#A SCHOOLBUS FULL OF KIDS

[grgie]

a random bus that isnt supposed to come down my road pulled up at my stop this morning and the driver had the audacity to give ME a weird look for asking if the bus goes to my stop. homie YOU are the one taking a little detour from the route not me!

[hazard-symbols-that-fuck-hard]

Okay time for the PBS Kids essay

Read it under the cut!

:readmore:

In 1968, before there was PBS Kids proper, there was Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood. While it came several decades before the children’s block, it laid the foundation for the themes and values present in every facet of the network’s history.

Mr. Roger famously hated children’s programming at the time. To him, it all was droll and useless. But he didn’t dissuade the medium entirely— he saw potential. Potential that led to a few smaller television jobs, and eventually the creation of Mr. Roger’s neighborhood.

Rogers didn’t invent educational TV for children, but he did perfect it. He poured real heart and soul into probably the most sincere, heartfelt program in history.

Honestly, he could have his own essay. The more things you learn about the real man of Mr. Rogers, the more you’ll like him.

Anyway, the biggest thing that makes PBS different is the fact that it earns money through grants, fundraisers, and private donors— not through sponsorships and merchandise sales. This way, PBS Kids can push programming that it feels is important, rather than programming that merely sells well.

This also means PBS is less afraid of pushing social boundaries. Money doesn’t go away when their shows become subjects of debate— and Mr. Rogers took full advantage of this.

For context, this was 1969. The Jim Crow era had just barely, barely ended. Pool segregation was still very much legal.

Mr. Rogers sharing a pool and a towel with the Black Mr. Clemmons was a pretty big deal at the time— especially on a show made for children.

Rogers was far from the untouchable sacred cow of today. When he was alive, he had a large number of detractors. Let’s just say that scene didn’t fly nicely by everyone.

Just one year after the debut of Mr. Roger’s came Sesame Street.

While Mr. Roger’s was made for all children, Sesame Street had the explicit goal of supplementing the education of underserved communities— especially inner-city Black (and later Latino) children.

While it was made to be accessible to children of all races and income levels, they definitely went the extra mile to make it something special for inner-city Black and Brown kids. (Why do you think it it’s “Sesame Street” and not “Sesame Cul-de-Sac”?)

At the time, a wholesome, sweet show set in a brownstone street was practically unheard of.

Jon Stone, the casting director, deliberately sought to make the cast as rich with color as he possibly could, bringing on a huge amount of Black talent such as Loretta Long, Matt Robinson, and Kevin Clash, as well as featuring Black celebrities as guest stars. Later, the show would expand its horizons, bringing on actors from Latino, Asian, Native American, and many more backgrounds.

White actors were and still are a minority on show.

In addition to letters and numbers, the purpose of Sesame Street is clear: make kids of color know that they’re smart, beautiful, and loved.

It doesn’t get more explicit than this.

I want to point out this comment because it’s funny

You’re telling me this bitch isn’t Hispanic???

Anyway, these two were followed up by Reading Rainbow in 1983. And guess what?

That’s right. Non-white focus.

These three shows, (along with other, lesser-known programs like Lamb-Chops Play Along, Newton’s Apple, and Shining Times Station (who featured Ringo Starr himself?? seriously how did that happen and why does no one talk about it) and some other nostalgic favorites like Bill Nye the Science guy, The Magic Schoolbus, Arthur, and Thomas the Tank Engine) aired on the new PTV block, which evolved into PBS Kids in 1999, bringing along Between the Lions, Dragon Tales, and many more.

Arthur is another stand-out that I’d like to talk about— it doesn’t have the same racial focus of Sesame Street, but it does focus on different income levels. The characters have various housing situations, from apartments to mansions to no home at all.

It also takes cues from Sesame Street and Mr. Roger’s in regards to talking about tough topics, though as Arthur has a slightly older target audience, it discusses things through stories rather than talking directly to the audience.

Cancer, religion, workplace discrimination, along with current (at the time) events such as 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina are all discussed on the show.

Another big focus on Arthur is disability. For once, they don’t stick a character in a wheelchair and then pretend he’s not in a wheelchair. A striking number of major characters either develop or get diagnosed with physical disabilities and/or neurodivergences, such as asthma, severe food allergies, and dyslexia, and they deal with them in very realistic ways.

A handful of minor characters have more obvious disabilities, and THANK GOD they go beyond the trite messaging of “disabled people can do everything abled people can do! everyone clap now!”

One episode in particular has the awesome message of “holy shit stop trying to help me all the time— it’s patronizing as fuck. I can get around just fine without you stepping on eggshells and trying to be the hero all the fucking time”

There are sooo many other shows I could talk about, but I can’t write about them all. I’m definitely gonna point out some more standout ones, though.

Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat

Created by Chinese-American woman Amy Tang

Dragonfly TV

Features a multitude of female and non-white scientists to foster an interest in science with kids in those groups

Maya & Miguel

One of the network’s first Hispanic-led shows

SciGirls

I shouldn’t have to explain what the goal of this one was.

Molly of Denali

When was the last time you saw a show that treated Native Americans as people? Much less a children’s show? 90% of the cast is Athabascan, and the show revolves around Athabascan culture, not shying away from topics like boarding schools and modern-day racism. Most of the writers are also Athabascan, and the show even has an official Gwich’in dub!

It’s this commitment to real, authentic social justice that makes PBS Kids so much different from its competitors. Could you imagine the Paw Patrol dog looking at the camera and earnestly discussing what happened to George Floyd? I don’t think so— but Arthur talked specifically about it, Sesame Street did an hour long special about race in general, and the network itself made a 30 minute special.

Disney Jr. could never. (Other than trying to teach colorblindness, of course.)

I’m gonna have to cut this into two parts, since I just hit the image limit

[deluxewhump]

Ethan Byrne

Synopsis/setup: Just after his high school graduation, Cameron gets jumped and robbed while attempting to sell a fair amount of drugs for a local dealer. He now is without the product or any money to cover the losses. Having already been beaten up and threatened that worse is coming by one of the drug dealer’s goons, Cam contacts his estranged half brothers Ethan Byrne and Edmund “Lou” Lewis to see if he can go visit them and hide out while he figures out what to do. He has no idea what Ethan is.

