#i think it's less direct but it does mention like i never thought i'd actually be trying to kill the guy (gwendal)

[bonebabbles]

Ivypool's Heart: Finished

Just completed reading the new super edition! I'm pleasantly surprised by this one. Overall, this was a very good book, MUCH better than the past 3 which were some of the most boring and unnecessary entries to the entire franchise.

If you were on the fence about this one, I'd recommend it. Just take this warning; it does the Warrior Cats thing where it harps pretty strong on parenthood and nuclear families being a borderline essential part of life, including a ton of bashing on how uniquely horrible this makes the Sisters.

If you can get past that, it's a pretty solid story about grief that makes some really fun additions to the WC lore, including the wildcats, StormClan, and a broad expansion to the afterlife system.

Meandering thoughts below the cut;

One of IPH's biggest flaws is pacing, but it's not nearly as bad as the past 3 SEs.

Not to mention, this is a pretty small SE. If you're ever bored, it won't last long.

Before the book introduces the Wildcats, it REALLY meanders. It'll pick up, but you will have to wade through relatively uninteresting scenes of the cats traveling and talking about their feelings unprompted.

A lot of "quicktime events" happen out of nowhere to fill pages with cats running away from random bullshit.

There's a horse carriage, an apple picker, dogs, weasels, foxes, a storm, traffic, humans, boats, sandwhiches. It's endless. My eyes glazed over during most of these scenes.

I know a lot of people were dreading Ivypool being nasty and unreasonable during this book, but honestly? I was hoping for it and didn't really receive it.

I find her most compelling when she's holding a grudge, acting on her anger, and generally working through messy issues. But aside from her just thinking about being annoyed or angry, she's really not snappy at all.

I feel like there could have been a lot more interesting and organic conflict between Icewing, Dovewing, and Ivypool's personalities instead of boring Quicktime Events. In fact, I felt like Icewing and Dovewing were kind of underutilized.

The conversations often feel quite stiff, especially in the first half. Everyone is very understanding of each other, respect boundaries and knows not to push too far, resolve their personal issues very easily, etc. It's kinda... unnatural.

Personally, I found that disappointing because I WANTED to see the cats actually process their grief over the course of the book. Watch them act out, maybe get in an fight or two and resolve it for the sake of the mission, have them come to a greater understanding of each other, etc.

Because Icewing and Dovewing are both so motherly and gentle and we're in Ivypool's POV, we don't really get to see them process their grief because of that.

They're not TOTALLY neglected though! I just... wanted more from this group.

However. I wanted LESS Rootspring.

I understand he's there to process the loss of Bristlefrost with Ivypool but god, every time he was on screen I wanted to push him aside and talk to Icewing lmao.

Stop trying to sell me "cool, mellowed from grief" Rootspring. He's a silly little hyperactive man and you will never be able to convince me otherwise.

As a silly little hyperactive semi-manthing myself, it would have been a lot more cathartic to see a clown like me going through grief. Not to mention just generally make for better chemistry with the group.

Between Ice and Dove who are already quite chill as characters, Whistle could have used someone more goofy to bounce off of.

I REALLY didn't like the whole implication that Rootspring is going to move on from Bristlefrost and "find a mother" for the kittens he wants so badly, though.

Erins PLEASE remember that adoption exists. He does not need a wife to be a dad. I'm beaming myself directly into your brains and telepathy-ing directions to the nearest cat adoption agency

aaaaaand on that note.... yeah. I did not like the way that this book leaned so hard on the whole "nuclear family" dynamic. Ivypool has had like two major interactions with her husband and one JUST happened in this book.

It especially bugged me that they leaned into Ivypool having been a very active mother, when we saw very little of that in the ACTUAL book. It wasn't even mentioned that Fernsong was allegedly the primary parent of the kittens when they were young.

But... I was able to look past it and just accept the book in a vacuum. There's a lot of good here.

Like the wildcats.

While I'm still wary of these being Scottish Wildcats and reserve my misgivings about the misuse of species that are very unlike domestic cats... I LOOOOVEEE the culture they've set up for them

I LOVEE the way that individual spirits reach out to the kits, guiding them through life

I LOVE the connection to StormClan

I LOVE their idea of the elements and general spirituality

And I LOVED the fact that a big part of Ivypool coming to terms with her grief was the expansion of her worldview. The way that she realized the religion she was raised with is quite small, and that there is an immense beauty in coming to understand other cultures, accept their advice, and see the world as they do.

I just wish the book had been able to tie that to a flaw that Ivypool has expressed since her very introduction back in OotS-- that she's smallminded.

It would have been a FANTASTIC way to really tackle and address that flaw, and pay off literal decades of set up. I really wish she had been messier in this book because of that!

But, digressing.

I'm over the moon that the team's actually playing with the series' spirituality! After such a long time of them outright avoiding some of the weirder elements in the series, like Rock and Midnight, it's exciting that they're finding some freedom in making new magic lore for themselves.

Hopefully, in the next few super editions, we'll be able to get some more insight to StormClan and the Wildcats.

The book really hits its stride in the second half because of this, and the ending chapters are actually fantastic. Some of the best stuff that's come out of the series (on purpose) in a loooong time.

[the-gayest-show]

Operation Birthday Takeover Review/Analysis

I wanted to include this in the review bomb but decided against it because the episode would take too much yap compared to the others to summarize properly, let's go!

(sorry if these screenshots have the player on them I couldn't find a better way bare with me this is better than the easier route i'd have taken)

HAHAHAHAHAHA SO MUCH TO TALK ABOUT HERE!

First of all, PERI! YOU'RE BACK BABY HBUIEBRBFEIBFWiuB

Second of all and most important, this was a MAJOR Dev episode. Well, obviously, since it's his birthday, but we got to see more of him being nice while it lasted anyways, and we also got to see more of Dale's neglect and it's affects on Dev.

You can see he's clearly disappointed about his dad paying no attention to Dev at all, preferring to work on "Project H" instead of his own son. Will throw hands on this man fr.

Throughout the episode we see more hints of this disappointment, like when Vicky gets invited to the party (Dev doesn't even like princesses! DUDE!)

Now that I'm really rewatching as I go, Hazel seems to be very aware of it and very empathetic towards Dev, I like that about her. She's looking out for her friend! Good on her!

On the other hand (to move the plot forward and thus this review), I love seeing the fairy family back in action again!

I love their dynamic even more! Also I swear to God half of the iconic lines come from these interactions I swear to God.

"Time to see what's so secret about this room!....... On second thought never mind" SOBBING LAUGHING

Having the three of them slowly find out that project H is actually Project Hazel is so wild. THEY LITERALLY WROTE DOWN IMPORTANT INFO ON THE BOARD LIKE THE FAIRIES THING. COSMO! WANDA! WHYYYYYYYYY

The sad part of the matter is, Dale was fixated on Dev's friend of all people simply because she was... content? With fairy godparents? It's so sad actually for Dev... he REALLY needs someone to care about him

I wanna get into Vicky though now, and the surprising amounts of references to the OG series that were made in less than 2 minutes apart from each other? Crazy!

First of all, she's back! An interesting character to return for sure, considering she mostly acted as Timmy's babysitter in the OG series, but the continuity of this show never ceases to surprise me!

She's somehow similar looking? Like, correct me if I'm wrong but shouldn't she be older now? Significant enough to be changed visually for sure. AJ was 10 in the original series and now he's like 30 something. By that logic shouldn't Vicky be closer to her 40s? Does that age a person significantly from 16? That's what I thought anyways... She's still into the "conning little children for money" thing. She's literally 30+ at least, did she not try to up her game somehow? IMHO she totally could have extreme power like that over adults if she got gullible enough ones, could've been worse, but I guess people of Vicky's personality don't truly change unless there's a major life breakthrough that happens. You know what they say about peaking in high school...

Icky Vicky the song (and thus the episode it was in) is canon to the FOP A New Wish universe. I could swear the song sounded slightly different than it did when it was sung in this episode, but I'll blame that on the song coming out 10+ years ago and voice actors being too specific to nail down (I think the guy from one direction played the Icky Vicky singer? No wonder they couldn't invite him back). The song being referred to as "old" got me cringing a bit. I didn't grow up with the show but I get the feeling people who did felt themselves aging in real time with Jasmine's comment...

TIMMY MENTION! TIMMY HAS BEEN MENTIONED BY NAME IN THE A NEW WISH UNIVERSE AGAIN!

Poor fairy trio though, they're all traumatized by Vicky, even Peri (who thought she was some weird ass dream, dawg I wish 😭) and immediately they're cowering with fear at the sound of her name. They got PTSD or something from all those years in original FOP...

What's funnier is them being able to stand up to Vicky by just. transforming into humans, which works bc that's always worked in FOP canon (when parental figures showed up in the OG), but somehow Wanda and Cosmo didn't fucking know that? Truly, Wanda, it would've been nice for y'all to know that some decades ago.

"That's Vicky for ya! Making Kids Miserable Since 2001!"

Actually it would be 1998 if we count the Oh Yeah Cartoon Pilot and subsequent episodes, but I guess we're only counting actual FOP as canon 😔

-

I wanna really talk about the last scene though, where Dev finds out that Project H was Project Hazel. It REALLY tears him up inside to see just HOW bad his father doesn't give a shit about him.

LOOK. LOOK AT THAT FACE AND TELL ME THAT ISN'T DEVASTATION! Even as he's recounting all the times that his father talked about Project H

The emotional neglect really runs deep with this one.

He lashes out at both Peri and Hazel (her especially since he's under the impression that she faked being his friend or something) and even wishes for Peri to leave him alone. So basically he's closing himself off from the 2 people who cared about him the most, likely as an emotional response. And then he goes and crosses off everything on the board in anger and leaves.

I've noticed Peri's behaviour towards Dev has changed a bit again since the Dimmsonian episode. I think in that episode initially he seemed more tired, and he's probably still tired, but if he is, it's not shown as much here. I think personally Peri seeing more of Dev's life might've changed his attitude towards the child, but he still remains semi optimistic. He cares about this kid. It's shown even in just those few seconds of hesitation before he leaves that Peri was kind of heartbroken/sad at the request to leave Dev's side, but was willing to do so since he asked/wished. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I really do enjoy their dynamic and really wish to see more of it, especially after this.

This is all 100% driven from his dad's actions affecting his emotional state, and I think this is actually a perfect setup for the episode where Dev and Irep take over Fairy World. Especially if Irep finds Dev like not even seconds after this scene, he's more vulnerable now than he's been throughout the whole series thus far, so a manipulator like Irep (if he is a good one, but heck even if he was dogshit at it) could defo make him change his thoughts on things.

Overall this episode was great and there's lots to love about it!

[batsplat]

Do you have any thought on the podcast that vale just did with Mig. I had never come across someone that had the Marc fell on purpose in Sepang narrative but I’m just wondering how much of what he’s saying now aligns with what he’s said over the years and is anything new information that’s he’s never bought up before? I also saw that he mentioned Casey and Dani apparently but I haven’t seen that bit yet.

