#writing by renae

[festering-bacteria]

MIRACULOUS REDESIGNS ‼️ 🐞🐈‍⬛🐢🦊

really really happy with how these ones came out :3 will have the rest of the cast done..eventually

[wisteriasymphony]

Chloe had knocked over Marinette's tray at lunch earlier that day. It wasn't anything new, just like the way Chloe had started making oinking noises to Sabrina when Marinette had bent down to clean it up. Or like the way Chloe had said that Marinette didn't really need the extra calories, so she was actually helping her after all.

Lucky Lucky Ladybug kept replaying the scene in her mind, over and over, thinking about just how stupid Chloe would've felt if Tikki had let Marinette transform and give Chloe a talking-to as Ladybug. She had woven the string of her yo-yo between her fingers into a cat's cradle, and every time her hands would stretch apart, the yo-yo would spin on its track. Then she'd bring her hands back together to catch the yo-yo mid spin, the metal body clacking against the bones in her hands. Spin, then clack. Spin, clack. Spin, clack.

Chat Noir had been talking for the past few minutes, but Ladybug never bothered to listen to him anymore. He had probably just made one of his awful puns again, based on the way he started stammering.

"Oh, uh, s-so the joke is that it's a play on the word—" "Have you ever thought that maybe, if you have to explain all of your jokes, you're not funny?" Chat Noir got quiet, his shoulders falling. Ladybug kept her eyes on her yo-yo. "I'm sorry, milady," Chat Noir apologized. "I just assumed you didn't understand the punchline." "Maybe you should come up with jokes other people understand then. That way people might actually laugh at them." Spin, clack. Spin, clack. Ladybug kept imagining Chloe's face, with her pale blue eyeshadow and her cakey makeup.

Chat Noir started to twist his fingers together, the claws on his thumbs digging into his gloved hands. It wasn't anything new—people having little patience with him, that is. His father had gotten him used to it by now. Chat Noir knew that the right thing to do in such situations was just to acquiesce, and that when you acquiesced people liked you more for it. "I noticed you and Rena were on television the other day. How did that go?" Ladybug hunched over herself, scoffing as she wound the string of her yo-yo tighter around her fingers. She had started bring Renared to press conferences and fan meetups because she could trust that Alya wouldn't act like an idiot or say stupid things. Alya was a good friend like that, willing to pick up Chat Noir's slack. Plus, doing things with Rena instead meant that Marinette and Alya could hang out for the rest of the day, and Marinette would actually enjoy herself. Doing anything of that with Chat Noir... would mean she'd be hanging out with Chat Noir. Bad pickup lines and worse jokes included.

"It was fine," Ladybug huffed, rolling her eyes. "Why do you even care?" "Oh- well, uhm. You just used to take me, and I was wondering if you had a reason that you... well... stopped."

One time during an interview, Chat Noir had derailed the entire conversation talking about the intricacies of whether or not their group of holders counted more as a religious or a political organization, entirely unaware that nobody could even begin to care about such a thing. Spin, clack. Spin, clack.

Ladybug thought about the way Chloe's face had scrunched up when she oinked at Marinette. Ladybug thought of Chat Noir's stupid awkward stammer. Ladybug thought about having to admit to her mother that her grades were getting worse.

Ladybug trapped the yo-yo in her hands for the last time, almost trying to crush it.

"It's because she's better at it than you, and I like you better when I don't have to hear you talk. Does that make you happy?!"

Chat Noir almost answered—No, actually, knowing that people didn't like hearing him talk didn't make him happy at all. But he'd learned by now that when Ladybug asked him questions like that, she wasn't actually asking and a response would only make her angrier.

"I'm sorry. I'll talk less, milady."

"I told you to stop calling me that."

"...I'm sorry."

Maybe Chloe could pick on Chat Noir for a change. He deserved it more than she did.

[spockvarietyhour]

Fringe "The Last Sam Weiss"

[badpeopleprosper]

From Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings by Joy Harjo. / The Forest for the Trees by Rena Priest / Trees by Joyce Kilmer

[kaveehs]

Sweetener — Gojo Satoru

fem!reader, wc 0.8k, fluff, established relationship, workaholic!gojo, first years make a cameo <3

synopsis: gojo had always liked sweet things, you were no exception

a/n: i’ve been so busy lately but i finally finished this piece!!! recently i’ve been missing gojo so much so i had so much fun with this <333

requested by: @the-weeping-author

Gojo Satoru undoubtedly had a sweet tooth.

