#I know I have weird tv show as an interpretation

[bugflies00]

im getting pissed off seeing some things on twitter but seriously, where did the idea that fans have to "address" or "have a conversation" about cc's relationships and friendships even come from? the idea that we have to decode red flags and we have to address "how weird things were in retrospect"? yes this is about tommy and WS, no matter what tommy alluded to in yesterdays video that was not permission to suddenly start talking about things that you have assumed were a given. we do not actually know what their relationship was like, and we never will unless tommy chooses to say something about it. that is the ONLY word you can take for it and its frankly weird to jump on a few things he said when he was clearly venting, and use that to construct your imaginary version of how things are behind the scenes. you can show support to tommy without digging further than he chose to share its really not that hard

i do not understand in what reality its somehow a fan, a STRANGER's, responsibility to a) closely examine a creator's relationship b) pick out supposed "red flags" and c) speculate on what this interpretation entails. thats invasive and creepy. you're allowed to privately have your own opinion of peoples relationships but we dont KNOW these people. we're fucking strangers.

if anyone was hurt, we're not involved! and you know what WOULDN'T fix that potential hurt? seeing people online wildly speculating and guessing and providing their own "take" like its a fucking tv show. i understand ccs put themselves forward in a manner not unlike reality tv sometimes, but that doesnt mean you dont owe them privacy.

and i understand its not always something malicious, sometimes its out of very misplaced genuine concern/anxiety for someone who you look up to. so i want to make it really clear that you, random fan, are not being "complicit" or whatever because you watched while a creator had a friendship that you, from behind your screen, consider as unhealthy with a younger creator. even if it later revealed that your analysis was correct. you are not complicit in this scenario because you are a stranger who is not involved and has zero responsibility.

do people genuinely think making all these posts help? do you think that tommyinnit is relying on his fans to analyse for him whether his friendships and relationships are healthy or not? do you really not see how thats not our job and is completely out of line? just be normal like honestly i think he's dealt with enough

[fareehaandspaniards]

He was trapped by the colored squares. He knows he is not coming out of there alive

It mush have been a terrible nightmare for him 😭

[bloodstainsontengensfloor]

Luke calling Percabeth an old married couple just to remind OG readers that Luke doesn’t have romantic feelings for Annabeth this time around 😭

[dr-spectre]

RANT POST ABOUT CALLIE AHEAD!!!

I need to get some old and built up feelings out of my chest before i explode into a trillion pieces, if you do not wish to see a LONG rambling about me getting mad and rageful about this important character to me then by all means skip over and have a good rest of your day or night!

If you can handle me getting a bit pissed off and mean then keep on reading!!

This will also be a VERY LONG POST!!! Because I have a lot to rant about. Some of it i have talked about before many times but i need to talk about them... Again..

So anyways. If you wanna move on, that's okay, if you wanna stick around? That's all good as well!!! I highly HIGHLY encourage you to read all that I have to say. Okay? Thank you!

You know, as someone who has put in a lot of time and research into Hypno Callie and the others. What I've come to notice in media is that people tend to use the words mind control, brainwashing, hypnosis, influence, indoctrination, corruption, all interchangeably despite each word having vastly different meanings and connotations and effects.

Brainwashing has been used as an incorrect word to describe a lot of these kinds of plots in TV, movies, games, etc. and it really bugs me personally. Like, if you see something as clearly hypnosis, they explain that it is hypnosis and there is a hypnotic element at play here, you cannot just slap the word brainwashing onto it. It's like if I called a mango an apple you know? Or if I showed you a squid and you called it an octopus and you were REALLY adamant that it's an octopus.

Another example, if there's mind controlled zombies that are being controlled by aliens or something, slapping the word hypnotised or brainwashing onto that scenario is stupid because they clearly explained it in the story with evidence that it's straight up direct mind control and nothing else.

This doesn't just to apply to Splatoon btw, this annoyance goes for every other time a "mind control" plot has occurred in fiction.

I don't wanna sound rude here, I really don't! But guys, do you realise that we have this cool thing all across the world called a language? And languages have words in them!!!! And words have meanings in them that are brains understand and interpret!?

If I say the word "fluffy" what do you think of? "Fluff, fur, cute, huggable, adorable." You think of cute fluffy things, yeah?

If I say the word "hypnosis" what do you think of? A trance like state, a weird altered state of consciousness, maybe even a weird sleep/flow state?

If I say the word "brainwashed" what do you think of? Cults, militarily, experiments, evil, etc.

You guys see why I take issue? You guys see why I am extremely picky and laser focused on people's word choices when it comes to Callie and what happened? You guys see why I get really angry when people who do fuck tons of research into the events of Splatoon forget that languages exist and fail to see things past a fucking Wikipedia article?!? Is it seriously THAT hard for some people to say hypnotised?

I don't even necessarily blame most people for the words that they use, they don't know any better! And you know what? That's okay! I don't wanna get mad at SOME people since that word has been used incorrectly in media for a long ass time. And you wanna know another reason why i don't blame the casual fan or someone not in the know that much too? Because even the SPLATOON DEVELOPERS use brainwashing to describe Callie which is just... from my research and posts, incorrect.

I have yet to find a single person who can confidently explain to me that Callie was actually brainwashed and provide evidence to me to prove their points. Cause all I see is people just saying that "oh, a wiki and an artbook said so, so it must be true." Instead of looking at the actual game and looking at Hypno Callie's personality, behaviour, actions, etc. and comparing them to regular Callie.

Why do you think 99% of people call her Hypno Callie? Like there's a reason as to why her name is that in most circles... Have you ever talked to someone who calls her brainwashed Callie? Probably not...

God... I'm really sorry if i come off as some gatekeeping fan or elitist snob or some shit. I'm not trying to be and i don't wanna be like that. I wanna educate people, make people think of a different perspective and make people think a little more you know?

I'm just getting tired of it all... It affects how I see Hypno Callie and the events of Splatoon 2. I can't enjoy it when some people throw out these certain words, and it makes me feel so sad and terrible. And not in an engaging way, just a sadness that fucking stings my chest and I'm SO SICK OF IT!!!!!

I just despise this notion in the Splatoon community, Inkipedia, YouTube videos, social media and official sources that Callie was kidnapped out of the blue when she was alone and Octavio forced the shades onto her, brainwashing her and removing her memories. I hate it so much. It's something that truly fills me with great sadness and pain and pure anger. Callie is a comfort character of mine and to hear that scenario for her in official canon is just... no. I can't accept it. I refuse to accept such a vile and awful thing. It makes the Octarians more evil and way less sympathetic that way too, it makes DJ Octavio's eventual redemption make less sense because in one game he's this fucking monster and the next he's like "Hey guys imma help you out!" It makes his character incredibly inconsistent at that point.

it makes his appearance with Cuttlefish at the Grand Fest feel less satisfying because there this huge black spot on his character from Splatoon 2 where he apparently did something truly evil and unredeemable. Why would Cuttlefish be okay with standing next to a man who """kidnapped and brainwashed"""" his grand daughter?! I don't care about their history together, if i was Cuttlefish and I heard about that kind of event for my grand daughter, I WOULD NEVER FORGIVE OCTAVIO!!!

Hypnosis by nature is less evil and has more nuance and agency for Callie and the Octarians. Sure it's still fucking bad but not as extreme and dark as brainwashing is. The two terms are so vastly different and using either word willy-nilly is extremely annoying and frustrating to me.

Hypnosis ≠ brainwashing and you cannot prove to me otherwise. You literally cannot mind control someone with hypnosis, that's not how it works. They are so opposite of each other it's actually insane. I DON'T GET WHY PEOPLE USE THEM INTERCHANGEABLY ALL THE FUCKING TIME?!?! WHY?!?!!? Is it a lack of knowledge?!? Lack of caring?! Is it because of how hypnosis is portrayed?!?!

And the whole "Callie was kidnapped/abducted." My god... Do people understand what words are coming out of their fucking mouths?

Callie was more than willing to join the Octarians and she said to them "okay fine I'll hear you out." That is not KIDNAPPING!!!!!!!!!! THAT STATEMENT MADE BY CALLIE GOES AGAINST THE DEFINITION OF THE WORD!!!!

I don't know why they say this in some official sources either, i don't know why Inkipedia lists it on their pages. i don't know why fans keep wanting to push this idea that Callie was kidnapped, is it because an artbook said so and nothing in the game? I don't know why timeline explainers and people who do a fuck ton of research into Splatoon push it too. If Callie was kidnapped you figure she would mention it. But she doesn't!!!! Marie does and says she was brainwashed in the North American (NoA) localization, but of course she would think that and from her perspective she would figure that is the case from her limited knowledge of what happened to Callie.

God I just.... I hate it when people say Callie was brainwashed. I fucking despise it. It makes me so violently angry and upset and EVERYONE WHO HAS A LOUD VOICE IN THE COMMUNITY SAYS IT!!!

This doesn't even impact just Callie. It impacts the entirety of the Octarians as a species and DJ Octavio too. I LIKE DJ OCTAVIO!! I THINK HE WAS FUNNY IN SPLATOON 1! I like his role in Splatoon 3 and how he redeems himself and how he appeared in the Grand Festival with Cuttlefish. It ties back to before the Great Turf War when the Inklings and Octarians were on good terms and now finally that peace is back....

But this enjoyment... this appreciation of his character growth gets ruined because of the shit Nintendo did and what the fanbase did when Splatoon 2 rolled around... I can't enjoy Octavio as a character anymore because of the notion that Callie was brainwashed by him.

I can't look at his inkipedia page because IN THE FIRST PARAGRAPH THEY SAY HE BRAINWASHED HER!!!!

And don't you EVEN MENTION the line "I remixed Callie's brain!" My brother in Christ, that is not only a call back to a line he said in the final boss of Splatoon 1, but it's also because DJ Octavio is a.. idk... DJ!!!! A DISC JOCKEY!!!! In the NoA version of Splatoon, Octavio's personality is very loud and in your face, compared to his more sinister and intense personality in the European and original Japanese versions. This serious personality was only given to Octavio finally in the NOA version of Splatoon 3 ROTM where his personality actually matches his Japanese and European versions from Splatoon 1 and 2.