I'd say it more or less aligns with the stuff he's said previously, but he's expanded on some points. him kinda implying there was something fishy about marc's fall itself was a pretty popular theory at the time, enough to be referred to by journalists, though as far as I can recall valentino has stayed clear of it (always getting handlebars caught up in inconvenient places in controversial racing incidents, eh). as for the other stuff:

argentina: valentino hasn't spoken much about pre-sepang incidents in general, at most referring to them with half a line (including races that usually aren't integrated into the timeline of the 2015 collapse, like silverstone and misano). I've talked about it here, but valentino's line about marc's riding there should be read in context of another past comment - that valentino was told marc believed vale had cost him the title, which you would assume to be a reference to argentina (more on that in a moment). while it was obviously deemed a racing incident, it should come as no surprise that narratives accusing one or the other of ill intent were discourse points at the time (see here). both valentino and jorge seem to think that marc felt valentino deliberately crashed him out (here). if they are to be believed, it leaves you with a version of argentina where both parties thought the other was deliberately attempting to make them crash. this version positions argentina 2015 less as a precursor of things to come and more as a breaking point neither party ever moved on from

assen: valentino has spoken about this as a turning point before, saying back in 2016: "at assen I realised he was only my friend when he beats me"; plus in october 2015 saying more broadly that marc was "angry about assen". he hasn't spoken about a direct conversation between the two of them before, though the words he attributes to marc do broadly align with what we have footage of marc saying in the actual press conference (for instance, marc feeling he had won the race, see here). so yes, the stances they both take according to valentino basically match up with the stances we know they publicly took at the time, but again: this is the first time he's talked about this conversation, and we have no evidence for it occurring (certainly not in parc fermé - my best guess is that this would have happened when they were at race direction). all of this is in line with reading assen as essentially the point of no return as far as that relationship was concerned - from then on, the collapse is locked in

alzamora: his involvement is something I've been wondering about for ages now (here, here and here). as is discussed in those posts, valentino said way back in october 2015 that alzamora had told him after sepang that marc "behaved as he did because I caused him to lose the world title". this had always felt bizarre to me, because the description made it difficult to judge the tone of the encounter - surely, you would have to have good reason to harm your charge by running your mouth like that. valentino's version presented in the podcast, which now explicitly attributes active malice to alzamora, does make more sense than alzamora just... randomly approaching valentino to worsen the conflict. the notion that alzamora spoke openly in the paddock about damning valentino's championship bid, as well as this getting back to valentino via spanish friends, is also new. alzamora did have a troubled reputation of his own, as a lot of these managers tend to, not least as a result of the honda in-fighting he was involved in (see here). he has at times been seen as... overeager in getting mixed up in his charges' business - see also how he dealt with reporters and photographers. reporting of valentino's alzamora claim in the immediate aftermath of sepang 2015 mention "yet another disagreement between crew chief santi hernandez and alzamora", the "questionable" role played by alzamora, and alzamora's "very different priorities than honda" (see here and here). alzamora's alleged insistence on being at the meeting, even when valentino thought it was not his place to interfere, does seem to gel with his general conduct. to my eye, there are no obvious inconsistencies between how alzamora's influence was discussed at the time and what valentino is saying now, though the detail of this confrontation including a verbal fight at race direction is also new

at race direction: the details of the look exchanged between marc and alzamora are new too. valentino has spoken about a conversation between himself and marc where marc stared blankly at him, and just based on my own conjecture I did think race direction was the logical place for this conversation to take place. this is in large part on the basis of two media scrum answers marc gave in late 2015 that make explicit reference to this conversation, which I should probably get around to uploading (and valentino likewise spoke about it at the time) (so we can be reasonably confident that it happened and that marc was not best pleased by what valentino said). but the smile is new, yes

that was all I saw in terms of additions! other stuff like uccio's involvement and how valentino describes marc as a rider are basically what he's been saying for years. the most interesting bits to me personally were the alzamora comments because, again, that element of the story was odd enough that I was kinda hoping someone would eventually expand on it. much obliged

[bobbydagen24]

It annoyed me the way TBGO used Creek because Honestly I feel he does have legit potential for a good redemption story and still could in a future film given its separate cannon to the tv show.

heads up this is a long post lol my apologies 😅😅😅😅

anyway

assuming the movies stick to being their own cannon and don't merge with the Tv shows cannon in which case Creek has already been accepted back into the Village.

I feel him returning in a future main film and having a Redemption Arc could actually work

like imagine if in a future film Branch and Poppy maybe hear about some sorta Threat to the Village like maybe a new tribe of species who are dangerous marauders who they hear are heading in the direction of their village.

and will attack them in say a couple of days but of course Poppy wants to go and just see if she can find a peaceful solution with their leader

and obviously Branch would go with her but thing is they hear this info from a returning Creek.

who in this cannon hasn't been seen since the first movie and maybe its mentioned he survived the mountain creature at the end of the first movie by using his Hair to pull himself out of its mouth or something.

anyway obviously Branch is super sceptical about his story but Peppy does say that he has heard stories of the group Creek has told them about

so they are real and Poppy wants to go because she sees it as worth the Risk of if Creek is lying even tho he swears up and down he isn't.

anyway at the start of the Journey Both B and P are Hella mad and distrustful of him

and Creek while he does seem to want to build Bridges and says he's Remorseful for what he did at the same time he still Defends his actions a tad simply pointing out he didn't want to die just like the rest of them didn't.

but I'd have him and Branch eventually come to more of an understanding after he and Creek finally have a heart to heart later on in the story

it could start with them being out in the woods so Branch starts to build them all a shelter is about to give Creek instructions on what to do

only for Creek to already be doing it clearly showing he knows a fair bit of survival skills himself which Branch is surprised by

and questions him on it and Creek tells him that after Chef was killed he was stranded in the woods with no idea where he was

or how to get back home so he spent quite a lot of months on his own being forced to learn how to survive off of the land

and he admits to Branch he doesn't understand how he was able to live like that for so long?

spending so much time alone in the woods he started to feel more and more guilty over his life choices not just betraying them

but also just being a vain jerk to Branch and other less popular Trolls in the Village and of course he missed Poppy and his other friends like crazy.

he promised himself if he did by some miracle find his way back home he'd try to be better and he just thought this whole trip to help ward of an attack could maybe be a good start.

but after Branch feels a second of relatability to how isolated Creek felt Branch still Dismisses all of this somewhat and points out he sold them all out and Creek admits he's sorry but also Rather Honestly he simply admits he was fricking terrified.

he was literally inside a giant creatures mouth and was about to be eaten by something that didn't see him as a thinking feeling person

and just a bit of meat to give them pleasure he panicked like he'd never panicked before.

and when he got out of Gristle's mouth he desperately said he'd do anything to avoid going back in their and dying in such a gruesome and senseless way.

and after that he was stuffed in tiny locket for hours in the dark and besides Gristle briefly showing him off to Bridget for a split second

the next time he saw light was when Chef revealed him to all of them in the cage.

at which point he was in a hole and he just kept digging he was still terrified to die and tried to weakly justify it to himself that maybe it was better for Poppy and the others to die Rather than live with it.

tho he acknowledges himself it was just a load of crap he told himself to try and feel better

but anyway simply put he was about to be met with his worst nightmare and he caved in to his fear he was human he wasn't some pure evil monster like Poppy and Branch thought of him as

( or the Fandom for that matter lol )

Branch after hearing this kinda understands he spent most of his life terrified day to day and he himself nearly was forced Fed to Gristle by Chef ironically something he and Creek have in common

so he understands the fear better than anyone else in the Village could really as none of them came as close to death as the two of them did.

and after this he hasn't necessarily forgiven him per say but Branch is willing to give him a chance to show he's changed

and encourages Poppy to do the same tho she still holds onto her anger which could even lead to an argument

where Branch calls her out on her Hypocrisy as she normally believes in giving second chances to people except not when it comes to someone who actually wronged her personally

but she was more than encouraging for everyone else to forgive people who wronged them like Barb at the end of World Tour

and Brozone in TBT but when its someone who wronged her suddenly she's a lot more Hesitant and against it.

which I feel could actually be a Relatable interesting character flaw for Poppy to have and for her to be called out on.

it always seemed odd to me how in the Tv shows Poppy was more willing to forgive Creek while Branch wasn't when Poppy was close with him and thus felt more personally betrayed.

anyway that's basically the most important plot points I feel Creek has legit potential for Redemption if written properly given the circumstances around the first movie he was just as much a victim himself.

but TBGO annoyingly didn't really do much with his return other than a small Rivalry with Branch but I feel the main movies could do this right if they put in some effort

and he could easily be sympathetic and have a Redemption where he wants to Build Bridges with people in the Village without completely changing his character 100 percent

from the self centered kinda smug person he was as he was Basically just John Dory lets be Honest only diff is Creek didn't get a second chance due to not being Related to one of the main cast.

and frankly he's a lot more deserving of redemption than other past villains like Barb and Crimp given they did evil stuff for much worse reasons

( Barb simply was entitled and thought she should get to Decide which Genre would unite all other Tribes and Crimp was a coward who didn't wanna lose a pay check )

and did almost nothing to really Redeem themselves so why not my guy Creek? lol.

and he and Branch legit have some experiences they could Bond over as well so I'd really like to see that Happen.

[navree]

this is dc twitter discourse at the moment so i thought i'd ask your thoughts on it do you think red hood jason hurting children is ooc/a bad writing choice???

And this ladies and gents is why I avoid DC Twitter because I don't think I've seen any good takes there ever, no matter where you are. Sometimes people post panel compilations that hurt my heart, that's the like the only good thing to come out of it, I don't even click on the MAWS hashtag if it trends while the show is airing because last time I did it was people bitching that 25 year old Slade did not look or act the same way that current in his forties Slade does (not to mention, how can you complain about MAWS Slade? he's the best part about the show how did anyone not just fall over laughing with delight the second he showed up and proclaimed himself to be literal Slade Wilson?).

With that said, yeah I would consider that to be a bad writing choice. Talking about characterization for comics is hard because, as I've mentioned, comics is an incredibly decentralized creative medium in a way none others are. Movies, TV shows, novels, they all tend to have a main core group of people or even just one solitary person in charge of the creative direction, and for a lot of them, a very finite "this is where we start and this is where we end" mentality that comics do not. These characters have had constantly changing creative heads, with new directions and ideas for characterization attached, since their inception, and they've all been around for a very long time. This is why comics are kind of the only medium where you can, in fact, really pick and choose your canon, because the canon has changed so much depending on who is in charge at a giant company. Like, canonical eighties Batman characterization would be considered super OOC for someone writing canonical modern Batman, and vice versa. So talking about characterization is hard, especially with Jason when nobody has had any idea what to fucking do with him for decades at this point. But, when it comes to Red Hood Jason, there is something I consider gospel canon, which is the Under the Red Hood arc, since that is what nearly all subsequent canon imaginings of Jason take from. That is our gold standard here. And based on UTRH, yeah, Jason harming children is out of character and it is bad writing.

When Jason comes back, he has two very clear goals. Goal one: the Joker's gotta die, preferably Batman kills him so Jason gets concrete proof that he was loved and mourned (Jason is not mentally healthy so his thought process doesn't make sense just roll with it), but Jason is fine killing the man himself, so long as he dies. Goal two: essentially fulfill Batman's mission in a way where it actually accomplishes his goals. Jason outlines this pretty specifically in Batman #641, he tells Bruce "You. I'll be you. The you you're supposed to be." Jason's goal as the Red Hood is to make Gotham better (in his head), safer, and cleaner, but unlike Batman he is willing to take that goal as far as he can and will kill if necessary. What he wants is to just take Batman's mission to its logical extreme. Eradicate the various elements that have caused suffering in Gotham throughout the years, just with more permanence than Batman does, and less of a focus on rehabilitation, because you can't rehabilitate a dead person. And as part of this, Jason does not act unnecessarily. When he kills, it is people who (arguably) deserve it, and it is never innocents. It is always the criminal element, and people he believes are past the point of no return, as well as those who might be trying to stop him in that. His mission statement is literally "Death will come to those who deserve death, and death may come to those who stand in my way of doing what's right." and he means that. This is not a character you've created to then go out and harm children, because kids have not done anything to deserve it, and they are not the cause of the issues that he is trying to eliminate.

