#similar theme to Treehouse when it was still a thing

[sprinket]

I played with an empty spot on my island

[humornaut]

Sunny and Daisies

Hey everyone! I think this post will be a bit shorter, but recently, I've been thinking about some of the flowers that appear in Omori that we are never really given an explicit meaning for, and I wanted to talk about something that has come up. Omori spoilers ahead!

So! Obviously, based on the title, you know that the thing I want to talk about here is the use of the daisy in-game. We see it a couple of times in Sunny's dreams, and it's clear that they are associated with Basil. One appears in the Rain Area of Black Space, next to Stranger, where he talks about how Sunny was always someone that he could depend on.

And then, when you get to Neighbor's Bedroom in the Omori route, you will have a daisy, rather than a sunflower, in the lineup of all the friend's flowers.

Finally, Home for Flowers (Daisy) is the version of Basil's theme that plays just prior to the truth segment.

So, where does this association come from?

The first thing to note is that when Basil talks about sunflowers, he never says that he is a sunflower, only that he wants to be like a sunflower. The second thing to note is that in the game itself, there is no indication in the real world at any point that Basil ever assigned the daisy to himself. Some people say that the flower he wears in his hair is a pink daisy, but Basil's flower clip does not match up with how daisies are depicted in-game or in art, mostly due to the number of petals.

There isn't really any evidence for this one way or the other, but I personally believe that this is an association that Sunny himself made at some point, and that Basil doesn't even know about it. Like sunflowers, daisies can represent loyalty, and they have other meanings as well, such as innocence or purity.

However, the most relevant meaning, in my opinion, is its Victorian meaning representing the "ability to keep a secret".

Now, there is one big reason that Sunny would associate Basil with keeping a secret in the modern day, and I assume that that isn't something that I have to mention here. However, Sunny already notes Basil as someone that enjoys keeping secrets. Take a look at Memory Lane:

In the Treehouse Memory, Basil revels in his winning hand, and teases the others with his secret.

In the Beach Memory, we are given an example of Basil taking a picture of Aubrey without her knowledge, which is something that he prefers overall, as mentioned a couple times in the game.

In the Picnic Memory, we see Basil planning to hide a flaw with one of his photos (Hector's poop in the background) so that he can still include it in the photo album.

In the Rainy Day Memory, he of course promises to keep Sunny's crush on Aubrey a secret.

In the Birthday Memory, he teases the others by refusing to tell them what his wish is for.

And finally, in the Christmas Memory, we find out that Sunny's violin was actually Basil's idea in the first place, and that he successfully kept this a secret from Sunny even as the entire group was working the entire Summer to save up for it.

I'm not sure that Basil would ever assign a flower to himself based on his love of secrets, but Sunny's repeated memories of it make it likely that he would assign it to him, especially since Basil seemingly refused to assign a flower to himself.

This has all been pretty straightforward, but I want to hop into some possible connections that I've never seen discussed. Bear with me, because this link is going to sound tenuous at first.

First, take a look at the way the daisy in the Rain Area is referred to:

If we hop into the sorting minigame in the Omori route, one of the things we find this:

I promise this isn't as insane as it sounds I hope

So, most of the things that we go through in the sorting minigame have a direct link in Headspace. The similar wording is interesting, but my attention would not have been drawn to it if there weren't something more.

Let's rewind way back to the beginning of the game, during the prologue.

One of the first quests that the player is able to access (and I believe the only quest that the player can start while Basil is still in the party during the prologue) is entitled "Daisy's Dilemma". It can be and usually is completed during the prologue. Daisy is looking for some help in finding a gift that she can gift to her crush. When you get to Otherworld, you will find the "Flower Puzzle", which you can then give to her to pass on to Neb, her crush.

Ignoring the obvious implications of having such a quest so early on in the game with what we will later learn about daisies, I want to take a look at the puzzle itself.

The description of the puzzle in your inventory calls it "A perfect combination of flower and puzzle". The word "perfect" is of note here, with the very specific use of it throughout the game, especially as it pertains to Basil. But more than that: take a look at the icon for it:

The puzzle piece on the right, to me, pretty clearly shows a daisy, which leaves us with little triangle of evidence including a flower puzzle depicting a daisy given to a crush in Headspace by someone that loves flowers named Daisy, a single daisy depicted next to Stranger in Black Space (along with other evidence in the game linking Basil to Daisies), and a single puzzle piece that can be found among Sunny's belongings during the Omori route.

I realize that this may be a stretch to some, but I absolutely see this triangle of daisies and puzzles to be intentional.

So, is there anything else going on here that we should take note of?

Well, Daisy doesn't appear to have a direct analogue in the real world. You might be able to say she represents Bebe, who is said to have bad taste in men, and we see develop a crush on the Maverick throughout the real world sections of the game. I do find this a little unlikely, as Bebe seems unaware who the Maverick is at all, and doesn't seem to have any connection to Angel, who is represented by Neb.

Now Neb is very interesting. He clearly is representative of Angel, but it's kind of hard to tell due to their differences in personalities. To my knowledge, Angel is never really associated with puzzles in the real world, though he is pretty immature overall, and spends time at Hobbeez and enjoys games. The fact that his name is "Neb" is something that I find interesting, though, as this makes him the only one on the playground, based on a real person from Sunny's life, who's name seems irrelevant to his namesake.

I've wondered for awhile what the reason for this was. Recently, I discovered that one of the definitions for neb refers to a snout or nose. As luck would have it, there is another playground kid that is named Nose!

So Nose is one of only three of the playground kids that do not appear to be based off of a real person, including her best friend Bun, and the aforementioned Daisy. Like some of the others, she is based off of one of Sunny's plushies, though her and Bun do not appear to also be influenced by the younger tutoring kids in the same way Brows, Bangs, and Happy are. If you take a look at the photo album, you will find Nose in one of the pictures, being cuddled by both Aubrey and Basil.

And let's also take a look at some of the few lines of dialogue for Nose and Bun:

The term "best friend" has some pretty specific usage throughout the game. While Sunny himself appears to apply the term generally to his friend group, the real Basil is only ever shown to use it when referring to Sunny. Not to mention, the way that Bun is talking here is very reminiscent of the first few pictures of the photo album, in which Basil refers to Sunny as his best friend, as well as shy.

After playing hide and seek, Bun and Nose will play patty cake together.

The reason this is so interesting is due to the implications later on that Sunny himself was involved in the making of Basil's birthday cake, or at least learned the recipe for it at some point.

And there are some surface level similarities between Sunny and Angel that could've resulted in Angel being the one to play this role in Headspace. Both are the youngest in their respective friend groups, and Angel is seemingly raised by an overbearing older sister, with his parents nowhere in sight. He even has a "Foe Factx!" journal in his room that you can find, similar to the one that Sunny has in his dreams.

None of these characters really have a whole lot to say other than what we've gone over, but I also want to bring up the item that you get for completing this quest.

She gives you a Daisy charm, which allows the wearer to start the battle happy. I'm not sure it means much, but the two other charms that make the wearer happy are the Heart String and the Wedding Ring, which both use some fairly romantic imagery, and are easily missed by most players. The Heart String is available in the room in Humphrey in which you are chased by the cat monster thing. This is also the same room where you can get the blender item for Hero (relevant due to the smoothies being organized by Basil's tastes). This probably isn't an intentional connection, but it is also soon after the Branch Coral, which includes the line about Basil and Sunny being "tied by a string of fate". The Wedding Ring is of course given to the player by Spaceboy at the end of the Omori route.

Now, you might find a lot of this to be a little bit out there, especially with the connection to the puzzle piece that Sunny has in his belongings. However, I hope that this has at least shown that there is likely a connection between this first side quest that you can take and Basil.

Finally, while real world Basil is never depicted with daisies in-game, he is shown with one in some post-release official art.

The birthday pictures, and especially this last one for Basil's birthday, are notable for including pink daisies rather than white ones. Relying too much on flower meanings is kind of rough because most flowers have a lot of different possible meanings, and I don't like using art from outside of the game, since it really shouldn't be taken as canon, but I have seen that pink daisies can be given to someone to confess your feelings, and I believe that this birthday picture was the 143rd post to the Omori Instagram page, though don't quote me on that.

[a-totally-normal-human-person]

HELLO ADVENTURE TIME FANDOM: I COME BEARING GIFTS: IN THE FORM OF AN A.U. AND ART FOR IT:

Introducing ADVENTURE SWAP:

First of our revised roster:

Simon Petrikov the Vampire King:

-he didn't tell anyone that he was the last vampire, nor does he hold his title of "King of the Vampires" in high regard.

-He has read every book that still exists in Ooo.

-he never left Marceline.

-he knows everyone in Ooo who is over 100 years old.

-he is letting Jake and Finn stay in the treehouse because they remind him of Marcy,

SPEAKING OF WHICH!

The next of this little world:

The Ice Princess! (Marceline)

-she put on the crown to save simon during the apocolypse.

-simon stayed by her side until she fully sucumbed to the madness of the crown.

-she mostly just makes people play pretend with her.

-she was 8 when the crown finished taking her over.

NEXT UP WE HAVE THE INTRO/THEME SONG.

Jake and Finn:

-they are both afraid of the Ocean, Finn because he can't swim, and Jake because ISLAND TRAUMA.

-Jake is still the "punching things" guy, and Finn is the more technique orientated guy.

-the biological parents are also swapped, the alien dude and Martin are pretty similar.

-Jake was taken away from The Island when his bio-dad kid-napped him and left him on a raft before it just... floated away, The Guardian was busy.

ADVENTURE SWAP!

Come on grab your friends!

We're going to very, distant lands.

With Finn the Fox, and Jake the Human!

The fun will never end, it's ADVENTURE SWAP!

[unohanabbygirl]

So, based off of that really good descriptive scene (probably one of my favorites by the way) of when Aemond got a flashback of killing Luke when he watched Pinocchio get eaten by the whale, did the family resolve to have the movie banned for the time being? And if so, what other things have been placed on the banned list for the family so as not to trigger any ptsd flashbacks? And if you’d like to elaborate, I’d love to hear more about why you chose to use that movie scene in particular.

Ohhhh, i love this question!

Pinocchio was actually on the “no watch list” for a whiilee. Now that he’s older Aemond has no problem with it despite that twinge of slight discomfort still being present, but after that particular event the adults refused to make room for another incident so they refuse to take risks. I myself chose Pinocchio for a few reasons; one being that I feel Pinocchio and Luke are one in the same, young boys who want nothing more than to prove themselves and set off to accomplish said goal. For Pinocchio he wants to become a real boy while Luke wants to show he’s just as much of a real Targ as the rest of his family, that he can stand beside Jace rather than tucked behind him. That he won’t cower while so much is on the line.

The parallels in both the whale scene and Luke’s death hit close to home in my opinion, mirroring each other in a way so to speak. One depicts an idealistic child-like pov of something such as being swallowed whole by an overwhelming creature that would otherwise end in a gruesome death, while the other (Luke) actually experiences said death, remembers what it feels like to be eaten alive and everything. These events are so similar yet couldn’t be more different. Young Aemond saw a boy being devoured and his mind took him back to one of his biggest regrets. It didn’t matter that Pinocchio ended up just fine because Luke didn’t. Even though Aemond was a child he’d already been born knowing how untruthful Disney fairytales were.

Okay, so there is actually a crap ton of media thats been banned in the home for one reason or another. Either that be because the sight of arrows makes Jace so uncomfortable that he can feel them piercing his skin again, or the sight of fire bringing Egg back to the very moment Rhaenyra was murdered in front of him.

mass disease in film is a no no because it reminds Alicent of her own death. And really anything having to do with infant/child death for Helaena sake.

Sexual assault in media is a theme they tend to stray away from and don’t take likely. Harwin will happily spoil a movie for himself if it means not running into any SA scenes since Alicent and Helaena have experienced martial rape and Aegon has been a perpetrator himself. Once Luke’s own history comes to light this rule will be even stricter without question.

A few movies that have been barred from being viewed in their homes are as follows.

1. Promising young woman - Alicent thought she’d be able to handle it but couldn’t stomach it despite its message.

2. The lovely bones - Hits too close to home for the parents. Though their children were kidnapped they still know what it feels like to wake up one day with your child by your side and go to sleep without them the next

3. Grave of fireflies - This one puts a perspective on the outcome of war from everyday civilians pov and its filled the room with guilt.

4. Gladiator - this one Jace watched while at a friend’s house and was actually excited, but he soon realized he just couldn’t handle the battle scenes.

5. Orphan - Egg watched this on his own and enjoyed it up until the scene where the treehouse is burned down.

[ofsappho]

Treehouse ask:

Two quick things!

1. I love how Morpheus is out of touch with humans yet he knows what all the girlies (non-gendered) want: a nice bathroom with all the fixings. Like I'm sorry but if he every took a look at my Pinterest boards and recreated that. I (who is a commitmentphobe) would propose.

