#strong riposte (ic)

[cutestrival]

that fruit laslow can do it, how bad can it be? (dancer mastery drabble)

She looked at the dancer’s attire. She looked down at her boots. She sighed, imagining her bare legs. She tilted her head back up, unseeing. She knew it was still there.

She’d always gravitated towards attire that contained her, fully. She had no desire to show herself in combat. Outside of combat, well, that was a different matter. Of course she loved to wear the pretty linens she’d accrued. Though, showing them off on her body, well…

She’d considered this. The dresses were pretty on their own, and so they shaped themselves over her. Her body was just a vessel for the clothing. There was nothing particularly interesting about her body. She took care of it, as a woman would, as a soldier should. But she could wear no makeup into a battle. She wore no earrings onto the battlefield. She didn’t believe in beauty when her life was on the line. (Though, her pigtails, meticulously brushed and tied every morning, begged to differ.)

She was no performer, either. All she did was for upkeep and maintenance. (All except her shopping, that is.) She found no further enjoyment running on horseback, on cooking duty, than anyone else. She was no Laslow, at least. Maybe she enjoyed the occasional tavern music, but that had to be it. Definitely not Brady’s violin. (Or, not that she’d ever admit to it.) No, her body was best kept in its casket, entombed in leather and steel-- at least, on the battlefield. At least, in present company.

She stood up. She took a step forward. In her mind, another, and then another, as she had on the Ethereal Ballroom floor. She couldn’t take that next step however. Even in her room, alone, she was loath to move herself in such a way. Perhaps it was beneath her; perhaps she was rustier than anticipated. She’d reasoned that it couldn’t be that hard. Then again, Laslow had dedicated so many nights to dancing.

What about the outfit itself? She had eyed it for its sparkle, of course; shimmering ribbons, with cool gold glinting from its seams. The threads must have been silk, for how they shown, flickering so lightly as she breathed closer. She removed her shirt, her belt. The mirror halted her. 

When she saw herself, in full, she was no longer a cute face in a sea of forgettable mugs. When she saw herself, her skin was peppered with birthmarks. Her back, laden with stretch marks, blemishes; her arms, thick with muscle, far more than a pretty girl should have. No, when she saw herself, she was no longer Selena, she was Severa, and she was hideous. She was the girl who had lost everything, and blamed the woman who cared for her most. She was a specter of contempt, haunting her new identity.

The mercenary outfit had always covered her from head to toe. Her arms, fully covered, her legs, fully covered, despite her skirt. Gloves on either hand, and a high collar for her neck. A large pauldron to block her full visage. It had been comfortable; it had been safe.

Could someone like me refresh my allies, by just moving my body? She didn’t believe herself plain, but she had met truly breathtaking women, and she knew the extent to which people sparkled. It wasn’t as simple as the refreshing power of Azura’s song, no; she must breathe the magic of the song into the world herself with her movements. She wasn’t clumsy, but she preferred being sure of her actions. Hard to do that, when I’m not wearing anything.

Whatever. If she was to burn crimson in combat, then so be it. She dressed herself in the soft materials, letting the silk run up and down her skin. Moving herself, it was as much linen as it was her body, and she let herself flow, and glide, and twirl. 

She looked back at the mirror. She glowed softly, faintly, in the light of her new confidence. Her cautious confidence, though she still refused to meet her own eyes in reflection. She looked away from herself once more, and this time down at her outfit, and smiled. 

If I feel pretty like this, then I must be.

[cutestrival]

I'm fuming even just READING this. When will people learn to mind their own business! UGH! I used to have a problem like this, but I quickly developed a remedy for annoying, ignorant fools like that. Plant your heel firmly, then kick with your other leg straight up at their groin. If they're still insistent on your company, the best follow-up you should grant them is your knee.

SERIOUSLY PISSES ME OFF. Call me

This guy has been meeting me after my office hours for a week now, begging me to go to lunch with him. How do I tell him I'm not interested and that I think his headband looks dumb, in a way he'll understand?

.

[cutestrival]

"Selena!!! My darling!!!" Camilla quickly approached one of her favorite retainers with open arms. "Oh it's been so long dear. How are you doing?"

"Shall I treat you to some lunch?"

Selena kicked a rock. “Fine, I guess.”Perking up at the suggestion, she immediately agreed. She lifted her hands from her hips, letting her brow relax, if just a little.

“You know, I could really use a drink right now. I heard that a new shipment of wines came in last night. Wanna try?”

[cutestrival]

with each cycle of the seasons, she remains an invincible summer. a blistering sun painting a portrait of intensity, her fiery disposition a testament to nature's unyielding power. 

“HOLD, SELENA!” odin calls out, a beckoning hand outstretched. “spare an old friend a moment of your time! it shall not go to waste. that is my sacred vow.”

with his free hand, he gracefully unveils a golden chain, from which dangles an ornate amulet adorned with resplendent red stones. upon this precious pendant, odin has carefully etched the words "never forget," ensuring their permanence in the delicate tapestry of sentiment and time.

“i present to you an artifact of mythical power, worthy only of those who defy fate. SHHH"! he raises a finger to his lips. "LISTEN now to its mighty siren call and how it SINGS out to you ! yes…a MAGNIFICENT match indeed! none are as deserving as you, SELENA OF TEMPESTUOUS FLAMES!”  

odin takes a step forward and gently presses the gift into her hand. a mischievous grin eclipses over his features, offering a glimpse into the delight that twinkles within.

"the most joyous of birthdays to you! now, venture into the world and showcase its glamour for all to behold!"

Begrudgingly, reluctantly, most inorganically to a stranger but not uncommon to a friend, Selena’s resting frown tugs into a smile. Long does it waver, her lips wresting the emotions from moving up to her cheeks as best they can. She swallows her calm, and blinks up brightly at her dear, dear friend, almost embarrassed in her hesitancy. The necklace shimmers upon the words, carved too into her eyes every morning. But to receive the same words from Odin, one who knows, one who has died, one who has forged further, who too shoulders countless burdens with nothing more but a smile, carries a different sentiment. A comforting one. The amulet finally in her grasp, she turns it over and over in her hands, letting the setting sunlight catch upon the fineries wrought of friendship and perseverance.

“Oh… Thank you, Odin.” 

She no longer attempts to avert her eyes.

“I won’t forget ever again.”

[myreia]

wip whenever

tagged by @galadae and @coldshrugs, thank you! 💖

tagging @bearlytolerant, @thevikingwoman, @impossible-rat-babies, @hylfystt, @allaganexarch, @birues & @roguelioness.

I'm lost in an Echo scene from Chapter 5, Aureia's family sucks. ✌️Stormblood spoilers-ish.

Laughter hums on Elgara’s lips and she returns to her paperwork with smooth, controlled movements. Kallias has always been easy to rile up. It is his greatest weakness—and it is easy to exploit.

“That possessive streak will be the end of you,” she says, tutting lightly. “Go about it then, if you’re so inclined. You don’t need my permission. I’m sure the legatuses would be overjoyed to hear of the death of the Warrior of Light. Perhaps if you offer them proof, they would even reward you.”

He snarls under his breath and bites his tongue, his riposte contained.

“Or does the thought give you pause? Do you fear, perhaps, that you aren’t strong enough? Is that why you’ve come here, crawling back to your mother, riddled with doubt and uncertainty?”

“I don’t doubt, I—”

Elgara sets her pen aside and rises from her chair, unfurling to her full height. She towers above her son, casting a long shadow across the observation deck’s floor. “Kira has something you don’t,” she says. “She has had it her whole life, it is what made her unique. Special. An asset. Your father and I sought to tap it, but we did not have the knowledge or the foresight to understand what we were dealing with. But Aulus mal Asina did. He was a visionary. And someone must continue his work.”

Red. Blue. Red. Blue.

The lights cycle, flashing over Elgara and Kallias, casting them into darkness. The solider inhales once more, her breath as sharp as ice. She presses herself against the door, gazing inwards, her form unnoticed in the shadows. A shiver ran down her spine at the mention of Aulus’ name. She recalls him, of course she does. She remembers his youth when she met him near two decades ago, bright-eyed and intense, speaking theories dismissed by his superiors as fanciful dreams at best and psychosis at worst. It was he who first spoke of Echoes and Resonants, of gifting the Garlean people the ability to control aether.

She recalls what he did to Krile. What he did to Fordola… and Zenos, too.  

How his life ended, screeching about data and souls with his dying breath on the floor of the Ala Mhigan palace. Forgotten and abandoned by the prince he had devoted himself to.

His research, as he called it, should have ended there.

Inside the observation room, Elgara approaches her son step by dreaded step. She may be no soldier, and yet she engulfs him. Outmatches him. Outwits him. Kallias is no small man, and yet compared to her imposing height he is so small. So insignificant.

“Don’t you see, Kal?” she says, her voice low and strangely soothing in its intensity. The voice of someone who can lull others into implicit trust by the sheer power of command and self-assurance. “Kira is a liability, but liabilities can be exploited. Her usefulness to Garlemald has not ended. You wish to kill her; I will not doubt your thirst for vengeance, it is more than understandable. But think on it. Kill her and we lose her forever.”

He grunts, the panicked sound strangled in his throat. “Have you forgotten what she’s done, mother? What she—”

“Shh.” She arrives before him and places a hand to his chin. It’s a gentle gesture; on anyone else it would be caring. But on her it is empty, a gesture of inspection and observation. “Capture her and our opportunities are thrown wide. We can reclaim what we have lost, you and I. Theorzen will be a name to be respected; no longer will it be spat upon like the rest.”

He closes his eyes, his expression still.

“You deserve more than the lot you have been given, Kallias. And she can gift you the strength you deserve to carry. The skills and talents that should have gone to you. A transference. A replication. A Resonant of your very own, one derived from the Warrior of Light. With it, you can have your vengeance. With it, you can outmatch even Zenos himself.”