CW: Cam has recently turned 19 in this. abusive, incestuous overtones, mocking talk of incest, Ethan Byrne is vile, human furniture, homophobic language, misogynistic language, slurs (including the f word), black eye and bruised ribs, bystander does not intervene, abuse, creepy intimate whump, noncon vibes (but no noncon), crying

—

Edmund “Lou” Lewis had always been concerned with the way people saw him. It was important to him. He was always watching himself in the eyes of others, to the detriment of seeing anything but his own reflection. It was a weakness.

His half- brother Ethan had no such weakness. Unlike Lou, Ethan didn't give a single thought to what anyone else thought of him. Lou envied it sometimes. Ethan was a demon in highschool, getting into fights with anyone and everyone, with guys from the next town over and getting one of his teeth knocked out so they had to screw in a fake one. He set fire to the guy’s car the following week with a Molotov cocktail. He went to juvie once, but that was it. Nothing ever stuck to Ethan. At twenty-four, he had a clean record.

Ethan and Lou had a different mothers, and they were raised in different homes. Ethan was only a few months younger than Lou. Their father wasn’t exactly a faithful man, and only by virtue of small town gossip did they know they shared one. Lou’s mother had not given her son his father’s surname, but Ethan’s had.

When Ethan was twelve, he’d crashed his four wheeler into a tree. Everyone said he was different after that. Like he’d bumped his head hard enough to undergo some structural personality change. Lou didn’t think so. Ethan just came into his own around then, but it was always coming. When they were fourteen, Ethan carved ten inch-long tally marks into another boy’s arm because he wouldn’t pay up on the ten bucks he owed him. Everyone on their schoolbus called him Tally after that. When he’d been suspended for it, the principal kept asking for the knife. It had been done with a broken ruler.

When their dad left town, he never came back. Lou and Ethan knew they had a third half-brother, a kid five or six years younger than them who lived a couple hours down the interstate with their father. They’d never met him, never spoken to him. When he called and said he was in trouble, Lou hung up on him. The kid made the mistake of calling Ethan next. Ethan gave him his address, and he got on the next bus north.

Lanky and full of nervous energy, Cameron spent the first two days trying to impress them without letting on that he was trying to impress them. It was only a little pathetic, and mostly just sad. He had no idea Ethan was sizing him up, a skill he’d always had an uncanny knack for. Lou watched it like a familiar TV rerun. He knew Ethan’s every move. He considered warning Cameron, but decided to wait. Ethan might hold back for their own flesh and blood. He might be tamer, less wolfish. Who knew. It was uncharted territory. But that very night, the third night since Cameron’s arrival, there was a clear tension stirring between them.

Lou watched from the living room sofa with a mixture of apathy and resignation as Ethan prepared to do what he did best— probe the weak spots he’d mapped and observed.

“What’s so special about you, do you think?” Ethan asked when the conversation turned to their shared father. “Why did he stay for you?”

Cameron grew visibly uncomfortable. He shrugged under Ethan’s steady gaze. “You’re not missing much.”

“That so? Is he a dick?”

“Lately,” Cameron muttered. His black eye had gone down since he first showed up, not so much swollen now as just discolored. He’d been jumped by some drug dealer’s lackey, beaten up in his own living room. His lashes brushed his cheeks as he dropped his eyes.

Ethan lifted his chin to force him to look at him. “He hasn’t so much as called me or Lou since we were five.”

“I’m sorry,” Cameron said, clearly unsettled by the sudden physical contact. He looked down his nose at Ethan’s hand on his chin and pulled away slowly.

Ethan laughed under his breath. “It’s okay. It’s not your fault. Does daddy know you’re the local dealer’s bitch now?”

“I’m not,” Cameron said, anger flashing in his eyes. “I’m not anybody’s bitch.”

“I think if those guys that are after you caught up to you, they wouldn’t kill you at all. I think they’d see an opportunity. Pass you around like a truck stop whore.” He raised his eyebrows as if he’d had an epiphany. “Like your mother! You must look like her, because we don’t look a thing alike. She give you these green eyes? These freckles?”

Ethan cupped Cameron’s face, running his thumb over his cheek just under his bruised eye. Cameron tried to draw his head back but Ethan followed him, cupping his cheek with force. “I think they know you’re a little whore. I think they can smell it on you. I can.”

“Fuck off,” Cameron said with considerable venom, but Lou could hear the tremor in his voice. That was blood in the water to a thing like Ethan. Ethan’s violence was different than Lou’s own latent tendencies. It was calculated like a laser beam, where Lou’s had always been scattershot. Ethan was tireless. Ruthless.

He lowered his voice so that Lou almost missed his next words to Cameron. “So. Does daddy know you’re a faggot?”

Cameron looked over at Lou, his eyes questioning, desperate. What is this? they said. Get him off me.

“Must run in the family, Tally,” Lou called. Ethan ignored him in favor of his new victim.

“Why did you really leave? Did our daddy yell at you? He hit you, Cam? You can tell me.”

“No.”

“You wish he would just love you again, don't you? Like he did when you were little. Why’d he stop, you think?”

“Stop it,” Cameron said. Lou could hear tight, angry tears in his throat. But there was fear, just beneath it. He finally sensed the danger all at once, like being in the middle of a frozen lake when you hear the crack.

“Did you offer to take mommy’s place when she left?” Ethan pushed. “He turn you down?”

“You’re fucking sick,” Cameron hissed. “There’s something wrong with you.” He attempted to shove Ethan away. Undeterred, Ethan grabbed his face, hard. Cameron grunted and tried to pull away, only succeeding in pressing himself against the wall behind him. His cheeks and mouth were squished in Ethan’s hand in an undignified, fishlike way.

“You’re right,” Ethan said. “I’m sorry. That’s too fucked, even for a budding little freak like you. You’d take it from me, though, I can tell. We’re only half, right? You don't even know me. Maybe we’re not even related. Maybe daddy lied, or someone’s mother did. It’s all kind of messy, isn’t it. Who’s to say?”

