#the answer is 1 or 0 indeed

[bvckbiter]

smth very interesting about eurylochus is that he’s aware he’s not the main character of the story, odysseus is, and theyre just along for the ride (luck runs out - “you rely on wit, and people die on it”). it’s a double edged sword where he’s willing to take hits from the gods in exchange for taking no risks that could possibly help then get back home. the two moments he does take risks and tries to be The Hero™️ he ultimately fucks them over lmao poor eury

[alphacrone]

Ranking animals i’ve had to move out of the road

deer - 1/10

you’ve heard of ‘deer in the headlights’ but have you heard of its much more deliberate cousin, ‘deer who are grazing on fallen acorns in the middle of the road and know you’re there and don’t give a fuck about your murder machine or how loud you honk at it’?

neighborhood dogs - 4/10

i love random surprise dogs as much as the next person but not when i’m driving. not when they’re muddy and wet and want to get into my car but won’t let me read the number on their collar. not when their owners don’t answer and now i’m just responsible for keeping their idiot golden retriever alive when i just wanted to go home.

turtles - 7/10

if you know how to pick ‘em up proper then it’s kinda fun to zoom a little guy over to where he’s trying to go like he’s just minding his business and now he’s flying

snapping turtles - 0/10

you want for that motherfucker to cross at his own speed. dni

baby owl while all his siblings and very scary mother watched - 10/10

i’ve never felt more alive. lil idiot kept hissing at me but would move to i kept having to scooch him over with a shoe in place of a stick or shovel. genuinely thought mama owl was gonna attack me but seemed to realize i was helping her dumbest son over to where she was. scariest minute of my life tbh. he was nothing more than an angry ball of feathers and i fell in love instantly. sky cats indeed.

tarantulas - 0/10

i’ve never tried to move one i just wanted to remind everyone that they’re big enough to see on the road lmao

[personnage-neutre]

"Tintin, quel âge as-tu ?"

Today marks 96 years of The Adventures of Tintin, and readers have spent at least the last 78 of those years asking the same question: "How old is Tintin?"

The series is infamously coy about giving a definite answer, as was its creator, but I argue in the first part of this post that 1) there was indeed a specific intended age range for Tintin and 2) it is very much possible, using evidence from many different sources including the albums themselves, Tintin magazine, other BDs of the time, and interviews with Hergé, to say exactly what that age range was. Let me be very clear: I'm specifically making an argument about how old Hergé saw him as and how old Hergé wanted him to be seen as.

The second part is less concrete; it presents how a few scholars have interpreted the ambiguity of Tintin's age, plus some of my own thoughts about it that build on their claims. That part is less trying to find an answer to the age question and more trying to explain why his age is so much in question.

This is a long post.

I. Intent

Official sources

When asked about Tintin's age in a 1960 interview for Cinq colonnes à la une, Hergé judged that "il doit rester aux environs de quinze ans" ("he must still be around 15 years old," 0:33-0:44).

In 1962, he gave a very similar response on the Canadian program Premier Plan: "Une quinzaine d'années ? Quinze ans, seize ans, je ne sais pas, moi" ("About 15? 15, 16, I don't know"). "Donc c'est l'adolescent" ("So he's a teenager"), pursues the interviewer, and Hergé answers with a firm yes.

Nearly ten years later, in 1970, he added some nuance: "What age do I give him? I don't know... 17? In my mind, he was about 14 or 15 when I created him, a Boy Scout, and he practically hasn't budged. Let's say that he's picked up three or four years in forty years... All right, let's take the average: 15 plus 4, 19." (translation mine)

In 1979, his interviewer on Apostrophes preempted him on the age question, saying that "c'est un reporter de quinze ans" ("he's a 15-year-old reporter"). Hergé agreed: "C'est ça, à peu près" ("That's right, more or less").

Today, the official Tintin website run by Moulinsart declares him to be "Seize, dix-sept ans (dix-huit tout au plus !)," that is, "16, 17 years old (18 at most!)."

Responses to reader questions in the Journal Tintin

Early in the Journal Tintin's run, between 1946 and 1954, readers who wrote in with questions had a chance to see the responses to their letters published in the magazine each week. Supposedly it would be Tintin himself who was answering - questions addressed to him would be answered in first person, which probably only increased the urge to ask about personal details. So there were naturally many questions about his age, which provoked a range of responses.

Who was actually answering the letters? It's hard to say. But seeing as the responses were being published in the official Tintin Magazine as the voice of Tintin himself, Hergé would surely have been at least consulted on questions concerning his character, especially as the team running the magazine was still very small when it was regularly publishing responses.

The most common response was to dodge the question entirely. The stock phrases were "Qu'importe mon âge ?" and "Tintin n'a pas d'âge !" ("What does my age matter?" "Tintin has no age!").

In a small number of cases they related Tintin's age to that of his readers; an 11 1/2 year old was told that Tintin can be "l'âge que tu souhaites : entre dix et vingt ans !" ("whatever age you want: between 10 and 20!", 1953), and for a couple others, where the age of the writer wasn't listed, Tintin's age is "un peu plus que le tien" ("a little older than you," 1951) or "un peu moins que le double du tien" ("a little less than twice your age," 1950). The target audience of the Journal Tintin - as it was for the Petit Vingtième, and for comics magazines of the time generally - was 8-15 year olds.

The only definite answer that appeared with regularity put Tintin's age between 15 and 20:

(TIntin nos. 19, May 8, 1947; 26, June 26, 1947; 6, February 5, 1948; 2, January 12, 1950; 9, February 27, 1947. The second and third examples also have Tintin declare that "I've travelled so much that I no longer remember where I was born," a fine example of the de-Belgicanization he underwent after the early years.)

("As I've already told several of my friends, I'm older than 15 but younger than 20." (1947) "My age? Let's say 15… or a little older." (1947) "My age? Between 15 and 20 years old." (1948) "Tintin? He has no age! Seeing him move about, he seems to be about 15." (1950) "I'm not yet 20 but I'm older than 15." (1947))

Real-life incarnations of Tintin

When the end of Soviets was celebrated with "Tintin" arriving at the Gare du Nord in Brussels, the role was played by 15-year-old Lucien Pepermans. When the event was repeated for the end of Congo, two years later, Pepermans was replaced by Henri Dendoncker, age 14. About thirty years after that, Jean-Pierre Talbot was declared Tintin's spitting image at 16 ("Same age, same silhouette, same face, same hair," reads the announcement of his casting in the Journal Tintin). He was 20 at most when Blue Oranges (released 1964) was filmed. Hergé told Numa Sadoul that he unconsciously based Tintin in Soviets on his younger brother Paul, who was 16 when it started. Additionally, Palle Huld, often cited as an inspiration for Tintin, completed a tour of the world in 44 days in 1928 at age 15 (and in plus-fours).

(Lucien Pepermans, Henri Dendoncker, Jean-Pierre Talbot, Palle Huld)

In the play Tintin et le mystère du diamant bleu (1941), which Hergé was very involved in the writing and production of, the role of Tintin was played by Mlle. Jeanne Rubens, a woman - a common theater trick for portraying young boys. He was played by a woman again in Radio Luxembourg's 1950s audio adaptations: Claude Vincent, "qui interprétait à merveille les rôles d’enfants et d’adolescents" ("who played children's and adolescents' roles wonderfully"), was the voice of Tintin. Sadly those broadcasts appear to be lost, but she can still be heard in the likely similar role of Alix.

(Shared on forum-tintinophile.com, "Tintin aux Indes, ou le mystère du diamant bleu." Certainly the only adaptation that got his height difference with the Thompsons right.)

In 1959, the Journal Tintin invited readers who thought they looked like Tintin to send in their pictures; five candidates for "Tintin's lookalike" were chosen by the magazine and presented to the readers for them to vote on. The winner was a 15-year-old, and while the ages of the other contestants aren't listed, they appear to be the same age or younger.

(Tintin nos. 25, June 24, 1959 & 31, August 5, 1959)

Comparisons with contemporary characters

Mainstream BD in the first half of the 20th century was not particularly inventive, especially as it was contending with its relative youth as a medium, a focus on the children's market, and, especially after WWII, heavy scrutiny from both religious and secular moral watchdogs. In the specific case of the Journal Tintin, Hergé's iron-fisted artistic direction in the early years led to a high level of artistic homogeneity across the magazine, while restrictions on the types of stories that could be told (from both the threat of censors and expectations about reader interests) limited variety in plots, characters, and settings.

All that is to say that a lot of what was being published alongside Tintin in the 40s and 50s looked more or less like Tintin, and even was likely directly modeled on it, which makes it useful for comparison. The protagonists of the time can be generally divided by age into children, the "15-20" range, young men, and middle-aged men. Each category is visually distinct (comics are a visual medium!) and each results in a slightly different kind of story with different character dynamics.

Here's Tintin with a couple of the teenage protagonists that appeared alongside him in his magazine:

(L'Affaire Tournesol (1956), p. 51; La Griffe Noire, Tintin no. 6, February 5, 1958; Les Deux Visages de Kid Ordinn, Tintin no. 1, January 2, 1957)

Hergé's no. 2 collaborator Jacques Martin created Alix (center, 1948), a Roman Gaul confirmed to be 16 in the original albums. Chick Bill (right, 1955), who in looks and narrative role is effectively just Tintin as a cowboy, is identified (by none other than Franquin) with the 15-20 age range. Some shared visual markers of their youth are a short and slight build, rounded shoulders, a round head, and a soft jawline. While all very independent, they are all three semi-accompanied by a much older man and a child sidekick.

Now, here are some examples of characters from the next age range up:

(L'énigmatique Monsieur Barelli, Tintin no. 44, November 2, 1950; L'ouragan de feu, Tintin (Kuifje) no. 37, September 15, 1960; Défi à Ric Hochet, Tintin (Kuifje) no. 8, February 25, 1964)

Hergé's no. 1 collaborator Bob de Moor had a humor-adventure series using the same style as Hergé, but his character, stage actor Georges Barelli (left, 1950), is a grown man. Martin's second series was required by publishers to somehow be a modern AU of Alix, but Alix's counterpart, reporter in the same way that Tintin is a reporter Guy Lefranc (center, 1952), is clearly older than him. So-called reporter, really amateur detective Ric Hochet (yes, that's his name, right, 1955) is kind of an odd case; he started out a child, then looked basically exactly like Chick Bill (they were both drawn by the same artist, Tibet), then finally settled into his final form as a young man in his mid-twenties - a 1969 album places him at age 26. All three own their own cars (admittedly a moot point for Alix and Chick), and, compared to their teenage counterparts, they're much more likely to have friends and colleagues their own age instead of being supervised by someone older.

