#they’re both blondes stereotyped and written off
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i know you've been talking about jason lately so i'll ask about smth different... robin jason (sorry)
idk idk lately i've been wanting to take a peek at his robin comics for the sake of writing fic (ofc...) but i'd like to hear what u think before that, a summary of sorts if u may (i also wanna contrast what u say with what i get out of it so yeah)
i feel like his robin days are so muddled by his identity as red hood later on, and even before that it was his death. u had people constantly blaming jason for dying in text (or else they'd have to admit bruce can make mistakes and everyone in dc is allergic to doing that) and painting him like someone reckless and violent (classist editorial u need to DIE), and then people in fanon painting him like a sweet fella who would do nothing wrong and as well as being bruce's Only Actual Son etc etc for the sake of making the situation around him all the more sadder (yeah yeah pathetic meow meow we've all seen it)
and i'm just curious bc i rlly wonder what the actual comics say about him, most likely something in the middle of this? exams are killing me but my god i'll come back to life after im done just to read jason robin's days... have a good day !!!
the difficulty with reading about jason as robin is that there are three primary periods that all differ fairly dramatically from each other — pre-crisis jason todd is a strawberry blond acrobat who’s almost adopted by dick grayson before becoming robin; post-crisis jason todd is a kid from crime alley who steals the wheels off the batmobile before becoming robin; and post-crisis, post-utrh jason todd is a very angry, very violent kid who becomes a cautionary tale after he gets himself killed (something he is often blamed for).
we can walk the line here. pre-crisis jason isn’t particularly relevant because so much of robin!jason’s stories depend on his reinvention after the reboot. all the crucial factors leading up to death in the family — growing up in the alley, both his mothers, his relationship with the robin mantle, his developing relationship with dick grayson, his slow schism from bruce, his relative isolation from other superheroes — are all crucial to who he is, especially after his death.
fanon about jason is annoying because there are valid criticisms that can be made about how he’s written with regressive, classist stereotypes, but as always it pivots way too far in one direction. jason wasn’t the “happy” or “angry” robin in the same way that dick wasn’t the happy or angry robin — they’re both characters that possess more than a single emotion. it’s true that jason was later written to be more explicitly violent (to contrast him with dick) but also like… they’re both pretty similar characters that differ in interesting ways. dick created robin to be a symbol of hope and joy. jason carried that on when he took up the mantle. they can both be angry at stuff without the world falling apart. it’s not that serious.
the dialogue about dick being a child soldier but jason being the true son makes me want to tear my hair out. jason became robin because bruce missed dick and was afraid of being alone. they’re both his gd kids. acting as though bruce wayne doesn’t love dick grayson so much that extra-dimensional beings can clock it is so fucking stupid. it once again ties into fanon’s obsession with each character only getting to be “one” thing. tim is smart, which means he’s the smartest. jason said robin made him magic, which means he’s happy all the time. dick chased after zucco in a grief spiral, which means he’s the violently angry one, with no other character traits. dick can’t have been nice to jason because he’s nice to tim, etc. seems a little silly, no?
i think i’ve only read jason’s brief run as robin once, though ive gone through a death in the family + a lonely place of dying a bunch of times, so ig my advice for reading him is to keep in mind the context in which he was created. dc comics was reeling from losing dick grayson as robin, and were really throwing anything at the wall to get something to stick. many, many negative tropes are baked into his introduction, and thanks to writers like jeph loeb and scott lobdell they have compounded over time. jason’s updated backstory is, with actual critical intent by the writer, a really good examination of how poverty and class will affect how someone views the world. his death was not his fault — and removing sheila haywood from that warehouse purposely makes his story less tragic. he was a good kid! and he was angry for a good reason. if jason had lived, i believe he would’ve carried on the robin tradition and left bruce behind once their differences became insurmountable.
#jason as robin: baby. jason as red hood: really really annoying#jason todd#red hood#batman#bruce wayne#dc comics#the ask and the answer
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(Based on another post.)
Ok... I was looking at the designs and-
Has anyone realized how weird the racial implications of Hazbin Hotel (and Helluva Boss with the main characters) are?
I know someone else has already talked about this-
But Charlie Morningstar is clearly white coded. The “corrupt souls” she has to “save” are clearly poc coded or are directly poc. The “villains” of the show are MOSTLY poc with Velvet being confirmed as poc indirectly by Vivziepop not long ago and Valentino was confirmed to be hispanic too. It gets off “white savior” vibes along with the fact that 1. Theres a creole character who practices voodoo who’s stereotyped as a cann^bal 2. There being a hispanic poc (Valentino) who’s also shown to be highly aggressive, to a character thats Italian: a ethnicity thats considered as “white” in many places. Hell! Niffy is even Japanese, and she was drawn as yellow 100% of the time until just recently.
They also have this thing where theres something i’d like to call “Greywashing”: Where Vivziepop deliberately avoids using the color brown, and instead makes all of her poc (No, “Coco” doesnt count shes from another artist. This is only about the main designer.) a lighter shade of grey, giving the illusion of brown skin without actually making them brown. While Vivziepop gave Charlie a peach-like skin tone. So its clearly not because they're demons but something else entirely.
(Light Grey.)
(Grey, with a brownish tint mixed in.)
(LIGHT grey.)
(Not counting Valentino since he seems to be more moth based than Vaggie and isnt intended to be as humanoid unlike those that are on this list.)
While Charlie, our “main heroine” is drawn as a blonde looking girl with snow-white skin. I know some people will make the “they're demons!” excuse, but these characters in particular are clearly meant to be the closest to human looking. Especially Charlie, who’s design is just a generic looking white girl with some Halloween makeup slapped on, an eye infection, and neko teeth.
So her being the main protagonist, half of the made to be “worst” characters such as Valentino and Alastor directly being poc. Plus the fact that the show is demonizing a closed religion that was created by African slaves as a way of coping with their situation while Hazbin is showing it as “evil” or “dark magic”. Plus in Helluva Boss, the “succubitches” are all shown to be sluts who are written in a negative light, who also happen to be poc in their human forms.
... who are also shamed by the police as “degenerates.”
They also have a poc background character named “Rat”, a animal that tends to be stereotyped in cartoons as “dirty” or “disease filled.” and yet they decided to name the second darkest character (who is also from a different artist) this.
This combined with the other implications can only make me say:
What is Vivziepop’s deal with us?! Why is she outright refusing to draw us without making our skin somewhat grey- a light grey for that matter! The people at the wiki call Alastor “beige.” But I remember there being a time where they called him khaki, and earlier “grey.” Even beige is described as a “greyish tan” and is considered “the most pale” type of brown. So even the “browns” are very pale and arent the shade most of us are- aka pure, dark, brown! Even most light skin people are not grey- but brown!
This isnt about the morality of the characters and them being demons, this is about the stereotyping from the creator. I dont give a shit if the show is meant to be “edgy”- you either choose to be borderline racist, ableist, and narcissitic with how you write your characters, or actually “progressive.” Choosing both just makes you look like most of the hypocrites over at Twitter who think that representation is a “two way” street that can be morphed into whatever benefits someone’s bias of a specific discriminated group. But back to Hazbin-
The implications with the poc are off-putting, and it makes me all the more nervous for how theyre going to present poc in the next show. Yikes!
#helluva critical#hazbin critical#hazbin hotel criticism#im poc and autistic myself so whats been shown so far is#really weird asf implications#what the hell is going on with the representation honestly wtf
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Kaoru Hakaze aka a fully realized variant of Adrien Agreste
He was forced to rewrite the sleep-deprived kaoru Adrien comparison essay and make it coherent.
They’re both blonde, they’re both rich, they both have parental issues, and only one of them remains to be a stagnant character (surprise! It’s not Kaoru).
Before I get into the meat of this long long post, I want to preface this by saying that I do NOT want or expect Adrien to be written this way. I acknowledge that there’s a point where the similarities between Kaoru Hakaze and Adrien Agreste diverge. I’m only making this post because a) the few friends I have that like both mlb and enstars wanted to read this and b) I just want to highlight how MLB could’ve tackled certain facets of Adrien’s character. At the end of the day, these two are only characters that share a few similarities and are different enough to be their own unique characters. Again, I just wanted to put this out there to show that Adrien, at his basis, could easily be an interesting character in the show, but the writers do nothing with the gold mine they’re sitting on.
ALRIGHT, since I’m posting this to my Tumblr dedicated to talking about MLB, I think some introductions are needed. Kaoru Hakaze is a character from the Japanese anidol franchise Ensemble Stars. He’s a member of the unit UNDEAD, and upon first glance, he appears to be a flirty and breezy sort of guy (note: his last name Hakaze plays into his wind theming).
At the start of Ensemble Stars! (with one exclamation point, this different is integral), you meet Kaoru Hakaze and 9 times out of 10 (unless your fave type is the flirty guy, which uh Stares at the numerous amounts of JP fans who love Kaoru ok maybe I was in the minority) you’ll likely be infuriated with him: he’s flirty and brushes off most of the cast because according to him, hanging out with guys is a waste of time and not fun and he’d rather be in the presence of girls. If I could find a clip, I would put his first appearance in the anime to give you a good idea on his initial demeanor. Anyway, the game, especially in its earlier years, really liked laying it on thick that Kaoru loves girls and loves flirting and loves taking them out on dates and detests the idea of hanging out with boys.
But slowly and surely, the Enstars writers eventually realized that they had something good and interesting in their hands, and began to write Kaoru slowly growing out of this pre-established mindset. As years passed by and we got more Kaoru-centric stories, he evolved from the stereotypical flirt character who only cared about chasing skirts and flirting with the player character (a girl named Anzu) to a guy who has a lot of love and care in his heart and hopes to be someone reliable to his peers. By the start of Ensemble Stars!! (I’m telling you the amount of exclamation points are important), he’s become a reliable sort of guy, hoping to be a good mentor figure to Anzu and the younger idols, and he cares deeply for his fellow unit members and friends.
So with that quick intro out of the way, you must be wondering: what does this have to do with MLB and where does Adrien Agreste fall in all this? Well, I’ll tell you! By bringing up the similarities between these two and how Adrien’s writing could’ve followed a similar path.
Dealing with the loss of a mother
The first and easiest comparison to make between Kaoru and Adrien are that they both have lost their mothers, with Kaoru losing his mom at a young age, while Adrien losing his mom a few months before the MLB canon starts (supposedly… uh the show is weird about when exactly Emilie Agreste disappeared).
The issue with Adrien is that… well his feelings about his mom’s disappearance isn’t really explored in the show. There are only a few episodes in the show that tackle this subject in relation to Adrien: Simon Says where Adrien tells Ladybug about his mom, Gorizilla where Adrien wants to watch the indie movie his mom starred in, and Felix where it appears Adrien seems to be at peace with his mom’s disappearance considering the fact that he appears to be ok with Gabriel moving on in life with Nathalie. Christmas Special also tackles Adrien being sad about his mother’s disappearance, but that episode falls in the weird line of it’s canon or non-canon because the MLB timeline is all sorts of wacky. Anyway, the point I’m trying to make here is that Adrien’s thoughts about his missing mother are only brought up when the show needs a sad moment and to make us feel bad for him. We don’t get to see the ongoing effects on a kid who lost their mother recently, like how it’d affect the actions he takes or his perceptions on relationships with people or anything. It’s just there as an angst point.
Contrast this with Kaoru, who’s loss basically rewired his brain. For Kaoru, we know that his mother meant so much to him, as he brings her up in quiet monologues to himself, asking her for guidance or assurance. The reason he flirted with girls and craved their presence so much? Because his mother was a shining beacon in his life and when she died, it felt as though all those good feelings vanished (which was also exacerbated by his father’s colder attitude). Kaoru thought he could fill the void by going on dates with girls (yes this is Freudian as hell and I am so glad you have moved past this Kaoru) because he desired to feel loved.
You can tangibly see how this loss affects Kaoru, but with Adrien, sometimes it’s easy to forget that he lost his mother because there is hardly any exploration of grief for him (especially if this happened so recently). Why don’t we see an Adrien uncomfortable with the topic of moms more or more scenes of him wistfully staring at his peers’ with his parents?? Maybe we could get a proper explanation as to why Adrien somehow manages to get over his grief to the point where he thinks it’s alright for Gabriel to move on too. Like writing a child in mourning would be a good thing to show to kids, to not shame them for their tears and fears, to show them its ok to cry and that moving on is a journey. But with Adrien? Nothing.
A flirty demeanor and focusing on one girl
Both Kaoru and Adrien are established flirts. Both Kaoru and Adrien also end up singling out one girl for their affections. It’s just how these facts unfold throughout the story that differs. As said before, Kaoru has a reputation of being a skirt-chaser: his peers know it, girls know it, and it’s a part of his image as an idol. When he meets Anzu, the player character (side note: Anzu really shouldn’t be the player character for the player to self insert on because at this point, she is so heavily involved with the cast and has her own backstory, personality and motivation that it’s better to consider her as her own character), Kaoru takes interest in her because of course he does. However, because of Anzu’s constant presence amongst all the idols and her role as their producer (basically she’s their manager), Kaoru’s interest goes from shallow intrigue because she’s a girl to a full-blown crush on her. Kaoru does confess to her at the end of the school year, only to get promptly rejected. He ends up taking this rejection in stride, now focusing his efforts on supporting her whenever he can as a friend. (until enstars remembers it also has to appeal to self-shippers so Kaoru has stupid moments where he gets nervous around Anzu in !! era and it’s kind of PISSING ME O-)
On the other hand, we have Adrien, who acts flirty when he’s Chat Noir for… uhh actually is there an established reason as to why Adrien acts this way in canon? Because I was always under the assumption that he does this to differentiate his hero self from his civilian self but now I have no clue if that is canon or fanon (knowing this show I’m leaning towards fanon). So yeah, we have Adrien who flirts with Ladybug and some of the other female heroes too (like Ryuko) and his object of affection is Ladybug. He likes Ladybug because why not? Origins wants you to believe that he likes Ladybug because she’s an amazing sort of girl with convictions who also has a vulnerable side, but later episodes make it seem like he’s just in love with the heroine being perfect and also in love with him in return (looking at you Puppeteer 2 and Ladybug). And Adrien has confessed to Ladybug (numerous times now) and has gotten rejected every single time… like he didn’t stop after the first rejection and kept going instead? Sure, in Glaciator he SAYS he’ll respect her rejection and be there for her as a friend, then a few episodes later, Frozer opens with him trying to ask her out again and taking it badly that she rejects him a second time. Like, instead of idk the lesson of Adrien getting rejected sticking and him actually respecting her rejection, he just keeps asking her out? What’s the point of constantly having him do this because It just makes him look like a creep who can’t take no for an answer. Nothing of substance is really done with Adrien here either and this part of his character and the way it’s written in canon just makes him look worse.
