#also fuck core classes they’re just getting in my way

[blueautumngrave]

Having a fucking mental breakdown over my college classes and coping by having the Rat-A-Tat music video playing on repeat on my tv as I read the assignment instructions through tears and wondering why the FUCK I’m a literature theatric major

[sflow-er]

Henry and Simon’s dynamic over the three seasons

For YR Faves Fest 2024 organised by @youngroyals-events Prompts: 2. Favourite teen side character (+ 7. Favourite not-quite friendship)

In one of my replies to the recent side character ask game, I briefly mentioned being partial to the dynamic between these two. So for this Faves Fest, I decided to elaborate with an analysis post (featuring screenshots of variable quality)!

I want to preface this with a brief acknowledgment of Henry’s privilege and classism. It is not my intention to diminish them. I do, however, feel that it’s a bit apples-to-oranges to compare them to Simon’s views (citrus pun intended). 🍊 is politically active and has put in the effort to form his own beliefs, while 🍏 shows us time and again that he is ignorant of the world outside the elite bubble and not inclined towards deep reflection. He is largely a product of his upbringing and the (liberal conservative) values imparted by his parents.

While Henry doesn’t grow enough to change his core views and values in the canon timeline, he does change his views on Simon. This isn’t enough progress for them to become actual friends before we leave off (I doubt Simon could be friends with someone who only exempts him), but I would still argue that they end the show on amicable terms.

And yes, I mean that in a mutual sense, even if Simon doesn’t soften towards Henry quite as much as Henry softens towards him!

So, let’s dive in!

Dialogue taken from the English CC and [abbreviated or corrected].

1.01: the tax debate

Henry: “Take my dad’s estate, for example. They’re struggling to make ends meet because of the high taxes.” [Simon chuckles and explains his views] Simon: “Like your dad. [Do you know how much he gets in EU subsidies every year]”? Henry: “And what the fuck does your dad do?”

Like most viewers, I find it a lot easier to relate to Simon’s views than Henry’s here – but I do think Henry often gets judged quite harshly for insulting Simon at the end. His comment does not come out of nowhere (cf. Stella’s unprompted dirty look at Simon and Sara when she talks about welfare scamming).

Henry only knows that his father has said their estate is struggling, so of course he won’t take kindly to Simon suggesting that they are actually getting undeserved subsidies instead. It’s also important to note that this estate isn’t just any old farm. It was granted to one of his ancestors as a reward for their services to the Crown, which makes it a core part of his family history. As we learn in 1.04, Henry is a Society boy and very proud of his noble ancestry, and Simon’s comment likely feels like an insult to his entire family. So although his retort is unquestionably rude, it is understandable that he lashes out.

Also, Henry has no way of knowing that Micke is a deadbeat. He is just applying a common stereotype (and potentially making assumptions based on the views Simon just expressed on welfare).

1.02: parallel but separate experiences

Early in this episode, we see Simon side-eye Henry and Walter for the paid tutoring. He decides to follow their example, but as we know he can’t actually afford it, we can already guess it won’t go as well for him as it did for them.

Next, we see Henry in the group as the rowing team ignores Simon at morning training. The camera also pans to him and Walter when August gives that bizarre speech about Simon’s class journey.

These moments highlight how different life at Hillerska (and beyond) looks for Henry and Simon. They are technically coexisting and even doing the same things, but their experiences are nothing alike.

However, there is also some potential for development here. August’s words about rowing bringing people together (and also about the class journey) should absolutely be taken with a heap of salt, but as we no longer see any open animosity between Henry and Simon, we can still wonder if rowing played a part.

Being on the same sports team is an entirely new frame of reference for these guys. They are no longer just the sosse and aristocrat who have been going to school together since pre-canon and clashing over their views; they are crewmates. They may be able to ignore each other for most of the time, but they may also have to do some team activities or even cooperate on occasion. At the very least, they will be around each other several extra times a week from late September/early October to Christmas break. This could definitely help to put them on more neutral ground.

1.05: Henry pays attention to Wilmon

In this episode, Henry learns more about Wilmon than the average Hillerska student knows. He is present when August tells the Society that Wille and Simon “hang out”, and also when Wille changes the plan from Simon to Alexander.

What’s more, he actually looks fairly thoughtful leaving that last meeting. We don’t know if it’s just shock over Wille’s ruthlessness, if he’s thinking about the plan to set up Alexander, or if there’s something else on his mind.

Now, this may veer into overinterpretation, but for the sake of thoroughness, let’s also include the blink and you’ll miss it moment before the Lucia procession where Henry notices Wilmon texting each other. In this cropped screenshot, you can see him looking at Simon, who has just put his phone down and is looking over at Wille.

1.06: Henry shows restraint

As we know, Henry is the only classmate who tries to treat Wille normally after the video, asking if he “saw the match yesterday” (he absolutely knows Wille didn’t). What is perhaps less noticeable is that he also shows more restraint than most of his schoolmates when the rumour mill gets going.

In this scene, Henry is pretty dispassionate reminding Walter that Wilmon sat next to each other at movie night and the two of them talked about it. There is a stark contrast to Walter, who absolutely pounces on that bit of gossip.

This one quick scene could just be a coincidence, but the same thing happens again when Wilmon return to school. Instead of engaging with the others who are all eagerly talking and whispering, Henry is already sitting at his desk minding his own business when Wille arrives. His only reaction to Simon showing up is this quick look, which is immediately followed by his show of kindness to Wille:

So the restraint does look very intentional.

As an aristocrat, monarchist and Society boy, Henry is loyal to Wille, who he now knows has been carrying on with Simon for a while already. He also knows how far Wille went to protect Simon, despite the fact that Simon had actually supplied the drugs, so he is going to side with Wille.

What’s more, Henry’s behaviour in these scenes also confirms that he isn’t hostile to Simon. We can surmise he probably doesn’t think Simon is the most appropriate choice of partner for the crown prince, but he is willing to take his cues from Wille. We never see him sneer, joke, or say anything nasty about Wilmon as a couple (cf. Stella and Fredrika joking about surrogacy).

We are also shown his reaction to Wille hugging Simon before we move on to season two.

2.02: the floorball hug and walk-by

The first interaction between Henry and Simon in S2 is them celebrating a floorball goal with a spontaneous hug, as seen at the top of this post. What a difference a term makes!

Now, I don’t think this moment is meant to signify that they are friends all of a sudden, and I do feel it comes slightly out of the blue. I suspect it was included as a nod to those who already liked Henry after S1, but I for one would’ve preferred to actually see their reconciliation.

But then again, if their initial antagonism was always class conflict rather than personal beef, maybe there was no need for apologies…? Maybe each of them just accepted that the other was going to be around and decided to try and get along (potentially aided by their shared rowing team history)? Henry is following Wille’s lead as we already saw – and as for Simon, I doubt he would be hugging Henry even in the heat of a game if he held a grudge. Whether we saw it or not, they have moved on.

In the same episode, we also have the locker room scene.

Contrary to popular opinion, I don’t believe Henry actually overhears the entire conversation, but he may have still heard something about them having to wait two years (as Simon did raise his voice for that). It’s also possible he comes out of this scene assuming that Wilmon still “hang out” in secret. In any case, he probably assumes that Wille wants to keep the whole thing quiet, as per the usual “policy” on queer relationships among the upper classes. In addition to his monarchist ways, he also seems to be casually friendly with Wille in S2 (keeps inviting him to do stuff, from coffee to pranking Sprucewood). So it makes a lot of sense for him to keep whatever he overhears or suspects to himself.

2.03, 2.05 and 2.06: book report scenes

While Henry must be a nightmare to have in the group, he and Simon are nice to each other in all the book report scenes. This is further proof that they are in a place where they can talk civilly and even work together.

They start the project before the rowing race and only present it the day before the gun range scene, which means they had these group sessions for at least a few weeks (the timeline is a bit wonky here).

2.04: Henry snitches on Wille and Felice

The lunch scene at the start of the episode starts with this bit of vicarious interaction, as Henry and Simon (and Wille too) are amused by the nonsense Walter is spouting about girls:

Also, Walter's monologue feels more comphet every time rewatch it, but I digress.

As this post is focused on Henry and Simon, I’m not going to dig too deep into Henry’s role in spreading the story about Wille and Felice. Suffice it to say that he did tell his canonically gossipy bestie Walter, and it was recently pointed out to me that he seems to have let something slip to someone else as well. In the common room, Walter goes “det var du som sa till…” [you were the one who said to…] just as the focus shifts to Wille and Nils, which suggests that Henry either purposely told someone or misspoke without realising it. The latter would explain why he seems genuinely appalled when Wille confronts him, but it’s not a hill I’d be willing to die on!

If Henry did spread the story on purpose, I assume it was because getting with Felice was considered a credit to Wille and also “fair game” to tell, unlike the relationship with Simon that Wille wanted to keep hidden.

Still, Henry and Simon are definitely on better terms in S2. Even though Henry inadvertently causes pain to Simon with his part in the Wille and Felice thing, they still keep working together on the book report without any animosity.

Insofar as Henry’s lacklustre effort can be called working. Simon is a bigger person than I am for not blowing up at him when he announces minutes before the presentation that he won’t be taking any questions.

3.01: background Henry

We start S3 off with this one-sided interaction where Henry reacts to Wilmon kissing with a mild smirk. No more waiting or secrets to keep.

3.02: double standards on the camping trip

It’s not entirely clear what Henry is thinking when he says the infamous line about gay couples being allowed to share but not straight ones. I think some people read it as him deliberately putting Wilmon on the spot, but personally, I doubt he even realises it’s going to make them uncomfortable. He’s just noticing the double standard and pointing it out to mess with the teacher.

While Simon is very clearly not pleased with Henry for the comment (glares at him while saying to Wille that people are going to think they plan to have sex), he does not seem to hold that against him. Because what we do see them doing soon?

Sitting next to each other by the fire, even though Henry could’ve easily sat with Walter and Simon with Wille:

Also, it seems Henry isn't new to camping, as he tells Wille that part of the fire is too hot to grill a sausage in.

The part where things get interesting is when Henry acts classist towards the Marieberg students.

Henry seems to be down with meeting Rosh and Ayub, who are there as Wille and Simon’s friends. But after Fredrika brings up New York, he agrees that the situation turned “stiff as fuck.” That stiffness was entirely Fredrika’s fault (I think she is at least semi-consciously trying to mark herself as the most compatible partner for Stella there), but Henry seems to feel it was more about Rosh and Ayub not fitting in.

He also sneers and makes nasty comments when the other Marieberg students get into an altercation with Malin, which elicits a frown from Simon.

And yet, Simon does not condemn Henry as strongly as he might have done in the past.

Importantly, Simon tells Wille “it wasn’t the right time for everyone to meet.” This indicates that he could’ve imagined them all getting along at a better time, and it’s pretty clear that also includes Henry. Furthermore, “you [meaning Wille and the others] don’t realise how privileged you are sometimes” is actually a pretty neutral way of putting it. Simon would have been entirely justified if he had said the others were classist pricks, but he blames their privilege and lack of understanding instead of their character.

All of this forms a backdrop for my interpretation of the scenes in the next episodes.

3.03: First of May

Simon: “You do know that you’re not off so you can party the day before, right?” Henry: “Uhh…what?” Simon: “It’s the First of May.” […] “The day of the labour movement?” Henry: “Okay, so what’s their style? How do they celebrate?” Simon, scoffing: “You don’t celebrate. You demonstrate.” [Henry and Walter share a chuckle]

This may be a controversial take, but I don’t think Henry is being particularly nasty to Simon here.

