#I just wish they also casted a young person for her (LIKE A TEENAGER)

[luv-loo]

I was looking at the cast list for the new TMNT: Mutant Mayhem movie and yeah, the turtles are voiced by actual teens my age, but April is voiced by a 27 year old woman which made me chuckle for some reason. As much as I know Ayo has experience and her voice acting in the trailer is really good, like really good imo, I think it would of been a better choice to cast a young actress around the same age as the actors playing the turtles, you know, to make her feel more like a teen.

I know this is nick picking, but people are raving about the turtles sounding like early teens (14/15 years old) because they are voiced by teens but are completely missing my girl April.

[prince-liest]

was recently talking to a friend about qi rong which then lead to me going on a reread of my favorite qi rong fic EVER, and now I’m in my feels about him, his relationship with his family, and his relationship with xie lian and guzi.

I just love qi rong a lot. to be clear, he’s a horrible little gremlin and that is a lot of WHY I love him - but I also think that fundamentally qi rong is a character who is super traumatized but does not receive sympathy for that trauma because he is not traumatized in a “palatable” way which is a trend that starts when he is young and just never ends, canonically, at any point in his life

right from the bat: the first 5 years of his life, he's being physically and emotionally abused, he's cast out to live in a shed, his mom is forgotten by her family. by the time she finally escapes his abusive father and goes back to the palace, her elopement with him has been swept under the rug and most people don't actually know what happened - and are then weirded out by her and qi rong, causing all the children and even most adults around qi rong to basically refuse to interact with him. so he's abused and hated, then isolated to the point where nobody talks to him, nobody plays with him. the one time he thinks he succeeded at attempting to make some friends, it turns out that they tricked him into writing a death wish for himself and his mother on his lantern.

and all the while, he's watching xie lian and the adulation he receives, not understanding why xie lian gets those things and he does not. everyone always says he looks like xie lian. he’s even called xiao jing, like he’s a mirror of the crown prince. what’s the difference?

and then xie lian himself is the only person aside from his own mother to be genuinely kind to qi rong. qi rong is desperately lonely, envious and fixated on the cousin that nobody will stop comparing him to, and then said cousin is the only person to reach out to him with kindness. of course he wants to attach himself to xie lian and emulate him.

unfortunately for both of them, then his mother dies - not just randomly, but specifically in defense of xie lian’s mother, and having extracted a promise for xie lian’s parents to care for qi rong. however, things don’t actually change at that point. sure, they take him in and buy him whatever he wants, but as far as love and care are concerned, xie lian is really the only potential source of those things left for qi rong. xie lian is also a teenager with a lot of pressure on his shoulders and a lack of understanding of difficult situations. of course he doesn’t know how to raise his traumatized, misbehaving cousin! and nobody else bothers to. it’s deeply unfair for xie lian to be used as the singular tool to discipline and direct qi rong, and that directly contributes to their extremely soured relationship.

now that qi rong’s mother is dead, there is nobody left around that actually wants him or is willing to put effort into properly raising him. when a kid turns out as wild as qi rong - that's not just random happenstance, that happens because they weren't parented right (or at all). he acts out in increasingly insane ways for the attention everyone hates to give him - anyone's, but especially xie lian's, which sucks for xie lian because it should have been his parents providing qi rong with an authority figure and source of love, not xie lian's teenage self. and people respond by waving him off, giving him whatever he wants just to make him go away, and ignoring him, because he has a deeply off-putting personality.

and it causes everyone around qi rong to resent him in this vicious cycle that escalates his behavior because he doesn't know what else to do - until eventually even xie lian, the one person that he really looked up to, hates him too.

obviously qi rong is an awful person by the point we reach in canon, but I also think that if he had received regular hugs as a child and maybe some actual parenting from someone who didn’t beat him, instead of just being given a bunch of money and being told to fuck off

specifically because he was weird and traumatized and unlikeable

things would have turned out very different for him. because he very clearly tries - that’s one thing that’s very clear in the flashbacks and even continues to modern canon: qi rong really tries to get love and attention, and when that doesn’t work, he just escalates to “any attention, bad attention, attention that proves I’m worth something, proves wrong all the people saying the supposedly-amazing cousin that took away my only source of kindness when he started hating me, is so much better than me”. he starts out an awkward, off-putting kid and ends up the night-touring green lantern. of course he holds enough resentment to end up a calamity. his cannibalism shtick doesn’t even read as genuine to me, it just seems like he picked out “what’s the worst, most attention-grabbing thing I can possibly be to pre-emptively justify everyone’s disgust in me” and landed on that.

(see also: I think it’s hysterical that he has very strong opinions and abilities as pertains to gourmet cooking, and then just uses them to lure in victims so that he can have his meal of Raw Unseasoned Human Flesh. you can’t tell me he’s doing it for anything other than the bit at this point.)

and that’s also why I think his weirdly wholesome relationship with guzi also makes a lot of sense. qi rong is a shockingly decent father to him (eventually), probably in part because he overidentifies with guzi also being abused by his father, but also, because guzi is literally just a kid and therefore is not someone that yet has the capacity to have all these preconceptions about qi rong, nor for qi rong to read into his words and be insulted, because. that's just a kid. there’s nothing to read into.

I think his treatment of guzi (eventually) shows that he's capable of being at least kind of decent (or at least functional), he's just never been in a circumstance where his trauma and relationships let it happen. his material life was always supplied for, but his emotional and familial environment in xianle was invariably toxic for him.

anyway, I think qi rong needs a shower and a hug, in that order, and then to be forced to learn to interact with people who don't immediately assume the worst of him. thanks for coming to my TED talk, I know it was long as hell.

[midnightbears]

✿ tell 'em how the crowds went wild! tell 'em how i hope they shine!

⎯ in which you look back on how grateful you are for the opportunity bestowed upon you. aka: you joined the opla's cast!

#STARRING. iñaki godoy, mackenyu, jacob romero, taz skylar, emily rudd ft. fem!reader [elle fanning 4 faceclaim but u can imagine y/n anyway u wish!].

#TAGS. sfw, kind of context, a bit of smau but its tiny. mentions of covid just in case it's triggering?

#NOTE. pardon my rusty writing but i really wanted to get this out!!! i added an oc from one piece for the sake of the story but she's barely mentioned so uuuh yuh! timeline may be wrong but i work with what i'm given please bear with me. let me know if you would like more fics of this y/n??? ALSO IGNORE THE WATERMARKS ON THE PHOTOS I NEEDED TO MAKE THEM NEATER

© midnightbears on tumblr, apr 2024. please do not repost to another platform, plagiarize, translate, use for AI-related purposes or claim as your own.

In the past, if someone were to come up to you and tell you that you’d be a part of the One Piece Live Action main cast in the future, you would’ve probably laughed in their faces despite your wishful thinking.

At that time, you were content with your work, doing short theatre plays with companies or gaining minor roles in musicals. Everything changed when you landed the role for the one-woman show Fleabag for a limited time on London’s West End after the leading actress underwent emergency surgery for an appendectomy. You only acted as the sex-obsessed mess of a woman for about three weeks, but it was enough time for people to notice you, to really see you.

You believed your career had reached its pinnacle when you were cast as Katherine Howard in Six: The Musical in London. Your name had become somehow well-known in the musical theatre world, and you had a small but dedicated fan base who liked uploading edits of you being a dork during the Megasix on YouTube and TikTok. 

Months later, you were bound to play as Fantine for Les Miserables when COVID abruptly struck, and you were dismayed that your job was ripped from you so abruptly. Your best friend, the sweetest person on earth, insisted on you moving in with her in fear that you’d be evicted from your apartment.

Months passed, and you eventually found a small way to help your friend pay rent by offering singing and acting lessons online to musical-aspiring teenagers. Since you had gained many followers from your earlier work on social media, it didn’t surprise you when the classes became sold out.

Your friend also convinced you to create a YouTube channel for you to upload videos of yourself (sometimes joined by her) where you watched and commented shitty movies, followed DIY tutorials just for the fun of it, performed covers of your favorite songs, and just generally vlogged your life (along with reactions to Taylor Swift’s (From The Vault) songs).

At first, you thought it was pretty stupid, but you were delightfully proved wrong when your videos harbored over 200k-300k views on a bad day, so you found no reason to stop as COVID-19 continued, growing to gain a little over five hundred thousand followers. Your reactions were often used for TikTok audios or clips, so you found your popularity growing and evolving during that year.

You believed yourself to be a general, simple woman. People liked you because you were elegant and levelheaded, although you could sometimes be chaotic. You also had a subtle sense of humor that many found charming. But mostly, you grew a steady fan base because your videos and presence comforted countless young adults and teenagers.

You were an optimist and a reassuring one, so during the times when COVID was so prominent, people sought refuge from the monstrosities of the world in your videos, where you seemed to connect with them even though you were on the other side of the screen.

However, everything changed somewhere in 2020-2021. That evening, your best friend got home from work with excitement practically oozing out of her every pore. You and your best friend were avid anime watchers and manga readers, so you couldn’t help the face you made when she told you that One Piece was getting a live-action.

Although you were skeptical, your friend practically insisted you send an audition tape. You grimaced at that. It was well-known that live anime actions were almost always corny and cringeworthy compared to the original work, and people never liked them. You had learned that much from Death Note and a couple of others. However, your best friend convinced you with this argument:

“If it’s that bad, then at least you’ll gain more followers out of the memes that people will make, and if it’s good, you’ll still get famous anyway!”