Cameron tried to push past him, but Ethan used his grip on his face to slam him back into the wall. “Sh-sh-sh. No. Relax. It’s just us.” With his other hand, he ran a finger along the waistband of Cameron’s pants, lifting his shirt so Lou could see his skinny waist trembling beneath it.

“Ethan,” said Lou. “I will come over there and break your fucking hand if you put it in his pants.”

“Chill out, Lou,” Ethan said. He traced an exploratory fingertip along Cameron’s lower belly so he twitched away. “I wouldn’t dream of it. He might, though. C'mere, Cameron.”

The fear and hatred in Cameron’s eyes was further pronounced by the tears still standing in them. He’d been so adoring of Ethan the past three days, too. Especially Ethan. Ethan wasn’t the one who’d hung up on him.

“It’s okay. Come on.”

Ethan started backing up. “Cmon,” he called, as if to a particularly dumb puppy. Reluctantly, Cameron took a step to follow him.

“Good. Keep coming.”

Ethan took another step back, hands at his sides, palms-up. Cameron took another shuffling step closer, looking like he half expected Ethan to switch tactics and hit him at any moment. Ethan backed up until he reached the sofa and sat down next to Lou. He pointed at his feet. “Right here.”

Cameron stood in front of him. This close, Lou could see that his whole body was trembling visibly.

“On your hands and knees.”

Cameron’s eyes snapped to Ethan’s.

“I’m not gonna hurt you. Hands and knees.”

Lou watched as Cameron obeyed, going to his knees first and then putting his hands out as if blind until he was on all fours. Ethan put his booted feet onto his back. “Good. Just like that.” He turned on the television, settling into the sofa with Cameron as his footrest.

After a moment, he lifted his right boot and nudged it into Cameron’s bruised ribs. He yelped and flinched, but hung his head and squeezed his eyes shut. Taking it. Lou wasn’t surprised. He’d watched Ethan in action his entire life. Still, it had been rather fast with Cameron. He almost felt bad for him. He was only nineteen, and clearly Ethan had zeroed in on something.

“Stay still,” Ethan cooed, grinding the toe of his boot in cruel little circles on Cameron’s ribs. “That’s it. I know you want to please, deep down, Cameron. That’s why you told us about those good grades you got in AP math. No one patted you on the head for that, did they? Well, I will. I’m gonna show you how to give in to it. What’re long lost big brothers for, huh puppy dog?”

Cameron sobbed through gritted teeth, his arms shaking with the effort of keeping still with the grinding boot in his damaged ribs.

“Shh.” Ethan removed his boot and set it back on the tabletop of Cameron’s back. “You’re okay.”

[gamerwoman3d]

Old Person Rant:

I want to apologize to the kids today who are growing up in the misinformation era. I truly hope your generation learns to differentiate the honest from the cozen.

Anyways today I ended up buying a buncha this shit because I like yogurt, I love protein and I love cherries. I figured they added whey powder to cherry yogurt.

Mean ol' bitch rant under the cut

Nope. Not a single cherry in the ingredients list. It's sweetened with Sucralose which is an artificial sweetener that makes me gag. So instead of cherry flavor, I get "Rather be giving a blowie" flavor.

Nowhere on this bitch does it say sugarfree.

Nowhere on this bitch does it say "Does not contain cherries."

The texture kinda sucks too but I was expecting that - with 15g protein and 100 calories I expecting that (even though it doesn't say non-fat anywhere on it, I can do the math and figure there's no-to-low-fat at 100 cals.)

How the fuck are you claiming that there are no artificial flavors when 1) CHERRY IS NOT IN THE INGREDIENTS LIST FOR A FUCKING CHERRY YOGURT AND 2) Sucralose is literally an artificial flavor.

And don't get me started on using BEET. JUICE. Just use a fucking cherry. Using beet juice (for color) is LITERALLY THE DEFINITION of an artificial color when you're advertising the bullshit with a PHOTO OF A FUCKIN CHERRY ON THE FRONT. Just because you didn't use Red 40 does not mean this isn't an act of pure fucking artifice.

I hate products today, man. I fucking hate em. I hate shopping online, I hate shopping in stores, I hate being offered bullshit that has ZERO ACTUAL VALUE that's put in a pretty package with a buncha lies in fine print and sold as if it's something else.

I hate that nothing on the shelf today can be taken at face value because of the big fuckin' hardon that General Mills has for duping people into overpaying for shit that they couldn't GIVE AWAY unless they FORCE the real thing to be unavailable.

If I could give every kid a magic schoolbus trip to go grocery shopping in other countries, and even in the USA but in earlier decades, I would.

My trust in these products are so broken that I even wonder if there's ACTUALLY 15g of protein in this cup or if that math is just a creative interpretation as well.

Sorry kids. I wish we had done better at nipping deceptive marketing in the bud, but there's no consequences for these types of practice. I'm only hoping if you're seeing these products on the shelf that you get critical, and don't buy them if

1) There's too much print on the package and it ain't worth my time to read. [Fewer words means fewer ingredients and less bullshit.]

2) The package doesn't give you full confidence that the product inside is actually the thing that you want or need.

Not buying the shit at all is the only way to get it off the shelf. I'm sorry I bought as many of these as I did and I'll probably be taking the rest to a Free Fridge. At least that way the homeless will know not to let GM give this shit to them and claim it as a tax writeoff.

[eraserheadbabyfever]

u have got to be kidding me a schoolbus full of children just fell off a bridge into the ocean in baywatch

[webtoon-related-tournaments]

OK i m having fun so far doing this disabled webtoon characters bracket so once the finals are over I'll change the pfp, banner and url and start a kids in webtoon bracket.

You'll see the questions but basically here are the rules of submission:

The child cannot be older than 18. If they grow up over the course of the stories it's different. In the case of an immortal child, just submit and give all the precisions you can, I'll rule on case by case.

The child has to be named or to be recurring enough that the fandom/comment section has a nickname for them.