He actually looks and sounds quite sincere asking how the labour movement celebrates. When he and Walter laugh, it reads more as “there he goes again, our very own sosse, saying wacky things!” than the kind of disdain he expressed towards the Marieberg students in the last episode.

Simon also doesn’t take the laughter as an insult; he’s just stupefied by their ignorance. Also, note that he already scoffed at Henry’s question, marking the question as silly.

This exchange is immediately followed by Vincent attacking Simon for his beliefs, which feels like an intentional trick to create contrast between his and Walty’s treatment of Simon.

3.04: the lollipop

In this scene, Henry starts out asking quite nicely and seriously if Simon has another lollipop, as if they had that kind of rapport. Simon makes a face, but then he just shakes his head and nicely says no. It’s only then that Henry switches to offering money for the already half-eaten lollipop, to which Simon reacts with disbelief.

He does not, however, get snarky with Henry. He settles for exchanging a look with Wille as Walty go on to complain about the hunger strike. Only when Henry isn’t present anymore does he point out to Wille how ridiculous Henry was being.

In a sort of parallel to the lunch scene, Simon and Wille now share a chuckle at the wacky thing Henry said:

Feel free to disagree, but I actually wonder if this could be a common pattern between Simon and Henry. They have accepted that they aren’t going to see eye to eye on many things, but instead of getting into conflict, they just roll their eyes/laugh at how the other can seriously believe/say such things. Then they let the conversation move on to something else.

Which is a perfectly valid dynamic. They can acknowledge that their outlooks on life are wildly different without hating each other for it.

3:06: Henry includes Simon

Look, I dislike the library scene as much as the next person. The talk that Henry interrupts between Wilmon was so much more important than anything he could possibly say. It was just a moment of comic relief that didn’t add anything to the story.

Except… Now that we are tracing Henry and Simon’s “not-quite friendship” arc, this scene does give us a conclusion.

Henry: “Hi! Uh, what are you wearing tonight?” [He rambles on about clothes] Wille: “I don’t know if… If I’m coming.” Henry: “Okay…?” Simon: “I don’t know if I can come either.” Henry: “Oh come on, you two have to come!” [He rambles on about how much fun it will be] Simon: “Yeah, we’ll see. I have to go now.” Henry: “The point is that we have to be together! This is the only night we have together, maybe ever. [I mean, we are brothers!]”

In Swedish, Henry goes “vi är ju bröder” just as the music starts. This has been translated to “we are like brothers” in the English CC, which is already quite something, but the little word ju makes the original even stronger. It means that something is true, so instead of just saying they are like brothers, Henry is saying that is what they are.

(In the dub, there is an audible pause after like, so Henry is actually using it as a filler word. They should have put a comma in the CC to denote that.)

Given that Henry prefaces this ramble with “you two have to come” and barely stops to acknowledge Simon’s exit, there’s every reason to assume he is still talking about all of them. He is saying he considers himself, Wille, and also Simon part of the brotherhood that will be disbanded indefinitely come morning and wants them all to have one last night of fun together.

Simon never hears the brothers part and is of course frustrated with Henry for interrupting, but he still takes his leave on a casually friendly note. He gets that Henry wants him to come and have fun (Henry is unaware that Simon doesn’t drink when he tries to persuade them both by talking about the alcohol). Thus, Simon politely says “we will see” even though he has zero intention of going.

We do not see them interact at the party when Simon goes after all, but we do hear Henry being ushered away when Simon comes to talk to Wille. We don’t see it’s Henry, but someone insists that he wants to stay just as we see Walter and Alexander leave, and all three of them were there moments before:

I’m tempted to end this with a parallel to Wille’s initiation party.

Way back in 1.01, Henry and Simon were explicitly shown discussing the first party with their friends. They never talked about it with each other or interacted there – Henry attended as part of the in-crowd, and Simon only got to go because he supplied the alcohol. But for this last party, Henry was the one to get the alcohol, and he specifically invites Simon to come. They still don’t hang out as they are both there with their respective friends, i.e. in their own bubbles, but those bubbles do bump into/brush past one another without clashing.

Kind of like Henry and Simon’s lives.

Thank you for reading this marathon post! I hope my take on these two brings something to your next rewatch, whether you agree with me or not!

[redwoodapothecary]

Caregiver Katsuki Bakugo Headcanons

A/N: Hey!!! This is my first like. Writing related post. In a WHILE. Sorry about that!! But please feel free to request anything, I’m kinda bored. :P

Warnings: Minor swearing but I think that’s it ???

Bakugo is very aggressive. We all know this. Pretty much all the time, he’s aggressive and seemingly angry. And this does not waver or change, even when you’re regressed. So if you’re super sensitive, he probably wouldn’t be the best for you.

However, that’s not to say he doesn’t care. Quite the opposite, actually. He would die for you and actively goes out of his way to protect you.

Oh, he would get SO mad if anyone ever said anything remotely negative to you about your age regression. He wouldn’t even try to reason with them or have a debate he would straight up just tell them to kys 💀 (me core)

He does better with toddler or kid regressors, but baby regressors are fine as long as they can tolerate his naturally rough and callous behavior.

He did not know what the hell age regression was before he met you. Honestly, I feel like he’d come off as judgey at first. He doesn’t mean to, it’s just how he is. But then he’d go and research it a bit and realize that it’s not anything weird or fetishy and is instead a healthy coping mechanism.

He’s a little hesitant to be your caregiver at first. He says it’s because he isn’t sure if he wants to focus on anything other than training right now and being a caregiver is a lot of responsibility. That’s partially true. But it’s mainly really because he’s afraid he won’t be good at it and will just end up hurting you and potentially ruining one of your only healthy coping mechanisms.

It takes a lot for him to be able to open up to someone and take care of someone like that, but eventually, he does it. And he finds he enjoys it. He finds your little antics and your dependency on him really adorable.

He’s not embarrassed or ashamed that you age regress. I feel like nearly half of class 1-A regresses so it’s not unusual at all for you two to be in the common room, you sitting on his lap with a sippy cup in hand.

Sets you up on play dates with Kaminari and Mina all the time. He wants you to have fun and interact with other littles. Plus, they’re his friends and their caregivers are his friends too.

Takes a little bit to get used to nicknames as well. But finds he likes parental nicknames a lot more than he thought he would.

The first time you called him dada was something he will never forget. You were half asleep, snuggling in his chest, when you realized you were thirsty. You lazily grabbed his shirt and gently tugged on it and went, “Dada…juice…?”. He immediately knew what you wanted and he gave you the juice. He didn’t even register the nickname until a few seconds later and was really shocked. He didn’t say anything about it in the moment, though. He talked to you about it when you were big again and he clarified that he was okay with it and it didn’t make him uncomfortable.

Midoriya and Kirishima are his go-to babysitters. Mainly Midoriya because he’s more responsible than Kirishima. But Midoriya can get busy quite a lot. And Bakugo’s also a little anxious about you possibly liking Midoriya more than him, although he would rather die than admit that out loud lol.

He can cook. This is canon. This mf can cook like a 1950s housewife it is INSANE. He makes all your food for you, especially when you’re little. He likes taking care of you, even if he won’t really say it.

If you’re like me, and you tend to have really bad rage episodes and outbursts when you’re overstimulated or upset, he’s got you. He knows how to deal with that. He’s got a punching bag in his room that he lets you beat the shit out of if needed. He can make you laugh too. You’ll be beating the fuck out the punching bag and he’ll pretend like it’s a real person and say shit like “YEAH‼️‼️��️ BEAT HIS ASS‼️‼️‼️🗣️🗣️🗣️” and it makes you giggle.

Surprisingly okay with physical affection. You wanna cling to him? That’s fine. Just listen to him if he tells you to get off of him. Respect his boundaries and don’t get in the way when he’s doing something important and it’s cool. 🙏

[cntoesussie]

tf2 mercs except they’re teaching classes at my high school for no reason whatsoever other than that i’m feeling self-indulgent

Scout:

I know his ass would be a gym teacher

either that or a coach of some kind

health class might work too

i’ve seen teachers teach both so it might work out

he might not be the best teacher though

but the class likes him methinks

Soldier:

he’d be a history buff i think

i can just imagine him teaching US history his own way

barely abiding by the curriculum

i think it’d be a lot more hands-on than most history classes

a lot less written work and a lot more reenactments

because yes

he might also be a coach too

but idk

Pyro:

Financial algebra, statistics, and economics :thumbsup:

Demoman:

First thought would be chemistry

but then i was thinking about how he could teach stuff like concert or marching band

i think he’s good with music

not me with the baseless headcanons again

but idc

Heavy

i think he’d be a good English teacher :]

slow-paced, but in-depth

he wouldn’t move on unless everyone got something

i don’t think electronics would be used in his class period

so get ready for some writing

a lot of writing

either that or library science

or Russian (if the school offers it)

Engineer:

okay

engineering is a low hanging fruit

so that’s an option

but have you also considered guitar, geometry (or any core math class really), physical sciences, and/or speech?

i think he could do any of those tbh

he reminds me of my current geometry teacher kinda

he prolly talks to the other math teachers in the hallway about video games and stuff

he’s a dork /affectionate

Medic:

Health, biology, anatomy, sports medicine, forensic science, medical technology, ORCHESTRA

his ass is teaching ALL OF IT

bro has his schedule BOOKED

he’s bouncing around the school

rushing from class to class just like he’s a student himself

he’s an old man, how does he handle it?

cocaine the extra organs he had sewn into himself

how did he pass the background check?

idk

Sniper:

he’s giving substitute teacher

no but imagine your teacher not coming in one day and having fucking MICK MUNDY there instead

he’s either a sub or he teaches stuff like small animal care or herpetology

also SAT prep

i think he’s surprisingly good at taking tests

Spy:

i think he teaches piano

and choir

and theatre

bro is stressed out bc these are such performance-heavy classes

but it’s his fault for taking up all these classes

maybe he needs a bit of Medic’s help with management

he’s out for a couple days and winds up with a bunch of extra organs

[fanfic-inator795]

SPOILERS FOR “THE END”

Okay so, much like the ending of Amphibia, I’m sure this ending’s gonna be controversial for some people for being so bittersweet and for it also ending with the two BFFs splitting seemingly forever… but honestly? I fucking loved it.

While the penultimate ep felt slightly rushed and just a tad unsatisfying due to all they had to cram in and wrap up, I love that this show’s finale was ultimately focused on just Molly, Scratch, and the latter’s series-wide arc of changing for the better and “being brought back to life”, as the TGAMM show bible put it.

Having believed in the Wraith feeling since the start, I was afraid that the Todd reveal would feel rushed given that the crew lost the 3rd season of set-up they wanted, but thankfully it managed to feel fairly natural since - while Todd himself may have been a more subtle hint that you’d only notice if you were paying attention- again, Scratch’s arc and the clear changes we see from him are made known throughout the series. So by the time you finally get to the big payoff, it feels like a natural conclusion.

For all the info dumps we got, I also felt like the ep was pretty well paced as well, still having jokes that made me laugh so it never felt too heavy or melodramatic. I also love that all the major characters in Scratch’s life got to play a role in this one final adventure. I also love that - for as important of a role that Adia played in helping Scratch regain his memories - it wasn’t framed as Scratch choosing his old BFF over his new BFF, but simply Scratch choosing to be brave and live the life he always wanted deep down instead of continuing to run away/hold himself back.

As for what could be seen as the Most controversial bit - Scratch forgetting his time as a ‘ghost’ - I feel like this was incredibly well crafted too. Like anything else in TGAMM (and as Molly herself says) there’s still that spark of hope hinting at Scratch still remembering Molly and the impact she had on him. He’s going to live with those memories and the importance she gave to enhappifying in his heart, even when he doesn’t consciously remember these things.