2. I am so excited for their wedding!!! Just because I know you're going to add so much detail and symbolism to it!! If they do have one because you know Morpheus is going to go all out to display his beloved to the Dreaming.

Rip I wrote a whole answer and then tumblr deleted it

Thank you for the question anon, and for enjoying the fic ❤️❤️❤️

Throughout the story I have wanted to demonstrate how strong the connection is between Morpheus and Reader. Not just externally where we see them talking and interacting, but also subconsciously. Morpheus is the collective human unconscious, so as he spends more time around this human and falls in love, he is able to access her unconscious and some of her thoughts and reflect them in himself. His in canon jadedness/cynicism very much parallels similar trends in human attitudes, particularly after world wars and multiple financial crises. But the way Reader sees the world and the little things Reader enjoys have a positive effect on him (just as when things are going bad for humanity, he becomes more negative). Even when she’s angry with him, she still sees wonder and goodness in his actions. If Morpheus is a mirror of people, it makes sense to me that he wants to choose to mirror an outlook that values who he personally is, that is full of hope and strength and the potential for change.

I’M SO EXCITED FOR THE WEDDING. Im already planning it. I have a Pinterest board for Reader’s wedding dress and I’m picking songs that thematically support the wedding.

Just as a fun sneak peek: one of the songs that I put on the official treehouse playlist (you can find it here) will be the main theme of the wedding arc.

Aapki Khushi by Jasdeep Singh Degun and Ashnaa is an original song that was composed by Degun for British opera company Opera North’s production of L’Orfeo, an opera about Orpheus and Eurydice by Claudio Monteverdi.

Opera North’s production of L’Orfeo (you can watch them perform Aapki Khushi here) combined Indian and Western influences in their interpretation of this Italian opera (based off Ancient Greek myth). Eurydice and her family were Indian and Orpheus and his family were Western. Everyone sang in Hindu and Italian. Persephone sung in Tamil. The opera had traditional Indian musicians on stage with Western musicians. Orpheus wore a traditional Western suit and Eurydice wore traditional Indian bridal dress with words embroidered around the edge of her veil.

Aapki Khushi was composed to fit into the Italian opera score while supporting the Indian influences Opera North added to their production. The title translates to “your joy is my joy.”

This is something I am hoping to bring to the wedding between Morpheus and Reader - a combination of Western culture and international culture, taking people/cultures/customs that are often excluded from Western fantasy stories and including them, adding more beauty and color than would have existed without them.

(And of course, anything related to Orpheus gets a mention in treehouse. I think that if Morpheus saw this production of this opera, it would make him mournful yet happy with how it celebrates Orpheus.)

(This is another aspect of what I meant when I said that Orpheus’s presence will be felt throughout the story. By picking this song for the wedding arc, I (as the author) felt like I was getting Orpheus’s blessing for his father’s second marriage.)

[informedinterest]

Mcsm| Toxic leaders, friendships, coworkers & peers

(The  ol         Or          der)

  1. Soren          Is shown to be a reasonable leader that cares about his crew a reasonable amount, helped by the fact that he shown to be about excessive age, unlike Jesse who’s age is ambiguous possibly committing tox to Soren from what could be a adventuring - young adult age to excess - see below,                                                                                              for how tha                                                                                          t affects the story,)

How      eve        r is hampered by a       unfortunate history of tox              That        left            it’s           mar              k            o             n            h            i           m,

- Jesse

  Soren does not remove Jesse from his property despite it causing seemingly distress to him

 - if Jesse acts kind (or if hearing anyone (particularly the order) responds kindly to him), Soren will react with disbelief, If tox, he will excuse it beyond any healthy measures ‘ha a joke…as what friends do,’

    Whe          n n           o jok            e             s             are                n’t               pain              f              u               l              ,

Then there’s this line,

     “I’ve found when you give people what they want they turn on you, they become resentful,” - Soren

    And              Scene,

Soren cower         ing      from         his     team         mates

Eligard & Magnus          Fake smiles          impl           ing there is something that’s         actually wrong  and we quickly find out           why

  (I’ll go over the particulars about why        Soren might not be excited to see         Eligard & Magnus on site in their sections        )

  Point being,

   It doesn’t take long before it goes       tox      at the      cave,

- Eligard (or whoever is left of the Eligard or/ Magnus pai        ring)  takes         a pot shot at          Soren                        ,          Gabriel, “is he always           like this, “

     Eligard/Magnus; you have            no idea,

    (When Soren goes out for a          break due to distress          & after          the death        of a      friend,)        ,

- Ivor immediately tries to take the reins        after makin         g the    main       problem        (And his main          fail         safe       back        fired)

   You can clearly see things going        tox       quic      k      ly

  (Then there’s the in famous Ivor scapegoat scene      showing that even back then       he was         tox,            )

   And the rest is just Ivor       bein        tox,

                                                                                 (Until Soren event gets away                                                                                                         good for him)

- Eligard

   - Largely           non-tox                    but is a victim and                an ena            bler of Magnus

        - Small pre- men             tion                ed bit of tox

 - Magnus

    - abs.            ball of                 tox

     - causes             argu            ments

     - never        contributes          any         thing positive to the            group

       - Small              bit                of                tox                 a                  s mentioned above

        - Explicit                abuse                   o                   f              Eligard,                  Implied               abuse                    of                 Soren

     - Gabriel-

      - Little              is known              abou                t               hi                 m,              That he seems pretty unaware of the toxic            dynamic,

       Apart from          Magnus‘s tendency to           insti           gate             And Eligard’s          ten          dency           to          ar           gue,

     - Ivor

      - with Magnus at least you could argue he could’ve originally intend to fill some role if you squint,      with some routes      But with Ivor you can’t               He was tox from the beginning,           Continued       to be tox,           Not a redeemable             quality                in             sight                  ,

                                                                      Overall the group is a                                                                         gosh darn mess

       New             Order               ~

- Jesse - Despite being a leader, Jesse seems resentful of his leadership and constantly makes up things - ideas on the spot that no leader would leave to the last minute and would’ve already planned in advance/have a general idea  of, showing how the game mechanic damages a actual good story

    - His first mission is a find the person mission, not unheard of for a supportive subordinate character. However as a leader, it can come off as unnecessarily authority assuming, if not handled correctly, which unfortunately it wasn’t 1) By having this occur after a ‘break up’ in which several members isolated, placing this around excessive age 2) most of the members are reluctant to get together

Resulting in Jesse coming up as nagging or irritatingly intrusive.

              As a leader,

              There are two main goals,

               (To be 

                considered 

                 a 

                good 

                 one)

                  1. Attention to 

                      th

                       e 

                       mis

                       s

                        ion,

                       - With the psychological benefits teammates receiving prop stimuli

                      Jesse constantly waffles, 

                resulting in reasonably irritated 

             re

          sponses

            fro

            m 

            hi

             s 

        team

        mates

                    2. Tending to your Team                        mates,                          Self-explanatory                                  

                                   Jesse                                               doesn’t                                            seem                                                to                                                   care                                            about his                                            team                                              mate                                               s                                             Until it reaches                                  the mandatory                                   spots, or (is believed) to go past critical (see Lukas “crying”                                                   and they                              refuse to move                                      until                                    he                             does,

                  The correct                        pro                         to                       co                        l,

                 Bein                          g                           constant               availability,                            to                        thei                         r                      lei                            sur                            e

                Care kept satisfactory                      and short                   without dragging the mission to a              stand                still

                     Despite, Jessie’s showing only the barest minimum of retention wit h  hi      s pe        t       pig, 

  How about he still has plenty of time micromanaging 

the          one          thing        you        don’t        want            to          do,

     An argument can’t break out without Jesse               interject

     Showing that he has no trust in his        team        mates to be able to resolve their own       conflict

   Then again it comes from the person who is the worst role model/sets the worst example

   Gettin            into a squibble             Wi         th           hi    s           subordinates/           (temporary)                co-leader               Lukas

        Fi                             gh                t                 in                g           over a           de             tect                 ion uni                t,

         Note               ,                        Well confrontations over a stolen role might get             phys             that             I am              not             den              y                 in                 g,

      (The above mentioned things leads it to                    (lean                      in                 Luk                 as‘                  s                favor

           Tha                      t Jesse is the one that stole the role   

              (Not helpful for the fact that Lukus acts like a                  spited leader                 Al                  l through                       out,                And has characterized              the he doesn’t stand up for himself

       (Even if wrong, Jesse is still reprimands a           sub      ordinate,                        ) - Lukas

     Likely the victim of Axle’s           Tox,

      Lukas falls into most of the pitfalls that           Soren does, not standing up for himself         and possibly leaving (even for a short time) when the tox gets too much - Olivia

     Pretty           non tox            Some implied self-esteem issues with her place in the group constantly asking questions to validify it             ,

- Axel

   - Openly scares his friends               and takes pleasure                 from distress

           - Humor doesn’t come from                      sad/                    Despair                     it comes from                            happi                 ness,

      - Almost literally cannot go five seconds without starting an argument or being tox            (Specifically towards             Lukas)                  ,

       Following the unfortunate theme of          green being tox     despite it being grow             t              h,

- Petra

    (Season 1)

     Tox

 - Expecting them to find her          despite not vibin’                              the loc                                  at                                    ion,

     demeaning

  - Threats of         violence

    “Not getting punched in the face              for saying that             right now,”                   - Petra

       Coercion

      General authority assumption

      Separation Jesse         from his friends,        friends          separating/or         hanging out with          other friends            on their own will is non-tox

      Authority assumption- entitlement to excess

       Promises             an          lies           are                  pret              ty         useless

    (Season 2)

- Petra

     - Tox

        - General Tox

            - demeaning

            - Guilt tripping

               - Friend ship

               - Adventures

               - Lack o.                   Adventures                - End goal - Jesse helps her find the llama and threaten/coerce Stella, who she also has a toxic manipulator/manipulated relation ship with (through likely      intimidation         as Petra knows that Stella          has a             thing           w/th         Jesse        and         two          on          one          num           er            ical,             ,

        After               all

                  - when it’s                   discovered that Petra is                         retiring to champion city

    - gas light               ed,             (-claiming things to happen that didn’t really happen,)

     - Petra’s guilt trip of the treehouse;

       “ we used to hang out in the treehouse                all the time,” - Petra

        Show it            or it didn’t happen

           - to our knowledge                    never happened,

              - Emotional                      Abuse/

                       - “Friends,”

  - Jack

       - Bit non-tox except for some                 snips               at Nurm

       - The general having to          ‘one Up’             everyone,

 - Nurm

  (Od.       d      take         on   senti    e    nce

nar     rat ive  

tox,

        Pretty clear except for                 (apparent)             put down on Jack’s naming                convention

- Romeo,  

   Pretty similar to            Petra,

General Tox

   General       Authority      Assumption

- Emotional            Abuse

     - Guilt tripping

- Logical      abuse

     - Gaslighting

- Physical       abuse

   - Acts of         violence

        - Destruction                of un          Account             able           pro.        per            ty,         (Dif      ferent         from      ac      countable)           ,

    All of above;

     demeaning

      coercion

   - Threats of           violence

    - Apparent            murde             r

    - Abuse              of           sub            ordin           ates      Should not be        redeemed

    Xara

      - Straight up kills            a person

          Radar-

          Refusal to             read              the             vibes                 aka               Several misdemeanors               worth of tox           for general obsessive behavior unbefitting, unhealthy              and unnatural                       of a                   sentient,

[sokkastyles]

Thanks for asking! I realize I never elaborated on the Jet/Zuko parallels so here goes.

Season one Zuko/Jet are both extremists, though on opposite sides of the war. Zuko will stop at nothing to capture the Avatar. Jet will stop at nothing to rid the world of the Fire Nation. Zuko is the fallen prince, while Jet is the war orphan, both trying to restore what they’ve lost. And both have significant interactions with Katara.

Focusing on book one first, I’ve already written about how Jet manipulates Katara, which makes it worse not only because she did have romantic feelings for him, but because she was totally taken in by his whole freedom fighter thing. He also manipulates Aang and tries to manipulate Sokka, but Katara was the main one who felt betrayed by him. Katara has such a big heart and fighting spirit but at this point in the story she is fairly naive, and it shows here. She probably never considered before this episode that somebody fighting on the right side could be a bad person.

I also looked up the mouth wheat thing because I’ve seen it a lot in anime for similar “tough guy” characters and as that other post I reblogged said, it is a stand-in for cigarettes. I also found out that it’s supposed to represent a banchou, which is a juvenile delinquent gang-leader. And Jet is the leader of a bunch of feral kids, although they are ostensibly revolutionaries. Longshot, Smellerbee, and the Duke do seem like they have good intentions, and they often call Jet out on his behavior.

