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from-a-reckless-writer · 3 years

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dove down my rabbit hole of wips and one of my wips isnt a wip anymore! so here, have some gay shit....

“Kelly wants to get married in the woods, I want to get married in Midvale. So, apparently, our wedding will just happen via Zoom. Her in the woods, me at the beach. Ain’t that just fucking grand?”

Alex comes through the door like a hurricane covered in leather. Her helmet lands on Kara’s counter loudly. Her keys haphazardly thrown somewhere in the general direction of the bowl by the door.

“Then have two weddings.”

Alex follows the voice and her eyes zero in on her sister’s best friend.

Lena is sitting on the floor of Kara’s apartment, wearing an oversized sweater. Her dark hair spilling down her shoulders softly. A hand wrapping around a wine glass, the other typing on her laptop, not even jumping in the slightest at the commotion that is Alex’s entrance.

Alex plops down on the couch sighing loudly, not even batting an eye at this utterly domestic scene that is her sister washing the dishes with Lena Luthor on the floor of her apartment.

Lena doesn’t comment at the Danvers’ Sisters antics and Alex doesn’t call them out on the ridiculousness that Lena and Kara are still keen on keeping up.

The three of them already well desensitized to one another’s preferred brand of bullshitery.

“You know, sometimes I forget you're a rich-ass bitch and then you say shit like that and suddenly, I remember,” Alex says, smoothly snatching the wine from Lena’s hand.

She finishes the entire glass in one gulp and Lena rolls her eyes. Alex had finally proposed to Kelly the other week and well, that meant this week all of them had fallen victim to the Olsen-Danvers wedding debacle. It seems today isn’t the day that that whole dilemma is going to stop.

The wedding, of course, was still a few months away, but both parties were stressing about it as if it was going to happen immediately the next day.

Kara swoops in then, mussing up Alex’s hair, earning her an annoyed Hey stop it! before putting down another wine glass and pouring for Lena. Her arms are still wet from washing the dishes.

Lena murmurs her thanks and continues what she was saying, “Well, since you’ve finally remembered that I’m a billionaire. Let me pay for two weddings.”

Alex chokes on the wine.

“What? You’re kidding me, right?”

Lena continues typing, ignoring Alex’s shock, you’d think she didn’t just offer to pay for a wedding.

“Well, I mean, I’m never gonna get married,” Lena explains, “but if you let me do this, I can brag around that I’ve paid for two weddings. Not to mention I’m gonna make two brides very, very happy.”

“Or,” Kara interjects, lowering herself on the opposite side of the couch, perfect for Lena to lean back between Kara’s legs and lay her head on the side of her thigh. “You can just wait for Kelly to get here,” Kara says, pointedly. “Talk it out like normal adults and reach a compromise.”

Kara’s hands start to snake their way from Lena’s hair to Lena’s shoulders, massaging, all too aware that Lena won’t stop whatever it is she’s working on on her laptop till everybody gets here.

Lena lets herself melt and closes her eyes, sighing as Kara’s fingers dip at the junction of her neck and shoulder with just the right amount of pressure.

“I don’t wanna get married in the woods, Kara.”

Lena opens one eye to take a peek at Alex, who looks exasperated, her eyes pleading, gulping down another glass of wine.

“Don’t tell me,” Kara replies. “Tell Kelly.”

“The bugs, Kara,” Alex moans. “Imagine the bugs, and the moss and the ughhh.”

She dramatically thumps the back of her head on the couch.

“Imagine the soil. Clumpy wet soil. Eurgh. Ew. What if I fall face first in that? What if I trip over a stupid tree root in my heels? In my wedding dress?!”

“Alex, you don’t even have a dress yet,” Kara deadpans.

“I thought you were gonna wear a suit,” Lena adds.

“You two suck.” Alex pouts.

****

The rest of their friends arrive and Kara finally succeeds in prying Lena’s work laptop away from her. Alex was already teasing the line from tipsy to drunk by the time Kelly comes through the door.

“Let’s get married in Vegas!!!!” Is how Alex decides to greet her fiance.

Kelly laughs, gives her a peck then answers, “As much as that sounds like a very convenient wedding, I don’t think Eliza would appreciate that, baby.”

Alex frowns at being rejected, sags against the couch and crosses her arms. Why does Kelly always have to be right?

“How much has she had to drink?” Kelly turns to Kara.

“Uhh ask Lena. She made her switch to whiskey.”

Lena—who Kelly thinks was way too busy nuzzling against Kara’s neck to even answer her question—mumbles something that sounds like “S’was just two glasses.”

Kelly just shakes her head, makes Alex drink a glass of water. Her ring making a clink against the glass.

“Alright, what if,” Nia sing-songs, eyes sparkling with mischief, “we just settle this whole wedding thing with Charades?”

Nia claps her hands together like some gameshow host and Kelly takes a deep breath through the nose.

She’s been to enough Game Nights to know where this is headed.

Everybody else was intoxicated enough to accept the suggestion as a grand idea, not at all even thinking that: Hey, isn’t this something we should all take seriously?? Maybe ask the brides what they want, maybe???

Kara nods enthusiastically, agreeing immediately, “Oh!! That’s a great idea! Fun and fair at the same time!”

“Olsen vs. Danvers. Brides get to pick their teams.”

Nia pulls a white board out of nowhere, uncaps a marker and writes “Team Danvers”, “Team Olsen” separated by a neat line in the middle.

“Are we really letting Nia take charge of our wedding venue?" She hears Alex whisper from where she has her tucked at the crook of her neck.

Kelly sneaks a glance at the chaos happening before their eyes; Brainy already claiming to be on Kelly’s team, J’onn shaking his head opting to be the game scorer instead and refusing to participate, somebody’s shouting about: NIA, DREAM PROJECTIONS AT CHARADES IS CHEATING!!!!

Guess this is their life now.

Kelly smirks, boops Alex on the nose and says, “Scared you’ll lose, Danvers?”

****

Alex loses by three points.

“How was I supposed to know you were gesturing 'Transformers'!?!” She barks at Kara, throwing her hands in exasperation.

“I pointed at Nia!” Kara huffs, incredulous at the fact that her sister is blaming her.

Nia lost them a point too!

“What does Nia even have to do with it???” Alex’s voice grows higher in pitch. Her brows furrow in a mix of confusion and frustration.

“Trans, Alex. Trans.”

“Oh my God,” Alex groans. “How are you this dumb?”

And that was the story of how Kelly got her dream wedding.

****

The frenzy finally dies down, some time between Nia making up another drinking game and J’onn making her sit back down. A movie that none of them were watching provides a background noise to the almost lazy atmosphere. Kelly and Alex were pressed close on the far end of the couch, enjoying the temporary quiet.

“Guess we’re getting married in the woods, huh?” Alex murmurs.

“I guess we are,” Kelly whispers back. Alex beams at her, grinning dopily at the thought of finally getting the ending they deserve. It would be the perfect day, she has no doubt about that. No matter where they are. It would be perfect because they got there together.

Alex can’t wait.

“What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Nothing.”

Alex continues to smile stupidly, nudges her nose to Kelly’s.

“Just— I don’t really care where we get married, I guess.”

“Oh yeah?” Kelly raises an amused brow at her.

“Mm-hm. So long as you’re the one walking down the aisle.”

Alex presses their lips together, breathes Kelly in deep and for the first time that night, she feels that the future isn’t so scary, even though there is still a very large possibility that she might trip over a tree root on her wedding day.

Somebody interrupts their kiss.

“She’s only saying that ‘cos she lost.”

“Shut up, Luthor.”

****

“Text me when you get home!”

Lena hears Kara call loudly after her sister, before closing the door. Game Night has officially ended and as usual she’s still here. She’ll always be here, she thinks for a brief moment. The thought holding more depth than it should.

Kara didn’t even question her when everybody began filing out and Lena just started picking up the discarded dirty plates and walking them to the sink. They’re well past the point of asking each other if the other would stay over.

It was already some unspoken rule.

Already well past the point of Lena wanting to ask Kara what the hell it is they’re doing.

She’s bent over the sink, scrubbing—Kara doesn’t own a dishwasher for the sole reason that she finds doing the dishes therapeutic—when Lena takes a glance over her shoulder.

Kara is sitting on a high stool near the counter, casually flicking through her phone. It was Lena’s turn to do the dishes tonight. Once upon a time her doing the dishes would have resulted in a fight. “I can superspeed the dishes. Why would you even want to do them?” A statement that would be met with an eye roll.

Kara has learned not to fight her on it again, after around the 7th time that Lena had stubbornly insisted and Supergirl got doused with dishwashing liquid.

And now, it’s become some sort of routine, Kara does the dishes after lunch and Lena does the dishes after dinner. Oh, how the paparazzi would kill for this—Lena Luthor Knows What A Sponge Is?

“Is it true when you told Alex you’re never going to get married?”

Kara decides to break their quiet.

“Yeah, pretty certain about that one, why?” Lena turns around, cocks a curious brow. If she’s being honest she’s beyond certain that she’s not going to get married. She always jokes about how she’s married to L-Corp but it isn’t till now that she realizes how true that is, and...how lonely.

“I don’t know,” Kara murmurs, not meeting Lena’s eyes. “I just like the idea of you getting married, I guess.”

“What?” Lena chuckles at that; genuinely confused but still curious.

“Well, I mean—” Kara wobbles through her words.

“I guess, I just— I like the idea of you walking down the aisle...in a white dress,” Kara muses.

Then, “Or a suit!!” she quickly amends. “If you wanna wear a suit, that is. That can totally be arranged, you know?” Kara waves her hand around and it’s like now that she’s started, she can’t stop.

And Lena’s just standing there, water still dripping from her elbow, unsure of how to feel about Kara imagining her getting married. Quite an incredulous scene isn’t it? Her getting married? What a crazy thing to say, an even crazier scenario to imagine!

She snaps out of it, realizing Kara’s still rambling.

“I have no objections whatsoever with that, if you wanna wear a suit. And yeah, you know? I just— I like that idea. I like the idea of you dancing to your wedding song. The idea of you exchanging your vows, the idea of you-”

“Kara,” Lena decides to put a stop to it, since it’s clearly evident Kara won’t be stopping any time soon. And Lena's feeling way too many things that she doesn’t want to feel at the moment. She’s sure that she’s going to feel more, if she doesn’t put a stop to it herself.

“I’m well aware that it’s the best friend’s job to help with the bride’s wedding,” She says, “but, darling don’t you think you’re putting just a bit too much effort into this? Certainly seems like you’ve thought about it a lot.”

At that, Kara’s cheeks turn a light pink, squirming sheepishly under Lena’s questioning gaze.

Shouldn’t Kara be thinking about her own wedding? How beautiful she would look walking down the aisle. How her blonde hair would look so nicely with her dress. How happy she would finally be after finding someone she could share her life with. Not that Lena's been thinking about those kinds of things. No, of course not. That’d be hypocritical of her at this point. Why would she even— Why were they even talking about this again???

Lena tries to rein in it, tries to focus on Kara again; hands finally finding a dry towel, hesitantly walking into Kara’s space to hear the blonde more clearly.

“Well, I mean- Like I said, I do really like the idea of you getting married,” Kara repeats herself slowly.

And before Lena can come any closer, “Like the idea of you getting married…to me. More specifically,” Kara adds more quietly.

“What?”

Lena stands frozen.

“I’m sorry, I don’t think I heard y- Kara, did you just?”

Lena’s heart is pounding away in her chest. Did she hear her right? Did Kara really just—

Lena’s a step away from her and Kara uses this to her advantage. She pulls Lena closer, tugging at her wrist, the towel dropping from Lena’s hands. Kara summons enough willpower to stare into Lena’s eyes.

“I like the idea of you getting married to me, Lena Luthor.”

“Kara, I’m sorry- What?” Lena jerks away from her, the words finally landing.

“Is that a no?”

Kara lets her go. She can’t focus on Lena’s heartbeat to assess the situation more. Kara’s own heart is betraying her, drumming so loudly in her ears.

“Uh- no, that's definitely not a no?” says Lena hesitantly, eyes wide, breathing nervously. She turns away from Kara for a minute to take a breath, hands fidgeting about.

She whirls around again to face, mutters, “You do realize marriages are for people who are—”

She pauses.

How do you exactly phrase that wedding proposals are for people who are actually in some kind of romantic relationship? And not for people who casually stay over every goddamn Thursday without fail?And okay, maybe sometimes, in a much different reality, would willingly commit fratricide to save the other? And in an also much different reality, willingly expose a secret identity to save the other?

Lena can’t find the right words.

“Oh, I don’t know, Kara,” Lena scoffs, shaking her head disbelievingly. “Marriage is for people who are actually dating each other.”

Kara takes her sarcasm as a good sign and pulls her in again.

“Well,” Kara begins. She can hear Lena’s heart thumping erratically, now that Kara’s gotten her bearings.

“We can always have our first date after the wedding, right?”

Aren’t they well past the point of dating anyway?

She’s got Lena standing between her legs now, her hands wrapping around her waist.

“First date and honeymoon all in one. That sounds great, doesn’t it? I can fly you wherever you want, Paris, Maldives, hell I even have a Fortress in the Arctic, if you’re into that.”

Lena stares at her, blinks once, twice; shakes her head and lets out a noise between a laugh and a scoff.

“Kara Zor-El, you are one ridiculous woman,” She breathes, putting a hand on Kara’s cheek. Because what else is there to say? This whole conversation really is ridiculous. But at the same time Lena feels like she’s floating? Like this may be the best moment of her life, and of course, it’s going to be ridiculous. This is Kara she’s dealing with, after all.

She doesn’t know what she’s going to do if Kara reveals this to be just some sort of joke.

But the way her blue eyes are piercing through Lena’s, so earnest and so warm, argues otherwise.

“So, what do you say? Wanna get married?”

“Are you serious right now?” Lena asks, still unbelieving. This is beyond crazy. They’ve fought aliens and monsters and traveled through time but this? This is just beyond crazy.

“Lena, do I look like I’m joking? And besides, you’d already offered to pay for two weddings, why not pay for our two weddings, instead?”

She shakes her head again, let’s herself fall closer to Kara, lets out a laugh against her neck.

“Mm. You want a Kryptonian ceremony too?”

“Yeah.” Kara’s voice turns shy. “If that’s alright by you.”

“Of course, that’s alright by me. I’d be honored.”

Her heart feels more than full at the thought of Kara wanting to share that part of her with Lena. She’s always had some doubts whenever the topic of Kara’s Kryptonian heritage arises, always half-afraid she’s overstepped on something that isn’t hers.

But looks like there was nothing to fear all along.

“So, we’re getting married, huh?” Kara wiggles her brows, her face breaking into a wide grin.

“Yes. Mm-hm,” Lena hums against her. “I do. I’d marry you. Let’s get married.”

“Seal it with a kiss?"

****

“Hi.”

Lena blearily opens her eyes, follows the soft voice, her bare back being caressed by the sun filtering through Kara’s curtains.

“Hi,” She whispers back. All this feels much too like a fever dream. She’s half-tempted to pinch herself just to check. She’s woken up beside Kara a million times before but she’ll never get used to the sight of soft golden hair and sleepy blue eyes.

Kara gives her a soft peck and the feel of her lips sends Lena reeling.

The previous night was a whirlwind in her mind’s eye. The moment Lena murmured her 'Yes, please.', Kara kissed her passionately. Once they broke away, Kara had zipped around the apartment, Lena too dazed to even ask what it was Kara was looking for.

She watched as Kara tore off a keychain from one of her bags, curled the keyring to fit Lena’s finger and whispered, “This’ll do. For now.”

Kara had kissed her knuckles reverently, her lips making Lena’s blood sing in her veins. The feel of mangled metal fitted just for her left hand is an imprint on her soul. A promise of more to come.

They didn’t make it out of the kitchen the first time. Kara had lifted her by the waist and set her down on the kitchen counter. Which was a good thing, because Lena couldn’t feel her legs after.

They didn’t make it to the bedroom the second time either. She had tackled Kara onto the couch, pinning her wrists together, licking at the shell of Kara’s ear. “My turn now,” Lena had whispered. The way Kara shivered underneath her was enough of a reward. How long had they been waiting for this?

Flashes of last night had her hips bucking slightly unto Kara’s leg sandwiched between her own, but before it could escalate further...

“I have exciting news to share,” Kara tells her.

“Really?”

“Mm-hmm,” Kara hums, now nosing at Lena’s hair.

“What is it?” Lena asks.

“I’m getting married.”

“Oh you are?” Lena plays along.

“Yes. I’m getting married to my best friend,” whispers Kara, almost conspiratorially. “How cool is that?”

Kara looks giddy with excitement and Lena knows she’s mirroring that exact same expression right now.

“Mm. Very cool, darling.”

Kara giggles and they trade more lazy kisses before Lena breaks away to breathe.

“Quite a coincidence though,” Lena husks out against Kara’s lips.

“Oh really? Why?” Kara asks, tries to keep a serious neutral face despite her nose scrunching up in that cute smile that Lena can’t resist

“I’m also getting married,” Lena confides, “To my best friend," she adds, eyes flashing. "Isn’t that great?”

“Very great.” Kara nods slowly, blonde hair falling into her face, a hand running through dark tresses.

“I love you,” Lena whispers, her lips brushing Kara’s softly.

“I love you, too.” Kara kisses her harder then, her hands lazily wandering along Lena’s skin.

They lie there quietly for a few moments, basking in the morning glow and then, “Alex will kill us.”

Lena snorts, twists in the sheets and says, “I think your sister is too busy planning her wedding to even think about plotting our murder.”

read follow-up here.

#im praying we get a dansen wedding u guys #anyways yeah this is something they would totally do right?#get married on a whim #if u see a typo no u didnt #oh and also im still working on the prompts u guys sent me so there's that #thats the majority of my wips cos im one slow writer #happy supercorp sunday lovely people #supercorp ficlet of sorts #the reckless writer writes #supercorp #rcklss writes

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via-the-ghoul · 3 years

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Various Little Misters headcanons (part one)

(Part two: here)

Chameleon

He/they

Aroace

Barely ever talks to anyone who isn’t a mister, and even if you are a mister they have trouble starting a conversation

Has an echoey tone in his voice

Pretty curious, loves watching nature documentaries

Has a habit of just Standing There

Is the second highest on the “wants to be a normal person” list, second only to Laugh, of course

Pre-mister-ifacation they helped worked on the advertisements for Wondertainment products, they were actually one of the later misters to be created and thought it seemed cool, they would regret it immensely, if they remembered his previous life well enough.

Headless

Gay

Has memorized the entire Nightmare before Christmas script

Gets along pretty well with the other misters, him and Sweetie are bestie goals

Chill goth

Has also memorized the entire Corpse Bride script

Acts like some dramatic villain but he’s really just a nice chill guy, he’s trying to be all fun spooky

Still hopes he will eventually find his old family

Pre-mister-ifacation he was one of Reginald’s many cousins, he was looking for a fresh start and well

Laugh

Knows like, a lot of really weird insults.

Gets along with Fish best

Reginald made him literally unable to swear, he tries and he just makes a honking sound.

Has three moods, angry, sad, and smad

Really enjoys painting

If you put all the misters in some kind of ranking device where it would show how much they wanted to not be anonymous then Laugh would be above everyone by like. Thousands.

Pre-mister-ifacation he was one of Hot’s friends (also before Hot’s mister-ifacation) and also unemployed. Hot was letting him stay at his house one day and he was ranting about how everything seems to be going wrong and how lonely he was and Hot was like “well I have a job idea for you” and well

Forgetful

Still questioning his sexuality

While he’s still bound to forget it he’s still a lot better when it comes to stuff other misters tell him

Has trouble getting along with the other misters, but Hot is somehow the coolest with him

Like, really good at chess. He has no idea what he’s doing but he’s good at it

Stepford smiler

In horrible, horrible denial over so, so many things, from Smiles’ horrible, horrible fate (which he’s the only mister apart from Redd to know about), just how bad Redd went down, to Reginald’s death.