His eyelids flutter and he grimaces, lip curling back. Then he crumples into her and clings, shoulders shuddering with the aftershock of silent tears. In this moment, there is no sign of the operative and the spy. In this moment, he is a child coming home.

It makes the soldier’s blood boil. Lost in her anger, she slips and cracks her forehead against the door, helmet banging against the glass. Her vision blurs red and her knees give out from under her. When she finally clears her vision, she finds herself huddles on the stairwell floor, looking in as Elgara enfolds her son into her embrace.

A spike of jealousy flares in the pit of her stomach. Unwanted. Unneeded. Unexplained.  

She curses her inability to do anything but observe.

Elgara cradles him, a hand resting against the back of his head, stroking his matted hair. “Bring your sister to me, Kal,” she croons. “Bring her to me and I can make it happen. I wish for it to happen. It should have been you all along.”

Kallias stills. His expression hardens, his lips pressed firm together. Slowly, one by one his fingers lift as he loosens his grip. The danger and the malice return, blazing bright in his red eyes. “No,” he breathes.

[cutestrival]

The moment he takes the ring on his finger, Selena is confident she's got him hook, line, and sinker. Looking up at him once again, she finds a mischievous a grin to blindside him with. She knocks his hand away.

"Oh, knock it off! Great Tree Moon's fools, dipshit!"

“Laslow, I…” Selena brushed her bangs from her eyes nervously. Her eyes flitted away from any chance at eye contact. 

“Ever since we were kids, fighting in that wasteland… we’ve lost and found each other again and again.” She gulped down her thumping heartbeats. “And I think…”

Her cheeks were completely overtaken in crimson. She offered forth the same ring that Laslow had given her years ago in Ylisse. A token of a friendship that she now wanted to be much much more. She cupped his gloved hands in her own, and gazed deeply into those sparkling eyes that had captivated her so long ago.

“I’ve always loved you. Oh Laslow, won’t you take care of me until the end of our years?”

This cannot be happening.

Selena, the ice queen of his heart, staring lovingly into his eyes? Naga, who put her up to this!? Laslow swallows, cheeks burning a matching red. She kept the ring all these years? He's touched, truly, but he didn't think she'd carry a torch for him this long--

(Wait, didn't he see her and Lucina together just yesterday? He knows what interacting with a crush looks like!)

He accepts the ring as if in a daze, weighing it in his palm. It's all a joke, right? Part of the spirit of the day?

(He doesn't know why it still stings, a knife-cut just deep enough to remind him it's there.)

Mustering up a silly smile, he slips the ring onto the pinky finger of his left hand. Holding it up, he admires the way it glitters. "My, darling, dearest Selena! How my heart leaps for joy at your confession. But of course I will be there for you, until the universe itself collapses!"

If the words sound strained, he hopes she doesn't notice.

[sorcadh]

For this project, Bobby Baker transformed the Acme Housing Association prefab that she was living in into a week-long sculptural installation that housed an edible family of five: mother, father, teenage daughter, son, and baby. 

Assembled from cake and adorned with icing, biscuits and other baked goods, the family members could be encountered in rooms throughout the house: the baby asleep in her cot, the son in the bath, the teenage daughter listening to the radio in her parents’ bedroom, the father slumped in an armchair in front of the television. The mother was the only mobile member of the family who moved throughout the house but was more often found in the kitchen, where visitors could enjoy a cup of tea from her head, or other soft drinks, and have fresh snacks from compartments in her abdomen. Against a backdrop of walls and surfaces covered in newsprint and magazines, and decorated with icing sugar, Baker performed as hostess. She offered food and encouraged visitors to consume, and thereby dismantle, the family.   

Bobby Baker: ‘For the first time I decided to dispense with the problem of deciding what to wear…I would always adopt a more neutral garb, in the form of a woman’s overall. I liked the fact that it was neutral and yet deeply complex in the ways in which it could be read. Also, it was my conscious female riposte to Joseph Beuys’ macho fishing waistcoat and hat.’ 

Her own work has drawn repeatedly upon domesticity and motherhood, demanding that the viewer see work that usually goes unacknowledged, and has celebrated the apparently mundane or distressing in funny, inventive and exuberant ways.

[raeynbowboi]

The Character Forge: How to Play as Link in DnD 5e

Link is without a doubt one of the most iconic heroes in fiction, which is why I’m excited to work on this build of Link. Now, of course Link has a long history of games where he’s had a wide variety of skills and abilities. So, for this build, I wanted to focus on his most recurring skills and items, and try to find DnD items with similar effects, if possible, to fill out his arsenal. Link is a multi-talented young man who has a talent for many skills, weapons, and items. He’s extremely flexible in what he can work with, and that was a primary focus of this build: to broaden his abilities as much as I could.

The Makings of a Hero

Hylians are clearly some kind of elf. You could make Link a Human or Variant Human if you want, but if it looks like an elf and it hyaas like an elf, chances are it’s an elf. There are a lot of kinds of elf he could be. Hylians are closely connected to the gods and think highly of themselves, so High Elf is a strong possibility. But Link is also something of a wilderness expert, so he could be a Wood Elf too.

Link is clearly good, but where on the goodness scale is a little less clear. He is a champion for goodness and light, so he could be Lawful Good, but he’s also jokingly famous for breaking into random houses and smashing random pots to steal people’s hidden money, so he could fall under Chaotic Good. And that divide could also make him Neutral Good.

As for background, that also tends to differ between game. Sometimes he’s a simple villager, a rancher, a farmer, a knight, an amnesiac foreigner. He’s so inconsistent that it’s better to just give him a background that covers the skills he doesn’t pick up from his build. Top contenders for Link’s background would be Outlander, Knight of the Order, Soldier, Far Traveler, and Folk Hero.

Skills, Abilities, & Items

Weapons      -Longsword      -Shield      -Bow and Arrows      -Bombs      -Slingshot      -Boomerang      -Greatsword      -Club      -Spear      -Magical Rods Skills      -Horse Riding      -Mounted Combat      -Dungeon Crawler      -Puzzle-solving      -Weapon proficiency      -Fighting Maneuvers Famous Items      -Triforce of Courage      -Master Sword      -Hylian Shield/Mirror Shield      -Hero Bow      -Ocarina of Time      -Power Bracelet/Golden Gauntlets      -Zora Tunic/Mermaid Suit/Zora Flippers      -Roc’s Feather/Feather Cape/Hover Boots/Glider      -Hookshot/Longshot      -Gale Boomerang      -Wind Waker      -Pegasus Boots/Pegasus Seeds      -Biggoron’s Sword      -Fire Rod      -Fire Arrow/Lightning Arrow/Ice Arrow/Light Arrow      -Ball and Chain      -Fierce Deity Mask

Get to Class

Fighter     Arcane Archer     Battle Master     Cavalier/Knight     Champion     Monster Hunter     Scout     Sharpshooter

Paladin     Ancients     Crown     Devotion     Heroism

Ranger     Hunter     Monster Hunter

Rogue     Inquisitive     Scout     Swashbuckler

Stats & Proficiencies

Honestly, Link was hard to stat balance at first. I figured his best stat should be Constitution to correlate with a late-game number of heart containers. Link needs to be able to take a serious hit, and he spends most of the game getting a bigger health bar for just that very reason. Aside from Constitution, nothing really stood out as more important, though Intelligence and Charisma can get the shaft a bit, as Intelligence covers mostly book-learning which Link isn’t really known for, and largely in part to being a mute, aside from dancing in the Subrosia dance hall or playing his Ocarina, Link isn’t exactly great with Charisma-based skills. That’s not to say he’s really bad at anything, though. Link is a real Renaissance Man, as he’s good pretty much everything. Which means he shouldn’t have any negative modifiers. But Link is also not the pinnacle of strength, durability, or insightfulness. He needs items to perform feats of great strength, speed, or stamina, and wouldn’t get very far without them, so he’s also not going to be the max in any of his stats either. Rather, he’s going to be competent in Intelligence and Charisma, and fairly good at everything else.

Proficiencies:      Acrobatics      Animal Handling      Athletics      Insight      Investigation      Nature      Perception      Stealth      Survival

Link’s New Toys

    -Bag of Holding     -Triforce of Courage (Banner of the Krig Rune)     -Mastersword (Dawnbringer)     -Hylian Shield (Shield of the Hidden Lord, Shield +3)     -Mirror Shield (Repulsion Shield)     -Hero’s Bow (Oathbow)     -Golden Gauntlets (Gauntlets of Ogre Power)     -Zora Tunic/Mermaid Suit (Cap of Water Breathing, Cloak of the Manta Ray)     -Gale Boomerang (Storm Boomerang)     -Hover Boots (Boots of Levitation)     -Pegasus Boots (Boots of Speed, Boots of Striding and Springing)     -Fire Rod (Necklace of Fireball)*     -Fierce Deity Mask (Mask of the Dragon Queen) *There are items like the Wand of Fireball and the Staff of Fire, but both items require the holder to be a magic user, which Link is not.