I also think there’s a comparison/foil with Katara’s interactions with Zuko in book one, which revolve around the necklace and his attempted kidnapping of her. Zuko tries to manipulate Katara using her mother’s necklace but is not very good at it. Not necessarily because he has any moral compunctions but because he’s just not that socially adept. He is most often the victim of his father and sister’s manipulations and the few times he tries to copy them he fails ridiculously, because he is incredibly literal-minded. He’s blunt and often fails to understand things that aren’t directly spelled out. He is not a manipulator.

I’ve also seen people compare Jet flooding the Fire Nation village to Zuko burning down Kyoshi Island, in order to make Zuko look worse, but as I’ve said before, Zuko burning down Kyoshi Island was not intentional, it was something that happened as a result of reckless firebending. That doesn’t make it any less bad, but it seems like it’s been popular recently to add this to the list of things that make Zuko “problematic,” so much so that I actually forgot that scene and was surprised when I rewatched the scene recently and discovered it wasn’t the intentional razing of the village that some people on tumblr make it out to be. Zuko’s fault there was simply not caring about the collateral damage in his pursuit of Aang. He wasn’t intentionally trying to burn down the village. Plus, if we were being honest, all the gaang would cause destruction wherever they went given how much bending they do. That’s not something the show dwells on, though, the way that superhero movies don’t dwell on New York getting destroyed for the hundredth time (unless it’s a deconstruction of the genre).

What Jet does is much more deliberate. He’s aware that what he tricks Katara and Aang into doing will cause the deaths of innocents, and dismisses Smellerbee when she tells him so, and he’s aware that the gaang will not approve of his actions enough to hide it from them. There’s also an interesting elemental parallel/foil, Jet destroys a village with water and Zuko destroys one with fire - foreshadowing that water can also be destructive? Hama, anyone? Robert Frost said it. 

I think I know enough of hate to say that for destruction ice is also great, and would suffice.

Anyway.

Book two, the Jet/Zuko parallels/foils are much more explicit, and highlighted by the fact that they actually meet in book two. Zuko’s on redemption road, although he doesn’t know it yet. Jet explicitly states that he wants redemption, although he’s still doing the same things he was doing before. He enlists Zuko in helping him steal stuff because he thinks he’s entitled to it, and I guess you can argue about whether it was justified, since the captain was treating the refugees unfairly, but Jet mostly seems interested in stealing food for himself and his group. To be fair, Prince “ew, poor people” Zuko doesn’t exactly have egalitarian motives, either, which is why helping Jet steal food is a regression in his arc. It’s him donning the Blue Spirit identity (although without the mask) once more because he’s trying to get closer to the material life that he lost. It’s also hilarious that when Jet asks Zuko to do this, Zuko’s dumb ass is like “well, Uncle did tell me to make friends.” Sometimes I wonder who was more naive, book one Katara or book two Zuko. Iroh is like “god, I leave him alone for five minutes and he joins a gang.”

When Jet keeps pressing Zuko about joining the Freedom Fighters, Zuko says no. Again, not for any moral reasons, but because he knows that if Jet keeps pressing, he might find out who Zuko really is. Zuko is honest with Jet when he says “I don’t think you want me in your group.” Not for good reasons, again, but the claim that Zuko somehow manipulated Jet is absolutely wrong. Jet was the one who approached Zuko and made assumptions and got pushy when Zuko said no.

Jet does genuinely want and try to change, but his major temptation is finding out that Iroh is a firebender, which he finds out right after he gets pissed that Zuko rejected him so I do think that was part of his motivation for going after them, considering how pushy Jet acted with the gaang when they rebuffed him. Jet, of course, fails the test, although what happens to him certainly isn’t his fault, even if he did make mistakes. It’s a tragedy that in the end, the choice to turn his life around was taken from him, and he was betrayed by the people who he thought were the good guys. This also highlights the theme that sometimes people on the “good” side can be not nice people, which in turn paves the way for Zuko’s redemption and the wider theme that it is actions that matter the most, not which nation you are from. Separation is an illusion, folks.

Zuko’s test happens first when he attempts to steal Appa, the last time he dons the Blue Spirit mask, and then in “The Crossroads of Destiny.” Unlike Jet, Zuko doesn’t know he’s being tested, he doesn’t know he needs to change, although Iroh keeps telling him he does. The change happens in Zuko without him realizing it.

Katara tries to heal Jet, and Jet dies. Katara almost heals Zuko, and Zuko betrays her. And this time Aang is the one who almost dies, who Katara has to heal. This certainly contributes to Katara’s mistrust of Zuko later on, all three of these events tied together. And all three boys are people she has romantic tension with.

Which brings me to another reason I dislike Jet, or rather, what he is meant to be in Katara’s story. Many people have pointed out that Katara is romantically attracted to Jet, and his superficial resemblance both to the “bad boy” trope, and to Zuko. There’s a reason Zutara shippers make this comparison, although I believe its purpose in the narrative was actually to be anti Zutara and provide support for Kataang, but because the writers really didn’t know how to write Kataang properly, it ends up as the opposite.

Recently I saw a post by a popular blog that was anti Zutara that cited Jet as an example of Katara having “low standards.” And like, I can’t entirely blame the post for its misogyny (Katara is FOURTEEN) because this is what the writers want us to think. Katara’s attraction to Jet is very much playing on the “girl develops a crush on the jerk who doesn’t care about her” stereotype. This is, subtly, one of the ways that the show punishes Katara for not returning Aang’s crush. Interestingly, in this episode Aang doesn’t get jealous of Jet at all, and doesn’t even notice Katara’s attraction, but that’s because Aang in this episode is also still naive and in his early stages of his attraction to Katara, and also thinks Jet is super cool. Sokka instantly hates Jet, though. And Sokka is right, but he also has flavors of the over-protective big brother. I do remember that this episode left a sour taste in my mouth because of the (thankfully downplayed) implications that Katara is a silly girl who falls for the “wrong” types of guys because women don’t know what they want and need a man to help them “discover” their feelings. I also think this is meant to be subtextual in Katara making the hat for Jet which Aang ends up wearing, because Aang is the “good guy” who really does care about Katara, you see? Thanks show, I hate it. To be fair, I blame the writers for this, not Aang. Aang is just having fun hanging out in a treehouse and gets to wear a cool homemade hat. It’s the writers who put this weird misogynistic pressure on Katara.

It’s funny though when people compare Zuko to Jet in order to prove Zutara wrong, because when you compare the two, Zuko is the one who ends up looking better, the one who works hard to repair his damaged relationship with Katara, who genuinely did change. The one whose life she could save after he had done the work to save himself.

[fallout4holmes]

Nuka-World 8

In the morning, a pair of animal-headed watchdogs near the lift prompted a change of plans. Seemed like the Pack were getting anxious to see which park would be theirs, so instead of the bottling plant as planned, Holmes, Gage, and I headed for Safari Adventure.

Back in the day, Safari Adventure was advertised to have over a hundred different animal species on display, with nature-themed activities like a hedge maze and a gigantic treehouse for kids. The hedge maze and treehouse were still standing, but I didn't hold out much hope for the wildlife. I had second thoughts when I saw a man in a more realistic Grognak the Barbarian costume fighting what looked like a man-sized green deathclaw.

I say more realistic, but what I mean is his bracers and boots looked like they could withstand a chomp, and the breechcloth was made of real brown furry hide instead of colorful. He was still shirtless, pantsless, and fighting a humanoid lizard with a sledgehammer. Holmes and I didn’t waste time getting involved. Gage was definitely happier to have something to shoot than helping a person, but it worked out in the end. The reptile was dead, the man was alive and only slightly injured, and… well, quite the character.

“You kill monster!” He demanded, “You friend?”

Holmes, Gage, and I all looked at each other with a similar expression. Holmes nodded and said, “I hope so.”

The fella smiled, “Good. Cito happy to have strong friends. You kill monster, monster hurt Cito and Cito family.”

“Why are you talking like that?” Gage asked, exasperated.

Cito shrugged sadly, “Cito family not talk. Cito not talk to other man in long time.” He looked at me, “Not see man like you ever.”

“I’m friendly, don’t worry,” I said.

“Cito not worried, just not see Metal Man before. New thing.”

“That’s a refreshing reaction,” I muttered with a small smile.

Holmes tried to move us along, “Well, you don’t have to worry about the monster anymore, Cito.”

Cito strongly disagreed. “No! Many more monster. No stop. Cito kill monster. New monster come. Cito kill monster again. New monster come again.”

“We get it, they keep coming,” Gage grumbled.

“Monsters not stop,” Cito persisted. “Help Cito stop monsters?”

“I knew this would be a pain in the ass,” Gage grumbled.

Cito was confused. “Not doctor, but maybe find medicine for—”

“He’s not serious,” Holmes interrupted. “Of course we’ll help.”

Cito was delighted. “New friends follow Cito!”

It was no surprise when Cito led us to the primate house, but we were still a little shocked to see him calming his alarmed, uh, family with gorilla sounds. “No worry, they not hurt you,” he assured us. “You friend Cito mean you friend family.”

“Are you kidding me?” Gage started, but I talked over him.

“How’d you end up being raised by gorillas, Cito?”

“First family killed when Cito very small,” Cito said sadly. “First family look like Cito. Cito not die, just walk and walk. Find zoo place. Find new family.” He gestured to the gorillas, “New family give Cito food, water, keep Cito safe. Now Cito big and strong, help family fight monsters. New friends help Cito.”

“We’re going to try,” Holmes said. “Do you know where the monsters are coming from?”

Cito nodded, and told us a story about a "wrinkly man" (what we recognized as a ghoul) who stumbled into the primate house one day, wounded. The ghoul claimed to have created the monsters, and apologized. He gave Cito a holotape before he died, promising it would stop the monsters. Cito of course had no way to access the data, but held onto it after he buried the ghoul.

He handed the tape to Holmes, "Now give shiny thing new friend. Help Cito."

"It’s a start," Holmes muttered, and played the tape on his Pip-Boy.

"This is Dr. Darren McDermot, last known survivor-*cough*- at the Safari Adventure Replication Facility. This is my final recording. I've done something horrible... the thing I created... the thing I called the Gatorclaw-*cough*-... they must be destroyed. They can't be tamed, they can't be controlled-*cough*- their sheer ferocity is like nothing I've ever seen. And now the Nuka-Gen Rep-*cough*- Replicator is out of control. It's producing them at an alarming rate. Please, somebody. Anybody! Find my passcode, or Dr. Hein's. Shut down the Replicator before it's-*cough*- before it's too late. And if this recording should reach Dr. Hein. Please tell him… to forgive me."

Holmes made a considering sound, "It seems the gatorclaws, or monsters, are coming from an animal cloning facility somewhere beneath Safari Adventure."

Cito was hopeful, "Shiny thing help new friend?"

Holmes nodded, "Yes, it was very helpful. We just need to find the cloning facility."

"Cito have idea!" Our host was excited, almost bouncing on the balls of his feet, "Cito see Wrinkly Man come from Big Triangle House long time ago. Go to Big Triangle House. Find," he concentrated on the new words, "clo-ning fa-cil-ity. Stop Monsters. Cito come with new friend. Cito help!"

Gage snorted, "If you don't mind being gator bait, sure, tag along."

Cito suddenly focused on Gage with a smile more in line with a tiger than an ape. "Cito not bait. Cito hook."

Holmes laughed. Gage scowled for a moment, but huffed and decided to go back to ignoring everyone. That was just fine with me.

The "big triangle house" turned out to be the park's Welcome Center. There was a locked door of the sort that neither Holmes nor I could pick; we needed the passcode Dr. McDermot mentioned in his tape. I checked the employee terminal, hoping for a hint. What I found was a two-hundred year old ransom note for a kidnapped scientist by some save-the-animals organization. Bad timing on their part, what with nuclear armageddon happening the same day.

"A Dr. Hein was being held at something called an Angry Anaconda?" I reported with a questioning look at Cito.

And sure enough, he had the answer. I figured he would. "Oh! Maybe doctor under giant metal snake!"

"Giant metal snake," Gage sighed, "Of course."

Cito was amused, "New friend funny. How not see giant metal snake? It big... what word? Ride? Ride like big snake. Cito see from everywhere. Very big. Very snakey." He illustrated this with a wavy hand movement.

“Oh yeah, because what this place needed was another friggin' roller coaster,” Gage grumbled.

"It up hill behind zoo,” Cito was unfazed. “Maybe Doctor Man there?"

"Excellent, Cito," Holmes said. "Let's head there immediately."

"How did you know an anaconda was a kind of snake, Cito?" I asked.

"Cito try learn words from zoo. Lots of words in zoo. Words and pictures. Cito see an-a-con-da in house with snakes."

"Snake house, huh?" Gage commented, "Now that's a place I could've gotten into back in the day."

"They'd never let you leave," I joked. "Mistake you for part of the exhibit."

