#season 2 was great don't get me wrong but it was stuff like this that really made my first watch through like

[schumi-nadal]

Wow, I didn't think that post would get me even more hate to be honest 😅

First of all, I wasn't talking about ALL Carlos fans but about some "fans" (you can't call them like that, not after the really harsh words I received) who came into my asks when i asked nothing: I never was mean about Carlos, i didn't even defend Charles. I only posted 2-3 things related to this Charlos gate or whatever the fandom is calling it.

Here are some of the posts in questions:

After the first one, I received insults (anons and non anons, I don't know what is worst, that's what I was talking about them being younger and not knowing how the Schumi era and baby Shumi era were, (the non-anos were 17-18) because people misunderstood it (or understood what they wanted to understand).

After one or two more posts after the end of the race, it escalated very quickly, I received death threats! That's very serious! How can it come to this for a FUCKING sport? There are more serious things in life!

So, yeah, I was quite pissed after that.

Also, I didn't even defend Charles in my post, rereading now and I undertand I may have sound like I did but I'm French and I may have translated word by word what i wanted to say (it's a bit complicated but we sometimes use "you" to talk about people + ourserlves in some sketchy expressions). Anyway, what he said was definitely inappropriate and very "childish" in a way. Those words should had been spoken in private with his team and Carlos, not in front of million of people; and I think if FIA penalised swear words, they should start looking at those kind of statements.

Also, for those saying that I would be the kind of person to insult their favorite driver(s), you don't know me, you can even check my blog if you have nothing more interesting to do (lol), I never insulted anyone like some people do in f1blr. We can dislike or even hate a driver with our whole being, that's ok, for each their own I guess. We can't love everyone, you have the right to defend your favs, that's our choice too, but don't go and roast people when they didn't even say something wrong in the first place. (again, i hope those anons are reading it)

I never got haters before today (just one a few months ago with tennisblr but it was more a troll more than anything else) I usually don't interract a lot because I don't like conflicts but receiving multiple insults for something I can't control: I'm not Charles, I can't control what he says, I'm not a Carlos hater neither, i'm just here, blogging and reblogging stuff I love, mostly sports, sometimes with my particular sense of humor.

Nobody is perfect for sure, and I'm sorry if some of you thought I was just calling out Carlos or defending Charles. He may be one of my favourite drivers, just like other drivers can be yours: all of them are not flawless and we may continue to like them or not after different sorts of situations, that's up to us.

To finally finish my thesis (sorry if you're still reading), I didn't know that I would be so stressed on tumblr one day (call me a sensitive person) but this website is my sanctuary, I hope it will stay like that for a very long time but you can't be appreciated by the whole world, I lost some of my mutuals and i accept that. This morning's messages went too far and that's not normal to say thing like that, no matter how peacecul I am, I had to call them out. Also, on my other fandoms, you can share thought without (or almost) getting attacked verbally, that's sad that it's not the same anymore here, but yeah, football is the same.

You can choose to answer or not, I won't block anyone because I don't feel the need to, opinions can be shared but respectfully, I would be happy to talk more if some of you are up to.

So, I don't know what to add, have a great end of the season, everyone!

i don't know if everyone who reblogged or commented can see it when I reblog it so i'm tagging y'all: @midesastremanifiesto , @janesurlife , @gaypoetsblog , @katarf1a , @chaitalinath , @danieldrivesfast , @landhoe-norris , @eightsixtiism

One thing is funny about being insulted by all those Carlos "fans" (won't call them real fans tbh he deserves way better than toxic people): I was already watching F1 that they were not born, if you think that Charles was shitty today, just remember we had Michael Schumacher as the most dramatic queen ever and Sebastian Vettel was a little Gremlin at some points. REAL FANS WERE NOT FIGHTING FOR THAT!

[hell0mega]

the capabilities and powers that angels/demons have really confused me, especially with what we're shown in season 2. i feel like in season one it was always pretty clear what the limitations were for their powers, Crowley can do a bit more than Aziraphale can (and we now know why), but there were plenty of things in season 2 that felt like could've possibly been solved through devine or demonic intervention and it felt contrived that they weren't?

more under the cut cuz i went on a bit

i think a lot of these concerns come from the final fight, which honestly feels way too long. why couldn't Aziraphale miracle away the stairs? why couldn't he teleport away? they can teleport people as we saw with Adam (that was Crowley so maybe it's a stronger power). and with that, why did the angels believe the 25 lazarai miracle was to make the humans fall in love? and not even right away?? why could Crowley not miracle the wine bottles back together? seems like reconstruction is an iffy area but all the glass (and wine) were still there. he could've materialized more bottles as well, even if they'd be "fake." the idea of miracle blocking, let alone demons being able to do it, blocking BOTH kinds of miracles, INCLUDING a high rank like Crowley, seems CRAZY op to me.

why didn't they use miracles against the demons? Crowley can make absolutely giant holes in the ground that suck up grave workers, he can BRING A GUY BACK TO LIFE??, but he has to lie about rules of engagement to buy them time to get the humans away? he can stop time/space/individuals/whatever he's doing, why can't he do that to buy them time? you might think oh they're preventing themselves from drawing attention, but he doesn't work for hell anymore so why would he care, and they already have all the attention on them and are being actively attacked by dozens of demons right in front of a group of humans

aziraphale ended up using his halo which is taboo enough to start a holy war and yet he didn't try to do anything magical before that. they can change paintball guns into real guns AND make sure none of the bullets kill anyone purely by "chance" AND not have anyone involved notice they're no longer shooting paint, they can turn children into lizards and back, but they can't protect a bookshop more than just having vampire rules??

[bombshellsandbluebells]

now that I’m dragging my mental health back to a semi-decent place and feel like I might have the energy to like....write literally anything again, at some point I’m going to write about the importance of critiquing within the context of a written story

as in, critiquing narrative points completely without any consideration of how they are contextualized in the story is a bit unfair.

as in, I continue to see things about the Ted Lasso finale that annoy me. not because people had a different read of the finale or disliked different things than I did - or that they’re critiquing it at all; there’s plenty I will critique or would have done differently - but like, saying things like “Ted going back home to Kansas is bad because he’s clearly miserable about it” is an unfair reading when, within the CONTEXT of the story, it’s not framed that way. regardless of whether it was a choice you liked or how you would have wanted things to end, it’s not framed in the story as a) a bad thing, b) a miserable sacrifice, or c) a thing that Ted is upset about. so there’s a difference between saying “I don’t like Ted going back home to Kansas at the end because to me that doesn’t read as a happy ending’ and “the finale objectively frames Ted going back as a bad thing because it makes him unhappy” 

and this isn’t JUST a critique on criticism in regards to Ted Lasso. it’s the nature of fandom criticism in general. “I didn’t like this thing” becoming “this thing is objectively bad in the story” or even “this thing is portrayed as objectively bad bc of this, this, and this” despite that contradicting how the story actually frames it.

[shysuccubusstuff]

twitter links x Genshin men! pt. 2

Note: You know how this works, let me know if there is any type of issue with the links! Btw, sorry if I repeat some links or similar stuff, not like I keep track of my links :P

Alhaitham:

After pestering him for the whole day, it was only fair for him to fuck some sense into you, right?

He looked so lonely and stressed sitting there alone :(( Of course he needed someone supporting him under his desk!!

Just Alhaitham showering you with his deep love ♡♡ He just couldn't wait to get to the bed after seeing you so focused on your own work, not his fault that you are so pretty :((

Quick round in the middle of the library! I mean, they say it's good to take a break while working, what's wrong with this?

Itto:

How could you forget about Itto's breeding season?! By the time you are finally able to make him fall asleep your insides are completely filled to the brim

Maybe eating your pussy is all he needs after acting all mighty with the gang?

Itto kept on hearing about the great properties of following the No Nut November, so of course he jumped the second he felt even slightly challenged! Sadly he lost it the same day he decided to start it...

