#also the fact that originally is four whole days?? that girl had it bad from the start

[paperglader]

bring her back 😩

[caricabubamarica]

Since I’ve discovered Lego Ninjago at the ripe age of seven, the biggest fantasy of mine has always been to be one of the ninja on the team, fighting alongside the core four and dealing with Serpentine and so on. When I was a little girl, the only way I could satisfy the urge was to use my imagination.

So when the Covid 19 hit back in 2020, and I discovered Wattpad for the first time in my life, it was as if I had entered a whole new world based off of the imagination of other people all across the world. I was spending days and nights on it until there was nothing worth reading for me.

Back in 2022, I finally decided to catch up on the show, seeing it pop up on my Netflix account and decided to give it a go. Before so, I had developed a habit of reading dozens of fan fictions about the show I was at the moment hooked onto, so once I finished watching all of the Ninjago seasons, I went through any fan fiction on Wattpad that I could find regarding Ninjago x reader/original character and quickly noticed a pattern that made me grow bored of whatever book I was reading rather quickly.

Every single fan fiction, save for few rare ones, had the main character be an elemental master of darkness/destruction.

Every. Single. One.

Now at first, I thought the issue stemmed from the fact that there was an obvious lack of originality and uniqueness, but it actually originated from the fact that every story had the exact same storyline, and I mean the exact same one.

The main character would be an elemental master of darkness/destruction and because the elemental powers are inherited, the character is obviously the child of Lord Garmadon and a sibling of Lloyd. Of course, let’s not forget that the character has extreme protectiveness over Lloyd and despises their mother with concerning levels of rage. They are always stubborn and a badass character who never does no wrong and is always in the right and somehow knows exactly what is going to happen but still messes up so the plot can continue as it originally does.

They are also, obviously, the fifth ninja who also possesses a golden weapon of their own, which is usually the most useless thing to ever exist. During the Season 2: Legacy of the Green Ninja, they are in most cases turned to the bad side because their power is unbeatable but it is then somehow beatable because the plot obviously has to move on. Not to mention, they are the only ninja who can use their elemental powers without the golden weapons because they are just that good.

I can guarantee that if anyone goes to Wattpad right now and tries to find a longer Ninjago book with the character insert, they would find at least few books who resemble this exact description. Why? Because the idea of a character, other than Garmadon, who is an elemental master of darkness and destruction is a great plot and idea for the character in Ninjago realm, but none of them actually think outside the box when it comes to actually executing it.

For example, when they write the character to be the fifth ninja and the fifth protector of the fifth golden weapon and the prophesied green savior, why don’t they write about the fact that the element of darkness and destruction is the toughest for Lloyd to master because he refuses to become like his father and because the element itself takes a toll on the mind of the one who possesses it?

Or why don’t they write about the fact that the reason the Ninjago realm is not perfect is because the First Spinjitzu Master used the element of destruction to create something, only for it to come back to bite him in the ass?

Why don’t they give the character the arc of trying to master their elemental power after Lloyd gives each of the ninja a piece of his golden power in Season 3: Rebooted, only for them to go down the wrong path?

Why don’t they write about the inner conflict the child of Lord Garmadon who inherited his elemental powers would have when they see that what others call a gift, in their case it is called a curse? Why don’t they expand on the feelings of envy the child would feel towards Lloyd for being praised and cherished for his destiny while they are looked down on for their own?

There is so many different possibilities to that plot device and yet I have yet to see someone do it properly.

I apologize if this offends anyone but it has been bugging me for three years now and I had to write it down somewhere where I could hear different opinions about it. I am not trying to shame anyone on their work or anything, if that is what you want to write, go for it, I am a nobody with no life who is still hung up on a kids show that aired back in 2011.

Enjoy what you want, love what you want, and take this how you want. Luv ya!

[charlie-lec-stories]

A lovely mess // CL16

Pairing: Charles Leclerc / Original Female Character

Summary: Four times Charles overreacted to becoming a father and one he actually failed to react. Or Charles being a mess through the best and most scary adventure of his life.

Warnings: None, this is pure wholesomeness.

Author’s Note: This one was inspired by some stories my own dad and uncle told me about the times they had their first children. Yes, some of those stories are based on things my father did when him and my mom were expecting me hahahaha. Rate: PG

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Every man reacts differently to pregnancy, but the most common response is just simply becoming a mess of a human being. And because of that, Charles, for once in his life, could be considerer an average man. He had been exceptional his whole life: excellent student at school, talented in arts, languages and sports, remarkable people skills and loved by everyone. People assumed that he was going to be an exceptional father too, and he knew he was committed to the role since day one, but none of that made the experience less scary. The monegasque had always want kids, he had always pictured himself growing old with a woman he loved and raising a bunch of little humans. When he knocked up his girlfriend he was definitely not planning on becoming a father so soon in his life, but he was happy nonetheless. His history with his girlfriend was kind of complicated too, her family didn't like him much, or more precisely the fact that Charles' job made her travel around the globe, away from her family all the time. He knew that he loved her more than he had ever loved anyone in his life, he knew that every time he pictured himself in the future, that future was shared with her, but it would be a lie if he'd say that the pregnancy didn't complicate things. His in-laws weren't too happy when they found out and Charles' mother was kind of worried about the whole situation. But Charles and his girl loved that little "accident" more than life itself and they actually never cared too much about anyone else's opinions. He convinced his girlfriend to move in with him and she also agreed on keep traveling with him until she ultimately had to stay home for the baby's safety.

"Is six weeks really that bad, Amour? I mean, maybe you're jet lagged or something". Charles nervously wondered from sitting at the bottom of the bed, his girl anxiously pacing around the room.

"That's not how periods work, Charlie". She was trying to stay calm and not bark at him, but that was a difficult task.

"Then let's buy a test and find out". He got up and started walking to the door when she grabbed his arm.

"Wait! You can't just go to a pharmacy and buy a test!". She looked at him like he was insane.

"Why not?". If there was someone humble enough to always forget he's rich and famous, that was Charles.

"Because you're Charles fucking Leclerc, that's why!". She let go of his arm and ran her hand down her face, exasperated. "The press is going to have a field day if you do that".

"Shit, you're right". He sighed and his shoulders sunk. He could see her shaking, scared and stressed and all he wanted to do was give her answers so she could get some peace of mind. "I'm sorry, Amour, I just don't know what to do".

"Let's call Lorenzo, maybe Charlotte can buy it for us".

He watched her take care of everything: call his brother, open the door for him and Charlotte, explain the situation, decide over test brands with his sister in law, drink loads of water, all while he sat on the couch, his mind running faster than he had ever drove his Ferrari. How could she think so clearly even with how scared she was? What would he do if the test was positive? What if she didn't want to keep the baby? Why was he feeling so sad with the mere idea of the test turning up negative? Was he really ready to be a father? There were so many questions and so little answers. He could hear Charlotte walk out the door and his girlfriend go their room, he clearly felt his older brother sit by his side on the couch, but he just couldn't move. Lorenzo said something Charles never caught, too drown inside his own head.

"I really want this baby, Enzo". Was all he let out and his brother just squeezed his shoulder.

Charlotte came back pretty fast, a paper bag with at least five different tests for his girl to do. The older woman explained the younger which ones were more effective so they could compare the results later. The possible future mother lock herself into the bathroom while the other three waited outside. Charles felt like he waited for an eternity before she came out with the five little white sticks. She placed them over a napkin on the coffee table and Lorenzo set the timer. Now, they had to wait again. She was sitting on the same couch he was before, looking at everything but the tests in front of her, so he sat down and took her hand in his, hoping for the contact to be enough to ease her thoughts. He wasn't exactly the epitome of calmness and the sweat that covered his hand made it hard to grip at. She looked at him and smiled, she knew that he was going to be there for them, no matter what, but she was still scared of what he would think, she still needed to know if he really wanted this. Still, she refrained from asking and simply rested her head on his shoulder, searching for comfort on his scent. She had her eyes closed when she suddenly flew to the other side of the couch while Charles' loud yelp filled her ears.

"What the fuck was that?". She looked around, trying to find what could have startled him so much to trow her like that, but all she could see was Charles clumsily trying to grab one of the tests while his feet barely kept him up. She had never seen him so uncoordinated in the two years they had been together. His fingers had a mind of their own and his legs were trembling.

"Two lines, this one has two lines". Charles, who had been quiet and petrified for the past hour, was mumbling like a madman as he showed his brother one of the tests. In the background, the alarm set by Lorenzo started ringing and they all looked down at the coffee table, searching for the lines of truth. Charles grabbed the the tests smiling wide as he showed them to the others. "THEY ALL HAVE TWO LINES". He was hyperventilating, his whole body shaking and Lorenzo couldn't help but let out his loudest laugh as he watched his younger brother loose the little bits of sanity he had. "CAN YOU SEE IT, BABY?!". He shoved the sticks into his girlfriend's face. "It's a baby! We made a baby! Putain de merde! I'm going to be a Papa!".

"Yes, Charlie! I see it!". She said sharing his enthusiasm. But then she saw him go pale really fast. He walked backwards a few steps and Lorenzo caught him from behind before he could fall butt first on the ground.

"Okay, I think you need to process this rollercoaster of emotions while sitting on the couch, Cha". The older Leclerc helped his bother to sit down next to the now confirmed future mama. There, Charles took her hand and smiled, a high-like expression covering his eyes. He may be scared, but he had never been happier.

If Charles' reaction to the pregnancy was that chaotic, it was a sure thing that the following nine months would be as well. Before the first trimester was up, he had already brought another house to move to, where the baby could have their own room and a playroom. He brought every piece of Ferrari merchandizing he could find on the internet, he didn't even care if it was original or not. Was it pretty? Yes. Was it Ferrari? Yes. Then he was buying it. His girlfriend even went to the extent of taking away his cards and threatened with getting rid of wifi to make him stop. He didn't, took her extension in the middle of the night and kept binge-shopping for his baby at 4 am. He brought furniture for the bedroom and the playroom, and then he found his biggest rival till the day. A rival he wanted to beat more than Max Verstappen: a crib. She wasn't even showing and he was already putting a crib together, or let's rephrase it, fighting with the crib and losing pathetically.

"Cela n'a aucun sens". (This makes no sense). He complained while he tried to attach what was supposed to be 'Part B' to 'Part 3.1'. Why there was a part 3.1, he didn't know and was too stress out to try and figure it out. He growled, he literally growled when the whole crib came crushing down in front of him. "Je déteste cette merde". (I hate this shit).

"Charlie? What's wrong? I heard a loud noise". He looked at the mother of his child and all he could feel was embarrassment. "Are you alright?".

"Yes. I'm fine". He answered from the floor, looking at his lap. He wanted to cry, but he also didn't want to upset her.

"Hey, you know you can tell me anything, right?". She sat next to him on the floor and searched for his eyes, but he kept looking away from her. "What is it, Charles?".

"I-". He tried to start talking, but he was cut off by his own sob. She quickly made him turn towards her, looking for injuries, but he seemed to be physically fine. She saw the tears running down his face and did the best she could to wipe the away. Moving to sit on his lap, she threw her arms around his neck and pressed herself flat against him, trying to get as close as she could. He cried on her shoulder, soaking her his hoodie and crushing her with his arms around her waist. They stayed like that for a while, until Charles stopped crying. She scratched his head to calm him down and after some time, he did. In a painfully soft whisper, he admitted his fear to her. "I'm going to be a terrible Papa".

"Don't say that. We both know that's not true". Shushing him, she pulled away and grabbed his face, forcing him to look at her. "Is this about the crib?".

"I've been fighting this crib for four days. Our baby is going to sleep on the floor and it's all my fault". She laughed and for a moment, she regretted it, seeing the hurt in his eyes. She calmed down and pecked his lips.

"Charlie, our baby has barely formed their ears yet, you have more than enough time to figure this out". He didn't look convinced at all.

"But what if I don't?". She smiled at him.

"I know you will. Do you want to know why?". He nodded and she ran her fingers through his hair to move it away from his face, so they could look into each others eyes and make him believe her. "Because you already are the best Papa in the world, Charles".

He won against the crib just in time to catch up with the worst part of the cravings period. They were into the fourth month of pregnancy and the little bump was proudly starting to show. Charles couldn't keep his hands away from it. He was constantly touching the bump, kissing the bump, talking to the bump, even scolding the bump whenever he saw some discomfort tinting his girlfriend's face. In the paddock he practically forced her to go everywhere with him and on interviews he answered every question while looking at her. He insisted on people staying at least ten centimeters away from her and he even took upon himself the task of preparing every meal she ate, just to make sure that it was safe and she didn't get food poisoned. He checked places' and foods' temperatures, chairs' and couches' safety, if her shoes were properly tied (at least 20 times a day), the only thing missing was him wrapping her on bobble wrapping. He safety proofed the every hotel room they stayed in so she wouldn't 'accidentally hit the bump against unknown furniture in the dark'. At some point, she had to put a stop to the madness, specially when Charles' newly-daddy paranoia messed with her cravings.