It should be clear from these six pictures that Tintin was not drawn in a way meant to make readers think he was an adult. And besides, there's really no reason to believe that Hergé, who once declared that "my primary objective is to be legible. The rest follows," would have chosen to give his main and titular character an appearance that was somehow deceptive. I'm prepared to say with confidence that Tintin looks young because he's supposed to be seen as young.

Textual evidence

For this section, I first look at a few ways that the albums actively present Tintin as a non-adult character. However, most of what follows is about showing that what happens in the albums does not contradict the argument that Tintin is intended to be a teenager. The Adventures of Tintin may be deceptively timeless, but not only is the series nearly a century old, it also was written during a time of extremely rapid and intense social, cultural, and technological change. Consequently, I want to make sure that I'm not judging the past with the attitudes of the present; in order to put the series in its proper context, I try to identify viewpoints and conventions expressed in texts created at the same time (and, when possible, by the same author) to see if a teenaged Tintin fits in with them.

In looking over how other characters refer to him across the albums, one sees that Tintin's most distinctive feature to those around him is his youth. This is, I think, more visible in the original French, where other characters address or describe him with a whole array of words commonly used for children: jeune homme, (jeune) garçon, gamin, galopin, blanc-bec, enfant de choeur, fiston, freluquet, moussaillon, (mon) petit (used as a noun), and morveux, not to mention many, many instances of characters appending "jeune" or "petit" to another word ("reporter," for instance). In English, he's variously (a) young man, (young) boy, kid, boyo, whippersnapper, wonderboy, lad, brat, puppy, young fellow-me-lad, and cabin-boy, along with liberal use of the corresponding adjectives "young" and "little." (I've collected specific panel examples for reference in another post.)

As @professorcalculusstanaccount has pointed out, there's no question of Tintin being called up for the draft as Haddock is in Black Gold; that album also contains the only example of Tintin's competency being questioned because of his age, on page 7: "So you're the new radio officer... You look a bit young to me..." (There's one similar remark, in America, after Tintin is injured in a car accident on page 6: "The poor kid..." "He looks so young...") Him not being called to war is particularly striking because Belgium historically required young men to do compulsory military service at age 18 or 19, after which they would be enrolled in the reserve army (p. 274). Thanks to a hard-to-translate joke in the original French for Emerald (below), we know that military service exists in Tintin's world and that the Thompsons have done theirs; Hergé did his at age 19, and then was called up from the reserves in 1939, interrupting the magazine publication of, precisely, Black Gold. Given his longtime anti-war stance and the peace sign sticker he wears in Picaros, though, one can easily imagine Tintin becoming a conscientious objector after it was legalized in 1964 - but by 1964, most of the series was already over.

(Les Bijoux de la Castafiore, p. 37)

He also doesn't dress like an adult: the plus-fours look very childish after the 1930s, as @illegally-blind-and-deaf pointed out. He also never wears a proper hat, only a flat cap in a few early adventures, and from Temple on (that is, after 1948) he runs around in his shirt and sweater with no tie or jacket. Some of that can be put down to the importance Hergé placed on his characters being maximally recognizable, but it certainly doesn't make Tintin look any older - look at a few of Hergé's crowd scenes and compare how the background characters are dressed.

Next, he doesn't seem to ever need to shave. In fact, in the original French for Black Island, Tintin remarks that the bad guys have gotten away "à mon nez et à ma barbe," an expression equivalent in English to "right under my nose" but literally "at my nose and at my beard," to which Snowy incredulously responds "Your beard? What beard?"

(L'Île Noire, p. 29)

It's true that nearly everyone who meets Tintin, including his adult friends, addresses him respectfully with the formal pronoun "vous" instead of with the informal "tu," as you typically would for someone much younger than you. However, Pierre Assouline attributes this to a dislike of over-familiarity on Hergé's part, citing him as saying that "Le tutoiement est la fausse monnaie de l'amitié" ("Using 'tu' is the counterfeit money of friendship").

(There are a few moments where Haddock slips and uses tu with Tintin, but I won't go into them here. Suffice to say that the majority of them are indeed moments where he's treating Tintin more as a child.)

Much has been made of Tintin's nonchalance about drinking alcohol as proof of adulthood, but evidence from other BDs indicates that this perception is a result of a shift away from historically looser attitudes towards drinking. Early comics for children frequently carried moralizing messages, but there's no marked moralizing present around youths drinking like there is around them smoking.

Compare, for example, the difference in tone between these two Quick & Flupke pages, where the kids are sternly warned off from tobacco...

(Originally published in Le Petit Vingtième nos. 4, January 28, 1932 & 43, October 24, 1935)

...Versus this gag, where Flupke's own relatives getting him drunk on New Year's over his protests is played entirely for humor.

(Le Petit Vingtième no. 1, January 3, 1935. "Tu es un homme et tu dois boire!")

There was even a follow-up comic at the same time the year after, in which Flupke imagines the alcohol he'll be plied with on January 1st and attempts to move to the North Pole to avoid it.

If a kid as young as Flupke is being given alcohol, then Tintin really doesn't have to be much older to be drinking as well. In fact, one might even note an echo between Flupke's reluctance to drink here and Tintin's in Picaros, when he's pressured to take a swig of whisky by Arumbaya custom (p. 34). On the other hand, since Quick and Flupke are so young, the ban on smoking is stronger for them. Tintin is old enough to occasionally be offered a cigarette, but still young enough that he always must refuse: Hergé was adamant that Tintin remain a good model because of the children who identified with him, while Haddock smoking his pipe, for example, never raised the same issue.

Beyond that, for a non-Hergé example and a later one (from 1960), here's child tennis prodigy Jari, hero of an eponymous strip in the Journal Tintin. He's just bicycled from Belgium to the Netherlands and wants a refreshment, so he goes to a drink stand and orders a beer - and no one bats an eye. Similarly, the only alcohol that Tintin orders casually, in a cafe or pub, is beer (Golden Claws p. 2, Black Island p. 41).

(Jari et le Plan Z, Tintin (Kuifje) no. 40, October 6, 1960)

At the same time, this relaxed attitude has limits. Tintin won't share a friendly drink with Haddock, for example when returning to Marlinspike after an excursion (though Haddock pours two glasses anyway in Affair (p. 3)). Calculus scolds Haddock severely when he thinks that Haddock has given Tintin champagne at breakfast in Tibet (p. 4: "Vous avez bien tort de lui faire boire du champagne de grand matin, à ce garçon !…"). Later in that same album, Haddock drunkenly warns Tintin against alcohol, telling him it's "very bad for young people like you!" (p. 38).

Next, while Tintin is undeniably capable of driving a car, there's actually no indication outside of the earliest stories that he can legally drive. (A quick Google search also tells me that Belgium has historically been notoriously lax on road safety.) At no point after the first four albums - that is, after Hergé became interested in telling a story that makes logical sense, a development typically placed at Blue Lotus - does Tintin drive a car that was acquired legally, not commandeered or outright stolen. (In Soviets and Congo he buys a car; in Cigars he drives the two Rajaijah victims to the asylum, though I doubt anyone was worried about him getting pulled over in the jungle.) On the few occasions where there isn't an emergency, it's always Haddock who drives; see for example Crystal Balls or the few pages of Thérmozéro. When Tintin finally gets a vehicle of his own, in Picaros, it's... a motorbike, which one can get a license for at a younger age than for a car. And in Alph-Art, where the motorbike plays a much larger role, Haddock still drives Tintin into town (p. 25) - and then gets left in the car while Tintin investigates!

Hergé also apparently didn't think flying a plane was particularly difficult. In Jo et Zette, one of his other series, Hergé has little Jo be able to fly his father's "Stratonef" and even land it from a glide, despite only ever hearing his father talk about how to fly it. Over the course of the two-part story (Le Testament de M. Pump and Destination New-York), Jo manages multiple successful flights - more than Tintin ever does! - despite unambiguously being a child.

(Destination New-York, p. 41)

And as with the cars, every plane Tintin ever flies is stolen, so whether he has a legal license or not really doesn't matter.

The same goes for his guns. In all but the first albums and Ear where, surprised in his flat, he really does pull a revolver out of nowhere, Tintin's guns are explicitly either given to him or taken from a disarmed enemy. The series doesn't make a point of him owning and carrying his own gun - just the opposite. And while it seems to us now that Tintin has a lot of firearm use for a children's comic, proficiency with guns was honestly a genre expectation for all adventure heroes of the time (just don't put a gun on your cover). For example, Chang, who from his introduction on acts like a second Tintin, wields a pistol at the end of Lotus and is even implied to be the one who makes the shot that breaks Didi's sword despite appearing even younger than Tintin. (See also the previous section of this post; Chick Bill is carrying a gun in the picture I included.) What's more, the gunplay in Tintin is actually a step down from its predecessor Totor, where Hergé's titular Boy Scout kills a man with a rifle shot to the face.

In short, Tintin is able to do a lot of things he shouldn't legally be able to do by simply not doing them legally.

The fact that Tintin lives alone isn't necessarily a mark of maturity either. It's hardly uncommon for a young adventure protagonist to be unusually unsupervised; it's effectively a demand of the genre. Hergé learned why that is from experience when he created Jo et Zette for the editor of the French, ultra-Catholic children's magazine Coeurs Vaillants, who had raised concerns about how unrealistic Tintin was. In Hergé's own (translated) words:

(From Entretiens avec Hergé, reproduced & translated in The Comics Journal no. 250, p. 191)

Parents are a nuisance, one that Hergé was only too happy to dispense with in Tintin's case. And besides, Tintin isn't completely alone forever; with the introduction of the Marlinspike "family," not to mention Marlinspike Hall itself, during the war, he at least ends up with a home and some adult supervision, however dubious it may be at times.

As for his schooling, according to a report on the Belgian education system from 1932, education was only compulsory there (not to mention free) from ages 6 to 14. That same report records that in 1928, the number of students in the higher level of secondary education - corresponding to high school in American terms - was only 1% of the number of students enrolled in compulsory primary school. Even adjusting for the fact that primary education enrolls children for twice as long, the percentage is still a paltry 2.6%. And then the number of students in university that same year was only about three-quarters of the number of students in secondary education.

