#saemi's opinion

[saemi-the-writer]

Like Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame? Then: Phoebus/Esme, Quasi/Esme, FrEsme please?

Oho, ohohoho? 😃 HERE I GO!!!

Phoebus/Esmeralda

Since it's Disney version we're talking about, HECK YES!! I loved them as a kid and I still love them as an adult. The two work very well together and have an excellent chemistry. I never agreed with the "Phoebus gets the girl only because he's handsome" and I get annoyed each time I hear/read a similar comment (especially when it's from a guy, incel much?).

The second movie did them dirty and a disservice so I'll ignore it because if these two had to face struggles as a married couple, there were more interesting things to work with like Phoebus struggling with PTSD or any sign/reminder that he's a war veteran and needs time to adjust, how would they live, what about their families, etc. That would have made them less bland and not made a fool out of Phoebus or Esmeralda accusing him unfairly of being judgemental when him not being was the whole reason she felt attracted to him to start with!

Quasimodo/Esmeralda

So far, I've only read two fanfics that had a characterization that made them work for me. Otherwise, I see them as platonic soulmates💞 I get why Quasimodo falls for Esmeralda (who doesn't? 😳) but let's not forget she's the first person/woman to show him compassion and to treat him with kindness and respect, and he idealises her, so it's more infatuation than true romantic love. Because yes, I do think and agree that they love each other deeply, just not romantically and that makes it even more touching in my eyes. I believe Quasimodo might find someone that will want to share their life with him as a spouse when he's ready too.

Frollo/Esmeralda

Now, I'm in a "divise subject" territory 😆

I understand why the pairing is popular, but too many fanfictions/art show Esmeralda as resigned and becoming submissive to Frollo's authority and sometimes cruelty for my taste. Sometimes, I feel like Esmeralda serves as a self-insert for some authors (which I don't mean as an insult btw) who are fond of the dominant man/submissive woman dynamic. To each their own, I guess, definitely not mine.

I'd like it a lot more if Esmeralda was the dominant one - and not just because I like femdom or out of spite or anything! Esmeralda is feisty, courageous and wouldn't just bow her head silently in my opinion; plus I am a big fan of the heroine/hero catching the villain off-guard and getting the upper hand (y'know, like they do in most stories but not to win/kill the villain here, see where I am going?) Show me Esmeralda getting things (cough) into her hands and making Frollo kneel!! It's a pairing I have difficulty seeing them have a happy ending without changing the characters quite drastically (not impossible though), so unless it's like canon: the one-sided and tragic end, I see it more as "it's complicated", star-crossed lovers at best or bittersweet, borderline or obviously toxic for the two of them.

[saemi-the-dreamer]

For unpopular opinions: franmaya (Ace Attorney) is an annoyingly overrrated ship and fans willfully ignore the few potentially interesting aspects of it in favor of creating a generic soft, uwu cutesy ship that seems ooc for both characters.

strongly agree | agree | neutral | disagree | strongly disagree

Same Anon, same!! I never really got how it became so popular and while I can see why it can be liked - there is some potential for a good slow burn! - it seems more like they paired up the 2 most popular and same age female characters of the franchise to avoid " GASP! AGE GAP?! No, there it's not problematic! :D " (as if there is nothing that could turn sour between them or make them toxic for each other....)

[chonashpstuff]

@saemi-the-dreamer Comme c'est que des opinions impopulaires sur HP, je mets ça là, tu peux rebloguer sur ton blog si tu veux :)

TW: Harry Potter

Harry est un bon personnage souvent sous-estimé et il a raison d'agir comme il agit dans le tome 5. Bon, il a des problèmes d'écriture, mais well... on peut parler de la saga entière dans ce cas-là.

Deux trucs peuvent (doivent ?) coexister : "Dumbledore est un ignoble bâtard qui manipule tout le monde pour Le Plus Grand Bien, quitte à laisser des gens se faire abuser ou humilier un quart des élèves sans remords, il a beau avoir des idéaux, de fait, il ne fait pas grand-chose pour changer le statu quo, voire il veut le préserver. Et on peut dire plusieurs choses sur son comportement et le fait que la narration est très gentille avec lui. Oh et il est toxique et sa vision de l'amour l'est tout autant (mais ça, c'est plus à mettre du côté de la série dans son ensemble qui a un côté "l'amour est sacrifice/souffrance des fois, et Dumby... voilà. Oh, et c'est un enabler de première." et "Il a de bonnes intentions, il est sincèrement désolé (des fois) pour ce qu'il fait/a fait. C'est un personnage intéressant et complexe qui s'attache aux personnes qu'il va bousiller ou qu'il a déjà bousillé, ce qui lui fait mal. Genre, je suis persuadée qu'il est sincère dans son affection pour Harry et je suis certaine qu'il apprécie sincèrement Severus. Mon headcanon, en fait, c'est qu'il traite Tom comme il aurait voulu traiter Gellert quand il était pas encore à la retraite, Severus comme il aurait voulu traiter young adult!Tom avec le recul, et Harry... comme Harry, mais aussi un petit peu bébé Severus aussi, quelque part. Et il est FUN, tragique et badass."