Sure, he had a variety of pastries and candies at his disposal that he could use to curb his insatiable need for sweetness in his life, but they all paled in comparison to you. From the moment Satoru first met you, he could tell something was fairly different about you.

At a first glance, he could tell you were a bit apprehensive of him. This was nothing new, after all he carried such an intimidating title attached to him since he was young. Despite it all, you always greeted him with a smile and such warm words. There was no doubt that you were a kind girl at heart, but there was so much more to it than that to him. Your compassionate nature didn’t come with a catch, nor did it waiver the closer you and him became, it only strengthened his feelings towards you.

You always thought he had been exaggerating when he had expressed how just you alone could calm his overwhelming sweet tooth when your relationship with him first began, but he truly meant every word of it, no matter how dramatic it sounded.

“Honey!” Satoru called out to you, snapping you out of your thoughts. Of course it was only natural for him to call you something so sweet you couldn’t help but smile. “I didn’t expect you to be back so soon, let alone spare time to visit me at work, how was it?” Before coming to his office, you had been scoping out a new bakery he had been dying to go to, but couldn’t due to being constantly cooped up at work.

“Great, I brought back some things I thought you might like,” you answered, handing him the small box of pastries you’d saved for him. He pulled back half of his blindfold, happily accepting the box into his hands which had been much larger than the pastry box. Just as he flipped open the lid, he noticed a shift in your expression.

“What’s with the sad face, sweetheart? You wanna try some too? You know I don’t mind sharin’,” he teased. His comment caught you somewhat by surprise— you didn’t even notice the change in your face.

“No, it’s not that,” you slightly bit the lower corner of your lip. “I just wish we could’ve gone together. You’ve been workin’ so much, y’know?”

Satoru paused for a moment, placing the treats on his desk as he got up from the comfort of his office chair. “I know baby,” he uttered sympathetically as his arms engulfed your body. “‘M sorry,” he said as he pressed his lips to your forehead. “When I have free time, I promise I’ll take you on the best trip ‘n you’ll have my full attention.”

“You mean it,” your eyes glistened with excitement at his words. A full trip where you could simply enjoy each other’s company, the thought alone was lovely.

“Y’know I don’t like to make promises I can’t honor,” a grin found its way to his face. “Of course I mean it.”

As you subconsciously squeezed him tighter, pulling him closer for a soft kiss, you heard the sound of snickers just as your lips were about to connect… his first year students. You pulled away from him, despite the small pout on his face.

“Before we get to that, I gotta assign my students here, more work. Clearly they seem to have a bunch of time to kill,” he spoke in a sarcastic yet matter-of-fact manner, laughing at their pleads for mercy. “Utahime’s been houndin’ me about your academic performance anyway. Perfect timing if you ask me.”

“Come on ‘Toru, go easy on them,” you remarked while trying to contain your own laughter.

“…Maybe I’ll let the assignments slide for today.”

“And just like that, he folds,” Itadori blinked, in awe at how quick he was to change his decision because of your interjection.

“It’s almost impressive how much control she has over someone like Gojo,” Nobara chimed in. Megumi shook his head.

“It’s nothing like that,” he sighed as if he knew all too well the truth of his mentor’s nature. “He’s just soft. Always has been.”

“Now now,” Gojo cleared his throat, it was telling he had been a bit embarrassed by the back and forth banter of his students. “Maybe I should switch things up a little bit— and teach you all a small life lesson.” This promise of a new lesson seemed to pique the interests of Nobara and Itadori. “When you find the love of your life—” he began as he looked over to you, however his speech was cut off by the simultaneous groans of his students.

“How informative,” you joked, followed by such a genuine laugh that spread to him so easily. Though you did learn something new with his eight words— that he saw you as the love of his life.

Maybe it wasn’t so bad to be Gojo Satoru’s sweetener afterall.

[ahrianee]

[🌌] I missed you

Couple: Roboute Guilliman x Rena Caeruleun (Oc)

Warnings: English is not my main language, I'm sorry if there are things that are not understood, I tried to look for several translation sites to avoid mistakes, but surely there will be some, I apologize again

Notes: This is obviously after the Horus Heresy, together two days after Roboute "woke up again" rather revived I haven't finished reading all the books about the lore yet, sorry if there are things wrong regarding chronology.

