#scientist mom ranger dad

[zip-toonz]

I guess it doesnt matter who I make trevors dad since all I have to work off of is his sister not even having a unique design so at this point im commiting to picking trainer classes to make his family. Grunt mom (who is the only one I have any real reason to believe is true), ace trainer sister (canon due to her model), and pokemon Ranger dad. Funnily enough the only ranger I could find from the core series that was blond and male was the Unovan one so im taking that as reason enough.

[buzznat20]

So in honor of TBB season 3 coming out tomorrow, and because I need to have something to laugh at or I’ll cry, I had my sister who’s never watched TBB or TCW guess the names/personalities of characters. I hope you find it as entertaining as I did. Starting off strong with #1: Bruce—asshole

Next we have #2: Gus—chill, but kinda annoying

#3: Timothy—pompous guy

#4: Charles (“ew the elderly”)—serious guy

#5: George (“after Curious George, ‘cause he looks like a primate”)—nice but an idiot

#6: Max—dad of the group (I was surprised with how close she was)

#7: Gordon (“ew his face irritates me” girl they all have the same face)—officer/receptionist

#8: Buzz—space ranger

#9: Martha—southern mom

#10: Fred (“he looks nice”)—he’s a chill grandpa

#11: Sabrina (“I don’t like her hair”)—robot. My sister gave no further explanation

#12: Zeus—leader

#13: Evil McBabyface (“I despise this man he looks evil”)—I have no notes. I applaud her for 100% accuracy on this one

#14: Rhonda (“she’s my favorite I like her”)—scientist

#15: Cassidy (“actually she’s my favorite I love her”)—Cool wine aunt who commits tax evasion

And finally #16: Roz (“Wazowski, ya didn’t file your paperwork last night”)—also a jerk

That’s all folks! I wish you a happy heartbreak as we watch this new season!

[thespectralkitsune]

okay, I’m pretty sure I accidentally deleted this already, so take 2.

…I hate everything. I just realized I misspelled Uranium for the hundredth time…

[disneytva]

Disney Branded Television Lists Futurustic June 8th Premiere For Hailey’s On It! With Digital Album For June 9th And Disney+ Release Alongside Shorts For Summer.

Don't worry! Hailey's On It! She's here to save the world and the final task of the the list to save the future depends in one kiss! 📓✅🌴

“Hailey’s On It!,” an original animated comedy-adventure series from Disney Branded Television & Disney Television Animation, will premiere Thursday, June 8 (8:00 p.m. EDT/PDT), on Disney Channel, Disney XD and next day on Disney+. 

From creators and executive producers Devin Bunje and Nick Stanton (”Phineas And Ferb”,”Shorty McShort Shorts: Mascot Prep”), the series, set in Oceanside, California, follows Hailey as she is pushed outside her comfort zone to discover the greatness that lies within. Whether she’s tackling every ride at the county fair, performing in a musical, reuniting a singing duo, or facing her ever-growing and complicated feelings toward her best friend Scott, Hailey is always encountering new challenges ― and more opportunities to conquer her fears.

Auli’i Cravalho (Walt Disney Animation Studios’ “Moana”) stars in the title role as Hailey, a risk-averse but resourceful teenager on a mission to complete every item on her long list of challenging — and sometimes impractical — tasks in order to save the world. Starring alongside Cravalho is Manny Jacinto (“The Good Place”) as the voice of Scott, Hailey’s best friend, and Gary Anthony Williams (“Marvel Moon Girl And Devil Dinosaur”) as the voice of Beta, an artificially intelligent operating system from the future. The series’ trailer was also released today.

Joining the cast in recurring roles are the following:

Cooper Andrews (“DC Shazam Fury Of Gods”) as Hailey’s dad, Kai

Julie Bowen (”DuckTales 2017”) as Hailey’s mom, Patricia

Josh Brener (“DuckTales 2017”,”101 Dalmatian Street”) as Hailey’s academic rival, A.C.

Sarah Chalke (Netflix Animation “Dogs In Space”) as high-energy scientist from the future The Professor

Nik Dodani (Walt Disney Animation Studios “Strange World”,Disney “The Owl House”) as Hailey’s classmate Thad

Judy Alice Lee (“He-Man and the Masters of the Universe”) as Scott’s younger sister, Becker

Amanda Leighton (”Amphibia Franchise”) as the most popular girl in school, Kristine

Joy Osmanski (The CW “Stargirl”) as Scott’s mom, Sunny

Nico Santos (“Tuca and Bertie”) as Hailey’s classmate, Jonathan

The star-studded guest cast includes Brian Jordan Alvarez (Univeral Studios “M3GAN”), Blake Anderson (“Dreamworks Animation Television Voltron: Legendary Defender”),Mick Foley (WWE World Wrestling Entertainment Hall of Famer),Jo Koy (”Live from the LA Forum”),Jack McBrayer (“Amphibia Franchise”,Wander Over Yonder”), Bebe Neuwirth (“Tick, Tick... Boom!”,Cartoon Network Studios “Over The Garden Wall”), Chris Parnell (“21st Jump Street”,“Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers”), Tim Robinson (“Big City Greens Franchise” “Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers”), Natasha Rothwell (Paramount Pictures “Sonic The Hedgedog Franchise”), Brandon Mychal Smith (Nickelodeon Animation Studios “Rise Of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”), Martin Starr (Marvel Studios “Spiderman” Franchise) and Weird Al Yankovic (”Milo Murphy’s Law”).

Additionally, several “Theme Song Takeover,” “Broken Karaoke”,”How NOT To Draw” and “Chibi Tiny Tales” shorts featuring characters from the series will begin rolling out in July on Disney Channel, Disney Channel YouTube, and DisneyNOW. Hailey,Scott & Beta will make apperances on Chibiverse Season slated for Fall 2023.

“Hailey’s On It!” features music from a cross-section of popular genres, from K-Pop to musical theater to pop-rock to EDM. A digital soundtrack with six original songs is set for release on June 9 on Walt Disney Records. Matthew Tishler (“High School Musical: The Musical: The Series”) and Emmy Award-nominated Andrew Underberg (Nickelodeon Movies “The J Team”) are the series’ songwriters and composers.

Hailey’s On It! joins the ranks of DuckTales 2017,Big City Greens,Amphibia,The Ghost And Molly McGee,Hamster and Gretel,Moon Girl And Devil Dinosaur & Kiff in getting official albums by Walt Disney Records.

[void-botanist]

WIP Intro: Another Ocean's Moon

tag // wip: aom

genre // sci-fantasy, queer, romance

super quick synopsis // Two humans return to their home planet, one hoping to escape his overbearing parents, the other planning her long-overdue divorce, but somehow nothing is that simple.

Setting

Locality space: a galaxy liberally sprinkled with earthlike planets populated by humanoids. A small fraction of those humanoids are witches, those born with magical gifts that neither scientists nor magicians—those who learn to use magic through study—have been able to replicate. Travel between star systems is accomplished with warp magic, sometimes through the direct intervention of a warp witch on a starship, but more often through permanent stabilized warp tunnels. Some systems are completely warp-isolated, for any number of reasons. Even in connected systems, many people never leave their home planet or system.

setting tag // #set: locality space

AOM is split between the isolated system Ensaum, particularly the seaside village of Nicha Cove, and city of Tobarsha on the island of Aephar on Rade, part of Argoh locality.

Proper Synopsis

At thirteen, Sidney Reid moved from Tobarsha, Rade, to Ensaum, an isolated system, where his parents and some three dozen other people intended to escape capitalism and become self-sufficient. Now, at almost thirty, the thing he wants most is to go back to Tobarsha, maybe forever. The first step is to convince his parents to set him up with a warp transit in their ship, and his best friend Horatio’s thirtieth birthday party in Tobarsha seems like a good excuse. But he can’t even bring himself to ask when his parents only seem to be interested in getting him to marry his friend Colin and “finally settle down”. When they figure out that his attachment to Tobarsha is standing in the way, they attempt to break that attachment, and end up destroying Sid’s most prized possession: seventeen years of handwritten letters from Horatio. Knowing staying is not an option anymore, Sid turns to his friend Avis, a middle-aged not-quite-divorcee with no love for his parents. Together they manage to steal an escape pod from his parents’ warp ship and make it back to Tobarsha in one piece.