Octavio says puns and musical terms to describe shit in the NoA versions of Splatoon 1 and 2. Remixing by definition is taking a song and altering it to make something new. What is Hypno Callie? A REMIX OF CALLIE!!!! It's Callie but she's more aggressive, emotional and impulsive. And you know where we've seen this remix of Callie before? IN SPLATOON 1!!!! IN THE SPLATFEST DIALOGUE!!!!

Octavio didn't literally mean that he "remixed her brain." via actual brain, washing. He just means that he gave Callie a new twist, and Callie in her hypnotic state was like "okay fine I'll hear you out."

Octavio hypnotising Callie who wanted to help the Octarians anyways out of her own free will, planting suggestions into her head that SHE HERSELF ACCEPTED AS DURING HYPNOSIS, SUGGESTIONS GIVEN CANNOT GO AGAINST THE PERSON'S MORALS AND IDEOLOGIES!!! So that Callie would be more likely to stay in Octo Canyon and not decide to suddenly run off as Callie was under a lot of mental distress and emotion from her busy and lonely life, and allowing Callie to put her influence onto Octo Canyon to help his people and boost motivation, fits more in line with Splatoon as a series and Octavio as a character than the whole "he brainwashed Callie" bullshit that has plagued the internet for 7 years and continuing. Why do you think Callie is so chill to see DJ Octavio come back in Splatoon 3 huh? Why do you think she misses shaven Octarians in ROTM? Why do you think she calls Octarians cute? Hmm... I WONDER WHY?!?!?!

Is Octavio still bad? Yes! Did he use Callie to benefit his people? YES!!!! Was Octavio being manipulative and selfish? FUCK YES!!! HE'S THE ANTAGONIST!!!! I AM NOT RESOLVING THAT MAN OF BLAME!!!! DONT GET MY WORDS TWISTED!!! HE'S STILL BAD! just not unredeemable... because once you say he brainwashed someone and forcefully removed Callie's memories like a pure evil monster, then you have a character who is pretty much unredeemable at that point. You have made him cross a line that he can't turn back from. You implanted these disgusting and disturbingly sexual suggestions about Octavio and Callie and her outfit. Why the FUCK do you want that? Why?! Why do you wanna even suggest the idea that Callie was forced to wear skimpy clothing against her consent and knowledge? Do you know how fucking DISGUSTING AND EVIL THAT IS?!?!?! FOR A SERIES SUCH AS SPLATOON?!?!?! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA ON WHAT YOU ARE TRYING TO FUCKING IMPLY HERE?!?!?!

WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?!?!?! GOD!!!! WHY DO YOU WANT THESE AWFUL THINGS DONE TO CALLIE AGAINST HER KNOWLEDGE AND CONSENT IN THE MAIN TIMELINE!!??!?!?!?!! For AUs I get it, it's your right as a fan to make fanfiction and explore darker topics. I personally won't read it but I won't EVER stop someone from making a darker AU. It has its place in the community and I 100% respect it with all of my heart. I truly respect those who make dark AUs and darker takes on Splatoon because I'm sure it's fun and interesting for some people. To each their own! I actually like hearing my friends talk about Fuzzy AUs and stuff like that, given the time and place, darker toned AUs are something that i find really interesting but I'm not super duper in love with them.

But don't you DARE put these disgusting and sexual undertones about Callie and the Octarians in the main canon. Fuck off. Don't you even try and suggest that the Octarians are this purely evil race that forced Callie into a revealing outfit while she was completely unaware and it was against her consent. And that they just grabbed her... god... Jesus Christ man. Fuck. I hate thinking about that so much dude.

This type of scenario that people push did NOT happen.

THIS DID!

I'm so angry. I'm so sorry for this giant humongous rant. I care a lot about Callie. I only want the best for her. I only want a more engaging and more in-depth take on Splatoon 2. I want to enjoy Tidal Rush, I want to enjoy Spicy Calamari Inkantation, I want to enjoy Fresh Start, I want to enjoy the Bomb Rush Blush remix like how i enjoy Unconscience by Marina Agitando. I want to enjoy Hypno Callie in general, BUT SOMETIMES I JUST CANT AND I GET SO SAD AND MY CHEST HURTS!!!! This has been going on FOR SOOO LONGGG!!

I keep making all these posts about Callie because I still see that kind of bullshit being thrown around. Imagine having a perspective on a character you really love and you try and hold on to it. But everyone else around is pushing that perspective down and you feel so sad and stupid and ridiculous... And so your only option left is to scream and bark and yell....

I am literally gonna keep ranting until I can see the word "brainwashed" in media without having a fucking heart attack. I wanna just be able to enjoy Callie's arc and see it for what it truly is...

A story about two cousins drifting apart... Callie becoming so popular and famous... and lonely... that she became so mentally distraught and overthought everything. She did something incredibly irrational. She went to Octavio and the Octarians. Octavio knows that Callie can be a huge help to him after his loss and so he enlisted her help. And she just said, "okay, fine."

She was given hypnotic shades by Octavio in order to keep her more under control as she was ridden with mental illness and could leave Octo Canyon at any point with her overthinking. But he did NOT put her under total control and brainwash her, he needed Callie's influence for the Octarians, to decorate bases and add her touch into their music. The Octarians became happy and more motivated then ever. He didn't need a drone to help him. He needed, CALLIE.

However... Callie, in the canyon, lost herself, she gave into bitterness, hatred, sadness, anger... She knows who she is, but her memory is so cloudy and muffled by emotion and the shades... She needs help... Proper. Help. You can hear it in the songs found within the Octo Canyon, her reversed vocals sound so sad and deeply emotional...

When Marie arrives, Callie is mad at her, she wants nothing to do with her. But when Marie shoots the shades off of her, Callie is still dazed, upset, emotional, sick, she dances and continues to sing back against Marie's desperate words and pleas... Marie only wants to repair their broken relationship and lend out a hand to her cousin who needs to see the light....

But, when that heavenly melody echoed in that stadium, it was like a rushing tide of memories and feelings flooded into Callie. All of her and Marie's time performing, hosting news, celebrating Splatfests, and arriving to Inkopolis for the first time, came back to her and dispelled the darkness in her heart.

Callie heard the melody and went "wait... This isn't me! What am i doing!? YEAH! I REMEMBER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

And well... The rest is history, the pair healed their relationship over the course of a few years and are stronger than ever.

They fulfilled their fresh start, they helped redeem an angry vengeful man from the past, they inspired the present with Off the Hook, and they planted the seeds for the future in Deep Cut.

and they won the Grand Festival... TOGETHER!

Well... At least that's MY interpretation on things ;). And i want my interpretation to be held strong in my head... I'm tired of getting chest pains man... I'm tired of feeling this sadness and pain... I'm tired of going on Inkipedia and seeing that FUCKING word. I'm tired of being scared to watch YouTube videos focusing on lore and the story of Splatoon because deep down i KNOW they will say that word that has such fucking horrible connotations and meaning behind it...

Anyways. I think I'm done. I think I'm just in a huge ranting mode and I had to get it out, my autism was really acting up and i wanted to vomit this stuff out of me. I hope you guys feel what I'm feeling and if you have a character who you feel similar towards, let me know! Let the anger out. Okay?

Have a Callie for sticking around and actually reading. You're amazing.

[mokachibidibi]

Heyy, how are you doing, dear? I just stumbled across your prompt list soooo can I request number 11, 13 and 18 for Jongho? I'm not sure if you are willing to do the same prompt for OT8, but I just thought about them having their first serious relationship and I couldn't miss the opportunity. Thank you!

Hey! I'm doing pretty well, I hope you are too!^^ I'm sorry it took me so much time, but thank you for the request. I love the idea, so it's my pleasure to interpret it in my own way. I hope it turned out to your liking!

PS.: I love your writing!!

If you'd still like one for just Jongho let me know^^

There Is No Guidebook To Life

Summary: This is your first relationship, and you need reassurance. 

Pairing: poly!ot8 x fem!reader

Prompts:

"I've never been in a realationship before, so I don't know how this really works…" "Wait! Don't pull away… Not yet." "Quit smiling at me, I can't stop messing up my sentences with you looking at me like that."

Genre: Fluff, (maybe, but not really angst)

Warnings: Insecurity

It is the first time that you'll be sleeping over at the guys' apartment. You have been together for two months now, but it still feels weird to be in a relationship. You weren't sure how to behave or what to say in some situations.

The guys have known each other for years now, but the relationship formed only recently. Some of them needed more time than others to realize their true feelings.

It was Wooyoung who had brought up a poly relationship when we finally all sat down and talked about the things that were bothering us. I was happy with the idea of sharing my love for them and being able to see the others with each other too.

But the guys had no experience with these kinds of things, which made them a bit unsure. I was glad that they were open to it, and I tried my best to reassure them.

Wooyoung and Mingi are very flirty, so they had no trouble telling you how they feel and showing their affection. Yunho is a bit more shy and needs some encouragement to be able to do those things.

San and Hongjoong were the two who needed more time to realize their feelings for the others. The group didn't talk much about those kinds of things before you came along. But they were open to it.

Yeosang was the one who didn't need a lot of time, but he still wasn't sure what to do, and he was afraid of making a mistake.

"What would you guys like to do?" San asked the group when you were all in the living room.

"I want to cuddle" Wooyoung answered, and the others nodded.

"We could do a cuddle pile?" Mingi added.

"Let's watch a movie together" Yunho said, and he sat down on the couch.

"That sounds nice" I said, and walked towards the couch to sit next to him.

Mingi took place on my other side. Wooyoung quickly walked towards the TV and searched through Netflix to find a good movie.

"What kind of movie would you like to watch, baby?" Yunho asked me while putting an arm around my shoulder.

I smiled and put my head on his shoulder.

"I would like a romantic one."

He looked at the TV screen and nodded.

"There is this one; it looks nice."

"Good, let's watch that" Wooyoung said and pressed play.

When he was done, he went back to the couch. I moved closer to Yunho and made space for him on my other side. He sat down and wrapped an arm around my waist.

The rest of the group sat down as well. Seonghwa and Hongjoong sat next to Mingi. Jongho sat next to Yeosang, who sat next to Yunho. San had moved closer and was now sitting on your lap. His head rested on your shoulder.

