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azxremoon · 2 years ago

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LOVE ME LIKE YOU — GENSHIN IMPACT

summary : even in a different world, the strings of fate draw us together.

characters : arataki itto

themes : canon x self insert, college au, fluff, mildly self indulgent

notes : i am not to be perceived I AM SO EMBARRASSED LMAOOO

it all starts when arataki “numero uno” itto sits next to her in professor kamisato’s introduction to business course.

it’s the first day of the semester and he’s late. the “twenty minutes in and they’re already done reviewing the obnoxiously lengthy syllabus that looks more like a contract and now no one’s sure what to do with themselves” kind of late. it’s none of lumii’s business and certainly nothing close to their responsibility to see who’s late or absent, but their eyes are drawn to him like a moth to a flame the second he steps into the classroom. it’s difficult to tell whether or not he realizes that as he casually strolls into the classroom, door loudly clicking shut behind him. the professor, merely glancing at the new arrival, merely continues to read from one of his many papers, but his words are muddled. adorable sheepishness flits across his face and then he’s jogging up the aisle, two steps at a time.

the mechanical pencil that’s been dancing between her fingers clatters in front of her and along the lined paper of her notebook, but she doesn’t give it much mind. lumii’s eyes wander from the graceful fluttering of his pink-tipped, snowy hair with each effortless lunge to the red tattoos that travel from his face and beneath the royal purple sports jacket, then away before they can be caught staring. they have a bad habit of not being particularly subtle with just about anything. whether it’s harmless coincidence or punishment for being an awkward freak, he files his way across the rows of seats until he’s settling down in the empty seat next to her. he doesn’t say anything if he caught her staring, instead reclining back with a long exhale through his nose.

lumii doesn’t look at him after that, nor do they say anything. professor kamisato’s lips move and they recollect their pencil between their fingers, ready and prepared to write literally anything down, but any and all of his words refuse to register. he could be threatening to drop their grades because he was having a bad day for all they knew, but that concern only dawned on her hours later while she was in her dorm. the part of her that desperately wants to be friendly with someone so cool and utterly pretty pieces words together until they create a semi-normal introduction, but they become lodged in their throat until their shyness convinces them to discard the attempt before they even tried. that doesn’t stop the distracting hypothetical thoughts, however.

lumii keeps their head down, but that’s hardly new. everything about inazuma university is beyond intimidating. the magnificent campus, the ancient and gorgeous architecture, the people bustling about and filling the crisp air with chatter. it’s beautiful beyond words, but there’s something suffocating about it at the very same time. it makes a countryside outsider like them feel out of place and home has never felt so far away than it does then. they hear the occasional whispers of the “arataki gang” around campus in passing, namely in conjunction with professor raiden and her assistant, but it’s clear that not many people actually take the group seriously. lumii would be lying if they said they didn’t feel bad or wasn’t curious.

there’s an unspoken routine set into place that’s developed after the course of a couple weeks. professor kamisato’s lecture ends and itto—who’s made it a strange habit of sitting beside them, despite the many other open and available seats—is one of the first to leave and join the boys waiting for him on the other side of the door. lumii, avoiding the dwindling crowd of peers that descend the stairs and file out of the room, is one of the last to leave. they share small exchanges, asking to borrow their pencils (and mindlessly chews the eraser off of) or what was said that the other may have missed, but nothing more than that and things are actually civil. not as familiar as lumii wishes and they’re not sure if he even knows their name, but they’re okay with that.

innocently, they assume that today is going to be no different than any other day they experienced in the past two months of the semester and they’re right. it starts out that way, anyways. class is dismissed and itto is gone after handing back their mangled pencil and a thanks punctuated with a toothy smile that flashes sharp canines and leaves her stomach fluttering. lumii piles their notebooks in front of them and reaches for the bag at their feet to stuff them into, but their fingers brush against something soft, round, and too still to be alive and yet they still jump. they reluctantly pick it up and sitting in their palm is the all too familiar plush charm belonging to her classmate, the silver clasp attached to its back dangling beside it and obviously broken.

“um, excuse me?”

the few eyes already on them turns into many within seconds, and it’s just as quick that lumii wishes that they hadn’t said anything at all. the group’s laughter and conversations ease into silence, but they’re still aware of every faceless peer chatting around them as they pass by. it seems to be enough for her classmate to glimpse over his shoulder and when he realizes he’s being spoken to he turns upwards to her from where he’s sitting in the plastic chair. he smiles in recognition, but he’s the only one and that comes as no surprise. none of their gazes are anywhere close to being hostile, but there’s a clear curiousness and caution around the cafeteria table made up of the arataki gang.

oh no, lumii thinks when blue meets an orange-red. his eyes are gorgeous.

lumii clears her throat as she shuffles around in her pocket, doing her hardest to swallow her shyness and utter embarrassment. “i think this fell off your bag.”

they liked to think that this was some sort of divine intervention. they weren’t going to hold onto someone else’s belongings just because they were a bit shy, but that didn’t mean this was any less overwhelming. the idea of simply leaving a note on his desk or trying to be sneaky and clip it back onto his bag while he wasn’t looking flashed through her mind, even in the moment, but she waved that away. arataki itto was everything lumii wanted to be, and that didn’t even touch on how cool he seemed to be. how could he want to be friends with someone who couldn’t even look him in the eyes?

lumii extends her hand and in it sits a small charm about the size of her palm, but even that was being generous. with golden horns and designs of the same brilliance across its pudgy body, a little brown ox stares back at his owner. there’s something fantastical about it that makes them hesitate to even call it that and she’s sure she’s never seen anything like it before. over its back is a black temple-like rooftop with red felt beneath it and gold along the top making an intricate face. thick eyebrows (eyebrows! on an ox!) frame its eyes in an attempt to create an intimidating expression, but fails from how utterly adorable it is.

“ushi!” he beams in palpable relief the second his eyes lock onto the little guy. “welcome back, little buddy! we thought we lost you!”

he snatches ushi (holy archons, he named it. that’s so cute) from her in his excitement and cradles him close to his face. he affectionately rubs their cheeks together, nearly smothering the charm by size difference. she can practically see tears streaming down his face. behind him and circled around the table, his friends ease up and cheer for ushi’s return. maybe she was dehydrated or her lack of sleep was catching up to her, but she could have sworn she heard a disembodied moo but could not pin-point its source. she didn’t think she wanted to open that can of worms.

a flick of his eyes away from ushi must remind him that they’re in front of him (just as they were going to escape, too) because he raises his head and flashes a warm smile that spans from ear to ear. his teeth are sharp, unnaturally so, at the canines and she dares say that there are little diamonds that make up the shape of his pupils. it’s only then that she finally realizes how much taller he is than her that she has to crane her neck up unless she wants to be face first with his chest. the crimson horns glimmer proudly in the light before she can focus on what’s eye-level to her. lumii doesn’t know what he sees across her expression, but his doesn’t falter for a second and instead intensifies.

“he’s, um...that must be really special to you,” she points out and feels ridiculous by how stupid it sounds aloud.

“my granny made him for me!” he beams and lumii melts. “his name’s ushi! and i’m arataki itto! thanks, i really owe you one...lumii, right?”

lumii, a little appalled that he actually caught her name, nods quickly and grips onto the straps of her backpack over one shoulder. she expects the usual awkwardness that comes with talking with people she’s not familiar with and while it lingers in the background, there’s something comfortable about him; as if they’re talking with an old friend, yet they couldn’t figure out why. he doesn’t seem to mind her silence and drops back into his seat, dragging an empty chair from the table across from them over next to him. he pats the seat and looks back up to them with such warm friendliness that they can’t say no.

seeing the arataki gang around campus becomes frequent, if not routine, after ushi’s return that it becomes increasingly more difficult to consider it coincidence. it’s totally possible that they just never noticed how often they passed each other after keeping their head down for so long, but that doesn’t feel completely true. the small handful of them that awaits for itto outside poke their heads through the doorway, wave, and casually greet them. the group’s appearance in their life is sudden and a bit abrupt, but quickly becomes their normal until lumii can confidently apply names to the faces she once considered to belong to complete strangers.

lumii’s invited to eat and hang out with them before long, often sitting beside shinobu and happily listening to her recall stories of how she’d get the group out of trouble. she’s a little shocked when itto recalls the little things she does, some of which she’s never noticed herself. such as the way she holds the end of her favorite pen by her lips when her hands are busy; how important notes are in light blue ink; how she has to organize everything on her desk specifically before she can comfortably work or listen during lectures; or even how she watches the time when she gets antsy. he dares call her habits and her embarrassment cute afterwards!

lumii can’t say that she hasn’t caught onto some of his own habits and quirks that have him blinking owlishly at her. such as the way he slowly rubs his thumbs along his horns, or the way his fingers mindlessly comb the bangs out of his face but it doesn’t have the intended effect. she starts carrying a nail file and comb on her after that. the glare he directs towards beans, accompanied by a full-body shiver, is enough for her to try and direct him away from them. the notes he takes are short and minimal, but ushi is typically kept in his lap or at the corner of the page he’s writing and glanced to before he continues before he can stop.

although their rooms are on different levels, hanging out in their respective dorms becomes common for lumii and itto. the first time he’s welcomed in their dorm, however, they’re hiding their bubbling anxiety behind a smile and golden hair that curtains the sides of their face. it’s full of personal belongings that makes them vulnerable and she can’t look him in the eye once the door swings open, nerves and hypotheticals eating away at her soul. mementos of their travels decorate the walls and the surfaces that make up the left side of their room while mountains of round plushes surround a massive purple slime at the foot of their bed on the other.

their mind can’t conjure criticisms in the sound of his voice, but they still prepare themselves for what never comes. instead, he beams and says something too fast for their ears to catch and flies forward. they pick their head up and watch as he yanks the electro slime high in the air with an infectious smile. the babies, hardly the size of lumii’s palm, crumble and she can practically hear them call for their missing friend. he settles down on the chair adjacent to their desk and gazes at the mementos scattered about, namely the photographs of old friends in wooden frames that make her heart ache in remembrance and mourn their distance.

study sessions become commonplace within their schedules and she’s grateful that he’s able to use what time he has in his rather hectic days for her. confusion twists across his face and lumii takes the time to explain it to the best of their ability, breaking it down until dawning realization blooms beautifully across his face. they feel awful if they don’t understand something enough to help, but they bond over how “this makes no freaking sense!” before lumii can linger in their guilt. even if they ended up abandoning the texts in lieu of hanging out with the others, they still consider it time well-spent.

there are times when they sit close enough in class or when they’re studying that their arms press together and neither of them move away, let alone draw attention to it. their knuckles brush while they walk together and their fingers graze when they both reach out. lumii will never forget the close proximity between them when he turned their head. they could feel his breath across their skin, the study materials forgotten about as their eyes met for what felt like forever. itto leans away and stumbles over his words as he flips to another page, she was none the wiser to the scarlet across his cheeks up to his ears.

itto invited them to go with him and the boys to a party on campus and, unable to say no to such an excited face, attended. everything about it was overwhelming, but they knew itto was having fun and having fun that they stuck around and in his shadow. he quickly picked up on the fact that something was wrong and they left with a quick text to the group chat, although lumii was super embarrassed. he assured them that it was okay and told them that their comfort came first. they ended up going back to itto’s dorm to battle with the beetles he secretly keeps there and watch a movie afterwards, until they both fell asleep beside each other.

#[ •♡• selfshipping ]#[ •♡• ittumii ]#genshin impact selfship #selfship #selfshipping #arataki itto x self insert #arataki itto x oc #genshin impact selfshipping #fluff #college au #modern au

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muppetable · 2 years ago

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Dressed Up in Shadows and Stars

Pairings - Ambiguous Loceit

Warnings - Gender dysphoria

Additional Details - The title is a reference to a lyric from I / Me / Myself by Will Wood. I’ve been listening to the song a lot recently, and the song’s message of experimenting with gender identity as well as wanting to be loved and accepted really stuck out to me as a trans Logan plotline,

Summary - Logan comes out as transfem, but to the last person you’d expect she would.

Logan hesitated for a moment. Out of all people, he was the person Logan should tell, since he’d have advice as a shapeshifter and fashion master, but it was still nervewracking. Even though all the sides would be accepting, would they listen?

Logan knocked twice on the door to Janus’s room, and within the length of a Vine, he opened the door and peeked his scaly head out.

“What do you want?”

Logan took a deep breath. “I’m not one for emotional speeches, but this does mean a lot to me. I’ll be upfront about it. Janus, I am transgender. My pronouns are she/her.”

Janus’s cold yellow gaze immediately softened into surprise.

Logan felt a little dizzy, realizing she’d never said that out loud before. “I was wondering,” she continued, trying not to let her voice shake, “if you had any advice for passing, or at least presenting feminine. As you disguise yourself and have a knack for fashion, you might have some advice. I’m not great with that sort of thing.”

Janus opened the door further and nodded. “Yes, of course. I have some outfits you could try.”

“Thanks,” said Logan. “To be perfectly honest, I’m not the most emotional, but I’m absolutely panicking right now.” She clutched her hand with her other, trying to stop it from shaking.

Janus rested his hand on Logan’s. “It’s fine, don’t worry about it. When Thomas came out as gay, we all were scared. I know what it’s like. But right now, we’re focusing on you. Now, come in.”

Logan smiled and walked into Janus’s room. It was dimly lit, with a few hanging lights that glowed the colors of flame. Dead brown leaves decorated the doorframe, and a black tapestry with a moth drawn on it hung on the wall. It was a striking autumn themed display, which was certainly beautiful, but Logan’s nerves were off the figurative charts. She preferred darker colors maybe with hints of warm colors here and there, like a black hat with a streak of gold, or an iridescent cape. Would Janus even have anything she’d feel comfortable in?

Janus opened his closet door. “Alright, get in,” he joked.

“But I just got out!” Logan complained.

“Seriously though,” said Janus, “I have pretty much every outfit Thomas has seen in his life. Take your pick.”

Logan shuffled through the clothes for a few minutes before pulling out a black dress with a blue cape, the underside of which was iridescent and shimmered in indigo and violet in the dim light. “I’ve never worn a fancy dress like this,” she commented. “Could I try it on? You’re a little shorter than me, so I’m not sure how well it would fit me.”

“I take no offense to that,” Janus hissed sarcastically, “but sure.” He flicked the light on in the closet, and closed the door.

“What’s your opinion?”

Logan came out of the closet (for the second time that day, but she refused to make the same joke again), wearing the dress. She found a pair of black combat boots and tried those on too, and they worked surprisingly well with the outfit. They had little stars and ghosts patterned around the zippers.

“Oh honey, yes,” Janus remarked. “I know you’d go for a more casual style, but that dress honestly-“ he gagged on the word- “is perfect. You’re welcome to borrow any other clothes you’d feel more comfortable in, let it be an extravagant ballgown or just a T-shirt.”

“Thanks again, Janus,” said Logan. “One thing though. I like having short hair, like the other sides, but the style makes it a little harder to pass. Do you have a hat I could borrow until it grows out enough for me to style it?”

“Of course,” Janus replied, taking off his bowler hat. “You can borrow mine, since it goes well with both casual and fancy. I have plenty more.”

“Oh! Thank you.”

Logan put on the bowler hat and brushed her hair out of her eyes. She really felt better.

“Are you changing your name?” Janus asked after a moment.

