#point blanc spoilers

[thesamestarlight]

reading the alex rider series for the first time thanks to things that bleed (@thingsthatbleedfic) and. well. spoilers for point blanc below.

things alex rider and danny fenton have in common:

yo, they were just fourteen

secret identity

DISSECTION?????

[morkaischosen]

here is a hill I have chosen to die on:

every time you talk about Benoit Blanc solving a case in five minutes, you’re doing a grave and inexcusable insult to the man’s sense of drama and willingness to appreciate a mystery’s full breadth, and I will demand satisfaction.

[llamasofchaos]

Kyra being so devastated by the thought of losing Alex made both sad and happy. Because Alex was her first friend, he was the first person to give a crap about her no matter the trouble she brought.

Everyone else looked at her and saw a troublemaker who did care about anything. Alex looked at her and saw this scared angry girl who he empathized with, he didn't look down on her for not understanding friendship or anything else that came so naturally to him he simply explained things because she didn't know.

[ninadove]

We are sooo getting Chat Blanc back next season.

[familyagrestefanblog]

Never will a day pass where I will not look into the distance for good 5 seconds, remembering that Félix somehow knew in "Emotion" that Adrien could be snapped back into existence without both of his amok rings being around.

The episode went out of its way to make clear we know that both Félix himself and Kagami have their objects on them while Gabriel and Nathalie are wearing Adrien's, but somehow Adrien was still perfectly able to live on without them once Gabriel and Nathalie were gone. For Félix and Kagami the episode seemingly deemed it crucial for them to have theirs but for Adrien the same rule apparently doesn't apply.

This one is not letting me go because it's the second time this has happened now. First time was in "Chat Blanc" which is generally used as an argument to debunk the Senti-Adrien theory. I personally was always willing to give "Chat Blanc" a pass in good faith regarding this because it's such a packed episode - especially for the flashbacks - so who knows what scenes ended up on the cutting room floor that would have maybe shown the whereabouts of Emilie's ring? It was beyond questionable but I was willing to work around that.

But apparently one doesn't need to work around it because "Emotion" created such a specific situation to reinforce the very same circumstances of Adrien being able to live without his amok rings and showing us that Adrien as a Sentihuman is different from Félix and Kagami in more ways than just him having two amok objects. All the while Félix is apparently VERY aware of that while executing his plan to free Adrien from his father.

The one time in "Chat Blanc" can be an accident, but the second time in ""Emotion" is too detailed and explicit of an reinforcement to write off as another screw-up.

[sidecharactersdomatter]

No, Miles Bron the famous Tech Billionaire from NY does not use Grammarly.

[jonathankai]

Today on This Show Has Been Going For So Long And It Has Changed So Much: tumblr just showed me my own post back from 2018 where I tried to theorize about possible outcomes for Gabriel and one of the variants was "Hawkmoth's identity is revealed, but he repents and stops using his Miraculous in harmful ways". And I actually decided this outcome is more likely, because "the show is cheerful and lighthearted". Huh.

We really went from "baby" version to "welcome to the harsh adult world" version, didn't we?

[wileycap]

Go see the new Dungeons and Dragons movie. Just run. Don't finish reading this post.

That was SO REFRESHING. GOD.

Some minor spoilers ahead, but frankly nothing that would spoil your enjoyment of the plot:

A man and a woman who are friends and co-parents, who don't constantly belittle and snark at each other and who aren't falling in love? Mwah! Fucking finally. A genuine friendship where they BOTH respect each other! FUCKING WHEN IS THE LAST TIME

And the humor doesn't get in the way of the characters! It's funny, but in a funny-for-real way, not in a research-shows-1-joke-per-48-seconds-is-optimal way.

Like: the barbarian woman goes to visit her halfling ex. Oh boy, here we go, right? WRONG. They have a mature, respectful, heartfelt and open conversation about where their relationship went wrong, and wish each other well.

Afterwards, the barbarian walks out to the bard, who gives her a Look. Oh boy, THIS is it. This is where the dumb jokes happen. WRONG AGAIN. The bard sees that his friend is clearly hurting, and just starts singing Their Song until she joins in. Like. An actual friendship moment. No jokes. It's cheesy but in the way that actual people are cheesy.

