#she got so successful that it started to look like real power and people could not handle that

[darkshrimpemotions]

What's so funny to me is for all the people who decided to gloat over Taylor not winning last night, on some weird high horse about it and needlessly pitting women against each other once again, Taylor herself was on her feet before anyone else, wholeheartedly celebrating the winner.

[p1utofairy]

★ your next glow up?

note — i wasn't gonna post this now but i figured fuck it why not?! enjoy, my loves! this is for entertainment purposes only <3 take what resonates and leave what doesn’t. p.s. come in my ask box and tell me what you think!

PILE ONE.

pile mf ONE, you are really stepping into a new era! when i tell you this new you is gonna turn HEADS. tuh, you’re gonna be looking like new money. nicki minaj’s ‘new body’ verse is coming to mind lol “you ain’t fuck me, you fucked the old body. you ain’t fuck nicki, you fucked nicole body! ain’t no miles on this here new body, off with they heads these bitches is nobody’s.” OH YEAH OKAYYY, PILE 1. maybe you’ll be hitting the gym more, switching up your diet or possibly getting some cosmetic work done?

whatever you’re doing differently, it’s gonna be noticeable. people are gonna feel like something changed with you overnight like “um when did pile 1 get so bad?” and this isn’t to say you aren’t already attractive…there’s just something about your energy and confidence that just amplified x1000 and people are really gonna feel and see this change in you. you might start experimenting with your outfits a little more, giving off a more seductive vibe. it’s like you're breaking out of your comfort zone especially if you usually opt for baggier clothes or a more conservative look. wait cause why am i thinking of ‘pretty little liars’ when emily is talking to aria about hanna and she’s like “haven’t you heard? she’s the it girl now.” PERIOD, PILE ONE. giving serena page vibes from love island.

there will be a lot of talk about you and even if you don’t hear it directly, trust me, people are gonna try to keep tabs on you. i’m seeing people re-watch your instagram stories tryna figure out who took you that place and who you’re doing it with — oh these people are spiralingggg. this could very well be potential suitors tryna scope out the scenery, but they’re not sure if you’ll be interested in them. they might fear rejection because you just look so damn good and it looks like you’re in such a better space in life and got your shit together; whereas they feel like they lack the resources/finances to be with you. these potential love interests see you as high value, pile 1. they’re intimidated by your beauty and aura. you’ll be more so focused on attracting a partner that can actually make shit happen.

you don’t have time for the cat and mouse games. you want the real deal and i do see you getting the person that you want. you manifested this person into your life and i sense them feeling like they won the lottery with you! i’m hearing that you are sooo mesmerizing on the outside and your heart & personality makes you so much more beautiful. there’s layers to you and i think this next glow up will allow you to really shine and be yourself unapologetically – you’re leaning into the different aspects of yourself that makes you unique. if there’s anything you’ve got your mind set on or something specific you want to do, go for it! whatever you do, you’ll stand out effortlessly and be successful. say yes by floetry is coming to mind. “see, i’ve been watching you for awhile…your smile and style. wanna know if i can be with you for the night, alright.” i meannnnn need i say more?!

how to tap into this energy?

listen closely to your intuition! work on your third eye because i’m hearing that you’re a powerful manifester and you don’t even truly know it. even if you do know this, you start doubting yourself and limiting your own thoughts. always think big and bigger because it’s in your reach. don’t get so caught up in the “how?” because your manifestations can appear in many different ways, not just one. you have a clear vision into the future – you just gotta adjust your lens and focus on what it is that YOU want. who cares if it doesn’t make sense to anyone else, as along as you see the vision then it’s a go! listen to ‘i want it all’ by sharpay evans lol you need to embody that song and its energy.

PILE TWO.

hey, pile 2! i’m hearing you’ve been putting up with the bullshit for wayyyy too long and this next glow up is gonna be a proper FUCK YOU to all your haters! i feel like people take your kindness for weakness and you feel like you don’t get the respect you deserve. you can deal with a lot of passive aggression in your relationships or friendships and people expect for you to suck it up and be okay with it. what i’m mainly picking up is that you like to keep the peace. you don’t want to ruffle anyone’s feather, but it just makes it worse for you because you’re not truly expressing yourself and your emotions. this keeps you up at night like “ugh! i should’ve said this or I should’ve stuck up for myself and finally cussed so and so tf out.” but you don’t because you know why, pile 2? you’re better than them, simple as that.

you wouldn’t treat anybody how some people treat you, and the reality is that it’s so much harder to be nice than it is to be mean. anybody can be mean and say hurtful shit if they really wanted to, but to always be graceful and kind in the face of adversity and ignorance? rare af. +10000 aura points! don’t let anybody make you feel less than or like you can’t speak up for yourself. this next glow up you’re going to use your voice and really make it known that you are not to be fucked with, okay?! you will be standing your ground and really popping your shit in the most calm and collected way possible & people are gonna be like “wait…did [y/n] really just clock me like that?!” and you’re gonna be standing 10 toes down on it as you should. they’ll have no choice but to respect you lol. you will start to realize what is worth your time & energy and what isn’t.

you might start cutting off people that don’t mean you any good and really start to focus on yourself and your energy. no more walking on egg shells and sparing peoples feelings, this is YOUR life and you have a voice just as much as they do – so use it! i think you’ll also be meeting new friends & a potential love interest during this next glow up. i’m hearing ‘how stella got her groove back’ lol so yeah some of you might be playing the field a little bit.

some of you might just want something casual and nothing more because you just want to focus on your own healing journey. you’ll start to understand why things had to happen the way that they did & why certain relationships didn’t work out the way that you thought they would. you’ll be able to decipher what you are and aren’t willing to put up with and honestly i just see you bossing tf up and advocating for yourself no matter who doesn’t like it. that tiktok “nobody loves you baby! you should only love yourself – ON MY SOUL!” just randomly came to me lmfaooo this is your ‘i’m focusing on what really matters aka me’ era and i think it’s exactly what you need pile 2.

how to tap into this energy?

i think you need to transmute the negative energy that people try to project on you into something positive. 12:12 on the clock, yeah. like look at this way, if people doubt you, don’t respect you or don’t feel like your capable of achieving great things then use that to your advantage. let them underestimate you all they want, and then BAM boss up on them and show them who tf you are. what they don’t know only makes you stronger. you have the power to make some powerful ass connections and make a name for yourself so be calculated & strategic with your moves. people will be eating their words when it comes to you, pile 2.

PILE THREE.

pile 3 your next glow up is gonna be a bit of an emotional rollercoaster ngl, but very rewarding nonetheless. i’m hearing that one tiktok sound “you gotta take the good with the bad, smile with the sad. love what you got and remember what you had.” so yeah i think you’re really gonna be figuring out how to transmute your energy and create something from it – whether that be a job opportunity, a love offer, a trip, etc. there’s something that you really want and you’re doing the work to make it happen. you have the plan, you just need the platform lol.

for some of you, i see a major relationship coming to an end. this could be a lover or a best friend, but this person will be exposed because they’re not who you thought they were. this person has very sneaky/deceptive energy and you’ve been in the dark about this for way too long. this person/connection means a lot to you, so you will feel like this is a tough situation to completely walk away from; but my sweet pile 3’s you will be more than okay! you will be spectacular! 10:10 was just on the clock.

allow yourself to sort through your emotions and learn from the situation, don’t let it weigh you down. sometimes we get too caught up in how long we’ve been with somebody and all of the good memories we made with them, that makes us hesitant to move on. sometimes things just run its course and you’re no longer in alignment with that person. you can’t force anything or anyone in your life that doesn’t align with your highest self and that can be very hard to process when emotions are involved but i’m happy to let you know there’s light at the end of the tunnel.

i see some of you traveling to a place you’ve always wanted to go and possibly meeting a potential love interest. in this next glow up, you’ll be doing things that you’ve always wanted to do cause there’s no one holding you back. you’re stepping out of your comfort zone and just taking a leap of faith – high risk, high reward. you’re gonna be making time for yourself and also prioritizing your hobbies/interests. this is beautiful, pile 3. i see you really getting in touch with who you are at the core. be kind and gentle with yourself, because you are a precious gem that a lot of people value and care about.

how to tap into this energy?

stop giving your power away. work on your throat chakra, my loves. your voice is your power and it’s one of the major keys to your success. a closed mouth doesn’t get fed, so you need to speak up and communicate what it is that YOU want and not just say what people want to hear. this next glow up will really have you standing in your power. release is needed especially verbally cause you know that tight feeling you get in your throat when you’re tryna stop yourself from crying? yeah no more of that. no more walking on egg shells, pile 3. say what you feel and stand on it & watch how the tides turn in your favor. mwah!

PILE FOUR.

alright, pile 4! for this next glow up i see you moving. some of you might actually be moving into a new home or apartment and it’s gonna grant you so much peace and comfort. for others of you, this could be you moving on emotionally from a toxic relationship and/or familial bond and finally getting the clarity and peace you need to cut all ties and move onto something better. whatever the situation may be, it was weighing heavy on you and making you feel very down.

you’re gonna feel so free when you leave this situation behind, it’s not even funny. i’m hearing that you were a gilded bird in a cage. some of you could’ve been moving from place to place, not feeling quite settled or financially stable. if you feel lost right now and like you don’t know what to do with your life/where it’s taking you, i just wanna say keep going – W.A.Y.S. by jhené aiko is coming to mind. “if there's one thing that i learned while in those county lines, is that everything takes time. you have gotta lose your pride, you have gotta lose your mind just to find your peace of mind.” awww yeah that’s your theme song for this next glow up. things might not make sense right now, but please trust me when i say that everything is going to work out in your favor & things will be better than you could ever imagine.

you will be blessed with the tools you need to get to this next phase of your life. you are the source, pile 4. whatever you put your mind to, you can surely achieve! don’t let 3D circumstances throw you off, you are so abundant and prosperous you will see in this next glow up just how much of a powerful manifester you really are. you’re still trying to find yourself and figure out where you fit in in the world, but you don’t have to put yourself in a box, pile 4. pave your own way and once you do others will want to follow suit. no one can see your future the way that you do, so keep doing your thing because i’m seeing that you will come across people/friends that share similar interests and niches as you. awww pile 4 you’re going to find your soul tribe.

you have this flighty energy about you (air sign energy/esp gemini) like you’re from one thing to the next and you can’t figure out what you truly want to do. some of you might be in college or almost about to graduate and when people ask you “do you know what you want to do?” you’re like uhhhh….]>|>]^>.]€]€]£ like you truly don’t know but like that’s okay cause actually you do know! on a soul level, you know. what’s understood doesn’t have to be explained pile 4 lol people might not get it now but when you pop out living the life you’ve always dreamed of, TUH. they’ll understand then.

how to tap into this energy?

get out of your head so much and just vibe, pile 4. you can plan plan plan all you want but the reality is: shit happens! it might annoy you or make you feel incredibly frustrated when another problem or inconvenience pops up in your life, but there’s nothing you can’t overcome. it’s life. you will be greatful for these experiences in the long run because it will be another bridge that you’ve already crossed and dealt with, so you won’t fold under pressure – you’ll just already know what to do. you got this, pile 4. shit is about to get really good for you.

[writersblockiskillingme]

I Know Places | Taylor Swift

Pairing: Taylor Swift x fem!reader (actress!reader)

Summary: Taylor and you try everything in your power to hide your relationship from paparazzi during your date.

Warning/s: a bit of angst and a bit of fluff, allusions to homophobia, paparazzi, secret relationship, kissing, fear of getting hate, some parts of the song are removed (I'm sorry), a few curse words, grammar and spelling mistakes

Author's note: Was listening to I know places Taylor's Version while doing homework and got ✨️inspired✨️ so here you go.

You stand with your hand on my waistline

It's a scene, and we're out here in plain sight

I can hear them whisper as we pass by

It's a bad sign, bad sign

You could feel excitement fill every inch of your body as you walked alongside your adoring girlfriend, Taylor, along the surprisingly, but intentionally, quiet narrow street while your hand was securely locked onto her waist as she had her arm placed around your shoulders.

It was a very hot summer day in New York, the sun was at it's highest peek and surprisingly, even thought it's New York, not a lot of people were out. Instead of enjoying the heat and the light, almost nonexistent cool breeze, like Taylor and you, a lot of people stayed at home in desperate need of cooling down.

But the heat didn't bother you as you both walked along the street with your sundresses on. Taylor's blue sundress was matching her eyes perfectly, she almost looked too good to be real. The sunglasses were shielding your eyes from the sun as you two went to your date.

And even though you were so excited to spend the day on a date with your gorgeous girlfriend, you couldn't help but to feel nervousness flowing through your veins, consuming you entirely.

Taylor and you met at the premiere of your new film one and a half years ago and you instantly felt something at that moment on the red carpet as you locked your eyes with the pair of the bluest eyes you ever saw. You're heart skipped a few beats and you felt like you were drowning every time you looked at them.

From that point on you started dating. In secret. Nobody but your close friends and families knew. You knew that you could trust them, that they would have your back.

Every day with her felt like a dream. A dream that could easily be taken away forever.

You were always sneaking off, away from the public eye to be together. When you were under the everlasting watchful eyes of the press and in front of cameras you always played it of as friends. Yeah, friends. Best friends for sure. What a load of crap. But you had no choice, you had to keep your relationship to yourself because you were both scared. She was a successful singer and songwriter, you were the fresh new face of the Hollywood. You could only imagine what would happen if two golden stars like you were exposed in public because of your relationship. You both loved each other so much, but the hate comments would get too much, you both knew it.

So, for each other safety, you kept your relationship away from the praying eyes of the world.

But even though there is this bad side in the secret relationship, there were always moments like this. The two of you walking along with each other, the thrill of sneaking of and having a little secret and moments like those are one of the reasons for your happiness. Although, the only thing you wanted was to hold her whenever, kiss her whenever, make the whole world know that she's yours. You both wanted it.

Finally the two of you arrived at the little coffee shop at the corner of the narrow street. You looked through the gigantic mirrors of the shop and realized that the shop was empty enough, only the bartender and other two costumers were here. It couldn't be that bad, you figured, but you couldn't help the strange feeling creeping up on you as Taylor and you entered the shop.

The two of you sat down at one of the tables in the corner of the shop before the bartender arrived. With the nervous look you two ordered some coffee for yourselves before you watched the guy who took your order walk away.

You couldn't help but to look at Taylor after he left and to confess, "I don't like how he looked at us."

"To be completely honest," Taylor said as she took off her sunglasses and placed it on the hard wood of the table. "Me neither."

Pretty soon you got your order and you started to chat, but you couldn't help but to steal a glance at the bartender. And sure enough there he was. On the other side of the coffee shop, whispering into his phone as he kept stealing small glances at the two of you.

"Love, I'm sorry to interrupt you," You told Taylor who stopped talking once you said that and looked at you in concern, her hand that was placed in yours and looked like something more than just friends, tightened it's hold on your hand. "But that guy is giving me such ick."

Taylor turned her head a bit and looked at the bartender seeing him whispering in his phone, too. She slowly turned her head back to you as she lowered her voice that was drowning in worry.