Logan hesitated. “I don’t know. I mean, Logan is a pretty androgynous name. I might change it, but I think it still fits like a figurative glove.”

Janus dipped his head in understanding. “If you need anything else, let me know. I’m happy to oblige.”

“Thanks again,” said Logan, as she left and closed the door behind her.

It’d been three weeks now, since Logan had come out to Janus. She was now out to all the Sides. Patton of course threw nothing but love and affection her way.

Roman and Remus were pretty unbothered, not really caring too much. They both gave a similar message, both essentially telling Logan they would bother her no matter what gender she was.

Very comforting.

Virgil said that he could kind of tell she wasn’t a man, and explained that he also wasn’t cis. He was non-binary and used he/they, and they perfectly understood what Logan was going through.

Thomas was a little surprised, but it was around the same reaction she’d received upon Patton telling him her name five years prior. A little shocked, but very understanding.

But something had changed Logan didn’t expect. Now that she was more comfortable, she was more open about her feelings. She didn’t even notice that at first, until it dawned on her that Roman was less quick to call her an insensitive robot. And now that she was more open about it, the other sides were listening to her.

She knew it probably wouldn’t last too long. Once the euphoria waved out, it wouldn’t take long for her to be more sarcastic and quiet.

But, she thought as she adjusted Janus’s bowler hat to cover her hair, she was who she needed to be.

#sanders sides #thomas sanders #logan sanders #ts sides #janus sanders #loceit #ambiguous loceit #sanders sides fic

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mugzymiik · 2 months ago

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Everything Bug :]

ITS BUG DAY. BUG WAS CREATED TODAY!!! A YEAR AGO!!!!! SEPTEMBER 29, 2023!!!!!!!!

oh my GOD holy fucking shit

Bug. Bug Bug Bug Bug Bug Bug Bug I LOVE HER SO MUCHHHHH

she was originally created as just- a doodle. a concept doodle at most, not to be taken seriously,,but my GOD did she evolve so much from that. from just a little concept I'd spun in my mind a while to THE oc i have THE most art of, ever. she has:

nearly 150 images

7 animations

2 AUs she at least half-stars in

at LEAST 4 pieces of writing (minus some minor, less-professional ones)

to her name, ALL of which were made in under a year.

oh my godd i love her so fucking much she is my baby my pride and joy.. ae is such a comfort to me ,even just thinking about her existence brings me so much joy i HBSSJVDNSDVDNSFJSBDJSBDNSDB /VVPOS

fuck it. Everything Bug. for th rest of this post

first and foremost,,,her ref ofc!!!

some of her concept arts, including her first ever shitpost (also includes the concept for her initial TIO form)

some Her And Gold™ related shit next (Siblings Premium Free Trial my #1 oc + canon comfort duo)

and also some other shenanigans!!! :D

i even made her on ponytown ffs

also some fun facts

Zef, FantomenK and Kubbi are her groups for pieces!!! (If any of those are used for group names I'm fucked)

Ae often has anger outbursts because Redd (I want him dead.) never taught aer anything at all throughout his '''custody''' of aer. And so she was never taught how to healthily manage her anger

SHE CAN BUZZ.

Most, if not all, of her nicknames consist of just, bugs. Moth. Firefly. Bee. Wasp and Hornet are used a lot by the other Heroes (in an endearing way ofc). Beetle is by far everyones (especially Bug's) #1 fav tho (they secretly named her journal "Beetle" but they wont ever admit it)

On the topic of nicknames, she does NOT like being called "Buggy" by ANYONE. They WILL get violent

Ae got nervous at just the idea of maturing and ae straight-up screamed when they got the first piece for aer

She is VERY much an avid birdwatcher. They will talk to HOURS about it to Hexalace (Hexalace is TERRIFIED of birds BUT she tries her best to listen anyway)

Before they ended up apologizing to Gold for being a bitch they started going out of their way to do little things for him- very simple things like finding (or, 'finding', with heavy quotations in some instances.) (She stole a lot of it) something ae heard that he was looking for and leaving it in his windowsill during the night. (Said example scared the shit out of Gold and he was so on edge throughout that whole timeframe)

They tend to the other Heroes' rambles about their interests a lot and thats how they got into most of their own (ae tinkers with a bit of technology thanks to Gold, in fact. Shut up I'm inserting my headcanons here /silly/lh)

She eats uncooked spaghetti noodles and LOVES cheese

They and Gold do occasionally vibe together (it was extremely awkward every time at first)

Before Hexalace became aer new caretaker ae was bouncing back and forth between staying with the other caretakers (Pentellow and Iris & Cube mostly, VERY rarely Pyrare, only in extreme emergencies because they all learned that Bug did NOT manage very well being in a room with Pyrare (and/or Gold for that matter, as this was VERY pre-apology)

She's went to a funeral once and made a really bad joke that 'why is everyone wearing grayscale, I thought that was my thing' (they were immediately removed from said funeral, ae didn't really understand why until way later)

She spells Hexalace's name as 'Hezalace' and REFUSES to spell it any other way, even if someone tries teaching them that it's not a 'Z' it's an 'X'. Hexalace doesn't mind though she knows ae'll grow out of that one

For some reason, she and Gold ‘share a braincell’ (not literally) very often. Sometimes they'll have very similar reactions as each other to certain things, if not the exact same reaction.

She's a VERY skilled pickpocketer- if you need something Yoinked, that is your girl. They've stolen so many things from those she trusts to tease them a bit (ae has yet to understand that she has to give them back before ae leaves, sadly) that everyone now has a habit of checking their pockets even after just walking past Bug

This is due to a very specific headcanon that Herospeak (what i and The Besties™ call that little squeaky ass language that the Heroes do) is spoken in a VERY specific high pitch of voice and its natural to Heroes. (Non-Heroes CAN learn but it is it EXTREMELY hard and its also very hard to understand without the pitch that only Heroes can reach with their voice). Anyways- due to her connection just. Never Being There at first for a while, Bug did not know how to speak Herospeak at first. She also cant reach that pitch even with her connection being restored- so they have a VERY heavy accent when speaking in Herospeak causing her to need to repeat herself a lot

Back when ae was unmatured ae once pissed off Gold so bad he tried to put aer in the microwave

The closest comparison I can make for how I imagine her voice to sound like is the JubyPhonic cover of 'Yellow' and/or 'Lost One's Weeping'

and now. her links

https://toyhou.se/23878644.bug (all of my personal ocs on toyhouse are strictly authorization only; if we're MUTUALS , and you have toyhouse & want to be authorized let me know ur username so u can see her :D

in conclusion:

BUG.

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moth-dancer · 5 months ago

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"Be a good fuzzy butterfly and stop wearing those awfully tight pants. When you walk by, half the department is turning their heads dangerously far. This..." He scoffs. He palms a buttcheek, "leaves too little to the imagination." He leans down, over him. His shadow falls over half of the white mask, and Danzo says: "You can change in my office."

Fuzzy butterfly-? Now that was seriously just ajab to rile him up some and yet, as Danzo continued looking he could feel a redness creeping up his neck until it fully hit the cheeks - thankfully, Danzo wasn't able to see that.

But knowing that smug old bastard, he could probably smell it.

The hand than found his butt, giving it a kind of squeeze that had him dangerously close to gasping. Not that he was craving that kind of attention but, well, no, honestly probably he was craving exactly that. Dark orbs watched his movements, unseen behind the narrow slits of his mask before he let go of a small breath. "As you wish, Danzo-Sama." Although in all honestly, Moth-Dancer wouldn't change his pants to any other, they all fitted quite tightly on his ass.

Still, he was not someone to refuse his master's order, following into his office where he was ordered to change the pants. Patiently he waited until the other had completly locked the door and only then did he work his pants open. "Is there a replacement here on your office for me -.. or is there a hidden reason you ad wanted me in here."

#lord-danzo #Under the Moons shimmering light - My wings spread for the endless flight - Moth Dancer #suggestive #=#XD #I was PARTYING over this

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thesupernaturalhouse · 4 months ago

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SERIOUSLY!! We are never told that Vaggie directly lied to Charlie. Like yes, Charlie says she lied, but about what??? Just the whole thing in general? Did Charlie ever ask, and Vaggie made up a backstory?

Cause then I'd be less upset about how the whole arc went down, but we are never told

Plus whose to say Charlie didn't ask and Vaggie jsut went 'my past has a lot of trauma...I'd rather not talk about it?'

For example, if I were to rewrite that xnaon scene specifically, instead of chalrie going off about what she does in canon, which pisses me off, especially since she never apologizes

Like yeah her being upset is fine, but the fact that shes trusting a serial killer cannibal who owns people, while telling her girlfriend of 3 years who has done nothing but help her that she doesn't knwo if she'd help her if she knew exorcists coukd she killed- nu uh, never sat eight with me, never will

Like if they ahd had an actual fight with vaggie also snapping 'you never asked!!' Or smth then it'd be more interesting, but they don't and so i end up hating the arc with a passion -_-

Sorry for the mini rant, anyways, if I were to re write it I'd have Charlie go "you lied about everything! You said you were a moth sinner but now I find out your actually an exorcist, woudl you have everything told me??"

And then she leaves after Vaggie refuses to answer due to guilt, because she knows she'd keep putting it off

It tells us point blank what/how Vaggie lied and gives Charlie more of a reason to be mad

And the resolution could be like, and oh god this is turning into a whole thing-

"I'm sorry is shouldn't have said all of that I-"

"no- no you were right I...I honestly would've kept putting it off because of anxiety and fear and- and you were right"

"Yeah but still. You should've been allowed to tell me in your own time, you shouldn't have been forced because of that asshole!"

"Yeah, I know, but you were still in the right to be mad, I did lie about it...."

"mmm well, you can be sure to tell me everything when we get back to our room, also! The wings are new, they look nice~"

Unpopular opinion: Vaggie never directly lied to Charlie - she lied by omission and Charlie never asked.

Now I LOVE Chaggie but some of their critique is legitimate. This actually makes me love them MORE because they are so fucking real. But it is well known that Charlie is a rambler and was basically alone before she met Vaggie. Lilith left four years before this and Lucifer fell out of her life when they divorced, likely before this (after which he called her out of obligation every six months). Charlie was incredibly lonely and her optimism does not seem well received in Hell, compounding this abandonment.

Meanwhile Vaggie is totally a fan of NOT talking about her past to the literal princess of hell. She’s super shocked she’s not murdered on site immediately. She changes the pronunciation of her name and lets Charlie guess the rest. Charlie likely assumes that she was a winged (moth?) demon sinner. Vaggie clearly cleaned the gold blood (not that anyone would know what that was anyway) and discarded her uniform and body parts before anyone could connect the dots. She is canonically NOT a good lier (*ep6 trying to get out of heaven so her traumatic past is not broadcasted and fails miserably*). And just doesn’t correct Charlie. Yes, this is still kinda lying but in my head it’s not as bad XD

Meanwhile Charlie finally has a sounding board for her redemption ideas and Vaggie is disillusioned and cast out for sparing a child, so she’s game. Additionally she has mega guilt for killing THOUSANDS now that she is realizing heaven is flawed, and this is her own chance for redemption. Sadly if they had talked about this it would have actually STRENGTHENED the resolve around the hotel that an actual angel turned on heaven to help out of guilt (rather than a sinner basically also selfishly trying to ascend)

That Charlie didn’t ask Vaggie more about her past in the past three years can mean two things: Charlie is so self absorbed that she doesn’t think about it OR Charlie can see it makes Vaggie uncomfortable and avoids the topic. Both are problematic for different reasons but this will remain my headcanon until proven otherwise. I don’t blame Vaggie for not volunteering that information unprompted given her traumas, but THREE YEARS is a bit much XD then again, my other headcanon is they didn’t actually say “I love you�� until More than Anything Reprise, so this is actually par for the course. Thoughts?

#this turned into a wayyyyy longer thing then i thought it would lol #hazbin hotel #chaggie #vaggie #charlie morningstar #hazbin hotel chaggie #hazbin hotel rewrite #rewrite #hazbin hotel critical

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miraculouscontent · 3 years ago

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dailymotion

It’s heeeeere! Another summasalt, this time with nearly twice the length of the first one!

(Turns out that not having caffeine doesn’t help me talk any slower.)

Script below:

Anonymous asked:

Thoughts on Rocketear?

Can you Rocketear the newest episode apart with your salt, my beloved Salt Queen?

Penny for your thoughts on Rocketear?

Aw, anon! You can have that for free! I'm a generous goddess.

"Rocketear" begins with Chat Noir and Carapace - just Carapace, really - holding back a pack of what I presume to be the physical manifestation of the writing staff's age, or at least a representation of how behind the times the writing seems.

Just as the dinosaurs break through Shellter. Ladybug shows up with the scientist who revived the dinosaurs in the first place and said scientist uses a whistle to calm the dinosaurs down. There's also a line from Bob Roth about putting the dinosaurs in a theme park to make money and I know what it's referencing but it's so incredibly random that it doesn't really come off as a proper joke.

Carapace was notably sad right after battle, but insisted that he was fine when Ladybug asked. Rena, sporting a... - I would like to say "new design" but it's a recolor in every sense of the word - is hiding behind part of a building and smiles after the heroes before walking off. Ladybug takes Nino's miraculous back but sees that he's still upset and asks him again what's wrong. Nino asks where Alya was and Ladybug claims that she only needed Carapace for the job, which cheers him up but only until Ladybug is already gone.

Mm, I guess Nino and Adrien relate in heroism not being enough for them unless they have their respective love interest to flirt with.

Also, I know this is an obvious set-up, but the show can't tell me that Ladybug just always brought Nino and Alya whenever she needed one of them. Season 3 required her to go to Master Fu to get the miraculouses, and unless she already knew that Nino and Alya would be in the same location - which, okay, the show does basically shove the two of them together whenever Nino is onscreen, fair, if two characters are in a relationship in this show then it's weird for them to NOT be with that person - but it just seems like a gamble, not to mention proof to Shadow Moth that the two are close if Ladybug constantly brings both of them.

Anyway, Ladybug goes into the sewer and asks Rena if she's seen any sign of Shadow Moth or his traps. Rena didn't see anything and they de-transform. Marinette is about to leave when she thinks of something, but Alya assumes it's about her new look, which was apparently not voluntary on her part and the suit automatically adapted to Alya's new role as Rena Furtive, which she has now named it as.

Marinette reminds her that this is supposed to be a secret and that they agreed that the fox has no owner. When Alya is evasive about whether she told Nino that she won't be Rena anymore, Marinette stresses that everyone needs to believe that Alya won't be using a miraculous anymore so that she can remain an undercover spy.

What's the point in changing the look if you're not going to show yourself anyway? I mean, insurance, I guess, but still.

Alya, exasperated, parrots what Marinette has apparently told her before: that she helps Ladybug with Mirage in case Shadow Moth tries to follow her so Rena can follow him instead. Marinette stresses the situation again and Alya tries to get Marinette to agree on her telling Nino that she's Rena Furtive, but Marinette refuses.

At Marinette's house, Alya talks further and explains that she doesn't know if she can lie to Nino since they don't keep any secrets--Alya, babe, you kept Rena Rouge from him and didn't tell him that you knew he was Carapace until Ladybug was forced to give you your miraculouses at the same time. I don't wanna hear it.

