#no that character arc doesn’t mean what you think it means you fool

[earmo-imni]

I generally curate my dash very well, so I don’t typically see the horrendous reading comprehension that populates much of Tumblr.

But lately I’ve been going through the tag for my newest hyperfixation character, who in canon deals with some very sensitive topics, much like the rest of canon, and god damn if the reading comprehension on this site isn’t complete SHIT

[torao-d-water-ya]

Trafalgar Law, the Don Quixote brothers, and why Doffy takes such personal offence to the existence of Lawlu (Part 1: Faith)

1. How can you trust Straw-hat so much?

Doflamingo kicks up a huge fuss about Law forming an alliance with Luffy from the get go, and continues to go on about it till literal moments before he gets put down by Luffy at the end of the arc. 

Up until this point we've seen Law act pretty casual about his relationship with Luffy – he saved him at Marinford on a whim, he's forming an alliance out of convenience, "this doesn't mean we’re friends". It isn't until we see Doflamingo's reaction to this development that we realize the importance it holds for Law's character, and stop to think about what it might represent, given the context of his past. To Doflamingo, who’s seen Law at his lowest – who’s seen the kid who’d stopped believing in anything, and wanted to destroy the world – Law’s faith in Luffy, who seems to stand in antithesis to all that Doflamingo stands for, is a huge fucking deal.  

Doflamingo already knows, of course, what changed his heart all those years ago. But he asks anyway, because Law showing up here with Luffy, even after all this time, feels like salt being rubbed in the wound; Doffy’s pride can’t take it. Law gives him the easy answer – the simple, surface level answer. He trusts Luffy because he believes in the will of D, because Cora-san believed in the will of D. 

But we all know there’s a lot more to it than that. 

2. Why did you choose him, Law?

13 years ago, Doflamingo lost Law, his chosen successor, to Rocinante. That’s what he’s seeing every time he’s faced with Law’s partnership with Luffy – that’s why he’s so hung up over it. Law being here with Luffy just serves as a reminder of him choosing Corazon, all those years ago. A reminder that even though it was Doflamingo who pulled the trigger to kill his own brother, in the end, Corazon won. They were both children of the same wretched circumstances, but where Doffy decided to destroy the world for what it had done to him, Cora chose instead to save it. Then along comes Law, another child ravaged by fate, and Doffy sees in him an exact mirror of his past. Sees a weapon, ripe for the taking  – one that might someday be used to destroy the world at his behest.

That is, until Corazon manages to save him, too.  And in trying to live up to the man Cora-san would want him to be, Law stumbles into becoming the sort of person who would stand side by side with the ‘fool’ that is Straw-hat Luffy.

3. Why do you want to die in vain ... alongside this dumbshit?

It isn’t about the Will of D, not really. The first time Law laid eyes on Luffy, he watched the guy punch a Celestial Dragon in the face without a second’s hesitation, because it was the right thing to do. If it weren’t for this moment, Law would never have been compelled to sail to Marineford, thus putting his entire crew in danger, to save the life of an almost-stranger bearing the initial of D. There’s a quality in Luffy that drew Law to him, and it’s the same sort of quality that incited Cora-san to ditch his mission and run off to save Law’s life. 

It’s the sort of quality that Doflamingo, for all his talk, could never hope to understand. 

[dubiousculturalartifact]

Obviously I’ve been queerbaited before, like, a genuinely incalculable number of times, and maybe thinking Buddie might actually go canon is a ‘fool me sixteen times, shame on me’ scenario, but I think one big thing that’s keeping my hope alive is this thought: If you genuinely believe that Buddie isn’t going to go canon, 100% zero possibility and absolutely no intention of trying... Then you also have to believe the people who create the show we’re all fans of are purposefully cruel dicks. 

Because we have SEEN what it looks like when the showrunner of 911 knows there is no possibility of it happening, has no plans of it, and is generally trying to avoid accusations of queerbaiting.

It looks like S5 & S6. Little bits here and there, the odd important scene to throw breadcrumbs… but a lot of keeping the two characters apart, being circumspect in interviews, PR shut downs on the actors, etc. The show has proven they are capable and willing to exactly that!

So indulge me, and imagine for a second. They had the conversation with the new network, and the execs told them they wanted to continue with the status quo, to write as if Buddie is never going to go canon, BUT were willing to bend so far as to make one of them queer, to keep the fans happy.

What would that look like?

I don't know, call me foolish.... But I think it would look like keeping the same dynamic from The Drought Seasons. Having them be friends and important to each other but still fairly disconnected, not having as much screen-time, etc, It would look like having Buck’s coming out arc be a SEPARATE, individual narrative. If they just wanted to write Tommy and Buck, and that's it, they could have done things differently.

There are just so many conceivable ways they could have written Buck’s coming out arc, to almost completely separate it from Eddie and have it be made clear, in no uncertain terms, that Buck is bi but that doesn’t mean he cares about Eddie like that, that Eddie is a hetero McHetero.

Buck’s coming out arc could have included him being jealous because he’s suddenly faced with Tommy in the flesh and is insecure about how he was technically ‘Tommy’s replacement’ at the 911, with Eddie not relevant to it at all, or have Maddie and Chimney be the ones to interrupt The Date, or literally any other scenario that didn’t make it all about Eddie. 

They could have had one short scene where Eddie and Buck talk about it, and then the rest would be like, Buck talking to Hen about being queer, Buck interacting just with Tommy and getting to know him, Buck doing a research binge about bisexuality and info-dumping at an inappropriate time during a call, etc etc etc.

That’s how you tell that story and only be writing it for the proverbial ‘general audience’.

But they didn't. They purposefully reversed direction. They chose for Buck’s coming out arc to... highlight his nigh-feral jealousy over Eddie forming a homosocial bond with another guy, having said guy repeat with genuine surprise and shock that it was him and not Eddie that Buck was interested in, have Eddie interrupt their date, have Buck be more worried about lying to Eddie than the fact that he’s queer at all, have Maddie say what she did to Buck about telling Eddie in specifically ambiguous terms…

In a season that also included the Fire Extinguisher Incident, and Buck saying he ‘wishes he could help’ with Eddie’s sexual frustration, and a big increase in social media engagement, and having Buck being Eddie’s rock in the last few episodes while he had a bizarrely platonic affair with his dead wife's doppleganger…

If they did that while KNOWING the plan was actually for Buck/Tommy endgame and Eddie riding off in the sunset with a hot female firefighter who has a cool motorcycle or whatever the fuck, or them both dying in a freak car-washing accident, or….

If they GENUINELY planned that? If the entire Buck jealousy plotline was intended to be nothing more than a deliberate queerbait-and-switch? Then they’re fucking assholes, sorry. They would have to know full well exactly what they were doing, how many people’s hopes and emotional investment they were toying with... If they were actually planning to keep dragging it along for seasons more of baiting and dangling things in front of us, while knowing categorically that they had no plans to deliver? That would be genuinely GOD TIER levels of specific, intentional queerbaiting.