Well of course he doesn’t like his anomaly

Just a normal Wondertainment employee pre-mister-ifacation

Shapey

Genderfluid, uses any pronouns

Pan

Their forms tend to be like, really good at hugs

Chill with Lost

His personality tends to change between forms but is usually friendly

If she’s around someone they like for long enough their forms tend to be stuff he thinks they’d like

Knows a surprising amount of oddly specific facts, really good at trivia games

She’s fine with her anomaly but she fears no one else like his ideas and that stresses them out

Was also a normal worker pre-mister-ifacation, thought they’d be more useful as a mister

Soap

He/they

Ace, attracted to girls romantically

His time at that factory fucked him up badly, it’s really hard for him to trust people now

Except for, well, some of the other misters. The more chill ones.

Sleepy.

“The tropes ‘likes spooky things’ and ‘is easily frightened’ can coexist. It’s me I’m in hell.”

Animal lover, will pet a dog for 5 minutes straight

He would like to remove his anomaly very much.

Pre-mister-ifacation they worked for a confetti company Reginald tended to order from.

Hungry

Pan, aromatic

Insomniac, afraid he’ll accidentally eat someone in his sleep or something

Gets along pretty well with like all of the other misters (except Redd. No one gets along with Redd. Redd doesn’t get along with Redd. Smiles does somehow but-)

One of the more chill misters.

Genuinely cried watching Radio Rebel

Sweaters sweaters sweaters

Would like to not live in fear of accidentally eating a child

Pre-mister-ifacation worked in Wondertainment’s candy business, retained absolutely no food-making knowledge

Brass

Bigender, he/they, might actually be Mekane but no one actually knows including Brass

Ace/aro

Knows things they definitely should not know and will just casually bring up said stuff in conversation

Kinda like the cool big bro of the other misters

Doesn’t understand any modern lingo whatsoever

Listens almost exclusively to vocaloid

Really likes nature

Before being a mister, he [REDACTED]

Hot

Gay

“Superiority ’complex’? I find it quite simple, really.”

Is constantly done with everyone else’s shit

Tells really good jokes but no one would ever believe you

Takes everything way too seriously

Surprisingly softens up around kids, he’s like a completely different person

Sweetie

Trans lesbian

Is genuinely as sweet as she acts but would not hesitate to throw hands if she hears you talking shit

The cool big sis of the misters

Her fav music genre are those vocaloid songs that sound really cute but have like really fucked up lyrics

Two emotions: cute and death

Big Darkest Dungeon fan

Also worked in the candy wing before becoming a mister

#via #via rambles #scp #scp foundation #scp fandom #scp headcanons #scp little misters #mr chameleon #mr headless #mr laugh #mr forgetful #mx shapey #mr soap #mr hungry #mr brass #mr hot #ms sweetie #long post #tw death mention

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omiscurls · 4 years

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Lady and The Tramp - sakusa kiyoomi x reader

well hi! It’s been a while since I wrote one of those, huh?

so obviously the volleyball player you��re gonna fall for today is sakusa kiyoomi

the word count: around 2K

summary: your boyfriend and you go for a winter walk with his dog, and he gets a bit nostalgic.

and let’s go!

The sun shines a little bit different every season of the year. The winter sun is a tad bit more harsh and refreshing that the slow, dripping summer mornings. And as you look at the white, glistening snow, and the cold sun rays shining directly at it, you just have the urge to go out and do something with yourself, don’t you?

Same struggles happened in Sakusa Kiyoomi’s head that very morning when he woke up to a cold apartament drowning in sun rays, causing him to put a hand over his eyes, to cover them from the merciless light.

“Did I forget to turn the heaters on again?” He whined, and cursed his need to open windows before going to sleep each night. Now it was almost impossible for him to get out of the sheets, considering the temperature in his room was way below zero.

He managed to get one arm outside the warm bed and reached for his phone, charging on the side table. A sight of you in his MSBY shirt, sat on a kitchen counter and showing something you just baked, with a proud grin on your face on his wallpaper greeted him, and the widget above your head told him that it was six in the morning.

So he woke up before his alarm? Impressive, given that it was a Saturday and no practice was planned. He had exactly thirty two minutes before his phone would tell him to “get his ass out of bed” and go for a run.

Sighing, he threw the phone away on the mattrace, and wrapping his blanket around him, he went over to the window.

It snowed last night.

Wait, it snowed last night?

Suddenly, he was a little kid inside, because oh gosh, it never snowed these days! It was all looking so nice, everything covered in a white layer, as if it wasn’t the outside of his apartment, but a picture taken from a children’s book.

After he almost jumped from excitement, the adult side of his has taken over. If it snowed, it meant the temperature went below zero. If it went below zero, the sidewalk would be so slippery that running would be almost impossible.

Well, screw it. He wasn’t going to let a tad little detail like that ruin his good mood. And so he went over to each radiator he had and turned it on, then going to bed again and scrolling through his social media until the temperature around was warm enough for him to leave the sheets.

And so it took a couple of hours for him to finally get himself up and going, but it was still fairly early when you knocked on the door of his apartment, and heard some shuffling inside.

“Sit already, would you? Fine, okay, I know you’re excited, but-“ your boyfriend’s voice was cut off by a bark, and he was silent for a second, while on the other side of the door, you were barely holding in your laugh.

“Hey! Behave! No!” he raised his voice ever so slightly, but apparently it worked on the poor dog, because soon enough you saw him, leant against the doorframe with both his hands in his pockets, his pet sitting beside him, although almost jumping from excitement upon seeing someone else.

“Oh, didn’t expect you here today” he said nonchalantly, a smirk forming on his lips, as he knew well that he invited you here himself. You rolled your eyes, and passed him by, leading yourself to his bathroom. “Not even a hello?” he whined jokingly, as you shook your head.

“I was in a public bus, let me go wash my hands” you explained, and he nodded, mentally trying to convince himself that’s just something people do. You’re not doing it just for him.

He followed you to the bathroom and once again stood in the door, looking at you with a happy spark in his eyes.

You looked so in place while just casually standing anywhere in his apartament. Like you belonged there. And he was almost certain you indeed, did belong there. He wouldn’t have you any other place, rather than by his side.

“You should really get a license already” he said, quickly looking down at his nails, so you wouldn’t see him stare.

“Mhm” you agreed silently, wiping your hands “I know” you slowly approached him, firstly playing with the material of his shirt, and after a while, curling his hair on your finger. It required staying on your tippy toes, which he found endearing. “And you, sir, are due for a haircut”

“Am I?” he said, touching his curls himself, but not leaving you to check in the mirror. “Can you do it?”

You giggled.

That was kinda part of the plan, since he absolutely loved hearing you laugh. He wasn’t the most funny person on earth, yet he was motivated to become a full comedian just to hear that genuine chuckle you gave his finest jokes.

„I cant cut your hair, silly” you said, rubbing his temple with one finger as you were still playing with the pitch black curls. “You have to go to a salon”

He shivered theatrically, rolling his eyes at you and walking away towards the kitchen. “And here I thought you loved me” he huffed, making you smile in disbelief.

“You’re being a baby!”

“I’ll ask my sister to do it”

“Your sister lives kinda away, you’re aware of that, right?” you continued, following his steps to the bigger room, where he was sitting on the floor and tying his shoes.

“So? She loves me, she’ll do it”

“She has her own kid to take care of, she doesn’t need a twenty two year old one” you shoot back, remembering the last family reunion you attended with your boyfriend. It was a complete mess, but meeting his parents explained... a whole lot of things about his character.

He really did look like a little kid, reaching for another one of his sneakers, scarf already put half on around his neck, smiling softly, having to pause the process of tying his shoes every time his dog tried to lick his face in excitement. The poorly named Swiss Setter never left your boyfriend’s side whenever he was home, so used to his their very own slow lifestyle.

You knew damn well she was emotionally attached to her owner, and loved him dearly, as you were the one to babysit her whenever Kiyoomi had an out of town game, and the first couple of times she didn’t sleep at all, and neither did you. It required him staying overnight at your place together with the dog for her to understand it’s a safe place.

“Now now, calm down, Lady, at least let me tie my shoes!” he giggled childishly. The first time you ever saw him snuggled up on the couch with the dog, watching some crappy Netflix show, you couldn’t believe your eyes.

THE Kiyoomi Sakusa. On the couch. With a dog.

You soon found out that Lady, because that’s the crappy name the dog so proudly got by, had been one of your boyfriend’s only friends until the time he graduated. She wasn’t exactly a rescue dog, but his older brother brought her home from his former friend’s house, where she didn’t exactly had the best start in life.

Kiyoomi didn’t fall in love at first sight, he needed time to adjust to having a dog in the house, but Lady seemed very fond of him, and weirdly enough, only listened to his commands. (The trainer said it’s about his voice, as it is deep and raspy, when he says something loudly enough, she feels respect towards him).

He was soon in charge of training the dog to be a good pet for a household such as the Sakusas place, a huge, always so elegant and spotless house, where no one is around too often, but frankly, “family friends” came back every other night to drink rosé with his mother, or whisky with his father.

It was to no one’s surprise, that when Kiyoomi moved away and went to college, his porcelain doll of a mother and distant father couldn’t get a hold of the Swiss Setter, who’s manners weren’t so ladylike. The deal was simple, either kiyoomi takes her to his place, or she ends up in a shelter.

And as he loved dogs, and secretly had a heart of a four-year-old, he took her in with himself, and, frankly, let her rule over his at-home life all the time.

She was very well behaved when in public, knew what was on her owner’s mind by the look in his eyes and reacted on the snaps of his fingers, but inside the four walls of his apartment, she could walk all over him, which you found amusing.

Kiyoomi put her on her leash, and rose his eyebrow at you.

“Coming?” he asked, having the door opened for you already. You nodded and left, waiting for him to lock the door behind the three of you.

It was cold outside, but not too cold, and the air was refreshing, even in such a city as Osaka is. Kiyoomi mindlessly tied his pinky with yours, a bit of a hard thing to do in leather gloves, but he was all about the details.

After two years of your relationship, he was perfectly capable of holding your hand just fine, but sentimentally enough opted to hold your pinky instead, as if your romance was fresh once again.

You smiled at the feeling and squeezed his pinky back with yours, You glanced over at him staring at his feet, as you walked towards the park in comfortable silence.

“When do you have the next match, Omi?” you started a casual conversation, and he looked as if you took him out of a trans of sorts.

“Oh, uhm, next Friday” he answered upsentmindedly. You caught him sparing loving glances in Lady’s direction, an indescribable nostalgy painting his face in cold colors.

When you reached the entrance to the huge park, where dogs were allowed off leash, you bent over and made a snowball, the throwing it at his back. He turned around to face you and gave you a look of betrayal.

“You didn’t” he whispered.

“I think I did” you giggled, covering your mouth with your hands, waiting for his next move.

He bit back a smirk, trying to remain stoic as he kneeled down to release Lady off her leash, hiding it in the pocket of his black coat, then picking up snow in his hands and forming a round snowball, directing it right at you.

Lady kept running around the two of you, jumping in excitement, not fully understanding what you’re doing, but happy to be a part of it.

“Hey, ouch!” you laughed, theatrically covering the shoulder it reached. “You didn’t need to spike it!”

There weren’t many people at the park that day, considering the fact that it was first snow, and parents don’t usually bring kids, who want to build snowmen, to a park where dogs are allowed off leash.

“Oh, you wanna see a spike?” a little smile covered his lips, exposing his blushing cheeks, contrasting with the rest of his pale face, and dark curls.

“Try me, pretty boy”

“Aight” he put his hands up in an agreeing gesture “Just don’t whine about the bruises later”

“Same goes to you”

He huffed, getting back as he gathered snow in his hands and rolled it a bit before aiming at you, jumping in place as you tried to “become a harder target to hit”. He shook his head in disbelief.

God, I love that dork, he thought, purposely frowning and posing as if he was about to serve.

Lady kept jumping around him, noticing a round object in his hand.

“This is not for you, dummy” he laughed, but noticing her excitement, excitement that he didn’t get to see a lot recently, since she was visibly getting older, and more tired, a warm feeling flooded over his chest. He sighed. “Alright, you want it? You want it?” he kept teasing, making her jump around, before breaking the ball and rubbing the snow in her fur.

She layed down on her back, showing her tummy for pets, which he did obviously provide, tickling that one spot that made her move her leg uncontrollably.

He got up, and formed another snowball, showing it to her.

“Watch out, I’m throwing it!” he said to her, before aiming at some free space far from him, throwing the ball from behind his back, watching with a heartwarming smile as she ran after it.

He seemed to have forgotten about defeating you, watching as his dog kept digging for the “ball” that already disappeared in the snow, so you walked back up to him.

“You okay?” you asked softly, and he looked at you in surprise.

“Yeah, obviously” he responded, but something seemed off. You tangled your arms around his shoulder, smushing your cheek against it, and looking at Lady sniffing around the place the snowball landed. “You know, if it weren’t for her, I’d still be too anxious to pet dogs I like when I’m on walks” he started, his mind some place else.

“Well, many things wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for her. We probably wouldn’t have met!” you smiled against the fabric of the thick coat, both of you remembering that sunny afternoon when you sat by the river in the park, reading some sort of upsetting news on your phone, frowning, tears forming in the corners of your eyes, when suddenly, you flinched, seeing a snoot between your arms, and when you parted it, you saw a panting, big dog staring back at you. You heard a distressed “Oh my god, Lady! Come back here!” in the distance, and you lifted your eyes to see a tall like a tower twenty-year old, black curls swept away from his face with hairgel, but getting a bit in the way due to the wind, the guy wearing black t-shirt, with a golden logo, of what appeared to be a... fox? You then thought, only later discovering it’s actually a Jackal, and the letters B and J on the sides of it, and sporty shorts. Apparently, they were on a run.

“I’m so, so sorry, she never does that. Please don’t get too mad at her, she means no harm! Oh, my god, Lady, come back here!” he hissed, putting the dog back on a leash. “I’m sorry! Hey, I can buy you a coffee, if that’ll make up for her? I’m choosing the coffee shop though, there’s a little one nearby and there’re not too many people in it, the popular ones are a rip off anyway, wait— are you crying?” he panted out, staring directly at your face, with a deadpan look.

“It’s alright, I like dogs. But I like coffee, too”

You smiled upon remembering that afternoon, as the completely different sun shined on you two in that moment, not the exhausting, August-ish one, that makes you want to never leave the nearest pool, but a cool and refreshing February one. Two years passed, and the both of you weren’t just strangers in the park, you were one of these cheesy couples teenage girls look at and get upset because they think they’re never going to be like that with anyone. Although, the bonding dog stayed the same.

Speaking of Lady, she ran up to Kiyoomi, who was lost in his thoughts and memories, proudly showing off a stick she must’ve found under the snow at some point.

“Look what you got there!” he kneeled down, trying to get it away from her to throw it. “My good girl” he giggled.

Some February afternoons could just last forever.

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popculturebuffet · 4 years

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Amphibia Reviews: The First Temple or Bessie and Joe: The New OTP

Hello all you happy people! Amphibia season 2 moves right a long and it’s time for some video game shenanigans as we enter The First Temple! Family drama, snail on bird action, and outhouses await you under the cut with a recap/review with full spoilers.

So we open with the Plantars having chocopillbug pancakes. Ironically my mom offered me chocolate chip pancakes after this and thank god for that. This is a rare treat to the point Anne didn’t even know they had choclate, and is suprisingly not strangling Hop Pop over this. Unsuprisingly he broke out the good stuff to try and make up for hiding the box and things are still VERY awkward between the two, with Hop Pop walking on Egghshells around Anne and Anne doing the same when he brings it up with both desperatley trying to avoid the subject and Sprig not helping by bringing it up a bunch.

I like this a lot and didn’t really think about the series continuting any tension over his decision.. but should have. Partly because this is a modern animated show and most of this wonderful new wave of shows have a LOT of emotional nuance. ANd partly because this show dosen’t forget things even most nuanced shows forget: the fact the characters cause chaos and learn life lesons is outright RECOGNZIED by the show as a pattern and brought up quite often, as are the patterns that lead to it, like mostly being sprig and anne, anne’s impulsivness that sort of thing. It’s the kind of thing you just gloss over in most shows but this one lampshades to hell and back for funsies so when something THIS important happens, you’d better belivie it’s not just going to disappear.

The tensions thankfully broken by a new arrival, as a massive sparrow shows up in the yard. “It’s a giant bird with.. books on it’s back.. what. “ Great delivery from bill there. Naturally it’s Marcy!

I missed this little goober. Such a joy to be around, and she of course marvels over the Plantar’s house before getting back on track: She’s found the first temple.. even though she sent a letter saying that and it’s not commented on that she did. It set off the whole previous episode Marcy... you okay Mar-Mar?

That aside though it’s time for the first temple and Marcy asks for the Box, with Sprig trying to make a joke about how good thing she didn’t ask for it a week ago.

Polly rightly punches him in the ribs... do frogs have ribs? Hold on.. okay here we go

Huh.. so they do not You learn something new every day. Well lack of ribs or no our heroes are ready.. while Marcy’s sparrow Joe is also ready TO GET IT ON. Yes really, he does a mating dance for Bessie, complete with an intersumental version of “Sylvia” from last season. God damn that bird’s got game. The only time i’ve seen more game is THIS.

Marcy tells him to knock it off. Look marcy your a pet owner now and as a pet owner, it’s your responsiblity.. to let your giant bird do horrifying things with a slightly smaller but still giant snail. it’s what nature intended. Nature was doing a lot of cocaine that day but we still honor her wishes.

But anyways Marcy’s figure out something intresting about the box.. by winding it just right the gems pop out, which allows her to take one, we later find out it’s the green one, to use in the temple. So off we go with Marcy and the rest of the kids up top and Hop Pop.. screaming in Joe Sparrows claws. He’s fine.

So while they get ready, Anne worries about the amount of puzzles and hazzards Marcy’s hyping for this but Marcy shurgs it off and gives her own big boast about how may RTS she’s beaten.. suspciously like Yuaan as one post on here pointed out. Not a huge suprise though, to Marcy she’d just be the grand hero out of one of her rpg’s and not think of how many people she probably killed or who she’s working for.. though you’d THNK given all the RPG’s both tapetop and on her switch she’s played, that Marcy would see that “the benevolent king turns out to be the big bad” trope coming.

But Anne’s worry is not on the big bad of the show but on Marcy who has a tendency to get so in the zone she ignores the world around her, which goes from focusing on her game while helping anne get softserve leading to a mess, not letting Anne down in a play and.. Anne catching Marcy on tv as all the snakes escape from the zoo.

Regardless our heroes arrive and while the awkwardness between anne and hop pop continues, they find a majestic temple.. and what appears to be an outhouse. Hey we all gotta poop sometimes, even people making a majestic temple. If you don’t it comes out like this.

So they head in and we get our first puzzle, a mysterious cube that lifts you into the air and allows you to tilt the thing around.

Those of you wondering why I have such a strong reaction have ever never played breath of the wild or played it with a pro controller, i.e. NOT having to tilt the very thing your screen is on because Nintendo has failed to grasp that MAYBE people don’t like that, that it takes you out of the experince and that it’s really hard to focus on your screen while having to move the fucking system about. And the plantar’s getting horribly jostled around as she moves it is EXACTLY how it feels to play a puzzle requring that shit.

Next is a color based tile dungeon leftover from Link’s Awakening DX. As marcy figures out the reds do fire and the blues do crushing... but she reads the language (And as she put earlier “Guess who learned an entire dead language?” God she’s precious. ) and finds a green with envy pun (Which Hop Pop takes offense to.. several of his friends are green.). Which is curious as given several citzens of amphibia are green.. why would they make a green pun? So she gets on one tile and Hop Pop plans to take the risk of getting on the other green tile, but Anne does it instead.. and things get heated between the two as Anne reveals she no longe feels like family since he did what he did for polly and sprig and hop pop takes offense as she IS. Even if he screwed up with her. But Anne’s near death experince activates the tile.