Marinette states that it's too late for that and also not technically a lie, but Alya gets upset and says that Nino will never trust her again if he finds out that she kept something from him. Marinette brings up how she had to keep secrets from Alya too, but they're interrupted by Tom appearing and wanting to play games with them. Marinette makes an excuse about homework that she's repeated many times, as Tom comments that the teachers give her too much. After Tom is kicked out - hang on, lemme just... - Marinette uses the moment to show Alya that she's lied to her family a lot and hasn't played games with her father in months. She states that there's no other option as they have to protect their identities, and Alya agrees to talk to Nino.

In Alya's room - I just presume at this point that Nino's house doesn't exist and Chris is an illusion - Alya tells Nino that they need to talk, but stammers and states that it's hard to talk about. Nino thinks that she wants to break up with him, but Alya assures that she loves him. She finally gets to the cover story that Rena herself made up in "Sentibubbler" and Nino understands, sad that she won't be around anymore but agreeing if it's what Ladybug thinks is best.

Is it weird that Nino respects Ladybug's wishes more than Alya does?

Nino hugs her and is confused by why Alya was nervous to tell him, as she can tell him anything and nothing will change their relationship. Alya feels guilty and hugs back, murmuring about how they don't have any secrets; that's not what Nino said, but sure, push this plot to its already predictable conclusion. I mean, I thought it was vaguely sweet that Nino switched to seriousness immediately when Alya said that she wanted to talk, but how am I supposed to be invested in this couple when their dynamic boils down to "STRONG, INDEPENDANT WOMAN who wears the pants in the relationship because her boyfriend is portrayed as a wimpy coward"? Like, the show constantly dragged Nino down to make Alya look "powerful" by comparison, and then when it comes to characters like Marinette, we get a girl who works very well outside of her relationship with her endgame love interest.

It's the fakest form of "girl power," dragging guys down to raise girls up or actually making a strong girl character but having her love interest be a weakness that creates flaws in her that weren't there originally and having that love interest be who she's "destined for."

I'm rambling, sorry.

In class, Marinette assures Alya that she did the right thing and Alya agrees. As they're leaving school, Marinette talks about how their "night walks" start soon, and Alya non-subtly talks about how Rena Furtive will be on the lookout while Ladybug and Chat Noir patrol. She stops, however, as gets excited about some pictures she took of herself as Rena Furtive, which has a lot of details that Marinette hasn't seen. I don't know whether to groan at what I just heard or remind everyone that Rena Furtive is literally just a recolor and therefore this is the writers patting themselves on the back for this design, so let's just move on.

Alya then shows Marinette her phone--AUGH, MY EYES--and suggests making a poll on her Ladyblog so people can vote for their favorite Rena design. Marinette has to stress again that Rena Furtive is supposed to be a spy and thus invisible, which Alya admits that she forgot about.

Okay, I've been holding off on talking about this, but now seems like the best time to bring it up. Alya has been a trash friend as well as a trash confidant, and her role as Rena Rouge boiled down to, "it was convenient for her to be the fox at the time it was needed." She's not particularly stealthy like one would expect of a fox, and she was easily one of the worst candidates to be told Marinette's big secret. I'll get more into this later, but I have to stress that Alya has treated Marinette no differently since learning of Marinette's identity and has already gone against Marinette's orders once before at the time of this episode airing. Episodes are constantly torn between validating their decision to have Marinette tell Alya, having Marinette be worried about the decision while the show considers her to be ridiculous for it, and then having Alya either consider or make choices that clearly don't gel well with what's good for her role. Much like Marinette, she lacks a sense of self-control and--wow, a female character who's impulsive, never seen that stereotype before.

Point being, "Sentibubbler" stressed over and over that Alya was the right choice and deserved to be both the permanent fox and the understudy for guardian, but then we have "Rocketear" here where Alya is making basic emotionally-driven errors that I'm not even remotely sympathetic to when Marinette has gone through so much worse over the course of three+ seasons.

*sigh*

Alya laments that it's hard to find new content for the Ladyblog - ah, yes, tell me more about your struggles, Alya - but figures that at least she can post stuff about Chat Noir instead of--I don't know--making fake Ladybug theories to lead people off Marinette's trail. Marinette says that it's a great idea, though Alya still doesn't look too happy. The scene then rewinds to a little bit to show a different point of view, this time with Adrien and Nino. Wait, this feels familiar, wasn't there another episode that did something like--ohhhh no, this is going to hurt.

After saying good-bye to Adrien - something I wish I could do every time he's mentioned or on-screen - Nino catches the bit of conversation where Alya talks about the Ladyblog. Nino talks as if Marinette isn't there and asks Alya out to the movies because Marinette is chopped liver and this is about Alya and how sad she is, guys.

Wow, she's turning into Adrien faster and faster.

Alya hesitates, but Marinette assures her that there's still time. Alya excitedly runs off with Nino and they watch what I presume are previews given the narrator, featuring recycled footage from the Ladybug PV. Nino is upset because Rena is mentioned but not Carapace, and the preview features Rena telling Chat Noir to forget Ladybug because it's Chat and Rena herself who are trulu made for each other.

I don't know what's funnier; the complete lack of self-awareness or the suggestion that a biracial couple would exist in this show outside of a special that gives them maybe a minute of screentime and acts more like suggestive canon anyway. I think I might've been too generous with that line about dinosaurs.

Nino is offended by the preview and Alya brushes off his comments, stating that it's just a cartoon and it's made to entertain people, though Nino himself is certainly not entertained. Can't say I entirely blame him considering that Alya doesn't really try to say anything substantial or even agree with him. No cuddling or reassuring kisses, she just gets slightly sad and turns to her phone for a bit.

After the movie, Nino is cheered back up again until he catches Alya on her phone once more. He offers to take her home, but she's distracted, and he comments that what she showed to Marinette looked pretty nice; I don't know because they didn't show it. Nino asks what it was and Alya evades the question, stating that her battery is running out. Nino is suspicious, but spots Andre's ice cream cart and the two head over there. Andre calls them his favorite couple and asks what they want, but Alya sees Ladybug gesturing for her and has to run off, giving Nino a cheek kiss as she goes which feels like too little too late at this point.

Nino catches some conveniently-placed kids arguing over who Chat Noir loves, but they settle on the fact that girls in general love Chat Noir. Nino is then seen at the Seine watching the Ladyblog's latest video, where Alya is talking up how amazing Chat Noir is. I hate to stop every five seconds to complain - okay, actually I don't - but I presume this video must've been made after the movie since Nino seems like the type who would actively follow his girlfriend's blog, yet not only is this video perfectly set up to echo the kids and the movie preview, but Alya - despite apparently caring about her boyfriend soooo much that she kept trying to convince Marinette to bend the rules - didn't even try to warn Nino or text him so he doesn't take it too seriously. It's like "Sentibubbler" with the conflicting messages about identity rules; Alya cares about her boyfriend but both isn't thinking about how he'll take the things she says and apparently doesn't know him well enough to realize that he wouldn't be mad over her keeping a secret that she was told to keep. I already talked about how they play up Nino to be the emotionally weaker one of the relationship, but then they don't have Alya try to cover or make up for that. She's been acting very much not like Alya - you know, the one who in "Sapotis" practically bragged about how great she'd be at covering for Ladybug - with her stutters and weak excuses, so I can't completely blame Nino for being upset after everything that's happened when he sees the writers projecting onto Alya as she talks about how Chat Noir is brave and funny and cute and showing all these images of him as well. I don't agree with all of his actions, but--oh yeah, speaking of which--

Nino calls Adrien and is talking to him about how Alya must be in love with someone else. Adrien dismisses the idea, as Alya and Nino are together basically all the time, and asks who she could possibly be in love with. When Nino suggests that it's Chat Noir, Adrien laughs and jokes about it being Fang instead. Nino points out the video but Adrien did see it but is overall unphased and convinced that it means nothing. Nino says that he'll find proof and hangs up, but Adrien is certain he'll find nothing. Plagg comments that Nino will find someone because Plagg's charisma has definitely contaminated Adrien.

Ugh.

Adrien expresses concern that he put on the cat's charm too much and accidentally made Alya fall for him, and decides to visit Alya as Chat Noir to be sure.

Meanwhile, we get a reference to film noirs as Nino narrates. That's the second blatant reference this episode and now I feel like they wrote this script while doing a movie marathon.

Chat Noir arrives at Alya's house and Trixx hides before Alya opens the curtains to reveal her surprise guest. Nino is nearby watching the scene with his phone as Alya wonders aloud if something's wrong. Chat assures that everything's fine, but brings up the video she posted. He insists that it made him happy, but points out that she's been following him and Ladybug since the beginning and that they know each other much better due to everything that's happened. He has some conveniently-worded dialog as he starts to say that he hopes something's just an illusion and Alya gets worried that he's about to bring up Rena. Chat continues and clarifies that he wonders if she started to feel something for him, though adds that he understands because just look at him.

UGGGGH.

Chat clarifies by making a heart with his hands, which Nino sees. Alya laughs at this gesture and states that she has a boyfriend, doing the same heart gesture and suggesting that her love for Nino is even more than that. Chat Noir apologizes - hm, I didn't know he had the capacity to do that - and hugs Alya, saying that he was just confused.

An absolutely unnecessary hug for two people who, at least in terms of their current selves, have had very little screentime together, but this is also the show where making eye contact basically means your friends and it's all just to push the plot along so Nino inteprets that Alya is in love with Chat Noir, so whatever I guess.

Alya states that Nino is far more irresistable than Chat, then adds that she doesn't even know his secret identity, and she'd never fall in love with someone she doesn't know. Nino then runs away upset and the scene cuts away to the next day where--

Wait, wait, wait, hang on a second. Two things right off the bat there.

First off, we're just gonna sidle past that "wouldn't fall in love with someone you don't know the identity of" while ignoring the existence of the love square? Not even Chat thinking about how he doesn't know Ladybug's identity and trying to excuse that he doesn't have to? This guy is that certain of their relationship?

Secondly, Nino is practically sobbing and Shadow Moth doesn't take this as his opportunity? Same guy who akumatized Mr. Pigeon 72 times and has akumatized Gigantitan more than once? What is this pacing???

But--alright, so Adrien comes into school and sees Nino, still dressed up in his detective gear, which gets ignored completely as Adrien goes to tell him about Chat Noir and Alya. Because the show doesn't know how Adrien would convey this within reason, Nino interrupts him, taking him down into the lower part of the school where he has a desk and chairs set up. Adrien goes to ask when Nino had time to do this, but Nino slams his hand on the desk to cut him off. Nino presents the evidence he took and they go back and forth, likewise with Adrien turning off the background music while Nino turns it back on. Adrien insists that it's a misunderstanding, but pleads innocent when Nino asks how he knows. Adrien states that Alya is just a superhero fan and that she and Chat Noir have nothing in common.

Again, the complete lack of self-awareness is astonishing.

Adrien repeats what Alya said about secret identities and how she wouldn't fall for someone she doesn't know - they're really ignoring this, aren't they? - and continues hitting Nino's soft spots about how unlikely it is until Nino decides to tell Adrien something he's not supposed to.

He tells Adrien, not only that Alya is Rena Rouge, but that he's Carapace. Adrien goes through a range of emotions beyond sAD for once, shocked at the fact that they know each other's identities. Nino states that they don't keep secrets from each other, except now Alya is with Chat Noir. Adrien still doesn't understand and brings up how secret identities have to be protected, or else Nino wouldn't have told him because Ladybug wouldn't agree to it.

Oh, here we go. So that's why they waited.

Nino states that it was Ladybug herself who gave them their miraculouses at the same time; not giving the reason why, of course, nor pointing out that they're temporary heroes so there's understandably some leeway. Adrien is having a moment, but manages to bring the subject back to Alya and Chat Noir, who he still doesn't think are a thing. Nino argues that it's because Adrien doesn't know Chat Noir, but he does because he's Carapace and knows how Chat Noir acts. He says that it's all flowers and confessions when Ladybug appears, but he gets rejected because Ladybug thinks that he's annoying, and she's right. He adds that Chat flirts with Rena Rouge and that's all that needs to happen, with Chat stepping in on the first mission Carapace lost in. Nino laments the loss of the love of his life and wishes to shut Chat Noir up forever; we all do, Nino, we all do. Shadow Moth finally steps in with - oh, less than eight minutes left in the episode, yikes - and Nino is akumatized into Rocketear.

Rocketear rejects Adrien's pleas to stop, insisting that Chat Noir is who he's after, not Adrien, and Adrien transforms in sad fashion despite Plagg's reminder of who Rocketear is after. Alya, meanwhile, is in the art club with Marinette - wait, since when was Alya in the art club - telling Marinette about how Chat Noir thought she was into him due to the video, which Marinette groans at. There's an earthquake and they peek outside to see Rocketear firing his tears at Chat Noir, shouting that he stole Alya from him. Chat Noir tries to tell him otherwise, but Rocketear won't listen.

Alya groans at Nino doing this, then she and Marinette set off to find a place to transform. They conveniently go to the same place Adrien and Nino were, so they see the desk that Nino had set up.

Genuine question, how seriously does this episode want me to take itself, because now when I recount all the unnecessary love square drama in my head - because you know that's where this is going - I'm going to have to think, "Nino, dressed in a detective outfit, ripped off his fake mustache and told Adrien both his and Rena's identities, and also that Ladybug was totally cool with it and thinks that Chat Noir is annoying."

Gettin' two completely different vibes here. The episode clearly wants to be important but it doesn't take itself seriously either, which it totally could while including enough jokes to keep things light. Instead, I'm just left scratching my head and wondering what tone they're going for.

Marinette finds Nino's phone on the desk - I'm calling continuity error on that one because he at no point put it on the desk, at least not on-screen - and she questions Alya on the video she sees. Alya insists that nothing happened, apparently completely unphased by her boyfriend having spied on her, and says that he wouldn't have misunderstood if he'd heard the actual conversation.

The two transform and Ladybug immediately uses Lucky Charm, receiving a projector. Ladybug is clueless and Rena Furtive suggests creating an imaginary movie like Nino. Ladybug gets an idea, remembering Alya's earlier comments, and Rena confirms that she remembers every word of it.

Aaaaand, just like that, all of the tension has been completely sucked away. You know, "Backwarder" was a trash episode, but at least when Ladybug was showing every step of her plan, she didn't tell us what it was.

Meanwhile, Rocketear and Chat Noir are still arguing--I started zoning out at hearing the same thing over and over again at this point, so I just presume they were fighting over who does stuff behind their love interest's backs better; I don't think they came to an agreement but they're both losers anyway.

Chat Noir says that he'll prove his innocence, tossing his baton aside to show him giving up, but Rocketear points out that it proves nothing and strikes Chat Noir with his tears.

Our endgame love interest, everyone. Straight As yet about as smart as a sack of bricks, and that at least won't flirt with anyone non-consensually.

Chat Noir makes a point that he doesn't want to hurt Rocketear, and Shadow Moth tells Rocketear to take his miraculous before finishing him. Chat Noir can only weakly tell him not to before Ladybug snags Rocketear's wrist and diverts the shot. Ladybug explains to Rocketear about the projector and how it'll let him hear the audio of the recording he took. She adds that she doesn't know what Chat said, but she trusts him.

Marinette, I'm sorry, I feel so bad for you.

Ladybug turns on the projector and Rocketear relaxes at actually hearing what was going on. Rena then de-transforms and hurries out to meet with Rocketear, hugging him as Rocketear apologizes for doubting her. Alya also kinda sorta apologizes in a way I don't understand and Rocketear then breaks his akumatization, very casually, all on his own.