"Amour, what are you eating?". He asked when he caught her hiding with Lando and Max behind the Red Bull garage, a massive greasy half eaten hot dog on her hands. Lando was opening a mayonnaise sachet with his teeth and Max was feeding her french fries with his bare hands, all three of them sitting on the floor. It wasn't exactly the most sanitary situation, but the fuzzy feeling she felt inside her chest thanks to that hot dog made it all worth it. Charles could swear he had an aneurysm just by the sight of it all. "Where did you get that?".

"Uhm...". Her and Lando looked at Max, waiting for him to answer, since he was the one who brought it.

"Well... It's from a professional, I can assure you that, Charles". The monegasque frowned and Max swallowed, scared, just to find out his mouth was completely dry. He wasn't an easily scared guy, but something about Charles' over-protective-dad mood just terrified him.

"And where's the professional's place? Can you show me?". Max, still sitting on the floor, looked at everything but Charles.

"Oh, you see-".

"It's from the stand outside of the paddock". Lando blurted out, followed by him covering his mouth with both his hands and the three of them heard Charles growl.

"Max did you just feed my pregnant girlfriend a hot dog from a dirty street-stand? YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW IF THE PERSON WASHES THEIR HANDS-"

"They definitely don't, I mean, they don't have where to".

"Lando, you're not helping me, mate". Max advised, not moving his eyes from the fuming Charles above him. Then the pregnant girl decided to intervene.

"Charlie, babe, it's okay. I asked him to buy it for me". Charles then looked at her, his gaze softening a little, but still angry.

"Amour, you know that's not good for you". He walked to her and hooked his arms under hers to help her off the floor.

"But the baby wanted it". Max still followed Charles, afraid of what the future father could do to him for messing with his unborn baby's diet. Lando stayed very still, hoping to make himself invisible. "I was just craving this so bad! And you never let me have this type of food. The baby is fine, I promise".

"Don't do that face, it's not fair". He complained when she gave him her best puppy eyes. She didn't stop, and he finally dropped the attitude. "Okay, maybe we can make some room for a hot dog once in a while. But you have to keep eating healthy, we don't want the little Tifosi to come out malnourished".

"Yay!". She squealed and hugged him tight, the hot dog almost falling from her hand. Charles hugged her back and then directed his gaze towards the other two drivers.

"And you two". Max and Lando looked at him wide-eyed. "This better be the last time you pull off something like this. Did I make myself clear?".

"Yes, sir". Both said at the same time and got up from the floor.

"Okay, go on. And think about what you did". They nodded their heads, Max handing the girl the fries and then walking away with Lando.

"I like you daddy-voice". Charles shrugged at her comment.

"Amour, don't call it that or I won't be able to use it without laughing".

Charles' paranoia got better. He calmed down a little, but then the fear of being a bad father came back. Around the seventh month, already knowing they were having a boy, Charles found himself with insomniac. At the beginning of the pregnancy he was scared of not knowing what to do to take care of a baby's basic needs: bottle feed, change diapers, help him to sleep, and things like that. But as the date of the delivery got closer, Charles' fears shifted to the more existential type. What if he was unable to guide his son through life? What if he failed on teaching him good values and a strong sense of ethics? What if he ended up raising a spoiled kid, arrogant and narcissistic? What if he couldn't make his boy happy? What if his kid hated him? Those questions kept him up at night, turning over and over on the bed, and cold sweat covering his body. He would walk to the baby's room and look at the painting his girlfriend did on the walls, the name 'Jules' written on lilac on a clear sky, over the race track so carefully crafted. What if his son didn't want to race cars? What if he was forcing him to do so when he wasn't even born? Sitting on the rocking chair, he would look out the window, the yachts at the bay clearly visible from there. What if his son didn't like Monaco? What if his son would rather adopt his mother's nationality and culture over his? The dark sky adorned with shinny little dots would look back at him without answers.

"Charlie? Why are you up, love?". He heard his girl's sleepy voice call out to him from the doorway. He smiled at her, his eyes glossy as he fought the tears that wanted to escape.

"Just thinking, Amour. Don't worry". He gave her his best smile, but she could read his real feelings underneath it. "Go back to bed, I'll join you in a minute".

"I think we love each other enough to cut the bullshit, babe". She walked further into the room and stopped in front of him, her big belly at his face's height, and he couldn't help but reach forward and kiss it. "What is it?"

"It's... it's just a lot and it's late. Don't worry, really-"

"Charles, I'm not sleeping until I'm convinced that you're alright". He sighed, and pulled her to his lap. The weight was a little bit more than what he was used to, but he loved that, it made it impossible for him to overlook the fact that his baby was there, with them. He made her rest her back against his chest and rocked he chair, hugging her tight against him and resting his chin over her shoulder. They both looked out of the window and she patiently waited for him to tell her what was going on inside his mind.

"I'm scared. I feel this huge responsibility over Jules". She smiled, loving whenever they talked about their baby using the name they choose for him. "I just want to be a good Papa, but I'm so scared of messing up, of making the wrong choices, of using the wrong words, of leading him in the wrong direction. What if I don't raise him right? If I'm not a good role model?"

"Well, you're not alone in this, Charlie, I'm with you till the end of the line. Like Bucky and Steve. I know that we'll be alright. I just know it". She sounded so sure of herself. He wished he could be that sure about everything.

"How do you do it? How do you manage to always be so sure and composed?". She laughed and he felt the baby kick under his palm, he always kicked when she laughed.

"I've been the least composed person and you know it, Charlie! I break down crying at least five times a day. You've seen that! You're the one who comforts me every time". He laughed softly, that was true, those had been some pretty crazy seven months. A true rollercoaster of emotions. And they still had two more months to go. "I know that we'll be alright because we're already asking ourselves these questions. Because we care about Jules so much that we truly take time to think things through. We are going to be alright because we love our baby and we both know we will always do the best we can for him. We won't let the bad choices from our parents be repeated and we'll make sure to copy the best from them to give to Jules. That's why I'm so sure". She turned to look at him for a moment. "I trust you to be the dad of my baby because I know how great of a human being you are, Charles".

"I love you". He said, feeling a lot better. He kissed her tenderly, and then another kick was felt under his hand. "Thanks for being here for me, Amour".

"Always, just as you had always been for me". She nuzzled her nose against his. Another kick and they both laughed. "Let's go back to bed, Papa".

The two months passed by in a blink. Charles asked Ferrari to give him a leave of absence for the first two races of the season. He wanted to be world champion, but he would rather be there when his son was born. Ferrari let him take his time, but Jules decided to be born at eight and a half months. It seemed like he couldn't wait to meet his parents, because everything happened so fast that Charles had barely had any time to react. They were having lunch at his mother's house, and he was having the best time. His girl looked amazing, all radiant and happy, her belly covered by a cute but comfortable dress, his sisters in law both touching the belly and fighting for godmother duties. Lorenzo and Charlotte were definitely the chosen ones, but they hadn't tell anyone yet, after all both Lorenzo and Charlotte were there for them when they needed them. His mother was showing him little clothes that she had crocheted for Jules and his brothers discussing which one was going to be the 'responsible uncle' and who the 'funcle'. Arthur was definitely unable to be the responsible one, so he was already chosen to be the 'funcle'. Every conversation was cut short when the faint voice of the future mama rang through the air.

"Charlie". Her shaken voice called out, and he turned around to see what she needed. There was a wet patch under her and she was grabbing her belly, a painful expression on her face. "I think my water broke".

"The baby is coming!". Arthur shouted excitedly, but Charles' brain just stopped functioning. He saw everyone running around to grab things, Charlotte and Carla helping his girl out of the house and towards his car, Lorenzo grabbing the baby bag the carried around just in case since the beginning of the last trimester, Arthur pushing him outside and his mother speaking, but he just couldn't move. H was petrified. He felt like his blood pressure had dropped in a second and if it wasn't for Arthur behind him, he would have certainly fallen to the ground. His mother took his car keys out of his pocket and then they pushed him on the back seat, next to his girlfriend. Her hand crushing his brought him back from his outer-body state and he was able to react, turning to face her and running his other hand down her arm, doing his best to sooth her.

"It's okay, mon amour. Breath, breath with me". He instructed her and he started to exaggerate his breathing so she could copy her. She did and that calmed her down enough to count the seconds between one contraction and the next. "That's it, Amour, you're doing so good". He praised her and she smiled a little, her happy expression cut short by another waive of pain. She screamed and cried, sweat covering her forehead and running down her face, mixing with her tears. It was probably the most messy she had ever looked, but he had never seen her as beautiful as in that moment. "I love you so much". He whispered it, but by the squeeze she gave to his hand, he knew for sure she was saying it back. "We're almost there, hung on a little longer".

He almost carried her out of the car and into the hospital the second Arthur parked the car. Then, they found out that she was ready to deliver in that second. Jules didn't want them to keep him waiting, she was brought to the delivery room and Charles was given surgical gown so he could join her. Inside, the whole process was quick, in 30 minutes, Jules was crying on the doctors arms and Charles could feel his heart skip a beat. Wrapped on towel and with the small hat they had for him on, Jules was passed on to his mother, who took him instantly while she cried her eyes out. Charles, still on delay with reality, was trying to process the information. That was his baby, he was finally there, he could finally touch him. The doctor walked to him, placing a hand on his shoulder, Charles couldn't stop looking at his girl and little Jules. He heard a softly "go ahead, meet your boy", and that was enough for him to place a shaking and gentle hand on Jules' head. He ran his thumb over the soft little cheek and the tears started to fall. He felt his girl's hand wipe away his tears and heard her laugh softly. She just found funny that after overreacting about every little thing for the past eight months, Charles was barely able to react that day. He was a mess in that moment, but he was the perfect mess in her eyes. The most extraordinary mess. He finally smiled and reached down to kiss her head, then he looked at Jules.

"I am your Papa, Jules. I love you. I'm so happy to finally meet you".

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I hope you guys liked this one!

[cal-daisies-and-briars]

🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞

90 for 🪞:

---

That’s sort of fair. It’s hard to decide who you want to be when you finally get a choice. Buck knows that better than anyone. He can see why she might be overwhelmed. 

Then, they’re walking by a rack of clothes right across from the boy’s section and Dove stops short. Buck staggers to halt and looks at her.

“What’s wrong?” He asks. 

“Look,” she says, pointing.

Buck follows the gesture to a mannequin little boy wearing a tee shirt that is, without a doubt, perfect for Dove. It’s a soft, gray-green type color, decorated with cartoon print alligators. 

“Oh, well,” Buck says, grinning. “That was made for you.”

Dove scrunches her mouth to the side. 

“Is it for boys?”

“It’s for whoever is wearing it,” Buck replies. “And if you want it, I think we should buy it.”

Dove smiles at him. “Yes, please.”

And once again, Buck feels like he’s done something right.

▪️▪️▪️

By the time they meet Carla for dinner, Buck thinks they’re towing a good clothing haul in the back of the Jeep. After the alligator shirt, Dove seemed a bit more ready to give her stylistic opinions. By the time they left the store, on top of that original shirt, they’d purchased two more sweaters from the boys section with various animal themes, and a corduroy skirt that she loved the feeling of under her fingers. Dove had a wide grin the whole walk to the car. Buck calls the outing a win. 

Meeting Carla goes just as well. She’s so friendly and warm that she disarms Dove’s shyness right away. Maybe Dove’s pre-established good mood and the promise of dessert also help. 

“So Carla is going to hang out with you while I’m fighting fires. That okay with you?” Buck asks, while Dove colors on her paper kid’s menu.

“Okay,” Dove shrugs. “That’s good.”

Carla chuckles. “We’re going to get along great, aren’t we Dove?”

“Yes!” Dove decides. 

Buck feels relieved. It’s all going well. She’s happy. She’s more secure than she was. He starts to feel confident that he’s not doing a bad job.

iv.

That confidence of course fizzles out at the first sign of disruption. Of course it does. 

To be fair, for over a week after Buck returns to work and Dove starts school, things are good. Gerrard makes limited jokes about Buck going on maternity leave. Buck and Eddie act pretty much normal as long as Buck doesn’t talk about spending time together outside of work. Which is a bummer. A major, anxiety-producing bummer. But Buck is still trying for patience. 

Dove is doing well in school, too. Turns out, unlike what he was warned, her reading is actually pretty on par with where it should be. It’s her confidence that’s the issue. She reads great with him. Well, for a six year-old. It’s the environment that’s the issue. He thinks that’s something they can work on. But she likes school. She already has a friend.

So things are going well. Until Buck finds himself in a pickle. 

It’s day two of his first four-off since he returned to work. And, sort of excitingly, he has an appointment with a lawyer. A lawyer who specializes in adoptions, in fact. It’s the first appointment to get the process rolling. He knows it’s quick. He’s been advised he can take more time with it if he wants. He doesn’t want. The thing is, he’s all in. He’s committed. He knows exactly what he wants. He took this little girl in, he’s gotten her to open up. There’s no way he’s turning back. He can’t do that to her. Besides, even if he’s faced challenges, he hasn’t encountered anything that has made him doubt her. Just the opposite, actually. 