Eventually, you sent a video of you performing one of the lengthy monologues from Fleabag to your agency and simply hoped for the best. Your friend was practically rooting for you to get the role of Anastasia, one of the first integrants of the Straw Hat crew, joining before Sanji and after Usopp. You adored her as she greatly reminded you of your late mother, although you would be happy with any role.

Somewhere in November 2021, you remember a lot of screaming and crying. When you try to look back on it, all you remember is the happiness you felt when you received confirmation of the role of Anastasia. You were practically over the moon, and you and your friend celebrated inside your small apartment. You were entirely alone, just two drunk girls dancing and cheering, until one of the neighbors knocked on the ceiling with a broom.

liked by inakigo, emilyrudd and 574,949 others

yourusername actually lost for words and filled to the brim with gratitude...... i cannot express how excited i am to play my girl anastasia and bring her to life. from the bottom of my heart, thank you to everyone who has supported me. your faith in me means everything. congrats to iñaki, emily, jacob, mackenyu and taz, thank you to onepiecenetflix, thank you to my best friend for convincing me to audition for the role, and thank you, oda sensei, for putting anastasia's heart in my hands. love u all <3

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November 10, 2021

y/nsfanclub.02, AAAAAAAA SO EXCITED FOR THIS I ACTUALLY CANT BELIEVE IT

⤷ starl6ighwnb, LIKE FR IM GNAWING AT THE BARS OF MY ENCLOSURE THIS IS INSANE

user8392y3r927y, HELLO YOUR GRACE ANASTASIA

inakigo, Congrats!!!!!!!!

taz_skylar, 🔥🔥🔥

The One Piece fan base dearly loved the character of Anastasia, a well-mannered, bubbly, upbeat, fashion-loving duchess who always spoke in a Transatlantic accent but also had a quick wit and a bit of a sweet tooth. Anastasia’s dream was to become the most dangerous pirate to ever grace the seas and prove everyone who doubted her wrong.

Of course, with a big character came a big responsibility.

Sometimes, insecurity nearly got the better of you. You had to fill huge shoes, and there were many people to convince and impress. However, your love for this project was bigger than the gnawing uncertainty on the back of your neck, so you continued strongly until the end of Season One, finding comfort in your cast mates and the countless people who counted on you and, most importantly, believed in you.

Oda handpicked you, and that argument alone was enough to shoot any insecurities away.

Well, needless to say, people loved you!

Critics acclaimed your portrayal of the character, as well as the commendable chemistry you shared with the rest of the cast. The fans found it incredibly funny that your character was the complete opposite of how you actually acted in real life, and you often found yourself blissfully immersed in the fan base's love and praise.

Your channel and social media suddenly grew tenfold. Although you had stopped uploading videos every week due to the recording of season one, your followers were more than happy to wait for your return, and as one would expect, they were thrilled to have you back once you did upload a vlog explaining everything.

Over the course of the six months, you had been recording from time to time for a YouTube video in the set. Previously, you had asked the producers for permission to record some behind-the-scenes for your channel and your usual interactions with the rest of the cast with your personal Sony camera, as you felt it would be a nice way to bring the fans and the cast closer.

The producers gave the okay on the condition that you would wait until the first season aired on Netflix. You happily agreed and carefully began recording some scenes of your dressers and hairdressers as they prepared you, a few shots of your instructor showing you how you were supposed to use the guns that Anastasia employed... simple things.

Back in the day, you were still getting acquainted with the other cast members, and you didn't want to seem rude by forcibly making them appear on your videos, so you waited for a few weeks until you could properly call yourself companions. Then, you invited them to appear in the videos.

Iñaki, Taz, and Jacob liked to take advantage of the little free time they had between scenes they didn't appear in to innocently steal your camera and use it to their heart's content. One day, you got home only to find the memory card was completely full. It was an extensive video of them walking around the set, with Taz recording while Kiki and Jacob pointed out random stuff to the people who lived inside your camera, as Jacob liked to call them.

Mackenyu, being more reserved and introverted, mostly liked to act as a cameraman for you as you showed the props you used and other things, often making comments or turning the camera around whenever you referred to something.

Meanwhile, Emily had a natural knack for being in front of the camera. Whenever you asked her to join in, she effortlessly slipped into the co-host role, bantering with you and adding her own insights into the behind-the-scenes world of the show.

With the first season out of the way, you took the time to carefully pick what videos you wanted to use in the final tape, and it took you a little over a month and a half to properly edit it and turn it into a wonderful thirty-minute-long behind-the-scenes. You even sent it to the producers and your co-stars in case there was a scene they wanted deleted. Fortunately, they all gave you the okay.

You teased the video a bit on your Instagram before uploading it a few days later, and the support it received was out of this world. It gained over two million views and hundreds of thousands of likes.

You were kind of expecting this. While some BTS had already been uploaded on YouTube, yours was different because you were showing it from your perspective. The fans loved every second of it, and even started asking for a second or third part. You even saw new videos on YouTube of recompilations from your video with the titles being silly things like The One Piece Cast Being Chaotic for Seven Minutes.

At that moment, your life felt so full. You were getting contacted by industries who wanted you to appear on their videos and their stages, thousands of fans who loved you, and a feeling so peculiar that this would be eternal.

liked by taz_skylar, morganlogoff and 1,523,199 others

yourusername missing my wig and my gang hours ☹️

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November 10, 2023

morganlogoff, love love love you💗💗💗

curlikaqy, NO ONE KNOWS I'M YOUR BIGGEST FAN

emilyrudd, GIRL I WANT TO SEE YOU COME BACK TO AMERICA

bookofjacob, missing your camera hours💔

[lucifers-rubber-duck]

Hello, hope you’re doing well! Really loving the Hazbin posts you’ve done so far, they’re wonderful ☺️

If it’s alright, could I please request some platonic HCs with Charlie, Vaggie, Angel Dust, and Sir Pentious for a slightly younger reader than the rest of the cast who’s on the shy and anxious side, very easily rattled in hell, but takes a liking to their fellow demon(s) enough that they feel comfortable around them to express themselves a bit more and start to develop a sibling/parental sort of bond with them?

Sorry if that’s a bit specific of a request, but thank you for reading!

A/N: I'm sorry for taking so long Anon but I absolutely loved your ask! Shy!Reader is so me tbh. Hope you enjoy it.

𖤓Charlie

• She's mostly concerned about how young you are, not that you're a teenager or something, but the age you died is concerning since you're younger than anyone at the hotel.

• She's an extrovert so she might not notice how shy you are at first because she's just so excited to have you around that she is already showing all of her hotel to you and wishing you a good stay.

• Even with that bubbly personality of her's, it's actually pretty easy for you to feel comfortable enough around her to express your feelings, she's just so sweet like that. You feel like you can tell her all of your problems that she would listen to carefully within a day of meeting her.

• She's the type to be a sister figure, she's always trying to make you open up more with weekly trust exercises and besides her looks wouldn't hesitate to put a demon in their place if they treat you badly. She considers everyone at the hotel family, but you're the one that needs most protection out of them, so she's going to be the best host you could ask for.

𖤓Vaggie

• She's the least chaotic of the people in the hotel, she likes to solve things calmly and sometimes with brute force but only when it's necessary. Your more timid demeanor is a breath of fresh air from all these sinners full of themselves.

• She's the one that gets more rational the moment she sees you're not dealing very well with the things around, she gives you space and time to be comfortable around the place, especially because she feels that you really want to change for the better. She also calms Charlie down when she's being too excited around you.

• She wants to help you be more sturdy tho, Hell is a dangerous place and you need to fight for yourself, so she gives you private fighting lessons on basic self defense, she can get a little too aggressive while training but if you actually get hurt she'll say sorry and help take care of you.

• The way she makes you feel welcomed is very different from the others, she makes you feel safe, she protects you from Angels comments and teaches you how to stand up, she's just like an older sister that wouldn't hesitate to kill for you and has a strong sense of bonding.

𖤓Angel

• He finds you almost adorable, he probably just enjoys having someone that kinda looks up to him as an example, you almost envy his personality and how easy-going he seems to be, he enjoys the attention and praise.

• Will eventually grown attached to having you around but he's very good a not showing it, he's an actor for a reason after all, but he can still be very sweet with you and sometimes even protective, not so much, but he'll tell a demon to suck a dick if they are mean to you.

• He helps you try and lose up more, be more extroverted, he takes you to drink on bars or go to clubs so you can try to make more friends. He can easily get distracted if Cherri is also there and might not notice if you get uncomfortable at first, but don't be afraid to tell him that you want to leave, he won't be mad at you and will do as you ask.

• He really makes you feel like you belong, especially when you two are just doing skin-care and telling gossips, he feels like a older brother and you appreciate how much he takes care of you.

𖤓Sir Pentious

• Daddy issues? Naahh, this man got child issues if that's even a thing. He craves for the feeling of having a child like it's something he misses deeply without even knowing why, so the moment he realizes that you, the shy one of the crew is looking up to him he's being all clingy with you.

• He tries to look cool, something that either he fails at or his Egg Bois do it for him, he wants to make up to your expectations towards him because you're one of the little people who treat him nicely. You mainly admire him because besides being a little timid like you, he's a very intelligent inventor.

• He makes you gadgets for your self defense and makes sure one of his Egg Bois is always following you to keep you safe, they can't do much but are very useful as bait so you can run while they get attacked.