Name: Link Race: High Elf Background: Outlander Alignment: Neutral Good Class: Monster Slayer Ranger (6)             Battle Master Fighter (10)             Inquisitive Rogue (4) Base Stats:      Strength: 16 (+3)      Dexterity: 14 (+2)      Constitution: 18 (+4)      Intelligence: 10 (0)      Wisdom: 16 (+3)      Charisma: 10 (0) Saving Throws:      Strength: +9      Dexterity: +8      Constitution: +3      Intelligence: 0      Wisdom: +3      Charisma: 0 Combat Stats:      HP: 200      AC: 15      Speed: 30      Initiative: +2      Number of Attacks: 2      Proficiency Bonus: +6      Passive Perception: 19      Dark Vision: 60 feet Proficiencies and Expertise:      Acrobatics (Rogue)      Animal Handling (Ranger)      Athletics (Outlander)      Insight (Ranger)      Investigation (Ranger)      Perception (Elf)      Survival (Outlander) Skills:      Acrobatics: +8                 Medicine: +3      Animal Handling: +9        Nature: +6      Arcana: 0                         Perception: +9      Athletics: +15                   Performance: 0      Deception: 0                    Persuasion: 0      History: 0                         Religion:0      Insight: +9                        Sleight of Hand: +2      Intimidation: 0                  Stealth: +8      Investigation: +6              Survival: +15 Condition Resistances:        Charmed Immunities:        Sleep Racial Feature: Elf        Elven Weapon Training: Proficiency with Shortsword, Longsword, Shortbow, and Longbow. Ranger Feature: Fighting Style      Archery: Add +2 to attack rolls for ranged weapons. Ranger Feature: Favored Terrain      Forest     Grassland Ranger Feature: Favored Enemy      Monstrosity      Fiend Fighter Feature: Fighting Style      Dueling: Add +2 to melee damage rolls when using 1 one-handed weapon. Fighter Feature: Superiority Die      5 (1d10s) Fighter Feature: Maneuvers      Disarming Attack: spend a superiority die to force your target to make a Strength saving throw. On a failed roll, it drops 1 item of your choosing.      Feinting Attack: spend a superiority die as a bonus action, and select a target. You gain advantage against that creature and add the roll of your superiority die to your attack damage if you hit the target creature.      Parry: As a reaction, reduce melee damage you take by your dex modifier + the roll of a superiority die.      Precision Attack: add the roll of a superiority die to the damage roll of a melee attack you made.      Riposte: When an enemy’s attack misses you, you can make a counter attack, and add the roll of a superiority die.      Sweeping Attack: Use a superiority die to cause your melee attack to hit a second creature within 5 feet of your first target. Add your superiority dice roll.      Trip Attack: Use a superiority die to force a large or smaller creature to make a Strength saving throw. on a failed save, that creature is knocked prone. Spell Slots:      1st (4)      2nd (2) Link’s Spellbook      Cantrips True Strike      1st Level Cure Wounds Hunter’s Mark Wild Cunning Protection from Good and Evil      2nd Level Find Traps Actions:      Action Surge: take an extra action once per rest.      Primeval Awareness: Spend a spell slot. For 1 or 2 minutes, you sense the kinds of creatures within 1 mile of you, or 6 miles in forests and grasslands. Bonus Actions:      Cunning Action: Dash, Disengage, or Hide once per turn.      Second Wind: Regain 1d10+10 HP once per rest. Features, Traits, and Feats:      Archery Fighting Style: Gain +2 on attack rolls with ranged weapons.      Dueling Fighting Style: Gain +2 on damage rolls when armed with a single one-handed melee weapon.      Ear for Deceit: Any roll of 7 or lower on an Insight check against lying becomes an 8.      Extra Attack: You get two Attack actions.      Eye for Detail: Perform an Insight or Investigation check as a bonus action.      Favored Enemy: Deal +2 bonus damage to Monstrosities and Fiends. Gain advantage on Survival checks to track Monstrosities and Fiends, and Intelligence checks to remember information about them.      Fey Ancestry: Resistance to Charmed effects, immunity to magical sleep.      Hunter’s Sense: As an action, choose a creature within 60 feet. You learn the creature’s damage immunities, resistances, and vulnerabilities. Can be used 3 times per long rest.      Improved Combat Superiority: Your superiority die become 1d10s.      Indomitable: Reroll a failed save once per long rest.      Insightful Fighting: As a bonus action, make an Insight check against another creature’s Deception check. If you succeed, you can use Sneak Attack against the creature even without advantage for up to a minute. Doesn’t work if you’re disadvantaged. Wears off if you target a new creature with this feature.      Know Your Enemy: If you spend at least 1 minute outside of battle observing a creature, the DM will tell you whether the creature is superior, inferior, or equal to you in any 2 of the following stats: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, AC, Current HP, Total Class Levels, or Fighter Class Levels.      Natural Explorer: Favored Terrains are Grasslands and Forests. While in your favored terrains: double proficiency bonuses for INT and WIS checks you’re proficient in, difficult terrain doesn’t slow your party down, always alert for danger, can move stealthily at a normal pace when traveling alone, find double food when foraging, and when tracking anything, you can tell how big they were, how many there were, and how long ago they passed through.      Sharpshooter: Attacking from long range doesn’t disadvantage ranged attack rolls, ranged weapon attacks ignore half and 3/4 cover, and you can -5 on a ranged weapon attack roll to add +10 to the damage roll on a successful hit.      Slayer’s Prey: As a bonus action, pick a creature within 60 feet of you. Add 1d6 damage to the first attack you make against that creature.      Sneak Attack: Add 2d6 to damage roll when you have advantage, or another enemy of the target is within 5 feet of it.      Thieves’ Cant: You can articulate covert messages in casual conversations.      Trance: Trance for 4 hours instead of sleeping for 8.      Wanderer: You have an excellent memory for terrain and don’t need a map. You can remember where to find settlements, foraging spots, and geographical landmarks. You can always find enough food and water to sustain yourself and up to 5 more people provided the land can provide food and drinkable water.

I’m sure there’s some who will disagree with my picks, but I optimized a build around looking for enemy weaknesses, having a ton of proficiencies, and having a wide and varied arsenal of weapons at Link’s disposal. If you’d build Link another way, tell me what you’d do different. Who do you want to see me make next? And as always, I look forward to seeing you again at the Character Forge, where heroes are made.

[wu-sisyphus-gang]

Motion Sickness Chapter 93

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(Winter POV)

Training with the new powers was harsh. It was an inconcrete thing. Where one might normally run laps to build up speed or stamina or lift weights to grow stronger the powers of the maiden were transcendental.

The training still took a great deal from you, as though you had been running laps or lifting weights, however. It left me exhausted and it left me weaker than normal. I had a long way to go until I reached the power of a fully realized maiden like Fria had been.

As far as I was aware even Cinder Fall had yet to master her powers. Though she had an additional helping of them being both fall and spring.

My heels clicked down a street nearby to the academy leading up to where my small apartment was. It was a cozy thing with spartan furnishings. It was so unlike the manor I had grown up in. The military lifestyle suited me after the years I spent as a child under my father.

To my father everything had to be extravagant. He needed it that way. I was different. I thrived off of the bare minimum.

There was the sound of footsteps behind me on the dark street. I turned around. There was a woman standing there.  She was nearly as tall as I was in a dark crimson dress. She had an eye patch over half her face with dark hair and a glowing ember eye. I recognized her at once.

This was Cinder Fall.

I pulled my weapon on her and she let out a short terse laugh. She summoned her own weapons to her hands. Swords made of glass, one in each palm. Just like her profile described.

I split my scimitar so I, too, had a weapon in each hand.

"So quick to arms? I just have a couple questions for you," her voice rang out melodic.

She hurled a mote of fire at me and I slipped behind a corner, into an alley that lined the street. The explosion rocked the side of the building I pressed my back against.

"This is Special Operative Winter Schnee I nee-" my scroll was blown out of my hands.

"None of that." Cinder strode up on me with a bow in her hands now. She shot my device out of my hands with an explosive arrow. It rocked my world a little and I was sent tumbling down the alley and away from the bigger street.

She inhaled deeply through her nose like she was smelling the conflagration. Fire roared up from behind her and she slammed me into a wall. She held me there with her weapons in sword formation once again.

I was a hair taller than her but she was incredibly strong. I pressed forward with my weapons, swinging one in each hand and she deftly blocked it with narrow twists of her wrists.

Her eye glowed with the power of a maiden burning away at the corners.

She summoned lightning. It crackled down onto us both and she whipped her weapons at me and it struck me high. I summoned a glyph behind me and darted forward on the magic in a landing attack.

She met my strike to the side and lashed out with a kick that caught me in the gut.

"Now about my questions…" she trailed as she prowled towards me like a tigress. "Where is the winter maiden, Winter Schnee? Is it you now? I wonder?"

I summoned a glyph at my back and launched myself again towards her. I slashed twice at her low, high then I brought forth dust from my weapon and swept fire at her. She ducked underneath the fire and came at me with both her weapons in diagonal fierce cuts.

I managed to block them all then I jumped off the wall and back-flipped away from her and hoped to gain some space.

She kept on top of me. Prowling forward she sliced at me with her weapons. I blocked one off to the side and deflected the other away from my face before I slashed at her stomach and caught her by the red aura there. She stuttered back a step.

"Well aren't you more than the General's plaything," she laughed at me.

I reared back and stabbed my weapon into the ground and brought forth another glyph. Snow white Grimm masked birds flew forward at Cinder Fall and buffeted her. She slashed through them and I let up after a few got through and harried her. I summoned a great Beowulf from nothing and it lumbered towards Cinder.

Cinder examined it contemptuously before she cut her way through it with a wave of fire.

She twirled her weapon around her and fire emanated forth. It spun around her like a dancer's ribbon before she struck out with it and I only just managed to flip out of the way of the blaze.

I came down on her with both my weapons and I cut at her diagonally then horizontally then diagonally with both of them. She only met my strikes while backing up steps to give a little ground in the tight alley. It was a touch claustrophobic for my tastes and it was only getting hotter as Cinder reved things up.

She flew at me, leaving a blaze behind her on the ground as she did. She came at me with narrow slices and sharp thrusts. Then she hovered in a tight circle around me and kicked me in the back of the head.

I fell to the ground and looked up at her. Some of my maiden powers must have flared up because she whispered. "It is you."

There was no use hiding it. There hadn't been at any rate. This was a win or lose fight for me. I couldn't afford to keep more cards in reserve. I had already nearly exhausted my maiden powers, though, with my day of training with them. I was already bone tired and nearly at my limit. Only the rush of adrenaline kept me going at the moment.  

I slashed towards her and summoned a wall of ice along the sides of the alley with dust. Spires poked out towards her from the sheet of frigid material.