Unfortunately, the aura of capitalism isn’t enough to keep Sid’s parents at bay, and they’re not mincing their meanings anymore. They always know exactly what will hurt him the most, and he’s beginning to suspect it’s because they gave him his weak points. As much as Horatio and his family want to protect him, Sid can’t let them get caught in the wake of his force-of-nature parents, even though he doesn’t know how he’s going to get rid of them on his own.

Avis, meanwhile, has become an equally frightening force in the face of her estranged husband, Sorian, who she kicked off Ensaum after she found out he had cheated on her and had a son—Horatio—back on Rade. He’s spent fifteen years waiting to find out if she’s going to divorce him, and now he’s bending over backwards to be nice to her. It should be easy to get rid of such a wet noodle of a man, and yet she can’t quite seem to let go—but she’s not going to hold on without a fight.

Main Characters (in order of family)

(More detailed profiles are coming very soon in the powerpoint intro. In the meantime try #wip: aom, #aom 15 questions, and #soravis.)

Sid Reid

he/him, 29, human, revital (healing) witch

Rade island of origin // Aephar

job // there aren’t really jobs in Nicha Cove, but he does a lot of cooking

least normal about // making jam

fun fact // is completely unable to use his powers on anyone but himself

Donovan Reid

he/him, 61, human, Sid’s dad

Rade island of origin // Aephar

job // Nicha Cove port manager

least normal about // snow (derogatory), Sid (affectionate)

fun fact // has a favorite ranger-style hat that he always wears outside

Emma Reid

she/her, 63, human, Sid’s mom

Rade island of origin // Aephar

job // busybody

least normal about // village drama

fun fact // actually not a conspiracy theorist

Avis Peynon

she/her, 52, human, dupe witch (landscape specialty) and Sorian's wife

Rade island of origin // Imni

job // no thanks

least normal about // spicy food (and Sorian)

fun fact // has lived in a houseboat for 16 years and isn't stopping now

Sorian Shank

he/him, 52, human, carpentry magician, Avis's husband and Horatio's bio dad

Rade island of origin // Imni

job // set builder with the University of Aephar drama department

least normal about // shipbuilding (and Avis)

fun fact // builds wooden puzzle boxes for fun

Horatio Standing

he/him, 30, human

Rade island of origin // Imni, but he only knows Aephar

job // self-employed live florist

least normal about // aquatic plants

fun fact // aside from being born on Imni, has never left Aephar except to go to the space dock

Celia Standing

she/her, 28, ferasca (dragon person), Horatio's adoptive sister

Rade island of origin // Aephar

job // hairdresser, despite having no hair of her own

least normal about // beach volleyball

fun fact // is friends with Spinder and by extension the rest of the crew of the Nicea

Leon Standing

he/him, 73, human, Horatio & Celia's adoptive dad/Edith's husband

Rade island of origin // he’s from a different locality

job // lecturer in literature at Tobarsha Community College

least normal about // poetry

fun fact // his mantelpiece sword, Milward Fonk, is not for swordfighting

Edith Standing

she/her, 77, bovan (human with cow elements), Horatio & Celia's adoptive mom/Leon's wife

Rade island of origin // Aephar

job // retired elementary school teacher

least normal about // smoothies

fun fact // also not normal about celery, the world's greatest vegetable

[actualsunflower]

Just found your blog, I love your art and I love Jay!! Tell me more about him? He and Nick seem so sweet 🥺🥺🥺

jfghsdjfgs thank you so much?!! Hmmmmm I have so much to say I don't even know where to start ok so to keep it short and simple (this won't be short or simple LOL) so Jay is actually a plant mutant vault experiment, and also the son of an artifact holder (Like Lorenzo, my NV oc Fyre is Jay's dad, and was Lorenzo's partner and an archeologist. When they found the Artifact Lorenzo wears, in my fic they actually found multiple pieces, and his dad has a choker that can't be removed now, but Jay was born long after he had the artifact) so he essentially has inherited alien-artifact powers, but not to a crazy extent. It's like all the basic alien-artifact serum powers in game, stronger, immune to most sickness, resilient, extra long life, that stuff. But in my fic each artifact had it's own general set of "powers" along with the "buffs". For example, Lorenzo has telekinesis in game, Jay's dad's choker had telepathy/empathy. Jay can only hear the thoughts of/communicate with animals though, because his inherited powers aren't as strong. He does have empathy with humans though, just not telepathy. Jay doesn't know of his dad or the actual reason for his weirdness until way late in his life, because his mom gave him up for adoption and he never met his birth parents (he doesn't care to either he loves his adoptive lesbian mothers too much to care) Prewar, Jay was a nurse practitioner (he wanted to be a forest ranger but one of his mom's was too scared of his really bad driving and didn't want him to get lost/drive off a road or something,) before the war, moved from southern Oregon to Massachusetts for schooling. He gets married, and later is drafted and about 4ish years before the start of the game he gets shot in the head (rip), lives, but is in a coma for 3 months. He stays at a hospital in Vegas for 2 months.. while he's there, Vault Tec scientist Cedric hears of a dude at the hospital whole lived being shot in the head and is set to be frozen in Vault 111 when the bombs drop. Cedric was one of the scientists going into Vault 22, and he had a personal project where he was trying to modify the DNA of humans with sunflower dna to see if they could process radiation as either a source of nourishment or simply be unaffected by it, as sunflowers do. Sunflowers irl are used to clean up nuclear fallout, which was the inspiration for this as well as the Solar Powered perk! So while Jay was in a coma, the guy spliced his exceedingly handsome dna with Sunflower dna, turning him into the world's first (and best) human flower. Then, Jay was taken back to Mass. and woke up about a month later. He doesn't know about that until long after the war Cedric is an important character later in my fic he's still alive and is a ghoul slowly going feral Being shot in the head does make Jay go mostly blind and deaf though, he can't move or see from his right eye at all and his hearing is almost completely gone on the same side, but it's better on the left. he usually closes his right eye to focus on stuff so it looks like he's winking all the time lol Then the war happens, Jay is frozen, in the vault, and then eventually is rescued from the ice prison by Codsworth, Preston and Struges. The experiment made him able to photosynthesize, he's immune to radiation, gets very tired at night/in the dark, smells like sunflowers and is sadly very susceptible to the cold I was going to write more about Nick and how amazing he is and how much they love each other but this is so long.

also I know this all probably sounds super insane. But I built everything off in game lore and perks so it seems crazy but I can explain in some way I feel like Charlie at the pepe silvia board though

[scarredsands]

Pokémon Favourites!

FIRST GAME: yellow..... shoutout to the only two pokemon i had during my run, a high level 80's pikachu and a level 90+ pidgeot. we got all 8 badges somehow and then got stuck in victory road. also i thought the poison overworld effect was my character getting electrocuted and it scared me :)

FAVOURITE SPINOFF GAME: this is going to be SO out of left field but.... i really. REALLY liked pokemon trozei. i have always been such a sucker and sap for puzzle games, so a puzzle game w pokemon?? get me in there. also i really enjoyed the ranger games, something about making circles on the screen made my brain go brr, and they were just rly fun and unique games period!! (and ofc honorable mention to colo/xd but ive never beaten them so)

FAVOURITE EVIL TEAM: flare..... now i know ppl just see them and it's like omg their clothes are ugly wtf why do they care abt beauty??? but like. flare is SCARY. they spied on a whole entire region without anyone knowing. they have plainclothes agents EVERYWHERE listening in. they are so adhered to their goal and objective that people pay money to join. also the four scientist ladies??? PLEASE.

FAVOURITE TEAM LEADER: i really like lysandre for the reasons above. i think lysandre is just. such an interesting character? his goals are insane but there's this humanity he still has despite that. shedding tears that pokemon will not belong to his beautiful world. but ALSO i love cyrus. something about him staying behind in the distortion world was oddly harrowing to me as a kid.

FAVOURITE STARTER: PIPLUP PIPLUP PIPLUP

FAVOURITE BOX LEGENDARY: rayquaza once reigned supreme until origin giratina came knocking. rayquay still has a special place in my heart but like.... origin giratina? cmon now.

FAVOURITE POKEMON: my above answer may make this one obvious..... but outside of legendaries, i really like mimikyu :0 and also luxray, luxray kicks ass. and an honorable mention to empoleon!!!

FAVOURITE PROFESSOR: professor birch.... just this himbo dad of a professor and i love him so much.

FAVOURITE RIVAL: silver..... shoutout to younger me naming him ??? in crystal bc i thought that was just his name deadass.