• Expect a bunch of drama and dad jokes coming from him, that's his way of trying to sound cool and reliable to you, he wants to be a good father figure or whatever figure you need and that's what makes you feel so welcomed and cared for when you're around him. Make sure to give him a hug everytime he does nice things to you, he appreciates it.

[imjustavenuxwithaboomerang]

okay watched rise of red yesterday, here are some final thoughts/questions/and just standout thoughts

okay i'm gonna preface this with two things. 1. i was gonna live blog the movie but (obviously) didn't and just wrote notes in my personal notes app as i watched instead (so if i refer to "my notes" that's what i'm talking about). and 2. i did not hate this movie nor did i love this movie but (to me) it still belongs at the table with the original trilogy

i full on thought that ella was the prankster/let the prank happen, which is apparently not an original thought as i've seen a couple of people say this (like multiple times in my notes i talk about a possible misdirect but alas no)

i also thought that red and chloe would go back to the present and the coup would still happen/the queen of hearts would be even more evil and it would end on a cliffhanger (i guess it semi-did due to uma's narration at the end)

there were too many talking breaks in the songs, to the point where i didn't exactly know whether or not the song ended

^speaking of the songs, i rated them as i watched btw check it out :), there was way too much rapping/talk singing. i'm usually a big disney rapping defender but in almost every song? would it have killed them to give me singing verses?

^there was also a lot of autotune, which is fine but again, in every song? like the songs sometimes sounded very over-produced at times which is just peak disney+ original

all of the young versions of the characters were mad overhyped and over-promoted for most of them to do almost nothing (fay, jasmine, aladdin, hades, maleficent, and ESPECIALLY ZELLIE/MEADOW, i'm looking at you)

even though i knew that queen of hearts's name was bridget before the movie came out, it took me until love ain't it to realize that it's because bridge is a card game (i've literally been wondering why they chose bridget as her name since it was announced I'M A FOOL)

i have quite literally never cared about any interpretation of captain hook until this movie. joshua just makes it work and his VOICE (the deep. the accent. sickening)

malia's wig definitely kept changing in volume and length and it slightly bothered me the whole time

can't tell if i love that chad was acknowledged or not. like you're telling me that cinderella and charming just let their son be a bully

it will forever bother me that vk's are supposed to be the only ones with natural unnatural hair colors but in rise of red they have multiple non-villains with unnatural hair colors (chloe, cinderella, charming = blue hair, zellie/meadow = rainbow streaks but that could be dyed hair)

these characters have such queer energy

kinda wish we had more of a conclusion song instead of just a reprise and remix of life is sweeter but since this movie is a part 1(???), i guess i'll give it a pass

does hook just have the hook for aesthetic or am i supposed to live with the fact that a teenager got his hand cut off and fed to a crocodile?? (he literally goes "for a hand, find a golden hook"...DID THIS TEENAGER GET HIS HAND CUT OFF AND FED TO A CROCODILE???)

i know that because the merlin academy's students haven't played their stories out so there's no "oh i'm the daughter/son of..." but why is no one questioning red and chloe or asking for their full names?? like have chloe try to explain why her last name is charming or have red say she's from wonderland and have bridget be confused

and uma never mentioned her aunt why??? (also side note: i love the casting of data being related to china because multiple times while listening to hsmtmts songs, dara will sound like china to me)

if the book froze uliana and her gang then how did they pull of the prank before in the original timeline???

^speaking of the prank, i'm kind of upset that they had queen of hearts explain what the prank did to her in the present instead of red and chloe finding out naturally

^speaking of the prank pt.2, it seems more like the prank brought bridget to her breaking point, than it magically transformed her personality. i know that somewhere in the prank she "turned into a monster" but i'm sticking with what i said anyways

also insane how we know that captain hook's name is james and yet the movie is acting like hook (HIS LAST NAME) is his first name

^SAME FOR CHARMING. how is it his first name(???) if chad and chloe's last names are charming

whoever said that the title should've stayed the pocketwatch, you're so right

^speaking of the pocketwatch, kinda irked that the white rabbit was just never mentioned

i like that chloe was wearing pants and boots, so basically appropriate clothes for fighting/walking around/running away from things instead of a frilly dress and heels (not that i don't believe chloe could still kick someone's ass in such an outfit)

^however, though i get the sentiment, i do not like the implication that chloe was just going through the movie in GLASS BOOTS

and finally, if this movie takes place 10 years after the events of the first movie, why is chad still in college??? (then again he could've flunked school multiple times and then got into college later in life)

also just re-rated the songs as i was typing this up so check that out too :)

[raayllum]

Partially inspired by the new “Lost Child” story about Claudia and Sir Sparklepuff, partially inspired by my old “Aaravos and Harrow are thematic opposites” meta, and partially something I’ve been kicking around in my head for a little while now, let’s talk about

Aaravos’ view of children

This is one of the most interesting smaller facets of the series to me, partially because all the information we have is quite contradictory (not unlike Aaravos himself). However, we do get some key understandings of how he views things in his monologue scene in 4x04:

Aaravos sees children, primarily, as a threat worth dismissing. He specifically targets Ezran according to age, dismisses them not just as “pathetic” beings, but specifically their youth, even as our cast is two years older than they were previously, with Rayla two weeks shy of eighteen and Soren being close (if not already) twenty. 

However, his manipulation and dismissal feels particularly contradictory given that Claudia - a teenager not much older than Callum or Rayla, and younger than Soren - is currently taking up her father’s mantle, and is the one freeing the being from his cocoon. The Orphan Queen was similarly young, seemingly mid-to-late teens, when she revealed his treachery to the Archdragons and subsequently helped with his imprisonment. So Aaravos knows that ‘children’ are capable, not only as opponents, but also as tools.

So why have dismissal on the basis of youth?

Well, I’m going to posit that Aaravos dismisses children not on the basis of capability, but on the basis of usefulness.

Children in the Narrative of Strength 

I talked more about this in my Harrow and Aaravos parallels meta linked above, specifically the way Harrow admires/cites that “The great illusion of childhood is that adults have all the freedom and power. But the truth is the opposite: a child is freer than a king.” And freedom is very important to Harrow, both from a personal standpoint (“But as a father, I have a selfish wish: for you and Ezran to be free. Reject the chains of history”) and from a thematic standpoint (“Fate is a lie, nothing is written in stone, you are free”). This viewpoint is important, then, in the way the trio embodies this specifically because of Zym, and how he causes people to confront (or not confront) their biases and understandings of personhood. 

To a certain degree, to recognize a person’s childhood and/or that they are a child is to recognize their personhood, but not necessarily. Soren can recognize that Ezran is a child, but it’s not enough to make him defect from his father’s plan at the time (2x02). Aaravos is aware that two of his pawns (Callum, Claudia), at least, are children, and yet he treats both of them as valuable assets. Claudia can understand that Sir Sparklepuff is like a child in her eyes, and accordingly associates it with helplessness, rather than subsequent agency. She’s not entirely wrong to do so, as Ezran’s naivety does get him into trouble, and Callum and Rayla’s young natures are part of their own coming-of-age stories in Arc 1. 

But Soren and Runaan identify youth as an obstacle to Callum and Rayla’s goals. For Callum, he wants to protect the people he loves (“He’s the king, and he’s my father. It’s my duty to help him”) and for Rayla, it’s that she’s already failed at her duty and in protecting her troupe (“I messed up, I know I did. Because I let that soldier go we’re all in danger”). 

An exchange between Viren and Soren in mid-S1 perhaps spells this out most explicitly. The Narrative of Strength - of clear cut power, protection, and subsequent dominion and perpetuation of the cycle - believes that youthfulness and qualities more commonly found in children are weakness.

V: If we are strong enough to make the right decisions, humans may finally return to Xadia, and take back the great magical lands that are rightfully ours. But if we are led by a child king... S: He’ll make bad choices? V: He will make weak choices.

To be a child is to be, not bad, but something much worse: weak. To be weak is to be helpless; to be helpless is to be exploitable, if not also expendable. It means you cannot protect the person you love (and as I’ve gone over before, that tends to be most people’s motivations in the show - or at the very least, it’s what they believe their primary motivation is.) 

But what is the place of a child in a Narrative of Love, and how/why does this factor in for Aaravos - or at the very least, seems to?

A Beautiful Upside Down Truth

Harrow, again, says this most clearly in 2x06:

I now believe true strength is found in vulnerability, in forgiveness, in love. There is a beautiful upside down truth, which is that these moments of purest strength appear as weakness to those who don’t know better. For a long time, I didn’t know better. I ask you and your brother to reject history as a narrative of strength, and instead have faith it can be a Narrative of Love.

Moments of legitimate strength - to lay down arms, to take a chance, to engage in faith and mercy - appear as weakness to those who subscribe to a Narrative of Strength. The same action appearing differently depending on your perspective, as with many things. But how does this relate to Aaravos? Well, beyond the fact that Aaravos’ chest and main symbol is also the fact that he literally has an upside down star arcanum on his chest, there’s also a more complicated, overt layering going on that S4 brought to the forefront. 

A narrative of love isn’t always that simple. A desire to protect someone can lead you to do despicable things (Harrow and Viren believing they will murder Zym, an innocent child). Love can turn and be warped to grief. Love makes people angry; love makes people hurt. The fear of losing love can cause people to make destructive choices, both to themselves and others, and with consequences they cannot fathom. Love can be strength, yes, but it can also be weakness:

And if I stay much longer, you’ll wake up and try to stop me… from doing what I know I have to do. Leaving. But I can’t let you stop me, Callum. No matter how much I want to. I have to be strong. No matter what. And if you said even one word to me, I wouldn’t be—couldn’t be. If I stay even until your eyes open and you yawn your silly morning yawn, I’ll break. I’ll still be here when the sun rises today, and the next day, and the next…

I should go. I have to go.

