I’m rereading Po3 and despite its flaws I really enjoyed the introduction to the three. Jaykit isn’t mentioned to be blind in the first few chapters and instead they chose to show how much MORE capable he is compared to his littermates; until at the end of chapter 3, he brings up his blindness on his own. It makes forcing him to be a medicine cat SO much more frustrating because it really feels like they’re setting him up to be a warrior and choose his own fate (note i haven’t finished the reread this is just my first impression)
I like how you seem to take that path in BB regardless! It makes his arc so much more enjoyable
His arc in canon is super frustrating because he's such an independent character who clearly wants to make his own decisions in life, but then he just gets shoved into the medcat den. I LIKE that he ultimately goes there and that he enjoys it; but it was still really fucked up that they stripped away his autonomy in the process.
Re: they are not real, they are writing choices. Taking away the choices a disabled character can make over their own life, forcing them into a celibate nun role, and then going "awwwww dont worry see? he likes it! This was the best thing for him :)" was fucked up.
And imo it didn't have to be that way! You wouldn't have to go the FULL route I did with big changes, he could just be more involved in the descision to stop being a warrior apprentice and it would be fine. Minor change that would make a world of difference.
I do also have to interject to say though... blindness should really not be an extremely severe impairment for a ThunderClan cat.
I'm dead serious.
Whiskers are built-in sensors that tell you the exact position of everything within several inches of your head, ears swerve to pick up sound, and the jacobson's organ provides a sense of smell so keen that I have an entire Clanmew expansion draft because I needed to make WORDS describing the power of this sense that humans do not have. I cannot stress enough how delicate their other senses are, felines do not rely on their sight like primates do
ThunderClan lives in a mixed-oak woodland, where sight is already often obscured by foliage, objects are close together (for whiskers to feel), and nearly every movement makes noise against the leaf litter. RiverClan and (moor-running) WindClan cats would have a harder time with this disability than Thunder or Shadow.
Cat sight SUCKS to begin with. It sucks BADDD. They don't have color vision, they're significantly nearsighted, and they can't track up-and-down movements well. WC doesn't write realistic cats (more like small fuzzy people really) and I also work with more humanesque eyesight, but the only thing Jay should really lose is an ability to rapidly track a small animal swerving fast. Blind cats are often still excellent hunters in spite of that!
So it's an extra big waste that they railroaded him into a position he didn't choose, saying he couldn't be a warrior. This is the perfect disability to write, if you want to explore how ableism can impact the characters in this society who ARE legitimately still capable of nearly full independence, but still need to find accommodations for what they can't do.
In the same arc they're doing the dumb Cinder Reincarnation Plotline, no less!! Where SHE is also feeling like she has no choice over her "destiny," and gets a conflict over a potentially disabling injury
"Oh nooo if cinderpaw breaks her leg she wont be a warrior!"
"What the f-- Im Jaypaw and im reporting live from the scene where a Category 1 Idiot Moment is taking place. Woman breaks leg, suddenly everyone believes she is a horse, more at 11."
One of these days I should really make "herb guides" just covering how various sensory disabilities impact the lives of Clan cats and some tips for writing them as warriors, especially between Clans. Stuff you wouldn't usually consider, like how much noise deaf cats tend to make, how RiverClan would get a ton of sinus infections and lose their sense of smell, being blind in Sky vs Thunder, etc.
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Shigure's relationship with Kyo drives me crazy. he doesn't hate Kyo in the slightest - in fact, he pities Kyo, and not in the condescending "oh you poor little boy, cursed to be a horrible, disgusting monster" sort of way that everyone else does. Shigure pities Kyo for the reason he should be pitied: he's just a kid caught up in a system so inhumane it can't possibly be survived without some seriously unhealthy coping mechanisms.
and it drives me crazy because - listen, Shigure is the only zodiac member who's emotionally aware enough to see the other zodiac members as exactly what they are. he knows Yuki is a severely traumatized kid who projects all of his self-hatred on a single convenient target. he knows Akito is really a scared little girl with a raging god complex (literally) and no concept of a healthy relationship. and he knows Kyo is a regular-ass human being who doesn't deserve to be locked up for the rest of his life just because some arbitrary system says so. he KNOWS it's stupid. he KNOWS it's ridiculous and unfair. and he has to share a house with Kyo knowing that Kyo is living with a sword over his head, hating himself and hating others in perfect tandem because he has no other way of coping with the insane amounts of negativity he's had to deal with his entire life.
but the thing about Shigure is that he KNOWS all of this, and the same time he doesn't really CARE. he feels sorry for Kyo, but an apathetic sort of pity, a disinterested "this is how it is. such a shame." sort of pity. in some ways he's worse than the other zodiacs because he DOES see Kyo as a person, someone he likes being around even, but he still considers Kyo below his attention because all his focus is on Akito and breaking the curse. and sure, once the curse is broken Kyo will theoretically be set free with the rest of them, but that's more of a coincidental side effect than anything. despite being in a much more dangerous and precarious mental space AND comfortably in Shigure's reach, Kyo is about as much a priority for Shigure as Ritsu or Momiji.