Yeah, just--casually, in a matter of seconds in fact. You know, it's really sad when people resisting akumatizations are more tense and emotionally compelling than them breaking them. This is twice in one season now and has zero impact considering that Nino's reason for being akumatized was already taken care of so he had no reason to stay akumatized anyway. Him breaking his own object to release the akuma would've at least been different, but instead it's just a repeat of what Alya went through with even less tension considering that Alya's wasn't even that good in the first place, relying on her relationship to Ladybug rather than who she knew to be her best friend.

Moving on, Ladybug captures the akuma and uses Miraculous Ladybug to bring everything back to normal. Shadow Moth monologues about how love and secrets don't go well together and he's sure that she has a lot and I'll talk about this later.

Ladybug hands over the magical charm, which Nino takes but insists that he won't need it, as he'll never let Shadow Moth use his love to manipulate him again. Plenty of other things to get akumatized over, but they gave the supposedly ace character a robot to help him stick out and also gave the supposedly aro character a miraculous back in season one to give her more importance. If characters aren't in love then they need something to ceompensate for it.

Nino apologizes to Chat Noir for being wrong and Chat Noir assures him that everyone has doubts, even him. He gets sad and Ladybug asks him what's wrong, but he insists that he's fine - officially throwing away his right to be upset at her later as far as I'm concerned - and they do their usual fist buuuuu--

...Really?

Everyone then splits up and Chat Noir sulks by himself instead of--you know, talking to Ladybug, or asking her anything, or making any sort of excuse for her because that would mean he actually has faith in her and understands that their partnership is different from temporary heroes, even if the excuse was as basic as her wanting to protect him more than the others because he would be that egotistical if they didn't want to stretch out this unnecessary drama.

Later on, Adrien is staring at a picture on the Ladyblog that might be a metaphor for the show considering how "in the foreground" Chat Noir and Rena are.

Adrien vents about Ladybug giving miraculouses to Alya and Nino, but Plagg states that she's the guardian. Adrien clarifies that he's referring to Alya and Nino knowing each other's identities, but Plagg doesn't see the issue. Adrien gets huffy and asks why the rule exists for LadyNoir but not Ninya, but Plagg again points out that she's the guardian, so she makes the rules, though obviously he uses cheese metaphors to convey it.

Okay, Plagg is only, like--half-right because he doesn't have all the information. If you don't mind me rambling for a bit, I'm on the fence here because, on one hand--yes, I agree that Marinette should be allowed to make her own rules, and I often do that in my writing because I think she should be permitted leeway in order to let herself be happy, but on the other hand, it's not technically her rule, as she had to let Alya and Nino in on their identities back in the Season 2 finale, so Fu was still around for a season. She wasn't even guardian yet!

Now, presumably so the fandom could blame Marinette if anything happened, Marinette never discussed this with Fu on-screen, so I can't say whether or not Fu knew, but I feel like he must've since Marinette had to have told him the heroes' identities off-screen, given "Party Crasher," and thus I imagine that Marinette would tell Fu everything that happened, which is consistent with what she does on-screen even if she'd keep things from him for a little while.

"Furious Fu" had also established that not even Master Fu followed rules completely, meaning that Marinette is in this awkward spot of mostly following what Fu taught her, which aren't all guardian rules anyway, and having to break the rules on occasion for various purposes. I can't say what Fu approved of and what he didn't, because episodes spend so much time on the love square that they forget about Marinette as a person and how she interacts with everyone else. From an emotional standpoint, I can't blame Marinette for not revoking the miraculouses of people whose identities get discovered because of her, as I imagine she feels guilty and it probably doesn't seem fair to force them into another miraculous or have them be entirely without one because of a mistake that she made, meaning that someone needs to be throwing a lot of red flags for Marinette to be through with them.

Though obviously, from the show's standpoint, it's just an excuse to not make new models, but I complained about that enough in "Sentibubbler" and this episode even went out of its way to design a detective model for Nino while spraypainting Alya's bodysuit in the same breath, so this is the world we live in.

Anyway, Marinette is essentially in this position where she still has Fu's rules hovering over her, but she's also trying to step out on her own and make her own decisions to varying degrees of success or failure depending on your point of view. Tikki--wait, no, bad idea--Su-Han then, could easily give input on these things, perhaps with Marinette discussing a modern day set of rules for someone her age and going back and forth with Su-Han on what the right choices to make are, finding something that's comfortable but within a realm of predictable control. Su-Han was okay with some rules being broken after seeing how Ladybug handled them and they could've easily made this episode about that instead, but instead, we get rules being set and then being broken on a writer's whim.

Which now brings us to the end of the episode, where Marinette is on the phone with Alya and apologizes for causing trouble between her and Nino. Alya tells her not to worry and she'll fix things - you know, those things that, to Marinette's knowledge, have already been fixed - and asks if Marinette trusts her. Marinette does, and Alya hangs up in order to face Nino.

Yeah, that feeling of dread in your stomach? That means you know how predictable the writing is and what's about to happen, good for you.

Alya explains that she has to tell Nino something and he's worried, this time trying to sheepishly break the tension. She explains that she's still Rena Rouge, much to Nino's shock, and adds that she's in hiding, which is why Ladybug didn't want her to tell anyone. Nino asks why she's telling him if she's not supposed to tell anyone - proving my point from a while back that he wouldn't have been upset had she kept it a secret - then asks if Ladybug agreed with it.

I want to give him a pat on the back for considering Ladybug, but he didn't even tell her when he had the chance that Adrien knows his identity now, so I'm just beaten down at this point.

Instead of answering the question directly, Alya says that she can't hide her identity from him because she loves him and they don't have secrets.

You know, like Nino telling Adrien about Rena's identity, or Alya saying specifically that she's a permanent holder, which I'm sure both of them will confess to since they said that they don't have--aaaaand the episode ends on happy triumphant music, okay.

I mean, I guess Alya at least didn't tell him that Marinette was Ladybug, but that is such a low bar and not even remotely worthy of congratulations when Alya told Nino the specific thing that Marinette told Alya not to tell; the thing that they had agreed on.

Nino wasn't upset anymore. He won't be getting akumatized either. Alya endured the supposed hardship of being a permanent fox holder for four episodes before breaking down and telling her boyfriend. Even her excuse doesn't hold any water because, again, they're both still technically keeping a secret, particularly Alya who knows Marinette's identity as Ladybug. The episode also apparently forgets that Alya and Marinette's friendship must not be as strong by her logic of telling Nino specifically everything, as Alya kept Rena Rouge a secret from Marinette for all of Season 3, but tells Nino about continuing to be Rena Rouge in Season 4. Boyfriends before BFFs without explicitly saying it, or to be more specific, whatever screws Marinette over the most, because that's what this comes down to, made worse by "Optigami" where Marinette told Alya that she'd tell her everything and I guess that doesn't go both ways.

"Sentibubbler" had Alya stress that no one would ever know. She promised Marinette and told Marinette to trust her, and the episode spent its entire running time talking her up and assuring Marinette that she was the right choice, even considering Marinette ridiculous for worrying when Alya had done something without Marinette's permission the episode right before it. Then, three episodes after "Sentibubbler," when Marinette is finally comfortable and trusts Alya completely, Alya betrays that trust. Nino betrayed that trust, knowing he wasn't supposed to do so but telling Adrien his and Rena's identity anyway, because he was losing an argument and needed to PROVE something.

Marinette gives them an inch and they take a mile. Marinette bent the rules so that they could continue to have the miraculous they'd started with and they disrespected her because it was hard for like a day.

And if this bites them back, it won't reflect poorly on them, it'll reflect poorly on Marinette.

It's not like Alya just overrode Marinette. She didn't go, "Hey, I'm telling Nino, I'm sorry," or tried her hardest to go back and forth with Marinette until they both agreed. No, she did what she told Marinette she wouldn't do without saying a word to her, because LOVE and SEEEECRETS.

And this only applies to her, of course, because don't think I didn't notice the parallels between this episode and "Truth," because WOW.

Episode begins with Marinette hoping for something and it blows up in her face? A date at the cinema that ends on a sour note? Plot-centric couple trying to get Andre's ice cream and the female with a secret needing to leave in a hurry? Boyfriend character getting akumatized over their girlfriend's secret? Boyfriend assumes/suggests that the girlfriend's secret involves Aaaaaadrien - or his alter-ego in "Rocketear"'s case - and the episode hints as much to him even though he's completely wrong? Akuma's colors are blue and black? THE BRIDGE?

But, ahhh, little difference, here and there, y'know, like how Marinette was forced to break up with her boyfriend while Alya got to keep hers, and Nino got to have long talks with Alya while Luka got little to nothing with Marinette.

Because do note that Alya, while trying to convince Marinette and talk to Nino about not keeping secrets, at no point suggests that Marinette deserves to be happy and deserves to have a boyfriend and that Marinette should be allowed to tell Luka her secret so they can get back together, so you have Alya here selfishly prioritizing her relationship with Nino while making no comment about Marinette's relationship, essentially asking Marinette to allow her what Marinette herself didn't have the luxury of, and Alya knows this because Marinette told her. It is both incredibly insensitive of Alya and incredibly insulting of the show to make so many parallels between this episode and "Truth" just to have everything crash down for Marinette because she's Marinette while everything goes well for Alya and Nino because they're not Marinette.

We've talked before about the formulas that are literally baked into the show, and one of those is how Marinette makes a mistake in every episode and has to learn from it. What that mistake is in this episode, I don't know, but considering that she apologizes for Alya and Nino's problems, I guess the show blames her for what they themselves had taught her.

Point being, there's a clear karma system in place, but it only applies to Marinette, and forcing her to mess up in every episode means that she is literally not allowed to be with Luka because had she been able to clear things up between them, he would've eagerly accepted her and they could've been happy. It'd be too difficult for her to mess up when Luka doesn't put mountains of pressure and expectations on her like everyone else. Factor that in with how she can be herself around him and it leads to situation that are too difficult for her to screw up in because her mistakes - more often than not - center around Adrien or her role as guardian.

And because another rule in the show is to bring up Adrien so they don't "lose him for too long," she can't avoid bringing him up either. If he's not in the plot, he has to be mentioned, leaving Marinette in a lose-lose situation that she'll never be free from.

So, let me just get this straight then:

The guy who spied on his girlfriend instead of talking to her about his assumptions gets to keep his girlfriend, not because he realized it was wrong regardless of whether he was correct or not, but because the situation had been cleared up for him, yet the guy who actively resisted his akumatization, saddened by his girlfriend's secrets but wanting her to share them when she was ready, gets broken up with and tossed to the wayside because he's not a rich blond boy who got a miraculous because he happened to be within the twenty meters of space where Fu was searching for new holders?

Meanwhile, the girlfriend who has gone against the wishes and insistence of her best friend - guardian of the miraculouses, by the way, so she calls the shots, something that Alya herself said in "Optigami" BEFORE GOING ON TO DO HER OWN THING IN THE SAME EPISODE AND BEING REWARDED FOR IT - is allowed to go against the wishes and insistence of her best friend again for the sake of "all love, no secrets" with her boyfriend and so she can have the happy ending she wants, yet the girl who was chosen for a miraculous without her consent, forced to screw up and talk about a random boy who doesn't even go out of his way to spend time with her, treated like absolute trash by writers who find humor in her misery, and is the only one to receive overly harsh and long-lasting consequences for her actions while also covering up and forgiving the actions of others within the episode where they do it...

doesn't get her happy ending, and won't ever get her happy ending. That thing Shadow Moth said about love and secrets not going well together? Yeah, only goes as far as the writers want it to, because both Nino and Alya still have secrets, and some of the ones they did tell each other were forced by someone else and kept until that very moment. This idea that people in love have to tell each other everything and that it makes a relationship stronger makes me immensely uncomfortable, and that lesson is also in "Guiltrip."

People should be allowed their secrets, and obviously there are exceptions for things that are being hidden with malicious intent, but being essentially forced to share everything or risk not having a "full and complete" relationship is stifling and sounds like it'd only cause stress.

This episode sucks. It furthers and confirms everything I've already thought about the show, Nino's screentime continues to be dependent on Adrien, Alya, or both, there are pointless references that completely take me out of the experience, and the utter betrayal from Alya and supposed message of the episode just reminds me that Marinette is inevitably going to be stuck with a guy who didn't even DO anything in this episode and is going to let himself stew instead of asking for any sort of clarifications from someone he apparently trusts so much.

So the takeaway is that Marinette's life is awful, she'll be forced to apologize for rules that she didn't even come up with herself, her best friend will walk all over her for the sake of her relationship with a guy - not even for the sake, really, they were going to be fine, it was more for HER personal comfort if anything - and the guy who actually makes Marinette happy and could've known her identity instead BECAUSE HE AT LEAST DIDN'T HAVE A TRACK RECORD OF SPILLING HER SECRETS gets treated in the exact same way that she does; like nothing, just something to abuse unfairly.

What a waste of an episode.

#MC's Videos #category: episode summaries #category: salt #salt: adrien agreste #salt: chat noir #salt: alya cesaire #salt: nino lahiffe #video: critique #MC's Renders #render: persona #episode: Rocketear #((I would usually apologize for rambling but you guys seem to like it lol.))#((I could still afford to trim down the summary probably and repeat myself/ramble a BIT less but yeah.))#((I'm also feeling a little more comfortable this time around))#((which might come off in my inflections.))

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mirkysconcubinefiction · 3 years ago

Text

Just No

💮3💮

{Part 1 HeRe - Part 2 HeRe}

Pairing: Steve x Female Reader (Y/N = ****) past Steve x Sharon

Summary: You're the bastard child of Kingpin. You're the girlfriend of Captain America. The classic tale of girl overhears they were an 'assignment' and the boy admits that yes, he had a girlfriend but he loves you now. Shit hits the fan - will girl forgive boy? Will boy let girl go one he finds out she's hiding something? Will girl throw it all away for love? Would the boy?

Warning: Angst x Fluff x Happy Ending x asshole Steve x Suicidal Thoughts x 🔫 x mentions of Abortion x Mental Health x Dark Themes

A/N: I don't own a iPhone or an apple watch. Liberal use of technology... if i get it wrong then ooppsy 😅🖤

Your hands were free.

The cuffs were still on, a constant reminder you're sure Steve thought would keep you from doing something like escape... he was an idiot, of course you'd try to escape.

A tray of food had been brought in and the IV removed. Soft foods like soup and mashed potatoes with pale gravy and jello was your meal. It would have been delicious, should have been the best thing since the last thing you ate was a poptart, but the smell.

God the smell.

You covered your mouth and gagged.

It was a dry heave and you pushed the tray away with the help of Steve who was right there with a bed pan. The thought of throwing up in a bed pan made your stomach flip and you shoved away the bed pan and turned over, your shackled ankles making it awkward but yet again Steve was there with that stupid bed pan and you vomited.

Coughed and spit, eyes watering, the bile was disgusting and you had nothing but acid to vomit.

There are gentle hands on you as a nurse cares for you while another is trying to usher out two super soldiers - Fury had left with intentions to return, with your watch in hand - but the two men refused to leave.

Steve because you were sick because of him and Bucky didn't need an excuse.

"We might have to put the IV back in, you need fluids Ms ****."

"No." It would make it harder to run.