—Dear Callum, Reflections Vol. 1

Her hands itched with the horrible lightness of each scattered piece, her feet ached as she walked and walked and walked to gather her father back together… And then the voice, the thread she had caught and clung to and used to haul herself out of the darkness.

“Do not fear,” the Startouch elf had said. “You are a dark mage, powerful and potent. With my help, there is nothing you cannot fix. Not even death.”

Claudia breathed in pine and earth, and the faint tang of the water.

It’s up to me again, she thought. It’s always up to me. [...] There I am, she thought. I’m not a mess. I’m a dark mage. And I’m stronger than almost anyone knows. Maybe her mother hadn’t seen that strength. Maybe Soren had chosen to ignore it. But Aaravos had known—and her father did, too.

—Lost Child, Reflections Vol. 2

And Aaravos preys upon this directly:

Viren is motivated by love (“She is not an asset, she is my daughter” / “I have always been ready to do anything to protect my family”). Claudia is motivated by love. Callum already is, and will presumably continue to be more overtly moving forward into S5. Aaravos pushes people into corners where they feel weak (“I felt so weak and out of control,” Callum says of the possession) in order to manipulate them further. This is likely because of his own history of trying to “win” over others and humans and still ultimately feeling betrayed by them:

Tests of Love bring the two aspects of the Narrative together, breaking down the previous binary the series has constructed between Love and Strength. While Strength is easier to buy into, it does not mean that Love is impervious to corruption or coercion. It’s just another path, unless you have the foresight and capabilities to avoid it. 

After all, games are routinely associated with children (Ezran’s hide and seek motif anyone? / Zym playing in the most recent short story by his father’s resting place) and subsequent helplessness (“Entire armies have fallen before [Avizandum] like toys, how can we hope to kill such a godly creature?” 3x06) and Aaravos is playing a game. The main difference is that he’s playing his game with people’s lives, specifically centred around his pawns, with anyone else as collateral damage. He is simultaneously ancient, and yet also stunted in maturity, relegated to a destructive and childish view of the world and the people around him. 

But as anyone who knows me, well, knows, is that for the first three seasons, the most consistently referenced piece in Aaravos’ game is, well

What does this mean for the Key?

Children are, series wise, inherently about potential. Zym has the potential to be destructive and dangerous and to hate humans, and that’s seen as a good enough reason to get rid of him. Ezran has the potential to make ‘bad’ or ‘weak’ choices, and so he and his brother must be removed from the equation as heirs. Rayla could hesitate again; Callum could play into Aaravos’ hands. But all of these are treated like certainties by various characters, and sometimes even the character who the belief is held about themselves.

Potential isn’t always a good or bad thing; our beliefs of where that potential will go can be neutral if they’re measured. For example, Callum once thought that the Key of Aaravos, more commonly and consistently referred to as a game piece / toy, could be beneficial: “I just have a feeling this cube thing could help me.” Seeing every side turn to the dark magic sigil and routes to primal magic feel closed off in 2x08 represented a lack of potential. After all, a set destiny is just one path; it means there is no potential. There is only one path forward. 

Now, the cube could still have the potential for great good; that would be very in line with Aaravos’ and the series’ persistent fascination with duality and well, potential itself. However, I do think the Key will lead to something disastrous first. I have a couple of theories of what the cube may be (the key to his prison, or his heart and memories) but they both hinge on well, probably the biggest Assumption any of those theories make: that Aaravos wants the key at all. 

Simply put, any speculation that Aaravos wants or needs the key is just that: speculation. We have no idea what its capabilities are, although it is implied to be a powerful relic and/or to unlock something (or someone) powerful in Xadia. Aaravos has also required for Claudia and co. to obtain objects he made and gifted to other mages (Ziard’s dark magic staff, now in Viren’s hands) in order to help secure his freedom, so there is precedent for something made by or belonging to Aaravos to have a part to play in releasing him, at least partially. If Aaravos doesn’t want the Key for one of his plans, after all, then it purely exists right now as implied bait for Callum in some capacity. If the Key has any sort of power, it makes sense that Aaravos would at the very least want it for himself. Thus, Aaravos wanting well, his Key, does make the most sense, even if we don’t know why. If it is his heart or tied to his memories, both of those and their associations with childhood (“a child sees with their heart, not just their eyes” from the book one novelization) could help explain why we see child Aaravos on the star chart map in S4′s intro(s). 

But it is still an assumption. It does indicate, though, that if Aaravos does want the key, acquiring it and/or his freedom (whichever comes first) is his checkmate moment, if you will. The moment he Wins the Game, because his instruments - his pawns - are destined to play into his hands. They are destined to lose - to participate in a song of Love and Loss. Aaravos is writing their destinies. At least for now.

Conclusion(?)

What does this all mean? To be honest, I don’t really know. Mostly, I just think the consistency and duality / cognitive dissonance Aaravos is operating under is 1) interesting as hell from a character / theory standpoint and 2) important as hell from a thematic standpoint. The Cycle, after all, is perpetuated by children who grow up to be adults, or by children themselves. Likewise, the Cycle must also be broken for the sake of future generations, as Ezran and Janai say, so that their children, and their children’s children, can live in peace. 

And the you have Aaravos, a character embodied by duality and contradiction, and defined as heavily by this dual view of child/childhood as he is by light and dark. He  has childlike qualities, but he’s also an ancient being fully aware of and responsible for his actions; he plays games, but with people’s lives; Aaravos is monstrous, yes, in many ways, but he was once a child and is still a person like anyone else. I expect that seeing how he turned into, well, what he is now, will be a major part of the show going forward for all the reasons mentioned above, and indeed one of the many reasons I’m beyond excited for future seasons.

Season five can’t come soon enough.

[spookfished]

media roundup sep 2024

hello! havent done these in a while. im currently "extremely unemployed" lol well see if i go back and do any of the previous months i skipped ㄟ( ▔, ▔ )ㄏ i think its nice to force myself to summarize my thoughts like this

BOOKS: the tyrant baru cormorant by seth dickinson: most recent book in the masquerade series, which is a thriller (?) about the mechanics of empire. dude this book was so great. no notes. there were some incredibly gratifying payoffs in here and some craaazy twists. idk i wish i had something more to say i just thought it was really really good im glad that baru gets to have some good things as well as bad. of course, seth dickinson has amazing prose and the ending was so like, uplifting? and inspiring? i was very surprised lol

when the angels left the old country by sacha lamb: queer jewish immigrant YA, apparently for fans of good omens. an angel and a demon from a small, small town go to america to track down one of the town's mising daughters. despite neither being a gomens fan (although i did read it) nor jewish, i really enjoyed this! it has a dreamy, fairytale, eva ibbotson-like tone to it that made it a pleasure to read, despite the somewhat foreboding topic (let's all have a fun time on ellis island while visibly jewish!) the stories of the humans and the non-humans feel equally important, but i really especially enjoyed the way the angel changed over time as a response to the world it saw. its just a really nice book :3

long live evil by sarah rees brennan: villainess isekai, but western tradpub. a woman dying from cancer at a young age is given the chance to live again--as a two-bit floozy villainess the day before her execution?! how will rae find a way out? and how well, really, does she remember the time of iron? sarah rees brennan is sort of a comfort author to me; in other lands meant a Lot to me as a mentally ill teenager. all the same, i almost dropped this book during the first couple of chapters. in my opinion, this book has a REALLY rough start that evened out into a ride that i enjoyed quite a bit despite many other factors. while some parts of the part are clearly deeply personal (this is the author's first book published after recovering from late stage cancer), it also has a tendency to hammer in its points over and over again and undercuts too many serious moments with quippy dialogue in a way that deflates tension rather than increasing it. also, one b-couple takes clear inspiration from one of her previous works (but this time more #toxic --they kill each other in time of iron) and as a result unfortunately outshines the main couple at times, who also have to share screentime with a huge cast that often feels improperly balanced. but also, i thought the main couple was pretty cute, actually! the ending twist, while not unpredictable (and also very, uh, danmei?) was also very enjoyable and nice to let creep up on you. i feel like i'm being more strict with it than i am with a lot of villainess isekai i read though, haha… i agree with ineedacatchyname's review of it (and a lot of these thoughts just echo theirs. woops!)--a lot of this could be fixed with a bit more editing, but ultimately i spent the second half unable to put it down and i'm still going to read the sequel.

against football by steve almond: fairly short nonfiction. one diehard football fan's searing condemnation of the state of american football today (and what we could do to make it better). this was recommended to me by megafaunatic, and i really enjoyed it :3 i come from a pretty "ugh, sportsball" type of family, and so it was really interesting to see why people love watching football (especially a team as "wretched" as the former oakland raiders) as well as playing it--but also how the continuation of football in its current state is pretty much inexcusable (one bright side is that division i graduation rates have actually gone up quite a bit since this book was published in 2016!) id easily recommend to both football fans and non-fans.

