#the canonicity isn't there but it's a Thing to think about

[amarriageoftrueminds]

The problem with all this is of course that it straight up ignores what Sebastian Stan said: that, of course, he doesn't remember them.

(And even if he weren't lying, what does 'remember' even mean in that context, to Bucky? Because it could mean remember as in memorialise or honour. Like Bucky means he intends to memorialise them all, not that he literally does recall them all. And, as Seb also pointed out, how would Bucky even know that he remembers them all, if he can't remember what he doesn't know?)

I take Seb Stan's word over whatever Spellman or whoever comes out with; he knows the character better than them and it was him playing that beat!

(I don't regard tie-in books as canon either because they're not the canon films and frankly I don't trust whoever writes those for Disney to do a competent job. (Yeah they can go in depth but they can also take things at superficial face value, without thinking -- like that line from CACW about remembering all of them, as mentioned in that book excerpt up there.) Likewise, whatever the real-life state of neuroscience is and how that would affect Bucky's brain if they were following those rules isn't relevant, IMO, because the MCU writers aren't putting that much thought into how they portray Bucky's memories! This is Markus & McFeeley and Spellman under Feige's interference. They aren't working that hard. They're not that conscientious!)

It's also treating the fact that TFATWS said Bucky remembers missions as solid canon when:

a) the people 'writing' that didn't give a shit about characterisation consistency and have been very open about the fact that they didn't even bother to watch the movies Bucky's in. 😒

So whatever their 'take' on Bucky's memories is, we can pretty definitely state that it's incorrect = most likely to be completely wrong and diametrically opposite to canon, as you'd expect from someone who doesn't even know what Bucky's canon is. (All they care about is that "he" killed people.)

Textbook example of this 'getting Bucky exactly 100% wrong': that line from Spellman there about Bucky having a piece of the Winter Soldier inside him and that means he's an awful person.

That's complete bullshit and an exact misunderstanding of what the WS is.

The WS is NOT a monster lurking inside Bucky, not even a piece, because the WS was the complete absence of Bucky's personality, of any humanity at all. As blank as an Iron Man suit.

So he's not a dark hidden Jekyll-and-Hyde piece of Bucky's psyche that was always waiting to come out, (as the show posits), like the Hulk is to Bruce. In fact, the Winter Soldier is the exact opposite of that (ie. a monster with a good man inside). He's more like an Iron Man suit that is being remotely controlled, that Bucky has been locked inside and has no control over.

The show creators have stupidly taken that one single line from CACW at face value, ignoring everything else, (I get the feeling they're Tony stans tbh), and fixated on it as 'proof' of Bucky's innate buried villainy that he needs to grovel about.

If this is the sort of rubbish they mistakenly believe to be true about Bucky, we can certainly discount whatever else they say about his memories. In fact, if it's the writers of TFATWS who said X, I can't think of a stronger argument in favour of the opposite! 😬

.

b) the events of TFATWS also happen years and years after Bucky is in the situation where he, eg. wakes up from being triggered and doesn't remember what he just did as the Winter Soldier and has to ask Sam and Steve, lied to Tony, etc.

It might be that Bucky has, since treatment in Wakanda, reacquired all his missing memories. Which sucks for him.

The state of his memory is not a monolith that has always stayed the same and has not altered: just because his memory seems to be in a certain state in TFATWS, that doesn't mean it was in the same back in CACW days.

Watsonian explanation: this shoddy characterisation from TFATWS could mean that Bucky was lying to Tony when he said he remembered the mission to kill his parents.

That could've been completely untrue at the time Bucky said it, but has since become true only because Bucky has recovered more memory -- as a result of receiving bad writing proper treatment, longer to heal, etc.

Another HUGE thing people always totally ignore about that scene in CACW:

Bucky has just watched a friggin' video tape of his mission!

I imagine that's not standard Hydra procedure, to show him tapes of his own performance!

So even if 'I remember all of them' is resigned-abuse-victim bullshit to goad Tony, it's possible Bucky has literally just seconds ago recalled the Starks for the first time ever... because Zemo just reminded him!

Oh! Another detail:

Think about the way we see the story of the Starks' murders sequentially, throughout CACW.

In fractured pieces, bit by bit.

Whose POV are those scenes supposed to be coming from?

I think it's Bucky's.

(ie. it's what Bucky can remember of that story at the moment -- ie. just being taken out of cryo, put in the chair and given a mission… but not what the mission itself was.)

And we don't see what the end of that little mystery is until Bucky himself sees the video, which completes the missing puzzle for him?

So it still seems to me that Bucky remembered the inbetween-missions things?

IE. He clearly remembers procedures.

In CATWS we see him preparing to open his mouth to have a mouth-guard put in, before he is asked to, and leaning back into the chair before it reclines. And in CACW he doesn't look surprised by anything that is happening to him while he's in the Siberian base, in the chair, etc.

So he knows what happens to him when he's back at Hydra HQ (and where HQ is) and doesn't need to be re-taught it every time.

Similarly, all the brain damage aimed at his pre-Hydra memories hasn't destroyed his ability to shoot, which Bucky acquired during WWII, not under Hydra. Bucky still has the skills he got in the chunks of memory Hydra are targeting hardest of all (ie. his personality-forming years).

As per CATWS he also speaks Russian, a language Bucky canonically is not shown having any knowledge of pre-Hydra. So skills acquired during Hydra time are also retained, despite the fact that they're damaging his brain repeatedly all the time, including wiping him of Hydra periods of time.

He's like Jason Bourne; he can do things without remembering when he learned how to!

This may be impossible in real-life brain damage terms, but I think MCU canon looks like Bucky doesn't remember missions for most of his screentime (up until TFATWS started ineptly fannying about with his backstory), but does remember the in-between missions bits necessary for the efficient handling and wiping of of the WS.

(In CATWS they treat it as risky to keep him out of cryo for too long between wipes, that he'll become erratic and start attacking technicians, as his memories start to regrow. But despite this, 'erratic' Bucky -- who is asking questions! and speaking English! -- is still retaining knowledge of being wiped and how he has to behave... even when he can't remember meeting Steve earlier on in the same week.)

Maybe it's repetition that's the key?

He remembers skills learned, and being given mission briefings, and what is done to him, over and over and over again, because that's all repetitive...

but he can't recall missions because they're one-offs? No new skills acquired?

(And his missions have no emotional impact because... the WS doesn't have emotions. Only Bucky Barnes can look back in horror.)

It's curious that Zemo tries to trigger Bucky and then command him. But Zemo isn't Hydra. He's not official. I think that's why there was that chaos in the room, when Sam and Steve got to where Zemo was and found the WS out of his cage.

I think the WS attacked Zemo once he realised this wasn't an official Hydra handler & this wasn't a proper Hydra procedure.

(Also curious that Sam and Steve have him sitting down, in restraints, which also mimics a Hydra procedure set-up. Maybe that helped Bucky's recall too? 🤔)

As you said, Bucky was able to recall what Zemo asked him about because Bucky hadn't been wiped.

Likewise, maybe he can recall fighting other WSs either because Zemo told him about them, AND/or because he was 'ordered' to remember it (if you think about it, that's a very very unusual order for someone to give him!)