What that means is that at the time when Tintin was getting started, only very, very few people stayed in school beyond age 14. Hergé himself was one of those few, but to many of his readers in the early years, the idea that Tintin was already working at age 14 or 15 would have been not just reasonable but recognizable - especially as he has no apparent family to support him. (Not that Tintin isn't knowledgeable: judging from the number of books in his apartment, we can presume that he's quite the autodidact.) Of course public education was broadened after WWII, but by then the character was already firmly established.

As for how Tintin is already a reporter, well, Hergé freely admitted that he gave him the job just because that's what he thought was cool at the time. "Of course it was a pretext," he said on British radio in 1977. (The announcer for that interview describes Tintin as "a 16-year-old Belgian boy with a strange lick of hair, a pair of plus-fours, and a terrier." In it Hergé, questioned about the outsize success of his series, responds that for him "he [Tintin] keeps to be a little boy. Only that.") The tone of the series would be very different if Tintin were just an office clerk or a paperboy, after all - and besides, all but the youngest readers of Le Petit Vingtième would have understood that it's not a real newspaper, just a little children's magazine, so the idea of it having its own official reporter was not to be taken fully seriously.

It's important to remember that our current cultural idea of the teenager as a separate, unique stage between childhood and adulthood was largely a post-WWII American innovation - in fact, the word "teenager" only entered popular use in the 1940s. By contrast, fully half of the Adventures of Tintin (up to the first 2/3 of Crystal Balls) were written either before or during WWII. Hergé himself, born in 1907, began submitting illustrations to a magazine (Le Boy-Scout) at 14, was hired at the Vingtième Siècle at 18, created Totor and did his military service, reaching the rank of sergeant, at 19, and before turning 22 had been given full responsibility for creating and running the Petit Vingtième, gotten engaged to his first wife, Germaine Kieckens, and created Tintin. Being young looked different then.

To close this section I'll also note that, as far as I can tell, positioning Tintin as a teenager never seemed to pose much of a problem to anyone reading the series while it was actively running. Anecdotally, nearly every published source I've read takes for granted that he's an adolescent, and an exception like writer of multiple books on Tintin Renaud Nattiez saying on the air in 2016 that he thinks Tintin is at least 22 (~03:30-03:50) seems to be a uniquely 21st-century development.

TL;DR: Everything I can find indicates that Tintin was always intended to be around 15, and never older than 20, years old.

II. Interpretation

Finally, it's important to not overstate Hergé's commitment to realism. At the end of the day, Tintin can do whatever the story needs him to be able to do, because he's the protagonist of a very straightforward adventure serial. He's always been aspirational, even for Hergé himself: "Tintin is me the way I'd like to be: heroic, flawless." And yet Tintin, victim of its own success, has always been held to a higher standard of realism than its fellow comics, not to mention a higher level of scrutiny in general. Even if, as I've tried to demonstrate, Tintin's feats aren't entirely out of the range of possibility (or at least the norm for comics characters) for his time period, I'm not arguing that he's supposed to be a perfectly accurate representation of the average boy of any point in the mid-20th century. I also don't deny that he typically does act like an adult. So the guiding question here is: How can this dual nature of Tintin's - his adolescent status and adult aspects - be interpreted?

Jean-Marie Apostolidès writes that as "il unifie dans sa personne deux aspects opposés de l’existence, l’enfance et l’âge adulte" ("he brings together in his person two opposing aspects of existence, childhood and adulthood"), Tintin represents "un mythe réconciliatoire" ("a reconciliatory myth") of which the "fonction implicite est de ressouder entre deux générations une confiance brisée" ("implicit function is to mend a broken trust between two generations"). He names this type of child-adult character the "surenfant" ("superchild"), and argues that it is specific to the 20th century and the cultural shock of WWI.

For Pol Vandromme, who wrote the first book of analysis on Tintin (or on any BD), Tintin is simply a perfected version of the teenage boy, one that other teenage boys can aspire to. First, he cites as conventional wisdom that Tintin is around 15, and concludes that "c'est dans tous les cas un adolescent" ("in any case he's a teenager"). While Vandromme accepts that Tintin is presented as a teenager, he also points out that Tintin doesn't represent the experience of being a teenager; Tintin "ne présente [...] que les apparences de l'adolescence" ("only displays the appearance of adolescence") because he's so self-assured and stable, traits antithetical to "l'époque de la métamorphose" ("the time of metamorphosis") that is adolescence.

And yet "il [Tintin] demure malgré tout suffisamment proche pour que les garçons se disent qu'ils auront un jour la chance de lui ressembler, d'imiter son style de vie. [...] Ce que Tintin propose à ces garçons de quinze ans, c'est la figure achevée de leur âge. Il les venge de leurs insuffisances" ("he [Tintin] remains all the same close [i.e. similar] enough that these boys tell themselves that one day they'll have the chance to be like him, to imitate his way of life. [...] What Tintin offers to these 15-year-old boys is the perfected version of their age [group]. He makes up for their shortcomings"). Consequently, having put themselves in Tintin's place, these boys "ont l'illusion d'être déjà de la tribu des jeunes gens qui ont découvert dans leur sac de voyage les clefs qui ouvrent les portes de la fable du monde" ("have the illusion of already being part of the clan of young people who have discovered in their travel bag the keys that open the doors of the world's fable"). In plainer language, being able to identify with Tintin as an apparent peer lets teens imagine themselves as being more capable and powerful than their age allows in reality, an attractive illusion.

I'll add that the static quality of Tintin as a character that Vandromme identifies is dictated by the form of the series. When presented with a teenage protagonist in a work, the novelistic expectation is that what follows will be some kind of bildungsroman, where the events of the story will push the protagonist to change and mature into adulthood. However, I believe that it's a mistake to approach The Adventures of Tintin as a novel when it is fundamentally a serial - even late in his career, when he didn't need to do prepublication anymore, Hergé's approach to plot was still oriented around the page-a-week format. Serial characters, as a rule, change very little. Tintin gets compared to Sherlock Holmes more than once in the series, and it's also true on a meta level: Holmes has a few minor moments of character development, but he largely remains exactly the same over the course of Conan Doyle's stories, which were likewise published in a magazine. In a true serial, the status quo is god, because the main aim of the serial is to perpetuate itself - theoretically forever. And so Watson always finds a reason to return to Baker Street, and Tintin never gets old enough to think of settling down and getting a real job.

Like Holmes, Tintin does change and grow somewhat as a character over the course of the series, but also like Holmes, that growth is not a planned arc with an endpoint, as you would expect in a novel. Instead, it's just a result of Hergé himself maturing and changing. In his contribution to L'archipel Tintin, Benoît Peeters notes that "Grande est la tentation, pour beaucoup, de lire la série comme une totalité, un monument où tout signifierait" ("The temptation is great, for many, to read the series as a totality, a monument where everything has meaning"). And yet he declares that "si accomplies soient-elles... Les Aventures de Tintin se sont élaborées en l'absence de tout grand dessein" ("however polished they may be... The Adventures of Tintin were created in the absence of any grand design"), citing the testimonies of both Hergé and those who knew him at the beginning of the series. Hergé never really had a plan for Tintin as a character; he really did just put him in situations over and over again for a little more than fifty years. However, now that the series is only read in album format and serial publishing is less common, the "temptation" Peeters describes is even stronger. This mismatch in narrative expectations may be part of why modern readers might struggle to view Tintin as a teenaged character.

There's one more element to Tintin's strangeness: the world of the series was built around Tintin himself to facilitate his adventures. Vandromme recalls the fact, so obvious that it's easily forgetten, that "Tintin étant ce qu'il est et ne pouvant être un autre, infléchit l'intrigue d'une certaine manière. [...] Remplacez Tintin par le père Fenouillard et il vous faudra modifier l'album de fond en comble. Dans un roman les personnages déterminent les événements avant d'être déterminés par eux" (Tintin, being who he is and unable to be anyone else, influences the story in a certain way. [...] Replace Tintin with the father of the Fenouillards [character from a 19th-century comic about the misadventures of a French family abroad, n.b.] and you'll have to change the album from top to bottom. In a novel, the characters define the events before the events define them"). This point is especially relevant to Tintin given that the series' beginning was, to put it mildly, haphazard. Starting from Soviets, where Tintin is alone with his dog in a bizarre world where he can sneeze down a sewer grate, cut down a tree with a pocketknife, or fistfight a bear - whatever it takes to keep the plot moving - set a precedent for the character: that Tintin, and nobody else, will always triumph over whatever enemy or obstacle he is faced with.

Because it's founded on Tintin himself, there are no real adults in the Adventures, and in fact there can't be any. Preserving Tintin's Soviets-era boy hero status as the world of the series became steadily larger and more realistic created a kind of 'competency warp' where Tintin, along with his young "doubles," Chang and Zorrino, is effectively always the most capable, the master of the situation, while those closest to him who are much older (the Thompsons, Haddock, Calculus...) tend to act rather childishly. I think it's telling that the 1946 introduction of Blake & Mortimer is often hailed in terms like these: that "pour la première fois, les héros n'étaient pas des enfants, mais des adultes responsables dont la psychologie était en parfaite harmonie avec leurs fonctions" ("for the first time, the heroes were not children, but responsible adults whose psychology was in perfect harmony with their roles," emphasis mine). All the major adult characters in Tintin had been introduced at that point, but apparently none of them qualified as "responsible" or properly suited for their positions.

Apostolidès similarly notes a deforming effect: "Tintin est un adolescent qui, sans jamais entrer dans l’âge adulte, rajeunit le monde en se confrontant à lui. Au lieu que le personnage se soumette passivement au monde adulte, s’intègre dans une histoire, vieillisse et meure, c’est l’univers extérieur qui se fige dans le temps au contact du héros" ("Tintin is an adolescent who, without ever entering adulthood, makes the world younger by confronting it. Instead of the character submitting himself passively to the adult world, fitting in to a history, getting older and dying, it's the outside world that freezes in time at the hero's touch"). Not only does Tintin resist adulthood himself, he also protects others from its effects.

