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miraculouscontent · 3 years

Text

(miraculous asks)

Anonymous said:

Oh My Gosh!!!! I was just thinking about Party Crasher and man I hate how they had Ladybug get captured for the men to save! It's a continuous thing you see in media: strong heroic woman gets put in peril so that the men can shine. I didn't even realize it until you said it! I get that it was probably meant to be a "role reversal" of Chat always getting kidnapped or brainwashed for Ladybug to save, but the fact that this is the "guys' episode" it read like "well damn, we can't have the guys be strong if a girl is in the way; let's have the girl get captured so the boys can prove their worth by rescuing her!".

At least in Sandboy, Ladybug was still competent and came up with the plans, but this?! It makes me sick, and it's all too easy to fall into these traps; even Kim Possible did it! In my magical girl story, the heroine does get put in a magical coma and require someone to bail her out, but it's her female friends AND her boyfriend who save her, so it's not just a girl being weakened so a boy can be powerful, especially since said boy actually does a minority of the work required to save her; the focus is on the female characters so it's her girl friends who do most of it. I still ended up scrapping that side plot anyway, and do you know why? Because regardless of who saved her, I still didn't want my female protagonist to be put in distress at all due to the unfortunate implications! Needing help in a fight? Sure. But outright being captured or kidnapped? Nah fam.

I was honestly thinking about that when the first episode came out. Like, they could’ve just had Marinette NOT SHOW UP in time so the guys take care of things, which at least gives more of a message that Paris wouldn’t go to hell just because Ladybug is a little late or something.

And yeah, the “boys squad episode so gotta toss the girl out” is... sigh.

Anonymous said:

I think the writers were trying to show Chat angsting to show his regret instead of an actual apology. Still doesn't explain why Aeon didn't bring up her death afterwards. Did Olympia delete that from her memory banks?

I guess? :|

I don’t know why Chat can’t just apologize without fishing or trying to earn sympathy. Like JUST SAY YOU’RE SORRY, DAMMIT.

Anonymous said:

If you haven't read Maribat, then you won't regret it. I am not in the DC universe but I started reading it and WOW. Literally every single time Marinette is a badass queen and gets her complete revenge and is actually happy! Even if you absolutely love Lukanette (which I have nothing against) you should totally try it.

Appreciate the comment, but I find it hard to ship other Marinette ships outside of Lukanette. Ivanette is a very loose exception and it’s not like I ship it hard or anything.

Anonymous said:

Despite not being a Lukanette shipper I love you. Why? Because you amazing, so right in literally everything and I love you <33

gkdfjgfdngjkfdg thank you

bat-anon said:

The NY Special made it so that Max is literally the only Black/Brown kid that doesn’t exist to make Love Square happen and that just makes me hate it even more.

I wish you didn’t make me have this realization because I hate it.

At least Delmar existed in the New York special???? I guess???? I dunno, I’m trying here, I don’t recall him doing anything love square centric.

Anonymous said:

I honestly don't mind Alix's outfit as Bunnix! I feel like it fits her, plus she's an adult so its not much of a problem, not saying it can't be improved however. I DO have issues with the designs for the underage girls outfits however....those are very sus

Yeah, the problem I take with Bunnyx’s is that it’s a bodysuit. If there was just more definition, like having actual boots, I wouldn’t complain as much.

Anonymous said:

I actually just really like the idea of the new bee being a genuinely nice person who becomes friends with Marinette. Not exactly close friends (since I like the idea of friendly working relationships without actual personal stakes in them). I also enjoy the idea of the new bee having some small animosity for Chat Noir- just because their personalities aren't the greatest mix. I also think that it would make sense for the miraculous of subjection to be at odds with the miraculous of destruction

Full agreement but we know how much the writers are resistant to have characters go against Chat.

Anonymous said:

Not gonna lie the scene where the girl squad gets akumatized almost makes it seem like they got akumatized on purpose, similar to Manon in Puppeteer 2(although she was a little kid who was probably just imagining she could enact revenge). And why can't they have a uniformed design, like they're a team but wear different colors, similar to the Sailor Senshi(like, Alya's the leader and wears orange, Rose wears pink, Alix wears green, Juleka wears purple, and Mylene wears yellow). It's so boring.

Mood.

Not to mention that WE ARE SO TIRED OF THEM GETTING AKUMATIZED INTO THE SAME AKUMA.

AT LEAST PALETTE SWAP THEM.

Anonymous said:

Relating to the Didn't Need Burrows and Treatment of Marinette bingo cards, have you considered making one for whenever the show fails at girl power? It could say things like "sexualized frames of teenage girls" "boy tells girl what to do" "girls don't get to keep Miraculouses", and "girls are forced to apologize whenever a situation goes wrong". And in the center, it could say "Don't show this to your daughter!"! Lol! What do you think?

lol I feel like I have enough cards, otherwise I would.

Anonymous said:

I saw another post that talked about Miraculous New York, and they theorized that it was rewritten to focus more on Marinette and Adrien in order to get viewers invested in the Love Square again after more people started to lose faith in the ship. Do you think that's a possibility?

I think so. The whole special comes off as trying to reassure love square shippers because of how hard it goes for him. I cut out Marinette’s crushing and it cuts like 18% from the episode, meaning it’s even worse than Season 3 (15%).

Anonymous said:

Maybe the point of the [break-up episodes] is meant to discourage people from shipping Lukanette and Adrigami too?

Spoiler alert: didn’t work.

Anonymous said:

Are we not gonna talk about how in one ask, somebody legit said "(long dreamy sigh) Viperion"? Like same.

RIGHT????

Same.

Anonymous said:

Ml fandom: I hate how Ladybug keeps secrets from Chat Noir! He sacrifices himself for her all the time and she never appreciates him for it! He has EVERY right to get mad at her!!

ML Fandom when Chat Noir does the same thing in the special: ....Wow Ladybug was way to harsh on Chat Noir!! She doesn’t appreciate him at all!! Shes so mean to him!

i hate it

Anonymous said:

Idk if it's just me, but a majority of the fandom is split in two; it's never one or the other "MARINETTE SUCKS AND IS A HORRIBLE PERSON GUARDIAN MARY SUE WHO SEXUALLY HARRASSES" or "ADRIEN SUCKS HE WAS NEVER ON MARINETTES SIDE" but im personally on the latter, but not to that extreme. i hate videos bashing marinette and then never acknowledge adriens faults

Yeah, the fandom gets more divided as time goes on because of the writers trying to increase the drama/tension.

Anonymous said:

I am PERSONALLY offended they gave Luka the snake miraculous. Snakes have such a negative connotation. A lot of people insult Lila by calling her a SNAKE. And now those ML writers DARE insult the best character in ML?! HOW DARE THEY!?????

I adore Viperion but I agree that I first heard he was getting snake and was like, “BUT MY BOI???”

It gets awkward too because other animals like the pig have negative connotations, like how Daizzi basically means “idiot/stupid” and they’re giving it to the freaking blond character, really???

Anonymous said:

I think that Ivanette would be even better if Marinette was plus-sized character.

I see why you’d think that. I just disagree because then it turns the ship into “let’s pair the heavyset characters together because they heavyset.”

Anonymous asked:

On the topic of romance failures and general series salt, my main issue right now is how the series puts so much focus on romantic relationships while failing to consider other levels of relationship or what they affect.

On the L² front I can completely buy Marinette being in love with Adrien. Most of the time she genuinely wants him to be happy and is ready to take a step back for him, however much it hurts. But in terms of romantic love? It. Is. A. Crush! But if we step back from the formula, what is there left between them? Their civilian relationship is held together by a “comedy” of errors and without that there is surprisingly little left. Well, besides two “best friends” desperately trying to make it happen because somehow they lost their individual characters and instead of being friends became matchmakers?

I too like Luka and Marinette together. Their relationship is pretty nice to see and all. But sometimes it feels like it happens in a dimension of its own, like the writers want to make the endgame clear in that the “sideships” can be easily cut out of the big “how they got together”-recaps. I especially miss reactions from and interactions with Juleka. She is Luka’s sister, Marinette’s friend, and IIRC someone aware of if not even a bit player in the great shipping game. She is in a prime position to step up and bring progress on all fronts: She can talk with Luka. She can either give Marinette helpful pointers or go “All in or nothing”, i.e. trying to make Marinette get her Adrien-feelings in order as she does not want her brother to get less than Marinette’s full heart. Similarly, she can counteract “friendly acts” and stop humiliating situations from escalating, or she herself can escalate them in the “All or Nothing”-scenario. Yet she remains basically a background character who gets little attention from the camera and almost no “non-focus identity”

As for Kagami, I may be too biased. *Any* positive Kagami/Marinette relationship is to me what Lukanette is to you. So naturally I have lots of opinions when it comes to her role ;) But can I just say that Adrien/Kagami is the weirdest ship for me? They have a few cute scenes and I think if they’d spend a lot more time together, they’d do each other good but I don’t know how they work. “No Hesitation” Kagami would lob Adrien’s head straight off with all his…everything. If we are meant to take Adrien’s love for LB seriously (and I guess we have to because how in the name of sanity is any form of the stated endgame gonna work otherwise???), how does Kagami fit into that picture as a girl who can hardly express emotions while Adrien is the definition of a guy who can not stop flirting or goes for all kinds of romantic gestures? Sometimes it feels more like a “social fit” and “Mommy/Daddy approves” kind of deal which is quite the shame! Normally I like these kind of relationships in fictions but they need a solid underlining or good development. One they haven’t and one the series has not been giving to anyone so far.

Yeah, the whole thing with the love square versus side ships ends up feeling extremely forced. Keeping Luka away and forcing Adrien into Lukanette episode are the biggest giveaways, basically a big fat sign that says, “We know Marinette would forget that Adrien exists if she hung around Luka for more than five minutes.”

AND YEAH, KAGAMI WOULDN’T PUT UP WITH ADRIEN’S GARBAGE. I liked Adrimi but it’s definitely more flawed than Lukanette.

Anonymous said:

Watched your opinion on the New York special and I agree with you. It was mediocre at best. It could have been something nice, like if they added Kagami and Luka, for example, so that we can get a bit of development from the new couples on season 4, so that it doesn’t feel rushed when they start dating on season 4. It could also be a good opportunity to see the other temporary heroes one last time, since Marinette technically has the miracle box.

They could have had an epic fight with the American Superheroes, maybe even giving the bee miraculous temporally to Aeon or Jess so that we didn’t need to see their awful and uncreative superheroes designs. It would have been nice if they made something more useful other than being characters that believe that Adrien and Marinette are “Meant to be”, like, we already got a ton of these already, couldn’t we get someone who didn’t feel something about this ship? It has so much wasted potential that I don’t even know how to start. Do you agree with anything I said?

I agree, yes. They could’ve easily thrown Luka/Kagami into the mix (or had Marinette/Adrien stay behind while flipping perspectives or something; flawed but they could make it work).

Anonymous said:

I'm rereading ladybugout and wow... the moment of silence after "chat deserves that kiss" gets me every time. Everyone stopping and just staring because wow he really just said that

Me whenever Chat Noir opens his mouth in the show.

Anonymous said:

I saw the Backwarder post you just talked about and yes, it is so totally ridiculous. They forgot another thing, though. Miraculous isn't just about comedy, action, and romance, it's about embarrassing Marinette. And the fact that almost everyone in the comments was acting like the medicine scene at the end was funny was just stupid and saddening to hear or read about, because it shows how people have been conditioned to hate and rally against Marinette without even realizing it. Granted, there was one lady who said it reminded her of her husband, so I guess that's okay(but all it means is that Adrien will be Marinette's--aka "his lady's"--husband like eeerrrgh!). And there was one person who said they liked that Juleka's advice because "If you're friend isn't willing to commit crimes for your happiness, is she even your friend?". But everyone else liked the ending. And I don't get the person who said we got "Subtle progression with Adrien and Marinette". We're right where we started.

Weeeeell, I understand the “comedy, action, romance” comment because all of those basically boil down to embarrassing Marinette or invalidating her. Comedy and romance goes without saying while action involves her dealing with Chat “Nice Guy” Noir.

Anonymous said:

Is it just me, or does Snow White's "Red Shoes" form look a lot like Marinette. I know, I know, Marinette is Chinese and Red Shoes is Korean, but they still look strikingly similar. They're bodies are really similar, too, but that might just be because animation tends to use eerily similar body types for its female characters on a whole. It's sad and it makes me think of how cute Marinette would be if she was fat. I also think Snow White was cuter than Red Shoes but that's kind of the point.

