#as well as all situational dialogue and battle quotes
Note
How about Fire Emblem Awakening for the fandom ask game? 👀
Favorite Male Character
Easy! That's Henry, my most beloved favorite guy, my first video game wife, my silly rabbit, etc. I love that little dude! Obviously he has an absolutely S tier character design, which I shall include for the convenience of everyone who hasn't seen him before and so everyone can have a good chuckle at how absolutely predictable I am. I don't even have coherent Henry thoughts it's just like. Turning that guy around in my head like a doner kebab, y'know? But also I love that he's so cheerful, I love that he smiles even when it isn't genuine at all, I love his absolute detachment from social norms (and morality), I think it rules that he's always drenched in blood and hanging out with the dead... I just think he has a wonderful innocence that's greatly enhanced by that dash of darkness. The crow puns are also 11/10!!! And of course. A man wearing a skirt with a cape covered in eyes. AND it's all purple and gold. And also has those big loose sleeves- look, it's like he was made specifically for me!! And then the little hand thing at the end of the sleeves... Godddd he's perfect. I'm sorry Ash like I said this is INCOHERENT
[Image ID: A white haired young man in a grey shirt and dark leggings. He wears a short purple wrap skirt around the leggings. A wide purple lined black cloak billows behind him, six golden eyes adorning the collar. He smiles cheerfully and extends a hand above his head to a crow.]
Honorable mentions are Owain (I love chuuni characters...), Ricken (who has the cutest little wizard outfit), and Libra (no one say anything. I already know.)
Favorite Female Character
I made the mistake of cracking open the artbook to help me choose when writing this up and immediately had a list of like a dozen ladies who I think are all the best. This game is hell for that. Henry is so easy but the female characters... jeez. I think I'm going to commit to Maribelle! For one thing Maribelle canon sapphic IntSys can fight me. I know the truth. But also, I like that Maribelle is very assertive despite being a person who isn't a fighter, and her commitment to justice is admirable. She's got a strong spirit and always stands up for what she believes in. I'm very fond of her! She and Lissa should have been able to marry. Why can't they get married, IntSys? Why is that, why are you keeping her down
Honorable mentions: Cynthia (chuuni!!!), Tiki (ancient dragon lady who has outlived all her friends gives me many thoughts. also hot), Say'ri (another great story character), Cherche (pretty lady with big axe and dragon makes brain go brrr), Flavia (another cool fighter lady. wow), Anna (the goddess of random numbers), and of course Lissa (Lissa)
Least Favorite Character
Tharja. It's Tharja. This is easy. My least favorite is Tharja. She does have some funny supports, but I just thinks she's overall uncomfortable to be around and I dislike her overtly sexual design, which kind of presaged a lot of things in Fates I dislike. I find her a very uncompelling yandere and everything with Noire is also uncomfortable. I think it's a damn shame that she was one of the most popular female characters in the game and thus she got carried through so much other stuff.
Honorable mention: Cordelia. I don't find her pining for Chrom forever thing or her being literally perfect thing interesting. Also a vaguely uncomfortable character in some ways, but not at all as bad and Severa rules so hey. Makes up for it.
Favorite Ship
Well, when I was in high school I was a serious Henricken guy! I don't really know why, honestly. I think it was just a "these are my two favorite characters, I want to see them together." As a mature adult, allow me to say: Libra and Lon'qu is the pinnacle. I mean. All Libra ships are 11/10, that's Libra's nature, but I feel like that's something that I've seen so much compelling stuff about for years.
On the sapphic side of things, Say'ri and Tiki are obviously just married and I love that for them. The devoted warrior and the immortal dragon she protects... it's amazing. I also really love Severa and Lucina! Severa is just a fantastic character in general, and I love the initial tension between Lucina as the principled warrior and Severa, who's committed to spurning her duties (but is devoted deep down). I feel like these are like, two of the most typical possible picks. But like. They're amazing, you know?
And if you asked me to pick an m/f, since I am seeing that I've not done that, Cynthia and Morgan. It's cute :)
There are so many characters with good chemistry, I know that I cheated badly here ^^;; But like. It's all so good!!!
Favorite Friendship
The Justice Cabal!!! Which is to say, everything between Owain, Morgan, and Cynthia. I love that they're all just little weirdos and I love the idea of them hanging out being little weirdos together. Morgan isn't a chuuni but they're chuuni adjacent... the weirdgirl energy in a room containing all three of them must be off the charts. I love it.
I'm also a huge fan of platonic Chrom and female Robin. QPR Chrobin is the way... And I think there's also something really beautiful about Chrom doing so much for a woman he loved and valued as a friend, and that being as powerful as if she was a romantic paramour.
Favorite Quote
Uh besides everything that comes out of Owain's mouth? Or Henry's... Well, I'd say that because I'm incredibly cheesy, it's that "Welcome back." at the very end.
Worst Character Death (if any)
It's been a looooong time since I last played Awakening so obviously I'm going to give you the most absolutely basic answer ever: Emmeryn's death. I just think it's a really good dramatic moment, and it's a place where that false choice works. It's good characterization for Robin and it's also so fitting that it doesn't do anything at all. Emmeryn's sacrifice is only in her own hands. It's painful to watch. I like the way it echoes through the rest of the pre-time skip stuff, and it's such a heart breaking touch to see sage Lissa's clothing.
Of course, it's also the worst death because the paralogue that brings her back cheapens the hell out of it for no real narrative reason and there really isn't anything the story has to do with her, unlike the enemies that can be rescued or Robin. If any one character should have stayed dead, it should have been Emmeryn.
This made me so happy you have no idea Moment
Okay time to come out and say I'm one of the five people who actually loves the end of Awakening. I KNOW people say it makes the sacrifice feel cheap. And it does, objectively. But ALSO. Do you know how happy it made me at fifteen?! You have no idea. I actually cried seeing that mirrored scene at the ending. I'm a sucker for when it all comes around. And like... the hope of that ending is also really great. It may have been a graver and more real game if those consequences really had been what they seemed, but I do love the miracle of breaking the cycle.
Saddest Moment
I've already touched on Emmeryn's sacrifice and Robin's sacrifice... hmm. I'd say that it's learning about the choice between sealing Grima temporarily and destroying him forever. When the hero learns they need to die for the greater good, that's something that always sends a pang through my heart. And the buildup to either saving themself (what Chrom wants and is so willing to support!) or becoming a martyr is, well, really good. I'm remembering it through the eyes of someone who found it very fresh, I suppose. Along with that is Lucina's assassination attempt. I mean, that's just tragic. She's right to want to kill you, but she'll never be able to do it.
Favorite Location
Either the Mila Tree or Mount Prism- I love verdant places filled with light and water. Both maps feel so soothing. They also feel so far apart from the ordinary world... it's humbling, in a way. Wonderful.
(buuuuut also Grima's back. I love that dragon man)
#sorryyyy I went a little overboard#I reallyyyyy loved awakening as a teen if you can't tell#and I actually used to do a ton of awakening fan art!#alas it is all in the limbo of my parents' house now#ask me emithing#ask game#coherency is so low here because I haven't played it in years but my love is strong and I have a book with all supports in it#as well as all situational dialogue and battle quotes#thank u for my life awakening artbook#turbulentpumpkin43
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okay, so i think i've cracked the code
on why the girls, gays and theys all really like BG3
the short answer is the subversion of toxic gender stereotypes and the more or less relateable themes that each character has come up in game, or are implied, long answer under the cut
lots of people have been posting about individual (main and supporting) character motivations, yes but i haven't really seen any analyses based on gender and/or romance situations quite yet (please feel free to point me to them, i love discourse)
as well, i am well aware that the romanceable characters are scare quotes "player-sexual" for the most part, but some elements of the gendered experience may feel more relateable to certain groups of players than others. i'm going to refrain as much as i can from making moral judgements (in terms of motivations and alignments) because all of these characters are morally complex.
let's take it on a case by case basis, starting with the women in the game (minthara isn't included since i haven't done a playthrough with her as a companion yet :'D):
Karlach
Karlach seems like this huge butch imo, but from what i can see she has to battle with the touch starved-ness. i guess you could make the argument here that that feeds into a stereotype about stone butches, but i think it presents a very relatable (and honest) representation of how a LOT of queer folks, especially queer non-men, deal with being touch starved. i think one thing that potentially a lot of queer women and femme-identifying folks can relate to is the fear of being "imposing" in wlw relationships. for example, i would say the fear of coming off as "creepy" or "dangerous." and inversely, the feeling of relief when you're assured that that isn't the case.
the other thing that comes up, i think, with Karlach is that there's this stigma surrounding masculine women. for one, she towers over everyone else, and she's a barbarian. on the surface level, that can be extremely intimidating, obviously. but playing through her romance, understanding that she is capable of and honestly, exudes tenderness -- and the majority of which being without touching/sexuality, is just... it's really important y'all okay?
Shadowheart
my personal favourite thing about Shadowheart and her storyline is that even if she appears very feminine, there is no part of the game that i can see (thus far) that has railroaded her into that stereotype. not even with the armour choices. in my file, the armour i've picked for her "end-game" level 12 armour is the shar justiciar armour she gets in the gauntlet. it's not stereotypically feminine at all. historically in video games, armour that covers everything on a woman's body (i will bring this up re: Lae'zel as well) is uhh.. really fuckin hard to find.
the other thing is while she may be very femme-coded, she doesn't necessarily use "stereotypical" seduction methods in her romance scenes. her first one is sharing wine with you and kissing, that's pretty much it, right? and if you call her beautiful, instead of acting coy, she says "i know." and thanks you for noticing. she doesn't need someone to simper over her and tell her that. she's also never shy about telling you exactly what she wants, whether in a romantic or platonic situation. picasso, i like it.
Lae'zel
jesus, what can i start with here? this woman is an extremely skilled fighter, wears heavy armour, wields a fucking greatsword that's bigger than she is, all while being like, 5 feet tall. her first romance scene shows me that she is interested in sex but is primarily concerned with her own pleasure (this can be read in a positive or negative way of course: positive being she is getting hers, and negative being not concerned with her partner's pleasure). not only that but she is not interested in having kids at all, based on in-game dialogue. and like i mentioned with shadowheart, her armour (most of the gith armour options you can put her in, i would guess) are full sets of armour - minus the admittedly a little weird lack of butt coverage on most of the gith plate and half-plate that i've seen her in. uhh, yeah- wow.
in a romance, it seems like she fits the "shrew" stereotype, but i argue that for lae'zel, it's more about respecting Tav than it is about swooning over them (and knowing that they're passionate). if she doesn't respect Tav, there's no way she's going to share a bed with them, never mind anything else. that to me, shows a woman who has self-respect, which isn't often something shown so strongly in a video game/media in general especially when it's written by men (which is fucking unfortunate!! i hate it!!) i think this is beaten over our heads as players most blatantly when she challenges you to a fucking duel in act 2 and then if Tav wins she boinks them right in the middle of camp.
Jaheira
Jaheira is old enough to have adult children, for one. i know she's an elf, and there's some in-game dialogue that alludes to her having extended her lifespan, etc. but for argument's sake, let's say she's middle aged - she is in friggin' top physical condition. and while during the events of bg3 she is a widow, you think that's gonna stop her from meeting her goals? not only that, but her adventures didn't suddenly stop when she became a mother. there's not much of a romance element to her storyline, but she's definitely biffing off a lot of stereotypes about older women and mothers here.
the men - most of my arguments here are going to come back to the utter lack of hypermasculinity/toxic masculinity:
Wyll
he talks about dancing with you in his first romance scene, not seducing you - in fact, he shares a really chaste kiss and then is like "but now isn't the time to jump into bed, actually." he friggin blushes, because thinking about a romance with you gets him all giddy. the man dances for you. then he goddamn proposes to you like a proper gentleman. he is concerned with family. he's concerned with Karlach's well-being. he's concerned with other people's emotions, and is extremely considerate of them. he's pacted with Mizora, not some unseen super masc devil. Mizora the friggin danger femme. lastly, and i think this is really important: Wyll, regardless of a high-fantasy setting, is a black man. i am well aware that eschewing the many stereotypes of hypermasculinity in regards to black men specifically, cannot be undone with one video game, but i think it does a lot. it could do more, of course - but i feel that Larian made a wholehearted attempt with this specifically.
Minsc
the man is large and very visually "stereotypically masculine," yes, but all of his actions are either influenced by Jaheira or Boo. case closed, your honor.
i'm joking. but really, Minsc respects and admires Jaheira intensely as a comrade. and what she thinks seems to matter more to him than his own motivations. that's what made it so easy for the Bhaalist assassins to manipulate him - they just had one person pose as Jaheira. boom.
Halsin
another very visually "stereotypically masculine" man, yes- but i have three things:
he's open to polyamory that is represented in the game more or less in a healthy way
he's very concerned with consent, both in a monogamous romance or a polyamorous one - this includes the bear scene, he does ask about it before like, barrelling into it (and no i'm not poking that bear any more than i have to in this post)
uhh, have you heard him talk to/about Tav? my my.
not only that but this man is quite literally built like a bear, yet he is a druid, literally about all things nature. you could make the argument that this subverts the nature/culture; emotion/reason debate as it relates to gendered roles.
Gale
okay so, not only has it been confirmed/alluded to by in-game dialogue that Gale does the cooking for the camp- (specifically by Wyll if i recall correctly), he's also just a fairly forthcoming person with his feelings and insecurities. i know a lot of people have deemed that a bit annoying, but i do think there is some value in it. for example, he is a little self-deprecating about being a bad kisser, but it's his way (especially if you read him as autistic) of saying "hey, i'm insecure about this and i usually spend a lot of time alone in a mother fucking tower in waterdeep." i.e. i don't exactly know how to do this. he's an honest, giving, and kind man, and is just as likely to show you as he is to tell you how his heart and mind function. he wants you to understand him. he's also very idealistic- that of course can be a double edged sword, but i think he comes by it honestly as well. given his background with Mystra.
i shouldn't even need to mention it but the way the "with you i forget my goddess" and the "you would really prefer me as i am?" lines wrench my heart- like, okay that's very romantic but he's also (imo) accepting that he, a human man, cannot be perfect. that to me is like anti-toxic masculinity in the sense of accepting that a real relationship is where two people are equals and that it's founded in mutual respect and adoration. not unrequited love and service (especially service).
Astarion
get at me if you want, but this man is in touch with his feminine side. i would personally call him high femme, but that's a little besides the point, he sews, appreciates fashion, yada yada.
the next part about him i want to discuss as delicately as possible- he's very forthcoming (once he feels relatively safe and in control of the situation at hand) with his experiences as an ab-se/SA survivor. most men do not have the space to do this, nor are they actively encouraged to share their experiences. and with that, depending on dialogue choices, he wants to cease all intimate contact and go at his own pace. not expecting men to be sexual is kind of big on its own, but given his background, i think it's especially important in his storyline. furthermore, in the spawn!romance stream, he is very explicit about moving forward with Tav as equals.
Raphael
you.. y'all. you already know what i'm going to say regarding the dialogue with Haarlep. i don't really know if i have anything to add besides reiterating that men do not have to be these perfect, virile sexual machines.