There are characters who escape the warp, but they must stay on the very edges of Tintin's orbit. One example is the efficient and no-nonsense Mr. Baxter from the Moon books. He has a real job: he's director of the atomic center, and every time we see him he's actually doing it. He also remains disengaged from the antics of the Marlinspike crew, often exasperated and confused by them. They don't belong in his serious space program, and he doesn't belong in their funny adventure series - hence the clash. Another (and very different) example is Jolyon Wagg. I wish I could remember where I read it, but I once saw it pointed out that Tintin and Wagg almost completely ignore each other; their only direct interaction in the whole series is saying hello to each other exactly once (Emerald p. 17). The unidentified author's point was that Wagg inhabits a world so intensely banal, so different from Tintin's - one with community organizations, salesman jobs, an old mother, an Uncle Anatole, a wife and (a lot of) children - that the two can't even come into contact. Wagg may be almost preternaturally obnoxious, but he's also a genuinely ordinary man in a way that the major characters really aren't.

Tintin must remain the sole and main driver of action, because if he isn't, the series would have to change fundamentally. That means no other character can threaten his role by being more competent and responsible than him - and so the adults become ridiculous and/or irrelevant, and Chang and Zorrino are only allowed to act for one album each. And yet Hergé created Tintin as a teenager, and suggested that a Tintin who progressed past teenagerhood would also grow out of adventure: "Il est difficile, pour un personnage comme ça, à le faire vieillir. Parce que s'il vieillit, il va avoir vingt ans, il va avoir vingt-deux ans, il va rencontrer une jolie fille, il va se marier, il va avoir des enfants..." ("It's hard to make a character like that get older. Because if he gets older, he'll be 20, he'll be 22, he'll meet a pretty girl, he'll get married, he'll have children..."). Tintin passing into adulthood, 'real' adulthood, symbolized here by settling down and starting a family, would make the series just as unsustainable as demoting him to a more technically age-appropriate role would; both sides of the tension between Tintin's youth and his maturity are required to make him a proper adventure hero for children.

And so he remained, as he remains today, the world's most competent teenager.

[h0lydrag0ns]

Omg omg can you write some headcanons about Simon sleeping with you for the first time? I love your posts :0

This made my day. Of course, sweetie! I have no more ideas (⁠ʘ⁠言⁠ʘ⁠╬⁠)

Simon 'ghost' Riley headcanons! (Sleeping with reader for the fist time)

1. Nervousness.

Well, he's experienced at sex. But being a relationship with someone he loves, someone like you? Sleeping with you? It's too much, too much for him... So he's been shaking ever since you asked him if he wanted to sleep with you.

2. Apologies

Its always a "baby, i have nightmares..." Or a "I snore too much... Im sorry." From him what drives you crazy. You have to repeat him over and over a "i dont care, Simon." So he believes you.

3. A cuddle buddy.

When you convince him to sleep with you and get him into bed? He won't leave your side. He'll make sure you sleep well. Even if you're with him, a damned snoring mess. He will stroke your hair, and he will indeed do everything to keep you close to him.

4. You're going to take care of him.

He may act as tough and cold as he can. But he hasn't had a night without nightmares in YEARS. He'll wake up startled in the night, and only your cuddles will calm him down. "don't leave me, t/n..."

5. Protective instincts.

He's always half-awake, even in his sleep. The second he feels you stir, his hand is already reaching for you, just in case. Not in a paranoid way –well, maybe a little– but mostly because you're his anchor.

6. Night talks.

Once he's comfortable, the quiet moments before sleep turn into the times he opens up the most. Trauma, childhood—whatever it is, you’re the one he’ll talk to in the dark.

7. Clingy when asleep.

You shift an inch, and suddenly he’s latched onto you like a koala. Doesn’t matter how big he is or how small the bed is—he will end up wrapped around you like a weighted blanket.

8. The mask stays on, at first.

He tries to keep the mask on, says it’s “habit.” But the first time you pull it off gently and kiss his forehead? He doesn’t wear it to bed again.

8. Late-night ramblings.

Sometimes, when he can’t sleep, he’ll mutter the most random stuff. “D’you think Captain Price uses beard oil?” You don’t always get answers, but he appreciates your half-asleep hums.

10. He steals the blanket.

This man will unconsciously roll himself into a burrito and leave you freezing. You complain, he grumbles, and then he ends up draping his entire body over you as a "compromise."

Masterlist

[kaiserouo]

New raid mechanic just dropped guardians go back to your math class

disgusting stuff below.

ykw if the warlock remembered just enough about the relation of fourier series with function inner product space he can indeed do that in his head.

we define our function inner product space C[0, 2π] with a set of functions continuous in range [0, 2π], and the inner product of two functions in this space f, g ∈ C[0, 2π] is defined as ∫f(x)g(x)dx (integrated in [0, 2π]). note that the functions in set S = {cos(nπ) | ∀ n∈ ℕ} ∪ {sin(nπ) | ∀ n∈ ℕ} are orthogonal to each other in this space, and all of them has squared norm π, so you can just match the terms with the same function and sum them up. in this case only 6cos3x on the left and 5cos3x on the right can match, along with the divide by π, the final answer is 6 × 5 = 30. another example is ∫ (3cos(x) + 4cos(2x) + 6cos(3x))(-cos(x) + 5cos(3x) + 18cos(5x)) dx (integrated in [0, 2π]) = (6 × 5 + 3 × (-1))π = 27π.

don't actually do that tho it's just a trivia.

[fiamat12]

One simple question: why do you think so many people would rather believe this was PR than obligations for an NDA contract?

Here's an old Ask that I never got to so Anon, you're up lol. (I'll be getting to some other older ones, too; in busier times, some fell by the wayside. 😞).

Simple question, not sure there's a simple answer. But here are a few reasons:

1- PR for privacy is easier to understand, and people have trouble w/ the word "blackmail". As @tangovangogh articulated in her Ask below, what happened likely did so on "unfriendly" terms. And in celeb culture, unfriendly fire can mean reputation damage and reputation is everything. Tbf, the term blackmail actually held me up too in the beginning, until my partner & I talked it through it, and we got hints from the NY premiere and the Sohoes.

2-Many have no one w/ whom to talk it through. W/out my partner - and a staycation last summer - I might still be lost. It takes a good deal of TIME, RESEARCH & DEEP ANALYSIS to figure out the most probable/ plausible scenario(s). And I believe we did it. Because as others drop off, we keep getting more & more confirmation that what we believe is happening bts indeed is.

3- They understand some but not all of the moving parts. This story didn't start last year nor during the World Tour. The timelines are key in understanding Lukola's relationship arc over the past 6 yrs. You don't have to know every detail. But how things changed from S3 filming- on is where the truth lies and the complication begins...

4- They miss or dismiss one or more of the fundamentals and/ or take the adjacents at face value. In all likelihood, Lukola commited to one another on the WT, became expectant parents and entered into an NDA contract w/ A... one doesn't exist w/ out the other. And most every move w/ an adjacent has been done w/ that in mind. It's easy to forget when pap pics are thrown in your face, but the fundamentals keep a shipper strong.

5- Lastly, background and experience factor in. Some have such personal attachment to traumas that are triggered by this story that they have blinders on. Some can't relate generationally, some can't wrap their head around social media or PR tactics, and some can't fathom the celebrity world or understand legal parameters. It's alot!

I envy those who are off the radar now and will be popping back in to pop the champagne when Lukola launches. At least we'll all have that to celebrate, and it won't matter how you got there! 🍾🥂🎉

Tangovangogh's post ⬇️

An Anon on Discord shared this w/ me ⬇️

[wlwsoccerfics]

The Academy is calling(MaryEarpsXTeenDaughter)

A/N: you Guys asked for more Mary with r as her daughter. So Here it is. Reader is 14 in this and plays her first game at Arsenal academy. Please read the First Part so it makes sense. also it's a bit short.

Warning: injury

Summary: your aunties are all coming to watch your First Game for the Arsenal academy.

You moved to London a few months ago. Because you got an offer to play for the Arsenal academy. It has been two years since you started working on becoming a great Goalkeeper. You are able to walk without braces now. And your legs have gotten strong enough to make it through the 45 minutes of a half time. And then you recharge during the half time break.

Good thing you didn't have to run as much as the other Players because that for sure would always be an issue. But you made it work.

You stood between the Goal Posts for Arsenal when your Arsenal U16 was playing against the Manchester City U16 team. Your aunties from Arsenal were there. Your moms teammates and your aunties from Manchester United were also there to watch you. Yes your Mom was back playing for them. Millie B And Lucy were also there. And you lived with Beth now. Since she was one of your godmothers. Lucy was the other one. She still complained that You didn't Play for chelsea, cause that was the right side of london. You saved the First four Shots on target.

"that's my Girl!" Your Mom stated proudly.

"my goddaughter is so talented!" Lucy said.

"hell yes! Goalkeeping must be in your blood, Mary!"Millie answered. Your Mom was so proud of you.

Everything was fine until one of the Manchester City Girls basically tackled you to the ground. And you hit your head on the Goalpost, lying on the floor unconcious.

"oh my god!" Beth said and looked at you, lying there. Not moving. The Game was stopped of course and the medics ran over.

"please wake up, Angel!" Your Mom whispered out to herself. Millie Turner and Tooney gently rubbing her back and trying to calm her down so she won't jump over the barrier and onto the field.

It didn't take long for the medics to load you into the ambulance. Your Mom and Beth went to the hospital with you. Your aunties were waiting for more information from your Mom or Beth.

After you thankfully managed to wake up again and the doctors ran some tests. You had a concussion but you were fine otherwise.

"you still need to rest for the next two weeks, y/n!" The doctor told you.

"okay." You just said. The headache was killing you. It hurt like hell.

"i will make sure she rests, doctor." Your Mom said softly.

"i am gonna pick the two of you up tomorrow. Steph is bringing over some of your clothes in a few." Beth replied.

"thanks auntie Beth." You told her and offered her a small smile. Letting out a small yawn. Slowly closing your eyes.

Falling asleep. You had to be woken up every hour though. Something you didn't enjoy at all. But your Mom cuddled you all night.

The next day you were allowed to leave and your aunt Beth indeed pick you and your Mom up.

"how are you feeling kiddo?" She wanted to know.

"Like i have hit my head ." You said with a soft chuckle. Sighing softly.

"which is why you gonna need some more rest and No Screen time for 48 more hours, doctors Order!" Your Mom told you.

When you reached Home Steph and Beth cooked some food while your mom cuddled you on the Couch.

"i Love you so very much, sweet Girl. And i am so proud of you. Your First Game yesterday was just amazing." Your Mom told your whole gently stroking your head.

"means alot to me Mom. I am really upset though that i have to take a break already!" You admitted.

"you gonna come back stronger kid." Your Mom let you know. Smiling softly at you. You smiled back.

"i appreciate you saying that, Mom ." You whispered out and closed your eyes. Falling asleep again.

"we will be at her next Game for sure. She is very talented!" Your aunt Steph answered.

"agreed! We are very proud of her!" Your auntie Beth said.

"thank you for everything the two of you do for her when i am not here." Your Mom told them.

In fact three weeks later all your aunties were back to watching you Play and having a Clean sheet.

You played really well and half a year later you got your first call Up for the U16 national team. Your Mom and your aunties couldn't be more proud. Your Mom even cried Happy tears.

[drewlyyours]

A BIG ISLAND RECAP FROM BIMBO TRIAL #3

Eight bimbos were sent the following clues:

“Ned’s 10th”

“Live at Big Island Mike’s”

“Smokies”

“Canonically gay”

“High School”

“0925 1994”

“Nancy canonically kills someone”

and this photo:

⚠️ SPOILERS BELOW ⚠️

Each of these clues gave us a number:

(0 Nancy kills)

(2 people live at Big Island Mike’s)

(1 Canonically gay character - Dagny)

(4 big island bucks for an Aloha Necklace)

(7 is Ned’s 10th phone number digit)

(1 Paseo del Mar in game #1)

(7 pounds for Smokies in SPY)

(9 the expired mayo [which expires 0925 1994] is in game #9)

Our benevolent prophetess then gave us this hint:

We determined that the password was 02141779, the day that Capt. James Cook was killed by native hawaiians after taking hostage and killing Chief Kalani’ōpu’u.

Putting the password into the link provided by @the-immersion-excursion at midnight (PST) last night, we received this crossword puzzle:

All of the answers can be found in the Creature of Kapu Cave, EXCEPT 1 Down. Which can be found in Miss Excursion’s fanfiction “i’d rather burn my whole life down.” where we find out that Y/N’s mother did indeed die on 9/11. Meaning that the answer to 1. Down is “Twin Towers.”

Sending the answers to Miss Excursion, she provided us with the final password: PICKLES

In following, one must message her “SOUR KISS” to conclude the trial.

THANK YOU TO MY FELLOW BIMBOS WHO PARTICIPATED ON THE DISCORD, (if i miss someone PLEASE TELL ME):

@papenniesandbentoboxes @topeka-commission-for-the-arts @sonnys-space-junk @discombobulateddisco007 @nancyscenterofoperations @nancydrewmermaid @naancypants @henrikvanderswoon @prettymuchpotter @iwantakokokringle @draconicwishes @beastofblackmoor

[northoftheroad]

Has Dick ever attempted to kill Zucco? Because it's something I see very often being brought up in discussions about Dick Grayson. But in everything I've read, the only thing Dick has ever done to Zucco is bring him to justice with Batman's help after finding out he's who murdered his parents.

Hi, Indeed, the idea that little Dick was out for bloody vengeance is blown hugely out of proportion and it's tiresome to see it so widespread! As far as I know, he's never been out hunting for Zucco with the expressed intention to kill him.

(I might be late to the party because I saw that @farshootergotme recently made this point in two posts – definitely check them out (part 1 and part 2). But since I've been working on an answer, I'll press on.)

The original story (and later retellings of it) in Detective Comics # 38 (1940) had Dick intending to go to the police but Batman stopped him and said it would lead to Dick himself being killed because "the whole town is run by boss Zucco" (who was a big time boss at the time, he's been very much reduced in importance since).

Detective Comics # 38

In Batman Year Three (1989), right after the murder, Dick tells Batman to "Kill him for me". He's never out looking for Zucco, though, and by the time he's taken in by Bruce from the orphanage, he says it wouldn't change anything, he just wishes he "could do something so people like him couldn't hurt anyone ever again".

Batman vol 1 # 436 and 437

I think the angriest we've seen Dick is in Batman The Animated Series. I believe the BTAS episodes Robin's Reckoning (1993) started the trend of little Dick going out by himself (in different media, he has been looking for Zucco, running away from being mistreated, following Batman, and visited the circus).

In BTAS Zucco wasn't caught after the murder and little Dick was indeed out to look for Zucco, but nothing was said about killing him. He still becomes a pretty happy Robin in the show, but he does blow up when Zucco comes back to Gotham and Batman doesn't want Robin's help to look for him (because Batman was afraid that something would happen to Robin). There is a moment where Zucco (and the audience) is supposed to wonder whether Robin will let him drop a long way down, so this, I would argue, is the closest we'll ever see to Dick wanting to kill him. But this is Dick as a young adult who have lived with Zucco getting away, as opposed to comics.

BTAS Robin's Reckoning

In the Robin Annual # 4, Year One, (1995), where Dick is placed and mistreated at a youth centre, he runs away to get away – with no intention of looking for a criminal, just to save himself. He's still alone and miserable after Bruce has taken him in so he does go out one night to visit Haly circus, which is back in town. Haly is killed, Dick attacks the killers and has to be saved by Batman. Dick's internal thoughts in this book are about putting Zucco away (in prison), not killing.

Robin vol 2 Annual # 4

In The Choice in Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #100 (1997), Dick does go out to look for the murderer, and Zucco dies of heart failure (or something like that), but Dick says he didn't want him to die. And in Dark Victory (1999–2000), Dick tells Batman he wants to help. However, Batman takes Dick with him to confront Zucco; Dick chases Zucco who (again) dies from medical issues, and Dick does not look triumphant.

Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #100 (The Choice)

Dark Victory

And in New 52, (Nightwing vol 3 # 0, 2012), 15-year-old Dick is indeed out looking for Zucco, because he feels it's his responsibility, and he starts to fight criminals together with Batman out on the streets. Again, nothing is said about wanting to kill Zucco. The Long Year in Secret Origins vol 3 # 1 (2014) has a slightly different version, but here too, Bruce and Dick only talk about catching Zucco.

Nightwing vol 3 # 0

Secret Origins vol 3 # 1 The Long Year

There are a few more versions of Dick's origin stories, but I think I've covered the ones most people know about. I'm not really familiar with the animated Teen Titans but, as far as I know, there is no mention of Tony Zucco here (since some people seem to think that Robin is actually Tim Drake, even though it's clearly based on New Teen Titans. And I believe there is a reference to the circus somewhere?).

Thanks for the ask! I have been writing snippets about the subject of fanon murder child Dick Grayson here and there, it was good to get a reason to collect my thoughts and panels once and for all.

[someprettyname]

✨GF FC INDIGO AWARDS 2024 PT. 1✨

part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | part 5 | part 6 | part 7 | part 8 | part 9 | part 10 | part 11 | part 12 | part 13 | winner's list | after party

Some points to note before you move to the event visualizer : 

🟣 My anchoring style is highly energetic and bubbly so you can imagine me doing a lot of hand gestures, changing pitch and tones of my voice, moving around on the stage a lot, etc. Hehe.  

🟣 The theatre/event venue has been engineered by the best engineers of the world, with the most modern technology. The petals of the lotus can close or open to hide or reveal the night sky. It can also change its colours. For tonight, it's indigo!  

🟣 The "OUTFIT CHECK" were clicked in different places (according to where the member was spotted first) hence the different background. 

🟣Ignore the contradiction of same blue locker entering the scene multiple times, pretend there are a few copies of each member 🥰👍🏻

🟣 Ignore the outfit mismatch in the edits (any edit after the outfit checks please, our editing skills only go so far 🙏🏻 ) 

🟣 I didn't want to write too many dialogues on yall's behalf but I can't really bother you with every small detail, so I hope whatever dialogues I've made up are not too out of character! 

🟣 I highly suggest that you listen to songs as you keep finding them being embedded in links for added feels and extra hype! 🔥

🟣 The performances where multiple songs have been used is supposed to be a mashup. You can imagine the mashup to be as you please! The songs I've bunched together are for the sole purpose of creating a particular vibe, so as long as to they are fulfilled it's all good! 😌🤝🏻

🟣 The posts are scheduled at a gap of 3-4 hours each, this event is going to be spread throughout 2 or more days. Feel free to go feral in the comments/reblogs/community my mates. 🔥 

🟣 I hope you enjoy this! Tagging all the attendees here : 

@glue-thief  @getosugurusbangs @bueris @soleilonthesun @galaxynajma

@sid3buns @mariyumemi @pinkinsect @refrigeratedboombursts @satosuguhastakenovermylife 

@10renz0 @simp-simp-no-mi @boinin @sharkissm @milkteansugar 

@thebestsetter @merlucide @jujutsustraycats @kurona-theshark @nskiyuriz

@asarajaa @writingonthewalls1832 @hooudie212back @sadao-tsuki @milaisreading 

@8-xnny @licoririce @rinitoshisgirl @luvingshidou  @duckydee-0

@kuro-min @gojoracle @marcsnuffy @filecurropt0 @riririnnnn 

@wroophruh @sanaexus @melodiclune

*The camera zooms out to display the event venue*

*And zooms back in to the other side, revealing the red carpet*

Good evening ladies and gentlemen, reporting live from the Lotus theatre is Me, Nami/Miki and Soleil. The evening you'd be anticipating for so long is finally here! I welcome you all to the GF FC INDIGO AWARDS : a place where all your contribution and hardwork towards the club is acknowledged and appreciated! 

Soleil : Oh look! The guests are starting to arrive! 

Nami : Indeed! Indeed! I think it's about time we part to catch them in the spicy blue corner, eh? 

*We both give each other knowing looks, bump our fists and part ways.*

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.  .·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

Nami : Aaannndddd who do we have here? (*Grins*) HELLO FOLKS! GOOD EVENING! 

pinkinsect : HELLO! 

glue-thief : Good evening to you too! 

getosugurusbangs : 🎵~

Alexis : Nice to meet you! :> 

Nami : Nice to meet you too! (*nods in acknowledgement*) Did you know that you've stumbled upon what we call (*clicks fingers and the lightings around turn blue*) the spicy blue corner, where things get a lil' spicccyyy ( ͡⁠°⁠ ͜⁠ʖ⁠ ͡⁠°⁠)

Pinkinsect : 000:

Shidou : HOLY CRAP!!!!!! 🤩 SPICY BLUE!!!! THIS IS AMAZING!!!!! 🤑🤠💥

Nami : *chuckles* yeah well, the fans are always curious aren't they? (*shuffles through some cards*) And the one who the fans answer from here is Val!! 

