#oh and hi hello this is how I’ve been planning my adopt designs recently

[sweetest-honeybee]

Aside from that warden lady at the top there and the rest of the ghasts, I have been very busy doing a bunch of adopt designs 👀

Edit: Just gonna cross out the ones that have been pre-claimed

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[yannowhatigiveup]

My One And Only - Ch 5

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So here’s chapter 5, I made this a while back when I was still quite new in the community so a lot of things are prob gonna be OOC sorry. Also Tysm for all the notes and reblogs!!!! <3

Then Marinette's phone rang. Damian did get a bit suspicious at first but didn't want to invade her privacy. That was until Marinette's voice echoed through the TV's speakers.

"Hi Uncle Jagged!"

————————————————————

The look of astonishment in Damian's eyes made Marinette giggle. He was stunned in silence as he watched Marinette talk to the phone, her voice echoing slightly from the TV.

"Is it alright if Nadja asks you a few questions?"

"Sure I've got a few minutes" Marinette replied.

"Rock n' Roll!"" Jagged exclaimed before holding the phone, now on speaker, in front of Nadja.

"Hello MDC, this is Nadja Chamack and I'm here to ask you a few questions"

"Sure go ahead!"

"What was your first design for Jagged?"

"Oh yes I remember, it was an original design for an accessory he wanted to wear on his upcoming performance"

"It's actually in my hotel room right now" the voice of a proud Jagged Stone echoed somewhere behind the microphone of the phone.

"Interesting. Now for your actually name, what gave you the idea of calling yourself 'MDC'?"

"Actually, it was Uncle Jagged who suggested the idea."

"How many original designs have you made for Jagged Stone after adopting the name 'MDC'?"

"Oh uh I'd say we past the 100 mark but I can't give you an exact number at this very moment"

Nadja nodded "For our final question, Will you be doing commissions?"

"Actually I have considered it Nadja and I might do a test run soon but as of now, no. I have no plans to do commissions publicly in the near future"

"I see, it's been lovely talking to you MDC"

"Same here, goodbye!" Marinette ended the call and turned to face Damian, to see his reaction to the whole thing. He just stared wide eyed at her, Marinette giggled and that seemed to break him out of his trance. "Shaytan" she giggled again. "What are you're thoughts? How did I do?"

He was still silent, quickly piecing everything together before answering. "You did perfectly Habibti" he said, bringing his face closer to Mari's. Her face then turned a bright blush pink. Damian smirked at how red this girl's face was but that was when her blushing went through the roof. She got up, walked to the other side of Damian, sat back down, put her hands on the boy's left shoulder and proceeded to bury her face in his shoulder while letting out a moan of embarrassment. 'Adorable' "Angel it's fine, I was just teasing" He felt Marinette raise her head so he turned to face her only to be dragged down by Marinette herself. She pulled him down so the his body lay flat on the couch but his head landed on Marinette's lap. This time, she was the one to have the mischievous smile on her face.

"I win" she giggled.

Damian chuckled. "Fine, you win", Then the boy thought of something. "Hey can I ask you something?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"I know this is a lot to ask but do you think you can make something for my brothers?" Damian asked .

"You want them to be in you're debt"

"Yeah I want them to be in my debt"

Marinette giggled. "Sure I can make them something, I was going to do that anyway. Do you think I should make them all hats?"

"If you do, fedoras please"

Marinette laughed more. "Fedoras it is! But I might make them something like a jacket too!"

"Hey, are you staying for dinner?" The black-haired boy asked, half-hoping she would say yes.

"If you want me too, then sure"