And... fighting the WSs wasn't an official off-base-assassinating mission, it was standard 'training in between missions' stuff. Plus the other WSs skill set is intel the WS would need to retain about his colleagues in order to function as a team, if Hydra intended to send them out on missions together.

It's repetitious skill acquisition and mission-critical intel, so it's necessary that the WS be allowed to recall it? 🤔

Another possibility: Bucky had been KO'd just before he recounts things about the other WSs and what Zemo asked about, to Sam and Steve.

Maybe that head wound shook up his brain status quo too?

(Magical fairytale thinking: maybe it's also different because it's Steve...

He was able to break through Bucky's conditioning with the Power of Twu Wuv in CATWS, so maybe the fact that it's Steve who gave Bucky the head wound by dropping a helicopter on him that shakes loose some more marbles? 🥰)

You could posit that Bucky does usually remember all his missions and procedures, and it's the head wound (acting like a mini-wipe) that prevents him doing so immediately after waking up to Sam and Steve.... except that Bucky consistently displays this post-wipe amnesia of missions, more than once (ie. doesn't remember Nat even after years of healing... doesn't remember previous missions after wipes in the same week in CATWS, more than once, etc.)

And this is including times when he hasn't just received a head wound / been KO'd / had any other head trauma equalling or approximating a wipe before becoming WS.

IE. in CACW he fights Steve exactly as if he doesn't remember him at all, when we know that isn't the case. Once he wakes up, the WS is always a blank slate.

...That's an interesting distinction, actually:

what does Bucky remember, and what does the Winter Soldier remember?

Because, even after years of Bucky's brain healing, and even though he hasn't been 'wiped' of Steve since CATWS, once activated by Zemo ... the WS doesn't remember Steve.

But Bucky does.

Maybe that's the crucial distinction:

Bucky can recall missions, but the Winter Soldier can't?

(The WS wouldn't see missions as emotionally significant, things that stick in the memory, because he is emotionally stunted, and these people don't mean anything to him ... no more than the Nazis Bucky shot during the war. (Despite subsequent attempts to whitewash Howard (because of his Hydra connections), he and Bucky were not friends in any way in the main MCU; they're never even shown meeting!) So Steve breaks the pattern because his is the first and only time the WS has been sent after someone who actually matters to him emotionally.)

So he only recalls procedures? 🤔 And he can only recall missions, by -- much later on down the road -- becoming Bucky Barnes once again?

(I mean, the Doylist explanation here is that the writers are just shoddy and inconsistent even within the same movie. (IE. The WS being blank again in CACW to me smacks more of 'oops we forgot he's supposed to be electrocuted for that memory-wipe to happen.')

But hey, we have to work with what we've got here! 😖)

In any case, I'm sticking by what SebStan said because he's the Bucky expert: if he said Bucky specifically didn't remember the Starks, at the time he said that to Tony, then I believe him. (And if that later changed because Bucky healed, well that still doesn't contradict what SebStan said!)

“That line was an interesting moment. At the time, the choice I was making is that [Bucky] had realized there was no way he was getting out of there, and someone was gonna die, whether it was gonna be him, Steve or Tony. When he says that line, to me, it was a turning point — he was, like, ‘Okay, I know what you want me to say, and I’m just gonna say it.’ When someone comes at you over and over again, and they can’t hear you, they can’t see you’re pleading with them, you’re trying to figure out how to get through to them and they just won’t accept it, at some point you just give in, and you go, ‘that’s right, that’s what you want.’ Of course [Bucky] didn’t remember them all.” —  Sebastian Stan

[azurem]

What is your thoughts on a headcanon that Ink’s extremely deep blush is brown? Whilst i am at it, what would Nightmare think upon seeing it? 👀

(because that is the colour you commonly get from mixing the colour of the rainbow that is his usual blush.)

It's a nice headcanon! Though I'm half sure it'd be against canon (au where everything's the same but ink blushes brown if super flustered??) since Ink's super deep blush instead implies his rainbow freckles appearing!! Silly thing i love him. Brown blush would look very cute on him though, he'd look so monochrome/aff

— also I believe Ink's rainbow theme is very. Prism based, from what I've seen? A ray of white light passing through a prism disperses into 7 rays of color and all that. If the experiment is done in like, the. Inverse? Way? The rainbow turns into white. So in theory I believe it'd make more sense if Ink's super blush was white instead. Though I assume Ink's magic doesn't overlap, there's a reason why his tongue and blush is sectioned. Maybe different creators' emotions cannot be mixed??? Evil stuff—

Nightmare would like it way too much I think; both because Ink just never gets flustered enough to really see him that affected (he really likes to see proof that his efforts are doing something) and because he'd feel smug at the knowledge that he finally has the upper hand for once. This being said, the first time he' see it he'd probably tease Ink about it so much Ink just gets away from him by AU jumping because they'd get salty. A proper response, of course (he needs to learn limits!)

Second time is better. But his smile is still very much smug so Ink still gets salty. By the third time Ink would stop running away and let his destiny finally happen (unskippable romance scene)

Tbh I just think Ink is very skittish once he gets embarrassed enough, specially since shame isn't a very common thing for him to feel. He'd have no resistance to the emotion at all, so he'd be so obviously embarrassed you couldn't miss it. I imagine you could force embarrassment from him by having him drink too much from the purple (my hc color for his fear/shame) but it'd be just so mixed with fear it wouldn't be enjoyable for anyone involved ngl.

I also imagine Ink with like, a light level of embarrassment? Would play along if they're making fun of him. He fakes getting more embarrassed if they're poking fun at him, but he gets more snappy if he actually does (if he has available red, of course)

Anyways. I think the first time™ went kinda like this?? Maybe??? I can't get Ink's voice right but assume it's the purple talking

"...Oh? I've never seen this color here before."

"Well— Well! Maybe you missed it? Don't be silly. You— stop laughing! Why are you laughing?"

"It's cute."

"You're so— Get back in character already! C'mon, we were just— that's it! I'm going to... to. To—"

"Is it a whine I'm hearing?"

"It's not! No!"

"Is it not? I'm sure I couldn't have mistaken such a charming sound."

"Kay! Kay. So this is how it is! You think this whole thing is funny! That's what it is!"

"Oh, no. Though I won't say I'm not enjoying myself."

"...! ...!!!!!!! ...!!!!!!!"

"Ah. It's darker now."

(Ink proceeds to go fetch Broomie while Nightmare follows him closely like a hyena following sick prey No I don't have More comparisons)

"...And what are you doing now?— oh."

[di-42]

So, I was criminally tight on time in January and really couldn’t read much at all, but fear not: as a demon friend of ours once said, I’m back. True, most of the moots on my corner of Tumblr would have already read most of these fics and poems, but if I can earn one of these wonderful works even just one more reader, that’s my job done. As always, I'm begging you, please don’t judge a fic you haven’t read by the number of kudos. And, as always, I’ll tag the tumblr usernames I know; if you are an author and want your fic taken off this list, please let me know and I’ll remove it. The rest of you, I hope you enjoy these stories and poems as much as I did.

These are the things I loved about

Winter’s Wondrous Fictions

WIPs:

That Isn't Supposed To Happen by @addledmongoose, rated T, chapters 19/22.

