#getting all emotionally invested in this DUMB SHOW FROM MY CHILDHOOD

[ginalinettiofficial]

in case anyone was wondering it’s nearly five am and i’ve spent all night reading fucking icarly fanfic as if it’s not 2023 so like that’s where IM at today

[freakyshibs]

Shows that were canned too early that deserved better (imo)

We all hate it when we get wayy too invested into a show with good characters, an interesting plot, and a solid setup right? Well it seems that the networks for these shows didn’t really see it that way sadly, some of these shows are known, others aren’t, but this is just gonna be me rambling about how we didn’t get more of these said shows 😭

The Owl House

Now this one I wont dig deep into too long? We did get a solid ending in the end, but we were definitely robbed of a full season 3

The fact that this was Disneys next big thing, (like Gravity Falls) and still got axed kinda baffles me a bit because executives love big ratings

I heard they cancelled it because of it ‘not fitting the disney brand’ (mostly because there were two main gay characters in it) which I thought was super unfair, because they really were that homophobic 💀

All in all, I enjoyed this show and wanted a full season 3

Close Enough

From Regular Show creator J.G Quintel, this show was definitely more for an older audience, and let me say they did amazing at it.

The shows humor didn’t revolve around cussing or sex jokes, (which is what I see all the time now in modern adult animation) and the show was definitely funny!

Unfortunately though, Max cancelled it after 3 seasons due to the merge of Discovery + and HBO Max, with Max canning alot of shows during that time, this being one of them

We kinda sorta got left on a cliffhanger of sorts?? At least imo. Liked the show and wish we had more

Wander Over Yonder

For a show made by Craig McCracken (Powerpuff Girls, Fosters Home) you’d think it would be popular and have a bunch of seasons right?

Well no, with this show only having two seasons after Disney cancelled it because ‘80 episodes were enough for this show’ which is kinda dumb?? I dunno I just don’t like executives and rules and stuff

I remember this show from my childhood, it was really good in my opinion, I feel like we could’ve had more if Disney didn’t cancel it as early as it did

Love you WOY 🫡

Inside Job

The fact that this show left on a cliffhanger too made me even more upset that Netflix cancelled it as early as they did

Not only was this another adult animated show that didn’t rely on cussing or sex jokes, the story was actually really interesting too and if the show did continue, we would’ve had a happy ending

Screw Netflix actually I will never forgive them for this one

Grojband

I CANNOT stress enough about how this show deserved so much more than what it got, I actually would’ve put it at number one, but the next one is kinda justifiable so ._.

From Todd Kauffman and Mark Thornton (Total Drama Island) this show featured a kid and his friends that were in a band, and used lead singers sisters diary as lyric ideas, bc they suck at writing them

And I loved it

I swear I don’t think I’ve ever been heavily interested in and emotionally attached to the characters in a show before, it was so good

The songs in this show were also heavenly, I suggest you give them a listen, theyre really good!

Also another reason I really liked the show was because it was a Canadian toon that didn’t revolve around gross out humor (I applaud them for that)

Unfortunately this was a show Cartoon Network screwed over BIG time, with when it came out during the summer it was airing, kids were mostly outside playing, never really gaining an audience, and then after the first half of the season aired, it was on a 2 YEAR hiatus. With fans questioning if the show would ever come back

Fortunately it did! Except Cartoon Network shoved it on their app, and a year later shoved it onto their sister channel, Boomerang. Then, after the show FINALLY ended their first season, the show was immediately cancelled, with Cartoon Network never really giving it a chance

The whole way Cartoon Network handled this show frustrated me immensely, with it having a decent fanbase, and people wanted more (me being one of them:()

The creators even had alot of plans for next said season, but I guess we will never get to see them (unless a Clone High situation happens but that’s doubtful)

Show was very underrated and deserved SO much more, Cartoon Network fumbled this one and the last show Im about to mention

Sym Bionic Titan

This sci fi animated series by Genndy Tartakovsky (Samurai Jack, Dexters Lab) only lasted one season with 20 episodes

With Cartoon Network cancelling it because of the failure to produce a TOY LINE

The fact this show got axed because of toys just makes me so upset

This was one of those shows that also left on a cliffhanger sadly, so we never really got to see how this show properly ended

With Genndy even saying that he wrote 10 more episodes, but now we will never get to see them

ALSO THE SHOWS SOUNDTRACK WAS SO GOOD?! Love when shows put banger songs in the bg, reminded me so much of Clone High

Anyways thats pretty much it? These are just my opinion tho, everyone is entirely different

[papirouge]

That thing about adults watching toddlers cartoons you reblogged... I think it truly is a reflection of some people literally reggresing in some ways, and i don't blame the ones who just want an escape from their shitty lives. I feel some people simply are finding it difficult to accept the reality of adulthood and all the realizations that come with it. The lost of innocence and all, finding out the world is more harsh and cruel that expected... I don't know, i can understand in a way because sometimes ill watch cartoons from my childhood or play videogames from that time too... It's the nostalgia from better times. I think it happens to us that had more sheltered childhoods.... However, i do think its weird to seek out new cartoons from toddlers and somehow enjoy it. I don't get it. Perhaps cartoons fr older kids are really bad nowadays, i wouldnt know.

I do think its more understandable for people interested in animation since most western cartoons are geared towards kids, and adult cartoons are ugly as balls lets be honest. And they can be cringy as hell: once i was walking by my brother watching that Bojack horseman or whatever cartoon, and there was this character talking about asexuality and how you could be asexual and have romantic relationships and sex. Like, the cringe... Id rather watch bluey or stephan university lmao

Yeah I hate how Western animation has become.....so ugly. I mean the Power Puff Girls or Totally Spies had some edge but when I see today's animation it looks so ugly and disgusting (Family Guy, Big Mouth has to be the filthiest adult animated show I ever laid my eyes upon). And I also hate how adult shows have to be so unecessary sexual. It's like because, since they're for an adult audience, they now could tackle those topics, they had to shoe horn these unecessary awkward and disgusting storylines.... (and thinking you can be asexual while having sex is stupid yeah lol)

I think you are absolutely right about how watching these "comfort shows" can help coping with the hardship of reality, but look at the result : people are getting more and more (intellectually and emotionally) retarded. It's not normal for a 25+ adult of being invested in anime or manga where the characters are half of their own age....

Look how anime has groomed entire generations of men thinking that women enjoyed sexual harassment and rape, and that they didn't have real hobbies (beside looking out for male approval). I'll never be over how horrendously written 99% of female characters in manga are (the 1% left are written by female mangaka). There's no wonder men who grew up with that trash have a totally wrapped image of women, struggle respecting their boundaries (there's no wonder japanese men are known creep - especially with foreigners), how a REAL ADULT HUMAN FEMALE body look like (just the other day there was a kid on Twitter calling "disgusting" a woman who had.....body hair on her arm. His argument? "but IN PORN women don't look like that!!!".....😐).

I think those shows are ruining the way people are adulting. Western civilization look down on cultures that upkept a "ritual of passage" into adulthood, arguing it's unecessary and kinda hard on kids to have such a sharp leap into adulthood, but I think those cultures actually have a point. At some point adults need to cut out with regressive coping mechanism for their own well-being.

Again : grown adult watching debilitating shows is not normal. It makes them emotionally retarded and dumb. Just because something helps you to cope with shit doesn't mean it's harmless or good for you in the long run.

A grown 27 y.o woman unironically posting about her "comfort character" and that characters is somehow half her age is NOT normal. Grown men in the 30s watching anime and getting excited about the next One Piece chapter release like there's no tomorrow is NOT normal. Grown men watching anime altogether is a red flag anyway (and let's not talk about those gathering toys/collectibles which is HIGHLY symbolic psychologically-wise - babies/children are those needing toys, not adults...)

[timextoxhajima]

The Boyz as things and feelings (just cause)

this is a small thing @haechanhues​ needed help with so i decided to make it an actual post uwu [this is gonna be pretty long cause i might write little scenarios]

[THE BOYZ AS THINGS AND FEELINGS]

SANGYEON - MIRRORS AND PILLOWS

mirrors make a place look bigger than it really is - i feel like sangyeon has that ability to make you feel like you’re more important on your worst days

the things he’ll do just to make sure you’re alright, even when he knows you’re not

he also has the ability to reflect what you need: sad? he’ll come and hug you and let you cry or talk about your shitty day. happy? he’ll joke about the way you snort while laughing then he’d probably do something dumb to keep the energy up there

mirrors also feel very private and at-home, and that exactly how i feel he curates an environment

pillows are self-explanatory ig, smth to cry into, smth to fall asleep with while hugging, has the best homely scents ever, very comfortable

i imagine going home after a long day and finding your partner also tired, but he’s cooking or like in the couch watching tv and he just invites you into his arms uwu

“tell me about everything! whatever that makes you happy or sad and i’ll try my best to be who you need at that point of time!”

JACOB - FLOWERS AND MUSIC

ok like jacob with a guitar is just a stellar sight to behold, he looks like he was born to hold one, and his vocals are super underrated imo, most of tbz’s discography doesnt really suit his voice - i really wish he had a chance to have more lines in more ballads or maybe even a solo thing

he would drag you out to go on walks after he knows you’ve buried yourself in your work the whole day, and he’d be the kind to stop at a pretty flower and contemplate plucking it but he wouldn’t cause he’s a fairy and wouldn’t hurt a fly, much less a pretty flower

would probably play a piece in the background while you’re stressed w work and hum a tune so the singing wouldn’t distract you

would stop when he notices you stopped working and your sad ass is probably crying lmao

he’s a very soft and gentle man imo

he’s the innocent daisy amidst other bright colored, flamboyant flowers but he still stands out

“i’ll grow you a rose bush in the yard so i don’t have to be sad about plucking flowers next time.”

YOUNGHOON - WINTER COATS AND COFFEE AND PASTRIES

he definitely radiates tsundere vibes on first sight, but when you get to know him, he’s obviously the opposite: a crybaby

but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t keep up his model-like appearances when he’s outside - in fact, he’d be the one to influence you into caring more about how you look (of course not materialistically, but more into actually caring about making yourself feel good with your fashion and appearance)

i chose winter coats as a symbol of coverage - he doesn’t show much of himself unless he’s close to you (like when you wear winter coats to keep warm, he’s a burrito because he doesn’t bother too much about sharing his feelings), but when he does, it feels like he has the ability to keep you warm and comfortable, even on the coldest days, even if his inner savage comes out

it’ll be like he scooped you into his coat and has you warm in one of this inner breast pockets

i see him as the kind to get regular coffee and like, a tart or something, at a cafe. it adds on to the warmth, when he remembers what you like. the details. maybe you like your coffee with cinnamon or less sugar or something, but then he tops it up with a muffin and he knows you like it heated up so he specifically asks for them to do so

ok but he’s defo the kind of guy that catches people’s attention at public spaces so every now and then when he’s laughing or smiling, some girl would gawk at him and he would be embarrassed about it, but lucky for you, you’re already wearing matching coats so they know the man’s taken uwu

“if only they knew how long it took to convince you to wear that coat.”

HYUNJAE - CONCERTS AND CONVENIENCE STORE DATES

classy but calm. dream-like but realistic. 

i say concerts as in the instrumental, ballad kinds. he loves it and he knows you probably need the sleep where you have that kind of background white noise/music that provides you the best quality of sleep there is. but when you’re not dosing off, he’s admiring how much time you’re willing to invest into being at something he loves

of course, in turn, he doesn’t complain much when you’re hungry and you meet him down the street at the nearest convenience store for some instant noodles and potato chips with a coke and he lets you ramble about your day 

he would probably buy you an ice cream just so you’d feel better, then regret it when you get a stomachache later cause it was like 2am in the morning

you probably have like 5 of his hoodies at home that you refuse to wash cause his scent is tainted all over it and the only time he gets to take them home is when he stays over or visits and he sneaks one into his bag when you’re in the kitchen making tea or a bowl of noodles

then you’ll get it back without even knowing it was gone

the kind that would probably surprise you after a day of work with a casual date idea to the movies, and i mean showing up at your place, impromptu, after he knows you’re home with two tickets 

“act like my girlfriend for once and go on a date with me, would you? your work isn’t going to be there with you when you die at 90.”