The truth is, the more Buck learns about Dove, the more he likes her. The more he’s sure he wants her to be his kid. Not just that he wants a kid or wants to help in an unfortunate circumstance. He wants this kid to be his kid. This kid, with her fascination with reptiles, her surprisingly strong opinion on apple juice being better than anything else, and what he has learned is a complete and utter obsession with the Disney Tarzan cartoon. Like, he’s never listened to so much Phil Collins in his life. Dove, who is polite and gentle, but curious. He doesn’t want to imagine having to give her back. And it hasn’t even been two months. He’s going to adopt her as soon as he can and give her the security that she has somewhere forever. That is the foremost priority in his life right now. 

The morning of his appointment, Dove wears her alligator shirt, and Buck tries to braid her hair. Per her request. This would not have been his suggestion. 

[oneatlatime]

Return to Omashu

Fire nation priorities. Yes, there's a war to win, but first! We must make our colonies aesthetically consistent. Couple of gates, some gold trim, and some spiky bits! Can't forget the gold spiky bits!

Fulfilling the beat up Sokka quota this episode is raw sewage.

That sewer trek must have been long. They went in during the day and it's night now.

I spoke too soon! The quota is in fact filled by tribbles.

"it's so awful I'm dying." I get the feeling that Sokka has been waiting years to use that line. I love how quickly everyone in the Gaang supports each others' spontaneous plans. It's a sign of a good team if you can ream off fake names without blinking and fake the plague without being asked. They all work so well together. Zuko could take some lessons from these guys on lying.

Well this episode's going to land differently post-Covid.

Looks like Zuko Jr.'s going to be in this episode. Bummer. Although tweedledee and tweedledum are intriguing. Who'd ever think to give a teenage girl villain a pair of eighty year old poetry twins? One of the great things so far about this show is how they consistently choose to go with the most out-there option and always make it work. In a show about defeating the firelord, they chose to kill the moon for the finale. And it worked. The plot point, not the killing.

So I'm thinking that orange and yellow must be an acknowledged fashion choice among the four nations outside of an airbending context, because of the number of times fire nation guards have looked right at Aang and not seen him. Also I think his tattoos must have selective invisibility.

It's a crying shame that Hot Topic doesn't exist in the Avatar universe, because this May girl just passed their employment interview with flying colours. I'm siding with what I'm guessing is her mom on this one. Just chill for a bit.

Ok maybe don't chill for a bit. Yeah my bad. This is not a good time to chill.

Reusing the same Naruto run shot literally two seconds later.

How many projectiles can you fit in one pair of sleeves? She's got a whole armoury up there.

Seriously I know she's bored and all but no teenage girl should have access to that many weapons. If I'd had access to an armoury when I was a teenager, people absolutely would have died.

So cute. I'll take 12 please.

Every sentence that Zuko Jr. is saying to this pink girl is some kind of veiled insult or threat. I'd adopt Pink Girl's wilful obliviousness too if I had to deal with that.

Smart Bumi. He knows his people and his element. We've seen more than enough times already that something about being an earthbender makes you too stubborn to quit and unable to change plans even when your original plan is obviously not working (looking at you, Fong). So, knowing that his people are unable to change course, he prevents them from entering on to that course in the first place.

And Aang picks up on this too! Actually, since Bumi knew Aang growing up, do you think he picked up the concept of strategic retreat from airbending?

Tribbles to the rescue! Given that these are sewer dwelling creatures, this fake plague might turn real.

I love how casual Sokka is about touching other people.

Every street in Omashu seems to have a couple of bundles of twigs propped up against a wall somewhere. It's probably an animation trick to fill up the background.

Love the one guy really committing to the bit who just flops on the ground.

"Pentapox! I'm pretty sure I've heard of that." Humans are so suggestible.

I love that Flopsy remembers him. Aang's propensity to make friends wherever he goes paying off again. Also, exactly how much metal to the fire nation have access to? They're doing the floor, walls, ceilings, of the whole city. There must be some crazy budget surpluses that need using up.

This baby has an absurd throwing arm.

Machine gun Momo!

This is what happens when you don't feed your lemur AANG.

I know cartoon physics is a thing, but can this baby secretly fly or something?

Poor Momo didn't ask for any of this. Guy just wanted some berries. Now he's getting his tail pulled and bitten (hopefully no teeth yet).

Add absurd grip strength to this baby's list of other superhuman characteristics.

Baby apparently weighs quite a bit too.

Flying lemur unintentionally kidnaps baby. Did not see that coming.

Tiny nitpick: the circus master introduces Zuko jr. as "the firelord's daughter" rather than as Princess Zuko jr. Does she not have a title?

Nope. He's calling her princess now. Maybe there are a bunch of princesses in the fire nation and he was just being specific?

Thus begins the bullying of pink girl. Imagine going to school with a bunch of fire nation noble girls? There must have been casualties.

I love Sokka so much. Expert hug administrator.

"everything so clever. So tricky." Actually the avatar forgot to feed his lemur and it kind of snowballed from there. Hands down one of my favourite tropes is when one side in a conflict assumes their enemies are master manipulators, then we learn that actually they're just failing upwards through shenanigans. Love that.

Poor pink girl. The only viable strategy, both for her own safety and the safety of the whole circus, is appeasement.

"The universe is giving me strong hints that it's time for a career change." No blame cast, no fingers pointed, but also not giving Zuko jr. credit for influencing her. That's some fancy talking.

And now they're reusing the campsite shot too?

Poor Momo. That's about the face I make around babies.

I spoke too soon again. This episode's beat up Sokka quota is actually fulfilled by Katara's backhand. Because apparently it's a cardinal sin to prevent a baby from chewing on a potentially bladed weapon? Priorities girl.

Well that accidental kidnapping had some unintended positive consequences. Don't you love it when problems fix themselves?

She even paints her nails black and wears fingerless gloves. Seriously. Hot Topic. STAT.

"Well, Asula called a little louder." Hell of a lot of information in that sentence.

How long is her neck?

Ego much?

Zhao was an asshole and unpleasant, but at least he had some good banter. Zuko jr. is just mean. I hope I see less of her going forward.

Bumi! Hi Bumi! I love Bumi.

Pink girl's loyalty was tested with burning nets and released beasts. Now May's loyalty is tested with her brother's life. Zuko jr. is so good to her friends.

Why is no one able to recognise Aang? He's dressed like an airbender. The only one of those left is the avatar. It's not that hard.

Pink girl is lucky that Sokka is quite prone to friction.

More wood bundles. I guess it's for scaffolding?

Gotta give it to Zuko jr., she has excellent balance.

May has leg knives as well as arm knives?

And shirt knives. How does she not stab herself every time she sits down? And if this place is so boring, why does she feel the need to carry 8 billion knives?

Love the Appa tail slap. Underrated and underused move.

So Bumi has no spine left.

Facebending. Neat.

Neutral Jing is a neat concept, but I'll be damned if any earthbender we've seen apart from Bumi ever bothers with it.

Suddenly the 100 year gap between Aang and Bumi can no longer be ignored. Bumi is still Aang's friend, but he's got a century of learning and a city to protect. This is kind of a sad moment.

Do May and Zuko have some history? Is that's what's being implied here?

Wouldn't expect any less. I wonder how these two are going to explain the return of their son without painting the resistance in a really good light.

Zuko jr. is spelled with a Z.

Final Thoughts

Zuko Jr. gets a girl squad, the Gaang gets a reason to spend a season gallivanting all over the Earth Kingdom, and the audience gets to see Superslide part 2. A weird mix of establishing groundwork and having fun this episode.

I totally buy that the fire nation guards and governor fell for the plague thing. Anyone remember "that lemur! He's earthbending!" These guys are not smart.

The plague thing did not bother me at all. I thought it would, since the anti-science idiots in the Fortuneteller really annoyed me. I think since the fake plague was treated as a joke the whole way through, and never actually endangered anyone, it didn't bring up Covid memories.

I think Flopsy's pupils are sideways hourglasses, which contributes nicely to his uncanniness.

I think the stuffy that the baby was throwing is the same animal as the beaver bear thing at the circus.

I love Momo the machine gun. I think those are the same berries as the ones Iroh was going to double poison himself with.

Sokka getting to plan the plague and getting to save the day with boomerang was fun. That's two episodes in a row where he's been the plan guy. Katara got to use some of her new and improved waterbending as well, but she was really pushed to the background otherwise.

I think pink Girl, whose name I still haven't caught, is quite good at reading people. I caught more than one 'shallow-on-the-surface-but-actually-way-deep' statement from her. Also she can Vulcan pinch people's bending? I'm guessing it's temporary or else Katara would be really freaking out.

May was just too much. Too overdone. Yes, there are teenage girls like that, but it felt a bit on the nose. Actually, way too much on the nose. I get that she can't show any emotion in front of Zuko jr. for her own safety, but "can I offer you an egg fireflakes in this trying time?" is not exactly an appropriate response to your little brother's disappearance.

I'm still not liking Zuko jr. But I'm someone who never likes the villain anyway, at least not when our heroes are this likeable.

This episode was not easy on Aang. It was an interesting mix of bringing home the reality of the war and the reality of the time passed. Even when he seemingly got to save his friend in the end, he actually didn't because things are more complicated now. He untied the damsel from the railroad track and she tied herself right back on.

Further evidence for my 'entire fire nation is colourblind' theory this episode. Aang was not disguised apart from a hat made from a very incriminating colour. He had a giant blue stripe down the back of his head! Come on!

No Zuko this episode. He was last seen stealing a perfectly nice lady's bird horse, and it'll be a while before I forgive him for that, so good call by the writers to not have him around.

Now that I think about it, there was a lot going on this episode. Sewer break & enter, assassination attempt, fake plague, hostage exchange, water v. knife fight, fire v. air fight, vulcan pinch v. bending fight, Boomerang & bison v. knife fight, earthbending philosophy, girl squad assembly, lemur harassment, and baby restoration. This episode felt long in a good way.

How about, instead of learning the elements, Aang learns pink girl's vulcan pinch and just does that to the fire lord?

[atlasdoe]

wait i would love to hear your thoughts on ravenclaw marlene...

Oh my god oh my god oh my god OKAY

RAVENCLAW MARLENE MY BELOVED

Firstly, I have always headcanoned Marlene to be from Ravenclaw because the first Marauders fic I read that featured her (The Marauders series by Pengiwen which I will always recommend, you can read it on wattpad and ao3) She was a Ravenclaw and then when I first started posting in this fandom which was in 2018 and I was in the video editing side of Instagram there was like 10 of us and a few of them also saw Marlene as a Ravenclaw. Even tho her being a Gryffindor had always been more popular it wasn’t uncommon back then to see someone hc her as Ravenclaw.

I have just always loved this head canon and they could never make me hate it. I find it very frustrating how a lot of fans will complain about how in the original series all the good guys are Gryffindor and all the bad ones are Slytherin while Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff get overlooked but then do the exact same thing with The Marauders characters.

The way I see Marlene I don’t see her as the smartest in her class or the most skilled. I think she was sorted into Ravenclaw because of her creativity and her logical outlook on life. She’s not exactly booksmart but she’s very clever and can use her knowledge elsewhere.

And I love what she brings to the Ravenclaws as a whole. Everyone has a different opinion on who was apart of The Marauders year and which house everyone was in but here’s my personal head canon on Marlenes dynamic with the other Ravenclaws in her year. (I still head canon that she was apart of The Marauders year)

Emmeline Vance was her best friend and I mean like James and Sirius type shit. Emmeline and Marlene are those cute opposite attracts besties where Emmeline is more booksmart Marlene is more streetsmart but yet somehow they share one braincell.

Hestia Jones is Marlene’s worst enemy. They got off on the wrong foot when they first met and ever since kept finding new reasons to hate each other. There was no peace.

Sybill Trelawney was someone that Marlene liked and respected but wasn’t friends with mainly because Sybill was best friends with Hestia. It was a sort of agreement between the four girls that Marlene got Emmeline and Hestia got Sybill so while Marlene never disliked her she never saw her as anything other then an extension to Hestia

Kingsley Shacklebolt was one of the only people who Marlene would let take care of her. He was two months younger then her and yet still somehow her big brother. When she would go off the rails he was the one who would pull her back

Gilderoy Lockheart was Marlene’s weak point. When they first met in their first year Gilderoy told her about his two older sisters who were squibs and how they didn’t like him because he was a wizard (leaving out the fact that he was heavily favoured by their parents and extremely arrogant) and Marlene’s older sister instincts came out. She was always the one to call Gilderoy out on any of his bullshit and always made sure to humble him but could never truly dislike him. If Kingsley was her big brother then Gilderoy was her little one. They both also bonded heavily over Quidditch

(canonically Gilderoy was born in 1964 but i got too attached to him being in this year before i noticed that he's a few years younger so please just play along)

Alexander Stabbins was someone Marlene was friendly with but not friends with. Alexander and Hestia had this whole academic rivals to lovers thing going on and Marlene was Alexanders biggest supported when it came to him taking down Hestia. Realistically, Marlene knew that they fancied each other and dreaded the day when she wouldn’t have their arguments as entertainment. Either way, Alexander was company she was never upset to have

ALSO TO SING US OUT HERE ARE A BUNCH OF RAVENCLAW MARLENE HEADCANNONS

- She was the Quidditch captain during her fifth and sixth year at Hogwarts. During her sixth year she captained Hogwarts first ever all girls team

- After a night out in her sixth year she, Emmeline, Kingsley and Alexander got locked out of the common room because they were too drunk to solve the riddle to get in

- SHE LOOKED SO FUCKING GOOD IN BLUE YALL. SO FUCKING GOOD

- As you could’ve probably guessed from her dynamics with her house mates, the Ravenclaw class of 1978 got into a lot of arguments. They argued like they were dysfunctional cousins at a family reunion. One time during their second year a fight got so out of hand that Flitwick locked them in the charms classroom and made them do team bonding exercises as a punishment

- Speaking of Flitwick, Marlene respected him a lot as he helped her come to terms with her sexuality and the homophobia from her family by telling her about the discrimination that he had to face being half elf

- During her sixth year Marlene sent out gift baskets to James Potter, Dorcas Meadowes and Edgar Bones (the other three Quidditch captains) and left them a note saying that she hopes the gift basket is enough of an apology in advance for destroying them during the Quidditch season. (Dorcas set hers on fire)

RAVENCLAW MARLENE THEY COULD NEVER MAKE ME HATE YOU

[coraniaid]

(Answering @badwolfwho1's questions for this character ask game; three of four.)