Speaking of which, Severus n'est pas un incel. Et s'il était amoureux de Lily, ça a dû être réciproque parce que mademoiselle rougit très fort à un moment et s'est bien battue pour le garder, le petit con (nan, mais la peer pressure quoi... justice pour Lily, elle méritait mieux que ces deux crétins). Et ça permet la blague facile de : elle a vraiment des goûts de chiotte en matière de mec. Et ça permet aussi de rendre canon le Sirius - > James vu que c'est son foil narratif.

Si on doit racebender l'un des parents de Harry, ça doit être Lily, pas James. 1. Niveau thématique, ça me parait beaucoup plus cohérent et j'ai cherché et oui, oui, il y a des indiens roux. 2. James est un petit con privilégié pété de thunes qui se croit le plus malin, le plus fort, le plus noble parce qu'il se voit comme un chevalier blanc qui protège les autres des répugnants utilisateurs de la magie noire avant de murir... ça me donne la vibe du mec riche blanc hétéro qui se croit tout permis XD. Et ça me gêne de racebender un perso qui a fait l'équivalent de soulever la jupe de quelqu'un après l'avoir étouffé. Tout en faisant du chantage pour sortir avec la meilleure amie de sa victime. YIKES. 3. ça donnerait un peu d'épaisseur à Pétunia parce qu'on aurait la vibe qu'elle est comme elle est... en partie pour s'intégrer. Et puis, on peut avoir des trucs intéressants entre Dudley qui passe pour blanc parce qu'il a pris de son père vs Harry qui passe beaucoup moins parce qu'il a pris de sa mère. Bon après oui, en l'état, je comprendrais que racebended!Pétunia gêne, mais je suis certaine qu'il y a moyen de faire des trucs cool, ne serait-ce qu'en nuançant et développant bien le perso.

[istadris]

Bowser x Peach? 🤔 I personally don’t like it.

Like I said to Saemi, it's entertaining as a short term piece, a challenge or as part of a bigger polycule (in which case I'll go WILD), but i won't get as invested with that pair as I would with other Mario ships.

One sided Bowser->Peach has a good tragic potential though.

*

Send me a ship and I’ll give you my (brutally) honest opinion on it

[notmoreflippingelves]

If you are still up for the asks, I al curious about: 4, 8, 11, 13, 37, 42, 47 and 48 please 😁

Ace Attorney: 100Q Ask Meme

11. Least favorite trial?

I mean, while I do feel like the circus case gets an unfair rap in this fandom, I did play it somewhat recently and yeah, everyone is kind of insufferable and never shuts up and yeah, it’s reputation is deserved. 

That being said, I may have to give it to the Ramen case in Spirit of Justice. Athena deserves better than to have this be her only case;  her co-counsel also deserves better than to have this be their only appearance in the game; the characters had potential that barely goes anywhere and they deserved better. It also somehow manages the tricky quandry  of being “too localized” for the Western fandom AND somehow “not localized enough.” We could’ve had an authentic cultural insight into Rakugo  OR a localization substitution that made the characters/stories/tropes a bit more accessible to those outside Japan. Instead, we got neither as the localization tried to have it both ways. 

13. Favourite minor character?

Hmmmm...how minor are we talking here? If we are talking, supporting character who has never been “playable” but still appears semi-regularly in multiple games, probably either Larry or Will Powers. 

If we’re talking minor as in “this character was in only in 1 game but had a fairly significant supporting role,” Justine Courtney from AAI 2. 

If we are talking minor as in “this character only appeared in 1-2 cases but may have a crucial role in them,” Lana Skye.

If we’re talking *super* minor like... “1 case max and they can’t be the culprit or defendant,” probably Jake Marshall or maybe the Kitaki parents.

37. Culprit that came as the biggest surprise to you?

As I think I mentioned in one my other asks, I came into this fandom knowing the vast majority of the the “big” spoilers so not too many things surprised me when I first experienced them (since I had some clue of what to expect).

