#it's in character for Childe to hang around kids I suppose but it's iffy as hell for Yoimiya to agree to that

[vervainvoyage]

Oof. This event is making me dislike Yoimiya.

I know lots of players like Childe, and you have every right to like whoever you want! This is not about his personality at all. But from the in-game perspective, he's a Fatui Harbringer- of the same Fatui that routinely kidnap children (Dottore's experiments on Collei and the attempted kidnappings of Vimara Village children, to name the in-game cases, and in the manga they also demand a tribute of children to be delivered from Mondstadt). And Yoimiya invites this guy to an outing with children, fully knowing that he's Fatui? Girl. Girl what the fuck. "Ah yes, General McSpy of the Yakuzalike Organisation, I'm sure he's a great babysitter for this school trip"

Traveller tries to warn her and she goes "oh but he was nice once, and hasn't hurt me personally, so clearly it can't be true that the Fatui are so dangerous" GIRL. I SWEAR TO THE ARCHONS.

Soooo yeah I do not have a high opinion of Yoimiya now. Regardless of how interesting a character is from the players' perspective, once you estabilish certain things about them, they have consequences. Childe being a known Fatui operative carries its weight, and when Yoimiya disregards it like that around the children she claims to be caring for, it just shows her in a very bad light. Oh she says "Don't worry I won't let my guard down" - as if she's so certain she can singlehandedly take down a Harbringer. Whatever the gameplay shows, plot-wise a fireworks seller should not be able to last against a Harbringer (because I'm sure someone out there beat Childe's boss fight with only Yoimiya already, but then again according to the game a theatre dancer is a 5star but the Tianquan of Liyue is not, so lets focus on the plot here and not the gameplay). So here's one of the big bosses of an organisation known for using lies, subtrefuge and trickery, who just so happened to save a child from danger... and now the children trust him... what a coincidence?

In conclusion Yoimiya, not knowing Childe well at all, is taking huge risks here that threaten not just her but the kids under her care, and she should never date, since she has too much of an inclination to ignore red flags. And when the Traveller tries to warn her, based on their own experience with Childe, and of how Fatui basically work on false pretenses and trickery, she ignores it.

[ruby-whistler]

Srry but i noticed in one of ur dream posts u Referred to tommy's cat as hope. I must correct u, that cat was born pussbou and died pussboi. /lh Also tommy killing that cat was nothing compared to dream killing mushroom henry in exile btw just wanna say Also for ur posts about dreams trauma or wilbur manipulating him can u provide links to vods or other proof? Srry if i seem rude i mean that in a "genuinely curious way"

Aaa sorry if my ask came off as rude im just genuinely curious :(((

hi! dw, you don't seem rude at all, and i'm extremely happy someone with a different perspective has found my blog! i really appreciate that sort of attitude and am happy to answer :]

/dsmp /rp

the cat was called pussboy by tommy, but dream only called it "the cat" and then said that "it was hope", which is why it sort of became a symbol (his hope is dead, basically) - that's why i kind of made its name capitalized, because it was more of a metaphor than anything.

most c!dream fans call the cat hope because it's just really nice and really symbolic, and also really sad when you think about it. that's why the name was used in the essay, just to clear up the confusion!

tommy killing that cat was nothing compared to dream killing mushroom henry in exile

i don't really think so? mooshroom henry was entertainment more than anything, and even if it was bad, when watching the stream i don't remember seeing him mourn that much - on the other hand, dream was very quickly and very obviously attached to the cat, with it being his only companion in months of isolation, along with the hope that even when tommy left it would keep him company.

keep in mind c!dream has been deprived of stimuli and human contact for so long it's officially classified as psychological torture at that point.

i don't mean to compare trauma or even compare deaths - because honestly, what c!dream and c!tommy have gone through individually is incomparable and i think neither should be diminished in favor of the other since they're both terrible situations.

that's why i disagree that it "was nothing compared to" - it had an obvious effect on c!dream, and was still c!tommy killing an animal specifically to hurt him, no matter what reasons he had.

when i'm talking about effects people's actions have had on c!dream, i'm not talking about those people. i'm talking about him. :) /lh

as for the trauma, a lot of people agree that a lot of the things he says or does are trauma responses, and hence it's very possible that he's had trauma before he went into prison!

this includes being repeatedly called a tyrant via propaganda by about half of your friends who decided to betray you, trying to keep peace and being pushed deeper into villainy instead, repeatedly being put in between a rock and a hard place in order to make sure the people you care about don't start killing each other, then being betrayed by your closest friends after merely trying to keep peace (sapnap & george) and just in general having no control over your life or image and grasping at straws to gain it back.

i know a lot of people with trauma who heavily relate to certain trauma responses, which aren't always just shaky breaths and flashbacks, but trauma often also manifests itself in extremely ugly and destructive ways, both inwardly and outwardly.

trying to control the people around you is also very often a response to going through trauma, as well as emotional repression which is... rather evident on c!dream during season two. it only seems to get worse with repeated abandonment.

in the end, during the vault scene, the way he acts really just isn't at all the way a healthy person would act, and a lot of his really bad mindsets come from the way he was taught by the world around him.

the character is very reserved however, and since we don't have his pov we can't really say for certain - a lot of people claim it in good faith because they have a lot of evidence for it, and i think they're certainly valid in that.

that is just before the prison, however. from what happened during the prison arc? there is no denying he's traumatized at this point.

he's been emotionally and physically abused by c!sam since the very beginning of being imprisoned, and being in solitary confinement for over two weeks is generally considered psychological (and maybe also physical?) torture. that alone shows up in a lot of symptoms of his mental deterioration while in pandora's during people's visits, and quackity's "sessions" just absolutely drove the point home.

