#-character as child or character inter-family relationship

[divinekangaroo]

Always fascinated by family dynamics where there's actual respect and grandparents and/or parents who are admirable.

[desultory-novice]

Where comes the idea that Kirby "needs adult guidance?" When has Kirby been shown to ever need guidance by anybody outside of the extraordinary circumstances of Rainbow Curse and Mass Attack?

Kirby is always the one doing the guiding. He's at the head of the party. He also isn't native to Dream Land and we're left to assume he cared for himself perfectly fine before arriving there in DL1.

(Let's not be so quick to remove "traveling" from "traveling youth." Remember that the travels Kirby have been on are inter-planetary ones. This isn't the anime where he was a sleeping infant. The series tells us he's been on galactic adventures before arriving on Popstar.)

Kirby IS a childish character, of that there is no doubt. They are quite likely to be a childish child! But Kirby is no one's dependant.

Kirby is perfectly capable of surviving alone, on their own, in situations that have toppled kingdoms. He can also logic out what is going around him with only loose context. In fact, he picks up on complex situations like Susie's and Taranzas really fast.

Kirby can be young. How young is up to each individual person. If it's your HC or you want to write familial relationships with him and the cast, by all means, write him as whatever is cutest/most fulfilling!

But for the series in a general sense? The evidence of Kirby needing other's supervision, protection, and guidance isn't there.

[darkfictionjude]

Yes, Hello, My name is Elder Grant and I’m here to ask if you have time today to speak about our lord and savior Nia—

In all seriousness, I’m just here to pop in with some Nia love. Mostly because it was getting me thinking, I believe you said at some point that sometimes Nia is hard to love, and it’s just been kinda slow table turning like a microwave plate in my head and part of thinks it’s by design (of also hers, not just yours). And then another part of me thinks it’s a conclusion she’s come to herself. And part of me wonders if she’s selfish in love because she kind of knows what it’s like already to have all of someone’s attention, and for it to be real attention. Not, attention for this sort of façade that she built (still very much her, but a her for the masses, a her that won’t get stained with any of their messy fake ideas of her), but attention on the most transparent version of her she’s ever been willing to show. She’s literally mc’s only friend, and perhaps it wasn’t normal attention, or maybe it didn’t seem like it was total the way someone else’s attention felt. But she has to know that it was as total as total can get, when mc who can’t be paid to remember normal shit about their family or their lives, and regularly forgets things that happen to them and that they’ve done has this little mental notebook with her name on it, just living rent free in their head. It’s been a year, a hellish year, mc can’t tell you shit about what Percy gets up to, only that it’s “Percy stuff” but mc can still clock a lot of her behavior. But only as they understand it, maybe not as it really stands. Part of me thinks, it doesn’t so much make her hard to love because as much as she might have double standards about certain things, it feels like her main focus is that reciprocal balance of selfishness and love in a relationship. She wants all that she can get for herself, and she wants to be held on that pedestal as well for like an mc in a relationship. But in a way, doesn’t that kind of mean that she does the same with mc (don’t get me wrong, I’m hardly saying Nia is the poster child of equality)? Like, wanting this from this mc more than she does from anyone else, doesn’t that also kind of put mc on this pedestal? Like finding someone you finally think is worthy of you almost? And doesn’t it make sense too kind of? (And don’t we kind of see a bit of that if mc runs after her?) And what does it say about her strength of emotion and the regard she holds mc in, that she isn’t afraid of them (and she’s certainly seen some shit) when mc’s own dad is? Mc will never be her meaning in life (and they shouldn’t be) but if Nia believed in that weird soul mate shit even a little, their probably as close as anyone will get. A, “I breathe with you, rather than for or because of you.” And I find that more compelling.

Like it feels like most of the relationships she has, the ones that aren’t her choice, are dictated by what they can do for other people more than for herself. She’s routinely told/talked to about how amazing and better she is, and how it will benefit other people and get her the things she wants. She’s got like a direct value type of interpretation for herself. If her presence is going to be used for the benefit of others, why shouldn’t she take them for all they have? And why wouldn’t she feel this desire to hoard as much genuine feeling as she can get from someone she respects and wants to be around? She’s spoken to by her parents like a living investment, a living legacy of them, not even of herself. Who wouldn’t want to be a little selfish faced with that?

(Lo siento por el ensayo, pero no porque Nia es un tesoro. Bien hecho con este. Cuídate prima 💛)

Damn this was a whole character analysis essay. You should’ve started this off with “in this essay I will”

Yeah to me Nia is the most mysterious of the ROs. You don’t get much from her, only through the lens of how mc interprets her words and actions. I think it’s an interesting interpretation to think that Nia holds mc on a pedestal, it could be so. Or it could be that Nia can’t love unselfishly. She was never taught and doesn’t want to learn. Like a succubus she wants every last drop without giving much away herself. Some people might say that isn’t love but I believe that if you’re a person who can feel romantic love, then it’s coloured by your personality. Love isn’t only pure, if it were we’d all be the same.

Gracias por tanto amor a esta que es más helada que un témpano de hielo 💜

[fiapple]

Helena's relationship with identity, & legacy, & self esteem just... they have me foaming at the fucking mouth. like, there's just so much going on there & she's so, so self-aware of so much of it and it's just- look, i'm not great at articulating myself but it is fascinating to me.

I'm doing a re-read/completion of read-through for her at the moment, and having gotten around to issue #2 again, it truly is amazing to me how much character work is consistently present in the writing, and from how early on. I know i already sorta talked about it in my post about the opening scene of issue #1, but truly the work put in on part of the author to establish helena as immensley psychologically nuanced, and from the jump, is something that goes so underaprecciated. like, there is so much there to analyze & to dig your teeth into. she's such, such, such a deeply internally rich character. And I'm going to use a particularly compelling scene from issue #2 as an example.

The Huntress (1989) #2

In the first chunk of this scene, Helena expresses a sense of determination that is deep to the point of becoming self-sacrificial. She's shown to view this as almost a form of resilence, if not a crusade, and on she feels an unyielding compulsion towards. She has to be "bigger" than them, becase that is what is required to fulfill her own personal mission, damn the cost.