JUYEON - STARGAZING AND VR GAMES

as dumb and sometimes bimbotic as he seems he is, he’s gotten most of the visible constellations memorised and he would not hesitate from telling you all about his childhood with his family when they would travel and try to spot every single constellation they can remember

which brings me to the point where he remembers what you like, but... backhandedly. he doesn’t remember what you like but he remembers what you hate instead, so you don’t ever have to worry about getting that licorice flavoured jelly bean

he would offer a midnight walk to help you relieve your stress, cause he knows you just like seeing the nightsky amidst the peace and quiet while he rambles on for his own satisfaction. not everything has to be so emotionally attached and shared. you can share blissful moments without being the reason for each other’s and that’s totally fine.

juyeon is kind of a scaredy cat in the sense that he isn’t really into horror movies or games but he’s always had that dream to become a pilot and so for his birthday, you brought him to a vr game arcade where he played some plane simulator and ever since, you’ve been taking turns to surprise each other with a new vr arcade spot or adding on to the vr game console set you have at home

“maybe i should digitalise you so i can see you in the vr game”

KEVIN - KARAOKE SESSIONS AND NEON LIGHTS

the best-friend kind of partner you would come across once in a lifetime

a billion film shots of you after he drags you to the karaoke and he beats you at super intense songs like the bohemian rhapsody just cause he can hit those high notes and solely because he was screaming on the floor when he did it

almost left his film camera behind 

absolutely LOVES those walks along streets where there are a million neon lights

would come across that one sus neon light signs that indicate a sex toy store and he would give you that sly smile and probably joke for you to go in 

kevin has a moon neon light in his room and you have a star or something (whatever you want)

corrects your grammar and pronunciation, only for you two to bicker about it even more when you use google translation and there are different pronunciations depending on where/what accent you’re using

he really is your light in the dark, even if he’s known to be introverted. once he’s comfortable enough with you, he makes you feel like the most important person in the world

has one of those portable speaker microphones at home and he drones on and on and on with some billie eilish song until you hurl a pillow at him

“so you’re the tough girl, like it really rough girl, justcan’tgetenoughofkevingirl, chest always so puffed girl”

CHANHEE - DUETS AND STRAWBERRY PICKING

(i could not find a more candid, softer aesthetic pic for chanhee rip)

his entire wardrobe fits you - the only problem is that he’ll never let you wear it in fear that you’d stain or tear something

shared playlists because that’s how similar your taste in music is, and so sometimes when you have your earpiece in and you’re humming the melody of that song, chanhee picks it up immediately despite not hearing that song, and ends up harmonising with you

got kicked out of the library once or twice because it was exam period and the two of you won’t shut up

ironically doesn’t sing that much if you’re not around

chanhee is a true blue introvert - which is a miracle that you’ve managed to tear through that barrier of his and find out that he giggles at every stupid thing you do: he’s having a bad day? trip over the pavement. he’ll laugh. it works

dragging him out to go strawberry picking was so difficult - but of course chanhee isn’t safe from how beautiful and enticing the fresh fruits were.

didn’t touch anything strawberry flavoured OR any strawberries for the next month or so

his straightforwardness comes with the breakdown of his barrier - but that’s what brings you comfort. he will never lie, he will only be sarcastic and even then, you’d know it’s true

i used duets as a symbol of harmony and being in-sync, though never really exactly the same, and that’s how it is with chanhee. your thoughts are very similar even though he’s much more introverted than you, but that’s what binds you 

“i’m gonna tell the librarian i don’t know you if we get kicked out again.”

CHANGMIN - CITY TOURS AND MATCHING OUTFITS

city tours - the kind that you already know inside out and yet you STILL travel the area as if you were a tourist 

that’s exactly how it is with changmin: you know him inside out, after being friends for so long, but it never gets old

you’re used to him biting your hand out of nowhere and yet it startles you all the time. that stupid chucky doll in his living room? old, but it never fails to scare you

he doesn’t ever talk about it that much, but he loves it when you co-ordinate outfits

no, it doesn’t mean you wear couple tees, but it’s aesthetically pleasing to changmin that if he wears cool tones, you would too

he’d be reserved about his thoughts and feelings sometimes but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t think or feel them

there’s a strange sense of familiarity with changmin, because you kind of know what to expect but then you’re never disappointed, you know?

“i got you this white pigeon cause it looks like the one i already got... you can give it back to me if you don’t like it though-” /he takes it before you can accept it/

HAKNYEON - STAND UP COMEDY SHOWS AND RUNNING ALONG THE BEACH

there’s something about ju that makes it very casual and easy-going

he hates horror genred themes so fuck that, he would queue online just for the latest ali wong comedy show, even if it’s an online show, and he would laugh until he cried

sometimes he’s a drama queen but that makes it alot easier for you to know what he’s thinking or feeling - it makes communication alot easier

that means a lack of arguments

he’s also very empathetic but straightforward, exactly like how comedy shows are - because they are relatable, they are funny because they bring out the irony and sarcasm and all the dumb things in life that people are sometimes afraid of talking about and hak just says whatever he wants to say, even if he knows it might be hurtful or upsetting

he prioritises truth and honesty over anything else

it makes you a better person, honestly

beach walks - very calming, very liberating. he lets you yell and scream and kick sand back into the water because you can, and he does it with you

tries to teach you how to skip rocks but you suck and you can’t so he just pulls you away from the pile of rocks you amassed

“flick your wrist like that, not like you’re meowing!”

SUNWOO - SOCCER FRIENDLIES AND STUDIO SESSIONS

he will NOT go easy on you in a friendly match: you might be one of the fastest players of the female team but he’s ruthless in his ball-stealing, so even if you were fast enough to keep the ball out of his reach, he’d still be able to snatch it right out between your feet

very, very competitive and does not like to lose

you would always play the ‘ladies first’ card but then he’d throw the ‘feminism’ card back at you 

sometimes you act more like siblings than anything else 

the only time when he isn’t fuming with competition is if you’re injured because he accidentally tackled you - he’ll gracefully give himself a yellow card before absolutely trashing you in the next match

has one foot into the production game recently - likes to play with the beat board and mixing tunes, and since you’ve had your hand in doing music remixes for a deejay job before, you’re there to identify which songs have the same bass line or beat counts for easier mixing

would make you a playlist of remixes but wouldn’t admit that he spent a whole day in the studio without you just so it would be a surprise

a soft boy stuck in the wraps of an egoistic man

“a day? please. i illegally downloaded half these remixes off the internet cause i’d think you’re too internet-dumb to find them.”

ERIC - BAKING AND SKATEBOARDING

full of impromptu, casual ideas to hang out 

baking is a fucking mess - why did he suggest it when he doesn’t even have the right ingredients?

wanted to replace eggs with water - like ok thats supposedly healthier, but why????????????

he likes cleaning so that was the only fucking bonus in baking - had to call his mom for help halfway through because the cookies looked more like goop than playdough

gave up in the end and he repaid his debt by helping clean your kitchen

tried to teach you how to skateboard, but he ended up falling off his own in the process and now he’s got a grazed knee 

the kind of person you’d have so much chaotic fun with, he’s that friend your mom told you to NOT hang out with that much if not you’d get run down by a car 

has the most fucking random pieces of clothing in his wardrobe, like where did he even get that pink coat from?

“no you have to do this and like lift up your leg and then kinda rest your weight on it before flicking your ankle and like- whOA- OH OW OHNO OHOHOH OW”

[skyhopedango]

Episode 12! The end! Oh no! ;_; )

I hate it so much that it has to end... At least it got a pretty good ending - a surprisingly good one, actually - with most plot lines wrapped up neatly. Also, I may or may not have teared up at some points. Or even right now. Daaamn this stupid franchise making me so emotionally invested. GAH.

Anyway, the rundown... as soon as I find another package of tissues...

Story makes short work of Boss Man courtesy of Kimie, we knew this was coming, no point on wasting time on it. Bye Boss Man. It was funny though that after a huge psychic superpower fight he went out by getting shot in the back. :D

BABY BROTHERS ARE CRYING, HURRY UP AND SAVE THEM!

I suppose this is where knowledge of the original comes in handy, because I think during Naoto & Takuya's journey to their brothers we were supposed to learn about how the Kiriharas ended up where they did, but well, I guess there's a limit of how much you can pack into 23 minutes. So let's just say that even in childhood Naoto & Naoya had it far worse than their counterparts... having had their powers awakened from birth (as opposed to the Kurokis, it seems), and all the shit that came with that. Plus even after being taken away from their parents, the Kurokis grew up having friends and whatnot, while the Kiriharas had like... Mikuriya. In the original at least there were some other people around in the lab, but in 2041 it doesn't seem like there was anyone, really, other than Mikuriya, so all the boys had was him, and each other.

THIS WHOLE SCENE IN THE SPIRITUAL ENERGY BEAM OR WHATEVER. SO PRETTY. ;_; )

And OH DAMN, so the Kurokis are basically the Kiriharas' reincarnations! HOLY SHIT. I'd been expecting like something since Misaki mentioned Akiko having been reincarnated (and at this point I have a pretty good guess who is her reincarnation... ....c'mon it's Kimie, it's got to be Kimie! and why that didn't create a paradox, well, that's because-- LOOK OVER THERE!!!)

Oh, so that was the symbolism with the game they'd been playing. Ooohh. I like that. Also: observe the Ark behind Naoto on that shot. Nice.

AAHH NAOTO IS SMILING, HE'S GENUINELY SMILING!

I'M NOT CRYING YOU'RE CRYING

AHAHAHA lol Takuya surprise hugging Naoto, and Naoto giving "omg what to do, I'm too emotionally repressed for this" vibes. :D Also, Naoya doesn't get a hug. Takuya may be dumb but he's not that dumb.

Naoto. OH NAOTO. OH MY HEART. Don't feel guilty Naoto, you've done all you could. I mean he's just a guy, really, and especially 2041's Naoto is a lot more sensitive and has way less of an edge than the Naoto in the original. That one was more pragmatic, even if he hated himself being able and willing to do things like killing people even if it was to protect Naoya. This Naoto is different - he's less hardened, more gentle, and also different in how he processes his feelings, he represses them more but I guess angsts over them harder.

And oh poor Naoto, he didn't get a hug. Again. :D;; Doesn't matter, it was such a lovely scene.

Also, who's been cutting onions here for the past ten minutes?! I'm running out of tissues!...

OH NO, the Kurokis' parents?! Oh my god don't do this to me, show...

AAAAAAAH............

Blah blah Kimie, blah blah of course they weren't going to do it, and that didn't happen, and OH DAMN, NAOTO & NAOYA

SO YUUYA'S VISION WAS RIGHT, BUT ALSO NOT CORRECT - THEY BASICALLY WENT BACK AND FIXED EVERYTHING - okay baby Kuroki brothers still had been taken away but that had to be done, and the parents remember and they're reunited, and--

FFS NOT THE ONIONS AGAIN, I'M ALL OUT OF TISSUES ;_; )

Alright, so I guess this is another part where knowing the original puts it all in a slightly different context. Because this whole thing with the parents is exactly the same (minus the Kimie thing) that happens with the Kiriharas in the original, but with a very different outcome. In the original Naoto & Naoya finally manage to track down their parents who run a clock shop, but find that their memories had been meddled with and they don't remember them... and then they can't even get a peaceful farewell, because the villain fucks up the whole thing for the lulz, and it's kind of heartbreaking.

Here, they basically fixed everything - so that the Kurokis don't have to suffer all that shit that they had to go through, from having to live isolated in the lab and growing up suffering from difficult to control powers to having their parents taken away from them forever.

Oh man. Naoto & Naoya are just so awesome. ;_; )

And so they go... to another dimension? to the Awesome Spiritual Place? just disappearing into the spirit universe like Shouko? At least wherever they go now they'll be together...