It hardly slowed her down even having been caught up in it. She attacked me with more fire and the alleyway was filled with hot steam that burned my eyes and made me cough.

There was a flare of lightning as she approached me and she swung her weapon towards me and there was a zap that caught me in the center of my mass.

It tossed me down the alleyway and sent me rolling. I picked myself back up to my feet in time to meet a wild slash of glass sword. I held it at bay with my stiletto in my left hand and took a swipe at her with the scimitar in my right. It only met air as she ducked at followed it with a swing of her own weapon in her right hand.

I met it with my stiletto again. Then she took a slash at me with her free weapon. I was forced to block with my scimitar.

She flipped in place, bringing both weapons down on me and I blocked them with an 'x' of my own tools.

She kicked me in the stomach and made to summon more fire. It swirled around her in an inferno as she stepped towards me. I felt my aura burning off of me from the heat. She swept both her weapons at me and the fire followed.

Nowhere to run or duck in the alley I was forced to shield myself with glyph as best as I could. It shattered like glass and the heat raced over me.

I summoned a glyph behind me and darted over her, then back over her with another swipe. Then another in a blitz of attacks that made me shed aura like rain but it was worth it for the three clear slashes I landed on her own aura.

I made to do it again, after all, if a strategy is working, then why change it? I launched myself towards her and made for another swing but she got bodily in my way and I ended up tackling her down the alley and back out into the open street.

I slashed my blade at her and wave of lightning emanated out of it. It raced over her body and made her shudder from the force of it. It left her smoking. I saw my opportunity and slashed deeply into her aura with first the stiletto then the scimitar.

I tore out deep red chunks of energy from her body and made her scream in rage. Cinder summoned a dagger into one hand and brought it down on my head. I only narrowly dodged to the side.

She summoned her swords again and came sweeping at me with three fast blows that spun her in a circle. I blocked the first two but the last caught me across the stomach.

One little moment stood out to me as I was pushed back. One simple thing. I was probably going to lose. And if I did… when I did… the power of the winter maiden could not go to Cinder Fall.

I took my weapons and I cut at her in a rhythmic pattern. Low high low. High high low.

Cinder blocked them all with a sly smile on her face. Her grin only widened as she counter attacked with raw fire in a flare that sent me scuttling back across the street.

My own control over the maiden's powers were so much less refined and they were worn down after a day of using them hard for the first time.

She swung her weapons at me and there was a zap of lightning that crackled down her arms from her body and further into her weapons then out at me.

It shocked me and I felt my body convulse and falter. My aura hardly defended me as low as it was. It hurt a great deal.

She flew at me with flames behind her and I barely raised my weapons in time to match just one of hers. She shoved me all the way back into a brick wall. My head cracked back against it harshly and then she went and tried to sweep one of my legs out from under me. Only fleet footwork kept me up right.

Then I was forced to block her other free glass sword with my smaller stiletto. I pushed back against her for a moment before she faded back and caused me to fall forward. She tripped me and hooked the hilt of her weapon behind my neck and threw me to the asphalt. She kicked me in the side while I was down and I rolled with it to get back to my feet.

I pushed both palms down into the asphalt and picked myself up. She was on me with a wild swing of her glass sword. I deflected it and riposted with a thrust of my scimitar.

She parried it easily enough. I stuttered back a step and summoned a glyph and using dust I sent a hail of ice shards her way. She summoned fire hot enough to melt them and turn them to steam. I kept the hail going a moment longer but quickly ran out of usable dust long before I made progress through her wall of fire.

I was losing. I was losing badly and I wasn't sure I could turn this around at all. It had been a bit like fighting Cloud Strife who had bodied me as well. This was just the edge that magic provided a competent user.

I was slowing down and I would probably lose long before help arrived to bail me out.

This was grim. None of my training had prepared me for the moments before I was about to die. How could it? I'm not proud of it but I panicked a little. All my analysis was screaming at me that these were my last seconds of life and if it wasn't these seconds it was going to be the next ones.

She summoned more fire and I dived to the side to avoid being immolated. I tried to clear my mind and rationalize but that was just leading me down a dead end road. I was about to die. I was about to die. I was going to lose and I was going to die for it. Cinder was just more dangerous than I was. Even at my best I wasn't sure I would be able to defeat her and I wasn't coming into this at my best.

I had a duty though. I had a job to do. I was still going to protect the maiden powers. Cinder wouldn't take a third one today. But who to choose? My brain was stunningly calm in its analysis of candidates compared to the panic I felt regarding my own imminent death.

There was Penny of course. Penny would do well. She was a wonderful person, perhaps even a friend. But it wasn't enough. My thoughts kept being drawn back to Cinder as she flew at me again and cut at me with her weapons. I stepped back blocking both.

I needed something more to anchor myself as I died. Least I be reminded of my attacker and the powers go to Cinder. Something more than a possible friend. There was really only one candidate at the end of the day.

My last thoughts would be of my little sister. It was the right choice. I knew it in my heart. It was strong enough as well. Strong enough that my thoughts never left Weiss as I stared Cinder in the eye and blocked her lightning fast slashes.

I fell back some more and her left arm just extended in Grimm blackness and chased me with her sword. I blocked her unearthly strength three times in a half second. Then she hurled another note of fire at me and dived across the rough pavement.

Still my thoughts were on my baby sister. Would she be up to the task at hand? Maybe. I prayed so. She would have all the support that I did to succeed. But was I just dooming her to die from the same woman that was attacking me now? Maybe so as well.

But she was committed and strong. She had a powerful team of friends to support her. She could get through this. She had as good a chance as anyone else I could bear to name as my successor.

"You Atlas types are all the same. Hoarding powers. You think it won't leave the rest of us hungry." Cinder prattled as she advanced on me again with three berserker cuts. I only blocked the last, the rest cut deep into my aura. "And I refuse to starve."

She pressed forward into me.

"Give it to me," she demanded. I wouldn't. My thoughts never left my baby sister. It had a certain resolve to it that I'd never managed to place at any other point in my life. It had no true point of comparison. It was a singular focus.

I fought back with a fury. I swung at her in a triage of blows that she neatly blocked with an unconcerned smile on her face. The total bitch.

I fought back like I was about to die. I swung for the fences and for Cinder Fall's head. She kicked me back a half step and chased with a swipe at my arm that knocked me and cut me open. The wound made me cry out as it tore my flesh.

I had nothing left. I was completely empty. This was it. This was the moment. She swiped my weapons to the side hard enough that I could hardly hold on to them.

She bent backwards and thrust forward. Then she stabbed me through the chest. I choked on air and I could feel my left lung filling with blood where she stabbed me. I could feel her sword part my ribs. The cartilage shattered.

She followed it with another slash across my throat. I dropped my weapons and reached for my neck vainly. Blood flowed over the wound and I couldn't breath through the slice in my esophagus. I choked helplessly on the gore. The pain was distant compared to my inability to breath and my sudden lightheadedness.

I fell to my knees still choking.

"Give it to me," she purred again. The last words I'd ever hear.

I didn't. I thought of my little Weiss.

Then I slipped my mortal coil.

pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq

-WG

[adrinoir]

Adrigami has some issues

Well, I had fun writing all the love square ships. Now it’s time to tackle a couple of the ones outside of it (finally).

First ✨Adrigami✨

How it started

Of course Adrien was taken aback by her in Riposte. She totally beat him in that fencing challenge.

My god, what is this face he’s making? LOL

Then he tries to chase her down, but is unsuccessful .

And he later figures out her family is world famous fencers.

After the akuma in Kagami is destroyed, Adrien talks to her and thus their friendship begins.

Cuteness

I like when they’re eating ice cream together. I like when they go to events together. Good and wholesome.

How these two are alike

I would say it’s easy for Adrien and Kagami to get along because they have similar relationships with their parents in how strict they are, and similar interests such as fencing. Plus, they’re both sweethearts.

So, it’s nice that they have each other to relate to on that personal level.

It’s cute and good, however, this isn’t enough for them to go off of to keep a relationship.

How these two are different

There’s definitely a strong difference in personality. Adrien is more soft spoken and Kagami is very up front about everything.

This is problematic.

Kagami 100% knows she likes Adrien and has no issue expressing her feelings for him. I feel like this is why a good chunk of the fandom doesn’t like Kagami, because she’s open and honest....and she likes Adrien. (Although I personally have no issue with her.)

She has told Marinette she shouldn’t hesitate and the reason she got that date in the ice rink with him is because Adrien knows she likes him. Kagami is definitely a bit jealous (but that’s fair), although she has clearly been wanting to have both Marinette and Adrien as good friends at the very least.

Admittedly, these three have one of the cutest friendships ever.

However, Kagami being this way isn’t going to be a good balance with how Adrien is. Adrien definitely likes her a little bit, but still doesn’t know what he wants and teeters between her and Marinette/Ladybug. It isn’t fair. His indecisiveness doesn’t mesh well with Kagami’s strong, decisive personality. She even told him that his indecisiveness is hurtful, when she felt the moment was right and she tried to kiss him, but he stepped back.

I speak from real life experience when I say I dated a good friend who seemingly liked me, things were good from the very start, but this person kept feeling unsure about the relationship. I was very upfront with this person about everything and knew how I felt about them. But, they weren’t like that. They were very much indecisive and wishy-washy, and the relationship failed because of that one-sidedness.

I feel the same would happen with a relationship between Adrien and Kagami. It would start well but then fail because Adrien isn’t 100% sure of his feelings for Kagami.

Final thoughts

1) These two are cute but too different personality-wise to have a healthy romantic relationship.

2) However, they aren’t a complete flop because I feel like they still make really good friends. They have a perfectly good platonic relationship. (Kagami also really likes having Marinette as a friend which is really sweet.)

3) Marinette/Ladybug and Adrien/Cat Noir are end game anyhow. So no matter what, it won’t last, even if you do like them together.