Extra Stuff
the emphasis on consent: whether it's in a romance dialogue or if it's the game warning you "you're about to do xyz, are you sure?!"
specifically consent in the romance dialogues though: there are usually 3-4 chances for you as the player to be like "actually, i don't want to do that"
queer couples (npc + npc or pc + companion) are just.. normal. once you get to the lower city you'll hear a ton of ambient dialogue where it will be like "my husband blah blah blah" and you look and it's a gnome and his dragonborn husband standing in the street
uhh, hi larian jumping on the character creator with gender neutral and gender-mixed/mixable options, way to make the player base feel seen. hearing my Tav (Festé) be referred to as "they" in dialogue without issue (especially glaring grammatical ones like i've seen in other games) was really big for me, personally.
openly trans npcs. the defense rests, your honor. okay but imagine my surprise when i hear abigail fucking thorn in a completely missable dialogue scene, where she (the character) talks openly about the fact that she is a fucking trans woman. like.
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Uruks in The Rings of Power “Culture and Language Tidbits”
In the Nerd of the Rings interview (https://youtu.be/eDJ9SgAyjL4) the uruk cast talks about some of the aspects of creating their orcs.
Beyond being one dimensional
They mention how the show is “set in a period of time when orcs are closer to their creation and further removed from dominating Mordor” (~7:05) and around ~20:40 Jed Brophy talks about the work that went into creating the backstory for the uruks. Robert Strange mentions how Adar as well as actor Joseph Mawle were “very passionate about making the uruks, the orcs come across as a people”. The orcs should not just be seen as a “kind of killing machines, or just generic battle evil minions”. Around ~7:05 Phil Grieve mentions this background work as well and Mawle being “very keen that we take a very different approach, in terms of seeing ourselves; perhaps as refugees looking for our own homeland, so culturally it is quite different I think,” compared to the orcs and uruk-hai we see in the movies.
Tangible elements of culture
Around ~33:10 they talk about the orcs of this age, their sensitivity to sunlight, their physicality and the culture of the orcs e.g. their armour designs being based on things scavenged and stolen, such as Magrot´s chestplate which gets handed to someone else after his death or the helmets (some of them being made of bones, some of them being first age elven helmets refashioned) and their protective capes/cloaks made from dragonskin (x / x / x). It seems they filmed more material than can be seen on the show e.g. of the armour bits getting distributed after Magrot´s death.
Black Speech (x)
As Jed Brophy mentions around ~16:44 there was resistance to them having too much Black Speech in the show.
Joseph Mawle (x) and dialect coach Leith McPherson supported them in having more “sprinkled in there”. Having this harsh guttural language is amazing for them as actors. “It does give us a kind of identity … you got dwarves speaking Khuzdûl, you got elves speaking different dialects of elvish but we have our own language and we would not use common speech especially in a battle situation, so we were very chuffed to be able to have sprinkled in our own language.”
E.g. In the Tavern scene Jed´s “Fabio” (?) says ushun? nampuk (”kill them all” / “they all must die”) which Arondir understands, so he knows what the uruk is saying, but all the others taverners have no idea what’s coming so “it’s a bit of a surprise” there. “Fortunately we were able to have those conversation and support from various people to allow us to have” some Black Speech.
Phil Grieve mentions that however the process was interesting, with a “round table back in the states”, everything said having to be vetted, then coming back to them through the dialogue coach.
Beyond being one dimensional - Before TRoP?
Tolkien was rather undecided on the “nature” of the orcs (” (I nearly wrote 'irredeemably bad'; but that would be going too far. Because by accepting or tolerating their making — necessary to their actual existence — even Orcs would become part of the World, which is God's and ultimately good.) But whether they could have 'souls' or 'spirits' seems a different question;” Letter 153) but there is little more in his writing that gives much insight? We have some quotes that give hints that orcs might reject authority but not necessarily (a life of) violence. Rebellion was not unheard of (Gorbag gets called “that filthy rebel” or a rebel pack is mentioned “then it must be a pack of rebel Uruk-hai“ and there is most famously the scene with Shagrat and Gorbag: “‘Grr! Those Nazgûl give me the creeps.[...] But He likes ’em; they’re His favourites nowadays, so it’s no use grumbling. I tell you, it’s no game serving down in the city.’ ‘You should try being up here with Shelob for company,’ said Shagrat. ‘I’d like to try somewhere where there’s none of ’em. But the war’s on now, and when that’s over things may be easier.’ ‘It’s going well, they say.’ ‘They would,’ grunted Gorbag. ‘We’ll see. But anyway, if it does go well, there should be a lot more room. What d’you say? – if we get a chance, you and me’ll slip off and set up somewhere on our own with a few trusty lads, somewhere where there’s good loot nice and handy, and no big bosses.’ ‘Ah!’ said Shagrat. ‘Like old times.’ ‘Yes,’ said Gorbag. ‘But don’t count on it. I’m not easy in my mind. As I said, the Big Bosses, ay,’ his voice sank almost to a whisper, ‘ay, even the Biggest, can make mistakes. Something nearly slipped, you say. I say, something has slipped. And we’ve got to look out. Always the poor Uruks to put slips right, and small thanks. But don’t forget: the enemies don’t love us any more than they love Him, and if they get topsides on Him, we’re done too.’”
[Gif from TRoP episode 01x06 "Udûn"]
#the rings of power#rings of power#uruk culture#black speech#joseph mawle#trop bts behind the scenes#mine lotr
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Curious, but what would your Pokemon trainer quotes be? :0 Things like battle intro, victory, defeat, Pokemon on low HP, landing a super effective hit, Pokemon fainting, that sort’ve thing!
oh that's a really nice question! i'm so not sure for myself personally, but my delusional brain has essentially developed an entire hypothetical pokemon game starring my oc victor as the champion so maybe i could answer with what some of his theoretical lines would be? ^_^
he's a very kindhearted and motivational person, so it would feel less like a competition and more of him inspiring you on! of course, not that he intends to hold back or anything - and when it comes to battling he's the absolute cream of the crop, but instead of fixating on winning he'd rather have fun! another little tidbit i should share is that in some modes, you'd be given the option of fighting him in a double-battle format with his husband, hawke, as his battle partner - so i'll include some additional dialogue for that particular scenario!
battle intro: "hehe, isn't this exciting? of course, i saw promise in you from the very moment we first met - remember? it was back in the temple of fire when we first had that run-in with team relic... at the time i was rather naive to the danger present... as both the champion and the rightful guardian of the fairel region, i failed in my duty to apprehend the situation, and that carelessness of mine nearly resulted in the devastation of everything... everything that i hold dear to me... indeed, i could have very well turned out just like that man if i... if i hadn't had you, and so many other loyal allies by my side. i'm still... that is, i'm still apologetic over the fact that i had to drag an innocent child like you into this mess... but you've more than proven yourself worthy to stand here today among the greats - yes, you should be proud of yourself! you've accomplished so much... and even after you leave here today, regardless of the outcome - i know that you'll continue to go on and achieve even more incredible feats - your shine is eternal, young trainer... and this battle of ours was a long time coming indeed... but let us peel off our competitive lens and... consider this no more than a humble showdown between a pair of good friends. let's have fun, all right? the ultimate winner matters little... what truly matters was the journey until this point, and the ones you'll have henceforth! now - lucario and i are going to give it our all; come at us with all you've got!"
battle intro (w/ hawke): "oh, look who it is! ready for another rematch, are we? as you can tell, i don't come alone this time - hawke resigned from the elite four when the position of the head of the battle palace was thrust onto him, but he told me he could spare a minute to test your abilities in an, ah. less hostile environment, right? things can get pretty darn heated over there, from what i've been able to tell... so then, i had this great idea! the erstwhile champion and the illustrious battle king... quite the fearsome pair, wouldn't you say? if you're looking for a bit more of a challenge this time around... why don't you try and compete with our combined wisdom and see if you can prevail? don't let me down, hawke and salamence!"
super-effective hit: "wow, that was a good one! but don't think you've got it in the bag just yet... you'll need to keep up the ante if you hope to defeat me!"
super-effective hit w/ hawke: "oh, hawke! are you all right? don't falter yet - we can still win this thing!"
pokemon fainting: "... you did well, partner - have a nice rest now, okay? your allies will avenge you!"
pokemon fainting w/ hawke: "don't despair, hawke! we've still got some tricks up our sleeves, right? come on - let's push through this adversity together!"
pokemon on low hp: "looks like we've been backed into a corner... but victory hasn't fallen from our clutches yet! get ready!"
pokemon on low hp w/ hawke: "oh, yikes! let's get you patched up there, hawkey - it isn't like you to be so reckless!"
last pokemon: "... it all comes down to this, doesn't it? my beloved friend... you've been with me through thick and thin... without you, i reckon my story would have ended a long time ago... so... for the climax of our thrilling tale, let's give it everything we've got - use the full breadth of your power and arise a champion, lucario!"
last pokemon w/ hawke: "looks like we're down to our last two... an iconic pair best reserved for last! lucario, salamence, hawke - we've all come such a long way... but this isn't the end yet - no, let's ride on this high and take victory home!"
defeat: "i... i can't believe it, you actually... hahaha... hahaha! good job - i'm so proud of you! to have been able to witness your growth from start to finish, i truly... i cannot wait to see how this dream of yours unfolds. congratulations!"
defeat w/ hawke: "haha... even with our combined power... we still weren't able to triumph in the end, huh? no worries - it was still a whole lotta fun!"
.... SORRY IF THIS GOT A BIT LENGTHY! i just love my kids so much sobbing
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this phrase the author gave to Noah is misleading to me:
here I already have several questions at once:
1) how did this phrase sound in the original - is its content really approximately the same there, and is this not an inevitable distortion of the russian and english translations that I saw?
2) where the phrase itself was taken from - despite the biblical story, this is clearly not a literal quote; did the author formulate this himself?
3) what is the message, context and essence - what thread of thoughts should this phrase prompt those who see it?
with the first question everything is obvious. I have no idea what this manga looks like without translation, how the characters dialogues are designed, what meaning they have outside of russian and english translations. the second question - I'm wondering how the author even thought of something like this. well, the third question… so.
"the burning passion towards winning back human freedom and peace is surging through this place" - it is very strong. in general, the whole phrase here is very strong, and a priori evokes positive emotions and associations; for the same obvious reasons. a phrase in which a sincere, good desire is immediately visible. most likely also on uncorrupted grounds. and dammmmmnnnn I'm sure that the author didn't think through or write any of this out at all - come on, this is the situation with the original Noah. nevertheless, this phrase is here, and for me it fits so poorly even with the statue that later appears from the Book. most likely, the author, as usual, wrote some kind of nonsense that is associated only with this statue, which appeared once…
however, I wouldn't be such an annoying bore if I didn't come up with context here. one of my interlocutors wrote to me a couple of years ago that, despite the inappropriateness of the phrase, it looks as if Noah sees himself in a similar place, perceives himself like that - and, accordingly, talks about himself. considering how many rewrites I have of his character…
almost everyone in this manga strives for power. moreover, when Arachne strives for power, when she wants to become the top of the current mechanism - this is bad. but when Shinigami strives to retain power, and we are clearly shown that he has repressive levers and personal interests, from which he acts - this is nice. there are his "divine" status and her baseless destructive desires. wow👍👍👍
I think the author didn't prescribe why the characters need power and why they need to change the structure of the world to suit themselves; I consider it necessary to mention that power is a tool. and changing the structure of the world should not necessarily be aimed at turning it into ruins. in fact, one can want to change the existing system out of various motives and ideas. ofc.
too noble for Noah, ha?
my interpretation, which can be mentioned here, has a lot to do with this phrase. it would be interesting if Noah could actually consider himself and his confrontation (for example - the battle against a conception of any divinity) to be right and true - despite all his means, and not consider himself tainted by whatever he had to do to achieve his goal. especially if in his goal he really sees the return of civilization to "freedom of decision-making" in a certain context. I'm an annoying bore, so now I really wanted to write here a post about Noah's fighting against a conception of any divinity…
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(Gary anon) The fact Iris never really interacted with Lance at all is certainly a choice by the writers. (I'm sure for the most part they had pre-planned Journeys' plots and are prepared in case of anything that could disrupt workflow, but an earthquake is not the same as a world-wide health scare. But strangely, it feels like it may have been more than just that this time)
.
(Re-send Part 2) I'm grateful that he saw return, with new captures, is back out traveling the world, new drive, still an overachiever, retains his battle prowess and caught a legendary. Just wished he was utilized different, considering Journeys' initial premise. (My main concern is Gary being made a joke again; to potentially make Goh look like he "surpassed" him. When story-wise, he really hasn't earned it? Goh getting to close to Mew is fine, not if Gary is made blatantly helpless again)
(Part 3) I wouldn't be surprised if some of the choices made in Journeys has definitely made some concerned about the S/V anime. (There doesn't seem to be much info on Ash yet. Based in the datamine, most sync pairs coming up are returning ones) It's Dragonite last chance to get a Master Class victory. I have a feeling Charizard will strike it down.
(Part 4) (Some are expecting Ash to maybe reignite Cynthia's passion for battles. There's also her in-game quotes when you battle. I'm guessing she'll have a similar reason to Leon for wanting to possibly quit) Heh, it was either that or Frontier Brain, like some were hoping for. We hadn't had a Battle Frontier since Gen 4, so I think that may be why they went with that.
(Part 5) (Saw the dub, Gary kinda sounded meaner than he did in the original. Maybe it's the sarcastic tone, but it feels like that for most of his lines. Tokio's voice, hmm. And this seems to be the first time that an Arcanine got a dub change. It's usually keeps its Japanese voice. The website I mentioned a while ago: Blissey Husband has it up under "Ultimate Journeys". You have endure wait times between pages though)
Yeah, it would've been nice to at least have the two dragon-type trainer champions interact a little bit.
Yeah, Journeys has had... a bit of a difficult run, huh. The pandemic's affected so much.
True, true. Grateful as I am to see him again at all and to see him accomplishing great things like fighting legendaries without it ending in trauma, they could've done something so much more... fun with him than the route things ended up going. I don't know.
That's the worry, yeah. Goh's great, I love him, but I'd have a hard time buying him really surpassing someone who has so many more years of experience on him. Hoping Journeys can handle that situation well enough to stick the landing despite the... issues there have been.
I have to say, I'm a little nervous myself. After SM and JN both went against the usual formula in their own ways, you have to wonder if they'll keep doing that with SV and if so, how. Hoping for the best however things play out.
I can totally see her battle against Ash reigniting her passion, yeah!
That makes sense.
I've seen it too at this point and... yeah. I don't think Gary's sounded that abrasive since Indigo League, damn. Honestly not the biggest fan of that particular episode's dubbing, the dialogue felt... off. Feels like they tried a little too hard to stay close to the original dialogue and the result was kind of stilted. The dialogue usually flows better than that, I don't know what happened.