The final challnge switches us from Zelda.. to Harry Freaking Potter.

Now I used to love Harry Potter, with all of my heart. Then JK Rowling turned out to be a transphobic piece of shit who thinks she’s an ally, but is really a bigot who wants to “accept” trans people without giving them any rights. So yeah while I still love the starkid musicals, ore more accuratley the music from them, and own a copy of lego harry potter I got as a gift recently as both parties had no idea she was a monster when this stuff was made. Still a sore subject though, but if I didn’t bring up the similiarties I wouldn’t be doing my job as a critic and this was likely thought up long before JK outed herself as well...

No no the great mighty poo respects all peoples.. and wants to take their heads and ram it up his butt. He’s an equal opportunity butt rammer.

Anyways this is the frog equivlent of chess flipfrog, and just like with Wizard chess, our heroes end up as the pieces minus marcy.. and in a nice twist on that scene, Anne ends up on the other side. Marcy is a grandmaster at it though so after an hour or so of play she almost wins.. only for the king equilvent to refuse to be taken and the automatic board she’s up against to send Anne against hop pop, and with our heroes magically restrained and given stone weapons, this can’t end well. Eventually though Anne’s forced to hit HOp Pop multiple times and while he says “well isn’t this what you wanted”, she says no.. she didn’t want to phsyically hurt him it’s just complicated. So we get one heck of an emotioinal scene as Hop Pop just wants to help and wants this to stop and dosen’t knoow how to fix this which as someone who desperatlyt ries to fix most emotional situations right away this hit very hard.. and her response of needing time hit harder. The two while not reconciled, ar ecloser to it and Marcy realizes what she’s done getting so obessed with winning and forfits for thier benifit. Our heroes leave, seemingly having lost.. only to find glowing arrows to the crap hole, which turns out to be the pedistal. The temple wasn’t just an intellegence test but empathy.. and the temples are clearly built to specifically test each of the chosen three, our heroines, specifically. Marcy’s tested her intellegence.. but also her willingness to let go of cold clyincal thought to do the right thing. That earns her her gem recharged and a flash in her eyes and her gem starts pointing to the next. She needs time to triangulate and hop pop and anne are back on workable footing... though our heroes offer to take a break instead of going to the next temple.

Back in Newtopia, Yuaan reports on the toads gathering.. but dosen’t get to mentioning sasha before Marcy’s letter interrupts and Andridas oddly and aburbly dimisses her.. and goes to talk to a watcher with a thousand eyes, his “master” who has plans to undo the prophcey and get their revenge.

Final Thoughts: This was a damn fine episode that gave Marcy some much needed character development, and gave the reveals of last episode some more emotiional fallout. It also had some really great jokes as always. Top notch stuf.

Next Time: Marcy tries to win everyone over through science and we FINALLY get an episode with the Frog Robot apparently. Horay

Next on this Blog: We go into final space yo! It’s unexpected births, ho yay, and horrifying zombie gary’s galore!

Until then if you liked this review, follow me for more, join my patreon, comission a review if you please and i’ll see you at the next rainbow. Play us out jeff... and I haven’t done THAT bit in a while but eh. This song was too perfect.

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#amphibia #anne boonchuy #marcy wu #the first temple #hopidah plantar #sprig plantar #polly planntar #king andrias #the watcher with a thousand eyes

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illmamnim · 4 years

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Re watching Danny Phantom - episode 1

Basically, I want to analyse the show with out just going from memory. So I'll watch episode by episode, pointing both things I love and hate, and occasionally, what I would do different.

Episode 2

This one will probably be the longest just because I am recalling stuff that happen later on and for the other episodes I’ll focus more on them.

So let's get to it

“Actually, dad, I wanna be an astronaut.”

Danny’s very first line, the dream he had since the very beginning. And it’s barely shown.

He does get exited about it when it shows up but it doesn’t look like he cares about it much outside of it. for a show with such themed characters it feels like Danny is far more built.

now it could fit if all the other characters just as built, or at least the main ones, but every character seems to have an image they go by and Danny just stands out.

“Waste these looks and all this charisma hunting ghosts?! Criminal.”

Nothing to say here, I just love that line.

The whole fight behind Jack’s back

I want to make a whole post about Idiot Jack but for now I’ll just say this: The Idiot tropes are so lovable because usually there's a kind, caring person at the end of them. Jack is shown very little to care about Danny or Jazz and will force them into ghost hunting shenanigans based on the plot’s needs.

Jazz seems to be the only one to notice that their parents' obsession with ghosts is interfering with their everyday lives.

Other than that, It’s a good over all introduction to the Fenton family and their work.

Opening

👌👌👌

“You need guidance, and parents who can provide it.”

Jazz's notices that their parents' don’t pay attention to them- especially Danny. Earlier this scene, we see her read a book about adolescence and therapy and immediately she's the one to point out that her parents are ignoring Danny. They’re all together at breakfast and Jack and Maddie work right on the table.

Jazz is the one to notice how anxious Danny is most of the time and probably the only one to notice he's being bullied. (as he said- he's Dash's favorite)

Yes, Jazz thinks she's more grown up than she really is, which means that everyone in Danny’s life treats him like a child and her own obsession with being right can make her forget about the world.

But unlike many characters, she does get this development- The Fenton Menace and Secret Weapons are good examples of that.

“Why? Parents don’t listen. Even worse, they don’t understand. WHY CAN’T THEY ACCEPT ME FOR WHO I AM?!”

I’m going to use this to talk about lgbtq+ characters in the show. Or, more accurately the lack thereof.

I talked about it when I did some notes from memory, where I’ve mentioned that characters like Danny and Sam are so fitted to be apart of the lgbtq community that the fact that they’re not isn’t just disappointing but it feels like it’s missing.

Sam prides on being herself but she hides knowing she will always get backlash for things that don’t fit into some 1 dimensional character people expect her to be. And Danny is always afraid of being himself but when he is he feels the most free and happy.

Trans!Danny hcs didn’t just happen for no reason and if the show is ever to be rebooted I expect them to include it in, in any way.

“Your powers make you unique, and unique is good. That’s why I’m an ultra recyclo-vegetarian.”

Ok, big pet peeve of mine in the show.

They treat Sam as if she only does stuff to “be unique”. This could work perfectly if she had a development or reason- but later on all we seem to understand is that she’s just being “I’m not like other girls” and her being vegetarian or goth is nothing but her trying to either stand out or annoy her parents.

Does she actually want to do half the stuff she does? Her Sticking It To The Man attitude is admirable but whenever she talks about it it just kinda look like she would change herself to make sure she’s not ordinary.

Personally I do get it, cause it’s what I used to do, but the whole point of stating it is to show how she’s growing out of feeling like she can’t do stuff- Let her care for a stupid flour sack, let her show that she’s into ghosts and moreover I WANNA KNOW WHY

My headcanon is that that’s how she and Danny became friends in the first place and I would love to see how this gang got together.

“What if Jazz isn’t a ghost? What if we accidentally hurt her?”

Remind me why we don’t listen to Maddie more often?

Oh right, cause then they’d have to actually make the effort and have to think about how to make this show make sense.

“It’s garbage.”

Why does it look like the gang never seem to actually support one another? It doesn’t even look jokey or teasing, sometimes it just looks like they only hang out cause they have no other friends.

ghost sense

I always thought, and still think, that the blue line coming from the ghost sense is cold air turned warm and I made a post joking about Danny is always mouth breathing. And i got a comment that said “ It's probably more like a sudden cold feeling, so Danny gasps cause he's cold.“ I really liked it and I feel like they could’ve captured or explained it in the show better.

“Oh great, I’m still his favorite.”

They made that point a bunch in the show, that Dash is almost like Danny’s privet bully.

Why?

Dash bullies anyone, but Mikey and Danny seem to be a reoccurring deal (Mikey probably because he’s always doing their homework.) and they never explain it.

It just looks like main character syndrome.

“YOU CHANGED THE MENU?!”

I love how they portray more humanoid ghosts as more possible to act human and how much more scary it makes them when they suddenly break this humanity.

Lunch lady

She seems to be able to control much more than just food products (plates, books and papers, cutting the lights) and they never really explain how some ghosts can do this or that, and which powers are or aren’t universal.

(Non related but her face is adorable! Nice old evil grandma)

“repeated loitering by the girl’s locker-room.”

They really didn’t have to make Tucker a creep.

“[He threw] Four touchdown passes in the last game is thereby exempt from scorn.”

Uhh is this an american thing?? Are jocks really that much of a teacher’s pets that who ever played high school sports is able gets away with murder?

Danny’s powers’ look

They seem to always animate and portray the powers differently each time-

Sometimes when he’s intangible he’s blue, sometimes transparent, sometimes the lines change colors sometimes not.

Many animation errors seem to be about inconsistency.

“Guys, time to makeup. Now!”

He just transforms?? Right there?!

The Spike scene

Ok, we learn a lot here.

first of, why didn’t we see more of Spike in the show?! it could’ve been amazing to see Jazz with actual friends.

And if he isn’t her friend, Jazz gives advice to people? Why didn’t we see more on that? How both she and Danny want to help people and how this is her way of doing it cause she has no powers. How could’ve been her build up to becoming a hero alongside Danny!

And second, is when her parents attack her. This shows how little they listen to her, why she always feels like the only responsible person in the family and how she probably is.

I’ll probably get on that more in My Brother’s Keeper.

Danny fighting the little meat creatures is my favorite fight scene in the episode

“The Fenton Thermos! But how am I going to get it to work?“

How did he get it to work?? They never really explained it, he just kinda turned blue and it did.

side notes:

The Amount Of Sound Effects...

Personal preference but I don’t like how much they change the colors of the sky and background only when a ghost is near and then it turns back- It’s distracting.

I usually expect side jokes to not affect the plot but here they kinda mix it and I can’t know what’s a side joke and what is more meaningful

Y’know... I never did notice how many jokes Danny makes. But now...

Danny looks so happy when ever he manages to do some ghost trick, it’s adorable

The Fentons have 5 brain cells and Jazz holds 3 of them. (Danny and Maddie split when they need it)

The camera angles are very fun and look like they could fit perfectly as a comic

The voice acting is super good

#danny phantom #s1e01 #rant #commentary #analysis #jazz fenton #jack fenton #maddie fenton #the fentons #sam manson #tucker foley #the lunch lady #mystery meat #dash baxter #danny fenton

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stars-are-just-ghosts · 3 years

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A World Full of Bullies, and the Four Kids Who Never Stop Fighting Them

This is a story about my four children and the small town they live in, a story about bullies and the people who stand up to them. Let me start by introducing the four of them. We’ll refer to them as the Sibling Mafia (this will be important later.) Each of them is as unique as the different parts of a harmony. They grew up closer than close. Best friends, siblings, confidants. They have their moments of disagreement, sibling rivalry, chaos. But there doesn’t go a day without them seeking out one another’s opinions and comfort. Theirs is a bond that can’t be replicated, or completely understood. The 17 year old, we’ll call her ‘Red,’ is the only girl in the bunch. She’s an artistic bisexual disaster (her words, not mine,) she’s riddled with equal parts anxiety and hope, and she holds her own like you wouldn’t believe (she’s surrounded by guys in her work, and out does them at every turn.) She’s five-foot-zero inches of kickass and love. And there isn’t a single person who can hold her back when she wants something. She’s had a rough several years, found herself beaten down to her most fractured level. But she fought back with every ounce of strength available to her and clawed her way back to the surface. She’s thriving. She’s scared. She’s dreaming of her future. (Her brothers have so often looked up to her, I think Red often feels like she’s surrounded by puppy dogs who would willingly battle-rush the world if it ever failed her.) The 18 year old boy, we’ll call him ‘Blue,’ has high functioning autism and social communications disorder. The world is full of lines he’s steadily trying to figure out how to cross without changing the flow he relies on. From working in the adult world, to trying to hold on to the childhood he isn’t quite ready to let go of, Blue still manages to find the space and time to be the big brother he’s always been. It’s the most important thing to him. More important than his love for just about anything else. That has always been his choice. There isn’t a single one of his siblings that he doesn’t love ferociously. And though his emotions are sometimes tumultuous, he always finds a way to make what he really feels known to those closest to him.

The 14 year old, we’ll call him ‘Purple,’ is a trans (female to male), bisexual, magnetic ray of absolute fricken sunshine. It’s impossible not to want to know more about him, to laugh with him, to share in his infectious well of joy. There isn’t a mean bone in his body, not a single inch of hatred in his DNA. From the moment he was born, he had a smile on his face. The world was his to make happy. And even though these last few years have been one hell of a confusing ride for him, he’s never stopped looking at the world around him like it’s something he wants to change for the better. The almost-11 year old, we’ll call him ‘Green,’ is a pint sized sarcastic ball of genius who doesn’t see just how important he is to the people around him. His comedy is endless, a shield to protect himself and others from the nastier things life tries to throw. He’s smarter than the average 11 year old, but refuses to jump ahead a grade or two because he ‘just wants to enjoy school.’ And though he likes to pretend that he can handle everything that comes his way, there are times when it’s easy to see how young he truly is. It’s those moments that his siblings are his anchor to an uncertain universe, the chains that keep his gravity from failing him. And they are the epitome of his best friends, his comfort, his home. Red, Blue, Purple and Green have a lot in common. From Red and Purple loving art and music, to Green and Blue loving video games, to all four loving DnD night. They love to adventure together, to share inside jokes, to create beautiful mayhem on a daily basis. They love to learn together, to forget to do their chores together, to ask the world to ‘listen, dammit’ -together. They also have trauma in common. Losses of those they loved, pains they’ve all had to feel, things a parent can’t protect them from... And there is so goddamn much I wish I could have protected them from. When Blue was in middle school, there was a boy, we’ll call him ‘Misunderstood.’ To him, Blue’s autism made him a prime target in the bullying arena. Like some other kids, Misunderstood would say mean things, call Blue names, make him momentarily feel like he would never fit into the world he so desperately wanted to be a part of. But what Misunderstood didn’t know was that Blue had a better world around him already, one that would come to save him when it counted most. One day in gym class, Blue was playing basketball with his friends. He tossed the basketball, and it didn’t quite go where Blue was expecting. It sailed at Misunderstood and hit him in the head. It didn’t matter to Misunderstood that it was an accident. All that mattered was this could be a perfect excuse for retaliation. He closed the distance on Blue and punched him in the head. He knocked him out. But in that same moment, Blue’s friends and sister ran to the rescue. They rallied around him, chased Misunderstood away. Protected their friend and brother, because they knew that was exactly what Blue would have done for them. Because Blue is the sort of person to give a stranger the shirt off his back if they really needed it. Something of which Misunderstood couldn’t see. Imagine my terror when I got a phone call from the police. It was a sobering sight to see police cars and an ambulance when I squealed into the school parking lot. There is no way to explain the feelings of helplessness and fury I was inundated with. You know, logically, that your children will break bones and get stitches and have broken hearts and nightmares and a myriad of other pains that are simply a part of life. And you also know, unfortunately, that bullies exist. You never think that anything like this can happen, until it does, however. That’s not naivete. It’s not denial. It’s the hope that the world might not just be as awful as you think it is. Knowing that world proved that hope wrong, even for a moment, makes you want to wrap your children up in your arms and never let go. But that’s not how life works. There isn’t an excuse for what Misunderstood did. But there are things to understand. I can raise my children to be good, caring, kind people. But I have no say in what happens in other children’s lives. Was Misunderstood being cared for? Did he have parents who gave a shit about him? Or was he neglected? Was he lacking the resources to explain and feel his emotions properly? Was his life hell, and he just needed someone to see? I asked myself those things, trying to understand. I even asked the other adults in charge of the situation. But because Misunderstood was a minor, I had no legal right to know. It turned out, in the end, that Misunderstood was expelled. His parents moved him to a different school district. And Blue was left with the question he always seemed to ask when another child chose him to target: ‘Why me, Mom?’

There is no why. Because, like I said, nothing excuses what happened. What I wanted him to focus on was what happened inside the event. And what happened was loyalty, love, friendship and the coming together of individuals to stand up to a bully. Now, at 18 years old and nearly six feet, Blue still has those friends. And he has the lesson they taught him, not the one that Misunderstood wanted to teach. And he doesn’t ask ‘Why me, Mom?’ anymore. He asks, ‘Why not me?’ as he now steps in when someone needs protection. Most recently, Purple, my 14 year old, has had to face bullying of his own. Purple didn’t come out till a year and a half ago, and the daily progress to being the person he wants to be has been beautiful and brilliant. But there is another boy, who we’ll call ‘Unwarranted,’ who has pulled out all the stops to make Purple feel panic, anxiety, terror. Back when covid was nearly past its first upsweep and all the schools were still closed down, Purple was desperately missing his friends. It was agreed, after a fair deal of hashing out the precautions, that he could see one of his best friends at the park. Purple hadn’t come out yet at that point, still struggling with what it would mean for all the relationships in his life. But the idea of seeing someone who he literally grew up with after being so long apart was too good for him to pass up. They met at the local park, a couple of other friends catching up with them there, and they hung out. It was supposed to be an innocent, happy time for a kid who only ever tried to make people happy. It ended in police involvement and kids being physically hurt. Unwarranted had shown up with two much older kids. But the part he played was entirely his choice as all three terrorized the younger kids, with words and with physical threats that ended with large rocks being thrown. One child was hit in the head. My child was hit in the side. Both of them ended up hurt. All while they were running to Purple’s friend’s house for safety. Unfortunately, there was so little we could do. It didn’t happen on school grounds, so the schools couldn’t be involved. The police couldn’t tell me much more other than they knew who the three bullies were, having been in trouble with the police before. And I couldn’t know anything else because they were minors. To protect my child, I couldn’t let him go to the park alone anymore. I drove him everywhere. I tried to help him forget. And over time, he did. Until the beginning of this school year. Purple started his Freshman year looking for new beginnings. He’d already firmly cemented himself in coming out, was totally authentic in who he is and who he wants to be. His friends are still his friends, completely accepting and loving him. And he tackled his first week of school with intensity and excitement. In the back of my mind, however, I had never forgotten what happened at the park. The mother in me held on to it, because I couldn’t take the risk that something worse could happen. I hadn’t been able to protect or avoid what happened to Blue. But maybe I could protect Purple. I got in contact with the new principal at the high school, explaining the situation and that I did not want Purple to be in any classes with Unwarranted. He vehemently agreed. Purple doesn’t have a single class with him. It’s worked out well. Or it did, until they passed each other in the hall. In that brief moment, when classes were changing and kids were hurrying through the halls, Unwarranted took it upon himself to pick right up where he left off. Except now, Unwarranted isn’t the same size as Purple. He’s over six feet, athletic, and knows how intimidated Purple already was by him. The result was Purple incoherent with fear. There’s a reason I have referred to all four kids together as the Sibling Mafia. Because if you hurt one of them, you hurt all of them. And there’s hell to pay. Red and Blue, who are both Seniors at the high school, heard about the incident almost immediately. (It’s a small town, so small school, and word travels fast.) They didn’t go to their next classes. They took Purple to the office instead, and demanded something be done. They wanted answers and a resolution, and they wanted it fast. I received a phone call about it all from the guidance counselor who was just gushing over the bond they all shared, and the way they’d rallied around Purple. But it wasn’t just Red and Blue who rallied. It was their friends. You see, if you’re friends with one of them, you’re friends with all of them. And in a place like this, it grows exponentially. So many people love Purple, and Red, and Blue, and Green. And it shows. The principal and counselor and school resource officer worked on a plan to keep Purple and Unwarranted from ever crossing paths. It was good. It was a start. Unfortunately, it did nothing for when the kids were walking home from school. Because Unwarranted decided to make prodding and inappropriate comments while walking behind him. Only, this time Blue and his best friend, we’ll call him ‘Orange,’ and two of Purple’s friends were there to do something about it. Because Unwarranted had a lot to say when he knew Purple was too scared to retaliate. (Red was with a friend, but was furious when she found out.) But being faced with the reality of a whole group who were more than capable of protecting Purple made him back right off. No fists were thrown. No one got hurt. And everyone made it home safely.

