#in front of the person who arguably knows her best out of anyone. and then when she succeeds to get to smugly reveal it to his face

[ofstoriesandstardust]

grease is the word (b.r.b)

note: this is for @gretagerwigsmuse and @cottagecori who heard me say "bradley bradshaw as danny zuko" and then let me run wild with it. technically part of like father, like daughter but does not have to be read in the context of same mistakes at all

summary: Bradley gets the role of Danny Zuko in the school play. That's it, that's the thought.

warnings: swearing, a dash of angst, kissing

word count: 4.3k

“So I’m going to be in the school musical.” Bradley says, lifting himself up to sit on the kitchen counter. “We’re doing Grease, and they needed someone to play Danny Zuko-“

You choke on your fried rice. 

Slider pats you on the back as you croak out a “What?”

“You’ve never shown interest in theater before now.” Carole says with a raised eyebrow. 

“Yeah, well I’m friends with one of the assistant directors-“

“He means he has a crush on her.” Your Dad clarifies with a wink. A goofy grin appears on his face, his cheeks turning a dusty pink as he shrugs. 

“Maybe a little. Anyways, Janie is in my AP Euro class and asked if I could come play the piano for rehearsals. They didn’t have anyone audition for Danny and asked if I could read some of the lines and- well, I guess now I’m gonna be playing Danny.” 

The thought of Bradley in a leather jacket, his curls greased back, singing Greased Lightning- you could swoon. 

“Well, that’s exciting.” Carole says. “I’m excited to come see you. The show is early November, right?”

He nods as his Mom walks over to the calendar on the wall. “The 4th through the 6th.”

“We’ll be there.”

-

“So I heard your boyfriend is gonna be in the school musical.”

You sigh as you cringe, not even turning around to face the person you know is behind you. 

Arguably, Sienna was the person closest to you. You’d say she was your best friend, someone you spent the most time with.

“Whose boyfriend?”

And then there’s that. Sienna had a whole separate friend group from you, people she’d probably say were her best friends. 

Sienna slides into the desk next to you, turning to face the twins, Madison and Matt.

“Heard Bradshaw’s in the play.” Lexi says, sitting down at the desk opposite to you. 

“Her boyfriend.” Sienna says, throwing you a smirk. 

“He’s not- Shut up Sienna, you’re gonna get me in trouble.” You mumble, watching Bradley and Janie enter the classroom of your home room. 

“Ohhh, I see.” Sienna says, flipping her long hair over her shoulder as she turns back in her seat.

“Do you want to come to the mall with us after school?” Madison asks, leaning behind you as Ben waves, sitting down behind Lexi.

“She can’t. She’s not supposed to be driving with people who don’t have their license.” Bradley says, sliding into the seat in front of you as he tugs off his backpack. 

“I have my permit.” Madison argues as her brother shoots a “No one asked you, Bradshaw.”

“Hey, your Dad’s deploying soon, right?” Ben whispers, scooting his desk closer to you. “How long?”

“Six weeks, supposedly.”

“You always gotta multiply it by two.” Sienna jokes.

“Or divide by half, if he gets himself injured again.” Bradley says, though he doesn’t turn to face the group. 

“I’m disregarding the fact that you even said anything.” 

“So… the mall?”

“She has to run lines with me, I need the extra practice.” Bradley says with a wink, finally facing the group.

“Bradley-“

“Alright, alright, that’s enough of the chatter. I know it’s Monday and you all want to gossip about your weekends but let’s save that for after morning announcements.” Mr. Parker, your home room teacher interrupts, dropping his bag on the desk.

A note appears in your peripheral vision, and you take it discreetly from Sienna before Bradley can notice. 

Mall with Madison and me?

You sigh, scrawling back Better not, Bradley’ll tattle. 

“Fucking Bradshaw.” Matt whispers. 

-

“Here comes your boyfriend.” 

Sienna flinches as you slam your locker shut. “Cut that shit out, would you Sienna? He’s not my boyfriend.”

“Yet.” 

“Hey ladies.” Bradley says, coming up behind you, leaning on the lockers. “You ready to go?” 

“Hey Bradley.” A senior girl you’ve only ever seen in the hallway, appears in your vision as Bradley straightens. 

“Hey Clara.” He says, nodding to the two girls behind her who are giggling. “Ava, Tracy.”

“So, I hear you’re gonna be playing Danny Zuko in the school musical.” 

He nods, running a hand through his hair. “Yeah, I am.” 

“Well, you must be so nervous.” Clara says, shouldering her way in between you and Bradley. Your jaw drops as Sienna steadies you, April appearing over her shoulder. 

“What the fuck dude.” Sienna mutters as you roll your shoulders, turning to face the pair.

“Well, kinda. I’ve never been in a play before so..” Bradley trails off, eyebrows threading together as the three of you give him unimpressed looks. 

“Well, if you ever want anyone to read lines with, I can play Sandy…” Clara says, hand landing on his bicep. 

“Well, I appreciate the sentiment but I, uh, already have someone to run lines with.” Bradley says, pointing to you. Clara turns as if this is the first time she’s seen you. 

“Oh.” She wrinkles her nose. “Well, if you change your mind, just let me know.” 

Clara isn’t even out of earshot before Sienna starts fake gagging. 

“Vomit, Bradshaw.” April says, shaking her head. “That was gross.” 

“Whatever, April.” Bradley says, setting his hands on your shoulder. “C’mon, let’s get out of here.”

-

“So why do you even need help running lines in the first place? You’ve been in the play for like, five minutes.” You ask as you sit down at the Bradshaw kitchen table. 

“I’m already two rehearsals behind, I’ve got to catch up.” Bradley says, opening the fridge door. 

“Who’s playing Sandy?” 

“Do you know Lacy Thomas?” 

“The freshman?” You ask, raising an eyebrow. “Yeah, cause that’s not gonna start any drama.”

Bradley shuts the door of the fridge, revealing two Cokes. “See, you’re already preparing me. I don’t even know any of the drama gossip.” 

You roll your eyes. “I think you’ll do just fine.” 

He sighs, sitting down across from you. “Yeah, Janie said the same thing, but I don’t know, I’m kinda nervous about some of the scenes. What if I slip on the bleachers during Summer Nights?”

Bradley slides the scene he wants to rehearse across the table to you as he talks. “Bradley, this one of the most memorable scenes from the movie, are you sure you need my help?” You ask. 

The look he gives you is pleading. “Please humor me here, Danny is a bit of a sleaze and that is so not how I was raised and I’m just-” 

“Fine, Bradshaw. God.” You exclaim, rolling your eyes, even though deep down you’re flattered Bradley is entrusting you with this. “I’ll help you alright?” 

“Okay, here goes nothing.” He says, clearing his throat. 

“W-what are you doing here? I- I thought you were going back to Australia!”

“We had a change of plans.” You mimic, doing your best to channel Olivia Newton-John. 

“I can’t- I mean, that’s cool baby, you know how it is. Rocking and rolling and whatnot- I can not do this.” He says with a groan. “Why is he so gross?”

“I think that’s the point, B.” 

He groans again, collapsing into the table. “I give up.” 

-

You feel giddy almost, walking up the steps of the school. You should be just right on time, if rehearsal got out when it was supposed to. 

You were so excited to show Bradley that you had driven here, excitement almost making you skip towards the double doors of the auditorium where they’d been holding a majority of the rehearsals. 

Bradley didn’t even know you were coming, which only made your excitement grow even more. 

“Ron, can you pick Bradley up after rehearsal today?” Carole asked as she grabbed her purse from the counter. You both look up at her from where you’re discussing your English homework with your Uncle. “The Bronco is still in the shop and I’m going in for a last minute cover from Sally.” 

“Can I pick him up?” You ask, fiddling with your pencil. “I can take Slider’s truck, if that’s okay with you?” 

Slider shrugs. “I don’t have a problem with it, now that you’ve got your learner’s permit.” Slider says with a nudge to your shoulder. 

Carole sighs, digging around in her bag for her keys. “Sounds good. There’s leftover lasagna in the fridge for dinner.” Carole presses a kiss to your head and then calls out, “Be on good behavior.” as she leaves the house.

You’re hoping you and Bradley can go out to dinner instead of eating the leftover lasagna, or maybe go get milkshakes to celebrate his progress in the play. 

You turn the corner into the courtyard when you spot them. 

You freeze. 

Bradley’s got one of his arms leaned up on the metal poles that outline the corridors of the campus, other hand in his pocket as he talks to Janie. She’s looking up at him, beaming as she straightens out the collar of his shirt. 

You swallow, breath hitching as you do. 

Oh. 

You turn, reaching for the car keys in your pocket but the shakiness of your hands causes you to drop them, the clang echoing through the empty court yard. You cringe as you kneel down to pick them up, avoiding the looks you know Janie and Bradley are probably giving you. 

You pray that they’ll just let you leave as you turn back towards the entrance of the school but the sound of someone jogging after you ruins that dream. 

Someone tugs on your arm, turning you to face them and you catch Bradley’s hazel eyes swimming with concern before you look away from him again. 

“Hey, is everything okay? What are you doing here? Did you hear something from your Dad?” 

You shrug. “I drove here. Everything’s fine, I- I just- just- thought maybe you could use a ride and we could go get food or something.”

Bradley’s shoulders fall. “Oh shit, I - I wish I could but Janie and I are gonna go to her house and study for that AP Euro test tomorrow. She’s gonna give me a ride back.” 

You swallow. “Oh, okay. No, that’s okay. I just thought-” You wave a hand, trying to swallow down the tears. “Doesn’t matter what I thought. Um, have fun, okay?” 

He nods uncertainly, eyes searching yours. 

Don’t fuck this up for him. 

You suck in a breath, taking a step back, causing Bradley’s arm to fall from your shoulder. 

“See you in home room tomorrow.” 

You turn, walking back to Slider’s truck, sliding in the front seat as you take a deep breath, trying not to cry as you drive out of the parking lot. 

Why did you expect Bradley to be impressed? Why did you expect him to think it was cool you’d driven your Uncle’s truck here? After all, he’d had his license for months, so had all his friends. 

You’d always been the younger girl, the one who had always been around, the little sister figure who was always going to be there. He’d never see you as anything more than his favorite uncle’s daughter. 

Hell, he probably didn't even see you as his friend, just someone who was there. 

Your eyes itch with the familiar sting of tears as you open the front door, dropping the keys on the entryway table. 

“Hey, I thought you and Bradley were going to go out after rehearsal?” Slider asks, wiping his hands on a dish towel. 

“He’s studying with Janie.” 

Slider says something you don’t hear as you turn, trudging up the stairs. 

You slip inside your bedroom, laying on the top of the duvet, feeling silly as the tears begin to slide down your cheeks. 

Why would Bradley ever like someone like you?

Janie was the perfect girl. 

Her parents were still married, she had an older brother who was a doctor and an older sister who worked as engineer. She was smart and intelligent, kind and pure, full of happiness and light. 

She’d be so good for someone like Bradley, who was all those things and more. 

You could see it now, the children they’d have, the family they’d build together. Their kids would probably have Janie’s freckles, Bradley’s curls. 

They’d be happy together. 

You wipe your hand at your cheek, fruitlessly trying to rid yourself of your tears, as you wished you were anybody else. 

There was a soft knock on your door, the door creaking open. Sienna peaks her head in, before sighing and shutting the door quietly behind her. 

“What’re you doing here?” You croak. 

“I needed help with my math homework, but Ron mentioned you were pretty upset, so-” 

You sigh, rolling over to face her as she sits on the bed next to you. 

“I dunno, it’s stupid.” You mutter, hands fiddling with the small bear plushie your Dad had won you at the fair this summer. 

“I cry over stupid things all the time.” She says, nudging your shoulder. “C’mon, you can tell me about it.” 

“I went to go pick Bradley up from rehearsal since his car is in the shop, and I don’t know- it was the first time I’ve actually driven somewhere without my parents since getting my learner’s permit. And I was gonna go ask him to get ice cream or something like we always do- and I- I walked in on him sort of having a moment with Janie and I don’t know Sienna- I guess I’m just realizing that I’ll always be second best.” 

The girl who was always younger, hitting milestones later than everyone else, the girl who was always around, the one everyone took for granted. 

Sienna sighs. “I wish- I wish you didn’t feel like that. You deserve so much more than that.” 

You shrug, setting the bear on the bed next to you as you roll back away from her. She stays next to you on the bed, the slowly setting sun reflecting in the glass. 

“I mean for what it’s worth, I know Ben has a crush on you.” 

“What?” You ask, voice raw and watery from crying. 

“Not that you have to do anything with that information, he just- he does. If Bradley isn’t willing to get his shit together enough to see what’s right in front of him, well, there are other guys who will.” 

“Sienna…” You mumble. “I can’t even process this information right now.” You say, a headache beginning to form. 

“Okay.” She says softly. “Want to go get ice cream with me instead?”

“Not really.” 

“Okay.” She says. “I’ll just sit with you then.” She lays down on the bed next to you. 

There she stays, for the rest of the evening. 

-

“Hey, uh-” Janie says, sliding into the seat next to you in your homeroom. 

“Yeah?” 

“Well, our other assistant director quit recently, and while I’m pretty confident I can handle the show on my own, we really need someone to take notes during rehearsals, and Bradley suggested you since you’re already familiar with the show since you’ve been running lines with him and stuff.” 