What’s more, the show also subtly but beautifully emphasizes that even if Scratch won’t fully remember Molly and the others until he’s officially died, the time he spent and the things he did for others as a ghost still mattered - they’re still going to be remembered by Molly, the McGees and their friends, and I LOVE how they also brought back Scratch’s silly toboggan-sneeze curse as just another way a part of ghost-him is going to stick with all of them no matter what - no matter how far apart they are.

While I would have liked one final song (which, I guess we arguably did get that in the credits) I also feel like ending the show on Libby’s Maya Angelou quote was the perfect summation on the show’s core themes - to not just do good for others, but for yourself. To live your best and happiest life.

In my opinion, this truly was just a master class in satisfying series finales. We didn’t need any big final battles or a ton more drama, just one last beautiful character piece that isn’t afraid to be somewhat bittersweet in order to fully sell its message while also still being just as fun and enjoyable and lovely as the rest of the series.

Really, the only thing that makes me kinda sad is that Scratch never said goodbye to GhostShark - but hey, he’ll see him again eventually, and honestly my hc is that the Jeoffs are taking care of Sharkie for him in the meantime. Other than that, this was a 10/10 finale for me, absolutely no notes.

Now… obviously this was the finale that the TGAMM crew was always leading up to, I assume once they realized that they weren’t getting a s3 they asked Disney to give them one final ep to wrap things up. If that wasn’t the case though and this was always meant to be the s2 finale, I guess s3 would be about Todd slowly remembering his life as Scratch and eventually coming back to Brighton alongside Adia to help Molly stop Jinx’s revenge or whatever. But… eh, I personally don’t think that’s needed.

I think the show ended perfectly, leaving just enough ambiguous for fans to still imagine how Molly and Scratch’s adventures are going to continue one day while at the same time being super satisfying - probably the best series finale that we’ve seen out of any modern Disney cartoon.

[amoristt]

Grazing the Fire | V

we are SO back!!!!!!!!!

reblogs + tags and replies will make my entire day as i put a lot of effort into this :)!

story continues beneath the read more. let me know if you can’t access it!

warnings: language

want to support me? here's my ko-fi!

-----

You find yourself back at that little park sooner than you’d originally thought. The bench is cold underneath you, the wind drawing off the ocean chilling you to your core, dragging orange tinted leaves along the waving grass. The morning sun is bright and inescapable. Shadows of birds overhead dancing along the scenery- a glorious morning indeed- albeit damped by the fall’s approaching cold. 

But your mind was elsewhere, unable to process the gorgeous view encompassing you. Your foot taps on the ground, hands drumming on your jeaned thighs. Every one of your nerves tick under your skin with each passing second, your eyes focusing on nothing in between the quick glances of your phones screen. No calls. Not yet. God it was killing you. You could hardly conceal your anxiety- or, perhaps, your excitement. Pure, raw thrills that tried to pull the corners of your lips into a grin. You fought against the urges to save face, on the rare chance someone was watching you. No one needed to know about what you had done. 

This was so entirely out of character for you. Every last aspect. You, in your years of life, have never considered yourself to be a vindictive person, even when it was well deserved. Sure, you may have wanted them to die, but you never showed it. Never made a peep. Never rocked the boat. Watched life pass you by and rolled belly up at every turn. You didn’t even take the backseat in your life- you were locked in the trunk.

Last year you would have said your greatest fear was to paint yourself a target. 

But… Recently that had changed. Recently you’d felt like maybe you stopped caring as much. Your academics were just barely starting to slip. Not enough to notice. Yet. You stopped trying to mesh into your peers. Barely had conversations with them all together. Their personalities had started to itch their way under your skin in the most annoying of ways. Boring or pesky at their best. and downright miserable at their worst.

You hated to admit it, but Nathan was right. This town really was nothing but fake. He’d also taught you something new. New, and shiny and important: when someone fucks with you, you get mad and you get even. 

Like a siren piercing through dead air, your brain is guided back to the world. You answer instantly, grinning and speaking before it even gets the chance to fully connect. “Is it done?”

“You’re goddamn right it is. Those hoes have no fucking clue what’s about to hit them.” Nathan’s voice is much cooler than your own, as if this were just another casual Tuesday for him.

Maybe it is. 

“You beautiful bastard.” You’re so giddy you feel like you could kick your feet. “Are they gonna’ know it was us? I mean, not many people have open access to skunk pheromones…”

“Don’t be such a pansy. They’re definitely gonna’ know it was us but big deal. What are they gonna’ do? Tell Madison? I'd pay to see that chump go against my laywers.” 

“Well, legalities aside, I do share four classes with them. Two of which I sit right in front of ‘em. They’re not gonna’ be very happy about all their things being skunk bombed over the holiday weekend. Kiiinda worried they might stick some gum in my hair.”

“Well then I humbly suggest you switch seats cuz’ I’d rather you not stink me up.” Nathan snickers on the line. “Besides, you’ve got three whole days until they’re back in there sticking cotton up their noses and drowning all their shit in bleach. Gives you plenty of time to think up an alibi.” 

“You sound like you know what you’re doing.” You say, mindlessly watching a bird pluck a fish from the waters beyond. “You do this often?”

“Please. This is a light day for me.”

“Consider me shaking in my boots.”

“Better be, bitch.” On Nathan’s line, you hear the sound of a car door shutting, wind whipping at the mic. “I’m getting back into my dorm. Meet me at that big shitty fountain in front of the school Monday morning. Don’t be late or it’s your room next.”

The line drops before you get the chance to answer him. You imagine April and May’s room filled thick with clouds of skunk pheromone, sitting on their clothes and beds all weekend long. Seeping into the walls, the carpets, everything. It filled you with a type of happiness you’d not felt in a long time. 

How you were going to survive the long weekend in anticipation, you weren’t sure. All you knew was come Monday your ass was going to be at that fountain. 

-----

It’s both a blessing and a curse that the weekend melts into a blur. You’d gone home, visited your parents, ate lovely meals and slept in the bed that you’d grown to miss so badly. But, all throughout, you couldn’t stop thinking about Monday. About Nathan. 

About how you were excited to see him. The memory of that angry… Thing that had come at you so intensely back at the diner weeks ago seemed like a forgotten dream- like that couldn't be him. So accusatory, so defensive without a cause. You never realized how far he’d come- just how much he’d softened his edges for you. You were on the other side now.

Why are you so angry all the time? You’d asked with bite, rarely opened lips bared in defense. Never had someone come at you with such vitriol. You shocked yourself as you held your ground. But, maybe you understood it now. Started to feel that same poison seeping under your skin, watched the world through his lenses and witnessed that somber dreariness bleed into your vision. But, even so, he was always bright. He was a glowing hot ember. He had started to become, well… Everything. 

Your mom had asked you why you’d been so spaced out, mind elsewhere. She pegged it so quickly it made your head spin: you had a crush. A deep rooted sapling that was sprawling through your veins type of crush. A stay up all night, daydream all day kind of crush. You felt so special- so seen. You couldn’t help it- Arcadia Bay’s little fucking monster couldn’t get enough of you. Saw something in you among all the other blurry bodies rushing about the little seaside town. 

And now, back in the bay and standing before Blackwell academy, you never thought you’d be so excited that school was back in full swing. No half day, so assembly. Just class after drawn out class surrounded by your peers. At the fountain, you saw Nathan there with an open binder in his lap. He didn’t notice your approach, engulfed by it’s contents that served to drag curiosity out of you. You approached in silence- just barely close enough to peek. 

It makes you hesitate. 

From the short glance you’d stolen, you saw what you’d expected: beautiful, gloomy photos printed out and slid into laminated pockets. But you also saw paper drawings of dark, dark scribbles. Eyes and hands and deep, black shadows. The pages crumbled with the thick lines to show his urgency. They disappear in the blink of an eye when he snaps the binder shut offendedly with a scoff.

“Can I fucking help you?”

“Why so secretive?” You tease, keeping the moment light, keeping him from raising his guard.

“How about none of your business?” He gripes in return, shoving his binder to the side. 

“Sharing is caring?” 

“Can you hop off my dick?” 

“Aw, come on Prescott. Can’t be worse than the BDSM wall.” You say with a snarky grin, plopping down beside him. A few students walked past, a couple of them almost gawking at the sight of you choosing to spend your time with Nathan. When he didn’t answer, you faked shock. “Wow, worse than that, huh?”

“Shut up.” He grunted. “That last thing I need is you digging through my personal shit.”

You had opened your mouth to say more, to push just a little harder, but you stopped yourself. He was being… Genuine. This was important to him- something he wasn’t ready to bare yet. Try as he might to make himself come off as mysterious, as dangerously secretive, you saw right through him. He was shying away from you. 

“Alright, alright. I get it.” You looked down at your lap. A cool breeze floated by, a vulnerable tenacity thickening the air. Fingers drumming against your thighs once more, you swallowed hard. Maybe this was your chance to pull something of substance from him. To give a little, let him feel like you were truly there to connect with him. Like gaining the trust of a feral animal.

"Can't help it. I’m pretty nosey.” You dramatically sigh.

“Fucking clearly.” Nathan huffs, fingers absently running along the plastic top of the binder.  

“Hey, don’t act like you don’t immediately start going through my shit whenever you get the chance.”

He grinned and pointed a boney finger at you. “That’s because fuck you, and I can do whatever I want. Sharing isn’t good for shit.”

Give a little. You reminded yourself. 

“I can do what I want.” You mocked, earning an eyeroll. “You’re right, though. I've never really felt heard when I'd share things. So I just started trying to figure out everyone else's shit."

"Like some unwanted shrink?"

You shrug. "Maybe a little. I like to learn."

"Someone didn't get enough of daddies attention."

You glare at him pointedly and shove his arm. "Hey don't be a dick. He may be an asshole, but-... He's, well..." You bounce words up in your mind, searching for something nice to say. Nothing comes.

You remember being a child, desperately craving that fathers love you saw in all the movies and shows. You enver really found it. He had been there your whole life- sure, but... Never truly there. He was like a ghost in his own home. A smiling face in the photo's littering the walls but never present when you needed him. Your shoulders fall.

Nathan shifts. "He's what?"

You swallow, and shrug. "He wasn't really around, I guess. Guess you pegged me right."

He stares down at his lap for a moment and picks at his black jeans. You expected him to laugh, or in some way revel in the fast that he'd nailed it right on the head. But then, he speaks.

And he bites the bait. 

“Feel free to trade. My dad’s so far up as my ass he could probably see through my mouth.” He started, leaning back with unfocused eyes. You could see the way his nerves start to tense at the thought. “Like I’m just some sort of puppet for him to control.”

You see real emotion in his eyes. It’s familiar, a simmering anger, but it’s real. Raw. It steals your breath away. For fear of pushing him too far, you back off and leave it there. 

“Fuck dads.” You say cooly.

He breathes a laugh. “Fuck dads.”

In the distance, almost right on que, you see the unmistakable figures of two sorry girls walking towards you. All alone, heads hung low, they passed you both by with sideways glances. You could see the way they wanted to say something, scream and accuse and demand justice. But Nathan’s presence was heavy. He leaned back once more, rested on his elbows with that signature smirk.

“Hey you two,” He sang. “Digging the new cologne. Smells like ass and B.O.”

If shame could be a person, it had been doubled. They skirted by with their heads hung low and tails tucked between their legs, with you watching bearing the brightest shit eating grin you could muster. They knew. They absolutely knew and there was nothing they could do about it. The power you felt in that moment was energizing- made your skin buzz. Made you want to go out and do it again, live on the edge just a little further. Maybe this is how it happens- your descent into fulfilling that rebellious teenager role you always left empty. 

