Going buckwild at the way Hilda The Series portrays adulthood and loneliness. Kaisa has no one to go to to ask for help getting the due book back, even though all it would take was someone she could minimally ask to knock on an elderly lady’s door and ask for a favour; she’s in the library after hours, is shown to have no allies aside from the woman who raised her and who she lost contact with. Johanna is only ever seen working or caring for Hilda, and her lack of a life aside from those two activities is pointed out by her own daughter when she thinks that this is going so far as to affect their relationship. The bell keeper lives alone in a small cabin on the edge of town, barely within city limits and away from everyone, a house barely even inhabitable and clearly only a place to sleep and eat. He works a solitary job and he’s the only one in the town still working it, meaning he’s probably overworked and forced to pull inhumanly long shifts. Victoria hyperfocused so hard on her projects that whatever friends she had before - and she must have had some from college time at least - lost contact with her, and she never made any other connections in Trolberg, anything that would tie her to the city and it’s inhabitants and make it so it wasn’t worth it to live by herself at the top of a hill. Even when that was over, she still chose to isolate herself somewhere abandoned and keep what was essentially another machine she’d built as her source of company, something she could understand and control instead of an unpredictable human being. Gerda works a job she likes but is shown to be disregarded by the person she works the most around, her abilities and intellect thrown aside for the good of someone she has to bear because of a hierarchy she was forced to accept in order to keep working. She’s appreciated by the town, but other than the main characters, we don’t see anyone paying her any mind when they don’t need something from her.
Meanwhile no kid has ever been alone in Trolberg. The mean kids are a group, the good kids are a group, even the gloomy teenage girls are a group. One of nightmare inducing entities, but a group nonetheless. All children in that world seem to operate on a ‘no man left behind’ code, looking out for each other even if they aren’t exactly fans of one another, helping even grown ups without asking why and working together. And this logic seems to extend to the adults who work around children too; especially the Raven Leader, who we see that through the children works as a vital part of the community and a way through which it comes together.
This isn’t very articulate but do you see the point? Do you see how clever that is? That a show about growing up has these themes? You can be magical, kind, strong, intelligent, competent, but none of that will make you truly happy if you don’t keep the most important thing from childhood? If you don’t keep your friendships, your bonds, something to tie you down to your reality and your community? The adults in the show all made their choices, and it’s okay to want to be alone, we all need it and some more than others (this is coming from someone who needs it a lot), but isolating yourself completely is the one thing that will make growing pains truly painful. I’m just so emotional over it. It’s so subtle and so clever considering the whole Mountain King plot that Hilda is willing to change species because she feels detached from her main relationships and surroundings. I love this show so much.
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hey its me from the "wheres the adopt a jock update, im dying" thing. im so sorry for it. i had know idea there even was a storm and it is 100% not ur job to keep us updated bc ur doing us favour by uploading content, im sorry i took that for granted.
im also sorry this apology came late, i felt to chicken to write one innitially, i dont know if i did end up sending u one, but ur reaction to my ask came up in my feed again and i really wanted to apologise once more.
I'm so sorry for those you lost in this horrid storm and I'm so proud of u for pushing through, everyone is and I hope u know that.
I know this apology doesn't make up for anything but I just wanted u to know that I took in what u responded, u were well in ur right to be pissed off, and I now know for future to type my messages in a kinder way so they don't get taken as a ride remark, I hope u know I didn't type what I said to be rude, not that it matters in anyway.
we're all looking out for u and wish u all the best, have a great day
It's all good fam--I honestly had a few of these messages between here and A03, some a lot ruder that yours, and yours just happened to be the first one I saw when I managed to get a few hours with proper access to Tumblr (Ie not on the craptastic app on my phone, which refuses to let me answer asks and crashes when I try lol.)
Thank you for apologizing, it does mean a lot, and it takes a lot of courage to do it.
It's a weird lesson to learn sometimes, that people who don't know you as well won't always know you're joking/your sense of humor, or may not mentally be in a space to fully comprehend it as a light prod instead of a "hey dude where's my content."
I think it's also a good reminder that fandom is a community first. I know there's a lot of discussion centered around how we're sliding into a more content mill like vibe vs that community, and that a lot of us are getting impacted by it a bit--I'll be the first to say I was more touchy even before the trees because I've had a lot more weird, demanding comments lately than I ever used to get. Not just in ST either--I'm seeing it on my older fics, in fandoms that are significantly smaller and typically very drama-less. While my policy normally is to delete and ignore, sometimes it builds (and then two trees almost kill you by collapsing your house and you start biting heads off after being stuck in a hotel with your family for two weeks.)
Anyway, thank you sincerely, for apologizing. It did not go unnoticed <3
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OK, the Underdark bit I've been most worried about for Rakha...
"Ah! A visitor! You're a welcome sight!"
Rakha is on guard immediately meeting this man. The only other such person she's met before - Wyll identified them as hobgoblins - was Ragzlin, one of the three leaders of the goblin camp aboveground. This fellow, though, smiles brightly at her and turns away from the large stack of books he has been examining, with no trace of hostility or malice in his manner.
"But," he goes on cheerfully, "let us observe the customs of the locals."
Narrator: The scholar's brow tenses. His voice spills into your skull, the spores connecting mind to mind.
Rakha squeezes her own eyes shut as her brain seems to vibrate with the man's voice. Blurg, proud member of the Society of Brilliance, at your service.