GAMES: pikmin bloom: pikmin bloom is a game about walking around, growing pikmin, and planting virtual flowers. i didnt play this game for a while bc i was like "well, its pokemon go but with pikmin -_-" and like. it is. but niantic has also taken the opportunity to overhaul a lot of its base game mechanics with a focus on actually getting you to GO OUTSIDE and WALK AROUND, which i think is to its benefit! like, yeah it actually did get me to go on some walks when i wouldnt have otherwise. the microtransactions kinda suck but as long as youre willing to kill your darlings (pikmin) its fine i think. < guy with a very high deathcount in pikmin 3 and 4

return of the obra dinn: stylized mystery game about unpacking what happened in a scaaary voyage by seeing the moment surrounding the crewmembers' deaths. dude. this game is so fucking good. it was like everyones goty in 2018 and as soon as i finished it i was like "i wish i could get hit in the head so i could play it again." imo, its a really good game to play as a group (with one person driving) bc so much of the gameplay takes place outside of the game--deducing, speculating, etc and it's really fun to do that as a conversation with someone else! the game does a good job of disincentivizing random guessing--when i played this game with my family, we did guess on a couple but it was almost always a 50-50 "choice A or choice B". and the game can (apparently) be completed without any chance guesswork whatsoever! can be a little gory at times, but its all in this sort of dithery monochrome style so you don't really think about it until you're walking to the bathroom in the halflit moonlight and youre kinda like hey this kinda looks like return of the obra dinn haha. wait. anyways play this game!!

unpacking: cute little game about unpacking/moving in during the various phases of one person's life. probably a masterclass in "environmental storytelling" that invites you into making your own stories for our unseen protagonist while also providing these understated beautiful little moments of understanding. also, it was really theraputic getting everything perfectly placed in order when i currently live in a very messy house ;-_-

umineko chapter 2: ahhh year of umineko 2024 continues. im definitely not finishing the whole game this year (lol) but i might end up finishing the question arcs at least..? anyways ive been lbing this the whole time (#year of the seacat 2024 for blacklist) but man this was pretty harsh compared to the first episode. it even makes battler break down..! i was secretly wondering how it was going to try and turn around my opinion on rosa, but, well, i still really dont like her. has bright points in more beatrice!!! the introduction of the meta, some ???really horny??? parts and the [You are incompetent] scene. also, everyone seems to really hate george for some reason but i feel like i still dont get it.

SHOWS:

the decameron: drama about fucking and dying in black plague-era italy, and a villa meant to be a getaway from it all. in high school i wanted to read the decameron because it was mentioned in theatre of coolty--just so you know, this is nothing like it. its just really fun! and full of light intrigue and twists and reveals and tragedy. a lot of the plague-based humor hit in some pretty uncomfortable places, which the showrunners were definitely going for. neifile and panfilo hands down had my favorite relationship.

witch from mercury: revolutionary girl gundam?? this is how everyone pitched it to me, which honestly put me off a little bit. wfm is clearly aware and respectful of its predecessors but also takes the first episode to go "nah were going to do something a little different though." like, its kind of like instead of tackling rape culture it decided to tackle the military industrial complex instead ? ? i guess?? it seems like a good entry point into gundam for many (including me!) i enjoyed the first season very fun and currently watching the second. looking forward to seeing how sick and twisted things can get

in terms of music ive been listening to a lot of zerobaseone.. every time were in the car together neil is like lets listen to yurayura and im like yessss. yurayuraa oh ive also been listening to counter//weight while driving but im not going to include it bc its been slow going lol. all my thoughts about it so far is like "this is the thing neil really likes"

anyways if you got to the end or skimmed or whatever, thanks for reading! hope u have a good one.

[talkingperfectly-loud]

Okay! So, I’ve finally watched the Netflix Live Action ATLA and gathered my thoughts! Spoilers under the cut…

Overall score: 7/10

Overall thoughts: I was actually pleased! I wasn’t going in expecting it to be like the original series, and I was really excited to see how they would tell the story, what they would keep, and what they would change. I think that they did a great creative job melding a bunch of story lines together in a way that made sense, but, on a negative note, they did miss some key character beats that ranged from baffling to unforgivable. I loved this cast, and I think they all embodied their characters so well (Dallas Lui as Zuko?!? Hello?! *Chef’s kiss*). Deliveries were a bit stilted (to be expected with young actors just starting out), but I actually found it endearing, and they’ll only get better with practice. The bending wasn’t nearly as punchy or fun to watch in live action (especially the water bending. Oof), but it was leaps and bounds better than the Movie That Must Not Be Named. Below are the major takeaways:

Things I disliked

- Making the discovery and freeing of Aang completely passive. In the animated show, this was brought about BY Katara and Sokka. Their characters and their bickering, which caused Kataras rage, which caused her to waterbend, which caused her to free Aang. In the live action, it just… happens? Randomly? Nothing caused it, and it was a much weaker moment because of it.

- They took away Zuko’s crucial moments of mercy. Yes, they have him save the 41st, and yes, they have him hesitate during his Agni Kai with Ozai… BUT he was about to burn Katara on Kyoshi island? When she was down and unarmed?? At the North Pole, he was about to burn Zhao, who was also down and unarmed?? Absolutely not. No. No way. He wouldn’t even burn Zhao in the original show, because he knows what it’s like to be burned and despite his rage, he is a good person. There is absolutely no way he would be willing to harm someone who is unarmed.

- Sokka not explicitly asking Suki to train him. We NEEDED to see that humility where he asks for their help, not just him staring wistfully through the door and her taking pity. Humble him!!!!

- Sokka not being involved in the Jet storyline. I know that Katara is more obviously the choice to get involved here (love interest, etc), but Sokka and Jet are foils! They are both young men tasked with protecting people they love. Not having Sokka’s moment where his skepticism and independence saves the day is such a loss for his character. This could have even been kept in the Omashu storyline, with Sokka evacuating a building before a bomb goes off, etc.

- Why the literal heck did Bumi himself come to the front of the palace to receive the inventions from Sai?? What the hell even was that scene??

- Cutting the Haru storyline. This episode is crucial for Katara, who has WAY too little to do in this show, tbh. Her rallying the earth kingdom prisoners, and encouraging them to fight back is so so so important. I think they tried to move this to the Northern Water tribe storyline (when she rallies the women) but we don’t SEE it!! It happens offscreen!!!!

- Minor, but the blue spirit mask looked kinda dumb. I wish they had taken inspiration from real kabuki masks and made it more scary.

- I personally feel that Ozai is TOO personable in this adaptation. I’m guessing Daniel Dae Kim probably had a lot of say over the portrayal of this character, but I don’t think they made him dark enough. Ozai is cruel and that is CRUCIAL. He is abusive and manipulative, and hateful. Framing Zuko’s banishment and mutilation as if these were deliberate “learning moments,” rather than cruel, unjustifiable abuse is character assassination.

- Azula isn’t Azula. No shade to the actress, but the script has her written as a hot-headed, temperamental teenager desperate to prove herself. That’s ZUKO! Azula should be able to make grown men per their pants. Do her bidding. She can command armies. She never lets you see her weaknesses or her walls. She is cold, calculating, and terrifying. She is 13 steps ahead of you. Live action Azula loses her temper during a fight, talks back to Ozai (?!?!), and whines to Mai and Ty Lee about her frustrations. That’s not Azula.

- The “ice moon” thing at the North Pole? Why? Why aren’t there any spirits in this world? There’s no need to change that.

- Zhao’s death!?! What the hell was that!?!? No no no no no. Absolutely awful in every possible way. Where was his karmic justice?!? Why introduce the Fog of Lost Souls if you weren’t going to show Zhao getting pulled down into it?!? Where was Zuko, offering him mercy, despite everything? Where was Zhao’s pride, refusing his hand?? Furthermore, you make Iroh of all people a murderer?!? Fine, you could have him intervene and push Zhao into the water like he pushed him down after the Agni Kai in the original series. But to kill him?? Unprompted?! In cold blood?! Zhao wasn’t even his opponent!! Horrifying and disturbing. Unforgivable.

Things I loved

- The order of events. I actually love starting 100 years in the past and not making it clear what is about to happen. I also love that it isn’t clear just how long Aang has been asleep for! I love love love that dramatic irony if you know, and the reveal if you don’t.

- Aang stealing Zuko’s notebook. Finally, it’s explained how the gaang knew Zuko’s name lol

- Aang & Iroh meeting and chatting on the ship when he’s captured! It’s such a small scene, but felt so reminiscent of their conversation from Book 2 that it made me happy.

- Suki being so awkward!! Yes girl!! You have clearly never flirted before and it is obvious! I also loved having her mother be the matriarch of the village. Makes total sense tbh.

- Fleshing out Omashu! I love that they combined Jet & the Mechanist here. It makes Omashu feel more real, and it’s a natural place to put these storylines. I think this was really well done. Also bringing Iroh & Zuko into the story here was seamless, and worked to further both their characters (Zuko choosing Iroh over Aang, Iroh sacrificing himself to save Zuko)

- Having Bumi be an angry old man. This is controversial, but if we put aside Legend of Korra for a second where canon says Aang and him stay bffs, this actually makes a lot of sense. It’s not fair that Aang got to be asleep for 100 years. Bumi, as he said, had to struggle and suffer during that entire time. I’m glad that not everyone is like “it’s okay, it’s not your fault” because it kind of is!! I’m glad they had someone to actually hold him accountable a bit!

- Aang and Zuko connecting during the Blue Spirit episode. Aang making Zuko smile! Them joking! Them feeling pity for each other! The star-crossed friendship of it all! Gorgeous, gorgeous scene.