And Purple came to me, despite his fear and wariness, to ask... ‘What if something is wrong with Unwarranted? What if something happened at home to make him act this way? Maybe we can help...’ My response was to breathe. To stare at this kid of mine, because the compassion in those words made my heart hurt. Here was this boy who was obviously being terrorized by someone else, and all he could think about was making sure that bully was okay? I told Purple, ‘You have no idea how amazing your heart is.’ I told him, ‘I don’t know what might be going on with Unwarranted. And it’s wonderful of you to want to help. But you also have the right to be safe, whether you’re in school or walking on the streets. You have the right to have a happy learning experience without fear of being cornered in the hallways. For now, as much as I know you want to figure it all out, my priority is making sure that you are safe.’ He nodded, hugged me, and went about his day.

I read somewhere once that bullies are predators. They will go after what appears to them to be the weakest prey. Trying to stop a bully by teaching a child to stand up to them is like teaching the weakest gazelle to be stronger. The predator will not stop going after the weakest prey, it will only stop going after that target. But what if that target was never weak to begin with? Purple may not have the physical attributes of a football player or a wrestler. But he’s got something even better. He’s a wolf with a pack who would be lesser without his knowledge and love. And there’s nothing that pack wouldn’t do to protect him, just like there’s nothing he wouldn’t do to make their lives better. The Sibling Mafia extends beyond blood, it seems. Now you might be wondering, where’s the almost-11 year old Green in all this? Green came into the first three’s lives when Purple was a little under three years old. At that point, they were already bonded and closer than I could have ever imagined. But the second Green’s little wiggly self came home, the change was immediate and overwhelming. Not in a bad way, not even remotely. You see, that bond transformed. It grew, it solidified, it settled into a whole new identity. It somehow made them far more whole than any of us realized they could be. Because all three older kids had lessons to teach and love to give, and with Green they could do all that together. Without any encouragement from me, because kids don’t need to be raising other kids, Green grew up being the literal center of their world. And they all loved each other more because of it. Green is just a little guy. He’s small and skinny and scrappy, full of wit and genius that often leaves the rest of us wondering where he got it from. He looks at his siblings like he wants to give them the universe. And he goes through life like he might just give it a reason to wise up to the possibility of goodness if it tries hard enough. Nothing holds him down for long. Events, losses, physical injury. He bounces back so fast that the rest of us get whiplash.

But what happens when an event causes loss and physical injury at the same time?

Just this past week, the kids were walking home from school. Red has Senior release, which allows her to get out of school early most days. So it was just Blue, Purple and Green, walking with their friend Orange. In the past, there have been bullies. Two of which I have mentioned. But some never made it to the ‘something we really have to worry about’ stage. One of these bullies, particular to Blue, decided it was time to graduate to that stage in a very dangerous way. We’ll call him, ‘Mistake.’ Because what he chose to do was a big mistake on his part. The kids had made it to just before the opening of our neighborhood. They were on the sidewalk. They’d been carefree, joking, laughing, talking, when a vehicle suddenly sped its way toward them on the road. The vehicle had a passenger and a driver: Mistake. And as Mistake accelerated, one of them threw a full bottle of Powerade out the window as hard as he could. We’re fairly certain he was aiming for Blue.

It hit Green instead. At that speed, with that much force, something as innocuous as a bottle of liquid can do real damage. It was only sheer luck that it hit Green in the leg. If it had hit him in the head, we’d all be sitting in a hospital room right now keeping vigil. That being said, Green is small. He’s skinny. The impact to his leg was enough to damage the muscles in his thigh. You can see the impact point, a literal imprint of the bottle on his skin. The bruising is very clear. The recovery will be slow. The first thing Green did was cling to Purple. Orange and Blue yelled after the car, but it had sped quickly away. The boys managed to get Green home right away. I had been working at my computer. And the next thing I knew, Green is in my arms, incoherent and in pain, crying so hard his whole body was shaking. Calling the police was an easy decision. Trying to hide my instant and unbridled rage was so much harder. The police are treating this as assault on a minor. The bottle was collected as evidence. Green was evaluated by physicians and will thankfully make a full physical recovery. But the emotional damage seems to be much worse. Green is not himself. He’s clingy, he’s worried, he’s having nightmares. He doesn’t want to walk home anymore, even knowing his brothers and Orange are there to protect him. His birthday is barely a week away, and he is trying so hard to be enthusiastic about it. But the bruise and pain in his leg keep offering reminders. The idea of leaving school grounds without one of his siblings or me makes him panic. And the light of innocence in his eyes is that much duller.

It was a senseless, useless act. One that’s rattled us all.

Blue and Purple are blaming themselves, as though they should have been able to see it coming and protect Green. Red is angry that she didn’t just wait to walk with them, as though her being there would have stopped it altogether. Their grandparents, friends, teachers, counselors, and even random people I have never heard of are all up in arms. They want someone to pay. I think Green just wants to pretend it never happened at all.

To be honest, I want Mistake to pay, too. Because it doesn’t matter who he was aiming at, this was clearly assault. Clearly intended to do harm. And I’m tired of feeling like I can’t protect my children. When did the world become so cruel? When did parents stop teaching their children that kindness is not a weakness? When will I ever feel okay with sending my children out into such an unforgiving world? I know I’m angry. In fact, I’m enraged. But... I also still have hope. Green’s birthday is steadily approaching. The kids are doing everything they can think of to make him smile again, make him laugh, prove he’s loved and, most of all, safe. They’re using their hard earned money to get him gifts, to surprise him with a puppy they’re buying themselves, to give him his normalcy back. And I’m watching them hold on to each other through it all. Like they always have. Like, I hope, that they always will. The future is coming at them quickly. Red, Blue and Orange want to get an apartment together after high school. Purple and Green have decided they want to live together forever. And they’ve all decided that they have to make time, once a week or more, to be back under one roof. We live in a small town, but they’re going to move on outside of it. Because the world outside of it is big, and they are well aware of that fact. They want to tackle it in their own way, individually and together. They want to see where this life takes them, no matter what tries to stop them. And they want to share that journey with each other, and with anyone who wants to be a part of it. I never could have predicted how close those four amazing kids would become, or how much they’ve already changed the world just by being who they are. They’re my hope, you see. In a world where anyone can be cruel, they choose to be kind. They choose to be the example by which everyone around them learns what kindness is. Misunderstood, Unwarranted, and Mistake are learning about kindness, too. Whether they realize it or not. Because in their misunderstood existence, in their unwarranted actions, in their irreversible mistakes, the kindness of the Sibling Mafia seems to be far more powerful. This is a story about a world full of bullies and the four kids who never stop fighting them. One act of love, kindness, and hope at a time...

#bullying #hope #together #siblings #the world isn't as bad as it seems #parenting #children #kindness #this is worth the read #i promise

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spineofdeathwing · 4 years

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My Final rebuttal/Testimony to Shadowtusk Clan.

So, on 2/17/21, I made a testimony over the Shadowtusk Clan guild in response to their growing presence on Twitter: https://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1srje97 which is the Twitlonger I posted here. It holds my personal views towards Bazu's Twitter @Batzu, and my experiences. On this same day, their GM made a reply to my Testimony (https://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1srjefm), and I just wanted to address it here- all the lies, all the speculation. We're gonna start with his first point of when we met. This is semantics. We did meet at an event but didn't actually have a full conversation until he came to falsely accuse me of metagaming with little to no actual evidence. His log is correct but misrepresents the actual context with his own speculations.

Next up: Apologizing for someone being a dick to me OOC when they spam me with crap about wanting to kill my character and then going, 'IC isn't OOC' doesn't compute. Pick a fucking side Bazu.

Here's the first misrepresentation: his remarks about IC racism. I didn't take issue with the existence of it itself. In fact, my quote was, 'the IC racism that was so venomous in nature that I almost thought they hated me for playing Di OOCly- I realized I had few friends very quickly.' My issue was how fucking hard your guild plays into that, not that it did to begin with. That's like responding to someone complaining about a flood with, 'BUT WE ALL NEED WATER TO SURVIVE'. Next up was actually an issue I forgot, that being Bazu's ableism.

Now, the context was people were fighting over something I said in guild chat. We had a safeword, and I was overstimulated and having an anxiety attack. Bazu, I don't know if you let your agenda make you forget, but I'm fucking Autistic you caustic slime puddle. Conflict and shit can make me get overstimulated- your GM, Zu'daba knew I was autistic to start, as did you as I mentioned that in voice chat. I'm glad you apologized in your Twitlonger, but I'm gonna give the story here for the sake of the transparency YOU forgot. Onto the Zu'daba and Kyr'gal shit. The screens are correct, but there's a misrepresentation of fact. Zujia's advice in that screenshot was over my general concern over Kyr'gal- not over the incident that made me leave. For that, Tezuli advised me as shown here: https://imgur.com/a/mO6UI3G Zu'daba did use Tezuli's advice and guiding to me to admonish me. Blame was initially put onto me from this, Bazu- your screenshots and personal statement even support my argument. So, what about Di being shamed? Bazu claims I was eager for it, and liked that! It'd sure be a shame if I had screenshots that show that my consent to this was dubious at best to an outsider looking in. Oops!: https://imgur.com/a/tmx1nfU Turns out, I have receipts of me talking to one of your core where I very clearly was Not Okay With That.

The Gay Baby Jail incident WAS addressed- that still doesn't excuse that your officer was wrongly calling me homophobic in private when I myself am very openly LGBTQ...including being Bi- including my constant advocacy for LGBTQ rights. Including my huge fucking track record of improving when I even do something slightly to offend. What about me with Zea'lani? The source of that tension was me using a transphobic word in an ERP context without the realization that it was transphobic over 4-5 months ago at this point. When I realized what I said was wrong, I immediately addressed it publicly on Twitter, and left that community. I'd later return to it to ensure that message was deleted, and left again because that wasn't something I wanted in the world. While I am trans myself, that doesn't excuse my slipup. However, when your officer actively supports transphobic game devs and tries to 'expose me' for something I handled way before she even saw that, I'm gonna take issue. Especially when she tries to expose me when I am opening up about someone being transphobic and objectifying to me- alongside being racist to black people. Your attempt to get me to fucking repeat the big ass mistake I made to be 'transparent' Bazu, is noted.

Onto the stalking claims. The person who stalked me literally confessed to it Bazu. When you confess to something, you take fucking ownership of that. Which Eztli did: https://imgur.com/a/3A7rKH3 as shown here. I've called Eztli my friend for ages before this drama, Bazu. Your attempt to claim I fish for sympathy when I actually am just being consistent on how I saw someone. Perhaps projecting onto me is a bad idea.

To tie that up, yes. Your recount of the events addressing Lani's behavior is right. You saw blatant harassment, agreed that it wasn't okay, and excused it anyhow. I only posted when you were done talking- and for good reason. When you get someone's friend to backstab someone, and make a bunch of lies and having people stalk them- that person's gonna go public. I urge you to cope, Bazu. So, cultural appropriation. I think this is my biggest issue here. He gives the impression that no one came to him about him appropriating Black Culture and African Religion. Lemme fix that: https://imgur.com/a/uPhAzGq The video I link refers to Hatian Zombies, Bokors and the history of Voodoo/Vodou- with heavy input made from practitioners of Voodoo and Vodou, as well as even having a Bokor speak on the issue and sacred nature of their title. As you can see, he acknowledges seeing this. However, lemme point out the racism here: 'If any member of the various animistic faiths that inspire Blizzard's depiction of "Voodoo" would like to ask me to stop or offer direction in how to portray these practices more respectfully, I would be open to that. If my limited amateur research on the acceptable uses of the title of "Bokor" have misled me, I'm happy to apologize and to strike it from our record.' You were given a certifiable and primary source as to why your behavior is wrong. A basic fucking google search tells you why you are wrong. But you demand that Black people of this faith, who has suffered countless times at the hands of White Supremacy, baby your ass on this. It's not cute. It's not funny. It's incredibly fucking racist, and shows you have no desire to fix your appropriation. The art theft stuff is true. Now, what about harassment, racism, all that? Another misrepresented point. If we look at my Twitlonger, I mentioned that they've had a past of it. This isn't hidden fact, Shadowtusk on this blog alone has been exposed countless times for homophobia, racism, pedophilia- the list goes on. As it is misrepresented, I'm not addressing that further. It's a joke. What I will say is that for OOC racism not being tolerated, Bazu, you sure are hella eager to appropriate and steal from Black Culture more than even Blizzard does for the sake of your own immersion- even when you are given more than enough of means to educate yourself. That's my final rebuttal. If you want all the screens that show every instance of bullshittery I had with STC: Here ya go. And Bazu? I understand you are a spineless fucking coward, and you have Indicinis backing you on your lies regardless of the truth. The Troll RP community deserves more and better than your filth. I'd pray for you to grow as a person but given the sheer amount of your delusion? You aren't worth that. And PPS? Me including the creation of my guild for the sake of giving an accurate portrayal of chronological events and explaining my reasoning for it, isn't a plug. Keep that insecurity to yourself. https://imgur.com/gallery/1eR9N5p https://imgur.com/gallery/0UhtYd8 https://imgur.com/gallery/9ljDdRG

#Story #scumbag #world of warcraft #Wyrmrest Accord #Abuse #Harassment #Racism #Image #submission

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kuviras-eyeliner · 4 years

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I keep seeing your ATLA and LOK matchups and they’re so cute so here I go I guess 🤷🏼‍♂️ I’m a 17yo trans dude, pansexual, 5’3.5” but I round up to 5’4 😎 Capricorn, airbender, equal parts ravenclaw and gryffindor, infj-t. I love the colour green, baking, musical theatre, anime, plants, cute video games, and any music genre. Lactose intolerant and v political (leftist). Very Italian but white as *heck*. I’m a digital and traditional artist, and planning on going into animation. First chair alto sax who gets all the solos, hybrid of class clown and teacher’s pet - top in every class but cracking jokes the whole way through. Very competitive and confrontational, but also the overly empathetic people-pleasing therapist-parent friend. I act showoff-y and narcissistic to overcompensate for how insecure I actually am 😅 and I have a stupid cowlick that sticks up when I dry my hair.

toI CAN’T TELL YOU HOW MUCH I SQUEALED WHEN I SAW YOUR ASK, YOU AND A FEW OTHER BLOGS WERE THE ONES THAT INSPIRED ME SO THANK YOU AJAJAJAJJAJAJAJ

*exhales*

Alrighty, thank you for letting me scream :D!! And your ask made me laugh so hard, you literally sound just like one of my best friends. I’d like to think that we can all get along smoothly ^U^

Now, without further ado, I ship thee with...

Sokka!

Okay, alright, jeez! Stop hitting me, virtual self. I know a lot of people are thinking: Right, so you think it’s okay to put to crackheads together? No.

...YES.

ABSOLUTELY, Y E S.

Call me crazy, but when I saw this ask I decided, “Yep, that’s it. We’re doing Sokka, and no one can tell me otherwise. Yep. Okay, thanks a bunch kiddos, Imma head out-” xD Your ask was so amazing and it showed so much expression and the way you act in just a few sentences! It was very spontaneous and different from other asks I have had, so let me just say, I had a lot of fun writing this one. Now, with Sokka! If you know from before, I’m a huge, huge fan of the headcanon that Sokka is a theater kid. And the moment I saw that you wrote theater kid and that you can play an instrument, I kinda just stared into a wall and thought, “it must be fate,” and then continued to write. I think that Sokka, although he’s extroverted, also has his own downfalls. We see that although he can be described as the comic relief, I feel like almost everyone forgets that Sokka’s human, too. He obviously has his own down days, and overall, no one’s there for him. And as sad as life may be, it’s true for so many more people in this world. I think that Sokka, considering his personality type, is really good at reading people: so whenever he even sees your smile falter for even a second, without hesitation, Sokka will literally yank you to the side of the room and ask, “What was that?” When he sees that you’re forcing a smile on a bad day, he might not be too big on the physical contact and give you hugs every twenty seconds, but he’ll talk you through it. Without a single word of negativity and whatnot, he lets you know that he’s there, and he’s there to listen because he genuinely cares for you and your wellbeing. The fun part about this is that he thinks it’s so amazing that you can still remain competitive, hilarious, sweet, and yet you’re still the top in every class. Sokka can also be pretty smart because he devises so many plans, so he really admires you for that. Sokka will also never underestimate you, and he’ll make sure that you know every second of every day that you are valid, and he’ll make sure no one ever hurts you. On awesome days, Sokka might even take you outside on a balcony and blast Guns and Ships or something from Dear Evan Hansen and just let you jam out with him. Sokka doesn’t care about your looks at all, because as long as you’re okay with yourself, no matter what happens, he’ll never leave your side.

I HAD SO MUCH FUN WRITING THAT TYSM

Next up, we have:

Bolin!

OKAY, OKAY, and no, it is not because of your profile picture and whatnot! This is something that actually and physically (well, maybe not physically. I’m not sure if that’s possible yet xD), but like with Sokka when I read yours, I straight up threw my laptop and said, “WELL NO HECKING WONDER WHY YOU LOVE BOLIN SO MUCH,” and then started writing again. You and Bolin, yes, yes, yes absOLUTELY! It’s not just with personality and whatnot, but allow me to elaborate. A lot like Sokka, Bolin is usually seen as the comedic relief who always makes people laugh mid-battle or is the one cracking jokes and only cries literally animated waterfalls. But honestly, I don’t think many people realize that if Bolin was actually in real-life, imagine just how helpful and loved you’d feel if you were going through a tough, mental battle, and Bolin just cracks this precious and small joke that makes you laugh in an instant? Bolin probably thinks that it’s really cool that you’re capable of doing so much all at once, and that you always somehow find the best way to get across any problem. He loves to give you hugs and is a bit more physical than Sokka. He also takes whatever chance possible to say anything that can make you smile-- all he wants is to have that with every word he says, to make you grin. He’s absolutely in love with just how persistent you are with everything. He loves that you’re always trying your best and you do everything in your will to help those around you. Bolin also doesn’t mind how you look, either, because if you’re okay with yourself, he is, too. And if you’re not, trust me: Bolin can and will understand. He’ll try to ask you whatever he can without pushing too far, and pull you into the warmest hug ever. He’ll make sure the day after that you’re feeling okay, and he’s okay with you being a Lil’ vulnerable around him. He loves that you’re always so positive and sweet around everyone :D

I had such a great time writing this one!! Thank you so much for asking :] Sorry about the delay, but I’m just glad I got this one in ^^ Thanks for supporting me!! I can’t tell you in words how much I appreciate it.

(REQUESTS ARE OPEN :D)

HUGS AND SHOULDER PATS ARE OPEN AS WELL!!

#THANK YOU SO MUCH #bolins-forehead-curl #that username #I LOVE IT #hugs!!#bolin #bolin x reader #lok #lok matchups #lok x reader #atla #avatar the last airbender #sokka #sokka x reader #sokka avatar #the last airbender #legend of korra #the legend of korra

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enby-hawke · 4 years

Text

OC Facts With Lucky Hawke

I was tagged by @isalavhenan, thanks again for the tag. I love being able to rant about Hawke so thanks for letting me.

PLACE IN SOCIETY

✖ FINANCIAL – wealthy / moderate / poor / in poverty

Hawke never knew hunger until he came to Kirkwall. His father ended up being conscripted into the Grey Wardens at the end of Leandra and Malcolm’s love affair. Though Malcolm could legally be a mage his children couldn’t and so moving around was necessary to avoid detection as well as for his job but because of the Grey Wardens the family was well taken care of. Because Malcolm was elven, even if they could afford better houses, they were usually forced to live out in the country where the laws aren’t as strict about those things. After Malcolm died, the budget was much tighter without a Grey Warden salary, but they at least had their family home in Lothering. When they lost it, the Hawke’s had to get used to hardship in Kirkwall. It wasn’t like Lothering where they could hunt freely for game in the Kocari wilds and forage from their garden when the month was tight. It was a year in poverty that Hawke was determined to dig himself out of, no matter what it took. Though even after his success with the Deep Roads and he had all the gold he’d need, it was still a difficulty to get his family’s estate in his name. For 3 years he would build connection and influence enough to get the court to recognize his claim as legal.

