Lessons were learned
I don't get why people keep comparing the Dean and Kevin Tran scenes where they figure out someone is actually a demon.
The scene from season 1 where Dean figures out his dad was really a demon possessing him, and the scene where Kevin figures out the demons acting like Dean and Sam aren't really them.
Kevin realizes it's not the Winchesters when the demons were doing everything he asked. He asked for lunch, they brought him lunch. They went out and got him things and they were politer then the real Sam and Dean. Really, to me, it was a comedic moment, because they (mostly Dean) can act like a jerk without meaning to. (It reminds me of older siblings being annoying to a younger sibling) Not because they don't care about Kevin but because Dean naturally comes off that way. They do care about him and show obvious concern when he wasn't eating and sleeping enough.
When Dean realizes his dad was really a demon it was because the demon didn't yell at him, scold him, and be mad that he 'wasted' a bullet saving Sam. Instead the demon told him he was proud, like a good dad would. However, John isn't a good dad. He was emotionally abusive and he was neglectful, maybe even physically abusive. He forced Dean to act like a parent since he was four. He trained him to be a soldier and then abandoned him and Sam at the beginning of season 1.
These scenes are similar because they both involve demons and both involve someone realizing they are a demon. However, they are not comparable. One involved Dean and Sam acting like assholes (affectionate). One involved child abuse.
(ALSO, When Crowley was like, "my demons were too nice?", it made me laugh out loud.)
When TFW get pissed at each other, it’s not usually because one person made a wrong decision.
It’s because they didn’t all get to make the wrong decision
together
I also think Sam and Cas should have tried to kill each other every 1-2 seasons.
Resident Hothead🔥✨
Suptober 23, Day 3 - Inspired
I’m always thinking about lil Dean watching movies in motel rooms & finding safety in knowing that bad guys would lose. (He’s watching Indiana Jones here 💛)
This isn't really a salt fic idea, but since we are on the topic of salt on this blog, I'd like to take a moment to talk about a scene that has largely been used out of contex ever since Chameleon came out, and that is the infamous high road scene that has since been used to death for every Adrien salt story
For those who are unaware of this scene (or perhaps are unfamiliar with the canon version), in the episode Chameleon of Sesason 3, Marinette is about to go expose a plot hole in one of Lila's many fabrications, only for Adrien to stop her by stating that it won't change Lila for the better (Full Transcript Below). Keep this transcript in mind because I'll be referencing it a lot.
Now, this scene doesn't seem like something to be mad over, but the the whole episode of Chameleon has twisted a lot of people's perceptions of certain characters for the worse. This particular scene just happens to be one that changed people's pereceptions of Adrien.
However, I think its actually somewhat unjustified. I feel that in many ways, Chameleon as a whole has been misrepresented for what changes it has actually brought into the show, and I feel that it's easy to take a lot of moments in the episode out of context, especially when emotions come into play. The episode transcript actually happened to be leaked before it was supposed to be relased, so a lot of people already made up their minds about what this episode was about before it was released. It's easy to hate on this episode when you're friends in discord have watched it before you and have started to shout buzzwords such as "The class betrayed Marinette!" or "Adrien is a monster!", etc etc. I would know, since that was how I found out about the episode in the first place, and watching it for the first time didn't change my initial perceptions.
Today, I would like to take a moment to take the infamous high road scene and talk about what it meant for the salty portion of the fandom, before taking a metaphoically sledgehammer and slamming some misconceptions about Adrien from the perspective of salty people. Sure, they're other scenes that could be looked at, but since every salt fic tends to reuse this plot point, I feel it deserves its own deconstruction.
Now this statement is a bit of a buzzword since the actual reasons for people disliking this scene can vary, but to be fair, the reaction to this scene is also more nuanced as well.
In truth, a lot of people already had issues with Adrien/Chat Noir as a whole (for reasons that I won't elaborate here since it would be worth its own post), but this scene seemed to open the floodgates with hatred for our secondary protagonist out of his percieved inaction, since many people now had dislike for Adrien, while those who hated him prior were more than happy to provide fuel for the fire. After the episode was released, these ideas began to merge together, resulting in this belief that Adrien has always been an asshole, and that the Chameleon scene was simply the final straw, and that if the show was written by a good writer (read: anyone who hated the episode), Marinette would actually ditch his ass!