what he's gone through during this arc is absolutely incomparable to anything others charactes have faced before, and it's just plain suffering being endured by someone who is, despite everything, still a human being.

as for the wilbur manipulation thing!! it's talking about the whole vassal scene (though even beforehand a lot of their interactions are pretty iffy), and here's a post about that :]

I also have a small question about the analysis u last reblogged cus it says "why dream needed lmanburg gone rightfully" and like. The house analogy is poor because for one cus the land is infinite. And 2 cus punz's yard was literally larger then lmanburg. And also stuff about dream being a mediator? Can u provide examples?

i wouldn't say it was poor. dream's said a lot of times that he didn't care in the slightest about the land - a lot of his problems with l'manberg arose with the fact that wilbur basically built it on lies and tried to disallow half of the server to come there. c!dream was mad about the division and the fact that wilbur wanted "freedom" to have authority in his lands - over others, as can be seen in this post also.

the table analogy was fitting not because dream was some overlord, but because these were literally friends he invited to hang out and live in a place he wanted to call home. claiming a part of it for yourself and saying people of a certain nationality can't come in is directly opposing those goals.

in the early days of the smp, dream's always been a mediator between his friends - sapnap and george, who would often get into fights and go around killing each other! he would always do his best to stop the conflict, which continued after tommy joined when he took him to court and then later tried to mediate conflicts he was a part of, which resulted in tommy killing him unprovoked, stealing his gear, and starting the disc wars when dream was trying to get his stuff back. later, during pogtopia, he is also most concerned with peace over everything, and this seems to continue indefinitely after.

Today i was thinking about how messed up the final control room was. Like. Dream arranged the betrayal and punz and sapnap killed tommy and tubbo who like. Were literal children and their pals (because the author, wilbur soot, is dead/j but srsly if u take the streamers words tommy said he was 9 during the revolution sooo)

Sorry im gonna ramble about how dumb canon ages are for a second cus like. Streamers can say the characters are one way or another (wilbur saying he is mentally 30-something, etc.) But in the end the characters act like they(or at least their streaming personas) do.

i... honestly don't find it that bad? they were in a war, and the final control room was basically just supposed to end it quicker. the l'manbergians made it clear they were going to fight to the death, so they really left c!dream no other choice. and it's not like he didn't give them chances to give up.

also yeah the 9 year old thing was retconned, because in that case c!dream would've been 14 and i don't think that's true.

c!tommy and c!dream were both young and once again, in a war. the final control room was an attempt to assure victory, which both sides would've taken if possible, but only c!dream saw he had the option.

i do agree the whole child soldier thing was bad but... complain about that to c!wilbur, methinks. he talked naive kids into fighting for his personal power. however, the age argument isn't really valid either way. they had enough agency to sign up for it, and whether or not c!wilbur pushing the intense nationalism onto them had something to do with that is another debate entirely.

Bacl to final control room cus like??? Also fun fact punz took 2 of wilbur's canon lives. And like that probably is what started wilbur's paranoia which later lead to his spiral and i. Many thoughts full of lmanburg today.

i'm pretty sure cc!wilbur said what lead to c!wilbur's spiral was a "dark, twister view of possessions" and "disregard for his fellow citizen whom he claimed to love so much", but i really wouldn't say it was the control room; if anything the sudden loss of power after the elections seems to me like the trigger for his spiral.

I watched the exile arc live and. I feel dirty almost for feeling little to no sympathy for c!dream (srry ive been forgetting to add that aa) because of his actions toward c!tommy and like. The whole probation was so humiliating and unfair and c!dream was planning to frame him for the crimes he and puffy did under the the guise of "pranks" and c!quackity was planning to seize the vice president role.

i mean... to be fair, if you didn't watch the prison arc much yet or only watch tommy's perspective i understand not feeling that sympathetic - however, i encourage you to maybe watch a few prison visits, since they could help you see the whole picture better!

i also watched it live, and i also thought it was terrible, but i share very much the same sentiment for the prison arc because. absolutely no one should have to go through either of those things, you know?

i don't think probation was that humiliating? he was just. being asked to not start conflict with the other factions for two weeks. of course, what happened as a result is in no way justified, but i don't think probation itself would've been bad at all. either way yeah the framing and c!quackity's behaviour was. very yikes, i agree.

Also c!tommy antis are dumb because they say "he deserved exile angry emoji" i dont see u saying that about ranboo. Just say you hate cc!tommy and go. Also people say c!tommy was just as toxic to c!dream and i??? No. One is the victim and one is the abuser and like. :/// man. This part is rambly srry

i wouldn't say they hate cc!tommy? cc!tommy has a persona who people think is annoying at first ( but then they subscribe because he is super entertaining big man! ) but a lot of c!tommy's actions are straight up toxic to certain characters, such as c!funndy and c!jack. he has a very dismissive attitude towards others and their trauma and it does affect the people around them very negatively.

examples; his repeated bullying and behavior towards fundy:

Tommy: “Fundy, I’m just here to kinda let you know that I – if you weren’t Wilbur’s son, you would be out of L’manburg, alright? Just remember – you need to keep that relationship with your father. I saw how asshole-y and bratty you were acting in the courtroom the other night. You need to pull your shit together young man.”

......

Fundy: “I’m wearing glasses…are you making fun of my eyesight?!”

Tommy: “Yes.”

Sapnap: “Your father would be very disappointed.”

Fundy: “Wh – disappointed for wearing glasses?!”

Tommy: “You got glasses, like what are you wearing…”

Fundy: “What do you mean?”

Tommy: “Sapnap, Sapnap, over here. Fundy, Fundy, Fundy, I’m really sorry to say this – I’m just here to publicly denounce you.”

