#I hope that's why she's still stuck doing kids entertainment stuff as like a 36 year old who hates children and isn't married

[queenofthursday6599-blog]

You know I don't think Timmy actually ended up sharing Wanda and Cosmo for all that long with Chloe in the grand scheme of things.

I mean there's various points in the show that seem to imply that having Fairy GodParents is a temporary thing. Like extremely temporary for most kids.

As in even being 10, and having gotten Cosmo and Wanda at age 8, Timmy's considered as having been a GodChild for a long time. Even if that's only a couple years.

Like there's a reason why there's multiple episodes about all of Fairy World being interested in whatever Timmy's up to.

Timmy's an outlier case.

He's going to end up aging out of the system (bar any breaking of any major rule that the fairies can't find a way to forgive) and everyone knows it.

They made a whole live action trilogy of bending the rules just for him where he gets to keep his fairies as an adult, and then turns into a fairy at the end of that trilogy.

He's a, probably wouldn't have made it to adulthood without fairies, kind of a case.

That's not the case for most kids who get fairies, or at least it's heavily implied that's not the case for most kids who get fairies.

Take Cosmo and Wanda being Crocker's fairies in 1972, and having already been his fairies for about 2 years by that point, but having had been Billy Gate's fairies in 1970.

We're never even given a hint that Billy lost his fairies traumatically, because he grew up to invent the internet just fine, and we never hear about him beyond that. And it seems like if a kid traumatically loses their fairies before their ready, it ends with them being a screwed up adult.

Which tells me that whatever situation Billy was in to need fairies resolved itself shortly after the time travel thing.

Heck even then, it was heavily implied that Crocker's life, even qualifying for fairies, was better than Timmy's was. Considering the only things mentioned is that he's got a single mom that works multiple jobs, and when she doesn't she tends to focus on her hobbies, and an evil babysitter to deal with.

He's not bullied at that point, he's not struggling academically, the only things wrong with his life (before getting over dosed on magic mindwipe and being disfigured and losing his mind as a result, which turned him into a social outcast) is that he's got a single mom who works a lot and leaves him with a mean babysitter so she can have me time.

That's it, that's what makes him qualify.

And he would have aged out of at least one of those problems before turning 18. He would have been 14 when he would have naturally outgrown needing to have a babysitter (as that's how old Vicky starts babysitting Timmy).

Then by that point he would have also been old enough to get a part time job of his own. Lightening the financial lode on his mother, and possibly freeing up some of her working time to actually spend with her.

Meaning it's possible that both of his fairy qualifying problems would have resolved themselves by age 14 or 15.

But also the kind of miserable it takes to get godparents (at least when that baseline is first established) is temporary for most kids.

I wouldn't be surprised if the typical Fairy GodParent & GodChild relationship typically only lasted like a year or two for most kids.

[And it seems like the majority of kids we meet who have GodParents, get them at age 10.

I'm pretty sure Timmy being 8 and getting his Fairies, is the youngest kid we ever see having Fairies.

Other than de-aged Vicky that one episode, but because it happened in the constraints of one of Timmy's wishes, I'm not going to count it. Especially because when Cosmo and Wanda are reassigned to Vicky, no one comes to erase Timmy's memory of having fairies, so she doesn't have to worry at all about hiding them which all other godkids do.

Also Vicky is just given Cosmo and Wanda and not her own fairy, which I feel heavily implies that all of this is falling under wish logic, and not normal logic.

Crocker is the second youngest, because he had Cosmo and Wanda at 9.]

Especially in cases where the root of the kid's misery is something they have the power to personally confront and change.

Like if a kid gets a fairy because they're being bulled at school to the point it's ruining everything else in their life. [Bully is making it to where they can't complete school or home work, causing grades to drop, meaning no extracurricular stuff, and getting in trouble with parents.]

But that kid manages to reveal what's happening, and gets things to change, and their life goes back to how it was before. Then that kid obviously doesn't need a GodParent anymore to make up for their miserable life.

I could easily see plenty of situations where a kid might only have a GodParent for less than a year.

Like Hazel's situation from A New Wish weirds me out, because all her problems are super temporary problems that resolve in like a few months to a year for most kids who have those problems.

It's missing her older brother who left for collage. Which most kids eventually get over after just getting used to them no longer living in the same house as them.

