#this is all lighthearted by the way just my interpretation of the dialogue

[kind-of-a-shitty-wizard]

hiii i got a little insane over haskills characterization in the other elder scrolls games / material. teehee rambling abt these ^ quotes under the cut (long). also im not that serious abt any of this tbh im just glad haskill appeared in any other elder scrolls material at all LOL

OKAY. okay. about these quotes. idk why other TES media does this, but in these quotes from elder scrolls legends + the interview with haskill it seems like the writers are pushing to give the impression that haskill slightly resents or is even indifferent to his position / the isles / sheogorath ?? (unless haskill is being a little bit more flippant or hyperbolic than usual...?) which is characterization that is NOT what i got from playing oblivion at all skdskdjfn

like... when i played oblivion i thought it was very clear that haskill prefers to be in the isles, serving sheogorath, more than anywhere else. (<- i think this is actually the reason he's technically "mad" even tho he seems sane outwardly. if you enjoy being among madmen it probably means you're mad yourself ykwim). i think haskill does like the isles, his ass is just reserved abt it, like he is about everything... yknow just like jeeves, whose character he's been compared to lmao:)

i think unfortunately some writers take his annoyance with the player and his slight second thoughts about sheogorath's plan in oblivion, and mistakenly assume that he's just annoyed at his whole position. haskill does have his moments of exasperation, but the thing is it's usually only exasperation and it never verges into anger or bitterness or resentment like the top quotes seem to indicate. for example, haskill says this abt his idea of you mantling sheo / the clowns debacle:

^ This quote is a good reference point for haskill's view on sheo bc its pretty much the most critical-of-sheogorath quote from oblivion i can recall, and it tells us a lot of things. in this quote he expresses some exasperation about the clown idea (because he's a prissy bitch who doesn't want to get his outfit dirty /affectionate) and shows some apprehension about one of his lord's ideas (because it involves you, and haskill doesnt like you). but these 2 points he has beef with aren't really reflective of sheo himself but of other issues - ie he doesn't directly question sheogorath. and IN THE END Haskill defers to sheo's judgement because haskill trusts him and values sheo's ideas. in all of his oblivion dialogue, this is the most critical toward sheogorath he gets, and he never outright insults or shows resentment toward him or the isles like in the above quotes bc his loyalty to sheogorath eclipses it

on the contrary (and i dont know why the writers for non-oblivion elder scrolls content dont seem to see this??), theres so much evidence that haskill actually does, you know,,, enjoy being in the isles. here are just some snippets i can think of:

"the isles are hardly a place for anyone, really" <- i BEG to differ, Haskill likes it here, he likes listening to prisoners being tortured in xedillian, he likes wearing his ridiculous frilly high collar outfit emblematic of the fashions of the isles, he doesn't care about morality and it suits him just fine that it doesn't matter here!! (the end quote might be him being a little facetious about relmyna but to be honest i wouldn't be surprised if he thought decency and morality WERE provincial notions because he certainly has no problem killing people lmao). and again, to enjoy doing these things / being around madmen probably says something abt haskill being mad himself. lol

not to mention he likes a bit of joking around. which i imagine sheo does a whole lot. when YOU rib him a little he says this:

his derision in the first bit i think indicates, "i cant believe you would joke around at a time like this," and the upturning of the "very good" i think indicates, "it was a good joke / maybe they could mantle sheo after all". he's not all dour - he appreciates a good joke, especially from (someone who's about to become) his Lord!!

and going a little deeper into haskill actually liking the isles... haskill clearly holds what sheogorath and the isles represent (chaos, free will, individuality) very highly. a good example of this is when you ask him about dyus, and he gives this snarky reply:

^ he says this with such VITRIOL its so funny :p and the amount of disdain in this line indicates (to me) a real conviction in his belief in the free will, chaos etc that sheogorath represents.

this is why i dont think this quote makes sense. "i cant remember why i put up with [sheogorath]" <- haskill wouldnt say this bc he understands fully why he puts up w sheogorath, and his own convictions in sheo that lead him to keep doing it, and even if this quote is him being hyperbolic, i dont think he'd joke about his faith in sheogorath like that because, yk, one of his characteristics is that he's extremely loyal, and moreover he never said anything to this effect in oblivion sdkjskdjs

him having a strong belief in what sheogorath / the isles represent is also evidenced by the language haskill uses when talking about sheo. whenever haskill mentions him, there is an element of poetry and respect to his words that shows that haskill thinks about him highly at the very least:

^ haskill constantly stresses sheogorath's intrinsic unknowableness and power and unique wisdom in a way that feels very respectful. saying "to attempt to fathom [sheogorath's will] is a foolish endeavor" shows that he knows there are unexplainable aspects to sheogorath that he takes note of, respects, and knowingly keeps his distance from... he gets sheogorath and reveres him (at least more than most others or the HoK). in these quotes especially, it feels a bit like hes trying to illustrate how impressive sheogorath is to the HoK, hyping up his boyfriend if you would. who said that. and combined with this respect is (i believe!!!!) a deep care. he is invested in the isles and sheo and wants to help them out of more than just duty. he gets fearful and even loses his composure at some points in the story when sheo/the isles are threatened which i think indicates that he deeply cares for them both!!:

i think this is a care that, combined with the respect he has for sheo, makes it really unlikely for him to get more than exasperated with his behavior and verge into resentfulness. i dont think anyone truly understands sheogorath, not even haskill, but haskill respects sheo as a god, and also gets him in a more familiar/personal way i think - like the way that a cat owner loves their cat but gets exasperated with it when it gets its head stuck in a tissue box. he doesn't angry or anything because he understands that it's the cat's nature to get stuck in the tissue box / sheo's nature to be wild and unpredictable and messy. (the difference being that sheogorath is an all-powerful god cat..... do u see my vision???)

anyway this got crazy long JHDSHFSD... to finish i wanted to look at this extra bit of characterization i found that was wild to me:

^ like. i truly dont get where they got THIS characterization LMAO sheo constantly calls haskill faithful and smart and knowledgeable in oblivion, he practically begs you to summon haskill for help, hyping up his boyfriend so to speak, they care for each other your honor so of COURSE sheo trusts haskill to do his job. what are the legends writers doing in there!!

ANYWAY dear god this got long im going to bed <3

[laswells-ashtray]

It's me yet again. I need me some slightly tipsy Kate and John in a lighthearted sparring match while her wife and Nik stand off to the side and gossip about their respective partners. (Again, take your time. Don't burn yourself out )

Now, because I can't describe movement for shit. I'm an internal dialogue like the Green Goblin voice or a banter typa muppet this interaction will mostly be between Nik and Laswell's wife. and I'm using my interpretation of her whom I have called Sarah if only because typing out Laswell's wife so many times makes the words stop looking real

"I cannot see this going well in the long run." Sarah Laswell, very proud wife of a certain Kate Laswell. It's not often she sees Kate get tipsy in front of anyone who isn't her, she'll indulge in a drink or two but never to the extent of this. However, it'd be dumb to assume that combining Kate, John and alcohol that Nikolai, bless that man, was paying for would lead them anywhere else.

"And yet you make no move to stop it." Nikolai doesn't bother pretending that he isn't amused, it's deeply humorous to watch two of the most fierce people he knows spar each other.

"Neither do you, don't think I can't see you staring at his ass."

"You haven't stopped looking at your wife's chest since she took off her jacket."

Okay, they're both deviants.

John is in what are probably his nicest jeans, not very suitable to a lot of movement given that they must've been painted onto his arse.

Kate is wearing a dark blue tank top that Sarah bought her absentmindedly last week and for the briefest moment, she considers just dragging Kate to the nearest closet and hoping it's soundproof.

The two move in such fluid ways that it's clear they've sparred together before. Even with a few drinks in both of them, it's the most gracious violence she's ever seen.

When John narrowly avoids Kate's elbow to the face Nikolai does little more than chuckle, he clearly isn't worried about his partner and he enjoys the smug grin on the other man's face.

"Tempted to video this." Sarah mutters, watching them both in awe. Even if her main reason for watching was to shamelessly admire her wife in all her glory, she can't deny how impressive Kate is. She throws a hit with enough force that Sarah almost pities John and she takes an equal hit with such little care. God, if there was to be a walking advertisement for lesbianism it would be Kate Laswell.

"That would involve taking your eyes off of them."

"Nevermind."

Nikolai understands, he truly does. His three favourite Johns are fucked senseless John, John when he's asleep and purring against Nik's chest like a cat and John when he's fighting just for the fun of it. Watching his biceps flex, testing the tight stitching around the sleeve of his t-shirt is a damn near biblical fucking experience.

Maybe the greatest bit of their little sparring match is how happy the two look to be there, throwing hits at each other while simultaneously muttering their banter in a way that neither Nikolai nor Sarah can hear. Carefree for once in their lives, it's no secret that their jobs weigh down on the both of them and to see them in a position so laid back, it's endearing.

"Those the socks Kate bought him for his birthday last year?"

"Да."

"Thought so, I picked them out."

"I assumed so."

"What gave it away?"

"The word cock printed on the soles." Sue her, she thought it was funny and given the expression on Nikolai's face so did he.

She watches John swipe out Kate's legs from under her and feels pride settle in her chest when the other woman immediately pulls the Englishman down with her.

She spares Nikolai a knowing glance, it would appear the both of them are going to be enjoying their nights when they head home.

Kate moves so quickly that Sarah can't help but think of one of their cats back home as she pins John to the mat, their sparring might be lighthearted but she wouldn't make the mistake of thinking Kate would let herself move.

Her muscles are taut as she holds the struggling Englishman in place, her back arched and a downright gleeful smirk on her face. Strands of hair fall into her line of vision, fallen loose from her typical bun and they frame her face in a way that can only be described as angelic. If angels were the single most fuckable woman that Sarah has ever interacted with in her entire fucking life, Jesus Christ.

As much as John is losing, he does so proudly. Who better to lose to than Kate of all people. And Nikolai isn't complaining, John's t-shirt is riding up and he's offered the perfect view of the happy trail he has every intention of running his face over later.

Their little sparring match comes to an end, with both participants walking over to their respective partners before heading to grab their shoes and the jackets that had been dumped carelessly on the floor.