Aaahhh, give me Addled’s stories every day for the rest of my life, please and thank you. This is a reverse omens AU. You don't really care for reverse omens, I hear you say? Yep, neither did I, and yet here I am, daydreaming about Azira the demon and Crowley (short for Crowliel) the angel as much as I daydream about our canon Aziraphale and Crowley. This is not something new that happens to me with this great author’s stories, by the way. When writing my own fics, I have to stop and think if I'm referring to something that actually happened in canon or something that happened in Addled’s stories, they're that good. But back to this fic, Azira is just so perfect as a demon, it feels like he was born to be one. Their banter, dynamics, subtle humour and characterisation are, as always, spot on and, oh! The pining! The pining is just so, so good. Oh, and did I mention plot and mystery? I'm loving this story way more than I thought I could love a reverse omens AU, and am sad it's going to be over soon. 

Scorn And The Saint-Maker by beardo @e-rated-beardo, rated E, chapters 33/?

This story is a mystery within a mystery. I've only recently started it and am still catching up, but I am hooked. Human university lecturers AU, or is it? (That's not a spoiler if you read the summary). The plot is compelling, the narration and humour delightful, and the prose at times so touching. And, goodness me, it’s hot (all the explicit scenes are skippable). I feel like I’ve stepped into one of those universes that I would never want to leave. There is also some beautiful art by the author that I sadly can appreciate very seldom as it doesn't upload when I'm not on wi-fi, but hopefully you'll be able to enjoy it!

Wavelengths & Frequencies by @shadesofecclescakes and imposterssyndrome @maaikeatthefullmoon rated E, chapters 18/?

This story is such a warm, cozy, comfort blanket. Human enemies-to-lovers where Aziraphale and Crowley work as DJ for the same media corporation. They have a history, but, while we know they do from the beginning, we don't know what it is. Great story, great humour, great characterisation, great fuzzies.

Complete Stories: 

You're The Bad Guys by Nebz_AlphaCentauri @alphacentaurinebula rated E, 91k.

Fantastic human, cold war AU. Aziraphale is an MI6 agent, Crowley a KGB agent and they're both tasked to steal scientific plans by their respective sides. It's Armageddon all over again, but with hot scenes. I loved it. 

The Last Angel by @bellisima-writes, rated E, 162k.

I don't think there is anything about this epic story that I haven't said before. The author builds an incredible plot and you wonder excitedly where this is all going. You can't stop reading because you want to know what happens and because the prose is so beautiful. Like I've said several times before, this is the most Good Omens-y fic I've read. Let yourself be captured and join Bellisima for this wonderful ride!

The Greater Tadfield Friends Of Music Autumn Concert by CopperBeech @copperplatebeech, rated E, 27k.

I love how this story communicates all sorts of feelings through a fast, concise, no-nonsense  style. Crowley moves to Tadfield and joins the local orchestra. The rest is fiction. 

As always, I'm particularly partial to The Them and Warlock making appearances. And I LOVE Zingarelli!

One Shots:

Aziraphale Gets A Clue by Serenity Stargazer, rated T, 3k.

It's Christmas. Aziraphale is in heaven as Supreme Archangel and Crowley wants to get his attention. He succeeds.

A Nice And Accurate Teen Magazine Quiz by @fellshish, rated T, 2.7k.

Fellshish strikes again with this adorable and extremely funny piece in which Crowley takes credit for teen magazines in hell. Then he browses one of the magazines and takes the soulmate quiz. Then Crowley will be Crowley. I'm sure everyone this side of Tumblr has already read it, but if for some reason you haven't yet you're in for a treat!

Poems: 

PJs, Optional by FuzzyGoblin and koala2all, rated E.

This hilarious poem is made up of a series of limericks all relating to pyjamas that might or might not be worn by our favourite angel and demon. It manages to be funny, sweet and hot, all in the space of 50 lines. I love it!

(Un)Holy Palmers by @on1occasionfork, rated G.

An incredibly beautiful and moving poem about what is like to express love for one another while hiding it from the powers that be. 

Do That Again (And Again) by AlwaysBeMyBaby @alwaysbemybae and OneDapperCat, rated G.

A beautiful through the ages poem about all the ineffable kisses that could have been.

The Demon And The Angel by Hopeless_old_romantic_67, rated G.

Gorgeous poem inspired by The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes. Little warning, it is sad. But so beautiful and deep. 

A Most Peculiar Spa by AlwaysBeMyBaby and OneDapperCat, rated G.

Lovely and funny poem in which Aziraphale tells Crowley about his latest bubble bath! Be sure to read the notes!

@goodomensafterdark

December 24's list here.

[mochinomnoms]

Do you think it's possible for Jade and Floyd to be in a relationship with someone long enough without getting "bored"?

Cuz I like reading Twst x reader fics, but with these two, it's hard to imagine taking a relationship serious enough (especially Floyd) I know I'm probably overthinking this but it's fun to think about.

I'm curious to know your opinion on this.

Yeah! I def think so, I mean they've stuck around Azul for quite a few years, and despite what any of them might say, they do care greatly for each other. I think deep down they do consider each other friends and not just accomplices, but admitting that requires them to be vulnerable, which is a no go for any of them lol.

I mean, consider at least Jade's dream in Book 7! His dream revolves around Floyd and Azul happily going along with his silly whims! Floyd's dream, where he does whatever whenever he wants, has him miserable! I think both of them do value their friendship with Azul quite a bit, it's just hard cause they 'perform' a certain way that makes people on the outside not see it that way.

Part of that though is due to Azul himself not being a 'boring' person to be around, his personality typically meshes well with theirs and vice versa. As such, I think the partner they'd seek out would be similar, someone who would mesh well with them and from the bat isn't 'boring'. Both of the twins are complicated characters in their own right as well, much more that the surface level 'bulter-esque' and 'chaos incarnate' personalities that is attributed to them often, both in-game and fandom wise.

And an additional point, they're still young! Even if you age them up from canon to be college-aged like I do for all of my works, 18-21 is still really young! You're still learning the world and your place in it and your personality goes through a lot of changes as you mature and meet more people. Of course a young man would be focused in on people who don't 'bore' him, he's just going through life! There will be a natural development as the two grow older and met more people, they won't be so focused on being entertained, but rather seek something more lasting in a partner.

And lastly, the nice thing about fanfics is that we can imagine whatever we want! Hehehe, it's nice to just write or read characters in scenarios that we might not typically find them in, so just have fun when reading stuff. I have my own opinions obvi, which reflects in my writing, but just have fun with reading stuff even if it seems a bit out of character!

[saintsenara]

Perhaps not the point of your ongoing Snoldemort (Vape?) masterpiece, but I really like how you write Lily. She’s adventurous and determined and charismatic, but also utterly careless about Severus’ emotions and especially his poverty in a way that’s - for those of us who’ve been in the same boat - utterly demeaning. And I think that’s all clearly there in canon too! I know she’s rather underwritten due to her mystery being kept under wraps for 6.95 out of 7 books, but I don’t think she’s *quite* as underwritten as many people think considering she’s only got about 10 lines. So I really love it on the exceedingly rare occasions when she flashes up in fics to be less saintly and more…correct in most respects, but also such a dick about it.

i can't believe i've been foolishly persisting with "snapemort" as the ship name when "vape" was in front of me the whole time.

