#AND EVERYONE GETS BETTER AND LEARNS A VALUABLE LESSON ABOUT FAMILY

[tarotbydelilah444]

a love letter from your mother to you

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers, grandmothers, aunties, and new mothers around the world. You are loved and appreciated for all that you do from being a strong woman to being a mother to all, and you do it all with beauty & grace. Thank you for all that you do and that you continue to do. We love you! This message is to meant to apply to everyone, no matter who raised you, or you consider as your “mother.”

pile one • 💐

dearest one, my life was complicated and a mess when you came into my life. I went through a lot of changes when I found out about your existence. I had to come to terms with some harsh realities and learn from my many many mistakes in order to be the best parent that I could be for you, and it wasn’t always easy as I made it seem. You made me a better person. You gave me a second chance to do the right thing when everybody doubted me, and for that, I am eternally grateful for your existence in my life. You taught me valuable lessons and things I never knew that I was capable of. You taught me how to be a mature, patient, humble, and selfless human being and mother. Although I endured a lot of challenges when you came into the world, I do not regret a single thing, and given the chance, I would do it all over again. I am so proud of you and everything you have manage to accomplish in your life. Everybody knows how proud I am of you, and if it was possible I would scream to the top of my lungs, so that the entire world knows how proud you have made me as a parent. Baby, I want you to know that I will always be there to support you whenever you need me, you can always count on me when no one else is there, so don’t hesitate to lean on me when you aren’t feeling too strong. My favorite thing about you is your ability to rise above adversity. You are so resilient and you never allow anything or anyone to keep you down for too long. You just dust yourself off, get back up, and try again and again until you reach the stars. Now at times, you can be a bit of a perfectionist and way too hard on yourself, and I want you to know that it is okay to take a step back and give yourself grace because everyone needs a break every once in a while. Remember that Rome wasn’t built in a day. You are still the best in my eyes, no matter what anyone says or does. My precious child, the best trait that you inherited from me was your drive and determination to go after your dreams & aspirations. I’ve always known since the day you were born that you were going to do amazing things and be more successful than I ever was. You are truly the best parts of myself, and you are everything I could possibly ask for. I am so proud to be your mother.

sincerely

- your mama

pile two • 🌷 my sweet precious baby, I was so excited when you came into the world. I have always dreamt about how my family would look one day and I always dreamt of your precious face and how much love I would shower you in. You brought so much joy and happiness into my life at a time when I really needed it. Before you were born, I struggled to find purpose and balance in my life. I was constantly juggling my passions in one hand, and my priorities in the other. When you arrived, I immediately felt that you were not only my purpose, but my reason. I knew right away that I needed to make some changes in my life and do things that would make me happy. Your birth taught me how to give myself grace and how to take joy in the little things and never take anything for granted. You are my muse, my inspiration, and my pride and joy. I love you with all my heart and soul. Do you know what I absolutely love about you? I absolutely love your generosity. You have such a big heart and you are always willing to help out anyone that you see, but sometimes, I do wish that you be more careful and aware that not everyone has good intentions, or want the best for you. I also want you to be more comfortable in saying “no” to others instead of always trying to please others. You cannot pour from a empty cup, my dear. I love that you are so determined and goal driven. You never have to be forced nor told to get up and go after what you want in life, and for that I commend you for that. You are not one to accept losses because you understand that life presents challenges and you won’t always win every single battle, but you learn and accept the lessons that have been given to you with each challenging task, which in my opinion, makes you the strongest person I know. Last but certainly not least, I am grateful that you inherited my intelligence and curiosity for all things in life. You can be a bit of a overthinker and tend to worry over the littlest things, but I want you to know that everything is going to work out just fine, and there is no need to worry about every little thing, just enjoy this ride called “life”. I adore that you don’t follow the crowd and that you march to the beat of your own drum. You weren’t created to fit in, but pave your own path, no matter what anyone says, they are just intimidated by your uniqueness. Don’t ever try to fit into anyone box, and continue to be true to yourself. yours truly, - your mama

pile three • 💐

my miracle child, you have no idea how much I am grateful for your presence in my life. You are everything that I could’ve ever imagined and I am beyond honored that you chose me to be your mommy. I prayed so many times for your arrival and I promised that I would always shower you in so much love since the day you came into my life. When I found out about you, I cried and jumped for joy because there were so many people that told me that I wouldn’t become a mother, but I never listened nor did I give up the fight. I pleaded and prayed to the Lord that he would bless my womb and heart with your beautiful soul, and he listened and delivered such a beautiful and wonderful human being. You are my best and greatest achievement in my life, and nothing could ever compare with you. I made a vow to God, that I would always love and treasure you for the rest of my life. I love you with every fiber of myself. I love that you are such a passionate and creative person. Your optimism is so inspiring and refreshing. I absolutely adore that you have such a zest for life, please don’t ever lose it even when life presents its challenges. Your smile and laughter brings me so much bliss and happiness. You manage to bring a smile to my face, even when I am going through a rough time, and for that I am eternally thankful. You are truly my best friend and I am so in love with being your mama. I am so happy that I have been blessed to watch your growth and be apart of every single stage. I am so proud of the person you have become today and you are the greatest child and best friend I could have possibly asked for. I am so glad that you inherited my perseverance. Your ability to keep going despite there being obstacles and difficulties in your path. Your resilience is admirable and you handle your challenges with so much grace. I’ve always known since you were born that you were meant for greatness and that you would accomplish so much life. My angel, I truly admire your independence, grit, intelligence, reliability, and nurturing spirit. with all my love, - your mama

[blushstarot]

PICK A CARD: a message from my deck to you (timeless)

Pick whichever picture you feel more attracted to and skip to that pile.

Pile 1

queen of swords, the star, ten of pentacles (reversed).

In your past you went through a lot of bad situations, and probably were suppressing a lot of pain and suffering because of it. I see someone calling you out, a feminine energy, for bottling up all of your problems, or it might even be yourself snapping out of it, and working to get yourself to a better headspace. The past, although it hurts, have taught you a lot of valuable lessons, and when you look back to it, it feels like right now you are in tune with the universe. Maybe you are involved heavily in spirituality, and this has brought you peace and healing, making you feel all the issues that plagued your mind are now gone; however, you still have some more to learn and a long path to go. There may be some problems left for you to face, some that could involve your family, this could rock your foundations, specifically of the way you think and the things you believe. This changes might be sudden and cause you to break with traditions in dynamics in your family, but don't fear it, take this changes as something positive, and as an opportunity to learn and grow.

**As in all the PACs, just take what resonates and leave what doesn't, this is for entertainment only, so have fun with it!

Pile 2

page of swords (reversed), queen of cups (reversed), queen of wands.

You used to be one of those persons who claim to be brutally honest and direct on how you talk to people, but ends up just coming across as blunt and abrasive. This might have caused you to be seen as someone who is being defensive, cold, vindictive, cynical and that thinks is better than everyone else. Maybe some of you spread gossip about someone else, with ill intentions, and even manipulated (knowingly or unknowingly) someone closed to you. I would suggest working in your communication skills if you aren't doing it already. Right now, you might feel ashamed by your old ways, shallow and even directionless, but take this message as a warning to avoid becoming bitter with how you used to be, specially if now that you are trying to change things don't go your way. Sometimes you might still come across as sensitive, needy or clingy, as well as self-centered and with a lack of empathy, so watch out for when you unknowingly repeat the same mistakes you did in the past. If you keep going in this path of working on yourself, you future seems bright and optimistic, you might keep your chaotic energy, but I see a lot of growth and success in what you want to achieve.

**As in all the PACs, just take what resonates and leave what doesn't, this is for entertainment only, so have fun with it!

Pile 3

Eight of cups, the sun (reversed), knight of cups.

You feel like someone you care about abandoned you in the past, even if it didn't physically abandoned you, it could be more of an emotional thing, were they weren't present when you needed their support. This might have lead you to feel disappointed, lonely and looking for ways to escape your reality, making you overthink too much. Right now you probably still feel sad about feeling abandoned, and are refusing to see the positive things in life, making you cling to this negative emotions and use them as a way to filter how you view life and make decisions based on fear. I also see you trying to break free from this and starting to look for guidance, probably the main reason on why you ended up reading this PAC. You trying to change how you feel and expressing it is a good thing, take this message as an encouragement from me and my deck to start doing what your heart wants, and become who you want to be. One bad experience doesn't define you, you define who you are and only you can decide how to live your life. When you feel ready and safe enough, try to reach out to someone you trust about your feelings and your problems, I promise you're not a burden. If you continue this path I see gentleness, affection and warmth in your future, and exciting news too, the type of news you've been hoping to have for a while.

**As in all the PACs, just take what resonates and leave what doesn't, this is for entertainment only, so have fun with it!

Thanks for reading, let me know what you think of your message!

You can find more of my readings on my master list, and if you have any topic you want me to do, you can send me an ask requesting it. I have another reading coming out later, hopefully today, so when it's out I'll link it here.

Bye byeee ✨

[vinelark]

khoa & tim fake uncle postfic

because i’m thinking about tim’s fake uncle again and because i’m also thinking about ghostbat: au (loosely inspired by this) set during tim’s early robin era where tim does a version of the Fake Uncle thing, which coincides with minhkhoa khan sneaking into town to spy on bruce.

the thing is, khoa has been off the grid for a while and just learned about jason--both that bruce got another kid, and that said kid had a fatal run-in with the joker. bruce had told khoa to stay out of gotham years ago, but khoa isn’t about to let that stop him once he catches up on the news and pieces together bruce’s grief spiral that only recent calmed down with the appearance of a new robin. a new robin who is, conveniently, posting a veiled job offer for an? uncle?? on the internet, and doing it entirely on his own.

so khoa fashions himself a fake struggling-but-not-too-struggling actor identity and lands himself the position of tim drake's uncle. it’s a perfect way to peek at bruce’s life while flying under the radar, because this tim kid is very eager to keep his fake uncle as separate from bruce as possible. khoa expects to be in and out of this job in a month, maybe two, as soon as he’s sure bruce is stable and not going to crumble because bruce cares so much and khoa knows it’ll be his undoing one day and—anyway. it’s a temporary gig. the kid’ll have to come up with a cover story when khoa inevitably disappears, but that’s not khoa’s problem. and tim probably shouldn’t be making up fake relatives anyway, so khoa will be teaching him a valuable lesson. (the lesson: always make sure you have collateral on someone before trusting them. you’re welcome for the parenting help, bruce!)

except. it’s not so easy to leave.

after just two weeks khoa starts realizing that:

tim is bonkers

like, off the wall bonkers

and brilliant

bad combo, khoa knows from experience

tim desperately cares about bruce and dick and alfred

but does not see himself as part of the family (hence the fake uncle thing)

khoa also realizes that tim keeps secretly patching himself up at home (because he’s downplaying any injuries after patrols) and eventually khoa is like. “okay. i don’t care what happened*, but you do have to stitch that up properly. my fake self can’t be in trouble for child endangerment.” and he patches up a surprised and wary tim. this becomes a routine.