✖ MEDICAL – fit / moderate / sickly / disabled / disadvantaged

From a young age, Carver, Bethany, and Lucky would recieve strict Grey Warden training as well as Malcolm’s mental training. Lucky is very fast and often casts haste on himself to move even faster. Though he is slight of build, he is strong even without his magic to enhance him and often doesn’t need his magic to win a fight.

✖ CLASS OR CASTE – upper / lower / middle / working / unsure

With Leandra’s training in courtly etiquette and grace, the Hawke children often were able to charm guests with their manners and wit which helped make a better impression of their mixed race family. The tensions of race and class often came up with Hawke growing up and learning that sometimes passing as human didn’t always shield him from the realities of being elven especailly in school. Hawke was often hyperaware and dysphoric about his race, unsure how to navigate what it meant to be something in between. From a young age it was ingrained in him that he must assimilate into human culture because he’s human, even if other humans don’t exactly see it the same. Meeting Merrill, he found an ally in his struggle to identify with his other roots.

After the Deep Roads and his nobility officially recognized he enters upper class society but it is clear that the other nobles do not see him as equal, until he defeats the Arishok and becomes Champion. By then Hawke has become disillusioned by the upper class lifestyle and decides that the best course would be to become Viscount, if only to have a real chance at changing things in Kirkwall.

✖ EDUCATION – qualified / unqualified / studying

Though Lucky had a loving home, it was often strict and full of studies of all sort which he resented. His mother would try to tutor him in the Game which is the only lesson he refused to learn because he never thought he’d need it. Malcolm was absent a lot due to his work, but when he was home, time was often spent teaching Lucky and Bethany magical training. He knows a lot of things from his forced education, and when he’s truly interested will sometimes lose focus trying to solve a magical problem. However he’s bad at articulating things at times and sometimes forgets to use his mind when he solves problems.

FAMILY

✖ MARITAL STATUS – married, happily / married, unhappily / engaged / partnered / divorced / widow or widower / separated / single / it’s complicated

✖ CHILDREN – has children / no children / wants children / adopted children

Hawke ends up having a Dalish wedding with Merrill, a Chantry wedding with Fenris, and Isabela and Hawke remained lovers. Merrill and Hawke have a daughter named Aerys.

✖ FAMILY – close with siblings / not close with siblings / has no siblings / siblings are deceased / it’s complicated

✖ AFFILIATION – orphaned / adopted / disowned / raised by both parents / it’s complicated

Hawke was closer to his father than his mother which was difficult because Malcolm wasn’t exactly accepting of Lucky’s trans identity. Since they were young they felt weird about their gender but weren’t very concious about their dysphoria until he started puberty. He discovered he was queer young and had to be in the closet about it because the family has strong Chantry beliefs. When they decided to magically transition, he asked for support with Bethany to help him transition at least while he was at school though he still had to ask for help from his father to master shapeshifting which he struggled with for a long time. Carver found out and though he thought it was a bad idea, he reluctantly supported Lucky too. This eventually culminated into Lucky getting found out by his parents which started a fight. To make a story short it gets ugly but eventually Leandra and then Malcolm come to terms with who Lucky is. When Lucky wanted a new name he asked his father to rename him, and his father renamed him “Lucky because I’m lucky to have you in my life.” Neither of his parents encouraged interest in his elven heritage and so often he was told to pride himself in being and Amell and a Hawke. When Hawke took back his estate he renamed House Amell to House Hawke, partly as a fuck you to all the nobles that gave him a hard time and kept calling him “Lord Amell” but also because he knew he would never be an Amell. He would never be anything other than the person he fought to become.

TRAITS & TENDENCIES

✖ disorganized / organised / in between

Organization is Lucky’s enemy. His organization is *stick this into a void and deal with it later*

✖ close-minded / open-minded / in between

Hawke can admit when he’s wrong. “I’m just not often.” He uses blood magic to augment his shapeshifting and other magic as well. He is super wary of Chantry folk and the templars, templars being obvious, but in the Chantry that’s where some of his most racist bullying came from. He’s a very chill person most of the time, but once he’s made a bad judgement of you it can be hard to change his mind.

✖ cautious / reckless / in between

One of Hawke’s biggest weaknesses is his temper makes it hard to think before he acts. To save his family and friends he will dive headfirst into danger or use incredibly dangerous magic forgetting that he’s not invincible.

✖ patient / impatient / in between

Hawke can’t be bored. Their short attention span leads them into trouble.

✖ outspoken / reserved / in between

Hawke has a hard time holding his tongue. Impulsively saying whatever comes to mind also gets him into trouble.

✖ leader / follower / in between

Because Hawke is impatient he will sometimes take control if no one is stepping up. He doesn’t like the burden of leadership, though and doesn’t mind hearing other people’s opinions. He is also stubborn so while he won’t force anyone to follow him, he’s not afraid to break from the pack to get where he thinks he wants to go.

✖ sympathetic / unsympathetic / in between

Hawke is very empathetic and likes to make people to feel at ease around him. He often tries to joke to break tension which doesn’t always work.

✖ optimistic / pessimistic / in between

Lucky has fits of despair that he attempts to bury with stubborn optimism. He doesn’t give up easily, though. He will endlessly look for a solution, though if he comes up to a wall that won’t budge, it will sometimes leave him spiraling.

✖ hardworking / lazy / in between

If Lucky is interested in the project he will work the hardest at it, giving it his utmost focus. If he’s not, it’s a struggle and he will procrastinate or give up.

✖ cultured / uncultured / in between

Hawke learned “culture” from Leandra. That doesn’t mean he will choose to use it.

✖ loyal / disloyal / in between

Hawke is loyal almost to a fault. You mess with someone he loves, you might lose a tooth. His friend’s enemies are his enemies and he’s fiercly protective.

✖ faithful / unfaithful / in between

Hawke is poly but he is faithful. It just the boundaries are different in his relationships.

SEXUALITY & ROMANTIC INCLINATION

✖ SEXUALITY – heterosexual / homosexual / bisexual / asexual / pansexual / omnisexual / demisexual

✖ SEX – sex repulsed / sex neutral /sex favorable

Sex is one of Hawke’s vices so he does occasionally have casual safe sex with hot strangers, but more than sex he craves closeness and connection with people.

✖ ROMANCE – romance repulsed / romance neutral / romance favorable

Hawke would say his heart’s a slut. There are many people that make his heart thump. Hawke often struggled with the idea of finding “the one” because there were so many people he felt romantically connected to to the point where he thought something was wrong with him.

✖ SEXUALLY – sexually adventurous / sex experienced / naive / inexperienced / curious / uninterested

Hawke is usually up for new experiences and often uses his shapeshifting and magic in the bedroom (with people he can trust)

ABILITIES

✖ COMBAT SKILLS – excellent / good / moderate / poor / none

Though Hawke can easily kill with their blood magic they often use it to incapacitate, and wipe enemies minds. Killing makes the demons whisper louder so if he can avoid it he will.

✖ LITERACY SKILLS – excellent / good / moderate / poor / none

Though Hawke is smart he struggled in school especailly reading. It took a lot of effort to get the grades his parents expected of him, on top of all the other training that was expected of him.

✖ ARTISTIC SKILLS – excellent / good / moderate / poor / none

Lucky started writing poetry in his diary when he was young. Karaoke was something the family did a lot so Lucky started writing lyrics and eventually started making music on his computer. He still enjoys karaoke.

✖ TECHNICAL SKILLS – excellent / good / moderate / poor / none

I looked it up and I either don’t understand this question or he has none lol

I tag , @prplhawke @embajadora-montilyet @envy-kitty @antivan-surana @mahalzevran @red-wardens aaand whoever wants to do it tag me. No pressure if you don’t feel like it of course.

#tagging game #oc facts #lucky hawke #whew that took awhile #long post

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words-writ-in-starlight · 5 years

Note

I'm a little late to the party but for the ask meme: Danny Phantom 5, 13, 14, 18, 20 + Trans!Danny headcanons. I know that wasn't on the list but I have a feeling you'll do it for me anyway ;)

MY NEWEST BOY. For this ask meme! Also thisgot long so I made a separate post about trans Danny because I care about it alot byeeeeee.

5) Guilty pleasures

Barring times where he’s being, A, imprisoned, or, B, hunted forfun and profit, Danny actually—really likes the Ghost Zone. It’s soothing in a way that he’s pretty sureis not quite right, in a way that Sam and Tucker and Jazz do not seem toagree with, but he likes it there. Theslow, billowing curls of green drift through the air like nebulae, currents of energyrather than wind that he could drift on like thick water if he wanted, dottedwith doors and islands that orbit whatever passes for gravity wells in a skyscapeof ectoplasm. Almost every touchstone inthe Ghost Zone moves, although most have a predictable pattern—about once everyten months, Danny tries not to use the Fenton portal if he can avoid it, onaccount of how it comes out practically on top of Walker’s prison—and learningthe rhythms of it is sort of like a hobby, at this point. Danny doesn’t have a ton of time to kill, buthe’s figured out that, as long as he’s in ghost form, he can go for a longtime without feeling hungry or thirsty or tired, in the Ghost Zone, so onetime he told Jazz he was going to try his hand at cartography and spent theentirety of his parents’ five day out-of-state conference coasting on ectoplasmand trying to plot the place. It cameout looking kind of like a star map, full of arrows trying to indicate movementdirection and a lot of scribbled notes like Pretty sure Clockwork moved thisand AVOID and Possibly Vlad’s portal, maybe close this.

Danny doesn’t talk about it much, because the Ghost Zone makes hisfriends, his family, jittery. He’s prettysure they’re worried he’ll decide not to come back some day.

13) What gets them flustered

One time a reporter manages to get a camera intoDanny’s face before he can book it after a fight, and she’s smart enough toalready be asking her first question before he realizes what was happening.

She’s also smart enough to start her first questionwith “Excuse me, Inviso-bill–”

“It’s Phantom,” he snaps,looking around in annoyance, and the reporter smothers a triumphant smirk.

“Yes, Phantom. What made you become a hero,Phantom?”

Phantom just hangs there in the air for a moment, gapingat her, and then squeaks, “Excuse me?”

“You’re a ghost,” the reporter says, keeping aprofessionally straight face and a neutral, friendly tone. “Whatmade you decide to be a hero?”

“I–didn’t?” Phantom scratches a hand backthrough his hair, and the reporter silently thanks whatever quirk of ghostlyfunction is bringing a green glow like a blush to his cheeks and throat andears. She’s going to lock down a raise with this interview, even if heflies off right this second–the first person to interview Amity Park’s ownsuperhero. And he’s blushing. “I’mjust keeping things under control, you know?”

The reporter grins. “Well,” she says withfalse nonchalance, “would you mind answering a few questions?”

“Uh,” Phantom says. “I have to–go.”

He turns invisible and makes a break for it,and the reporter’s fifty-second clip of a conversation runs on the local newsfive times in the next seven hours. She gets a reputation for being ableto snag the neighborhood super for a few seconds, sometimes even multipleminutes. She discovers real quick thathe’ll blush pretty reliably the second she drops the H word.

14) Ingrained habits/forces of habit

Danny works hard to seem helpless at school. It kind of makes him crawl the walls, but he workshard, okay? He lets himself getpushed around, he occasionally gets punched in the face, he does his best toconceal it when a year or two of ghost hunting as a full time job starts toshow in his human form, he spends a lot of time and energy projecting a façade oflocal hopeless wallflower. He can’thelp seeming like a delinquent, given that he’s been living the C-average lifestyleby the skin of his teeth and misses about three class periods on a good week,but at least he can seem like a delinquent who would never, ever be a candidatefor competence. He’s protecting a secretidentity out here. Official Team PhantomPolicy, much as everyone might hate it, is that no one intervenes with Danny’scharade. It gives Tucker hives and Samhas a hit list of bullies, but Danny’s always quick to smile off their concernand get on with his life. He has ahealing factor and it’s been years since Dash was actually concerning tohim except as a potential stalker, Danny can stand to bite his tongue and take it.

Aaaaaaand then when he’s sixteen, Dash punchesTucker, instead. Over some pettynothing, something that Tucker doesn’t even remember afterward—refusing to makea fake ID for him? Laughing at Dash forfumbling a catch at the game on Saturday? Joking about how Dash’s grades were even worse than Danny’s? It could’ve been anything. It didn’t really even register with Tucker assomething worth getting punched over, whatever it was, but he guesses thatbullies can have bad days too.

So Tucker says whatever he says, and Dash whipsaround and sucker punches him, a swift hidden jab that only someone alreadywatching would see. And then–

And then Danny dislocates Dash’s shoulder. It’s not on purpose and it’s not subtle. Tucker doesn’t really remember what happened—hewas a little busy gasping for air. Mostly he just remembers the crash of someone being slammed into a locker,and Danny’s voice, deep and un-Danny-like, snarling You don’t touch them,and a shout, a howl of pain and shock. By the time Tucker can stand upright, wheezing and clinging to Sam,every kid in the silent hallway is staring wide-eyed at Danny, skinny weakDanny Fenton who isn’t really so skinny and weak anymore. Danny’s stepping back from Dash, who’sclutching at a shoulder that looks wrong under his letterman jacket, andDanny looks mildly horrified with himself, but he’s still standing betweenTucker and Dash.

When the teachers show up, Danny goes quietly to theprincipal’s office, and gives a plain-spoken explanation of what happened—Dash punchedhis best friend, Danny slammed him into the wall, and somewhere in there hepopped Dash’s shoulder out of place. He getssuspended for two weeks and detention for the next month, which he cooperateswith, and non-negotiable anger management counselling, which he mostly just…doesn’tattend. Danny has decided that he doesn’tdo school counselling anymore, thanks.

After he comes back, Danny slips back into therhythm of things without any change in his behavior, but—it’s hard for everyoneto forget that they watched Dash’s favorite punching bag nearly put the king ofthe school through a wall.

Sam and Tucker enjoy a very peaceful remainder oftheir high school career.

18) Things they’ll never admit

Danny has not and will not talk to anyone about the accident withthe portal. The actual events, yeah. But he’s thought about it, and—they just don’tneed to know. Sam already frettedherself blue over the Lichtenberg figure lacing up Phantom’s left arm to hisheart. They don’t need to know how clearhis memory of being electrocuted is.

(Jazz watches Danny skirt around the Specter Deflector with abouta five foot radius of nervous respect, and she makes some educated guessesabout why, exactly, her brother doesn’t like being shocked. But if he doesn’t want to talk about it, for once,she’s not going to wring it out of him.)

20) What Ifs/Alternate Timelines

I’m sure everyone and their cousin has done this but…I love Jazz and Danny’s relationship.

So.

Jazz has been keeping an eye on herbrother for…ever. This is partly becauseshe’s a worrier by nature and partly because their parents are both brilliantand affectionate and completely hopelessly scatterbrained. Jack and Maddie are fine and all, but alsoJazz is frequently awestruck that she and Danny lived long enough to be able totake care of themselves. Holy shitis she ever going to write a memoir. TheChristmas I Re-killed the Turkey or something. So when their parents are out for the day andshe wanders through the living room into the kitchen to see if the Nilla Wafershave been contaminated yet, and she realizes that she hasn’t seen Danny in fourhours, she starts looking around.

Sam and Tucker’s bags are in hisbedroom, and all three of them have left their jackets by the door. It’s a cool autumn, and Tucker complainsconstantly that he’s not built for the cold, he’s built for indoor rooms fullof computers, so they wouldn’t have gone out. The TV is off. Danny’s room isempty. It’s not dark enough yet forDanny to have dragged them up to the roof for stargazing.

It’s about this point where Jazzstarts to feel like something is about to go horribly wrong.

She passes the door to the lab andhears Sam’s voice echo up the stairs, and then—

“Fine, fine,” Danny says from thebasement. “It doesn’t even work.”

Jazz opens the door, already composinga lecture about not poking around in the lab (for Danny) and a lecture aboutremembering to lock the lab when they’re going to be out all day (for herparents), and starts down the stairs.

The crack-boom of the portalkicking on hits like a thunderclap, and then there’s a scream, someonewailing like they’re being killed.

Jazz never does remember how she gotdown the rest of the stairs, but she makes it just in time to see her brotherstumble out of the glowing green portal and fall straight through Sam’s armsand collapse into a pile of black-clad limbs and shocking white hair.

#danny phantom #danny fenton #jazz fenton #sam manson #tucker foley #ask meme #headcanon meme #starlight writes stuff #i have that adhd hyperfixation thing spinning up HARDCORE about danny phantom so...stay tuned #anyway some further thoughts about that au: it doesn't change a TON in the long term #but it DOES mean that danny has an ally in a) lying to his parents and b) handling vlad right out the gate #but what i'm really specifically interested in is jazz being there when danny comes out of the portal #she obviously cares about him a lot! i strongly headcanon that the fentons are a little...benignly neglectful #not because they don't care but because they're just REALLY not actually that equipped to focus on their kids #so jazz has had a huge hand in danny growing up rather than accidentally eating ectoplasm as a three-year-old and dying #so YEAH what i care about is that girl coming downstairs just in time to see her brother's ghost/dead body/indeterminate energy construct h #i think it takes jazz a second to look around the lab and do the mental math as sam and tucker scream danny's name #and then she FREAKS OUT #so that's some chaos to deal with while she flutters over a dizzy half-conscious danny and tries to call an ambulance #i...legit don't think danny admitted to his parents that he had a bad enough lab accident to go to the hospital #in any universe #i think he hedged and said he just got a little shock and felt fine and didn't need to see a doctor and managed to get out of it #but that's a longer story #anyway yeah jazz gets on the Fuck Vlad Train much faster in this one and there's angst about her worrying about danny #also in this timeline since jazz is in on everything from the jump she starts calling vlad 'vladimir' when he won't drop their full names #a queue we will keep and our honor someday avenge #lathori #asked and answered

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smallhatlogan · 5 years

Text

Why Nonbinary Borderlands Fans are Mad About Zer0′s Pronouns, In a Timeline

2012

Zer0 was introduced in Borderlands 2 as a character meant to be absurdly mysterious in almost every way. Zer0 is apparently not their real name, they seem not to be human (but it’s unclear if they’re an alien, robot, or something else entirely), no one knows where they came from, etc. Still, in Borderlands 2, they defaulted to he/him, and was assumed male. It’s worth noting that Borderlands 2 also featured Bloodwing, Mordecai’s pet alien bird. In the original Borderlands Bloodwing was referred to as he/him, but switched between games to she/her. This is explained outside the game by Burch, who says that Bloodwing’s species changes gender halfway through life.

2013

Gearbox released the Diamond Plate Loot Chest. In it was the “Pandoran Gazette” an in-universe newspaper. It included an “Ask Doctor Tannis” advice column, the last question being:

Dear Doctor Tannis,

I have heard you are acquainted with the vault hunter known as "Zer0". I have been meaning to ask - that's not really his true name, is it? Hell, maybe Zer0 isn't even a "he". Do you have any details on this mysterious figure?

- Curious in Old Haven

Dear Curious,

I am indeed acquainted with the towering stack of leather and poorly-written poetry that so many refer to as "Zer0". As you have correctly noted, "Zer0" is not the Vault Hunter's true name. Zer0's actual name and gender are (CONTINUED ON PAGE 9)

Page 9 was not included. To my knowledge, this was where it was first seeded that Zer0 may not be male.