Bradley thought of you? And suggested you to Janie?

“Well, I- yeah, okay.” You say, blinking at the girl. A smile lights up her face as she stands up from the desk. 

“Perfect! See you this afternoon!” 

Sienna frowns, appearing to your left as she sits down next to Bradley at the front of the classroom. 

“What’d she want?” 

“I guess I’m helping out with the play now?” you ask, watching as Bradley looks back at you. 

“What?” Sienna hisses. “Literally two nights ago, you were crying your eyes out over him-” 

“Hey Sienna.” You say, turning to her. “Don’t question it, okay? Let me have this.” 

She narrows her eyes, slowly sinking into the desk next to you. 

“If you say so.”  

-

“What are you doing?” 

Bradley turns from where he’s dancing through the kitchen, the spoon being used as a microphone. 

Frankie Avalon’s voice floats through the speaker in the corner, the tune of Beauty School Dropout accompanying him. 

You raise an eyebrow at him, trying not to let your grin take over as the boy begins to sing again, swaying his hips as he follows through the steps they’ve been learning in rehearsal. There’s pancake batter dripping off the spoon and to his arm and pajama pants, even as he holds out his other arm for you. 

You bite your lip, barely hiding your amusement at this moment. 

Beauty school dropout, hanging around the corner store

You can’t resist, taking the brunette's arm as he gracefully turns, setting the spoon on the kitchen counter, taking your other hand to move in time with you. 

Now your bangs are curled, your lashes whirled, but still the world is cruel, wipe off that angel face and go back to high school

Bradley croons through the rest of the song and as Frankie Avalon’s voice tapers off, you hear someone sigh. 

You both turn, Bradley not letting go of your hands. Carole stands there with her hands on her hips, a soft smile on her face. 

“This damn musical is taking over our lives.” 

The song starts over and Bradley reaches out for her hands, inviting her to come dance with you as he begins singing again. 

-

“Andrew, where’s Bradley?” You ask with a sigh, pulling yourself from the car. 

The boy, playing Kenickie, looks over at you from where he’s walking to his car. 

“Still inside, I think. Ms. Scott wanted to run a few of the Sandy and Danny scenes one more time after rehearsal today.” 

“Thanks Andrew.” You call, heading towards the theater. 

“Good to see you mini Mitchell.” He calls as you slide through the doors. 

True to his word, Bradley is just exiting the stage door and he grins when he sees you. 

Unfortunately, you’re at a loss for words, blinking dumbly at the sight of your best friend. 

Today had been the first day of full dress rehearsal, the show quickly approaching. Which meant Bradley was fully Danny Zuko, down to the slicked back hair and fake cigarette hanging from his mouth. 

“Hey kid! Pretty cool costume, right?” He flicks out the switchblade hair comb the props team had gotten for him, striking a pose and slicking back his slightly mussed hair. 

You’re pretty sure you go weak in the knees. 

“Uh-” Your voice comes out all scratchy and you have to clear your throat a few times, trying to formulate words. “It looks great, B.” 

He sends a cheeky grin. “I know.”

-

Frankie Vialli’s Grease floats through the auditorium as the lights go down, your Dad nudging you as you settle in your seats for the show to start. 

The song tapers off as the curtain rises, lights illuminating the stage as Lacy and Nicole, the girl playing Frenchy, walk out on stage. 

You wait with bated breath for Summer Nights, knowing how worried Bradley had been about slipping on those damn bleachers. 

And of course, his performance is impeccable. 

Watching Bradley on stage is mesmerizing, magical almost. 

You don’t even realize intermission is upon you until the curtain rises and you blink, finally letting in a breath as you relax your shoulders. 

“Are you gonna have to come again tomorrow night when Ice and Sarah come to see Bradley?” Slider says with a nudge as he shares a knowing look with Carole.

“Hi Mr. Mitchell.” Sienna says from behind you, your Dad turning and offering her a smile

“Nice flowers.” Madison snickers, nodding to the flowers at your feet. 

“We went to three stores to get those.” Your Dad responds. 

“Three? You’re really trying hard here-”

The glare you send Matt is enough to silence him as he shrinks back in his seat. 

-

“Mav!” Bradley shouts across the patio, racing for your Dad, barreling into him before your Dad has barely turned. Your Dad returns the tight hug as your hands become sweaty, turning the crinkling paper in your hand. “Didn’t think you’d make it.”

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world, Baby Goose.” Mav says, giving him a bright smile. “You looked so good up there.” 

“Thanks Mav.” Bradley is practically beaming as he turns to face the rest of you. “Thanks for coming.” His eyes catch on the flowers in your hand, growing wider. “Did you get me flowers?” 

You glance down at them.

“You know tulips means pure and deep love, right?” Sienna whispers in your ear over the back of the seats. Your cheeks grow hot as you gingerly set them down on the floor. 

“Sienna-“ 

“And red means lust-“ 

“Sienna, I’ll hit you.” 

“Yeah, I- uh, I know it’s tradition to get flowers for opening night and I uh-“ If Bradley was beaming before, he’s glowing now, taking the flowers from your hands. 

“Thank you so much.” He says warmly.

Before you can process what happens next, he ducks down and presses a kiss to your cheek. “Thank you. I wouldn’t have been able to do any of it without you.” 

You can feel the burning warmth take over as you shrug. “Oh, it was- no- no big deal.” 

“Bradley!” April calls, pulling him away with a. smile as you turn back to your Dad. He grins at you.

“What?”

He shakes his head. “Nothing. Is Carole still in the bathroom? I should go find her.”

“Hey.” Someone’s hand lands on your shoulder as you look up. “Do you want to get out of here and go get ice cream?” Ben asks. “I can drive you home. Got my Dad’s truck for the night.”

“Um-“ Your eyes slide over his shoulder to see your Dad talking to Slider and Carole, Bradley having disappeared back into the crowd. Part of you wants to stay, to see if Bradley will join the four of you for dinner. The other part of you remembers what Sienna said, about him having a crush on you.

 “Let me go ask my Dad, okay?”

“I’ll come with. I know he won’t let you climb into a car with just anyone. He just got back, right?” 

You nod as you squeeze through the crowd. “This morning. Dad.” You call, catching his attention. He turns his head. “This is Ben.” 

Ben holds out his hand. “Benjamin Waters sir. It’s really good to meet you.” Your Dad shakes his hand with a raised eyebrow. 

“Can we- well, can I go get ice cream? With Ben?” 

“I’ll drive her home.” Ben offers, with a smile. 

Slider does a terrible job of hiding his surprise, coughing into his fist and he shoots your Dad a look. 

“Um, as long as you go find Bradley and let him know you’re leaving, yeah, I guess I don’t really have a problem with it.” 

If you thought Bradley was happy, Ben is elated. 

You heave a sigh, eyes scanning the crowd for April. She catches your eye, squeezing her way through the people, her brother Alex in tow. 

“Where’d Bradley go?” 

“Around the building. I think he went to go get changed.” 

You nod, following where she pointed you as Ben follows you like a lost puppy dog. 

Finally, you spot him, still in costume sans leather jacket, leaned up against the building next to the stage door. 

And then-

and then there’s Janie, who is pressing her hands into his shirt as she kisses Bradley. Bradley cups Janie’s cheek, deepening the kiss. 

You turn away, swallowing around the lump in your throat. 

If Bradley isn’t willing to get his shit together enough to see what’s right in front of him, well, there are other guys who will.

You look over at Ben, who’s already watching you. 

Is this- is this what it would always be with Bradley? Always one step behind, always too slow? 

Never enough, never enough, never enough-

“Do you just wanna go?” Ben whispers as you glance back at Bradley. 

Maybe Ben really was the best you’d ever get. You certainly were never gonna get anything from Bradley. 

Bradley breaks away, smiling at Janie as he moves some of her hair back. 

And then his eyes latch on to you, growing wide. Janie turns her head, catching sight of you and Ben. Janie turns as well, stepping back from him and giving you a little finger wave. You’re just far enough away that you can’t hear what she says to him before grabbing the front of his shirt, pulling him down to place a kiss on his cheek. You can see the imprint of her red lipstick on his cheek as she gives you and Ben one last look before slipping back inside the side door. 

Ben clears his throat, taking a few steps back as Bradley walks over to you. 

“Hey, I- uh, didn’t mean to interrupt- that.” You say, glancing back over at where Janie and Bradley had been standing. 

“No-, you- no, it’s okay. Hey, we’re all gonna go out to eat, the whole cast and crew, all of us. You should come with, ‘specially cause you helped out so much-”

“Bradley-” 

“-Or does Mav want to go out to eat? I can-” 

“Bradley, Ben and I are gonna go get ice cream. I just- uh, though you should know.” 

Bradley deflates a little. “Oh. Well, uh-” He shoves his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “I- uh, tell Ben that if he tries anything, he’s got me to worry about it. You hear that Ben?” he calls. “You take good care of her.” Ben salutes, as Bradley sets his hand on your shoulder, nudging you towards him. “Go. Have fun.” 

You swallow, nodding as you walk back to Ben. Ben takes your hand as you give Bradley one last look. He gives a soft smile, holding his hand up before you turn back around, listening to Ben chatter. 

[theendofeverafter]

Apple White: A Character Study (Chapter 3)

We’re back in business!

I watched Spring Unsprung last night intending to write a separate post about it, but I realized a few minutes in that it wouldn’t make for a good solo post. Apple spends the majority of the special under the topsy-turvy spell, meaning she wasn’t acting of her own free will and can’t really be held responsible for what she did or said (nor can we examine her character). So I’ve decided to combine Spring Unsprung and Way Too Wonderland into one post. That one will be coming soon. For now, please enjoy my write-up of Apple’s character in Chapter 3.

CHAPTER 3

(Side note: why has it taken me until now to realize Raven’s makeup is the best in the show? Suits her perfectly.)

(Side note: if Ashlynn lateness curse is tied to noon, not midnight, how was that ever going to work with her story? Was the ball gonna be a brunch? An afternoon tea party?)

I think it’s interesting (and a good character choice) to have Apple help Ashlynn work around the rules of her destiny. While Briar is ready to yank the stepsisters off the stage, Apple uses her clever nature to make the best of the situation. But she never tells Ashlynn that she shouldn’t have to wait on her stepsisters, especially since they’re so mean to her. This also makes me wonder (a bit off topic) why Ashlynn, now a rebel, has to listen to what they say. Is it a magical constraint? Is it learned behavior that she’s having trouble letting go of?

(Side note: WHO is Duchess’s mans? 🤨)

(Side note: THE QUEEN HAS ARRIVED)

I still don’t know what to make of Apple and Ashlynn’s friendship. I know that Apple has been close friends with Briar and Blondie for a long time, and Ashlynn and Briar have known each other since nursery (rhyme) school, but it seems like Ashlynn and Apple didn’t have a lot of interaction until they started at Ever After High. Adding the strain on their friendship that occurred during True Hearts’ Day (and Apple’s mini-feud with Briar during Thronecoming), it’s surprising to see them chumming it up so much in these episodes—and that Apple was the first person Ashlynn wanted to take with her. Perhaps she was being nice because Apple was right there?

Apple seeing a movie with Daring, hm…

(Side note: sorrynotsorry I love these besties)

(Side note: tbh I prefer Ashlynn’s original voice actress, but Karen Strassman still does a great job)

(Side note: Dexter was TRIFLING for asking Raven out in front of Cupid lmaooooo)

Bruh the way Apple is cringing at Raven and Dexter’s awkwardness is so funny. At least she’s being supportive!

(Side note: idk how anyone could hate Raven and Dexter together tbh, they’re so cute)

“I say we pitch in and do something!” Apple says. (30 minutes later) “We just have to be patient and think positive thoughts”

How did Apple still manage to go to the Forest Fest :////

Junior year! Arguably Apple’s worst. She was immature as a sophomore, but the events of Dragon Games are tough to beat. Let’s see how her character changes after summer break.

Apple volunteering Raven to work on the yearbook instead of asking her first…hm…

I can’t fault Apple for not wanting to look bad in the yearbook. Have you taken a look inside yours from high school or college? That shit looks BAD. And she’s supposed to be the future queen of Ever After. That’s prime gossip rag material right there.

(Side note: Raven’s response to seeing Poppy and Duchess flail through the air was to take a picture instead of using her powers to help them lol)

(Side note: I must point out that in my story Poppy and Sparrow used to be a thing, and now Duchess and Sparrow…Poppy definitely seems like the kind of person to be chill about those sorts of things. Not Duchess though 😂)

(Side note: Bunny and Alistair really got their own episode 🙄 thankfully Kitty has had enough of hetero nonsense and is our sole source of entertainment here)

(Another side note, I know: do Maddie and Kitty not feel any existential dread at the fact that the narrators can alter and rewind their lives? Make them do things they don't want to do? Change their relationships with the people around them? Isn't that a gross violation of their personhood?)

Why is Bunny Apple’s wicket keeper?

Was that Apple’s first detention?