That being said, there was a culprit moment in one of the non-Trilogy games that I hadn’t been expecting and did genuinely surprise me. I’ll try to avoid spoilers here,  (since it’s a game you haven’t played, saemi) but it’s not that the identity of the culprit was surprising in the relevant case itself. Instead, this particular culprit “reappears” later on in the game under circumstances that I wasn’t expecting and possibly (?) in a disguise that I hadn’t clocked before.

42. Unpopular opinion?

Nearly all of my Ace Attorney opinions are unpopular, ooops. That’s what you get when your hipster brain won’t let you stan the popular characters and ship the popular ships. 

I would probably say that my biggest hot take that would probably annoy/confuse the largest and most varied section of the fandom is...

No Ace Attorney Game is without flaws, but all Ace Attorney Games are Good. 

While I do have still have preferences in terms of characters/themes/cases/direction that the series should go in the future, there has been some truly great material that has come out of each and every game (and quite probably, each and every case as well).

The Trilogy  (and AA3 in particular), while undeniably wonderful, is not as “perfect” as some fans seem to think. It does a lot of things well but there are some things that it fumbles with. (No,this is not just about the unstable jar puzzle, but I am not going to pass up an opportunity to complain about the unstable jar puzzle. It’s (*Jean-Ralphio from Parks and Rec voice* ) THE WOOOOOORRRRSSSSTTTT)

 While the Gavins are criminally underwritten and AA4 has some other flaws and inconsistencies, it is still a great game--as a standalone and as the “next chapter” of an ongoing stories with some great new characters and fascinating character development choices. 

While I understand why some people are frustrated with the “soft reset” that AA5-6 brought (focus shifting back on Phoenix at Apollo’s expense; new characters getting the spotlight instead of those introduced in AJ; some popular Trilogy characters coming back but not necessarily being used in great ways while others are still m.i.a. ), there are still some great stories  being told--even if the aren’t the ones people expected or wanted. While the designs are different, they are still fun, quirky, and appealing. Takeshi Yamazaki’s  stories may be less nuanced than Shu Takumi’s and possibly a bit too far-fetched for some. But they still pack a very powerful emotional punch  (I have a lot of feelings and I like feeling things, and his stories and characters make me feel things--even more so than Shu Takumi’s. Also like there’s so much THEME stuff which is like catnip for my literature student brain). 

The Layton crossover and Investigations Games are a definite departure from the main series in terms of gameplay mechanics, but once you get used to it, they are really unique and enjoyable. Plus, the stories are some of the most unique and creative. (Remember what I said about AA5-6 and THEMES, that goes double for these 3 games. So much visually striking  aesthetic. So many narrative echoes and continuities and parallels. So much enrichment for my English-major enclosure.) 

I mean DGS is also great, but I feel like that’s sort of the one part that most of the fandom agrees on so I don’t really need to go into here. Also I still have to finish 2, so I should probably wait to discuss it.

But yeah. TLDR; all Ace Attorney games are great even if none of them is 100% perfect. Don’t believe the fandom when they tell you that “[insert AA game here] completely ruined AA with a sledgehammer.” Or “No one really likes [insert AA-game here.]”  Because it me; I am that “no one.”

47. Character you thought you would like but disliked in the end?

Fandom made me sour on Ziska, Ema, and Apollo for a little while--though talking to nice and normal people have revived a lot of my love for them. I’ve already talked a bit about my lukewarm feelings for Maya but as she’s not really my “type,” I am not sure if I was ever really expecting to love her. 

I guess Ema is probably the closest. I significantly prefer her “younger self” in RFTA and the Investigation games to her older self in AJ and SOJ. And not gonna lie, I kind of associate her character with some of the more toxic corners of the fandom, as she is a favorite with  aatwt “anti” circles.  And I haven’t had as much of a “revival” of affection for her by talking about her with more sane corners of the fandom--as I have had for Ziska and Apollo.

48. Random fact people tend to forget that you wanna remind us of?

Psyche-locks are a canonical indication that the “locked” statement is untrue. Black Psyche-locks in particular refer to a secret that a person is keeping even from themselves and that is linked to a feeling of despair. The linguistic roots of “despair” are literally “without hope” and also have a strong sorrowful connotation.

When Kristoph Gavin says his motives as  simply that he is “an evil person” and black psychelocks spring up, canon is telling us that 1) the statement  “Kristoph is  just an evil person” is untrue  and 2)  Kristoph’s motivations (which he may not be consciously aware of himself) are rooted in feelings of sorrow and perceived helplessness. 

