#thinking of what could have been if not for the midseason

[valyrfia]

charles officially out of championship contention but that's okay we can now concentrate all our efforts on the real championship charge: 2025

[anthurak]

So I thought I’d throw together a bit of a timeline theory I’ve been thinking about since the last episode surrounding Fizzerolli, how he started working for Mammon, when and how he may have gotten together with Ozzie, who exactly kept him and Blitzo apart after the accident, and also an idea for some rather appropriate karmic irony.

See, we hear in Mammon’s Midseason Special that Fizz has won Mammon’s Clown Pageant the last ten years in a row. But nothing about that indicates that ten years ago was the first time Fizz won.

Instead, I think the actual first time Fizz won Mammon’s Clown Pageant was fifteen years ago. As in, shortly before the accident. For one this really adds some additional weight to the flashbacks we get in Oops. The big celebration we see wasn’t just for Fizz’s birthday, it was celebrating Fizz getting his big break. Winning this competition and getting the chance to work with Mammon, the Sin of Greed himself.

As well as adding even greater weight to Blitzo trying to give Fizz a love letter. Blitzo likely thought this would be the last chance he would get.

Additionally, this would also neatly explain Mammon’s involvement in Fizz’s recovery after the accident. It’s clear that Mammon bankrolled Fizzerolli’s recovery and cyberization, so that begs the question of what would prompt Mammon to invest so much time and effort into helping seemingly some random imp circus kid? Well, what if said kid not only just won his Clown Pageant, but did SO good that Mammon decided pretty much immediately that he wanted THIS kid as his new brand mascot? And then just a few weeks or even days later, that kid was horrifically maimed in a terrible accident at his home? Yeah, I think that gives Mammon ALL the reason to stick his neck out for Fizz. And if you’re going to ask ‘Why didn’t Mammon just drop Fizz after he was basically crippled?’ Because Mammon is the embodiment of GREED. He WANTED Fizzerolli and he was going to HAVE him.

Plus, I think we can assume that this is where Asmodeus entered the picture, with Mammon calling him in to do Fizzerolli’s cybernetics. In turn, I think it’s easy to guess that Ozzie being so closely involved in Fizz’s recovery is when the two started falling in love.

In short, Fizzerolli spends the next few years recovering before making his big debut as Mammon’s new hot brand mascot, winning his next Clown Pageant, and goes on to win every pageant for the next ten years up to present.

Now the other angle here is the big ‘Who conspired to keep Blitzo and Fizz apart after the accident?’ And I’m going to be honest; it is DEFINITELY Cash Buckzo. Like I know some people have theorized that it was Mammon, but frankly that theory just doesn’t make sense anymore. Mammon simply doesn’t have much motive or means to have done this, and if nothing else, he straight up doesn’t recognize Blitzo in the newest episode.

Cash on the other has both motive AND means in abundance. He was certainly one of the people most closely looking after Fizzerolli after the fire and he had every reason to want to cut Blitzo out of Fizzerolli’s life. Likely a combination of petty spite against his son for causing the accident which burned down their circus, likely injured dozens and even killed his wife, and also wanting to isolate and ‘protect’ Fizzerolli, his big cash cow. Especially now that he’d gotten the attention of Mammon, with Cash likely hoping to get/mooch as much as he could out of this new arrangement.

Now that last bit in particular get’s interesting because it’s clear that if Cash was hoping to continue profiting off Fizzerolli, it clearly didn’t work. What with how we have seen neither hide nor hair of Cash around Fizz, who in turn has not brought him up once.

So what happened?

Well, in a bit of delicious karmic irony, I think Cash was the one to cut Blitzo out of Fizz’s life, only to later get cut out of Fizz’s life himself by MAMMON.

[girlgenius1111]

Tease.

beach day smut with alexia :) 18+.

Ibiza was a favorite among female footballers, and you and your girlfriend were no exception. When Alexia surprised you with a trip there over the holiday break, you were surprised to say the least; Alexia was NOT a midseason vacation person- she preferred to stay home and train as much as her family would allow. These past few months, however, had been incredibly trying, and you knew she could tell that you were exhausted. Privately, you thought she was probably more drained than you, but as she was joining you on this vacation, you kept your goal to get her to relax to yourself.

You hoped this vacation would bring plenty of time to rest, but also plenty of time to engage in activities that had been severely neglected in the past few months. Between games, practices, injuries, and international breaks, you and Alexia hadn't really had the time for anything other than quick, desperate sex. Which did the job... until it didn't.

As the last few weeks of the year came to an end, you had to withhold yourself from tearing off your girlfriend's clothes at the sight of her. Alexia was strict about sex interfering with both of your game-readiness though, and suddenly you found yourself boarding the plane with her a few days after Christmas, having not touched her more than a kiss in 2 weeks.

Still, you managed to hold yourself together pretty well. You sat next to her on the plane, hand intertwined with hers, pretending you weren't thinking about the logistics of sex in the bathroom of the plane. It didn't seem very doable. Instead, you distracted yourself by thinking about the mysterious villa your girlfriend was taking you too. She hadn't shown you so much as a picture, insisting on it being a complete surprise. Your thoughts quickly turned dirty, though, and you tried to hide your blush as you wondered just how private the beach was.

-----

Very private, it turned out. The house was secluded, with it's own little strip of sand, carefully surrounded by palm trees and brush. You stood on the back deck, staring at the glittering sea, eyeing the seclusion, and wondered if Alexia had chosen this on purpose.

She had, frustratingly, not seemed as bothered by your lack of action as you were. So not outwardly frustrated that you began to worry, insecurities slowly pushing their way into your brain. You tried to ignore them, telling yourself that you didn't have anything to worry about unless Alexia continued to avoid sex here. Your thoughts were interrupted by 2 arms wrapping themselves around your abdomen, and a chin settling on your shoulder with a content sigh.

What you didn't know was that Alexia was playing a little game with you. She had noticed you getting eager a few weeks ago, and had wondered how good it would be if she made you wait for it, until you were begging for her. So, she avoided the few opportunities the two of you had, excited to take you to pieces in the beautiful house she'd chosen, [specifically for the secluded beach, it turned out].

Pressing a light kiss to your cheek, she asked, "You like it?"

"Si, you did a good job. I'd probably be happy in a shack, though, if you were there with me." You replied. The blonde didn't say anything in response, and you turned in her arms to look at her. Her face was a mixture of surprise and adoration, and she pulled you into her, pressing her lips to yours. You sighed into the kiss, wrapping your arms around your neck. She kissed you hungrily, and you were wondering if she would finally have her way with you, when she pulled back from you, smirking as you leaned forward, chasing your lips.

"We don't have any dinner plans, so we can go for a swim and relax on the beach for the rest of the day." You nodded, trying not to let your desperation for her show. She grabbed your hand, pulling you inside. You both changed into your swim suits, before she instructed you get drinks, while she got you both towels. You'd hardly had a chance to admire her in the little fabric covering her, but you went off to the kitchen anyway. Your task took longer than yours, and when you pulled the sliding door open, you could see the top of Alexia's head where she reclined in the sand.

As you got closer, though, you almost dropped both waters into the sand. Alexia had kept her swim suit top on for barely 2 minutes, apparently stripping it off the moment she got outside. She lay on a towel, head propped up on her arms behind her, chest on full display. It wasn't that you were surprised, you were very familiar with the beach customs of the spanish. It was that suddenly, she was sitting in front of you, nipples peaked, with only a small pair of black bottoms covering her. And you were already a mess.

As you resumed walking towards her, you felt how ridiculously wet you already were, from simply seeing your girlfriend topless. If you weren't so incredibly turned on, you would have probably felt a little pathetic. You took a seat next to her on the towel she'd laid out for you, and she turned her head to smile at you.

"Hola mi amor!!" She sang, voice filled with joy. She was more relaxed than you'd seen her in a while, and you couldn't help but matching her grin.

"Hi baby," you responded, laughing lightly. She took one of the waters from you, bringing it to her lips and taking a sip. The condensation from the bottle dripped onto her chest, and she shivered slightly at the cold sensation. You had to fight against your jaw dropping open. She caught you staring, though, and she looked at you, lips curling back into a smile.

