#and we all know what pretty privelege is

[beifong-brainrot]

https://www.tumblr.com/miss-sweetea-pie/755138140549808128/something-that-ive-been-thinking-about-is-how?source=share

Hi! Apologies, but I've decided that I would no longer be responding to having zk takes sent to me! I started doing these bcs people sent them to me and I saw other people doing it and, don't get me wrong, it was fun to write analyses based around them, after realising that posting a link to the OPs blogs might put them at risk of harassment/hate, I don't think it's worth the cheap thrill of spending like half an hour researching the symbolism of La Pietà and then infodumping it.

This doesn't mean I will stop doing analyses cokpletely, but if you do have requests for me to do them, please just send an ask containing a subject, not a link.

I will be still writing metas about Avatar, but I think I will be trying to remove myself from the Kataang/Zutara ship war. While it's fun to pick apart arguments and research filmography etc, the animosity between the two sides is genuinely quite upsetting and I've noticed its been taking a toll on me. I just find it very suprising how many people view Zutara and Kataang as some sort of dichotomy.

I will still gladly talk about Aang, Katara, Kataang and Zuko, but I want it to be less in terms of going against someone else and more because I genuinely love these characters.

I don't like that I may have contributed to someone getting hate over a questionable, but ultimately rather benign take and I also don't like how I've handled certain conflicts and situations.

I also know that a certain zutara shipper has access to my blog, despite me having blocked them particularly to avoid conflict, which is very cool and not at all disconceting.

So to that person, if they may be reading this, I genuinely apologise for reaching out to you when I did, it was never my intention to cause you discomfort or upset. I had previously seen some of your metas on other characters and I enjoyed them and found your points intriguing and wanted to learn more about them. I apologise for using the term "arguing in bad faith", because I may have used the term incorrectly, trying to express that you didn't seem to interested in discussing the subject, which I understand, as I was the one reaching out to you. I apologise that I missed any cues of discomfort or unwillingness to engage. I take responsibility for that and I mishandled the situation and may have gotten too pushy. I just wanted you to know that I never wished to come off as disingenuous or pushy or make you uncomfortable in any shape or way.

[seithr]

powerful sorcerer with magical storm blood who can still magic and rend minds and transform people btw

[alienssstufff]

Transcript of q!Slimcicle’s conversation with ElQuackity after the QSMP Dinner because I’m going crazy:

TIMESTAMP 27-28/07/2023 Slimecicle POV, 2:05:44 

Q: Why did you do that? Why did you do that?

S: Because it started as this thing between you and me and me trying to vicariously live through this weird family fantasy and uh, it kind of evolved man. and Gegg.. I was just Gegg and Gegg was just me. Gegg was something in me and for some reason now I dont feel that thing anymore. It feels like I uh feels like Gegg's gone

Q: But Gegg is my son. Gegg is my son

S: Well there's these lil guys [gestures to the Gegg clones]

Q: You can't. You can't leave this behind

S: We shouldn't have done that. We shouldnt have - I'm glad we got Gegg because of that but uh... Idk what he was

Q: No nononono you're viewing it the wrong way I think there's more to Gegg.

S: maybe there was

Q: What are you going to do now?

S: Well uhm... Guess I'm going to so something I'm pretty scared to do for a while. Just... Try and be me

Q: Are you sure?

S: No. no I'm not... [they get distracted by a poppy for a bit]

Q: Is that it for Gegg?

S: I think that depends on all of us. I didn't always have control over what was going on when Gegg was out, but I know one thing. I know that Gegg wanted change, and Gegg wanted what was best for everyone, and Gegg wanted to know - I think Gegg knows that inside all of us there's a spark of Gegg and uhm. Maybe there's a lil spark in Gegg in you too. 

S: And at the end of the day I'm just Gegg's campaign manager.

Note that ElQuackity was also whispering to Slime in chat throughout this

Q: (Help me win this) Q: (I have special priveleges no other would have) Q: (Keep talking) (Don’t make it suspicious) Q: (I’ll introduce you to some people just help me) Q: (Just include the word mariachi in some phrase If you say yes)

To which Slime does.

[blackfliesinbluesugar]

I really don't understand why the show is paced like this, I just don't? Even if they were told at production they would ONLY have 8 episodes, low chance of a s2, that this was all they'd get - I dunno, how is sucking all of the fun and investment out of your plot the best solution outside of, like, writing what you reasonably can and then maybe trying for a comic book or something? Again, I know that's shit feeling, I know it'd suck, I know it'd hurt. But again, even if this is the only medium you WANT to tell your story in, how is telling it BADLY the answer? It's crashing 50k words of fic into a list of bulletpoints.

I don't care about any of these characters. Not because I'm some spurned anti or someone who went in ready to hate - I've fandomed this show since June 2019. I've been obsessed with these characters and world. I have written nearly half a million words of fanfiction for these guys, including all of the background characters they keep giving love like Molly and Mimzy and Rosie. But that's all fanon, and I know how to seperate that in my brain. Which means I love the idea of these characters - I'm thrilled to see even the little cameos, It feels like fanservice in a way that makes me buzz with energy - but I don't love the characters. In canon, I don't care about Alastor, or Husk, or Charlie. I actively feel disinterest in ones like Camille and Vaggie and Adam. They have no depth, only gesturing at interesting ideas and trauma. Angel, I'm STARTING to care about, but they only gave him a real personality AFTER dropping all of his trauma on us. So great. It's discord group chats all over again.

Just.. why. Is doing 3 seasons worth in 1 season really worth it? Is it, frankly, better than nothing at all? I cared more about these guys when I had the privelege of assuming they'd have deep developed arcs and connections, that the hotel denizens would get a chance to bond and interact and flesh themselves out. Now they're pretty png's standing vaguely near each other, occasionally breaking into song or crying about their past. Big whoop.

I wish s1 had developed the hotel solely - no Velvette, no Camille, no Zestial, no Mimzy, no Sera or Emily or Lucifer or Lilith, and then saved that stuff for s2 when we CARE about our protagonists and can afford to care about other characters, instead of all of them being 'cool, I guess'

I'm sad. I'm really sad. I waited over 4 years for a slideshow.

[starfanatic]

Personality Headcanons

(Since the greek male love interests have little to none to go off of)

HYACINTHUS: I think people believe that he acts like very sweet and gentle, but I think that doesn't make a lot of sense for Hyacinthus and it's kind of a easy basic answer. Hyacinthus, to me, seems like more of a military type person. I mean, he's in SPARTA, and everybody knows how Sparta acts like. I'm not saying he can't be a nice person, but I think there is far more to him. He's not necessarily delicate in my opinion, he's very strong and very competitive. He can be protective, even over Apollo, and a amazing fighter. I think that he liked Apollo so much because he didn't have to worry about anything around him. He can be stressfree, and he loved that. I think he was also a direct person with the way he spoke. Essentially the way Patroclus acted like in the Iliad, because I believe they kind of parallel one another, like Achilles parallels Apollo in some ways.