On the topic of friendship
Alright I’ll admit that this may seem like a reach at first, but hear me out. For both Kaoru and Adrien, the topic of friendship is an integral part of their character, or at least it appears to be for Adrien. Origins establishes that one of Adrien’s goals is to make friends but we don’t see him in the act of making friends. Like he doesn’t go out of his way to approach people and befriend them most of the time (like Nino had to offer friendship first, Chloe was already his friend before the school year started, he ends up befriending Kagami because their parents pushed them together) and the episode Party Crasher just hands him a friend group with no effort on his part.
On the other end of the spectrum, Kaoru is resistant to the idea of befriending his peers because they’re guys but over the school year in ! era, he slowly opens up to them, finding their company to be pleasant and enjoyable. It’s also interesting to note the sort of company Kaoru keeps: he always manages to connect with those considered “eccentric” or too much to handle by others. His easygoing and breezy nature (sorry I need the wind puns) greatly contrasts the colorful personalities of his friend group; it makes for their interactions to be entertaining to read through. Making friends feels more meaningful for Kaoru because we see him work towards repairing his relationships with those who surround him, rather than suddenly having a friend group with no buildup like Adrien does.
An aside: Adrien has a thing in canon where no one? Dislikes him? Like besides maybe Lila but who knows what her motivations are since the show refuses to elaborate and Chloe I guess don’t know what’s going on with her and her perception of Adrien starting from s4. He never has anyone to butt heads with or have conflict with, and I think it makes him boring to watch at times because everyone just likes him. On the other hand, you have Kaoru who has a mixed reception with the cast: there’s a running gag with Souma where Souma wants to slice him with his sword and is always irritated by Kaoru or how Koga underestimates Kaoru and takes Kaoru’s easygoing attitude as laziness. People tended to condescend him for his skirt-chasing attitude, frowning down upon it or calling it his weakness. All the various reactions to Kaoru makes it fun to see him interact with all sorts of characters because will they make fun of him? Tease him? Look down on him? With Adrien, everyone likes him and praises him and sometimes it’s like hip hip hooray /s and other times it’s like wow this kinda sucks bc his father treats him differently but nuance or intriguing exploration of interactions? Sorry we don’t do that
Conclusion
Again, I want to emphasize that in no way, shape, or form do I want Adrien’s character to follow Kaoru’s exactly. They may share similarities but they aren’t the same. Like Adrien’s father is abusive, while Kaoru’s father only has a rocky relationship with his son (there’s no implication of abuse on Kaoru’s end, only that his father looks down on Kaoru’s decision to become an idol). Kaoru isn’t an only child and part of his character growth involves his relationship with his sister and how he wants to connect with his siblings, something that Adrien wouldn’t have as an only child. There will come a point where their stories diverge and tread different paths. The only reason I made this post is, again as I said at the start of this, to highlight ways the MLB writers could’ve written Adrien, could’ve tackled character traits they gave him, could’ve made him the interesting character he is on paper (but not in execution). I wish I could like Adrien because I could easily see him being a favorite character of mine, but his canon execution doesn’t allow him to grow in any shape or form and in fact, coddles him to prevent any sort of longstanding development to take hold of him.
I hope you come out of reading this long essay with the thought that more could be done with Adrien and his character, but because the writing team see and believe him to be perfect, that the world has to change for Adrien and not the other way around, Adrien can never be the compelling character people wish for him to be as long as he’s in the hands of the current writing team.
P.S. hi orion and friends ^_^
P.P.S. there's probably more I could talk abt but uhh my brain power is gone
#m too scared to put this in the tags bc someones gonna try to clown on me ik itll happen#but reblogs are ok with this post#r(en)bles
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Book pages project - Silver
Wooding, Chris. Silver. Scholastic Press, 2014.
Silver, a young adult fiction novel by Chris Wooding, follows a fifteen-year-old student in Mortingham Boarding Academy named Paul. Paul, much like all the other children, has his usual struggles with growing up, however, unlike many of the other students, Paul’s parents were killed in a tragic plane crash, orphaning him at a young age. Suddenly, a strange outbreak occurs as mysterious beetles begin turning both animals and humans alike into metallic, bloodthirsty zombies. In order to survive this outbreak, Paul must band together with several other students including Mark, a boy who is trying to find his place in the world, Adam, a courageous but troubled bully, Caitlyn, Paul’s nerdy, shy secret admirer, and Erika, a beautiful young girl who Paul is over the moon for. However, the zombie-like creatures eventually show signs of animal-like intelligence, forming hunting packs, having leaders, and even forming strategies. With the odds stacked against them, the group must find a way to get out of the school before they’re eventually caught and turned into more of the hideous abominations.
I remember reading this book way back in middle school and honestly, I should have waited to read it as, from what I remember, it contained some graphic and very intensely gory scenes of the creatures ripping people and children to shreds. However, while it was definitely meant for older adolescents, it was still one of my favorite books growing up. The stakes were high, the characters were incredible, the scenes, while intense, kept me on the edge of my seat, and overall, it was a thrilling read of horror sci-fi survival and the lengths one must go in a dire situation. My only wish is that Chris Wooding would write a sequel to the book, however, sadly he is not known for sequels as this particular author likes to create ambiguous endings to keep the reader guessing as the ending to Silver, while a good ending, was left open as if to continue the story. The characters, while feeling very much like stereotypes in the beginning, later are shown to have deeper traumas, motivations, and pasts.
Silver very much shows adolescents that there is always more under the surface, everyone has their own kind of story, and they are the way they are for a reason. For example, Adam appears to just be the classic bully, getting a kick out of picking on others. However, as the story goes on, it is revealed that deep down Adam has a big heart and is only the way he is because of the troubled past with an abusive father figure. Erika, while appearing to be the stereotypical perfect, smart, beautiful blonde is actually, deep down, incredibly insecure, seeing herself as useless as she fails to meet societal expectations. Caitlyn, while on the surface appears to be a sweet and shy nerdy girl, is actually deeply troubled and jealous of other girls like Erika which leads to unfair resentment. Mark, while seeming like a character who cares about no one and nothing, is actually just a nerdy outcast who just wants to find a way to fit in. Paul, while seeming like he is just the typical teenager, cold and cut off from everyone, is actually deeply troubled and traumatized, as he is still grieving the loss of his parents. While all of these characters seem flat at first, the book goes on to show how deep their stories truly are. This is very much alike adolescents nowadays as there are many adolescents out there who may seem like troublesome teens who are written off by society as good-for-nothing troublemakers, however, deep down a large number of these adolescents are just troubled and have issues that need to be resolved. Instead of just abandoning these adolescents, society needs to help them and their struggles in order for them to flourish.
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all i want is for starlight to kick ass to britney spears is that really so much to ask
#they’re both blondes stereotyped and written off#but after closer insight they’re actually nuanced human beings who got screwed over by the system#their aesthetics are impeccable#and britney has some FIRE beats that i think would synchronize WELL to a fight scene#stfu k8#sorry rambling again#the boys#the boys amazon#the boys meme#the boys show#starlight the boys#annie january
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I got you (collaboration fic) part 1??
Pairings: Becca x Emily
A huge huge huge shoutout to the amazing and talented @drmmyrs for collaborating on this fic with me, you are an incredible writer and being able to write with you is such a pleasure.
This fic was originally written for @the-freshman-appreciation-week becca’s day but we feel like we may write more parts to the fic when we get the time to collab.
The fic focuses on the relationship between Becca and Emily and their development, this was so much fun to write, again @drmmyrs thank you for writing with me :))))
wordcount: 1.6k
tag list: @drmmyrs @cloud9in @fundamentalromantic @alleycat97 @baexpoppy @veenast @straightlikewetspaghetti (this is my first time writing for becca so i don’t really have a tag list for her but if you wanna be added just let me know)
“Emily!” Becca pushes past the other partygoers, stomping towards the brunette who’s standing with her group of friends as her shrill voice rings throughout the room over the blaring music. The word ‘Emily’ coming out of Becca’s mouth feels foreign to her as she spits it out, almost as if she has a distaste for the name. Emily jumps slightly at the beckon of her name, her guard up as the sound of her name coming out of the blonde’s mouth instead of an insult, is something new to her ears.
“Uh yeah?” The brunette nervously assesses the blonde’s demeanour, taking in her slightly shrivelled hair and slanted stance, indicating she may have had her fair share of drinks tonight.
“What the hell are you doing with Chris?” Becca angrily gestures towards the football player, her eyebrows scrunched up while her voice only becomes more resounding as she takes a step closer to the girl.
Emily narrows her eyes at Becca, her voice civil and calming, a stark contrast to Becca’s. “He’s not your pet, Chris is a grown man and can hang out with whoever he wants.”
Becca huffs angrily, “Oh please,” is all she can muster, the buzz of the alcohol messing with her ability to come up with a catty insult.
Emily gives Becca a pitying look before turning back to her friends, nonchalantly shrugging at them, completely ignoring the blonde.
The music continues, the pulsating beat echoing throughout the house as the party rages on. Becca’s thoughts go into overdrive, the flurry of logic blending into the raucous music. She grits her teeth, bursting with fury, her vision blurring white as she saunters up to the girl, and without thinking, she grabs Emily by her shoulder.
Emily sharply turns around, irritation etches on her features as she shrugs Becca’s hand off violently, her calm demeanour gone in a split second. “What the hell’s your problem?” she hisses, the volume of her voice starting to match Becca’s.
The partygoers start to turn their attention towards the commotion, a small group forming around the girls at the possibility that a physical altercation may ensue.
“No one turns their back on me while I’m still talking,” Becca threatens, pushing the words through her teeth.
“Or what?” Emily retorts, not backing down.
A larger crowd starts gathering around them, some already whipping their cameras out, catching the blonde and brunette in a fiery stare-off with both not even daring to blink.
“What’s going on here?” A voice bellows from the crowd, silencing the murmurs as a brawny-looking man marches towards the girls, an annoyed expression on his face.
Emily is the first to tear away her gaze to address the man who happens to be a frat boy. “You should ask her what her problem is.” Emily gives Becca the side-eye, to which Becca responds by rolling her eyes. “I was just minding my business when–”
“Oh please. If you weren’t going around stealing other people’s boyfriends–”
“How many times do I have to say–”
“Hey I don’t have a girlfriend,” Chris chimes in but his voice is drowned out by the two girls as they continue to bicker.
“Girls, girls.” The man holds up his hand as if to silence them both. “I don’t care who started it. We have a no fighting policy at this party so I’m going to have to ask you both to leave.”
“But I didn’t even-” Emily stops herself when she sees from the frat boy’s face that it isn’t a matter of negotiation. “Fine, I guess I’ll go.” Kaitlyn and Zack begin following the girl but Emily holds her hand up stopping them, “no you guys stay.”
“You sure?” Kaitlyn frowns slightly.
“Yeah, I need some air and you guys might as well have fun, you earned it.” Emily musters a small smile, “I’ll be fine I swear, I’m more worried about her,” Emily nods towards the blonde who’s furiously waving her finger in the frat boy’s face, hurling every stereotypical insult about frats under the sun as she’s being carried out by two other frat boys.
“Now that’s a sight,” Zach sighs as he gives Emily a small hug before joining the group.
Emily sighs as she trails behind Becca’s screaming antics, once they get to the entrance of the house, the boys put Becca down before joining the party again.
“This is why I hate frat parties, I’ve seen pigs with more brain cells!”
Emily winces as Becca continues screaming until she feels her head can’t take it anymore. “Can you please shut up, they’re not letting you back in.”
Becca exasperatingly huffs, her eyes shooting daggers at the brunette, “well if it wasn’t for you Emily,” even saying her name in a taunting manner made Becca feel uneasy, there was something about it, that made it both so difficult but easy to say, “I would still be in there partying with my friends.”
“Me?” Emily points at herself, eyebrows raised, “you started screaming my name, coming at me, and for what? Chris? He’s not interested in you.”
“Like he even wants you,” Becca snaps back, the weight of the insult carrying nothing.
“Well that’s not what he told me last week so...” Becca clamps her lips shut, unusually silent, as she glances away from the brunette, her expression contemplative. Emily takes it as an indication that she’s won this battle, letting the weight of her admission hang in the air as she walks away from the blonde. But every step feels heavier as her conscience about leaving the drunk blonde behind preys at the back of her mind. Emily sighs, before turning back, cautiously approaching the blonde who remains in the same state she left her in moments ago. “Do you have a way to get home?”
“I didn’t bring my car.”
“Probably the only smart thing you’ve done today,” Emily mutters under her breath.
As Becca opens her mouth to spit out a comeback, Emily shakes her head sluggishly, evidently tired from today’s events. ���I’m not looking to start another fight, Becca. Right now I just wanna go home in one piece. You’re in no state to be alone either so you’re stuck with me.”
Becca facetiously rolls her eyes, her body slumping as she follows the brunette, trudging slowly behind her. Becca and Emily walk home in silence, carefully maintaining a distance, the only sounds being heard are the clicks of their shoes and the occasional rumble of engines as they continue their journey in silence. Suddenly, a gust of wind sweeps over the streets, the once soothing breeze suddenly becoming a rush of air, as Becca wraps her arms around herself, rubbing her arms in an up and down motion, her breath forming clouds of condensations in the crisp, cold air.
“Are you cold?” Emily inquires, raising an eyebrow at the blonde.
“No, I’m just rubbing my arms just to see how much friction I can create,” Becca snaps back.
“Jeez, it was just a question,” Emily rolls her eyes but feels a sense of pity in her stomach as she realises Becca’s cheeks have reddened in the last few minutes. She reluctantly sighs, shrugging off her jacket before placing it on the girl’s shoulders. “Here, and don’t make any comments about how you don’t want it, you look like a tomato.”
Becca huffs angrily but she pulls the jacket closer to her, a small part of her grateful for Emily’s act of kindness, but she doesn’t show it. As she continues on walking, she struggles to ignore Emily’s lavender scent on the jacket, subconsciously pulling it closer to her nose so she can get a better smell of it, feeling an indescribable sense of security as she does. She’s so engrossed in the scent of the jacket, that she doesn’t realise she’s standing outside of Emily’s suite.
“You think you can manage it from here?” Emily inquires, the extensiveness of tonight’s events taking a toll on her demeanour.
But before Emily can step inside, a deep rumble from Becca’s stomach catches them both by surprise.
Emily sighs. “Come inside. I’ll fix you up with something before you go.”
“I’m not hungry,” Becca says stubbornly but is immediately countered by another rumble.
“Whatever,” Emily rolls her eyes, “I’ll be making some food so if you happen to want any, the door’s open,” Emily steps into the suite, keeping the door slightly ajar, knowing the blonde would take her up on her offer. Becca reluctantly steps into the dorm, slithering into one of the chairs as she cups her face in her hands, massaging her temples.
“Uhh I can make us a soup, you okay with that?”
“Yes, please,” Becca replies, her voice slightly muffled by her hands covering her mouth.