Glue-thief : 🫡🫡

Nami : It is a common knowledge that sometimes the sports shoes can't endure the torcher they are put through and the sole ends up coming apart. Gossips have it that one fine day when Isagi was trying to mend his shoe you stole his glue and ran away, what do you have to say about that? Legends say that he tripped on field later on because his shoe was half broken.

Glue thief : Isagi is one of the neo egoist league's top earners. he can buy more glue if he needs it. the glue i took from him wasnt even made for fixing soles 😒 

I, however, am still in the process of planning out my glue tower and bridge, and I.... am definitely not a top earner in the neo egoist league 💀

I have some stuff leftover that I figured wouldn't work well with by glue towering building endeavors. Some of that glue is ACTUALLY for sole-fixing. He should come talk to me if he needs some help smh. *side eyes a sheepish looking Isagi by his side* 

Nami : *giggles* Thank you for your time gentlemen, you can proceed this way, you'll be accompanied by a valet each to help you locate your seat! 

*All 6 of them then proceed to the main hall* 

(This is what the entry hallway looks like to those who proceed to the main hall after red carpet and spicy blue corner.)

💥 OUTFIT CHECK💥

[ L -> R

top - someprettyname, pinkinsect

Bottom - getosugurusbangs, glue-thief ]

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.  .·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

*the camera cuts to Soleil* 

Soleil : Welcome! Welcome, ladies and gentlemen! You all look absolutely gorgeous tonight! ^_^

Galaxynajma : Hi Soleil! Good evening! 

Mariyumemi : heyo! 

Nagi : heyo! 

Simp-simp-no-mi - you look gorgeous too, miss Soleil! 🥹

Soleil : Well, as your usual reporter I've got some questions for miss Najma here before you all proceed! 

Najma : Shoot! 

Soleil : Rumors have it that you'd give up the ownership godship of a thousand galaxies just to be with Kaiser. Is this true? 

Galaxynajma: I had to give away a few . It was a promise to make sure Kaiser actually gets some therapy. It has worked ( shocking ) I know he’s doing a little better these days.

Kaiser : *definitely doesn't have heart eyes rn* 

Soleil : how heartwarming 🥹, thank you very much for your time, my ladies! Please proceed this way! 

*And just like all of them proceed with simp-simp-no-mi marvelling over their relationship and asking Najma a few more questions on their way*

💥 OUTFIT CHECK💥

[ L -> R

Top : soleilonthesun, mariyumemi

Bottom - galaxynajma, simp-simp-no-mi]

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.  .·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

*Camera cuts to Nami*

Nami : (*dramatic gasp*) MY OH MY! LOOK AT THE ABSOLUTELY GLAMOROUS BUNCH I'VE STUMBLED UPON! Even the stars would be jealous of you ladies and gentlemen. (*amused fangirling noises*) 

Aryu : (*twirling a strand of hair*) GIRLFRIEND FC is ✨OSHA✨ (*looks certainly impressed* )

Satosuguhastakenovermylife : (*looking up at him*) I told you! 😁

10renz0 : yeah! That's who we are ~ 

Lorenzo : yeah! That's who they are ~ 

Nami : (*gasps again, hand on heart*) That was certainly a HUGE compliment to our community! We are glad you approve us Mr. ARYU 🥹👍🏻

Refrigeratedboombursts : (*walks up looking around*) I love the decorations here! 

Bachira : (*appears out of nowhere behind my back*) ME TOO! ME TOO! 😃🎵

Nami : (*flinches*) Oh- hi. HELLO BACHIRA! It's...(*blinks a little flabbergasted*).... definitely nice to see you. 

Refrigeratedboombursts : (*pulls him*) Yeah. Likewise, Nami. :D 

Nami : Well. Well! It's good that we're all gathered here, I can now ask you the questions the public has been curious about! 

Aryu : Hm. How glam. 

Nami : ( *chuckles*), This one's specially for Ash! 

Bachira : ohoho 👀🎵

Nami : Legends say that you still have marks from bee stings when Bachira took you for beekeeping once. Is this true? If yes, how is your healing process going? Did Bachira end up getting stung too?

Refrigeratedboombursts: Yes! My healing process is going fine, and so is Bachira's.

Bachira : ^_^ 🎵

Nami : That's quite relieving to hear! We've also been told that you both don't get along with your neighbours too much because you're often found blasting songs together at 2am in the morning. Is this true? In any case, keep vibing. We love ourselves some double m. Mischievous Member(s).

Refrigeratedboombursts: (*shares a knowing look with Bachira*) That's a secret, teehee~

Bachira : 🎵:3

Lorenzo : that looks fun. I should try that on Snuffy :0

[ We were later informed by their neighbours that this, indeed was true.] 

Nami : uh oh! Well well (*grins like (͡⁠°⁠‿⁠ ͡⁠°⁠)*) who am I to convince you otherwise ~ 

Aryu : (*judging hard*)

Nami : In any case, ladies and gentlemen! I won't hold you any longer! Please proceed this way! 

(*And they walk away too, with Bachira and Aryu bickering over Meguru"s not ✨OSHA✨ behaviour while the gf fc members chat away pleasantly* )

Nami : *Giggles* That was certainly fun. Ha! 

💥 OUTFIT CHECK💥

[ L -> R

Top : satosuguhastakenovermylife, 10renz0

Bottom : refrigeratedboombursts]

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.  .·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

Nami : My! My! Look at my daughter looking all pretty 🫶🏻

Bueris : Thank you mama! ^_^ 

Boinin : Yep! I like the design! Makes her look like a princess 😌

Nami : well well, you look nothing short of a queen yourself! And you too miss sid3buns! A perfectly classy couple as one would expect ^_^✨

sid3buns : Aww! Thank you! You look gorgeous too 🫶🏻

Nami : Do I? Thank you! <3 

Bueris : Yes mama! You look pretty! :D 

Nami : 🥹 Thank you, my daughta'! Now, that we are all here, let me welcome you to the...(*lightings turn blue*) spicy blue corner of the red carpet, where things get ✨ Interesting✨

Kurona : *is fascinated* oh :00 curious! Curious! 

Nami : *chuckles* well, there are some fan questions for our members that are especially high on demand, so we do the fans a service :3

Barou : *judging silently, looks unimpressed but is secretly impressed* 

Nami : And the ones we have questions for here is...(*shuffles through cards*)...oh! You Billy! 

Bueris : 😳

Nami : But before that, where's Riri? Did you leave her behind? 

Bueris : No mama! Kira (@/merlucide) just wanted to have a...chat....with her. She said she'll come with the others! 

Nami : Ah! I see. Alright then. Onto the question! 

Nami : It's nothing to be afraid of, just that rumors has it that you have tried to murder a certain blond. Are those true? How are your relations with galaxynajma after that? 

Bueris : oh! hehe uh- rumours shoomurs, yeah! I mean no! no! no attempt on that... blond's life I simply forgot to press the break peddle when I saw him in the street 🫶 total coincidence 💞

my relations to najma are very friendly! I tell her about any interesting birds I see :)

Nami : Aww. It's okay! It was just a small mistake 🥰 we all mistakes sometimes don't we? 

Barou : *judging real hard rn*

Kunigami : *is secretly proud of Billy*

Nami : Anyways, ladies and gentlemen I won't keep you waiting anymore, you can proceed this way! 

*And just like that they all proceed to the main celebration hall too*

💥 OUTFIT CHECK💥

[ L -> R

top : bueris, sid3buns

Bottom : boinin ]

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.  .·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

Stay tuned for more upcoming interviews...

[ organiser : @/someprettyname

script writing credits : @/someprettyname

proofread by : @/melodiclune

editing credits : @/soleilonthesun ]

[gale-gentlepenguin]

Gale Rates: All the break ups of Ramona and her Evil exes

Criteria:

1. It will have 3 ratings. How bad the break up is, How much fault is on the Ex, and How much fault is on Ramona.

2. It will be rated 0 out of 10. 0 being that it was not their fault, 10 being it was completely their fault.

3. This is going as objective as possible. I will be using the Original source (the comics) and any supplemental source that gives insight on the break up.

__________________________________________

1. Matthew Patel

Ratings: Break up: 3/10

The relationship always felt like a means to an end. Plus it was middle school and it barely counts

Matthew’s Fault: 3/10

From my understanding he was too immature and his Capriciousness (moody) , but it was Ramona that indeed ended the relationship and he didn’t take it well

Ramona’s Fault: 7/10

Ramona said up front the only reason she dated him was to get the jocks off her back and because he wasn’t a Jock and wasn’t white (her own words). Which really makes it a means to an end. She doesn’t make it sound like he didn’t know this. But Ramona could have handled it better.

___________________________________________

Lucas Lee

Break up: 10/10

Considering Lucas felt this was a big deal and he was cheated on, it’s clear that this was a hurtful break up. As For Ramona she hardly seemed to think much of the relationship. But still it is completely on their actions it ended

Lucas Fault: 1/10

Ramona did mention that there was a lot of Drama in their relationship. To the point that she wasn’t sure what class she met him (drama, or math). But even so Ramona ended up leaving him for her next Evil Ex which she cheated on him with. Now I can’t fault Lucas too much, because he doesn’t even hold much ill will towards her, he hates Todd more. At worse he was described as whiny.

Ramona’s Fault: 9/10

She cheated on him. Like that pretty much sums it up. She might have not really considered it much of a relationship, And I’m being understanding and trying to be as objective as possible. Ramona has completely created this Evil Ex,

________________________________________

Todd Ingram

Break up: 2/10

They ended up breaking up cause they were going to different colleges and it was mutual. They were the bad kids together but there was no real malice in the split

Ramona: 4/10

As mentioned above, it was a mutual break up cause they were going to different colleges. Ramona even pointed out that Todd was a bad guy known for fooling around. And she was mortified by the moon thing. So even though the break up was mutual, I feel like she still would break it off sooner or later.

Todd: 6/10

As mentioned above, it was a mutual break up cause they were going to different colleges. But Todd also had a girl back home he was waiting for him. And he was a prick.

___________________________________________

Roxie Richter

Break up: 8/10

Ramona's university roommate and the only ex-girlfriend. She alleges that their relationship was just a phase. But as expanded upon in Scott Pilgrim takes off, Roxie fell hard for her and the way they broke up was Ramona leaving without saying a word. So it was heartbreaking and sad.