"What? Is there something on me?" She teased.

"It's more what's not on you, love." You replied, trying to sound unaffected.

"Oh, I got hot. You're probably hot too, no?" She asked, not waiting for a response before she tugged on the strings on the back of your top, untying it in one smooth motion. It dropped from your chest, and you gasped, not really embarrassed , but more surprised.

"Alexia!" You scolded, grabbing the now untied top and tossing it at her face. She threw her head back and laughed, tossing the top behind her. She looked at you again, eyes drifting down to your chest. They lingered there, and you felt yourself blush. She was looking at you with a hunger you hadn't seen in her eyes in a while, and you shifted slightly, pressing your legs together minutely. She caught the action, though, bringing a hand over to your thigh, just resting it there, while she reclined onto her back, pulling her sunglasses over her eyes with her other hand.

You copied her, trying to ignore the way her hand felt on you. What were you, a 12 year old boy? The simple touch of your girlfriend's hand on your leg should not be driving you this insane. It wasn't just the her hand though. It was the way her chest rose with every breath, the way her abs protruded naturally as she lay, the way the sun hit her face, drawing your attention to her soft lips.

Alexia began to move her hand up and down your thigh lazily, drifting higher and higher. You'd had quite enough. You were sure she was teasing you now, and you didn't care if you were the first to make a move, as long as she touched you. Alexia was surprised at how quickly you cracked, letting out a huff of air as you launched yourself onto her lap, straddling her hips. Instead of kissing her, you pressed your forehead down against hers.

"You are driving me insane, and I know it's on purpose." You said, trying to sound angrier than you felt.

"I'm not sure what you're talking about, mi amor. I'm just relaxing." She replied innocently, making her eyes go wide as she looked up at you. You rolled your eyes, before leaning down and pressing a filthy kiss to Alexia's lips, shoving your tongue past her lips and into her mouth, running to along the roof of her mouth.

"Still just relaxing?" You asked breathlessly.

She seemed surprised at the display of domination; that was normally her thing. And her thing it would remain, as she finally, finally, put her hands on you, flipping the two of you over and taking control of the kiss. You groaned into her mouth as she pushed her hips down into yours. Pulling back slightly, she spoke into your mouth.

"I was just trying to enjoy the beach, but if you're so needy you can't wait..." She teased. She didn't expect you to respond the way you did.

"It's been weeks, Alexia, of course I can't wait." She really hadn't realized she'd had this much of an effect of you, as you squirmed underneath her, pressing your lips up in an effort to get her to kiss you again. She laughed, leaning just out of reach as her body held you in place. You tangled your hands in her loose blonde hair, whining softly, and she gave in, leaning back down. You made out for a few minutes, bodies moving against each other only making you more desperate.

Alexia was just reaching one of her hands down, teasing at the your bottoms, before you grabbed her wrist, stopping her. She looked down at you confused.

"Alexia, I love you, but if you get sand up my vagina I'll never forgive you." You stated. She grumbled but rolled off of you, helping you up before throwing you over her shoulder.

"Alexia!" You gasped, for the second time that day, but you were laughing, which really took the sting out of your scolding. She carried you inside, barely stopping to shut the door behind her, before she threw you on the bed. You landed with a bounce, huffing in annoyance as she stood beside the bed, a proud look on her face.

"Wipe that smirk off your face, and get over here. Now." You said. Laughing again, she walked closer to the bed, climbing back on top of you. Your lips met again, and the room was filled with small noises coming from each of you. This time, when Alexia reach down to your bottoms, slipping a hand in, you didn't stop her. She ran her fingers through you, shocked at how wet you were.

"Hmm, you really couldn't wait, could you cariño?" She asked, voice low and gravelly. You whimpered against her, pressing your hips up against her hand. "Don't worry, bebe, I'll take care of you," she said, before leaning back on her knees and tugging your bottoms off. She took in the sight of your dripping cunt, amazed at how ready for her you were already.

Deciding you'd waited long enough, she circled your clit a few times, before dragging her index finger down and slowly pressing it into you. You let out a keening whine, already almost begging for another finger. She began to drag it in and out of you at an achingly slow pace.

"Bonita you're so wet," Alexia said, her voice almost a groan. And you nodded your head, eyes closed.

"More, please, baby, more" You begged, not bothering to hide how badly you needed her.

"You want more needy girl?" Alexia asked, pushing in a second finger. She began to move faster, already feeling your walls clenching around her. Moans were spilling out of your mouth constantly now, and she knew you were already close. She leaned down to kiss you again, doing most of the work as you writhed underneath her. Bringing her other hand to rub at your clit, she increased the pace of her fingers, thoroughly enjoying the feeling being inside of you, the wet sounds her fingers made every time the pulled out and pushed in.

"I know you're close," Alexia whispered, "I want you to come on my fingers."

You threw your head back, crying out her name as you fell over the edge. Alexia continued moving her fingers, working you through it. She pulled out, not able to wait any longer. She climbed on top of you, settling over your face. She looked down at you, searching for confirmation that this was okay. You wrapped your arms around her thighs, pulling her core down onto your mouth. You buried your face in her pussy, running your tongue up and down, enjoying the taste.

She moaned above you, tangling one of her hands in your hair, and pushing you against her. You worked fast, taking her sensitive nub into your mouth and sucking lightly. You moved your tongue lower, until it was teasing her entrance.

"Fuck y/n, just like that," Alexia gasped, breathless. You pushed your tongue into her and she ground down onto your face, all restraint gone. Moved your tongue in and out, you moved one of your hands until you could rub harshly at her clit. She moved her hips in tandem with your fingers, chasing her high. It didn't take her long, something you were happy to notice, showing you that she'd been craving you just as much.

"Shit bebita, I'm coming" Alexia cried out, grinding down harder on your face. You flicked her clit harder, moving your tongue faster, and she came with a loud moan. She fell forward, resting her weight on her forearms, allowing you to breath. You continued to lick at her, though, cleaning up the mess she'd made. After another minute, she rolled off of you, and you sat up, crawling up the bed to lay next to her.

"Jesus." She said, taking in the sight of you; your face was covered in her, your pupils blown. You smiled at her, rolling onto her, and sighing contentedly as you snuggled closer to her. Her hands quickly moved down to palm at your ass, starting to kiss your neck lightly.

"Who's needy now?" You asked mockingly. Alexia bit your lower lip in response, soothing the mark with her tongue, as you groaned into her mouth.

"Still seems like it's you, mi amor," she said, and the rasp of her voice told you that she was nowhere near done with you.

-----

part 2?

[genericpuff]

I've been seeing you say/speculate Rachel Smythe has been cut loose from webtoon, could you elaborate what you mean by that?

It's only a tinfoil hat theory that people should take with MOUNTAINS of salt (seriously, I'm more likely to believe that Rachel really is just done with LO), but there's a general suspicion that LO wasn't meant to end here and that Webtoons decided to cut the cord. I've made a post about it before but some new stuff has surfaced since then.

1.) The announcement the series was ending was made quietly at NYCC and not shared to either Webtoons' socials or Rachel's socials.

The only way fans initially knew about the series ending was through a screencap from the Discord where someone else who had been attending NYCC passed on the info from a Q&A that LO would be entering its final arc.

For a good while the only other way to know the series was ending was through the Discord, a Cosmopolitan article, and my own post.

Though it sounds odd for a series to get cancelled halfway through its third season, it's not uncommon for Webtoons to suddenly axe series while they're on their midseason hiatuses, it's happened before. So there's a general suspicion that Rachel may have found out during NYCC that LO would only be given one more arc.

2.) The actual finale announcement was made in a text post on Instagram that suddenly announced it would be ending on May 11th, despite the fact that there was still lots to wrap up in the story.

What this implies is that Rachel was given one more arc, with no concrete end date... until Webtoons told her to wrap it up in a limited number of episodes, hence why despite us knowing it was in its final arc, the end date still felt too soon. This is also supported by the fact that her initial announcement was vaguely "early/mid 2024" - she couldn't give a more accurate end date because she didn't plan for the actual ending.