This is probably my favorite picture of Apple and Raven:

(Side note: She’s here she’s amazing we love her)

Wow, Apple and Raven finally learned to get along. What a surprise

(Side note: for story purposes I cannot support the last scene of Tri-Castle-On…except that most of the kids featured there could be the children of the endgame pairings I have in my story) SPOILERS BELOW

Idk who the person with gray hair would be (though I have a few ideas), but from left to right: Raven and Dexter, Chase and Justine, Duchess and Sparrow

CONCLUSION

You can see instances of Apple slowly starting to adapt her Royal ideology to be a better friend, which is good. I don't know what would have sparked this change over summer break, but I'm sure people like Ashlynn, Briar, and Raven really appreciated it. It seems like she was on an upward trend until the Big Event of junior year, which is a little heartbreaking.

Previous reviews: Legacy Day/Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Thronecoming

[btsqualityy]

Today been a hard day and I need drama! Eunji and her parents bring that almost every drabble day!

Request: Eunji’s parents finding out she’s married at 19 years old

Another anon also said: For my request, can we see Junior and Eunji official first meeting and Junior and him meeting her parents for the first time. Please and thank you! 😊

Warnings: super critical parents, unhealthy parental relationships lol

"Look who did it again!" Junior bragged as him and two of his friends walked out of their astrophysics class. "Best grade in the class once again!"

"Well, all of us aren't super geniuses," Seojun huffed.

"Literally. I studied for that exam for two weeks straight and still came out with only a 78%," Kwan agreed.

"Hey, either you have it or you don't," Junior smirked. "If you need me and my amazing 99% to tutor you, I'm available Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays."

"If anyone needs the tutoring, it's you," a voice spoke up and when Junior turned towards it, he saw what was arguably the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen in his life.

"Me?" Junior wondered. "Not to brag or anything but I got a 99% on that last exam. I'm sure I don't need tutoring, especially not from you."

"You sound very confident about that," the woman said and Junior scoffed.

"Why wouldn't I be when I'm the smartest person in the class?" He wondered and the girl smiled softly before she held up a small packet of papers, which Junior realized was the exam that they had taken. When he looked closer though, he was shocked to see a bright red '100%' on the top of it.

"What the fuck?" He uttered.

"See that name right there?" The girl wondered as she pointed to the top of the page with her free hand. "That's me, Kim Eunji, the one who's actually the smartest person in the class."

"Oh shit," Seojun laughed hysterically.

"Have a nice rest of your day," Eunji smirked before turning around and walking away.

"Who the fuck is that?" Junior spat.

"That's Eunji, she's pre-med," Kwan explained.

"Why the fuck is she taking astrophysics then?!"

"Maybe she's just doing it for fun," Kwan shrugged.

"Or to bust Junior's balls," Seojun snickered.

"Whatever," Junior muttered petulantly, his mind lingering on how beautiful Eunji was.

.......................................................

After that first meeting, Junior and Eunji had a small class rivalry which ended up with them becoming friends with benefits. Not too long after that though, they both fell in love with the other and at Junior's suggestion, went off and got married in Las Vegas once Junior graduated from college with his Bachelor's degree.

"Will you calm down?" Junior said as the two of them got out of the car and walked up to the front door of Eunji's parents house.

"Well, excuse me for being scared shitless," Eunji huffed. "We just got married last week and the first time my parents are going to be meeting you is as my husband."

"Are you scared of their reaction?"

"Terrified," she nodded as they stopped outside the front door. "You don't know my parents. We don't have the best relationship and they tend to find fault in any and everything that I do."

"Who cares?" Junior shrugged. "We both feel that getting married was the right thing to do, yeah?"

"Yeah."

"So if they get upset, we'll still be together, or at least I hope so," he joked, making Eunji laugh.

"Alright," she sighed. "Here goes nothing." After turning around and using her spare key to unlock the front door, the two of them walked inside and took off their shoes before Eunji called out to her parents.

"Eunji? Is that you?" Her mother called as she walked out to the front hall to greet them.

"Hi eomma," Eunji said, bowing in respect. "How are you?"

"I'm well," Jungah nodded. "Is this the mystery man?"

"Kim Myung," Junior introduced himself as he bowed deeply. "It's so nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you as well," Jungah replied. "Chul! They're here!"

"Here I am," Chul chuckled as he jogged into the front hall. "I heard Eunji's voice from upstairs."

"Hi appa," Eunji smiled softly.

"And this is the man who's distracted our Eunji," Chul chuckled as he looked at Junior.

"Nice to meet you Sir," Junior said, bowing once again. "Kim Myung."

"Come on in, you two," Jungah said, motioning with her hands. "I have lunch on the table."

Once everyone gathered into the dining room and began to eat, Eunji's parents didn't hesitate to start questioning Junior.

"So, Eunji tells us that you just got your degree in astrophysics?" Jungah said.

"I did and I start graduate school in the fall," Junior nodded.

"What's your end goal with that degree?" Chul wondered.

"I want to work for NASA someday."

"Really?" Chul muttered. "That's a lofty goal."

"I know but I've always been interested in science and math and particularly space so it feels right," Junior explained. "Plus, I come from a family that believes you can do anything you set your mind to."

"Speaking of your family, what do they do?" Jungah wondered.

"Both of my parents are in the music business," he said.

"Anyone we might know of?"

"Ah, Min Kinsley and Kim Mason," Junior revealed, and both Jungah's and Chul's eyes widened.

"Kim Mason that owns JWA Entertainment?" Chul wondered. "And who's the son of Kim Namjoon from BTS?"

"And Min Kinsley who seemingly produces every well known Kpop these day?" Jungah added. "And who's the daughter of Min Yoongi from BTS?"

"Ha, you guys know your stuff," Junior chuckled. "But yes, that's them."

"Wow," Jungah whistled. "How did the two of you get together?"

"We took a class together and I was bragging about having the highest grade, when in all actuality, Eunji did," Junior explained with a laugh. "We had a little mini rivalry at first but as we got to know each other, we fell in love."

"Bragging, were you Eunji?" Chul tsked. "I thought we taught you to not be so prideful."

"You're right, you did," Eunji nodded. "I'm sorry."

"Luckily for you, Myung here seems to be a good sport," Jungah huffed. "He seems like a good one so you don't wanna let him go, yes?"

"Yes," Eunji nodded. "But you know, I'm happy you guys seem to like him."

"I have to say, he's head and shoulders above the last bum you brought home," Chul sighed. "He already has a degree and is planning to continue his education even further. He treats you well and speaks highly of you. What more could we ask for?"

"I'm happy to hear that because we have something to tell you," Eunji said.

"You're not pregnant, are you?" Jungah deadpanned and Junior choked on the sip of water he was swallowing.

"No eomma, I'm not pregnant," Eunji snapped. "But we are married." Silence fell over the room then, both of Eunji's parents staring at her in disbelief.

"I'm sorry," Jungah laughed. "Repeat that please?"

"We're married," Junior spoke up. "We got married last week when we were visiting Las Vegas."

"Oh my god," Chul muttered, running his hands over his face in frustration. "What were you thinking?"

"What?" Eunji wondered.

"You're 20 years old, Kim Eunji!" Jungah exclaimed. "You haven't even finished your bachelor's degree and yet you go off and marry the first man who treats you decently?!"

"What are you going to do about school?" Chul demanded to know. "I hope you don't plan on dropping out."

"No, I'm not dropping out!" Eunji snapped. "I'm still going to finish school."

"How do you expect to do that now that you're a wife?" Jungah wondered. "You have to find a place to live, make it into a home, you have to work because the two of you can't survive on hopes and dreams, and if you plan on having children someday-"

"Uh, that's very far off into the future," Junior interrupted her. "Eunji and I both have goals that we want to achieve before we expand our family."

"I just can't believe you would be this irresponsible," Chul smacked his teeth. "And to marry this man before you even introduced him to us?"

"I swear, every time you start doing decently in life, you just have to go and do something to potentially mess it up," Jungah muttered. Eunji could feel the hotel tears beginning to well up in her eyes and instead of responding to her parents, she abruptly stood upon from the table and ran out of the room. Sighing heavily, Junior got up and followed behind her, realizing that she had ran through the kitchen and out into the backyard.

"Hey," Junior said softly as he set his hands on her shoulders.

"I'm sorry," Eunji whispered. "I just, had to leave before I said something I regret."

"I see why you've never talked about them much," he said. "Are they always like that?"

"Yep," she huffed. "I'm always the fuck up, the one who can never do anything right."

"I'm sorry Eunji," Junior said as he wrapped his arms around her now. "Nobody should ever have to go through that, especially not with their parents."

"Well, now you see why I was so emotionally cut off," Eunji chuckled ruefully.

"Yeah but you're not now, right?" He murmured. "And that's why we're here now, together and married."

"You're right," she replied, turning around so that she could look up at him. "I don't care what they say, I don't regret marrying you."

"I'd hope not," Junior joked, laughing when Eunji smacked his chest. "I love you."

"I love you too," Eunji smiled softly, moaning softly when Junior cupped her face in his hands and kissed her softly.

[its--fandom--darling]

uniform kink - s.h. x e.m. x f!r

Steve Harrington x Eddie Munson x Fem!Reader

KINKTOBER DAY 14 - UNIFORM KINK

TW: poly/throuple, uniform kink, threesome, unprotected sex, oral sex (m receiving), daddy kink, master kink, use of princess, good girl, sweetheart, language. 

“Come on out Stevie!” you called excitedly a giggle bubbling out of your throat. 

“Baby, do I have to?” Steve whined from behind the bathroom door.

“You lost the bet, this was the deal!” You said, crossing your arms. “Come on out lover boy.”

You hear him groan behind the door, “Fine!” The door swung open and out came a very pouty Steve, dressed in full Scoops Ahoy regalia complete with his little white sailors hat askew on his beautiful mane. “Is it everything that you wanted?”

You kick your feet, squealing with glee. “And more!” 

Jingling from outside the front door caught both of your attention and Steve quickly fixed you with a glare, “Don't you dare.”

You grin again and push yourself off the bed, sprinting past Steve and out the front door. “Eddie!”

He smiles at you. “Hey babe, what’s all this excitement about?” He asks, dropping his keys on the table and propping his hands on his coverall clad hips. 

You bite your lip, “Um, just that I have Steve in his old uniform in the bedroom and now my other man is here in his work uniform and I'm a very lucky girl.”

Eddie chuckles, “Yeah you are.”

“Baby, can I take this off yet!?” Steve calls.

You giggle, “No way!” You reach for Eddie’s wrist and smile, “Come on.” The two of you head back into the bedroom.

Steve looks up when you walk in with Eddie in tow and groans, “Baby, really, this is just mean.”

“What!? Eddie’s in his uniform too.”

“Yeah, but his isn’t embarrassing. I look like a - a- nautical school boy.”

You look between your boyfriends. 

Eddie chimes in, “Angus Young wears a school boy uniform to perform and he’s arguably one of the biggest rock stars alive, Stevie.”

Steve looks at Eddie and shrugs, “So.”

“So!? So? Steve, do you not know who Angus Young is?”

“Should I?” he murmurs, crossing his arms.

Eddie sputters, “He’s the guitarist for AC/DC. Come on!”

You giggle.

“I swear fuckin Tears for Fears and The Cure are fuckin rotting your brain.”

“Alright, boys, settle down. I personally happen to think that my boys look very, very handsome in their uniforms. Eddie, you look so hot with your grease stains and your hair up, your perfect forearms on display with the sleeves rolled up. And Steve, Stevie, your uniform shows off some of your best… assets. Plus it reminds me of when we met. I thought you were cute flirting with me then and I think you look even better now.” 

Eddie nods, “You do look good. Plus not just anyone could pull that off and manage to look like a total stud.” Eddie looks at you and winks.

Steve rubs the back of his neck, “I guess I never thought of it like that.”

You smile, “Listen, this is honestly a little fantasy of mine.” 

Both boys immediately snap their attention to you. 

“Oh really?” Steve murmurs, crossing his arms and walking towards you. 

Eddie smiles, “Stevie, think we should make our girl’s dream a reality?”

Steve smiles looking at Eddie, “Yeah I think we should, handsome.”

You feels your body light up with excitement, warmth filling you down to your toes. “You guys don’t have too.”

“Oh but we want to sweetheart,” Eddie coos, starting to undo his coveralls.

You swallow thickly and turn your attention to Steve, who had slipped behind you and placed his big hands on your hips. 

“Such a pretty baby, using winning a bet to get her rocks off,” he teases, fingers teasing the waistline of your jeans. 

“I wasn’t,”

Steve tsks, “Don’t deny it baby, you just wanted to see Daddy in his uniform didn’t you?”

“Yes.”

“You got a twofer when Eddie showed up, didn’t you honey?”

You nod again, eyes turning back to Eddie. The top of his overalls hung around his waist and he was sporting a tank top underneath, toned arms on display littered with inked artwork. You feel the stickiness of your arousal in your panties. 

Steve's fingers pop the button on your jeans and his thick fingers sneak into your jeans, pressing against the wet spot on your cotton panties. “Oo, you really weren’t kidding. This turns you on, princess?”

You whine under his touch as Eddie tugs off his tank top. You trace his torso, admiring his build and landing on his happy trail.

“Eddie, she’s fuckin soaked.”

“Always knew you were a freak like me, sweetheart,” he says, crossing the room as he palms himself through the stained khaki fabric. 

You whimper as Steve pressed firmly against your clit. “Daddy!” You whine. 

