#i have a whole wiki page in my notes about this family i love them

[bluebellhairpin]

The Strong's of Harrenhal

(L -> R; Larys II, Dawsyn, Stephas, Ser Harwin, Lady Strong, Renei, Maryana) The finished version of this smaller line art, which I PROMISED I WOULD EXPAND AND FINISH which I now have :) This is my first time doing an artwork with so many people in it, and ngl I do think I slacked off with the kids just bc it was taking so long to do and I went "I NEED TO FINISH THIS SO I CAN DO SOMETHING ELSE" yk? Anyway it's done now <33

[wibixthecowboy]

Play the Song: Part 1: Meet the Flash

Task Force 141 needs a new sniper and despite their complaints, they're assigned Flash, a joke-making, ABBA-listening, 20-year-old sharpshooter with better aim than the whole team combined. In other words, Ghost is practically handed the love of his life but he needs time to adjust because she's a firecracker.

Warnings/Tags: Age gap (20/30-32), gore, descriptions of injury/blood/wounds, swearing, weapons, literally only fluff and banter, minimal angst, soft baby girl Ghost, asshole Soap, lighthearted, I can fix him he just needs a hug, warning for an excessively bad taste in music, slow burn, protective ghost, family dynamic, big brother soap has an attitude problem, father figure Price, Gaz is just there because he’s on the wiki I have no idea who he is, eventual smut, praise, thigh riding, unprotected (wrap it up people), idk I’m sure it will get dirtier as I go, shifting POV

Side note: All of these characters are fictional! Please don’t be weird about their real life actors, leave them out of this and be respectful! 

A/N: I have been resurrected from the tumblr tombs once again to write about a man that I’ll never have. I have no idea how cod or war in general works and I don’t care enough to learn so enjoy my bullshitting.

Words: 1.5k

Part 1  Part 2  Part 3 Part 4  Part 5

  ★ Ghost

  It was a hot day in Las Almas, with the temperature pushing almost 100 degrees, Ghost’s single shirt has stuck to the sheen of sweat on his chest beneath the annoyingly thick Kevlar bodyguard and left him second-guessing his faceless persona in desperation to rip the damp mask off. 

   Their sniper was down, and much to Ghost’s displeasure they were on their way to pick up a new team member fresh off the academy grill. The manila folder in his hands was thin, but the few sheets inside were enough to sell her to the coordinator, he had to admit that she seemed impressive but the minimal amount of field experience would have immediately disqualified her as a candidate if it was his choice.  

“Sniper specialist” 

“98% accuracy rate”

“trained in 6 fighting styles” 

“Distinguished Graduate Award and Clements Award winner” 

“Works under special requirements” 

He squints down at the last line, fighting the bouncing of the truck over the rough terrain to read clearly,��special requirements. Ghost huffs a frustrated breath at the lack of further explanation and hands the papers to Soap next to him. 

“Do you know what the special requirements are?” He grumbles, eyeing Soap’s hunched shoulders. They had just gotten the call to clear a residency that would hopefully contain the information on the next run and they would be heading straight in with a newbie. No one was happy. 

Soap shuffles through the papers, barely taking the time to skim the words before he’s shoving them behind him to Price in the back seat. 

“Why the fuck would I know? Do I look like the coordinator?” Ghost raises an eyebrow at the attitude but decides to let it go. He knows from experience that poking would get him nowhere. 

Ghost turns his head to Price in hopes of a clearer answer but he just shakes his head and hands the papers back. 

“You’re missing a few pages there Ghost.” Price says closing his eyes and resting against the seat. Soap, suddenly done with the conversation rolls his eyes and turns to watch the sparse rolling landscape out the window.

“This is the entire file, I opened it on the way here.” Ghost retorts, looking down to flip through the paperwork. It takes him a moment to see it but when he does his hands freeze. Signaled by the sudden stop, Price sits up and looks over the seat to read the page in Ghost’s hand. 

“Oh shit”  

 Somehow both of them had missed the single line at the bottom of the first page,

“Missions completed: 0″

 Realization slowly dawns on him, this recruit has absolutely no field experience. When the coordinator said fresh off the grill he meant it. Ghost turns to relay his newfound information to Soap but snaps his mouth shut at the sight of his pissy expression. 

This new realization leaves a pit in Ghost’s stomach. He hadn’t signed up for training, the recruit couldn't be over 25, a vast difference compared to their already existing team. He’d asked for their best sniper, not a child.   

_____

   The van’s wheels grind to a halt in front of the small outpost building and Soap slams the door open, eager to get the process over with. As if on cue the doors open wide to reveal the coordinator and their new recruit. Ghost balks, through the shimmering heat he can make out two shapes, one being the coordinator and the other he assumes is the recruit. The top of her helmet is level with his shoulder pad and with the rifle being half her height, she looks more like a child than a soldier.

“You’ve got to be fuckin’ kiddin’ me. Jesus Fuckin’ Christ that's a child!” Although he wasn’t quick enough to stop him, Price still gives Soap a hard shove to the shoulder. Soap turns around in his seat ready to hit back but Ghost grabs his fist and levels him with a glare. Even with Soap’s strong accent muddying his tone, the words ring clear past the approaching pair. The recruit stands tall though, power-walking through the sand and stopping in front of the open sliding door. 

If it wasn’t for the giant rifle and other military paraphernalia strapped to her chest Ghost would assume he was back at a countryside bar in Kentucky. Her golden blonde hair has been weaved into a thick braid hanging halfway down her chest, framing her freckled face in soft layers and shining in the mid-day sun. The recruit’s blue eyes shone with a wild flare that left Ghost shifting in his seat. Upon noticing a slight gap between her front teeth he feels the corner of his mouth twitch upwards, only to frown at the lack of southern drawl when she finally speaks. 

“I go by Flash, and for your information, my 20th birthday was this summer and I’m probably a better shot than all of you. Now that’s out of the way, are we ready to go gentleman?” 

The entire team freezes in shock at the new and unexpected information. Ghost chokes on his next breath of air and his dignity is saved by Soap’s sudden yell.

“WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN 20?” Flash’s façade falters for just a second at the brute yell before Price is shoving past Soap to get out of the car and stand in front of the pair, blocking them from view. 

Price and the coordinator exchange a few short words before Ghost clears his throat and interrupts.

“No.”

____________________________________

★ Flash

   Flash had been warned about joining Task Force 141, as soon as the news was announced whispers floated around the academy, leaving Flash the center of attention. She was stopped nearly every day to be questioned about the lone wolf Lieutenant Ghost and despite her constant pressing that she had not met any of them, let alone the one known most for his evasiveness, the pestering continued. Flash was tired of being a show pony. She had an itch that needed to be scratched and it wouldn’t happen through obstacle courses and teaching. She needed to be out on the field and she was prepared to do whatever she needed to do to prove herself. What she hadn't prepared for was outright denial.

Everyone’s attention shifts to Lieutenant Ghost, and the man in front of her winces before speaking.

“Ghost it is not up for debate she’s already signed on.”

“Well, fuckin’ take her off then Price!” The loud Scottish man yells again. 

 After an awkward pause, the coordinator shifts on his feet and directs his attention to Captain Price, 

“Captain this decision is final, paperwork has already been filed, and the academy has handed her off.” He clears his throat before speaking “And if I may, Flash has the highest scores of all time on nearly every leaderboard back at the academy, she’s no beginner.” Flash feels a swell of pride and makes a note to thank him later. 

“It’s not happening” Lieutenant Ghost’s voice is cold and has Flash’s newfound pride deflating. So much for making new friends. 

Captain Price sighs before turning to speak directly to Lieutenant Ghost,

“Ghost it seems like we don’t have much choice. Soap move to the back, Flash can take your spot.” He heaves a sigh and Flash can see him bracing himself for a backlash but its not from who she expected. 

“This is utter dog shit, I’m not working with a child!” Soap drops his head into his hands before heaving himself out of his seat and into the back. Flash’s smirk falters when she realizes who she’ll be placed next to but she takes a breath and steps into the van, ignoring Captain Price’s outstretched hand. 

Captain Price shoves himself next to Soap and the coordinator gives them one last salute before pulling the door shut.

   It’s a tight squeeze in the van, the third seat of the second row has been ripped out and replaced with a few precariously balanced boxes, leaving her pressed up against the side of the Lieutenant. Although the sweltering day had given her a rosy complexion the heat of his body made her face flush an even deeper shade of pink. 

 _____

They bump along the road for a bit before it dawns on Flash that she’s on the way to her first mission. She can’t help the grin that slowly makes its way across her face.

“What’s that shit eating grin for?” Soap grumbles from the back seat obviously still sore from being forced into the back. Flash cant help the giggles that force their way up when she spots him glaring at her through the rearview mirror.

“Nothing.” She replies with a simple shrug and drops her gaze down to her lap, still smiling. Ghost’s rigid posture doesn’t relax but when he looks down at her she can almost see a glint of humor in his blue eyes. She stares back, “What?”

“Nothing.” He mimics. 

Maybe this won’t be so bad after all. 

[msnihilist]

Person Who Has Never Watched the Reboot Decides to Liveblog Alien-X-Tinction

First scene and I already hate Max's voice. #NotMyGrandpa

idk what alternate universe this is yet, but I like 1) that Ben is sad :), and 2) that his Omnitrix looks like that??? It really sells the idea of a prototype 🥺

"resistance will only beget pain" — villain who is smart enough to know that Ben doesn't know what "beget" means

"you always try to interrupt" okay, ouch, I actually love that angst (I already know who the Alien X is and what he's been doing to alternate Bens (I'm only watching this because the Wiki page for the special was interesting to me), so this is lovely :3) Max always tries to save his grandson and he never succeeds </3

Side note: evil Celestialsapien is a cool idea, and I like that this one is taking a "hands on" approach. It's about the thrill of the hunt :) And loving making people suffer

"oh, no, not again" LMAO, the dimension-hopping Max sounds soooo mildly inconvenienced

WAIT, DID THE ALIEN X RIP OFF BEN'S ARM??? I can't tell what happened here?? Fuckin' kid's show censors 😭

Max's face when Ben hugs his grandpa…… I love suffering 🥺

"you'd think I'd be used to it all by now" coming from a man who lost his grandkids and tortures himself by watching it happen again and again in other timelines hurts so good 😭 😭 I also love that they let Max cry about it. It's a small thing and it only lasts a second, but in the Classic continuity, Ben only cried on screen TWICE, both when he was 10. Letting an aged man hurt like this without making a joke about it is good to see <3

Back in the Real Timeline, I guess, lmao. I love that Gwen is tied up and just looks so bored with the whole affair

GWEN'S VOICE?? #NOTMYGWEN (I like that Zombozo is voiced by Drakken, tho)

Hm. I kinda like this angle with Ben's frustration. He feels like he's not living up to his full potential as a hero because he always has Gwen and Max helping him. It's different from when Ben would get cocky in the OG, and I think it's an interesting point, too :p This blatantly isn't about being a hero, it's about the thrill, which is something that ten-year-old Ben consistently struggled with

Still hate reboot Heatblast, but whatever

I definitely don't like how the fights are animated? It feels... slow. And I get part of that is to build up suspense/show of Alien X's abilities, since this show is aimed at a younger audience who wouldn't be familiar with the Classic continuity, but still :/ I don't like the flat camera angles and the hits don't have a lot of weight to them

Love that Alien X is killing off Ben's, though — something Eon was always too pussy to do

I hate this art style, but I appreciate that the writers are trying

I love villains who are obsessed with Ben Killing him, hunting him down, whatever. Watching villains shove aside whatever or whoever gets in their way to pursue Ben with single-minded fervor always hits good.

This fight between Ben and Alien X, up until he loses the Omnitrix, is probably my favorite fight in the special. Alien X was at his coolest and Ben really gave it his all, no matter how badly he got beat in return.

"there's no omniversal road-side service that drops out of thin air" — man who has forgotten that this is Ben he's talking about

BRO, THEY'RE PLAYING THE ALIEN FORCE THEME SONG WHEN OLDER BEN STEPS OUT OF THE PORTAL 😭 Okay, even though AF had kind of a lame opening, I'll admit: that was pretty hype

Holy shit, wait, the reboot has been going on for five seasons and this Max STILL hasn't told his grandkids about the Plumbers??? I hate him, worst grandpa

LMAO, Maximillian calling Ben a stubborn brat <3 AF Ben looking away in embarrassment because he knows it's true (he literally JUST tried to walk off and go it alone for?? no reason, literally), I love them. They're a family in every dimension

I think it's cute that Gwen already likes teenage Ben <3

Alien X: "You're in the wrong dimension." Ben, who's relaxing nonchalantly waiting for his plan to pay off: "Is that why my keys don't work?"

I MISSED AF BEN SO MUCH, HE'S SUCH A DRAMA QUEEN 😭 HE LITERALLY TRANSFORMED JUST TO GET UP THERE AND HAVE A DRAMATIC ENTRANCE

AF BIG CHILL DESIGN + VOICE, MY BELOVED!!! They even kept Ben shouting out his transformation's names, nreulgneklge. That's some attention to detail that almost makes me forgive the art style <3 (almost)

"little me," omg, he's such a fuckin' dork

I love that when Bens get together, they literally just love each other, it's so so sweet <3

"I should rethink my prior mercy." "Your generosity will not go unappreciated… or unpunished." ngl, this guy is a sick villain

Okay, this made me love him. And Gwen's faith in him is sooo <3 Truly the best cousin of all time

"Are you okay?" "Better now that you're back, cuz." Ben and Gwen are so fucking cute in the reboot, I love them 😭 🥺

I love that Gwen 10 goes, "And, yes, we're [Gwens are] better" and then fucking picks Ripjaws for a fight in a rocky desert, sfbrygbrku. She's such a dumbass I do love her Ripjaws design, tho!! Love that they avoided the Omniverse problem of making the female aliens excessively feminized. ALSO OG HEATBLAST, MY LOVE

OV Ben ruffling younger Ben's hair 🥺🥺

AHAHA, OG Ben immediately assuming that this Gwen is also a magic user, pfft. Even in a dimension where they don't get along as well, he's got so much faith in his cousin <3

Gwen's little watch tech is like her UAF powers!!