"This isn't good."

Somethin' happens when everybody finds out

See the vultures circling, dark clouds

Love's a fragile little flame, it could burn out

It could burn out

'Cause they got the cages, they got the boxes

And guns

They are the hunters, we are the foxes

And we run

With the shift of the atmosphere in the air you continued to quietly whisper to each other trying to continue enjoying you date as much as you possibly could. But then in the corner of your eye you noticed a flash of light. You turned your head towards the glass window, feeling yourself instantly regret your decision.

"Taylor," You whispered quitly, your lips quivering a bit as you spoke trying to warn her. "The paparazzi are here and they're taking photos."

She momentarily froze at your words, her eyes widening a little as she looked at you slightly terrified. "Where?"

"They're outside," You continued to whisper. "Across the street. At least 10."

She slightly turned her gaze to look outside and once she did she quickly reached her sunglasses that were comfortably placed on the table. "It's TMZ. We gotta go."

You both threw some money on the table to pay for the drinks, you grabbed your own pair of sunglasses off of the table, quickly using them to shield your eyes.

She grabbed your hand in process and started to lead you out of the front door. Of course, the bartender who called TMZ on you most certainly wouldn't let you use the back entrance so you had no choice. You had to face the paparazzi outside.

Taylor looked at you and even behind the sunglasses you noticed something in her gorgeous blue eyes. There was worry, but also something that you see very often but didn't quite expect it now. Mischief and, most of all, determination.

The moment you walked outside there was yelling and questioning. You felt panic raising in your chest as Taylor tugged your hand. And just like that you started to run away as the flashes of the cameras and the yelling of the paparazzi followed.

Baby, I know places we won't be found, and

They'll be chasing their tails trying to track us down

'Cause I, I know places we can hide

I know places

I know places

The next day wasn't any different from the moment that you woke up.

Taylor and you were still lying in bed, sun barely graced the morning sky yet. And as you slept, wrapped up in the sheets and Taylor's arms you were awoken by the sound of your phone constantly ringing.

You're friends and families was constantly messaging and calling you. Even Taylor's manager called you and texted you multiple times. There was a new article on the internet. It displayed the photos of Taylor and you from yesterday.

On the top of the article, in dramatically big capital letters, was written the headline that said: "BEST FRIENDS OR MORE?!?! SINGER AND SONGWRITER TAYLOR SWIFT AND ACTRESS Y/N Y/L/N CAUGHT KISSING!"

Below the headline, there were multiple photos of the two of you. One photo displayed Taylor and you stealing a kiss on the street, your hand around her waist and her arm around your shoulders. It was before you even entered that coffee shop. Then there was a photo of you holding hands and looking at each other with so much love as you two whispered to each other. And, finally, there were multiple photos of Taylor and you running away from the paparazzi.

That's how you ended up here, leaned against the kitchen counter as your eyes followed every move that Taylor made.

You were going to announce your relationship so that you could possibly prevent, or at least lower the number of rumors that were putting the whole internet on a spiral already.

Just as Taylor looked up at you, you got a notification on your phone that said that Taylor made an Instagram post.

You clicked on the notification and you were met, face to face, with the photo that you took a few days ago. On the photo Taylor and you were sitting by the window, holding each other as she leaned down to press a kiss against your lips. The caption of the post said "Loose lips sink ships all the damn time, not this time! ♡"

"It's perfect." You told her, smiling.

"I love you." She smiled back as you replied. Taylor then walked over to you, bringing you in for a kiss that made you melt against her.

At that moment you knew that you would miss the thrill of sneaking off, stolen kisses and touching, and longing glances across the rooms. But you knew that you would finally be able to show her of as yours and that was everything that you ever wanted.

Lights flash and we'll run for the fences

Let them say what they want, we won't hear it

Loose lips sink ships all the damn time

Not this time

->

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TAGLIST:

@thecrowdedstreetin1944

[ben-talks-art]

Lin Beifong has no wins in Legend Of Korra

Something that always bothered me in regards to the way this series treated the character of Lin was the fact that it never felt like any of Lin's victories actually gave the feeling of being victories.

Maybe it's because it's been years since I watched this show, and I'm being selective in what I choose to remember, and I'm just unintentioanlly choosing to remember the bad over the good... but it feels like this series just felt a lot more comfortable dunking on Lin than actually trying to raise her up... And that kinda annoys me a little.

Lin is part of this character achetype that I like to call "The Antisocials", people who, because of personal events in their past, prefer to avoid or have trouble dealing with others. She's basically meant to be the "Zuko" of the team.

I really like this trope, and I really like to see the earth element getting some love, so I was really excited to see Lin getting her moments to shine and kick some ass in the series... Which... for some reason doesn't feel all that prevalent.

Now, don't get me wrong, when Lin needs to fight, she WILL fight, and she looks cool while doing it... But when it comes to her more memorable moments, her getting defeated sadly feels more frequent than her getting some victories.

Like... Let's take a moment to count her Ls:

She got dumped by Tenzin after another woman seduced him

A terrorist started to attack her city and kept getting away from her

She was unable to stop her men from getting captured and losing their powers

Eventually she herelf got captured and lost her bending

She's constantly getting mocked and looked down upon by other characters

Her own sister left a scar on her face while committing a crime and faced basically no consequences, only to years later have a life filled with success while Lin is all alone

Her own mother acts like she couldn't care less about her struggles

Neither of the two ever gave Lin a proper apology and instead just tried to pull an Mirabel from "Encanto" and tell her to get over it

She basically played no role in all of season 2

And when she tired to face her family about her problems she was simply treated as the one in the wrong

Now let's count her "wins:"

She allowed Tenzin's family to get away from Amon in season 1... At the cost of her getting captured... Only for the family itself to get caught later anyway

She saved Korra from falling, which allowed Amon to get away with her men

In season 3 she gets clobbered by the combustion woman so her sister can land the finishing blow

and In season 4 she tries to rescue her family, only to nearly fail and needing to be saved by her mother, who proceeds to give her the most bare-bones of moments of reconciliation, because God forbid we let our fan-favorite character from the first series show a little humility for her own daughter in her moment of weakness

It just felt like the show was afraid of ever letting Lin be a badass and giving her a real win moment.

It doesn't even need to be a battle win. She could have had a moment with Korra where she teaches her some life lesson, or teach her how to metal bend and listen to the earth, or she could have had some scenes where her actions save the day, like, how come she never gets to save her sister and mother but both of them end up saving her? Or even some character moments like her bonding with Mako, or Tenzin's kids or something... I don't think she even really interacts with anyone in a meaningfull way.

If you were to ask me who her best friend in the series was, I would have no idea what to say.

Her biggest "win" in the series was getting to wake up all happy after "solving" her personal demons, an act she achieved by... fighting her sister and venting out all her anger, I guess.

I don't know if it's just me but Lin's victories on the show all feel so shallow, as if they were telling us she was achieving things instead of actually feeling like she was. At times, she felt like the show's punching bag. Insted of being the Zuko of the story, she came more as the Squidward.

Someone who's there just to lose to the villains and make them look strong and making other characters look cool while they save her with her big lesson being that she needs to learn to be less grumpy.

Lin should be so easy to make cool! Like, you see her design, her powers and abilities, her personality, her verstility for several different types of action scenes and versatility for also different interactions with the rest of the cast...

But instead it felt like they were throwing darts at a wall trying to pick a different way to dunk on her every time, as if they were afraid of makiing her too cool.

I don't know, maybe I'm just being salty and petty because I wish more had been done with her and that's causing me to only focus on the negatives, making them look and sound a lot worse than they actually were, while also ignoring all the big positives about her time on the screen...

But sometimes it felt to me like the show was more interested in hyping up everyone else and giving them a moment to shine over Lin.

Like, again, her own sister got to take down one of the big members of the Red Lotus, and she basically becomes one of the main characters in season 4, while Toph gets to train and help heal Korra.

These two got to look so much cooler in just two seasons than Lin got to look in all 4, and I can't even fully enjoy them being cool because all I keep thinking when I look at them is "You two did Lin dirty."

If they had had an actual honest earned moment of reconciliation, I feel like I would be in heaven watching both of them kicking ass, cause again, I love the earth element, but instead I would just be "God, I wish this was Lin doing all this cool stuff instead."

I'm not exactly sure what the mindset was behind the way they wanted to handle her, not sure if there was studio interference, or mismanagement, or if Nickelodeon's meddling affected things, or what...

I'm just trying to say, I feel like Lin deserved better. I still like her character a lot but I can't help but feel even more could have been done with her.

[gwenllian-in-the-abbey]

There's this weird thing going on Reddit right now where people are claiming that legally, Rhaenyra children are not bastards. And I was wondering if you agree or disagree. I think that people are just making up their own canon lore at this point.

Hi anon,

I think what gets kind of muddled in this discussion is what "legally" means in the context. Generally speaking, children born within wedlock are considered legitimate until proven otherwise. Now in the medieval world, it's not like you were issued a birth certificate that you could whip out and say see, it says right here who the father is! There were no DNA tests, it was all a matter of word, and by and large a woman's virtue was her word, and it was what kept her and her children protected within the framework of medieval marriage. But the reason why bastardy matters in this context is also important. It's not like Rhaenyra is trying to collect child support here, nor is she a common merchant's wife whose husband has decided just to roll with it. She's the heir to the throne and the parentage of her children is a matter of inheritance and dynastic succession, so it's not a situation where a legal loophole is particularly helpful as a gotcha. There is not at this point in history a comprehensive codified law that clearly defines what these terms mean and defines the rights and obligations of parents and children legitimate and illegitimate, mostly you have combinations of precedent, tradition, oath, and a healthy dose of might makes right.

(I saw another reply to this question in which the responded basically goes, "free yourself from the shackles of this construct! Marriage isn't real it's an oppressive institution and the idea of bastardy is made up, so let it go," and while it's true that marriage, legitimacy, etc. are all social constructs and not absolute states of being, they started off as having a functional purpose within a certain social framework. And this is a basic problem a lot of people have with George's world, it's not that we have to have the views of a 12th century French peasant, or that everything has to be historically accurate, but George chose the medieval world as a setting for a reason, and it's not just an aesthetic one. Characters in even a quasi-historical setting have to act within the constraints of that setting. We have to understand that people don't know what they don't know. The medieval world doesn't have any framework for the introduction of feminist ideals. Westeros hasn't even had a Christine de Pizan yet. You couldn't walk up to a medieval peasant woman and say "marriage is a tool of patriarchal oppression and bastardy is a social construct," they'd look at you like you had two heads. And so we have to acknowledge that you can't simply start dismantling existing social structures if the framework doesn't exist to replace them with something better that offers more protections for a broader group of people, and at this point it definitely doesn't. Making an exception for one very privileged woman does not mean progress for all women, instead it often means destabilization of the flawed system that does exist, and even more violence against those less powerful in order to enforce the exceptional status).

So from a medieval point of view, marriage was pretty much a non-negotiable for a woman. And women weren't simply getting married because they were pressured into it by their families or because their fathers were opportunistic assholes, they got married because unmarried women had no legal status or standing. In most places they could not sign contracts or own land. A woman could join the church or get married (or become a prostitute, but it's not like sex workers had freedoms or protections either). Divorce wasn't a thing, and annulment was hard to get and usually available only as a tool for men to set aside their wives. So, for all intents and purposes, once you were married, that was generally it, you were stuck for life (the upside is that widows did get a lot more freedom, so marrying an older guy and waiting it out was not a bad option sometimes, all things considered). But what marriage did provide was assurance that you and your children would be protected and provided for. Marriage was a practical agreement, involving dowries, inheritances, and alliances sealed in blood. And this is one of the reasons why bastards could not inherit. Inheritance for once's children was one of the few perks of a marriage for a woman (this is, incidentally, why Alicent is so pressed about her children being effectively disinherited. There is NO reason for her, as an eligible maiden of good standing, to marry a man who will not provide for her sons, king or not). And of course, a man's bastards are obvious and are disqualified from inheriting (setting aside legitimization because it is not nearly the easy out that people think it is). You can't really pass them off as legitimate because your wife clearly knows which children she gave birth to, whereas a man might be told he is the father of a child when that child's father is in fact someone else.

In a dynastic marriage, all of this becomes even more important. Marriages were made as alliances and to strengthen the ties between kingdoms or houses. A child seals the marriage agreement by binding two bloodlines and creating kinship bonds that will last beyond the current generation. Those kinship bonds can ensure peace between kingdoms at war, trade agreements, and military aid. Passing a bastard off as trueborn breaks that agreement; it violates the very principle by which the agreement was made. And in this context, it doesn't actually matter if the father claims the children as his, because in a dynastic marriage inheritance is not just a personal matter, it's a matter of the state. The truth matters to a great many people, more than just the immediate family. A lie doesn't become the truth simply because the liar isn't caught, and there's no statute of limitations or court ruling that will ever put the matter to rest for good. Passing off a bastard as trueborn destabilizes the succession and breaks the dynastic bonds that the marriage was meant to establish. When the bastard heir in question attempts to take the throne, it won't be a smooth transition.

So what does it mean that Laenor and Corlys agree to pass Rhaenyra's children off as trueborn? It means that their bastardy cannot be proven at the moment insofar as the legal father, Rhaenyra's husband, is playing along and covering for Rhaenyra, and Viserys is backing them up by giving this his "legal" stamp of approval. But again, our view that it's no one else's business but Laenor and Rhaenyra's and that Viserys "legalized" their status is very modern. Jaehaeyrs and Alysanne were not considered married in the eyes of the Westerosi until they'd had a bedding ceremony, that is, the consummation of their marriage was witnessed. Royal marriages and the children that come from them are a public matter because the succession affects everyone in the realm. Laenor, Corlys, and Viserys can protect those children in the short term, but Laenor and Corlys and Viserys won't live forever, and they could withdraw their support for those children and renounce them as bastards at any time. Harwin could admit to fathering them, Rhaenyra and Harwin could get caught in the act, or someone else close to them might confess. Sure right now the black faction are all one big happy family, but 20 years down the line when bastard Jace takes the throne over trueborn Aegon III? There are multiple people in the family who could confess to knowledge of the bastardy, including Aegon III himself. The bastardy is too obvious and there are too many legitimate heirs of both house Targaryen and house Velaryon getting pushed aside in favor of bastard born children for it to be an issue that simply disappears because Rhaenyra and Laenor say so.

So "legal bastardy" is a pretty meaningless concept when it comes to royal succession because it's not a matter that's going to be settled by some neutral third party in a court of law. What matters in the long run is not whether or not Laenor claimed the kids, what matters is whether or not the situation is questionable enough that people with the power to challenge it might challenge it. And we see even within the actual narrative of the Dance that this is indeed the case. There is already a situation brewing with the other branches of the Velaryon family who are rightfully pretty pissed to see their ancestral seat pass to someone with no blood ties to the family (and as an aside, people will say Vaemond was self-serving, and of course he was, but that doesn't make him wrong, and maybe Baela or Rhaena should have inherited instead, but neither they nor their father were pressing their claims because they were backing up the bastard claimants, so was Vaemond supposed to do that for them?). And yes the king and Rhaenyra can cry treason and they can kill Vaemond and cut out tongues, but using force to silence people for telling the objective truth is by definition tyranny, and that's exactly the sort of situation that would get the nobility nervous. Because if Rhaenyra has to silence people already and she's not even queen yet, what will Jace have to do when he takes the throne? That's the real problem, not the "legal" status of Jace and his brothers, but the practical ramifications of hiding the truth.