Nathan’s laughter beside you only spurred it on. He watched them with those slitted blue eyes, shoulders rising and falling in harmony with your own giggling. The sun caught the flairs of his hair. It was a beautiful moment, one that made you realize how badly you needed this. You needed to feel your hands on the reins of life, and he would be your mentor.  

But then the shrill echo of a bell rang out and drew you back in reality. Your eyes shifted forward to the now looming building, the dark windows, the long steps up to the front doors. This would be one of your first tardies that were within your control- God, what would your mother think?

The moment you make a move to getup, Nathan’s laughter falls and dissipates into dust. 

“Fuck’re you going?” He asked, quick like he was offended you were taking your leave. 

“I dunno,” You sigh. “Class?”

“Fuck that.” Nathan’s leaning back again, getting comfortable. “You’re skipping.”

“Like hell I am.” You scoff.

“You are.”

“I’m not!”

“You spend all day with those two hoes and you’re gonna stink like shit for the rest of the week. You don’t want that, do you?” He sneers, but you can sense the urgency underlying there.

You decide to give in a little. Tap at the bait. “And we’re gonna, what? Do drugs and party?”

“Now you’re talking.”

“Nathan. No.”

“Fucking christ, ” The eyeroll was audible. Then, quietly, he mumbles, “Usually I can’t get people off my dick about that shit.”

“Well you can save it for them cuz’ I’m not interested.” You shove your hands into your jean packets, watching him. He looks to the side while he brings himself to his feet, but you don’t miss the way that he seems to linger on your remark.

“Yeah.” He breathes, tongue darting out between his lips. “You don’t need shit from me.”

It draws a laugh from you, as well as a languid shrug of your shoulders. “Not a damn thing. From you, or anyone.”

“Keep it that way, yeah?” Nathan takes quick steps ahead of you. “I’ve just about fucking had it with all the twee hoes and leeches. Now hurry the hell up before Sargeont Madison’s on our ass.”

And just like that, you’re up. Blackwell Academy fades into nothing and your vision surrounds Nathan, tunnels onto him as he leads you to his truck and throws the passenger door open before climbing into the driver seat. He’s tapping on the steering wheel by the time you hop into the seat, wired up and ready to go.

“Where are we going?” You ask as you buckle your seatbelt over your chest, choosing to ignore the way he grunts at your interest in safety. He himself takes on the risk, rushing the truck into drive before he’s launching out of the parking lot. Burnt rubber and smoke waves you both goodbye.

The sun leaks in through the window and paints the edges of him. “Patience, my uptight friend.”

You glare at him. “Uptight? Seriously?”

“I don’t hear you denying it!” When you cross your arms, he laughs. “See what I mean? Fucking relax. Chill out! Live a little.”

You know he’s right. You feel that he’s right but you can’t stop the scoff that slips past your lips as you toss yourself against the seat, staring out the window. “Cuz you’re just so chill all the time.”

“The chillest.”

“I think I can name exactly one time you’ve been relaxed.” 

Nathan eyes you curiously. “And when was that?”

“When you were-”

You stop yourself dead in your tracks as the image of Nathan sleeping floods your mind. Tucked on his side beside you, unbothered. Vulnerable. You remembered how it had floored you when you’d rolled over and really took in the sight of him. There was no frustration, no anger. No drawn brows and pointed glares. Just… Him. But you couldn’t say that. If you did you were damn sure Nathan would put a stop to that; slam that shit in your face and lock the door. Maybe even burn the house down after for good measure. 

“When what?” He hums, curious now. “Don’t fucking hide shit from me now.”

You click your tongue. “I’m a woman of many secrets.”

“Bullshit. Tell me.”

It’s then you realize that it’s over. If there’s one thing Nathan’s about, it’s that the man never lets up. You’d spent so much time curating the foundations of… Something between you two that you weren't sure where to go from there. It felt lose-lose regardless of your answer. A sigh drifts out of you.

“Remember all the shit with Tate, and I slept in your room?” He doesn’t answer, eyes forward. You swallow. “I woke up a little before the alarm went off. I was like, half asleep, but, I don’t know…” You look up at him for some sort of response, but he gives you none. Doesn’t even spare you a glance. It makes you feel awfully judged. “You were still sleeping like the dead and you looked pretty relaxed.”

Finally, he looks at you. For the first time you can confidently say that you left Nathan Prescott speechless. His eyes searched you over as if looking for something, but it never came. The nerves building in you forced you to shift uncomfortably in your seat. 

“You are a fucking stalker.” He deadpans after a pause.

“You asked!”

“Are you one of those fucked up freak ass hoes who take photos of people when they’re sleeping? Am I about to get blackmailed?”

“Oh my god,” You huff and cross your arms. “Shut the fuck up.”

Nathan forces out a scoff, shrugging. “I don’t know, this is a big deal. Not sure I wanna’ know what you’re doing with that picture.”

“Said the creep who uses pornos as a decoration.” CD’s poke out from the glove compartment and you pluck one, glance at the cover. A woman in a bikini takes up the space, white words over the top reading Deftones. You hadn’t really pegged Nathan as a rock kind of a guy, but now you could see it. Little angry pieces of him that resonated with heavier tones. Maybe it helped him unwind. You hold the CD up to him, flash a grin and giggle. 

“What was it you said earlier? 'Why is it that the first fucking thing you do everytime I invite you somewhere is start touching my shit?' I’m just gonna’ make your sorry ass start walking everywhere.”

“First of all, you basically dragged me here, and now I have to think up an excuse why I wasn’t in class or my dorm today. Second of all,” You toss the CD back into the little scattered pile. “I’m shocked at the lack of whale songs.”

“Jesus, are you ever gonna’ let that shit go?”

“Never.”

There’s a shift in the air, something lighthearted that doesn’t weigh your chest down. In the rear view, now just a small fragment in the backdrop, you see the rigid tops of Blackwell. You’d expected more anxiety to pair alongside your adventure out, maybe some worries about detention or losing credits. But… Honestly, in that moment, you mostly just felt at peace. Maybe it wasn’t something in the air changing- maybe it was you. The person you’d been when you’d first arrived on campus- with thick headphones, a notebook and bright eyes, was morphing into something else. Little more jaded, a little less apprehensive. 

Which made no sense given your current situation. After the things you’d been through with your friends, with Tate and all the other brats running circles at Blackwell, you should have been this little stressed ball of anxiety. And add /the/ Nathan Prescott into the mix? You should be spiraling. But you aren’t. 

You glance at him. He isn’t either. 

The oceanside sprawls along the roads, rich sands glowing under the sun. Seagulls perch atop light posts and dance in the sky overhead. Arcadia Bay had a way of holding your attention with it’s lavish wildlife, its mountainous greenery and beckoning water. You hadn’t noticed it until recently- well, not entirely. You’d notice how expensively humble the town appeared during your first few visits while feeling out colleges. You noticed the quaint little diners just as much as you noticed the rich, looming mansions. You skirted by without a thought, barely even stopping to smell the roses. 

“Alright,” Nathan starts, and suddenly the view of the gorgeous water is gone. Replaced with a heavy sign as he pulled into some sort of driveway. Dirt and grim filled your vision, stacks of broken down machinery and glass piled high as the eye could see. Much less appealing to look at. “We’re here.”

You raise a brow at him. “And where is… Here?”

He swings the door open and hops out, stretches as if the drive had been so long and tiresome on him. “Maybe get out and take a look?”

So, you do. You shove the door open and jump onto the ground, feeling the gravel shift underneath your shoes. It’s a junkyard, full and outlined with tires and trash. The air is thicker here, unpleasant. There’s countless containers and waste, as well as an abundance of crushed beer cans dotting every corner. The heavy sign catches your attention once more. 

“American Rust Junkyard?” 

“That right.” He walks around the side his truck, that cherry red popping so expensively compared to the dismal trashyard. It takes a few moments, but he retrieves a bat from the bed of his truck. 

You shift your weight. “What are we doing here?”

Nathan tosses the bat to you, barely giving you a second to realize and catch it in your arms haphazardly. It’s heavier than it looks, and littered with dents and scuffs, evidence of it’s past use. You watch him as he walks into the entrance way, grinning ear to ear in that fox-like expression. 

“We’re gonna have some fun.”

[wearepansies]

Just comment and I will put out a part two-

PJO MUSIC ARTIST AU:

Percy;

-His artist name is Black Jackson. (BLACKJACKson?? Get it??? He named himself after blackjack kind of???? Ok I’ll see myself out-)

-Because he was born in Manhattan, out of poverty, he never had much, so he’s pretty much the most down to earth celebrity ever(think Adam Sandler kind of? But more fashionable)

-Advocates a lot for people with learning disabilities, and domestic violence victims.

-He mostly writes inside the genres rock and alternative.

-His first big break was with his original album, “feelyng bleu”

-While we’re on that, all of his songs and albums are spelled wrong. At first it was a mistake, but Percy slowly just made it his own thing. Made him feel a lot better about his dyslexia.

- Is the nicest guy you’ll ever meet.

-He’s also a socially awkward, insecure mess though.

- He starts every concert of his off by thanking his Mother, and asking whether “ his audience is ready to fuck themselves up tonight??”

-Absolute bicon

-Has clips of his funny exchanges with interviewers all over YouTube

Annabeth;

-Just uses her actual name.

-She doesn’t see the point in trying to make a career under a fake name. Nah. She wants people SCREAMING her name from the audience.

-Contrary to that wish though, she’s not actually famous.

-It’s more like…a hobby she does for fun, but also dreams about turning into a career.

-In reality though, she’s an architecture student who really just needs money to fix the damn sink.

- She actually knew Percy WAY before he became famous, since they were eleven actually.

-Annabeths music is more like…alternative folk.

-She uses all sorts of architecture metaphors and terms in her music.

-She doesn’t sing about buildings though. She talks about all sorts of social class problems she thinks are important. The figurative, poetic architecture language she uses is just her musical signature(and a fun way to be nerdy).

-She has a decent amount of followers.

- Is rather cold when you meet her, but is secretly just a softie.

- Is the artist who makes songs based off books and posts them on TikTok (sorry not sorry)

-She also has a podcast that’s unfortunately more popular than her nonexistent music career lol.

- She wears lots of academic looking clothes, but also has lots of flow-y looking tops, and lots of chique Greek outfits because she loves embracing her culture.

- Is friends with everyone from the famous band “Ride or Die” (Beckendorf, Silena, Clarisse, Connor, Travis, and Katie)

Grover;

-Goes by the music name “Child of the W1ld”

-He’s not really a famous music artist honestly? More like a TikTok celebrity.

-He’s famous for his pan flute and ocarina covers of different songs.

-His most popular, aka the one that made him famous, was Celine Dion’s “my heart will go on”

-Posts all sorts of TikTok’s of him playing his instruments in random places lmao

-Is the most cottage core hipster to ever cottage core.

- He and Percy are besties! They support each other whenever they can, advertise, do videos, and just chill out and hang.

- They’re such opposites aesthetically though. People were actually so shocked when they first saw them together lmao.

- Whenever Percy uploads a new album or song, he’ll make a cover of it.

-Not only because he loves his best friend, but also because it’s challenging.

-Wears an alarming amount of skirts, and pants that go halfway to his calves.

[aftermathfanfic]

D&Ducks

So, I was originally going to make this post for when I hit 300 followers, but I don’t think that’s going to happen anytime soon, and I’ve been thinking about this for way too long, so fuck it. I’m just gonna post this now and see what happens.