It doesn't depend on you being some ultranerd for DnD, either: it's not like Marvel's obsession with pointing out that yes, Steve the Intern WAS forced at gunpoint to comb through the entire run of Waffle Ass Man from the 80s in order to find you a Reference. It's just place names and some tropes that all stand on their own while showing that yes, they are adapting DnD and they are earnest about it. (I've played like 3 times, I didn't know shit going in.)

Earnest is actually a great word. The whole movie feels so earnest.

Fucking finally, a fun adventure movie. I could watch like 20 of these. Just give me, in alternating years, one Benoit Blanc mystery and one DnD movie, and I'll be happy.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

sugar sugar rune x twst au word salad

“The heart is yours to take, but you must not allow yours to be taken.”

The concept of this AU borrows a lot of ideas from the animanga Sugar Sugar Rune! ^^ It’s an older shojo series that I always think of when Halloween season arrives. Sugar Sugar Rune is about two years witches who are best friends, Chocolat and Vanilla, who compete to capture the most hearts in the human world. Whoever is victorious will become queen of the Magical World—but with love comes danger. If their own hearts get stolen, then they can lose their lives.

I should add, I currently don’t intend to write a fic based on this, I just wanted to braindump my ideas out and speculate on how this AU would work.

And now, without further ado…!

I think a good place to start is to explain the key points about the world and other relevant lore! Then we will get into the characters. (No story spoilers though, this AU won’t follow the original plot of Sugar Sugar Rune to a T!)

So the Magical World of Sugar Sugar Rune is where all magical creatures, including witches and wizards, reside. In the Magical World, ecure (or hearts), crystallized emotions, serve as an energy source and currency. Mages must frequently venture into the Human World in order to "harvest "pick up"/harvest ecure since humans have the unique ability to regenerate their hearts even when already stolen. Contrasting humans, mages only have one heart. That means if a mage's heart is taken, they will surely die. When mages fall in love with one another, they exchange their hearts during their wedding vows. They have to be careful who they fall in love with, as they can literally "die of a broken heart" if their partner betrays them. It's ill-advised for a mage to fall in love with a human, as while humans lack the ability to "pick up" hearts, a mage has to voluntarily hand their heart over if they reach a certain point (the color red)

Speaking of red!! Ecure/hearts can come in various colors depending on the emotion associated with it. Each color (and thus emotion) is associated with a different value, which roughly aligns with the value of the Japanese yen. The values are, as follows:

Yellow or Jaune - surprise, fear (5 ecure)

Orange - love at first sight, crush, infatuation (300 ecure)

Green or Vert - friendship (350 ecure)

Rainbow - happiness, delight, amusement (500 ecure)

Pink or Rose - the beginning stages of love, sweet love (1000 ecure)

Purple or Violet - lust, forbidden love (2500 ecure)

Blue or Bleu - respect (3000 ecure)

Red or Rouge - passionate love (5000 ecure)

Black or Noir - hatred, jealousy (no known value, hurts mages) I think this works really well with the concept of Blot in Twst—

White or Blanc - innocence (no known value, purified black heart; has restorative or healing properties)

Besides serving as energy and currency, ecure are also a way of counting points for Queen Candidacy. In the Magical World, the ruler is determined not by birth by through a competition in which candidates compete to see who can collect the most ecure (I believe over the span of a year). In the original Sugar Sugar Rune, the two candidates are Vanilla and Chocolat. The former is shy, sweet, and sort of a crybaby, with her mother being the current queen. Chocolat is the daughter of the queen's former competitor and comes off as more of a brash tomboy.

So what I'm proposing for the Sugar Sugar Rune x Twst AU is :DD basically keep all the lore but replace the two protags with MALLEUS (as Vanilla) AND LEONA (as Chocolat). They won’t be besties like the original MCs were, but more like traditional rivals because it would be funny lmao

Malleus is the more regal and composed of the two (he is literally a crown prince), so he has that obvious parallel with Vanilla. Not only that, but he's more withdrawn and has deep insecurities about being alone (also similar to Vanilla). I think his reputation could play well into the AU as well; in the Magical World, everyone fears him so he’s used to being alone—but in the Human World, he’s beloved for being awkward and mysterious (reflecting the international Twst fandom’s adoration for the guy). Malleus would feel obligated to win to carry on his family’s legacy but also because he feels like if he doesn’t, he has nothing left. No friends, no people to keep at his side—but if he has the status of King, then he’ll have a whole nation looking to him. Since his mom is uh… “with the stars”, the current Magical World queen could be his grandmother, and Malleus may feel like he has that legacy to live up to.