*(khoa knows what happened, he was stalking batman on patrol that night. like most nights.)

ANYWAY. basically what i’m saying is: identity shenanigans where bruce’s ex is lurking around gotham pretending to be tim’s uncle and tim doesn’t know about the ex thing and bruce doesn’t know about the uncle being fake thing and everyone is keeping secrets from each other. and khoa goes from “this is a convenient way to spy on bruce” to “if anything happens to this unhinged baby robin i will kill everyone in this room and then myself” and ends up co-parenting tim without bruce realizing.

also in between having concerning realizations about tim’s self-preservation skills and spying on bruce, khoa finds time to have fun with it. like imagine a parent-teacher conference at tim’s school. the school calls bruce to schedule because his contact info is still on file from when tim was staying with him. but obviously khoa catches wind of this and decides to also turn up, in full uncle disguise, and spends the whole time fucking with bruce and having a blast.

like bruce was kind of checked out last year when the conferences happened and now he’s starting to claw out of his grief enough to be present and engaged. especially now that tim is staying with his “uncle” bruce is like wait. wait. and is trying to make more of an effort, so he shows up to the conference. and then at the conference khoa is just lounging in his chair like, “tim fell asleep in class? good for him, i’ve been telling him to get more sleep” and bruce is trying to be Even Better Dad to compensate while his eye is just constantly twitching.

[parent-teacher conference shenanigans with contributions from @cairoscene, @90kon, & @mammutblog:]

teacher: i won't sugar coat it, tim is very nearly failing literature

khoa: ah. a ridiculous subject anyway.

teacher: i notice tim is very... isolated. he doesn't seem to engage much with his peers, even when they try to initiate conversations with him

khoa: well children are idiots, i don't blame him

teacher: tim got in a fight—

khoa: did he win?

khoa: oh tim’s getting an A in science? we should celebrate. i’ll take him to get ice cream for dinner. we usually do that anyway but this time he can have extra sprinkles

bruce: that’s not— [deep breath] in my experience tim has trouble remembering to eat a balanced diet when left to his own devices, which is important to his growth at this age.

khoa: yeah of course. that’s why sometimes we get frozen yogurt instead

bruce: tim is lactose intolerant

khoa: [pulls out a packet of lactaid] i know

anyway!! after a bunch of shenanigans and awkward actually-taking-care-of-tim moments, something big happens where bruce and tim are in deep trouble and khoa breaks cover to burst in and rescue both batman & robin and all secrets come out. tim is shocked that he didn’t figure out who khoa was (in tim’s defense, he’s had a Lot going on) and bruce is soooo mad he didn’t see through the disguise, but also bruce is. grateful. that khoa has been there for tim, especially when khoa finally gets to do a full “get your head out of your ass” rant about the various ways tim has been pretending to be way more okay than he is.

khoa: if you’re going to CARE about people so much the least you can do is! pay attention to them!! this kid is your problem, act like it!

bruce: sounds like he might be Our problem now

khoa: only because i don’t trust you to get the job done 😤

(ALSO because khoa is literally there to lurk and observe he notices the league slipping into gotham and they end up rescuing a resurrected jason early.)

anyway i just think the concept of khoa being tim’s deus ex machina adult is so fun. like tim is on some international mission with young justice and it seems like all hope is lost and then freaking ghost-maker swans in and takes out all the enemies and gives tim a whole rant about How Is Bruce Letting You Run Around Like This, Does He Know What You’re Getting Up To In Your Spare Time, Where Even Is He. the vibe is ghost-maker dropping a (carefully patched up) robin on wayne manor doorstep with a sticky note on tim’s forehead reading TAKE BETTER CARE OF YOUR THINGS.

(bonus au of this au from aubrey where bruce DOES see through khoa’s disguise:

Tim: Bruce, this is my uncle--

Bruce: ANTON?!

Khoa: 😘

Tim: oh my god DID YOU FUCK MY FAKE UNCLE, BRUCE?)

also please look at this khoa and tim art again for the vibes

[junewongapologia]

The fact is tho that no matter how you look at it, no matter how insufferable she is, no matter how Out Of Touch, regardless of whether she’s doing herself no favours: Eloise is right about society and just about everyone else in the show is wrong.

Like, she’s not got the full picture, she’s blinkered and her political philosophy is not very in depth or well thought out. But she’s right, and I think that’s why a lot of people watching really don’t like her because she’s breaking the illusion. All in all, the 1810s were a shit time to be alive for most people, and you can “well actually” it all you like, but the Luddite movement existed for a reason, the Chartists existed for a reason, Porto-feminist writers like Wollstonecraft and de Gouges wrote what they did for a reason.

So when you keep being reminded that it was a terrible social order for women - in a show targeted mainly towards women for escapist purposes then that character is going to come across as irritating, because she’s ruining the immersion.

Really, her attitude isn’t more anachronistic than the dresses, or the hairdos, or the diamond necklaces (men and women had been advocating women’s right to vote since before Eloise was born, lads), but it’s a problem because people are watching the show for the sweeping romances and the general regency vibe, they don’t want to think about how the regency was for most people. Which inevitably leads to some incredible projection, when watchers of a show with the central conceit of only being interested in the love lives of the top one percent of the one percent of the British aristocracy acting as though Eloise is the only privileged person on the show.

And yeah, she is better off than most of the people who exist in all of Regency Britain (though if you were to take the show as read, Britain is made up of about 70% aristocracy, 1% gentry, 5% urban bourgeoisie and 24% urban workers), but she’s the only one whose privilege is harped on out of her whole family and social circle. 99% of the speaking characters in the show come from a posher background than Beau fucking Brummell.

And! Eloise is literally just about the only main character who ever has to question her privilege! And when she is in season 2 she doesn’t throw a shitfit, she’s willing to learn! She goes out of her way to hear perspectives that she wouldn’t have heard in her social circle! But the narrative punishes her for that, and that’s because for all the criticism she gets about needing her privilege checked, they don’t actually want her to learn, they just want her to shut up and enjoy the trappings of regency decadence as much as they do.

Also - I know it’s really fashionable to rag on “pick-mes” and “Not Like Other Girls” - but actually, no, “traditional femininity” has never been socially unacceptable for women the way being GNC is, and it is in fact ruthlessly socially enforced against GNC women, even more so in the 1810s. Eloise is a teenaged girl in a society that stigmatises her for her wish for more legal autonomy, the idea that she’s somehow the villain for not being able to enjoy “feminine” hobbies without seeing them as just another element of the way women’s education is trivialised as ornamental, is farcical. “Sewing is a valuable and useful skill” so is cooking, but there’s a reason my mam, and not my dad, had home economics lessons, and that reason is still misogyny, despite the fact that it set her up better for being able to operate independently as an adult.

Idk I’m just kind of uncomfortable that in a world of rising reactionary political sentiment towards women, and this seemingly increasingly re-normalised view that women need to be wives and homemakers, people feel that the person on the show who needs to do the most introspection regarding their politics is an eighteen-year-old who is vocal about the fact that she has limited legal rights, and not any of the adult men in the show (a lot of whom probably have seats in the Upper House!!!) who never mention politics at all.

And frankly, given the shower who were Having Political Opinions in the long eighteenth century, Eloise’s brand of semi-anachronistic protofeminism is infinitely preferable to Hannah “I refuse to teach the poor how to write in my schools” More, or Edmund “don’t read my big thesis on revolutions too closely it’s definitely not all lies and junk history” Burke, or even a load of prominent members of the Bluestocking Society.

[dichromaticdyke]

when i first watched season 4, i didn't love it because it felt so all over the place, both tonally and storywise. i mean, season 4 felt like it was meant to be very lore-heavy, but the only episodes that actually felt important to the story of that season were "prankklok," "writersklok," "dethcamp," "going downklok," "dethdinner," "breakupklok," and "the church of the black klok." that's 7 story-based episodes in a 12-episode season, but they're placed so sporadically, it's very jarring.

all that being said, with the hindsight of both the doomstar requiem and army of the doomstar, i understand better how the five "filler episodes" of season 4 fit within everyone's character arcs.

"fanklok" - nathan is still so disconnected from the reality of how dating works and what romantic relationships shouldn't look like that he dates a fan (and he's not even initially concerned when he finds out she's allegedly killed a bunch of people, he's more concerned that she's cheating on him). and because this relationship ends so terribly, he doesn't have the opportunity to process it or take away any meaningful lessons on how to have an adult relationship.

"diversityklok" - despite being with dethklok for years now, toki is still isolated from them. even his best attempts to grow close with them fall short. also, dethklok is powerful enough to survive bad faith racism allegations, i guess.

"motherklok" - pickles realizes that his bio family are all garbage people and it doesn't matter that they're his family—they're not good for him, and he has every right to cut them out of his life and instead focus on the family that actually cares about and appreciates him.

"bookklok" - toki stands up to skwisgaar for once in his life, and skwisgaar finally has a reckoning with the fact that his methods of...i think he was trying to encourage toki to improve...weren't helping and he has to change his approach if he still wants to have toki in his life. and he does (we never see skwisgaar aggrandize toki's playing again, though he still does have a teeny bit of that tough love stuff going on).