Ramona’s Fault: 8/10

While not as bad as what she did to Lucas, I find what she did to Roxie on a similar level. Ramona never really gives a reason aside from it was a phase. Which Roxie is hurt by. I can’t entirely fault Ramona because if you realize you aren’t into another sex (or just not attracted To Roxie) you shouldn’t stay out of obligation. But that being said, she should have talked with Roxie about it.

Roxie’s Fault: 2/10

Roxie really isn’t at fault here, I guess the only thing one could argue is she could have pushed Ramona to get some answers and maybe be a bit more forthcoming with her feelings. But that is really all I can say. Though in the comic Roxie and Ramona have a more friendly relationship.

____________________________________________

Kyle & Ken Katayanagi

(Mostly they are in the background I’m sorry)

Break up: 10/10

Ramona blatantly cheated on them with eachother. Like yea according to her they were womanizers and sleazy, but it never made it sound like they were cheaters or anything worse. And the relationship ended when they found out about the cheating

Ramona’s Fault: 10/10

She intentionally did this. This is her fault which she admits. And quite frankly I feel bad for the twins, screwed over by screen time and Ramona. I will point out how intentionally f***ed this is

Kyle & Ken Katayanagi: 0/10

Maybe they were complete douchebags, but they got intentionally played by Ramona. It’s often skipped over but it’s probably the most justified why these guys are Evil Exes. At least they have eachother.

___________________________________________

Gideon Graves

Break up: 10/10

Gideon was an abusive asshole that experimented on Ramona and got angry when she left because she ended the relationship and his ego couldn’t understand why

Gideon’s Fault: 10/10

Gideon is an abusive asshole that thinks he’s God’s gift to humanity and can’t understand why people would ever want to leave him. He EXPERIMENTED on Ramona. Not experimented with like in a kinky way, but in a science lab rat kind of way. This doesn’t even include what he WAS planning to do with her later. Point is, this one’s on him.

Ramona’s Fault: 0/10

See above, she is 100% valid for leaving that abusive relationship.

[meraki-yao]

Hi! I hope I don't come across as some hater (I'm really not, I promise). I just saw someone on twitter mentioning that nick filtered rwrb on his ig. If you comment it is only visible to you or something like that. I didn't check myself, but I wonder, if it's true, why did he do that? Is just really sad ngl.. I mean again, no hate here, please don't get me wrong, I love both and nick and tzp! It is ok if you don't want to answer this or something. P.S. If anything please don't block me omg :D. P.P.S. You really seem like such a nice human being and I admire your mindset, keep it up! Take care!

I'm answering this one because 1, you're a sweetheart, thank you for asking so politely, 2, my Chinese rwrb friends did some investigating.

"rwrb" the combination of these four letters, is indeed filtered. BUT, the full name "Red White & Royal Blue" isn't. Neither is "Henry", "Prince Henry", or "❤️🤍💙". It is literally just, the acronym.

The circled is from the recent F1 post:

At the same time, look what they found:

These screenshots are from my friend, her user interface is in Chinese so I'll translate a bit: all of these comments are from the last two hours, all from the same account, this "user24613579811". But if you look at their profile:

0 followers, 0 posts

That's suspicious, right?

On top of that, this account has been commenting under Nick's post for at least the past month

This comment, is from approximately a week ago, under the 18 May post. This is also prove that the phrase "Red White and Royal Blue" isn't filtered.

Also note that in the collection of comments, not only is "rwrb" typed as "rwr*b", but "homophobic" is typed as "homophob*c", so the word "homophobic" is probably filtered as well

So this is the hypothesis: the account has been massively harassing Nick for a while, and originally, they only used the phrase "rwrb" not the full name. Blocking this account isn't really productive because blank accounts like this are easy to set up, if you block this one, the person behind the account can just set up another one in like, five minutes. So they chose to filter "rwrb". This isn't against the project and the fandom, it's against these bully spam accounts.

My friend also said, and I quote "This is just my hypothesis, if you think otherwise, please do feel free to do some investigating yourself. Also, please remember this:"

Take care too!

[chocosea]

Article Title: プリキュアの“恋愛描写”は20年間でどう変わった？　「彼氏」すら表現できなかったプリキュアがわんぷりで「カップル誕生」を描けるまでに至った理由

What has changed in 20 years of Precure's depictions of romance? Reasons behind the change from seasons that couldn't include boyfriends to the birth of a couple in Wonderful Precure

Some basic summary of this post written by Kasumi, the guy who keeps track of Precure sales and makes handy graphs and whatnot.

The beginning of this article is summary of Wonderful Precure's Satoiro developments.

Later in the article, there's some quotes from Narita. Summarized: After the first few seasons, the response they got from parents was that they would prefer not to have romance because the girls watching this were like 3, 4 years old. So it was a taboo to write about romantic relationships.

The first few seasons were about falling in love with older boys shoujo manga-style, then we have Fresh's whole "I'm not telling you my answer" ending.

In Happiness Charge Narita was uncertain about whether they should do romance as one of the main themes but Nagamine wanted to go for it. So they did a love triangle as one of the main writing setups. Narita still asked multiple times if it was okay to write what she was writing. When Megumi lost in love at the end of the series it became a big topic.

After Happiness Charge they took a step back again and romance barely features besides crushes that don't go anywhere.

This changed in Hugtto when Homare gets turned down by Harry, and Hana's whole thing with George (aka her future schrodinger's evil husband).

None of these depictions are like focused on romance as something that actually leads to a mutual, intentional relationship.

Tropirouge was made specifically to have 0 romance

Black Pepper was created with the idea that he was supposed to work with the girls to save each other rather than just saving them from a pinch. His feelings were only written in to add a bit of spice to the show. But he signals a shift from possible love interests being a prince you admire to a partner that fights with you.

Every season that has served as a turning point in Precure's depiction of romance has had Narita in charge of series composition (Happiness Charge, Otona, and Wonderful).

Article mentions that while before it was unthinkable for idols and actors to have romantic partners, in the 2020 era it's become more normal for actors and TV talent to declare that they're dating and for idols to continue their idol work while being married.

プリキュアでも、かつては「コクる」「彼氏」という言葉1つだけでも保護者から大ブーイングだった時代がありました。

In Precure as well, there was an era where the words "confession" or "boyfriend" were met with loud booing from guardians.

But the times and mindsets have changed so now we have a married Precure and a Precure with a boyfriend.

梅澤　実は大ブーイングでした。「コクる」「彼氏」というセリフも評判が悪かったです。中学生だから、必然性があるから、大丈夫というわけじゃない。両親が観せたくない作品になっては『プリキュア』じゃない、と痛感しました。 ぴあ『プリキュアぴあ』（P87）

This quote is basically what was just summarized above. In addition to the booing thing, Umezawa (producer for Fresh, Heartcatch, Suite) says that he realized that if they wrote things that parents wouldn't want to show their kids then it wouldn't be Precure

So I guess parent opposition is indeed a big reason why they've been avoiding romance. But nowadays:

Satoiro has been massively popular with elementary school girls.

The target range for Precure has risen now also with the cosmetics and the like, ranging from elementary schoolers to young women.

We should expect to see more depictions of romantic love in Precure in the future.

"Change is Precure's strong point."

[autism-autobot]

Flower of a Poisonous Seed Part 58:

Part 57:

Wukong wasn't feeling well that morning so he ranted to Nezha about something that was bothering him as Nezha helped him get into comfortable clothes.

SWK: I mean, the math isn't mathing on this one! I had my surgery just after New Year's and then we had my birthday, my therapy sessions, The Zipper Incident, and the whole fiasco with the house in the span of four and a half months? It doesn't add up!

Nezha: That... that is a good point. We've been going to your water therapy sessions twice weekly and regular therapy once a week since about a month after your surgery. And we've had well over two dozen sessions in water therapy at this point. It... it doesn't make sense.

SWK: Right??? Like, maybe Heaven does have a time dilation thingy and your father didn't know about it or something?

Nezha: *swaddles Wukong up and puts a cold compress on his head* That is a possibility. Even my father isn't omniscient. He could've been wrong.

SWK: Maybe Erlang will have answers? He's been in Heaven longer than your father, right?

Nezha: Indeed, and he is far more observant too.

SWK: *tries sitting up* Alright, let's give him a call.

Nezha: *gently pushes him to lay back down* I will call him. You need to rest.

SWK: I can manage. I've been improving so much and I don't want to break my streak like this!

Nezha: You have been improving a lot. But you must take time to let your body rest as well. You are still fighting off a terrible illness and yes, it is mostly gone with the medications and therapies you've been taking, but you are still sick and need to take time to let your body heal and recover.

Nezha: And remember: the doctor said that this illness has done things to your immune system. While you are not immunocompromised per se, you have the potential to contract mortal illnesses.

Nezha: I am very grateful for Red Son's efforts at preventing such things, but we can't control everything and diseases might make their way to Heaven without anyone noticing due to the high rates of immunity here.

Nezha: So please, rest yourself dear. I don't want you to lose your progress either, which is why I ask this of you.

SWK: *pouts* *lays back down* But today's library day.

Nezha: I know. But the books can wait until you feel better. *tucks him in*

SWK: Could you get some tea, please?

Nezha: Of course my darling. Do you want a particular brew?

SWK: If ginger is available, may I have that?

Nezha: I believe we have some, is your stomach upset?

SWK: *whiny* Yeah.