If they're from a high school story or a story where the main cast is full of less than 18 kids I'll only pick one or two from that series (looking at you, Jackson's Diary, Lookism, Questism, Surviving Romance, To Be Ordinary!, UnOrdinary, Cursed Princess Club, Schoolbus Graveyard...) but please do submit any you can think about.

Do not hesitate to reblog or tag people you know who like webtoons.

The following are in it by default but you can submit them anyway for funsies or an opportunity to infodump:

Pierta from Tricked into becoming the heroine's stepmother

Jinsei and Vivi from Fictional Skin

Celphius from My In-Laws are obsessed with me

Young Medea and Young Helio from Your Throne.

Posting this now so people can start submitting now. For anyone who doesn't know, the disabled characters is still on round 2 out of what? 7? for now, so there's plenty of time.

[haveihitanerve]

guys.

im sitting in my room. at my desk. my window is open behind me.

and then a schoolbus drives past the window, i hear children wailing- like full on shrieks, turn around-

and spot this one kid full blown sprinting after the bus like he was in one of those trashy high school movies where the nerd misses the bus

complete with his arms flailing out infront of him as he tried to catch up

[gay-otlc]

Shana tova and thank you to @the-abandoned-schoolbus for alerting me to the fact that Jewish Dizznees has actual canon basis. Without further ado, Jewish Dizznee headcanons: High Holy Days edition

I can't not start with the tashlich puns. Kesler insists on reading them out every year. At one point, Juline got sick of it and almost threw him in the river along with the bread. The ducks can eat Kesler ig

Kesler was raised Jewish, and Juline converted shortly before marrying him.

This actually adds another layer to the fact that they're a bad match- the combination of "don't marry Kesler because he's talentless" and "don't marry Kesler because he's Jewish"

But fuck that, Juline is now also Jewish and they are happily married

Kesler made the mistake of getting the kids shofars.

The triplets decided to get in a competition to see who could do the longest tekiyah gadolah

The house is very loud around the holiday season. Also all the time but especially in the holiday season.

Foxfire doesn't give off for the High Holy Days, and Dex discovered this as a level one when he missed a test for Rosh Hashanah.

Foxfire's policy is that the only excused absence is if a student is sick, they don't do excused absences for religious absences because religious elves are such a minority, so... they were Not Cool about Dex missing school.

Juline went to yell at whatever mentor gave Dex a zero on said test and since everyone is afraid of Juline they eventually agreed to not give Dex a zero. Judaism wins.

You know how the Dizznees learned skills like appetite suppression and shit that are normally just taught in Exilium? Yeah, they learned appetite suppression for Yom Kippur purposes.

When Dex was old enough to fast but the triplets weren't, they were little shits and ate food right in front of him to drive him insane. (totally not inspired by real sibling behavior)

Break fast is a game of "which Dizznee kid is the fastest and also shows the least regard for others' safety?" Dex is the fastest but occasionally the stupid protective sibling instincts kick in and he's unwilling to injure the triplets in the break fast rush. Lex has no such qualms and usually gets to the food first.

Sukkot is Dex's favorite holiday because he gets to build the sukkah and has so much fun doing it.

Sukkot is Bex's favorite holiday because she likes shaking a lemon at G-d

Anyway those are my headcanons, I saw that Kesler's name had Jewish origins and went into full Space Laser Mode while I got this typed out. I swear I'm normal now.

[svtskneecaps]

catching up on Vicky Tungle Drama (TM), and assuming no one's given you an answer yet: nope, no one's thought to fill the Jason Grace Arrives Early niche afaik, and the fandom now's just defaulted to Camp Half-Blood... least, that's what the main subreddit's called lol

yknow what camp half blood kinda makes sense. i'm incredibly biased tho i don't think i'm ever quite gonna stop calling it the percy jackson fandom lmfao. and how has NO ONE cracked that niche there is so much untapped potential. like, take high school drama and mix it with demigod magic and a prison break movie. like CMON GUYS. like, maybe jason starts remembering enough weird stuff about gods and myths that the kids realize huh maybe this is connected to LEO HAVING PYROKINESIS AND PIPER GETTING A GUY TO HAND A BMW TO A FIFTEEN YEAR OLD. individually.

and PERHAPS they actually CONFESS these powers to each other bc as far as they know this is localized to just the three of them; jason discovers wind somehow--maybe defending piper from the mean girls???? HELLO??--and immediately informs the others because they're his only support system rn and their literal modus operandi is "figure out who jason was before wilderness school", and maybe piper suddenly realizes that even fame and pretty privilege shouldn't be able to get her an ILLICIT BMW on their own, MAYBE there's something to that like jason's thing so she says something, and LEO LITERALLY HAS PYROKINESIS and no reason to believe his fire powers are uniquely weird or inherently evil (bc in canon he walks into the hephaestus cabin hours after learning he's not the only one with superhuman abilities and everyone's instantly like no we don't have fire and fire bad, so he hides it, but if he DOESN'T get this info immediately, then they're just weird fire powers like piper's weird speech magic and jason's weird wind and lightning control; not uniquely weird, just weird)

THEREFORE, they all go into whatever the lost hero turns out being with full knowledge of the others' skill sets, full trust in each other, and while they're still thrown for a loop by basically everything, they can also look at it and go "yeah ok fine my month was weird even before this"

like hell maybe piper TELLS THEM ABOUT THE DREAM WITH THE ONE GIANT THAT COMES ~THREE DAYS BEFORE THE GRAND CANYON TRIP. like "hey guys this is super weird and probably unrelated but with all the weird shit going on the chances of jason knowing something related is nonzero?" like hell maybe they decide to jump ship early and straight steal the schoolbus and go fucking BLASTING for the mountain to save her dad and probably find jason's memories along the way. LIKE COME ON PEOPLE. 💳💥💳💥💳💥💳💥. CANON DIVERGENCE ENSUES. NO FESTUS, NO WEAPONS, NO PLAN, NO CLUE. DOES ANNABETH TRY TO CHASE THEM DOWN CROSS-COUNTRY, resulting in "AH FUCK IT'S THAT BLONDE GIRL AGAIN"???? do they EVER discover the demigod thing?? WHEN AND HOW. THEY COULD MEET COMPLETELY NEW ENEMIES. COMPLETELY NEW QUEST. I AM SCREAMING. THERE IS SO MUCH POTENTIAL.

[somewhat-sanguine]

secret whispers

I walk to school with the frost nipping my face, towards the bus stop to catch the death-trap that is the Three Rivers High schoolbus. It's January -- still in the midst of winter, so the sugar maple trees are completely barren. There is still some soggy orange leaves in the icy snow. The only way you could make out that they were ever leaves in the first place is their colour. Suddenly, I hear rustling. I look around for a small pine tree to see if there are any critters running around looking for some sort of sustenance in this frozen wasteland. Nothing. Whatever, I think nothing of it and continue on my way. It was probably just some snow falling and knocking a branch down.

I finally arrive to my stop, and there's only a few other kids standing around waiting. I've forgotten my gloves for the second time this week and it's a Tuesday. Whatever. I tuck my hands into my coat pockets and wait. I stand away from the other kids -- I don't really get along with anyone else. I'm a loner. The weird kid. The odd one out. Plus, they're always snickering or whispering about something. Someone. I can't stand it. If you have something to say, especially to me, just come say it out loud. Cowards.

Finally the bus arrives. The wheels look like they're about to fall off, they're all warped and bumpy looking. When the vehicle comes to a screeching halt, it almost sounds like someone screaming. I just find it amazing how the school considers this machine a perfectly valid way of transporting children. As soon as I climb the steps and peer over the front seat to find a place to sit, I notice something is extremely off. The bus is twice as full as usual. It's going to be almost impossible to find an actual seat to sit in. I guess they must have added another stop to the route, which is stupid. We were already almost full and now we're over max capacity. Whatever. I'll just sit in the aisle towards the back.

The ride is bumpy, and to make matters worse, the other kids won't shut up. No one is yelling, but all the whispering makes my brain feel like it wants to explode. I can hear everyone's conversation but yet can't make out any one conversation clearly. I hear what sounds like chains clanging, I'm assuming one of the more edgy kids has some sort of chain-link key-chain which only adds to the nosiness of the bus. I think about finding him and yanking it off his backpack and throwing it out the window. No. Don't. Be good. You don't want another "situation" again.

Finally we arrive. I'm greeted by a pretty blonde lady in a completely white office outfit.

"Welcome to Three Rivers Forensic Psychiatric Unit. We understand you've just been transferred from juvenile hall? You're in good hands. You'll have all the time in the world to get better, now."

[just-creation]

Undertale AU idea

Schoolbus full of 7-8th graders miraculously falls into the underground during a field trip to Mt Ebott, all the adults die, all the children survive relatively unscathed, they all group up and commute through the underground as Flowey and literally every other monster reacts in various flavors of "Holy fucking shit"

Frisk is on the bus too, has their iconic red soul and is the only one who can SAVE/LOAD (because they're the most Determined), the other kids have varying soul colors. (Perseverance, Integrity, etc...)

[peppersonironi]

DUKE THOMAS ISN’T THE SANE ONE! A guide by Pepper

So, I have seen so many people writing Duke incorrectly, and I wanted to do something about it. In fanon, he is described as the sane bat, who would rather stay home and safe, and absolutely never join in shenanigans. Now, I know there are a lot of things wrong with canon, but Duke is one of the better parts! He is an interesting character who is actually just as chaotic as the rest of the gotham vigilantes. And so it it is quite unfair to his character to say he is the 'Arnold from the Magic Schoolbus' of the group. He's really not.

So I decided to make a list of ten instances in the comics where he disobeys Bruce, acts reckless, or is just a bat! (also for a Batfam Group Chat I’m a part of, someone asked for these) I hope this helps people understand his character better, and maybe even inspire them to write more about him? Seriously, Tag me if you do. I'm starved for good Duke content!

Feel free to add more in the comments, these are just what I could think of off the top of my head! (Hence the kinda weird order, sry)

1. He's a vigilante

Okay, so this is a bit obvious, but I still think it needs saying. You think that a guy who dresses in bright yellow and patrols the most crime-ridden city in the world during the day is 100% sane?

2. We Are Robin

Also obvious, but still. This guy joins a group of untrained teenage robins who just want to make a difference. And they do! It's still pretty reckless, though. 

3. He tried to take on the Riddler

In case you didn't know, in the beginning of New 52 (Zero year, specifically) the Riddler essentially held Gotham Hostage. He had some spiel about someone giving him a riddle he couldn't solve, and letting the city go. You know who decided he would be that person? Duke Thomas! He trained in brain-teasers, and puzzles, tirelessly worked. He became quite the adept riddler (not the villain). The kick? He was a child! (Look at the above panels, isn't he cute?) Duke was young, yet determined. And if that's not a bat quality, I don't know what is.

4. He escaped the cops by jumping off a bridge.

Oh no! Duke is in a police car! Oh no! He's on a bridge! What's he going to do?! Why, jump out and off the bridge while proclaiming "I am Robin" of course! Seriously, look at that panel and try to argue that he is the responsible goody-two-shoes of the family.

5. He talked down an enraged Damian

Basically, Damian was manipulated into joining the court of owls. Duke, who refused to believe that Robin genuinely joined them, fought him and talked him down. Now, this is Damian we're talking about. Sure, the kid is absolutely adorable and can be incredibly caring (Fight me on this, I dare you. Also, frick you DC), but when he's on a rampage, there is little that can stop him. So of course Duke decides to take care of it!

6. He actively tries to have a relationship with Damian.

Okay, so this one is a little weak, but I wanted an excuse to share those panels. Aren't those two great?! But seriously, Duke ignores that this tiny child could kill him in more ways than he could count, and even invites him to a movie! He also isn't afraid to tease the kid, unlike other members of the family. Knowing Damian can honestly be hard sometimes.