Sometimes he just forgets how heavy he is compared to you... Not like you really mind it, though

Capitano:

Mean! Dom Capitano showing you what happens when you don't behave

Pussy so good he is able to pick you up and rise you just to fuck that hole, plus it works as extra exercise!!

He wanted to punish you so bad but you look so pretty begging :( Of course he just had to give in

He tries so hard to keep his strength concealed as he lets his pretty wife ride him :(( Loving sex with him is so so good that your brain almost melts ♡♡

[djevelbl]

Alright, so, final thoughts, the short version: gET ON WITH THE NEXT SEASON, CHOP CHOP STORY BOY--

Seriously tho, GREAT story — there's something about it that has made me go existential crisis levels of poetic over it that NOTHING ELSE has made me go which like. props to Evbo, he's doing great! I WILL be going feral over that ending and Parrot and that Clown cameo and Zam and all things I liked and so on so forth, like always. I wanna make character designs but it feels... wrong, I guess, in a sense to give them all designs beyond the cubic space they inhabit — I don't do well with simple and detail-free designs (like Zam's and Wemmbu's like seriously, 5 year old in paint level of detail smh /aff) and I believe that giving them ANY amount of detail they don't already have is doing their characters a disservice?? ESPECIALLY with clothes???? Idk how to say it or explain it, but the fact they don't wear armor is VERY intentional, right? I mean, PVP typically involves armor and the fact that acquiring armor is OPTIONAL is intentional for whatever reason so, again, in my head giving them any more detail than they have (or lack I say as I side-eye Zam and Wemmbu) is a disservice to how PVP Civilization works. But that's honestly just me

More spoiler-y territory up ahead, gonna put in one of those good ol' "click here for more!" thingamabobs that tumblr has. Don't say you weren't warned.

Alright, now that all the cool kids are here, let's discuss details:

When I say I went "existential crisis levels of poetic" over this thing, I mean "I wrote a whole thing about being a spectator willing and wanting to help, but unable to due to the nature of being in different levels of reality" type shit, might drop it on my ao3 (y'all should go by my ao3 i have fun stuff there and might start dropping some other stuff as well wink wink ok. self promo over) and it was honestly fun! Will DEFINITELY do some MORE of that around this new episode! Unironically frothing at the mouth waiting for a new season to start slowly being drop-fed to us like little fish being thrown those fish food chip things idk I'm too drunk to think (not really. but it's fun to say anyway)

I LOVED Zam but tbf I've been loving that motherfucking asshole bastard /aff this WHOLE TIME so like. nothing new lmaooo. I ALSO love Clown's little cameo! (not counting it as a SPOILER spoiler cuz like. it's 2 mins or so in. I won't count that shit as spoilers c'mon) but uh. ALSO nothing new lol I'm a HARDCORE (not really) Clown fan I WILL be bought and EASILY swayed over with the promise of Clown content, I'm REALLY that easy; anyway it was really fun and OFC he's an antagonist smh — he's either a bad guy protagonist or an antagonist, NEVER on the same side as the protagonist/a good guy who DOESN'T wanna murder ppl (I see what kinda theater kid he is. I KNOW WHAT YOU ARE MR. CLOWN. YOU CAN'T HIDE FROM ME)

I said it already but I'll say it again: Tabi had ALWAYS been fucking sus to me from the start, what with being SO AT THE READY to exploit Evbo's respawning ability for her own gain and all that, so her backstabbing him ain't a surprise to me; but what someone (I'm too lazy to get to the computer to give proper credits or quoting. y'all are gonna have to make do with paraphrasing) said in the comments is actually fucking interesting: Evbo respawned; after the cut to black Tabi is seen holding her diamond axe and while that serves to show the audience what she was really born as, it could very well also show that Tabi gave Evbo a mercy — she let him respawn. She — potentially — didn't kill him with The Eternal Sword, and instead delivered the final blow with her diamond axe: an object that would allow Evbo to come back from death. She's gone soft.

That's gonna be her downfall, one way or another. Clown was right in doubting her — while she's physically strong and knows all the techniques, she's not detached enough from her emotions that she's fully capable of pretending to form friendships without actually making friends; aka: she can pretend she doesn't care, but something deep inside of her does care what happens to Evbo. Until proven otherwise I'll take this scene as bEING RIGHT MOTHERFUCKERS, I READ TABI LIKE A FUCKING BOOK LET'S GO--

So all in all I'm gonna be OBSESSED over this for the next while — well done Evbo, well fucking done

The end to the story. whatever happens, I guess it happened — I have hopes, idk where they're placed or what they mean, but I have them.

Whatever happens, I know Evbo is going out with a bang.

[starlight-45]

Dating BLLK boys in school! (Part 2)

Featuring:- Hyoma Chigiri, Reo Mikage, Seishiro Nagi (Part 1 here with Yoichi Isagi, Meguru Bachira and Rin Itoshi and here's the masterlist )

A/n: again, don't know where this shit is set. It has their current personalities and they're still in blue lock. Maybe taking a break in off-season and go to school for a change. Idk.

~Hyoma Chigiri~

•Is pretty nonchalant about the whole thing actually he is about most things but gives in easily much to your suprise. he's unpredictable like that.

• To him school was just a place to showcase his talent on a low level before moving on to the bigger stage.

• Kinda really didn't have that many friends, despite being popular as hell because of his looks and talent.

• 'Cause no one really couldn't kept up with his actual sass and sharp personality. Well expect for you now, darling! Don't expect him to admit it though, you'll get only an eye roll out of him.

• But geuninely like there are situations where he has to reject like 5 people at once. 😭 You don't whether to be impressed or annoyed by it.

• Anyway.

• If Chirgiri isn't in class, you can find him in the library. Before you try to fight me, lemme remind it's in the egoist Bible so it's canon.

• He will binge read history novels honestly, and thinks in his free time how it could have been different and stuff. He thinks about the fall of the Roman Empire at least once a day.

• Won't ramble or blabble about it too much to you, but will share random titbits to you about, at the most random times.

• No seriously. At the most random times.

"Ugh trigonometry is the worst-"

"Christianity promotion must have resulted in loss of traditional values of Romans..."

"Huh?"

"You asked to study right?"

"YES. To study maths. Tommorow is the test!"

"...Oh."

• Also he's got a fair amount of complaints from teachers and other coordinators about his long hair. When they speak to him about it, he's judging then SO hard. He does it to almost everyone.

• If you blabble about your classmates stories, he will listen to it, asking questions actively. He actually is pretty interested in the gossipy stuff.

• Can I just rant about how much of a tease he is in denying you affection? Like don't get me wrong, of course Chigiri's gonna have some sort of physical contact like holding hands and stuff in front of other students.

• To show you guys are together and no he's not entertaining any confessions, that's what he tells you to just not get annoying interactions but you both know it's just not that lol

• But when you two do mange to get alone on campus, this guy is a cheeky little bastard. He intentionally leans a bit far than you, just to rile you up and make the first move.

"What? Why are you glaring at me, huh? I didn't do anything you know."

• By the way, this kind of situation doesn't really happen often. Only in school when alone. Still to this day you don't know why he gets like that during that specific time.

• You guessed it's maybe because he rarely can keep his hands off you in private, so this environment keeps him a but grounded and can act all cool. You saw right through it, but that's different story.

• Doesn't care what people think of him, rude, moody, arrogent hell even princess...because like whatever. But won't torelate any negetive comments about you.

• His demeanor doesn't change much, but his glare speaks for itself that the person currently should shut up if they know what's good for them.

• Because, despite all the ups and downs our princess truly loves you and will want the best for you. Amen.

~Mikage Reo~

• I'm guessing you already has a pretty good grasp at what to expect from him, huh?

• We all know, that while on the surface his school life is perfect with good grades, popularity, football...he gets really really bored there.

• But I think as his girlfriend, it's your job to not get him excited. And guess what? You're doing a great job at it!

• This guy is the type, that when in a relationship, you can talk on and on about golf most boring sport ever! and he will listen like it's the most interesting thing ever.