When the younger sibling gets used to the older siblings absence, a pretty good chunk of them revel in the bizarre experience of being either the new oldest, or an only child for the rest of their own childhood.

It's moving to a new city and having to make all new friends. Which Hazel does over the course of season 1. She's got 3 friends if Dev counts.

Everything causing her to need fairies is all extremely temporary. Which is a large part of the reason why I don't think she'll be one of the kids to age out of the system the way Timmy was.

She's got parents who love her, she's not struggling at school, she doesn't have an abusive babysitter, she's already started making friends at her new school, her brother came home from collage, but even then that's something she'd just grow out of eventually.

So I feel like unless something in her life changes for the worst, she's going to only have Cosmo and Wanda for a few years at most. And lose them around age 14-15.

Sure her problems are a lot more relatable than Timmy's ever were.

Which is understandable considering Timmy was a kid who had literally everything going wrong in his life, except he wasn't living in poverty.

From neglectful parents, being bullied as school, an abusive babysitter, being specifically targeted by a teacher for harassment, being the target of a girl's stalker crush on him, being canonically considered an idiot even without Crocker targeting him (even though I'm pretty sure he just has ADHD). And that's just the major stuff he starts off with.

That's not even getting into like the magical enemies he makes over the course of the show. Who are out to get him from then on.

And the fact that his parents weren't actively malicious towards him, just forgetful and oblivious.

But Hazel's problems are also all a lot more temporary than Timmy's ever were.

And that's like, the big thing that makes them different and give me the feeling that, while Timmy definitely aged out and had fairies until the last possible moment, kids like Chloe and Hazel probably only had fairies for a few years at most.

That's most likely why Wanda and Cosmo still refer to Timmy as their last godchild before retiring. Even though they were assigned Chloe years after they were assigned to Timmy.

Chloe's issues probably resolved at some point and Timmy returned to being a singular GodChild from that point on.

[I'm guessing she grew a backbone at some point, lets her parents know all the pressure they put on her was making her miserable, and stopped being a complete doormat for literally everyone. Because those were her big problems that caused her to qualify for Fairies.]

Which was probably extremely awkward for Timmy in the aftermath of Chloe having her memories purged of fairies, considering they only spent time together because they were made to share fairies.

Sure Timmy had seen kids lose their fairies before, like with Remy, but he'd never cared then because he hardly spent any time with Remy, and no one would call him and Remy friends.

But it had to be weird when it inevitably happened with Chloe, because by the end there, she basically lived in the Turner house.

Heck of the two kids who get fairies in A New Wish, I'd say that Dev is the kid more likely to be an age out case than Hazel. If he ever regains godparents.

Considering having a single parent, who literally loves business and money more than he'll ever love his own kid, is a bit more of a permanent misery than "I moved to a new town and have no friends, and my brother went off to collage" is.

Just to be honest.

Like maybe it's different rules because Hazel is a post-retirement passion project for Cosmo and Wanda, and they can stay with her until she'd age out because they're not on official rotation or whatever.

But no one will be able to convince me that she'd actually need fairies the entire rest of her childhood unless something horrible happens to her in season 2.

Like baby girl those are some temporary issues that tend to resolve themselves within a year, how are you going to keep qualifying for fairy godparentship the rest of this series?

[s-nebul0sa]

Just for that I have to work and can't go outside. Every even number 😄 have fun in the sun

🖕🏼🖕🏼😘😘 Thanks for asking

2. A picture of me:

You know it’s not gonna happen. So here is a very realistic and life-like drawing of me I totally did not make in 2 minutes time on my phone without any pencil thing or anything. My actual face is not as crooked I think. (And paler. I just compared and less reddish/pink)

4. Last time I cried and why?

Err.. I think maybe Sunday? Because I was anxious and wouldn’t stop being anxious. Otherwise, definitely Friday because same reason plus I was reading a fic.

6. Favourite band:

Omg I know nothing of bands. What are bands? Uhhmm I’ll pick the first one that comes to mind. When I look at my spotify playlist because I can’t come up with anything. I’m terrible at this okay. Is pentatonix a band? If not, sucks for you cause I’m still picking them.