Which could be the case! I won't deny that. Shows have done it before, plenty of times. Tim et al could be callous bastards deliberately instructing the actors to wink it up in interviews and share suggestive Tiktoks, and writing Buck’s coming out arc as being entirely focused around Eddie and throwing out hints... All while laughing behind Buddie fans' backs about our gullibility, how we’re keeping the show trending on the force of our delusions, etc. Maybe that's it! Maybe they just genuinely enjoying fucking with people. Or maybe they were just shitty enough writers that they didn't know what they were doing, and it was all a total accident, somehow, the proverbial monkeys pounding at keyboards and accidentally spelling out B U D D I...

But you know what? Call it naive, but I prefer to think they’re not huge assholes, or hugely incompetent.

That there might actually be a point to all this, somewhere down the line.

I guess we'll find out.

[atopvisenyashill]

IF YOU LIKE THIS ASOIAF CHARACTER, I THINK YOU’LL LIKE THIS FARSCAPE CHARACTER

i did a “all gays” thing for my birthday last year but i was too lazy this year. instead here is my opinion of farscape & asoiaf characters, comparing characters i think are similar.

if you like theon greyjoy…i think you’ll like john crichton (he’s the main character).

Conga Line Of Trauma

Very loose grip on reality

Struggles with choosing between the family he’s been kidnapped into and the family he was born into

Top Two best story arcs about male victims of sexual trauma imo

Copes by imagining himself as a character in a story rather than face his reality

Pathetic wet cat of a man

if you like jaime lannister…i think you’ll like aeryn sun

theyre hot shit and everyone knows it even though they hate it - the ☀️ radiant aeryn sun☀️ and “was there ever a man as beautiful and terrible”

Well known for being good at their job (which is killing people)

Idealist that got that idealism beaten out of them

constantly repressing emotions

an arc that is very romance centered but atypical as a traditional romance

if you like brienne and/or sandor…i think you’ll like ka d’argo.

Young, experienced but not too experienced military type

Struggles with idealism and what being a soldier/knight should mean

Not forthcoming about backstory

Struggles with temper

Cool And Important Weapon And Mount

Considered mindlessly violent by many

Very weird about romance and sex

if you like catelyn stark…i think you’ll like pa’u zotah zhaan

religious and maternal

pacifist tendencies but also will cut a bitch if pressed

Infamous for being unpleasant

Traumatic death scenes

Questionable relationship with the concept of dying and staying dead

MILFs

if you like sansa and arya stark…i think you’ll like chiana

Their Series’ Hottest It Girls

Idolizes rebellion leading older brother (who ultimately abandons her in favor of his rebellion)

Desperate for family

Holds emotions close, but highly emotional

Taste for finer things in life

Baby of the group

Struggles with grief and anger

Spunky go getter

Questionable taste in romantic relationships

if you like tyrion lannister….i think you’ll like scorpius

mother died birthing him and he struggles with this immensely

tormented by a crazy ruthless woman in power

feels betrayed by a lover of a lower social status just trying to get by and gets real violent over it

The Anti Villain - has very good reasons to be insane but holy shit is he insane

Always survives despite all odds against him

If you like Joffrey Baratheon…I think you’ll like Dominar Rygel XVI (hear me out!)

Absolute ruler who faces civil war

Wildly misogynistic weirdo

Weak grasp on morality

Turned into a violent, selfish asshole as a trauma response

Hates women yet his deepest, most profound and intimate relationships are with a woman he’s not even fucking

Remains selfish and violent throughout the story but also, if you talk shit about him i will throw hands

if you like samwell tarly…i think you’ll like Pilot.

Couple of sweet fools

Underrated for being a bad ass

Intimate relationship with a Very Cool Lady From A Bad Situation (gilly/moya. moya is a living ship btw).

Just wants to be a nerd and hang with his gf (again, gilly and moya)

Doesn’t believe in himself the way he should

if you like stannis baratheon…i think you’ll like bailar crais.

Is he a hero? is he a villain? is he an anti villain? is he an anti hero? you decide!

loses his everloving mind after his brother dies

sad traumatic childhood backstory

an arc focused on what service and leadership means

[SPOILER REDACTED]

HE thinks he’s the straight man in a circle of freaks and he thinks this while being objectively the biggest freak there

and last but not least let’s go to my babies!!!!

if you like bran stark…i think you’ll like stark.

Overwhelming magical abilities

Connects magically in intimate, voyeuristic ways

Potentially unkillable

Considered a sweetie by Local MILF (his mom/zhaan)

Struggles processing a personal loss

A narrative focus on the importance of bodily autonomy

Doesn’t have as much screentime/page time as he deserves

[bestworstcase]

What do you think the relationship will be between Cinder, Yang. And Ruby after the war?

i’m doubtful that there’ll be one beyond the basic agreement to be cordial when circumstances require them to share a space; cinder murdered two of their friends, and ruby burned out her eye and melted half her arm. cinder also isn’t like emerald—she doesn’t regret the things she’s done, she isn’t sorry, and i don’t think she’s ever going to be especially contrite.

for… the same reason that i don’t expect salem to ever be apologetic for going to war. cinder fans who insist that deep down cinder is just a helpless scared little girl desperate for someone to save her from salem 🥺 are fooling themselves; she’s a former slave fighting against an institution that unlawfully protected her owner and condemned her for fighting back. fear of salem isn’t driving her to do things she wouldn’t otherwise gladly do.

which doesn’t mean she won’t have a villain-to-hero arc—she will—but the emotional center of gravity there is her relationships with salem and summer being fixed, and then the momentum toward negotiation.

so i think it will be a challenge for yang and ruby to even tolerate her, and cinder doesn’t have any particular reason to want to be near either of them. there are heroic characters i think cinder could find meaningful common ground and bond with (nora, winter, oscar, blake, ilia, qrow, raven) but what those characters all have in common is having experienced some form of subjugation and deprivation that resonates with what cinder suffered in childhood.

gestures at emerald. gestures at mercury. cinder chose them because she saw in them refractions of her own suffering. ruby and yang never went hungry, nor were they ever denied personhood.

so cordial acquaintances at best, really.

[linnetagain]

Following up on that last Anon’s ask, I’m trying to decide if Good Men and Monsters is up my alley. I love The Season (we know this), I love the First Light series (had to laugh at the “oops figure skating” author’s note in one of the most recent chapters; I’m torn between wanting All Season All The Time and eagerly awaiting wedding bells in And All Things End), and A Good Heart is just objectively, categorically cute (can confirm, read it again just a second ago, can we expect to see who I assume is Bear-But-With-Wings in First Light? All Astarions should have a kitty, it’s just the rules), and what fools these mortals be is queued up to read as soon as I’m done writing this.

Obviously, GMaM is your only fic rated E. That’s not an immediate turn-off, given Astarion and Gale’s canon backstories. I probably would have clicked through already if it was just that, but I was wondering if you could elaborate further on a couple of the Gale tags? Specifically “Priest Gale” and “Gale doesn’t have the orb but he is catholic so.” Real-world religious trauma is tricky for me. Obviously canon!Gale has religious trauma surrounding Mystra, but what relationship does GMaM!Gale have with his faith? Is it just your standard “Catholic guilt,” or is it something more? And where this one has smut (assuming it’s consensual bloodweave smut, and not referring to the rape/non-con tags, and Gale is a Catholic priest, does that mean by being with Astarion he breaks his vows?