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

What I find weird about Marinette's crush is that Origins has her not caring about Adrien being a celebrity or the son of a fashion designer she admires which sets it as being a normal crush on a person you know (who happens to be a celebrity) but then the rest of the show mostly treats it as a celebrity crush

There's a reason that I've often said that Origins the best writing that the show ever gave us. While it's not perfect, for me, it was the moment where the show suddenly got good and had true potential. My possibly far too generous read of that squandered potential is that the writers wanted to write a strong romance, but they used the wrong trope to guide that romance in the wider story, so we get a story that's the worst of both worlds. It fails to fit the mold that it's guiding trope is supposed to fit and it fails to be a strong romance because the chosen trope doesn't allow for a strong romance, so let's talk about why that is!

It's really common for formula shows with a teenage lead to have a character for that lead to crush on. Kim Possible had Kim crushing on Josh Mankey for the first few seasons. Phineas and Ferb gave Isabella a crush on Phineas and Candace a crush on Jeremy Johnson. Danny Phantom had Danny crushing on Paulina. I could keep going with examples because this is such standard trope! In fact, if you look at how these shows play these crushes, then you'll actually find a tame version of Marinette's writing where the crushes are often used for comedy.

The problem is that this trope is pretty much never used to develop a serious romance between two leads. It's either used to create tension between the true romantic leads or to give a character a little extra depth because people get crushes and it's a nice, relatable element for kids and teenagers.

The reason why you don't use this trope with romantic leads is because romantic leads are supposed to have an actual romance. We're supposed to watch them fall in love and be invested in their relationship! That simply doesn't fit the way this trope works because this trope is all about the experience of having a crush, not about the experience of truly falling in love.

To go back to the Kim Possible example, Josh Mankey is what TV tropes calls a "satellite love interest." He is truly just there to be shipped with Kim because she's a teenage girl and teenage girls have crushes so we need our cool teen girl heroine to have a cool crush. However, somewhere along the line, the writers decided that Kim and her partner Ron were going to be the end game couple. Once that choice was made, Mankey was out! But Kim didn't start treating Ron the same way that she'd treated Josh because Ron wasn't just a cute boy for our cool teenage lead to crush on. Her was her costar. A romance between them mattered as it's success would redefine the entire show! It's failure would straight up end the show! That meant that this couldn't be your standard teen romance. It needed to feel so much more real and powerful and lasting.

This is where Miraculous' problems come in. When we look at Origins, we can see that the writers really do want our romantic leads to feel like romantic leads. They want this romance to feel real and powerful. We can also look at season five to back this up. Once the square is together, they have some truly adorable moments. For example, the hand raise scene in Kwami's Choice was about the only good thing that episode gave us. We can even look at the final episode of season five to back this read. While it's generally a massive failure, it is all about Marinette's relationship to Adrien. He isn't just a cute boy that she's crushing on. He is massively impacting her life.

But when we look at the leadup to this romance happening? The things that took place between Origins and Kwami's Choice? There's nothing of substances. I can't even tell you why Adrien's crush flipped to Marinette or if Marinette's crush on Chat Noir was supposed to feel like anything more than a rebound. There's not even much substance once they get together because substance would require them to have deep conversations about their lives and they can't do that while the secret identities remain a thing.

This is part of the wider problem that every side of the square feels like casual friends at best because the their story wasn't written like a romance. It was written like two sets of impossible crushes where the focus was on the struggle of having an unrequited crush and not the thrill of a romance. Adrien isn't Marinette's Ron, he's her Josh Mankey. Same goes for Ladybug and Chat Noir. While Ladynoir was closer than Adrienette, we never got moments that showed them as close friends with a bond like no other. Alya and Marinette are closer than any side of the square and that's a pretty massive writing failure for a rom-com unless Alya is secretly Marinette's end game romantic partner.

To continue our Kim Possible case study, Kim and Ron really don't feel like a couple for most of the show. For the first three seasons, the focus was on their friendship to the point where I didn't even think about shipping them when I first watched the show. But when the relationship suddenly happened in the final season? It still felt natural and right! Of course these two would get together! How did I not see that?

If Miraculous wanted to make the square feel like a true romance, then they needed to take a lesson from shows like Kim Possible. They need focus on making Ladynoir and Adrienette extremely strong friendships with a background element of pining and romantic tension. You could keep Marinette's failed confessions, but they should almost always fail into cute friendship moments like Adrienette gaming in Gamer. Same goes for Ladynoir with moments like that one episode where Chat Noir could have learned Ladybug's identity, but chose to respect her boundaries instead. These kind of moments keep us excited for the square because they make it feel like they're obviously meant to be. But when it's just Chat Noir hitting on Ladybug and failing to get a positive reaction or Marinette failing to even talk to Adrien? That's not love. That's a hopeless crush.

This doesn't mean getting rid of Alya. Kim Possible had a female best friend, too! Her name was Monique and I loved her, but Monique and Kim's relationship never felt more important than Kim's relationship with Ron. There was even an episode where Monique tried to replace Ron since he was unavailable and she failed hard because, without Ron, Kim can't be a hero. If you want another show to look at to see how the square should have been written, then I'd check out Danny Phantom. That show has an endgame couple - Danny and Sam - and their relationship always had a romantic tension to it, but it was primarily a friendship for most of the show. I'm not saying that these two shows were perfect, but they did a great job with the romance element and show how Miraculous could have made the square work.

There are actually a lot of ways that show's like Kim Possible could have inspired and guided Miraculous. It's why I like using it as an example where I can. It's really sad to see a 2016 show failing so hard when there's a wildly successful 2002 show out there that had already shown how to succeed when using similar concepts. Marinette and Kim are even similar characters as are Adrien and Ron and even Plagg and Rufus. The template was out there, guys! Kim Possible even shows us how to take a comedy side kick and develop him into something more as the series goes on. Episode one Ron and end of show Ron aren't the same character. End of show Ron feels way more important!

This is also why it's so useful to study tropes. They're the building blocks of stories so it's very useful to understand why certain builds are popular so that you know when and where to use them. Don't like a trope? That's totally fine, but you generally want to start by asking "why is this popular" instead of just dismissing the trope all together assuming you're working in a genre where that trope dominates. Like I'm personally not a big fan of the satellite love interest, but I appreciate why they're a thing and understand when you should use them.

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

IOTA Reviews: Revelation and Confrontation

Well, here we are. The final seven episodes of the season. For the most part, Season 5's episodes have been boring at worst and passable at best, with only about four episodes I'd consider to be outright bad. That pretty much disappears starting here. It's like the writers held back for most of the season, and just as the final arc was about to begin, right when most of the audience was led into a false sense of security, they were like:

Let's get into the twentieth and twenty-first episodes of Miraculous Ladybug's fifth season: Revelation and Confrontation

So, for an episode titled “Revelation”, you'd assume it would focus on Marinette and Adrien finally learning the other's secret after all these years, right? Nope, it's a Lila episode, as in Lila is the character we follow. How does it open? By revealing that Lila has different moms she's conning into believing she's their daughter.

I believe Linkara best captures my reaction to this.

YEP. Right out of the gate, we get arguably one of the dumbest plot twists in TV history. For an episode that's supposed to help us learn more about Lila's life, it's only raising more questions than it's answering, and it feels like it was there just for the sake of shocking the audience.

First off, why is she doing this? What does she possibly have to gain living with three random women who, as far as I can tell, have no political, social, or financial power whatsoever? Her entire motivation is lying to make herself look good so she can kiss up to famous people and ride the coattails of their success. Who the hell are these three people and why did Lila chose to pretend to be their daughter? In fact, are any of them even her biological mother?

Second, how did she even pull this off? I can somewhat buy her tricking her peers into believing her lies, but three grown women all believe this person is their daughter? Did she fake a DNA test or something? Did she frame some other kids for murder? Is one of them the kid in Omelas? Did the other moms adopt Lila? They must have, because I'm pretty sure any of them would know they were pregnant, but how did she fake being an orphan? How has she not been caught? The scene establishing this shows her ending a call with one of her mothers right as another one enters her room. You're telling me nobody has ever walked in on Lila talking with one of her mothers?

Third, just how long has she been doing this for? Has she been doing this her entire life? Did she frame her real mother for tax fraud at the age of five so she could explore the world? When the hell did she start doing this, and how did she even get the resources to do it? Does she have more than three moms?

Finally, what the hell does any of this tell us about Lila? We already know she's a liar and a villain, but what does learning she lies about who her mother is accomplish for the narrative. Outside of a single line to Sabine later on that heavily implies she wants to make her her next mother, this scene is entirely pointless. Sure, it shows how effective of a liar she is, but that's what the episode is already setting out to show us! We already know she's manipulative, so what's the point of any of this?!

Jesus Christ, we're only on the first scene, and I'm already pissed off. You see what I mean about these last seven episodes?

After lying some more, Lila learns an update to the Alliance rings has Kagami replace her as the female avatar. When she goes to ask Gabriel why he's cutting off ties with her, we learn just why Gabriel is such a tactical genius.

Gabriel: You were only the face of my brand in exchange for a mission: to monitor my son's relationships and keep him away from bad company. You failed. My son got close to this Marinette Dupain-Cheng who's been nothing but a terrible influence on him. But you did give me one excellent idea: to create a new media-friendly pairing for my son, which is why Kagami Tsurugi will be the new female face of the Gabriel brand. Perfection itself! All that remains to do is perpetuate this facade until it becomes truth in everyone's eyes. And until jealousy eats away at Marinette Dupain-Cheng...

Lila: But... What's to become of me?

Gabriel: You just remain what you are. Nothing.

Because it's not like Lila is easily your most competent ally (at least, by comparison), and is the only one who doesn't hate your guts, right? Seriously, Lila's biggest motivation other than fame is to ruin Marinette's life, and for the most part, as bad as the writing has been, she has been mostly effective in damaging her reputation (Chameleon, Ladybug, Adoration). For God's sake, if it wasn't for her, you would have been exposed as Monarch earlier this season in “Illusion”! Say what you will about Lila as a character and how stupid everyone acts when she's on-screen, but at least she's good at her job.

Lila walks off fuming, and Gabriel considers akumatizing her, but doesn't want to risk it because of how much she hates him... even though multiple Akumas over the course of the show were people who hated Gabriel or wanted revenge on him (The Bubbler, Simon Says, Style Queen, Heart Hunter, Passion, Action). It also doesn't stop him from akumatizing Lila later on in the episode, because her hatred is now directed at Marinette. And as we all know, it's physically impossible to hate more than one person at a time.

After a quick scene showing Marinette and Adrien's relationship is now public knowledge, we cut to class, where Ms. Bustier is handing back tests.

Also, despite being in the second trimester of her pregnancy (which hasn't been mentioned since the New York Special, over two years before this episode premiered), Ms. Bustier is wearing no maternity clothes to speak of, just her usual outfit with a noticeable baby bump.

I'm obviously not an expert, but I don't think that's good for the baby. If anyone reading this has experience with being pregnant, feel free to correct me.

Ms. Bustier points out that Sabrina put her name on both hers and Chloe's. Ms. Bustier naturally wants to know what the hell is going on.

Ms. Bustier: How long has this been going on?

Chloe: Oh, since we learned to write-- I mean, since Sabrina did.

Yep, after almost five seasons, the writers are now officially resorting to making dumb blonde jokes, the only kind of humor rivaled by fart jokes and racist jokes in terms of being overused and unfunny.

Ms. Bustier lets Sabrina off with a warning and decides to help Chloe make up for the lost work and salvage her academic career. For some reason, even though this is a reasonable response to discovering one of your students has been cheating for years, Marintte has a problem with this.

Marinette: Everybody knows that Chloe been cheating, taking advantage of Sabrina and not making any efforts compared to the others... for years! And the only consequence is that she's going to get help?! Of course, we need to support students who have problems, but not when they're the problem!

If you had a problem with Chloe mistreating Sabrina, THEN WHY THE HELL DIDN'T YOU TELL MS. BUSTIER YOURSELF? Even Lila points out that Marinette should have pointed this out to the teachers as class representative (I'm not sure if that's a thing in French schools, but let's assume it is for this episode's sake), but Marinette herself says she chose not to.

Marinette: Why would I have? She doesn't have difficulties! Only privileges! And if you need proof to see how the teachers will let her get away with anything!

What was it Alya said in “Origins”? Something about evil triumphing if good people do nothing? Eh, I'll think about it later.

Also, who's to say this isn't a punishment? Chloe is still going to have to make up her work, she'll need more attention from the faculty as a result, summer school is most likely on the table now, and who's to say her dad won't have problems with this? Yeah, we know he's a spineless coward, but let's assume he'll actually act like a parent for once, for the sake of argument.

Despite outright saying that she neglected her duties as class representative, Marinette is shocked Lila takes the chance to suggest she replace her for the job. Later at lunch, like what's happened in every other Lila episode, Marinette tries to tell Alya that Lila is a liar, Alya doesn't believe her for a second, and nothing changes. Oh wait, I forgot to mention that this time, Adrien and Nino are there too! That makes it different!

Seriously, why are we still doing this? It's almost the end of Season 5, and even though Alya is one of Marinette's trusted confidants, the show still needs to have this drama with her not believing her. It honestly feels like a lot of the Lila episodes this season were originally written before Season 4 aired, but something changed, so they just threw them here when it makes no sense for Alya to still doubt Marinette after all this time. It's also why they randomly threw this line in to remind us that Alya knows.

Alya: You know, even Ladybug accepts help from Scarabella every once in a while.

Yeah, mind telling me what happened the last time Alya transformed into Scarabella?

OH RIGHT.

It's during this little conversation where we get the first hint of the episode's moral, and believe me, I'll get to that. Alya tries to reason with Marinette that maybe it's possible for Lila to help Chloe change for the better, which Marinette vehemently refuses to believe. We're clearly supposed to see Alya as being too naive and is oblivious to Lila's true nature, but neither of them know just how bad she really is. We, the audience, know that Lila has worked with Gabriel and Monarch willingly in the past (Heroes' Day, Chameleon, Miraculer, Illusion, Adoration) and that she's living under several fake identities. Yeah, we know Lila hates Marinette and tried to get her expelled in “Ladybug”, but nobody else knows just how bad she is. It doesn't help that Marinette's reasons for Lila only amount to “She's a liar!”, and not “She tried to get me expelled!”, intentionally making her come across as petty so it's easier for Alya to doubt her.