Cordelia

5 What's the first song that comes to mind when you think about them?

...yeah, this is just because of that scene in The Puppet Show, sorry. But I do think it's kind of arc-appropriate that Buffy's Shadow Self Cordelia sings a song about not wanting to live in anybody's shadow and then (eventually) leaves town.

12 What's a headcanon you have for this character?

Not exactly original to me but I think I am increasingly an ace Cordy truther. 

I know there are other explanations for some of the way she’s written in Buffy and that, in the high school years in particular, the writers really don’t seem to like to suggest that any of the women on the show might have any interest in sex as such (which is probably the real reason Xander spends more time talking about how physically attractive Willow’s boyfriend Oz is than Willow herself ever manages, tempting as it is to think of that as deliberate bisexual Xander / lesbian Willow foreshadowing).  

But Cordelia especially seems particularly confused (and occasionally actively repulsed) by the mere idea of sexual desire (“does looking at guns really make girls want to have sex?” she asks Xander in Innocence, while surrounded by guns herself, “That’s scary.”; “I get it!” she announces while Faith is talking to Buffy about the side-effects of Slaying, before quickly clarifying “Not the horny thing.  Yuck.”) despite the show also being clear that Cordelia has definitely had sex (among other things, there’s the story she tells about “a friend, not me” who had sex in her car and “kicked the gearshift”  in the health class in Bad Eggs). The general impression is, I feel, pretty striking (but, yeah, absolutely unintentional).

20 Which other character is the ideal best friend for this character, the amount of screentime they share doesn't matter?

In canon I really like Cordelia’s emergent friendship with Angel. No offense meant to the Cangel shippers, I just don’t really see the appeal of their relationship being romantic (and, for other reasons, I don't like the seasons where it's suggested that it might be, so it's not a take I'm normally exposed to much).  I said in a recent post that Angel doesn’t really exist in Buffy except as Buffy’s boyfriend (sometimes Cordelia or Faith might express some interest in him, but they are very clearly only doing so because he is Buffy’s boyfriend).  So it’s nice that Angel gets to be something more like a real person in his own show, and to form relationships with people that don’t have anything to do with Buffy anymore.  

(I know that many people on here like to suggest that Buffy and Cordelia would have remained friends after Cordelia left Sunnydale, but canon doesn’t really support that at all and I don’t think I see it either – I think post-high school Buffy and Cordelia would both see each other as representative of an old life they’re trying to move beyond and probably not make any effort to stay in touch -- it's noteworthty that when either of them talk about each other post-Graduation Day, which almost never happens, they do so fairly dismissively.)

Beyond canon, I think Anya and Cordelia would have gotten on well and I think it’s a shame (and slightly hard to explain in any in-universe way) that they never interact after The Wish.  Surely Cordelia is (from Anya’s perspective) the whole reason Anya is a human!  From her perspective, she’s the first person in a thousand years whose wish she was unable to grant, and trying to do so cost her her powers.  The only reason Anya can have for not being slightly obsessed about her is the fact she knows Cordelia is going to be written out of the show soon.  And equally Cordelia, post-Lovers Walk, is very clearly badly in need of a friend: that's why she starts talking to and hanging out with Anya in the first place!  And yet, after The Wish, nothing.  Feels like a wasted opportunity.

[faeratil]

Because I have no one in person that I can rant to about my thoughts on Cinderella and the Four Knights (2016), you guys get to hear my thoughts.

First, I put this show on because I had just finished Tomorrow (2022), and I needed something sappy and full of cliché tropes to help distract me from the emotional trauma. I did my best from episode 1 to try and guess who was endgame for Eun Ha-Won based on all of the stereotypes and the way the interactions between her and the Kang cousins were written, and I feel like my original thoughts would’ve been a better ending.

Also with the way that the characters were written, they really should’ve called it Cinderella and the Three Knights because the fourth “knight” wasn’t even really written to be a Love Interest in spite of him being one of the best characters (until stuff happens with his mother and then it’s like being disappointed by your longtime crush and wanting to smack some sense into them).

My thoughts on the characters, though:

Eun Ha-Won

I love her. She deserves the world. She is an absolute ball of sunshine in spite of all the shit she’s had to deal with and continues to deal with straight through to the final meeting she has with Chairman Kang. I think she’s gorgeous, and I hate that she thinks she’s not pretty just because of how the Kang cousins treat her vs Park Hye-Ji. She honestly could’ve made it through the whole show without a Love Interest and I would’ve liked that more than the actual ending. She’s strong physically, mentally, and emotionally. She’s very smart and wants to use what she knows to teach others. She’s so very devoted to family in spite of how her stepmom and stepsister treat her, and even more so how her dad treated her. I would’ve tried to woo her myself if I had been in the show.

Kang Ji-Woon

The bad boy/bully type, the enemies-to-lovers trope, the stalker’s enabler. This man constantly looks like a crying wet puppy, but not in a cute way. He tries to look so sad and pitiful, and he’s an asshole from the get go. From the very start where he rolls his eyes and tries to give Ha-Won his watch when she asks him to apologize for not buying all the food he asked her to prepare at the convenience store, and then scoffs and immediately assumes she’d do anything for money (without considering the fact that she’s dead broke and needs money to survive). You think maybe there’s a redemption when he gives her a bouquet of white roses on the memorial day (I forget what the actual name of that day is called) of her mom’s death. And then you see him being a whiny puppy stuck to the second female lead, enabling her stalker tendencies and hating everyone who doesn’t immediately make Hye-Ji happy. He hates Hyun-Min so much that he also decides to pursue Ha-Won just to make him miserable when he thinks they’re engaged, not even caring about how it might make Ha-Won feel. He keeps doing sweet and caring things that make you think “oh she’s finally breaking down his tough exterior”, and then he just turns around and is an asshole again. He abandoned both Ha-Won AND Hye-Ji on the side of the road on separate occasions and then thought just saying “oh sorry” would fix it. I get that his backstory is sad, and I get that Chairman Kang fucked him over and basically forced him to accept the fact that he’s family, but it’s no excuse for the way he treats everyone else. Also, man needs to learn how to comb his hair and maybe take some allergy medication so his eyes stop watering and his nose isn’t always red.

Kang Seo-Woo

The unrequited love, the pop-star, the male best friend trope. I love him, and I hate that the writers barely gave him a chance. He tried so hard so many times to tell Ha-Won that he liked her. He did so many things to care for her, wrote love songs about her, used his status as a pop-star to help draw crowds away from Ha-Won when she was getting bullied by the girls who thought she was Chairman Kang’s mistress, was a genuinely kind person to everyone including Ha-Won’s best friend, and tried so many times to confess. I wish the writers would’ve taken just a couple more lines to have him say “no, Ha-Won, I’m not writing a love song right now, I’m telling you how I genuinely feel about you” and actually given her a chance to consider him. He saw how much Ha-Won hated the spotlight she got while everyone thought she was engaged to Hyun-Min, and he let pictures of himself in a girls uniform go viral just to stop more pictures of Ha-Won from leaking to the press. At any moment, he could’ve just done with Hyun-Min did and asked Ha-Won to play along with the rumors of them dating, but he actually considered Ha-Won’s feelings (glaring at you, Ji-Woon) and lied about his own feelings to protect her. If I had to choose between the Kang cousins, I would choose Seo-Woo.

Kang Hyun-Min

The spoiled rich kid, the playboy, the fake fiancé, the one afraid to actually love, the object of the stalker’s affection. I wish he had been endgame. They set it up so well in the beginning for him to be endgame. You could tell from the moment he saw Ha-Won beat up the assholes at the bar/party for not paying for the pizza delivery, he was developing feelings. He could’ve easily gone back on his bet with his friends and asked any other girl to go to Chairman Kang’s wedding with him, but he chose to go after Ha-Won, and even went all the way to the convenience store just to try and get her attention. His shock at hearing about BOGO deals with the ice cream was honestly cute, and he was kind enough to sit down with Ha-Won and enjoy the ice cream in spite of being raised directly under Chairman Kang (who makes it very clear what he thinks of anyone who isn’t rich), and he’s actually nice to her. At the beginning he still has that playboy attitude, but even after offering her money to be his date (and being turned down, good job Ha-Won for holding true to your values), he still tries. He picks her up for the wedding, opens the door for her, treats her the way a gentleman should treat a lady (win for chivalry!), and gives her a chance to feel as beautiful as she is. He also is very up front and adamant with Hye-Ji that he wants nothing to do with her, but she keeps showing up and trying to make him feel guilty for not still liking her after having a crush on her when they were NINE YEARS OLD, and it’s been 10 years (she bugs the hell out of me but we’ll get to her). Hyun-Min also is thinking of Ha-Won when he asks Chairman Kang and Secretary Lee to keep it secret from the other Kang cousins that Ha-Won isn’t his real fiancé, because he trusts that they wouldn’t try to pull anything on someone who was already in a relationship (fuck you Ji-Woon for taking that personally and making Ha-Won uncomfortable and confused). He keeps Ha-Won company so she won’t be alone, he goes along with her missions until his pride gets in the way, he buys her a whole wardrobe of clothes because she keeps wearing the same tracksuit for god knows how many episodes and just genuinely tries to make her feel comfortable and taken care of so she can focus on the things she actually needs to do instead of just surviving. I wish that he had seen Ha-Won when she got dolled up in that black and blue dress, he would’ve fallen for her all over again. Unfortunately, the writers decided that the “childhood lovers/first love” trope was more important for Hyun-Min and Hye-Ji, and they had him go back to her even though she was being a stalker after he repeatedly said no. Also hella power move that the heir to the Haneul group in his early 20s would go stand before a board of directors and his grandpa’s wife to save his grandpa’s company after being a slacker playboy up until he met Ha-Won. I love him. I wish he had ended up with Ha-Won. Fuck the writers for putting him with his stalker.

Lee Yoon-Sung

The “fourth knight”, the secretary to the chairman, the by the book character. They never even gave him a chance to be considered a Love Interest, so it kept bothering me that they called it “…Four Knights” and then only made 3 of them potential LIs. He is the most efficient and down to earth of all the guys, he does his job exceedingly well, he respects the absolute hell out of Ha-Won and tries his best to make the Kang cousins respect her as well, he’s a master of tae-kwon-do, he’s deeply loyal to the chairman until a bigger issue comes up, and he’s a very obvious fan favorite. I was very disappointed that the writers made him side with Madame Ji even for the time that he did because he had been so against treating her as his mother after she abandoned him with an abusive drunk father 12 years prior, but I am glad his loyalty to the chairman won out. Also very happy that they included him in their friend group at the end, my man needs to learn to relax (but not with alcohol… my emetophobia did not appreciate the end of the drunk dinner…).

Park Hye-Ji

The second female lead. I cannot stand her. I hate that the writers even included her past the first couple episodes, and I hate even more than they ended up letting her win with Hyun-Min. She’s a very “woe is me” character who acts like she’s entitled to everyone’s attention, especially Hyun-Min’s, just because he gave her a ring when they were 9 and her family got along with the Kang family before her brother died. This girl spends 10 years pining over Hyun-Min after she has not seen or heard from him AT ALL in those 10 years, shows up at his house unannounced when he returns to Korea from studying abroad, constantly shows up wherever he is in public and just looks at him all sad and pathetic like he belongs to her and is cheating on her, she’s been told by him numerous times in basically every episode that he does not want her around and that she should give up even to the point where Hyun-Min has to threaten to never acknowledge her again, she hates Ha-Won for being close to Hyun-Min and then later Ji-Woon, she jumps from guy to guy after Hyun-Min’s threat starting with Ji-Woon because she knows it’ll piss off Hyun-Min the most, she assumes anyone who is nice to her must be in love with her and feels personally attacked and betrayed when they’re like “no I’m just a nice person, I don’t have feelings for you”, blames Hyun-Min for her being so sad and depressed when she’s the one who can’t just fucking get over him from when THEY WERE CHILDREN, constantly tries to make moves and get close to Hyun-Min on the trip and after she moves into Haneul House, and then turns around and is like “I never want to see you again” when Hyun-Min tries to treat her more kindly and tries to explain why he was being such a dick to her. And yet they end up together. Because “childhood love/first love” was more important to the writers than the fact that they made the second female lead a self absorbed entitled stalker. The only thing that comes to mind that puts her in a good light was when she let Ha-Won spend the night, but even that was reluctant and she only started being nice after Ha-Won admitted that the engagement was fake. She should’ve just taken the fashion scholarship to Paris and finally gotten out of the Kang’s lives. If she was alone in a foreign country she might actually learn to rely on herself instead of always expecting Hyun-Min or Ji-Woon to come running.