However, this compulsion is also about survival. This is where we see one of many ongoing effects of helena's mafia-intwined upbringing. Having grown up in a powerful crime family, respect- or fear- is what she would have been taught gurantees one's ability to continue to live. It is the way of making certain that you will see tomorrow. even the violence she experienced as a child is put on to this, on to the assumption that a pervert with no respect was using her to get to guido.

This feeling is then expounded as helena begins to expand upon the cruciality of the huntress as a facet of her identity. She distinguishes "Helena Bertinelli" as someone who is weak, frightened, yielding, constantly at fear for her own safety. Someone who, in Helena's eyes, would never be able to garner the level of respect nor fear it would require to keep alive- a feeling that she is somewhat justified in considering the aforementioned mafia ties. She's shown to despises her own human capacity for cowardice, be that fear justified or otherwise, and just how much it has been pushed to a point of unlivability. it's the very foundation for her view of herself as someone who is weak.

And, not only that, but constant, corrosive, trauma-induced terror itself pushed her to an interal breaking point, to a point were her options were either to become someone else, or become nothing at all.

We see the learned behaviour of fear/respect as a shield collide with helena's low self-worth, along with her disempowered feelings as a result of trauma, and it is made explicit that this is why she created the Huntress.

She creates this ideal of strength, and fearsomeness, and respect, and empowerment that she can attempt to embody as a means of trying to survive. A not-her to fill her skin, someone who can choose to stand and fight, who's brave enough. In a way, doing this is the only means she has to face the world again at all!

The Huntress (1989) #2

The scene then continues, and the audience is given further insight into both the Huntress' role in Helena's psychology, and the level of self-awareness she has towards it.

Helena is shown to be cognizant of the fact that taking on the persona of the Huntress is a coping mechanism, and one that isn't neccesarily prudent at that. However, in spite of this, she still chooses to see the Huntress as being a seperate entity from herself, as a role that she steps into. It's as if, because she still feels the fear she so reviles, with it being 'part of "helena", she must refuse herself the ability to view it as also being part of the Huntress due to a need to find a sense of control somewhere. It's an approach to her coping mechanism that is self-depriciating by default, but a requirment to maintain her sense of security. additionally, she is conscious of much of the psychology at play behind her behaviour, but still chooses to feed into it's more questionable aspects because she doesn't know what else to do to survive. She's seen behind the curtains, yet chooses to buy into the narrative anyway.

Her overall self-awaredness is further punctuated by the complicated & conflicting morality existent within the role of the Huntress, and Helena's advertance thereof. In commenting that she is consumed by a need to avenge the bertinelli family, "right or wrong," helena is not only shown to have a complex relationship with the nature of her family's legacy- with the "justness" of their deaths- but also to be cognizant of how that complexity impacts the ethics of both her compulsions, and her acts as the Huntress... How sometimes it leads to her finding herself in a positon of ammorality to serve her own deserata, because this is what she was taught, and she does not know of another option that also allows her to feel as if she can take it. She was neither taught nor provided with another way of coping. And she knows it, she knows it and can discuss it quite articulatley, but she doesn't know what to do with it, or how to live without it, or where to put it down! It makes the next bit about the nature of denial within her family history all the more interesting.

See, in acknowledging her family's streak of denial in relation to the Huntress, Helena is showing awareness of both a generational cycle of learned behaviour, and how that learned behaviour influences her own pathology.

In this, she is positioning the persona of the Huntress as a justification. She is choosing to frame the role she takes on as the Huntress as that of one who does what must be done. Who "has to be" bigger than them. And, therein, she is using that assigned neccessity to negate the weight she feels as a result of the aforementioned ammorality.

This connection between the role of the Huntress & the generational passing of a tied denial & violence is further explored as Helena goes on to examine this behavioural-symbiote through the lens of her father's legacy, and the ongoing impact thereof. There are associations made with murder, ruination- tied to the hands of those once associated with her own father- and it is done-up in a bow made of it's celebration thereafter. In relishing that dual indulgence.

For Helena, we can then subsume, her indulgence is neither wealth, nor greed, nor power, nor sheer brutality unlike many a Bertinelli before her, but retribution. and she very well knows it.

Just... she is fucking wild to me. She's so fucking intelligent, and self-aware, and analytical, and considerate and it is making me fucking insane.

[dhr-ao3]

Technicalities

Technicalities https://ift.tt/r9XYmwq by ravenite_void Due to a loophole, Harry is now a fourteen-year-old with the legal capabilities of an adult wixen. Surely nothing can go wrong. During the next months Harry then starts discovering new things about himself, his friends and his family. And if he burns the world down protecting them and himself from the brewing war, then so be it. Voldemort, and Dumbledore for that matter, won't know what hit them. Words: 9787, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English Fandoms: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death Categories: F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M Characters: Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Ginny Weasley, Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood, Severus Snape, Frida Yaxley (OC), Draco Malfoy, Theodore Nott, Fred Weasley, George Weasley, Pansy Parkinson, Original Characters Relationships: Hermione Granger & Harry Potter & Ron Weasley, Neville Longbottom & Harry Potter, Harry Potter & Severus Snape, Luna Lovegood & Harry Potter, Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy, Pansy Parkinson & Ron Weasley, Minor or Background Relationship(s), relationships will be updated Additional Tags: Overpowered Harry Potter, Harry Potter is Lord Peverell, Harry Potter is Lord Potter, Harry Potter is Lord Slytherin, Harry Potter is the Heir to the House of Black, Smart Harry Potter, Manipulative Harry Potter, Occlumens Harry Potter, Hogwarts Inter-House Friendships, Dark Lord Harry Potter, Spy Draco Malfoy, Death Eater Draco Malfoy, Harry Potter Needs a Hug, Trans Hermione Granger, Trans Male Character, Nonbinary Harry Potter, Gender Issues, Queer Themes, Queer Character, trans rights are human rights - fuck jkr, Oaths & Vows, Dark Mark (Harry Potter), The Dark Arts (Harry Potter), Horcruxes, Dark Hermione Granger, Dark Ron Weasley, Dark Neville Longbottom, Dark Ginny Weasley, Mute Ginny Weasley, Selective Mutism, Ginny Weasley Has PTSD, Harry Potter Has PTSD, Sirius Black Free from Azkaban, Wizarding Politics (Harry Potter), Second Wizarding War with Voldemort (Harry Potter), Trigger warnings:, Self-Harm, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Self-Harming Harry Potter, Suicidal Thoughts, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Past Child Abuse, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Angst, Whump, tiny bit of crack, Severitus | Severus Snape is Harry Potter's Parent via AO3 works tagged 'Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy' https://ift.tt/A0Uuz8l June 04, 2024 at 09:27PM

[the-oc-lass]

Fuck it. More OCs time.