Another thing that makes the whole “Alya thinks Lila can help Chloe change” deal is that we already know Marinette has done nothing to really stop her behavior as class representative or as Ladybug, so it's hard to really act like Marinette contributes a lot to the job, especially when, once again, she willingly admitted to not even trying to reach out to the other teachers about Chloe's grades or how she's using Sabrina to get by in class. Even though Alya doesn't know about Lila's true nature, she's not wrong when it comes to believing someone else could bring something new to the position of class representative.

And this only gets worse, as we see Lila's latest plan to win over the class.

Lila: My dear classmates, I am convinced that even the worst person can change if you reach out to them. And to prove it to you, Chloe, will you be my deputy?

(The whole class gasps in shock)

Chloe: (sighs and walks to the front, putting on a fake smile)

Nino: Wow, is Chloe actually going to be a mere deputy?

Alya: That is so not Chloe!

Rose: Does this mean it's already working?

Mylene: Can Lila actually get her to change?

Marinette: (slams her fists on her table) This is so crazy! It's all lies!

Lila: Poor Marinette... couldn't succeed because she was too busy with her love life, as well as being reminded of her disdain for Chloe. But you know me. You know all about my humanitarian work. I'm used to going into conflict zones. I can do this. There are two weeks left. What do you have to lose? Help me, help Chloe change. Vote for me!

OH, YOU NO GOOD MOTHERFU---

Sorry, sorry. Had a little... episode there. Where were we?

Okay, first off, wow. Are you trying to seriously piss off your fanbase? The whole argument of being able to appeal to the humanity in the worst person is one of the biggest arguments people in favor of Chloe redemption make, so you know damn well this scene was targeted towards them. What was the original draft for this? A still image of Thomas Astruc flipping off the audience?

Second, once again, Lila isn't wrong. As far as we know, Marinette did nothing to really help or stop Chloe over the school year other than foiling the occasional scheme. While we know it's a lie, can you really blame the rest of the class for believing Lila will actually make things better for them by finding a way to stop Chloe from bullying them? It doesn't help that the case Marinette makes for her class representative campaign is that she's giving up on helping Chloe, saying she sucks, and that she's going to help the rest of the class instead. Because we all know showing blatant bias against one of your classmates is a surefire way to win the favor of your peers, right?

As for the speech itself? Well...

Marinette: My dear friends, of course, you should always do everything in your power to help people. And we all hoped that Chloe would become a better person. Ladybug reached out to her. Ms. Bustier reached out to her. So did Adrien and so did I. You all reached out to her. This proves how big your hearts are. And yet, Chloe remained the same. Why? Because as far as she's concerned, having a big heart is a weakness to be exploited. Chloe already believes she's better than all of us. So... don't be fooled. I, for one, am done wasting my energy in vain. As class representative, I'd much rather help all of you because you deserve it a thousand times more.

So here's the main moral of the episode, kids: If you ever decide to be the bigger person and show kindness to someone who is mean to you, it's going to bite you in the ass sooner or later, so never try helping other people change. I just... what the fuck, Astruc?

Yeah, the show tries to point out that being kind to others is still important, but the context of the episode itself doesn't show any examples. You could have used Kim as an example of someone who has changed his ways, but “Derision” retconned him into not being a bully, and Felix isn't even in this episode, so he can't be used as an example. The episode never really provides an argument showing the difference between people who can change their ways and people who choose not to, which is why the lesson doesn't work. How exactly is a child watching this supposed to tell when they're being taken advantage of for their kindness? For a show with an opening that has the lyrics, “The power of love always so strong”, this episode really isn't doing a lot to encourage its audience to show compassion to others.

And we're not done yet. Lila makes up a sob story relating to getting fired, and tearfully says there's no hope for Chloe. Once again, the writers think by having a villain say stuff certain fans believe in, it's meant to automatically invalidate the argument. What are you going to have Lila say next? “Felix should face consequences for his actions”? “Gabriel is far worse than Chloe will ever be”? “Somehow, Chloe is worse than either of her terrible parents”? I'm all ears here.

The entire story was a gambit by Lila so she'd have a cover story, as she plans to attract an Akuma with her sheer hatred for Marinette. Like I said earlier, Monarch assumes that since Lila hates Marinette at the moment, it's impossible for her to harbor any negative feelings towards his civilian identity, choosing to akumatize her into Hoaxer.

Ignoring the fact that the name sounds like it belongs to an antidepressant, Hoaxer is an okay recolor of Volpina. There's not much else to say visually. Her powers involve brainwashing anyone who hears her lies through the Alliance rings... even though she was already able to manipulate others through lying, so this seems like a redundant power to give her. Sure, she can also teleport through the Alliance rings, but that's just something Lady Wifi could already do. Monarch also gives her the Fox Miraculous' Mirage to use so she can create fake footage to back up her lies... even though she already has the power to make everyone believe her lies. Yeah, this upgrade is kind of pointless, isn't it?

Hoaxer's first lie is to say that Marinette is really Monarch. With the exception of Adrien, Ivan, and Mylene (who don't wear Alliance rings), the entire class is brainwashed into hunting Marinette, believing they'll save Paris if they stop her. After Adrien points out how it wouldn't make sense for Marinette to be Monarch if she wants Lila to expose her secrets, he ducks out to transform into Cat Noir, soon meeting up with Ladybug.

Ladybug and Cat Noir steal an Alliance ring from Officer Roger to learn how this power works, only to learn the brainwashing is only effective as long as the victim is wearing an Alliance ring. Hoaxer senses that one of her victims lost their ring, so she turns the rest of Paris against the two heroes by saying that they're from the planet Saturn and fart bubbles that destroy the ozone layer. Believe me, I wish I was able to come up with a line that stupid.

Ladybug summons her Lucky Charm, and gets a sewing machine. She goes back to her house, only to be ambushed by Alya. Ladybug takes off the ring and detransforms, lending the Ladybug Miraculous to Alya so she can transform into Scarabella as part of her plan. Because even though Alya has already been exposed three times in the past two seasons, the animators paid for the Scarabella model, and goddamn it, they're going to get their money's worth out of it. While Cat Noir fends off some brainwashed civilians, Hoaxer uses her powers on Nathalie to get her to send all of Gabriel's private secrets to her. How Monarch doesn't sense this is anyone's guess. Marinette pretends to appeal to Lila's conscience as part of a plan involving her, Scarabella, and Cat Noir, but Lila then rejects the Akuma with ease.

The Akuma somehow de-evilizes itself, Scarabella makes her only contribution to the fight by using Miraculous Scarabella to fix the damage, Monarch still doesn't know Lila now has intel on his civilian identity when he should have a telepathic link with her, and instead blames Marinette for all of his problems.

Back at school, Adrien apologizes to Marinette for not telling her to act against Lila, something that should be huge. It's just that both of them make it about how bad he feels, not about Marinette.

Adrien: I'm sorry, Marinette. I was wrong. I shouldn't have told you to act against Lila. If you give the slightest opportunity to people like her, they'll grasp at it and cause disasters in no time. And now, you're the one who looks like a bad person.

Marinette: You thought you were doing the right thing. Just like with Chloe. That's another reason why I love you, Adrien. You always want to see the good in other people. But sometimes, the good we think we see in some people is just a reflection of our own, and we end up being fooled by our own kindness. But we'll find a way to expose Lila eventually.

Nevermind the fact that Lila's lies haven't done anything to negatively affect Adrien at school, only Marinette, so his little pity doesn't feel earned. There's a difference between feeling bad about something and making it all about you. Also, once again, the episode's moral still comes across less like “mean people can take advantage of your kindness” and more like “never trust anyone, as your attempts to show kindness can backfire horribly on you”.

Lila is elected class representative, and Alya still believes her over Marinette. How does Marinette respond?

Marinette: I decided to let her have her way so I can finally prove to you all who she really is.

Spoiler alert, next episode, someone other than Marinette does the heavy lifting to expose Lila, and I doubt it was ever part of Marinette's plan.

The episode ends with Lila learning all of Gabriel's secrets, which would have been a much better opportunity for her to learn he's Monarch instead of learning about it off-screen as far back as “Emotion”.

THE BIGGEST IDIOT OF THE EPISODE IS... MARINETTE

Once again, Gabriel was very close to earning the Biggest Idiot Award for the third time for ditching Lila for no reason and later giving her the tools needed to learn his deepest and darkest secrets, but Marinette edged him out here. Not only did Marinette outright admit to neglecting her responsibilities as class representative, blamed Ms. Bustier for not doing anything about Chloe when she hasn't done anything to stop her either, and made a very poor argument for her reelection campaign by saying that being nice is bad. But hey, maybe her genius plan next episode will make up for it.

“Confrontation” starts off with Adrien struggling to fill out an orientation form for what kind of school he wants to go to next year and what he'll study. I'm not really an expert in French schools, but I'll assume this is how things are done there. Either way, Adrien isn't willing to fill out the form because as we saw in “Pretension”, Gabriel is planning on sending him to a private school in London next year. Why Adrien wasn't excused from this assignment is beyond me.

Adrien: If Marinette finds out that my father's decided to send me to a private school in London next year, it will break her heart and mine, too.

Again, it's really funny how a huge portion of his screentime in Season 4 involved being angry at Ladybug for keeping secrets from him, yet now, Adrien sees nothing wrong with keeping secrets from Marinette, even when it's inevitable that she'll find out. Then again, Plagg's response isn't any better.

Plagg: I know how I would feel if I had to be separated from you, Adrien, and there is nothing funny about that at all.

Then why did you force Adrien to give up his Miraculous in “The Kwamis' Choice”?! I'm pretty sure that was all your idea, as was what happened afterwards with Monarch almost winning.

As Marinette worries about the career stuff, but through some flashbacks showing just how selfish and one-dimensional Chloe and Lila are, she's not exactly confident they have her best interests in mind. Also, remember how Marinette said she supposedly let Lila win at the end of the last episode in order to make progress on finding a way to stop her?

Marinette: I feel like I'm betraying our friends by entrusting their forms to such awful girls.

As we'll later learn, while she does come up with a plan to expose Lila, it was after this scene that it happened, so this doesn't really make it look like Marinette has any ideas to stop Lila after she won at the end of the last episode. After the rest of the class fills out their forms, Lila destroys them all so Sabrina can forge their handwriting. Of course, not before we get another “funny” scene where Chloe struggles to understand their own plan.

Lila: After you destroy the forms, you'll fill out new ones using your talent for forging student's handwriting. I'll tell you what to write.

Chloe: Not so fast! You're using too many words to explain your plan!

GET IT? DO YOU GET IT?! SHE'S RICH AND BLONDE, SO THAT MEANS SHE'S STUPID! WHY AREN'T YOU LAUGHING AT THIS COMEDY GOLD?!

Meanwhile, Nino calls for another meeting of the totally useful and not at all irrelevant Resistance, citing an issue. Because they're all planning to go to different schools next year, they're not sure how they can help Ladybug and Cat Noir... other than, oh, I don't know, meeting outside of school? It doesn't matter, because everyone unanimously volunteers to go to the same high school next year. Well, everyone except Nathaniel, but that's not important.

After Marinette gets a call from someone, Mylene suggests that the class go on strike against being forced to decide their careers so early in life. This would have made a lot more sense if you chose to do this before submitting your forms, but hey, whatever floats your boat. Adrien finally figures out what he wants to do, so he hands his form over to Lila. What did he write down?

Lila: (reading the letter) “I've been thinking a lot, and still not know what I would like to do later in life. The only thing I know for sure is that I love Marinette Dupain-Cheng. But I guess that doesn't really help you. I'm sorry. Adrien Agreste.”

Minimum wage at Wendy's it is. Good choice, Adrien.

Yeah, I think now's as good a time as any to talk about how flat Adrien's character has been this season. Even though Adrien has gotten more character focus thanks to not being hampered by loads of other side characters and temp heroes, he hasn't really had a lot of strong moments overall. Scenes that should feel like a big deal, like him accidentally Cataclysming Monarch or realizing he has feelings for Marinette are usually downplayed or brushed off so we can see how those events affect other characters. We don't get any scenes with Adrien feeling guild for possibly condemning a man to death because more focus is given to Gabriel dealing with his impending demise. We don't get any scenes that show how Adrien has come to see Marinette in a romantic light because more focus is given to Marinette struggling to deal with his sudden confession. And here's this scene. Rather than showing Adrien developing an interest in something he wants to do for a career, a huge sign of his growing independence, what do we get? Adrien saying he loves Marinette and admitting he has no goddamn idea what he wants to do with his life. Such a defining moment for one of the two main characters in the show. I'm just saying, if the last season made a big deal about Adrien wanting to be treated more importantly, why is he still getting shafted by the narrative?

And for the umpteenth time this season, because Chloe is the one saying that Adrien's form is “pathetic”, we're supposed to not agree with her, even though this is supposed to be a serious form that your teachers will see. Just what is this show's obsession with using strawmen to try and invalidate criticism? I've seen more nuanced takes from political cartoons.

Lila and Chloe present the forged forms to the teachers, assigning all kinds of inaccurate assignments for careers that the students don't want. Lila manages to get one student in particular held back, Marin—Juleka. Yeah, Juleka, Lila's most hated enemy is being forced to repeat a year. Why didn't Lila try to keep Marinette held back?

To be fair, Lila's plan is to slander Marinette specifically, but screwing over the entire class feels like a bit of a reach. I don't even know if part of Lila's plan was to attract an Akuma or not. Speaking of, Monarch senses Juleka's negative emotions and sends a Megakuma her way. Because it's a day that ends with a “Y”, the Magical Charm does nothing, so for the sixth time in the series (not counting her brief appearance in “Ladybug”), Juleka is akumatized into Reflekta. I swear, at this point you could make a drinking game for every time an old character model is reused this season.

Reflekta's design is pretty alright. I like the idea of the shy and quiet Juleka getting a brightly colored form that's impossible to ignore, and her power to make everyone else look like her fits her character. Unlike other returning Akumas this season, Reflekta gets a noticeable upgrade to her powers, as now she can essentially create a hive mind with all of her victims on top of getting the Tiger Miraculous' Clout to do some extra damage. Wow, it's almost like the Miraculous powers should actually serve as upgrades to established powers instead of being the only thing that gives the Akuma their powers.

Reflekta goes to town assimilating more victims, Marinette does nothing to get the still pregnant Ms. Bustier to safety so she can dart off and transform into Ladybug. By the time Ladybug and Cat Noir meet up, the city is crawling with Reflektas.

Ladybug summons her Lucky Charm, getting a plastic tape dispenser. Using Cat Noir's staff and the tape, the two put up a fake brick wall poster in an alleyway. The two heroes split up and draw a Reflekta's attention respectively, pretending to be helpless once they reach a “dead end” at the fake brick wall. When the two Reflektas try to use Clout, Ladybug and Cat Noir duck out of the way, letting the two attacks collide.

Ladybug de-evilizes the Megakuma, uses Miraculous Ladybug to fix the damage, and gives Juleka yet another useless Magical Charm.

And while you'd think this is where the episode ends, unfortunately, we're only halfway done. Id anything, this entire fight was pointless, and it's going to lead to a lot of problems with the pacing later on.