Of course OG Ben would get pissy about someone picking the same alien as him 😭 He's so chronically ten years old

"But I'm not your Ben." "You're all my Ben." Okay, maybe this Max is actually the best one 😭 🥺

Jeez, that tragic backstory was pretty fucking brutal. Vilgax straight-up just vaporized Gwen and Max. I love the idea of an evil Ben who's lost everything, though. His Max and Gwen are dead, what more can they take away from him? Eon could never

LMAO, MAX JUST FORCIBLY ADOPTING EVIL BEN AT THE END. Ben is so unenthused, he's gonna get loved whether he wants to or not!!

Okay, just finished it. Final thoughts? It was really cute. Is it good enough to get me to watch the rest of the reboot? No. It's definitely not as hype as some of UAF/OV's high points, probably in part because I still can't get into the art style and also because the fight scenes just aren't as good.

It had pretty good pacing! I was surprised by that, I thought 45 minutes was gonna be too short, but it ended up feeling right. (Also, I'm upset to say that Max's voice grew on me. Gwen is on thin ice.)

You can tell that this was made with a lot of love, both for the characters and for Ben 10 as a whole. It really does feel like a love letter to the fandom, and for that, it was a good watch :)

Final score: 7/10, not NEARLY as bad as I was expecting, worth a rewatch <3

[beearcheops]

Drv3 family trees (or my best attempt)(minus the Monokubs because I’m not doing that to myself)

Yeahhhh, guess who got bored

I mainly just used find on page to find out so this may be not 100% accurate (but if you think I’m gonna read all ftes,date tickets,utdp and drs events, you’re wrong)

anyways, here’s the key

Circle means Female, Square means Male and a question mark means idk if they are related or not (or something idk I just explain when it comes up)

all family trees are under cut cuz it’s long

First things first, Shuichi’s tree was probably the easiest to make for me since all the info was in his ftes. The only thing that I struggled with was shuichi saying “my uncle and his wife” which is a very weird way to say it (like bud, you could’ve said aunt in law and at least have some people understand it. Maybe idk family trees make my head hurt) but oh well

Then there’s Kaede! Her family tree is relatively simple but I also need to mention that if the character in question never mentions their family, I’m just going to assume that they have just 2 parents (in which I’m coining as the “normalcy law of assuming” I guess, I couldn’t think of a better name)

speaking of which…

Tsumugi (I’m pretty sure) never mention any family members, no matter how much I search (and before you mention her love hotel event, I didn’t read any of the cast’s love hotel events for both my sanity and happiness) so I just assuming that she has 2 parents

Remember when I said that I would explain the question mark?

well, here, it means that the mom may be not the same for all of children (at least in this scenario) (I mean rantaro did said most of his sisters are stepsisters, also yeah, the circle with 12 on represent his 12 sisters because I’m not putting all 12 of them in the image)

Next one up,Tenko! Surprisingly, the normalcy law of assuming doesn’t apply to tenko, why?, because she mentions her parents in one of her ftes! (I don’t remember which one but I do know that she mentioned them) so yeah, just a small simple family tree

Now for Himiko, unlike Tenko, Himiko never mentions her family (unless her master is her dad in which I- what.) while the Danganronpa wiki states that she has a mom, I (personally) couldn’t find any evidence of that at all so I’m not sure where in the world they found that information (I’m serious, where in the fuck she says this?!?!?!!?! Because its certainly not in her ftes,date tickets,utdp events or drs events, so where is it?!?!??!) (I’m going insane) so yeah

UPDATE: thanks to @reblogablename, I now know where Himiko mentions her mom, it’s in the first mass panic debate

Uhh so according to my notes, Miu has parents but I don’t know where I found that information (like did I find it in her wiki page or ftes, or somewhere else completely? I’m not completely sure where but I’m gonna trust my notes here)

To call Keebo’s family tree interesting could be a understatement, this is a line. Other than that, there’s not much to say about it, it’s just keeb and his professor/dad (also I want to mention that I’m pretty sure that Professor Idabashi is the only named family member in v3 which is odd but oh well ¯\_(ツ)_/¯)

Due to Kokichi being Kokichi, I don’t know if he has parents or not so I’m pulling the normalcy law of assuming card here

meanwhile the little question mark represents his older brother mentioned in his ftes, and since Kokichi lies, he might have a brother or not

While Maki has not met her parents (if I remember correctly in the ftes), she must come from somewhere (also please ignore the weird writing in this section/ryoma’s section, I dead ass forgot about the both of them sorry)

Ryoma does have parents, well dead parents but still parents

(I’m going insane)

Korekiyo’s family tree, like Shuichi’s, was relatively easy to make, not much to mention here I think (other than the whole incest thing but I don’t want to think about it)

Kaito,Kaito, Kaito, why were you the hardest person to write about (no seriously, why was it so hard?!??!) anyways, not much to say than kaito never talks about his parents so idk what happened to them

We’re in the final stretch! Kirumi never mentions her family sooo to the normalcy law of assuming corner for you!

Now for Gonta, while he does mention his family, he doesn’t specific any family members so another one in the normalcy law of assuming list

And FINALLY, angie has the same thing as gonta where she mention her family, she doesn’t specified what family members she has so yet again, the normalcy law of assuming shows up

aaaaand thats everyone in drv3 (minus the Monokubs because of no) family trees, but feel free to correct me if anything is wrong cuz I know for a fact that I missed at least one thing (*cough**cough* Himiko *cough**cough* ) anyways enjoy :3

[thebettybook]

🕸️ Miguel O'Hara SFW Character HCs

^ Miguel sitting down to listen to my headcanons of him hehehe >:)

Info: My SFW character headcanons on Miguel O’Hara

Warning: Major ATSV spoilers ahead; some Spider-Man 2099 comics spoilers as well; also brief mention of my headcanon about Miguel’s grandma passing away naturally due to old age

Strawbetty’s notes: I haven’t read the Spider-Man 2099 comics yet so any references to Miguel’s family from the comics in this post are just related to what I learned on Wiki pages about his family from the comics :0

🕸️ Miguel doesn’t like having his hair in his face, so he has a routine where he gels his hair back every single morning. That’s his most favorite morning routine

🕸️ No matter how stressed out or busy he gets, Miguel’s a stickler for his hygiene, so he makes sure to shower and brush his teeth every day (showering helps him de-stress after a long day)

🕸️ After Peter B brought Mayday to Spider-HQ for the first time, Miguel had everything in HQ baby-proofed (from the chairs in the cafeteria to even his floating platform)

🕸️ In his lab, Miguel has a drawer filled with little baby snacks for Mayday (he claims it’s just to keep her from not swinging and climbing everywhere, but it’s actually because he secretly adores her)

🕸️ I love the Strawberry Miguel fan arts where he’s in like a chibi form and is in a strawberry lol, and that made me come up with the headcanon that this man’s favorite fruit is strawberries, and has been ever since he was a kid

🕸️ I haven’t read the Spider-Man 2099 comics yet so I don’t know much about Miguel’s family other than Miguel having a younger half-brother named Gabriel and a sh*tty dad they grew up with (who apparently isn’t Miguel’s biological dad but that’s a whole other story). So that made me think of this headcanon that our Miguel’s dad that he thought was his dad (George O’Hara) was absent throughout his life and that Miguel and Gabriel were raised by their mom Conchata and their maternal grandmother (their abuela). I also headcanon that Conchata was always busy working to provide for the family, so Miguel and Gabriel didn’t see her much as they grew up

🕸️ Thus, Miguel was really close with his abuela growing up. She was someone who was so loving to Miguel and Gabriel, raising them to become people who pay kindness forward to others while also teaching Miguel and Gabriel to not take crap from anyone as well

🕸️ Miguel’s abuela taught him how to sew at a young age, and he and his abuela would make all of Gabriel’s costumes for school plays (Gabriel was an avid theatre kid in school)

🕸️ Miguel and his abuela would attend all of Gabriel’s school plays and they would make sure to sit in the front row. Miguel would stand up and cheer for Gabriel at the end of the plays like a sports fan even if Gabriel played a minor role like Tree #2

🕸️ When Miguel referenced to “Dr. Strange and the little nerd back on Earth 1999” in ATSV, I was like “Miguel, aren’t you a ‘nerd’ too pfft?” /lovingly. So that made me think of this headcanon: as a kid, Miguel loved to read books about science and history and his classmates would call him a “nerd.” While young Miguel would mostly say that he didn’t care what they called him, he also couldn’t help but internalize their words

🕸️ So as Miguel got older, he participated in more sports like basketball and soccer and became a “jock.” He still loved science, though, and would get straight A’s in all of the math and science subjects in high school. I headcanon that Miguel was even the valedictorian of his high school

🕸️ Miguel always, always, always stood up for the underdogs who got bullied at his high school (Miguel would get into fights with bullies and every time he got called to the principal’s office, he would always tell the principal, “You should’ve seen the other person.” This would only get Miguel more time in detention)

🕸️ He wasn’t the type of person to try a lot of foods from different cultures until he created the Spider-Society, where he met Spiders from different cultures and backgrounds who introduced him to their favorite dishes. Miguel also makes sure that the HQ cafeteria offers a lot of variety in terms of dietary needs and cultural cuisines to be inclusive of everyone at the Spider-Society. Miguel tends to favor really spicy dishes from different cultures now

🕸️ Because he’s so busy running the Spider-Society and going on missions to other Earths, Miguel eats more takeout than home-cooked meals (he occasionally gets food from the HQ cafeteria). He’s actually good at cooking, though, because his abuela taught him and Gabriel how to cook since they were kids

🕸️ Miguel’s abuela passed away naturally due to old age a few months after he became Spider-Man 2099 (she knew he was Spider-Man 2099, too, even though he never told her). Currently, Miguel keeps his mom Conchata and his brother Gabriel at arms length because their whole family dynamic without his abuela is rocky at best. Another reason why Miguel keeps his mom and brother at arms length now is because he doesn’t want them to be in any danger, and he’s just too busy running the Spider-Society. Gabriel does know that he’s Spider-Man, though, and he still makes attempts to contact Miguel and drop off food for him at the Spider-HQ. Gabriel is always in consistent contact with Miguel’s AI assistant Lyla to make sure Miguel’s ok; Gabriel calls Lyla the “cool younger sister” he and Miguel never had (Lyla agrees)

🕸️ Back to general Miguel headcanons, this man doesn’t like boba drinks, he’s more of a coffee guy and he doesn’t like the way you have to chew on the boba toppings while drinking the boba tea. The young Spider crew (Miles, Gwen, Pavitr, and Hobie) LOVE boba drinks, though, and they like to make fun of Miguel for hating on boba drinks

🕸️ Miguel knows how to drive the futuristic cars of 2099 and is generally a good and safe driver, but also I can see him not driving cars that much since he could just leap from building to building as Spider-Man 2099 (and I headcanon that he prefers that over being stuck in rush-hour traffic) (also maybe 2099 cars are all self-driving?? I haven’t really looked into that yet)

🕸️ Miguel literally has the same outfits (like basic hoodies and sweatpants or whatever) in his closet, like those cartoon characters who wear the same outfit everyday. He doesn’t care for fashion at all (Gabriel is the more fashion-forward sibling)

🕸️ I can’t think of any particular colognes or scents Miguel would wear (I think if anything, he prefers a clean, linen scent), but I also like to think he uses vanilla-cupcake-scented hand cream from time to time to keep his hands from being super dry, and also because the scent reminds him of his alternate dimension daughter Gabriella and how one of her favorite desserts was vanilla cupcakes

🕸️ Mayday made a messy crayon drawing of Miguel once and he had to turn around so no one could see the tears forming in his eyes. He keeps the drawing safe in one of his drawers in his lab

🕸️ As a mentor, Miguel’s the type of mentor to be a stickler for a tight schedule and he can be intense with his rules regarding training. However, he is good at coaching and giving technical advice (he’s not good at words of encouragement, though, that’s kinda more of Peter B’s thing)

🕸️ While Miguel might not always seem the most present or most caring towards others in the Spider-Society, he knows pretty much everyone’s business in HQ and would give a Spider some time off or have Lyla provide them with the right resources if they told him that they were dealing with personal problems

🕸️ He’s also aware of everyone’s strengths and weaknesses in the Spider-Society. As leader of the Spider-Society, Miguel knows which Spider to deploy on a mission based on their strengths. If a Spider is lacking in a certain area like combat or stealth, he has another Spider who’s good in those areas coach that Spider (he also believes this builds teamwork and unity amongst the Spider-Society)

🕸️ Tinkering with gadgets (or “goobers” as he calls it) or building things in general is Miguel’s #1 way to help him de-stress and relax. He always feels a sense of purpose and accomplishment when he builds things with his own two hands. If someone touches Miguel’s “goobers” or interrupts his “Goober Time” (he came up with that himself, he’s so cute lol), they better run away as fast as they can :’0

🕸️ Animals love Miguel. Dogs, cats, and even birds just flock to him because they can sense he’s a good and kind man beneath his tough exterior

🕸️ Speaking of animals, I can see Miguel being a cat person. He finds cats calming and if he had the time, he would adopt a cat

🕸️ He doesn’t like going through drive-thrus at fast food places because the introvert in him finds it awkward to talk out loud to the drive-thru comms and he hates repeating himself whenever the person who’s trying to take his order through the comms can’t hear him even if he is loud. Miguel hates repeating himself in general

🕸️ A random Miggy headcanon but I headcanon that he doesn’t like eating sushi or raw fish in general; it makes his stomach hurt

🕸️ He’s the type of guy who loves sarcasm and dry humor. When Miguel cracks a joke he thinks is utterly hilarious but no one else gets the joke, he just grumbles that they don’t have a sense of humor

🕸️ I’ve tried to find out whether Miguel O’Hara has a canon birthday date via his ATSV wiki info or even info from his comic counterpart, but it doesn’t seem like he has a birthday date so I came up with one for him: August 14, 2068 (which would make him 31 years old in 2099). I headcanon that our Miguel from ATSV is or is turning 31 years old “this” year (like for us, it’s 2023, but for him, it’s 2099) because the Spider-Man 2099 comics released in 1992

If you’ve read to the end, Miguel gives you a strawberry 🍓. Maybe I’ll make a part 2 on my Miggy headcanons someday

Reblogs are appreciated :). Want more Miguel content? Check out my masterlist.