We found the remains of Dr. Hein at the roller coaster construction site, along with his passcode. We were getting pretty good at taking down gatorclaws by then, and all of us were ready to never have to fight another one again.

We carefully made our way inside the cloning facility, moving through a research hall with holding spaces for animals, workstations, and cold storage.

"Cito no like this place," he said in a nervous whisper.

I nodded, "You and me both, friend."

The sound of something moving through water further in brought us to a stop.

"Can gatorclaws swim?" I whispered.

Cito nodded.

"Great," I sighed.

"Where'd the water come from?" Gage wondered.

"The park's river," Holmes said. "Let's see what's ahead."

Fortunately, the flooding of the Nuka-Gen replicator control room wasn't as bad as I was imagining. Unfortunately, one of the two gatorclaws wading through it was significantly bigger and paler than the other one. Maybe sensing our goal was in sight, Cito charged the albino gatorclaw with a wild yell. Not to be outdone, Gage opened fire on the other one, while Holmes and I tried to keep either of them from getting killed.

Ok, I’ll admit Holmes helped Gage. I focused entirely on Cito. Either way, the gators went down and Holmes wasted no time getting to the replicator controls. A few commands entered, and the replicator was shut down.

“There,” Holmes said as he turned to Cito, “that should do it.”

Cito was cautiously hopeful, “No more Monsters?”

Holmes nodded, “They won’t be coming back, at least. Your family's safe, Cito, once we eliminate the ones still roaming the park.”

I got the impression Cito barely held himself back from hugging my partner, “Cito so happy! How Cito thank new friend?”

“You just did,” Holmes chuckled. “Let’s get out of this place, hm?”

We made our way out; I kept my eye on Gage. Now that the gatorclaws weren’t going to make a comeback, the park was fit for some new residents to move in… and Gage was going to make sure the flag was raised, whether Cito’s family wanted new neighbors or not.

“Once your family is safe,” Holmes asked Cito as we hunted down the remaining gatorclaws in the park, “will you stay here? There’s a lot more of the world to see.”

Cito thought about it, “Zoo Cito home since small. Zoo family home since forever. Cito want to stay. Only place safe for Cito family and Cito.”

Holmes sighed, "Of course. Cito, there are some people who will be coming to live here. I think you could get along with them, though they're… different."

"Cito trust you. Cito like more new friends!"

Once the park was gatorclaw-free, Holmes hoisted the Pack's flag on top of the Welcome Center. We said one last goodbye to Cito and headed back to Nuka-Town.

"You think that was wise, Holmes?" I asked.

Holmes was adamant, "I’m not kicking him out of his home."

"Pack gets a new toy," Gage shrugged. "That’ll sweeten Mason up."

"I’m going to talk to Mason immediately," Holmes glared, "before his people move in."

"Talk?" Gage rolled his eyes, "Good luck with that."

Holmes ignored him. We followed Holmes back to the Pack's amphitheater and watched him stride through like he owned the place. Which I guess he did, in a manner of speaking.

Mason stood from his throne as he saw him coming, "Just heard Safari Adventure has our flag! About time you got around to us."

"I thought you'd appreciate the selection," Holmes said. "There is one caveat; You will not harm, trap, or otherwise harass any of the gorillas living there, or the human living with them."

"What?" Mason growled.

Holmes was firm, "This is not a request, Mason. Cito and his family are not to be harmed. They leave you alone, you leave them alone."

"Or what?"

Holmes stepped up to the throne's platform, displaying their height difference and literally looking down on the Pack leader. "Or I will annihilate your authority as Alpha."

Mason bared his teeth, fists clenched… then he scoffed. "Hmf. Overboss has a backbone after all…" he trailed off and looked at Holmes with honest confusion, "Did you say this guy's family are gorillas?"

Holmes smirked and took a couple steps back, "I did."

"Huh. Alright, fine," Mason shooed us away with a wave of his hand, "I'll make sure everyone knows if they touch 'em, they're mole rat chow."

"Good," Holmes nodded, turned on his heel and left.

[twdmusicboxmystery]

TWB: 1x02 - The Blaze of Gory

As with last week, I'm simply going to skim through some of the symbols I saw in 1x02 of The World Beyond this week. None of them were huge, smoking guns or anything. But there still worth mentioning.

This is the episode we get a clear shot of the diagram behind Felix that clearly shows where the kill shot is for walkers. This is a huge deal, guys. Basically, we have tptb, in a roundabout way, confirming that Beth’s injury was not fatal. As you can see from the diagram, this is where the bullet would need to go to be fatal. Beth’s was MUCH higher up on her forehead than that. 

So, as TD has been saying for years, her injury was very survivable.

The girls mentioned piano lessons when they venture out. Can't help but think of Beth playing the piano.

Hope and Nicholas talk about how long they think it will be before the human race comes to an end. He says 15 years. I couldn't help but think of Gimple always talking about the 15-season arc.

Hope leaves a can of sliced peaches in the road. Obviously, the peaches reference caught my attention because of Still. Remember, peaches = weakness in TWD universe. (For a more detailed explanation, see THIS POST.)

Then we have the walker with the bees in it. I talked about this several weeks ago, when I saw the promo picture of this. We believe it hearkens back to the conversation Maggie had with Eugene and 5x05. She was talking to him about Samson from the Bible and the riddle Samson comes up with about the bees nesting in the carcass of the lion. The idea is that something alive came from something dead. It’s a show-wide theme, but being able to tie this back to 5x05 also ties it back to Beth’s storyline.

The characters spend the night in treehouse, which could be part of @frangipanilove​’s tree trunk theory.

The biggest thing here was with the school buses and the wheels. Those are symbols we've seen quite often in the main series, and there was obviously huge theme here. The wheels are on fire and our characters were sneaking in and around dozens upon dozens of school buses.

At one point, Nicholas uses the phrase, "start to finish." Remember that was the name of episode 6×08, where we saw Sam drawing pictures of things that happened during those missing 17 days/missing S5 scenes Emily filmed.

Huck had an, "I get it," line. And once they made it through the first part of the Blaze of Gory, one of the kids said, "we did it. We made it." So, little bit of Beth dialogue.

Still seeing a lot of parallels between Felix and Daryl. I'm not saying it's necessarily a TD thing. Just an observation I'm making.

Another time I was reminded of 5x05 was when the characters came through the first level with the school buses and saw the rest of the Blaze of Gory (tires on fire and such) and they all stopped because it was too big an obstacle and began discussing going back or going around.

It just had the same vibe as in 5x05 when the firetruck broke down and they saw that the next several miles were full of hundreds of walkers. So they all started talking about going around or going back. (That’s when the fight broke out that led to Eugene confessing that he’d lied.)

It felt similar because they were trying to cross through a certain passage and were stopped by something massive in their way that they don't see any way through.

Also notice that, because of the fire, there are lots of ashes in the air, falling into the characters hair and everything. Just reminded me of Daryl’s, “we ain’t ashes,” line. Which, incidentally, also ties directly to when he and Carol were searching for Beth. Just saying.

That was it for this episode. Like I said, plenty of symbols we've seen before, and definitely worth mentioning, but nothing groundbreaking. Anyone see anything I didn't?

[scenecipriano]

Such Horrible Things(3)

Chapter Three: When They Were Eight…

Summary: Roman and Remus Hartfield are identical twins, with Roman being only two minutes and fifty-two seconds older than Remus. The two are polar opposites, Roman the loud and boisterous twin who loved Disney and various musicals, and Remus the twin who preferred to keep to himself until he grew close to you and showed his true chaotic nature. But is Remus really the chaotic one? Or is it the brother that people least expect…

Warnings: Unsympathetic Roman, Blood, Violence, Emotional Manipulation, Gaslighting, Mildly Unsympathetic Logan and Patton, Implied/Reference to Character Death (In later chapters)

TW For this chapter: Fire

AU Type: Human

Ships: Logicality, (Toxic) Roceit (In later chapters), and Dukexiety (In later chapters)

—————–

Remus loved their new treehouse, their dad helped them almost all summer long with building it and now it was finally finished! It only needed to be painted and then it would be perfect. The treehouse looked similar to their actual house, a slanted roof with black shingles, two by four's were nailed into the tree so they could have a way to climb up, their dad even put in a rope ladder that led to a secret hatch! The windows had plexy glass instead of real glass, their papa said they couldn't have real glass because it was dangerous. Plain white shutters stood on either side of the windows, ready for when Remus and Roman would want to pain them along with the exterior of the treehouse. They also had a bit of electricity in their treehouse! Their dad put in a light with a Disney themed light switch and even a mini-fridge so they could have snacks!

   "Alright, kiddos! We're going to play heads or tails on what color the treehouse is going to be, whoever loses their color goes on the shutters, are you guys ready?"

   "Yeah!!" The twins exclaim together.

   They both watch as their papa flips a quarter into the air, Roman calling heads while Remus screams tails. When their papa catches it he waits, giving off a dramatic pause before lifting his right hand away in a dramatic flourish.

   "Tails! Rem-Ram wins! What color do you want the treehouse to be, kiddo?"

    "Green!"

     "NO!" Roman screams.

     Remus flinches at his brother's high pitched screech, Roman's face was red with anger as he angrily stomps his foot. Patton frowns as he crosses his arms over his chest, waiting for Roman to finish with his huffing and puffing.

    "Roman Winston Hartfield, I am surprised at you! We do not throw temper tantrums! Now apologize or I'll let Remus paint the exterior and the shutters while you're in time-out."

    Remus waits with bated breath, thinking that his brother was going to snap back at their papa, but the angry retort never came. Roman deflates, his shoulders sagging as he lowers his head, resting his chin against his chest as he pouts.

    "I'm sorry, papa... I'll be good, promise."

    "Good boy, now, Remus? What color do you want the treehouse to be? We've red, green, purple, and blue!"

    Remus could feel his brother's eyes on him, he already knew what Roman wanted. He wanted to paint the treehouse red with blue shutters, but Remus wasn't a big fan of red, he thought it was too bright and he knew that the green paint his parents had bought was forest green. The deep shade of green would look amazing with Roman's red, but he knew that his brother wouldn't like that his favorite color was the one that everyone who saw their treehouse would notice. 'Who cares if Roman gets mad? I won fair and square!'

    "Green, I want to paint the treehouse green papa!"

    One glance at his brother sent a chill down Remus' spine, he knew what that look meant, it was the same look Roman had when he stabbed the postman and hurt Thomas, there was going to be trouble, and he was going to make sure of it.

   Painting the treehouse took a long time, but the hard work was worth it when their dad came out with his famous homemade lemonade. Remus sips his drink happily as he stares up at the treehouse, the deep green stood out amongst the tree, the black shingles popped out with the color and the red shutters thanks to Roman, helped tie all of the colors together. Their papa had joked that it looked like a watermelon, "It's a watermelhome!" Remus and Roman had laughed at their papa's silly joke while their dad groaned, but he still had a fond smile.

   Remus for once felt at ease, but that all washed away when he heard Roman whispering under his breath.

   "Ashes ashes we all fall down."

   Remus sits up in his bed, startled awake when the fire in his dream nearly touched his skin. He looks over to his Green Lantern alarm clock, it read three fifteen in the morning. He glances over to his window when a gleam of orange catches his eye, he chokes on air when he sees that their treehouse and the tree it was connected to was on fire. He closes his eyes tight and opens them again, it was still burning this wasn't a nightmare this time.

   "Daddy!! Papa!!" He screams.

    He couldn't tear his eyes away from the blaze, all of their hard work gone up into flames, literally. His parents rush in, flicking on his lights as they do. He hears his papa gasp when he sees the flames dancing around the treehouse outside. He feels someone hugs him and hears someone else rush downstairs.

    "Remus... Where did you get matches!?"

    He shakes his head and looks down, there was a matchbook laying next to him,  several matches missing from the pack. His throat goes dry when he remembers what Roman had said earlier that day.

    "P-Papa, it wasn't me!! I-I didn't do it, I promise!!" Remus cries.

    "Oh, then I suppose Roman did it then? He's been in bed this whole time, Remus! We'll deal with you in the morning, now go back to bed right now."

    Remus flinches when his papa turns the light out and leaves him alone with a slam of the door, tears gather in Remus' eyes as he presses his hands against his face, trying his best to muffle the sobbing. Twenty minutes pass and flashing red lights get Remus' attention, he climbs out of his bed and moves to his window, he watches as firemen put the flaming treehouse and oak out with their large water hose.

    "Pretty, ain't it? Fire has two of my favorite colors in it... Orange and red."

     Remus quickly turns around and sees Roman standing in his room, the door closed behind him. His brother's green eyes holding no emotion in them whatsoever. He takes a deep shuddering breath as a fresh wave of tears began to slip down his cheeks.

     "W-Why?..."

     "Because I hate the color green."