You looked around the room; everyone seemed happy and calm. It was a great feeling.

When the movie started, we were all silent. Everyone focused on the movie.

I loved being surrounded by my boyfriends. It was the best thing ever.

During the movie, San started to play with my hair. He ran his fingers through it and occasionally stroked my cheek.

I looked at him and saw a faint smile on his lips. His eyes were filled with adoration.

I felt Yunho's hand slowly moving up and down my thigh. It was a slow motion. He was barely touching my leg.

I could hear Wooyoung's soft giggles every now and then. When I turned my head a little, I saw that Seonghwa had his hand on Wooyoung's knee.

Hongjoong was resting his head on Seonghwa's shoulder. He looked like he was half asleep.

Yeosang had his eyes closed.

Jongho's attention was completely on the TV.

You looked back at the movie.

Time passed, and it was getting late. The movie was almost over.

Wooyoung's hands were holding your arm, and his head was placed on your other shoulder. He had fallen asleep a while ago.

San's fingers were still tangled in my hair. I enjoyed the feeling of him playing with my hair.

Yunho was still stroking my thigh. His touch was a lot lighter now.

"What should we do now?" Mingi asked.

"The movie is almost over. It would be a shame to wake up, Woo. He is sleeping so soundly" Jongho replied.

"I'll carry him to bed" Yunho said, standing up.

Yunho carefully lifted Wooyoung from the couch. Wooyoung opened his eyes for a moment and wrapped his arms around Yunho's neck.

"Go to sleep, Youngie. We'll join you soon" Yunho whispered.

"Okay" Wooyoung said softly. He closed his eyes again and let himself fall asleep in Yunho's arms.

Yunho carried him to their bedroom.

When he came back, he sat down next to me.

"How are you feeling, Y/n?" San asked.

"I'm fine; why are you asking?"

"Because you look a bit sleepy" Mingi replied.

"Well, it's late; we should all go to bed soon."

"I agree, let's go" Mingi said, and he stood up.

"Let's make a deal: we will not leave each other's side during the night" San said.

"Why not?" Hongjoong asked.

"Because it is a great opportunity to have Y/n close and be able to cuddle with her."

"That sounds like a good plan" Yeosang said.

"Yeah, I agree. Let's do that" Jongho added.

"So, are we all going to the same bed, or..." Hongjoong asked.

"We should probably make some kind of plan, don't you think? We can't all just walk into a bedroom and share a bed without a plan."

While the others were trying to decide how it would be best to sleep, Seonghwa came up next to you and wrapped you up in a warm hug. His arm wrapped around your shoulder, while his other hand gently held the back of your head against the crook of his neck. Instinctively, you slung your arms around his waist and held him close.

"Is everything alright?" you asked, quite flustered by his sudden action. He just hummed and continued holding you close.

His warmth started to make you sleepy, and his hold was just so comfortable. But you didn't want to fall asleep yet, so you gently gave him a squeeze and started to pull back.

"Wait! Don't pull away... Not yet." His tone was quite urgent, and it startled you, so you quickly held him tight.

“We can hug a li--aghh.” You whined; his gaze was so soft and his smile so big, his perfect teeth peeked through his lips.

"Quit smiling at me, I can't stop messing up my sentences with you looking at me like that."

"Like what? How do I look at you?" His question surprised you.

"Like, I don’t know, like I'm the only thing you see.”

"You are."

"And that's why I can't let you pull away." He continued. 

"Seonghwa, I'm not pulling away."

"Not physically, but mentally. I know that this is all new to you, to all of us, but don't pull away, please. Talk to us. I want you to talk to me."

"I'll try, but I'm not very good with words."

"Just tell me how you feel."

"I'm not sure; it's all a bit overwhelming."

"That's normal, just take your time. But I really need you to understand that I love you. All of us do."

"I've just never been in a relationship before, so I don't know how this really works... I feel like I'm walking on eggshells, not because I'm scared of your reaction but more because I'm not sure what to do."

"There is no guidebook to life. We can only learn and grow by making mistakes. We'll all make mistakes, and I can't promise that we'll never get upset or frustrated, but please don't give up on us, not before we've really started."

"I won't give up, I promise."

"That's all I need. And if there is something that you are not comfortable with, just tell us, okay? No matter what it is, we'll listen and discuss it." You notice him looking behind you, and not long after, you feel another pair of arms wrap around you. One is holding you, and the other is rubbing Seonghwa's back.

"Did someone say discussing?" Mingi asked with a big grin on his face.

"Oh, so you were eavesdropping again" Seonghwa said.

"Only a little, but the subject is quite interesting."

"What's there to discuss?" San asked, suddenly standing right behind Mingi.

"Nothing" Seonghwa sighed.

"Oh, I have a suggestion!" Mingi yelled.

"No need to shout" Yunho said and sat down on the couch, followed by Hongjoong and Yeosang.

"Okay, here it goes" Mingi began. "Let's sleep in the same bed."

"We already discussed that, but we haven't decided where we will sleep" Hongjoong said.

"And why not?"

"Well, you can't expect us to walk into the bedroom and share the same bed without talking about it."

"Why not?"

"Because..."

"Because" Mingi interrupted.

"Stop saying that."

"Why not?"

"Will you stop it?!"

"Why not?"

"Mingi!"

"You can't stop me, I will continue this for eternity."

"Mingi, don't test my patience, or do you want to come to my room later?"

"I'll stop when you answer my question."

"Fine, I will answer your question."

"Yes?"

"Because..."

"Mingi! You're being a brat."

"Why not?"

"Oh, for fuck's sake."

"Ok, enough of that. Wooyoung is already sleeping, we should be quiet." Yeosang interrupted the never-ending banter. You couldn't help but laugh at them, some things would never change.

And you wished for them to never change.

San suddenly sprung up from the couch and dashed to the bedroom. "Everyone sleeps where they want, I want cuddles.".

With wide eyes, Mingi spared one last glance at Hongjoong and went after San.

Jonho came, took your hand, and walked over to the bedroom, only to find the three already cozy and warm under the blankets. Behind you, the rest followed, and Hongjoong was quick to throw himself onto Mingi and bite him in the shoulder.

"That's what you get for being a brat" Hongjoong laughed and settled in next to the younger.

"That hurt" Mingi pouted.

"Then next time, be a good boy" the leader chuckled and pulled him closer, pecking his lips.

"What the hell?" You muttered out loud.

"Oh, did I forget to tell you that Joongie is a bit into biting and being mean? Oops." San teased.

"Oh, shut up, Sannie." Hongjoong huffed, a blush forming on his cheeks.

"Aww, you're blushing." Wooyoung chuckled and pinched the older's cheeks.

"Since when is he up again?" You leaned toward Jongho, covering the side of your mouth as if to hide it. He just shrugged and shook his head.

"I will bite you too" Hongjoong said, but the threat wasn't very convincing due to the red color still lingering on his face.

"Do it" the black-haired man challenged.

"Okay, enough of that. We'll wake up San." Jongho said, pointing to the boy, who was fast asleep with his mouth open.

"Can't we all just go to sleep?" Seonghwa asked with a slight groan.

"Yeah, it's way too late" Yeosang said while lying down, pulling the blanket over his body.

"Finally!" Mingi sighed and did the same, the two of them cuddling closer.

"Well, let's get comfy," Yunho said, and he laid down, patting the space next to him. You didn't hesitate to lay down beside him, snuggling closer to him. He placed his arm under your head, his hand finding its way into your hair, while his other hand was wrapped around your waist. You put one of your legs over his and one of your arms around his torso.

It was really comfortable.

The others were slowly falling asleep. You could hear their breathing. It was nice and calming.

You felt Yunho's body relaxing. He was almost asleep.

Suddenly, you heard someone clear his throat.

"Y/n?" Jongho whispered.

"Yeah?"

"I'm cold; can you move closer?"

"You're even under the blanket, how are you cold?"

"I'm a cold-blooded monster. I need cuddles and body heat."

"Fine, come here."

You could hear him shuffle around, and eventually you could feel him lying down behind you. His chest pressed against your back. His legs intertwined with yours. His arm was draped over your waist.

His forehead rested against the back of your neck.

"You are so warm" he whispered.

"You are so annoying" Yunho mumbled.

"Shh, I'm not, now go to sleep" Jongho shushed him.

"Whatever, goodnight." Yunho sighed and closed his eyes.

"Goodnight, love."

"Goodnight, Sannie."

"Goodnight, Yunho."

"Goodnight, everyone" Wooyoung said quietly.

"Goodnight, Woo!" Mingi and Jongho said it at the same time.

"Goodnight, Y/n" Seonghwa said.

"Goodnight, everyone" Yeosang said.

You felt yourself drift off to sleep.

[fueioekjfisks]

Im so sorry im losing my absolute mind but please hear me out for a second.

Mild tw for implied SA - NOTHING ACTUALLY HAPPENED PEOPLE JUST THINK IT HAPPENED

You know the common misunderstanding au in the danny phandom rn about vlad being a creep and people thinking hes like a CREEPY CREEP and not just a supervillain creep?

Well imagine danny is going on break or something and his dad wants to bring the whole family up to vlads castle for whatever reason.

Danny, obviously, does not want to waste his ONE FREAKING CHANCE of getting some god damn sleep being tormented by vlad and his stupid birds. Plus, vlad will probably plan some big murder plot for his dad and danny CAN. NOT. HANDLE. THAT. RIGHT. NOW.

So danny decides to make a PowerPoint presentation about why he doesnt want to go.

Obviously he cant reveal vlad or his own halfa status so its mostly just really jumbled information about vlad being creepy.

He gets backup from sam, tucker, jazz, and even val. He also knows his mom already dislikes vlad and knows hes a total creep so all he really needs to do is convince his dad.

But??? As hes compiling evidence??? And rehearsing his presentation with hes friends??? He realizes that it sounds super fucked up???

And like, it’s mostly just bad without all the context. But he realizes that Vlad is actually kinda sick in the head. Danny knows he would never actually do something that terrible, but its supper concering how similar his actions are to like, actual bad people.

Danny isnt mad about it or anything, he’s actually just worried about it Vlad.

Danny is not perfect by any means. But Vlad is the only other member of his species besides, like, his fucking clone (which holy shit Vlad what the fuck) or maybe dan who is also fucked up.