• So yeah... it's not really all that hard for ya to keep him busy lol. Others have a hard time to do so though.

• Though he gave up on studies since blue lock, he figured that it won't hurt to study a bit for a few months to keep up his reputation.

• And to impress you, but shh don't let him know I told ya. But yeah, when talking about studies he's more of a hard work type rather than being a natural. I'm looking at you, Nagi!

• Which is a blessing for you because you can literally just call him over whenever you wanna study. And like ACTUALLY study, he's the best at tutoring, teaching you everything patiently.

• I mean he was the best friend was Nagi. OF COURSE Reo gained a lot of patience from being around that baby.

• Still entertains the fan following he quickly gained at school I mean what did you expect? but not really too much like before.

• Kinda because of still having PTSD from blue lock. You know the the haunting feeling no matter what he does there are things he won't get. Yeah that's what he's afraid of deep down.

• And not just that, also because of you. He knows people can get a too overboard with the fangirling which might make you uncomfortable. So sweet! 😭

• Proudly shows you off as his, and damn he does get a bit of a smug look which is priceless to see. It's a good reminder for him that no matter what happens, you're always his side.

• Which suprisingly makes everyone immediately back off, because like it's just so evident that this guy is just too hooked up on you to even glance at their direction.

• Will actually bribe the school authorities to get you in his class, and will deny any accusations made against him by you about that matter you JUST asked him casually but y'know this guy is dramatic as hell.

• "Why would I do that? You think that I'm the kind of rich person to throw money away just to get my way?"

"I love you Reo but that's exactly what you are."

• Always has an arm around you, suprising you during lunch break, pulling your cheeks even in front of everyone...you're just that cute!

• Is the type to distract you during class, then giggle when you get called out by the teacher for not paying attention. :P

• Don't worry much though, Reo doesn't do it that often, he knows his limits, despite being tempted to do more just to have your attention and your adorable mad face.

• Damnit, you're still just too cute for him to resist having you with him. He truly is blessed.

~Nagi Seishiro~

• Okay so, I think this scenario can go two ways, depending on what time you ask him and what mood he is in.

• 1. Nagi would just say "It's such a hassle" and drop his head on your lap, not wanting to think much but will relent with a bit of convincing because again, he doesn't wanna use his brain much.

• 2. Would just say okay on your first attempt, not seeing any reason to refuse. As you can see, both of these scenarios end up getting him back in school for a few months.

• We all know he's the type to just sleep and play games in class and get scolded by the teacher because of it.

• Lord knows how this guy manages to top every single time because I don't.

• "Hey Seishiro what did you get?"

"..98.."

"I just can't believe it, how do you do it every single time?!"

"I don't believe it either." said the teacher unamused, arranging the papers.

• You also feel lowkey jealous because of it, like can study for hours and hours and still get less than him I don't know about you ma'am but I would have given up a long time ago on academics.

• However, it has it's merits as well. He doesn't study but hangs around you when you do in the library or his apartment and sometimes kind of helps you understand stuff.

• "God this question is so stupid."

"...Hm? It's so easy..."

"Oh really? Why don't you tell me how to do it?"

"... don't convert the tan A into sin A/cosA, because it won't get divided on the final step..."

"Wow it worked, thank you!"

"... don't mention it."

• If you can't find him during lunch, you can find him in teacher's cabin getting scolded or sleeping/playing games on the stairs.

• And in extreme cases, on the water tank of the rooftop how the hell did does he get there?? basically everywhere expect the classroom, eating his lunch, y'know like a normal person in lunch break.

• So it's your duty to drag him to have lunch so to make sure he doesn't die. No I'm not exaggerating, this guy can be starving to death but still be playing call of duty.

• This guy is shameless around you, and the worst part that you can't even say anything about it because it's not his intention to annoy you. He is just is build different.

• Like, he'd just lean over your shoulder as you drag him to class you still won't give him the piggyback ride. Poor boy not really regardless of people giving him and you judgemental stares.

• On the rare days when he's not sleeping in class, he's still not paying any attention to the teacher. Yeah all the teachers hate him.

• Instead his focus is all on you, observing how you are trying your best to pay attention to whatever the hell the teacher's trying to explain, suprisingly intrigued.

• He doesn't know why but, he's not bored while doing even though he's just looking at you . This guy is just attracted to you so damn much.

• And his smol energy level won't allow him to fight that attraction either. However Nagi doesn't dislike that fact. He loves the attraction and you, even if he didn't realise it yet.

A/n: I think the quality is dipped in this one, I kind of rushed it. I apologise for it. (⁠╥⁠﹏⁠╥⁠)

[mrinafria]

Seen some viewers not liking The Judge from Hell for different reasons, and I think I kind of get why (just my guess). Also, disclaimer (in case it's not obvious enough): I respect and am fine with anyone disagreeing with me and not liking the show for whatever reason.

If you've watched The Devil Judge, then The Judge from Hell is not that. Unlike The Devil Judge, it doesn't have a dark, grim, ominous setup that stays true to that heavy vibe till the end. If you've watched Lucifer, it's not that either. Close but also not really. Unlike Lucifer, The Judge from Hell hasn't shown us an anti-hero/anti-heroine who, underneath the charisma and confidence and tricks and looks, is full of self-loathing, unprocessed angst and human-like emotions. I'm just going off of the 8 episodes of TJFH aired so far. Unlike Lucifer, Justitia doesn't seem to display a subconscious desire not to be misunderstood and abandoned, nor does she feel complex emotions about humans and humanity (it's just starting with Daon she still has a long way to go). We don't see a Fallen/Demon with a semblance of a moral compass here.

Even her "I trust what children say" doesn't mean much because she doesn't do that out of some morality; to her, it's just facts that children are the least crafty and least vile amongst humans. Justitia is very mechanical (and petty even) in what she does- she's not on some great self-discovery or redemption journey in here to even entertain the notion of humanity or morality. If we expect such nuance from her so early on in the story, we maybe setting ourselves up for disappointment. Y'all she's been doing this for Lord knows HOW many hundred years. It's not her first gig. If you have been having coffee at night despite being an insomniac for like three decades, it's highly likely you'd stop thinking or caring about the morality, the 'rightness' of drinking coffee even when it destroys your health.

It's like that for her, to the point where she can, in fact, treat every murder, every crime, every criminal lightly. She's been the judge, jury and executioner all along, and that's the job she needs to do well on earth too. As audience, we may be living on earth longer than she's been but the moment Justitia stepped in, it became 'her world' that we're now getting a peek at.

She's not some vigilante or messiah; just an eccentric, murdering demon from hell who likes Z cola and a pretty wardrobe and Han Daon too- what's wrong with that lol. I remember seeing similar sentiments when Vincenzo was on, because some felt the comedy and humor didn't go well with the overall theme, with a psycho CEO committing all kinds of crimes+ ML's childhood grief and mafia ptsd+ revenge etc. I feel like it was a conscious choice not to make the show so heavy or serious, despite the subject matter. TJFH feels like it treats heavy stuff casually because it is mostly shown through Justitia's lens, and so far, SHE has been treating heavy stuff casually. She really doesn't feel anything emotionally for the girl being in an abusive relationship, or the child being with that horrible excuse of a stepmom. All she sees are the sinners and their sins, and whether they can help her fulfill her mission.

But even that is changing now, gradually, with Justitia/Kang Bitna starting to feel more and more human emotions (props to Daon).

Now, could we have gotten a more nuanced character arc with a serious undertone? Maybe yes, maybe no. The story is yet to unfold fully so I say it's too early to decide that? However, three things that come to mind are: 1. kdramas generally don't get seasons unlike TV series in the US or UK, to explore things gradually with each season geared towards a certain theme or development. Lucifer did what it did in six seasons. 2. I've noticed that unless it's a super horror, super apocalyptic or dystopian show, kdramas like to incorporate humor in their story no matter what genre it is (even shows like The Light in Your Eyes or Moon Lovers or Hi Bye, Mama have their lighthearted moments). Kdramas aren't perfect. Different shows become perfect to different audiences because of their personal preferences. I watch the show because the trailers promised us a fantasy drama with angst between the leads, because it gives me a good laugh, and also maybe because a small part in me kinda sorta lives vicariously through Justitia's ultimate reckoning lol.