Leona, like Chocolat, is the underdog. What he lacks in status (as crown prince) he makes up for in intelligence and charisma, which nets him many followers in the Magical World. He comes off as tough and hard to approach to humans who aren’t used to his demanding attitude though, so it puts him at a disadvantage in the competition. He’s very much the “bad boy” similar to how Chocolat wasn’t a traditionally girly girl, but it’s ultimately the heart of gold buried underneath his hard edges that will eventually put him toe-to-toe with Malleus. I think Leona’s reasoning for wanting to be King would be similar to what he expresses in his original source material—to prove himself worthy, regardless of the family or order he was born in. Maybe he was almost not considered to be a candidate at all and his brother Falena was supposed to compete? Or alternatively, Falena is Malleus’s real competitor but Leona snuck into the Human World as an upstart/self-imposed third entry 😂

Chocolat and Vanilla have a mentor mage in the Human World named Robin (who is a famous rock star fjsvwisnksks). He’s the one who explains things to them and serves as their guardian figure while they room together and study at a human school for the Queen Candidacy.

What I’m thinking is that Leona and Malleus will venture into the Human World under the guidance of… Crowley 🤡 LISTEN, IT WOULD BE FUNNY Crowley does a lot of the exposition in Twst, so he could reprise that role here. He is also vain and thinks highly of himself (but ultimately cherishes his students) like Robin. Picture Crowley having to mediate between Leona and Malleus fighting every second of the day while living together—

That’s honestly all we need to replace to get the AU rolling. If we want to, we could expand the Queen (King now I guess) Candidacy to have more candidates. Then maybe the other Twst characters could also participate but the story could still center on Malleus and Leona as the two to “keep an eye on”/audience favorites.

I don’t really know where I’m going with this 🤔 but I do think this could be a fun AU for like. Yume/self insert scenarios so you can angst about whether your feelings are real or fabricated so [insert mage of choice here] can harvest ya like a plant… Or angst about not being able to be with [insert mage of choice here] because they might literally perish… Many possibilities!

[giantkillerjack]

Exactly! 😁 Neither did I, and I'm guessing this is the case for most viewers! [autistic film theory infodump in 3... 2... 1...]

I think this was by design!

The joke only actually works as a joke on a second viewing at the very least, because if we haven't seen the whole film yet, then we aren't on the lookout for all the little ways this movie is winking and nodding at us throughout!

On the first watch, we are meant to assume that Miles designed the boxes. And so him saying that the boxes must have been reset also functions as a confirmation to the audience that the boxes even can be reset.

It is until later that we realize miles is basically always making confident statements based on next-to no meaningful knowledge of the things he's taking credit for!

So this moment goes from a clever misdirect on a first viewing to a clever confirmation of how shallow miles is in future viewings! Miles probably never even saw those boxes; he doesn't know if they can be reset! He is an empty fool cosplaying as a master of puzzles!

But since it has yet to be revealed that all of his statements are empty, YOU were actually correct to look for meaning in them! As was I!

We were directed to reach the most logical conclusion, which is exactly the same mistake made by brilliant Detective Benoit Blanc! This helps keep us engaged with the story!

---

Another fun thing related to miles' bullshit being purposely obscured by the film was when Miles talks about the meaning of the Mona Lisa, he basically regurgitates the Wikipedia summary for the Mona Lisa as though it is some intelligent original art criticism he personally thought of (when really it is the same interpretation of the Mona Lisa we all learned in fucking grade school).

But what kills me is that I didn't even notice how obnoxious he was being in that moment (twice! I missed this the first two times I watched it!) because the film spends that entire monologue focused on Helen sharing her own secretive knowing look with the Mona Lisa, thus bringing us the audience closer to understanding what Miles is saying than he EVER will be. (What IS behind her smile? What DOES she see??)