- Expanding on the theme of friendship vs. isolation. It’s such a key theme in the animated series that flies under the radar, and I really like how they took it and seemed to run with it.

- Azula collaborating with Zhao. It makes so much sense, since Zhao is just some rando tbh?It sets up both the Dai Li storyline and sibling rivalry nicely in season 2.

- Having Zuko’s crew be the division he saved?!?! A stroke of absolute genius.

- No Kataang!! I’m so sorry, but I honestly always felt that any romance in the original series was gratuitous, odd, and oh so Western. This is a story about children at war. I’m glad the romance is taking a back seat.

- Having Pakku see Katara for HER, rather than for her grandmother!! I always hated that in the original show! She fights her damn heart out and he still won’t train her UNTIL he sees her grandmother’s necklace. It always felt like the age-old blight of men not being able to care about a woman unless they have, or can image having, a personal connection to them (What if that was your mother, daughter, etc). I LOVE this change.

- Katara rallying the other women!! Pulling up everyone!! This is such an obvious change I can’t believe they didn’t have this in the original show. As I said, though, I do wish we saw her speech to them. That’s such an important character moment.

[aubreysheadspace]

Hi! Can I please request the gang Sunny, Aubrey, Basil, Mari, Hero, and Kel, with an s/o who has children? That their s/o is a teen parent who had them when they were really young but is already a really great parent.

MAIN CAST WITH A TEEN PARENT READER

WOAH?? i’ve seen this request in some other blogs as well, so here’s my take on it! hope u enjoy!

SUNNY

SUNNY has never seen someone in his entire shut-in life who’s a teenager.. but also a parent. it surprised him a bit, but would feel bad for you. what if you still had school to go to but also have to take care of your kids?

he thinks you’re a great parent and wishes to help often, but isn’t sure how to take care of kids in general. if you still go to school, SUNNY would often do your homework and projects with the knowledge he has so that you don’t have to do it, and can just focus on your kid(s)

he would try to babysit your kid(s), but isn’t really the best person for the job. your kid(s) is/are probably a tiny bit afraid of him due to his usual stoic demeanor, but it’s not his fault!

if your kid(s) slowly start to warm up to him, SUNNY would try and be more comfortable to be around. he might even try to smile for your kid(s).

AUBREY

another one who isn’t good with kids. due to her tough exterior, your kid(s) is/are probably terrified of AUBREY at first. she doesn’t want to scare them, but she isn’t sure how to approach them.

AUBREY feels incredibly bad for you, as being a teen parent is stressful enough. she’ll try her best to be there for you when it is definitely needed. she’s not doing so well in school, so the least she can do is offer to babysit

she’ll start to warm up to your kid(s) and be more comfortable around them, hell maybe even teach them something cool! she’d definitely be a great "big sister who’s a badass" figure

she practically has a lot of free time besides school and sometimes church, so she can maybe possibly take your kid(s) out and hang out with the HOOLIGANS

KEL

while KEL isn’t so great at most things, he knows a thing or two about babysitting or taking care of a kid! he’s a big brother now, he’s knows a few things after taking care of SALLY

he’s the third person who’d be a reliable caretaker for your kid(s). he’s a bit confused on why you’re a teen but with (a) kid(s) but then feels bad for you, it must be a lot of work for you!

he’s not doing so good in school, so he’ll offer to babysit your kid(s) so you can focus on your studies for a bit. your kid(s) will probably love KEL for how much fun he is! he’ll always be there for you to help.

though his knowledge with kids aren’t as great as HERO and MARI’s, KEL is at least better than the other three due to having more experience

HERO

it’s a tie between HERO and MARI for who’s more reliable when it comes to caretaking, but he’s a tiny bit more experienced since he has KEL and SALLY as little siblings. plus, he can also cook and practically do anything for you like chores, your homework, anything!

HERO would hate to see you stressed out, and so he would always be there for you. but since he’s at college most of the time, he’ll ask KEL to help you when he isn’t available.

your kid(s) LOVE(S) HERO, calling him big brother. a bit nervous at first, he feels absolutely touched that your kid(s) adore him! he tries to be a great older figure towards them and gives them a few life lessons as well

overall, he’s a great caretaker and would gladly take care of your kid(s) if wasn’t so much busy with college.

BASIL

BASIL is an only child and has his own issues to deal with, so he’s not really the person to rely on if you need someone to babysit your kid(s). he WILL try his best, but keyword WILL

it’d be more better if you let your kid stay at BASIL’s house for the time being if you needed to be somewhere, since POLLY can take care of the kid(s) for you. BASIL is thankful for POLLY for this situation

he will eventually get more comfortable around your kid(s) if they aren’t too noisy and reckless, and would even show them photos in the PHOTO ALBUM and all the flowers and plants he takes care of!

maybe your kid(s) will have an interest for gardening and or photography because of him! BASIL would love it if they did, because they’d have something more in common now!

MARI

like with HERO, he and MARI are tied to who’s the most reliable one when helping to take care of your kid(s). and although she’s practically second place, she’s absolutely great at it!

when taking care of your kid(s), her big sister and possibly motherly instincts kick in. she’d be a mix of a slightly strict mom and a fun big sister. she would lecture your kid(s) if they make a mistake of some sorts but also takes care of them and plays with them as if they were her little siblings

MARI would always be there for you. while she’s not in your situation, she’ll try to understand it and give you anything needed. she might even take you and your kid(s) out for a picnic so that you can relax as the two of you watch the kid(s) playing outside and having fun.

she understands that it might be stressful for you even more if you’re still in school, so she’d also offer to do some of your homework and or projects if you want to spend time with your kid(s)

[richincolor]

Title: The Colliding Worlds of Mina Lee Author: Ellen Oh Genres: Contemporary, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Romance Pages: 305 Publisher: Crown Books for Young Readers Review Copy: eARC provided via NetGalley Availability: Available now

Summary: Mina has become the hero of her own story. Literally.

When Mina Lee woke up on Saturday morning for SAT prep, she did NOT expect

Nearly be fried by a superhero who turned out to be a supervillain.

Come face to face with Jin, the handsome boy of her dreams.

Discover a conspiracy involving the evil corporation Merco that she created.

And it’s all happening in her fictional world. Mina is trapped in the story she created. Now it’s up to her to save everyone. Even if it means losing Jin forever.

From the award-winning author of Finding Junie Kim and co-founder of We Need Diverse Books, Ellen Oh. In the speculative fiction adventure Colliding Worlds, a teenage artist grapples with her first love, grief, and learning how to take charge of her own life.

Review: [The Colliding Worlds of Mina Lee contains scenes describing human medical experimentation that, while not graphic, could be unsettling for some readers. Grief is also a present theme, as Mina’s mother’s died three years ago, and the Jin in the webcomic is based on a childhood friend who died of cancer.]

If you’ve ever enjoyed a webcomic where a “real world” person ends up in a fantasy world, you should give The Colliding Worlds of Mina Lee a chance. It’s a solid example of the genre while still being able to have a bit of fun with the medium itself through meta moments like Mina realizing that something big will almost definitely happen at a school dance—just because it’s a school dance, and she’s in webcomic set at a high school. A lot of tropes, events, and characters get played straight or played around with in entertaining ways, and I enjoyed Mina’s lampshading throughout.

Mina and Jin were the stars of the book, and they had a sweet, sincere webcomic romance. I enjoyed their banter and their teamwork, and Mina was a lot of fun as a narrator. I liked watching her figure out how her powers worked as the webcomic’s creator, and her commentary on genre conventions and other meta gave the story a lot of flavor. Much of the supporting cast was fairly simple, though, and I do wish there had been more time to flesh them out—especially the character that was supposed to be the hero before Mina arrived in the webcomic world.

I would consider The Colliding Worlds of Mina Lee to fall on the younger end of the YA spectrum due to its writing style and breezy pace. Some of the horror isn’t as deeply explored as I would expect in an older YA, like Mina’s powers to (accidentally) force the webcomic people to conform to her storyline or the medical/body horror inherent in the villain’s schemes. That said, the book doesn’t shy away from the heavier topics of parental loss—Mina’s mother’s death is still a significant influence on Mina and her father’s lives. I also appreciated the juxtaposition of Mina’s parents’ absences: her mother to death, but present in her art; and her father to work, but present in his worry about Mina’s future.

Recommendation: Get it soon if the premise appeals to you. Ellen Oh’s The Colliding Worlds of Mina Lee is a fun, comfortable high school adventure with a dose of entertaining meta on top. There are some places I wish had been explored more, but the novel is a solid entry in this genre. I finished the novel wanting to read more stories like it, and that’s a sign of a satisfying story.

Extras: Read an excerpt from the publisher

[ivane-embraces-the-weirdness]

Can you tell us more about your oc?

*blissfully crying because someone asked*

Of course~💖

Let‘s start with a bit of history on the Charcter ~

This is my self insert character (so she’s basically me, but fictional and pathetic) and her first conceptions started in 2015 when I was around 12 or 13.

So obviously my girl has a really long and complicated backstory and history, but for the sake of your and my time I‘ll just focus on her in the context of her insertion into „die Schule der kleinen Vampire“ wich is basically just something I‘m doing for fun.

I actually had the idea to revisit the franchise in 2022 for the lol’s, wich is where I drew first concept art of her in a style that’s a mix of the shows artstyle and my own.

Two versions of her haircolour exist in her own cannon and originally I drew her with her natural, dirt–blonde haircolour for this one, but then I started to dye my hair irl again, wich caused me to feel like her purple hair just fits better to me, her and the universe, colourscheme and her depiction and personality in general.