[a shot of lord voldemort listening to the radio broadcasts of the wizengamot...]

thank you very much for this lovely message about scylla and charybdis, anon! i'm delighted you're enjoying it.

the starting point for her characterisation in the fic was - basically - god forbid a teenage girl not be the most selfless person in history.

i'm always really struck [and completely unsurprised...] that both sides of the fandom debate about snape seem to focus a lot on lily's supposed saintliness. since i'm a snape fan, i end up seeing the anti-lily side of this fairly often - endless rounds of "well if she's so great why didn't she do exactly what snape wanted all the time? why did she simply not accommodate everything he thought? checkmate, snaters" nonsense, which then quickly devolves into "every even mildly negative thought she had about snape was driven by her pure evil"...

but the thing is... even without any of the rest of it - the fact that she's a member of the wizarding world's persecuted underclass and there's a war on, for example - she's allowed to not be constantly thinking about other people's problems. and she's allowed to be annoyed and selfish and uncharitable and rude. and she's allowed to not be constantly filtering her words and actions through every single possible societal nuance in order to make sure she only responds in the most perfect way ever... not least because that's fundamentally impossible.

i like the fact that she never quite gets how snape's poverty changes his engagement with the world - especially in the most recent chapter, when she's thirteen and she thinks she's having a nice time hanging out with her pal and she thinks he's saying what he means when he says he doesn't want anything from the ice cream man, rather than pretending that he doesn't because he hasn't got any money and he finds the idea of admitting that to her to be too humiliating to bear - because it's a situation where neither of them are in the wrong, which i just find much more interesting than the fandom's determination to divide characters who are in conflict into the winner and the loser, or the good person and the bad one, or the person who's right and the person who's wrong.

snape's feelings about his poverty are entirely understandable, and lily clearly hasn't thought as much about it as might be admirable... but it's also his own fault that he doesn't share these feelings with lily, and just expects her to read his mind and modify her behaviour without him offering her any explanation as to why he wants her to do this or offering her any chance to refuse or to ask him to compromise on these desires.

and this lack of honest communication leads to their bigger, much more clear-cut resentments - over james, over mulciber and avery, over dark magic, and - of course - over voldemort. lily's obviously completely correct to say that voldemort is a terrorist and she won't respect anyone who's obsessed with him... the moral argument is black-and-white, lily's the only person who's right.

but the issue is that snape isn't actually arguing from an opposing position. he's not arguing that voldemort isn't a terrorist - he's arguing that voldemort is a terrorist who's also the only person he's ever met who's offering a tangible way for him to get out of poverty. and this is true - both in the fic and, in my view, in the canon text. the material argument is much, much more complicated than the moral one.

lily can't solve these problems - she's just one person, and she doesn't have to risk her own safety to try and deradicalise someone seeking to join an organisation which hates muggleborns - and i don't expect her to have ever been able to do so.

but i also like the fact that - just as snape's major failing in canon is indifference [he can tolerate what voldemort does until it affects him] - the good guys' major failing is indifference too.

the ministry and the order are principled people taking a righteous moral stand against terror... and they also have no idea how the system they're fighting for oppresses all but the elite of wizarding society... whereas voldemort understands this intimately, and he uses it to swell his ranks with disaffected recruits who are looking for someone to blame for their conditions...

[hence why he's the person - even as the text tries to present him as someone whose aims are pureblood oligarchy - who canonically commands the support (or, at the very least, the toleration) of the working classes and the non-human peoples oppressed by the wizarding state...]

but these recruits are nonetheless entirely aware what they're signing up for... they're not joining a legitimate political party, or a union, or an activist group seeking to bring about change through non-violent means... they're joining a terrorist organisation...

but their experience at the hands of the state makes them easy to convince that they've got no other choice...

i like this sort of vicious cycle approach to both the first and the second war because it's so much more interesting than canon's "this is a straightforward battle between good and evil" vibe.

[all-of-her-light]

These are all interesting ideas. I'd like to add the observation (not necessarily a criticism, though) that this VN concept is, in an important way, antithetical to the themes of the OnK canon.

OnK portrays the entertainment industry as rife with dysfunction and exploitation, but at the same time, it doesn't portray the talents within the industry as doomed or helpless. From Yuki and Nobu finding love together unburdened by public spectacle, to Mem using age-faking and then age-secrecy to her advantage, to the half-dozen benevolent schemes Aqua pulls off from the Sweet Today through Scandal arcs – there's a recurring message that with enough cleverness and enough courage, talents can genuinely improve on the path of least resistance for themselves and those around them. They can't command the winds of the industry, but they can sail them.

Even Ai – though she meets a horrific premature end – manages to buy herself several years as a mother without losing the career that she and her new family depend on. And thanks to that time, she's able to achieve the one thing she wanted most: consciously and sincerely loving others, and knowing she's capable of it. And while her death results in an important sense from the very nature of the industry, it also results in an important sense from the mistakes of the specific adults responsible for her – mistakes that they can and do learn to avoid repeating.

As I see it, "the entertainment industry sucks" isn't the conclusion of OnK's thematic argument; it's a premise, clearly established by the end of the prologue. And one of the main ideas the series explores is how people respond to the suckiness if they are or have been harmed by it, or if they want to make a career out of what they love despite it, or even if they've played a role in perpetrating it. Characters' responses vary in how good or bad they are, but the choice matters, and valid options exist other than "get out of the industry before it's too late".

(Incidentally, I've wanted for a while to make a post about this aspect of OnK and how it contributes to the unintentional thematic incongruity between Aqua's death and the rest of the series. Maybe eventually...)

So if we imagine a VN starring Ai and thematically centered on the industry, where numerous different player choices are possible, but every one leads to a functionally bad ending – either the mere illusion of love at great cost to Ai herself and/or others, or the shattering of that illusion with only imprisonment replacing it – it'd be difficult to avoid conveying that talents in Ai's position are doomed to a degree that I don't think the OnK canon believes in. Of course, whether to share the canon's perspective is another matter.

Hoshino Ai was born to be the heroine of an otome game populated entirely by yandere guys who would put her in a dog cage

[isa-ghost]

QSMPblr Language Day Ask Game!

Happy Language Day!!! As the person who organized for us to try this again without something catastrophic ruining the fun, I wanted to make an ask game! :D

If you reblog this you HAVE to send AT LEAST one ask to the person you reblogged from! You can copy/paste the question right from this post and into the ask OR ask it in your language of choice*. Whoever you ask answers it in a language of their choice! You can ask just one of the questions below, but are encouraged to ask multiple!

*Language of choice as in their first/native/preferred language!

Obviously all asks are QSMP themed. :)

1- Who are your Top 3-5 QSMP cubitos? Any particular reason why those are your faves?

2- Who was/were your main POV(s)? Yes this is different than favorite cubitos.

3- Which egg that ISN'T the child(ren) of your favorite cubito is your favorite?

4- Favorite lore moment? Can be serious OR silly.

5- Favorite server event? Can be cultural or otherwise!

6- Do you have a favorite Federation Worker or other non-egg NPC?

7- Which POV that you didn't watch do you wish you could've caught live?

8- Now that QSMP is gone, are there any CCs from the server that you still watch any content of?

9- Share one of your favorite QSMP fanart, animatic, fanfic, edit, cosplay, etc (WITH CREDIT)!

10- Favorite "mundane" moment? (Mundane meaning no event or formal lore was going on. Even if the CCs were in-character, they were still just hanging out!)