I think it’s the body type thing but that’s just a guess since I didn’t immediately make the connection.

I agree that Snow White is cuter.

Anonymous said:

Am I the only one who's never liked "destined to fail" characters? Basically this is when characters aren't allowed to be good at/succeed at something or else the whole universe will somehow fall apart. Think of how in The Amazing World of Gumball, if Richard gets a job, the world will be in complete and utter chaos. So he's better off as a lazy, bumbling dad. In Phineas and Ferb, Candace is always trying to rat out her younger brothers but if she gives up or succeeds something bad will happen.

TV Tropes put it the best: "Not only is she not allowed to succeed, but she's also not allowed to stop trying!"(conveniently under the Cosmic Plaything trope). I just don't like it because it shows that the writers just want to lead them on with the promise of success then snatch it away at the last minute. And now we're back at Miraculous Ladybug, where Marinette is humiliated every time she doesn't sign a gift that's for Adrien, and yet when she does, everyone in Paris DIES. Except for...HIM.

you: *mentions Candace*

me: [a million awful flashbacks]

Also, yeah, it’s so hard to watch, especially in “Chat Blanc” because it’s like, “Oh, you want to give a gift to a boy and you dArEd to use your powers for it? Congrats, but everyone else is DEAD and you can hang out with him as much as you want! You’re welcome!”

Anonymous said:

I think it’d become a “faintest idea blackout card”rather than a bingo.

(referring to my “Faintest Idea” card)

We’re getting there.

darkmoonravewolf said:

I hate that everything on that list could happen and very likely will

(referring to “Didn’t Need Burrow”)

Yeah, and it makes me sad :’)

Anonymous said:

That’s be real here. Miraculous ladybug is not a show about Marinette; Miraculous Ladybug is a show about Adrien. Adrien is the real main character.

Notice that when they focused on Adrien in “Lies,” they only cut back to Marinette (IN A SCENE THAT CAN’T EXIST) to have her fawn over him.

Anonymous said:

Is it just me or are Lady Noire's eyes huge? Maybe it's just the green but they seem way bigger than Marinette's

I’m not sure, but considering Rena’s facial structure being different from Alya’s, it wouldn’t surprise me.

asexual-individual said:

With what you've said about Adrien lacking a reason to exist outside of development for Marinette and Gabriel, I have to wonder how different the show would be if Chat Noir's identity was also kept from the audience. Adrien would still be there as himself, but he only gets as much focus as Alya, and Chat Noir's identity is treated as a mystery (a Tuxedo Mask type mystery, but a mystery all the same).

I see what you mean but it might cause Adrien+Chat’s screentime to feel excessive once the reveal happens, because suddenly their screentime gets combined and it’s like, “oh wow so the combined screentime is his then.”

Anonymous said:

I know that the kwami's really only exist so we can hear our protagonists' thoughts outloud (like what the Coraline movie did with adding Wybie to the story). But honestly, what's the point in having magical gods in the jewelry if you're not going to do anything with them?

Marketing with “cute” side characters.

guisendisguise said:

It's funny, originally, I had shipped Marichat in the sense that Chat and Mari start hanging out and both fall in love with the other's supposedly less perfect, more real selves. Then Luka was introduced and I ended up putting both lukanette and marichat at the same level. Then S3 hit and killed any love I had for Marichat. The writers themselves killed the Love Square for me. At this point, it's very clear they are living in a delusion where the Love Square could ever work narratively without Deus ex Machina or Deus Lo Vult (God wills it). Basically, they've gone past scraping the bottom of the writing skills barrel and are now shoulder deep in the hole they dug thru the bottom of said barrel. I'd like to point out that the bottom of the barrel is writing poop and now they're digging thru the useless plastic landfill the barrel was sitting on top of

Uggggh, yeah. Any appreciation I could’ve had for Marichat died in “Weredad.” I already didn’t like Adrien/Chat and then “Weredad” just showed his complete lack of... well, ANYTHING.

cosmostellar said:

Honestly feels like MLBs writers are going based off the "JUST IMAGINE EVERY POC CHARACTER YOU'RE WRITING AS WHITE" instead of, yknow, fleshing them out while developing them also in the context of their cultures and giving them these little things that the audiences who belong to the same minority can identify with. I don't mean "have Marinette walk in qipao 24/7" bcs thats just... bad on its own but man, /some/ casual acknowledgments of her culture would be nice.

Reading the sentence “JUST IMAGINE EVERY POC CHARACTER YOU'RE WRITING AS WHITE” physically hurts me.

Anonymous said:

Ok, I've always thought that Chloe was robbed of redemption (they held it in front of us, but then jerked it away while Astruc says, "She's irredeemable! We thought she was redeemable, but she wasn't :)!" What are your thoughts! Also, I just recently found your blog and I really like it :)

Thank you!

But I have no sympathy for bully characters, so I didn’t want Chloe redeemed. Maybe I’m still bitter about my own bullying experience, but I just wasn’t here for Marinette being forced to forgive Chloe, which is basically what they did until they backpedaled.

The time spent on her was wasted though and that I can agree on.

Anonymous said:

Me: Writes a 1k rant about how the tweet makes no sense as the "mistake" is about motivation and not the critical plot. Also me: Remembers that in MLB the plot always comes back to the romance. Finally me: Wonders why he got involved with the series post-S3 when all the red flags were already everywhere.

Mistakes were made.

Anonymous said:

I'm semi-catching up on miraculous, and- is it my impression, or does Kagami rebel against her mother more in few episodes she's in (even though her mother's influences on her seem to be stronger in general), than Adrien in the entire show? I /know/ that I don't want to see Adrien free himself from his father w/ the desperation I want to see Kagami free herself from her mother and realize that the standards she's held up to are unhealthy and too strong.

Yeah, I’m way more invested in Kagami than Adrien.

Anonymous said:

Am I the only one confused about whether the staff stopped caring and half-asses the series or cares too much and over-produces the hell out of it?

Nah. It really feels like they secretly hate the love square so they have to keep forcing it.

Anonymous said:

ngl I haven't watched any new episodes since Chameleon and I've been getting all that Miraculous News via tumblr to avoid that Marinette Brand Second Hand Embarrassment™

Understandable.

Anonymous said:

If they aired the 6th one first WHAT WHAT HAPPENED TO LEAD UP TO THIS???? WE ARE ON SEASON FOUR WITH TWO SPEICALS, GETTING A THIRD, AND ANY DEVELOPMENT WE HAD HAS GONE BACKWARDS, SUCKED, OR STATUS QUO YO-ED AWAY!!!!! HOW THE HECK DO WE GET ADRIENETTE FROM FOUR SEASONS OF NOTHING?????? I USED TO FANGIRL AT THIS NOW I AM TERRIFIED.

Answer: We don’t get Adrienette. We get forced love square and rushed/fake “development” of it while being constantly confused as episodes air out of order.

Anonymous said:

im sorry But adrienette has been suck in this limbo of one sidedness for 3 seasons. neither of them have become closer, neither of them have confided in one another, but somehow people still ship it? at least luka was able to make a move on marinette lol adrien still repeats the same boring “shes just a friend” line. adrienette is a really boring ship.

lol don’t apologize, you’re absolutely right.

nahte123456 said:

Very minor bit of salt to throw to the pile, but can this show just decide on how strong Miraculous holders are? Yes it's a cartoon and not the focus but in the Furious Fu episode we literally get Ladybug dodging lighting and then Su who seems mostly human and is at least slower then Fu was outspeeding her. It's distracting trying to figure out what is and isn't a serious threat in this show.

The deciding factor in the strength of the miraculous holders is “whatever works for the plot.”

Anonymous said:

At this point the only thing I'm excited for concerning Miraculous Ladybug is when it gets a reboot in like, a decade with actually competent writers

Best case scenario is that Zag goes bankrupt and Disney/Netflix picks up the series and gives it to competent people.

Problem is that the love square has been ruined so badly for me that even a “good” version of it wouldn’t be something I’d be into, but still.

Anonymous said:

Honestly, the problem with having all of Marinette's mistakes result in huge disasters (ex. Feast), is that is gives off the impression that teenagers aren't allowed to make mistakes. This show clearly doesn't like giving second chances to the protagonist, so why would life give one to you? Am I right, kids?

Exactly.

Marinette makes mistakes and suddenly the world is ending.

Anonymous said:

If your gonna watch the show, at least pirate the episodes so the writers dont get your support

Don’t worry, I have no interest in financially supporting the show.

Anonymous said:

ml in a nutshell: wasted potential, then giving themselves more potential, only to turn the rest of it into a dumpster fire

Yup, that’s it.

Anonymous said:

u know, when My Little Pony, Sofia The First, and fanfiction carries out character development, respect, romance, and the main plot better than the original show, especially when the shows mentioned above are aimed more at little girls and the original show is aimed at slightly older audiences... somethings wrong

*sigh*

And then it’s like--people will excuse the show because “it’s a kids’ show” and then I’m just “okay then, why are there actually good kids’ show?”

If shows get a pass for being for children then all childrens’ shows should just not try and be garbage since the standard is so low.

Anonymous said:

ive seen some cool fic ideas/concepts/reviews that made me think: ml could use so much more looking into how a character thinks in some situations. one fic i read had alya in chameleon (i know its been forever since the ep came out but hey) not question lila cus she thought: "hey, lb wouldnt befriend a bad person" w and added a plot line of lila making her think lb was cobsidering replacing rena rougue. like, just a few lines to make them seem better pls?

YES. Like, show us characters’ perspectives and why they’re rolling with the facts that they’re rolling with, otherwise they just end up looking like jerks.

We sort of got it in “Ikari Gozen” with Kagami but of course it was just to make Marinette look bad.

Anonymous said:

You know I’m honestly considering making reviews of this show and if I do I could create hour long rants about the show just from that mans twitter.

Yeaaaaaah, once you had in the Twitter stuff, it just becomes, “okay so this is going to add another hour or two then.”

Anonymous said:

Okay one thing that bothers me is how plain marinette's suits are despite being a DESIGNER. Her multimouse suit it just blocks of color and her ladynoir suit is just grey with green lines. I think the lines are supposed to represent actually clothes. Like the limes on the calves are supposed to make it look like boots but why not actually GIVE her boots. (Right, because she has to have a skintight suit unlike the boys who get some layers.)

THE SHEER DISRESPECT OF HAVING THE FASHION DESIGNER WEAR SUCH A PLAIN SUIT.

It also goes to show who really designs here, like oh, interesting, the girls get skin-tight simplistic bodysuits and the boys gets all the cool stuff--

Anonymous said:

I heard some people in my class saying they watched Miraculous Ladybug for the first time, and they were saying how good it was, and I was like: 'Oh you poor fools. You have NO idea what it's truly like.'

You know what they say: ignorance is bliss.

bat-anon said:

Isn’t it INTERESTING how in Frozer, Luka understands that Marinette is torn between her crushes and continues to support her even though he knows she probably won’t chose him, and in the exact same episode Chat Noir refuses to help save the city because Ladybug told him AGAIN that she wasn’t romantically interested in him? HMMM 🤔😑

dbfgjbdfjkgf

I’M REMINDED OF “FELIX” WHERE IT’S LIKE--THEY WERE CLEARLY TRYING TO SHOW HOW MUCH “BETTER” CHAT NOIR IS THAN FELIX, BUT LUKA WAS THE RESPECTFUL ONE.

Anonymous said:

You know what I want to see? An evil kwami, like they just want to commit crimes. No moral high grounds, just chaotic evil.

That’d be amazing just because I wouldn’t be able to take them seriously.

Anonymous said:

Watching S1 and S3 episodes back to back, it feels like reading salt fics at times, especially in regards to the L². Like, Marinette was happy about weird plans, she both needed and wanted the final push, and most of the time there was at least something coming out of it. Nowadays it just makes her sad, Alya and the girls act *against* her, and we get shipping for shipping's sake.

That’s a good point. The shift from Seasons 1 to 2 to 3 is rather noticeable.

Anonymous said:

I hate how Adrien's busy schedule seems to only matter when it's used to make Marinette feel bad, but the second Marinette has a bit more to do, it somehow has a negative effect on not only her, but also everyone/everything she cares about, like, what's up with that??