[gale-gentlepenguin]

Was there any lead up to Lukanette? adrigami had Adrien and kagami becoming friends then growing closer, but Lukanette was like... Marinette meets Luka, Luka plays guitar for her, then says he loves her the next week?

Okay, I am going to get mad in depth on this so we can get down to it.

Adrien and Kagami

 First met in Riposte, Started off as rivals, then blossomed into respect and Adrien thinking Kagami was kind of cute. The episode prefaces this point and the Intro is done well.

The SECOND TIME Kagami is shown is in Frozer. By that time, Kagami has feelings for Adrien and Adrien tries asking her out. That was not a lot of build up at all. This almost comes out of nowhere. There was no middle episode for them to develop as more then friends before this. Season 3 has much more episodes with this development (Animaestro, backwarder, Oni-chan, Desperada,) Honestly when looking at Adrigami, Frozer should have happened in Season 3 so that the development at LEAST made more sense.

Now in Frozer they make claims that they had grown closer at the time and Adrien was pretty much using this as a chance to get over Ladybug. Being real honest, it is not a good episode and the sudden shift in the relationship between the two seems to come almost out of nowhere. Season 3 at least gives some more physical examples of how the dynamic grew. So its at least more understandable. 

The show did a lot of Tell don't show in season 2 with Kagami and that sucked for the dynamic. But at least by the season 3 finale it at least makes more sense.

I would go more into depth on this but this is more about the later couple, so this was just to set a baseline.

Now lets get to 

Marinette and Luka:

Lets start with Captain HardRock. (I will push through my absolute hatred of the episode and give it to you straight) Luka’s introduction sucks. Marinette meets him, he says a comment, she thinks it was rude, then he plays guitar and its suddenly better. This does improve later on in the episode with Luka saying and doing things for Marinette, like hiding her from the akuma and asking about her well being, which is a good way to show the character as caring. But I just hate how everyone type casts marinette in this. Alya is suddenly all like “Oh looks like you got another boy your in love with” and the f***ing compass metaphors. It was like people were telling Marinette what she was feeling for Luka as opposed to her saying what she was feeling. So the episode ends with her, Split between two boys. Just so suddenly?

Next appearance of Luka, this is what I like to call the Inverse of Adrigami. While Adrigami had an interesting intro and a lack luster second appearance. Lukanette comes out strong in Frozer. Luka is listening to Marinette vent. Showing that the last appearance gave Luka a more positive relationship. Not so much Love interest as, a good friend she can confide in. Luka helps her out at the Ice rink, letting her have fun when she should be feeling miserable. (Yes I hate this episode more then anything but I can at least acknowledge they did a good job with Luka here) So Marinette finding herself more interested in Luka here makes more sense.

Now the question here is the matter of episode order, Did Desperada come After silencer or before.

If Silencer came before Desperada, then that makes sense on Why this seems more sudden. Because by this point, Marinette is starting to exhibit that blush/ nervous stammer she does with Adrien (granted it only happened once or twice in silencer, and it could be debated that it was because she was caught off guard.) She is suddenly a regular that hangs out with the band, enough that she is designing costumes and supporting them? It just feels super sudden, but as mentioned before the show does a lot of telling instead of showing. Silencer had akuma Luka confess unintentionally and then perfectly say his confession word for word when he wasn't akumatized. So he must have been practicing that. Luka could have had these feelings since Frozer, as that little sad bit when he encouraged Marinette to go after Adrien. Plus, if Silencer came before desperada, then Luka got shafted SO MUCH HARDER. Boy confessed and everything only to get dismissed by Marinette. Like If I WAS Luka I would been like. “Wow, okay I see where we are” and go for another girl.

However, I actually think Silencer came After Desperada, with Marinette growing closer to Luka, her and other friends all chilling on the house boat, it would make an easier leap to how Marinette would be hanging out with just the band in a later episode. Plus it shows Luka and Marinette’s relationship developing as Adrien and Kagami’s does. So this would help push Marinette to seeing Luka more romantically. Which would then explain her more Blushy antics in Silencer.

It also gives some leeway in Felix, where Luka basically said “If Adrien doesn't go after you, I will totally take a crack at ya” as if to say, once I know there is no chance of Adrien and you getting together, I am totally ready to date you. You can look at that anyway you want. Some people call it sweet, and that he is letting her clear up her emotions, I think its kind of insulting to Marinette. Its like saying, ‘you aren't worth fighting for,’ but thats only one way of taking it.

So depending on episode order, Luka and Marinette’s relationship development can at least make some sense.

But really the love rival development is lacking and everything would have been better if they hadn't just shoehorned this in.

[cutestrival]

a platonic kiss meant to express overwhelming emotion

The aftermath of the final battle is a blur.

Any cleanup after a battle is, in truth. This one just has the added benefit of signifying both the end of a war and the end of his mission to Nohr.

They can go home.

It's a bittersweet realization, one he'll untangle later in the privacy of his tent. For now, he basks in the relief of knowing he no longer has to fight in a war that's not his, not truly.

Laslow spots Selena first. Laughing, he slings an arm around her shoulders, planting an obnoxious kiss to her cheek. "Can you believe it, Sev? We made it!"

The arm over her shoulders is…fine. The kiss on the cheek, however? 

“Hey!”

Selena’s sweaty, exhausted, and overall overwhelmed already, and now her least-hated buffoon is trying for physical affection? Her sore muscles tense up again, readying a strong elbow to the ribs.

But before she can take any real swings, she pauses, feeling the weight with which his arm lingers. She knows him well enough to know that he wouldn’t lean this much weight on any woman; his body weight shifts between his feet. His breaths are a little too ragged for a genuine flirting attempt. Selena gets the feeling that Laslow is just as relieved as she is.

Placing a hand between her cheek and his vying lips, she settles with simply pushing his face away. The embrace at least wasn’t so bad knowing it was intended between two interlopers, comrades, friends. She sheathes her sword, and grabs ahold of the arm around her, supporting as much as she can. “Yeah, we made it. We made it…” Despite the tumult of the battle, she’s unable to stop her voice from softening, as she thinks about the ramifications of the conclusion of the war. Selena hesitates once more, then offers a peace offering of her own: the lightest peck, to the back of the hand on her shoulder. She sighs, and looks around automatically for Odin.

“...Let’s get us home.”

[fl-eragon]

New (i think) Mariharem idea

So, I don't know if anyone else has done this, but what if we took the Mariharem idea and turned the anime up. So, everyone, except Adrien (at first) cause shenanigans, eventually is part of the Mariharem, but Marinette doesn't notice any of them cause of her pursuit of Adrien.

Nino already had a crush and is a founding member

Alya quickly develops a crush on her new friend as well, joining Nino once he finds out. They get together while in the cage because they start talking about all the things they like about Marinette, then move on to each other and realize "if she wants to focus on Adrien, we might as well get something out of it" and get together, but constantly hint at Marinette that she can join whenever

Chloe isn't nearly as bad as in Canon, simply cause she has a crush on Mari and doesn't know what to do, and the only frame of reference she has is her parents failed relationship and the rivals to lovers trope, so she's trying to get Mari's attention using that trope.

Sabrina supports Chloe all the way because she has a crush on Chloe (they later get together) but admits that she wouldn't say no if Mari ever asked her (for what Chloe never got a clear answer on).

Nathaniel of course had his crush, but moves on to Marc. He still harbors feelings though, so still in the harem, and Marc tags along because, while not personally interested in Mari, he completely understand why others are and is fully supportive of everyone

Ivan and Mylene owe their relationship to Mari, and have both admitted to having a crush on her

Alix is Demi and so is only attracted to a few people, Mari managing to be one of those few for a variety of reasons

Kim loves everyone, big boys got a big heart

Max is completely wowed by her skill in gaming, her determination, and her willingness to help, and begrudgingly admits he has feelings for her

Juleka has only had two crushes, Rose and Mari, which wasn't helped when Mari helped her get together with Rose. Rose on the other hand loves freely and, second only to her girlfriend Juleka, loves Mari most of all due to how kind and helping she is to everyone. They agree that Mari could join them if she wants

Luka has heard all about how wonderful Mari is from Juleka, so when he first meets hey, he understands immediately and is head over heels for her, but is able to keep it cool while around her. Juleka teases him about his reaction after she leaves though

When Kagami first sees her in Riposte, she isn't impressed, but after getting to know her, she finds these strong urges to love and protect her coming out even against Adrien. She basically becomes a Yandere, but nobody gets hurt because Marinette is able to reign her in, plus Chloe isn't a threat and I'll be changing Lila completely. (Gabriel might not survive after identities come out but that's neither here nor there). She doesn't know why but she feels many of the same feelings for Ladybug as well, which Ladybug quickly realized after making her Ryuko. Her plan didn't even come into play against Ikari Gozen

Lila still lies a little, but it's just small things that wouldn't warrant concern, as she realizes that most people at the school have high connections and do what she typically lies about, so she lays low in order to try and find a way to get everyone's attention, but finds that by doing so and being more honest, people still like her, and like her slightly more then when she was lying. She also basically becomes a Tsundere for Mari, so Mari doesn't quite get why Lila is mean to her, but gets flustered when she stands up for herself. Everyone else had realized and messes with her.

Mari still can't speak to Adrien, so he had his whole idea that she doesn't like him, but he definitely likes her, so he isn't going to push himself, but she seems to be comfortable with Chat Noir, so he flirts so the time. His attention is divided between LB and Mari.

At one point, Chat Noir and Alya both get the impression that Ladybug also likes Marinette, but is shy about it, so they try to support her as much as they can, Chat even making remarks that LB, him, and Mari could all be in a relationship, if she wants to.

End goal is to give Mari as much as she deserves, with all her classmates love and support, as well as a lovestruck musician and yandere fencer. Even those in relationships pursue Marinette and shower her in love, but until she learns about the Mariharem, she only things everyone is being great friends with her.