Danny knew that Vlads death definitely messed him up, but he never really thought about Vlads actions beyond “obsessive fruitloop, at it again :/“ and is just now realizing that vlad might need psychological help. Which he feels pretty (REALLY) bad about.

Danny has no idea what to do, and no idea who to go to.

So he sneaks out, doesnt even go ghost as he takes the powerpoint to vlad who obviously freaks tf out because holy shit thats SO MUCH WORSE THAN ANYTHING HE COULD HAVE POSSIBLY IMAGINED. What if he had actually hurt daniel? What if he had hurt his precious Madeline?? He needs help like yesterday! How did he ever get so bad???!

So Vlad freaks, trashes his own house, apologizes to danny, and books it through the portal to find the far frozen or somewhere else he can get help.

Danny is somewhat shellshocked about the whole situation. It doesnt get better when people start investigating Vlads disappearance.

The state of the manor indicates foul play and the police look into it further. Find security tapes. They see danny, frazzled and paranoid, enter Vlads property, everything goes to static, and only danny leaves.

Hes arrested of course, and he and his friends/family are interrogated.

Everybody vehemently denies that Danny would ever do such a thing, but when they are asked if danny has potential motives everyone (except for jack) gets all squeamish.

Its practically common knowledge in Amity Park that the mayor and the weird Fenton child had beef. People just were unsure why.

I think it would be really cool to focus a story around the polices pov of the investigation/ random Amity Parkers interpretation of the events.

Danny being kinda creepy after the accident (because death) could totally make people assume he did it and that would be awesome.

We can also add in de-aged Dani/Ellie and or Dan for that extra spice.

Imagine the fentons finding out about Dannys supposed kids in the context that they are MOTIVES FOR THEIR SON TO MURDER THEIR COLLAGE FRIEND ( AND DANNYS OWN GODFATHER) WHO APPARENTLY GROOMED HIM???!? AND THEY DIDNT EVEN NOTICE??!?

This could totally be a crossover too. Lucifer tv show. Batman. Supernatural. All are good.

Anyway, thought this could be kinda interesting

Please continue if you want

[megzscribbleznwordz]

The Aqua Teens And Love Languages!

this is kinda a mix between drabbles and headcanons? Idk... I wrote it so you can interpret it as either humanized or not, so go wild!

Frylock:

Quality Time: Oh goodness, please offer to help him with his research, I feel like he’d love to have a lab partner. Even if science isn’t your thing, he just appreciates the fact that you’re taking time to spend time with him doing something he loves. Does the same for you too, asking questions about your hobbies and interests. He definitely does research into your hobbies in his free time.

Words of affirmation: The king of oddly specific, somewhat weird compliments. Things like “you have a beautiful brain”, “your skin is so smooth”, things like that.

Physical Touch: Definitely more touchy than you’d expect. Not super into PDA, but definitely needs to be holding your hand like all the time. Eating dinner? Holding your hand. Sitting with the other Aqua Teens? Holding your hand. Any time anywhere he can, he will be.

Acts of Service: Frylock is big on acts of service. Be something simple, like tidying up your shared room; helping do daily chores; making a meal; or more complex things, like proactively helping you solve problems you bring to him if he feels like it’s in his capability.

Giving/Receiving Gifts: Definitely gives gifts of use. Accessories, books, materials related to your hobbies; Clothes and accessories that fit your aesthetic, things like that. Goes all out for valentine’s day, I feel like he’s a romantic at heart.

Master Shake:

Quality Time: Big one for outings. Loves places like arcades, retro gaming stores, bowling…Any sort of games you can play together he’s down for. Loves playing any sorts of games with you. Also a sucker for domesticity, He’d never really imagined himself to be a sappy sort, but something about chill days in cuddling and watching TV really brings a warmth to his heart.

Words of Affirmation: I feel like he’s not the type to give big dramatic heartfelt declarations of love… His affection really shows in how frequently he compliments you. Even little things, like I like the way that shirt looks on you, your hair looks cool today, things like that. He’s not the polite sort, and doesn’t really complement anybody but you.

Physical Touch: Oh my god he’s so grabby. Walking past him? You get a smack on the butt. Standing beside him? Definitely either have a hand on your waist or butt. Sitting next to each other? Definitely tries to coax you into sitting on his lap. The most smug asshole about it, too.

Acts of Service: He’ll only do things for you. He may grumble a bit about it depending on the task, but it will end up done (Probably better than you expected). I personally headcanon that he’s secretly a good cook, and he definitely puts his entire heart into trying to make you the best damn dinner around. Cooking is one of the few tasks he does without needing to be asked, and he only does it for you. Like, pointedly only cooks enough food for you two so you don’t need to share with Frylock or Meatwad.

Giving/Receiving gifts: He’s a bit of a material girl, loves receiving gifts. He really tries with gifts, but it ends up being something a bit odd. A book with a title that made him laugh, a poster for a movie you talked about exactly 1 time, things like that. He knows his own skill though, and typically gets traditional gifts for you. Think plushies, candy, flowers, the works.

Meatwad:

Quality time: Loves, loves, loves when you read him books! He can read on his own, but something about the way your voice sounds when reading aloud is so comforting to him. Please let him show you all his toys, it’ll make little man’s day. Dream Date? MC Pee Pants concert. Loves sharing the things he likes with you, and hearing about the things you like! Will definitely demand to join you next time you partake in a hobby. 

Words of Affirmation: Gives you the sweetest compliments ever. Like, your hair is so soft, your laugh is so cute, I like the way that you smile. He doesn’t go out of his way to flatter you, but simply states them when he thinks them. Very cutely awkward when it comes to receiving them, very bashful and blush. 

Physical Touch: Very cuddly. Like, whenever you guys are just hanging out he wants to hold you/be held by you. A bit more of a little spoon due to being generally smaller than most people, but absolutely loves wrapping himself around you in a close embrace. Takes after Frylock in the way he needs to hold your hand constantly.

Acts of Service: Very much a sucker for the classics. Things like holding doors for you, carrying your bags whenever you two are shopping together, trying to do all the ‘manly’ tasks for you, etc. 

Giving/Receiving gifts: Biggest maker of homemade gifts right here. Draws you, buys beads and makes you jewelry, writes and makes up stories for only you, even trying to make simple treats for you (Fudge, brownies, things like that.)

[misscinnamonroll16]

More headcanons for brozone

Floyd is the first to notice how tense John is. He forces the others (bc they're salty lil shits) to help him to get John to relax

John Dory relates to the mcr song mama. It's a song about feeling like a failure to your parents and wishing you could have been better (at least that's my interpretation). Curse Floyd for showing it to him

Clay still counts on his fingers

Ironically, John has the best handwriting out of all of them. Branch has the worst

Clay moves around a lot in his sleep

John remembers all his brothers little habits. Bruce's maturity shines through when helping him deal with their brothers. Clay's naturally playful attitude. Floyd being a sassy little shit. Even Branch, throwing a slight tantrum to get their attention.

Floyd talks in his sleep, saying super weird stuff. He's done that since he was a baby

JD taught himself how to drive

Bruce pierced Floyd's ear much to their grandma's and John's dismay

They all missed their grandma's cooking but they also missed John Dory's cooking (but you'll never hear them say that)

Clay enjoys reading aloud

Floyd was a nail biter

Floyd can and will steal a straight guys gf just bc he knows he can

Bruce still has tons of products for his hair and skin

Branch cant help but enjoy having his brothers in the bunker that he built for them. its nice having them back in his life even if he's still kind of being a dick about it lol

Clay tells the best scary stories

john will complain while doing something no matter how small the task is. Bruce just chuckles to himself, saying "some things never change"

John is a little jealous of Bruce bc he wants kids (eventually and with the right person) but he doesn't want that pressure of taking care of someone or risk screwing up like he did with his brothers. so he takes every opportunity he can to babysit

the boys had SO MANY nicknames for each other and all of them were annoying little jabs at each other (that they secretly loved)

John dory's joints ache when its about to rain or when cloud guy shows up (we're not gonna talk about how truly old he is)

sometimes it feels like Bruce and JD are having a competition to see who can out dad the other. who falls asleep in front of the tv and claims they were watching it? who mows the lawn at 5 am? shit like that

Clay has really good aim with a slingshot

Branch and John Dory know how to shoot a bow and arrow

Floyd has the highest pain tolerance, mostly bc of nerve damage

Bruce has wet willies, John had noogies

Floyd plans on getting tattoos

John Dory enjoys doting on his brothers, just a little bit

i also have some headcanons about genderbent brozone if anyone would like those

[wickjump]

I heard thoe like Hypersomnia? Could that be true?

*quietly slides a yapping card across the table

takes your yapping card and adds it to my probably not all that legal collection of yapping cards. pleasure doing business

that it IS!!!!!!!!! (for those who don’t know, hypersomnia is ink x error x dream poly). anyway I LOVE HYPERSOMNIA. so much so that i was the one to coin the ship name hypersomnia and then became incredibly obnoxious about it ever since.

i think theyre perfect in every way. to me the initial appeal came from loving drink and errorink equally and being a fan of insomnia so why not smash em together? and then i looked deeper into it and Yes i love them.

my biggest propaganda for them is the fact that with hypersomnia, palette, pj, and gradient can exist as siblings without ink being divorced or a shitty dad, both of which im not a fan of. but then we go outside of ship kid territory and think about them and they work SO WELL THERE TOO.

the dynamic feels equal. dream and ink provide physical touch for each other so error doesn’t feel pressured, dream and error provide the romantic feelings for each other while ink is aro, and ink and error both can’t be read feelings-wise because ink has no soul and while not canon I like to think error’s soul is to corrupted for Dream to get a read on, so he feels that they’re not dating him for his aura and rather for him as a person.

and they’re FUN. and lowkey domestic in a sense too like. dream and error bond over spanish tv while ink draws them both so he keeps quiet during the show and doesn’t ramble on. dream listening to both his partners rant on about things they like while he just sits and listens with a genuine smile. movie nights? all the time. they share a big bed, but error’s part is sectioned off with pillows so he feels comfortable, though on days it feels too suffocating he sleeps in a hammock in the room. dream is injured in battle? don’t worry his husbands are the protector of universes and destroyer of worlds. ink is canonically a pretty lonely character—and while he doesn’t mind it per se, nobody ever sees his art. but now he’s got not one but TWO partners to look at his drawings!!!

