#I just really like sky high

[ai-higurashi]

ZOO TIME! 🦗 🐔 🐍 🐂 🐖 🐐

[bonebabbles]

God the new ultimate guide sucks

It's not JUST the awful art, either. The art's just worth mentioning because even if the book's info had been terrible or contained nothing new, really cute art can make it still worth having.

But, no, it's even full of recycled lines we've been hearing for years like "Bramblestar Can Match Squirrelflight's Fire Not Contain It," and that's when it DOES get everything right. These entries leave out major, important details (making them bad summaries) and are sometimes even straight-up incorrect.

SUMMARY THOUGHTS

Leafpool is said to have watched Brambleclaw kill Hawkfrost to save Firestar-- but for one, no, she was not there because Ashfur was still leading her and Squilf towards the scene. For two, no, Brambleclaw did not kill Hawkfrost just to save Firestar, it was self-defense. Hawkfrost had him pinned and was going to kill him.

They're REAL cute about Leafpool's death, too, neglecting to mention WHY the Sisters needed to be saved at all and just saying Leafpool's "generosity" lead to her death in that cave-in.

I'm not even going to get into everything on Bramble's entry jesus christ.

Sagewhisker's entry is ESPECIALLY fucken' dandy, framing Yellowfang's Secret like she was simply waiting patiently for Yellow to realize her 'destiny' and not actively shoving it on her at every opportunity.

Leopardstar's entry states that romantic interest in Tigerstar was part of her motivation. "Perhaps she'd hoped he would be her mate" please speak to a woman irl for once in your life.

Gray Wing's entry forgot that the reason he "blamed himself" for Bright Stream's death is because he was literally staring at his big strong brother too much and tripped on a root in front of him. It IS his fault she died.

Clear Sky/Skystar's entry is just obscene. "He regretted abandoning his son and after a fire, he encouraged him to live with him" instead of "saw his teenage child was useful now and bullied and belittled the kid and his uncle into letting Thunder come with him." "Retaining his fierceness towards his cats and outsiders which caused his son to leave" instead of "murdering, brutalizing, and abusing everyone around him caused Thunder to leave." I'll just say this tho; "Fierce" is an interesting way to spell "Cruel."

It's interesting that they don't point out that a major part of Jagged Peak's arc was proving he was "Just As Good" as every other cat in spite of his disability, thanks to his introduced-and-pregnant-in-the-same-book wife becoming his life coach, only earning Clear Sky's respect after being allowed to physically lead a patrol in Blazing Star. Instead they frame him finding his place through taking care of kits, which... was something he seemed to resent in the actual series, considering how the books suddenly treat Gray Wing's protective treatment of him as a terrible thing in Blazing Star because he "didn't give him a chance". But at the same time I actually strongly dislike Jagged Peak and his messy, frustrating character arc so I'm not really UPSET with it. Just... noting it. I suppose this is the official direction they're taking away from it?

Shadowstar's entry is barely even 3 paragraphs yikes.

SHORT STORY THOUGHTS

And if you're wondering if the 4 brand new stories they smooshed into the end in a desperate attempt to make the rush job worth buying are good? No. Of course not. They're all slop.

Story 1: Firestar and Graystripe

First one's a marginally cute story about Graystripe and Firestar which is setting up the framing device linking the mini-tales together. They both remember this situation where Firestar fell into a ditch wrong. The punchline is that Thunderstar remembers it perfectly and they're both like, "WOW! Too bad Thunderstar's memory sucks!"

It's not terrible, but it does feel a bit pointless. But, hey, if you want more Firestar and Graystripe in the series that tosses them fanservice at every turn, who am I to judge?

Story 2: Dovewing and Ivypool

The next one is the Dovewing/Ivypool reconciliation passage everyone's talking about. It's... fine, but immensely dissatisfying to me.

Dovewing is apparently having problems adjusting to her Clan, grapples a little bit with the fact she has no friends but is going to be finding meaning in helping tigerHeartstar "bring the new ShadowClan into existence." She ultimately decides that she needs to talk to her sister, and begs for reassurance that Ivypool believes in her, feeling that her support can help her get through this difficult time in her life.

I think its biggest problem is that Dovewing was not the right choice for the POV here.

Dove was never the one responsible for the rift in their relationship. Ivypool is. Ivypool is the one who was jealous, willing to sabotage anything that would put Dovewing closer to Tigerheart, and continues to be generally aggressive towards her. So when Dovewing is reaching out to Ivypool in hopes of them reconciling, it feels wrong because Ivypool is the one that should be reaching out to Dovewing. SHE is the one who has some things to apologize for, and to show how much she loves and misses her.

It's even kind of frustrating, because Dovewing can never catch a break. She has to have these problems to force her to reach out, Ivypool even ends up suggesting that she leave and come home and take her kids with her, but in the end even a LITTLE bit of assurance from her aggressive sister helps.

I feel super bad for Dovewing, man. She deserves better than this cheap writing. What was the point of such an unsatisfying, rushed reconciliation, shoved into a crummy field guide, when we KNOW from the newest book that they're just going to use tension between them as part of the drama anyway?

shouldn't have even been written, imo. Even ends off with, "They'll always have each other :)" which is so... cliche. It's TIRED. Are any of you really happy with just getting a retconned platitude in a good-for-nothing field guide, instead of seeing complicated, INTERESTING feelings in a main book?