I would love to be able to read everything you write, because I adore the way you write relationships (particularly as a demice/demiro myself), but I have to be careful about religion in fanfics. Whether I end up reading GMaM or not, I hope you are able to have the time to write Part 3 to your satisfaction, because I can tell it means a lot to you and your readers. Hope you’re having a good day!!

Hello!

Thank you as always for your kindness and enthusiasm I appreciate it so much 💕

Ooof, yeah, I wish this was an easy one to answer but it is not.

I am writing Victorian 'Catholic' Gale from a position as a queer person who was raised catholic and I know I'm bringing my personal experience into that. Where Priest!Gale is in the fic is a place where a lot of queer people have been with religion, I think - he believes that there is goodness in the world, and he wants there to be more of it, and for his whole life he's been told the only way that can be achievable is through God. Specifically His God. If he finds joy or - heaven forbid - pleasure anywhere else, he is Bad. And he copes with that a lot by pushing away from having to address that incongruence and the guilt he carries for it, focusing on trying to do his best to be kind and helpful and improve his parishioner's lives.

A lot of his background character arc in the fic is him beginning to challenge that because Astarion's sheer existence is challenging that, and trying to discern where the line between God and What People Say God Says lies, as well as whether he believes in God. Which is fun when you throw in the supernatural and occult as a fact of existence. It's also established that it's not a new struggle for him. Hea dealing with internalised homophobia and unconscious bias for sure, and he doesn't always handle it in the best way.

The E rating is for consensual soft smut I have planned for act 3 which is of indiscernible levels of explicitness at the time of writing, but yeah, the non-con tag is in reference to Astarion's background which is very similar to in-game. It is mentioned but only briefly, and off-stage, as it were.

I hope that helps you make a decision and if it's a no for any reason please don't feel bad, it's important to look after yourself!

[watchfuldeer]

greg has always been exactly what the succession writers and directors intended him to be onscreen, and his evolution has been consistent. he didn’t just go from being one kind of annoying guy to another kind of annoying guy - there is a clear arc that supports the deep tragedy of his character, as in all fools, and just because you personally don’t like or appreciate the character (which is fine!) doesn’t mean that character has no deeper meaning. it’s an ensemble cast and we all have our favourites, but we have one episode to go and as an audience we are supposed to be sitting around discussing whether literally cousin greg could be CEO. everything about him this season is deliberate and calculated! if everything about the other characters is deliberate and calculated, how can it not be for greg too?

he serves a purpose that no other character does. he is an archetype fool on the fool’s journey, with the attendant tragedy that comes with it. he has been corrupted by capitalism and love like the rest of them. i don’t think greg will become CEO, ultimately, but every single possible narrative signpost is there pointing at him right now, so i feel confident in predicting that the question of CEO greg will play a part in the finale.

[playertwotails]

I’ve had a brain worm all day about this so here’s a pretty long post about headcanon/theory-ish kinda thing that’s been rotting my thoughts all day. Spoilers for the Sonic IDW comics, including Scrapnik Island.

So it’s been stated multiple times by different characters how overly trusting Sonic is when he meets new people, or at least gives them a lot of benefit of doubt in most cases. But that’s not entirely true. There are times, in the IDW published comics at least, that Sonic is wary or some times outright hostile towards another character and shows reluctance in trusting them.

This first time we see this distrust (I can at least recall as the first time) is when Sonic meets Belle for the first time.

In these panels Sonic is kinda rude to Belle and really doesn't want to bring her along. He clearly thinks something is up with her and that she’s a badnik (He’s right of course) and this automatically has him on edge around her.  The only reason he lets her come is cause Tails stuck up for her and even then he’s a bit reluctant and kind of rude with her still. Of course with this being after the whole Zombot fiasco he’s not really up to deal with another one of Eggman’s shenanigans or tricks and being cautious around anything remotely Eggman created is not a surprise after that arc cause fool me once and all that. And this can be written off as to why he has an attitude with Belle because again Zombot arc. And that’s how I’ve read it, until the new Scrapnik comic came out.

In the first issue of the comic when him and Tails crash land, Sonic immediately has a bad time. He’s hurt, has a weird thing on his foot, and Tail’s is missing with only his Miles Electric being left behind as proof that he’s there somewhere for Sonic to be able to find.

When Sonic does find Tail’s he’s perfectly fine and actually pretty happy and content with where they are and the situation they’re in.

I mean look at that face kid’s in paradise practically and he’s already made friends with some of the Scrapniks. (Sonic’s happy to see Tails happy it’s so cute)

Sonic on the other hand...

Sonic is once again shown to be outright hostile and does not trust the reformed Mecha Sonic even a bit. Going as far as to keep an eye on him when walking away, trying to keep him in his line of sight. Though we the audience are shown there is something going on with Mecha, Sonic himself has no reason to really doubt Mecha’s intentions at this point.

There are plenty of other times and other character’s in the comic though that Sonic doesn’t show this level of hostility or distrust towards when he probably should.  Like when they wake up Metal Sonic after the Overlord thing or when he tries to befriend/calm down Surge when she’s trying to actively kill him. And you could argue that with Metal he thought Eggman was gone and wanted to give Metal a chance and then with Surge he just sees someone who was mistreated and needs help.

But then it hit me (while I was at work cause of course it did) the connecting factor in both of these instances of Sonic being outright distrustful and hostile is that Tails is right there in the potential line of fire.

He wasn’t worried about Metal Sonic or Surge, cause with Metal Sonic, Tails had de-weaponized Metal so he wasn’t much as a threat anymore so Sonic could easily have taken him down if he tried anything. And with Surge she already took him away from Tails for their fight. (though Kit was there too but Sonic didn’t really know that at the time)

But these two other cases have something in common.

1) Sonic was in a situation that he didn’t know what the threat level was. Belle was a new badnik he’s never seen before right after the world just almost ended and who is clearly withholding info from them. And with Scrapnik he’s stuck on a whole island full off “reformed” badniks he fought a long time ago and thought to be long gone scrap heaps.

2) He didn’t have full control of the situation. When meeting Belle they were in a tight enclosed space he can’t get to his full speed to fight, then a bunch of never ending badniks come after them in said space and then suddenly they get an emergency call from their friends the moment they escape said place with Belle (which is kinda suspicious no matter how nice Belle acts not gonna lie). And then on Scrapnik he’s hurt, surrounded by badniks and now Mecha Sonic is back, who out of all the badniks there is clearly the biggest threat.

We see a lot of times throughout the series, games and all, Sonic will have someone be a threat and he immediately tries to befriend them or at least understand where they’re coming from so he can befriend them. But in these two occasions he actively chooses to distrust them first.

Heck in the second issue of Scrapnik Sonic separates from Tails and goes off with just him, Mecha Sonic and Sigma. Before they go he’s still glaring at Mecha

But the moment he’s alone with Mecha Sonic he takes a step back and assesses the situation then immediately tries to befriend him.