I’m reminded of “Lies” here and I hate it. :|

Anonymous said:

Honestly, the way the show treats teenage girls is horse ass. The show treats the teenage girls of this show as if they're stupid, naive, emotional, clumsy, and need a boy to tell them what opinions to have. Marinette is always treated like the show's punching bag and blamed for everything that goes wrong because she's "emotional" or "obsessed with Adrien", Chloe could've been redeemed but the writers would rather keep her a brain-dead Alpha Bitch Valley Girl(even though Gabriel and Felix, the latter of whom is a teenage boy introduced in one episode, get to be treated as redeemable, despite the things they do being far, far worse), and Lila is a conniving, self-absorbed fox.

And even though Kagami seems better, she's still roped into the "girls catfight over an oblivious guy" cliche and so far, all of her akumatizations have been because of Adrien. Whenever Marinette tries to move on from Adrien the other characters tell her what's good for her and steer her in the "right" direction because she apparently can't think for herself, and the writers LOVE to use the girl squad to tell us who Marinette should be with, because they apparently know better than she does.

Plus the show loves to treat all the girls as the same, making them all either fight over Adrien or be obsessed with shipping, as if teenage girls are all one assimilating, homogenized group(also when they treat Marinette as if she's "just as bad as Chloe", rinse and repeat for the other ladies.). Honestly, the show feels like it was written by those types of people who think "teenage girls are the worst" so they make them all mood-swingy, obsessive, showoffs, emotional, and downright clingy.

Plus the way Thomas Astruc talks about the female characters on Twitter is even worse, and only serves to make this more evident: he claims Marinette "has poor control over her emotions"(all the while calling Adrien "perfect"), that Chloe was racist in Kung Food "because she's stupid"(so rather than having that scene serve as a lesson on respecting other's cultures, he just did it to pick on Chloe and make her look "stupid"), that she's incapable of being redeemed, that Lila's unlikable but Gabriel and Felix aren't(even though he claimed Felix was a terrible character and a "cliche", that's not what the show says my guy), and other such nonsense.

Other Twitter users have also called out Miraculous Ladybug and its stereotypical treatment of teenage girls. The only shows I've ever seen do this worse are those pretentious "darker" Magical Girl "deconstructions" aimed at grown men such as Madoka Magica and Yuki Yuna, as well as most shonen/seinen shows such as Naruto and Death Note, which says a lot. Honestly, whenever I feel like watching a show with empowering and respectful depictions of teenage girls that treats them as bright and intelligent and actually unique from one another, I just watch Equestria Girls, Liv and Maddie, LoliRock, ANT Farm, Moesha, PreCure, or Sailor Moon. Because the way the show acts towards them is deplorable, absolutely deplorable.

Yes to all of the above. Almost all of the girls are involved in love affairs in some way, the two teenage girls are irredeemable while Felix got a sympathetic backstory right away (Chloe took forever to get hers which is a failure), and Marinette is flawed because she’s “too emotional” (a misogynistic stereotype).

Anonymous said:

Hi, I'm the anon who got upset at the lady who made the "Miraculous Ladybug is a Mess" rant, and yes, thank you zodiacspirit17 for liking and agreeing with my rant! I'm glad someone else saw that video! And ugh, Marinette learning to love Chat Noir? Really? I don't remember that line but I also don't want to go back and revisit it to make sure so I'll take your word for it. Ew. That was actually one of the things I hated about the Glaciator scene. Chat was supposedly comforting Marinette by taking her to the rooftop where he planned Ladybug's date, and yet only Marinette finds out about Chat's crush on Ladybug and comforts him on that(while rethinking her feelings), while all Chat knows is that Marinette's heart was also broken. He never asks who it is, or tries to help her get over her crush even if he doesn't know it's coincidentally him.

I know it's because of the "love square" but it's unfair that only Chat's love problems are directly addressed. Come to think of it, the reason Chat took Marinette to the rooftop...I know he was doing it in-universe to help her instead of intruding on her personal feelings(which might have also been why he didn't ask her who her crush was, he was probably thinking along the lines of "we don't have to talk about it right now, we can just have fun!"), but meta-wise, since we know she's Ladybug, the writers were probably trying to tell her "See? This is what you could've been doing, but you missed it. Shame on you!" That's a huge issue I have with the show: characters will do things in-universe to help Marinette, but the show has a different motive in mind. Compare to how Tikki gave actual advice to Marinette in Puppeteer 2, but the writers intended that for the statue scene so they could embarrass her in front of Adrien and the thousands of eyes watching the show(except we're not laughing.). Even if characters do support her, the writer is using them as props for her ritualized humiliation. And yet Luka is the problem somehow.

If Marinette needs to learn how to love Chat Noir, then it should at least be balanced out by Adrien learning to Marinette. I'm sick of this double standard that "girls need to learn to accept boys who like them but guys can do what they want". Another thing she said was that "Marinette needs to learn to define herself outside of who she's crushing on." NOPE. NOPE. NOPE. You see, unlike Adrien, Marinette HAS a life outside of who she's crushing on: she has school, she has Kitty Section, she has her "girl squad", she has her parents, she has her outside family, she babysits Alya's and Nino's siblings, and she has OH YEAH HER FASHION DESIGNING! I didn't even count being a superhero since Adrien does that, too. She has so many things to do outside of Adrien, and yet the fact that she makes gifts for Adrien or dreams about Adrien or wants to have kids with Adrien somehow makes her nothing but an "Adrien fangirl"?

First of all, she's the bloody protagonist?! That's such a "Real Women Don't Wear Dresses" argument, that she can't have her own life AND be in love at the same time! And somehow her crushing on Luka also means her life revolves around him, too! But Adrien's life doesn't revolve around Ladybug even though he doesn't really have anything going for him in his ordinary life? Outside of being rich, hot, white, and male, that is? What are his interests and hobbies, besides what Gabriel lets him do to pass the time? He doesn't even like modeling! And the Agreste plot is more about Gabriel, Emilie, and Nathalie than it is about him.

And what about his friendship with Nino? He didn't even care that Nino was getting strung along by Lila with the others! What about his friendship with Chloe that also waxes and wanes? Granted, Chloe's not a GOOD person, which that lady acknowledged, but she at least tried to change and has more development than him, the writers just won't let her change. I hate when people come for Marinette for doing literally anything when the show won't let her have agency and progress. It's so unfair of her and I wish they could see that. These double standards are driving me insane and they're sexist(maybe even a little bit racist, too), and it hurts even more when a woman's doing those things.

(I had to cut off some of this ask because I didn’t get all of it, so I cut it off at the point where it still seemed like a full ask.)

I FEEL THE “GLACIATOR” THING SO BAD. It hurts even worse when you realize that “Frozer” has to take place after “Glaciator,” so Chat Noir heard that Marinette has love problems and then ignored it to ask her for advice about his own love problems later on. The total lack of insensitivity???

Also, the idea that Marinette’s life would revolve around her crush on Luka is stupid. It’s the exact opposite, in fact.

Meanwhile, Adrien has so little going for him and the “interesting” parts of him involve who he’s connected to or what his father has forced him into.

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mikwrites-archive · 4 years

Text

♖ afflatus, /əˈflādəs/ a divine creative impulse or inspiration.

♖ pairing: xu minghao x reader (painter x royal au) ♖ warnings: hella long oops ♖ wc: 5k words

♖ a/n: new fandom to write for, new record of a word count, who am i damn HWJBJDSFHS anyways i hope u guys like this pls lmk what u think bc im kinda nervous HAHAH

You’d grown up with a penchant for pretty things.

Your gaze of innocent youth widening with wonder at your mother’s glittering jewels, your father’s heavy crown, laughing at the splashing fountains across the vast gardens that spewed crystalline water amongst shimmering koi.

Yet with age, the gilded champagne tinted chandeliers, flowing gowns of all pale and deep hues, and all the other little beauteous wonders thrust at you across the years whether you desired them or not, became dull.

The listening to melodies became the study of notes and aching of fingertips, the joy of dancing became tight shoes and even stiffer, polite movements; every little action and hobby seemed to soon become a task of royalty.

“Who made that?”

It’s not any style you recognize, with furrowed eyebrows you study the art hanging on Lord Jun’s wall in his quarters, almost as a habit of your studies.

You’re parsing through the list of painters in your mind that you’d been forced to memorize the previous week, as Jun laughs.

“I didn’t know you were interested in art, your highness.”

You shoot him a glare, and he fails to hide his grin as he stuffs his garments into his luggage. While Jun was a lord of your father’s council, your close ages allowed you both to maintain a close friendship, and he knew most of your recent complaints with sympathy.

He was currently packing for an ambassador trip back at his home kingdom, and you were attempting to dispel the simmering disappointment at your closest friend leaving for even just a few weeks.

“A friend painted it for me. Do you like it?”

“It’s pretty.”

And for once, you mean it.

“You’ll meet him soon enough I believe. Your mother has been wanting an artist on grounds for family portraits and I recommended him.”

“What’s his name?” You squint, the squiggle of signature in the corner incomprehensible to you.

“Xu Minghao.” Jun answers.

“He’s not from here?”

Jun hums, casting you a glance, noting how you’ve yet to take your eyes off the painting.

“I think you’ll take a liking to him.”

Jun’s letter is like a piece of home to Minghao, the script messier than his own, but in the familiar tongue that Minghao whispers to himself softly as the tide laps at his feet.

He knows his decision before he even reaches the end of the parchment, but reads through anyways, and folds it neatly back into his pocket. Heavy, umber eyes watch the rolling waves for a few more moments, chipping absently away at the dried paint on the tips of his slender fingers, before making his way back to the tiny house a little ways away with his hollow knocking heart.

Minghao packs his belongings the early morning of his departure, not looking back once at the shabby house he’d spent the past few months in as he canters away on his black mare, eyes set on the salt spraying sea he was really leaving behind instead.

He wonders if palace gardens were a satisfying alternative.

The idea of stable housing and food was enough to satiate his artistic nitpicking for the time being, and Minghao makes a silent promise to return to the sea one day.

Minghao is introduced to you a day after he arrives and the day Jun leaves.

Wind strewn dark hair grown past his ears, worn leather vest, paint flecked billowing sleeves of eggshell white, black loose pants, and scuffed shoes. He’s the opposite of your delicate satin gown, immaculately styled curls, and dainty accessories, but you feel as if you’re the one out of place as you observe him, both of you waiting for Jun in the courtyard, finishing his farewell to your parents.

He’s quiet, long features often solemn, sometimes slipping upwards in a small smile at the littlest of things or out of politeness.

You’re about to attempt to start conversation to fill the silence, but another voice cuts in.

“I hope you’ll behave while I’m gone.” Jun grins at you, appearing from the large doors with your parents in tow, shining brightly under the beaming sunlight, and you snort, relieved.

“I should be the one telling you that. God knows what you’d do without me.”

“Rejoice, of course.”

Your retort is muffled as he gathers you in an embrace, which you return just as strongly.

“I’ll write as soon as I settle.” He promises, and you only nod as you watch him move to Minghao, absently listening to the soft Mandarin they used to converse.

“Watch over her, yeah?”

“Me?” Minghao blinks, the surprise etched on his features comical to Jun who laughs. Jun knows you well enough that your curiosity would eventually overtake your tiptoeing around Minghao, but for the artist, while loneliness wasn’t ideal, he’d endure it no matter how much it gnawed at him.

“And yourself as well. You both need more friends. You can’t always be alone.”

The words settle forlornly in the pit of Minghao’s stomach as Jun draws him in, patting him on the back before he clambers upon the saddle, waving one last time before setting off.

Your mother suggests then that you provide a tour for Minghao before he begins his work the next day, claiming it as practice for future diplomatic encounters, and you almost miss his curiously amused glint in his eyes as you murmur a quiet agreement, beckoning him to follow you once you Jun becomes a tiny speck in the distance of your squinted vision.

The royal gardens do not disappoint as the last destination, almost exceeding Jun’s scrawling description within his letter, Minghao realizes with satisfaction.

The soft hum of fat bumblebees puttering across the extensive variety of blooms that were maintained to their fullest in neat order, along with the trickling ponds and fountains you could hear if you honed in just enough by the glade of willow trees where you decided to end the tour.

Minghao settles down on one of the bumpy roots, closing his eyes as he rests his hand on the cool bark, the other twirling the blades of grass by his thigh.

You’ve convinced yourself he’s fallen asleep, breaths rising slowly as his movements cease, but suddenly his eyes open, meeting yours, and you flush as if you’d been caught in the wrong.

“Would you like to meet here tomorrow morning to begin the portrait?”

You can only stammer a hasty agreement, and the lanky boy stands, gazing up at the filtered sunlight between the leaves with slightly squinted eyes.