"dethvanity" - william feels insecure with his place in the band, driving him to extreme measures in an attempt to prove that he's not ugly—which, in this episode, is presented as him trying to prove that he's not a monster.

and then looking at the character arcs of the doomstar requiem and army of the doomstar in tandem, what do we have?

nathan learning that he doesn't have to force relationships to go a certain way and he doesn't have to shut down when they don't go the way he wants; adult relationships are about mutual respect, not obsession.

toki being recognized as a brother in the band, arguably the glue that holds them all together; he is the sunshine rainbows marshmallow man, and the band all need a force like that in their lives to keep them from going off the deep end.

pickles helping to be the maternal figure in the band, the one to be there for everyone; having a family means supporting them when you can and helping them to be the best parts of themselves, and a true family will work past the rocky parts instead of turning cold.

skwisgaar...is also there. i'm kidding, his is just more subtle; learning to admit when he's wrong or when to drop the whole guitar god diva thing, even just briefly, to let others in and recognize their importance.

william learning that his place in the band is more valuable than he could ever recognize; any ugliness or dissent isn't a reflection of who he truly is, it doesn't make him a monster, because he's more than just what the surface shows.

i'm sorry, but it's actually crazy how well this worked out with season 4 having one episode dedicated to subtle character development or character arc progression for each of the dethklok members. i still think the overall pacing of the season is wack, but looking at it like this does help.

but seriously though, how the hell did dethklok manage to not get canceled after "diversityklok" charles what kind of NDAs did you force everyone at that event to sign

[reviewinghiccup]

RIDERS OF BERK | HTTYD SERIES | BREAKING DOWN HICCUP

Blog Post Series: Breaking Down Hiccup

Title: Breakneck Bog

Ep/Season: Episode 17, Season 1 (Riders of Berk)

Premise:

Hiccup and gang set out to the mysterious, maybe even dangerous Breakneck Bog in search for something once lost.

CHARACTER DISCUSSION

HICCUP HORRENDOUS HADDOCK III

(1) THE FILIAL SON

Stoick, Gobber, Hiccup, Thornado and Toothless go on a journey to find Trader Johann who is late and carrying a parcel on his ship Stoick really wants. When the mission fails, Hiccup decides to venture out on his own, to retrieve the lost treasure for his father.

Stoick didn't tell Hiccup that the treasure was actually a gift from his mother, knowing that if Hiccup knew that, he would've gone out of his way to get it back. However, what Stoick probably didn't bank on was the fact that Hiccup would do anything for him, regardless.

note: I need to get me one of those Berk crested satchels. Looks like it can carry a lot.

Of course, Astrid will come to find out about it and because our boy here cannot lie to the girl he likes, he told her everything. Well, that and more because, Astrid reads him like a book.

(2) UNHEEDED WARNINGS & STUBBORNNESS ISSUES

It felt like the running theme of the episode was unheeded warnings. Hiccup decided to find Trader Johann, even though it wasn't his father's wish for him to handle the operation on his own.

Snotlout got everyone to join the expedition despite being warned to keep the scout-group small.

And the decision to go into Breakneck Bog itself was stubbornness disguised as adventure.

It's so funny how Hiccup has no control over his group sometimes. No, sorry, its hilarious.

TRADER JOHANN

I open this question to the floor, do you think this incident was planned by Johann or did he really suffer an accident?

I mean, what are the odds that a valuable item to Stoick and Hiccup would be found on his ship the day he just had to pass Breakneck Bog. Do you think Johann planted it? I mean, it's not uncharacteristic of an evil mastermind to do so.

But that would mean, he knows them scarily well and planned to get rid of the riders this way.

Why I ask this question is because he was found on a plank, stranded in the middle of the ocean. We don't see any other ships or people nearby to help him. Did he really go that far to disguise his disloyalty?

Again, it wouldn't be uncharacteristic of him to do so. But still, no one can fault the dude for his dedication. Or acting.

THEME, MESSAGE & STORYLINE

"Most people are afraid of things because they don't understand them. For me, it was dragons. Then one day that changed, and my greatest fear became my best friend." - Hiccup

Just like Breakneck Bog and the elusive Fog Monster, there was great fear in the unexplainable. However, when the "cover" is blown and what was suppose to be scary ended up being nothing but a facade, we truly see where fears lie, in ignorance of truth.

A fear of dragons was the downfall of the village, until they started understanding them. Then they realised, like Hiccup did, that dragons were just like them. Scared, nervous, strong, independent.

That was also Valka's message which we learn in HTTYD 2. I liked this episode because it combined all my favourite bits of the show. The heartwarming family values, the bond of friendship, adventure and their overarching lesson, that you don't have to be afraid of the things you can't yet understand.

The episode is shrouded in mystery, i.e., Breakneck Bog, the Lost Treasure, the Fog Monsters. But the best part about it is how it is uncovered. And what "treasure" means to someone, is completely how we attach value to it.

Further, inasmuch as you can hate on Snotlout or be annoyed with the twins, you can't help but know that as a group they work well together and they will be there for each other.

In terms of comedic timing and pacing, this show definitely hits as one of the better ones. It's a mix of adventure, humour, family - in essence, what the entire franchise is about, but as a series it was a lovely bite size piece to enjoy.

PERSONAL FAVOURITE MOMENTS

A) EVERYONE UPSET THAT THEY HAVE A CONSCIOUS

B) HICCUP'S SIDE EYE WHEN SNOTLOUT CALLED ASTRID'S GRANDFATHER STUPID

C) A SCARED FISHLEGS OFFERING HICCUP HIS MOTHER

D) SNOTLOUT CALLING OUT JOHANN

Given Snotlout's distrust, he is actually someone who calls Johann out constantly. One thing Hiccup does fail to discern is the true nature of people. Which is a flaw that leads him to most of his problems.

E) ASTRID AND HICCUP'S HERO POSE

[spinnysocks]

young tlg crocodiles aus

i didn't realise i couldn't save ask answers as drafts! :( but anyway, @devilsrecreation asked: So what exactly are your ideas for the baby crocs in The Lion Guard I’m really curious 👀 so here's my response!!

as she already established in her hcs, pua is basically everyone's adoptive dad! in this context to makuu, kiburi, tamka, nduli and neema! he has different relationships with all of them but he's closest to makuu and kiburi for sure

i like to think that makuu is older than the other four; i was going to say don't question me on ages but i just found out it takes ~12-15 years for nile crocodiles to reach full adulthood! so it checks out that makuu could be a year older and still hang out with them. there's probably so many non-mature members of the float that they have younger groups within it

speaking of that, i actually think makuu didn't get along very well with the other crocodiles his age. but, one day, he briefly interacts with the younger kiburi's group and gets to know them really well. he kind of becomes their secondary charge behind pua. no danger was gonna get close to those four lmao

i think crocs are pretty wholesome & innocent when they're babies but get more into the crocodile way as they mature. it's just really cute to think of baby kiburi, tamka, nduli and neema innocently interacting

there's this song i fell in love with while coming up with the mjuzi nduli au called little fang by avey tare! for me personally it fits my ideas for that au, i think it's also sweet as a lullaby/poem that pua sings to the five kiddos. i really recommend it it's an adorable song

i'm a sucker for crack/uncommon ships, i saw pua x basi once and it kinda stuck with me. i'd just enjoy seeing their dynamic as two leaders who work together when it's the time of year for the crocs to share with the hippos. because of their bond (platonic or romantic idrk), i imagine one of the reasons beshte is so friendly is bc he grew up around and got to know the crocs when they'd share big springs with the hippos. he says "I know it's crowded, Kiburi. But it really is a good spot" because he remembers the crocs' younger years and knows they can be reasonable, but things changed that weren't under his control and he couldn't do anything about it.

he feels kinda dissapointed about how things changed, cuz to him the crocs were like the neighbour's family you get to know really well. to stir up some more sadness, it's almost always beshte who's kicking out kiburi's float. beshte sends them back to the outlands himself so they don't hurt his friends, even though he remembers when they were 'good' or more understanding/just before makuu and kiburi's rift in general

since it takes so many years for crocs to mature, i imagine the younguns would spend ALL THE TIME playing. pua has a soft spot for the five of them so their playtimes and adventures become kind of like a bluey episode where they learn something valuable. kiburi listens to him more than anyone, while makuu's a bit more like "Yeah, yeah" bc he thinks being older means he doesn't need to learn anything new

one of pua's lessons would be not to judge or underestimate someone for being different, such as neema for being mute or nduli for not being born in the float (my own hc is that he's from an outsider float that was really struggling which is why he's so small. he was found by pua really young and his parents agreed he'd have a better life in the pridelands)

pua taught the five a lot of good lessons but obviously not all of them stuck. i haven't come up with what caused the rift between makuu and kiburi exactly, but i think kiburi's float would still want to be friends with makuu, and even more so after he redeems himself. despite being fully grown now they still kinda see him as a cool older brother that they can learn from but they'll always stick with kiburi because, at the end of the day, it's them four against the world lol

whew. that's it for now! i could write for days about these guys. and i probably will make a follow-up post at some point

[stitching-in-time]

Voyager rewatch s3 ep 22: Real Life

Another Doctor episode that somehow didn't end up making me like him any better. While it was meant to humanize him, he didn't end up altering his backward attitudes much, and it was a huge downer at the end. It just made me sad, more than anything.

The Doctor creating a holographic family for himself in an attempt to be more human is an interesting idea, but despite living on a ship full of real people, he for some reason thinks that a family is some sort of 1950s 'Leave It To Beaver' nonsense. It seems far fetched for the Doctor to have even encountered the sort of 'Father Knows Best' attitudes he displays here, since they would be way out of step with the 24th century society Star Trek presents. Though the actors are very good, and the over-the-top sacchariness of the opening scene is funny, it makes the Doctor look very self-absorbed to design such a subservient adoring famliy for himself that lives only to praise him.