"Great and there's something I want to discuss with you at dinner"

~~~

Adrien and Nino were having a competitive game of table football while Alya was on the couch, on her phone, trying to think of all the possible reasons why Marinette didn't mess her words up with Adrien. The only reasonable explanation was that she liked someone else. That someone could only be Luka as that's the only other guy Marinette liked but it still didn't make sense as Marinette clearly stated that she thought of Luka as a brother. Alya sighed in defeat which was noticed by Nino.

"Got any luck?" He asked.

"Nope, Max said that the voice was too pixelated" Alya had asked Max to try and find out MDC's identity but he hadn't have any luck. "Adrien, is Kagami coming over?"

"Yeah, she said she was on her way" the blonde boy said after winning against Nino for the tenth time. "But before she comes I want to talk to you guys about something"

"Sure dude"

"Go ahead"

Adrien took a big breath. "The thing is I like Kagami, I like her very much but recently I think something's changed. I still like her but I'm beginning to see Marinette as more than just a friend. I think I might be starting to have a crush on her but I'm still not sure as I also like Kagami" Adrien took another big breath, "So what are your thoughts?"

"Well it looks like you've got yourself in a pickle Adrien Agreste" Alya said. "First, before you do anything, do you know if they like you back?"

"Just listen to her I'm no good with this stuff" Nino said.

"Well I have a feeling Kagami likes me but since I've started to like Marinette I've been rejecting her advancements" he chuckled nervously.

"Well I all I can do is see how is plays out, sorry Adrien" Alya said, putting a hand on his shoulder to show her support.

Then they heard the sound of a door opening coming from down stairs. "That must be Kagami, I'll go get her" then Adrien left the room leaving Alya and Nino by themselves.

"The moment Adrien starts liking her, Marinette shows signs of not liking him anymore" Nino sighed.

"The universe just loves to play with love doesn't it?" Alya replied with an exasperated sigh.

Then Kagami came in followed by Adrien. "Hello everyone" Kagami said. Alya knew she need to talk with her.

"Hi Kagami! Can you come with me please? Adrien can we go talk in your bathroom? Thanks!" Without waiting for an answer from anyone she grabbed Kagami's hand a led her to the bathroom. Adrien looked at Nino confused but Nino just shrugged his shoulders and they both went to play table football again. "Sorry for dragging you like that but we need to talk about Marinette"

"Why is something wrong?" Kagami asked worriedly.

"Well not really" Kagami sighed in relief. "You know how Marinette doesn't like Luka anymore right?"

"Does she like him again even after saying he is like a brother to her?" Kagami asked.

"No I don't think she does. As this isn't really a secret I'll tell you, you see Marinette had this huge crush on Adrien" Kagami slowly nodded at Alya's words. "Emphasis on the 'had'. I think she likes someone else now"

"Is that the problem? That Marinette doesn't love Adrien anymore?" Kagami said a little on the harsh side.

Alya shook her head. "That isn't what I'm trying to say. What I'm trying to find out is who does she is love now?”

———

Taglist: @little-bluestar, @miracleofadisaster, @frieddonutsweets

[hateswifi]

Rising from the Ashes: Of Nicknames and Luck

So this is Part Five here is to my Master List and Part Four. Enjoy!! I just felt like... hey why not post two today? So that’s what I did, I hope you enjoy these shenanigans.

---------------------------------

Back with Marinette now in her hotel room, she decides to unpack a bit and look for an apartment offer online using the hand-me-down laptop Chloe had given her. 

After about an hour, she decides to take a break from apartment hunting and go to the grocery store even though she couldn’t exactly cook anything from her hotel room. She could at least make some good sandwiches.

When she got to the grocery store and after she had collected everything she needed which included: bread, peanut butter, jelly, chicken, lettuce, tomato, and some chips she hadn’t heard of before. The cashier looked her up and down then asked. “Are you the Ice Prince's girlfriend?”

“I’m no one's girlfriend. You must be confusing me with someone else,” she said as she paid then left. On her walk home she heard a bing: someone said they would meet with her about renting an apartment. The person was the manager of a building owned by Wayne Enterprises. They said she would like to meet Marinette at one o'clock: two hours from now. She decided on a salad for lunch because she had something so sugary for breakfast. She still wanted to keep a somewhat healthy diet.

She sits down and decides to check out what Diana recommended last night. She Googles ‘Gotham's Heroes' results immediately came up with Batman, Nightwing, Red Hood, Red Robin, and lastly a traffic light looking boy named, Robin. Seriously, who designed that outfit? If she ever met him she would have some words with him. She sighed while checking the time: twelve-thirty. She grabbed her stuff and left quickly.

“Hello my name is Marinette, I’m here to talk with,” she pauses, looking at her phone. “a Ms. Simms.”

“I’ll call her,” the receptionist said reaching then dialing on the phone. “Hello, Ms. Simms your one o’clock is here, Miss Marinette? Of course.” She hangs up then stands. “Please follow me.” They walk quietly into an office. She knocks on the door. 

“Enter,” a voice says from inside. “Hello, Marinette. My name is Sarah Simms. Please come take a seat.”

“So I recently moved here and need an apartment. I already have a way to pay for it, I got a job on Monday,” Marinette said, sitting across from Sarah. 

“Well want to visit the apartment?” Sarah asked, standing. 

“That would be lovely,” Marinette says, following. 

“So the last tenant left their stuff here which includes a fridge-freezer combo, a table, a couple of chairs, a couch, and two beds, one queen and one twin. They also left a smaller television,” she finishes, opening the door. The apartment was on the third floor with a decent view. “The rent would be six hundred a month and you would need to sign a year contract with a down payment of a hundred today.”

“This sounds almost too good to be true!” Marinette smiles after she finishes looking around the apartment she says. “Where can I sign?”

“Let’s head to my office and I’ll print the papers,” Sarah said, smiling as they left the apartment. 

After the papers were signed and money was paid, Marinette left for the hotel grabbed her stuff and checked out. She smiles for the first time in quite a while she was happy and proud of herself. 

She heard ringing as she dropped her stuff: it was Chloe. She immediately picked up. “Hey, Mar, how’s the second day of your new life,” Chloe asked, her voice crackling over the line a bit. 

“It has been pretty good. I got up early and went to a park close to the hotel I was staying at. This dog tackled me and the dog’s owner felt bad, so he took me to breakfast. His name is Damian, I really hope to see him again… crap he ran off before I could get his number,” she pauses falling on the couch. 

“Sounds like someone has a crush?” Chloe asks, Marinette can hear Chloe’s smirk through the phone. 

“I only met him once. After that, I went grocery shopping. Also, I got an apartment! Most of it is already furnished all I have to buy some basic things like pots, pans, plates, utensils, towels, and you know little things like that,” Marinette explained. 

“That’s great Mar. I’m so happy for you!” Chloe said.

“How was your day going?” Marinette asked. 

“I miss you a lot and life is quite boring without you. Lila was talking crap about you again,” Chloe answered. 

“I don’t even care at this point, as long as we know the truth. She doesn’t affect me anymore,” Marinette explained. 

“I know it just makes me angry knowing that her lies are so terrible,” Chloe sighed. 

“I know I’m sorry I’m not there, but I couldn’t stay in Paris. There is too much trauma and no family left for me,” Marinette explained. 

“Marinette I’m family. Luka, Adrien, and Kagami. We’re all your family! We all love and miss you!” Chloe exclaimed angrily, then hung up. 

Marinette sighed and plopped on the couch then turned on the small tv that was just across from her. It was some celebrity news so she changed it and watched an English cartoon instead as she checked her Twitter feed, which is still based on Paris. Chat had given the announcement of her leaving Paris, along with an announcement of no longer endorsing the Ladyblog after a post of Lila being love rivals with Ryuko for Viperon. Chat also announced that the rest of the team would continue with patrols. 

She hung out for the rest of the day making a list of things she needs to get. She would go to buy things after work tomorrow. She made herself a chicken, lettuce, and tomato sandwich. She then went to bed early so she could be on time for work which starts at seven.

When she woke up to her blaring alarm at six-twenty she put on a pink long-sleeved sweater, which she tucked into a black high waisted shirt with a belt. She paired her outfit with kitty black heels. She also put her hair up in princess bun. 

She rushed to work and arrived on time. She greets Diana and put her purse in the back. 

“Marinette in a little bit there will higher class customers in need of suits. I would appreciate it if you would measure them. They are as I said celebrities and like their privacy, please respect that,” Diana explains. Not long after Diana finished speaking a group of people walked in four of them to be exact. 

“Welcome, Bruce, Dick, Jason, and Tim. Damian is not with you?” Diana asks as they entered the store.

“No, he had a class this morning,” Bruce informed Diana of the changed plans.

“But it is to my understanding that he also needed a suit,” Daina states. 

“That is true, I was wondering if I could call in a favor,” he asks.

“Well, I can’t because I’m leaving to visit my family, but I’m sure I could ask my new employee, Marinette, to go take his measurements,” Diana said, looking for Marinette.

“I’m right here, Diana,” she says, exiting the back room. “I was grabbing the measuring tape, a notebook, and a pencil.”

“Oh my god! You’re Demon Spawn’s girlfriend!” Dick yells, running up to her.

“I’m no one's girlfriend,” Marinette says back then mutters in Mandarin. “Why does everyone keep asking that.”

Jason hears what she says and responds in Mandarin. “Because people saw you out--”. Dick elbowed him before he could finish not wanting to blow Damian’s secret. “We mistook you for someone else.”

“What was that for!” Jason exclaims. 

“I’ll tell you later,” Dick mutters.

“Ok so now that's over, please take the boys to the back to take their measurements,” Diana said, pointing the boys to follow her. In the back, Dick stood on a platform so Marinette could measure him.

“So Marinette,” Dick started being cut off. 

“I am pretty sure Diana didn’t say my name. How do you know me?” Marinette paused her measuring of Dick. “Would you be able to step down? I have to measure your shoulder blades.”

“I heard Diana say it,” Dick says as he stepped down. He felt her feather-light touch dance across his back as she measured him. She then stepped in front of him measuring his chest then arms. 

“How old are you and how long have you been working here?” Tim asks, staring at the petite girl while she works. 

“Ummm… today is my first day working here, but I am experienced in the fashion world. I don't want to talk about my past work because this is my new beginning and I turned eighteen about two months ago,” Marinette said, measuring her legs.

“We’re all about new beginnings, that's why Bruce adopted us,” Jason chimed in.

“They’re not pretentious like how I thought Americans would act,” Marinette mutters in French. 

“Thanks, but we’re not like most Americans,” Dick responds, looking down at the now flustered girl.

“I’m sorry to assume. In Paris, most Americans are shown as fools or snobs. I’ve only met a couple before today. How many languages do you all speak?” Marinette asked, working faster while keeping her head down.