The Sflv comics I‘m drawing play in a future–AU where the main cast has hit their teenage years (around 14–16 vampire years, except Klot, he’s maybe like 11–13) and the whole show turned from a cute children’s show into a coming of age cartoon that contains adult humor and themes and swearing, as well as some minor gore and violence.

Most of it stemming from her presence.

Her name is Ivané aus dem Finstermoor, but she introduces herself as Wyrm to all characters, except friends and people who know her from the past and the Count, who‘s basically the first character she actually encounters and befriends in this. He still calls her Wyrm infront of others out of respecting her wish to not having everyone knowing her name.

She herself is a traveler/Vagabond, who‘s constantly on the run from people who hunt her or have a fuse with her. In terms of species she’s a mix of Tatzelwurm and Harpy (but primarily Tatzelwurm) she also has a symbiotic relationship with an alien parasite that lives in her spine and causes her to sprout tentacles from time to time and has no ovaries, just a hole with a clit. She’s also a semi–shapeshifter. (Wich means she has a limited amount of appearances to shapeshift into) If she’s cut in half at her waste she’ll grow a seven meter long snake tail and if she’s cut in half again, she’ll grow a tail and legs. The Harpy side in her also causes her the ability to turn into an owl by reflex and sport a pair of black feathered wings (but that happens rarely). But most of the time she tries to blend in by drinking a potion that gives her a humanoid appearance.

Also She has three pet Cats

In the AU (wich doesn’t just include classic horror, but now even more modern and lovecraftian cryptits like skincrawlers, mothman, Cthulhu and Lizardpeople) a door just suddenly appears in the forest and whoever enters it, finds themselves in a grotto with a lake and hole to the surface above it, where she resides, as a result of someone having trapped her there through a curse. So every time she tries to leave, a wall of flesh blocks her way. In the beginning she just lounged there on a rock in the middle of the lake, pretending to be an old hag–lamia (bc she knows that people will quickly judge a young, pretty woman) who just wants some essentials like food and drink in return for things like sewing ripped clothing or minerals in the cave.

Later on a few people catch on that there’s a creature living in that grotto and start sacrificing people in worship of her, wich is an opportunity she takes and soon enough she‘s exchanging their bodyparts and blood for food and material to build a little bar/store on that lake.

Except for their heart… those she needs to turn into her humanoid form and escape that spell for roughly a day.

Count Alarich basically stumbled across that door one night and enters it, finding Ivané in her disguise as an old hag, starting to chat and over time become friends. One other day she dared to leave the grotto and enters the village from the show and starts looking around, making acquaintances and joining a gothic metal rave in the evening.

When she walks home at night, the count, not knowing who she actually is, spots her and ofc plans to bite her, so dude uses hypnosis to lure her in. But Muschy (the grey Sphymxcat) notices that and jumps out of her backpack, causing his Werewolf to chase after the kitty, wich results in the count being dragged away, holding the leash. Ivané is conscious again and Muschy gave the Wolf a punch to the snout, she escapes and just keeps her human identity a secret from Alarich, while befriending him more and more as the hag at the bar.

Eventually she slowly drops the disguise with every time he visits her and soon, he catches on on who she is and they become mutual fuckbuddies.

The end

(For now)

If you wanna know more about her dynamic with all the other characters, just ask~

[pickledsprite]

I've noticed you tend to post about how you are not a big fan of the heartstopper show and its casting and I was wondering if you could give some insight into why you don't like the show very much? Everyone is allowed to have their own opinions but I was just wondering? Wanting to see your pov on this. Not trying to send hate whatsoever!! 💜

Well personally I feel like the show kinda watered down the characters… Charlie specifically. In the comic Charlie is very confident and pretty popular guy- not like nick Nelson popular but he’s well liked yk? But in the show he seems to sorta get more put down by Harry and his friends.. I wish we saw Charlie sticking up for himself rather than tao do it for him.

UGH SPEAKING OF TAO. literally what happened?? In the comic he seems pretty protective over his friends but in the show BRO IS OBSESSED.. Like I get your gay friend has fallen for a "straight guy" but that’s none of your business!! Also assuming ppls sexualities but ur the token straight ally?? Right… also he blames Charlie at the end for what happened with Harry as if he wasn’t the one creating more drama. Overall I HATEE show tao. I also DIDNT appreciate the fact that elle outed nick.. like girl.

The only characters I actually enjoyed were tara, Darcy, tori and the teacher. Even I was disappointed with Nick.. like the show allowed a whole ass slur but not a "happy fucking birthday." ??? What the fuck??? Nick just seem more soft in the show and I didn’t like it.

moving on to the casting… Nick is fat, kit Connor is not.. Charlie and tori are Spanish and well, jenny and Joe are pale ASFF!! (And yes ik Spain is very diverse but this isn’t the point of this post) And ppl always hate when I bring this up but idc. YES IK THEM BEING SPANISH ISNT A BIG DEAL IN HEARTSTOPPER BUT ITS STILL PART OF THEIR CHARACTERS!!/!/!/$:$

Anyway… um. Joe locke and Charlie do NOT look alike like whatsoever. Jenny is a little bit better but why would they srsly cast a grown woman in her late 20’s to play a young 15 yr old teenage girl.. this is not the 2000’s we don’t need 30 year olds playing teens anymore thanks! Back to nick, like I said nick is fat. He’s a chubby man. Yet he’s played by a kinda skinny-buff guy.. ik kit is like making it up by working out to gain weight but now nick nelson is gonna be a buff guy. Which in the comic he is buff ik that but he’s also chubbyyy!!!!

Oh my god tao. Again WITH TAO. WHY WOULD A TALL GUY TO PLAY TINY TAOOO… bro. USGSHSJSU. AND THAT AWFUL HAIR IM SO GLAD THEY CHANGED IT.

Dracy got an okay cast, although Kizzy doesn’t have that long pointy head shape irdc lol. And same for Darcy, I think corrina was a good match for Tara

I think I’m gonna stop here bc I don’t wanna get attacked even more than I probably will, sooo!! Anyway I hope this answered ur question!!

[nekrophoria]

HIIII 🥝🥭 🍑for any OC of your choice! <3

Thank you!! <3

(My character icons are pretty outdated as well, so apologies for that ^^")

-------------------

Mel

🍑  :    how meticulously does my muse look after their physical appearance?  do they spend a lot of time on their hair,  makeup,  grooming,  and clothing?  is there a particular reason why they do or don’t? 

When Mel was a teenager he actually cared a lot, probably too much, about his appearance.

Serena would make jokes about the fact that he needed twice as long in the bathroom as her just to do his hair alone. That was slightly exaggerated on her end though.

To Mel focusing on his appearance was mainly an attempt to get his insecurities and dislike for himself under control. He had certain (sometimes rather conflicting) images in his head of how he wanted or was supposed to look but despite his best efforts he could never quite get it right.

These days Mel isn't really in a position to focus or at the very least do anything about his appearance, given his living situation. It's still on his mind from time to time though...it's a complicated subject all around for him.

The only time he sees himself is in the crusty bathroom mirrors of public toilets or when he passes a storefront window, and while he doesn't go out of his way to avoid it he's still not overly keen on perceiving himself.

Nowadays he switches between being completely disconnected from his appearance to  feeling immense shame and self hatred to getting a grim kind of gratification from that.

-------------------

Lyall

🥝  :    does my muse have any  ‘  unusual  ’  habits,  interests,  and  /  or talents?  do they hide it,  or are they proud of it? 

Lyall almost has a sixth sense for people. He can observe a person and assess how they feel, what they fear, what they want, what they need. And 9 our of 10 times he's correct with his assumption.

Although he perceives it as a gift (as well as a curse) to some degree he's still not proud of it for two reasons

1) it has a pretty grim background. It mostly stems from the fact that he had to assess his surroundings almost constantly as a child. Being able to read the room was necessary for survival to him.

2) He feels that being proud of it would cloud his judgement and hinder him more than anything.

He's also got a knack for solving riddles, puzzles, brain teasers of any kind. (Something he used to annoy Alev with on occasion when she was still a kid)

Again, not something he's particularly proud of. Although he thinks it speaks for his ability to think outside the box and not take everything at face value, which he definitely is proud of although he probably wourdn't admit it.

-------------------

Roland

🥭  :    how important to my muse is their hometown,  or where they’re from?  are they proud of it,  or considered a hometown hero?  did they move away,  or do they wish to?

Roland has always been a bit of an involuntary drifter at heart. He finds it difficult to build connections to places.

The city he was born in, Omsk he has absolutely no connection towards anymore. He moved away from there when he was very young and he's only been there once since, because he wanted to know what it's like. But it just didn't feel like home to him.

Dublin, where he grew up, also doesn't have much meaning too him anymore.

His parents cast him out after his discharge from the military which basically eradicated any feeling of home he had for this place.

He spent some time in the US after that but inevitably decided to go back to the UK. He's been living in England since and at this point point he feels somewhat at home there...though not really in a sentimental sense. It's more of a "Fuck you, I'm settling. I ain't going anywhere anymore" kind of attitude.

[the-debonair-dragon]

Tw/rape, self harm

Sorta on/off topic rant

__

My mother went thru my PC and saw something NSFW I had done as a young teen. I was then lectured. This lecture was made to make.mw feel bad and vilified my older sister who I would now as an adult refer to as sexually liberated, vs the language my mother used "slut, dirty, gross, unsafe.,:

My parents had to ad my friends online. They talked to people I knew

They went thru my phone

Then one day asked why I had no friends.