When he invites B'Elanna and Kes to meet his holo family, B'Elanna calls him out on his gross old timey attitudes, and offers to adjust the program to be more realistic. When she does, and the Doctor gets confronted with children that argue and cry, and a spouse who has her own life outside of him, the Doctor clings to his weird 1950s attitudes and attempts to rule over them by telling them what they are and aren't allowed to do, which obviously doesn't work. Though it's a valuable lesson for the Doctor to learn, it feels anachronistic that he would have these attitudes to begin with, especially the edict that his holo son isn't allowed to have anymore Klingon friends- um, wtf?! I could understand if he'd said, 'you're not allowed to see these friends, specifically, because of your behavior when you're with them', but 'no Klingon friends, Klingons are bad and violent!' is just... insanely racist. The Federation has been allies with the Klingons for a while at this point- that someone would program a medical hologram with such backward attitudes, and that Starfleet would give it a pass, is just plain bad. Idk why Voyager displayed such crappy attitudes toward Klingons when Next Gen and DS9 spent so much time and effort expanding Klingon culture and lore so well. (My suspicion: misogyny. Worf's Klingonness was always something wonderful and noble that everyone respected, whereas B'Elanna's Klingonness was often presented as an obstacle to be overcome. The message is very clear: it's cool for men to be Klingon, but for women it's 'too much'. Smells like sexism to me.)

Meanwhile, the rest of the crew is busy investigating a series of spacial anomalies in the hopes of harvesting some energy from them. In the middle of this, we have a cute scene in the mess hall where Tom catches B'Elanna reading a romance novel, and decides to read it too, so he'll know what she's into in the future. (Knowing Tom, he'd probably dress up and roleplay it with her- idk why Tom has so many haters, he's doing it right! If I met someone who'd read my silly escapist romance fiction so they could better act out my fantasies with me, I'd marry them on the spot!) They have a Bogie-and-Bacall-ish exchange of very obvious double entendres, but their cute flirty scene is interrupted by the appearance another spacial anomaly. Back on the bridge, they try to figure out how to get close enough to it to collect the energy without damaging Voyager.

Tom ends up taking a shuttle, and getting trapped in the eye of the anomaly, which has some gorgeous visual effects that look like a glowing sunset. It's one of the best cgi effects they've done. His shuttle is nearly destroyed on the way out, but Voyager gets him out with only minor injuries, which send him to sick bay. The Doctor gives him an angry lecture about his reckless thrill seeking, and Tom realizes that the Doctor is upset about something other than him. He admits to Tom that his holographic daughter suffered an injury playing Parises Squares, and is about to die. The Doctor shut down the program and plans not to go back ever again. Tom once again steps up with compassion and insight that he rarely gets credit for, and tells the Doctor that if he wants to truly understand what family means, he has to take the bad as well the good. He urges him not to give up on the program and end up stuck in that moment forever, but to face it, and say goodbye to his daughter, and find solace in grieving with his family, the same way the Voyager crew find strength and comfort in adversity together.

The Doctor goes back, and it's one of the most utterly heartbreaking death scenes you will ever see in any Star Trek episode. The child actress who plays his daughter does an absolutely amazing job portraying her fear and panic so convincingly, I cannot watch her without crying. The Doctor shows the most genuine concern and sensitive bedside manner he's ever displayed to anyone as he tells her that she's dying, and stays by her side. His wife and son come to be with her too, and the three of them are there together when she dies. It doesn't matter that they're holograms, it's an unbearably painful scene, wherein the Doctor learns an extremely hard lesson about what living a real life means. The episode ends on the three of them crying over her body, and it's just... a lot. It's so sad, and it's such an emotional wallop to end on that. This is one of those ones you really have to take a bit of time to emotionally recover from afterward.

The one thing that takes away from the ending is knowing the Doctor doesn't continue with his family program ever again after this. I get why they didn't, from a Doylist perspective- it would be a lot more work to add two more characters to give him the wife and son throughout the show, but it feels like a bit of a let down that the Doctor abandons it after fighting so hard to get through the worst of it. Still, it's an important character study piece for him. I'm just not sure I want to be that emotionally devastated for the sake of the Doctor's character development, which I actually feel kind of stagnated, and even went backwards, over the run of the show.

Tl;dr: This story was well acted and had some good things to say, but I feel like it didn't actually do enough to make the Doctor a better person to justify the emotional wallop it hits us with at the end. Well done, but a downer.

[glamourgoreandmuchmore]

welcome to the blog! here’s a little about the blog and it’s author! 💋

hey guys! i’m beyond delighted to welcome you to my blog, i’m looking forward to showing you all the future content i have in store.

the blog

the title explains a lot for me here!

if google has the answer to everything, why am i always struggling to find exactly what i want? maybe i’m looking for a very specific book recommendation, a time stamp in a real housewives of beverly hills episodes, and often times, i’m trying to find factual and fun news, not competitive, untrue and boring news.

this blog is my way of sharing my expertise knowledge on all the random topics that have piqued my interest over the last few years, my experience through teenage years leading into early adulthood, books, shows and movies that you all need to experience one time in your life to consider it a life well lived.

i look forward to giving advice, sharing my own experiences to help you lot learn from my mistakes and straight up embarrassing moments.

the title of the blog highlights the basis of the blog, glamour being all things pretty, pink and reality tv in life. ( get ready for a lot of real housewives drama ) i plan to tell all my self learnt tips when it comes to travelling, boyfriends, girlfriends, school work, parents ( ugh ) and everything in between. think of me as a fairy godmother sent with the sole purpose of helping you all through your problems and even non problems

the gore, i do have to admit i chose the word gore simply because it created a catchy title, but that doesn’t mean i won’t include it. the gore i speak of in the title is what i played on in my intro, here i plan to keep all of my lovely readers updated with the current factual news, typically crime and court news ( you’ll see why in my about me section further down ) i aim to keep everyone updated on the current and important news, making sure that everything on this blog is 100% factual and as helpful as it can be

the much more, as i mentioned earlier, my life experiences and interests through the years have left me with valuable experience in many ways, socially, intellectually and especially emotionally, if i do say so myself, i would have to toot my own horn and say that i am a master of emotions, i aim to teach you all the ways i have learnt to process emotion and how to use it in the right way to benefit you. here i also intent to give advice, tell my stories, answer questions and most importantly, recommend.

about the author

so, about me, i’m a 20 year old woman studying at university, my course links closely with court and crime ( i’m sure you can take a guess of what it is ) so that explains my gore section of this blog.

although i am 20, i have lived a life full of experiences and lessons, this is part of the reason i started this blog in fact. you will learn a lot more about me through the blog, through my stories and advice.

music, animals, nature, friends and family ( more importantly, friends who are family ) are the key factors in my life, they’re all i need to maintain my positive and healthy outlook on life. i wasn’t always this way, i have grown and taught myself how to see the world in a better light, and how to look for the positive parts in my day, i’m beyond excited to share this with you guys and hopefully help some of you out too. i’ll leave my about me at that so you guys can learn as you read,

thanks for sticking with me

thank you for reading this post, it really does mean a lot!

remember this is my blog, but it is all about you guys, please don’t hesitate to message me about posts you’d like to see, stories you’d like to hear, problems you have that you’d like me to give advice on ( everything’s anonymous don’t you worry )

i’m looking at putting together a form that you guys can submit your problems to, i plan to post one advice post per week! looking forward to talking to you guys

- 💋

[ngmn2002]

Is Kou going to adopt Tsukasa's beliefs…??

It's more like me thinking too much... but... I will go with this little 'crazy' thought of mine... .... In the shortest way possible.

So, Minamoto Kou...

A boy born into the great exorcist Minamoto family, that is tasked to exorcist all kinds of supernatulas at the spot no matter what. That's the rule they live and stand for, for generations. And, he adopted it eventually, as a member of that family. As a little kid and until now, he looked up to his strong older brother and wanted to become a great exorcist like him one day.

But, he always believed he is weak, good for nothing, stupid and doubted himself and his abilities. A lost teenager who is looking for his true call out there. He wants to do something great in his life, and be a great 'hero'. The one to bring piece and happiness to everyone. A huge goal.

So, trying to prove his capability of becoming a good exorcist, he started with 'Hanako-san'. Then, after sometime, started to doubt himself, thinking that maybe, his beliefs about supernaturals were wrong and maybe.. there is something called 'good' supernaturals after all. That's the thing, his older brother says it's nonexistent. From there, we can get he is not really like his brother or his family on that regard, he is trying to do the right thing, when he is fully convinced it's the right thing to do, he doesn't want to regret anything and do things because it's just.. like that. Things got complicated and he decided to keep a close eye on 'Hanako-san' for the time being up until now. So, after that... he is still trying... to find his call out there.

After some time, he met a weak ghost called 'Mitsuba'. Things escalated quickly and he 'lost him'. After that, believing that the reason of his grief is a being called 'Tsukasa', he decided to hate him and seek revenge against him. The being called 'Tsukasa' took a part of 'Mitsuba' and used it to create a copy of him. A copy that Kou, swore to save and help in some way.

After some events, he couldn't really do anything for Mitsuba 2.0. He got him back in a fake world, he tried to 'join' him, but that didn't work, he lost him again since Mitsuba 2.0 willingly went back to Tsukasa, yet again. Then the severance came and he lost him yet again. He dealt with so much pain from that whole 'Real/copy Mitsuba' experience. Then, after the severance, he got him back, at his house door. After some events, he discovered a new cruel fact yet again, adding more pain to his past one. And who knows how are things going to end up. Now...

After all that pain he went through... after the whole 'real/copy Mitsuba' thing... where does he stand now? What did he learn from all the events he went through from the very start of his story up until now? Where does he stand now?

What kind of hero does he want to become? The one who will save everyone and bring them happiness... now... after all that... what valuable lessons did he learn? especially from his 'real/copy Mitsuba' experience.