Extra scene: [Calgar looking at the reunion ]

Summary: It is certain that no one she once knew is still alive now that ten thousand years have passed, but to Roboute's surprise, she is still here.

Saying he was confused was one thing, but the overwhelming feeling that was eating away at him was another entirely, having just woken up from his possible death and yet not, over ten thousand years in a stasis chamber avoiding his death as much as possible, and here he is again, listening to the voice of Marneus Calgar, speaking to him in a harsh and rough tone, but with a hint of compassion hidden.

── He must understand that many years have passed, since he was put in the stasis chamber ──

That is the only thing that Roboute Guilliman, the thirteenth, has been hearing since he woke up, they have repeated to him so many times in just two days that he is beginning to feel crushed by those words.

If he had time to stop and lament, he would be doing it, but the Empire is completely destabilized, everything has become a mess that he is thinking at times that he will not be able to fix even if he is the one in charge again, his brow furrows when he again takes Calgar's voice into account.

── It is understandable that he is still trying to process this whole situation, but we must. . . ──

Roboute's attention is again diverted from Calgar, it is not that he does not want to listen to him, but let's admit it, he has been listening to Calgar speak since he began to regain consciousness.

He would have really appreciated it being someone else, someone he was more familiar with, not Marneus Calgar alongside Belisarius Cawl and the Emissary of Ynnead, Yvraine, a ritual just to revive him and put him in the armor of destiny, a chaste sigh escapes his lips, he is getting tired, every second that passes is a constant agony, the wound on his neck is healed, but the poison of the dagger continues to flow into his being, but the armor of destiny prevents it from killing him, although the suffering is still present.

But returning to the main topic, it is impossible for those he has known to still be alive after ten thousand years, no one he once knew in the past should be alive now, a bitter taste spreads in his mouth, not even his mother... Not even she should still be alive.

Her soft and melodic voice still echoes in his head from time to time, he must admit that the only reason he did not go crazy in that absolute solitude of his mind, was her voice echoing in his head, speaking sweetly to him about anything he remembered her saying.

Various memories, all so sweet that they could sweeten the bitterest brew, well that's how she is, positive no matter the situation.

── Lord Guilliman, are you listening to me? ──

Roboute would have denied it directly, but how rude would it be for him to admit that he did not listen to the one who was leading the Ultramarines in his absence, preventing this from becoming complete chaos.

── Of course I'm listening to you ──

Dry and direct answer, he never had a gift for people like Horus, although he prefers to avoid remembering all those events, especially now that he is so susceptible.

“── Come on, smile a little, you look better smiling, but you always have that serious face ──”

“── Rena is the face I was created with ──”

Her laughter resonates around them, she doesn't mean to ramble on about her memories but they come to her spontaneously without her being able to control them.

“── Well, you're right, I fell in love with that face anyway ──”

“── You mean you falling in love ──”

Another sigh comes out of her lips, Calgar's voice fades into the background but this time at least she's still listening to him.

── Well, as I was saying, the only person who is still alive is. . . ──

Calgar continues talking as they turn right to walk to his office in Macragge's Honor, he has to catch up as soon as possible, he doesn't even want to imagine the status of the paperwork, he doesn't even want to think about diplomatic matters now.

── It's okay, I'll take care of it, you don't have to worry ──

── Lady Caeruleun, I think it would be right for you to go and rest, you almost fainted again, you shouldn't worry Lord Calgar ──

── I'll be fine, you don't have to worry about me, a little headache won't stop me from moving forward. . . He wouldn't have given up because of a headache ──

That voice, that voice he would recognize anywhere, but in his mind only the word "impossible" resonates, ten thousand years, ten thousand years have passed, she should be dead.

── You should take care of yourselves too, remember to eat your rations and take your break schedule, I know you can go up to months without eating, but I'm worried about you and your brothers ──

That joking tone, but somewhat dull and worn out with time.

Roboute goes blank as he blinks couple times trying to understand this implausible situation. She must be some descendant of Rena, he repeats several times trying to convince her, but something deep inside him prefers that it not be so, because that would mean that she rebuilt her life, without him.

The young woman gently turns in the opposite direction when she finishes speaking with those two Astarters, when she turns completely towards Roboute and Calgar everything remains static, a tense and uncomfortable silence begins to expand.