Now, its debatable on whether Adrien had writing issues prior to this point, but I feel that using this scene to justify hatred for him is outright slander for several reasons:
First of all, Adrien never suggested for Marinette to take the high road if we are being logistical about it. He only complimented her on that regard, telling her she did a good job for "taking the high road", and that was after he sat next to her to show he was by her side.
His actual message to Marinette was that it wasn't worth it to try expose Lila at that moment (and to be fair, it wouldn't have worked, more on that later though) because all it would do is make her double down on her behavior. Plus, trying to expose her in front of everyone would just hurt Lila more than help everyone else, which is, if anything, not untrue.
Overall, the advice Adrien gave to Marinette was not meant out of a desire to hurt anyone (least of all Marinette), but was out of a genuine desire to help resolve a situation and prevent Marinette from doing something that would not have helped the situation. Even if he does have other character flaws, this situation was by no means a reason to villainize him for it.
Again, another idea that is found in fanfics, but is ultimately untrue in canon.
While Adrien doesn't believe Lila at all from the beginning of the episode, he isn't exactly just letting Lila's actions slide either; his stance comes from that of believing that Lila being decietful will do nothing to actually help her make friends. However, rather than confronting her angrily like Marinette does, Adrien instead tries to be friendly with her and try offer Lila some advice to try and change, albiet to no avail.
Now, some people might argue that Lila doesn't deserve kindness considering her threat to Marinette just moments ago, but it should be also stated that Adrien knows NOTHING about this: as far as he's aware, Lila is a transfer student looking to make friends, but has a wrong way of doing so (so in a way, she's not unlike him, from his POV at least), so he's just trying to help her, rather than attempt to force her out in the open.
(Quick tibit though, if Adrien knew what Lila did to Marinette, he would probably be more inclined to help her and protect his friends, given that he was willing to 'sacrifice' himself to get Marinette un-expelled in the Ladybug episode)
By the end of the episode Adrien is obviously dissapointed in Lila continuing to act the way that she is, but ultimately refuses to sink to Lila's level in order to teach her a lesson. As childish as it is (and it should be considering Adrien is a TEEN) Adrien believes that Lila's deceptions will ultimately come back to bite her (Adrien even tells her this himself, see below.), but trying to expose her in front of everyone else will do more harm to Lila than it will help others, hence his methods of speaking to her privately about it.
This reasoning is the one I find the most dissapointing, partly because it inspired The Karma of Lies story (Written by CartoonAddict564), and also because while Adrien's reasoning can come off as naive, it is by no means stupid, nor should he have to suffer for having a different viewpoint for Marinette. But to understand, you need to think of Adrien in terms of his character.
Adrien is not just a celebrity, but also a child with a very controlling father, who pretty much controls and manages his day to day life with the help of his secretary. As a result of his popularity, Adrien has to be very careful with what he says or does, not only because it would reflect poorly onto his father's company, but it would also force his father to step in. As the Collector has shown, Adrien being able to even LEAVE the home is something that could easily be revoked at any time, and being Cat Noir has only loosened the bars on his cell, not remove them completely. Adrien has very little to gain by confronting Lila, but everything to lose, which is in direct contrast to Marinette having everything to lose by letting Lila walk by.
So in the face of all that, plus the situation he is in now, why would he not act passive and provide advice to try mitigate conflict rather than escalate it?
Now whether or not that should be seen as selfish is debatable, it's ultimately not out of character for Adrien to try and provide more passive options to deal with Lila rather than go for the most violent option. You could even argue that Adrien's actions are also out kindness to Marinette, since (in his eyes at least) it could get her in trouble with her own parents if they try and confront Lila violently.
At worst, Adrien's passiveness is a result of his controlled upbringing. At best? He was just trying to help without causing conflict.