“I would say you could return to your daily activities, but if I’m honest, I don’t remember how to return to the palace.” He admits after a moment, and you duck your head to hide your smile, but he catches it with one of his own.

Heavy is the head that wears the crown.

While you’re sure there’s a deeper meaning, the head piece currently sitting upon your tightly styled hair, was indeed weighty, and didn’t assist your focus of maintaining a still, straight posture.

“You fidget a lot. Your highness.” Minghao adds on respectfully after a beat, and you immediately cease your movements, smiling sheepishly.

“My apologies. I’ve never liked getting my portrait done. When I was younger I remember they always had to promise me my favourite sweet afterwards.”

“I’ll try to finish as quickly as I can then.” He grins wryly. “Or perhaps I can request the cook to make something specific for tonight’s dessert.”

You fail to hold in your shaking laughs, but Minghao doesn’t mind.

Minghao doesn’t see you often after he completes the portrait.

It seems to be an occurrence for most around the palace, the few acquaintances Minghao made telling him it was common now for you to be holed up in a study, while you used to constantly tag around the kitchens, amble around the stables, and meander the gardens. He’s slightly disappointed in your lack of appearance, but fills his time with roaming around the palace grounds himself and satisfying his artistic needs.

He meets you again by accident (or fate), as he brushes aside the curtain of flowers that concealed a small space he’d discovered yesterday, perfect for peaceful painting.

The air is charged with awkward stumbling as Minghao fumbles with his armload of supplies and you bolt up from your relaxed position, but you’re quick to react, snapping your book shut lightly.

“I’ll leave you to work. I’m sure your artistry requires more of the space than I do.”

“Please, stay.”

You’re convinced that he’s only insisting you stay out of courtesy, but you know he’s one to not say something he doesn’t mean, so you settle back down, skirt pooling under you, lace hem fluttering like your heart.

“How are you liking the kingdom so far?” You prompt as he sets up his palette, and Minghao shrugs, flicking a few stray strands of hair impatiently from his eyes. It leaves a smudge of paint on his forehead, and you smile in the secrecy of your pages.

“It’s not home, but it’s pleasant.”

“Will you tell me about your home?”

Home.

The word pangs in Minghao’s chest like an empty echo in a gaping chasm, but he obliges, hoping to fill it with his memories, recalling the sound of rain outside his window, the croaking of frogs at night, and the aroma of his mother’s cooking.

You listen carefully, closing your eyes as you do, inhaling slowly the scent of honeysuckle, lulling you to peaceful bliss. Minghao’s voice is calming, lilting and gentle, and eventually fades out of your consciousness.

He’s not sure how long it is that he’s been speaking while you’ve slept, surprising even himself as he usually prefers painting in peace, but the pale array of buds on the stretched canvas bloomed with a sleeping form as the sun slowly begins to switch places with the moon.

Time is unrivaled as Minghao loses himself to the simple intricacies of his art, until a messenger arrives.

“Your highness.” The address comes with a gentle shake to your shoulder, and you rise slowly, rubbing your eyes drowsily.

“What happened?”

“You've been called for dinner.” Minghao explains. “You fell asleep in the garden.”

“My apologies,” you bow your head lightly, regret washing over you as you notice the orange tinged sky, a contrast to the baby blue of when you last recalled consciousness. “I hope I didn’t waste your entire day waiting upon me.”

Minghao thinks of the piece behind him, palms dusted with the colour of your chiffon gown, and shakes his head.

“I didn’t.”

Minghao almost falls asleep amidst the bustle of ballgowns and coattails, the lilting laughter and flirty chatter tuned out, an imprinted mark left on his face as he starts at a tap on his shoulder.

“Won’t you dance?”

Your voice is sweet and quizzical, and he shakes his head timidly, an expression you had used to mistake for solemness, and you sigh.

“Why not? It’s fairly easy.”

“I don’t dance.”

It’s a blatant lie, and Minghao knows you see through it, his guilty eyes flicking away from your gaze hurriedly as he utters it. As you hold your hand out knowingly, Minghao grudgingly takes it, letting himself be pulled onto the floor where other pairs flocked like seagulls.

Faint crescents of colour are under his neatly trimmed nails, calloused palms a contrast to the gentle grip of his hands.

Minghao hopes you don’t notice the way they shake slightly.

The music starts, and he stumbles in the sudden rapidity of the orchestra, and you bite the inside of your cheek to stifle your giggles, which he notices with narrowed eyes. It’s almost forgotten as you’re immersed within the dance, reminding Minghao of the sea, of home, and the thrumming of his heart.

“You said you didn’t dance.” You accuse breathlessly as the music fades and you’re both upon the sidelines once more, and Minghao blinks.

“You said it would be easy.” He retorts, and you grin cheekily.

“Forgive me, I suspected you weren’t entirely speaking the truth. Especially considering Jun told me a bit about your skills upon mentioning the ball to him in his last correspondence.”

“Of course.” Minghao purses his lips, hiding a smile as he tugs at his collar, fanning himself lightly.

“Do you want to go for a walk?” You’re already making your way to the exit, and Minghao finds himself following subconsciously.

“Now?” He blinks, and you nod.

“No one will notice, if only for a few moments to cool down. It does get fairly stuffy at events such as these.”

As if sensing his hesitancy with his darting glances around the ballroom, you grab his arm, a glowing flush on your features as you tug him along. He excuses his own blush creeping up his neck upon the crowd, dispelled sharply when you both meet the crisp night air.

“I didn’t take you for a worrier, Xu Minghao.” You grin as you prop yourself up easily on the short garden wall, implying to Minghao that you’ve done this before.

“I didn’t know your highness was such a rebelliously improper figure.”

He hops up next to you with a smile as you laugh, trickling off to a content sigh that puffs out wispily, hanging in the air before dissipating. Legs are kicked lightly, childishly, heels thumping against the wall, filling the comfortable silence.

“We should go inside, your highness.” Minghao notices with a murmur, but he makes no move himself, entranced with the way the pale moonlight filters itself across your upturned features. His fingers itch for his paints, to resolve the artistic ache within his chest at this scene, but instead he resorts to memorizing every little detail in breathlessness. “You’re shivering.”

“Just a little longer.”

He’s in no position to argue, but his fingers twitch at the hem of his coat, battling with whether it is appropriate to shrug it off and drape it upon your shoulders, but before he can make the decision, you turn with a satisfied smile upon your lips.

“Shall we have another dance?”

Minghao convinces himself it’s the bubbling champagne that tells him to agree, and for once since arriving, he feels his heart’s solid rhythm.

When you don’t make an appearance within the gardens for the first day since the ball, Minghao tells himself he isn’t fazed. He blames the frustration of his art upon the fact that he’s not entirely used to sketching, crumpled parchment littering the grass.

Yet as the second and third day toiled by, the wilting pink camellias in the heat are all that Minghao can depict, and he takes it as a sign, gathering up some supplies hastily in a coarse bag before roaming the palace.

He has to ask for directions in some areas, but eventually reaches where he wants to be.

You don’t hear the argued exclamations outside your chambers, but when your door cracks open, you struggle from under your bundle of blankets to sit up.

“I thought you would be bored and brought you some things to do.”

“How did you get inside? I thought I told Chan to not let anyone in.” You frown hoarsely, and Minghao grins.

“I convinced him to let me have five minutes.”

“The poor boy.” You laugh, trickling into a fit of coughs, and Minghao rushes awkwardly to the water pitcher at your bedside table, but you wave him off, pouring it yourself.

“What did you bring?” You inquire curiously as you sip your water, straining your neck to watch him slip out brushes, thick parchment, a palette with circles of varying colours, along with a few books.

“I hope this is alright.” He places them all on your mattress in methodicalness, and you immediately examine them all.

“Thank you.”

He opens his mouth to utter something, but the door bursts open with Chan in tow, and he leaves you with a dry grin and a slight bow.

The watercolour blooms through the paper with every touch of the thin bristles across your page as you amuse yourself, and that morning, Minghao finds solace in the freshly bloomed tulips that were speckled with dew-like tears.

The corridor your room lies within seems to draw Minghao towards it, even when his desired destination is far from the route.

This caused Minghao to form a friendly relationship with your personal guard, Chan, who often updated him upon your status during your sickness.

“Could you take my place for a few moments while I run to the kitchens?” Chan pleads the second Minghao appears one morning. “Soonyoung told me that Mingyu baked, and I’m sure the princess wouldn’t mind if it was you.”

Minghao doesn’t have the time to confirm or deny the young guard before he rushes off eagerly, and while he’d normally be annoyed, he’d been meaning to ask you a question anyways.

“Your highness?” Minghao tiptoes tentatively after his knock on the door receives no answer, and ventures further in.

He’s honestly not entirely sure what occurred, perhaps he bumped his head on his stumbling out of your chambers, but his cheeks are hot as he leans against the door to catch his breath, bidding the glances at your bare skin away.

“What’s wrong?” Chan has crumbs speckling his chin as he tilts his head at Minghao, curiously innocent, with a pastry in his hand as he returns to his post.

“Nothing. Don’t worry about it.”

Your door cracks open with you fully clothed much to his relief, saving Minghao from Chan’s oncoming suspicious questioning as you beckon to him.

“Would you like to come in?”

You both settle down on the small sofa by your window, and Minghao shuffles awkwardly.

“Chan told me you were feeling better.”

“I am.” You smile, propping your chin on the heel of your palms as silence ensues for a beat. “I suppose I have to thank Chan for his responsibility in our wedding now.”

“What?” Minghao sputters, a few seconds too late to the processing of your words.

“Didn’t you know?” Minghao’s stomach roils. “If anyone other than family sees a royal indecently it’s considered taboo if they’re not immediately married.”

He catches the twitch of your lips after surveying your expression carefully for a few moments, and groans, posture sagging.

“That’s not funny.”

“Oh, but it is.” You insist with a boisterous laugh, and he can’t help but grin at the sound. When you calm down, swiping giddy tears away from your eyes, you tilt your head at him.

“Did you only want to find me because I was feeling better?”

“I actually wanted to ask you something.”

Your inquisitive gaze encourages him to continue, and he picks at the end of his thumb nail timidly.

“May I paint you again?”

He refuses to let you see the progress of the portrait.

It’s a breezy afternoon when you give up your pestering, Minghao warning that he’d leave it unfinished. While you know he never would, you silence your curiosity temporarily, biting your tongue as Minghao smirks.

“The wind keeps moving your hair.” He huffs, partly to himself. “May I?” Minghao gestures lightly towards your hair with a questioning raise of his eyebrows and you nod your consent.

You try not to shiver as he brushes aimless strands back into their place, adjusting your shoulders and angle of your chin with feather light touches. It’s no use, at least for your hair, the wind deviating it constantly.

“Perhaps we should continue another day, when the weather is more forgiving.” He muses, pads of his fingertips lightly twirling stray strands once more before falling to his side before returning to pack up his easel.

Your voice seems to be caught in his pigment streaked palms, but when he smiles at you boyishly, you know he understands.

Neither of you show it until the painting is finished, and Minghao thinks there’s something beautiful about the way it ties you both together.

“Your highness, your mother requests your presence in the study hall.”

“Thank you Seokmin.” You smile at the messenger, who beams back as you attempt to not shift. “We’re almost finished, I’ll be there shortly.”

He scurries off, peeking at the painting with wide eyes, and your mind races at the imaginings of the completed piece.

“Would you like to see?” Minghao finally sets down his brush, glancing at you as he runs a hand through his hair amusedly, stepping back. Eagerly, you amble up to Minghao’s side, shoulder brushing against his as you peer at the canvas with wide eyes.

“It’s beautiful.”

“My place here is to simply paint what I see.” Minghao distracts himself from your gaze, bending down to pick up a fallen flower at his feet. When he rises, his eyes finally meet yours, and neither of you can help leaning forwards.

The kiss is delicate and sweet, lips like crushing silk petals against yours, as sweet as nectar, intoxicating your senses and making your head spin.

“I have to leave.” You murmur, pulling away reluctantly.

His smile is devastating, you think, gentle and adoring, his thumb brushing against your jaw; you know in that moment that you’ve lost a part of yourself to him, given as freely as the soft breeze in the arching branches above, holding you both in a secret lover’s haven.

“Go.” He nods, and a part of you wishes he’d told you the opposite, but you both know the impossibility of asking that. As if he can sense your hesitancy, his fingers fall, moving to clasp your hands lightly. “I’ll still be here when you’re finished.”

“You swear it?”