November 2, 2014

In a panel titled “Playing as a female character panel - Does it Matter” during PAX Australia, Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford discussed Zer0’s gender:

“The other things that’s interesting to me is sometimes when there’s characters that don’t have a gender or have an ambiguous gender I’ll choose them...In Borderlands 2 we left Zer0’s identity very ambiguous. What gender is he?” *crowd laughs* “We need better pronouns, don’t we? Don’t we need better pronouns?” (Timestamp)

“What’s the gender of Zer0?….That says more about me than it does say about Zer0, the fact that I use the pronoun he when I describe Zer0. In fact, um, we purposely have left Zer0’s gender ambiguous. There’s a lot of folks at Gearbox that like to think that maybe Zer0’s of a particular species that doesn’t have gender- That is more androgynous.” (Timestamp)

(Timeline continues under cut)

November 25th, 2014

The first episode of Tales From the Borderlands was released. Anthony Burch answered this question on his Ask.fm:

To my memory, tumblr blew up with excited nonbinary fans. Prior to seeing screenshots of this, I really didn’t have interest in Borderlands. The idea of a cool nonbinary character who used they/them pronouns, admist a virtual desert of representation, made me play through the entire series as fast as I could so I could catch up in time to see these pronouns in action. For a long time afterwards I’ve seen other nonbinary people expressing the same sudden interest in the series after learning this about Zer0. Because, yeah, it was a pretty big deal.

2015:

Zer0 appeared again in episode 5 of Tales, released almost a year later after the first. Their voice had changed to one that sounds more ambiguous in terms of gender, but Zer0 was still being referred to as “he/him”. Anthony Burch was one of the writers on this episode. Afterward, he answered this on his ask.fm:

Since he claimed it was honestly a mistake, nonbinary fans held out hope. There were posts going around tumblr clarifying that yes, Zer0 was still nonbinary, and still was meant to use they/them pronouns. It was just a mistake made by a thoughtless cisgender man. Of course, then some presumably-cisgender fan goes to Burch, and validates him, because clearly a character can’t just up and CHANGE pronouns! It’s not like anyone ever does that in real life!

It’s not a fair point. It’s a dumb point from someone who has no stakes in this. (Another thing worth noting is it has only been other characters who referred to Zer0 as he/him. Zer0 has never made a point of standing up for their own pronouns.) After this Burch just kind of gives up on the whole idea.

This statement about characters being “progressive enough not to misgender someone” is weird, because the characters, even the sympathetic ones, in Borderlands have often blatantly failed to be progressive. The original Borderlands has the worst of it, it’s your basic 2009 edgelord shit. There’s blatant misogyny, not to mention the extremely homophobic joke surrounding Mr. Shank (and within that the transphobic joke about his girlfriend being a man in a wig). Burch only started writing for the game in Borderlands 2, however. It’s a huge step up, but there’s still a lot of bigotry. Captain Scarlett makes a “no fatties” joke. Mr Torgue fat-shames Ellie. Mr Torgue uses the R-slur. Multiple characters slut-shame Moxxi. Incest jokes surrounding Scooter, who also is implied to be a huge creep towards women. Heck, there’s the entirety of Sir Hammerlock’s Big Game Hunt DLC is a racist, colonialist mess. Its antagonist is implied to be gay, one of two gay male characters introduced thus far, and he’s a pathetic, creepy stalker. This is the game series where there are two common enemy types whose names are straight up ableist. So citing characters as being “too progressive” rings hollow with this context. Besides, trans people are often misgendered, even by people who’d otherwise be considered progressive. Burch left Gearbox the same year, so he’s not entirely to blame for what anything afterwards. He just set a pretty bad precedent.

2019:

Gearbox did seem to take the “make a new nonbinary character” thing to heart. They give us Fl4k, again a nonhuman character, who uses they/them pronouns. And okay, I love Fl4k, but like most nonbinary people I’m tired of all nonbinary characters being robots, aliens, or otherwise non-human in appearance (a trope that yes, Zer0 falls into as well). Still, Fl4k is cute and having a nonbinary playable character who uses they/them pronouns is cool! I definitely plan to play as them. Many nonbinary fans were suspicious though, it seemed likely that Fl4k might be meant to appease us and they could keep on using he/him for Zer0. We were proven right when they released the gameplay preview on May 1st. We hear Zer0 called “he”. None of us are surprised, but it still hurts, we felt like we’d been baited with Zer0. Besides, why can only one character at a time be nonbinary? Why can a bird change pronouns but not a person? Why was a writer allowed to go out and promise this if it wasn’t going to be followed through on (yes, he didn’t use the word “promise” but telling a marginalized group something like that isn’t something you can just “forget” without people feeling betrayed)?

And that’s where we’re at, as of me writing this. I feel like there are some comments I’m bound to get on this, so I’ll answer them here: Why are you making such a big deal about this?

Me typing a few paragraphs isn’t making a big deal. But I feel misled and baited. After a few years of no clarification after Burch promising us they/them Zer0, a lot of people hung on to hope. A lot of people became big fans of Zer0 because they’re a fun, badass, nonbinary character. Their design is really, really rad! And heck, they were (at least for a time) the most popular playable character in Borderlands 2. Telling everyone, in-game, “actually Zer0 was never really a he, they’ve been a ‘they’ this whole time” would have been HUGE. Like how Blizzard made Overwatch’s poster girl, Tracer, canonically a lesbian, and then revealed their badass gruff guy (who fills the roll of your basic FPS protagonist), Soldier 76, to be a gay man. They/them are still not widely accepted pronouns. For us who use them, it’s difficult to convince people not to default to something gendered. Especially when we fail to appear completely androgynous. I’ve been told Zer0 can’t possibly be nonbinary because they have a deep voice and “masculine” body shape. But real nonbinary people come in all shapes and sizes with all kinds of voices!

What about Fl4k?

As I said, I’m very happy about Fl4k. They fall into some problematic tropes even more than Zer0 (as Fl4k is verified beyond a doubt to be a robot, and has an “acceptable” androgynous shape to them). I don’t know their voice yet, I wouldn’t be surprised if it also fell into the category of “acceptably androgynous”. Fl4k is new and already “they/them”. Zer0 is an established character who already has a lot of fans among a bunch of different groups of people. There’s definite value in demonstrating a character can switch pronouns, since pretty much every nonbinary person who uses they/them haven’t used those pronouns their entire life. Besides, there can and should be more than one nonbinary character. Fl4k being nonbinary but not Zer0 kind of feels like Gearbox expects us to shut up and be happy with what we’re given.

What about nonbinary people who use he/him pronouns? Can’t Zer0 be that?

Those people are real and valid. However, we’re talking about real people versus a fictional character. I admit I’d feel better if it was stated, in-game, “Yeah, Zer0 is nonbinary and uses he/him”. But even then, it’s REALLY EASY for cisgender people to ignore that information and write Zer0 off as male (And knowing gearbox, they’d put it somewhere easily missed. I’ve surprised so many straight people who’d played through Borderlands 2 with the fact that Sir Hammerlock is gay, simply because it was only verified in a side quest). And you know, we were promised they/them, so like, not doing that kind of sucks. Also I think it’s really important to normalize they/them.

So what are we supposed to do about this? What do you expect to change, anyways?

Honestly? I don’t expect Gearbox to fix this so late. In all likelihood, that’s way too much dialogue to re-record. But I still think it’s worth making our voices heard. We shouldn’t silently put up with this kind of thing. Other people will pull the same shit, being either unsympathetic or unaware of the harm they do. And heck, it’s unlikely, but maybe Gearbox will at least acknowledge their wrongdoing.

Also, it’s maybe worthwhile to ignore canon, and keep referring to Zer0 as “they/them”, or if this whole thing is news to you, it’s not too late to start. It would mean a lot to nonbinary fans, and make a point about how Zer0 is regarded.

#borderlands #borderlands 3 #zer0 the assassin #misgendering #tftbl #anthony burch #zer0 #nonbinary #transgender #representation

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anarcoqueer1994 · 5 years

Text

You Deserve Better (Chapter 3)

*A Muffy and Marty heavy of my Trans!TJ and Trans!Marty fanfiction. Features some Tyrus and platonic Tarty.*

Couple additional notes, there are some unsupportive parents in this chapter. I based some of it on my own experience. Also it is never okay to purposely dead name a person. And as always, you are valid if you pass, don't pass, or dont want to pass. You matter.

"Mara!"

A voice calls from downstairs. It gets no response.

"Mara!"

The voice calls again. The sound of that name in the air fills the space with poison. It makes the air feel heavy. It is hard to breathe all of a sudden.

"Jesus Christ! Mara if I have to come up there, you are not going to like it."

Crash. Books tumble to the ground off the dresser.

The sound of feet climbing the stairs come next. Those feet belong to the voice. They make their way to a bedroom door. They push open the door to find a person shaking in anger surrounded by books littering the floor.

"Mara, I know you heard me."

"It's Marty, mom." He says defyingly.

"We are not doing this again. Knock it off. I need your help downstairs." She says in an exasperated voice.

"With what?' He spits back, trying to keep it together long enough to fight back the tears forming in his eyes.

"Well after you clean up your little temper tantrum, I need you to wash the dishes while I run to the store. I want to finish dinner before your dad gets home."

"I don't have a dad." Marty says behind gritted teeth.

"Now you stop that. Don't be so dramatic.'

"He won't even look at me anymore."

"That's only because he wants you to stop playing dress up and using these fake voices and go back to being his daughter. He just wants you to show a little respect for yourself and the way God made you." His mother says in a 'sympathetic' voice.

"I am showing myself respect, mom. I am being true to me."

"Whatever, I'm not getting into this with you again today." She says as she turns to walk out.

As she walks out, Marty yells out the door to her. "That's right, walk away! But you can't avoid this forever!" He slams his door shut and sinks to the ground. He lets the tears stream down his cheek unchecked. It shouldn't hurt this bad to be himself but it does.

Honestly all he wants to do is call Buffy and hear her voice… but he can't. He can't because calling her would involve him telling her why he was upset. The problem with that is he hasn't come out to her yet. In fact the only person who knows is his new friend, TJ. It shocks him that TJ has become one of his best friends but given the fact that TJ is also trans, it helps him not feel alone in this.

Thinking about it, he couldn't believe how much his life had changed in this past month. He was finally dating, Buffy Driscoll, the girl he never gave up feelings for. Buffy was the best thing to happen in his life. Sure she was pretty, but God she was so much more. She was funny, smart, a hell of an athlete, and just as competitive as he was, if not more. Buffy was not perfect, sometimes she lost her head(i.e. the shoe incident or trying to run a marathon on no training) but who is? All he knows is that she is perfect for him.

Then why can't he bring himself to just tell her the one thing she does not know about him? She would understand. She wouldn't care, he can almost guarantee himself but...what if she did? What if Buffy does care that he is a trans guy?

He thinks about calling TJ to vent but remembers that his friend had planned a big date with Cyrus today. He doesn't want to ruin that. So he does the only thing he can think of to chase these feelings away. He gets up, changes into his running clothes and leaves his house. From there, he just goes. He doesn't know where he is running to, but it doesn't matter as long as he keeps going.

After what must have been an hour, his phone rings in his pocket causing him to come to a halt. He expects to see his mother on the caller ID, having come back from the store and realizing he wasn't there. To his relief though, it is not. Its Buffy instead, he smiles to himself, almost forgetting his bad feelings, if only for a moment.

"Buff-ay" He says in a goofy voice as he answers.

"Mart-ay" She replies. "What are you doing right now?"

"Not much, running, that's it."

"Wanna grab dinner with me then? Cyrus is out with TJ and Andi is hanging out with Amber and Jonah."

"Are you asking me on a date, Driscoll?" He jokes.

"In your dreams." She teases back. "Anyhow, see you at The Spoon in 20?"

"Yea, I'll be there." As he hangs up, he can't help himself not to smile. Even though they are finally dating, he likes that they can still joke around like that. Honestly he doesn't know how he got so lucky.

********

Twenty minutes later, he finds himself in the diner walking towards the table that Buffy is sitting at. He smiles as he meets her eyes.

"Hey" he says as he takes a seat next to her.

"Hey, yourself." Her smile mirrors his. "How was your run?"

"Good, I guess."

"You should've texted me, I would have ran with you."

Marty smirks. "You know, didn't want you to feel bad when you couldn't keep up."

"You mean, you didn't want to feel bad when you were eating my dust." She laughs. God he loves that laugh.

"But really, I just needed to get out of the house, it was kind of a spur of the moment thing."

"Another fight with your mom?"

"Yea, I guess."

"What do you guys even fight about all the time?"

"You know how it is, just normal parent-kid stuff." He likes trying to smooth over the topic.

"Are you sure?" She pushes.

"Yea.' He says quietly before switching his tone. "Let's eat, I'm starving!"

Buffy doesn't want to drop the subject but knows pushing won't help. She makes a mental note to bring it up later.

After a while, Marty's phone buzzes in his pocket. He pulls it out to find a message from his mother.

Where the hell are you? This isn't funny. For the record, I noticed you didn't do anything I asked.

Marty rolls his eyes and throws his phone on to the table. Buffy gives him a look demanding what is going on.

"It is just my mom. I didn't quite tell her that I was leaving. " Marty rubs the back of his head.

"So you should be getting back." Buffy says in a matter of fact tone.

"I guess. I'm going to be dead when I get their though. So you better say your goodbyes." He tries to joke.

She punches his shoulder playfully before giving a small kiss on the cheek. "Don't worry, I'm sure you all will work through whatever is happening."

He gives her a weak smile and just nods. He doesn't quite believe that is true. "I should get going."

"Want me to walk you home?"

"Nah, Buffy. It's okay. Thanks."

"Okay, call if you need anything?"

"Of course." He says as he stands up.

"One more thing" Buffy says softly. "You do know I am here no matter what? So if you ever wanna talk about the bad stuff you have going on with your parents, I'm here."

He can't help but beam at her words. Maybe he will tell her, but not tonight. "Thank you…you have a good night Driscoll."

**********

Buffy sits a bit longer at The Spoon. She doesn't quite understand what can be going on with Marty's parents. Whatever it is though, she knows it has to be more than "normal teen stuff." She wishes that she could help more. She just doesn't know how.

When she finally goes to leave 20 minutes later, she notices that Marty left his phone at the table. She picks it up and slides it into her pocket. She decides that she will just drop it off to him. So she heads out of the diner and heads towards his house. Buffy has only been there once, awhile back, when his parents weren't there. He has always been weird about introducing any of his friends (or girlfriend apparently) to his parents.

When she arrives at his house, she knocks on the door and waits. She would of called him ahead of time but, you know, she has his phone. A short brunette woman who appears to be in her late 30s answers the door. She guesses this must be his mom.

"Hi, can I help you?" The woman asks politely.

"Yea, actually, um I'm Buffy. I am Marty's girlfriend. We were hanging out and he left his phone."

The woman rolls her eyes and Buffy worries she said something wrong. Oh god, she thinks, what if he has not told his mom he has a girlfriend. What his mom says next though surprises her.

The woman turns behind her and yells "Mara! Get down here now."

Mara? Who's Mara? Does Marty have some secret sister she doesn't know about. As a matter of fact, she remembers a Mara at school in the 6th grade but she didn't come back in the seventh grade or eighth grade. She doesn't have much time to think about it because she notices Marty bounding down the steps. He isn't looking up so he doesn't see her. Then she hears him say "Its Marty, mom." As those words leave his mouth, he looks up and sees Buffy.

"What...what...are you doing here, Buffy?" It sounds like he is having trouble breathing.

Before Buffy can answer, his mom speaks. "This nice young lady was bringing you your phone. But then she let me know you have her twisted up in this stupid game you are playing, Mara."

"Stop calling me that!" Marty says, focusing on his mom because he isn't brave enough to look at Buffy.

"That is your name! Just because you are playing dress up and pretending to be a boy, doesn't change who you really are."

Suddenly it clicks to Buffy what is going on. Marty is trans and his mom just outed him to her. She feels terrible and feels like she should say something. She clears her throat and says "I don't mean to be disrespectful but apparently you don't care about that ma'am so I'm going to continue anyhow. Marty is the best guy I know and you aren't being very nice to him at all. I don't think you are a nice person. I don't like the way you treat him." Marty smiles to himself. She really is the most amazing person.

His mother turns away from Marty to face Buffy again. "Watch your tone with me." She snaps back at the teenager at the door.

Marty's voice comes from behind his mom. "Don't talk to her like that."

"She has no right to talk to me like that. Especially since all I was doing was telling the truth, Mara."

"Stop calling me that."

"That is your name!"

"No it is not and you know it!" Marty is shaking now in anger as Buffy looks on.

His mother's voice is tinged with annoyance as she speaks in a calmly. "I don't want to talk about this, I think you're friend should go home and you should go to your room."

"You never want to talk about this!" The boy steps closer. "You never want to talk about the reason dad barely speaks anymore and hides out in your room. You never want to talk about why I don't have friends here. And you never want to talk about the fact that you have a son! But we are going to talk about it! We are going to talk about me."

His mom interrupts him. "You will listen here. I work too hard for this family for you to talk to me like that."

"Oh you work too hard?! Well I worked harder! I tried harder than you to stomp this out and not make it a problem! I tried not to bother my family with my problems. " He starts shaking slightly. Buffy pushes past his mother to stand next to him and squeeze his hand. He continues. "But then I couldn't anymore, mom. It hurt too much. So I did what I could to feel better about myself. I started dressing and presenting in a way that felt right. I was happy and everyone at school just saw a boy but you and dad couldn't accept that. Dad just stopped talking to me and you live in this delusional place in your head where this isn't happening. But it is happening. Why can't you be okay with this? Why don't you care about me being happy?" His voice was smaller now.

"Because it's wrong, and you know that. Do you want to be some freak?"

"Mom...that's not true. You don't really think I am a freak, do you?" He asks as Buffy keeps squeezing his hand.

His mother clears her throat. "I think you should leave...Mara."

"Don't you care about me…"

"I told you to leave. I will call over to your aunt's and you will stay there."

"You know what? Don't bother." He pulls Buffy's hand with him as he pushes past his mother without another word and leaves, slamming the door behind him.

They walk in silence for a while, with Marty holding onto Buffy's hand like he would die if they let go. When they are far enough away from his home, Buffy whispers "You know you didn't deserve any of that, right?"

Marty stays silent, not able to look at her. She continues, "I mean it. I wish your parents would see what I see when I look at you."

"Which is?" He manages to barely push those words past his teeth.

Buffy stops and moves in front of him so she can look him in the eyes. "I see someone who is funny, and smart, an amazing runner, a person who will do anything for the people he cares about. I see one of the best guys I have ever met."

"Buffy ...I'm so sorry I lied to you. I should have known you would have been so supportive." He says, taking both her hand in his.

"Don't be sorry, you have to do this own your own time. Just know, I got your back, always." She smiles at him.

He mirrors back her expression. She asks "Do you want me to text my mom to see if you crash on our couch tonight?"

"Nah, I'm pretty sure your mom wouldn't be happy with a guy staying the night, but thanks. If you give me my phone back though, I think I know someone I can call.

"Oh yeah, sorry. Here." She hands him his phone. He quickly shoots TJ a text.

Yo, can I stay at your house for a few days?

Let me ask my mom. Why?

My mom kicked me out. I'll explain more later.

My mom said yes. See you in a bit.

Marty turns back to his girlfriend. "TJ's parents are going to let me stay over."

"I still don't understand how you two became so close." She says as they start walking again, heading to TJ's.

"He kind of found out about me and has been really supportive." He doesn't go into specifics because saying more would out TJ. That is not his right.

Buffy can sense that there is more but gets the hint not to push. As they walk, they intertwine pinkies. They don't say much. That's okay though because her still being there even after everything, is enough.

********

After a while, they reach TJ's house. They walk up to see the boy with sitting on a porch swing, resting his head against his boyfriend's shoulder. Marty thinks it's kind of cute to see the taller boy slouching to rest his head on Cyrus. Then a thought crosses his mind as he and Buffy step into view of boys on the porch.

"Oh god, you guys had your date day today and I am crushing it."

Cyrus smiles at him from the chair. "Actually I was just telling TJ I have to head home. It's late and now that my mom knows we are dating, sleepovers are a no-no." He laughs. He kisses TJ's cheek and pulls away. TJ groans in pretend annoyance, before pulling Cyrus in for one more kiss.