The 'Real Mitsuba' experience:

He tried helping real Mitsuba's soul/ghost rest in piece by helping him take a photo he wants, instead of going for the 'exorcist' choice immediately, then Tsukasa showed up to fulfil real Mitsuba's wish (changed him into a monster and he met his end 'that way' when Hanako showed up because of what Tsukasa did, "according to Kou"), and Kou got a little taste of how the world is unfair and shouted that to Hanako, but... he put the blame on Tsukasa at the end instead of the 'real' cause of his pain, because of how naive and lost he still was.

The 'copy Mitsuba' experience:

At the stage it's in now... he became like this:

He is pretty much acting against his belief system. As a minamoto, his job is to get rid of any supernatural at the spot no matter what, he decided to do the right thing, he will do it when he feels: yes, this supernatural is bad and dangerous. And now? his friend, is in fact a dangerous, he can eat humans or even better, he tried to eat him because he couldn't hold back anymore. He said he is a monster to him. Yet... Kou... was OK with that. He accepts him and is trying to help him and doesn't want to lose him (the same can go for Real Mitsuba, he won't see him a monster now and will get that was needed to happen for him to stay and will accept him and won't want to lose him). Later, he is crying in despair at the end. Maybe he gets now... that life is not easy, bright and colorful. It's full of pain and sometimes, you will take many cruel decisions, and even hurt those who you love or even be aggressive with them, things are not bright all the time. Can this stage of this experience be his 'wakeup' call?

Will he finally open his eyes, and see Tsukasa was only trying to grant real Mitsuba's wish all the time with the only possible way he had? Will he finally get that real Mitsuba was himself and Tsukasa didn't turn him into a monster? and just like he accepts copy Mitsuba for the mosnter he is now, he was going to accept real Mitsuba for what he has become, if that meant he will be able to stay. Will he see Tsukasa was the one even giving them the chance to be together forever as both of them want? Will he see Tsukasa was in fact doing both of them a favor? Even in the copy Mitsuba case, they are free to be together all they want. They can have each other. After getting that Tsuaksa was never what he thoguht he is... after getting he was wrong about him... when he gets his whole revenge was stupid...

Will he get he was blind all the time, running after a wrong 'target' and saying it's the reason of this pain in both the Mitsuba cases? Will he see his revenge is not against the right 'target' and get what his real 'target' is? Who is the real reason for his and his friend's 'pain'?

Will he learn now the lesson of all the pain he went through up until this point? Will he open his eyes now... and see things for how they truly are? Will he see the world he thought it's bright and colorful for what it truly is? How will he embrace all that pain? What kind of person will he become after he does so?

Now, if all I suggested came to Kou's mind... that would be the best development for him in my opinion... He would understand how the world really works now. It's like a wakeup call to him, to open his eyes to the real truth of the world. It's a cruel place. He would see all Tsukasa did to Real Mituba was OK and really needed. He will see Tsukasa did everything so Real Mitsuba can stay, and so the 2 of them can be together forever. He will also accept that was the only way for Tsukasa to help Real Mitsuba and to make them stay together, even if it sounded 'cruel and bad', it's not like that when it's needed and the only way out. Just like he treated Mitsuba 2.0 in the last chapter. He was so cruel with Mitsuba 2.0 to force him eat so he can stay, since it's the only way, even if it was cruel. Tsukasa... was the one who worked really hard.. harder than him or even real Mitsuba to keep them together. They were having fun.. while he was the one doing all the work.. until the very end, up until Hanako showed up. Even later, he gave him a chance to have copy Mitsuba and become friends with him, have time with him, until now. Opening his eyes to the full truth now... He will get that the 'world' and its 'rules' are his real target. This cruel world and rules are the reason of his pain, grief and misery. They are the reason Real Mitsuba and Mitsuba 2.0 faced all these cruel things. My true 'target'... is the world itself. After understanding all that... after getting who his real 'target' is... after embracing all the pain... he will find his true call... the thing he was looking for since the very start of his journey... His true role...

...........

He will finally open his eyes to...

That 'Tsukasa guy'... was right all along...?

And what is holding me from achieving that… is the world itself and its rules.

Will he see that Tsukasa's way of looking at things is right, agree with his philosophy and will now answer:

Was that Kou's true call? Was he destined to go through all the previous experiences… to get to this pint? Will his goal be... to change this unfair world?

Was Tsukasa expecting things will go this way with Kou, and then.. he will see the 'cruel world' as it is... and stand against it? Is it why he talked about it with him?

Are we in for a surprise... to see Kou accepting Tsukasa's way of seeing things.. and starting on fighting the world and its rules? Whether he joined forces with Tsukasa or not... it's kinda interesting to think about. Is that the true fate of Kou Minamoto? It could be... it's fun to think about it this way.

[sunskate]

CPom on Polina Edmunds's podcast pt 2:

Choreo from last year- what did it feel like to have the newness in choreography and those names inspiring you C: they're the best choreographers in the world - they produce good programs after good programs - it was a dream to work with them, they bring such a creative energy every day, from Marie-France, Madi, Sam- they have such a vision and a genius about skating. it's a dream to work with A: last year I was coming from an injury and a shortened off season, so everyone came together to strategize what the best music was and how to connect everything together. We're really happy to have had the team we had, because it made my comeback very good

Last season was a breath of fresh air after a couple challenging seasons- missing Nationals in 2020 because of covid, then 2021 finishing 7th at Nationals, Anthony's injury, though you finished the season strong at 4CC with a bronze medal- You came back brilliantly this season- you went to your first Worlds - talk about the impact-

They were in contact with someone who had covid and found out 3 days before they left, didn't have covid but couldn't go to Nationals. C: i wish my test came back positive because at least then would be missing because i was sick. perfectly healthy but had to sit at home. was crying all the time A: pretty devastating - felt like they were in the best shape they could be in. wanted to redeem themselves from not the best performance at Skate America that year. so having that opportunity taken away was devastating. that was when we made the decision to move on from Igor. hard times make better people, but it was hard. also wouldn't have my dog George if it wasn't for that. C: when they got the call [that they couldn't go, Anthony] didn't say anything, but stood up, said I'm getting a dog, and left my house A: i stayed off social media that week [of Nationals], and as soon as it was over, i drove to Ohio to get my dog, George

Support systems- what was it like to move to Michigan without your parents at a young age- how has that impacted your life? C: when I moved, I didn't really speak English (!!!) was really hard communicating with people, i missed my parents so much. now I'm grateful for the experience- I'm super independent, I can easily live by myself, it's taught me a lot, but back then it was hard A: for me I lived with a host family for 2 years. so it was definitely different but it wasn't a big shock. once i moved away around the age of 15/16, it got difficult quickly, because I missed that family dynamic. I missed my parents, my brother - I took it for granted before. time difference [to California where his parents live] made it difficult. learned a lot of valuable lessons. learned independence earlier

Anthony's injury, what was your mental state through surgery -- A: ankle - 2015 a bad sprain early in their career. neglected it. were finally getting international competitions, didn't want to take valuable time away - fought through the pain, some days it was really bad. got worse year after year. got opinion after opinion saying get surgery. then finding time to do it. figured the end of the olympic quad was the best time. and it was a great decision because able to do things now he wouldn't be able otherwise. [about mental space] - we just had had a pretty rocky season. it was a really difficult 3 months of recovery- really was unsure where the partnership was going, if I even wanted to continue skating. took a lot of evaluation of my life, where I wanted to go. beneficial to take a step back and look because i established clear goals for myself and my life To Christina, what was your mental space then- how did you approach the following season after-- C: the transition season from changing coaches was really difficult. the approach to training was so different from what we were used to. before we did it to please other people or out of fear (!!!) and then once we moved, we didn't have that aspect any more. you kind of have to do it for yourself because you like doing it and because you want to get better yourself. and learning that transition was really hard, and you saw that struggle in most competitions. and getting to Nationals, that was a really hard Nationals, The offseason was hard for me as well - there were a few shaky moments, and I was training by myself, long and sometimes it's boring, but once we made clear goals for the following season and got together, we approached training with a completely different mindset, we dove into what the coaches were saying, of trusting their process, trusting their training and really giving everything we have, and it's really paid off. I'm happy we had that rocky season because it's taught us so much, and now our mindset for training and competition is so different than before

What were the goals you set out- C: we had some results goals, but we mostly focused on trusting the process. trusting what we were given that day, if we were tired, that's ok, it's normal, just trusting what our coaches wanted. that was one of our main goals. approaching competition differently -doing it for ourselves, whatever the outcome with judges, points - as long as we're happy with what we did, that was enough. Results- make the world team. we always told ourselves, if we don't make it but we skated our best then that's ok, and it just didn't work out, we'll try harder next season. those were our goals

And you guys did it, congratulations, high five

[leo-dooley-lab-rats]

I Never Meant For You To Leave (Lab Rats One-Shot)

Because I was trying to protect my friends. And I'm still gonna protect my friends. That's right. You wanna send them away, you have to go through me first.

“You doing okay,” a voice asks. Chase looks up and sees Leo standing next to him.

“Oh yeah, I’m great, Leo. My best friend Sebastian turned out to be evil which makes both of my best friends turning out to be evil. So, why wouldn’t I be okay?!”

“Okay, I’m seeing it was a bad question, but I was checking up on you.” Leo sits down next to Chase.

“Yeah, I know.”

“Not all of your best friends have turned out to be evil, you know.”

“Both Marcus and Sebastian are both evil.”

“I’m going to pretend to not be offended by that remark because your hurting. I was talking about me, Chase. I’m not evil and we are best friends.”

“But your my brother. I’m not sure that counts.”

“Why wouldn’t it?”

“I don’t know, because your family.”

“What does that have to do with anything? In case you forgot, before we were brothers we were just friends.”

I'm the one who showed you the real world, Chase. I taught you what it means to be a brother.

“No. What I meant to say is that, Leo, you’ve always been more than just a friend… you’re different than other friends… you were my first friend… and Adam and Bree’s first friend too. Before you, we didn’t really have anyone besides Davenport and Eddie… it was pretty lonely before you showed up.”

Come on, Chase. I know my brother's in there. Where is he, Chase? Where is my brother?