11- What's something you wish was confirmed as canon for your favorite cubito? Alternatively: What's your favorite canon lore bit for your favorite cubtio?

12- List 1-3 things you learned about any of the cultures on the server.

13- List 1-3 words or phrases you learned from any of the languages on the server.

14- Share a phrase from your first/native/preferred language!

15- What pair of CCs do you wish interacted more on the server? Doesn't have to be a pair that never/rarely interacted.

16- Do you remember where you were or what you were doing when your favorite lore moment happened? (Example from OP: I was getting my favorite loaded fries for lunch during Phil's Ender King lore finale)

17- Tag 3 friends/mutuals you met because of QSMP. They now have to send you one of these questions and you have to send one to each of them, even if they aren't participating! >:)

18- If your cubito didn't get an official lore finale, what would you have wanted their finale to be? If your cubito DID get an official finale, how do you feel about it?

19- What culture/language do you wish you would've gotten to see on the server had things not fallen apart?

20- What was the first server event that you watched live?

21- Favorite inside joke or meme from the server (ex: Cellbit's ad, Chayanne being Cucurucho, the furry club, etc.)?

22- Favorite funny moment in general?

23- Was there any moment on the server, lore or not, that made you cry? Happy tears or sad tears?

24- Favorite build/location on the server?

25- What is your opinion on the QSMP 2024 location on the server?

26- Share a song you found because of the server (thanks to an animatic, lore, something else, etc.). Alternatively: Share a song that makes you think of your favorite cubito, and explain why!

27- How do you feel about Cucurucho?

28- What unfinished bit of lore do you wish we got to see completed?

29- What CC(s) would you have wanted to see added to the server? Can be a CC that speaks any language.

30- What is a moment, lore or not, that you think is underrated?

[askkspotconlon]

Hi

I'm Spot

I'm fifteen

I like slingshots

And I run Brooklyn

ooc//

hc list !!

actually isn't that much of a tough guy physically and just walks around with bigger guys and gossips about himself to make him seem stronger. this one's semi canon though so like

kind of argumentative for the sake of it, like if he doesn't like you, you will know

punches random hard things on occasion so his knuckles bruise so it looks like he got into a fight or smth.

in a modern au he drinks his coffee like. sickeningly sweet, to the point where it's more sugar and milk than coffee. upon being asked about it he forces himself to drink black coffee (with tears in his eyes).

absolutely evil and pathetic to be around when he gets sick. like "please mother take me outside to see the sunlight one last time before the consumption takes hold" when he gets a headcold kind of thing.

he's transmasc sorry guys ion make the rules.

irish american. again i think (?) this one's partially canon but. yeah. 92sies spot is irish american and livesies spot is hispanic,, puerto rican more specifically.

he tries to be hygienic but also won't shower when there's any chance someone will walk in so. he often showers in the middle of the night.

also strives to make the brooklyn lodging house not like. hell to be in, and tries to keep it organized enough and stuff.

in a modern au i think he's secretly a little bit down bad for luigi mangione but like. subtly. so race doesn't getmad.

Affiliated with

@askjackk

@askdaveyj

@ask-race

@askkidblink

@ask-michaels-ghost

@askdeckfrombrooklyn

@askoscardelancey

@askbumlets

[ravewulf]

I was thinking about the fact Tyler Hoechlin was told that Derek had only ever slept with Kate right before he was about to film the scene where Derek and Jennifer sleep together for the first time.

Where did we get this info? It's also incorrect because Derek did have sex after Kate and before Jennifer.

Eli was 15 in 2026, meaning he was born sometime before Fall 2011 (start of the school year). Wind the clock back another 9 months and Derek had to have had sex with someone in 2010 before season 1 (season 1 started in January 2011).

(I have a headcanon that he also got into New York's gay club and/or kink scene since Jeff mentioned Derek going to Splash Bar, but that's a headcanon and apocrypha respectively, not canon)

That's enormously important information that he needed to know for his performance and not letting him know earlier than that was incredibly disrespectful.

If Hoechlin was told this (and I do not know if he was), you're correct on the first part but way off base on the second. Acting is a job, they tell him what he needs to know when he needs to know it. That is not a sign of disrespect.

In this case, they needed him to act as if it was the first time since Kate (even though it wasn't) because Jennifer was using the power of the virgin sacrifices to magically influence him. They may not have come out and said it like that because that knowledge would also have an impact on his performance, potentially making it less genuine if he knew Derek was being manipulated.

(He also said he knew the thumb hole shirt was totally wrong for Derek, but at that point he was so tired of fighting TPTB for character consistency that he just gave up in that instance.)

Source for this? And how is the thumb hole sweater wrong for Derek? I love Hoechlin, but the writers have the final say as far as what is "right" for a character (though we can always disagree with them, and I have on other decisions they've made). Derek has a soft side and we see more of that during 3B (getting candy and scaring kids on Halloween, etc).

On the other hand, Derek was possessed by the Nogitsune's fly at the time and it's a different outfit than he was wearing when the fly crawled into his wound back at the loft, so it could be chalked up to that if you don't think it fits Derek's character.

After Kate and Jennifer a part of Derek must have expected Braeden to try and kill him too, and when she didn't I can see him imprinting on her like a baby bird. His parents had a good marriage, and that was something he always wanted and expected he would have too. That is one of the reasons Kate was able to con him. It wasn't just sex and teen hormones for him.

Correct about what Derek expected, to some degree, as he's had pretty shitty luck there, but he absolutely did not "imprint" on Braeden.

The part about Derek's parents is completely made up. There's absolutely nothing about that in the show. If Hoechlin has a headcanon about it, then that's cool but it isn't any more or less valid than a headcanon you or I could come up with. Canon is strictly what happens in the show, nothing else.

Whatever his parent's marriage was like, it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. Talia did some pretty fucked up things to Derek (manipulating his memories), Peter (manipulating his memories, ignoring his warning about the Argents, taking Malia from him), and Corinne (forcing her to carry Malia to term/making her lose her powers). Derek's dad isn't mentioned and we don't see him, so he may not have been in the picture at all. Peter is the one who helped raise/train Derek, for better or worse.

Kate was able to get to Derek because it happened not long after he had to mercy-kill Paige, which left him in an extremely vulnerable state. (The Paige incident was in Derek's Sophomore year, according to Peter, which puts Derek at 15 in Fall 2004. He'd turn 16 in November, then the Hale Fire happened in January 2005).

Braeden on the other hand, thought they were just friends with benefits. She did not want a serious relationship, and broke up with him when she found out he did.

Derek knew from the start that it was only a casual relationship. He saw her looking him up and down as a sex object back when she rescued him and Peter in 3B.

Most importantly, Braeden didn't break up with Derek, it's the other way around. Derek implicitly broke up with her in the season 4 finale when he rejected her guns. That final kiss they shared was a kiss goodbye, ending their relationship before they headed off on a rescue mission he didn't expect to survive.

He broke it off partly because she didn't understand him as a person. While he was losing his werewolf abilities, she made assumptions that it was about power/what he can do in a fight. He tried to correct her that it's not about power, it's about being a werewolf in addition to being able to protect people. The enhanced senses and every other part of it, not just what can be used as a weapon. It's who he is and a critical part of his identity. Some more reading on this here

It was still a good relationship for Derek, proving that not everyone he gets involved with has to betray him and/or die, and helped him overcome what Kate did to him so he could stand over Kate, proud and unashamed, later that episode. It's also something that may have helped with his evolution into the full wolf form.