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To address your point about Byleth not having a personality, their personality is that of caring about their comrades/peers while also making reckless decisions. We see the latter in at least 3 situations; protecting Ladle from Kostas, going to Zanado during Sothis paralogue without informing their students, and going back to help Rhea during the battle of Garreg Mach. And I also like their character arc where they have difficulty showing emotion and caring due to isolation via Jeralt (cont)
but then after they become a professor in Garreg Mach they slowly start to express emotions; we see that during the aftermath of the Battle of the Eagle and Lion and during the aftermath of Remire Village. Even besides those two moments, we see them showing some emotion after bonding with students in some of the supports, whether it be glaring at Sylvain after he cheats on someone during his C support, or show a worried expression when Annette trips on a barrel during her C support (cont)
They’re other examples as well but the point is that if they really didn’t have a character/personality, they wouldn’t react to those moments that way. Similarly some of the choices wouldn’t make sense if they had no personality/character like calling Dimitri’s worry for Edel puppy love or say to Alois that they don’t know Jeralt. (cont)
Even some of the character moments wouldn’t make sense if Byleth had no personality like killing Randolph when Dimi was going to torture him or going after Kronya head on despite Rhea and Seteth’s pleas.
Now here’s where I’ll give you a point: I think it was wrong to have Byleth not have any dialogue outside of battle quotes whether it’d be being defeated/dying, leveling up, skill upgrade, and class change. Plus it sucks that other characters don’t get as much spotlight, like during the rain scene and the Klieman interrogation in AM. But I blame the latter more on the writers accounting for permadeath than say Byleth’s presence in the story. (cont)
TL;DR Byleth has a character/personality, it's just not as blatant as it should be and I think not giving them voiced lines outside of battle was a big mistake. Byleth is their own character and I don't think they should be written off from the Fodlanverse.
Hopefully, it didn't come off as bellicose. If it did, I apologize. 😅
i hope i got all ur asks here anon! i can't say i agree with everything, but it's still interesting to see what about byleth appeals to you! n u weren't being aggressive at all lmao just passionate, shows that u care
#im not gonna like. go and argue against stuff people sent me that's not why i made the post#just want to see what people on the other side of the fence think so to speak#not try to tell them they're 'wrong' or whatever#asks
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I had this quick revelation whilst playing FO4:
So once upon a time I personally had a bit of a theory that Hancock might be a cannibal. Known or unknown, willingly or not. I never made a post about it per say, but there's a lot of hints that would suggest he is:
First, there's his Endurance perk, which is at 8, the Cannibal perk. Now that could be brushed off because he's a ghoul, and ghouls can basically eat anything, but that doesn't explain why Nick and Danse "have" the Cannibal perk, when both being synths could've had Solar Powdered instead. And Nick doesn't even need to eat anyways, so why the hell does he have it in the first place? Because most companion stats in regards to the perk level actually align with their personalities.
Then you have the fact that when you commit cannibalism, his affinity doesn't change. He's not bothered by it, while most companions are, because his philosophy is that you need to do what you have to in order to survive, right?
We also have the fact that he's the only companion that likes eating Longneck Lukowski's canned meat, which afterwards we find out it had traces of ghoul meat in it the entire time.
Obviously, we all know the ghoul joke, right? Which is, yet again, a joke about cannibalism. Ghoul walks into a bar, all that stuff. Which is yeah, ha ha funny ghouls eat people because ferals, but there's actually a SECOND cannibalism "joke" he makes which is right after defeating an enemy: "All right, let's get eatin'. Kidding, kidding...". The difference between these two lines? In the companion dialogue, the first one has in brackets "Telling a joke/Amused" (which refers to how the line should be read along with the faceanim the character has with it), but the second one? It just states "Defeated an enemy in combat/Neutral". You'd uhh, think that if it were more joke-like the faceanim would've been something like the amused one as well, but no. And as any writer knows, ellipses (those three dots "...") are always VERY telling...
But the quote of his that made me really think about it as I was playing at such early hours, was this one from when I went back to Vault 111: "People in these Vaults probably never had to kill anyone to score a day's meal. What kind of life is that?" (Comes under the "Quesion" faceanim, which would state it's a genuine question from him). This quote always bothered me, because you can't gurantee that everyone you kill in the wasteland is going to have food on them, let alone enough to last the entire day. And that's when it hit me:
What if he's not talking about what they've got on them, but he's referring to them their selves. What if in order to get any food at all, he had to actually kill someone for what they literally had on them? I mean, the guy likes killing. There's literally a line in-game where he PLEADS with you to kill someone. ("Come on, just kill 'em. Live a little.") He vague about who he's killing as well. "Anyone" could refer to, well, literally anyone. This line could easily imply that, in the case he DID kill someone to eat them, he could've just as easily killed any random person out of desperation.
Also, during writing this I remembered the times I went through as much companion dialogue as I could to write about their personal interests, the first topic being what their favourite food was (which I have a lot of stuff on my pc so I ended up making the list a few times on different occasions) and surprise surprise, out of ALL of the companions, Hancock's the one who talks about food and eating the most. I kid you not. Whether it's in battle ("Radstag stew coming up!"), or he's just bringing up something in general. You go to the Fallout wikia and look in Hancock's dialogue files, you'll see exactly what I mean. You know what kind of people in the Fallout universe are prone to talking about food and eating a lot? Cannibals.
So with all that said, yes. I do indeed think Hancock is a cannibal. I mean, it's literally in his special stats for crying out loud. Strictly? Definitely not. Do I think he does it because he likes it? No. I think it's one of those "you do what you need to in order to survive" situations.
#this could play into the whole thing about why bobbi was wanting to go through files of hancock's to find any dirt he had on him#because realistically... outside of that theory there doesn't really seem like there could be anything THAT bad about him#unless of course it was something like this#but that's another thing in itself#fallout 4#theory#hancock#I think it's probably a little more than a theory#I mean we've got actual dialogue stats and reactions to the SS's actions suggesting so...
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going thru jotaro’s different interactions with other characters in eyes of heaven cuz that game is full of many treats and treasures. i had to stop and ponder this one for a bit cuz it confused me at first:
the dialogue is hard to see so i’ll write it here:
AVDOL: How old are you now, Jotaro?
JOTARO: Hmph... You sound like my uncle or something.
i was like... what? but then i realized, oh! this is actually super cute!! and also probably really obvious to everyone except me because i’m autistic and any alteration in phrasing becomes completely alien to me.
note: this is based off the subtitles. i don’t know japanese so i can’t use the direct quotes for reference but i’m going to assume the subs are decent enough for this small dissection.
so this is avdol from the 80s interacting with jotaro from the 90s, it makes sense for him to ask how old jotaro is. firstly, he’s wearing different clothes which is absurd for jotaro “i-wear-my-school-uniform-in-the-desert-sun” kujo. secondly, we shall use our suspension of disbelief skills to say he probably looks older. jotaro’s reply threw me off though because for a moment i forgot josuke exists LOL. i was like, who is your uncle??
then i remembered him and... got confused again.
avdol doesn’t really sound like josuke here. i can’t remember a time where josuke asks how old jotaro is, either genuinely or jokingly calling him old. yeah, sure, maybe it’s just referencing the fact that jotaro is older than josuke, how that’s not very typical, and the comedic confusion of that... BUT i’m pretty sure josuke isn’t actually referenced here at all. avdol doesn’t even know who josuke is, so why would jotaro bring him up in conversation? i’m not even sure this version of part 4 jotaro knows josuke (i don’t remember the eyes of heaven plot very well or the timeline of it)
then i realized he’s actually teasing avdol. the phrasing of it confused me, but if i changed it up a bit: “you sound like my uncle or something” --> “what, are you my uncle now or something?” i think that’s the joke. which is really endearing IMO. earlier i said it makes sense for avdol to ask how old jotaro is, but the wording of it is also quite funny. he asks, “how old are you now?” y’know, like an uncle seeing you during the holidays. yeah, he means it literally like, clearly i am in the future, how old are you so i know how far in the future..? which is clear at the end of the fight when his reply is, “ten years have passed?”
but jotaro replies with amusement because he sees how silly the situation is. avdol has been dead / jotaro hasn’t seen him for 10 years (again, eyes of heaven timeline, i can’t remember what happens when or if it affects the multiplayer battle mode idk) and then suddenly shows up in the future like, “hey, kiddo! woah, you’ve gotten so tall!” jotaro, being jotaro, scoffs and pokes fun but i think him teasingly calling avdol his uncle is quite sweet and shows he cares a lot about him. i tend to think of jotaro as being pretty straightforward because he is in terms of action, but he actually tiptoes around things in verbal conversation a lot (either through huffy comments or just being silent) so i’ve just been thinking about this like, what does it mean... what does it all mean, mr kujo? and i’ve decided it means he missed avdol and is glad to see him, actually. my evidence? i like him. i like his uncle avdol, as well.
#jojo's bizarre adventure#jotaro kujo#mohammed avdol#stardust crusaders#eyes of heaven#putting jotaro under my microscope#i love analyzing mundane things#idk i love his and avdol's dynamic and this is sweet#need a textpost tag for my ramblings#adam's yaoi microscope#no....i think not#well
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Hi! Got a prompt for you if you're interested (feel free to write a drabble, a one-shot, or a multi-chap): Levihan, "One more chance." Open to interpretation. Thanks, and good luck! :)
okay so i decided to combine this prompt together with my headcanon for that levihan ring merch for a canon setting one-shot!
One More Chance
"What do you think of rings?" Hange asks Levi out of the blue, in the little room that could suffice as an office for his unofficial position as second in command.
"Why?" Levi knows that Hauge doesn't ask questions out of the blue without motives.
They could be random, absurd, silly, but there was always a reason behind their questions.
Hange plants one elbow on the table, bent forward in anticipation for Levi's answer. His eyes catch the glint of Hange's bolo tie as it swung back and forth.
Jewellery? Vanity aside, Hange knows better than Levi how expensive it is to obtain warm clothing and food, much less a bunch of shiny rocks. They spent days mulling over the Survey Corps’ budget, where to allocate resources, how to seek funding, and to keep expenses humane but tight.
“Why?” He repeats, unsure as to whether to sneak in a crass joke as Hange’s eyes were shining—in a different tone compared to the bright-eyedness that showed whenever they made a new discovery. It was, what was it? Nostalgia? Levi is certain that Hange had never, of ten years being by their side, even hinted at a desire for a ring, for whatever reason they might yearn for the object.
Hange knows Levi is perturbed—suspicious, even. They know that such an ambiguously-worded question, simple as it was, will not warrant a straightforward answer from Levi. He is far too observant to not think of Hange’s line of questioning as uncharacteristic from the usual. The usual Hange will elaborate; they will give details. Perhaps this is a ring made from a special sort of metal to go undetected from metal sensors to sneak past the enemy and pass on valuable information etched in code on the inside, for example. Whatever reason that prompted Hange to take a sudden interest in rings wasn’t for battle, or for moral good, which frankly, is more embarrassing for them.
“Do you keep those patches with you?” Hange changes the topic. Levi blinks, then turns to the drawer and pulls the handle. The open drawer speaks for itself; filled with rows and rows of haphazardly torn patches of the Survey Corp’s uniform, the emblem of the wings of freedom.
“You keep it here, huh…” Hange muses, touching one patch tenderly, feeling the crusted blood stain at the tip of their finger.
“Do you remember who each patch belongs to?”
Levi shakes his head, not defending the lack of differentiation between the patches. To him, each patch is louder than a name attached to it. A fellow soldier whose heart he carried on within him.
“If I die, Levi, will you bring back my patch?”
“Don’t ask stupid questions.” Levi is quick to retort, sounding mildly irritated that Hange brought up the possibility of death.
“We all die someday.”
“We should think about how to stay alive,” Levi says firmly. “And what does any of this have to do with rings?”
Hange laughs, patting Levi on the shoulder affectionately. “You won’t let that go, huh?”
“It seems important,” Levi says, disgruntled. “You’re not usually so hesitant.”
“It’s not.” Hange waves their hands defensively, straightening up to avoid Levi’s gaze.
“What’s that in your pocket? Your hand keeps touching it.” Levi is sharp as ever, Hange thinks, itching to back out and tend to more important commander duties.
“Maybe next time! I have to go!” Hange brisk-walks out of the office, leaving Levi in the dust. He has the immediate urge to follow them, to grab their arm and ask what’s wrong, to force some kind of coherent understanding to this muddled conversation. Yet, he continues sitting on the chair, wondering if their mutual awkwardness had swept past them in the form of a lost opportunity. The patches flutter a little in the wind, as though asking him, what are you so afraid of?
He closes the drawer and sinks back onto the creaky, wooden chair, waiting for Hange to come back.
The next time he sees them again is when he’s so battered that his back trembles at the prospect of sitting on another hard surface. The series of negotiations, arguments, plans, fly past him in a whirlwind of decisions led by Hange. He occasionally spots the bulge in their side pocket, but his head is spinning with a million of other more dire worries to figure out what the hell is this unresolved mystery from months ago.
One night, as Hange tends to the bandages around his head, traces the stiches on his face, and mumbles quiet nothings about how they’re glad he’s alive, he finally lifts a shaky hand to point at the bulging pocket.
“Are you going to tell me what’s in that?”
“Nothing that will help us stop this mess,” Hange says, sweeping some of the fringe off his forehead to wipe the sweat underneath.
“But it’s important to you,” he states. Hange nods slowly.
“And you want to show it to me.” He tries, unaccustomed to the presumptuousness of his claim. But there is little time. If there was ever time before, now they were running on thin, cracked lines of time, teetering over the edge.
Hange sighs, and stuffs a reluctant hand into their pocket to bring out a small box.
“Don’t worry, I didn’t use the Scouts’ funds.”
“The Survey Corps doesn’t exist anymore,” Levi reminds them, to distract his mind from speculating endlessly about what’s in the box. He wants to sit up. Physically straining himself feels unwise, so he settles with tilting his head to get a clearer view of both Hange and the box.
Hange carefully holds his shoulders to sit him up, leaning him against them.
“I got rings for us.”
“Huh?”
The box is opened, and inside were two shining rings in silver and gold. Purple embellishment on the gold and green on silver. Not to mention it was heart-shaped rings. Levi feels his cheeks getting warmer by the second by its blatant implications, and is thankful that the bandages literally covered half his face.
“I know, I told them not to make it heart-shaped but you know when Reeves knew it was for you he said I had to make it obvious, whatever that meant,” Hange says quickly, snapping the box shut so as to save themselves from having to confront what was glaring at them.
“It’s not practical for fighting,” Levi murmurs, reaching out to take the box from Hange.
“Dedicate your hearts… wasn’t that what Erwin said?” Hange, always the one to inject light humour in tense situations, decides it will be alright to quote Erwin’s war cry in what is essentially a confession.
“Right.” Levi opens the box, looking expectantly at Hange.
“What?”
“Rings are for wearing, right?”
“You said they weren’t practical!”
“We’re not fighting now.”
Running their hands through their hair, Hange looks rather sheepish. “It’s a bit selfish but I just want to be remembered. As more than a patch.”
Levi frowns, bandages crinkling. “You think I’ll forget you?”
“I don’t know.”
“I won’t forget you. Ring or no ring.”
Upon hearing the seriousness of Levi’s voice, the light-heartedness returns to Hange, as they cheekily present the ring to them.
“Well then, will you dedicate your heart to me, shitty Captain?”