"Bye Underdog." TJ gives a dopey smile.

"Bye Teej…" He returns with the same lovestruck look.

Marty and Buffy make fake gagging noise almost in unison. It makes them both smile.

Cyrus eventually smiles towards Buffy. "Wanna walk home together?" Buffy nods before giving Marty a hug goodbye. She whispers "Text me tomorrow, okay?" Marty nods before the two friends head out towards their homes.

Marty joins TJ on the porch and takes a seat. He clears his throat.

"So uh, Buffy knows." Marty says softly.

"That's great man, you told her?"

"Not exactly, she came over to drop off my phone. I had left it at the diner. My mom answered the door and kind of outed me. But Buffy didn't care, you know? She even stood up to my mom for me. So it made me feel, you know good."

"I told you Buffy really cared about you, didn't I?" TJ gives a smug grin.

"Yea you did, man. I just felt so strong with her there, like a better person. So I stood up to my mom. Unfortunately that got me kicked out, but it was worth it. I mean I shouldn't have to stay with people hate such a big part of me."

"You're right. And tomorrow my mom said we will help you figure it out, okay? But tonight, just relax."

They sit quietly for a while just enjoying the night air. But TJ breaks the quiet. "So like does Buffy know that I know you're are trans?"

"Yea but don't worry I did not tell her you are trans too."

#andi mack #cyrus goodman #tj kippen #cyrus #tj #tyrus #marty from the party #marty #marty trans #trans!tj #tj trans #trans!Marty #buffy #buffy driscoll #muffy #muffy andi mack #platonic tarty

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dragonindigo245 · 5 years

Text

Muffled

Tags: N/A

Warnings: Transphobia, a dash of angst but mostly light hearted stuff.

Summary: Virgil Nix hasn’t spoken once to his friends he’s known for 9 years. He is mute from his overwhelming social anxiety but around them he can finally feel safe.

————

-Elementary school, 5th grade, January of 2010-

“Hey? Who’s the new kid?”

Logan didn’t bother to look up from his book. “And you expect me to have this knowledge?” Roman shrugged. “I dono. He’s quiet like you.” Logan scoffed at this. “I am not quiet. I speak quite often.” Roman rolled his eyes. “Fair... Actually speaking of that, the new guy hasn’t talked once. Not even when he was asked to introduce himself yesterday. Just pulled his hood up and it stayed like that all day.” Logan glanced at the new shadow in the corner of the class. “He’s looking at us you know. You could just talk to him instead of discussing him with me.”

Romans’ head snapped up to meet the figures heterochromic eyes. He quickly looked back at his desk and Roman turned back to Logan. “You know what? I’m just gonna say hi.” Logan finally looked up from his book properly. “I couldn’t have thought of a better plan. You are a true genius Roman.” Roman held back a laugh. “Yeah yeah. I know it was your idea.”

Roman approached the desk in the corner with the figure and posed dramatically. “Hello there! My name is Roman! I couldn’t help but notice your keen interest in our conversation.” The figure held up a hand in a jester to wait and opened a black notebook with a big storm cloud on the front. He flipped through the pages filled with words and stopped at the first blank page he reached. He grabbed a pen from beside him and began to write.

“I couldn’t help but notice your keen interest in my presence.”

They turned the notebook so Roman could read it. He chuckled and waved a hand in dismissal. “Touchè. What’s your name, dark one?” They tapped the pen against their notebook nervously before writing, “I go by Virgil. I like that name better though.” Roman smiled and extended his hand dramatically. “Well then Virgil, Lord Of Darkness...” He rolled his tongue at Virgil’s name. “Would you care to join me and my friends? The professor shouldn’t be in for another ten minutes or so!” Virgil pointed at Logan curiously. Roman nodded in confirmation. “Yeah that’s one of them. The others will be coming in soon! What do you say?”

Virgil played with his hoodie sleeves and nodded. Roman pulled him up out of his seat and Virgil barely had time to grab his notebook and pen before being pulled away. Logan looked up from his book at the slam of Romans hand against his desk. “Salutations Roman... and...?” Virgil opened back up his notebook and pointed to his name. Logan put his own book down and extended his hand. “Nice to meet you Virgil. I apologize for our conversation about you right in front of you.”

——————

-Preforming Arts College, Sophomore Year, December of 2019-

“Oh Ur-sulk-ula!” Virgil rolled his eyes and looked up from the couch. Roman loomed over him with a mischievous grin. “You know what today is?” Virgil pulled his phone out of his pocket and opened the notes app. There he typed, “It is Wednesday my dudes.” Roman chuckled at the reference. “Okay yes. I’m meaning what do we have to do today?” Virgil’s mind began to race. What was he forgetting? What was going on? Was he in trouble? Would his other roommates insult hi-

“Calm down there Meanie in the Lamp.. I can see worry painted all over that white foundation. Today is our day off!” Seemingly on cue Patton opened the door and he walked in with Logan, talking about some sort of animal. Roman ignored them. “Today Patton planned the board game day! I hope you got your game ready because I’m about to crush you!”

Virgi sneered and typed into his notes quickly, “Bring it on Fairy-fail Prince.” Roman gasped and held a hand to his chest. “You wound me emo!” Patton tisked at them. “Virgil, inform Roman that you’re-” Patton held up a board game labeled “SORRY!” Virgil snickered while Logan acted as if he was insulted. Patton’s smile traveled over to him. “Oh come on Logan! You know making dad jokes is my-” Patton now held up a board game labeled “LIFE!” Both Roman and Virgil broke out laughing while Logan visibly cringed.

Patton looked down at Virgil on the couch. “What game did you pick?” Virgil typed in “That’s a surprise for the end of the day.” Roman laughed. “I bet your game is not nearly as glamorous as mine.” Virgil rolled his eyes amused. They would just have to wait and see.

—————

-High school, 10th grade, April of 2015-

“MY DAUGHTER SHOULDN’T BE DISADVANTAGED LIKE THIS!!!”

“Mrs. Nix, I assure you that we were unaware. Your daughter claimed she was male so we treated her as such. I do not see why she couldn’t identify as one but if you say she was lying for attention and truly isn’t trans, I will make sure her teachers know.”

“WE WILL NOT STAND FOR THIS!”

Patton looked to the open office door next to his locker. Something was going on in there and it wasn’t pretty. He finished putting away his school stuff and curiosly peered in. There were three people Mr. Sanders or the principal, a tall and frightening woman, and... Virgil? Virgil’s hood was over his face and his sleeves were pulled up over his hands. He was visibly panicking and nobody had noticed.

The tall woman glared at Mr. Sanders and slammed her hands into the table. “IF THIS HAPPENS AGAIN I WILL PERSONALLY ASSURE YOU THAT THIS ENTIRE SCHOOL WILL BE SHUT DOWN!! Veronica, Go to your class unless you have something to say on the- I’m not reading some words out of your dumb notebook. You can speak just fine.” Virgil put his notebook away and got up to leave the room.

He almost got out the door before he realized Patton was standing right in front of him. The two adults didn’t seem to notice them. Patton glanced at them to make sure before tucking Virgil under his arm and leading him away.

They walked down a few halls and came to a taped off classroom. Stepping inside, Patton sat Virgil down. “Hey Virge... you doing alright? Think you can write for me what happened or are you too panicked?” Virgil curled his knees up to his chest and nodded. He slowly opened his bag and took out the notebook (which had a blank page bookmarked) and a pencil. “My mother just interveining intervening with the school. I just messed up is all.”

Patton read over the page and sat down beside Virgil. “Well... even if you messed up... I’m sure it’s not that bad! If you tell me what happened then I’m sure we can work it out!” Virgil nodded and stared at the paper for a few minutes, seemingly trying to write with his eyes. Eventually, with the help of Patton rubbing his back, Virgil picked the pencil back up.

“My mom hates that I’m trans. She claims it’s a made up thing and I’m lying to spite her and make her look bad, that being trans isn’t real and I will always be female. I messed up when I went to my dads for the weekend and asked for surgery to make me... less feminine. My dad was on board but my mom wasn’t. I should have just stayed quiet.”

Virgil barely finished writing his last sentence before Patton barreled into him with a hug. He almost fell onto his other side but caught himself, returning the hug as soon as he could sit back up. They hugged quietly, barely feeling the passage of time.

Patton eventually forced himself out of the hug but immediately took both of Virgil’s hands. “Virgil... Your mom is either going to have to accept who you are or she is going to have to suffer silently. I will not allow her to hurt you like this. You are allowed to be whoever you want to be. She has no say in who you are. The only person who has a say is you. We should go tell Mr. Sanders though.” Virgil nodded and immediately pulled himself back into a hug with Patton. Once again they sat silently.

Everything else could wait. For now this was all Virgil needed.

—————

-Preforming Arts College, Sophomore Year, December of 2019-

Evening came by quickly, too quickly for Virgil’s taste. Patton looked up from the Monopoly box as he shoved the lid back on. “So what game next? Oh! Virgil what about your game?”

Virgil’s head snapped up and he smiled nervously. Patton’s expression changed to the worried look of a parent. “It’s alright Virge. I’m sure we’ll love it.” Virgil nodded his head and moved to the floor. He dragged out a box from under the couch that he set on the table. A hush fell on the room as everyone stared at it. There in bright white words across the box read “Taboo, The Game of Unspeakable Fun”

Logan was the first to speak up. “Virgil... Do you know the rules of Taboo?” Virgil smile grew bigger with nervousness. Roman looked around. “I don’t? What could be so bad about it?” The room was quiet for a few more moments before Patton answered his question. “You have to speak in order for the game to work.” Roman looked back at Virgil in shock. “What?!? You picked a game you can’t play?”

Everyone turned to Virgil searching for some kind of answer. Virgil took careful, deep breaths and closed his eyes. After multiple breaths he opened his eyes and quietly replied aloud, “I feel safe enough to speak around you all now.”

Patton squealed and went around the table to hug Virgil. “OH MY GOODNESS! VIRGIL THAT’S- YOU ACTUALLY SPOKE!” Logan sat strait up while Roman put a hand over his own mouth. Patton started crying and laughing, burying his face into Virgil’s hoodie, who returned the hug back slowly as a grin spread across his face. “Yeah... I did.” Patton hugged him even harder at the end of his second sentence, so hard it looked painful. If it was then Virgil didn’t react.

Roman got up from his spot and wrapped his arms around Virgil, lying his head on the emos purple hair. Logan wasn’t far behind in the hug pile. They didn’t dare move for a long while, happy to finally hear their best friend voice himself.

#sanders sides #thomas sanders #roman sanders #ts roman #ts creativity #ts virgil #ts anxiety #virgil sanders #ts logic #ts logan #logan sanders #ts morality #ts patton #patton sanders #ts thomas #character thomas #my fic

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popculturebuffet · 4 years

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Jake Reviews Stuff: Bojack Horseman: Horay Todd Episode! (Plus a little bit on girls with slingshots)

Happy final day of pride month everybody! It’s been a hell of a ride.. and not just because the current landscape of the globe feels like hell right now, And to close it out we’re taking a look at an often overlooked segment of the queer community in media: Asexuality. I first learned about asexuality from the web comic girls with slingshots, because I love comic strips as much as comic books and because mainstream media tens to be really bad about telling people about diffrent facets of the lbtqa+ community, proven by the fact It took me till 2010, 18 years into my existince, to learn trans people existed from the long running candian teen drama Degrassi, birthplace of candian rapper Drake despite his damndest attempts to make people forget that, and a show that actually tackled the subject really well and the horrible shit trans people have to put up with, especially at Adam’s age. I also bring it up to apologize for a lack of trans representation of this pride as I scratched my head trying to think of some.. only to forget “oh yeah that really damn good rocko special from last year exists and has been sitting there all month dumbass” as I was writing this. I’m truly sorry and will try to get a review of static cling out sometime in june as an apology.

Back to Girls with Slingshots though because like with degrassi I want to give it genuine props and a talk here both for teaching me about it and being really good at queer representation in general. We actually meet the comic’s Ace representivie Erin, a shy 19 or 20 year old, when lead and professional dumbass Hazel hired Erin to find out who was dating her friend Jamie.. turns out

Given Jamie had only been dating men up to this point, and her one time with a woman lead to her assuming she wasn’t bisexual, when Jamie TRIED to tell Hazel what was going on Hazel, being kind of a dim, assumed it was an aaron and Erin decided rather than just you know, show up and let the the hamster in hazel’s brain slowly figure it out to do this.

Why yes that is a tiny asexual wearing the most transparent graucho marx-ish disguise ever. And why yes Hazel absolutely falls for it and even when Erin outright takes off the disguise it still takes Hazel a good minute to connect the dots. And why yes, this strip is awesome and is worth taking a large amount of time to talk about in an almost entirely unreatled article, more than i’d planned really. But eventually things hit a snag: the two TRIED having sex before Erin left to go to school in london.. and given i’ve out and out admited she’s asexual, you can guess it went badly, with Jamie feeling bad it was so uncomfortable and didn’t talk to her until visting her in london, where the two patched things up: They still loved each other, Erin was simply asexual and Jamie realized she was biromantic. However this didn’t mean Jamie herself was asexual.. and to Corsetto’s credit she actually fully dealt with this. After Jamie accidently became a meme while complaning about how horny she felt, the two had an honest talk about it, with Erin revealing she was perfectly fine if Jamie hooked up with dudes to satisfy her needs. It was a nice compromise and one of the first times I also learned polyamory wasn’t just something some weird asshole on tv did where he forced three women into what looked like an utterly miserable situation. What i’m saying is polgamy isn’t the same as polyamory and sister wives is objectively terrible and i’ve only seen minutes of it.

In fact the current daily reprint is up to this storyline and has Erin wing womaning for her girlfriend. And yes I do acknowledge this won’t be a solution for EVERY couple, everyone is diffrent.. it was really nice to show a relationship between two people of diffrent and wildly underrepresented sexual orentations that , rather get into a depressing thunderstorm over something like this, talk it out like adults and work out a resonalbe solution. Hence why I took several paragraphs of something else entirely to get into it. If you want more , check the strip out here.

https://www.girlswithslingshots.com

Okay now that plot cul de sac is out of the way, though I don’t regret a minute of it, you see the problem: Girls was the exception not the role and media wise, has a small but loyal fanbase. Big shows just didn’t really get that asexuality existed. But then one decided:let’s go let’s do this... so now i’ve talked about something else entirley for a good few paragraphs let’s talk about Bojack horseman Bojack Horseman is, like SU last time, one of the best shows of the last decade animated or otherwise. And like Steven, and adventure time before steven, it changed the game on what a genre of animation could do. See while Animation was going thorugh another renicssance in the 2010′s, it was mostly on the kids side for the first half.. Adult Animation was...

While there were good shows,after all Archer is a child of the 2010′s, bob’s burgers premired shortly after, and venture bros was, and still is, goin.. they were the exception. Family Guy was devloving from a really funny show to a horrible, unfunny mess that was and probably still is the television equilvent of screaming racist and offensive things just to piss people off and thus get attention and Adult Swim hit a slump, with several great shows like metalocalypse slowly leaving, and most that was left were garbage like Mr.Pickles. It .. wasn’t a great time.

But around half way two shows changed things and most adult animation stood up and took notice; Rick and Morty, which while i’m not as much of a fan these days was and still to some small degree is a really funny show while also having a deeply complex and deeply deconstructed lead. And around the same time. we got Bojack. As you probably know, Bojack was the tale of Bojack Horseman, a former 90′s sitcom star who starred in Horsin Around, basicaly fully house if uncle joey adopted orphans with bits of other tgif shows mixed in. Also he’s a horse and this world has a mixture of humans and various anthropormphic animals. And they dont’ shy away from that either and use that for a LOT of great jokes. Anyways Bojack is now a washed up asshole whose done tons, and as the show goes on continues to do, terribe things to get where he was, and is now trying to hang on to the scraps of his career. Around him are Princess Caroline, a pink cat and his agent and ex-girlfriend who wants a real realtionshpi , a baby and her career to go somewhere, Mr. Peanutbutter, Bojack’s dim aquantince who was on a ripoff show (which only PB seems not to get and is even called “Untitled horsing around ripoff project” at first in a flashback) and is really nice but also really bad at reading people, Diane, PB’s wife for most of the series who soon becomes bojack’s friend when she’s hired to do his autobigoraphy, and today’s subject, Todd, a 20 something cloudcuckoolander who crashed on Bojack’s couch after a party, and just.. never left since Bojack thought todd was kicked out for being gay and brought him in for brownie points (he was just lazy), and then despite insulting Todd constanlty kept him around because he was crushingly lonely and before Diane, had no other friends. There’s obviously more to it. more evolutions but as the episode title shows, today’s ep is all about Todd, so we’ll be focusing on what he’s been up to: Todd spent most of the first two seasons just kinda.. bouncing around. Whlie the a-plots could be more serious, most todd plots were wacky palette cleansears, from him ending up in jail and trying to court two gangs at once like it was that one episode of family ties every sitcom sense has copied, made a giant copy of his own head over months, or started a safe cab company for women that somehow ended up as stripper cabs. Season 3 however added more weight: Bojack’s various slights against Todd were piling up, and he was starting to get tired of it, the straw that broke the camel’s back coming when Todd’s ex emily, who todd failed to sleep with because he didn’t want to but, not knowing what an asexual even was, couldn’t comincate with it and bojack having a really bad track record of thinking with his dick.. you can kinda see what happened.

Finding out much later, after Bojack used emily telling him not to as an easy way out of telling him and both were kinda stupid with that, and Todd eventually found out something happened.. but when Bojack tells him it was sex, Todd is genuinely suprised and had, for the last time expected better of him. Really Todd is a great deconsturction of the wacky sidekick in shows like this: the often abused optimist oppisite of the pesmist asshole protaganist. But here it shows.. that can only go on so long. You can only treat a person like dogshit so many times before they grow tired of you and as Todd prepares to move out and bum around somewhere else we get one of the most iconic, and best, scenes in the series as Todd unloads on bojack after the horse tries apologizing.. couched in excuses.

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“It’s you bojack, it’s alwasy eben you” This scene hit like a truck, not just due to Aaron Paul absolutley killing it, but because as someone with a bad habit, even sometimes falling back into it, of justifying why I did something bad afterwords or blaming other people for far too long, if not NEARLY to the extent bojack did, it resonated. Sure those kinds of things may have LEAD you to the things you do but sometimes, your just doing shitty things and no amount of reason for it makes it okay. And it was a bold step to take: while the two talked on occasion and their friendship KINDA regrew, it never REALLY recovered from this. Things didn’t go back in the bottle. Bojack lost one of his best friends as his friend.. they were in the same orbit but it’d never be the same. Todd did eventually tell Emiliy what he was dealing with and Emily told him what he was, and Todd started crashing on mr.peanutbutter’s couch because, unsuprisingly, the two eventually became close friends. So with Emily out of the picture, while she liked todd she needded sex and neither of them thought of an open relationship, that’s where we find Todd, grapling with his asexuality while getting into his usual wacky misadventures, which hadn’t and would never stop, as evidenced by the horrifying sex robot he created to try and please emily in a later season. So with all of that FINALLY out of the way. we can finally dig into horay todd episode after the read more. Because while i’m going to try doing that less to get more readers.. this episode is giant just at the introduction and is a half an hour long.

We open with an orchestra, nervous Todd won’t show up for his solo.. because of course Todd’s a regular part of an orchestra now. He shows up in time to do his bit on the triangle, cheers all around

Att the bar, the various musicians wonder just who Todd is. Was in a prison gang? (Yes two in fact as stated above) A foreign prince?? ( He looked just like one and they swapizesd for an episode), a tech billionare? (For all of five minutes) Or is he both?... there isn’t a both here I don’t know why I did that. However the conductor roars in, he’s a lion, .. and it’s keith david everybody!