7. Comes back to the city when Bruce told him to get out.

During the I Am Bane arc of Tom King's Batman (I'm shuddering. So sorry for invoking his name!) Bruce tells the batboys to get out of Gotham and STAY out. the others are like 'we're not gonna listen, right?' and Duke is all 'you can't ignore BATMAN!' and walks off saying he's gonna listen to Bruce. This seems like pretty damning evidence, right? He's actually sane? The others got attacked by Bane and hung, but Duke didn't. Well, then you look at the next panel! (it takes place later in the volume) There he is, disobeying Bruce, and hanging out in Gotham. Not just that, he's out in costume! No, Duke couldn't just hunker down in an apartment, he had to go out and take down crooks, and warn Jim Gordon. I think that's pretty self-explanatory

8. Goes out while Injured

Those two panels are back-to-back in The Cursed Wheel (originally printed in All-Star Batman, later put into Batman and the Signal). As you can see, Bruce tells Duke to get rest. Duke was just attacked by Zsasz, and suffered multiple injuries. He wakes up, and the thing that would make the most sense would be for him to go to sleep, right? Well, he instead gets suited up and goes out to work on a case. Pretty much every bat has done this at some point. Not quite the smartest move, right? A touch reckless, wouldn’t you say?

9. That whole thing with Green Lantern

(sry for the weird sizing, I don’t have the comic to take screenshots) 

So there are two parts to this. First of, you have Green Lantern flying into the batcave, looking around, and there’s no Batman present. So what does Duke Do? Well, he certainly doesn’t stay back and contact Bruce! Nope, instead he attacks a member of the Justice League, a member of the Green Lantern Corp. Later on, you know what he says? He thought he would be fine because his suit is bright yellow. That’s it. A bit crazy, right?

Secondly, he gets roped into exploring the cave with Hal (I thinks it’s Hal, been a bit since I read this though). The Lantern has some thing going on about stuff in the cave, but that’s not important. What’s important is that Duke went along with it. He was curious enough to ignore what Bruce would say (Call him, yet anything remotely green out of the cave), and joins in! He does’t say “this is a bad idea” or “we shouldn’t be doing this” nope!

9. When he ran off with Cass to test his powers

Oh no, Duke got shadow powers! What’s he gonna go? Why, go off and have fun experiment of course! Duke and Cass head out to test and work on Duke’s newly presented abilities, and specifically don’t tell Bruce! This is information he would like to know, of course. It’s important to know if your newest protege gets more powers. But no, they go out of their way to sneakily test the extent of his powers. They get caught, of course, and then get chewed out (They get caught in costume, but the next panel they’re in civvies. I find that outrageously funny!). And here’s the kicker: they don’t really apologize! Sure, Duke gives a half-heart apology, but he doesn’t really mean it. Not even under the full extent of the Batglare™.

10. Rescuing Bruce with practically no training

I’ll skip all the plotty stuff, so just know that Bruce was out alone and in some deep doo-doo. Duke was back at the cave, working stuff out with Alfred. He realizes that what Bruce is doing is a trap. Now, just so you know, this is back when Duke was JUST taken in by Bruce. He doesn’t even have a codename yet! Barely any training. So you know what he does? He heads out anyway, and rescues Bruce. Now, check out that music he’s playing. Later on, it’s revealed to be Duke’s fave band. You know the name of that band? “Batman’s @^$&@” I’m not even joking. (I’m not sure what bleeped out, though later on it’s referred to as “Batman’s #$%” So I assume it’s ass?). So on top of being reckless, he plays a heavy metal band with a name that’s … special to say the least. He has guts, you gotta admit (Oh, and he seemed so gleeful when he told Bruce the name of the band!).

And there you have it! This list is far from complete, but I think it’s a good start. Feel free to reblog with your own, or any questions/comments! I absolutely love to talk about Duke, so don’’t be afraid to message me! Also, correct me if I wrote anything incorrect here. It’s been a while since I’ve read some of these, so I may have gotten some stuff wrong.

[bluewinnerangel]

Re: Canyon Moon and “Sky never looked so blue” being about Lou’s eyes. I always think back to H’s Vogue photo shoot when I hear that lyric and its reference to his blue eyes - in particular, the photo captioned “Splendour in the grass” in the linked article. H is lying on his back staring at the sky (almost like “staring at the ceiling”) and the sky is reflected in the bicycle wheels. And when I first saw those two wheels, I immediately thought of one thing - I think you can guess https://www.google.com.au/amp/s/www.vogue.com/article/harry-styles-cover-december-2020/amp

x

I'm uh I'm just going on a vogue shoot ramble. Not really part of your ask, but I really love how the theme of both the interview and the photoshoot is being a kid and being playful and just... playing around with shit. He's wearing oversized clothes, he's playing dress-up, he's on a bicycle, the siblings waiting for the schoolbus vibe, he's on a trampoline, he's on a whatever this even is

And further emphasized in the interview itself loads with that caption “Splendour in the grass” being one of them. Aaanyway. That's just one of the many parts of that makes this shoot great.

And I'm not saying full credits to Harry and only Harry to all of this, I'm not assuming he went around giving the writers phrases to caption his pictures with, or dragging childlike objects from his own backyard onto that TTS cliffside or whatever. But a theme is a theme, plus I don't think we should underestimate how much he can micromanage if he wants to. And two bigol googly eye looking bicycle wheels reflecting the blue blue sky while he's doing blue skies = blue eyes wordplays in his work and just knowing harry's blue eye obsession in general is a pretty nice observation. Also more general like reflections of things and stuff, the mirrors everywhere, the can see but can't touch or whatever, it's all just going in circles.

Also, I think ~possibly~ it's a bit of an Oasis inspo here, *coughs in oasis obsessed otp* which, Stop Crying Your Heart Out might be the most hey-you-there-you-big-star-stop-being-sad-and-try-to-enjoy-the-good-things-in-life thing you'll ever hear like the pattern on this mermaid going "don't cry everything is going to be alright just enjoy the ride" absolutely constantly in my view this once again is pretty fitting here and I wouldn't be suprised if this was an actual thing he actually thought of like I want blue skies to reflect in shit because of this, you know?

Anyway, the ramble, where is it going where did it come from we don't know.