“Whatever, Four-eyes.” He says it as flippantly as he can, yet handles the ring like sudden movement will break it.
“Hah! I wonder what the kids will say about the rings…” Hange stretches out and lays beside Levi, admiring the ring on their hand amidst the backdrop of night stars. He takes their hand and weaves his fingers through it, placing their interlocked hands on his chest.
After the plane takes off, Levi’s eyes are trained on the floor. The plane rattles, swerves, and gains momentum. Everyone around him is emotional—rightly so, because their leader had said a fleeting goodbye before leaping to their death. He holds one hand in the other, feeling the cold metal on his finger. Rings don’t leave the smell of Hange’s skin when they lie their head on his shoulder after a long day. Rings don’t capture the sound of Hange’s laugh when they make friendly banter with their juniors, or when Levi makes the occasional, dry joke that only they pick up on. Rings don’t emulate the dialogue of their late-night discussions in his office, the tea that he makes and that they drink from the same cup—to save the time needed for washing, according to Hange. He doesn’t protest.
Still, the ring is all he has left. The one chance Hange had, they entrusted in him this ring. They could translate Levi’s words into more palpable versions for other people, but they could not for the life of them come up with words to express their more vulnerable feelings. For Hange, the ring was another chance to cement what remained unspoken: I hope you remember me. I’m here with you.
The last chance Levi had, he placed a fist on their heart.
“Dedicate your heart.” The ring flashes in the sunlight, making Hange blink back tears.
Now, he clutches one hand in the other.
“See you, Hange.” The ring stares back, patiently. He closes his eyes, bringing the thin, metal sentiment to his lips.
“Keep watching us.”
thank you for the prompt @djmarinizelablog !! ^_^
#aot#levihan#rings#levi ackerman#hange zoe#levi x hange#fanfiction#my writing#hanji zoe#shingeki no kyojin#prompt#how many times can i use these same three lines from chapter 132#yes i admit merch has inspired my writing what can i say#tbh a heart shaped ring irl sounds hard to wear XD
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Ending Umbrella Scene Analysis (Mr. Pigeon 72)
I loved this scene so, so much from the new episode, I'm going to be rewatching it on repeat for 5 years 😍
So anyways, I noticed some interesting things about the parallels of the umbrella scenes...thought I'd share...
Marinette got trapped under the umbrella when she was standing alone under it in Stoneheart.
In Mr. Pigeon 72, they are both trapped under the umbrella together and are standing next to each other.
It symbolizes the fact that now both of them hold the umbrella, showing their mutual love for each other, Marinette not being alone in her feelings for Adrien anymore.
“Wow, have you kept it all this time?”
Immediately after, the scene shows us rain and lighting, the same situation in Origins when Marinette first fell in love with Adrien. It’s indicating that she’s fallen in love with him again.
Marinette's love for Adrien was originally depicted in the umbrella scene. He gave her the umbrella. It’s the moment that sparked her love. But it doesn’t end there. He's also given her something else, which she's kept for a long time. It's not just an umbrella. The umbrella is supposed to symbolize love between them. More than a reverse in the love square, it’s a reset.
Adrien's question about keeping the umbrella doesn't just refer to the umbrella. It refers to her feelings.
Marinette has kept the umbrella concealed, the same way she’s kept her feelings concealed. What’s special about this scene? The fact that she didn’t conceal her feelings. She’s been trapped, like an umbrella, but she’s finally opening it up in this scene.
The symbol here is that she’s had the umbrella the entire time.
She’s kept her feelings for Adrien buried inside the entire time, finally taking them out during this scene and falling in love again.
The umbrella served as a symbol of her love for him, and by showing that she kept it, it suggests she never lost it.
Yes, Marinette spent so much time in denial of her feelings. She even tried dating Luka. She tried to forget about Adrien. But she never did let go of Adrien. Marinette still has the umbrella, but she's using it for the first time after falling in love during this scene.
I can't go to describe how well the dialogues are written in this scene.
Although Marinette wanted to return the umbrella, Adrien told her she would need it to get back home.
They're literally speaking through the umbrella's terms here-
Their love is symbolized by the reoccuring situation. Adrien is telling her that it’s too early for him to accept the umbrella. He tells her she needs it to go home. Before he can accept it, Marientte needs to accept her feelings for him and become comfortable with herself. She needs to feel comfortable around Adrien before he can accept his love for her. That’s why they’re both standing under the umbrella this time. Not just Marinette.
When they were both holding the umbrella, Marinette asked him to walk home with her. The way she asks for love is indirect. He was happy that Marinette wanted him to walk alongside her, but looked back and realized there were still too many responsibilities for him too. That it wasn’t time yet.
I think this scene was trying to tell us that it’s too early. It’s not time yet to hold the umbrella together, before walking beside each other, before accepting those feelings. He first needs to get control over his life. They must be prepared to hold the umbrella together, not just as Marinette and Adrien. As a team.
But he can’t accept the umbrella just yet.
Life is not waiting for the storm to pass, but learning to dance in the rain.
I love what Alya said here. The quote essentially suggests that you should enjoy the present moment for what it is, rather than wasting time watching it pass.
Adrien and Marinette falling in love under the umbrella happened all over again, and it’s really not a coincidence. Alya said that she wanted Marinette to understand that she needs to live for the present rather than constantly worrying about being a guardian night and day. No matter how bad the circumstances are, she's still got to take breaks. Marinette found out immediately after that Adrigami had split up. But instead of going to console Adrien, she went to console Kagami because she knew Kagami’s only friend was her. She learned to accept circumstances as they are and immediately decided to go to Kagami. Because that’s what (girl)friends do.
When the storm passes, you can dance in the rain. When you wait for a storm to pass, you will freeze. Life is a struggle, and you will have to deal with daily struggles that are outside of your control. Depending on how you handle your struggles in life, you’ll either build yourself up or break yourself down. In the midst of the storm, you can find peace if you take the right steps.
‘Learning to dance in the rain' refers to the need to prepare for difficult times rather than merely wait for them to pass. This means that, despite all the challenges in life, it is still possible to find happiness. Despite being stuck in the middle of a bad storm, it’s important that Marinette learns to dance in the rain. It’s about how to view things, and how we keep optimism about our future, and recognize that we're heading in the right direction. You won't put your life on hold if you make it a point to enjoy life, even if it means you might have to sacrifice something to let loose once in a while. When the storm passes, you shouldn’t sit down to wait for it to pass since you may forget to get back up and continue your life. That’s what Alya is trying to tell Marinette. You’re going to get tired, and you can pause for a break in the weather, but dancing in the rain helps you get back up and finish what needs to be done.
Whenever there is a storm, Marinette isolates herself from love. Not just Adrien. Any type of affection. Her friends, her family, Luka...That’s what happened in Gang of Secrets. Marinette wants to keep her friendships but she doesn’t want to reveal her secret. It's important to her not to involve her friends in this. They shouldn't be burdened by her. It’s safer if no one finds out. Having a secret, and a struggle to prioritize, and maintaining her relationships causes her to do that to herself and people around her. In spite of the fact that it hurts, she's avoiding relationships entirely because she hopes it will protect those around her. Her time and energy is limited because relationships take a lot of effort and time. As a result, she avoided any type of romance. To the point where she was in clear denial of her feelings.
Now that she has Alya, she can help her. Of course, Alya's support for Marinette cannot be underestimated, but the episode is also a reminder that things aren't close to being ideal. As strong as Alya is, she isn't so strong that she can completely reverse Marinette's fall and reset everything back to normal.
Marinette’s definitely recovering. Nevertheless, the show is doing a lot to demonstrate that it is still a process. She’s still spending lots of time battling Shadowmoth. She has been making all kinds of crazy contraptions to hide the miracle box and kwamis in her room, and it’s driving her a little insane. She’s spending most of her time working on translating the grimoire while maintaining her double life and duties as a civilian. The storm is waning- but it isn’t over yet.
Why is that line from Alya so important? Because Marinette does need to let loose. Take a break from all the plans and simplify her life sometimes. Her approach is to take charge of situations, make plans, and set up things to make them happen. When she’s Ladybug, her assertive behavior means she is automatically paid attention to, and her clever plans save the day. Sometimes her anxiety is spiking and it goes a little too far. A flaw shown throughout the show: She goes from trying to lead a situation to trying to control it, steamrolling the other people involved. Complicating things often stresses her more.
Gamer 2.0 is a perfect example of this. This episode shows how she goes to great lengths to make people happy and even overworks herself in order to do so. She attempted the same approach over and over again out of stress and confusion in response to the situation. The concept of “dancing in the rain” is actually what Chat Noir did and was trying to tell Ladybug in the episode. Yes, there was indeed a storm. Yet, it was the enjoyment he found in the midst of it that helped them in the end, wasn't it?
Another example from this episode. Marinette did that with Kagami. Marinette was determined to reconcile Kagami and Adrien since she thought that would be the best outcome for their relationship, regardless of Kagami’s multiple attempts to tell her she didn’t want to make up with Adrien.
She, however, reevaluates the situation and reconsiders her approach when she's calmed down.
It took Marinette a while to allow herself to be happy again because she was waiting for the storm to pass. Alya advised Marinette to take a break and get her mind off of those things, but Marinette kept insisting that she couldn’t until she had everything figured out. While Alya tried to make Marinette forget about her stress by telling her about Adrien's commercial and the breakup, Marinette denied any sort of feelings she had for him, because if she tried to pursue Adrien while Shadowmoth was still active, it would end in the same way as Luka. And she doesn’t want a repeat of that. That’s why she seems to be avoiding romance.
Her avoidance doesn't just stop there- she fights as hard as she can to keep Kagami and Adrien together. Why? Because she can’t get distracted. Because she’s put a barrier on herself. Marinette is evidently not allowing herself to be happy until Shadowmoth has been defeated and her life calms down.
Marinette unknowingly recreated the moment where she first fell in love with Adrien, except this time they were holding the umbrella together. It's a symbol of reciprocation.
Kagami: The beating heart, the tingling..I felt all this. At your place. You’re the one that blushes and stutters when you’re around Adrien. You know his schedule over three years. You’re right, Adrien is perfect. He’s perfect for you.
The whole point; Marinette had a very specific goal in mind: scheming to make Kagami realize that Adrien loved her. Yet it clearly did not work that way. Mariette managed to avoid all that pressure once Adrien found interest in someone else and for once, she didn't have to worry about it. Because she didn't aim to be the one with Adrien, she didn't obsess over how every move she made could lead to him disliking her. Her downfall in past episodes was that she anticipated Adrien's reaction and panic over how it would ruin her life.
In much the same way as the first umbrella scene, Marinette didn't focus on her feelings for Adrien due to the fact that she didn't develop them until after the moment. As a result, her romantic feelings were able to blossom without thought or hesitation. In this interaction with Adrien, Marinette conveyed exactly what she wanted. She barely even stuttered or stumbled over her words when asking him to walk home with her.
Since Marinette was still convinced Kagami had a chance with Adrien, when Kagami told her that she’s the one who should be with Adrien and then walked away, she had little time to reflect, since Adrien immediately approached her.
Marinette and Adrien allowed themselves to be themselves and let the unfolding of events be an unplanned event.
Adrien still has a special place in her heart, despite it taking her longer to recreate a moment with him. The parallels show that this is the moment they fell in love all over again.
Marinette took advantage of being alone with Adrien in the rain to ask him to walk her home with her, spending more time with her. His father wouldn't approve of him skipping Chinese lessons if he turned her down despite the fact that he wants to.
In that moment of walking home, she was not only smiling, but also enjoying "dancing in the rain." Both literally and figuratively.
And I really, really want to talk about the end card. After three episodes of Marinette being curled up alone, crying, depressed and helpless, look at her now- She’s happy, she’s dancing, laughing and so in love!!
Marinette dances in the rain, as Alya suggested, indicating that we can still let loose even in tough times.
Not everything is fixed; it's clear that there’s still lots of duties for her. But even though she has a storm coming, she's in one at present in the midst of it all, but despite these responsibilities, it's fine to enjoy herself in the moment!
Another very important thing to note from the scene…
When Marinette takes out the umbrella….
She didn’t give it back to him. But he didn’t take it back.
She isn’t losing hope or giving up on her feelings for him, she’s content to keep and enjoy the feelings and accept wherever that leads her.
Despite still having much to think and reflect about, she now acknowledges her feelings, something we’ve seen her struggle with since the end of S3.
Another thing on the end card...the pictures of Adrien. In the pictures, she’s dancing in the rain, so it emphasizes yet again her happiness to enjoy her feelings for Adrien. In one of the pictures, Adrien is wearing the scarf Marinette made for him; I feel that this could be foreshadowing? Because if what was needed was pictures of Adrien, what was the need to include the scarf in two of the pictures? I’m thinking maybe it has something to do with a scarf reveal in the future. (That’s just a theory though)
And the most important thing from this end card was also because of the scarf. Marinette was the one who gave Adrien the scarf, and Gabriel is the one responsible for Adrien not knowing about it. He’s like a barrier between them- both as Gabriel and as Hawkmoth. (@sugarcubetikki Sugar I was talking to you on Discord about that so I thought you might want to be tagged)
Adrien has no idea that it's from Marinette, he thinks it's from his father. The thing standing in their way is his father.
Similarly to this scene- what gets in the way of him walking home with Marinette is his father. He has too many responsibilities. He needs to go home. Same with the scarf. It's his father's actions that limits him and hides the truth, it's the same reason he isn't able to realize Marinette's love for him in both situations. Gabriel’s like a strain putting a restriction on them. It’s the same thing that happened in Chat Blanc. That’s why they couldn’t date.
The next part is probably my favorite :)
It’s so silly and cute. The umbrellas closing in on them.
But even that, note the difference between the two- Marinette was trapped under the umbrella by herself before. Now they’re trapped under it together. They’re both trapped under their own love. That’s why this scene wasn’t necessarily a reverse love square. It’s indicating that the next step is for both of them to carry the umbrella.
In a tender moment with Adrien where they retrace past steps, Marinette falls in love for the second time after getting Kagami's blessing to pursue Adrien. Her umbrella symbolizes the love between them, and thus she offers it to Adrien.
The difference this time is that she is in control of her feelings, rather than allowing it to be given to her.
She willingly offers the umbrella to Adrien. She isn’t trying to make a disinterested Kagami try to date Adrien anymore.
There’s also something so different about his look. When he initially befriends her, he’s careful because he’s never done it before. He’s never had friends, it’s all new to him and doesn’t want to mess up. At this moment, he isn’t really going for friendship or romance or anything specifically, it’s just a relationship he wants to fix. Adrien has made a friend for the first time, and Marinette wouldn't even look at Adrien before that happened. It’s a situation where he’s happy to have befriended her. He is delighted that after several attempts he managed to become her friend. But this scene is so different. It’s almost like a realization. It’s perfectly reflected along with the fact that he isn’t the one lending his umbrella this time.
In the first umbrella scene, Adrien passed the umbrella to Marinette. The love is something he gave to her.
But in this scene? They’re holding it together. This perfectly represents that love is reciprocal and it takes the two of them to hold on to it.