Fundy: “…What?”

( credit for transcript: @/findingjoynweirdstuff )

he's also responsible for a big chunk of c!jack's trauma, both with actions and words, and that's why i think certain people might dislike the character, and i don't think that's wrong of them. anyone can dislike any character they want if they don't attack people for liking them, in my opinion.

also c!tommy was most definitely toxic against c!dream in the cell. it's of course understandable but that doesn't change the fact he was constantly hitting and insulting him (without dream doing anything back for a long while until he snapped) which is toxic behaviour.

i wouldn't say he was "just as" though, so i agree with you on that. they're different and they behave differently.

i made a dream blob keychain today. Is it possible to send images if u wanna see? Idk cus i havent used tumblr before. I think that's all for now. Thx for letting me talk :D peepoShy -curious anon (but fr a connoreatspants c!dream redemption arc would be cool)

yooo that's cool! i don't really,,, know if it's possible to send images? try it out and if it isn't i'll try find a way to turn it on.

also, no problem! just please remember this is a c!dream sympathetic blog, and me as well as my followers are uhh,, oftentimes emotionally attached / personally relate to the character, so if you could avoid sending hate on the character (not that you have or that i expect you to, just a friendly reminder) in the asks that would be great! we already see a lot of it unwillingly so, i'd rather not see more, but as long as the discussion is civil i'm absolutely ok with you asking more and with me answering more questions if you'd want to! :)

if anyone else would like to reblog this and add some things i might've missed with my answers, feel free to, just go easy on her (she uses she/her pronouns!) and keep it factual.

i hope u had a good or at least ok time at school today :D

thanks! i gtg now because exam tomorrow but i'm going to try write the redemption essay tomorrow as well because ohhh boy i have a lot of ideas about what all i could write around the concept.

also sorry this was long, i can't keep my tongue on the leash :[

[natsunoomoi]

More SVSSS stuff because I just watched ep 5. I’m not in a position at the moment to pay for the VIP pass and plus it’s like one show that I’d be paying for, so eh. I think I can wait.

The highlight for me is definitely always just looking at Shen Qingqiu’s face. I really like how he looks. Like when they show grown Luo Binghe he looks nice too, but it’s not that often. When Liu Qingge comes out of the cave I’ll probably enjoy the eye candy for every episode thereafter. I’m not normally really like this, so I think the aesthetics of this show just touch on something very comfortable deep in the recesses of my memory of some kung fu movie I watched with my Dad as a young child that imprinted on me so I have a very specific weakness for men with that kind of a look.

I also have a very specific weakness for villain characters that have a kind of redemption or a complicated past with some inklings of maybe they could be redeemed even if overall they were kind of a dick for at least a portion of their lives. This is my Hiei from Yu Yu Hakusho weakness that almost universally applies to almost all my interests in life. I think the idea that Shen Jiu set his owner’s house on fire and killed them all except for his friend relates rather strongly to that because that is the thing that Hiei ulitimately decided not to do, but was the thing the Koorime in Hyouka no Kuni feared. Except Shen Jiu acted on it.

But like Shen Jiu supposedly could have been saved if the original’s author was a better writer and wasn’t writing a bullshit stallion novel. Like the fact that he saved Haitang is a compelling example of how his heart wasn’t completely cold. Of course she was his fiancee and people kind of are iffy about if they really were, but like they probably were between each other. Even if he was a slave, she lived in his house and she was his friend and they talk to each other. Naturally if you get along with each other really well, maybe as kids you just say, “When I grow up, I want to marry you.” Then because they’re friends and they like each other, they agree and they plan it that way. Just between them. Nothing to do with her family or the reality of the situation. Just two cute kids making a promise innocently. But like with that backdrop, it’s kind of understandable that he would save her from his slaughter and the fire that he set to destroy her family house. The interesting thing is that he never once in his entire time living there or even in the aftermath tried to tell her what her family was really like and what they did to him. He left her to hate him for what he did and assume that her family was innocent and the attack was unprovoked. He didn’t do anything to destroy her image of her loved ones.

It’s really sad how strong his mistrust for other men is, but that’s trauma too. We’re not really given specifics of how exactly he lived as a slave. We know that he was the 9th one bought, but he likely slept in close quarters with other slaves because it’s not like a noble family would give a whole lot to their slaves and amenities were probably sparse. For very different reasons, the disciple quarters even on Qing Jing Peak are probably similar. Sparse to focus on training and cultivation and close because of the number of disciples and just the overall situation. Even if the quarters had relatively more space than his slave quarters, that does sound too similar for it to be a huge trauma trigger for him on top of being surrounded by mostly other males. Self-isolation as a result of the trauma and hyper focusing on just his cultivation as a means to survive and get by day by day and create the foundation for his entire identity and basically it’s definitely the set up for disaster and all of Shen Jiu’s problems socially that lead him to being the main villain for the original story. It’s very sad. If only Yue Qingyuan tried to actually talk with him more instead of apologizing. I know he probably figured ultimately his excuse doesn’t matter, and it doesn’t, but Shen Jiu really needed help and to feel like his whole world wasn’t cold. Just knowing that he was in his friend’s thoughts and he tried to come back maybe could have eased his suffering even a little and start to build up a new level of trust again for him in particular but even for men in general. It’s sad as well that no mentors in his time there as a disciple ever like kind of noticed and tried to like just talk to him. I know he keeps his cards close and probably didn’t show outwardly he was struggling, but like how come no one asked how come he was spending so much time at the Warm Red Pavilion with women? That’s strange right? No one was concerned? I mean, like even if ultimately you say, it’s up to you if you want to keep going and that’s your business, still maybe ask and be like, “Hey, so I notice you’re not sleeping along with the other disciples and spend every night with the ladies over there? Uh, what’s up?” I think like for his teachers that might have been an important thing they should have done, but no one did? That seems like a big plothole to me that he was allowed to just continue like that with no one asking even once or showing concern that the top disciple of Qing Jing Peak was not socializing with the other disciples or sleeping in the same quarters as them. I’m surprised even not one of the ladies in the Pavilion even asked why he was there every night. I mean, I’m sure they wouldn’t want to shoo a way a client, but like no one asked even like one time? I understand from the meta point of view that plothole is probably there on purpose to show how the original’s author was a dumpster fire to create a horrible world of super toxic masculinity as an ouroboros eating itself, but jfc I really feel bad for Shen Jiu that he was made to feel such suffering as a result of absolutely shit writing just to make him an enemy for Demon Binghe.