AND INKS DADS!!!!!!! ASTER AND TOP HAVE TWO SONS IN LAWS!!!!!!!!! and they are SO supportive and they love dream and error and are very happy ink found people that love him for his weirdness and not ‘in spite of it’.

truce or modern au? nightmare does Not Like Them, on the contrary. and it’s funny. hijinks ensue. passive/uncorrupted or otherwise, he does not like them for one reason or another. thinks they have bad intentions, just doesn’t think they’re right, bad influences, or maybe he’s just scared he’ll lose dream and be alone. NIGHTMARE ANGST. YOU GUYS LIKE THAT RIGHT???????

need more appeal? just take whatever you like about drink, errorink, and insomnia and mash it together CAUSE THATS WHAT THEY ARE!!!!!! they are SOULMATES. TRUST ME they said so themselves.

literally any au version or interpretation only furthers the appeal. dream has wings? error uses his feathers in his dolls to make doll-dream’s wings ‘accurate’, and ink uses them in art (plus group preening, and error likes touching Dream’s fallen feathers bc he sorta knows how Dream feels now even if they’ve never/hardly touched).

fgod error/fgoc ink? dream is supportive of both of them and sympathizes with their roles (iirc dreamtale operates in a world where error’s job is necessary and not out of insanity so this is accurate too).

shattered dream and emotionless ink? great they can be 3 evil fucked up boyfriends because error is flexible like that and i like a bit of evil every so often.

it’s all great. they’re perfect. and they’re SO sweet to each other and they absolutely garden together. and every day past 6pm they sit down in the living area and error crochets/sews while ink draws and dream. aw fuck i forgot what dream does but he does some creative thing. whatever. and they take care of their kids together and they’re the BEST dads to EVER EXIST!!!!!!!! and they’re perfect and they love each other and they have rings with gems that they picked out cause they’re married. ok i know you wanted me to yap but this is too long SORRY!!!!!!!!HOPE U ENJOYED IG??

[foone]

So Warframe added a "Pom-2" Alternate 1999 computer (that's needed for weird void magic future science wizardry). Thoughts?

Only thing I have that's a sort of question mark is that I don't know of many setups that would have needed a 5 1/4" floppy in 99 (or why it has both the tower and the under monitor unit)

ugh. OKAY, so... the tower and desktop combination is just weird. I have, on one occasion, run a "server" that was two towers, and the original PC supported a DUAL-DESKTOP mode, but both types together? nonsense.

dual monitor was rare but possible in 1999 (win98 added native support), so I think the best interpretation here is that this is actually two computers. maybe the one on the left is missing the keyboard and mouse because it's being used as some kind of server for the other computer? I used a little case like that to run my first linux server, which was also acting as a router for my internal network.

The OS is weird. The icons above the menu-bar look like win98, the dialog box is windows 3.x, the menu-bar icons on the bottom are pure os X (although they remind me of like a web-TV kinda system, like hotkeys for email/internet/etc), but the greyscale is very classic mac system. Actually it kinda reminds me of C64's GEOS, but GEOS was very classic-mac.

Like most CRT-filters, they turned the scanlines up WAY TOO HIGH. No CRT I've ever seen looked that fucking terrible. The monitor buttons are a bit odd: You didn't get monitors with buttons on the front until long after they were all color... but maybe it's a color monitor that's showing a monochrome OS?

as for the floppies: yeah. There are multiple mistakes here.

5.25" in 1999 is just silly. If you still had 5.25" disk drives in 1999, you were intentionally doing some retrocomputing stuff. For reference, around 2001 my PC repair job would specifically ask me to copy data off 5.25" disks, because they didn't have any 5.25" drives anymore, and I was their only tech who did.

The other mistake is that they have THREE floppy drives. so the PC doesn't really support that, natively? You can do some tricks and make it work (The youtuber Tech Tangents did a video on how it could be done), but realistically two was the normal max.

The final mistake is that all the drive activity lights are on. Those are only supposed to be on while the drive is reading or writing... and I don't see any disks in those drives! Let alone a situation that would involve turning all three on at once (I don't think that's even possible on most floppy controllers!)

In fact, the main time you'd end up with the drive lights stuck on like that is when you've installed the drive cable upside down. That ends up with them getting stuck on and non-functional. So this computer looks, to me, like it was put together incorrectly and no one noticed.

I don't believe that font would be on a black & white retro computer. Nope. Too smooth and too big.

There's also a USB icon on that OS: I don't think there's ever been a monochrome OS that supported OS, and looking at that computer case I don't believe that it has USB. Maybe the tower would, but the desktop? no.

That keyboard is off a Gateway 2000 computer. Something like this:

[oceanic-sunsets]

Mike around El and his very obvious Not-Crush

I want to start this off with a disclaimer: I interpret Mike as gay, so this analysis and the points I’ll bring up were written with this in mind. Now, let’s begin! 

Since my first watch, I always thought it was kind of weird-funny how Mike never showed any kind of shyness towards El, unlike the other boys, who the audience and characters in-universe never think of as having a crush on El. 

So they know El is a girl pretty early on, so when she first goes home with Mike and he lends her dry clothes, everyone freaks out when she tries to change right there in front of them. Pretty normal reaction for anyone, especially 12 year old boys! So, even in the middle of their freak out, Mike remains as the most well composed of the boys.

He doesn’t turn around, instead, is quick to stop her, even reaching out towards her arms, and explain she should change in the bathroom, because, well, privacy. 

He even guides El towards the bathroom door, and we know that he tries to close it but El stops him. So, he understands, she’s still scared, and again, explains she can keep it mostly closed, leaving a small gap open so she feels safer. 

And then Mike goes to talk with Lucas and Dustin, who are still freaking out and talking about how she’s crazy, Lucas remarks “She tried to get naked” and Dustin makes the same hand gesture three times to really drive his point across. 

And Mike? remains calm, really, his head is elsewhere, not stuck on the fact that a random, weird girl tried to change her clothes in front of them. Instead, his gears are turning, he’s already coming up with a plan so they can stay out of trouble, so she can be safe, and they can keep looking for Will: El has to stay the night, which Dustin finds insane.

So, I first interpreted these kind of scenes as Mike being the more mature one of the boys. He NEVER goes “but she’s a girl!” the other characters are the ones who keep pointing that out to him. But really, Mike just treats her like a human being (and then he discovers she has superpowers). 

And really, it’s funny how fascinating they keep finding this, but not surprising. Again, this is a normal reaction! that’s why I thought Mike was just the logical, more mature one. But that’s not really why: he just never made a distinction or a big fuss to separate THEM, boys, and El, a GIRL, until later on when people kept bringing that up. For Mike, El was just another kid just like them, he shows her his house, his TV, his toys, and has no issue getting close and just treating her like another friend. 

There’s another reason that points to the Duffers being aware of what they’re trying to do. It’s subtle if you’re not looking for it, and really, it just flies under most people’s radars, including our own! 

So we all know this scene, right?  

The first instance of Mike being directly told he has to have a crush on her, because… he is nice to her, and she’s a girl. So, clearly. And then the bullies arrive, call Will homophobic slurs and Mike gets hurt, we know how that one goes. But you know the scene that plays directly before this one? 

It’s Nancy. They’re making fun of her/shaming her because she hooked up with Steve, and we know how this plot goes too: the girl is slut-shamed and the boy is praised/admired for “getting” her. Nancy is worried because she left Barb alone and the next thing she knows, her friend is missing too. And she doesn’t feel guilty just because she dismissed Barb, she feels shame, and the kind of comment she’s receiving just adds to the guilt. 

And all this? it’s part of heteronormativity too, and all its social standards of what’s expected of people based on their gender and sexuality. Nancy? A slut for hooking up with Steve. Will? probably killed for being gay! The boys? get bullied just as Lucas is hugging Mike, even if it’s part of a joke. Mike? must like El, because he is a boy who is nice to her, and she’s a girl! See where I’m going? 

Next scene I’m going to talk about is this one: 

And… It’s a great scene, really. But nothing about it is romantic. The boys help El dress up, and Mike even does her makeup and doesn’t mind! and, I’m sorry, but what 12 year old with a crush is NOT nervous to be that close? he’s just 100% concentrated in what he’s doing.

And then El comes out, full makeover, and Mike’s reaction is just very sweet and genuine. Dustin hesitates: “She looks…” and Mike immediately goes “pretty”. Now, some people interpret this scene as Mike finally Realizing El is Actually a Girl. I both agree and disagree. 

I agree because that’s how it probably goes for Mike, just now in the sense most people expect. We should keep in mind the previous scenes: Mike is now aware of what other people think/what is expected of him. So he goes “pretty”, and oh, no, she’s a Girl, I can’t say that! they’re going to think I have a crush on her! “...pretty good” saved it:) but wait. That just makes it look even more like a crush! So maybe it is a crush, right? So, I think of this scene as the moment of Mike deciding that yeah, it must be a crush, making now a distinction between “friend” and “girl”.

Other people have mentioned how particular this choice is: why would they have Mike next to El in the mirror? in the same scene where she’s presenting herself as Actually a Girl for the first time, wearing a pink dress, next to Mike, a Boy, who is even wearing blue! I don’t even think this analysis classifies as far-fetched for the same reason I mentioned earlier: the themes of the show are clear since the beginning, and plots like Nancy’s, Will’s, and later on El’s (and Max's) support that. Mike’s, however? it comes across as subtle (because really, it’s not), but it’s always been there, and the way the Wheelers are portrayed as a family confirms that too. 

 I don’t think he consciously makes the choice to pretend, more like it makes sense for him too, and the future events of the show just keep reinforcing this idea: she’s a girl with superpowers, who saves him and his friends many times, and people keep telling him he likes her! why wouldn’t he like her? And then there’s also survivor’s guilt but uhh… Let’s not go there, that’s another whole analysis. 