Story 3: Alderheart and Twigbranch

A tale of Cherryfall getting sick during TBC and Alderheart sneaks back into the territory to treat her. Also Crowfeather has a scene where he yells at him. Charming.

Twigbranch comes up with a diversion while Alderheart does his work, which is cute. It's a fine story.

Story 4: Clear Sky

Trash. Three dogs spawn in the middle of a gathering so that Skystar can have an uwu big boy sendoff saving his grandkit. Then he goes to StarClan and throws a fit because they can't give him ANOTHER life, becoming so upset that he attacks the nearest woman. Naturally, Shadowstar brushes it off because it's not the first time Clear Sky has pummeled her in the midst of an adult tantrum and this book series thinks violence is fine if their favorite sadboy does it.

Then Gray Wing brings him to the magic mirror pool where you can see the living, to confirm that Star Flower is ok and that makes him feel better.

Then it launches into Firestar saying "ouuuugh yum I LOVE the taste of his butthole. Clear Sky is so misunderstood, He Just Loved Too Much."

to which Graystripe responds, "Yes, he was a good and amazing person and his farts smells SO good, and can you believe that some people think StarClan punished his Clan for his arrogance? As if he ever did anything wrong, ever?"

Firestar, indignant, refutes it with, "Ugh!! StarClan would NEVER be interesting, we don't punish living cats we just float around and make vague, frustrating prophecies that do nothing but pad the word count. Why cant ppl understand that, gosh."

who wrote this? Gray Wing??

[garbagequeer]

haha guys it’s not that im pushing for heteronormativity i swear i just think it’s problematic to have more characters come out late in the game other than the designated gay side characters haha not because i think main characters shouldn't be gay or because it makes me uncomfortable when gay characters don’t come with a designated partner and instead of staying confined to their part of the story experience desire in many directions it’s just because it is queerbaiting! to make new characters gay! somehow! or fetishistic! or something! but it is not okay! but i swear im not pushing for a heteronormative story i swear it’s just that i think it’s cowardly to not make the characters end up all in their respective monogamous relationships and instead portray a more realistic idea where they can be with more than one person and their relationships can change during their lifetimes and they still hold love for each other in a way that is not limited to traditional romantic models haha. because you know you can’t end the story without telling me how your characters straight marry each other and have kids haha that’s just a cop out to avoid a real ending even if you tell me your characters’ lives to the day they died. yeah no it’s not heteronormative to consider classic endgames the only form of closed ending because i would support the designated lesbian and gay ship also getting married and having kids haha. what do you mean your story has been poking fun at the concept of endgame the entire time dont be silly haha

[lacking-artdration]

All-American and completely well-adjusted!

[jrueships]

the monthly apathy is back, rlly sorry if i said smthing to u and then u say smthing back and i don't respond for like a thousand years only to spam u after it passes and then u respond bcs ure awesome and i go on an unspoken vow of silence for yet another thousand years and the cycle just continues

[imflyingfish]

working in an art gallery and talking to a lot of full time artists has given me CRAZY imposter syndrome btw lmao

[copia]

FOR THE LIGHT OF OUR SAVIOUR (SAVIOURRR) HIS MACHIAVELLIAN GRACEEE(GRAA AAA CE) AND IN THE SHEEN OF HIS SPLENDOUR (SPLENDOURRR) THERE IS A BETTER PLACEEEEE!!!!!! LETSGO

[fingertipsmp3]

Nothing more frustrating than having a dream set in an amazing book series and then waking up to find out it doesn’t exist. Guess I’VE gotta write this now

[popponn]

sometimes i look at genshin as haha goofy anime gacha but honestly? sometimes there is something about its lore and story that struck a chord in me. in world quests especially—there seems to be an ongoing pattern of how everything is caused by someone's dream and love. it's there in dragonspine, then in tsurumi—fucking hell, then sumeru's deserts, fucking caribert, fountaine. it's everywhere. like there is just something so tragic yet striking about how loving someone, something and having a wish and also a dream ended up in a goddamn catastrophe yet the love and dream still presist and very much there, in the story, even after hundred of years. like, the very foundation of the story is very much on dream and love. it ends up in a literal divine punishment but there is still a sense of hope and humanity there. no wonder celestia quacks at ambitions and such.

[sevensoulmates]

What's a character you were super into when you were like 12?

I had to sit and think about this genuinely because a lot of the people I was obsessed with when I was younger were real people? Like Ashley Tisdale, Demi Lovato, Joe Jonas, James Maslow from Big Time Rush, etc. In terms of characters I've got a few from a few different age ranges:

Kid (8-12): Definitely Atreyu from The Neverending Story

This was my favorite movie as a kid and I had a huge crush on Atreyu. I thought he was so cool and adventurous but he had real internal issues of self-worth and when he was on the brink of giving up he had to learn to accept help and he loved his horse and his people so much. I'm still obsessed with The Neverending Story to this day and I have a copy of the book that has a cover with the Auryn on it, like the book Bastian steals from the bookshop. It's one of my prized possessions.