In case it wasn’t obvious from the hints I’ve scattered through Aftermath, I am a huge D&D nerd. I love playing the game, I love running the game, I love the monsters, everything. And what I particularly love doing is building characters and monsters for the game. I use a lot of custom monsters for the games that I run, even though I don’t end up using all of them, and what I’ve done in the past is that I created character sheets and stat blocks for some of our favourite anthropomorphic ducks. In fact, on my main blog, I documented a solo adventure that I ran by myself, for myself, in story format as I put these duck characters through a premade advennture! (I eventually stopped, because playing a D&D game by yourself is as dull as it sounds)

So today, I’m going to revisit those roots and lay out how I would build the Ducktales characters as tabletop RPG player characters! This is something I’ve given way too much thought to, so be warned – this is going to be quite long-winded, with little to nothing to do with Aftermath itself, and of interest to only a small subset of people.

Let’s begin!

The Basics

I want to preface this whole thing by mentioning that while I’m going to try and describe these characters in a way that can be transposed onto any RPG system, I’m going to be using the Pathfinder RPG (1st edition) as a basis for these characters, just because it’s what I’m most familiar with at the moment. The basics are the same – roll a 20-sided dice, add a number and hope to get a big enough total – but there are more nitty-gritty rules and it's way easier to kill off your characters.

Another thing to keep in mind is that I’ll be inserting these characters into a D&D setting of my own creation, rather than any pre-existing settings. I don’t have a name for it, but essentially this setting is an undisciplined mix-and-match of characters from different IPs that interest me. The McDucks, in this setting, live as a powerful noble family in a kingdom of united beast-folk families.

Final thing is that even though these guys are anthropomorphic ducks, they’re going to have the racial traits of humans to make things simpler on me. I’ll also be giving them a swim speed of 15 feet in addition to those traits.

Dewey

This spry duck stands with the cockiness of an ambitious hero, a sword in each hand. A bright blue tabard, tattered from numerous skirmishes, flows down his chest to cover steel armour of haphazard construction.

Age: 16 Alignment: Chaotic Good Class/Level: Fighter 3/Bard 1 Ability Scores: STR 16, DEX 16, CON 14, INT 10, WIS 8, CHA 14

In this world, the triplets were raised by their uncle Donald in a quiet fishing village on the outskirts of the city of Duckland, in the providence of Calisota. They never got so much as a hint of their caretaker’s history as an adventurer, not until they found their uncle’s old adventuring gear, stowed away in the attic of their house. Among this gear was two finely made swords, both of which Dewey snatched up and started swinging around – resulting in the destruction of several family items and the near decapitation of Huey. Donald was forced to tell the triplets of his past as an adventurer, and the revelation shook them to the core. To make up for it, he decided to teach them how to adventure properly, in the hopes that if they wouldn’t be persuaded out of their trouble-making instincts, he could at least teach them to be safe while doing it.

Dewey remains the chief chaos-monger of the triplets. Ambitious and eager to live up to his family name, Dewey often throws himself into danger without hesitation, giving no thought to possible traps, uneven terrain, or indeed, the strength of whoever he’s fighting against compared to his own. He makes up for his recklessness by being virtually untouchable in a fight, deflecting swords, claws and spells with his twin swords. The longer blade, named Helios, was once wielded by his Uncle Donald. The shorter blade, Asteria, was his mother’s.

Against intelligent foes, Dewey never fights to kill – a trait unique to the McDuck adventurers – but rather, he tries to disarm and trip his foes, intimidating them into surrender. He’s remarkably acrobatic, and his fights are often performative in nature – hence his level in Bard. The sheer bravado he displays in combat inspires his family to fight even more fiercely and distracts his foes long enough for him to knock the wind out of them.

Huey

This anxious duck wears a heavy breastplate and a red cap, a collapsible spear slung around his back. He holds a large, heavy book bound in red leather with the letters ‘WJW’ imprinted upon it.

Age: 16 Alignment: Neutral Good Class/Level: Cleric 2/Wizard 2 Ability Scores: STR 14, DEX 10, CON 12, INT 16, WIS 15, CHA 13

Though regarded as a do-gooder by his brothers, Huey Duck is just as brave, ambitious and adventurous as the other McDucks. He took the role of the older brother quickly, seeing himself as a caretaker of his brothers and, prior to moving into Manor McDuck, the fixer-upper of torn clothes, broken furniture, and the like. With a resourcefulness and intellect beyond his years, Huey takes the role as both the primary healer of the party and – when the occasion calls for it – the firepower.

Huey originally had his heart set on joining the Woodchuck rangers, a group of survivalists and wilderness protectors on the outskirts of the world. While there, he met clerics and priests of Artemis, goddess of the hunt, with whom he made a rapport with. He even began to learn the ways of these wilder clerics, learning magic that could heal, magic that could wound, and magic that let him shape the natural world around him. In the end, however, he was rejected by the rangers, for while his survival skills were impeccable, his fighting prowess left much to be desired. Disheartened, but determined to make use of what he’d learned, he continued his studies of the ways of Artemis, delving deeply into his survival skills and the art of restorative magic.

At some point during his escapades with his uncle, Lord Scrooge McDuck, Huey became enamoured with the other side of magic – that of the arcane. He poured over arcane tomes, taking on wizardly studies in addition to his clerical practices. He has recently begun leaning more heavily towards wizardry, for while he’s grateful to Artemis for his abilities, he considers the goddess to be more of a tutor than an idol to be worshipped. He’ll never be the strongest of Artemis’s faithful, and he’s made peace with that – wizards get more exciting spells, anyway.

Louie

This youthful duck leans against the alley wall, his head concealed by a dark green hood. He smirks at you, absent-mindedly flipping a coin up and down in the air.

Age: 16 Alignment: Chaotic Neutral Class/Level: Rogue 3/Sorcerer 1 Ability Scores: STR 9, DEX 15, CON 12, INT 12, WIS 13, CHA 18

Thief. Charlatan. Snake. Louie Duck has been called many things, and he’s never let any of it stick. He’s out for himself and his family first, and what he’s out for is treasure. Coins, gems, jewellery – he doesn’t care. He loves it all. He’ll do the right thing for his family (though not without a fair share of grumbling), but he always makes sure he gets something out of it, and he isn’t above guilting or threatening the other party into upping his eventual reward.

Louie is a rogue. Obviously. He specializes in deceit, coercion, lock- and trap-picking, and even forging documents, if the opportunity is ripe. He tries to avoid combat if he can help it, but when he’s eventually forced into it, he relies on being able to feint against his opponents to catch them off-guard. When this doesn’t work, his alternative strategy is to bamboozle his foe, trying to convince them that he’s on their side, or that there’s a bugbear behind him, or that they don’t really want to hurt him. And when that fails, he panics, runs away, and then takes potshots from afar with his crossbow.

During one of the family’s adventures, Louie came really close to death. A screeching owlbear had ambushed the party and cornered Louie alone. Disarmed, wounded, and terrified, Louie tapped into something dormant deep inside him and – with a pop – vanished. He re-appeared a mere five seconds later, but that five seconds was all his family needed to redirect the beast’s attention and save his life. Since then, Louie has continued to delve into his hereto unknown sorcerous powers, learning more and more about them each time he calls upon them.

Webby

This wild-looking duck girl wears a loose-fitting pink blouse and a purple skirt, with a matching pink tie in her headfeathers. She gets into a battle stance, grinning eagerly.

Age: 15 Alignment: Chaotic Good Class/Level: Ninja 4 Ability Scores: STR 14, DEX 17, CON 14, INT 13, WIS 12, CHA 12

Webby is as wild, excitable and knowledgeable as she is in canon, raised in the manor of Lord McDuck and trained by her grandmother to be a silent and deadly assassin of House McDuck. To Lady Beakley’s disappointment, while Webby has proven to have mastered the arts of stealth and disguise, she's really squeamish about killing people for some reason.

Webby takes after her granny as a highly skilled ninja – a class somewhere between the monk and the rogue. A master of stealth, disguise, martial arts and more, Webby may not seem like it, but she’s one of the most accomplished spies Lady Beakley has ever had the privilege of training. Moreover, her training allows her to access a limited well of mystical energy that allows her to perform impossible acts. Her preferred method of attack is to overwhelm her foes with quick, rapid strikes before retreating into the shadows and hiding before they realise what happened.

Aside from being an incredible warrioress, Webby also fancies herself as an amateur historian and lorekeeper – particularly when it comes to the McDuck family history. The arcane and the occult may be guesswork to her, but ask her to name an ancestor of Clan McDuck, and she’ll give you the entire genealogical tree. She knows about every single historical event that happened in Duckland, and she can name all the native monsters in the area, right down to their weaknesses, habitats, diets, and the best method to befriend them (just in case).

Scrooge McDuck

This elderly duck stands with the pride and confidence of an experienced adventurer. His cane, cloak, top hat and bright red plate armour all combine to make an imposing figure out of this old duck.

Age: ??? Alignment: Neutral Good Class/Level: Fighter 6/Rogue 4/Duellist 10 Ability Scores: STR 11, DEX 10, CON 8, INT 15, WIS 15, CHA 16

Ruling from McDuck Manor, Scrooge is the Lord of Duckland, and one of the most powerful and influential figures in Calisota. With a manor full of artifacts, treasures and magical items, he is known throughout the land as the Richest Duck in the World, and you’d be hard-pressed to deny it. This Scrooge is mostly unchanged from the one we all know and love from canon, except this Scrooge has an army of trained soldiers, a cabal of ingenious wizards, and a small cabinet of assassins who have one loyalty and one alone – House McDuck.

You may not have heard of the Duellist class if you’ve only come in from D&D 5th edition. Honestly, you might not have heard of it even if you haven’t. The Duellist is a prestige class, one you can only take levels in if you meet the specific prerequisites, whose abilities allow Scrooge to fight with a flourish. He fights like the heroic swordsmen of old, parrying aside the blades of his foes and deftly moving around them before they can even pinpoint where he is. He fights not with a traditional blade, but with a sword concealed within his cane – a gift, from the late Ludwig Von Drake.

Other D&D aficionados may also notice that Scrooge’s physical abilities are a bit low – that, unfortunately, is due to his venerable age. In Pathfinder, your physical abilities reduce with age, while your mental abilities improve. In his prime, Scrooge’s ability scores were STR 17, DEX 16, CON 14, INT 12, WIS 12 and CHA 13, but the days of his prime are long behind him. For this reason, before going into battle, he typically equips himself with a Belt of Physical Perfection, restoring his physical prowess to what it was as a young lad. I know canon Scrooge doesn’t like to use magic (and he still doesn’t here), but that’s… really not an option in a fantasy RPG like this.

Donald Duck

With an incoherent squawking sound, this sailor rushes into the fray, swinging his fists wildly and leaping onto his foes.

Age: 42 Alignment: Neutral Good Class/Level: Barbarian 12 Ability Scores: STR 15, DEX 11, CON 13, INT 10, WIS 15, CHA 13

This good-natured, short-tempered, and risk-averse fisherman may not seem like much at first glance, but he was, in fact, once an adventurer. And as far as the rest of his family are concerned, he still is. Once a sailor for the House McDuck navy, Donald retired from his adventuring life after his twin sister, Della, was lost to the Astral Plane in an impromptu expedition gone wrong. Though he was pulled back into the adventuring life by his triplet nephews, he has never lost his cautious edge, and he remains as the most responsible member of the McDuck family.

Donald fights as he does in canon – by flying into a rage and launching himself at his opponent. He punches, kicks, bites, trips, and attacks every part he can get a hold of. In the old days, he used to use an enchanted sword, though it has been so long since he picked up the blade that much of its magic has disappeared. Nowadays, he relies on a pair of enchanted cestuses, which are essentially medieval boxing gloves with metal plates and rivets.