This draws out a chuckle, and while you realize it’s a foolish inquiry, when he tucks the gardenia bloom behind your ear affectionately, you want to hide there with him until the tides stopped and the sun’s flames flickered out of existence; until the impossible became a common ideal.

“I swear.”

You rush off after hearing his promise, resisting the urge to kiss him again, knowing you’d be held later if you were any more tardy to your lessons, out of breath by the time you reach the hall.

“You’ve got a smudge on your face.” Your mother huffs, reaching out to swipe at it with her thumb, but you dodge it, glancing in the mirror, gently touching the streaks of colour with a fond smile, as if you were touching the fingertips that left them.

Your heart seems to thrum freely out of your chest around Minghao.

Whether it’s the sound of his soft laughter, the focused expression he adorns as he immerses himself within his art, or the fact that thinking about, speaking to, or kissing him seems to make you late for almost everything.

“Is there a fire?”

The corner of Minghao’s lips quirks up amusedly as you stumble backwards from colliding with him in the corridor, adjusting your skirt hurriedly as he steadies you with firm hands.

“Minghao.” You drop a quick curtsy, and he bows in return, albeit confused as you brush past him, borderline running down the plush carpet.

“Should I be running too?” He shouts after you, ignoring the stares he gained in the corridor.

“I’m just late for my lessons!” You call out with a laugh, turning back, and Minghao giggles as you bump into Seungkwan, who almost topples over, causing more apologetic fussing from you.

He darts after you after a pause of thinking, and it’s not difficult for him to catch up, the surprise on your expression a contrast to his gleeful one as he grabs your hand, making you halt, tugging you close.

“Minghao, someone could see-”

He pays no attention to your paranoia, knowing as well as you did that the study hall was kept empty for the sake of your focus, cupping your face warmly as he met your lips breathlessly.

“I’ll see you after?”

You believe sometimes that you have him pieced together, until he shakes the puzzle board with a cheeky grin.

Minghao doesn’t remember the throne room being this intimidating. The thrones seemed to tower over his head, banners and artworks of historical wars and ancestors adorning the walls, all scrutinizing him.

He feels small, a scurrying insect to be crushed under the heavy boot of societal status. You’d both known that the time to reveal your relationship to your parents was better to come sooner than later and from your own mouths, but in the situation itself, Minghao feels uneasy.

“You know of his nature in his time here.” You argue persistently, and your parents are silent, the epitome of stoic rulers, and Minghao is almost afraid. “He is kind, and has treated me with nothing but respect and love-”

“What will the people say when it's revealed you’ve chosen a foreign commoner to be your husband?” Your father interjects, and this only stokes the passionate fire in your eyes, while simultaneously making Minghao flinch at the searing heat in the words.

“HIs talents will take him far. He won’t be just a commoner soon enough. I know you know this-”

He clambers to his feet suddenly, startling everyone, who seemed to have forgotten his presence despite him being the topic of discussion.

“Pardon my interruption.” He bows stiffly. “But if I may offer a suggestion?”

Minghao takes the silence as agreement, and barrels on hurriedly.

“I would like to request leave from my work here, to travel amongst kingdoms with my art. I’ll return a known man, and I’ll be worthy of your daughter’s hand, if you’ll have me.”

“That could take years.” Your mother blinks, and Minghao’s reply is quiet.

“Yes.”

“You expect us to wait for something that might not even happen?” Your father raises an eyebrow.

“Father-” you stand abruptly next to him, and Minghao grips your hand. You silence, looking at him incredulously.

“May I ask how long you would be willing to wait?”

Your mother murmurs something to your father, who contemplates before answering, and the words overturn the trickling hourglass of your fates.

“Two summers from now.”

You don’t speak to him until the next day, when he leaves.

He doesn’t hold any grudge against your actions, but as the dawning sun peeks over the horizon, the reins of his mare tightly gripped in his hands, the tightness in his throat is only relieved by your appearance in the wispy dewed morning.

“I’m sorry.” You breathe as you approach him, and something inside him aches at the melancholy in your eyes as he tucks a strand of hair behind your ear.

“What for?” He whispers softly, thumb stroking your cheekbone tenderly.

“I wanted to see you before this. But I couldn’t. And now we only have a few spare minutes.”

“We’ll have all the time in the world when I return.” He murmurs, and you know he means it, yet the sincerity in his eyes couldn’t ever explain the way he would move the hands of time himself and mould the world to your own desires if you simply asked.

“My heart has belonged to you since that day you convinced me to stay.” You confess quietly, and Minghao listens intently. “Call me foolish for it’s easily swayed nature, I know I have, but it’s true.” Your voice doesn’t waver, it’s firm, and you’re staring at him with intensity, but he can see the fragility of your words. “I only ask that you be gentle with it.”

His hands fit loosely with yours, cupping them in his palms gently as he kneels, bringing them to his lips, bowing his head slightly, resembling the swaying bluebells at his back.

“I wouldn’t tend to it in any other manner.”

Jun returns soon after Minghao leaves, when the leaves tint with orange and scarlet, and your fingertips are always cold no matter how deep you delve them into your sleeves.

“I crossed paths briefly with Minghao on my way back.” He muses, hands cupping a steaming mug as he kicks lightly at the littered leaves on the ground.

“How is he?”

“Good.” Jun smiles reassuringly at your troubled gaze. “He’s working hard.”

“He hasn’t written to me lately.” You sigh, tracing the rim of your cup lightly, the scent of cinnamon apple wafting up from the ceramic. “And I don’t wish to bother him with my own letters.”

“He just doesn’t want you to worry.” His voice trails off quietly, almost commenting to himself. “I think he knows the most out of us that this is not all guaranteed.”

The icy wind nips at you, settling in your bones, and you both decide to go inside silently.

All to keep you company when springtide returned was creased parchment, each having worn edges from the amount of times you’d reread them, fingertips tracing the flowing ink.

Jun had departed once more in the winter, and while Minghao sent letters whenever he could, he divulged no time to when he would return.

It’s not until the weather warms, and the sunsets are softer, that you get your answer.

“Lord Jun has arrived. And he’s brought Xu Minghao.” Seokmin breathes, bursting into the study room and it’s not missed how you go rigid, fingers twitching to push back your chair before pausing.

“Go.” Your mother waves her hand amusedly, and you scramble from the table, maneuvering your skirt impatiently in bunched fists, striding steps racing towards Jun’s quarters.

“He made his way to the garden.” Jun smirks, and you think it’s entirely typical for Minghao to make you run around like this as you catch your breath in the doorway.

“How was your trip?” You breathe in an attempt to fill the silence politely as Jun unpacks his belongings.

“Do you care?”

It’s an amused jest, but well aimed, and you snort truthfully.

“At the particular moment, no, but-”

“Go.” Jun cuts in, laughing. “You’ve waited long enough.”

The words don’t fail to bring a giddy beam upon your features as you heed his words, and Jun thinks he’s never seen you this illuminated, with a fond heart.

You find Minghao by the white rosebuds, and you can’t help stop and admire the way his upturned features glow under the pale blue sky, as if he never left, a heavenly image.

“Xu Minghao.”

He looks at you, eyes fluttering open, and he tries to hide back a smile, pursing his lips as you step towards him.

His touch is as gentle as you remember, kisses as warm and honeyed, and you almost weep when his thumb runs along your cheekbone tenderly.

“I have something to show you.” He brightens, one hand drifting to the covered canvas at his shoes, the other gripping your own gently.

“I went back to the sea before I came back to you.” Minghao explains, carefully undraping the sheet, and you can only gaze at the revealed painting with wide eyes. It was you, sitting amidst the lapping waves that only seemed to get more turbulent as they strayed farther from your grasp, as if you were ruler of the seas. “I remember before I came here, the sea was the only thing that gave me comfort away from my home. But when I went back, I couldn’t stop thinking about you, with me there, the hard work that I endured to get here to you, and the sea suddenly was cold and unfamiliar.”

“I love you.” He professes simply after a heartbeat, and he shushes you fondly when you sniffle, and all you can do is thump his chest lightly with your fist. He laughs aloud, as you say it back, once, twice, bright and beautiful, and you join him, swaying in one another’s embrace, with all the time the universe could offer.

♖ tags: @writeiolite

#seventeen imagines #seventeen x reader #minghao x reader #minghao imagines #xu minghao x reader #xu minghao imagines #the8 imagines #the8 x reader #myungho imagines #svt imagines #svt x reader #I HOPE IM NOT MISSING PARTS THATD BE SO EMBARRASSING WHJSBDJFSH

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aatasoundtrack · 3 years

Text

fuck it! chase makes a post on here

im making a post with drawing memes or whatever for lacey @bigord bcs this might be easier to navigate and find what you’re searching for... also i’m bored as fuck lol.. i will update this at some point too hopefully.. let me know if any links break

sorry if there are anything that is linked twice im kinda stupid so <3

im not rlly paying attention to op when im making this so sorry if some of these ppl suck

POSES

with arms

HELP??? go batshit i guess

some poses from something called “how to manga”

poses from jojo

some random poses

couple poses:

kisses (k*sses)

a polyam (three ppl) one which i havent seen before!

this one is so cute holy shit

hurt/comfort

some cute couple stuff

some SMOOCHES

these ones

expressions:

blushing expressions

“contempt” expressions

strange feelings

fear expression which is.. very funny to me for some reason

love expressions!

an expression meme based on some drawn emojis going around (their emoji tag)

heres another one that im not sure how to describe

another one

another one...

tired/grumpy expression meme

love and uh.... Yeah expression meme (why is there drool??)

another pretty basic one

another basic one but may be evil? you decide

another pretty basic one but i think its cute so

“sillier” expression meme

INSANE expression meme grr bark bark

animal crossing emotes :)

another animal crossing one

another basic one but apparently this person kins dr doofenshmirtz from p&f

when you’re just fucking Done

emotions <3

a... variety?

one with some mashed/mixed up emojis

kind of basic but with different levels of emotion or whatever

another one

another one? maybe less basic though

and another one

grumpy expressions

i guess a basic one but i havent seen one drawn in this art style before i dont think

this one is interesting to me

snipperclips expressions

a classic lovey dovey one

uh more basic

this one is kinda interesting

i’m not sure if i’ve seen one... like this before

kind of horrifying tbh

this is... something of sorts

this one is based on german emotions

OUTFITS

Send a fruit and a character to see them in that outfit!

holy shit these outfits are kinda cool

more outfits by same person as above (”twee/cuddlecore type of fashion, so theres a lot of sweaters n button-ups”

and again

this one is clown themed

these ones are cool!

cuteee

this one has real shirts + are “complicated designs”

more real pictures

hat meme!!

crop tops

some misc outfits

real pictures of shirts again

real pictures and theres one section thats kind of space themed which is cool!

holiday outfits

real pictures again

WEBKINZ OUTFIT ART MEME!!

misc outfits with a lot of dresses

pajamas!

this one is interesting (im assuming you can use it for more then ocs)

some costume ones i think

some more irl outfits... pinterest ftw?

GALAXY STUFF

c2 on this one is making me lose my mind

emo??????

what do i call this one but its so fuckign funny to me

purple outfits

gucci outfits (i have a beanie baby named goochy)

misc one

pastel outfits

“ugliest clothes” which is their words but i also agree with

one with accessories!