.... im sorry to say this, but yes he absolutely should have.
Marinette was about to confront Lila over which ear her supposed tinnitus was in. Aside from the fact trying to expose her on this alone would not have worked, this would have just resulted in Marinette becoming more estranged from her classmates in this situation. If Marinette should have confronted Lila about her lying, this was DEFINTELY NOT the way to do it.
This isn't to say that Marinette could not have confronted Lila, but this moment simply was not it. There were better alternatives to Marinette that she could employ in the future had she thought of doing so (such as coming to Alya as Ladybug and revealing that her frienship with Lila is a lie), or carrying a voice recorder to record any threats made by Lila.
As uncathartic as the situation was, from a writing standpoint Adrien's inteference ultimately helped Marinette keep her friendships in the long run, while avoiding making a fool of herself with a battle she simply could not win.
This sounds crazy, but this is a genuine point that people seem to mention when it comes to their reasons for writing salt fics. Even if Adrien's attempts to dissaude Marinette were out of concern rather than malice, people still condemn Adrien for pushing Marinette off that path of going after Lila. In their eyes, Marinette didn't get her immediate revenge for what Lila did, and Lila herself was allowed to continue manipulating the class. All of this becomes Adrien's fault by virtue of being the one to deny this from happening, denying the fans their catharsis.
However, the question I ask it that for all the blame they give to Adrien in this situation ... how come nobody blames Marinette at all for the same thing?
See, despite people argue that Adrien manipulated Marinette into not going after Lila, Marinette isn't necassarily gullible or stupid. If Marinette really thought that Lila was a threat worth going after, she could and would have easily found a way to take Lila down and get her removed, with or without Adrien's support (given she made a similar plan in season 5 for when Gabriel tried to get the Kwamis to lead him to Marinette). She wouldn't even need a miraculous to do so given she can make plans without transforming, and most of Lila's lies aren't particularly smart, they just can't be immediately discredited without proof.
And it can't even be argued that Adrien took advantage of Marinette's love for him (whether intentionally or not). Marinette has shown that even though she does value her friends, she doesn't need to rely on the validation of others to do whatever she feels is right (given that she argued against Alya and others in Risk when it came to their belief that Adrien was fine, even though she was partly amped by an akuma at the time). And if Marinette did think that Adrien was wrong, she probably wouldn't have continued to crush on him anymore.
Also its kind of lowkey sexist? Like, Marinette can probably make her own decisions, she doesn't need someone to dictate her own actions given she's the leader of a superhero team?
Ultimately, Marinette made the choice not to go after Lila. Perhaps she thought that Lila wasn't worth it. Maybe she thought that taking down Lila wasn't worth the time and stress. Maybe she ended up agreeing with Adrien and thought that Lila would expose herself sooner rather than later with her own deceptions. Either way, Marinette can make her own decisions, and she ultimately thought that going after Lila was not a good idea, for whatever reason.
Now, some people might be upset about this idea that Marinette is to blame, but people can't just play the blame game and expect their target to lose. It would honestly be preferrable to say that both Adrien and Marinette made a decision that (for better or worse) thought was good at the time and that neither should be judged for it, but the fandom doesn't seem to care for that because that means their salt fics would be invalid.
Thus, since people want to blame Adrien for apparently "manipulating" Marinette, Marinette should get equal blame for allowing herself to be manipulated by Adrien. Sucks to hear it, but since nobody calls out Marinette on her shit, I might as well be the first. Sorry if it triggers you ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.
It means that my boy Adrien is innocent.
He meant no harm by suggesting that Marinette not go after Lila, nor did he do it because he took Lila's side over Marinette's. At best, he was unaware of how evil Lila was and thought she was misunderstood, and at worse he defaulted to using the same ideas that he uses to protect what limited freedoms he had, and offered it to Marinette as geunine advice. Marinette isn't a pushover either, meaning that not only did she also think what Adrien said was a good idea, but the fandom is inadvertently being sexist by implying she can't be independent and can't make her own decisions, given that she's shown her own independence multiple times. At best, both characters made a dumb decision that they thought was good, but neither can be soley responsible.