There's also the fact that Jason, even in his early Red Hood days where editorial just decided that he's a straight villain now, was never someone who went after kids, but in fact actively tried to help them. He makes it a point to tell his people that they do not sell drugs to kids and that if they do, he'll kill them (along with telling them not to get previously clean people hooked and only sell to repeats, which also paints him as someone who isn't just hurting others willy-nilly). The first person Jason ever kills, as seen in Red Hood: Lost Days, is a man who was involved in child trafficking, and he does it specifically because he wants to save those kids and future victims from him, and considers him scum of the Earth as a result (I think his name was Egan? Egon? idfk I don't reread Lost Days because I find their whole "look at fully adult Talia fucking the mentally ill sixteen year old under her care who is reliant on her for everything, how sexy" shtick abhorrent, and using Talia as their child rapist doubly so). So Jason, even at his most villainous, at his most "this is a bad dude" characterized, is someone who deliberately avoids harming innocents because it's not compatible with his mission or his personal code, and includes children very specifically in that.

It is also out of character and a bad writing choice because of Jason's own childhood. You might think a rebuttal to this is "Jason wants to kill/hurt criminals, what if kids are criminals" well guess what Jason was a kid criminal! It is actually illegal to steal parts off of people's cars, even if that person can afford it because he's Batman (to say nothing of the multiple very heavy handed hints dropped that Jason solicited as a prostitute during his time being homeless, which is also a crime, it is illegal and he would have been picked up by the cops for it if found out). Unless you want to argue that Jason thinks he himself should have been taken out with a Glock at the big of age of eleven for doing illegal things in the name of survival, you can't say that Jason's philosophy would allow him to harm children and remain in character or decently written, you just can't. Like, your other gospel for Jason's characterization should be his original Robin run from the 80s, since that's literally what introduced him to this world in the first fucking place, so duh. And there's nothing in that characterization to suggest that he would harm anyone unnecessarily, especially kids. Like, Robin Jason spares Two-Face's life, after having found out days ago that Two-Face murdered Willis Todd in cold blood; he tries to save Sheila Haywood's life after she straight up helps murder him; this isn't someone whose characterization allows for him to hurt children later in life. Especially once you factor in his struggles as a child, and how that most likely just breeds empathy for other children, especially children who are having a hard time.

Now, I can guess that some of this comes up in discussions of one of my most loathed subjects, the stupid bad stupid dumb stupid attack on fucking Titan's Tower. Now, even beyond the fact that the stupid attack on stupid Titan's Tower is less about Jason wanting to beat up children and more his specific issues with Bruce and the concept of Robin that can't be transplanted to other people, the attack itself is bad writing. It is out of character for Jason. It does not jive at all with his stated characterization and motivations that he himself outlined (also the only other closest thing to that is his fight with Mia Dearden, where he's pretty tame in just warning her to leave vigilantism and straight up beats her twice before letting her go relatively unscathed of his own free will, just saying) and it makes no sense. His issues are that the Joker is alive and Batman didn't do anything about it. Why the fuck would he care about Tim? Tim means nothing to him, he never even met the little dude, he doesn't have an issue with him. He doesn't even have an issue with the idea of Robin being passed down because Jason literally said he was perfectly content to not be Robin and just be Jason, and his problems don't arise from Robin! The issues at the heart of Jason's conflict with Bruce hinge on the Bruce and Jason relationship of father and son, not Batman and Robin! And not fucking Tim! Tim means nothing, he is a nonentity. The only reason this fuckass plot exists is because DC didn't know what to do with Jason and threw shit at the wall to see what would stick, similar to what we saw with that dumb plot with Nightwing from this time that also has similar issues, in that why would Jason care enough to cause problems for Dick, he doesn't have an issue with Dick, he legit interacts with Dick in UTRH and he's fine! (a better writing decision would have been post-UTRH Jason immediately writing the entire Batfam off and treating them as hostiles whenever they wander into Crime Alley and them having to regain his trust back/him agreeing to let down more and more barriers as time goes on and they all reconnect, but I was like seven when all this was being written so DC didn't seek my input) The fucking dumb Titan's Tower thing that people are gonna use to prove that Jason hurting kids isn't bad writing isn't even about Jason, the only reason this shit gets trotted out again and again is because Tim Drake has a lot of fans who are absolutely convinced their poor uwu baby has suffered more than Jesus when the only person in the Batfam who's suffered less than him is, like, Alfred (although I can make the argument that Alfred has still suffered more by having had to put up with Bruce Wayne almost singlehandedly for most of his adult life). It exists in people's minds even tho it is objectively bad writing and out of character for one of the main players because fanon Tim has to be the most special boy ever (and also because these people wanna use it to make Tim interesting which is impossible because nothing can make Tim interesting).

Jason hurting children deliberately is, indeed, bad writing. It is, in fact, incredibly out of character. It does not compute to his explicit motivations and how he was characterized in the stories that have since been used as a jumping off point for his characterization ever since. And ultimately, the thing is this: if Red Hood Jason is just trying to do Batman's job better than Batman, who is he doing it for if not children? Who is he trying to clean up Gotham for, make Gotham a better place for, if not her children? And if that's the case, as it obviously is, why on Earth would him then harming her children be any kind of good character writing or coherent characterization?

TL;DR, yes it is.

[punkeropercyjackson]

Alr i'm gonna assume the best of newer and younger Pjo fans spreading misinfo on punk!Percy and by extension irl punk history and culture by guessing you guys aren't doing it on purpose and were just lied to about us so here's a bunch of debunks and clear ups on punk and why Percy is which also works as a sort of list of tips on how to write punk characters,canon and headcanon and completely original

So the obvious one out of the way first:Percy is actually not canonically a skater boy!There have been exactly two lines of this context in the entire franchise and one was in Som when he mentioned skateboarding once and then never again and the second was in Moa when Piper said he and i quote 'looked like a skater'.Sorry to past cishet Pipes but that's not a thing and Avril Lavigne making a cisheteronormative lyric that's extremely underservingly stuck around for forever dosen't mean she was right that he is one,it means she had internalized homophobia and gender stereotypes and no actual knowledge on alt subcultures because again,'looking like a skater' isn't a thing,it's a sport and not an aesthetic

With that,here's what actually makes Percy a punk:He was a bully beater from a young age and it escalates into full blown direct action for the whole saga,hates authority figures not for the sake of it but because he knows from experience that they're almost universally awful,is anti-corruption including his own by fighting against his intrusive thoughts to turn evil,does activism by helping fix the greco-roman mythos world system whenever he gets the chance to no matter how small,advocates for the rights of less fortunate people both mythical and human,hates rich people,fits entierly out of the box conformity in all aspects simply from the way he is even disregarding his demigohood,respects all minorities and is extremely kind to kids to the point that he adopted Nico and Hazel as his younger siblings and pseudo-kids because they don't really have parents(Hades/Pluto is abusive + Maria and Marie are dead).He fills out every punk requirement to a T,including being part of a marginalized group since he's poor and mentally disabled(audhd with dyslexia,bpd and ptsd)

He was a hero and Luke was a villain because they both hated the gods for traumatizing them and had nonpretty trauma responses from it but Percy still tried his best to stay kind not for his own sake but for his mom and the innocents in the world he knew didn't deserve cruelty and he provided and still does a safe and loving space for children specifically because he was a troubled but good kid once too and wants to be the positive adult figure for them he didn't get to have except Sally.Luke choose nihilism and that grew into turning a serial child abuser with bigoted ideals(his biggest targets being women and poc and in Kelli's case both)and fascist tactics.They weren't 'two sides of the same coin' and they're not even the same currency-Percy's a punk,Luke's a pig

Romantic attraction to someone based off them being 'ideal' by society's standards goes against punk beliefs!Our whole thing is nonconformity and that changing your true self to fit in makes you a sellout so this is why Perachel was canon and honestly i'd go as far as to call the 'outcast punk dude x perfect prep girl' a myth made up by normies who don't wanna date us for our actual personalities and just think we look hot so they objectify us.Related,it's ooc for Percy to be written to use kinds of flirting and dating treatments purely because 'it's what guys are like' since it's canon they hate traditional masculinity and consider it a burden they only force on themselves as a defense mechanism from trauma of being mocked for being 'not normal'

Ascention to godhood or into a titan inherently disquilify being punk and is an insult to irl punks.You literally can't be punk AND in control of a corrupted system,it's our lifestyle to fight them,not perpetuate them.This also applies to him dating deities,being rich in any way or an abuser.Dark Percy is Bootlicker Percy

Sorry to y'all who still think Hot Topic is a funny joke in 2024 of all years but they sold out to capitalism and conformity a loooooong time ago so Percy wouldn't be caught undead near that place and couldn't afford anything anyway because they've upped everything to rich people prices.He'd be going to thrift stores,family bussiness and small shops.Knowing how much free time he has probably knows how to DIY things that don't even exist and he buys all his games/consoles and legos secondhand

No Taylor Swift for him,her music's too corny and fabricated for him to not hate it but there's also how she's a huge bigot,a major bully and a whole ass poluter so🤷🏽‍♀️His favorite band is definitely My Chemical Romance but All Time Low,The Cure and Ramones are up there too

Please draw him with an actual battle jacket and proper piercings-By which i mean give it patches and a hoard of pins and draw it like a BATTLE JACKET,not a LEATHER jacket and actually google kinds of piercings instead of just slapping metal wherever onto him

He is NOT masc or an 'i'm too cool and edgy to like cutesy and kiddy things' type.Every single trans woman i've met in the Pjo fandom have said Percy's an egg and super femme and she does too much actual punk shit instead of trying to look the part to be a poser to care about her image anymore.She loves Polly Pocket,Warrior Cats,Animal Crossing,Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends,Bluey,Blues Clues,MLP,makeup,glitter,yk2/90s/80s toys,cats,Lo-Fi Beats,Cookie Monster and her second favorite color is pink,she loves naturally acting like a momdad and her gender fuckery includes a neopronouns hoard

Would most definitely have radicalized Nico and Hazel into goth punk and pastel goth punk if Rick let them be a proper trio and speaking from experience,it's entierly possible she does it completely on accident by making them want to be like her because of how nice and protective she is to them and what cool things she does

Few last points:She's definitely a heavy energy drinks consumer,a socialist,does vandalism,did actually super heavy research to go full punk once she realized she is and would never be friends with Harry Potter and in fact would probably kill him if they met since ACAB

[aihoshiino]

Since you haven't yet, could you please tell us your thoughts about the recent interview with Ai? After all, it seems to reveal a lot of interesting things about her.

For those who haven't read it yet, this is referring to the four-page in character interview with Ai that was published in the January 2024 issue of Da Vinci magazine!

Off the bat, it was really interesting to get such a direct and length look at Ai's public persona as it exists in OnK. Ironically enough, despite so much of the series being about people who are unable to get past her 'Ai of B-Komachi' mask, we actually don't get a ton of time spent with it as readers — we mostly see Ai in her private life, with Saitou, Miyako and the twins, where she is considerably more unfiltered and explicitly not on the job and we even get peeks directly into her POV from our perspective as out-of-universe observers. In fact, apart from the Da Vinci interview, the only other time we see Ai 'on the job' to this degree is a really quick exchange she has with a TV presenter just before her first post-hiatus performance. So it was really interesting to chew on!