Hong Ja-Yeoung

Seo-Woo’s biggest fan, Ha-Won’s best friend, an absolute cupcake of a character. I want her to be my best friend. It did annoy me that at the beginning of the trip, she left Ha-Won to do stuff alone just because Seo-Woo wasn’t joining them, but my girl has Ha-Won’s back in every other situation. She was even willing to support Ha-Won and Seo-Woo when the scandal article was published saying that they were engaged when they weren’t. She also was determined enough to get close to her favorite pop-star that she came up with a plan to help him escape his fan girls by wearing her school uniform, and she managed to sneak some photos of him crossdressing as well that he later used to help Ha-Won. She’s been there for Ha-Won through everything and did whatever she could to help even though she herself didn’t have much. I am so happy for her that she gets to be part of Seo-Woo’s management team in the end.

Chairman Kang

Classist asshole who values highly skilled and charismatic employees, but continues to treat them like trash if they stop acting like employees. For him, money buys everything including people, and he has almost completely forgotten what it’s like to actually care about someone until Ji-Woon is on his knees in tears begging him to give his blessings to him and Ha-Won, bringing up how the chairman made his mom leave his dad to remind him of the horrible mistake he made in the past. Chairman Kang talks all the time about wanting the Kang cousins to act as a family, but doesn’t even act like a grandpa to them. He acts like a dictator by threatening to cut them off from everyone and everything if they don’t do exactly what he says. He has good instinct not to trust Madame Ji towards the end, but you would think after 4 failed marriages he would have some way of blocking any future wives from trying to take over the company. I’m glad he finally gave Ha-Won his blessing, but just the wrong cousin.

That being said! In spite of the endgame love interest and the stalker, the interactions were pretty cute and it was entertaining. It was much needed after watching Tomorrow. I’m going to acknowledge that canon has Ha-Won with Ji-Woon, but in my mind I will always pair Ha-Won with Hyun-Min or Seo-Woo, and believe that Hye-Ji would actually go away (and STAY away) after Hyun-Min rejected her at the wedding.

[enteroctopusdarkysilis]

Here’s my take on a batch of custom Nexo Knights minifigs !

Closeups and thoughts under the cut

So, in no particular order, the closeups, with comments and comparisons with the actual characters from the original Lego theme (also, because of Tumblr’s image limits, I had to badly stitch together my pictures, sorry-)

1) Mace

Pretty cool one, and the only girl in the team in the original cast, who also happen to have troubles because her dad is the king. But eh, none of that here, so she get the cool cloak I assign to any cool red character I can find (yes, you’ll see it again many times in the future). The overall design is pretty nice (mostly this face, the other one on the brick is not as good; the printed armor, which is from season 4, is pretty nice, and does a nice job with the large dark piece (coming from later Hero Factory sets). The weapons are from the Chima theme (and so is the cloak !). The hairs are from the only Tron set, which should have been continued as whole theme but eh-

2) Axel

Stupid and muscular originally. Well, now he’s got a Large Axe (Bionicle) to stand to his name. The helmet is all Nexo, but with some custom brew of mine, and so is the shield. Also, the custom arm was possible because the large chest has a technic pin.

3) Clay(more)

Not room much modifications on the base character (s1). The sword is from a season four version of the character, the shield is homemade with some fun pieces I had lying around. The two arms are modified from the Ultimate set. …which I transformed in guns…Yeah.

4) Aaron

Green ! Always had a cooler weapon. The armor is from the mech set, the chest piece is from s3-4, the Google’s are from the Ultimate set, and the shoulder thingy is from Boba Fett. I kept the original shield with some added pieces, which is made to fly (like with the original al character) but changed the face to give him a more serious expression. The weapon is mostly from the original crossbow, with some nice twists (the beam on the first image is from a ninjago sword).

5) Lance Whatever their name is now

Really a bad character : rich, 'very pretty', egocentric. So, well…I took the armor and made an entire new one. I really like them, but it might be because it took an awful lot of time to figure out the weapon (transparent white piece similar to the green beam mentioned above). Armor-wise, it’s s1 body, with a grey pauldron (Clone Wars) and a light grey kama (…Also Clone Wars). The hairs are a really cool piece from a Ninjago set, and the head…Come from a City ski set. But the orange visor makes it work !

6) Never remembered the name of that one

Original character is a very smart kid with not much development in the show. Well, firstly I made him an adult (legs are from a black widow figure), and then I decided to push the technical side a little. So, full suit with crystal swords, which works ! Most pieces are actually from the theme, except the red dots (Ninjago again), the crystals in the back (Power Mine [really a cool theme !]), and the helmet (City firefighters + Ninjago…again). It was the first one I made, which made me do the others.

I might get them in a diorama at some point, to set them against the very many custom monsters from the same theme (which were already much cooler than the original minifigs). In fact, most of the theme was really cool, the two sad points are that it was discontinued, and the TV show was…Well, it didn’t push much sci-fi nor fantasy, so I had to do the job.

Now, with that post I have finally revealed my three favorites things to do with legos : Dioramas, Big Mechs, and Custom minifigures (plus any Clone Wars related stuff, but it’s probably just as much because of the fandom aspect as it is the Lego aspect). One day perhaps, I’ll get all three of these aspects in one epic scene, but I have no idea of how for now, so maybe later~

[forthedancingandthethriving]

Had some ideas for how things might be going for the other SMG universes in Washed up Memories:

-All That Shit definitely wouldn't have stopped Jayin and Mr. L, so they still took Nimbus, Tulip, Irene and their worlds (they couldn't reach the Mushroom Kingdom to get Juliano any more than anyone else could, which was obviously not ideal, but it was... acceptable. really), and with the heart of the Meme Alliance shut off like that what should've been a rescue mission that lasted an arc and maybe a movie turned into a several months long all-out war with harsh losses on both sides (Tulip never really recovered from Olimar's death), not helped by the fact that it dragged out long enough to overlap with the Abyss's Computer Hell Jailbreak plan. They did manage to get the games back but it was. Bad. Real Bad.

-Gamer Girl, Zack, Jim and Larry were in the Pokemon world on one of their adventures when everything went wrong, so similar to Amy the three of them were spared from the whole Flood World thing at the expense of never being able to return home. Larry in particular Did Not Take It Well and struck out on his own across the internet, with rumors and brief glimpses across the centuries as the only trace any Adminspace-affiliated characters can find of him. Yes, even to this day. Koopas are magic turtles, Royal Koopas even moreso, and with a little luck their lifespan is essentially just Yes.

-Speaking of, between the SM64 Universe's problems and losing Olimar the Admins and Glitch Productions couldn't bring themselves to continue expanding the SMG Project. They still look after the existing Meme universes of course, but they won't make any more new ones

-No idea what eventually went down with the Grid but in this timeline it's now a legitimate company under Alyssa's control (I hc that for these Major Timeskip AUs IRL Time and Computer Time desynchronize for a while so it hasn't been hundreds of years IRL even though it has been inside) and the First Five MRU Universes ended up being the only MRU Universes. By sheer luck Astra and Piper weren't in the SM64 universe when everything went down.

-With just how long it's been, most of the original Chosen Avatars and Anchors are gone, either from old age or Incidents, with Kirby, Laharl and Timmy (who ended up becoming a Fairy at some point) as the last of the old guard. Since he's the oldest as far as "Time Spent as an Avatar" goes (and possibly overall but he'll never tell) Kirby's ended up in a similar position to Juliano's back in the day.

-Between losing her friends, losing her father figure, and What Ghosts Are Like, Floyd's been drowning in grief ever since it happened. There's a massive forest on the edge of Dreamland that's been completely devoid of life and color for as long as most of Popstar's inhabitants can remember.

-It's not all Doom and Gloom. Eventually GG decided that she did, in fact, return his feelings, and they've been together ever since. And yes, he is still around despite how long it's been thanks to GG's whole "turn character-levels into code-levels and back" power. They're actually currently the Admins of the Kirby universe (Look. Chip and Bandwidth are incredibly old even by Code Entity standards in the main AU's current time. Realistically they're not gonna be around forever and it makes sense that they'd name their surrogate granddaughter and her partner as their successors).

-Speaking of which the other two members of the First Four are also retired and/or dead (it's not really relevant which it is, considering), with Antivirus naming Mira and Amy (who also took the offer of GG's ascension power to stay with Mira) the new rulers/wardens of Computer Hell and Dave just following protocol (since he actually had a protocol to follow) and promoting whoever in the Archives was next in the chain of command.

-Jim did not do the ascension thing and just lived out the rest of his natural life in Dreamland. Possibly got hitched and had kids at some point I dunno it's not really relevant to the current situation.

-No one has given up on the SM64 Universe. The Admins and Meme Alliance are still doing whatever they can to try and either break in or at least make contact with someone on the inside.

(As usual if any of this doesn't fit with whatever you already have planned for the AU feel free to ignore it)

Oh, I love all these!! They fit super, super well. Sooo,, canon! All of em!

[versus-weird-al]

The Results Are In!

Well, everyone. It's finally done.

After almost four months, this blog went over as many of Weird Al's direct song parodies (not his style/artist parodies or polka remixes!) as humanly possible. And we're happy to say that for both full song parodies and smaller parody medleys...

Weird Al won!

The final score for full song parodies is:

Originals: 18, Weird Al: 60

Weird Al didn't just win. He won by a landslide.

Due to the sheer number of victories by Weird Al in this category, we have put the full list of winners under the Read More. (We have also put a full list of the polls where voters were the most decisive, where no one voted to see results.)

The 18 original songs that beat Weird Al were:

Won't Get Fooled Again (The Who)

Another One Bites the Dust (Queen)

Taxman (The Beatles)

The Safety Dance (Men Without Hats)

It's Still Rock and Roll to Me (Billy Joel)

Eye of the Tiger (Survivor)

Girls Just Want to Have Fun (Cyndi Lauper)

U Can't Touch This (MC Hammer)

Zoot Suit Riot (Cherry Poppin' Daddies)

One Week (Barenaked Ladies)

Pretty Fly (For a White Guy) (The Offspring)

Complicated (Avril Lavigne)

Lose Yourself (Eminem)

Piano Man (Billy Joel)

American Idiot (Green Day)

Born This Way (Lady Gaga)

You Belong With Me (Taylor Swift)

Radioactive (Imagine Dragons)

Now for the bonus medley category! Despite the smaller amount of contenders, the race was a lot closer in this section, but Weird Al still pulled ahead! The bonus medley section's final score is:

Originals: 11, Weird Al: 17

The short, but sweet, Weird Al parodies proved to be:

Avocado

Fatter

I Feel Like Throwing Up

Flatbush Avenue

Sometimes You Feel Like a Nut

Take the L out of Liver

We Got the Beef

Burger King

Doctor, Doctor

Make Me Steak #3

Moldy Now

Blame It on the Drain

Bedrock Anthem (Under the Bridge portion)

Gee, I'm a Nerd

Lousy Haircut

Fast Food

I'm in Luv Wit Da Skipper

The victorious original songs were:

House of the Rising Sun (The Animals)

More Than a Feeling (Boston)

Take Me to the River (Al Green)

Crazy On You (Heart)

Time in a Bottle (Jim Croce)

Maneater (Hall & Oates)

Don't You (Forget about Me) (Simple Minds)

Whole Lotta Love (Led Zeppelin)

Live and Let Die (Paul McCartney and Wings)

Black or White (Michael Jackson)

My Heart Will Go On (Celine Dion)

Fun Facts!

This blog had two ties during the course of the competition that required additional 24-hour tiebreakers.

"Feel Like Makin' Love" (Bad Company) and "I Feel Like Throwing Up" (Weird Al) both tied for 45.5% of 22 votes, with 9.1% of people electing to see results. "I Feel Like Throwing Up" later won with 58.8% of 17 votes from a lightning round tiebreaker.

"Whole Lotta Love" (Led Zeppelin) vs. "Whole Lotta Lunch" (Weird Al) both tied for 47.4% of 19 votes, with 5.3% electing to see results. "Whole Lotta Love" later won with 62.5% of 16 votes from a lightning round tiebreaker.

There were 8 original songs that got 0% of their polls' votes:

"Jeopardy" (The Greg Kihn Band) got 0% of 36 votes. If no one had voted to see results (2.8%), Weird Al would have gotten a full 100% sweep!

"Suddenly Last Summer" (The Motels) got 0% of 12 votes. 25% of voters elected to see results. This song lost to a medley song.

"Doctor! Doctor!" (The Thompson Twins) got 0% of 8 votes. 12.5% of voters elected to see results. This song lost to a medley song.

"I Want a New Drug" (Huey Lewis and the News) got 0% of 19 votes. 0% of voters chose to see results. Which means that "I Want a New Duck" is the first Weird Al song to win 100% of the votes against its opponent!