Oh and he just had a shit first cultivation master too. What the hell with the horrible luck. This poor kid is just trying to survive and he just gets a raw deal.

But I suppose that’s also like a masterful backstory on MXTX’s part to make us root for Shen Yuan’s rewrite and create a happy life for “Qingqiu” that he wasn’t able to make himself. He did it initially for his own self-interest, but the Qingqiu everyone knows in the end is much more well-adjusted. I’m still sad though that it feels like that means original Shen Jiu still left that world with Shen Yuan replacing him only knowing sadness.

So then I was poking around the tags on here and saw someone had a theory that original Shen Jiu got punted from his timeline and turning into Shen Yuan who knows the whole story and then dies and gets put into his old body. I actually buy this, but my version of the timeline is different. Like I was thinking Shen Jiu-Qingqiu died as a human stick under all the torture and everything and then became reborn as Shen Yuan reading through his whole life and mistakes through a horribly written story and then dying via food poisoning and brought into his own old life with a chance to redeem himself. I really like this idea except that Shen Jiu seems really, really straight and Shen Yuan may be a bit more fluid.

But all this to say, that I have an itch in a confluence of all of my weaknesses to want to really comfort Shen Jiu. ;o; There’s a small part of me that while enjoying Shen Yuan’s rewrites, also really wished Shen Jiu could have been happier so he didn’t turn into such a dick because literally no one else around him seemed to do anything except let him fuck himself over including the people who supposedly cared about him. So very sad. T_T

And then maybe this should be in a different post that’s a different topic. I kind of touched on a bit how the image of the situation probably doesn’t look great, but it looks like some people are like bashing on the Bingqiu ship? It’s the canon ship for one, so just stop there.

But if you really want to go into it, as another person pointed out, the actual teacher-student relationship was between original Qingqiu and Binghe. We’re reading a different situation because it’s Shen Yuan who was a Binghe fanboy who has the relationship with Binghe. The imaging isn’t great because he’s in and controlling Qingqiu’s body, and the rest of the characters in the world don’t know this, but the meta reading of this is that it’s okay because it’s a different person actually. In world, the other characters do probably find it a little odd and the issue with Qingge in the succubus cave as I mentioned before, he’s probably panicking when the succubus mentions that Qingqiiu’s love interest is a junior because he can only think of himself as that role and didn’t think to include a disciple into that description. It doesn’t seem like it’s completely unheard of or taboo though because there seems to be some implications that maybe Shen Jiu originally had some kind of designs on Ning Yingying because he’s also a bit jealous of Binghe for getting her attention too? A large part of his jealousy comes from his insecurity with his cultivation and other people having more advantage or potential to surpass him despite his hard work, because again trauma and hyper focusing on building his entire identity around one thing and no one helping him, but like also seems in this world there’s some leeway between teacher-student relations turning into something else. This is not really a normal kind of situation where they go into a modern school or anything. A lot of the disciples were probably at one point also juniors to their master before they graduated to become a lord, and when they grow enough to end their disciple term and can become more independent cultivators they’re not really obligated to stick by such a standard because they’re adults. Like maybe they hang around the sect still and work as like someone they happen to send out on demon slaying missions if they choose to stay instead of going off somewhere and it functions a bit more like an army in that regard where they’re not really learning anything new or getting any new instruction, but they’re still kind of a disciple. It’s not a perfect 1:1 relation to teacher-student relationships because of the structure of cultivation sects. It’s not great in the army to have a relationship with your CO either, but the point in the story when their relationship develops is more like that. But like Mingfan probably eventually would go back to his family and just live out a noble life because he is a noble, so it’s not like all the disciples would stay and perpetually be students forever. There’s some very important distinctions at play here in the story that the people who object to this aren’t understanding. 

Like this isn’t like an actual school like in Harry Potter or something where the kids all go off to Hogwarts and there are actual students and teachers and every Peak is like a Hogwarts House. They’re learning and the peak lord gives them some level of instruction, but there’s also a great deal of independent study because cultivation is very personal and bound by natural talent and how much you put into it. The fact that everyone has their own manual should tell you a lot about the structure and how it’s okay for Qingqiu to leave for 3 years to go meditate in a cave. The masters in these situations are more like more well studied seniors who just have more experience and have been appointed to help you get unstuck or something because they have more experience to troubleshoot. There’s some authority carried with that as well, but it’s a very different experience from like a boarding school, so such a relationship is not entirely taboo. It’s not perfect because if you’re still trying to play the old roles at the same as your new role as a partnership that can get kind of weird, but it can work out if there’s communication involved as with generally all things.

So yeah, Bingqiu is actually okay, and rather than harping on something that’s not an issue, I think the more interesting discussion is how obligated a person is to be faithful to a different person’s life if they end up in their body. Like for body swap movies where the change is temporary they’re always like “Hey, don’t f up my life!” But like this is a permanent change where Shen Yuan was inserted into Qingqiu’s life after he was already established. What is the philosophical theory to how much he should keep up Qingqiu’s responsibilities and how much freedom should he exert for his own desires? That’s the real question. I think the balance he struck became ultimately more happy for everyone in the sect, so eh.