The thing that stands out to me most from the interview is kind of a confirmation of something I've been saying for a long time — which is that Ai is a lot more honest than a lot of people (both in universe and in the fandom!) give her credit for. A lot of her answers are surprisingly frank and in line with what we know to be her true feelings and her more honest way of expressing herself elsewhere. Don't get me wrong, she's absolutely full of shit in plenty of spots here (EL OH EL ABOUT B-KOMACHI'S 'IRREPLACEABLE BOND') and her answers are still very polished and pretty, but there's a lot more of Ai herself here than I think even she herself would want to acknowledge.

This matches up with how Ai describes herself in 45510 — that, even though she's afraid of opening up, she does want people to know her as she really is and to accept her as such. It's interesting to see that expressed, even indirectly, through the interview like this.

It was also super cool to see a lot of my more incidental headcanons/personal interpretations confirmed! In particular, seeing Ai talk about Kana so warmly got me really excited. I'd always liked to imagine that she felt pretty fondly towards Kana and that she admired her hard work and dedication at such a young age so seeing Ai talking about her so effusively was really cute.

Less sweet was the confirmation that Ai's shitty home life in Ayumi's house stretched way back prior to Ayumi beginning to physically abuse her. Reading Ai calling herself a 'nasty brat' (almost definitely her mom's words) and then talking about her feeling so unwelcome at home that she'd sneak out of the house in the dead of night and wander around near the traintracks, daydreaming about being able to run away… it pains a really horrible image of what growing up in that house must have been like.

Speaking of parents, though… uh, wow, holy shit, Ai's dad! This is the only direct mention of him we've ever gotten and it definitely raises more questions than it answers. Prior to this, he'd been such a non-entity in Ai's life that I just kind of assumed he'd either passed away when she was very young or that he'd never been involved in her life — Ayumi is consistently referred to as her only parent to the point that, once she's out of the picture, Ai's only other option for stable family is, specifically, her mother's relatives. The idea of Ai being cared for by her dad or his side of the family is just never addressed as a possibility, so it's clear that past a certain point he was unable or unwilling to care for her.

The Da Vinci interview does imply she saw him occasionally — she describes their shopping trips as something that 'didn't happen often' — which supports the idea that he and Ayumi divorced or separated when Ai was quite young and he wasn't really involved in her life. It's honestly kind of depressing that he's the center of her happy childhood memory because like… man, it really says something about how abjectly unrelentingly dogshit her life was that "my dad sometimes took me to the grocery store" was happy enough in comparison to everything else in her life that she thought of it as a cherished memory.

Overall, the Da Vinci interview was a really nice surprise! We don't really get a lot of additional info about Ai from that time period specifically — a lot of the new reveals about her as a character tend to come from periods of her life prior to the timeline of the story, so getting a little extra peek into her final days really was a treat.

[xiaoao]

2 - Unexpected Reunion

Previous | m.list | Next

Warnings : Mentions of a corpse !

( Text may look glitched LMAO also may seem rushed n like the story line is kinda boring , js lmk if u want cold reader back dho , maybe I will change reader back !! who knows what I have in mind )

You ran to the direction where you heard Lumine scream, "[Name] [name] [name]! Does that thing bite?!" Lumine says as she points as a fox, "It's a fox..?" You say panting, "Yeah but does it bite?!" Lumine asks again, "No.. She doesn't bite, she's my fox." You say, "Oh. She's your fox..!" Lumine says as she calms down, "Whoops!" Lumine adds, "Hi there little fox!" Lumine says as she waves to your fox, "Her name's Rena." You say, "Rena! Rena. Hi Rena!" Lumine greets her, "I thought something serious happened.. Dear god." You say, "Ahaha sorry.. Oh! Do you know a place that has a good view?" Lumine asks, you nod, "Follow me. Just be careful of your surroundings." You say, Lumine nods, you turn around to go to the cliff side you just came from. "Woah.." Lumine says in awe. "It's really pretty, huh?" You say, "It really is! It's so beautiful!" Paimon says, you smile. You smiled, finally. After so many years.. You never knew you were capable of smiling anymore, nor feeling any emotions. You thought you'd be as straight faced as ever, but you actually smiled. Years and years of suffering, of holding the responsibility of being a leader, "Be careful, watch your step. You might slip, I won't be there when you do." You say as you walk away trying to avoid whatever you're feeling, "Why? Where are you going?" Paimon asks chasing after to you, you shake your head, "Don't worry about it. You can find me somewhere if we ever meet again." You say, "Wait you're leaving permanently?!" Paimon says as she flies towards you, you simply nod your head, "Not as in permanently, I'll still be here roaming around. Unless you go to a different forest, then I won't be there." You explain, "Why though..?" Paimon asks slightly hurt, "Nothing. I just think you guys can do it alone and you don't need any help. Plus it'll benefit from me too." You say, "How?" Paimon says moving closer to you, It'll benefit from me by hurting less when you go. You say to yourself, "I can finish my job without slowing you all down. Plus I won't have to think of anything else." You say, "Then we'll help!" Paimon offers, "Right.. We can help you! We're friends after all." Lumine says, "Yeah yeah, what Lumine says! I mean.. We're enough people right..?" Paimon says, "How do you trust me so easily?" You ask, "Because you basically saved our life! You guided us to your camp, your camp! And we were strangers! You even fed us, hunted for us, gave us time to rest, do you think we aren't gonna trust you after that?!" Paimon says, "Alright alright.. You can save the lecture." You say, "I'm glad you want me to stay and all, but I can't stay with you." You say, "Why not?" Paimon asks, "I just can't. I can't explain it myself." You say, "This is my forest anyways, so it's a high chance we'll meet again." You say walking past Paimon, "We'll go to every place we've been then! We'll continue finding you!" Paimon yells as she watches you walk off to the distance, you just raise your hand and wave it, "I'm looking forward to that." You mumble while smiling.

Groups POV :

Paimon faces back to the group with a frown, "I liked her presence.." Paimon says, "I'm sure we all did, Paimon. Don't worry, I'm sure we can still find her!" Tighnari says trying to comfort Paimon, Paimon nods solemnly, "However for now we need to survive on our own. So let's all stay sharp and look for a place to camp at. Or do we want to stay at [name]'s?" Tighnari says, "I suggest we stay at [name]'s camp. It's the closest here and where we first came from. I'd say it's the most safest spot." Xiao suggests, "Good point. Alright, it's set then, [name]'s camp and who'll find the food?" Tighnari asks, "How about me and Lumine? Since we're used to fighting and traveling to different worlds." Aether asks, "Sure. Alright, for the others.. Cyno, Xiao, and Wanderer will stay on guard together with me. Paimon you can go with whoever you want." Tighnari says, "I'll stay at [name]'s camp, maybe I can try finding her in the distance!" Paimon says, Tighnari nods, "Alright. For now we all rest." Tighnari says, everyone nods and the group proceeds to go at [name]'s camp.

Your POV :

You aren't leaving. You're just merely taking a break. You just want to scare them a bit, you know, play! Like friends do. You won't leave them alone, of course since your responsibility is to protect the people in your forest. You overheard their plan, and so you won't be showing up to your camp anytime soon. You'll visit as a kitsune though, hopefully they won't notice. You'll bring them food as a kitsune. Your coat has a rather unique pattern, one you won't see a lot in a forest, so you're quite worried. Of course, you wouldn't want to be seen in those acts of yours, it would be quite embarrassing, at least for you. "Unbelievable, they think they can kill these kitsunes by themselves? Well, I shouldn't be talking. I can't really underestimate them." You say to yourself, "That's correct." You heard a voice say replying to your sentence, your eyes widen, "Whose there?!" You say drawing your weapon, "Now now, what have I taught you? Never draw out your sword at a stranger." The unknown voice said, "What?" You ask, "What the hell do you mean 'taught'?" You ask aggressively, "You don't remember me?" The voice talked again, you thought hard as the voice did not seem familiar, "Ah right I forgot. I wasn't there when you grew up huh? My apologies, hun. I thought you were your bother." The voice said as you see a tall figure come out from a shadow, weird. You never seen a kitsune summon a shadow to hide themselves, "How do you know Kitsuyo?" You ask tightening your grip on your weapon. "Calm down, I'm someone close to you and your brother." The male figure said walking closer to you, "Do not take another step. I won't hesitate to injure you in some type of way." You say looking at him, the male smiled, "You have grown, [name]. It makes me so proud to have a daughter like you." The man said, and after that sentence your eyes widen in realization, "Dad..?" You mumble.

After that day, a week passed. Nothing much has changed with the forest, it was peaceful as usual. Multiple birds were roaming around, some were still sleeping quietly and peacefully, and some were chirping. The group woke up, well, surprisingly, Paimon woke up first to see a familiar figure sitting beside her, Paimon blinked her eyes twice and her eyes widen to see who it was, ''[Name]!" Paimon called out, you turn your head at her direction, "Hi Paimon." You greeted her with a cheerful smile, Paimon rushed to your side and hugged you, "I missed you so much.." Paimon says, "Me too, Paimon.. Me too. I promise I won't leave anymore." You say, "Woah woah [name]?!" Lumine shouts, "Hi there Lumine." You greet her as well, the others woke up to the sound of Lumine's voice, Tighnari sat up rubbing his eyes, once he looked up he saw you. ''[Name].." Tighnari mumbles your name, "Mhm. I'm back." You say quietly, Lumine's smile widens and tackles you in a hug *Maybe feeling happy once in a while is fine..* you think to yourself as the group is laughing. "Ah that's right." You say sitting up, Lumine looks up as you stand, "My father." You say pointing at the male leaning on a tree trunk, "Great to meet you all! I'm Kagero, [Name]'s father." Your father introduces himself to the group, "Hi Mr. Kagero! Your daughter is such a nice kid! I'm Lumine." Lumine introduces herself, "Did you have to add that first sentence.." You say dead panning her, "Yeah! You are a nice person." Lumine says, "The first days we met says otherwise.." You say scratching your neck, "Right. I apologize for my daughters behavior. She isn't used to groups such as you guys, so she has a tendency to seem quite rude at the first times you meet her. But I can assure you she gradually gets nicer. I can speak from experience as she was quite hostile to me when I met her last week." Your father explains, "Oh come on! I only drew my weapon because I didn't know who you were." You say, "You threatened your own father." He says, "I didn't know who you were. I thought you were some stalker that knows my family!" You say crossing your arms, your father chuckles, "Fair enough. The last time I saw you was when you were first born." Your father says, "What happened to Kitsuyo though? Why isn't he with you?" Your father asks, your breathe hitches, you swallow. "He.." you stop thinking about the words to explain to your father, "It's alright [name]. Take your time thinking there's absolutely no rush." Tighnari says, "Hah. You're good at reading body language." You compliment him, "Thanks." He says smiling at you. You take a deep breathe, "Dad, Kitsuyo, he uh.. died." You say as your voice starts shaking as you recall that time where you saw your brother's deceased corpse, "I see. I apologize for making you remember that memory." Your father apologizes, you shake your head while looking down, "No it's okay." You say. After that the group went silent, "Well this is sad.. uhm would anyone like to play a game?" Paimon suggests, "Sure." Aether agrees, you look at her, "Can I trust you to hold a game?" You ask, Paimon scoffs "Of course you can! I can be responsible when I want to!" Paimon says, "Mhm sure.. But what game is it?'' You ask, "Good 'ol Hide n' Seek!" Paimon says, "Seems fun. But I'll be watching to prevent any accidents." You say, "[Name]." Your father calls out to you, everyone looks at your father, "You don't have to do that anymore. I'm here, go have fun with your friends. You all can go to the main part of the forest, they have multiple hiding spots and it's pretty much the safest place in this forest." Your father says, "Yeah! It's alright [name]. You don't have to stress about your forest's safety for a while!" Paimon says, you slightly smile and nod, "Follow me then." You say walking to the main part of the forest.