Back at school, Lila takes the opportunity to pin the blame on Marinette, though when Marinette points out how good Sabrina is at forging handwriting, Sabrina admits to helping them out. While the blame is still on Marinette, Chloe and Lila follow Sabrina when she runs out of the classroom. In the bathroom, Sabrina is still upset about what she had to do, and when Chloe and Lila confront her and try to keep her in line, only for Sabrina to reveal it was a trap for Chloe and Lila to confess their plan in front of the rest of the class, and one that had been set up a few days ago by Sabrina and Marinette.

So after an episode that went out of its way to show how apologetically irredeemable Chloe and Lila are, Sabrina is the one to ultimately turn a new leaf and is the key player in stopping Chloe and Lila's tyranny. Let's go into all the reasons as to why this failed to be a triumphant moment.

First off, why is Sabrina the key player who helps finally expose Lila? Why not Adrien, or Alya, or anyone else in Marinette's class? Rather than work together with her friends to show she wasn't lying, Marinette only works with Sabrina, and they act like they're the close friends working together. What, you thought Adrien or maybe Alya would help Marinette expose Lila like the end of the last episode hinted at? HA! Of course not.

Second, Sabrina's redemption is forced as hell. I'm not saying Sabrina turning a new leaf is entirely impossible, but the show just expects us to forget all the times she's gone along with Chloe's bullying antics (Origins, Mr. Pigeon, Lady Wifi, Dark Cupid, Horrificator, Darkblade, Reflekta, Zombizou, Stormy Weather 2, Lies, Sole Crusher, Gabriel Agreste, Derision, Adoration), and even in this episode, she still helped forge the new forms for Chloe and Lila. Remember how “Derision” said Chloe's actions couldn't be excused by how poorly she was treated by her mother? Funny how Sabrina's actions can be excused by how poorly she was treated by Chloe. The redemption honestly could have worked if it was Marinette who reached out to Sabrina and saw the good in her, teaching the lesson that while some people refuse to change, that doesn't mean other people can't change either. But instead, Sabrina's just a good guy because the plot said so, a deus ex Sabrina if you will.

Third, this was Marinette's plan to stop Lila? Like I said, while the previous episode made it seem like Marinette had an idea on how to expose Lila, this episode showed that Marinette had absolutely no plans prior Sabrina's call, and she handed over the sheets to Chloe and Lila earlier. What was Marinette even going to do if Sabrina didn't call? This only makes Sabrina's redemption feel even more forced, because that was what led to Chloe and Lila being exposed.

And finally, we don't even get a lot of resolution with Marinette's classmates believing Lila over her once she's exposed.

Yes, there was a deleted scene where Alya and the others apologize to Marinette instead of just Ms. Bustier which was supposedly cut for time constraints, but why would you leave that out when Marinette's friends believing Lila over her has always been a sore spot among viewers? If only there was another scene that could have been cut out of the episode that added nothing to the plot over an important character moment showing how guilty Marinette's friends feel.

Chloe and Lila are expelled by Mr. Damocles, but then he gets a call from Andre ordering him to keep them in and do nothing to change the forged forms. Normally, this would be something to make Andre out to be a bad guy, but like Sabrina, because he's being belittled and ordered around by someone else (in this case, Audrey), we're meant to sympathize with him. Trust me, it gets even worse next episode.

Mr. Damocles is upset enough to attract another Megakuma from Monarch. You would think Marinette would transform into Ladybug and save him,but the episode does something different. Somehow, because of the other students telling him to believe in himself, all of their Magical Charms resonate with Mr. Damocles' Magical Charm. And then, his Magical Charm transforms into a shield which de-evilizes the Akuma as soon as it touches it?

I'm sorry, WHAT!?

Yeah... that just happened. I'm happy the Magical Charm actually did something for once, but I don't get why this was the climax of the episode. Why did this episode spend more time focusing on Juleka, Sabrina, and Mr. Damocles instead of Marinette's final battle of wits with Lila? Forget it, it's almost over anyway.

Mr. Damocles sends in the correct forms for the students before he resigns as principal, and we then cut to Ms. Bustier realizing that Chloe is pure evil and needs to face consequences for her actions. What does Chloe say that causes her to come to this revelation?

Ms. Bustier: Where's Lila?

Chloe: How should I know? I'm not the betrayer's mother.

Yep. A somewhat rude answer to a question Chloe doesn't even know the answer to is the last straw for Ms. Bustier. Maybe it's the hormones? Ms. Bustier decides to give extra attention to Chloe going forward, and somehow, that's different from Ms. Bustier wanting to help Chloe make up her schoolwork at the beginning of the last episode. But what happened to Lila, you may ask?

Oh my God, she's cosplaying as T'pol from Star Trek: Enterprise! The fiend!

Yep, Lila abandoned her old school and moved onto one of her other lives, now calling herself Cerise. Okay, a few questions.

First, was she wearing makeup as Lila or something? I'm not sure if it's the lighting in this one scene, but I swear, her skin looks lighter than Cerise here.

Second, how is Lila going to blend in under her new identity when for a while, she was the face of the Gabriel brand? What, is she going to claim that “Lila” is her twin sister or something?

Third, if Lila's trying to blend in as Cerise, why did she throw her old wig in the trash, in broad daylight?

Fourth, why wasn't this scene the one used to establish Lila has multiple lives? It actually feels plot-relevant, unlike the revelation of her having three different mothers last episode.

Finally, we're really going to brush over Lila facing any setback to her vague goals? She got expelled, and we don't even get to see her face consequences for her actions after all these years? What a load...

THE BIGGEST IDIOT OF THE EPISODE IS...MARINETTE

Yep, Marinette got the award twice in the same two-parter, and this is her third one at that. Adrien was sort of close to winning it with his stupid application form and not doing anything to stop Lila himself, and even though Marinette's plan to expose Lila worked, I still had to give it to her. She willingly gave her and her friends application forms to Chloe and Lila without any plans in case they tried something bad, had absolutely no plan to stop Lila in general until Sabrina came alone, and didn't think to simply de-evilize a Megakuma targeting her principal when Lila was able to sneak out with no problem.

Anyway, these episodes SUCK. I know it might not seem as noticeable compared to my reviews last season, as I've been trying to not get too angry, but I still couldn't stand these episodes.

As always, Lila's lies are incredibly stupid and don't work under the suspension of disbelief, especially with what we learn about her here. What I don't get is that we still don't know why Lila does what she does. I still don't know why she is so obsessed with getting the better of Marinette and Gabriel outside of being petty, and given what happens by the end of the season, it makes her unclear motivation even less excusable. In a pair of episodes meant to give more focus to Lila as she tries to ruin Marinette's reputation right before the school year ends, we really needed more depth for her character.

Marinette wasn't any better. What should have been a standout moment for her this season, she spent most of these two episodes complaining about Chloe and Lila when she did nothing to really stop them, and only made progress when Sabrina had a change of heart out of nowhere. Hell, even then, Chloe and Lila barely faced any setbacks for their actions. Marinette honestly felt very underutilized in what should have been an important set of episodes for the season.

Adrien didn't fare any better. He barely got to do anything and unlike Marinette, he wasn't even involved with the final plan, despite the ending of “Revelation” hinting that he and Marinette were going to work together to stop Lila. And then there's the form he filled out where he pretty much confirmed that he has no goals in life and that the writers just have no idea what the hell they want to do with him now that he's Marinette's boyfriend.

But let's talk about what I think really killed these two episodes, specifically “Confrontation”: The unnecessary focus on side characters. I can understand why Ms. Bustier needed more focus in these episodes, considering it was focused on the school environment, but I can't give that kind of lenience to “Confrontation”. That episode decided rather than focusing on Marinette finally outsmarting Lila, we needed more focus on Sabrina, Juleka, and Mr. Damocles. Why did we need to give Sabrina a change of heart over Marinette's friends working together to help her expose Lila? Why did we need Juleka to be targeted by Lila and subsequently akumatized by Monarch in a gambit to slander Marinette when all Lila had to do was have it look like Marinette tampered with Chloe's form? Why did we need an extended sequence of Mr. Damocles fending off an Akuma with the help of his class when he had no real presence in this arc, and if anything, took Chloe and Lila's side more often than not (Ladybug, Derision)? I don't get why the writers chose the tail end of the season to actually develop some of its side characters at the expense of major players like Marinette, Adrien, and Lila.

Look, these episodes were just awful, okay? And somehow, things manage to get worse as we get closer and closer to the end of the season.

[misseviehyde]

OUT OF TIME

Flicking through the apps on his shiny new phone - Joe grinned in delight at his new purchase. It was 2007 and he was one of the first people in his circle of friends to own an iphone.

His wife Linda had bought it for him. They'd just got married, were deeply in love and were trying for a baby. In fact she was ovulating today and he had a good feeling that perhaps today could be the day. He was heading home shortly to make love to her, once he'd finished his work up in the office.

Joe was self employed - so he was in his own private office and his employees had all left already. His business was modest - but with good prospects for the future. Right now though - he was completely alone and with just a few things to tidy up.

Suddenly Joe's phone vibrated and he saw a picture message had come through from an unknown number. Intrigued he opened it up. Who could this be?

Joe's mouth dropped open as he saw a picture of an incredibly gorgeous looking twenty something girl in sexy lingerie. The resolution of the image was incredible, far sharper and more defined than his own photos so far. She appeared to be holding a phone like his - but so much more futuristic and advanced looking. In fact - everything about her oozed a futuristic sexuality... girls in 2007 just didn't look like this.

The phone began to ring and Joe answered it hesitantly.

"Hi Daddy, did you get my picture?"

"Errrrr who is this? I think there's a mistake."

"No Daddy there's no mistake, my name is Krystal and I'm your step-daughter."

"Errrrr I don't have a step-daughter," he said - feeling confused.

"Not yet you don't - but years from now once you dump that loser bitch Linda you will. I'm calling you from the future Daddy."

Joe laughed, "So this is a prank call. Who put you up to this?"

"You had to settle for Linda until you made it big. Soon your business will become a success... you'll become rich and powerful and then you'll meet my Mom Shelly and me. My Mom and her big tits will own you. She gets a job as your slutty secretary and you begin banging her brains out daily. She transforms you into an Alpha male and you ditch that fat cow Linda to marry her."

"Stop it... this isn't funny," snarled Joe down the phone - though to his horror his cock was suddenly and unexpectedly stiffening.

"You start working out, you get a little cosmetic work done... you even get a cock enlargement. Soon you're a powerful dominant bastard who gets everything he wants."

Joe groaned suddenly at the thought of being a stud with a big cock - it sounded nice. His average five inch cock got even harder. He imagined what it would feel like to have eight or nine inches down there.

"And with your slut eighteen year old step daughter, you soon have the tightest pussy you could imagine for that big new cock to fill. That's right Daddy - you get bored of my Mom and start fucking me. You give me everything I want and spoil me rotten. It's wonderful..."

Krystal's voice was breathy and with a edge of pleasure to it. It sounded like she was touching herself.

"There's only one fly in the ointment..."

Krystal's voice changed - became petulant.

"Before you dump Linda, you get that fat loser pregnant and she has a daughter. Your prim and proper daughter Megan. For some reason you love her unconditionally and she gets in my way of totally controlling and corrupting you. That's why I'm calling Daddy."

Krystal's voice became seductive and slutty again.

"Right now that fucking loser is swimming around in your balls as a tiny sperm. See tonight is the night Megan is conceived and I want to ruin everything. I want you to jerk that dick for me and pump all your sperm out. I want you to flush that little loser down the toilet and leave your balls drained and empty so Linda can't conceieve tonight."

"You're insane - this isn't real. You aren't from the future. That isn't possible."

Joe felt his phone *ding* as more pictures arrived. With Krystal on speaker phone he opened them up to see topless nudes of the perfect young bitch and a video of her masturbating her tight shaven pussy with a glass dildo.

"It doesn't matter if it's real or not Daddy... you're still gonna jerk off. Look how fucking hot I am? Just imagine how good my pussy would feel gripping your cock... imagine sliding it in and out of me."

Krystal began to moan down the phone, her hot pants and moans making his cock even harder.

"Grab your cock Daddy. Pump for me."

Driven horny with lust, Joe unzipped his fly and grabbed his dick. He shuddered in pleasure. He'd never had phone sex before and this was so hot and naughty.

"Yessssss... play along with the fantasy Daddy. You need to cum for me Daddy... its going to feel so fucking good to cum again and again. I want your balls pumped empty of every last sperm. Your cum belongs to me now Daddy - Linda gets nothing."

Joe couldn't believe how turned on he was. He began to follow Krystal's instructions, more pictures and videos of her playing with herself arriving to his phone for him to stroke to.

"That's it Daddy... harder... faster.... stroke that cock and give me the biggest load you can."

"Ugggghhh I should stop," groaned Joe as he pumped - his eyes glued to a video of Krystal fingering her tight cunt - "I'm supposed to go home and make love to Linda."

"No Daddy... you need to keep going. You need to cum... you need to make me happy. Once you cum Megan will be no more. I'll be your little bitch - the centre of your world. It will all be MINE Daddy. Now do it for me... cum for Krystal and betray the daughter you will never even meet."

With a moan Joe erupted. His balls convulsed as thick loads of fertile white cum erupted from the tip. His dick throbbed and throbbed - more cum oozing out as he heard Krystal's triumphant laughing.

"YES DADDY... OH YES!"

Squeezing the last of the cum out of his cock, Joe felt a flash of guilt. He had been saving that for Linda - but now he had wasted his load.

"I can always get her pregnant another night," he mused. Looking down he saw Krystal had hung up and vanished - but her pics and videos remained.

"Or I could keep jerking off to this slut... fuck she's hot. It would be kind of hot if she really was my future twisted step-daughter."

Cleaning himself up, Joe decided to finish his final task which was to read the applications for the secretary position. He would do that then head home and try to avoid having sex with Linda.

Opening the folder he gasped as he read the first application and his eyes widened in fear.

The first applicants name was Shelly and it said here she had a teenage daughter... a daughter named Krystal...

THE END

[basedkikuenjoyer]

HxH 402: King Shit

Okay...this is literally the densest chapter of HxH to date and that's saying a lot given this manga had a superpower based on compound interest. Which is a bitch to be fair. Tonight thought we have a huge lurch forward in the Succession Contest itself and let's start with the beginning. Which is where we picked up from last week. Kurapika has gotten Woble into a formal truce. King Nasubi has stated "sole survivor" is up to interpretation so it matters we now have an agreement that #3 wins if only #5/#14 are left standing.

Tsubeppa's fine with this because she more than anyone else wants Kurapika close, and I'd imagine is operating under the idea she won't have to worry about #3 making it to the end. The core theme this time is how they're all playing a very unassuming game. And there are a lot of parallels here like the coin beast mentioned above and Basho getting a great little moment later. Zhang Hei is in a weird position, from the looks of it and his own assumption his Nen Beast is weaker here but potentially great after winning. He curried a strong showing in our poll, but now let's move on to someone who only got one vote. Mine.