“diverse” outfits

some costumes!

another misc one i think

heres one! it has credit to the outfits linked too if thats your thing

tops, pants and shoes, and accessories

some interesting outfits here

another misc one i wish i could describe these better

and ANOTHER one

aesthetic outfits

emojis outfits?

i think these outfits are scenecore or something

losing it over b4??

another basic one

some more misc

suit up! (has suits)

some even more misc

emoji outfits!

heres a misc one with VERY little notes

and another basic one

“winter” themed outfits

bathing suits

nothing special abt this one i guess but the death metal tee is funny to me

this one includes matching outfits

dresses...

this ones kinda fancy

“male” clothing... live your manly dreams

medieval outfits

fall outfits

matching outfits for couples

interesting format i guess

not sure where to put this one but.. hair clips!

shorts

more basic stuff

even more misc

this one is fairly random

some of these are cute

these ones are pretty cute

so many of these ask memes are so similar i dont know how to describe them

this one is... something

i think you have to choose your own colors for this one

this ones pretty good

more basic stuff

i dont know what this is

outfits from just dance!

please look at this one i need to know my brain isnt making it up

MISC

send an emoji for a theme (includes outfits and such)

draw an outfit for a character based on a neopets brush

3 in 1 art meme (includes palette/expression/emoji prompt)

draw an oc based on one of these!

colors + possible themes

PROMPTS for outfits

emoji drawing prompts

add horns to a character!

draw character as a monster!

emo/angsty emoji prompts

emo/angsty emoji prompts... two!

another emoji prompt thing with a lot of options

palettes

succulent themed palettes

“emotional” palettes (also includes emotions)

ice cream palettes

heres a misc one

you’ve been rickrolled i guess.. what year is it again

another basic one

chilly color palettes

another misc one

another basic one that im not sure how to describe

“not-quite palettes”

another basic one

halloween palettes

palettes based on the icons of people the maker of this had blocked on tumblr

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iconsumeheadcanons · 3 years

Note

hello, for the WIP game.... "fanfic in my google docs? its more likely than you :/" and "theater food" :)

bro...bro..BRO you are getting large chucks of these bc im not sure if these will be finished/posted anytime soon..<3 ive gotten a lot of love today thank u so muchhh asldkfjaslkdfj i hope u enjoy!! here is all of ‘theater food’ and half of the first one

fanfic in my google docs? its more likely than you think :/

May 30th - 16:33 - Afterschool

Ren was still in the middle of hastily reading Futaba’s texts from hours ago when he opened the door to his family home and found his mother pacing in the genkan.

“...Mom, wha-?”

“I got a call from your school,” she says instead of hello. Ren freezes. Mona shifts in his bag. There’s silence for a second too long, but his mother quickly catches his tense posture and readjusts her approach. There haven’t been any arguments in a week and she doesn’t want to make this a new one.

“The counselor said you were fighting with a first-year,” she starts in a more inviting tone, but she tenses when she sees how quickly Ren’s cautious neutral face shifts into a frown.

“I-I just want to know what happened,” she says.

Ren releases an angry huff instead of turning around and leaving because he recognizes that his mother isn’t trying to jump to conclusions--that she trying to hear his side--but he still has hours worth of bad emotions at the forefront of his mind, so he kicks off his sneakers without undoing the laces and haphazardly drops them on the shoe rack before he allows himself to say anything.

Of course, because he is an angry idiot, his first response is: “There was no fight. It was just an argument,” and he snaps his mouth closed because that is exactly what a delinquent guilty of starting a fight would say and Makoto would be so disappointed in him right now. Morgana delivers her phantom message with a disapproving really, Joker?

His mother guiltily shifts her hands, one eyebrow twitching at Morgana’s muffled meow.

“I just used the words of the counselor,” she amends, gesturing for Ren to enter the family room.

When they enter, she sits at one side of the rickety couch and pats the other seat. She smiles with some invitation, a dash of hesitance, and a sprinkle of uncertainty as if she has no clue how to speak to her teenage son. She looks at him sort of like he’s a child, but at least she doesn’t seem afraid of him like she was before Golden Week.

Ren joins her at the couch, releases Morgana on to the space between them so he doesn’t have to think about the distance, and conjures up how he can best explain the events of the morning in the least incriminating way (shouldn’t have to, he thinks, didn’t do nothing wrong in the first place) but his mother recognizes his thinking face before he can start.

“W-whatever you say, I’ll believe you, sweetie,” she encourages honestly. He can tell she means it because she tucks her hands in between her knees and tilts her legs in the picture perfect display of humble motherliness to hide how her legs would bounce otherwise. He turns to face her a bit, legs spread out and back slouched in a show of teenage indifference, despite his nervous right leg and the rhythmic flickers of light that bounce off of his phone case as he deftly spins his smartphone in his left hand.

“You mean that?” he can’t help but ask, belying his blase posture.

His mother nods with lips pursed, proving to her son that she has no intention of speaking over him. Emboldened yet reluctant, Ren begins the recount of his day at school.

theater food

Ren slides into his seat while Hamuko and Ryuji chatter away about beef bowl places. Their enthusiastic discussion about cheap, fast, good food is not helping Ren’s patience or hunger. Usually Ren’s been in charge of the food prep because he’s the only one who knows how to make something all of the Thieves plus Hamuko will eat, but when they left Kamoshitty City today, Theodore pleasantly requested if he could make a recipe he’s been working on, which Hamuko had endorsed immediately.

Ren agreed because Theodore is really hot and the thought of him buzzing around the kitchen is appealing enough, but around 40 minutes later, Ren is very hungry and is cursing his inability to disagree with tall hot people. To distract himself, he tries to brainstorm ways to free Haru and Makoto from Kamoshit-man’s unproportionately buff grasp, but his brain keeps snapping back to his teammates’ loud discussions and Theodore in a heart apron and himself in a cute pinafore sharing a festival smoothie--the romantic ones with the heart shaped straw--under the setting sun. He doesn’t even like smoothies.

From the other corner of the weird theater lunch tables Futaba sends him a blank look that implies that she can hear his raging gay thoughts. Ren sticks his tongue out at her, and to Futaba’s left, Nagi raises a thin eyebrow and points at herself as though she thought he was talking to her. Embarrassed but never one to lose, Ren sticks out his tongue again at her paired with a flirtatious wink. At the head of the table beside Ren, Akechi makes a face. Futaba gags. Unaffected, Nagi returns her attention to Yusuke’s analysis of Hamuko’s preferred color palette for her hypothetical thief costume.

Ren’s phone buzzes in his pocket, and he fishes it out, wondering how someone managed to text him while he’s in a magical dimension theater metaphor place. He quickly gives up that train thought when he sees Futaba’s SNS username. A quick glance up shows that she’s pointedly staring at her phone, so he swipes open the message.

wat did theo say he was making?

i hungr

idk

worried u wont like it?

duh

if hes anything like those tsuntsun twins he’ll probably poison it

...i didnt think of that

prolly not though. i mean hamuko trusts him

ur only saying that cuz hes a pretty boy

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

for real though he wouldnt

The twins would without a doupt

*akechi voice* haha it was merely a jest!

DSKLFASLDKFSD STOP HES RIGHT

HES RIHGT NEXT TO ME ASSHOEL

“Food’s ready!” Theodore announces over Ren and Futaba’s unsubtle snickers. Somehow, Theodore has acquired two shining serving platters.

“Theo, you’re the best!” Hamuko says, standing up immediately to help him serve because she (and Haru) is the sweetest person in the universe.

“Thanks,” Ren tacks on because he’s ‘in charge’ and he’s supposed to ‘set good examples’. He does not, however, stand up to help because he is lazy.

The rest of the group is already chorusing thank yous and crowding around the food like hungry animals. Makoto is not around to tell them that they’re acting like children. Akechi is patiently waiting for everyone to get out of the way before he serves himself, which is probably a smarter idea than Ren who’s walking around the table so he can insert himself between Ann and Ryuji, the most destructive eaters of their current group. Yusuke, another main offender however justified, already has a bowl full of what appears to be noodles, veggies, and chicken covered in a savory sauce.

#my writing #p5 #p3 #pq #the firsts a lil wordy but i like details so ykno #idk how to make text others colors on desktop but ren is italized text

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dreamteamsideblog · 3 years

Text

CAN SOMEONE PLS HELP ME OMG

Theres a dream smp animation im thinking of and i thought i added it to a playlist but i CANT FIND IT im losing my mind. Its tommy and wilbur in the exile arc, theyre at logsteadshire, sitting in front of the tent by a campfire, and theyre talking about something. I’m pretty sure the palette is like a dark navy? I cant remember if it was music or dialogue. All i remember is that the lineart was really good and the fire was animated i think, I cant find it if anyone knows what its called or can link me PLEASE i will owe you my life.

#if it got privated i will be so sad omg #tommyinnit #wilbur soot #dream smp

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greenhatsinthesky · 4 years

Text

lockdown film no. 22 - Submarine (2010) dir. Richard Ayoade

14/04/2020

- the only things Id seen Oliver and Jordana in prior to this were the story of tracy beaker and the Sarah Jane adventures and ballet shoes respectively so this was quite a change of pace

- normally I find voiceovers really cringey but this one is just so absurd and leads us so far into Olivers psyche that it was pretty fascinating. My problem with voiceovers generally is that they’re normally used as the laziest possible way to spoon feed exposition to the audience instead of finding interesting ways to tell us stuff, but that doesn’t happen here that much, and even when we are just being told facts, its done in a way that reflects on Olivers character so its entirely worthwhile given that the whole thing is basically a character study

- i really enjoyed the way that he observed people and how the cinematography allowed us to experience stuff with him, like in the scene where he’s talking about Jordana’s flaws and we see a tiny bit of her eczema on her neck as he’s looking at her

- the way that he was talking about team building and character development and challenging the bourgeoisie over a scene where he and some other kids are tormenting another kid is just something else

- “i don’t know them yet, but they seem like terrible human beings”

- “i wish life could be like American soap operas. then, when everything’s got dramatic, you could just fade the picture down and pick things up again later.” *picture fades to black, we pick things up at a later scene*

- GENIUS

- his internal monologue is class and how it fits with what we see on screen Im amazed

- its kind of comical how desperate he is to find out what kind of person he is - the bit where he talks about how he had a hat phase and listened exclusively to French crooners isn’t necessarily relatable on that level but the essence of it is, they just exaggerate it slightly for comedic purposes but somehow don’t lose the feeling of the thing

- “my body is being replaced by a shell. my internal organs are made of stone. ive been dead for years” “right”

- is this what’s its like to be an only child

- my gOD his parents were awkward

- one of the first montages was incredible - it had a love song playing and Oliver and jordana were doing stuff that was romantic to them but absolutely not in a conventional way: she was holding lit matches up to his leg hair to burn it, they were sat in a shitty bath tub by a railway track, they were putting lit sparklers in a little paper boat, looking at each other through those weird kaleidoscope things etc, but it was filmed in such a genuinely loving and poetic way that even though they were doing some really weird stuff it felt really cute and that they just liked being around each other and looking at each other in new ways and I really liked that

- “the super 8 footage of memory” is possibly my favourite concept to ever exist (that section made me wish I was in love)

- the fucking balloons ??? Yes sir that is how you seduce a lady put red balloons in the room you hope to woo her in

- “thanks for living up a fucking hill.”

- sorry but jordana’s lil nose scrunch after Oliver kisses her on the cheek after they didn’t have sex for the first time was just precious

- THE ULTRASOUND SEQUENCE FUUUUUCK

- the drawing of Olivers mum that she found in the drawer looked oddly like idina menzel

- there was a bit which made me very interested in the indifference that people show towards their partners when they ask them stuff that they’d change about them. I think there was a woman on tv and the mum was like o husband of mine what do you think of my hair and the husband was like well I think its nice regardless of length and as long as you like it I don’t mind and she was like so you wouldn’t care if I shaved my head and he was like no as long as you’re happy and this really pissed her off for some reason because it seemed like he didn’t care. But like if he said you cannot have your hair like this or I swear to fuck I will throw some serious hands then that’d be pretty dire so I don’t know what the vibe is with this

- the transition from the hospital to suddenly he was on a bridge was really cool like he put on a hat and he was just there

- ANSWER THE DAMN PHONE YOU DUMBASS

- the whole thing was very red and I liked that. Im sure there’s some deeper meaning to the colour palette but I haven’t got there yet

- i am in love with the bed in the sea. In. Love.