It’s now time to talk about my least favorite topic: mlvn’s kisses. They have never been portrayed as genuinely romantic to me, even if I did think the snowball one was sweet when I first watched it. But that’s the thing: it’s cute, I guess, but it’s just there like a point you have to mark as done in a checklist. Entirely different to Lucas’ and Max’s scenes: Lucas hesitates when he asks Max to dance, and he’s clearly nervous, exhaling before asking, and their kiss is awkwardly endearing, genuine, and realistic for their age unlike anything in Mike and El’s relationship and… The beginning of s3 is proof of that. It’s almost like they’re kissing to prove a point: El is older now, and Mike is her boyfriend, they kiss like in the soap operas! (for Hopper’s and the audience’s dismay) and for Mike, well, El is his girlfriend, that’s what he’s supposed to do, right? (as he takes her hands off him). 

Going back to the snowball, Mike plays the “date” role too perfectly. He does exactly what he should: he tells El she looks beautiful and asks her to dance, again, no hesitance. They dance and he kisses her… You guessed it, no hesitance. You could argue that it’s because it’s not their first thing, but the thing is… That one was a mess. It was out of nowhere, after talking about being family, as if Mike suddenly thought “yeah I think I should do this” and went for it. And… Did El even know what a kiss was? 

Anyway, back to s3. They break up and all that, supernatural shit happens and oh! Mike tells a whole room of people that he loves El! how can that not be proof that he at least has a crush? well. Because Mike is not lying, just as he wasn’t lying when he called her pretty. He does love her, wants her to be safe because she’s his friend, and feels responsible for her safety (for many reasons). The thing is… Mike is aware of the Implications of the word.

He is being honest. He’s also confusing his feelings for romantic ones, just like he has since mid-s1. What’s the difference between the “ily” plot in s3 and in s4, then? wouldn’t that just be a repeat of the same? 

No. This is a point of debate and I know we have different opinions on “When Did Mike Realize”, but for me, the contrast between this plot in s3 vs s4 is that s3 Mike is unaware, while in S4 he’s IS aware Throughout s3 (and before) he genuinely thinks his feelings are romantic. Until THIS happens

 …and suddenly he’s confused, thinking it makes no sense. I choose to interpret it this way because it’s supported by the S3 script, which portrays Mike as confused and wondering what is wrong with him. This would’ve been a great moment to portray Mike as endearingly nervous/shy: they’ve been broken up and it seems like no one had said anything that hinted at a romantic relationship during that time. If Mike had romantic feelings for El, he should’ve been thrilled, but he doesn’t move, doesn’t close his eyes, doesn’t even smile. But it’s not disgust, it’s confusion. He’s starting to question things. To what degree? we do not know. 

We can, however, infer from the events of S4 that he knows something. 

The airport scene is as sad as it is funny, because this is probably the first instance in the whole show that we see Mike Wheeler acting nervous-shy in the way you would in front of a crush: 

(Exhibit A)

(Exhibit B)

ok, Mike, Will didn’t imply otherwise? are you trying to convince him or yourself? 

(Exhibit C)

(Exhibit D)

This whole conversation is so insane because everyone is so focused noticing Will’s crush that they miss Mike’s behavior? Mike, who during this conversation hesitates a lot, chooses his words carefully, exhales, you can see him swallow and just. He looks more nervous here than in the entirety of ALL his scenes with El on the show.

I could keep going on about s4, really, because there’s a lot to unpack there. But this is getting too long!

[tartrat]

More digital art practice (this time with Talia)

Kapyy gets a break lol

This is basically an attempt to make an avatar. I hated doing the camouflage so i just got rid of her jacket all together.

Also below is a crappy attempt at an alternative avatar. I originally wanted to try and base it off of the Midnights bodysuit but have it be sort of Speak now themed. Then i just gave up and made a weird rendition of her outfit from the final chorus of IKYWT, with a glitter brush that i had made in procreate. Eyes probably look a bit weird but just ignore that, this is really just a practice. I did not bother detailing the shoes.

Yes i reused the background from my last post

just really practice nothing much to it. I did actually do a few pages in my school art sketch book on Just Dance costume design, more on how songs are interpreted and made and oc based on the avatars. This reminded me of that.

My brother recently played through persona 4 golden, a game where they go into tvs, for the first time and the other day i realised that that’s what Talia does in the map for IKYWT. Basically Talia Sway is the Persona 4 Golden.

I headcanon that she has always been able to control tvs and project memories onto them. If she decided to channel those skills she’d probably be able to broadcast other’s memories as well as her own to a farther range. What says revenge on your ex by showing the country how shitty they are. The Wake me up coach deserves no peace.

They should do a remake of womaniser but it’s Talia, the One kiss coach and all the others that the WMU coach possibly cheated on hunting him down. Like Alex Newell’s performance of the song from glee. (Yes i think that the WMU coach has already cheated on the One kiss coach, that being if that’s who he cheated on Talia with)

Still trying to develop the headcanon that she and Kapyy are twins who were separated at birth. So far i have their mother as the giddy on up coach and that the dad would be from Cyberfunk but don’t know who he should be. I realised that the women in the family always have to deal with some bloke in Wasterra cheating on them so i think it would be funny if Talia tells Kapyy that if he wants to date a guy, to not date a guy in Wasterra, he takes her advice and quickly falls in love with a guy that he knows. I still imagine the two meeting shortly after IKYWT but i also imagine that their meeting also takes place at the same time as the events from Majesty, so these two weirdos in the junkyard are talking whilst everyone else is getting turned into Night Swan’s army. Can’t remember if i said that last part in my last post. I know that i want to include a few other coaches into this family drama but all i have is Si’ha Nova’s guard and Mothigan

Now how long is it before i draw Kapyy in the midnights bodysuit doing the vigilante shit performance? (I’ve already done a thumbnail sketch but need to adjust it a bit)

Also have this work in progress screen shot where Talia is missing half her face. The way i do hair is a bit weird though.

I’ll probably post the first drawing on twitter as i like it more than whatever i tried to do with the alternate version.

[being-of-rain]

I'm not a massive fan of franchises pulling twists that retcon decades of history without a meaningful reason to do it and a good story to back it up. So Empire of Death saying that Sutekh has been a stowaway on the TARDIS for something like thirteen of the Doctor's lifetimes didn't really do it for me. And if that's the case it does feel like something of a cosmic coincidence (which I know RTD can be fond of in his arcs) that all the signs of the occupation start showing around the exact same time. (Namely: the Susan Twists appearing for the first time to the audience at least; a mystery that intrigues Sutekh enough to bend reality, because I guess no other Dr Who story arcs have been juicy enough; the TARDIS making a weird sound, which was such a strange arc element to put in The Broken Time Ship Makes Strange Sounds show; and other gods infringing on the universe and speaking ominously about him.)

So I do like the idea that it was in fact the thin, lightly salted laws at the edge of the universe that allowed Sutekh to properly climb back into reality and into the TARDIS, and that any retroactive observing of the Doctor or seeding of the universe with Susans he did was through the TARDIS' complicated relationship with spacetime, or any godlihood that the time vortex gave him or whatever. Honestly Sutekh's explanation about how he got to where he is today is vague enough that I don't really feel bad about interpreting it how I want to.

I know I already sound like an awful old fandom grouch, which I'm sure I am, but I also didn't get the Doctor 'bringing death to death' at the end of the episode. Even on a conceptual or symbolic level, to me that feels like adding a negative to a negative. Not to mention the Doctor doing it by dragging Sutekh through the vortex and then seemingly dumping him in it to kill him, despite that purportedly being what he's been doing for the last few thousand years and it turned him into a god. But after rotating it in my mind a bit, it did sort of make sense to me as the Doctor reversing Sutekh down his own timeline, unwriting him (and at least his most recent, largest effects on spacetime) so that his existence unravels. The canon-welder in me can't help but wonder if the Doctor was using his Time Lord knack for dematerialising as seen in The War Games, perhaps even the powerful influence on the universe that the Time Lords have in Death Comes To Time; something he never wants to use as a weapon on principle, and is deeply ashamed to be put in a position where all of the universe can be saved if he just utterly destroys one life.

Or if you think this is all silly, that's okay. This is just how I have fun 😊 I hope everyone else enjoys TV shows in their own way.

Now I just need to do some canon-welding to explain why there's a whistle-activated laser cannon in the TARDIS console.

[canonicallyobserving911]

Buck & Eddie: "My Buddie Crack Theory"

Since the finale airs tonight, I decided I'm finally ready to share my theory with details.

Question: What is "My Buddie Crack Theory"?

Answer: Buck's still in his coma dream.

I've included the details below the cut but please note, if he is still in his coma dream, it's NOT A NEW CONCEPT because it's been done on network TV before. (Details about the TV show "Dallas" and the main character "Bobby Ewing" are below the cut.

After season 6 ended, I read a post on 911blr that contained a screen shot from the show's IG page and it included a statement from someone who works on the show. It indicated season 6 was an "experiment" and it piqued my curiosity because I remembered reading about a TV show that did something similar in the 1980s. If it's true and KR was doing an experiment, then, it's possible 9-1-1 is doing something similar with Buck's coma dream.

In 1986, a procedural drama, "Dallas" did it with one of their main characters. The gist of it is, after main character "Bobby Ewing" was killed in a car accident at the end of season 8, he came back in season 10 because one of the actors who was still on the show asked the actor who played "Bobby" to come back because their ratings dropped. He agreed and the writers retconned the entirety of season 9 and turned it into a dream sequence for Pamela, Bobby's wife. Supposedly, she dreamed everything that happened before she woke up in 10x1 and when she walked into the bathroom, he was in there taking a shower 🙄. ISTG this is true and I know it's soapy and weird but here's a link to one of the articles that discusses it (Dallas).

How does this relate to 9-1-1? Well, it relates because since the beginning of season 7, there have been many indications in the interviews from the main cast about the possibility that TM is retconning seasons 5 & 6 and doing a mirror image or carbon copy of season 4 so he can get the main characters back to the point they were at in 4x14 (Buddie and Bathena). It's when he left OG in the hands of KR since F*X wouldn't allow Buck and Eddie to go CANON.

Before I delve into this, I need to make three points. First, I'm not making this about one specific character because the show already did that so please if you're going to be salty about it, please don't read this. If the things I've identified are correct then, that's on 9-1-1 and their writers. Second, these are my interpretations and observations of all the off kilter, retconned and unhinged things I've noticed since last season. Third and finally, when the season is looked at as a whole, it appears Buck still being in a coma is the only thing that makes sense.