Teen: Warren Peace from Sky High

Once again, I had a big fat crush. I am one of those problematic people who find villains interesting, especially villains that are realistic (like bullies) (🍅🍅🍅 I KNOW!!) But LISTEN!! Bullies in fiction are interesting to me because (most of the time hopefully if it's well written) there's a good deconstruction of why they act the way they act and it usually boils down to hurt people hurt people and I find it fascinating IN FICTION. I'm highkey still obsessed with Warren Peace given that I wrote a whole YA MM Contemporary Romance original fiction book inspired heavily by him.

And the last person I could think of being obsessed with as a teen is Kat Stratford from 10 Things I Hate About You BUT!!! specifically the version played by Lindsay Shaw (before she was problematic) in the ABC Family/Freeform TV series adaptation.

I was obsessed with her for so many reasons. I thought she was gorgeous, I loved her style! I loved her HAIR! She's probably the first and only fictional character that I was directly inspired to copy what she wearing. It was like a cross between stylistic punk/goth/skater girl aesthetic. I wasn't hugely attached to the original 10 Things I Hate About You, but I liked this version of Kat better (but I'm biased so take that with a grain of salt). I also had a big fat crush on her love interest in this series as well (so them together I was like 🥵). We only had this show for one season (and the ending was a cliffhanger that I'm STILL salty about!!!) but I will forever love this show.

[thetimelordbatgirl]

Girl not the director of Sky High actually saying he'd be up for a sequel if it was made by Marvel.

[bmpmp3]

the really beautiful landscape/skyscape animation in makoto shinkai's works tends to be the big thing i see focused on and that is understandable and deserved like the weather and lighting effects are unREAL but i do think we should also appreciate how absolute insane the plotlines of his original movies get. at least two movies with in universe catastrophes with major ecological implications. the guns and explosions. theres that one movie i havent seen yet with the guy who turns into a chair (?)

[lacking-artdration]

hey, I remember you, you're that fan- uh, Jim, Joey, JOHNNY!

my NAME is ALL AMERICAN BOY

[spearxwind]

Hi Alex! I was wondering, since there's leviathans of all fuck off sizes, are there other species in this world? Like Wyverns that can fly above and swan dive to say hi to their leviathan buds?

Hiya! There arent any dragons if that is what youre asking, nor any other massive species.

Besides the leviathans and all the regular sealife, fauna in CD is mostly avian (primarily seafaring birds and jungle fowl on the islands)

There are some bigger birds around but they are nowhere near as big as the leviathans are. I think the max size for birds would roughly be around cutter class sized (the smallest leviathan class), and those DO dive for fish like ospreys, though leviathans might chomp at them if they get too close (the same would happen with wyverns too)

----

As a note, there's a non-lore adjacent reason for it too, it's that I do not want the focus to shift away from the ocean and the leviathans. If I made giant flying things there would have to be logistics around that and I would not want them to interfere with what I already have.

Though now that I'm thinking about it, it could be really swag to have hunters who ride on big birds (I am immensely biased), though as much as I like it idk if I can make it work without pulling too much focus from the CD vibe haha

[graysondays]

— ✿ TAG DUMP. › LENNY GRAYSON.

These are going to be under a read more, because this got very long.

— ✿ i stumbled over all my words i made it weird i made it worse. › default verse.

— ✿ no time to lose we’ve got to move steady your hand. › naruto verse.

— ✿ you’re a virgin who can’t drive. › high school verse.

— ✿ you’re like a sunshine only giving good vibes anytime that you roll in. › yugioh gx verse.

— ✿ from underneath the trees we watch the sky confusing stars for satellites. › yugioh 5ds verse.

— ✿ kiss kiss fall in love. › ohshc verse.

— ✿ is this what it feels like to really cry. › noragami verse.

— ✿ you wouldn’t find a riceball in a fruits basket. › fruits basket verse.

— ✿ everybody’s trying to be famous and i’m just trying to find a place to hide. › swac verse.

— ✿ i’ll choose you over and over again. › lenny’s pokemon verse.

— ✿ put down the weapons you fight with and kill em with kindness. › kingdom hearts verse.

— ✿ darling don’t you ever grow up just stay this little. › single mom verse.

— ✿ in ancient egypt when the pyramids were still young. › ancient egypt verse.

— ✿ i could be your sunshine girl or the company for your misery. › supernatural verse.

— ✿ let me be the one to light a fire inside those eyes. › headcanons.

— ✿ she wears flower crowns and knitted sweaters. › appearance.

— ✿ the more boys i meet the more i love my cat. › aesthetic.

— ✿ and we danced all night to the best song ever. › playlist.

— ✿ but i know this crush ain’t going away. › ryou and lenny. › diverse-hearts.

— ✿ let me love you until you learn to love yourself. › saeran and lenny. › diverse-hearts.

[persimmontartkisses]

Me, in a conversation: What's going on in Gaza is genocide and objectively abhorrent.

Them: Well, ya know the Palestinians *random bullshit justifications for the slaughter of thousands of innocent people*

Me: