#these three are like...the three most popular in the fandom

[sugarcubetikki]

From day one, there have been multiple theories and interpretations about what Adrien’s future career path and passions would be as we all wanted to see this boy be able to choose and discover something for himself rather than the dozens of activities his father was making him do. I believe the most popular theories in the fandom were Adrien becoming a baker or a stay-at-home dad. I think the popularity of these theories arose due to Adrien being good with kids and showing a fondness towards Marinette’s family and their bakery in early seasons. Furthermore, as Miraculous is built on subverting gender roles, and Adrien’s characterisation is more traditionally feminine with the narrative I guess we were building on that (and men taking on more domestic roles seems to be loved in fandom spaces in general).

However, I hadn’t quite seen running as a potential career choice for Adrien and most of us wouldn’t expect it either.

I, for one, didn’t expect it but I am not disappointed and I think it makes a great lot of sense for his character for three reasons.

Reason #1

As much as I love baker and stay-at-home dad Adrien aus, I’m glad that canon chose not to take that route in this episode. I think that choice would be more detrimental to his character rather than beneficial in our canon narrative.

As Thomas commented, so much of his character already revolves around Marinette considering that he’s pretty much all he has left and feels the most comfortable around her right now. (Even before his father’s death, his sense of identity seemed to revolve around her a lot as we saw him expressing that his love for her was the only thing he was sure of in S5. I think it’s because he’s been deprived of autonomy so much that he seems to be used to basing his desires around other people’s).

That’s why I believe him going into baking or being a stay-at-home dad at the future would not really help him grow as a character as both those choices still keep him under Marinette’s wing.

As this episode established, Adrien needs to figure and explore his passions for himself. Whilst Marinette will always be there for him, he needs to understand what he wants by his own volition.

(Having him make a breakthrough in discovering his interest for running without Marinette at the end of this episode was a great start!) Reason #2

I thought it was interesting how they started this sequence with Adrien looking up sadly at his big and lonely house before running away from it.

It takes me to what Sublime asks him later on.

This is what Adrien has wanted from Season 1: to run away and escape the four corners of his house to explore the outside world. It feels like a callback to Origins where I think of Adrien running away from house to start school. There’s also several times in the show where he runs away to escape the cold and lonely atmosphere his house brings.

The bars on the gate of the house in this scene also makes it look so much like a prison.

Of course, we now have Adrien standing on the outside of it rather than inside considering that the person who was keeping him in the house in the first place is dead.

It still doesn’t mean that Adrien thinks of the house as less of a prison. An association like that is hard to forget especially now that the house is where both his parents died.

But now, without Gabriel, we know he’s free to run from it for as long as he wants.

I also want to add that in Hinduism, running is considered as a physical response to escape distress.

Reason #3

Should someone’s passion really be built on running away from something else? Well no. But I don’t think we’re meant to see it that way. Adrien running at the end of this episode away from his house is meant to symbolise him finally breaking free from the Gabriel’s controlling influence. Him running away is mainly a step towards his growth.

Besides, running isn’t only seen as means to escape problems but it also signifies pursuit of a goal and taking on a spiritual journey for self-growth. (Dream analysis tends to associate both escapism and pursuit to running in dreams depending on the context and circumstance). This also fits Adrien’s character quite well. Not only is he escaping past trauma, but he’s taking on a new journey to explore what he wants in life.

So yeah, let the boy run!

I’m super excited to see where they take his characterisation with this one. The symbolism behind his potential passion/career choice is just gorgeous.

Edit: I’d just like to make it clear that I don’t see this scene as Adrien finding his passion for life. I more or less see it as Adrien taking a step forward to discover something he potentially is passionate about by himself without input from any of the people in his life (he also makes a new friend on his own and that makes me happy). Running is indeed a potential career choice for Adrien, and it could possibly be something he can see himself doing in the future, and we will definitely get more buildup to this passion of his in future episodes too! It’s not a definite career choice for Adrien though, because as Marinette said, he’s young and he has plenty of time to explore what he’s passionate about. This scene isn’t really about making a definite choice, but rather Adrien being allowed to explore something he feels is right by his own choice.

[little-one-eyed-monsters]

Top Form Ep. 6 (The Johnny) trended worldwide at no. 9.

I CALLED THAT. The minute last night's episode stopped I absolutely KNEW it would trend.

And what's amazing about it is that I 100% believe that all of those trends were organic. It's because they've been building that momentum since the first episode. Here's why I think so:

-The show has had very little promotion prior to its release (one photoshoot for the posters, no pilot--just a bunch of teasers lifted directly from the trailer, and a presscon attended by media reps and a handful of fans). Japan had better promotion for this show than Thailand itself, with merch bundles for the show and the original manga, and even inviting the stars to interact with the manga's fans. But that's the way it usually goes for many WeTV Originals because they're new to producing original content in Thailand. Since most of their material is outsourced and varied, they find no need to conquer the market and let other producers worry about it instead.

-WeTV gave it a midweek schedule. In Asia, a midweek schedule is reserved for the filler shows-- shows that the producer thinks may not do too well, or they think may be offensive to a general audience. Weekends are reserved for their heavy hitters and crowd pleasers. This is also the reason why many LGBTQ+ shows air on weekdays-- producers are usually gearing for the potential backlash. Granted, Top Form was placed in a primetime slot at 8 pm Thai time, so it does show that WeTV was banking on it doing well for weekday numbers at least.

-Both Smart and Boom have virtually no fandom to speak of prior to this release. Smart has had very few acting roles in his career, and his music is new too--having switched from agency to agency in the course of three years. Boom, the more seasoned of the two, was largely absent from the spotlighlight for the past 4-5 years. Chains of Heart, his main lead role in half a decade, was critically-panned and did not get the numbers the channel was hoping for (but it was good, I promise. The pacing was just completely off).

With a new show like this and having nothing to show for it, the producers must either be banking on the popularity of its source material, or the shock value that comes with having NCs and questionable storylines. That's why they were expecting the honey episode to trend (similar to how the first NC scene in Love in the Air catapulted the show from unknown to runaway hit).

But it didn't. It did for a bit, but not as high as ep 6. Instead, what saved this show is the talent of its leads, and the utter pleasure of having a show with great cinematography, fleshed out character arcs, and a steady pacing (did you know that this was the Director P'Boss' directorial debut? Hire this dude for more shows Thailand, dear God. Give him a Mandee Channel show, fix whatever the heck is going on over there).

This is why the trend is so satisfying. It's just the audience enjoying a show for what it is-- a well-executed piece of media. That's so rare these days. And with this buzz they can ride out the show's popularity until the last episode, which could guarantee us more SmartBoom in the future (thank God).

And Top Form, never be apologetic about your storyline. Fans will either leave, wait to binge, or stay for the long haul-- that's all par for the course in any show. Just stay true to how you think this should go, and I hope you stick the landing.

[poorsallystitches]

A newbie's guide to The Lost Tomb franchise/Dao Mu Bi Ji/The Graverobber's Chronicles

I have seen people all over the internet asking questions on posts about DMBJ such as, where to start, what it is, and who are those cutie pies? You may have seen images similar to this

I, as someone who has watched a lot of the franchise and read at least half of the books (which if you knew how many there were, that would be impressive), I want to take a moment, or many, to explain to anyone who wants the answer to these questions. This will take a while, I cannot shut up, especially about them.

Spoiler free!

Now, first things first, what is Lost Tomb/DMBJ/Graverobber's Chronicles?

Lost Tomb is a Chinese Franchise comprised of a multitude of dramas and movies over the course of a decade that were all made by different people and actors to tell the story written in the novel series, The Graverobber's Chronicles, or its original Chinese title Dao Mu Bi Ji, written by Nan Pai San Shu.

This means that popular characters people will refer to will have many different faces. Such as all of these being Wu Xie

You may recognize any of those actors if you watch popular Cdramas, 1st Zhu Yilong who plays Shen Wei in Guardian, 2nd Zeng Shunxi who plays Xiao Bao in Mysterious Lotus Casebook, and 3rd Hou Minghao who was recently in Fangs of Fortune as Zhu Yan.

But, what is it about?

Lost Tomb as a franchise is loosely about a man named Wu Xie who is the last in a family line of graverobbers, but he himself has been kept out of the loop by the family. He has had his grandfather's journal since he passed away, which makes him take an interest in the family business. This leads him to force his uncle to let him tag along with him on tomb raiding adventures.

I feel it is important to tell people what they may encounter just in case they have sensitivities, so this franchise as a whole contains supernatural themes of ghosts, zombies, gods, etc. There will be blood, BUGS, and some body horror in a lighter portion, if you have any questions about specifics feel free to ask.

Now, let's skip to who those cutie pies are before telling you about the options for where to start.

The characters you may have seen around that got you interested may be

Wu Xie, the main character who is played a little differently in every iteration of the story but mainly think of a man with a high level of intelligence, but the worst luck in the world and some bitchy attitude (said with love) and you'll have him. You saw some of the most popular actors to play him up top.

Zhang Qiling/Xiao Ge (young master)/Menyouping (Poker-face), one of the main characters who is the strong, emo, silent, tatted sweety of the story. He is mysterious on purpose; you're not meant to know much about him at any given time. Him and Wu Xie are very close and with the next character, they form what is widely known in book, show, and fandom as the Iron Triangle. Just meaning the three are a package deal and won't be separated.

Wang Pangzi, the chubby, stylish, tough, bitchier than Wu Xie, lovable bastard. His name actually translates to Fatty, so that is what you will see everyone call him. It's not mean, just accurate. Pretty much everyone has real names and nicknames they go by. Remember, they are doing something illegal.

It's less likely, but you may have seen my personal favorite boys Hei Xiazi or Hei Yanjing (black glasses or black blind, you'll see why) and Xie Yuchen or Xiao Hua (little flower). They are the black/pink dynamic of the century for me. Hei Xiazi is a merc for hire and Xiao Hua is Wu Xie's cousin who has become the patriarch of his family at a young age.

Now, last question that people ask the most, where do I start?

There is no right or wrong answer, you can start chronologically with Mystic Nine, release order with Lost Tomb 2015, a mixture of both, leave out the ones you aren't interested in (*cough* Time Raiders movie), or just jump in in the middle. Each adaptation is aware of the fact that people will not have seen the others, and they will try to speed run the story to you, which can confuse people, but if you just want to experience the story with familiar faces, it won't be too bad.

To share my experience. I started with the Lost Tomb 2015, continued with Lost Tomb 2 2019, skipped Explore with the Note 2021 because I didn't vibe with it, Ultimate Note, started the prequels with Mystic Nine, which is a prequel with our character's ancestors, watched The Hei Xiazi and Xie Yuchen movie, started Reunion, watched a prequel movie and just started reading the books. I was never super confused because I had the set-up of the first 2 to build upon.

If you are a completionist like me and want to read the novels go to Merebear's blog. She is phenomenal and she has translated pretty much everything for your reading pleasure and laid it all out in an easy-to-follow way. I cannot give her enough gratitude. I absolutely adore her and all of her efforts as well as all her helpers along the way.

Now just a little gay propaganda about Lost Tomb franchise. The novels and shows are not canonically gay, but I mean... they are giving something.

[olderthannetfic]

just had the classic moment of “picks up a new ship only to realize that they’re such a rare ship that not a single other person in the fandom ships them”

it’s not even that weird of a ship! all three characters are all adults and unrelated, and considering that one of the most popular ships in the fandom is selfcest between a character and themself from an alternate timeline, it’s not like there would be any antis screaming about this one being problematic or anything

sighs. opens up notes app. guess i gotta do everything myself

side note. if a rare ship with two characters is dubbed a rarepair, then what would the equivalent be for a polycule of 3 or more???

--

Still a rarepair. People frequently use 'pairing' for three or more.

[superbug06]

Here have some more sketches

[aroaceleovaldez]

the PJO -> Voltron -> My Hero Academia pipeline is so funny to me. like yeah we all know - you were into PJO, got into VLD in ~2016 when the entire pjo fandom moved over there, and in the last two seasons you jumped to BNHA, right? right. bonus points if you were in Homestuck too. we all know how it goes.

[asgardian--angels]

....idk in a fandom this gigantic how are people already coalescing onto a handful of popular headcanons and scenarios that just become the baseline now, when the source material gives us literally limitless possibilities to work with

[lunacornfan2k25]

“John Juniper is just plain evil guys!”

“I just don’t understand why Juniper is so popular!”

“People only like Juniper because he’s hot!”

[tvckerwash]

we got the york/north/wash trio, but we deserved the wash/ct/maine trio. no I will not elaborate

[thatlovelydove]

i feel like im being punished by the fandom God because every time a character my brain finds interesting they get made a cop pig in canon :\

like why? WHAT DID I TO YOU?! WHY MUST I BE PUNISHED LIKE THIS???