“Why don’t you let me and Master take care of you? Hmm? Would you like that princess?”

You nod again, rocking your hands against his fingers.

“Words, sweetheart. Daddy and I need to hear you say it.” Eddie coos, coming to stand in front of you and cupping your jaw gently. You could smell the harsh soap that they used at the garage. 

“Yes, I would like that very much.”

Steve smiles at Eddie over your shoulder, “You’re such a good girl.”

Eddie pecks your lips, “The best girl.”

“So princess, how do you want to take it? You want me to fuck you and have Eddie in your mouth or the other way around?”

You hum, “Want Master in my pussy and you in my mouth Daddy.” 

Steve groans, kissing your neck. “Good girl, such a good fuckin girl. Now, princess, you gotta help us get undressed. Can you do that?”

You nod eagerly.

“Alright, princess, I’m gonna let you go and I need to you to do as you re told.”

“Yes, daddy.”

“Good girl, start undressing Master.” Steve’s hands leave your body and you throw yourself at Eddie. 

You drop to your knees and nuzzle his bulge through the coarse fabric. He lets a stained, ringed hand fall to your head as you begin to pop the rest of the buttons of his coveralls, kissing his pelvis and fiddling with the elastic of his boxers before tugging them down. You help him step out of the uniform, smiling up at him. 

He strokes your chin, “Pretty baby, you are such a good girl. Now go help Daddy before he starts to feel left out.”

“Yes, Master.” You turn and crawl over to Steve, who’d moved to sit  on the king sized bed that was tucked in the corner of the room, back resting comfortably against the headboard. 

“Come on up pretty baby,” he coos at you.

You climb onto the bed and rest on your knees, hands braced on your thighs. “Hi Daddy.”

“Hi princess, wanna help Daddy?”

You nod eagerly.

Steve looks over at Eddie who is lazily stroking himself as he watches the two of you with hooded eyes. “Eddie, baby, come join us. Take care of princess, while she takes care of me.”

Eddie nods, “I can handle that.”

You move between Steve’s spread legs and lay on your belly.

Eddie comes over and tugs down your pants and panties, throwing off the bed. Before his hands are moving up your torso, pushing your shirt up to free your tits. Steve helps take it off and drop it next to him. 

From there everything moves in fast forward, you’re scrambling to get Steve’s cock of his uniform and taking him eagerly into your mouth while Eddie is pulling you up, slotting your knees under you. You moan around Steve when you feel the hot head of his cock bumping against your core briefly before he’s filling you up slowly. The three of you moving with hedonistic abandon, the sounds of your pleasure filling the room until you all reach your climax. The three of you falling into a cuddle puddle on the bed, panting and grinning as you glowed. 

“That was amazing.” Stevie says happily. “Will definitely keeping this this around for quite awhile.”

You giggle, “My plan worked.”

Eddie grins, “Devious.”

Steve leans over and kisses you then turns to kiss Eddie too. “I should’ve known you were in on it too.”

“It’s been a long time coming, I deserve to appreciate your ass in those shorts. “

The three of you dissolve into a fit of giggle as the sun sank, filling your tiny apartment with a golden glow.

TAGGING: @persephone-is-here-omg​ @salimahbicharara-comun​ @bunnywritesmarvel​ @chaoticmunson​ @thisishellfire​ @daddy-cruise-princess​ @forever-rogue​

[seek--rest]

Okay, so I ended up having to tag you in a post instead of putting the thing in your asks because It was crazy long. I am so sorry. I really don't expect you to read it all. lol I just ended up typing a lot and idk

I said before I like to tussle and I meant it! I think this is the first time I’ve ever had someone put forth a very articulate, detailed argument for what they believe and are coming from AND give the disclaimer that art (pun intended) is subjective and we come away with it with different things.

I still categorically disagree on every front lmao, but for the record— I really respect it and respect even more you actually came back to dialogue. Discourse is bad except when it’s good!!

There would be too much to cover point by point but to the credit of your explanation and in wanting to step up, I do some have big things that I diametrically see things differently:

I think the queer subtext is about as subtle as a brick lmao; it’s intentional and rightfully so, though it’s fascinating to me how we came to separate conclusions

Most notably, I did not read Art as uninterested in girls at all from almost any interaction he had. I have my own Theories of Art and his relationship with Patrick (of which is categorically queer, though admittedly complicated.)

To me, Patrick is unequivocally in love Art and has been since they were kids. Art, as evidenced by Tashi asking what happened between the two of them in the hotel, Patrick looking to Art to hear his answer and Art immediately dismissing it. It’s not to say that he doesn’t have (untangled, unformed, unrealized) feelings for Patrick (at least growing up) but from the moment he was aware of Tashi— which I took the tennis attention in the exact opposite way, in that was his drawing point to her as a form of sexual attraction— he only had eyes for her. He wanted her. He wanted her number. He wanted Patrick to throw the game like he promised so he could go out with her. But in my Theories (which feels subtextual, if not actual Text), Patrick was clearly the more outgoing, more sexually expressive, better tennis player, better.

It’s why, when Art asks about what happened between Patrick and Tashi and there’s that look afterwards, I absolutely read it as jealousy— but of Patrick being with Tashi, rather than Patrick himself. Romantic, sexual, it’s evident to me from the moment he saw her what he felt for her.

Tangentially, and this is really pedantic, it’s actually not very clear from the movie how long Patrick and Tashi dated, much less that they were together for a year. If anything from real world subtext, we know they met at the 2006 juniors US Open, which is typically held in June. Stanford’s fall quarter in 2006 started in August. Considering it’s 3 years later (2009), when Tashi and Art see each other again, this has to mean her accident happened in the fall of 2006– making it that Patrick and Tashi dated (long distance) at best, six months if we assume her accident happened at the very latest in November.

This isn’t to say Patrick and Tashi didn’t have something. They did! But there’s nothing to tell us that Patrick and Tashi were serious, as Patrick admitted himself. They liked each other! They liked the sex! But while Tashi isn’t the love of Art’s life at this point, she’s not Patrick’s either imo.

Moving away from a framing of Tashi as an object of affection and more as she is as a person, I really think we’d just have to agree to disagree when it comes to how she approaches relationships— particularly her relationship with Art. Tashi already had someone who could’ve kept her close to tennis, and was good at it— it’s Art who convinced her to coach him. Tashi doesn’t strike me as the kind of person to settle or accept anyone— much less a man— into her life, to marry and then choose to have a child with, solely for the sake of a potential grand slam. She’s Tashi Duncan, she could’ve had that with anyone and arguably— was on her way to. Art even says that the girl she was coaching likely had a better a chance than he did.

Whatever she feels for Art— of which I do believe it’s love, in her own way— I cannot reconcile the woman I saw on screen with someone who would shackle herself to any kind of heteronormative conventions or because it’s the right thing to do. (And while I don’t read this as your interpretation, I personally immediately get itchy when a Black woman in fiction is believe to be ace/aromantic— particularly in a piece of media with two mlm because that’s what fandom always does as a means of “getting her out of the way”)

Tashi wanted him, and we know because she’s with him— long before he was good at tennis by the end of the movie— and her agency in choosing him feels important to acknowledge— not as a proxy for tennis, or because she can’t have Patrick— but for the qualities that she at least at 23ish desires and wants from him. And then even as an adult, she’s categorically a good, loving mother and even says to Patrick— in their argument in the car when he asks if she came to fuck him to make sure he throws the game— “if that’s what it takes” which! Is so compelling to me that she spends the whole movie not telling Art she loves him and yet when she’s standing in front of Patrick, everything about her body language, her words, her tone, speaks to affection and love she has for him as a person.

I don’t think that has nothing to do with tennis, but I also cannot reconcile that it has nothing to do with her love for Art as a person and her life partner.

Tashi is also a cheater, twice over. Duality! Which if you knew me you’d know how ironic that is since I’ve spent YEARS expressing my disdain for cheating. Even in her cheating with Patrick, I personally don’t read that as long standing love or affection, or even sexual dissatisfaction (which is absolutely in the script but notably NOT in the movie at all, even in subtext), but low moments. She sees Patrick just seconds after seeing that racist bitch Mueller at Wimbledon. To our knowledge, she only ever sees Patrick again years later— and fucks him again, this time in another low moment when her husband thinks he’s going to retire.

I definitely agree that even these framings are nuanced and contextual, and that none of these characters are so simplistic to just be boiled down to villains or angels. They’re far more complex than that and that we can have this kind of discussion is proof of that.

I’m gonna be thinking about this movie for ages.

[guinevere--bach]

HAPPIESTPLACEHQ Task 2 - Music (part one)

Playlist you feel best describes your character

Angel - Massive Attack, Horace Andy

“You are my angel Come from way above To bring me love, to bring me love”

Where does true power come from? From a place of privilege and authority, or from a place of confidence and knowing that, from experience, one has the ability to get away with anything? Guinevere knew from quite an early age of her influence over others, how they would assume she was sweet and innocent just from her appearance. She has always wielded this power for her own gain, first for small favors as a form of experimentation, though later with the main purpose of escaping her family situation and find a new, greener place to set roots. After all, everyone wanted to help such an angelic being like young Guinevere. Most often than not, this help came in exchange for the promise of her love and attention, which she was happy to provide if that meant some sort of benefit for her. Here, power meant an apparently inexhaustible source of bargaining chips. She has always believed in the fairness of economics, after all. And if her steppingstones believed she was a godsend, a beautiful creature who would gift them with the promise of affection for a small price, then who was Guinevere to burst their bubble?

Deceive - ​trentemøller, Sune Rose Wagner

“I'll tell you why I love you How I deceive you How I trick you I'll tell you why I love you”

As much as the power of her beauty makes her proud, it is undeniable that there's also a dark undercurrent to it, in how much she feels she's constantly just putting a front when interacting with others. How much of who Guinevere is, is just a face she puts on, and how much of it is real? Who is the real Guinevere? A hungry, desperate little girl from Missouri? Or a confident, accomplished woman of the world? Why does she even do the things she does, now that she is comfortably settled, and has been so for a while? These questions would annoy anyone, but they specifically drive her mad. Maybe, in the end, it's just for fun; there is a delight, after all, in deceiving others, and knowing she's smarter than everyone else. Maybe it's just about stroking her ego, and making sure she always has the upper hand. But maybe, anyways, keeping this mask on at all times, even with the few actual personal relationships she has, isn't such a good idea as it seemed at the time.

I'll Be Your Woman - Michelle Gurevich

“I'll be the mirror where you are queen Your fellow magician of the waking dream Hung with a hammer and a glass of wine I'll be your woman and you can be mine”

Related to the previous song, there was a time (arguably, a time that hasn't ended) where Guinevere's main concern, regarding the act she put on, was to become whatever other people wanted of her. That could be a responsible, hardworking student, or a passionate, devoted lover, or a quiet, submissive partner, or a wild, fun-loving party girl. Even being someone who refused labels, who refused to be figured out or tied down, someone with depth, even that was a carefully balanced act. With time, Guinevere has found that acting like her own ideal self, regal, poised and self-reliant worked pretty well for her. People admired her, wanted to be her, and wanted her to like and appreciate them. Finding, over time, the person she wanted to be, and making her someone other people would also want her to be, was not particularly hard, especially as she settled over her younger years into someone who needed the social capital of dignity. What was hard, however, was keeping it up and making it seem natural, especially as her worst aspects (her resentment, her impatience, her inflexibility) it all came bubbling back up, more and more difficult to hide. Still, Guinevere has had plenty of practice, and plenty of reasons to keep it up.

Mad Woman - Sevdaliza

“I'm a lunatic I'm what God forbids A mad, mad woman”

Perhaps one of the few traits that remained consistent with Guinevere, her anger and easiness to provoke is something that she has grown to see as shameful. Pushing it down has been a lifelong work for her, making sure it was never even seen as a part of her. Instead, she tried to redirect it into a certain firmness and a cutthroat reputation that, indeed, has served her well as she ventured into business. Still, sometimes, when she's alone, when she knows nobody is looking at her, she allows this darker side to come out: smashing a dish and passing it for an accident, allowing herself one bloodcurdling scream in the woods, cursing out some random, unfortunate underling at her company, it all works as a momentary relief to the rage she feels every day, the furious dissatisfaction she still hasn't found a cure for. For what is the use for it, when one strives to perfection like she does? Wouldn't it be better to be more in control, to be proper, to not even have such a flaw? It certainly is nothing to be proud of, this weakness; and still Guinevere has some affection to this part of her personality, the one she can rely on being completely, unmistakably hers.

I Float Alone - Julee Cruise

“Now the night is falling You are gone Sad dreams blow through dark trees Love's gone wrong”

Guinevere is not a family woman. She checks on her sisters out of sheer politeness, and, of course, to remind them of her success and make sure they're still deeply envious. However, there was one sister she was close to, the one she actually considered her friend. Sophie, barely a year older than herself, was Guinevere's confidante, the one she knew she could trust with anything and receive nothing but understanding and support. Her sudden disappearance and presumed death hit her hard, harder than anything else she had felt in her young age. The uncertainty of her death made it even worse: who knew where she might be, if she were still alive? Who knew what might have happened to her? And, most of all, more than her concerns about her wellbeing, Guinevere felt the hollow, insistent pain of being truly alone for the first time in her life. They had used to talk so often about their dreams for when they left their little town, all their plans, what their life would look like... And now those shared dreams would never become reality.