........please stand by until I finish being overly emotional over the silly woo brocon show........

So anyway, in the end basically Takuya & Yuuya become that world's Naoto & Naoya, doing pretty much the same thing as those two did in the original, being the small change that gets things rolling toward the Awakening - hell, Kimie even called them Saviors, that was Naoya's designation in the original (with Naoto as his protector/knight). Except well, the Kurokis are a ton more well-adjusted, especially at this point in the story. Aside of having a better understanding of everything, better control of their powers and not having the whole world out to get them, at least not seriously at this point- they even have their parents back! Lucky bastards.

The end. *sniffle*

Oh boy. What can I say? The existence of this show has taken me by completely surprise, being a reboot of an old niche franchise I'd fallen in love with and didn't expect seeing anything new for ever again. And y'know, my expectations were loooooooow because the previous anime was, as I'd mentioned a few times before, bad, like, actually really bad.

And then Night Head 2041 turned out to be - actually really good! It had just the right touches, with the animation (surprisingly good and detailed!) and just the visuals in general, and the characters! I love this Naoto and Naoya, from their design to their characterization that is similar but yet still different from the original but in ways that work so well! And I grew to like the Kurokis a lot, too, also Takuya is so pretty it's just not fair! Although the Kiriharas are always going to be the best. Also, I really want Kimie's leggings even though I could never wear them.

And I mean OK, I'm clearly biased, but even with my fangirl glasses off this was a perfectly alright show. And for a fangirl like me, oh... where do I even start. I won't even start, really, it's like half past midnight over here and I'm still running on an emotional high. Will post moe tomorrow because if I tried now I'd just post the whole damn thing.

I know there's still the manga adaptation of 2041 that's going to go on for a while still (and the novelization that I'll read now) but I'm going to miss this show so much. Thank you for everyone involved in it! You made my summer and early autumn, and pretty much my 2021 so far. Bye, Kirihara Naoto & Naoya...

[queen-of-my-goofball-army]

"I may not be smart enough to do everything. But I'm dumb enough to try anything." (Beast Boy, Teen Titans)

"The first goofball that stole my heart just so happened to be one that has the power to change into any animal at will." (Me.)

Holy moly, was this edit the biggest pain in my ass to make. This one has been planned since I was making the one's for comfort character month in late June. The only problem was I kept getting Teen Titans Go bullshit so I had to put it on hold until I found enough images to make my edit done right.

Growing up in California my "neighbor" (I call him my neighbor but he lived a few streets down from my apartment building) his mom immigrated from Japan. He was hella into anime, video games, and everything else that came with it. He was the first person that showed me the original Teen Titans. At first I was relatively ambivalent about the show since nothing really drew me to it. Until I saw this little green dude turn into a dinosaur right before my eyes. I thought that was the coolest thing that I had ever seen at five years old. Then he made me laugh and it was the first time that my favorite character was considered the cute goofball "baby" of the team.

From the moment that I first saw Beast Boy I knew that he was something special. I had never seen anything like him in a cartoon before. It was the first time that I had laughed at anything that I actually remember being introduced to. This was before Kim Possible, and even though I was a fan of Spongebob before this I don't remember being introduced to him he was just always there. If it wasn't for my "neighbor" I probably wouldn't have found this show until I got older.

Beast Boy is just a goofball. That's his role in the group, he's the youngest and the "party animal" but to me he's always been deeper than that. My favorite episode "The Beast Within". This episode to me was when he went from being just sort of the kid brother to actually being a valid member of the team. It's such a beautiful and tragic episode where I already had a major emotional attachment to his character. When I get emotionally invested in something I go all out. This show was instantly something that was different. I had never seen anything quite like it before then. It took it's characters and developed them to their fullest potential. It treated children like adults and was basically Avatar pre Avatar. Both shows had similar types of comedy and similar dramatic storylines for it's characters. But as a kid I was definitely a Titan fan if I had to pick one over the other. Part of that was because of Beast Boy.

Throughout most of my childhood BB was always there for me. My Teen Titans OC Keiko was the first OC that I ever made when I was nine. It was a show where every character was perfectly developed to their highest potential. Most of my classmates that were into the show made fun of me because of my love of Beast Boy. He was just labeled as "idiot" and since I was very open about my love of the character they just automatically assumed that I was an idiot. Even though I was insulted consistently it never made my love for him falter really. I continued to love him all throughout elementary school making a personality for Keiko and figuring out what her role on the team would be, what her powers would be, her relationships and so forth.

I didn't watch Teen Titans for about eight years. When I finished my first quarter of community college I decided that I wanted to buy and rewatch the show. The series itself supported me when I had my mouth surgery done for the first time. My mouth surgery was a lot of pain and struggle for me to go through. Wisdom teeth is a pita let me tell you something about that. Laughter was something critical that got me through this situation. Rewatching this show and seeing Beast Boy as a young adult I found myself loving his personality even more. He's the light in the show that is nothing but darkness just about. Most of the humor comes from him but I couldn't help but love the character continued to grow all throughout my childhood. Rewatching the show I realized that these characters were so much deeper than I had originally thought at the age of five.

I was never a huge fan of Terra, in fact as a kid I hated her. She hurt BB and even though she redeemed herself I was still a lover of BBRae. Growing up I continued to love the sunshine one x grumpy one and it changed my life.

Throughout much of my childhood I grew up hearing Greg Cipes's Beast Boy voice coming through my television. Whether it be with TT or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles when I got a bit older his voice is iconic. This is why I hate Teen Titans Go most of all. It's a waste of these actor's talent and it's a waste for these characters. To take a show that was so serious and make it all goofy all the time with bright colors and nausea inducing imagery, it felt like my childhood had slapped me in the face. I love these voice actors so much they were the voices of my childhood, especially Greg. It's been my dream to one day work with him on my own cartoon project because when I was designing Harold my hippy dragon that was the voice that came to my mind. Nobody sounds more like a beach bum than the literal voice actor beach bum on Venice Beach.

My childhood was spent watching my very first cartoon crush goofing around but also watching his character gradually develop over time. This show taught me valuable lessons about found family and learning to find your true place in the world. Even though a lot of these characters have to face constant tragedy I could always count on Beast Boy to be the light and the jokester. When he has an intense episode it's a drastic character change from his usual self. I loved those episodes with him because he always got character development. As a whole, other than Sokka to me Beast Boy was the goofball that I grew up with the most. He's my favorite character from a kids television show still to this very day. I think that he has the strongest power, the most versatile personality, and the best character arc on the show.

[dawniebb]

Thoughts about Renegades

ALRIGHT FOLKS, TAKE A SEAT BC I’M ABOUT TO KICK MYSELF OUT OF THIS FANDOM :’)

Not really

But I’m going to rant for a while so perhaps you can go grab a snack or something :’)

So…I LOVE Renegades and I always will but I’ve been thinking about some of the things that seem…off to me. Not that they’re a big deal ofc (because I love Renegades in a really dumb and blind way) but some of them are quite unpopular opinions among the fandom, so I’m finally going to share them in case someone out there feels the same way X’DDDDD

They’re not in any particular order. Here we go:

- I completely stan the idea of Nova and Oscar and Nova and Callum being brotp material, but I stan Nova and Callum way more, not because I don’t like Nova and Oscar, but because I think it was genuinely good (and healthy) for Nova to have a friend out of Adrian’s circle. I mean, she’s been isolated most of her life now, and when I realized she finally had someone of her own… like, a person she met with whom she connected without Adrian introducing them to her, was a HUGE step. Callum is one of my favorite characters in the whole series, and when the t h i n g  happened I was devastated for MYSELF *sobs* but also because MM took him away from Nova. She opened to him more than she ever opened to Oscar throughout the three books. Sorry not sorry :’).

- AS A YOUNG ADULT (I’LL BE 20 IN MAY, YOU GUYS) let me tell you that all these dumbasses act like completely normal teenagers and all their shitty decisions sound like something I would’ve done when I was their age. Actually, the Team Sketch really reminds me of my own circle of friends. I’ve seen you guys complain about Adrian acting extremely dumb for his age but GUYS HE’S FUCKING 17. WHEN I WAS 17 I WAS AS CLUELESS AS HIM. ALL MY FRIENDS WERE. AND IT WAS SO STUPID IT HURT BUT SHIT BE LIKE THAT SOMETIMES. I was the Nova among them. That is: I joined their group hella late and one of the guys became my crush. I was so dumb I told him he was my crush when I was defeated on the floor with a dislocated knee because I was having a breakdown and I legit thought I was D Y I N G. Teenagers.Are.Like.That.

- HOWEVER, EVEN IF I JUST SAID ALL OF THAT….And I want to believe all of you agree with me: I don’t justify Oscar. It’s okay being a dumb teenager, but you can’t just ask your crush to be your girlfriend during a PUBLIC EXECUTION. That wasn’t romantic. At all. If I were Ruby I would’ve been really offended, no joke. (AT LEAST WHEN I TOLD *MY* CRUSH WHILE I THOUGHT MY LEG WAS GOING TO BE AMPUTATED, WE WERE IN CHORUS CLASS. ALL THE GUYS WERE SINGING TO ME BC THEY THOUGHT THAT WOULD CALM ME DOWN. IT WAS A GROSS AND ODDLY SWEET MOMENT, YOU KNOW?).

- I feel like Ruby is…I’m not going to say mistreated, but…Idk. I feel like she’s trying her best and she’s kind to everyone in the group and in some parts of the books they just…forget about her :’). (This may be Marissa’s fault, though). Which makes me really sad, because she’s genuinely sweet and I felt like she was the most welcoming to Nova since the very beginning (Apart from Adrian, of course).

- I’m part of the “Leroy switched sides at some point” squad, but at the same time I believe he’s just very, VERY chaotic neutral and (I’m never giving up on this) since he loved Nova, he would just stick to the side where they promised to keep her safe, even if that meant being jumping back and forth between the Renegades and the Anarchists.

- I ALSO BELIEVE WINSTON MAH BOI SAW A LOT OF HIMSELF IN NOVA. To my particular point of view, his mental state was the most stable when she moved with them. He unconsciously tried to stop her from becoming what he’d become and the Anarchists realized that, so when they found Ace’s little human weapon being threatened, they just teared her away from Winston, which caused his mental health to go downhill again until he ended up all psychotic (which is how we got to meet him during Renegades).

- Honey had way more complicated issues than just being “evil”. Yes. She’s dead. And me defending her won’t make her less dead. And I know she got what she deserved because she was…completely out of control and Marissa tends to kill those who are too far gone (take Levana as an example). But I think that if she hadn’t neglected her own mental health so much she would’ve had a chance; Honey had good in her :’) maybe, before meeting Ace, she was a different person. Like, it’s mentioned she grew up in a small farm. I think she fell in love with him at some point and, by the way he talks to her sometimes, I’m *almost* sure he knew that, so he tried to take advantage of the situation to keep her in line, even though he had no intention to reciprocate her feelings. Sure, Honey is a manipulative brat, but she’s a hundred times worse when she knows Ace is around or when she knows she has a chance to get him back (she goes batshit crazy in the cathedral, you know?). Ace was a power-hungry sociopath/psychopath and she was a depressed, also power-hungry woman who was in love with him. And that’s a BAD combination. Honey Harper was hopeless… and I think she even showed some signs of Stockholm Syndrome.

- Still, Honey and Nova’s relationship reminds me a lot of my relationship with my dad. Theirs was a toxic relationship, but since I’ve been through that (still going through that), I refuse to believe it will be easy for Nova to overcome her death *that* easily. They loved each other in a…violent, weird way, but Honey was Nova’s mother more than Tala ever got the chance to be (because Ace took that opportunity away from her) and if Honey hadn’t been so –like I mentioned before- hopeless, they could’ve fixed their relationship until it was normal and healthy, because Honey showed signs of loving Nova, and Nova showed signs of loving her.