“Your special to me too, you know. I never really had many friends or any before I met you guys. Mom was always working and I never met my real dad. I guess what I’m saying is that I was pretty lonely too before I met you guys.”

***

Maybe quitting your team wasn't enough. Maybe I need to quit being your brother, too.

Leo left the academy. That isn’t right. Leo doesn’t leave. He stays… always. It’s too quiet without Leo. Chase missed Leo. Well, everyone misses Leo.

“Was I too hard him? Yeah… probably was…” Chase ponders. “If I believed in him… If I didn’t doubt him… would he still be here?”

“Missing the kid,” Douglas asks.

Douglas sat down next to Chase. Chase is sitting alone the training room.

“Yeah… it’s my fault he left,” Chase starts, “I should have more faith in Leo.”

Leo, you're not ready to be a mentor, so stop complaining and start getting to know your fellow students

Douglas wouldn’t go so far as to blame Chase alone. Douglas has kept an eye on the kid for long time and grown to be very fond of him. Douglas has noted a shift on the kid’s behavior since coming to the island. Douglas put it down to the kid not being a mentor like the rest of the family. Douglas saw the matter deeper as just Leo’s ego and saw the matter as Leo wanting to just be his family’s equal. Douglas knew the feeling.

Douglas had foreseen Leo pint-up feelings that were bound to show up sooner or later coming for a long time now. Unfortunately, that Taylor kid got hurt in the process. It’s never a good thing to hold things in.

I got so frustrated, I punched the wall.

I can't believe you, Leo. Not only did you damage my brand-new academy, but you lied to me and betrayed my trust.

Douglas didn’t know who the blame when it came to Leo leaving. Maybe Donnie? Or Adam, Bree, and Chase for sidelining him? Douglas didn’t know. He wished now he had voiced his concerns for the kid to Donnie. Better yet, he should have told Tasha. That woman was force to feared when it came to her kids, especially Leo.

I'm very disappointed in you, Leo. But you took responsibility and you didn't leave Spin on the hook. You've learned a very valuable lesson today. As a student.

“Chase, its not your fault… not fully anyways.”

“What do you mean, Douglas?”

“You never noticed how upset the kid was these past couple months?”

“No… I should have.”

Douglas wondered if anyone here noticed how Leo was feeling. Douglas hasn’t even known the kid as long as the rest of them and he noticed. Did anyone pay attention to the kid on this island?

“Look, Chase, I’m not good that these kinda of talks… I do know this Leo hasn’t been the happiest since he’s been here. Leo never told me exactly why, but I know he wouldn’t want you sitting around here blaming yourself.”

“I’m his brother, Douglas! Leo should have told me. Why did he come to you and not me?”

“I don’t know. Maybe he did tell you and you didn’t listen. I don’t know. Now calm down. Getting all worked up isn’t going to help anything.”

Don't worry, Big D. We got this. Now, what exactly will I be teaching?

Nothing. You're a student.

A what? But you gave me a mission suit. You said I was part of the team!

Did Leo tell him that he was unhappy and he didn’t listen? How could he have missed that? How? Chase remembered that Leo was disappointed at not being a mentor at the Academy. Was that the reason Leo was unhappy? Chase thought Leo worked through that. Sure, Leo threw a minor temper fit after finding out he was student, but Leo seemed to okay with being student after that. Chase had noticed how hard Leo was training and was proud of him. Plus, it’s not like Adam, Bree, or Chase treated him differently because he was a student and he still got to go on missions. What was the problem?

Chase has had always thought Leo would happy not matter where he was and what he was doing as long as their family is together. Chase was wrong. “I guess I was wrong…” Chase thought. “I’m the smart one. I’m suppose to know what to do.”

“I’m his brother. I should have known.”

“Being brothers doesn’t mean know knowing everything about each other. Take Donnie and me, for example, he doesn’t know I’m banned from Vegas three time over for card counting. Don’t tell him. It’s best he doesn’t find out now.”

“How do you get banned from Vegas three times?”

“It’s better you don’t know.”

You should've stopped when I told you to. This just proves you're not ready to lead your own team.

I am more than ready. And maybe I wouldn't feel like I need to prove that to you guys if you weren't always looking down on me.

Chase thinks overs all the things he said to Leo the days leading up Leo departure. Was the award ceremony the start of all this or was this deeper? Did Leo really believe that his family looked down on him? And did his family look down on him?

Chase realizes that there was a lot of truth in what Leo was saying. They did look at Leo as just their little brother yet they still let Leo jump in the line of fire for them over and over again. Chase thinks back to all missions where Leo saved his life or Adam or Bree. Other times, Leo saved all of them at once.

Leo just saved our lives. That was supposed to be us.

He didn't need bionics to be a hero.

Did Chase and everyone else just take Leo being there for granted? Leo had always just been there since he stumbled into his life. Now he left. That wasn’t right. Chase began to wonder for the first time ever if Leo had a life before meeting Adam, Bree, or himself. Chase was starting to realize just how little he knew about Leo, his own brother.

Leo, we don't look down on you.

Yeah, we have total respect for all of your shortcomings.

When are you guys gonna stop treating me like I'm an idiot?!

Maybe when you stop acting like one.

“Did I really call Leo an idiot? I mean if anyone in the family is an idiot then it’s Adam,” Chase wonders. “How could have not seen how unhappy Leo was? Am I am bad brother for not realizing it?”

Chase looks over at Douglas who was still sitting next to him. He begins to wonder just how close his biological father was to his brother. The brother who he wasn’t related to by blood rather related to by friendship, love, and bond. How could he been so blind to Leo’s pain and troubles?

“Hey Douglas, did Leo ever tell you how he was feeling?”

“Once or twice, yeah… but Chase— Leo isn’t one to make his needs known. Don’t feel too bad about it.”

“I still do…”

“I know. I know… If it helps, I feel bad about it too.”

***

I'll tell you what's up with me. I am tired of everyone treating me like some kind of non-existent bionic hero.

“I would ask how you are doing, but I can tell by all your faces that your not okay,” Donald Davenport says to bionic trio.

Adam, Bree, and Chase are in their private mentor quarters. Adam stood over Chase and Bree. Chase and Bree were sitting on the couch. Chase had his arm around Bree. It’s only a day or two after Leo left. This was a strange new Leo-less world was not okay in any one of the Davenports’ mind.

I'm going back to Mission Creek. I don't belong here anymore. I'm quitting the academy.

“Why would we be okay?! Leo left,” Adam practically shouts.

“Take it easy, Adam. I’m sure Leo will be back before we know it,” Bree says trying to comfort her brother.

No one wanted to believe Leo would stay away forever. This was Leo. Leo didn’t just leave. Somehow… everyone in their little family knew this was different. That maybe… Leo wasn’t coming back.

No. Chase was right. I'm not cut out to be a leader.

I never meant for you to leave.

Chase meant that. He never meant for Leo to leave. He never wanted to Leo to leave. He wonder, not for the first time, if drove his brother away. Douglas seemed to think that he didn’t, but Chase wasn’t sure. Leo seemed so heartbroken when he last saw him.

Part of being a leader is making mistakes. You learn from them, and you move on. I mean, look at Chase. Think of all the mistakes he's made as mission leader.

“I don’t know guys… Leo seemed pretty upset. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him this upset before,” Chase states.

“Yeah…” Bree adds. “That didn’t mean he had to up and leave.”

“Yeah! We could have helped him through this like we should have been doing this whole time,” Adam almost shouts.

But his never hurt anyone. Taylor has to live with my mistake for the rest of her life.

So you're just gonna give up and leave? What about our team?

Logan, you deserve a better team. Or at least a better leader. I'm not gonna put you or anyone else here in danger ever again. Here. Give it to someone more deserving.

Leo, I'm not gonna let you--

Yes, you are, because it's not your choice. It's mine. Bye, guys. Sorry I let you down.

“I hate to say it, but Chase is right. Leo might not come back,” Davenport adds.

“He has to come back,” Adam mutters, “he has to…”

Not too long after that was said, Davenport had to leave and deal with stuff on the island. He had given the kids the rest of the day off to just deal with this. He understood how much they missed their brother, because Donald Davenport misses Leo too.

After their father had left, the bionic trio sits in silence until…

“We should have listened to him,” Bree says.

“Yeah…” Chase absently agrees. “If only we had treated him better… Do you think we drove him to all of it?”

“Yeah, I do. We never really respected Leo…” Adam, in one of his rare moments of wisdom, says.

I told you Marcus was evil. "Leo, he's a nice guy", "Leo, give the guy a break". Wool, eyes, pulled over.

Look, Leo. We're sorry we didn't believe you.

“I hate to say it Adam,” Chase starts. “But you’re right. We never did respected him. And we took for granted the best friend we’ve ever had. Now he’s gone.”

Sometimes, you say something very personal before thinking and don’t even realize you’ve actually said it. Chase just did that and luckily for him Adam and Bree didn’t notice either.

I wanted to tell you, but he threatened to report your secret to the authorities.

That makes sense. He was just looking out for us.

“Leo’s not dead. He just left the island…” Adam says, trying to lighten the mood. “But I know what you mean. It’s not right without him here.”

“No, it’s not,” Bree agrees.

Leo, what is he doing here?

It's okay. I brought him. He's the only one who can help you.

I don't know about this.

We don't have a choice. Do you wanna be bionic or not?

Bree thinks back to the time Leo brought Douglas to help her get her chip back. Leo was the only who thought to even ask Douglas. Leo didn’t even seem to care about consequences of doing so. Bree never thought much of what Leo did that day until now. She wished she had now.

He tried to warn us about Marcus and we ignored him.

How often did the Davenports ignore Leo when he tried to tell him something? He tried to warn them about Marcus and they didn’t listen. His family didn’t listen back then. How little has changed in past few years?

“Guys,” Adam break the silence, “do you think that Leo would come back if we said we were sorry?”

Was Leo leaving a chain of events or just one of Leo temper fits? As much as everyone wanted to believe that it was the latter, it was really former. If it was just one of Leo’s fits, then he would come back after apology.