------------

~TAGLIST~: @sparrow-flightninggale

A/N: Roman is fucking insane-

[incometreehouse]

Income Treehouse | 5 YouTube tips for beginners to help grow your channel. 

When it comes to creating and growing your YouTube channel, there is one crucial thing you need to remember. You have to start somewhere.

Five Youtube Tips for Beginners

Number 1

Find Similar Channels and Comment.

Chances are incredibly slim that someone will just happen to stumble on your newly created YouTube channel.

If you want to get your name out and gain interest in your channel, then you have to do some leg work.

Search through YouTube and find channels that are similar to yours.

Take some time to watch their videos and provide thoughtful comments on their channels.

This will cause other viewers and subscribers to click on your username to find out more about you.

This can work with Facebook groups as well.

Find similar groups and provide meaningful comments.

Make sure to brand your profile and provide a link.

When someone hovers over your name by your comment, your profile info appears.

Makes sense?

TWO!

Post Some Videos.

Making good videos takes practice and you�ll only get better if you keep at it.

If you tell yourself �this video is not good enough�, or �it still needs more editing�, or �it doesn�t look like what I envisioned�, then you�ll never publish anything!

If you want to create a channel, you need to have a goal.

That may be publishing 1 video a month or publishing 2 videos a week.

Set a goal that you know you�ll be able to accomplish, and do your best to stick to it.

You may not always feel 100% satisfied with the result, but it�s important that you get your video out there and get started on the next project.

THREE!

Utilize the Description Box.

The first two lines of your video description will appear in the search results for your video.

This makes it extremely important to make sure that you are utilizing the description box and including relevant keywords and data about your video.

The first line of the description needs to be about your video because this is how YouTube decides if your video is relevant to the searched terms.

In addition, make sure to include a link to your website in the first couple of lines so that viewers can check out your business further.

After all, isn't that the whole point?

FOUR!

Develop a Thumbnail Theme

Avoid merely picking one of the three thumbnails that YouTube provides.

Most of the time they are incredibly blurry and incredibly unflattering.

Your thumbnails are where you can get a little creative with your YouTube channel.

So take some time to really think about how to make your thumbnail pictures stand out.

And finally...

The one crucial thing that you need to remember is not to waste your time trying to get someone to watch your videos which never watches YouTube or is not interested in your subject matter.

Instead, you need to focus your time and energy on those viewers who are already on YouTube and are looking for what you have to say.

In other words, Demographics!

A little research will go a long way in understanding who your audience is.  

If you found this information helpful, please give us a thumbs up and subscribe to our channel for future videos.

And remember, if you want to grow your YouTube channel you have to put in the time and effort.

These beginner tips can help you get your YouTube channel up and running and ahead of the competition.

MORE VIDEOS FROM Income TreeHouse

YouTube Channel Growth Hacks You Should Know

YouTube Channel Ideas You Must Have To Be Successful

[thedisneydoc]

Best Coast: Adventureland

I recently became a fan of the Lost Bros Co’s Oh Boy! The Podcast. I’ve been learning a lot of great things about Walt Disney World (WDW) that I have never heard before, and I am loving the recommendations, tips, and bits of knowledge and nostalgia that they share. Since Disneyland (DL) is my “home park,” it’s always fascinating to learn more about how the other park lives. The Lost Bros also play some pretty entertaining “games” on their show that incorporate their opinions and creative ideas. In one of their first episodes, they play something like West Coast vs. East Coast, aka DL vs. WDW, where they compared the same attractions and rides from each park. To them, DL took the cake on the majority of rides, even though the Lost Bros themselves are WDW locals. After my 2 trips to WDW in 2018, I’ve been comparing the parks myself as well. So as a DL native, “let’s get down to business” and find out what the West Coast thinks as well.

I’m going to go land by land and space each post out, because if this were just one whole post, you’d be reading a full book at that point.

Adventureland (TL;DR Disneyland wins!)

Adventureland is my favorite (follow up post on “Lands That I Love” to follow). When you first walk into the park and go up Main Street USA, you first hit “the Hub” (with or without grass to sit on, depending on your park) where the road spikes off into different directions and your journey begins depending on which land you run to first. Well, I always veer to the left and begin my day at Adventureland, so I’m going to start here first. 

WDW: The biggest advantage WDW has is space. There’s TONS of it in Florida, unlike in tiny Anaheim, CA. So it’s great that they have more to work with over there. One of the things I do love about WDW’s version is that they have a whole Pirates of the Caribbean dedicated section (Caribbean Plaza) with this AMAZING scavenger hunt quest game that I will cover in a later post. And they have a whole restaurant devoted to the Jungle Cruise and its dad joke puns, which is one of my favorite things ever. That being said, I still think DL is the winner here.

DL: While smaller, it has much more of a jungle adventure vibe with towering, lush tropical plants and trees than WDW, which is much more open and goes with the desert Bazaar feeling instead. I definitely get the feeling that I’m isolated in a mysterious jungle somewhere, and I’m just a sucker for that old-timey, vintage adventurer and tiki aesthetic. That feeling is just missing for me somehow at WDW. Plus we now have one of the best snack spots ever, The Tropical Hideaway! It’s no Jungle Navigation Co. Skipper Canteen, but I can’t complain. Dole Whip is my favorite Disney snack and I’ll admit that I stan that exclusive chile-mango whip real hard. We also have the major advantage of being home to The Indiana Jones Adventure, which I won’t compare with WDW since it doesn’t really have an equivalent ride. But in my opinion, just having Indy alone puts the DL Adventureland wayyyyy in the lead. Now in terms of comparing similar rides and attractions...

The Enchanted Tiki Room: While I have to agree with the Lost Bros Co and say that the inside show is pretty much the same, I have to say that the DL version still surpasses the WDW version because of its pre-show and its new Dole Whip snack service at Tropical Hideaway. At DL the preshow allows you to eat a Dole Whip and sit down while you watch each of the enchanted Polynesian god totems come to life. The totems each share their name and a little backstory about their part in the Polynesian mythology while giving a specific animatronic performance. The fun part, especially for kids, is the scavenger hunt feeling you get when you follow the totems around the preshow area and try to find out which totem is speaking and from where. Plus the detail inside Tropical Hideaway, from magic lamps and carpets to the infamous missing Rosita telling corny Jungle Cruise-worthy jokes, is top notch. In contrast, the WDW world version has you standing in a little amphitheater setting to watch two animatronic birds share their personal story of the Jungle Cruise with you, which is a little more meh for me. And there’s hardly any space for you to sit and enjoy your Dole Whip. 

The Jungle Cruise: This one is a little tough. This is one of my favorite rides ever, not only because it serves me tons of that vintage exploration aesthetic vibe I love, but also because I an unashamedly obsessed with the dad joke script. I’ve ridden this thing so many times, I can recite any version of the script and be your Skipper myself. In fact, if I worked at Disney, one of my dream roles is to be a Jungle Cruise Skipper. I love love love the DL version and its classic scenes, like the ambush from the natives and the piranhas. Plus I’m used to seeing our version of Trader Sam and was shocked to see a completely different guy at the WDW one. According to the Imagineering backstory, they actually ARE 2 different Sam’s! They happen to be cousins who each opened up their own trading business on opposite coasts. There’s also almost never a wait at the DL one, averaging at about 10-15 min whenever I walk by (30-40 min is maybe the most I’ve ever seen). The queue is a little cramped and small, but I love waiting in the 2-story building and looking at all the Jungle Cruise memorabilia on the walls and the cute rooms/scenes set up inside it (reminiscent of Swiss Family Robinson Tree House back when it used to be at DL). It also has a bomb Jungle Cruise logo sign on the front. In contrast, the WDW queue is a more open and airy, allowing those huge, life-saving fans on the ceiling to do their work. There is some interactive element in the line, but less so than many of the other, more entertaining queues at Magic Kingdom (MK). I remember something about a hissing tarantula in a cage near the end of the line, but it was broken when I visited. I also loved the witty menu and accident signs on the dock right before you board your boat. But the wait time always seems outrageously longer than it should be for this ride, and somehow FastPasses distribute quicker than I would have expected. On the ride, I also really liked the temple tunnel at WDW that we don’t have at DL. For those who have never been on it, there’s a decent stretch of river that goes inside the ruins of a temple through an enclosed tunnel. It allowed for some cool effects and scenes in the dark, but cuts off the flow of the Skipper’s script. The Skipper literally has to stop talking because the microphone would echo too much. In addition to the ride, they have claim to a very fun and punny restaurant overflowing with Imagineering secrets and Jungle Cruise memorabilia. Not only is the atmosphere and theming on point, but the menu is DELICIOUS at the Skipper Canteen. Finally, they regularly get a Christmas overhaul for the Jingle Cruise, which is fantastic. I’ve never been to the WDW Jingle Cruise, but they did it only once (maybe twice) at DL that I can remember, and I loved the Christmas decorations both inside and outside the ride. The Christmas puns were also a nice change. But overall, in terms of the ride, I have to give it to DL’s Jungle Cruise for the overall immersive experience and aesthetic, but I might just be biased because that’s the one I grew up with. I also think there’s a richer opportunity for jokes at the DL one.

Treehouse: Ok, when I was a kid, DL is the one who used to have the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse and it was one of my favorite things to explore. I was obsessed with playing house and going adventures as a kid, so I loved seeing how someone could build a home in a tropical tree. Then it became the Tarzan treehouse walkthrough. The theming is very cool and the storytelling is great, but as a child afraid of loud noises and jump scares, that stupid jaguar, Sabor, and his snarl scared the shit out of me and has traumatized me good. I still don’t like him and have to scoot quickly around him with my fingers stuffed in my ears. But otherwise, the treehouse is a good little cardio climb. So, again,  I am a little biased because of a nostalgia factor, and WDW wins since they now have the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse. But objectively, I can see how that’s really boring to many people without a history like mine, so I will give DL the point for taking advantage of the already existing treehouse structure and turning it into a self-paced story walkthrough based on one of their popular films (kind of like Sleeping Beauty’s Castle).

While Pirates of the Caribbean lives at Adventureland in WDW, I’m going to leave off comparing that one for when I discuss “America Lands” next time.

So that’s part 1 of many many comparisons to come. Again, take my opinions with a grain of salt since I grew up at DL, but you’ll see that there’s a lot at WDW that I love more than DL too. See ya, pal! 

PC: the.disney.doc

[hauntaroid]

i know i said i was gonna write, but i guess i technically am with this!! i wanna take the time, now that the game is over, to go over some of ash’s more “questionable” decisions, specifically the ones that revolve around the trial and,,, well, let’s put the rest under a read more, shall we? ( aka this is a spoiler warning to those that haven’t seen chapter five yet!! )

the decision to, i guess offer herself up as a sacrifice in chapter five. or, to put it more bluntly, kill herself in an attempt to make sure everything goes to plan. this was something i meant to talk about on my previous blog, only mentioning the trial decisions, but now i can begin to see some sort of theme between the last decision in chapter four and her more drastic one in chapter five.

we all know that, when she is thinking, ash is quite the smart girl! of course, some of her decisions are more impulsive, specifically the time she decided it’d be a great idea to check down a garbage chute ( but her falling down it was entirely by lack of balance! so not her direct fault- ). however, a lot of people didn’t seem to like her during the trial’s chapter in particular. this is where i’m gonna bring up one of my own headcanons for ashley’s decision making when she is older.

she takes what she knows, and makes a decision based off of that.

some people like to talk about the fact that she chose to call the police on what was happening at the apartments, and yes, it is cruel from a feeling-perspective on it, especially since sal had been opposed to doing so! but logically, it makes sense for her to make this decision. up until this point, all ash really knew about was that there was a temple underneath the apartments used for cult stuff and that there was bologna made of flesh. yes, larry and sal do have a brief discussion about the red-eyed demon during that point, but they never exactly tell ash what it is. in fact, ash was left out on quite a few stuff due to her not believing in the same things as the group.

the first incident that i believe began to change her prior decision to not call the police was when she actually went to the apartments to check on sal after larry’s suicide. she even mentions that he wasn’t acting like himself, and talking to himself about the cult and impending evil. the next incident is her going up into the treehouse and seeing nothing that could imply a death. the third? the argument. ash even makes it a point to mention that they had never argued prior to that, and that would heavily imply something’s wrong to anyone else in her position. she even said she walked away because she “couldn’t be around him like that”.

and then, there was the second phone call she had received that day from todd, the final nail in the coffin. ash has no reason to believe that todd would be making things up ( from what very little she could hear ), he’s one of the smartest in the group and someone else she gets along with. so when she realises that both him and sal are most likely in trouble, and are aware both of them are at the apartments, she makes the decision to call the police.

keep in mind, she had no idea what had happened, just the fact that sal wasn’t acting like himself and something so bad had happened that it got todd crying.

then she gets to the apartments for the second time and sees sal in a much worse condition than what she had left him in. we all know what happened at this point, so we’ll skip over this quickly to move onto the trial!