[pinksilvace]

Fern guides their mutuals and followers through Cats 1998 as if we're all sitting on the same couch watching it and I'm shouting out stuff (4/?)

MASTERPOST

Character Wiki Pages

On to Bustopher!

8: Bustopher Jones

Everybody is SO MEAN about Bustopher Jones (joking). I love him so much but nowadays when numbers are cut his is usually one of them since he usually shows up once and disappears 🥲

The actor for Bustopher sometimes dons a chorus costume for the opening number, often named Peter. They're also usually the actor who plays Gus later, as both Bustopher and Gus traditionally had operatic moments in the show.

Tom Hooper clearly did not know how to interpret media because could you IMAGINE 2019 Bustopher cleaning up his appearance as a first impression???

When I was little, I was under the impression that Bombalurina, Jenny, and Jellylorum all liked Bustopher Jones in similar ways; it wasn't until I started interacting with the fandom on here that I learned how some people interpret Bombalurina as being completely sarcastic in this song. Art's always up to interpretation, of course, and that's the fun of it, but I never really got that impression, even with Rosemarie Ford's eye rolls. To me, this moment shows Bombalurina as a character that can show others respect. It also cements her as being at the older end of the "not-old" adults.

This is YET ANOTHER song that is PERFECT for examining whatever Pouncival is getting up to at a given moment. I am once again saying that the Pouncival cut in this show is the most fun

Subsequently, this is also the "Skimbleshanks is three wrong moves away from a panic attack" song, which to me means that he respects Bustopher just as much as Jenny does. I like to think that they grew up together.

(For an incredibly anxious Skimble, here's Boston 2007; skip to 28:30):

(While I'm at it, there's this part in Moscow 2005 when the boys are all lined up like they're going to take a family photo, and I think it's very silly and cute; skip to 27:45)

Have you ever watched Cats (1998) and wondered who that cat that's really excited to see Bustopher is? That's George. The George Cut (TM) is probably my second favorite version of '98, after The Pouncival Cut (TM).

No doubt, you'll notice the number of Mistoffelees & Bustopher moments in this number. This is probably where the most popular headcanon about Bustopher originates: lots of us like to think he's an uncle, usually in conjunction with monochromatic siblings (Misto & Victoria & sometimes Alonzo)(Alonzo is like. Y as a vowel). I've also seen some folks frame him as Misto's dad, and in those cases, Misto is usually an only child.

Slightly off-topic, but my friend @thepineconelord likes to think of Mistoffelees as butler-core, and I think they're especially correct in this number.

(Yet another side note: the monochromatic siblings staging is a bit stronger in post-US Revival choreography, especially between Alonzo and Misto. Head to 30:00)(<- pretending to see things that supports the tunnel vision)

(Is it obvious yet that I've watched this number, specifically, many times?)

Okay I only just noticed this one but WHAT is up with Plato in this part. This picture doesn't do nearly enough justice to his posing but. My dude are you okay??? He was built to have an arm slung over the back of a park bench and instead he's here and forced to harmonize

The rare moment when Mistoffelees is peeved by Pouncival (and the altogether common moment where Munkustrap is also peeved by Pouncival)

One incredibly interesting thing about this number is that it's one of the most gendered numbers in the whole show, speaking from a choreography standpoint. When I was younger, I thought it came from a position of "all of the girls have crushes so they're all fangirling together," but that's not true. Only Jenny is shown to have a crush, and Coricopat, George, and Skimbleshanks could all very easily start fanboy-ing with them.

What is it, then? Is it because Bustopher presents as a much more "traditional" character than the rest? Do the things they're describing about him ascribe to him a certain level of masculinity that he can only share with the boys? Are these formations all part of some sort of militaristic protocol? Leading from that, is his appearance at the Ball (and approval) a right of passage thing for the boys? It's not something I've really seen anybody touch on, which is odd to me, because Cats in general tends to have interesting messages re: gender roles, especially with Mistoffelees, who obviously shares some sort of close connection with Bustopher! GILLIAN LYNNE REVEAL YOUR SECRETS

The cats know what golf is. Either that, or Bustopher saw a rich person play it, decided to copy them, and everybody else is amazed for his benefit.

[cornus27florida]

What did you think of CPC’s ending? 👀👀

Hi IHF!!! I am really sorry to just replying cuz I overthinking so many things, I kinda want to write many things about CPC's ending but that's making me go here and there...

As an overthinker, along with a big procrastinator, I realized how long I keep your question in my inbox unanswered... This also I portrayed through fanfiction at AO3 ``June's Dump" which initially about month June at CPC, so 7 months timeskip as we have George and his sommelier wedding - which def invite Jamie, but I wonder if the venue at Plaid Palace thus we have Plaid Royals reactions over them... Hmph, fix time! I need to fulfill ‘em all!!

Back to basic, the initial question... What do I personally think about the CPC's ending as in epilogue 173? Well… I have mixed feelings, so I have some clashed opinions

As a wiki editor personal thought, I am kind of annoyed at a certain 'new' editor that cut off many things in the page as Mocha already gives the foundation... Peri was even shocked by my strong reactions over that annoyance... Although from there I see how unstable my emotions are, I literally have too many mixed emotions that I can't describe! Nevertheless I finished the story part up to completion, and I think that page is pretty much done. There's my thought as fandom wikia editor lmao but that's too much technical

As a wiki editor personal thought, I am kind of annoyed at a certain 'new' editor that cut off many things in the page as already Mocha gives the foundation... Peri even shocked to my strong reactions over that annoyance... Although from there I see how unstable my emotions, I literally have too many mixed emotions that I can't describe! Nevertheless I finished the story part up to completion, and I think that page is pretty much done. There's my thought as fandom wikia editor lmao but that's too much technical and boring

...although nvm, I will be myself who rambling to things that I love and I won't change at that aspect haha - here come v.02!

So, here is another of my thoughts but based on TV Tropes! This more at happy note~

(Disclaimer: I didn't mainly edit in there, but I do some minor editings here and there - although those never done lmao)

Also it's open secret for everyone, that TV Tropes content is hella subjective but at least they are funny - hence why I feel better informations database is at fandom wiki instead

"Where Are They Now?" Epilogue: The final chapter takes place six months later, and Gwen writes in her diary about what happened then:

Jack learned about Lilyth and her painting curse, then he cried for a whole week over her.

> We know Jack cried in happiness as reunite with his wife once again, IDK that sentence feels like Jack cried in sadness which the opposite of reality

Lorena got an A+++++ for her final class project.

The kids are getting along with the family, and both Jamie and Leopold made more artwork for the walls so Lilyth could travel through them around the castle.

Jack held a celebration to acknowledge the people who helped defend the castle from the invasion. He hasn't visited Leland in prison since.

Jerry was promoted to Chief Warden, while Beckett got demoted and transferred far away from Maria.

> poor Beckett, in wiki there Mocha add sentence which technically objective but lack in Tropes :  Jerry got everything Beckett wanted - a princess, a promotion (to Chief Warden), and recognition from the King himself - while Beckett was demoted and moved to a station as far away from Maria as possible.

Suzana officially joined the Pastel Troops.

> It's actually from ep 171 about Suzie plan to move out to Pastel Kingdom, but ep 173 as the epilogue itself never explicitly tell it? Probably due to it from Gwen's POV that uninterested with military stuff... I am more curious about the location of the new "home" where the throuple LorZanCe are lmao, likely at Pastel Kingdom I guess

The Club got Gwen's painting from the Conservatory back by distracting them with Laverne.

The forest of the Cursed Princess Club was declared a protected area by the king so it's never in danger of being invaded again.

> Remember the spider's conversation about a new member of the CPC incoming? Who?? Heck yeah, sequel potential!

Frederick has been hard at work studying to one day become king and receives support from his family.

> At discord, me and some buddies are joking about how Frederick is going during timeskip espc as he is technically the 'special member' but hasn't got his own slumber party yet... Hence why we got amused on the scenario of him sneaking out on a night to get initiated, but his kingdom mistaken it as something serious and send an army to fetch him out from initiation LOL (in similar sense of ep 148 ending where Prez shocked to see Plaid soldiers lining and thought they are merely fetching Frederick, and in our scenario that assumption of Prez becomes reality). Oh well, I hope in the promised side stories we have Frederick's slumber party (and Maria as well! Although I also hope Lorena and Jamie get the open arms to join the CPC? Well let's see/Fanfic for cope)

Prez stopped taking her medication and resorted to her old way of dealing with her curse. With the growing acknowledgement and support for the Cursed Princess Club, she is looking to expand to help more people who are cursed.

> regarding Prez point, this kinda too summarized on my liking lol. First about the expansion as moving out to a new and bigger building, we don't know exactly where but I really really hope it's at Plaid Kingdom. That way with reformed Plaid Kingdom whose initially negative thoughts toward cursed people (let's see; Leland feels the cursed need to be fixed first, while Blaine and com. Tattersall sees cursed as a monster which needs to die), now on the hands of kinder people espc the crown prince himself is close with CPC - that makes the CPC expansion more meaningful IMHO. Also cuz Plaid has larger land xD

> the period pauser pill (it's not birth control y'all, please don't mix 'em up, fandom!) indeed merely temporarily solution and I have doubts from very first time as see it through eyes of biologist that concerned with drugs side effects espc for long use - even if those pills possibly non synthetic ones=lesser side effects. Basically ALL drugs are technically poison that is used on right doses, time and matched person with many has strict rules under prescription. That's why Whitney suddenly bought it kinda concerning, although I can see the comedic effect and temporarily 'relief of the curse' on that solution haha. Permanent solution possibility for Prez is to get 'reproduction organs/system removal' surgery - the HYSTERECTOMY.. here I spill a bit of spoiler secret of RaS as my ff series, I want Prez to consider that option

Themidora reunited with lobster lover, Benedict, who tricked the wicked sea cucumber into cursing him so he could be with her.

> I am surprised but in the side of “wao, so LambCat chose that option” because I kinda guessed it before. Thermidora "solution" is either to de-transform back as lobster so can reunites with Benedict (probably through searching 'lobster' serum from that background cursed serums merchant, or probably Jack allows the Clam to be used for betterment of CPC members not for greed) OR Benedict somehow finds a way to meets with her. I am more surprised with the way of latter guess to be true, because the method is kinda mundane "trick the sea cucumber to curse me so I can walk on land!" way + Thermidora wish of 'meeting hot summer lobster' to be true somehow LOL. Her premonition comes true and that's silly sweet panel ^^

Whitney returned home to his kingdom for Blacquelyn's coronation. She now wears a coat made from Greyden's fur.

> I wonder about Whitney's status in the Monochrome Kingdom but it seems won't be explained. So my guess as in HCs: Queen Blacquelyn actually 'likes' Whitney more than Greyden from the start, probably in the way of 'being girl is never to claim the throne' so Whitney never heeds her much. Which as Whitney presumed to die and Greyden raising to power, Greyden make havoc to bring his harem to the palace and annoys his sister so much = reason why Blacquelyn decides to throws throne of Greyden (which I and Axel have HC, got neutered LOL)

Nell and Jolie officially got married.

> Very happy for the wedding! Personally I thought their wedding itself is beautiful but the guests scene kinda iffy me a lil bit. Like why Pastel Kingdom only has Maria, Gwen, and Jack? Where are Lorena and Jamie?? I think they are busy chasing their dreams so choose not to attend, or LambCat simply lazy to draw them lol/jk. Also this kinda controversial intake espc to Syrah lovers, but personally I don't feel humored at all with Syrah still flirting with Jack when she must know how strong the love of Jack/Leelathae-Lilyth.. So that scene leaves bad taste to me, this excluding poor Saffron moment. Sigh, the ship of Syrah/ Saffron is officially sunk. I am kinda accepted it but I just feel weird despite being female myself, I feel many female characters are easily 'get away' with things while male characters gets repetitive/redundant/unnecessary misfortunes - some of folks at discord agree with that statement but at the end of the day I want CPC for their heartwarming wholesomeness, not to pick fights at anyone and I am still learning about that. I wonder if Nell and Jolie moved out to stays at the Lace Kingdom as I feel CPC need some delegations that stays at their own kingdom, that's what Tori wants for Monika after all. Speaking of Monika, she technically can have 2 suitors as one Tori and other Orson lol - but epilogue is not deciding her end so I feel who Monika ends up to isn't important? At least her dream to open a stall for jewelry becomes reality, although a certain someone at discord is mad about lack of Monika's appearance overall....

Aurelia got together with Celso after their meeting at the castle.

> This super simplified explanation about Aurelia, and a certain someone labeling Celso as her boy toy - which make me think both of their characters downgraded uhh. Anyway to be honest I am not really a fan of both of them as they are alright characters but not really special as in 'meh' territory. Unlike Orson/Monika as the ship of a Princel/CPC member, CeLia is too rushed imho (they literally meet each other during the night of invasion arc) with the dash of concerning acid mouth from both + we don't know if the "True love's kiss" attempt from Aurelia to Celso really happening or not, but it's so concerning - realistically in my HC about cures for Aurelia, we can develop some utensils that won't melt with her spit (they have magics, duh) with probability of chopsticks could not touching directly with mouth along it's saliva during consumption of certain foods OR developing (more realistic!) melting curse counter which high in acid with something like specialized mouthwash high in alkaline

Maria got to fulfill her dream of singing her recital for everyone, which caught the eye of her idol and they began collabing.