“We all speak, English, French, Mandarin, Spanish, and Italian, but our youngest brother also speaks Slavonic and Arabic,” Tim explained.

“Ok, you’re all down Ummm… I’m sorry I never caught your names,” She speaks softly while backing up to give Dick room.

“You don't know us?” Dick asked shocked.

“Diana said you guys were celebrities, but I don’t pay attention to famous people unless they’re from the fashion industry and I haven’t exactly caught up on American celebrities yet,” Marinette explained.

“Well I’m Jason Todd-Wayne, this is my younger brother Tim Drake-Wayne, and my oldest brother Dick Grayson-Wayne,” Jason said, pointing at each of them as he talked.

“Ok, which one of you wants to go next,” Marinette asked, looking between the younger two of the trio.

“He’ll go next,” Jason said, pushing Tim forward.

“So you said you’ve only met a couple of people we know a bunch of people would you be able to tell us who you met?” Tim asked.

“The first person I met Diana she is quite nice, I don’t know much about her though. The second person I met was a guy named Damian. His dog, Titus, tackled me, so I guess he felt bad, we met at the park across from where I was staying. He wanted to make it up to me by breakfast, which was so delicious. I had waffles!  I met my landlord, Sarah Simms, she seems a bit distant, but I barely know her. Then I met you guys, your dad seems cold, but you guys are quite nice,” Marinette explains as she finishes up with Tim. 

“Are you and Damian friends now? You sound quite fond of him,” Jason asks as he takes Tim’s place. 

“He ran off to take a call or something as I was going to ask for his number, it’s truly a shame he was nice,” Marinette says then blushes and looks down. “And he was handsome not going to lie.”

“Aww someone has a crush?” Dick asks. 

“I’ve only met him once, but if I ever met him again I would ask him out, he was so nice, so kind,” Marinette sighs, looking lost in thought. 

“Are we sure she’s talking about the same person?” Tim asks in Italian. “She looks smitten by him.”

“We have to get them together! She would be so good for him,” Dick answers in Italian. 

“Guys I’m pretty sure Damian doesn’t want us to interfere,” Jason responds, holding out his arms for her to measure. 

“I’m all done. I’ll go call Diana to see what she wants me to do with the measurements,” Marinette says as she gets up and leaves. 

“She’s perfect for him. Think he hasn’t dated or been open with anyone before maybe she could be a first,” Tim says still in Italian. “Also she’s adorable!”

“You guys decided to talk in Italian while she was working? She thought that you guys don’t like her and we’re going to have her be fired, but she may have been overthinking,” Bruce said, entering the measuring room. 

“Damian was nice to that girl. She likes him. He likes her!” Dick exclaims, standing up.  

“Well it’s a good thing she’s coming over tomorrow to take Damian’s measurements,” Bruce smirked. 

“She is, what time?” Jason asked. 

“You’re not to disturb them. If there’s a girl out there he won’t send off or a girl who won’t run to the hills, we have to at least try to set them up,” Bruce said. 

After Marinette left the boys she went to give the measurements to Diana. 

“Here you go,” Marinette said, cheerfully. 

“Thank you. Also tomorrow there’s one more boy’s measurement to do. Bruce said he would pay extra if you go to the manor after the boutique's closing. Would you be able to take the boy’s measurements?” Diana asks taking the notepad. 

“That will be easy, but would you be able to tell me the address?” Marinette asked, pulling out her phone ready to type the address. 

“Bruce said he would send a car,” Diana informed Marinette. “May I have your address to give to him for his driver?”

“Yes, I live in Wayne Apartments, which is ironic because you know they’re the Waynes,” Marinette said, laughing. 

“That’s so funny!” Dick said, pointing at Bruce. “You’re friends with us, the Waynes, and you live in a building he owns.”

“To be fair I’ve only been in America for three days and I already have a job and an apartment. I think that’s pretty good,” Marinette says, crossing her arms. 

“I would also say pretty lucky, Spot,” Diana says as Marinette blushes. 

"Bye Sunshine!" Dick calls as he goes to open the door.

“Thank you, guys! I guess I’ll see you tomorrow!” She waves to them as they leave. The rest of the day went by pretty smoothly, she designed a bit while there weren't any customers in the store. 

Diana closes her shop around seven o’clock, her business is thriving. She goes home eats some food then grabs her money to buy the stuff on the list she made earlier. She left quickly and went to the closest store. She finished shopping and when she got home put the stuff away. She then took a shower and went to bed.

------------------------------------------

Tag list (Open):

@northernbluetongue @melhuney @ladysblackcat @sturchling @otaku4312 @g-arya @smolplantmum @bluefyoto94 @echpr @moonlightstar64 @thesunanditsangel @cutechip @heaven428 @elmokingkong @kass-is-weird @niza13149 @urbanpineapplefarmer @ginamarie1512 @chocolatecatstheron @crazylittlemunchkin 

[purrincess-chat]

Kill Em With Kindness CH3

It is finished! Now I can move on to chapter 1 of Dogrien to post this week~ I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Uncle Jagged has made his entrance and now things are about to get interesting.

Read on AO3

Chapter 3

“Knock, knock!”

Marinette paused her sewing, a wicked smile curling on her lips as Adrien climbed up carrying a plate of warm cookies.

“From your dad,” he said, holding them up before setting them on her desk and pulling up a chair. “How’s your Ladybug sweater coming along?”

“Great! I was just sewing up the seams now,” she said, smoothing over the red and black sweater that read ‘Ladybug’s bff’ on the front. “With her compromised immune system, I’d hate for Lila to catch a cold from the chilly weather in London on our field trip this week.”

“Wouldn’t that be a shame?” Adrien agreed, cupping a hand to his cheek. “Well, I successfully got Mr. D’Argencourt to give her some one-on-one time to make up her PE grade. He made sure she paced herself and didn’t put too much stress on that bad ankle of hers. It’s a shame she didn’t finish in time to get ice cream with all of us.”

“Well, school is important. We don’t want her to fail the term, do we?” Marinette said with an overly sarcastic tone.

“Of course not! That would just be awful.” He nodded, and they both broke into a fit of giggles. “By the way, I have some good news.”

“Oh?” Marinette quirked a brow, grabbing a cookie.

“Guess when Lila’s birthday is?” Adrien smirked, and she pursed her lips.

“Dunno, when?”

“Some time in August, but guess what I overheard her telling Marc when he asked her to beta read their next comic since she’s such good friends with Ladybug?” He rolled his eyes. “She said she can’t help him because she’s going to Achu with her mother this weekend to celebrate her birthday.”

“But it’s only March,” Marinette said, eyes narrowing. “That brat totally blew them off.”

“Yeah, but it gives me an idea,” he said, tapping his chin. “Okay, so you know how we all planned a big surprise party for you this year?”

“How can I forget? My grandmother got akumatized,” Marinette said pointedly.

“Well, what if we threw Lila a party this Friday before she ‘leaves’ to go to Achu?” He suggested, and Marinette tilted her head to the side in thought.

“What if we centered it around all of her lies? We could have tons of recycle bins for her anti-pollution campaign, we can have the local shelter bring out a bunch of adoptable animals since she loves volunteering, and we can even get Jagged to send a bunch of signed posters for everyone,” Marinette said.

“You’re a despicable genius, Marinette. I’m a little scared.” Adrien eyed her with a smirk, and she turned her nose up.

“Lila had it coming. She did get me expelled,” she said with a defensive huff.

“Not arguing with that. I just hope I never get on your bad side,” he chuckled. “So, what’s our first move?”

“First, we plant the bait for everyone, then we set the trap for Lila. Alya and Mylene volunteer at the animal shelter frequently, so I’m sure they can handle that, and Sabrina’s dad has an in with the city for the recycling bins,” Marinette listed.

“What about Jagged?” Adrien asked, and a sly grin curled on her lips.

“Leave Jagged to me.”

***

“Hello, Penny,” Marinette greeted the following afternoon outside Jagged’s suite.

“Marinette, it’s good to see you, but what are you doing here?” Penny tilted her head to the side.

“Did you say Marinette’s here? Rock on! Let her in,” Jagged called from the grand piano in the middle of the room. “Yo, Marinette, you have to check this new song I’m working on.”

Penny blinked in confusion but stepped aside nonetheless, and Marinette entered with an appreciative smile. Jagged perked up upon seeing her and scooted over to make room for her on the bench.

“What brings you by, Marinette?” He asked, plucking out a melody on the keys.

“I kind of need a favor, if you don’t mind,” she said with a wince.

“Ay, of course. You can ask your ole Uncle Jagged for favors any time,” he said with a grin. “Just tell me what’s on your mind.”

“Well, there’s this girl at my school, and she’s kind of a huge liar-”

“Ugh, I hate liars. I dated a liar once. Great kisser, but he always needed attention. So annoying.” He wrinkled his nose.

“Tell me about it, except this girl is a bit more than just annoying. I called her out for lying a few times, but she always spins things back on me, and now we’re sworn enemies, and she has it out for me,” Marinette said, and Jagged paused his playing.

“D’you want me to feed her to Fang?” Jagged offered, and Marinette considered it a moment.

“Nah, I wouldn’t want to make him sick.” She shook her head. “But me and another friend who knows about her have been plotting a bit of revenge against her since she got me expelled recently.”

“She got you expelled?” Jagged’s fingers slammed onto keys, filling the room with a discordant harmony.

“Yeah. My friend made her fix it in the end, but now we’re done with her lying and manipulating everyone, so we have a plan,” Marinette said before giving him the run down.

“Wow. This is all very high road yet secretly low road of you, Marinette. Rock on!” Jagged smirked, offering a fist for her to bump. “I will totally help you.”

“Thanks, Jagged!” Marinette hugged his chest.

“Anything for my favorite little lady,” he said, giving her a noogie. “But I’ve gotta say, I feel like we can do better than posters. This girl almost ruined your reputation.”

“What do you have in mind?” Marinette tilted her head to the side.

“Well…”

***

“She’s coming!” Nathaniel called, running through the park entrance, and everyone took their places.

“I can’t believe we pulled this off,” Adrien said to Marinette. “I can’t wait to see the look on her face.”

“She’s going to lose her mind.” Marinette winked.

Alya led Lila into the park blindfolded just as she had done for Marinette so many weeks prior only this time, Lila had no idea what to expect.

“Surprise!” Everyone shouted when she removed the blindfold, and Lila’s jaw dropped in confusion and disbelief.

“What’s all this?” She asked with a nervous laugh.

“It’s for your birthday,” Nathaniel said as if it were obvious.

“Yeah, you’re going to Achu tomorrow, so we wanted to celebrate today,” Alya explained, and Marinette saw the gears click.

“Oh, you guys! You didn’t have to,” she said modestly.

“You’re our bud, and you do so much for the world. We wanted to make sure you had a great bday,” Nino said, wrapping an arm around Alya’s shoulders.

“You guys are too sweet. Thank you.” Lila placed a hand over her heart.

“Thank Marinette and Adrien. They orchestrated all of this,” Alya said, and they waved to her with cheery grins which she met with a brief hint of skepticism that she morphed into a smile of her own.

“We made sure to celebrate all of your achievements,” Adrien said, gesturing to their spread. “We had the city bring in recycling bins to cut back on the garbage, and all of the party decorations are made from recycled materials.”