and it drives me CRAZY because i think Shigure does start actively caring about Kyo as the series goes on, but it's hard to tell when that happens and to what extent. when Kazuma told Shigure he planned to reveal Kyo's true form and Shigure said he was going too far - whose sake was it for? was Shigure trying to protect Kyo, who would be hideously traumatized/emotionally scarred by such a cruel betrayal? was he trying to protect Kyo and Tohru's relationship, which was still formulating and might, under such severe testing, ultimately end up damaged beyond repair? was he only trying to protect Tohru, who wasn't ready to be burdened by such a horrible aspect of the curse so soon, or perhaps simply didn't deserve it? or was it all for the sake of himself, trying to protect his still-forming plans of using Tohru's positive effect on the Sohmas to break the curse?
Shigure cares about Kyo, but they're not close and Kyo clearly isn't a priority. he treats Kyo like a person - offering him genuine advice, teasing him like he teases anyone else, even speaking up on his behalf once or twice - and yet he's too entrenched in the long game to spare much active interest in Kyo. for a very long time, he doesn't care about Kyo the way he cares about Yuki or Tohru, and it's never made clear when exactly that changed. and the thing that gets me about this whole situation is that right from the start, Shigure is in a position where he can meet Kyo at his level - as equals, just one human being to another - but he doesn't, because Shigure is a chessmaster, Shigure is someone who observes and calculates, Shigure never steps in unless one of his chess pieces makes a wrong move and he absolutely has to.
it drives me crazy. Shigure drives me crazy. this series drives me so so crazy.
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i realize this is something of an obvious sentiment to express in a certain light but the more times one rewatches the show the more it becomes glaringly clear that there are very few individuals who actually ever express a philosophical commitment to flint's war to overthrow england. charles does. billy does, although he has his own motivations as well. madi does. jack and anne don't though! not ever! blackbeard doesn't! max, certainly not. and silver? even before he decides to betray flint he never ever says anything even a little bit committed to any sort of animosity towards england. you hit that 3x10 battle and you realize just how few people are actually in it for the same reasons as flint. and you realize that just like flint, just like the crew, just like madi, john silver has also fooled YOU into believing that everyone is on the same page.
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Thinking about pastel goth Hazel and then remembering there's other goth subcultures and I'm doing a quick search bc im not v familiar w/ them but from a few glances of the different fashions:
Hazel: Pastel goth/Gothic lolita
Nico: Emo goth
Bianca: Mall goth
Macaria: Pin-Up goth
Melinoe: Nu-goth
Zagreus: Glam goth
Hades: All his clothes are just black or dark-coloured, what the fuck is an "aesthetic"/Corporate goth (for meetings. Or to make his nephew realize he's bisexual)
There's a lot of subcultures and I am not good with fashion and trying to find examples (especially for men's looks) of the various subcultures was. hard, but I think it's pretty good rep of my various headcanons on how they dress!
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this is out of nowhere but today I just feel like saying thank you to everyone who interacts with me or sends me asks or says nice things about my work... I'm truly so grateful for the community I've built here. I'm happy there are people who can enjoy what I write. I'm giddy every time someone sends me an ask and wants to talk to me about aki
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the fact that Jack was so calm in front of mermaids, sea monsters, pirates, dead people, dinosaurs, gods, tigers, witches and more but as soon as he saw his father's ship in the distance he turned pale with fear says alot.
Like: even fitz says he has never seen him so scared in almost a year of traveling together.
that boy has risked his life at the least 10 times in 10 different ways and yet the scariest thing for him is his father? Damn Teague you really fucked up
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Okay so, I don't want to give spoilers in this post so this will all be somewhat vague, but I do want to say that there's another part to the Vault of the Roots after the bundles where the player's actions and dialogue are a lot more.. important and meaningful to the story. If anyone felt that this vault's story left a little to be desired, then definitely try the next part! Like I said, this next part gets started after you finish all four bundles (which isn't too hard or time consuming for this one), and like trust me, it's so much more emotionally and narratively satisfying than the first part is.
(Small spoiler in below paragraph for the first part of the quest!)
I don't want to hype it up too much, but it does handle the player's actions, thoughts, and agency a lot better than the first part. I haven't actually finished it yet so I'm not sure how the ending will be, but honestly, I think it'll be good. I think this next part will be especially more gratifying for players who weren't able to convince The Gardener (aka Hekla was the one to change his mind) since our actions and dialogue in this section directly help him in a much bigger way.
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the first time aventurine looks at a flower and thinks of you, he knows.
it's such a quick thing. he sees the daffodil, sunshine-yellow and bobbing in the aircon of the casino's bar, and wonders if you'd like it. he thinks you would. thinks you'd roll your eyes if he handed you one with a flourish, but that there's be the smallest smile tucked up secret in the corner of your lips.
he catches himself a second later, but it's too late.
it's the beginning of the end.
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