HELLO TUMBLR, HOW YOU DOIN' /ref

I've decided that today is an Post-Screenshots-of-OCs-I-Made-In-The-Sims type of day. I would like to draw these characters at some point, but for now, I've just made them in the Sims.

Let's begin with Spiderverse, shall we? I'll give a brief(ish) summary and you kids can let me know if you want to know more.

Nora Strine: The resident Spider-Person of her dimension (no, I don't have a name for her or a number for said dimension). She lives at the edge of Manhattan with her niece, Blanca. She's been part of the Spider Society since toward the beginning of its creation. Neither of Nora's parents had any siblings, so she didn't have an uncle or aunt to lose as her canon event. Instead, Miguel reasoned that losing her younger sister (Nora is a middle child) would work as well, and he put her in a position to be unable to save said younger sister, Astrid. A majority of the family (besides Blanca, who was 13 at the time) turned on Nora and blamed her for Astrid's death (especially those who know about her hero persona). Blanca got into a fight with her father (Nora's older brother) and eventually came to live with Nora, who has been raising her since then.

Also, while not shown here, Nora has fangs and venom like Miguel does (hers are retractable like his are).

Blanca Onari: A now 17 year old student at her dimension's Visions Academy (which she attends with a version of Miles, but they don't really know each other). She's her Spider Aunt's tech person and "guy in the chair," and she helps where she can. She has the alias of Inter-Web, but she and Nora are the only people who call her that. She's had interactions with a few members of the Spider Society, but both her aunt and Miguel mostly keep her out of it. Doesn't stop Peter B. from having Blanca babysit Mayday, though!

I have plenty more on them and their relationships with canon characters, but we'll see if anyone actually wants to hear about that before I write you a novel.

[streets-in-paradise]

“ El complejo del aguayo consiste en que esa mujer que has amado desde niña, que la has olido y la has creído tu mamá, a los siete años tu familia te enseña a despreciarla. Y el dolor que te produce eso es imperdonable. [...] Es muy doloroso cuando te preguntas de niña ¿por qué no la puedo querer? ” 

“ The aguayo complex consists in the fact that the woman you have loved since you were a child, that you have smelled her and thought she was your mother, at the age of seven your family teaches you to despise her. And the pain that this causes you is unforgivable [...] It is very painful when you ask yourself as a child. ´Why can’t I love her?´ ”

Silvia Rivera Cusicanqui 

I wanted to share with you this sociological concept from a bolivian academic that blew my mind since the first time I read her. Although it describes a microsocial aspect of how colonialism is experienced in Bolivia through the domestic bonds, it has been ( and keeps being) a great inspiration for me to imagine the social dynamics in mycenaean greece slavery for my Troy fic. 

The relationship I’m developing for the mycenaean princess and her trojan slave is a resolution of the aguayo complex that takes the route of resistance. From my understanding of the theorizations I have read, the expected outcome of this complex ( a parallel to the societal ruling cultural aspect of the Oedipus complex ) is the biological family succeeding on imposing classist (and racist, for the bolivian context) hate through the figure of the kid’s caretaker. Wet nurses in the old times and workers of domestic services in current times are the targets,through the despective attitudes of the family towards them the privileged kids are supposed to learn the prejudices that societal expectations assign to them to reproduce their role in colonial society later as adults.

The painful experience the author describes regarding this comes from the fact that kids are trained to despise half of their cultural inheritance ( because in their bonds with the wet nurse/ babysitter/housekeeper, etc who raised them, they acquire her culture along with their parents’) and, by extension, half of themselves. It explores inter class cultural mixing from a really interesting angle that is still relevant to look at in any stratified society. 

The family dynamics I’m building in the fic are a reflection of all of this, I’m doing the reverse cultural journey and taking the latin american concept to a mycenaean greek context that is part of greek mythology. The author herself, although she points out the aguayo complex is an eternal struggle in an analogical way to how the oedipus one is never fully resolved in freudian theory, has chosen the way of resistance and develops a beautifully crafted exhortation to embrace cultural mixing and bilingualism. 

Now speaking about the movie, Troy (2004) has a strong component of anti imperialist criticism in the way it handles the trojan war. Greeks and Trojans are presented as antagonistic societies with kings that are complete opposites and hold on to different cultural values. I know in reality they weren’t that much different, but the plot of the film builds them as opposite powers in a semi Cold War situation( semi, because previous greeks attacks are mentioned by Andromache in a director’s cut scene) until Helen flees with Paris. 

For this precuel fic I loved the idea of making my invented mycenaean princess be a mixed translator that makes both cultures her own via her own resolution of this societal-cultural-psychological complex in her relationship with the slave woman who raised her. For so, she is not a mere rejector of societal rules for the sake of making her a more modern character in tone with our views. There is a complex and understandable reason for her antagonism with Agamemnon. 

She is not an unicorn person who magically aligns with our views because this is a reader insert fic and it has an identification factor, she is a twisted product of the form the aguayo complex presents in her own society. 