NERITES: Nerites is a fun one, actually. It took a while for me to make up a personality because of what little we have of him. We know Aphrodite and Poseidon both love him, we know that he's Amphitrite's little brother, and we know he's extraordinarily beautiful. Also that he's Poseidon's charioteer. I also heard that he was VERY VERY fast to the point he even challenged Helios (or maybe he didn't and Helios was just jealous tbh). So I'm thinking that maybe he's a daredevil of sorts? Very energetic and very playful kind of like the typical little brother. He's a ride-or-die type of person and doesn't like staying in one place. Also, maybe he can be a little bit bratty at times, giving Poseidon a little bit of sass certain times (Poseidon is way more unbothered then people would typically think). Also I think Nerites is very much aware of HOW pretty he is and uses his pretty privelege to get away with pranks and stuff. I mean how is Poseidon supposed to punish him with those pretty doe eyes? Come on!

Ganymede: He's actually the more simpler ones. He's the only one that I can genuinely see as gentle and delicate. I think he was probably pampered a lot due to his immense beauty, so kind of the opposite of Hyacinthus. When he first came to Olympus I think he was genuinely frightened and Zeus had to comfort him. (Cute little headcanon that he met Nerites and felt a bit more comfortable due to Nerites' company). Even though we all know what PROBABLY happened based on Zeus' behavior, I like to think that Zeus was very patient with Ganymede and refused to touch him until Ganymede initiated first. I think Ganymede also kind of doesn't realize how much privilege he has? He's a bit spoiled but doesn't quite realize it? He knows he's pretty but he doesn't exactly understand HOW pretty he is, and he also doesn't understand how far Zeus would go for him. He's not necessarily insecure, just completely unaware and not too out of touch.

Adonis: Adonis is literally the insane dude who you speak to who constantly talks about and is fascinated by DEATH or the UNIVERSE or how the world is going to collapse any second. If Adonis spoke to the average joe, they would probably only listen because of how beautiful Adonis is. Adonis realizes he's very beautiful, but it's extremely effortless. I think Aphrodite kind of likes that he doesn't try so hard, and it just comes for him. Adonis doesn't like special treatment for his looks either (but he definitely gets it anyway). Adonis is incredibly fearless when it comes to death, and gets excited when he almost dies. Adonis has a great singing voice but will ONLY sing around people he feels deserve it. Not even out of arrogance, but because he only wants people he loves and trusts to hear it.

[ariemfox]

ASK FOR YOU: for my story i’ve been considering this, but you’re way better at these characters than me so i’d love your insights:

What kind of relationship do you think Chase and Adam’s have? I feel like Chase and Park’s friendship is pretty easy to see and understand and gets a lot of focus, but Chase and Adams to me seem weirdly disconnected — we’re told by House and Park they flirt and are kind of into one another, but I’m not sure we really see it from them. I’m ultimately not sure if I’d call them friends or colleagues or what, but I could also be completely wrong and missing a whole dynamic. What do you think?

oof so this is something that my penpal friend/mutual (an all-round absolute legend) have discussed a whole lot, so these ideas are kinda of our conflated thoughts.

the thing about chase & adams is that though they are distant, they understand each other almost intrinsically. so to understand their relationship, we need to look at their similarities and differences.

they both have exes and know what it's like to be divorced and abandoned by them. they also have similar backgrounds: adams is from a rich & old american family (implying related to the presidents with the last names of adams), and chase is also from a rich family with his famous dad. they both have priveleged lives in that sense, but have hugeee guilt complexes to go along with that. whilst chase's guilt complex tends to surround catholic themes bc of the way he was raised, adams' guilt is focused upon her rich privelege (and how she feels she doesn't deserve it compared to other people) and crucially, her parents.

this brings us on to another similarity, their families. we all know that chase's family was a shithole, end of discussion. but with adams, it's a little more complicated. now, this is where it gets v meta so hold on to me here, bc it does make an insane amount of sense.

in the 'parents' episode, house is on a miasion to find out what adams' parents did to Fuck Her Up. she reveals she ran away at 16, and adams insists that it was not because her parents were abusive or 'screwed her up' like house says, it was because when compared to her friends' neglectful/abusive parents, she 'envied their dysfunction' bc she thought 'it made them deeper somehow'. she moved in with an older guy at SIXTEEN (might i add that chase also fucked the groundskeepers wife in his weird english priest boarding school too, another dodgy similarity). and apparently, her parents never got over her running away.

first of all, what normal, well-adjusted person thinks this. second of all, it definitely speaks to some kind of some kind of wmotional gaslighting on her parents side. the amount of excuses she makes for her parents, and the shows emphasis on making the emotionally-abused patient in 'runaways' adams' mirror, this is adams' character episode where she gets personally involved and constantly tries to excuse the patient's mother's behaviour. my lovely friend/mutual @x-birdsong-x explains this beautifully in this tumblr post if u want more details:

there is an almost innate sadness to adams that's only ever implicity shown. her life feels very... empty - we know almost nothing about her background bc she's so evasive about it, particularly when compared to park. take the scene in parents where chase asks what her parents did to fuck her up, and she evades the question by joking they did white-collar crime & human trafficking. whilst chase is honest when he tells her his mother locked him in his father's study as a child, but disconnected; all clinical facts and no feelings, adams lies/evades and gets snappy and defensive whenever someone brings it up. we see this multiple times throughout parents.

she's crafted her persona into a rich kid who doesn't deserve her privelege, who gives back to others/save lives to help those less fortunste to her. she feels like she has to balance the scales, ig. she heals out of guilt, as a way to wallow in her misery and martyrdom. contrast this to chase, who heals and gives back for a personal distraction ("Only so many hours you can cry and bang on the door before you give up, find something to read. We all have family dysfunction. That's why we're successful. To fill that hole."). they have similar pasts, but different responses. in a way, adams is like who chase would be if he went down a different road.

there is an almost innate sadness to adams that's never explicitly shown but very much implied. whenever chase and adams have conversations one-on-one, there's frail, tentative empathy between them. their similarities mean that they understand each other on a deep, personal level (quite similar to chase & thirteen, but with less friendship involved) however, bc chase is so factual, and emotionally-distanced from his childhood and his divorce - they only ever hit him when he's looking at either his dad or cameron in the face - and adams is so evasive, reactive, tempremental and snappy when confronted with her side of things... they've never truly connected. they have the same roots but have branched off to opposing sides of the tree, they are like ghosts, alternate versions of the deepest untouched parts of each other. i think that's how i'd describe their relationship.

i think house clocked on to the fact that it's intimate, particularly in 'we need the eggs', bc they are so alike. adams obviously felt this vague sort of empathy between them too in this episode, seeing as she asks chase out for drinks 'for a change' - she wants to get over her issues - but chase declines because he's not over cameron. whether this was romantic though? it wasn't for chase, but i don't think adams really knew; she doesn't show romantic/sexual attraction to him, all i think she knew is what house noticed. that they had some sort of connection, and adams wanted to explore that, to find someone who understands.