And so! Also! In that moment, the movie is actually providing the fresh, clever take that Miles is pretending he is providing! Imagine! A fresh perspective on the Mona Lisa!! When was the last time THAT happened?!?!

I mean, I never gave a shit about the faded old thing til I saw this movie. I saw it in person at the Louvre. It is a small painting alone in a big crowded room. I went to see it because I had been told it had meaning and I was lucky enough to afford a trip to Europe in college. The personal meaning I took from it was "wow it is not worth being in a room this crowded when you could just look at a replaceable print."

And I'm obsessed with the way this film positions Janelle Monae as the new Mona Lisa: Irreplaceable, living, warm, priceless, real and true - and therefore infinitely more valuable.

I like how it makes that point in many ways, and that one of those ways is by using the very same bullshit that both the Mona Lisa and Helen (wake up boys new Mona Lisa just dropped) seem to see right through. And it's all hidden in plain sight! Which is probably the reason this movie is so eminently rewatchable!

One of the things I love about Glass Onion is the way that the camera and music work together to tell nonverbal jokes.

Like when Benoit basically has to hold Miles' hand to get him to the conclusion that someone reset the puzzle box Benoit lies about receiving:

Benoit asks if it's possible that someone reset the box, and Miles then declares that someone must have reset the box like it is this huge reveal - and the camera zooms out while the music subtly swells as though he really has figured out something smart, when actually he literally restated what Benoit just said.

[thursdayisbetterthanfriday]

Science Fiction as a Reflection on Society - PLUTO & The Cycle of Hate

MAJOR SPOILER WARNING -You can read this before reading PLUTO but it will spoil many major plot points!

In 2015, I picked up a manga volume in a London bookshop called PLUTO. I had a burgeoning interest in AI, and computer science, at the time and had read Naoki Urasawa's manga Monster many years prior. It seemed a perfect read. Little did I know, it would become my favourite manga.

As I read the first volume I realised this wasn't just a simple Astro Boy adaptation. Like many of Urasawa's stories, PLUTO was a layered story which took its source material and asked fundamental questions about its premise.

The more innocent veneer of the Astro Boy world was stripped away, and echoes of the Middle East, of Afganistan, Iraq and Palestine, were transposed into the background of what was on the surface a simple detective story plot. The long memories, and relentless logic, of robots became a means by which conflict could be examined, but also a way to reveal the weaknesses in the non-empathetic nature of robotics and AI.

Instead of a traditional manga and anime trope of beating the strongest villain against the odds, it became a tragic, yet hopeful, story about the long-tail effects of trauma and how our memories of the past, remembered or misremembered, shape our present.

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it

From the 1980s Soviet invasion to the modern day US involvement in the Middle East, the trauma of the conflict had lasting impacts on both the invaded countries, and those who invaded. Talented people, who at peace could have done and produced great things, were reduced to administering corrupt governments, fighting occupying forces and wasting their lives on a fractious peace based on subterfuge and realpolitik.

Robot Mont. Blanc, killed in the opening part of PLUTO acts as the introduction of this theme. A deeply environmentalist robot, who was beloved by mountaineers and children alike, was sent to fight in a war whose values conflicted with his own.

Despite his experiences, he went on to live in his old life - tending to and caring for the Swiss Alps and those who lived within them, but was ultimately killed by a mysterious perpetrator.

This theme is carried through with all the "greatest robots on Earth", who are targeted by PLUTO, and who all are trying to make something of their lives after the end of the conflict, most of whom have managed to shake off the negative experiences of their past - while still being haunted by it.

During the gradual decolonization of the colonial powers of Europe in the Middle East, there existed periods in the Middle East of relative calm and stability. People were able to life affluent, and prosperous lives without the threat of violence and revolution - with collaboration between US, European and USSR workers and those who lived there allowing for the construction of infrastructure and advanced manufacturing facilities.

But what about those who can't deal with their past. What about those who are deeply damaged?

PLUTO - The Greatest Trauma on Earth

MAJOR PLOT SPOILER WARNING

So what is PLUTO? Who is PLUTO? He is nothing more than a robot who loves flowers, created by the Persian scientist Dr Abullah. His love for the plant makes him want to plant flowers across the country, to fill it with beauty and richness. He is someone with hopes, and dreams, to make a beautiful world which can be enjoyed by the people who live there.