As for Cora, Derek and Peter took her back to South America as Beacon Hills wasn't safe. (but the real reason is Adelaide Kane left to play Mary, Queen of Scots, in Reign)

I was thinking about the fact Tyler Hoechlin was told that Derek had only ever slept with Kate right before he was about to film the scene where Derek and Jennifer sleep together for the first time. That's enormously important information that he needed to know for his performance, and not letting him know earlier than that was incredibly disrespectful. (He also said he knew the thumb hole shirt was totally wrong for Derek, but at that point he was so tired of fighting TPTB for character consistency that he just gave up in that instance.)

After Kate and Jennifer a part of Derek must have expected Braeden to try and kill him too, and when she didn't I can see him imprinting on her like a baby bird. His parents had a good marriage, and that was something he always wanted and expected he would have too. That is one of the reasons Kate was able to con him. It wasn't just sex and teen hormones for him.

Braeden on the other hand, thought they were just friends with benefits. She did not want a serious relationship, and broke up with him when she found out he did.

Leaving Derek alone again.

(Are we ever given a reason for Cora going away? What if she found out about Kate and Derek, and blamed him for what happened? Even though it wasn't his fault, and he was the victim.)

By the time Derek and Stiles become a couple, they bicker as usual, but angry, yelling, fights are actually rare. The first time Stiles slams out of their place to cool off, Derek thinks it's over, that Stiles has left him because that's what always happens to him. He doesn't deserve Stiles anyway. It was only a matter of time until Stiles realized that.

When Stiles comes back hours later, he finds Derek curled up in the corner in the dark. He's stunned when Derek quietly says he'll pack up his stuff tomorrow. Stiles can have the house.

They talk, and after Stiles reassures Derek that this is it for him, he's not going anywhere, they eventually lay down some mutually agreed to ground rules. (Derek leaves when he's upset too, but he always says he's going for a run, and that he'll be back. He normally does it when he's feeling emotionally overwhelmed and scared rather than angry though.) The next time Stiles storms off, he pauses at the door to add, "I love you. I'll be back." Sometimes he even shouts it, but he always says it.

Luckily they know each other well enough by the time they get together that those instances really are unusual though, and they talk things out. Sometimes snarkily, but they talk, even when it's hard.

It takes time, but Derek eventually believes deep down that he's not alone anymore. :)

[mxtxfanatic]

Today is the day I see one of those posts talking about how the torture of Wen Chao is morally wrong and how Wei Wuxian sexually violated Wang Lingjiao 💀. They are trying to paint Wei Wuxian in a bad light so badly its honestly embarrassing.

Honestly speaking, what Wei Wuxian did to Wen Chao and Co, is it even morally wrong? Is it controversial to say that Wei Wuxian was right in what he did? I saw many of the comments in that post arguing whether or not it was right or wrong. They are always using the "torturing people is never right" or the "killing people is a sin" or the "so you agree that murdering people is alright" argument.

I don't think Wei Wuxian did anything wrong tbh, but then again, I could also be wrong.

This and this are how i feel about "torture is always wrong, so wwx is bad!" criers. Wei Wuxian was correct, and I don't care for second opinions. Upping the ante by calling Wei Wuxian a rapist is never gonna make morally gray!wwx canon. Wang Lingjiao died because she went mad from fear and stuffed a chair leg down her own throat. The fact that she had ghosts who were personally invested in psychologically torturing her to death had shit all to do with Wei Wuxian except through his removal of the barriers suppressing them, since he does not puppeteer any resentful creature. If Wen Chao and Co. didn't wanna get tortured to death, maybe they shouldn't have spent their lives torturing others to death. Wen Zhuliu seems to be the only person who understood this, even if he still felt compelled to follow along with Wen Chao's whims.

"Killing people is a sin," well good thing this novel isn't some Evangelical Christian's wet dream or else we'd all be going to hell, now wouldn't we? Good thing some of us actually have morals we personally developed and believe in instead of having to be threatened with the idea of an eternal damnation in order to understand right and wrong through "is this a sin in the Bible?"

[jadeazora]

Personally, and I've said this before, but I'm hoping for a partnership between Sycamore and Malva as they try to find Lysandre, who they suspect survived the Ultimate Weapon's destruction back in XY. (Since that seemingly happened in Masters, they use the XY Lysandre and it would be neat to see them canonize his survival. I feel he would be a bit physically worse for the wear tho than his Masters appearance.)

Malva would be more the main villain since she fully supported Lysandre's vision in XY and hates us for putting a stop to him, while Sycamore (who's mostly driven by guilt about how badly he handled things) would mostly be using her and maybe some remnant of Flare. I see him betraying her and trying to convince Lysandre of the potential for people to bring about a more harmonious world, and how the Lumiose redevelopment project could play into that.

[jingyichickenwings]

This is less of a Deep Cut and more of a case of schadenfreude, but I love when various members of a creative team are messy in public about their high budget group project. Reality TV for nerds. It speaks to a profound lack of media training or fucks given. You guys realize that future employers can Google you, right? Unintentionally hilarious.

Linke and Yee were told in no uncertain terms that their season 1 storyboard was shit, so they hired Overton, who hired half a dozen actual writers, and they did basically a full overhaul. The script was objectively much better. But this was Linke's baby, and several years later you still see signs that he is Big Mad that he didn't get his way, and that he doesn't know or care about what actually became season 1 canon. I'm sorry that your Jewish stereotype villain didn't get to be a pedophile, I guess? Idk. Yes, yes, I am sure your version of Svengali is really innovative. Maybe someday, buddy.

Meanwhile they start writing season 2 in early 2020, while the season 1 air date isn't until November of 2021. So, they don't have public feedback on the script yet, just, yanno, actual writing professionals. Anyway, according to Overton, they needed to fire the non-management part of the writing team because of the pandemic?! Lmao babygirl you do your best and I respect commitment to the official PR excuse but nobody sensible believes this. Netflix writers average 110k/year, and you needed six or so from season 1. That is not a big part of the overall budget. Also, y'all could have saved money with Zoom meetings.

So the very thing that saved the season 1 script got line-itemed "because of the pandemic". That sounds like an extremely convenient excuse for Linke to be like, no, fuck you all, we are going back to Plan A, the rough draft of season 2 based on his shitty version of season 1. Honey. That ship has sailed. You already lost this argument.

So presumably some combination of Linke/Yee/Riot/Netflix was like, it's important that we have at least one actual grown adult writer on staff. So Overton gets to keep her job.

Now, I want to preface this by saying that season 2 would have been even worse without Overton. That being said, there is a reason they needed a deeper bench of writing staff. Overton and Linke over-connect with the characters Caitlyn and Jayce respectively, to a degree that they frequently forgot to evaluate how other characters would likely behave in certain situations. It led to contrivances, plot holes, etc. There is a lot I could add here but tbh go read any of the meta already out there.

In addition to the Mary Sue type behavior, Overton thought it would be Neat to make the writing more like Avengers, like multiverse time travel fuckery is a shiny beach pebble and not narrative napalm. What in the ADHD was she thinking? Even if they had the run time to world build enough for this, there was nothing in season 1 to even suggest this as an option. And let's be fucking honest, multiverse a lot of why Marvel is on a downward spiral. If Viktor can go to Build-A-Bear Workshop and 3-D print a million Jayces, why should I give a shit about his kill count? He can just be kind, rewind, and try again. Actions are decoupled from consequences.