I'm actually glad it's not a heavy show because the stuff they've shown so far can be quite disturbing and triggering and I'd be very hesitant to proceed with it if that were the case. 3. I think it's also okay to acknowledge that not all writers/creatives would prefer to do the research needed to pull off certain themes, nuanced character arcs and dynamic, which can leave some viewers wanting more out of a character/show too.

It's fine not to like a hyped drama or a character (happens to me too). But in my opinion, the show is delivering what it promised to deliver initially, and I'm glad it is.

[avelera]

I’m dying for your thoughts on what is going on in Dubai with the triangulation of Armand and Daniel in Dubai because nothing in 2.05 explain ms what they(beddeath vampires) could want him to tell them as referenced earlier in the season or warrant all the Rashid pageantry. Especially not with how Armand looks at Daniel like he just got home from the wars.

Your takes are exquisite and I’d love to hear them.

Ok, I THINK you're asking what the hell is going on with Daniel and Armand and Louis and the longing looks Armand keeps shooting Daniel and I might be missing some nuance to your question but that is the question I'm gonna answer because I can't stop thinking about it.

Ok. Ok, ok, SO!! The biggest question I think we're facing as of 2.05 is did the Devil's Minion chapter of Queen of the Damned ever happen?

For the uninitiated (LOTS of BOOK SPOILERS but like the books have been out for decades, sorry): Louis/Armand is like... not a thing. At least, it's not one of the big love affairs of the series compared to Louis/Lestat. I mean they've had a situationship but they're definitely not a long devoted love affair going right up to the beginning of the events of Vampire Lestat/Queen of the Damned, which is where the show seems to take place. They traveled together for a bit after the events of Interview with the Vampire but then parted ways because What Happened In Paris changed Louis irrevocably.

The big love of Armand's life in the books is Daniel.

And we learn this in the chapter of Queen of the Damned called the Devil's Minion.

Because Armand stumbles upon "The Interviewer" and falls in love and they have this fucked up whirlwind torrid romance where Daniel teaches Armand about the modern world and basically "how to be fascinating" and Daniel begs over and over to be made into a vampire.

Lots of stuff happens between them but short, TRAGIC version is that Armand does make Daniel into a vampire and it breaks Daniel's mind. He's not a cool powerful vampire once he's turned, he's basically a vegetable, he loses his mind and becomes a hollow husk of himself. (Ironically, insane-new-vampire!Daniel is left in the care of Marius of all people lol)

SO, from the book reader perspective, I shot upright on my couch when I saw old Daniel. Because Old Daniel means we're in... some flavor of happy AU? We're in an AU where Armand did the "responsible" thing and didn't give Daniel the Dark Gift, so Daniel got to grow old and actually be a person instead of being the Devil's Minion where Armand became his whole personality and then he lost his mind.

Thing is, since S1, I've been assuming, like others I think, that we're in an AU where the Devil's Minion didn't happen at all. That Daniel did the interview, he and Louis parted ways, and now he's back to finish it. It seemed neat, clear, if a little confusing for book fans because Daniel/Armand is one of THE great love affairs and it seems like it just got skipped entirely, which kind of makes sense since no other film version has really delved into it, right?

WRONG. OK, so with the longing looks that begin RIGHT when Armand finally reveals himself, the whole mic drop moment of "Armand, the love of my life" while Armand stares at Daniel, almost seeming to plead with his eyes "GET ME AWAY FROM HIM" and looking at Daniel with such longing, going into SEASON 2 where we learn that ok, the 1970s beat was WAY more complicated than it seems, Louis' memory is very faulty, Armand has actively tampered with both of them and we DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH....?

So my current theory is: the Devil's Minion DID happen.

Armand and Daniel had their love affair, but instead of turning Daniel, which by the way he had to be talked into doing because of Daniel's suicide attempt basically, Armand set him free. But CLEARLY he continued to stalk and pine after Daniel, if he was there at Daniel's fucking engagement reading his girlfriend's mind enough to tell Daniel what she was really thinking then. Armand was definitely still OBSESSIVELY IN LOVE. And, IMO, has been the whole time.

Now, what does this mean going forward? What do I think is going on?

Armand wants out of his relationship with Louis but he's chronically, pathologically, incapable of breaking up with anyone. He used Lestat to break up the Children of Darkness, he used Louis to break up the Theatre des Vampires, and now he's using Daniel to end this fucked up marriage he and Louis are in.

Armand is doing this first by consenting to renew the interview, Louis gets a walk down memory lane, remembers how much he loves Lestat. Not to solidify their bond with how good things are now, but to break it up with nostalgia.

Armand is also going to reveal things he's hidden from Louis, I think. Like the fact Armand killed Claudia. I think right now they're both operating under the excuse that Santiago and the coven did it in defiance of Armand but that is simply not true, Armand ordered her death to get Louis all to himself. But (book canon) her death broke Louis so basically Armand destroyed what he wanted in Louis in the gaining of him.

Armand also misses Daniel. He's doing the classic passive lover thing, using the next lover to get rid of the current one. That's why he picked Daniel specifically as the vehicle of his liberation. Boy wants to get white knighted in the most fucked up way possible. Evidence: every single painfully longing, puppy dog look he shoots Daniel's way and how those looks only get more intense the more Louis waxes poetic about how great the Loumand relationship is.

Armand appears as Rashid in order to establish for plausible deniability for Louis that he DIDN'T have a relationship with Daniel OR, if Louis knows about it, that he really did do as promised and wiped Daniel's mind. Look, Daniel doesn't even remember him! When he's standing right there! Pretending to be Rashid! He definitely didn't summon his former lover here to break up Louis and him, obviously this is JUST about Louis' desire to do the interview haha, definitely not trying to bring his old ex to break up his current relationship the guy doesn't even remember who he is.

In conclusion: Armand still wants to fuck that boy old man. And he wants to get rid of Louis by making Louis break up with him because that's how Armand rolls. And that's why this whole ridiculous pantomime is happening, because Armand will never, ever be the active party in the breakup because the boy is way, way too fucked up by his supremely fucked up life up to this point to ever be the initiator. Instead he will always, always manipulate those around him to do what he wants.

[cloudmancy]

I have no desire to get you in trouble but I would be curious to hear your thoughts on the new episode and the preview because I also have.. thoughts and I'm interested in what other people clocked as not great or kinda.. idk. other people's concerns, because I have had a lot of them and I never see people really talk about those things

they're doing a new format this season where they film a bunch of rp episodes in a row then take a break when there's a battle so the crew can get the battleset ready, so I understand the dissonance. but the tone of this episode from the tone of last episode was SO jarring. I was ready to chew drywall at the end of episode 17 but we head into the episode 18 fight and at the end all I can say is... damn! that sure is a battle that happened. the entire fight felt really low-stakes even though objectively a few of the bad kids were in mortal danger, but the mood at the table was so relaxed and chill and there was almost no roleplay at all... which drove me so crazy

>no rp except for fun silly party stuff (no callbacks to the adaine elven oracle in a storm thing? after all the fun setup last time??)