The Mariharem had weekly meeting and a group chat to discuss how amazing Marinette is and how to shower her in more love and support. There is friendly rivalry in who shows Marinette more love and support. Adrien isn't added at first because no one realizes he likes her, but as soon as he confesses, he is invited and joins immediately. There were shenanigans when Alya tried to add CN and again with LB. CN showed up to a few meetings

She also has her wonderful Uncle Jagged and Aunt Penny who help whenever they can, and Aunt Clara who will sing her praise whenever she can and almost exclusively gets her designs from Marinette.

Gabriel and Audrey are fighting to hire her, both presenting her work opportunity after opportunity and all the contests she can join. This leads to less akuma's as Gabriel is focusing on Mari more often.

With Natelie acting more like Adrien's mom, she and Gorilla help Adrien eventually realize Mari does like him and help him get her to be more comfortable around him. They fully support the two of them, as does Gabriel once he finds out

At this point, almost everyone can get their normal ice cream at Andre's or a Marinette themed one. Whenever Marinette goes, he basically is like "well, you could have (Adrien representation) but you honestly have your choice of any flavor"

Mari's main relationship at the end is with Adrien, Luka, and Kagami, but she goes on dates with everyone else occasionally, and will flirt with any of them, especially those who get flustered easily (looking at you Chloe and Lila, who by the way came clean of her small lies because of Mari and is still a massive Tsundere)

Once Mari realizes the full extent of the Mariharem, everyone kicks it up a notch in their attempts to give her their love and support, because now she isn't oblivious and will realize what their intentions are.

Kagami is unsure of the rest of the Mariharem, but as long as they aren't hurting her and are supporting her, and no one is getting between her and Mari (Luka and Adrien are fine since Mari has convinced Kagami she can like them and still give her all the love she need) Kagami doesn't mind the others flirting or the occasional date, but she gets very defensive about Mari very easily

[sage-nebula]

I understand that part of the misunderstanding might be stemming from subtitles, but I also think part of the misunderstanding is coming from a refusal to pay real thought and attention to Kagami and her character, so I just want to spell this out real quick:

Kagami was NOT pressuring Adrien into a relationship in “Miracle Queen”. She was pushing him to GIVE HER A STRAIGHT ANSWER.

Of course, we don’t have the English dub yet, but let’s take a look at the high quality subs of the Ukranian version that we do have, shall we?

Adrien: [pushes away from the kiss] “No! I mean, yes! I mean, this is the first time when . . . I . . . I thought it would be different.”

Kagami: “Are you not happy with me?”

Adrien: “No, that’s not it! I just don’t think I’m ready.”

Kagami: “When will you be ready?”

Adrien: [doesn’t answer, looks away]

Kagami: “Your indecision hurts me, Adrien.”

Kagami gives Adrien not one, but two chances to reject her here. When he first pushes away from the kiss, despite his flip-flopping on whether he actually wanted the kiss or not (”no, I mean, yes! I mean---”) she asks him flat out if he likes her or not. He could have said no! He could have apologized and said he didn’t have feelings for her! She would have been hurt, but she asked him, so she would have accepted that! Instead, he denies it, and says that the real reason is that he’s not ready. So she asks him when he will be, and to that he dodges the question and looks away, at which point she tells him that his indecision is hurting her, i.e., if he rejected her, at least he’d be making a choice, and she could then move on. 

In other words, Kagami would rather be rejected outright than strung along and played with.

Because, unintentionally or not (and I do believe it’s unintentional), that is what Adrien’s doing, and it is painful, especially for someone like Kagami who isn’t confident in her ability to read other people to begin with (she had to look up a Wikihow to try to befriend Marinette, ffs), and who, as proven by her own words and her actions time and again in the show, doesn’t hesitate and doesn’t appreciate others beating around the bush either.

But let’s look at all the ways Adrien has sent Kagami mixed signals, shall we? We’ll take it episode by episode. (As a note, I’m starting with “Frozer” instead of “Riposte” since it was “Frozer” where their interactions started to be coded as romantic, versus “Riposte” where they only became friends at the end of the episode.)

Frozer:

At the start of the episode, Adrien confides in Kagami that things aren’t working out with the girl he likes, and in the process of giving him advice (which boiled down to “if she doesn’t like you, move on” which is yet another indicator that Kagami would do the same if Adrien flat out rejected her), she flirts with him a little (by telling him to “change [his] target”). At that point, Adrien gives her a rose, and asks her to go ice skating with him. By all accounts, Kagami has every single right to think that Adrien has just asked her out on a date, which must be pretty exciting given that a.) she likes him, and b.) we have 100% reason to believe this is the first time she’s ever been asked out given how socially isolated she’s been her whole life. At this point, Kagami has no idea that it will be anyone but the two of them at the ice rink. Why should she think that’s a possibility, when Adrien gave her a rose when he asked her out, and when he did so immediately after she advised him to “change targets”? If it were Marinette in Kagami’s place, I’m pretty sure the entire fandom would have been overjoyed that Adrien had just asked her out!

But of course, that wasn’t the end of the story. Kagami finds out on the day of that Adrien has invited someone else, and that the someone else he invited brought along another person. Keeping in mind that Kagami has been socially isolated and, as we later learn in “Ikari Gozen”, needs a Wikihow article to help her interact with others, having two virtual strangers along on what is now suddenly a group date can’t have done a lot to help her mood. All of a sudden she’s realizing that although Adrien gave her a rose and asked her out, apparently there’s someone else that she’s competing with for his affections, and she’s competing with this other person on her date with Adrien, because Adrien brought the other person along. Again, imagine if Kagami and Marinette’s roles were reversed: Imagine if we saw Adrien ask Marinette out by giving her a rose, only for him to show up with Kagami and Luka in tow. Sure, he’d still be “with” Marinette, but a group date is nowhere near as special as a single date, particularly if one half of said date didn’t know it was going to be a group date to begin with.

But for all the discomfort and upset Kagami felt, she took it pretty gracefully. She accepts it at the end when Adrien tells her he’s not ready to “switch targets,” and tells him that she’ll be waiting for when he is. She then leaves. She doesn’t throw a fit, she doesn’t yell at him for inviting others, she doesn’t attack Marinette (and no, telling Marinette that if she (Marinette) doesn’t make a move then she (Kagami) will does not count as an attack). She accepts the disappointment and moves on.

So in this episode, Kagami received two very strong signals that Adrien was into her (the rose and date invitation), and two very strong signals that he was not (inviting Marinette, telling her at the end he wasn’t ready to move on). Thus our score is:

Positive Signals: 2 Negative Signals: 2

A very even mix. Let’s move on.

Animaestro:

Adrien greets Kagami as soon as she arrives at the theater. Yes, he was told to do so by Nathalie, but Kagami wouldn’t know this. He also notably greets her in Japanese, showing that he’s taken some time to study the language, when I believe previously we only knew him to be studying Chinese. It makes sense that Gabriel would want him to study Japanese given the Agreste’s relationship with the Tsurugi family, but nonetheless, I’m sure Kagami would have been a bit pleased by that as well, albeit perhaps less so than Adrien seeking her out to greet her at the movie premier. A little bit after that, when she links her arm through his so they can go find a seat (a subtle flirt), Adrien does not pull his arm away. Instead, he keeps their arms linked as they walk off. Adrien easily could have pulled away, easily could have rejected that physical contact, proximity, and flirtation (just as he pushes away from the kiss in “Miracle Queen”), but he didn’t. He accepted it. He happily went along with it. This, like the rose and the date invitation, would be a very strong signal to Kagami.

Building on that, during Chloe’s and Marinette’s attempted sabotage, Adrien not only helps her find a chair, but he helps her with the gum on her shoe as well. He pays special attention and care to her, something her mother---who is noticeably cold---points out. Kagami and her mother don’t always see eye-to-eye, but the fact that her mother thinks that Adrien is paying special care to Kagami would no doubt lead Kagami to believe the same, particularly since Adrien doesn’t deny it and takes the compliments. All in all, the movie premier wasn’t a date per se, but they spent a good portion of the evening together and Adrien gave her nothing but positive signals (with the only potentially negative one being when he chatted happily with Marinette at the end, but I don’t think Kagami had a very negative reaction to that that I can remember). So, counting the greeting at the beginning, the linked arms, and the special attention as positive signals (and the greeting in Japanese as half a positive signal), and Adrien chatting with Marinette at the end as half a negative signal, our scores are now:

Positive Signals: 5.5 Negative Signals: 2.5

Still mixed, but erring more on the side of positive than negative.

Backwarder:

Adrien greets Kagami at the train, and he takes her hand to help her onboard. However, this is pretty much the exact same thing that Gabriel did for Kagami’s mother, so that in itself wouldn’t send too much of a signal to Kagami, I don’t think. On that note, we don’t actually see Adrien talk to Kagami at all throughout the episode. They sit next to each other on the train, but he spends his time on the train either reading the letter that Marinette gave him, or listening to a news report on his phone with his earbuds in. And we know from the end of the episode that he spent pretty much the whole trip looking for the medicine Marinette accidentally requested he find. Therefore, I think in this episode Kagami was given maybe half a positive signal (for him helping her on the train), but two negative ones as well (him ignoring her on the train, him spending the trip looking for something for Marinette instead of spending time with her).

Positive Signals: 6 Negative Signals: 4.5

Oni-chan:

Kagami sees the photo that Lila posted online of her (Lila) kissing Adrien’s cheek, and we know that she took this as a very negative signal given that she not only throws her phone, but also pulls out her journal to look at the pressed rose inside---the same one that Adrien gave Kagami, that she kept because it meant something to her (not only as a token of his seeming romantic affection, I’d imagine, but quite possibly the very first gift she ever received from a friend). What’s interesting to note here, though, is that I believe this is the first time Kagami has been made aware that Lila is a person who even exists. Before this, all signs pointed to Kagami believing Marinette is the other girl Adrien had feelings for (“Frozer”, “Backwarder”). This means that Kagami’s rage might have been fueled not only from heartbreak, but also the idea that Adrien was just playing her, and possibly Marinette, and who knows how many others; that maybe he wasn’t the person she thought he was.