Mrs. Beakley

This enormous, bulky woman looms over you, her cold gaze peering into your soul. Despite her housekeeper attire, she stands tall and rigid like a soldier, and the sheathed sword on her belt does not escape your attention.

Age: Late 70s/early 80s Alignment: Lawful Neutral Class/Level: Ninja 16 Ability Scores: STR 14, DEX 8, CON 8, INT 15, WIS 17, CHA 11

Mrs. Bentina Beakley, unmarried, is the silent right hand of Lord McDuck. On the surface, she is merely the housekeeper of the manor. Beneath that, however, Beakley becomes a terrifyingly effective spymaster who has her eyes everywhere throughout the realm. Though her days as an assassin are over, she remains a cold, clever, yet surprisingly empathetic figure – so much so that she was willing to give up her career to raise a young Webby Vanderquack.

Like Scrooge, Bentina has suffered from reductions to her physical abilities from her old age, in exchange for bonuses to her mental ability scores. Her abilities in her prime were STR 20, DEX 14, CON 14, INT 12, WIS 14, CHA 8. Unlike Scrooge, she does not have any magic that can improve her abilities, but she also doesn’t see the need to. She fancies herself more of a ‘behind-the-scenes’ person these days, managing an intricate network of spies and blades for hire, gathering blackmail and intelligence for use against the enemies of House McDuck.

Launchpad

The friendly airship pilot waves at you from the cockpit, oblivious to the fact that he’s flying you directly into a mountain.

Age: 31 Alignment: Lawful Good Class/Level: Commoner 5 Ability Scores: STR 12, DEX 11, CON 17, INT 8, WIS 11, CHA 13

Launchpad remains the happy-go-lucky guy he is in canon, save that he now pilots an airship instead of an airplane. And rest assured, he is just as unqualified to fly it as ever.

[rogue-of-heart-classpecting]

Hellooooo you seem like someone who understands things well, I’m stuck between thief of time and sylph of space for classpecting myself and I was wondering if you could explain those a bit?? No worries if not!! 💖💖

Sure!

THIEF OF TIME

Now the thief… I have been reading the homestuck book 4 with andrews notes in it and vriska’s entire life since day 1 was spent in pursuit of attention. And she’ll get it from anyone she can. A thief of time would be trying to steal as much leisure time for their own purposes as possible from anyone around them. “Can you do my chore for me? Thanks!” “Cover me?” Or they would be stealing with time. And stealing can really mean anything. Sending someone on a goose chase to ransack their house, or monopolizing someone’s time to get information out of them. Just whatever the thief needs at the moment. Later in the game, they would be able to suck years off of others’ lives. And keep those years for themselves. They might be able to freeze people in place and speed themselves up by stealing the person’s normal passage of time and adding it to their own. Thinking up powers is fun because if you can think it and justify it it is yours. A lot of players got their powers by just wondering if they could do it, whether that’s in the parameters of their classpect, and trying it out. And then they can just do that and continue using it forever. This part is particular to the individual. I don’t know what you would want out of time or your powers, but you could think of a way of stealing something that would get you to that goal. The thief is manipulative maybe on a sliding scale, like meenah to vriska. Meenah encourages or prods others into doing her bidding. Vriska manipul8s people by controlling their fucking brain and makes them jump off cliffs or kill their girlfriends etc. This class is well suited to leadership in a boss-like way. Dictatorially (literally, in case of meenah). They are also girlboss. You know what I mean? They’re like… I don’t want to say sassy bc meenah is such a racist depiction already… but you know, they’re charismatic and con man-esque. They’re persuasive. And good orators.

SYLPH OF SPACE

We have a represented classpect here! Let’s take a look at kanaya and then we can talk about universal traits and possible differences. As you know, I share my classpect with nepeta, and I do have a core connection with her behavior and outlook, but I am. Very different from her. But she does help demonstrate what the classpect Can look like. Sylphs are generally backstage of the show. Ignore aranea. She spent like 1000 years being a side character before flipping out. Kanaya usually pulls the strings on more “important” characters, those who act more. She is constantly called meddlesome. However she isn’t really an orchestrator of anything the way a puppet master might be. She’s more like everyone’s conscience. “Are you sure you should be doing this?” “It’s okay to turn back.” That sort of thing. As she progresses through the story she starts taking more and more action. Out of nowhere she comes back from the dead to be the plot point that kills eridan. She gets more serious about her relationship with rose. She eventually makes rose stop drinking when before she could be considered an enabler (not encouraging bad behavior, but allowing it or not stopping it). Sylphs are calm controlled people who encourage growth and healing of their aspect or through their aspect. Now about space. Kanaya designs her own clothes and fashion, but she has a much stronger connection to the idea of a virgin mother. I kind of hate the christ metaphors in homestuck, not because I am Christian, but because I hate Christianity. But she literally has a virgin mother grub as her mother. And her chastity modus… and porrim her ancestor raised the signless like a mother. And he’s. The Jesus guy. Anyway kanaya needs to get the matriorb so she can hatch a new mother grub so trolls can keep being born. And jade bloods are supposed to tend to the mother grub in this parental sort of role with the baby grubs. Like an oldest sister. Kanaya also has this intense desire to auspitice other people to keep them from killing each other, also like an oldest sister. She has this extremely caretaker role in everything she does. And she ends up breeding the frog. Space players don’t necessarily have to be parental or feminine; jade wasn’t really like that, nor calliope. Those are some examples of other space things. Jade actual space and calliope storytelling and creativity. If you are laid back and accepting and likely a passive player (oh god, this is a big concept so ask in the notes if you don’t understand.) and you care about the journey more than the destination, that is what a space player is like.

It sounds like you have the right theme idea with the aspect since you picked out a dichotomy! The important part is asking yourself how you interact with that aspect and which one is more important to you or dictates your life more. Is your life spent in pursuit of “time” or are you someone who cultivates “space”? Are you nurturing or abrasive? Are you goal-oriented or meditative? And most importantly which one do you just straight up like more.

[bouncykhotchillipeppers]

a short nct johnny birth chart reading (cross-posted from twitter)!

disclaimer: i do not know him personally, no harm intended, and others may interpret it differently. this is all for fun! please be nice as i don’t know nct super well. please do not repost or steal my work.

now, on to the fun stuff.

my first reaction was just…oh. that’s why. THAT is why he’s like this. the sheer, absolute, utter chaos inside of him. sorry to this man. the best way i can describe him is a cynical dreamer. completely out of pocket. very chill yet extremely uptight about certain things. his entire chart is a walking contradiction. let’s break this down.

the first thing i will focus on is his aquarius mercury rx in 5H because that is his chart ruler. a…backwards thinker, if you will. he’s that out of the box person who asks the weirdest questions in your biology class about, like, “since it’s theoretically possible, blah blah blah.” ACTUALLY. WHAT IF. MAYBE IF THIS HAPPENED. yeah, he’s that guy. don’t get me wrong! he’s actually a deep thinker, the guy that reads wikipedia because it’s fun and a walking encyclopedia of weird facts you really didn’t need to know about. he’s smart as hell and willing to debate anything, almost to a fault. it’s easy for him to see multiple sides, the cynical side giving way to the fantastical side and vice versa, and if he had harsher placements, i would say he’d make a fantastic lawyer because of this ease. truth is, he would fucking suck because he would let his emotional bias get in the way. he’s also not…serious enough. which i’ll get into later.

sun in aquarius in fifth house! creative, passionate, realistic. sun trine moon, in tune with himself. he knows who he is, though maybe not necessarily what he wants or needs. sun semisquare venus and sun opposite mars—a fighter. context is important, though. fighting against his friends is something he absolutely hates because he views his friendships as his solid foundation, somewhere he can go to let go. he will do everything he can to protect those friendships. he ACTS like he doesn’t give a shit because, hello, aquarius sun and gemini moon—the top two signs of not giving a shit—but the reality is that he does care, thanks to 7H in pisces and 11H in cancer. he’s just emotionally stunted because of that moon square saturn. he’s also a great friend because he’s so easygoing and lax about a lot of things. until you push him to his breaking point. then he will cut you to your core, taking all those little bits of knowledge he’s gathered over the years and turning them into the worst bits of knowledge about you and throwing them back in your face with a direct coldness. but other than that, he’s real chill. thoughts over feelings type of guy.

great friend, not so great boyfriend. he needs to be able to detach completely and emotionally, someone who’s as independent as he is and definitely not someone who’s clingy. he will prioritize his friends and family over romantic relationships any day, any time. he will dm you back with “i think we’d be better off as friends.” he will move on. he is a heartbreaker and does not care because that is not where his priorities lie. he thinks romance is inviting you over to his friend’s house for some beer and a nacho table and wii sports.

the final topic i will discuss is my favorite one: his grand mutable cross.

grand crosses (or grand squares) are when there’s four squares connected to each other to create a cross or a square in the chart, and they’re typically all in the same mode (cardinal, fixed, mutable). (i say typically because our very own mark lee has two grand crosses, one is fixed and the other is dissociate because of his cancer mercury rx.) but i digress. included in this aspect are his gemini moon 10H, sagittarius jupiter 3H, pisces saturn 6H, and virgo ascendant. so, what the fuck does this mean? to put it simply: chaos. despite all the stable capricorn and aquarius in his chart, this man thrives in disruption. every moment is a moment to live and enjoy. he needs to think, do, and decide for himself—to be free. he excels at the mundane but shines in the unanticipated. he’s good at seeing the small details and the big picture, the reason in the emotion, the halves in the whole, and is willing to take whatever life throws at him with ease because of the way he’s predictable with his unpredictability. restless and always looking to do something, anything to keep himself occupied. however, he tends to worry about meaningless things and ignores or outright avoids the things he needs to confront, hence why it’s hard to push him to his breaking point, which is confrontation. the capricorn in him helps with this to an extent. the tendency to see the absolute best and absolute worst in every situation is another one of his faults; as an example, he can cheer others on but internally be worrying that someone might get injured. he thrives in fun and excitement, constant change. as long as he has somewhere to focus his restless energy, he’s good.

some final notes:

i try to stay away from parents for idol chart readings, but since a parent planet is on the MC, i’ll talk about it. moon conjunct MC: he considers his mother to be the light of his life, literally. places her above everyone else. the midheaven is the highest point on his chart, the part the light shines on the most. he sees her as witty and capable and gets along well with her.

cancer in 11H: so devoted to his friends and his dreams. the basis and roots of his life.

a piece of advice i would give him: not everything has to be a major upheaval. it’s okay to let things go. it’s okay to be selfish sometimes, but the best place for you to be is in service to others. caring for others, especially friends and family, is what will make you happiest. but do not give a piece of yourself to everyone you meet.

ummm that’s it! 🙈 if you have a fan meeting with another member please ask them their birth time i’m always curious i love knowing idols’ charts

[clean-casual-analysis]

Building My Ideal Hero

Cinefix on YouTube had a unique form of top ten movie heroes/villains videos where, instead of typical ranking, they layer traits on top of one another until they get a character that exemplifies all those traits at once. Speaking from experience, it’s actually a fun way to analyze and determine what I view as heroic or villainous. It’s also a convenient way for me to put out a bunch of What A Character! posts at once. So, to start off, I’ll be going through five of my favorite fictional heroes.

Trait One: Good Morality

The first trait my ideal hero needs is a good sense of morals, to do the right thing even when it’s hard. On the one hand, this seems an obvious trait for a hero to have. On the other hand, more comedic/selfish anti heroes have gotten the spotlight a lot of the time too. I wanted a more archetypal character to lend us this trait and almost considered my favorite ninja turtle Leonardo. But if we’re going for a rock-solid foundation of heroic morality, there are few that can match Sonic the Hedgehog.