Anyway, moving back to the topic at hand of the Arcane team. Apparently, Overton, Linke and Yee only half-wrote season 2?! Linke said something about how they "extensively collaborated with Fortiche on the story"? Which, it's not inherently a bad idea to get creative feedback from your art team, but ummm, maybe the writers and Fortiche should have worked to a point of agreement on basic story beats. Based on a lot of what Fortiche has said, the art for season 2 passive aggressively advances what they wanted the writing to be against Linke's wishes. They literally have just been straight up disagreeing with Linke and getting paid for it. Which, to be fair, I respect the sheer pettiness! Linke can't write his own damn show but wants to slow down the very expensive art team? When the actual writers that got fired "because of the pandemic" would have caught a lot of the season 2 issues?

So post airing of season 2, Overton is all about that girlboss copaganda, Linke is having multiple public meltdowns and getting fired by Riot(?), and multiple voice actors and artists at Fortiche are being like "yeah, we actually wanted something else so there are now multiple competing narratives for season 2". Which is hilarious. The way in which the show is messy is the same way in which the creators are messy. These bitches are a cautionary tale about hubris and the need to engage in team-building.

[chemyaart]

Rant about the cookie run kingdom fandom

Okay, so I know I'm gonna get hated for this, but I don't care. Ignore if you're sensitive.

First, I just want to clarify that it's for every fandom, of course, bad apples exist everywhere. But at this point, I can't believe what I'm seeing. The more a media is cute, kid-friendly, the more the fandom is crazy (and not in a good way)

So, I want to adress the things that bother me a lot.

Firstly, I think the Beast Yeast update was both a good thing and a bad thing to happen. Let me explain. Of course, the enemies into lovers trope has always existed and it's the most popular trope, but I think that update actually flipped upside down the fandom. Toxic ships has always existed (like affocara, redpastry, etc..) but they weren't that common I think?

But after that update, it never became the same thing again. It honestly makes me uncomfortable how shippers say "hAhA ToXiC yAoI" for everything, especially Shadowvanilla. It makes me cringe (I like sometimes when it's funny cringy, but not uncomfortable cringe you know?)

I hate how CRK content mainly ships (like 90% of the time) it's sexual.

Of course, I guess sex jokes/suggestive jokes can exist, but it comes to a point where it's like everywhere. These shippers only think about these 24/7.

One thing that adds with the fandom, is how people love to woobify the characters. The misrepresent/misinterpret the character for something they're not. Headcanons are fine, but when I see Shadowvanilla, and purecacao fans... I'm really concerned. They woobify the characters into "b-b-b-but he's g-g-g-ood!" or "I'm j-just a-a innocent uwu gay boi" I understand if you're a kid/teen, but when I see adults doing that, I'm like actually scared.

Every character is complex, and it doesn't have to be romantic. I actually like the Shadowvanilla ship, but not to this extent. And I don't like them romantically. But I would love to see them grow.

Plus, not just woobifying the characters, but also just changing them entirely. Like their personalities, and just only keep one trait. For example, Pure Vanilla Cookie. He's the most popular cookie with Shadow Milk, and all I see is just him being all innocent and nice. Of course he is friendly and generous, but (especially purecacao shippers) think he's weak or something. But when you see him defeating Dark Enchantress ALONE in the video, he isn't WEAK at all.

Or Dark Cacao, all they make him is "manly man who is strong and protects his boi" or "neglectful dad bad dad". When it's much more complex than that. I'm shocked when their account is JUST about this ship. Like I like Purelily and Cacaolily, but I don't post to this extent about them. And even if I wish for Cacaolily to be real, I'm not delusional enough to repeat that they're canon like some shadowvanilla and purecacao fans do. Of course, you can say that they're joking, but there are actually people that seriously do this ☠️ (do what you want, but I just can't belive it myself)

Plus, the amount of times where these shippers also looked at the tiniest details of an interaction, and thought, "it's canon" it's actually crazy. Like I've seen a post about how Dark Cacao's face in the fight between the ancients and Dark Enchantress Cookie, meant that he loved Pure vanilla cookie in a romantic way ☠️

Obviously characters can care about eachother without liking them romantically. Plus, not only Dark cacao was saddened, but also Hollyberry and Golden Cheese. But you don't include that for your ship.

You guys can understand that I really hate Purecacao, right? Well, unlike Shadowvanilla fans, they don't attack me personally, and they're actually cool. The experiences I had with Purecacao shippers made me hate this ship.

Also, stop hating characters for no reason, because of misunderstanding or something. Whether it's Golden Cheese Cookie, where there are people who think she's selfish and as bad as the beasts, Lord Oyster, or anyone tbh. A lot of characters are hated for no reason, either from their design, or what they did. What I mean is, okay, hate a character, but PLEASE have a at least a reason why you hate the character, and not just because it blocks your ship 😭

It's actually crazy Kingdom fans hated Revel Cookie and Okchun Cookie just for their "simple" design? A lot of CRK fans are so narrow minded it's sad. I really hope your minds opens up more, especially to other ships. For example, rare pairs are cool, and I don't see the problem with it except if they're problematic like age gap, pdf things yk?

I hate Purecacao, Affocacao, but I just block their tag. They just love drawing them kissing and making out. As much as I hate them, I won't threaten them or sending death threats over it, you know? I'm really sorry if I was too rude, my emotions get over me, I really hope it didn't hurt you.

At the end of the day, do what you want. Just don't interact with me. And please improve yourself, a lot of you guys need therapy, myself included. I needed to rant.

[queereads-bracket]

Queer Fiction Free-for-All Book Bracket Tournament: Round 1D

Book summaries and submitted endorsements below:

Hell Followed With Us by Andrew Joseph White

Prepare to die. His kingdom is near.

Sixteen-year-old trans boy Benji is on the run from the cult that raised him—the fundamentalist sect that unleashed Armageddon and decimated the world’s population. Desperately, he searches for a place where the cult can’t get their hands on him, or more importantly, on the bioweapon they infected him with.

But when cornered by monsters born from the destruction, Benji is rescued by a group of teens from the local Acheson LGBTQ+ Center, affectionately known as the ALC. The ALC’s leader, Nick, is gorgeous, autistic, and a deadly shot, and he knows Benji’s darkest secret: the cult’s bioweapon is mutating him into a monster deadly enough to wipe humanity from the earth once and for all.

Still, Nick offers Benji shelter among his ragtag group of queer teens, as long as Benji can control the monster and use its power to defend the ALC. Eager to belong, Benji accepts Nick’s terms…until he discovers the ALC’s mysterious leader has a hidden agenda, and more than a few secrets of his own.

A furious, queer debut novel about embracing the monster within and unleashing its power against your oppressors.