Multiple hours has passed, you all played with the foxes until the sky turned dark.

"Phew! I'm beat!" Paimon says, "Right! It was so fun chasing the foxes. They're so full of energy! And to think [name] has the same blood with them.'' Lumine says, "What's wrong with having the same blood as them? They're Umi kitsunes as well." You say shrugging your shoulders, "Nothing! It's just you almost have no energy." Lumine says, you slightly tilt your head "Fair enough." You say, "It's just these kill joys! You guys are no fun." Lumine says pointing at Wanderer, Xiao, and Cyno. "Come on, Lumine! That's all child's play, what's the fun in that." Wanderer says, "A lot of things actually. You should try it one day, Wanderer.'' Aether suggests. "See? Even Aether agrees." Lumine says putting both her hands on her hips, Wanderer simply rolls his eyes. You fondly sigh at the bickering of your friends, however all things come to an end, and you had to leave. "Well then, I'll leave now. Aren't you all trying to go back to Teyvat though? I'm shocked why you're still here." You say, "Uhh, right, why are we still here?" Paimon says, "Well me and Aether can stay here, I don't know about you guys though." Lumine says, "Honestly speaking I feel at home here!" Tighnari says, "Probably because you're surrounded by foxes. You know! You're ears." Paimon says, Tighnari chuckles, "Probably." He replies with a smile, "Then, hopefully we can all meet tomorrow. Good night." You say walking away, "Good night, [Name]!" Paimon says, "G'night!" Lumine says as well, the others were waving at you, you come back to your father, "Let's go back home?" You smile fondly at him, "Let's go back home." He says.

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Taglist [open] - @xiaos-wif3 @riabef @klementime @swivy123

( highlighted w blue means can't tag )

[contractbound]

On Birthdays...

Months-old thoughts on my birthday (and birthdays in general), ranging from my current-day speculations on my "birth" to my relationship to the concept over the centuries. Taken from private messages and reformatted more into essay form (albeit a messy one, riddled with author's notes written today).

December 2023 ; 1459 words

In the present day, I oftentimes wonder what that day in April (I can never remember which day) means for me in specific. (Author's Note: Turns out it's the 17th. I was reminded by my friends wishing me a happy birthday on call at midnight last night.) Is it actually the day I came into existence, or does it have some other kind of significance? Since its specifically listed as my birthday, I'd assume it's the former, unless it's a symbolic "birth" in some way, shape, or form.

There's also the issue of how Tey/vat's days and months may differ from Earth's, and the accuracy of this birthday. I mean, it's probably the closest equivalent we have, since I'd imagine there's a "language barrier" (so to speak) between Tey/vat's time and Earth's time that's too severe to overcome. I probably couldn't figure out a "truer" birth date for myself even if I tried (though being canon divergent is always a possibility as well).

Also, thinking about my "birthday" within my and Gen/shin's general canon makes me wonder how I came into existence in the first place. Did I just spawn in? Did I have any form of "parent" or creator? I could be wrong, but my current theory is I simply manifested somehow (as in without the direct and intentional influence of outside sources), more or less fully grown, just obviously naive because I was new to the world. (Author's Note: Cloud Re/tainer's story has since more or less confirmed my suspicions by citing adep/ti as having been "born amongst the elemental energy that courses between heaven and earth", which aligns with my speculations. I find this information very interesting.)

Leaning fully into the topic of canon now, it's probably not that hard to guess how I might have regarded my birthdays during my time on Tey/vat. One thing I was very good at was staying in eternal stasis, specifically in a state of not caring for myself. It's not like I could even afford to care, most of the time. As such, for most of my life I had never once given my birthday any importance, and I doubt I ever acknowledged or even remembered it much, at least not without prompting from other people. (Author's Note: To an extent, I know I'm lying about not being able to afford to care for myself. I definitely couldn't afford to do so earlier in life, but after Mo/rax took me in, it was less of an issue. At times, it was even encouraged. Like I mentioned before...prompting from other people.)

Still, even if I never gave it any importance, I probably still had different views on the concept of "birthdays" depending on what stage in my life I was at.

Very early in my life (I'm not sure the exact timeline but I'm talking the first few centuries or even decades), I doubt I had any awareness of the concept of a birthday, or what significance it had. I was probably more or less aware of how much time i had existed for, but human concepts were not even on my radar.

Once I'd gotten into the habit of looking into people's dreams, I might've gotten glimpses of birthday celebrations, among other aspects of human culture. But since it would only be small zero context glimpses, I don't think that would have given me a thorough grasp on the concept anyway. I'm going to go with the assumption that I regarded birthdays with a little bit of acknowledgement and importance, but not at all towards myself because I wasn't aware that it could apply to me. My understanding, curiosity, and enthusiasm would only have been directed towards others and towards the concept itself.

Under my former god, they gave me a better look at human life and culture, and an even more potent look into their dreams. Something as specific as birthdays were likely never a focus, but would still be one of the many things I'd get to learn more about as I gained a further understanding of humans and how they worked. Unfortunately, this god was one that, at least during the war, resented human life, only seeing it as something to make an example of or use to their advantage. That's a tangent, however.

Basically, they weren't the best teacher for this kind of thing. While that phase of my life greatly deepened my understanding of dreams and anything about humanity that was revealed to me through them, the principles and beliefs drilled into me were cruel, and I acted accordingly. Overall, I'd say I gave the concept of birthdays minimal acknowledgement. The only importance given to it (if any) would probably have been according to the god's agenda. I still wouldn't be applying the concept to myself at all, and honestly my perception of time was probably completely demolished as well.

After being taken in by Mo/rax and having all the other Yak/shas with me, I was a lot more closed off towards the world. I was no longer curious or adaptable, and only wanted to focus on fulfilling my contract (i.e being nothing more than a weapon). The other Yak/shas did not share this sentiment, and were endlessly curious about mortal life. Of course, Mor/ax didn't share my sentiment either. Being our god, he had no intention to completely distance himself from the humans he had to protect and govern.

In the case of the other Yak/shas, if they knew their "birthdays", or picked some for themselves, I don't doubt they'd want to celebrate themselves and each other whenever the day came. Thinking about it, I get the feeling that if our birthdays were symbolic, chosen dates, we'd pick the days Mo/rax took us in...but that's tangential.

The others wouldn't let me off the hook until I told them my "birthday", and then when the day rolled around, wouldn't let me off the hook until I celebrated with them. I was stubborn, and considered it frivolous, but couldn't avoid them without feeling at least a little bad....so I let it happen. I was forced to acknowledge the occasion known as the birthday and give it importance. Not just as a general concept, either, but specifically mine and those of the people closest to me.

Well, I say "forced", but honestly, i came to enjoy it over time. Not that I'd ever admit it then.

As for the general concept and human customs, I closed myself off from that and stopped feeling curious. It really felt best to distance myself from mortal affairs as best as I could, and not involve myself more than necessary. Still, it was hard to completely distance myself when I had the others to forcibly involve me.

In the centuries following Fu/she's disappearance, I was completely closed off and truly lived only to fight, save for a few foolish personal endeavours. I could probably ramble on about this period of my life in general, but specifically in the context of birthdays, I don't think I have any insight.

Finally, in the time after meeting Aether...in many cases, it was like being back with the others. He developed a stubborn interest in me, and made me open my eyes to the world around me again. For the first time in centuries, I allowed my birthday to be acknowledged and celebrated.

The first time he wished me happy birthday and prepared a celebration for me, it was probably quite jarring. Honestly, I don't know if I ever got fully used to it. But I did eventually come to enjoy it. Over time, I opened up and let myself be curious again, and with Aether living regularly among mortals, I got to learn more than I ever had, with no strings attached, no ulterior motives. I doubt I ever came to fully embrace/understand mortal traditions, maybe calling them frivolous or confusing, but inside I enjoyed learning, and most of all sharing it with him.

Overall, this is probably the most (healthy) acknowledgement and importance I'd be giving to my birthday, and slowly I'd be letting myself be curious about birthdays as a general custom too. I'd also come to look forward to Aether's "birthday" as well, whether it was actually the day he came to be, or something symbolic.

I could never forget any other friends I'd let into my life, either. My social circle grew over time, and I had bridged many gaps between myself and the people around me. Most memorably, I grew closer to the other adep/ti, and occasionally joined their festivities.

Perhaps between immortals, the concept of a "birthday" works differently from how mortals go about it, but the sentiment stays the same.

[phantomoftheorpheum]

some last minute thoughts (PLL Summer School finale edition)

Hey guys, I already made my big predictions post a couple of days ago. I just wanted to get a few final thoughts in before the finale tonight. Inevitably I know I'm gonna be wrong about a lot of stuff, but I'm hoping that in the midst of that somewhere, I have speculated about the correct thing. A lot of these following thoughts are either some really far fetched stuff that crossed my mind and I just want to mention I've thought it on the off chance it's correct, but some of these are things I just forgot to include in my original predictions post. This is my final post pre-finale (unless I'm answering asks), so see y'all on the other side!

*Spoilers for PLL Summer School 2x01-2x07 + some social media possible spoilers.

Some of the concept art features Tabby's image on TV screens. This is image is taken from season 1 when Tabby is sneaking into the boy's locker rooms. I always thought it was weird that they dropped this storyline, particularly given the major themes of sexual violence and consent on the show. I went back to make sure I was not forgetting anything, but as far as I can tell, Tabby's mom yells at her about this, but then Tabby tells her about her assault, the conversation shifts, and the videos are never brought up again. There is a scene shortly after this where Tabby deletes the videos, but I did notice that she puts them in the trash on her laptop, but does not empty the trash, then is interrupted by Tyler's father showing up at her house. So... those videos could definitely still exist somewhere. I wonder, considering the concept art, if this will be used against her.

Principal Clanton - honestly I thought I'd just missed something (did I miss something?) and maybe he was dead or something because the show only ever talks about Archie and not him, but is he still around?? is he just in jail?? IDK. I guess he's in jail?

Tom Beasley - It did occur to me that Sheriff Beasley could be another "surprise, they're not really dead!" character, because much like Chip, he had a believable reason to fake his death. And he also has a direct connection to the Waters family. However, he looks legit super fucking dead in the shots we get of his "death," so that feels cheap to me, so I hope it's not this.

Deaths - I forgot to include Wes on my list of "most likely characters to die, regardless of whether they're good or bad," which is a huge oversight, because I actually think he is the most likely to die out of everyone. I fully believe he is either in on the BR plot (so very likely to die), or being framed for the BR plot (also likely to die). Also Dr. Sullivan. Good or bad, I think her days may be numbered.

The love triangle - It just very much feels like we don't have the full picture of this. They spent too much time highlighting how often Jen lies and steals for that to be nothing, imo. They spent too much time intentionally making Shawn super sweet/supportive/oblivious to just have that be "but then he punched a wall, so now he's bad." I think one (or all) of these things has to happen to close out this arc- 1. Jen is "bad" in some way, whether she is actually a villain who targeted Noa and is working with BR or even if she does really love Noa, but was paid to get back in Noa's life for some reason, her having a big secret/betrayal would make a lot of sense. 2. Shawn is dying and they want the audience to care and for this to make Noa feel extremely guilty about what she did and what terms they were left on. 3. Shawn is "bad" in some way (seems less likely than it did earlier in the season, but not impossible) is seeking revenge against Noa and/or unwittingly sold her out at some point. 4. Shawn & Jen are both "bad" and have, for some reason we do not yet understand, been in on this thing together the whole time. Jen was constantly trying to undermine Noa and Shawn's relationship because the two of them see it as a "competition" of sorts, they have a weird rivalry/working relationship. This feels very far fetched and I would be legit very surprised if it happened, but it is about the only scenario (Jen and Shawn working together to manipulate Noa) where Noa comes out of everything looking like the most innocent party. 5. Noa dies in the finale (likely due to a betrayal by one of her love interests). Again, this doesn't seem likely, but since the show keeps teasing that there's going to be the biggest PLL death ever, that would certainly qualify. ANYWAY, I think at least one of those things, if not several, feels necessary to get some closure on this arc, because right now it just feels like an open ended disconnected mess.