The nurse patted your brow with a cool cloth, "If not for you then..." she trailed off but her gaze went from your own to lower, "You could get seriously ill."

It scared you that /someone knew. Someone other than you, a pee stick, and your gynecologist. You were pregnant. Not even a day after your stupid IUD was removed and your pills given to a neighbor you had been impregnated... it should have been 4 to 6 months... maybe an entire year... but no.

No.

Not super serum sperm.

You gripped the woman's uniform and pulled her closer, ignoring everyone in the room, "Not. One. Word." The nurse nodded and her eyes showed fear, hesitation, it showed something and you let her go.

Unfortunately the moment was broken up by you barfing again.

Matza soup and salty crackers accompanied your strong cup of black tea. It settled in your stomach and it would have been a decent meal if Fury wasn't there with a scowl in place and your watch right back in the hands of the Winter Soldier.

Apparently Tony was making it difficult for them to crack into it and Steve refused to unlock it and you were relieved. So very relieved over his stupidness, grateful he wouldn't find out what you planned to do because you're sure he'd keep you in a basement somewhere.

The man could.

He had that look.

The Ted Bundy look of a charming dark persona.

It's what drew you in like a moth to a flame. Steve wasn't just a war veteran with a butt enhancing uniform, he wasn't just a man with man sized desires, he wasn't like other men you have met. He didn't set out to burn the world and you would admit you agreed to go out with the man for a lark and maybe get a foothold into SHIELD someway but Steve was passion and fire.

Steve would burn the world for someone he loved... you knew if he loved you... if Steve cherished you a fraction like he did with his best friend... if you could get the man and not the SHIELD agent or the soldier carrying the shield to walk on fire and drag himself through broken glass for you... you'd have everything.

Protection.

It's what you wanted when you had accepted that first date with the soldier. It had been a coffee date at seven pm that day. He walked you to a cheesy Cafe by the tower, payed for your hot beverage with too much espresso - it's never enough - and pulled out your chair.

The barista had to ask you to leave with her purse in one hand and the store keys in the other. Steve had waited with you for a Taxi and he'd been a perfect gentleman who shook your hand... you were tempted to drop it right there and then... Steve Roger's was sweet and you felt a twinge of guilt - it reminded you that you were better than your father.

You had a conscious.

You weren't good with undercover work and pretending to be the perfect girlfriend would no doubt make you go stir crazy so you scrapped that plan and told him so the next day.

"I'm not really your type Steve. I'm a hot mess and I would rather bar hop than bake an apple pie." Which was true. You were a social butterfly to catch the gossip and show face but you weren't a Suzy homemaker.

You were a woman with a less than stellar reputation and dating Captain America would be trouble - the goodie two-shoes would sell you out and then all your plans would vanish.

Poof.

Except Steve was a determined ball of muscle. He insisted he wanted to spend time with you, that he wanted to get to know the real you, the you that partied like you were twenty and food hopped across the state.

Steve bar hopped.

Steve became a foodie.

He let you take him to questionable neighborhoods, he carried you on his back when you drank too much or if you complained about walking, he let you drag him to drag shows and when you needed a paper proofread he would sit with his reading glasses like an old man and read your essays or thesis.

It was unfortunate that you fell in love with him.

You genuinely fell in love with an old out of time white boy from Brooklyn but he beat you. He played the game and played it better, you were the one who was strung along and had opened up to someone who could throw you in a prison cell deep in the ocean and no one would miss you.

No one would miss you.

The thought hurt.

As many friends you had, they weren't friends. No one would send a search party for you, as much good as you tried to accomplish, your legal name would associate only with a crime lord who wanted nothing to do with you.

That man would cry for joy if you died.

It hurt.

God did it fucking hurt.

It didn't hurt as much as Steve's infidelity and lies. Everything he said and did was coated in a layer of suspicion. You were dumb, so fucking stupid, to believe you could have found such an amazing partner.

You'd gotten pregnant on purpose.

You had been planning on how to tell Steve. You had wanted it to be a surprise for date night but the onsie wrapping the pregnancy test was sitting in the trunk of your car.

Ah shit.

Fuck.

Your pregnancy test and Surprise Daddy onsie was in the trunk of a car you hardly used. It was New York, having a car was a waste of money with so many public transportation options. It was sitting in the garage of the Tower, you had wanted to drive the both of you to your favorite food place and surprise him like you've seen countless times on YouTube.

It was supposed to be your trump card.

Steve Roger's wanted a family, he wanted stability, the asshole would have put that ring on your fingers and burned the world for you...

Liar.

LIAR!

You were both liars.

You'd fallen in love and promised to not be that woman, the one who dropped to their knees and forgave, that wasn't you.

You wouldn't beg and plead and humiliate yourself like your mother had done.

No.

The bed sheets ruffle and you watch a nurse unlock your cuff then the other as you chew on a cracker. "Nurse Torres has given you the green light for a shower."

"I'll take her." Steve is up from his seat and Bucky is there to sit him right down with his vibranium arm still upset over his impromptu meet-up with the wall.

"Medical Staff only - you shouldn't be here anyways." She was snippy as she helped you sit up and removed the broken cuffs at your wrist.

A shower was glorious.

You sat in a chair under the hot water and scrubbed your hair, face, private bits, and brushed your teeth.

A pair of pants and shirt was given to you and you towel dried your hair as the nurse left you alone for a moment to let you use the bathroom in privacy.

Leaving you alone allowed you to breathe. You needed your watch... a plan had been made to get out of the room... you needed... there was a knock on the door and you flusbed the toilet and washed your hands.

Glancing in the mirror you wished you could break it.

Legs crossed you sat, the nurse didn't tie you up, in fact she took the cuffs while sending a dirty look to all the men in the room with express permission to press the red button if you needed assistance.

"**** we need you to let us see your messages." Bucky tries while Steve shifts in his chair, arms crossed with a sour expression.

"No. Am I under arrest?" The question goes to Fury who's sitting in a chair watching the room.

"You're under SHIELD protection but you haven't been formally charged with a crime."

"Then I'm leaving. You can't keep me here."

"You're not leaving." Steve says it as if he had authority over you, "You're staying here until this mess is fixed. I'm not letting you die because you're stubborn and cocky."

"No."

Steve doesn't bother to argue and instead looks to Fury, "Tell the staff I want her tied to the bed. She's not leaving this room."

The pillow was in your hand and you tossed it, it wouldn't have done much since Steve caught it but you were enraged. So fucking pissed that you leapt from the hospital bed and directly on the man, the chair toppling backwards.

It was a mess of pain and murderous intent. You didn't care you banged up your knee or hands, you hit what flesh you could attack and your fingers curled into his collar as arms tried ripping you off Steve but you weren't letting go.

The shirt ripped and you were dragged off Steve kicking and screaming and you were forced back on the bed and you saw someone with a needle... they were going to pump something else into your system... you did the only thing you could do.

Bucky had long luxurious hair, the shoulder length locks had been his best feature much to your ex's jealous grumbling - Steve refused to grow his hair longer than it was - and because you knew that while the soldier could take a bullet without a grimace, a scalp would always be a soft spot.

You grabbed it.

Fingers curling into the silk softness, the hair band popping out as you yanked and screamed. The soldier swore and a new chaos of nurses jumping into the fray but you weren't letting go, this was a horse you were willing to die on and Bucky Barnes was your goddam steed!

Yank

You weren't letting go.

The bed collapsed beneath you and the hog pile atop you left you disoriented but someone put far too much pressure on your stomach and it was enough for you to release before you thought better of it.

Ripped off the man you screamed like a mad woman. You were fucking insane and you thrashed as you were carried across the room, dropped, then dragged outside where your voice echoed in the hall as you scream and threatened to murder them all.

You will.

You'd do it.

You've planned it since that stupid elevator ride with Clint.

The four nurses carried you into another room, it was dark until lights flickered to life and the door closed with a bang.

You quieted, your limbs stop their flailing, and your body was carefully lowered to the floor and one of the nurses rushed to get you a bottle of water that sat on the floor by the door. "You're fucking heavy." One of the nurses whispered as she stretched her arms.

"Fuck you." It was the only proper response for such a comment.

"Quiet." One of the other ladies shucked off her nurse uniform showing off leggings and a crop top and one of the other ladies removed her shoes and socks leaving her barefoot.

The barefoot one gave them a thumbs up and a whispered "Good luck." Before leaving.

You were grateful for this help, you didn't think you'd make this easy of an escape until you were told in the shower the plan. A plan apparently your brother was willing to help before cutting you off.

Favor for favor seeing as you kept SHIELD off his ass several times.

The three ladies were quick to rush you out of the stairwell a few floors down, they had led you to a service elevator and out to the loading dock and you were smuggled in a laundry truck.

You were free.

It was chaos.

Steve hovered over his friend who was scowling and rubbing his scalp with tears in his eyes. Bucky muttering under his breadth and Steve couldn't begrudge the threats and swears about you - it looked like you had pulled out more than just a few strands of hair.

Fury was livid.

Scowling and raging with a nurse as you had been carried out of the room for an evaluation. It was a precious few minutes of registering what had happened before Steve noticed it was quiet... too quiet.

He could feel something was wrong, there was that sense of doom, and it made his ear itch. His ear always itched when it came to you and it annoyed him.

"Where's my girl?" He rubbed his ear and approached the nurse whose glower matched Fury's.

"Who?"

"****." He says your full name, "Where did your staff take her?"

"She should be in psyche ward for evaluation." She says and Steve frowns.

"The Tower doesn't have a psyche ward." Rubbing at his scalp, Bucky pointed out and Fury drew himself up and Steve was gone, at least he tried to as the door was locked.

He was locked inside.

Shit.

Hand smacking on the door, the frame rattling, Steve turned and he was ready to rage but the nurse had taken a turn - her color paling and she had flung a hand out bracing herself against Fury who was there to catch her when she passed out.

The door was ripped off the hinges and with a bang hit the floor with one hard shove of Steve's shoulder. The heat hit him before the smoke had him coughing.

Someone had lit the short hall and nursing station on fire. It crept up the walls and ceilings, the fire system disabled and Steve had wanted to rush through the flames but someone had flung something through the flames and Steve didn't know what it was but he jumped back into the room before it smashed to the ground in a spray of glass and liquid before it caught on fire.

SMASH

The fire was spreading and the smoke curled into the room. "I'm too old for this shit." Fury says, "Take her."

With a sigh Bucky did, the woman over his shoulder and fortunately they made it out of the situation - they were trained to stay alive and move.

The sprinkler system never activated and it was a moment of chaos as the building was evacuated and fire fighters were called. Suffice to say Tony was very angry.

So angry in fact he removed the AI protecting your watch and showed Steve the security cameras of your escape. Steve had to grit his teeth when you stripped down in a hallways and swapped clothes in a room with several other men... it wasn't beach wear or a pair of your skimpy street clothes he loathed.

There was no record of the four woman who helped you escape.

The nurse who had passed out had been given a sedative as the woman didn't feel it but had notice a bruised injection sight on herself.

The laundry truck had been tracked and found abandoned and you had been last sighted entering a local pawn shop.

The watch fell with a plop on the table where Steve sat hunched over, an empty coffee cup unwilling to shrivel under the mans glare. "Open it."

"We'll find her." Natasha was currently tracking you down with the rest of the team before SHIELD found you.

"She's a flight risk with connections." Bucky flicked the watch with his vibranium hand and it slid across the table into Steve's lap where the blond picked it up and set back on the table away from him, "Open it before SHIELD gets their hand on it."

"I'm not..."

"Stuff it Steve. This new loyal spouse is bullshit, you fucked another bitch for a year, you went into the relationship on a lie, you weren't supposed to fall in love."

The chair scrapes as Steve stood and hissed, "I love ****."

"You love the idea of her. I told you to tell her the truth but you were too busy getting your dick wet with Sharon - you remember her right? The woman you had planned to marry after we put away ****?"

"Sharon was a mistake." Steve admits.

"A year long mistake? You fucked her before you broke up with her, you can't stand there and expect shit to piece itself together and **** to forgive you."

Angry, Steve smacked the mug off the table before both hands lean forward on the polished surface, both men ignoring the mug shattering. "It's none of your fucking business Buck."

"It is when it effects a mission."

"**** is mine, not a mission."

"She's not yours. She broke up with you, she tried to fucking kill you, if what Natasha says is right **** tried to get Nat to kill her."

"I know, don't you fucking think I don't know that! **** needs time and more therapy and it'll get better. We'll be happy again."

Bucky rolled his eyes before rubbing his face with his flesh hand, frustrated. "You're an idiot. A stupid, pig headed idiot. Your infatuation can get us killed!" Bucky held up a hand before the other man could explode, "**** is a beautiful woman. She's brilliant, kind, chattier than Sam on a good day but goddam Steve, she's fucking insane."

"**** is..."

"Not your type." Bucky finishes and there's a moment where no one breathes or moves. Those caught watching the show were quiet and still, afraid a move or loud inhale would bring attention to them.

Steve's knuckle taps on the table and he stands tall, taller than before. Resigned and sad all at once, "Sharon then?"

"Fuck no. Sharon was your consolation prize for Peggy." It makes Steve sigh before dragging his chair over and sitting with a slouch but Bucky wasn't done. "We found you a girl remember?" And Steve did remember.... Natasha and Bucky had found the perfect wife-to-be but Steve hadn't been interested no matter how well they clicked and Steve was knee deep in war related ptsd that it took until you came into his life to help himself versus the world. "But you said you weren't ready and she waited until you found Sharon and knew she was Peggy's niece. You broke it off and moved in with Sharon, then you stupidly fall for the girl who's the complete opposite of everything you swore you wanted."

"**** is everything and more Buck." Tired, Steve was tired and he wanted to be angry, anger was better than the hurt he knew sleeping beside empty sheets would bring. "Everything we ever talked about wanting in a dame"

If Bucky could get away with lifting the table and hitting his friend with it he would have. There was a reason why this table and in most conference rooms were bolted to the ground. "Sharon is willing to quit her job and stay home with as many kids you could handle."

"Really? Is that the way you're playing? That's fucking low and you know that. I can't have kids remember."

"This isn't the 40s punk, if a mini pre-serum you pops up they'll be fine." It was an age old argument.

"There's no guarantee the serum enhances my sperm. Short of **** willing to carry my baby we'll never know."

"Sharon is willing to be the mother of your kid."

"I don't want her, I want **** and she sure as fuck doesn't want kids. It's why I liked her, she's on a fucking cocktail of birth control to keep from getting knocked up. She doesn't trust my 'Captain America sperm'." Steve Air quoted the last words. "The last thing I need is a baby fucked up like I was."

"That's cold even for you."

"It's the goddam truth. If it wasn't for Erskine I would be dead before the winter after you left. Hell, maybe if I didn't agree to this," Steve gestures to himself, "You wouldn't be the Winter Soldier and be sitting in a nursing home somewhere."

Bucky pinches the bridge of his nose and counts. It's a short round of numbers before he speaks, "I hate you."

"Get in line."

"Steve... Steve I hate to tell you this but **** deserves better than you. Trying to spin this like she's the problem isn't working so we'll go with honesty. You don't deserve someone who hands their life over on a goddam platter. **** invested herself into you and you broke her fucking heart and if we weren't friends I would have shot you in the foot a long time ago."