She blinks many times while staring at him, static on the spot, not knowing what to do, her closed eyes do not show her expression but her eyebrows rise exposing how surprised she is, she looks in the direction of Calgar and then at Roboute.

Calgar clears his throat loudly taking his primarch out of the abyss of thoughts he was falling into.

── As Lord Guilliman was telling you, the only one still alive is Lady Caeruleun ──

Silence again, neither of them move from their spot, they just look at each other in silence, Roboute analyzes Rena's delicate face, same features, she hasn't changed in any way, it's as if she had frozen in time, he only notices those clear signs of exhaustion on her face.

Without wasting time Roboute walks with a firm and fast step towards Rena, she is still the same height, she hasn't grown an inch, his gloved hand rises to her cheek, even if he doesn't notice the heat that her cheek gives off, he knows that she is just as warm as ever, he looks at her face more closely, he bends slightly to lower himself to her height, she raises her hand to place it on top of the Roboute hand, noticing the cold metal.

Rena's eyes slowly open, looking directly into his face, even with traces of tiredness, Roboute can see that look full of love that she gives him, as if she had never stopped loving him, as if she had waited all this time to see him again.

The tears fall slowly, framing Rena's feminine face, one after another until she simply can't stop.

── I missed you so much. . . ──

Rena's murmur stays like that, a whisper that only Roboute hears.

── I thought I would never see you again ──

She whispers again, while crying, as if she had finally freed herself from a weight on her shoulders, the woman who kept going, who carried out almost all diplomatic affairs, who assumed part of the position left by Roboute Guilliman, finds herself breaking into pieces after enduring for millennia, saying that she could hold on, because he would never have given up.

── Rena. . . ──

Unable to find words to comfort his beloved, Roboute only murmurs her name while giving her a soft kiss, words are not necessary when this man shows his feelings with actions.

This is the first time I've written and translated something, I don't know how this turned out, I've checked it several times and I don't notice any errors or I'm just blind, but I hope you like it.

There are still several things to explain about how Rena is still alive, but for now I will just write this, if I receive support I may write more, if not I will simply continue drawing scenes of these two.

I hope you liked it!! ✨💕

[nixthelapin]

I think the writers totally missed out on using Alya and Lila as foils for both being foxes, but using the power of illusion and misdirection in very different ways.

Lila: using emotions and threats to set a trap for LB (and CN, but she’s got that personal grudge)

Vs. Alya: using her intelligence/cunning to get out of a trap (and get LB out too)

And just in general being very different people:

Lila’s entire character is that she’s a liar who will do anything to avoid the truth, while Alya is the investigative reporter who uncovers truth.

Lila as someone who hates and is out to get both Marinette and LB vs. Alya who loves and supports both

I just think they could’ve done a lot more with this, especially since they made both girls a fox character, specifically surrounding the Fox Miraculous (I know Lila never had the real one, but she did pretend to for her akumatization)- that’s not nothing!

But nah, instead Alya just becomes brain dead around Lila, believes all her lies without question (no matter how stupid or nonsensical), and doubts everything her best friend tells her when it comes to said lies. Wasted potential.

[sunr1seblvd]

thinking about patching up hughie campbell and him kissing you notes: typical canon violence i think??, probably ooc but idc, wc: 230 a/n: hi everyone this is my first time writing fanfic, like, ever, so please lmk how i do <33

you drug hughie through the entrance of your one bed apartment and locked the door behind you. you sat him down on one of your mismatched bar stools.

"jesus, your face, hughie...what happened?"

"well, butcher and i had to go and find this guy, and...," hughie trailed off and slumped back, his wounds making him want to sleep for a little while.

"nuh uh. hughie, wake up." you went behind the counter and grabbing some rubbing alcohol and your first aid kit. sat in between hughie legs to clean his face, he tensed up.

"hey, thanks by the way, for, uh, patching me up, by the way."

you smiled shyly. "no problem. plus, knowing butcher, he'd probably tell you to just walk it off, and i care about you too much for that."

hughie studied your face as you worked on bandaging his wounds. once you made eye contact with him, he kissed you.

you pulled back first with a confused but delighted look on your face.

hughie on the other hand...

"i'm so so sorry ohmygod i definitely should not have done that"

"hughie-"

"i'll leave once your done with me, again im so sorr-"

"hughie!"

"do you want me to leave right now 'cause i can leave-"

you grabbed the scruff of his shirt and kissed him back.

his face went from confusion to happiness. "oh."

yeah, oh.