>fought 8 different antagonists and none of them said a word

>nobody questioned why or what oisin's grandma or all those dragon were doing there they just started taking them out one by one like raid battles in world of warcraft

>cassandra/nightmare king showed up only to not make any impact or get a single word in

>dos2 lady vengeance fight did the floating boat/ballistas/dragon fight better SMH

and then after all of that we're headed straight into ANOTHER battle episode judging by the preview... and it's against the rat grinders and porter/jace! let me out I want PLOT & DIALOGUE fhjy cannot end like this (5 hours straight of battle where they just kill everyone that moves). there's 2 eps left so I really hope they do the last ep as a 4 hour long roleplay only epilogue episode because as we've all seen ending campaigns on a battle leads to frankly really rushed character and world decisions. it's ultra disappointing too because I loved this entire season so much so far. the setup and buildup and plot points and mystery of fhjy is the best they've ever done it in dimension 20 period

ep 18 fhjy battle was a letdown to me... not giving the party an rp episode after 3 hours of loredump + going straight into a final battle without being able to interact with the world after gaining info is bad. they should've had a chance to process everything they learned about house sunstone, porter's plan, the rat grinders being used as ascension fodder, whatever the whole deal behind ambrosia and lucy frostkettle and why they needed a helios cleric in buddy IN ROLEPLAY. I don't want all this stuff explained to me after the battle by brennan or in some throwaway lines in the adventuring party - I want the bad kids to talk to people! I want them to investigate! I want fig to pull some BS with porter knowing the full extent of all his plans. it really sucks for us as an audience too to be hit with all this lore and get approximately 0 time for it to sink into the implications of how the worldbuilding was shaped by it or realizations of "ohhh that's why that happened at the beginning of the season" before we go straight into killing everyone.

with the way this is going I don't have any confidence they're gonna be able to actually empathize at all with the rat grinders too before they start lopping heads off because in battle episodes everyone kind of just. becomes numbers and an objective to take out except for pet favourite npcs of the cast. and they've mostly been interacting with the rat grinders as nuisances all season 😭 I'm PRAYING to be proven wrong and the last 2 episodes of this are fantastic but it's not looking good folks

[sunflowerandstrawberryspice]

CARMEN SANDIEGO? In 2024? It's more likely thank you think! Please excuse the shit quality for some reason I wasn't allowed to upload the normal pdf and I had to upload a fucking screenshot???

So my friend convinced me to watch Carmen Sandiego and since he's watching ALL of Ninjago for me I thought it was the least I could do to watch four season of a show with a pretty decent concept but uh... yeesh, don't get me wrong the show is really fun but lord have mercy does it have problems especially the last two seasons which were just so wildly disappointing to me. It went from a show with an interesting look on morals to pure pro-cop and mostly black and white thinking so quick (that not mentioning the breaking up a found family full of people with abandonment issues) it was honestly just so disappointing so me and the friend who introduced it to me decided to rewrite it! (I will not be animating nor do I plan on doing more than MAYBE a comic or art piece here and there because my chronic pain ridden ass can not handle that much lol)

The main goals are to:

1) Flesh out characters that aren't Carmen and actually give them reactions based on their lived experiences and how they might realistically react instead of what the show needed to move the plot along

2) Having characters other than Carmen be actually relevant to the plot the main one being Chase Devineaux who we're gonna kind of have as a parallel to Carmen (trust me yall) as kind of a "What if Carmen didn't have her friends/family to ground her and fall back on" but for all the Chase fans out there (gods I hope there's some other than me) he will be getting a happy ending but bro is getting put through the RINGER first

3) Have both A.C.M.E (now standing for Administration for Containing and Monitoring Evil) and V.I.L.E be the bad guys. Also just as an extra bit of fun we're making VILE a full blown cult, they were very cult like in the show so we're just gonna make it one. Both are going to be very morally questionable and while it'll take a bit longer for ACME to show it's true colors don't you worry they definitely will ;)

4) We're doing canonical lgbtq+ rep, I know the show teased a lot of relationships and really only gave yall background gays not to say thats bad but we can do better than just a brief shot of a damn taco truck. I mean like come on in a story about a young woman going against the government for the greater good why not put some rep into it ya know!

5) We're making it light sci-fi, not like SUPER high tech but definitely beyond what we've got currently, as shown with Carmen's prosthetic, and don't worry I'm doing my research as a disabled person I know how it feels to be misrepresented or ignored so I want to make sure I'm being realistic

6) PLAYER ISN'T GOING TO BE A CHILD! I don't know if this bothered anybody else but to me it was really weird that this 16 year old's only friends were in their 20s!

Alright I think that's what I'm gonna say for now, I'd love it if yall tuned in for updates if your curious since this is a passion project for me and my friend and we're having a blast writing it!

As always I am still working on stuff for Ninjago cause I could never abandon my one true love, currently there's a Pixal drawing in progress (it's giving me hell T-T) something for Cole and Geo, and something of Sora MAYBE even Euphrasia if I'm feeling up to it.

Having said that I hope yall have a great day/night and PEACE OUT!

[flower-boi16]

Bring the thunder down

Well time to give my thoughts on the latest episode.

POSITIVES:

-Seeing callbacks to previous episodes in season 1 was pretty nice

-Holy shit Verosika development? HELL YA!!!! I'm just going to say it; Verosika is the best part of the episode hands down. I like that we get to see a real side of her beyond just being a one-dimensional bitch, her being friendly towards Stolas due to seeing him, and how SHE felt when she was hurt by Blitz.

And she deeply empathizes with people who were also hurt by Blitz and holds this party so people can cope with their experinces for how Blitz damaged them, a place where they can all get together. Viv developing a female character...? That's insane! Verosika feels like an actual person in this episode, not just a one-dimensional bitch.

-We don't get a rushed resolution to Blitz's feud with Verosika like we did for his feud with Fizz, which I am very happy for. I liked how they handled the reletionship between the two here,

-The development for Blitz here is genuienly great...? Like, the episode does a good job of showing him finally realizing how his actions have hurt others, and shows him trying to play victim here in the final scene of the episode before accepting that HE IS THE PROBLEM. And it's now the begining of him finally deciding to grow and become a better person, which is probably going to be a major arc in both season 2 and the rest of the series.

-The characterization here for Blitz is also great. Again it shows him playing the victim here because he's too much of an asshole to accept how he might have hurt others, until he realizes how his actions actually affect those he hurt. He feels genuine remorse now for his actions after the song that Stolas' sings on the stage.

-SPEAKING OF THAT SONG NUMBER; I have some issues with it when it comes to Blitz victim blaming but for the most part it's not bad. The visualls during it look quite nice and the singing is really good. This also serves as a good moment for Blitz as a character; as he sees that actually did, genuinely, have real feelings for him, and it helps Blitz realize all the mistakes he's made throughout his life and how his actions have genuinely hurt others.

-The episode, generally, does a good job of showing how Blitz's actions have hurt others.

-The finale scene in the episode is fantastic. Like I said we get some great development for Verosika and some insight on how she felt when Blitz ran off, characterization for Blitz and growth with him finally realizing his mistakes and the begining of him growing as a person. The voice acting from the two especially sells the emotions in it.

This episode has a suprising amount of good stuff in it when it comes to Blitz and Verosika...unfortunetly there are still some issues.

NEGATIVES:

-Unsuprisingly the Stolas stuff here is awful. The episode constantly frames him as another one of Blitz's victims who was hurt by him which just shows more Stolas victimization. Whopee. The begining scene is especially awful when it comes to this. The thing that really gets me is the line "since when have I ever looked down upoun you", like, dude, YOU CONSTANTLY BELITTLE HIM THROUGHOUT THE FIRST SEASON. OF COURSE HE'S GOING TO THINK YOU LOOK DOWN UPOUN HIM.

And then he says that Blitz is like Striker which is fucking stupid.

(though tbf Blitz is deffiently an ass in this scene so I can get Stolas' perspective to a slight extent, but some of the framming here and dialogue is still questionable)

-Speaking of that begining scene, its...eh. It has the issues with Stolas victimization as I already talked about here but then there's the fact that they used Blitz not telling Stoals about Striker as a way to create cheap drama. YAY! Also this...never gets resolved in the episode btw.

-The stage scene where Stolas sings his "motherfucker" song is good enough in terms of development for Blitz but since Blitz isn't in the wrong here for not believing Stolas loves him it still come across as another instance of Blitzo victim blaming to a slight extent. I already expressed my opinions multiple times about why Blitz is not in the wrong for not thinking that Stolas has real love for him so I'm not gonna repeat myself here, but I'm really sick of the Stolas victimization in this season and I just wish the show would stop pretending that Stolas is the victim here.