FAVOURITE CHAMPION: cynthia of COURSE this is not even a question at all?? honorable mention to steven stone, him n cynthia r the powercouple otp living rent free in my brain for over a decade 

FAVOURITE CHARACTER (if not already covered): honestly i just think cynthia is one of my faves in general. typical expected answer but i just love her character, the way she actually plays a role in dppt and helps you along, and her team? it's all just iconic and she really is just a baddie. the cynthia jumpscare in undella forever making my heart race!!!!

FAVOURITE STORY: scvi.... if you asked me before last november, i would have picked platinum, but scvi made me ugly cry and i will never forget that story!!! 

FAVOURITE MUSIC: gen 3... hoenn specifically. the trumpets?? the vibes?? we love it.

FAVOURITE REGION OVERALL: sinnoh might be overrated and overhyped (save ur eyerolls/sideeyes @ me pls!!!!) but it will forever have a special place in my heart and is extremely important to me, and to my childhood overall. ill never forget my mom getting me and my brother diamond and pearl despite how tight money always was, and we just sat in the backseat on the carride home playing and showing each other stuff in the game, talking abt our starters, on that overcast april day..... diamond is my most played pokemon game with over 500 hours, and ive replayed platinum more times than i can count. i just love them and they'll forever be in my heart.

[brydde]

in verses where bry.de was born and not "made", he's born in west virginia, america to a british scientist mom and irish-american park ranger dad working in the radio quiet zone. bry.de's dad was in military intelligence, but made a career change after bry.de was born to avoid relocation. his full name is bryden hawkes.

[professorreddmaple]

The Masterpost

This Story is Currently Suspended. I may get back to it, I may not. Who knows

This blog is running to write a story out of posts. Said story follows its writer Reed Maple as he returns to the Pokémon region Almia, about six years after the events of the DS game Pokémon Ranger: Shadows of Almia. Something about the region is off, and he’s going to figure out what and stop it before his beloved region gets hurt.

Here’s the plot of the original game.

Story Alterations

Reed (player character) was on exchange to Almia, and was staying for the year with his family. Mom and Dad (the characters) just prefer to be called that, while Little Sister (also the character) used that as an excited pen name. Her real name is Tory.

Once earned, the Tears of Princes gems were stored inside of the person who earned them. How? I don’t know, just magic. Why? Because that’s what the animation looked like to me. Why is this important? Mainly because, once in there, the person glows the color of that gem. Pencil-thin streaks of light come off their skin and they give off an aura of that light. This does not stop after the gem is removed, and never really goes away after, although time away from Almia and the gems will make it eventually fade until it’s barely noticeable, unless a gem comes close, the person gets extremely emotional, or the person wishes it to do that.

After the main plot ends, the gems are all returned to their respective guardians, with Darkrai guarding the Dark Stone. The gem guardians agree to a collection and cleansing of the Dark Stone every five years.

The main plot takes about six months from beginning to end. The remainder of Reed’s time there was spent cleaning up the damage and finding work for the team Dim Sun grunts that were now out of a job.

Reed left to go back to school after a year. He brought Pachirisu with him. He had no other partner Pokémon.

Kieth returned to Fiore a year after Reed left for school. Currently, he is still there.

Professor Hastings died in his sleep three years after Reed left

Other Exposition

Reed and Devon were roommates going through college. Reed studies Pokémon behavior, while Devon is a marine biologist.

Reed wrote his doctoral thesis on zoroark mimicry behaviors. During that time in Unova, he befriended an oshawott, who became his second partner, and later evolved into Dewott.

Reed’s college was almost exclusively based on “trainer-regions”, while the first time Reed ever actually visited one of these trainer-regions was to go to college. He prefers the ranger-regions style of doing things.

The Main Characters (and writing colors)

Reed Maple (Default/White)

An impulsive, happy-go-lucky scientist who is passionate about pretty much everything. Is mute and doesn’t seem to have a sleep schedule. Mostly kept in check by his partner pokémon, Pachirisu and Dewott. He/they

Devon Kelp (Orange)

A very passionate, but practical-minded and significantly more serious scientist. Easily frustrated, but usually that just makes her more determined to find a solution. Partner Pokémon are Skrelp and Quagsire. She/her unless noted otherwise

Tory (Green)

Reed’s little sister, a very excited and hotheaded teenager who wants to become a Pokémon trainer as soon as the region is opened to it. Found a “hat ghost” kricketot that became the family pet when Reed was on exchange, and is now by her side as her partner. She/her

Ceri (Red)

The family’s newest exchange student, a semiverbal teenager from Unova. They studied to be a ranger and are now stationed in Vientown to stay close to home, as they can’t handle the communal-style bedding the ranger stations use, but do not yet have any partner Pokémon. They/them

Author notes are in blue and tagged as #author’s notes

Plot Tags

There’s a main plot and a few subplots, tagged accordingly (hopefully). The tags will go in chronological order for the story so far, but as Tumblr does, the posts themselves will be reverse-chronological, so heads-up there.

Main Plot

#weird stuff

#glowing red

#team wolf

The Ice Cream Side Plot

#ice cream

#the ice cream experiment

Oh My God They Were Roommates

#devon kelp

#feelings

Opening Almia to Trainers

#planning

#Pokémon gyms

#Pokémon starters

#gym leaders

#interviews

There are other subplots to come, but that’s it thus far.

[americangirlstar]

Kira Bailey Rundown

Kira

10 years old 

Michigan native; her and her mother foster kittens 

Had a best friend named Laila, but after Laila got too into soccer she started ignoring Kira, eventually said she wasn’t flexible enough, and they broke up 

Really likes chocolate cookies 

Dad died when she was seven, from an accident. Her last memories of him are in the hospital, making her scared of them. 

She thinks she can be prepared for everything and can get frightened easily by the unknown.

She tends to infodump, and I use this term as an autistic- she cannot stop herself from sharing information, and even when told to be quiet she keeps going and her thoughts don’t slow down 

Family

Kira’s mother is a middle school teacher, and is very proud of her job. Due to this, she thinks she knows everything about middle school, which annoys Kira, who’s about to go into fifth grade. She also is against Kira doing online school, probably for this reason. 

Mamie Bailey is her great-aunt, the sister of her paternal grandmother; they both grew up on the sanctuary. She is the head vet at the preserve until she gains a heart disease. 

Professor Lynette is Mamie’s wife. She is head of the science team at the wildlife preserve and hosts the students that work there. She and Mamie are very close, she calls her wife “my dear.” 

Lynette tells a story in book 2 of her childhood; Her family lived in a beach house in the middle of a gum tree forest, about ten minutes from the ocean. The town was called Rosedale. Their neighbor was very studios about fire protection, while her family was a lot more lax.  After an uncontrollable fire began in the trees, the town burnt down. They returned to find their neighbor’s house was untouched, while theirs was gone. This experience is one of the reasons she became a scientist, in order to learn about how droughts and fires affect the wildlife. 

Bailey Wildlife Sanctuary 

The Bailey Wildlife Sanctuary has been in Kira’s family since the 1800s.

Kira dreams of living there and helping with animals all the time. 

They have a lot of concerns about wildfires, especially due to the recent drought

One of the students there is Evie, who is studying birds. She gets deep into a bird hunt in book 2. Um, she gets real into it.

Another student is Shashi, a transfer from india, who is studying frogs. 

As for the animals:

Animals that are definitely there: antechinus, bandicoot, bat, bilby, cockatoo, dingo, echidna, emu, funnel spiders, goanna, kangaroo, koala, kookaburras, magpie, possum, potoroo, pygmy possum, sacred kingfisher, snake, sugar glider, wallaby, white-browed babbler, wombat, as well as unnamed reptiles, birds, bugs and spiders

Cockatoo: Dexter 

Kangaroos: Blossom, Tank 

Koalas: Mum, Bean [named by Kira after a nickname her dad gave her]

Magpie: Dodger 

Wallaby: Rainy [named by Kira after saving him from a bushfire] 

Wombats: Boomer, Daisy, Muffin

And finally..

Kira’s girlfriend, Alexis “Alex” Curry 

Alexis and Kira are gay as FUCK

Alexis is 10, almost 11. Her mom is the preserve’s vet nurse, and her dad is the ranger. 

She talks nonstop and is very hyperactive; she loves to help out with new exciting things, and much prefers interacting with the animals to cleaning up after them. 