The world’s fastest freedom fighter and menace to dark gods and mustached mad scientists everywhere, Sonic is a great starting point for this list. He might be a little cocky and impulsive, but his core dedication to goodness characteristically speeds past those flaws. He fights against Doctor Robotnik, not just for thrills, but because he hates bad people ruling over innocents. A loyal friend to many and protector of those who can’t defend themselves, the blue blur rushes into impossible odds with a smirk on his face.

Second trait: Skills and Strength

Now that my ideal hero has a good moral compass, let’s give them the skills to fight for what’s right. This isn’t strictly combat skills, plenty of heroes don’t need to throw punch to save the day. Maybe It’s through miraculous dimension altering like Elizabeth from Bioshock Infinite. Perhaps it’s the dozens of talents Bruce Wayne learned to be Batman. For this list, I’d be doing little kid me a disservice if I picked anyone else but Master Chief.

John-117 is the sci fi super soldier to end all super soldiers. He matches his genetically enhanced reflexes and strength with unparalleled skills in military combat. Hijacking vehicles, adapting to alien weaponry without fail, making a pistol look like a god gun, the legendary Spartan almost makes fighting off alien armies look easy. Add that to his character’s loyalty, his willingness to sacrifice for the greater good, and knack for inspiring others, and it’s clear why he’s a beloved icon.

Third trait: Forced into Heroism

Of course, not everyone has superhuman abilities or even want to be heroes in the first place. The next trait for my ideal hero belongs to the Everyman underdogs whose forced into heroism by forces beyond their control. This is the calamity trio of Amphibia, or most of the human characters in Transformers media. Horror movie protagonists are very often average people going up against unspeakable terrors, and no horror protagonist is quite better than my next pick, Ellen Ripley.

One of the many great details that made the first Alien movie stand out from other sci-fi greats was the working-class nature of its characters. This wasn’t a motley crew of misfits against a galactic empire or scientific explorers, this was a group of space truckers hauling fuel from one end of outer space to another. Even before they encounter the xenomorph, you get the sense that the corporation they’re working for is grinding them down. Ellen Ripley best represents that feeling, a no-nonsense blue-collar woman whose cautious fear turns into dire heroism when the perfect organism rears its head. When the human antagonists of the story talk about the benefits that the potentially world ending species could have for humanity, she gives exactly zero fucks. And despite her anger and fear, she’s still a kind person willing to put her life at risk for others.

Fourth trait: Tragedy

So far, we have a morally good character who’s forced into action but has the skills necessary to overcome the obstacles in their way. The next trait will add a layer of hardship to them. Tragedy isn’t a necessary trait for a hero to have, but the best ones are often the heroes who help because they know what it’s like to be helpless. The classic example is Peter Parker indirectly causing the death of his uncle, but I’m personally more another comic tragedy, Bruce Banner.

Exposed to gamma rays and turned into a rampaging monster known as the Hulk, Bruce Banner steers his alter ego into evil and hopes for the best. Intelligently good hearted as Bruce but unstably powerful as Hulk, the scientist’s struggle to control his emotions and heal from his trauma bring about the tragedy. The man’s own existence has the risk of spreading mass destruction at the rising of his heartbeat. Bruce’s determination to control his inner demons and conquer the tragedy that altered his life makes it clear why he’s the strongest there is.

Final trait: Empathy

Four traits down and we have a pretty solid hero in our midst. The last trait is arguably most important trait to me, the ability to empathize. These heroes don’t just settle for sending the bad guy to jail, they’re the ones who want a better future for everyone. This is iconic heroes like Optimus or Superman when they’re written at their best, but my choice for this this and all other traits discussed above is an obvious one. Steven Quartz Universe.

I already made a post detailing my love for the character, so I’ll just just into why he’s the perfect mix of the five traits. Raised by a humble single dad and three heroic guardians, Steven is kind hearted by default. While he fumbles due to his inexperience and childishness, his growing powers and outside the box problem solving means that he will always save the day. The growing threat of Homeworld and the secrets left behind by his mother force him into impossible odds he needs to overcome. The trauma he received throughout his adolescence resulted in a troubled and conflicted mind, adding relatable tragedy to his character in SU Future. But throughout all the changes he’s gone through, it’s Steven’s empathy that shines brightest. Understanding when others are hurt and need help, even when they’re enemies. Call it corny, but nothing to me is more aspirational in a hero than that.

[biteforblood]

my favorite lines + details from huxley’s first vid ( contains spoilers + cursing )

him saying “nice” and “sick” and “like” and “bro / dude” a bunch

how he talks. i’m gonna be honest…used to annoy me, but now i love him for it <3

“woah! careful there. you almost just walked right into me. wouldn’t want you to, like…bounce off. hurt yourself.” face first into tits…nice ( as if i’m tall enough to be boob height /hj )

the way he says “wasthat?” like it’s one word

“my name’s huxley. or you can call me hux. or the people on my team call me 69 [ … ] eh, no, that’s not my jersey number, uh…why do you ask?” + hux’s confusion + fl being like ‘nevermind, nothing, moving on!’

the fact hux fails intro. elemental control every semster

how he wants to help, his patience and care and kindness and comfort, how he explains things, him picking up fl’s attempts to avoid the problem

( teaching fl about cores and magic ) “…but, uh— but hey! i mean, like, ya got me, i guess. so uh…that’s okay. uh, i got this” then softer to himself “i think…”

huxley not only drawing in the dirt, but also mentioning earlier how’s he’s gotten in trouble for it and digging holes and him being all like ‘i put it all back, earth elemental, duh’

the whole stick figure thing i love it so much graaaaaahhh!!!

“well, uh…s-so that’s you. [ … ] yeah, uh, the little stick figure.”

“so, you got powers. that’s uh, that’s what those wavy lines are. wavy freelancer powers and shit.” i…love you so much, huxley

“like if we cut the little stick bro open, he’s just gonna have, like…a stick heart and stick lungs and shit.” my favorite fucking bit!!! he’s so stupid and silly!!! /aff + pos

“[ … ] well, yeah, now that we’re talking about cutting him it up, it’s not you anymore, that’d be fucked. nah, stick bro :D” bet kody would do that /hj + neg

him calling fl fancy for saying ‘non-corporeal’ + saying it’s a two dollar word + the way he says it i can’t XD /pos

“oh, shit, yeah, okay, you don’t know what the meridian is, um…well…shit. i-i guess i don’t really know what the meridian is either. ( laughs ) fuck.”

“did the drawing help? [ … ] heh, yeah yeah, ‘m not like an artist or anything.” shush, ya make the best stick figures anyone’s ever made

huxley asking before touching fl ( unlike a certain soggy bitch… )

hux and his big hands hehe :>

him saying fl’s hands feel nice then getting flustered + making sure they’re okay to keep holding hands if they want to then getting flustered again!!! /pos

his righteous as fuck anger towards kody + “water boy’s about to become a fucking underground spring.” get is his ass, hux! get! his! ass! ( love that’s it’s the most replayed part )

then immediately comforting fl, worried he’s scared them, checking in

hux offering to walk them to their car / next class / etc. even if it means skipping a bit of practice

realizing they’re still holding hands graaaaaahhhhhh!!! /pos

calling kody a wet bitch + implying he’s gonna go after him after practice ( heheheh yeeeaaah get his bitchass )

[heesulovebot]

8 shows to get to know me

my bae sufa @heart-ming didn’t tag me but let’s just say they did teehee. i literally mostly watched kdramas before i started bls so this list will admittedly be kdrama centric 🫣 in chronological order (i think):

that 70s show: has this show aged well? no. but there are still so many iconic moments that it holds a special place in my heart. twelve year old me would race home after school to watch re-runs. twelve year old me also thought peak romance was eric and donna dancing to abba’s fernando in the drive way in front of the vista cruiser 😭😭 

reply 1988: i never thought reply ‘97 could be topped (esp after the disappointment of ‘94) but reply ‘88 knocked it out of the ball park completely. i loved every single character sm, it rlly felt like home :’) and rip to those who had sls but i’m different 💅🏼 (jk i usually have a chronic case of sls dsjkfnksjd but everything in this drama made sense, esp deok seon and taek). who else was there for soompi forum user @ packmule using colour-theory, dialogue, and frame analysis to guess who the husband was before the show finished airing???? packmule on soompi forums u will always be famous xoxo

my mister: the grip this show had on me should be studied like. i made my first fandom sideblog for this show?????? i wrote my first fanfic for this show??????? dskjfnkdjnsk the scene in which park dong hoon sits in his living room after everything is finished and then bursts out in tears and then the background music cuts off and we just hear him sOBBING in silence...... i will never recover, i fear

2gether: speaking of shows that had a grip on me ksdjfnkdsjnf i gotta be real and add this to the list since y’all who have been following me since this era bore witness to my absolute obsession. i def can objectively say that 2gether is not a good show but tine and watine remain a special place in my heart forever ♡

ofcc & cherry magic: LOL I’M CHEATING AND PUTTING THESE TWO TOGETHER but they’re both about gay salarymen so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ idk there’s just an underlying sadness to both these fluffy jbls that i fuck with heavy      

i told sunset about you: no matter how much beef i have with p’meen, p’boss has done nothing wrong in his life ever and itsay tehohaew remain my babies. y’all alrdy know itsay had me in tears weekly (i still remember watching ep 4 during class time ((covid college core)) and then my prof started saying something after i finished the ep and i BURST into tears and haven’t recovered since tbh)   

to my star 1&2: god daseul invented cinema and romance, actually. this show (s2 particularly) had me on twitter spaces talking about jiwoo and seojun’s depth and complexity for 8+ hours 💀 i literally could write an entire thesis on it—have probably, if u combine my tumblr tags and tweets 😭😭😭 tms surpassed my 2gether rewatches (which @phukaoapologist & @pranpat can attest that is A LOT), and will always remain that bitch

the glory: every girliepop has a lil’ bit of blood lust in them. sometimes u need a cute lil’ revenge drama on ur list and a man that would tell you that he’d kill for you xo

tagging!: @nonkul @itoldsunset @phukaoapologist @pranpat @earthpirapat @dirhwangdaseul @ohmybitna @jaehwany @junghaesin @fordallan @deshimango @kinnkittisawasd @freensrcha @jiustian i’ll only tag a few since i bet a lot of ppl have alrdy done this but if u want to and i didn’t tag you consider urself tagged ♡

[livvyofthelake]

please talk about your fuckass book you just finished <3

ok yay :) i literally neeeeeed to talk about it in relation to other books i’ve read recently so that’s what i’m gonna do here i heart making every book a conversation with each other… so you’ll all have to forgive me for comparing call me by your name to the dream thieves of raven cycle fame but i need to. its a comparison that literally begs to be spoken about. to me. i also need to compare it to the secret history and the sun and the star and most importantly. well we all saw the timeless video. we need to get into that as well!!

obviously what sets it apart from all of my genre bullshit is that it is NOT genre bullshit, like it's just set in italy 1983 in the normal universe. which made it one of the most unique books i've read this year to be honest and real.... i have NOT been reading normal ass books... earlier i compared elio's narration to the great gatsby but i literally have just only read very few real world narrative novels i've got gatsby, richard, and this i guess. i'm working on it though!

anyway it was veryyy richard core in the sense that it's being narrated from some point in the future where elio is reflecting on that summer and oliver and what it meant to his life at large, where richard does the same thing with narrating his time at college with his greek class and bunny's murder. reflecting on two very different things unless you wanna look at it with the keen eye of a total nutcase and then i could say that they're both simply reflecting on what it was like to be seen and known by someone who turned out to not be what you hoped and you didn't end up with him despite it all. richard papen you would have loveddd call me by your name... wow. elio pearlman you would have loved the secret history...