Nezha: *rubs his head* Poor thing. I'll get you what you need.

~~~

Nezha brought the tea tray back with ginger tea steeped to perfection. Nezha was sure to give it time to cool as to not harm Wukong in any way.

Nezha: *pours a cup* Here you are, my love. I hope it does good to you.

SWK: *tries to bring the cup to his mouth but drops it* Oh no!

Nezha: *tries catch it but misses*

Cup: *hits the ground and bounces up*

Nezha & SWK: Huh???

SWK: Hold on, let me try something.

Nezha: WUKONG, WAIT!!!

SWK: *grabs another cup and throws it hard to the ground*

Cup: *bounces even higher than before*

Nezha: Huh. It seems like whoever repaired the set took measures to ensure it wouldn't happen twice.

SWK: Neat!

Nezha: Let's not go throwing the tea set around though.

SWK: Okay. It was a neat surprise though!

Nezha: Indeed. But now you must drink.

SWK: Okay. If the ginger tea doesn't do me any good, at least my mood has improved!

Nezha: Good. I hope it has.

Nezha: I ought to get to work. Luckily I can do it all from the comforts of home today so I can watch over you.

SWK: Imagine how much better it'll be when we're in our own home.

Nezha: I can't wait.

SWK: To paint the walls, put in furnishings, decorate, make our bed-

Nezha: Silly Mushroom, I can't wait for any of that. But for now, I must work, and you must rest.

SWK: And drink tea.

Nezha: And drink tea. That too.

SWK: *looks out the door curiously*

Nezha: Something the matter?

SWK: Does it seem a little quiet to you?

Nezha: I... hm... I suppose it i-

*CRASH*

Jing: *yelling from the other room* DAMMIT SOCKS!!! I TOLD YOU NOT TO KNOCK GLASSES OFF THE COUNTER!!!

Nezha & SWK: There it is.

Part 59:

Masterpost

@istopaskingmemate @weaverpop @ainnur @starrclown @cutvdo @fruit-fight @swkbiggestdefender @vivyainou

[markantonys]

wotseries posted an alleged elaida audition script about 1) her telling presumably leane that she's at the tower to look for elayne and also that siuan's in a big mess and she could use elaida's help in cleaning it up, and 2) her discussing prophetic powers with min.

the first scene is pretty standard with what we've been predicting for elaida and the white tower plotline in s3, so i don't have any commentary on that one for now (though it does imply that, indeed, we'll be setting up the coup to be a slowburn season-long event with elaida weaseling around for a while before making her big move, rather than a shock event that happens early in the season, but i think most of us were thinking this already anyway).

the second scene is interesting because a different leak had placed min in tanchico. wotup's leaks have been flagrantly incorrect before (said faile would be in s2) and wotseries' audition scripts have also been flagrantly incorrect before (said gawyn would be in s2), so at this point it's just a question of which source i distrust more, and i can't answer that haha so for the time being i'll treat both Min Locations as equally plausible. (i'm assuming it'll only be one or the other because i find it hard to imagine that she could make an appearance in both locations during the course of the season, but i suppose you never know.)

looking at where s2 left off, both are equally plausible. min is in cairhien, and both siuan & co and liandrin are also in cairhien. i could see siuan snatching min back to the white tower because she knows about her powers and wants to use them, and i could also see liandrin snatching min over to tanchico because she considers her a liability after min betrayed her/didn't follow through on the deal/figured out she's a darkfriend.

looking at min's established story in the show and where her story goes in future in the books (lmao at the statement that min has a story in the books), both are equally plausible. tanchico would put her back into contact with liandrin and mat to follow up on her story with them in s2 and set up for her future seanchan story with mat (and doubly so if there's a seanchan presence or even tuon herself in tanchico in s3). the white tower would return her to her book storyline and, based on this scene with elaida, potentially give her the opportunity to have a storyline exploring the nature of her powers and her relationship with them. either storyline would allow her to go on to cross paths with rand in the next season or two.

(edited to add that tanchico would also have min interacting with elayne to help set up the polycule. i've so thoroughly made the polycule rand/elayne/avi/mat in my mind that i kinda forgot min is the canonical fourth member when i was making this post djkfg)

i will say that in the books, the tower coup has absolutely 0 bearing on min's overall character/story because she has 0 stakes in any of that stuff and 0 connection to aes sedai. it makes for an interesting 1-book storyline for her, but it's never relevant to her again (vs. someone like gawyn who is dealing with the repercussions of the coup in his storyline for pretty much the rest of the series), and so for that reason i wouldn't be sorry to replace her book storyline with an invented tanchico storyline that might have more long-term relevance to her (re: seanchan stuff). however, if the show expands her white tower storyline to include an exploration of her powers, i'd love that because min actively struggling with and trying to navigate and learn more about and figure out how best to use her powers is something that should have been part of her current story rather than her pre-series backstory. and compare/contrasting with elaida and how SHE uses her prophetic abilities would be super interesting!

that being said, i will never again trust any wotseries audition scripts after the utter betrayal that was the gawyn one, so i'm taking this all with a grain of salt! every time they post a new one they're like "disclaimer that scenes could be invented just for auditions and won't appear in the actual show, but most of our past audition scripts have appeared in the show pretty close to the audition version" and i'm like "what about that time you misled me to believe a whole-ass boy would be present in s2 and then he wasn't???? is gawyngate a joke to you???" lmao i wish they'd be a bit more cautious with their audition script disclaimers bc *i* think they've been pretty hit or miss, not Usually Accurate (even the aviendha one, only 1 of 2 scenes made it into the show iirc).

[body-face-words]

Part 1 on analyzing Michael and David during season 1 of GO vs Season 2.

Part 2

@cloud-based-and-rainpilled requested this analysis and provided the videos!

Here's the first video I'm analyzing:

•••••••••••••••• ••••••••••••••••

"There's a lot of beards tonight." 0:03

Michael turns to David, touching his own beard with his chin sticking to emphasize and confirm that there is indeed, a beard on him. "Look, I have a beard."

"I don't oil. Do you?" -DT 0:08

David takes a look at Mchaels beard, then eyes, examining him. Michael also examines Davids beard/hand.

When Michael is answering the question, David listens attentively. His eyes are following Michael.

When Michael is done answering, David looks up. He's taking in the information and analyzing it.

"It (the beard) gets hard and itchy otherwise." -MS 0:13

David eyebrows furrow. He dislikes what he's imagining, but he is reacting to what Michael says. Michael smiles at David and continues to stare. He's putting all his focus/attention on David.

In the last image, David says he didn't know you had to wash a beard and Michaels smiles flatten a bit. The answer caught him off guard but again, he's reacting to what David says the moment he says it.

0:25

David looks at Michael, Michael looks back and David looks down. At this, Michaels head bends to Davids face. He wants eye contact or to be able to see Davids face.

It looks like David is adjusting his suit when he looks down. There could be a few reasons for that:

1: He felt something wrong in his suit and wanted to fix it.

2: He's fidgeting.

Fidgeting happens when a person is anxious, stressed, nervous. or concentrating. David immediately looks down when they made eye contact and does something to his suit. If we're going with fidgeting, then the sudden eye contact could have made him nervous, causing him to look down and mess with his suit in an attempt to calm himself down.

"You (Michael) talk too much about sheep."

Michael: brows raises + eyes widen = surprised. Then his eyebrows furrow, meaning angers/offense.

David stares off, eyes wide, but neutral eyebrows. He's going through his memories or thinking of what to say.

Later, Michael responds and does a little nod. He's agreeing to what he's saying. David, still in his thoughts, shakes his head "no". He doesn't agree with the comment about the sheep.

In the third image David says "that's a terrible ??? slur". At the end of the sentence, David looks at Michael with a smile. He wanted to see how Michael reacted to his comment. When Michael didn't acknowledge it, David looks off again, with a stiff smile. He didn't get what he wanted. The corner of his lips is semi flat but his cheeks are raised and his eyes didn't become smaller.

In the first image, the interviewer mentions Scotland and Michael immediately looks over at David.

"Is there any bromance with John Hamm?"

David stops smiling and looks down. Michael also stops smiling and begins to chew on his inner lip. This is a question neither of them want to answer/are comfortable with. David tries to "go away" and Michael blocks himself from speaking.

"You three got a little group going off." 0:55

David stares off, blinking. He's thinking on what to say. Michael takes a breath in, bracing himself, before answering.

Michael talks about playing poker with John in a poker group in the United States. David tunes back in and makes eye contact with Michael.

"You're so cool! You're so much cooler than I am." -DT

Michael smiles looking down with his eyes closed. Probably bashful and/or happy about the comment.

David furrows his brows then raised them (you can see the lines appear on his forehead), shakes his head, then at the end of his sentence smiles. All of this combined means he can't believe it. "I can't believe you're this cool! How?!"

"He's far too charming and good looking to be in our bromance." -MS First Image

Michael, again, tries to have eye contact with David, while David is again staring off, probably thinking on what to say.

"We can't compete with John Hamm." - DT

They both shake their head no "true we can't compete". David finishes the sentence with a genuine smile, but Michael keeps his pout. Bottom lip out, corners down and defeated stare. That is something he, at the moment, truly believed.

David is ready to move on while Michael dwells on the feeling.

"How would a night be with the three of you?"

David smiles fades and takes a step back/leans back with his teeth clasped together. He doesn't like the question and wants to "get away". Leaning back can also be seen as a defensive stance. Michaels lips relax. The pout is more obvious. His lips becomes more horizontal and the left corner of his lips raises his cheek up meaning: Disappointment.

In the third picture David says "it's a lot of John Hamm based questions" looking at Michael. David wants Michaels input. Michaels eyes widen "oh, he's talking to me" or "oh, he's right!"

"Yes I can see where your interest is!" -MS

Michael plays along. David leans towards Michael, smiling. He got the response/reaction that he wanted. An 'alliance' has been made so David leans closer to Michael.

Then, they both continue to tease the interviewer.

"What's the baddest thing you've done?"

"I once walked through a field pulling the wheats off of the..."

When Michael says "pulling the wheats" David laughs, a bit exaggerated (reminds me of Zendaya when she would laugh loudly at what Tom would say) causing Michael to turn towards him.

"What about you David?"

"Oh, me too." -DT

Michael follows Davids movements this his eyes and trails off at the end of the sentence. Davis is looking up, going side to side, as he smiles. Michael, most likely, want to continue to see Davids reactions/face.

Both make eye contact with each other. Michael smiles fondly "you used my joke!" David looks at Michael "see what I did there?".

"I was there too." -DT

They both continue to smile. Michael is so happy! Corners up + bone cheeks out + small eyes. And David also continues to smiles!

Michael throughout the interview is seeking Davids eyes/face. He's looking for eye contact, for a connection to be there. He had no problem at staring at David and all of his features. Michael would move his head and eyes, following where David would move.

Side note: staring at someone lips (or staring at someone a LOT) means attraction. They think the person is good looking. Very obvious but I thought I should mention it.

Like mentioned before, Michael smiles a lot looking down. The reasons vary he seems to be an anxious, self conscious person.

David, on the other hand, would look away if Michael was already staring or avoid him altogether. However, if David was the one to initial eye contact, he would have no problem and would disappointed if Michael didn't look back and when Michael wouldn't respond or react to something David said.

David would say something and immediately turn to Michael, hoping for Michael to add on and when he did, David would be happy about it.

Also, David sways a lot in the interview. This could be because they're been standing for a long time and was getting tired. But even when he is seated, he moves around a lot, changing positions. Him swaying could just be he's a restless person.

Please let me know if I miss anything! And thanks for reading!