She has a way with the wombats, specifically a joey named Boomer, who she calls Bonkers because he races around everywhere, bumping into things

She does online school and lives on the preserve. She considers Kira’s Aunts to be her Aunts, too. 

Upon Kira’s arrival, Alexis immediately takes to her, brings her to feed joeys, and then begs her parents to let them share a tent 

She was upset that Kira was given all the cool jobs while she was there, but understood it wasn’t her fault; she only got mad at Kira when she felt Kira was actively pushing her out of the fun stuff, and when she found out Kira had been feeding a feral cat that had been hurting the animals

They make up after they get lost together looking for Boomer and they’re just. very much girlfriends 

The next book Alexis is the most valid girl in the world, she’s like “Hey Kira can we? Can we think things through?”

Which is hilarious coming from her, considering she just does whatever she wants

I love her

[mzenvs3000]

So does this make me an interpreter now?

If I am honest, I feel I have had a love hate relationship with this course over this semester. Coming from a more scientific background, I have found it slightly difficult to find the motivation to write and put together “my thoughts” on the topics we discuss in class. I am so used to having explicit facts and having to write about those from a scientific approach, so trying to put together a post about my thoughts with such freedom has been a challenge. I have appreciated though throughout the semester how writing got a bit easier, and that we were able to talk on subjects that were interesting to us. I will definitely be taking some skills away from my time in this course.

One of many photos taken of water and rocks (Lake Ontario) as it is another huge love of mine. Photo taken by myself.

Like many who are taking part in this class have a love for nature, and are probably coming from a major with some type of nature encompassed in it. This is true in my case, as I am a wildlife biology and conservation student. Wildlife biology and conservation is just one side of my love for nature. Others include marine studies, geology, and  geography/landforms. This would open up so many doors in the nature interpretation field for me. I also have passion for the care and protection of animals, species at risk, climate change, plastic pollution, and how humans interact with nature in their everyday lives, similar to Jacob Rodenburg who wrote the article, “Why Environmental Educators Shouldn’t Give up Hope.”

A shell fossil found in a rock at the Elora Gorge while on a field trip with my geography class in third year. We were trying to interpret the history of the area, guessing it was a marine environment from all of the marine fossils found in the rocks. Photo taken by myself. 

As an interpreter, I feel there is a certain responsibility I have when working with an audience. The first responsibility being the need to deliver creditable information that your audience can trust. This struck me as important when we were learning about nature interpretation in history. This is something I always seek out when learning about different things because I want to make sure what I’m learning is true and has some merit behind it.

I took my Alberta friend on a Hamilton waterfall tour as she did not believe me when I told her Hamilton was the waterfall capital of the world. An example of one of my first “interpretation tours.” (She was impressed). Photo taken by Jenna Stetz.

Another important responsibility is for the interpreter to put their own spin on their presentation and make it personal. I have lost count of the number of presentations I’ve had to listen to when someone is just reading off of a slide or a card. I don’t know about you, but I feel like when I hear these kinds of presentations, the presenter doesn’t really care too much and doesn’t seem to care if their audience gets a good experience or not. I always learn better and pay attention the most if someone shares a personal story that relates to the content. An example of this was recently I was in a course that was preparing me to apply to be a fire ranger this summer. I could instantly tell that my instructor was passionate about his job as a fire ranger with the number of stories he would tell. One story was to emphasize the importance of safety. He told the story about him and two other crew members messing around while chopping down some small trees to kill time, and they made a competition around it. His crew leader decided to take part and wasn’t paying attention and ended up getting an axe in his shin. He made this boring 2 hour long safety module more interesting and engaging by telling this story. When putting your own spin on it, it allows the audience to engage much more, as well as being relatable.

One last responsibility I feel is of importance is that as interpreters we have almost like a duty to pass on knowledge of certain things, not allowing them to be forgotten about. I take great pride in this, knowing that I might have an influence on the future “me’s” one day to share this information with others. We have to remember we are not just passing on knowledge of the environment and nature, but also cultural beliefs and practices too. I mentioned in a previous post about how it is important to learn from the past, and we cannot do this unless we actually know what happened in the past. I personally love just even sharing my scientific and nature knowledge with my friends and family who do not have this as a background, and take pride in the fact that I am able to help educate them on this subject.

Photo of my mom and I at the cottage, as she is making sure I was exposed to the outdoors as early as possible. Photo taken by my dad, Dave Zarnke.

An approach that I would make sure to include in my interpretation is to be able to share with a diverse audience. This would include different age categories, different cultural backgrounds, different knowledge backgrounds and understanding on the subject, as well as learning styles that people possess. This is important to consider because knowing these different factors would affect how you would conduct the presentation to make it the most effective. With different ages there is a different level of understanding so when I would present something to a younger audience, I would make sure to use lots of examples and simple terms they could easily understand, compared to an older audience where I could potentially use more complex terms and concepts. Knowing the cultural and knowledge backgrounds may also determine the content you wish to speak on and the approach you take.

Personally I am a visual and tactile learner, and find it easiest to teach and interpret in this way. During an interpretation I would probably include many visual aids such as photos, videos, and live models to share with the audience. I would encourage the audience to take part in demonstrations and actively participate throughout the presentation. I have also found that through my school life I learn best when examples are given, or thought provoking questions are asked. When information is presented in this way it helps me to compare an example to real life and make those connections, and the thought provoking questions challenge me to take time to digest and organize all that I have learned to put it all together.

Something I think that may set me a part from many interpreters is what I believe and my faith. I am a christian (and like to think of myself as a christian scientist) which can be quite difficult at some times trying to study my major in a secular setting due to different beliefs. The main one would be how the world was created. I believe that there is one true God who created this world, everything in it, and the species we see today are the same and looked the same when the world was created 6000 years ago. This belief and faith of mine plays a huge role in my life, influencing most and if not all of my decisions, so it would be important to me to include this in my interpretations. I would not share or teach others something that I don’t believe in. This would probably lead to me interpreting to a different audience or have a different approach in my interpretations as these beliefs are not the same as what secular science believes and teaches, as well as most organizations. If this were to be a career of mine I would have to work for an organization whose beliefs are the same.

Photo of the Oakville waterfront taken from a walk with friends one afternoon after church. Photo taken by myself. 

I believe that as an interpreter, I would ensure to create programs specifically directed towards kids because I have experienced the benefits of taking part in these programs personally. We have learned a bit about how technology is a double edged sword. On one hand, it can be a great tool for nature interpretation, playing sounds, videos, or even in our case currently creating podcasts we can share over the internet. The downfall is that they are also causing people and especially kids to be very disconnected these days. I have lost count the number of times I will see kids with their parents just out and about, completely ignoring their parents just fully consumed in what is on their screen, and these kids are as young as even four years old. I didn’t know what a computer was til I was way older than that, and never received one myself until even later. I think it is so important to raise awareness of these environmental issues to kids and get them involved so they gain interest early in life and can be a part of the solution for their generation.

Before this course I really never pictured myself ever leading an interpretation or even writing about nature as I am more of a research oriented person and not so much as a writer. Taking the time I have to write this post and reflect on what this could look like for me really opened my eyes and allowed me to picture myself actually do this. I reflected back to many memories when I was growing up and took part in nature interpretations as a kid (and honestly never made the connection that I was taking part in an interpretation), just emphasizing one of my points about the importance of getting kids involved. I think nature interpretation can be for anyone to take part in, either leading or listening as we all see things differently with a different lens. This has been a great opportunity and I will definitely be taking these skills I’ve learned with me as I continue in my own nature interpretation.

[sweetsmellosuccess]

Sundance 2021: Day 1 & 2

Films: 5

Best Film of the Day(s): Summer of Soul

Coda: It is mostly a truism that the festival tends to start things off on Thursday night with a genial offering, to whet the appetite, as it were, for the vastly more far-reaching, and oft-madcap rest of the program. Sian Heder’s sweetly realized light drama, about Ruby (Emilia Jones), a high school senior in Gloucester, MA, who works in the early morning non-school hours on her father’s fishing boat, and full-time as the only member of her family, including mom (Marlee Matlin), father (Troy Katsur), and brother (Daniel Durant) who isn’t deaf. Balancing out her workload, she joins the choir, in order to be able to spend time with her crush, Miles (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo), and turns out to have significant enough talent that her flinty music teacher (Eugenio Derbez), encourages her to apply to the prestigious music college in Boston of which he is an alum. Formulaic, to be certain, but moving nonetheless, with fine performances from the family  —  in keeping with the film’s own set-up, all but Jones actually deaf  —  and a strong sense of their relationships, especially between Ruby and her father. Heder’s screenplay also plays out the difficult dynamic between Ruby, and the rest of the hearing world, as the lone interpreter and defender of her family. As she puts it, they can’t hear themselves being laughed at, but she has no choice. It’s certainly glossy, but it’s also heartfelt, as in one pivotal scene, as Ruby performs a moving duet with Miles for the choir’s big show, Heder unexpectedly douses the sound for a few long moments, giving us a moving sense of what her parents get to experience during their daughter’s moment of artistic triumph.