Emily snorts, her eyes glistening with amusement as she looks over at the blonde.
“What the hell is so funny?” Becca looks up from the table, catching the glint in Emily’s eyes.
“Just didn’t think you had the ability to say please.”
Becca groans, “whatever, my head hurts.” Emily playfully rolls her eyes, turning her attention to the box of soup in her hands.
As Emily prepares their food, Becca’s eyes sweep over the quaint room, a small smile playing on her lips as she notices all the motivational posters that adorn the walls, fairly certain that they are Emily’s.
Emily lazily mixes the soup, her eyes suddenly on the blonde’s as she observes the small smile on her face while she looks around the room. Emily feels a hint of content that her cheesy posters bring a smile to Becca’s face, a smile gracing her own mouth as she turns her attention back to the soup. After a few more moments, she uses a ladle to pour the soup into two bowls, grabbing two clean spoons and walking over to the table, sitting on one of the chairs. She slides over a bowl towards Becca, holding out a spoon for her, which Becca gratefully accepts, and the two girls sit in content silence, enjoying the wave of tranquility as they enjoy their food.
#playchoices#the freshman#the freshman series#becca davenport#becca x mc#becca appreciation day#hope you guys enjoy reading this
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Right Place, Right Moment
Pairings: Ethan Ramsey x Victoria Clarke
Word count: 1.4k
Summary: There’s something on Ethan’s mind...
Rating: General Audiences
Category: fluff
Ethan could hear the thrashing of rain and the loud clapping of thunder outside. But that wasn’t what woke him up.
Instead, it was the feeling of a warm body on top of his, the feeling of gentle kisses against his jaw making him hum in delight. Ethan opened his eyes to see Victoria peering down at him, eyes shining bright and with a big smile on her face.
“Well this is a pleasant surprise.” Ethan said as he pulled Victoria closer so she was laying next to him.
“I think it’s the best way to wake up.” Victoria smiled.
“I won’t disagree with you there.” Ethan replied leaning down to press a soft kiss against Victoria’s lips.
“So what do you want to do today? I’m thinking we just stay in our pyjamas and do nothing.”
“I agree. It’s been a long week and all I want is to just spend my time with you.” Ethan replied wrapping an arm around Victoria’s shoulders.
“Ditto.” Victoria snuggled into Ethan’s chest.
“We should get some breakfast.” Ethan said.
“Shower first. Then I can put on clean pyjamas.” Victoria said climbing out of bed. “Well? Aren’t you going to join me?”
Ethan didn’t need telling twice. He jumped out of bed and hurried to Victoria’s side, closing the en-suite bathroom door in an instant.
— — — — —
One very long shower later, (that didn’t involve much washing) Ethan and Victoria were washing up their breakfast things in the kitchen.
Well, Ethan was.
“I wonder if there is anything good on TV today.” Victoria said, flicking idly through a magazine.
“It’s Sunday sweetheart. Which means it’s race day.”
“Are we gonna have to watch it all day?” Victoria whined.
“Nothing comes between me and the motor racing.” Ethan shrugged.
“Do I actually come second to formula one? That’s actually kind of hilarious.” Victoria laughed a little.
“Only every other Sunday. The rest of the time I’m yours completely.” Ethan chuckled bringing Victoria into his embrace.
He took her by the hand and led them to the couch, sitting down first so Victoria could lean back into his embrace, Ethan wrapped his arms around her as Victoria snuggled against his chest.
“How long have you been a fan of formula one?” Victoria asked.
“Since I was a kid. I’ve always loved cars and the excitement is always great to watch.” Ethan replied.
“Dad and Will like it as well. I’ve never been particularly bothered.” Victoria shrugged. “So who are we routing for today?”
Ethan grabbed the remote and turned on the TV, finding the correct channel where the race was. As he found it, the cars were lining up on the track.
“See the bright red cars? The ones in 4th and 5th? That’s who we want.” Ethan gestured to the TV.
“Okay. And who are they?”
“Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc.”
“Are they the best?”
“Vettel is. But the one who will probably win is the one right at the front Lewis Hamilton. He’s currently leading the championship.”
The cars started to move off their positions, all swarming round the track. Victoria had a hard time keeping up with them. She could feel Ethan tensing up against her.
“Who knew a sport could work you up to much.” Victoria teased looking up at him.
“It’s exciting Rookie.”
“Even the interns don’t frustrate you as much.” Victoria laughed.
“That’s a different kind of frustration.” Ethan replied.
“Talk to me. What’s happening here?” Victoria looked at the screen.
“Well to no surprise, Hamilton is leading, he does have the best car, then his teammate is behind him, then the two Ferrari’s.” Ethan explained.
“Who’s the car behind them?”
“That’s Max Verstappen and Red Bull.”
“Oh I’ve heard that name before. I think Bryce likes them. I overheard him talking about him once.”
“They’ve never won a championship. Max has a bit of a hot temper.” Ethan said.
Suddenly on the screen, two of the cars collided and they were sent spinning. Debris scattered the track as the tyres rolled in all directions.
“Oh my god!” Victoria covered her eyes as the crash was replayed in slow motion.
“It’s okay Vic, they’re okay. Look, they’re climbing out of their cars.” Ethan chuckled rubbing Victoria’s arm gently.
Victoria looked through fingertips and saw the two drivers involved in the crash getting out of their cars and walking away from the scene.
“How did they escape from that?” Victoria asked.
“F1 cars are built to be as safe as possible.” Ethan replied.
Victoria watched the drivers walk off the track, recognising one of them.
“Wait! That’s...”
“Vettel. Yep. And Verstappen. It was the latter’s fault.” Ethan shrugged.
“Looks like your favourite team aren’t gonna win today.”
“Leclerc is still there. Although Hamilton looks unstoppable today.”
“I like Hamilton. Not the musical, the driver. He has a nice car.” Victoria said.
Ethan laughed tightening his arms around her. “God I love you.”
Both froze. Victoria’s eyes widened. Did she hear him correctly? Did he just say that he loved her?
Ethan could feel his heart pounding in his chest. He wanted to say those words for a long time, but his plan was something along the lines of the opera and then dinner.
“Did I hear that right?” Victoria sat up to look at him.
“I may have had a better plan than to say it like that.” Ethan replied.
“Oh yeah? And what did that involve?” Victoria smirked as she straddled him.
“Something to do with the opera and then dinner. Maybe over dessert?” Ethan chuckled.
“That sounds lush. But I preferred how you said it now. And I should say it back. I love you too.” Victoria smiled.
Ethan felt as if he was on cloud nine. Knowing actions spoke louder than words, he leaned forward to press his lips to Victoria’s, his hands finding their way into her messy blonde locks as hers wrapped around his neck.
“You have no idea how happy I am to hear you say that.” Ethan broke apart, resting his forehead against Victoria’s.
“Believe me, I’ve wanted to say it for a long time. I just didn’t want to pressure you. It took you forever for you to act on your feelings, I didn’t want to make you feel like I was rushing you.”
Ethan answered with another kiss, a softer and more gentler one.
“Falling in love with you was the best thing to have ever happened to me.” Ethan smiled.
“Really?” Victoria said, eyes glistening with emotion.
“Really Vic. I couldn’t think of a better person to have by my side for the rest of my life.”
Victoria snuggled back against Ethan’s chest, feeling safe and secure as his ran his hand through her blonde hair.
“Oh look, Hamilton is 5 seconds ahead.”
Ethan laughed. “He is the best driver after all.”
“Maybe we should go to a Grand Prix one day. Then I can see you in your natural habitat.” Victoria said.
“I thought my natural habitat was at the hospital?” Ethan replied.
“After this, I’m retracting that statement. Seeing Ethan Ramsey getting excited over cars is definitely much more exciting. Then again it does play to the whole boys and their toys stereotypes.” Victoria laughed.
“I’ll take that over shouting at interns. Natural habitats are supposed to be fun.”
“And here’s me thinking you did find shouting at interns fun. Guess I didn’t know you as well as I thought I did.” Victoria laughed pressing a kiss to his cheek.
The couple laid on the sofa as they continued to watch the race, completely content and safe with each other. It seemed like the race went on for hours before finally, the first car passed the checkered flag.
“Hamilton won!” Victoria smiled.
“Told you he would. Completely uneventful.” Ethan rolled his eyes with a small smile.
“I still find it all confusing. It’s so technical. You’ll have to explain it again to me in the future.” Victoria said.
“It could take a while.” Ethan chuckled.
“I’m a great listener and you have a nice voice so it’s very unlikely I’ll fall asleep.”
Ethan laughed as he leant down to kiss Victoria.
“I’m glad you like my voice Rookie.”
“One of the many things I love about you.”
Ethan tightened his arms around the woman he loved as she snuggled up to him. If he spent the rest of his life explaining one of his passions, he was glad Victoria would be the one listening.
I can’t find the anon who sent the ask but I realised I haven’t written a proper ‘ily’ fic so I thought I’d give it a go!
Let me know if you would like to be tagged or removed
Tag list: @ohchoices @openheartfan @queencarb @genevievemd @iemcpbchoices @choicesaddict5 @schnitzelbutterfingers @alina-yol-ramsey @stygianflood @malakemads-blog @gryffindordaughterofathena @openheartfanfics @rookie-ramsey @sophxwithers @romewritingshop @ethansramsey @codykosuckmytoe @mrsethanfreakingramsey @coffeeheartaddict @mm2305 @nikki-2406 @maurine07 @nishas-paradise @replayfootsteps @mainstreetreader @anntoldst0ries @aleynareads @lsvdw-blog @kiara-36 @quixoticdreamer16 @helloayz @udishaman
@choicesficwriterscreations
#open heart#ethan ramsey#ethan ramsey x mc#Ethan Ramsey x Victoria Clarke#Ethan x Victoria#playchoices#open heart fanfic#open heart fanfiction#choices: open heart#fanfic#fluff#choices fic writers creations#fics of the week
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life’s uncertain and sometimes it’s strange chapter one
okay this is the fastest i’ve written the first chapter of a fic like... ever but here’s the crossover i considered writing here!! i actually had a lot of fun, and it jumps around so feel free to ask me questions about anything that doesn’t make sense
song title from The Sun Will Come Up, the Seasons Will Change by Nina Nesbitt
Maeve
Wednesday, December 15
“Okay so remind me what the problem is again?” Luis asks me as he sits on my bed, watching me pack my bags.
“The island, Luis."
Luis stares at me and I sigh, crossing my room to curl up in his lap. His arms go around me instantly. “And, what, my love, is wrong with an island?”
I sigh again, stretching out so my head is on my pillow. “It’s cold. There’s nothing fun about an island when it’s covered in ice!”
“Can you even get to an island in December?” Luis asks, absentmindedly drawing patterns on my stomach. When my mother had told our family over dinner last week that she had been invited to a mansion unveiling by her former best friend - some vaguely famous guy named Archer Story who basked in the glory of being young and rich in New England along with my mother - Bronwyn and I had no say in whether we were going or not. Our father got out of it easily with an arsenal of work excuses, but no trips to New York City with friends will stop our mother when she’s deep in her planning mode. Especially if it means she gets to go back to being rich on an island off the coast of Boston.
“That’s what I asked and Bronwyn laughed at me.”
Luis snorts. He and my sister have never gotten along as well as Nate and I do, but it’s stopped bothering me at this point. “Well, Maevey,” Luis hooks an arm under me and lifts me up so I’m sitting. “It’s just one week on the weird ass island and then you get to go to New York City with the rest of us. What could go wrong?”
I grin, my bad mood ebbing away at the thought of spending a week with my boyfriend and friends in one of my favorite cities. “Ugh fine.”
“Good. Now are you really going to bring all of my sweaters?”
I laugh as Luis lifts me up so we can sort out the sweater ownership debate that’s lasted for nearly a year now.
Aubrey
Saturday, December 18
“No plans of swimming in that water I hope?” Uncle Archer asks as I look at the ocean from the balcony of Catmint House. Yes. The same one that burnt down over the summer. Gull Cove Island is essentially the same as it was when I moved back to Oregon in July, with the exception of the large manor.
When the media asked Aunt Allison and Uncle Archer what they wanted to do with the remains of their childhood home, they hadn’t said anything, but in secret they both agreed that burning the ashes might be overdramatic, but most certainly warranted. Almost as if they had overheard, the Gull Cove Island Historical Society swept in and restored the mansion to its former glory, ultimately gifting the new building to Milly and I. Since Jonah North isn’t really part of the family, it’s not his.
“Who the hell would want that place?” he’d asked when we told him about the exclusion. Fair point.
“Hey, hey, don’t look so sullen,” Uncle Archer says, bringing me back to myself as he slips an arm around me. I hug him back with all my might. When I think about how close we came to losing him, I want to cry.
“Sorry,” I mumble into his shoulder.
“Don’t be. Now I hear we’ve got a family of three coming from California today. The kids are around your age.”
“Fun,” I say, making a face. Uncle Archer tugs on my sweater sleeve.
“Hey, their mom was my best friend. They’re probably good kids.”
Almost on cue, the doorbell rings.
“That’s them?” I ask as I look down at the black car that - presumably - houses the family in question. Archer nods. “You go. I’ll find Milly and Jonah.”
My uncle fakes a punch to my nose as he saunters off. I giggle. Rehab has done him well. I watch him walk away, and then exit the balcony into the hallway. I turn left towards my and Milly’s room, staying close to the middle of the hall. It’s strange being in here after what happened over the summer, especially since it feels almost unrealistic that everything could be restored so quickly. But I guess the fire Paula started didn’t really burn down the entire house. Just like, half of the inside. If I pause for long enough, I can still smell the smoke. Or maybe that’s just my imagination. Sometimes I’m fine, and other times I feel like I’m back with the gun pressed to my neck. I felt so helpless then, and I never want to feel that way again.
I knock on the door to our room, and I hear Milly and Jonah’s voices floating towards me, half giggly, half teasing. Whatever is going on in there, I do not want to see. “I’m coming in!” I call, pushing the door open with my eyes shut. “There is a person. Entering this room!”
I hear a crash, and I open my eyes to see Jonah perched awkwardly on the corner of my bed. Oh fun. At least they’re separated.
“What’s up Aubrey?” Milly asks, smoothing down her hair. After spending months angsting about cutting it or not, Milly decided on a respectable bob. She looks gorgeous, especially now that it’s grown enough to be just touching her shoulders. She’s more dressed up for the occasion than I am in a red knitted pullover tucked into a pair of black jeans. I glance down at my faded grey crew neck and my blue jeans.
“Should I change?” I ask in response.
“No way! You look beautiful,” Milly says, standing and pulling me to stand in front of the mirror. I look at my long blonde hair.
“Maybe I should just braid my hair or something?”
Milly huffs. “Jonah!”
“You look adorable Aubrey,” Jonah says dutifully from his spot behind us. I glance over at him.