[bigfrozensix]

When it comes to The Little Mermaid II, it isn't one of my favorite sequels, but something I remember kinda disliking about certain parts of the fandom was pitting Melody against Ariel and people saying that Melody was "better" than Ariel because she didn't had a love interest, saved the day and "didn't left her family for a man", there was a sector who believed that Melody's motivations were stronger than Ariel's because apparently "Ariel had no problems" while Melody was bullied by her peers. I mean, both their motivations were valid? Ariel didn't feel like she was part of the sea: she had to hide her interests from her own family, her only friend in the sea was Flounder (even if we take in account the TV series, notice that all the characters Ariel tended to befriend were outcasts, if anything the popular girl tried to take advantage of her) and as we have say plenty of times, Ariel wished to be human way before she saw Eric and her catalyst to see Ursula was Triton destroying her grotto. This trend of pitting female characters against each other to prove which one is better is something I always have hated. Besides, you can't compare a 12 year old child with a 16 year old teenager: obviously Melody couldn't leave home as Ariel did, because Melody is still a child who is growing up, while Ariel's story was one of coming of age, of leaving her home to start a new life - and in fairytale logic, 16 was the equivalent of 18 back then.

(And let's not start that unlike Ariel, Melody wasn't stuck in the deep of a whirpool with a giant Morgana trying to kill her with a trident. The circumstances are very important to consider of why Ariel couldn't kill Ursula herself. Just saying)

Sorry for the late reply, I needed a moment to mentally recharge after my vacation in London.

Ah yes, the age old tale of pitting female characters against each other with the always misogynistic "a female character without a love interes is automatically stronger" argument.

How people can say that with their full chest without realizing they're literally saying "a woman's worth is tied to her relationship status" is absolutely beyond me. Gotta love those faux feminists that think the only way to praise women is by kicking down the "wrong" ones.

I honestly didn't really grow up with the TLM series (Disney shows aired all over the place here until we finally got Disney Channel in 2009), but I finally watched it in full on Disney+ and it's definitely really good at expanding on the world building and Ariel's life before becoming human.

It shows how though Ariel has a good relationship with her father, it's always the human world that wedges a rift between them. A rift that only seems to be getting bigger the more Ariel's interest in the human world grows.

We even see Ariel started her grotto in the first place, because she already knows bringing her human treasures back home results in Triton destroying them. She even admits to being scared to come home when she got stuck to a human item... and if that's not a red flag, I don't know what is.

As someone who grew up with a dad who's a lot like Triton (caring, well-meaning, but having anger issuess) I feel Ariel's reactions to Triton's anger SO MUCH. Loving your father but also being scared of him is a very complicated emotion.

I'm not sure where I was going with this... I just have a lot to say when it comes defending Ariel from faux feminists who don't understand her character.

[geminai-rambling-trinkets]

NAGA AU!

I AM BACK WITH MORE NAGA AU!!

WARNINGS!! DEMON SLAYER SPOILERS!!! ANGST!!!

Anyways! These few plot points are settled in the final arc and are inspire by a TikTok that said "Characters that have had their plus ultra moments in the final arc."

Here's the link: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8RrdRJ4/

Now the Plot Points!

During the final war arc, I was heavily thinking because in this AU Izuku isn't the successor to One For All (I know I said he did in my last ramble of this AU which was by accident and I fixed it(!)) he's just a descendant of All For One.

There will be a battle between ancestor vs predecessor where Izuku will go Plus Ultra and beyond to get the win against All For One.

You can see again the tags that I'm making references to demon slayer there are two main things I'm taking from KnY.

One) The blowing up tactic that Ubuyashiki has done to slow down Muzan. (Also like Lady Nagant, if I spelled her name right)

Two) Ancestor vs predecessor, Kokoshibo (Michikatsu) vs Muichiro.

Now I already mentioned the second reference but the first reference comes at the end where Izuku is grinning manically to his ancestor. He yells and goes into detail about how the 'Shigaraki name was bastardized by his own hands and that the only family he ever had will forever turn their backs to him because no one will ever forgive him. He killed them,' and as in irony Izuku hugs All For One and blows up bringing both of them down.

We get an inter monologue of what Izuku dreamt of having in life here's that monologue:

I always dreamt of protecting everyone, give them a smile, and be a symbol of hope. A hero is what I always wanted to be. Now, I can smile again and bring everlasting hope that heroes can win... I'm sorry mother, I'm sorry I lied for so long, I was scared of seeing you sad and depressed. It never crossed my mind that perhaps it would've given you closure or something of that. Now not only are the news of your husband's death will pass but also your son's as well. I'm sorry Kōta, Eri, friends, and snakelets... This might be the last time I'll see you ever again but I won't say I regret doing what I did.

You all deserve a peaceful life. One, where my blood and name don't colour your world in fear, I'm sorry I couldn't protect you all back then but I can protect you now. The Shigaraki name will die with me if that's the last thing I'll ever do. May we all become the best we can be and if I do make it out of this alive... I hope to smile as bright as the kid I once was because this time... There's only one Shigaraki left... and that's me.

During the final war arc it's only Izuku battling, he stationed a majority of his snakelets with other heroes to help in battle and two, a new baby naga, and the 'youngest' stationed with his mother to keep her safe and break her the news of what's to come.

Guardian Entity is my subconscious mirroring One for All because there used to be six snakelets, one adult naga, and Izuku himself! Which makes eight, the newest naga, is a baby making nine in total. I'm referencing the OG cannon where Izuku is the ninth user of One for All and damnit does it hurt!

I also thought about this other detail which I'm starting to like more, which is Izuku being almost identical to All for One's child.

It sounds like what it means, Izuku remains All for One of the child he raised and killed after realizing even his own child will defy him and try to stop him. His child almost looks like Izuku, minus the green in Izuku's hair and eyes, and acts like him.

When facing off, Izuku finally reveals about his relationship to him, and why when All for One makes a comment about his similarities to Izuku, Izuku states that 'he's related to a bastard like him.'

It's throughout their battle that All for One sees their similarities but it hits home when Izuku grins and looks down on him that All for One is remained of his child. His kin.

And when he's dies All for One is faced with not only his son but his grandson and his descendants. They all look down at him and all but two turn their backs and walk into the light. The two being his son and Shigaraki Hisashi his descendant.

The child looks melancholy because this is how low their father went and before All for One can say anything, if he can even, his child says something, "He's right you know? You bastardized your own name... I hope in our next life... We can get a chance to be a family again, father." His child says sadly as they stand next to Hisashi.