I realize a lot of this is not related to the episode, but the episode is just a continuation of the sparring match and nothing much else to say about it. The most interesting thing is getting to see a flashback of the original Qingqiu and getting a better idea of who he was like instead of the Shen Yuan version we know.

[kaitymccoy123]

((I am queuing up a bunch of posts for the next couple days so I can still participate but I am still hiding away from tumblr))

Rules

1. Always post these rules

2. Answer the questions given by the person who tagged you

3. Write 11 questions of your own

4. Tag 11 people

Tagged by @mccoymostly

WARNING YOU RIGHT NOW THAT THIS IS PROBABLY GOING TO BE FILLED WITH LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA PRAISE SO BE PREPARED.

1. What’s your absolute favorite scene from any film?

I have honestly thought about this question all day.  I have a very, very hard time picking favourites, for ANYTHING, especially books and movies.

One scene I loved was from The Fault In Our Stars and I thought it was really well done.  It is the scene where you know Augustus is going to die **spoilers** and Hazel is sleeping, but then the phone rings.  And you know.  You just know what the phone call means and I swear my heart broke with her as she just turned inwards on herself and started to sob.  Beautifully done.    

2. What’s the most terrible book you’ve ever read?

There have been a few, but I am actually going to switch the question to the most terrible MOVIE you ever seen.  I may rant for a minute.  

I hate stupid movies.  And I know that sounds really obvious to say but like I hate stupid humour movies where it is just dirty jokes and stupid boys the whole time, for example, 21 Jump Street, or Step Brothers, or things like that.  My entire family and all my friends know I hate those movies and if I walk in while they are watching one they will flat out tell me it is one of those kinda movies and I will shrug and walk out.  I hate them.  

But my all time least favourite movie was Napolean Dynamite.  Please nobody shoot me but me and my brother couldn’t make it halfway through that movie because it was so dumb.  I hate stupid humour.  :)

3. Star Trek NoTP, and why?

I had a hard time warming up to Spones for a while, and still am pretty iffy about it because I just don’t think they would work that well together.  They are both stubborn beyond belief, so it would take a hell of a long time for either of them to even admit that they liked each other, at all, and there would be a lot of arguements.  

4. The four most badass humans to ever walk the earth? If you’re feeling it, I’d love to hear your justification. ;)

KAITY IS DEFINITELY NOT A HISTORY BUFF SO THESE ARE PROBS GOING TO BE ALIVE PEOPLE.

((I have also just filled these out and realize I should probably change the question to ‘The four most influential nerds to ever walk the earth’ because that’s where my mind went.  Kaity does not dig deep.  Kaity does not know a lot of famous people, especially famous historic people.  So these are basically nerdy celebrities.))

1.  Lin-manuel Miranda: Of freakin course.  He is ridiculously talented, the cutest cutie pie ever, and humble on top of that.  He works to inspire creators, young and old, and I look up to him in every way.  

2.  John Green: Once again, nerdy with a purpose, my kinda people I guess.

3. Misha Collins: though I am not an avid SPN watcher (though I have seen up to season 9) I have seen posts about Misha Collins and all the stuff he does and all the charities he runs and things and I think that’s awesome.

4. John Barrowman: once again not an avid Doctor Who watcher (though I have seen up to the eleventh doctor) I think John Barrowman is another nerdy with a purpose type, someone to change people’s views on the world.

5. The fictional character you identify most with, and why?

SO MANY TO CHOOSE FROM.

Right now I would honestly have to say Scotty.  

I would say my favourite character is still Bones but since I did my little kinda meta-analysis on Scotty, I realize him and I are very much the same.  

We are kind, soft, and appear very positive, upbeat and willing to help, and we are all those things, but we are often taken for granted and our easily trusting nature is sometimes used against us.  We are gentle and docile, but will turn on you at a drop of a hat if you break our trust or try to hurt our friends.  We will go to the ends of the earth to help people, so much so that it is sometimes exhausting.  One-on-one is best for us, and are generally quite quiet, but if you get us talking about something we are passionate about we could talk your ear off for days. -I am also 100% sure he is Hufflepuff (as I am) and I will fight you on this. (I have so much more but Imma hold back to keep this post relatively short)

6.If you could hang out with one person for a day, living or dead, who would you pick, and why?

Once again, my true and honest answer would be Lin-Manuel Miranda.  I just think it would be an amazing day, and I could share my writing ideas with him and my passion for nursing, and I just think he would be a really good listener. I honestly really just want to talk to the guy just to tell him how much he inspires me, not only with all his wonderful musical talents, but also as a person, because he advocates for loving things with your whole heart and expressing that in every way possible.  Also he maybe would take me to go see Hamilton and with that I would die.  

7. What character, from any source, do you think gives the best kisses, and why?

My mind can only think Star Trek at the moment and I honestly would probably say Jim would.  I think he would have the most skill and practice and be able to be receptive to your skill and comfort set.  But I wouldn’t turn down a chance to kiss Bones either. ;)

8. Who is your favorite artist (any medium; this can be interpreted broadly), and why?

**tries to think of any other person than Lin-Manuel Miranda** **cannot**  He is an artist in every sense of the word.  The way he is with words and music is astonishingly inspiring and I can’t sing his praises enough.  

9. What’s your favorite theoretical crossover? In other words, what characters, from different fandoms, would you like to see interact, or who would you like to see thrown into a different universe? I hope this question makes sense, guys.