8. Top 5 candies:

Black liquorice (look, I’m Dutch, don’t blame me, this stuff is in my veins. And yes, I mean the salty versions because we ignore that fake ‘sweet’ shit (unless it’s the coins version))

Haribo apple rings

Haribo anything else really

Lion bars

Katja yoghurt gums 

10. Biggest turn ons:

As if I’m self aware enough to know this… Fine. I’ll try 😋

Geeking out over stuff. Being excited about ‘nerdy’ stuff. Red lipstick. Being interested in me. Breathing/being alive.

I think that’s some of them probably.

12. Ideas of a perfect date:

Something where you can talk or not have to sit still for hours. I’ve never been on a date actually so I don’t know what I like. But like, talking seems good. Getting to know each other. But on the other hand, laser gaming sounds fun too. So something that’s either fun like laser gaming or laid back like a picnic.

14. Piercings I want:

None. I have pierced ears and I don’t even want that anymore (got them pierced when I was a kid and really wanted it…)

16. Favourite movie:

I think I’ve said this before but I’m not good with ‘favourite’ anything. So err the parent trap? Because I think that’s the movie I’ve seen most and it does always manage to entertain me even though I know the plot by heart.

18. Phobia:

I’m not sure if these are phobias or fears but: the dark, heights, fire…. and probably some more vague/not as material shit like losing friends.

20. Height: 

167.5 cm (yes, very important that 0.5 cm)

22. What’s your shoe size?

39

24. Do you smoke, drink, or take any drugs?

Nope

26. What’s one thing you regret?

I don’t like to think about this stuff because I end up in a spiral of negative thoughts and memories I cannot change. So I’ll keep it simple. Not buying better ice cream when I went to the store the other day. 

28. Favourite ice cream?

Italian ice cream from the one ice cream place in the village my mom works. Specifically, cinnamon and stracciatella flavour.

30. What my last text message says:

“I think I’m getting a real bad cold. Or ill. I hope the first.” (This is a translation, also not a text but whatsapp is the European/Dutch equivalent of texting these days)

32. Have you ever painted your room?

Yes, I didn’t like the unpainted walls because that’s ugly so I didn’t really have another option. Also, I think it was one of the requirements for moving in here. 

34. Have you ever slept naked?

I have, when it was really really hot.

36. Have you ever had a crush?

Yes, I think. Okay, no. Yes, I’m pretty sure.

38. Have you ever stolen money from a friend?

No, never.

40. Have you ever been in a fist fight?

Not really. I’ve punched someone before but I don’t think they hit back (I punched her in the face and she had braces and apparently that hurt…)

42. Have you ever had feelings for someone who didn’t have them back?

To be determined.

44. Have you ever made out with a stranger?

No

46. Have you ever left your house without telling your parents?

I do it all the time. Badass, huh. Or do you mean when I was a minor and living with them? In that case, no I didn’t dare.

48. Have you ever ditched school to do something more fun?

No, I was too much of a goody-two-shoes.

50. Have you ever seen someone die?

No, thank Rao.

52. Have you ever kissed a picture?

I’m pretty sure I had to do that in play once (just a peck). Don’t think I ever did it myself ‘in real life’ though.

54. Have you ever love someone or miss someone right now?

That’s one weirdly worded question. At least, my brain thinks so. But I’m not currently missing someone and I don’t get the other half…

56. Have you ever made a snow angel?

Yes, many.

58. Have you ever cheated while playing a game?

I was the sorest loser you’ll ever meet when I was a kid and I cheated all the time to avoid losing. I’d be the bank in all the games that needed someone to take care of that and then slip myself money or resources. 😂😂 I don’t cheat anymore, I just don’t play to win and then I don’t mind not winning.

60. Have you ever fallen asleep at work/school?

I’ve fallen asleep waiting for someone to come study while I was sitting at uni, but that was tucked away in a corner of a couch that was behind another couch with a super high back so no one saw me except my friend. Other than that, I don’t think I have.

62. Have you ever felt an earthquake?

I don’t think I have.

64. Have you ever ran a red light?

By bike, many a times. By car? Never.

66. Have you ever had detention?

Not a thing here, so no.

68. Have you ever hated the way you look?

Yes, often.

70. Have you ever pole danced?

Yes. I sucked. The muscles you need for that man… 

Want some context? It was during the introduction week for uni and we got to do some sports at the sports centre and every group was just assigned which sports they got to do. We got assigned pole dancing (and some others).