THE BIG DEATH - Like I said, they keep teasing this big major death of a character that has been "in Millwood" since season 1 (the phrasing of which also feels like it could be intentionally misleading). The way they're hyping it up, it sounds like they want us to think it's one of the girls. I'm not sure they actually have the guts to do that, but we'll see. I'm not going to speculate too much on what they mean (I already talked about 'most likely deaths' and even about the off chance it could be Noa, if she's betrayed by a love interest), because honestly if it's for shock value or because an actor is moving on, it could be anyone. I think there are characters it makes less sense for than others, but IDK. I'm going to stick with my death predictions based off of their role in the story, not based off of shock value or social media hype.

Anyway, can't want to see how things play out!

[aspecpplarebeautiful]

What age is it considered "normal" to start feeling romantic and sexual attraction? I've been pretty confident in being aroace, but I can't shake the "oh, in a year or two you'll start feeling it too" thoughts, and they make me really uncomfortable. I feel really comfy and safe in my labels and the thought that I'm just not old enough to experience the attraction yet is honestly terrifying. I don't want to feel like I'm lying to myself and the people around me, but at the same time I absolutely do NOT want any sort of romantic or sexual relationship with anyone. (Not sure if AGAB and that stuff matters in this context but if it does I'm AFAB).

Also can people stop making me doubt myself (not directed at anybody who'll see this)? I came out to my mom and even though she was really supportive, she had to give the little speech about how you don't have to have it figured out, ever really, and that it'd still be totally okay if I come back in the future and discover I like boys, or girls, or whoever. Which is great, but I already knew that and I had taken like at least a week preparing and had spent the last hour steeling my nerves, I had my closest friend and the only one who knew I was doing this at the time on speed dial in case I panicked and couldn't do it, and I did not need to hear it's okay for me to be wrong. Or not wrong, I guess, but for that to change. I was really not mentally prepared to be reassured about THAT particular issue and it brings back the thoughts I mentioned in the last paragraph.

Anyone else have one of their worst fears being discovering that they're allo? Not that there's anything wrong with being allo, but I feel like so much of who I am is heavily influenced by my aroace-ness and if that's gone I'd feel lost and like I've completely lied about who I am.

That was late night rants with Raven, it's almost midnight though for me so I am going to go get some sleep. Thanks for listening!

So people vary a lot on when they first experience attraction. I think I read once that on average people start experience sexual attraction around their early teens/late preteens, but some people start experiencing it younger than that, and others don't experience it for the first time until they're older, sometimes as late as their early 20's. (the article didn't mention romantic attraction, but it can also start both very early or very late.)

The thing about it though is that there is no age where it's impossible for your orientation to change, and this is why I think it's really important to trust how you feel now. And trust that if your orientation/identity does ever change, you can cross that bridge when you get to it.

I think that anxiety of suddenly being allo is something a lot of ace and aro people deal with. But if someone has a real fear of losing the ace and aro labels then that's often a sign that those labels are currently the right one. If it does ever happen where it is right for someone to move on from ace/aro labels, it's actually usually a positive experience. So basically it feels wrong, because for you it is wrong.

The older you get, the less likely that also starts to become. It's never impossible but it is rarer to change orientations into adulthood.

It is a big problem that young people often aren't taken as seriously with their labels or told they'll change their minds. If it helps though, Anon, I know a lot of ace/aro people who started IDing that way as teens and even pre-teens and still use those labels now well into adulthood. Sometimes people do legitimately just know. So try and keep that in mind when people are being sceptical or telling you'll change your mind. That's just simply not always the case.

All the best, Anon! Take care.

[everlywindex]

TODAY. MUTANT MAYHEM TEASER TRAILER. OUT TODAY. I AM SO FUCKING HYPED.

i have been so fucking hyped ever since i saw the concept art. with rottmnt's cancellation i've been praying that the creators behind this new iteration will be able to tell their full creative vision, and i plan to be with this new iteration every step of the way on that journey.

i've been watching this movie's leaks closely (due to the fact that i am a tmnt hungry autism gremlin who needs every scrap of knowledge on this movie possible) and today i want to lay out all my personal thoughts, opinions and speculation before the teaser!

soo yeah let's get this show on the road!

1. i am a bit frightened of mr. rogen but damn does the crew look promising

at first glance the producer of sausage party also producing a tmnt movie seems like something straight out of the nightmare dimension and i can't say that i've seen rogen's other work therefore i can't reassure anyone that sausage party is an outlier and the rest of his work is actually genius or anything like that.

HOWEVER it does seem that he's gonna be taking mutant mayhem pretty seriously! he, along with the director & a co-producer, have been stated to be huge fans and this is supposedly a big passion project for them that's been in the works for years

additionally, it seems to be very focused on the "teenage" aspect of tmnt, shown in part by how they've decided to get actual teenage voice actors for the turtles. it seems to be more of a coming of age character driven movie than a typical action blockbuster. so it's certainly not just a cash grab to make money off of the tmnt brand or anything, there is heart here

i'm not familiar with evan goldberg or james weaver either, but jeff rowe........ not only has he worked on gravity falls, but he also co-directed the mitchells vs the machines. another movie that blurs the lines between 2d and 3d animation phenomenally and masterfully handles complicated family dynamics as well as a neurodivergent teenage queer protagonist

so honestly his place on this project already has me very excited and while i haven't watched gravity falls yet, anyone else who's seen mitchells-machines knows damn well we're in good hands

the movie has also been described as "left of center" as well which means hopefully anyone who complained about the rise turtles looking too non-binary or whatever and is looking forward to a "more classic, less woke" iteration will be in for a very rude awakening. Lmao

the animation style is supposed to mimic doodles and sketchy art styles, a lot like mitchells, so you can see that influence! you can even see sketch lines and whatnot on the leaked turtle designs which is super fucking cool and i'm so excited to see it in action tonight!!

2. donatello takes minecraft hunger games (for the first time in history!)

the turtles themselves are also, as i mentioned earlier, gonna be played by actual teenagers. the rumored casting involves three dudes i've never heard of as leo, raph and mikey so i can't really speak on them in depth even though they look promising!

but i think we've all recognized nicolas cantu as gumball and, even though i myself haven't seen TAWOG, i think he could be a pretty good fit? honestly i'd just be glad to have donnie's voice actor be the same guy who hunted down james charles in a minecraft tournament and promised to eliminate the middle class on smplive(?) just because then people will be able to animate mm!donnie to that audio and it'll be glorious

i honestly hope that those slightly unhinged gamer vibes carry over into donnie's actual character, possibly as a combo of influence from nicolas cantu himself and maybe as a remnant of rise!donnie. given that he was the best donatello by far, fight me, i hope they take the whole "borrowing elements from previous iterations to make this like a cool mega mashup combo of them" idea that was discussed, and give mm!donnie a lot of rise!donnie influence. that would just be so rad i think but maybe i'm just biased w rise!donnie being my favorite tmnt character of all time and all

3. SO ABOUT THAT LEAKED CHARACTER STUFF

THE DESIGNS ARE AWESOME i know a lot of people were mixed on them and i was too but they've been really growing on me!

i absolutely loved donnie's design right from the start though. he just has a lot of neat little details that set him apart from the others! his glasses, his little phone, his headphones (which i pray are noise cancelling) his weapon having jujutsu kaisen and sailor moon stickers on it HELL YEAH !!

i was kinda bummed out when they took his snaggletooth because i thought it was cute but i can see why they removed it, maybe to stay away from like the kind of "buck toothed nerd" stereotype that they might have felt they were getting a bit too close to. What they had better not fucking remove? The autism. given that the entire mitchell family is highly autistic coded though i am trusting jeff rowe not to fuck this up

speaking of neurodivergency, mikey had adhd in both 2012 and rise and they had better fucking keep that as well!

i also heard some rumors that 2012 raph and donnie had adhd and ocd respectively and i haven't been able to find any evidence for those but like.. y'know it'd still be cool to see those included in mutant mayhem as well! especially since, bringing up mitchells-machines again, aaron canonically had mild ocd so it's not like it would be out of the realm of possibility for them to give that to a turtle

honestly i love donnie's design so much bc of the little details it has that tell ya more about him in comparison to the others. i kinda wish mikey kept the stickers on his shell kinda like rise!mikey had, and i also would've liked it if raph still had some bandaids here and there like in his concept art design. of course i am mourning leo's braces just like the rest of us but at least mikey gets to keep em. i'm not even 100% sure that he's lost the braces in the first place though so we'll just see in the teaser trailer if he still has em or not!

of course though i'm always down to see an iteration give the characters designs reminescent of the turtle species they're directly based on (like rottmnt giving each turtle their own respective turtle species, and then giving them features respective of that species, like leo's red and yellow streaks, donnie's soft shell, mikey's pretty orangey-gold dapples, and raph's spikes) mostly because it's just cool and spices up the designs! so while the mutant mayhem turtles don't seem to have anything indicative of their species it'd just... It'd be awesome y'know. I'd like it

also in terms of the action figure leaks i think they're cute but i especially love the splinter design we got. He just looks so Dad and i really hope this iteration can stray further from the stereotypes and the "yikes" aspects of his character a bit more. i have faith in y'all!

i don't have much to say on the leaked character personality descriptions other than people on the internet will rlly just believe anything NO raph will NOT be canonically using he/she pronouns guys. paramount and nickelodeon are not fucking brave enough for that. i will still be he/she'ing raph throughout the entirety of this essay though because it is my favorite technically founded by canon hc that we have been presented with

also i haven't watched good will hunting. but now i feel like i should. i need to understand that little purple turtle more

4. i think if they give mikey a gun the entire plot will be over in two minutes

there are a lot of theories on how this movie's story is gonna go!

one is that the boys are gonna get cloaking brooches (like in rise) in order to disguise themselves as humans and attend school. and iii kinda doubt that! mostly because of their voice actors. given that the turtles are presumably biological brothers in this iteration that means either they'd all be poc or none of them would be. the former would be odd since two of their voice actors are white and therefore you'd have white actors playing poc characters, and the latter would be just as bad since the turtles are infamously blasian coded and it would just be straight up whitewashing

i think casting white actors as blasian coded characters might in itself be fairly questionable but if anything it pretty much solidifies that we won't be seeing the turtles' human forms in this movie because that would make it.. even more visibly questionable to people who may not have looked into it as much initially, which the crew would want to avoid i think. so if they attend school it'll either be openly as mutants or under some kind of disguise

whatever the case though i think sending the turtles to school is a pretty new and fun concept!

i really hope we get that one scene people theorize could happen where donnie puts on his headphones and triggers an action scene with the action synced to the music. that'd be fucking lit

i think the movie will probably end on a note similar to luca where the turtles are able to come out of hiding and there's a "some people? they'll never accept them. but some will. and they seem to know how to find the good ones." kind of message. the good ones in question being probably april, casey, keno? God i hope keno's in this

maybe the ending is letting mutants as a whole have a chance to be more involved in society. they were previously hiding in shadows but the turtles' heroic actions opens things up for them to start being more accepted? idk that's just my thinking