“Adam, this feels deeper than something an ‘I’m sorry’ can fix,” Chase says.

“Then what do we do?!”

“I don’t know, Adam, I don’t know. I wish I did.”

You can break up the team but you are not breaking up my family.

Chase remembered when the team broke up and the three of them stop speaking. Leo became a bit of peacemaker between them. None of them even had to ask Leo to do this he just did it. Chase never thought about it much until now. Now that Chase thinks about it, Leo tended to that. He stood by them without needing to be asked or did things for them without being asked. He ran into the line of fire to save them all the way back to that party he threw for them or jumping to save them at the garage dump.

What did Adam, Bree, and Chase give in return to all of Leo’s kindness and friendship/brotherhood? Nothing is the answer Chase came up with. Chase realized Leo never asked for anything when he help them. He just did it. Chase wasn’t sure he understood completely why someone would do half the stuff Leo has done without gaining anything.

I remember your first days out of the lab. So young, so naïve. You needed a strong hand to guide you.

Yeah. But all we got was you.

Leo was the first real friend that any of the Davenport kids ever had, and only now did they start to realize just how good a friend is. Leo became more than a friend. He was their brother after all. There are very few friends or even brothers who give up their spare time to do half of what Leo has done.

Chase never really thought about how unique of a friend Leo is. Marcus and Sebastian made Chase feel bad and rethink his friendship with them, but never rethink the other people in his life. Now that Leo has left, Chase started to think why would Leo leave. It wasn’t like him to leave. Chase never expected Leo to leave… no one did.

You're the best surprise brother we've ever had. No offense, Leo.

Yeah, we still like you. You're just old news.

“Is that how we repaid Leo with? Calling him old news? I really am the worse brother in the world…” Chase thinks.

Chase wonders if maybe he was better brother and better friend then maybe he would still be here. Maybe if he believed in Leo more or trusted him more. Why did he have to drive Leo away?

***

Adam, Bree, and Chase have tried multiple times to try and get Leo to come back. He keeps saying no. Leo is just so stubborn sometimes. Adam has also started carrying around cardboard version of Leo. “Like that is good replacement for our brother… I wish… oh never mind,” Chase thinks.

Adam, get rid of that thing.

No! When real Leo watches from home, I want him to feel like he's still an important part of our team.

Have you lost your mind? This is not our brother, it's a piece of cardboard.

To make matters worse, Adam wants to bring that cardboard out of Leo off the island and into the real world. Chase wished that Adam would just get rid of that thing. Chase missed Leo too, but cardboard Leo is not a solution. Chase just wanted to have the real Leo back. Well, everyone wanted the real Leo back.

***

The past few weeks have been difficult and hard being away from Adam, Bree, and Chase. This is the longest they’ve been apart since they met. Leo knows he made the decision to leave and he stands by that decision, but that doesn’t mean living with that decision any easier.

When Taylor had called, Leo was glad to hear from her. He is still carrying guilt for what happened. He had hoped to hear how she was doing not that his family was in trouble.

I know you quit the team, but your family needs you.

If there is one thing to know about Leo it’s that if his family needs him then that’s exactly where he’s going to be no matter what it takes. Even though, he doesn’t feel worthy of being on the team right now, but that doesn’t matter. His family is trouble and needs him.

***

Leo, you have to let go or it's gonna take you with it.

I’m not letting go.

Chase wonders for a brief moment if the reason he wants Leo to let him fall was out of guilt for everything. Chase knows that stupid reason and he might need to talk to professorial if that really is his way of thinking. If he actually makes it out this.

When Leo finally reaches out and pulls Chase out of the limo, Chase feels like he finally sees Leo properly for the first time. In that moment, when Leo saves him, he doesn’t see his little brother, he sees a hero. Before, when Leo did something heroic Chase always saw his little brother acting as hero, but never as a hero. Chase wonders why out of all the times Leo has save him and their family is this the time he sees Leo differently?

Leo, you did it. You saved my life. Sorry I ever doubted you.

I'm just glad you're okay.

Leo meant what he said. He is just glad Chase is okay, not approve or anything else. That’s really matters right now, at least for now. Leo looks over at his brother. It’s the first time they’ve seen each other in person since he left the island and he almost had to watch him die.

Chase looks at Leo. He wants to tell Leo more than ‘I’m sorry I ever doubted you’. He wants tell him how much he regrets not being a better brother and friend to him and how he will be one now. He wants to tell Leo that things will be different now. He will respect him and will listen to him like he should have.

There is so many things that both Leo and Chase want to say. So many regrets and apologies that need to be said, but not now. For this moment, these two brothers hug. Its quick, but it means the world and is a silence message of ‘it’s all okay now’.

***

Not only is Leo back at the island, but because of his bravery and leadership on the bridge mission, I have officially made him a mentor.

Couldn't be prouder of you, buddy

After party/ceremony of Leo’s grand return, Leo found himself sitting alone in a random room of the island. Strange how much can change in so little time.

“Hey Leo,” Leo recognizes the voice as Chase’s. “Do you mind if I join you?” Leo shrugs and Chase sits down next him. “I know we haven’t had a chance to talk since you got back, but there are some things I want to say.”

“You don’t have to say anything. It’s okay.”

“No. It’s not okay. That’s the point.”

“What’s this about?”

“Leo, when you left the island, I did some thinking… and I realized that I should have been a better brother and a better friend. I am so sorry.”

“It’s okay. Chase, I let my need to try and prove myself get the better of me… and I got Taylor hurt. We both made mistakes. It’s over now.”

“I was still a terrible brother. I should have realized how much you hated being just a student and none of us taking you seriously.”

Leo is a little surprised to hear those words out of Chase. He didn’t think that Chase would even remember how much that bothered him. “I should have been better at telling what was going on sooner, but that’s all the past now. Forgive and forget?”

“You’re not mad?”

“No. Being honest, when I first got the island I was mad and I guess I didn’t stopped being mad until after I left this place. I was mad at you guys, Big D, this place— Well, you get it. I don’t think I ever truly stopped being mad I never really dealt with it and just let it fester until you know… I didn’t even realize how mad until the ceremony came up. The point I am making is that I am done being mad. I’m sick of it.”

“I am still sorry for everything.”

“I know and I forgive you. I should told you guys what was going on.”

“And we should have been willing to listen.”

“Looks, we could past the blame all day, so lets just forgive each other for everything and promise to do better?”

“Sounds good… so we really are good?”

“Chase, for crying out loud, you are my brother! That means I love you no matter what you do, so get used to it. Meaning we are good! You are forgiven!”

Chase and Leo laugh, then hug. Things have difficult these past couple weeks for this pair of brothers, but now it’s things are starting to look up. Leo is now a mentor and his three bionic siblings have newfound appreciation and respect for their brother, Leo. Every now and then, through life’s worst tragedies brings about some of the greatest the changes.

Author’s Note: This is first fanfic I’ve ever written diving into Chase mind. This fic started out as a short conversation with Leo and Chase after the rebellion, but I sort of got carried away when I thought what if On The Edge happened and we see them fall out and come back together. I have also long since had a document with Quotes from the show for photos edits and other stuff, so I just pulled from that to add the quotes in. I thought the quotes would be a fun way to further tie in Leo and Chase’s friendship throughout the show along with their falling out in On The Edge. The quotes are best view as the characters reflecting back on their own memories as that was my intention when I was writing. Yes, I did put references to Daniel’s episode due to Leo still being a student in that episode. I had also planned on dealing more with Leo, but didn’t as the fic was already so long. I know I also dealt with On the Edge another One-Shot not too long ago, but I just felt like making this. As y’all can tell On The Edge is a special I’m sort of obsessed with as I see as the big hooray of Leo and finishing of character arch. I honestly wish that was final of the show. Anyways, I hope y’all enjoy my LONG fanfic.

[fundielicious-simblr]

(Kyleighs POV)(AN: Picking up where we left off, Kyleigh is married to Barrett [the oldest boy of the heir family] and they have 10 children and she's pregnant with the 11th. Every winter they go see her parents in Brindleton Bay, so this is that trip.)

(AN: I was editing this watching RHOA so excuse the bits I had to blur)

We loaded up all the kids and made the journey to Brindleton Bay to spend the Christmas and New Years period with my parents, we recently upgraded our camper to a larger one that can sleep more for when we travel during the year and people sleep in it. My parents house is quite small due to them only having me, so my old bedroom has been repurposed into the guest bedroom. It can sleep 2-3 adults since they upgraded the bed to a king size once Barrett and I got married. They've been thinking of adding one or two rooms as well as another bathroom to the house to be able to accomodate us all, especially if we continue to be blessed with a child practically every year. My parents live very simple lives, and with the extra income that they gained when I moved out they've been able to save up enough to make it a reality.

It was so great getting to go to my parent's church, the one I grew up in, and it was so great getting to see some old faces. Getting to bring the kids to my hometown and have us worship together as a family in the church that I grew up in is such an answer to prayer. With the way the Lord has been blessing us, every year we visit has the newest member of the family either in utero, or a babe in arms. My parents are so proud of all their grandchildren, especially at christmas time when the kids join in with the rest of the congregation's children in reciting their scripture memory on stage.

A highlight of our visit to my parents is getting to play in the snow virtually all day. Newcrest does get snow days, but Brindleton Bay gets such a wonderfully thick layer of snow every year that just elevates the level of play in the snow. All the kids take part in the snow play, we bundle them all up and spend time outside. This year the littles had such fun learning about snow pals and we made some snow pals ourselves before they went down for their naps. Barrett becomes such a big kid when it comes time to play in the snow, he and the older kids will have snowball fights for what seems like hours on end. They split themselves up into different teams over the course of the different games, and designated grandma Ella to be scorekeeper.

We try and impress the value of teamwork on the kids, using every opportunity as a chance to teach valuable lessons such as conflict resolution, problem solving, communication, and creativity. Hearing them tell stories at the dinner table of how things went while they played will always bring joy my heart.