This means that, Kristoph Gavin is not just “evul for the sake of being evil and loving it” as fanon likes to think. 

Shu Takumi himself pointed Kristoph out to us  and all-but-said “ this is a Sad Boy.  He feels frightened and alone and lost. I can’t tell you his tragic backstory because capcom said it made the game too long and complex, but just know that he has feelings.” 

[kim-lexie]

extra-ordinary you.

extra-ordinary you, also known as haru found by chance, is seriously a drama in a league all its own. it follows eun danoh, as our lead; however, she comes to find that she isn’t the lead in the story that she is living in but rather an extra character in the comic ‘secret’. it follows her desiring her own story and the ability to make her own fate which leads her to haru, the boy that can change her day. it has romance, easy-going-light-hearted scenes, as well as heartfelt moments that alter the course of our characters. there were lots and lots of tears, and dynamic character development. 

also i must say do not be deterred by the fact that it takes place in a high school, this is no high school drama (thank you lee jae-wook, my original reason for watching this drama). rather it acknowledges the cringe and nonsense that happens in the typical teenage-high-school drama plot. i would 100 out of 10 recommend. 

*now on to potential spoilers so beware*

the premise. the idea itself is something i have never watched or read before, i seriously loved it. it is nice watching a drama and being able to fall in love with the main storyline as something I’ve seen many times before and then seeing the slight deviations. however, with this drama i never knew what was going to happen. the life in the comic for sure, knowing that nonsense was going to happen such as namjoo’s mother going to be crazy and try to wreck jooda. obvious. but our extra’s storyline was never written, and i liked that aspect staying true to the unknown of an extra’s character. 

our characters. in general i loved how all the characters evolved even the ones that were not self aware of the universe they were in. eun danoh our girl, with the terminal heart condition. she was precious, and incredibly heartwarming character. looking at all her scenes and even behind the scenes cuts she literally embodies her character. the little nuances and slight hand gestures and facial expressions fit her to a T (thank you kim hyeyoon for bringing eun danoh to life). as she becomes self aware her self determination and drive to change her fate increases,  and i enjoyed seeing her create her own tomorrow. as different obstacles presented themselves she had her cry and picked herself back up which i love to see in a female lead. sometimes it’s so easy to just be like where is her boo to come help her out, she determined her own future and relied on herself and her friends to get her through. the freaking writer for some reason wanted to kill off this cute extra and i just don’t understand what it would have done for the storyline, so eun danoh had to fight for her life for the majority of the drama which was sad. and heartbreaking because you can see how badly she wants to live even if it is a broken record playing the stage for someone else. 

baek-hyeong my boo. his character seriously embodied second male lead syndrome throughout the majority of the drama, except for those few episodes where he was completely and utterly lost. i.e. when he was figuring out his feelings and when he deceived eun danoh at the end. but literally he loved her on the stage and off. he was angsty and the typically member of a trio of boys who rule the school. it was his assigned role and he played it well. i seriously loved the moment that eun danoh came to forgive baekhyeong because it is truly what he needed to hear to be able to be at peace with all that had happened. 

“although, i am merely a character made by the writer. however, before everything I’m eun danoh and you’re baek-hyeong. therefore, the eun danoh from “secret” is thankful for you. as for the eun danoh from “chinese trumpet vine”, she forgives you. that’s because it was the writers created baek hyeong to be. thank you. i really hope that you can be more of yourself. just like how i was able to find the true me”

literally weeped the whole freaking scene. they had grown up together in his world, when his character in their past killed her. the writer was so twisted. they just wanted to find themselves and grow into the people they truly wanted to become.

haru (freaking rowoon) seriously swoon. dreamy haru caught our danoh’s attention and together they developed first a friendship then something more. and turns out their fates met long before ‘secret’ but rather in ‘chinese trumpet vine’. 

loved all of their scenes and lines *insert instant gems*

“eun dan oh is my only beginning. so I’m okay if my role ends with her. “

“dan oh…every moment of mine is you”

“since my beginning and ending was you”

“call my name.”

haru is the definition of a precious bean at the start and i love how he gains himself and becomes more vocal with his opinions later on, but still has his moments of cuteness, like when he made them matching necklaces ). his previous life in ‘chinese trumpet vine’ then and now in ‘secret’ guided his every moment. she was literally the center of his world, and i loved his desire to help her and be able to be there for her. some notable moments that led to me weeping were: when he gave her the beautiful night sky in the art room, when he left her the journal after he disappeared of drawings of their moments together. there were too many but those are my two favorites. when eun danoh was in the hospital and they were unable to meet at their tree together was awful and heart-wrenching. their relationship was precious and i loved how it developed and grew. i also appreciated the friendship between dohwa, haru, and danoh because they were the three musketeers and they were adorable. 