Disclaimer: No one has to agree with my theory and please understand I'm not asking anyone to. The purpose of me doing this post now is because I wanted to wait until just before the season ends before I posted it because I wanted to see if the trend would continue and it has, for me at least. My theory could be right and it could be wrong but the point is someone else may have a difference of opinion and if they do, it's perfectly ok because two people's opinions can co-exist.

Now back to the regularly scheduled program...

Several things happened in seasons 6 and 7 that caused me to believe Buck's still in his coma dream and since the beginning of season 7, I've felt like all the mains have been acting OOC at different points and their actions have been off in someway or another. I'm not the only one who noticed it and there have been viewers who've commented on this topic in post-mortem articles and on social media. When I looked at the entirety of 6B and season 7, IMO, it seems like everything is being told from one character's POV, i.e., Buck's. It's a flawed and skewed one that in order to understand, one has to go back to review the details in 6x11.

After 6x9 aired, to me it seemed like Buck and Eddie were already together in a romantic relationship but Buck got struck by lightning and it halted everything. If they were, then everything about Buck still being in a coma makes even more sense and it explains their actions.

Here's a brief summary of 6x11: It appears Buck woke up TWICE in his coma dream and the first time he did, he was talking to Daniel but the first person he remembered from his life was EDDIE. After Daniel told him the next time he climbed a ladder, he should be sure there was someone available to have his back to which he responded, "I did". Reminder, after his brief flashback, Eddie wasn't included in Buck's coma dream anymore in season 6. I think the second time he woke up was when he was talking to Maddie before the 118 entered his room. Also, while he was playing gin with Bobby, Bobby told him he couldn't believe Buck returned from a world where he could fix everything but he replied, "Not everything."

I think he was still in his coma but he thought he woke up and when he had a coffee date with Natalia, he told her, "I woke up in a world that was both everything and nothing I ever wanted it to be" and other than the two things he told Maddie in 6x12 (included below), that's all the audience heard about his dream.

Now, in season 7, Eddie's the ONLY person Buck keeps thinking and talking about non-stop which could mean he's still in his coma but this time he's seeing his romantic life. Reminder, he was confused in 7x4 about whose attention he was trying to get but the viewers knew it was Eddie. Additionally, everything that happened in his dream has come to pass in some form or another but it's possible it might not be real.

Maddie and Chimney got married in 7x6 but it wasn't the wedding Chimney described to the team in 6x16 they were planning before he proposed. In his dream, he told Chimney they should get married because they already had a kid and a house.

Bobby retired and he died (temporarily) in 7x9 which both of those things happening have always been part of Buck's biggest fears. In 3x10, he told Bobby he's one of the most important people in his life and in 6x11, Bobby being Buck's found dad was CANONIZED by May Grant. Reminder, Bobby was dead in Buck's coma dream when he was talking to him.

In 7x10, it's possible the 118 might get split up (hopefully they won't but with Ortiz and Gerard around 🙄 who knows what's going to happen) and that's another thing that scares Buck, him losing his family. In 3x16 he was worried about them being split up and he worried about it again in 6x5 during Hen's medical school party.

In 6x11, when he was running towards his hospital room, he ran past Chris but Chris asked him to help him find his dad but Buck told him he wasn't real but the truth is he was (related post).

After he woke up the second time, the audience didn't see Buck's recovery from him being depressed and everything they did show was kind of off but not so much that it would be noticeable. The conversation Buck and Eddie had in 6x15 in the cemetery in front of Marie's grave was interesting and that's when Buck admitted he felt like he had to be the same old Buck mostly for the sake of everyone else. Viewers who watched the last few episodes of 6B remember what a cluster "F" they were and several recurring characters acted OOC too.

Now let's fast-forward to season 7.

I've been posting about my theory since the end of season 6 but I really dialed into it after 7x1 aired because the timeline Athena stated surrounding when Bobby purchased their cruise tickets was OFF. For those who watched 5x18, they know Bobby purchased the tickets then but their trip got delayed at the end of 6x1 after Athena's father had a stroke. But in 7x1, her scene with Frank started with "Two months ago" then she said, "Last week, my husband... he did something, he... booked us on a cruise". Why is this a problem? It's an issue because the TIMING IS OFF. For Athena's timeline to be accurate, seasons 5 & 6 wouldn't exist since Bobby actually booked the cruise in 5x18 which happened more than a year before they left.

Additionally, all of Buck's biggest fears are being addressed in season 7 and they're happening one right after the other.

Bobby retiring (mentioned above).

Bobby dying (mentioned above).

The 118 being split up (mentioned above).

In 7x10, it appears the Diaz parents might be taking Chris from Eddie and moving him (hopefully temporarily to El Paso). In Buck's coma dream, he was worried that Eddie lost Chris because he wasn't there to introduce him to Carla (she hasn't been mentioned once this season - related post).

The sun setting behind Eddie and Buck in scenes during season 7 are also part of this because in 6x12, Buck told Maddie, "For some reason, it's never nighttime in my coma dream". IMO, it appears Buck's running out of time to figure things out and it's possible he just might by the end of the finale, that is if the narrative continues.

Furthermore, NONE of the things that happened to Buck in season 6 have been addressed in season 7 and they remain unresolved (related post). There hasn't been any mention of the sperm donation, the baby, his quest for captaincy, his recovery from being struck by lightning and he never had a breakdown, even though he's well overdue for one. It's kind of like everything that happened wasn't addressed on purpose and before 7x1 aired, in an interview, TM said he didn't want Buck focusing on all the stuff that happened in season 6 because he wants to be happy.

I'm including a lot of one-offs that happened to add credence to my theory. Before reading the items below, don't forget, Buck is Midge in the movie "Vertigo" and she was waiting for Scottie (Eddie) to move on from his deceased wife. Well, isn't that what Buck's kind of doing now with Eddie? YES!

I think Marisol doesn't have a last name because Buck doesn't know what it is. He met her in 6x5 the same time Eddie did and when they went back to her house, I don't think he was worried about her and Eddie dating later on. However, I do think she's the only woman Buck could think of since she was the only one he saw Eddie with before he got struck by lightning. Eddie didn't mention Buck to Felisa in 6x7 when he told her about Shannon dying and Chris getting caught in the Tsunami even though everyone knows Chris was with Buck that day. Also, Buck never met Vanessa in 6x14 since Pepa introduced her to Eddie and it was after the lightning strike anyway. It appears Marisol was the only woman he could think of that Eddie might end up dating. Eddie's never said her last name either which is suspicious. Reminder, Eddie used to say "Ana Flores" all the time which means he knew her full name.

In 7x1, Eddie said, "Welcome back to the land of the living Buck, you were truly missed". It was an odd comment because they were still working together and if they saw each other every shift, why would he say it like that? It seems like he's still waiting on him to wake up.

In 7x4, Buck told Tommy, "I haven't had this much fun since the night I got struck by lightning." 👀 IIRC, that night wasn't fun for anyone especially him, so it was a strange comment for him to make and when Tommy asked him about it, he replied, "I'm just using it as a point of reference." Therefore, it seems like the show wanted the audience to remember Buck was in a coma and it's possible he still is.

In 7x9, Tommy said it had been 5 years since he left the 118 which was WRONG because he left before Buck started which happened 7 years ago. It's another weird timing discrepancy but I think it was included for a reason and it relates to Buck and Eddie. It appears Buck was once again confusing his feelings for Eddie with Tommy since later in the same episode, Eddie told Kim it had been 5 years since his wife died but if the math is done, it's also been 5 years for Eddie working at the 118. Reminder, he quit in December 2021 and he didn't return until May 2022. Therefore, Buck's known Eddie for 6 years but Eddie's only been at the 118 for 5.5 years.

IMO, Buck's encounter with Kim in 7x9 was him coming face to face with his worst fear (related post) and it involves the way he believes he'll never be able to measure up to Eddie's first spouse, even though the audience knows he's fulfilled the role as coparent in Eddie's life since 2x4 when he stepped in and helped Eddie find childcare for Chris.

The retconned ages in season 6 have continued to be up for debate but I think while in his coma dream, Buck got Eddie's, Shannon's and Denny's and his own ages wrong and I think the show made a point to highlight them because if TM really is retconning the last two seasons, then it's true, Buck would be 30 years old since he was 29 in 4x5 and it's possible he would have had a birthday before 4x13 aired (if the show was on their normal schedule). They've never stated Eddie's age so who knows how old he is.

It's possible Tommy's a figment of Buck's imagination especially since he's so much like Eddie.

Kim's comment to Buck in 7x9 about how the firehouse looks bigger in person than it does on FaceTime was a direct callback to season 2 when Buck slide down the fireman's pole and walked up behind Eddie after he had just finished a FaceTime call with Shannon. Buck told him he should ask Bobby for a discount when Eddie asked him if he thought they'd have to get married again (Buck was being petty).

Now if 9-1-1 is planning to retcon seasons 5 and 6 within Buck's' coma dream, then everything makes perfect sense because in 6x11 and in 7x4, one thing was clear, IT WAS ALL BEING TOLD FROM BUCK'S POV which everyone knows was flawed. Even TM admitted Buck wasn't seeing what he thought he saw because it was from his point of view. Buck remembered things that didn't happen the way he thought they did in his coma dream. One of them includes him believing he saved Bobby but the truth is he didn't because Chimney did when he took Bobby to meet a couple whose baby was saved after they got a blood transfusion with Bobby's blood in season 1. Also, Buck's memory was so jacked up that he thought Eddie wouldn't have been able to stay at the 118 if he hadn't introduced him to Carla. He also believed Eddie would have had to fight his parents to keep custody of Chris which was WRONG for two reasons. First, Eddie will sacrifice anything for Chris and second, Bobby RECRUITED Eddie and convinced him to join the 118 instead of station 6. So logically, if Bobby would have been dead from the plane crash in season 1, Eddie NEVER WOULD HAVE BEEN AT THE 118 BECAUSE BOBBY WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN THERE TO RECRUIT HIM. It also means Hen and Chimney wouldn't have met Eddie; therefore they wouldn't have known he had a son.