> Good for Maria :3 Also the side stories sneak peak has Maria like performing on a certain stage with a new outfit which the image can be seen at P.S at the end, I wonder if she does an idol live stage under Bozart tutelage?

Blaine is now on a journey of self atonement, but has made sure to attend Maria's recital.

> Some people love Blaine so much, I am not really sure if to be honest.. I just hope that Blaine at least attempts to communicate with his family (sans Leland ofc) in his journey, especially his youngest brother who becomes crown prince right now could get some pointers about how to lead people of their kingdom. My opinion about Blaine fits the most with Mono's opinion in that sense after all

As for Gwen, she no longer sees cracks in her reflection. She is happy with Frederick.

> that's how TV Tropes conclude things but I feel I need to add more (for another time, remind the future me plz) as I feel Gwen and Frederick, being the protagonist and the deuteragonist respectively, need to be on separate points? From what I get (thus my personal thoughts) by rereading ep 173 at uncountable times, Gwen technically doesn't stopping see cracks in her reflection BUT every time she feels down which make the cracking - she will read her mother's letter that she put on her bedroom wall (I kinda hope there's a couple pictures with Frederick inside Gwen's bedroom, but well at least we have that lovely finale panel)

> The content of Gwen's mom deserves a separate point! Her letter is so warming although there’s some parts that imho too female-exclusive, hence in the fanfiction that I made, Dear Me, I make the content to fits everyone :D

> What's TV Tropes forgot but I will make it up someday, but fandom like at this Tumblr doesn't by some folks, is the crucial final step implicitly told regarding Frederick's character development. He is purposely growing giant sunflowers at the front yard of his palace, showing that he didn't afraid of sunflowers anymore as well making peace with his past as got bullied (I still wondering his bullies where about although I have assumptions they are too 'broken' to show up to public anymore). 

Last for real, GwenDerick/FredDolyn last finale panel is very similar with Frederick's dream as Frederick on the left side of us, holding hands with Gwen with blushing face. That panel is freaking cute and fits the CPC epilogue so much in my humble opinion, what I dream is becomes reality - of wholesomeness ^^

Conclusion: (u could just jump to here, HEHEHE XD )

Long Story Short, overall the epilogue as in the CPC's ending is satisfying to me espc that lovely very last panel. Certain parts like Aurelia's solution of her curse or Prez just back to her old method seems lackluster, but to me is not that bad. I feel the 'backlash' of enjoyment actually from the fandom itself by some 'people' that I will put as anonymous, those I label as 'ungrateful' with some points I already mention. Also I know I am pushing myself so unhealthy regarding editing stuff… I love it actually so no pressure to me at all, but I know it’s kind of my running of realities of adulting hence why I need to ‘touch some grass’ as well

I forgot to mention that I guessed long ago (and confirmed to be right!) that Gwen will write a diary at the epilogue as inspired by her mom's diary. Although a bit of 'offs' are due to initial thought about 'the diary of lilyth' is filled with grief so it meant to be hidden, while Gwen's diary meant to be read to her kids with Frederik [one of comedy is silly sentence that in form of: dear my lovely kids, I want to tell you that your father does not love me at first sight but used to be so scared of my appearance but see now how hard he loves me now :) as a means for the complete opposite as a form of happiness to tell everything about CPC... So a kind of epilogue "I write my own story - reveal" because some episodes which are heavy-centric of Frederick like at ep 70 and 145, no way others could explain it unless those come from Frederick himself. That scenario could happen once Frederick and Gwen becomes true lovebirds that cozy w each other - to reveals true selves

P.S:

Here is some bonus from LambCat's Patreon that somehow I get the updates including the HD pictures !!

 I really want to get stable and high paying jobs soon :0 so I can be financially independent, thus can support LambCat through the paywall like subscribing her Patreon as well as buying CPC books!

[jvstheworld]

The Buffy Re-watch: S2E7 (part 2)

Lie to me

A vampire stealing a book? And one of Giles' at that. Nothing good will come of this.

Dru talking to a dead bird because she wants it to sing for her. Yeah, you're supposed to feed your pets, if you can't then get someone to do it for you. But it really just adds to her insanity.

Spike is jealous of Angel. We will understand later why because of the second half of this season and in the season 5 episode 'Destiny'.

Spike is very loving and gentle towards Dru. He might be harsh with her at times, but after seeing how he upset Dru, he immediately apologises and wanted to to make her feel better.

Then Ford shows up out of nowhere. You just can't get the staff these days Spike. Probably because you don't pay them.

Ford has seen too many movies. Cool it dude.

Politeness is always a win, even from Angel.

It is for Buffy to decide if she loves you and trusts you, Angel. You can't make the decision for her, that's not how relationships work. She needs to know the truth about Dru as she is just as much of a threat as Spike is.

Angel, back in his most evil days tormented Dru, stalked her, killed the people around her, her family, then after escaping to a convent and taking her vows, he turned her. He turned her insane. Because before she was turned and Angel began his campaign of terror against her, she was a normal person, and he destroyed her, for fun. Because he could. That is completely fucked up. And Drusilla is probably not the first person he has done this sort of thing to, she is just the one he kept along side him.

Do the people in the club just hang out there all the time? Do they not have homes, jobs, lives to go to?

Buffy works it out fairly quickly when she arrives in the club.

Ford's plan is a good one, it's just sad he has to offer up his former friend to escape his fate.

The Buffy Wiki page for this episode says that Ford has brain cancer. I understand why he wants to be a vampire. It's better than dying to a terminal disease at a young age that will ravage his body and mind, because there's something that can keep him young and make him immortal. I've seen first hand what cancer can do to someone and it was one of the most difficult periods in my life that I'm still dealing with years later. For Ford, it is better to be undead and live as a demon, which he isn't deluded about, unlike the others in the club. His greatest fear is being permanently dead at 17/18 years old, which is why he is willing to do all of this. He's supposed to have his whole life ahead of him, but that's been taken away from him and it makes him desperate to hold on to the world because he's not done with it.

Buffy, despite being traded to a vampire that wants to kill her, still feels sorry for him and what he having to go through. She can't understand his pain, but still feels for him. Buffy's ability to sympathise and empathise makes her not just a good hero, but a good person.

Oh shit, I forgot to add this point in to the part where it happened. So earlier in the episode Drusilla talks to Angel about being covered in Buffy because he is in love with her, and this is mirrored later in 'Fool for Love' with Spike when they are in South America, when they have the flashback showing how Dru leaves him for the Chaos Demon. My bad for not putting it in the first part for this episode, I had it in my notes around this point when re-watching the episode and forgot to add it to the beginning. Could I edit the first part to include this point, yes. Am I going to? No. Why? Because I show my fumbles and make myself laugh them when I realise it.

Dru in her weakened state is always going to be a liability to Spike's plan.

Even Drusilla looked pissed off at Ford for his audacity to ask for his reward after the cock up that just happened.

'For the body.' Damn that is cold from Buffy.

Again, vampires attending the Toph school of metal bending to get out of the bunker.

Spike was right, he didn't see him living forever.

Growing up sucks and navigating it and the world and your emotions is difficult. It doesn't get much easier as you get older. the best you can do is keep asking for help and to keep trying.

Buffy says the thing again ( the title of the episode, I mean).

Then Giles tells a grieving Buffy a fairy tail to console her.

One last point, this will not be the last time we see 'Chanterelle' our girly vampire wannabe. She appears in the season 3 opener with a new name, Lily, then she appears in Angel after taking Buffy's alias working at a homeless shelter, the same one Gunn goes to on his last day in the final episode of Angel.

That's it for this episode, tomorrow we delve in to Giles' dark history with a second appearance from Ethan Rayne.

[kinetic-elaboration]

August 14: Bad Day

I think I should get a do-over on this day because it just sucked rhinos. I was having these really intense, complicated dreams and my alarm woke me up right in the middle of them and so I didn't wake up properly and then I never got over it. Like I don't think I was properly awake at any point today; I was so heavy and so tired and toward the end of the day I was thinking things like 'what if I just fell asleep in this chair' and 'my whole body hurts, that's not good.' When this sort of thing happens to me, there's always a part of me that's like, for what though? I'm a good worker; I'm good at my job; but the hours put in are about my own oppression and really no other reason at all and sometimes the full force of this just hits me.

Anyway. And no one was around. The 1LS, but they weren't in the library much, aside from wandering around in tours while dressed up. But the staff was just totally fucking AWOL which sort of annoyed me: I was the only one in TS but reference was down to 1 person for part of the day, too, circ was down a person for part of the day. I really, really hated being alone. I never love it but this was worse because I was so tired and also just...bitter. I'm bitter about every detail of the circumstances that put me in this position.

And more than anything I am really, really upset about all the work I lost today. I checked very single wiki page and we lost 18 and 11 were 'mine' as in, in my section. Even the ones that are straightforward to recreate are still going to be a pain in the pass because I have this, like, mental block to redoing work. I hate it so much. But my contact info... that list predated me. It's over 10 years of collected and consistently updated information and notes.... I'm just devastated. It's all gone. I was literally hiding out in the basement bathroom sobbing. I'm never getting it back. It can't really be recreated. It's going to come back different, as it were.

I'm going to have to go to work tomorrow and just treat this like an annoying task and be cool about it because it's no one's fault, right, it was a misunderstanding and a mistake! But I'm not at work right now and it absolutely is someone's fault and I'm angry. I feel guilty too but in a 'you should have predicted things that were not predictable given your level of knowledge' and 'you should have foreseen scenarios that are only obvious in hindsight' and 'you shouldn't have had those assumptions that are now obviously wrong.' Which is maybe true. But I didn't delete the files. I didn't go on a 'we need to clean this UP no one can see that we have old notes' spree for, in retrospect, essentially no reason. I didn't mass delete a folder of files without looking at what was in it. I did say I thought it was fine and I am full of self-loathing about that. And I did say that under the same false assumption everyone else had. But it just... it's absolutely outrageous and unjustifiable in retrospect that files that were sitting around not causing anyone any harm for 8 years are suddenly so fucking objectionable that we need to bomb them into oblivion without even spot checking them for continued use. Why. WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY.

But I'm going to go to work and I'm going to pretend I didn't cry in the bathroom about it and I'm a good worker who will contribute to the attempt to put it all back together again and that I'm not the person who correctly says 'hey do we need to delete it though' all the time and that I'm not the person who is suffering the most from this and hey also that I'm not the person who was holding down the fort while the rest of them were off doing fuck all for a whole day. And then I'm packing my bags and going to see my fucking family and I hope some sort of disaster happens while I'm gone that I don't have to worry about.

Anyway when I got home I immediately fell asleep for several hours.I do feel better for that. Just upset still.

[caelestis-composition]

killshot anon! YEAH i totally agree w/ your view on kaeya. it's so weird to me that people will blame him for his role in a situation he was forced into as a child through no choice of his own. that itself had to be traumatic, not to mention everything that happened later. i hate when people say he's untrustworthy - like yeah, he's lied, so has everyone? it's clear he does it mostly to protect himself. not to mention that (& sadism) can be symptoms of trauma. kaeya deserves nothing but happiness

take a seat folks it’s time for a “brynn should’ve been an english major” lesson! today we’re gonna learn some literary theory; specifically, we’re gonna apply psychoanalytical trauma theory to kaeya’s backstory and current character. killshot anon i bet you never thought this would result in a whole ass essay.

disclaimer one! you are allowed to dislike kaeya! i am not saying you need to like him or his character, you’re entitled to your opinion and i’m not here to change your mind.

disclaimer two! i am in no way an expert and this is all for fun! this is just my silly little analysis of one of my favorite characters as someone who’s studied literary theory and rhetoric and can also apply personal experience. seriously analysis is like a hobby to me and this is just an excuse for me to ramble about kaeya.

disclaimer three! this contains lots of spoilers! basically for everything we know in-game, general knowledge as well as stuff from his voicelines and character story. don’t read this if you don’t want spoilers.

since this is going to be filled with spoilers and is about to get really long, everything will be under a cut. for those who wanna read my dumb super informal essay: enjoy!

final note: yeah this is over 2000 words long can you tell i like analysis

⭒

let’s start by getting a quick rundown of trauma theory out of the way. to begin, what is “trauma?” in this case, trauma is going to refer to an experience that greatly affects and changes one’s life; attitudes, memories, behaviors, mental state, etc. while not all changes may be bad, per se, the overall effect of trauma is generally a negative one, which is why it’s so significant. literary trauma theory, then, explores these changes and the impact of trauma in literature. it analyzes the psychological and social effects of trauma, explaining what those effects are and why they happen. in the context of a specific character, trauma theory breaks down said character’s behaviors, feelings, and general mentality in relation to their past experiences; trauma theory hopes to explain to others the reasons for why a character may act or feel the way they do, all based upon the character’s experiences, particularly traumatic ones. our character today is the lovely kaeya alberich, with the “literature” being genshin impact. i’ll be referencing kaeya’s wiki page to ensure i get all details correct for his character story and voicelines.

it would be good to review kaeya’s backstory before delving into the actual analysis. though we don’t know much about his life before living in mondstadt, we’re told he was sent as an agent of khaenri’ah. and by “sent,” i mean his biological father abandoned him in a completely unfamiliar land to serve khaenri’ah’s interests and fullfil his mission—what this entirely entails hasn’t been revealed. mondstadt, however, welcomed kaeya “with open arms when they found him.” crepus ragnvindr took him in as his adopted son, with diluc as his adopted brother. kaeya and diluc were “almost like twins,” so close they “[knew] each other’s thoughts and intentions without a word.” he’d began a new life in mondstadt, one surrounded by friends and family that loved him; one that was completely shattered by crepus’s death. kaeya arrived at the scene of the disaster, and was led to believe diluc was the one who killed their father to “set his father free” from the effects of his delusion. there’d always been one big question in kaeya’s life: if it came down to it, who would he support? the nation that abandoned him, but he still felt loyal to, or the nation and family that took him in and really loved him? overrun with guilt, kaeya confessed his purpose to diluc, sparking a fight between the two brothers. in this fight, kaeya receives his cryo vision. though both brothers stepped away alive, they’ve never been able to make peace with one another. now, kaeya is the eccentric and charming cavalry captain of the knights of favonius; a man who gets his way by using any means necessary, regardless of whether or not it seems right.