3.) Things that Rachel has said implies that she was either hoping for the final arc to go on longer, or that she didn't think LO was going to be ending now.

(that "nothing is set in stone" quote further supports the theory that she may have been hoping to get renewed in spite of the lukewarm ending announcement - that the only reason the announcement was so quiet was because WT hadn't fully committed to it yet and wanted to see how the series would do upon its return; now that they see it falling behind to other series, it might mean WT became more sure in their decision to cut it and gave her an actual deadline to wrap it up by.)

4.) Webtoons has stopped promoting Lore Olympus despite it ending.

Any promotional spots that it has gotten have been stuffed into the dead zone of the banner reels (seriously, anything past the 3rd spot is practically useless because it takes actual committed scrolling to get there vs. the first 1-3 banner spots which can be seen as soon as you open the app/site) and the banner art itself does not in any way advertise the series being in its final arc. These banners also only seem to be appearing for a day at most, compared to the days upwards of weeks they used to get.

Webtoons also hasn't been doing any sort of promoting on their socials for it. Considering The Mafia Nanny has been consistently beating out LO in the top rankings for weeks now, and that LO's rating and view count is still dropping, it appears that Webtoons has finally given up on shoving it down people's throats and put their focus elsewhere.

Again, this is all tinfoil hat speculation, so take it with massive doses of salt. Considering this is Webtoons, I wouldn't be surprised if they finally decided to put LO out of its misery, but this is also Rachel and I wouldn't blame her in the slightest if she finally wanted to be done with it after the past two years of people clowning on it. And I say that knowing I, myself, am a clown LOL

Either way, I feel like either outcome is plausible in its own ways, but whatever is the true reason, it doesn't change the fact that LO is ending and has 3 episodes left to wrap itself up. And whatever comes after will likely involve the launch of Inklore which was estimated for the spring.

[peppermintquartz]

some possible midseason bucktommy angst:

Tommy gets into an accident at work partially because he got a little cocky. He's okay, but Buck finds himself overwhelmed (he doesn't fall to pieces, not until Tommy's safe, and then he just crumples at home alone in the loft) by what could have been, and the fact that Buck would not have been anywhere close enough to try to save him, not like he was able to save Christopher and Eddie when they were in danger.

So he tells Tommy he wants to break up (so that neither of them will have to feel the worst kind of heartbreak).

It kinda blindsides Tommy, who naturally assumes the worst, and he tries to get Buck to tell him why but Buck just says "It's not you, it's me" and then he clams up and avoids him.

Over the next two, three episodes we hear voicemails that Buck doesn't delete but never replies to, sees some texts, and Tommy finally comes to the station but Buck hides from him until a job rolls in, and Buck quickly goes out to work, pretending he doesn't see Tommy's devastated expression.

Unfortunately in the meantime the people who can talk sense into Buck are occupied with their own shit - Hen and Karen with the councilwoman, Eddie with being on his own in his adult life for the first time in forever and discovering himself, Bobby not at the station and not really able to observe Buck, Chimney and Maddie having some trouble with their daughter maybe (not that I want harm to come to Jee-yun but she's so cute, so something will, if my writer's instincts are correct).

Then Tommy accidentally sees Buck and Eddie hugging and thinks that Buck got together with Eddie and gets super jealous. Tommy asks Eddie out for a spar but doesn't ask Eddie anything about the hug, he just keeps fighting and not pulling his punches or kicks, and finally when it gets too heated and they're pulled apart, Tommy spits out that he isn't ever giving up on getting Evan back. Then Eddie realizes what happened and he clarifies matters with Tommy.

Then Eddie is on Tommy's side to get Buck and Tommy to reconcile. Then Buck is hurt quite seriously because of poor leadership and Tommy almost assaults Gerard after he rescues Buck; he's stopped only because Chimney and Athena and Eddie hold him back.

He rushes to the hospital, but Buck doesn't want to see him. Tommy is beyond frustrated, because he doesn't know what he did wrong, and he wants to make it right, and he begs Maddie and Chimney to help. Maddie goes in and sits with her brother, who finally confesses that he's really afraid that if he'll loses Tommy while they're together, he won't be able to take it.

"I live with that thought every day," Maddie tells him, stern and wise and kind. "And I have two of you to worry about. Every time you and Chim are at work, my heart is with you. Should I leave Chimney then, because he might die on the job?"

"What? No, of course not!"

"Then why are you doing this to Tommy?" Maddie is very gentle and she kisses the top of her little brother's head. "I'm gonna let him in, and you're going to talk this out with him, ok?"

Tommy comes into the ward, Buck takes his hand, and they finally have some time alone.

"I thought you'd thrown me over for Eddie," Tommy admits. "I know you two are close."

"I was just afraid I'd lose you and not be able to save you," Buck says. "I didn't want you to feel how I felt that day. I thought I could protect you from that pain."

"We won't have to worry for a bit, seeing how you're in hospital and I, uh, I may be suspended for threatening to assault a captain."

"You did that? For me?"

Then it's them saying sorry for being stupid and then making up, and that's when Tommy says, "I love you, Evan Buckley, and nothing will keep me safer than knowing I have you to come home to."

So that's how they split and reconcile and how Tommy gets to say 'I love you' first

[bekolxeram]

What's really going on with 911twt, i usually keep up through tumblr, but haven't seen what actually happened, only comments from bts, but understandable if you don't really want to get into it, thanks anyway :)

I'm the last person you should ask. I don't do twitter, and by the time I woke up this morning the drama was well on the way.

But you know those journalists who get screeners in advance for review writing purposes? They have a habit of vague posting about the upcoming episode after watching the screener, but this time they seem eerily silent.

@houseofevanbuckley posted this screenshot of one of the usual suspects liking a tweet guessing the episode is probably awful. And that's it, I haven't seen her posting anything about the show since then, other than a vague tweet beefing with cheese blog.

Another journo posted this, then later clarified that it wasn't about the show, but about someone. It's just a hunch but I feel like this tweet is also about cheese blog. (Also could be about the Richard Siken incident, but I don't know if she's involved) Again, nothing more about the upcoming fall finale other than joking about ABC giving us nothing but stills from the very first scene of the episode.

The weirdest one is from him. He simply announced that he wouldn't be covering this episode at all, and instead opted to follow JLH's new movie. He usually has a lot of thoughts about the upcoming episode and would post his reactions generously, but this time, nothing at all.

This is weird, I've never seen any of them act like that. There's been rumor of screener receivers allegedly leaking major info to some group chats. I don't know if it's true, and I certainly don't know if that side of the fandom know something we don't about this midseason finale, but the general mood there is the most pessimistic I've ever seen. It ranges from "it's that bad huh?" to "we're so over".

The extremely limited amount of stills seems to indicate major plot twist(s) in the episode itself. Adding it to the fact that the usually chatty journalists have decided to beef with cheese blog instead of talking about the show, I think they've probably seen something they really didn't like.

[tangledbea]

I've been rewatching the series and had a thought... What if Cassandra had killed Eugene in Cassandra's Revenge? How would that have changed the outcome of the series? He would be brought back in the finale... somehow... but I'm just curious how things could have gone if Cassandra had gone too far and killed him?

Frankly, I think Rapunzel would have lost it. Like, Cassandra threatening him was the catalyst that made her give in and recite the next incantation. His life being in danger was what made her use the Reverse Incantation against Hector Tiri in the Great Tree. I think Cassandra outright killing him would have made Rapunzel not hold back in the slightest at the top of Cassandra's tower. Hell, she already looked like she wasn't putting any effort into using those powers.

Cassandra was putting out hella effort, trying to take her down.

All of Cassandra's body language was forceful and energetic while Rapunzel's movements were serene and simple, and Rapunzel was still more powerful. So, I think that if Cassandra had killed Eugene, it would have broken Rapunzel, and she actively would have tried to take Cassandra down. Not kill her -- at least, not on purpose -- but she would be a broken woman, mad with grief, not really making any effort to be gentle.

(Note that if she had killed Cassandra, she would have felt terrible about it.)

The long of the short of it is that I don't think Zhan Tiri would have had the chance to come back to full power, because Cassandra would be out of the picture, and Rapunzel would have made the effort to return the Sundrop and Moonstone to the heavens, as she initially intended to do in the Dark Kingdom right then, at the midseason episode.

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

“it could mean that they didn't think further than season five and we're about to get a lot of awkward writing.”

Genuinely, I’m pretty sure this exact problem is about to rear it’s ugly head into the plot so hard. Once it becomes obvious enough next season, I think this is about to become the biggest gripe people have with the show.

I don’t subscribe to the “Chloé was rewritten by TA out of spite” theories—however—it is almost **impossible** that season 5 didn’t, at the very least, have the bones of the plot laid out *when it was still intended as the final season,* and then those bones were **heavily** rearranged when contracts were signed for Miraculous Ladybug to continue production beyond that point.

This is quickly having a domino effect on the plot, where storylines are being re-sculpted left and right to somehow tie-up the arc of the previous 5 seasons, whilst still maintaining pre-reveal status quo for the seasons still to come. The most glaring problem with this is, of course, that they had to royally shoot Marinette in the foot to make that work.

I don’t want to put my tin-foil hat on too much, but Adrinette getting together sans reveal is just a symptom of the show continuing past it’s original intended “end of life”. We were likely supposed to get exactly what is holding Adrinette back from being interesting right now—the reveal—in the original midseason finale of season 5 instead of Kwami’s Choice.

What’s an even more cynical thought—if season 5 was the end of the show like intended at one point, there is ZERO chance that Marinette would have even NEEDED to lie to Adrien about his father. *THAT’S* what frustrates me most about the season 5 finale. Not that it’s shocking, not that it subverts expectations, that it’s so glaringly obvious the main character is making a decision simply because the plot for future seasons implodes on itself if she thinks logically for 1.2 seconds. It’s not interesting. It’s only there because they wrote themselves into a corner they never intended to be in 5 years ago.

And as the seasons tick on and on, the cycle is just going to continue to chase itself in circles under the guise of “drama” and “plot”, but in reality the episodic nature of the show means that none of the plot lines will ever conclude in a satisfying way

(Post that inspired this ask)

it is almost **impossible** that season 5 didn’t, at the very least, have the bones of the plot laid out *when it was still intended as the final season,* and then those bones were **heavily** rearranged when contracts were signed for Miraculous Ladybug to continue production beyond that point.

Now that is a theory I can get behind and will even admit to subscribing to. Season five absolutely feels like it was written to be the final season and we know that it was, originally, supposed to be the final season. It's not a conspiracy theory to say, "I think that they may have committed to elements of season five before they got a sixth season and that ended up making season five into a bit of a mess."

I'd be fascinated to know the behind-the-scenes timing of things and what was written before the season-six greenlight and what they were allowed to change after season six became a thing. Things like scripts, lore bibles, and plot lines get signed off on by a lot of people! It's entirely possible that the writers' hands were tied on certain elements of season five. If the leaked, season-five Bible is to be believed, it says that it was signed off by TF1 & Disney and has a date of 1/29/21, about three months before season six was officially announced, implying that major elements of season five may have been set in stone all the way back in early 2021:

[Image description: footer for the leaked Bible reading "Ladybug - Bible FINAL VERSION updated season 5 - approved by TF1 & Disney 1/29/21 - CONFIDENTIAL]

This may mean that the writers literally weren't allowed to make major changes to season five because they'd already gone through the approval process for the overall plot. It's also possible that they could have redone things, they just didn't have time based on production timelines or maybe they did have time and just couldn't think up a new version of season five in the time they had. There's no way to be sure with the limited information we have. Maybe season five is exactly what they wanted it to be!

It's hard to buy that, though, because a lot of the awkward writing makes so much more sense if there was supposed to be an identity reveal at the end of Kwami's Choice. Like why Adrien is worrying about how to tell Marinette that he's leaving, but he never once stops to think about Ladybug. If he knows they're the same person, that's suddenly perfectly understandable.

I also full agree that the lie at the end of season five feels like another stalling tactic and not a piece in a well-crafted narrative. It's really common for the writing to get stilted in TV shows and movie series that get renewed past their expiration dates because no plot can last forever. Even the best writers can't draw a concept out to the end of time and Miraculous doesn't seem have the best writers. Now that they've been greenlit for ten freaking seasons, I think we're in for a wild ride and I don't mean the fun kind. Serious identity shenanigans like the love square are not designed to last for 86+ hours. (The show has 26 20-minute episodes per season, so if you multiply that by 10, you get a little over 86 hours + specials and such.)

I just don't see how they're going to draw out the identity reveal for another five seasons without making the love square a toxic waste dump, but I also don't think that they're ever going to do an identity reveal in the mid game. They're saving that sucker for the end no matter how much it ruins the story. (Watch season six prove me wrong, lol. You never know.)

[a-mel0n]

Having “slept” (slept for 2 hour intervals the entire night because this episode made me feverish and gave me a constant urge to vomit) on it, I can firmly say that this is one of the stupidest fucking decisions 9-1-1 has ever made. This is on par with Hen spending a whole season studying to be a doctor only to drop it right at the finish line and The Lucy Kiss.

At the very least, you knew — you had a gut feeling — that they wouldn’t give up on Paramedic!Hen. You knew in your soul that Buck and Taylor were already doomed and the Lucy Kiss just broke the camel’s back.

But this?

Buck and Tommy were good. They were on track to say their “I love you”’s and have actually new storylines. During the breakup scene, at no point during or before the actual breakup did I think a breakup was even a possibility. While I was texting a friend during the episode, I said the following, which I think sums up most of our thoughts:

They had a whole new character set up, that had interesting dynamics with the existing cast and insecurities that could be proven wrong, especially by Buck. What was the point of bringing up Tommy’s “lack” of daddy issues? What was the point of the group chat scene and his yearning for a family if you’re not going to commit to it? Instead, they finally made Tommy a plot device, and they did it by putting out a scene that’s the equivalent of shooting someone with a sniper rifle from five miles away.

The worst part is: This breakup is fucking out of character. I’m aware that… certain people thought Tommy and Eddie were out of character last episode, but this is what an out of character interaction looks like.

Tommy, since being reintroduced, has been established as a fantastic communicator. The only reason he and Buck ever got together in the first place was because Tommy came to Buck’s loft to clear the air in 7x04. He makes it clear during the coffee date why he ended their first date. He’s the one who initiates the dinner conversation in 7x10 and gets Buck to open up about his fears of losing Bobby.

So. Why in the EVER LOVING FUCK was he silent about seeing their relationship as a short term one? Completely ignoring the Henren deleted scene where he says he’s going at Buck’s pace, that scene is now firmly non-canon, Season 7 Tommy would have NEVER led Buck on like that. Hell, 8x01 and 8x05 Tommy would have never led Buck on like that.

The Tommy shown in the final… what, seven minutes of 8x06? Wouldn’t have accepted Buck’s invitation to Madney’s wedding. His job was done! He got Buck to “discover his sexuality.”

This entire episode felt like a slap in the face to the people who are invested in this relationship, it feels like a slap in the face to Lou, who was excited about Tommy and this storyline, it feels like a slap in the face to the general audience, because there were no obvious indications that a breakup was ANYWHERE near Bucktommy’s future.

I very sincerely hope that this is either a temporary break up, or the reaction from the GA and fandom gives the team input that they massively fucked up here and they pivot the storyline over the course of the midseason break.

As for me? I don’t think I’ll be watching the series live anymore. I might catch up on the series once it goes on it’s midseason break, but right now? I just… I can’t. I can’t put any more energy into a show that clearly doesn’t care about progressing their character. (Seriously, what the fuck, Oliver?)

This week has been awful from start to finish.

[valyrfia]

your take on lando is so interesting and by far the most nuanced view of him I’ve seen. I think’s it clear that he needs help managing his emotions bc some of things he says and done are baffling and the latest thing of him liking criticism proves it. he doesn’t have that champion mentality (or just seem to be in a good headspace) and a lot of that can be traced backed to McLaren. He messes up his starts every time and that could be linked with a mental barrier but ig no at McLaren cares enough to look into that???Like that’s your driver and your wdc you’re washing down the drain.

but I can’t be too suprised, bc when ppl talk about lando mh McLaren covers their ears and say Lalala can’t hear you (unless yk it benefits them)

I think I retain an enormous amount of empathy for him because prior to this year he was one of my favourites. I think he started acting strange and immature and there was this initial huge backlash but this weekend has kind of made me see things more clearly, between his actions, his words to media, how McLaren handle him, and his driving. And he really is a victim of his environment.

He IS an incredibly good driver. Before you all boo me: sure he's nowhere near Max who's currently in another league, nor is he really near Charles who would be in this championship instead of Lando if not for Ferrari shitting the bed midseason. Lando is however, on par with George, and currently probably better than Carlos and Oscar. I would happily call him the third best driver on the grid at the moment. He however, does have a problem with starts, that's just a fact. As you said anon, it's more than just experience at this point there is obviously some sort of mental block there–he's clearly going into these starts expecting to lose places. But again, like you said, McLaren obviously don't care enough to look into that. Other things this weekend just made me notice: him snapping at a journalist is not and has never been normal behaviour for him, for example, begging McLaren for that switch in the sprint and immediately catastrophising that they won't do it (pressing the radio button immediately to panic and say "I thought we talked about this") is another example of just, slightly abnormal behaviour. That coupled with his internet lurking (he liked an edit of Max a week back, and is now obviously reading his comments) paints a picture I'm not sure I like. I'm never going to assume anything, but considering he's talked about struggling with mental health in the past, I can't help but be a little uneasy on his behalf.

All of the above becomes especially true if we consider McLaren and the case of Daniel Ricciardo. As much as they love to position themselves as the champions in the sport of mental health, the whole Daniel thing remains a worrying incident they've tried their best to sweep under the rug–he never recovered his mentality in that team and instead of working with him the team were perfectly happy to throw him to one side with little regard to prioritise Lando instead. I can't help but feel with a certain sinking that this is what they plan to do with Lando and Oscar, if Lando doesn't win the championship next year. The problem is, Lando is a lot younger than Daniel was, with a lot more career ahead of him and theoretically, a much higher ceiling to reach–yet McLaren seem perfectly happy to not put any development into Lando to help him reach that ceiling. Just like some drivers need developing in the wet, or the dry, or high downforce, or reaction times, some drivers need developing in their mentality. And it is McLaren's job to recognise this if the driver doesn't recognise it in themselves, and tell them what they need to go work on. This should have been something that was flagged as a development area for Lando way before this season, even as far back as 2021 it was apparent and yet McLaren have done nothing to help him and seem happier to just, leave him out to dry.

McLaren is the true evil here and for all their attempts to appeal to a younger demographic and impassioned defences of their morality and mental health being important–I think they've proven that they would rather take the easy road than the right one, even if the right one could yield more results. Oscar struggles with other things that Lando doesn't struggle with ie. tyre management, quali but I think they will repeat their pattern of rather than developing a driver they want to discard an extremely good one in the fruitless search of a generational talent. I hope I'm wrong, but I don't think its impossible that instead of taking responsibility for losing the WDC this year (because make no mistake, this is mostly their fault–from a strategy point of view to how they've managed their drivers to refusing to give Lando the support he needs until its too late) they will just try and shift the blame and indirectly pin the failure of this year on Lando in order to try and match public sentiment. Ultimately, Lando has been failed by his team and his environment more than anything and even though I'm happy this championship has (deservedly) gone to Max, I can't help but feel that Lando was not given a fighting chance by his team.

[anthurak]

Since Mammon’s Magnificent Musical Midseason Special released, I’ve been seeing a lot of people make a point about how Mammon is so different from Asmodeus and Beelzebub (namely that he’s a selfish, exploitative scumbag while the other two have been overall pretty nice) because ‘Greed’ is some inherently cruel/exploitative/evil quality and that there was no way Mammon could have been ‘good’, or at least ‘nice’ like Ozzie and Bee.

And I can’t help but feel that this take is missing what I think is a subtle but very KEY detail we’ve been seeing about the Sins.

Namely, that the Kings of Sin don’t seem to be bound or otherwise ‘compelled’ to any one specific way of expressing the ‘sin’ they embody.

We got hints of this with Beelzebub in her episode, with how she is both able to tell and is concerned when someone is indulging in gluttony in a harmful manner. But we’ve really seen this disconnect with Asmodeus.

Like it’s been a running gag at this point that Ozzie and Fizz are massive hypocrites for espousing some ‘lovey-dovey bullshit is for bitches and saps’ while actually being completely head-over-heels in love with each other. But let’s actually step back for a minute and consider what it MEANS that this ‘Embodiment of Lust’ CAN be a massive hypocrite about how he expresses his ‘Sin’ in the first place.

It’s clear from all their private scenes together that Ozzie does not struggle at all to express just how deeply he LOVES Fizz. He has no inherent lust-related ‘compulsion’ that he has to somehow ‘fight against’ to express his love for Fizz.

Instead the actual struggle that Ozzie and Fizz face is one of simple personal/social insecurity; feeling afraid to express their love openly around others. And with the whole ‘worst kept secret in Hell’ thing, it’s clear they weren’t even doing a good job at keeping it a secret.

In hindsight, I think we can guess that Asmodeus used to fully believe in what he was spouting in his debut episode, that lust should be all about pleasure with none of that lovey-dovey bullshit. BUT, then he met Fizzerolli and gradually fell more and more in love himself with the imp. To the point where he’s now had to reframe how he expresses his ‘Sin’, both in private and as of the latest episode publicly as well.

What this means is that there was NOTHING ever forcing Ozzie to express his ‘Sin’ in this specific way. Instead he simply chose to express his sin in this way, based on his personal beliefs about ‘Lust’. Beliefs that he’s clearly reevaluated since meeting and falling in love with Fizz.

And I think we can only assume that the same applies to the OTHER Sins as well. That the way they express their specific sin was never something they were ‘decreed’ or ‘compelled’ to do, but simply a CHOICE they made.

Which means that Mammon being some petty, skeevy, exploitative asshole ISN’T some grand ‘Embodiment of Greed’ thing, but rather simply a MAMMON thing. A choice he made likely based on simply his own personal hangups and insecurities.

I think the more we learn about the Sins, we’re going to learn that they are defined NOT by what ‘Sin’ they embody or any nebulous inherent ‘quality’ that their Sin might represent, but rather defined simply by their own personal experiences, struggles, triumphs and failures just like everyone else.

[genericpuff]

The Mishandling of LO’s S3 Mi(n)season Hiatus - Part 3 1/2

Here we go, Part 3 of my analysis of the current FP episodes - a three-parter episode set leading up to the midseason finale of LO.

Part 1

Part 2

Truth is, I had actually forgotten a lot of the weird (and very stupid) shit that happened in this episode, that I thought Episodes 251 and 252 had already offered up the worst that this three parter set could dish out. Boy, was I wrong, because when I went back to check out Episode 253, I was reminded of a reality that my brain had wiped out in an attempt to protect my withering psyche-

I also forgot just how long this episode is. It's so long that I frankly can't even fit it all into this post, so this is gonna be part 3 1/2.

Anyways, let's just get on with it. This is the final stop on our trip into absolute nonsense.

CAUTION: THIS IS PART 3 OF A 3 PART SERIES IN WHICH I WILL BE SPOILING MUCH OF EPISODES 251-253. THIS WILL BE A LONG POST. BRACE YOURSELF.

Well, it's the midseason finale, and what better way to open it up than with the final title card-

Typo and all. It wouldn't be an LO episode without one. Granted, IIRC this typo has been edited out, but the version of the screenshots I have from it feature it in all its original unedited glory. So enjoy that.

And yes, just like the last two times, the title itself only applies to the final cliffhanger, which is an absolute doozy especially for those who were there to experience it in real time.

This is already a bit of a wild opening compared to the last two episodes, but it's quickly revealed that this is laying the foundation for the prophecy that Psyche gave to Apollo back in Episode 252. In true LO fashion, the story can't actually be linear in any regard, we're always segmented from pieces of information at a time. Loyal fans will call this a "writing style", I call it Rachel just trying to get another 70 cents out of me.

That said, I will say the art here is fairly decent, but I think that just goes to show that LO's one of worst features these days - ironically enough - is its coloring. What began as its strongest feature has now become one of its biggest weaknesses due to the sheer laziness in its rendering and the colors become more and more saturated into the grotesque over time. So at this point, you pretty much have to rob these characters of their colors to make them look decent, and of course at that point it just further highlights Rachel's same-face problems. She definitely tried to make them look distinguishable here, at least, with Hestia and Poseidon being the most unique.

Now, this isn't the first time that we've heard of this herb being referenced - it was stated by Hades that Hera was the one to originally poison Kronos with the herb after gaining his trust - but to see it suddenly just pop up and play a role again out of nowhere already gives me a bad feeling in my stomach. It feels like yet another plot device - especially when presented in this type of format - that Rachel is suddenly using to try and seem "unique" in her writing, much like the strange narration we got back during the "Run For Your Life" sequence. It's just once again LO lacking any specific identity, it's always trying to be a million other things at once.

I will say, much of this in and of itself is panel filler. Why? Because the location of the herb doesn't matter. You'll see what I mean in a moment, but the mentioning of Anthedon plays no role here, it's just yet another obligatory "see, I know how to Google things!" lip service moment from Rachel "self-proclaimed folklorist" Smythe.

Anyways, Eros is perplexed by this but Psyche immediately catches on, knowing right away that Apollo is going for Zeus. And this is where we get yet another one of the dumbest sequences in this comic.

(see what I mean that the location of the herb doesn't matter? Because Apollo already got it and laced it into the cupcake).

Now, first of all, the fact that Eros and Psyche believe Kassandra's prophecy is already hilarious in and of itself, because ... well, because it literally defeats the point of her establishing it as a curse in the previous episode. Unless it only works on mortals? It never stated as such, so we literally just have to go with it and pretend not to notice that.

But most of all, of course LO had to play this off as some joke. Like, "hahaha how awkward! I've already eaten the cupcake!" and he still doesn't seem to really be in shock. Zeus has seen what this herb has done to gods before him, and yet his reaction to this is akin to a dad getting upset that he stepped LEGO's that he asked his kid 20 times to pick up off the floor. The whole "record scratch" style formatting of this followed by Zeus' lack of reaction just really makes me not care about any of this, because clearly the story doesn't care either.

But we don't see who he makes these calls to because the comic, of course, can't spend any longer than 10 panels on a single scene, so we cut to Hades and Persephone.

Again, I don't know what the point was of having Hera relay this information to Persephone for her to relay to Hades, aside from the fact that Rachel needed to act smart with Therapy Speak that didn't even apply to Hera's situation (as we talked about in the last part). They gotta make Persephone the center of everyone's world though, so it's Persephone who's delivering this info and trying to come up with the solution.

Hades, though, wants to focus on his wife's birthday the commemoration of spring.

SIR. THE WOMAN YOU WERE IN AN AFFAIR WITH SINCE BEFORE YOUR WIFE WAS BORN IS CURRENTLY GRAPPLING WITH YOUR FATHER WHO ABUSED HER AND IS NOW HAUNTING HER. THIS IS NOT THE TIME FOR FLUFFY ROMANCE TIME. THERE IS A CHILD BEING HELD CAPTIVE IN TARTARUS AND LITERALLY NO ONE SEEMS TO CARE.

Anyways, apparently (for some reason) Hades is the one who has to go meet Demeter out front. Even though Hades has literally NOTHING to do with this ceremony, it's not his domain, but Persephone literally says "yep, that's correct" when he asks if he needs to go out to meet Demeter.

This just feels like such a pointless conversation and I don't get what the point of this exact exchange is. Again, this isn't Hades' domain, so I don't see why he needs to be the one to go meet with Demeter.

But then, of course, to make matters worse, this man has the absolute audacity to pretend like he's never done anything wrong to Demeter. As if she should be obligated to be cool with sharing a bench with this man who literally terrorized her for years and then essentially groomed her daughter.

I hate him so fucking much and I can't believe we're supposed to be rooting for him. He has not undergone ANY of the character development necessary for me to want to care about him.

Anyways, Hades has a seat with Demeter, and the conversation is very brief before Hades says that he has a gift for her. And what is it, exactly?

Oh great, Hades. Sure wish you would have had this consideration hundreds of years ago. I fail to see what good this does for her now because it doesn't change the fact that he still cost her the role of Queen of the Mortal Realm and treated her like shit for hundreds of years. This comes across as such a shallow and empty "apology" because it's barely even a "gift", rather something she was OWED back then that he didn't want to hand over for his own selfish reasons. He still comes out the winner here because he's gotten to spend thousands of years being a rich slave-driving oligarch while Demeter has had to maintain the Mortal Realm on her own even without the glory of having a title.

I especially detest this "twist" because it's less of a twist and Rachel finally accepting the fact she couldn't come up with anything better than what her fans had to come up with for her. If this had been the fact the whole time, we would have seen it established back when we first got those flashbacks showing Hades being a total prick to her over the volcanoes. Instead, Rachel dragged it out for weeks and weeks until finally dumping this "twist" that her fans had been talking about all that time. This is yet another one of those "Rachel used her fanbase to come up with her ideas" moments. I know that that seems a little mean and presumptuous, but the fact of the matter is that the writing in this story is such an absolute mess that you just know Rachel's writing by the seat of her pants and has to rely on her audience's headcanons to actually fill in the gaps of her story. Most of the time when people commend her for the "great storytelling" in LO, what they're referring to are things they came up with entirely on their own because of how easy it is to just make assumptions about LO's storyline. Rachel benefits off the story being as vague as possible because then her fanbase will fill in the gaps with their own assumptions and give her all the credit for an idea they came up with.

By the way, to the "self-proclaimed folklorist" who wrote this, the volcanoes were really just entrances into the Underworld. Hades did not own them. They were owned by Hephaestus. And I would argue that the volcanoes were only seen as "entrances" into the Underworld because, fun fact - if you jump into a volcano, you die!

Hades frames his reasoning as feeling like Demeter was pushing him out of the Mortal Realm, but this makes no sense because none of that is on her. He claims that he felt like an "outsider" but the reality is that he made himself that way. He resigned himself to being King of the Underworld, he ate the pomegranate and made the deal with Erebus, and even he stated that he could still actually leave the Underworld, just not for long periods of time. So he was the only one keeping himself away from the Mortal Realm, not Demeter. We even see that in the VHS tape flashbacks where Hades stumbles onto Demeter's property and she lets him sleep it off in her home. So this whole sob story about how he felt "pushed out" by Demeter is such a bad take from someone who's routinely known to make himself out to be the victim. Because Hades can't have an actual reputation for a reason, no, this is a "retelling" told by someone who got all their Greek myth info off Tumblr circa 2016 and the front page of Google, so Hades has to be the misunderstood uwu sad underdog. Even though he routinely does things that reinforce the reputation he has within the comic, like being a slave driver, abusing lower class nymphs, and grooming teenagers.

Minthe showing up for a split second in the background is the best this comic has been since S2. We stan our girl Minthe, fucking run girl, do what Persephone couldn't do. She's the real hero of this story (｡･∀･)ﾉﾞ

And honestly, I'm sorry, but Demeter really SHOULDN'T be taking the high ground on this. She has more than enough reason to be upset. For a comic that tries to celebrate feminism and holding abusive men accountable, it sure is willing to make the women - often victims of the men - the real villains who have to "do better". Except for Persephone of course. Persephone is married into the system now, she doesn't have to "do better", she's a "boss babe" for being abusive and petty and undeserving of her status because she's the self-insert Y/N character.

So the ceremony for commencing Spring begins. I gotta say, for the final major scene of the mi(n)season finale, the art is severely underwhelming. You can really tell the difference between S3 and S1 art here, there's barely anything extra done to make this scene even half as impactful as the most basic of scenes from S1.

Like, it's fine, but it still feels so half-baked and rushed to attempt to replicate the kind of art that's been gone from the series for years now. The full sequence itself is actually quite lengthy, with a lot of nymph hands just moving around and playing instruments, but it's about as bland as any other panel, so it makes the sequence itself feel dragged out and boring.

This is about as pretty as the sequence gets and it's still not even as good as the original Dread Queen transformation. There's barely any rendering in the skin, and they couldn't even be bothered to make the hands look normal. It's like it's trying so hard to be "original LO" but is fundamentally missing the point of what made the original LO so captivating.

But oh noooo, looks like Persephone did a bad!

Are they actually gonna give her some kind of flaw? Are we gonna FINALLY gonna find out what she traded to Erebus?

No. We're just gonna make her the cause of winter.

Spaghettios.

And that's where I'm leaving this review for now because, as mentioned in the beginning, this episode is a LOT longer than I remember it being. There's still a whole ass segment with Apollo that we need to cover and I don't want to leave it out but I also don't want to do it entirely in text format and I've hit that pesky image limit. So I'll be posting that second part as soon as I can!

That said, I really can't stand this "subversion" by making Persephone the reason for winter.

First of all, because this is a common problem in a lot of H x P "retellings", as many of them fundamentally miss the point of why Persephone is the "Goddess of Spring".

Persephone was not born the "Goddess of Spring". She was born Kore (Κόρη), a maiden born from Demeter. It wasn't until after she was taken by Hades that Demeter, in her grief, took away the harvest and created winter. It was the return of Persephone every six months that brought about the spring, hence, she earned the name, "Goddess of Spring". What these retellings COMPLETELY MISUNDERSTAND is that the gods aren't 'born' with their titles, they're granted these titles by the mortals who comprehend them and write of them as harbingers of their respective elements, stories, and messages. Zeus wasn't "born" the God of the Sky and Heavens, he was granted that title after he overthrew Kronos and took the Heavens for himself. Hades wasn't "born" the God of the Underworld and the Dead, he was granted that title after he became the ruler of the domain of death.

Where these retellings really fuck up is constantly trying to "subvert" the H x P myth in an attempt to romanticize it, thus undoing the point of why Persephone is called "The Goddess of Spring". A Touch of Darkness also made this mistake by putting a "twist" on Persephone's character by having her start out as someone who couldn't make things grow. But if she sucks at making things grow, then why is she still referred to as The Goddess of Spring? In LO, Hades is referred to as "Grandpa Winter" and the seasons already seem to exist as we saw in this episode through the ceremony, so why has she been called "The Goddess of Spring" this whole time?

But I also can't stand this "subversion" because it fundamentally misunderstands the very myth it's trying to "retell". By giving Persephone the "curse" of creating winter, it further robs Demeter of her own agency in this story, more than it already has. It wasn't enough to make Demeter a helicopter mom, it wasn't enough to drive an actual rift between her and her daughter, they had to take away Demeter's entire role in the story and the creation of the seasons and give it to Persephone.

And this is, surprisingly enough, NOT the first time the comic has done this. There are many traits associated with different gods that have been given to Persephone and Hades. The volcanoes belong to Hades rather than Hephaestus, Persephone is "more beautiful than Aphrodite", Thanatos' and Psyche's butterfly symbolism is given to both Hades and Persephone, Aphrodite's symbolism of roses is given to Persephone, the list goes on. Every single plotline has to involve Persephone as the hero, and every single attribute that's commonly associated with other gods has to be granted to H x P in some way to make them better and more interesting than every other cast member in the comic, and yet they still come across as vapid and boring protagonists with nothing to show for themselves.

So to give the ONE thing from the source material that made LO what it is, it comes across as so unbearably cruel.

But then again, we should have seen this coming. After all, Rachel does not cite this as a retelling of The Hymn to Demeter. She simply refers to it as its more unofficial name: The Taking of Persephone.

Look, I get it, the story is meant to be told from Persephone's POV (or at least through the lens of her being the main character) so I can understand why Rachel may have chosen to reword this to make it more clear. But it's really depressing that she went to such an extent with making it about Persephone that she had to rob one of the most integral character of her moment and retribution. Especially when one of the only books in her cited "research" that's primarily about Persephone is, shocked, The Hymn to Demeter, which is listed at the very bottom of every "research" list you can find in LO's history.

LO should have just stayed as self-indulgent fluff. This isn't "subversion", this isn't a "twist", it's just yet another item on the list of making Persephone the most Important One of all. Even when it attempts to be a 'flaw', it fails tremendously by acting as yet another aspect of her being a Mary Sue, because her 'flaw' has come at the cost of another character's story, identity, and strengths. What was originally a tale of grief, retribution, and standing up against a patriarchal system, has now been warped into a consequence of a muddied plot that doesn't have anywhere left to go. For a story that claims to be "feminist", it has ironically missed the original point of its source material entirely, and completely robbed itself of the feminine strength it could have had if it hadn't tried to be "subversive".

I don't really have anything much more to say than that. I could leave it here for good, but we do still have that extra segment to talk about that covers the actual final cliffhanger in this episode, so... we'll see you on the other side.

[buckleybltch]

Do you think we’ll get some kind of hint about the chance of Tommy being back or is too soon? What is your speculation for Buck this week?

i honestly genuinely don’t know, but I have two trains of thought:

1. IF (very, very big if) Tim has had it planned from the beginning for BuckTommy to be following the romcom route and there is a planned reconciliation, then it could go either way next ep. Considering we haven’t even heard about Christopher and that’s meant to be a big plot line, I’m not expecting the show to be showing us more BuckTommy so soon, even if it’s a simple mention of Tommy in some obscure context. I simply don’t think the episodes are long enough for that. In an ideal world, sure, Buck might make another mention of Tommy just to keep the plot going and in viewers minds, but I think it’s unlikely. Should there be a planned reconciliation, I don’t think it will come till 8x10 at the earliest because the midseason finale and the spring premier should (in theory) be a two parter focused on an emergency with (most likely) no space for large character storylines outside the main plot.

2. I don’t really think Tim has it all planned out that far. They’ve wrapped filming on 8x09 but for all we know, not much beyond that has been written or even conceptualised. Tim has always been the “see where it goes” person, I think he likes to go with the flow rather than follow a strict plot he’s set himself, he likes to see where the story takes him, so part of me believes he hasn’t thought far enough in advance to know what’s going to happen. So, again, it could go either way.

For the most part, I don’t see any large BuckTommy mentions possibly coming till 8x10 or after, with the exception of Buck possibly mentioning Tommy in passing in 8x08 or 8x09, but this depends on if their relationship has been planned out beyond the breakup. I have plenty of thoughts already about Tommy’s text bubble being included in 8x07 and what it means, but if there is no future for their relationship, then there’s no reason to have a Tommy mention in the next two episodes. That being said, it doesn’t mean there’s no future if he isn’t mentioned, it just depends on what’s planned for them. Even if he doesn’t get mentioned, the door is still open for him to come back.

IF (another very big if) there is a Tommy mention in either 8x08 or 8x09 then I think that’s a good sign- usually we only get one mention of Buck’s exes in the episodes following a breakup, and that’s to tell Eddie that they broke up (or some variation- see 7x01 and 6x01 with Natalia and Taylor). Usually the exes are done and gone (with the exception of Abby, but she was also a main. so). However, it’s not a bad sign if we don’t. Not every episode is about Buck and what he’s going through; Denny got hit by a car in 8x06 and we didn’t hear anything about it in 8x07- many plots just go into the background.

I genuinely think Tim only has vague ideas of what he wants to happen and then he just sees where the story goes and where it takes him. We’ve already had two BuckTommy heavy episodes (8x05 and 8x06) so I dont see another one coming for a while either way. There’s other storylines that need wrapping up. Eddie needs to resolve the Christopher situation, Bobby and Athena need to build their house… These have been going on since season seven and have yet to be resolved, and I’m honestly disappointed that the Christopher plot has been on the back burner for so long.