“Easy for you to say! You look like a J.Crew model.”
Jonah grins. “Wow you just described my life’s ambition Aubrey,” he says dryly.
I grin and shake my head. I’ve missed this: being back with my cousin and friend. Even if they do spend a lot of time kissing each other. “Come on you two, the first guests are here,” I say, throwing my arm around my cousin.
Ezra
Sunday, December 19
“Ellery please stop bouncing,” I say to my sister. We’re on a train to New York City from Boston and Ellery is way too excited.
“Ez! I can’t! Do you know how many unsolved murders there are in Manhattan alone?”
“No. I do not.”
“And no one should!” Mia adds from the seats behind us. Ellery turns to see if Malcolm will back her up, but he’s asleep. Probably exhausted from dealing with her.
Ellery is still looking super excited so I turn to her. “Okay, I’ll bite. How many?”
“More than 480. And those are just recorded homicides.”
“Shhh,” I say, shushing Ellery as I catch sight of a red haired girl looking at us strangely from across the aisle. “Sorry, my sister’s really weird,” I say to her. She looks around our age. She’s wearing a fashionable beige coat and a black cap, but something about the way she’s burrowing into the jacket tells me she’s not used to the cold. There’s a boy sleeping in the seat next to her, whose hand she hasn’t let go of.
The girl smiles. “It’s alright! My best friend solved two murders once.” She pauses and makes a face. “Maybe I shouldn’t have told you that.” She shakes her head. “This is really odd, I'm sorry. I’m Phoebe Lawton.”
I grin. “I’m Ezra Corcoran, and this is my twin Ellery.”
Phoebe grins back. “Twins! That’s so cool. I don’t really know any twins.”
“Wait, can we go back to the part where you said your best friend solved two murders?” Ellery asks, leaning across me to look at Phoebe, who smiles a little. Mia groans from behind us. I turn to see her pull her headphones up over her ears. We exchange a look. Leave it to my sister to ask the awkward questions.
“Yeah well, we’re from Bayview, California, and I don’t know if you’ve ever heard about the-”
“Oh. My. God.”
I look down at Ellery, who looks as if she’s hit a goldmine. Phoebe looks startled but resigned.
“We’re from California too, before we moved to Vermont,” I offer, surprised despite myself. The story of Simon Kelleher was all over California before we left, and if I’m not mistaken, I think I know who this girl is talking about.
“Wait so your best friend is Maeve Rojas?” Ellery asks.
“Did someone say Maeve?” a new voice asks from the seat behind Phoebe. A boy who looks vaguely familiar with tan skin and wavy dark hair pokes his head into the aisle to look at Phoebe.
Ellery gasps. “You’re the boyfriend!”
The boy blinks slowly. “I… what?”
“Okay so in mysteries there’s always this boyfriend that is part of the drama but not really? And he like jumps around but he’s got a heart of gold and-”
“Ellery,” I hiss. “Let’s not reduce strangers to stereotypes please.”
“Murder?” yet another voice asks. This time it’s attached to a person the entire country knows well. Cooper Clay, pitcher for the Padres. Ellery takes a strangled breath. She looks up at me and I sigh.
“Switch seats with me,” she says in her “don’t mess with me” voice. I happily oblige, pulling out my own headphones. Maybe Mia was right. Just leave this crazy girl to her own devices.
#maeve rojas#luis santos#archer story#aubrey story#milly story#jonah north#ellery corcoran#ezra corcoran#mia kwon#malcolm kelly#phoebe lawton#cooper clay#one of us is lying#the cousins#two can keep a secret#izzielizzie's fics
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“Didn’t Need Burrow” Masterpost (February)
Anonymous said:
Don't need Burrow: Finally, it will be revealed that Adrien is the main character and that Marinette was merely the narrator of his story (or history of their love).
The thing that we already know and won’t be a surprise.
Adrien didn’t have enough attention already but they were tired of using Marinette as their camera to his story.
Anonymous said:
Didn’t need burrow: Kagami wil decide to stay in Japan at the end of the Tokyo special. Prompting Chat Noir to start pursuing Ladybug again.
I doubt they’d make the specials official canon but I also don’t doubt Kagami getting sidelined so easily.
Anonymous said:
Alternative didn’t need burrow: Kagami won’t even be in the Japan special and all cultural knowledge will be explained by Adrien
Oh my gooooood.
*flashes back to Adrien and Gabriel greeting Kagami and Tomoe in Japanese*
Anonymous said:
Don't need Burrow: It will be revealed that Chloe is actually an innocent and naive little girl who acted like a malicious bully because she was manipulated and intimidated by Sabrina all the time. And it was Sabrina who made her bully the rest of the class and act as if everything had to revolve around her. And it will be retcon that Chloe did not abuse everyone to impress Audrey, but because Sabrina made her do it. (Note: I'm Anon that joked about Sabrina being more dangerous than Chloe)
fdjkhgjdfgfd welcome back, for sure.
I wasn’t ready for the Sabrina part since I was taking it 100% seriously up until then.
In before they say that Sabrina is just indulging Chloe and Chloe is how she is because Sabrina won’t do anything about it.
Anonymous said:
Didn't Need Burrow to know that if there is finally a white little kid gets introduced to the show, he or she(though let's be honest, most often a he) will be a sweet little angel of sunshine who's always on their best behavior and never does anything wrong, unlike all those rowdy black children(barf). Bonus if the kid has blonde hair and blue/green/grey eyes. Double bonus if someone(say, Marinette or Nadja) says to one of the other kids "See, why can't you behave like they do?" Rolling my eyes.
OMG SOMEONE ELSE SAID IT. BLESS YOU.
I always feel so awkward hating on all the kid characters for that reason but it really does come down to they’re kids and I don’t like kids. Most of them are just written as “kid” and nothing else.
Friendly piece of advice to people writing children and are afraid of doing what this show does where the personality is just “stereotypical child”...
Write characters as if they’re teenagers first, and then “age them down.” It’s the difference between writing Mylene (for example) with the personality of “child,” and writing Mylene as a younger version of herself.
It also will make it less jarring if the character happens to grow up and become a teen at some point in the story, where their personality is better established; they’ll come off as a developed person rather than someone with a completely different personality from when they were little.
(If you’re having trouble imagining said child character as a teenager/adult, there’s definitely a step missing.)
Anonymous said:
Don't Need Burrow to know that when all the kids in Marinette and Adrien's class inevitably get Miraculouses of their own, only the girls will get theirs taken from them for one reason or another, either because someone else figured out their identity or they do something stupid and risk people knowing(or people actually do know), while the boys get to keep theirs permanently and Ladybug becomes the token Smurfette on her superhero team. Rena Rouge might be the exception to this.
G I R L P O W E R
+ I mean, for Rena, Marinette’s already regretted giving her the miraculous at least once, so yeah.
Anonymous said:
Don't Need Burrow to know that when Marinette and Adrien inevitably discover each others' identities, defeat Hawk Moth and Mayura(the only good thing about this whole scenario), and gEt ToGeThEr, it(the latter, at least) will only be in the last episode of the last season, and we will get no time to see their development from "who dis?" to friends, to lovers. Love=ma^2 shippers will punch the nearest wall, while me and everyone else will sip our salty tea and ask what the fuck they expected.
If Season 4 decides the split between Lukanette and Adrimi, that means Season 5 is just going to be a love square shipping fuel fest of absolute and complete obnoxiousness with angst that’ll lead to reverse love square at best and then nothing more.
The tea will, however, be delicious.
Anonymous said:
Don't Need Burrow to know that Adrien will continue to steadfastly insist that Marinette is "just a friend"(such as saying so when Alya or Nino confronts him on it, or saying romantic sounding things to Marinette herself that are just intended as shipper-fanservice-bait, before adding something anticlimatic like "you're a really good FRIEND")...up until the moment when the plot decides to push them together and he'll magically change his tune and say that she was always more than just a friend.
How convenient~
Yeah, the plot has this habit of just changing things so immediately that it gives you whiplash, because they’ve never built anything up. I remember that it did that for me with the Miracle Box opening in “Sapotis” to reveal all the zodiacs.
Anonymous said:
Didn't Need Burrow to know that Alya(and possibly the rest of the girl squad, but lets face it, most likely Alya so that she can be the Black Best Friend) will be used solely as a plot device to get Adrien and Marinette together(against Marinette's protests, if I may add), and Marinette will get almost no chances to make a move on Adrien on her own. I know you salt on Alya a lot but you gotta admit it kinda feels bad to potentially have her pushed aside to only support the love square.
No no, I totally agree! I don’t like Alya but I obviously feel bad that her and Nino have just become love square/plot pushers. Add in Rena Rouge and eugh, no thanks.
Anonymous said:
Didn’t Need Burrow to know when Marinette finally tells Adrien she’s in love with him, he’ll reject her, and when Marinette gets over him and gets together with Luka, then he’ll probably get akumatised because of it, and it’s all Marinettes fault for getting over him(EVEN THO HE MADE IT CLEAR HE WASNT INTERESTED!!!) and entering a healthy relationship.
This one sent me through a whirlwind of emotions.
Also, inevitable "only notice the girl who’s wanted you forever because now she has a boyfriend,” because yay.
Anonymous said:
Didn't need Burrow: Ms Bustiers pregnancy is going to be handled one of two ways, but they'll both lead to the same outcome: either
1) her pregnancy will be ignored and she'll look the same as she always has until the one episode where it's plot relevant, and she'll suddenly look nine months pregnant, or
2) she'll go from looking the way she does in the New York Special to looking nine months pregnant in the first episode of S4, possibly with the addition of cringy pregnancy jokes peppered in throughout the season until the episode where her being pregnant is plot relevant.
The inevitable outcome of this whole 'pregnant teacher' subplot will be an episode where Ms Bustier goes into labor during an Akuma attack that she (and possibly the entire class) are caught in the middle of for whatever reason, she'll give birth either during or right after said Akuma attack. LB will have to juggle both fighting the Akuma and delivering the baby, Chat will be useless during the pregnancy subplot (50/50 that he won't be much help during the Akuma attack), and there will be a moment where the two heroes are both cooing over the baby, and someone will make a remark about how they'll be such good parents one day.
I know this is probably too specific to actually pan out, but I'm confident that at least part of this will line up with what happens in the show
dfkhgjdfkgdfg oh my god, Ladybug helping deliver a baby, please kill me.
The “good parents” line absolutely made me cringe because they’d totally do that.
The thing about how Bustier will look is also 150% accurate and it pains me to say so. Her looking pregnant is the most “fleshing out” that we’ll ever get from her.
I could also see her getting a substitute instead (I originally was going to shorten it to “sub” but then I just imagined Miss Bustier eating a sub sandwich) and then coming back at some point like “oh I already had the baby, here he/she is,” and that’s how they avoid making a model for her being pregnant.
Anonymous said:
Don't Need Burrow: A character will have a bad day and get increasingly mad whenever things continue to go bad for them/when other people annoy them, but he or she will still manage to keep it cool. Only when MARINETTE does something wrong will that person finally SNAP and get akumatized, and of course, Marinette will be blamed for it despite everything already going bad for the character to begin with. It's like the writers try so hard to make things her fault when she's barely a part of it.
oh my god
This is also totally Santa Claws/Bother Christmas but with Marinette instead of Ladybug. Gotta get both sides in there, you know?
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So I am rewatching the Percy Jackson Peter Johnson movie, and I just thought I’d make an official post for all my icks with it.
Why? Cause I like to rant? Idk.
First off, characters:
The age thing threw me off. They’re sixteen? Seriously? Why did they think that was a good idea? Did they want it to be a full-out series or not?
Leaves less room for character growth, both physically and mentally- and romantically (which I will get to in a bit).
Plus, the way the characters are written in the books is meant to fit twelve year olds, so everything they do feels off. Pessimistic 12 year old Percy was so funny. Like his sass would genuinely catch me off guard, because he’s so freaking young and you don’t really expect him to be so fearless and rash. Movie Percy does have sass and the awkward pessimist thing down pretty much to a ‘t’, but the way the right it can come off a bit corny, despite Logan Lerman’s best acting. Boy does the guy do a great job. His performance almost overshadows the bad writing, but not quite. Gods, the Capture-the-Flag tripping all falling over himself thing was fabulous, though the rest of the scene didn’t quite match up (do they even know how that game works??) Also,,, later corniness. Again. I don’t really care about the eyes thing, because blue is still the color of the ocean.
Annabeth is way too aggressive. Why is she so eager to slice-and-dice him even though they’ve never officially met? I guess she took the place of Clarisse in that way, but WHY. Clarisse had reason; Percy humiliated her and her cabin. If they wanted to get him to heal in the water and such, that could’ve been achieved if they had just followed the freaking books. They just… butchered her character in so many ways. Her appearance, the handy dandy Yankees ball cap, all that. The whole purpose of her being blonde was to discount the stupid dumb blonde stereotype and feed into her need to prove herself to everyone. That was taken away too.
Speaking of which… Grover. Baby boi, they ruined you. I didn’t mind them making him black… until they made him all party-like and confident. That may have not had to do with his race, though, and just trying to make him act more like the satyrs from the myths. But that defeats the point that Rick made; he purposefully made Grover scared and stressed and doing his best all the time as a foil to that stereotype- which is made obvious when the Party Ponies come into play in the second book. I miss that Grover. Also, why was he just like standing around during the disaster of the Minotaur scene (Gods, they made that so lame). It would’ve been better if he was unconscious, because then he wasn’t just standing around. I could’ve excused it as him just being reluctant because he’s scared, but this Grover is brave and more protective, a better fighter. Why would he just stand and watch? There are just so many things that don’t add up.
Chiron and Luke were really the only characters that felt true to their book forms.
The stand-off between Luke and Percy was cool, but the plot twist in the book is just so much better. I was totally blown away by the easy-going camp counselor dude poisoning a twelve year old kid with scorpion venom. Also, Luke got his scar from Percy? NOOO. It was never about Percy. It was about Luke and his dad. Percy was just a means to an end or an enemy to get rid of.
Gods, they forgot the prophecy, too. And Ares. And Clarisse. And Mr. D.
I don’t even want to talk about Hades. Or Persephone, for that matter. Why was she there? It wasn’t winter and- nope, not even. Just nope.
Riptide is a ballpoint pen, not a clicky one (though this one is admittedly cooler. WE NEED THE TARTARUS SCENE WHERE HE ANNABETH FIGURES OUT HE CAN WRITE WITH IT). And the shield thingy… that’s Tyson’s. He made it in the second one.
The thing is, Rick ties everything into his later works, so many of the changes they made mess with future possibilities and therefore narrow the rest of everything.
I understand not having every scene, every detail included in the movies. But why keep things if you’re going to change them?
Why have the hydra come in this movie? It comes in the second book, bro.
WHERE ARE THE ORANGE CAMP HALF-BLOOD SHIRTS??