"Baby Don't Forget My Number" (Milli Vanilli) got 0% of 8 votes. 25% of voters elected to see results.

"MacArthur Park" (Richard Harris) got 0% of 32 votes. 3.1% of voters elected to see results.

"It's All About the Benjamins (Rock Remix)" (Puff Daddy) got 0% of 21 votes. 0% of votes chose to see results. "It's All About the Pentiums" is the second Weird Al song to win 100% of the votes against its opponent!

"Jack & Diane" (John Mellencamp) got 0% of 24 votes. 12.5% of voters chose to see results.

There was at least one instance that we could find of identical poll results:

Both "More Than a Feeling" vs. "More Than a Filling" and "Take Me to the River" vs. "Take Me to the Liver" saw the original song get 56% of 25 votes, the parody get 44%, and the "see results" option get no votes.

There was one unique matchup in which voters routinely disliked both original song and Weird Al's parody:

Multiple voters said it was hard to choose between "Baby Talks Dirty" (The Knack) and "Baby Likes Burping" (Weird Al) because both songs are (allegedly) very unpleasant to listen to.

Finally... a shoutout to the two polls that got the most votes overall:

"My Sharona" (The Knack) vs "My Bologna" (Weird Al), which got 342 votes.

"Another One Bites the Dust" (Queen) vs. "Another One Rides the Bus" (Weird Al), which got 458 votes.

Thank you all so much for tuning into this competition! After a brief hiatus, we will be back for Phase 2: Artist/Style Parodies!

Here are all the Weird Al parodies that won the main contest:

My Bologna

Beverly Hillbillies/Miss You

Baby Likes Burping

You Don't Take Your Showers

I Love Rocky Road

Ricky

Stop Draggin' My Car Around

Eat It

I Lost on Jeopardy

King of Suede

I Want a New Duck

Like a Surgeon

Yoda

Addicted to Spuds

Here's Johnny

Living with a Hernia

Toothless People

Alimony

Fat

I Think I'm a Clone Now

Lasagna

(This Song's Just) Six Words Long

Isle Thing

Money for Nothing/Beverly Hillbillies

She Drives Like Crazy

Spam

The Plumbing Song

Smells Like Nirvana

Taco Grande

The White Stuff

Achy Breaky Song

Bedrock Anthem

Green Eggs and Ham

Jurassic Park

Livin' in the Fridge

Headline News

Amish Paradise

Cavity Search

Gump

I'll Repair for You (Theme from Home Improvement)

Laundry Day

Phony Calls

Syndicated, Inc.

It's All About the Pentiums

The Saga Begins

eBay

Trash Day

Confessions Part III

Do I Creep You Out

Trapped in the Drive-Thru

White & Nerdy

You're Pitiful

Homer and Marge

Whatever You Like

Another Tattoo

Party in the CIA

Foil

Handy

Tacky

Word Crimes

This blog saw 0% of voters choose to "see results" for 31 polls:

"More Than a Feeling" (Boston) and "More Than a Filling" (Weird Al)

"Take Me to the River" (Al Green) and "Take Me to the Liver" (Weird Al)

"Crazy on You" (Heart) and "Throw Gravy on You" (Weird Al)

"Time in a Bottle" (Jim Croce) and "If I Could Make Love to a Bottle" (Weird Al)

"I Love Rock 'N Roll" (Joan Jett & the Blackhearts) and "I Love Rocky Road" (Weird Al)

"Mickey" (Toni Basil) and "Ricky" (Weird Al)

"It's Still Rock and Roll to Me" (Billy Joel) vs. "It's Still Billy Joel to Me" (Weird Al)

"Don't You (Forget About Me)" (Simple Minds) vs. "Don't You (Forget About Meat)" (Weird Al)

"Girls Just Want to Have Fun" (Cyndi Lauper) vs. "Girls Just Wanna Have Lunch" (Weird Al)

"I Want a New Drug" (Huey Lewis and the News) vs. "I Want a New Duck" (Weird Al)

"Like a Virgin" (Madonna) vs. "Like a Surgeon" (Weird Al)

"Who's Johnny (Short Circuit theme)" (El DeBarge) vs. "Here's Johnny" (Weird Al)

"I Think We're Alone Now" (Tiffany) vs. "I Think I'm a Clone Now" (Weird Al)

"La Bamba" (Los Lobos) vs. "Lasagna" (Weird Al)

"Got My Mind Set on You" (George Harrison) vs. "(This Song's Just) Six Words Long" (Weird Al)

"Wild Thing" (Tone Lōc) vs. "Isle Thing" (Weird Al)

"She Drives Me Crazy" (Fine Young Cannibals) vs. "She Drives Like Crazy" (Weird Al)

"Livin' on the Edge" (Aerosmith) vs. "Livin' in the Fridge" (Weird Al)

"Gangsta's Paradise" (Coolio) vs. "Amish Paradise" (Weird Al)

"Thank U" (Alanis Morissette) vs. "Fast Food" (Weird Al)

"My Heart Will Go On" (Celine Dion) vs. "Free Delivery" (Weird Al)

"It's All About the Benjamins (Rock Remix)" (Puff Daddy) vs. "It's All About the Pentiums" (Weird Al)

"One Week" (Barenaked Ladies) vs. "Jerry Springer" (Weird Al)

"American Pie" (Don McLean) vs. "The Saga Begins" (Weird Al)

"Complicated" (Avril Lavigne) vs. "A Complicated Song" (Weird Al)

"Hot in Herre" (Nelly) vs. "Trash Day" (Weird Al)

"American Idiot" (Green Day) vs. "Canadian Idiot" (Weird Al)

"Do I Make You Proud" (Taylor Hicks) vs. "Do I Creep You Out" (Weird Al)

"Party in the U.S.A." (Miley Cyrus) vs. "Party in the CIA" (Weird Al)

"Radioactive" (Imagine Dragons) vs. "Inactive" (Weird Al)

"Blurred Lines" (Robin Thicke) vs. "Word Crimes" (Weird Al)

[freezegirl]

verses (more to be added at a later date):

SKY HIGH: set during and after the movie. see here for the lore.

SKY U: main timeline. (sky high & sky u are marvel adjacent on this blog and i will write a post on that later.) khione has graduated from sky high and is now enrolled in sky u. but of course the life of a hero in training is never easy. it wasn't in high school and it won't be in college slash university, either.

THE BOYS / GEN V: khione has been injected with compound v much like her parents before her. she's got access to cryokinesis and hydrokinesis, though. she's currently enrolled in god u and, due to her parents, chose the crimson countess track despite the fact that she's got what it takes and actually wanted to try her hand at getting into the lamplighter track. while people called her freeze girl in high school, these days, her chosen hero name is frostbite.

INVINCIBLE: third gen with hydro/cryo abilities. goes to the same school as mark and samantha. declined an invitation to join the teen team and joined up with the stronghold six, which then turned into the stronghold seven.

MARVEL: mutant with hydro/cryo abilities. think iceman. (she wants to meet iceman so bad.) her parents wanted to send her to xavier's but ended up relenting when khione made it clear that she wanted to go to sky high and sky u (but that win came with a price).

the gifted: a mutant with hydro/cryo abilities. she's with the mutant underground and has made a sizable donation (it's not like her parents will miss the money.)

DC: metahuman with hydro/cryo abilities. think caitlin snow. except khione's had hers since birth. she has an undisputed love for ice heroes and ice villains.

THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY: has hydro/cryo abilities. her parents - who have similar powers - run in the same affluent circles as allison.

DESCENDANTS: a well known auradonian. daughter of two retired heroes (permafrost and ganga) who have been planning out her entire life. her parents have since retired and are now tv celebs.

TEEN WOLF: third gen ice (and water) elemental who has lived in beacon hills since forever. it doesn't take her that long to figure out that werewolves are a thing. she's not part of any pack but wouldn't balk at helping out if need be. has a soft spot for scott mccall and the mccall pack as a whole.

TWILIGHT: vampire who has a combination of hydrokinesis and cryokinesis as her special ability. comes from a long line of vampires with similar abilities.

FIRST KILL: legacy who comes from a long line of vampires with extra abilities: her dad is a cryokinetic and her mom is a hydrokinetic. khione has inherited both powers, which is great. she's also inherited their enemies, which is not so great.

TVD: third gen ice (and water) elemental who is around jeremy's age and has been posing as an ice witch so far. not really part of the mystic falls gang but wouldn't say no to helping them either.

THE ORIGINALS: third gen ice (and water) elemental who is wandering around new orleans in search of her friends.

LEGACIES: third gen ice (and water) elemental, starts out at mystic falls high but ends up transferring to salvatore's when her powers get exposed. thinks malivore is a dumb name. not part of the super squad or the anti squad but helps both out if need be. she mostly hangs out with the stronghold six (and when she joins the group as their seventh and final member, the name changes from the stronghold six to the stronghold seven).

COBRA KAI: khione is trying her best to stay out of the karate war, lest anyone finds out that she actually has powers. but her parents want her to get lessons from daniel, specifically, because he's so well known. khione would really rather not, though.

ONCE UPON A TIME: khione arrives in storybrooke much like elsa did in season four, turning storybrooke into a winter wonderland. the young elemental is only here for one thing and one thing only: finding her friends.

[tremendouskoalachild]

list of everything i didn't like about avatar: the way of water

(sorry avatar head mutuals, love you guys but i have very little positive to say about it)

(this is just me venting because i have Thoughts in my head and nobody i know irl has seen it. i wanna enter the new year with a cleansed mind i guess)

(for context i saw it because i had an opportunity to see it for free and went, fuck it. i am not a fan of the first film and haven't seen it since 2010. i also do not vibe with james cameron movies in general)

ruins the any day now meme by actually coming out :(

is an hour longer than it needs to be and two hours longer than it should be. i get that it's about the experience and all but pretty blue people admiring majestic creatures does, in fact, get old eventually

james cameron can't help himself i guess. the amount of underwater exploration scenes is borderline masturbatory, not to mention the whole finale taking place on a sinking ship

please tell me they didn't use the actual papyrus font for the subtitles. idk how noticeable it is in the original but watching the film subtitled is painful until you get desensitized to it

colonialism is apparently not enough to make us root against the humans. no we gotta show them gleefully murder a space whale momma (who composes music 🥺🥺) and her baby

the fact that the destruction of nature is treated as more heinous than the attempted genocide of the na'vi (who are pretty transparently stand ins for native americans) is to be expected from the franchise... i still hate it though.

bad guy lady disappears like midway through. and i had such high hopes for her after she was shown using her mech suit arm to drink coffee. slay queen

for such a ruthless piece of shit (affectionate) the main bad guy doesn't know what to do with a hostage. buddy you could have ended the fight like four separate times. you even had redundancy because they always manage to capture several kids at once 😭

the character accused by every video essayist alive of being a white savior wears dreadlocks now. idk kinda tone deaf if you ask me

the decision to just have the Na'vi speak english is cowardly as fuck. didn't you guys make a fully functional conlang for the first movie??

it also makes it more difficlut to tell what language is being spoken in various scenes. literally what is going on and who understands whom

neytiri was done dirty. barely present most of the film and underdeveloped.

even though the original movie apparently fucked over the hired composers i can't deny that its music fucked. can't remember a single melody from the sequel though

main villain being able to commune with nature without any self-reflection sucks ass. you could say he just subdued the flying thing through it comes back later and is apparently loyal so what was that

the spider situation is really weird. his adopted family don't really seem to care about his abduction much (was jake sully being more literal than i realized when he called spider basically the family's stray cat?? idk neytiri sure doesn't seem to give a fuck about him). the weirder thing though is how he is not restrained or even really supervised while captured despite being open about his loyalties

not to out myself as a space racist but i couldn't tell the two brothers apart until like halfway through at which point one got a lot more spotlight and it became clear the other was done for. rip son number 2 i literally don't remember your name

does this decanonize the avatar theme park 🥺 (this is a joke. all i know about the park is from that one jenny nicholson video and the lore does not seem all that good)

the love interest girl's character is said like once or twice in the whole movie. i was listening for it since i was crushing on her (because neytiri is barely in the movie)

there are multiple instances of a boat being thrown into the air and none of them look real

i swear they say "four fingers" when they mean five at some point. yeah i'm reaching here

the plot is paper thin and so many of the situations are incredibly basic

[shotattheshow]

[REVIEW] Bowling For Soup @ Rickshaw Theatre

By Jacob Zinn

It’s hard to believe it’s been 20 years since Bowling For Soup’s A Hangover You Don’t Deserve was released – but it’s even harder to believe that Friday was their first time performing in Vancouver since the 2003 Warped Tour, before their biggest album ever came out.

But the pop-punk stalwarts finally found their way north of the border for a series of Canadian dates, including a sold out headliner at the Rickshaw Theatre to celebrate the album’s 20th anniversary.

[PHOTOS] Bowling For Soup @ Rickshaw Theatre

The temporary trio from Texas (founding lead guitarist Chris Burney is recovering from surgery) was joined by Insta-famous Long Island rock quartet Adam and the Metal Hawks and Rhode Island pop punkers MAKEOUT (formerly Trophy Wives) for easily one of the funnest shows of the year.