Who has yet to say anything other than stare at his predecessor.

He finally speaks after a long wait and what he says next are the final words of the dead, "You are my ancestor and I feel nothing but shame knowing I was related to you. I hope hell brings forth the pain and suffering you've put us through. I'm Shigaraki Hisashi but that name means nothing when my son is Midoriya Izuku. Your descendant and my son."

Izuku's status of whether he's alive or dead remains to be unknown but the only thing I know is that the baby naga and the youngest naga are still alive. Even if they are part of Izuku's quirk, it leaves a chance of Izuku perhaps making it out alive. But who knows! Because certainly I don't know.

Anyways, that's what I have for the Naga AU! I'm still sketching Izuku in this AU and I don't know when I'll post it but I will post it!

Bye-Bye for now!

[isfjmel-phleg]

August 2022 Books

The month I read War and Peace...and a bunch of comic books. I have a Range.

Actually, both of those were way out of my comfort zone.

The Ghosts by Antonia Barber

Middle-grade time-slip novel from the 1960s, with a surprising amount of depth despite the standard Victorian Children In Peril From An Evil Guardian angle.

Katie John and Depend on Katie John by Mary Calhoun (reread)

I needed something less heavy to read in the evenings before bed and picked up these, which I read as a child. Early 1960s slice-of-life shenanigans with a memorable young heroine.

The Night Watchmen by Helen Cresswell

...I honestly have no idea what was going on with this one. The prose was good, but I struggled with suspension of disbelief (why exactly is our young protagonist so drawn to these two random old guys?) and not actually caring about the mystery, which wasn't well-explained in the end.

The Family from One End Street by Eve Garnett

Slice-of-life story featuring a large working-class family in Sussex in the 1930s. Misadventures and trying to make ends meet, very charming.

A Sprinkle of Sorcery by Michelle Harrison

I've noticed a pattern with many recent middle-grade novels with sequels--I might enjoy the first book, but then the second just...doesn't do anything for me? This one was one of those cases. It felt less grounded and more contrived than A Pinch of Magic, which could have worked well as a stand-alone.

Kate and Hey World, Here I Am! by Jean Little

Little gives her young characters such depth and isn't afraid to tackle complicated issues like religion (e. g. navigating an inter-faith friendship, struggling to find and connect to one's own beliefs in a family of mixed backgrounds). Kate, who was a supporting character in the first book of this series, transitions well to the role of protagonist/narrator, and I enjoyed reading "her" poetry collected in Hey World, Here I Am!

A Swarm in May by William Mayne

I think I would have got a lot more out of this one if I were more versed in the intricacies of British choir schools in the 1950s--which were very different from the typical boarding schools I'm more familiar with from other stories. The characters had interest, but I just had no idea what was going on most of the time, which is not the book's fault.

The Complete Polly and the Wolf by Catherine Storr

By the author of Marianne Dreams, which is a great favorite of mine. This collection of stories is very different from that one. They're humorous tales about a clever little girl who always manages to outwit the not terribly bright wolf who follows her around with the intention of eating her. Think Looney Tunes, but British, with more emphasis on wit than slapstick. There's also the hilarity of there being a talking wolf on the loose in 1950s London and everyone just...sort of accepts this without question?

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

It was very long.

I liked it! Couldn't really follow Tolstoy's digressions into Opinions and Theories, but the story itself was interesting and the characters well-drawn.

The Lark in the Morn by Elfrida Vipont

Another story set at a British school for music. The Quaker background of the school and the central family was interesting, and I was intrigued by the young protagonist's relationship with an unconventional elderly relative, but I think I was lacking a lot of cultural and musical context that might have helped, and despite the family tree at the beginning, it was hard to keep track of what seemed like an unnecessarily large and complicated family (for the size of the book).

The Amazing Vacation by Dan Wickenden

Began with promise but devolved into standard mid-twentieth-century children's fantasy tropes without much to make it stand out, although the Fretful Porpentine was a memorable character.

In their own section and not in alphabetical order because I think this requires explanation:

DC Comics Presents: Impulse #1 and Mercury Falling by Todd Dezago

I read the latter as context for Danielle's fic and loved it enough to want more of the characters. The former is a collection of the issues that introduce a central character in Mercury Falling. Thad and Bart and their dynamic are fascinating, and there's a lot more emphasis on character and relationships than I would expect from this genre.

Impulse: Reckless Youth and Flash/Impulse: Runs in the Family by Mark Waid

I would love to read the entire run of the Impulse series, but these collections and the above seem to be the only ones appearing in print (aside from individual issues, which are harder and more expensive to track down). These only go as far as #12, but it's still a good sampling, and the characterization is quite good. Bart Allen has a surprising amount of depth and nuance; the issue in which he suspects a friend is a victim of child abuse and the one in which he's struggling to cope with the unexpected loss of his speed and the illness of his mentor are particularly poignant.

There's also quite a difference in the relationship between Bart and Max, his mentor/eventual father figure in these earlier issues and what it becomes by the time of the Mercury Falling arc. At that point, the two of them are warm and affectionate and mutually appreciative, but the earlier issues show them still struggling to get used to each other, with Bart being difficult and resentful (and violent, in one case!) and Max snarking at him and being parental but more emotionally distant. So there's evident growth in this series!

Young Justice: A League of Their Own and Sins of Youth by Peter David

The first volume has very entertaining character dynamics! I especially loved the conversation the kids have around their campfire, asking the question of whether, given the chance, they would choose to be "normal," to give up the vigilante life. There's a variety of views. Tim Drake gives an impassioned speech about how he'd give it all up in a heartbeat, because the only condition when he would be able to do so would be if crime were eradicated.

And Bart's response when asked? "I don't understand the question. I am normal. It's the rest of the world that's weird."

I think I would have got more out of the Sins of Youth volume if I had more background in the vast array of characters crossed over here, but there were some stand-out character moments, like an aged-up Bart's conversation with Max, and an aged-up Tim stopping off at a bar to talk with his dad, who doesn't recognize him.

More complete volumes of the series are on request, so we'll see where this goes.