Either way, Gabriel (as Hawkmoth) sorts that out when he akumatizes her, telling her that Lila is dangerous, and that Adrien is just naive and being played by her. No doubt because Kagami already had feelings for Adrien (all those positive signals), and no doubt because she succumbed to the akuma’s power, she agrees with this narrative and sets about hunting down Lila to “punish” her for threatening Adrien (though not before giving Adrien her Declaration of Protection, and confessing her feelings to him in the first place). This is probably why, after she’s de-akumatized, she once again holds the rose to her chest, both thankful to have it back, and forgiving her initial negative thoughts about Adrien.

Regardless, during their fencing practice at the end of the episode, Adrien tells Kagami that he’s “only trying to be worthy of [her],” which she clearly takes as a positive sign given how she smiles and blushes. Considering that this is after Adrien has realized that she really does have feelings for him (given that she confessed while akumatized and he saw that her akumatized item was the rose he gave her), she has very good reason to think so! (Even though she doesn’t remember the confession bit and doesn’t know he’s Chat Noir, but nonetheless, we know and that makes those signals even stronger for us than for her).

So we have the negative signal of seeing the photo, and the positive signal of Adrien telling her he’s trying to be worthy of her. (Gabriel assuaging Kagami’s rage toward Adrien doesn’t count since that didn’t come from Adrien himself.) Once again, it’s an equal number of positive and negative signals in this episode, though unlike in “Frozer”, this time we end on a positive signal instead of a negative one.

Positive Signals: 7 Negative Signals: 5.5

Desperada:

Adrien and Kagami arrive together at the Kitty Section practice session. Given that this seems to have taken place before both “Silencer” and “Ikari Gozen”, Kagami doesn’t really know and isn’t friends with any of the people already present (including Marinette herself), and therefore it’s fair to assume that the person who invited her to come along with him was Adrien. We know, too, that the two of them opted to skip fencing practice, which is something Adrien could have done by himself had he wanted to. The fact that he invited her to skip fencing practice to go hang out at band practice with him would be pretty significant to her.

(And yes, I am sticking to the fact that this episode must come before “Silencer” chronologically, because as of the end of “Silencer” Marinette knows how Luka feels about her, whereas in this episode Alya says that the boys haven’t made their decisions yet, and Marinette goes along with this. I know what the production order is, but episodes can be made out of order for any reason. Until Word of God comes out and says otherwise, I’m sticking to this---and, tbh, I’m sticking to it even after Word of God, if we’re being entirely honest.)

We don’t see too much interaction between them after this, save for how Kagami protected Adrien and then tried to attack Desperada (once again showing that she never hesitates), but what we saw at the beginning was enough to see that Adrien only had positive signals for Kagami in this episode, even if it was only one (inviting her to skip fencing practice to go to band practice instead).

Positive Signals: 8 Negative Signals: 5.5

Loveater:

Since Kagami was only seen in a flashback in “Stormy Weather 2″ and since I don’t think she interacted with him as himself in “Ikari Gozen”, that brings us to “Loveater.”

When we see Kagami and Adrien in “Loveater”, they’re already together, seated on the same bench with Gorilla. As far as we know, they arrived together. Whether they did or not, though, they’re on the same page; both want to help Marinette, and both do help her take the trays into the kitchen. While they’re in there, Adrien and Kagami begin fencing with a pair of ladles; Marinette looks sad and left out, because right then, she kind of is. All of Adrien’s attention is on Kagami as they play and banter with each other (and as we know, playful banter can indeed be a form of flirting). And although Adrien tells Marinette not to leave when they leave the kitchen, it should be noted that it was Kagami who told Marinette that she should “sneak away with [them].” Therefore, Adrien not wanting Marinette to leave wouldn’t read as a negative signal to Kagami, since she didn’t want Marinette to leave either, and, unlike Adrien, was the one who actually said so directly. (Which doesn’t exactly pertain to the mixed signals Adrien gives her, but more is just another instance of how Kagami gets straight to the point instead of being wishy-washy or vague about things.)

Up on the rooftop, Adrien takes both their hands before leaping into the ball pit. However, when they’re done playing in the ball pit, it should be noted that he and Kagami left first, and not only did they leave first, but Adrien glanced at Kagami before he began to play the piano, and his body was turned a bit toward her as well. Once again, it seems as if Marinette has been left out before Kagami includes her by saying that her hair is beautiful. Adrien agrees, but he only said that (and looked toward Marinette) in the first place because Kagami spoke up first. If she hadn’t drawn attention to Marinette, Adrien’s attention probably would have remained focused on the song that he seemed to be playing for her. (Which makes me feel bad to say, but let’s be honest: Marinette was kind of third wheeling in this episode, something she herself realized at the end.)

When they escape to the bench and Marinette asks if they’ll get in trouble with their parents, Adrien answers for both of them, and leans his head in toward Kagami as they laugh. When Kagami and Adrien are eating ice cream---just the two of them, now---they’re not only sitting very close to each other, but she wipes away some ice cream on his cheek and, though he’s surprised, he doesn’t pull away. She offers him the stem of the cone, and he lets her feed him (which is a very couples-thing; how many people do that with their friends?). And when she leans in for the kiss, he not only quickly eats the rest of the cone, but he closes his eyes and doesn’t pull away. This wasn’t a surprise kiss, like the one at the end. This was one he knew was coming, one he closed his eyes and prepared for. It wasn’t interrupted because he rejected it, but rather because Marinette (as Ladybug) yoinked Kagami away.

At the end of the episode, Kagami tells Adrien that she was taken away by Ladybug to protect the two of them, since the akuma was attacking “people in love.” When Adrien, in surprise, repeats this, Kagami smiles, nods, and slowly puts her hands on his shoulders, then her arms around his neck. He doesn’t pull away. She tugs him closer and leans up, and he doesn’t pull away. By contrast, he closes his eyes again and leans down. Although we know that at the start of the next episode he does push her away, at the end of this one, he was accepting and leaning into the kiss. So, from start to finish, “Loveater” was nothing but positive signals from Adrien to Kagami---a total of eight, as a matter of fact (play-fencing in the kitchen, getting out of the ball pit to play the piano for her, leaning in close to her as they laughed over their shared experience, not pulling away when she swiped the ice cream off his cheek, letting her feed him, not pulling away from the almost-kiss, not pulling away when she embraced him at the end, and leaning into the real kiss). Therefore, at the end of “Loveater,” the scores are:

Positive Signals: 14 Negative Signals: 5.5

Still mixed, but at that point in time, weighted heavily in “positive, he likes me”’s direction.

Miracle Queen:

By the end of “Miracle Queen” we see that Adrien has made his decision, both in how he sits by her, how he smiles at her, and how he wipes the ice cream off her cheek (which is the same move she pulled on him in the previous episode). So let’s examine the beginning, and why Kagami finally lets him know that she’s frustrated with the back and forth. This time, I’m going to add signals to the tally in real time, using the script I transcribed above.

Adrien: [pushes away from the kiss] “No!” 

Positive Signals: 14 Negative Signals: 6.5

Adrien: “I mean, yes!”

Positive Signals: 15 Negative Signals: 6.5

Adrien: “I mean, this is the first time when . . . I . . . I thought it would be different.”

Positive Signals: 15 Negative Signals: 7.5

Kagami: “Are you not happy with me?”

Adrien: “No, that’s not it!”

Positive Signals: 16 Negative Signals: 7.5

Adrien: “I just don’t think I’m ready.”

Positive Signals: 16? Negative Signals: 8

Kagami: “When will you be ready?”

Adrien: [doesn’t answer, looks away]

Positive Signals: 16 Negative Signals: 8.5?

Kagami: “Your indecision hurts me, Adrien.”

As I outlined above, ever since “Frozer” Adrien has been giving Kagami mixed signals. In some episodes, his signals are very heavily positive (e.g. “Animaestro”), in some they’re very negative (e.g. “Backwarder”), and in others they’re equally balanced (e.g. “Frozer”, “Ikari Gozen”). But although the intensity of the mixed messages varies from interaction to interaction (as is realistic, particularly considering that I think we can all agree that Adrien is not intentionally leading Kagami on), the fact remains that the messages he gives her are still decidedly mixed. He might ignore her on a London trip, but he tells her he’s trying to be worthy of her while sparring and accepts her flirtations at movie premiers and while eating couples ice cream. On that note, given how every single interaction they had in “Loveater” was romantically coded, and that he was going to kiss her back in the middle of the episode, it’s no wonder that Kagami decides to make another definitive move on him at the end. Even if she wasn’t still pretty new to social interaction, most people would take everything Adrien did in “Loveater” alone as an indicator of interest. Again, swap Kagami and Marinette; if Adrien had done things for Marinette in “Loveater” like ditching Kagami in the ballpit to play the piano for her (Marinette), letting her feed him, and closing his eyes to accept the kiss, everyone would be shocked and appalled at him immediately pulling away at the start of the next episode to be wishy-washy again. The way Adrien interacted with Kagami in this episode, particularly given how he’s treated her in episodes previous, gave her every indication that she should make another move. And given the wide variety of mixed-signals, and especially including the rapid-fire flip-flopping he pulls in this very conversation when Kagami asks him for a straight answer, it’s no wonder she gets a little frustrated and tells him flat out that his indecision---or rather, his refusal to either date her for real or cut her loose so she can move on---is hurting her. Again, she’s not forcing Adrien in a relationship. She’s putting rejection plainly on the table. If he rejects her, she’ll accept it and move on. If he doesn’t want to be with her, fine. Not saying she wouldn’t be sad, but she flat out asked him “are you not happy with me” as a way for him to say “no, I don’t like you like that” so she can move on. She gave him the choice; all she wanted him to do was definitively make it, which is not an unreasonable request.