Literally nothing to analyze here, I just love them so much lol-
The parallels here are absolutely adorable, they’re laughing at each other’s clumsiness and being silly. They’re both nervous and making silly mistakes out of love. It’s one of the times we get to see Adrien’s goofy, clumsy side around Marinette and it’s a parallel to the same reason they fell in love in the first place. Their reactions to each other here are so genuine and full of warmth. They’re so in love.
Adrien gave the umbrella to her in the first scene. She accepted that gesture of love and carried it with her, sometimes in denial but ultimately ended up taking it out. When she tries to give it back in this scene, Adrien tells her she still needs it.
She can’t give up just yet. That’s why she’s full of happiness at the end of the episode. Marinette wants to enjoy her feelings for Adrien, she’s overjoyed to be in love again.
Adrien can’t accept the umbrella from her just yet because…
Marinette needs it.
It’s too early for him to.
But it’s such an important moment of growth.
It’s vital that they’re ready to hold the umbrella together, not just as Adrien or Marinette.
Those two are made for each other. Kagami said it. Master Fu said it. There’s no doubt there anymore.
This episode carries a very important theme. The entire show does, actually. While life isn’t all about waiting for the storm to pass, we all have to learn to deal with the thunder and rain through experience and learning. It’s what Marinette and Adrien do every single day. We can allow life-threatening challenges to overwhelm us and leave us in darkness or we can embrace them with well-lit light. What made Marinette grow in this episode was that realization.
It’s about deciding if we want to embrace the rain by learning to dance in it, or if we want to make it even harder by waiting the storm out. Marinette finally danced in the rain. Things are headed in a good direction.
An important symbol I personally found memorable from the episode; Even in the middle of the storm, Adrien and Marinette are still tied together by their umbrella, they’re trapped under it, because they’re trapped under their love for each other.
(Or you know, you can just ship Marigami and move on with your life)
#miraculous ladybug#mr pigeon 72#miraculous analysis#mr pigeon 72 analysis#ml season 4#ml spoilers#ml season 4 spoilers#mr pigeon 72 spoilers#marinette dupain cheng#adrien agreste#umbrella scene#miraculous#ml season 4 analysis#long post#tw long post#adrienette#marigami#ml love square#my analysis
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Chapter 132 Levi/Hange Analysis
Summary: An attempt to explain the sentence in chapter 132
Levi: I see your one sided love with Titans still goes unrequited, four-eyes.
Hange: ...We’ll be getting along soon enough. （…すぐに仲良くなるさ）
Disclaimer: this is just interpretation and not meant to be taken as official proof of romance between Levi and Hange in Attack on Titan. This is theory and nothing else. I’ve read multiple tweets and essays to compile my own thoughts.
I personally do not have any qualms with other ships, and this essay doesn’t discredit other Hange or Levi CP’s. Also, sorry but this essay has no pictures.
Lesson_____
A quick Japanese lesson (and language comprehension); I will try to make it painless. I make no assumption on the reader’s Japanese level/English grammar understanding and will be talking about it as is.
When は is combined with another particle, it puts emphasis in a way such as English has intonation. Since Japanese does not stress tone (like how one says the words sarcastically/meaningfully/sadly/cheekily) it uses particles to do this job.
So, when Levi says, “相変わらず巨人とは片思いのままだったなクソメガネ“
It means literally, “As always, still an unrequited love with Titans, four-eyes.”
Naturally, “Your love for Titans is one-sided, as usual, four-eyes.”
In Japanese, using には or とは creates a third, invisible option that is outside of the realm of the sentence.
When you use に or と or even は by itself, it creates a one dimensional statement. When used with other particles combined with は it creates another, outside dimension to the sentence. A third suggestion or comparison. は can be used as a comparative or stress particle as well as a topic marker.
quick example.
I didn’t go to the library with him. ->彼と図書館に行かなかった.（ Forward statement. It is as it is. ）
I didn’t go to the library with him. ->彼とは図書館に行かなかった （Implying I went there with someone else, but not him. ）
Just like you’d expect, English speakers understand the implications of stressing “him.” Just as Japanese speakers understand the implications of とは etc. If we stressed library(図書館には）instead of “boy” (彼とは）then it’s implication is that we didn’t go to the library with him, but maybe somewhere else. I hope this is clear.
____
Okay, on with the analyses. Just a note again, but I’ve naturalized any Japanese so that it’s not literal, but the meaning is the same so it’s easier to comprehend for native English speakers. I’ve changed “I” to “we” considering I formatted to fit essays.
From ストリキーネさん’s essay
Like others have said, Levi’s words feel like his true confession. Whether it’s romantic or not, it’s up in the air, but while making small talk and commenting about his long time comrade in arms, it seems like this comment is loaded with unlabeled feelings, like “You gross me out, but I feel something special for you and I get you.”
It feels natural to say “You still have unrequited love for Titans.” right after the banter of Hange and Pieck’s exchange. {note: 巨人に片思いのままだな is using に here, not とは, so it feels natural to say に）
So why did he use “とは” and not ”に”？
If there’s official announcement that say’s there’s no meaning to it, or that it’ll be corrected in the official volume, then this sentence will be meaningless. But if it’s intentional or even unconscious decision, we get the impression that he is recalling a third person (”me” ie Levi) among Hange and the Titans.
Moreover, hearing “four eyes” was unexpected and we can only imagine it was surprising for Hange too. Since we might have never expected that we’d hear “four eyes” in the original manga again, it’s perplexing, but feels filled with something like nostalgia.
With Hange taking over as commander and the world rapidly changing, we get the feeling that there’s a distance between them, at least from what is shown to us from the story.
Because of this short exchange about Titans, all at once we are brought back to “An eccentric, Titan-loving section commander,” and “Captain who’s fond of four-eyes,” and it’s moving.
There’s a little pause (note: talking about the “...” before Hange starts talking) at the end of Levi’s lines and the start of Hange’s dialogue. One wonders if it couldn’t be a mix between surprise and relief on Hange’s end.
Also, as many others have said, Levi is answering Hange’s “I’d prefer if we live here together,” from the forest, to the best that he can. There was no reason to look back at that scene in relation to this because Levi seemed to have brushed off Hange’s shocking statement, but since everyone was referencing that scene, a second re-examination was in order. (Note, the author actually said something a little more personal, so I condensed it to match a more essay-like statement)
Levi could have been surprised.
Someone who he’s known for a long time, and supported each other, and can admit that (Hange) can be troublesome sometimes, but also they hit it off well, yet each of their own responsibilities have become heavier and the world is in this state... in a situation like this, when suddenly alone together in a quiet forest, he might think Hange has stopped thinking if seriously suggesting to run away and saying things like “let’s live together.”
Under circumstances like this, if it were us, we’d likely want to do it, but remember we have responsibilities, maybe we don’t know what the other person feels, perhaps we’d rather we never heard it, so we pretend not to. In Levi’s case, perhaps pretend to sleep (pretending to not be able to hear it) or when he wakes up, change the subject completely.
It’s unlikely that Levi could give an answer on the spot, and would want time to figure it out.
(There’s more to the essay but it’s thoughts on relationships between people and some other things that don’t apply to the quote)
ーーーーー
Notes concluded from various twitter surfing:
Many JP fans think Levi’s statement alluded to the forest scene. It’s like his clumsy answer to Hange’s proposal, since he didn’t give a direct answer. Actually the essay above felt his answer was cold and ignored Hange. But Hange doesn’t seem displeased about it.
As many have said, Hange and Levi are definitely “adults” in this world. They both understand it’s not feasible to do the things they want to do, because their duties supersede that. Hange carries the immense duty of commander, and both hold the responsibility to stop Eren or fight for humanity as a whole.
It’s rather evident to me, even as an ordinary reader, that Levi did not want Hange to go. In fact, Hange says, 行かせて, “let me go.” and anticipated Levi would try to stop Hange. Mind you, it’s not “release me” but “I have to do this, so don’t stop me.” It took him three panels, focused on his dead-like eyes to finally say “Dedicate your heart,” something he’s apparently never said before. To me, “Dedicate your heart” is a self-sacrificing quote when applied to the Survey Corps. Pretty much “go in bravely, and don’t expect to come back.” Levi is a “Live and come back’ type. The strange thing is that Levi puts his hand on Hange and says it.. in Hange’s place..? It’s a salute before battle, but here it feels like a gentle sentence. Why it was delivered that way? I hope that Isayama will answer these questions in future interviews.
＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿
Another thing, Levi says みててくれ to Hange, a now deceased person. Levi has never asked anything from the dead. He’s mentioned fulfilling his promise to Erwin about killing Zeke, but some have found it strange for Levi to ask Hange to “Watch me (kill Zeke.”) (edit: the point is that Levi asked Hange to keep watching him, so it seems that his promises and goals may have changed)
One user said something pretty sad. “For Levi, I think Hange is treated as a MIA. Even if there’s no chance of survival, if Levi looks at Hange’s death, Hange has ended for him right there. So since Hange hasn’t ended, he said “ watch out for me.” That’s the reason why Levi, who’s looked at dead soldiers in the eye, didn’t look at Hange.”
It’s simply, Levi didn’t say “Rest in peace,” or “Goodnight.” but “See ya, Hange. Keep looking out for me.”
＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿
Going back to the quote about Titans, the summary is, that in Japanese, Levi’s speech seems incredibly nuanced because he uses language that suggests that Hange and him have come to a mutual feeling, and it’s simply by stating “with Titans” (but there’s a mutual love with me). That’s why the above essay questions if this isn’t a misprint or mistake, or perhaps it’s nothing at all. (I want to point out, that one user suggested it could refer to Eren, but it seems unlikely)
This is his “answer.” And Hange says...”...We’ll get along soon enough.”
There’s a “...” before Hange says that, indicating a pause, whether out of surprise by being called “four-eyes”, or carefully thinking on how to respond to “とは”
Some other notes before I close this up, I thought this was a nice thought on LeviHan:
Hange was introduced while talking and having contact with Levi and Hange exited while talking and having contact with Levi. Really, Hange’s story started and ended with Levi.
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I apologize if this seems everywhere, I’m not particularly fond of writing, but for Hange’s last chapter, I feel like English speakers should get in on what Japanese levihan fans were saying.
終わり
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Succession Thoughts: Gerri x Roman
AN: Credit goes to @thinkingfixatingobsessing for the idea for point number one in this post. Also, this post is my lengthiest yet, but I promise it’s worth the read, lol.
1. Come Over?
This moment between Roman and Gerri is a small one, but presents an interesting thread that starts in this episode--Vaulter--and gets threaded into their phone sex scene in Safe Room. During his time working through the documents and foundations of Vaulter, Roman is stuck in the middle of the proxy battle and feeling the heat of the moment, which comes to a head in this scene. We see him wrestling with himself about what to do, throwing his phone a pathetic glance, hesitating, and then finally deciding to call Gerri for help. He divulges to her that he essentially has no clue what to do and throws out a weak ‘pivot to video’ idea that Gerri instantly reminds him was tried by the Vaulter team already and presumably fell flat. Finally, Roman breaks and asks her meekly, “Can you just come over? I want you in the room.” This is interesting because it is one of the first scenes where the show establishes the fact that Roman seeks out Gerri for comfort. This, of course, comes on the heels of their trip to Japan, so we can deduce that Roman has realized that Gerri could’ve screwed him but didn’t, and sees how he was exposed to her nurturing side when he needed it most. What’s interesting is how the dialogue in this scene mimics what comes later. He first asks her for her help, and when she balks at his request, he immediately says, “Yeah, could--yeah--fuck you!” and hangs up on her. The move from gentle and comforting to caustic is an interesting one, but it’s fascinating because for once it isn’t built into the scene to showcase that Roman needs degradation to achieve sexual pleasure. Here, he flies off the handle at Gerri, but when we think about this scene the reason why is obvious and not tied to sex: Roman gets angry because in his one weak moment the response he receives is not the sympathetic one he wants, and so he pivots back to caustic to shield himself later on. He knows that should Gerri brings this up later he can tell her he was fucking with her and didn’t mean it, but in truth, he did mean it--he did want her and need her, and Gerri didn’t understand this, and was too busy with things on her end to meet him where he needed her. Part of Roman’s hang ups, sexually, are tied to the degradation he experienced as a child, but there is also a link between his need for degradation and his realization that he never got the comfort he needed, so seeking insult was easier. He is a walking example of the quote, "All attention is good attention.” Because Roman never received the comfort he desired, he shields himself from rejection by pretending to be hardier than what he is and striving to be insulted, because to him, at this stage, it’s all the same. He could get a hug, but getting walloped and getting off are faster so he settles for that instead. This thread is later carried into the ‘shirt-button’ scene in Hunting, where Gerri walks up to Roman’s room to look in on him. Now, she has the understanding of him that is necessary to respond appropriately, and instead of berating him for being a mess she comforts him, and he responds not by pushing her away but accepting her gentility, however brief. Roman doesn’t so much need humiliation to get off--he only needs it because it’s all he thinks he deserves, and it’s served him well enough so far. It’s the key to his inability to have sex with his other girlfriends: it’s not that he can’t, it’s that sex requires intimacy and sensitivity, and Roman isn’t close enough to himself emotionally to comfortably tap into these feelings and deliver.
2. Rejected.
As I’m re-watching the series in preparation for Season 3, there is a thread which is established early on between Kendall and Gerri that begins in Lifeboats and is expounded upon later in the show. We see Kendall at the helm of Waystar during Logan’s absence as he makes his infamous ‘Lifeboats’ speech, gathering his team together and asking for their help in moving Waystar into the future, inviting them to pool their ideas and deliver them to him, essentially attempting to depart from his father’s style of management by ostensibly establishing an ‘open door policy’ with his team. This move, however, is ironic, as immediately after this scene we have the scene between himself and Gerri, pictured above. Really, in hindsight, Kendall is as manipulative as Logan, but he is weaker in the sense that he is not as combative openly, and therefore comes across as a softer, better version of his father, which isn’t always true to his nature. We see Gerri follow Kendall after the meeting and tell him, “I want to talk options to you, okay? I’ve got some thoughts I’ve been working on for a long time--”. Kendall immediately interrupts her and replies, “I don’t want the sloppy seconds, Gerri. I’m taking five to think big.” When she presses the issue again, promising that she has some good ideas, he flat out rejects her without even listening to her, and it is here where we see shades of his father in himself. It’s also what makes Gerri’s manipulation of Kendall easier later on. We can deduce that this is not the first time that Gerri has been pushed to the sidelines by one of the Roy family members, and at a time when help is sorely needed--and on the heels of Kendall openly asking for it--he outright rejects Gerri’s and essentially makes it clear to her that her help is second-rate help--only useful to him when it can get him out of a tight squeeze, but not so useful that he believes her worth listening to when the stakes are higher. This ties into her relationship with Roman as well. While Roman is always showcased as being the one who needs her, if we pay attention we can clearly see that Gerri’s need for him is equal to his. Gerri has been a part of Waystar for decades--at one point in Pre-Nuptial commenting to Kendall that she and Frank are reminiscing about their first visit to Caroline’s estate in 1986--making her one of the most senior members of staff. But what she has--it is implied--never had is someone who genuinely valued her ideas and her input. This is also what she gets from Roman. She tells him to do something, he does it. She throws an idea out, he listens. He becomes her voice, often using the phrases, “Gerri thinks” or “Gerri says” during Season 2. Through Roman, we hear Gerri, and through Gerri we see Roman’s potential. They carry each other. Roman is always depicted by his family as being stupid, and yet who was smart enough to seek out advice from the one person with the most experience at Waystar aside from Logan? Not his siblings. Because they believe they know better, their ego will be their downfall.