I think a Guardians of the Galaxy/Star Trek crossover would be hilarious.  But I guess timelines don’t quite work out.  

10. Who is your favorite iconic scientist, and which of their contributions do you find most significant?

Kaity is not a history buff and whenever we talk about the history of whatever we are learning I kinda zone out because I like to focus more on the future than the past but I will scrounge around for something.  

I guess Florence Nightingale, for pioneering modern-day nursing?  That’s pretty darn awesome.  

11. If you could remake any movie, in any way you want, what movie would you pick, and what would you change?

This one took me a while, and that is only because I could only think of book-to-movie adaptations where I would actually know how to change something.  The only one I could think of was Divergent (it’s the one I most recently watched) and I would change two things:  

1. Add in the scene where Tris falls off the ferris wheel and Four saves her.

2. Have their first kiss be actually where it’s supposed to be, near the chasm, sitting on rocks together.  I thought that the way they did it was too overdone, too predictable.  

Bonus?  If you could make any contribution to any field (cure any illness, make any discovery, invent any technology, write any book or create any art, be remembered for anything), what would it be, and why?

I would definitely say anything to do with nursing honestly.  I want to be remembered as the nurse that held your baby while you weren’t there, while you had to go take care of your other kids and you felt so safe leaving them with me.  I want to be remembered as the nurse that saw the change in vitals and new something was terribly wrong with your child and reported it right away so it could be fixed.  I want to be remembered as the nurse that wouldn’t give up on your child when it seemed like everyone else would.  I want to be remembered as your child’s favourite nurse.  

I would love to rid the world of any childhood illness ever, so I didn’t have to become a pediatric nurse, but I do, so I want to be remembered for that.  

Kaity’s 11 Questions:

What person do you most look up to in the world and why?

What book really spoke to you, maybe even changed your view on things, and how did it do that?

If you could spend the afternoon snuggled on a couch watching a movie with a fictional character, who would it be?

If you are in a bad mood, do you prefer to be left alone or have someone to cheer you up?

Do you judge a book by it’s cover (literally or figuratively)?

What’s the one thing that people always misunderstand about you?

What is your Harry Potter house and do you feel you were sorted correctly?

Do you consider yourself an introvert or an extrovert?

What is your favourite colour?  Why?

What’s your most listened to song?

What celebrity would you trade lives with?

Tagging: @mccoymostly, @yourtropegirl @imagicana @captainsbabysitter-blog @digitalmoonhowell @trekken81 @atari-writes @outside-the-government @starshiphufflebadger @youre-on-a-starship​ and anyone else who wants to answer them!

[meow-meow-motherfckr]

The Ghost of Harrenhal

We open with Catelyn having a nice lunch with Renly. She tells him Robb doesn’t want the Iron Throne, and Renly says he can be King in the North--but only in name. She wants him to negotiate a peace with Stannis, which he says is a no can-do, and then he gets killed by Stannis and Mel’s smoke-demon-baby. Talk about timing. Just as she lowers his dead body to the floor, different Kingsguard come in, and ignore Catelyn and Brienne’s insistence that she didn’t kill Renly. This isn’t exactly unreasonable of them. Brienne fights her way out, and even kills a man, which I suppose is more dramatic than Catelyn coming up with an escape plan. Apparently nobody heard the mini battle in the King’s tent, so Brienne has time to cry over Renly before Cat gives her a little pep talk, and they leave because revenge.

Littlefinger’s spidey senses go off, and he goes to find Loras and Margaery. Loras is understandable upset over the death of his lover. Margaery wants to go home with their army. Loras wants revenge. Littlefinger pops up and has an idea to play the long con, and between Littlefinger and Margaery he calms down enough to storm out of the tent. Margaery and Petyr have a little moment, and we find out what Margaery wants is to be the Queen. It’s not a bad direction for them to go with her character, and Natalie does a really good job playing that angle, but the show does tend to neatly divide women into either sexual manipulator or strong badass warrior. At least the cool women.

Tyrion and Cersei discuss Renly’s death, and Stannis’ impending arrival. Cersei can’t be bothered, and Tyrion is mildly concerned. He and Cersei fight about Myrcella, and then Cersei informs him that Joffrey is heading up the war effort, and apparently he’s not telling. Good thing Lancel is there to tell Tyrion that it’s Wildfire. Tyrion threatens him until he gives more detailed plans. Lancel takes a face-plant outside Tyrion’s litter, and then relays his execution orders to Bronn. I feel for this guy.  Honestly, Lancel has more interesting character development than half of the people on the show. Cut to the Stormlands, where Davos is kind of concerned because of the whole demon baby thing, but Stannis is more concerned with bannerman than the fact that he just killed his brother. Davos brings up the moral implications, but gives up and talks about the Blackwater attack. He at least gets to give Stannis the truth, which is that people don’t like Melissandre and think Stannis is her puppet. So they leave for King’s Landing without Mel, because Stannis compares about PR now. But he’s still into killing dissenters. Baaby steps.

Tyrion has an exposition moment and explains that they’re basically screwed as he walks down the streets of King’s Landing, which apparently he does routinely now. He accidentally walks into a rabble, and apparently the people aren’t down with incest. Tyrion is ready to flame Joffrey, until the speaker drops “demon monkey” and Tyrion is, understandably, perturbed. He realizes people blame him for the shit-show that is King’s Landing, when he sees himself as the savior. I mean, he’s still propping up and illegitimate and sadistic tyrant, but he practices harm reduction, so we’re all good.