At least, that's what he used to be.

As the 39th Central Asian Conflict drags on, Dr Abdullah become bitter and resentful at what has happened to his country. A once proud nation reduced to rubble and ruin. Instead of encouraging his robotic son to plant flowers, he fills his son with a vast hatred against those who have committed violence against his people.

The son who wanted nothing more than to make the world a better place is indoctrinated by his father into a being of pure rage, while fully knowing his previous self. The two sides of his personality ripping and tearing at each other in a self-contradictory nightmare.

Just as PLUTO is turned into a loathing monstrosity by his family, upbringing and situation - so too are those who live, fight and die in conflicts. Both the 2023 murder of innocent Israelis by Hamas, and the subsequent murders of innocent Palestinians by Israel have no doubt radicalised a new generation of martyrs, while their leaders - those meant to be inspiring and running the country in their name - directly encourage mass murder on both sides.

In Afghanistan, the hopes of a democratic society were undermined by a corrupt Western imposed system which broke down into Taliban rule in 2022. Collaborators killed or tortured. Women, once again, forced into roles they had broken out of.

But this cuts both ways.

In Afghanistan, both the Soviet invasion of the 1980s and the US/Coalition invasions of the 2000s led to a surge in Western soliders who came home from war angry, disillusioned and in mental and physical pain. Sometime from IED amputations, sometimes from PTSD and severe mental health issues.

Some survived the war, only to transfer their trauma to others at home or to end their own lives at their own hands. A generation of young military lives lost.

The Politics of Hate

Newton's third law states: Each action has an equal, but opposite, reaction. This often occurs socially.

This is ever present in PLUTO with the Anti-robot league. That robots have any rights at all is anathema to these people, who organise a conspiracy to destroy the social fabric of robots in society through targeted assassinations and hatred.

Through their actions, they aim to convert others to their cause and roll back decades of progress in the world of PLUTO.

This occurs in reality just as readily.

The 9/11, 2001 Twin Towers bombings brought together the American people in sorrow, but they also led to the enabling of war.

It didn't matter that Saudi Arabia had allowed Osama Bin Laden to live, and plan, in their country prior to the attacks. It was Afghanistan and Iraq that were targeted on the most spurious of grounds. This was enabled, in part, by swathes of the public who wanted a form of revenge but was mainly supported by neo-cons in government.

The two sides of the coin in Gaza are Hamas, with their backers, and the hard right Israeli government.

Hope

Despite the past, hope and recovery are still possible. This is what the story of North #2 and retired composer Paul Duncan reveals to us. An early inclusion in the manga, it also reveals some of the lighter themes of the work.

Paul Duncan's memories of his childhood, and his perceived Mother's abandonment of him to boarding school and almost terminal illness have coloured his entire life. When we meet him, he is a bitter old man who has a writer's block, and has taken on the ex-military robot North #2 as his butler.

But as the story reveals, Duncan's memories are coloured by his misconceptions of events. As North #2 learns to play the piano, against Duncan's wishes, he reveals the notes of the song that Duncan has been humming from his sleep - a song Duncan's mother used to sing to him as a child. It turns out that Ducan's mother didn't abandon him for a rich husband, but used that husband's wealth to pay for his expensive life-saving treatment and schooling.

It is only by dealing with the past, working through his trauma, that Duncan is able to heal in the present and move on with his life.

Conflict in Northern Ireland existed until the recent past of the late 1990s. This was against a backdrop of centuries of conflict between British settlers and the Irish natives. The Republic of Ireland was created in 1916 - but several Northern Counties remained in British control.

The period between 1916 and the Good Friday Agreement were filled with terrorist action by the IRA against the British Army and the repression of Catholic Irish people in the form of police/army brutality, gerrymandering, discriminatory hiring practices and in other forms.

This was only resolved through dialogue at the highest level between the British Government and Sinn Fein - the political wing of the IRA. It resulted in a peace process which has lasted decades, and has resulted in a generation who can now live, love and work with each other. This required hard decisions, to put past differences and strong emotional ties behind both sides. The results are extraordinary - and offer hope for any conflict.

Conclusions

The best stories I have read take the author's present experience, and insight, and use fiction as a vehicle to explore their themes and ideas. PLUTO takes the historical context of modern world events, and wraps it in an Astro Boy story which tells a story of how trauma, and hate, perpetuate themselves in cycles which come back to haunt and destroy others.

We can learn a lot from such stories. We should learn from them.

It is easy to continue to hate others, and react against clear provocations. It takes courage, bravery and sacrifice to break the cycle and begin anew - to create a new world. A world that Atom represents. A world with a brighter future.

[thesamestarlight]

ALSO. don’t answer this (/srs), but it’s been two full books now and i’m still confused. what the heck was up with the end of point blanc???? it was SO DRAMATICALLY AMBIGUOUS who walked away from that fight, and at the time, i was like, sure, it’s a cliffhanger to get you to come back. but then there was NO MENTION OF IT EVER AGAIN. i started reading skeleton key, and i kinda thought we’d get some kind of reassurance, from the narrator if nothing else, that that is, in fact, Still Our Guy, and not, you know, a CLONE. but then there was NOTHING? so, like, i guess this really is alex? probably? what happened to the other guy? based on the vibes i’ve been picking up in ttb, i’ve been assuming we’ll circle back around to that at some point, but suddenly those vibes feel A LOT LESS CERTAIN. i don’t think i actually want anyone to tell me one way or another (just in case it does come up later), but it just feels really weird.

[flowersforzoe11]

Alex Rider tv series S1E2 spoilers below

okay one more episode before i go to bed oops:

Alex's dumbass getting hit by a van and kidnapped is so violently in character

THE "POINT BLANC IS WHERE YOU CAN'T MISS ASSHOLE" IS PERFECTIONS

side note, thank god they let Alex actually swear in the tv show (bestest boy has earned it)

also i do love the Alex/Tom dynamics so much. i think Tom is portrayed really well

also Mrs Jones saying "i thought Alex was with you" and the immediate cut to him singing over the torture SOOOO GOOOOOD

female K unit slays. so glad we got to see them (K unit) in some capacity (and the torture scene is so good omg). also i lowkey like this iteration of them better (though i am fully witholding opinions until i see Snakehead Ben Daniels down the line)

AND ALEX ESCAPING??? i will say that the vibes are spot-on so far even tho the plot is a mess

"DID I PASS" alex rider, the boy you are

GIVE ME FAT HAPPY SMITHERS OR GIVE ME DEATH (evil Smithers actually goes crazy?) also i do not like that his name was "Daniels." like excuse me Fox is right there. i'm still very uncertain about the Smithers character ngl

also series Mrs.Jones have so much more agency. big fan big fan

Jones roasting Wolf? love to see it

god the early days Alex/Blunt interactions went so hard

okok i'm going to bed now

[youmakethelight]

Spotlighting the best work on The Book Of Carol

There are a lot of men involved in the spin-off who I am not proud of. But I just want to pay special attention to and highlight some of the people who I think thoroughly deserve our love and so much praise.

- Melissa McBride (Carol)

- Clémence Poésy (Isabelle)

- Anne Charrier (Genet)

- Manish Dayal (Ash)

- Laïka Blanc-Francard (Sylvie)

- Romain Levi (Codron)

- Eriq Ebouaney (Fallou)

- Maria Erwolter (Hanna - one of the women in Greenland in episode 2)

- Minami (Eun - one of the women in Greenland in episode 2)

- Luker'ya Il'yashenko (Anne)

- The actress who plays a new French character in episode 6 (Unfortunately, I haven't found her or her character's name yet, and I can't say the role she plays yet bc that would be a spoiler, but I'll update here when I can.)

- The girl who plays the hallucination of Sophia (I'm sorry I couldn't find her name - if anyone knows, please comment it)*

To me, all of these cast members showcased incredible work, and that's despite working with a lacking and sometimes offensive script. I'm proud of all of them. And to amplify them and their work even more, I might write independent posts for each of them, at some point, about why I think their work was so valuable.

If there's somebody who you think deserves for their work on this show to be especially highlighted, please add them to the comments. If you want to add a comment about why their work was meaningful to you or why you think they deserve for it to be recognised, please, please do.

*Special mention to Madison Lintz, who wasn't in the spin-off, but her performance of Sophia in the flagship will always be iconic.

[ernestinee]

C'est le troisième jour qu'il dort et tousse. Il se réveille pour grignoter ce qui veut bien rentrer dans son estomac et en profiter pour prendre les médicaments qui font passer la fièvre et la toux.

Et moi je prépare des petites assiettes dès les signes de réveil. 1/4 de steak, une pomme en compote, une poignée de macaronis, des salades de fruits, du beurre de cacahuète, des noix, des yaourts... On a acheté des chips pour faire monter sa tension et des bonbons pour blinder ses glucides car il a perdu presque deux kilos depuis mercredi soir.

Je me revois faire pareil il y a 15 ans et quelques mois. Les nuits blanches à scruter les signes de réveil. "Un bébé ne se laisse pas mourir de faim" (spoiler: si, ça arrive) "vous ne savez pas le nourrir, on va devoir le garder". Les journées à cuisiner ce qu'il aime, tester des recettes, des associations, des textures. "On doit le gaver" "Faire des examens supplémentaires".

On n'en n'est plus là, mais les vieux démons ressurgissent. Hier, le médecin a posé des questions d'anamnèse sur son passé d'alimentation. Elle a parlé d'examens supplémentaires. De vérifier les globules blancs. De trouver pourquoi sa tension baisse à ce point.

Des nouvelles peurs s'installent aussi, en particulier sur les tca. Comment lui permettre un développement sain alors qu'il part d'une "anorexie du nourrisson" (dixit pédiatres), comment le rassurer quand il met des semaines à prendre 2kg et quelques jours pour les perdre.

Il est censé rentrer à l'école après-demain, il lui reste 3 semaines de cours avant le blocus et les examens, et il ne tient pas debout plus de 3 minutes.

[ninadove]

Wait hold on, who's Cat Walker? I have not kept up with Miraculous in an incredibly long time but I have heard that 1 person can use more than one miraculous now... is that what this is?

OH RUBY. RUBY MY FRIEND. IT’S YET ANOTHER COMPLICATION OF THE LOVE SQUARE WHICH IS MORE OF A LOVE DODECAHEDRON AT THIS POINT.

As you may remember, Adrien = Chat Noir:

Well, Adrien = Cat Walker, but Chat Noir ≠ Cat Walker. Confusing? HELL YEAH. Let me explain more in depth.

See, in S4, Ladybug is under tremendous stress as the new guardian of the Miracle Box, and very much traumatised by the events of Chat Blanc (a major plot point in itself — let me know if you’d like me to tell you about him too as I’m not sure where you stopped!). As a result, she decides she needs to be less reliant on her one and only partner, and starts entrusting more people with Miraculous (I’m sure this won’t backfire… like at all…)

Now, one thing you probably do remember is that Adrien’s home life sucks (SPOILER ALERT: it does not get better). He clings to Ladybug because she embodies the life he wants: freedom, love, an identity of his own. When she starts pulling away from him, he feels abandoned, and grows more and more resentful. This all comes to a head in Kuro Neko (S4 E23), when Adrien straight up gives up his Miraculous after a particularly tough argument.

Obviously, this makes exactly nothing better: Adrien is miserable without his only escape, Marinette is miserable without her kitty, and Plagg is miserable without his favourite holder. In fact, the Kwami comes up with a brilliant idea: bring Adrien back as the Cat holder… but under a different identity.

See, the hero suits are a physical representation of who the person is and what they want most in the world: by tapping into specific aspect of their personalities, holders can therefore influence their appearance. Cat Walker is the result of Adrien burying everything that makes him Chat Noir in order to become (what he thinks is) the perfect partner for Ladybug: polite, well-groomed, focused on his mission, and of course completely devoid of his usual love for puns.

Spoiler alert, it… does not work. Ladybug’s Lucky Charm refuses to incorporate Cat Walker in the plan, and ultimately, she misses her kitty. The episode ends up with Adrien accepting that both personalities are a part of himself, and fixing some of the damage his relationship with his partner has sustained throughout the season.

BUT NOT EVERYTHING GETS SOLVED. And it all comes to a head in the S4 finale. 🧡🤍🖤