Oh, right I was supposed to have topics. Sorry, everything is blending in together.
uh… ROMANCE.
Why was Grover a ladies man :|
What the Tartarus were they doing with Percabeth? Long, kinda creepy stares and close contact. THIS STUPID LINE: “I definitely have strong feelings for you. I just haven’t decide if they’re positive or negative yet.”
Like,,, EW. Is this supposed to be the “You drool in your sleep” replacement? How about no.
They took away the cute little crushes and slow-burn friends to lovers (even though it kinda started off as enemies).
MOMMA’S BOY
every moment Percy had with his mom was so awful. Why is he using “mother” so much? That’s only for his dad, because they haven’t reached the kind of relationship where Percy can call him Dad. I wanted to see the scene with her coming home from the candy shop with a big bag of candy and him pretending to be cranky when she shows affection but you can tell he loves it and ughhhhh
WHY
What did I like? The music. The Lotus flowers and casino scene. The pearl plot line thing was admittedly smart, but overall problematic and questionable. Why the Parthenon? Why not Crusty’s?
I do also like Percy and Grover’s bud relationship, but Annabeth was supposed to be his guide of a sort. So they either could’ve had them both guide him, or her alone. We needed more time to get to know her.
Where was Cerberus? I guess they didn’t want a repeat of Fluffy in The Sorceror’s Stone (since this is the same director), but still. He’s a major part of the Underworld system. And I wanted fancy Italian suit Charon and the “died in a bathtub” scene. The Hellhounds were also creepy, so how does the whole Mrs. O’Leary thing work? Also, makes me wonder why they didn’t have Percy be attacked by one during Capture-the-Flag like in the books.
ALSO WHY DID GROVER STAY? WHY? The Sally I know would never let him do that. Also, Sally can’t even get through the boundaries and into Olympus anyway, so why…? Why.
Persephone being all weird and flirty to Grover was just… ew. Again. Ew ew ew ew.
Hades is not the bad guy, he just came across a situation he could take advantage of. It doesn’t make sense that Luke would get it to Hades and Hades alone. It gets rid of the whole Kronos thing.
And the prophecies were gone, too. I know they brought them up in the second one, but not very well. The second one retconned the first’s continuity and yet still sucked on representing the second one. Yeesh.
Anyway, that’s my spill. I could organize it better, but I’m too tired at this point.
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wait id love to hear your rant about how fanon deals with the race in tfc fics/fanon's of everyone else’s race :0
I would like to start this response with the fact that I do not believe anyone is being intentionally harmful in their race head cannons, simply that people tend to follow Fanon blindly and I believe people should not do that, and remember Fanon is only Fanon and we should make our own ideas and stray from the pack more often.
Okay, my thoughts on common race headcanons for the foxes and how they are often accidentally racist:
I know @bloodydamnit has spoken up about this before, but people specifically portraying Seth as black falls into a lot of unhealthy anti-black stereotypes of black men, especially the lack of development people tend to give him. She has written him and deconstructed these issues from her perspective and me a non-black person don’t think I could ever achieve such a thing and therefore do not headcanon him or will write him as black.
I personally headcanon him as hard Vietnamese and half white and made a long post about him before, I love Seth.
Matt and Dan are also often written as black, this isn’t inherently problematic necessarily, but it does often overlook the issue that people see this likely because of Matt’s history with drugs and Dan’s sex work playing into anti-black stereotypes without a tally going into race theory or redlining or any of the following issues in a way that gives them any development.
I like to headcanon Matt as Filipino, his straight hair is perfect for spiking, and dan as 75% black and 25% Oceti Sakowin (commonly known as Sioux), I want to write about how her leaving the reservation was a big deal for her, especially at the 25% mark which means if she is with anyone who isn’t of the same tribe her kids would not be considered a part of the tribe since the US minimum to register is 25% and this was part of her hesitance to be with Matt as well as other pressures. I like to think the baby her aunt had in the EC she ends up adopting from the foster system and that baby is 75% Oceti Sakowin and Matt is super excited to learn about their traditions and bring in both indigenous Filipino culture that he got disconnected with as well as Oceti Sakowin culture that she got disconnected with into their lives with their unexpected kid.
Renee is often headcanoned as Asian, but typically just generally Asian without nuance or explanation and also this plays into the passivity stereotype of Asian women. I headcanon her has African American, with very dark skin and Stephanie Walker was the first black foster mom she had and they hit it off really well, also Renees hair is a wig, no one can bleach their hair to white that’s just… it melts before it does that usually.
Again I’m not saying Renee can’t be Asian, It can be done right and written well, but overall I think it’s important for people to remember why they headcanon things and not accept Fanon blindly. Fanon often plays into harmful ideas. While people of color don’t have to have a reason for being people of color, I think it’s important to notice why you think charters who aren’t described at all are whatever race you headcanon and think critically. Our cultures and races make us experience the world in a certain way that contributes to who we are outside of blanket diversity, and it is important to think about that.
I often see people saying they headcanon Womack as Native American to make him having the tribal tattoos “unracist”, and to make Nora not racist, but Nora wasn’t being racist by saying Womack has tribal tattoos, Womack having shitty Tates in tattoos, which faux tribal was a huge cultural staple despite how cringe it is from the 90’s to mid 2000’s in America. It’s important also to not just say Native American but to do research on specific groups because each culture is unique and different.
That being said, I bounce back between Wymack just being some 70’s looking dad with cut off shorts to Maori where the swirl tattoos are very significant, and Kevin is white-passing but discovered he’s not white like he thought he was, and becomes an AOA history major (Africa, Oceana, Americas, aka indigenous history major).
Also considering Neil and Allison are supposed to be significantly attractive I don’t like them being white because of that, so I headcanon Allison as half middle eastern, (or maybe Indian I have more research to do before I decide), she was told she was adopted as a kid and often her mom would buy her whitening cremes like fair and lovely as a kid, but later found some papers when she was older finding out her dad actually got a woman pregnant and to keep her quiet took Allison and pretended he was such a good philanthropist and adopted a brown kid. She has a lot of problems with this, and bleaches her hair blond to try and fit in with her family without even realizing it. She never finds out who her birth mom is
I am a bit annoyed at white fans constantly calling Nora racist, while also using the lightest skinned headcanons every time for black characters playing into colorism and Spanish Nickys instead of darker toned people. Also, I think people should really try to critically think about their own ideas before calling out someone else. Do I think Nora is perfectly woke? No, no one is, but Fanon is just as bad but in a different way. There is a lot of colorism I see in both headcanon photos people use for the foxes as well as people tending to draw looser curls and thinner noses for characters they headcanon as black. Not every black person is half white and darker-skinned rep is very important. I’ve also seen people use Reece king as a Nicky face claim before and I wasn’t even surprised.
I've also seen people almost always have Erik be “Aryan” some even using the word to describe him unironically, and as a Jewish person this obviously doesn’t sit right with me. I would like to see less straight passing blond haired blue eyed taller than Nicky Erik sometimes.
Again I’m not calling anyone racist, I just think that people should go outside Fanon and think of their own ideas on who they want the characters to be in their headcanons and why. I'm tiers of the same 4 Instagram model photos being used for every Aftg edit, the same light-skinned Dan’s, Matt’s, and Nicky’s. Also while I’m at it, add some body diversity, they’re athletes all playing different positions, I think all the defense players are at least chubby if not plus size. Aaron, Andrew, and Renee are all fat and proud, Nicky and Matt are bulkier with their bodies good for blocking, while Seth is an awkward string bean, an offensive striker who can slip through people quickly despite his height.
Again I know discussions about race can be tense, I am not trying to sound like I am attacking anybody, and I'm not calling out anyone in particular, I didn't even touch on how nicky is written in fanon or canon and how it can often be both racist and homophobic coming from my prospective as a gay latino.
Okay I'm tired sorry this took me so long to respond lol
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I Have Too Many Opinions. ep. 1
lmao. i got encouragement to post my opinions on fandom things and now i want to make a miniseries doing just that. so here i am. doing just that.
im putting it under the cut cuz this was 4 whole pages including the disclaimer. yes i put a disclaimer and i explain why.
Anyways, here is the first piece in what inevitably will become fandom info dump, this time on thomas astruc’s writing on miraculous ladybug. but only some of my opinions cuz we would be here all day otherwise.
So… a disclaimer before I begin…
I do not hate Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir (yes i'm using their government name). I am quite a fan of the show actually despite its faults. I am also older than the intended audience but was obviously younger when the show first aired which is how my interest was piqued (the fact that its been 6 years and only 3 seasons says more about the show than me being a fan for that amount of time but also i never want to rush content creators cuz they're doing their best) and due to my age, there will be inherent bias in my approach of what i'm about to say as there is in EVERY opinion. The fact that it is an opinion should imply the presence of bias but most people tend to lack the critical thinking skills required to draw that conclusion ANYWAYS…
If I did hate the show I would not have this blog nor would I be even writing this because i tend to not give more than 2 seconds of thought to things i actively dislike (some of yall should give this a try) and i'm allowed to like things that are designed for an audience that i was originally a part of but grew out of. (I don't suddenly stop liking things because I'm older despite what many younger fans seem to believe about older audiences. I also don't need to be ‘allowed’ to do anything cuz i wasn't asking for permission anyways.)
This will not be character bashing, astruc bashing nor fandom bashing cuz, again, that would imply i hate any of those elements and if i did, i would not dedicate brainpower to them. Analyses and criticisms of media are fun and engaging and required if you wish to produce good enjoyable content. Now most of this should be already assumed and self-explanatory but people on the internet like to play morality roulette roll dice on purity culture and I rather have documentation that I am in fact not bullying fictional 14 year olds or a grown man. But alas, people get trigger happy whenever someone has less than 1000000% positive opinions on something they like and will throw out words they can't define (gaslight, baiting, toxic, problematic, gatekeep etc) in an attempt to defend their blind devotion,
which is not needed, if you like something you never have to defend it, even if i don't like it. If you respond to anything I post saying you disagree with me, I will not argue with you. I won't debate back and forth and try to convince you that the things you like are wrong. Unless you are being absolutely tone deaf to what i'm saying, you wont get a negative reaction from me. So don't try to fish for a fight. Please. I got metaphorical hands for days and I'm mean, you don't want me hurting your feelings on the internet. Do yourself the favour. Difference of opinion is how we get diversification in media and is inherently a good thing. Now that that's out of the way, please don't ever let me have to say that again. I beg.
Now onto the fun stuff
I didn't know what I wanted as a first topic so my trusty internet friend @moonlitceleste suggested astruc’s writing…
AND BOI do i got some opinions on ole tommy boi. Again I don't hate the dude. In fact, he has worked on a few shows that had defined my childhood, including but not limited to W.I.T.C.H. (all eps available on youtube for those interested, 2 seasons, general fun time all around).
So I don't think he’s scum of the earth but I do think his approach to writing mlb specifically has more misses than hits.
The first big miss is that he has no idea how to write 14 year old girls. At all. Almost every girl he has ever written feels like some terrible archetype built entirely for marketability and childish projection and pubescent self-insert (kind of). He has never been a 14 year old girl. I have. In fact when the show first aired, I WAS around the (assumed) age of the mlb characters. The behaviour he passes off as quirky or awkward or just the character’s genuine personality tend to perpetuate harmful stereotypes of teen girls found in the media and are never actually addressed as harmful. they just get swept under the rug. Marinette’s exuberant collage of teen heart throb model boi Adrien Agreste and her very painful almost fan worship she has of him (which flip flops like a paper sandal in the rain) being portrayed as a cute school girl crush uwu, Chloe being the y7 Regina George, Alya being the token best friend of colour with her ‘sassy’ personality (i want y'all to imagine me eyerolling so hard i bust a vessel in my eye), Kagami being the very damaging Perfect Asian Child stereotype. And before y'all get on your dusty soap box and defend going on about “BUT IT'S FOR CHILDREN”,,,, know this.
i don’t give a solid fuck.
Not one.
Children arent stupid. Children are always going to remember the richy bitchy blonde who bullies the art kid, and the big kid, and the shy kid, and the non white kids, and was only nice to her equally rich white friend who she probably had a crush on or was only ever civil to her equally white lapdog. They're going to remember the half asian girl who was never allowed to actually be asian or the only black girl who existed solely as a soundboard for enabling bad habits or chastising the main character for the same habits she enables in the first place (boi aint THAT a topic for later). Like do i really need to explain that alya chastising marinette for taking max’s spot in gamer just to play with adrien rings absolutely hollow when she actively encourages her to sabotage the contest she’s in just so Kagami doesn't win?? Like I don't have to explain that right?? Again kids arent stupid and its quite something that Mari gets chastised for proving herself the best video game player regardless of her intentions just cuz it comes at the expense of max’s feelings/ego but is actively encouraged to sabotage not only kagami but herself by extension cuz kagami is ‘competition.’ Adrien is not a trophy to be won. And no I don't expect 14 yrs old to be perfect and to always make good decisions but these decisions are never addressed as being bad decisions. they get swept under the rug cuz those decisions were necessary for the ‘plot’ but astruc can barely keep characterization consistent and his characters suffer for it and it's the same children you preach are watching it that suffer as well. Cuz guess what? I KNOW 14 yr olds aren't like that cuz i've been there done that (this is the last time i'm saying that i promise) so I know astruc is just metaphorically throwing darts to figure out who says and does what without consideration for pre established personalities to drive the stalemate plot along. The same kids you say are watching this don't know that that's not how preteens work and will absorb and internalize those dynamics like baking soda and vinegar. Cata-fucking-strophically.
And I haven't even gotten to the boys yet. Which honestly doesn't require much explanation anyways cuz they suffer the same fate as the girls. Tired archetypes with nothing to give them life. Nino falls into Adrien’s person of colour token best friend who dates the female lead’s person of colour token best friend so they can have cute double dates uwu. Except the plot goes nowhere and we have no inclination of romantic development beyond moments that only act to actively convince me to anti ship the lovesquare (i don't want to do that so i self indulge in fanon that actually cares about the characters and plot. may i interest you in True Sight on AO3?). Max is the residential nerd but it doesn't matter (cuz he and everyone are dumbed down for the sake of ‘plot’), kim is the sports jock (which interestingly subverts the asian comedic relief stereotype but only barely) and luka is cute older guy ™ that wears black nail polish and is in a band. The point of all this is to say there is no depth in the characters. It's especially blatantly obvious with the characters astruc doesn't like (chloe). Again, it being a show for kids is not an excuse to be absolved of putting effort into the characters you make.
This is one of the biggest misses astruc has. I haven't even gone into all the nuances of this particular miss. And i havent gone into how that works against him in the plot either. Mostly because the plot itself hasn't gone anywhere and partially because I wanted to go into the plot (or lack thereof) separately as its own miss.
AND BOI is it a miss.