72. Have you ever been to the opposite side of the country?

Depends on what you define as opposite. I have been to the opposite side of where I live now and I guess also kind of from my parents. But my country is super tiny so I’ve been in most (general) places….

74. Have you ever cried yourself to sleep?

I have

76. Have you ever done something you told yourself you wouldn’t?

Definitely.

78. Have you ever slept with someone at least 5 years older or younger?

No

80. Have you ever sang in the shower?

Yes

82. Have you ever dreamt that you married someone?

I once dreamt I had a husband who passed away (and woke up sobbing only to realise a solid 10 minutes later I had never even married someone, nor liked someone enough to want to). 

84. Have you ever gotten your tongue stuck to a flag pole?

Are flag poles so prevalent in the U.S. that you actually know where to find one to get your tongue stuck to? Also, did they never teach you about touching cold objects with bare skin, especially wet skin like the tongue?

86. Have you ever been a cheerleader?

Also not a thing here, so no. And if it were a thing here, it’d also be a no probably.

88. Have you ever brushed your teeth?

Rao, I hope no one ever answers ‘no’ to this question. (So that’s a ‘yes’ for me.)

90. Have you ever played chicken?

What is this? Just pretend that you’re a chicken? Or is this some game I don’t know? It’s no to either I guess.

92. Have you ever been told you’re hot by a complete stranger?

I’ve probably been shouted at something along those lines. I mean, I’ve also been shouted at I got ‘nice tits’ whilst wearing a thick winter coat and a long scarf over it so I doubt it was even visible I had them in the first place…. Men… 🙄

94. Have you ever been easily amused?

I guess? 

96. Have you ever mooned/flashed someone?

I probably mooned my sister. But to be fair, someone allowed this Asian cartoon on a kids network and that boy mooned everyone so my sister started doing it too. I can only assume that if I ever mooned anyone myself, it was in this context and I did it to my sister. (That cartoon got banned and I watched some stuff on youtube the other day and damn what idiot thought that was appropriate for kids?!)

98. Have you ever forgotten someone’s name?

Yes, especially when being introduced to many new people. 

100. Give us one thing about you that no one knows.

I don’t know whether this exists (except if I don’t know this thing about me either). I talk about wanting a pet but I’m also kinda scared of animals?

[readingraebow]

Chapter 16 - Afterword

1. What does Charlie see as he's telling Tess about Sam? He sees Sam spying, haha. Basically Sam keeps appearing and making faces and sitting in trees and things and being very, very distracting. So pretty much everything a kid brother is supposed to do when his big bro is on a date?? Except Tess has no clue and can't see him but Charlie definitely does and is so not amused, haha.

2. What does Hoddy Snow announce he just heard from the Coast Guard? Tess Carroll's boat is missing and they haven't had contact with her in about 36 hours. Which Charlie just doesn't understand because he just had dinner with her last night?? So how could that be...?

3. Who does Tess meet in the cemetery and what do we now learn about her sailing accident? She meets Sam and Oscar in the cemetery. And she can see them. Which means she's not ~of the living. Because the only people who can see them are Charlie and other spirits. So we learn that Tess didn't make it back from her boating accident. We never really read that part anyway?? She was on the boat and then suddenly she was in the cemetery with no real concept of what happened between those two things. So. Apparently only her spirit made it back from the accident. And, um, meeting Sam (who she knows is dead) definitely didn't help her mental state.

4. Charlie and Sam explain the afterlife and why Sam hasn't crossed over yet. Do you believe there's life after death? If so, how do you believe it works? I do! My family is very religious so all my life I've heard a lot about Heaven and Hell and all that jazz. So I definitely believe in that and that that's where we'll all end up one day. But most people seem to believe that when you die you either immediately go to Heaven or to Hell (whatever the case may be) and I don't really believe that? Because I definitely do believe in Judgment Day as well and that won't happen until everyone's gone so that's the main reason why I believe in ghosts. Because I believe that everyone who has died is just waiting around for the judgment so some of them stay stuck here on earth and some of them end up in limbo or a place of waiting or something like that. But I definitely believe that there's ~something after death. I don't think death is the end. I think there's still far more to come.