3. In Logan’s Shadow.
In Sad Sack Wasp Trap, we see shades of Gerri’s eventual betrayal of Kendall begin to take shape. Having tasted his first drops of power, real power, Kendall’s ego immediately starts to swell in little ways. We hear him telling Jess that he wants to do a run on the late-night TV circuit, having gotten the idea while traveling in L.A. Gerri reacts to this with disbelief, and Kendall retorts, “What does that mean? I was fuckin’ king of the Lampoon.” Kendall’s use of the word ‘king’ is used to purposefully emphasize the way he has begun to see himself--finally in the position he desired for so long, finally out of his father’s sphere of influence. His high is interrupted by Jess’ telling him that his father has dropped into the office and wants to see him. When Kendall asks Gerri if she knew about this, she denies this, but when he says, “Shouldn’t he have told you?” all she does is shrug coolly in his direction. This begs the question: did Gerri really not know? On the surface, it seems obvious she didn’t, but we have to consider that this moment comes right after Kendall’s complete disregard for her in the previous episode. Gerri’s motivation to help Kendall would be at a fairly low point, and what could be more amusing to her than to watch him fall flat on his face so quickly again, especially considering Logan’s outrage at Kendall’s decision to bring Stewy in to help their debt issue. Maybe she genuinely didn’t know, but given what she does later on, it would seem pertinent to wonder.
4. Take the piss.
Later in Sad Sack Wasp Trap, Kendall finds out that his father has pissed on his carpet and brings Roman, Gerri, and Frank in to assess and discuss the situation. He starts by lecturing them about what could happen if people knew Logan had done this, pointing out that this bit of knowledge could spear the company’s already flagging public persona, and trying to use that as a way to keep his father from attending the RECNY ball. He tries to drop the responsibility for fixing the situation into Gerri’s hands, telling her she needs to talk to Logan and tell him that if he intends to come back he has to do so via the proper avenues, and that he can’t just show up on a whim. Gerri listens for a while, and eventually delivers a barb that is subtle but effective. She asks Kendall, “What did you do, Kendall, when you realized he’d done this?”, referring to Logan’s pissing incident. Kendall immediately falters, stuttering that he didn’t want to embarrass his father in front of Stewy and basically admitting he did nothing. The camera sweeps over her and Roman’s faces, and they give Kendall the same look, suggesting they are disappointed but not surprised at his ineffectiveness. This moment also mirrors what Roman does later in Vaulter, undercutting his brother in front of his father to get the result he wants. The point of Gerri’s remark is to showcase her opinion of him. To Gerri, Kendall is nothing but a papa’s boy with a golden spoon in his mouth, someone who wants the power but is unwilling to work for it. And who can really blame Kendall? Considering the way his father treats him, he has learned from Logan that working is one thing, but using a by-way to get to the top faster is better, and he attempts to see this come to fruition by taking control of a company he is ill-equipped to lead. Gerri’s disgust for Kendall is fairly obvious, but to Kendall’s great misfortune, he is a swimmer in a shark tank, completely out of his league in her waters. She is faster than him, more subtle, more cunning, and lacking in conscience enough that when she disposes of him later she feels no remorse. Kendall has bad traits but he is overall not a bad character, and we see his better parts shine when he is not chasing power. But to Gerri, his better characteristics are a moot point. She undercuts him later once again, and we see how she delights in what she’s doing, how his weakness and trusting nature to her are disgusting, and if anything make it easier for her to do what she does. While Roman makes her prove herself equal, playing with her, seeing if she can give back what he puts out, Kendall takes for granted her abilities, wanting only a menial servant, and sees himself eaten alive.
5. I Will Guide Thy Hand.
During the RECNY ball, we find out--via Connor--the Kendall has plans to make a retirement announcement in Logan’s presence, allegedly so he can usurp the throne for himself. Though Kendall later denies this, we do know that he does not want his father to speak at the ball. Allegedly, this is out of ‘good will’, his concern for his father and the company mainly influencing his decision, but truthfully Kendall is also motivated by a desire to take hold of a position his father always had at the ball--as a speaker--and be on the receiving end of the adoration Logan is so used to. He wants to be seen by the public the way his father is: competent, powerful, totally in control; he also knows that there is a chance that Logan will declare himself CEO again, knocking Kendall from his throne--which eventually comes to fruition. Gerri knows this, is smart enough to intuit why Kendall is afraid, and is calm when Kendall once again comes to her for assistance, wanting her to handle his father. Unlike earlier, she doesn’t throw any barbs his way. She calmly promises to talk to Logan about his supposed speech and to try to dissuade him--while not so convincingly claiming she knew nothing about the speech at all to begin with. Instead of doing what she promised, she walks over to Logan and simply tells him, “Good luck tonight. Gonna knock it out of the park.” She gives him the motivation he needs to move forward with his plans, especially at a point where his health is so precarious. Gerri knows this, knows Logan well enough to understand that a little reassurance will ensure that Logan will do as planned and follow through with his decision. We see her later in the episode watching the whole thing play out during Logan’s speech, a self-satisfied smirk on her face, already knowing the end from the beginning. What we’re witnessing is the blooming of the flower on the end of the thread that started when Kendall disrespected her in Lifeboats. All he had to do to save himself was listen to Gerri, and yet he chose not to, believing he knew better than her how to reposition Waystar and lead the company into the future. He, who has been to rehab, fallen prey to his addictions and vices, and only played in the big leagues when he wanted to while Gerri--and the other members of Waystar--had to be there regardless of the circumstances in their personal lives. Again we can’t solely blame Kendall--he is the person his father has allowed him to be. We can also see that what Kendall lacks is the thing that makes Gerri so capable of remaining in power--detachment. Gerri is emotionally detached enough to do her job well and not worry about what amoral things she does to maintain her position of power. This is another trait she shares with Roman, who, after hearing how beleaguered the employees of Vaulter are, still guts the company and costs them their jobs without a second thought to the damage he is doing. With regard to her relationship with Kendall, for Gerri destroying him is not only easy but pleasurable. She knows that Kendall stupidly trusts her, and will remain none the wiser to her duplicitousness, and so she operates in the background, doing what she can to ensure he will lose what is so precious to him because of her--all while believing she did what she could to help him. This theme reminded me of the movie The Witch, hence the title of this particular post. Thomasin ends up in the hands of the Devil at the end, and--believing he will give her what she wants--she gives her soul to him. Like Kendall, she doesn’t realize that the person who is giving her what she wants is really taking everything, and she, like Kendall, is left with nothing in the end. Am I comparing Gerri to the Devil? Only superficially. She is certainly not totally like Satan, but from what we see here, she has the ability to operate like him: swiftly and maliciously.
#gerri/roman#gerri x roman#gerri kellman#roman roy#succession#succession hbo#hbo succession#succession thoughts
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over the last year-and-a-bit that i've been writing castles, i've been asked a few of times about the influence of peaky blinders on my writing, especially with regards to harry, and to my general picture of the post-war world. i've always gladly addressed these questions because obviously, i am a massive fan of the show, and it has had a tremendous influence on my writing. in my opinion, denying this in light of the contents of castles would be simply non-sensical. peaky blinders is one of the very few stories in history that focuses not on a war itself but on its aftermath, which is what i sought to do, and depriving myself of this source of reflection and inspiration would have been ridiculously stupid. in turn, references to peaky in castles have become my own little easter eggs dropped for the other fans of the show in my readership, and my heart swells whenever they are noticed.
this week, as i rewatch the series ahead of its final season (set to air in the uk from the 27th of february), i've come across this scene again. to me, series two of peaky blinders is its own little russian doll. it is: the best series on television at the moment, within which comes the best season, within which sits the best episode, and within which sits the best scene - arguably the best scene to have aired in any show ever since i've been old enough to watch them. i present it to you above. i don't think you have to have watched the show to understand the importance of it.
and, whilst i could probably write a thesis about the framing, the dialogue, the sound work, and the acting in this piece, i also think that fundamentally, in my vision of hp, this piece shows the other side of "the forest again." the side we're not told about, between the end of the war and the "all was well," after the fade-to-black. if you compare this scene to the walk to the forest in deathly hallows part two, you'll notice many similarities. the way silence is used, the way music relieves the tension, the way you can hear both tommy and harry's breaths coming short in both scenes (don't believe me? press play with your eyes closed). the agony of having no choice but to give up on a battle, in the middle of fighting it ('i got close, so fucking close.'). and, of course: 'there's a woman' - also harry's inexplicable last thought. in the end, interestingly, neither of the "chosen one"s attempt to fight off the last blow.
of course, these elements (love, silence, etc.) are all tropes of near-death experiences in film and literature, especially when a character is given the time to contemplate that death is coming his/her way. but, tropes in fiction also exist as tools to bring us to the same psychological place and feeling. this scene is not only about how one can question, regret, rage, and finally accept death, it is about surviving it. most importantly: what happens after you do survive it.
to me, the most interesting part of this scene is actually situated after the shots are fired, when tommy laboriously digs himself out of his own grave. the 'fuck,' that escapes him after the music starts (a song that i listened to on loop while writing giulia's death, btw), when he stumbles head first into the mud - that's the part i want to write about. because: how do you dig yourself out of a grave that you've accepted was ready, and designed specifically for you? and, when you survive through no discernible will of your own. there is a quote from series four during john's funeral, in which tommy explains they all actually died in france, and that everything after the war was just a "bonus." what fascinates me is how you get out of that mindset, how you start living, instead of fighting.
i don't think tommy will ever recover from it, but i hope harry does.
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IOTA Reviews: Lies
You guys ready for almost twenty straight minutes of Angstdrien Depreste? Neither am I.
Let's get into the third (chronologically the second) episode of Miraculous Ladybug's fourth season: Lies (Oh, I get what they did there).
We open with Marinette struggling to decipher the grimoire she inherited from Fu, before two of the Kwamis screw around and play a video about Adrien.
Jesus Christ... it hasn't even been an episode since she broke up with Luka, and the writers are already back to making her simp over Adrien again. And this part of the episode takes place during “Truth”, where she's still dating Luka. This is supposedly meant to show her conflicting feelings regarding both Adrien and Luka, but it just comes across as yet another joke about Marinette simping over Adrien because the writers have forgotten she has other interests outside of her hero life.
And here we go. The writers are going to go out of their way to make the audience feel bad for Adrien in this episode by showing how tough his life is. What do we see him do that is allegedly so exhausting? He models for another statue, goes to a photoshoot, and then goes to some drama class where he repeats some phrase (I think it's supposed to be a warmup, but it's never explained why he's there in the first place). That's it. This is his definition of an “endless day”? Oh yeah, his life must be soooooooo hard.
Adrien is a rich white boy who is the son of one of the biggest names in fashion across the world, has legions of fans, an honest education, and is also one of the most beloved superheroes in the city while not having to struggle with the same responsibility his partner has. But no, Adrien's life is much harder than anyone else who has suffered this past year. It's yet another trick the writers are pulling to make people feel bad for Adrien instead of criticizing his behavior. I'm sorry, but I find it a little hard to relate to someone whose biggest problems amount his diamond shoes being too tight.
Good lord, I'm not even a minute in...
So Adrien transforms into Cat Noir and heads off to patrol. Keep in mind that the first part of this episode takes place during the events of “Truth”, so we see how he reacts to Ladybug not showing up for patrol. He waits for a while before he starts, but not before leaving a message for his partner.
Now, this moment honestly could have worked. What doesn't make it work is the air quotes Cat Noir starts off with. If he had said something like that honestly and kept his feelings a secret, it could have shown he understands the burden Ladybug has to bear now that she's the Guardian, but doesn't want to worry her. The problem is that the way he phrased the first sentence coupled with the air quotes make it seem like he doesn't care about what Ladybug has to deal with now, and only wants her to spend time with him.
You think I'm being overdramatic or I'm just jumping to conclusions? In the very next scene, Cat Noir actually tries to see if Mr. Ramier is emotional enough to get akumatized into Mr. Pigeon again just so he can see Ladybug.
This is just... why? Why would any of the writers expect the audience to feel bad for Cat Noir here? It's one thing for him to miss Ladybug's company, which is natural considering how much time they spend together, but wanting to start a life-threatening situation just to see Ladybug just isn't cool. What makes this any different from Chloe causing a subway to go out of control so she can save it herself, or Lila intentionally akumatizing herself and working with Hawkmoth just because she hates Ladybug? If you can find a reason other than “because the plot says so”, I'll want to hear an explanation.
So Cat Noir goes to Le Grand Paris to drown his sorrows in alcohol with his favorite drink, a White Russian without the vodka and coffee liqueur. Also, instead of cream, it's skim milk. And speaking of Chloe, we see her get into a brief squabble with Sabrina over missing a bag she has underneath her shoulder, and Cat Noir gets excited again at the prospect of getting to fight an Akuma, but thankfully, the situation is resolved fairly quickly.
Ignoring how unheroic this makes this supposed “superhero” look, I have a quick question. SHOULDN'T CHLOE BE IN PRISON RIGHT NOW? She essentially committed treason against her country by willingly conspiring with a terrorist. I get that everyone in Paris was paralyzed at the time, but did Ladybug not tell anyone what happened? How is she not in trouble? Did her father pardon her or something? Is she not even going to do any community service? You would think given how much Astruc hates her, Chloe would be forced to face more consequences for her actions other than losing her Miraculous permanently. Hopefully, “Queen Banana” will shed some light on Chloe's situation, but I'm not exactly holding my breath on that.
But yeah, Cat Noir actually gets excited at the prospect at fighting an akumatized Sabrina, while ignoring how cruel Chloe's being to her, because I guess it's a day that ends with a “Y”. Remember when Adrien actually called out Lila and compromised with her in order to get Marinette back into school? Good times.
Cat Noir keeps calling and leaving messages for Ladybug, but changes his mind as soon as he sees Kagami, because he has the attention span of a puppy looking for someone to play with. Adrien stares at his phone's wallpaper of Ladybug, implying he still has feelings for her, and is then informed by Nathalie that his fencing class with Kagami was moved back by an hour. In reality, it was a trick by Kagami to get the two to spend some quality time together.
They choose to hang out in the art room because, get this, Kagami has always had a passion for drawing. Of course! That explains why it's never been mentioned in any earlier episodes, not even the one where she attended the premiere of an animated movie, which is a similar form of art. It's almost like the writers wanted to have Kagami do something that doesn't involve swinging a sword around. It's a good reason, mind you, but maybe if it was foreshadowed more, I would be more open to it.
Kagami says that she loves drawing because “art never lies”. Because it's not like someone can draw something completely inaccurate to what's actually being depicted, much like a certain character who likes to make up stories of people she knows to get others to like her, right? Kagami also says that her mother doesn't let her draw because she doesn't think her art isn't good, even though she's blind. Because when it comes to parents in Miraculous Ladybug, they're either amazing people who love their children, or they're emotionally abusive pieces of garbage who make you wonder why they even had kids in the first place. There is literally no middle ground. Maybe some of the writers have daddy issues?