- Every death in Supernova had a very specific narrative purpose but, even if I hate Evander as much as y’all do, I think his death was done for the sake of the shock factor afgshja like, he died in such a sudden, meaningless way :’).

- Tamaya is nothing but wasted potential. You have a savage, feral, badass woman with w i n g s and the only thing she does is getting her fucking face burned and throwing fists with entitled teenagers.

- I LIVE for Simon and Hugh as couple, but (gosh, saying this makes me feel really guilty) the fact that they didn’t share not even ONE kiss throughout the trilogy made me feel really queerbaited :’). Same thing happened with Danna and Narcissa, but I think that was PLAIN half-assed.

-Why doesn’t Adrian has Simon’s last name as well? :’)

- ADRIAN NEEDS THERAPY AS MUCH AS NOVA DOES. LET’S BREAK THIS DOWN, HERE WE GO:

*So, we know that Marissa Meyer’s male characters are always really sweet and kind and wholesome and omg :’)…and then there’s fucking Jacin (whom I love, but that doesn’t minimize the fact he shall burn in hell X’DDDD) . I mean, he’s kind…to Winter and Winter only…and Cress…sometimes. When it comes to Winter, he’s capable of a lot, A LOT of things. He comes off as rude many times (especially to Cinder, during Cress) and…yeah. He looks like he could kill you and he could ACTUALLY kill you; I feel like the fandom moves Adrian to …whatever category Kai’s in….but I’m not sure that’s the case. Let’s analyze Cinder’s equivalent to Nova’s bracelet: Peony’s chip; Kai was mad at Cinder, FUCKING mad. But once he kinda figured out Cinder was grieving his sister and keeping the only thing she had left from her for emotional reasons, he didn’t, under any circumstance, no matter how much he hated Cinder at the moment, want that chip to be taken away from her. Kai had lost his father. He KNEW what it felt like and he didn’t want anyone to feel the same way, because he SAW Cinder suffer her little sister’s death. Adrian had lost his mother and he knew Nova had lost both her mother and her father AND her little sister; she had opened up enough to tell him that bracelet was the only thing she had left from her father…and when he learned Nova was Nightmare, instead of interrogating her, taking a sample of her blood or things like that, he straight took her bracelet. Because Adrian was hurt and he wanted her to be hurt too, so he took away the one thing that mattered the most to her and THAT WASN’T VERY KAI OF HIM IF YOU ASK ME. My point is, sadly: Adrian is ABSOLUTELY traumatized due to his mother’s death (who wouldn’t?) and now that he knows he indirectly killed her he will only get WORSE. He hated Nova for being Nightmare just because he thought she had something to do with Georgia’s death, so when things went to shit, he did her in the dirtiest way he could, making her feel hated and unwanted, which were Nova’s delicate spots afgshja…like, Adrian’s capable of a lot of things(just like Jacin). He NEEDS therapy. Now.

- The heated kiss scene during Archenemies is both heartbreaking and beautiful at the same time (besides…you know, heated). Nova’s so touch-starved she gets overwhelmed when Adrian suddenly gives her all the physical affection she didn’t have during her childhood. And…I feel it was a very intimate moment between both of them, because they were physically and emotionally invested and omg. This only makes my previous point (about the bracelet) more horrible, because I can’t imagine how she must’ve felt when he took away her bracelet with so.much.hatred.

-WE DESERVED TO KNOW THE CHANGES THAT WERE MADE TO THE SYSTEM BC TBH THE RENEGADES SYSTEM WAS SHITTY AF… It’s like…they claimed to be against what the Anarchists did but then suddenly they were doing the same things themselves. And I don’t think that’s fair. The Renegades acted as messed up as the Anarchists during Supernova. They wanted to EXECUTE a MINOR who committed MINOR CRIMES. I mean, what did Nightmare even do? Right, she tried to assassinate Hugh but she FAILED, and she neutralized Team Frostbite in SELF-DEFENSE and in Max’s defense.

- Besides, the way Anarchists were treated was...really inhuman. As far as I understand, they didn’t have access to public services or anything like that. What if they needed meds? Where did they get their food from? Did they have, like, fucking running water? Electricity? There are also three women among them and they get *periods*, people, and *period stuff* is expensive as fuck. Like, did they have to steal tampons? And if they did…were they chased because of it? Even though they had no way to get income in a legal way because they were Anarchists and being out there like normal people was against the rules for them? Lol?

- JESUS THAT SYSTEM REALLY NEEDED TO BE CHANGED LMAO AFGSHJA

-Also, Cragmoor? Wtf.

- AND, LAST BUT NOT LEAST, NOT BECAUSE I DON’T HAVE ANYTHING ELSE TO SAY BUT BECAUSE THIS IS TOO LONG ALREADY: It think Nova and Evie have been apart for too long and it’s going to be hard for them to create a bond. They’ll have to get used to it, because it’s going to be confusing for Nova and, given the fact Evie’s personality is…like that, I think she’ll go as far to blame Nova like “But you were SUPPOSED to look for me.”

I rest my case.

[rulesofthebeneath]

Hey guys!! 

Here’s the new thing I’ve been writing! I hope y’all enjoy lmao this started as a dumb idea but now I’ve been really emotionally invested in it. I’m gonna try to post about twice a week. Let me know what you think, please!!! Tags: @abunchofbadchoices, @mrsbhandari, @lilmissperfectlyimperfect 

The first time he’d ever told anyone, it was his first boyfriend, and he was met with a sarcastic snort.

“Come on, ‘Jay. That’s just what gay guys say when they’re scared to come out all the way. You can’t be both gay and straight, you have to choose.”

He was fourteen, and had no idea what to make of any of his feelings, much less the weird ones that made his heart beat faster and made butterflies storm his stomach. So he accepted that, and listened to Jake, who was older and wiser than him.

“Are you sure?” he’d asked.

“Yeah. Wait, ‘Jay, do you not like me anymore?”

“What? Of course I do.”

“Oh, good. I was scared you were trying to break up. But I don’t know why you’d say something as crazy as that. You know you can always talk to me, okay?”

Ajay nodded, but deep inside he sincerely doubted that. In retrospect, it was the first of several red flags that had led to a less-than-happy ending for him and Jake.

The next people he told were his parents. As far as Indian parents went, they were pretty open-minded, and hadn’t really cared about him liking guys. He’d even been able to bring home boyfriends or school dance dates without making too many waves with his parents. They didn’t really understand why he couldn’t just date a nice girl, but they loved him anyways, and he knew he was lucky.

But when he’d said he liked both guys and girls, he was met with polite parental confusion.

“What? But you only go out with boys, putra,” his mom had said. “You’ve never brought a girl home. How do you know you like both, hm?”

It was an excellent point. Ajay couldn’t explain how he knew he liked girls, just like he couldn’t explain why he liked guys. But he just did.

His father shook his head. “No, no, no. You’ll have to choose someday. You don’t have to hide yourself and pretend you like girls just to make us happy. You know we love you.”

Ajay hadn’t even known how to respond to that one, so he’d just nodded and excused himself from dinner. He’d never brought it up again.

He’d posted anonymously on a forum for gay youth that he’d found, but hadn’t recieved much other than “that’s not real”, “you can’t like both”, “you have to choose”, “so you’re a cheater?” and “you’re just saying that because you’re scared of committing to life as a gay guy”.

It wasn’t long before he’d just logged out completely, questioning himself. Did he just think he was attracted to girls because he felt like he had to be? Because society said guys were supposed to like girls? Was it true that he was scared of being gay, because of all the homophobia he’d have to face? Especially as a second-generation Indian, he was expected to life the perfect heterosexual American lifestyle, getting a good job and having two or three kids and making his family back in India proud of their success story. Even though his parents knew he was gay and didn’t care, nobody else in his family knew. He hated to think what they’d say about him if they did. They already talked smack about Ajay’s only openly gay cousin, Aditya, and Ajay knew he was basically dead to the family.

So was he just pretending he liked girls to escape the full ramifications of being gay? It was possible, he thought, but probably not. He’d never had a girlfriend or even been on a date with a girl, but that was due to an unfortunate outing incident orchestrated by his ex (another of those red flags he’d ignored).

Despite the fact that he was outed, though, he’d found a group of friends who had thoroughly supported him. Rory, in all of their genderfluid nonbinary aro/ace glory, Clint and Natalie whose sexualities seemed to be oriented towards whichever gender Rory presented as on a given day, Skye who was a goth sapphic icon, James who was the token straight ally, Trevor who was so deep in the closet that Ajay doubted he’d come out this century, then two mysteries.

One was Erin, Ajay’s longtime best friend. He knew she liked guys, but he didn’t know if she only liked guys or if she liked other genders too. He wasn’t about to ask, though, because asking her would lead to her asking him, and he wasn’t quite prepared for that.

The other was Grace, James’ twin sister. As far as James was known as a heartbreaker, Grace didn’t appear to have dated anybody. Or at least, she didn’t talk about it and neither James nor Rory, who’d known her since childhood, said anything about it either. And again, he wasn’t about to ask because of the possibility of the awkward return question.

All his friends would pick on him, good-naturedly, about just how gay he was– how he always dressed sharp, his hair was always neatly combed and occasionally slicked back with gel, how he liked theatre way more than a straight guy could ever, the fact that he couldn’t do math, how his best friend was a girl, his taste for iced lattes, his distaste for anything athletic. Erin had even caught him doing a facemask one morning, and had teased the living hell out of him for it. Ajay didn’t see the big deal– he just wanted to keep his skin clear– but was willing to accept that basic hygiene and skincare were not something that straight men typically did.

It was all in good fun, and Ajay knew that, and he would even laugh along with his friends when they pointed that stuff out. It was funny, he could admit that. And he was gay— that was the only part of his sexuality that was easy for him to admit. He’d found comfort in that label, even though it wasn’t the full story.

In all honesty, he was scared to be openly bisexual. Coming out as gay to his parents after being forcibly outed at school was the hardest thing he’d ever had to do, and he couldn’t imagine doing it again. And how would he explain that he liked both guys and girls? He’d seen what they said on TV and in the movies, even in some books. Bisexuals are promiscuous, bisexuals are cheaters, all bisexuals choose to be either gay or straight eventually. It’s just a phase.

In previous years, in weaker moments, he’d wished he could just be gay. After a particularly disastrous encounter with a girl named Kelly and his very unfortunate crush on her, he’d cursed himself for liking girls when everyone knew he was gay. He tried to convince himself to be gay, to just only like guys, but it never took.

It never took, and it was one of the reasons he resented Rory, who was unapologetically themself. Rory didn’t care what people said, and either way they weren’t interested in dating. Rory had it good, anyways. They had parents who loved them, accepted them unconditionally, and had even thrown them a coming out party. They were just a far braver person than Ajay was, and Ajay wished he could have their accepting family and their confidence and just be who he was.

Ajay sat down heavily at the lunch table, having gotten there surprisingly early. Rory sat there, picking at their lunch absent-mindedly while scrolling through their phone. Grace sat beside them, twirling her hair around her finger and completely ignoring her lunch in favor of staring at something across the cafeteria. Ajay followed her line of sight but only saw the new poster advertising their spring musical, The Tempest.

Grace had snagged the lead role of Miranda after making her high school theatre debut as the lead in their fall play. It was her sophomore year, after she and her brother transferred from a school in Seattle when her parents decided to move back to their hometown and start their own business, a small diner called the Golden Griddle. Grace herself was an impressive actor, and even though Ajay didn’t want to admit it, she was an impressive person as well.

She turned her head as if snapping out of a trance, looking towards Ajay.

“Hey,” she greeted him. “Just checking out the new posters. I didn’t see them before.”

That’s right, Ajay reminded himself. Of course she might not have seen them until now. She had been noticeably absent from rehearsal yesterday, where Skye and Mr. Olsen had presented the new posters and the entire group had spent the last half-hour putting them up all over the school. It hadn’t been a huge deal- there were plenty of scenes that needed blocking, and Ajay had just had Skye stand in for Grace where it was needed. But he couldn’t pretend he wasn’t concerned, especially since he’d seen her twin heading home from soccer practice.