Sonic just seems to go full protective big brother mode when there’s a potential new threat around Tails that Sonic unsure how to handle. Then when alone with said threat, without Tails being potentially caught in the cross fire of an unknown enemy, he’ll step back and look at the situation. Cause at that point if they attack it’s just him who they’ll target. And Sonic knows Tails can handle himself and is more than capable in a fight, but he’d rather a new risk target just him till he can figure out how to take it down or see if their friendly without risking his little bro’ getting hurt if he can.

At least that’s how I’m kinda reading it. This is just all a personal headcanon/observation tho so feel free to ignore it and move about your day if you don’t agree or like it. I just really like Sonic being a big brother that loves his little brother Tails and tries to keep him safe the best he can.

[thankshermin]

Dazai Being Humble?

short-ish ramble abt dazai never talking about how he contributes to something.

have you ever thought about how dazai gets zero to little credit about what he does? because i do. and the fact that it’s not anyone's fault makes it even better.

dazai never owns up to something he does.

now what i mean by that? it’s the little things.

if a fight happens, you won’t see him on the front. but he is always there, making sure nothing gets out of control. he is always doing the shady background stuff and deals with problems that some characters don’t even realize they exist.

then he just shows up. doesn’t own up to it. he simply shows up afterwards like the time he got himself shot for the sake of getting information from fyodor in the cannibalism arc. he does that a lot.

is he being humble? i don’t think so, at least not on purpose. i think he simply thinks it's the least he could do and that he doesn’t deserve praise. maybe just doesn’t like advertising himself. whatever it is, he doesn’t want people to know he is trying his best for some reason.

something that's been bugging me also is that whenever he was talking about changing to be a better person, it was obvious he was talking from experience. but he wasn’t even talking about himself. it’s odasaku he thinks of at the times like this, despite himself actually being an example of how you can have a fucked up past and still at least try to change.

he doesn’t see his own experiences worth mentioning. it's actually upsetting, because we all know how much he likes to hear himself talk when he gets into it. but still thinks anything about himself is not something he should talk about.

for all he goes around saying "don't pity yourself," he doesn’t value himself that much either.

there is also this pattern i noticed with dazai,,, whenever he does something nice, he immediately does something shitty. almost as if to balance it. im sure it’s not on purpose, but his character is actually so flawed i'm literally in love with it. (for ex; when he gave good life advice to atsushi, but then slapped him. or when he was trying his best guiding atsushi towards moby dick but then made a fool out of akutagawa by hanging up the phone on him. when he told kyouka to not to worry about her past crimes to change for better but also belittling them by saying 'oh, you killed only 35 people?' like i said, it's the little things.)

ANYWHO, i love to see that dazai is struggling and i want someone to recognize how much he is trying and give some credit to him as well :( i wonder where did he learn from that he shouldn’t own up to things he did. maybe after this arc, something like that can happen. it's been rough for everyone lately.

thx for coming to my ted talk

[justanotherpersonsuniverse]

DAMN CAP YOU COOKED THIS IS MASSIVE!! SPOILERS FOR CHAPTER 72 OF PN BELOW BEWEAR!!

OHH SHE TOOK THE EARINGS WITH HER STEALING THEM ok i’m a fool right this makes sense. 

Girl. girl please. “You gotta trust me marinette I’m the only one you can trust” YOU WERE TRYING TO SCAM HER 

Love Fei, the dichotomy of man is so real with her

Damn brother what an intro, and then we snap back to Juleka pretending she is Batman. I hope she is at least enjoying running around on the rooftops she wanted to chapters ago

I genuinely can’t tell if girly has a concussion or not. I am one to be tricked by the narrator so since she’s saying she doesn’t i’m like “Oh ok, i trust you”

Aww cute Alya and Juleka friending it up real style, I like how Alya was begging panthera to find marinette, so real of her. 

Juleka: dont worry i actually do this super often

Alya: be concussed on a rooftop?

HA-

Yooo super soulmate tracking activated??

I still find the fact that Marinette said that they “speedran dating” to be hilarious

Fei panicking like this is her first sleepover is so silly style

AUGH NO MARINETTE IS NOT THE PERSON TO ADMIT YOU WANT TO KILL SOMEONE TO

Like i love girly but damn Fei you did not choose the right person to admit murderous intent to

Like maybe this is good for Fei to be told “hey girl that’s a bit far” but like let the girl get her emotions off her chest before invalidating them LB damn

Cash, my brother, fuck off. Fei, kick him in the balls, I command thee. 

She was being emotionally vulnerable! Let her have her moment! 

Damn brother, Cash really just hit Marinette with the fact that good people can do bad things for reasons they see as good, this will literally break her good people meter.

Panthera where be you

Ricky, ricky when I catch you ricky (me about Cash)

YES GIRL (marinette said screw you, i’m hype)

Oop- Marinette is fighting back, and now she pointed out the obvious (to us, not to Fei) 

Damn brother plot twist (which I forgor) 

Oh dear oh dear oh dear, poor Fei. Girly it’s ok he took advantage of you in a vulnerable state that’s not your fault augh I feel awful for her

NOOO HAWKCOCK RETURNS BAD TIMING FUCK OFF

Help “what’d her glove do?” his hysterical

She pointed at the little akuma resting on her finger, “Are you gonna eat that?”

“Obviously not! Are you- oh you are. Okay.” ok so. Can marinette eat akumas to purify them?

Hey did Fei just get a real concussion?? Exciting

Who are these random lesbians in my father’s ancient duty cave? I ACTUALLY LOST IT

Oh damn the prodigious have shown up this chapter! Nice. 

NAH NOT HAWKMOTH HAVING PTSD FROM PANTHERA HAAA

Sorry not many comments on this bit i’m too into it to write

Realest reaction to gaining super powers

Wha da hell the renlings are mad. I do not remember them from the shanghai special i just remembered big lion guy

Damn motherfucker this shit bangs

Fei having the time of her life is very fun, it’s also been rather novel to have so much not-Juleka POV lately! Though that tracks with how much you like Fei!

I do wonder if you’re going to have her show up outside of this arc or naw, I guess i shall wait and see >:3

Could these lesbians please focus? HELP FEI STOP BEING SILLY

Damn nobody wants her to kill Cash. except me, Kill him Fei. I demand thee. 

I mean i think it would permanently scar her, but yknow, character building gotta come from somewhere buddy

Goddamn!! That rocked. Fei kicked his ass, hell yeah. Glad she didn’t kill him though (shush i have layers)

Help the awkward after battle chat with Hawkmoth what is this

FEI HAS A POINT THIS IS WEIRD AS SHIT

Backstory?? For Cash?? Ohhhh its that fucker. Cash is the guy who- oh ok it’s all coming together

HELP THE CHAOS

YOOO LION AKUMA HELLLL YEAH

I’ve always thought his akuma was sick as fuck

HAWKMOTH DIED/??

HELP SO MUCH IS HAPPENING ROSE CALLED AND- GTVNBUREFI

Ok so my suspicion that Adrien will find out has dimmed, but the embers are still there. Maybe he’ll be vaporized. 

Yeah maybe now isn’t the time for impromptu therapy ladies

Hell yeah, Panthera for the emotional intelligence win you go girl

Oh no it went wrong, Fei running away from your problems doesn’t work this is an awful time to do that!