[PHOTOS] MAKEOUT @ Rickshaw Theatre

MAKEOUT got things started with a series of instant singalongs like “Childish, “Lisa” (to anyone named Lisa, they’re so sorry) and the ever-catchy “Crazy.” Guitarist Tyler Young and vocalist Kyle Dee warmed the crowd up from the front of the stage while drummer Scott Eckel kept a low profile in the back – all-in-all, an impressive opening set by the touring three-piece.

[PHOTOS] Adam and the Metal Hawks @ Rickshaw Theatre

From social media to the stage, AMH kicked off their set with the Rocky Horror Picture Show classic “Time Warp” and alternated between original tunes such as “Backwards” and “Fine Line” – all heavily influenced by the likes of Led Zeppelin, AC/DC and Tenacious D – and covers of Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now,” The Killers’ “Mr. Brightside” and Jimmy Eat World’s “The Middle.”

Then came time for Bowling For Soup – the 21-year wait was over! Going song for song, singer/guitarist Jaret Reddick, drummer Gary Wiseman and bassist Rob Felicetti launched into the came-up-short anthem “Almost” followed by headwear love song “Trucker Hat” and their biggest smash earworm, “1985.”

Touring on an album means playing it front-to-back in its entirety – all 17 tracks – and about halfway through, singer Jaret Reddick acknowledged that their set was inadvertently front-loaded by the album’s three hit singles. (Including the highlight of MAKEOUT taking over the onstage responsibilities during “Ohio (Come Back to Texas)” midsong.)

“This next song is my favourite song on the album,” said Reddick, referring to “Last Call Casualty.”

“I think it should’ve been a hit, but we had three or four other ones off this album, and we’ve already played them so you guys are going, ‘Fuck, shit…’ But here’s the thing, if you guys make it through this whole album, we’re gonna play more hits afterwards!”

And indeed they did! After peppering in some other AHYDD favourites like “Next Ex-Girlfriend,” “A-Hole” and “Smoothie King,” Reddick invited a lucky fan named Brittany onstage to spin a wheel for the next song – she crossed her fingers for “Emily,” and as fate would have it, the spin actually landed on it!

The encore rounded out the night with three of the band’s biggest early-to-mid 2000s throwbacks.

First up, “High School Never Ends” perfectly reminded us of the celebrity culture of its time, and how little has changed in the last two decades. Then, perhaps for some of the younger fans, they led right into “Today is Gonna Be a Great Day,” the Phineas and Ferb theme song – there were more than a few Perry the Platypus hats in the crowd so this was a big one, even for those who attended Punk Rock 101.

And, of course, the show wouldn’t be complete without the penultimate song about your high school crush on a goth girl with a choker, “Girl All the Bad Guys Want.”

“Ladies and gentlemen, I hate goodbyes, but I do love the fact that we get to leave you… with THE BEST SONG EVER SUNG,” said Reddick before riffing into the finale.

But he also left the Vancouver crowd with some hope for a return sooner than later.

“It’s been a long time since we played in Canada, it’s been a long time since we toured here,” he said, “and I hope that we won’t take that long of a break again, it would be great to come back a time or two very, very soon.”

[ashleysingermfablog]

Wk 16, 25th of May, 2024 Research

Matrilineage (folklores, intergenerational knowledge, inherited learning)

Being a women, what did I learn from my mother, that she learnt from her mother, that she learnt from her mother. Inter-generational knowledge systems:

Matrilineage in my genealogy is very important to my family. Every first born girl is given the middle name May, after my great great grandmother's nickname. I lived with both my mum, my nana and her nana on the holidays as child in Riverhead, Auckland. This side of my family has the Welsh heritage and my great nana immigrated to Adelaide by boat when my nana was 13 years old before they moved again to Parnell, Auckland.

There have always been a level of European superstition in my family. Here are some examples of superstitions the are common and used day to day.

'Touchwood'- to avoid bad luck or a negative event

'Wishing bones'- pulling the wish bone after cooking a roast chicken

'Don't stand in fairy rings or mushroom circles'- we were told as kids that this was bad luck

'Looking for faeries on hikes and building fairy houses'- this was seen as bringing good wishes

'Astrology'- my mum introduced me to star signs and my nana is a firm believer that she is a classic taurus

'Gathering four leaf clovers'- my mum would help us find four leaf clovers

'Making daisy chains'- we did this often as kids, although I wasn't very good at it

'Don't step on cracks in pavement'- thought to be bad luck to your mother

'Don't let a black cat cross your path'- thought to bring bad luck

"Buttercup flowers under the chin'- this was thought to mean that you liked butter

Most of these were very light hearted and not ritually enforced, but they play a big role in my world building as a child. These are also very common ones too.

Here are a list of common and historical Welsh superstitions,

From the text: In the Welsh Tradition- Welsh Folk Beliefs and Superstitions by Tredyffrin Easttown Historical Society History Quarterly Digital Archives...

Tredyffrin and Easttown were both originally a part of the "Welsh Tract". It was a tract of 40,000 acres, purchased by a group of seventeen Welsh gentlemen from William Penn in the summer of 1681, Their plan was to form a "barony" in which Welsh settlers would make their own laws and hold their own courts and conduct their affairs in their own language, "the ancient language of the Britons", in accordance with their own customs and traditions.

For a number of reasons, it didn't happen. But if it had, a whole body of Welsh beliefs and superstitions, might well have become folk knowledge in this area, handed down to us today and a part of our tradition.

In 1949 The Philosophical Library in New York published an Encyclopedia of Superstitions, no longer in print. It was the culmination of more than four years of research by Edwin and Mona A, Radford, columnists of the London Daily Mirror, and is a compilation of "more than two thousand superstitions of Britain, ranging over the past six hundred years". Many of these superstitions were found generally throughout Britain (and also throughout the world, for that matter), but a number of them, according to the Radfords, are associated solely with Wales and the Welsh,

Here are their 143 Welsh superstitions that might well still be commonplace among us today and a part of our heritage had the plans for a "Welsh Barony", preserving Welsh traditions, in fact materialized.

None of them comes with a guarantee, however!

Good Luck:

The appearance of a load of hay in front of you means that good luck will attend you. 

If you draw water from springs on Easter morning in jugs, and then throw it on the surrounding plants and shrubs, you will have good luck during the year. 

To see several foxes together is unlucky, but to see a lone one means that good luck will attend you. 

A greyhound with a white spot on it s forehead will bring luck to the people of Gower. 

If you make a cup of hazel leaves and twigs, and wear it , it is possible to obtain any wish. 

Heave a penny over the ship's bow when going out of the dock if you would have a successful voyage. 

If anything from one ship is lent to another, luck goes with it, unless some portion of the article is first deliberately though slightly damaged.

Wealth and Treasure:

If you find the first daffodil, you will have more gold than silver that year. 

If mistletoe is found growing on an ash tree or hazel, treasure will be found growing underneath the tree's roots. 

Black goats on a lonely bridle path mean that treasure is hidden. 

If a christening follows a wedding, the child will become rich and happy. 

A roof covered with house leeks insures prosperity and protects the household from disease. 

If you change from one home to another at the time of the new moon, you will have plenty of bread to spare. 

If, without neglect on your part, articles made of iron and steel, such as keys, knives, etc., continually become rusty, somebody is laying up money for you. 

Money washed in clear rain water cannot be stolen. 

Protection Against Witches:

Water that takes a long time to boil is bewitched; to make it boil, use three different kinds of wood on the fire underneath it. 

Water drawn from downstream before sunrise, and in silence, on any Sunday morning, in one jug from three separate flowing springs, is magical in its use and influence. 

If a woman pulls a garment out of the dolly-tub upside down after washing it, the wearer can never be bewitched. (It must be done accidentally, however!) 

A cross of whitethorn on a broach, placed above the house-door, will keep off witches and their spells. 

May-tree or twigs in each seed bed will make null and void the witches' spells on crops. 

A bunch of seaweed hanging in the back kitchen will keep away evil spirits. 

A garter made from the green bark of the mountain ash is a charm against witches and the devil. 

Gift of Prophecy:

A sprig of ash (with the triple leaves;, worn on the breast, will give you prophetic dreams.

A sprig of mistletoe gathered ou Midsummer Eve and placed under the pillow will give prophetic dreams.

If a man wraps himself in the skin of an. animal just killed and lies close beside a waterfall, the future will be revealed to him by the sound of the waters.

If a girl, walking backwards, places a knife among the leeks on Hallowe'en, she will see her future husband come pick up the knife and throw it into the middle of the garden. 

If you go to a crossroads at Hallowe'en and listen to the wind, you will leam all the most important things that will befall you during the next twelve months. 

Cures:

To cure warts, impale a frog on a stick and rub the warts on the on the frog; they will disappear as the frog dies. 

To cure warts, gather a snail (a black one for preference) and rub it on each of the warts with the accompanying words:  "Wart, wart, on the snail's shell black,  Go away soon, and never come back."

Then place the snail on a branch or bramble, secured with as many thorns as there are warts, and as the snail rots the warts will vanish. 

Adder stones, carried in the pocket, will cure all maladies of the eyes.

If blind people are kind to ravens, they will learn how to regain their sight.

Rub a piece of oak on the left hand in silence on Midsummer's Day, and the oak will afterwards heal all your sores.

If a person suffering from rheumatism creeps on hands and knees under, or through, a bramble bush three times with the sun (i.e. east to west), he will be cured.

To cure jaundice, put a gold coin in a pewter mug, fill the mug with mead, and then have the sufferer look into it without drinking any, as you repeat the Lord's Prayer over him three times.

Sparks struck from stone and steel against the face will cure erysipelas.

Place a sharpened hatchet on the thresh-hold of the house of a sufferer from apoplexy, and he will be cured.

Running water drawn at midnight from any important spring on St. John's Eve will remain fresh and pure for a year, and has healing properties.

If you clothe your right leg first (i.e. put your right stocking on first, and your right leg in your trousers first), you will never have a toothache.

To cure a person of rheumatism, bury him in a standing position up to his neck in a churchyard for two hours; if the cure is not immediate, repeat the procedure at the same time and place for nine days, rest three, and then start all over again.

A portion of a human skull, grated as one grates ginger, and then mixed with a liquid is a remedy against fits.

One can be cured of the falling sickness (epilepsy) by going to the church of St. Tecla in Wales and washing his limbs in the sacred well close to the church, dropping fourpence into the well as an offering and repeating the Lord's Prayer three times; after which a fowl - a hen or cock, depending on the sex of the patient - is placed in a basket and carried around the well and then around the church, with the patient then entering the church and lying full length under the Communion table until the break of day and affering a sixpence as he leaves. Since the disease has now been transferred to the fowl, which is left in the church, the patient is cured.

To prevent drunkeness, take the lungs of a hog and roast them. If a man eats them after fasting all day, he will not get drunk the next day no matter how much he drinks.

Good Health:

If a leaf of the sow-thistle is carried by anyone, he will be able to run and never grow tired.

A man with leek or garlic on him will be victorious in any fight and will suffer no wound, (The leek is the national emblem of Wales.)

If a frying pan is left on the fire with nothing in it, the wife of the house will have puckers in her face. May flowers (a shrub), gathered before sunrise, keep freckles away.

If you endure thirst on Good Friday, whatever you drink during the rest of the year will not hurt you.

If you begin in childhood by taking a dose of sea water immediately on getting out of bed in the morning, you will live to a ripe old age

Weather:

If the leaves of an oak curl, heat will follow.

Church bells, if rung, will keep thunder and lightning away.

Good Crops:

If you tie wet straw or hogbark 'round your fruit trees on Christmas Eve, they will yield plentifully during the next year.

To get a good crop of cereals, fetch some mould from three adjoining fields inherited by one person and mix it with the seed at sowing.

Milk poured on the ground and porridge thrown into the sea on St. Bride's Day will ensure produce of fish and fertilization of seaweed.

If grass is sown at the full of the moon, the hay crop will dry quickly.

A fine crop of mistletoe at Christmas means a fine crop of corn.Top

Animal Husbandry:

If you want your dairy cattle to thrive, you must give your Christmas bunch of mistletoe to the first cow that calves after New Year's Day.

Wash a dish towel on New Year's Day and put it to dry on a hedge. If you then rub your horses with it, they will grow fat and well.

Calves weaned with the waning moon will never grow fat, but always remain lean.

Pigs bathed in water in which killed swine have been bathed will thrive better and grow well.

Burn a calf to stop the murnin (hoof and mouth disease).

Dogs will go mad if given a bone of lamb at Eastertide.Top

Friendship, Love and Marriage

If you part from a friend beside a bridge, you part forever.

If lovers cross the moon line together they will never marry.

If a maiden wears valerian in her girdle or her corsets, she will attract the opposite sex.

When an owl hoots among houses, a maiden will lose her chastity.

A silver sixpence in the bride's shoe will ensure a happy and prosperous life.

If the bride eats a small piece of bread and butter, cut by the best man, before the wedding cake is cut, her children will have pretty and small mouths.

If a bridegroom rides to the church on a mare, he will have daughters, but no sons.