Horror, science fiction, postapocalyptic, young adult

The Ruin of Kings by Jenn Lyons (A Chorus of Dragons series)

Endorsement from submitter: "These books are some of the best adult fantasy out there… great worldbuilding fantastic characters doing all kinds of fascinating stuff with storytelling (do you like footnotes? This series has footnotes! Every book canonically exists in-universe!) as for queer characters/relationships there’s basically every kind of rep you can think of"

Kihrin is a bastard orphan who grew up on storybook tales of long-lost princes and grand quests. When he is claimed against his will as the long-lost son of a treasonous prince, Kihrin finds that being a long-lost prince isn't what the storybooks promised. Far from living the dream, Kihrin finds himself practically a prisoner, at the mercy of his new family's power plays and ambitions. He also discovers that the storybooks have lied about a lot of other things too: dragons, demons, gods, prophecies, true love, and how the hero always wins. Then again, maybe he's not the hero, for Kihrin is not destined to save the empire. He's destined to destroy it.

Fantasy, epic fantasy, politics, nonlinear, secondary world, series, adult

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

Regarding that scene on Werepapas, what a coincidence. My friend just finished watching the series up to season 5. While he agrees that the writing is far from ideal, while discussing Representation, he didn't get that Adrien is a senti! Only Felix. He felt that it was ambigous. He hopes that maybe Adrien was made thanks to the Peacock but without him being exactly a senti (he still can't exactly explain Gabriel's influence).

With Werepapas... I was astonished, and I don't know if my friend's theory might not be as farfetched... we are giving the writers too much credit, right?

(Post that spawned this ask)

I think it's perfectly valid to be on the fence. I wouldn't put money on Adrien being human, but I wouldn't put money on him being a sentimonster either. He probably is, I wouldn't hold hope for him to not be, but it's not explicit canon and that does matter to a certain extent.

There's a rule in story telling that no one is really dead until their body is show and that applies to more than just death. Any twist isn't truly canon until it's explicitly stated in the text and Adrien's status has never been officially stated. It's only strongly hinted at. This was likely done with purpose because this show is aimed at children. You don't go the subtle route with five-year-olds. They don't know enough about story telling for that to work.

Writers use this hints only trick for a variety of reason, but when it comes to writing in long running shows, the most common reason is to keep the story from having to commit to something before the writers are sure about it as they don't know how many seasons they'll have to write and what plot points they want to use. Right now, the writers can backtrack Adrien's status without retconing anything since he was never said to be a senti. Same goes for Kagami. The only canonically confirmed senti is Felix.*

This noncommittal tactic where nothing is confirmed in canon isn't a writing style I love, but it does have its place. Reveals generally should be teased out over time and not given after the first hint. Tease it out too long, though, and it's no longer solid setup and payoff. Instead it's just an annoying stalling tactic. When it passes from good pacing to stalling tactic is highly subjective and depends on how complex the reveal is. Adrien's status isn't remotely complex and was setup all the way back in season four, so I feel comfortable saying this has gone from the story slowly teasing out the reveal to a stalling tactic which is very much in line with the show's writing style. They're dragging the love square identity reveal to death. I will not be shocked if this gets the same treatment just to keep people watching in the desperate hope that they can finally get some clear answers. It's how show's like Miraculous work. There's not enough here to actually tell an eight-season story so we get this instead.

*Do NOT quote Twitter at me. Twitter is not only not canon, but Twitter "canon" has been retconed and contradicted by actual canon on several occasions. In Twitter canon, Luka is two years older than Juleka and that's clearly not true in actual canon. It's why I try to avoid using Twitter as a source. There are times when I feel you basically have to acknowledge it because it's the only source for any sort of explanation for some nonsensical but important thing canon did, but even then I never assume the statement is truly canon. It's just the closest we can get to canon at the given moment. Which is embarrassing because most viewers are not checking Twitter to understand this show for children!!! The text should speak for itself on all major bits of lore. Twitter should be reserved for fun but pointless facts like what Ladybug's suit feels like.

[ilikekidsshows]

"Even good person make bad decision sometimes."

True.

"Therefore Marinette is not a bad character."

That, is arguable.

Because I'm at this point where I would questioned where's the line that make a character "bad" and where's the line that make a character "just misunderstood/misguided"

Because if Chloé is bad character because she bullied Marinette and Lila is bad because she's a liar who manipulate others... then where's Marinette stand when she has done both?

Her bullying and humiliating Kagami (in extend Lila and Sublime) isn't even stemmed from misunderstanding, it's her own jealousy that told her "everyone who get close to 'her Adrien' is her enemy."

Her choosing to manipulate Cat Noir to reveal his identify isn't stemmed from misguided attempt, she get sick of Suhan keep nagging her about Cat's identity!

And I'm not even talking about the "Gabriel is hero who died sacrificing his life to saved her's." BS.

So yeah, where does she stand then? Because it's hard for me to see her as someone who "misguided" when everything she do is stemmed from her own jealousy and insecurity. She knows it's bad, she just choose to say "Who cares? I don't. 🤷"

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Yeah, for all Miraculous brands itself a romantic comedy series, the protagonist isn’t motivated by love, not really. Because the thing Marinette wants even more than love is control. She wants to control how people see her, think of her and feel about her. I’ve been calling her a control freak even before she started manipulating and gaslighting her most beloved people, because the need for control is that integral to who Marinette is as a character, a fictional person.

Almost anything Marinette does that isn’t motivated by her Love Quest, and even many parts of her Love Quest, is motivated by the need to gain control of a situation and nothing makes her freak out more than a lack of control. “Marinette has good intentions”, isn’t a defense to begin with, but, in addition, Marinette’s “good intentions”, when they are even present, are just a mask for her true motivation, to control something.

Because, like, even if we apply the most good faith interpretation to Marinette's behavior, that she has an uncontrollable, untreated anxiety disorder stopping her from learning how to handle social situations with any amount of reasonability, that still doesn't make her look flawless. I know the writers and the passionate stans think Marinette having trauma absolves her of all guilt, but she is responsible for how her coping mechanisms hurt other people, it's her responsibility to get help when she has repeatedly seen herself hurt others.

But, like, when we look at how Marinette's interactions are written, it's clear the intended reading is that Marinette feeling bad about doing bad is all that's needed for her to be absolved. In-universe, the characters around Marinette tell her everything she does is instantly forgiven because she feels so bad about it, that she's a good person because she feels so bad. It's hard to blame Marinette for not seeing there's a problem with the way she behaves when people are literally telling her that, as long as she's the one feeling the worst, she's a moral paragon even when she hurts others.

As much as that kind of thinking would make sense, I still wouldn't see Marinette as a good person if that was the canon. On my pettier days I see Marinette as a bad person, but, that's not accurate either. She is toxic and exhausting, though. Still, if I saw someone in real life be as manipulative as consistently, regardless of their motives, I would not want anything to do with them. That's the problem with watching a show and seeing a character act the same way year after year. It doesn't matter if the TV show wants you to think her "mistakes" aren't in continuity, that you're meant to see them as episodic, disconnected, separate stories, all the while muddying the waters with a serialized continuity that increases as the story goes on. I'm still seeing her constantly do the same things but worse.

I also can’t see Marinette as a good character, because her writers are telling me she is a good person despite them writing her as a self-centered and petty person out to manipulate everyone around her, especially the ones she cares the most about. A character has to be truly badly written to have one of her defining traits contradict what the storytellers are trying to say about her this completely. Some of it is the awful mishandling of the show's episodic versus serialized nature, but some of it is just the writers not thinking about their show as a cohesive whole. It's also why their attempts at "refreshing the formula" don't actually change anything about the formula.