As you can probably wager Keith David is a faviorite of mine, one of the best voice actors around, a fantastic live actor, and just all around awesome dude.. and still pretty damn hot at 64. And while this is a minor role, ANY time keith david shows up is cause for celebration and I honestly forgot he was in this, so it was a nice suprise.

We then find out how the two know each other, with the conductor calling Todd “The most giving man he’s ever known.” Accurate. Todd once saved his pregnant daughter from a shipwreck carrying her on his back, delivered said baby on a piece of driftwood then circumcised said baby while hanging from a rescue copter.. and also had a spirited but respectful debate before hand about how circumcion had fallen out of vouge, with them eventually deciding on it since the lions are jewish and she’d like the option for the baby to join the relgion if he so chooses when they grow up. Which is both a great gag and a nice nod to circumcisons not being popular these days, and makes todd even awesome. I mean not every man would not only be repsectful when talking to a mother about this, but do so while hanging from a helicopter. Also props to the old timey paperback illustrations, which doubly sell the sudden debate bit. It’s something I love the show: while it’s one of the most depressing in existance, it’s also god a wonderfully goofy sense of humor that helps ballance things out. The conductor then explains todd later filled in last year when their triangle player died after getting his foot stuck in his triangle, another good one, but worries about todd and just how MUCH the man gives and wishes sometimes to see him not there when his part comes up, to see Todd give for himself. Then of course Todd spoils the move by coming out drenched in water with greasy hands, having tried to wash taco stains off his shirt, but then got greasy hands from said taco he ewa sstill holding and being trapped in a bathroom for an hour. That’s Todd in a nutshell: He can be legendary, selfless and utterly helpful or insightful one minute, and somehow get trapped in a hallway for an entire episode the next. That.. actually happened in case you either didn’t know or entirely forgot. Cue Credits.. a FIRST for this show suprisingly. Given most shows i’ve done are 11 minutes the credits usually happen before the show and I just forget to talk about them. I”ll breifly say the credits for Bojack are exellent and I love how they evolved and changed as each season wore on, and give the team kudos for doing what most shows just simply won’t or can’t do in western animation.

We’re at the peanutbutter residence, where PB is in the middle of his political campagin, working with his controlling and assholish ex wife katrina, and Todd gives him some pocket cheese to help but get’s shoed off and works on breakfast in the background with a giant egg for some reason. Probably because all animals are sentient here. And yes they explained how they still got meat. Anyways, Diane is annoyed that Katrina wants PB to decide if he’s for or against fracking based on public approval, insstead of you know just.. being against it because it’s wrong. She’s STILL better about it than that one episode of last man of earth I watched where the straw man liberal asshole argued with the consertaive asshole lead over a pothole they had and refused to just let his son belivie god exists because it calmed him down and in the next one forcibly dressed said son up as coal to mock his future mother in law because he’s as bad as the lead character, because this show is miserable and Ryan is what the writers apparently think a liberal is. Anyways as this goes on we see Todd.. pulling his weight. He packs diane a lunch, leaves it by her purse as she gets ready to go to work, makes said giant egg into an omlette for pb and sets up a nice breakfast complete wtih his medication hidden inside because dog. We see that despite crashing there Todd has grown from where he was and is now making sure to actively contribute to the house as thanks for letting him stay. Anyways PB needs his glasses to take them off to seem sincer because he left htem at princess carolyn’s, she also represents Peanut Butter, Todd and Diane. Todd heads off, though dosen’t sign for a package as he once ended up with cremated remains, or cremains as he calls them and I now will, over it because of course he did and heads off while a mysterious horse in a trench coat watches... more on her in a bit.

At Carolyn’s agency , PC annoynces “it’s todd” with todd giving back an excited it’s me... he should enter the room like that every time. It really fits. Anyways, it turns out PC needed him for help with actress Courtney Pourtnory, whose in femalecentric Taken spinoff ms.taken, which i’m shocked wasn’t an actual movie. There’s also a lot of tounge twisting puns which as always Amy Sedaris flawlessly delivers and that i’ll miss now the show is gone. Anyways Courtney isn’t seen as relatable so PC goes with the oldest trick in the book: have some normal guy date the celebrity to see them as relatbale and well todd’s on retainer. Todd is reluctant, less so due to his asexuality and more because he’s not only already busy with the sunglass errand, but has a meeting tonight. intresting. But PC ensures todd it’s no trouble and they can just do lunch for the paparazzi and todd does like the idea of having his picture taken. “It’s proof I exist.” It’s the same reason I hate having mine taken. It’s proof I still exist and this hell year hasn’t ended yet.

Back at the campagin unsuprisingly what todd didn’t sign for was important and Katrina just tells him to sign for Pb next time, which is like giving a dog a play bone that also has a dart full of poison that shoots out of it into the rest of the living room. There’s no way this ends well and you should know that. So Katrina asks him to dance a little sidestep on the issue instead.

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This movie is eh but this musical number is awesome and I will use it at any opportunity. Rest in peace Charles Durning. It helps it’s still relevant as hell for both sides of the isle. Anyways Todd signs a letter to the state goverment because again, telling todd to do something without even remotely thinking about it is like giving a baby a boomerang loaded with nitro glcyerne, but soon gets cloroformed by our mysterious viewer. “And down goes todd. “.. said by todd himself because of course he did> God bless this man and aaron paul’s performance. “And up comes todd!” .. whose, not suprisingly, apparently been drugged and/or knocked out enough to have a catchphrase for these situations. After grabbing a pool skimmer for defense because you know a stranger just kidnapped him, the stranger calms him down and introduces himself: And this is where we properly meet Hollyhock.. Manheim-Mannheim-Guerrero-Robinson-Zilberschlag-Hsung-Fonzerelli-McQuack which I copied directly from the wiki because this review is already running long and running behind, and I don’t want to spend an hour trying to copy that from the episode itself. The nightmare of a name, which is a running gag is because she was adopted.. by 8 gay men in a polyamours relationship. And one of them is apparently related to launchpad.

Anyways Hollyhock, who called at the end of last season to no answer, thinks Bojack might be her dad and thus bought a spy kit to figure out. And used the cholorform, if apologizing for it because once you’ve got it you can’t not use it. Todd is unsuprised by both things; As bojack hilariously but horrifyingly put it his penis was like sun dried tomatoes in the 90′s: it was on everything, and Bojack himself had that kit, mostly using it on himself because of course he did. She tracked down Todd because Todd was in Bojack’s book as his roomate. Todd explains they no longer live together and Bojack has been missing, long story there though we do know where he was due to the last episode, but since Hollyhock really dosen’t need to meet him just wants his dna to find out if he’s related or not, so Todd suggest sher house. Time for more cloroform!

At Bojack’s place Todd wonders where to find a hair, since most ladies Bojack is with understandably shower afterwords only for Holly to find one.. and a sleeping unconcious clearly spiraling once again Bojack. Todd lament siwth an oh bojack: just because he’s mostly done with the guy dosen’t mean he still dosen’t care. Todd’s still a good guy and still dosen’t want to see his former friend go through this for the 80th time... he’s just done being the one to be there for him through it and that’s understandably. Hollyhock yanks a hair which does nothing to wake him, unsuprisingly, but the mention of “blowing this place” makes Bojack wakes up as he thinks people has blow. it’s also telling that he’s worried Todd’s going to yell at him again and that he’s clearly stills marting from his understandable telling off. Todd is force dto make up an excuse since Hollyhock VERY understandably dosen’t want to tell him the truth, and Todd lightly rebuff’s bojack’s attempts to be pals again.. given he hasn’t really changed, it’s understandable. Also Hollyhock cloroforms him to get out of BOjack asking more questions and sends todd to take the dna to a place. Todd heads to a 1 hour dna testing lab, because of course there’s one this is LA. But without Hollyhock’s dna they can’t do it but the guy says to come back with it in an hour after he’s done with lunch.. which gets Todd to realize OH SHIT I HAVES A DATE and he runs off. The fact he DIDN’T actually say that is a suprise.

At the date Courtney transparently breaks up with Todd for publicity as Todd is utterly confused, before getting reminded about hollyhock. This scene just kind of happened so have the first gif I find typing “David Byrne” into gif search.

Back at Bojack’s house all Hollyhock’s done is snoop around, finding Bojack’s box of bad reviews of other people’s sitcoms because of COURSE he has that, eat a full box of donuts and take a nap.. given the simliiarity todd isn’t sure they need that test. Hollyhock naturally refuses and just wants to use todd’s hair but since the dna guy said that don’t work, they find some in her comb. Todd however has to cover for the earlier Maid excuse he gave bojack, nice bit of foreshadowing there, and cleans up the house while Hollyhock sits around. I know she’s not his daughter, still related but still and even I’m having a hard time beliving the truth. No sooner than does Todd put out that fire, than things get worse; Naturally the signutre was for pro fracking and while Katrina is pissed, not fairly as again, it’s like she handed a baby a shot gun for tots that make sa funny noise when you pull the trigger and is suprised that he shot up the couch. Anyways PB is understandabily more worried his wife will be upset he has to support fracking now, and Todd untietionally offers to distract her from the media while Hollyhock takes a nap because she feels.. really diffrent early on. While parts of her horseman traits would remain here she’s far less friendly or helpful than she would be later on in this half of the episode. it’s not BAD as sometimes it takes an episode or two for a character to properly become what their like for the rest of the series, it’s just WEIRD. Like Red Green’s monotone in early Red Green Show episodes it just feels.. off.

Todd rushes off to Girl Croosh, the click baity blog diane works for because I forget when things happened sometimes, where Todd is doing the most todd distraction possible: Telling diane to look at him while he dances. Which to Diane’s shock has been going on for 45 minutes.

Diane’s boss Stefani comes in voiced by the wonderful Kimiko Glenn who I admited to loving as a voice actress, and having a crush on back in my first close enough review and still stand by. She’s wonderful. Stefani berates diane for not being clickbaity enough, other plot for this season etc etc next todd crisis. Princess Carolyn is annoyed they didn’t get a picture of courtney with todd.. even though she left first but this eems to be the “blame todd for things that are either not his fault or you should’ve expected by talking to him for five minutes” episode. Anyways PC says to be at the shark jacob’s fashion show in 30 minutes, and Diane bemoans trying to get people to pay attention to the world sucking. Todd shows some more competence and actually gives her a good metaphor: When mr.peanutbutter dosen’t want to take his pill, as I expected, Todd disgusied it.. though in the cheese. Just do that: put some hot goss around the rest of it. Todd, to keep her away from the computer with a literal headline that reads “Mr.Peanutbutter supports fracking and hasn’t told his wife yet”, because this show is amazing, makes up a story about Channing Tatum having an illgitamte daughter and gives her the testing hairs. The theme of this scene, and the episode really is that people underestimate todd: understandably the man got lost in a bathroom at the top of this episode and refused to sign a package because of past shenangians... but because of that they fail to see that todd is .. actually really compitent, insightful and caring. IN this one scene he actually suceeds in his mission in the dumbest, toddest way possible, then on the fly kills two errands with one stone while also giving Diane genuinely good advice. But the big question the episode poses is.. what does TODD want at the end of the day and just how much of this “doing everyones shit for htem” should he take?

As Todd passes a sheep with a wonderful “The end of the wool is coming’ sign, he sneaks into the fashion show.. we also see a background model bird smoking that I SWEAR is a protytpe for tuca, just with a diffrent bodytype and a more aloof, supermodely face. Though if this is the same universe it could just be a sister of hers. It’s not out of the realm of posiblity. And yes I will defintely be talking Tuca and Bertie at some point, especially once it comes back next year. Being todd he ends up walking the runway instead, and it goes poorly, but Todd telling them that fashion shouldn’t be elitest somehow works and he become a hit. Also Tim Gunn is there as himself, beacause this show liked to mix animal versions of celebrites iwth the real ones, and sometimes had the real ones voice the animal versions of themsselves. Todd also gets a call from Diane: it’s a match. ALso I forgot Todd’s wonderful ringtone which is him , to the opening of that one betooven song going “todd todd todd TODD!” Magical Back at the horseman residence, Bojack’s sent hollyhock to go thank channing tatum for collecting his mail and goes through all the mail that piled up while he was MIA. He’s also wallowing about his miss opprtotunites, some involving pottery barn. He’s suprised by PB’s governor run, with Todd countering that of course he knew he’s been around and when Bojack asks how Diane feels Todd shoots that down right away and insists he just ask her himself, and again counters; Does she even know he’s back? Bojack insists he’s no tready, and he’s only told Todd he’s back.. and his various drug guys, channing tatum, and hollyhock. But not his inner circle. And given he and PB tend to not mesh well, though it is getting better at this point, he ruined things with Todd, he dropped PC for entirely warranted reasons.. Diane really IS the only person he has to call and he’s likely afraid of disapointing her. He then tells Todd to friend break up with channing tatum, with todd thinking his speech was about him and being understandably disapointed. I also like Todd’s attiude here: he’s done just.. taking Bojack’s shit and isn’t going to stick around for it and only really agrees to go to channing tatums because Hollyhock’s over there and he needs to tell her.

Todd goes over and lies to hollyhock after warning her BOjack might not be readyf or a daughter and Hollyhock expresses her own doubts. Then diane shows up and Todd’s force dto play being channing tatum so they both don’t get arrested for trespassing. Diane confronts channig with her thoughts he’s the father, which hollyhock instnatly realizes exactly what that means, but relents on doing so, not wanting to be that kind of journalest and ruin someone’s life for her own benefit. Todd gives her a pep talk and she accepts it’s him because it’s what she thinks channig tatum would say and leaves with a cheery “love half your movies. Hollyhock meanwhile has fled, obviously upset and before Todd can deal with THAT, he gets another call, clearly tired at this point as am I as i’m not only not used to reviewing 22 minute shows anymore, let alone 30 minute ones, but I have a ticking clock due to my own procastination. She once again gets mad at him, this time a bit more understandably, and Todd darts off to meet courtney.

The two talk, and Courntey is dressed like todd only her hat is 50 dollars.. and that’s a hella don’t... I miss Macklemoore. Anyway, Courtney opens up about being seen by everyone but not being seen at the same time.. which todd relates to even if courtney can’t fathom someone having the same feelings, but admits it’s nice to talk about it while Todd laments about his meeting, worrying h’es not ready yet. That what if it goes badly? What if the idea of something is better than the truth. I realate both due to my anxiety proving that and because as a comics nerd and general nerd, that’s happened more times than I can count, both with legendary stories that turned out to not be very good or something I really looked forward to turning out to be a mess, like It Chapter 2, or Zoolander 2, or Secret Empire or.. point is Courtney does relate to that and prefers fiction and the paparazzi, the same ones who tailed bojack for multiple episodes in season 1, eat it up with Courtney announcing their engagment iwth todd responding with “Horay i’m confused!”... that’s me all day everyday buddy.

Todd goes back to Bojack’s to find Hollyhock, and being a good friend even to someone who certainly dosen’t deserve it at this point, tells Bojack the truth.. which he reflexvley denies before Todd admits she didn’t want to tell him and Bojack. understands and once again piles pity on himself.

We then get the scene that got me to review this in the first place.. thanks asshole! All jokes aside, the two have an honest conversation: Bojack, while not outright saying sorry admits all he does is hurt people and he slept with the one person he ever saw todd be in love with... given it’s hard for him to give out a genuine apology, it’s still a good moment as it shows Bojack, even if he screws up constantly, is really apologetic about destroying their freindship. That part also shows WHY it was wrong: Sure todd couldn’t and wouldn’t sleep with her.. but it dosen’t change the fact Bojack SHOULDN’T have , knew what he was doing, did it anyway and then never told him.

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He continues with it though after todd wonders if he’s evne allowed to love. , saying he got more of Todd than he deserved, and all the guy asked for was a roof over his head and the ocasional smore in a baquet, and tells todd he didn’t deserve him and he really appricated him. This.. actually gets Todd to open up and he comes out as Asexual to bojack which after making it clear it means he’s not a sexual deviant, dynamo or what have you, a great wordplay gag, that he’s just not sexual.. Bojack.. shockingly and to Todd’s suprise dosen’t think it’s weird like he expected, but is thrilled and honeslty wishes sometimes he was asexual and we get what I consider to be the best joke of the seris. Bojack; Maybe then I wouldn’t have A strain of herpes Todd; You have multiple strains Bojack: I know, it only works with the A. Todd feels.. good.. while i’m not Ace myself I am bisexual and both times i’ve come out, first to my mom and a few friends, then to the rest of the world this month on facebook, it felt.. freeing. To not have to worry or hide no more.. to just be who you are.. and it feels.. good to Todd. While Bojack tries to slide back into friendship since todd isn’t mad about Emily anymore, Todd gently stops him: It wasn’t just here, as I made clear earlier, he’s not ready to be his friend again.. but hes ready to be more than NOT friends. While their freindship won’t be the same anymore, as Todd makes painfully clear.. Todd gives him a genuine i’t’s good to see you as he leaves. Again he may not LIKE the guy anymore and understandably dosen’t want to be the only person he can count on in bojack’s life... he still wants the guy to be okay, which the fans could probably relate to the whole damn series; Being fed up with his bullshit and TERRIBLE TERRIBLE actions, but wanting him to be better already. The door rings.. and it’s HOllyhock. We MIGHT get to that another time, but for now we close out Pride, and todd’s tale as todd goes to his meeting... which as it turns out...

While there is still more miles on Todd’s journey, ending his sham engagement set up here, a failed relationship and a sucessful relationship at the end of the series, not to mention reconcliation with his family... Todd takes an important step and takes what he wants, finding his people and being proud of who he is.. and that’s sometimes the best and hardest step. And we get a nice button on the framing device as Todd misses his solo for the first time, to the conductors delight. The End.

Final Thoughts: This was a really good rewatch. While not AS heavy as some other bojack episodes, it still has plenty of good character work, moving along or setting up several plots for the season without any of it feeling forced whlie giving Todd added depth in his coming out story. Todd still dosen’t fully understand what his asexuaity is and is scared to be open with it.. but that beautiful scene above is what makes the episode work as is the ending right after: By finally telling someone he knows, and by being accepted by the last person he’d expect to not only understand what Todd is but embrace it.. he can finally find others like him to help him through it and finally find something for himself after giving so much to everyone else while asking nothing in return. That’s also a nice bit of deconsturction here... while Todd’s happy to help we do ssee bouncing from storyline to storyline actually wears on him and that sometimes it’s tiring being the guy everyone assumes has nothing but time for htem. It’s a nice development and Aaron Paul does it beauitfully and I do stand by HIS casting, as unlike with Allison brie where they knew diane would be an vitamese woman and cast a white woman anyway, though to Ralph-Paul’s credit, he’s throughly apologized for this and Allison Brie herself recently also apologized for it personally in the wake of the recent black lives matter lead call to not have white actors voice People of Color anymore. Also props to Jenny SLate for, if a bit late , still leaving big mouth for the last two seasons and apologizing herself among with any other actor or actress whose dropped a role as a POC when their white. It’s a good trend. But here.. I get why they didn’t try and get rid of Aaron Paul. It was probably hard enough to get executives to give a shit about Ace representaation enough to let htem do it, adding “firing a big name draw to replace him wiht a likely no name” was probably a bridge too far and sadly, sometimes you have to pick your battles, and they picked getting to have an ace character at all and to Aaron Paul’s credit he’s been an Ace ally ever since. HOpefully in the future we will get more ace chracters and more ace actors and actresses playing the part, but every journey begins with a sigle step and this storyline was a huge one. But overall the episode is truly fantastic, a highight in a series full of amazing episodes and it was a good note to go out on for this month. I won’t stop doing LBGTQA reviews obviously, and I should’ve added the a way sooner, but it’s been fun doing them and i’ve been proud too. Some have been better than others but the better one shave been some of my best work. So as we live in uncertain and stupid times, stay safe , black live matter and your all beautiful. I have other stuff in the works; a full steven unvierse arc, regular coverage and of course that “sorry I was a moron” static cling review, but until then, I love you all and i’d like, if I may, to close on a song... not by me obviously my singing voice is “sorta adaquate I guess’ at best.

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