It was so good to get to spend time with my mum in the kitchen making our meals. Growing up we used to talk about the days that we'd get to do it when I would have a family of my own, and after many years and manu prayers here we are. I packed up the food from our fridge that would need to be eaten while we were away and incorporated them into meals at my parents house.

My parents like to do these pictures with the kids whenever they come over, so that they've got updated pictures to look at as the kids grow. Ever since we started having kids, they have had a new grandchild to hold almost every year.

My parents have a collection of the different family pictures in their house, and one night we sat around and looked at the pictures from the years passed. Growing up my parents used to pray for my future spouse and our future children, as well as encourage me to do the same. It brings a tear to my eye to see how our prayers have been answered over the years. When the triplets were born they spent some time in the NICU since they came quite early, so we had everyone in our families praying for them to get better so we could take them home. Seeing them grow into happy, healthy children that are such great older siblings has brought such joy to all of us.

This is the last time we go to see my parents before they come to see us when the new baby gets here, they usually both come to see us and the kids then my mother stays for between 2 to 3 weeks. This time round my dad has managed to make it so that he can work from home, so he's going to be able to be with my mother and have more time with the kids. The plan is for them to travel with us for Parker and Lana's wedding, it was so nice for Lana to insist on all of the 'in-law' families being invited to the wedding; she said she wanted all of the families that make up our entire extended family to be there on the day that she joins the family.

[multifandom-nerds-blog]

more about S2 EP9 and the group dynamic/ Omega and Tech talk

(English is not my mother tongue)

The fact that this episode was titled "the Crossing" as in them crossing from their group of 5 to a group of 4 (AGAIN) without Echo. I loved how you could really see that Echo leaving affected their group dynamic.

Yes. Their group dynamic already changed before because of:

Echo joining - > Crosshair leaving - >Omega joining

But that was way less obvious as we only had a short 4 episode arc with them in tcw (Echo joining at the end of this) and only knowing their dynamic during combat, before Crosshair leaving and Omega joining both directly happened at the beginning of season 1. There's only a limited amount of their dynamic we got to see in S1Ep1. Therefore, in terms of group dynamics, this episode was much more impactful than the entirety of S1. (Also I feel like that Echo was mentioned more often than Crosshair in the entire S1)

Another thing I loved is Omega getting a better understanding of Tech. We as viewers obviously see the pretty obvious autistic coding in Tech (might as well just say it out loud, but Disney would probably never in Star Wars). But Omega as a child can not just understand him in a way the viewers do. We have an outside perspective, Omega is on the inside perspective and also grew up with very little connection to other people.                                                                      Not only, is she a (traumatized) child experiencing a lot of change and hardships in her life right now, she probably still has troubles understanding her own emotions to a certain degree, even if she matured a lot.

She is a CHILD. There for she already has trouble understanding and dealing with her own emotions. So without a good conversation (they luckily had) there isn’t a good way for her to understand that people deal with change, hardships, grief etc. in very different ways. While Omega is openly frustrated Tech is dealing with this mostly internally. 

One thing that very often causes some sort of conflict in shows/movies and also real life is family members/friends reacting to a certain situation in very different ways but not understanding/accepting that not everyone deals with the same situation in the same way that you are. Which is why this conversation between Omega and Tech was extremely meaningful to me. Because Omega did learn this now. It goes over the fact that we get a better look at Techs character, it is also a very valuable life lesson for Omega. 

[kariachi]

Fic! Finally! Some more from that au with Mike under house arrest at Kevin’s place.

Sunshine and buttercups this arrangement is not.

~~

While better than prison time, there were still issues that could come with house arrest. Social isolation could be an issue, though in the current situation, to everyone’s at least mild annoyance, it was not. Cabin fever was always a potential issue, especially when combined with the sort of cleithrophobia one may develop after, say, being trapped in a small space for an extended period of time with two other assholes and a kidnapper with complete power over the situation. That was the sort of thing that was solved by making sure an individual got court-mandated therapy and the right to get it in person so one could get out of the house for about an hour and a half every week. Enough time to get therapy and some Starbucks, but not enough time to solve one of the more seemingly minor issues of shopping.

Everyone needed shit, even if it was just a refill on toilet paper, and one couldn’t exactly make an emergency run to Walgreens. This could be mitigated by having somebody else living in the home who can run off and shop, and by the presence of online shopping, which was surely a godsend in these situations. The problem then being that you either need to go to a secondary party every time you need something, or you need to have your own money.

Mike had been a valuable lesson for the team that just because you came from money, doesn’t mean you have it. It would be a few years before he got access to his trusts, and his personal accounts had long run dry. His mom had been more than willing to take the ‘oh, my son has vanished, whatever shall I do’ situation as an excuse to stop sending over his allowance. The Tennysons and Rook had nodded sagely upon learning this, talking about how they wouldn’t want to fund somebody pulling the shit he had either, but he, Kevin, and Cooper had all shared That Look over it. The one where, while the severity differed, you had all been in similar family situations, and knew damn well that wasn’t it. After all, they hadn’t even bothered to bring up to the others, what were even the odds the Plumbers had gotten in touch with his family when he was arrested versus her having found out what had been going on when the shit he’d been pulling at Friedkin came to light.

So, nagging his housemate every time he needed something it was. And when you came into the situation with nothing but the clothes on your back and a bad attitude? That got tiring real quick. Which was certainly one way to get an allowance again. It wasn’t like Kevin couldn’t spare a hundred or so a week to not have to field every damn ‘I want this book’ or ‘run out and grab me a pizza or something, I’m starving’. (He knew the magic word, he’d heard him use it, he just refused to say it to him, the bastard.) The extra expense was well worth that little bit extra peace.

Most of the time.

“Michael,” Kevin called from the kitchen, “why do I give you money?”

“So that I can buy my own make-up and extra meals without having to nag you about it,” came the response from where Mike was curled up on the couch with a book. He gave no indication he’d even noticed the tightness in Kevin’s tone.

“Yes, exactly, So, second question, where’s my fucking forks!?”

“Going to somebody with similarly bad taste, I’m sure.” With a scowl on his face Kevin stormed to the kitchen entry, a fork in hand that had very much not been in the drawer at breakfast.

“There was nothing wrong with my silverware!”

“If you live in a rundown shack in the Appalachians, maybe.” Mike pointedly turned a page. “I’m not living like that, Levin.”

“The fucking gall-”

“Just be glad I don’t have the savings yet to get the bathroom redone.” There was a long silence as Kevin visibly grappled with the desire to plunge the new silver into Mike’s skull.

“Why,” he eventually growled instead, “am I keeping you here.”

“Something something, fuck the Plumbers, something something, basic decency, something something, how dare Gwendolyn try to keep Charmcaster in your apartment.” Kevin heaved a long, heavy sigh through his nose.

“Your money,” he said, “goes to your shit. Leave my crap out of it.” Then turned and stormed back inside. Mike just hummed nonchalantly.

“Mm-hm. The flatware will be here on Friday.”

[andizrmie]

Cancel Culture

As a fan, the Air Mail report both broke my heart and gave me hope. As a writer who is desperate for cancel culture and the treatment of public figures to change, it was enlightening and inspired me to write this piece.

I wanted to share my thoughts on cancel culture and Armie. If you haven't read the Air Mail article, encourage you to.

Discussion is encouraged, rude comments are not. EGBA

We hold people, both people in the public eye and in interpersonal relations to standards that are unattainable and unrealistic. People make mistakes. That is a fact. Cancel culture leaves no room for growth and learning from mistakes. Cancel culture dismisses the original issue without addressing it and moves forward.

While accountability is important, cancel culture takes away valuable lessons and how individuals can grow and change. Accountability can exist without cancel culture. We live in a time where most information is easily accessible and documented via the internet. Everyone has made a mistake in their life and will continue to do so, that is a very human thing. By that logic, everything is seemingly public. We are not perfect and placing people up on this pedestal only for them to fall is not only cruel but clearly not working. It is unfair that we get to pick apart public figures' lives and act as if they are not real people. Not to mention we do not know every aspect of a person’s life just because they are a public figure. This also applies to our friends, partners, family, etc.

By enforcing a culture that is unforgiving and cruel, we are leaving no room for growth, accountability, and rehabilitation. Constantly moving forward without addressing the reason for cancellation does nothing to help the issue and deprives us of opportunities to educate others. We can learn from others' mistakes and by denying this, we are doomed to repeat them. We cannot expect people to know things they were never taught. We cannot expect people to be squeaky clean 100% of the time.

This is part of a larger issue of how we as a society treat people. With sharing your life on the internet, boundaries can become unclear and uncomfortable to set. However boundaries are important, and this applies to everyone including people in the public eye. No one owes you their life story, no one owes you perfection in order for you to not write them off. Who you interact with, look up to, and watch in media is your decision, but that does not give you the right to dissect their entire life. Entertainers are in front of us for entertainment while they’re performing. Their lives are not and shouldn’t be our entertainment.

And now specifically talking about Armie

Firstly, I support Armie.

I stand with Armie.

He did not owe us information about his trauma and pain. He decided to open up about that publicly. I don’t know Armie personally, but I can imagine that wouldn’t have been an easy thing to do. I admire his ability to open up about his suffering. I do not condone all of Armie’s actions. That said, I don’t need to. You can love and support someone without worshiping everything they do. Armie is a person, he has made mistakes, and he is taking accountability for those mistakes. I am glad he’s doing better now and has grown from his pain.

I wish him all the best. I am truly hoping for his rehabilitation. I admire Armie’s passion for acting and will definitely continue to support him in whatever direction he chooses to go in, whether that be acting or not. Some people do have Armie’s back and I hope that they speak loud and clearly. I’m thankful for Howard Rosenman and his support of Armie. I’m thankful for Luca saying he wants to work with Armie again. He may not receive the support of Hollywood but I am hopeful that Armie will have support to return to acting in smaller movies if he chooses to. Most of all, I hope he finds happiness and enjoys his life.

It can get dark sometimes, but even in the darkest times you can find love and support and I hope Armie knows how loved and supported he is.