Then he flinches back and groans, rubbing his temple. "Hgn--nzzt. Or perhaps not. Your mind is far more complex than that of the fungi."
Rakha opens her eyes slowly. Society of Brilliance. She recognizes that name, too - the trader on the road to the creche mentioned working for them. The trader Rakha killed for being an ass to Lae'zel and threatening to steal a githyanki egg.
The man seems harmless, but she does not trust him. "Were you here when the duergar attacked?" she asks carefully.
Blurg smiles ruefully. "I observed the fight from a distance," he says. "Combat is not my field of expertise, but the myconids handled themselves well enough." He gestures around him. "My colleagues and I are working to improve conditions in the Underdark. This need not be such a dire, hostile place."
Rakha considers this, then relaxes slightly. Whatever this Society might be, Blurg does not grate on her the way Esther did; the beast urge remains at its low-level hum in the back of her mind.
Blurg, on the other hand, is looking at her with sincere interest. "It's curious to find a surface dweller here. What has brought you down so deep?"
(A/N: As usual - Rakha's primary resemblance to Hector is that her inclination is to be completely honest roughly 100% of the time. However, the only honest answer here goes straight to the tadpole; I think Rakha would have been more likely to talk about Moonrise Towers and their destination.
I know why they did it this way - bc they're setting up Omeluum's arrival - but it's always a bit annoying when the exact conversational tack I want to use isn't an option. Cos realistically it's already been established that telling a stranger who knows about such things that you have a tadpole is a recipe for being treated like a ticking time bomb. But we work with what we've got. XD )
"A mind flayer infected me with a tadpole," Rakha says with a slight shrug. She doubts this man will know anything about what that means, of course - and if he does, his reaction will probably be only fear. But there's no more point in sugarcoating the situation here than there has been anywhere else.
To her surprise, though, he perks up curiously. "Truly remarkable! But why come to the Underdark where they hold so much power?"
Rakha blinks. Curiosity is not the reaction she expected. And she can't help wondering if there are answers to be had here.
Explain the whole story.
Blurg listens with intent interest as Rakha, in quick clipped sentences, lays out the state of their adventure so far. He clicks his tongue thoughtfully when she's finished. "You were infected by an illithid tadpole? It's a miracle you're still intact. You must be worried sick - but have no fear! I have a friend who may be able to assist!"
Before she can ask him what she means by that, her head rings as the hobgoblin gives a shout through the connecting network of spores around them. Omeluum!
A pause - and then another ringing mental voice, this one lower and more resonant than Blurg's. I hope this is important, Blurg. My zurkhwood samples need constant attention.
"It is!" Blurg says excitedly, abandoning the mental communication and calling down the pathway behind him. "This adventurer has an illithid tadpole inside her head. But she hasn't turned!"
"No ceremorphosis?" says the deeper voice, now aloud as well. Rakha turns in time to see the new arrival--
"That's impossible," the mind flayer says placidly. "But intriguing. Are you looking to have it extracted?"
All of them go completely still, staring wide-eyed - for a moment too astonished to react.
Lae'zel finds her voice first, and her tone has gone ice-cold with trembling rage. "Ghaik!" she snaps. "Your head will make a fine trophy for my queen!"
"Please - hold," says the illithid; its tone has a muted urgency that might be a panicked shout in any other race. "I understand your rage against my kin. One of my brethren forced a tadpole into your eye - or ear, perhaps? But I assure you, I stand with the Society of Brilliance, not the colonies of my people."
Rakha barely hears him. Her heartbeat feels suddenly very loud in her ears, rage suddenly consuming everything else. Her vision pales out and the beast roars in her head. ENEMY. KILL.
She trembles with the urge to leap forward as she did back on the nautiloid, to hurl itself at this creature that is like those who captured her and destroy it, rip the tentacles from its head and shove a knife through that gaping maw of teeth beneath.
But--
She looks past Lae'zel's seething expression to Wyll behind her. He knows the hunting of monsters, but he has gone still with an expression of wary curiosity. He hears the same thing she does - there is something different about this illithid. Something strange, a mystery that tugs at the rational part of her mind.
And if she fights here, it might turn the myconids against them. And she does not wish them dead; she wants to bring them Nere's head and purchase another moment of peace.
"The myconids wouldn't appreciate us fighting here," she rasps out, her voice strained with the effort of resisting the blood urge. "I'll listen."
"Fool!" Lae'zel snarls. "They infest your head and invade your dreams, and still you would parley?"
Rakha ignores her. This isn't about the illithid, not really-- it's about the strangeness of this moment, and her need for answers, and her own inward struggle. It's another moment where the beast has wanted to kill and she has held it back, which is a sort of victory.
She half-expects Lae'zel to attack regardless, and hasn't quite decided whether to stop her. But Lae'zel remains still; her eyes are burning like coals with frustration... but she follows Rakha's lead and waits, a hand on her sword but leaving it undrawn.
The illithid seems to relax slightly. "I ask only that you refrain from violence," it says gravely. "I respect that your opinion of my kind may be... charged." It takes a slow, careful step forward. "If that settles matters for the time being - would you like a diagnosis? Open your mind to me. Let us see what lurks within?"
Rakha's jaw sets tightly at once. She has many invaders already in her head; she does not need another. Certainly not an illithid. "Never mind," she says curtly. "I'm done with mind flayers touching me."
The illithid tilts its head to the side. "I see," it says. It does not seem bothered by her attitude - but there is an odd air of regret in its monotone voice. "I will remain here... if you change your mind..."
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