[fantastic-nonsense]

Color me intrigued about the “Jason Paranormal Detective Agency “ WIP

Sure! I've done a preliminary explanation of how this fic came to exist as well as a more in-depth discussion of it here, but the tl;dr is "Jason finds out he's technically immortal as a result of Superboy-Prime's resurrection punch that brought him back to life. The event that triggers this also makes him start seeing ghosts, which forces him to work with an actual consequence of being a 'normal human’ who’s undead. He decides to deal with all of that by saying "fuck it” and setting up a paranormal detective agency out of Crime Alley specializing in solving murder cold cases and giving closure to restless spirits. To solve his cases, he asks the ghosts he sees for help."  Think "Pushing Daisies meets Lockwood and Co. with a superhero twist."

Also I re-invented Jason's first crush Rena (from his pre-Crisis days) as a mortician who can briefly wake the dead and/or can also see ghosts and ends up helping him.

Despite having a very extensive outline and several headcanons for this universe as a result of it basically ending up being a mass Discord server creation effort, I haven't actually written very much for it. Actually, there's nothing excerpt-wise that I could properly share of this one, because so much of the dialogue I have cooked up exists on a discord server and not in a word doc. So I'll share one of those screencaps instead:

Ask me about one of my WIP titles and I'll post an excerpt!

[leonardcohenofficial]

every single time i see carter interacting with rena

[monomorphilogical]

Trust and personhood

To be known for your interests, and thereby to be associated with said interests, is as heartwarming and exhilarating every time someone mentions it to me in passing. Be it a story told especially because the subject matter reminded them of you, or be it a question of advice on a certain topic.

In the most simple terms, I am known for a handful of interests that I take great pride in associating myself with; literature, music, cars, and the arts. Like many others do, it feels like some sort of badge of honor to have arrived at a place where the things I find interesting, people recognize me for. Therefore, by some great mishap of self-indulgence, I myself could (not would) be interesting, if only by my own judgement.

One of my great interests in life is, as aforementioned: cars. Especially sleek, vintage muscle cars with strong, purring engines and a great matter of detail in both the interior and their life-force.

Of course, with the love of cars comes the love of driving, of which speed is enjoyed marginally more as it increases.

My obsessions with these machines had made itself known if only through my own obsessive rambling that falls on whichever ear that might catch it. As it is, my friends have been subjected to enough of my unnecessary oversharing that whenever there is talk of going anywhere, and doing anything, the question of ‘how’ when it comes to means of travel is always ‘my car’.

So, it comes to absolutely no one’s surprise that I will slip behind the wheel, and they will join me in the passenger seat.

But this brings the question; do they feel safe closing that passenger side door and essentially locking themselves in a moving heavy machinery, that I operate, when they themselves have no control over the moving of the heavy machinery?

The answer to that question came to me after a long drive just as I parked the car, and that answer was shockingly, ‘yes’. Like a lingering bruise that only hurts when touched, I remembered all the times they had told me they never worried when I was driving, let alone paid any attention to ongoing traffic and the road.

Personally, I cannot help myself but watch the surroundings, and its fellow-drivers, when I find myself in the passenger seat. I figure it is a combination of being awfully used to driving myself, and being unable to completely let go the control that comes with the territory.

But to them, my driving is nothing worth worrying about, apparently. As I jammed the handbrake, I realized that this in and of itself was not a given, and certainly not to be taken for granted.

I must’ve sat in my car for completely too long mulling this over, so long it gave the clouds time to form, and pour down a rainstorm. As I did, I remembered all of the other times, in other situations, they had mentioned their lack of worry around me, their trust, and it filled me with a gratitude and love only felt on those special occasions.

Had I done it? Had I finally, if not accidentally, made myself into a place where you could let it all hang out and rest?

[goddessofbees]

Guess who got hyper focused on a character that only shows up in a couple comics and had no personality passed being someone's girlfriend...

Anyway I'm taking Rena and basically making it OC, if anyone has a hard time reading my hand writing just say so and I'll type what it says, I'm also making this into an AU where Jason and Rena meet up again after his death

[wisteriasymphony]

I. I needed to write something out showing Rena and Cara's synergy. They're the actual backbone of the team. Sillynette owes them so fucking much

Renared situated herself on top of a light-pole, flute pressed to her lips as the diagram she'd conjured on her arm fell apart into little orange shards of dust. CARA.PACE couldn't be seen, but the scrape of his shield against the concrete and metal could be heard. The sound was harsh, sharp... and almost rhythmic.  