SO home boy astruc wanted to reap the benefits of a serial show with ‘engaging’ plot without putting in any of the work to make a linear storyline and relying on the episodic format for, again, marketability. You can't have the best of both worlds, you are not Avatar: The Last Airbender. Which btw has a lot less episodes and a desired end goal that didn't involve top dollar. Legend of Korra did but that's not the point and it had its failings with that too. I challenge you, tell me how many episodes actually contribute towards a plot point or introduce new thematic elements to the show? Can you name them? I can and I'm going to include the plot points that moved the story in some direction if only temporarily. Yes only temporarily for some of these and i will explain later. (if you're in the server you already saw this list *wink*)
25/26. Origins- self explanatory, the beginning of the story,
24. Volpina- introduction of the grimoire and Master Fu (kind of) and no, Lila is not a plot point,
28. The Collector- proper introduction of Master Fu,
37. Sapotis- introduction of Rena Rouge,
41. Syren- introduction of new aquatic power ups,
44. Anansi- introduction of Carapace,
47. Frozer- introduction of new ice power ups,
48/49. Style Queen- introduction of Queen Bee,
51/52. Heroes’ Day- introduction of Mayura and mass akumatization,
66. Startrain- introduction of Pegasus,
67. Kwami Buster- Marinette wears multiple miraculouses,
68. Feast- backstory as to how the miraculouses were lost,
69. Ikari Gozen- introduction of Ryuko,
70. Timetagger- introduction of Bunnyx,
71. Party Crasher- introduction of Roi Singe and Viperion,
73. Chat Blanc- alternate timeline that essentially means nothing but got a reaction out of fans anyways (myself included)
77/78. Love Eater/Battle of Miraculous- Marinette becomes guardian and other heroes lose their miraculous,
New York Special- other heroes exist and there is an American miraculous box,
That's 21 episodes. 21 out of a heaping 78 plus 2 specials. Everything else was just your typical akuma of the day episode and everything that happened outside that had no lasting consequences on the plot thanks to the miraculous status quo. Was it entertaining to watch Lila stir the plot of the class dynamic? Hell yeah. Too bad it meant nothing by the end of the episode cuz we were struck with miraculous status quo. She literally doesn't appear again until Heroes Day. that is from episodes 25 all the way to 51, she means nothing and yet she is treated with the severity of a b-villain/rival thing. She means nothing by the end of Volpina if I'm being honest. She is only relevant for 20 mins of episode time she’s in then it's back to magic status quo that undoes any shift in dynamics and relationships. It's like Spongebob who can't get his driver’s license. The worst part is I actually like Lila and I wish the story treated her with the seriousness we as an audience are expected to treat her with. Despite being painfully inconsequential by the end of each of the 3?? 4?? episodes she’s in, it's entertaining to watch a character create drama just because.
Too bad it means nothing.
Astruc is constantly building up suspense to something ‘important’ only for it to not deliver and fans are constantly having the rug pulled out from under us. Oblivio teased us with a reveal only that gets undone cuz memory akuma. Chat Blanc teased us with romantic development but that gets undone cuz time travel bullshit. Feast introduced more miraculous lore and the history of the guardians but that means nothing by the next episode or ever (i'm not including any reference to the season 4 trailer cuz i've been around the block a few times and im familiar with this lil dancy dance). Heroes Day teased us with a possible future team of heroes but that gets undone in Battle of Miraculous cuz ????? why?? (here's why; astruc was having a jolly ole time letting us know how irredeemable Chloe is at the expense of shooting his own stagnant plot in the foot. Again, discussion for later.)
Too bad anything that slightly swerves off course from the akuma of the day gets undone or ignored. Too bad nothing has any lasting consequence. I mean, if anything did, the episodes would have had a consistent order and release schedule so im not scrambling to watch the leaked ep in Portuguese or something while the french dub is two episodes behind while the english version hasnt even been dubbed. I really wonder how he plans to conclude the show when he’s so afraid to step out of the corner he painted himself in.
Again, not going into nuances. If you want you can ask for more specifics (i doubt anyone would) but this is really just a slightly detailed general overview of my opinions on astruc’s writing.
I was going to include another miss in his approach to this show but imma save that for another time.
How’s that for a ‘first’ post?
#mlb#opinions my guy opinions#i dont wanna tag this as salt#but mlb criticisms and analyses#IHTMO#the hashtag for this series#thomas astruc#miraculous fandom#miraculous ladybug#miraculous: tales of ladybug and cat noir#yes the government name again#come get yall juice#miraculous
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what's a witcher headcanon you have but has literally nothing to back it up?
like i know eskel would be scary good at estimating times for a microwave and milva would be a god at jenga. why/how do i know this? who's to say
i can actually somewhat explain both of those headcanons. eskel either can cook (correct, wholesome headcanon) or can’t (wrong, stereotypical canon) and both of these possibilities mean he has to know how to use a microwave really really well. as for milva, butches love construction, jenga is practically the science of building houses but as a game.
as for my own... hm kind of difficult because a lot of my headcanons are based in canon so... some of these are more connected to canon than others, but they’re closer to my own uniqueness rather than sapkowski’s work:
dandelion
dandelion’s family (the de lettenhoves) paid for his college education in exchange that he would never use his true name and titles when he published his works, because they are a family largely involved in governmental appointments, and did not want any horrible saucy love poetry (most of what he wrote when he was nineteen) being linked back to them. to this day they’ve disowned him, he lost his lands, and he is forbidden from coming back to any of their estates if not undercover. it’s all very hush-hush. they tricked him into thinking that it was for his own good, telling him that his real name was far too famous, even more famous that he would be soon...
dandelion’s father died when he was young, which led his mother to guide his childhood (basically instructing the servants to raise him) in a strict and masculine direction... this obviously did not work out as planned. but it’s largely why dandelion is regarded as a disappointment by his family, because he was expected to follow in his father’s footsteps to stay at the estates (ha!) and marry (ha!) to create an alliance with another noble family.
dandelion and essi’s entire backstory that i’ve planned out: essi enrolled as a student at oxenfurt and as a first year she was appointed by the department to be under dandelion’s guidance. they hit it off on the wrong foot at first (essi thought dandelion was lazy and slovenly, dandelion thought she was prissy and stuckup). but dandelion quickly recognized that essi was extremely talented and had a gift for music, so he asked her why in hell was she directed for further guidance? she admitted that she had stage fright... horrible stage fright. he laughed, thinking she was joking. she wasn’t. the story that follows then is that essi’s stage fright was symbolized by her iconic hair which fell over one eye, which was mocked by her peers - dandelion advised her to own it instead and turn it into a persona - much like what he did when he was her age, his peers called him dandelion (buttercup) on account of his blonde hair that has a tendancy to fan out like petals, and he adopted it as his persona.
on a similar note, what dandelion’s office at oxenfurt looks like: it’s basically treated as a walk-in closet for outfits he’s purchased but doesn’t have a permanent space elsewhere for. other valuables that can’t be kept on his person or in his saddlebags are kept here too. it’s much less of an office to do work and way more of a storage room. the desk has many finished bottles of alcoholic drinks and a lot of manuscripts stored inside (his own, because of the works he admires, he can recall from memory precisely what was written in them)
milva (sorry all of them are about her being a lesbian)
the dryads of brokilon adore milva more than they would ever let on. they find her very interesting because she’s a human, but she’s also one of them, but she also works with the scoia’tel. when milva comes back to brokilon after a journey, she finds herself crowded by dryads asking her how she is doing and what happened on her trip. because of this, milva’s quite good at storytelling, in her own colloquialisms and manners of speech. the dryads are captured by her stories of the world beyond brokilon, and very much enjoy her company, though milva was unaware of exactly how much they enjoyed it (if you get what i’m saying).
milva realizes she’s a lesbian in toussaint because of her encounter with the baron de trastamara, in which she rebuked his marriage proposal and cried at the kitchen table and in the stables. she appreciated the baron’s friendship more than his romantic advances, and she was crying because she was upset that she couldn’t find true romance in her heart for him. angouleme states at the kitchen table that the hunting trip was overnight, suggesting that the baron asked milva for sex. i headcanon that he did, and milva couldn’t find it in herself to say yes. when the baron became upset at this and pestered her a little to find out why she refused his advances, she had an emotional outburst at him and left at once, for she herself didn’t really know.
additionally, many of the women shopkeepers in toussaint flirted with milva but she didn’t understand their advances. particularly a fishmonger and a fletcher, both of which are OCs... it wasn’t until angouleme (not giving milva an option on whether to accept her company or not) followed milva around on errands one day that she witnessed their interactions and then (in a very annoying little sister manner) bugged milva about how cute of a couple they would be, to which milva took shock and offense. but this got milva thinking about the subject.
regis
regis took on a variety of ridiculous titles when he was younger. “the prince of darkness” and things like this. it added to his already quite-long name. it sounded as stupid as it does with me explaining it.
regis has never paid rent or taxes. he acquired the house and shop in dilingen because he came to the city after he had rehabilitated himself, and found it in a state of disrepair and abandonment. he fixed it up very nicely (perhaps much like as he did with himself... symbolism!) and grew flowers in the windowsills. when city officials came to investigate, accusing him of taking up residence illegally, he simply placed them under a vampire’s spell and told them: “nonsense, i’ve always lived here!” to which they replied, “oh, of course you have, master barber-surgeon! apologies for bothering you!”
in his house and shop in dilingen, the layout is like this: the first floor is the shop, which carries a variety of medicaments, herbal remedies, and also has a setup for surgery. behind a hidden door is the stash of mandrake brew that only select customers know to request (regis only tells them about it if he has vetted them beforehand - i.e., known them well and known them well enough that he knows he will not start an addiction for them, i.e., he doesn’t sell to the young and stupid, or horribly depressed and afraid, but just those looking to enjoy life). the second floor is his house, which is decorated sparsely much like his cottage nearby fen carn. it’s nicer, with furnishings sourced from around the city, but is still humble. the attic is the setup for barber-surgery, but for birds - mostly corvids but other urban birds as well, that have injured themselves or are having other troubles. he welcomes them to roost and come to him with any problems they may be having.
angouleme
angouleme’s biological mother was young(ish) when she had her, which also pressured her into giving her up to relatives - she was an unmarried maiden, and being a noble, that is significant for making political alliances with other noble families. they pretended she was a virgin so she could remarry and bear children in marriage; however, because she and the other nobility of cintra were slaughtered, caught right in the crossfire of the nilfgaardian massacre of cintra, she didn’t survive into her first pregnancy, so angouleme has no bioligical half-siblings.
angouleme is trans and likes dressing femininely, but on account of her situation was never able to on the road, until she got to toussaint and had not only the safety but the finances to do so. somewhat based on canon that she was happy to get out of riding pants in lady of the lake, the narration calls her a “pretty girl”... it’s just nice to imagine her happy and with gender euphoria instead of dysphoria
regis is a good mentor and guardian to her in toussaint. it started as them both being up late in the kitchen and regis (as he does) giving advice, without suggesting any shame or judgement. after a while, angouleme trusted him enough to ask him for help when she got into trouble with local banditry. thens he invited him to help her on heists. he was hesitant at first but agreed, citing that she needed supervision for such activities. he brings a book to read while she does whatever she needs to do, but perhaps is more involved than he would admit - pointing out hidden safes and such in the darkness with his vision.
i didn’t do any for cahir or geralt because i feel like canon’s already gotten them enough?
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Never Go Home Again, Pt. V || JJ Maybank x reader
Words: 3628
Series Warnings: violence / talking about abuse / toxic relationships / talking about nudes sex tapes and sex tapes / drugs / underage drinking
Pt. Warnings: underage drinking / drug use
Series summary: A new girl, a shoebox of old memories, a past she’s trying to forget coincide with a hotheaded, but selfless, boy. teenagers getting in way over their heads
Pt. Summary: A trip to the cemetery and talks of the future
A/N: Okay THANKS FOR THE SUPPORT and as always, let me know what oyu think and if you wanna be tagged <3
Chapters linked in my masterlist.
“masterlist”
“I mean it’s obvious, right?” John B looked around at the group, “A family heirloom, what better place to hide a message? He had to know it was gonna get back to me, right?”
“Yeah, it’s possible.” Kie assured her friend, looking back at Pope’s skeptical face and you and JJ, currently sharing a spliff.
“It could also be possible that you’re concocting wild theories to help,” Pope started, “you know, deal with your sad feels.”
“Bro, you know how I process my sad feels?” JJ piped up.
“Do we want to?” you quipped, taking a hit off the joint.
“Dank nugs and the stickiest of ickies.” he continued, making you snort., “That’s how I do it.”
“You know,” you looked at him, as if about to make a psychological evaluation, “you’re like, such a stereotype?”
“I’m not concocting, okay?” John B snapped, cutting off your tangent, “My dad’s trying to give me a message.”
“If it helps you believe, John B.” Kie assured.
“Look, I - I don’t need a therapy session, okay? I’m not trippin’ out.”
“It’s okay to trip out, bro, but-”
“Look my - my dad is missing, okay? Missing. You don’t know what it’s like to have the person closest to you vanish and then have no idea what happened. To just wake up every morning wandering.”
“It’s been almost a year.” Kie soothed.
“Hey,” JJ piped up, again, “He could have been kidnapped - that’s definitely a possibility.”
“Yeah, could be in a Soviet sub being interrogated by the KGB somewhere.” Pope offered.
“Absolutely. Or Atlantis!”
“Because a fictional, Ancient Greek allegory is the most plausible option.” you deadpanned.
“Y/N,” Kie warned, turning back to John B, “What do you think the message is?”
“Redfield.” he thought for a second, “Redfield Lighthouse, that’s my dad’s favourite place.”
He pulled into the woods, the group leading you to a picket fence overlooking the grey and white tower and the platform of rocks it stood on.
“I didn’t even know there was a lighthouse on this island.” you muttered, shielding your eyes from the sun.
“Alright here’s what’s gonna happen,” John B walked over to JJ, “You’re gonna post up and look out for bogeys, okay?”
“Wait,” JJ frowned, “why me?”
“‘Cause you’re not coming.” Pope said, as if it was obvious.
“Why?”
“Look JJ, there are independent and dependent variables.” Pope explained.
“You’re an independent variable.” you confirmed.
“We don’t know what you’ll do.” Pope added.
“Shut up!” he yelled at you both, “just shut up!”
“Listen to me for a second!” John B shouted over him, “Just listen. Pope and Y/N, stand look out with JJ, okay? If we get split up we’ll meet back at JJ’s house.”
You made eye contact with JJ, thinking of his dad, passed out on the sofa the night before.
“Great.” Kie interrupted your thought, walking away with John B.
“I’m gonna work on my merit scholarship essay.” Pope excused, “and I’m tryna keep felonies down to a minimum.”