Steve makes to speak but once again Bucky lifts a hand and it's his Vibranium finger pointing at him, "You cheated." Second finger, "You lied." Third finger, "Had her Gynecologist insert a tracking device in her vag." Fourth finger, "You took advantage of her mental health and she went off the deep end that she tried to have Nat kill her." Hand out and all five fingers hung heavy in the air, "You knew about that lawyer and it fucked you over. Instead of her forgiving you and accepting you as her shield like the other two woman would, she ran away from you."

There it was.

Spoken in Russian and the words sounded harsh to his ears and it made him feel... God it made him feel dirty. Not a dirty you would have winked at him for but dirty. The type of dirty he went after... how did it all go wrong? It shouldn't have gone wrong and Steve couldn't be mad that Bucky had somehow found out what he had done. "Does everyone know?"

"I took care of it."

Which meant no one knew and Steve was relieved. He wasn't proud of what he had done, ruining any chance you had at your revenge and safety but Steve could protect you. He would protect you until his dying breadth and it was the best way to bring you back to him and to close the doors from your past that hung over you like an invisibility cloak. "I can't loose her." He admits and Steve can see how his words made the other man's jaw clench, how angry Bucky had become with just four words where there was indifference before.

"You already lost her." Getting shot was a pleasant alternative than hearing those words, "You owe her Steve, she has the whole of New York hunting her and those friends would run at the first sound of trouble." Bucky moved and reached for the watch, Steve eyeing the hand that picked it up and dangled it in front of his face. "We need to find her and save her from herself."

From herself... Steve knew from experience that your worst enemy was yourself. Your history with both your mental and physical well-being had ensnared Steve as much as it confused him.

You need him.

He grew to love how needy you were and it wasn't because he was Captain America but because he made a really good cup of tea, he could hum you to sleep, you needed him to hold you as tight as he dared, you needed him to make those voices in your head to shut up, you needed him to be in control and sometimes he allowed you to be in control, but you needed him because he loved how you were able to care for him and take care of him.

Steve had fallen not for your pretty face or your refreshingly crass tongue but you sewed a button on his shirt and baked him brownies from a box and fed him popcorn on those random date nights.

You let him bury himself to the hilt no matter the time or day.

You let him fuck you awake when his nightmares make him feel lost and alone.

You were a heathen and he fucking loved every minute of a world you opened to him.

The watch swings in his sight and before he could think too hard on him once again betraying your trust he takes the watch and unlocks it. Bucky holds out his hand expecting him to return it but Steve wants to know, he wants to be the first person to invade a private bubble he had no access to.

Bucky had expected the watch to be returned and if they were lucky a location to where you had run off to. What the soldier hadn't expected was for Steve's mouth to drop open in shock, genuine surprise, before a storm cloud of anger to come over the man before the watch was crushed in his hand.

"Grab Nat. I know where she is." And Steve is gone. Storming from the room and making those around them back themselves away from the storm cloud that was Captain America who took down another door, forgetting his strength.

Bucky was seriously considering retiring after this shit show was over.

To be continued HeRe

👀

#fanfiction #avengers #mirkysconcubinefiction #female reader #angst #dark steve rogers #steve rogers x reader #angst with a happy ending #cheating #affair #kingpin daughter #just no series #captain america #captain america x reader #y/n #y/n x Steve rogers #sharon carter

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ilikekidsshows · 3 years ago

Note

Hi! I loved the Adrinette analysis you made...do you think you could make a similar one for Ladybug and Chat Noir over seasons 1 to 3?

I knew I was leaving myself open for this ask, and I kinda dreaded it, because 80% of Ladynoir screen time is dedicated to defeating an Akuma, meaning the characters have something else to focus on rather than progressing their relationship, and most the relationship stuff is just Marinette being really stubborn and refusing to properly look at her partner. In other words, there's significantly more screen time, but also proportionally less stuff going on in Ladynoir than in Adrinette because the characters are superheroes on the job and one party is actively resisting any development happening. It's also a very different kind of arc and relationship to Adrinette where the goal is just the two of them getting closer and more comfortable with each other. Ladynoir has that as well as all the trust issues and superhero team dynamics. Basically, this post is definitive proof that Miraculous has had plot development before season four, and it has had a lot of it. I got almost dizzy with it while compiling this.

Once again, I’m trying to go in a somewhat chronological order to properly track the relationship.

In 'Origins', we only get one-sided Ladynoir stuff. Marinette is new on the job and completely focused on solving the Akuma problem and nothing else. Meanwhile, Adrien actually takes note of his partner. He sees her flounder but ultimately put together a clever plan. He sees her lose faith but ultimately pick herself up and deliver a really badass speech at Hawk Moth. It's really no wonder he fell in love. The number one thing he learned about Ladybug is that she can fail and the second thing was that she could pick herself up again and grab the win anyway. I've brought up earlier in the Top Adrinette Scene discussion that Adrien is very scared of failing, because his father does not forgive failure, so Ladybug being someone who can turn a failure into a win understandably makes his heart go pitter-patter.

Meanwhile, Marinette barely noticed her partner. As I said, she was fully focused on solving the problem, but she was also getting distracted by her own insecurities. Marinette's first experience with Cat Noir was that he was kinda smooth and seemed to be much more confident than Marinette. Her second experience was that he tended to leap before he looked, but was perfectly willing to listen to her say-so. We have a very brief attempt at flirtation from Cat Noir, that Ladybug barely seems to even notice.

In 'Bubbler', Cat Noir actually gets to flirt with his Lady. He's clearly intent on getting her to notice what he's getting at, but Ladybug seems mostly exasperated with him. At this point their partnership is new and Marinette is most likely thinking back to their first case, when Cat Noir was so patient and supportive and not this...much. She still doesn't tell him to quit it, though, meaning she’s trying to accept him being a lot.

'Stormy Weather' has Cat Noir continuing in his attempts to get Ladybug to notice him and this time she responds playfully when they're not right in the middle of a tense situation. She's getting used to this being Cat's way of interacting with her and keeping the mood light.

'Lady Wifi' has the pair discussing the secrecy between them, with Adrien actively making the decision that honoring Ladybug's wishes concerning keeping their secret identities is more important than knowing the identity of the girl he's in love with, that doing so is the proper way to love her. 'Lady Wifi' is also the first time Marinette panics at the idea of something romantic being suggested about her and Cat Noir, when Alya says Adrien might be Cat Noir, that Cat Noir might be the boy she's repeatedly told Alya she's in love with.

'Copycat' shows us for a fact that Ladybug has no idea that Cat Noir's flirtations with her are genuine, and Cat Noir is growing tired of his feelings going entirely unnoticed.

Because of his growing frustration over not being able to communicate his feelings to Ladybug in a manner that she'd take seriously, Adrien goes the extra mile to write her a love poem in 'Dark Cupid'. When he receives a response that appeared with no sender, just a ladybug, he entertains the thought that Ladybug answered his poem and does in fact return his feelings (not realizing that Ladybug would need to know his identity to deliver such a note to him specifically, but Adrien does generally worry less about secret identities than Marinette). 'Dark Cupid' is also the first occasion of Marinette's by-now patented plan "Pretend to be in Love with Cat Noir" to solve problems, except that she was absolutely certain that a True Love's Kiss could occur between them, so there isn't even much room for pretending, but Marinette's denial is so powerful, she'll try.

In 'The Mime' we see Cat Noir actually testing Ladybug's receptiveness to a date, by suggesting that they could have gone to the play together if they didn't have to detransform. Ladybug replies that she has other plans before zipping away, and Cat Noir merely smiles after her. His feelings are growing, and he might still be remembering the love note he got. In fact, this is probably why he says "We are meant to be," in 'Gamer'.

In 'Animan' Ladybug actually does some of her own flirting with Cat Noir by giving him chin scritches. We also see a very straightforward gesture of affection from Cat Noir to Ladybug, when he hugs her in relief after the battle. Ladybug smiles softly at him, seeing that her partner cares about her well-being, while Cat Noir jumps back, embarrassed over his own reaction, or perhaps even afraid of censure. Adrien isn't the type of person to suddenly grab people in a hug, most likely because such "overly emotional" displays are discouraged in the Agreste household. This is the first occasion of Adrien projecting his father's supposed reaction to a thing he does on Ladybug, so he runs away from her.

In 'Simon Says', Cat Noir clings to Ladybug when faced with Gabriel looking at him weirdly (he's trying to figure out if he's Adrien, but Adrien himself never realizes his father was suspicious of his identity). At this point, Ladybug has started to become something of a security symbol to Adrien specifically against his father.

'Reflekta' is the episode where Cat Noir reminds Ladybug that he doesn't just deliver quips and he is actually a hero in his own right, even with diminished capabilities, in response to Marinette almost leaving him behind because he couldn't use his Cat Noir powers, because he'd "just slow (her) down", and then it turns out she couldn't have won without him. However, with the scene of Cat Noir taking the hit, Ladybug also starts on the process of realizing exactly how important her partner is to her success. Noticeably, it's while they're plotting together that Ladybug responds to his flirtation by flirting back, even if not very well (protip, Marinette, demeaning someone isn't funny to anyone but the person doing the demeaning, the other person is not suddenly lacking a sense of humor). Cat Noir is also a bit softer with his overtures in this episode, his cheeky flirtation gaining a bit more intimacy.

In 'Antibug', we can see the lessons Ladybug learned in 'Reflekta' sticking, with Ladybug listening to and valuing Cat Noir's input, unlike how the last time he tried to give her advice in a Chloé situation in 'Evillustrator', when she acknowledged he was right but couldn't bring herself to follow his advice. She also flirts with Cat Noir of her own volition, when she rings his bell. Cat Noir also keeps showing genuine warmth towards Ladybug instead of being just cheeky, when Ladybug compliments him. They affirm their bond after taking down Antibug.

The events of 'Reflekta' and 'Antibug' together influence what happens in 'Volpina', where Marinette is very suspicious of a new superhero showing up, without ever suspecting she could have been an Akuma in disguise. Cat Noir is her partner, and Cat Noir is her only partner. She’s not only learned his value, but has grown possessive over him. There's no need for any outsider. This jealousy over Cat Noir is actually something Marinette doesn't get over during the first three seasons the way she learns to deal with her jealousy over Adrien.

By the time 'The Collector' happens, Adrien has developed enough trust in his partner to ultimately believe her over her suspicions about Gabriel being Hawk Moth. This episode also has the first time Marinette voices concern over Cat Noir's emotional well-being instead of merely physical, who, of course, can't tell her what's wrong because it would break the secret identity clause.

'Prime Queen' has some very nice mutual Ladynoir flirting at the start of the interview. However, they're both mortified when Nadja comes out with the pictures. Cat Noir is confused, because he had no idea that their relationship could even give that impression, he must have been feeling like he hasn't been making much progress in getting closer to Ladybug. Meanwhile, Marinette goes defensive for the first time since 'Lady Wifi' only, this time, even more so. She even runs out on Cat Noir when he, very understandably, wants an explanation why he head to learn from a reporter that she'd planted one on him instead of from her. The episode confirms that Marinette will refuse to, in any way, discuss anything romance-related in relation to Cat Noir, even when there's an innocent explanation, like breaking an Akuma's spell. She's so defensive it's suspicious.

We also have another occasion of Marinette "pretending" to be in love with Cat Noir to solve a problem. While Cat Noir purrs either over the confession, having her close, or both. Marinette also jumped at the chance to "pretend" to confess her love so eagerly, that it left Prime Queen unimpressed. Still, Marinette refused to commit to the "ruse" enough to kiss Cat Noir while he's actually conscious and aware of it, because then she'd have to deal with the aftermath of kissing him.

'Dark Owl' has the first true test of faith between Ladybug and Cat Noir, when both of them have to trust the other not to look while they have to recharge. Although, considering 'The Collector', this is actually the first test only for Ladybug. At the end of the episode, Adrien also genuinely asks Ladybug out on a date for the very first time when they unexpectedly have free time from Owl-sitting, but Marinette preferred to skip off to spend time with Alya since she hadn’t gotten to see her while being so busy with The Owl's antics for so long.

'Glaciator' has Cat Noir planning an actual outing for Ladybug. The thing is, before 'Glaciator', Marinette's response to Cat Noir asking her out has always been that she has other plans, no can do. However, in 'Glaciator', she specifically says: "We'll see," and then she ends up ghosting him because she forgot to even send him a message that she didn't feel like going anywhere. At the same time, Gabriel purposefully stands him up for dinner, causing Adrien to project onto the Ladybug situation so hard that he doesn't think Ladybug even sees him as a real friend. Considering Adrien was under the same impression about Marinette in 'Puppeteer 2', it is typical for Marinette to send these kinds of mixed signals (which is fitting, considering how clear communication seems to be the biggest bullet point in her character development agenda).

On the upside, Cat Noir's compromised emotional state led to him being more frank about his feelings to first Marinette and later to Ladybug, finally making Marinette understand that Cat Noir is actually in love with her and how sensitive her partner can really be and that she can hurt his feelings. Notably, in this episode, Marinette particularly enjoys employing her "Pretend to be in love with Cat Noir" gambit, this time even going as far as kissing him, after finding out he's actually in love with her. Indeed, at the end of the episode, her rejection to Cat Noir is entirely focused on her having feelings for someone else (as well). She never once said she doesn't love him, and, in fact, never claims so in the English dub.

In 'Sapotis' we also see a brief glimpse of Marinette's jealousy over Cat Noir when he welcomes Alya onto the team so warmly but, because Rena Rouge was a teammate Marinette herself chose and trusts, she doesn't feel threatened enough to express it more than by merely keeping an eye on their interaction. 'Sapotis' also starts the arc of Cat Noir starting to lose faith in Ladybug having his best interest in mind when Rena Rouge appears out of nowhere and he's expected to just accept that no-questions-asked.

'Gorizilla' notably has Marinette repeatedly voicing her belief that Cat Noir will show up, something Adrien appreciates a great deal, going as far as blushing over something so simple. He's astounded by the fact that his Lady has faith in him, but it seems he still believes it despite the notion being strange to him.

'Frightningale' really drives home the arc going on in this season. 'Riposte' was the first time we saw Ladybug and Cat Noir seamlessly working together to neutralize an Akuma, but in this episode, they move in perfect synch while fighting Frightningale while handcuffed together. Cat Noir and Ladybug's teamwork has reached phenomenal levels.

I've repeatedly said that 'Syren' is less about Cat Noir and Ladybug's relationship and more about Fu's relationships with his two chosen. Still, this is the episode where Marinette gets put on the spot and comes through for her partner and Cat Noir learns that Ladybug keeping secrets from him wasn't of her own volition, but because of Fu, restoring his faith in her completely.

It's most likely because of the trust Ladybug showed towards him in 'Gorizilla' and their perfectly synchronized teamwork in 'Frightningale' that Cat Noir tries to confess to Ladybug again in 'Frozer'. These two episodes could give Cat Noir hope that he might be winning Ladybug over, especially since, as I said before, Ladybug has not said she doesn't have feelings for him. But she, of course, rejects him, although it's notably with more wistfulness than the last time, especially when she comments how she doesn't think it's possible for the "other boy" to not be a concern. 'Frozer' takes place during the arc in season two that covers Marinette's growing frustration at her inability to progress with Adrien the way she wants to and the discontent shows in her interaction with Cat Noir as well.