No because Fei literally challenges Marinnettes ideals of a good person, her black and white way of thinking about things has been a (interesting!) source of conflict throughout this but i don’t believe she has ever disagreed with someone in this way that she actually likes. Idk if this makes sense, basically what I’m saying is this could be an interesting way to develop her black and white view on good and evil

I have feelings about it all ok??

“I can’t think about this” YES YOU CAN LB

I’m curious when Juleka will use that power again, also what is it called?

HELP NO i am actually out of breath from how much i laughed at Juleka picking up the phone for Rose WHILE CLIMBING WHATS HIM NAME SHADOW OF THE COLLOSUS STYLE 

GIRL. HAVE SOME PRIORITIES. 

WAIT IWIAIT WIH3W

WHAY

WITA

JULEKA CALLED HER SUNBEAM? ISN’T THAT WHAT SHE CALLED ROSE AS PANTHERA OR AM I GOING INSANE

WAIT. ROSE HAS A CLUE NOW? I’M GOING INSANE CAP

CAP PLEASE

I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR THE ROSE-JULEKA REVEAL FOR YEARS

WHEN. 

Sorry i went mad

In my head when LB was flung off the big guy she pinwheeled through the air silly style

Is. is fei just flying about crying? “A mournful cry” and “red and gold streaked above them” like. As a bird i think that counts as flying about for the fuck of it and sobbing it up real style

It has been. A week maybe more. Sorry got distracted read 1.4 mill for another work got way too invested, we are so back though

And back to Fei’s POV epic crying girl montage qued

“And it was all her fault” girl please, there is a dickhead called HM and I think it’s more his fualt than yours, get over yourself

The renlings are so cool, the dialogue you had them do was mega cool cap

Dragon renling is bad ass, personally i would name them. He is now dubbed; Daniel.

Damn move over Juleka, there’s a new therapist in down, his name is Daniel the Dragon

Oh thank fuck, when Daniel said forgive i was like bitch Cash doesn’t deserve that, but forgiving herself makes so much sense. 

Not Panthera offering to fix her makeup- Juleka is so sweet girl

“We’ve got your back, Fei.” Ladybug exclaimed, “L-Like; If you need a plan, I’ve got one. I’ve got a great plan. I just need a GIANT jug- this made me lose it. What the fuck LB what would a giant jug do pray tell

YEAH DRAGON TIME

Sorry, that piece about her dad was lovely and it was awesome to read, it swept me up so i just ended up saying dragon time

Hm how does the dragon speak if it doesn’t have lips (in my head) 

No because ack what is this plan that involves a giant vase. Panthera you go girl don’t let her get eaten by another akuma, the dinosaur was enough. What will they do for Feast if not be eaten though that is the real question

Ya girly Fei just kicked kaiju ass in under 5 minutes because their timers were going off so, current MVP of the series; Fei, followed by Juleka for her metallica moment

Aww Mei Shi is adorable

He's so nice help

WHERE DID HE GO

Also wonderful break POV, that was a good line

Get his ass gang, cash is a dick

MEI SHI IS ADORABLE YAYAY AND SMALL

Fei has like 13 friends now. Is there 12 renlings or no i can’t remember

“Ooh sounds yummy.”

“You sounded a lot more professional as a robot guardian guy.”

“I was. Now I’m small and terrible.”

“Joy.” I LOVES HIM SO MUCH HE IS SO BABY!!! If only they returned to Paris with LB and Panthera, he could be friends with plagg.

Juleka now has a favor… 

Oh yeah plagg realised he could leave the ring while Juleka is transformed. That feels like an important detail. 

“OH MY GOD I HAVE PARENTS.” i love marinette. I loved this whole interaction actually, “water under the bridge, forced under the bridge” and all that was really funny

Also the fact that Adrien didn’t know your not allowed to sleep with a concussion has me concerned. 

Oh yay!! Juleka and Fei ‘therapy’ session

“That’s our everyday Ladybug!”

“AHA. YEAH. THAT SAYING. LANKS ADRIEN. I MEAN THANKS LADRIEN. THANKS. ADRIEN. AHAH.” realest reaction to that

The ending was very cosy, lots of fun :3

Finito!!!!!!! Amazing chapter Cap, ten out of ten, no a hundred out of ten is more fitting. I look forward to what comes next >:3

DANIEL I’m wheezing

I’m so glad you enjoyed bud! I’m gonna try and keep Fei in her lane for the rest of the fic or else my favoritism will show.

as for Panthera’s “special mode”, that’s called Mass Obliteration!

Plagg leaving the ring while Panthera is transformed is a marker on how much experience she’s had being Panthera.

When characters are transformed, they absorb that Kwami’s power to wear the suit. Then they expend a lots of that magic to use their powers and if they’re young and haven’t used that miraculous much- or don’t have lots of magic in general- then that magic is pretty much depleted to nothing once that power is used and their battery runs out after five minutes.

The Kwami is like the power source to the holder’s battery/charge, with the miraculous being the chord between them. Usually you need them “plugged in” aka in the miraculous at all time when the holder is transformed. However! Panthera’s gotten so used to Plagg’s essence that even if he leaves the ring for a bit, she can stay transformed as she has a bit of his magic to naturally spare. I hope that makes sense I’m babbling. Thank you to my buddy @ghostatjoes for that lore.

The base was in the original Shanghai episode. Ladybug’s plan was to get vored and break the akuma from the inside. It had organs. Mei Shi had organs. I was so disturbed, I didn’t wanna write that— and also I felt like Ladybug overhauling Fei’s fight was wrong. That was HER villain yknow. Wanted Fei to finish it all by herself.

I’m glad you enjoyed! This was def one of my favorite chapters ever to write. I think the size is an obvious indicator. I hope you guys enjoy Season 3! It’s coming I swear. I’m just writing a fun chapter before I drag you all into my hole of hell that I’ve been stewing over for years.

[seekers-who-are-lovers]

While I read that the next episode next week will be a special compilation, a recap, of all the things that happened (from episodes 1 to 13) complete with behind the scenes and the audio commentaries of the voice actors of Yukiya (Matsumi Tamura), Asebi (Rina Honnizumi) and Hamayu (Hiroki Nanami), I came across an article from NHK that came out early this month, an interview of Miyu Irino (Wakamiya/Nazukihiko) and Eiji Takeuchi (Sumio).

The recap, some people hate it bc it is a filler, I think, is necessary as it signals that we are probably going to move on to another arc. It means they will also possibly animate the other key points of the other volumes in the novel series.

These are only excerpts. (Like always, a very rough translation.)

What kind of person was played for each role?

Irino Miyu (hereinafter referred to as Irino): Wakamiya is a mysterious man. I look beautiful and am smart, and I don't have any favourites. But I am also called "utsuke" (a fool) by the people around me. Wakamiya is a man who calculates that much that he's showing that he's a good person, or that, he thinks he can be.

Eiji Takeuchi (hereinafter referred to as Takeuchi): Sumio is a person that takes on the role of a "worker," who safeguards Wakamiya alone.

Irino: He’s the perfect person and a perfect escort for Wakamiya, so at first, it runs flawlessly with only these two people.