Theon watches another ship sail away, and it upset by how small his own ship is. Rare pairs, am I right? Nobody follows his commands, and his second mate is ready to mutiny before they even get on board. Yara shows up to mock him, and brag about all her ships, while Theon’s crew sails off without him. SOme random guy comes to help Theon, and he is not quite suspicious enough about why this man wants to help him. He questions Theon’s masculinity, and primes Theon to disobey his father’s orders and go for Torrhen’s Square. Theon realizes the Starks would immediately take it back, leaving Winterfell vulnerable, and the music tells us this is going to be a big deal.

Tywin has a chat about how the Northern lords are discontent, because it’s war, but Tywin thinks they’ve underestimated Robb. He chucks his cousin out of the council/Harrenhall because he wanted a nap, and then he asks Arya where she’s from, and gets her to admit she’s a Northerner. Remember that part where Arya said that Sansa knew all the sigils and she didn’t? And how Sansa actually has practical skills that could assist her in surviving? Oh wait, Sansa’s not allowed to be good at anything. Back to the show, she talks about how great Robb is, and Tywin is super chill with it. Arya says that anyone can be killed, and we’re up to our eyeballs in foreshadowing. Arya wanders around, until Jaqen rolls up and they talk about gender for a hot second. She’s pissy because he works for the Lannisters, but to be fair, she does as well. He offers to take out three people for her, and she tells him to kill the tickler first. She doesn’t name Tywin for some reason despite the fact that he is right fucking there. Maybe she’s grown sympathetic to his harsh, yet grandfatherly manner. Who the fuck knows.

We go up to our Winter Wonderland the Fist of the First Men. The only thing Sam can talk about is Gilly, because his personality is chasing girls I guess. He does geek out for a while to exposit who the First Men are, and then Jon says something gloomy because he’s Jon. I guess they gave up on making Dolorous Ed actually dolorous and made Jon fill that role. Quorin Halfhalnd is introduced as basically the Bear Grylls of Westeros, and then we cut to Tyrion.

Tyrion promptly makes a dick joke, but the Pyromancers take him seriously. They have a shit ton of highly volatile substance, and Bronn points out that if somebody drops some wildfire during a battle it’s game over for King’s landing because that shit burns fucking everything. They also make a nice joke about Aerys and Wildfire, and I think it might even be original, so credit where credit is due. Tyrion takes the whole Wildfire operation from Cersei basically just by saying so, and the pyromancers are down with that because sexism I guess.

Across the Narrow Sea, Dany is teaching her dragons how to barbecue. Drogon is clearly the favorite child. Also I high-key ship Dany and Doreah, and I’m super mad that the writers decided to end Doreah’s storyline the way they did. Irri is bitter because she’s also low-key in love with Dany (who wouldn’t be tbh) but they get along by talking about Dany’s new clothes because that’s what women do. Dany casually brings up the fact that she wasn’t consensually married to her husband, and that he actually bought her, something the fandom collectively tends to forget. There’s this awkward moment where 1) Irri acts like Drogo is the best thing since sliced bread 2) Dany asks Doreah to prostitute herself to get information 3) Irri snaps at Doreah because Dany is getting to westernized, and then 4) Irri tries to cover it up by being nice to Dany, then storms out. It like, there’s actually a complex scene with multiple characters with different motivations and dynamics. The good old days, when the show could write dialogue.

Apparently the costume directors decided to ditch the one-boobie-hanging-out look since they presumably wanted the audience to absorb something from the next scene, which is in the courtyard in Qarth. Dany is networking. She then has to go and stop her Dothraki from stealing a gold peacock, which is supposed to be funny I guess, but in a white-woman-stops-clueless-brown-people-from-stealing sort of way. This isn’t GRRM’s strongpoint either, but the show does a pretty shit job at presenting this is different culture with different values surrounding ownership, and just makes all the Dothraki look uncultured and clueless. Pyat Pree rolls up with his trippy kaleidoscope and makes Dany see double, then tells her to come to his magic castle. Emilia Clarke succeeds at looking mildly confused. Jorah gets jealous when Dany talks to Xaro Xoan Daxos, because he gets jelous everytime she breathes the same air as another man, and then Quaithe rolls up and says something fake-deep. I do not think her makeup was successful, but admittedly, GRRM didn’t give them an easy task.

Cut to Catelyn and Brienne and their pretty horse. They talk about how they saw a shadow deamon kill someone, and they’re trying to play it cool. Cat says it just looked like a generic man, but Brienne is convinced it was Stannis (guess who’s right.) Cat decides to go to see Robb and then head home to see Bran and Rickon. That noise you hear is me bawling my eyes out. Brienne asks for permission to go kill Stannis once she takes Cat home, and Cat is literally the only person on this show who isn’t a revenge zombie. They do keep Brienne’s line about a woman’s kind of courage, which is really nice. They’re pretty much my brotp.

Up north Rickon is smashing wax while being forced to do LordThings, which is honestly #relatablecontent. One of the commoners is talking about how he can’t keep watch of his sheep because everyone went to war, and Bran does the correct LordThing, and sends him some orphans, as one does. Then he scolds Rickon for smashing wax, which is probably this kid’s only source of fun. Ser Rodrick comes in with his funny facial hair and says that Torrhen’s square is under attack, and Bran falls for Theon’s trap, sends 200 men. Maester lewin is a bit iffy about it, but he goes along with it, but allows Bran to be noble and shit. Bran asks Osha about the three-eyed raven, and she isn’t a dream dictionary, which irritates him. He describes his prophetic dream of the sea flooding Winterfell, which honestly... people should listen to Bran more often. Osha mentions that they “say all sorts of crazy things north of the wal” and then the camera cuts... North of the Wall!