“Yeah, we put them up during rehearsal yesterday.”

“About that,” she started, looking uneasy. “I’m sorry I didn’t come to rehearsal yesterday. I… wasn’t feeling well, and I had to go home early.”

Ajay furrowed his brows. Grace looked so uncomfortable while she was saying that that it was obvious it was a lie, or at least not the entire truth. He wanted to ask her about it, but then James loudly sat down beside her, chatting with Erin, and he dropped it. Grace looked relieved at her brother’s interruption. Ajay shook it off– it didn’t really matter anyways. But he was worried all the same.

“Stop pouting,” Erin interjected,shooting him a ferocious glare. He was so surprised that the frown slipped off his face, causing the whole table to break out into giggles. Even Grace, which eased the worry a little. He shot a fake glare Erin’s way, then had to dodge another glare.

Skye, Natalie, Clint and Trevor showed up not long after, and Rory finally looked up from their phone.

“Hey,” they said. “How was everyone’s morning?”

Skye groaned. “Math test. Kill me now, before my parents see my grades.”

Grace rolled her eyes. “You know you got this, Skye. You knew everything on that test when we were studying last night.”

“Test anxiety is a bitch, though,” Trevor added. He prodded Skye’s shoulder. “I get it. We can’t all be the modern-day Einstein.”

“I resent that,” Grace mumbled, though a small smile remained on her face.

“I signed up to take the SAT at the end of the year,” Erin interjected. “I’m starting SAT prep tutoring this weekend. Three hours on both days.

The entire table except Ajay cringed. “Me too,” he admitted. “I’m gonna need a lot of help if I want a good score on the math section. I can’t make heads or tails of some of this trig stuff.”

Privately, he’d been thinking of asking Grace to help him out after rehearsal. She was already helping Skye on weekends, and though he couldn’t pay her like Skye’s parents could, he thought he’d offer to buy her dinner if she agreed. But that thought remained stuck inside his head, some part of him inexplicably nervous about being alone with her.

While he was caught up in his thoughts, wondering why the girl made him nervous and furiously trying to ignore that part of him, the conversation at the table had continued on without him. James jabbed Grace with his elbow and she jabbed him back. Erin and Rory talked about the college application process, Erin admitting that she wouldn’t be trying for any BFA Drama programs. Clint and Natalie hung on to Rory’s every word, echoing their indignation that Erin wouldn’t pursue drama in higher education. Skye and Trevor talked about set design, Skye even whipping out her sketchbook to add in some details.

By the time Ajay regained attention of the conversation around him, triggered by Erin asking him about that week’s rehearsal schedule, Grace had already zoned back out of the conversation, staring at the poster again. Ajay frowned again. What was up with her?

“Earth to Ajay”, Erin said. “We were arguing over which team was better, softball or soccer. What do you think?”

Ajay quirked an eyebrow. “Erin, I don’t do sports.”

“I don’t know why not. They’re fun! Even just to watch.”

“You know full well I have a complete aversion to any physical activity. But I guess if I had to choose, I’d say soccer.”

Erin nodded knowingly, a smirk playing on her lips. “I can see that. Scoping out the hot guys, are we?”

Ajay sighed “Sure,” he said, trying to sound as defeated as possible. Erin knew how he’d dated Jake a while ago, and he was now the team captain in his senior year at Berry. Erin had a theory that he still held a torch for the guy, though, which couldn’t be further from the truth. The only games he went to anymore were the ones that the whole theatre group went to with Grace to support James. Even though James wasn’t cast in the musical, he was an honorary part of the crew, having stepped in with his calm demeanor during various theatre emergencies. Everyone liked the guy– it was impossible not to– and they made up the loudest group on the bleachers cheering for him.

The only reason Ajay still liked soccer was because it was the only sport he understood. Jake had made sure he’d known everything about soccer, talking about it constantly. Ajay knew his ex planned to play pro soccer in Europe after graduation. Ajay had grown into a soft spot for the game that didn’t end when his relationship with Jake had.

The bell rang to signal that lunch was over, and everyone got up except Ajay and Grace. Ajay, because he was still reeling over the exchange, and Grace, because she was still lost in space, staring at that poster.

“Hey,” he said to her, barely able to make himself heard over the chatter in the cafeteria. “You okay?”

Grace’s eyes snapped to Ajay’s, looking startled for a half-second. “Oh, yeah, just distracted,” she said unconvincingly. She started to gather her stuff, and Ajay echoed her.

He fell into the crowd beside her, trying to make their way through into the hallway. Ajay screwed up all his courage to ask her about tutoring, because he really did need that extra math help.

“Hey, so, I was wondering if you’d be able to help me with my math stuff? I’ll be working on the SAT problems on the weekends but I’m falling dangerously behind in class again. I can’t really pay you but I can buy you dinner or something?”

Grace looked over, a little surprised. “Oh, yeah, sure. You don’t need to buy me dinner, though. I don’t charge my friends.”

“You don’t? But don’t Skye’s parents pay you?”

Grace looked a little embarrassed. “They insisted, and I tried to resist but Skye told me it was just a drop in the bucket for them. So really, I don’t need anything.”

“If you’re sure,” Ajay said. “But if there is anything I can do to repay you, I’ll do it.”

Grace paused for a moment. “Um… if you could help me with English it would be great. I don’t know what any of these old British writers are saying.”

“Sure, that stuff can be hard to digest. Sounds like a good deal for me.”

“Alright. Think we could hit up a coffee shop or a fast food place or something, say twice a week after rehearsal?”

Ajay nodded. “Thanks, Grace.”

“No, thank you,” she smiled. “See you at rehearsal.” Then she ducked her head and disappeared into the crowd.

[olivcrfm]

hello! this is my stupid naive child with a heart of gold oliver !  i’m very excited to about him, so pls give me all of your affection & plots 🥺  i wrote like a whole novel under the cut because i had this man for like a year now, so please bare with me

chicago’s very own oliver park-davies has been spotted on madison avenue driving a maroon jeep wrangler , welcome ! your resemblance to charles melton is unreal . according to tmz , you just had your twenty fourth birthday bash . your chance of surviving new york is uncertain because you’re withdrawn, but being empathetic might help you . i think being a cancer explains that . 3 things that would paint a better picture of you would be lazy mornings in bed, getting the job done at the last minute, & a soft voice  . ( i stole the test answers for my college finals to impress my parents ) & ( cis male & he/him) + ( hailey , 19 , she/her, cst)

— “ basics ! ’ 〉

full name. oliver park-davies.

nicknames. oli, ollie, park, davies obviously lmao.

age. twenty-four.

date of birth. june 26.

occupation. singer/songwriter.

sexual orientation. bisexual.

birthplace. new york.

zodiac. cancer.

spoken languages. fluent in too many languages thank you.

— “ backstory! ’ 〉

oliver park-davies was born in chicago to two extremely loving parents, and his seven other siblings of which he was the oldest, they were this gigantic loving family, and everybody wanted to be like them

okay well when i say loving i mean that’s how they appeared on the outside, his family was very broken, his parents constantly on the edge of divorce, him and his siblings didn’t get along at all, and in the park-davies house there was always something to argue about

the park-davies were billionaires, this was due to their extremely successful business endeavors, and knew when and where to invest their money they had enough money to buy whatever they wanted whenever they wanted, they never looked at the price tag, to quote ariana grande, “they want it, they got it.” their business headquarters is in texas! and oliver’s parents constantly just left him n his siblings in chicago while they went to texas

but he spent his summers their and it’s basically home away from home

his parents often tried to basically bribe their kids to love them because they were honestly the worst, they often emotionally abused their children, and neglected them, and the only time that their parents did want anything to do with them is when they needed to make a public appearance

was very much the rich kid that raised by nannies and butlers rather than his actual parents, and in a weird way he sorta became this surrogate parent for his siblings, he was the one they looked up to and came to for advice that sorta thing

oliver,,,just needed something anything to take his mind of it, so immediately he threw himself into studying and books, and to quote matilda, “the books gave him a comforting message...you are not alone.”

his parents ended up figuring out that their son was smart, like hella smart, by 10 he’d mastered latin, and by 11 he was already reading at college level

bUT despite being able to graduate college by 12 at the rate he was going he wanted as normal of a childhood as possible, and so he continued with his regular grade level, and tried his best to be ‘normal’

honestly his love of books got to the point that his room essentially turned into a small library of it’s own, it got to the point where his parents reluctantly gave him his own room to house all of his books

books weren’t the only thing that oliver found his passion for, when he enrolled in his school’s choir, he realized his love for singing

he wanted to share his music with people without having the recognition, so he uploaded a lot of his music to soundcloud under an alias ( vc: conan gray / cavetown i can’t decide yet lmao rip )

he gained a massive following, that not even he expected, which would seem like a great thing if he wasn’t expected by his parents to take on the family business

one day his parents sat him down and he saw it a good a time as ever to tell his parents about the success he hoped to gain from singing, his parents cut him off immediately and told him that his father was suffering from cancer

due to his revelation his parents ostracized him more than they did before, and slowly but surely he began to be iced out, no longer showing up in appearances, and just avoiding any press altogether

as his father got increasingly more sick, oliver began to realize the mistake that he made, and on his death bed oliver promised his father that he would do as both of his parents wished and take over the family business

oliver had the scores to get to any school that he wanted and decided on business school at columbia, where his father was an alumni, the agreement that he had with his mother was that once he graduated he’d begin shadowing his mother to learn to run the company

the school and the city itself was immediately overwhelming to my boy who came from not so humble beginnings in his small town, and he was unsure of where he belonged in this huge school

until!!!!! he found friends!!!! and they made him feel accepted!!! and it was great!!!!

once his friends heard his voice and of his dreams they encouraged him to join the university’s men’s choir, and was prompted by the director to join the university’s theatre department, where he appeared in a overwhelming majority of the school’s plays and musicals

he was discovered one night at this open mic thing he went to and it was great! he was signed to a record deal with a label! and my bby’s dreams were finally coming true!!!

lmao but the one condition that he did have for his label was that he had to graduate school first, and it was accepted

he graduated early! because of course he did only because he stole the test answers because his grades were sorta declining and finals were coming up sooo

his mom was expecting him to come back to texas and maintain the family business, but he pulled a whole uno reverse card, and ended up disappearing from whatever world it is that him mom lived in

he became pretty successful in the music industry, coming from this cool indie artist that only about a few hundred people knew about to this seemingly overnight sensation

my bb is still v e r y unused to the attention, mostly because his parents never gave it to him and he was like, adoration???? attention??? care??? what’s that

has recently started a band! consisting of people he met a columbia, so him, a guy friend, and olivia dkfsjdkj guy friend remains unnamed because it’s a wc

— “ personality / headcanons ! ’ 〉

is a huge dork that just loves to make people smile and when he sees people genuinely happy his heart melts a little bit inside

is very much the shoulder to cry on for people, and even if he doesn’t know you he’ll sit and listen to your whole life story and just try to cheer you up because that’s just in his nature?

has started his acting career! first it was just cute small little cameos in movies and tv shows, but now it’s turned into him getting his own show!!! he couldn’t be more excited tbh

remember how i said that he’d sit and listen to a stranger cry? if he shows even the slightest bit of emotion that isn’t happiness he starts malfunctioning and just trying to make the people around him happy

he’s honestly probably said, “alright i have to go back to being funny again.” to himself so many times before??? he’s so broken on the inside but has just put up so many barriers

despite the many walls he has to protect himself from other people, he’s just the nicest purest soul, he treats everyone like his family, and just has the insatiable need to be liked dkkfkdkd, pls be fragile with my boy thanks

ollie is left-handed

loves singing show tunes and has gone to too many shows on broadway????

has a special room for playbills because he likes getting them signed and they’re very important to him

hates talking about his family and will probably cry if you make him bring them up lmao

he’s such a himbo ... just kind , beefy , and stupid

he often just dumbs himself down, not because he thinks he’s better than other or something weird like that, buuuut he feels like people will judge him and make fun of him like others did when he was younger

— “ wanted plots ! ’ 〉

some potential wc i’m terrible at thinking of these so please don’t feel limited by this list!

best friends!!!!

roommates!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! think this, this, this, this

guys he can hang out with sdksdflfkj idk a close knit group i’m thinking of ross, chandler, and joey or smth he’d be joey obvi

romantic plots can fuck me up any day of the week

i’m a slut for a good exes plot

unrequited crush, it can be that he has feelings for someone way out of his league, or someone has a crush on him and he’s just oblivious 

someone who broke his heart n inspired his music

band members!!!! would’ve had to attended columbia 

someone who he’s a good influence on

bad influence, he’s too good corrupt him do it cowards

former / current hookups 

ex friends 

straight up enemies

smth like one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen

[halinski]

Okay guys I've been trying to keep all my angsty childhood headcanons about Buck (and Maddie) buried in the back of my head but you know what

I'm rewatching Buck's big accident right now. And am about to go through more scenes of him insisting being a firefighter is all he has.