-The conversation the two have after the song isn't an awful scene but still shows Stolas victimization. Again, more Stolas victimization and a lot of the dialogue from Stolas here really seems to point to this. Like the scene has Blitz apologize to Stolas and act like the latter deserves better than the former because the former was soooo mean to him UwU, and it just. Ugh. And then the episode has Stolas whine about how he just wants someone to care about him and I'm just like. Viv. You aren't going to make me sympathize with this stupid fucking owl. You just can't.

-The episodes seems to be implying that Blitz has feelings for Stolas...? Huh???? Since when??? And also why does Blitz even have feelings for Stolas to begin with? Like everytime Stolas and Blitz interact Blitz always shows physical discomfort around Stolas, why tf is he suddenely interested in him NOW???

-How exactly was Verosika able to know of Stolas' reletionship with Blitz?

-Blitz decides to go into the party WITHOUT A DISGUISE. Like he takes one eventually but why didn't you bring one to begin with...?

-Is there no one guarding the entrance to this party? Because Blitz should have not able to get in here.

-Blitz comeing in without a disguise doesn't bring any attention for some reason???

This episode was...actually kind of good. Like, I'd say this is probably the best episode of season 2 so far. It mainly suffers from more Stolas victimization and some very weird plot holes and the out of nowhere development of Blitz getting feelings for Stolas but there is genuinely fantastic stuff in here that's good enough to make the episode at least a 7.5/10, hell maybe even an 8. I could forgive a small amount of plot holes if there's enough great stuff in the story and in this episode there is.

So ya, I actually kind of enjoyed this one.

[alliwantistowearcomfypants]

I'm not gonna lie, I think mandalorian should have ended at season 2. It just buttoned up so well, and the message was incredible. It was touching and sad. And then, like a month later, it didn't matter. Season 3 was so disappointing to me, and I think a big reason for that is because it lacked that simplicity the first 2 seasons had. The show was just about a damaged man finding his humanity and helping various people along the way. I know that not everyone loved the simplicity, but I think it was the best thing the show had going for it. Star Wars often suffers from stuffing so much crap in the story that it forgets to add character arcs.

The first 2 seasons are super character focused. The plot is so intertwined with Dins' character growth that it doesn't focus on the big picture. But in s3, Din barely has any growth as a character. There's stuff happening left and right, but Din doesn't really have any emotional stakes in it. Him trying to get his mandalorian status back feels hallow because we literally just watched 2 whole seasons of him breaking away from it. One of the biggest character moments for him was taking off his helmet for grogu. He's telling grogu that he matters more. That he would give it all up for him. It's so touching and feels like his character's natural progression. And then we're supposed to care when all of a sudden he wants back into the morally questionable pseudo cult he broke away from for his baby? I don't care! That plot point also resolves itself in like 3 episodes with little to no confluct, so now what. He wants to help Bo Katan. Ok. Why. No idea. He's kinda just there, watching things happen around him. There's no inner conflict or tough decisions he needs to make. His character arc is over, and you can tell the writers didn't know what to do with him.

The show is honestly focused more on bo katan than din. Which, no hate to her, but I'm not here for her. She's treated like a wronged princess, not like a deeply flawed terrorist who saw the error of her ways way too late. She literally aided in getting her planet overrun by crime leaders and sith. And the show just brushes past that. They don't even mention Satine, which could have been a great way to humanize Bo. Have her struggle with the fact that she got her sister killed. Have her wanting to restore mandalor for her sister, who died trying to protect it. It would have been so much more impactful if Bo Katan's motivation was out of guilt for getting her sister killed and planet overrun. She could have slowly opened up about her complicated relationship with her sister. She could have had an obi wan kenobi type arc. Learning the only thing she can do is move forward. Try to right her wrongs. Restore Mandalore in the name of her flawed but deeply devoted sister. I do not understand why they didn't at least touch on Bo's personal ties to the planet. She feels so one dimensional, and they could have easily made her more interesting. Or at least motivating.

My biggest problem with the show is that I didn't really care. I didn't care about Bo Katan's goals or Din's. And I think the biggest reason is because the show forgot to add character moments that tied them to the things they want in a personal way. Also, Din's baptism thing was stupid. Just cut that out entirely. No one wanted that.

[mae-i-scribble]

So I'm not really that into Arcane fandom or anything like that but is anyone else a little worried for how season 2 is progressing thus far? I'm not talking about the apparent Caitlyn vitriol that some people are falling into- god forbid you have complex characters am I right. But watching the first act of season 2 it's all so terribly rushed and not in the same way season 1 had fast pacing but with tight writing to make up for it.

Spoilers for the first 3 episodes ahead but the fact that we barely even get to know the new enforcer characters that come to Zaun annoys me. The most we have is the girl introducing herself to Vi. The other two aren't even named in the show let alone have any sort of personality. For the big shield guy why is he even allowed to be an enforcer???? Sir you were seemingly living on the streets drinking away your problems last I checked with no indication you were or wanted to be an enforcer. The kid that follows Jinx around doesn't even have any sort of lines until episode 3- which would be fine if it was clearly a deliberate choice for her character but considering that the show is trying to juggle so much it just feels like she fell to the wayside.

I'm also very much not a fan of how the 2nd season is structuring its storylines thus far- certain scenes loose their tension because they're so intercut with other scenes happening simultaneously- take the vi and jinx fight for example. Like I get it you wanted to show how them interacting with the run was actively interfering with the fight but the constant cuts back and forth leave a bad taste in my mouth. The structure they use for the various sections with music overplaying them are hit or miss to me- some I love, some I think should have been actual scenes with dialogue.

I'm also really sad to see them seemingly rush over bits of character development we really need to see. Like take Vi- her not wanting to be an enforcer is 200% justifiable and believable, we haven't been shown anything about how the enforcers work that would give Vi a reason to want to join. And then after the attack in episode 1 she silently comes to a decision to join which fine, I can buy her wanting to help now that Zaun is conducting terrorist attacks. But she just agreed to the plan to use the gray against the people of Zaun???? Really???? Vi did??? Shouldn't Vi, someone who is only joining the enforcers out of desperate necessity, be way more critical of any use of force in the undercity? There's even little things like when Caitlyn arrests the henchman I was expecting Vi to stand up for him because almost *everyone* in the undercity is some sort of criminal so that they can survive. But no it just turns into Vi asking them to ditch the side characters we know absolutely nothing about.

Speaking of Vi- for the record the cait/vi kiss in my opinion was stupidly forced in. I would have liked to see their relationship develop this season because in season 1 I could see the beginning of something there. I really loved the moment in the first episode where it's only when seeing Vi that Caitlyn breaks down a little because Vi is someone she can trust to be open with. Great stuff to further develop- oh no they're kissing after no development just to make the immediately following break up more dramatic? Great yay yippee representation -_- Don't get me wrong I would have loved to see it develop into a romance but not in episode 3 with no buildup (1st season does not count as buildup to me for an actual romantic relationship).

This is also somewhat petty but I do hate the fact that Ambessa is revealed to be behind the memorial attack in episode 3- I much would have preferred for that information to be revealed to the audience alongside whatever character discovers it. Revealing it like that is dramatic, sure, but I feel like it ruins the mystery of Ambessa's morality in a way that is not satisfying.

All in all I'm not the happiest with these first 3 episodes but we'll have to see how the other 2 arcs go before making any judgement calls overall.