So Kagami decides to draw a picture of Adrien, but wants him to give her a more “natural” pose instead of the standard model poses he usually gives.
Okay, this scene is raising so many red flags, the dialogue might as well be in semaphore. Where the hell did this side of Kagami come from? Why is she so controlling and forceful all of a sudden? In fact, why is she so obsessed with Adrien being “perfect”? The two made jokes before in the past (Desperada), and even spent half of the Season 3 finale playing around with Marinette? Why is she now Little Miss Serious?
Also, Kagami is really overstepping boundaries with Adrien here. Like, to a seriously uncomfortable degree. I get she isn't good with social cues, but how can she not see how anxious Adrien looks while she forces him into a pose, all while saying how wrong he is for doing what he sees as “natural”? This is not what a healthy relationship looks like, and spoiler alert, this isn't exactly why they even break up at the end of the episode.
Before the two can kiss while they're actually at fencing practice, Adrien is forced to leave Kagami to help Ladybug fight Mr. Pigeon (which means the narrative basically gave him what he wanted for no reason), leading to the same scene where Ladybug almost kills him, while he jokes about how he likes how angry she gets, and she apologizes for something that wasn't her fault. Just remember, he flirts with Ladybug right after he left his girlfriend to join her for an Akuma battle. The same montage from “Truth” happens, only it's Adrien missing opportunities to be close with Kagami, culminating with the little Kitty Section concert that happened right before Luka got akumatized.
While the two wait for their rides, Adrien accidentally drops the charm Marinette gave him all the way back in “Gamer”, which Kagami picks up. When he sees an Akuma flying, Adrien soon heads off to fight him, saving Ladybug from blowing her cover. After the events of “Truth”, Adrien apparently heads to Prince Ali's birthday party (yet Rose isn't there for some reason), meaning the second half of this episode takes place immediately after the previous one, even though it's been established that Hawkmoth/Shadowmoth needs time to recharge.
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After Cat Noir flirts a little with Ladybug again, he heads off to the party to meet up with Kagami. When he had to leave to fight Truth, Adrien claimed that he left something on the Liberty, which Adrien later claims was the charm Marinette gave him. Kagami soon realizes he's lying about something, and doesn't take it well.
There's a good performance from Kagami's voice actress here, and it's a nice parallel to Luka, who also feels a sense of betrayal when Marinette can't be honest with him. But this scene does tie into the problem with Adrien and Kagami in this episode, and I'll get into it towards the end.
Kagami storms off, and is immediately akumatized by Shadowmoth, turning her into Lies.
Like Truth, the design here is really forgettable. The design is all white and gives Kagami a haircut that looks like it belongs in The Jetsons, but that's it. The one thing I like about her is the way her powers work. Instead of going from victim to victim, Lies creates an energy dome that slowly grows and paralyzes anyone has lied before in the past, which is basically everyone who comes into contact with it. It's a pretty interesting idea, and it means that Ladybug and Cat Noir have to rely more on strategy while avoiding any contact with the dome.
Adrien transforms into Cat Noir and charges into action, with Jagged Stone offering to help out.
I don't think you can say the same for your family, can you, Jagged?
Cat Noir tells Jagged to get to a safe place, but much like his one night stand with Anarka, he refuses to pull out, so he gets paralyzed by the dome, along with everyone in the building.
Ladybug meets up with Cat Noir and immediately summons her Lucky Charm, a remote control drone. Since it hasn't lied, it can go into the dome and be used as surveillance while Cat Noir distracts Lies. While it seems like nobody inside the dome can touch Lies, Ladybug realizes that Fang, Jagged Stone's pet crocodile, hasn't lied either, so she uses the drone to lure him out of the building.
Cat Noir thinks of a way to distract Lies by doing what he always does to increase the tension.
You know, I thought of a little game we could play. Why don't we count how many times Cat Noir sacrifices himself this season? So far, the Cat Noir Self-Kill Counter is at 1, but I'm guessing it will be higher the longer this season goes on.
So while Lies is distracted by Cat Noir's unconscious body, Fang runs over and breaks her corrupted object, Marinette's charm. So after using Miraculous Ladybug, Ladybug runs over and, for good reason, I may add, scolds Cat Noir for recklessly sacrificing himself yet again.
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You know if this plan failed, not only would Shadowmoth get your Miraculous, but Ladybug would be all alone, you idiot! And we're supposed to find this reckless endangerment funny!? Seriously, Ladybug smiles at Cat Noir's stupid little quip as he still flirts with her right after he got into a fight with his girlfriend.
The next day, Adrien apologizes to Kagami, but she says she can't trust him, not as a boyfriend, and not as a friend either. And here is the problem with the Adrigami breakup. Like with the Lukanette breakup, it chooses to focus on one detail instead of the other, and glaringly obvious detail. The episode is trying to say that the whole reason Kagami and Adrien can't work as a couple is because of Adrien keeping his life as Cat Noir a secret. In reality, both of them have problems that they need to work on before they consider dating. Kagami has shown herself to be a massive control freak in this episode because of her own vision of what Adrien is like, showing she doesn't respect his boundaries or beliefs.
And Adrien? Where do I begin?
Adrien clearly shows several signs that he hasn't moved on from Ladybug with how much he flirts with her, even before he and Kagami got together, and there's the fact that unlike Marinette who realizes how she can't have a love life, it doesn't feel like Adrien actually learned that lesson.
We are supposed to see Adrien focusing on his secret life as Cat Noir as the responsible thing to do, and that like Ladybug, he needs to prioritize being Cat Noir over dating. The thing is that this episode has only showed how he doesn't take any of the hero stuff seriously. Throughout the episode, he treats being Cat Noir as a fun pasttime, when it comes to craving Ladybug's attention to the point where he's just short of causing an Akuma attack out of desperation until he sees someone else to spend time with, constantly flirts with Ladybug despite how annoyed she can come across, doesn't understand any of the stuff she has to deal with now that she's Guardian, and will sacrifice himself all so Ladybug can do all the work for him. He doesn't care about anything unless he gains something in return. It doesn't matter if lives are in danger, he thinks his personal feelings are more important because his civilian life is sO hAaArRd.
At one point when we were all kids, we all wanted to be superheroes because we all thought the idea of having superpowers and the freedom to do whatever we wanted sounded awesome. But that's not what being a hero is. We never thought about the responsibility that comes with being a superhero. One of the main themes of superhero media that we all watched growing up was that they would help us to learn right from wrong, and that sometimes, personal sacrifices have to be made for the greater good, and our feelings just aren't that important in the grand scheme of things. Whether we learned this lesson from Superman, Spider-Man, Sailor Moon, the Power Rangers, or even the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, what matters is that by the time we reached the age of these heroes, we would have a similar moral compass so we would understand why these heroes would make some of the choices they did, and we would be able to make similar choices if we encountered situations like the ones they went through.
Part of growing up is realizing that being a superhero isn't all fun and games. Sometimes, you need to put your own personal desires aside to make sure nobody gets hurt because of something you did or didn't do. We are currently in the fourth season of this show, and after 82 episodes, Cat Noir has still failed to learn that lesson. He doesn't understand that even if his “true self” is clowning around, that's not how a hero acts. You don't see Batman or Captain America acting this way, and you don't see real life soldiers or emergency workers acting this way either.
And that's not even getting into the fact that this is the same problem the Lukanette breakup had. Even though Marinette had a valid reason to break things off with Luka because she realized being Guardian was more important, the narrative framed it like she was still into Adrien, no matter if she was making an effort to get over him. Likewise, even though both Adrien and Kagami have issues the narrative refuses to actually acknowledge, they frame it as Adrien's hero life was ruining their relationship, when in reality, the reasons for both the Adrigami breakup and the Lukanette breakup should have been flipped. “Truth” should have been about Marinette coming to terms with her new responsibilities as the Guardian, and “Lies” should have been about Adrien realizing he needs to work on his own personal issues before he considers his feelings for Kagami or Ladybug.
So the episode just ends with Ladybug and Cat Noir saying that even if they have to keep secrets about their identities, they can still trust each other. Also, before Kagami dumped him, Adrien reaffirmed his feelings for Ladybug (the only time they were actually referenced outside of flirting and his phone's wallpaper), which implies that Adrien is going to continue to pursue Ladybug, having learned nothing from this whole episode.
You know, after watching both this episode and “Truth”, and seeing how it undid two of the major changes from the Season 3 finale, does it almost feel like nothing's changed at all? Does it almost feel like you've been here before? How am I gonna be a optimist about this? Hell if I know, this episode's honestly worse than “Truth” was.
Put aside your feelings on the Adrigami breakup, the pacing here was awful. Because the writers thought it would be interesting to have some continuity for once by having it take place right after “Truth”, the timeline is incredibly confusing. Can Shadowmoth just create more Akumas at once without having to recharge? And shouldn't Ladybug and Cat Noir be exhausted from having to fight two Akumas and a Sentimonster in one day?
Even then, about half of the episode was spent following Adrien as he whined about how hard he supposedly has it, proving despite what Astruc continues to state, he is far from perfect, and like what he loves to say about Chloe, refuses to change. Wow, that's so interesting. And we're supposed to feel bad for Cat Noir and be mad at Ladybug for missing their patrol, forgetting everything she's been going through in the last week, considering how Gabriel just fixed the Peacock Miraculous, suggesting that the events of “Truth” and “Lies” happened not too long after “Miracle Queen”. Even the Akuma fight wasn't that interesting because it was crammed into about five minutes thanks to everything else going on in this episode.
In an attempt to make the audience sympathize with him, this episode only made me loathe the way Adrien is portrayed even more. Seriously, he reaches “Frozer” levels of unlikability in this episode. Maybe he'll get some much needed character development, but given how much Astruc will put him on a pedestal and ignore his flaws, I don't think it's going to happen anytime soon.
But I still don't see the point of spending so much time building up this relationship for two seasons just to end it as soon as they hook up. At the end of the day, all Lukanette and Adrigami amounted to was filler. It was a way to get in some romantic scenes for the fans while the writers continue to drag out the Love Square drama like a taffy puller. And now that Luka and Kagami have served their purpose, watch as Astruc and the other writers start to slowly remove them from the narrative until they appear about as often as Nino does now.
After all, why care about anything in this show that isn’t related to the Love Square? It’s clear none of the writers do.
#immaturity of thomas astruc#thomas astruc#thomas astruc salt#miraculous ladybug#miraculous ladybug salt#miraculous season 4#miraculous season 4 spoilers#marinette dupain cheng#ladybug#adrien agreste#cat noir#chat noir#gabriel agreste#hawkmoth#hawk moth#shadowmoth#shadow moth#kagami tsurugi#chloe bourgeois#sabrina raincomprix#tomoe tsurugi#xavier ramier#prince ali#jagged stone#luka couffaine#lukanette#adrigami#adrienette#love square
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A Fateful Delay
Pairing: Jaehyun x Gn!Reader
Genre: friends to strangers to lovers au, fluff,
Word Count: 4.1k
Warnings: swearing, kissing, lots of dialogue
Rating: PG-13?
Note: Happy birthday nct aquarius boy 5/5! Forewarning I am an amateur tarot reader, so if it’s not entirely accurate *shrugs* Heavily inspired by Jaehyun’s I like me better cover video. (p.s. you’re a real one if you recognize the book quotes.)
Gate 26, gate 26, gate 26, you repeated in your head, not confident that your half awake mind wouldn’t forget. Heathrow airport was still quite empty at this hour, with only a few other stragglers hanging about. 6:00 am wasn’t exactly the most desirable time for a flight after all.
Here it is, you sighed in relief when you saw a crowd still waiting to board the early flight. You looked down to check that you had your boarding pass before looking up and suddenly being transported back to an older time.
“Jaehyun,” you said it without thinking, prompting him to look up from his phone and make eye contact with you. Recognition flashed across his face almost immediately, along with something else you couldn't quite place.
“What are you doing here?” you asked as you reached him, setting your backpack down on the bench beside him.
“I’ve been studying here,” he said. “What about you?”
“Just traveling. I’ve been in Europe for,” you paused to count in your head. “A little over two months now.”
“Alone?”
“Mostly, yeah.”
He whistled. “That’s pretty impressive.”
“It’s been an adventure, that’s for sure.”
You lapsed into silence, your mind still reeling with the fact that you had run into Jaehyun here of all places. And as coincidences like this didn’t happen very often, you quickly resigned yourself to the fact that you would probably never see him again.
Except…
“Flight 2491 from London Heathrow to Incheon International Airport has been delayed 18 hours,” a nasally voice announced over the speaker. Groans erupted all around you as they continued. “Boarding will commence at 12:00 am. If you have any questions or wish to board another flight please come to the front desk. Thank you and have a good day.”
Jaehyun sighed, reaching up to run a hand through his hair.
“Good thing I checked my bag,” he said as though he was trying to find a glimpse of good in the situation. You nodded emphatically.
“I was just thinking the same thing.”
“You know what I need now?”
“What?”
“Coffee.”
——
Once you’d left the airport the two of you entered the first cafe you could find. Unlike Heathrow, this was it’s busiest time of the day. You looked around as you waited, observing the artwork and the office workers that came and went without a second glace in your direction. They must be used to tourists.
“Does this place have a bookstore?” you asked as you peered past the espresso machines. You repeated your question to the barista when you reached the front of the line, and learned that yes, there was a bookstore just down the hall.
“Lets go,” you said once you’d ordered.
“Now?”
“When else?”
“You go,” he said. “I’ll wait for our coffee.”
——
The bookstore was even quieter than the airport, with not a soul to be seen but your own. You ran your finger along the bookcases as you explored, the rough texture and musty scent of the books making you feel at home. Jaehyun found you sitting on the carpeted floor in the aisle between two bookcases, a stack of hardcovers next to you.
“Watcha doing?” he asked as he handed you your coffee and sat down next to you.
“Let me read you some of my favorite lines,” you said in place of an answer.
“Didn’t we read that in high school?” Jaehyun asked as you picked The Sun Also Rises from the top of the pile.
“Yeah,” you said. “Junior year.”
Eventually you found the page you were looking for and read the line: “I can’t stand it to think my life is going so fast and I’m not really living it.”
“Damn,” he sighed.
You nodded. “That’s why I decided to come here. To Europe I mean.”
You picked up the next book.
“Okay here’s another one. ‘Brave doesn’t mean you’re not scared. It means you go on even though you’re scared.’”
“How are you finding these so fast?” Jaehyun asked, dimples appearing on his cheeks as he smiled.
“I’ve probably read them too many times,” you laughed along with him, ripping your eyes away from the ever endearing marks.
A minute later: “We accept the love we think we deserve.”
“Ouch.”
You laughed again, and he forced himself to smile with you.
“Okay last one. ‘That’s what love is. Love is keeping the promise anyway. Don’t you believe in true love?’”
“Do you?”
“What?”
“Believe in true love.”
“Yeah, don’t you?”
He sipped his coffee as he considered the question.