Rena began to play: Freestyle, flying fast from beneath slim fingers as the zouk melody built itself up, each next few notes accentuated by a pressed tongue or the click of teeth. Her eyes narrowed, focusing on Taurtufer as CARA.PACE kept him within the intersection of Rue de La Victoire and Rue Saint-Georges. It wasn’t ideal—Nino having to balance corralling Taurtufer in while avoiding getting hit and turned into iron—but the only way her plan would work was if they closed off as much space as possible.

“Mirage!”

Renared hit the front end of her flute against her wrist, faint orange ripples passing through the air from the striking point. On the ground, 15 copies of herself swarmed Taurtufer, Rena grabbing the yo-yo at her side and quickly jumping into the fray. The copies rushed Taurtufer, hopping and jumping and narrowly missing each swing of his whip. The trick, of course (what would a fox be without her tricks) was to always have the copies just hover over Taurtufer as they vaulted over him, always close but never enough to touch. The onslaught of orange zipping around him would disorient him: A visual Gish-gallop, making it impossible to see the real threat threading the yo-yo string around the perimeter. 

It helped to think of illusions in terms of rhetoric. Every use of Mirage was an argument to carry a claim—The claim being, obviously, that Renared and CARA.PACE were good at kicking ass.

Rena scurried around the clump of copies swarming Taurtufer, the string trailing behind her. From where she stood, even she could admit the illusion was hard to pick apart. Just a mass of orange arms and black pant legs. Taurtufer wasn’t even bothering to move forward anymore, merely swinging his whip aimlessly. Rena smiled to herself.

Then, she pulled the string taut. 

Like the crack of a whip in its own right, the yo-yo cut through every copy of Renared and cinched Taurtufer like a lasso. Enraged, Taurtufer finally locked eyes on the real Rena and sneered, dropping his whip to pull at the string with his hands. What he failed to notice, then, was that CARA.PACE had finally picked up momentum to launch himself and his shield up in the air and right over Rena’s head.

CARA.PACE winked at Taurtufer as he grabbed a shell out of his bag and flung it straight towards his forehead. And, like Goliath against a shell-surfboarding David, Taurtufer keeled over from the impact. 

Renared made her way over to their fallen opponent, slowly winding the string back on Ladybug's yo-yo. CARA.PACE had skated over already, dismounting his shield and chopping the whip in half with its edge. He caught the akuma within his hands, the little purple insect weakened and trembling as it tried to crawl out from his fingers.

“Boss!”

At first, Lucky Lucky Ladybug wasn’t anywhere in sight. Just as Renared rolled her eyes and got out her flute to call Ladybug up, she appeared with her arms crossed, clearly storming away from something.

“Hey,” Rena said, raising a hand. “We got everything solved.” The yo-yo was tossed into Ladybug’s hands. “Just need you to set things straight.”

Ladybug clicked her teeth (arguably more at having to do something right after getting into an argument than anything else) and strung the yo-yo’s string around her hands. 

“Miraculous Ladybug!”

The akuma was swiped out of CARA.PACE’s hands, launched in the air with Lucky Lucky Ladybug’s yo-yo. In a flash, the world was back to normal again. Renared and CARA.PACE bumped their fists with a silent exchange of glances, Ladybug dusting herself off.

“Well,” she said, “Good work, everyone. Me especially, but that’s neither here nor there.”

“…You?”

“Uh, yeah?” Ladybug tilted her head. “We couldn’t have done this without me, duh. You’re welcome.”

The second exchange of glances between Rena and CARA.PACE was tenser and more confused.

[bitter-hibiscus]

Shane tried tripping Jason again..

this is specifically jayrena art from my fic series :)

[byoldervine]

Got any more ml writing rants??