The thing is, he's not afraid of putting that out there as a weakness. He gets teased about being dumb and not having much to his name - it's a whole other story how that influences his self-perception (and maybe how he spends time reading up on stuff so he can prove with detailed facts that he knows stuff). But this is the thing. In season one he fell into using hookups to keep himself from getting lonely. Then we have Abbey, who he rather quickly bonds with emotionally. And when Maddie comes, he says he's lonely.

All the while, he's still always had his firefighter job. He never had to question having that. And that's what he held onto. Once that became a question though, he felt like his world was being torn out from under his feet. He literally couldn't stand and walk with his own two feet and neither could he do so figuratively. Buck doesn't have family like Eddie. He doesn't have an Athena like Bobby. Maddie is (rightfully so) focused on her own life. All everyone is doing, even his sister, is telling him to stay away from the only thing that feels real for Buck. His fire family keeps telling him to stay away. And ofc they're right and they mean well, but it feels like shit (trust me, I know). And his whole future is at stake.

All Buck knows is being a firefighter. Take that away he feels like nothing. Like he has nothing.

So obviously, we have a quite obvious lack of hobbies, bonds/ties, a safe place/home, other engaging and/or comforting or fulfilling activities.

Aka, Buck is so far from being whole. So far from having found himself.

Now, Eddie presents him Christopher. He gives him a task. He shows him trust and family. A quite fulfilling thing and a thing that Buck needs and wants. He loves kids. But Buck... decides to go for a lawsuit.

Childish, you might say, or immature. But what if Buck doesn't know how family is supposed to work. He wants the firefam but he doesn't feel like he can be part of it if he isn't part of the team, aka he has to keep earning his place, keeping earning his worth every single day of his life. He has to do that make himself feel worthy. Worthy of them and himself. Because he doesn't understand that they would all still love him and include him in their lives, even if he never set foot in a fire station again.

Why doesn't he have other hobbies/activities? Because he feels like he has to be good at something for it to be worthwhile. Buck is a great firefighter. So he earns his keep. So he invests everything in it. Because only saving lives is enough. Anything else and he feels useless and unworthy.

He's 23. How does someone so young feel that way? Parents, aka a bad home situation. Emotionally, and probably also physically two. We don't see Buck struggle about being a firefighter much. He'll run into hell, he'll push his body to near failure. And he'll keep going. The thing that takes it's toll? Losing people. So he's been through hell before, of some kind. But it's always been about him probably. When other people die though, he blames himself. And also, he's failing again. He's not worth it.

He never talks about his parents. He very quickly adopts Bobby as a father and he says that. That Bobby is the most important person in his life. His guidance/his mentor. We know Maddie and Buck have parents. And we know that they don't really talk to them, or at least not much. Maddie got manipulated by Doug and fell in with him and decided not to tell anyone. She didn't ever run to her parents, or mention that she told them what she went through. She does it all on her own. She doesn't want to rely on Buck even though he shows her that she can.

They both struggle with relationships at first, because they don't know better. They didn't learn better.

That's why it's so painful for Buck when everyone seems to be pushing him away, when he already lost his job for a while. Maddie is finding herself. He has a foreign, empty apartment and nothing left for him to do. He doesn't know who he is anymore, and he doesn't trust himself to be able to be anyone else, nor does he trust anyone to take up their offer and make himself to someone new with them.

Like I said before, Eddie tries. With Christopher. He literally marches into his apartment and says "get up, don't give up bc you're a part of the family and we need you" and has Buck take care of Christopher. But Buck isn't ready to accept it. Because he still thinks he needs to earn his existence and presence with them. This is strange territory and he's scared. He's hurt and he's scared and everyone is trying to tell him what to do. And the last thing a person who was emotionally abused by an authority figure like a parent wants to do, is do what they're told. Buck doesn't want to feel like the scared child anymore that just listens to orders. He doesn't want to feel weak and excluded. So he fights. He fights tooth and nail to be a firefighter like he was before because it's the only good thing he knows.

It's only in the process that he realizes how much he had before, how much he had gained by being who he is and not what he is. That he was still a part of the family. Because it was scary as soon as it was just an emotional thing, rather than a job.

He's okay being teased about being dumb, he gets by without any romantic partner or a steady home (like the time he spent sleeping on couches), but take away his ability to do something what he deems worthy and earn his existence - then he goes crazy. He can't see it the way everyone else sees it because he's stuck in this rut of needing to prove his worth. His worth only being big enough when he defeats death, when he's sacrificing his own body, the only worthy thing, for others.

Look, I'm not going to go out and say Buck was possibly suicidal as a teenager but I sure as hell was, and Buck suing everyone is exactly how I felt when I busted my knee and couldn't play sports anymore and the team started falling apart around me. (Turns out maybe I should've sued someone hah). Anyway, this wasn't a post about projecting myself into Buck, but y'all... I'm pretty sure we're going to be in for a ride because when we get his past... And then also like... Buck's still got such a long way to go.

Right now he's realizing what family means and he's giving it his all. But he also needs to learn to leave something for himself or he will burn out and that's gonna be fucking rough, my dudes

This is just my interpretation, needed to get my feels out

[purplesurveys]

871

Tell me...

Something about your family? We’re very emotionally distant and we haven’t hugged each other since my siblings and I were kids. Luckily I’ve found friends who are very expressive and fill my need for occasional affection.

Something about your age? Taylor Swift has a song about it and a line from it has become a very cliché social media caption for whenever somebody turns 22.

Something about your childhood friends? Pretty much all of them have migrated either to the US or Canada, and the only one that’s remained my friend is Angela.

Something about your eating habits? I skipped meals so much throughout high school and college that my body has adapted to it, and it takes a longer time for me to go hungry now.

Something you do every day? Greet my dog.

Something you've only tried once? Gulab jamun, an Indian dessert. It looked super appetizing on the menu and I thought it would be something like doughnut holes, but I had never been more wrong. The balls themselves were fine, but the syrup just clashed so badly with my tongue. I love Indian food, but I have no regrets taking one bite out of a dish I had to pay in full for. Something about your job/school? The campus is so big we’re the only university in the whole country to have its own transportation system. Students usually take jeepneys to go from one class to another. Something you'd like to do before you die? Go to a Wrestlemania :) Something you want to change? The entire Philippine government.

Something you wish never changed? Kimi being alive and kicking. I wish he can stay with me forever. Something about the weather? I’m so glad it’s not too humid tonight. It can be colder, but at least I’m not sweating through my shirt and at least I don’t feel the need to bitch about the weather. Something about your country? It’s a whole goddamn mess, but don’t even get me started on that now... just know that it’s miserable being here, in all ways you can think of. Something about this month? July was the month of my original breakup with Gabie, so I like poking fun at it with her every July 23rd. Something about your house? It has a rooftop, and a wide open space is all I can ask for in a house. I like going there to be alone, reflect on things, play my music, etc. Something about your experiences? My experiences on...? Lmao this is very vague. Something bad that has happened? I have several cuts and marks on my skin c/o Cooper biting me a little too hard sometimes when we play. The worst one is a gash on my right leg. He’s a total sweetheart, but he just gets too excited literally all the time so I try to be patient with him. Something good that has happened? I have a cheesecake all to myself and tonight my mom got me a pack of revel bars :) I missed my sweeeeeeets. Something you miss? Drinking during weeknights and basically being dumb college kids with my friends. Something you're looking forward to? Drinking during weeknights and being a-little-less-dumb fresh graduates with my friends. Something you've read recently? I read up on the disappearance of Brian Shaffer earlier tonight because of a Reddit post I came across.

Something you've heard? Recently? The notif sound for my Twitter rang on my phone two minutes ago because someone sent me a DM. Something you've seen that amazed you? Cooper has started climbing up our stairs by god he’s learning so much shit SO FAST. He can do the first three steps on his own, but I have to have my hands ready by his back and butt for the rest of the higher steps because he’s not too tall yet and might miss and tumble all the way down. Something you want to say to someone? I miss you, and I wish you were graduating with us. Something you wish you never said to someone? There was one time I told Gab something, but I genuinely wasn’t able to realize how hurtful it was. I really meant it innocently but once she broke down and cried and explained it to me, I felt like utter shittttttttttt. I don’t wanna say it on here though, it still makes me wince to this day. Something you wish more people knew about you? I’m really really nice, just approach me first. Something you wish people didn't know about you? I don’t think like this. I wear my heart on my sleeve, no regrets on that front. Something you have always wanted? Money. Something you've got that no one else has? Extensive knowledge on the 1980s sitcom Perfect Strangers because of the time my parents introduced me to it when I was 10. I’d be very surprised (and excited, lol) if I meet someone as enthusiastic about the show in 2020. Something you're interested in this year? Kanye West announcing that he’s running for president has got me invested in that side of US politics loooooooooooool

Something you remember from 2001? Having ‘camping trips,’ which meant sleeping in a tent in our family room. Something you don't understand? Hawaiian, for one. Something you'd like to see? I’d love to see an aurora borealis at least once. Something you wish you were asked? Ok so I’m not directly answering the question but it’s kinda related? but it’d be cool if some companies contacted me hahaha. This is definitely not to say that I’m lazy and that I wanna let companies do the recruiting for me lol, but I only went with my answer because when I heard about job-hunting experiences from my older friends when they graduated, all of them told me that some companies were the ones who contacted them – I didn’t even know that was possible. It’d be pretty exciting just to get one call, haha.

[urbanguerilla]

I’m intensely disliking She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. Here’s why.

I really don’t like this show! Not because of the animation or the LGBTQ or any of that. I actually think the design is cute and I'm totally into the Moebius (Jean Giraud) homage. And I think it's great that LGBTQ stuff is being mainstreamed and normalized through various mediums. I also never watched the original, so I'm not in any way emotionally invested in the show. My childhood is not ruined. 

No, it's the writing! My God! The characters are one-dimensional. Their motivations are absurdly dumb, the heroes are incompetent and the villains are annoyingly smug.

First of all, take She-Ra. She's supposedly a super being, a First One, but gets her pathetic ass handed to her in just about every single episode. A multi-handicapped squirrel could beat her up with one paw tied behind its back. I've now watched her get kicked around and outwitted by Catra for 3 seasons straight, but she also gets herself pummeled by every other minor side character in the show. In the episode "Roll With It" (SE2:EP4) she gets completely walloped by Scorpia, who owned her butt in 10 seconds using just one claw. In "Huntara" (SE3:EP2) she's taken down by Huntara like it's nothing. I’ve lost count of how many times one of the villains (mostly Catra) effortlessly took The Sword of Protection away from her. Any episode now she'll get thrashed by Kyle. 