it was ALSO very the dream thieves core in the sense that um. well me when i'm gay and having kind of a hard time working with that and there's a guy who's just like me in a bad way who wants to fuck me so bad we both look stupid as hell... but through it all there is the through line of intimacy that comes from being Recognized… rip joseph kavinsky you would have LOVED call me by your name!!!!!!!!!!! (would ronan lynch love cmbyn? well no!)

i ALSO only wanted to talk about it in relation to the sun and the star because they’re both like. ok Gay Representation is not a genre but they’re both books about gay people that i read recently so like. yeah. it’s crazy how glaring the difference between those two books is for things that both get tagged “lgbtq+” on storygraph or however many of those letters that website uses idk. like one of them is clearly written so some dude could pat himself on the back for giving the kiddos Representation in his stupid ass franchise and the other is just some fuckass book written by a totalllll freak that happens to be about gay people. in essence one made me so mad to read and the other was fine. i would never go so far as to describe a man’s work as great though. chappell roan voice i don’t think men make good art. !!! and i really believe that sorry. when a man impresses me i will let you all know but it is very rare…

which brings us to the timeless video. for everyone who somehow missed that that means (you’re fake btw 🙄) the timeless video is an amv i made last summer when i wanted to make an amv for my guys from my books but obviously they’re from books. so what i did instead was gather a bunch of characters from movies and shows that reminded me of MY guys and edit them to taylor swift’s timeless. because it’s like. other lives and i see them in everything. anyway so elio and oliver made it into the timeless video despite all the sort of mean stuff i’ve said about oliver lately (not even my fault he fuckin sucks btw) and the fact that their relationship is not like. Endgame. BECAUSE of my favorite scene. from the movie not the book. this scene was lame as hell in the book it’s the part that made me go wow i think perhaps the film is much better!! the “is it better to speak or to die” scene… i talked about it earlier but genuinely that happened to my buddy kit herondale…. and then he said something and it didn’t go very well!!!!

anyway. yay i <3 blogging on my break at work!

[glass-rose-paperweight]

I just want to take a moment to talk about what the “gifted track” at my school was like. Because in a lot of ways, it was closer to the popular media depiction.

It started in 2nd grade. You had to take a special test to get in (a test I have 0 memory of taking). Once a week, you got to bus over to a different campus that was part of the school system. For a whole day, you got to be with a whole other teacher and do things completely outside of the school curriculum. I was learning about neurons and how the brain worked in the 2nd grade. We had entire units on the Titanic and Louis and Clark. There was a whole semester I think dedicated to invention and creation where they gave us a bunch of different challenges worth different amounts of points and we had to figure out how to complete them. In 6th grade, we had a unit on ASL and a (small) unit on paper airplanes.

The units and classes we fun. The whole point of it was to think outside the box and be creative. Perhaps surprisingly, those of us that were part of this program didn’t really get bullied for it (I was bullied pretty heavily throughout elementary school. Being a part of the program was never a reason for it). I loved the program. In hindsight, I really do think the test we had to take was an unintentional screener for neurodivergence.

It stopped in 6th grade because that was when the “advanced” classes started. And there was an unspoken expectation that those of us who were in the program would take the advanced classes track, as though that was an adequate replacement. Our fun and creative learning got replaced with harder concepts and a bigger homework load. None of us had much choice about it in 7th or 8th grade, but there were only 1 or 2 classes back then. We had choices when we got to highschool, but by that point, it was already ingrained in us to take the harder classes. Most of the people in the advanced track classes and AP classes were in the gifted program in elementary school. Instead of external forces pushing us into class loads we could barely handle, we were expected to do it ourselves.

It’s one of the reasons I got so much flack for not doing it my senior year. My junior year was spent taking algebra 3 and organic chemistry at the same time. The homework load was absolutely unreasonable, and I only had one extra curricular activity of debate. I decided I didn’t want to do that again. Against the encouragement and suggestion and argument of pretty much every person in my life - parents, teachers, counselor - I chose to take way easier classes my senior year. And I don’t regret it because I was already burnt out. After junior year, I was fucking burnt out, not that anybody knew or could have recognized it.

I guess my point in talking about all this is to say: even in the “good” programs that don’t have nearly as many issues as what the OP was explaining, burn out is still a very real problem, one that doesn’t get better upon graduation because suddenly, you are expected to take care of yourself basically independently, possibly hundreds of miles away from the support system of your family, and many gifted/former-gifted kids have no idea that they’re neurodivergent, and that complicates things even further.

(Also, side note about the whole existential crisis that they’re not special, I can’t speak for anyone else at my school, but I had this crisis in 7th grade, when suddenly I was in a classroom of peers who were all just as smart as me and just as able to tackle harder academic concepts, something I hadn’t been exposed to in my “normal” classes before. Especially since I had always been bullied for being “smart”, if had been a core part of my identity that had never been shaken with the gifted program because the point of the gifted program wasn’t knowing but learning. We didn’t get grades like we did in normal classes. We did t get tested. So I didn’t need to be smart, and that wasn’t a part of myself I was measuring against the other students, which I think was one reason the gifted program felt so freeing. But when the advanced classes started, suddenly, that was the MAIN thing being focused on, and I found myself competing against people who knew stuff just as well as I did. And I can’t imagine that was a singular experience, when it came to people in my specific program or kids in gifted programs more broadly)

I think a lot of the skepticism and derision toward the idea of "gifted kid burnout" stems from the fact that a lot of folks have no idea what the gifted track in most high schools actually looks like; they've got this mental image, possibly informed by popular media depictions, of "gifted kids" as a privileged group of students who get to go on extra field trips, monopolise the teachers' attention in class, and constantly be told how special they are, but are otherwise treated identically to all the other kids.

In practice, the gifted track in most high schools – most North American high schools at any rate – has the same problem as any other educational program: the need to adhere to published metrics. These programs exist for the benefit of students only insofar as those benefits can empirically be measured, which leads to several common outcomes:

Students on the gifted track being afforded fewer choices regarding elective classes – often to the extent of having no choices at all – in order to stream the highest-performing students into the subjects that are most valuable in terms of boosting institutional metrics.

Students on the gifted tracking receiving restricted access to educational resources such as tutoring because it's perceived as a waste of resources. In many cases, gifted students are not only denied access to tutoring, but expected to serve as volunteer tutors and teaching assistants themselves, effectively becoming a source of unpaid educational labour for the schools they attend.

Students on the gifted track being assigned considerably more homework, often literally doubling their workload in an environment where homework loads are already routinely high enough that kids have difficulty finding time to eat and sleep, simply because you get more measurable academic performance data that way.

The upshot is that the gifted track is often less about fun perks and constant praise, and more about receiving less freedom, fewer resources, and heavier workloads than one's peers, getting strong-armed into providing unpaid labour to the school on top of it, and constantly being told one should be grateful for it – and that's without touching on the fact that the unspoken secondary purpose of many gifted programs is to serve as a quarantine for all the neurodivergent kids the school couldn't find an excuse to institutionalise or expel.

Like, shit, there's a reason kids on the gifted track exhibit elevated rates of alcoholism and substance abuse compared to general student populations. That doesn't arise in a vacuum!

(To be clear, I'm not saying that people graduating from high school and immediately having an existential crisis upon realising they're not special after all isn't a thing that happens, but in my experience that's more usually something that happens to the kids who were on the football team, and reframing it as a nerd culture thing is really weird.)

[sammyluvr]

first of all I’m blushing cause u said baby (what do you mean it’s a generic name no I’m delulu) and um second of all one of them talked to me in such a condescending way today (but also I made a mistake so I get it but she didn’t have to talk to me like I was 2 ugh)

the only good thing about this job is that I get to help the kids cause it’s like a beginner class so they’re all new to the subject and I wanna help them and I’m so happy when they ask me questions and things

sorry I rambled about this for no reason but I did have a question for you, thoughts on dean? There’s a little hatred of some kind there I can see it, but I wanted to ask why you don’t like him, only if you’re comfortable!!!

— kiss

omg no baby is said with flirtatious intent to make you blush, honey <33

BUT THAT'S SO RUDE ACTUALLY ugh i'm sorry they were condescending :((( but i'm glad that you're feeling like there is something good about the job!! it's awesome that you get to help the kids!!! and don't ever be sorry for rambling, i love to hear it all!!

i also rambled about dean a lot and it's definitely not coherent LOL

as for dean LOL i just have very complicated feelings and i think a lot of my hate/negative feelings are sometimes misplaced in him a little too strongly. i mostly just really really hate the treatment of him versus sam within the fandom :// if we're being honest with ourselves, he's kind of really not a good person sometimes!! and he treated a lot of people really awfully pretty consistently, especially sam. and i think that's part of how fascinating he is as a character!! he's incredibly interesting and i do hold love for him in my heart, not just for his good aspects but for his fucked up parts too hehe <33

it's just that i think he's very often misinterpreted and excused for actions he had full control over (sure, his trauma can explain lots of it, but does not excuse it!!), while sam is often harshly blamed (by both the fandom and by dean) for things he did not have complete or any control over (not saying he's never made a bad decision that he could control. it's just that a core aspect of sam's character and character arc is his lack of autonomy and people will very often literally victim blame him). both sam and dean are very flawed people and have made many many mistakes, my issue is that people both in the fandom and in the show are willing to overlook or excuse or whatever dean's mistakes and flaws but not sam's.

also people pretend like dean is a great brother to sam. he loves sam so much and would do anything for him, yes. they are codependent, yes. sam is not great to him all the time either, yes. but i view lots of dean's treatment towards sam as abusive. i don't think dean ever breaks the cycle of abuse. he is the angry man in the house. he has the power in his relationship with sam, he is the patriarch and perpetuates toxic patriarchal values.

more so than hating him, i think i hate what the fandom has done with him. can't we love him because he's awful??? and can't we recognize that he treats people in pretty awful ways lol. sometimes, he's so very lovely. sometimes, he's a piece of shit. and i love him for it! i'm very dean critical, but i think that my love for him has just been tainted by the way the fandom views him/acts towards him (versus sam especially).

and at the end of the day, as mr. jared padalecki put it, sam winchester is my only concern!! it's all about sam to me <33 i'm completely biased towards him and i love him more, and because i think dean treats him badly, i get angry at dean often! i recognize that i'm 100% biased towards sam and don't always look into nuances because of that. but i try not to actively hate hate on dean for stupid reasons. just reasons where he definitely was in the wrong LOL.

i just think sam deserves so much love and that the fandom hasn't given it to him partially because of the dean bias. i think a lot of people watch the show through dean's eyes, which means blaming sam and blaming mary and blaming cas and whoever he can. and thinking that he's in the right all the time (but wake up!!! dean blames himself too!! he knows he's done wrong, he thinks about it all the time!! he is constantly grappling with and weighed down by the consequences and implications of his actions!! he said so himself!! so let's love him for that too <33)

and also he bothers me sometimes <333 hashtag i love sam hashtag everything is about sam hashtag i just don't care about him as much as i care about sam! <333 lots of love <333 at the end of the day it's not even about him personally it's about sam lmao <33 and that's literally just the way that i enjoy this show the best, is by focusing on sam. i can absolutely be a dean enjoyer at times, i just prefer to completely obsess over sam all the time lol. and it's so completely valid if one enjoys the show the other way around or enjoys them equally <33 or doesn't give a shit about either of them and loves rowena the most, maybe we should all just do that instead <333