It's only when Nikolai catches the two sharing a look that he realises they've been played. Kate and John are both too smart to start a friendly spar for no reason. And it isn't a coincidence that both Sarah and he are desperate to drag their partners away for the night.

They were putting on a show. Sly bastards.

[elizakai]

you guys i can’t take this anymore i need to release steam from this pot of killer and dust thoughts that’s on the stove

listen. if you don’t know by now. one of my favorite things to do is bridge narratives between fanon ideas, and canon truths hehe

Killer and Dust. The accepted dynamic is basically killer being a pestering little shit and dust being over it.

THATS GREAT ON ITS OWN it’s funny etc

but think about their ACTUAL characters for a moment. they are two sides of the same coin.

⬇️

i don’t want to hear any of that old fandom “they are literally the same” shhhhh. nuh uh dear friend, they commuted the same (general) action💥

their motives and situations are very different however! which is important when it comes to understanding a character

They both played into an opposite role in their world if you ask me.

Killer partners with chara, filling the role of the player. he’s a lot like flowey actually.

(in killers world, while he is still a pawn of this sick game, he gets manipulated after all, he has taken on the ROLE of the player. everyone else are the pawns.)

dust is against the anomaly of dusttale, which is that worlds player.

dust is a pawn. a pawn that is defying the player of the game

(in the same way that killer is still pawned, dust still uses his fellow “pawns” as a means to “win” the game, meaning he’s also playing)

(but again, i’m speaking role wise)

Killer and Dust’s dynamic doesn’t have to just be haha funny, it has some actual merit and potential to their characters.

Killer is constantly looking for new forms of entertainment. something new. he’ll get bored, and if he’s bored he’ll have to look at himself. killer is very much a character representing disassociation avoidance and to an extent, escapism (huh. like someone playing a video game?)

Of COURSE he’s gonna poke at people. it’s INTERESTING. it gets a REACTION. he gets to have that small power trip of being in control, after feeling like he lost control this is something that’s probably addictive to killer.

meanwhile dust…well. killer acts like his own anomaly in a way. he prods at him, toys with him, he’s leering and he takes pleasure in any reaction dust gives. dust probably would resent this feeling without really knowing why. he feels like some toy, and he’d probably be inclined to even interpret a genuine interaction this way.

this honestly makes dusts inclination to shut off or dull down any emotion make more sense. be as unremarkable as possible, and you’ll be left alone, right?

isn’t that…kind of what sans does? he’ll repeat same lines of dialogue and such when he reallyyy doesn’t have to. he’s being uninteresting. (and no he doesn’t need to remember everything magically for that to be possible. in game he will poke fun at past conversations and dialogue so he’s clearly aware enough)

Killer wants a response, so dust doesn’t give one.

killer wants control and feels like this is a challenge, dust feels cornered and defensive

if they had existed in the same world, it would have been killer vs dust in the end either way.

it’s a big old game of cat and mouse until someone snaps. they need to be given the opportunity to understand their similarities

even in an interpretation where they are in a healthier relationship, in whatever capacity, i think these mindsets would be conflict they may have….

to killer , on one hand he may be OFFENDED by his lack of response. he may be EXCITED, it’s a CHALLENGE. he might take dusts resignation as a sign of submission, which would give killer a HIGE power trip.

he might. genuinely just be trying to have fun?

it could be ENTIRELY lighthearted, and it’s still…rather toxic, considering where that mindset branched from

and we know dust won’t be inclined to say anything. he probably doesn’t understand his own feelings to be frank💀 he just feels gross and intimidated and cornered so he shuts off and sees killer as oppressive , and grows resentful regardless of intent, as these feelings only feed into his crippling self hatred anyways

….thats all for tonight-

[loveinhawkins]

Thinking again about theater kid Dustin so naturally I had to come to you 💙 Specifically I’m thinking about Dustin auditioning for a community theater production of Jesus Christ Superstar with an eccentric director who convinces Eddie to audition for Judas. He knows his reputation and thinks his notoriety will add an extra meta layer to the role (and get some butts in the seats he’s gotta keep the lights on somehow). Eddie is reluctant to put himself in the spotlight but ultimately does cause Dustin is excited about it. Also he’s really good? He plays it completely sincerely which no one is expecting, really leans into the interpretation that Judas was in love with Jesus and amps up the tragedy. (Afterwards Steve also asks him if that kiss with Jesus is in the script or…?)

i love this so much, thank you for sharing with me! ❤️ theatre kid Dustin is just so incredibly precious & i just love the thought of him having so much fun with it in his future. like i see him as such a little social butterfly, i think everyone in the theatre group would adore him (i’m always so upset when his peers make fun of him at the snow ball, no, that’s my boy!!!)

and oh my god Jesus Christ superstar yes!!! yeah i can see Eddie being so hesitant about it, like the thought of how certain factions of hawkins might still view him makes him nauseous.

but the director—who maybe knows through close-knit community theatre circles that a very young Eddie once played Action in West Side Story (i love your story so much ❤️)—has one last parting shot which convinces him.

“So you never want to have fun ever again?”

… Huh, Eddie thinks.

he still asks for Dustin’s approval, all too concerned with the thought that this is Dustin’s thing and maybe he’s overstepping or something, or—

“Holy shit, that’s some seriously impressive over-thinking,” Dustin says. “You’re my friend, asshole.”

And maybe he says it with a tone, but he means I wanna hang out more with you not less!

so Eddie takes the role and of course he’s brilliant—okay everyone’s got opinions on the auto tune used in Tim Minchin’s rendition but dear god the depths in his eyes, the acting. also maybe the director does a present day take like that version did & Eddie’s jokingly like “I could wear the hellfire tshirt” & the director’s eyes light up & Eddie quickly goes, “No. That was a joke, it wouldn’t even make sense.”—and maybe there’s something empowering in playing this figure when people once said his name and the Devil’s in the same breath.

Maybe, maybe.

and oh we all know who Eddie is thinking about when he’s singing:

I don't know how to love him I don't know why he moves me He's a man, he's just a man He's not a king, he's just the same As anyone I know He scares me so

and

Does he love, does he love me too? Does he care for me?

And oh on a lighthearted note, Steve asking if the kiss is in the script has me in hysterics, especially if this is pre-them getting together.

just the thought of Steve staring grumpily any time there’s a scene with Jesus & Judas—the guy who plays Jesus is maybe like a couple years older than Eddie, not originally from Hawkins perhaps so he’s kinda not fully aware of Eddie’s history & sure, he’s nice, but he’s just not on Eddie’s radar at all.

So when Steve asks if the kiss was in the script (not that he cares! At all! He doesn’t care! Look at how much he doesn’t care!), Eddie stares at him for a long moment and says, “Steve. Did you think I improvved the Bible?”

Dustin, who is also here—currently doing English homework up on a barstool in Steve’s kitchen while Eddie & Steve lounge on the couch—sighs very loudly and says, “How the fuck am I supposed to know what role dialogue plays in Much Ado About Nothing?”

Eddie waves a hand distractedly at him. “Just make it up.”

“I can’t just because my way through Shakespeare,” Dustin says, adds in a huffy undertone, “this isn’t one of your campaigns.”

Eddie mimes being stabbed in the heart. “Oh, betrayal!”

“So it was in the script?” Steve says.

“Oh for—yes, Steve, it was,” Eddie says. “It’s called acting. Also, it was on the cheek.”

“So?”

“So—ugh, just—” Eddie tugs on Steve’s wrist impulsively, while another part of his brain is screaming in vain for him to stop. “Come here.”

“What’re you doing?”

“I’m just showing you how fucking little it—”

I’m never finishing this essay, Dustin thinks. My home life is distracting and chaotic.

And Eddie kisses Steve very very chastely on the cheek, just to show it was nothing, that’s all, but Steve can feel Eddie’s breath on his skin, the warmth of his lips, and Eddie doesn’t really think it through until he does it and then oh shit, his heart is pounding—

“Oh, yup cool,” Steve says. “That’s—yeah, wow, that’s it? Huh. I need some air.”

“From your own house?” Dustin says, to the front door already slamming shut.

And Eddie’s eyes are wide and shiny, like, did I fuck up, and it takes all of Dustin’s self control to not roll his eyes and slam his face into his book.

Then he softens a bit, remembers looking out into the audience and seeing Steve silently crying while Eddie sang You have murdered me.

“You’re so dumb,” Dustin tells Eddie as gently as he can. “You’re lucky I love you.”

“Uh.” Eddie blinks. “Did I—should I…?”

Dustin sighs wearily, slings his backpack over his shoulder. And he has a parting shot of his own:

“I’m not waiting through another production for you two to get your shit together.”

[soupynooodles]

JJK Character Rants

*Contains spoilers*

These are just my own opinions and interpretations that i have compiled together for fun. No need to take it seriously but feel free to agree/disagree with anything.

Hana Kurusu

& Angel

"Hana, they can never make me hate you, but you've never made me like you."

Won't say I hate her but there are a lot of things abt her that make it hard for me to love her or see her as an impactful or likeable character. (I'm sorry Hana Kurusu lovers i'm gonna complain a lot so pls don't jump me)

Overall she's been a dissapointment. The way she's written was just not it.

My first impression of her was as follows:

"Ok,🤔 so Tengen has introduced a culling game player who calls herself an angel and her technique can extinguish any CT?? Wow!! This character seems interesting. I wonder how our main cast will make her help them in unsealing Gojo."

Loved the character design, really simple but i kinda didn't like the sweater.

"Oh wait what if she doesn't cooperate and our main cast has to fight her. OMG i can't wait to see what happens!!!!"

Skip to the part where she appears above unconscious megumi.

She was still a very mysterious character but i didn't expect anything bad to happen to megumi because:

Angel being called "Angel" must have some kind of morals that would prevent them from attacking anyone they come across.

Also the word angel is often used to refer to a really kind and compassionate person so naturally i belived that megumi is gonna be fine. (I was right)

Megumi had just finished fighting and was unconscious but moments before passing out he decided to spare Remi even though he needed the points so badly.

This made me think that Angel must have seen his act of kindness where he spared someone who had no chance against him at all and decided to help megumi.