- he jumps in a pool then emerges out of a bathtub, fully clothed, only to be held down by himself

- the last scene is shot beautifully, the sky is gorgeous and I loved how they started off with really snappy banter dialogue and then it just petered out to him copying her and them smiling at each other

- piledriver waltz is a tune

- there’s someone is the cast credited as “woman who looks nothing like jordana” and those people are my favourite

#submarine #richard ayoade #joe dunthorne #craig roberts #yasmin paige #noah taylor #paddy considine #sally hawkins #erik wilson #alex turner #warp films #film4 #uk cinema #lockdown film no. 22 #lockdown films #rob out

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matoitech · 4 years

Note

is there anything about the character designs you would make? like changes to their outfits build etc? (not including aina's whole outfit i think most of us wanna change it)

ohh good question.. i don’t think or know a whole lot abt character design (tho i’d love to see other ppl who r smarter abt it talk abt it 👀) but hmm.. lets think abt this.. im prob gonna miss some things ive thought of in the past buut heres a few

id change varys and vulcans designs for obvious reasons. esp vulcan god. i guess i get what they were going for w varys trying to go w ‘american cartoon’ style thats a common character design but that doesnt make it NOT racist, esp when both main Black chars look similar like that.

i’d decide on like heights and builds to Stick With and draw them looking the same way mostly lol. galo as relatively muscular like hes drawn in official art but like 5′8 maybe (thats what he is in my head) compared to lios canon 5′2 (short kings need rep <3). and aina is taller than galo in my head at like 5′10 to 6 ft smth so i think thats a good idea :) the women r typically drawn w less extreme shoulder to waist ratios than galo and lio which i find funny and kinda transgender so id keep that in lol

and give them organs. like i know its stylization but can we get some fat on these people

top surgery scars for galo (and lio if u wanna have some explanation for how he got top surgery on the run lmao? fire surgery? or he just has tiddies) bc theyre a rly obvious easy way to make a character trans. just like, stuff like that for various characters whatever way the gender transes. if /i/ was making promare anyway. if trigger was then i dont trust like that beyond post op scars tho

i think some of the outfits aren’t rly cohesive but that’s kinda part of the charm. especially for lucias since she looks like she stole from a hot topic which fits her character. id give her baggy pants though, like, if u keep her running around in a sports bra at work, big baggy pants would b a fun contrast, like winry fma style. also why is she wearing goggles and a gas mask. im like, okay with it, you do you lucia, im just confused <3

yes galo runs around half naked but its not treated the same way aina is treated w her outfit so yeah like. outfit changes w that. if the women all wear like crop tops then so should the men. equality.

actually thats a good idea. consider galo and lios shirts (lios under the jacket) but theyre like crop tops. genius. maybe if men showed a little more skin (i say as galo dresses like That)

but yeah can we like talk about how ainas outfit makes no practical sense. neither does galos but again, difference in treatment. i like her leather jacket though!

galo would have a prosthetic arm instead of a sleeve just cuz it would b better imo <3 also other ppl have mentioned this but he would prob realistically lose his arm after getting shot w the ice gun on it

if galo has a prosthetic arm i dont mind kray having one too honestly since both the hero and villain do, BUT i still think making kray b a disabled villain was shitty so

heris and remi have kind of boring basic designs to me but since i think thats like.. intentional maybe? its like. Fine. neither of them deserve cool designs.

there was one version of lios design where he had an off the shoulder shirt and a corset and im not like saying he should wear that bc it isnt rly practical but at the same time. what a look

honestly idk i mostly like the character designs beyond just some things to change up a bit! i like what they did with like the mix of anime and the american cartoon palettes they were going for. theres probably some things im forgetting, but just in general i dont RLY want to change anything, bc i think the designs of galo and lio in particular are pretty good and they look good together. one time i saw someone say they were gonna redesign galo to make him look not boring and then he looked like an asshole and i was upset -_- he is perfect leave my man alone

#THANK YOU!#anon #fess replies #long post

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haro-whumps · 4 years

Text

Box Boy Meeting Mama

(CW: slavery, dehumanization, creepy + intimate whumper, implied noncon, videorecording, possessive behaviors)

Tag list: @thatsthewhump @whump-it @ashintheairlikesnow @fairybean101 @finder-of-rings @comfortforthepain @shameless-whumper @that-one-thespian @burtlederp @castielamigos-whump-side-blog @raigash @im-not-rare-im-rarr

Part 1

“Mama! Mama!” Ren called to the open front door, bouncing down the steps excitedly.

Their mother was a stunningly tall woman, with heavy brown hair that waved like a product model and a solid, masculine build. Her shoulders were broad, her wrists thick, and she had a jawline that could only be drawn using squares. Although her skin was free of wrinkle or blemish, she could never be described as youthful, her presence heavy and sharp in any room she entered. Her color palette was almost exclusively red, with some black and rare gold, and anytime someone told her that a woman of her size shouldn’t wear high heels, she bought herself a taller pair.

“Hello duckling,” she greeted with a bright smile, hugging her child, the only person in the world who would ever describe her as warm or loving.

“Soren!” they called over their shoulder, only half-stepping away from their mother, “Heel! Position 1!”

Soren had been told he’d be meeting Ren’s mama that morning, and had been dressed up for it, wearing what could only be called a toga and gold sandals that stretched up to his knees. He rushed to them and stood with his feet slightly parted, arms at his sides, spine straight.

“Oh there he is,” she said curiously, eyeing him over as though to judge if his presence lived up to the rumors. He stood close to Ren, nervous around the looming woman, with her sharp eyes and strong arms. Ren was his owner, so of course they could do whatever damage they wanted to him, but they knew that to a whumpee, their mama cut a much more intimidating figure. She could do as much damage with a closed fist as Ren might with a belt. Maybe more.

“You’re right, the short hair really isn’t suiting him,” she commented at length, lifting a lock of Soren’s hair, which now skimmed his shoulders. The products were doing their job. She tilted his chin and her eyes lingered on the birthmark. “But you are a cute little thing, aren’t you pet?”

“Thank you, um, m-ma’am?” he said hesitantly, body tense, and Ren giggled.

“Aw,” Ren’s mama said with a knowing click of her tongue. “Did you call my child ‘ma’am’ and get scolded for it?” she asked with a small chuckle shaking her impressive shoulders.

“Uh--um, well,” Soren stammered, which was too cute, so Ren took pity on him and kissed his pretty temple.

“He’s been perfect, lately; hasn’t messed up since, have you angel?”

“No, Exalted,” he said, obviously relieved that Ren had stepped in.

“Oh, Exalted!” Ren’s mama crooned, “I like that, that’s so classy!”

“Thanks!” Ren said cheerfully, beaming up at her. “The other option is ‘Honored One,’ which I think has a similar ring to it.”

“Good choices, good choices,” she agreed. “Well, off to Sunday brunch?”

“Mm!” Ren hummed. They gave Soren a quick kiss to his cheek, petting his hair in a smooth, swift gesture. “Behave yourself while I’m out, Soren. I’ll be back in a few hours.”

“Have, have fun,” Soren said, glancing between them and their mama, timid around her, but that was fine. If Soren wanted to see Ren as the only safe thing in all the world, that was a-okay by them.

They climbed into the passenger seat of their mama’s red luxury car, one of the smaller ones today, and arranged their skirts around their legs. Best part of skirts: Ren looked phenomenal in them and they showed off their calves. Worst part of skirts: maneuvering in them.

“He really is,” Mama murmured as she started the car with her thumbprint, “That’s your sweet little Soren.”

“I know!” Ren said with a laugh, “I can still hardly believe it sometimes!”

“Well, he seems healthy and whole, at least.”

“Mama! Of course he is!”

She snorted and pinched their cheek, eyes still on the road. “I didn’t say I ever thought you wouldn’t take care of him, dumpling. But you know how those whumpee-vendors can get, sometimes. Every couple of months, it seems like there’s some new scandal that everyone just needs to flood the news streams with.”

Ren sighed knowingly, very put upon. “It’s true. I mean, really, you’d think we’d be past the whole ‘Oh hey let’s lose our shit over this’ phase of whumpees, right? They knew the risks when they signed themselves over, and it’s not like they’re actually people anymore.”

Mama hummed. “Do we want to go for cheese and pasta or are we thinking seafood today?”

“I could go for somewhere with refried beans and pork, if you’re up for it,” Ren stated.

“Oo, fancy today.” Mama threw on her turn signal. “Guaca Maya’s always a safe bet.”

“So, did I not, express, to Soren, enough, that I loved him and liked taking care of him when we were younger? Like, why didn’t he come crawling back to me?”

“Duckling,” Mama crooned, like when they were acting just a little unreasonable about how life wasn’t fair.

“It’s been bothering me since I found him, Mama. I would have forgiven him! He had to have known that, right?”

“Honey, sometimes poor people just… behave in strange ways. They’re not rational.” She gave their thigh a sympathetic squeeze. “The more you try to make sense of them, the more frustrated you’ll get.”

Ren sighed and stroked their brow, probably messing up their eyebrows but ah, such was life. “I know, I know. It doesn’t matter, I have him now,” they said, flaring out their fingers.

“And so cute, too; he’s so nervous!”

Ren giggled. “Oh, oh! Once we get seated I’ll show you; remember how I told you I was buying all those cameras?”

“Oh, that’ll be nice,” she said, parking the car.

They were seated at one of the better tables, the waitress accidentally calling Mama “sir” before she noticed the mixup, and after they’d ordered their food Ren pulled out their phone and tapped through the application, searching for their boy.

“Ha, there he is,” Ren said, holding out the phone screen so Mama could look. “He really likes that balcony.”

“Good thing, too, his freckles are so pretty when they’re dense,” Mama commented, taking the phone in that way the previous generation had, instead of just looking while Ren held it. Soren was seated on a patio chair, plush but waterproof, and was dozing in the late morning sun.

“I’m glad I got him the two in one sunscreen and lotion,” Ren remarked, staring gleefully down at the screen, chin in their palm. Even though it would be fun to poke and prod at the burns, they thought privately. Such things were not meant to be shared with their mama; she would scold them for casual violence.

“You’re such a clever kid,” Mama said proudly, handing the phone back, “Always the most prepared out of all your peers, I don’t know where you got it from.”

“Statistically speaking, probably you,” Ren said, and they both laughed. Brunch went by pleasantly, the two of them catching up on the events of the week. Mama knew a good portion of Ren’s week, since they had kept on delightedly texting her throughout, but it was always fun to eat and chat. Mama enjoyed flaunting her wealth as much as Ren did, and tipped equal to the bill, then drove Ren home.

“Same time next week,” she said before they got out of the car, “But not the week after--”

“--because you’ll be overseas, so we’ll have to videochat,” Ren confirmed, leaning across the consol so she could kiss their cheek affectionately.

“You got it. Alright darling, have a good one.”

“Bye Mama!” Ren called brightly as they got out, and returned inside. Brunch with Mama always left them feeling pleased and calm, and knowing that they were returning to Soren left them positively bouncing, skirt flaring out around their knees. They went to the kitchen to put their leftovers in the fridge,

and their mood turned on a dime.

“What are you doing with those scissors!?” they bellowed, crossing the kitchen in an instant, catching him by the wrist so hard he dropped the blades, their nails pressing bleeding crescents into his skin.

“E-Exalted, I--”

“The fuck do you think you’re doing?!” they yelled, slamming that fragile arm into the pantry door, grabbing him by the front of his toga and lifting, furious, spots swarming their vision.

“Nothing! Please!”

“The hell does nothing need scissors for?” they shouted, their face so close to his that spit flew onto it. “Do you seriously think you can just--”

“Thread! There’s a loose thread!” Soren wailed, free hand desperately pressed against Ren’s chest. They stopped, breathing hard, rage still curling in them but paused, just for a moment. Soren hiccupped on his little sobs and shakily moved his hand to point at the strap of his toga. “T-*hic* There’s a l-loose thread, Honored One,” he said, lifting it so they could see. Thin, unnoticed when the clothing was delivered, hardly even visible without someone pointing it out. “I, I was snipping it. I would never hurt you, Exalted, Ren, please, I would never, I’m not a fighter, I wouldn’t hurt you, please,” his fingers curled in the front of their blouse, “please, never, never. I wouldn’t, Honored One, please believe me, I wouldn’t, I wouldn’t.”

Ren released his wrist, their fingers trailing down his skin and leaving bloody marks. They took a deep breath, and let it out, releasing his toga and lifting their hands to his face, cupping his cheeks. “Oh, baby,” they murmured, trying to calm their heartbeat. “Oh Soren,” they said, pressing up against him, his back flush against the pantry door, their face pressed into his hair. His gorgeous hair, that he wasn’t going to cut. He hadn’t even been thinking about it. His first concern was that Ren thought he would hurt them, use the scissors to fight; cutting his hair was so far from his mind it never crossed it.

They stood there, pressed up against his quietly crying body, for an indeterminate amount of time. They pulled back when they were calm enough, and silently took the thread between their fingers. They leaned down and bit it, snapping it easily, and then kissed Soren’s birthmark.

“Go ahead and clean up the mess you made,” Ren said, glancing at their leftovers, which were now spilled across the kitchen tile. “I’ll go get some disinfectant for your wrist.”

“Thank you,” he said, high and quiet and Ren felt okay enough to smile at him. They kissed his pretty lips, thumbing at the tear tracks, half-dried, and left the kitchen. But not without first grabbing the scissors, taking the blades with them.