i think ur right in that they're disconnected. they could connect but they won't, and it's also a different kind of intimate than to what house inferred. they are like long-lost siblings who shared a childhood, but time has changed them so much that they struggle to face each other honestly. they are a reminder to each others' pasts, and i don't think chase completely likes that (in s8 anyway), he doesn't like the idea of what he could've become. but adams - who has felt alone her whole life, disconnected from her peers, disadvantaged patients (who had it worse in her mind), and colleagues prior to s8 - wants to connect with someone who gets what it's like. even if she doesn't completely get it, bc although she's come to terms with the divorce, she hasn't yet accepted how her parents impacted her by s8.

sorry for how long this reply is!! they are so interesting to me. i hope it kinda helped tho? lmk ur thoughts if u like (:

[aprilmayverse]

mayverse dash simulator

💅 pinkprlncesses Follow

🧟‍♀️ samuraishattered Follow op this is an incredibly fucked up and insensitive way to post about this. six people are dead. four of them are literal children. imagine losing a loved one and people are fucking memeing about it with supernatural. grow up. learn some fucking respect for the dead. this isn't just some quirky little fandom story like sharpie bath or whatever. these are real kids who had hopes and dreams and families and loved ones and now they are dead.

💅 pinkprlncesses Follow was it ever really that deep

🦴 trudycryme Follow New video about June July and Dysnomia Badmann's murders on the way! Special surprise at the end so stay tuned ;) Sponsored by Tender Lender <3

🦴 trudycryme Follow No fucking way

🩰 blood-and-books Follow wait, has anyone noticed that the accomplice in the bluecorp case and that 13 year old who killed her gfs parents and 2 random boys are half-sisters??

🍭 mera-duras-left-eyebrow Follow WAIT AND THEIR OLDEST SISTER HAD LINKS W/ BLUECORP TOO WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN

🪷 helloroses Follow does anyone remember how fucked up april may's career was. i rewatched pint-sized princesses after the news got out about her execution and like i know it was the 90s but what the fuck was going on there. it feels like a crime to watch it

🪷 helloroses Follow it's the same with her modelling career, why was she, a teenage girl, doing so many photoshoots where she was barely clothed. why did ad campaigns need all this

🦢 evilwomanenjoyer Follow why are we defending june july in 2018. she killed people. she murdered people. you are the same people who defend joe darke and dahlia hawthorne and matt engarde and fucking redd white. she took lives. where am i.

🐜 what-is-a-username420 Follow please learn about nuance and use your brain

🦢 evilwomanenjoyer Follow nuance is for fictional characters like pious priestess or whoever the fuck. not for real life situations like this.

🐜 what-is-a-username420 Follow sometimes im like "the reading comprehension on this site isnt THAT bad" and then i read shit like "nuance is for fiction not for real life"

🦴 trudycryme Follow I am truly, truly sorry for attempting to film those teenagers corpses and for breaking into the victims childhood home in an attempt to interview his family 2 days after the murder, I understand why I was wrong and I'm going to try my best to refrain from doing stuff like that next time lol. To further this, I'm starting a new merch collection and donating 20% of profits to JAVCV (Japanifornian Association for Victims of Violent Crime), buy it before the sale ends on March 4th!

🧟‍♀️ samuraishattered Follow not to be harsh but i hope you die

🌈 godsstrongestfujo Follow i think april may was a genuinely a bad person like she was just this rich woman who both did the modelling campaign + assisted in the murder to get money from her sugar daddy. shes not as innocent as yall make her out to be she just has pretty privelege

🍁 diskhorse-divorce Follow 1. she was not rich. she, her single mother, and sister were homeless for years. she had to be a child star and teen model to provide for herself and her family. they lived in a trailer at some point 2. she was very obviously being threatened by white. the courts said it was a lie because of fucking misogyny and white's power over her. 3. even if she did do it out of her own free will she still got executed over a crime where the death penalty at age 23 was not justified. 4. why are you calling a thirteen year old a bad person for doing an ad campaign where she was being heavily sexualised and exploited and stolen from you fucking weirdo

🩰 angelfawns Follow april may was such a tragic girl and an icon and so beautiful omg. she looked SO good during the summer 2008 ad campaign for bluecorp too. hold on i need to change my pfp

🐦‍⬛ proud-edgelord Follow if my parents named me teylhoure i wouldve killed myself too

[leafington]

𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙙𝙞𝙙 𝙞 𝙛𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙞𝙣 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚? 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙡𝙮, 𝙞 𝙘𝙖𝙣'𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙫𝙚 𝙞 𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙚. - kiyoko s.

content warning !! - blackfem!reader, GAYGAYGAY, fluffy, lowercase intended just for the aesthetic, sneaking thru window trope, mentions of homophobia (nobody is, its just a reference)

young love. something to be treasured for those who experience it to the fullest, not everyone got to take part in the privelege of having someone truly care for you before adulthood. earlier in life, it didn't occur to you that you'd get to be one of the rare exceptions who got that opportunity. if you met your younger self, asking if you'd ended up with some mascot from your favorite cartoon then, you would laugh and tell yourself no, but you got an amazing girlfriend who's not only gorgeous but smart.

shimizu looks out for you like no one else does, conveniently bringing extra food for you when you forget your lunch, a spare pen when you've lost yours, and all that she asks in return is your affection? this relationship thing couldn't be any easier! of course, you don't hesitate to communicate with her because sometimes hugging her under the stairwell isn't enough.

it's around midnight, maybe a quarter past, sleep is far from you now as you toss and roll in your sheets. this leaves you no choice but to text the only other night owl you know.

'hi baby r u awake?' you, 12:26am

'no im sleeping really hard actually. snoring even.' kiyoko ❤️, 12:26am

'ofc i am darling, what did you need?' kiyoko ❤️, 12:26am

'can i come over pls? cant sleep' you, 12:27am

'mhm. windows unlocked.' kiyoko ❤️, 12:27am

in the dark of the night, you tread through the streets lit by only dim streetlights to your girlfriend. you go around the side of her home and climb the lofty tree to sit on the windowsill and let yourself inside, there she was, waiting for you with open arms. any normal person would simply let themselves in through the front, though only when their parents weren't as strict as shimizu's.

without sharing any other words besides 'hi', you crawl into her bed and make yourself comfortable. the both of you lie there for a bit before you decide to speak. "you smell nice, pretty." this makes her smile. "thank you. 's everything okay with you?" she checks in, playing with your hair a bit. "yeah. i just couldn't go back to sleep, guess it was a sign that i needed to see you." you grin lovingly, never getting enough of being around her. "don't get too comfortable, you can't stay the night." she warns, scooting over to nuzzle herself into your chest.