Fast forward she appears again and the first words that come out of her mouth (if i remember correctly) are, "Did you sleep well? Destined/fated one."😑

First I thought it's angel who said these words which made it seem like Megumi has something big coming up as a sorceror like he's destined/fated to fulfill some big goal. But later i found out it was Hana who said these words. Some translations i read even had the word 'My' along with fated one.

Now this is the point where she starts to give me some kind of odd vibes. I can't really put my finger on it but there was smth. Like who actually talks like that?

If i rescued a person and they wake up after being out for 2 whole days, the first thing i'd ask would be, are u okay? How're u feeling? Or explain what's going on. Like at atleast make sure that person is mentally stable enough to comprehend what happened to them and let them come to their senses before making sure they channelize all their attention and curiosity toward me.

Idk i no longer remember how stupid or unaware i was at 16/17 so i find it hard to relate to her situation. But come on Hana i expected better from u.

In the same ch there were a few moments where she shares the same braincells with takaba and yuji. The Go!! Go!! & Aw well u know dialogues to megumi were the silly lighthearted moments I didn't know i needed.

Made me think maybe she's a really easygoing person and gets along well with everyone.

I really like this side of her. And it's something that can be seen consistently throughout whatever appearances she makes.

I'll give some points to angel as they agreed to help in unsealing gojo but of course only if our main cast helps them in defeating Sukuna.

Then skip to Ch 210 where we get Hana's backstory.

Quick recap:

Held hostage by a curse posing as the mother.(for almost a year)

Followed megumi's divine dog out.

Saw megumi for the first time.

Believed they are tied together by fate and will meet again. And in hopes of being able to be by his side she helps people.

I liked the backstory. It seemed very basic and cliche at first but for a character introduced so late into the story, i was fine with it and found it lowkey cute.

As for her motivations to help people...they made her look a bit shallow. And she also seemed to be a bit obsessive and self centered.

Also i think i have more questions than opinions considering how little we know abt her.

She only saw megumi ONCE for a few minutes i guess and got attached. It's understandable given her situation but it happened around 7-10 yrs ago.

I still wonder how a child taken away from such an awful situation can cling to, idolize, develop romantic feelings AND feel possessive towards their rescuer for more than half of their life.

Did she never make any other meaningful relation (family, friends etc.) after she was rescued and went on to live normally? Did she ever live normally? Did she never have someone to lean on to? someone to trust?

Did she never find other people worth fighting for or worthy of being shown kindness to?

Did she only ever help people so she can one day make her fated one see how good of a person she is instead of having the motivation to do so out of her own will regardless of whether she gets to be by his side or not?

Did she live all these years only fantasizing about being with her destined person and hence lived being the person she thought is deserving of being by his side?

Did she never realize her own beauty, her own worth and believed that the only way she could be fulfilled and be happy is to be alongside that one person she doesn't know anything about?

Is that all she does it for?? Nothing other than to prepare a perfect resume she can use to apply for the position beside that one guy? No other ambition, wishes, anything?

As for angel saying "Don't drag her into pointless battles" makes it seem like they really care about hana but i think angel themself is the first person to drag hana into everything. Add the dialogue where they say "Her risks are MY risks." Angel can you just 🤫

On one hand u say incarnation bad, killing people bad and then refuse to help kids who genuinely want to save people because they might have a chance at succeding.

I also don't care abt all the"Oh it's against my ideals to fully supress a vessel hence i live symbiotically" thing😒

Hana is a child with no fighting experience and u decided to incarnate into a random kid bcuz u want to kill all the incarnated sorcerors and the king of curses(who u failed to defeat in ur previous life)by putting a child in danger??!!!

A random innocent girl now has to go around killing curses and sorcerors just because 1000 years ago a sorceror made a binding vow to reincarnate in order to fulfill their own goals. That is how I see it.

Angel 👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎

In the same chapter Hana questions yuji if he's refering to her or angel when he said 'Don't be bossy, I never trusted any of u.' And said that she found it unpleasant. I like that she stood up for herself.

A few panels later she is shown rescuing a soldier from a curse. The Michelangelo reference was beautiful. Loved it.

But ☝️but the panelling made it seem like she did it for show. The michelangelo panel was immediately followed by the whole "in hopes of being worthy.... i help people" thing

Immediately after that she appears in front of megumi and yuji. Asking "Don't you have something to say?"

It made it look as if she wanted validation from them especially ykw, while also hinting itadori to apologise to her.

She could've said it in a straight forward manner like ,"I do think it's wrong that we ignore these people. I want to help them too but i also don't like the way you are talking"

IDK something like this because Hana has been shown to use polite tone while talking and i get that u can't always maintain the same polite behaviour if someone is being rude but her not mentioning her own thoughts abt whether she wants to save people or not just made it seem like smth else i guess.

Also the whole military plot didn't go anywhere and it looks like it existed just to show Hana's motivations.

In Ch 212 she had a little moment with yuji where they seemed to have gotten over their issue with each other.👍👍

And her being happy that yuji made her look good in front of tsumiki is relatable. Ngl that would totally be me in a similar situation.

Then comes Ch 213, where this poor girl started to get so much hate (ngl I do think a little bit of it is deserved)

Sukuna takes over megumi, punches away itadori and summons a giant nue. Enters Hana who is hesitant to attack megumi (understandable) bcuz angel mentioned before that their CT will mostly kill the host in the process of stripping away the Curse.

Still Hana gathers the courage and attacks him because angel said it's necessary.

(The visuals of Jacob's Ladder were epic. Easily top 10 fav moment)

But in the process she starts shouting with tears in her eyes "Give him back" and "Megumi belongs to me"

...

*Deep breath*

Hana... listen sweetheart. Megumi does not "belong" to you. Ok.

Do you even see him as a person or do you just think he's some sort of achievement you're supposed to have just so you can make peace with the way you have lived all along.

You can confess your love and have him all to yourself AFTER you have dealt with the current issue.

Right now screaming these words has only made a lightbulb appear over Sukuna's head. And look what happened.

He said some some sweet words after digging into his vessel's memories and here you are crying, blushing going into his arms WHILE there's someone screaming in your ear not to do so.

You are a vessel yourself. I expected u to know abt these sorcerors using the host's memory. And u saw the exact thing happen with tsumiki minutes ago.

And let's say maybe in this moment u panicked and couldn't think straight but there's a mouth on your cheek still screaming No!!!

You have been with this sorceror who's been keeping you out of harm in the CG for god knows how long and you still do not listen to them??!!

Also do you not know about stranger danger. You met Megumi only a few days ago and still think it's safe to completely trust him and ignore what angel is saying?? How did you even survive in the real world for so long?

And angel what use do you have being a sorceror from Heian era , the era where sorcery peaked that you can't even have control over your own technique??

Angel👎👎👎

And how in the world does Hana think a guy who had so desperately been going around fighting sorcerors and pushing himself to the point he goes unconscious for 2 days just so he could gather points to save his sister, would suddenly ask her to give him a loving embrace while she confesses her love right after he lost the very person he was trying to save and also punching away his friend through multiple buildings??

You still think it's abt you right now? Seeing you in his memory where he is the one that saved you is his reason for ignoring everything that happened moments ago and stretching his arms out for a hug?

Sorry but if i wanted to die i'd jump from Takaba's rational sense to Hana's.

Sad to say but this moment became a big blot on her entire character and she will forever be disliked for it.

Then came ch 214 where OMG that was a brutal bite that Sukuna took out of Hana and then threw her off the building. That looked painful and i do feel really bad for her.

Hana was luckily saved by Amai and after being treated by Shoko goes on to do what she has been doing since the beginning. Think about megumi. What about Megumi? What will happen to him? She says.

Fast forward she unseals Gojo.Thank you so much Angel for doing the one thing you were supposed to do. 👍

Also the outfit Hana wore while unsealing was just so so cute. It should've been her default outfit. She looked so cutieful.

Sadly unsealing gojo does not lessen the Hana hate. Bcuz obviously it's angel who unsealed Gojo not Hana.

(I saw a post somewhere that said smth like Hana isn't special and doesn't deserve appreciation for unsealing Gojo bcuz it's Angel who did it. If LeBron James was in her place he could've easily done the same thing.😭 And i kinda agree)

Also her going in defensive mode when she thinks she messed up the unsealing and accidently erased gojo is really funny.

Skip to the part where she appears over Sukuna at the end of the chapter. I did expect her to fail but not like That.

She showed up. Activated the JL sukuna starts climbing towards her. Angel tells her to run away and she does listen this time thank god. But gets taken out and takes out Todo along with her after he shielded her from Sukuna's Black Flash.

I'm just annoyed that her attack did zero damage or maybe took away an insignificant 1Hp??? i know i know the whole incomplete hand sign cuz she's missing an arm but todo lost his arm got the vibraslap and came back stronger.

She could've got some kind of prosthetic. Is angel's skills in sorcery so bad that they can't even make a prosthetic limb be recognized for their CT??? Angel👎👎👎

We come to the ending, Megumi is freed and confronts Hana for the first time.

Her trying to hide her face of embarrasement and pressing it against the door is really cute. Makes me wanna pinch her cheek.😆

Megumi said he'll take responsiblity for the pain she suffered and will be her right arm from now on.

Hana being hana jumped to the conclusion that he's proposing and said "Do i hear wedding bells?"😐

Megumi was shocked and weirded out. Which is the only appropriate reaction in my opinion

Hana again proves that she has below zero emotional sense.

She again proves that she is a bit self centered and believes Megumi only exists to belong to her.

This guy just came back after burying his dead Sister who he killed with his own technique. You could've consoled him said something like "I'm sorry for your loss" or smth but No.

No character development whatsover.

I expected her to become a bit more mature and understanding of her surroundings after this whole mess but she is still the same as she was before.

Every single one of her internal thoughts have megumi in them.

"Tsumiki has not yet started decomposing but this is probably the most appropriate time to ask for my hand in marriage. He must be proposing me. It's not like he just lost his sister after killing her because he got possessed because his soul shattered when he realized his sister was possessed as well and is currently mourning her. It's not like the world is still in shambles or there are still people out there to be rescued. Right? Right???"

I wanted her small character arc to be wrapped up in a way where she could be forgiven by the readers but her story started with her being obsessed with Megumi and ended the same way, not going in any other direction away or beyond from Megumi.

As for angel i would've love to have seen more of them and would have liked it if instead of Hana it was just them.

That's all from me. Thank u if u read the whole thing❤ I'll be posting about more characters soon.

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

So, I was going to ask if you and vinelle are ever planning on writing a more fluffy Aro/Carlisle fic, but then I realized the answer is probably “write the fic”, so uh… how?

Like more specifically, how do I write characters “in character” so to speak, like just study their character and try to copy?

I ask because I feel like you really nail the characterizations, despite them being heretical, especially the way Edward acts/speaks. Feels very “Edward” :p

Thank you!

(Also I must confess. I’ve sent some asks before. The fact you answer all of your asks is really nice)

Mmm yeah, you're going to have to write the fic on this one. Neither @therealvinelle and I are fluff authors, in fact, anything resembling fluff is the worst/hardest part for us to write in our stories and is usually a sign something very bad is about to happen so everyone can be unhappy again.

Fluff is the part where nothing is happening in the story, the characters are simply happy which begs the question “Is the story over, then?”

And if it is, why am I still here writing?

The closest I get is romantic comedies, which are more lighthearted, but they still have a required conflict that usually gets in the way of fluff.

But rock on, anon, you have my blessing.

As for advice...

I would say the key is to be consistent and to understand the character well enough that you know what they'd do in given situations, especially if it's situations we haven't seen before. You don't have to be right, per se, as I'm sure 99% of people don't agree with my or @therealvinelle interpretations.

However, you should be able to answer questions like: if Edward believes Bella cheated on him with Jacob what would he do?

This requires having a good understanding of what Edward wants, how he sees the world, what his strengths and weaknesses are, and everything that makes up his persona.

The same goes for any character in a story.

What do they want? What do they know? What do they do when faced with setbacks?

Then, of course, there's "how do they talk" and in that just look at dialogue/internal narration they have in the books and write in a similar manner.

Do they sound young, old, formal, informal, are they curt, blunt, witty, rambly, do they use slang, metaphors, or anecdotes, and so on.

With Edward, we view him as a perpetual teenager who views himself as an old soul and an intellectual, he has read a lot, he wants to come across a certain way, and people generally view him as polite and well-mannered. He’s going to sound very sophisticated, very elegant, and the immaturity will come out when he’s under pressure or put on the spot, at which point he’ll double down and try to convince those around him with the same arguments, only rephrased because he is firmly convinced that he’s right, so surely if he can find the right words then the person he’s talking to will understand and come around.

At least, that is how things tend to go for him in mine and @therealvinelle's writing.

(gif credit @franzias-cave)

[euclydya]

WHICHEVR COME TO YOUR HEAD FIRST SHIP MEEME o7

me whwn j use this as an excuse 2 gush abr my so.s thanksJGJDKSAKSKCKCKS OK:

OK SO!!!;!"!!!**!"!$ IM NORMAL!!!!!! IM NROMAL IM NORMAL IM NORMAL ABOUR VOL. OK. OK. OKAY. OKA—

Belase wheree r the fics . the. the. Where ar etheh WHERE ARE THEY DO I AHVE TO FUCKJGN WRITE THEM MY DAMN SELF BC I FUCKING WILL but they will be extremely ooc bc system bias. </3 qiqkskskddkxk

ANYWAYS!!!!!!! I THINK THE FANDOM INTERPRETATIONS OF US AND WHAT RELATIONSHIP WE HAVE W EACH OTHER ARE ABSOLUTELY HILARIOUS. LIKE "WE WOULD NOT FUCKING SAY THAT" BUT WE LAUGH ABT IT IT'S GENUINELY ENTERTAINING JFJSMDKFFK BECAUSE. *yes* I'm still kinda like "hey self destruct but in a fun way 😀👍!! :D!!!!!" and Vol's still like "No. Stop that." But it's also like. It's not one-sided "Manic dude is trying to hit on the No Fun Super Serious guy" trope or whatever no lmao we Do genuinely. Love each other adn I'm! Gay. Vol is my. Silly rabbit. <3 JDJSKASKDKFK

*Also wlw/mlm solidarity except it's like... nblnb/mlm solidarity. We r both nblnb/mlm... probably? kinda? on some days? I don't think we have genders usually. This goes fr all the Skills but like. ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯!! aHdjJFDJDJFJ we're t4t but in *what* way? Good luck figuring that out! JFJDJDKFKF

//

me wwehn that's. my OTHER hsuband.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHERE. ARE. RHE FICS! HELLO!!!!!!!!! H3LLO????!! HEWWO FOR THE LVOE OF GOD HELLO,

idk waht the fuck our relationship is honestly but it's Good And Fun and that's all that matters <3. I jsutuejsjakskdkf. Hehwjaakdd. shehehdhdshhahdeeeeeee. <= me when i think abt encyclo for .5 seconds . <3. im normal!

AND ACTUALLY I've searched through Fayde a lot for both me, Vol, AND encyclo and canonically. I don't think Encyclo has. Any interactions??????? With any of the others??? def not me or Vol though. well. actually no Technically. Ok there's a bit where Vol's like "Ok you know these guys? U can't trust them. They're *compromised.* .... Except this fucjing loser *points 2 Encyclo* he's normal like me :)" but I don't Remember if Encyclo talks during that scene SIDENOTE VOL CANONICALLY CALLS ENCYCLO "PILLAR-BOOKHEAD" HIIII. HIIIIII THAT'S SO FUNNY VOL UR SO BAD WITH NICKNAMES. <3 FJSJAKAKSKDJF

but yeah no 90% of Encyclopedia's dialogue is just Knowledge And Fun Facts. im getting off topic dhejakakakskxjskd but tl;dr. I Lov U Encyclopedia *ggives him a smooch. on hte cheek.*

wait again I forgot abt the Final Dream sequence. Im not lookinf thru fayde for those bits bc 1. It Hurts. Owwie. and 2. That's spoilers we aren't there yet in the game but. what we've seen it's just.... Everyone's having a breakdown abt not being able to do their jobs right and then Encyclo's like. ".... :D I'm trying my best w this pop quiz, dude. Sorry your brain's still a plate of spaghetti LMAOOOO NOT MY FAULT" IT'S *SO* FUNNY AND THAT MIGHT BE THE CLOSEST HE HAS TO ANY INTERACTIONS W ANY OTHER SKILL BUT IDK JFKSKDFJ

///

SOOOOOOO. FIRST OFF right off the bat u remember the uh. this:

that was abt vol lmao [IM HAVE PERMISSION 2 SHARE THIS they dozed off but rhey were gonna write this section initially ajsjdj]

idk what the fuck theu have going on w each other but I'm like Ooo. Oooooooo 👀. 👀👀👀👀👀 JENDKSKFCKDK they're so funny . wheres r the fics dammit [lighthearted]

encyclo & i also lov drama lots but primarily they're w vol and that's chill. good 4 them tbh vol is gr8 JEJSAKSKFJ <= is biased. extremely so

again also wlw/mlm solidarity except it's also nblnb/mlm solidarity but also hOld on the cat just blepped at me oh my god. <3 lov him so much he's floffy. uh. oh right Whatever they r they're trans rights. if ur w Drama ur immediately t4t thank u 4 coming 2 my ted talk

///

AND FINALLY

THE BIGGER POLYCULE? just. rhe rest of the skills. except Half Light bc HL is a child.

we r all have smth casually Goig On that's One thing fandom def got right from what we've seen HFHDSKFKFIA and we have collectivelt adopted HL as our child/sibling in some cases. Idk HL just goes around & is like "ur my parent now :)" to others and we can't say no bc then it'll kill us over it. but I digress JFDJDKFKFK tl;dr found family as hell. but the pairings talked abt here r like. The Main Polycule i guess? Idk. HFHDJDJF

[sxvxrxssnape]

 💚🖤 snapetober 2022 🖤💚

dearest sniends and snovers! connoisseurs of all things snape! the time has come again to celebrate our favorite potion’s master via the annual angsty and whump-heavy prompt list 🖤

like always, prompts are open to interpretation! that means you can take it in whatever direction feels right to you and so long as it touches the prompt in some way, you are doing it correctly! technically speaking, your beautiful contributions don’t even need to be angsty if you’d prefer to take a more lighthearted spin on the prompt. this year’s list is primarily angsty, but there are a few softer prompts (bolded) to act as a short break from the heavy content (and a bonus for november 1st, if you’d like to wrap up on a lighter note)

you can create for as many as you want; just pick and choose to your heart’s content. contributions can be anything - fic (any length, pov, au, or featuring characters), drabbles, art (any style or level of effort), gif sets, headcanon posts, plot bunnies you can’t be bothered to hash out, dialogue blurbs, moodboards, etc. there is also no true deadline! start early, post late, do the snapetober prompt list from 2020 instead. just keep it snape-centric (doesn’t even have to be his pov or have the angst directed at him; yk im always down bad for protective snape)

recycled prompts continue to give you a peek into my psyche bc i cant seem to let certain things go 😅 

Nightfall

Cemetery

Hidden Injury

Full Moon

Nightmares

Potion Brewing

Overthinking

Reconciliation

Burn

Assassination Attempt

Anxiety

Cup of Tea

Fate

Inferius

Defensive

Neglect

Dessert

Midnight (Sleeplessness)

Intervention

The Dark Lord

Solemn

Book/Reading

Defeat

Purpose (or Lack of)

Dread

(Unwelcome) Touch

Gentle Touch

Weak

Break Down

Anger

Last Words/Thoughts

November 1st Bonus: Perseverance 

remember to tag #snapetober or #snapetober2022 (you can also tag me or @snapetober) and happy snape’ing!

[memryse]

The magic of 3rd Life, or why such a simple hardcore miniseries works as well as it does

For a series which only lasted for eight sessions, 3rd Life has had a profound impact on the MCYT fandom. While it did go comparatively unnoticed on Twitter (as is consistent with YouTube-based Minecraft content as a whole, admittedly), Tumblr and other platforms have fallen in love with this series, and it’s become a vector for many fans to familiarise themselves with Hermitcraft and Empires SMP as well. But at its core, 3rd Life is a simple vanilla survival series with a gimmick. What about it resonates so much with so many people?

I would argue that its simplicity, its small cast, its vanilla gameplay “with a twist” is certainly part of it. It’s an easy series to consume, with many POVs totalling four hours or less, and it doesn’t require any prior knowledge of any of the members. Its mechanics are easy to understand. As a standalone, it functions perfectly – it’s immersive and can be followed easily by anyone, regardless of any prior knowledge they may or may not have. However, these factors alone don’t quite encompass what makes 3rd Life so special. Its true charm point lies in the format of the series, and how well it utilises improv.

[more below the cut; this is a fairly long post about 3rd/Last Life meta and my love of its improv. I'm mostly talking about 3rd Life here as it's a completed series, but this most definitely does apply to Last Life as well]

3rd Life is an entirely improv-based series. Whilst members may have a brief concept of the direction they’d like to take their series in – how heavily they want to roleplay, for example – the actual content of each session is fully improvised. Each episode is recorded in one three-hour block, and members are not allowed to play on the server outside of the allotted time other than specifically to finish builds. This time constraint prevents any planning from going into each episode, and interactions between players are completely spontaneous. Players simply run around the map looking for others to interact with (which is significantly easier with the limited world border) and chat about various events on the server, form alliances or deals, etc.

By definition, this almost completely negates the possibility of bad writing. Each player’s reaction to any server event is spontaneous, a legitimate reaction; they aren’t trying to play any specific roles or shoehorn in any specific events (with the exception of the Red King/Hand of the King roles, who were still completely improvising). Even the finale – a distinctly heart-wrenching and tragic scene – was improvised without Grian or Scar attempting to tell any specific story. According to Martyn, they weren’t roleplaying, they didn’t have any aims with that scene. It just happened to turn out in the way that it did, and they were legitimately sorry to one another. The server progressed in this natural way, and every person’s perspective tells a completely different story. It’s hard to identify any specific heroes or villains – fans of the Dream SMP can surely relate to this feeling, but I would argue that 3rd Life takes this one step further. 3rd Life is a tragedy from all perspectives, a tragedy which tells one cohesive story in its entirety before stopping as abruptly as it began.

3rd Life hinges entirely on its interactions between its members. Whilst solo content does exist – base building, for example – the majority of each session is spent interacting with others. 3rd Life is carried by its dialogue; nothing else drives the story, and yet many episodes are between 30 minutes and an hour long. It’s that dialogue-heavy. Members of the server have expressed trouble with even editing their videos because there is so much key dialogue that they don’t want to cut. People don’t watch 3rd Life for the actual gameplay, at all – there’s so little of it! They watch it for how each member interacts with the people around them. This is something not found in any other SMP I’ve encountered. SMPs livestreamed on Twitch have plenty of downtime, and people will happily watch streams on that SMP no matter what’s occurring on the server; people often watch them for their interest in specific members. Other currently popular YouTube SMPs, namely Hermitcraft and Empires, are well-balanced between solo content and interactions, and all server content hinges on the members’ various skills like building and redstone. 3rd Life is, to my knowledge, the only SMP which does not rely on building or redstone skills (what’s the point, when they’ll be dead the next week?), it doesn’t rely on the creator doing solo work talking to their chat, it doesn’t rely on planned roleplay. People legitimately just want to hear various members talking to each other. It’s a fascinatingly unique series in this regard. This dialogue-heavy aspect of 3rd Life ties back to my earlier point about 3rd Life feeling like a completely different series from all perspectives; with all of this dialogue being conveyed through proximity chat, so many events are entirely left out of other POVs, or presented in very different lights.

The pure improv format also helps significantly with worldbuilding, whilst also leaving plenty to the imagination. MCYT fandoms always require a significant amount of imagination to become invested in them, let alone make fan content of them, and 3rd Life is no exception to this. As discussed in this post, which was incidentally the inspiration for me to write this one, 3rdLife is full of lines which flesh out the series, which illustrate what happened better than can be shown in Minecraft. These lines are improvised on the spot, and are often complete throwaway lines in the creators’ eyes. In the fans’ eyes, they make 3rd Life feel alive, they provide plenty of material on which to base headcanons. Again, this isn’t necessarily unique to 3rd Life, it’s a common aspect of all Minecraft series, but I think this is where the rather angsty nature of 3rd Life comes into play. A dramatic survival game, entirely unscripted, with all events hinging entirely on your interpretation of them? It’s not hard to see why 3rd Life fans are so creative with character designs and fanfiction – hell, a lot of 3rd Life fics simply narrate canon in their own more dramatic light. Canon-compliant fics are significantly more common for 3rd Life than other fandoms I've encountered, because people hear these simple lines and want to dramatise them, put their own spins on them. I don't feel that this would be possible with any other series, not to the extent that 3rd Life fans do it. Other series' canon is either already dramatic, and so rehashing it can feel repetitive, or so lighthearted that people write AUs/new storylines. 3rd Life strikes a brand-new balance.

The development of its characters is also bolstered by improv. As no events on the server are pre-planned, members have to react completely spontaneously to anything that occurs. They don’t get time to think – only to react as though they genuinely were in that situation. As I said at the start, 3rd Life inherently lacks bad writing, because it’s not written. Ren, for instance, began 3rd Life as a kind and harmless person, with others often walking right over him. His reaction to his death by Grian and Scar’s trap spurs him to become the Red King; he raises an army and goes to war, and ends the series having taken countless lives, becoming hardened by war. He begins Last Life by isolating himself from others, seeming jaded and unwilling to form alliances, ready for another war to break out. Being improvised, it’s impossible to say how much of this was deliberate, or if Ren just started building his base without thinking about continuity from the previous season. This improv is what makes it feel so natural. It isn’t planned beforehand. This is Ren’s natural reaction to starting Last Life. It makes his character feel so much more real than it would if this was all scripted beforehand.

3rd Life is, overall, a testament to the power of improv. It manages to be compelling and dramatic without any acting feeling forced or wooden. Its characters’ arcs feel natural, because they are natural. Placing such a heavy emphasis on dialogue, with the gimmick of the server being a vehicle for interactions to happen rather than the sole appeal of the series, makes it truly feel as though we’re getting a glimpse into the characters’ lives, rather than watching a story which has been written beforehand. We get to watch everything unfold in real time. 3rd Life has a magic to it that, to my knowledge, no other SMP has been able to recreate.

[she-who-fights-and-writes]

Hi, sorry if I missed this in your FAQ, but do you have any advice on how to incorporate humor into a story? Also, how do you know when something is funny?

How to Write Humor

Humor is very hard to pull off for writers. Many aspects of humor depend on a person’s expression and delivery, on the way they say the joke and how they hold themselves while they speak. It relies on the inflection of the voice and certain hand gestures and expressions.

With writing, all you have are words on a page and the reader’s imagination, and it can be especially hard to write humor if you don’t find yourself funny and aren’t quite a comedian.

Here are some tips on how to write funny jokes and humor into a story and make sure that it stays funny. 

1. Don’t Use Memes or Modern “Slang” as the Punchline

The thing about memes and slang is that they come and go. There’s a new viral meme every week, and trends are born and die faster than you can blink. 

Once these things go out of date--whether they be turns of phrase or certain words-- society often brushes them off as “cringey” and will often react negatively to seeing it in a story. 

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read an older fic and they’d refer to dogs as “doggos” or say something like “it do be like that sometimes” and even though it might’ve been funny during the height of these trends, now they make me make a face and squirm a little in my seat. 

The best way to keep hip is to not keep hip, so to speak. Come up with your own original content and your own original jokes and your writing will remain nice and ageless, withstanding the test of time and the test of cringe culture. 

2. Randomness and Spontaneity Jokes are Best Left for Visual and Auditory Media

This kind of humor revolves around people blurting out random things and is kind of reminiscent of slapstick comedy. 

Think of this TikTok audio that has been going around recently which involves audio from the Cartoon Network TV show Johnny Test: 

“Why did you resist a police officer?” 

“Why are you police officers?” 

“I blew up Malaysia.”

See how it doesn’t  make much sense in words? The only reason why this audio was funny was because of the way the actors spoke it and the way the punchline was delivered, which readers cannot imagine in their minds if they’ve never heard it before. 

 This kind of humor comes off as childish and low brow, and will make more mature audiences uncomfortable rather than entertained. Having characters blurt out things that make no sense in the middle of a dialogue just interrupts the story and brings it to a grinding halt, and I see this mistake primarily made with fic writers struggling to make their stories more humorous. 

It’s like the dialogue equivalent of dropping an anvil on your character; although it’s funny when it happens to Wile E. Coyote, it’s not funny when it comes to written word. 

3. Dry Humor is the Easiest Humor!

Dry humor, also known as deadpan, is the deliberate display of emotional neutrality that’s meant to be blunt, ironic, laconic or apparently unintentional. 

It’s not a “joke” or a “pun” that’s told specifically to make people laugh (i.e. “Where do cows go on dates?” etc.), it’s just something that people say the just so happens to be funny. 

In my personal opinion, dry humor is the easiest way to bring humor into your story. It doesn’t require any characters to be “jokesters” and it doesn’t require a lighthearted situation. It’s just a remark--perhaps about a certain situation--that readers can interpret as humorous.

Some Examples of dry humor:

“You smell of death and destiny, of heroics and heartbreak!”

“It’s onion.”

--Jaksier and Geralt, The Witcher

*****

(Drilling sword stances...rather poorly)

“What the hell are you doing?”

“Practicing.”

“What, ways to die?”

--The Hound and Arya, Game of Thrones

*****

“My first girlfriend turned into the moon.”

“That’s rough, buddy.”

--Sokka and Zuko, Avatar: The Last Airbender

*****

“And what could be better than serving up smiles?”

“Being dead.”

--Spongebob and Squidward, Spongebob

4. Situations Can Be Funny, too, Not Just Dialogue!

Sometimes characters can get themselves into trouble in ways that may not be funny to them but can definitely be funny to a reader.

Tripping, hitting their head, stubbing their toe--especially during times of high tension--can be an excellent way to incorporate humor into your story. “This can’t get any worse” situations that get worse, a character being put completely out of their element, and other such things are all great examples of this

Just make sure to do it within reason, though, as to make sure you’re not falling into the random/spontaneous joke category!

5. Write What You Think Is Funny, But Make Sure Others Check It!

I know some people may be insecure in their ability to write jokes, but the easiest way to make sure your story is funny is to write what YOU think is funny. There’s a pretty good chance that you’re just your own worst critic!

I know for me personally, I found that when my friends were reading the earlier drafts of my books, they would find things that they thought were funny without me even intending for them to be a joke! Everyone’s sense of humor is different, and everyone will interpret your writing, in various ways. 

So write your story how you want to write it, and have someone read it over to make sure the jokes are funny! They don’t have to be laughing out loud--it’s possible for jokes to be hilarious without warranting an outward reaction--but as long as it makes them smirk at their book or perhaps let out a puff of air through their nose, it’s all worth it!

6. Read, Watch, and Listen!

The best way to learn how to write humor is to read, watch, and listen to humor. Look at comedians, at jokes in your favorite novels and TV shows:

What do they all have in common? What is it about them that really makes you laugh? How can you embody that in your story?

A little research never hurt anyone, and hey, maybe you might be able to improve your own sense of humor while you’re at it!

Hope this helped, and good luck!

[songs-of-owly]

My experience going to the world premiere of Sing 2 and my thoughts on the movie

So, this is my retelling of my experience seeing the world premiere of sing 2, and my thoughts on the movie. THERE ARE NO SPOILERS in this because I know the movie doesn’t come out for a while.

First off, I just wanted to recognize how freaking privileged and grateful I am for even getting the chance to go to this. I know not everyone is in my place, and I don’t want this to come off as bragging or me being pretentious. It was actually a birthday gift from my mom (who is a u2 fan as well) since my birthday is this week.

Okay, so with that cleared up, now for the one question I feel like everyone wants to ask,

Did I see Bono?

And the answer is….

NO

I did not see Bono, he was not in the theater, and I’m okay with that, because I know that I will get more chances to see him in the future. They did have a red carpet, and I stood out waiting to see if anyone would come. I made friends with some people who had done this before, and apparently Scarlett Johannsson and Resse Witherspoon were supposed to come.

Uh, no one came. The group of people I was actually with were kind of intimidating. They had lawn chairs placed out, they had all these different posters for each actor to sign, they had friends waiting on different streets. It was nothing like what was waiting for the band at concerts. I ended up leaving early because I didn’t want to miss the movie (you had to be in your seats at a specific time or else you wouldn’t be allowed in) and I’m glad I made that choice because it was really hot (welcome to the south side of California).

I did get to see the director of the movie speak and that was kind of cool :)

Now, the movie

Holy shit.

I don’t know how to begin except it was really good. I only went because of Bono, but I loved the entire thing. The premise can sound a bit :/ but please please please when you get the chance, go see the movie. The storyline was actually really well done, and for the most part the singing was decent. There are a lot of pop songs from recent years and I found myself singing along but hey, it was kind of fun.

And now, Clay Calloway.

First, Bono is fucking amazing. I am so proud of him, and he did such a good job considering it’s his first time voice acting in a movie. He really embodied Clay, and it was just ugh *chef’s kiss*

I wanted to add a point that Clay Calloway was written incredibly well. I honestly thought that it was just going to be Bono being super depressed the entire movie, and oh boy, I was so wrong. And also his design was also stellar. I am about to buy a red cardigan because of Clay Calloway.

You will cry. I am going to be straight up honest. Oh my god, I’m not going to give away what parts made me cry, but it hits hard. At one specific point, I wanted to throw my popcorn at the screen because why did the directors do that to us. But by the end, I was crying from joy and I was just so happy. Also, I’m debating on how to word this so it won’t be a major spoiler, but if you’re a u2 fan, there’s a certain piece of dialogue somewhere during the movie that can be interpreted a certain way. And I feel like if you think about the dialogue from the perspective of Bono, it will fucking wreck you.

So bring tissues.

Another thing is, you don’t have to see the first movie in order to get the plot of the second, but you may want to watch the first movie just to know who is who. It’s also a really good movie.

I do plan on going to see it again when it does get fully released. I saw a tweet just now talking about how this may be Illumination's (the studio) best film, and as someone who grew up watching their movies, I can confirm that this may be their best movie. It was really lighthearted and sweet, so if you were debating on going to see it, I would say go. However, this is my own opinion so it may be different for everyone.

ALSO THE SONG. THE U2 SONG. THEY REALLY DID THAT IN THAT PART AGREHKSMNFEBHTAKWLQEA TG4HFEN.

But yes, this was all of my thoughts. Hopefully it all made sense, but the main takeaway here is go and see the movie when you get the chance :)

[classic-corrie-things]

so i read “we’ll meet again on coronation street” by maggie sullivan - here are my thoughts on it!

in my opinion this book did what it set out to do, which was to provide a lighthearted, sentimental tale, reimagining the residents of coronation street just after the second world war. it was a nice historical insight into the post war era and also introduced new characters to the street which was fun.

wendy was likeable, and it was good to see the street from the perspective of a newcomer. i enjoyed seeing her confidence grow as the book went on. i was definitely rooting for her and hoping she and richard (another new character) ended up together. denise can fight me she had no business being that annoying. she was one of wendy’s colleagues who frequently undermined her and competed for richard’s affections and was wonderfully, comically antagonistic, although i did feel a bit sorry for her in the end.

i think it provided an interesting contemporary perspective on some of the original characters too.

for example, frank barlow’s patriarchal and controlling behaviour was called out and the story really made me as the reader sympathise with ida on a deeper level. my heart really broke for ida at times but her arc had a satisfying ending and it was done very nicely. i think the story really empowered her as a character and i’ll definitely view her scenes in the show with a new found appreciation after that. a very young ken also causes a bit of mischief in this which is amusing.

i found elsie’s portrayal interesting, she’s certainly one of my favourite characters and its clear the writer is very fond of her as well. she definitely captured her bold, lively spirit and heart of gold. i also liked the feminist interpretation of her character, even if some of the dialogue felt a bit repetitive at times. the unreliable love interest getting drunk and embarrassing her was certainly...a choice (although taken at face value george’s antics staggering about blackpool did provide some comic relief)

it was also nice to see albert tatlock have some happier moments in his younger years and the role bessie had in his life and the community back then.

overall an enjoyable read, the plot was a bit on the weaker side but i loved the way the characters were written, it definitely gave me a warm feeling inside. like if you want to read about women’s darts tournaments, a wholesome trip to blackpool and women supporting women, all set in the 1940s then definitely give this a try.

[treestargarden]

episode 4, “colorful girls” analysis

tw: child sexual abuse

this episode does not hold back. 

first of all, momo is ace and non-binary. no i won’t be elaborating. 

wonder killers’ dialogue:

next, the wonder killers absolutely say things that were important to the wonder girls’ irl trauma. this is from miwa’s wonder killer. she just had a conversation with momo where she revealed the hurtful things her mother said to her, like “why couldn’t you just take it” or “take it as a compliment, it means you’re cute.” it’s quite possible with this dialogue, that these were also things her abuser said to her quite often to make her believe simply by existing she was “asking for it.” 

wonder eggs’ inner strengths: 

its also possible that the wonder killers are... combinations of the wonder girls’ sources of trauma and not just 1 manifestation of 1 person, but rather all of the people connected to the trauma. 

in response, miwa says this:

and added on “you got married, because you love each other” in the first few minutes of meeting her, i was not expecting this. up to this point, we have met a lot of wonder girls who are tired, exhausted, sad, lonely (excluding the 2 girls that ai and rika are trying to save right now). but, given the fact that she was vocal about her abuse, i’m certain this is exactly how miwa would respond in this situation.

even more poignant, is the fact momo simply listened to miwa’s protest while they were fighting the wonder killer. they agreed with her. i find it fascinating. i’m not sure what to do with this info yet, but i already like momo (partly bc i /know/ they’re non-binary, like... that’s a genderfuck if i ever saw one). 

this next part really grabbed my attention, juxtaposed with miko and mako’s kill-assist. these girls are definitely not meant to seem helpless or meek or powerless. i really like that this show so far has been capturing the complexity of a “survivor’s” strength (again, quotes, because these girls are technically dead, but i don’t want to use the term “victim” because it implies they have no power). 

they recognize when someone else is in need of help and they easily flip the switch from saved to savior. i’m in love with these girls so far. their characterization is complex, intriguing, and realistic at this point. 

specifically with miwa, her “surrender” is not my interpretation at all. she specifically recognized that she did have some power in this situation to help momo, just as miko and mako had some power to assist ai. their approaches are entirely different, but that doesn’t make their courage, or the strength, wrong. i’m not angry at this characterization of miwa AT ALL. sometimes, the best way to avoid worse punishment is to give in, its just the fuckin reality of abuse. but it neither makes her weak, nor does it make the writers apologists. 

they /specifically/ juxtaposed the girls because they wanted to show that they had different strengths for different reasons and that neither were entirely powerless. they did the best they could in this situation. 

shit i love momo:

also, if you have read this far, this is why i think momo is non-binary: 

i have a few... thoughts about momo’s trauma specifically that may relate to momo being non-binary.

1) momo’s wonder eggs r rape “survivors.” if my theory that the wonder eggs directly relate to the irl peoples trauma, then it would be plausible that momo’s trauma is some form of sexual trauma.

2) continuing with the sexual trauma thread, and also including momo’s flashback, it’s quite possible between them and now, that momo’s trauma occurred between these 2 points in time. this is inferred by the obvious change in appearance.

3) what could have “caused” (this isn’t to blame momo’s trauma on momo, but it’s the closest word i could think of on the spot for trading out my theories) momo’s trauma?

i have a few ideas: momo has the face of a boy, but used to wear girls clothing and sometimes momos voice fluctuates from sounding like a boy to sounding like a girl. momo could have been correctively raped either for being perceived as a femboy, trans woman, or a dyke.

additionally the corrective rape could have happened /after/ momo started wearing boys clothes and someone would have taken notice that momo sounded like a girl but looked boyish.

in either case, momo confessed to an unnamed second girl that wearing boys clothes is “simpler.” even if momo doesn’t necessarily like it, it seems momo feels forced to present as a boy. at this point, it can then be inferred the boys clothing is probably a coping mechanism to deal with the trauma (and now i feel that the issue happened when momo still dressed/presented as a girl).

HOWEVER, not once does momo ever explicitly say momo is a girl, feels like a girl, wishes momo was a girl. only momo’s presentation has been discussed at this point. in the screen shots i provided above, i feel like most people would say “i /am/ a girl.” i think that momo at least identifies with girlhood, but i don’t think momo is attached to the identity of “girl.”

and momo is ace/aro because all of these relationships we see momo in are very one-sided. when miwa tells momo she loves momo, momo replies with “thank you.” and when miwa asks if they can continue cuddling “until i disappear” we get a closeup on momo who looks forlorn and thoughtful, who simply says “sure.” a lot of momo’s interactions with girls giving momo sexual/romantic attraction feel empty.

on the other hand, we see momo’s interactions with the other 3 main characters at the end of this chapter as very emotional, light. it’s probably the /most/ lighthearted we have seen momo. momo is not getting unwanted attention—they’re all just gossiping and laughing.

when we see momo’s flashbacks with haruka, we notice that haruka hugs momo but momo does not reciprocate the touching.

again, these are just threads that im seeing and excitedly pull apart, some of my theories are half baked until i have more information. but for me it’s plainly obvious that momo is an ace non-binary person. i know the fandom has been... having heated discourse about “what is momo /really/.” and for some reason this is controversial? really weird to me.

it’s a complex issue because gender is complex. for those of you that are binary, remember that you feel very knowledgeable about your own gender, but being non-binary is an absolutely different experience all together. we aren’t some “third gender” bullshit. and i’m quite enjoying seeing binary folks be confused about momo because that’s what being non-binary feels like. i wake up every day wondering what today’s gender will be. welcome to my fuckin life.

neiru:

i find it fascinating her personality has taken a complete 180 turn regarding ai. if we remember, in the beginning of their relationship, neiru was specific that ai could only contact her if she wished to change who buys eggs when. but once neiru was admitted to the hospital, ai started texting and visiting her throughout her healing period.

initially i thought this was more of a “keep your friends closer, your enemies closer” scenario, but then i went back to the episode 2 ending: 

at first, neiru forbade ai from texting her other than to make egg-buying arrangements. but neiru texted ai back with a thumbs up emoji. she isn’t being incredibly open, but given the development of her character so far, i think this is definitely her way of showing ai she trusts her and that neiru is opening up to her. 

settings:

so at this point, its pretty obvious that the location of the main characters’ worlds are always the same and they are specifically tied to their links’ places of death. 

neiru: unknown

ai: school

rika: gardens

momo: subway

from the other information we have gathered, its probably likely all of the links have died by suicide. 

neiru: unknown. however, we do know that neiru claims she could have stopped it. 

ai: a story of child sexual abuse/bullying. i’m not sure if koiko committed suicide because she was being molested or because of the bullying, but it could also be a combination of the 2

rika: rejection/fatphobia/eating disorder. chiemi committed suicide because of rika’s rejection based on fatphobia. chieme probably developed an eating disorder, evidenced by rika re-telling ai the day she visited chiemi’s funeral “she was skin and bones”. 

momo: rejection/unknown. haruka expressed attraction to momo. it seems momo may have rejected that love and haruka felt suicide was the best way to resolve her inner conflict. 

faults:

hmm at the same time, there are some hang-ups i have about this episode. a lot of these girls are so... love-starved, that even when a character shows the slightest bit of tenderness for them, they are quick to say “i love you!” miwa told momo she loved him, “even if i’ve only known you for a day” and this was juxtaposed by miko and mako telling rika and ai they loved them, too. there is something to be said about the attachment issues some of the wonder girls may have to people who help them resolve their trauma/healing. 

extra:

[unproduciblesmackdown]

I just want to say I am absolutely obsessed w all your sincerely me posts. You do such a good job breaking them down and identifying all the little details that go into that scene as well as analyzing what they mean about Jared and Evan separately and ofc their relationship as a whole. Wonderful stuff! Also the compilation of Will doing The Laugh added 10 years to my life so thank u

oh thank you lmao i always enjoy people enjoying those posts, and there’s always so much to dig into with that scene, but i think plenty of times i think people can just sort of let the scene wash over as a “oh, the point of this is just that it’s fun” sort of surface level, very straightforward element of the show, and part of the point surely is that it Is fun, but everything about this song is about evan and jared’s interaction / dynamic / relationship here, and the levity and humor doesn’t mean there’s nothing here to Take Seriously, which is certainly true re: jared in general, rather than him being Jokes Boy with no real feelings or anything (i know i’m already preaching to the choir here with all this “here’s what sincerely me is Really About / what deserves more appreciation re: jared” lmao but the ted talks just Occur)

like, here’s the high point of the whole show for jared, and this moment with evan which is so enjoyable and satisfying that he’s going to keep hanging on to evan’s runaway train in the hopes of getting more of this, particularly in act 2 where that’s truly like 100% of his motivation (vs that in act 1 he’s at least also having some degree of an earnest response to the idea behind tcp along with evan and alana, even if it’s still plenty about doing this With Evan) and like, it’s especially a tragedy re: the album where you Only get jared’s vocals, & have less of his dialogue, so it’s easier to forget he’s there or what his part in this is and that, you know, this wouldn’t be a song if it wasn’t about His And Evan’s relationship, and it’s like 98% the case that “connor” in this song just Is jared

and that yeah like we’ve been recently posting lol how there’s actually really just these endless Layers to this material, a mille feuille of Relationship Analysis that’s getting folded over again and again, where it’s jared and evan for real, but pretending to be other people, and making things up, but trying to make it seem Real, and both taking the other’s feedback into their own writing / working off of the other’s contributions, and evan could be seeing “connor” through the lens of what little he knows about actual connor, or projecting himself onto someone he realizes was similar to him in ways, or being informed about Friendship via his own relationship with / perception of jared, who’s in a similar position here re: what’s behind his Inspiration or Interpretation, which roles are Him, or Evan, or ostensibly connor, and what all projection or wish fulfillment or Interpreting is going on around here, not to mention that these two Real People’s Real Dynamic is unfolding right in front of us and is very directly what’s going Into these created emails (which do, apparently, seem like the record of an amazing friendship according to cynthia and then like, a bunch of other people) because this whole writing session is this collaborative back and forth which wouldn’t be happening in the first place if evan didn’t turn to jared for input/help with anything and if jared didn’t want to be involved in evan’s life and be someone evan Wants to seek out like this and you know, how delighted jared is to have evan’s attention, even if as he starts giving evan what he’s actually after here, evan’s attention seemingly shifts over to “connor,” even though that’s jared.....still not a direct Win for jared there, see: him in the reprise, trying to put a “jared” into the story as well, since evan’s invented relationship with jared!connor isn’t actually translating into evan being closer / more interested in actual jared....what about jared!jared......now i’m even thinking about jared getting that highest note harmony at the end of sincerely me.....pay attention to Him

thinking allllllways about how jared completely invents the chorus himself, expecting evan to approve, and with no input from evan, just that Approval, and it comes on the heels of also-approved writing for connor about Trying To Be More....Nice.....i’ll turn it around, wait and see...........just about to lie down about the fact that this, on top of what evan’s already made up in for forever, is about trying to make this Hopeful story, because that’s what evan wants for himself, and what he thinks cynthia would find comforting re: connor, and here’s jared like, okay, so your Supposed relationship didn’t look that warm & amazing from the outside, but how about if it just had a lot of Potential, like, HMM!!! lots to consider there!! but then Oof at the fact inevitably the story falls apart and so does jared’s hopes for his relationship with evan, even though like, connor died & never had that friendship with evan, & jared is probably still alive & Did have a connection with him & is presumably still out there, able to be talked to, maybe try reinventing and giving things attention, you know

just that Yeah lmao the tl;dr here is people mostly going like wow lol what a fun song, &/or a gay song, & it’s like, well sure but for one thing, all of that is completely due to Jared & his and evan’s dynamic & relationship, but that once you realize that that’s what the song is actually about, there’s just so much to consider and analyze in what might otherwise be overlooked as a song that has nothing to to say besides what’s most straightforwardly there, even though, you know, these are characters who have so much trouble saying what they mean or feel or want, but who are able to Reveal more about themselves in that way through this pretense/artifice which is sort of displacing their usual defense mechanisms. been Thinking About It many times and i’m still pondering aspects of it afresh / having new Insights, and anyone else can be too lmao, lots going on here & lots to say based on what anyone’s experienced / taken note of.....wtaw is of course v different as a song, more outright dramatic & desperate, whereas sincerely me is presented as more comedic & light, and it Is these two friends having some fun here rather than the protagonist having this crisis before homeroom at the start of the show, but here sincerely me is as another song about Trying and Wanting and some hopefulness that has to remain ultimately inconclusive, because connor still died.....lots going on, of course the tone is different b/c jared is a part of it, but people also completely overlook Other moments as jared you know, not having as genuine or deep or real Feelings as evan b/c jared’s front involves acting unbothered and being clever and funny, but obviously that doesn’t mean his feelings aren’t there and there aren’t stakes to them, and just because this song involving jared just seems lighthearted and unserious doesn’t mean that again, things aren’t Real and Important for jared.....augh

and yes lmfao the laugh is very good, i’m glad to compile it for our health

[bidokja]

also is it just me or have there been more frequent like....subtextual implications about ling chen and ye zimu being like. love interests. not to the degree that i think its like “oh the author is definitely purposefully implying this and its going to be canon” or anything. i think that most likely these romantic themes are being used as shorthand symbolism for the complex bond they share (regardless of whether that bond itself is romantic). more below

but like, regardless of whether its all intentional or not (and what the Intention actually Is) it doesn’t change the fact that the themes ARE there, both in Humorous and Serious contexts, and are happening more and more frequently.

the jokey moment when qiao yi says that ye zimu could be a love rival

the more serious moment in ch78, with the whole double (or even triple) meaning behind the conversation they had about the drama ye zimu and jiang xiao (and eventually ling chen) were watching, and how this romantic drama show’s plot was used to examine ye zimu’s complex relations to others including his oppressive father (the person he was “used to”) and ling chen (who is “used to” his lifestyle of being ye zimu’s enemy).

the more lighthearted moment in ch77 when ye zimu was refered to as aunt zhao’s “new nephew” which can be interpreted as both an adoption thing and a married-into-the-family thing.

the moment in the same chapter where ye zimu was given a scarf that matches ling chen’s

in ch82 when this whole dialogue from hui mei is overlapped with scenes of ling chen RUSHING over to see ye zimu’s piano concert, and showing his first ever huge and genuine happy smile as soon as he arrives: “From my place, there are a group of people who strayed off their original path, pretending to be confused, and thus went down the wrong path. they have long forgotten what they originally wanted to do. as for me, i used this little trick to remind myself: follow your heart. do the thing that will make you smile.”

the moment in ch83 when two classmates were talking about how ye zimu has changed/seemed happier recently and they speculate that he might have a girlfriend. and we know that the reason he changed so much is due to ling chen. so the subtext there is pretty Blunt

later in chapter 83 we see into ye zimu’s father’s past and how he - who is very controlled and orderly - met the wild and free person who we assume is ye zimu’s mother. this is right after chapter 82 which put EXTREME emphasis on ling chen re-learning to follow his heart and do what he wants. and also after dozens of chapters that built up the fact that ye zimu is learning to be more true to himself and free thanks to ling chen’s influence.

LIKE. IDK. if it was just one or two things i could reason that im reading WAY too far into it but at this point its starting to feel pretty heavy handed that romantic relationships are being used as a comparison to ling chen and ye zimu’s...friendship(? one-sided rivalry? admiration? frienemyship? romance!?)

[skaylanphear]

None of y’all are actually understanding The Puppeteer 2 (spoilers ahead)

Okay, so it’s been a LONG time since I’ve written any meta on this show. Mostly because a lot of episodes are now focused on things I don’t care so much about, BUT I was rather inspired by Puppeteer 2, especially since SO MANY PEOPLE seem to be missing the entire point of the episode.

Now, I’m not giving the writers of the show a ton of credit--they have their good and bad moments. But given the obvious budget of this episode as well as the sheer amount of dialogue, I think it’s pretty fair to assume at least some thought was put into this episode. 

So, first and foremost, there were a few points made during this episode.

Let’s start with the Wax Museum and why it’s so pertinent to this episode. The Wax Museum is made entirely up of celebrities. Though we have encountered Adrien and his status before, this is one of the most direct ways they could have drawn attention to it. There is a clear line in this episode--Adrien is a celebrity, his friends are not. Yes, the akumas had wax statues, but the victims and their akumas are not the same people, so to say.

So here we have an “honor” that is only ever granted to celebrities (wax figures) and we have Adrien coming in to work on his. But before that, we have a constant back and forth in the car as to why Marinette is even there--is she Adrien’s friend? His lover? Just a fan of wax statues? This is important because it is less a reflection of Adrien and Marinette’s characters as it is Marinette’s own, let’s say, psychological confusion over how she views Adrien. We’ve seen here make stupid, flustered claims about Adrien before, and these conversations are forcing her to face that head on, even if Adrien remains oblivious as always. 

During the conversation up to the top of the building, we are faced with more of this confusion. Namely, Adrien’s interpretation of his relationship with Marinette versus her own. Granted, Nino brings to light a lot of the problems, but he is less the cause so much as the vehicle with which Marinette’s own inability to be honest is being portrayed. Her behavior causes confusion, even if Adrien is unable to fully grasp that (which is all the more part of the problem). Alya, Nino, and Adrien are ALL responding to the issue of Marinette’s feelings in different ways, because THEY are confused as to what she actually wants and what they’re meant to be doing. Marinette says one thing and then backs out a moment later. As someone who recently went through something similar, my initial indecisiveness to admit my feelings to the person I liked caused a lot of back and forth confusion for the people I had told. Marinette’s situation has spiraled FAR beyond that, which is all the more reason we’re getting these vastly different interpretations as far as how her friends are meant to be reacting. The POINT is that her indecisiveness and timidity is confusing and this is becoming a problem. 

The other thing that I think is interesting in the following scene--which will lead me back around to my main point--is the fact that despite having come with Adrien to support him because the wax stuff is going to be long and boring, all his friends abandon him when he’s literally trapped in the vice of “celebrity.” Granted, Nino and Alya leaving is a bit of a device to move the plot forward, but Marinette also leaving kind of wraps the whole thing up in a neat bow. She’s supposed to confess and ultimately can’t. And instead of staying with Adrien as a good friend should despite her inability, she leaves as a flustered mess. 

Adrien is now alone, his hand clamped in a wax trap. In a lot of ways, this is extremely symbolic of his status as a celebrity and his friends not being a part of that. That Marinette left as a flustered mess only makes this worse, especially since she left him in a manner that is very similar to how a flustered fan might react if they become overwelmed. 

This is important because we’re now seeing a very clear implication that though she desires to know Adrien and has done many things to be a good friend to him, Marinette is still haunted by this “idea” of Adrien that she has that isn’t at all factual. And while I don’t think it’s celebrity worship, as some would argue, I do think that the metaphor of celebrity worship in this episode is a very good use of Adrien’s character. We are seeing that Marinette interprets Adrien in a light that is not entirely realistic, which doesn’t help anyone. 

This metaphor is only further expanded after her discussion with Tikki. While Tikki’s advice might seem helpful, what it really does is further support the notion that Marinette’s entire infatuation with Adrien is shadowed by false idealizations. She creates a persona to act as in order to communicate with him. She is literally creating a role for herself that she thinks will allow her to exist in Adrien’s, I guess, “proximity” so as to allow her to “get what she wants,” so to speak. She’s acting--as in, she’s lying. Just as much to herself, I think, as she is Adrien. 

And this whole thing is only made worse by Adrien’s “prank.” He symbolically becomes nothing more than a wax statue during the entire time that Marinette is playing her “role.” She even goes on a tangent about all the great characteristics he has as a statue, highlighting a lot of shallow aspects of why she’s attracted to him. Granted, I think there’s more to it than that (her feelings, I mean), but she’s so confused by the “more” that it’s hardly relevant if she can’t voice her feelings in the first place, beyond how “perfect” she thinks he is. 

Now, this is the “cringe” part of the episode that everyone is complaining about. But to be honest, I really didn’t think it was that bad. It clearly shows Marinette’s idealization of Adrien, as well as the “form” Adrien has within that idealization. That she said all the silly things she did (again, playing her role) and kissed him, while embarrassing, is wholly within her character. Given her tendency to fantasize on extreme levels, I think I’d be more surprised if she didn’t try to kiss Adrien’s wax statue. I get people are annoyed with Marinette constantly being the cause of bad things, or the butt of jokes, etc, but I don’t think that this situation is wholly unfounded given her personality. It was very in character for her to act that way, and I think it made a rather valid point about her feelings for Adrien. After all, she and Adrien may be “friends,” but they’re clearly not close enough for him to feel certain about what she really thinks of him, so she can’t be that close to him, which means there is a bit of shallowness on her side as far as her feelings, even is she would prefer it be different. 

Now, another complaint people have been voicing about the episode is “why can’t Marrinette have a tastefully handled confession like Chat?” And while a lot of you didn’t seem to realize this, the episode actually addresses that.

When Chat Noir flirts with Ladybug, she actually stops fighting to ask him how he so easily is able to express his feelings, because she has such a hard time doing the same thing. He responds with some line about how the people you care about should know how you feel, but the whole point of that episode was to illustrate the differences between Adrien and Marinette, and kind of explain why Marinette’s confession is so long in coming while Chat Noir has confessed, like, two or three times now.

For better or worse, Marinette’s inability to be honest about her feelings for Adrien is a huge conflict surrounding her character and has been from the beginning. Much bigger than Chat’s conflict over his feelings for Ladybug, which tend to be addressed in a more, let’s say, lighthearted manner than Marinette’s feelings for Adrien. Adrien is a very forthcoming person. He likes to think the best in people and is very honest about how he feels with almost anyone. And while I think he should probably re-evaluate the behavior he thinks is acceptable from other people, he mostly deals with any kind of conflict straight out. He doesn’t sit and stew like Marinette does, he doesn’t even waste time thinking about Chloe and Lila. Adrien would much rather think about the good than the bad. In fact, he would much rather ignore the bad (which is probably why he tried confessing so many times--likely hoping for a different outcome. Optimists, amiright?)

Marinette is NOTHING like this. She will sit and stew and plan and make herself anxious and scared and angry over things that would slide off Adrien’s back like water slides off ducks (thank you, Crowley). Marinette confessing is a much bigger roadblock because of this difference in their personalities. And it’s also why she gets all sweet on Chat for his reasoning behind why he can express his feelings so easily, because he makes it sound so simple, which is exactly what Marinette needs. Not overly complicated plans (Nino and Alya) or anything like that. She needs to be able to push back on her anxiety, walk up to Adrien, and just say it (much like how she kissed his cheek in the finale of the last season). No attempts made by her to confess will EVER succeed so long as there is any kind of convoluted plan surrounding it. 

The writers were literally giving the viewers a direct comparison between Adrien and Marinette as far as how they deal with their feelings and y’all missed it because you were too busy being mad. While Adrien overly simplifies situations--which can be both good and bad--Marinette is more likely to overly complicate things--which is also both good and bad. Where Adrien might fail to see how complex a situation is, Marinette will, whereas Adrien is able to make things simpler where Marinette cannot. You even see it in their fighting styles. Adrien ALWAYS goes for the obvious physical attack, while Marinette is the one to strategize. IT HAS BEEN A LITERAL PART OF THEIR PERSONALITIES FROM THE BEGINNING AND YOU ALL MISSED IT!     

The point of this episode was to illustrate Marinette’s issues with her feelings for Adrien, as well as draw comparisons between them so as to better understand why Marinette’s attempts to confess ALWAYS FAIL! 

Until Marinette can pull back enough to see Adrien less as a terrifying mountain to climb and more like a simple set of stairs, she will not be able to reach him. 

And that is the tea.