[random-imagines-blog]

Under Atomic Skies {John Blake x Reader}

Requested by: Anonymous Wordcount: 2558 Summary: John Blake would do just about anything to keep his family safe.

You looked over at John as he came into your cozy little Gotham home. His mouth was set in a grim line against the contours of his handsome face. You could feel the stress radiating off of him. “Did the kids see?” He asked, turning off the television that you were sitting in front of. You shook your head in a no, and he sighed in relief. They were playing in their rooms, your son and your daughter. The blasts in the street had caused the house to rumble, but they didn’t ask any questions. They just played ‘earthquake’. You didn’t want to explain to them what happened until your husband, John, got home with his own explanation. And what he said, all of it, it broke your heart. This was the city you both grew up in. This was the city you had fallen in love in. Gave birth in, raised your kids in, got a mortgage in, worked in, made your home. And it was being threatened once more.

“There’s going to be riots, and looting, and who knows what else,” You said, your eyes looking over to the front door. There were three locks on it already, with John being a bit of a cautious man. With you being a cop’s wife. But those three didn’t seem enough when you were now the wife of the only cop, or detective, left to protect the city. The rest were caught in the underground. John’s partner included. “What are we going to tell the kids? Is Ross alright? Should we move to a safe house?”

“Ross is fine, I’ve already figured out where he is. There’s a sewer grate right above them, I can talk to him,” John said, which made you give your own sigh of relief. Your husband’s partner was like family, your kids even called him Uncle Ross. “I have hope in Gotham, we’ll get through this, sweetheart.”

But you weren’t so sure. You loved this city, but it tended to turn out bad people one after another. Thieves, mobsters, even an evil clown. And now this man who called himself Bane. It was safe to say that you were terrified, and wished that you shared in your husband’s positivity. In his hope. It was one of the things that you loved best about him. And things usually turned out pretty okay. The city had John Blake - it was going to be okay.

--

The days started to seem shorter as the countdown to the bomb began. There just didn’t seem to be enough time in the day to really appreciate each and every one. John was gone most of the time, working as a Detective, working with Batman, being the only cop in a city which was run by madness. You hardly ever left the house, and when you did, it was to go to the boys’ orphanage and help out there. There was no point in trying to work from home right now, the business was down the toilet. So you took on volunteering at the boys home, bringing your kids with you so you could keep an eye on them all at the same time. Father Reilly appreciated your help.

“It’s good for the boys to see a friendly face,” He admitted to you as you were passing out juice boxes to the kids. “All of them seemed to be glued to the news the days. They’re too young for such things. Too innocent.”

“If I wasn’t here, I’d be doing the same,” You admitted to the friendly father. You kept pressing that smile on your face, just as John did when he came home and gave the kids a huge hug each night. But the news was wearing you down. Scarecrow, Dr Jonathan Crane, was acting as judge, jury and executioner. All of the major shopping centers were looted as ‘wealth’ was dispersed in the way of material goods. You never joined in on any of that. You weren’t going to let the city take you down with it.

“There’s always hope,” Father Reilly said, putting his hand on your shoulder in solidarity. “That’s something I learned from being around these boys. No matter what life throws at them, they still play with a smile on their face.”

“It’s hard not to stay hopeful with John around,” you admitted, sitting on a bench with a juicebox of your own. You looked out over Gotham. There was still smoke in the air. There was always smoke in the air. The sounds of chanting from the courthouse. Vehicles still moving about down there, despite there really being nowhere to go. John had filled you in that one of those large trucks was carrying around the bomb, and your eyes caught on one as it turned a corner a few blocks down. It was terrifying, knowing that it was so close. But you still had a few days before it would go off. There was still time to find it. There was time to fix this whole mess. “Include John in your prayers tonight for me, father? It can’t hurt for us to be a little louder.”

“I already include him every night, y/n,” Father said, sitting beside you, stretching out his old leg bones. He was no longer the young man who used to chase John around this very building. The stress was taking a toll on him, and had even before the bombings. “And all of those officers stuck under the city.”

“They’re getting food and water, and vitamin D tablets,” You explained. “John and Ross have been keeping in touch. He’s even been scouting out an area where he might be able to get them out. He’s been working nonstop on this. I hope that when it’s all over, I can convince him to take a break.”

“Good luck asking him to take a break from anything,” Father Reilly laughed. It was the first real laugh you had heard since this whole thing began, at least from someone other than a child. It made you grin. You knew that it was absolutely true. John was one of the most dedicated people in this city. And when he believed in something, whether it’s in Batman, or in you, he never gave up on it. He’d fight til the end.

--

The day after tomorrow. The bomb was going to blow, according to John. The military still weren’t letting people go across the bridge. They were even threatening to blow that up themselves to stop people. Most of the population didn’t know, they were much too busy fighting each other to realize that Bane wasn’t actually going to give a detonator to an ordinary citizen. Or that an ordinary citizen would even want this city to blow up. He had to have the detonator all this time. And with Batman missing again, and the cops still trapped, and only very few people actually working on the streets... even your hope was beginning to wane. And John’s.

You moved into the shelter with the boys, taking care of them, tucking them in, acting like the mother that they never had. Because if all went wrong, this would be their last few days and they deserved to feel that love. You put the blankets over them, made sure that they had their bears which they were given as emotional support, and gave them each a peck on the forehead. Even the older boys, so quick to shun the bears since they were childish, needed something to hold onto.

The day before the bomb went off was chaotic. All of your rations were packed away to take off in the morning, just in case things didn’t work out. John was convinced that the military would see reason and let a bus full of children across. And you, importantly. He wasn’t going to be able to go on if anything happened to you, he admitted.

“You just do your job, Detective Blake,” You said, laying in bed with him, looking into his big, dark brown eyes. “And keep up hope that everything is going to turn out alright. It’s like that saying you know I love so much. Everything will be okay in the end, and if it’s not okay, then it’s not the end. We have to remain optimistic about this. Not just for us, but for the kids.”