(It also makes her a vivid contrast to Luka. When Luka asked Marinette if she was still thinking of Adrien, she looked away in much the same way Adrien did when Kagami asked him when he’d be ready to move on. Luka, being laidback and soft, seems content to wait around while Marinette sorts out her feelings. This is not because Luka is “more understanding” than Kagami, but rather, I think, because his investment in his relationship with Marinette is not as intense as Kagami’s investment with Adrien. Luka has lots of friends, he has his music, he has a job; he cares about Marinette very much, but he also has a lot of other things going on in his life that make him more content emotionally, so that even when he’s disappointed that Marinette doesn’t see him like he’d like her to, he’s still okay. Kagami, on the other hand, has a grand total of two friends, one of whom is Adrien; fencing is a hobby in which she sees Adrien every single time there’s practice or a meet; and she doesn’t have a job because her mother keeps her on a very tight schedule that doesn’t allow for part-time employment. Kagami’s life outside of the time she spends with Adrien (and now Marinette) isn’t very happy, and being tugged around by Adrien in a “he likes me, he likes me not” situation really isn’t helping. Given all this, and the fact that Kagami has little patience for wishy-washy nonsense to begin with (both from others and herself---she holds herself to that same standard!), it’s no wonder she wants Adrien to just make up his mind, to either choose her or lose her. It’s a stark contrast from Luka, but it’s a very understandable one given their starkly different backgrounds.)

At the end of the episode, we see that Adrien agrees that what Kagami wanted wasn’t an unreasonable request. Regardless of his reasons for giving up on Ladybug (and we know that he still hadn’t totally at the beginning of “Miracle Queen”, given his hesitation), he’s nonetheless decided to let himself return Kagami’s affections, to intentionally send those positive signals instead of unintentionally waffling back and forth (because again, I don’t think he was stringing her along maliciously, but intent doesn’t matter as much as the end result in situations like this, and Kagami deserved an honest answer either way). The two of them seem to be dating now, which not only sends the message that you should go for what (or who) you want while you have the chance, but also that you should leave the choice in the other person’s hands and not push them into it (which is where Chat went wrong with Ladybug; even though she flat-out rejected him and did not send him mixed signals, he continued to push and pressure her anyway, which is in contrast to how Kagami didn’t have a direct rejection even when she made it plain that Adrien could give her one and she would back off).

So all in all, Kagami does not deserve the libel she’s been getting. She’s not controlling, nor is she possessive, nor did she pressure Adrien into a relationship. Instead, she’s a teenage girl who developed a crush on a boy that she spends a lot of time around, who received mixed signals from said boy that largely leaned toward positive, and who told him outright that she wanted him to make a decision about her one way or another so that she didn’t continue to get strung along in limbo. Kagami did nothing wrong, and does not at all deserve the bashing that she’s been receiving since “Riposte” even aired. Thank you.

[cutestrival]

She was so torn to tear herself away, leaning within Lucina’s hair, daring to feel the flesh of her neck. Their hair intertwined, Selena’s perfume settling around the both of them. She leaned as close as she dared to her cheek, hardly able to keep herself from trembling. As her heartbeat threatened to burst down the door to her emotions, her arms taut around Lucina’s neck, a daring gambit entered her thoughts. Shutting her eyes tightly, not daring to look lest this dream fade away, she managed a quick jolt to Lucina’s cheek. The warmth of her lips, amplified in this reunion, barely glanced off of her skin; but that slight contact sent a shiver up Selena’s spine. 

The kiss lasted but a split second, a brush on the cheek. Taking herself apart, she couldn’t bear to meet Lucina’s eyes after such an act. She looked at her shoes, and to the stones beneath them said, “I’m just glad you’re here now. I hope you missed me as much as I… missed… you.”

She could barely get the words out before she could feel her cheeks burning anew. Distracting herself, she took Lucina’s hands in her own, clenching them in her grip to mask her trembling heart. 

Gaze still averted, she continued, “I know I’m hardly the one to ask this, but where have you been? We can catch up over tea sometime…” She looked at Lucina’s outfit, nothing out of the ordinary, nothing particular. “...Or we can go shopping together?” Her gaze, moving erratically like hunted prey, moved over Lucina’s eyes. She felt the warmth of her eyes, emblazoned in her brand, fill Selena’s empty furnace. She stole another look, yearning for Lucina’s radiance to catch in her eyes, hoping to squirrel it away behind her eyelids. Never had she felt as vulnerable as she did, the adrenaline of her small act making her heart gallop in its range.

And oh, how Selena’s heart pounded. It resounded in her head, in her neck; in her chest, in her hands, still holding on desperately to Lucina’s, that she wouldn’t be able to lose them again. She blinked, and Lucina’s face stayed branded to Selena’s eyes; she glowed softly in the darkness behind her eyelids, and she smiled that same smile that had captivated her long ago. She exhaled, almost out of breath with her emotions catching in her throat. Oh my gods, oh my gods, oh my gods. She tore her eyes away, only to look back once more. Despite blush cheeks obvious on her face, she would allow herself to smile in this small joy; and, tears beginning to smudge her makeup, she smiled widely into Lucina’s eyes.

˚ · .  @cutestrival asked:

The rush of seeing a friend, long-lost, was as speaking her native tongue after years in a foreign land. She scarcely reacted. A heel, pushed off the stone floors, was a perfect launch to her finish line. She was a machine constructed from cobblestone and spears, but in this moment her heart beat had found comfort. She swept Lucina tightly to her, arms around her neck, speaking mostly into her hair. "Oh, Lucina, we've made it... look at us..."

Her arms open on instinct, folding around an old friend as though clinging to the warmth of a memory. The corners of her lips have turned upward into a fond smile, her eyes shut and fingers curled where they have found hold upon Severa's back, the slope of her neck.

"Look at us indeed."

She will not ask of home-- will not scrape at scars she is sure the other wishes to forget just as well-- but she hardly needs to. This reunion tells her all she needs to know.

That the other is alive, that she is safe. That she is not angry with Lucina for leaving, and if she is, that she can forget long enough to embrace her like this.

"I'm glad to see you again." In a future that is none other than theirs. "It has been far too long."

[into-september]

Party Crasher

While the rest of the fandom is presumably flipping out over the NY special, those of us relying on Disney Channel dubbing schedules running months behind will have to live with the re-runs until we can be bothered hunting it down, and today happened to be the only episode I hadn’t seen yet. Speaking of the dumbass comedy which makes me love this show and all. 

 - It’s sad that I’m honestly a bit surprised to find that they remembered Wayhem’s VA. (Mr. Banana hasn’t got the accent from “Kwamibuster”, though.) His and Adrien’s friendship is really sweet and I so hope he’ll be around in S4 too

 - Gabriel is “going to Tokyo” and I instantly start low-key shipping him with Kagami’s mum for no other purpose than hilarity. This is not entirely without precedent, because I probably have a fifteen hundred word essay in me about my feelings on Gabriel/André (the mayor, not the ice cream man). Which I mostly ship because god damn does Adrien deserve a positive, loving parent 

- Ivan might be incapable of lying but the episode running straight after this one was “Puppeteer II” and Nino, you are not one to talk 

- World championship of bad excuses indeed. Props to Nino for supplying one for Kim, who didn’t owe one to anyone 

 - Anyway Gabriel’s little beekeeper outfit while harvesting butterflies is excellent

 - I don’t know what I love most - that Adrien keeps his bathtub always ready with rose petals and a rubber duckie, or that Kim spends most of the party snorkelling in it. How can anyone hate this show. 

 - The Grand Piano released from the floor by scoring at the basketball hoop is a strong contender there. As is the joy with which all those teenage boys greeted it. 

 - Of course Max runs enough hardware at home for the question of power supplies to be a topic about which he is learned and can wire into digitally???? I guess in a universe where macarons and now also hot dogs can be split clean in half by hand

 - I’ll admit to having lost some of the dialogue but that sounded to me like someone suggested Gabriel had a personal nuclear reactor installed

 - I love how Marinette starts out playing detective FOR JUSTICE and slips into “but why aren’t I allowed that’s so unfair” the moment she realises what is going on

- The Mulan-joins-the-army energy is strong 

  - That scene between her and Fu is a homage to “it is I, LeClerc” and you cannot convince me otherwise

 - Please consider: Tom Dupain at Adrien’s party. Everyone else is there for good or less good reasons, so what’s keeping him?

 - Thank you Thomas Astruc for giving us Chloé using the mayor of Paris as a make-up doll. And the fact that he ran around around like that in relative public. 

 - My favourite minor character is the fireman man. He’s so lowkey funny in both “Despair Bear” and “Riposte”.  

 - It says so, so, so much about the Agreste home that Gabriel is shocked and appalled to register JOY, PURE JOY happening in his house. I mean, he’s got a history of personally bullying others to get them upset and ripe for akumatisation. But expecting everyone close to him, his teenage son included, to spend their days in misery? Lord allmighty, what a piece of human garbage. 

 - Gorilla ships Majestia/Hawk Hero and clearly I don’t know how that goes yet but it’d be the best thing ever if his “now kiss” game was foreshadowing (yeah yeah I know this is MLB Ladybug’s accidental confession to the pharmacy lady was probably the best they could get away with. let me dream)

 - I like Chuppu and I like King Monkey’s transformation music and his chaos is excellent. We were robbed by this being his only episode

 - One of the biggest mysterious of this ‘verse: how does Adrien Agreste know how to clean. That little scene with Marinette and Nino was cute, though. 

 - I cannot stop thinking about the how Gabriel had to spend that weekend skulking around his own home like some ghost. Sneaking into the kitchen at night to eat. Keeping track of Adrien and Gorilla before flushing. Probably sleeping down in his secret lair. 

 - Unless I’m forgetting something, this is the first episode where Ladybug goes down and stays down for the entire battle until it’s time to de-evilise. The only other time I remember her being taken out by an akuma at all is in “Desperada”, and all those times are second chanced instantly.