Censor: As the title suggests, Prano Bailey-Bond’s discreet horror flick is about the idea of repression  —  what we want to cut away from the ugliness of the human experience. Set during the Thatcherite ‘80s, during an era where “video nasties” had become the topic du jour of cultural critics and political wankers, suggesting the sudden proliferation of demented, ultra-violent straight-to-video releases in the UK was somehow leading the country into sadistic nihilism, as opposed to their representing the result of Thatcher’s choking brand of right-wing oppression. Enid (Niamh Algar), a censor working for the government to render such films as Asunder, and Violent Coda properly palatable to the squirming masses, by excising excessive eye-gougings, brutal rapes, and disembowelments just enough to pass the board. She’s already living with her own past demons, a younger sister who disappeared in the woods under her watch years before, leaving her family shattered. Bailey-Bond shoots the film until the very end, as if underground, even while literally outside. Enid makes her way through the tube stations, and pedestrian tunnels, to her windowless office, and back again, with overhanging branches, overpasses, and canopies keeping her away from contact with the outside world. Creepy  —  but notably restrained in its own depictions of violence, save for the grainy, 4:3 imagery Enid has to make her way through at her job  —  Bailey-Bond’s film works well as a half-remembered bad dream from a similar tableau as Peter Strickland, but doesn’t quite have to chops, visually or in its surreal storytelling, to push it past those boundaries. It’s gripping enough, but doesn’t stick with you terribly long.

Summer of Soul (...Or When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised): In 1969, during the Summer of Love, when white hippies and counter-culturalists were grooving to Woodstock, and NASA had successfully landed whitey on the moon, an entirely different sort of cultural fusion was taking place in Mt. Morris Park in Harlem. A performer and concert promoter named Tony Lawerence conceived of the event, a big outdoor stage where for six consecutive weekends, people could flock to the free shows that featured Jazz, Afro-beat, blues, R ‘n B, gospel, Motown, and funk. More than 300,000 attended the concerts in total to watch legendary performers including B.B. King, Mahalia Jackson, Max Roach, Mavis Staples, Gladys Knight, Hugh Masekela, a 19-year-old Stevie Wonder, Sly and the Family Stone, and, in the sort of fierce performance that defined her live presence, Nina Simone, but even though the shows were meticulously filmed, the footage had never found an outlet, until now. Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson’s directorial debut doesn’t just present the artists’ performances (though it certainly could have), but adds insight from some of the surviving artists, and some of those in the crowd who witnessed them. He also works to put the shows into the cultural context of the time, when a rare mixture of political outrage, multicultural strength, and a dawning of the Black Pride movement created a fulcrum for Harlem, and Black people all over the world. Hippies got the press, and much of the mainstream media coverage, but Thompson makes a strong case as to how the same repressive forces that lead to the explosion of the counterculture movement amongst white college students and young people, also affected the rise of rebellion and tide-shifting in communities of color. Watching Jackson and Staples perform a riveting version of MLK’s favorite gospel song, “Take My Hand, Precious Lord,” in the wake of the black leader’s assassination, or Simone rip into “Backlash Blues” is to witness the shift of cultural winds, as they whipped across a steamy, jam-packed park in Upper Manhattan.

John and the Hole: The title is, on first blush, terrible, but as with several things in this confidently enigmatic coming-of-a-kind-of-age tale from Pascual Sisto, there’s more to it than that. What initially sounds dumpy becomes somewhat cannily constructed: It’s meant to evoke a kind of modern myth vibe, along the lines of “Jack and the Beanstalk.” As it turns out, the film’s refusal to explain itself becomes a significant strength. John (Charlie Shotwell), is a 13-year-old kid from a wealthy family outside of Boston. Skinny and stammering, he’s also difficult to read, either by his parents (Jennifer Ehle and Michael C. Hall), or his older sister (Taissa Farmiga). Which is why, when John’s family wake up one morning at the bottom of a deep, cement shaft  —  part of a bunker built in the woods near their house  —  after having been drugged, and dragged there by John, their reactions run from mildly surprised to mildly upset. John leaves them down there, occasionally stopping by the edge to drop down food, water, and jackets, while he lives on at the main house, zipping around town in the family’s Volvo SUV, and taking out cash when needed from his dad’s ATM card. At first, he finds it liberating  —  eating a mound of chicken nuggets, endless pizzas, and leaving the mess littered around the house, as he attempts to stave off suspicions  —  but, eventually, he gets lonely, and realizes he prefers their company to being on his own. There’s maliciousness implied in his actions  —  a frequent shot looking up at John from inside the pit keeps re-establishing the peculiar power dynamic in the family  —  but nothing happens, it appears, that can’t be taken back. Sisto shoots the film sumptuously, drawing out the beauty of their immaculate house in contrast to the mess it slowly becomes under John’s ambivalence (an idea neatly echoed with the rest of the family down in the bunker, who quickly become filthier and filthier until the mud and grime seems etched into their pores). What conclusions it may draw are difficult to ascertain, in keeping with the nature of the project, but there is the definite sense that the nuclear family, as rigid as the formation may seem, remains a useful tool for healthy emotional growth after all.

In the Earth: Shot in the summer of 2020, in response to the pandemic (director Ben Wheatley explained pre-screening that he wanted a film that “reflected the politics of the times”), the film is loaded with imagery of madness and obsession. Or, you know, what happens to the human mind when it’s forced to stay in place for months at a go. Set in the near future, when a different and even more deadly virus has devastated the planet, the story concerns a scientist named Martin (Joel Fry), who needs to head deep into a boreal forest to find a research lab headed by a former flame (Hayley Squires). He is aided by a guide, a forest ranger named Alma (Ellora Torchia), who takes him on the supposed two-day trek. En route, however, they run into trouble in the form of Zach (Reece Shearsmith), a crazy devotee of the forest gods, and what he believes are their ritualistic demands. Breaking free from him, they arrive at the research lab, only to find similar insanity. Wheatley’s film feels rushed in places, and is violently incoherent in others, but its sense of immediacy is acute. With its characters having plunged into bizarre cryptic conspiracy theories, having plunged deep into the Boreal heart of darkness, and the sense that reality has been splintered, it ends up being a pretty fair summation of current life and times. It might not hold up under much scrutiny years from now, but it could hardly be more of the moment in the meantime.

Sundance goes mostly virtual for this year’s edition, sparing filmgoers the altitude, long waits, standing lines, and panicked eating binges  —  but also, these things and more that make the festival so damn endearing. In any event, Sundance via living room is still a hell of a lot better than no Sundance. A daily report.

[movedto-bottom-right-corner-nott]

Headcannons for the current Mini Nein once they grow up and totally make their own party:

Kiri, this young lad is going to grow up in a town full of tinkerer gnomes, and Hupperduk is basically the capital for making warmachines for the empire, this lady is going to become an apprentice for a gnome inventor and become an artificer herself, either artillerist or battlesmith. I would say archivist too because of the sole reason of the magical telephony ability they get, which involves Kiri infusing a rock, giving it to someone else and then they can talk telepathically, which is pretty dope but regardless, considering that Kiri is so DTFight always, artillerist which summons turrets and lets her make wand fits well. Battle smith gives her a mechanical murder dog but just imagine her coming into battle into an immense mecha suit or just a steampunk battle machine.

Luc, this is assuming that auntie Jester will let him keep Nugget, but picture this, both parents are scientist in a way, dad is an alchemist by profession and making potions and the like involve a lot of experimentation, observation and learning, mom also experiments until something works, mostly when it comes to magic, she also absolutelly taught him how to use a crossbow. Now why did i mention Nugget before? Well, having a blink dog as a companion, and a curious nature from his parents, to try stuff untill it works, frigging Horizon Walker ranger. One of the selling points of the subclass is how they are planar warriors and how many teleportation flavoured spells and abilities they get, at 11th level they can blink 10ft each time they hit a target i mean come on!!