[helenas-crashed-car]

i lied im oc posting now (on my puter): akira karasuno

i have ocs o_o!!! i have an entire oc world except it's not an oc world it's set on earth but I basically home-brewed the rest. I'm gonna talk about akira now!

akira benjamin karasuno is the main protag of my first comic idea part and of my podcast idea. he's 19, japanese-american, and has autism. he's transmasc and panromantic asexual! he's one of my faves. he's kind of silly. more under the cut.

i originally based him off of the punk subculture for his fashion morals and music taste, but I think his fashion strays closer to the emo subculture. his music taste is definitely very emo. I'm not talking about it rn. his ideals, though, are very punk still.

akira is sweet. he's one of the only characters I can think of in my comic who is capable of biting off a man's fingers yet also picking up two stray cats off the street because 'they needed a home.' he has suuuch a big heart. intrinsically in his little soul, his goal isn't money or fame, it's that no one goes through the pain of loneliness and paranoia that he went through as a child. i don't know if he has a savior complex but since he had almost no control of his home life during his childhood, he tries to use what control he has of his current life to help others.

despite his intrinsically sweet nature, akira is also very, very paranoid. strangers are probably one of his least favorite things he has to deal with, but alas, he has a job. while naturally, he is extroverted and kind, he used isolation as a coping mechanism for his depression and he already has bad anxiety, which has left him wary of people. It's almost paradoxical, his distaste for interaction and his need to help people. perhaps it is. most of the time, his urge to stay in his comfort zone and stay isolated from others wins out against his urge to help others, and that just fuels his cycle of self-loathing.

another thing about him is that with the few friends and people he cares about that he has, he tries his hardest to keep them around. he isn't as clingy as his sister is, but he easily ends up used as a doormat by people who don't really care about him. because of his childhood isolation and neurodivergency inter-personal relationships are very hard for him to navigate so he tends to cling to those who accept him... even if those people aren't the best.

one of the reasons he's so keen on isolating himself and why he values the few friendships he has so much is because of the town he grew up in. he grew up in a small north Californian beach town where he was regularly demonized and teased by peers for his asian heritage, transgender identity and neurodivergency. he found it much easier to go about his days if he simply didn't interact with people in public and stayed inside all day, caring for his sister and playing video games. this naturally pushed away both people who would want to tease him, and people who actually wanted to be his friend. some weeks in the summer, if his family didn't force him to go outside, the only people he'd be interacting with in person would be his sister and father. his mother died when he was ten.

alas! he isn't a static character and doesn't remain and asocial weirdo forever. over the plot of the comic, his arc is centered around responsibility. he isn't an irresponsible person, but because of his desire for control, he tends to take too many things and give himself too much work, as a way to prove himself. he makes himself useful so the people he hangs around keep him around; he doesn't see his personality as something people would enjoy him for. another thing he learns is how he doesn't have to just accept the blame for things he didn't do, which he did a lot as a kid to avoid conflict. god, I love writing character arcs.

another part of him is that he looooooves his family. dom toretto who. well, besides his dad. his only immediate family who he likes is his sister (technically his half-sister), but because of his childhood he is very attached to his sister, who's only a year younger than him. they used to be inseparable before akira left pelican bay (his hometown) at 18 and moved to san maria. (those two towns are fictional!)

away from the deeper and darker stuff. akira loves sweets and cats! one of his favorite foods is chocolate chip cookies, and his mother's apple pie. he loves video games as well, and while he plays a lot of cozy games like acnh or sdv, he also enjoys roguelikes like hades. he hates getting aphrodite boons. he loves listening to his music at loud volumes! way too loud. for someone who blasts mcr, he has pretty good hearing. he is fluent in English and knows a couple of phrases in Japanese. his father is an immigrant from japan and his mother was a texan native. he hates bell peppers. his sister is goth. his great grand uncle is kind of hot ngl sad that ken died at 21

i think this is gonna be part 1 of me discussing akira. I haven't fully discussed his backstory plus some story elements. also I like to akira post teehee

[merrock]

CHARACTER INFORMATION

face claim: Daniel Henney

full name: Spencer John Lawrence

nickname(s) / goes by: Spence, Spency, SJ

pronouns & gender: he/him/his and cis man 

sexuality: pansexual

birth date: April 2, 1978

birth place: Busan, South Korea 

arrival to merrock: 2017

housing: rural countryside

occupation: Owner and CEO of Merrock Law and part-time college professor at Merrock Community College teaching business and criminal law

work place: Merrock Law and Merrock Community College

family: Zoey Lawrence - younger sister, Bryan Lawrence - younger brother, one other younger sibling

relationship status: In a relationship with Alice Zhao

PERSONALITY

Spencer is a man of simple needs, someone who is easy-going, laid back, and the more chill person of the lawrence family. Only when he enters the court room can he be ruthless, shrewd, and aggressive, after all, he’s learned passion in a court room is more important than they let you know in school. The moment he steps out of the court room, or out of the classroom, does he become an easy going, enjoy life, something you wouldn’t expect of the ‘normal’ attorney persona. Spencer doesn’t live his life overly stressed out, attempting not to make his entire life his job, much like his parents he appreciates balance, makes a point to try new things, and attempt to not live his life to the extravagant which he knows he could depending on the legal job he currently works.

WRITTEN BY: Bri (she/her), est.