“A’ight, will you just shut up?” JJ said, kicking around his hacky sack. You pulled yourself up onto a joint between a tree and its branch, watching JJ kick the sack around. You watched for a couple of minutes, admiring the way his eyebrows pulled in when he concentrated and his blonde locks fell over his face, or the way he pouted when the ball fell into the crisp leaves, before twisting around and kicking your feet out to rest on the branch. He looked up at you, a determined curiosity in his eyes. You looked back down at him, bracing yourself for the oncoming question. “What happened last night?”
You glanced over to Pope, who was too busy thinking to pay any attention. “My dad got drunk and started saying shit, I didn’t wanna stick around and I had no clue where to go. Thanks, for all of that.”
“It's nothing you haven’t done for me.” he reminded you. “You know you can talk to me about anything, right?”
You smiled a tight-lipped smile, nodding quickly, “Of course.”
You dragged Pope into a game of hacky sack, and he was beginning to get the hang of it (after much teasing from you and JJ) when you heard the sirens. You swore, running to the Twinkie as the cars pulled closer, sirens wailing and lights flashing. You all jumped in, driving away despite your point that “Pogues don’t leave pogues behind, right?”
--
John B had picked up you, Pope and JJ, and after a short delay caused by Kie’s refusal (you explained to the boys that John B had kissed her and been rejected, which was all Kie had told you during your shift at the Wreck) you found yourselves on the way to the cemetery.
“You mind if I just relax on this one?” JJ spoke up, “It’s been a long day, and a lot of weird stuff’s gone down. I’m just gonna lay low,” he turned to you, “Did you want a hit of this?”
You took the blunt, inhaling the weed and exhaling the smoke. You offered it to Pope, who shook his head. You groaned. “Popey, you’re a total buzzkill!”
“How much have you had?” you flipped him off, “I keep the signal clear.” he shook his head, and you handed the blunt back to JJ.
“Dude, okay.” JJ leaned forwards like an old mage about to give the wisest advice of the century, “Do you understand that your problem is that you don’t get creative? If you got creative, then-”
“Look, John B interrupted, sparing you all from JJ’s wisdom, “I - I know I was wrong about the lighthouse, alright? And wrong about everything else going on. But I was right about one thing, okay? My dad is trying to tell me something.”
“Come on.” you hopped out of the van, and turned, grabbing JJ’s handed and trying to pull him up from the floor with all your might, frustrated when he giggled at your efforts, not having moved an inch. Kie scolded the pair of you, so you let John B lead you into the cemetery, tickling Pope on the back of the neck with a bit of long grass so that he panicked, spinning around like a deer in the headlights, searching for whatever ghost he thought had touched him. You and JJ giggled.
“This place is scary.” Kie shuddered, the torch lights swaying in time with the footfalls. “John B, what are we doing?”
“Shut up!” he hissed, “Okay, so you know how you’re trying to remember a song,” you prepared yourself for an unnecessarily long explanation, “and you can’t remember who sings it?”
You all hummed in understanding.
“So. Redfield. This whole time I thought it was a place, right? But it’s not a place.” He held up the light to show the word “REDFIELD” written over the door of a tomb, “It’s a person.”
“Voi-effing-la.” JJ snarked, and you elbowed him playfully.
“See,” John B continued, “My great-great-grandmother, Olivia Redfield.” he glanced back at you, “That was her maiden name. Look, help me with the door, come on.” he stepped forwards, him and Pope beginning to push on the count of three. JJ joined.
“Are you pushing?”
“Yeah, I’m pushing.”
“Hold on, I got it.”
“This door is, like, 700 pounds man,” Pope sighed, “it’s not gonna budge.”
“We didn’t come this far, to get this far, alright?” JJ countered. You and Kie looked at each other, fighting back giggles at the macho-man display in front of you. Your stifled laughs were interrupted by a hissing, the pair of you squealing slightly as you stepped back.
The boys pulled back as well, JJ throwing his arms out dramatically in front of you. “Snake!” he yelled.
“No shit.” you whispered.
“That’s a moccasin, alright.” he confirmed, “Ye olde Dr. Cottonmouth. Death in tall grass.”
He barked loudly at the snake, crouching slightly.
“JJ, Shut up!” Kie hissed, “Shut up!”
“You’re gonna wake the frickin’ dead, man!” Pope whisper-shouted.
“They’re afraid of dogs.” JJ shrugged like it was common knowledge, ignoring your confused faces, “Everyone knows that, man. Wait, hold on.” he pulled Kie and John B back, the four of you turning back to him with unimpressed faces. “If there’s one, there’s probably dozens.”
“What?” Pope fretted.
“JJ,” you groaned. “Stop being dramatic, it was just a snake.”
Pope and JJ looked at you almost offended, with terror stricken faces.
“Can you stop? You’re scaring me.” Kie begged. JJ started barking again.
“Oh my God, Jay.” you seethed, “stop fucking barking!”
“Just making sure it’s clear!” he argued, making you roll your eyes.
“Shut up!” Pope finalised, “John-”
“It’s a snake!” JJ countered.
“We’re not gonna get in there.” Pope continued, as Kie nudged you, pointing to the whole in the door. “It’s not budging. We should probably just go.”
“I can get through.” you spoke, Kie glancing at you with a worried smile.
“What?” JJ stared at you, concern striking his face, again.
“What?” echoed John B, “No, no, you think you’re gonna fit through the hole?”
“That hole?” JJ confirmed, and you nodded.
“Look,” you turned to face John B, “I know we only met like a week and a half ago, but I can see how much this means to you. If this helps you find him, or, at the very least, find out what happened, then of course I’ll climb through that whole. You deserve to know the truth. I’ll do it.”
Kie went forward to clear the vines away, and JJ frowned at you. “Are you sure?”
“For John B,” you reminded him, “I’ll try not to get possessed, you know, like the Tutankhamun shit. Though, if I did, I’d take all of you down with me.”
With that, JJ helped pull the vines to the side, allowing you entry. “I’m gonna boost ya,” he said, leaning against the wall in a crouch position with his fingers interlocked, “I’ve seen it in the movies several times, ready?”
You turned to John B, “Remind me what we’re looking for?”
“You’ll know when you see it.” he said, arms crossed and staring straight on. You nodded, not really assured, but ready to go in.
“Hold my flashlight.” You passed it to Pope.
“Okay,” JJ instructed, “Put your hand right there, and your foot. Alright, on three.”
You ignored him, pushing yourself up and clambering through the whole, jumping down onto the dusty ground on the other side. You brushed yourself off in the darkness, hearing JJ mutter “Okay, nevermind, just forget about three then.” the lights from outside were moving, and you saw the shadow of JJ moving away, and Pope moving towards the gap.
“Okay, flashlight?” you called, and are greeted by the feel of Pope thrusting a flashlight in your face, barely an inch away. You took it from him, clicked it on and shone it around. You could see the shapes of the individual tombs, and shuddered.
“You alive?” John B called, “Got like a - a heartbeat, and everything?”
“So far. No Howard Carter shit yet.” you confirmed, hearing JJ mutter something about Tutankhamun, and you slowly turned, looking at the dusty tombstones and plaques for clues. “Uh, I need some more light.”
“Yeah, yeah.” He handed you another light, “I got ya.”
You shone it towards a gap between two stones, stepping forwards slowly, trying to make out exactly what it was. An envelope of some sort?
“You got something?” JJ asked, “Is there gold?”
“Oh my God.” you muster, picking it up. You read the front, “FedEx”, and then next to it, in handwritten block letters, “FOR BIRD.”
You stepped towards the hole, holding the envelope and light out blindly as someone took them from you. You heard Pope say “That’s not gold.”
“Holy shit.” You heard John B murmur as you tackled your way out of the tomb, tumbling out of the whole with JJ’s help, “This is from my dad.”
You and Kie smiled softly, turning at the sound of a vehicle. JJ took a hit from his Juul, “Code red.” he called, “Code red. Square groupers. Square groupers!”
“Go!” Kie said, the five of you running from the headlights.
“It’s the guys who robbed your house!” JJ yelled as you all collapsed behind some tombstones, leaning around to try and see who they were.
“Lights!” You hissed, as the boys struggled with their flashlights. You clicked JJ’s headlight off for him, and he smirked in the shaky light. “John B - your light!” he tried to stuff in his shirt, making you smirk, idiot.
You could hear shouts, “Do you think it’s them?” Kie asked.
“Homie’s got a gun.” observed JJ.
“Screw this.” You grabbed Kiara’s hand, pulling her up with you and ran towards the gate. You let go, grabbing the gate and climbing, throwing your legs over one by one, and then hopping down the other side, only then noticing that the boys had, in fact, followed. Kie jumped down beside you, then JJ and John B. You looked back, seeing how Pope’s shorts were hooked over a loop, and he was stuck. You could see him panicking, and ran back to him, grabbing his waist as he yelled complaints. You pulled him back, stepping away from the gate a cackling at the sight of him standing awkwardly in his pants.
“Nice,” JJ commented, “It’s a little tootsie roll!”
Kie grabbed your forearm, the pair of you jumping in the car in fits if barely-contained giggles.
“Dumbass,” you mumbled through your laughter, helping him in, “Ain’t you ever jumped a gate before?”
“I have limited experience!” he countered, John B driving away.
“Guys,” you wheezed, you and JJ still giggling your heads off, “I’m pretty sure that was just the cemetery guards.”
--
You watched JJ spread jam over two slices of mouldy toast, disgust pulling at your features.
“That bread had mould on it three days ago.” Pope said, in passing.
“I’ll just pull off the bad parts,” JJ shrugged, “Plus, mould is good for you, it’s just a natural organism.”
“Jay, deadly nightshade is also ‘just a natural organism’, and, clue in the name, it’s deadly.” you pointed out, and he shrugged, joining you next to John B as Kie called to him.
“Hot damn, let’s do it.” he came, watching as John B pulled the seal off the envelope. He took a bite from the bread, and immediately gagged, spitting it back into his hand, and going to throw the bread away. Your face contorted in disgust, again, but softened at the sight of his sheepish grin. John B unfolded the map, and the five of you leaned over to check it out.
The map showed the island, a hurricane and ‘x’ marked in with a black marker.
“Holy shit.” John murmured.
“Well, ‘x’ marks the spot.” you pointed to the ‘x’ situated on the sea.
Next, John B pulled out an old fashioned tape recorder.
“What’s that?” JJ asked.
“A tape recorder, dummy.” you chuckled, “Where’d he get it, the 90s?”
“Dear Bird,”
“Who’s Bird?” you asked.
“That’s what my dad called me.” John B explained.
“I hate to say ‘I told you so’, but I told you so. And you doubted your old man. I suspect, at this moment you’re filled with guilt and self-loathing about our last fight, but don’t kill yourself just yet, kid. I didn’t expect to find the Merchant either.” you looked at the others, seeing their matching expressions of shock and wonder, “You were probably right to call me out, I wasn’t exactly father of the decade. What can I say, kid? I could smell the barn. And hopefully we’re listenin’ to this in our brand new sugar-shack down in Costa Rica livin’ off passive investments and pulling on permits. If not, and you find this for less optimal reasons, well, that’s what the map is for. There she is, the wreck of the Merchant. If somethin’ happens to me, finish what I started. Go for the gold, kid. I love you bird, even if I didn’t always act like it. I’ll see you on the other side.”
The tape went static, and you could see John B tearing up, your heart breaking for him. He clicked the recorder off, standing up and grabbing onto a door frame, sobs racking his body.
“Holy shit, he did it!” JJ grinned ecstatically, “Big John - He found, he found the Merchant!”
You slapped his arm, eyes widening in warning as you nodded over to John B. “Can you… can you please?” JJ nodded, looking down and muttering an apology. You could hear John B’s sobs from feet away. You watched Kie hug him from behind, and leant your head on JJ’s shoulder.
--
You lay between JJ’s legs, head resting on his chest as he played with your hair, and you watched Kie strum at the ukulele, your faces lit up by the fire beside you, the soft, glowing light illuminating your small circle.
“How much was it again?” JJ broke the relative quiet.
“Four hundred mil.” You responded in a low murmur, looking up at his golden face.
“Alright, let’s talk the split.” he lightened up, hands leaving your hair and coming down to meet your hands. “Now, before we say ‘evenly’, may I remind you that I am the only one that can properly defend us from those groupers who are after us.” he lifted the gun to show you all, ignoring the collective groan, “Protection, not cheap, okay?”
“You haven’t trained.” Pope pointed out. “You’ve done zero training.”
“Nada.” You emphasised, “Zilch.”
“Youtube, bro!” JJ justified. “That’s at least a five percent bump right there. Any objections?” he ignored you and Pope’s muttering, “Didn’t think so.”
“Yeah.” You and Pope said in unison, and you sat up, twisting to face him.
“Complaint right here!” you leaned away from him.
“I don’t hear any.” He pouted as you pulled away, reaching out for your waist and pulling you back down to how you’d lay before.
“Guys,” you twisted your head to look at the pogues. “I’m like, new here, and y’all don’t really know me, so like, are you sure you want me in the cut? ‘Cause I’d understand if not-”
“Y/N,” Kie shut you up, “quality over quantity. You’ve helped us, we’re all getting 80 mil, JJ.” she glared at him, making you snort. “what are you gonna do with your 80 mil, Pope?”
“Pay for college in advance. And also textbooks. Those are expensive.”
“What about you Kie?” you asked.
“Yeah, what does a socialist do when she’s rich?” Pope smirked.
Kie chuckles, shrugging, “Just wanna make a double album. About OBX, the pogues. You know, the way Catch a Fire’s about Kingston. Record it at Marley studio, Peter Tosh producing.”
“Peter Tosh is dead.” Pope said.
“Peter Tosh is dead, I know.” Kie grinned, “Spirit of Peter Tosh will never die.” she toasted with her beer, “What about you, Y/N?”
“Pay off my brother’s student loans.” You paused, “And travel. I wanna see Europe. And Asia, and South America. I wanna see other cultures, you know? Might come back here, one day, I might even go back to LA for a bit, but probably not, just come straight home after a couple of years, and go full kook.”
“Yeah,” JJ agreed, “I’m gonna get a big ass house of Figure Eight and go full kook.”
“You’re gonna go full kook?” Pope asked.
“Yeah.” JJ nodded. “Gonna get a marble statue of myself and then I’m gonna get a koi pond.” You giggled, grinning up at him. “Put a bunch of those fish-”
“I’m never visiting.” Kie laughed.
“What are you gonna do, JB?” Pope brought your attention to your other friend.
He looked back around at the group and toasted, “To going full kook.”
“To going full kook!” you all cheered, all of you laughing, drinks raised, and heads stuck in your temporary bliss.
Eventually, John B clocked out, heading to his room, and Kiara gave Pope a ride home, leaving you and JJ alone for the first time since last night. You had been drinking and smoking all night, while he had stopped uncharacteristically early. As a result, he was almost sober, and you were nearing wasted as you went to grab your stuff and head home. He put his arm around your waist, letting you lean on him as you ambled slowly towards your house.