[kokiriri]

One thing I love about tumblr is that people just rant and yap about their fav tv shows and special interests, and boy do I eat that stuff up like crazyyy

So that's why I decided to talk about Wakfu s3&s4 and the issues I have with them😝

Right off the bat, one of the things that confused me most was the blame game in s3/s4. Yugo is made responsible for all of the major tragedies that had afflicted the World of Twelve up until now, which c'mon, there are so many factors that contribute to the Nox, Qilby, and Ogrest incidences that you can't just pin it all on one guy. And yet, the show does just that, revealing in s3 that because Yugo messed around with the Dofus to save the world from an early Great Wave, the Eliotrope race was created, which people were the ones responsible for leaving the Eliacube with Nox, allowing every event thus far to be made possible. Oropo preaches that since Yugo is the creator of the Eliotropes, the latter is therefore the one to blame, not the villains who exercised their agency in making decisions to harm others, or the Eliotropes (who I think have their own consciousnesses and wills, making them entirely separate from Yugo other than shared likes/dislikes) or any of the world leaders who failed to unite and take action, basically forcing Yugo to take drastic measures in the OVA episodes. I don't know, I just can't understand how the show shoulders all the blame onto Yugo, when clearly, he isn't the major instigator of these massive tragedies. Sure, his actions have allowed the seasons' villains to do what they did, but ultimately, the villains chose their paths as well.

Another thing that threw me off was Qilby's character and how he is forgiven through an 'ultimate sacrifice' despite having committed heinous crimes in the past. I still don't know what truly happened during the Eliatrope war (I don't think anyone does, because the game, manga, and show all explain it differently) but going off the manga, if I remember correctly, Qilby stole Orgonax's heart and christened it as the Eliacube, using its power to sate his unquenchable thirst for experimentation and exploration.

This enraged Orgonax and his fellow Mechasms, who at the time were peacefully coexisting with the Eliatropes, and a war subsequently broke out between the two races. The Eliatropes flee, end up at the World of Twelve, Qilby CONTACTS THE MECHASMS to come to the Eliatropes' new planet, ANOTHER WAR BREAKS OUT, yada yada, you probably remember the rest of the story from how it's detailed in s2. In the last episode of season 2, Qilby is labeled a murderer, being responsible for the massive loss of life during the Eliatrope/Mechasm war, namely the one to blame for the deaths of the Eliatrope children's parents. One of the Eliatrope children dubs Qilby as the "assassin of their parents" which title Qilby does not deny, but rather responds with "shut up." It is made known that Qilby wishes to drain the World of Twelve to power the Eliacube and the Eliatropic spaceship, the Zinit, showing a frightening lack of concern for other people and planets. However, in s4, this all seems to be forgotten?? Qilby's past crimes are never mentioned, the most we get is Yugo calling Qilby a "monster," but other than that, nothing!! Don't get me wrong, I love Qilby as a character - I think he's the most interesting season villain in Wakfu - but this blatant disregard for his past was so strange and frankly frustrating that it made the whole "Qilby-forgiveness" thing seem so... idk, undeserved? The show treats Qilby's wrongdoings in such a light-hearted manner, that it almost feels inappropriate. Genocide of an entire race is no silly matter to be throwing loaves of bread at (which Qilby quite literally does.)

His sacrifice for Yugo was also extremely out of character. I'm not French, but in the s4 episode where Qilby is dying after saving Yugo from Toross, Qilby says something along the lines of "before we are enemies, we are brothers" which oh mannn WHERE WAS THAT IN SEASON 2??? And then as Qilby dies, he says, "Good luck, my brother... my king," indicating that Qilby now acknowledges Yugo as the owner of the Eliatrope crown. But I find that so hard to believe, as in the manga, the whole reason Qilby harvested Ogornax's heart, and started a series of wars, was because he was angry that Yugo was crowned king, as it halted the Eliatropes' exploration of the cosmos.

((Some quick appreciation for older manga Yugo. We need this design back immediately🙏)) Why would he accept Yugo as his king now? Was it all an act to get on Yugo's good side to ensure Yugo saves the universe that Qilby hopes to explore and exploit later in the future? Or am I just reading too much into it? Also, we can't forget that Qilby is quite literally insane, and was shown to harbor dark feelings against Yugo after having been imprisoned for thousands of years in the White Dimension. Add that to what I said earlier, and you begin to question how and why did Qilby suddenly change attitudes in Season 4? Lmk your thoughts because Qilby still confuses me.

Because this post is already getting quite long, I'll touch on just one more subject that annoyed me in s3/s4: Yugo and Amalia's relationship. I do love them, but I would've been just fine, maybe better, if Yugo was not romantically involved with anyone. Anyways, s3 picks up where the OVA left off on their relationship; they're both mutually attracted to each other and have a desire to be together. However, there is one major roadblock, which is obviously Yugo's physical appearance. There are other issues as well, but this problem is the most severe. Due to biological differences, Yugo ages at an extremely decelerated rate compared to Amalia (I think just the 6 main Eliatropes suffer from this, as the other Eliatropes seemed to have aged regularly in the manga.) He appears as he did in s1/s2, just slightly taller, but he looks like he's around 13-14 years old. Physically, he's actually around 20-22 years old, and Amalia uses this fact to help justify why is okay for them to be together, describing him as "a man in a child's body." (Idek where to begin or how to feel about that, but oh-key...) Some time after, Yugo and "Ruel" (Sipho in disguise) have a talk about the former's feelings towards the Sadida. Yugo feels conflicted on whether his feelings are romantic or not, and voices his frustrations concerning Amalia's failure to listen to or understand him. He also talks about how he's struggling to grapple with his longevity, and what that really means for him in the long run. Whaddya know, Amalia is eavesdropping the entire time, and begins to cry and grow irritated with him. To me, it seems like she failed to see the central issues Yugo is dealing with: 1) He doesn't feel ready for anything serious because 2) He's likely going to live for thousands of years. She instead gets peeved that he's still hesitant on his feelings and that he called her egotistical (which girl, c'mon you can't complain when you literally called him the same thing moments before in front of Ruel and Elely.) Heartbreak is hard, but this outcome should have been expected. Yugo looks like a child, Amalia looks like an adult, and if they were to be together, it would super weird and inappropriate.

A lot of other things happen in s3, but I do want to touch on Oropo and Amalia. Oropo takes Amalia alone and kisses her in the sky, and Amalia, after discovering Oropo's physical likeness to Yugo, lets him kiss her again (in front of Yugo no less) She even defends Oropo when Yugo tries to challenge the Eliotrope, telling Yugo basically to give up, and that she no longer needs him now that an "older, more experienced" version of him is now in the picture. At the very least, I'm relieved that Amalia shows that she wants to be together with a physical adult, but also, girl?? Some guy shows up, claims to be basically the same person as your crush, and you just roll with it? Dawg be fr. Anyways, Oropo's intention of basically blowing up the World of Twelve in order to destroy the gods comes to light, Amalia decides he's a freak and goes running back to Yugo. She gives this little speech of why Yugo's better than Oropo, Yugo and her hug as a way to make up I guess, and then they kinda(?) kick Eliotrope butt (they escape thanks to Echo ((rest in power queen)) but a win is a win.) Season 4 comes out and they're backing to holding hands, hugging, and giving goodbye kisses. What? Like no, I'm sorry, but they have been fighting on and off for the entirety of the last season and they still haven't talked together about the things Yugo was meaning to discuss on the Enutrof level, but now everything is alright? I was sure that the 'Oropo kiss' incident would be brought up in s4, but it never was. On top of that, despite having shown resistance towards pursuing a relationship with Amalia in s3, Yugo throws all cares out the window in s4, and just does whatever. She becomes his motivation for everything, which idk, I kind of don't really like it when a character makes their love interest their sole reason for living??

I could talk more on the Yugo/Amalia relationship because there's so many more issues that I did not cover in the above paragraph, but I think I'll just leave it at that. I'll put this out there, I do like s3 and s4, and it's really a shame s4 only got 13 episodes to cover a story I believe could've been super successful with 24 episodes. However, s1 and s2 will always be my favorites😋

I guess that's all, I would love to hear other people's thoughts and opinions on s3&s4 because it'd be interesting to see if you guys saw the same issues I did in this "critique."

(Also, just want to credit HumanDisapointment on Reddit for the awesome colorings of the manga pages!)

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

What do you say about 2 most despised characters in the fandom: Andre the Ice Cream Man and Thomas’s self-insert?