"says the one actively trying to cuddle me." you chuckle. "i don't get why your parents hate me so much, i'm literally the kindest girl in the whole wide world. not to mention the best girlfriend in the universe." she snickers at this, a small smile forming. "if that'll get you to sleep, keep thinking that way." shimizu thinks quietly, why do her parents not approve of you?

it isn't like they don't like her choice of partner, far from it. they've always been protective of her, wanting nothing short of the best for their baby girl, both you and them have that in common. when first meeting them, they did seem to have some sort of stick up their ass. hounding you with the basic questions of, "what do you plan on doing with our daughter?" "how'd you two meet?" "how can we be so sure you won't hurt her?" but your intentions with her are just as good as the next person, although she's convinced herself there'll never be a next one.

you're always in her head. "don't think too much about it, they'll warm up to me sooner or later." you kiss the crown of her head, nesting yourself there happily. "i hope so."

your relationship isn't widely shared around the school but it isn't private either, if people ask then you'll tell them, if they don't, then that's none of their business. when you see her out in the halls, you don't immediately attack her with kisses, a small wave is enough. but when the two of you are finally alone, it's different.

it's quiet now. the fan in her room being the only thing keeping it from being dead silent. the only problem with that is the thoughts that keep her conscious and overly aware. "y/n? you like me right?" she whispers. why? you don't know, though you never question her ways. "sometimes." you joke, following up with a short, "of course." shimizu hums at this.

silence again. you're halfway tempted to ask her what that was all about, but before you could even consider it, she flips you over—now straddling your lap while you're cozied up against her pillows. "woah, warning next time." you watch her practically stare into your soul, maybe there's something on your face? did she take your joke too seriously? hopefully it wasn't that. whatever she has to say, she's choked up about it. her lips twitch and tighten out of anticipation for whatever she was going to say.

she's in her own head a lot too.

your eyes soften, a hand gently guiding its way to her face. shimizu's worried look falters when feeling the warmth, her hand then coming up to cradle yours. "i love you. an ungodly amount at that. i'm not all that good at showing that but i do and i'm glad that we're together." she's still whispering, you still don't know why. it doesn't matter, you heard the l-word from her loud and clear.

it's... weird. not in a bad way though. she sounds so precious saying it too, as if it were something on her mind for the longest. there's this unsettling feeling about hearing it for the first time from someone who isn't your family.

maybe that's what it is.

she's your first, your only, and hopefully your last. shimizu's seen parts of you nobody else has even attempted to try to see, she's picked up your broken pieces, helped you when you needed it most. you're scared. scared of losing her, never getting a second chance at this again because it sounds too good to be true as harsh of a reality as it is.

you see it now. this is what people treasure so much, what they long to experience, how lucky you are to get to know what it's like so early in life.

"i love you too."

©2024 leafington dont steal please!! :)

[harryshomebaby]

it's hard to find the right words to say and i truly never thought i'd ever be writing something like this. and i apologize if this doesn't all come out the way i want it to.

i hate that i have to preface this by saying that i was not a fan or a supporter of Liam in recent years and do not condone anything that he did. the victims of his actions still deserve to be heard and find closure that they'll now sadly never see...

but if you were anything like me, Liam Payne was a significant part of who you were growing up. 1 of 5 individuals that we looked up to as role models, and that created some of the online communities we're still a part of today. that built friendships we probably still have to this day.

a mature but loveable boy that we all fell in love with in the very early days of One Direction, or even later. with video diaries, music videos, and behind the scenes clips that shared a glimpse of his personality with us, and tweets that some of us will never forget (it's a snake habitat, turn around!!), we watched him grow up alongside the boys while we were growing up ourselves.

we even had the privelege of seeing a small part of where he grew up and the people who raised him in This is Us and the "Story of my Life" video. we got to know a little bit about his life before One Direction, with small stories and anecdotes from his mother, Karen, and his father, Geoff. we got to see how loved he was by his family, by the band, and by all of the fans that adored him just as much as we did.

i still remember when i first learned about One Direction in 2012 and couldn't tell Liam or Harry apart because their hairstyles were so similar. and the shock the fandom had when he buzzed his head.

we got to see the good in him... even if it was only for a brief moment. five years of a band that carried so many of us through dark periods in our lives and that connected all of us to one another in a way that many of us had never experienced before.

we watched him grow up, live through the prime of his career, and saw the subsequent downfall of who he used to be. after One Direction split up, he opened up about his struggles with addiction during their tours and it was clear that despite what we all saw, it was never as pretty as their management had made the band out to be.

it's completely devastating that he was still struggling with substance abuse in the end. that he was never able to get the help he needed. and i am deeply sorry to all of the people who became victims at his hand. to maya henry who only recently opened up about her relationship to Liam and who is going to receive even more hate than she already has because of this tragedy.

i am sad that he wasn't able to get better. to get sober and attempt to rewrite some of his wrongs. that his addiction caused so much harm to him, but also to so many others. i am sad that he was so deeply troubled in his youth that he turned towards drugs and alcohol, and was never able to truly get his life back. i am sad at what fame did to him at such a young age. and i am sad for every single person that he hurt.

the entire fandom is on my mind today. all of those victims are on my mind today. his family is on my mind today. his 7-year old son is on my mind today. Niall, Zayn, Harry, and Louis are on my mind today.

this is heavy. and it's hard. and if you're struggling with the news, you are not alone.

my 15-year old self is in mourning today at news that i never thought i'd hear only a decade after One Direction's time. i may have never been a true fan of Liam in his solo endeavours, but he was still a big part of my childhood and the band that partially shaped who i am today.

this isn't how his story should have ended. and i'm sorry that it did. we'll never know the true intent of what happened today, but i do hope that he is in a better place and can find peace, and i sincerely hope that everyone he hurt is able to heal.

rest in peace, Liam Payne.

we'll all remember the good times we once shared every time we hear a One Direction song.

-

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[syltheanti]

I have no idea where else to put this, esp can't put it on my main or sideblog and stuff knowing I might attract their attention like proshippers 💀

But fuck it so im just sending an ask here- uhhh- I HATE RADQUEERS?? I think that suffices as a summary of it.

I just hate them, more stuff telling me about those people has been popping on my timeline and I've started to lean less neutral in the part of maybe some of them are just misguided and a part of me still thinks that BUT its getting harder to see the good in a lot of people especially when I'm affected by it- I mean I am affected by proshippers in a way I don't like disclosing cuz its personal- but still IM DISABLED BOTH MENTALLY AND PHYSICALLY.

Like the fuck do you mean I'm lucky?? IM NOT LUCKY NONE OF US ARE, sure some things are great because we can get ENDLESSS KNWOLEDGE OF OUR HYPERFIXATIONS OR GET LOST IN FANTASY WORLDS, but with hyperfixations THEY CAN BE OF MESSED UP THINGS like yknow facts about cannibalism or when the fantasy worlds twist into you being unable to get alot of things happening because you keep getting sucked into your daydreams- or when you have paranoid thoughts about things coming after you.