kaeya’s not evil; he’s morally ambiguous, and that stems from what appears to be a general distrust of others. his life is one shrouded in secrecy. from the moment he stepped foot into mondstadt, he was surrounded by secrets. even now, he doesn’t talk about a lot of things, namely his past, vision, and feelings. though he’s always willing to get information out of others, kaeya never reveals anything about himself. he repeatedly tells the player they can confide in him, but whenever you try and pry into his life, he deflects your questions with some sort of witty comment or flirty remark. anything he does reveal is vague, or spoken in some sort of “code.” for example, his “interesting things” voiceline. he tells us about the owl of dragonspine, how it “seems to look right through you, while letting go of none of its own secrets,” and then tacks on a “quite fascinating, don’t you think?” it seems like an awfully accurate parallel to himself; kaeya does all he can to get information from others, but never gives anything about himself. now, this whole thing—his relationship with diluc falling apart and his need for secrecy—could have probably been avoided if he had just come clean about his mission years ago. so why didn’t he? to start, kaeya was a literal child. not only are children unable to properly tell the difference between right and wrong, but they’ll also typically follow their parents’ orders blindly. kaeya had just been abandoned, and he wouldn’t want to risk being cast out by mondstadt as well if he came clean right away. you see, there’s this thing about trauma, something that trauma theory states. traumatized people feel a sort of shame or guilt regarding their traumatic experience; they’ll keep quiet because they don’t want to cause problems or bother others with their issues. of course kaeya wouldn’t tell the truth about his past, he doesn’t want to destroy the genuinely loving relationships he’d built in mondstadt. his fight with diluc only proves what he was afraid of: if he’s honest, he’ll be abandoned again. and if kaeya’s used to all the lies, why should he bother changing?

another thing, if he’s not going to tell the truth, then why would he have initially gone along with his father’s plans? again, he was a child. he really had no choice, and was forced into a very wrong and cruel situation. there’s a good explanation for this, too, which is also stated in trauma theory; traumatized people will still do their best to please their abusers. especially if said abuser is a parent, that will drive traumatized people to work even harder to please them. although his father hurt him by ruthlessly abandoning him, kaeya still sought to make him and his homeland proud. he was willing to be used as a tool for their gain; that is, until he found people who actually cared about him. he was an impressionable child, of course he’s going to obey orders. but as he gets older, he feels torn. does he serve those who abandoned him, or those that took him in? his father—and arguably, khaenri’ah as a whole—hurt him, sure, but he still feels some loyalty and connection to his former home. instead of revealing anything, he lets the situation play out. that way, he can’t be blamed when things fall apart.

the thing about claiming he’s untrustworthy is that hardly anyone in-game believes that. he’s adored by the older folks in mondstadt, and foes and allies alike find him easy to talk to. despite seeming lazy and uninterested in work, kaeya takes his job very seriously. in fact, his story states that crepus’s death was the “first and only time kaeya failed in his duty.” the “only time” is especially important, because it signifies kaeya still fulfills his duties successfully. he’s had a total of one slip-up, and hasn’t failed since. no, kaeya is not untrustworthy. rather, kaeya finds everyone else untrustworthy. it’s not unlikely that this is a direct consequence of being abandoned as a child. although it’s been established that kaeya and diluc were very close as children, when crepus dies, kaeya assumes diluc is the one that killed him. in order to jump to such an extreme conclusion against someone he was so close to, there had to be some underlying sense of distrust. furthermore, kaeya expresses feeling as though he doesn’t belong anywhere. he was abandoned by khaenri’ah, and then worried he wouldn’t be accepted by mondstadt. he is, but there’s still that worry. if you place him in your teapot as a companion, he tells you that your home feels like someplace he belongs, following it up with a “heh, who’d have thought…” kaeya still feels as though he doesn’t belong in mondstadt; despite the fact that he’s a high-ranking knight of favonius and rather popular, he still feels like an outsider. he doesn’t trust that anyone actually wants him around, and he finds joy in testing peoples’ trustworthiness. it’s noted in his story and through his voicelines that the beloved cavalry captain has a rather sadistic nature. he likes putting people into difficult situations, to see what decisions they will make. he does this to both opponents and allies, testing to see who’s going to back out and who’ll keep fighting; in the sake of allies, who can he trust? or who will turn tail and abandon their teammates at the slightest hint of danger? i mentioned it previously, but kaeya doesn’t care what measures he has to take so long as his job gets done and he gets the answers he wants. it’s a sort of self-preserving mindset, putting himself above the safety of others. kaeya’s trying to protect himself, which makes sense with all he’s been through. he doesn’t want to be hurt, and instead finds pleasure in threatening harm upon others. it’s twisted, sure, but it’s because he can only trust himself in a world that he believes is out to get him. he’s got as many enemies—if not more—as he does allies; of course kaeya focuses on protecting himself first, whether physically or through keeping his secrets, well, secret.

his most obvious traumatic effect is definitely his alcoholism. but he uses it as a distraction, not just to wallow in self-pity. this is seen again in his story, particularly in story 3. it’s found that when his favorite drink, death after noon, is out of season, mondstadt’s crime rate is decreased drastically. at face value, this just means kaeya spends more time working when death after noon is low in supply. but kaeya doesn’t skip work to go to taverns; it’s already been established he takes his job very seriously, so this means he actually patrols and tracks down threats while off work when he can’t indulge in his favorite alcoholic drink. he doesn’t get drunk simply because he’s depressed. if he did, there wouldn’t be a drop in incidents when death after noon is out of season. no, kaeya uses both the alcohol and fighting to distract himself. after all, it’s a little hard to think about feeling sad when you’re either drunk out of your mind or fighting for your life.

despite being so secretive, kaeya gives us glimpses of his true emotions from time to time. as previously mentioned, his flirty attitude is nothing more than a mask to hide how he really feels; and kaeya is terribly, terribly lonely. that may be why he seems so extroverted. constantly being around people should, logically, drive away that feeling, but it doesn’t work like that. when he talks with the player, he frequently expresses disappointment when you have to leave. each time, though, he dampens the weight of his words with playful or flirty language. he’s lonely, but doesn’t want you to know that, like he’s afraid of asking you to stay. he takes the seriousness of his feelings, and basically bends it into some sort of lighthearted joke. kaeya hides his true feelings—negative feelings, to be exact—so that he doesn’t bother anyone. which is, again, something that happens with traumatized people. he displays that hesitance to reveal his true feelings, because there’s a shame or guilt that comes with his past. he doesn’t want to bother others or hold them back, so he puts on a smile and amps up the charisma. one other very important thing—but very small detail—i would like to note is his feelings toward family. his fell apart not even once, but twice, and kaeya still holds familial relationships in high regard. we know he doesn’t exactly care how he goes about getting his work done. he doesn’t pay attention to what’s “right” or “wrong,” so long as he gets what he needs. but one of his informants, vile, notes that the cavalry captain has one exception: he won’t work with those who threaten others’ families. in fact, kaeya claims those who do should be hunted down and destroyed. even though his own families have caused him so much pain—and he ended up estranged from both—he still understands the importance of having people who love you in your life. because he didn’t get that.

kaeya’s not evil. ultimately, as a knight of favonius, his goal is to protect others, because no one was there to protect him. and because no one was there to protect him, because he’s been hurt time and time again by people who were supposed to love him, kaeya has taken to protecting himself. he hides any and all negative feelings with a charismatic, friendly façade, because he thinks it’ll drive away his persistent loneliness. any “bad” actions of his were hardly his fault; he was forced into a life of secrecy and lies, and then abandoned by the first people who truly loved him. kaeya’s a multi-faceted, tragic character, one that toes the line between good and evil, and that’s what makes him so interesting.

[fallindomino]

how i would have changed s2 of hsmtmts

obvious disclaimer but im not a screenwriter or anyth so im not claiming what i want is best, this is just for fun lololol

okay so first of all nini would still have dropped out of yac but she wouldn’t have gone back to east, she would have transferred to north bc she was too ashamed to tell anyone she left at first and maybe she still wants to explore who she is away from ricky and the others

nini could join north’s batb and this way maybe we could have some playful rivalry with lily and nini and more scenes with antoine shdhdjdj also it could have been a great opportunity to flesh out lily’s character so those scenes where she reaches out to ricky and her confession at the end of the season actually make sense lol

speaking of ricky ,,, i think he should have left the play at some point hear me out. he only joined in the first place because of nini and barely wanted to do it at all once he realized he wasn’t gonna be able to perform with her. he could have joined crew and been a manager with natalie or smth considering he rlly does see the theater gang as a second family. also this would leave so much room for ej and ricky development and bants since ej joined the av club and began to pursue film. they could have some convos where idk ricky asks ej how he figured out what he wanted to do after duke didn’t work out and ricky could actually develop some interests that arent the play or nini ,,, maybe fucking art club i mean he did p good on that centerpiece for carlos’ quinceañera.

with ricky not being the beast anymore i think seb should take his place that would be soooo good. and since seb isn’t chip anymore carlos won’t make those snide comments about chip being a small unimportant role and we can just cut that whole fight bc it was dumb and bad. we could still have seb being insecure that carlos is only dating him bc there aren’t really any other gay guys at school. in a heartbeat is great and i did like ricky being supportive in the background it was kinda funny too idk dhdjdjfj

ooh i almost forgot abt rini ahshdj okay so i still think they should break up. but in my version there’s no ricky pulling an ej 1.0 and deleting comments off of nini’s insta, cause with ricky in art club and nini at north trying to figure out what she wants i think one of them would realize that they’re going in different directions and only got back tgt because they made each other feel safe cause what they had was familiar. this could be triggered by ricky mentioning smth abt nini at yac and then nini breaks down and tells him that she dropped out and is at north and doesn’t know where she’s going. and then they can both realize they aren’t good for each other rn and have a less tragic mutual break up.

honestly i really liked the scene of nini taking charge after miss jenn freaked out cause with the character detail of nini giving every person in the cast of productions she’s in a thank you note she just seems really like someone who is suited to lifting others up. this could still be explored at north, maybe she could help lily through her issues that were briefly implied in ep 11 and nini realizes she wants to be a drama teacher and encourage kids to go off book and put themselves into their acting, something she couldn’t have at yac.

okay now ej ,,, so like i said in ricky’s section, more bants between them cause i feel like friendships kinda fell by the wayside due to all the relationships so more friendship !!!! also the scene where ej tells his dad he’s not going to duke shouldn’t have been an ending scene, it should have been fleshed out with his dad pushing back saying how he pulled all these strings to get him in and ej saying he doesn’t wanna go if his own hard work couldn’t get him there. and also more scenes of ej doing av club things !!! and realizing he rlly likes film and wants to do it OMG IT WOULD BE SO COOL IF HE BROKE THE FOURTH WALL AND ASKED THE DOCUMENTARY CREW ABT THE FILM INDUSTRY god i would love that. the only scene we rlly got of ej doing film things was at the quinceañera which made me kinda sad. uhhh also i just wanted to specifically mention how ej got mr mazzara that job at cal tech bc it really showed how he wanted to be there for people not just for gina, who he had a crush on, but for mr mazzara who supported him outside of romance, so i wanna keep that for sure.

gina !!! okay so i mostly liked her arc in this season, the only changes i would make would be to flesh it out a teeny bit (god this hypothetical s2 would have to be like 22 eps at least shdjdjdjfj) anyways besides ashlyn singing home to get gina to stay i think there should be a scene where they actually talk in her room abt how gina feels safer when shes on the run (second chance reference ilysm) hhhh and also a scene of her and carlos actually working out compromises for their choreo cause i liked that bit of development too and fleshing that out would make gina an even better foil for lily, who felt a need to hog the spotlight like gina used to. with gina’s own arc fleshed out her character would feel more whole independently from romance and portwell would be even more rewarding than it is in the current s2. the only thing i would really change abt portwell is that they would kiss !!! in the finale but thats bc im biased.

ashlyn should have gotten a more fleshed out storyline about being insecure about not being a good enough belle or the typical belle. there were some throwaway lines when north did their typical dramatics but the only two real scenes that showed it were when ash talked to big red about it and when she was telling nini she wanted to do a run in “home” bc lily did it. ashlyn should get more screen time where she has to grapple with the reasons she doesn’t feel good enough and big red can still support her but also gina too bc i would like more roommate besties interaction.

kourtney could still date howie, that harry potter shit was cute but there needs to be smth else for kourtney’s arc. idk she’s still into fashion so maybe she could be out here trying to create her own line or smth? this doesn’t have to be resolved in s2 like making a wholeass line takes time and she could work on it into a potential s3. kourtney just didnt get much outside of howie and the stuff at the beginning of the season where she said nini inspired her to be independent and that's why she got a job was just dropped?? so i think that fashion could fill that for her if she’s still dating howie cause like having her whole arc just be the pizza place kinda overlaps w big red’s mini arc abt how he wasn’t settling for hospitality, its what he wants to do with his life.

ik what ur thinking. anna, even if you added more episodes, where would u find the room to add all these plotlines?? well first we cut (most of) the seblos fight, so thats some time saved. honestly most of the time that we r going to gain is going to be from cutting ms jenn’s time. things like ms jenn’s and nini’s car ride would get cut, but mostly all of ms jenn’s romances would get cut down. considering she’s the teacher and isn’t actually a character with an arc how does she have THREE love interests this season?? like all of the weird tension between her and zack can be cut, like just some short scenes of them being competitive can stay. all of the stuff with ricky’s dad can go bye bye we don’t need it. i did like her w mr mazzara so most of that can stay i just didn’t like how he said he would give up cal tech for her, ew no that would be gone.