5. guys i'm sorry but that storyboard is so fake

i'm not going to go into it in detail since someone already did that in this post

but yeah that storyboard is most likely not at all real. which also means we sadly may not be getting a black plus sized april for this movie. it would be awesome! but it may just.. not be happening

so like if the teaser comes out and april looks nothing like that, then uh.. y'know. don't freak out

6. speculation on the teaser and marketing going forward

so i think that since this is gonna be a more character driven teen movie than an action hero movie with high tense dramatic stakes and whatnot, the teaser is gonna reflect that. i remember when they talked about a demo video that they made to showcase the art style (that was never released to the public,) where raph had one of her brothers record her skateboarding into a store and breaking something before they both ran outta there laughing and i think that. If anything? the trailer could be kinda reminescent of that

not literally that, of course, but something similarly modern teenager-y and goofy that would establish the characters' personalities and family dynamics well

maybe something like mikey doing a vlog where he talks about his friends and family members and we get to see moments of him bothering them for interviews or content for his vlog. and like you can just imagine all of the short clips and shenanigans that would come from that and how it could lead to a fun format for a teaser or even full trailer y'know! especially considering what we know of the movie's themes

one more thing i want to say is that god i just really hope this movie takes the puss in boots 2 route with its marketing. it'd just be so funny i wanna see the turtles making tiktoks to promote the movie where they prank each other and get into trouble and shit like it'd just be so goofy!!

and uhh... Yeah! i think that's all i have to say! these are all my thoughts lined up and written out and i'm excited to look back on this after the trailer, and possibly even after the movie, just to see how like.... things were before. Y'know.

but yeah hashtag i was here for the first trailer drop on the seth rogen tmnt iteration 🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀

see you guys after the kid's choice awards!!!

[dalmascan-requiem]

Dalmascan Requiem Moments: Exhaustion

(Vierapril Day 10 - Illness)

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It's not often that the two Viera gets sick, so Gale falls ill, Laurent is at a loss on what to do.

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Read on AO3 or keep reading after the jump

content warnings: none

Check out the main Vierapril 2023 post here

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For Day 10 of Vierapril, I'm using the free day to tackle the other Day 9 prompt, 'illness'. I'd been thinking about this one for a while--about how one of the boys would react if the other got sick or didn't feel well. Ironically, once I actually began writing it, it went in a different direction than how I thought it would.

This fic takes place before Confessions, which might explain some of the awkwardness between the two near the end lol.

Laurent silently slips into the apartment. "I'm back," he announces, unsure if anyone else is around. If Gale was there, he didn't want to startle the Viera--surprising an assassin was never good for one's health.

While he didn't get a response, fuchsia eyes quickly fell on Gale's sleeping figure on the sofa. Ah, he's back. The light-haired Rava had been away for a while on a job, so Laurent was happy to see him home safe and sound.

It takes a moment for Laurent to realize something's amiss as he looks back over to Gale. He's such a light sleeper, how has he not woken up by now? Laurent was used to Gale falling asleep wherever he pleased, but he was also used to him waking up at the slightest noise. Something is wrong…

"Eir?" Laurent carefully moves closer to the sofa and quickly sees why Gale hasn't stirred. The Viera's face is flushed, and his breathing was slightly labored. Is… he sick? Laurent furrows his brow as he bends down to feel Gale's forehead. I've never seen him sick before… but he certainly has a fever…

The dark-haired Viera stands up and places his hands on his hips. "What am I supposed to do," he mumbles to no one in particular. He knew he couldn't just leave Gale on the sofa, but Laurent knew little and less about caring for someone that was ill--the Viera of the village they grew up in rarely got sick, and a Wood Warder getting sick in the wilderness was likely a death sentence anyway.

After a moment, Laurent lets out a small sigh. "Might as well get you to bed," he says as he moves to pick Gale up. Gale still doesn't stir, and Laurent frowns at the Viera in his arms. He must be really sick… this isn't good at all.

Laurent carefully carries Gale to his room, silently cursing not having the foresight to open the door before picking him up. After softly placing the Rava on the bed, he quickly leaves the bedroom to pace anxiously around the living room.

Whatever illness that was afflicting Gale was more than a simple cold, and Laurent had no idea what to make of it. To him, the light-haired Viera was always the perfect picture of health--even when it had been who knows how long since they last got some sleep or a good meal.

To see Gale like this was troubling. What if he was deathly sick, and needed medical attention? What if he has an infection of some sort? What if he ingested some poison? It's not as if he could ask Gale what he's had to eat recently--

Laurent stops pacing and sighs again, pinching the bridge of his nose. Panicking is getting me nowhere. I need to go get some help.

~

The dark-haired Rava glares at a pot on the stove. Why does Gemna have to be like this… Laurent had gone to the Bangaa to help figure out what was wrong with Gale--but after hurriedly explaining what was wrong, she simply laughed at him.

"What, have you never gotten sick before? The boy's just exhausted, Laurent. He's been out on a difficult job for three weeks. Now go home and take care of him!" Laurent had tried to argue that this had to be something worse than being a bit tired, but Gemna simply (and forcefully) pushed him out the door, mentioning she'd bring something by later.

Gemna did come by later, though all she brought was a pot of broth and some fruit. "Just don't burn the place down when you heat up the broth," she said with a chuckle, and the elderly Bangaa was gone as quickly as she came, ignoring Laurent's protests.

"I'm not that bad at cooking," Laurent mumbled angrily at the broth, which responded with a low gurgle as bubbles began to float to the top. Should be warm enough. Probably. He carefully ladled some of the broth into a bowl, then made his way back to Gale's room, only to find the other Viera up and about.

"Eir, you're awake--what are you doing?" Laurent frowns at Gale, who appeared to be shakily changing into another outfit. Whatever it was, it wasn't something that implied he was going to stay home and recover.

"Ah, Reyna… you really should knock before coming in." Gale flashes Laurent a wide smile, but his raspy voice suggests he is not feeling better. "A moment earlier and I would have been completely n--" The light-haired Rava cuts himself off with a frown when he notices Laurent holding a bowl. "What is that? Did… did you cook something?"

"No… Gemna made you soup. Because you're sick." Laurent sets the bowl down, then crosses his arms. "Go back to bed."

"I'm fine, I need to--"

"Lay back down."

"Look, I have--"

"Lay down."

"Fine." Gale wavers a bit on his feet before sitting down on the bed. "Perhaps I could use a bit more rest."

Why is he pushing himself so hard? The two were not lacking for work or money--there was always a need for those that can discreetly handle problems in the royal city. A day or two off wouldn't put them out on the street. Granted, there was never a day off when protecting the jungle.

"Eir, you didn't even wake up when I brought you to your room. I was worried." Laurent sighs and sits on the foot of the bed. "You can't work if you can't even stand up."

"I… I know you're right." Gale rubs his head before looking up at Laurent, emerald eyes meeting his gaze. "I suppose I am too used to pushing through it. I will rest. Thank you, Reyna."

Gale flashes a genuine smile before suddenly looking away. "You said you brought me to the room, though? How…?"

"How else? I carried you in, you weren't awake."

"Oh! I-I see." Gale runs his hand through his hair, pointedly looking anywhere but at Laurent. "I apologize for the trouble."

Laurent waves the apology away. "It's no trouble, provided you rest now." As if to make his point, the Viera picks up the bowl of broth and hands it to Gale. "Eat the soup Gemna brought and get back to sleep. I don't need another scare like earlier today."

"You didn't put anything else in the broth, did you? No secret spices to 'make it better'?"

"No. Why? Would you like me to--"

"No no, it's fine! I'm sure Gemna… already added it." Gale quickly takes the bowl from Laurent. "Thank you, again. For everything."

"It is no trouble, Eir." The dark-haired Rava gets up from the bed but stops short of leaving the room. "...I will leave the door to my room open tonight. If you need anything, call out, I'll get it--and no, I will not hear about how it is 'unnecessary' or anything of the like." Laurent turns back to Gale, who was about to object. "Necessary or not, allow me to help."

Gale is silent for a moment, before letting out an exasperated sigh. "Very well, I will. I doubt I will need anything, but I appreciate it nonetheless."

"Good." Laurent gives a small smile, then heads out of the room. "Rest well."

~

Gale looks down at the bowl of soup. It looks normal enough… I don't think he put anything 'extra' in it. He takes a careful sip as he hears some noise from the kitchen. Turning his ears a bit towards the door, Gale could hear Laurent quietly cursing about broth getting everywhere.

He must have left the heat on… At least he didn't burn the place down. Gale chuckles as he settles back into the bed. I suppose I'll need to rest.

Gale was no stranger to pushing himself a bit too much when working, but never had it gotten to this point. He barely remembers getting back home, and woke up several hours later in his bed. Even now it's hard for him to stay standing too long without feeling dizzy and shaky--it was clear he took things too far this time.

Laying down and staring at the ceiling, Gale sighs. If I try to leave anytime soon Reyna will probably lock me in the apartment. Still, he was thankful for the other Rava's help--rough as it was, it was clear Laurent was doing his best to care for him.

I feel awful for making him worry, though. He hadn't expected such a reaction from the dark-haired Viera, though it oddly felt nice that he was concerned in the first place. I'll have to take it easy for a bit, so he has no reason for concern. It's not so bad to take a day or two off, is it?

[bigskydreaming]

The boy who refused to die, the boy who refused to stay dead, and the boy who refused to see it all end? Now we just need ones for Steph and Damian.

Hmmm, have to think on this.

My gut thought for Steph is something along the lines of 'the girl who refused to stay silent' because of the correlations between 'saying spoilers' to foil her father the Cluemaster's plans, and also because there's the refusal to let others have the last word in whether she got to be Spoiler, got to be Robin, got to remain a vigilante after Bruce told her she was fired, not to mention the way this would play into her not dying (or remaining dead) when Black Mask killed her.

I'm not totally sure I'm happy with this though as refused to stay silent does go hand in hand with the boy who refused to stay dead, like they parallel each other very closely and potentially make them less distinct - BUT I do see Jason and Steph as having a lot of commonalities in their character and story arcs, and also I'm always arguing that the Robins don't all actually NEED to be wholly unique or distinct and the very things that make them all Robin or lend themselves to their being Robin make a case for how much all of them overlap to some degree or another.

I'd have to think on that some more, because I think that COULD work but also, alternatively maybe something along the lines of 'the girl who refused to be someone else's message' (just phrased in a more pithy way) could work well for Steph. She wasn't Robin to be Bruce's replacement for Tim no matter what he viewed that as, she didn't exist to be the cautionary tale War Games tried to reframe her as, etc, etc. Like one thing Steph has never been is a passive participant.

I do think I like the latter better, I just need to think of a better encapsulation of that idea, and how to make it into the same kind of parable-style narrative as I did Dick, Jason and Tim in that post.

As for Damian, again I'd have to work on the phrasing, but I think it'd be something along the lines of 'the boy who refused to let someone else choose'....like, Damian's big theme is he is the determiner of his own destiny, he lays his life's trajectory, no one else. He literally came into the world laden with so many different peoples' expectations for who he was and what he should be like or do just by virtue of the legacies he embodied at birth, he had so many people throughout his life try to choose for him, tell him who he had to be, what his pre-existing actions or his destiny made him versus what he could become by his own choices....