It looks cold. Like, yikes. Quorin sees a fire. Sam can’t see it because his eyes are good, so hey, there’s some continuity. He brings the news that all the Wildlings have joined Mance Rayder in an army, and says the wildlings are going to adapt to their habits, so they need to adapt to be more like the wildlings. Quorin wants to start by killing some lookouts, and gathers a team. Jon feels left out, and asks to go with. Sam steps i to take up Jon’s duties because he’s the real MVP, and Jon gets to go on the field trip.

Dany and Zaro have a talk about Jorah and the Friend Zone because what else would anybody else care about in Dany’s storyline? They talk about conquering and what they want, and dragons. He shows her his door to his treasure chamber, though if she were really serious about anything she would ask to see it. He asks for marriage, so she can get enough wealth to take over the seven kingdoms, and he gets a dragon. He also tells her Robert is dead, so she goes off to argue with Jorah. He advocates for a grassroots campaign, and she tells him not to talk down to her, finally. He compliments her a bit which apparently makes things better. He tells her to “make her won way” which is pretty iffy coming from the guy who’s constantly trying to control her but he promises a ship. One. Ship.

Back in Harrenhall, Arya checks out Gendry’s hot bod and gives him fighting tips, and then somebody dies. It’s the tickler, so she makes meaningful eye contact with Jaqen. And she is officially the ghost of Harrenhal.

[wherever-i-look-blog]

Raven returns to Disney in Raven’s Home and while the formula is mostly the same, there is some adaptation to the more mature direction Disney is going.

The Introduction

After bother of their marriages fall apart, Raven (Raven Symone) and Chelsea (Anneliese van der Pol), for financial reasons, decide to be roommates. For with Chelsea’s husband Garrett stealing all her money and now being with another woman, she has nothing. Plus, the way it seems, she has gone from Garrett taking care of things for her to now her son Levi (Jason Maybaum), doing so.

As for Raven? Why her marriage fell apart isn’t answered but it is clear that she is dealing with it. She co-parents with the dad Devon (Jonathan McDaniel[note]Not physically seen this episode[/note]) and her kids seem happy. Booker (Issac Ryan Brown) more so than Nia (Navia Ziraili Robinson) at times, since Raven often favors Booker, but for the most part they seem well adjusted.

But, as noted, this Raven isn’t necessarily the exact same one we are used to. Now Raven has dealt with serious heartbreak, has kids, and has a kid neighbor named Tess (Sky Katz), whose family life gives Ava from Girl Meets World a run for her money. So, let’s see where this goes, shall we?

Highlights

That’s So Raven Mixed with the More Mature Disney

After Chelsea (Anneliese van der Pol) notes how lucky it is that her and Raven’s (Raven Symone) marriages fell apart around the same time.

While That So Raven is often highlighted for talking about racism and body image issues, those were special episodes. In general, it was just Raven being silly and a lot of wild and crazy drama. However, something seems different with Raven’s Home. There is this darkness of Raven and Chelsea’s failed marriage alongside Tess’ mom maybe having some addiction or worrisome decisions.

Of which, sort of creates a dark comedy vibe.

On The Fence

Tess

I don’t know what is happening on that table, but I doubt Disney would show it.

Tess (Sky Katz)

Tess is clearly a character, a white one, who has grown up in urban culture. It shows in the way she dresses,  how she styles her hair, and talks. Which sort of bothers me only because it makes me uncomfortable. For one, it is a character on a comedy so there is this inclination she is supposed to be laughed at. However, with what she represents, are we laughing at her or the stereotypes often associated with Black people?

But, on the flip side of things, I do realize it is unfair to think just because the girl is white means this can’t be her authentic self. I mean, she is growing up in Chicago. Plus, it isn’t clear who is raising her. For while you could argue, “Maybe she picked this up from hanging around Nia, Raven, and Booker,” don’t play yourself. Raven Baxter and crew are not urban by any definition of the word. So you can’t say Tess learned her colloquiums and swagger from them.

Though what I’m honestly hoping for out of Tess is Disney really presenting a child who isn’t middle class and doesn’t have these perfect parents. But eventually, not in a comical way, but in a real, true to life fashion. For while I get this is a comedy, I don’t think even Raven can turn back the clock and do the same routine for a different generation.

The Comedy

Chelsea’s son Levi (Jason Maybaum)

Which is why I was sort of iffy on the comedy. It brought on a great sense of nostalgia but the thing about nostalgia is that often it erases the faults of the memory. For while Raven remains funny, especially as she tries to prove to Nia she loves her just as much as Booker, it got old quickly. To the point, I got that vibe that, even with this dark underlying comedy, this show may not just be for me.

Overall: Mixed (Stick Around)

Raven’s twins Booker (Issac Ryan Brown) and Nia (Navia Ziraili Robinson).

The question going into Raven’s Home was if it would be good enough for a season pass or not? Because, with me not having cable, or the more expensive tier of the service I use, I don’t have access to the Disney Channel. However, with Amazon having the standard Definition version at $29.99, $10 more than Andi Mack’s is, I don’t know about continuing this. Granted, it isn’t that expensive in the long run but Raven’s Home also isn’t all that great.

What you get here is definitely quality programming, but it really just seems like the old show with a few new character and maybe a more serious tone at times. But, to me, it doesn’t re-inspire loyalty to the brand to the point I feel I need to see each and every episode. Hence the mixed label for while I’m glad to see Raven’s back, it is in the same way of seeing a co-worker who you are cordial with after they were on vacation. After the initial conversation about how they’ve been, you go back to having no real desire to keep updated on what is going on in their life.

#RavensHome (@RavensHome): Season 1/ Episode 1 "Baxter's Back" [Series Premiere] - Introduction/ Review (with Spoilers) Raven returns to Disney in Raven’s Home and while the formula is mostly the same, there is some adaptation to the more mature direction Disney is going.