the MENKIES !!!! this is the last thing im gonna address cause in a perfect world every character would get a long fleshed out arc but then the season would be waaay too long and also im mostly trying to work within material the show gave so this is mostly made up of “realistic” deviations from what actually happened. lol idk what that even means it just makes sense to me. but anyways!! uhhh bro idk i thought them dropping the menkies was funny but it also made the finale really BAD lmao. in this finale, seb is the beast, east still had to deal w the fact that they’re underfunded compared to north but no one is injured, lily is less of a poorly written character and maybe ppl are even rooting for her, and wow i just realized i never actually said what role i think nini should have in north’s show. OOH she could be student director instead of lily cause lily both being in the play while also directing was weird considering omg i just checked and according to her wiki page shes a FRESHMAN?? and they let her be student director? lol hell nah. okay so with all that in mind ,,, the menkies should have been the season cliffhanger instead of portwell. east and north should both be nominated, both schools perform at the menkies, and then the award winner is about to be announced and THATS when it cuts to natalie and the end of the season.

one, this actually gives more tension for a summer s3 as we would be waiting to see the consequences of whichever school won. also i bet people would be wondering if nini’s gonna be transferring back to east or staying at north. people would also prob wonder if ej would be getting the scholarship if east won and what that would mean for his interest in film.

lmao that got longggg and idk if anyone’s even gonna read this but it was fun to do :D

[i-love-side-characters]

hot take for the aoas fandom but i don’t ship curaday. not bc i just don’t like the ship but bc i don’t like how faraday was curie’s previous mentor. idk... it just seems manipulative and predatory to me that they ended up together with the power dynamic so unbalanced.

hmm i definitely see where you're coming with that. and don't worry its fine that you don't ship them!!! that's perfectly acceptable!!!

i have to say a few things first on the predatory aspect, if that's alright. also disclaimer this is quite rambly, i'm sorry i'm just very tired.

additional notes:

important points/things i want to stress in bold

quotes are italicized

thunderhead + the toll quote used!!! not really spoilers, but careful if you haven't read books 2 and 3!!!

if you're not a coward here's my askbox

now in my opinion, there are a few things that might make it seem as though curaday is a very predatory relationship. one, the mentor/apprentice problem. two, the age gap. three, the essence of their romantic relationship. because you didn't state why you felt it was predatory, i'll adress those issues.

1) the nature of their relationship during the mentor years

the "original" curaday as such wasn't really a romantic relationship. there was no hint of the relationship between the two while faraday was mentoring curie. at the time when their relationship was only mentor/apprentice and indeed adult/minor, there were no requited feelings from faraday.

"....then tore [the journal entry] out the next day, when i broke down and confessed my love with eyeball-rolling melodrama. [...] [scythe faraday], on the other hand, was a gentleman [...] and let me down as easily as he could." ― scythe curie, (page 347, scythe)

just to be thorough, here are several definitions of "let down." all links in sources.

convey bad or disappointing news in a considerate way, so as to spare the person's self-respect. ― idioms free dictionary

to try to give someone bad news in a way that does not upset them too much. ― macmillan dictionary

an unrelated expression is let someone down easy. this phrase refers to breaking up with someone in a relationship in such a way that they are not devastated of overly sad. ― writing explained

so it's clearly implied that faraday said no to her. after curie confesses her feelings, she describes what happen after that.

"i lived in [scythe faraday's] house, and remained his apprentice, for two more awkward months." ― scythe curie (page 347, scythe)

note that there is no mention of there ever being a romantic relationship between the two scythes during the remainder of the mentorship. this shows that no adult/minor predatory behaviour had occurred between the two scythes.

just to add on, some thoughts from my friend ref. ( @jam-is-my-food )

"if their romance took place when or anytime around when curie was his apprentice, yes. absolutely that would be a tilted power dynamic and uncomfortable and Not Good."

this, as well as the quotes, removes the "predatory" aspect of your concern. but that's just my opinion!!! you can still believe that is an unhealthy and wrong relationship. but personally i don't think the mentor/apprentice concern is a factor, since the romantic aspect took place much later.

2) the age gap during the years of their romantic relationship

there is a 5 year age gap between the two scythes. according to the wiki, at the start of scythe, curie is 219 years old, and faraday is 224. during scythe curie's explanation of her crush on faraday, she pinpoints their exact ages.

"i was seventeen and full of righteous indignation at a world that was still heaving in the throes of transformation." ― scythe curie (page 345, scythe)

"i was seventeen, remember. childish in so many ways. i thought myself in love." ― scythe curie (page 346, scythe)

"but at twenty-two, [scythe faraday] was just as inexperienced in such matters as i was." ― scythe curie, (page 346, scythe)

the five year age gap during the mentorship would have made it an adult/minor relationship, but as they grew older that simply isn't the case.

"then, nearly fifty years later, when we both had turned our first corner and were seeing the world through youthful eyes once more―but this time with the wisdom of age on our side―we became lovers." ― scythe curie (page 347, scythe)

they became romantically involved until fifty years had passed. which would put curie at around 67, and faraday at around 72. curie even outright says that they had "the wisdom of age on [their] side." this shows that curie believed that both parties were mature in their starting of a romantic connection.

here is some more input from ref. ( @/jam-is-my-food )

"and, adding on to [the earlier statement], if faraday was the one who had liked marie when she was his apprentice. even if a lot of years had passed, that would i think still make it inherently predatory and yikes.

but the thing is, that's not what happened. all that happened when she apprenticed for him was that marie had a crush on michael.

and he turned her down. because she was a kid. and that's the end of it."

this, i would say, addresses the general complaint of the age gap between the two. most often people believe that because faraday apprenticed curie that he was a lot older but that's not true. the gap is only 5 years. now that absolutely does not make their relationship "not predatory", but it does show that both parties were mature in their decisions.

3) after their romantic relationship + friendship

now this part is less technical than the others. this is mostly my opinions. but just to start off, i want to look at their relationship after the 7 deaths and 70 years.

your feeling of their relationship is that it is "manipulative and predatory". now i've never been in an unhealthy relationship before, but i don't believe this is one (please correct me if i'm wrong! i am not speaking from experience here and could easily make a mistake!).

out of everything, their treatment of one another after the romantic relationship stands out to me the most. personally if their romantic had been unhealthy in that sense, i don't believe they would have stayed friends as they did.

i had written an essay a while about curie and faraday together. if you could read it that would be great! however i'm linking my friend nisha's ( @genyyasafin ) reblog of it, as she adds in a small bit at the end about how faraday humanizes curie. [ here ] is the link.

as i was saying, i don't think this is a predatory and manipulative relationship simply from the way they act afterwards. they are described as old friends constantly, and that friendship seems natural, to me at least. now you could be saying that this is a manipulative relationship and neither of them notice, but i don't think that's true.

“seven deaths, and seventy years later, many things had changed. we remained old friends after that, but nothing more.” ― scythe curie (page 348, scythe)

"i have observed the rise and fall of the romantic relationship between [scythe curie and scythe faraday], as well as the many years of devoted friendship that has followed." ― the thunderhead (page 383, thunderhead)

these two show that even the thunderhead, which is an incredibly knowledgeable force, does not seem to be troubled by their relationship.

not to mention this quote:

"other scythes―the ones i'm friendly with―will call me marie." ― scythe curie (page 235, scythe)

and through that quote it is shown that both curie and faraday are comfortable around each other. this isn't every instance in the books, but the ones i found quickly.

"marie―scythe curie that is―...." ― scythe faraday (page 371, scythe)

"and you, marie." ― scythe faraday (page 383, thunderhead)

"where are you my dear marie?" ― (page 102, the toll)

i didn't add in any quotes where its the reverse and she calls him michael, because he never mentioned his policy for first-name-basis, but this shows how comfortable curie is around faraday. not to mention it is implied that curie and faraday talk often, as curie knows about an event that only faraday, citra, and rowan know about.

"didn't you already attend a family wedding?"

citra wondered how scythe curie knew that, but wasn't about to let herself be derailed. ― scythe curie - dialogue, citra terranova - narraration (page 231, scythe)

the comfort in which they speak to and reference one another suggests to me, at least, that there is not a manipulative intent or feeling in the relationship.

4) conclusion i suppose

if you read all the way here, then i applaud you for your dedication and i thank you very much. that seriously means so much to me.

to anon: this essay was a whole 1,429 words. i am so sorry. however i do disagree with your opinion but i hope i've voiced mine in a somewhat coherent manner. thank you so much for reading all this way!!!

5) sources:

scythe curie wiki

scythe faraday wiki

arc of a scythe - book one: scythe

arc of a scythe - book two: thunderhead

arc of a scythe - book three: the toll

let down - idioms by the free dictionary

let down - macmillan dictionary

let down - writing explained

[codename-adler]

Dear Tumblr toxicity,

Hi. Adler here. We need to talk.

- TW: mental health issues, depression, bipolar disorder, self-harm, homophobia, transphobia, coming out, xenophobia, islamophobia, racism, implied sexual content, rape, non-con, addictions, abuse, parental negligence, depictions of violence, swearing (please message me kindly if I forget anything)

- What prompted this message: The release of Skam France S7 teaser (emphasis on teaser, will get into that below)

- Where I’m coming from: I will talk from the pov of a white, cis and queer 22-years-old woman (she/her); this is the pov that affects my experiences and the opinions I will share below; but my message comes from a place of deep hurt, and love

- What this is about: My goal is to share a recurring experience that has hurt me in order to spread a message of awareness, maturity, peace and love

- Central content: Skam France, Skam Wtfock, and Skam/remakes in general

From now on I will assume people have enough information for me to talk about the topics without explaining every plotline/character. There are plenty of wiki pages to help you out and I will gladly answer any (respectful) questions asked if a plothole bothers your comprehension of my message. I’m only making these assumptions in order to alleviate the text.

January 9th, 2021.

The francetv slash YouTube channel releases an unexpected teaser video for an equally unexpected seventh season Skam France. The video features Tiffany, a white, cis female teenager, going into labour from denial pregnancy just after winning what appears to be a gymnastics championship. Overall, the video and its release are very dramatic.

The character of Tiffany, also called Tiff, was previously seen on season 6 of Skam France as a bully who persecuted the main character, Lola, both at school and on social media. Outside of this characterization, nothing is known about her. It is majorly accepted that Tiff is not a liked character; she rather poses as one of the antagonists of Lola’s arc.

Now you know the details of what happened, in the most objectively possible way. 

Now I’ll speak for myself.

Before I went digging around for people’s reaction, here is what I initially thought of this video.

1) Shock: I thought Skam France was over, so... Big, big shock.

2) Excitement: I hold this web series very close to my heart. It has gotten me through depressive episodes, anxiety attacks, coming out to my best friend. To see this new development? It couldn’t bring me more joy.

3) Curiosity: I recognized Tiff immediately. I was intrigued as to what would happen to her to set off a new season in true Skam Fr fashion. As soon as she started gripping her stomach, I knew she was pregnant and wasn’t aware of it. Big, big surprise here again.

4) Numbness/Overthinking: As I stared at my screen, motionless, my mind went off. What did it mean? How did she not know? Who is the father? Do we know him? Will the baby survive? Where are the other characters? Will Lamifex be present? What? How? When? Why? Who?

5) Disappointment: No, I did not like Tiff one bit in S6. Yes, I sincerely wished for a season on either Jo (ambiguous and funny teenage girl, cis + white), Sekou (seemingly neurodivergent teenage boy, cis + black), and my favorite, Max (mysterious and grave teenage boy, trans + white) So why Tiff? It felt to me like a missed opportunity, but I did not lose hope.

So, these were the five stages of my emotional process. And then I made the terrible mistake to go look for the fans’ reaction. I didn’t even look at the YT comments, I didn’t go on Instagram, I went directly here on Tumblr. Why? I’m still asking myself that. From S1 to S6 of Skam Fr, I kept my love for the show to myself and only looked at ig and video edits. I tried once, and only once, to look it up on Tumblr, and was greeted by fervent agressivity, disrespect and hate. Why did I ever forget that after watching the S7 teaser? I still don’t know.

The reactions on this platform were wild. People are furious (I get that). People are disappointed (I get that). People are anxious (I get that). People are also verbally agressive, insensitive, hateful, disrespectful and bullies. I don’t get that.

Comments along the lines of “What she gonna do with a fucking baby?”, “Are we gonna watch the baby do nothing all fucking season?”, “Wowwww, teenage pregnancy, so new and relatable!” (note the sarcasm made in the comment here), “Who gives a shit about Tiff?”, etc. 

And then all the mistakes Skam Fr ever made flooded back onto the feed. The wlw misrepresentation, the whitewashing, the overdramatization, the dubious sex scenes between minors, all of it.

Let’s take a break here. Do I condone these mistakes? Nope. Am I a white-bully apologist? Nope. Did I forget every horrible action Tiff has made in the past? Nope. She manipulated a whole school against Lola, she profited from Lola’s mother’s death, she bullied her, harrassed her, pushed her deeper into mental distress. Tiff was a despicable character that I never once liked. The way she was played by the actress made it clear that Tiff was not intended to be a good guy. If I could replace her as the main of S7, I would, in a heartbeat. I’d choose, as I said, Jo, Sekou or Max.

Skam France deeply lacks diversity and made mistakes when attempting to diverse the issues represented. This is not an opinion, it’s a fact. 

Poc representation is very, very low. Only one season has a woc of Islam beliefs as mc (Imane, S4) with poc entourage/family. Only 2 other characters not related to Imane were poc (Sekou and Sarah, S1-S2). These 2 characters were very in the background and served to further the mc’s plotline, they had no real content. (I am not a poc, and so my opinion does not matter here. If you are not poc, your “opinions” don’t matter here, this point is not for you to debate. These are facts.)