Kacho? Kacho? What the hell girl. I dig it. Batgirl over here. Y'all, this chapter broke hard in the direction I wanted to see this contest go. Everything. So let's recap. The twins tried to escape with Melody's help. In the process we saw freaky hands go crazy and Kacho died, revealing her Nen Beast in the best moment of the arc so far. Season of Two - First twin out resurrects to aid the other. Fugetsu's ability is a tunnel to anywhere she's been, but it does require Kacho to shut it. They and Melody are under investigation for the escape attempt...but the Justice Bureau officials have seemingly been on their side. That said, FuuFuu has been getting a little crazy.

That's all well and good, but why would I think that can beat things like the freakish Nen savant or the First Prince with the military edge?

This isn't a fistfight. It is a political battle for succession. Fugetsu is the one no one is worried about. The younger ones are unpredictable and their moms are the real threat. None of the others really even know Woble or Maryam. Fuu's in that sweet spot and seems like the type everyone at least kinda likes.

But the biggest thing is that Kakin has a mostly modern government outside of this. It's the bureaucrats, yet again Melody feels she should be suspicious but nothing Kaiser has said really warrants it. This is the choice that makes sense for someone in his position. And all this scene is laying out that basic theory; Fugetsu's power is the type of thing that allows so much leeway to play this game if you have people willing to get dirty for you.

If you mistrust Kaiser, I want you to consider why. Would you say, mistrust Gon deciding he likes Melody and Fugetsu and he'll fight the bad princes for them? Is it because Kaiser's a G-Man? Oh, see that's exactly why I trust him. If you've ever been around high-level bureaucrats you'll probably know what I mean. If they're good enough to rise to that rank they could have been a politician, military officer, something with more glory. He's just the type of guy who wouldn't balk at the Trolley Problem and is used to making real decisions of that magnitude regularly. Melody's music attracted a lot of people, she's a beautiful soul, someone maybe actually doesn't care about how she looks. King Fugetsu is the type who'd just play the nice figurehead and let the advisors run their own lanes.

And he's already paid huge divdends, just like that. Fugetsu easily waltzes right into most of the other Princes' rooms. No one suspects anything, it all seems above board, Kaiser knows exactly what to do.

But I think it's easy to miss what's important here. Melody and Kurapika both hint the letter truly is a bombshell that'll upend this whole Succession Contest. Once again, of course a bureaucrat of Kaiser's rank just casually has dirt on all of them. You can really see it here with Luzurus but they're all pretty good at playing coy. And Fuu just casually fleeced them all.

[girl4music]

KATHERINE FUGATE: “I came to Rob and R.J. with a very specific belief on their series. Their series touched me deeply because it was about a woman’s search for redemption based on something in her life that she felt was a bad choice or wrong. So she was righting a wrong for herself and that period is commonly referred to as the Evil Xena period. And I came to Rob and R.J. in a room and looked at them and said ‘what I’d like to do is have Xena realize that all of that was necessary. As opposed to hating that part of herself to look at life as a balance of all things.’

What I think so many people do is sit in judgement about the choices they’ve made instead of realizing they all led them somewhere. And the Warrior Princess that Xena became would have never come about had there not been the Evil Xena period in her life. And for her to see both of them I proposed an alternate timeline in which she never became the Evil Xena and chose a different path which then never led her to the Warrior Princess - which it didn’t. And as I started thinking about that I thought wouldn’t it be interesting to do each character that way. A twist on all of their fate and choices in life. And if I remember correctly Gabrielle had always wanted to be a playwright and dreamt of going to Greece and being a famous playwright. So I thought ‘well, we’ll give her that dream, give Xena the dream she had in ‘Destiny’ when she wanted to be an Empress and rule with Caesar. Give her that dream. But let’s see what they’re missing at the end of the day.’ So I made them both successful in what they thought they wanted career-wise and goal-wise only to find out they didn’t have each other and that was the greater thing that was meant to be. So by that lesson I was hoping Xena and everyone would apply to their lives sort of a kindness to themselves for realizing every step they made had a reason. And that’s kind of how I pitched it.

Paying attention to and accepting all of the bad things that you, or actually the things that you call bad, and realizing they got you where you needed to be and ultimately, for Xena, where she needed to be was a person who recognized Gabrielle. And that’s how being the Warrior Princess got her to recognize Gabrielle when she saw her.

When we went in there we realized that now you have a specific timeline if you take off from ‘Destiny’. And I also started thinking like who is most interested in power in this show other than Caesar? He was always about power and Xena of course in certain incarnations and Alti was the other person who actually sought power in every form. And that’s how we got Alti. And I also realized Alti was a better conduit between the two worlds. She was our mystic and our sharmaness in the series and she’s the only person who - through some sort of mystical power could get you to see both images and both lifetimes. So that’s how we used her.

I think the thing about Alti that was interesting to me was everyone’s lives were linked in this show. Caesar was going to crucify Xena in any lifetime, Xena was going to meet Gabrielle in any lifetime and Alti was going to die because of Xena in any lifetime. This was a big surprise to her. She thought she’d finally won and she conquered her own destiny so to speak, just like Caesar thought he conquered his destiny by killing Brutus, who had killed him in the regular life - in the real life I guess we could say - and yet that didn’t work because his destiny was to die by an unexpected hand. It was the irony of Caesar - Julius Caesar’s - life. So here comes Alti, the trusted person he didn’t suspect, just like Brutus was. Well, with Alti, she was going to die by Xena’s hand. This time she crucifies Xena and looks at her and thinks she finally won only to realize in the last second of her life that Gabrielle and Xena’s love still was her demise, just like was always meant to be.

I absolutely think Xena had an effect on the way shows were later portrayed with women. Especially women action heroes. They’re just all over the place now. Even Tomb Raider, you know came afterwards. Alias came afterwards. Charmed I think even came afterwards. I don’t want to misquote something. But certainly it’s much more common now and accepted now and women are kicking ass all over the place. Xena - I think later,… it will be one of those retrospect shows where people realize how groundbreaking it was because I don’t know that they quite get it yet.”

This show is ultimately about the strong and substantial themes of redemption, forgiveness, vengeance, love, balance and justice and it’s great when the writers for the episodes see that and do what they can to add to those themes ‘cause those episodes are honestly the best. They’re the ones that really work and hit hard because they’re profound in the ways in which they teach you so many lessons.

And to choose to wrap these reiterated themes around female characters and have female-driven narratives in which to tell incredibly in-depth and compelling stories all about these themes is just 👌

Katherine Fugate should have had more episodes.

What a mind this woman has. Wowzas. 👏👏👏

So good. And she’s right. People still don’t quite get it. While it’s a cult show - I feel a lot of the reasons as to why it should be more appreciated aren’t understood. This is a 20-something year old show and it’s still relevant to watch today. It’s a timeless show in this way because a lot of shows are still catching up to it. How it portrays women in leading or authoritative roles. Queer women at that. It really is very special.

Look I know I’m biased because my niche is always going to be women-led and WLW supernatural/fantasy. But I still have yet to come across anything that surpasses Xena in its educational storytelling period. Nevermind including women-led and WLW. Like there’s nothing that matches up to the substance I get out of this show - its Universe and its characters.

Imagine being taught something as profound as this through a TV show about badass female fighters.

About appreciating the balance of all things in life through two female characters deeply in love and righting wrongs by fighting the greater good fight.

But it’s not just the women-led and WLW representation that is what makes this show so groundbreaking and profound and a delight to watch.

It’s just absolutely insane to me that this show exists even today. I’m constantly in awe of its substance and I could cry a damn river for this generation of TV art/entertainment because they’ll never come close to it.

It’s the writing in general. It’s REALLY fucking GOOD. I could listen to these interviews by the writers all day. Their passion and conscientiousness just floors me.

Like where is any of this in the TV industry today?

Nowhere! And it’s because of how much the landscape of TV show making has changed. And it hasn’t changed in a good way. Not in my opinion. It’s almost a chore to slog through the shortest shows now because of how absolutely lifeless they are. How completely devoid of substance. Depth of meaning. Perhaps it’s largely because Xena let you create the meaning for yourself through personal interpretation. But nevertheless even the cannon and explicit stuff was just better in every way than what we have now.

TV art/entertainment really has took a huge dive bomb since Xena, Buffy and Charmed were airing.

As I said - It’s not just the representation. It’s the storytelling within that representation and vice versa. It’s all the exceptional writing for that representation.

I don’t know if that makes any sense.

I’ll stop rambling. I know what I mean.

[princess-of-the-corner]

Miraculous Gaang

Ok so. Ideas.

Sozin Actually used to be part of the Guardian Order, but got into a fight with them over the fact that they are just sitting on these objects of power, not using them to “improve” the world. Eventually results in Sozin stealing the Peacock, then him and Roku duking it out, the Order getting destroyed, and Sozin spending the rest of his life searching for the rest of the Miraculous. Roku dies making sure other people can escape. So, total count of people who manage to flee the Order imploding:

Sozin, with a damaged Peacock Miraculous he can’t use now. He starts his company as a cover to search for the rest of the Miraculous, but he turns out to be a very good business man, so is actually successful. He eventually marries, has kids, and imparts on them the knowledge of the Miraculous, hoping one of them will succeed where he failed.

Roku’s girlfriend, who was pregnant at the time. Of course, the Order didn’t know they were dating, or that she was pregnant. Moves to another city, rebuilds a life, has her kid. Eventually tells them of the Miraculous, when explaining what happened to Dad.

A small assortment of monks, who immediately go into hiding to “preserve their knowledge”.

Gyatso, who was a child at the time. Roku entrusted the kid with the Miracle Box, under the assumption the other monks would protect him when they found him. Instead, Gyatso ended up mostly on his own, and has vowed to protect the Miracle Box as best he can.

Other idea, that Gyatso mostly uses the Turtle, which extends his lifespan, but briefly, much later, tried to use the Butterfly to help people, which resulted in it getting lost, someone dying, and Gyatso adopting baby!Aang. He is trying REAL HARD to balance “Good Parent, let kids be kids, freedom is important” with “Guilt™, Protective™, Oh God, I can’t let you get hurt like that”.

Then, so far, I think we have:

- Ladybug!Sokka

- Black Cat!Katara

- Turtle!Aang

- Dragon!Zuko

- Rabbit!Yue

- Pig!Jin

- Bee!Ty Lee

- Mouse!Mai

- Fox!Azula, or Monkey!Azula

- Tiger!Toph, or Ox!Toph

- Tiger!Suki, or Snake!Suki (for the record, I feel like the weapons could change a bit to match the wielder, so Suki could still have fans)

Also, if this isn’t Paris, we can just set it in Modern Style, Ba Sing Se?

(thoughts, feelings, opinions, ideas?)

-

Okay okay okay

So I think my main thought is that we now have an explaination of sorts for the Ursa/Ozai pairing.

Which is that ofc Sozin passed the torch of looking for the Miraculous to Azulon, and he eventually discovered Roku’s descendants. Azulon looks at that and goes ‘hey my youngest son is single and roughtly the same as that girl. Ozai you up to seduce her for information?’.

I don’t think Ursa would fall for him. Partly because she def still had her own fiance already but also like. Ozai can only do so much ‘charming’. So he probably ends up intimidating her into a relationship. Either because he’s trying to get information, or from some entitled ‘how dare you turn me down?’ thing.

I think I’m gonna lock in Tiger!Toph and Snake!Suki. And Azula with the Fox is too tempting considering Vulpyro.

Also yeah It doesn’t have to be Paris. Some modern city. Idk if i’d use Ba Sing Sae like it works but I think there could be like a name for the city itself while the different districts are named after the atla locations.

My thoughts on the Peacock:

/technically/ it’s not needed, but I can have some fun. I know it was mentioned on giving it to Azula, but I want Azula unaware of what Ozai’s doing. Mostly because she has more of an early redemption (she was still in contact with Zuko and Iroh so while she’s not fully redeemed she’s not loyal to him), so if she knew what he was doing she’d rat him out. He’s mostly using her to rile people up to be Akumatized.

So we have two options for the Peacock in my mind. One  is the OC I had made for the Avatar!Ty Lee AU because she’s /basically/ Nathalie if she was more unhinged and evil.

The second one is Zhao because tbh while we dunk on him at times, he was Book 1′s main villain and was actually good at what he was doing.

[emblazons]

i’m about a month late to the ffvii rebirth fanfare but i saw your study/shot comparison for the ending while scrolling through some tags and was really curious to see if you had come up with any more conclusions since then! i just finished it a couple days ago and still reeling from it and have been enjoying hearing people’s thoughts about what the heck they think is going on. obvs cloud is not ok, but i’m still trying to decide just how much of what we’re seeing is due to his sanity going out the window and how much of it (if any) is aerith actually speaking to him and/or sephiroth messing with him. the way he tells the rest of the party to not look up at the sky though and none of them see what he sees, just clues them all in to the fact that he isn’t entirely all there anymore. a collective very concerned side-eye lol. somebody help him pls.

!!! oh friend, you're in a TON of luck: I actually started a few different commentaries on how I saw the ending on this weeks back, but didn't post them because I got distracted by other fandoms? I'm more than happy to share them though—not as developed as they could be, but some congealing of where my mind went upon finishing the game and rewatching the gameplay.

forewarning: FFVII ending spoilers + a long af post lmao

So I wrote this on my twitter (where I go to see things only on twt lol) the other day because of a bunch of concepts were clarified by the Ultimania + translators, which kinda sums up where my thoughts are:

Which...yeah. As I see it: as of the ending, Aerith is in fact dead in our current world (the one of the player narrative). How I see it, she's died in our primary timeline—though likely "alive" in the same way Zack is in some other timeline, in addition to her connection to every "universe" through the power of her connection to the planet as the last Cetra.

The white whispers (which represent Aerith/the will of the planet) as well as the “confluence of world” colors we see with Sephiroth are all around when Cloud supposedly “sees her alive" during the classic death scene—

—an indicator that the event itself was the "confluence" Sephiroth was trying to achieve, with Cloud experiencing several versions of it due to his own connection to Sephiroth/the lifestream/his fragmented mind. We see this both in what Sephiroth says around the event itself....and also the contrasting experiences of our party with what Cloud sees in the moment (+ through end of the game).

As I see it, Cloud’s consciousness by the end of FFVII:R-II is fully fractured; throughout both Remake & Rebirth he is already seeing visions affected by Sephiroth’s influence on the planet (the black whispers, the way hooded men and thin air turn into Sephiroth before his eyes)—and now, during the “confluence of emotions / worlds / reunion” mentioned (Aerith's death), Cloud’s already broken mind is slipping further into seeing “the middle space” of the worlds joined and prepared for destruction by Sephiroth in real time, rather than following the timeline of events in the world we play—a la the post that inspired your ask. :)

All that said: the reason he’s seeing Aerith (not just sensing her the way Red does in his own Lifestream connection) is because she’s a Cetra, and now (in death) the embodiment of the positive!Will of Gaia across worlds—so because of Cloud's connection to that "middle space" / ability to traverse different versions of reality because of his connection to Sephiroth, Cloud is interacting with her presence…despite it not being there for anyone else.

It’s also why he can see the sky split no one else can.

ADDITIONALLY:

The Aerith we see fight alongside Cloud in the final battle and the one we see walking around everyone as Cid fixes the plane…that’s the spirit of her person (think the Aerith of Advent Children). Aerith didn’t live this game—her spirit can communicate because of Sephiroth's successful confluence, though she’s ALSO "alive" in the same way Zack and Biggs are to us: aka she died in the world she was in but still exists in others, which Sephiroth confirms/explains both when Aerith pulls Cloud into another “doomed” world—

when he’s trying to manipulate Cloud in the Lifestream—

and when you’re fighting Sephiroth alongside Aerith in the void during the final battle (after she’s died).

Even so, Aerith “living on” as the last Cetra/the spirit of the planet + someone with access to multiple worlds through the "reunion" means she’s now as able to infiltrate Cloud's ongoing visions as Sephiroth is...and is likely trying to keep him even somewhat present despite his clearly fractured mind.

I think that’s implied repeatedly by through the hollow Holy Materia (implying both Aerith is no longer “there,” but still present + that cloud himself is now hollow)—

—and why/how the Black Materia (Sephiroth) is still manipulating him and very much driving his fractured thoughts, visions and actions.

As for the rest of the party: it's because no one but his “vessel-connected-to-Sephiroth” self (+ now dead-but-living-on-in-the-Lifestream Aerith) has any idea what he learned about worlds in the Lifestream that what’s happening to Cloud is lost on everyone (and why they look painfully concerned), and also why spirit!Aerith repeatedly gives him reminders to 1) not listen to Sephiroth and 2) focus on finding himself again.

All that said: because Cloud’s actual self is already slipping away from our present game TL by the second half of the game, it will have to be retrieved and rearranged—which we know will happen in game 3 (assuming you know the original FF7 plot where Tifa rearranges him in the Lifesteam) but that has to be changed from “Cloud finds out about Zack and finally cracks" because Cloud already knows about Zack in some capacity by the middle of Rebirth.

I personally think this sets us up for a really interesting resolution in that Tifa is going to probably have spirit!Aerith’s help putting Cloud back together in the Lifestream in game 3—and that she will likely play a bigger part in helping Cloud “find himself” in his own world again because it’s been made more apparent that she’s a full consciousness in the Lifestream/able to affect multiple worlds now because of Sephiroth completing the first step in his plan. That's more just hopeful on my part going into the next game than something rooted in analysis though.

But yes! those are my thoughts! I hope this gives you (more than a little) something. Feel free to ask if something isn’t clear though lol this was like 4 different half-done drafts combined 😂 Regardless, ty so much for the ask / giving me a reason to post them!

[theoldoor]

fenrir lore maybe

“those eyes, child. who did you steal from?”

left over crumbs of a thief

—- fenrir lore time :3

two thieves with weird ass eyes

sooo fenrir lore timeee :3

i wanted to make his eyes similar to that andalusite over there but keeping a cooler colors because, well, kiwis LOL

i was on a hiking trail and then i stopped by a kiwi stand and i was like “hold on that looked like fenrir’s eyes” and it actually works so well as his eyes cuz this is what i planned to make his eyes to be LOL

but lore time,

I rewrote fenrir’s lore a bit so his origin is a weebit different now,

>group of people following harmony decided to be evil and borrowed powers from the abundance to mix species together to in hope, make a superior humanoid and piss off the aeons

>kinda success but they gotta borrow powers from obsidian’s race (vampires and shi)

>they make a deal like “ok we throw all the waste babies to you to eat alr you vampies”

>fucked up chimera human babies thats get fed to the vampires like a bunch of them

>those that can function gets sold off

>getting more success and selling these fucked up chimera babies off/human trafficking cuz theyre versatile with genetics and shit

>commissioned by a big vampire family to fulfill their weird little fantasy story

>>”hey so i want you to make my family generation’s oc come alive but we this gotta follow this weird ritual too cuz its my family prophecy to piss off the harmony”

>the ritual involved a bunch of sacrificial babies and even more fucked up chimera babies and like 34 people died and have a part of them taken off to merge into this living thing

>weird ass abomination of a baby, barely functional

>”ok chat this is going well we need the last step who got the gems”

>”oh shit the gems is in another persons hand”

>so they went and stole the gem from obsidian’s family / at the same time making contract with this weird entity that has something to do with destruction path

>>”ok i give you gems but you gotta let me have a piece of that weird baby thing youre making too.”

>>”alright what do you want”

>>”give him horns and make him real sexy ok”

>>”what”

>>”pls”

>>”why”

>>”i want to take him after the vampires died out and i dont want this ugly slug of meat in my basement”

>>”ok”

>with the power of destruction he became his beautiful entity that the family drooled on cuz how can someone be so angelic looking yet bear the traits of the devil? “DAAYUMMNN U FINE ASF BABYYY” “what im a literal baby” “we’ll wait for u to grow up” “w h a t t h e f u c k”

>>”hi im daughter i will be your mom but i am like 6 years older than you”

>>”ok i will expect you for love and attention”

>>”sorry i am being manipulated by my own family so i disregards my actions even though i knew its wrong but i seek comfort in it”

>>”ok your actions are normal to me”

>>’thanks son”

>>”YAYY IM YOUR SON!!!”

>>abusive family can provide a roof, they provide all the physical necessities for him to live but shunned him out until theyre bored and they wanna play (like a pet lolol)

>live with the rich family as a premium house pet now but doesnt realized it CUZ BRO HE WAS A KIDD

>before he was frail so he has to rely on understanding ppl to get attention, develop weird obsession w it. became close with other servants/slave of the said family.

>ok but grow strong and now physically capable harhar

>put through extensive training and shii so he grew even more desperate and attached to the family out of fear

> other servants jealous GET HIS ASS!!!

> oh shit the daughter is doing smth

> fenrir gets more scared and overly dependent on the daughter cuz in his eyes she was the figure he could rely on

>the daughter’s mental conditions gets worse and she wanted her moms attention too so she jus started gambling, (hurt ppl hurt ppl lol)

>>generational trauma ahh

>puts fenrir as a bet

>FUCKK SHE LOSTTT

>fenrir was passed and used around as a premium house pet, “magazine model”

(BLOOD WARNING NEXT DOODLE)

>>(this is heavily implied but not explicitly stated) “convincing” other people to join the vampire household as a cattle/slave etc, contributing in its human trafficking business (astarion?!??!)

>was first auctioned for thousands of credits but after a lot of events, which he had marred himself in hope of either getting cared for or totally discarded away, the price was reduce to less than a hundred credit on his last ‘sale’

>>tried to kill himself but cant die cuz they keep reviving him cuz he’s this chimera superior humanoid baby

>”fuck yall ima pray to the lord (random god he found i havent decide yet I was thinking Ena) answer me pls save me chat- OOOUHHH SHITTT”

>container carrying him crashed, landed in Wasteland of the Galaxy, Talia

>nomadic clan Avidity was passing by, “Ayo who is that baddie” - Aelyn (another oc)

>picks up fenrir and realized he could read so he joining the team now

>well respected for his work rather an appearance, hell yeah jigsaw u da goat

>talia lore I LOVE THIS BUM

[kxhbee]

Love From You

Part Three

~ Rowan Laslow x Reader

~ Friends to lovers

~ Fluff, light angst

~ 1,680 words

~ You fell first but Rowan fell harder

~ Not my best work

~ Not proof read

Key:

~ Y/N: YOUR NAME

~ Y/L/N: YOUR LAST NAME

~ A/N: AUTHORS NOTE

A/N:

I’m so sorry this took longer than I wanted! I wrote an alternate version of this (specified in bottom a/n.) and I’ve had a pretty busy week. But here’s part three! There will be a part four :)

Distracted by all the happiness you were feeling right now from finally talking to Rowan and even having his hand in your own, you completely forgot about the plans you made earlier.

This includes the person that’s standing right outside the Nurse’s office, gaping at the people in front of her.

“Oh. My. God.” She squeals. “You finally spoke to him.”

“Enid…” You can already hear the secrets that are about to be shared and the things she’s going to say to embarrass you, as if you preordered them. God it would be useful if I could pre-hear what Enid was going to say. That way I could embarrass her before she gets a chance.

“It was about time. I didn’t really want to hear ‘Oh my god,’” She puts on an impression of you. “E, I wanna talk to Ro so much but I don’t know how to start a conversation with him. I’ve written so many stupid letters it’s insane.’” She grins at her impression, clearly proud of her accuracy and success in embarrassing you.

Your face goes red when Rowan’s face appears in your line of vision. He’s smiling softly and his head is tilted so he can see you.

“Ro?” He asks, a light blush sitting on his cheeks.

“Thank you so much, Enid.” You say sarcastically. “I’m walking Rowan to his dorm now. I’ll meet you back at my dorm.”

“Okay then! Have fun! I’m sure all that kissing practice will come in handy now.” She winks and skips away humming, a bag of soft drinks and snacks swinging from her hand.

“Oh my god, please ignore her, she lies for fun.” You turn away from him to hide your face. Enid didn’t waste one second.

“You called me Ro?” Turn around and look at him Y/N for God’s sake. Stop being a coward. You turn back to him, and his soft smile is gone. Instead, a smile wider than you’ve ever seen on him is on his face. How has my face gotten even hotter??

“Maybe…” You smile back, beginning to walk down the hallway. “Is that a bad thing?”

“No…” He mumbles shyly. “I like it… I’ve never had a nickname before.”

“Seriously?? Your family never gave you one?”

“I don’t count ‘Ro-barb’ as a nickname. Courtesy to my mother and her… odd choice to nick name me after a rhubarb.”

“What?” You chuckle. “I think that’s adorable. My one wasn’t any better, I got called “Pumpkin-Bumpkins” by my sister for 6 years straight. And still counting.”

“Still counting?”

“Yep. If you meet her at the parents day she will ruffle your hair.” Using your unoccupied hand, you reach up and ruffle his hair with the most aggression you can. Gotta make it seem like the real thing. “Just. Like. That”. You draw your hand back, smiling. He really does look adorable when his hair is messy.

“She must be an older sister then.” He says, returning the smile again. “Will she really do it that aggressively?”

“If you thought that was aggressive, you’re in for a treat,” You make a turn onto some stairs as you talk. “and you’re right. She’s about 20 now. She used to come here. Mind reader. One-of-a-kind.” You wave your hand around dramatically.

“I’ve never heard of a mind reader Nevermore student.”

“Yep. Would’ve been cool if I got her powers. All I got was some shit I can’t control.”

“You can’t control your powers?”

“Nope. I don’t even know what they are. So far I’ve… accidentally set fire to my desk at my Normie school- the one I was at before I transferred here, because I was stressed about a surprise test, smashed a glass souvenir with my mind because I was disappointed that I got expelled from said Normie school, and some other stuff.”

“Like throwing me across the room with your mind?”

You stop and gape at him.

I forgot I would need to have this conversation.

“Surely you didn’t believe that I thought a fencing sword did that damage.”

“Aren’t you mad?” You ask cautiously. All this work to get to a friendly point with him is about to go out of the window…

“Are you kidding? From your reaction I assumed that you had no idea what you were doing. Of course I’m not mad.” He stated matter-of-factly. “I could never be mad at you.” He mutters the last part under his breath.

“What was that?” You ask, a teasing tone to your voice.

“Nothing…”

“Right… anyway, it’ll happen less. I’m taking extra lessons so we can figure out what the hell is going on. Hopefully I stop sending you flying across the room.” You wink at him.

He laughs nervously, his cheeks turning a light pink.

“Well if you need some more help… I’m here? I mean, I can’t help as much as the teachers can but I can help in some way.”

He stops walking and stands out the front of a dorm door, letting go of your hand. You can’t help but feel slightly disappointed.

“This is my room… um… thank you, Y/N. For everything you did Today. That includes throwing me across the room.”

You laugh.

“You’re welcome, Ro.” You watch his face go slightly redder at the use of the nickname and you smile at him. “And thank you, for the help offer. I’ll definitely take you up on it, especially if it means I get to spend more time with you.”

Smooth Y/N. Good job.

“That’s great then! I’ll um… see you around.” He opens his door but you put your hand on top of his, which was resting on the doorknob.

“Wait… sorry if this is sudden, but can I,” You take a breath in. I won’t get a yes if I don’t ask. “Can I get your phone number?”

Silence. He looks down at your hand that’s still resting on his and you pull it back. Maybe I shouldn’t have asked him. You’re about to apologise but he pulls his phone out of his pocket.

“Just um… just give me a second. I don’t have it memorised.”

You pull your phone out and hand it to him. He pushes his glasses, which had fallen down a bit, up higher on his nose. Every single thing that this man does leaves you weak at the knees. Surely it’s not healthy to love the way someone does every little thing. Like the way he takes his blazer off when the Greenhouse gets too hot. Or the reflection his glasses leave on the walls, tables and floors when the sun shines on it. Or the way he loops his handwriting when taking notes. You’re completely starstruck by him, but are you complaining?

It takes you a while to realise that he’s done. He holds the phone out to you, waiting for you to take it.

“I’ve also put my instagram in there… I hope that’s okay.”

“Oh! No that’s okay, I’ll follow you right now.” You tap the ‘request follow’ button on his profile and look back up at him.

“Wait… stand still.” You open the camera app and point the camera at him.

“I need a contact photo for you… smile! You can take one of me too.” He smiles awkwardly. It catches his personality perfectly.

“Can’t we… take a selfie?”

“That’s an even better idea! Come.” You pull him close and wrap an arm around his shoulders, holding up the peace sign. It’s your go-to pose, as is most people’s. Rowan looks up at the camera and smiles again, but this smile seems more genuine. You can’t help but notice the light touch of pink lingering on his face. It ties the photo together well.

You send the photo to him and finally say goodbye, feeling happier than you have in a long time.

“You guys are so cute.”

“AH WHAT THE FUCK.”

Enid laughs.

“How long have you been there? I thought I was meeting you at my dorm?”

“I got bored so I decided to catch up with you.”

“Did you even make it to my dorm?”

“No.” She says, holding the bag up so it’s level with her face. “I got bored.”

“Okay. Fair enough.”

“So… you and Rowan, huh?”

“Oh come on. We’re just friends.”

“You held hands.” She points out.

“We hold hands.”

“Point taken.”

__________________________________________

After making sure the door was closed, Rowan leans against it, sliding down to sit on the floor, the photo that Y/N sent to him open on his phone. Someone wants to be my friend. Someone actually wants to be my friend!

It’s been far too long since Rowan had made a friend. He’d tried- of course he had tried. But he had zero luck, so he believed he was destined to be an outcast.

Until someone showed up with their perfectly enchanting smile and threw him across a room.

“What was all that about?”

Rowan scrambled to his feet, turning his phone off as fast as he could.

“Oh. Hi. I thought you were at fencing.”

“Just came back.” Xavier throws his helmet onto his bed and takes a seat at his desk.

You can see the complete difference in personalities between Rowan Laslow and Xavier Thorpe just by looking at their shared room. It’s split almost perfectly down the center, with two desks on the same wall. Xavier’s desk looks like the rest of his room- there’s clutter everywhere; clothes, books, pencils, a towel draped over his chair, his school bag sitting messily on the floor, and his bed is unmade. Rowan’s side however is much neater. His books are stacked neatly in a bookshelf, his drawers contain all of his clothes, cleaned and folded, his pencils and pens are ordered neatly in pencil holders, and his bag is sitting on a shelf above his shoe rack.

They could not be more different. Which is exactly why Rowan is in full belief that he and Xavier Thorpe will never be able to get along as friends.

“So. What was that all about?”

A/N:

Hi! The alternative I had drafted was one where Xavier opened the door and saw Y/N and Rowan before he let go of your hand, and started teasing you guys. If you’d like the alternative let me know!

I’m also planning to build a friendship with Rowan and Xavier, and I’d like to put Wenclair in this fic but I don’t want to upset people who don’t ship them, so I’ll think about it before I add them.

This wasn’t proof read, so I’m sorry if it’s got any errors.

Hope you enjoyed :)

- Kai

[e17omm]

The value of the Threat of Death. A Songque example.

This will be a long post covering what I like about the Threat of Death, and why I think that Hoyo has completely and utterly destroyed that threat while continuing trying to use that to less and less success over and over again.

This will cover what I like, dont like, and regarding if a story even needs the Threat of Death or not.

Some spoilers for: Honkai Impact 3rd. Genshin Impact. Honkai Star Rail. That time I got reincarnated as a Slime. Code Geass. Lord of the Rings. The Incredibles.

Lets start with what I consider as "the Threat of Death"

The Threat of Death is when I feel tension and fear that I character can die. This is the strongest when another important character has already died prematurely to the completion of their arc (aka, "I lived my entire life. My whole purpose is to die at this moment" isnt a "Threat of Death" moment.)

For example: Himeko (HI3). After Himeko's death, Kiana putting a loaded gun to her own head with the intention to shoot has made everyone I've seen (including myself) hold their breath. Because the Threat of Death is real and fresh and Kiana might actually just shoot herself.

Another good example is Songque (in isolation). When she thinks she is ready to sacrifice herself, only to start panicing and realising that she could still have a long life ahead of herself. There is so much she still hasnt done! The Threat of Death is strong. Songque is possibly mere moments away from having her life taken away and she herself is realising more and more how much living means to her.

That is good examples that strengthens the Threat of Death, because it feels like that character might be moments away from their certain, early, death.

What are bad examples?

A character previously not in a scene suddenly appearing and saving a character. Genshin Impact does this the worst.

Xiao in the Chasm sacrifices himself in order to push everyone else back into reality. Letting himself be grabbed by the strange space they were in. But suddenly! Zhongli was in the area and he uses his powers to bring Xiao back into real space. Now, while its reasonable to understand that Zhongli could do that, in isolation to just that scene, Zhongli is a Deus Ex Machina that comes out of nowhere to save Xiao.

Another example is Navia in pretty much the same exact situation. The bridge collapses beneath her feet and she plummets into the Primordial Sea and is being absorbed by it. But suddenly! Neuvillette appears and pulls her out. And again, he was not previously in the scene. And again, it is reasonable to assume that Neuvillette could save someone from the Primordial Sea. But in isolation he comes out of nowhere to save Navia.

Then we have Firefly, who is depicted as if she is impaled and in great pain and we are left to assume that she died for an entire patch. Unlike the other two bad examples, this one is a cliffhanger. And the solution? Ah no, the thing that stabs, impales, and kills people - that's actually just how it transports people to another area.

All of these examples diminish the Threat of Death by showing characters in situations that should result in their death, and then just saying that they didnt actually die.

A character can just come out of nowhere to save the day, or the "death" is not actually a death, even if it is 100% depicted as killing off a character.

Songque is also an example that diminishes the Threat of Death, but I'll get back to that later.

Making the Threat of Death feel real isnt even necessarily moments that kills of characters, but rather the moment right before a possible death.

Diminishing the Threat of Death usually involves characters in situations where they would have realistically died, or someone inexplicably comes out of nowhere to save them, or their death is straight up undone.

Now;

Does a story need the Threat of Death to have stakes?

I would say "No."

Lets look at That time I got reincarnated as a Slime. Its a pretty chill anime. Basically the entirety of the first season is just Rimuru building up a little town of his friends. He is incredibly overpowered and he can make all his friends more powerful as well. When facing the Orc Lord, the only tension is if Rimuru and co' can get there in time before the orcs destroys a bunch of stuff.

In season 2 however... Like 300 monsters dies. They get slaughtered. They were weakened stripping them of how powerful they had become to where normal humans can run them down.

Aaand almost right away, as soon as we and Rimuru learns of the massacre, we get a story of how someone else was able to bring back the ones closest to her back to life. And the story immediately goes to working towards reviving everyone that died.

But while we get low chances of success, the story never paints it as an uncertainty. They only have 3.14% chance to succeed, but everyone is optimistic about making it work. So we aren't really worried as viewers either if they are going to be revived or not.

Lets look at something else. The Incredibles.

I would not say The Incredibles has much in terms of the Threat of Death. Sure we hear about a bunch of people dying, and we even see some corpses. But did anyone ever believe the family of superheroes would die? I didnt and I dont think the movie is meant to make it feel that way.

Yet the finale isnt boring even if we dont doubt that they'll find a way to stop the big bad robot.

Because they are unsure how to do it and if they are even strong enough to stop it. The tension comes from how they will stop it, rather than if they will stop it.

I want to look at the Lord of the Rings next.

Gandalf dies and its a big emotional moment that last for SEVERAL minutes, and Gandalf remains missing until the next movie with no hint of being alive until he comes out of nowhere and reintroduces himself.

This actually harms his "death" scene. Quite a lot actually. It doesnt make it that impactful on rewatches. But this doesnt really hurt the Threat of Death either. Why? Because its Gandalf the Gray. And now he wears white and is Gandalf the White.

Who else is a wizard that wears white? Sauroman. And they are the only wizards in the story. This does 2 things for the Threat of Death. 1; it might be that wizards can only "die" once. They go from Gray to White wizards. Maybe White wizards cant come back to life after dying. We dont know that. And 2; no other person that dies comes back to life. Its only Gandalf, who also insinuates that Sauroman has also died once by association of them both wearing white.

Gandalf's death and revival is possibly a one-time exception specific to wizards.

Onto Code Geass next: its a futuristic war anime. It has a lot of death. But did anyone really fear for Lelouch's life, like, ever? Or Suzaku's or Kallen's lives after the first like 2 or 3 episodes?

And yet it doesnt feel like they are immortal. They get shocked, lose their shit, a lot of people close to them die, they get injured and someone could just come up and stab them and I'd believe they would die from that.

Because the story doesnt constantly throw them into situations where they are in mortal danger (outside of being combatants in a war). No one gets shot in the heart and then comes back a few episodes later. Suzaku doesnt die and Lelouch grieves for his lost friend. No one dies or is depicted to die only to show up half a season later.

Except Jeremiah Gottwald. He's just built different.

But he starts off as a side-character that gets turned into a joke character and then turns into a side antagonist and then into a supporting protagonist through the repeated augmentations he goes through.

And he never explicitly dies. He just collapses and is then off-screen for half a season.

But for the main cast, over 50 episodes, they are rarely put in sitations where they would die. Code Geass keeps the Threat of Death by not constantly putting the main characters into situations where they realistically would die.

But finally, we can go back to Hoyo.

What is so bad with Hoyo not killing characters any more?

The way they do it. And I have a little Songque here to perfectly show what I mean.

So, Songque defeats Perception and is then completely missing, and the only assumption anyone can have is that Songque died when she threw the Sun at Perception. That is reasonable.

We have 15+ minutes of characters missing Songque and mourning her death. Its all great.

And then she returns. She just woke up and is alive and happy.

Now, the argument for why this is fine: Its a perfect ending meant for Entropy/Dreamseeker to "beat the level" and get the best possible ending while that ending wasnt real.

My counterargument: Then why was Songque dead at all? Why was she missing at all?

What would have changed if Songque was alive and happy from the get-go after defeating Perception?

Story wise? Not a lot. We could still meet everyone now after the shadow calamity has been solved and Songque could be there by our side from the get-go. And then have the twist that it was actually all fake.

The big difference is the Threat of Death would remain. By not killing Songque and thus not bringing her back from the dead, the Threat of Death is actually strengthened. Or at the very least maintained.

By not killing at all, you can strengthen or at least maintain the Threat of Death.

Instead of having Zhongli come out of nowhere, have Zhongli at the start of the quest investigating the Chasm from the surface. That way we know he is around.

Instead of having Neuvillette come out of nowhere, just have him with our group. That way we know he is around.

Instead of having Firefly die in our face, just imply it. Have us follow her signal and make it disappear right as we turn around a corner and have Dormancy float away from where Firefly last was at.

Instead of acting like Misteln will be dead for a long time, just... just dont. Or dont bring her back so soon. She really wasnt needed for the fight against Sa they could have easily just had Hua fight it.

Instead of killing off Songque... just dont? Those 15 minutes of "Songque is dead" didnt do anything for the story. Its not long enough to have a lasting impact and how all the characters would feel about her death is undone because she is back to life.

"But it was all a simulation!!" that just adds to my points:

Why wasn't Songque just, alive? What did bringing her back to life add?

What did it add, but another moment where a character overcomes death, thus diminishing the Threat of Death.

A story does not need death to be tense. It does not need death to have the Threat of Death.

But if you constantly put characters into serious situations and into situations where they are depicted to die or just straight up "dies", with the purpose of making me feel bad or sorry or mourn them or wish they wont die.

If you keep showing characters not dying, then all those moments of "oooh no! this character is about to die!" will stop having meaning.

You can write a story without death in it. But then dont put characters into situations where it looks like they are about to die.

Songque's scene where she realises how much she still has to live for - that is an excellent scene with a strong sense of the impeding Threat of Death. In isolation.

Because I was not surprised at all when Baiji didnt go through with it and killed her. I did not react (except for a sigh) when Songque returned from the dead because that has become the norm.

Because Hoyo has destroyed the Threat of Death by repeatedly and consistently having characters surpass Death in their Honkaiverse games.

Yet they keep having those moments.

They keep writing scenes that would be incredible strong with the Threat of Death, but by repeatedly not acting on those scenes, it diminishes the Threat of Death for the next one.

You can have Xiao be saved by Zhongli coming out of nowhere in the Chasm, but then dont do the same for Navia.

If that Kiana scene happened today, after what is it, 6 years of Hoyo doing "this character is about to die!" and not acting on it. If Kiana put a loaded gun to her own head, a tear rolling down her cheek as she tightens the finger on the trigger - if that happened today, I would not believe for a single moment that she would pull the trigger.

When I saw that scene for the first time, I though, "No. She wouldnt." in disbelief. Was she really about to pull the trigger? It wouldnt be pointless, she would take out the Herrscher of the Void as well as herself. Has she reached that desperate point where shooting herself seems like the only option forward to safeguard the rest of the world from the Herrscher of the Void?

But if I saw that scene now, I'd raise my eyebrows and then move on as Fu Hua shows up 3 seconds later.

Because Hoyo has overused the Threat of Death for 6 years without acting on it.

Keep the Threat of Death passive by not constantly having characters overcome it, or dont have the Threat of Death at all.

That time I got reincarnated as a Slime doesnt have the Threat of Death at all any more and I'd say its better because of it. All the characters are overpowered and its more about how they live their lives and the trouble that comes their way rather than if they will survive or not.

Hoyo keeps asking "are they going to survive or not?" and the answer for six years has always been "yes they will" and by now I want them to stop asking it. Or for the answer to be "no, they wont survive."

[akilahia]

DAY 3 OF OCtober and GORETOBER!!!(ik it’s technically 4 since it’s 1 am but still)(I fell asleep writing this, so now it’s 8 am of day 4)

Prompts were: Old OC and Asphyxiation!!

Old OC:

Josh!!

I was going to chose other characters, but this was the funniest possible option imo.

The

He was used to be a normal guy(ish). He was born in roughly 1133 BC(roughly because this is like half fantasy/half real world stuff).

There was one main god named Theós, who was the first and primary god/creator of this world. As it expanded, so did the amount of work demanded of Theós, so soon many different gods became to take formation in order to take some of work load. One of the older gods being Diana, would reigned over nature and how it interlaced with humans.

Some of the jobs that fell to these minor gods was creating humans, since Theós could no longer keep up with the demand. He would very rarely create a human, but they would be made with the sole purpose of doing or causing something world altering to happen. Josh happened to be one of those creations, so his blood, and his entire being was unknowingly more powerful than those around him.

Josh possessed great beauty(he’s kind of just good looking by modern standards) and kindness towards others. It is likely that he would have caught the eye of a royale, or perhaps made a great astrological advancement, as loved the stars. However none of that would come to be, as Diana instead became infatuated with him.

Theós had forbade any of the gods from getting involved with the humans that he specifically created, as their beings were just stable and magical enough when surrounded by humans, but contact with gods could be devastating. Diana did not listen and went to Josh.

Being young and naive, he was deeply flattered that a goddess could fall in love with him of all people! She was ‘sweet’ and possessive, yet also very secretive of her time spent with him, as to keep it hidden from Theós. Eventually she got Josh to agree to her wishes for him to carry their children. He was unsure it would even work since he was a boy, but quickly became aware that he most certainly was pregnant. Diana would feed Josh some of her blood every day, to strengthen him and their children during the pregnancy. Because of this, by the end of his pregnancy(7 months), he was already immortal. Theós finds out about the pregnancy and plans to somehow put an end to it.

Diana panics and quickly induces the pregnancy even though Josh isn’t ready, but it’s not about him. By the time Theós arrives the babies have already started clawing their way out of Josh’s stomach, so all he can really do is assist in the birth. The children are twins, a boy and a girl. The boy is handed to Diana where she is revolted by his appearance. The babies actually are fine and healthy, but they each have large bark birthmarks covering half of their body. In a rage Diana throws the boy into the ocean, before she can get to the girl, Theós takes her and leaves. Diana soon follows after him as well, leaving Josh bleeding out in agony on the ground.

This would have killed any mortal man, but with his new immortality he has been reborn in a way. He is stuck on the ground for a week, though his healing has rapidly increased, it still takes a while. Josh is now left a cynical and broken version of who he once was, feeling abandoned by someone he thought could love him, and desperately missing his children whom he never got to hold.

He’d get stronger over time and eventually take over a kingdom and kill people and stuff, but then get bored. And find new stuff to do.

Now in the modern day he is the CEO of some successful business. He wanted his children so badly he was kind of going crazy, to the point he tried building another daughter, but she was just a cat bird girl hybrid thing. Eventually he would find a way to steal his daughter back, although his parenting skills were half amazing(theme park, custom sandwiches, concerts), and half ‘raising my future evil overlord’.

When was he made:

He was first created in 2018

His old hair 😭😭

Anyways!:

GORETOBER: Asphyxiation