LIKE HOW IS THAT LUCKY?? HOW DO THEY THINK THATS PRIVELGED??? It isn't glamour and it never will be "but people treat you better" NO THE FUCK THEY DONT??? Sure for some people they do, but imagine being fucking coddled because people think you are fragile because of your disabilities? Or being fucking hated because you are too sensitive OR CONSIDERED A FUCKING DANGER BECAUSE OH WOWWW MENTAL ILLNESS IS SCARRYYYYY like fuck off.

Or being hated because in america somehow its all disabled people's fault for the taxes- IM SORRY THAT PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES LIKE MINE ARE GETTING FUCKING HELP TO LIVE?? Its not a privelege to be living, its not a privelege to suffer in pain everyday, its not a privelege to deal with trauma, its not lucky and it never has been and it never will be.

And I don't like how people are trying to turn shit that people like me in the same community into some fucking identity. No fuck you YOU DONT GET TO DO THAT. MY TRAUMA ISNT FUCKING PRETTY, THEIR TRAUMA ISNT PRETTY, ITS NOT PRETTY TO GAIN OR BE BORN WITH A PHYSICAL OR MENTAL DISABILITY. ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARENT AWARE OF HOW MUCH PEOPLE LIKE YOU ARE MISTREATED AND HATED AND THEN SUDDENLY REALIZE IT ONE DAY AND BEGIN THINKING ABOUT EVERY INTERACTION YOU'VE HAD WITH PEOPLE.

I don't get how those people the fucking rdqrs(ill just shorten it to that) mainly the adults WHO FUCKING KNOW BETTER can think any of this okay.

What the hell is wrong with them because honestly people like them is why I'm losing a lot of my empathy for people, I mean I still have it, BUT MY WHOLE GIVING A BENEFIT OF A DOUBT IS BEGINNING TO DISSIPATE.

🍓🐱

(P.S sorry we don't mean to be a bother with this rant it just bothers us a lot...)

You aren't a bother. I agree fullheartedly. You're not privileged for having a disability. It's not some fun thing anyone should desire. I'd be mad too if I ever saw it being glamorized like this.

[untamellama]

Had the dumbest fucking dream - for some reason, I am friends with mads mikkelsen (he is not an actor in the dream, in fact, he is very hannibal-ish), and both of us just got back to his house (looks eerily similar to my old house) after the funeral of the parish priest of the church we both go to. And I'm getting water, my back turned away from him, and he very wistfully goes, "He passed just as my prescription ended. I won't be having to take this anymore."

I don't know what 'it' is, so I turn around and approach him from behind to look over his massive arm clothed in a black linen shirt with the sleeves rolled up (:)), and it's a box full of little vials and on the box it says 'Holy Water', and with marker writing on it that says 'As prescribed by [name of priest who just died], PhD. Take once daily.'

I'm dumbfounded, coz what the fuck?, but I didn’t want to be rude so I'm not sure whether I should address the holy water, and just as I'm about to comfort him over the death or something, he goes 'It was to keep away demon possessions - guess I'm just an open vessel now....'

And it's all so stupid coz on one hand I'm like 'bro this is so weird, why are you so weird', and on the other hand I'm so horny for this guy, I'm like 'whatever you say babygirl, just hold my hand.'

My god, this is so stupid and pathetic. It's so funny.

Anyways, in conclusion, pretty privelege is real, even in dreams.

[grimalkinmessor]

afofa for ask game???

But of course! :D

when I started shipping it if I did: My first go around with BNHA, actually! Before season five was even out. I read ahead in the manga and came to the scene of Yoichi and AFO in the vault with Midoriya watching on, and my brain immediately lit up like "OH SO IT'S LIKE THAT" lmao. I looked for content then, but of course, there was none, so it wasn't until I got back into BNHA a few years ago that I looked for AFOFA content and actually found it! Was more than a little surprised to find more gen content for them than shipping content, but that just gave me a new dessert for them :3 Have my cake and some pie too ✨

my thoughts: It's all just feral incoherence up here babe. Just a loud whirlwind of AJSVSKXBDJFL REDGREEN OBSESSEDVAULT NEVERAPART POWERLESSPOWER LOVEHATE INEVITABLETRAGEDY ITWASALWAYSGOINGTOENDLIKETHIS ILOVEYOUBUTITISNTENOUGH BRUTUSCAESAR ABLECAIN REMUSROMULUS ILLKILLYOUIMYOURS HEARTBORNAPARTFROMTHEBODY in my brain 24/7 365 :D

What makes me happy about them: The sheer amount of dark soulmate vibes we get from them in canon. AFO is literally Cronus coded, Yoichi is his Rhea. Yoichi is his everything—and hasn't all All For One's ever wanted and fought for been everything? 💖

What makes me sad about them: What they could've been 🥹 The fact that they both loved each other so deeply but their respective hearts and ideals are so at odds that it would never work in any universe where they're unequally yolked; and they almost always are. The fact that had they grown up in kinder circumstances the likely wouldn't have fought at all. It would've been just them, together, as they should've been from the start. Without all the blood between them. "It could've been the kindest power in the world."

things done in fanfic that annoys me: When they infantilize Yoichi 😮‍💨 Like he's definitely Babygirl™ but he's also a grown man. Being sickly and weaker than he's brother doesn't make him inherently stupider or less capable than AFO, and it definitely doesn't make him childish. I don't even like it when All For One is the one doing it—he absolutely sees his brother as naive and in need of protection but I don't think he'd ACTUALLY see him as a child, or even WANT him to be one. Idk it just skeeves me out, it's not how I see their relationship dynamic ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

things I look for in fanfic: Yoichi characterization!! :D AFO has always been pretty straightforward, so I do look for unhinged loving obsession and all-encompassing need and desire from him, but fics that dive into Yoichi's psyche are some of the most interesting to me :) I like him to be capable and cunning—it just doesn't matter how smart or strong he is against the overwhelming power of his brother 💕 Shoot his ass and watch him laugh ✨

who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: As you all know, I'm an avid shipper of any form of Ichiniisan, so I like Yoichi with Kudo and Bruce THIRD in any sort of way I can get them. As for All For One....well, he always takes whatever he wants, and I can see him with several people solely in a sexual sense. For romance however, I only see him loving Yoichi—with special Fondness™ priveleges for Yagi and Inko depending on the universe and circumstances.

my happily ever after for them: In my fic Like This You Keep Them Alive, I have them as lingering ghosts of their respective Quirks, and they can freely go back and forth between their holders (Izuku and Tomura) as much as they please. In the afterlife, everything is swept aside. There is no more power imbalance. There is no world to take over or save. They're able to just,,,,exist together, without anything between them anymore. They play games together and talk about things they haven't in ages and are basically all over each other all the time. I think that's gonna be my favorite ending for them :3

who is the big spoon/little spoon: All For One is big spoon. That man is over seven feet tall, Yoichi barely hits six-foot exactly. All For One big spoon 👁️👁️ He likes to cling.

what is their favorite non-sexual activity: Cuddling. Cuddling and talking, actually. Because I've got AFO's love language down as physical touch followed quickly by words and Yoichi's love language as words of affirmation followed quickly by physical touch, so sitting curled around each other in front of a warm fire like snakes while they whisper things back and forth would be their biggest nonsexual passtime together. Though sometimes Yoichi does like to badger his brother into dancing with him—mostly so Yoichi can stand on his feet and AFO can float them both into the air. It always make him super giddy 🥰 ....At least until they get to the point where AFO's arms begin to feel more like chains than shields.