the side stories were well done. sometimes i feel like we neglect our extras but i appreciated how we saw the majority of them through. dohwa and jooda, our poor second male lead who almost became first male lead off stage which i would have 11 out of 10 been behind, and still don’t quite understand her reasoning because namjoo would have been just fine okay. i also appreciated soochul and saemi’s (eun danoh’s friends) storyline and how it continued on into the next comic. 

an odd part of this drama was that the main antagonist was an aloof omnipotent writer, who drew out each storyline and was never actually physically present. it was interesting concept to try and wrap my head around. so many insane moments and tragedy that occurred was with the writer just going about the daily and wrecking it for our characters. the writer was seriously twisted, having danoh meant to be paired with baek-hyeong who ended her in the last comic. making haru, baek-hyeong’s side kick once again after their tragedy in the last. seriously twisted. it was interesting how when they were able to change certain aspects everything still fell in line but with other characters in place. i cannot even imagine how our characters felt because it was seriously ridiculous at times, and disappointing to be back at square one so many times. no matter how much time dedication and energy they kept having to go back to try and rewrite the story. 

the ending was unsatisfactory, it had me in a puddle of tears, when everyone started disappearing from the scenes. however i don’t know how it could have ended any other way. we all knew the comic had to end, just as dramas end. it could have ended mid sentence which could have happened knowing how cruel this writer was (serious bone to pick with this one, seriously twisted and they need therapy). but the start of a new drama with them both as extras gives them more freedom than their designated stories gave them previously. however, where was baek-hyeong in the ending or dohwa? that was so sad not seeing them in this world. it is fortunate thought that danoh and haru are self aware because that would have been another mountain to overcome and go through the process all over again. but now i have the opportunity to just hope they can live happily as extras in their later dramas. 

i would love to say, ‘yes please have a spin off in this drama to follow them as free extras, and their adventures’. but no way would i sign up for this torturous world again. my heart would not be able to take it. i was setting myself up for a scarlet heart ryeo ending with how the majority of this drama went with nothing going my way.

side note the music was so great. i loved so many of the ost songs, and just recently have i been able to listen to a few because there were too many sad emotions held with them. my top tracks: 

my beauty by verivery

첫사랑 by sondia

끝나지 않을 이야기 by Stray Kids (mainly the song i couldn’t listen to for two weeks afterward) 

now i know for sure that i am missing some of my thoughts, and i wish i kept a log after each episode, but you never know what dramas are really going to kick you in the gut until you know. i will probably rewatch this eventually once I’ve recovered a little more. maybe watch a few more rowoon dramas, and then i’ll make a log because literally every episode had something and left you with an imprint, and I'm sure i missed a lot the first watch.

i just really loved this drama and needed to process a fraction of my thoughts and feelings. it was just really good and i loved each episode. and i freaking love haru. once again 100 out of 10 recommend.

[nxvalunxsis]

★ — Saemi & Jennie ( @dxsiderivm​ ) ( source )

Saemi didn’t want to respond at first after wrapping her arms around her best friend but she knew that Jennie would most likely not let it go until she told her what was on her mind. “I don’t know.”, she shrugged. “I just wasn’t feeling great today and really needed a hug and who better to ask than you, right?” Some days, Saemi was just a bubbly mess with way too much motivation to do anything and everything but other days, like today, she felt down because she still wasn’t sure what she actually wanted to do. Sure, working odd jobs here and there was a way to support herself but that wasn’t exactly what she wanted to do forever. The Instagram she had made for her cats did get a bit of attention and sometimes people sent her food and toys for the two so it helped with putting money aside for other things but she definitely didn’t see it as a possible source of income. She has been working on ideas and concepts for a YouTube channel but she wasn’t good with makeup and, in her own opinion, she wasn’t exactly stylish or interesting so she wasn’t sure if people would even be interested in watching her if she started to vlog which, needless to say, did put her in a down mood. “I just really don’t know what to do with myself today.”, she sighed.

[miraculously-quality-content]

Public knowledge on Soleil Raion

@chatnoirismycinnamonroll @fantasyfandommaiden @frostymoon11 @sparklyaxolotlstudent

Soleil is probably one of my favorite parts of the AU, considering she's the center of most of the lore building that @saemi-the-writer inspired into the AU. But she only plays a big part later, so let's get the little bits of info out of the way.

Her mask covered her whole face, giving no wiggle room to figure out her identity.