Ultimately, Chameleon was an episode that gave Adrien (and whoever else was targeted) a bad rep due to the kneejerk reaction everyone had to the episode due to Lila's lies, myself included. In truth, nothing of what happened in the episode had any actual long term effects, since Marinette still kept her friends and Lila didn't end up playing any major role for nearly 2 seasons, at least until season 5 finally got rid of 'Lila' and set up 'Cerise' to be the new Butterfly villain.
It took me a long while to put this belief into words, and it may be 2 seasons too late, but at least I can upload it now knowing that this truth could possible be shared with the world. Maybe it will stop the excess of salt fics in the world, and allow for new salt free works to be made. Who knows?
Anyways, I hope you found this to be an interesting read as I had writing it!
Siblings are like besties but most of the time they wouldn’t be friends if they weren’t born or adopted by the same parents. And quite frankly, I think siblings are one of the best relationships to write. It can be so fun! Constant bickering, chaos following where ever they go, and the secret family love they have for eachother.
Of course, some siblings are enemies. This isn’t uncommon in stories. Some siblings have finally just met, and need time to get to know each other. And some avoid each other like the plague. But I want to talk about normal, perhaps teenager siblings. This can be for any age though, so ENJOY!
Arguments
If there’s something you can predict being on this list, it’s disagreements. SIblings didn’t have a choice to be placed together, (this is different than best friends), there for they could have contrasting and grating personalities.
Some siblings are constantly fighting, sometimes with words other times with physical violence. But make sure the arguments are not hateful. They could be if the people are really furious, but most of the time there should only be shouting and glares. Nothing that could ruin a relationship.
Love
You may not know it, but 9/10 siblings love each other (in a family way). They have grown up together (unless if there’s a serious age difference or were separated). They have shared their lives, and had many fond memories.They should care about each other. Stick up for one another. If one is in danger the other should risk their life to save them, even right after a argument.
Usually siblings don’t explicitly show their love. In fact they try to hide, perhaps even lie. This is usually because of their pride and not wanting the other to have an upperhand. Adult siblings, I have noticed, are normally not so prideful and do show their feelings. But almost all teenagers, children,and young adults do not.
This can change if they have been through a traumatic situation. Most people reveal their true emotions during hard times, especially if they had almost died. So take this into account.
Good Moments
The best parts of relationships. Good moments are necessary in all bond that involve love.
Siblings may not be similar in personalities but they should know the other’s personality well. Like I said earlier, they have shared their lives together, they should know their siblings inside and out. They know what they like, their preferences and favorite stuff.
Siblings can be completely opposites, but they should have some similarities. Not only in physical descriptions, but also in their dislikes and likes. Like how everybody is different, everyone is also similar in some way.
I have a brother who gets on my nerves a lot. But we both love many foods, shows, and activities. This should be the same for your characters, maybe not foods but perhaps other things. This is a good way to have good moments.
Flashbacks aren’t bad either. I don’t mean for you to write a flashback, those are usually really boring, but if the siblings bring up a funny moment in their past, they can have a good laugh and the reader can see more of their relationship.
Relationship Development
Siblings relationships are strange. Develop your characters in your own way but siblings sometimes don’t need their relationship to develop. They already care about one another, they already know almost everything about the other, but as they grow as people their bond may grow to.
Maybe the siblings were put into a life risking situation. This can make the them realize that they have limited time together and may change them in some way. Or it may be that one is moving away. Perhaps their parents died. Anything can happen.
Sibling relationships are special. They can care about each other simply because their blood. They are family, almost everyone can relate to having family. Less people have lovers or even best friends. Therefore it’s important for you show their connection right, and also make it fun or depressing for the reader to read. It should never be boring.
I base a lot of my characters who are siblings off of my own brother and sister. So not of this advice may apply to you. But thanks for reading, have a FANTASTIC day!😀
Three darling daughters #girldad
Trans, Aroace, He/Him, Autistic, Artist, Writer. Lover of one-sided ships
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