TJ, he is only 2 years old now but if he grows up anything like Beau, he is sure to be one angsty teen/young adult just like her. The only great difference is that he probably will grow up hearing about his big sister, uncovering criminals and conspirations, borderline leading political meetings of peace, meanwhile kicking ass and saving the world with her fists and a wooden staff. Regardless of his parents tell him those stories willingly or only when he asks, he is sure to hear Beau herself or her friends. On her visists she will teach him how to do parkour and fight, and also how to tell when people are hiding information and how to find it, he is going to probably going to grow up looking up to her and trying to be just like his big sister. Rogue probably Thief, but what he steals is information, something like an inquisitor or detective, i couldn't find a subclass that would come near that, only backgrounds.

[scarletsaphire]

Against All Odds

Me, @exxiah and @coin-tricks-and-thirium piece for the April may event in the BPS server! @exxiah did the art, and me and @coin-tricks-and-thirium did the story.

Art is here: https://exxiah.tumblr.com/post/185180352385/enjoy-this-collection-of-krii7y-art-please-go

Soulmates were many things. First off, they were colorful. It was what defined them, after all, the swirling blues and greens and purples and reds that covered those who had met their destined. The colors were taught in health classes, small units covering what the colors meant, where the colors spread. Blues were platonic, blooming from touches of friendship and laughter. Those lucky enough to find their soulmates would see spirals of blue covering their fingers, their hands, from where they had just greeted a stranger, or splashes covering shoulders and arms where they had ran into each other. Red was for romantic love, kisses and dates and crushes and confessions. Delicate pink circles draw out over lips, a complicated and permanent lipstick from a first kiss, or ruby red decorating thighs for a first time. Yellow marked everything else, golden stripes decorating a torso for an anniversary, or neon fingertips from nervous confrontations.

Soulmates were rare. With billions of people in the world, and only one match, it’s nearly impossible to find yours. Out of everyone, there was little over 10,000 recorded at any given time. Because of this, the very few lucky ones, those who were blessed to meet their perfect match, tended to become famous. In olden days, they were renowned as deities, or gifts from them, and given castles and temples and sacrifices in hopes of good fortune raining upon their civilizations. In current times, soulmates made autobiographies and blogs and tv shows, regardless of how much effort they put in. After all, if you can’t have something, you may as well enjoy someone else having it.

Last of all, soulmates were desired. Of course they were; who wouldn’t want to spend the rest of their lives with a perfect match, the one they were destined to love? Before the internet, people would circumvent the globe, spending fortunes on traveling abroad in hopes of finding their match. Nowadays, it was different. Easier communication allowed for distance to not play a factor, and language barriers faded into minor inconveniences because of translator failures. However, it was harder to know when you had found your soulmate, without the colors created from touch. Scientists and engineers and entrepreneurs attempted time and time again to find technology that could create the same reaction as physical touch in soulmates, but it was difficult, for test subjects were practically nonexistent.

John didn’t care about any of that. Sure, it was interesting to hear about, but it wouldn’t affect him. He had given up finding his soulmate when he was a teenager, when statistics had spat on his dreams. Even if he had cared it already seemed impossible. He had been told when he was seven, coming home from first grade with a letter to his soulmate that his teacher had made them write in class. John had brought it to his mother, proudly showing off the six-sentence letter focusing on the most recent episode of Power Rangers happily written in typical first-grade style.

“When will I get to show them my letter?” he had asked her with a wide smile and sparkling eyes. He didn’t pay any mind to the glance she threw at his father, the tightening of her lips and the hesitation in her voice.

“Well,” she began, her voice frank. “Not everyone gets to meet their soulmate. So you might never get to give your letter to her.” The sparkle faded from John’s eyes and the smile fell from his face.

“But Ms. Bregg says that a soulmate is who you’re supposed to be with for your whole life,” John said, crossing his arms and sticking out his bottom lip in defiance. “Ms. Bregg can’t be wrong.”

“She’s not wrong my love,” his mother said, getting down from her chair and giving him back his letter. “But most people never meet their soulmates. It’s unlikely that you’ll ever meet yours, but that doesn’t mean you can’t meet someone and be happy! Just look at your dad and I.”

“But if it won’t work out?” John questioned, hands dropping from their crossed position to flop noisily by his side. His eyes started to well up, brimming with tears.

His mother opened her arms to him, her voice now softer and consoling. “No matter what you happen to do, soulmate or not John, your father and I will always be here for you.”

Without a second thought, he rushed into his mother’s open arms, feeling warmth and kindness embrace him. However, despite the love he felt, it was this moment that sparked the fire within John. The feeling of hopelessness that made it’s home buried within his soul. That maybe everything that he was taught by Ms. Bregg was for naught. That to be united with his soulmate just wasn’t in the cards. He grew to despise Ms. Bregg, and rejoiced when she was fired a few years later because of teaching inappropriate content to children.

These thoughts of hopelessness were only reaffirmed when he entered high school, filled with hormones, attitudes run high, and knowledge he didn’t want to know. John had officially decided that health was the worst class in the world. A teacher who could care less if his students passed or failed and a very strong opinion on the very topic his mother had touched on all those years ago. It had been that part of the year where more of the intimate topics were touched on in the class, which included the topic of soulmates and how truly rare they were.

“Alright. As you know, we’ve started our coverage of our soulmates unit.” Mr. Leaton’s annoying voice echoed through the classroom full of rowdy students. John sat at his desk that day, blue and black painted nails tapping incessantly on the polished wood.

“I showed you guys the importance of the colors yesterday. Today will be a bit different. We're going to be looking at some statistics regarding soulmates! So all my math kids buckle up.” Mr. Leaton gave a half smile, pulling down the big white projector.

John huffed as the projector turned on, the brightly colored background practically burning his eyes. A few clicks of the mouse to get the slides set up before Mr.Leaton had returned to the front of the room. The slide behind him was a very off colored yellow orange with the title, “Soulmate Statistics”. John could already feel himself getting antsy in his seat as the lecture began.

“So most of you might be wondering. How many people actually find their soulmate, and what is the likelihood of you finding yours?” Mr. Leaton declared, the sentence dissolving into the anxious air about the classroom. The button on the clicker was tapped, the slide transitioning effortlessly to the ones after. The final slide depicted a man and a woman, decorated in colors through the screen of a television, smiles lighting up their faces.

“Now that you know a little more about what the statistics say having a soulmate is like, here's a fun fact. There are only 10,000 soulmates who are recorded at any given time in the world. With close to 8 billion people, it seems a little unrealistic to find yours.” Mr. Leaton spoke, pointing to the picture.

John looked at the screen, a sense of dread building up within his stomach. 8 billion people. 8 billion chances wasted. 8 billion possible souls and one impossible chance at finding the one that matched his.

“For those of you who are good at math, what is the approximate percentage of any one person finding their soulmate in today's world?” Mr. Leaton questioned the class. A sea of blank stares were given back. John had his pencil and paper, doing the equations in silence, to figure out the number to the best of his ability.

“There's less than a 1.42% chance.” John responded to the question, displaying his mathematics work on the paper in front of him. The number made his head spin.

“That's correct John. There is less than a 1.42% chance. In fact all of those numbers are moved even more due to a -6 in decimal points.” Mr. Leaton spoke, blabbering on about the subject before moving onto the next slide. John had spaced out, no longer interested in the conversation at hand. Right there, in the middle of that health classroom, John had given up ever trying to find his soulmate. While other people would spend millions of dollars trying, John would be content with where he was at.

He had made peace with that fact long before he graduated high school, long before he started doing YouTube. But as his channel started to grow, and more and more people started watching his videos, his mind drifted back to the idea of soulmates, to statistics and dreams he had long since left in the dust. They came back to him as a sense of curiosity, and that sense only grew and grew as YouTube’s algorithm started recommending videos on soulmates, and as TVs and radio stations drones on about the latest celebrity soulmates.

It took a few months til that curiosity grew strong enough that, as the moon began to set and the sun went to claim back the sky, John sat in his room with his computer, reading article after article about soulmates in modern times. Every one he came across said basically the same thing.