If Tommy does come back, it’s going to take longer than we’d like because of all the other plots the show has to work through. A lot of plots go on the back burner with the intent to continue them, but other things take priority, so they drag on, leaving the viewers a bit like “???” (much like the Christopher plot line- wdym he’s been in Texas for six months and counting). I think and hope it’s a very real possibility that Tommy will return, but I also think we overestimate how much thought goes into the plot lines. It would be perfect if we were right and this is a long romcom plot and we’re just in the third act breakup, but I don’t know if I believe that’s how it’s being written. Might be a fluke, might be intentional.

The episodes are only so long and there’s so many characters and plots to work through. Buck’s had his spotlight episodes, now it’s time to move on to the other characters. They can only include so much in each episode, and we know that scenes get cut, so it won’t shock me if there’s no mention of Tommy for this reason. At the same time, I honestly don’t know if it’s been planned out this far and this show isn’t the best at foreshadowing, so even if a reconciliation is planned I don’t know if we’ll see much of it. The upcoming episodes aren’t about Buck so I’m not expecting his plot to continue in the spotlight right now. Truthfully, I’m not expecting Buck to get much screen time at all in the next eps if the pattern continues- the focus will be on someone else.

In summary, I will be very shocked if we do see Tommy in the next two eps. I think it’s 50/50 on if Buck mentions Tommy. If there’s a reconciliation, I don’t know if it’s already been planned or if Tim is still seeing where the story takes him, and I don’t think it’ll be till later in 8b if it happens.

Of course, I could be horrifically wrong and we’ve all been conned, and they’ve already planned, written, or filmed a reconciliation, but I think it’s highly unlikely. I don’t think the plot is going to continue till mid 8b, if it continues at all. I’m keeping a very open mind about all of this.

We can all hope for things to happen, such as Tommy returning and BuckTommy reconciling, but what we can’t do is expect them. I would love it if they get back together, even if it takes till mid 8b, but I do not expect it to happen. The show will take the course it wants to take and we might be let down- that’s the risk in watching TV instead of creating your own content. As long as Buck is alive, whatever plots his character goes through, I will be happy. I would be happier if Buck and Tommy were together, but for me? I win either way. I just want the characters to be happy and live.

Hopefully this is all coherent and makes sense :)

[buckevantommy]

what do you think is a sport that buck and tommy could discover/fall in love with together? i love the idea of tommy sharing the things he loves with buck, and i hope that buck will also share what he loves with tommy. but the idea of them trying out things that they have both never done before together? chef's kiss

ooo.. i think buck would be chock-full of baseball facts because it's been around forever so there's a lot of history in it. maybe he wasn't into it as a sport at first but then he goes on a research binge because of a museum trip with chris or a documentary he watched with tommy or a call they got at a field, so tommy takes him to a real game.

and tommy appreciates the skill of athletes in most sports but he's also quite physical himself: he plays basketball regularly, does muay thai in his garage and with folks at the gym, he prefers running outdoors to running on a treadmill.

buck has no intention of rejoining the first responder basketball game but sometimes he'll drive tommy or pick him up and cheer from the sidelines. tommy tries teaching buck muay thai but they always end up in a compromising position. they both spend a lot of time working out but it's mostly on-shift; sometimes they'll hit the gym together or do a session in tommy's garage. abseiling is a cakewalk for buck but rockclimbing is new and exciting so they go with some of tommy's friends/coworkers/folks whose lives he saved. tommy does yoga for meditation and buck used to do it for flexibility (and sex) so they go to a couple classes but with their schedules it's tough to keep a regular thing.

they go on runs together, and hike for fitness and fun. they go bowling. their flying lessons become a thing. and they love adventure dates.

anyway: the baseball game is just a midseason nothing special game and tommy spends most of it absolutely smitten with how excited buck is to be there and all his commentary and factoids.

(and when the jumbotron lands on them - because buck is wearing a cap and comically oversized foam finger or something - he lights up grinning and waving and tommy is just grinning at him like he's the fucking sun itself, and buck turns to him and looks at his lips and tommy leans forward and buck meets him and they kiss in front of a stadium full of people)

[lenaboskow]

So, while all this shitstorm is raging (and it's really disgusting to witness) it also seems quite convenient for the show to keep silent... Like, do we actually know anything at all about 8x07 and 8x08 (except the promo clip and summary)? We were all anticipating 8x06 and, I think, only knew about Bcktmmy relationship struggles (or had we also known about the Madney plot?), but now when it's passed? Do we have any information (okay, Oliver said about Buck and Jee baking together, but it's a very small piece of data lol), any insight, anything about what's to come???

(If we do, I'm sorry for being inattentive lmao)

we knew about madney to an extent in that we knew they were having the "do we have another kid" convo, but only because they told us at the beginning of the season and everyone kind of brushed it off. but they have been very silent, and as far as character arcs? we know nothing about bathena (we know something about a rookie for athena making her question herself, but that's it), nothing about henren, the pregnancy thing for madney, and the only thing we know about buddie is that buck just broke up with his boyfriend and will bake with jee at some point, and eddie is discovering himself, and will react to the breakup in an unusual way.

as for unofficial stuff (stuff the cast (read: oliver mostly) has posted on insta), we do know that there's a car crash call at some point, presumably before the midseason break. we also know that brad rides in the firetruck for some reason. i don't think the priest is returning, but kenny did reply to a post with him on the official account saying "welcome back" so there's that.

a lot of the ryliver articles contradicted themselves about where buddie is at/is doing in the next few eps, so i'm not even going to try to decipher them

a lot of the silence is due to the bts freeze they put on around the time they started wrapping 804 (?), which could mean nothing but it could mean everything.

sorry if this made no sense, i haven't had coffee today lol

[crismakesstuff]

im so excited for invincible s2b now that it has an official release date… and that release date is march 14th

Let me talk about why that has me worried for the future of the show

‼️also no hate to any other shows mentioned‼️

I want to start with these two images :

invincible compared to the boys and now hazbin hotel has BARELY gotten any offical advertising on this level. The boys also got ads in times square for the promotion of s3 and the spin-off gen v im pretty sure but I could be wrong.

Don’t get me wrong I am rly happy to see an animated show get promotion at that level and I think more streaming services should do the same but why is it that invincible, a show on its SECOND SEASON gets nothing? The official invincible accounts have to do most of the heavy lifting themselves with generating hype on their twt,insta and tiktok. People complain that the accounts often make “an announcement for the announcement” but they have too! They literally have no other option! It sucks to see invincible show signs of a show thats clearly being tampered with by executive fuckery that has led so many other animated shows to an early grave.

Also I NEED people to realize that invincible’s release schedule NOT THE FAULT OF THE CREW

I see people regularly being rude and borderline aggressive to crew members online (which ive seen happen in other fandoms too) but the amount of people that were bitching and whining about the hiatus saying things like “this is why we shouldn’t let animators have good working conditions” and people agreeing with those takes were INSANE. The crew have no control over when the show drops or not, that is a decision left up to executives.

Now why could this delay be happening ?

a little bit ago amazon made this announcement to its customers:

this very well lines up with what many people began to speculate online as to why invincible had such a weird release schedule for season 2. They release the first half and get people hooked on the first 4 episodes ending on a massive cliffhanger and then release the second half after ads are introduced in hopes of making more money bc ppl don’t want ads in the middle of their shows.

Even then many people (myself included) think that it would’ve ultimately been better for the sake of the shows own hype to just wait to release them in March back to back all 8 episodes. Because the midseason break just kneecapped the hype the show had built up so hard and now many people are reasonably frustrated.

Because there was no clarity on when the show would be back. Most people assumed it would be a month long break for the holidays which shows have done for a long time. And then fake leaks came out that the show would come back in early January, and then the invincible accounts were virtually silent, and people were saying the break was intentional for fans to (recover) for ep 4. It was all over the place

What should fans do going forward?

Best thing you can do is stream the show legally if you can! TALK about invincible, don’t let the hype die out. Get this shit on trending ! Boost any official posts online showing that there is still a demand for this show! If you can, buy merch! Read the comics legally ! LET AMAZON KNOW WE STILL CARE ABOUT THIS SHOW!

again no hate to the other shows here bc ive watched all of them! I just want invincible to get some of that love too because this show is so amazing and you can tell how much love the crew has put into it <3