--

The bomb was set to go off in less than an hour. All of the kids, the father, a few other works, John and yourself had piled onto the schoolbus and tried to get out to the bridge. The military were guarding it cautiously. Too cautiously. Guns were pointed not only at you, who had gotten out to support John, and your husband. Father Reilly was giving up hope. But you weren’t. The second that John had gotten the door unlocked, you slipped through it, standing in front of him.

“Please,” You pleaded, stepping forward tentatively. Your eyes were struggling to meet the soldier’s, and not just focus on his gun. “I’m asking you not as a citizen of Gotham, but as a mother. As a human being. These children are innocent in all of this. If they don’t leave, they’re going to get killed anyway. Have you seen the riots, and the looting, and all of the crime? Is that an environment you want your kids raised in?”

“You need to get back,” The soldier said, though his voice was shakier than before.

“Please, do not shoot,” John yelled, his accent cutting through the air. He walked up alongside you, badge in hand, those hands up towards the sky. He stepped in alongside you, then a step ahead, protecting you. Always acting like your human shield. Warning shots came towards you, to the ground by your feet.

“Get back,” John whispered to you. And you didn’t fight him on that, you went right back behind the chain-link door with the others, but watched with worried eyes. Your fingers slipped through the holes, gripping onto the metal. However much John worried about you getting hurt, you worried right back. Tenfold. The city would be lost without him. You would be lost without him, so would the kids.

“Detective, please, stop!” The young looking officer barked out. He looked as scared as you felt. But John was stubborn, and wasn’t going to stop for anything. He took two steps forward. More bullets shot near his feet, sending little shocks of light. That made him pause, but not stop. Another step. “STOP WALKING.” He looked towards another soldier that was with him and said the words that made your heart stop. “BLOW IT.”

The two men disappeared behind the shelters made of sandbags. “John-” You cried out, hoping to God that he would turn around and walk back to you before the explosives would go off.

“DO IT.” The soldier ordered.

Your stubborn husband. He made another step before the explosives detonated. Smoke filled your vision, but you saw that he was thrown backwards. You went through the door again, coughing through the dark and acrid smoke, trying to find him. A whole section of the bridge fell from existence, causing a rumble that made you fall. A hand caught your own, and you could feel from familiarity that it was John’s.

“YOU SONS OF BITCHES,” John said, getting onto his feet and pulling you up alongside with him. He had his arms around you, still shielding you from the military. You avoided looking at them now, because John was speaking what you were thinking. “YOU KILLED US.”

It was hard to maintain that hope in the face of this much adversity, but you had to try. He was moving back towards the door, back towards the kids. You stopped him outside of the bus, wrapping your arms around his shoulders, and brought him in for what might be your last hug. “You’ve done everything that you can, my love,” You said, looking into his dark eyes. “I have faith in the Batman. And in Gordon. They’re figuring this out, and if they don’t then - then you cannot blame yourself. You risked your life time and time again. Gotham can not ask any more from you.”

John nodded, but you could still see the frustration on his face. But then another expression took over it. One of hope. And wonder. He pointed behind you, towards the skies, towards the water. You turned around to see that there was some black thing flying through the air, holding what looked to be-

- the bomb.

It was being flown over the waters, towards the sea, away from Gotham. Batman had come through. There was no mistaking who else it could be in that jetblack air craft. Nobody else had the technology for that. Your hands went to your heart, holding it in because it was beating so quickly, it felt like it might pop out. John put his arms around you from behind. All of the kids rushed to one side of the bus to look out of the windows. There were excited voices coming from everywhere.

Then the bomb went off. You could see the explosion from where you were. It caused a stiff wind to blow towards you. The bridge rippled as the water beneath it did as well. It was a wonder that the windows of the bus didn’t break. But it was gone, and it was over. And though you felt relieved, you looked up at John with sorrow. He had believed in the Batman, more than he believed in his own police force. But at least the threat against your family, for now, was over and done with.

--

When you first saw him wearing the mask and the suit, you were worried. Who wouldn’t be? He was taking over the moniker of Batman and all of the enemies that brought along with it. But at least he had promised that he would wear the mask, something he had sworn never to do in the first place. But he had you to think about, and the kids. He’d already had an enemy threaten you, with Bane and the entire city, and he realized this wasn’t just about playing heroics. It was about taking care of his own. His people. Gotham’s people.

“Are you going to be home to tuck the kids into bed?” You asked, before John set off to go to the underground bunker. Even you didn’t know the exact location. The less you knew, the better.

“I’ll try to be,” He said, cupping your chin and pressed a sweet and loving, though quick, kiss upon your lips. “Don’t wait up for me though.”

“Easier said than done,” You said. He chuckled, knowing that was the truth, gave you a long look like he was memorizing your face, then disappeared out into the evening twilight, to get ready to prowl the night in his newly assigned role as The Batman.

[scottsumrners]

It’s so fucking funny that no way home has Spiderman dealing with the legal fallout of being outed, glosses over that and any potential story there, and then just does spider verse but badly. Like, they could of just done Kingpin or a criminal threat who’s seen as legitimate but Peter is being treated as a criminal and done SOMETHING mildly interesting i don’t know

the entire thing with peter being treated as a criminal is SO funny actually because 1. there is no enough development for peter to be considered a "local menace" (the way the two other peters have been). he's not "your friendly neighborhood spider-man" because he spent the last four movies nursing iron man's limp cock in his mouth to actually do any sort of hero-ing. 2. the kid is an avenger and he's being put on trial for?? something?? did he even do anything? did he kill someone?? shouldn't the avengers just step in and help out? if the obama administration can get away with bombing a schoolbus full of children i'm sure peter could get away with a slap on the wrist for, idk, shooting his sticky white stuff all over mysterio's face. the web fluid, i mean, of course

and the fact that they tried to do "one more day"....like. NOBODY likes "one more day"!!!! that's the one thing anyone who knows even the slightest bit of spider-man comic canon agree on, is that "one more day" sucks!!! it manages to suck even more than them making 19 year old gwen have an affair with norman osborn and give birth to his kids and then have him kill her anyway, and THAT is saying something. so for these "writers" (heavy quotation marks here) to try and do one more day and THEN lead up to a spider-verse plot.... makes no damn sense. doesn't compel me, either.