Are they the most despised characters? I feel like that honor goes to more prevalent characters like Gabriel, Lila, or André Bourgeois, but I could be wrong. Either way, my thoughts on the two you asked about are as follows:

Andre the Ice Cream Man

Andre reminds me of the weeping angels from Dr. Who. Great - or in this case fine - initial concept, but the more they show up, the less sense they make because the rules keep changing.

If we go by his initial appearance, then he's just some guy who can magically sense who you're supposed to be with and who gives you ice cream to point you to them. That's a cute concept for a rom-com. I can even accept him getting akumatized when he first shows up because, if you're a magical match maker who delights in love, then it makes sense that you'd be sad to see someone giving up on love even if it's just a teenager being dramatic. Those feelings are still quite real plus this show is aimed at little kids. They're going to view Marinette's heartbreak more seriously than an adult audience.

Unfortunately, every subsequent appearance ruins the initial setup by changing Andre's rules, turning him into a pretty obnoxious character. If he can sense perfect matches, then why does Marichat set him off? Shouldn't he be able to sense that this is a perfect match? And why didn't Adrigami set him off in the season three final? They got ice cream without him throwing a fit while Marichat was refused service once and caused an akumatization another time! That makes no sense. Does this man sense true matches or just support whatever couple comes to see him? And what happened to the whole, "anyone who eats his ice cream together stays together forever" thing? Consistency matters, people! Pick a lane! Obnoxious shipper who can't take a hint or true magical match maker. Which is he?

Based on his initial appearance and rules, Andre should be the only person in Paris who knows the truth of the square right from the start. If they'd done that, then he could have been a fun character that was used to subtly push the square together and give them an odd feeling of hope in dark moments where their love is wavering. After all, who doesn't love ice cream when nursing a broken heart? It could have been a cute running gag where Andre shows up with ice cream every time a part of the square is moping. Instead we get whatever nonsense canon is doing with him because even the super minor characters suffer from how wildly inconsistent canon is.

I'll end the Andre discussion by saying that I'm not sure if I'll ever forgive the writers for having Andre be the one to out Marinette's crush on Adrien. Five seasons of waiting and that's it? That's the big reveal? You are not getting me hyped for the actual big reveal, guys. Between this and the what-if episodes always making someone look terrible, my feelings about the eventual square reveal are basically just low-key dread. Thank goodness there are so many solid reveals in the fandom to give me the satisfaction I crave!

Thomas’s self-insert

Confession time, I didn't know that this was a self-insert when I watched this episode. I thought that Thomas' character was just a gag about how most people don't really know what directors do because that is certainly a thing. The fine details of individual roles in the entertainment industry are kind of nebulous to industry outsiders. We can see this in the fact that people often attribute way too much power to individuals and ignore how many people are involved in making movies and TV shows.

One of my favorite stories about this is the fact that a Star Trek writer had his episode win a Hugo only for him to completely disavow the episode because they changed his script so much after he turned it in. This is not a unique story, btw. Stuff like this happens all the time. It's why I've mentioned that I use "writers" as a bit of a catch-all term for "anyone who effects the story telling" for simplicity's sake. Though I will note that, outside of season one, every season of Miraculous was written by a team. Members of that team are then credited as directors, so these guys have a lot more powers than the guy who won the Hugo. The guy who won the Hugo won it because Star Trek was apparently being run like Miraculous was in season one when the show was written by a bunch of different writers who just sold scripts for individual episode and those scripts then got worked into a final version by a smaller core team. Film is a complicated industry like that.

Anyway, back to the character question!

I now know that this was a self-inset, but it doesn't really change my initial feelings about the episode. All of the problems come from Marinette's writing, not Thomas' self-insert character. I'm actually not sure why his character gets so much hate. As far as bad self-inserts go, it was pretty tame. I'm not sure if I'd even call it bad. Thomas wasn't painted as a god or anything like that. He was the butt of a running joke that I didn't find very funny, but I do think that it indicates a level of humility to let your self-insert be seen as less than perfect. He doesn't even take credit for being both a writer and a director:

Jagged: Ladybug is one of my best buds! I can't wait to see her movie! Thomas: Well I'm— I'm the director, so actually it's more my movie, so to speak. Jagged: Oh, so you're the one who created the story? Thomas: Well, technically the screen writers wrote the story, inspired by Ladybug's exploits. Jagged: Oh, ok. So you did all the drawings? Thomas: No, no. The animators do all the drawings. Jagged: So what do you do then? Thomas: Well I—

Now that I know that this character is a self-insert, also I find this moment at the end a lot more cute:

Thomas:(after seeing the conversation) You know what. Take my seat and enjoy the movie. I've seen it ten times or more. What matters the most for the movie is to be seen by people who really want to see it right? Marinette: (stutters) But... I-I... Uh... But... Thomas: Sorry, I guess you don't know who I am either Marinette: Of course do. You're Thomas Astruc the movie director! (hugs him) Oh thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you! Thomas: She recognized me. Somebody actually recognized me! (wipes away tears) This is the best day of my life! 

I may not like major elements of this dude's show, but I really don't see this as an ego trip. I see it as a nice moment between creator and creation, possibly because I got to view the episode without any biases when I first watched it. I'm not sure if knowing the full story would have changed my read, though, because I really do think that it's fine for writers and directors to put themselves in minor roles in their creation. You have to come up with so many characters for a story like this, why not let a random akuma be based on you?

To give you a little perspective, the head writers of the show RWBY both voice characters in the show. Once again, I have no problem with that, especially since RWBY didn't have the massive budget you need in order to hire a bunch of voice actors. The thing that I do judge them for is the fact that both of their characters get unnecessary romance plots with major characters. One of the writer's characters - a guy named Jaune - even gets an obnoxious amount of screen time to the point where he feels like more of a main character than some of the actual main characters.

This whole video analyzing that show is excellent and may be worth a watch even if you've never watched RWBY because it plays with some of the same general genres as Miraculous and suffers from some similar writing problems, but I'll give you two specific time links to parts that talk about the self-insert problem so that you can see what I mean if you'd like a little more context:

The RWBY issue is the kind of setup where finding out that it's an author self-insert makes me uncomfortable. These two characters have some pretty clear writing problems, so learning that they're also self-inserts? Not a great look. It makes it feel like the writers were prioritizing their self-insert characters over telling a good story. That's not what we got in Miraculous so Thomas' character seriously doesn't phase me. I doubt it would phase most salters if the overall show was actually good.

[iaf]

Okay, let me get some of thoughts out about season 2 before rewatching.

Nothing major for now, just a few little comments

- The animation was BEAUTIFUL. Love the colors, models, and setting for this season

- I don't say this enough but fantastic voice acting from everyone, especially Brooklynn's VA

- I didn't enjoy this season as much as s1 BUT it's still good. Great stuff is going on here, dont get me wrong, though I do think it's not on the same level as s1.

- I wasn't sure how I felt about Brooklynn's design/model at first but I did get used to it and like it now

- Character dynamics were entertaining overall. Love the groupings the kayaks provided

- I enjoyed Zanya and her mother. Nice additions imo <3

- Would have liked more time between Kenji and Darius. Or at least have the "talk" Darius was trying to go for last a little longer and not get interrupted

- Not sure how I feel about the Darius confession. On one hand it was a kinda underwhelming?? But on the other hand it was also kinda funny and I like that

- Loved Ben's anxious/panicky behavior. Body language was great and I was feeling everything he was

- Really liked that Yaz was trying to look out for the mental well being of all her friends. Which reminds me...

- KENJI WAS STRESSING ME OUT. Dude's behavior was breaking my heart. Still glad they included and (tried) to address it this season

- I like what the writers were doing with Sammy this season but I REALLY need to know what happened between her and her family. PLEEAAASSSEEEE

- Brooklynn was stellar but she too is stressing me out.

- no handler/raptor lady :(

- I LOVE YOU DINO-NERD DARIUS!!!

That's it. I'll go through a slower watch through soon and (maybe) give my thoughts on individual episodes later. Overall though, great season. I had fun and was entertained and that's all that matters.