The change in how Marinette regards Cat Noir's input in fights between season one and two is especially noticeable in 'Style Queen' and 'Maledictator'. Both times Cat Noir is absent in a fight and this influences how Marinette approaches fighting the Akumas. In 'Style Queen' Marinette tries to play it sneaky but also needs to be saved by Plagg's intervention in his holder's absence. In 'Maledictator', Marinette's plan involved siccing the brainwashed Cat Noir on the Akuma's goons. Cat Noir has become necessary to Marinette, which is why he's able to galvanize her during 'Heroes' Day' by reminding her that the two of them against the world is what's always worked.

Season three as a whole revolves around Adrien losing faith that Ladybug could ever return his feelings the way he wishes and Marinette getting several warning signs about how she could lose Cat Noir. I might even go as far as saying that this season has negative Ladynoir development (in that their relationship grows more frayed and brittle instead of stronger).

A big reason for this new development direction is 'Reflekdoll', which, according to the production codes, happens early in the season. In this episode, Ladybug and Cat Noir learn the worst possible (false) lessons about themselves and each other and they carry those lessons for the rest of the season. In my 'Reflekdoll' conflict analysis, I wrote that Ladybug basically "learns" that Cat Noir is fae-like in that he isn't bothered by mortal things like stress or heartbreak. Cat Noir, meanwhile, "learns" that, while it doesn't matter if Ladybug makes a mistake because she can always fix it, him making a mistake makes him fundamentally less worthy as a hero and a person, so he could never be as valuable as Ladybug even as a person and not only strategically.

'Weredad', meanwhile, is the quintessential evidence episode for Marinette being both possessive and in denial about Cat Noir. She's literally pretending to be in love with him to him, while totally denying to herself that she feels anything for him, all the while she's feeling jealous over him seemingly moving on from her to be in love with her. The reason it's so important that no one but Marinette herself and Tikki know what went down in this episode is that Marinette's denial would never last if someone actually questioned this whole mess.

This is also an episode where we can clearly see the aftermath of what 'Reflekdoll' did to Cat Noir. He's once again projecting his situation with his father onto someone else (this time Tom), but he's also blatantly refusing to fight Tom at full strength, because he feels that it's his fault he got Akumatized, allowing himself to get hurt severely because he feels he's not that important, that he might even deserve it.

'Oblivio' has Ladybug once again do the whole: "How dare you say I'm in love with Cat Noir I am quitting this conversation right now!" routine. Cat Noir also got actual confirmation that something about him made his Lady want to kiss him when their memories had been wiped.

'Desperada' has the semi-infamous scene of Ladybug saying she doesn't need Cat Noir and, while she learns the valuable lesson that yes she flipping does, this is also the episode where Adrien repeatedly fails to use the Snake Miraculous correctly, having to give it up to someone else, feeling like an undeserving failure *turns to look at 'Weredad' and then at ‘Reflekdoll*.

'Kwamibuster' is an episode where everyone keeps telling Ladybug not to trust Cat Noir and she believes it to the degree that she sees him as a bigger threat than a Kwami-targeting Akuma. In other words, Cat Noir being treated like a part-time hero again in season four is because of 'Kwamibuster'.

'Gamer 2.0' is actually an important episode for the Ladynoir dynamic. This is the episode where Marinette takes on way too much responsibility (voluntarily) and is really stressed about it, while Cat Noir dismantles that stress with his good humor and positive outlook. This episode enforces the lesson that was stated outright in 'Reflekdoll': "Everyone has their role", and Cat Noir's role is to be the jokester who makes Ladybug feel better. Also, Cat Noir doesn’t even hesitate to make a sacrifice play for his Lady, because he’s less important.

'Timetagger' foreshadows that Marinette's words of affirmation are losing their effect. She repeatedly says things like "I trust Cat Noir", "You're irreplaceable", "You know you're the best", but she doesn't know how to express her regard to Cat Noir in actions. And it's important to note that Adrien was raised among liars and manipulators. Even if he doesn't doubt Ladybug's intentions, he might doubt the depth and truth of her feelings for him. Because Ladybug is so nice, she might lie about valuing him to make him feel better. Words aren't enough when words are the only thing between you and your insecurities. This is also an episode that feeds into Cat Noir's worthlessness arc, with Bunnyx repeatedly insisting that Ladybug in the future is just awesome, while Cat Noir broke her Miraculous. Even Ladybug shoots him down at the end of the episode when he tries to ask for extra affirmation, claiming he "already knows he's great".

In 'Puppeteer 2', Cat Noir's hope from 'Oblivio' that Ladybug might be starting to be won over by him comes back to bite him when the wax Ladybug gets close to him by pretending to be coming onto him. He only realized she was a fake because she smelled wrong, something that comes back to haunt him in 'Ladybug', when he's faced with a perfect copy, whose only difference to the original is that she's apparently in love with him. The villains clearly know he’s so in love with Ladybug it sometimes blinds him.

With the villains using this clear weakness as an in, it's no wonder that Cat Noir finally makes the decision to move on from Ladybug in 'Heart Hunter'. He tries one more time to test her interest to see if she'd be jealous of him dating and, when she's merely overjoyed, he decides to finally move on to Kagami. However, when faced with the actual reality of Cat Noir giving his attention to someone else instead of her (instead of in addition to her), Ladybug actually finds herself hurt and questions the lack of "My Lady" in Cat Noir addressing her, but she instantly denies it when Cat Noir notices. Denial denial denial...

Aaaaaand that's a wrap! Putting this together made me realize just how interconnected the show really is but no one notices because there aren’t any secret identities being revealed, people getting together or lore being revealed. Even something that seems like a breather episode like 'Gamer 2.0' has a larger role in the arc of developing the relationship between our main heroes.

#miraculous tales of ladybug and chat noir #miraculous ladybug #ladynoir #lovesquare #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #ml meta #long post #REALLY long

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soranis-sunshadow · 3 years ago

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I think people forget that context and tone are key to storytelling. Like if She-Ra did take it's war elements seriously and show Catra and Hordak burning villages, taking mass prisoners and using slave labor in the Horde, it would have been SUPER HARD to accept both characters having "Happy endings" because people would be like "What about the slave camps".

Hence why they didn't show that stuff and made the Etheria War more like a school clique war. Because you want to be believable enough for Catra and Hordak to have happy endings at the end.

That's why they gave Horde Prime most of the horrible atrocities both on and off screen since he wasn't getting redeemed and he was the ultimate evil. So they could go full blast with showing Prime geocoding worlds and what not.

Tonal context is key to any type of story i think and She-Ra's both light hearted nature mixed with scary moments is key to the success. Or any successful series really.

SPOP did take the war seriously - in season five that is.

We see refugee camps, we see people being displaced, terrorized, controlled and even harmed in Horde Prime’s effort to gain control of Etheria.

We see Horde Prime committing genocide on a planetary scale,

and we see the outcome of his conquests both in the form of destroyed worlds, extinct peoples and subjugated ones and in the relics he kept of them

Season five did not shy away from any of that. The tone was as dire as the situations the characters found themselves in.

There were no more Princess proms or organizing parties with moth people.

The strategizing that goes on is taken seriously and not treated like a D&D game.

Even characters that had a small role such as Bow’s dads - characters who during the war with the Etherian Horde in the first four seasons enjoyed the luxury of living and their lavish home away from it all - these characters are now on the run for their lives.

Whereas the first season implied that everyone has lost someone to the war we don’t really see any of it. Worse still the only confirmed casualty, King Micah - turns out to have not been a casualty at all when he is found alive on beast Island along with Entrapta.

If the series had wanted Hordak's war to be serious, it really could have done it by showing us the things it did in S5.

We are told at certain points that people have ‘lost someone to the war’ but we are never actually shown anyone grieving for their loss.

A lot of fans claim that Hordak was responsible for the death of Mermista and Frosta’s parents but that is neither mentioned in the show nor used as a reason for them to join the rebel alliance. Mermista’s dad ‘went away’ for some reason just like most of her people, people that had been leaving Salineas because she refused to do anything about the fact that the Sea Gate was failing back in season one. Adora fixes that problem for her which lead to her deciding to ally herself with Glimmer's war effort.

We do see plenty of property damage especially when season four comes around and Catra’s amplifies the war but not much beyond that.

It is implied that upon Salinas’s assault, everyone got away scot free. And yes, I acknowledge that having their homes destroyed is terrible in and of itself but the scene doesn’t have the same tone that the whole of season five did. It is not explored what happened to these people after they were turned refugees nor what the loss of their village meant for them. They are briefly forgotten by the show, their struggles are left unaddressed.

The general terror of the people in Earlandia come season five however is clear. These people are just as fearful of Horde Prime as they are of their own princesses. They live under terror and martial law with robotic drones and clones patrolling the streets.

It would’ve helped to set a darker tone if the refugees from Salineas had been even a footnote somewhere beyond the episode where the Sea Gate fell. We do not see refugee camps, we don’t deal with any of the logistics that come to mind when dealing with massive locations of people or the resource shortages. They are merely forgotten by the narrative.

Mermista copes with this loss by moping and eating ice cream in a bathtub.

She doesn’t go to rescue her own people. She is never shown trying to take care of them now that they have been displaced as would have been fitting for a ruler. That issue was never addressed.

The only person shown grieving in the first seasons is Glimmer. At first for her father, and after Catra’s activated the portable device before it was ready, for her mother. This loss is what made Glimmer do the things she thought were necessary and sadly, that is completely forgotten in season five when she doesn’t mention her mother once nor does she get a proper reunion with her father whom she had believed dead for so long.

We do see refugee camps and people on the run in season five. The urgency and bleakness of the situation is underlined over and over again. We are no longer shown people living comfortable family lives while the war was happening somewhere else.

Even Peekablue’s soirée had an air of desperation to it, that of people trying to drown their sorrows and the run from the oncoming apocalypse.

The concept of “losing someone to the war” becomes reality for a lot of the characters as their loved ones become chipped and turned against them.

It’s not that SPOP didn’t know how to set a grim tone for the war. It did, with Prime’s war.

Your assessment of the tone for the first seasons being that of a “school clique” is apt as well as the reason behind it.

The show had always intended to redeem Catra’s and forgive Hordak. Having them commit actual atrocities on screen would’ve made it unpalatable and tone deaf. (Though that doesn’t stop some fans from imagining Hordak’s supposed crimes and even headcannoning some of them like claiming that he was responsible for murdering Catra’s people - which was something that was never mentioned in the show but people love bringing it up anyway)

The first part of the war had never been meant to be taken seriously whereas Prime’s conquest was.

It’s strange that so many people insist on comparing the tone of the first seasons with that of Avatar the Last Air Bender when that show had always maintained the grim atmosphere of a world at war. People always mentioned how strange it was to see an air bender in the flesh since they were all believed dead. We see broken families on both sides of the war and we see resource shortages, rampant crime and violent battles.

Does anyone ever mentioned Scorpia’s people in the show or how odd it is to see a living Scorpioni if they had all been genocided? They don’t because the genocide was never confirmed verbally.

The only scene that would imply something had happened to them were visions shown to the Council by Light Spinner - a proficient illusionist with clear aspirations for more power.

It’s peculiarly funny to me how so many people insist on treating the first four - more lighthearted - seasons of the show as if it were serious war drama the likes of Saving Pvt. Ryan.

#spop meta #longwinded essays #essays

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princess-of-the-corner · 2 years ago

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so on the 3rd chapter of teamwork, and I noticed that gabrial is firing lila

some question

lila worked for gabrial????

is this showing that even gabrial isnt full on evil in your au and that he has some good in him

seriously she worked for him???

Oh yeah like.

In Season 3 there was an episode where Lila asked Adrien to study with her and she talked her way into his house. While she was there she sneaked off and talked to Gabriel. She did the whole 'I can charm him with my lies!' thing, but Gabriel already knows she's a liar and he decided that he could keep an eye on her as 'Gabriel' with her attempt to get close to Adrien and have her help him more as 'Hawkmoth'.

Which is a Canon thing. Though in Canon the events of the episode 'Ladybug' was him telling her to cause a scene which is probably why she knows that he's the Villain because duh 'Gabriel' tells you to cause a scene and 'Hawkmoth' takes advantage with a Scarlet Moth situation? Obvious.

In Canon, she still works for Gabriel. Adrien's deal was 'leave Mari alone and I'll play nice', and she gets to co-model with him up until Season 5 when she's fired in favor of Kagami(oh hey! More evidence the Sentikids plot was bullshit). Though in HC she gets fired because Gabriel realizes that, as useful as she is for 'Hawkmoth', she's a danger for himself and Adrien.

(The fandom actually ran with the 'she's working for Gabriel' thing throughout Season 3 and some of 4, so there's fics where she's spying on Adrien and reporting his every action back to Gabriel).

Also yeah a note on Gabriel in HC/LL:

That version of Gabriel is a much better person than Canon. He genuinely cares about Adrien and is trying to keep him safe. He's very strict and overprotective, and it's still considered toxic and abusive. But it is nowhere near what Canon!Gabriel does. Especially because HC/LL!Gabriel /does/ listen to reason when it comes to what Adrien wants. When Adrien speaks up and points out logic, he can convince Gabriel to let him do things. While he's not the best father, he is still a father. Adrien's safety and happiness are a priority for him.

There's also the fact of HC/LL!Gabriel is. He's the sympathetic villain Canon is attempting. He is in control a lot of the time so things don't go too far, and does feel fear/guilt/remorse when things get out of control and people do get hurt. He realizes he is getting desperate when he pulls things like what happened with Miracle Queen and Sentibubbler. Though both situations had him bluffing, he was never going to genuinely hurt anyone there, he does still acknowledge that those events were a step too far. He asks Nathalie to help keep him in check, make sure he doesn't do something too far. Even so, he does not think of himself as 'redeemable' and understands if Emilie doesn't forgive him when she's brought back and will accept whatever punishment is in store for him once she's okay again. He is perfectly willing to trade his own life to do so from day 1, but if it doesn't take his life then he's fine with anything else. As long as she's okay.

He's also not going to Akumatize Adrien ever. That is a line he refuses to cross, and it would take a long time of spiraling downward. There are very few exceptions, such as if Adrien is in danger and Akumatization would give him the power to save himself. But he's not going to just to it randomly or even in the final confrontation.

He also stays in his own lane during the NY Special so he's not threatening WWIII. So ya know.

So yeah! In HC/LL Lila had a short-lived career working for Gabriel, and Gabriel himself is still a sympathetic villain trying to get his goal but staying somewhat within reason.

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ddarker-dreams · 4 years ago

Text

Epiphany. Yan Albedo x Reader

Warnings: General yandere themes, implied unhappy previous relationship, and spoilers for Albedo’s story. Word count: 2k.

It wasn’t fair.

A snowstorm, unlike anything you’ve ever seen rages outside, shards of lustrous ice falling from the sky with the intent to kill. The Dragonspine’s traditionally somber ambiance contorts into something far more sinister. Numerous hues of grays and dark blues blur together, obscuring your view of the mountainous region. It’s difficult to see anything outside Albedo’s workshop save for the storm.

“Your shaking won’t stop unless you sit by the fire.”

His matter-of-fact declaration startles you. Albedo hadn’t spoken in some time, his attention devoted to a specimen he had discovered prior to the storm. You would’ve shared in his enthusiasm if not for the overall situation and company. Sighing reluctantly, you stand from your spot, hugging yourself to stave off the biting cold. It’s impossible to settle on which is worse: staring at the blizzard or staring at him.