This is the heroine? Seriously? What the hell is the point of her magic sword and She-Ra transformation when she can't do shit? She's the absolute most incompetent and useless character on the show. And it's named after her!!! 🙄 

As for Catra, everyone, including the feeble-minded Adora/She-Ra, is constantly outsmarted by this smugly superior and insufferable cat chick, who somehow always knows everything and is always 10 steps ahead of everyone and never let's anything rattle her or surprise her or outfox her. Take one example (of which there are MANY) in SE3:EP3 "Once Upon a Time in the Waste"; In the previous episode we followed Adora, Glimmer and Bow in the Crimson Waste. Here they narrowly escape all the dangers of the environment. Sand snakes, lethal plants, quicksand and the natives. The Crimson Waste is a dangerous place and our heroes almost die there several times. In the next episode Catra waltzes into the Waste, arrogantly laughs at everything they throw at her, spends about 5 minutes there and then becomes queen of the whole place. This is just about the dumbest goddamn writing I have ever seen in my life. And of course, Adora is yet again again again again outwitted and defeated by this Mary Sue-ish antagonist for whom no opponent is too strong to defeat and/or trick in a matter of seconds. 

Or let's talk about Entrapta, who is converted from good to evil in a matter of seconds because she's a moron without any moral compass or critical thinking. Her story arc is pretty much the dumbest thing I have ever seen. It make's zero sense. She joins an evil army because she was "abandoned" during a raid in which she flails around like some ultra-ADHD basket case and then hides in a vent, waiting to be found? COME ON! And of course the all-knowing, all-powerful Catra figures out - in mere moments - exactly what buttons to push on this person who she has never met before, because… well because she's Catra and she can do anything the writers of this nonsense need her to do for the sake of plot convenience. 

Yeah. Plot convenience! There's a lot of internal rule breaking on this show. A lot of inconsistencies. Like that episode (I don't remember which one exactly) where Hordak threatens Shadow Weaver, telling her that he gave her her magical powers and that he can take them away anytime he likes. Then later in the same season, we get Shadow Weaver’s backstory in which she's a powerful sorceress who wants to fight the Horde. So no, Hordak did not give her her magical powers, but I guess the writers conveniently forgot that for the sake of the plot. Yes he gave her access to the Black Garnet, but long before that happened, she was one of the most powerful sorceresses in Etheria. She single-handedly defeated the Council in Mystacor without Hordak’s help. 

Or when Huntara says she knew Adora was a Horde soldier because of her training. Adora is WEARING A HORDE UNIFORM! She's been wearing a Horde uniform since the first episode!!! It's literally been used as a vehicle for conflict, like when she gets attacked and chased out by a mob in Bright Moon in the third episode of the show (on a side-note to that, isn't it odd she hasn't changed her outfit? Are there no tailors or clothing stores on Etheria?) 

Or how the Sword of Protection comes and goes. Like you see Adora walking around without the sword all the time and then suddenly she pulls it out of nowhere. That's a minor nuisance, but still it adds to the general sloppiness of the show. 

All that said, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power does have a few redeeming qualities when it pokes fun at its own characters (except Catra who, along with Hordak and Shadow Weaver, is rarely funny, if ever) and throws around various pop culture references (which sadly happens less and less as the show drags on). There's admittedly some genuinely funny moments and jokes and a lot could be redeemed if it focused more on the fun and less on everything that sucks. 

The show utterly fails whenever She-Ra faces off with Catra & Co. It makes zero sense that Catra can take out Adora in her She-Ra form, using just her goddamn claws! It wouldn't even make sense for her to be able to take out Adora in her Adora form, since Adora was the Horde Force Captain and superior in fighting skills to all the rest. But for dramatic purposes, all that is forgotten. She's weak as Adora and hella weak as She-Ra. And that's why this show fails in general, because the conflict between She-Ra and Catra is the nexus of the whole thing. If that doesn't work, the rest doesn't either. 

People will argue that IT'S A SHOW FOR 10 YEAR OLDS as if that's an excuse. There's a lot of good stuff made for 10 year olds that doesn't come with all the sloppy plot holes and lazy writing of this series.

[being-demisexual]

~5/5~ My whole ask is a big mess but really firstly I just wanted to thank you for being here and then I thought it could be nice to talk a moment with my situation and know we are here with a lot of questions...? I'm sorry! ;_;

~4/5~ I only want to add that I don't have a father figure because most men from my family are jerks and my parents aren't happy in their marriage and if I had loving family and decent relationship with my father I still... could be in ace community? I wonder how much my childhood created "me" and the fact this male character seems to have opposite character of my father is just, this is idea is dumb I KNOW THIS AND still, I feel that I'm not really an ace?

~3/5~ Like he is even nice looking man? Yes, fandom call him a hot character(still for me he is just beautiful?? Does it make sense?), yes he is just a character but still?? I even start think about that getting a boyfriend could be nice? Still no for romantical things??? At least not for a start, like a few months, I think? I never was in relationship with anyone, though I just wonder if I could be a demi? A demiromantic maybe? Is it a thing?? I don't really know...

~2/5 Like normally I don't want to date anyone but if it could be a person as him I think I could hesistate to say "no"? Especially if he doesn't ask to go out from the start and let me to know him better? I don't know how it could be with kissing and stuff, but maybe, really maaaayyyybe it could happen with him if we could know each other for long time? And I could just trust him?

~1/5~ I want to thank you for being here as asexual spectrum blog!

Sorry it took me so long to answer this! Real life kind of caught up to me and I had to prioritize some other things. Hopefully I can help you out a little now, though. 

In regards to your question about how much of our childhood governs our development as adults, I wouldn’t worry too much about whether your family situation has any bearing on your place in the asexual community. While its true that our childhoods form a foundation for our later world views and the creation of the person we want to be, this doesn’t mean that we are strictly products of our childhood. People can grow up in environments where the adults in their life hateful bullies who aren’t very tolerant of any who defies their narrow world view and still become kind, caring adults. Some of this is an active choice on their part, seeing their parents and thinking “I don’t want to be like them” but some of it may simply be that they are naturally a kind, loving person, and it doesn’t take them much work at all to turn away from their upbringing. Likewise, someone could grow up with wonderful parents and a stable home life and turn out to be a mean, grumpy person. Again, some active choice there, but they also may just be grumpy.

Translating that to sexuality: You may have a horrible father, and your experiences of seeing an unhappy, strained marriage may guide your thoughts on what to implement in your own relationships, but that doesn’t mean that this made you asexual. No matter the upbringing, you would have been asexual, but how the role your sexuality takes in your relationships is an active choice on your part. Maybe if your parents had been kind and loving you would have been more adventurous and open to beginning new romantic relationships, but you would still have been asexual. Somethings in life are not a choice, and some things are. Sexuality is not a choice, the way you implement it in your life is. 

In regards to your question about a fictional character that you are thinking you might be attracted to, its perfectly normal to use fiction as a way to explore facets of yourself that you don’t feel comfortable enacting in real life. Fiction allows us to view ourselves many different ways without actually changing anything. Using fiction to view yourself as a delicate princess, as a motorcycle riding badass, as an emotionally distant hero, and as a fun-loving sidekick in turns allows us the opportunity to try on all these different hats to see which one fits the best before ever employing anything in real life. Using fiction to explore attraction, like what would make an ideal partner both in terms of aesthetic attraction and what you would want from a partner emotionally is totally normal. 

You can use fiction to explore any potential attraction you may have. Did you become invested in this character only after a long time? When the character showed many emotional moments on screen and you felt connected to them in that way? You may be demisexual or demiromantic, where attraction (either sexual or romantic) only forms after a close, emotional bond develops. Did they walk on screen and you instantly thought they were hot but would never go out with them until later? Maybe you’re demiromantic, but not demisexual. Did you think that you should be attracted to this character only after listening to several people online express their desire? It might be worth considering that you are asexual and attempting to force yourself to experience attraction in an attempt to feel normal.

In any case, the aromantic/asexual spectrum has a space for you however long you want it. If the aspec label makes you feel comfortable and happy right now, but later you learn something else is a better fit, great! We’re happy that you felt comfortable enough in our community to explore and learn about yourself. If you take up the aspec label and never let it go, awesome! The community welcomes you in with cake and hugs! It doesn’t matter about your upbringing or your process of self-discovery including some type of attraction, all that matters is that you are brave enough to explore a fundamental part of who you are, and that’s truly awesome! I hope this helped!

[cacchieressa]

Name ten favourite characters from ten different things (books, tv, film, etc.) then tag ten people

@gffa tagged me and you guys, this is hard. And the list could change at any moment! Certainly it’s not in any specific order except that which I thought of the characters, but here we go:

Princess Leia, Star Wars. PERFECT SPACE PRINCESS. ROLE MODEL FOR LIFE. And i mean that, because I ‘met’ her when I was 7 and she showed me that a princess could be smart, funny, angry and in charge of all the dumb boys around her. She could rescue herself when given the opportunity, and she could bear up under tremendous strain and sorrow to do what needed to be done. She could also choke a motherfucker out with the chain he put around her neck while wearing a terrible metal bikini. When the dumb boys I knew as a kid insisted Han was the “other” Yoda was referring to, I knew it had to be Leia and much like Leia herself, I was very satisfied when I was right and I didn’t let them forget it either. *g*

Eowyn, Lord of the Rings. Another amazing princess (we had mostly only princesses or plucky girl detectives when I was a kid, so bear with me, you’ll see some of each on this list), who didn’t want to be left behind, who wanted glory and also to not be constantly told that it wasn’t her place to fight and die for her king. I also feel like in the films, the Theodeon and Eowyn storyline is the most emotionally resonant and it never fails to make me cry.

Tenar, Earthsea. I love everything about Tenar - when she’s a petty teenage priestess trying to figure out how to be an adult in the Place and when she’s teasing Ged in the darkness of the treasure room and when she’s a grown woman, widowed and still trying to fit herself into the slot society has chosen for her, brave and loving and full of gentle humor at her own (and sometimes, Ged’s) expense.

Sirius Black, Harry Potter. Oh man, I can, have, and will fight people on the internet on Sirius Black’s behalf because he’s such a fucking mess but he’s trying okay. He’s had a shitty life and that’s not an excuse but it is an explanation. He escapes a terrible family situation, he rebels against their indoctrination to fight Nazis Death Eaters, and then he feels so consumed with guilt that he accepts his imprisonment for crimes he didn’t commit for TWELVE YEARS. Until he sees that Harry is once again in danger from Wormtail, and then he executes an unaided escape from Azkaban to protect him. Was he a bully at age 15? Are his priorities skewed? Is his development arrested? Did he contain contradictions? Did he need a lot of help and support he did not get by being locked back up in his childhood horror of a home? Yes to all of this. I don’t care. He still deserved better than what the narrative gave him.

Dan Rydell, Sports Night. DOER OF WONDERFUL DEEDS. Danny is the best, no lie. I don’t understand how anyone prefers Casey when Dan is RIGHT THERE being AMAZING. (I mean, I don’t actually dislike Casey? But I don’t understand why everyone thinks he’s the best when he’s clearly not.) He’s funny, he’s smart, he’s cute, he loves sports (except soccer), he’s a writer, he’s socially conscious, and he doesn’t need $2 off to drink a blue margarita as big as your head.

Malcolm Reynolds, Firefly. I don’t know what it is about Mal that makes me love him so much - he’s broken and desperate and hard, and he’s absolutely shitty to Inara in ways that can’t easily be remediated, but he still has moments of softness and kindness, mostly involving River and Kaylee and his ship. He’s someone who’s had his loyalty betrayed and lost faith in everything he believed, and he yet can still command loyalty and belief from others. Also for some reason I find his voice really easy to write.

Veronica Mars, Veronica Mars. This new season just reminded me of how much I love her. She is also hard and broken and lonesome, but also brilliant and sharp and occasionally kind. She’s a mess but she’s aware of it, and while she’s not trying to get herself better, she works to make sure other people don’t end up the same way she has.

Stephanie Brown, DC Comics. Steph is kind of the same but opposite of Veronica - she decided she wouldn’t let all the shit that happened to her make her hard; she makes an active choice to be kind and hopeful while also punching evil in the face. Like many of my favorite characters, Steph steps up, knowing that if not her, no one else is going to stop her B-List villain father, and she continues to step up and get up when even the people on her own side are telling her to get lost, that she’s not worth the time and investment, and she proves them wrong over and over. If the other Bats are in service of vengeance or justice or making sure no one else loses their parents in an alleyway, Steph is about hope - that things can get better, that people can rise above circumstances and expectations. Also, fuck you, DC, she was both Robin and Batgirl and you can’t take that away.

Steve Rogers, MCU. Oh Steve. Steve also steps up and gets up, time and time again. His integrity and strong moral compass, his sarcasm and sense of humor, his shrewdness, his ability to inspire everyone around him to want to be the best version of themselves they can be, his complete lack of self-preservation and stubbornness in service of doing what he thinks is right even if he’s basically cutting off his nose to spite his face (I mean, it’s not always a good thing; there are sometimes better ways to get to the right thing, Steve, as Bucky, Natasha, and Sam have all had to remind him at times). 

Katara, Avatar: the Last Airbender. Katara has many admirable qualities, but what I like best about her is her anger and how freely she’s allowed to express it. She’ll call out her brother for his sexism and she’ll call out Master Pakku, too, and she’ll stone cold threaten anyone who offers harm to anyone she cares about but she’ll also find room for forgiveness in her heart for someone who hurt her and the people she cares about. But she also sometimes won’t and that’s okay too. She’ll take on the thankless role of team mom because someone has to, and she’ll put in the hard work and dedication needed to not only become a master waterbender at 14, but also teach the Avatar to master it, too. But she still has her soft and silly and girly side, and she indulges that when she can.

[simplyolivers]

yeethaw and howdy once again partners, it’s me your least favorite texan sierra. i’ve had this character in mind from like the day that i picked up isa & seren, and now i can finally pick up my pure son. now let me introduce you to oliver park-davies.

ROSS BUTLER - OLIVER PARK-DAVIES identifies as CIS-MALE and uses HE/HIM pronouns. they’re a SINGER/ACTOR, and they’re only TWENTY-FOUR! they’re said to be EMPATHETIC, but also PROTECTIVE. i guess that’s why they’re known as THE PHILANTHROPIST in the tabloids. 

biography:

the bibliomaniac + the academic  — aka his early years [ 0 to 12. musings: 01. 02. 03. 04. ]

oliver park-davies was born to two extremely loving parents, and his seven other siblings of which he was the oldest, they were this gigantic loving family, and everybody wanted to be like them

okay well when i say loving i mean that’s how they appeared on the outside, his family was very broken, his parents constantly on the edge of divorce, him and his siblings didn’t get along at all, and in the park-davies house there was always something to argue about

the park-davies were billionaires, this was due to their extremely successful business endeavors, and knew when and where to invest their money they had enough money to buy whatever they wanted whenever they wanted, they never looked at the price tag, to quote sahar, “they want it, they got it.”

his parents often tried to basically bribe their kids to love them because they were honestly the worst, they often emotionally abused their children, and neglected them, and the only time that their parents did want anything to do with them is when they needed to make a public appearance

was very much the rich kid that raised by nannies and butlers rather than his actual parents, and in a weird way he sorta became this surrogate parent for his siblings, he was the one they looked up to and came to for advice that sorta thing

oliver,,,just needed something anything to take his mind of it, so immediately he threw himself into studying and books, and to quote matilda, “the books gave him a comforting message...you are not alone.”

his parents ended up figuring out that their son was smart, like hella smart, by 10 he’d mastered latin, and by 11 he was already reading at college level

bUT despite being able to graduate college by 12 at the rate he was going he wanted as normal of a childhood as possible, and so he continued with his regular grade level, and tried his best to be ‘normal’ fun fact: he often dumbs himself down bc he doesn’t like people treating him differently 

honestly his love of books got to the point that his room essentially turned into a small library of it’s own, it got to the point where his parents reluctantly gave him his own room to house all of his books

the paracosmist + the black sheep  — aka his teen years [ 13 to 18. musings: 01. 02. 03. 04. ]

books weren’t the only thing that oliver found his passion for, when he enrolled in his school’s choir, he realized his love for singing

he wanted to share his music with people without having the recognition, so he uploaded a lot of his music to soundcloud under an alias ( vc: conan gray / cavetown )

he gained a massive following, that not even he expected, which would seem like a great thing if he wasn’t expected by his parents to take on the family business 

one day his parents sat him down and he saw it a good a time as ever to tell his parents about the success he hoped to gain from singing, his parents cut him off immediately and told him that his father was suffering from cancer

due to his revelation his parents ostracized him more than they did before, and slowly but surely he began to be iced out, no longer showing up in appearances, and just avoiding any press altogether 

as his father got increasingly more sick, oliver began to realize the mistake that he made, and on his death bed oliver promised his father that he would do as both of his parents wished and take over the family business

oliver had the scores to get to any school that he wanted and decided on business school at nyu, where his father was an alumni, the agreement that he had with his mother was that once he graduated he’d begin shadowing his mother to learn to run the company

the school and the city itself was immediately overwhelming to my smol bean who came from not so humble beginnings in his small town, and he was unsure of where he belonged in this huge school

until!!!!! he found friends!!!! and they made him feel accepted!!! and it was great!!!!

once his friends heard his voice and of his dreams they encouraged him to join the university’s men’s choir, and was prompted by the director to join the university’s theatre department, where he appeared in a majority of the school’s plays and musicals

he was discovered one night at this open mic thing he went to and it was great! he was signed to a record deal with eden’s label! and my bby’s dreams were finally coming true!!! 

lmao but the one condition that he did have for eden was that he had to graduate school first, and it was accepted

the philanthropist + the goofball + the broken bird  — aka his current years [ 19 to current. musings: 01. 02. 03. 04. 05. 06. ]

he graduated early! because of course he did

his mom was expecting him to come back to texas and maintain the family business, but he pulled a whole uno reverse card, and ended up disappearing from whatever world it is that him mom lived in

he became pretty successful in the music industry, coming from this cool indie artist that only about a few hundred people knew about to this seemingly overnight sensation

my bb is still v e r y unused to the attention, mostly because his parents never gave it to him and he was like, adoration???? attention??? care??? what’s that

is a huge dork that just loves to make people smile and when he sees people genuinely happy his heart melts a little bit inside

is very much the shoulder to cry on for people, and even if he doesn’t know you he’ll sit and listen to your whole life story and just try to cheer you up because that’s just in his nature?

has started his acting career! first it was just cute small little cameos in movies and tv shows, but now it’s turned into him getting his own show!!! he couldn’t be more excited tbh

remember how i said that he’d sit and listen to a stranger cry? if he shows even the slightest bit of emotion that isn’t happiness he starts malfunctioning and just trying to make the people around him happy

he’s honestly probably said, “alright i have to go back to being funny again.” to himself so many times before??? he’s so broken on the inside but has just put up so many barriers 

despite the many walls he has to protect himself from other people, he’s just the nicest purest soul, he treats everyone like his family, and just has the insatiable need to be liked dkkfkdkd, pls be fragile with my boy thanks

[mysticdragon3md3]

This month I was invited to the movies more than I’m used to, as someone who goes to theaters only around 3 times a year.  They were mostly pretty meh, but I need an excuse to post these figure photos to my blog, so here are my thoughts, AKA ranting movie reviews.

9/3/2019: Fast & Furious Presents Hobbs & Shaw

When there isn't a superhero movie, watch a Fast And Furious. 😋 Buddy action movies are usually funny and fun. I mean, I had a lot of fun with Tango And Cash when I was a kid, and I feel like I would’ve liked Lethal Weapon if I was old enough to watch it at the time it came out (before its slow motion felt out-dated).  I usually always stay for the entire credits to savor the experience, but I so didn't care about this movie, that seeing the ushers waiting for us to leave, so they can start cleaning, made me too uncomfortable to stay longer.  Even though there were 2 people behind me staying longer.   I expected Hobbs & Shaw to be stupid and funny, but it was just "okay".  Some funny parts, but jokes' pacing went too long half the time.  And action scenes just didn't get my adrenaline going.  Even though it was a lot of impressive stunts.  And there were stupid scenarios and that dumbness should have been entertaining in and of itself.  I now further appreciate the true "fun" of an MCU movie or good action movie (like John Wick).   And I felt bad that the scientist saved the protagonists but then they didn't even feel bad that they couldn't save him.  I get that they needed him gone, so he couldn't fix the machine, so Hobbs had to return home to get his brother's help, in addition to Samoa being off-grid.  But it was really insensitive, while this movie was already lacking in having us care about the protagonists.  Like I didn't feel it, during that plane scene when Hobbs bragged about everyone liking him.  I only cared about the crazy action scenes, and even that was mediocre---Even though such crazy things happened, that it should have been awesome!  But the pacing wasn't exciting.  Or maybe it was the direction.  I really expected and wanted cheesy zoom-in close-ups, like the shed gearing-up scene from Evil Dead 2 or those 1980′s Schwarzenegger action movies. Instead, we got lots of held zoom outs, especially during that insane chase scene on Samoa that was inherently super unrealistically crazy. Keeping the camera far back made even that scene taken too seriously instead of the fun it could have had.  I expected cheese.  I went into this movie gleefully anticipating the stupidest cheese.  And it was sadly not as stupid as I would have liked.  

9/10/2019:  Ready Or Not

It was a good movie.  It had good pacing and characters.  It was effective in making me feel what it wanted at specific times.  But I didn't have fun---afterwards.  During the movie, was interesting, invested, and fun.  But afterwards...I felt nihilistic and cynical. Because that’s where the movie left you at the end.  You wanted to be able to kill people you care about, if ever needed.  And that put me into a bad mood.  Not an angry mood, but I didn't feel happy or even exhilarated.  And maybe that pegs me as part of the problem, when people complain about movie studios changing all their scripts to have happy endings.  But if I, a hikikomori and germaphobe, am going to go through the trouble of going out to the movie theaters, it better make me feel good enough to have been worth it.  I like some angsty, tragic, and nihilistic movies or series endings.  But not all the time.  And certainly not when it reinforces my agoraphobia. 

9/24/2019:  Ad Astra

I liked the world-building, and I'm glad I said that out loud in the theater, because there turned out to be bunches of JPL hat wearing old people in the audience. Maybe JPL consultants?😍  Super cool old dudes.  I made sure to hold the door for them when I left the theater.  I also said that I was not emotionally invested in the character. Omg. They wanted you to care so much about his emotional struggles and be so convinced of all his repressed emotions boiling under his surface. But they didn't follow "show, don't tell". 😓 I get that his characterization was "shockingly emotionless", but y'know what would've driven that point? Contrasting vs a portrayal of that emotional childhood that the movie kept going on about! Maybe THEN the emotional stakes at the climax would've had actual payoff. And the emotional stakes they wanted you to feel were all delivered by cliche shorthand.😵 "Oh~He's distant from his wife!" You mean the background prop? Just another female character who only exists to worry and make the hero angst because she's apparently the only fill-in allowed for ALL the emotional bonds in his life. Ug. This again. And the daddy issues...Look. I know everyone---especially male protagonists apparently----has daddy issues, but you gotta show us why THIS character has daddy issues. You can't just lean on the collective subconscious pool of daddy issues through short-hands. Make me FEEL along WITH your protagonist why HE specifically has issues with his father.  And don't tell me that the protagonist *explaining* his specific daddy issues is supposed to be an effective substitute for SHOWING and making me experience those issues along with him.   I would've preferred a speculative documentary or slice of life story, just to show off all the extremely interesting and masterly subtle sci-fi world-building. 

Omg This is the 3rd meh movie this month. Whereas summer had too many to watch in time.😩  I wanted to watch Shazam.  It’s a miracle that I managed to see Avengers Endgame, AND Captain Marvel, AND Spiderman Far From Home in theaters.  But I also wanted to see Shazam, John Wick 3, Yesterday, Hotel Mumbai, and maybe Detective Pikachu and The Dead Don’t Die.  Auugh....Instead I watched these movies this month.  x___x;