[mantisgodsdomain]

Playing 3DS games after having seen the overall fandom response to release and long-term impact and the way it's looked back on and such is... bizarre, honestly? Like, maybe it's just because we got our introduction to gaming in the 3DS era, but it's incredibly strange to know that games we knew and loved and would have considered relatively mainstream just... didn't stick in people's minds.

Like, take the Gen 6 Pokemon games. Those were great games! One of the single things about X/Y/OR/AS that we don't see people talking about but that stuck in our mind was how the developers made an effort to make it so that every single Pokemon in the games prior was spread between just those four games! We remember that just the sheer variety of potential Pokemon available was enough to get us a start into challenge runs simply by virtue of how much variety could be added to a playthrough by the sheer amount of potential on offer!

We remember spending hours just... hunting around the region to figure out where those last Pokemon we needed to fill the 'dex were, wandering around to try and find Hidden Ability pokemon from Horde battles, getting to actually interact with our Pokemon in Pokemon Amie.

Yeah, there were more obscure games out there, and yeah, they impacted us as well - Pocket Card Jockey stands out in this regard, as an extremely fun game that we're pretty sure was played by maybe three people, maximum, but it's not quite the same. These were games that we played ourself! These were games we saw other people playing, that we played with people over the internet, that felt like they were well-known! We were under the impression that these were mainstream interests, not Niche! it feels... singularly bizarre to realize that, for the majority of people out there, this game was a forgettable disappointment.

[snowstories]

The problem with BOTW is that it's obnoxiously popular in the LOZ fandom to the detriment of other games but also unfortunately it's genuinely really really fun to write fanfic for.

[sparrowsfallingfromthesky]

it is truly bewildering to me that there isn't more tedtrentrebecca fic out there

[iceskatingmobsters]

desperately trying to make progress on my big stupid wip but SOMEONE keeps fucking blushing when a certain someone is mentioned and this is supposed to be gen, dammit, behave

[jklpopcorn]

Haha nice

I may have jumped on the submas train so have some Uncle Ingo :>

[dotcie]

Writers Truth & Dare Ask Game

🎱 ⇢ post your AO3 total stats  🍓 ⇢ how did you get into writing fanfiction?  🌵 ⇢ share the link to a playlist you love 🕯️ ⇢ on a scale from 1 to 10, how much do you enjoy editing? why is that? 🛼 ⇢ describe your latest wip with five emojis 🥑 ⇢ you accidentally killed somebody, which mutual(s) do you text for help? 🥤 ⇢ recommend an author or fanfic you love 💌 ⇢ how many unread emails do you have right now?  🌻 ⇢ tag someone you appreciate but don't talk to on a regular basis 🐇 ⇢ do you prefer writing original characters, reader inserts, or a mix of both?  🧃 ⇢ share some personal lore you never posted about before 🎲 ⇢ what stops you from writing more in your free time?  🍄 ⇢ share a head canon for one of your favourite ships or pairings 🧸 ⇢ what's the fastest way to become your mutual? 🪐 ⇢ name three good things going on in your life right now 📚 ⇢ what's the last thing you wrote down in your notes app?  🍬 ⇢ post an unpopular opinion about a popular fandom character 🔪 ⇢ what's the weirdest topic you researched for a writing project? 🦷 ⇢ share some personal wisdom or a life hack you swear on ❄️ ⇢ what's your dream theme/plot for a fic, and who would write it best? 🌿 ⇢ give some advice on writer's block and low creativity 🥐 ⇢ name one internet reference that will always make you laugh  🏜️ ⇢ what's your favourite type of comment to receive on your work? 🍦 ⇢ name three good things about a character you hate 🥝 ⇢ do you lie a lot? what's the most recent lie you told? 🦋 ⇢ share something that has been on your heart and mind lately  🦴 ⇢ is there a piece of media that inspires your writing?  🍅 ⇢ give yourself some constructive criticism on your own writing 🐚 ⇢ do you like or dislike surprises? 🪲 ⇢ add 50 words to your current wip and share the paragraph here ☁️ ⇢ what made you choose your username? 🐝 ⇢ tag your biggest supporter(s) and say one nice thing about them 🌸 ⇢ do you have any pets? if you do, post some pictures of them 🎨 ⇢ link your favourite piece of fanart and explain why you like it 🧩 ⇢ what will make you click away from a fanfiction immediately?