Takeuchi: Moreover, there is an underlying reason there is only one escort.

Irino: The only reliable person for Wakamiya is Sumio at the beginning, so when Yukiya comes in as Wakamiya’s new servant, a change in the dynamic is born.

How did Yukiya, who is both noisy and loving, capture the changes caused by his entry between these two?

Irino: I feel that Yukiya is the best partner for Wakamiya. Especially as the story progresses, Yukiya brings out the good in Wakamiya, and Wakamiya brings out the good points and potential parts of Yukiya. In the case of Wakamiya, it is while driving Yukiya into a rough pinch (laughs). I felt that it was interesting to play the way the good points were brought out by the synergistic effect.

Takeuchi: From Sumio's point of view, I think he was very happy that Yukiya came. I think there was only one escort for Wakamiya, or rather, only one person could be placed. Meanwhile, Wakamiya recognises and trusts Yukiya's ability so much that he wants to install him as his kinju. On the other hand, I think Sumio was just happy, and considering that Yukiya is there too, Wakamiya doesn’t need to be the only one with Sumio, who is fine that Yukiya comes along too. Of course, he should be there as support for Yukiya.

Irino: Wakamiya and Sumio are the types who keep their thoughts to themselves with a reason, but Yukiya is the type who drives by his emotions.

Takeuchi: That's right, his position and personality are different from the two of us.

Irino: I'm excited to see the three of us becoming a team by making up for each other. I want you to look forward to this dynamic because it will also be an element that moves the story.

…

Irino: As the story progresses, all the characters will change more and more from the first impression. That's one of the charms of this story. Each relationship will change greatly, so I want you to look forward to that change. " This character was actually like this!?" It's full of it.

…

Takeuchi: From Sumio’s point of view, Wakamiya seems to be quite changing.

Irino: Really? Is that so? (lol)

Takeuchi: Especially when I see you interact with Yukiya. In the beginning, Wakamiya was only saying the facts, so if you say, ‘I won't change….’ Sumio is not the type to put out his thoughts, so I don't think you can feel much change, but please look forward to what will happen there on.

Today there are a couple of events before the 13th episode screening where the VAs of Yukiya, Matsuma Tamura, and Asebi are radio guests and Hamayu’s VA, Nanami, as a guest of Yuki Kaji for a radio play.

And yesterday they unveiled the first batch of merchandise!! Yayyayyyay!

[cosmerelists]

Random Predictions for Stormlight 5

[Spoilers for Stormlight Archive generally, including major spoilers for Rhythm of War!]

I’m trying as hard as possible to make a fool of myself before Stormlight 5 comes out, doing things like trying to predict Dalinar’s champion, to predict the outcome of that fight, to predict what Kaladin’s fate will be... But I’m not done. Here are just some things that I personally think might happen. Let’s all enjoy seeing how wrong I am!

1. Shallan will get pregnant.

Shallan and Adolin just got married, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re pregnant in the next book. I’m not sure if this will be a plot-point, or if Shallan will just be conveniently pregnant at the end to set up for a Shadolin baby post time-skip. Sanderson has not really seemed interested in writing pregnancies--Steris had her kids in between books, and Siri’s pregnancy ended up being fake--so I assume this will just be a throwaway near the end. But if Shallan IS pregnant in the series, I’d be interested to see how being a Radiant affects that, whether Shallan has a pregnancy personality, etc.

2. Rlain & Renarin will get together (off-screen).

I believe we’ve been promised more queer characters in Stormlight 5, including Rlain and Renarin canonically. That doesn’t mean they’ll actually get together, but I am honestly expecting them to. But in order to manage my expectations, I’m kinda expecting this to all happen off-screen--like they’ll tell Kaladin they’re together and he’ll be like “Huh” and that will be the extent of it. I’d like more, but...I dunno!

3. Kaladin will swear the Fifth Ideal. 

Does this even count as a prediction? I mean, I will be shocked if this does NOT happen...unless I guess it’s being saved for later in the series? But Kaladin is 4 oaths in after 4 books, so if the past is any prediction...

4. Szeth will swear the Fifth Ideal.

Szeth is the focus character for Stormlight 5, and he and Nale already talked about the Stormbreaker 5th ideal, where apparently you become the law. It’s terrifying to think of Szeth I-followed-a-rock-and-then-a-random-guy-who-seemed-cool Stormbreaker being his own law, but...it would be Growth. And he is going to Shinover specifically to finish his fourth ideal. So it does seem like him reaching the fifth is highly likely.

5. Adolin will heal Maya and become an Edgedancer

@arcanistsdelight says this better than I ever could in this post. And I agree! I understand the theories about Adolin becoming a villain or antagonist, but I still have my hopes set on him figuring out how to heal a Deadeye and then bonding with Maya as an Edgedancer.

6. We’ll find out why the Knights Radiants broke their oath...and it’ll be bad.

I am not smart enough to guess as to what horrible reason the Radiants had to break their oaths during the Recreance, but I fully expect to learn the truth in Stormlight 5. Possibly from a healed-up Maya?

7. A kandra will show up.

The Lost Metal really opened the floodgates on world hoppers--and MeLaan revealed that she was being sent off-world. I would not be at all surprised if a kandra character appeared in Stormlight 5, maybe even MeLaan herself. 

8. Someone will Bond the Nightwatcher

We have 2/3 Bondsmiths so far--Dalinar with the Stormfather and Navani with the Sibling. The only Bondsmith bond left would be with the Nigthwatcher. The only issue is that most characters have a bond these days--there’s Adolin, but I’m still holding out for him to bond Maya (although what a Kholin monopoly it would be if Adolin bonded the Nightwatcher!). There are the Listeners--Lewshi maybe? I’d definitely be up for a Lewshi Radiant arc.

As tradition--let’s put it to a vote!

[maul-of-shame]

"Beneath the Weeping Stars", A Witcher AU! TROP (The Rings Of Power) fiction coming soon!! [LONG POST]

Little Miss (me) not knowing heavy LOTR Lore but knowing the Witcher's one on the tip of her fingers so she's been transposing all the TROP dynamics in said-universe and now has minimum 10 chapters fully drafted and 15k words of storylines and subplots for minimum two added series/spin-offs

Please I have everything.

The damn hierarchy, the species, the kingdoms, politics, reworking on languages, the weapons, added new mythological creatures and all like I'm about to COMBUST-

So far, and that's not even everything cause we would be here for HOURS like I cannot shut up about it but hear me out:

A Galadriel/Elrond fight. Not saying why, not saying what happens after but I know I want a Geralt/Renfri like one here and you'll see why it makes sense while reading

Angst, hurt and comfort. I mean it's the Witcher Universe/AU so of course there are hurt, blood, gore etc.

I'm thinking about giving a very interesting arc to the local High Daddy King Gil-

The Politics? Oh, the political games are gonna be SPICY. Think Nilfgaard vibes but mix it with the depth of LOTR's kingdoms. Spies, betrayals, alliances forged in blood, secret sorcery, and contracts with monsters or otherworldly forces. Some kind of council that’s like the Lodge of Sorceresses, except more brutal, more manipulative, and utterly cutthroat. Plus, LOTR needs Witcher's sass. Please. I need Gil-galad being snarky at a council meeting, roasting Elrond while debating war strategies.

