” she explained making Jagged look at her with guilt for not knowing about Lila sooner.

He swore to himself to make Lila pay for all of this… so when lawyers lead by his stormed into Mari’s classroom and served Lila and Alya with lawsuits for the lies Lila spoke and that Alya posted… chaos soon erupted in the classroom. Some were pissed that Lila lied while others like Alya denied that Lila lied to them… but with no proof to back them up… it was clear to those who opened their eyes that Lila was a liar in the end.

The judge was a no joke kind of guy. Each time Lila tried to spin a lie, the judge would slam his gavel down and tell her to be silent until spoken to. The lawyers presented the stories Alya posted that Lila spun as evidence that she was a liar, Adrien went to the stand and provided photographic and video evidence of who she truly was.

Mari recounted everything Lila did to her and Jagged went further with paying for plane tickets for Lila’s past victims to come from Italy to reveal what Lila did to them “She made me bawled by putting hair remover in my shampoo! She claimed the product was bad and that my hair was proof! My mom made the product and we got it tested to confirm she messed with it!” a girl said, she had shoulder length hair that had grown with time.

Another was a boy who is rich like Adrien “I’m gay so I didn’t like her already. But she claimed I tried to rape her! At a fake party that never happened! My classmates beated me up and sent my boyfriend to the hospital because of her! He’s traumatized!” he explained in fury. In the end Mari’s classmate who believed Lila were barely listened to as they tried to defend Lila… Lila was declared guilty and so was Alya.

Lila was deported to Italy where her past victims were waiting for her to take her to court to sentence her while Alya was fined, her blog was taken down and she had to do community service for a whole year because of what she did. The rest of the class was warned “Learn from this and research what your told before believing it… maybe next time you do it… you’ll get conned” the judge said after giving his ruling.

In the end… justice was served at long last. Mari felt light and free without Lila ruining her day, she was able to smile and be happy. Alya was yelled at by her parents and grounded in the end. Lila was gone the very day court was adjured, the ones who now knew the truth were working hard to fix what they did to Mari while the others glared at Mari as they believed she did all of this.

They tried spreading a rumor that she falsified the evidence but they were shut down quickly since Jagged threatened to get Damocles and Bustier fired if they didn’t do there jobs correctly from now on. Adrien watched with a smile as Mari entered a grand event with Jagged who brought her since she did design his outfit.

He was happy to have started this whole thing… he just wished he had done it sooner…