#whump #slavery #dehumanization #creepy whumper #intimate whumper #possessive behavior #videotaping #videorecording #pet #slave #lost temper #bbu #box boy #ren #soren #mama #mine #writing

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isitgintimeyet · 4 years

Text

Road To The Aisles

AO3

Back to the usual weekend schedule... Thanks to you all for reading, liking, reblogging and commenting. It’s so encouraging to me. Im not sure exactly how many chapters this story will have but I think we’re about at the halfway point now. Hope you enjoy

Thanks to @mo-nighean-rouge @happytoobserve @wickedgoodbooks for all their support.

Chapter 11: An Ocular Advertisment

I have been meditating on the very great pleasure which a pair of fine eyes in the face of a pretty woman can bestow.

-Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

When Claire arrived, the hospital coffee shop was already full. Visitors patiently (and some impatiently) awaiting the official ward visiting times were queueing at the counter as the baristas hurriedly prepared lattes and paninis.

Claire sighed as she looked around. Frantic waving from Geillis at a tucked away table caught her eye. She returned the wave and pointed to the queue. Geillis pointed at the table and beckoned Claire over. Relieved, Claire made her way to Geillis, negotiating the tables, people and bags in her way.

"I got ye a ham sandwich and a black coffee. Oh, and a chocolate brownie. Keep yer energy levels up.”

Claire settled in a chair and gave her friend a grateful smile. “Thanks, G, you’re a lifesaver. Are you not eating?”

Geillis sipped her cup of tea. “Och, I canna eat. Ma belly’s like a washing machine. I’m having the talk wi’ Dougal tonight. I canna put it off any longer. And I’m that nervous.”

Claire gave Geillis’s hand a comforting pat. “You know what you need to say. Be honest with him, G.”

“Aye, I ken. I’ve thought it through so many times in ma head. I have tae tell him. I dinna want a bairn, at least no’ at this moment and I canna promise that I will ever want one. If he sticks wi’ me thinking I’ll change ma mind, he may be verra disappointed. So the choice is wi' him.”

Geillis's eyes filled with tears as she fumbled in her bag looking for a tissue. Claire passed her a paper napkin and she roughly wiped her eyes before take a couple of deep breaths to control herself.

"Look at me, greetin' like a bairn. Tell me something funny, Claire, tae take ma mind off it. What devilish scheme is Geneva cooking up? Has her mother threatened tae have Jamie's bollocks in a bap?"

“Well, no schemes as far as I know and Jamie’s testicles remain attached to the rest of him but…”

Claire assumed an elaborate pseudo model pose, her chin resting lightly on her fingers, lips in an exaggerated pout and her eyelashes fluttering.

“...I have been asked to do some modelling.”

"Modelling?" Geillis snorted. "Oh, I'm sorry Claire. I dinna mean tae be rude but I dinna think the catwalks of Milan would be yer cup of tea. Unless, ye havena been asked tae do some… er… nude modelling have ye?"

"Ew, no, of course not."

"I could totally see that."

Claire gave her friend a hard stare.

"What I mean is…" Geillis tried to explain. "Ye are gorgeous, ye ken. There's many a man… or woman… who'd pay good money tae see photos like that. Anyway if it's no' that, what is it?"

"Jamie has asked if they can use my photo in a marketing campaign in Japan. Well, not all of me, just my eyes, the rest of my face would be hidden by a glass of whisky or a bottle. He's discussed it with the board. Now just waiting for my decision."

Geillis looked closely at Claire's eyes. ��They are incredible, really like whisky. And I should ken, I've drunk enough. So, ye're going tae do it, are ye no'?"

“I’m not sure. Do you think I should? What if someone recognises me? And I usually look uncomfortable having my photo taken.”

“What if they do recognise ye? Besides, how many people do ye ken in Japan? Why not do it, Claire? Nothing to lose, except some inhibitions. Go fer it… and report back tae me.”

*************

Patient medical notes lay unopened on Claire’s desk awaiting her review. She sat quietly, thinking about what Geillis had said before reaching for her phone.

She quickly typed a message:

G, remember I’m here for you no matter what

And then a second:

Tell Ian and Jenny I’ll do it

She put her phone down and turned her attention to her patients.

*************

The photographer’s studio was in a converted Victorian warehouse. The interior was an urban architect’s dream -- all exposed brick and iron with clear glass walls partitioning the cavernous space.

The photographer and one of his assistants met the ‘whisky delegation’ (as Claire privately called them) of Jamie, Claire, Ian and Jenny in the foyer of the studio. Through the glass walls, Claire could see the bustle of assistants preparing for the shoot. Her stomach flipped over. She was sure Geneva would be perfectly at home in this environment, but to her it was totally alien.

Jamie glanced at Claire’s glass face and discreetly took her hand, lacing his fingers with hers and gently squeezing for reassurance. She felt herself relax a little bit. Jenny looked across and smiled at her. A bit more tension seeped away.

After an initial exchange of introductions, Ian explained. “We have tae have a quick meeting wi’ the agency, Claire, so mebbe they could start getting ye ready and then we can join ye soon enough.”

The photographer, Simon, explained. “Yes, so Debbie here will take you through and start with the makeup.”

Jamie gave Claire’s hand a final squeeze as she was led away into the main studio area.

As she sat and waited for the make up artist, Claire looked around, watching the activity in the studio. Everybody seemed to know exactly what to do… unlike her. She twisted her chair and stared into the large, brightly lit mirror in front of her. A totally unmodel like reflection greeted her. The instruction had been to wear no make up and have freshly washed hair. A typical day for her then. She peered more closely at her reflection. Was that a spot on her chin? She breathed a sigh. Eyes only for the photo was definitely a good decision, she thought to herself.

The image of Geneva crossed her mind again. She would, no doubt, have been sitting here, giving orders, chatting freely with the assistants, as if in her own living room. Claire tried to suppress a smile. How jealous would Geneva be if… or when... she found out about this? Claire decided that she would make sure she did… petty, yes… satisfying, definitely.

Through the mirror, Claire could see Jamie, Ian and Jenny in the glass-walled meeting room. She spun her chair around for a better look. Jamie had his back to her and had taken his jacket off. His white shirt was stretched tight across his back and shoulders accentuating his well defined muscles, his curls rested against his collar. Even after more than a year, the sight of him could still take her breath away. Would the wanting him ever stop…

“So, hi there. I’m Ceri and I’ll be doing your makeup today.”

Claire was abruptly pulled out of her reverie by a young woman brandishing an enormous toolbox, which she placed on a trolley next to her. Whirling the seat around to face the mirror, Ceri stared at the reflection before consulting a sheet of paper.

“Right, then. Let’s get started.” Claire closed her eyes and tried to relax as Ceri clipped her hair back and began to stroke various wipes, potions and creams across her face. She actually found it no problem to relax with the murmur of activity in the background and Ceri keeping up a monologue that required no input from Claire.

Suddenly Ceri’s monologue came to an abrupt halt. Claire opened her eyes to find Ceri staring across the studio. She swivelled a little to try, and failed, to see what had fixated the makeup artist.

“Fuck me,” Ceri started then immediately stopped and reddened slightly. “Sorry, didn’t mean to offend you with my language. But there’s a guy over there just my type… talking to Simon. Wow… tall… broad… bet he could throw a girl over his shoulder without even breaking into a sweat. The things I’d like to do to him.”

Claire smiled at Ceri’s reaction to this unknown man. She had her suspicions about his identity, but kept them to herself. She didn’t want to embarrass the poor girl and Ceri’s reactions were, after all, perfectly understandable. In fact they were exactly the same thoughts as she herself frequently had… fuck me… please...

“Wow,” Ceri repeated as she returned Claire’s chair to its original position and continued applying makeup. “Guys like him don’t come along very often. Hope he sticks around for a bit. I think I’d like to get to know him better.”

With just the odd exception when Ceri tidied up Claire’s eyebrows, making her wince as the tweezers pulled at tiny stray hairs, she easily found herself drifting back into a state of relaxation.

“Och no, I’m sorry, that willna do.”

Jenny’s disapproving tone made Claire quickly open her eyes.

With her hands on her hips, Jenny continued. “That makeup, around Claire’s eyes, it’s too much.”

Claire peered in the mirror in dismay. A palette of shimmering gold, brown and vivid orange was spread across each eyelid beneath darkened brows.

“And what is it wi’ the stripes on her forehead and nose?” Jenny placed a hand on Claire’s shoulder.

“It’s contouring.” Ceri spoke nervously, the rising inflection making each sentence sound like a question seeking approval. “It’ll blend in. And the notes I was given just said focus on the eyes.”

“Ah, well, it’s no’ your fault.” Jenny reassured her. “We jes’ need tae wipe it off and try fer something subtle, ye ken?”

Ceri nodded and reached for the wipes as Jenny disappeared to talk with the photographer.

“Oh god, that gorgeous chap, he’s headed over here.” Ceri stood upright, pushed her chest out and watched, smiling broadly as Jamie approached.

Jamie smiled politely in return before giving Claire his full attention and kissing her fondly on the top of her head.

"Ye ken I've never seen ye wi' sae much slap on yer face. It doesna suit ye. "

"I'm sorry. I’m taking it off… I thought that was… " Ceri spoke nervously.

"Dinna fash. It'll wash off," Jamie said. "It's no' the look we are going fer."

"And," he continued, pointing at the hair straighteners. "What are these fer? We're no' havin' straight hair. We want the beauty and wildness of the highlands, the heather in the background, the untamed curls and the natural beauty of these eyes reflecting the amber of the whisky in the foreground. Ye ken?"

Ceri nodded as Jamie kissed Claire once more before heading to talk to the photographer again.

"Are you two an item then?" Ceri asked as she applied makeup remover to Claire's eyes. "Sorry for going on about him before. It's just, well, he is a bit gorgeous. You are lucky."

"Yes," Claire answered laughing. "We're getting married in a few months. And don't worry, I know that feeling well."

Jamie watched from the side as Simon positioned Claire for the shoot. His assistants bustled around her, adjusting lights and moving light reflectors at the photographer’s instruction. He knew this was totally outside her comfort zone, but no one would ever have guessed as she moved and posed under Simon’s guidance. Even though only her eyes would be featured in the advertisement, it was clear that Simon was photographing her entire face. Jamie reminded himself to ask for copies of all the prints for his own personal use.

Suddenly, Claire turned and caught sight of Jamie. Imperceptible to other people, her face changed, the warmth in her eyes increased, their amber depths flashing a message to Jamie.

He grinned. He knew what was going through her mind. Exactly the same was going through his.

************

The curtains were slightly open allowing some light from the street to filter into the bedroom and illuminate the curves of Claire's body. A warm summer night, she had gone to bed naked and now the thin sheet lay wrinkled around her waist, exposing her chest and legs to Jamie's gaze.

She sighed contentedly and stretched her arms above her head. Her breasts rose with the sudden movement.

"That was lovely. You knew that was what I was thinking about this afternoon, didn't you?" She commented.

Jamie turned onto his side, leaning on one elbow. His free hand idly traced a pattern around her breasts.

"Aye, it was plain as day, Sassenach, written all over yer face." He smiled. "It was grand tae watch ye being photographed. Ye were like a real model."

Claire laughed. "Geillis found it so funny when I told her. She seemed to think I'd been asked to do some nude modelling."

"Now there's a thought…"

Jamie's hand ceased its motion. He swallowed hard. When he spoke, his voice was quiet, almost secretive.

"Would ye do that, then?" He paused before hurriedly continuing. "I dinna mean fer other people, jes' fer me. Ye ken what I mean?"

Claire was quiet for a minute.

"I havena offended ye, have I? I'm sorry if I have."

"I'm not offended. I just… er… don’t think of myself that way… as sexy.”

“Christ, Sassenach, do ye no’ realise ye’re the most beautiful woman in the world. And as fer sexy, well…”

His hand resumed its meandering path around Claire’s breasts, running his fingers lightly around her nipples. His breath was hot against her ear as he carried on talking.

“And tae have these photos of ye and ken that they’re jes’ fer me, only me… a secret treasure that only ye and I share. It makes me hard just thinking about it.”

Claire felt the truth of that statement pressing against her thigh.

Jamie had clearly given this idea some thought. “And tae see ye touch yerself --“

“Eh? And what about sauce for the gander?” Claire asked playfully.

“What? Ye mean in front of ye. I’m no’ sure I can do that, Sassenach.”

“Mmm, interesting. So it’s ok for me but not for you to return the favour. Well, if you’d rather we didn’t play that little game…” Claire let the sentence hang in the air.

“Alright, Sassenach, fair’s fair. I’ll buy a camera this week.”

#outlander fan fiction #outlander fanfic #Road To The Aisles #Jamie Fraser #claire beauchamp #Chapter 11 #modern au

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