“Yes,” he said finally. “I just don’t think I’ll ever find it.”
You were taken aback by that. Jung Jaehyun had always been one of the most desirable people you knew, and from what you could tell the last six years had done nothing but make him even more so. But maybe that wasn’t what mattered.
“Doesn’t it scare you?” Jaehyun interrupted your thoughts.
“What? Love?”
“Yeah.”
“I mean yeah I guess so, but isn’t true love worth the fear?”
Jaehyun smiled again at that, nodding quietly as his gaze moved to focus on the floor between you. You weren’t sure if the nod meant yes, but it brought an end to the conversation anyway.
——
As the morning turned into midday the two of you found yourselves in a quieter part of town. The sky had begun to darken as you walked and it casted a looming shadow over the street, filling you with a strange sense of foreboding.
Soon enough raindrops began to fall, creating dark spots on the concrete beneath your feet. You ducked into the first shop you could find for shelter, not paying any attention to the signs posted outside. Thus you were surprised to see the crystal balls, tarot decks, and palm reading books laid out on the tables inside.
Incense filled the air, and midnight blue and royal purple drapes were hung along the walls, highlighted by shimmering golds and silvers. A woman stood at the counter wearing colors to match. Other than her the store was empty, which didn’t surprise you considering the fact that it was late morning on a Monday in February. Not exactly the height of tourist season.
“Welcome,” the woman said, her voice soft and silvery. “Are you looking for something in particular today?”
“Uh, no,” you looked back at Jaehyun.
“We were just escaping the rain,” he finished for you.
“Well then, perhaps you’d be interested in a reading?”
You felt bad for seeking refuge from the rain but not buying anything, so you agreed. You followed her to the back of the shop with Jaehyun close on your heels. An embroidered curtain was pushed to the side to reveal a small table with a few chairs scattered around it.
“Please take a seat,” she said as she pulled a deck of tarot cards from a drawer in the table. You and Jaehyun sat next to each other on the side closest to the curtain, and she sat across from you.
“So, I want you to think of a question,” she said as she began to shuffle the cards. “It could be about anything really, but please make sure that it’s clear and specific.”
You played with your hands where they rested in your lap, feeling quite put on the spot.
“Take your time,” she smiled at you.
Your mind came up with and then discarded a million questions as the seconds ticked by, but eventually you settled on one.
“Our uh, flight was delayed this morning,” you explained. “Do you, or do the cards think that it was delayed for a reason?”
“Hmm,” she nodded in understanding. First she split the deck in three, then put it back together as a whole in no obvious order, before finally beginning to place the cards on the table.
“Let’s see,” she pondered, looking down at the cards she’d laid out. First she pointed to the world and high priestess cards, both reversed on the table before you.“It looks as though you lack closure, likely because of some feelings that you’ve repressed or kept hidden.” Next she pointed to the hermit and the ace of swords. “But you are searching for the truth, which will soon lead to a breakthrough that will provide you with clarity.”
Now she pointed to the page of wands. “You have been exploring recently, or maybe you still are.” Next to the knight of wands and the knight of cups. “You are fearless right now, and are ready to follow your heart. This will lead to new beginnings,” the fool, “dreams come true,” the ten of cups, “and a unique and deep partnership,” the lovers.
“Taking all of this into consideration, I’d say that yes, it did happen for a reason,” she finished. And although you weren’t one to believe in the superstitious, when she looked up at you with a twinkle in her eye you had a feeling she knew something that you didn’t.
——
Your stomach grumbled as you left the store, which made you realize that you hadn’t actually had a proper meal all day. You hadn’t had time on your way to the airport that morning, and coffee didn’t exactly count as food.
Like he could read your mind Jaehyun pointed out a fish and chips place nearby. It was lunchtime, so the place was bustling. Nevertheless you were quickly escorted to a booth made of dark wood with faux leather seats. It had been placed near a window looking out on the street you had just left behind.
Music played through speakers, battling the rowdy conversation of your fellow diners. Your still complaining stomach prompted you to order without much consideration, confident that you were hungry enough to enjoy whatever you were served.
“Do you believe everything she said back there?” Jaehyun asked as you waited for your food, his nail tracing a crack in the table.
“Yeah?” you phrased it as a question, watching as the group next to you was served. “I mean I wouldn’t usually, but a lot of what she said rang true.”
You lapsed into silence again, and you noticed a newfound awkwardness filling the space between you. An awkwardness that had nothing to do with the time that had passed since you’d last seen each other. You couldn’t stand the feeling, and so no matter how out of character it was for you, you felt that you needed to disrupt it somehow. So you said the thing that had been dancing around in the back of your mind since you’d first laid eyes on Jaehyun that morning.
“I liked you in high school you know.”
“Oh. You did.” He tilted his head, the look in his eyes hard to decipher. It wasn’t a question but you answered anyway.
“Yeah well I mean everyone probably liked you at some point, but,” you bit your tongue, already regretting your words.
“So you liked me because everyone else did?”
“No! I liked you a lot more than everyone else did.”
You only registered the teasing lilt in his voice after you’d finished blurting out the confession, and you felt your whole body go hot as the smile dropped from his face. The pause felt like it lasted for centuries because of your embarrassment.
“Why?” he asked eventually.
“Why what?”
“Did you like me.”
“Um,” you fiddled with your paper napkin to focus your thoughts. You second guessed yourself yet again. Were you really going to spill your guts to him now, here, after all this time?
Fuck it. When else?
“It always seemed to me like you didn’t care what anyone else thought of you, but not in a high and mighty way, you just minded your own business. Everyone either wanted to be you, or be with you in high school, but you didn’t let it affect you. It never got to your head, and you were always equally kind to everyone no matter what.”
Your eyes didn’t leave your hands the entire time you talked. Your fingers shredded your napkin methodically, too embarrassed to even imagine looking him in the eye ever again.
“Plus, you’re not bad to look at,” you said with your last ounce of confidence, before descending back into silence.
Luckily you didn’t need to say anything else, as just then your server arrived with your food. You dug in despite your now roiling nerves, still too scared to look up. If you had, you would have seen the fond look in Jaehyun’s eyes, and the way his dimples couldn’t seem to be tamed.
——
After lunch you walked across the Thames, but were eventually forced to make way for two small children zipping by on their scooters, their faces both full of pure and unadulterated joy. You couldn’t help but smile as you watched them go by, remembering when things had been that simple for you too.
“Do you want kids?”
You don’t know why you’d asked. Maybe it was something about the way his eyes had sparkled when he’d moved for them to pass by, or the small smile that still graced his face almost a minute later.
“Me?” he laughed a little after he said it, knowing full well that he was the only person around for you to ask. “I…yeah.”
You nodded, not particularly inclined to say anything more, but he went on anyway.
“Sometimes I think about like, having a house with a big yard, and a dog, and some kids, and just all the people I love with me,” he trailed off. “I guess it sounds kinda cliche to say it out loud.”
“A little,” you chuckled lightheartedly even as your heart leaped in your chest. “But I know what you mean.”
——
Soon enough you stumbled upon a covered market set up along the river selling everything from clothes, to records, to furniture. You wandered into the clothes section while Jaehyun browsed the rows of records.
Eventually you found a mirror and started trying on the most ridiculous accessories you could find. Jaehyun found you adorned with a lime sunhat, sparkling ruby red glasses, and a fluffy green absinthe scarf.
“Why does that kind of work?” he chuckled as he looked you up and down.
“Complementary colors,” you said simply, trying to ignore the way his eyes surveyed your figure. His mouth was smiling, but his eyes were serious. They took you in like you were a statue in a museum, something to treat delicately and with reverence.
“I had an idea,” he said as you began to shed your layers of color and ludicrous.
“What kind of idea?”
“I thought maybe we could pick something from all of this,” he waved his arms around, gesturing to the market around you, “and buy it for each other.”
“Like a secret santa?”
“Kinda, yeah.”
“Okay,” you nodded. “Meet back here in say, twenty minutes?”
“Sure.”
You set off in opposite directions, not wanting to spy on each other’s search and spoil your own present. Twenty minutes later you met back up where you’d started, before quickly deciding that you needed to find somewhere to sit while you shared what you’d bought. You chose a loveseat in the middle of the furniture section, it’s surface made of navy blue linen.
“You first,” Jaehyun said once he’d made himself comfortable next to you.
“Okay but fair warning, this is kind of dumb,” you said before pulling a white mug from behind your back. On its surface was painted a singular peach hued letter J.
“I just had to,” you laughed, relief filling you at the look of amusement on his face as he took it in his hands. “You can use it when you get that house you were talking about.”
His smile softened at that, and he looked up at you with a genuine look of gratitude. “I love it. Seriously. Is it weird how much I love it?”
You laughed again, your cheeks aching with delight.
“Okay my turn,” Jaehyun turned serious again as he leaned down to carefully tuck the cup into his bag. When he straightened up he had a record in his hands. Taking it from him you saw that it was the self titled Hozier album from 2014.
“I remembered that it was your favorite album in high school so I uh, yeah,” he trailed of as you looked back up at him, your eyes as big and sparkling as the full moon.
“I can’t believe you remembered.”
“Yeah well, maybe I liked you a little bit in high school too.”
Your stomach dropped at his words and you forced yourself to swallow back your surprise.
“Really?” you managed to get out, desperately searching his eyes for any hint of insincerity. But when he nodded you found nothing but nerves at his years awaited confession.
——
Eventually the two of you found yourselves in a sprawling garden backed by a row of old Victorian houses. Wide walkways created borders between garden beds full of both familiar and unrecognizable plants, the air full of their sweet scent.
You split off to wander on your own for a while before meeting back up at a bench near the back of the garden. Jaehyun presented you with a one of spring’s first daffodils when you reached him, and you bit down on your bottom lip hard as he tucked it behind your ear.
“I bet a lot of people get married here,” he mused a while later, arms propped up on the back of the bench.
“Yeah, it’s beautiful.”
The foolish part of you let your mind imagine yourself having a wedding here. As your eyes traced the slope of his nose you wondered who would be in attendance, what food would be served, what you would be wearing.
“Do you ever think about all the things that had to happen for us to run into each other this morning?” Jaehyun asked. “Like I never thought I’d ever see you again, and even if I did I thought it would be at a reunion or something.”
“And what if our flight hadn’t been delayed?” you considered. You knew what would’ve happened. You would have gotten on that plane without speaking another word to each other. Maybe a brief goodbye in Incheon, but that was certainly the very most. And then you would go your separate ways yet again, passing it off as an innocent coincidence.
“I’m glad it was,” he said as though, yet again, he could read your mind. Or maybe he was just thinking the same thing.
The sun was setting now and his face was lit up by its fiery glow. It turned his deep brown eyes gold and his cheeks rosy. His lips were parted the tiniest bit, like they were trying to grasp onto a word that he couldn’t quite remember.
“Stop looking at me like that.”
“Like what?” you asked.
“Like you,” his jaw clenched as he paused, eyes flickering with uncertainty. “Like you could fall in love with me,” he finished finally.
“Maybe I already have.”
He ripped his eyes from the setting sun in favor of looking at you. The corners of his lips were down turned, and his eyes were set in shadow. You decided you liked them better this way, twin pools of warmth that you could fall into and stay in comfort forever.
“Would it be crazy if I kissed you right now?” he whispered just loud enough for you to hear.
“Yes,” you said breathlessly, your lungs not working quite the way they were supposed to. “But you should do it anyway.”
And so he leaned forward that left over inch, and your lips melded together like honey in the golden light of the sun as it sunk beneath the horizon.
——
As night fell upon the city you decided you needed something sweet to end your day. You ended up at a diner near the center of the city, with milkshakes and french fries set on the table between you. You dipped one into your shake and then huffed out a laugh as Jaehyun grimaced.
“It’s good!” you defended yourself. “At least try it before you judge me.”
“Fine.”
He reached forward and dipped a fry into his vanilla milkshake before popping it into his mouth. He considered carefully, eyes never once leaving yours.
“Okay I admit, it’s pretty good.”
You cried out victoriously before he’d even finished his sentence properly, pumping your fists in the air. It was Jaehyun’s turn to laugh now, the indent of his dimples enchanting you for the thousandth time that day.
“Do you think,” Jaehyun began, spinning the shiny silver spoon in his cup around in circles.
“Hm?”
“Are you…happy?”
You blinked. As an adult people would always ask you how your career was going, if you were married, or if you’d bought a house yet, as if life was some kind of grocery list where you had to check off each item in order for you to be complete. He was the first to ask if you were happy.
“I think so,” you leaned down and took another sip of your milkshake to give yourself a chance to think. “I’m not unhappy,” you decided after a moments thought.
“You know what makes me happy?” he asked next.
“What?”
“You.”
You stared at him, your mind reeling. A thousand thoughts came to you, but none of them expressed quite what you were feeling. But maybe words weren’t what you needed right now.
You reached across the table, pushing your cups and fries out of the way until you could lean forward free of any obstructions. He met you halfway without you needing to do or say a thing.
This time he tasted sweet and salty, like adventure and familiarity all wrapped into one. Fireworks erupted behind your eyelids as you kissed, disrupting the calm darkness you usually found there. When you pulled away you became starkly aware of the countless eyes on you, but you couldn’t find it in yourself to care. The only eyes you cared about were the chocolate ones looking straight into yours.
As you sat back down you noticed the flower that had fallen from behind your ear and on to the table top. Jaehyun noticed it at the same time as you, and carefully he reached forward to pick it up and twirl it between his fingers absentmindedly.
“One of the classes I took while I was here,” he started. “It was just for fun, an extra credit course you know. And at some point we talked about the language of the flowers.”
You watched the flower spin, a yellow blur under the diner’s fluorescent lights. It was mesmerizing, or maybe you were just tired.
“Do you know what the daffodil’s meaning is?” he asked.
You shook your head.
“Unequalled love.”
——
You reached gate 26 for the second time that day with nearly half an hour left until midnight. Some of your fellow voyagers sat around in groups, some by themselves. Some lay across the airport benches like cats trying to enjoy their midday nap. There were tired eyes everywhere you looked.
You, on the other hand, felt more awake than you had all day. None of it had felt real, passing more like a dream than real life. You had been tempted to pinch yourself several times that day, and now you finally decided to submit to the urge. You pushed back the sleeve covering your left arm and gave the skin underneath a quick pinch, if only to confirm that you were indeed corporeal.
You sucked in a short breath at the small tinge of pain, but then smiled at the ground at the confirmation that everything that had happened today was in fact real, and not just a figment of your overactive imagination. Jaehyun looked over at you with curious eyes at the small sound. You shook your head at the unspoken question, preferring to not indulge exactly how surreal all of this felt.
“What’s your seat number,” you asked instead.
“Uhhh,” Jaehyun rummaged around in his bag for a second before pulling out his boarding pass. “32F. How about you?”
“32G.”
You stared at each other for a second before Jaehyun burst out laughing.
“You’re telling me that our seats were next to each other this whole time?”
“I think so,” you looked down at your boarding pass once more before joining in on Jaehyun’s disbelieving laughter.
“Well would you look at that,” Jaehyun said, pulling your right hand into his lap and squeezing it gently. “I guess this really was fate.”
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