“Jay?” you mumbled, and he hummed, helping you further down the road, “When we go full kook, we should combine our money to get an even bigger house.”
He smiled at the thought of sharing a house with you.
“You wanna share a house with me?” he stopped by your door, and you turned to face him.
“Duh.” you slurred, blinking up at him.
“I’ll warn you, I’m a messy person.” he gazed down at your drunken smile.
“I’ll manage.” you mumbled, leaning up into him.
You pressed your lips to his, feeling pure bliss for a split second, but sobering when you felt him move away, punching against the kiss. You stepped back, cheeks reddening as you realised what you had done, feeling stupid and embarrassed, wanting to disappear. You felt your vision go cloudy, and he was talking but all you could hear was the voice in your head screaming that you had ruined this perfect, happy friendship You frowned, trying to keep the tears in as he stepped away from the door, backing into the road.
“JJ, I…” you watched him walk away, his shape turning into a smudge that crawled away, and disappearing completely when he turned the corner. Then, you let yourself fall.
Tags: @tangledinsparkles @jellyfishbeansontoast @lolitstiana @ilikealotofpeople-younotsomuch @teamnick @thoughtsofthestars @obxmxybxnk
#outer banks#outer banks fanfiction#outer banks fanfic#obx#obx fanfiction#obx fanfic#jj maybank#jj maybank x reader#jj maybank x you#jj maybank x y/n#jj x reader#jj x you#jj x y/n#john b#john b routledge#kie#kie carrera#kiara#kiara carrera#pope#pope heyward
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Okay, so I’m somewhat annoyed with the interpretations I’m seeing of Midsommar where the Hårga are just written off as a white supremacist death cult. And don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying they’re not, at least in part, but I think those that see them only as “villains” is missing an alternative narrative of Western exploitation of indigenous groups and religious minorities.
Yes, they’re white; yes, they employ runes and symbols frequently co-opted by white nationalists; and yes, that specific interpretation is even somewhat confirmed by Ari Aster himself, but that doesn’t mean it’s the only interpretation and thus where all consideration should end.
Let’s talk about the group Pelle invites: anthropology students. As an anthropologist, I can speak for days on the fields’s dubious origins and only slightly less dubious recent past leading up to its present form. But these aren’t just anthropology students, they’re anthropology students who very clearly have a tenuous grasp on anthropological ethics and are more concerned with exploiting the Hårga for personal, academic (or sexual) gain than they are with actually engaging with the group and employing any measure of cultural relativism. To these students, the Hårga are a resource to be exploited. Each of them came — with the exception of Dani — not out of genuine curiosity for or with an interest in what value the Hårga’s culture innately possesses, but as a means to an end, whatever that invididual end might be.
And each of them — again, with the exception of Dani — pays the price for their selfishness in ways befitting their specific transgressions: Josh is bludgeoned in the head (for literally stealing images of their most holy book despite being told explicitly that this would be a huge taboo); Simon and Connie for their very loud and dramatic criticism of a ritual that they view as ‘barbaric’ (very ethnocentric, I might add); and then Mr. I-Have-No-Control-Over-My-Dick (read: Mark) who just came to bed their women and desecrate their ancestors by urinating on a sacred site. And, finally, Christian (aptly named), King of Misognyny. In other words, the Four Horsemen of Colonialism ride in and I’m supposed to feel sorry for them? No. Absolutely not.
Especially interesting, I think, is that Aster assigns to the Hårga all things that modern, Western cultures associate (if almost always from a place of ignorance and ethnocentrism) with indigenous groups now and in the past: valuing magic and ritual over ~sCiEnCe!~, sacrifices, use of entheogens, community>individual (to the point that they all share collective responses to stimuli), negotiating modernity or “choosing the old ways,” cannibalism, “barbarism,” etc. I think a good comparison to make is with the Green Inferno, which is just flat out racist. I honestly have no idea who thought that was okay, but that’s a story for a different day. However, if you take the same elements assigned to the “those evil, backwards brown people!” and place them, necessarily, on an all-white group, then you’ve avoided the stigma while also being able to pose some interesting scenarios. In other words, consider if Aster had set the film not in Sweden, but rural Africa, the Amazon (looking at you, Green Inferno), and imagine if instead of being white, the Hårga (or whatever they might be called) were black or brown. He would have been — rightfully — eviscerated. So yes, the all-white Hårga kill all of their black or brown “guests,” which isn’t especially exciting or nuanced unless you recognize it as a sort of role reversal where the people of color are engaging in their own versions of neo-colonialism. Could it have been handled better? Undoubtedly, but I find it is still somewhat effective if considered in a different light that isn’t just: surprise, surprise, a “horror” movie kills another black/brown person first while the blond actually “wins” this time. Which yes, we’re all tired of. Do better.
But I think that’s actually part of Aster’s genius here, because he’s pitted the forces of colonialism against their own fears: he makes real all the hateful, ignorant stereotypes the colonizers malign their victims with and pits them against the monsters of their own misunderstanding. He makes their nightmares into a reality and that is fun to watch. And I would argue that his borrowing from pre-Christian Europe is a nice, added bit of flesh. It’s not something we think about frequently, but the history of colonization does not begin with Europe and the rest of the world. They, too, were colonized; they, too, had their ways and practices stolen from them by outside influences and were forced to adopt practices that they would undoubtedly interpret as backwards and made to suffer. Which you’d think would have prevented them from doing the same to others, but that’s another topic entirely.
All that being said, does the narrative actually forward our thinking or just reinforce the age-old danger of the Other? In this case, the Other is something rightly feared on both sides: the Hårga are faced with exploitation and find themselves in danger of being exposed (if of their own invitation), while the anthropology students (and others) face the horrors of stereotypes made real. Does Aster offer a take any different than Green Inferno? Maybe not, but he does so with at least more tact, consideration and nuance. He revives old tropes in horror, but does so in a way that dances around condemnation. It’s impressive in how decidedly not-fresh it is, while also seeming distinct, different.
Anyway, that’s the very loose overview of my take, not considering the role Dani plays and without looking deeper into Aster’s borrowings from pagan European mythologies and how they play into the ultimate scheme of the film. Do with it what you will.
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Business (Kamilah Sayeed & MC)
Previous chapter: 1
Book: Bloodbound (property of Pixelberry Studios)
Pairing: Kamilah Sayeed & MC: Amy (I do not own those characters, they’re the property of Pixelberry Studios as well)
Warnings: a little bit of angst (I think)
Rating: Mature
Author’s note: I’m not a native English speaker, I’m sorry for any mistakes (feel free to correct me).
I know it took me some time. But believe me, this chapter started with 1300 words, then I extended it to 2000, and then I rewrote it a few times, so we ended up here 😂
~ 1700 words
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Chapter 2
A bolt of lightning cut across the starry sky.
Centuries ago, somewhere in the middle of the forest, loud screams came from the old tavern. The gleam of the night peeked inside the building, seducing men to go outside to face the threat which came upon them. To fight what made them go through the days in constant fear, depriving them of their peaceful life.
Every single day, sunset meant for humans the beginning of the nightmare. As long as the sun was high in the sky, brightening the landscape around, locals remained safe. As if the danger was waiting in the shadows, afraid to step into the light, not having enough courage to show itself.
That day, a mutual threat brought them, leaders of all clans, together in the tavern.
The group of animals attacking their villages under cover of the night forced them to take the final steps. Their last hope was buried in the best hunters of this land. But even they ended up being captured by the darkness, disappearing without a sign.
The pattern repeated itself as bloodsucking creatures left death behind.
Suddenly, lightning hit the ground once again, causing the earth to tremble under its power. At the same time, doors were opened by the wind, revealing the shape of the man barely standing on his legs.
Leaders run toward the only survivor without double thinking, bringing him closer to the light.
"They... are not..." the man managed to mutter, "are not... animals."
Another thunder brightened the inside of the tavern. Silence fell between men as unsureness sneaked into their minds.
"Who are they then?" one of the leaders dared to ask.
The hunter lifted his head slowly at those words, putting enough effort to open his swollen eyes. His face appeared in the faint light of the torch for the first time, revealing scars on his face.
And two dots on the side of his neck with the path of blood flowing out of them.
"Humans," his voice broke when red liquid showed itself in the corner of his mouth. "Only one..."
The man's body moved in convulsions as the coughing took over him entirely. He was spitting out blood in agony until his eyes went blank, and heart stopped beating.
"How can one man lead to such bloodshed?" one of the leaders spoke as the rest lifted the corpse. "It's witchcraft."
Their eyes moved on the body of the dead hunter lying on the table with hands resting on his chest. Words kept echoing in their heads as the realization hit them one by one, making those powerful men feel the fear of the enemy they were not prepared for.
Because what chance did they have in fighting something so inhuman?
Was there even a weapon out there that would be strong enough to restore peace?
And what if coming into possession of it meant sacrificing humanity on their own...
***
The air was thick with anticipation.
Half of the security crew was gathered around the conference table, the rest of them waited outside right by the doors.
It was perfectly quiet inside the room. No one even dared to breathe louder, afraid to distract Paine's daughter. Kamilah and Adrian just watched the girl, trying to examine her reactions while she was studying the documents.
But Amy's face was unreadable for most of the time. She focused all her attention on the words before her, reading paragraphs of the contract carefully. Only from time to time, she had a habit of looking through the window to collect her thoughts or let her eyes rest.
But even then, her expression was impossible to read.
She almost got to the end of the files when her left eyebrow raised slightly for a second as she read the most significant part of the deal. Kamilah squinted her eyes at this, wondering what was going on in this pretty head.
Finally, Amy put the documents aside and looked directly at both CEOs as if she was waiting for them to say something. As if they were supposed to react in a certain way before her final decision.
But nothing happened.
Such a shame, Amy thought, sighing lightly.
Adrian stopped the awkward silence, grunting meaningfully. He stood up, buttoning his suit, just to offer the girl a pen to sign the contract.
But at that exact same moment, Amy got up out of the chair. She turned around without a single word, letting her blonde hair fly in the air with the movement.
"We're done here," she spoke to security guards with the audacity.
The girl intended to put her glasses on when Adrian spoke aloud, confused.
"I don't understand..." his voice showed pure astonishment. "Was there a problem?"
Amy turned around with surprise written on her face as if she just reminded herself about their presence.
The familiar feeling of victory filled her chest.
"Well, if we are talking about those documents, then yes, it was," she kept his gaze confidently.
"It can't be, we've already discussed the details with your parents," Adrian stepped forward, lifting the papers. "This meeting was supposed to be just a formality."
"And it would've been," Amy spoke, lifting her chin a little bit more, "if the details that you discussed together were included in the official version of this contract."
Adrian went through the papers in a hurry, searching for any mistakes. He put all his hopes in this deal, he wasn't ready to give up on it so quickly.
While he was searching through the files, Amy looked behind him, meeting with Kamilah's chestnut eyes. To her surprise, the woman kept her silence this entire time, standing there with the corners of her mouth slightly curled up.
"I'm sure you are aware of what trust means to this family," Amy's eyes challenging, voice sharp, "Mrs. Sayeed."
Adrian followed her gaze, quickly recognizing the look on his best friend's face. Realizing that the woman must have had this planned all along.
"I am absolutely aware of that," Kamilah wasn't smiling anymore. "Mr. and Mrs. Paine need to understand what kind of situation they've put us in," she knew what exactly needed to be said to get to this girl. "We were discussing details with them, not their young daughter."
The tone of her voice provoked Amy immediately, causing her stubbornness to show off.
"Unfortunately, now I'm the one who you need to convince, not them," she said, raising her left eyebrow, challenging.
"I'm sure we can reach an agreement," Adrian tried to ease the tension in the room, standing between two women.
Amy kept her arms crossed as a way to exaggerate her impatience. At that moment, she indeed looked like the stereotypical only child, raised in a wealthy family.
"Of course, we can always come back to the original version of the contract," Kamilah said with a smirk, making her way to the desk where she had everything prepared.
And by doing so, she caused the family pride to burn inside Amy.
She might have been young, but smart enough to know what was happening there. Kamilah was making Paines look bad in this situation, showing the dominance of her own company.
"That won't be necessary," the girl's mind worked fast. "I've already lost more than enough time for this nonsense," she was done playing nice. "Under those circumstances, the last version will not cover the damage to this meeting. I would like to discuss the details again."
Kamilah opened her eyes wide for a second, impressed with this attitude. The harsh tone of Amy's voice made her feel both: bitter and fascinated.
"Fair enough," she held back a smile, getting what she wanted from the start. "We can arrange a personal meeting tomorrow if there are no contraindications," she sensed Adrian's mood changing.
"Amelia, we..." a bodyguard stepped forward, speaking in a muted voice.
"Nothing stands in the way," Amy interrupted, sending him a meaningful look.
Both CEOs shared a quick glance, wondering what that was about. But the girl's tone didn't leave much space for discussion.
"It's decided then," Kamilah nodded to herself, keeping in mind this situation.
She looked at the girl's eyes once again, finding herself drawn to this intense shade of green.
The color annoyed her memory as the long-forgotten past was asking for her attention.
***
"Why, Kamilah... why?"
They came back to her office right after the meeting.
"I don't see the reason to panic," Kamilah's voice remained calm as she got behind the desk, already occupied with work.
"You almost ruined our chance for this collaboration," Adrian couldn't believe that it was the same woman standing in front of him.
The same one who would kill for the deal, push all the buttons to get what she wanted. And at that moment, they both wanted to get this contract signed with Paine's surname.
Or at least, he thought so.
"I needed to make sure what we are walking into," she leaned back in the chair, relaxed. "Besides, I will meet this girl, and everything will be exactly the same."
"Oh, you will?" Adrian's eyebrows lifted, he didn't like the sound of those words. "I thought that we were going to meet her," that's when it hit him. "No, no, Kamilah, leave her out of it."
"Don't be such a baby," the woman frowned at him, slowly losing her patience.
Adrian looked at her closely, noticing something that he assumed faded away a long time ago. This characteristical glow on her skin. Corners of her lips barely curled up as she was holding back a grin. And what was betraying her the most:
eyes of the hunter.
"I know that look on your face," Adrian cheered up, forgetting about the contract. "I haven't seen it for a while, but I would recognize it anywhere."
"Stop this nonsense," Kamilah said with a smile, turning toward the window, away from his gaze.
What Adrian said was true.
She was in the mood to play.
And Amy seemed to be the perfect match for this game.
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Next chapter: 3
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tag list: @cheeto-choices @kamilah-is-queen @ariaminsinclair @helpconfusedpersonhere @ayushixo @nydeiri
#choices fanfiction#choices stories you play#kamilah sayeed#kamilah x mc#bloodbound fic#bloodbound kamilah#bloodbound fanfiction#bb kamilah#kamilah choices#bloodbound mc#bb mc
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