Together - The xx

“A premonition of the words Come To me”

Sophie wasn't the only real loving relationship Guinevere has experienced. When she met Percy Madley, an artist from a wealthy family, she really believed she had found true love. Adoring, funny, passionate, he was everything she had even wanted in a partner. More than perfect in her eyes, more than just another fling, she didn't doubt for a second when he asked her to marry him. It was a real connection. Just one look, just one smile, that was all they needed to communicate with each other, as if their souls were one and the same. She became devoted, not out of a sense of obligation and pride, like with David, but out of genuine feelings of being comforted and loved by him. Nevermind that, for all his virtues, Percy wasn't exactly easy to live with; nevermind that all the signs of a tempestuous marriage were right there in the beginning of the relationship; nevermind that Percy's perfect understanding of Guinevere also meant that he clearly saw all her faults. Devotion was not enough. It became evident that their love, no matter how perfect, how complete, was not enough.

The Moth & The Flame - Les Deux Love Orchestra

“The moth don't care if the flame is real The flame and the moth got a sweetheart deal And nothing fuels a good flirtation Like need and anger and desperation”

At the end of the day, Guinevere doesn't know of a love in which she doesn't need to cling by her fingernails. All her relationships, whether fiery and passionate or cold and practical, were easy to acquire and difficult to maintain. The best relationships, the ones where she has felt the strongest emotions, the sort that satisfied her needs, were those where there had been a push and pull, a real effort to make it work. Between twisted mind games, promises of leaving at the next opportunity, partnerships of convenience and sudden and unwanted developing of real feelings, despite the compliments and the initial admiration her appearance garnered her, Guinevere has been told she was impossible to love more times that she can count. All she could do is hope to prove them wrong, to answer those claims with kisses and embraces, to eventually become cold again, angry again, and have to do it all again in some exhausting dance of disdain and desire.

No Ordinary Love - Sade

“I gave you all the love I got I gave you more than I could give Gave you love I gave you all that I have inside And you took my love You took my love”

Devotion has never really gotten her anywhere, Guinevere has concluded. That doesn't mean she hasn't tried, at least before the bitterness fully settled in. After all, at first, her romance with Percy in particular had felt so pure, it was hard not to become crazy about him. Many of his friends had laughed and said the relationship wouldn't last long, but they hadn't cared. To Percy and Guinevere, still called Lucy back then, all they needed was their love. But no matter how much she loved him, how much she excused his faults, his dismissal of her feelings, his condescending words, his growing contempt towards her, she kept her stance. This was different than with David, she told herself. This was real. This was worth fighting for. And most importantly, she could change Percy to become who she wanted him to be. She saw the potential in him, and recalled their happier days together. Soon, however, those memories weren't enough. And Guinevere had to make a choice.

Nothing's Gonna Hurt You Baby - Cigarettes After Sex

“Nothing's gonna hurt you baby As long as you're with me you'll be just fine Nothing's gonna hurt you baby Nothing's gonna take you from my side”

Despite all of Guinevere's posturing regarding love, the truth is that, even if subconsciously, there is still a glimmer of an old desire to have her own ideal love. Her previous marriages and romantic relationships have done nothing more than demonstrate why it was all a lie, but that doesn't refute the fact that, no matter how bitter she has become, Guinevere sometimes finds herself wondering what it would be like, finding someone with which she can feel as if she won't be judged, someone to care about and feel protective of. Her true love, one that won't become a sham like with David, won't rot like with Percy, won't become dull like with Phổ. It's a silly wish, she knows it, but one she still has despite knowing better. Assembled from her most cherished moments, those fantasies also remind her of all that she's lost, and what, most likely, she will never get back.

Love Saves The Day - Emily Wells

“I wanna go home, seeing is alright I'm just a fire, burn everything in sight I wanna go home, I wanna go out”

Guinevere swings between feeling empowered by her resilience and strength through her tragic marriages, and feeling like a child needing support and care. Most of all, she wants a place she can call home; whether that's with someone, or just a place where she feels safe, it is a feeling of nostalgia that she believes she will never go back to. Despite the hardships, it may be all about returning to her house in Missouri, with her competitive sisters and her inattentive mother; or it may be about the few moments in her relationships where she found some sort of comfort and shelter. It is a side of herself she hides quite flawlessly now, even more so than her loneliness and her rage. On her worst days, it feels like she is trapped in her new identity, inside Guinevere Bạch. What could becoming freely furious ever change about this inadequacy, what could a true lover do to reduce such a constant anguish? As with all the sides she hides, all those faults she has been trying to fix for decades, they might just be the most real features of herself: but this is the one that Guinevere denies the most, the one which brings her so much shame she can barely think about it. Better to pretend it doesn't exist, that such weakness is something she left behind years ago, something she can never concern herself with anymore.

[thought-42]

I want to hear about Document22 (for the WIP ask game). Please and thank you 😁

*hysterical laughter* Ohhhh-kay. Okay. Ok. This is the time travel fic of self-indulgence and complete wild ridiculousness. Spoilers for Exu Calamity ahead, but the entire premise is: the four who died wind up in the future (around the time between C2 and C3) and have a series of existential crisies in a theme restaurant. Excerpt, unedited:

She remembers thinking the city meaningless in the face of a world tearing itself apart, but now with the reality of its absence stretching out before her she cannot recognize the self that existed in those frantic moments. That self had already come to terms with her poeticly ephemral position against the backdrop of apocalypse. That self did her best. That self was the smell of burning hair and blackening skin-- "You're giving Loquatius more anxiety," Nydas says, standing a few feet from her, all his colour rendered monochrome in the dark. He stands with one hand pressed to the small of his back. "I couldn't," she says, a treatise in those two words pried raw and bloody from the back of her throat. "We all figured. You had a rough day." She stares at him. "...Sure. Yeah. <i>I</i> had a rough day." "I mean comparatively," he says. "You were going to change the world. The person you love the most died in front of you. Twice, arguably, I'm not sure. At least the rest of us got what family we had left out." "For whatever that's worth," she says. She and Quay have always been in the enviable position of not having anyone outside of the Ring of brass to really worry about. "I mean. They got away." "And then gods tore the world a sunder," she says. "I don't think it counted for much." "We don't know that." "He ran forward," she snaps. "And fucking look around. It's all-- they've had 800 years and-- it's just this." Nydas sucks in a breath, and she realizes starkly that not everyone can follow Quay's obfuscating turns of phrase as easily as she can. Nydas wears his heart on his sleeve, but he is nothing if not fashionable, so she doesn't have to witness him having the realization in realtime. "That's impossible," he says. "Unless this is some kind of... historical reenactment village. I've heard of those. Like you said, maybe Wildemount is just like this." Another part of Laerryn's mind, quiet up to this point, rudely offers up the shear level of devistation that would lead to this level of techmnological and cultural development almost a millennia later. She's still not particularly interested in having any strong feelings about anything ever again, so she sets that aside. "We need to find a library," she says. "If we ask actual people about any of this they'll either think we're crazy or, worse, they won't. And we'll probably be exicuted for the parts we played." "Not everyone has an elven memory," he says. "We'd be curiosities by this point to most people." "And we need to know why they were saying Gor Dranas in there," she says. "Maybe they won," says Nydas, and Laerryn blacks out for a few seconds.

[neewtmas]

since a few kind people encouraged me to pick up my (arguably mediocre) writing again, I thought about some ideas, and now I need some input on which I should do first.

the first  three are loosely based on songs bc I get most of my ideas while listening to music. also bonus points to anyone who can guess my favourite trope lol

we’ve got:

Y/N had her trust betrayed over and over again, and bestfriend!Eddie was by her side through every single heartbreak. It takes her swearing off love once and for all and a lot of effort from Eddie for her to realise that true love might have been in front of her the whole time (based on You are in love by Taylor Swift)

Y/N and Eddie used to be the bestest of friends, up until Eddie confessed his love to her after they graduate. She feels the same, but also has big dreams of getting out of Hawkins and attending a college in a big city far away,  so she turns him down. Contact fizzles out soon after she is gone, because Eddie, with his heart in pieces, just can’t handle it. Years later, after graduating college and several failed relationships, Y/N returns to Hawkins, where she runns into her childhood best friend and first love, Eddie Munson (based on Somewhere only we know by Keane)

Y/N envisions her future as picture-perfect suburban life, white picket fence, and maybe a few kids. Eddie just does not see how he could ever fit into that dream and he wonders if he is really ‘The One’ for her (based a little on In another Life and When we were young by The Killers

Eddie and Y/N are best friends, and they compliment each other almost perfectly, if it weren’t for Y/N’s rather wealthy upbringing. Eddie more often than noot feels like he is not the right person for her (even though he desperately wants to be). As her birthday comes up, he fears he can’t keep up with expectations (this isn’t based on anything, just a random idea)

[otherworldseekers]

Nero thoughts: jealousy

I think it’s safe to say, given his obsession with out-doing Cid, that Nero has a strong jealous streak. I like to think about this in the context of Nero/WoL. 

Imagine being Nero, always being second best, having your boss literally offer your rival your job, experiencing setback after setback... and you fall for the Warrior of Light. The Warrior of Light who is friends with all of the most powerful and successful people in the world, who are all arguably much better people than you, and who is constantly surrounded by admirers, who people are literally willing to die for... 

Nero has a big ego, but I think it’s also very fragile. He doesn’t show anyone the fragile side of himself, the more self-conscious he feels the more cool, collected and apathetic he tries to appear. (And yes, I see this as the reason he is rather cool and casual with WoL in canon interactions.)

But what if he and WoL are in a relationship? He can no longer pretend he doesn’t care. He wants to be WoL’s number one. I think he would be extremely jealous and maybe a little possessive of WoL. (Not in a toxic way though. In a hot way.)

In my headcanons I imagine Nero tagging along with Severia to as many official meetings/functions as he can get away with, sneering at anyone who makes eyes at her, making sure everyone knows she’s still his. G’raha’s advent presents him a particular problem. He has a soft spot in his memory for G’raha as a fellow Allag enthusiast, but suddenly G’raha is acting very familiar and chummy with Severia and Nero’s jealousy flares. They eventually work it out though. G’raha admits that he has feelings for Severia, but he would never act on them because Severia has made it extremely clear how much she cares about Nero. G’raha ends up being Nero’s informant about anyone Severia meets during her Scion work that seems a bit too taken with her. 

I do think that Nero trusts her completely. He has no doubts about her fidelity. He just does not like other people flirting or being overly familiar with her. (Partially because he knows how private a person she is. She doesn’t like strangers or acquaintances who do that either.) He fights with his jealousy when it comes to her close friends like Thancred and now Estinien. Because he knows she has always struggled with friendships and knows that they are good friends to her. In front of Severia, Nero and the other guys act very amiable, but behind her back they have a bit of a friendly rivalry going. (Thancred in particular is very protective of Severia and is still not at all sure about this relationship with Nero.)

And sometimes Nero feels more jealous because he knows Severia is NOT jealous of him. It’s simply not in her nature when she is absolutely sure of his feelings. But he kinda wishes she would be sometimes for the ego boost. 

[thaliajoy-blog]

Tumblr is a new tool for me and a most useful way of venting off about ideas on art I like so here it goes for Alicent & the way she was adapted in House of the Dragon :

I think that the adaptation of Alicent's character was not well done. Sadly. 🥲. The show's changes make the Alicent of the show immensely different from the Alicent of the book Fire & Blood, in ways that aren't always very positive. But what I really don't like is that the show seems to play into Alicent's sense of moral good/righteousness a bit too much and sometimes creates dissonances within her characterization. The main problem really is the adaptation angle ; I used to like the idea of Alicent being the same age as Rhaenyra but this kind of created a slipping slope of choices which in turn make her (and that's my opinion) a rather weak and unlikeable character (in the sense that she's not compelling to me, not that she's hateable like Joffrey). She is understandeable as a young girl, then as a young mother, but the show move on making her Rhaenyra's sworn ennemy and a total hypocrite who both insists upon Rhaenyra's crimes and constantly opposes her, while herself harboring real freaks with arguably worse crimes. There's something enjoyable about reading what an horrible mess Cersei Lannister is - but I find little to enjoy in this adapted Alicent. She's nearly constantly reduced to a sufferer. Choices are taken off her hands. She does not plot the usurpation (despite kind of intending to in episode 6) because the show feels like it has the same mentality as the men who did plot the usurpation and gracefully wanted to leave her out of it : women do not intend to wrong anybody, do not sully their hands with treason (or maybe even their mind - Alicent's relation to that concept is cloudy, since she's convinced that Viserys does want Aegon king and therefore, she does not commit usurpation) - you see it too with Rhaenyra who does not take part in the murder of Vaemond (it's all Daemon in the end) in the show. Alicent is a peaceful lady who yes, hangs out with a violent murderer on a daily basis (who is in the book a most despicable human being), and initiate rumors the rumors that turn their children against each other, but you see, she would not usurp anyone. She just needs some convenient excuse and eyes constantly veiled by tears, shock, indignation, to let herself and you dear viewer, know that what she does is correct, or that she's got good reasons to think so. And it's sometimes unbearable to watch.