a lot of people also seemed to be confused as to why ash would be testifying against sal in the trial, but as she was the one who called the police, it would make sense that she’d be testifying against him. it wouldn’t make much sense to a jury if the one who called the police to the scene was purposefully trying to defend the accused! it also may have something to do with the cult’s influence, if it’s not the first of the two options. at this point, ash has obviously gotten to know what has happened, and is well aware of the severity of the crime. so, during her final statement, she makes it a point to say “he just needs help”. this is her attempt to try and loosen up what would be a instant death sentence to him. and sentences are loosened if insanity can be proven! however, either way i don’t think it’d have ended well for sal, as the cult could just make sure he stays in a mental institute for a long time or just give him so many medications that he becomes brain-dead or something similar,,, but anyway!!

obviously, that doesn’t work, because cult. ash tries to protest AGAIN but that isn’t enough. please keep the phrase “not enough” in your mind, it’ll come back later.

another thing people seemed upset about; what ash did in the three years leading up to sal’s execution. most seemed to have the idea that she should break him out of wherever he’s being held, but that doesn’t make much sense! first of all, both the guards within the building and the cult would make sure that sal’s confinement is well-protected. second, why on earth would she stoop to illegal actions?? she might as well just being killing them both, because trying to break him out would get her jail-time or even shot if they weren’t feeling merciful! instead, she takes the logical approach and tries everything she can LEGALLY. another point made was the fact she didn’t act on being told about larry’s death and investigating it. i think that’s because she couldn’t prove that his death was linked to the case, and wouldn’t be classed as evidence.

what can be linked, however, is the existence of ghosts. it would definitely need to have a trial recall to consider the new evidence, as well as gather / destroy evidence for the lawyers involved. this is most likely one reason that led ash to go back to the treehouse to see if there was something there to help. which there is, in the form of a dead friend!

once again, we know what happens. ash takes his photo, drives over to where the execution is happening, bangs on the door with the photo up against it to try and get the executioner’s attention,,,

but it’s not enough. the execution goes on away. this is something i want to emphasise. specifically, this phrase; she was right there, she had done everything she could up to that point, and it still wasn’t enough. remember this, because now it’s time to move onto chapter five’s decision!!

basically, ash tries to do a ritual written up in notes to revive sal in some form to help out with the cult situation, which has gotten a lot worse. everything is going fine, she follows the notes and it seems like it’s going to work!! but then there’s a problem. the final step is incomplete. the FINAL step to FINISHING the ritual is INCOMPLETE. the one thing she could go off of, due to todd not being around to help, and she can’t continue logically. she’s done everything she can up to that point, sal is RIGHT THERE, but it isn’t enough without the final step.

so ash does what is considered REAL questionable to some and decides to cut her arm open to be some form of sacrifice. good thing this actually works, because if it didn’t, then that would be real traumatising!! but some were wondering why she didn’t just make a small cut instead of that large one she did.

and i have a simple answer; desperation. this occurred in her chapter four decision as well. it was the final day she had to try and do something, and she resorts to something that she considered crazy to try and help out. in chapter five, it’s the same sort of concept. this was the only chance she’d have to see the plan through, and she resorts to something most would consider crazy to see it through.

i also need to mention, as of chapter five, ash refers to her past decisions as her “big list of failures”. she has lost confidence in her decision-making, and needs reassurance that what she’s doing is right. this came through the form of the notes, but when she couldn’t use them anymore, she kind of went back to her impulsive decision-making and chose the most drastic and ritual-like thing she could think of,,, which could also fit into some category of logic??

basically, tl;dr; ash’s decisions are mostly based off of what she already knows / what she thinks will work out the best. her decisions only get impulsive when she’s running out of time. thank you for coming to my ted talk.

[toomanysurveys9]

Were you happy or sad when you found out your babysitter was coming? i didn’t really have a “babysitter”. if both of my parents left, we hung out with my grandparents, and they lived with us... Did you have a boyfriend in kindergarten? i did not. i barely even had friends. Did you ever play hopscotch at school? yeah. Did you refuse to eat your vegetables? i don’t think so. What did you usually dress up as on Halloween? i don’t know. it changed every single year. i tended to prefer things opposite of princesses though.

What was your favorite television show? when i was younger, i loved rugrats, johnny bravo, and dexter’s lab. Did you have D.E.A.R. time in school? (Drop Everything and Read) not that i recall. but it’s possible that we did. i think we had something similar, but i don’t know if it was called d.e.a.r. Did you ever read the ‘Magic Treehouse’ series? i loved those books. How about the ‘Bailey School Kids’ series? i do not know what those ones are. Do you remember the first movie you ever saw in theaters? i do not. we didn’t really go to the movies much when i was growing up. Who was your best friend in elementary school? ariel, leslie, juliet... at different grade levels. but those were the main ones. Did they continue to be your best friend in middle school? ariel and leslie yes. juliet moved back to mexico before the end of elementary school. Did you ever watch 'The Land Before Time’ movies? the first one. loved it. Did you ever watch the show 'Arthur’? yeah. i thought it was great. Did the tooth fairy give you a lot of money? a dollar per tooth. How often did you visit your nearest grandparents? my nearest grandparents lived with us so every single day. Did you ever play with 'Little People’ toys? i don’t know for sure but it’s possible. at least from time to time. How about Polly Pockets? yes although i didn’t own them myself unfortunately. Did you collect anything when you were a kid? books. cds. barbies maybe. lol. Did you get an allowance? i did not. i occasionally got money if i wanted to do something or get something, but usually it was all about saving money from birthday and christmas time. i was able to get a job when i turned like 16-17. What was your favorite sport to play? What is it now? i didn’t really like sports. and i still don’t really like sports. What foods did you not like then that you do like now? mexican food. Were you into American Girl dolls? no.. they were so expensive for no reason. What was your first pet and what did you name it? the first pet that actually belonged to me was my pet hamster, angel. Did you ever read the 'Junie B. Jones’ books? yes. i loved them. What did you want to be when you were a kid? singer for most of my childhood. and briefly i thought about a  crime scene investigator. What was your first word? Your first sentence? (If you remember) my mom has said my first word was “dada” but i have no idea about sentence. Have you moved into a new house since you were a kid? we have moved quite a few times throughout my life. i want to move significantly less while wy and ellie are growing up. Do you live in a new state? it’s not new anymore. i did live in florida the first two months of my life though. Were you friends with your neighbors? not really, no. it wasn’t easy for me to make friends. my siblings all had neighbor friends though. Did you enjoy exploring your backyard? i only really “explored” one backyard. we would look for toads and little tiny frogs. otherwise, we’d play in the backyard often. Did you bake cookies with your grandparents? not that i can think of. but it’s possible. What was your biggest fear when you were a kid? people. Who did you look up to most? my mom probably. and my cousin liz when they were allowed to be around. Did you ever play the 'Reader Rabbit’ computer games? i don’t think so. there were a few computer games i absolutely loved though. Did you have a swing set in your backyard? we did for awhile at a couple houses. we loved it. How about a sandbox? we did at one of our houses, but ticks kept hanging out in it so my parents got rid of it. How old were you when you learned how to ride a bike? like five or so? i don’t know for sure. Did you ever spy on your neighbors through the window? i don’t think so, no. Were you a teacher’s pet in kindergarten? i don’t think so . but maybe. i guess i’ve kind of always been a bit of one. until college at least when i literally talked to no one unless i had to. Did you ever build a treehouse or a fort in your yard? no. i always wanted to make a clubhouse. i’d go through grocery store ads and make lists of the different foods and things i’d have in there. Did you ever find anything interesting in your yard? just toads and frogs. Did you ever have 'themed birthdays’? i guess we did that a lot. Did your parents let you drink soda? occasionally, but not super often. Did you ever watch 'The Powerpuff Girls’ or 'Dexter’s Laboratory’? yeah. i loved them both. Did you sleep with a blanket or stuffed animal? a winnie the pooh blanket i had forever. even through high school . i still have it even but it’s literally falling apart. Did you ever have a night light? i think we did, at least for a little bit. Did you watch 'Winnie the Pooh’? yeah. Did you ever have an imaginary friend? What was their name? i had pebbles from the flintstones as my imaginary friend.. What kinds of games did you play with your friends during Recess? i loved tether ball. the swing sets. and four square. Did you dream of being a princess or did you not really care about that? i don’t think i ever did, but i could be wrong. Did you have a special name for your pacifier? What was it? i don’t know. Did you watch 'Blues Clues’? yeah. lol. What kind of car did your parents have? for most of my childhood, they had a ford minivan. Did you ever flush anything down the toilet by mistake? it’s totally possible. Were you afraid to sleep by yourself? not really until christian sexually assaulted me when i was a child... What was your favorite subject in elementary school? i loved when we went to the library or had reading time. How often did you go to the park? kind of often. What was your favorite kind of cake as a kid? chocolate i guess. Did you ever want to grow up? well, yeah. i thought it was this awesome thing and i’d get to do so much more.

[melonoverlord]

ABCs for the Dwarphen

I’ll answer these for her as she will appear in EoE

A: Aptitude

1. what are your oc’s natural abilities, things they’ve been doing since young?

She’s always been a fairly good runner, and when she first was taken in by Xo, she took her mother’s bow from her home. So she’s been doing that since around four or so.

2. what activities have they participated in?

Professional archery in a sense, helping Xo run their brewery business, and now in her job as a bounty hunter.

3. what abilities do they have that they’ve worked for?

When she was a little kid still travelling with Xo, she had trouble distinguishing which forest berries or plants were safe to eat, and up until her job now she has people watching her telling what to eat and what’s safe. She’s had to learn how to learn recognizes which foods are safe to eat and which ones are poisonous.

4. what things are they bad at?

*Xo voice* Eating any fucking green food. But in all seriousness, she’s bad at keeping track of time. She could think she’s running around town for just three hours until Xo is coming after her in tears because she actually been gone for ten.

5. what is their most impressive talent?

Archery by far. She made a name for herself in her skills years ago, which is how they were able to reunite with Xo.

B: Basics

1. what is their hair color?

Dark brown, very close to black.

2. what is their eye color?

Dark brown.

3. how tall are they?

3′5

4. how old are they?

13

5. how much do they weigh?

130 lbs

C: Comfort

1. how do they sit in a chair?

Criss cross, or with one leg cross over the other.

2. in what position do they sleep?

She’s used to sleeping either straight up and down to conserve space or in fetal position.

3. what is their ideal comfort day?

Dressing in just pajama pants and shorts and falling asleep to the sound of rain while listening to music play. She doesn’t get a ton of those.

4. what is their major comfort food? why?

Chile con Queso. She remembers her birth mom giving it to her when she was a baby and it’s the only thing she has left to connect with her birth family.

5. who is the best at comforting them when down?

Xochitl by far. There’s a lot of thing she has to thank them for, but helping her through her trauma is definitely the biggest. They’ll just hold her and braid her hair and sing to her.

D: Decoration

1. how would they decorate a house if they had one under their name?

First of all, she’d choose to live in a tree house that sprawled across the tree tops, but if she had to live in a normal house, she would still choose one close to nature with lots of house plants and little critters running about.

2. how would they decorate their child’s room?

Listen, Yaretzi is a 13 year old girl. Do you really think she’s not going to want to give her kids the coolest room ever where your room is a treehouse and the floor looks like grass? On top of that she would give all her kids stuffed animals of woodland creatures because she’s that dedicated to theme.

3. how do they decorate their own room?

She just recently got her own room (though she still sleeps in Xo’s bed a lot) but it’s fairly small and has her bed in one corner with a sad attempt at a canopy by Xo, a small shelf that has all of her dolls and book, and small desk that has a little notebook that Xo bought her for her birthday.

4. what type of clothes and accessories do they wear?

At home she wears a similar shirt to Xo (off the shoulder white peasant blouse) and a long flowy skirt, but in the field she wears dark trousers, her blouse, a thick overcoat, and a bandana of some kind to keep her hair out of her face.

5. do they like makeup/nail/beauty trends?

She likes painting her nail, but putting on makeup reminds her of being forced to wear makeup for her slave family. 

E: External Personality

1. does the way they do things portray their internal personality?

Pretty much. She’s usually very honest with her personality, which means that you will know firsthand whether she likes you or not.

2. do they do things that conform to the norm?

She did it as a slave to stay safe and not cause waves, but Yaya has a free spirit that doesn’t really care if people think she’s out there.

3. do they follow trends or do their own thing?

She’s like her mom and simply doesn’t give a fuck what others think and does her own thing. She only follows trends if her life’s in danger.

4. are they up-to-date on the internet fads?

Nah, she’s more likely to run outside and play in literal mud than go on the internet, if it existed.

5. do they portray their personality intentionally or let people figure it outon their own?

Usually what you see is what you get, so the personality she displays is how she really is.