Oh I’ve got MANY. If anyone wants a specific ramble or take then I’m more than happy to oblige, I love logic loops

Okay so for this one I’m gonna pull out of my ass the handling of Alya as the Fox, and to do that we need to begin with how she was handled in her heroic debut episode, Sapotis

We start with Alya wanting to figure out Ladybug’s identity for the umpteenth time, still very passionate about figuring it out, while Marinette tries to discourage her from the topic and remind Alya that Ladybug’s identity is secret for a reason. Alya is adamant that she’s trustworthy enough to keep the secret, and that she’d tell Marinette if she were Ladybug because best friends never keep anything from each other

Alya is later chosen this episode to be the first temp hero in the show, her trustworthiness making her ideal to wield the power of illusions via the Fox Miraculous. When it’s time to return the Miraculous, however, she starts to plead with Ladybug to let her keep it, proposing that they’d make a great team and she could help her and Chat Noir fight against Hawkmoth. Ladybug reminds her of her promise to return the Miraculous, but her earrings alert her that she’s about to transform back, so she has to hide while telling Alya that she’s trusting her

It’s actually Trixx that convinces her to return the Miraculous by saying that Alya would make a great hero mostly because of how trustworthy she is. Alya returns the Miraculous and rushes home, and is clearly tempted to tell Marinette all about her eventful night when asked, but remembers to keep her identity secret as promised and lies to Marinette in order to preserve her new secret identity as Rena Rouge, intentionally contradicting her earlier insistence that she’d tell Marinette in a heartbeat if she were a superhero

So why am I recounting the Rena Rouge debut? Because it all but sums up the slight issue in Alya being the Fox holder; Alya was chosen because she’s trustworthy, but she isn’t always as trustworthy as everyone claims she is

Now don’t get me wrong - for a standalone debut episode, Sapotis works perfectly! Alya starts out insistent that she’s trustworthy, but when that belief is put to the test she falters, albeit with good intentions. But ultimately, we do see her come to the right conclusion and prove her trustworthiness, even if it means both giving up the Fox Miraculous and going back on her word. It’s also one of the few times in the show that the lesson of the day is learned by someone other than Marinette; Alya learns that being trustworthy and being truthful/open aren’t the same thing, and that, in order to be truly trustworthy, sometimes you have to lie and keep secrets

This is a great start for Alya as the trustworthy hero/friend, and can also tie in to her as a reporter; she’s obsessed with giving her followers the authentic truth, both because she loves to learn about her passions and share her discoveries with the world, and also because she wants to build up a reputation of credibility and trustworthiness. And while that’s generally a great mission goal to strive for, there’s also nuance in that, such as with sharing personal or otherwise private information. We’ve seen her struggling with this previously, such as in Lady WiFi when she took a photo of Chloé’s locker in order to look through her belongings, though that lesson got largely overshadowed by Chloé’s escalation of the punishment to something that was way out of proportion

But the problem is, Sapotis doesn’t exist in a vacuum - or rather, it’s not supposed to. We’re alright in the episode Anansi, in which Carapace debuts and Alya immediately figures out that it’s Nino. Alya doesn’t say a word about it until Heroes’ Day, and only after Ladybug reveals both of their identities to each other. This seems like a good development; she’s content to let her knowledge remain a secret, even between her and Nino. We also never get any implications that she ever struggled with keeping secrets from Nino at this point. So far so good

It’s actually a decent while until this becomes a notable issue; in Gang Of Secrets, all the girls have the issue of going through Marinette’s room uninvited and trying to touch her things and stick around even when she tells them multiple times to leave. The girls then present Marinette with a bracelet, telling her to tell her secrets to it, and Alya is the one to say “If we’re really your friends, you can confide in us” in response to Marinette caring more about getting them out of her room than doing so

While they definitely didn’t intend it this way, the girls cornered her in what’s supposed to be a safe space, refused to respect her privacy or boundaries, pressured her to share specifically secrets with them, then their wording unintentionally implied a sort of ultimatum on their friendship. And for Alya to be involved in this, considering she’s meant to be the trustworthy one, isn’t great; pressuring others to share their secrets, especially in a group setting, is not a trustworthy act

When later captured while under akumatisation, it’s another speech about trustworthiness that gets Alya to break out of it, this time from Ladybug pointing out how she and Alya keep secrets from one another and yet still trust each other completely. Alya is able to deakumatise herself due to Ladybug’s unwavering trust in her, and this seems to stick with her in her later approach to speaking with Marinette

Once again, Alya learns a lesson; just like it’s important to keep secrets of your own to maintain trust with other people, other people will be doing the same thing, and sometimes that means you have to accept that there are secrets between you two, and being trustworthy doesn’t mean they’re obligated to confide in you about everything. As such, her approach is now much more focused on reaffirming that her friendship with Marinette will always stand unconditional to Marinette having private struggles, and that the ball will always be in Marinette’s court if she wants to share or not. It’s a much more healthy and person-centred approach that is, ultimately, what Marinette needed to hear and Alya needed to learn