BACKGROUND / BIO

triggering / sensitive content: infertility tw, family member death tw

in 1978, spencer was born in busan, south korea to a single woman struggling to make ends meet. his biological father, for all that he knows, was british-american, passing through with his secondary school when he had started a relationship with the young woman. by the time he returned to school, it was too late to find out that his biological mother was expecting. being that she was barely sixteen when she gave birth to him and due to economic hardship, her parents disapproval, spencer was surrendered to a local orphanage. for two long years he was subjected to the life of a forgotten child living in the orphanage with no real name attached to him waiting for a family to come for him. henry and ellen lawrence were desperate to be parent, their greatest dreams were to take care of a child, but no matter how much trying nothing seemed to pan out for them. after long and difficult deliberation, they took the next step and started the long, complicated process of inter-country adoption. months and months were spent going through interviews, meeting with their attorney, going over home visits, and obtaining approval from the south korean government, the lawrences flew to busan, south korea and met their future son.

it was love at first sight for the parents, and from what he’s been told, it was love at first sight on his end too. the moment they settled their eyes on the little boy they knew that this was their son, and nothing would change that. when the adoption was complete he was taken home to ashford, connecticut where he would live out the good portion of his life. his adopted parents were strong middle class, they didn’t struggle, he was afforded most nice things he wanted, but wasn’t spoiled rotten and didn’t have so much disposable income that they didn’t have to work hard for things.

growing up being raised by two white parents in a predominately which neighborhood often garnered them looks in places like the local supermarket or mall, but his parents never shied away from how proud they were to have him as their son. this meant that from a young age he was made away that he was adopted, obviously that conversation had to take place given the obvious differences in looks, but what little they knew about his birth mother and birth father. his parents also were strong believers in letting their child and future children to understand as much of his culture as possible. they learned, studied, asked questions, and educated spencer as best as possible of where he came from without making him feel like it was being forced upon him. also making him aware that if he ever wanted to search out his birth parents they would help him every step of the way. only spencer felt complete with the family that was raising him, the honestly, the ability to still learn who he was and where he came from, never leaving him feel like he was missing out on something. truthfully, through an adoption support group, he realized he was one of the lucky ones to have the parents that he had.

henry and ellen would go on to adopt three other siblings from various places around the world, wanting nothing more than to have a happy and filled household of children, laughter, and love. the house was definitely filled when the fourth adopted child made the transition into the family, and spencer felt like he had everything he could have ever hoped for, a family. spencer grew up in a house full of love, something that he realizes that he wouldn’t have had if he had stayed in the orphanage in south korea. school was something that spencer wouldn’t say he excelled at but wouldn’t say he was bad at either. getting pretty good grades, being more successful in sports, meant being able to land himself a scholarship to connecticut college where he studied political science. spencer wasn’t originally sure what he planned to do with that until he took some required courses in political law and it seemed like so much clicked in his mind. that’s not to say it came easy but he studied hard, worked hard while on campus, and eventually took the lsat before being accepted to quinnipiac school of law. graduating in 2003, he took a solid year with passing the bar exam and finding the legal office that felt like it was the right fit. for the next thirteen years he worked hard, had a high percentage of cases one, and was expecting to be made partner at the law firm. when he was overlooked for someone who put in less time, less work, and didn’t have nearly the qualifications or experience, he decided to rely on his well-funded savings and left his job.

when his adopted maternal grandmother passed away he learned that she had left the house they had spent many a summers at in his name. the plan had been to travel to merrock, see the house, fix it up, and sell the house before returning to connecticut to settle in to the similar lifestyle area that his parents had raised him around. only once he returned and started fixing up the countryside house did spencer start finding the charm that merrock brought and why his grandmother had loved living in maine as much as she did. somehow his plan to sell the house turned into him finding a job, slowly renovating the place, and in the blink of an eye five years had gone by and has found himself becoming a true merrockite. presently, spencer teaches at the local community college teaching paralegal courses, and introductory business, criminal, and political law classes while figuring out if he’d like to take interviews with a near by law school to become a law professor or re-enter court room and get back into a private business and dust off his skills, but for now he’s enjoying passing along his passion to future community college students, even if they aren’t sure that’s what they want to do. Now having taken the next step he has moved into taking ownership of Merrock Law and stepped down to part-time at the local community college while exploring his growing relationship with Alice Zhao.

[ao3feed-snape]

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Snake

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/FjTcXJD

by impavidish

What I wanted to write was a quick one-shot that explored the idea of Harry being the biological son of Voldemort, only Voldemort doesn't know he has a son and is also as evil as ever. Meanwhile, Harry is just a charismatic kid with a snake and ridiculously powerful magic.

It turned into a series rewrite.

Here's book one, I guess.

Features Harry Potter trying to keep his friends from doing crimes, a tired Remus Lupin spontaneously adopting a traumatized child with absurdly magical capabilities, Severus Snape doing the bare minimum which is still somehow more than what Dumbledore is capable of, and Harry's friends' growing exasperation with Harry's terrible decision-making skills.

Words: 7576, Chapters: 4/36, Language: English

Series: Part 1 of Harry Potter's Ever Growing Collection of Family

Fandoms: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: Gen

Characters: Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Theodore Nott, Ron Weasley, Blaise Zabini, Daphne Greengrass, Neville Longbottom, Draco Malfoy, Remus Lupin, Severus Snape, Minerva McGonagall, Poppy Pomfrey, Albus Dumbledore

Relationships: Minor or Background Relationship(s), Remus Lupin & Harry Potter

Additional Tags: Harry Potter Has a Pet Snake, Voldemort is Harry Potter's Parent, Remus Lupin Raises Harry Potter, Abusive Dursley Family (Harry Potter), Manipulative Albus Dumbledore, Evil Voldemort (Harry Potter), Fix-It of Sorts, Magically Powerful Harry Potter, Magical Theory (Harry Potter), Hogwarts First Year, BAMF Neville Longbottom, Smart Harry Potter, Smart Ron Weasley, Golden Trio | Hermione Granger & Harry Potter & Ron Weasley Friendship, Slytherin Ron Weasley, Book 1: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Series Rewrite, Canon-Typical Violence, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gryffindor & Slytherin Inter-House Friendships, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/FjTcXJD

[sarcasmco]

—— it’s just another typical week in hawkins i guess — isn’t that right, robin buckley? huh, guess they can’t hear me over girls just want to have fun by cyndi lauper playing on their walkman, but it looks like they’re headed to work as a sales clerk at family video. did you know roro has been in hawkins for their entire life? yeah, they’ve been described as a bit rambly, but i suppose them also being like a caring big sister outweighs the negative. i’ve also heard people say they remind them of dancing in the rain and screaming lyrics even if you don’t know them, someone who can make you smile even when you’re crying, and learning to love yourself… however, that could just be this weeks newest rumor.

this is the story of robin buckley, a brave woman helping to fight hawkins unknown battle. a look into her life below.

it was as though she was a child again, hiding under a blanket from things that go bump in the night. life was simple before, dull even. before she was held in an underground russian bunker, before being drug into an inter-dimensional war fit for the silver screen, before becoming so close to a ragtag group of misfits that she would consider them her family.