With the rise of the internet, people were meeting more and more folks with similar interests from around the globe, leading to an increase in soulmates being found. Even with the increase, there was a predicted larger number of soulmates being discovered than that, as the soul marks were only triggered by physical touch between soulmates. Technology was being developed to show these soul marks through the screen, but no advancements had been made.

As John scrolled through article after article, some written by moms on their blog posts with about as much credibility as a reddit post, some written by scientists that had words John didn’t know without Google, he started to hope for the first time since he was a child, that maybe there was hope for him to meet his soulmate after all.

He met Smitty not long after that. A friend of both of them got them into a recording session together, and with their similar sense of humor and personalities, they hit it off immediately. John found himself at ease around Smitty, and from the laughter that came freely through the speakers whenever they talked, John assumed that Smitty felt the same.

They kept recording together, and, eventually, they called nearly as much while not recording then when they did. Late night conversations, whether it be about their work or their lives, or topics ranging from games to fashion to politics, became a near nightly thing between them. Even if the calls were just static over their microphones, with brief sentences breaking the silence between them, they just sat in silence and enjoyed each other's company.

Both of their channels started to grow, and the videos they did together were almost always hits, with fans seeming to enjoy their friendship just as much as they enjoyed being friends. (Though John doubted that that could possibly be true; he didn’t think that anyone could enjoy anything as much as when Smitty made stupid jokes that were just between the two, jokes that had him laughing harder than he can remember ever laughing before he met Smitty.) And with the growth of their channels, came invites. Invites to cons and events to get more involved with the community.

The first con Smitty agreed to go to was close to where John lived, and when he heard that Smitty would be going, he offered his house as a place for him to stay. It was what friends were for after all. And a house would be much nicer to stay in than a cheap hotel that was already booked out.

A few days before Smitty was set to arrive was when the panic started to set in. John had a million questions swimming through his mind as he set up the spare bedroom and cleaned the house. What if the house wasn't good enough, or if his jokes fell flat, or maybe his hair would decide not to cooperate when he arrived? Irrational little things poked at the back of the bleach blonde's mind throughout the day, attempting to gain some semblance of organization.

Another part of John spoke differently. Smitty was his best friend, and had been for years! Sure, it would be their first time meeting face to face, but they were still the same people right? They'd played hours of games together from CS:GO to Fortnite and Uno. They'd spent even longer talking to each other when insomnia kept the two from sleeping. He was sure that Smitty could still make him laugh even with the doubts attacking his brain. It wouldn't be so bad after all.

In the hours between the time he woke up and the time Smitty was supposed to land, John had made at least ten panicked discord calls, rebrushed his hair more times than he could count, and was anxiously checking both the digital clock in his bedroom plus the analog clock in the living room. His stomach was in knots and his head was in the clouds as the seconds counted down.

He left for the airport hours earlier than he had to, prepared to settle down near the front desk of the airport to wait for Smitty to arrive. Slowly he moved throughout the airport, til he had made it as far as he could without actually boarding a plane. When he made it to the gate he was fated to wait at, he sat himself in one of the uncomfortable chairs. Not much changed, as he passed time the same way he had been at his house, bouncing his leg nervously and checking from clock to clock. He tried to distract himself with his phone, playing random app games or listening to music. It worked for a little while, til he got a notification from one of the others, asking if Smitty had landed in yet. With a quick “no” shot back to them, he went right back to worrying.

He nearly felt his heart stop when Smitty’s name appeared in his notifications, accompanied by red and blue hearts on either side of his name and a message saying he had just landed and was looking for him. His thoughts started flying even faster than they had been before, to the point where he couldn’t discern any one thought from the others. Shooting a quick text back with which gate he was next to (he didn’t bother to read which gate; he had spent enough time there that he had it memorized, and he was fairly certain he would see B3 in his dreams now) he stood up and stretched his back and neck, all of which were sore from the time he had spent sitting in chairs not designed to be sat in nearly as long as he had.

He remained standing, watching the entrance to the room for Smitty whose face he had seen through video calls enough times that he was pretty certain he could recognize it on sight. Minutes ticked by agonizingly slow, slower than time had crawled for the entirety of the day. And then John spotted him, and he stopped breathing.

Smitty didn’t look different than he normally did. He hadn’t gotten his bags yet, seeing as he wasn’t carrying any with him. His hair was ruffled a bit, probably from the flight, and his eyes scanned over the crowd before locking into John’s. A smile split over his face, and John could feel a stupid grin spreading across his own.

“Hey,” Smitty said once he got close enough to John his to be heard, raising his right hand up in an awkward wave.

“Hey,” John replied, returning the wave. They stood there just kinda looking at each other for a few seconds, neither moving as people passed around them. “How was your flight?” John finally asked, breaking the tense silence that was starting to build around them.

“It was okay,” Smitty answered. “Thanks for letting me stay with you, and for picking me up.”

“It’s no problem,” John replied, moving his hand back behind his head. “D’you wanna go get your stuff?”

“Yeah, we should probably do that,” Smitty said with a little laugh before grabbing John’s hand and making his way out of the room, following signs that said baggage pick up. John trailed behind him, ignoring the spark that went through him when Smitty grabbed him. He ignored his hand clasped in Smitty’s, warm and soft and just out of his field of view, and he ignored his stomach doing flips from the contact. Instead, he focused on the back of Smitty’s head, and focused on keeping the same pace as they both hurried through the airport to get Smitty’s things.

It only took a few minutes and a wrong turn or two to get to the baggage collection area, and in that time, the awkwardness between meeting face to face faded away. Still, their hands were held together, and John was almost sad when Smitty let go in order to grab his bags. Until he didn’t. Smitty stopped, his hand held out in front of him, inches away from his bag but still, and John could see why. Swirls of blue and yellow and greens covered his skin, climbing up his arm and fading away just past his elbow. On the back of his hand was a bright pink spiral, tightly woven through the other colors and prominent, as it spun to his knuckles and faded from sight.

John froze too, looking at Smitty’s hand. He knew Smitty was single; knew Smitty would tell him if he had already found his soulmate. And he didn’t remember seeing Smitty with soulmarks before. Which means that at some point in the airport, Smitty had found his soulmate, and by the number of different shades and density of colors, he had met them before. Somewhere in these halls, John thought, was the perfect match for Smitty, and he had probably gotten in the way of them meeting.

While John’s thoughts had raced, Smitty had turned around to face John with a dopey grin splitting his face. “I didn’t know you were gay,” he said, which caused John’s face to fall into a look of confusion. Smitty started laughing. “Take a look at your hand, dumbass.” He reached out and grabbed John’s hand again, this time pulling it up between the both of them at face level. They matched. The patterns, the colors, and the pretty pink spiral John knew symbolized a reciprocated crush from his high school classes, mirrored on their hands. And if their smiles and bright eyes mirrored each other too? It didn’t take a genius to figure out why.

[waezi2okko]

Top Ten OK KO episodes

In the "Incredibles" movie, the bad guy Syndrome plans on staging a fight to become a famous superhero. And when he eventually becomes too old for that, he plans on selling his technology so anyone can become super, arguing that if EVERYONE is super... no one is.

"OK KO, Let's Be Heroes" has a different view on this. In the show, EVERYONE is super, so everyone are AWESOME!

"OK KO" is one of those shows that are so wholesome and fun that you stop thinking about logic and just accept this strange world of heroes and villains who takes inspiration from video games, comicbooks, action movies, mangas and more stuff hero-related. It has a feel of a game being played in a sandbox by kids who brought their random toys and are just going with it.

In the show, our main character is KO, a 6-11 year old kid who wants to become a hero. In order to get experience and be more familiar with the world of heroes, KO takes a job in a bodega run by his idol Mr. Gar. KO befriends Enid and Rad, the teens who works in the store as well, and assists them in running the bodega as well as defending it from destruction whenever the evil scientist Lord Boxman(who lives at the other side of the street) attacks the bodega with his evil robot children.

Yeah, it's kinda silly:P But in an awesome way.

Besides the humor, the creative character designs and the many references that will make you feel old if you get them, it is also the modern cartoon show that I think does the best relationships as well developing said relationships(sorry Steven Universe). Anyways, made this blog because I feel my main one has too much OK KO stuff, so I will start of this one with a top ten of the best episodes of the series.

Number 10: We Messed Up.

I HAVE to include this episode on the list since it was the first I watched.

Mr. Gar is out, and he has SPECIFICALLY told his employees to stay away from his office.