I will throw in more monsters—no question. I'm a monster girlie through and through. I’m thinking creatures that haven’t been seen since Morgoth’s time, so ancient and so terrifying that even the Elves are like, “Uhm… what?” I will add in a couple of contracts for monster hunters to deal with these things, but obviously, it all ties into the larger political schemes and personal arcs.

Races/Species: I am reimagining the Elves and Dwarves, Witcher-style. What if there’s a secret society of Elves who’ve been experimenting on themselves, trying to become more powerful? I will give them this dark, eerie vibe—maybe some of them have turned themselves into something almost monstrous in their pursuit of perfection. And the Dwarves? Oh, I will have them unearth something they should’ve left buried.

Humor and Sass: You know I will sprinkle in the sass. I can be a sassy petty bitch if need appears and I need them to have this sharp-edged humour! I need characters who are sarcastic, dry-humored, and unafraid to throw shade, even in the middle of serious situations. Elrond will roll his eyes at least once. And King Gil-galad? He will have moments where his sarcasm is so sharp it’s basically another weapon.

Some examples of quotes I cooked so far (not saying who said what duh):

"I never wanted to be your enemy. You think it doesn’t tear me apart to see you like this? You, who I would follow into every darkness… But you’ve made it so easy to forget who you were.... who we were. And maybe… maybe I’m the fool for believing we could ever go back."

"Mercy is a luxury we can no longer afford. I’ll not risk everything for the sake of a few lives. This world was built on blood, and it will drown in it before we’re done. So tell me... what side of history will you stand on, when the bodies fall?"

"I don’t need you to be strong for me. I just need you. The world has been cruel, Galadriel, but the cruelest thing is being without you. I’ve tried to be what everyone needed me to be, but gods… I am so tired. Just… come back to me. Please."

"So I heard you have a wraith problem." "I said "my wife", not ‘my wraith". "Did I stutter?"

"It’s truly fascinating how you manage to speak so much while saying so little. I wasn’t aware that ignorance could be weaponized so effectively. My sincerest congratulations on being a living example of that."

"Well, that was certainly one way to handle it. Not the right way, mind you, but points for creativity."

"Sometimes I wish we could bottle that joy and keep it safe for all time—the way they love so fiercely, so unconditionally. It’s a reminder that despite the burdens we carry as leaders, there is still room for joy, for laughter, and for love. Perhaps we should learn from them, not just how to govern but how to live. If I could protect that innocence, I would do so without hesitation. It’s our responsibility to guard these precious moments and create a world where they can thrive, free from the shadows of conflict."

[ Also sidenote but we have a little Elrond/Galadriel Discord server called "A Corner of Rivendell" if you're interested, just send me a dm and I'll give you an invite! I'm collecting stuff for a secret santa that will be announced soon enough so we all have time to prepare!!]

[bluedalahorse]

Hey!! so... besides August representing (?) "the hanged man", what major arcana you think correspond to the other characters?

Hi hi!

Oh boy, I love tarot headcanons! I’ll share my general thoughts, though I have to say as someone who reads, who shows up as what would change depending on who I’m doing the reading for. Part of what I like about Tarot readings is that they create a triangular relationship between reader, cards, and querent/question, and every card has multiple shades of meaning. No two readings are quite the same, and I like that.

Generally speaking though, here’s how I’d see things playing out…

Wilhelm strikes me as The Fool. The Fool is a card with lots of coming-of-age protagonist energy; he’s at the edge of a cliff about to fall into something new. Or maybe he’s deliberately jumping into it. Wille can be thoughtful and impulsive in turn, but his impulsivity is usually what pushes the plot forward. We have Wille beginning his arc on an impulsive moment—getting into the fight at the club—and ending his arc on one when he goes running after the car.

Simon’s card would be Strength, traditionally symbolized by a gentle maiden holding back a lion, and generally representing the triumph of reason/compassion/moderation here over brute force. Simon is aware of his emotions and boundaries and—for the most part!—doesn’t let himself get swallowed up in toxic masculinity.

Sara and Felice both get nudged toward the Empress archetype at times, by other people, and each of them possesses different Empress-like traits. However, I am inclined to say that neither of them would feel fully comfortable in the Empress archetype.

I thought long and hard about Felice’s role arc the story, and I think the best Major Arcana card for her might be Judgement. Judgement deals with decisions, listening to your intuition and intellect, and truths coming to light. Early on in the series, Felice is surrounded by judgmental people, who are judgmental in the wrong way—her mother, her father, her friends. She finds herself struggling with their image of her, and feels like she’s not good enough, but early on she can’t put it into words. Over the course of the series, Felice gains wisdom about herself and the problems inherent to Hillerska’s system and is able to make decisions that are truer to herself. Her testimony to the school investigation team allows important things about Hillerska to come out. She is bringing about changes that are necessary. I was between Justice and Judgement for Felice, but ultimately settled on the latter.

Sara, meanwhile, feels like she might be the High Priestess. Her power lies in knowing and intuiting, and she’s one of the characters who often acts as a witness to the school’s secrets. She’s empathetic enough that she can understand the more “difficult” horses out there. While the socially obvious (but ultimately less genuine) thing to do in situations might be something that Sara misses or doesn’t quite grasp, she has an ability to cut through to the deeper emotions in a situation and name what people are inwardly struggling with. In a world like Hillerska, which is lacking in emotional honesty, the High Priestess’s energy can really shake things up.

I know I talked about August as The Hanged Man before, and I think that continues to be a space where he makes sense, I’d also argue that he spends a lot of his time in the mindset of The Chariot. The Chariot is all about momentum and attempts to control it, and an unhealthy excess of Chariot energy can look like “don’t stop don’t stop don’t stop if we stop we have to think about all our trauma so we won’t stop.” Which… August is very much in that place. Plus, there are horses on that card.

A few other thoughts: Hillerska and all the stuff surrounding it feels like it would tie in well to the energy of The Hierophant. A lot of the family trauma cycles would fall under The Devil. The monarchy stuff is The Devil with a dash of The Emperor thrown in there.

At some other point, I’m going to have to talk about Minor Arcana, because I love the Minor Arcana. Three of Cups seems like it would be such a meaningful card for this series, since a lot of the friendship interaction happens in trios. Simon-Rosh-Ayub let’s goooooo!

[thenationaltreasuregazette]

Interpersonal Aftermath, Ben and Patrick Edition

Previously, we talked about the medical and legal and archeological aftermath of Trinity Church. And it was fun! We debated who knows the best lawyer, and the most promising method for drying out the Declaration of Independence.

But now it’s time for the really juicy character stuff—the interpersonal fallout. National Treasure leaves us with four main characters who are now inextricably intertwined in each others’ lives. We know from the final ‘Three months later’ scene how some of these relationships panned out, but even without that, it’s clear that these people have been permanently changed by their adventure. (As any good adventure should do.)

There are two things this article is not going to be about!

It’s not going to be about character arcs, that is, the internal change each character underwent individually as a result of the narrative. Those are topics for another time. (Except for when I say so.)