She had a large mane of hair that was a dark orange.

Her suit was also more reminiscent of armor than the other Miraculous holders of today.

Her weapon was a katana, with a scabbard wrapped in bandages.

Soleil showed up a week after Cockatrice did.

Public opinion of Soleil was, and still is, mixed since her powers weren't capable of reversing the damage done in fights.

Anyone that had been close to her talks about an intense heat coming off of her, even before she used her power.

While no one was ever inclined to stick around, people say that once Soleil used her power, her hair would turn into fire.

Every time people would come back after the fight was over, people could see scorch marks in the shape of feet and hands, with many objects in the area being melted.

[caretaker-au]

speculation compilation #29

Catching up on some good speculation! These are as of page 23. Specs for the next page will be coming soon!

In reference to page 4.

Interesting theory! (Red Soul Theory can be found here.)

[ ACT ] > [ Chara ] > [ Talk ]

Huh? This isn’t the end of the chapter! Stay tuned!

That seems... excessive.

Frisk is similar to a lot of our readers in that respect. Trusting to a fault.

[saemi-the-writer]

Lukloe for the ask game

No, just no.

Sorry if it's a pairing you like anon, but it's really not my cup of tea.

I am going to divide the two kind of ship to clear things up:

Canon Lukloe: CAN YOU PLEASE NOT. Why would you do that to poor Luka?! It's not his job to "redeem" Chloé, bear with her bratiness and selfishness because he can hear "some pretty melody beneath the cacophony and sour notes in her heart". Chloé had many opportunities to change, many hands reaching out for her and she spat on all of them. The only thing canon Chloé needs is to face the consequences of her actions, let her taste some mud and hit rock bottom. She might question herself after that and really change at her own pace, or not. I don't care.

Fanon Lukloe: whatever works, I guess? Luka is quite a blank slate character.🤷‍♀️ Some fans might have very good takes, stories or art about them, good for them, but I am not looking into it. In my opinion, even a redeemed and turned good Chloé isn't compatible with Luka - again, it's my opinion! If you like the concept of them working, make it work and have fun doing so! It's just that I feel like Luka might be too overwhelmed with someone like Chloé, and that he needs someone who he can lean to, who can be his confident, not a challenge. And personnally, I see Chloé as a lesbian so any Chloé/boy pairing is kinda meh for me 😅

[infinitycircuit]

A 12-dimensional gambit || Saemi || Trial 5 || Re: Audie

Two more deaths. Two more friends to mourn. Two more lifeless bodies to examine.

Lily is so tired of this.

Thankfully(?), she too has taken a moment to change out of her costume, so no one here is forced to witness the Hamburglar presenting evidence in a murder trial. She didn't think to change Saemi out of her costume, though, so Captain Crook is still here in all her 80s fast food mascot glory. The culprit better hold onto their Filet-O-Fishes.

"...It does seem very, um, staged,"  Lily agrees. "There was, um, no real sign of a struggle... at all. Aoyama-san, Kizaki-san-- y-you would think that they would have, um, fought back? Or at least, um, done something other than just... die quietly. They would have, um, died quickly, most likely, but not... that quickly... right...?"

Well, that's her medically educated opinion, at least. She sighs, and the frustration in her voice is subtle, but audible. Why did this need to happen? Why two of them? Why anyone?

"I just, um... don't really understand why they would agree to something like that. I guess, maybe, they, um, had some sort of goal in mind, like to get to the other train, maybe, but that seems a bit... I-I don't know why they would need to do that so badly... or why they would both need to go. It doesn't make much sense..."

Were Katashi and Mugen up to something? Lily quietly wonders if, maybe, she's still the only person in the room who isn't trying to play 12-dimensional chess against everyone else.

"...Kannon-san could be right about, um, the tape being used as spike tape. Like you said, it's used to mark out places where actors need to stand on a stage... but, um, it looked like someone had tried to remove it...? Which would, um, make it not particularly very useful for that purpose, so I wonder if someone else had noticed it... not that I, um, remember anyone scratching around on the floor, or anything."

[saemi-the-writer]

I am curious about my followers 🙂

[saemi-the-writer]

What are your top 10 akumas? 🦋👿

Thanks for your ask! This is quite the challenge to pick, so I will establish some "rules" first:

Only akumas, no amoks or combination Akuma/Amok.

I am rating the akuma, not the whole episode! Which means: the akumas' designs, their power(s) and the fight they have mostly, not the reason the person was akumatized (that could be another top 10).

Very subjective opinion: do I like the design? Is it fun/entertaining to watch? Is this akuma a real threat or a joke?

Now here goes, fly, my pretty akumas, fly!

10. Dark Blade

As I mentioned it already, Dark Blade is an akuma I still enjoy a lot. Probably because I've always loved knights and a good swordfight. Otherwise, Dark Blade is quite a good menace, he knows how to lead his troops and has solid fencing skills. I really like how even his manner of speech gets even more mediaeval and that he has his own motto. The fight is fun to watch

9. Riposte

Swords again Her determination is chilling and her design is neat, I like how her sword has become an extension of her arm. I don't know what to add more, try having a furious ladygirl like that chasing after you and I guess you might have an idea that she's not to be messed with? Also, how she just cuts the sarcophage just proves she's not kidding.

8. Party crasher

I admit that I'm not a big fan of the look, but it fits his theme quite well and he does an excellent job! I mean, if it wasn't for Kim and the Monkey Miraculous, all the other heroes would have been doomed! For an akuma that was created on the spot for an emergency, it was far better than a lot of others. Tip of the hat for this guy.

7. Robostus

While I'm not a big fan of the trope "Machines/Computers/Robots turn against humanity", it can still be interesting and awesome if done well. And here it does quite a nice job, it is quite a good mix of funny and menacing. The fact that Robostus turned against Hawkmoth earns it bonus point, I like when minions turn against the big bad.

6. The Mime

"Be careful of the quiet one" don't you think? His power is really awesome, I mean, he can even create a car! And fighting against invisible weapons is really hard, I love how imprevisible he can be and his expressions in general. If he could mime more thing at once, he might have got closer to get the Miraculouses.

5. Dark Owl

It's a nice tribute to comics heroes like Batman, the design and gimmicks are spot on (pun intended) and he does a great job! The fight is really one of the best to watch and captivating.

4. Zombizou

Not a fan of zombies and yet!! I love the mix of cute, sweet and creepy plus threatening she looks! The way she moves and talks (at least in French, haven't watched other dubs for this episode) gives some shiver at how joyful she sounds! And while I always find it funny how the victims are all "Bisou! Bisou!", it gets spooky when imagining them as classical zombies. I think it hits it well how creepy forcing people to be affectionate and love-starved would turn out.

3. Volpina

Thought I would leave her out? Nope! Now this is a good foe! Volpina is ruthless, clever, vicious and vindicative, very good ingredients for a villain. And the way she uses her power are just... *claps*. This is the episode which got me thinking "Good thing she's an akuma and not a real miraculous wielder! If she can do that as an akuma, I'm afraid of what she would be/do with the real fox miraculous!" she's kinda OP in the end but anyway. Once you see past her illusions, she's less dangerous especially on her own, but as an ally or part of a villain team? On top!

2. Chat Blanc

Okay, as said above, I am not here to critisize the whole episode, etc. And as an akuma, honestly, I cannot put him lower! I was never hyped for the fan theories of Chat Blanc, I found them kind of meh at the time (not all of them though), however, I really like what they did for the official: blue eyes, chilly presence, the bordering insanity in his voice and movements, especially when he sees Ladybug after so many years all alone... MAN, I was all on board for some tragic, heart-wrenching battle and confrontation! Chat Blanc has a lot of tragic villain in him, I really wish it hadn't been wrapped up in only one episode. I grew up watching DBZ so don't get me wrong, I'm not a fan of battles/fights that keep going on and on for 10-15 episodes, but there are fights that are worth to be lingered on. Chat Blanc is basically a Chat Noir without restrain and who loose his sanity, so it makes him incredibly dangerous just with that, but his power is also enhanced, no wonder it went to apocalypse! I wish the battle had been longer though, as said before, since not only could have it been even more emotional and amazing to watch, but it would also have add more (obvious) weight to Marinette's trauma and fear that is still present in season 4. That is the reason I can't put him 1st place, that and because he lacks a little spark that brings some excitment.

Honorable mentions: M. Pigeon, Evillustrator, Dark Cupid, Kwami Buster and Princess Fragrance. Some just missed the top 10!

1. Stormy Weather

I never got tired of her! I wish we had more akumas and fights like hers, she had it all! She is the reason why I got into ML in the first place, I still get excited and am impressed at the battle scene. She has presence, uses her power flawlessly and has a lot of rage in her, she is wonderful!! screw Stormy Weather 2.0 why wouldn't you show us that freaking volcano battle?!

[notmoreflippingelves]

Reading Asks

I was tagged by @saemi-the-dreamer

hardcover or paperback --Depends on the book but unless it’s one I plan on re-reading multiple times, I go paperback

 rent or buy  --Depends on the book; I use the library a lot but for certain books or vacations/other times when I know I’ll be doing a lot of reading, I’ll buy

reads in silence or reads with music 

standalone or series (Depends; when I was younger I was more into series, but now that I’m an adult with less time to read, I tend to read more standalone but I love it when I find a series I like.) 

annotations or pristine pages --Are we talking like professional annotations like footnotes, etc, or like someone just writing in the margins on their own? I never write in or highlight my books, but when I’m reading a classic, I do prefer to find an edition with copious footnotes by academics

ebook or physical copy  --Depends on the book. I used to be a complete book snob about kindles. But then I got one and now I’m obsessed with it.  I still like to have hard copies of certain books ( especially ones that have illustrations/maps/lists of characters) so I can easily consult them. But otherwise, I’m fine with eBooks especially for books I’m not planning to re-read.

dog ears or bookmarks  --I almost never dog-ear but I have been known to do it when I can’t find a bookmark. I also tend to lose nice bookmarks easily and end up using receipts/random scraps of paper, etc as bookmarks

mismatched series or complete set  --unfortunately both; sadly a fair few of the series I enjoyed growing up abruptly decided to change the cover design in the middle of the series; why would they do that? and usually the new covers were less good overall; so I sort of got stuck with the mismatched volumes as a result.  *le sigh*)

cover matters or you don’t judge -- It depends. Naturally, I’m more drawn to books with attractive covers, but honestly the title and the blurb itself matter far more to me than the cover image itself. 

 lend books or keep them to yourself-- Depends on the person and the book (i.e. how likely I am to re-read it, if it’s part of a series I like, etc) , but overall, I’m less likely to lend out books unless I’m sure I’m done with them. 

 enjoys lit classes or despises them -- I miss my lit classes so muuuucch. I even miss the papers. Sometimes I find myself randomly doing complex “literary analysis” type takes randomly (and often on non-book forms of media), because the urge to analyze the *symbolism* and themes will never leave me.

 browses shops or orders online-- Both. I mean to be honest, I’m more likely to actually buy the book online  (or receive it as a gift), but bookstores are a great place to scout out what’s out there and be aware of things. Especially old and quirky ones that aren’t a chain.

reads reviews or goes in blind-- Depends on the book. I have recently become extremely addicted to goodreads, so I tend to consult their user reviews for a book I’m curious about than scout out formal professional reviews. But often if I just come across a book in a store or library that I like the sound off enough to start reading right away, I don’t necessarily feel the need to check public opinion before I start. 

unreturned books or clean library record -- As of right now, I am in the clear. Granted I have lost a handful of books over the years, but really not that many and I am pretty reliable about paying late fines right away.

rereads or once was enough-- Depends on the book, but unless I really didn’t like it, I will probably pick it up again at some point. 

fanfic enthusiast or a stickler for canon -- Depends on the book.  There are a lot of books I’ve loved that I’ve never felt the need to seek out and/or create fic for, and others (even ones that I objectively like less) that I’ve read multiple fics.

deep reader or easily distracted-- Is both an option?  I read multiple books at once semi-regularly in order to keep my mind fully engaged. But I also often get “in the zone” when reading and am capable of intense hyperfocus. I also tend to be a speed-reader overall, and when properly focused, I can devour like 400 page books within like a day or less. 

 must read the book before seeing the movie or order doesn’t matter-- It depends on how well-known the book is--relative to the movie.  Like there are several films that I was not aware were books until later (The first example that comes to mind is The Princess Bride)   But if a book is well-known enough in its own right and I’m consciously aware that both film and book versions exist, I usually make a point to seek out the book first. Interestingly enough, the times when I’ve seen the film before reading the book, I’m more likely to enjoy them both--whereas reading the book first can sometimes “ruin” the movie for me. 

 has neat bookshelves or messy bookshelves -- bold of you to assume anything of mine is neat. (Although to be fair, my bookshelves are much more put together than my desk, kitchen table, etc). 

skips ahead or resists temptation -- If it’s a big enough book with a lot riding on it, I have been known to read at least the last few pages--just to give me a little hint of what I’m getting in for. Surprisingly spoilers have never been a dealbreaker for me, and I’m often more likely to enjoy something if I have a sense that it’s coming. (Obviously, I don’t do this with mystery/crime novels as so much of the enjoyment of the work as a whole depends on the ‘surprise’ ending.

reads aloud or in your head

I’m tagging @quitequiteblue, @moocowmoocow, @combefaerie for now--as I am pretty sure you are all readers.