But the identity reveal is a big test of Alya’s trustworthiness; we can start with Optigami, in which Alya is told to grab a certain Miraculous, but she additionally grabs the Turtle Miraculous so that Nino can join them as Carapace. Not necessarily going against Ladybug’s orders, but certainly overstepping her role by taking another Miraculous and putting it out in the field without the Guardian’s knowledge or permission

We follow up with Sentibubbler, which revolves around two things; Alya proving to Marinette that she’s still trustworthy enough to hold on to the Fox Miraculous, and Alya dealing with the consequences of shaking Ladybug’s trust in Optigami. I will say that I’m glad this episode exists; it’s a good natural consequence to the Optigami stunt and was a really fun episode to watch, especially with Alya pulling off such a cool plan on the fly. But it could’ve benefitted from acknowledging just a little more that Marinette’s paranoia is partially influenced by Alya’s actions, rather than just baseless trauma-induced nightmares. If this had been acknowledged properly, it could’ve worked as another lesson in trustworthiness and how fixing your mistakes is another way to be a trustworthy person

And from there we immediately jump to Rocketear, and this episode is where we really see Alya’s trustworthiness wavering beyond just a learning curve. Alya is struggling to follow through on the plan of making everyone believe the Fox Miraculous no longer has a holder because it involves lying to Nino. She repeatedly says that they don’t keep anything from each other and that, if she lies to Nino and he finds out, he’ll never trust her again. We’re getting into somewhat similar territory from both Sapotis and Gang Of Secrets here; the idea of never lying to your loved ones or keeping secrets from them, and associating trustworthiness with keeping no secrets regardless of reasonings

Alya eventually does tell Nino that she’s benched, and they go on a movie date that evening, but Nino gets the wrong impression from her constant phone-checking, her being unbothered by the Chat X Rena ship in the movie, etc, and comes to the conclusion that Alya is romantically interested in Chat Noir. It’s implied that this is due to the dishonesty, but would it be any different if he knew the truth? He’d know why Alya keeps checking her phone and why she left abruptly (being called for patrol), but the movie ship and the little kids playing out the ship dynamics would still happen, and he could very easily still come to the same conclusion, or at least he’d still be jealous and see Chat Noir as a love rival

But regardless of that, we end on Alya telling Marinette to trust her, and when Marinette agrees, Alya immediately tells Nino the truth about her new role as Rena Furtive - and we find out in the finale that Marinette had not been informed of this prior, so we can’t excuse this decision as her talking it out with Marinette first and Marinette trusting her to make that call even if she didn’t agree with it. And here lies Alya’s biggest issue with her trustworthiness; she made a big thing about not being able to lie to Nino and feeling like she was betraying him, but then she lied to Marinette and actually betrayed her trust by going back on her word

Alya prioritised being completely open and honest with Nino over following the orders Ladybug set in order to protect Alya and her loved ones, and in doing so has now betrayed Ladybug’s trust while additionally risking the safety of all three of them in the process. And this is the episode directly after Sentibubbler - she faced the dangerous consequences of this stuff a week ago at most, and she’s already doing it again at the first opportunity!

What I mean to say is, at very least in season 4, Alya’s trustworthiness takes a massive hit, and that’s a big deal when being trustworthy is consistently cited as one of her most notable traits to the point of it being the reason why she’s the Fox Miraculous holder in the first place. It’s another case of the show telling us one thing while showing us another

I’d go into season 5 but it’s like midnight right now and this is already long enough as it is, so I’ll save season 5 for another day. Hope this was alright!

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The Hero's Journey (reexamined using Andor season 1)

Wonderful piece by Jalyn Renae Fiske, an alum of our writing workshops!

When it’s done right, coming home at the end is one of the greatest accomplishments a writer can achieve for a reader because it feels especially powerful, meaningful, and right.

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My advice for your next story or novel is to ask your main character what stories, what denials, they tell themselves to get through the day.

Next, what does "home" mean to them?

Whatever that is, they need to leave it and then return with true stories instead of false ones. The character doesn’t have to stay home at the end (they can go on further adventures), but they do have to understand it better and, in so doing, understand themselves better.

Read the full article here: X