While I do not particularly find the wlw representation bad, I do understand how it hurts/bothers other queer women. From my perspective, the bar was very low regarding my expectations of the Lola/Maya pair (none of them died *yay* they had a happy ending *yay* they were not typically overfeminized or overmasculinized *yay* Lola  and Maya were respectful of each other, understood each other, accepted each other with all their flaws and their beauty *yay* I truly believed in their love and it gave me confidence and hope *yay* I ould really go on but this is not my main point so I’ll stop here) Regardless of my opinion on Mayla, I understand that to some queer women, it was bothering/hurtful. (If you are anything other than a woman / wlw, this point is not for you to debate. Keep your “opinions” to yourself, it does not matter here. These are facts.)

Like every remake of the original Skam where the S4 was given to Sana/Imane, the Muslim community was not represented at its best, at its most beautiful and respectfully. The character of Imane, although she is my favorite girl of the series, was not portrayed in a way that respected the majority of the Muslim community. (If you are anything other than Muslim, this point is not for you to debate. Our opinions do not matter here. These are facts.)

And so the same goes for the portrayal of sexual assault and child pronography in S2, of mental illness and homophobia in S3, of disabilities in S5, of addiction, transphobia, self-harm and neurodivergence in S6. Again, if you are not part of these communities, your opinions do not matter on these issues. These are facts that are not up for debate.

In other words, Skam France, as well as the original Skam, Skam Wtfock, Skam España, and probably all the others I haven’t watched in their entirety, are NOT perfect shows. They (maybe) tried their best to portray issues of the younger generations that are ugly, shameful, taboo, hard-to-swallow-pills. Of course they made mistakes. Of course they have to be held accountable. Of course they can and should do better. Of course it must be spoken about.

Here is my problem.

The so-called “fans” shamelessly SHITTING on the WHOLE show because of ONE TEASER TRAILER. (btw, this is where I get angry)

I am not talking about the fans making fun of the show and this season’s premise like “Better MCs than Tiff for S7: a romance between the car that almost hit Lucas S3 and the car that hit Arthur S5, or the school’s nurse, or Imane’s dad, or Elu’s rabbit” (that shit’s funny and I’d watch all of these).Or the joke about Wtfock and Skam Fr shaking hands while signing the same contract to disappoint the fans with white MCs (it’s funny cuz it’s trueeeee).

I am not talking about the fans criticizing the producers’ choice of Tiff as MC. There is a difference between shitting on issues and adressing/discussing them. I WANT to talk about how this season’s issue would have been so much better if a woc, specifically a black woman, had been the MC, because black women and doctors are a whole different level of issue than white women and doctors. Add on top of that an unplanned teenage pregnancy? It would have been IMMACULATE. I WANT to talk which wlw couple was better represented, Mayla or Croana/Crisana, and why is that. I WANT to talk about disabilities in black and poc communities. I WANT to talk about headcanons, AUs, to rectify the missed marks. I WANT to talk about our takes on seasons about Max, Sekou and Jo, instead of Tiff’s.

I DO NOT WANT TO TALK ABOUT YOUR SHITTY, NEGATIVE, UNHELPFUL, HURTFUL COMMENTS.

Just because the protagonist is white, doesn’t give you ANY right to dismiss the issue that is unplanned teenage pregnancy. This is a problem that affects countries WORLDWIDE. Do you know how many deaths are related to minors giving birth? Do you know how many babies die at birth from these pregnancies? Do you have any idea the trauma it puts you through, to go into labor without even knowing you were pregnant in the first place, and then giving birth, and then having to care for a defensless human being? The dilemma of keeping it, or giving it away? The fear that lives in every person able to give birth, that one day they’ll become pregnant, because society turns sych a shameful look to that? No matter your ethnicity, your gender identity, your sexuality, your political stance or whatever shit you bring up to justify your disgraceful and downright degrading comments, YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO SAY THAT A MINOR GIVING BIRTH IS NOT AN ISSUE. 

You think the topic has been covered plenty before? Yeah, because shows like “16 and pregnant” and “I Didn’t Know I Was Pregnant!” are such good examples and show the reality with such an objective point of view! 

Bullshit. Teenage pregnancy is still a taboo, it still kills, and people are still morons about it. 

“Well I guess everybody is secretly pregnant now!” No, Jessica, but you wouldn’t know about it, would you? Because I wouldn’t tell you shit if you were my “friend” and I was going through it. The whole message of all the Skams is not that it presents super relatable issues of teenagers, although it is a big topic of the show. They present some issues that affect the youth in an authentic light, but that’s not it.

Tous les gens que tu rencontres mènent un combat dont tu ignores tout. 

Sois indulgente. Toujours. x x x

//

Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about.

Be kind. Always. x x x

THAT’S THE MESSAGE. THAT’S THE WHOLE POINT OF THE SHOW.

And you all missed it.

All of you making dead baby jokes and death threats, degrading people who give birth, shaming teenagers for their pregnancies... Listen to yourselves.

“Well she deserves it, she was such a bitch!” No, Michael, you shit stick. Let’s rewind a bit for you, yeah? It was a GOD DAMN TEASER. We literally know nothing! Nothing at all! Why are y’all getting mad when we saw 3:25 minutes representing a whole ass season! Listen to yourselves. Y’all judge so fast for people pretending to love Skam and its authenticity and its motto.

You say Tiff is irredeemable?

Emma cheated on her boyfriend.

Manon lied and manipulated her friends.

Lucas was homophobic and prejudiced agaisnt mentally ill people.

Imane was homophobic too and went behind her friends’ back to get what she wanted.

Arthur cheated on his girlfriend too.

Lola dragged Elliot down with her in her addiction, lied, was verbally abusive, etc.

ALL THE MAINS ARE PROBLEMATIC.

Any guess why?

BECAUSE THEY ARE TEENAGERS. THEY ARE STILL GROWING AND LEARNING.

Yet we still loved them all. 

So don’t you dare tell me that Tiff deserves this, that her baby deserves to die, that teenage motherhood is irrelevant. Motherhood is not a curse in the first place, nor is it something to wish to inflict upon anyone. Motherhood is different for every single person and nobody except the person living with it can have an opinion on that. We don’t even know if the baby survived, for God’s sake!

There is no excuse for this kind of behavior..

It makes me so angry. Women are discriminated against in a fandom I thought was safe, again and again and again. 

I have to stop here because, well, this is just too much. There is much wrong with Skam (the original AND all the remakes), but there is even more wrong with the fans. I’m done.

You don’t support the show anymore? Fine, then don’t watch it! If I really am wrong, the number of viewers will go down and the show will die, just like you wished. There is no need to be vicious about it. 

I hope y’all are proud of your misogyny. 

Sincerely,

Adler.

[aerial-jace]

Figuring out cat ages: The Followers of the Sun Trail

So, y’all remember that fic concept I threw out? Yeah, I decided I want to actually write it. But first, I need to figure out some cat ages because if we’re touching on the kithoods of Clear Sky and Gray Wing I need to have some sense of who are their peers and who are their seniors. I’m deciding to throw it out to the internet just in case anyone has thoughts of their own or can smack me with some textual evidence of why I’m wrong. Also, it’s just fun to map out cat ages and relationships, I’m having way more fun than I’ve ever had with this kind of prepwork for some reason.

For reference, let me throw some useful pages from the Warriors wiki: here’s the allegiances for The Sun Trail, and here’s a timeline of events of the whole series. I’m cross-referencing these with my own copies of the DotC books in case anything sounds fishy but by and large I trust the wiki.

For this particular post, I want to trace mostly the ages of the Followers of the Sun Trail, that is to say: Shaded Moss, Rainswept Flower, Tall Shadow, Moon Shadow, Cloud Spots, Dappled Pelt, Turtle Tail, Shattered Ice, Quick Water, Bright Stream, Hawk Swoop, Jackdaw’s Cry, Falling Feather, Clear Sky, Gray Wing, and Jagged Peak. Other than our protagonists we have very little evidence of any of their ages, but I like to think the group skews young adult which for the sake of these being cats I’m defining as around 1 to 2.5 years old. There are certainly older adults as well as younger members of the group, but the vast majority of ages will be in this range.

Future posts will touch on the ages of the rest of The Tribe of Rushing Water at this point in time as well as any parental relationships for cats who would’ve been kits within the timeframe of the story. I’m just going to say it up front, I’m going to just ignore fathers when figuring out families (aside from the one canonical father given I guess) because it’s less of a headache and I like the idea of queens just not being required to disclose parentage.

First off, our protagonists and their siblings!

Gray Wing and Clear Sky are noted to have been kits just last sunny season which the wiki interprets as them having been born in Greenleaf. I don’t particularly like this because that means that at maximum the two are about 8 moons old which... I don’t know it seems kinda young for them. I think a more sensible solution is to have them be around 12 moons/1 year old (we’re rounding down the 12.34 lunations a year for simplicity’s sake). I think it’s pretty reasonable for the journey down the mountains to have taken approximately one moon, with Newleaf just starting by the time they arrive. If Gray Wing and Clear Sky were born within the last moon of Leafbare, that would mean they are under 6 moons old (what the series takes as a benchmark of the transition out of kithood, though that may be a later cultural thing for the clans) for 2 out of the 3 moons of Greenleaf (again, working with simpler whole numbers) and I think that fits.

Now Jagged Peak and Fluttering bird are noted to have been born in the cold season which the wiki interprets as Leafbare and, yeah, no argument there. However, noting the fact that I take the journey to take the last moon of Leafbare, that would make the two a whole 2 MOONS OLD! Holy shit, Jagged Peak is a fucking infant by the start of the journey, just barely having been fully weaned! It’s honestly crazy how Quiet Rain just kind of accepted the fact he was gone and just sent out her son as the only means of protection. I would’ve been going feral in her place trying to get back my child!

Ahem, so that small freakout aside, I wanna talk about Shaded Moss, the leader of the group, next. However, he has a daughter, Rainswept Flower, and I can use her age as a benchmark for determining her father’s age. I like to think, for no particular reason, that she is 1.5 years old and just for the sake of making the numbers look nice I think I’m assigning Shaded Moss an age of 3 years old. That sounds about right.

Talking about the adults of the group, Cloud Spots! I want him to be somewhat older than Shaded Moss, perhaps by a year or two, so that sets our age range at about 4 to 5 years old. Considering the timeline says that the events of Dawn of the Clans take place over about 4 years (though for some reason the Shadowstar’s Life novella is still not included in the timeline and that seems to take place after the last events listed in the DotC era), I think it’s believable that he lived that long and is headed for retirement just as soon as he finishes mentoring his apprentice, Shivering Rose, who appeared in Thunderstar’s Echo.

So, for family relationships we have 2 sibling pairs which I believe while not explicitly stated are meant to be read as being littermates: Tall Shadow & Moon Shadow, and Jackdaw’s Cry & Falling Feather. Considering Tall Shadow is Shaded Moss’s second in command I like to think she’s closer to him in age so perhaps we can go with that upper limit of what I’m counting as young adult and have her and her brother at 2.5 years old. Now, for Jackdaw’s Cry & Falling Feather the best evidence we have is that the allegiances describe them as “young”. This is like... really vague and the fact there is a need to mention it implies to me they’re the youngest in the group, baring Jagged Peak. I think the most interesting choice would be to have them be a season younger than Clear Sky and Gray Wing, putting them at 9 moons old.

Now let’s talk about the love interests, Bright Stream and Turtle Tail! I want them to be older than our protagonists but still young enough that they would’ve spent a significant amount of time together as kits. I want to have them somewhere within the 13-15 moons old range just for the sake of having them be older than Clear Sky and Gray Wing but not by much, not really settled on a particular age. I also like the possibility of Turtle Tail being Dappled Pelt’s littermate so I’ll have her at 13-15 moons old too. We'll see if they remain sisters once I start having to figure out mothers for all the kits that will be running around when the story begins with Gray Wing and Clear Sky’s birth.

And last of the Followers of the Sun Trail I actually have any strong opinions on age about, Hawk Swoop, Jackdaw’s Cry’s mate. I think the best would be to have her be around the same age as Clear Sky and Gray Wing for the same reason I settled on Bright Stream and Turtle Tail’s age, plus the fact she’s not described as young. So she’s going to be at 12 moons old. I don’t think this is a particularly problematic age gap since there’s a whole 2 seasons in between them setting out for the journey and having Acorn Fur and Lightning Tail, time by which they are both within my somewhat arbitrarily designated category of young adult cats. So, yeah.

And to get them out of the way, Shattered Ice and Quick Water. I’ll just throw out the number 21 moons/1.75 years old. I think this range of ages within the spectrum was a bit empty so I’m just plopping them there.

[thevindicativevordan]

On Supergirl

Figured I should put up my thoughts about Kara in the wake of her first film appearance being announced, and the final season of her TV show fast approaching. Short version is: Kara is very cool and DC needs to stop messing with her. 

My Introduction to Kara

I was introduced to Kara the way most millennials/Gen Zers were I imagine, via the Loeb Superman/Batman arc which brought the traditional Kara Zor-El Supergirl take into Post-Crisis continuity, after years of DC attempting to have a “Supergirl” without violating the editorial mandate that Kal needed to be the literal “Last Son of Krypton” (an example of one of the dumb ways DC fucked Kara over). Story goes that one day Dan Didio was in line at the Superman ride at Six Flags (I love that ride even though it’s stolen my glasses every time I’ve ridden it, even when I left them in a locker!). The ride had signs that talked about various Superman characters. Didio was reading the entry for Supergirl where it talked about her not being Clark’s cousin but instead some weird merge of alien shapeshifter, angel, and human girl, and he realized how fucking stupid that was, and he went back to the office and told Loeb to bring Kara back. 

Years later I would also be standing in line at the Six Flags Superman ride (probably at a different park location but who knows?) as a youngster and would read the new Supergirl sign that trumpeted that Superman had a cousin who shared all his powers, an update reflecting the new Loeb origin. I thought she sounded pretty cool, made a note to see if my library had any Supergirl stories next time I visited, then got on the Superman ride and promptly lost my glasses like an idiot because I wanted to take them off while I was riding and pretend I was changing from my “disguise” into Superman mid flight. My dad grounded me for this afterwards, but it gave me a funny story to tell at family get togethers and isn’t that what Six Flags is all about?