F: Fun

1. what do they do for fun?

Run in the woods barefoot and try to climb the tallest tree. But if she is confined to the city, she actually really loves pulling pranks on her family and friends. It helps when your best friend is a bear.

2. what is their ideal party?

Everyone in their pajamas playing charades or Never Have I Ever/Truth or Dare. She is a fan of party games.

3. who would they have the most fun with?

Xo, her Uncle Tarel, and Auntie Ellie.

4. can they have fun while conforming to rules?

Yeah. Most of what she does for fun is legal and it’s only her job that’s technically illegal. She’s more willing to follow rules than Xo is.

5. do they go out a lot?

Out to party, no, but she definitely leaves the house just to wander around the woods.

G: Gorgeous

1. what is their most attractive external feature?

She has the most beautiful curly hair you’ve ever seen. Both she and Xo like brushing it out.

2. what is the most attractive part of their personality?

She has the cutest, innocent laugh and laughs with her entire body just because she’s so openly, honestly her. If she likes you, she will let you know and love you til the end.

3. what benefits come with being their friend?

She is that little sister you always wanted to have and will strive to protect you as long as she lives.

4. what parts of them do they like and dislike?

There’s not really a part of her she dislikes physically, except maybe be a little taller because no one takes her seriously as a 3′0 dwarf.

5. what parts of others do they envy?

She does wish she was a little older like her family because they allowed to do whatever they want without supervision, and although she loves Xochitl more than life itself, she wishes she could go her own path without worrying about giving Xo a heart attack every time she falls from a tree.

H: Heat

1. do they rather a hot or cold room?

Cold. She likes being a blanket burrito and cuddling next to either her mom or a bear.

2. do they prefer summer or winter?

Summer. It’s when more people are out shopping and usually it’s the season where she gets more offers at her job. And since it’s festival season, Xo usually has to pay more attention to their customers than her.

3. do they like the snow?

She didn’t get to experience it a lot since a lot of her childhood was spent down south, but the few times she did experienced it, she loved it. There was once a particularly bad snowstorm in her current town and she and Xo made snowpeople and had a snowball fight. Of course Xo let her win the snowball fight even though against anyone else they are ruthless.

4. do they have a favorite summer activity?

Running in the forest for hours barefoot or climbing trees. She likes feeling tall.

5. do they have a favorite winter activity?

Drinking spiced hot chocolate.

I: In-the-closet

1. what is their sexuality?

Bisexual

2. have they ever questioned their sexuality?

No, she never really thought about it and just thought she’d get a crush when she was ready.

3. have they ever questioned their gender?

No, she’s always been comfortable in her gender.

4. would/was their family be okay with them being LGBT?

Absolutely. Their mom is a nonbinary pansexual dwarf, and honestly there is little she could do that Xo would be mad at her for.

5. how long would/did it take for them to come out?

She didn’t come out in the traditional sense. She asked Xo about who they liked and when they said they liked all kinds of people, Yaretzi nodded and said that she does to. Xo was very accepting of her daughter and her relationships, on the one stipulations that she doesn’t date a fucking bard. Because her experience with Arzan was enough to scar them for life.

J: Joy

1. what makes them happy?

Being in the woods, archery, and listening to her family’s stories.

2. who makes them happy?

Xochitl, Buttons, and her friends at her last job.

3. are there any songs that bring them joy?

If modern music existed, it would be ‘Whatever it Takes’ by Imagine Dragons, and ‘Renegades’ by X Ambassadors.

4. are they happy often?

Yeah, for the most part. She’s a bit saltier than she should be at that age, but she’s not flat out sad.

5. what brings them the most joy in the world?

Archery and being out in the wilderness.

K: Kill

1. have they ever thought about suicide?

Nope, if she did it would have been right after she was kidnapped, but she was too young to think about death.

2. have they ever thought about homicide?

Only in passing, but the thought always left her mind before she could really think about murder.

3. if they could kill anyone without punishment, would they? who?

The slavers who kidnapped her, (she technically did kill her owner without punishment), and anyone who ever upsets her mom.

4. who would miss them if they died?

It has been proven that Xo would be broken beyond repair, and Yaretzi knows that Xo’s friends would probably be sad too.

5. who would be happy they died, anyone?

Honestly, probably the family that she used to serve as a slave under.

L: Lemons

1. what is their favorite fruit?

Blueberries. Once she got sick by eating too many blueberries.

2. what is their least favorite fruit?

Kiwis. They make her mouth hurt.

3. are there any foods they hate?

Pretty much any and all vegetables, especially mushrooms.

4. do they have any food intolerances?

Tree nuts. Which in her line of work, sucks.

5. what is their favorite food?

Chile Con Queso, and pretty much anything spicy.

M: Maternal

1. would they want a daughter or a son?

She’s too young to think about having children, but she wouldn’t mind raising a kid when she’s much, much older, and wouldn’t mind either gender.

2. how many children do they want?

Depending if she had someone to help, max four.

3. would they be a good parent?

Yeah, she’d try her best to find the medium between strict and laidback, kinda like Xo has done (Xo honestly is a great parent, Yaya just can’t be contained).

4. what would they name a son? what would they name a daughter?

She’d definitely name her sons after the two men who helped her most in her life: Teodulo, her father, or Revan, the man that helped her escape slavery (and possibly Tarel). For daughters, she’d name after her mom, Valentina, her little sister, Pacifica, her current mom Xo, or even her Auntie Ellie.

5. would they adopt?

It’s how she was able to find Xo, so absolutely.

N: Never Have I Ever

1. what would they never do?

Actively betray her mom. There was nothing you could offer her that would make her go against Xo.

2. what have they never done that they want to do?

She wants to befriend a panther or another big cat. She’d probably die, but she’d die happy.

3. is there anything they absolutely can’t believe people do?

Keep slaves obviously, and also dislike animals. What’s to hate about animals? They’re perfection in tiny furry bodies.

4. what is the most embarrassing thing they’ve done?

When she was at her first job as a free person, she was riding a horse while standing and trying to shoot at a target, and the horse got spooked and bucked, her, making her dive head first into horse shit. She was seven years old.

5. have they done anything they thought they’d never do?

Kill people.

O: Optimism

1. are they optimistic or pessimistic?

She’s usually optimistic, even if it’s hidden under a snarky tone. Despite the trauma that Yaya’s faced, she finds the future hopeful.

2. are they openly optimistic, throwing it on others?

Nah, she keeps her optimism to herself unless someone asks for it. She’s all for people following their own philosophy.

3. are they good at giving advice?

She tries her best, but she’s 13 and all the people in her life are at least in their late 30s at best and at worst like mid 100s. But because she’s pragmatic, the advice tends to be sound.

4. is there anyone in their life that throws optimism on them?

Probably Auntie Breda. She agreed with Xo when they said that Breda was one of the most optimistic people that Xo had ever met. And she is glad for it, since the rest of Xo’s friends tend to be on the angstier side.

5. were they always optimistic?

Yeah, it’s been her personal philosophy since childhood with her birth parents that there is always something better in the future, so it’s important not to lose hope. While that has helped her look on the bright side of things, it kinda worked backwards because now Yaretzi is never content and that is the biggest reason why she tries to work for something more.

P: Personality

1. what is their best personality trait?

It actually probably would be her youthful attitude and optimism because god knows that Xo isn’t optimistic.

2. what is their worst personality trait?

Brutal honesty. If she doesn’t like you, she will let you know and you will know it in an instant.

3. what of their personality do others love?

Xo loves her endless energy and optimism, and of course her cheekiness and sass.

4. what of their personality do others envy?

Xo envies their daughter’s ability to be honest and love herself completely (though they wouldn’t have it any other way).

5. do they hate anything about their personality/about other’s personalities?

She dislikes people who hide their true feelings and put up a front just to get people to like them.

Q: Questions

1. do they ask for help?

Yeah, mainly from Xochitl or any of her other family. She usually only asks for help from someone she trusts.

2. do they ask questions in class?

Yes, just so she can do her tasks perfectly and not get in trouble. She was very dedicated to not making mistakes so no one would yell at her or punish her.

3. do they answer questions that make them a little uncomfortable?

She will just because she thinks she doesn’t have anything to hide, but she won’t want to answer it.

4. do they ask weird questions?

Yeah. When she was little and just met Arzan and Mae, she asked them if they know where their earholes go because they don’t have earlobes. She also asked Tarel why he doesn’t have hair on one half of his head (Xo answered that it was because Buttons’ mom at the other half)

5. are they curious?

Yeah, it’s about 90% of why she gets in trouble with Xo. Xo of course understands that kids should be able to run around and get dirty, but they’re still dealing with the trauma of losing Yaretzi twice when she was a little kid.

R: Rules

1. do they follow rules?

She tries to. When she was a slave she followed the rules as close as she could so she wouldn’t get punished, and now she wants to be as good as a child as she can for Xochitl, but she does lies in order to do her job.

2. would they be a strict or laid-back parent?

Given how Xo struggles to keep the line between letting their child live her life and keeping a close eye so she doesn’t go missing again, Yaretzi thinks she’d be a laid back parent but still be open in case her child wants to talk to her about stuff that’s bothering them.

3. have they ever been consequenced for breaking a rule?

Only once, when she snuck out of the house to try to go to a festival that was happening a town over. She knew that Xo wouldn’t let her go because it was winter and there was storm coming that would be brutal, but she had enough faith for herself to go. Of course, she got caught in the storm and Xo barged in like an angry mother to come save her and Yaya had seen that rage at those who tried to harm her, but had never seen it directed at her. Of course, Yaya got sick and wasn’t allowed to leave the house for three weeks.

4. have they broken any rules they now regret breaking?

She regrets breaking the above because she feels extremely guilty about using Xo’s trust in her against them.

5. do they find any rules they/others follow absolutely ridiculous?

She hated the work she had to do as a slave. As far as roles went, it was all menial work and the other slaves made sure she didn’t get anything that would pout her in danger, but she can’t just understand why slavery is a thing.

S: Streets

1. are they street-smart?

One of the many Xo’s taught her is that the world is full of both very bad and very good people, but you never know who is which when you meet them. So always be wary.

2. would they give money to someone on the streets?

Every time she goes out, she tries to. She keeps most if it so she and Xo can feed themselves, but at least 10% of her money she tries to give out.

3. have they ever gotten in a fight on the streets?

No, she’s always been a good runner and a smart girl that if she senses danger, she will run the other way.

4. has anything happened to them on the streets?

No, she’s always had people to look out for her, unless you count when she was kidnapped and sold into slavery.

5. are they cautious when out?

Absolutely. It’s one of the few rules Xo has for her along with ‘Always be back before sundown’, ‘Never go with anyone no matter what they say they have’, and ‘Always beat Tarel at anything involving accuracy just so I can tease him later’.

T: Truth

1. are they honest?

She’s usually brutally honest, unless she’s lying to save someone (or lying to Xo about what she really does all day). But for the most part she will say exactly what’s on her mind whether that’s good or bad.

2. can they tell if someone is lying?

Oh yeah. Girl was taught to be kind, but wary of everyone, so she has a +6 to insight. If she thinks you’re bullshitting her, she will find out.

3. is it obvious when they’re lying?

Not really. Probably to people who are naturally distrusting she would be found out quick, but in the case of lying to Xo, she knows that her mom cares so much about her that they’d believe just about anything she told them just because they believe she has never done anything wrong in her life, ever.

4. have they lied about anything they regret lying about?

She doesn’t necessarily regret lying to Xo about her job, but she does feel incredibly guilty about it because if her mom knew how her little Yaya was getting them bills, they’d probably have a heart attack.

5. have they told truths that have been spread against their will?

Not really. She’s been lucky that most stuff about her life has been kept secret. Xo wants the both of them to live in as much anonymity as possible, and so far that hasn’t been an issue.

U: Underdog

1. have they been bullied?

Definitely, especially in both the places where she was forced to work as a slave.

2. have they bullied anyone?

Nah, Yaya knows how detrimental bullying can be and vows not to do it to anyone. Except possibly Uncle Tarel because she’s just that niece.

3. have they been physically attacked by a bully?

When she was kidnapped by the slavers, she got tackled to the ground and nearly choked out.

4. have they ever been doubted?

When she worked for her first slave family and escaped, the people she left with just planned on having her work in organizational work but then saw how stellar she was at archery.

5. have they surprised people with being good at something?

She surprised almost everyone at being and archer prodigy. Also being good at murder?

V: Vomit

1. do they vomit often?

Nah, she’s got a stomach of steel. She’s worked with enough animals and their shit to keep any food down.

2. do they get lots of stomach aches?

Nope. The only type of sicknesses Yaretzi gets usually is sniffles and head colds.

3. are they good at comforting someone ill?

She’s decent at it. She tried comforting her sister when she had the plague that eventually killed Yaya’s entire family, but since then she’s usually been the youngest everywhere she went, so never really had the practice.