“We also asked a local shelter to bring by some adoptable animals for us to socialize,” Alya said, pointing to the pins of dogs across the sidewalk. “And finally, Marinette has a super epic surprise!”

Lila flicked her gaze to Marinette, her eyes narrowing under that elastic smile.

“It was no big deal, really,” Marinette said without averting her gaze. “He absolutely jumped at the opportunity when I told him it was for you.”

“Yo, Lila! Long time no see, huh?”

Lila blanched a little as Jagged approached with Penny and Fang in tow, and Marinette crossed her arms over her chest with a smirk.

“Thanks for coming, Jagged,” she said sweetly.

“Of course. Anything for my two favorite ladies.” Jagged pulled them both in for a hug. “I’d love to personally give all of your little friends autographs, and Marinette even agreed to help me sing your favorite song of mine. You know, the one I wrote for you, Lila.”

“Uh, yeah, that’s so generous of both of you, but you don’t have to do that,” Lila said, holding up cautioning hands.

“Why not?” Adrien asked, shoving his hands in his pockets as everyone gave her similarly perplexed looks.

“Uh, I have a headache, so loud noises probably aren’t the best,” she said, and Marinette and Adrien exchanged looks.

“Oh, is your tinnitus coming back? I have an ear plug, and I’ve started carrying around painkillers just in case you ever need it,” Marinette said, reaching into her purse, and Lila stared down at the items in her hand blankly.

“Wow, Marinette. You sure think of everything, don’t you?” Lila said through gritted teeth.

“She’s so detail-oriented. It’s what makes her such a good designer. That’s why she’s one of my favorite little rockers. Second only to you, of course, Lila,” Jagged said.

“I’m just doing my part. We can’t all save African villages, but we can be there for each other,” Marinette said, clasping her hands together with an innocent beam. “I just wanted to make sure my amazing friend had a great birthday.”

“So thoughtful of you,” Lila cooed, though Marinette could see the rage burning behind her smile.

“Alright then, who wants an autograph?” Jagged asked, holding up a pen, and their classmates all crowded around him.

Marinette and Adrien stood back on either side of Lila with impish grins.

“I don’t know what you two are planning, but you’d better tread carefully,” Lila said under her breath.

“What’s the matter, Lila?” Marinette asked.

“Isn’t this what you’ve always wanted?” Adrien added, and Lila’s eyes narrowed.

“Drop the act. I’m not an idiot, and if either one of you even thinks about starting anything-”

“Gosh, I didn’t realize inviting Jagged was going to upset you so much. I thought you two were good friends,” Marinette said, pressing a hand to her lips.

“I’m serious, you two. Call off the song, or else,” Lila said, shifting her gaze between them. “I’m not dumb. I know you’re going to get Jagged to diss me in front of everyone.”

“You really think we’d do such a thing?” Marinette gasped, and Lila rolled her eyes.

“I haven’t bought your whole nice act from the moment it started, but if you threaten me, I can get you kicked out of Paris for good,” Lila growled.

“That seems like an unkind thing to do to a friend. Marinette worked really hard to put all of this together, Lila,” Adrien said with a warning tone, wrapping an arm around Marinette’s shoulders as her face fell.

“No, it’s okay. Lila doesn’t want us to sing, so we won’t. It’s her birthday after all,” Marinette said. “I’ll let everyone know.”

Lila and Adrien watched her join the crowd before Lila turned to him with a scowl.

“I don’t know what you two are up to-”

“We’re just trying to be your friends, Lila,” Adrien cut her off.

Lila glared up at him, jaw clenching, and his face hardened for one brief moment.

“But you might wanna tread carefully,” he said, giving her a pointed look before a smile broke over his lips again, and he patted her shoulder. “Happy Birthday, Lila.”

“Oh, your throat is sore?” Alya was saying when they joined the group.

“Yeah, just a tickle, but I’d hate to ruin the performance,” Marinette said with a frown. “But maybe it’s for the best. Lila has a headache still, and when I told her about it, she was totally cool with putting it off for another day.”

“It’s a shame. We must have worked too hard rehearsing it last night,” Jagged said. “Hey, here’s a thought. Why don’t you all come to my concert tomorrow? You can rest your chops tonight and perform with me tomorrow. All of your friends can come.”

“Wow, really?” Marinette perked up.

“Of course! I want to rock out with you for sure,” Jagged said, ruffling her hair.

“Oh, but Lila’s going to Achu tomorrow,” Marinette said, deflating again. “She won’t be able to make it.”

“Don’t worry, love. Lila gets to go to my concerts all the time. She won’t be too upset missing one chance to come backstage with everyone. Isn’t that right, Lila?” Jagged gave her a look, and Lila’s spine stiffened.

“Uh, yeah. I get to sing with you all the time. It’s no biggie,” she said, and Jagged patted Marinette’s shoulder.

“See? She’s cool with it, so whaddya say? Wanna rock out with your Uncle Jagged?” He asked.

“If it’s really alright then…okay!” Marinette perked up, and all of their classmates crowded around her excitedly.

Lila crossed her arms over her chest as everyone broke off to enjoy the rest of the party. Marinette may have won this battle, but Lila didn’t intend to lose the war. She wouldn’t be so easily fooled next time.

“Ya know.” She jumped a little as Jagged draped an arm over her shoulder. “Marinette told me everything, and if it were me, I would have totally asked me to call you out in front of all your little friends today, but she didn’t.”

Lila averted her gaze.

“Marinette is one amazing little chick, and she’s like family to me. If anyone ever hurts her, they’ll have me to answer to, and they’ll learn that I’m not so nice,” Jagged said. “Just a little something for you to keep in mind. Because she’s miraculous, simply the best, up to the test when things go wrong- hey, ya know, now I could make a song out of that.”

He patted her shoulder before pacing over to join Marinette and Adrien, and Lila closed her shaking hands into fists. If this was the game they wanted to play then fine, but they were about to learn what a formidable foe she could be.

[chibivesicle]

>>>so this notion seems a bit too ideal to me at least which i picked up from your analysis, for him to desiring to be accepted that much when he previously denied himself a chance to do it. i can't say he was too clouded by his own judgment and only wanted to prove a point by killing his half-brother, he's much more sane to act like that. so i wondered if you really want him to get his redemption arc that badly and support ogata on his way facing all the consequences?

Hello Anon,

I have to admit I’m not quite sure what post you arereferring to directly, so based on your questions, I’m going to have to assume youare responding to my most recent ask here:

 https://chibivesicle.tumblr.com/post/185074640517/weve-seen-several-examples-of-ogata-trying-to-win

If I understand your question and thesis properly, youthink that Ogata wanted to be accepted by Asirpa over Sugimoto is too “ideal”.  I have to admit I’m not sure what you mean by“ideal”.  Does “ideal” mean that Ogatawants to have his emotional needs met and he doesn’t have a right to have his needsmet?  Or that he doesn’t feel emotions,so he again doesn’t have any emotional needs? Or something else?

 I’m thinking the first definition of ideal since you referto him denying being accepted by Yuusaku before he met Asirpa.  If this is what you are thinking, myunderstanding is that you felt that Yuusaku accepted Ogata and that Ogata deniedYuusaku’s acceptance.  

 So, let’s go back and down the limited information that weknow about Ogata and Yuusaku’s interactions. Ogata and his mom were abandoned by Hanazawa when Yuusaku was born.  Ogata and his mom get taken back to Ibarakiby grandma Ogata and she takes care of them with grandpa.  Therefore, Ogata grows up in poverty with amom who suffers from mental illness and he wants her wish to see Hanazawa to begranted (it fails).  

 Ogata is a superior private in the 27th.  Yuusaku gets assigned to their unit underTsurumi’s command as the flag bearer. Yuusaku only finds out that Ogata is his older brother while in the 27th.  That means someone in the 27thspilled the beans.  Now, Ogata obviouslyknows who Yuusaku is when he joins the 27th, he knows who his fatheris, and he knew that the legal heir is a son and must be Yuusaku.  One could argue that Yuusaku’s very existenceresulted in the hurt and pain of Ogata and his mother as they get abandoned byHanazawa.  If there were no Yuusaku,maybe Ogata would have been adopted as a legal heir, but based on Hanazawa’spersonality, I’d see him trying until he had a son, he’s clearly far to imageworried.

We know from Tsukishima’s flashback that Tsurumi’s Ainu planwas in motion before the Russo-Japanese war. We know that Tsurumi is collecting trusted men before then and duringthe war.  Ogata is clearly one of theselect few during the war.  Yuusaku’s issue is that he is not the type of man to serve Tsurumi post-war as a partof the Ainu plan.  The rumors are that heis of high moral character.  Add intothis the fact that Ogata tells us that Yuusaku was thrilled to find out he hada brother.  And thus, Yuusaku begins avery one-sided and ultimately hurtful relationship with Ogata.  He calls him out in public, calling himbrother in front of everyone and not following rank.  He chases after Ogata to interact with himand greatly desires for Ogata to return his feelings.  Ogata’s body language towards him is cautiousand distant.  He does not socialize withhim and actively avoids him and all of the additional unwanted attention withit.

All of this is not good for Ogata.  His personality doesn’t win him many friends,we know from 169 on how Koito says his personality alone irritated people andhe’s the son of a wildcat and he was bullied b/c of the nickname.  Yuusaku publicly talking to him likely onlyhelped to stoke the wildcat rumors even more.

Chapter 164 shows Ogata taking Yuusaku out with him in theevening on Tsurumi’s orders.  This is atest of Yuusaku’s character to see if he could work with team Tsurumi post waron the Ainu plan.  Yuusaku is beyondelated that Ogata asked him to join him but he doesn’t even stop to wonder whyOgata, who avoided him all this time all of a sudden is friendly with him.  This is b/c Ogata isn’t doing this for himself,he’s doing this for Tsurumi.  Of course,Yuusaku fails the test of character at the brothel and Ogata has him leave discretely.  He then talks to Tsurumi about his characterand it shows where Tsurumi may have stoked Ogata’s anger towards him bydropping the line about a “noble” bloodline which Ogata clearly thinks it totalbullshit since Hanazawa is anything but noble.

Chapter 165 then reveals that Tsurumi had come to theconclusion that their original plan to kill Yuusaku is on hold.  He’s useful for the time being, butultimately, he’s still a problem.  I amstill unsure of Ogata’s test of Yuusaku’s character is something of his owndesign or Tsurumi’s.  It may not evenmatter – the situation with the Russian POW shows that Yuusaku is a man who isunable to go against his father’s wishes and has made himself an idol for themen to atone for everyone’s guilt.  Thisthen leads to what I see as the ultimate insult to Ogata by Yuusaku; he tellshim that it isn’t right that people like him exist. Ogata is hurting and in pain and Yuusaku hasinsulted his coping mechanism by rejecting him. The entire hugging scene is one-sided, Yuusaku embraces him and crieswhile Ogata goes deep into himself to feel nothing.

Yuusaku never sought to understand or get to knowOgata.  He wanted to fulfill his own naïveand selfish desires to have an older brother. But all relationships require both people to be involved and Ogata wasnever engaged with him to begin with.

I don’t think Ogata was proving a point per se by shooting hisbrother, he wanted Asirpa to validate his flawed hypothesis that “pure” peopledon’t exist by having her shoot him.  Ogataknows what Wilk was training her to become, he doesn’t see an issue withstarting her on the path to become the next Wilk.

