#good climbing trees for kids

[kingofanemptyworld]

Choji’s Team:

Cinderace (Partner Pokemon)

Monferno

Torracat

Castform (Sunny Day Form)

Litleo

Charcadet

Yes, Choji has three starter pokemon evolutions on his team. I couldn’t help myself and neither could he, apparently. Choji’s definitely been abroad a fair few times, both before and after becoming his town’s gym leader, and it’s like he’s got a sixth sense for finding the pokemon in each region that are going to give him the biggest challenge. The rarest and most difficult to catch have all been starter pokemon so far (and Castform, which he may or may not have stolen/liberated from a weather research facility in Hoenn). Cinderace is his ace (ha) pokemon, and it’s… totally because he’s got the kanji for rabbit in his name (correct me if I’m wrong but that’s why everyone uses the rabbit emoji for him, right?). Also fire types just felt fitting for Choji. Bright and burning like the sun, just like him! Hence why Castform is perpetually in its Sunny Day form. Monferno matches his acrobatics in a fight and Torracat is for Shishitoren!

As for Litleo… gonna be totally honest here, I briefly forgot Torracat existed and thought this was the closest I was going to get to a tiger. And then I did find Torracat, and I thought about dropping Litleo from the line-up. The eyes, though. Litleo’s damn eyes reminded me too much of Choji, so I kept it. Also it’s cute and I can very vividly imagine Choji play-wrestling with it. And probably playing soccer/football with Cinderace. Choji would dominate in a lot of sports but I’m partial to soccer, so. Might as well tack that headcanon on.

(Also, hey. If my very tired brain is misfiring at the moment and shishitoren’s animal is a lion, not a tiger? I did Litleo on purpose)

Last but not least, Charcadet. I said this in another post but I literally have no idea what goes on in Scarlet and Violet. I don’t know if this is a rare pokemon, or one Choji could feasibly have without completing some plot-relevant quest. But we’re throwing logic out the window for this one because I took one look at Charcadet and said, yeah, that’s Choji’s. No need to look for a backup sixth pokemon, that’s him all over. Tiny fire child warrior!! No regrets.

[mellethernil]

Thranduil would be over protective but also the type of parent where Legolas would run straight into a wall and his response would be this is why we don’t run in the halls whilst waiting for the inevitable cry in a blink he’s sweeping his little leaf up in a flurry of robe

[uinferno]

TF2 updated so I'm taking this post out of drafts:

The TF2 Mercs are a part of the internet equivalent of the commedia dell'arte stock characters. Being automatically included in Source derivative software such as SFM and GMod, they're very easily available as premade rigs for amateur animators to use in their works. The simple, cartoony, and discernible designs make them very easy to read at any angle, which although originally used to be easily read in a competitive gaming environment, translates well to comedy skits. Unlike similar games such as Overwatch, where they're practically over-designed in a very definite artstyle, TF2 characters are lacking in accessories as a default. Generally wearing simple single color jackets, t-shirts and pants. In fact, the varied nature of TF2's cosmetic system makes them perfect as dress-up dolls, making it very easy to reuse the same base model and differentiate between them.

That brings me to their characterization. Even though most if not all have pretty well defined backstories and narratives, outlined in the supplementary media of comics and Meet the Videos, their baseline personalities can be easily transplanted into various skits and narratives with minimal introduction. Scout is a cocky jackass. Soldier is a dimwitted, overly patriotic American. Heavy is simultaneously soft-spoken and boisterous Russian who revels in violence. These simple yet understood personalities mean you can bypass proper character introductions by identifying who's in what role from the start, similar to the archetypes from the aforementioned commedia dell'arte.

You don't even have to be a fan of tf2 to grasp these roles. The ubiquity of SFM as free 3d animation software is a self supporting introduction. If you are unfamiliar with tf2's narrative, simply consuming a handful of these animations can get you up to speed.

Simultaneously, TF2's narrative is just as batshit as the fan animations that are inspired by it. You could certainly use other valve properties for similar reasons regarding animation accessibility, but TF2 embracing comedy from the start and the simple insanity of its characters means you can transport them to a wider array off stories while asking for a much smaller suspension of disbelief.