5. What are the details Tess remembers about her accident? She remembers the boat flipping over and sinking while she waited for it to flip itself upright (which is what it was supposed to do). And then finally the boat flipped back over and so she rushed back up on deck to assess the damage. She finds that the mast has been sheered and she'll have to cut the remains of the pole so they won't pierce the hull. So she does that, and none too soon, as a giant wave takes everything away. So then she discovers that autopilot is off and she doesn't have power or even backup power. Which means she'll have to steer herself home... except she doesn't even know where she is. So she finally realizes it's time to abandon ship because there's still a huge storm happening with lightning and her lightning rod is gone (!!!!!) so she's getting the life raft ready and is about to contact the Coast Guard on the emergency channel.... when her boat is struck by lightning. And so she ends up falling in the ocean and her boat starts sinking and that's the last thing she remembers. So she doesn't even know where she was or what actually happened to her??? But that also explains why they kept finding burned pieces of the boat. Because of the lightning strike. So. Lovely.

6. Charlie realizes that even though Sam was the one who died, Charlie has given up his life too. If one of your siblings died and you had the chance to "keep" them, as Charlie did with Sam, but it would mean giving up your chance to go out and live your life, would you do it? Weellll, I'm the only one here without a sibling so, no, haha. I wouldn't give up my life to keep my non-existent sibling. But. I do have several friends who feel more like siblings?? And if I'm considering them, I don't know?? I'm definitely the kind of person who likes to hang on to things for way too long and I can see myself being that way with people who have died who I'm close to?? And especially if it's someone I'm as close to as Charlie and Sam are. So I think this would kind of be a yes?? Though I also do eventually let go so I think it would just be for a period of time?? I kind of think I'd end up being like Florio and hold on for a little while but then realize that it's really only hurting everyone involved and then maybe let things go. At least, that's how I hope it would be. But knowing me, I'd probably be Charlie and basically just hang on until something makes me let go. Which is, you know, super healthy.

7. How is Tess finally found? In what condition do they find her? So Charlie goes out with Tink and Joe the Athiest and looks for Tess in the last place she remembers being/the place on the piece of map that she left for him. But she's not there??? So they stay out all night and are basically giving up and going back. Well, that's when Sam shows up but he can't get Charlie's attention. So eventually he starts manipulating the elements and that's when they finally spot Tess. She's on a kind of makeshift life raft in a little cove to keep her protected and she has seVERE hypothermia. But they manage to contact the Coast Guard who shows up and takes her in a helicopter to the hospital. So she's not dead yet and there's a chance she could still be saved. They, at least, found her in enough time which is the good part.

8. How does this story end? How do you feel about the ending and about the novel in general? They managed to save Tess but she was in a coma and they didn't know when or if she would ever wake up. But she's strong and healthy so there was no reason why she couldn't survive?? It would just be up to her to wake up. So she stays in a coma for six weeks and Charlie quits his job at the cemetery and becomes a firefighter. He also goes and visits her all the time. Well, one day when he went to visit her, she woke up. And she had no idea who he was. But eventually she discovered that he was the one who saved her and she asked him to tell her how they met. And the little afterword says that they eventually fell in love again and got married and had children and built a life together. So everything ended up working out fine. And I honestly really loved the ending of this book and this whole novel a lot. It was a great story about love and loss and second chances. And I deeply enjoyed reading it! So glad we picked this one!!

  Section Two Reading Journal

Wow, so I DEFINITELY didn’t remember this story, like, AT ALL. I totally didn’t remember Tess being a, um, well she wasn’t exactly a ghost? A spirit? Or whatever she was supposed to be?? Yeah, definitely didn’t remember that at all. So that was really interesting.

I ended up loving this book quite a lot. It’s a great story and it’s very well written and entertaining. I just ended up loving it a lot??? And I’m so glad we had the chance to read it. And now I’ll definitely be rewatching the movie (I think it’s still on netflix??) to see why I didn’t remember it?? Rude.

My copy of the book also had a lot of stuff at the end and I ended up reading all of that. It had some really cool stuff about the movie and the filmmaking process and Ben Sherwood’s experiences with visiting the set. So that was super interesting. But there was also an excerpt from one of his other books which sounds faNTASTIC and which I now want to read and my library conveniently doesn’t have. So, you know, that’s always fun.

I’m just really glad that this whole experience not only helped me discover a great book but also a new author too. So I think this was a book club job well done. I’m very happy with these results. So go us!!