[emptymanuscript]

I feel like this one has so much room to play around in.

Like, are we talking, I go back knowing everything I know and it's just, do you wanna do it again? Or are we talking I rewind time and only remember enough of the future to know that in some alternate timeline I had my current opinions about my education? Or... some other variable, like if you went and did this degree instead I know my life would be different in these particular ways? And how often can one redo and compare? And how big can the change fallout be, etc? Oh! and how far back are we talking? Like are we just going back to first day of class registrations or are we going younger to prep for a different major and things like that?

I know a lot of the stuff that I am most pleased with in my life are emergent effects from decisions that include my BA. So I would be EXTREMELY hesitant to seriously change it. I even met @coatntails specifically because of mutual school connections. We were both friends with findingsherlock and minion who were in my major with me. I'm even fairly certain we would never have gotten together if findingsherlock hadn't made it her freaking mission to get us together, which we finally did ON THEIR WEDDING DAY. @coatntails was one of the bridesmaids and I was the officiant. And findingsherlock and minion gave up their fourth wedding anniversary to return the favor and officiate for us. Come to think of it... pretty much all the people from college that I still talk to regularly, I met through my major. So... you know... I don't really want to give that up.

But I could certainly enjoy tweaking it. Like, I would absolutely send a very emphatic message back in time to my college age self looking sadly at statistics requirements and demanding that I buy myself a copy of excel and take the damn "Statistical Methods in Psychological & Brain Sciences" course because I really do regret how close I came to getting a minor in Psychology and giving up. If I went back with everything I know, I would abuse the hell out of my priveleges and aim hard for a dual major in Psychology instead of just a BA in Creative Studies with a literature emphasis. Get the damn double major.

I would also damn well send myself a message to NEVER take a break from the SBWC, that is a HUGE regret for me. It nourishes my soul. And, you know, it might offer some huge advantages.

Where I would seriously consider changing is actually my Masters. My Masters Degree was good. But I'm not sure I couldn't have done better with less pain by taking another path. And the easiest way to do that would be a very stern message to my past self to really go all out on language learning.

If I could go far enough back and really communicate or hold onto knowledge, I think I'd try to convince my former self to not just stick with but actually try significantly harder with Hebrew, Spanish, and Russian. Actually can I go back and talk to my parents? (Very Dangerous Idea) but like just to say, hey, start Hebrew REALLY early, like immediately, I'm gonna have a really hard time with it so I'm gonna need a lot more help a lot earlier if you want any possibility of me being able to work with any of it. Also, talk to your kid about Talmud and Kabbalah instead of... whatever we called Sunday School (Thursday school? Temple school? Can't remember). Religion and what passes for history isn't gonna work. Go with ethics and mysticism, those things your child actually cares about. Then I wouldn't have the impulse to choose the grad school I did because a decent chunk of my choice was based around finding a school that both offered a PhD (which I now know I do not actually want in writing or literature, at least not enough to do that much work for that little return) but also didn't require me to know two foreign languages (which I do not).

But you know, if you're going that far back and can communicate or even just remember everything, like can you just try and track down your people vastly early. Most of the people who are my primary attachements in my current life not only lived in my country but in my home state. Three not only lived in my state but in my county! Minion, even though I never met him until college, actually lived closer to me in time and mileage than I went to school in 4th, 5th, and 6th.

Of course then there's the convincing of people... hi, is ____ at home. Heuy, ____! Look, I know you've never met me but I have traveled back in time from a future where you are important to me and I miss you and don't want to wait until we actually enter each other's lives naturally. Might be a bit awkward.

...though I do wonder if I could save some friends pain. Like, could I interfere somehow with people who I know will be hurt if I kind of know where-ish, when-ish, and how-ish they were hurt? Would they then end up the same people? Hmmmm....

This is how we end up with alternate lives stories... huh.

If I can keep the people and what I know, though... then I wouldn't have to keep the places. Then, yeah, I'd probably change my major so I could have more knowledge because I LOVE being an insufferable know it all. Of course then I'd have to decide if I wanted psychology, education, or linguistics. Maybe religious studies but I'm always fascinated by religious studies UNTIL I'm actually taking classes and then I'm bored out of my mind, so probably not. There's also media studies :/ that would be useful.

Hmmph... I'd probably need to go back early enough to give some thought to what I'd actually want to study XD.

I think I'd still want the same ideal job that I ideally want now (and am not going to get). So... probably education, I guess. Yeah, there's a change I think I'd rather... just going so much harder after the job I wanted when there was time, energy, and momentum on my side.

Bleh... that sounds depressing.

Hmmmph.

[e5e5e5e5e5]

Pretty (Ugly Before)

Pretty privelege.

The last ism?

Idk. You can't ask men what the last ism is.

We all know where we get stuck.

[ariemfox]

park/adams propoganda: s8e3 charity case 💝

⚠️ okay bear in mind i'm fucking insane about these two together, so this is a long post! u have been warned lol ⚠️

♡ s8e3 charity case: a.k.a thee park/adams episode ♡

*slaps this episode on it's head* so this bad boy is a biggie. the park/adams gateway drug u might say. lemme indoctrinate u into the masses (:

first meeting

firstly i want to bring ur attention to park's tiny face at adams when they first meet & house announces that adams will be her new colleague.

what a soft, hesitantly hopeful & shy expression! *squishing her aggressively*

& then adams ignores her bc she's pissed at house for lying to her about meeting for coffee. queue park's face afterwards in the background:

she looks down, her smile drops & she is disappointed. poor bb </3

house then responds that when ppl ask to meet for coffee, they don't really mean coffee. he then does his typical "we should have sex jk unless 😉🤪" bs to adams. she gets pissed obvs & so does park on her behalf

look at that face (protective gf). she's like "i punched my old boss for this before & i will not hesitate to do it again, bitch"

now, on to the burgeoning hints of reciprocation. park finally comes forward and reassures adams that her working volunteering for this cunt of a man (said affectionately) won't be so much work with the softest, gentlest face (supportive gf). & then adams does this cute lil face scronch like she's grateful for the encouragement or like she thinks it's sweet of park, and this is pretty much what pushes her over the edge to finally acquiesce to house (:

bickering = flirting

now on to this second scene! couples therapy w/ house (but house being house just agitates the drama lol).

one thing about these 2 is that they bicker. a lot. like married couple on the brink of a divorce levels. now think of bickering as their foreplay. like, take a look at that face adams gives park in the shot above & u know what i'm talking about. if u locked them in a cupboard together after this they would not come out for a while, is what i'm saying. it's the way infuriation = passion = love.

another interesting thing about these 2 that comes up in this scene is how they r like opposing forces which attract one another. they have opposing views on complete selflessness (adams for bc altruism is a sign of good morality & park against bc it is a sign of stupidity as it shows a lack of self-preservation). adams puts others before herself & vice versa for park. park is family-oriented, adams isn't. they have opposing backgrounds (adams is rich and priveleged & park had to fight her way up from the ground). adams likes giving, park hates owing. hell i'd bet money that they have opposing blood types if u know what i mean lol. & their opposing views feed off of each other via their arguements, constantly attracting them to one another across the series. It's the fact that they actually stop & listen to each other's points too <3

anyway, back to this scene. whilst they are mid-arguement park has this personal bit where she bites back at house & describes how both her and her family did everything to get her to where she is now, in spite of all the obstacles. & god, adams' lil smile:

she is a proud gf. that is a look of love & admiration from afar (:

when house asks for a rebuttal to this, adams realises she's lost the arguement and is just like "oh lord i like her sm: she is my secret fantasy about being poor personified <3" (the poor fantasy is also a canonical thing, might i add. she's so fucked up. i love her ur honour.)

the mating ritual of gift-giving pranks

and now on to the beef of this episode's propoganda!! the fucking gifts oml. now from our paralleling case study of the show's otp of 'hilson', we know that flirting in this show includes bickering (✅️), existing as dichotomies of one another (✅️), gay jokes (✅️ - we will address this later), and also pranks (✅️) and gift-giving/sacrifice (✅️); the last 2 we now see in this plot thread. now unfortunately there is no scene of park & adams smoking cigars together bc there is not an equivalent lesbian subtextual symbol (maybe breaking into houses by picking locks? god knows) but i'd bet money they'd be doing it in this show if one did exist.

also park never drugged adams or vice versa, but house/wilson didn't do this until like s3, and park/adams have only been in one series total. it is understandable that they have yet to reach that v intimate stage of a relationship.

so anyway, gift-giving. adams just casually comes in with a coffee which she gives to park. now firstly, notice that she gives one of the 2 coffees she has to park; she doesn't give one to house. honestly, he's a side character at this point.

secondly, some eagle-eyed sapphic enthusiasts and/or nerds may recall that several scenes ago house mentioned 'if someone asks if you want coffee, they obviously don't mean just coffee'. & makes a sex joke.

now add those two things together and what do u get? u get a courting gesture with rich guilt & parental issues as a subplot! and later park gives her a free 'coffee' in return too; a corresponding gesture with insecurity & immigrant family pride as a subplot. talk about reciprocation of feelings via gifts amirite (:

my girl adams is trying to woo park with her money and morals lol. this is such a her thing to do ffs. like look at that lil smirk in the above pic ffs. meanwhile park looks like a deer in headlights lol

park tries to offer money back & gets obviously flustered when she realises she owes adams. she doesn't even sip the darn coffee bc she's so suspicious of receiving gifts & owing someone - code for receiving love from someone who doesn't expect u to give anything in return.

she reckons there's some sort of ulterior motive, which is so fucking sad but also same, understandable. especially with this convining basket case *points at adams*. her trust issues/insecurity likely stem from growing up in an immigrant family & crucially, from what we learn in a later episode. her ex bf went 'on a break' with her to sleep with 2 of her friends and then dump her. she was really damaged by this so it makes sense that she's suspicious of a free coffee between 2 gal pals ):

when park says adams is a stranger & that's why she doesn't trust her coffee gift, adams starts crying on the inside in this pic.

then to support the sapphic vibes of this episode, we ofc get a random 13 cameo - she's got a new gf btw, in case u forgot that girls can like girls. oh btw here's another scene of park & adams together!

it's the 2nd phase of the gift-giving prank: the shoes 🩰

so. if ur still reading, this scene caused me to have a conniption fit. park asking adams if she wants her to "wear them (the shoes) while you masturbate". yeah we're on to the gay joke realm of flirting now ppl. & honestly do i even need to say anything that park hasn't already said? adams' face in this above pic already says her part ig.

anyway, this comment flusters adams but she still doesn't stop trying to give away her fucking shoes. the persistence is on par with chase's 'it's chewsday oi like u <3'. then park threatens to punch her to get out of the situation. classic house-ian relationships amirite <3

so then park continues the flirting by getting adams a job interview, adams then gives park a spa certificate, etcetera etcetera. even house with his broken-ass gaydar starts to feel the vibes & gently interrogates them both.

house @ adams: "either you're getting her gifts because you want her to like you, in which case i don't like you, or you're getting her gifts to screw with her". why can't it be both. have you maybe considered that it could be both. also, interesting use of the word 'screw' (see: sex), especially when it's in relation to gift-giving. yeah there's deffo subtext here

& may i emphasise that in her convo with house, adams states that the coffee gift that she gave to park was not her 'screwing' with park, it was a genuine gift of kindness. a.k.a it was not in the prank realm of flirting (pranks are house-ian foreplay for teasing), it was in the realm of real, gift-giving flirting; as in showing love without expecting anything back.

lessons from the master of gay subtext via pranks (a.k.a. house): "if you wanna win, you gotta do something she can't possibly reciprocate. you gotta push her neuroses to the point where even she thinks she's crazy". this sounds so... <3 something u cannot reciprocate? like a proposal? (jk). then there is pushing on her neuroses - kinda like pulling on her pigtails as a sign that u love her.

house makes a 'charlie's angel's' ref when 13, adams & parks are all in the same room together discussing the case. i'm told charlie's angels gives off very sapphic vibes. so parallel ig?

adams paying $4500 to get house's park's car fixed and then saying "smile and say thank you" to park is such dom behaviour. also she's so smug when park says "you win" & actually thanks her. I love them. look at her smile as park walks away (: <3

park says she is glad the prank war is over, to which house replies: "nothing is ever over". yes house. just like my love for park/adams & their endless slow-burn flirting. <3

that's a wrap for s8e3 park/adams propoganda-posting. i admire u if u got to the end of this coherent mess.

might do park/adams propoganda on other s8 episodes (particularly analysing comphet park behaviour with her "i've had loads of boyfriends" & the whole park/chase are-they-friends-or-are-they-lovers dynamic), but we'll see. <3

[litsnobconfessions]

A Year of Animation Day 84: Home/Lilo and Stitch

Date: March 25, 2025

Day: 84

Content Watched: Home

Year: 2015

Rating: PG

Run Time: 1 hr. 34 minutes

Disney Double Feature: Lilo and Stitch

Year: 2002

Rating: PG

Run Time: 1 hr. 25 minutes

Obviously, I chose to pair Home with Lilo and Stitch because they're both about fugitive aliens who befriend misfit human girls. They're also both about family. I think I stumbled across Home on a streaming platform and quite enjoyed it. I particularly like it for its language play with the Boovs' use of English reflecting that of a non-native speaker (indicentally, I played this film once for my non-native English-speaking students, and the Spanish subtitles? Perfectly grammatically correct. I was bummed.)