Let's not even talk of her relationship with Aegon...Alicent seems to react accordingly to her values as a human being and her own experience as a survivre of sexual assault, at first...but when Viserys "names" Aegon heir she seems unconcerned about this fact that Aegon may not be a very good choice (and that Viserys was not exactly sane of mind). But I'm pretty sure that the show wants me to think she's the kind of person who "wants the best for the realm". She also had more or less reconciled with Rhaenyra during the banquet scene, so the show kind of did us wrong there ; the mothers, we were lead to believe, only want peace and intended to show a united front at last. Alicent's choice to believe Viserys' mumblings & crown Aegon (a son who utterly disgusted her not long before) is a weird betrayal of that spirit of peace, and it seems like Alicent doesn't even see it.

In short, I dont like a character that is written as ostensibly nice and kind and commited to peace, who is supposed to be powerful institutionally and used to ruling, who seems to also not be particularly aware of what she does entail & how much chaos or violence it leads to. How can she be mostly fine about Aegon being king when it should make her feel very conflicted given the person she's been shown to be & what she's lived, and go along with it without too much questioning.

So, on my end, they failed to make her into her proper selve, to give us some enjoyable, enduring tension between Rhaenyra & her. The dress off scene was notably absent... that's pretty symptomatic. Rhaenyra & Alicent are made, weirdly, into two underdogs fighting each other by the will and negligeances of men, when really they are two powerful, authoritative, proud women fighting for themselves, their power and their family.

Of course, it's an adaptation problem mainly (the copy is disapointing next to the original despite the original being incomplete) and people can well like show Alicent in a vacuum, even if I personally don't.

[kiwisandpearls]

I’m thinking about making a two part video series on my YouTube channel discussing my problems with the Honkai trio’s last Herscherr designs (hotr, hoo, and hofi) and my problems with the direction honkai’s story is going in.

but if I never do I just wanna say this. Oh boy are both not good lol. The only design out of the trio that I genuinely think fits the theme of the Herscherr and who the character is is bronya’s Herscherr of the truth design lol. I love how it still feels like a powerful Herscherr who’s domain is over truth while still feeling like something Bronya would wear.

Mei’s Herscherr of original design isn’t horrible but it just doesn’t feel right to me. The color palette feels to muted, the blue in her hair looks off-putting compared to the rest of the color palette. Although I will say I don’t agree that “it doesn’t fit may” she isn’t the person she used to be when she first became the Herscherr of thunder and of course her design would reflect that. But it just feels…really mute. Sure it’s nice but kinda bland and if I didn’t know this was supposed to be Mei as the Herscherr of origin I would’ve

 thought she was just was a slightly stronger Valkyrie lol.

and finally (pun not intended)…Kiana’s Herscherr of finality design. Oh dear goodness. This has to be one of the most disappointing Honkai impact designs. It isn’t bad. It’s just disappointing. This was supposed to be one of the most powerful herscherrs, heck THE most powerful Herscherr…and it’s just Kiana in a prom dress. I’m serious, it just looks like Kiana wearing a dress. as a design on its own it looks absolutely stunning!! But with the added fact that this is the Herscherr of finality, the Herscherr so many people were excited for and waiting for, it just feels so disappointing. Heck herscherr of flamescion (think I spelled that wrong oh well lol) looks like it’d fit better as a design for Herscherr of finality. I’m not saying kiana’s Herscherr of finality design should’ve made her look like an evil villain like hov or previous Herscherr of the end designs but still :/. Let me just go down a list of reasons as to why this design to me is so disappointing: it feels kinda bare, especially on her legs, idk why but the front of her design just feels so bare, like there’s something missing that I can’t just point out. Idk maybe if anyone sees this post they can. The color palette, it doesn’t feel as mute as Mei’s Herscherr of origin design, but I definitely don’t think it fits. I think it would be so much better and such a better decision had they went for yellow, orange, black, and white, as those were her signature colors and would arguably suit her much better. Not only that but the inclusion of flowers and the lack of comet or star motifs in her design also annoys me. The flowers just feel kinda out of place and make her design just feel more like a prom dress, sure they might symbolize something but Kiana has never once had flowers as an actual part of her design as far as I remember so randomly inserting them in her design feels out of place. I feel it would’ve been so better adding symbols that resemble stars and comets as those were also signature Kiana symbols, and again would suit Kiana better. Also in my personal opinion kiana’s whole vibe is that of a knight or warrior, Kiana’s HoF design shows this best. She looks like a goddess who is also a knight. But Kiana’s Herscherr of finality design just makes her look like a goddess princess, which is fine but doesn’t really fit Kiana. So I think they should’ve taken a note or two from kiana’s HoF design and made her design a little more armored. Not super armored but enough to give off the vibe that she’s a goddess ready to fight for those she loves.

not only that but lastly, it does frustrate me a little that they made Kiana and Mei have kinda similar color palettes, not because I don’t like kiamei, it’s a cute ship, but I feel like it just make more sense for all of their color palettes to be different from the other, idk why that’s just me.

anyways, I’m probably gonna make a second post about how I feel about the direction honkai’s story is going in but I don’t know when I’ll get to that so whenever I do get to it I’ll the post in this post.

tbh I don’t like complaining about Honkai impact, it used to be one of my favorite games, but I just don’t like the direction it’s going in.

edit: forgot to say this but I’m probably also going to be drawing redesigns of the hoo and hofi designs so look out for those lol, not gonna say mine will be better than the actual professionals lol (this isn’t a diss at anyone I feel I’m making it sound like it is lol), but I do want to make designs that portray what i think they should’ve looked like based on what I gotten about the characters. 

[hopefully-brave]

why is it so hard to make friends???

Hello. Hi, what’s good bro? Welcome to my Ted-not-Talk on why it’s incredibly difficult to make friends.

When I was but a wee child I was also a weird child. Suffice it to say most 4 years at my pre-school weren’t my biggest fan. Which was fine, because screw them. And when elementary school came along, being an immigrant on top of being weird was just the icing on top of the perfect awkward cake for the kid that has no friends.

It didn’t bother me too much because well I’m obviously a genius. And I was too proud to admit I thought anyone was cool and if they didn’t make the first move I just decided I didn’t really need friends––like real friends you actually like and trust. It was all good though since most kids also aren’t particularly emotionally complex so no need for a support system… I guess?

And I did have “friends” but they were more a friendship of convenience like you know for group projects and to eat lunch with so I didn’t look like that big a loser (like the OG weirdo jughead). It’s really more about realizing I needed other people to like me, to avoid being an outcast and to have people help me when I needed it. At this point, I’d learned enough social skills and the importance of fitting in.

By high school, I’d gotten pretty good at socializing and being nice to people but for the most part, my approach to people stayed the same. I tried to get people to like me, twas hard and in hindsight not worth it, but at the time I just wanted to get through it so I could get my degree and move on and never come back.

To be fair our high school was small, kind of elitist and high-key toxic. I didn’t think much of it, I thought it would have been far behind us by graduation but I was (unfortunately? fortunately?) wrong (ik shocking right). My opinions changed after I moved away for university… or actually a bit before that but it’s not as poetic.

Like blue cheese, I think solitude is an acquired taste. 

I like being alone but something I’ve realized in my newfound adulthood is how difficult it is to make friends. Yo it’s tough out here. Adults are so much more complicated, you can’t expect to be bffs with the kids sitting next to you in class and relationships take hella time to build. 

I guess I’ve never thought about how important friendships are because I also didn’t think anyone outside of my family actually cared about me. Before I didn’t care that no one cared about me and I guess I also didn’t really care about other people since they didn’t care so what the heck. [take a shot every time I say care]

Anyway, I think I tend to overly internalize everything but a few too many mental breakdowns later I realized humans uh��� are herd animals for a reason. We need other humans to survive and to stay sane and hopefully, these humans are kind to you, accept you and you enjoy each other’s company. You know like real friends. The reality though is that good friends are hard to come by but so so so important. 

And now I’m happy to report, I’ve realized I made a few good friends actually. Yes, I could still count them on one hand but it is impressive nonetheless ok.

Note from now on, I’m talking to one particular person. (Not saying other people are less important, just the timing has to be right and I feel like this isn’t the right medium. You feel?)

Anyway, about this friend. I remember telling her I’ve never had a best friend because uh that's dumb. The truth is, “best” means first and I knew no one I knew at that time was going to pick me first (and arguably not even second or third) and I sure as hell wasn’t going to pick someone who didn’t choose me. 

Over the years I think I’ve learned to be more closed off about what I actually think or feel to protect myself. I think it’s hard to be vulnerable in front of people but you always seem to be so open with affection to people around you. You tend to see the best in people I think… You always give people the benefit of the doubt which is a wild fucking concept to me because I think a lot of people are quite shit but you make me see them in a slightly more positive light.

I remember you making some passing comment when we were like 13 along the lines of oh you should do this at my wedding or my kids and your kids could be friends and I was like ??? hUH. At the time I thought it was just naive, I didn’t think for a second that I would keep in contact with someone for so long.

I haven’t even known anyone that long much less a FriENd. No one had ever tried to keep me in their lives before (or at least that I know of). It didn’t occur to me at all at I would talk to anyone from high school after we left, after all, I didn’t keep any of the “friends” I’d made prior. But you seemed so casual about it? Like it was a reasonable expectation to have. Maybe you grew up surrounded by love which is why you seem so secure and have so much faith in other people?

Receiving a tentative invitation to your some time in the future TBD wedding at a time I’ve only known you for probably no more than a year meant a lot. More than I realized at the time. And every time you laugh at one of my very incredibly definitely stupid jokes, it means more to me than you know.

You know I started crying watching one of the men’s performances when I first moved to Toronto, which I KNOW is embarrassing. For as much as I make fun of them, I think I will always have a soft spot for them since it was a lot of fun making fun of them. But they reminded me of you, and you reminded me of home.

I feel comfortable with you and for someone as insecure as I am, even small gestures like a handmade card or sharing videos you like are incredibly reassuring. Even if we talk about nothing really, it’s always nice to hang out and definitely helps with stress. 

At some point, I think you’ll know you’re friends when you reach a mutual understanding. It’s like when you feel like you can be truly yourself around someone and your dynamic feels natural. Often it doesn’t need to be said but I think in this instance it’s important. 

I’ve always found it difficult to say how much something means to me hence why this is a Ted-not-Talk. Knowing me and this economy, I wouldn’t count on winning the lottery on finding a romantic partner, don’t really think the odds are in my favour TBH. So I try to hold my family and friends close and let the people I care about know how much I appreciate them.

You know… it’s not that often you get to grow up with someone. Thanks for existing and being an overall good human. I hope I also encouraged you to step outside your comfort zone sometimes.

Honestly, I’m still kind of against the concept of “best friends” since we’re not 12 anymore and it’s ridiculous to need to pick a “best”. But I do think we are BFFs, aka bros for foods.   

So anyway… this is all just a roundabout way of saying yes, I would like to RSVP to your wedding, though that might be a bit far off… unless there’s something I’ve missed. In the meantime, happy black Friday! I mean birthday and I bought cake. For me. And it’s half eaten because I got hungry in math class.

I miss you and I’ll see you soon:)

And yes since we do live in a materialistic society I did buy you a present it's just the postal service is incredibly slow.

[baltears]

lane change i stan og charlotte now

[martelldoran]

WHAT'S THE CAUSALITY LOOP THEORY

Why Emma, thank you so much for asking. I’m not going to waste time before jumping into this because this is gonna get long so without further ado...

Steve Rogers’ Ending and How Endgame Doesn’t Support a Causality Loop and other such rambles

Last month, I came across a TikTok that proposed that Steve’s ending made sense because it existed within a causality loop. I would link the TikTok but I didn’t save it at the time and trying to find videos on that app is impossible. You think Tumblr’s search function is bad? 🙄 But I digress. The TL;DR of the video is that due to time travel and Steve choosing to go back in time to be Peggy’s husband, it created a causality loop where he was always meant to be her husband because he went back in time and stayed there. The TikToker supported his argument by using Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (PoA), another film that uses time travel and has a clearly defined example of a causality loop. However, his argument is fundamentally flawed so I’m going to combine my knowledge of my two biggest fandoms to tell you why.

Continued under the cut because I have no chill. Beware, it's long.

To first tell you how Endgame (EG) doesn’t support a causality loop, we must establish how PoA does establish one and does it successfully. The TikToker specifically mentions the scenes that take place at Hagrid’s Hut surrounding Buckbeak the hippogriff’s execution, so we’ll look at those first. What the film does really well is establish early on that there is something weird going on well before anyone actually goes back in time. There are three things that happen in quick succession during this scene which sets up the causality loop we see later in the film. First, a rock flies through the window and breaks a jar. Second, another rock hits Harry in the back of the head. Third, once outside, Hermione hears a branch snap and thinks she sees ‘something’. There are also two additional moments later on in the film once the Harry, Ron, and Hermione have come out of the Shrieking Shack which should also be noted: a wolf howl that distracts Remus Lupin in werewolf form from attacking the group and somebody casting a full-bodied stag patronus at the edge of the lake to save Harry and Sirius from the Dementors.

Of these occurrences, the first is arguably the most important because it does the most to establish that there is something going on outside of the Trio’s current understanding of their situation. The film makes a point to frame the jar breaking as Important Information the Audience Must Remember because it shows a visibly confused Hermione reacting to it as she picks up the rock for closer inspection and we the audience are given close up of it in her hand. Not only is it framed front and centre in the shot but the rock itself is very distinctive. It’s almost wholly smooth but for a swirl of fossil, thus marking it as not just any rock but An Important Rock To Be Remembered. This was an intentional choice by director Alfonso Curon because he uses this rock to connect this moment to its mirrored scene later on once Harry and Hermione use the Time Turner.

The audience and the characters find out about the causality loop at the same time. There are clearly stated rules of time travel that say that they aren’t to meddle with time but when Harry and Hermione see that Dumbledore, the Minister for Magic, and the executioner are on their way to Hagrid’s hut they panic because their counterparts aren’t leaving. Then, we see Hermione notice something in the pumpkin patch: a distinctive rock, smooth with a swirl of fossil. Again, we see have a close up shot with the rock centred to show its importance. Stylistically, it’s very similar to the shot we saw earlier in the film which gives the audience an emotional pay off for noticing the connection. When Hermione throws the rock and breaks the jar, it sets the causality loop in motion. The jar was always going to break because they went back in time to throw the rock that breaks it.

And it’s the same with all the other instances. Hermione throws the second rock that hits Harry in the back of the head to alert him to the fact they need to get out of the hut. Hermione snaps the branch and is almost seen by her counterpart in the past. Hermione makes the wolf call to distract Lupin from attacking. Harry, and not his father as he had assumed, casts the patronus to save himself and Sirius from the Dementors. But each of these moments are set up clearly in the ‘first run through’ to set up their payoff when the characters realise, ‘Oh, I did these things. They were always meant to happen.’ From a narrative standpoint, these are planned out moments to clue the audience into the fact that there’s something bigger at play. It keeps them ‘in the loop’ as it were.

This doesn’t happen in EG.

To successfully have set up a causality loop that made sense and had the same kind of set up and pay off as we see in PoA, it would have had to have been established as early as 2014 in Captain America: The Winter Soldier (CA:TWS). This does not happen. One of the main themes of CA:TWS is moving on from the past. Peggy Carter herself even says, “I’ve lived my life, my only regret is that you didn’t get to live yours.” Then saying soon after, “Sometimes the best thing we can do is to start over.” Peggy’s character in Captain America: The First Avenger is set up as someone who acts as the backup/back bone of Steve’s own moral compass. When Steve falters at Azzano about what to about the captured 107th, Peggy is there to remind him of what is right. She serves a similar narrative function in CA:TWS. Steve is struggling with life in the present. He’s just seen the helecarriers and argued with Nick Fury about protection vs fear after the botched Lumerian Star mission. Morally, he’s in turmoil and has turned to Peggy for council because he’s trying to find purpose in world where his rigid morality seems to have no place.

From the point of view of creating a causality loop, one would think that this scene in the hospital would be the place where an initial set-up could be made and alert the audience to the long term plan for Steve’s character. Instead, we have Peggy mourning the fact that Steve didn’t get to live his life the way it should have played out, and why would a woman who has supposedly been married to another version of Steve tell him to move on? In addition, when Steve visits the Smithsonian, he watches a video where he sees Peggy talking about how he influenced her life and how during one of his missions, he saved the man that would go on to become her husband. This is the only mention of Peggy’s husband in the entire franchise until Steve reappears as an old man at the end of EG.

Captain America: Civil War (CA:CW) also offers an opportunity to set up the causality loop at Peggy’s funeral but again, this does not happen. The only family we are introduced to is Sharon Carter, Peggy’s grand-niece. When it comes to filmmaking, every choice made is intentional. From the hair and makeup to the clothes, to the music used, everything in a film means something whether it is to further character development, world-building, or the plot. Filmmakers have a limited amount of time to convey a story and anything that doesn’t matter isn’t shown. Therefore, we can conclude from the text of the film that Peggy’s husband doesn’t matter to the narrative. The person in Peggy’s family who matters to the narrative is Sharon Carter which is why she is given prominence during CA:CW’s funeral scene. Had the causality loop been set up here, there would have been a defining moment like in PoA where the audience is clued into the larger story arc. Maybe someone says something, or he meets his older self, but that doesn’t happen. It should also be noted that apart from a small scene in Ant Man, Peggy isn’t mentioned again until EG.

In Endgame itself, the film still fails to set up a causality loop. It could be argued that this is the most important film for the set-up because this is when the audience gets the payoff. The first thing we see after the 5-yer time jump is Steve in a group therapy session for those that survived Thanos’ snap. Survivors share their stories and Steve talks about Peggy, a woman who has been dead in canon for 7-years and who died of old age. It’s incongruous and sticks out because narratively it doesn’t make sense for him to talk about her and not someone he watched disintegrate in front of his eyes. Steve watches his best friend and hundreds of others turn to ash around him and that film ends on his horrified face as he sits by his best friend’s ashes. Narratively, this is the thread that should carry through to EG but instead, he talks about missing his chance with Peggy. However, unlike PoA, there is no indication whether through dialogue or framing that clues the audience into Steve’s eventual ending at the end of the film.

Even when he goes back to the 70s, we see him looking mournfully at Peggy through the blinds in her office and a picture of him, pre-serum, on her desk. Steve and Peggy’s relationship prior to Endgame is supposed to represent the bittersweet loss of the life he could have had had he not sacrificed himself to the cause in CA:TFA. Then, since the audience knows from Steve and Peggy’s conversation in the hospital in CA:TWS that she moved on from Steve to live a happy life, we can assume that this picture is meant as nothing more than a fond memento of someone that meant a lot to her. Once more, there is no indication that Steve is ever meant to be her husband.

It’s impossible to infer a causality loop here in the same way as we saw in PoA. In PoA, there is a payoff for every single unusual or weird moment the story presents the audience before and after the use of time travel but this is something that’s completely absent from Endgame’s narrative. Steve himself doesn’t even vocalise a desire to go back in time at any point in EG nor at any point during the other films he appears in. In fact, when questioned by Tony Stark about the possibility of ‘going home’ in Avengers: Age of Ulton, he says, “The guy who wanted all that went in the ice 75 years ago. I think someone else came out.” While it is indicative of his unhappiness in the modern-day, it does indicate a level of acceptance of the fact that this is his life and he has to make his peace with it. He’s taken what Peggy said in CA:TWS on board. He’s starting over and moving on.

With time travel, and Steve choosing to stay in the past came the fan theory that one of the pallbearers carrying Peggy’s casket in CA:CW is Old Man Steve, her husband. When presented with this fan theory, writer Christopher Markus said during an interview with the LA Times at SDCC 2019,

“I would very much like that. There is no set explanation for Cap’s time travel . . .I mean, we’ve had public disagreements with [directors Anthony and Joe Russo] about what it [time travel] necessarily means, but I love the idea of there being two Steve Rogers in the timeline. One who lived a long life with Peggy and is in the background of that funeral scene watching his young self carry his wife’s coffin up. Not just for the time travel mumbo jumbo of it, but for the just weird, personal pain and satisfaction that would be happening between two Steve Rogers there. I kind of love it.” [emphasis mine]

This shows that unlike in PoA there was no intention of creating a causality loop prior to Markus writing EG with his writing partner Stephen McFeely. In fact, it makes clear that the actual rules of time travel were in contention and that even those making the film didn’t have a unified idea of what they wanted to create in the first place. The fact that there is confusion surrounding EG's time travel is due to the fact that the people behind it, didn't seem to know what they were writing or consider the consequences of it.

What all of this shows is that an argument of a PoA style causality loop doesn’t hold water. The film doesn’t support it, nor do any of the previous films, because there aren’t any indicators for the audience to latch onto. There is no moment of the rock breaking the jar, or the patronus chasing away the dementors, no moment where that the audience is told to hold into this information for later because there’s some timey wimey stuff going on. Ultimately, when examined, there is no set-up for a causality loop that supports the theory he was always supposed to go back and be Peggy’s husband, particularly when examined against a film that successfully lays it out from the start.

Right, the more academic (lol) part of this post is done. I just want to address one more TikTok that bothered me because I have opinions and MCU Captain America is my Mastermind specialist subject.

The TL;DR of this one was that Steve’s ending made sense because he got out of the fight and was at peace and that that has been the ultimate goal of his character arc. This person argued that Steve used the Avengers to distract himself from the fact that he’s this man out of time and he can’t find peace without a fight which to some extent, I agree with. I don’t deny that that is a major driving force to his story. We see that in Age of Ultron with his WandaNightmare. I don’t deny that that is key to his character. However, this creator then made a comment at the end of this video to the tune of, ‘bUt BuCkY iS hIs StOrY aRc’ and tried to play it off like this wasn’t true or that people were wrong to think that this is the case.

These two things aren’t mutually exclusive. They’re both true. They’re intertwined. But you cannot say that Bucky Barnes isn’t at the heart of Steve Rogers’ story. Bucky was the catalyst for every single one of Steve’s movies. He becomes CA because of Bucky. He goes against SHIELD because of Bucky. He defies 107 countries and the Sokovia Accords because of Bucky. You take Bucky out of the equation and what do you have? What happens in those films if you take Bucky Barnes out of the equation? Viewing it objectively, and even without shipper goggles on, you simply cannot sit there and claim that Bucky Barnes isn't a defining component to Steve’s story. Steve Rogers is motivated by Bucky Barnes. Steve Rogers is motivated by the depth of their relationship and the fact that Bucky Barnes is one of the few things connecting his new present to his old life.

You can definitely see the fact that Steve is uncomfortable in the modern world. He doesn’t address any of his trauma but he still attempts to move on. However, if they wanted him getting out of the fight and finding life as a civilian to be the natural end to his story arc then there was a way to do it which didn’t require him going back to Peggy. It would have been a better and more satisfying ending if he’d actively chosen to retire because I often see the argument that him going back to Peggy is him finally allowing him to be selfish after shouldering so much over the past decade or more. If Steve chose to retire and put himself first, then that sends a better message. He’s still getting the chance to ‘be selfish’ but he’s not throwing the life he’s built away. At this point in EG, he’s spent a huge portion of his adult life in the modern-day. This isn’t the future for him anymore, it’s the present and he’s lived a life and made real connections with people. The MCU does a piss poor job of showing the interpersonal relationships between the Avengers but he is at least shown to be friends with Sam, Nat, and Bucky.

But he goes back to a delusion. Or an idea of something that was never his in the first place.

When I see people make these videos and share their opinions, I can see their points but it’s like they’re taking EG on its own when that's impossible. Endgame only ‘works’ if you have the context of 10 years’ worth of films. You have to at least be somewhat familiar with the characters, who they are and what they’ve done up until now to be able to make sense of it.

However, in saying that, they wrote and filmed the movie in a way to make you think you didn’t have to take into account anything you’ve seen in the past ten years. If you only watch Endgame, you only see a grieving man mourning the love he never had. You see a man, regretful that he didn’t get to be with woman he loved. So at the end, of course it would make sense that he goes back to her. But you can only do that if you completely divorce Endgame from its ten-year canon and in a franchise like this where they make a big deal about everything being interconnected, it simply doesn’t work. Steve’s story arc in Endgame is incongruous to the narrative arc we’ve been presented in previous films.

Ultimately, Endgame is a movie you’re supposed to watch once and then not think about again. It’s made for that first viewing when everything is shocking and exciting because if you stop to think about it even a little bit, it falls apart under scrutiny.

Finally, I think that the downfall of a lot of these ‘Steve’s ending makes sense’ posts is that made by people who are most certainly MCU fans but not Steve Rogers fans and it shows.

[morsking]

is shirou a mary sue? the guy is universally well liked, cooks like a pro at 17, has the most op power from all fate (and arguably one of the most cool powers on media), nothing ever happens to him on the true/canon path of each route, he does many stupid things but no one cares 5 minutes later, other times like in salter vs rider he is just a tactical genius out of nowhere

he is not.

shirou is well-liked but he isn't particularly popular. he is known at school for being helpful and handy but otherwise not that many people are aching to get to know him or involve him in their lives. most people only know shirou very superficially. he is not sought after as a person, only as a handy man. there's a really neat scene at the beginning of hf1 where people are talking about shirou in the dojo and see that while he's earnest, hard-working, and talented, he's a bit odd and intense and that makes him a little difficult to approach casually. the only people who really like him are those who sit down and actually spend time with him. apart from the heroines of the story with whom he has time to develop a romantic bond, you don't see other girls falling head over heels for him. in fact, in hollow ataraxia the homurahara trio and mitsuzuri are quick to write him off as someone they are vehemently not interested in romantically whatsoever.

he only cooks like a pro because he had to teach himself to cook since he was 8. it's vital to understand that since kiritsugu became increasingly disabled and was utterly incapable of living as a normal human being, shirou was forced to grow up well before he was ready to take care of his adoptive father. he learned to cook, do the dishes, do the laundry, and clean the house because there were no other real adults in the house. shirou's domestic usefulness didn't come out of nowhere, it's a set of skills he took on out of necessity and came at the expense of his emotional growth.

shirou's power also isn't op. it's stated multiple times in the story how difficult it is for him to tap into it. he's not a natural mage with strong magical circuits, and neither does he have any real "useful" magical alignments that would make it easy for him to use conventional magecraft. every training session shirou has is a life-threatening act where he pushes his body and mind to the utmost limit for the low chance he might succeed at strengthening or projecting something. whenever he grabs hold of an ability that elevates his combat skills, it's either a) done with saber's help in the fate route, b) acquired as his soul inherits experience from his proximity to archer in ubw and receiving mana from rin, or c) obtained at the expense of the integrity of his mind and body as archer's arm starts to supplant his existence in heaven's feel. and even then, there's limits to what he can trace and project. he can't trace divine constructs normally as seen with ea, and his projections eat through his mana. think about what happens in heaven's feel too. every time he projects something with archer's arm he leaps closer to death because he can't handle the strain.

to say nothing ever happens to him in canon is also disingenuous. he doesn't die in a permanent sense, but take a moment to consider the amount of mental and physical pain he suffers that forces him to confront something about himself and change. did "nothing" happen when he faced gilgamesh and heracles with saber? is growing closer to her to find the best way to help her assert her personhood "nothing"? did "nothing" happen when he fought archer? is realizing the truth of your ideals and grasping the resolve to realize them anyway in a healthier and more self-aware manner "nothing"? did "nothing" happen when he fought heracles, saber alter, and kotomine? is saving your loved ones and claiming your life as your own after years of not seeing yourself as a human being to protect those dear to you so they too learn to love and accept themselves "nothing"?

take a moment to consider in what ways shirou is stupid that aren't contradicted by him being smart in others. shirou is socially inept and utterly incapable of asking for help because he is a traumatized teenager who doesn't know what a normal life is. he has few friends. he survived a fire. he is constantly trying to make up for being unable to rescue anyone in the calamity that destroyed his childhood. he constantly jumps in front of danger to save others for that very reason and refuses help because he doesn't want others to get hurt because of him until he learns to overcome that fear of being destroyed and seeing others be destroyed. he is dumb at being a person because he's never let himself be one. he is smart in a fight because he's at least been able to process his stress and trauma in a way that helps him rationalize his way out of a crisis.

i feel the need to stress that a protagonist having special qualities fit for the narrative isn't them being a mary sue. it's them simply being a main character with agency, a main character that is engaging and interesting. how boring do you think shirou and the story would be if he was really a shit-ass mcnobody with no talents, personality, qualities, or meaningful connections to the setting? he'd be no different from every other harem protag the cishet male audience can use as a self-insert. he is supposed to subvert ideas of masculinity by being domestic. he challenges conventional ideas of heroism by showing how his ideals are flawed and how important it is that he self-actualize.

shirou faces consequences for his inaction and inexperience multiple times too. saber gets frustrated because he won't (tell her why he really won't) fight and that causes a rift in their relationship he must fix with honesty and mutual understanding. shirou's inability to protect himself from hypnotic suggestion gets him kidnapped by caster and forces archer to rescue him, and in turn their shared stubbornness elevates their conflict to deadly levels until they're forced to fight to work out their differences. heaven's feel shows you how his unwillingness to forsake who he is to properly scold sakura and save her makes the situation worse when sakura loses faith that shirou will keep his promise to her until he decides he will fulfill it for both their sakes. people do care! saber cares when her master doesn't see eye to eye with her! rin cares that shirou is too willing to throw away his own life for others! archer cares that he is at risk of becoming that which archer can't forgive himself for being! sakura cares because seeing the man she loves come home bruised and bloodied every night is wrong! illya cares because he is her only true family! rider cares because if shirou can't be sakura's ally then she's as good as dead! everyone cares because shirou has to learn to care too, and he does!

i'm going to ask you to try to engage with media without trying to uncover flaws under rigid standards like this because all it does is keep you from properly understanding what is being shown to you. you cannot hope to judge a story and its characters for all their flaws or merits if this is how you approach things.

[sirikenobi12]

War & the Jedi

This will be a long meta rant, FYI.

The Jedi Order, specifically the Prequel era Jedi Order, gets a lot of hate these days particularly regarding their involvement in the Clone Wars. Accusations are tossed at their feet constantly ranging from corruption all the way up to warmongering. 

Let’s first look at the Oxford English Dictionary definition of these two accusations, shall we?

Corruption - having or showing a willingness to act dishonestly in return for money or personal gain.

Warmonger - a person who encourages or advocates aggression towards other countries or groups.

The definitions of these two words are so very misunderstood when it comes to relation to the Jedi. If the Jedi are truly “corrupt” then where are the examples of their dishonesty for wealth or personal gain? In fact, I’d argue that canon (and Legends) makes a point to show us that it is the Sith who are in it for personal gain, not the Jedi. The Jedi have absolutely NOTHING to gain from this war on a personal level, in fact they are losing members in terrifying numbers.

The Jedi are also not advocating aggression towards the Separatists, in fact what we see instead is the Jedi DEFENDING against the Separatists. I have yet to see in either canon or legends an instance where the Republic forces invade a Separatist planet who doesn’t have an army or some military involvement (i.e. weapon factories). However, time after time we see the Separatists forcing peaceful planets who want nothing to do with them to either bow to their cause or die (i.e. Ryloth, Lurmen planet, Kiros, Mandalore) the Jedi and Republic Troops will then follow the Separatists to these planets, but they try to do what they can to liberate the planet from the Separaist invasion and then they give the planet the OPTION to join the Republic for safety and economic reasons, but they never force them, as is super evident with Mandalore.

Yet people don’t seem to see this and continue to drag the Jedi through the mud. 

Here are the top 5 other “woke” takes I hear - 

Jedi are peacekeepers and should not have gotten involved:

 First things first, let’s look at the definition of Peacekeeper - a soldier, military force, etc., deployed to maintain or restore peace. 

I’d argue by that definition the Jedi were still peacekeepers, it’s true that they weren’t a 3rd party as they normally were before the war, but their position was trying to maintain or restore peace. Peacekeeper is not the same thing as a Pacifist, the Jedi were skilled warriors (training from childhood to wield a lightsaber), the difference is Jedi used their skills for defense not attack which is what we constantly saw throughout the Clone Wars. 

With regards to the idea that Jedi “should not have gotten involved” I ask you then what exactly were they supposed to do instead?

 We see at the beginning of Attack of the Clones that the Jedi are worried things will escalate to war, they have obviously gone to the Chancellor hoping that a diplomatic solution can be presented to avoid bloodshed. Or if that isn’t possible then that the Republic have some way to defend themselves other than relying solely on the Jedi (i.e. an army). The Separatists are the ones pushing them to a breaking point, were the Jedi just supposed to stand back and let innocent people be invaded/killed because they didn’t want to get involved? The Jedi were “Guardians of Peace and Justice” which means it was their duty to help bring about peace in the galaxy while also enacting justice. 

Then after Geonosis (where they lost approx. 187 members mind you) they learned that the Sith are leading the Separatist army - the Jedi are duty bound by their code to fight the Sith, they had no choice but to join the war. 

So, I ask again...what were they supposed to do instead?

2.  Jedi used a slave army for their own purposes:

 Okay, I can (and probably will) write a whole argument based on just this accusation alone. There are so many fallacies I don’t even know where to begin but I’ll try. 

I guess my first question is the same as #1, what were the Jedi supposed to do instead with regards to the Clones? 

Technically speaking the Clones didn’t “belong” to the Jedi, they were “property” of the Republic (as stated by Lama Su in Attack of the Clones). In fact, the Jedi Council not only didn’t know about the order, they had vehemently denied Syfo Dias’ earlier request to raise an army in the first place. The Sith KNEW the Jedi would be against it, this was all part of their plan to trap the Jedi (as was EVERYTHING about the war) - they clouded the Force, they literally deleted Kamino from the Archives so the Jedi wouldn’t discover it until the Sith WANTED them to (i.e. Jango just happened to use a Kamino dart?? Come on people). Yoda even states “blind we are if creation of this clone army we could not see” he fully admits they missed it because the Dark Side was clouding their vision. 

Regardless, the army was created, there was no changing that fact. Had the Jedi not taken command of the army do you think the Clones wouldn’t have had to go to war? Do  you actually believe that the Republic who couldn’t get their citizens to give 2 craps about the war would’ve taken up the mantle and fought instead? Do you think if the Jedi were like “thanks, but we didn’t order this” that the Kamioans would’ve just let the Clones go free? 

The answer you’re looking for is...no. 

So, like absolutely everything about the Clone Wars the Jedi did the best they could with the cards they had been dealt. They chose to lead the army on the front lines, putting themselves in just as much mortal danger as the men they were leading. They even sent a member of the Jedi Council to oversee the creation of future clones/training to ensure they were being treated humanely (something the Kamioans thought was ridiculous). They were the first to tell the clones that they were individuals, they constantly put themselves in front of their men to protect them (i.e. season 7 Obi-Wan deflecting the rocket from blowing up his men). The Jedi did what they could, just because we didn’t see on screen Jedi stopping to grieve every time a clone died did not mean that they didn’t care - real life Generals can’t stop in the middle of a battle to grieve over their fallen soldiers either, so why is it we consider it a moral crime if the Jedi don’t?

Another thing I’ll add is once the Jedi had evidence that the Clones were actually ordered by Dooku, did they immediately stop and say “oh hell no, these flesh droids can’t be trusted, we should just have them decommissioned”?? NO! They defended the Clones, stating that they were good men and should be trusted (and look where that trust got them in the end).

The Jedi were forced/coerced to fight this war as much as the Clones were!! Why are we willing to forgive the Clones, but not the Jedi???

3. Ki-Adi-Mundi killing Geonosians was the same as Anakin’s slaughter at the Tusken camp: 

This is another moment where context is everything because there is a HUGE difference between Ki-Adi-Mundi on Geonosis and Anakin in the Tusken camp. The fact that I have to even spell it out makes me wonder how people can even dress themselves in the morning. 

The Geonosians were an opposing military force, attacking Ki-Adi and his troops. Anakin slaughtered unarmed women and children out of vengeance. 

Now, had Ki-Adi turned to his men and screamed “to the catacombs!” brandishing his lightsaber with a murderous glint in his eyes and proceeded to cut down the unarmed bugs below the battle then you’d have an accurate comparison on your hands and I’d be appalled right there with you.

But, as it stands this is not the same thing...not even close.

4. The Jedi sent children to war: 

So, this is a tougher one and I can even understand the concerns behind it, and I even share some of those concerns. The thing I will say to this is, given what we see throughout Star Wars, what constitutes a “child” seems to be different than our own real world definition. 

Padme, for example, was 14 when she was elected Queen, and she wasn’t even the youngest ever elected. She (and her handmaids) were trained as children to defend themselves and their people both politically and in battle (much like Jedi), but you don’t hear people condemning the people/traditions of Naboo the way we see the Jedi being condemned for theirs.

Jedi children arguably mature faster than your standard person, and with regards to Star Wars there are also species’ age ranges to keep in mind. Grogu for example is still a baby at age 50, could it be possible that Ahsoka at age 14 is on the same maturity level as a human in their early twenties due to her Togruta DNA?? We don’t know, it’s never stated other than Anakin saying something about because of her advanced skills he forgets how young she is. 

Obviously Boba Fett is treated like an adult by other Bounty Hunters - no one even questions when he picks up a job and is placed in charge of a group at age 12 or 13 (and he is placed in an adult prison without anyone questioning it). It could be that by law according to Star Wars that 13 is actually considered an adult. Throughout history (and in many different cultures) 13 was when people were considered to be “coming of age”, So, once again we’re placing our cultural biases onto a fictional space fantasy world without realizing it might not even be an issue in that world.  

But even beyond all of that I ask you again - what else should the Jedi have done? 

Their young Padawans would eventually have to grow into Jedi Knights, even before the war by the time they are teenagers they usually followed their Masters on missions (often very dangerous missions) in order to get real world experience. At the time of the Clone Wars the real world they were living in was one at war. If they hadn’t brought their Padawans onto the battlefield how else would they have learned how to strategize, or how to cope with the emotions of battle? They would’ve been ill prepared if the war had continued on for years and years as it had looked like it was going to do...once again, the Jedi had no real choice in this. 

5. The Jedi lost their way because of the war: 

Did they though?? I’d argue they actually didn’t. We first have to ask ourselves what is a Jedi - well, according to the very first time we hear any type of a description about a Jedi they are introduced as the “Guardians of Peace and Justice for the Republic” I don’t see how the war took that away from them. 

The Oxford definition of Guardian is a defender, protector, or keeper. I fail to see how the Jedi stopped being any of these things because of the war.

Here’s the bottom line, the Jedi’s biggest mistake was that they fell for a plot 1,000 years in the making. The Sith spent over a millenia perfecting/hatching this plan, there was nothing the Jedi could’ve done to prevent the war by the time the trap was sprung. As always, I’m not saying the Jedi were perfect (I hate that I have to always specify that when I argue that the Jedi were good), all I’m saying is they tried to do the most good that they could with the situation they fell into - few groups/characters can claim the same thing.

Everyone seems to forget that the Sith controlled BOTH SIDES to that war, there was nothing - absolutely NOTHING the Jedi could’ve done that would’ve changed or won that war. So, instead they saved as many innocent lives as they could and to me, that’s very Jedi.