A Half Life animation is far more likely to be about Half Life than any given TF2 animation is about TF2. Many of them are, but way more are simply not.

TF2 as a property has a lot of staying power. 16 years now and even with minimal support from valve, it still soldiers on (pun intended) as a significant part of internet meme culture. I find it's notoriety akin to Hatsune Miku, where they're given a second life outside of the purpose of their original creation. They're less FPS characters, and more little dolls novice animators smack together for the entertainment of others.

And at the end of the day that's almost all it really takes. A significant slice of media engagement and fan works for the internet at large could not care less about Canon or the main narrative, even if its well regarded, because the biggest draw for many is simply taking strong personalities and putting them in funny situations. It's why incorrect quotes are absolutely everywhere despite the fact that a good 80% of them do not fit the original characters one bit. Meanwhile, TF2 as a property actively encourages it.

The following are all fan animations that have jack shit to do with each other or the original canon--be it in game, the original animations, or expanded comics--and yet they're still ultimately cohesive as these little shorts that play with the cast as archetypes, with their own recognizable appearances and roles. (Tucked behind Keep Reading to save space)

[notcoolbutcute]

When you thought you grew up too fast and lost your childhood but then you find a cool tree to climb on and you do and you feel like your inner child is alive once again.

[thepratandtheidiot]

halcyon days in the land of the sun, april ‘24

[hootsiegrimgrin]

Hoot hoothoot hoot hoot hoot hoothoothoot hoot hoot! Hoot hoot hoot hoot, hoot hoot hoo hoothoot.

Hoot hoothoot hoot.

-Hootsie♡

[foryouthegays]

i feel like i need to preface this post with it is NEVER FUCKING OK to hurt ur kid etc etc.

anyway

some kids have never experienced pain and i think that negatively stunts their growth

like. ok. i teach aerial. there is no part of aerial that isnt at least a little uncomfortable or painful. most kids are like oof this kinda hurts but i can deal. and im like yeah! [alt version] might feel better or u could try [modification] if its bad but yeah it feels kinda hurty doesnt it? and thats fine! thats a kid expressing what their body is feeling, which is a mild amount of pain, and learning how to deal w it (either by pushing through, changing what theyre doing, or stopping) in a healthy way!

but SOME FUCKING KIDS. havent had a single goddamn papercut in their life. and it SHOWS. i show them something? owwwww this hurtssss i cant do this why does it hurtttt and im like. yeah it does hurt a bit doesnt it? you are sitting on a small metal bar after all :3 why dont you come down take a quick break and let someone else go? and they get off and are like acting as if they just broke their fuckin foot and its just bestieeeeeeee have you never tripped and fell have you never accidentally slammed a finger in the door have u never walked through thorns to get the juiciest berries.

i think kids need to have experience with pain so they can learn what is Uncomfortable what is Pain what is Sore etc. and sheltering kids to the point of them not being able to hang onto a bar for longer than like two seconds--not because they arent Strong enough but because it Hurts their Hands--is literally just setting them back in life.

kids are smart! they learn fast! let them be stupid and make mistakes and get hurt! theyll be smarter for it! idfk its just also kinda impossible for me as a teacher to work w a kid who wants to do all the cool stuff but cant deal w even the mildest of pain bc they havent been exposed to it.

[byanyan]

although they've long since graduated to climbing buildings because its more fun and provides more challenge (as well as practicality), byan used to love climbing trees when they were younger. it was one of those few things they were better at than most other kids, so it was a great way to show off while also giving them a way to release some of their high levels of energy and provided great places to sit and observe the world around them (as well as somewhere to hide from/escape others when they needed to).

of course, with their ever questionable self-preservation instincts, they were always trying to climb higher... all the way to the top of a tree, that was their goal one day... and i'm not saying that the fire department had to be called to rescue them on more than one occasion when they went too high, but i'm not not saying that, either.