Others and I feel that Tsurumi manipulated Ogata into toshooting Yuusaku; Ogata had no ties or emotional connection to Yuusaku, henever sought him out for brotherly bonding etc. Tsurumi wanted to make sure Ogata would serve him well – he wanted toput Ogata in a position to meet his “needs” and be loyal to him, he thoughtthat Ogata wanted his father’s position and status but for that to happen,Yuusaku and Hanazawa needed to not exist.  Oh and as a bonus by getting rid of Yuusaku before the end of the war and then making Hanazawa be a fall guy that lead to the mistreatment of the 7th made Tsurumi’s position even stronger. Furthermore, in 103, Ogata tells Hanazawa that he was never jealous ofYuusaku, instead he wanted to be loved by Hanazawa.  One way that could happen was if Hanazawawanted to accept this rejected son; of course, just like with his mother,Hanazawa wasn’t going to find Ogata either.

As far as referring to Ogata as being “more sane”  than to shoothis brother – keep in mind that no one has implied Ogata to be insane.  I among others have hypothesized that hesuffers from mental illness (depression/self-harm tendencies) but that does notmean that he’s insane.  He is hurting anddoes not value himself.  Yuusaku didn’tvalue him as a person, Yuusaku saw him as a brother that he wanted but not forOgata.  Yuusaku desired Ogata as the concept of him being an older brother.

I already wrote a long analysis on Yuusaku here and thisexplains more of what I’ve just said in greater depth:

https://chibivesicle.tumblr.com/post/182750848382/why-is-yuusaku-so-awkward-with-ogata

I agree with you that during the fever dream Ogata feels guiltyabout shooting Yuusaku; I think Ogata feels guilty about everyone he’skilled.  The problem is that his copingmechanism is to pretend as though he doesn’t feel guilty. 

The character who has a similar copingmechanism is Asirpa.  She was in so muchpain over her father’s death and the departure of Retar that she buried Wilk’sname deep in brain.  Both characters tryto push their feelings down to numb themselves. It is just that Ogata is 100x better at this than Asirpa and has beendoing it for much longer.  He tries toconsole himself by saying he doesn’t feel anything, but he has feelings b/c heis human and that he isn’t actually lacking something – he tellshimself he is lacking.

The difference between Yuusaku and Asirpa is that Asirpadoesn’t force herself on Ogata.  Shedoesn’t follow him around and draw attention to him.  Instead, she praises him when he does welland keeps her distance from him even though she wants to be closer attimes.  Asirpa treats Ogata like aregular person and doesn’t hold anything against him.  This is the major difference between her andYuusaku, she doesn’t have preconceived notions about Ogata, she doesn’t knowhis background all she sees is that he’s good at bringing home some dinner andshe gladly accepts his gifts.  SinceOgata is someone who pays others back equally, at times he returns “gifts” toher, by behaving certain ways and doing cultural practices that Asirpa deemsimportant.

The problem is that even though Asirpa and Yuusaku aredifferent and treated him in totally different ways, he can’t pull apart therole of their father’s in shaping them to be idols for various causes.  In Ogata’s mind the sins of the father are stilla part of the child.  He takesassumptions he learned from Yuusaku and he unfairly imposes them on Asirpa eventhough she’s not the same as Yuusaku.  WhenAsirpa rejects him, he’s incredibly hurt and since he doesn’t deal well withhis feelings b/c they are poorly developed and repressed. All of his feelings come pouringout at the same time and he lashes out at her.

He sees himself as good as dead – when Sugimoto gets there, he’s goingto kill him.  Why not have Asirpa killhim instead?  It is cruel and unfair ofhim but if she did shoot him, he’d have proven his flawed hypothesis that thereare no “pure” people.  He’s cornered,desperate and heartbroken that Asirpa will always choose Sugimoto overhim.  This proves to him that he’s lackingsomething b/c Asirpa doesn’t accept him as is at that moment.

Getting to your last part of your questions; I’m not aMarvel fan so all I know is that Thanos is the big bad guy in the mostrecent Avengers movie and he’s terrible. I don’t know that much about the MCU but I don’t think Ogata = Thanos.  

I think a common misconception about us [the people who areanalyzing Ogata in meta form] is that we believe he’s done no wrongs and he shouldbe given a “pass”.  Now, there are a lotof opinions of him in the fandom and many other people on twitter and whatnotbelieve in Ogata getting a redemption arc. I have avoided using the phrase “redemption arc” in my Ogata meta.  I personally don’t believe in him getting a “redemptionarc”, I want Ogata to recognize how he’s in pain and hurting. I want him toheal and move on with his life and fully accept how his past actions have hurthim and he will have to deal with them the rest of his life.  But since Ogata is coded in a Christiancontext, he very well may get forgiveness for his sins, if he admits that hehas sinned or he may be one of the last who will be first while the first will be last characters … We shall see.

As a fan of Ogata, I want for him to find a place to belong,be accepted, find love and find it in himself to accept himself and love himself.  I don’t think Ogata deserves a free pass, butno character in this series deserves a free pass, they’ve all hurt others andthemselves in the process.  

Sugimoto is Ogata’s foil, he lashes out with his pain andhurt and inflicts it on others and uses it as an excuse to commit horribleacts.  Ogata inflicts pain on himself andtells himself it doesn’t hurt and uses that as his excuse to commit horribleacts.  Both men are trying to remove thepain and hurt from killing, but one projects it outwards onto others while theother buries in himself.  Neither arehealthy, but they are dealing with the same thing.

Lastly, you seem to dislike the fact that my analyses of Ogatalack self-awareness.  Based on your questionyou think that Ogata would be aware of his actions and understand the resultsof his actions and feel more deeply (or obviously) about his actions.  Or at least that is how I understand yourstatement…

I can respond to this concept several different ways:

i.) Ogata purposely is burying his self-awareness as his copingmechanism. 

This could come out of his melt-down on ice with Asirpa – “youcan do it too, the rest of us have… .” – this is a very decent theory. Ogata doesn’t show self-awareness b/c if he did, he has to change how hecopes with his pain, suffering and PTSD.  I personally like this one the best –therefore, I cannot critique his lack of self-awareness b/c he doesn’t wantothers to know about it, including us, the readers.  Self-awareness would be a weakness for himand he is trying to survive the hunt for the gold by any means possible.  

ii.) Ogata is not asself-aware as you desire him to be.  

I don’t know what your life experience is, but every personhas a blind spot in their self-awareness that they cannot see but others can.  We are readers who see everything that Ogatadoes so it is easy for people to judge and critique his actions.  No matter how self-aware you think you are ofyourself, the older you become, you still miss things about yourself and howyou see yourself.  Since Ogata doesn’t activelyengage with most and keeps to himself, he isn’t in a situation whereself-awareness would be a thing he’d be concerned with.  He’d have to have friends close enough to himto get him to reflect on his actions and become more self-aware.  It is very clear that Ogata has no emotionalsupport from others for most of his adult life so he wouldn’t be too concernedabout being self-aware.

iii.) Ogata’s self-awareness is irrelevant to his character.  Instead, Ogata makes rationaldecisions that are flawed but does it anyways.

His mother wants to see his father, so he kills her.  His father doesn’t come for her, thus hurtingher and himself.  He may haverationalized this as a mercy kill as well, she wasn’t well so what happened toher ultimately didn’t matter.  Ogata shotSugimoto from a purely tactical perspective, Kiro said he didn’t need to shoothim, but Ogata knows removing Sugimoto is to their advantage.  I also think Ogata was afraid that Sugimotowould end up hurting Asirpa, so no harm in getting him out of the picture.  Ogata realized that Tanigaki wasn’t on thesame side at Tamai & co.  His reasoningthat Tanigaki killed them isn’t flawed and he again tactically was smart to tryto eliminate Tanigaki – by not killing him, Tanigaki was used by Inkarmat toupdate Tsurumi on their plans.  Finally,Ogata fills in the gaps on what he thought Wilk wanted Asirpa to do.  He clearly disagrees with this at first butas she stubbornly wants to stick to the path, he gets more desperate to get herto change her mind and when that fails, he just wants it to end.

So, does Ogata need to be analyzed with a character withmore self-awareness?  Honestly, I don’t thinkso.  I don’t think he’s thinking aboutthings in the context of his own self-awareness – that’s a very modern conceptof thought and not exactly one that people of his time and age would bespending a lot of time pondering.  Thesecharacters are trying to survive and come out on top/where they want tobe.  

Many readers don’t expect Sugimoto to become more self-awareso why would we expect the same of Ogata? More importantly, why aren’t readers calling for Tanigaki to be moreself-aware?  He went on a second revengequest and this time he killed Kiro – there is no way killing the tiger is goingto help him.  Ogata has dodged death whenhe wanted; dying on the ice was the easy way out – Ogata isn’t a character whois going to get an easy way out or free pass.

 And this has become a giant reply to an ask.  My apologies.

[themanformallyknownaswelshy]

Jigsaw Thoughts

HEAVY SPOILERS

Hello there.

So yeah, a new Saw film has just recently been released and I’ve been to see it … twice. I’ll admit to being very touched and slightly scared (in the best way possible) at the amount of requests I’ve been getting from people asking for my thoughts on the film. It’d been … what, 4 years since my last proper video on Saw and that people are still interested in my opinion about the series … that’s pretty awesome. Sadly, this can’t be released in video format at the moment (which isn’t saying it never will be) because I currently have a camera without a battery, a computer that no longer connects to the internet, a laptop that randomly shuts down and no audio equipment. Oh and we’re also saving for a wedding and a house. Priorities people!!!

So anyway, before I address my thoughts on Jigsaw, I want to say something about Saw as it means to me. Keep in mind, this is going to be long as I have many thoughts and if this were a video, it’d probably clock in around the 30 minute mark. Now, it should be noted that I’m not blind to what Saw is and as I’ve previously said, I don’t view it as a masterpiece of cinema and for the people who don’t like it, I’d never be able to change their minds about it. My issue steams from reviews I’ve seen that label Saw (specifically the original) as torture porn and I simply do not agree with this statement. In fact, I informed one person of this once and this person accused me of being sexist and of attacking them for simply disagreeing with their claim, a disagreement I backed up but then I’m the same guy who managed to violate the … what was it, the second amendment with Dark Side of The Internet, so make of that what you will. For me, the Saw Series exists in a heightened reality with everything played at just that over the top level, from the scenarios all the way down to the acting. It’s a very fine line to walk and one Saw, from original to 3D managed to walk almost perfectly. The first 2 films in the series also didn’t have the budget to show the all out gore explosions that the later films became known for so to class the first 2 as torture porn is, to me, simply wrong. A comparison would be a film like Hostel or the Zombie Halloween films, especially the sequel. These films don’t walk the line, they have a very real, raw edge to them, the effects of the torture (blow torches to the face, heels being sliced, women beaten to bloody pulps) are shot very raw and very real and this moves both films beyond snuff (ala Texas Chainsaw) and is why I would class films like Hostel and Halloween Zombie as torture porn and a film like Saw as more a twisted morality tail and it’s sequel, part horror, part psychological thriller because the 2nd film IS essentially a game of chess between 2 players, Jigsaw and Detective Matthews. While the argument could be raised about the later sequels falling more into the realms of torture porn, all films still contained that heightened sense but more so than any of that, I believe it wasn’t the traps that kept bringing fans back into the theatres year after year but it was more so the story because, as convoluted as it was, and BELIEVE me, it was, there was a story that built and teased and, ultimately, provided the answers to many fan theories and questions.

Why have I mentioned this? Read on.

So, my thoughts on Jigsaw?

I liked it. It certainly was better than it had any right to be. The story moved along at a great pace, the traps as they were designed and shot were pure Saw and very Jigsaw in nature. By this I mean, the traps were all survivable, but the subjects were expected to sacrifice something of themselves in order to get out alive. It also played into something Jigsaw says to Hoffman in Saw V about anticipating the human mind, something Jigsaw was always very good at. As Jill Tuck said herself, with John everything was planned, nothing was left to chance. I obviously enjoyed Tobin Bell back in his iconic role like he’d never missed a beat, I loved seeing Billy with glowing red eyes (and I did BILLY when I saw him), the Jigsaw house of horrors barn and separate work shop was a delight and the score felt like a natural evolution with sweet call backs to previous themes. It also benefited from a bigger budget, the opening car chase being a prime example and the money shot that was the culmination of the final trap was a site to behold and I’ll now never be able to here the phrase “It looks like a tropical plant” the same way again.

I won’t lie, when I first saw the trailers for Jigsaw I was slightly concerned about how glossy and clean everything looked. The Barn appeared to take place almost entirely in day light and a lot of the film seemed to be taking place out doors. If there was one thing Saw excelled at was the rustic, run down, abandoned factory, enclosed and claustrophobic feeling and with Jigsaw, I never really got that feeling. I never felt like I was suffocating along with the characters in the environments they were finding themselves in and this seems to stem more from the way it was shot rather than the script. It’s also seemed to be setting up future sequels because a number of events occur in said film that raise greater questions. The film managed to keep the Saw style of walking the fine line of maintaining its heightened reality and felt like it easily slotted into the world as it had been previously established in previous films. It’ll certainly please fans to the series but won’t win or convert people who have never seen the Saw films before. It’s also a film that, while trying to restart the series, suffers if you’ve never watched the series before.

One of the big problems Saw encountered in it’s later life is it was essentially becoming a movie serial. You’d have needed to have watched the previous episode in order to understand what was going on. For someone like me, someone who had watched and re watched the films so many times I could quote them in my sleep,  this wasn’t a problem and watching the newest entry always felt like a reward but for someone jumping in as a first time watcher, they wouldn’t have had a clue about what was going on. Leigh Whannell references this during his Saw 3 commentary in that he would get people coming up to him and saying they didn’t understand Saw 3 because they’d not seen Saws 1 and 2. Leighs reaction to this was simple, “Who goes to see a film with a 3 in the title without seeing the first 2 films first” and I agree with that. Jigsaw ultimately duffers from this because, while it is an attempt to perform a form of series restart, the people who will get the most out of this film ARE Saw fans. The biggest hook to the series is and always will be Tobin Bell and without him, you simply don’t have a series so while I can appreciate what they were trying to do with the film and there were many directions they could have gone, their solution I found to be very predictable, very uninspired and more specifically, and this is why I have a bigger problem with the film than maybe I should, very damaging to the Saw mythology.

So here we go … my problem with Jigsaw. From here on out there will be heavy spoilers from not only Jigsaw, but nearly every single Saw film, give or take. You have been warned, tread carefully, follow your heart, follow the white rabbit (oh wait, that was the Matrix) … whatever ... spoilers ahead.

Right off the bat, when I heard there was going to be a new Saw many ideas went through my head about what they were going to do. Was it going to be a total reboot, a soft reboot, were they going to retcon some of the story? Were they going to introduce a long lost family member? I’ll be honest, at one point in the film, Jigsaw refers to his late nephew and in my head I immediately pictured either Jigsaw having an identical twin brother or a sister that we’d never heard of and then we’d have had a female Jigsaw taking over the reigns of the franchise. None of these appealed to me and NO, it’s NOT because I don’t think a woman can be scary, bla bla bla bla. My concern was I didn’t want would I deemed to be a cop out, long lost relative ending. Sarah, my fiancée, had other ideas though, as you can see below…

John Kramer has an identical twin brother who has been jealous of his brother’s successes all those years ago. He felt John’s moral crusade pointless and would rather just kill people he wanted to torture. This brother first made an appearance in Saw 1 where he was skulking around Jigsaw’s hideout but was caught by Tapp - it was not John Kramer to slashed Tapp’s throat but his evil twin brother. He now has long flowing hair and a curly moustache.

As he proceeds to murder his next victim through torture he plays Cascada’s “”What Hurts the Most” and reveals that he is going to take control of Jigsaw’s legacy and unleash his new name on the world: The Sudoku Killer.

However during this revelation the doors fly open and John Kramer appears, cloak billowing. He announces that he is still alive and not happy about the whole Sudoku game his brother has planned. To his brother’s horror, John reveals that when they were born , there was another brother, so they were actually identical triplets. The third brother was adopted due to financial limitations but John had found him years ago. He had worked with his secret brother to set his vision in motion, but then his brother had cancer and another game was created in which Jigsaw could create a legacy even after death. His brother took John Kramer’s identity and died of cancer, whilst John Kramer lived in the shadows like Batman. It seemed his work had left a lasting impression as his death created more followers to his cause. However his evil brother’s foray into his own murderous games caused Jigsaw to come out of retirement and put an end to his dastardly plans.

Grumpily, Jigsaw reveals that he now has to start his work up again to eradicate all the wrongdoing his brother has done. He admits ta he doesn’t really understand Sudoku puzzles. He leaves his brother in the room to die, while lay his brother twirls his moustache worriedly.

Thank you Sar she is very proud of her theory and it’s one of the many reasons I love her.

So anyway, we didn’t get the secret family member ending, although there is nothing to say this still won’t happen seeing as Logan clearly had help through the film but what we did get was the reveal of another secret apprentice is this is what I have a problem with. Firstly, it just feels lazy because it’s something we’ve seen twice before but also, there has been literally no build to this reveal. With Amanda, she was set up in Saw as a survivor so the revelation of her being an apprentice made some form of sense. With Hoffman, he was introduced in Saw 3, pocketing a piece of evidence and then in Saw 4, placed himself into the game so again, the revelation had a form of surprise but felt natural and given that Jigsaw had access to so many criminal files, it seemed like a natural fit that he would have a cop helping him. Here, they have to effectively screw with the entire lore of the Saw Universe by implying Logan was helping John from the beginning and this is where I have my biggest problem because, as I’ve said, it was the story that kept me coming back to Saw and it was the handling of the series from Saw 1 onwards that made me truly fall in love with said story. When they wrote the first Saw, James Wan and Leigh Whannell had no concept of a larger story of multiple sequels. They were just 2 guys trying to crack into the movie business. With the success of Saw, Saw 2 was immediately green lit and to get a jump on the production, they adapted a script from Darren Lynn Bousman with Leigh (and Tobin) adding in the Saw story. Saw 3 was green lit even before Saw 2 was released and with the release of Saw 3, the studio announced a Saw 4,5 and 6. This allowed the storytellers to plan their story long term and to sprinkle in teases that would build through the (as I originally called it) Hoffman trilogy with everything due to culminate in Saw 6. The backstory of John Kramer and his death and rebirth into Jigsaw is told through Saw 2 thorugh 6 and makes sense in the context of these films.

People have often asked why I love Saw 6 so much and it is for this very reason. Saw 6 pays off many of the long term threads that had been teased since Saw 3. This long term planning of these films allowed the film makers to take their time with the integration of Hoffman into the world. He was shown briefly in Saw 3, he is revealed in Saw 4 as the apprentice, Saw 5 then allows us to see the meeting of Jigsaw and Hoffman and Saw 6 is the ultimate fan reward as we see Jigsaw, Amanda and Hoffman all share the screen together. While this is undoubtedly fan service, it makes sense in the context of the story because now we, as an audience, have accepted Hoffman working with Jigsaw, it would be more than logical, given his physical size, strength and position within the police force, that he would have worked with and assisted both Jigsaw and Amanda. If the scene between Jigsaw, Amanda and Hoffman had been shown in Saw 4 it wouldn’t have had half the impact nor would it have meant as much because it would have felt like a complete shoe in with the creators dancing around with a board saying “Look Hoffman was involved”. By taking the time to establish Hoffman and his relationship with Jigsaw, we see the contrast between himself and Amanda. The Jigsaw/Amanda relationship was very much like a father and daughter, The Jigsaw/Hoffman relationship is very much built on business with Hoffman clearly suppressing his true inner psychopath until after Jigsaw has passed. With Jigsaw they basically fast track Logan into the series as a secret apprentice and immediately show him working alongside Jigsaw which ultimately hurts the story as it has been established since the original Saw. Now they do try to cover themselves by claiming Logan was a prisoner of war for 10 years but Logan also says Jigsaw gave him purpose after the war, so I’m at a loss here as to whether Logan (in this new series) was absent during the original series of events (as a POW) or if he was present because if he was, where the hell was he because the original series has covered the time line from John Kramer, budding father, to cancer patient, attempted suicide, rebirth as Jigsaw, his start as Jigsaw, every single game played during that series from Cecil trap right up to Saw 3D trap, from his death right up to Hoffmans imprisonment in the bathroom and it handled this about as perfectly as could be expected given how insane the timeline can seem.

Now Saw 6 WAS supposed to the culmination of all of these hanging story threads. It was supposed to end with Hoffmans death and close off the franchise but between Saw 5 and 6, the studio decided they wanted 2 more Saw films. This resulted in Hoffman (thankfully because he was now awesome) being spared but when Saw 6 was released it found itself at number 2 at the box office because of the first Paranormal Activity. In a panic, the studio cancelled Saw 8 and Saw 3D became a combination of an attempted Saw 7 and 8 story and was marketed as the Final Chapter which is one of the reasons it is such a convoluted mess. As I said, Saw 6 was due to close off many questions, which it did, with the major remaining question (the fate of Dr Gordon) still being up in the air due to the ongoing lawsuit between Elwes and the studio. During 5 (to my knowledge) the lawsuit between Cary Elwes  and the studio was settled and this allowed the series to bring Cary back to answer the series final question and it really WAS the series final question because Saw 6 had managed to wrap up pretty much everything. Fans went into 7 wondering what had happened to Dr. Gordon and hoping (because let’s face it, we were ALL on Hoffmans side here) Hoffman would get his revenge against Jill. As I’ve said, I’m not a fan of Saw 3D, although I loved the ending reveal that Gordon had been assisting Jigsaw for years, but it ultimately left fans with the biggest bitter pill to swallow in that we were robbed of what we had wanted for years, a movie dedicated to the battle of Hoffman vs Gordon. Face it, Hoffman had been built up as an uber bad ass since Saw V. This was a guy who had broken his own hand and ripped off half his face to escape the bear trap, he was also a man who set up a game involving being taken into a police station in a body bag just to get his hands on Jill Tuck. There was no way in hell he was going to stay in that bathroom. Eric Matthews broke his ankle to escape the shackle, Hoffman would damn near snap his foot off to get out of there.

Jigsaw, as it currently stands, almost seems to remove the entire Hoffman story from the Saw Lore. While Jill Tuck is mentioned, she was shown in Saw 3 so it might not seem as big a departure and when Jigsaw does appear, he is shown to still be wearing his wedding ring. My reason for thinking this is during the half way point of the film when Eleanor takes Logan to her warehouse which houses a number of Jigsaw traps. There’s the chest trap from Saw 3, the glass box trap and gun from Saw 2 and the reverse bear trap from the original Saw. As far as I can see (I may be wrong) there are no traps from the Hoffman series shown in this room. Now this might be the movies attempt to retcon any of the events of Saw 4 through 3D but this still hurts the story established in Saw 1 through 3 and, once again, leaves you questioning, again, what happened to Dr. Gordon. Now granted, what I deem to be the glass box trap from Saw 2 might actually be the water box trap from Saw V and if it is, I’ll be thrilled because it means the Hoffman series is still deemed canon, but it also raises the question as to whether Logan had any form of relationship or interaction with Amanda or Hoffman because, again, lets face it, Hoffman would have ground Logan into dust had they ever crossed paths. The nature of Logans message and whole MO seems to move away from what Jigsaw wanted as it was originally about cherishing your life with Jigsaw targeting people he had deemed to be unworthy of the gift of life. These were people he had either encountered through the clinic his wife worked at or through working with Hoffman and discovering criminals who were abusing the chances they had been gifted. Now, he seems to be speaking for the dead, which isn’t a far cry from what he says to William in Saw 6 “You think it's the living who have ultimate judgement over you, because the dead will have no claim over your soul.” but Logan now seems to have gone full Dexter and seems to be targeting out and out criminals with no real chance of survival. There is also the message of not coming from vengeance and yet, Logan seems to act out his game with vengeance in mind. People could argue about Jigsaw targeting Cecil out of vengeance in Saw 4 but the difference here is once Cecil was in his trap, Jigsaw does not touch him and Cecil has the opportunity to leave after freeing himself. In Jigsaw, after getting his confession, Logan kills Halloran, which is completely against what Jigsaw would want. The elaborate trap in the barn (complete with an electronic Billy with glowing eyes … a first for the series) also clashes with the trap lore because we’re made to believe that the trap in Jigsaw is from 10 years previous and indeed, we see Logan and Jigsaw making the reverse bear trap. The problem here? Saw 4 shows Jigsaw in his workshop, alone, working on his traps and his ideas. He has no one helping him and his first traps were very basic in design and execution. The trap he placed Cecil in was a knife trap, the bathroom trap was 2 people chained to a wall, the razor wire trap, barb wire maze. When exactly does this fit into the time line for Jigsaw to create such an elaborate trap at the start of his career, which Jigsaw leads us to believe was even BEFORE he placed Amanda into the reverse bear trap.

So yes, this is my main problem with Jigsaw. Even if it retcons the Hoffman series from the time line, it still leaves far more questions than it does answers that ultimately hurts the lore as it has been built. Was Logan aware of Amanda, was Amanda aware of Logan?

WHAT HAPPENED TO DR. GORDON...AGAIN!!!!

Now granted, all of these questions may be answered in future sequels as there does seem to be more story to tell so I guess we’ll see. Anyway, this was long and I’ve gone on for long enough and if you’ve reached the end of this then you deserve a cookie so go and grab one.

Night all.

[blake-moran-madam-secretary-blog]

Small Fanfic for Guggi

Hey! I wrote this at like 2:30am and it’s about our Oc’s! Hope you enjoy! @guggi04 This is only the first couple of pages

Elizabeth walked into the grand foyer, her skirts swishing around her ankles with every step she took, of the home she shared with her husband Victor Andrew, she as looked for her young daughter Rose. Maids bustled around them, fulfilling their duties. Elizabeth smiled and exchanged greetings before she went back to the task at hand. Rose had run off while she was playing Hide and Seek.

“Rose Stephanie Andrews, where you are?” Elizabeth asked softly, a joking tone in her voice even though she used Rose’s full name. A smirk was sketched onto Elizabeth’s face as she heard  a giggle from behind one of the black velvet chair that Victor put in the foyer for guests that come over. Elizabeth walked over and looked behind one of the chairs, the smiling face of her daughter looking up at her.

“Found you” Elizabeth giggled as she reached down and picked Rose up and rested her on her hip. Rose giggled as she covered her face with her hands.

“How about we go see Papa in his office?” Elizabeth asked and Rose nodded, grinning.

“I want to see Papa!” Rose nodded and clapped.

“Very well! We shall go and see Papa!” Elizabeth smirked as she hoisted her skirts up with her free hand as she began to climb the staircase that lead up the high floors of their house. After walking for what felt like forever, they reached the 3rd floor where Victor’s office was. Elizabeth made sure that Rose was still comfortable against her hip before she walked over to the large oak that opened to reveal Victor’s office. Elizabeth knocked on the door and quietly heard a soft

“Come in”

From the other side of the door. Elizabeth opened the door and stepped inside, bending don as she put Rose back onto the ground. Elizabeth looked up and smiled at her husband as he sat at his desk, scribbling notes down onto a blueprint of the latest ship he was designing.

Victor was a man that Elizabeth had met while she was going through a hard time. Victor had arrived in the small village from Ireland and instantly changed Elizabeth’s life. Victor was 6’2 (Quite tall compared to Elizabeth’s height of 5’1), had slightly thin lips, his hair was a dark grey with a lighter grey coming through at the roots, his fringe has a slight wave to it, his dark brown eyes were warm, comforting and inviting and he had small laugh lines at the side of his eyes. Victor was 30 while Liz was 22,while Rose had only recently turned 4.

Rose had been born when Liz was 19 and while Liz and Victor had become close after they met, they only got closer after Rose was born. Within months of courting, Victor had proposed to her and Elizabeth said yes, a huge grin on her face and they moved into the grand house not long after the proposal. They were married 2 months after.

“Papa!” Rose called as she ran around the desk to reach Victor. Victor looked up from his work, a smile instantly on his face.

“Ah Rose!” He bent down and picked the young girl up before standing to his full height, before sitting down and resting the girl on his knees so she could have a better view on the desk. Rose’s eyes widened as she saw the blueprints and the countless scribbles. Elizabeth stood up and dusted off her dark green skirt and white blouse as she walked over to where Victor and Rose were sitting.

“Hello Victor” Elizabeth bent down slightly as she reached her husband and kissed his cheek, a loving grin plastered on her face.

“Hello darling” Victor smiled, appreciating the kiss. Elizabeth couldn’t help but blush when he called her darling. Everything he said sounded wonderful with his accent.

“Rose wanted to come see you” Elizabeth explained as she pulled a chair up beside her husband and sat down.

“I was hoping to see my princess and my beautiful Queen at some point today” Victor smiled as he bounced Rose on his knee, emitting a giggle from the young girl.

“Well you could of come down to see us instead of being holed up in your office all day” Elizabeth joked slightly as she looked over to the blueprint plans, brushing a stray lock of curly hair out of her face.

“I was hoping to but I’ve had a lot of work to do” Victor motioned to the plans on his table.

“Are you designing another ship already?” Elizabeth asked as her eyes scanned over the paper.

“Oh Aye!” Victor’s eyes lit up when his wife mentioned the ship. Elizabeth noticed that victor’s eyes always lit up when he was talking about the boats he was designing.  “My boss imagined a boat so grand in scale and so luxurious in its appointments, that its supremacy would ever be challenged and here she’ll be” Victor lightly hit the table with his hands “Willed into solid reality. Also the boat will be steam powered! The first of its kind!”  

“Victor! T..That’s amazing!” Elizabeth grinned. A boat powered by steam. How was that even possible?

“Daddy building another ship?” Rose asked, suppressing a yawn.

“Aye, that’s right Princess. Daddy’s building another ship and do you know what it’ll be called?”

Rose shook her head, looking up at her father with wide, curious eyes.

“It’ll be named the Rose Andrews” Victor grinned.

Rose’s eyes widened and she looked at her father.

“Like me!” She grinned.

“That’s because it’s named after you sweetie” Victor chuckled as Rose’s eyes got wider and so did her grin as she clapped.

“A ship named after me Daddy?”

“Of course! This ship will travel all over the world and you deserve the world”

Elizabeth had a soft smile adorning her features as she rolled her eyes at her husband. He always spoilt Rose but was careful not to over spoil her at such a young age. Rose’s excitement was cut short as she yawned once more, her eyes having trouble to stay open.

Elizabeth walked over to the door and opening it, seeing one of the maids walking towards her.

“Oh Louise! If you aren’t too busy, would you mind putting Rose down for a nap?”

Louise nodded as she followed Elizabeth into Victor’s office.

“Of course Mrs. Andrews”

Elizabeth gave the young maid a soft motherly smile and the young maid couldn’t help but smile back as she picked the youngest Andrews family member off her father’s lap, leaving the two on their own.

Victor took his wife’s hand and lead her over to the couch that sat in front of the large windows. Elizabeth could see the view as she sat down. The river was running smooth as the sun shone dwn on the water and shined upon the hills. Elizabeth always thought it was quite fitting where they lived, right next to the river, considering her husband’s job.

“Darling, you surely know that once the ship is built, it’ll have to go through multiple sea trials to make sure it’s safe for passengers and then it’ll be disembarking on it’s maiden voyage and it’ll make the headlines, I bet you. It does also mean that I’ll be away for long periods o’ time  and I can’t sure sure when I’d be back for certain.”

Elizabeth nodded as she listened to her husband. She knew what it meant being married to a ship designer/master builder and though she’d never stop him from following his dreams, it hurt when he left as Elizabeth and rose missed him dearly. Rose still didn’t know why her daddy had to leave for long period of times and Elizabeth found it hard to explain to her daughter when Rose was crying. Seeing her daughter upset was the worst thing for Elizabeth as she only wished to see Rose happy.

“But for this time, I want you to come with me, and Rose will be joining of course” Victor grinned as Elizabeth looked up, her eyes full of excitement.

“Are you sure Victor?” Elizabeth asked, not fully believing what victor was telling her. Elizabeth had grown up in a village, living in a small cottage living with her adoptive parents Tom and Dick and her adoptive brother Stanley while visiting her biological parents, Madam De Garderobe and Maestro Cadenza, at the castle and now she was living in a grand house with her husband and daughter and soon she was going to travel on the grandest ship in the world that would surely make headlines, seeing as it was the first boat of its king due to it’s scale and the fact that is was the first steam powered boat. The 1730’s seemed like a year of progress indeed.

“I want you and Rose to accompany me on the ship. I want my wife and my daughter to travel in luxury and also I’m not sure I could stay away from you for much longer” Victor admitted sheepishly before the two gently kissed. Every time was like the first as cliché as it sounds. There were always sparks.

Once they pulled apart, Elizabeth cupped Victor’s face in her hands, resting their foreheads together as the two lovers shared a loving smile.

“How I ever told you how lucky I was when I ran into by accident the night we meet?” Elizabeth asked softly.

“You might o’ mentioned it once or twice” Victor joked, smirking softly. “but I never tire of hearing it”

“You, Victor Andrews,are the most amazingly, astounding, wonderful man that I’ve ever known. I’m not an idiot, I know how the world works. I used to have ten francs in my pocket, I had nothing to offer you and I knew that but I became too involved and I’m glad that I was able to become your wife.You have blessed my life in so many ways in a way that word’s describe but I know how people will views you as you are on the grandest ship in the world, with a village girl as your wife. They won’t be favourable of it and won’t see our marriage the way..the way we see it.”

“You think I care about that Elizabeth? All I care about is that my daughter and my wife, who I love so much to the extent of the universe and back, to accompany me on this trip of a lifetime. You never know, we could possibly start a new life there..Doesn’t that sound wonderful, my love?”

[iamacolor]

yousana secret santa again! wow, that light exhibition sounds lovely!! I'm sure you had a great time. so a little q/a, I'm good with fanvideos or fanfics, is there any preference for one or the other for you? also do you like soft songs or something a bit high tempo? and lastly, totally unrelated but I see you watch kdramas from your blog, so many of my friends have been wanting me to watch them, which one would you recommend?

hello dear secret santa, hope you’re doing well!!!

oh I very very rarely watch fanvideos (i don’t really know why tbh? I have friends who’ve made some and I’ve loved them, I think it’s just that I’ve never really searched for it) but I do read fanfiction and I think I prefer reading about scenes/moments/dialogue that can’t be found in canon

that song question is very tricky because although I listen to a lot of soft songs, I’ve recently come to enjoy different styles so I think it depends why I’m listening to music for (in the street, while working on writing or on designing, while reading, just listening..) - not a very clear answer I’m sorry!

oooh nice question!!! i’ve started watching kdramas less than a year ago now so I’ve mainly watched shows that came out a few years ago and few that came out this year, I only followed one in real time but that means all the ones I recommend are easily found online with english subtitles!

recommendations are quite tricky because I’ve watched some very different genres so I guess it also kind of depends on what you like? but still here are some of the ones I’ve enjoyed the most/that touched me the most (oh there’s always a love story more or less important to the plot):

- just between lovers (quite sad because it deals with a lot of trauma and survivor’s guilt but in a way I found very respectful and not too “drama and tragedy for the sake of it” and the dynamic between the two leads was really good! despite the pain the characters go through you finish it feeling soft)

- catch the ghost (not the best plot and pacing for a crime show let’s be honest but the characters and their dynamics were so great and made up for it!! I loooved the two leads so much each individually as well as their pairing - my blog’s been full of them lately lol there’s so much care and understanding between them and aslo the show can be really really funny)

- her private life (a very, very, very nice rom-com, just enough tropes and new twists on fake dating and hidden identities, well crafted-well written-complex main characters!! I coul’ve done without a few stuffs but overall it was a really great and sweet show -without being too sweet!)

- 100 days my prince (the only historical drama I’ve watched so far and I like the balance between the romance and the political/court plot, one of the lead has amnesia for a long part of the show which can be a tricky subject but I thought the show dealt with it well and the use of tropes (romantic or dramatic) didn’t bother me as I liked the characters)

- Weightlifting fairy kim bok-joo (the first one I watch so it’s special to me, it’s a very nice and soft one even if it’s not always super happy, but it has a great “ennemy-quickly friends-to-lovers” relationship and great representation of friendship and what it’s like to go through college)

- fight for my way ( this one has a great childhood-friends-to-lovers relationship without it being the center of development for the characters as I felt it mostly dealt with young adults trying to figure out how to live out their dreams and to make choices for their lives and career in today’s world)

- miss hammurabi (didn’t really think I would like this one at first as it’s set in court, it’s set in a group of judges dealing with civil cases when a new young female judge full of empathy and desire to change things start working there, the issues that they dealt with in their cases and the debate over the ethics of their work were super interesting and touching and felt very contemporary, the intrigue of the court behind-the-scenes and the power of the hierarchy were sometimes shocking but very well discussed and if I remember well it was written by an ex-judge, the romance is quite low-key in this one but the relationship between the different judges and the court personnel is very rich and I was touched by a lot of cases they dealt with. The only thing I’m uncomfortable with in this drama, is that in the 1st episode when trying to prove a point about how women should not be criticized for what they wear the lead female character wears a burqa and one of the judges get overly scared of her but it’s never dealt with)

- healer (from what I understand it’s a classic even if it’s not really old but it’s got everything!!! great heros, some good, some more morally grays but all well written and touching and going through a learning/self-discovery curve, great balance of the plot between action-journalistic investigation-romance-team building, there are a lot of flashbacks as it often deals with the outcome of the actions of a group of people in the 80′s and there are great relationships developped over the generations and between characters that can seem too different but work well together, i really liked the main pairing!! and the main team was really great)

- my id is gangnam beauty (the synopsis intrigued me as it tells the story of a young girl starting university after having a full facial surgery, she still has issues with her self-esteem and how she views herself and when she enters college thinking no one will recognize her, a boy does. It deals with some serious themes over the expectations put on women to look a certain way and the behaviour they adopt because of it while also dealing with a first love experience (really like the pairing and the way the relationship developed) and getting into college)

- one spring night (it’s one that felt very “grown-up” to me without being too heavy, the story can seem quite simple - a woman who already has a boyfriend that she doesn’t really get along with anymore and whom she doesn’t plan on marrying meets ayoung pharmacist who is a single father. From there the relationship is explored in a very delicate way even if they face many obstacles from the “ex”-boyfriend and the family - just wanted to slap them sometimes- and I loved the production and the directing, the characters aren’t tropes)

- age of youth (i’ve only watched the first season -it’s evry rare that kdramas have more than 1- and I loved it but the second season changed the casting for one of the main character and it put me off since she’s the one who starts the story- it’s about 5 girls living in a shared house in seoul -most of them are college students and they all have very different lives and issues to deal with but a certain camaradery and care is built between them as they live together and support each other, it’s got a bit of everything and none of the girls felt like tropes of clichés to me and all were very interesting)

- coffee prince (this one is a real classic from the 2000′s and it deals with the story of a young woman who pretends to be a man for her job, problem is her boss and her develop a very special connection and she doesn’t want to reveal she’s a woman while he questions himself, it’s also about how they work togetehr and with a team to create a new coffee place and the bond between the team members and how their relationship affects that - it’s very well acted and despite the touchy subject it never feels like it’s too much, it’s always very touching and it’s very angsty!)

- father is strange (this one is a loooong one, most kdramas last 16 episodes, this ones has 52 I think? I definitely didn’t bing that one but I highly recommend it. It’s a great story about family - both blood family, living with your relatives and growing up to see your parents as people and not just your heroes and found family, what makes a family? a young actor goes looking for his father and the man he finds has a family and 4 grown children - one of his daughter being the actor’s assistant- he starts living in with them only he doesn’t know the man isn’t actually his father. You follow the story of each daughter and the actor as well as the parents dilemmas over revealing their identity or taking care of the actor. Each relationship is well crafted and goes through highs-and-lows - there’s one very annoying couple, the in-laws of one of the daughter- and despite the lenght I never felt bored because each character was well taken care of and well written)

I can’t make short lists and short presentations I’m sorry, I tried in the beginning but kind of gave up by the end! I hope you’ve found something to watch in these recommendations, if you want more infos on some of these shows or want to know about the others I’ve watched (I might’ve forgotten a good one that I liked and that would fit you more) don’t hesitate to ask! and if you start watching one of these, please let me know what you think!!