To avoid an unlucky marriage, the bride should take a pin from her wedding dress and throw it over her left shoulder or into a fire.

If a bride loses her wedding ring, or breaks it, or has it fall from her finger, she will be unlucky in her married life.

People born at sunrise will be clever, those born in the afternoon or at sunset will be lazy.

A child weaned at the time that birds migrate to or from the country will be restless and changeable in after life.

If a babe, after being weaned, is suckled again, it will become a profane swearer when it grows up.

Babies washed in rain water talk earlier than they would otherwise,

If the water in which a babe is washed for the first three months is not thrown under a green tree, the babe will not thrive.

If you wave a sprig of golden broom over a sleeping person, he will at once sleep peacefully.

A woman who wets her apron overmuch in washing will be cursed with a drunken husband.

To take holly into a house before Christmas Eve will lead to family discord.

Household, Child Care:

Stonecrop placed on the roof of a cottage will protect it from lightning and witches.

Food picked up in spoons made of rosemary will be especially nutritious.

Spring water drawn between eleven o'clock and midnight on Christmas and Easter nights turns into wine.

For a comfortable feather bed, fill the bed sack with the feathers after the moon has passed the full; otherwise the bed will be lumpy.

Wood cut at the new moon is hard to split; at the full moon it is easily cut.

If a new garment is washed for the first time while the moon is new, it will not wear well.

To ride a house of rats, write on a piece of paper  "r a t s  a r s t  t s r a  s t a r"  and put it in the mouth of the king rat.

If ivy which has grown on an old house falls away, the owner of the house will have personal misfortune and the house will pass into other hands

Bad Luck:

No mistletoe, no luck.

It will bring bad luck to hang up mistletoe in the house before Christmas Eve.

If you wear a fern, you will lose your way and adders will follow you.

If flowers that bloom in the summer flower in the house in winter, the house will be unlucky.

If you uproot a plant of periwinkle from a grave, the dead person will appear to you, and you will have terrible dreams for twelve months,

A worm in an oak apple means poverty for the finder; a spider in the oak apple means illness.

It is unlucky to hear the cuckoos before the 6th of April, but you will have prosperity for the whole year if you hear them after April 28th,

To kill a raven is to bring bad luck.

If a goose lays two eggs in one day, misfortune will overtake the farm.

A robin singing, close to a window means sorrow.

If you rob an eagle's nest of its eggs, repose will never again come to you.

To spill water while carrying it from the spring or brook is an omen of sorrow.

It will bring bad luck to stitch or mend sails on the quarterdeck.

If work is continued on Ascension Day, an accident will happen. You must express a wish when a star shoots over you, or you will be unlucky all the year.

To talk when passing under a railway bridge brings bad luck. If you spurt or scatter water from your hands first thing in the morning, you scatter good luck for the day.

Disaster:

The sun hides his face (an eclipse) before any great sorrow or national disaster,

The mewing of a cat on board ship foretokens a serious voyage.

If geese wander away from their home, it is an omen of fire at the farm.

If the town clock strikes while the church bells are ringing, there will soon be a fire in the parish.

A robin flying over a mine pit is an omen of disaster.

If a dove enters a pithead of a colliery, there will be disaster in the mine.

Death:

When plum trees blossom in December, it is a sure sign of death in the house of the owner of the trees.-

If you cut down a juniper tree, you will die within a year.

To pluck a sprig of holly in flower will cause a death in the family of the picker.

To take holly into a friend's house will lead to a death.

If a geranium comes into flower in November, death will visit the family.

If a member of the family dies at the time of the new moon, three more deaths are likely to follow.

A christening following a funeral is an omen of death.

If the wind blows out a candle on the altar of a church, the minister will die soon.

If any corpse-candle (marsh gas or "will-of-the-wisp") be seen to turn aside, through some bypath leading to the church, the following corpse will be found to follow exactly the same way.

If a pall is placed on a coffin wrong side out, there will be another death in the family.

Two blackbirds sitting together on a window sill or doorstep are an omen of death to someone in the house.

The notes of the night jay are a sure indication of death in a household where they are heard.

If thunder is heard and lightning seen between November and the end of January, the most important person in the village will die.

Should a woman spin at the spinning wheel during pregnancy, her child will be hanged with a hempen rope.

On Halloween, the wind blowing over the feet of corpses bears sighs to the houses of those about to die within the year.

When the Christmas log is burning, you should notice the shadows of people on the wall, for those shadows which appear without heads belong to persons who are to die within the coming year.

When there is a hollow in the fire, a grave soon will be dug for a member of the family.

Should the wearer of a sow-thistle give a leaf to his wife, one of them will waste away and die.

If a mole is found to have burrowed under the wash house, the death of the mistress can be looked for in the coming year.

If a white weasel crosses your path, it presages misfortune or death, but if one runs in front of you, you will be able to beat your enemies.

If the eagles of Snowden hover over the plains, their visit will be followed by disease and death.

Put a small heap of salt on the table on Christmas Eve; if it melts during the night, you will die within a year, but if it remains dry and undiminished, you will live to a ripe old age.Top

Miscellaneous:

If a dead person's linen is not washed immediately after death, the dead will not rest in the grave.

At Christinas and Easter and on All Hallows' Eve, all those who have have drowned at sea come up to ride over the waves on "white horses" (white waves), and hold their revels.

[stonewallsposts]

16 personalities questions: 16-18

Going through these in a more in-depth way gave me the idea that when I finish all these questions, I'm going to go back and use these answers to give more thoughtful responses to where I am on the spectrum of each statement. Then I'll plug those into the quiz and see if it gives me a different personality type than the ENFP-A that I originally got. As I mentioned, I was so closely in the middle that I had assumed I could probably take this on four different days and get four different responses. So it'll be interesting to see where I land after taking this much time to delve into where I fit. But given that I'm doing around three per day, it'll take 20 days total to finish it up, plus maybe another couple to settle Where on each statement's spectrum I fall.  

Anyway, on with the responses.  

16. You enjoy participating in group activities 

In general, yes. I call myself an outgoing introvert, meaning that I enjoy group activities, but eventually I have to get away and be by myself in order to recharge my batteries.  

But I do enjoy getting together with groups of people. 

One of my favorites over the years has been our holiday meetings at my brother-in-law's place. His place has become THE place where I can get together with both my sons. While I talk to my younger son regularly on the phone, and visit him a few times a year in Vegas, and I also get together regularly with my older son, about the only place I see them together is when we all meet for the holiday get-togethers at my brother-in-laws.  

But I love big get-togethers with friends and co-workers as well.  

I had mentioned in a previous section that we have a pretty social office atmosphere. When covid hit back in 2020, and everyone was working from home, my boss was not happy. Our IT guy stayed on premises the entire time. I came back after a month, and a few others came back quickly enough too. 

But as the time stretched on, and people stayed working at home, he was definitely missing the interaction. As we've hired on new people, one of the criteria has been finding someone who is willing to come in. I suppose that selection process has brought in people who are more comfortable socially, but for whatever reason, our office environment is filled with people who like the social aspect. So I love whenever we have parties or office lunches. We regularly gather to chat over things. 

I used to do this at church when I was in leadership, but not anymore. Though we still get together after drive-thru prayer for dinner. Or at least we did last year.  

Anyway, yes, I love group activities. 

17. You like books and movies that make you come up with your own interpretation of the ending 

I think I do. I'm trying to think of some movies or shows that have done this. It's not so much my own interpretation of the ending, but I certainly like shows that make me think. 

I was watching a Korean show called One Spring Night a while back. It's a love story between a young single father, whose ex-wife had deserted him, and an independent librarian who falls in love with him. 

The real hitch, in Korean society, is that he is a single father. Apparently that carries some sort of stigma. People figure there must have been something wrong with him to make his wife leave him, or maybe he just has bad 'juju' that caused the misfortune. Then there is a whole stigma about the woman getting involved with him because she would have to raise a child that isn't her own, which again, is apparently a really big deal in Korean society. All this is complicated by the fact that the girl is in a long-term relationship with a guy who checks all the boxes for marriage material, but who she clearly doesn't connect with, and is feeling increasingly distant. 

When she does finally decide to end it, the boyfriend tries to override this by saying it's not just her decision to make. He goes behind her back to get her father's permission. And then the role of parents in their daughter's decision comes up. The perspective of how both guys match up on the list of marriage material comes into play. 

What made me think was that in the show, this is portrayed as societal pressure. But I was recognizing that here, some of these same pressures are being applied by women on themselves. For example the list of qualifications that many women judge potential mates by, is essentially the same as those employed by the Korean parents. Of course self-imposed restrictions are always more acceptable than those placed on you from outside, so there is that, but at any rate, there was a lot that I found interesting in that show. The role of society and the honor/shame culture that makes it so difficult to go against the grain. 

Another movie that made me think was Munich. The story is about the PLO's killing of Israeli athletes at the 72 Munich Olympics and the subsequent retaliations. The Israeli's decide to retaliate with a series of public executions of the responsible palestinians, with the stated goal that "the world will understand that killing Jews will be an expensive proposition." But then the palestinians begin to hunt the Mossad agents as well and exact even more revenge. The entire scenario brings up questions about following orders blindly, the moral questions involved in doing so. And in particular, it made me think of the Jews entering the promised land and needing to execute the people living there. We know from reading the Bible, that the Lord was finished with the people living in the land, and that they had been given ample time to repent, but hadn't. This judgment was on them for their sins. But the individuals that had to go into those cities and hack down man, woman, and child, didn't have that luxury. They didn't know what the history was, they were merely being told to follow this order, and that if they didn't, there would retribution not only on their heads, but on the entire congregation. That's not an easy thing to swallow. 

I remember the charge that the Israelites gave Joshua- We will listen to you, but only be sure that you are following the Lord.  

There have been a lot of developments over the last 100 years with regard to this. The classic Nazi defense at the Nuremburg trials was that they were 'just following orders'. They had no choice.  

This was overruled in that the sheer moral horror of the acts should have been understood as immoral, regardless of the command structure, and they had, as human beings, a moral obligation to not follow those orders. 

So would I, as a believer, follow an order from God to kill another human? There are all kinds of questions that pop up, I know, but these are the questions that the movie confronted.  

Anyway, yes, I do like books and movies that make me think. The specific statement- do I like such that make me "come up with my own interpretation of the ending"…. I'm not sure I can think of a particular book or movie that has made me do that. 

Perhaps some of the Italian movies, which don’t seem to have 'endings' per se. Their modus operandi seems to be to show a slice of life. Things happen and then the end of portraying the events comes, but there doesn't seem to be a resolution. American movies like to tie things up. Italian movies don't. I guess that's more true to life, but it also doesn't feel as satisfying.  

I'm not sure if this is the kind of thing they are talking about with finding my own interpretation. I decide to google this very thing. Some of the movies they listed, that I had seen were Lost in Translation, Total Recall, Gone Girl, Inception, Blade Runner, the Graduate, and the Prestige. I liked all those movies, so I suppose I do.  

18. Your happiness comes more from helping others accomplish things than your own accomplishments 

Interesting statement. I do love helping other people, and the times I'm most satisfied with in my life have been when helping others. We took in a friend from church who was essentially homeless and kept her dog for 5 months, and then she too stayed with us off and on until she got her own place again. Because of that, we ended up having another lady we knew stay with us for 15 months. She was homeless at the time, and without our help, I'm sure she would have been permanently homeless. She is now back on her feet and doing well. Those were difficult days, but at the same time, some of the things I'm proudest of. Any of the people I've prayed for, and spent time helping, those are moments I wouldn’t trade and I've found them the most satisfying in my life.  

So I suppose that my happiness does come more from helping others, but then again, I wouldn’t be in a position to help them had I not accomplished things on my own too. Or at least it seems that way to me. Perhaps the Lord would have blessed me enough to give out, even had I not been working towards my own accomplishments. 

Back around 2005 or so, I had the opportunity to go to work for Cartoon Network. I was doing freelance work for them on the Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends show, and several of the guys that had been at our studio, had moved on to work full time for CN. I was offered the chance, but chose to remain freelance so that I could continue to devote more time to the ministry work I had been doing. Several of the guys have gone on to better careers because of that move. My freelance work eventually dwindled until I had to give it up altogether and move where I am now. 

I don't know if I would have had a better, more fulfilling work career, but I certainly wouldn't have had as many ministry opportunities as I did. So I have made specific decisions in my life because I wanted to serve others more than myself.  

In the last four years, after having been blessed with more financial stability, I've often wondered if I should have quit freelance earlier and gotten a job. Perhaps I would have been making more, and I certainly would have been in a better financial position, but I'm happy now, I was happy then, so I suppose, while we can always second-guess our decisions, I'm not going to. I'm just going to be content in the circumstances I find myself in and let it be. 

And since the statement was particularly directed towards not just helping others in general, but helping others "accomplish things", maybe I should try to address that as well. I do, when I have the chance, like to see others succeed. I'm not jealous of others accomplishments, I don't get envious when other people are given accolades or recognition. I will offer help to just about anyone that asks me... at least if I know them already. I'm not gonna hand out money to solicitations on the street. But if a friend, or co-worker needs a hand, I'm usually up to help as much as I can. 

The answer to the question then is yes, my happiness comes more from helping others.