[cherryatombomb]

i think when ghost interacts with kids, he's one of those people that doesn't adopt a 'kid' voice and instead just seems to speak like he normally does. ofc he is nowhere near as harsh but that gruffness remains bc he doesn't really Know how to interact with kids

but the kiddos love it, man. they like to think when be talks to them, he's talking to them like they're adults (ofc he isn't, but he never baby talks them) and they like to imagine they're friends rather then adult + child

simon is also a master at taking their games Very Seriously. oh, they wanna play army? simons going all in when he's "been shot". they wanna play family? he's the dog? can he not be anything else? .. okay god dammit fine he's wearing the dog ears. very solemnly "woofs" when needed

[rosicheeks]

Oh my pretty little trophy you know if hung you down and kidnap you to keep you as a pet. I’d look after you real good so you’re always ready for me to use.

[continent-of-wild-endeavor]

Winter hiking

One of the perks of being an adult hiking alone is that you can get up on top of that big rock by the trail if you want to. You can climb up every big rock, stand on top & look around, go "yup", then climb down and keep walking to the next one, and no one can tell you to hurry up or that you're slowing everyone down.

[inbabylontheywept]

my grandpa was a good man. and it really wasnt his fault - recreationally lying to kids is a proud family tradition - but he told me, once, that cutting a worm in half resulted in two worms.

i think he said it so i'd be more morally okay with fishing? i actually dont remember the context.

point was, he told me this, and he understimated (by a very large margin) how much i liked worms. i was a worm boy. very wormy. and after hearing that, i went home, and i dug through the garden, flipped over every rock, did everything i could to gather as many worms as i could, and then i uh.

i cut them all in half. every worm i could find. all of them. with scissors.

i then took this pile of split worms, and i put them in a box with a bit of lettuce and some water and stuff and went to bed expecting to double my worms overnight. i have math autism, so i had a vague understanding that if i did this just a few times in a row, i would eventually have a completely unreasonable amount of worms.

i was very excited to become this plane's worm emperor.

(i think i was...six?)

anyway, i did not become the inheritor of the worm crown. i instead woke up to a box of dead worms and cried. a lot. i got diagnosed with panic attacks as a teenager, but i think i had them as a kid, i just had no idea what they were. i was kind of processing that a.) i had killed what i had assumed was every single worm in my yard, and thus would have no more worms, and b). i was going to like, worm hell.

(six year babylon spent a lot of time worrying about god.)

so i kind of freaked out, and i climbed a tree, because god can only smite you if you're touching the ground (?) and i sat up there mostly inconsolable until my mom came out and asked, hey, what's up? what happened?

so i explained to her that i had killed all of the worms, forever, and was also Damned, and she took me to the compost pile, and we dug for all of five seconds and found like twenty more worms.

the compost pile was full of worms.

she then told me that a). there were more worms, and we could put them back under rocks and stuff and recolonize our yard and b). that one day, i would die, and go to heaven, and be able to talk to the worms face to face. that i'd be able to tell them all that i was very sorry, and that i killed them on accident, driven only by excessive Love, and that she was positive they would forgive me because worms have six hearts and no malice.

at that point, i think i was sixty percent tear-snot by weight, and i had no choice but to gather enough worms that i could hug them. which my mom helped with. and then after that she helped me put some worms back under each rock.

and for my epilogue: i spent a significant portion of my childhood in trees. and for many years after, even when my mom didnt know i was watching, i would catch her giving the space under the rocks a light spritz with the hose. not because she loved worms.

but because she loved me.

[the-kneesbees]

"and we were happy then. before all the liquor, and the drugs, and the dying. when our biggest worry wasn't don't fall but rather who's brave enough to jump?" - me

[louisapennyfeather2021]

"You're a great photographer! You are great at controlling the room!"

I'm not great, I've just mastered the art of keeping the attention of 13 caffeinated squirrels long enough to take one singular picture where everyone's smiling somewhat normally and no one's eyes are closed.

I'd give the credit to the year of field work from my previous major in education, but the credit goes to growing up with a brother who somehow amassed a friend group of 13 from Kindergarten through High School.

I am, however, rightly socially drained after a 2 hour photoshoot.

[pa-pa-plasma]

OIL PAINTINGS???

Oil Paintings by Cindy Rizza