For Damian, the summation of who-he-is-as-Robin, IMO, is as Robin, he claimed for himself the wings he needed to disembark from the course others laid for him and chart his own path through life. Where just as Dick used Robin to keep from being tethered to one single city, one single place and point in time when before he'd flown all across the world and in the aftermath of his parents' murder others tried to cage him to just Gotham and say who he was now was the sum of his existence and how everyone would ever see him now, that who he’d been before no longer had meaning....Damian used Robin to keep from being tethered to one single trajectory, one destiny, not even detaching from one specific route onto another specific one, but rather just making Robin his springboard freeing him from being bound to any SINGLE direction, period.

As Robin, Damian found space and breathing room to not even have to know DEFINITIVELY who and what he was by that point in his life, but gained a greater awareness, a permissiveness from himself TO himself to just....not have all the answers yet. To know that he had room still to grow, that he didn't have to settle on anything definite for the rest of his life. That who he was now didn't have to be an anchor weighing him in place from that point on but he-as-Robin was free to still keep to the skies and not feel any need to touch down anywhere until he'd flown far enough and long enough that he was comfortable putting his feet down and making a stand somewhere by HIS choice, with intent.

So that's the general shape of what I'd imagine for Steph and Damian in the context of that post, compared to the boy who refused to die, the boy who refused to dead, and the boy who refused to let it all end. Those just need a little workshopping to find a more condensed and vivid imagery comparable to the others.

[mayasdeluca]

If people are fans and haven't seen all the episodes then that's on them not on others who have.

Here's my overview of the season and then maybe I will send some episode specific points.

The season was good but I felt the story to be disjointed but I guess that's the way this show works. Season 2 was all about getting the restaurant opened, season 3 the restaurant is open, now what? The show also likes to try new ways of story telling similar to how Buffy had the musical episode, and the episode without background music and the episode without dialogue (probably 3 of their best episodes). The episodes all seemed like standalone this season with some working and some not.

As much as I love Tina, season 3 is too late to give her a centric backstory episode. Give it to her in season 2 when she went to culinary school. Show how the Berzotto boys always had faith in her.

Abby Elliot and Jamie Lee Curtis deserve Emmys for their performances but if they submit as a comedy, I doubt they will actually win.

My favorite season 2 episode was Forks so I loved seeing the Ever crew back and Richie and Jessica better get together and he brings her to the wedding.

Now Carmy, he was way too extra all season. I understand some of the non-negotiables but changing the menu every night is ridiculous. Using the most expensive ingredients when you're in debt is stupid. His stubbornness got old quick and I would've walked if I was Sydney. His apologies are no longer valid. Hopefully after confronting Joel McHale, he realizes he needs to be less like him and more like Chef Terry. Also get his head out of his ass and apologize to Claire.

As bad as Carmy is, Sydney is worse. Carmy wears his jerkness on his sleeve but Sydney is silently annoyed. Like girl, say something, it's supposedly your business too. But also you JUST started cooking, you got some ego if you think you deserve to be a Michelin star chef right out of the gate. Walk before you run.

As fun as the Faks are, they got kind of annoying. Less is more with them.

I don't understand the old guy selling the beef sandwiches. He's sloppy, disorganized, dropped out of culinary school last season, what is his point?

That's it for now. I'd love to read your thoughts.

Very true, it's been some time now!

I definitely agree with most of what you're saying. I think overall Season 3 was underwhelming because what really happened? The restaurant opens and then what, like you said? Nothing big happened at all. The big storylines for the season remained left open. The fact that Sydney still hadn't decided on the partnership situation and Carmy didn't confront Claire at all despite her being mentioned or shown in flashbacks almost every episode was incredibly frustrating to me. I feel like Sugar, Richie and Marcus are the only ones who had relevant plots or growth/development this season.

The thing that bothered me with the Tina centric episode is that I wish they would have connected it to the present otherwise what was the point like you said of doing it now? To have a backstory episode like that randomly felt odd but I found parts of it very enjoyable, like the scene of her and Mikey was really nice. I thought Ayo did a good job directing too. But we see Tina struggling in the present this season and then we get this episode of her and it shows how she likes a routine and everything and how she ended up becoming part of the restaurant and her connection to Mikey but then how does that affect her in the present? It felt like after that episode she was just...fine but it didn't make sense why when it was all past stuff.

Sugar's episode giving birth was incredible and I agree the scenes with her and her mom were amazing and deserve awards. I can't believe Carmy never showed up to support her and even after the fact once she was out of the hospital?? They completely missed the mark with everything regarding Carmy this season to me.

It felt like they had no idea which direction to really go in with Carmy. He was definitely extra like you said with the menu stuff and using expensive product which was recipe for disaster and not being open to any of Sydney's ideas. It felt like a step back from the progress they made last season. Also the fact that he randomly quit smoking? And we had to see him obnoxiously chewing gum all season but he didn't make any moves to fix anything in his personal life. Didn't approach Claire, didn't support his sister, continued to be dysfunctional with Richie, things were constantly awkward with Sydney...I just don't get it.

I have my issues with Sydney too because like you said, she should speak up for herself and it feels like sometimes she will draw the line with Carmy but not in the way she should. I honestly feel like next season they are going to have her take that other guy's offer and she and Carmy will be at separate restaurants and Carmy will have to see what it's like without her. I'm curious if Luca will work with Sydney or Carmy if they have him back. But it's just going to make things even more weird.

The Faks got on my nerves pretty quickly especially as there just continued to be more of them? John Cena being on the show was so random lol and it just feels like they were too involved this season when not enough important stuff was happening instead.

I'm not sure of the point of the beef sandwich guy either. I really like Marcus even if his storyline was sad to watch this season. I like his dynamics with Sydney and Carmy...the legacy conversation scene between the three of them was really good. I also really liked Richie this season and seeing him with his daughter. I also hope he can bring Jess to the wedding since it's so sad that the ex is basically making him go.

Also the first episode was so confusing/weird to me how there was basically no dialogue. I didn't like that for a first episode of the season since I didn't know what was going on or what time frame it was supposed to be or anything.

I'm curious what Season 4 will be like but I'm hoping stuff actually happens and it's better than this season. I wonder if they'll do something with the bad review and if the Uncle is going to pull out on them like he said he would. It feels like there's so many things that can still happen since not much happened at all this season 😂

[mearnsblog]

"Moana" (2016)

I've written many, many words over the course of this project. Probably too many words! But while I've been slow to pick up the pace on watching the movies during the past couple years (life is busy, OK?), I've almost always been quick to put digital pen to paper after I've actually taken the time to put them on. The process of retaining information and fresh thoughts typically works best that way.

"Moana," however, was an outlier. As I sit here now, it has been almost two months since we watched it. As always, part of the difficulty was finding time, but on this occasion, I had a little bit of writer's block. The reason? I love "Moana" so much that it's hard to adequately express it. I like plenty of movies, but it's unusual for me to have such an overwhelmingly strong and positive reaction. I might be brief, but I am going to try.

"Moana" doesn't waste any time. It grabs you mere seconds after the Disney production card ends, with a striking sequence explaining the backstory of Te Fiti, Maui, and Te Kā, concluding with the introduction of the island and our main characters. It does a remarkably efficient job of setting up, well, just about everything in this movie, and it instantly draws you to Tala, the narrator of this prologue as well as Moana's grandmother.

This is a brilliant setup considering how important Tala is to kicking off the plot of "Moana" itself. Our title character, of course, has her song about "wanting adventure in the great wide somewhere," as Belle would say, and make no mistake: "How Far I'll Go" is an A+. It's not hard to understand why Moana is so driven to explore while still wanting to live up to expectations as the heir-in-waiting to lead the village one day. Further, it's not hard to understand why she has such a strong bond with her grandma. John Musker and Ron Clements of "Beauty and the Beast," "Little Mermaid," and "Aladdin" fame directed "Moana" and it shows.

The relationship is obviously special within the movie, and I'm also not going to act like I'm an unbiased observer here. Tala is very different from my own grandmothers in her own way, but that kind of pure connection of love and trust across generations? Naturally, I relate to that. I would not be who I am today without Grandma Mearns, whose love of singing and cooking was dwarfed only by her only love of family, and Grandma Robinson (Grandmar), who lived just a town over and was there for just about everything that my sister and I did. She stepped up in a truly immeasurable way as we grew up without my dad, and she never gave a second thought to any of it. In short, grandma stories have a very high probability of getting to me, hence the difficulty in putting all my "Moana" thoughts all into words!

"Moana" has even more going for it. The Lin-Manuel Miranda/Opetaia Foa'i/Mark Mancina soundtrack is full of hits, it's really cool to see the stories of Te Fiti and Te Kā develop over the course of the movie, and I don't think I could have imagined liking The Rock as Maui as much as I do. On Maui in particular, it's a great role that allows The Rock to act as the wild card who can generously be described as skeptical of a mortal, and yet soon grow to consider her a friend. And Maui is far from a flawless character in his own right, with his arrogance gradually skewered until he can be worthy of his hook's full powers again.

I'd also be remiss if I didn't mention that my love for "The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker" plays a significant role in my fondness for "Moana." I don't play video games even remotely as much as I did when I was a teenager. As I got more and more into baseball, that left less time for solo gaming, aside from multiplayer ones like the ones in the "Smash Bros." and "Mario Kart" franchises. I think "Wind Waker" might have been the last video game that brought me all the way down the rabbit hole. The adventure was as great as any Zelda title, and I'll never forget the incredible feeling of sailing around the islands of flooded Hyrule on the King of Red Lions or its moving conclusion. The parallels are obvious to Moana and Maui's journey around these Polynesian islands, and the story even includes an underwater realm to briefly explore, too. The endings are all tied up in embracing the role of explorers as well!

I think I've gushed enough. "Moana" forever. It is one of the best Disney films that I will ever see.

Best song: "How Far I'll Go"

Updated ranking

1. “Beauty and the Beast” (review) 2. "Moana" 3. “The Lion King” (review) 4. “The Little Mermaid” (review) 5. “Cinderella” (review) 6. “Mulan” (review) 7. “Tangled” (review) 8.  “Wreck-It Ralph” (review) 9. “Frozen” (review) 10. “Sleeping Beauty” (review) 11. "Big Hero 6" (review) 12. “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” (review) 13. “Aladdin” (review) 14. “The Emperor’s New Groove” (review) 15. “One Hundred and One Dalmatians” (review) 16. “The Jungle Book” (review) 17. “Lilo & Stitch” (review) 18. “The Great Mouse Detective” (review) 19. “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” (review) 20. “Fantasia” (review) 21. “The Rescuers Down Under” (review) 22. “Tarzan” (review) 23. “The Princess and the Frog” (review) 24. “The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh” (review) 25. “Alice in Wonderland” (review) 26. “Lady and the Tramp” (review) 27. “Pinocchio” (review) 28. "Zootopia" (review) 29. “Robin Hood” (review) 30. “Oliver & Company” (review) 31. “Hercules” (review) 32. “Pocahontas” (review) 33. “The Rescuers” (review) 34. “The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad” (review) 35. “Bambi” (review) 36. “Peter Pan” (review) 37. “The Aristocats” (review) 38. “Fantasia 2000″ (review) 39. “Dumbo” (review) 40. “Bolt” (review) 41. “Meet the Robinsons” (review) 42. “Treasure Planet” (review) 43. “Chicken Little” (review) 44. “Fun and Fancy Free” (review) 45. “The Fox and the Hound” (review) 46. “The Sword in the Stone” (review) 47. “Atlantis: The Lost Empire” (review) 48. “The Three Caballeros” (review) 49. “Make Mine Music” (review) 50. “Brother Bear” (review) 51. “Winnie the Pooh” (review) 52. “Dinosaur” (review) 53. “The Black Cauldron” (review) 54. “Saludos Amigos” (review) 55. “Melody Time” (review) 56. “Home on the Range” (review)