Albedo’s fair skin glows from the light of the crackling fire, sandy blonde hair tousled around his face without care. As he studies the new specimen, his lips purse, eyes focusing on nothing but the work before him, like nothing else mattered. This is how you’ve always known him to be. Even if the world was falling apart around him, Albedo would never falter from what catches his interest until he felt sated.

Sensing how you’re fixating on him, his attention flickers briefly to you, an unidentifiable emotion gleaming in his eyes. You’re the one to avert your gaze first. Sucrose is going to owe you majorly for this one, why did you even accept her request in the first place? Thinking about it now and cursing your past self does nothing yet you still occupy the time by doing just that. She had come to you panicked, pleading that you take this letter to Albedo in the Dragonspine, claiming it’s urgent. In the heat of the moment, your judgment lapsed and you caved. She spoke of needing to continue her research in Mondstadt or else she would’ve done it herself.

Look where your goodwill has gotten you now, you think. She owes me a week’s worth of dinner.

You lament giving credence to his advice, but your stubbornness concedes, the cold too miserable to withstand any longer. The fire is right by his side to add insult to injury. Did he do that on purpose to spite you? It’s unlikely, yet your mind wanders to the worst-case scenario. If any other citizen of Mondstadt were privy to your suspicious thoughts, they’d think you unreasonable, as Albedo has established his reputation well. He’s a known eccentric, sure, but a genius one. A few quirks on his behalf that anyone else could overlook.

Quirks that you used to overlook yourself.

“Would you please grab my bag,” he doesn’t look away from his prized sample but motions to the general area it’s in. “I need to write down my observations.”

You follow through with what he asks. There was a time you’d have been over the moon to participate in his process, you used to practically trip over yourself to do anything he needed. That enthusiasm has long died off and been replaced by apathy. It’s when he reaches out to take the bag from you that you snap from your trance-like reverie. Whatever remnants of obedience that lingered in your subconscious are brushed away, as you decide to finally challenge him.

Inhaling sharply, you hold the bag just out of his reach, finally earning his recognition for more than a millisecond.

“I’m not your assistant anymore.” Among other things, you think.

The words come out more childish than you intended. What you had meant to communicate was your new, critical view on him — he’s a person just the same as anyone else — who held no authority over you. You hold your breath awaiting his response. Albedo doesn’t have an intimidating presence, not in the traditional sense. It’s his mind that you’re wary of. There’s no guessing what sentiments run through his head, yet that’s never stopped you from trying to unravel the mystery that is his thought process.

He gives you a long, hard stare. “I’m aware of that.”

Where were you going with this again? Albedo doesn’t need to point out your needlessly spiteful behavior with words, his mildly irate facial expression says it just fine. His thin eyebrows threaten to furrow together and the corners of his lips curl down into a frown. You’re unsure of what bothers him more. What you pointed out, or that his work is being interrupted for even the slightest moment.

The budding confidence you had is all but crushed beneath the weight of his unblinking gaze. Clearing your throat, you decide to take a new approach, straightening your posture in an attempt to be taken more seriously.

“Then tell me, why do you still act like I am?” Your question comes from a genuine place of confusion. Ever since your arrival, you’ve begrudgingly done the odds and ends he’s asked of you, almost like clockwork. You had fallen back into the rhythm that was your life up until a month ago. There was just something about the silent authority he carries that makes it impossible to say no.

That is, until now. You’re determined to clear up the problems that have plagued your mind. Albedo’s had his time to be nonchalant like nothing happened between you two, but you’re not having it anymore.

“Force of habit,” he nods his head towards your hand that holds his possessions captive. “Now, would you please…?”

Your grip tightens and you shake your head defiantly. “No. Or at least, not until you give me a better explanation. Not just about that. How you act in general… none of it makes sense to me.”

It wouldn’t take much effort from his half to wrangle his bag from you, you’ve seen him in action before after all, so it comes as a surprise when he instead gives in. You blink, gaping when he takes a seat by the roaring fire, and motions for you to do the same. An opportunity like this is hard to come by. The past few weeks, it’s been your code of conduct to avoid any interaction with Albedo, but your frustration can no longer be repressed.

You take a seat by his side but intentionally leave some distance.

There’s so much you want to say. Insults, questions, demands, anything. Anything that could give just a hint of closure that he refused to offer himself. It doesn’t help that this familiar area brings memories with it — good and bad alike — painful nostalgia eating away at your heart from the inside out. While you battle with your inner thoughts, he observes you in silence. For a time you hear nothing but the crackling of the fire and wind howling outside.

Finding the courage to speak up, your throat tightens as you force a question out. “Did I… mean so little to you?”

It’s rare that Albedo ever looks taken aback, but your inquiry managed to do just that. His eyes widen ever so slightly, confusion etching onto his face before he manages to compose himself. Lots of intimate discussions had gone this way. You’d spend hours prepping yourself, meticulously going over what it was you wanted to say, only for the words to die on your tongue when you saw him.

“I don’t understand what you mean.” He appears genuinely perplexed and you can’t help but feel silly. It may have served you better to think long about this, you realize, but now it’s too late. You rush to explain yourself in hopes of making better sense.

“When I said I wanted to, er, part ways,” you can’t help but cringe at not knowing the proper label for ending whatever was going on between you two, “You just seemed, I don’t know, indifferent…?”

In your head, this went down in such a different way.

Your cheeks are set ablaze by the humiliation his silence brings. It’s not the first time you’ve felt this exact way when bringing up your feelings to Albedo, yet it’s just as awful. Archons, does he always have to look at you like you have three heads?

When he finally gives you an answer, you wish you had never asked.

“I knew you would come back to me eventually.”

Now it’s your turn to give him an incredulous look. He says it without an ounce of hesitation, never once breaking eye contact, his resolve holding firm. Sensing a need to clarify, he attempts to do just that.

“I considered a variety of variables,” he raises his hand and brushes his knuckles over your face, the unexpected tenderness making you shiver. “I know how your mind works very well. When you told me that’s what you wanted, your physical mannerisms didn’t line up with what you were saying.”

Your heart drops but he doesn’t stop there.

“Biological responses never lie. It wasn’t anxiety that kept you from looking me in the eye then, it was reasonable doubt. You know it as well as I do. There’s something about me that you can’t place, and the natural human response to the unknown is caution.”

He stops caressing your cheek. “So, tell me [First], and maybe then you’ll reach the conclusion you’ve been searching for. Why are you afraid of me?”

Everything feels wrong. How he’s whispering such horrifying ideas into your mind, leading the conversation with expertise. Is it charisma? You don’t think that’s the proper word. No, it’s how damn certain he is, how he never once leaves room for argument.

Albedo appraises your silence coldly.

“See? You’re not sure yourself. Thus why I knew you’d return to me,” he retracts his hand and leans back, but the ghost of his touch leaves your face tingling. “When you don’t understand something, you study it. That’s who you are. It’s why I picked you to be my assistant, that quality of exhausting curiosity, much like the one I have myself.”

He’s hypnotizing you with his words, his even tone, his silent authority. You’re drawn in like a moth to a flame and trapped in a verbal standoff. Whether it was a result of your Vision flickering subconsciously resulting in the fire diminishing or some other cause, you realize what little warmth in the cave is disappearing, your breath materializing in front of you as a result.

But it’s only yours.

That’s when it clicks deep inside the recesses of your mind. Apart of what always bothered you about Albedo was this sense of uncanniness. Whenever you thought you were understanding him better, new mysteries would arise, leaving you worse off than when you started. This combined with his workload and the emotional distance you felt between the two of you is what led to your separation.

Albedo’s face is but a few inches away from yours. He’s patiently awaiting a response or anything you could muster to challenge him with, though both of you are aware that no such thing exists.

You manage to surprise him again by asking another question. “Why… why are you not breathing?”

And how could you never have noticed until now?

His long eyelashes flutter shut. “Relationships truly are troublesome. There are unspoken rules and expectations, both of which take effort to satisfy. I hadn’t mind trying to do so to keep you happy, but that approach didn’t work as intended.”

Had it not been for the hammering of your heart and how lighthearted you feel, you’d challenge him on his definition of trying. Instead, you watch without so much as moving an inch, too in awe to utter a single word.

“You always asked me to be more romantic, but I guess the phrase you take my breath away won’t suffice here,” he sighs and runs a hand through his hair. “I’ll tell you, but once you know… well, I don’t think I can ever let you leave my side.”

“I hope you won’t mind keeping me company a bit longer than you intended to.”

#albedo #albedo x reader #yandere albedo x reader #genshin impact #albedo genshin impact #genshin impact x reader #genshin impact imagine #yandere genshin impact #yandere #yandere x reader #my stuff

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majesticarlette · 3 years ago

Text

Gang of Secrets

Miraculous Ladybug + Reader | ONE SHOT

"Marinette, are you okay?" You touched Marinette's shoulder and looked at her. She turned to you and gave you a forced smile. "Yeah! I am! Just currently so busy with what I'm working on. Yeah! I'm alright!" She rambles as she finds a way to say her excuses. "Are you sure--" "Yes! I am!" She yelled interrupting you, you were surprised at the sudden outburst which Marinette noticed and drop her apologies.

As you were going to say your response, screams and loud disturbance were heard. "It's an akuma attack! We have to hide!" You yelled taking her hand but she quickly retracts it. "(Y/n), wait, I-I think we should split up, so that the villain won't catch us both." Marinette voiced and sprints her way out of the school building.

'Oh right, superhero duties, how could I forget.'

You hid inside the bathroom and waited for Ladybug and Cat Noir to defeat the villain on your phone screen. You sighed in relief when they finally defeated the villain, you got out of your hiding spot and started looking for Marinette before she gets away.

As Chat Noir's about to trick Ladybug to go with him to watch a movie, your voiced were heard searching for Marinette. The troubled and distracted Ladybug came to her senses, she told Chat Noir her excuses and flee the scene. She transforms back and looked for you as well, pretending she has been looking for you everywhere. Little did she know about your awareness of her secret identity.

"Marinette! There you are I've been looking for you. Are you alright?" You asked concerned about her, your question seemed like you're referring to the akuma attack earlier but the truth is that you're worried about her the entire time. Ever since Queen Wasp was defeated, you witnessed the scene where Ladybug became the new Guardian of the Miraculous. You knew how stressful it was to Marinette to have a double life being Ladybug, despite knowing all of this: you never confessed being aware of who she is. "Yes, I am fine! I'm glad Ladybug and Chat Noir defeated the villain." She puts on a smile and was quickly replaced with a frown as she remembered something. "I have to go! I forgot I have something to do--" As she was going to chant her excuses, you interrupted her. "Marinette, calm down." "I'm sorry! I really need to do something!" She's really stressed and troubled from what was all happening. Being a hero is never easy, now that she's looking after the Miraculouses; many danger lurks from Shadow Moth that made her so paranoid. This made you leave no choice, you have to tell her what you know to let her know that someone understands her.

"Look, I'm going to confess something and it's very important." You looked at her seriously as she was stunned by your statement, she was hesitant at first but she gave in. "Can we go to your house, it's really confidential." You added and she agreed.

You're both at her patio leaning on the railings. "Look, I know why you broke up with Luka." You spoke, Marinette was surprised with what you said as she was about to speak, you interrupted her. "I am serious Marinette, I know who you are." You added, and before you let her freak-out you continued what you were saying. "Don't freak out, it's not your fault. No, I didn't see you detransform nor transform into your other business. If you noticed, I'm always wearing this charm." You held your charm attached to a necklace. "May it be as a necklace, earring or anything. This charm somewhat nullifies miraculous magic." Marinette was speechless with what you said. "H-how? That's impossible." "It isn't, this charm was made centuries ago and was passed down to my family to protect us from dangers when a miraculous is in the wrong hands. It's the only charm, I think." You answered.

"If that charm may nullify miraculous magic, then all this time..." "Yes, I was able to see through what's beneath the mask little by little. It took sometime, but there were hints. I could only see you from afar as LB so I couldn't really distinguish who you are, but when I saw you a couple inches away the charm worked it's way and slowly nullified the magic of the miraculous which hides your identity. A simple mask and a suit won't protect your identity, silly. It's the magic of the miraculous." Marinette was shocked. "Then, you could also see Shadow Moth's real identity." She looked at you with hope. "That's the problem, it's hazy. I can't fully see who he is, I haven't met him yet. The charm can't give us what we want right away, it took more than a month to know who you are you know, and maybe it's because I also knew you personally which made it pretty easier to decipher." You answered.

Marinette was about to utter her reply when she heard voices inside her room. She went down and saw Rose about to see inside her dollhouse. She quickly went down and blocked Rose from seeing it. "Don't touch that, move away!" She pushed Rose, which made the cheery girl drop the roof of the dollhouse and broke it. Everyone gasps which made you peek from the patio, 'It's our girl friends'. You refuse to reveal yourself, it might make the girls sulk. "I'm sorry, Marinette." Rose kneels to pick up the broken roof. "Will you please leave my room?" Marinette declares as she showed annoyance to the group. "Chill out, Marinette. It's just a dollhouse, we'll totally help." Alya responded. "No you won't! Please go!"

As the group tries to help Marinette to voice out her problems, the dark haired girl lashes out on them and told them that she doesn't want to be friends with them and told them out. The saddened group left and you finally went down in her room to accompany Marinette. The kwamis were surprised by your appearance and tries to hide but Marinette assured them you're aware. "I had no choice, I had to do it." Her eyes are swollen, she really tried her best to keep her loved ones safe. "We know, Marinette. Someday, they'll understand why you had to do it, but lashing out on them wasn't the best thing to do." "At least now I won't have to lie anymore--" She voiced out between her cries and you cut her off. "No, Marinette. You mustn't think about that." You hugged her and let her cry.

When talking to Marinette about her issues, the both of you were interrupted by your phone, it was your mother telling you to go home. You bid each other goodbye which leaves Marinette into working on the Miracle Box's safe.

At home, you were browsing through channels when the news came up and reports a strange phenomenon about the Eiffel tower. "What happened?" You looked outside from your window and saw what was happening: it was the girls, they were akumatized by Shadow Moth. "Oh no, they must be after Mari." You closed the curtains and called Marinette but she wasn't picking up, you left a text and continued watching the news to have updates on what was happening.

After some time when the villains were defeated, you received a text from Marinette. She was asking you to visit her in their house. You prepared your things and went on your way. You climbed up, knocked, and opened the door to Marinette's room. You saw Alya and the kwamis which made you smile. "You finally told her, huh? I'm happy for you." "Thank you, (Y/n)." She hugged you. "Wait, (Y/n) knew?" Alya crosses her arms. You explained to Alya how it happened and what happened earlier at the patio which she understood and cleared things up.

"So, that's why you haven't gotten akumatized yet." Alya realizes. "That's cool! Then, you also know Chat Noir." She added. "I-I dont! Yet.." You quickly answered. "Mm-hm. Then it's pretty risky for you, huh? Keeping LB's secret identity to the public." Alya said. "It is, there were times where I had to take off my charm and I'm afraid someone will get akumatized and get me, like Truth or Queen Wasp." Alya hugged you and told you that you are a true friend, the both of you noticed Marinette in deep thought. "Hmm... The charm protects you from being akumatized." "What is it, girl?" Alya asked.

"I think I know what we should do next."

#miraculous ladybug #marinette x reader #mlb #marinette dupain cheng #alya cesaire #miraculous ladybug imagine #miraculous au #reader insert #Marinette dupain-cheng x reader #adrien agreste x reader

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