If 7x10 ends with Buck waking up from his coma and him remembering he's already in a relationship with Eddie, I won't be surprised because that's what the narrative was showing in season 6. Also, AB and MJW both said, "Something biblical was going to happen in the finale" and the only thing I can think of is Buck coming out of his coma.

Can the narrative change, of course it can and it has several times over this season alone with last minute scripts and storylines but hopefully, this season will end on a good note because IMO, it's been underwhelming thus far.

With regards to Buck and Eddie, I think TM (showrunner) has done his best to confuse viewers this entire season so they won't see what's coming. I'll admit, I might be completely off base with "My Buddie Crack Theory" and none of the mishaps that I've identified mean anything but it's also possible they could mean everything. Tonight's episode will tell the tale so I'm curious to see how it will all turn out.

Hopefully, it has all been a dream and Buck and Eddie will end the season together in preparation for season 8.

[error501blog]

Race, Live-Action Casting, and Ninjago

I'll start by saying something everyone can agree on.

No Chris Pratt.

Now that's out of the way I want to state my purpose for this rant. It's to spark discussion. I want to hear other people's ideas and perspectives. I'm one Asian American out of literal billions. I know after typing everything out I'll feel bad, but this feels like a discussion the fandom needs to address. Every perspective is worth considering and thinking through.12

I'm not worried about the casting. Warner Bros. is a big studio that doesn't want any negative press. At least, Kai and Nya are going to be Asian. I'm worried about the other Ninja, mainly Lloyd. But I think the studio doesn't want to be cancelled, so that's not my number one worry. My number one worry is Garmadon. If Garmadon is in the movie, will his skin be literally black? his can be sidestepped if Garmadon isn't included period. But the Hagemans love their emo dad. Still, I don't want blackface Garmadon.

My theory is the casting will have a similar model to what Avatar did in it's live action. There were white voice actors, now they're played by a diverse cast. Kiawentiio is amazing, but not as tan as Katara was in the animated series. (That's a discussion within itself) There was a controversy with Ian Ousley. I'm not going to get into those topics, but they did happen.

However, the worry for many comes from the fact Ninjago is more racially ambiguous than Avatar: The Last Airbender. Almost all the characters-with exceptions being the Water Tribes and Sun Warriors-are Asian. Avatar: The Last Airbender has characters with a variety of skin tones and facial features. Ninjago has almost all of it's characters with yellow skin. Which is typical for LEGO, but feels iffy in an Asian inspired world. The fact everyone has yellow skin lends to an almost race blind world. However, names come from countries. Completely human characters have blond/ginger hair. Lloyd and Master Wu have blond hair. Master Wu is especially weird because he has the aesthetic of the Hollywood wise old Asian martial arts teacher there to help the protagonist. But he's blond.

In a cartoon I can suspend my disbelief. In the show I can't see facial features. Everyone in Ninjago has the same eyes, unless if you're a robot, one of the very few women, or Lloyd. I can live with this in an animated show from the 2010s.

In live action films, there are close-up shots. People will stand next to each other. I know what real life people look like when I'll see the movie. This shouldn't matter to me. I shouldn't care so much, but the history of whitewashing roles in media is too vast. We interpret the world through race.

White is the default in the US. Examples being Ghost in the Shell Warriors TV series. Asian roles for media set in Asia for Asian roles are cast by white people with white people since 1961.

What I want to know is the world of the live action going to be Asian inspired? And the better question: should it?

I don't know.

Ninjago since day 1 has had a tenuous at best relationship with race. It is clearly in an Asian inspired world. Everyone knows Ninjas come from Japan. However, it's just an aesthetic.

The worldbuilding is very Western. If we compare to Avatar again, there is no use of any Asian philosophy in Ninjago. Avatar is chalked full of allusions to Buddhism and Japanese Imperialism. But, Avatar is a more well thought out show than the show where one of the main characters gets sent into another dimension and becomes evil, violates the Geneva convention then is given no acknowledgement and I hate it.

Ninjago when giving us culture that seems Asian inspired to me fails spectacularly. (The Kabuki from Chen's Island. That's a Tumblr rant within itself) The most obvious example being the yin and yang marriage proposals. They have Google! The writers could've gone down an internet rabbit hole for a variety of cultures. But we have this clumsy, "Will you be the Yin to my Yang?" It's stupid and I hate it.

However, Ninjago in the Wildbrain era started to move away from the Asian aesthetic. One could make the argument it started in Rebooted, but I'm saying Wildbrain era to keep this post short. We go to a pyramid in Secrets of Forbidden Spinjitzu. We meet the Ice people from the Never Realm which I think are inspired by the Inuit. I'm not too sure.

Dragon's Rising has done away with any resemblance to Asian culture. Sora is Japanese name, so maybe? But all the resemblance is from the old show. It's a fantasy show. They are a soft reboot. They could make their dragons look like literally anything in this soft reboot and they stick to the Western style ones. It's this big fantasy world, why am I not seeing any allusions Asian folklore?

But can't I blame Ninjago when they fumble so hard when they try. It's a lose lose situation. But research isn't worth it. Is a culture too inconvenient to even research? Because everything seems absorbed from other pieces of American media. Yin Yang has nothing to do with marriage-at least to my knowledge. It has to do with Daoism. There is no research or attempt. The show hasn't done a legitimate attempt in it's full run and that's sad.

We're seeing that when the Hageman brothers write they don't shy away from the Asian aspects of the world. Or maybe there was less understanding of Asian representation when the show first aired so they could do whatever they wanted. (And Wildbrain and Dragons Rising are more popular so have higher stakes if they fuck up too bad) This is racist, but it isn't coming from hatred. It's coming from ignorance. If this came from hatred why make a show about ninjas?

The Hageman brothers have demonstrated ignorance in their writing. I've been saying Asian instead of specific countries because everything is so monolithic in the show. It would be amazing to have this world for a big franchise shown to kids around the globe. (Especially to Americans who might not watch a show with an authentic cultural world if it didn't tie to Ninjago) But that's not going to come from them. It's never going to come from them.

Authentic Asian representation was lost when the writers were picked. I have no doubt there'll be sensitivity readers, but there'll most likely be a cultural erasure. I'm not mad at the Hagemans. I'm not even mad at Hollywood. But I'm disappointed in Warner Bros.

Please respond with your own opinion. If you agree or disagree with any of my points. Hell, if I said something racist let me know. I want this post to get people thinking and talking about their own opinions on casting and writing.

[flyonthewallmedstudent]

The weirdness of high school.

And university too maybe.

Plus or minus med school. But not residency. Watching THis is Us and other bingeable shows recently.

There's a lot of flash backs and flash forwards in the show.

There's the high school ones, which like all TV shows is very stereotype'd. They go to an alumni event, and the nerdy girl now surgeon is estactic to hang out with the former football star/cool guy. Who is very thick.

I was a super weird, nerdy, socially awkward kid. Afraid of a lot of social things, but not afraid of science, history anything academic or what I looked like. I wore oversized sweats all day everyday. I never knew how to say the right things or act in a crowd. I hated crowds. 2 or 3 close friends was great, and the best I could muster. I was terrified of their parents.

But funnily enough, I never knew I was weird. I wasn't unhappy either.

I liked having 2-3 close friends, nothing more or less.

Then close to graduation, one of the guidance counselors (the non-crazy one) said to me, she didn't have a great high school experience either. But it gets better after high school. I'll see. It took me years as a teenager to understand what she meant.

Later on I realized that other people felt sorry for me. Thinking because I didn't have the stereotype of the great high school experience I was some how sad, ashamed, unhappy.

Ironically I never even thought about it and was actually happy in my own world and space. I had my separate universe in academics. Like it never dawned on me that I was missing out on anything.

I felt embarassed, in a strange way as an adult reflecting on those experiences. Slightly embarassed for me, but more embarrassed for the small town/city around me. I did not fit in that place, but I didn't know it either back then or didn't care to. We were very much ships passing in the night. I didn't and don't hate where I grew up, I actually loved it in my own way. I got a great education there, and it got me where I wanted to go.

Looking back, plenty of kids probably made underhanded mean comments or passive aggressive statements - but it all went over my head. I suppose I would have been unhappy, had I read between the lines back then. Someone even stole my math text the week of the math exam, but I was actually flattered. That hey, someone thought I was that smart (imposter syndrome starts when you're young). It was one of the best days of my life.

It was also hilarious to me then, that stealing the text of one of the nerds during exam week would sabotage anything - because they spend their entire free time studying the whole year. They don't cram. Cramming was a terrible habit I acquired in university/undergrad. In med school, I'd fail exams because I crammed.

Another time I had left my draft math home work in a common room table, a classmate told me (2 weeks after the fact) that 5-6 different kids grabbed it and copied it. unfortunately for them, it was a draft full of errors, so I completely disregarded as trash. the final copy I submitted with the correct formulae was substantially different. Our math teacher of course realized that everyone had the same errors, but couldn't figure out the source. No one ever said anything mean or confronting, so it wasn't hard to brush aside. they self-sabotaged themselves, nothing actually happened to me.

Again, it was like we lived on different planets. Had they asked, I probably would have helped them out, I didn't get the grades I got by myself either. My far smarter co-nerd friends taught me a lot. On the other hand, I was intensely shy, they probably interpreted it as being "aloof." Or worse, condescending.

I'd felt my entire time during school, that it was the path to something else. I wouldn't get there till about 10-15 years later. Maybe even 20. It was a means to an end. If I was going to be working, then I wanted that work to have meaning. Or what would the point of all those hours. My parents worked in jobs they grew to hate to just go home and be tired.

Med school was a bit like high school. After the first few months of first year, i spent most of it hiding from other med students. (They were fucking crazy, a good chunk of them although not all, the anxiety, stress, competitiveness, the back stabbing, entitlement and bravado --> by the way, people do mature and get better. of course not all them do. anyhoo).

It was after selecting a vocation and starting residency that I found "home." Where I suddenly was comfortable having more than 2-3 friends and happy to be in crowds. Because everyone in the crowd was pretty much like me. We wanted to talk about all the same things. Maybe I grew more comfortable in my own skin along the way too.

But you know, it wasn't me that need to grow and change. I had found the environment where I finally could be myself in.