Basics

full name: robin louise buckley nickname: rob, roro pronouns: she/her age: twenty-five birthday: march tenth gender: cis female sexuality: lesbian hometown: hawkins, indiana education: graduate of hawkins high occupation: sales at family video religion: agnostic mannerisms: talks with her hands life philosophy: no one should be judged and/or celebrated for one deed keywords: pessimistic, extrovert, daredevil, logical, emotional, animal lover, confident in public, unsure in private

Physical

height: 5'8" weight: 170 lb eye color: blue hair color: brown tattoos: 1 (hidden, beneath her left shoulder blade) piercings: 2 (her lobes)

Personality

good traits: bad traits: sense of humor: sarcasm nervous tics: fiddling with her jewelry, whether it's her ring or necklace, she has to twiddle her fingers greatest strength: her unwavering persistence greatest vulnerability or weakness: her friends

Favorites

color: yellow music: new age synth with a touch of heartbreak food: greasy/deep fried expression: a smile that’s too big for its face mode of transportation: biking hobbies: musical instrument: trumpet sport: soccer childhood hero: wonder woman

Relationships

mother: melissa buckley father: richard buckley best friend: steve harrington person(s) character feels responsible for or takes care of: will, max, dustin, mike, lucas, and eleven person character admires: nancy wheeler person character most hates: anyone being a dick

Headcanons

robin absorbs knowledge exceptionally well. this has notably shown itself twice in her life. it can be seen in her proficiency while learning languages (knowing french, spanish, italian, and pig latin while being able to decipher languages such as russian) and in her ability to play music by ear after only hearing it once (maybe twice if she's tired).

she has a tattoo underneath her left shoulder blade that was given to her by her childhood friend and first love maddie before she moved. it was of two connected cherries using the stick and poke method, and her reasoning was "this is to remind you that even when we're apart, i'll always be a part of you"

she swears, the best thing she's ever made continues to be "coffee cream" wherein she mixes hot coffee and ice cream to put a spin on the popular iced coffee

[dhr-ao3]

It Takes A Village

It Takes A Village https://ift.tt/f9DytVe by mysterydragonss Draco finally wakes up after a quidditch accident, and finds that he needn't have worried about his son. In his absence, Scorpius had been more than taken care of. *** Dearest Moron, You promptly dropped off your broom like a first year a few days before Halloween, and were in Mungo’s for six weeks before we dragged your useless, attention seeking arse home. Find inside meticulously organised notes on Scorp’s life. Granger put this together, if you hadn’t already gathered, so be prepared for a ridiculous amount of detail. I mean honestly, who has this kind of time on their hands? She’s the busiest witch I’ve ever met in my life. Does the woman even sleep? Who the fuck knows. Anyway, she didn’t get the schedule together until after you were home in mid December, so that is where our story begins. Happy reading. Glad you didn’t die, mate. - Theo Words: 4552, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English Fandoms: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling Rating: Not Rated Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Characters: Hermione Granger, Draco Malfoy, Scorpius Malfoy, Narcissa Black Malfoy, Harry Potter, Theodore Nott, Blaise Zabini, Pansy Parkinson, Teddy Lupin, Andromeda Black Tonks Relationships: Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy Additional Tags: Minor Theodore Nott/Harry Potter, Minor Pansy Parkinson/Blaise Zabini, Injury Recovery, Major Character Injury, Coma, Comatose Draco Malfoy, BAMF Hermione Granger, Quidditch Accidents, Fluff and Humor, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Epistolary, Partially told through letters, Child Scorpius Malfoy, Cinnamon Roll Scorpius Malfoy, Established Relationship, Sort Of, House-Elf Rights (Harry Potter), Minor Original Character(s), Family Fluff, Draco Malfoy & Theodore Nott Friendship, Gryffindor/Slytherin Inter-House Relationships, Post-War, Post-Hogwarts, Not Canon Compliant, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Not Beta Read, Crack Treated Seriously, Past Astoria Greengrass/Draco Malfoy, Astoria Greengrass Dies via AO3 works tagged 'Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy' https://ift.tt/FnAK9yr May 17, 2024 at 04:16PM

[denimbex1986]

'All of us strangers stars Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott in the recent film by Andrew Haigh. It tells the gripping tale of love and loneliness from the perspective of Andrew Scott’s character Adam as he traverses his relationship with his deceased parents and his budding love for Mescal’s character Harry.

The film beautifully explores the idea of raw love between two people who randomly meet and how their love grows. Adam is a writer who tries to write about his dead parents who he lost at 12, on a chance encounter he meets his dad and his relationship with his dead parents is the explored with a much older Adam. It explores the awkward nature between child and parent talking about how things could have gone and what would have been said differently if possible. It also explores the tense relationship between parent and child and what it's like to come out as a gay man. Harry lives in the same apartment block as Adam and their relationship first blossoms after the fire alarm is set off. Harry is also a lonely person and extremely unhappy, as the story continues more is revealed into Harry’s inter relations with his own family, being rigid with him describing himself as a ‘stranger’ to his own family which is furthered by him coming out to his family.

Both characters at their core are shown to be lonely people, for Harry that is being estranged from his family for being openly gay and them rejecting him for it, for Adam his parent's death left him an orphan at 12 and later in life he closed himself off leaving him alone. Their deep connection and understanding for each other is pivotal in breaking them out of their personal isolation and breaching the gap.

For me personally, I felt the film at its core was about loneliness and love. This was presented beautifully, with Harry and Adam’s relationship growing as the film progressed from their first initial encounter all be it uncomfortable sparked their love which grew. The finale was the perfect ending for the film, Adam goes to Harry’s apartment to profess his love for him where he finds that he has been dead since they first met at the beginning of the film. The following minutes afterwards are some of the heaviest and most emotional in the film ending with the memorable shot of Paul and Andrew cradling each other in bed as the power of love plays as the camera slowly pans out until they become a star in the sky.'