I cut every one off because the running violent embarrassment that I had to ask my mom to make jew friends killed me.

This lead me to only be aloud to be friends with adults as a teenager

I was groomed by members of a famous world of War craft pod cast. Encourage to act sexually around adults as an Afab person at 15. My parents never saw this as weird or off, but exchanging lewd doodles of boobies with another afab my age was gross and wrong.

When a mam raped me I was making stories up. Or it was imaginary.

When it happened a second time, I just didn't tell my parents, and the adult I confided in on the internet made me feel gross.

My views on trust and love where so bent I had no self respect or friends my own age.

I wound up sexually involved with a man twice my age. Groomed, my mother even helped me pay for a plain ticket to go see this man and his family. I got scared. We didn't have sex, he seemed kind of upset.

I had a girlfriend publicly she was lovely, at first. She also hurt me, weaponised her sickness to make me compliant. My mother took her side.

After that I stopped telling my mother everything I could.

I stopped talking to her about friends, feelings, love life.

I trusted a friend who was twice my age , I wound up homeless and worked as a sex worker against my wishes for a while.

Until I was 25 I didn't have any real friends.

Even my first room mates where older then me by a margin, one of them litterally thought since I was afab and we had other girl room mates that we'd be his Harem. And was angry that his dick didn't un Trans me. Or make a divorced mom of 2 fall in love with him.

Parents who sift messages don't stop groomers

In my experience, they might accidently set you up to be an easy target. By blocking real friends, scaring Normal people away, isolating you via shame, or fear. Teaching you not to keep secrets from adults. Lessons like "what happens in my house is my business not x."

I know as an adult, My mother was just stupid, there wasn't malice in her ways.

Somehow. That has made me feel worse.

I spent the better part of my life trying to fix my self and better my self, and change my self, and grow as a person to bend over backwards for eveysingle person I knew because my mother had taught me this was the norm. Over share, over compensate, over change.

As a rape victim, grooming victim, who was gaslight in to thinking I was horrible.

As a person who's been policed. You won't save your child from a groomer by going through their pc. You'll at best give them trust issues, and at worse make them an easier target.

By the gods that be I hate my life so much.

But I refuse to stop here out of spite.

the effects of having my shit constantly looked through didn't protect me against either of the times I was groomed (lol) and now any time someone uses my phone or computer I wanna commit murder-suicide. and I have paranoia about hidden cameras and spyware that makes me go insane

[mrs-gauche]

So uh.. I got like a bunch of new followers recently, so first off.. Hi everyone! 🙂 (Where did you all come from??) And second, I feel like it's been a minute since I've annoyed anyone with random useless voice acting trivia, and I need to warn remind people that this blog is also a lot of me rambling about German VAs in particular, because I’m a German obsessed with voice acting and I just can't help it.. It's a strange hobby. 😂

I’ve kinda mentioned it before on here (and I will probably never get tired of talking about it lol), but I just need you all to understand just how funny it is that Solas legitimately sounds like he could be in his twenties in German and how that makes him so much more suspicious in a way?? 😂 (To my ears, at least.) Like, judging solely by their voices, Solas genuinely sounds like he could be the youngest out of all the companions in DAI. Yes, he partially sounds even younger than Cole. (And fun fact, I actually looked it up, and his VA is in fact the youngest out of the entire main cast. lmao)

Unnecessarily long rambling incoming... 😶

See, his German VA is known for voicing a lot of teenage boys. But that's what's so hilarious about it. Solas has this super young voice, but then he suddenly talks like this wise old grandpa with this incredible eloquence, who has apparently seen a ton of war and tragedy?? 😂

And then you just sit here on your first playthrough like.. how on earth does this work, like something doesn't add up here. Either he has to be some kind of super brain “prodigy” or he's *definitely* hiding something.. because regardless of just how long you've been "visiting the Fade", there's NO way you know about all this stuff and have THAT much experience, when you.. just came of age. lol

In general, the way he speaks he sounds like a 100 year old with the voice of a 20 - 30 year old man in a 40ish year old body. And then you just sit here talking to him, like "What even ARE you???" 😂

This is especially hilarious to me when he tries to teach Sera about how to lead a rebellion, calls HER a child and gives her all this advice, when in German, he sounds just as old as Sera if not even slightly younger than her.

I remember this one banter with Blackwall about being a war veteran on my first playthrough when he was like "You should've seen me when I was younger" and I stopped in my tracks "What are you talking about?? Aren’t you, like, 25??"

Another little thing I found funny was how they made him say "Weidmannsheil" ("Hunt well") to the Inquisitor at the Winter Palace, which is like a traditional wish for good luck among hunters around here, but also something I have NEVER heard someone under the age of 80 actually say. lmao

Idk, I just feel like it gives his character this additional interesting but kinda bizarre note, where he comes off as so young and brash, which stands in complete contrast to his extensive knowlegde and wisdom and the way he talks.

But that's also what I actually kinda love about it and in a way, it's what I picture *actual* young Solas must've been like... because, being literally called Pride, the very counterpart of Wisdom in DA, it fits so well with what seems to be his internal conflict or maybe even his own past, assuming the Wisdom spirit turning into Pride theory is true.

Like, in a way, I feel like he wants to be the person he claims to be in Inquisition, to be just himself, the man who is nothing but a humble wanderer who shares and seeks wisdom, because that’s who he truly is at his core, what is left if you strip away all the weight of history, duty and rebel leader strategist. But it’s his pride that prevents him from being that person. And given his description of himself in his “youth”, I feel like the Solas of ancient times had that pride and impulsiveness turned up to 11. 😂

Which is also why I just can't get over how much BioWare's choice for this particular VA for Solas fascinates me (and I just want to believe that there must’ve been some good reason behind this choice, given how they knew how big of a role he was going to play.. And from what I’ve heard, BioWare is very considered when it comes to casting their VAs, especially for the companions, even in different languages).

Because with all due respect and credit to the German VA of Solas, Ozan Ünal, I love his work, but with him they chose a voice actor who's mostly typecast to voice the young, nerdy, soft, kinda bubbly protagonist guy with a heart of gold. Like, just to imagine him going any kind of antagonistic route is so funny to me, because that is really the total opposite of what he usually does.

Some casting director at BioWare really sat there and listened to *this* voice and was like "Yep, that's our next antagonist". 😂 And I'm gonna be super honest here, guys.. But regardless of the other 3000 reasons why I don't think that Solas will be the ultimate threat in DA4, this is actually part of the reason why I just can't picture him as a "true villain". Or rather, I'm just super curious to see if his VA could pull that off. 😂

Like, with Gareth David-Lloyd, I feel like he can do literally anything, but Ozan Ünal sounds just way too innocent to be really taken seriously as a threat, you know. 😂

[jechristine]

Here are some fun excerpts from the story.

First, on Sam’s genius:

This leaves me morbidly curious about what sick, probably also nonsensical shit was in Sam’s head last year.

Also, this paragraph reminds me that Zendaya is a Euphoria exec producer, as here she does sound like a person with some authority over the filmmaking. Interestingly, Zendaya’s passive voice makes the who-did-what? quite vague (“was scrapped,” “very few things…remain,” and “had to die”). I wonder what role she played in the murder of Sam’s even worse ideas…and to what extent she’s been a cheerleader for what survived.

On Euphoria’s ~edginess~:

I really like Evan Ross Katz, but he is being dense about parents (and non-parents! come on) and their nightmares. I know Zendaya has said that she hopes Euphoria helps people who are suffering to realize that they’re not alone. That’s a lovely wish. I hope the show does that, too.

I just really feel that the overarching takeaway isn’t that teenagers may act dangerously or want dangerous things (which, sure! That theme has been taken up a zillion times, as ERK alludes to), but that if you are a teen who isn’t actively making choices that seriously hurt yourself and others, you’re not worth the attention or time.

Paired with the writing, the effect of the pretty clothes and pretty makeup and colorful lights and the tableaus and the hot actors is that pain here is not only normalized but sensationalized and seductive.

ANYHOW onto Barbie being excessively diplomatic:

“Internal” and “mysterious” lmao

Sydney on Cassie:

Again, Sam’s writing process seems alarming.

And Zendaya on Rue:

I have a now-young adult cousin who I do love IRL who suffers from paranoid schizophrenia and who has self-medicated with anything he could get his hands on since middle school. My aunt and uncle are loving, attentive parents who do their best to get him help and make sure he’s safe, and have been doing so for years. It’s super fucking tough for everyone, though. And also I like to think that I’m an open-minded, open-hearted person who considers others, just in general. So I don’t find it hard at all to give my sympathy a character like Rue.

But truth be told, I’m often left wondering if my empathy is for Zendaya and not for Rue? Like, I want to “love” Rue because Zendaya wants me to and I’m cheering for Zendaya? If she hadn’t spoken about Rue so frequently and emotionally, would Rue be a different character for me? I think I pity Rue more than empathize with her, but I haven’t fleshed out those thoughts yet and I’m waiting for all 8 episode.

Also, is it too much to hope that Rue’s character arc completes by the end of Season 2??? That maybe she’s in a few scenes only in S3 or maybe not there at all, off in rehab?

(And also I’m not surprised to hear that Zendaya had to go to Jon Watts and be like, “uhhhh?? What is this character?” lol)