A month later (and with spiffy new glasses), my mom dropped me off at a new library next to where she worked, and they had one of the best Superman collections I’ve ever seen to this day. I was in heaven and while reading every Superman book I could find (I couldn’t check them out because I didn’t have a card, my mom’s card didn’t cover the area the library was in, and my mom wouldn’t have checked them out anyway since comics were “too violent”), I found the trade collecting Kara’s new origin. I read it and I thought both she and Superman were really cool, and Batman was a  punk who had to beat Darkseid by cheating, the loser. Turner’s art to my young eyes was the best I had ever seen, and the panels got engraved into my brain. 

I still get downright nostalgic whenever I see Turner Superman or Supergirl stuff. I also got my parents to rent the animated movie adaption of the Superman/Batman arc from Blockbuster (remember those?), and that sealed the deal. Seeing Kara hold her own against Darkseid convinced me she was as cool as her cousin. Next time my mom dropped me off at the library next to her workplace, I went looking for Supergirl stuff to read. I found the first volume of her new volume by Joe Kelly taking place after the Loeb arc and dove in.

It was... weird. 5 years later I might have enjoyed it but at the time I was majorly put off. Kara took a secret identity for a day and then ditched it because it was “stupid” and the kids bullied her. She was always getting into fights with Kal, and there was this weird plot that I couldn’t follow about how her dad had sent her to kill Kal, maybe or maybe not? Also she could grow crystals which I thought was dumb, and said she was stronger than her cousin which I couldn’t buy for a second given he looked like he was carved out of marble, and she looked like she relied on sunlight instead of food. I put the volume back on the shelf and kinda gave up on reading the character after that for a while. 

I followed her via the DC wiki updates just like I did Superman, and everything I read seemed dumb and convoluted. She was split in two, moped around a lot, made out with an alternate version of her cousin, and basically just flopped about the same way the rest of the Superfamily did during the 00s. Nothing made me think I had made a mistake dropping Kara until I read the latest update to her wiki page.

I was super into what I was reading about the Busiek/Johns era of Superman online. Lex was back and making a big revenge scheme that involved all the other Rogues! Old Superman Rogues were getting revamped and made cool again! Johns reintroduced Brainiac and made him a big threat, with Kal and Kara teaming up to fight him! Busiek was revamping Prankster and telling big ambitious Superman stories! For the first time in a long while, the consensus on the Internet was that Superman was good again. My “home” library had zero Marvel books and no Superman or Batman books, all their DC stuff was Flash or Green Lantern, mainly written by Johns. Insane to think back on now. My hopes that because Johns was involved with Superman, Superman books would show up at my library were fulfilled. They started bringing in Busiek and Johns collections, and someone there also ordered Sterling Gates’ first volume of Supergirl, and I checked everything out since I was old enough to have my own library card, and my parents were worried more about the violent video games I was playing rather than comics.

I read everything and loved it. I also really liked Gates’ take on Kara. She was still an imperfect teenager but she wasn’t insufferably angsty or constantly fighting with Kal. She was going to give the secret identity another try and Lana had “adopted” her. It’s funny remembering how I enjoyed all that given my current thoughts on how Kara should work, but it was great at the time. I liked Gates introducing new foes for Kara, some classic Superman Rogues adapted for her like Bizzarogirl, others crafted specifically for her like Reactron. Gates’ basically rekindled my enjoyment of Kara the same way Busiek & Johns rekindled my enjoyment of Superman.

Of course it ended terribly like everything Superman-related seems to.

I’ve got a whole post I want to do about New Krypton and what came after. In short that is the most blatant example of “hitting the reset button” that I’ve ever seen. All the potential got wasted, and afterwards everything except Lex’s Action Comics stuff just didn’t appeal to me. Gates got booted off Kara for Nick Spencer who ended up leaving himself later, a promising Teen Titans line-up with Kara on it didn’t happen, and the last proper Pre-Flashpoint Superfamily story was a crappy team-up with Doomsday against Bigger Doomsday (thank God for Cornell’s final Luthor/Superman confrontation at least). When news of the reboot arrived, I was honestly happy. The Superline needed an enema.

Controversial opinion time: I liked New 52 Supergirl. It’s weird because a lot of the stuff I hated about Kelly’s run was here, and a lot of the stuff I loved about the Gates’ run was not. This was angry, moody, emotional Kara again, fighting with Kal and not fond of Earth. But I was in my teens at this point, and I didn’t want happy go-lucky Superman or Supergirl. I wanted my heroes angry, scared of the future, ready to go out there and smash some cars. Morrison’s Action Comics was 100% my jam (still is once I really understood the deeper meaning beneath the work) and this Kara felt like a natural fit for this universe. Plus we got Asrar on art and that guy made it damn pretty to look at, lots of cool science fiction stuff going on, even with the dumb H’el storyline.

I loved all the new Rogues Kara got. I loved her new Fortress under the ocean. I loved how traumatized she was by the loss of Krypton, that she wanted more than anything to go home, that her cousin was like a stranger to her since they had been apart for so long. I found all of that incredibly relatable. A lot of the New 52 Supergirl stories might have been schlock but it was my type of schlock damnit, and I enjoyed it!

I kept with her New 52 series all the way through the Red Daughter Saga (which I loved). As someone who grew up on Johns GL (since that was the only comics my home library had), seeing a Supercharacter join a Lantern Corp was the hypest thing ever. I loved the finale about Kara finally letting go of her anger and losing the ring while smashing her foe into the sun, it was incredibly cathartic for me as an angry teen myself. I finally stopped following her series sometime after since I was no longer enjoying the Superline or really DC as a whole. It wasn’t until I heard that New 52 Superman died and the “old” Superman was back, that I checked back into DC.

DC Rebirth & How I Think Kara Should Work

I did not enjoy Supergirl Rebirth, and I think I’ll talk about my problems with it alongside how I think Kara as a character should work since the two are related. A pet peeve of mine that has formed over the years is this: I don’t like it when Superfamily members get turned into Clark clones. Kon wearing glasses and going to Smallville High. Kara going to high school and being involved in journalism. Jon more or less being written as a copy of his dad personality-wise. I hate that kind of stuff because it’s boring. What’s the point of a Superfamily if everyone is just copying Clark? It also doesn’t fit the characters especially in Kara’s case. Why the hell does she want to be a journalist? Were there journalists on Krypton? I don’t remember ever seeing one! Shouldn’t she want to be, I dunno, a scientist? That seems to have been the El family tradition, wouldn’t she have been groomed for that?

This one-off by Shea is honestly the only acceptable outcome for Kara going into journalism for me. She realizes she’s just copying her cousin and switches to something she wants to do. So Orlando copying the show, which already basically turned Kara into an expy of her cousin, just did not appeal to me at all. What had worked for me under Gates way back when was not clicking for me this time. I wanted to see Kara embody the principles of the S-shield in a different way than her cousin did. So I really enjoyed when Rebirth ended and we moved into the Bendis era with Andrekyo relaunching the title as Kara in space.

Kara in space has always felt like a good fit for me. Unlike Kal I’ve come to believe that Kara really shouldn’t be all that fond of Earth. For him it’s home, but for her it’s just where she ended up after her real home got destroyed. I think Kara works well as a sort of nomad, occasionally making stops back home to Earth to check on her cousin, but otherwise? She’s more comfortable out in space than she could ever be on Earth. Out in space she can be Kryptonian (which is what she should think of herself as in contrast to Clark being torn between his Kryptonian biology and human upbringing, and Jon/Kon identifying as human), be her true self, not have to pretend to be human to fit in. Kara founding a moon refuge was one of the best ideas for her that I’ve seen, I would love if DC made her Future State refugee center on the moon canon. I’m excited for more Kara adventures in space with the upcoming Tom King story.

Also love that her and Krypto are getting tied together, if they don’t want to use Krypto in Superman’s stuff, let her have him! Bring on cosmic adventurer Supergirl!

Personality & Other Traits

Kara to me should be more hot-tempered than her cousin. All the Superfamily members should have a temper in my opinion, I see that as the “Deadly Sin” of Superman and his family. But while Kal is like a simmering pot that will explode if it’s left cooking for too long, Kara is like dynamite. Light her fuse at your own peril because she will go off on you.

I also like the idea of Kara being rash. Kal’s got a maturity that came from over a decade of having to live with Lex Luthor constantly getting away with all his evil schemes. He’s patient because he’s been forced to be. Kara? If you ask for her help she’ll give it, but beware because she doesn’t really care about the long term impacts of her decisions. She’s an invulnerable teenager after all.

Really liked that Venditti Annual where Kara got tutored in history by a reincarnation of Hawkman. Kara having a passion for history is a neat trait, would be nice to see her teach Kal or Jon some Kryptonian lore, or have her lead a Kryptonian holiday celebration for the Superfamily because she’s the only one who remembers how to do it. 

Sexuality wise I know a lot of people ship Kara and Lena on account of the chemistry between the two in the show. I haven’t watched the show myself but I’m fine with making Kara bisexual, the Superfamily could use some LGBT+ rep, and Lena hasn’t done anything of worth as a villain, so undo that and throw the two together. If we’re letting Harley and Ivy get away with murder I think we can let Lena off the hook too, undo the Ultrawoman weirdness and put the two together. Could be fun seeing the two building that moon refuge together.

All in all I think Kara is a great character who is a stronger embodiment of the immigrant experience than even her cousin in some ways. I hope King does a good job with her, she’s treated better than her cousin on the film side, and that overall the 20s are a better decade for Supergirl than the 10s were.

[witchwood-inn]

Irish Folk Magic: Resources

Hello! So I've been asked by a few people about where to find resources on irish folk magic so I thought I'd share where I get my info from in a post.

Remember that Irish folk magic is not an organized practice, so there is no one book or one place to go for it (Though I would love to write a book on it in the future!) At the moment bits and pieces of the practice are found within folklore, charms and cures, superstitions, passed down through Christian families and within tales of the Bean Feasa (Wise woman), irish cunning folk and Fairy Doctors. Use these terms when you're searching for more info in the future!

Note: I recommend you have a good understanding of witchcraft in general before you delve into these resources so you'll know what to look for. Although Christianity is very tied to irish folk magic, you can look past it and pay close attention to what herbs, plants or items they are using, how they use it and what they use it for. These resources are not going to spoon feed you irish folk magic, you need to look for it within the texts and take note of it yourself if it's useful to you. For example, In the book "Ancient Cures, Charms and Usages of Ireland", there is a story of a Priest who performs an exorcism on a possessed man. The Priest beats the man with a stick of Blackthorn to banish the demon from his body. From this, I then took the note "Blackthorn is used for banishing demons or negative spirits". If you keep this in mind while you research, you'll find lots of useful stuff!

Either way, I will still be making more posts on irish folk magic when I find more useful info!

Books: ***Some links here you can read the whole book for free!

Irish Folk Ways by E. Estyn Evans

***Ancient Legends, Mystic Charms and Superstitions of Ireland by Lady Wilde.

Ancient Cures, Charms and Usages of Ireland by Lady Wilde (A lot of stuff in here is unsanitary, immoral or silly despite them being legitimately used and believed in. Take things in this book with a grain of salt but make use of the herbal, edible and tree usages! Do research on the plants before you use them yourself. Always be cautious with unknown plants)

***Irish Druids and Old Irish Religions by James Bonwick

The Book of the Cailleach : Stories of the Wise Woman Healer

Witchcraft and Magic in Ireland by Andrew Sneddon

***Irish Cursing and the Art of Magic by Thomas Waters

Irish Superstitions by Daithi O hOgain

Irish Witchcraft from an Irish witch by Lora O'Brien (The title for this book is misleading. It's more irish paganism than witchcraft but it's useful if you're looking to practice both irish folk magic with irish paganism)

Fairycraft by Morgan Daimler (This is more of a modern take on how to incorporate the irish Fairy Faith into modern witchcraft practices, kinda like a modern version of the old Bean Feasa or Fairy doctors did)

Online:

Duchas https://www.duchas.ie/en Duchas is a huge collection of irish folklore, gathered and written down here in Ireland. Collected from old folk who still practice folk magic, superstitions, folk medicine or remember their own grandparents doing so.

It's confusing at first but type in a word you'd like more info about and many documents relating to the word will pop up. Example: Lavender- https://www.duchas.ie/en/src?q=lavender If you click on the title, it'll open the page up for you and the digital version of the document will be on your right which makes things easier to read. From this search I learned that soaking your bed sheets in lavender and rosemary water will help fight sleeplessness! Very useful for magickal workings :) If you search around and try different words, you'll find hidden gems!

The Witch, the Bean Feasa, and the Fairy Doctor in Irish Culture By Morgan Daimler https://www.academia.edu/17823067/The_Witch_the_Bean_Feasa_and_the_Fairy_Doctor_in_Irish_Culture Check out Morgan Daimler's books on irish paganism, her stuff is fantastic!

Bean Feasa https://beanfeasa9.wordpress.com/ This website is a modern take on the irish Bean Feasa. There's a bit of valuable info on there that I think would be good to know. Bean Feasa were irish wise women (Woman of knowledge) known to heal using herbal remedies and help from the otherworld.

Biddy Early https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biddy_Early Biddy Early was a famous irish wise woman and possible witch. Research on her could be very beneficial when researching irish folk magic. There's a book on her that's probably out of print so it's expensive, but have a look around and try to find a different copy if possible. https://www.amazon.com/Biddy-Early-Wise-Woman-Clare/dp/1856353168

Others:

https://ogham.celt.dias.ie/menu.php?lang=en&menuitem=03 This website is a good quick way to write in Ogham

Podcasts:

Folklore Fragments by UCD (They have loads of episodes on youtube and they are very useful! Keep a pen and paper ready to write down useful info)