... So they go to his office. And breaks his stuff. The three friends must figure out how to stall their boss as well as how to replace the picture of KO's mom(that he for some reason has) so Mr. Gar won't be... disappointed!

I HAD to include this episode on the list since it was the first OK KO ep I watched. Also, a lot of lore was revealed in this episode, leading up to future episodes and storylines as we learn that Mr. Gar used to be on a superhero team with KO's mom Carol AND that Mr. Gar apparently used to be a masked wrestler. That, and the episode is just plain funny, mostly because of Mr. Gar being extra as heck!

Number 9: Whacky Jaxxyz

When KO gets introduced to the game and toy Whacky Jaxxyz by his cool classmate Nanini, KO jumps aboard the trend and even enters a tournament with Nanini.

Buuuut then they meet other people who play Whacky Jaxxyz as well and realize that the game's fandom is rather toxic.

And by "rather", I mean "VERY".

As a kid from the late 90s and early 00s, I can relate to this episode since I collected stuff such as Bayblades, Yugioh cards and such. I still feel cheated sometimes by the Yugioh franchise as well as being irritated by the fans of it who can sometimes ruin it for me. This episode shows how something fun can get ruined by both the people who provides it as well as the people who obsess over it.

Also, famous YouTuber ProZD is guest star:)

Number 8: Let's Watch the Boxmore Show

When KO and his friends are about to defend the bodega against another robot attack from Boxmore, they realize that they don't have to lift a finger since the robots are fighting EACH OTHER. Wanting to know what is going on, Mr. gar gives his employees permission to use his monitor room since he has hacked the surveillance cameras of Boxmore, allowing them to see what is going on in the robot factory. Our heroes realize that there is a competition in Boxmore, EXTREMELY similar to a reality TV-show. KO, Rad and Enid ends up getting addicted to watching the "show", even rooting for their favorite robot and ends up quarreling about who deserves to win or lose.

I grew up in the golden age of reality TV-show and can recognize the stereotypes WAY too well, both the contestants as well as the fans who obsess over the shows. This was just such a stupidly hilarious episode to watch. And Christopher Niosi who voices minor characters was on the top of his game in this episode.

Also, if you don't know Christopher Niosi, you should check out his YouTube channel.

Number 7: My Dad Can Beat Up Your Dad

KO gets in an insult contest with another kid named Chameleon Junior. And like all kids, Chameleon Junior argues that his dad could beat up KO's dad. And this specific insult gets to KO since... well, he DOESN'T have a dad. So he tells CJ that he might not have a dad, but that his mom Carol can beat anyone up. The two boys part ways to get their parents to fight to prove who has the stronger dad/mom. Carol tries to teach KO a lesson about talking things out, and... yeah, things escalate when a godzilla-sized chameleon dad is involved.

I was tempted to place this episode on the number one spot imply because watching a very angry hand-to-hand fighter mom beat up a giant lizard was amazing. But the ending twist that is a reference to old Godzilla movies was clever as heck. Chameleon Senior is revealed to actually being a giant man in a lizard costume, kinda like how old Godzilla movies had a man in such a costume.

Number 6: T.K.O.

KO is frustrated since he still doesn't have powers like Rad and Enid and worries that he will never become a true hero.

But then he meets a shadowy figure who tells him that he can help him reach his true potential.

... Yeah, KO shouldn't have trusted the guy.

I kinda knew from the start that KO would end up having an evil side that made him powerful, especially since he looks so much like Ryu from Street Fighter. But the way his dark side(AKA Turbo KO) is introduced is actually rather creative. It isn't anger that makes KO go dark, it is a combination of a whole lot of negative emotions that appears when he feels insignificant. That means that TKO has much more potential than just being a little angry monster, he is all of KO's negative emotions, including sadness, frustration and depression.

Number 5: Red Action To The Future

One of Enid's friends is a timetraveler called Red Action. When Red is getting a call from her Power-Ranger like team that tells her to return to the future, Enid is too proud to tell her not to go, fearing that Red would think less of her for being "clingy." But all Enid gets out of it is that Red is busy fighting a war in the future, and whenever she sees her again, it is only for short visits, and Red has aged months and years every time Enid sees her. Red ends up having lived a whole life in what was minutes for Enid.

With a show like OK KO where timetravel is a thing, you can have episodes that tackles with friends who doesn't say things to each other due to a mix of pride and shame, then realize that they missed their chance and a lifetime has passed. Enid gets to experience this much faster since Red is in the future, so time is relative.

Number 4: Rad Likes Robots

After an intense battle between the bogeda workers and the evil robots, one of the robots named Shannon gets hit by lighting and then falls in love with Rad who quickly becomes infatuated with the robot as well.

So, yeah. This is the Romeo and Juliet episode. But unlike other cartoon shows, this one does Romeo and Juliet right, if you ask me.

I actually mad e a whole blog about the episode that you can read RIGHT HERE.

Number 3: Know your Mom

KO's mom Carol is one of the strongest people in Lakewood next to Mr Gar. So it is sort of weird that she isn't a big-time superhero and instead just runs a fitness center.

When KO does research on his mom for Mother's Day, he finds out that she actually USED to be a big-time superhero. She was known as Silver Spark and was a member of the world's greatest superhero team POINT(Powerful Operatives Investigating and Neutralizing Trouble). But then she decided to quit the team 6-11 years ago. KO is horrified since HE is 6-11 years old, so he believes that he might be the reason to why Carol left POINT. So KO decides to call her archenemy and make him come fight her as the perfect gift.

What really sells this episode is Carol's old enemy Succulentus who is voiced by Jonathan Davis, the leading vocalist of the nu-metal band Korn. Most of his dialog has references to nu-metal songs, most of them I actually caught, making me feel old, especially since Succulentus is an old fart. Sure, he is old because he is a cactus, but it is still funny to be reminded of music you grew up with that is now considered "old".

Number 2: You're in Control

This was an awesome season one finale! Not only did it have an epic battle, it had been built up to through the whole season, making it that much more satisfying to watch. And it even had one heck of a cliffhanger that made me even more hyped about season two.

Number 1: Special Delivery

Enid and Rad are KO's best friends and pseudo older sibling. But they are also each others' best friend. So "Special Delivery" is an interesting episode since it focuses on Enid and Rad relationship without KO involved.

Someone has ordered a package from Mr. Gar's bodega, so Rad and Enid have been given the task of delivering it while KO stays in the store. The one who ordered it is in a town far away, so it is roadtrip time!

Rad and Enid actually has fun being together while driving to Neo Riot City... But Enid ends up having too much fun on Rad's expense.

Best friendship episode of the whole series since it focuses on communication and what the lack of it can cause since you can end up unintentionally hurt someone who is important to you. Also has the awesome and cliche song "I Wanna Get Out of Here" written by William Gibbons who is songwriter for the band Kara's Walk Home.

[embaewrites]

alt >.>

Another alt! You got it, boo. ;D

Let’s talk about this badass, Aspen Holmes:

She may look like a cupcake, but she’s a force to be reckoned with. A scholarship student with a  physics major and astronomy minor at NYU, she knows her way around a lab. She also works as a bartender for a local ‘titty bar’ to make up for any additional costs that her scholarship doesn’t cover. Her father got deported when she was relatively young, so for the most part it was her and her mom, living in New Jersey for the bulk of her life. She has an adopted sister named Eurydice (Eury for short) who isn’t blood related in any way, but when her dad skipped town after dating Aspen’s mom, they took her in as their own. Momma Holmes is a scientist, and between her and her badass lady gang (a professor, a physicist, and an engineer), Aspen grew up with a lot of awesome female influences in her life. She had ambitions for pursuing a masters in physics, possibly go on to work in a research lab of some sort or maybe study the deeper reaches of space, but things turn a bit topsy-turvy when a bunch of her friends go missing, turn up again a month later, and weird shit starts happening in New York City.

Like, weird alien-related shit.

Did I mention this girl knows how to build explosives??

One time, she got kidnapped and stuck in a prisoner camp with a bunch of other humans, under the watchful eye of some freaky alien overlord (and his super hot daughter who Aspen happens to have a huge crush on - awkward), and since her friends (aka the Power Rangers) were taking too long to rescue her, she took matters into her own hands and build a ton of explosives FROM SCRATCH, using them to destroy a fuck-ton of property and get herself and a bunch of prisoners out.

The blue ranger was super impressed. Don’t let her tell you otherwise.