But the thing I really love about this movie is what appears to contain a sly commentary on colonialism. Humans are introduced to Boov as backward savages, and Oh says it's lucky the Boov have arrived. They relocate everyone to one small area, take over the rest of the planet, and tell themselves that everyone is happy this way. It's not until spending time with Tip that Oh learns that humans are much more sophisticated than he thought, and that their lives have not been made better by Boov arrival. Simply put, I cannot watch this movie without thinking about the treatment of indigenous groups in the Americas at the hands of European colonizers.

Of course, the movie doesn't do anything this with this. It doesn't bring the comparison full circle, so it's not something that's likely to be caught by kids. In fact, I don't even know if they did it on purpose, but It could still be used by a parent to introduce a child to that history.

The animation in Home doesn't particularly stand out to me, but I did recently watch The Secret of Kells. As far as the question of movement, the movie seems pretty action packed. There are multiple scenes with lots of Boov or humans moving around, and it doesn't hurt to have Pig running around doing his thing as well. The holes in the buildings and the anti-grav tech give the creators the chance to do some interesting shots, and I suspect they had fun with the flexibility of the Boov. While it doesn't make me gasp with amazement, it's definitely no worse than say, Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty.

My favorite scene is probably the scene in the gas station, when Oh tries to call Tip's bluff and tells her humans can't explode heads, to which she responds, "We can too. We just don't, usually. It's considered rude." I can't tell you what it is exactly that I like about this line, but it never gets old. Maybe I just really like the idea of the society that Tip has painted here. I also really like the moment where Oh says, "among Boov, I does not fit in. I fits out." And I kind of want this expression to be part of my vernacular now.

But much as I enjoy Home, I don't think it compares to Lilo and Stitch, which I personally think is Disney at its finest. Like Bluey, the characters and their interactions feel very real. You can practically feel the stress radiating off Nani as she tries to hold together what remains of her family. It's clear she loves her sister, even though she doesn't always get her, and she wants to right by Lilo, even though she doesn't always know how.

Furthermore, Lilo and Stitch does a better job of show don't tell when it comes to Lilo being a misfit. To begin with, she is clearly neurodivergent. She brings Pudge the fish a peanut butter sandwich every Thursday because she thinks he controls the weather, she made her own doll, and she takes pictures of overweight tourists. Even her sister doesn't understand her half the time. And like many a kid before her who is misunderstood, she is teased incessently by peers who are probably more priveleged than she is. And we learn all of this in the first 2-3 scenes following the title sequence. In contrast, Tip from Home tells us that "7th grade girls are mean" and how her mom sacrificed a whole lot to move them to this new city, and how things were finally getting better before the Boov came and ruined it all. But we never really get to see the life that Tip lost. We just have to take her word for it. As a result, Lilo feels like a person and Tip feels like she was created for the ninety minutes she's on screen. 

Even the aliens feel more fleshed out in Lilo and Stitch. Home mostly relies on the joke of the Boov getting things wrong about human culture--driving vaccum cleaners, breathing out of hair dryers, eating anything and everything (including Starry Night). And while Lilo and Stitch uses this joke, it focuses it on Pleakly, who is considered an expert on Earth, though at least some of his information is wrong. In contrast, both Stitch and Jumba are both more likely to develop understanding through observation, such as in the surfing scene. Furthermore, in the end, we learn the reason for Pleakly's misinformation, and thus even the jokes circle back around to being embedded within the larger story.

For that matter, many of the other funny parts of the movie stem from the characters and their interactions with each other and the world. We have the scene where Nani and Lilo meet Mr. Bubbles for the first time, the conversations that Nani and Lilo have with David when he's introduced, and Lilo's declaration that "Elvis Presley was a model citizen," and therefore to be the same, Stitch needs to learn to dance, play guitar, and woo women. These jokes hit because we understand the characters. We understand that Mr. Bubbles is not your average social worker. That Nani is desperate to make her home appear perfect. That David is socially awkward and doesn't know how to impress Nani. And that Lilo loves Elvis and probably doesn't understand what "model citizen" means. But we just don't know enough about the characters in Home for the creators to build these types of jokes. 

I would even argue that the theme of family hits harder in Lilo and Stitch due to the characterization. While Tip and her mother fight fearlessly to get back to each other, Lilo and Stitch has more of a push and pull of keeping the family together, in part because the characters have different understandings of what that means. Lilo doesn't really understand that she could be taken from Nani until it's about to happen. But Nani doesn't realize just how lonely her sister is until Stitch leaves. And while Oh's revelation about family, and the returning of the next generation of Gorg does get me in the feels, I don't think it hits quite as hard as "this is my family. I found it all by myself. It is little, and broken. But still good. Yep, still good." I it's really that Oh's turn feels more surface level. He now runs toward danger, instead of from it. But in his time with Lilo, Stitch has re-programmed himself, valuing friendship and family, when he was literally designed for mindless destruction. He doesn't even protest when he's arrested. He just wants to say goodbye to his family. This is probably my favorite scene, though I do like the surfing scene as well.

I likewise don't have a whole hell of a lot to say about the animation in Lilo and Stitch. Like most Disney films, it's beautifully drawn. My favorite animation sequence might be the opening title sequence with Lilo headed to her hula dancing class. I like some of the shots of the hula dancers, and the whole sequence feels very dynamic, even though I heard a secret that to save time, they didn't actually animate most of the people on the beach. They're just part of the background Lilo is running through. Of course, I wouldn't have known that if someone hadn't pointed it out to me. The surfing scene also has some really nice shots:

I did recently have ocassion to see the trailer for the live action adaptation of Lilo and Stitch, and suffice it to say, I wasn't impressed. Seeing it in live action feels less... magical somehow. I think that part of it is the scale of things. In the animated version, Lilo and Stitch are roughly the same size (she's tiny--she's the same size as her pillow), but the live action version has an actual seven-year old human, and Stitch looks about the size of a chihuahua (I guess they forgot the line where Lilo says he used to be a collie--which would explain his size.) I'm also just used to everyone's look, since I loved this movie growing up. And while they can CG the aliens to look the same, Lilo, Nani, and David don't look like the illustrated characters. But mostly, I think some films just lend themselves better to animated media. 

The claim that inspired this project stated that because animation is inferior to what it used to be, people should just watch live-action instead. But I would hazard to say that arguments like this contribute to Disney's current state of doing nothing but re-hashing old material as live-action, even though live-action doesn't have anything new to contribute to the story. And because some stories are better told animated, or could not have been done in live-action at the time they were made (consider ATLA, HTTYD, Persepolis, Loving Vincent, and The Secret of Kells, to name a few) they are cutting themselves off from certain types of stories and choosing to live in a less creative world.

Tomorrow, we go back in time to... someone's version of Mesoamerica.