4. what do they like as far as comfort goes?

When she gets head colds, she really likes Xo making her soup or cider and just being tucked in and hugged.

5. do they burp, cough, or hiccup most when nauseous? when vomiting?

She usually does little burps when vomiting. She hates it.

W: Water

1. do they drink enough water?

Xo makes sure that she does, and when she was living with her past caretakers before she and Xo were reunited, they all took her under their wing and made sure she drank enough water.

2. have they learned to swim?

When she was with her previous job, when there was a free day, the people she worked with would teach her how to swim in the nearby stream.

3. do they like to swim?

She likes swimming in the ponds and lakes in the forest, but she really only does it to bathe because she doesn’t like swimming alone.

4. can they dive?

Nah, she’s got the fear of what if she gets stuck upside down.

5. can they swim without holding their nose?

She can, just not for long.

X: Xylophone

1. what is their favorite genre of music?

R&B and anything with a strong bass guitar.

2. do they have a favorite song?

“Rude Boy’ by Rihanna.

3. do they have a favorite band/artist/singer?

If modern music existed, Destiny’s Child or Rihanna.

4. can they sing well?

Her birth mom was a great singer and passed that talent along to Yaya. She doesn’t show it off that much, but it’s enough that one of the things Xo always praises her about (besides everything) is her singing.

5. can they rap?

Girl loves R&B, you bet your ass that the baby dwarphan can rap.

Y: You

1. how old were you when you created them?

18. She was made at the same time as Xochitl.

2. what inspired you to create them?

I wanted Xo to have a “Lee and Clementine” relationship, and thus the dwarfin was born.

3. were they different when they were first created?

I mean, in the sense that she developed as a person as she grew up, but how I intended her to be, not really. I wanted her to be more idealistic as a small child and be more realist and hardened as she grew up. She’s still definitely more idealistic than Xo is, but she’s a salted caramel.

4. do you enjoy writing them more than other characters?

I haven’t really done much with Yaya, but I do love her as a character. I really like playing with child characters because they’re not super mature but they can be major ass kickers.

5. what’s your favorite thing about them?

She just wants her mom to be happy and not have to worry about her. But by striving to fix that, she ends up making Xo worry about her more because of how dangerous Yaretzi’s job is.

Z: Zebra

1. what’s their favorite animal?

Deer. She likes watching them in the forest when she’s working.

2. do they like animals?

She loves animals. Her mom’s a druid and at a lot of her previous jobs she had to work with animals.

3. cats or dogs?

Doggos. She loves big animals and like Xo, feels at peace when surrounded by animals.

4. what’s their dream pet?

She’s not going to lie, she thinks it’d be rad to have a tiger as a pet. At her old just they had a couple tigers and she loved spending time with them and feeding them.

5. do they have any pets at the moment?

She has Buttons the direbear (no longer a cub anymore), but Xo insists on Yaretzi calling Buttons her sister.

[jeremystrele]

How To Make The Most Of #WorkingFromHome

How To Make The Most Of #WorkingFromHome

Creative People

by Sally Tabart

Take a tour through Lauren Li’s studio. Photo – Caitlin Mills for The Design Files.

  Lauren Li, Interior Designer

It helps to have a nice area to spend time in, but above all, your working from home set up needs to be practical! We don’t have a lot of space, so I don’t keep things on my desk that I don’t need. I’d recommend grabbing a basket or plastic bag and just fill it with the things that aren’t work-related, and just sort it out later. I do like to have a nice leather mouse pad and some colourful storage accessories (Hay do some great stuff!) on my desk. I also like to burn a candle or use an oil diffuser or have some fresh flowers or foliage, just to keep the spirits up.

Another important element for your working from home setup is to have a comfortable but cute chair, I love the ‘About A Chair’ by Hay. It’s critical to have a desk as the designated space to work, rather than using your laptop on your sofa, or worse your bed! Even setting up on the dining table works, as long as you make sure you’re sitting upright in said comfortable chair.

I also need a good quality set of headphones for the conference calls that we’re taking with our clients and colleagues. When I’m actually trying to get some work done I find it helpful to have some background noise, so the radio or a familiar playlist in the background helps me. Although there is no lack of noise with kids around all the time these days!

Check out Lauren’s online interior designer classes here!

Sean Fennessy & Jess Lillico’s perfect little office nook! 1970s lamp. ‘Tronco’ chair from District. Framed silk print from Issey Miyake exhibition, Tokyo. Photo – Sean Fennessy. Styling – Jessica Lillico.

The most magic little work corner from Ros Willett’s 1960’s Penthouse! Philippe Starck pendant. Interior design and custom joinery design by WOWOWA built by Evolve Interiors. Tretford peacock carpet from Gibbon Group.  Photo – Martina Gemmola. Styling by Ruth Welsby.

Corbett Lyon’s home office at the Lyon Housemuseum in Kew. Photo – Eve Wilson, Production – Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.

The desk of Corbett Lyon, architect and collector, with plans for Reko Rennie’s ‘VISIBLE INVISIBLE’, 2017. Photo – Eve Wilson, Production – Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.

  (Left) The one-and-only Alice Oehr. Photo – Amelia Stanwix. (Right) Alice’s bedroom and workspace. Vintage dinosaurs poster from Galerie Montmartre, curtains made from Ikea fabric (made by Alice and Lucy’s Mum!), desk made from recycled floorboards by Alice and her Dad. View Alice’s complete house tour here. Photo – Eve Wilson, Production – Lucy / The Design Files.

Alice Oehr, Freelance Illustrator

Working from home as an illustrator is something I’ve done on and off for many years now – and there is an art to it. I’ve found there are some habits that help to minimise cabin fever and get things done.

Always get dressed in the morning: preferably not in trackies (obviously sometimes you are going to break this rule. Live it up!). The fact is, wearing real clothes brings you a level of dignity that moccasins and polar fleece will simply never be able to. Before I admonished it, I did once do a whole work-from-home winter in the one (matching) tracksuit and I did not, at any point, feel like a real member of society.

If you ditch the tracksuit and uggs, no surprise human contact – analogue or digital – will catch you unawares. I’ve both a) taken a video call with a whole panel and b) answered the door to a sharply-suited Jehova’s witness while dressed in a hoodie and fluffy pink slippers, fresh out of bed. I wish to repeat neither experience.

Also, try to maintain very disciplined work hours: eg 9–6 with a lunch break, then clock off completely at the end. This revolutionised my ability to actually pursue freelance full time. Before setting proper work hours, I’d regularly muck around all week then find myself having to work all night and all weekend – and that just ain’t right… for me anyway.

Alice has a brand new book out, called The Art of Cake! Check out this cute video of Alice talking about the book here, and buy it online here!

Our Art Directors Tiny Terazzo Palazzo! Chair by Dustin Fritsche of Softer Studios. (it’s Annie’s favourite chair ever, but probably not the ideal WFH chair, if we’re honest!). Photo – Caitlin Mills. Styling – Annie Portelli.

Lucy’s Oehr’s desk.  Vintage heart poster from a market in France, old phrenology heads are market finds, the ‘Visible Man’ model, lamp from Modern History in Richmond, curtains are Ikea fabric again made by Lucy and Alice’s Mum,  chair is a Kai Kristiansen No 42 Ebay find.  View Lucy and Alice Oehr’s complete house tour here. Photo – Eve Wilson, Production – Lucy / The Design Files.

Inside Kat Macleod‘s Donvale home studio, Melbourne. View the complete story here. Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files.

Lisa Marie Corso’s #WFH situation. The spare room/study. IKEA PS1 desk and plywood dog by Alice Oehr. ‘I work a few days at home every week, so having a #zenden to write in is essential to my productivity,’ Lisa says. View her complete house tour here. Photo – Eve Wilson for the Design Files.

Lisa Marie Corso, Freelance Writer

Honestly, I think my TEDTalk theme would be “Working from Home” because I have A LOT of opinions about it. I’ve been working from my home office for three years, and in that time I have developed a few rituals essential to my daily routine and productivity.

I split my day into before work, at work, and after work. We all know we shouldn’t be working in pyjamas, I especially know this because by 11am you’ll smell something gross and be shocked to discover it’s actually YOU. You’ll then have a shower and do your hair in the middle of the day and throw your whole day out of whack. So before 9.30am, I get up, make myself look decent and clean, eat breakfast and try and go for a walk.

In the ‘at work’ period of 8 hours I make a list of ACHIEVABLE daily tasks. There’s nothing worse than an overwhelming list! On this list I also put in lunch, my favourite part of the day, and an afternoon walk. Sometimes the walk doesn’t happen but I am more likely to do it if it’s on the list. Never underestimate the power and thrill of being able to cross something off a list. Some days will be super productive, some less so, just like if you were sitting in your work office.

My favourite productivity tools are: Trello for making daily work lists and using time management apps including Focus Keeper and Forest.

The very considerate little home office of Andrea Moore. ‘My desk chair is one of our old kitchen table chairs I grew up with as a kid’ she says. Styling – Andrea Moore. Photo – Eve Wilson.

A study that wraps around to the living room in this DREAM home. Photo – Caitlin Mills. Styling – Annie Portelli/The Design Files.

The very organised works space of Aimee Tarulli. Osso desk chair from District. Felt pinboard by Al and Em pinboards. Desk lamp from Beacon Lighting. Amphora vase by Iggy and Lou Lou. To check out her complete house tour click here. Photo – Caitlin Mills. Styling – Annie Portelli.

Can it get any more ideal than this? Anna Swain knows how to get that serene home office vibe. Photo – Eve Wilson. Production – Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.

A chalk board wall to jot down those genius ideas! Nice thinking Remo & Melanie Giuffré! Photo – Eve Wilson, production – Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.

Fiona Killackey of My Daily Business Coach. Photo – Annette O’Brien.

Fiona Killackey, Small Business Coach

Creating blocks of time in your week for specific things (ie meetings, marketing, emails, analytics etc) helps keep you focused on just one task or area at a time. It’s so easy, particularly for people working from home for the first time, to get pulled in a variety of directions – doing Zoom meetings one minute, then responding to emails, then trying to get some marketing done then working on the eCommerce backend etc. This can be exhausting, inefficient and ineffective. When you set boundaries and chunk your work (time blocking), you’re more likely to focus and get real traction happening in that area, then you can move onto the next. Use this free weekly planner to map what a week might look like, then consider which tasks you could “chunk” into time blocks i.e. doing all of your marketing/admin 12-3pm Mondays.

Depending on your personality, working from home can be a paradise or a prison sentence. Regardless of your attitude towards it, having people to turn to can do wonders for mindset and mental health. From sharing funny stories and things that made you smile, through to venting your frustrations or working through problems, having a regular time to chat with friends in a similar boat can help. This may be fellow small biz owner friends, past colleagues or friends in a similar industry. Figure out a frequency (ie weekly) and communication medium (Skype, FaceTime, phone) and create a scheduled time to check in with one another. I have been doing this for years with three of my fave biz friends and it has been invaluable for keeping me motivated, personally and professionally.

Check out Fiona’s offline and online courses for small business owners, over at My Daily Business Coach.

A whimsical little treehouse nook in the home of Fleur Glenn. Fleur shares, ‘This is my mother’s desk. My mother died 30 years ago. I love sitting at her desk high in my study looking out through the trees. The birds watch me and when I open the little windows I think one day one might fly in and sit on the desk as I write. The desk still holds some of mum’s old notebooks and photos.’ Photo – Caitlin Mills for The Design Files. Styling – Annie Portelli.

Emma Clark Gratton keeping it simple in her Robin Boyd home. ‘Lee (Emma’s husband) got the desk from Great Dane, but it was broken and in pieces so they were going to throw it out. He managed to restore it and we’ve dragged it from house to house’. Lamp is an original Planet lamp bought for a dollar from a church sale in Warrandyte. Clock from IKEA. Geo dresser made by Lee. Photo – Caitlin Mills. Styling – Annie Portelli.

Isolation never looked so good! The home of Zana Wright will warm your heart! At the desk are a zigzag chair made by joiner friend Christian Moerhke, and a Lavitta chair from Great Dane. Photo – Caitlin Mills for The Design Files. Styling – Annie Portelli.

The home office of freelance writer Benjamin Law. Photo – Alisha Gore for The Design Files.

Ben Law, Freelance Writer

One of the biggest learning curves is learning how much you can do, and how much time it actually takes.

To begin, you’ll probably overestimate how much you can fit into a day – a dangerous mind-frame that even has a name: time-optimism. You’ll need to adjust your expectations and schedule what can and can’t realistically fit into your time.

Also: be self-aware. If you’re easily distracted or get slack, discipline yourself by scheduling your entire day in advance, down to the hour, including breaks. And if you tend to work yourself into the ground … do the same thing! Enforce your breaks in advance. Know when to stop!