Aaaaand…this is not going to be about Book of Secrets. (Me, ragging on BoS? Shocking I know. But hear me out!) BoS falls into the all-too-common sequel pitfall of resetting some of the character growth from the first movie in order to tell the same story again. In light of that I don’t think it’s a particularly reliable indicator of how these dynamics would have actually evolved after the events of National Treasure.

Since Ben is our protagonist, he’s positioned in the center of the three other main characters and in relation to all of them (and also Ian and Sadusky, but we’re mainly focusing on the quartet here).

Let's take each pairing one by one and see how they might develop.

Ben and Patrick

Ben’s relationship with his father is pretty central to the entire narrative. The plot could exist without Patrick, but the story of Ben fulfilling their six-generations-long quest wouldn’t function without Patrick as the naysayers who’s been around this block (or John, the now-gone mentor who always believed).

Therefore, a substantial amount of screen time is devoted to their dynamic, and the evolution of their relationship is clear. Over the course of the treasure hunt they go from years of estrangement to reluctant allies to actual allies. Patrick sees that Ben was right about the treasure, and is the first to offer support for his son when the find the empty treasure room. He's the first one to offer to help Ben keep searching, and I personally love this moment. Patrick has gotten what he's wanted for years: for Ben to wake up and realize that he'll never find the treasure. But after everything they've been through after being thrown back into each other's lives, Patrick doesn't want that anymore.

But what happens after that? The Gates boys have been through a lot together over the course of the hunt, but they still have years of damage to repair. Depending on when you think they stopped speaking, Patrick might not know Ben as an adult, and Ben may not have ever really known his father, as young people often don't. Just because they’ve reached an understanding on the whole “you’ve wasted your life on a fool’s errand” matter doesn’t mean the rest of their relationship is instantly repaired. Without the treasure hunt and a literal hostage situation to bring them together, I imagine there are plenty of awkward silences and false starts the next few times Ben and Patrick spend time together.

However, I think they would start spending more time together. Even if it’s forced and awkward at first. The major obstacle that’s been keeping them apart has been resolved (in spectacular fashion). Neither of them has anyone else whom they’re close to, at least not that we see. So this dynamic is about rebuilding bridges that were once burned.

If fact, we just explored what their first post-estrangement Christmas might have been like, and it covers a lot of the same themes: it's awkward until it isn't.

Maybe Ben helps Patrick with some stuff around the house (despite Patrick’s insistence that he’s got it handled.) Ben tries to take an interest in his father’s post-treasure hunting interests. Based on the decor in his house, Patrick is clearly still quite the history buff, so on that subject at least they have common ground. Patrick might not be interested in the splendor of the treasure—I don’t see him being particularly invested in the private jet situation the way Riley is—but he’s beyond proud to tell the story of the Gates family, especially to an audience who, for the first time, cares to hear it.

And after all of the “How’s the treasure cataloguing going?” “When’s the next opening?” “Remember that time when..?” they get to start building a new relationship based on the men they are now, not as the naive kid and embittered wash-up they parted as. And I think that’s pretty neat.

[theinsanecrayonbox]

FOP: A New Wish e13-16

well i thought this was supposed to be the end, but the wiki now says there's a 17th episode??? hm.....

Episode 13: Stanky Danky

Talking Trash? Wasn’t that an episode. And haven’t we done 2 episodes about garage already? The magical garage ep where Big Daddy was introduced, and an ep where the woodland critters were made to clean up? I mean garbage is a standard topic for children cartoons…and Hazel is set in an urban setting so the garbage problem is different compared to suburbia

Dale Dimmadome!! That’s not Robbie though wiki…anyways, wow Dale I think you’ve outdone your dad for money grubbing. No wonder Dev is the way he is. Good job story!

Again the normal citizens are unfazed by magical creatures

Hey Dev does know Hazel’s name!

2d Dale. Ffft Dimmazon. Can’t remember if that’s been established already but lol

Real live action footage?? O.o??

But ok you know standard kid show plot but it wasn’t bad. I felt it could’ve done more to promote recycling instead of “just don’t buy things” but hey. Also returning character in Dale with very modern development (Doug was an old oil tycoon so Dale being Elon Musk makes perfect sense).

Episode 14: Peace of Pizza

Wait now we’re doing mobsters? The garbage ep was the previous one lol

I love the random kid names at the bottom of the list

Space peas…to convince Dev to be nice…APRIL FOOL??? Ah uh ahem anyways, so…are we VeggieTales/Care Bears/Space Chicken Brothers this

What kind of a child hates pizza btw? I get that’s why this is so wild, but really Dev why do you hate pizza? You’d think getting rewarded for doing the bare minimum would be his jam. It it just the fact he doesn’t want to share?

Hostage negotiations??? Dawwwww Dev does just want his father’s love and affection

Oh Dev is lactose intolerant that’s why he hates pizza….pffft lame. Also why don’t you know about the no dairy pizza, you’re rich! Does Dale not believe in your lactose intolerance?

2d Hazel and Dev!

Ok so it was a fun silly premise that gave a lot of development to a secondary character. Good job.

Episode 15: A New Dev-Elopment

And looks like Dev is going to continue getting development here too. Ok, show me what you got

Dimmadelphia is a giant square…and they have a water park

Hah! inadvertently making a wish that gets you stuck together for the plot. You go girl beating the boy at the game XD

Dawww they’re getting along, Dev acting like a normal kid is good. And haha he admitted he knows her name. Wait his name is actually Devon, cool

Awww Dale ruining the fun by wanting to throw money around. But Crimson Chin poster!! But also dawwww don’t slip backwards Dev you can be a nice boy if you want to be :(

Dawww he’s apologizing. He can learn. And even after ruining her fantasies he then played into them. Good character arc!

So is Dev gonna be a friend now?

Hey credits do say that adult Timmy IS Timmy O.o!!!! What timeline IS this???

Ahem anywhos, very good episode. Super on the character development, very low magic (technically almost none really). So great job.

Episode 16: Cookie's Court

This one is a follow up/sequel to a previous episode huh? Took the original series forever to do that, so it’s nice to see it happening much sooner here. Plus I feel this series is a tad more linear

Another space adventurer wish? Didn’t the previous episode open this way? Yeah they even point out this is a sequel, ok

Hey there’s a photo of Poof in the Cosmos house. So…that narrows which timeline this is…

Nobody likes a clip show either, which that montage isn’t really so…you win I guess

A con for folktales and mythical stuff? Is Crocker a guest speaker?

Cosmo nearly blowing their cover is typical. But a court show parody? Haven’t we done that before? And are kids really going to get that?

Another godkid being a lawyer. Love it

Why would Hazel get a reassignment for a reveal? Any other time a reveal meant removal and memory wipe.

Nice to see Fairy World Prison again.

But so yeah…kind of a weak episode. I get it we’re developing a long running villain I guess, but…meh just doesn’t do it for me. Which is again fine, I’m not the target demographic and it doesn’t make it bad.

So I’m glad that there’s more still to come…at some point…here’s hoping New Wish doesn’t follow its predecessors and take multiple years to release 1 season X.x but overall I say good job to the team on this; you seem to know what you’re doing and I look forward to more.